Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Love, 

Jeff, Erika, and Elliott

Seven Months

How is this possible?

When did you become seven months old?

I will admit, there were a few months there when I couldn't wait for you to get older, learn some fun new trick, wear that cute outfit that didn't quite fit yet.

That is over. I want to freeze you in time right now.  PLEASE STOP GROWING.  And, goodness gracious, please don't start crawling!  I'm not ready for you to be mobile just yet.

You couldn't be any more precious if you tried.  You are becoming quite the little Mommy's Boy, but only Daddy can elicit those deep-down belly laughs from you.  In addition to Daddy, you think your Yoda and Lyla are pretty funny too.

You are getting so into toys.  We discovered the stacking rings this week.  I'm pretty sure you are a genius baby because you immediately realized that picking the entire thing up and dumping it out is much more time efficient than taking the rings off one by one.  You also love to bang things.  You are so funny because while you love banging, your eyes flinch in anticipation of the noise you are about to produce.  Speaking of you producing noises, you are very into the "th" and "f" sounds right now.  Adorably, your favorite toys are your books.  You are starting to help me turn the pages and you just love chewing on the corners!

Bath time has become much more exciting now ever since you learned about splashing.  And Mommy really raised the bar when I started squirting you with your little squirt turtle.  You laugh and laugh.

You are doing pretty well with eating.  This week has been an exception.  You must be teething because sleeping and eating have become crazy.  You like most all foods that I've given you with the exception of apples and bananas (seriously, kid?  aren't babies are supposed to love apples and bananas).  Don't worry, I forced you into liking them by offering them numerous times, hiding in all sorts of combinations.

Your sleep patterns continue to be....something.  You insist upon going to bed at 6 PM, which used to be fine, but now you no longer sleep through the night.  You pop up sometime between 12-4 AM for a bottle and a diaper/outfit change (yes, you require a nightly outfit change now).  Usually, you still sleep until 6 AM -ish.

Napping has become crazy too.  You take 2-3 naps per day, but who knows when, it's always a surprise!  Trying to keep Mommy on her toes and prevent her from running errands, I think.

You are getting big.  As much as I'm not ready, I think you are ready to crawl.  When I stalk you on the surveillance system video monitor, I see that you can get up on your knees (on all fours) in your crib.  You can also scoot backwards when you are on your tummy on the floor.  I'm not ready for this.

Seriously, kid, you're pretty great right now.  Consider, just consider, not growing anymore.  That would be great, thanks.

Oh, by the way, you know the drill.  The photos will be posted......eventually.  Done.

Homemade Baby Food

Since I was unable to nurse, I have become slightly obsessive compulsive about making my own baby food. It makes me feel slightly better knowing that I am giving him some sort of homemade nutrition.  (As a side note, I think store bought baby food is FINE.  I'm just a guilt-ridden psychopath).

So far, little one has had prunes, oatmeal (I cheated and bought that one), carrots, sweet potato, pinto beans, green beans, avocado, and banana.  Today, I whipped up some apples and butternut squash (which he gobbled down faster than I could feed it).


I've had some people ask how I make his food, so I thought I'd elaborate.

I try to purchase organic when possible.  For the prunes, I bought them dried and rehydrated them in some boiling water.  Then I pureed them with the water (to add back the nutrients lost in the cooking water).  I have been freezing all his food in ice trays and then storing them in labeled baggies in the freezer.

For most of the other foods, I have peeled, cut and steamed the veggies before pureeing.  I simply mashed the avocado and banana uncooked and thinned them with a little water.  I was worried about how both of those would freeze.  They froze surprising well with no browning (even when melting them).  For the green beans, I purchased frozen organic beans (because the ones in the produce section never look fresh to me), and the pinto beans I started with dried beans and did the whole soak and cook process.  

I hate peeling butternut squash, so today I just microwaved it until soft and scooped out the flesh with a spoon.  It didn't need any added water while pureeing.

For the apples, I peeled and diced them, steamed them and pureed in the food processor.  A note of pureeing...depending on what I'm doing, I have used our immersion blender, the regular blender, and the food processor.  All of which are very useful tools to have in my opinion.  

Once they go into the ice trays, I cover them in plastic wrap and let them freeze.  To get them out, I simply run hot water over the back of them while holding them over a strainer in the sink.  To feed them to Elliott, I usually stick two cubes at a time in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  Easy as pie!

A Christmas Nursery

If you know me, you probably know that I'm a little nutty when it comes to Christmas decorations.  I'm THAT person who always decorates before Thanksgiving.  It's not that I don't like Thanksgiving, because I really do...I just see Thanksgiving as an appetizer for Christmas, if you will.

Anywho, a couple of weeks ago, Elliott's nursery got a Christmas makeover.

Remember when I gave you this sneak peak?

Well, this is what I was up to...

Yup, Elliott has Christmas bedding.  I thought I was being quite clever until I realized that Pottery Barn Kids has already thought of this.  Oh well, mine was a lot cheaper and made with love :)

You may also have noticed that this happened...

Fun fact: you can just take off whatever animals are hanging from your store bought mobile and replace them with cheap (unbreakable) ornaments!  yay!  

You may also have spotted this in the background:

Elliott has his very own Christmas tree!  I was worried that he might try to pull off any ornaments that I may hang, so I came up with some pom-pom garland that I strung myself.  

Finally, I remembered that I bought a little banner kit from Hancock Fabric last year, and I put that together one night.  Now, Elliott has a festive "Noel" sign hanging from his hutch.

He's a happy little peanut in his Christmas Nursery!

Six Months!

How is it humanely possible that Little Guy is six months old today?! It literally seems like we were driving to the hospital in the middle of the night just yesterday.  Also, how is it possible that we still haven't posted his five month pictures?!  To make matters worse, Elliott is usually sleeping when Jeff gets home on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so we might not even get to take his pictures today :/ fail.

At least I can still write about you...


I feel like this month Elliott has really blossomed.  He no longer sleeps the ENTIRE day (just a nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon).  He giggles A LOT!  Jeff said to me one day, "Elliott must take after you, I think I was a much more professional baby."  I could see that.  Funny.

We have moved onto solids this month.  It began out of a "GI necessity," if you will.  I don't think the poor child could drink anymore prune juice.  We have tried prunes, oatmeal, carrots, and sweet potatoes.  He has become a great eater!  He opens his little mouth so wide in anticipation--it's adorable.  He has to wear numerous bibs while eating, the top layer is usually used for chewing on and gets covered in baby food mush.
 

He began rolling from back to tummy this month (so now he rolls both ways).  I watch him at night on the video monitor--the little booger got Mommy's sleeping habits--he rolls all over the place!  He is still working on sitting.  He can sit on his own for a few seconds before violently throwing himself backwards.

He is getting BIG!  He is starting to wear 9 month or 6-12 month clothes.  He is getting too long for some of his six month stuff.  Except socks--kiddo must have big feeties because all of his socks are too small!  He's still in his size 3 diapers, and there is no indication that we will be going up a size too soon (at least let's hope not, because our next giant shipment of diapers just came in)!

The spitting up is finally on the outs.  He will still have about one incident a day, and when you least expect it, but it has gotten so much better.  Thank goodness!

I'm pretty sure Elliott is the happiest, most easy going baby of all time.  He is so much fun to play with, his laugh is infectious, and his smile can brighten a room!  I can't believe he's six months old--Happy Half Birthday, Little Man!

The March of Dimes

In a couple of weeks, I'm walking in the March of Dimes with the Stroller Strides of Watertown Team.  I know we have a lot going on right now (the devastation from hurricane Sandy, the election, the holidays, etc), but I'd really appreciate any donation for this charitable cause!  You can donate to our team here!  Thanks!

Some Sewing

My sewing machine has been gathering dust since Elliott's arrival.  A few days ago, a friend of the family asked if I would make some tie onesies for her for some baby showers.  So yesterday, I dusted off ole Bessie (I don't really call it that), and got to work.

Lisa,  if you are reading, your onesies will be mailed tomorrow!

While working on the onesies, I got the urge to keep sewing, so I changed the thread over to red and made some Christmas things for Elliott's room.

 More on that later.


Little Man had fun playing with his new doggie while Mom worked.

Is it really November already!?

Happy Halloween and a PSA

First, Happy Halloween!  We celebrated by having a special Halloween Day at Stoller Strides.  All the kiddos dressed up and looked adorable!

Back Row (left to right): pumpkin, Lollipop kid, Little owlie, cupcake
Bottom Row: princess and Batman

 We don't plan on trick-or-treating, but we will be handing out candy, probably with the fog machine.  

I was going to carve both of our pumpkins when I got home today, but I came home to doggie sickness all over the dining room floor.  I think it was probably enough mess for one day.  This is where the PSA comes in....

IF YOU HAVE A PET, AND DO NOT HAVE ONE OF THESE THINGS YOU MAY BE A CRAZY PERSON!

I'm not a big fan of spending unnecessary money, but this is a must have.  If you would have seen what I just dealt with, and you didn't have a SpotBot, you may have hurled yourself into moving traffic.  No joke.  You would have lost me today if it weren't for this guy.  

Go get one.  You'll thank me next time Fido leaves you a present.  I promise.  

Happy Halloween! 

October in Kentucky

Earlier this month we took a trip down to Kentucky.  Little Man usually does great in the car, but then has a melt down when we get to our destination.

While we were in Kentucky, we got to do all sorts of fun things.  Grandma and Grandpa took us to an Apple Orchard off route 8. Elliott had fun posing for lots of pictures.

Grandma also dug out some of Jeff's old toys, and as it turns out toys from 20+ years ago are still plenty fun!

 
We also went to pick pumpkins with Emmie and Aunt Andi at Shaw Farm.  There were some cute farm animals to look at too!

I'm horrible at taking pictures of everything but we did all sorts of other fun things while home.  We went to our friend's Matt and Lexie's wedding, went to Lap Time at the Library with Lilly and Finley, went shopping at my favorite Jeffersonville Outlets and the new Jungle Jims, visited Emmie at work, had some fun family dinners, and Grandma and Grandpa were nice enough to have Elliott sleep over a couple of times so we could catch up on sleep!  It was a whirlwind 10 days, but we had fun!

First Food!

We recently hit another milestone in our house--solid food! 

These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago when we introduced oatmeal.  Since then, we have also added prunes.  He loves them! We plan on starting some veggies this week (that is, if the Frankenstorm doesn't get us first)!