Family Pic

Sundays are one of the few days of the week that we get ready together and have a minute or two to spare for a picture before running to church.  Too bad that Nathan wasn't quite looking at the camera.

Hanging Out

So, it must have been a rough day yesterday (or the week finally caught up with him), but Nathan went to bed last night at 5:30pm.  We were so worried he was going to wake up at 4am and be ready for the day, but he actually slept till 6:30am.  Since we didn't get to play much yesterday, we were glad to play today.

We got a set of "tools" and an aquarium with little animals a couple weekends ago at a yard sale.  They are made of cloth and are so fun for this little guy to chew on.  $1 was worth it!

Monkey Boy

Nathan was able to wear several monkey outfits this week! :)

What a smiley boy!  It does a mother's heart good to have her baby smile at her!

Morning Shananigans

Each morning while I finish getting ready, Little Bit plays on a blanket on the floor.  He will roll back and forth or just play with a toy.  He was especially talkative this morning.

He was doing his mouth like an O - reminding me of my neice Emma who used to do that.  I think she was just a little older than Nathan when I remember her doing it (when we went to visit Grandma in Canada).

Then, out of the blue, I start feeling this tugging on my skirt.  It's Nathan!  He laid there and played with it until I was finally ready.  Silly boy!

Eating Carrots

Nathan's been adding excitement to the eating process by putting his hands in his mouth while he eats.  I'm not sure if he just wants to touch it or what, but each time when we're done, we find food everywhere!  Barry's been holding his hands down so that he can eat and when Barry does that, it moves the process much more quickly.

We got a couple containers of baby food over the weekend to try some new tastes.  This week has been carrots.  We'll broaden our horizens next week with green veggies.  Hopefully, Nathan won't be like his Momma and like to eat vegetables.

Two for Tuesday

Nathan started off on his back on the blanket with the rattle.  He rolled and rolled and rolled and ended way over there!

He had to do a push up and show off! :)  Of course, a big smile is in order because the camera is out!

Happy Tuesday!

Barry & The Lions

Barry was excited about the opportunity to go to a Lions game... granted it was in Tennessee verses the Titans, but it's better than nothing, right?  His boss had promised him last year that Barry could have one of his season tickets for that game.  So, he looked forward to September 23 with great anticipation.  Thankfully, there was a guy from our small group that was going to the game so after attending the early service at church, Barry left with him to go to the game.  Then, he saw his good buddy from Michigan - Jason - who moved to Tennessee last year.

It was a beautiful day for a game.  There was lots of excitement, but the Lions lost in overtime, 41 to 44.  Bummer.  It's sort of unusual for these two teams to play each other.  The last time the Titans played the Lions, it was Thanksgiving Day 2008 (the Lions lost that game too).

Some Girl Friends

When we go to small group, Nathan has a whole group of girls that dote on him.  These two ladies (L to R) Gracie & Marissa, just love Nathan and taking care of him.  They will talk to him when they see him at church and will carry him around at small group.  They're great helpers!

(Of course, after I snapped this picture, Nathan looked up and gave a big smile!)

It's Friday!

We're looking forward to the weekend and spending time together.  Two exciting things that will be going on are: 1) Barry & I are going out Saturday night and 2) Barry is going to a Lions game!  Woo hoo!

Chilly mornings

We've been having temperatures in the 40s the last couple days so it was time to pull out the jackets!  Here are my boys ready for the day!

New Tricks

As you saw yesterday, Nathan is trying to speak more and more.  He'll put lots of sounds together which is fun to hear and imitate.  He'll look at me and be like, "Momma, why are you making such crazy sounds!"  In any case, he's hitting the next milestones for his age.

His nose is peeling some and you'd not know that he was burned.  Thank goodness!

Talking

I've been trying to get a video of Nathan talking.  He's putting together two sounds like, "Dadadada."  But, since he's so used to me taking pictures of him, every time I bring the camera out to video him, he thinks I want to take a picture and so he'll stop and smile.  These are still fun videos!

Being Creative

It was my co-worker's birthday on Friday, but she wasn't in the office, so I decided to have her birthday stuff ready for Monday.

She likes the color red, so I tried to make it with that in mind.  I used 3 papers, some red organdy ribbon, and a painted red chipboard "d".  I wrote happy birthday! on the yellow striped paper.

Then, I made some sugar cookies and tried to decorate them.  I used the sugar cookie recipe from allrecipes.com and then just used a can of vanilla icing.  On Dana's cookie, I shook some red colored sugar down first and then piped a yellow flower.  I had intended on doing some other colored flowers and mixed together some more icing that was lavendar.  But, when I put it in the bag with the little bit of yellow that was left, it turned brown.  Kind of ugly, but what can you do?

I made up a plate for the daycare ladies, and I guess it's the thought that counts.  It's kind of interesting, but who can turn down homemade cookies?

Sun Burn

Oh dear!  Our little guy got burned.  Not only on his cheeks, but on his arms and legs.  I'm so glad that he had the hat on at the soccer game or we'd really be in trouble.  I've been really good about putting sunscreen on him if we're outside or putting him in the shade, but we didn't do so well on Saturday.
We can pretend that we went to the lake...

Soccer Fun

We have a soccer field just down the street from us (maybe 1/2 a mile).  My co-worker's son started playing soccer a couple weeks ago and we decided to walk down and see his game. 

 We brought a hat for Nathan to wear as it was kind of that in between sunny & cloudy.  (It was a good thing too.... See the next post!)

We had to wear red and support the RED team!  Go Brent!

Hair

Look at how good his hair is growing!  It is on the back of his shirt now!  If he starts sweating (which is not unusual in his carseat), it even has a bit of curl to it!  It can be kind of crazy in the morning as there is a patch on the back of his head on top that will like to stand up.

Then, I had to take a picture of him from the front.  He couldn't figure out why I was behind him with the camera (he knows when I have it out that he should smile).

Both in Red

Since we're both wearing red, we should have our picture taken together, right?!

Happy Wednesday!

Two for Tuesday

We got this little ball for Nathan since he has one at daycare that he plays with a bunch.  It's easier for him to hold since it has holes all in it.  He would lay on the floor, push it, and then try and worm himself around to get it.  We're working on our crawling skills, evidently!

Here he is enjoying his most favorite toy - his exersaucer.  Barry was making breakfast and Nathan was keeping him company!  (Mike even made it in the picture!  Well, his butt & tail!)

We got to see some grandparent-type friends on Sunday who hadn't seen him since he was 1 week old.  They were sure surprised!  He is quite active :).

Can't do a post on 9/11 without remembering all those who are serving our country.  We're so glad to have Uncle Rick in our lives as he helps us to remember there's others like him serving who have family and friends at home waiting for their return.

Family Pic

We had just a few minutes before leaving for church to take a picture.  Nathan had gone through one outfit already and was desperate for a nap, but we pulled it together for a quick picture.  (Can you see that we're all wearing stripes?!)

Yes, I'm wearing my glasses again.  I went through a l-o-n-g period where my eyes were having issues and I was putting drops in them so it was easier to wear my glasses.  Then I tried to wear the contacts again and went through the last 2 weeks of wearing them.  Unfortunately, I only have one more pair and no extra $$ to go get my eyes checked and buy more.  So, we're back to the glasses.  It's amazing the difference of wearing each of them.  I kind of like "hiding out" in my glasses.  I think it helps me blend in more...

The Official Turtle picture

We can't let a month go by without the turtle picture!

 

We went today to have his official 6 month old (but now he's 7 months old) pictures.  I needed to make an appointment with the studio, but hated to lock us into a time when the weekends tend to be very flexible with his feeding time.  So, we decided to show up when I thought there was an availability and see if they would take us.  We had to wait a little bit, and the family there was having their daughter's 1 year pictures done.  They bought a huge package and that made me a little nervous.  We had a coupon 3 sheets for $9 and I had hoped they would let me order one more sheet for a reasonable price.  Nathan did really well with the pictures and we picked out what we wanted.  She gave us 5 sheets for $15!  Praise the Lord!  So, you can be looking for a sweet little picture of our guy after the 19th!

Hanging out in the crib

Look at this big boy hanging out in the crib!  His best buddy Turtle and JellyBean are with him.  I don't know if you can tell or not, but the tag on Turtle (to the left of him) is all scrumpled up because someone (hint: the boy in blue!) likes to play with the tag.  When we've laid Nathan down and he's not quite asleep, we'll find later on that Turtle is in various places in the crib.  Nathan's trying real hard to be a big boy and sit up... He's able to do it for longer and longer stretches!

Also, new to the crib is the breathable bumper.  My parents got that for us when they were down in July.  Hopefully it'll keep him in and safe.  Right now, he's not too wild when he sleeps.  We're still keeping him swaddled for the main portion of his night's sleep.

7 Months Old

 with Mike!

Nathan's been struggling with a cough again.  Yuck!  I read in one of our baby books that it could be associated with teething, but I don't know that's the case.  I've been doing nasal spray, using the aspirator, putting Vicks on his chest at night as well as using a Vicks plug in.  Thankfully, he doesn't cough as he sleeps.  We may still end up going to the doctor.

7 months already!  I've been putting pictures in an album and it just is amazing how much he's changed.  It's so hard when people ask if he's sleeping through the night (nope, not yet), crawling (he can barely sit up for a period of time), and so many other things.  We're just happy that he's doing what he is.  We're loving seeing his personality and trying to help him develop new skills.  We still struggle with helping him get enough naps during the day and eating, but he's doing okay.  We're going to make it, I think!

Two for Wednesday*

*Oops!  We forgot Two for Tuesday!

Monday morning, Nathan and I did some things together so that Daddy could sleep in a little.  Nathan successfully rolled back and forth on his play mat and then got stuck against one of the cross beams.

I found several one piece outfits that we had gotten from a friend before Nathan was born.  At the time we thought they would be the wrong season, but guess what?  They fit perfectly!  Since Nathan is so long, these one piece things have to be bigger so that it's not a straight jacket when he wears it.  What a cutey pie, sitting there like a big boy!

Swinging

Someone loves to swing!  We decided on a whim to let Nathan try and he liked it a lot!

 First with Momma....

 Then, with Daddy....

Then, on Momma's lap!

It started raining harder so we had to leave the park, but it was a great time!

Going on a walk, part 2

So, we decided to go on a walk this afternoon...

 Don't they look soooooo excited?!  

(Can you guess who's idea it was to go on the walk?!)

Toward the end of our walk, someone was whiny & fussy (no, not Barry!) so I was holding him and we went off-roading to see this awesome truck.

Just wait till tomorrow's pictures... more park fun!

Reading with Daddy

Since Daddy was at work and away from us, when he came home, Nathan spent a bunch of time with him.

Mr. Walrus-Boy! :)

Unfortunately, Barry had another of his dizzy spells today.  This is the 2nd time in a month, but thankfully, it wasn't so bad that he couldn't go to church with us.  As the day progressed, he's felt better so that's good too.  It's definitely great to have a night off from small group and another day to be together.

Went for a Walk!

Since I was home this morning with little guy, I decided to go on a walk.  It was just a balmy 82 and the threat of rain was present, but we went for a 15 minute walk anyway!  (Of course, it took me quite a bit of maneuvering to hold Nathan and figure out how to open the stroller!) 

 Here we are before the walk!

He wasn't so sure at first, but eventually was talking and playing as we walked.  It's been a long time since we've gone for a walk.  Maybe we'll get to start back soon since the evenings are not so hot.