Christmas!

Hunter's first Christmas was fun! We were very busy, but he was still able to get in all his normal naps. So, I was happy! We had a few before Christmas... on Christmas eve we spent the day with my mom just hangin out at Jen's house. We waited for Jared to get off work and then headed to St. Marie to have Christmas with the Yager family. We stayed there about 2 hours and then headed to the Herboth's for their Christmas Eve "open house". I enjoyed this day very much and we were blessed with many gifts!

Christmas day we got up early (well Hunter was up early, haha) and we had our own little family's Christmas. Then we got ready and headed to Jen's again to have Christmas with my dad that morning. We had a great breakfast and Hunter was able to take a morning nap while we were there. Then, at about 12 we went to Jared's Grandma's and had Christmas with his mom and family. We enjoyed a great big lunch and opened many gifts once again! Then at about 2 Hunter was ready for his afternoon nap so we headed home and got to enjoy some down time before going over to Donsbach's for the big Nuelle Christmas. We opted out of the gift exchange this year but a few people still got little Hunter something. We ate there, once again a great meal!

We were blessed with many gifts again this year! Hunter got lots of toys and new clothes! I can't imagine what our house will look like when we have other children! We definitely will need a bigger home in the future, haha.
Here are a few pictures from our Christmas'!

Table Foods

I was very surprised at Hunter's 6 month appointment when the doctor said he could start trying table foods! He still doesn't have any teeth yet though. So, this might be kind of hard! However, I have let him gum on a piece of pizza, some crackers, pudding, strawberry banana jello from Niemergs, he had some mashed potatoes and sweet potatoe caserole at Christmas, and a few others! He is quite the little eater lately! Today I fed him yogurt right when he got up, then he had his bottle, then about 11:00 he was gettin fussy and he ate a whole mashed banana with a little applesauce in it, then about noon when I had lunch he was acting hungry again! so, I gave him 2 icecubes of peaches! Then he had his bottle and went down for his nap! Still the only food he hasn't cared for was avacado so I'm really hoping he isn't picky and sticks to the way he is eatin now cause it's great! I am still making his food! I have been buying frozen bags of mixed veggies and frozen fruit too. I still can't believe how cheap it is to make my own food! I can't wait for him to get some teeth so he can try more things! The crackers didn't really go so well, he started choking so I think we will wait to do stuff like that until he can chew it!

6 month check up

Hunter just had his 6 month check up last week. He had a little flu bug so I wasn't sure if they were going to give him his shots or not, but they did! I chose NOT to get the flu shot. I am not big into the vaccinations... especially the un needed ones! He already had to get 3 shots and I just dont think mixing them at the same time can be good for them! We survived without the flu shot so that was our thinking on not getting it...and being a teacher I see a lot of behavioral and social disorders and I know the vaccinations are always a "possible cause"...

Anyways, he was able to get his shots even though he has been sick. He didn't have a temp at the moment... although the next day he was running a fever again but that could be from the shots too, who knows. We had a nasty diarrhea bug that hit him Monday night and lasted until Friday afternoon! Poor guy was havin some stomach cramps on Tuesday/Wednesday!!

For his weight he was 20 pounds and in the 79%. For height he was 28 inches and in the 90%. She couldn't believe how tall he was! That is why he is wearin 12 months clothes... he's chubby but not really that much. It's mostly his cheeks and his height!

We don't have to come back for another appointment until he is 9 months.. which will be in March.

New Traditions

I bought Hunter some Christmas jammies! I am excited to have our first Christmas as a family of 3! One tradition I want to start with our son and future kids is to open one present on Christmas Eve every year. We usually got to open one gift on Christmas eve when I was younger but it was just a random one. This tradition is going to be opening new pajamas! This will be exciting when he gets older and gets to wear his new pajamas to bed and plus then he'll look cute on Christmas morning in new clean jammies!

What are some traditions you had growing up? We had some odd ones, haha. For some reason we always got a pair of toe socks and had to take a picture with our socks on... toe socks? Are those even comfortable, no, haha! We also always read the Christmas story from the book of Luke before opening any presents. I love this tradition because it really reminds you of the true meaning behind Christmas! I absolutely HATE that it's become all about Santa and getting gifts. We plan on instilling the importance of giving and the birth of Jesus to our kids as the reason for the season!

One week till Christmas day! I can't wait! Tomorrow is my last day of work for 2 whole weeks :) I love being a teacher, haha! I wish Jared got more days off though! Being off together is so much more fun than being off alone; at least I have Hunter to spend the days with though!

I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Shopping!

I took a personal day Friday and did a little Christmas shopping. I had already got most of my stuff online, but it just doesn't feel like Christmas if you don't get to go shopping and enjoy the hustle and bustle! Jen and I braved some mommy suicide and took ALL 3 Boys! We were a little nervous but they did very well and we are some quick shoppers! We left about 9:15 after trying to cram Hunter's car seat in the back of her SUV we finally made it. We stopped at Target and then just went to the mall. We were outta there by 1:30 and stopped in Tuscola. We took turns going in stores in Tuscola so we didn't have to haul the kids around in the rain, haha. I got to run into Carters and spent a little too much money for our little man. I am SO glad he's not a girl because I can't resist looking at cute clothes and the girl stuff is irresistable! Although, I would like a girl someday! :) We were home by 3:45! It was a great, much needed day off work! I am officially done shopping too! I just love this time of year! We didn't get Hunter a lot this year because he has everything he needs so we'll let the family spoil him. His gifts were new car seats, clothes and a few toys.


Here is a really cute picture I got of the boys holding hands in the car, HOW STINKING CUTE! They are going to be best buddies :) Carson already loves little Hunter.

New Car Seats

Welp the time has come where I can no longer carry big boy in his infant car seat anymore! I am a little nervous about switching him since he can't sit up that well yet but I figure if we go to wal mart or kohls we will just have to bring a blanket to support him a little more. That is what we do in wooden high chairs at restaurants so prob. not much different.

Basically, Hunter is getting car seats for Christmas from us this year, haha. They are expensive when you go for the good ones. I knew I wanted his car seat to recline so I had to do some research. I found a heck of a deal on Cyber Monday! The Safety First Alpha Omega Elite usually runs $180 and I got it for $90! I was trying to decide on that one and the Safety First All in One Convertible car seat which also was $180 regularly and on sale for $90. So I just got one of each! I really liked the all in one because it looked narrow, which would work well for Jared's vehicle. They both reclined, and the elite has bells and whistles like extra head rests, arm rests, cup holders, etc. So I kinda wanted that one as well. So, my plan was to put the elite in my car. BUT we also needed a cheap one for baby sitter's to haul around since my dad takes him to his house once a week and when Kay watches him she takes him to her house.. and Kate usually goes runnin errands when she has him too. A friend of ours happened to see a really nice one that reclined on the Effingham fb garage sale site that was used as a back up and only used a few times...regularly $150 for $40. So, we ended up getting that one because it reclined as well. I did not realize until I picked it up, that this was like the taj mahal of car seats! It was so wide and comfy looking. I decided since it was the biggest of the 3 I would just put it in my car instead of making the baby sitters haul around the big one!

So, I installed all the car seats today! We will see how big boy likes them! The truck back seat is pretty small so I was a little nervous it wouldn't work out but it BARELY fit! I told Jared I wasn't sure we coould have another kid anytime soon with that truck because it would be tight with 2 car seats back there...

Anyways, here is the elite car seat, the one we will let the sitter's haul around.. the other 2 are already installed.

6 months!

Our little guy is 6 months old today!

 

At 6 months Hunter is:

-wearing 12 months clothes

-wearing size 3 diapers

-weighing in at 20 pounds

-very tall! Not sure on his length yet but he even wore a

size 18 month outfit the other day.. he's going to be a tall kid!

-loving his food! He is eating baby food for lunch and supper

and eating 4-8oz bottles a day still

-grabs for everything and wants to put it in his mouth!

(He definitely knows what food is and is always wanting what people are eating)

-Favorite toys are jumperoo, any gummy teethers, and his light up dog piano

-sitting up for short periods of time- doesn't quite have it down pat yet but it's close!

-rolling from back to belly and belly to back

-sleeping all night from about 8pm-7am usually

-not really burping as much anymore. I usually just burp him once from each bottle

-nap time naps aren't really consistantly 3 hours long anymore. If he does one long one of 3 hours then his other nap will usually only be 1.5 hours... but USUALLY the shortest he naps is still 1.5 hours

-is such a happy and content baby! When he wakes up he will just lay in his crib and talk or roll over and look at his mobile go round and round

-laughs and talks a lot (loves to mimic when you talk to him he will talk back)

-holds his own bottle if it's down to 4oz or less cause its not as heavy, haha

-is getting switched to his big boy car seat this coming week! His little infant carrier is just too heavy to carry anymore. I ordered 2 really nice car seats that recline so he is gettin moved! They are also booster seats so he could technically stay in them until he weighs 80 pounds!

-Loves lookin at his daddy- anytime he's in the room he gets Hunter's full attention

 

Hunter, these last 6 months have flown by! I can't believe it's been half a year since you were born! You are such a joy and the best baby we could ask for. We love you baby boy!

Holidays- and a little sewing!

The holidays are officially here! This is my favorite time of the year! We just celebrated Thanksgiving and we had a great day with family! I say this every year, and we probably really will have to start rotating who's house we go to, because we had 3 places to go Thursday, 1 Sunday, and 1 Friday. That's a lot of family time and a lot of runnin! AND we didn't even make it to the Herboth side this year...
Christmas is looking like it will be the same way... We will have 2 on Christmas eve and probably 4 on Christmas... just not sure how we will fit all of that in! Especially when Big Boy likes his naps!


Anyways, this year I decided to make Hunter a Thanksgiving bib. I had seen one on Pinterest and just looked at the picture and tried my best to make it myself. It did turn out pretty cute- until he spit up all over it! :)

 

While I had my machine out I decide to make another tie onesie for him as well. I got some red and white fabric and made him a little Christmas one! Lydia came over to take a few pictures of him with some Christmas lights and stuff so I thought it would be really cute!

Here is one of the pictures that she took- she gave it to me in color and in black and white.. I just can't decide which version I like better!! He is just too cute :)

I was really glad Jared was off on the day after Thanksgiving this year! Not that I went shopping or anything, but it was a fun day of just hangin out and puttin up some Christmas decor! Here is a picture of our tree this year. I had always had white lights and promised Jared we could do color when we had kids- not knowing it wouldn't be long before we would have any! Oh well, it turned out pretty cute! We did run out of beads though, so as soon as Walmart gets more, we will have to re-stock our tree!

I can't wait unil Christmas! I love my little family!

First Illness

Well unfortunately Hunter had his first illness. It started with the sleepless nights. I was begining to think he was just going backwards on his sleep schedule. Then he spiked the fever. He had a fever of 102 for about 2-3 days.. I took off work and brought him in just to be sure it wasn't an ear infection or something. She checked his ears and what do you know, he did indeed have his first ear infection. I was really glad I decided to take him in! I guess I now know that if he's crying in his sleep, its probably his ears. She said a good sign it's ears is if he acts fine during the day but cries at night. This is due to the drainage that happens when they lay flat- good to know! She also said not to give him tylonol unless he was acting like he was hurting. Basically, giving it to him during the day just for his fever would prolong his infection. She said that he should only have it to bring a fever down if it's above 102... so we did give it to him for a few days since his was about 102.3 average... Luckily that went down. He started sleeping again after the antibiotics were in him a good 3-4 days. I stuck a blanket under his mattress to help his ears drain and that seemed to help right away too. We had one really really yucky night where he was up from 11-4 and nothing could soothe him.  After the propping of the bed, he did a lot better.

So after he was well again, I took out the blanket. Then he started rolling over in the middle of the night and waking up just talkin away. I was like well crap now he's wide awake at 1:00 A.M. I noticed that when his bed was propped he couldn't scoot up like he used to so I tried propping it again thinking maybe that would do the trick... nope! He still managed to squirm his way against the side of the crib and roll again! So, I got smart! I took two of his quilts and rolled them up. I put them on each side of him and basically he is sandwhiched now and can't roll or scoot! Problem solved! He does look a little funny though, haha.

A few bad nights to make you thankful

A night like last night sure makes me thankful for the wonderful nights of sleep I usually get! I wish these darn teeth would pop through! Hunter went down at 7:30 which was a bit early for him, but he was ready. To my surprise he was up at 12:30. I thought nothing much of it because after about 10-15 minutes of some hard butt patting he was back asleep. Then he woke up SCREAMING at 3, which never happens. I was afraid something was wrong... I tried patting his butt for about 10 minutes and when I noticed he wasn't falling back asleep, I got the tylonol out because I figured it was his teeth. He felt kind of warm to me, but I didn't take his temp. I got the tylonol in him at about 3:15 and he was still screaming at 3:30, so I got out the oragel and teething tablets. He finally fell back asleep. I thought for sure that would be it... I heard screaming again about 5. This time he was pretty awake, so I just went ahead and fed him. This is the earliest he's ever been fed. I didn't want him to think this is a new normal, so I laid him back down after his bottle to see what would happen and luckily he fell back asleep. So, it wasn't a pleasant night for me. I laid back down at 5:40 thinking I should just get up for the day... but I was just too tired. I fell right back asleep and slept right through my alarm at 6. I got up at 6:30 when Jared's alarm went off.

All I can say is THANK YOU GOD this is a "every once in a while" thing. When you aren't used to getting up, it makes it that much worse! You don't know how badly I wanted to stay in bed this morning and call into work! If only my sub plans would have been done, I may have been tempted enough. Instead, I slept in, didn't take a shower, wore a sweat shirt with black pants (horrific, I know) and threw my greasy hair up in a pony tail. Nice huh?
I don't even care, haha.
Life with kids I suppose! Still wouldn't trade it for the world!

P.S.it's Jared's turn next ;)

5 months old!

No way?! 5 months already? AHH. I'm sad.  Seems like I was just coming home from the hospital...

 At school today there was a student's mom who just had a baby last week. She brought in the baby today and the baby was SO tiny! I thought to myself, no way was Hunter EVER that small?! The baby weighed 6'13... same as Hunter!

Hunter, your mommy and daddy continue to love you so much!
At 5 months you now:

-Continue to sleep through the night, usually about 11-12 hours at a time
-Continue to take long morning naps and long afternoon naps
-Have given up on the evening nap
-Never decided to be a thumb sucker or a paci baby... you just like to put both hands in your mouth at once, haha
-Love baby food! There hasn't been one so far that you haven't liked; I'm so glad you aren't picky or a texture baby thus far
-Eat fruit mixed with cereal in the mid morning or lunch and you eat a veggie at suppertime
-Still getting homemade baby food (2 ice cubes)
-Since you're eating more you don't usually drink as much formula... you have an 8 oz in the mornings and usually 6 oz during the day and then another 8 oz at night (we've skipped doing the cereal in the night time bottle)
-You usually go to bed at 8
-You give kisses! This is just the sweetest thing :) When mommy or daddy bend down to kiss you, you really open up and seem like you love the kisses!
-Just rolled over from belly to back for the first time this week! We found you on your back the next morning!
-Wearing size 9 month clothes and 12 month jammies
-Wearing size 3 diapers
-Slobbering ALL THE TIME.. your shirt is often soaked
-You are teething for sure, but have none yet
-You like to wiggle your way up in your crib. Lately you have been waking up at about 4 or 5am because your head is all the way at the other end of the crib... I just have to pull you down and you fall right back asleep luckily
-I am wondering if you will start scooting soon... you are starting to get up on your hands and knees for a short period of time
-Your favorite toy is the jumperoo; you also really like the stuffed dog and the vibrating bumble bee for your teeth!
-You are starting to recognize strangers. Lately you have been crying when you see daddy or I and a stranger is holding you.
-You coo, laugh, and scream quite a bit! The scream is so funny because you like to mimic daddy and talk back.
-We just got you weighed last week and you weighed 17 lbs and 12 oz and you were 27" long!

1 Corinthians 13:6

Marriage can be a hard thing at times. You get so busy with life and get caught up in other things that sometimes you forget what matters most. Sometimes you hurt your loved one without even realizing it...
It is really important not to get caught up in the things of the world. The bible says "Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy." We are proclaiming this verse over our family despite what Satan thinks he plans to do!!!

talking about love...1 Corinthians 13:6 "It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

Love

The love you have for your children is seriously crazy. Sometimes when I'm rocking Hunter at night or just snuggling with him while he's falling asleep in my arms I look at him and thank God for him. I usually start by thanking God for his happy giggly personality, his chill easy going attitude, and for the joy he brings to our family. The joy and love we have over Hunter is so overwhelming it often makes me cry. I get so emotional just thinking about it! It's crazy to think that just 5 months ago we weren't able to hold him yet, and a year ago we didn't even know we were pregnant yet! Time sure did go quickly! I'm already getting sad that he will be 6 months old in December. That is half way through his first year and that means he'll only be a baby for another half of a year!! Is it possible to have baby fever when you have a baby?? haha I think I just enjoy babies and kids so much I would be content in having one his age for the rest of my life! Don't get me wrong I can't wait for him to get older so we can see his personality, but being able to hold him in your arms and watch him sleep is something I'll never forget or ever take for granted. It's one of the sweetest moments I've ever had! Jared and I both love looking at him in awe of what God has created :)

I can't imagine a child being abandoned or ignored. It makes me so sad! I have a child in my class that craves attention so much; it's obvious he doesn't get it at home. He often asks for a hug or to hold my hand... so sweet. Those little kindergarteners are my babies too! I honestly wish I could adopt him. I hate that this little kid goes home to such a rough home life.. if the opportunity ever came available for me to adopt him I'd do it in a heart beat! Jared and I both have a heart for all the hurting children out there... it is on our heart to adopt someday when we are in a better state financially, God willing. I think it would be awesome to give another child a chance at life!

A little leakage

Here is my personal oppinon on disposable diapers... pampers all the way.

haha this is what Hunter looked like when he got up from a nap the other day. We had a huggies diaper on him and he woke up 3 hours later looking like this! I've tried Huggies, Luvs, and Pampers. I know some people say it doesn't really matter they're all the same but that is so not true for our little guy! We can leave a Pampers on him for 12 hours at night and he won't leak at all! Luvs aren't the best for night time but they work during the day. So I've been buying 1 box or 1 package of pampers for night time only and then using Luvs during the day. I actually still have 3 big boxes of diapers left from before he was born! I have only had to buy 1 box since we've had him, and that was because we needed the pampers for night time in size 3. We moved him up a few days ago and I couldn't make the size 2's last. They were huggies anyways so I just threw away the last 5 or 6 that I had left. This really surprised me that Huggies would be so BAD! They are more expensive than any other kind I've found... and I don't know why, haha. So, I think we've found what works for us! As soon as I start having to buy them I think I'm gunna try Sams because they are cheaper there and I'm ALMOST positive they have free shipping.. The membership is cheaper for Sams then it is for AmazonMom... so we'll try it! I'm pretty excited we've made it 4.5 months without buying them though! We will probably make it to 6 months!

Pictures

Dinah's sister Mary Anne does an amazing job at photographing. She came to visit for a few days and they surprised me with a little mini photo shoot. I guess it was supposed to be a gift but Dinah couldn't wait, haha. I love the pictures though! They capture my baby boy's sweet blue eyes and lucious lips (haha they are so kissable). He looks like such a chunk in the pictures as well.

Here are a few of my favorites:

I absolutely love his little hands in this one. He constantly has them in his mouth!

 

One of my best friends also takes pictures and we had her take our family photos for the first time since Hunter has been born. I can't wait to see those! She has posted one of Hunter and I so far and I love it. The fall colors are gorgeous right now :) God couldn't have painted a better backdrop!

 

 

4 month appointment & jumperoo!

Hunter had his 4 month appointment on Oct. 17th. So he was a little over 4 months...almost 4 1/2. He did not weigh as much as I thought! He was 16pounds 7 ounces which was the 60th percentile for weight. He was very long though... 26 and 3/4 inch long which put him in the 90th percentile for height. His head he was right around 75th. I was very surprised she didn't give me the green light for cereal or even mention it! Little did she know we've been doing it for awhile now though. I don't know if I already said this or not, but another doctor we know told me he was perfectly fine to be on cereal and food already because he's not lacking in the weight department. He said they hesitate on babies who aren't at least in the 50th % for height and weight because they need more of the nutrients that come from milk and not so much the ones that come from food and cereal. So that made me feel better when we decided to try it.

Hunter had shots at this last appointment and I felt so bad! He was laying there giggling and then all of the sudden he screamed and cried. My poor baby didn't know what hit him! I have heard the 6 month shots are the worst! :( He ran a fever for 2 and a half days after his shots too. It got up to 100 which isn't too high, but high enough that I knew he wasn't himself. I'm glad he is back to normal though! I'm also glad we have a very happy baby! Phew, those few days of screaming were not him and it gave me chance to test my patience for sure!

A friend gave us their jumperoo! How nice of them!! HE LOVES IT! It is by far his favorite toy... which I figured as much since my nephews loved theirs as well. It pretty well takes up every bit of our living room too, haha. I'm glad we have a room right off of our living room that we can hide those big toys when they aren't being used or else we would look like a day care, haha.

 

 

Baby Food Success

Making my own baby food was a success! So far, Hunter is enjoying it as well! I got out my new baby bullet and made sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, peas, green beans, and avocado. He had sweet potatoes for 4 days and he is now on to bananas for 4 days. So far, they are both a go! I am anxious to try something not so sweet and see if he still enjoys it as much. It was so worth the time it took to make baby food. I went to Aldi and bought a bag of the sweet potatoes, fresh green beans, frozen peas, 4 apples, 8 bananas, and 3 avocados for 8 bucks. If I would have gone to walmart, I could have bought 8 -2 packs of the gerber baby food containers which would get me through 16 days.  I filled up 6 ice cube trays, and all of the baby bullet containers that came with it. I still have 3 bananas, 3 apples, and 3 sweet potatoes too! So that is definitely 2 months worth of food for 8 bucks. AND its way better for him since it has no preservatives. If you think about it- that stuff can stay on the shelf, warm... for who knows how long?!? This food can last 3 days in the refrigerator, 1 month in the freezer, or 3 months in the deep freeze. SO, how do they make it have such a long shelf life at the store without being cold??? Hmmmm. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I'll still be buying a few of the stuff from the store for "on the go". Because who wants to ask a restaurant for a microwave to heat it up...?

 2 sweet potatoes makes a lot of baby food!

 Love Aldi and my box of produce!

 Love my baby bullet!

 

Yum Yum sweet taters

Right now, he is just getting baby food for dinner and it's followed by a 4 oz bottle instead of an 8 oz one.

Giving it a try!

We decided to give the baby food a try! I did a little experiment to see if Hunter was maybe just hungry like I said and gave him extra cereal last night and what do ya know, he didnt make a peep and he slept till 9! So, since he's just such a big boy we decided we think he's ready for some food, yay! I have been researching what the best foods to start out are and I found a great website! nurturebaby.com says babies can have food starting at 4 months. They gave the best foods to start with because of least gassy/tummy issues. Looks like I'll be stopping at the store tonight to get some apples, pears, green beans, peas, bananas, and sweet potatoes! I'm making my own and so excited to try it! It also said to do peaches but I think I'll just buy those cause Jen said it wasn't worth buying them since they're expensive. So, we'll keep a stash of food on hand in jars to take places. Otherwise I get to check out my baby bullet tonight! The site gives good recipes and advice like try a food for 4 days to make sure there are no reactions. It also said if the child doesn't like it, try it again up to ten times because it can take that long to acquire taste!

Pictures to come! :)

puzzle

Why are babies such a puzzle?! Oh ya, it's because they can't communicate except by crying. Wow is that frustrating. Ever since I posted my 4 month post about Hunter, he's been waking up at night. Most of the time he falls back asleep within 5-10 minutes so I don't even go in there. BUT, there was a night where he was crying pretty loud and it wasn't getting any less. So I went in and changed his diaper and then put him back down. I pat his butt and he went to sleep. I went back to my room and he was crying again. I did this whole cycle thing about 4 times and finally knelt by his crib and pat his cute little butt for ONE HOUR! omg. I was tired of patting and could have fallen asleep on his floor. Yikes... The next night he cried out again but did fall back asleep. I'm wondering if he's getting teeth, or if he is just not being held over anymore by that last bottle..any suggestions? I kind of want to try either cereal again for dinner or maybe even some baby food. something with some substance to hold him over all night again. The 2 tablespoons in the bottle must not be cuttin it anymore. I enjoyed my nice little 2 month interruption free sleep while it lasted :)

Serve Now, Serve Together

This weekend was the second annual Serve Now, Serve Together! This year 3 more churches joined us in serving our community. I served at the Junior High/High School clothes closet this year. This is something I wasn't even aware the schools had. It's a "store" of donated clothes, toiletries, and undergarments which the kids from both schools can go look through if they are in need. It is free of cost to them and full of lots of goodies. Now, before I went I thought I'd look through my clothes and donate some. I donated a whole trashbag. I thought this was pretty good! When I got there and saw how empty the closets were and how in need they were, I was feeling kinda bad. I have a pretty small closet at home, but I store a LOT of my clothes in the basement on a hanging string that is strung all the way across my basement! So, I actually have like the worlds largest closet, haha. But I just rotate my clothes out every now and then and with season. I got home and looked at my basement closet and holy smokes I didn't donate near enough. I felt like I needed to go through these clothes for a second time and this time don't just donate the ones I haven't worn in years. This time I donated good clothes... not just ones I kept the first time because it was "too nice" or I "might wear it someday". So needless to say, God pulled at my heart a little bit and led me to donate a lot more clothes! I have 2 more trashbags full of clothes to bring over this week. I was really shown how good of a life I live and that I need to give more to the ones who are in need. I think the word I'm looking for is "simply." I have heard this quote before, and I was reminded of it again this weekend. "Live simply, so you can simply live." I don't want to worry about what others think, what I look like, etc. I just want to simply live and love others! I'm so glad I had the opportunity to serve this weekend. I had no idea we have so many "homeless" students in the area that are in need.

Here is a picture of the clothes I pulled from the basement, ridiculous considering I already have a closet full upstairs!

And here is what I narrowed it down to.

 

These are all my hangers I now have because all the clothes are in trash bags and ready to be donated!

4 months!

At 4 months, Hunter has quite the personality! He is such a happy baby!

 

 

At 4 months Hunter can... laugh! He has the cutest little belly laugh and he is so ticklish! That is a sure way to get him to laugh.

 

Still sleeping through the night, yay! He usually sleeps about 12 hours, which I know we are very very very very very blessed with!

 

Talks, smiles, and laughs ALL THE TIME! We love this little personality that is shining through. He still pouts some too, but not near as much anymore.

 

Is still a very content baby. He loves to sit in his bouncy seat and watch cartoons. Although I don't want him watching very much becasue I've heard this is bad for their development... too many colors and sounds to process! Sorry Hunter we'll have to start cutting you back on your cartoon time!

 

Is still a big boy but is seeming to slow down a bit in weight. His appointment isn't until Oct. 17th but according to our scale he weighs 18 lbs. So he's only gained 4 pounds in 2 months; slowing down a little.

 

He seems very long to me but again I don't know the measurments yet!

 

He's eating cereal by spoon and loving it.

He trys to hold his bottle already... thinks he's big stuff! He needs to move his hands down a bit and he might have it!

Has lost most of his hair :( I loved his hair! His new is growing quite quickly though! He is pretty patchy at the moment.... grow baby grow!

 

Wearing size 6-9 month clothes and 9-12 month sleepers. I'm waiting on him to go through the last few size 2 diapers and then we'll be movin him up to 3's. I hate to waste any!

 

Eating an 8 oz. bottle 4 times a day. 8, 12, 5, 8 (usually)

 

He is a very scheduled baby! He knows that he has one morning nap, one afternoon nap, and an evening nap. Usually his morning and afternoon naps are 3 hours and his evening is 30-1 hr. However, if he is woken up early or doesn't sleep as long he still thinks that was his nap and he won't make up for it. This is frustrating when he falls asleep in the car and then won't take a nap or wants to go to bed at 7.

 

He sleeps on his belly still and is eating cereal in his last bottle still. I am pretty sure this is the key to him sleeping so well. There was one night we forgot cereal because we were out and about and he woke up at 1am crying. This was the only time he's cried out or woken up in 2 months! So we know it works and keeps his belly full at night.

 

He is just starting to play with toys. He sat in his exersaucer yesterday and was intently playing with the toys on it. So cute!

 

He still isn't interested in rolling over. Has only done it that one time. He does play on his back quite a bit, but doesn't usually ever play on his stomach, just sleeps on it.

 

We are loving watching our sweet boy grow. I saw a newborn the other day and got really sad that my baby is getting so big! It's insane how fast its going. I'm trying my best to soak up every moment. I'm such a baby lover I could keep him this age forever! Jared is so excited to see him grow though so he can do things with him like hunt, fish, and of course teach him how to ball!

 

I'm loving the winter hats :) Hoping for a mild winter though! So glad he's out of the newborn stage for the nasty cold weather! Summer babies are the way to go!

 

Always has his hands in his mouth! This makes for some stinky cheeks, haha. Slobber slobber slobber!

Grandma Jackie made me this cute hat!

Just chewin on my hands, mom.



spoon feeding

9-29-12
Our big boy has officially started eating from a spoon! I was so excited to try it. As I knew he would; he loved it. Already, you can't get the spoon to his mouth fast enough. He is such a little porker! Yes he's been getting cereal in his bottle for awhile now, but this is much thicker. We do 2 tablespoons of cereal to one ounce of formula. We started him on it Saturday, a day I knew we would both be able to see him eat it for the first time. I think he's going to be eating baby food in no time as well. He is just so hungry since he's such a big boy. We started off by feeding him the cereal first thing in the morning when he got up. However, I changed this quickly because he was just too hungry right when he got up and didn't really want anything but his bottle. So, now we are just doing cereal sometime mid-morning before his first nap of the day. My dad and Dinah watched him yesterday and they said he loved it and did well for them too, yay!

I'll probably wait another month or so and then start him on some baby food! I need to find some spare time before we start that since I want to make my own.

Fellow mommas, what is your favorite kind to make on your own? What is the cheapest you've found to make? Which kinds are not worth making and better off buying? I've heard from several blogging mommas that you are supposed to introduce a single food for a few days to get them used to it. And I've also heard you are supposed to stick to veggies at first as well. I want my boy to like his veggies! And one last question, did you start out with cereal in the morning like he's getting now and then just one time a day baby food... or did you go ahead and do lunch and dinner baby food right off the bat? Like I said I'll at least wait until he is  5 months, but probably start shortly after that. We love his high chair too; it reclines so it's super easy for him right now since he can't sit up yet.

Here are just a few pictures of Hunter eating cereal for the first time from a spoon!

Fall

Today is the first day of fall! Yay! Pumpkins, mums, and fall scents, ahh! My favorite season :) Its my favorite because it is the perfect weather! I absolutely love wearing jeans and a sweatshirt..don't like coats though! I have been shopping for some more fall clothes for bubby because he's in 6 months now, which means in another month or so he'll be in 9 months. So, I've been trying to find more 9 months. Jared and I are celebrating the first day of fall by going shopping, just the two of us, going to dinner, and then the Illini football game! We are so excited to enjoy a day to ourselves and I'm super excited about shopping! We decided to treat ourselves and take some extra cash to spend on ourselves. It just may be our birthday presents to eachother... Speaking of.. yay for October and our birthdays! I like having them close together because it's like a solid week of celebrating, together!

I have been trying to decide what kind of coat to get Hunter for the winter. Since he'll still be in his carseat for the majority of it, I don't want a big bulky one! So I went for a fleece jacket with a hood. I also bought the matching fleece hat with little ears on it, so cute! Who says boys clothes aren't fun?!

I sewed today for the first time since Hunter was born I think! I made some baby gifts for my friend who's due in December! I also made another burp cloth for us... I took some scrap pieces of a towel and added some cute fabric to it.. I really like it!

I've decided I'm addicted to the online garage sale site. Wow I can scroll through that site on my phone all day long! I had been searching for some more 12 month sleepers since Hunter's going to be movin up soon, and I hit the jackpot! I spent $37 on one lady's album! I bought all sorts of winter clothes for him and lots of sleepers!

Lately Hunter has been soo fun! I just love this age! He is SUCH a good baby. He will entertain himself by looking around, watchin cartoons, and playin with his toys. His carseat has a turtle that hangs down and he just sits in there and talks to it all the time, I love it! He is a bubble blowin machine lately too. If you buzz your lips at him he'll blow all sorts of bubbles :)

Here he is blowin bubbles in the bathtub. He still LOVES bathtime and will sit in there forever! He is officially way to big for his infant tub though. We got him a sponge and he gets to bathe in the big tubby now! He's truly such a joy to have and I can't imagine life without him. He is still sleeping through the night which is such a blessing. I can't complain about him at all, love him to pieces!

3 months old

Bubbie is 3 months old! He is getting cuter and cuter even when I didn't think it was possible! :)

Well Hunter at 3 months is about 16 pounds! He's such a big boy! He is very long too, but I'm not sure on measurments. He doesn't go back to the doctor for another month.

Hunter is now wearing 6 month clothes mostly, and 9 month sleepers! He is such a long baby! I can't wait to see how tall he grows up to be; just like his daddy!

He sleeps through the night!!! YAY! This is the biggest milestone that I'm most excited about! I have so many people tell me how lucky I am that he sleeps from 8pm-7am usually.. Last weekend he went to bed a little later but slept until 8:30 or 9:00 am! This week he's been up at 7 when I leave in the mornings, which is not all bad :-) He started doing this about 2 weeks ago!

He still gets cereal in his bottles and sleeps on his belly. LOVES sleepin on his tummy! One day he was on his back (due to a mis-communication with my babysitter) and he didn't sleep well at ALL! His naps are still 3 a day. A long morning nap, a long afternoon, and a short evening nap before bath and bedtime.

He's eating 6-8 ounces during the day around 8am, 12pm, 4pm. Then at bedtime he gets an 8 oz bottle with cereal.

Developmentally, he coos goos and smiles ALL THE TIME! Anytime you talk to him, he will talk back :) He hasn't rolled over yet, and it still may be awhile due to the fact that he doesn't like floor time much. He will sit under his play mat for a bit but that's about the extent of it. He sits up against something without falling to the side now. He has such a solid core!

He's losing his hair... boo! This is something I am so sad about. I love his dark head of hair and I'm hoping it doesn't all fall out!  It's getting pretty thin in the back and on the top. Keep your hair buddy!

He is often referred to as "chubs" by his daddy and I.

He loves when people talk to him, watching cartoons, watching a fan (haha I know), his bouncy seat for a short period of time, being outside, going on walks, being cuddled (I also love this), baths, and loves to look around! He knows his mommy and daddy's voices for sure and loves when we talk to him.

He does this pouty face quite frequently, haha. I seriouslly can't help but laugh when he does it because it's so funny/sad. He acts like he gets his feelings hurt or something.

He's wearing size 2 diapers.

He's given up his paci! He was such a paci baby for the first 7-8 weeks and then all of the sudden he was done with it! He has found his thumb the past few mornings so we'll see if he decides to pursue that anymore. When he's hungry in the mornings his fist goes in the mouth instantly.

We love this little boy more than anything. I can't leave school fast enough to get home and see him. His daddy loves him more than anything too. We love watching him grow and can't wait to hear him talk back to us and say our names someday soon. I don't want my little baby to grow up! I love this age! I know everyone says the fun age is coming, but I'm pretty in love with him now :-)

Hunter we love you!

sleep

Oh how I love sleep, and I'm so glad my boy does too. Last Sunday he slept through the night, which he has done a few times before. But I'm happy to report he's done it every night since then! I'm amazed and SO happy he decided to start when I went back to work. YAY.. my little booger has perfect timing huh?! He sleeps from about 8pm-7am usually.. a few times its been 6am and a few times its been 8:30 am so just depends I suppose. However, anything after 6 is just fine by momma!

My baby is down to 3 naps a day. A long morning nap, a long afternoon nap, and a short evening nap. This is fine with me because then he's awake more during the day for me to see him more on Saturdays/Sundays. I'm so proud of my boy for skippin that night time bottle. He's down to 4 bottles a day as well, one around 8am, noon, 5pm, and 8pm and still eating about 5-7 oz just depending on the time and how much he ate earlier.

Love my little pumpkin! :)

miss my baby :(

I am not so much enjoying teaching as much this year as I did last year. It is SO hard leaving my baby everyday. When I get home from work he's usually fussy because its "just that time of night" so we usually do bath early around 730-8 and then he's off to bed. It sucks. Just plain sucks. I feel like everyone else gets to see him more than me! I am SOOOOOOOOO ready for this weekend where I can hang out with my boys all weekend.. except I do have to work at the Hilton Saturday night, uhh.
I am already ready for May...

However, that being said, I do have a pretty good group of kids this year. It didn't take them too long to catch on to the rules. I am ready for them to learn a little more so that I don't hve to take as much time explaining how to do things and writing simple letters. I enjoy them though. They are a great group of kids, all 21 of them! (one never showed up) I did put one kid on the wrong bus yesterday, whoops. Its so hard keeping track of this many kids!! I'm also ready for the weather to get a little cooler. It's much more enjoyable teaching all day when I'm not sweating like crazy!

Snow day? No... No Electricity day!

I've never gotten out of school because of a power outage! How cool! I had my first day at school yesterday which was a teacher's institute day. I didn't want to be there all day, but we were supposed to have parent night that night so I wasn't going to get home till about 7 or so that night. BUT we started getting some pretty bad rain, wind, and hail around 3:30. I didn't really think much of it and then the principal came over the intercom and told us to "take cover". I've never actually had to do this at school, only had a million drills for it. So the teachers in my wing went and chilled in the bathroom for awhile. Everyone was calling their loved ones and it was actually kind of scary. I am usually not scared of storms, but when you hear about a tornado being close, it's definitely freaky. I started thinking about Jared and Hunter and was just hoping they were okay! I can't imagine living life without them or any of my other family members!

After awhile we were told the tornado was passed. We looked outside and there were trees down on every corner of Windsor. So sad! I haven't heard of anyone getting hurt though, luckily!
Here are some pictures of trees near the school.

 Right outside a classroom

 This tree was completely up rooted!

Now that is some strong wind, yikes! This tree was only about 100 yards away from the

school, if that!
Needless to say there were so many downed power lines that I got a call at 5:30 AM saying there is no school today! The FIRST student day, and cancelled already. I wonder if this is foreshadowing of this winter?!

Blessed

I have been feeing so blessed lately. We really have so much to be thankful for. I thank God for our home, jobs, son, family, friends, cars, health, and most of all relationship with Him. I can't imagine how my life would have turned out differently if my parents didn't take the time to invest in my faith and if I wouldn't have acted on it and did what I could to grow my relationship with Jesus. He is such an awesome God who loves us all so much. I heard pastor Van preached an awesome message on Sunday and I really want to listen to it since I missed it...
http://newhopechurch.cc/media/sermons
you can type this link into your search bar or click it...  it was August 12ths message called Minor Prophets by Van.

From what I heard, he talked about all of the signs pointing to the end times being NOW and prayed for our country. Can you believe we are in the end times? That is so exciting that Jesus will be coming back soon. Its scary how our world is becoming though, but it's all part of the end times. I kind of laugh when people talk about how the economy is so bad and surely it will get a lot better if we would just "get another president". I really don't believe it will ever get much better though... once again, it's all part of the end times.

I've been feeling a burden lately to share with more people about Him and His love. What do I have to lose? This life is temporary... I can't imagine not spending eternity with our friends and family.  I love the verse in Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is lord and God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." HOW SIMPLE! I don't believe we get to heaven by doing good deeds or being a nice person, or even by going to church. This verse states it so simply, confess! Once you confess that Jesus is lord, it's all about the relationship, not the religion. I have been so annoyed lately with people and their religions... Jesus didn't like religion. He just wants us to follow him, and repent from our sins. Why does religion have to be so complicated and so "ruley"? That is what annoys me. Its not about when you take communion, or how you pray, or what you sing, or how often you give money to the church... NOT AT ALL what we're called to do. We're called to live for him, and tell others about how much he loves us and cares for us. Have you done this lately? I'm guilty!!

I honestly have not been too stressed with going back to work lately and I think it's because I have this mind set of who cares, this life is short. WAY to short to spend it getting stressed out about the small things in life.. like if my floor is clean, or if my dishes are done, or what I'll teach next week. What about the kids who are going through real problems like not having food for a meal, or getting beaten by their dad, or those who have an serious illness. These are the people who we should be reaching, those who are hurting...
I think when I start to stress about small stuff I just remember, this life is temporary and that's now what I'm called to do is worry. When I worry and stress I'm basically saying, "Okay God, I can handle it, I don't need your help in life." Am I right?!

If you have been feeling blessed lately, good for you. I believe Jesus blesses those who are content with life.

Just sharing my thoughts friends.... feel blessed and share Jesus.

2 month appointment

The sun was in his eyes so don't mind them, but I love how you can see all his

neck rolls in this picture!

Today my baby boy had his 2 month appointment. He is such a porker! I can't believe he weighed 14 pounds 7 oz! I was thinking he'd weigh around 12, haha! He has officially doubled his birth weight, wow! He was 24 inches long and in the 75th% for his height. His weight he was in the 90th percentile... quite a difference from being in the 25th percentile at 2 weeks old! He's not wastin any time at catchin up! My chonkey monkey is about to move up to size 2 diapers and he's not so much fittin in 3 month sleepers anymore! So not much longer and those will be history! His shots went better than I expected today. He was so upset right when she put them in but after she was done I gave him a bottle and it made it all better. He fell asleep on the ride home and will probably be out for a few hours, poor little guy! My heard sank when he started crying, screaming :(

The time has come for me to go back to work, boo. Can't I just be a stay at home mom? I WISH! Maybe someday... ... I hate that with my job I can't be part time, because that would be awesome. I love teaching, but if I could do it just a few days a week I'd love it even more :) Unfortunately I did not choose a job that allows me to work part time, uhh. Hunter will miss me, I know it :) I'm already counting down till next summer, haha... I guess another reason I'm dreading going back to school is that my class is so big this year! 22 students compared to my 12 last year.. pray for me.. 22 five year olds!!!

I'm hoping Hunter stays with his sleep schedule because it won't be hard to get up for work if he keeps it up! Last night he had a bottle at 6:30 and then bath at 8:30... he was so sleepy he wouldn't stay awake to eat again so I just let him sleep and was preparing to get up around 1 to feed him.. however, I woke up at 5:00 am and freaked out because I hadn't fed him! I ran in to check on him and he was sound asleep! He woke up at 6 and ate, then went back down till 9:30! Such a sleepy boy! I was so happy he slept through the night again! We're havin more and more good nights lately!

Somebody's getting big! 2 months!

Hunter is 2 months old now :)

Wow, he's catchin up to his friends on weight already! He was about 2 pounds lighter than our friend's baby boy who was born a week earlier than Hunter and they're only a few ounces different now! Hunter's 2 month appointment is next Monday so I'll have the official weight length and percentiles then.. but on our scale he weighs 12 pounds! So, Hunter has doubled his weight already! I have a feeling we're gunna have a porker on our hands!

Look at these cheeks! He looks just like his momma here!

We just recently started puttin cereal in his bottle at night time. I know the Doctors now say not to until they're 4 months old but lots of people would say "all my kids had it at 4 weeks, or all my kids did it at 6 weeks!" So we went ahead and tried it at his 8 week mark. We make a 5 oz bottle and put 2 tablespoons in it before bed. Since we started doin that he went from 4 hour stretches at night to 6+. Yay! Last night he slept through the night for the first time! Woo Hoo! It was kind of a different night though.. we had a church picnik so we didn't get home till 10 last night. We fed him and put him to bed as soon as we got home and he slept till 5:30! Then he went back to sleep till 9:30! Yay! We also started puttin him on his belly to sleep at night time. So he officially sleeps in his crib full time now. Gettin so big! As far as sleep goes during the day, he still acts like a newborn! He takes about an hour or two long morning nap... then takes another around noon till about 3 then another around 4 till about 6 or so ... then goes to bed around 8. Such a sleepy kid!

Everytime Hunter crys I now know what's wrong, I love that! He is no longer having belly aches, yay! When he crys its now a tired or a hungy cry thank God. He does have a little bit of a fussy period though... just like his cousin Carson did. Hunter's fussy time is usually from that 6-8pm time period. For some reason his cousin Carson did the same thing. Another thing that Hunter has that's just like his cousin Carson is his sleepy eyes. When Hunter wakes up he has swollen puffy eyes! Carson does the same thing! They usually stay puffy for awhile too.

As far as clothes, Hunter is now wearing size 3 months. We had to go get some more summer 3 months clothes! I don't know if we'll be able to wear his winter 3 month stuff cause he's growin like a weed!

He's eatin about 5-6 ounce bottles about every 3-4 hours. He's still on the Enfamil Gentlease which has done wonders for him! No gas! No constipation! We are a happy boy on this stuff! A little spit up though- but I'll take it compared to the belly aches!

Developmentally Hunter is now smiling and holdin his head up pretty well! He's still not GREAT with his head but he's workin on it. His smiling is not as frequent as I'd like but he is smiling! I love seeing you smile everyday hunter! I cant wait till he gets more smiley and eventually laughs! :)  He does coo and goo now too!His favorite thing to do when he's awake is be held outside on the porch swing, lay under his play mat, or look at the fan. He's still not a huge fan of the bouncy seat or the swing but he will sit in them each for about 15 min before he gets bored with it.

We are loving every moment of raising this cute little boy who gets cuter each day!