Liars and Frogs

Terrible

2010-09-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

I'm a terrible blogging mommy. Terrible. Westley is 3.5 months old now...

We closed on our new house a week and a half ago. There's a ton of work to do, and we're exhausted. Jason is back at school. The boys are great. Baxter is learning new words right and left. We still don't know half of them. At least he finally learned "yes." Westley, who we call Dubs (as in an affectionate way of pronouncing "W") is seriously the smiliest and happiest baby ever. He looks a lot like I did as a baby.

That's all I have time for, I need to do some packing. But I'll leave you a photo!

Westley Willem

2010-05-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

For a week I’d been in labor. Nothing painful. Nothing particularly promising. I had several 5-8 hour stretches of contractions every 6-20 minutes. On Friday the 7^th I thought for sure I was in labor. I had Jason stay home just in case, I was having a hard time watching Baxter anyway. But no, just a wasted day of paternity leave.

On Saturday we decided to make it family day. We walked around Whatcom Falls park. It was beautiful. Baxter kept collecting sticks, and then Jason taught him how to throw rocks into the creek. They were both adorable. I was pretty sore and swollen after we got home. Sunday was Mother’s Day and my “estimated due date”, and I was too tired to do anything. So we had a lazy day at home. Jason realized he had messed something up from Friday, and wanted to fix it on Monday. He told me I couldn’t go into labor yet. We had a great weekend as a family, and as Jason went to school on Monday he said “everything is ready, you can have the baby after school.”

Just after 2am on Tuesday, May 11^th I woke up to go to the bathroom. While I was up I had a contraction. By 2:25 I’d had 3 more. I decided to time them and quickly realized they were 3 minutes apart. I just knew it was time. I called my doula Jen, and took a shower while Jason called our sitter and the midwives. In the shower the contractions picked up more. But I still got out, did my hair, and even put on (waterproof) mascara. I remembered thinking “there will be pictures, it won’t take long, just look decent!” This whole time I had Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance” running through my head. I’m not a huge Lady Gaga fan, but earlier in the day someone had posted an a cappella version from YouTube on facebook, and it was stuck. Badly. I got through my contractions by going with it, singing in my head and dancing to them. Hey, it helped! I’ll take it. We got to the birth center about 3am. I knew it was time, but I was enjoying myself.

Jen and C (my midwife) were there waiting for me. There was another birth in the big room down the hall, so I got the medium sized room. Perfect, it was my favorite one anyway! I got through a few contractions standing, and then did a few on all fours over some pillows on the bed. Jen did some amazing back massage that totally helped put me in the mood and relax my body. Hire a doula. Seriously. You won’t regret it. C checked me, and I was between 5-6cm, closer to 6. I know I didn’t go from 1-6 in just over an hour, all that painless (but irritating) pre-labor the week before had prepared my body. I joked about the song in my head, and made it easily though contractions. It was just so peaceful. The lights were dim, but it wasn’t dark. A few candles were lit next to the tub. It was the perfect temperature, not too warm, not chilly. The windows were open, and I could hear the birds outside. I remember being COLD the entire time I was in the hospital with Baxter.

I kept feeling like I was hungry, but I wouldn’t be able to hold anything down if I tried. About 4 I was feeling ready to get in the tub. They filled it up and I got in just about 4:15 or so. At least these are the times that I remember, but they could be off. Time seemed to stand still once I got in the tub. It was so peaceful and serene. I was still having contractions, and part of me was worried that they had slowed down. I felt like I had 10 minutes of relaxing and joking around between contractions. But no, they were still just as regular. I relaxed leaning back on the tub for a while. And I spent some time on my knees and the side of the tub. Being in the warm water took away so much pain, but soon I was toning through contractions. I had no idea my body had decided to step it up, because I was feeling so much better than before. Ahh the power of warm water! C was laying on the bed resting, while Jason held my hand and Jen helped me through contractions with gentle words and counter pressure on my lower back.

Active labor continued for a while. I had a handful of peanuts and raisins from the trail mix I brought, and that helped a ton for my energy. Jason and Jen kept me hydrated. I remember telling them that this must be transition, because I’m ready to be done now. I remember not getting surly, but losing my sense of humor. It was starting to get painful! I started blowing through contractions instead of just toning. I moved onto my hands and knees, and occasionally went back to my knees and the side of the tub. I kept reminding myself that yes, even though my ankles are getting a tad uncomfortable, I’m letting gravity help me. I didn’t want to move back to my back and restrict the birth canal with my tailbone. I did my research! It still wasn’t nearly as painful as I remember Baxter’s birth being. With Baxter there were some very strong contractions that I could only get through by thinking “if I wait a little bit longer it will be too late to get drugs.” I couldn’t use that mantra this time, so instead I just kept singing that stupid song over and over in my head. I don’t even know all the lyrics, just part of the chorus. The same 20 seconds repeated in my head countless times (Well, no more than 810 times, since my labor was 16,200 seconds long… yes I married a math nerd). Great, now writing this up has it stuck in my head again. I can’t say enough about Jen through this stage. She kept up the counter pressure on my back through contractions. When I was on my hands and knees the pain caused me to want to arch my back away from the pain, but with her gentle but firm hands keeping me in alignment it was so much easier. I wasn’t having back pain, but having a child going through your birth canal isn’t ever a delight. She helped me remember to breath and tone low, and not whine. She whispered encouraging thoughts, and reminded me to relax. Little things. Jason was my rock. I needed him there, holding my hand. Reminding me that he was there for me. But Jen was my internal voice when I couldn’t think on my own.

Back to the story. In the room next door, the other mama started pushing. I could hear her, envious. I wanted to be her at that moment. As soon as I heard her baby cry for the first time, my body kicked into high gear. It was like a primal trigger. With Baxter, because of hospital politics and a change of nurses right as I was entering the pushing stage of labor, I never really experienced what pushing felt like.

With Baxter, I knew I was fully dilated, but my body wasn’t contracting. I think it was my body’s way of telling me “you’re not ready, take a small break” but the incoming nurse wasn’t happy with the monitoring. She thought that I would need a c-section. Even though my doctor and previous (awesome) nurse knew I was doing well. She just knew I was having a big baby, and assumed the worst. She had called in the on-call OB (my doctor is family practice) and additional nurses, and wanted me prepped for c-section. I just remember the terror of that possibility, and I started pushing without my body’s cooperation. I amazed everyone in the room, and used “purple pushing” to power Baxter out of my body in 30 minutes. He was 9lbs and 11oz and gave me almost 4^th degree tears. I wasn’t allowed to listen to my body with him. That was the main reason I chose to do a birth center birth this time.

Back to Tuesday. It was just about 6:35 or so. Our sitter for Baxter had to leave at 7:30, so Jen and Jason were asking who I wanted to leave at 7 to transfer Baxter to our day sitters. I told them to ask again in 5 minutes. I kept feeling like my body might be getting ready to push, but I wasn’t sure. I asked my midwife if it was ok if I pushed. C responded “Oh, I thought you already were!” She didn’t feel the need to check me, she was allowing my body to do what my body needed to do. How reassuring. And a little daunting! So this is what pushing is when your body takes over…. The pushing was PAINFUL. Much worse than with Baxter. But this time I was listening to my body, and not the 9 people in the room urging me to just do it. I could feel my body stretching. The “ring of fire” as the baby’s head crowning. I was told to slow down, let your body do it, instead of having a random person counting at me to keep bearing down. I remember three contractions where I pushed. But between the three contractions, I could feel the baby moving down the birth canal and slowly stretching me as I breathed out. It hurt so much less to just breathe and let my body do it on it’s own. After two pushes, his head was out. A third, and he was here! It was 6:47, 12 minutes of pushing, and only a few minutes longer than I asked for. I turned around and leaned back on the tub as they unwound his cord. They gave him to me and I remember just thinking how beautiful he was. He cried a tiny bit, and then opened his eyes, lifted his head (and amazed the midwives) and looked at me. I was in love. Westley Willem was here. Jason and I looked at him, smitten. He looked nothing like his brother did at birth. He was himself.

The midwives (K had arrived by that point to assist in the actual birth) gave us our time, and unobtrusively checked him and I out. We took off my tank top (since it was damp and making Westley cold) and 18 minutes after giving birth, Westley latched on with no assistance. A perfect latch. My amazing doula took photos with my camera the whole time. I just set it up at the beginning and told her how to use it. She did an amazing job, and I’ll treasure them forever. On top of that, she grabbed Jason’s keys and went to pick up Baxter.

After the placenta was delivered, and the cord finally cut, we moved up onto the bed. I rested there, nursing Westley for a good hour. Jen brought in Baxter. Baxter did NOT know what to think. He attached himself to Jen and wouldn’t let go. He wanted nothing to do with me or the baby. Eventually he consented to letting Jason hold him. After about an hour C did the newborn exam and weighed Westley. 9lbs, 7oz, 21” long. Same size head as Baxter, and only 4 ounces lighter. Also 7 days earlier!

I relaxed at the birth center for a few hours before deciding it was time to head home after Baxter knocked over a table, spilling water and juice all over himself and everything else. A birth center is NOT a place for an active toddler. Who wants the door open at all times, even if his mom is laying naked on a bed. And wants to go in and see the other family who just had a baby. I got checked out really quick. One very minor tear, that didn’t even require stitches. In fact, it corrected what was over corrected last time! I was pretty swollen, but I was swollen from before so that was no surprise.

Overall, I cannot say enough good things about our birth center birth. I would love a homebirth next time. I would have this time, but the rental townhouse we are in now is not set up well for a homebirth. I knew I wanted a waterbirth, and our defective hot water tank and no where to put a tub made the birth center preferable. To make things even more fun, about 2.5 hours after I gave birth to Westley, we put a contract in on our first home. Our contract is now accepted, and we’ll be closing sometime in August. And the master bathroom already has a tub that’s perfect for number three…. In several more years.

Westley is now 4 days old. He’s the happiest newborn. So calm and content. He’s a great nursling. He’s a little piglet though, my milk came in on day two, after a night of 8 hours straight of nursing. I haven’t gotten engorged or leaked at all, thanks to his diligent efforts. He only sleeps well while being held, hence why it’s taken me so long to write this. He’s currently snuggling with daddy. But now I miss him, and I’m all weepy from writing this. I hope there’s not too many errors, because I don’t want to go back and edit it! Enjoy. I hope that reading about Westley’s birth inspires you to look into water births, midwives, and doulas for your future children. After having an “intervention free” hospital birth, I can tell you, there’s really no comparison.

Birthing....

2010-05-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

things.

Yes, things.

I'm due in 6 days with this child, and feeling huge. Although I don't want him here for at least a few more days at this point. I've been having contractions off and on, but nothing that's real labor yet. But that's not why I don't want him here in this world yet. And that's because we're buying a house.

Yup.

We are buying a house.

It's an amazing deal that we can't pass up. The house we are buying is a 3bd/2ba 1500 sq ft house with attached garage on 1/3 acre about 10 minutes north of Sedro Woolley, and 2 blocks from an alpaca farm. Which I'm sure Baxter will adore. We are buying it through a program that allows teachers to buy certain foreclosed houses for a super reduced rate, and it allows us to do $35k of repairs and renovations on top of that. We are required to live there for 3 years though. That's do-able. All said and done, our total mortgage price will be $100-150 less per month than our current rent, but our utilities will be higher, making it about the same per month as what we are paying now. But we'll be building equity, have the extra space, and have a YARD. I think I'm most looking forward to the yard. And maybe the garage. We're planning on using as much of that $35k as possible though, and updating a lot.

But the next few months will be super stressful. Like we got confirmation that we can buy the house this morning, but the contract has to be completed tomorrow morning. So I have to drive to Sedro Woolley tomorrow morning to get the paperwork needed from the school, and then drive back to Bellingham and pay the earnest money. And then come home and schedule the home inspection and get utilities turned on for the home inspection. Which has to be done within 15 days. Then theoretically we'll be closing in mid-June, and moving mid-July. Or end of July, not sure yet. But if you think about us, pray that the mortgage and the estimates go smoothly, and that things are just meant to be!

Oh, a bit of everything.

2010-04-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

Jason and I had our 8 year wedding anniversary on March 30th. My mom and step-dad came up and spent the night with Baxter, and Jason and I went to Vancouver B.C. and stayed the night at the Sutton Place Hotel. It was glorious. Great food, lots of sleep, and no Baxter interruptions. Although I thought about him constantly, and worried that he was sleeping ok without us. But he did great.

I'm feeling huge. I'm 36 weeks today. This boy is getting huge. I finished sewing newborn diapers tonight, and now just have a few more sewing projects that I must get done. I'd like to get more done, but we shall see....

We had a lovely scare this week. Our ceiling above our bed started leaking again. And starting to mold. Our management wanted us to move. But the only option was another 2 bedroom (that wouldn't be a good fit for us, even though it's the same layout) or pay an extra $60/month and move to the 3 bedroom right next door to us. We are trying to save money and to hopefully purchase a house this summer.... Not to spend more money or to move at 37 weeks (which is full term) pregnant. We finally got them to admit that they could do temporary repairs on our place, but it wouldn't look pretty. Who cares? Our place has never looked pretty! We won't be here long enough for it to matter. They just don't want to do the temporary repairs because it's more work for them. It's less work for us. They can deal.

Baxters Words - 19.5 months

2010-03-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a terrible blogging mom. I'm WAY behind on editing photos, and haven't taken many lately because Bax gets upset if I don't let him play with the camera. As that this is from my phone, I'm keeping this short. I want to make a list of words he says and signs :) also note that many of these only we can understand.

Please (signed only)
More (signed only)
Pain/owwie (signed only)
Drink (signed only)
Food/hungry (oood and signed)
All done (signed only)
Thank you (ank oooh and signed, often without prompting)

I love you (luh ewe, and tries to sign. Both rare and hard to understand!)
Mama
Dada
Nana
Bye bye
Hi
No

Uh-oh
Bite
Cheese
Juice
Cookie (key!!!!)
Cracker (sounds very similar to cookie)
Yum (yum or mmmm)
Banana (it's more of a distinctive noise that sounds nothing like banana, but it always means banana)
Blueberry/strawberry/grapes (Vees! I think he identifies them all as berries)
Kitty
Waffles (woofoz, as in Mr. Waffles our cat)
Meow
Woof woof (oof oof, for any dog)
Elephant (oooo-OOOH-oooo, complete with arm as trunk)
Pig (exhaled snort sound, but he tries!)
Monkey (oo-oo-ah-ah)
Rawr (lion, tiger, bear, etc)
Elmo (momo)
Cookie Monster (key key! But might also be seeing the cookies. Hard to tell)
Train (choo choo. Sometimes calls large trucks choo choos)
Car (beep beep, maybe from our car alarm doors?)
Baby
Tv
Ball
Block (bock)
Book (booooook)
Sock (cock)
Shoes (Jews)
Mine

Wow, I didn't realize there were so many now! He also said his first 2 word sentance. I told him he needed to take another bite of his lunch before he could have another grape. He clearly said "no bite!" and then laughed.

Ok, that's all for now :)

Hello? Anyone there?

2010-02-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

I've been a bad blogging mommy. I've been thinking about blogging for about a month now, but I still don't have my pictures from Christmas edited, and that's been preventing me... Plus I've just been generally exhausted and busy! That's my excuse. So for now, just know that I'm alive, and this little boy has now been cooking for 27 weeks. That means I'm in the THRID TRIMESTER! Goodness! And Baxter is starting to talk (finally!) more and more. Except I'm Dada, and so is Jason, but that's ok. At least Mr. Waffles has a name (Woofooz). It's 8:42, and I think I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll blog more later now that the gate has been broken?

The new baby is a...

2009-12-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

BOY!!!

That's right, Baxter will have a little brother this coming spring. Two boys in two years. Lets hope that someday when I get pregnant with #3 that we have a girl to help level out the testosterone in the house :)

Baby Poll!

2009-12-10T21:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, we find out on Tuesday afternoon... but what do you think?

(poll died, sorry!)

16 months old, my little man...

2009-12-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

I can't believe he's 16 months old. And counting! Here are some of his recent antics over the last month. I'm really glad I twitter, so that I can go back through my twitter feed to remember some of this! If you don't follow me on twitter, that's ok. My feed is protected, because there are a ton of spam bots out there. Ugh.

So I"m going to copy and paste some tweets, and might explain them :)

(Keep in mind, that over the last month Baxter has cut 2 molars and an eyetooth, and is working on a second eyetooth. UGH!!! We've also been battling the WORST diaper rash ever.)

Baxter, your stacking blocks are not shoes. But gosh you're cute. Even better when you woof at the same time.

Uhhh, Baxter figured out how to pull up the mattress of the pack n play. We may be in trouble. He can also open his door...

Baxter keeps turning on the tv to infomercials. Sorry Baxter, I'm not bald now but the way you're acting I may be by the end of the day.

I started singing to Baxter, and he coveted his ears and grimaced. There goes my confidence. Concert choir, you have failed me.

Overheard downstairs- Jason "you can't get milk from me, I don't have boobs!" in response to Baxter signing to nurse.

Baxters new favorite thing - when I "kick" him in the head. He picks up my feet and makes me do it. Boy has a long memory too! LOL

The noob kicked the doppler and startled Bax with the loud noise. The HB was 140, and the ultrasound is scheduled for my birthday!!!

Baxter, the kitty does not want your cherrios, no matter how enthusiastically you share them. Time to vacuum.

Nrbbgfhgfggfrtrffhjhgsf grglts Gdsfeyrcdcswcfehrgvr f dvzmgbh - love, Baxter

I will never understand my sons love of infomercials. He turns on the TV, and changes the channel until he finds one. Today it's "The Ninja"

Baxter is a noisy farter today. He let's one rip, looks over at me, & cracks up laughing. Such a boy! Oh wait, he probably got that from me.

Baxters new favorite toy - a bucket he wears on his head (but won't wear regular hats) http://twitpic.com/q15l1 and sometimes over his face.

Soooo tired. Already took two naps, and I'm ready for bed. Two nights on your own with a toddler as a pregnant mama is killer!

Baxter loves his yogurt sooo much, he has to have two spoons so he can eat it quicker. And we figured out the sleep issue, my lack of milk :( (this pregnancy has completely killed my milk supply)

Operation: give Bax a sippy at 4am instead of the boob - SUCCESS!

Reminded why I wait 20 min after Bax wakes up to change his diaper. He doesn't poo overnight, and that first one is just like clockwork.

Showed Bax a pic of a walrus, and told him the funny teeth were called tusks. He pointed at his teeth. I didn't know he knew that one!

Baxter faked sleep in the car, and J and I made fools of ourselves with silly noises to wake him up. He slyly opened an eye & giggled at us.

Jason felt the noob kick last night :) and I'm 17 weeks today! 2 weeks and 2 days until we find out of we have a little brother or sister.

Bax got too quiet. I walked over to Js desk to see what he was doing. Turned the chair, & he was waiting hands clasped like Dr. Evil, lol!!

Baxter is carefully putting pine needles back on the tree. Without touching the tree. Lol.

This might be Baxters last night nursing... Or one of them. He's more interested in his sippy. Cry! I don't want to be done yet! (He woke up at 10pm wanting to nurse, so I let him. That was the last time :( December 2nd, 16 months and 1 day.)

Making Turkey and Dumplings for my Turkey. Or is that my Dumpling? I think he swings both ways :) (In reference to Jason, but it cracked me up, so I included it)

I bought a laser pointer for the cats. Bax chases it just as much. He brings it to me so he can chase it, while the cats compete with him.

Baxter has a serious love affair with Thomas the Tank. He's my little train boy.

How do I convince my toddler NOT to share his lunch with the kitten?

Its cold and drafty when you shower with a peeping Tom of a toddler in the room.

Note to self. When dancing with a toddler, don't pick them up & spin with them then put them down. They will be dizzy, fall & cry, but fun!

Whenever Baxter sits on my lap, the baby goes nuts kicking him, lol! I hope this isn't the start of something permanent.

Can someone please tell Baxter that drinking the water condensation off the windows is gross? It's cold & coming faster than I can wipe up.

Ok, that catches you up on Baxter's funny antics through this morning. He's always doing something hilarious though, and leaving me in stitches. Like if I pat his belly after a diaper change he'll pat his belly, and then want me to do it to him again and again. And now when I bring out the camera, it's all "ohhhh!!!!" and running at me with open arms. He like to try to kiss the lens. He loves to show us his belly button and have us tickle it, and then tickle the rest of him. He patted my belly and said "baaa" which I'm not sure if it was supposed to be "ball" "baby" or "belly button". He's not really talking yet, but sometimes he'll repeat woof, duck, baaa and rawr. He repeats mama every time he hears it, but it's still not really connected to me. I'm thinking that when he starts talking it's just going to be in full sentences.

He's down to one nap a day, which he's usually pretty good about, but he's fighting today (ugh). It used to be that he would ONLY take a morning nap, and that if it was even 15 minutes late it would be super short and he would refuse an afternoon nap. He's more flexible now, and will take a morning OR an afternoon nap, but still only in his crib or in the car. However, if he sleeps in the car it's ALWAYS 1 hour and 5 minutes. Or less. Naps at home are at least 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Ok, I'm going to shower and hope he's sleeping when I'm done. :)

Catch up

2009-12-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have 20 minutes, so lets see how much I can catch up on? Warning, long post and LOTS of photos :) As always, more photos on my flickr page!

Ok, first up, the halloween photos:

In October, we also had professional family photos taken with the whole Spears/Dilley/Irvine/Schwarz clan. Fred Calma www.fredcalma.com did them, and they turned out GREAT! Here are a few of my favorites of the day :) And yes, Baxter had a HUGE cat scratch on his face thanks to Stanley, the new cat at my mom's house. I. do. not. like. that. cat.

The first week of November, my good friend Beth and her husband Mike and daughter Leah came to visit. I met Beth through an email loop of women who were all due the same day. Leah was a few days early, and Bax was 9 days late, so they're about 2 weeks apart in age. The Hammers live in Illinois, and we had a GREAT time with them. We went downtown, along the waterfront, where the kids chased seagulls.

We went to the Public Market (gratuitous produce shot)

where Leah LOVED the piggy bank, but wasn't impressed by the flying fish.

Baxter was a ham in the car ride home.

The next day we went to the Children's museum downtown and met up with a bunch of other women from our online group. The kids had a TON of fun, and the 6 moms all helped watch the 6 little ones. Baxter ran around the entire time, shrieking in delight. We might have to get a yearly pass. We will most certainly be going back! This is through a fish tank :)

We then went back to Bellingham and just had a fun relaxing time. Beth is also pregnant, and was sadly suffering from severe morning sickness, but we had fun anyway :) Picking them up and dropping them off were my first two weekends in November.

The third weekend, the Thursday before I had a workshop to go to, where I learned how to pose and photograph newborns. That was soooo much fun. I don't have any of those photos uploaded to flickr, but you can view them here. April and Richard watched Baxter, and then I spent a few days in Seattle "recovering."

The next weekend was Thanksgiving. My mom and Richard were in California, so we housesat for them and spent a lot of time with Jason's family. We shopped early on Black friday and got a ton of deals. But due to a death in the family, John, Jessica and JoAnne didn't get home until Thursday afternoon, so we didn't have a turkey dinner. We had a fun time, but I missed the turkey...

So when we got home, I bought a turkey and made a Thanksgiving dinner for just the 3 of us! Boy, does Baxter LOVE cranberry relish... And also turkey.

I know you probably want to know more about how Baxter is doing, but that's another post. We put up our Christmas tree, and have been teaching him the "one finger rule" where he can touch it, but with only one finger. So far it's been working pretty well, and the kitten has been worse to the tree than he has.

I'll share a few more photos, then I've got to go. I have 2 minutes. This one, I was trying to get Baxter to smile for the camera, and I made the dolphin noise. So he grabs his animal book, finds the dolphin picture and points to it. Tooooo cute! He's so smart :)

Here's Baxter's first look at the tree and his reaction, and also demonstrating the one finger rule (on his favorite ornament, the Oscar Meyer weinermobile):

And finally, here's my baby bump at 18 weeks :)

Phew, did you get all that? I'm not proofreading, I"m a minute late. Enjoy!!!

I"m terrible!

2009-12-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

I know, It's been over a month. I'm now 18 weeks pregnant, and we find out a week from Tuesday (on my birthday!) if we're having another boy or having a girl. Care to take a guess? I know what I think :)

November was extremely busy. I was in Seattle every weekend for at least 3 days. It was exhausting. But good! Ok, I have other stuff to do, just know I'm still alive...

Things that go bump

2009-11-03T22:01:00.001-08:00

I'm definitely showing. I look pregnant. I need to take a picture of this bump.

Speaking of bumps, this kid is moving a storm! I felt Bax between 13-14 weeks, and this one I've felt a few times starting at 8 weeks (which no one believes) but I'm starting to feel it daily now at 13 weeks.

I have halloween pictures, but I need to upload them to Flickr, which I'm about to go do, so I'll post on that soon :)

Oh, and Bax had his 15 month appointment. He's almost 33 inches tall! I'm not 100% sure on his weight, but he's barely over 26lbs clothed. Hehe.

Lately

2009-10-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. At the beginning of September when we found out we were pregnant, I wasn't ready to share yet. So I had to be guarded in what I posted. And then I sort of fell out of the habit.

Morning sickness hasn't been too bad on the puking front. I can count on one hand how many times I've vomited, so that's somewhat encouraging. Although the food aversions have been much worse this time. Like I can't eat anything. Or what I can eat changes on a day to day basis. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I gained 5lbs. Mostly water weight. On the cruise I gained a few more, but the massage I had released a bunch of the water, so I was up all night going to the bathroom. Oops! As of today, I've gained 2lbs total from my pre-pregnancy weight. Not too bad for 12 weeks and 1 day! With Baxter I lost a lot of weight the first trimester, and didn't start gaining for a long time. I didn't have the nausea as much with him though, I just didn't want to eat. Now I HAVE to eat. Maybe because I'm still breastfeeding Baxter? Dunno.

Bax is down to nursing 3-4 times a day, and one nap a day. That's been an adjustment. And my great sleeper has turned into a molar bear. He's getting two molars and two canines right now, and that makes a VERY grumpy baby. Ugh.

I'm defiantly looking pregnant now. Looking at me now, I look like I did at 17 weeks with Bax. We had family pictures taken with Fred Calma Photography yesterday, and I can't wait to see them. We had my mom, Richard (stepdad), me, Jason, Baxter, Brent (my brother), April (stepsister), Aaron (April's husband), Riley (April and Aarons almost 8 month old), Andrew (stepbrother) and Tony (stepbrother). It went pretty well other than Baxter being fussy, and having a lovely run in with a cat that morning...

More on that later, it's Jason's and my date night :)

Baxter is going to be....

2009-10-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

.....15 months in 15 days

......a handsom man when he grows up

......devastatingly charming

......a cat whisperer

......not talking until he's 3

......a professional climber

......a big brother next May

The end and the beginning.

2009-10-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

It's taken me a while to write this, because it took me a while to process it. After 10 days on antibiotics, Aiko did not improve, and his nose began to drip on one side. I took him to the vet on Monday, October 5th. In the 11 days between vet visits, Aiko had developed a large mass in his intestines. Because of the unilateral discharge from his nose, the vet suspected a secondary tumor in his nasal cavity. We could have done painful steroid shots that might reduce or at least slow the growth of the tumors, but his quality of life had declined so much that we didn't want to put him through that. It would give him at most 2-3 months before he would be gone, based on how quickly the tumor was growing.

He was always such a beautiful cat, full of life. As a siamese he was very smart, and would talk to us. If we left for the weekend, when we got home he would corner us and meow and tell us all about while we were gone. You could ask him questions and he would respond. My mom never believed me until he stayed with her for 3 weeks while we went on our road trip. The next time she came to visit, he remembered her and talked and talked and talked to her, like he was catching up with an old friend.

He was a great older brother to Tabetha. And just a great cat overall. After Jason got home from work that monday, we dropped Baxter off at a friend's and took Aiko to the vet again. He was so frail, and tired looking. He was so peaceful through the entire process, and the vet reassured us that we made the right decision. We knew it was, it was just so difficult. Indoor cats are supposed to live much longer than 8.5 years!

Baxter had a grand time, and didn't even notice that we had left him. Jason and I spent the night zoning out, watching TV, and reminiscing about Aiko during commercials. Aiko, you will so be missed. You were a great cat, and we loved you. We loved you enough to try to save you, and to know when you were done.

While Aiko had been sick, Tabetha distanced herself from him. She knew something was wrong. She stopped playing and started eating more. Always a very slight cat, she gained wait and filled out. The night Aiko left us, she walked around the house crying all night. It just about broke my heart.

That left us with a very hard decision. Do we get a new cat right away? Do we grieve longer? It's nearing the end of kitten season. Tabetha is lonely. We knew we needed a kitten, since Tabetha is an alpha female and since she's so small the new cat would need to be physically smaller than her.

Enter Mr. Waffles. Mr. Chester P. Waffles to be exact. And yes, the P stands for "pancakes."

At 7 weeks old, he's all of 1.3lbs, and a complete love. There was no adjustment period for him. He cuddles all night, and plays all day. Except when he's napping, which is often. He adores Baxter, and Baxter adores him, they play all the time. He misses us, and if he can't find us he wanders the house crying until we call out and he can find us for cuddles. Tabetha loves him already, and they've started cuddling together after only 3 days. He hasn't filled the void Aiko left, but he's certainly trying to make a dent in it. He will be a much loved cat as well. In fact, he already is!

So much going on

2009-10-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we took an over night cruise to Vancouver with Jason's family. It was a great relaxing time, and a fun introduction to cruising! Next time hopefully we'll be on the cruise ship for more than 21 hours. And have a car seat that's not crazy old, hehe.

The big thing going on right now, other than Baxter being adorable, is that I think our kitty Aiko isn't going to be with us much longer :( He's been losing weight, and this last month he's just dropped a ton of weight. He used to be between 11-12 lbs, but now he's down to just over 7. We spent $300 to find out it's an intestinal issue. We could spend another $200 to find out if it's one of 3 things. It could be a bacterial infection (treated with antibiotics that we can afford), a B12 deficiency (shots every week for 6 weeks, then every other week for as long as it takes, at least $1000), Pancreatitis (same treatment but different meds, still about $1000). Or it could be intestinal cancer, which they would have to do an expensive biopsy for and there's no treatment available. Since the only treatment we can afford is the antibiotics, that's what he's been on the last 9 days. We also switched him to a super expensive hypoallergenic food. He's also been really dehydrated. Since then, he stopped making the effort to go upstairs to use the litterbox, so we moved his food to the bathroom, and he's taken up residence in the bath tub. He won't budge, and can't wait to get back in it. I think he's just soiling himself too, and he's not eating enough to have any solid waste. He's eating *maybe* 1/16th a cup of catfood a day. It's just so sad. We got Aiko as a kitten before we got married, and he's only 8 years old. I wish I had the money to save him, but we just can't afford it. I need to take him to the vet again this week to make sure he's not in pain. Poor guy :( He was my first baby.

Oh, and Baxter is using more and more sign language.

This is a short and completely uninformative update, sorry!

A break from the silence

2009-09-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

We've had a super busy summer. I'll do a quick recap. We spent the first week in Seattle for Baxter's birthday. While there Baxter had TWO birthday parties, we had family photos taken, and we went to the zoo. While in Seattle my beloved laptop somewhat died. It may be fixable, but not by me. We came home for a day then went to Chelan to spend time with friends and their two boys. Baxter learned a ton, ate a lot of grapes, and fun was had by all. So this entire time I was accumulating photos and had no way to upload them! THANKFULLY I had backed up my laptop before we left, just in case. When we got home from Chelan I ordered myself a spiffy new iMac. The goal is to have Dilley Dally pay for it. If it's not going that direction I may finally get a business license so I can claim a loss this year. Fun times.

We had some down time where I caught up on a few things and attempted to get photos up and so forth. I'm happy to say Flickr is fully updated, and there are pages and pages of photos to sort though! Well, I take that back. I have a few more to upload from recently...

Then over labor day weekend we went to Seattle. We had friends visiting from Virginia who we going to PAX, a giant nerdy video game conference. Baxter and I went on Saturday, and Jason went on Saturday and Sunday. Then Geoff came up to visit on Monday night and went home yesterday (Wednesday) morning. Sadly Jason, Geoff and Janet all contracted what is being known as "PAX Pox" - AKA Swine Flu. So far only Janet has had it confirmed with a doctor, but there was quite an outbreak at the conference. Jason is home sick, and Baxter and I are staying clear. We're feeling fine, but now we're on self imposed quarantine :(

So some of the new things Baxter has been doing.

He learned how to eat with a spoon and fork, and now all meals require them even if he doesn't use them.

Everything is a phone, including his hands and occasionally a foot during a diaper change.

We had our first experience with disposable diapers (yuck!) and Jason declared that except for an upcoming exception lets not buy them again because they STINK and leak. We had to buy them because Baxter had a terrible diaper rash caused by too much fruit and pooping during naps and in the middle of the night. His poo became acid and burned his little bum, and the prescription cream would ruin the cloth diapers, so we sucked it up and bought a pack of sposies. We'll use them again when we go to Canada in two weeks, but that's another post.

He started to say words on accident. He said "kitty" twice (but never again) and today started to say "hi" and "hello."

Cats are his most favorite thing ever. He waves, says his "ahhhh" (which is a high pitched sound approximating hi) and then squats down so he can try to kiss them on the nose. He's good with gentle pets though, and has never been scratched or bitten.

He learned how to turn the tv on and how to change the channels. His favorite shows to stop on are Animal Planet (where he waves at the tigers and tries to kiss them through the TV), daytime courtroom shows like Judge Judy, and The Golden Girls. He mostly ignores cartoons.

He's really into giving kisses, and will sometime do it on demand. But kisses only go on mouths. Never cheeks or on tops of heads. We asked him to give his cousin Riley a kiss while he was doing tummy time on the floor, and Bax had to squat down and try to get Riley to look up at him before he would attempt a kiss. It was ridiculously cute.

Baxter likes feeding other people, and has started to have an opinion on food. He really likes some things now, and it's different from what it used to be. Sometimes he will have 3 bites of food and be done, and other times he will eat a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, a whole banana, and a slice of toast (like he did for breakfast today). He tends to eat the most in the mornings.

Baxter loves sprinklers and splash pads, but can't stand bodies of water or bubbles. Lakes, pools, large bathtubs and bubble baths send him into hysterics. But he will play for a really long time in a sprinkler or at the splash pad.

Baxter is still breastfeeding, but never asks for it. Mostly if he's fussy it's how I distract him. He also nurses before naps and bed.

He's sooooo close to sleeping through the night (and by that I mean more then the "technical" definition of 5 hour stretches). He goes down around 7 then wakes up from 3:30-5 to nurse then goes back down. He's up for the day between 6:30 and 7 usually. If he dropped that last night feeding I would be sooooo happy! At least until I had to wake up multiple times a night to feed a new baby, but hey, it's bonding right? Baxter and I are plenty bonded now :)

Ok, I'm running out of things to say, so I'll just end this with some photo highlights. Because I know you want them.

Mmmm, birthday cake!

Feeding me some of his birthday cake *swoon*

Splorin the Chelan house yard

My attempt at artsy flower photos getting a lovely background surprise

Sprinkler!

Loving Spinapplemeal - spinach food processed down and combined with applesauce and oatmeal so it's thick enough to stay on an uncoordinated baby spoon.

A funny and cute capture in low light and high ISO, but I'm digging the graininess, at least with the black and white :)

Another year, another half pound

2009-08-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

I was right. Baxter hasn't really gained any weight since he started walking. Well, he gained just over half a pound. Not much.

My computer is on it's last legs. I had to take it in and have it wiped and the OS re-installed. I was then told that the harddrive was beginning to fail, and ever since then it's just limped along. It hardly works. So once we get back from Chelan it looks likes we will be looking into a new computer for me. I love this laptop, it has served me very well. I can't say I didn't get my money's worth! But until I get a new computer I can't post or edit photos. Sorry. I'll get them up eventually!!!

A year ago today...

2009-08-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

I know, I can't believe it's been a year already! My baby boy has grown into a sturdy little toddler.

This past year has been amazing. I was going to write a sappy post, but my boy needs me to put him down for a nap.

And yes, he's SOOOO BIG!!!

His first haircut...

2009-07-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

We've been going back and forth, cut his hair before his birthday? Do it ourselves or have it done? We wanted it done before we go to Chelan on the 8th, and just have too much going on before then. So tonight, I set up the camera, handed it to Jason, and turned on the clippers...

And you better believe I'm keeping his wings...

My Goomba

2009-07-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

My Goomba is adorable (especially in his Goomba shirt)

He's an incredibly smart monkey. Yes, he took the laundry basket, turned it upside down, climbed on top and used it as a stepstool.

He likes to sit in the chair. But not watch TV. Unless it's daddy playing Zelda or the creepy Arts channel.

He understands new games and toys right away.

And still tries to catch the sunlight.

I can't believe my baby will be a year old in less than a week! He can wave "bye-bye" now, and he's such a polite and sharing little boy. He loves to give hugs and kisses to his friends. We leave on Thursday to go to Seattle for a week for his birthday and family time, come home for a day, then leave for Chelan for another week. This time we're going with our good friends and their two little boys. It should be a fun filled week of bubbles, sprinklers, lake time, and card games in the evening. So I don't know how much I'll be blogging :) I'll try to keep photos updated though.

Having Jason home is great. Yesterday we took a walk around Lake Padden while Baxter napped in the stroller. And we've been taking turns sleeping in. That combined with Baxter only waking once a night has been glorious!

Oh, just a few more...

2009-07-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Have I commented recently on how much I love photoshop? I"m getting so much more into it! And of course, the Creative Mama is doing TWO more giveaways! One for some Florabella Textures, and one for a fine art print! *SWOON*

So of course I have to share my recent creations :) Just remember, I'm still learning!!!

A black and white kind of day

2009-07-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm getting more and more into Photography as I read the series on The Creative Mama. Today's giveaway is amazing, I'm having so much fun with actions, presets and textures. Next time I upload to flickr you'll see more. So yeah, I want to win this time!

I suppose I could tell you more about our Chelan trip, or what's happened this week. But I'm still tired! But there was a fire on the 4th of July (scary) right down the hill from us. Tony took off to try to fight it, but they wouldn't let him. Luckily it was controlled super fast. We went to the beach, and we ate good food, and had a general good time. It was a vacation, I'm not sure what else to say! Grandma Deanna taught Bax how to bang a tin tray with a spoon... And Bax started to want to read books!

Baxter liked playing the piano, and when others played.

Jessie got creative with the blocks and glass topped table (I love this one!)

My boys loved on each other

And Grandma Deanna got lots of cuddles

Maybe next time I'll share some that aren't Black and White? There are more on the flickr page, but these are some favorites :) Oh, and YES, I've been photoshopping them all. Not like switching heads or anything, just some gentle enhancements, or converting to Black and White. Ya know, the good type of photoshopping!

Home

2009-07-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

We were here:

Doing things like this:

And taking beautiful pictures like this:

And now I'm home, catching up on more mundane things. So I'll leave it at that tidbit for now, while I still have hundreds of photos to go through. What I would really love is a new copy of CS4, which The Creative Mama is giving away in a short giveaway today... She's doing photography related giveaways all week, so stay tuned, and I'll tell you about each one! With maybe some fun photos of our vacation each time :)

Reconnecting / Disconnecting

2009-06-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning we're heading out bright and early to spend some quality family time over at Lake Chelan. It will be reconnecting time with Jason's younger sister Jessica, my Mom and Step Dad, My Step Sister and Nephew, my Step Brother, and a few other assorted family members along the way! I'm looking forward to it... We have plenty of sun block and water toys. My camera batteries are charged, and I'm prepared to take a TON of photos!

The disconnecting part is that I will be internet-free for the most part. I'll have my phone, so I'll have email and facebook, but I don't expect to be online much :)

That's all for now! Look for an exciting photo filled post next week some time!

eight?

2009-06-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

So Baxter had 5 teeth for a long time. Then he broke 3 teeth in the last three days, and he only woke up once last night!

Today we had a playdate (well, actually lunch) with some new friends. Now Jason is taking the car back to the shop because it came home with a new dent... I'm hoping they fix it, or we won't be using them again!

I'm finally starting to feel normal again, it's nice. Tomorrow I'm helping to run the breastfeeding booth at the farmers market for the mother baby center. Fun stuff!!

About Life

2009-06-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, How should I explain what all has happened in the last week and a half? I'll just go chronologically. Because then I'll be less likely to forget something! And I'm looking at my calendar, so that helps too....

A week ago Sunday we went to Lake Padden to my friend Danielle's graduation BBQ. Baxter was a hit, and he wanted to walk everywhere, and meet all the dogs. Jason took him to the playground for a bit, but he found having to be held on all the toys a bit too constraining. And I think it might have been too close to nap time to enjoy the slide.

On monday I got a haircut, and Baxter sat sweetly in the stroller the whole time! Even though it was nap time and I got there early hoping to walk him to sleep in the stroller... he just thought that was funny. So he only took ONE nap that day, in the middle of the day, and went to bed early. He behaved really well though, so now I know he can do it if I need him to. Tuesday we spent doing a ton of laundry, because the rest of the week was going to be FULL.

On wednesday the 17th was Jason's last day of school. They were doing a block schedule, and they only had 6th period that day. Jason has 6th period planning, so he had no students. He had some cleaning and organizing to do, so Baxter and I joined him at school. A few students came in, and Baxter charmed all of them :) He's so sweet. I even managed to get him to nap in the sling for 40 minutes while Jason had a staff meeting! After that there was a staff BBQ, where Baxter continued his conquest to acquire as many admirers as possible. Then we went home, exhausted.

Thursday was spent packing, and cleaning, and doing all sorts of preparing stuffs, so we could go to Seattle for the weekend. We decided to try something new, before now Baxter's carseat has always been in our 4 door Nissan. The Nissan is a good little car, but the gas milage is only okay, and there's only a radio that doesn't tune well. The trunk space is minimal to say the least. So we decided to try putting the carseat in the 2 door Toyota, since it gets much better mileage, has a CD player, a radio, and the iPod player works in that car. As Baxter gets bigger it's somewhat easier to get him in and out of the carseat, and we found that this worked well for us. Good thing too! This was planned as a trial run for our trip to Chelan. Another bonus? The carseat only fits in the middle of the back in the Nissan, but fits on the side in the echo. I know the middle is a little safer, but on the side means the passenger in the front can lean the seat back... almost a must for long drives! We also managed to find time to do some finger painting... Well, more like finger painting the deck, but I did manage to get two paintings finished before Baxter was.

Friday morning Jason dropped us off at playgroup then went home and packed up the car. He came to pick us up, then we had to stop in Seedro Woolley to do a few things before heading down to Seattle for a long weekend. Baxter was a doll the entire time. Did I forget to mention that I taught Baxter a few new tricks on Thursday? :) If you ask "How big is Baxter?" he raises his arms above his head and grins, and you then have to respond enthusiastically with "So big!!!" and then he's pleased and will often do it several more times to see if he can get the same response. And now when you clap your hands, he claps right away, then continues to clap for a little bit... So cute!

Ok, anyway, we got into Seattle around 4:00 and tried to surprise my mom at her office, but she wasn't there. Fail #1. So we went to my brother Brent's store to surprise him, but he was with a really long customer (quoting an entire deck). Fail #2. Luckily, we had arranged with Jessica, Jason's younger sister, to babysit for us that night. So we headed over to the Dilley house and settled in for the weekend. After Baxter went to bed, Jason and I set out for our first date night since Bax was born!

We started at King Wa's, our FAVORITE chinese restaurant ever. We had thought about seeing a movie, but we didn't think it would work timing wise, because it left us just under an hour to eat. Well, King Wa's had exceptionally fast and excellent service, so when we were done we decided to try for the movie anyway. We (when I say we I mean mostly Jason) wanted to see "The Hangover", and it was playing at Southcenter. So we got there 2 minutes after the movie had started, and realized when they remodeled the mall they put in a new theater... and we were at the wrong one. So we decided what the heck, lets check out the other one and see if we make it, it's ok if we miss the first few minutes. Can I just say that the Southcenter mall is now amazing? We didn't have time to explore, but Jason and I just boggled as we rode the escalators (escalators!?!) up to the third floor (third floor!?!). The movie was not 15 minutes in, but we got tickets at what looked like a fancy touch screen atm, and went in. Guess what? We still saw a preview! LOL! Of course, we rushed home after the movie, so there were only two things our date night was missing... drinks and dessert. Ah well, another time.

Saturday we spent hanging out at my Mom's house in honor of her birthday (which is actually today, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!). April and Riley were there, and Andrew was there for a bit (my step-siblings and nephew). Richard (my step-father) grilled, and we had a fantastic meal. I took about a billion pictures. A fun time was had by all :) That night after getting Baxter down for bed, Jessica babysat again (LOVE THAT GIRL!) and we went out to dinner with Mom, Richard, and Brent. Tony was flying home from California, and managed to get here an hour early, so Richard left to go pick him up right after ordering. We went to the Ram, and my fries came cold. And they forgot to bring the Chicken for Jason's fajitas. But they kept Richard's steak warm while he was gone, got me new fries, and discounted Jason's dinner, so it ended up ok. It was nice being able to spend a bit of time with Brent. While at my mom's I could feel a bit of Mastitis coming on that morning, so I tried to take it easy. No luck. By the end of the day I was miserable. I had a really bad fever Saturday night that just took me out for the count.

Sunday was Father's day, and we spent the day hanging with the Dilley clan. Jason's older sister JoAnne came to visit, and Jason's parents bought him a bike (which he really wanted). I spent most of the day on the couch or in bed. I must say, that if you have to have mastitis, having it while around a super helpful 16 year old who loves her nephew makes it soooooo much easier. Oh, and Baxter loves her too. I swear, that boy only wanted attention from me if it was for food. I could have been chopped liver all weekend for all he was concerned. Jason grilled up some nice ribeye steaks and we had it with baked potatoes for dinner. Overall, very satisfying even if I was pretty sick.

When I've had mastitis in the past, it's passed in about a day. Not this time. Our plan was to leave on Monday whenever, but it was pretty clear by monday morning when I was still having fevers and my mastitis was still getting worse that it was time for me to see a doctor. So I had a 3:15 appt on monday back in Bellingham, and we tried to get out by 11:30... which turned into 12:30. On top of that we needed to stop by and pick something up from my brother and drop something off with him too, and get gas. We finally got on the road and made good time. At this time I'd like to mention that having a passenger seat that reclined was a LIFESAVER. I was in so much pain I couldn't have done it any other way. Baxter was an angel in the car too. We ended up going straight to the doctors office, and I got some antibiotics. So much fun.

So here it is, Tuesday. My mastitis still isn't better, but the antibiotics got rid of the fevers at least. But they give me migraines... so I haven't been overly productive. My friend Danielle came over to visit, which was nice though. Oh, and the lack oh photos of all of this? Two reasons....

1) I pretty much only took photos on Saturday
2) Jason left my camera at his parents house.....

Luckily my friend Laura is coming up to visit on Thursday and she graciously offered to pick it up and bring it to me. Then I can edit cute nephew photos, cute Baxter photos, and start taking more photos! I guess tomorrow I should try to video Baxter's new tricks. He can now climb onto the glider ottoman (which I tried to constrain but it still rocks some). He then sits and rocks it back and forth clapping... too cute!

GAH! I LOVE THAT BOY! Wow, this turned into a long update!

Love this boy!

2009-06-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

I posted these on flickr, but I needed to blog about them too.

My little man is growing up! See how handsome he is?

He's turned into SUCH a climber. He will try to climb on anything and everything. This was before the cat litter got taken upstairs. It made a great ladder.

Oh, and here's his funny new scrunched face smile. It cracks me up!

It's entirely too late to do this

2009-06-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

It's after 10pm, and I should be heading to bed. But I sat down at my computer desk, and realized I have been super neglectful.

Baxter is still ridiculously cute. No worries. I actually have more pictures on my camera I should upload and edit, but as previously state, it's too late tonight. So just an update. Maybe short, maybe long? We'll see :)

Ok, it's been a LONG time! Baxter is walking everywhere now. He hates to crawl it seems like. Until earlier this week he was crawling a tiny bit so he could pull himself to standing so he could take off again, but he learned how to stand up on his own. It's sooo cute! But it means my baby boy is growing up :( Can you believe he's 10 months old already? It's crazy! He still isn't working on any words, but he has learned a few signs. He rarely uses them though. In fact, I taught him to sign "more" the other day using blueberries, but now he only wants more blueberries. He loves blueberries. Almost as much as he loves pudding.

Oh yeah, if you didn't see them on Flickr or Facebook already, we gave Baxter chocolate pudding. He made a royal mess, but it was so stinkin cute, and he loved it. I still have pudding spots on my walls though... Oops! He's starting to want to eat 3 meals a day, but not eating much. He's such a slow eater, and HATES bibs, so now that its finally warm I've just been stripping him down.

I started doing some Photography on the side, and I've been really liking it! Right now I've only taken pictures of a few friend's kids, and I have more to put up, but here's my gallery of photos. I'm hoping that if I get good enough it can bring in a little bit of extra cash next year. I've still been sewing diapers, and my newest creations, embellished birthday diapers, have been a hit so far! Check out my Dilley Dally blog for pictures of those though.

Jason is getting close to the end of the school year. His last day is the 17th, but then the 18-19 are the beginning of summer school. He's teaching a Geometry class this summer for students who want to skip ahead to Advanced Algebra next year. Usually it goes Algebra, Geometry, Advanced Algebra. So this class will be mostly online, and then Jason will be at the school for 2 hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays to be there for help. It's a pretty neat system, and I'm looking forward to having him around this summer!

Speaking of summer plans, I'm totally excited to be taking our first vacation over the 4th of July! The Spears/Irvine family is going to the Chelan house, but we're staying a whole week. So some family time, and some just us. We bought a pool/lake toy for Baxter, and stocked up on sunscreen. I even faced the dreaded swimsuit shopping, because none of my old ones fit.

Now, swimsuit shopping is NEVER fun, but it's worse right now. My old suits are all too big, which is a nice feeling, but my tummy is in need of a lot more ahem control now, and by chest is in need of a lot more support. I also can't use anything that ties behind the neck, and V-necks and low necks are out. Yes, Baxter knows where his next meal is coming from, and he's not afraid to go after it if he's hungry enough. So those had to stay on the hangar. Luckily I found the perfect suit at the first place, and scored two amazing skirts that have been a lifesaver in this weather.

Ok, that's enough of an update for now, right? Steve and Krystal and little Bruce are coming over tomorrow, so I better get some rest tonight :)

I'm behind...

2009-06-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I'm not caught up on blogging, life got the best of me! I've been busy, and if you check out the Dilley Dally Blog you'll see why :) I'll try to update more later, but Baxter was up every 40 minutes to an hour last night, and I'm exhausted today.

Also, I wrote a guest blog for Angie over at The Creative Mama all about cloth diapering! At the end, there are four different ways to enter to win a free Dilley Dally Diaper! So head on over and check it out!!!

A Boy and His Spoon

2009-05-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

Baxter is obsessed with spoons. They're pretty much his favorite toy. If you have one, he wants it. It doesn't matter if he's already playing with one, he wants both. He carries them around with him, walking, crawling, whatever. He will hold them while nursing, he will carry it in his mouth, he will bang it on random objects. As long as he has his spoon he's happy.

Besides that, we've had a good week! Mother's day was nice family time. No pictures, it was all just a good day. We ended up buying a new grill, because the one Uncle Don and Aunt Cindy gave us for our wedding 7 years ago finally rusted through and was no longer safe to grill on. We have grilled every night (and sometimes twice a day) since. I guess we love grilling!

Baxter is walking more and more, but still isn't standing up in the middle of the room on his own. However, he has figured out how to climb out of the bathtub if he really wants something. That boy is a born monkey! Seriously, a major monkey.

Yesterday we went to a 3rd birthday party for one of my friend's daughters, and we all had a great time :)

If you're happy and you know it

2009-05-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

Clap your hands!

Or shake your head...

Both of which Baxter has now mastered. He won't do it on command though, and he doesn't associate them with anything, but it's super cute. He will walk around the living room clapping his hands, or spend 15 minutes shaking his head at you when you shake yours or nod at him. Too cute!

He's also become quite the accomplished flirt. He likes to lay his head down on my chest then peek up at someone else. It melts my heart every time! The other day he wanted to flirt with me while walking, so he turned, clasped his hands together and raised them to his cheek, then laid his head on them and grinned. It was so sickeningly adorable!

He still can't get into the standing position without pulling up, so most of the time Baxter crawls to where he can stand, then walks from there until he falls again. I've lost track, but the last time I counted he was up over 20 steps. So incredible!

My mom and Richard came to visit last week, and that was a lot of fun. Baxter spent quite a bit of time flirting with them.

Tonight I'm going to lay down, because I think I"m getting sick (again?!?) and I'm exhausted. Baxter is teething again and not sleeping well, and Jason has had a migraine for 6 days. As well as an odd rash type thing, and so I'm thinking he's having a lactose sensitivity. He's going to try cutting out dairy for a while to see if that fixes it.

We don't have any grand plans for Mother's Day tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to relaxing with my boys. Maybe taking some cute pictures.

I feel like there was more, but I've lost my train of thought :)

Not Me! Monday

2009-05-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I haven't done this in a while, and it's time to be honest again.

This week I did not take advantage of being sick to stay in bed all day and let Jason take care of Baxter. And I didn't use that time to do completely useless things like watch TV instead of knit or blog, or... something useful.

Baxter did NOT turn 9 months old a few days ago, he is my little baby boy forever and ever! And I haven't been putting off taking 9 month pictures of him because my room wasn't clean. But I did not spend the first portion of his two hour morning nap today organizing my closet and making the bed so that my mom wouldn't be shocked when she comes to visit. My mother's opinion of me is not more important than taking Baxter's pictures!

I did not canvas all my friends to find someone to go with me to the Tulip festival so I had an excuse to take a ridiculous amount of pictures, and I didn't turn it into an all day fun day, starting with breakfast at my favorite pastry shop and ending with allowing Jason to go buy dinner...

I also did not give Baxter a bit of my sandwich last night so he would stop fussing while I finished eating so I could put him to bed.

And most of all I did not end Baxter's bath after 2 minutes and the washing parts were done because he peed in the water. And how did your week go?

Tulip Photos

2009-05-03T16:34:00.001-07:00

I took a billion. Ok, like 500. We had so much fun!

Check out my flickr page for all of them. I think this is my favorite of the day though :)

I'm excited!

2009-05-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

I wanted to go to the Tulip Festival this year, but with our sickness it didn't look like it was going to happen. Well, they extended the festival, and it looks like I'll be meeting a friend of mine there tomorrow! I can't wait to take a ton of photos. I hope the weather stays nice!

Some Baxter Videos

2009-04-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

I uploaded them to YouTube (link at the top of the page), but here are some of them anyway :)

For Better or Worse?

2009-04-30T13:28:00.001-07:00

Well, Jason and I are feeling mostly better. Jason is back at school, so that's progress! He ended up missing friday and monday. Baxter is looking well during the day, and then still vomiting at night. My friend recommended giving him some probiotics and we're trying that. So far it delayed his nightly vomit from 8-9pm to when he woke up this morning. At least that's some progress, right? We're still doing laundry.

Here's my little sock stealer in action:

He's walking better and better. Last night we drove out to Birch Bay to visit Jason's uncles Dick and Ben. We had a great time, and Baxter showed off his walking skills quite a bit. It was so nice to spend time with family. We hadn't seen Uncle Ben in ages!

As far as the happy times of Baxter's day, he's quite an amusing little boy. He makes kissy noises now, and he says mama and dada and baba all the time. Not necessarily to the right person, but at least its progress in the right direction! I have videos which I should upload, but this nap is coming to an end soon.

Funny story time! Baxter likes getting into the bathroom cabinets. The other day he pulled out my tub of velcro hair rollers. They stuck to his wool pants, and I just about died laughing. He thought I was weird.

And to end this super fragmented post, here's a picture of us :)

Sick, sick, sick

2009-04-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

Baxters croup is getting better, but then he developed a projectile vomiting/massive dirrhea tummy bug. Guess what he passed on? So I was in bed all day yesterday, and now it's Jason's turn. Baxter is still vomiting, and he's on a nursing strike. So I keep having to pump to prevent mastitis, and I think he's getting dehydrated.

I keep think back to when we used to play Oregon Trail on our 486, on floppy disks.

"Your family has died of dysentary. You lose."

I'm currently in search of someone local to go buy some immodium for us. Oh the joys... My step dad offered to drive the 2 hours, but that seems like a big waste of gas. There are times when having family close by would be amazing. Even more so if Bax would take a bottle.

At least he seems happy when he's not needing to sleep. I'm camped out on the futon in his room while he plays. Trying to gather the energy for another diaper change. Not that he's peeing much anyway :(

So if you have a moment, pray for our family. I know we will survive, but I'm not looking forward to the laundry involved... :)

Croup.

2009-04-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

Baxter has croup. It kept him up all night last night, so we went to the doctors today. He sounds like a barking seal. I did get some current stats on him though. He's 28.5 inches long, and 21 lbs, 13 oz. So tonight we have the humidifier set up, and the heat will be on high.

Baxter also sampled cantaloupe today, but was not impressed. He liked chicken the other night though, so we'll have that for dinner.

Baxter is a walking machine this afternoon too. They grow up sooo fast!

Wordless Wednesday - Rejects (not all pictures are pretty)

2009-04-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

Just a few...

2009-04-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

cute photos of Baxter.... :)

Nifty New Noises

2009-04-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

Baxter loves to make noise. Every friday at GBC (Getting Behind Cloth, the cloth diapering playgroup) he learns something new. Some new grunt, or squeak or growl, you never know. On friday he was laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. We all were laughing, then realized he was watching everyone in the overhead mirror used for cooking demonstrations.

The boy is so smart. Today he was playing a game where he would put the remote control somewhere, take it down, and then put it somewhere else. I couldn't find it for hours today. He's taken to opening the drawers on the cabinet and putting things inside. We found the remote, Jason's rubix cube, his cell phone, and another toy in one. He also likes dropping items over baby gates. I'll give him a stack of toys and he'll get angry because he can no longer reach them because they're all on the other side of the gate!

We've had a good week so far. On Monday (I think this is going to be our routine) after he had his first nap we went to story time at the library. I'm not sure if he really enjoyed it, but he seemed to. Mostly it gives me new songs to sing him. After that we went to the April-October produce market. Love that place!

I spent under $7 and got 3 onions, 3 tomatoes, a head a lettuce, 2 pears, a cantaloupe, and 6 lemons. I'm drinking freshly squeezed lemonaide right now, are you jealous? I'm making an attempt to have dinner ready every night by 5 so Baxter can eat with us. That means I need a snack in the evening, but that's ok :) Us breastfeeding mamas burn up a lot of calories!

Oh, and I finally uploaded a ton of photos to flickr! Enjoy!

Trouble

2009-04-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

Baxter regularly takes 2-3 steps, and has taken up to 5 (although Kit who also witnessed it says 6). He's still pulling to stand, but about half the time when you go to set him down he only wants to be put on his feet, not sitting. He can stand pretty well unsupported, but not for longer than about 30 seconds. It's crazy how fast they grow though! I did not expect him to be walking before 9 months. I was trying to deny it before but the last couple days it's been really evident that this is a growing trend.

I'm having problems uploading pictures to flickr today for some reason, but I have some other fun pictures to post. Yesterday we took a spur of the moment trip to Oak Harbor to visit our good friends Kit and Christine and their two little boys. We had a great time, and every time we see them we say we should see them more often... And we really should! The boys had a great time playing together, and were nice the whole time. Baxter loves being around other kids, especially mobile ones. At playgroup he hangs out with the "older" kids (they're all under 3, but he hangs out with the mobile babies) instead of the ones closer to his own age.

I probably have more to post, but I'm not feeling the greatest and I have more to do. Ta ta!

I can see clearly now

2009-04-10T14:48:00.000-07:00

Look how long his eyelashes are! I've taken so many photos today, and I'm loving it. My new camera just came in last night, so I've spent the day today taking pictures of Bax and the other babies in our cloth diapering playgroup.

Have I written about the playgroup before? I don't think so. My friend Miranda and I founded a cloth diapering playgroup for local moms. We share information, tips, and ideas, and our kids have a great time playing with each other. We do it every friday from 10am-noon. So much fun!

But here are a few more cute pictures of Baxter, enjoy!

four

2009-04-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

Baxter's second top tooth came through this morning and I have the fussy baby to prove it.

three

2009-04-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

"Then thou shalt count to three, no more, no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither thou count two, excepting that then thou proceed to three. Five is right out."

Name the movie and I'll give you a gold star! ;)

But what's so important about three? That's the number of teeth Baxter now has. After weeks of being just under the surface, his top left tooth is now through the gums. Yay! Of course that means he'll be fussy next week, but I can handle that.

Right now I'm sitting on the guest bed with a sleeping boy. There's no crib for him here today, so naps are being supervised. Hence blogging on my phone!

We're having a great visit with great grandma today. So far Seattle has gone well and Baxter even slept pretty well last night. I'm hoping for a repeat performance tonight :)

I ordered our new camera this week!!! It should be here Thursday, so be prepared for lots of new photos!

Ok, phone blogging is hard, but that's the scoop!

growing up

2009-04-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this from my phone, so please excuse any errors. On Tuesday Bax decided he could walk. He pulled to standing and then took two steps before falling on his bum. He's really good at walking while holding hands (great with two, and fine with one!) but he's just now turning 8 months old... I'm so not ready for him to walk.

Right now I'm holding him as he sleeps and lets out huge man farts. He still hasn't broken his top teeth, I think they will remain in his gums forever. We may have a two year old with dentures like two of his grandpas....

So far my store opening has gone really well!! I sold 5 diapers yesterday, which is virtually unheard of for a new WAHM.

Oh!!! And I ordered my camera last night, I'm so excited for it to get here!

What a Day...

2009-03-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

Amusing Baxter story time! But first some business...

I LOVE YOU JASON! I can't believe we've been married seven years. You're the greatest husband, the best dad, and I'll love you forever.

Also Dilley Dally Diapers is opening on Wednesday!!! Yay! I'm still fine tuning the process, but I'm loving how everything is coming together.

Ok, and now the part you've been waiting for. Fun Baxter story time!

First, a cute tidbit. Baxter is totally in love with his Daddy. This morning he went into hysterics when Jason took a shower. He didn't want ME, he wanted DADDY. So for most of Jason's shower we played peek-a-boo with the shower curtain. If that doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what will.

And now, one of the funniest things I've ever seen the man child do. WARNING: Swallow whatever you're drinking.

Yesterday Baxter was cranky, and it was just about nap time. So I nursed him, then put him in bed. He squirmed around for a little bit, and then let out a pretty good fart. Well, evidently the fart wasn't enough.

I watched as he woke up, then stood up in his crib. His nose just peeks out over the top of the rail. He held on, then squatted down, like he needed some support. He then proceeded to drop a ginormous load in his pants. From there he stood up, looked over the rail, and GRINNED at me, like he was so proud of that poopy. I was laughing so hard I had to go get Jason to change his diaper. Then I put him back down for his nap.

Not Me! Monday

2009-03-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

This week, on Not Me! Monday, I will not be linking to McMama's Not Me Monday. Baby Stellan needs our prayers. He almost died before he was born due to high heart rates, but he survived. At four months old, he's now in the hospital again experiencing heart problems. If you get a chance, head over to My Charming Kids to read more and let them know you're praying too.

However, I have some things I need to confess, so I will be doing my own Not Me Monday!

This week I did not get so frustrated with Baxter's hair grabbing that I went to get my hair chopped off after he was in bed. I also did not come home to find out that the hair dresser did a TERRIBLE job, and have to take Baxter back with me the next morning to get it fixed. I also did not come to the conclusion that my new haircut is GREAT, but that it's also a Mommy Mullet, a party in the front and business in the back.

I did not conspire with my grandparents to surprise my father with dinner on Friday night. I also did not let my father give Baxter some water out of a straw, knowing that Baxter does not like water...

And most of all I did NOT freak out on Saturday when I looked down and saw a quarter sized spider crawling down my cleavage, and I did not run to the bathroom and find said spider suffocated under my boob. I then did not display the humongous spider on a wad of toilet paper and show the assorted family members who were present what I found in my shirt.

I'm not at all sure that there is much more that I should confess this week, but it's late and I'm tired.

8 grandparents in 24 hours

2009-03-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

That sums up friday and Saturday. We also saw 2 Aunts, 3 Uncles, 2 cousin, 3 cats, and 1 dog. Am I missing anyone? I can't remember. On Sunday we went out to lunch with some old friends.

It was all rather nice! Baxter behaved beautifully, and slept terribly. Now my dad is visiting until Wednesday morning. Such a busy life!

I'm also quite a bit closer to my camera goal :)

Wordless Wednesday - Courtesy of Avocado and Teething Biscuits

2009-03-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Dance!

2009-03-16T16:55:00.001-07:00

I just finished my final final. I turned in my final project. I have nothing more to do at WWU. Except I'm still here. In one of their computer labs. Not at home with my lovely family. Why? Because I get 500 pages to print each quarter, and this is the last time I get to use it. My mom wants her iPod manual printed out (72 pages) and I have some half sheet mailers to put in packages when I sell diapers. Instead of PAYING to print them at Kinkos or the expensive ink for my home inkjet printer, I'm taking advantage of what's already included in my college tuition. I'm being thrifty!

I'm so glad to be done though. Once I get home I might relax for a little bit, but my house is a disaster. The last couple weeks have been whirlwind, so laundry and vacuuming have suffered. I did clean the bathroom this morning, but I think all my floors are due for a good scrubbing. I don't think a mop will cut it.

Of course, then I need to get going on opening my business! I now own www.DilleyDally.com (it doesn't go anywhere yet) and I set up my new official business email address too. I think I need to purchase some good accounting software, just because I did just get a degree in business, and it would be hypocritical if I just did this without any forethought for the future. I have fabric on order, but I really need to sew some diapers too.

When Gary is here next week I'm going to have him help me do the site design for my shopping cart online. He is a graphic designer, and Baxter does nap, so he's obligated to help me, right? :) I think he wants to help me, but it's more fun to say he has to!

It takes a long time to print this much... But I can't imagine doing this at home. I'll probably have to do the paper cutting at home, but that's manageable. I can't believe how much it costs to set up a business! And I'm still attempting to save toward a new camera too. I can't even tell you how much I want it like 5 days ago. I've got the photography bug, and I just can't scratch it! I've even found myself reluctant to take pictures with my current camera in favor of waiting. I might be waiting for a while though, and I know you all still want pictures, so I suppose I'll have to continue to take them anyway!

We have a playdate with a friend tomorrow morning, then a second flu shot for Baxter (babies get it in two doses). Fun stuff. Ok, well I'm done printing now, so I suppose I better go home!

Not Me! Monday

2009-03-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

On this week's installment of

I was not sick almost all week, but never allowed myself to actually feel sick. This did not make me crazy tired to the point of falling asleep on the toilet. I did not awaken to find myself finished, and freak out because I didn't remember starting to go...

We did not take Baxter to Little Cheerful as our first time taking him to a restaurant by ourselves. And he did not live up to the restaurant's name, charming all the patrons, our waitress, and the manager who Jason knows. He also was not enamored by the hair of the man sitting behind him, and I did not have to pull out bits of rice husk out of his ponytail after Baxter had gotten his hands on him yet again.

After breakfast, we did not go spend our hard earned money on a contraption to hold our baby. And that carrier was not a miracle, and carrying Baxter is not a million times easier.

Baxter is not obsessed with trying to pull my hair, and I am not seriously contemplating cutting it off super short.

And it does not freak me out to walk into Baxter's room at night to find him standing in his crib.

Most of all, I am not graduating with my BA in Management and a minor in Psychology this week!

fun times

2009-03-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

Now that Baxter is down to two naps a day, I had to start nursing him once in the afternoon that doesn't trigger a nap. I don't nurse him to sleep, but I usually nurse him and he gets sleepy, so in the crib he goes. Well afternoon snack is super fun mommy time.

Baxter smiles and giggles and pets my face while he nurses. He plays with me while he eats and it's just sweet bonding time. Yesterday he figured out that if he pinches me he gets sqirted. Giggles ensue. Well today I was making him laugh while he nursed, and milk came out his nose. He didn't think that was nearly as funny as being squirted. He quickly calmed down and was back to his smiling self.

Oh, and Jason's birthday breakfast was amazing. Dinner smells great. I'm off to go serve it up!

Happy Day!

2009-03-12T07:59:00.001-07:00

Sit down and buckle your seatbelt, it's a long post today!

Happy Pi Day everyone! March 14th is Pi day in the US. Pi is a mathematical symbol used to represent the non-repeating decimal 3.1415.... And since the number is 3.14 March 14th is the day it's celebrated.

Now how appropriate is it that Jason, my math teacher of a husband, was BORN on Pi day? That's right, Jason turns 27 today! I made him a cake. It was vanilla with lemon curd filling and a lemon cream cheese and buttercream frosting, with fresh strawberry accents. It was amazing.

Today we're going to celebrate by going out to breakfast at Little Cheerful downtown, and then do some errands. I'm also making him corned beef and cabbage, his favorite meal, that's only really available around St. Patrick's day. It all works out!

Baxter has been pulling to standing more and more every day. He can do it on virtually anything now, including my guitar. We were having a photo session and he really wanted to play with it. There's more pics on Flickr, but this one cracks me up:

He's pretty good at getting around with it too. He pulled up on the baby gate, used the wall, the couch, and the buffet and made it all the way to the TV. He figured out how to open the cabinet doors, and likes to push buttons. Guess what's getting childproofed this weekend?

The funnies thing this week though? Our high chair is on casters. Sometimes I put Baxter in the chair, wheel him into the kitchen and let him eat while I clean. Works great. Also means I rarely lock the wheels on the highchair. Well, Baxter figured out how to pull up on it, then use it as a walker... Jason was quite surprised to see the highchair rolling around the dining room seemingly on it's own.

Going back to childproofing, I ordered a babygate for the top of the stairs. I had to have it shipped. Now it just needs to be installed. I also made sure to be a good mommy and put outlet plugs in all the exposed outlets a while ago. Well guess what Baxter figured out?

CHILD SAFETY FAIL

At least he's more interested in taking them out then putting anything IN.

I'll try to write more this week, but it's going to be pretty busy. I have my final day of anything school related on Monday, and then I have to clean and do various housework the rest of the week. We're going to Seattle next weekend, and then my dad will be here for a few days right after that!

So I'll leave you with some adorable and funny pictures of Baxter.

Not Me! Monday

2009-03-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week I did not take Baxter out to run errands simply because I didn't feel like sitting on the ground to help him stand for three hours. We did not go to five different places at two different times during the same day just so that he would be happy being held or in a cart...

And I certainly did not get excited that daylight savings time was beginning, meaning that Baxter's natural time to wake up would be pushed back an hour from between 5-6am to between 6-7am.

Last Monday on my way to school I did not stop at Avenue Bread because my first class was cancelled and I was using the time for homework and I needed one of their amazing mochas and a freshly baked pastry. No, I was trying to save money and be a good little thrifty girl.

There were not several nights that I was supposed to be doing homework that I was instead browsing ebay doing "research" on how much a used version of my camera and lens cost, so that when I had enough money saved I would know what was a good deal or not. And I did not just tell myself that because I didn't want to admit I was procrastinating.

I certainly did not start a separate blog just for showing off my creations, but haven't told anyone where to find it because I want to make it pretty and put a nice layout on it first.

Bad Mommy?

2009-03-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

I let Baxter play with things he shouldn't.

Like bottles of lotion and air pump nozzles.

Usually when it's what he wants and it will make him hold still long enough to do thing like, oh, change a poopy diaper. Or any diaper. Or put clothes on him. The boy is an escape artist. He can turn over and half crawl away while you're holding his feet in front of his face and have your legs blocking him in in two sides. True story, this is how poop gets on the carpet.

Baxter is also now a fan of pears. Not pureed of course, but small chunks of the fresh ones. I can't wait intill the fresh fruit and veggie market is open next month. Feeding him will get cheaper.

Oh, and Baxter knows his first sign! He signs "num nums" now when he's nursing. He doesn't understand how to ask for it yet, but he's starting to get the whole sign language thing. Except sometimes he cries when I sign asking if he wants num nums though, because he thinks it's also nap time!

I love that boy so much.

He thinks he can, but he can't

2009-03-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

Baxter thinks he can stand up on his own and walk around. But he can't so it makes him mad. Seriously mad. He can pull up on a few things, and can "walk" while holding hands. He's so enamored with it he's hardly crawling at the moment. He wants to spend every moment practicing.

He's also teething really bad, and super clingy. And not great naps. And bad timed naps. He also is pinching while nursing, so I just ordered nursing necklaces for him to grab instead of me. We'll see how it goes. Still have quite a bit of stuff left to do, but most of it is reading now. Fun stuff. Oh, and I posted a bunch of textbooks for sale on half.com. Lets hope they sell!!!

Sleep, or lack thereof

2009-03-06T20:59:00.000-08:00

I think Baxter knows when I have something to do. On nights when I have school the next day, he sleeps badly at night. On days that I have a ton of homework to do, he either naps terribly or is super clingy. I suppose I should be happy that I'm so close to graduation. But in the mean time I have a LOT to get done, and I could use some cooperation from the Goomba!

PFFFFFFTTTTTTT

2009-03-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

That's what I woke up to this morning. Last night Baxter figured out how to blow raspberries. So this morning instead of his usual babbling he blew raspberries over and over. So cute! He LOVES to stand. He can't pull himself up, but if you set him up he will stand for 20 minutes or more. The can travel a little bit, but not much. I think he just likes the balance practice.

Right now he's chewing on a teething biscuit, because that darn tooth hasn't popped through and it's bugging him. Luckily teething biscuits make him happy. He doesn't like purees, but give him table food and he's all over it.

I took his seven month pictures today. I put a few more up on Flickr, but here's my favorite of the batch. I actually took it for my online forum's picture of the week contest. The theme was blanket, and this was the blanket I knit for him before he was born. It turned out so sweet though that I like it anyway!

I also finished a new wool interlock cover for him. I dyed the wool and then had Grandma Annette (Jason's mom) embroider it. I loved his original cover with a monster on the bum, and I found out that monster's name was Milo. I found the embroidery patterns online, and I was super excited. Can you guess what this monster's name is?

It's Baxter! So I just HAD to make it for him. You understand, right?

Yarn

2009-03-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

Since some of you asked, here's some of the yarn I dyed this weekend. It's some Blackberry Ridge Merino that my friend Beth sent me (heart!). I kettle dyed it using professional acid dyes in red and brown. Some bits are a little too pink for Baxter, so I may have to make something for myself with it. I love kettle dying because there are no striping or pooling issues with the colors when it's knit up.

I also dyed some Cestari wool in browns, yellow and greens. But I'm not 100% sure I like it, so I may dye over some of the bits. The more I see it the more it grows on me though. So I'll share pictures once I decide :)

Not Me! Monday

2009-03-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week I did not put Baxter down so I could clean up the cat barf, only to turn around and find it IN HIS MOUTH.

I also did not put him in the high chair and let him go to town on a teething biscuit so that I could get some dishes done and make myself some lunch.

I certainly did not put Baxter in a laundry basket to hang out for half an hour because it makes him happy. And I didn't use that time to do something completely selfish and senseless like play Animal Crossing.

And finally, I did not spend several hours last night dying yarn instead of homework simply because my brain was full.

Seven

2009-03-01T10:31:00.000-08:00

Baxter is seven months old today. Jason and I will have been married for seven years at the end of this month. Amazing! Time has flown by. I think being in school has kept me pretty busy, and I can't wait to graduate (done in 16 days!!!). Of course, then I will be busy sewing diapers, but I will at least get to somewhat make my own schedule then.

I got labels for my diapers made, and they look fantastic. I should probably start a second blog about my diapers so that in case you don't care about diapers as much as I do you don't have to read about them all the time. But for now it's here.

Baxter is getting a top tooth, you can see and feel it through the gums. He hasn't been too fussy, but we shall see. He's also really close to pulling up to stand. And he started making a funny scrunched face where he wrinkles his nose. Too cute!

But that's all my update is today, since I have two papers to write, a case study to do, three chapters of reading, and an exam to study for. The last 16 days are pretty packed.

Fun with Words

2009-02-27T19:49:00.001-08:00

Baxter isn't really vocal yet. He has a range of sounds he can do:

guh

mmm

huhhh

tch (think blowing out through closed mouth with tongue against back of teeth)

high pitched screaching

He's said mama a few times, but not consistently. Today he started saying dada. But not talking about Jason, talking about the tv remote control. He then went and played with a few other toys, and then came back to it, and again called it dada. It was rather cute.

The other day I laughed at him, and he laughed back and then rolled onto his back and belly laughed, looked up to see if I was still laughing, rolled over onto his tummy, checked me, then rolled the other way onto his back, and was just putting on a show. Like he knew he was being funny, and was doing it on purpose. It was great.

And sometimes now he scrunches his nose. Too cute!

I love that boy so much.

It's True

2009-02-24T18:03:00.001-08:00

In case you didn't quite understand, or just missed it from my post last night, it's true.

Jason and I are DEBT FREE! (besides student loans)

I'm so excited! And I'm done with classes in just under three weeks. I'll be able to start my "real life" whatever that means.

Bax has napped terribly today. So he went down at 4pm for a third nap, and he's still asleep. His bed time is in 10 minutes. I guess when he wakes up I'll just put a night time diaper on him and put him back down. No bath tonight!

not me Monday, condensed

2009-02-23T23:05:00.000-08:00

I certainly did not forget to write this earlier, so im not doing it while nursing Baxter. I did not buy a cookie with my coffee today because I wanted something sweet. I didn't have terrible gas from the massive amounts of garlic I consumed either.

And I most certainly DID NOT pay off all our debt besides student loans!!!!

And of course, I'm not going to bed now either.

Chasing Shadows

2009-02-22T15:01:00.000-08:00

The other day I was putting away Baxter's laundry while he played on the floor. He's been working on the pincher grasp, where he picks something up with his thumb and index finger. In the past this is only been used on me (i.e. nursing, pull off, look pointy thing! pinch, OUCH! resume nursing). Well he saw my dancing shadow in the rays of sun and was trying to pick them up! It was super cute, so I took a picture:

I also picked up some teething biscuits for him, since he seems to like table food more then purees. He loved it. He smelled of teething biscuits all day. He also made a big mess!

Shortly after this photo there was actually remnants on his forehead as well. I gave him half of one later, but planned it so he went straight into the bathtub afterwards.

He's also been laughing and ticklish a lot more. He especially loves mirrors. There are handprints on ALL of them in the house now. So next time I get them cleaned I'll try to video him playing with mirrors again. But in the mean time here are some fun videos of Baxter playing with Mommy and Daddy.

On other notes, I finished and shipped my diaper order! Now I have papers to write, but what else is new? Baxter can also scoot quite far now :)

applesauce no, paper yes

2009-02-21T06:32:00.000-08:00

Well Baxter still isn't very into solid foods, unless it's what we are eating. I had my friend and her daughter over last week, and Baxter kept stealing her apple to suck on. So I tried giving him applsauce. First thing he's actually spit out. But later I found him eating paper, which I had to fish out of his mouth. He is fond of puffs though, which are like sweet melting cheerios.

Today he got up early again, so I'm laying on the futon in his room while watching him explore the floor. He's not quite army crawling, he's more pulling himself around with his arms, but he's pretty good at it. He can almost get into a sitting possition by himself too. He's so amazing. Someties when I put him down for naps he has to talk to himself for a while first. Yesterday it sounded like "da da da geez oh right da da (thump head on mattress twice) da da" on repeat. I was trying not to laugh and wake him up!

Ok, he's starting to want my attention. Excuse any errors, since I wrote this post on my phone. I do have a video to upload, and maybe a picture/story too. I'll try to get to that later.

Stand by me

2009-02-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

So Baxter really likes standing. A lot. His new favorite toy is the laundry basket because he can hold both sides and stand on his own. See Exhibit A:

The only problem with this is that laundry baskets are prone to tipping, so we hold both sides. The picture is blurry because it's from my phone as I'm gripping the basket with my ankles.

He's getting better at crawling. He does this funny arm pulling thing, and still tries to get up on his tip toes. It's not really coordinated yet, and he still rolls over to get there faster some times. I'm not sure I would call it an army crawl yet. But it still gets him where he wants to go.

He has discovered the cat food and water. He hasn't tried to eat it yet, but he has pulled the water onto his head. Jason and I can't figure out where to move it to so that he can't get it anymore.

I've made a lot of progress with my diaper order. I'm learning silly things like remove the lint from my machine every night and it doesn't break as often. I'm also getting significantly faster. But Jason was laughing at my inventory skills. I ran out of elastic yesterday so I went to get more. But JoAnn's was having a huge President's Day sale, so I came home with a bunch of thread too, you know, for inventory. This weekend I also realized that I had ordered snaps from China forgetting about the Chinese New Year, so I wasn't going to have them in time. But then I recalculated and realized that I had ordered enough for this order but would still be short in the future, so I ordered a bunch more locally. Luckily it's only a tad bit more expensive, but the shipping is a lot faster.

This morning Baxter woke up with a bit of a cold, at 5am. He wants to be upright (so his nose drains?) and I'm too tired, therefore he is in the jumperoo. But he's starting to make whiney noises, so it might be close to naptime.

The last few days he's been trying to eliminate his third nap of the day. Which would be fine if his second nap of the day didn't start between 10 and noon, and only last an hour or two. Being up from 11 to 6pm is REALLY hard on him, but he fights that last nap. It might be because he was starting to get sick though. So today I'm going to try to push the middle nap back in case he fights number three again. Oh, and I'm going to use Tylenol.

Ok, there was yawn #3 in the jumperoo. It's still a bit on the early side for his first nap, but now he might need more mommy time. Off to my full time job!

Not me Monday

2009-02-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

As I recently mentioned, I follow MckMama's blog My Charming Kids. Every monday she does a post about things she did NOT do the week before. It's a way to pretend to be perfect while admitting our faults. I love reading hers every week, so I thought I would try it out!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week I most certainly did not decide to stop shaving my armpits after finding a one inch long ingrown hair. And I most certainly did not vow to epilate instead, even though I constantly forget and end up shaving at the last minute.

I also did not put Baxter on a chair at the Public Heath department and sit in front of him while I got a flu shot, just so he wouldn't roll off! And I most certainly did not pretend to ignore him chewing on the armrests of said chair.

Of course I would never bake a batch of cupcakes JUST for me and Jason. Never! Not me! And we didn't eat over half of them in just a few days! Never!

And I am not going to try to do this post every week, simply because I enjoy reading other people's....

Photo Ambitions

2009-02-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

As Baxter becomes more mobile, he becomes harder to catch on film. My camera will do an okay job on action shots, but it starts getting what is called noise. Like where there is supposed to be black it starts looking like a disco ball. As some of you may know, I loved photography in high school, and seriously thought about becoming a professional photographer. I had a nice Nikon SLR, and worked at a Photographic Supply store. After working in the industry for almost five years I realized that I didn't want to be a photographer, I just love great photography. Sometimes I can do it, but not always when prompted to perform. So instead it turned into a hobby. But I had a film camera, and the hobby eventually went dormant. A few years ago I bought a nice point and shoot to take with us on our three week road trip. Don't get me wrong, I love that camera. It's perfect for slipping into my pocket or purse, and it's great for toting around to various places. But if you have visited my flickr site, you know that I try to take good every day photos, the kind that would be amazing with a digital SLR.

I suppose reading My Charming Kids doesn't help. She has the most amazing story (it will take forever to read, and it WILL make you cry) and she takes beautiful pictures of her kids. I'm not nearly as good of a writer, but her blog is what I aspire to be someday. With graduation about a month away, I thinking about all the time I'm going to have during the day with just Baxter, and I'm pondering all the photographic opportunities. And then it will be spring, and I can take him to explore parks!

My photography bug has bitten again.

Of course, the camera I want is SUPER expensive. But I'm going to be a responsible adult type person and start saving my money towards it. We have a savings account that's linked to our checking account that we currently use for budgeting our childcare money. After I graduate that becomes the camera fund. We're going to make a monthly budget, and whatever extra I save outside of the budget gets to go to my camera fund. And my graduation present and anniversary gift are $100 toward my camera. We also have a Best Buy gift card from our credit card points that will be all the extras (memory card, extra battery, etc) so I just have to worry about the camera part.

Ready for the big number? I've done my research (I know, I'm very researchy when it comes to this much money and getting what I really want) and decided I want the Nikon D80. I've always been a Nikon girl, and this camera will last for a very long time. I could spend $200 less, but it would limit me in the future, and has a few things missing.

$800

Ok, now pick up your jaw and close your mouth. And start giving me good tips on how to save money. I want this thing bought before Baxter's first birthday! Or maybe a lot sooner... Of course, if you're wondering what to get me as a graduation present, this may also be a strong hint. I promise you would get to see benefits!

Out of Curiosity

2009-02-12T09:17:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been reading my blog since the Babysite days, do you like the blogger version any better? I'm debating it it was a good change or not. It's certainly easier to access so I've been posting more, and I like that I can embed photos and videos. Just curious!

I know there's no longer a guest book, but you can leave comments on individual posts. If there's something missing that you liked from before, let me know and I may be able to add something similar.

I would love to hear your comments!

It has started

2009-02-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Baxter was moving a tiny bit, but today he was moving several feet in kind of a half army crawl half scoot. He wore himself out! He has also slept awesome the past few nights, which means it will be terrible tonight. Ok, since he's now sleeping, it's shower time!

I think my education is working

2009-02-10T19:45:00.001-08:00

I have an exam tomorrow in my Management 495: Strategic Management class. I have been completely unworried about it. Today I spent Baxter's naps (minus my shower, about an hour and a half) filling in the study guide. This class is considered a "capstone" class, to make sure we understand what we've been taking classes about. It just hit me that I already know everything this exam is going to be on, hence why I've been unconcerned. That or senioritis is really kicking in. So instead I will leave you with a cute little video of foxes figuring out what a trampoline does, and then I'll go off to read through this study guide once more before doing something else with my evening.

I am so not ready for this

2009-02-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

Starting last friday, Baxter started getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth, getting ready to crawl. He continued to do this all weekend. Sometimes he gets up on his hands and tip-toes, like a funny push up. And this morning he army crawled about two inches. I keep telling him to wait another month!

Last weekend we went to Seattle. We stayed with Jason's parents, which was nice. Baxter couldn't figure out if he liked the dog or if it scared him witless. It was a lot of fun! I got to meet someone from my online forum. I'm part of the July Firecrackers playgroup, even though Baxter was born in August. They're a great bunch of ladies. Kyliee and I met and walked around the Commons at Federal Way with her daughter Natalie and Baxter. It was a lot of fun.

After that Baxter and I went to a baby shower for April, my step-sister. She's due on March 16th, the same day as my last class! Baxter was a huge hit, and the party was fun too.

While Baxter and I were out and about, Jason went with his sister Jessica to an orienteering meet. Orienteering is something that Jason did in High School and loved. It's kind of like a race, but you have to use a map to find different check in points before you can finish it. He wasn't going to run it because he is out of shape, but at the last minute he decided it would be fun. He was sore for three days.

Jason will find out on May 11th if he has a job or not. The irritating thing is that the job fair is on April 16th, so he's not sure if he's going to go to that or not. He might just for information gathering. We're somewhat preparing for the worst, which most likely means a move to Seattle. If we moved to Seattle I would have to find a job, which would be difficult with bottle-refusing Baxter. But with what we could afford rent-wise, I wouldn't have space to sew my diapers. So pray that Jason gets to keep his job!!!

I have a debate on Wednesday for my leadership practicum class, and a mid-term too. So not fun. On Friday we have a recertification appointment at WIC, and then we might go see Great-Grandpa and Grandma for a late lunch/early dinner. And I'm busy making diapers in my free time! Good thing I enjoy sewing them :)

wow

2009-02-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

Blogging has come a long way when you can start blogging from your phone.

Public Service Announcement

2009-02-06T12:16:00.000-08:00

Babies are slippery when wet. Proceed with caution.

I heard it!

2009-02-06T02:09:00.001-08:00

I heard Baxter call my name! Please note the time of my post. Yes, it is just after 2am. I was woken from my slumber by my should be sleeping son calling "mamama" piteously over and over. Of course I went to him, and gently soothed him back to sleep. And I'm so excited that I heard it, I just wish that I could more coherently remember it. The memory is already starting to fade, hence my blogging about it at 2am. Chances are I will forget about this post by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, and read it the next time I go to post, and be excited / disappointed all over again. So you, Blogger, are serving as my means of remembering. You don't require finding pen and paper. Although my eyes hurt from looking at a bright screen. I'm off to find my bed again.

Double

2009-02-05T22:14:00.000-08:00

Baxter is now double his birth weight. At his 6 month appointment today he weighed in at 19lbs, 12oz. That's 6 whole ounces more than double his birthweight. And I think that means his growth has finally started to plateau! That mean it will be much easier to clothe the boy. He's almost grown out of his 6 month sleepers. I recently had to explain this to my father, so I'll explain it again. Baby clothes are stupidly sized. There is NOT consistent sizing between brands. Carter's is much more generously sized than other brands. In Carter's Bax can squeeze into some 6 month stuff, but he's generally too long. 9 month fits well, and 12 month works, but is really wide. In Old Navy, he's in a 12-18 month onesie (that's the only thing he has from there). In American Apparel he's in 12-18 month t-shirts, and they're slightly on the large size. He got some 6-9 month stuff for Christmas that's just too short, and some others that will be fine this summer if I turn them into t-shirts. I pretty much never put him in onesies, it's mostly t-shirts. And he usually wears the wool pants I knit him. I think he's set on clothes for a while!

My long week of school is over, but next week I have two short papers, one long paper and a mid-term. This sounds worse than it is, since the long paper is already written. And the two short papers are reflections on other people's papers. The mid-term I am slightly concerned about, but I'm not going to stress out about it.

We're going to Seattle for the weekend! I love seeing family. We're staying at Jason's parents this time. On Saturday I'm meeting up with a friend, and that afternoon Baxter and I are going to my step-sister April's baby shower. Fun times! When we get home, I have a TON of diapers to make!

See, I just knew that I had to write this and wait for bed. Baxter woke up. I'll put him back down and then put myself to sleep. Good night!

Sunrise, coffee, and alternate forms of fiber

2009-02-03T15:06:00.001-08:00

There's one thing they never tell you about being a parent. "Sleeping in" means you got to sleep until 8am. Most mornings you are up between 5 and 6am, and if you're LUCKY it's 7. Jason and I take turns "sleeping in" on the weekend. He gets Saturdays, I get Sundays. But there are benefits to waking up early! Yes, that's right, benefits! For instance, I get to see the beautiful shades of pink and coral in the sunrise every morning. True that it's through the slats on his blinds, filtered through the bare branches of the maple trees outside, but it's still sunrise. And I see it six days a week.

Regardless of whether or not I get to sleep in, I need my morning coffee. I stopped drinking coffee while pregnant with Baxter, but now I drink it again. However, my coffee habits have changed. I now drink decaf, which still wakes me up. I think I'm just conditioned that coffee in the morning wakes me up. The other thing that I'm doing, is contributing my part to save third world countries. I now buy fair trade coffee, and it tastes great. Especially freshly ground in the morning. I swear, I wasn't a coffee snob until I visited the east coast and had to drink their "coffee" for a few days. But if we go back to the sunrise paragraph above, sometimes I don't feel like grinding my coffee in the morning. So today I had a brilliant idea. Why not have some of the coffee pre-ground, and some of it whole bean?!? Fantastic! But where do I PUT the ground coffee? Since Baxter refuses to take a bottle, I have some large bottles sitting around doing nothing. I think to myself "Hey, these bottles are airtight containers! And I paid good money for these!" Hence my new solution:

Enough about my rambling solutions. You want to hear about Baxter. The man child is doing fine, and he's more and more mobile every day. He seems determined to roll where ever he pleases. In fact, when he sees my shoes he gets excited, and makes his way over to them as fast as he can. He then promptly sticks them in his mouth. We did start him on solids (so far he's had carrots, banana, and avacado. Sweet potatoes or oatmeal are next) but by far his favorite food is wood. You know, door frames, chairs, the doors themselves. Seriously, the boy cannot get enough of them! I keep telling him that wood is not an appropriate source of fiber for a six month old.

On my end, things have been going. I'm not sure if they have been going good, or going bad, they're just going. I had a super busy week at school last week, including writing 5 papers. Pretty insane. I actually think my busiest week of the whole quarter ends tomorrow. Then I have a mid-term next week, but overall it calms down for a while. I also got some really great news on saturday. The CPSIA legislation that was passed last August that would virtually end business for small crafters of children's items was put on hold for another year. That means that I can officially start selling diapers in march when I graduate! I'm working on my first large order right now, and this morning I ordered labels! I can't even tell you how excited I was to order labels for Dilley Dally diapers. And on Sunday night I had a "mamas night out" with some of my good friends. It was amazing, and I just need that once a month.

Jason just finished up his first semester and is gearing up for the next set of lessons. He's been great, like always. I really have nothing to complain about with him. Oh wait, there is one MINOR thing. And it's not entirely his fault. He works at a public school, therefore he's ALWAYS SICK. Or bringing home germs. That part I could live without!

Liars and Frogs, 2.0

2009-02-02T09:18:00.001-08:00

Welcome to those of you who came from my old Babysite! I decided to move to blogger so that I can include pictures, videos and links into my blog posts, and also have a more customizable format. I hope it's not too confusing for you, but it's certainly easier for me! I'm working on archiving and updating all my previous posts, so bear with me a bit as I work on that.

Classes have been crazy busy for me the last few weeks. This quarter I have two "writing intensive" courses, which means a lot for me to do. Oh, and the CPSIA gave us a one year reprieve on testing requirements, so that officially means that after I graduate I will be opening up Dilley Dally Diapers!

And a quick Baxter update, since he just woke up from his nap:

Last night I had a girls night out with some of my friends. When I'm home I put Bax to bed, and Jason does it on Mondays and Wednesdays when I have class. So last night he was distressed that I nursed him and then handed him off to Daddy to go to sleep, because he KNEW I was there! I went into the other room to finish getting dressed. When I left his room, he started crying, and called for "mama!" So I was his first word, but I MISSED it! Sad! I hope I get to hear it soon :D

sleep training is not for the weak

2009-01-27T09:32:00.000-08:00

Baxter used to sleep great at night. Then it got worse, and it never got better. So I read the No Cry Sleep Solution. It had some great tips that started to work and then never completely did the trick. Then Kimmie sent me Sleep Sense, and it was very similar to the No Cry Sleep Solution, it just acknowledged that Babies cry when they don't get what they want. For Baxter, that's nursing to sleep. Well, we don't let him cry it out, but he does fuss.

Overall it's been a huge success so far. Naps are awesome now. He's cut down to 3 naps a day, and sometimes he tries to get it to two. But putting him down for naps is super easy, as long as it follows the routine. Change diaper, nurse, put in crib with lovey on chest, turn off light, turn on music. He'll talk to himself for a moment or two, find a comfortable position, and pass out. He has always slept on his back, but now that he can choose sometimes it's on his side (in a funny fighter pose!) or on his tummy.

Nights have had mixed success. He doesn't like going to bed. Sometimes it's easy like naps, other times it takes over an hour. But last night he slept from 7pm until 4am, then nursed and was backed in bed by 4:05 and woke up for the day at 6am. Not too bad! *I* was in pain, but only because I'm not used to him sleeping that much. In the last 5 days he has only woken up once or twice a night. Much better than four or more!

I'm crazy overloaded with school at the moment. I should probably be working on a paper right now, but I need a few minutes to myself. Baxter is down for his first nap of the day, but will most likely be awake soon. My diapers have taken off quite a bit as well. Which is exciting in some sense, but I'm not prepared yet! I just want to finish school!

Jason still doesn't know if he will have a job next year or not. He's in a really tough situation. The job fair is in the beginning of April, and he won't really know by then. So he has to decide whether or not he wants to attend and look to see what's available. It's just all up in the air. I really don't want to move in June though, since we would have to be out of here by the end of the month, and the end of school got pushed back. I would end up doing almost everything myself to pack up, while watching Baxter at the same time. I know I could do it, but I don't want to. Sigh.

Ok, off to work while the man child still sleeps!

no kisses for daddy

2009-01-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

Baxter's newest thing is giving kisses. He kissed Grandma Deanna at Christmas (his first kiss ever, I'm so jealous!) then he started kissing me. He also kisses our babysitter Jen. But not Jason.

Jason came upstairs with Baxter tonight and told me he had it figured out. Baxter STARTED to kiss him, but his kisses are rather open mouthed. He got his tongue to Jason's cheek and then pulled back in horror, with a "that tastes disgusting!" look on his face. I guess daddy needs new aftershave!

Rollin rollin rollin

2009-01-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

Baxter has been ABLE to roll for quite a long time. On Monday it finally clicked, he can GET somewhere by rolling. Now we can't stop him from rolling. Oh, my diaper is off! Lets roll over so Mom can't put a new one on! Oh, I"m doing naked tummy time, lets roll over so I can grab myself! (Which he's gotten much more violent about, I have to keep his nails cut short, he keeps giving himself wounds)

Right now we're struggling with naps. At this point in time he should be working on going from three naps a day down to two. Instead we're dealing with 4-5 20 minute naps. And when he wakes up he just wakes up happy and plays, so I can't get him back down. He will nap well over an hour if held or if REALLY tired, often his last nap of the day at 4pm. His bedtime is at 6:30, which makes this difficult. He also wakes up at 6:30 in the morning for morning play, then goes back down by 7:30 usually for an hour. I can't tell whether or not to count this as a nap half the time!

They say that sometimes babies don't sleep well while they're going through developmental milestones. So maybe when he starts crawling his sleep will get better? I've been using the "No Cry Sleep Solution" but it's not really working very well. Or really at all. But I can't tell if that's because of the developmental stuff or not :( This is a three day weekend though, so I'll recruit more help. During the week I always wake up when he crys at night because I'm the mom, it's instinct. And since I"m already awake I usually take care of him. Jason is more then willing to help, but since he teaches during the week I usually just let him sleep. Not this weekend! Mommy is exhausted!!! Even with Jason helping at night I'll still have to nurse him a few times.

I've been working hard sewing diapers. I got some small babies and newborns as testers, since they were the last ones I needed to try it on. I'm in the middle of sewing the last of the testers, and then I'll make a few more for Baxter. He has some diapers that I bought that I think I'm going to sell, because mine fit him so much better. You learn so much as time goes by! So far I've gotten really positive feedback from the people who have used the "Dilley Dally" diapers. I'm thinking I will be able to sell after the CPSIA law that goes into effect on February 10th, because my diapers are one of a kind since they're handmade. It's still sketcy, but it looks like one of a kind (OOAK) items are exempt. Probably because the testing destroys the item! I'm not concerned, my diapers don't contain lead, and I have certificates on everything that goes into them. I'm now probably talking about something that most of you know nothing about, but that's ok. If you're curious, just email me and I can tell you more. If you want to see more pictures of the diapers I make you can see them at www.flickr.com/photos/dilleydally

Other than that, the last thing I have to tell you is that I hate baby socks. Baxter is between the 0-6 month and 6-12 month size, so neither stay on. His poor cold little feet!

Mr. Everywhere

2009-01-12T09:30:00.000-08:00

Baxter wants to grab anything and everything. He'll launch himself at the cat, or the remote, or your cup if you're holding him. He wants to see and touch everything. It's cute but also rather irritating!

The other day he wanted out of the jumperoo and he raised his hands expecting to be lifted up. It was the first and only time he's done it but it was soooo cute.

This morning when I went to change his diaper he was waving at himself over and over and over again. It was nice, it kept him distracted while I changed him!

The other night he was working really hard to get his knees up under him, and he actually bridged a few times. He then fell right back down, but it's another step towards crawling!

This was just a quick update of milestones :D

I'm thankful

2009-01-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

I know most of the posts on this blog are about my beautiful baby boy Baxter. But Baxter wouldn't be here without his oh so wonderful father. And I just wanted to tell everyone how great of a father he is.

Since having Baxter, Jason has become the best father I've ever seen. It's made me fall in love with him all over again, in a completely different way. He's always willing to do something for me or Baxter when we're in need. He will willingly play with Baxter for hours so I can get things done. Sometimes he insists on it, just because he wants to play with his son. He makes up silly games, and silly songs. He figures out what Baxter likes, and then does it over and over and over again. If he's downstairs with the monitor, and I'm upstairs where I can hear, and Baxter makes a noise, he runs so fast to check on him he's at the top of the stairs before I can put down my project. He will rock Baxter to sleep for hours. He will get up in the middle of the night when Baxter decides he wants to play. He will get up at 6am to be with him so that I can "sleep in" until Baxter's first nap, when he will change his diaper then bring him to me to nurse. He will willingly change diapers, even poopy ones. He's glad that we're cloth diapering!

Simply put, he's amazing. I can't imagine a better father for my children. I'm proud to be experiencing parenthood with him.

A funny story from Jason

2009-01-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

So, i get home from work today and Merrilee is still at school. That means Jen is watching Baxter at our apartment with her 2 girls. Apparently, the girls had a colander full of grapes. Afterwards, the colander made it's way to a random place on the floor which means that Baxter got ahold of it. But that's not the funny part...

The funny part is that Jen was allowing Baxter some naked tummy time. So, I get home and I'm talking to Jen about my day when i turn around to see naked Baxter, rolling on the floor, crying, with a colander on top of his head, covering his face.

If only I had a camera...

A new year...

2009-01-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

I'm told an update is in order. Most likely true, as I've gotten behind!

Right after the last time I posted, the weather got really cold. Like REALLY cold. We had no snow, but our HOT water in our kitchen froze. That cold. When the maintenance man came out to take a look at it, he took out the drywall and insulation to re-do what was previously around the pipe. When he did that the base wall crumbled away and he could see daylight through the gaps in the siding. This summer when they pained the buildings, all the gaps were supposed to be sealed before they painted. Yeah, never happened. So the entire exposed long side of our townhouse is covered in little gaps, and water gets into the insulation. When it freezes, the soggy, sponge like insulation turns into a giant ice cube, turning our home into a literal refrigerator. Jason put plastic up over the windows to help stave off the chill to no effect. We had the heat up to 90 in our bedroom, and it was still so cold Baxter had to be in bed with us or he was too cold to sleep. I'm sure our heating bill will be outrageous, so Jason's looking into seeing if we can get management to reimburse part of it. Oh, and did I mention this happened on my birthday? The same day that teething decided to pain Mr. Baxter.

Luckily (or maybe not so luckily?) it snowed later that week, blanketing the city in a layer of white calm. Jason had to work on Monday and Tuesday was a delayed start. Then they called off school for Wednesday through Friday. The great thing about being a teacher is that you work when the kids are in school, so snow days for them = snow days for teachers! This was fantastic for me, since Baxter was super needy that week. As in for 5 days, he only wanted to be held, and would only sleep when being held. So we watched movies and took turns holding a sleeping baby.

On Saturday the 20th we decided to head to Seattle before it snowed again. Our original plan was to go for a few days, come home to catch up on sleep, then go back for Christmas. The weather had other ideas! We ended up staying for a full week. By the end Jason and I were sorely in need of a nap, but overall we had a great holiday. It was so nice to spend time with family. We spent the first half of the time at my Mom's house, and the second half at Jason's parents. Jason's dad also had surgery on the 23rd, and had to shave his beard. Beardless he wasn't nearly as scary to Baxter, so they had some great bonding time. They also gave us a jumperoo for Christmas. Well, they gave it to Baxter, but it's just as much a present for us, because he loves it soooooo much! That boy is a bouncing fool! He also got some very cute clothes and toys, and a very special new pet from Great-Grandma and Grandpa Spears. He decided to rename his new puppy Deeohgee again. When we finally made our way home, we were very glad to be here.

Now's the point in the story where I get to say Congrats to Steve and Krystal Bishop, who welcomed baby Bruce on the 28th! We're so happy for them, and can't wait until they post a multitude of photos :D

Sadly, when we got home, Baxter's sleep didn't improve much. He's been sleeping in our bedroom, in a co-sleeper that side-car's our bed. Well, he's pretty much outgrown that, and we started noticing that he doesn't sleep as well when we make noise in the night. It's not like we try to wake him up, but even repositioning in bed causes him to stir. So we took the plunge. Bedroom #2 is now Baxter's bedroom. This is night three. He slept TERRIBLY the first night, and marginally better last night. For those of you who know us, know that this is how tired I was: I slept though a 20 minute cry last night, but Jason woke up and took care of Baxter. Yeah. But his room is super cute! Hopefully tonight he'll do better.

Also new this week, Jason decided to learn how to cook/bake. We had bananas that needed to be used up, and I commented that I should make Banana bread, but I had too much to do. So Jason did it. He found the recipe, and he made it all by himself, without asking any questions! And it came out GREAT. I'm so proud of him. I love him so much, he's such an amazing father and spouse. I do not think I could have done any better. We've been together nine and a half years! I don't know what I would do without him.

Today we spent the day at our friends Kit and Christine, and their two little boys. Josiah is almost two, and Joel is 2.5 months older than Baxter. The babies loved each other. They kept trying to touch each other's faces, it was so sweet! I just know that they'll grow up to be great friends :D

Ok, that's all for now. I'm busily sewing diapers for a friend, and taking orders for testers.... :D

All I want for Christmas

2008-12-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

is my two front teeth!

Well, I had no idea Baxter was teething, but I guess he was. Yesterday he got his first tooth. Then today he was super cranky, so I wondered if he was still teething, since teeth come in pairs. He got his second tooth today.

How is he growing up so fast! Teeth at 4 months, 1.5 weeks. Yikes!

He can do What?!?

2008-12-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since I posted, so I figure I should do something about that! Thanksgiving was good, but Baxter doesn't do well when away from home too long. So we're most likely going to go to Seattle twice for Christmas, and go home for a few days in the middle so Jason and I can recover!

He had his 4 month (can you believe he's that old!!!) appointment today, and he's 18 pounds even. Huge, I swear. I've bought him a few new things to wear, and he's in 6-9 month in everything. He's almost outgrown his 6 month sleepers already! He has a few 3 month shirts that I can still put on him, but they're starting to show his belly button off. So for christmas he's getting a few 12-18 month t-shirts from us. I put one on him today, and it's a little baggy but overall it just looks long. Good. He can wear it for a while then. I'm hoping until at least short sleeve season, but I might be setting my hopes too high. Hopefully his growth will plateau and he won't gain as fast anymore. I'm thinking that will happen at 22lbs. Random guess, but we'll see! So if you're buying him clothes for Christmas, lets hope they fit!

He's working really hard at rolling over still. He CAN do it, but sometimes he's too tired and I'm not entirely sure he always remembers how. Today he rolled from his back to his belly twice, which is a new record for him. I kind of want him to get the hang of it soon, but at the same time it's so easy with him not being mobile yet. I'm NOT ready for him to start crawling yet! I would in fact be happy with a late crawler, so I can be more done with school! If he waited until 6-7 months, I'd be fine with that. He'll be 7.5 months when I graduate. Crazy!

On another front, he's starting to sit pretty well. He still tripods most of the time, but he's starting to self correct too! When you put him down you have to settle him into a sitting position, but then he can hold it pretty decently. I timed him the other day, and he was sitting for 2.5 minutes before he fell over. Again, some of that was using his hands in front of him to balance, but that's still pretty good!

Jason is done teaching on the 19th, and he's ready for a break. I finished up on Monday, and have been running errands, and making Christmas presents. I thought I would go cheap and make a bunch of presents this year, but it's super time consuming! I also have a lot of cleaning and sewing to do, but I've been delaying those... although I did get some laundry done. I'm not sure how much I'll get done tomorrow either, because Bax had his 4 month shots today, so tomorrow he'll be cranky and cuddly. I have a friend coming over in the afternoon for a little bit, and then I need to go back to Kohls. I went today, and found out the sales are better tomorrow... :D There's nice things about still knowing a lot of the people who work there! And they coo over Bax every time. I went today thinking he might nap in the stroller, but instead he was happy, and GIGGLED the whole time! At nothing! I didn't have to make crazy noises or faces, he just laughed at the people around me!

Ok, I'm off to go work on more Christmas presents. I'm hoping to get the last of them finished off tonight so I can start wrapping soon. I need to take pictures of Baxter under the tree, but I want there to be other presents there too..

He's a Boy...

2008-11-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

And he knows it. He "helps" during diaper changes now, and raises his legs when the diaper comes off. The then usually grabs himself. Then once his had has been disengaged and the diaper around him, he pumps his legs up and down, thinking this will help to fasten the diaper...

I've also started calling him "Goomba" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goomba#Goomba because how how chubby his cheeks are. First Jason thought it was stupid, but he likes it now :D

We're excited for the holiday! We'll be in Seattle all weekend, so Grandpas and Grandmas and Aunts and Uncles can get their Baxter fix!

Independence?

2008-11-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

For the last two days Baxter has not let me nurse him to sleep. Instead he wants to be nursed, then walked and rocked for about 5 minutes, then laid down with the pacifier (still awake) where he will then put himself to sleep. While this is a welcome development, it's sad to think that one of my favorite portions of the day has come to an end. I'm hoping he still lets me nurse him to sleep sometime. There's nothing like having a sleeping baby on your lap, even if his foot now creeps up to rest on your chin...

Peek-a-Boo!

2008-11-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

Baxter now understands peek-a-boo and giggles or smiles. It's great. And sometimes he's ticklish under his arms! He's smiling soooo much more. He's finally sleeping through the night (mostly) again. He keeps getting sick (thanks public school system!) so we keep having him sleep in his chair in his crib. He's almost outgrown the co-sleeper! I have no idea what we'll do when that happens. I don't do super well when he co-sleeps, because I barely sleep or wake up with sore hips. So we might put the bed on the floor with our toddler mattress next to us. But that means buying toddler sheets and a bed-rail so he doesn't roll off. Not that he would anyway, because the boy still sleeps swaddled! We've tried to wean him off of it, but it results in more of a headache for us because he constantly wakes himself up. I try to do unswaddled naps during the day, but the longest he goes is 40 minutes. His swaddled naps are 1.25 to 2.5 hours long... He's also started putting himself to sleep better. We changed pacifiers, and he the new ones put him to sleep. He doesn't like them unless he's sleepy though, which is nice.

School is... stressful. The quarter is almost over, and there's only one more from here. Jason is sick yet again, but his classes are going well. I can't think of what else to post. I'm putting more pictures up on flickr, and a video of peek-a-boo up on youtube.

Ungrateful

2008-11-10T23:06:00.000-08:00

I realized how ungrateful I had been when Baxter was sleeping though the night. If he starts again (which I know he will eventually, but I want it to happen now) I will be ever so thankful. I was so used to it, and now I'm sleep deprived! He's gotten a little better, but still not great. He was up 3 times last night, but one of them was for over an hour and a half. Last Thursday he woke up at 2am, and we tried for an hour to get him back down, but Jason ended up holding him and watching a movie until 5am because he would not sleep. He had to be held, not just cuddled in bed. But since then we got the teething necklace, and at night I wrap it around his ankle under his PJ's. It did reduce the number of wake-ups from 5 down to 3. And he's not nearly as fussy during the day and naps are a snap to put him down. Except for today, because I had meetings on campus that conflicted with his naps, and he was NOT happy. He's currently napping on Jason, even though bed time is less than an hour away.

I better go check on the boys, Jason lost the remote so he's probably irritated with what he's watching and unable to change it and unable to yell for me to go change it, hehe.

reaching...

2008-11-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add yesterday that he's been starting to reach for toys. He's pretty good at getting them into his mouth to chew on too. But mostly he prefers my finger... He'll gnaw for ages on my knuckle. Last night he woke up 5 times. Not necessarily to nurse, but because his mouth hurt. He only nursed once out of all of that. He just wanted to know I was there, and to gnaw on my finger for a few minutes before falling back asleep. Did not make for a good exam this morning. It wasn't terrible, but it could have gone a lot better.

Tonight Jason has parent teacher conferences, and won't be home until about 9pm. So I have to put Baxter to bed by myself. I'm hoping to get my prep done for tomorrow, and just go to bed with him. Tomorrow night I'm volunteering at the Mother Baby Center auction (www.motherbabycenter.org). I highly recommend supporting them, they were a great support to me, and they're a fantastic addition to the Whatcom County community. But Jason gets to return the favor, and he gets to put Baxter to bed by himself tomorrow. We'll see how that goes, Baxter has never done that before, he's always had me to nurse him, then Daddy walks with him. It's a two part, two parent process. I'm glad he wants both of us though!

growing!

2008-11-05T23:03:00.000-08:00

Baxter has such a steady growth rate, I'm ready for it to plateau. I'm breaking out the holiday themed clothes I got for him on clearance last year, in 6-9 month sizes! I wasn't quite ready to have him in clothes covered in snowflakes and snowmen, but it's snowing somewhere, right? He had a WIC appointment today, and I updated his growth chart, but here are the percentiles according to them:

Weight: 15 pounds 12 ounces (90-95th percentile)
Height: 24 3/8 inches (50-75th percentile)
Head circumference: 16 3/4 (50-75th percentile)

In other words, he's stayed the same length, but his head has gotten bigger, and his weight has gone up. Does that mean he has a fat head? Well, he's a pretty proportionate little guy, except for his HUGE THIGHS!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

Baxter was a gnome for Halloween this year. Which mostly meant he was subjected to a photo session while wearing a beard/hat combo that he wasn't particularly thrilled about. But it was still super cute. Next year we'll take him trick or treating. We only had ONE knock tonight! Two little girls in witch's outfits, and really bad face makeup. We have a ton of leftover candy. I guess "the thing" to do now is take the kids downtown. I hear Fairhaven is the place to go.

Baxter is just the cutest baby ever. I'm sure every mom thinks that, but he really is great. We need to get back down to Seattle so family can see how great he's getting. I'm not sure that's going to happen before Thanksgiving though. Travel is expensive, and we have a lot going on with school and work.

He's getting soooo much more social. Grandpa Gary was visiting from New York last week, and Baxter was great with talking and smiling. We went and spent the day with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Spears on Monday, and he could not get enough of them. He was telling them all sorts of stories and grinning up a storm. I know they're already in love with him, but he could have charmed a complete stranger that day! He's really developing a personality. We're trying to not let him watch TV, but it happens (in moderation). But Baxter, who was so huge at birth that we called him "Daddy's little linebacker," has decided he LOVES football. And sometimes baseball. Seriously, if football is on TV, he's glued to it. If you turn him around, he'll twist back to it. If you change the channel he'll whimper until you turn it back. It's actually pretty cute.

And he has the most adorable sad face! I know, I try not to let him get too sad, but he sticks his lower lip wayyyy out and gives a tiny whimper. If he hears another baby crying he'll do this in sympathy. To cute! And he continues to be amazing in all things physical. He holds a rattle pretty well now, and sometimes sucks on it. And he rolled over. He's been rolling over from front to back since mid-September, but he doesn't do it often. He likes his tummy time too much. But on Wednesday (at 12.5 weeks) he rolled over from back to belly! On the bed too, where it's supposed to be more difficult! He's taken to laying on his side when playing with toys though, it's so funny.

Lets see, I think he's starting to teeth. I just bought him an amber teething necklace to see if it helps with his fussiness at all. Although I shouldn't complain, he really is an easy baby. But he just doesn't want to be put down at all when he's fussy, which means I don't get things like laundry or homework done. And he doesn't nap well, so I don't have that time either. If you're curious about teething necklaces, more information on them can be found here: http://hyenacart.com/inspiredbyfinn/index.php?c=64&p=14913. I actually got two for Baxter, and one for Jason and I too. I had a discount code :D

As far as not quite so Baxter related, I'm still doing OK in school. I have an exam next Thursday, and I have 180 terms to work through, as well as 250 pages of reading that I haven't been able to do with Baxter around. The plan is to skim it this weekend, and hopefully get most of that done. Of course we're taking pictures tomorrow, and have errands to run, but I have high hopes! I tend to get more done when Jason is home. Weekends are their time together. That and bathtime. Baxter loves baththime.

Laundry is one of the hardest things to keep up with now. I always wash diapers and Baxter's clothes first priority, and those are generally fine. But the adult clothes and the towels get postponed, so this weekend was a major laundry day. Things are much better on that front now.

I'm still really enjoying making diapers. I don't have nearly enough time to do it right now though. I'm working on developing my own pattern. I've run into a fit issue with some of our diapers, and I'm debating selling them. Of course, I could only get less than $10/diaper for them, and the ones I want to replace them with are $35 each... I've found a new diapering love. I really like fitted diapers, and for me I'd need two sets for each child. Newborn (birth to 12 lbs) and then Onesize (usually 10lbs +). We recently tried Goodmama onesize diapers, and they're so great. None of the fit issues I was having with my other diapers. Containing the poo is worth it, right?

I also started thinking about Christmas. Even though Jason is working full time, I am not working, and we have another member in the house. So presents are mostly going to be homemade this year. Lots of knitting.... So I've started working on many of those projects. I think I'm going to make a gift registry/wish list for Baxter though, with maybe a few ideas for Jason and I on there. He doesn't need a whole lot, and he's growing so fast. He's almost completely in 6 month clothing now, with a few 3 month shirts that still fit. Clothing is hard, because he changes so quick! But I'd love him to have some wooden blocks, a wooden train set, wood cars, lots of books, and some balls to play with. Toys for him don't have to be "organic" we're just trying to stay away from plastic or overstimulating (noisy) toys. He already has a ton of stuffed animals too. But one of the goodmama diapers wouldn't go amiss either... :D But that's a project for another day.

This ended up being another long post, didn't it? Ok, it's way past my bedtime, and the dryer just finished. So I can fold this last load, put the diapers in the dryer (we put them in and get the dryer started once before bed, so in the morning we can do one more dryer cycle and they're ready to go for the day) then go to bed!

I think I broke it

2008-10-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

I think I broke my toe... but now that that's out of the way, I'll update you on the important things. Mostly Baxter. But I'll start with some funny Jason stories (I know, I know, but if I write about Baxter first you won't read about the parents!).

Jason is having a great time teaching. One of his students asked him about his contract with the school. When Jason told her that he had a "continuing" contract, and that unless he was dismissed during his probation period (which he won't be) he'll be there until he chooses to leave. She told him that he had to stay for a few more years so that he could be her teacher for the rest of her education, because she'd never had a better math teacher. The kids seem to like him and respond well! And he had a review with the principal, who only had good things to say. He also went to a math conference and got to know some of the other math teachers better. All good things there!

While at the conference he heard a funny story. At Sedro Woolley kids are allowed to choose teachers for subjects. The first week several kids transfered out of his classes. He heard that one girl transfered out because he was "a creepy coin collector". Jason was pondering this, and the only thing he had told the kids was that he went to the Penny Arcade Expo, a video game conference. She must not have been paying much attention, but funny nonetheless!

We went to Sedro Woolley's homecoming football game last night. We had to leave at halftime, because Baxter was not enjoying himself, and we felt bad for him. It's a totally different culture down there. They had a parade, and the stands were full. They played Ferndale, and the Ferndale stands were packed too. I guess Ferndale is pretty good. I don't know the final score, but I'm pretty sure Ferndale won...

Ok, now to Baxter. He's so great. He smiles more and more and more. He's the most adorable baby in the world. He's getting better at rolling over. He's enjoying playing on his floor mat too. I bought him a mat that has two soft bars that curve up and hold toys. I put him on it wonky, so his feet can touch one of the bars. He quickly learned that if he kicks his feet, his toys move. He'll happily kick away for up to 45 minutes! I'm getting better at keeping the kitchen clean as long as he feels like playing.

I'm doing fine at school, and when I get home on Tuesdays and Thursday's Baxter is a Mama's boy. He wants to be held the rest of the afternoon. I guess he misses me! Breast-feed babies usually eat about an ounce an hour. For the first few weeks Bax was a chow hound, and was taking 14-16 ounces in six hours! But now he's slowed down and for the last week he went on a bottle strike and only took 2-4 ounces in six hours. And then attached him self to me for the rest of the night. I'm sure it will even out eventually. I just don't want him to starve while I'm gone.

I also decided it was time to buy a stroller. I have to take him with me to meetings on campus sometimes. Last monday I walked across campus with Bax in the sling while I carried my backpack and the diaperbag. On the way back it was raining and much colder. So I had him wrapped in a blanket under the sling, which makes it less secure so I had to keep a hand on him. And I tried to put the blanket over his head because he didn't like the rain, but then he screamed. So I stopped at the bookstore and bought an umbrella. So I had two bags, Bax and the umbrella, and had to walk all the way across campus to the car in the rain. It was about 3/4 mile, and I don't want to do that again. So the stroller will be here on Wednesday. Too bad I have to do it again on Monday, but now with a broken toe. I think I'm going to pay for parking and hope for a quick meeting. $2.00/hour is pretty steep, but I don't think I can make that trek again.

I've been reading a book called the "no-cry sleep solution" and it's great! Bax has been sleeping through the night for a while now, but he doesn't nap well. There are some great solutions in there, and tonight we started doing a bedtime routine. He doesn't need it now, but he will later, and if we establish it now it will be even easier. So he went to bed at 7pm, and now after 10 we haven't heard a peep. And I didn't even need to nurse him down! He's such an easy baby (we truly are blessed) but it's nice to make it even easier. I don't think I can find one thing to complain about with Bax. I think the only thing Jason would say is the smell of his poop makes him gag, but I manage just fine :D

Wow, that was a really long update! I've been so busy with school I don't write as much as I mean to. My dad (Grandpa Gary) is coming to visit from New York next week, so that will be fun. I'm sure I'll have more to write about soon. Bax is growing up so fast! He's already outgrown all his newborn clothes, and the length of his 3 month clothes. So he has t-shirts from cut off onesies. And I had to buy more PJ's in 6 months so his shoulders don't pop out the top. Ok, it's really hard to stop writing... I'll close the floodgates now!

Pain and Peeing

2008-10-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Baxter was doing some naked tummy time and started to get fussy. When I picked him up he had his finger stuck in his mouth and it hurt him so he started crying. I laid him down naked on the bed and was about to put a diaper on screaming baby and he started to pee all over me. He hasn't peed outside of a diaper for at least 5 weeks, so I wasn't expecting he. He thought it was hilarious. As soon as he peed on me he was all smiles and giggles. Stinker.

And after a week of terrible evening naps, he slept from 5:30 to 9:15 last night. He woke up happy, so we changed him, fed him, and he was back to sleep by 10:00. He then slept from 10pm to 6am. It was amazing! And he didn't cry when he woke up this morning either. I picked him up and it was grins for mommy. His smile is such a heartbreaker, it makes all the little things worth while.

Big and Tall... with a small head

2008-09-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Baxter did great at his two month appointment yesterday. He cried when he had his immunizations (and was cranky last night) but he didn't pee on anyone! He's actually pretty good now and doesn't pee into the air anymore. He's grown a ton though! He's now 24.5 inches long (up 3 inches since birth) and 13 lbs 9 oz. That means he's in the 95% for both height and weight. But his head circumference is only 15.25 inches, which is in the 25th percentile. So he's really tall and weighs a lot for his age, but he has a tiny head. The funny thing is it makes him look more normal, because most babies look like they have oversized heads.

We also had pictures taken at Sears again yesterday. They were really impressed with how well he handled his head (maybe because it's so small?) and that he could actually lift it up so well. We got some great photos.

And on Sunday night he rolled over FOUR times in a row! The fourth one I got on video, but he's naked so I'm not going to post it on youtube. Every time he rolled over he had the most surprised look on his face like he couldn't figure out what just happened. It was hilarious!

Ok, enough doting mother, class is starting now :D