Sunday, March 27, 2011

Our latest adventures as a family of 3

The last several weeks have been very busy for all of us and big weeks for Draker baby. 

We took our first ‘mini vacation’ just the 3 of us last weekend.  Our plan was to spend our day and night in Springfield.  We were going to hit up bass pro, lunch at Lambert's, shopping, and then the zoo.  But unfortunately for us, the weather in Springfield was less than pleasant and ruined our outside plans.  We had fun at bass pro but then ventured on to Branson after checking out Lambert's and being told there was a 2 hour wait.  In the windy, rainy, cold outside with our baby…I think not.  Branson ended up being really fun.  Spending the day with just my favorite boys was great!   

(left: sitting up in a big boy chair at bass pro – middle: family picture while in Branson – right: Aaron & Drake testing out the Nitro’s)   
 



Drake can officially sit by himself.  He really likes sitting on the floor playing with his toys.  Peyton was over the other night and pulled some of his toys that he got for Christmas out of his toy box.  And thank goodness she did, Aaron and I tend to forget that they’re in there. 

(left: big boys who sit up get to use a big boy bath ring – middle: this was about day 2 of practicing on sitting up – right – sitting up at the dr’s office)
 


Drake has also learned that he can roll to get where he wants.  Our baby has 100% disliked HATED being on his belly so he never really took to tummy time or learning to roll.  When we were in Branson he rolled all over the bed.  He just kept rolling and rolling.  He’s our little Roley Poley.  Yesterday afternoon, I laid him on his blanket (on his back) in the middle of the living room floor with some toys.  I came back from starting the laundry and he was on his belly with his legs half way under the entertainment center. 

He is growing all too fast for me!        

Saturday, March 19, 2011

He's 1/2 Way To 1

Drake turned 6 months old this month!  


He is getting so stinkin big! Aaron and I took him to his 6 month checkup on Thursday.  He is weighing in at 13 lbs 7 oz and 25 1/4 inches long.  The Dr said that he is on the smaller side but we all knew he would be.  We did get the go ahead to start giving him 2 oz of juice or water a day.  And he can have puffs and yogurt melts too. 

The last 6 months have flown by.  I wish that we could put our life into slow motion for the next oh... 18 years. In just the last couple of weeks he has started doing so many new things.  He babbles and 'talks' ALL the time now.  He can say 'dada' when he wants too but it doesn't happen often.  Last weekend Aaron and I really started working on him sitting unassisted.  And about 2 days later he was doing it.  It isn't a perfect up and down sit but he can balance himself without being helped for several minutes now.  He still doesn't roll from belly to back very often (because he HATES being on his tummy) but he rolls from his back to his belly (mostly in his sleep.)  Tonight while sitting in the hotel (in Branson), he found that if he just keeps rolling and rolling he can get to where he wants to go by himself.  I think that way may have a semi mobile baby soon. 

I don't want my baby to not be a baby anymore. 

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Homemade Baby Food

Now that I'm done playing catchup, hopefully I can keep on top of my blogging and throw in a couple of random posts as well!

Everyone said that I was crazy to make baby food and why waste my time when I could just buy it.  I know that store bought baby food is not bad for him and I know that making his baby food is not going to make me a better mommy than anyone else.  But I enjoy it, it's easy to make, it's cheaper, and it's the real deal.  I don't add anything but water and/or formula to his food.  When I first started looking into making my own baby food I came across alot of recommendations online for www.wholesomebabyfood.com.  This site is amazing.  It breaks down what foods are appropriate by stages and age, it tells you what to look for in case of allergies, and of course it gives you the recipes.
 
So far I have made: carrots, sweet peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, & pears. 
Drake liked: carrots, sweet peas, squash, sweet potatoes, & apples
Drake did not liek: green beans, bananas, & pears 

http://www.wholesomebabyfoods.com/ tells you the best way to cook the veggies and fruits.  Most of them can be steamed/boiled on the stove top or in the microwave.  There are a couple that are baked.  I make adjustments to the receipe process as I find what works better for me. 



When making baby food these are the items use every time:
plastic bowl
After I steam, boil, or bake the veggie or fruit I put it in a small plastic bowl to mash it before blending it

fork
I mash the veggie or fruit with a fork while it's in bowl.  This makes it easier to blend because there wont be any big pieces of food.
tall plastic cup
I put the mashed up food in a tall plastic cup.  I've used just the bowl before but I end up making such a mess using the immersion blender. 


immersion blender
I LOVE using the immersion blender when making baby food.  It's by the simplest thing I've used yet.  My 1st go around with baby food was not a success.  I tried using my food processor and it was a disaster.  The immersion blender lets you manually blend the parts that may need more blending

Product Image FEED ACCESS MUNCHKIN FRESH FOOD
 munchkin food storage containers
The storage containers was something that I researched alot.  I read reviews on every container that I could find.  The munchkin containers are great because they have strew on lids instead of the pop top lids that I've 'read' open when they are freezing.  The only thing I do not like about these containers is that I can only get them at 2 stores around me - Bentonville walmart and Rogers target.


My first attempt at baby food = FAIL


 My second attempt at baby food = SUCCESS



Way Behind And A Whole Lot To Tell part 2: January & February

Things that happened in January.?.
  1. Aaron turned 28.  He had a pretty laid back birthday.  I asked him if he would rather go out to eat or have dinner at home and he didnt think twice before deciding he wanted to have dinner at home.  He asked for chili but because our life is crazy busy anymore that didnt exactly happen.  He and Drake came and had lunch at the office with me.  He already knew one of his birthday presents, simply bc I was not about to buy a $300 bow and him not like it.  So he got his bow for his birthday (even though he claims he forgot he was getting it) and then a pair of Jason Aldean's 'retro wranglers.' He loved his card from Drake. It was super cute and with the help of mommy, he wrote a very nice note.
  2. The Jason Aldean concert was January 22.  And I must say... that man is AMAZING.  I could very well be in love with him.  Aaron and I dropped Drake off with his Aunt and Uncle and headed to Fayetteville.  We have left Drake before to go to work and I think once or twice to run an errand or two.  But we had never left him at night time before.  I cried on our way to drop him off and was quite teary eyed once we left but I'm so glad that Aaron and I got to spend much needed time together ALONE!  The line to get into barnhill arena was INSANE, it was forever long!  Once we got inside and found our seats (15th row on the floor) we headed to the tshirt stand!  I really wanted the shirt with his picture on it but Aaron reminded me that might be a little strange so I settled for one with just his name and tour dates on it.  I <3 my Jason Aldean shirts and I'm always telling Aaron that I wish I could wear them to work. (I told you that I could possibly be in love with him - that could also be translated into possibly be obsessed with him).  But back to the concert... it was AWESOME!  His new songs rocked and dirt road anthem is definately my favorite.  I took a ton of pictures and a couple of videos!  The nigtht was great and spending it with my amazing husband made it that much better.  Getting home to our baby was great though.  I missed him and thankfully he slept pretty good for us that night. 
  3. Thanks to Nate and Bonnie... we found the PERFECT photographer for Mr. Drake.  We have started taking him to Eryn Salley Photography in Bella Vista!  She is amazing... she's really good with Drake and has a fun personality.  Aaron and I like her work so much that we have decided that we're going to have her take Drake's pictures every month for his 'month birthday.'  3 month pictures were a hit!  I love them and I cannot wait to get his 4 month pictures back! 
  4. Poor Drakey baby had his 4 month well baby check on the 17th.  He weighed in at a whopping 11 lbs 9 oz.  He had to get those mean old shots again though!  He did well with them, probably better than the first time.  I decided this time I would just stand outside the room when they gave him the shots so that way when they were done I could help get him dressed since Aaron was still in uniform.  Standing outside the room and hearing my baby cry was a horrible feeling...mommy cried too!  But after we got him dressed and fed he was good to go!  His next appointment will be his 6 month appointment in March.
February seems to be lasting FOREVER.  We had 2 BIG snow storms.  We saw more snow in a two weeks time than we have seen in YEARS.  We took Drake out for a quick photo shoot one evening when Aaron got home from work.  He wasnt too sure what to think about it.  We got him all bundled up in his gap snow suit for a whole 7 minutes.  I think it took us longer to find his clothes, hat, gloves, and get him ready then it took us to take a few pictures.  But now we will always have pictures of Drake in his 1st big snow!  The 2nd snow storm was slightly different... we couldnt leave our house for a couple of days.  The weatherman was calling for 4-6 inches and we ended up with 16.  In some parts of the county they saw up to 30 inches.  It was CRAZY.  It reminded me of living in Idaho again... which I dont care to do.  We didnt take Drake out in this snow because we probably would have lost him in it.  I tried to take a tape measure outside to measure the snow and dropped it - TWICE!  I came back in and told Aaron "um... I'm sorry but I dropped the tape measure in the snow and I cant find it."  He said "um...I'm sorry but you better go find it before it rusts."  What a mean husband I have :)  The snow days off together were great.  We work opposite days so we NEVER have a day off together.  Spending time as a family of 3 all day long for a couple of days was wonderful.  I made breakfast, lunch, and dinner for my boys and Drake got to have his mommy and daddy with him all day long!  Valentines Day took forever to get here but now that its over the month is flying by.  Drake had Hershey hugs Valentien cards this year.  He took 1 for all of his buddies at daycare, 1 for his teachers at daycare, he sent 1 to Grammie & Grandpa, 1 to Asher, 1 to Grandma & Papa, 1 to Joel & Lola, and then 1 to Micayla, Dillon, Bailey, & Peyton.  Grammie and Grandpa sent him a BOX of stuff.  Everything from stuffed animals to toys and clothes!  Mommy and daddy got him a 1st Valentines Day Book and card and a chatter box elmo doll.  He loves when Elmo laughs!

PICTURE WILL BE ADDED LATER