Happy Birthday America!

Happy 4th of July! This weather is still amazing me for July in Missouri.  It was a lazy day for both of us.  We didn't have any set plans to join up with anyone.  To be honest, we just haven't really established too many strong friendships since we have moved here.  Aside from several of Chris's good friends that are in the area that we have dinner with occasionally, we tend to entertain ourselves.  Which is alright by us for now.  I really miss our next door neighbor that moved to DC last year.  I guess that is the way it goes with military life.  They come and then they or you go. 

We didn't go and watch the fireworks anywhere since Ethan is still so small and I didn't want bug bites or the loud booms freaking him out.  Okay and I'm really really tired.  So we went for another stroll this afternoon and had some playtime indoors while I got a few things done that I just can't without Chris around to help out.

My brother got him this life-size jack russell dog and he giggled so hard playing with him.  Look how strong his muscles are getting holding him up all on his own.   We were talking with my brother and sister-in-law this morning.  They too have a little one only 3 months older than Ethan.  She got me thinking of scheduling Ethan's days.  Amelia has a schedule that they got her on and it is working out so well.  Ethan is such a good baby that I really haven't thought about it.  I mean I feed him on demand, which is usually every 3-4 hours.  And since he is breastfed he doesn't sleep through the night.  

I decided to start tracking his naps and feedings so I could see if he has put himself on a schedule.  I guess I have just always worked off of his cues to determine what he needed.  I understand methods that work for some babies may not work on others.   

What are your thoughts on putting babies on a schedule?  Does it matter if they are formula fed or breastfed?   

It wouldn't be a day off for Chris without an outing to Lowe's.  Then again when you are in a town that really only has a Lowe's and a Wal-Mart you find you spend quite a bit of time there.   Actually we had to get more birdseed.  Poor husband, he married an animal lover.

Can't have a 4th of July celebration without grilling out.  I decided to go all out for a bacon wrapped filet and a ribeye instead of the usual burgers and dogs.  I really did try and keep it healthy tonight but I seem to find a holiday as an excuse to go to Culver's and get some yummy custard to finish off the night.

A pic of the beautiful night sky and a bright crescent moon.  Little man is already sacked out so we are off to bed to get some zzzz too.  Yep, we are official fuddy duds.

Be safe this weekend.  When I was at the grocery there was A LOTTA liqueur being sold.

Picnic in the Park

Hubby's unit picnic was this afternoon.  While I still dripped sweat the entire time, it really was a perfect summer day.  The high was 79 and again there was a nice steady breeze.  Since pregnancy though I have become a puddle of sweat on a regular basis.  I have read that most women suffer mainly night sweats during pregnancy and postpartum while breastfeeding.  Well my internal thermostat must be broken, because I sweat the entire day.

I was a little bummed about this year's picnic.  Last year one of the officers brought THE BEST brisket I have ever eaten.  Oh so mouthwatering.   This year there just wasn't anything that stood out, correction, the banana pudding someone brought was pretty awesome.

See the blue twin camp chair?  Yes, that is ours and for whatever reason the group doesn't mind hanging out in the sun.  As you can see I'm standing under the tree taking the pic and enjoying the shade.   Yes, I felt a little unsocial.  That's okay, I can now use Ethan as an excuse.  Ha!

Ethan got to inspect Noelle's wrist rattle.   This is his first interaction with another baby and seemed pretty intrigued.  She, on the other hand, is not that impressed.

Just another shot of pretty wildflowers from our walk this evening.  When we got home Chris didn't tell me my Warby Parker glasses came in the mail.  I just heard about them a couple of days ago from another blog I came across.  They have a great program where you can select up to 5 frames and try them on in the comfort of your own home and return them with the enclosed shipping label.   For $95 you get anti-reflective prescription lenses, free shipping and 30 day return.   For that price, I was sucked in.

This is the "Welty" frame.  I think I'm diggin' them.  I feel smarter already.  :-p

Since I haven't had any personal time to doodle, here is a filler for my creative outlet.  This is an ad I am working on for my company to go into a local Homes Magazine.  

Goodnight All!

Perfect Weather!

Why can't everyday in summer feel like today?  Its a high of 75 and breezy.  I'm so jealous of San Diegans.  I hear its an average 75 there year round.  I sure hope they understand how good they have it.  It should be in the 50s tonight.  Maybe I can talk hubby into a fire. 

Ah, I opened the screen door to let the breezy morning air fill the house.  This is my opportunity to take a walk now before the muggy, heat is sure to return.  I left Sammy at home and off Ethan, Fenway and I went.  Along the way we always pass this area of Queen Annes Lace also known as "Wild Carrot".  It looks so pretty and actually smells like carrots.  Have you heard the story behind the flower's name Queen Annes Lace?     Queen Anne was known for making delicate lace and she pricked her finger and a drop of blood landed on the lace.  If you look at the center of most of the blooms there is a purplish or reddish dot in the center.  Something I didn't know until lately was that it is actually edible.  According to ediblewildfood.com 

I also passed this at our next door neighbors house.  Pretty sunflowers huh?  We can thank the local birds for taking some of the sunflower seeds from our bird feeder over to the neighbors yard.  They randomly grow in our backyard as well.  A nice by-product of taking care of nature.  I'm sure the neighbors don't mind either.

My walking buddy today.  I left him off his leash since he does so well.  Poor Sammy, he is probably unhappy we left him at home.

The start of another rather expensive pitcher of tea.  Looking forward to a tall glass of it tomorrow.   Cold brewing really is the way to go.  No cleanup involved.

Chris brought this little wireless speaker home from work the other day.  I didn't hesitate to find a use for it.  If I haven't shared this already, I'm a huge Jazz lover, well that and classical.  Basically any relaxing music genres i.e. zen, chill etc.  I like that it is wireless, so I put my iPhone on the XM app and enjoyed some relaxing Jazz while I fixed tonight's dinner.

Little man was feeling pretty mellow today.  So we captured his little footprints.  I kind of fudged the left foot a bit so it now looks like he has six toes.  Oh well.  I used some non-toxic ink sheets I got off amazon and they did turn out pretty good.  The ink doesn't come off as easy as the instructions say though so he looks like he's ran around on asphalt all day.   I've been meaning to get back on Pinterest and find the salt dough recipe to make some foot and hand impressions.

Off for another stroll.  Happy Hump Day!

Progress is good

Ethan has been showing a lot of progress lately with building his little muscles.  He started out hating tummy time and he finally worked up to about 5 min without pitching a fit.  We really have been seeing a lot of new things he has started probably in the last week and a half.  From the new sounds he is trying to make, hand coordination and desire to sip a little water out of a sippy cup.

He seemed uninterested in anything except sitting up.   Whether you are on the floor with him, he's in your lap, etc he wants to sit up and see things.   He will let you know that too, Mr. Fussypants.  We thought the Summer Infant Super Booster Seat would give him just that while helping build his little back and stomach muscles.  He loved it.  If we have Baby First TV on he happily plays while watching it.  I understand some people view TV watching as a no-no for a child under 2.  I don't feel too bad letting him watch it though.  Baby First TV is not like the cartoon networks, its actually an educational teaching and I only let him watch about an hour a day of it.  Not all at once but in little increments.  

He is now starting to take interest in having you hold him up so he can stand on your lap and will bounce up and down.  So we thought it was time to get an exersaucer.  This is the Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Jumper.   Yet again another hit with little man.    Its amazing how fast these little guys grow.  

 Samson isn't too interested in what Ethan's doing.  He's taking his usual afternoon nap.

Wow, what a hot day it has been.  We tried going for a walk after dinner around 6:30 and it was just way too muggy.  You felt like you were melting.  So my husband hit up his stock pile of freeze pops while we watched some TV and let it cool down a bit more.  Ethan has shown more interest in our food lately.  Especially these brightly colored, cold sticks of sugar.   If I wasn't around I'm sure my husband would let him have some even though I have lectured about not letting sugars and junk into his little system.  I haven't even introduced solids yet.

My plan has been to breastfeed him until he is at least 6 months old.  However, since I have been working with a personal trainer, my milk supply is always a concern.  It would be so easy to just stop now so I could control my calories, he would probably sleep through the night and we could finally transition him to his crib.  Since he was about 3 months old we started co-sleeping.  That was about the time he outgrew the glider we had by the bed.   Co-sleeping just makes it so much easier with night nursing and I can keep a close eye on him.  I am a very light sleeper so I am constantly checking on him.   To my surprise, I feel like I get sleep even though it is broken up so much.   Its a lot better than having to get up and go to the nursery every time I need to feed.  I really don't know how this whole transition will go and let's be honest, I am not looking forward to it.  I love breastfeeding him and I think I will go into withdraws when the time has come.  :-(

Ah, finally it cooled off and the breeze was nice.  So we ventured out again for a walk.  Look how beautiful the sky was.  I'm not sure how those ray like things were made in the sky but I thought it was pretty neat.  Almost looks photoshopped by nature.

Okay, so what are some of your ideas on transitioning a little one to his crib while trying to ween from breatfeeding?  Agh! I want to stick my head in the sand about all this.  Do share tips that worked for you!

Road Trip

What else to do when you wake up bored in the middle of Missouri?  Take a 2 hour road trip to St. Louis.  Of course, we could have stayed at home and do laundry, clean the house, mow the lawn, etc. but no we, correction I, was getting a little cabin fever and wanted to get out and walk around without having a heat stroke.  Maybe I also wanted to get the new stroller out to test it.  

The verdict is in.  I love this stroller!  It pushes like a dream and little man slept in it a majority of the day.   I have a little blankie behind him in the stroller - why? - I don't know I just feel like it makes it comfier.  According to other momma's, this stroller should last us for a lot of years.  

While moseying along, my parched mouth thought a sample of some free tea outside Teavana would hit the spot. Wow, and was it tasty.  So tasty in fact that I rolled myself in there and purchased the Youthberry White Tea and Wild Orange Blossom Tea combo.  I just had to get the tea infusing pitcher as well.  Thank you parched mouth, you just set us back $85.00.  I thought Chris would stroke out when he saw that, I know I nearly did.  Let's just say I learned my lesson, don't go in Teavana when thirsty.  I plan on savoring every last drop of this stuff.  It better last a looong time.  Here's the first pitcher that cold brewed overnight in the fridge.

Moving on...one of the coolest stores we came across was the Lego Store.  I may be a bit older but I thought this place was awesome.  I am actually looking forward to Ethan begging to come here.  I may eat those words one day.  I wish I could have gotten a pic of the Star Wars Sand Crawler, but it was behind glass and had too much of a glare.  It was amazing though.  It should be for $300.  Holy Moly that is a ton of money for pieces of plastic.  

Aside from the outrageously priced tea, a couple of cute clothes for little man, I needed to purchase some new running shoes.  They had this one pair that I really wanted but again way too much money.  So I settled for these Nike Dual Fusion.  These suckers almost glow they are so bright.  I don't think a car will miss me on the road.  I will have to break these in at the gym when I meet my trainer next.  She had me climbing walls the last time we met. So much for my fear of heights.

Ah, what a long day.  It wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't have to tack on a 2 hour drive to the beginning and end of it.  Since I drove, I needed a pick me up before heading back home.  Chris hits the car and is usually out so I am on my own.  We couldn't find a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts so Denny's it was for a cup of coffee and some breakfast for dinner.

Woh, woh...back it up.  I have to add in that we pulled into the E-Z-GO Cart store before heading out of town.  My husband has wanted a golf cart for a while now.  It stemmed from our neighbor up the road who putters up and down the streets chatting everyone up, taking their 8 yr old daughter for rides oh and how can I forget - collecting all the men of the neighborhood for Marty's (men drinking parties).   When we are ready to buy though, I have a feeling this will be what we go with.

Stroller Love

It finally arrived!  Our very first umbrella stroller.  I purchased this initially for our trip back home to Charlotte this summer but this may be a keeper for my car.  I have been using our Baby Jogger City Elite stroller in the car for any kind of mall trips.  Even though it is a full size 3 wheel stroller, it is a cinch to open and close.  This one I think will be a better size for maneuvering store isles.  Little man wasn't in a stroller kind of mood last night.

Look at all the cool features.  I really like the extendable sun shield.  Some strollers are pitiful when it comes to blocking the rays from little ones eyes.  

It has a leg rest for smaller ones who can't touch the foot pad.  Which seems to also make it more comfortable when you have it reclined.

Speaking of reclining, this was the main selling feature for me.  I like the fact he can nap in it while we are waiting at the airport or out and about.

I am super excited it has a cup holder included.  My Baby Jogger doesn't have one.  So this will make it great when zooming around the mall with my tall decaf caramel soy latte.

I will have to do a follow-up post to review the actual use of this baby.  I did push it up and down the street for a test drive and it felt great so far.  To be continued...

We had our first boo-boo this morning.  It was a little bit of mommy's fault.  We were walking to the bedroom and I took my hand away from his back for a second to brush my hair out of my face and he arched his back real hard and banged the side of the door jam with his noggin', poor baby.  Needless to say, he screamed for about 2-3 minutes until he got a little snack which calmed him down.

Then momma got the boo-boo bag from the freezer and it made it feel all better.  Well that and a little outdoor distraction with the flowers.  I couldn't get a great angle on it but it is on the right side of his head.  The little 1" red mark.  Awe, I feel horrible.

Maybe we will go for a little afternoon stroll in the new stroller to take his mind off it.