Finally!

Anders rolled over this morning, for the very first time! Yes, he is 5.5 months old and lots of younger babies have been rolling over for a while, but I think each kiddo will hit his or her milestones when they are ready. Anders was just chilling on the floor on his belly while I was putting his clothing away this morning, and next thing I know he's on his side. This has happened a lot since he was about 3 months old-he gets to the side, chills there for a moment then rolls back to his belly. This morning he did his side roll, chilled for moment, and then flipped to his back. All the while with this look on his face like "Hey mom, I could have done this months ago, but I just didn't feel like it."

The only thing I can equate his look to is that of our dog, Bogey, who wouldn't "shake" at all, until one day about 2 months ago (yep, he was over a year at that point, and we have been working on this since day 1) when he just picked up his paw and was staring at S with this look of "I was born doing this, I just didn't feel like letting you in on in you measly human."

I wish I could say I am kidding, but I truly think our kid and dogs have a conspiracy to take over our house...they are just waiting for A to learn to walk.

Back in action

This was the first weekend in a long time where we were all home, healthy and rested. And it was SO needed. Highlights of the weekend included:
-Doing a little bit of Christmas Shopping
-Sleeping in until 8
-Drinking a bottle of champagne and feeling "mature", even if we did go to bed at 7
-Lots of cooking: Beef Pot Roast, Butterscotch chocolate chip cookies, Canadian Meat Stuffing, and lots of baby food-peas, pears, squash and green beans
-Cleaning up after the first snow storm. Yep, we now have a 5 foot high pile of tree branches outside our home waiting for our garbage day
-4 runs to Whole Foods (we totally need to write down a grocery list instead of trying to remember things sans paper)

In Anders news, A is starting to love baby food. For a bit he would just munch on the spoon and ignore the food, but over the past week he has become passionate about eating. He loves pears, peas and apples. Right now, he is iffy about green beans and will be trying squash tomorrow. I make all of A's food with organic produce, and he loves sitting in hs highchair in the kitchen and watching me.

A is also huge. At 5 months he was 28.5 inches long. We have our 6 month (yep, 6 months already!) appointment on the 10th and I can't wait to see how huge he is! He is a baby that very obviously grows out then up, one week he is chubby cheeked and the next he is a little rail. S is thinking he will be 6'5", I think about 6'4", but either way, I'm sure he will have as many issues finding pants to fit his length as I do. Can I just mention that I have a 36" inseam....poor kid is doomed to a life of highwaters.

S and I are both working a lot and getting ready for our first Thanksgiving without our extended family present. Thanksgiving day we will be delivering turkeys for the Salvation Army for 4 hours, and then we will be having our own small Thanksgiving and enjoying a day of rest and togetherness. "Black Friday" we are planning on remodeling our downstairs hallway and guest bath. This involves lots of painting, a new ceiling, tons of trim work, a new light fixture, and remodeling our pink bath. Pictures to come.

Here's a few shots of A from our most recent trip to Vermont:

Halloween

Smiley-4.5 months

I'll be back....

Eventually.

We got back Wednesday night and I have been super busy at work, and then A and I were plagues with a stomach virus for the weekend...joy.

Plus, I'm in a total life funk. Just a funk, nothing major.

So, give me to Friday, when I finally will have a few moment to catch up, unpack, and re-arrange my hott mess of a blog.

I promise, I'll be back.

October Updating...

Okay, so I can admit, I have been really, really bad the past month (okay, maybe 2 months) in updating our blog...but I can explain!!!!

Excuse #1-I am working...it may ony be 25-30 hours/week, but after spending all day at a computer Monday-Wednesday (and occasionally Thursday) I am sick and tired of the computer screen! Plus, I want the time I am home to be spent with S and A, even if the little guy does only stay awake until 5:30 on day care days.

Excuse #2-We are trying to spen more time with the dogs. S and I have been taking them to the dog park 3-4 times a week, which takes away from my blogging time.

Excuse #3-The house is "under construction", again. We are getting ready to remodel our first floor hallway and guest bath, and paint our master. Therefore, free time is spent taping.

Excuse #4- The most honest excuse... I am fried. S and I have been dealing with some stressful work scenarios (on S's end mostly), trying to remodel some of our personal goals, and we are trying desperately to have a social life. Sadly, there are hundreds of factors that seem to play into every decision we make, and every time we feel like we are getting our feet under us, the proverbial rug is pulled out again. At the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is sit down and revisit the good, the bad and the ugly, especially if it mas seeing it on paper.

Solution....we are heading off for a nice long vacation bak "home" in Vermont. S can only go for 5 days, but I know the 5 will be wonderful for him. Anders and I will be gone for almost 2 weeks, and I hope that he and I come back feeling refreshed.....

4 Month Updates

Anders got to experience his first time eating this week. S and I plopped hm down in his highchair and broke out the Earth's Best Organic Rice Cereal we had bought the previous week. Anders actually enjoyed it, he brought his head forward to the food and eventually wound up smiling between bites.

Hum...

Okay, I'm not sure about this, Dad.

More? Really??

Anders also had his 4 month appointment this week. Turns out, he's huge! 27.5 inches long (in the 98th percentile) and 17.12 lbs (in the 89th percentile). He also had 2 shots, and while I know some Moms say it breaks their heart to see their baby get a shot, it really doesn't bother me. I think that the alternative (illness) is much worse and painful for all involved. Plus, he only cries for about 30 seconds and then totally forgets about what just happened and is back to smiling at the nurses.

At this appointment, A also decided to poop on the thermometer as his temperature was being taken, and to pee in the face of the nurse taking his temp. Nice.

When we got home I popped him in his pack and play to chill for a moment while I took care of the pups. When I came back to check on him he was out, and has been asleep for over 2 hours! Here's a shot of the little kiddo post-shots:

And here are the pups waiting for him to wake up so we can go for a walk:

The Nebraska Social Scene

So A and I went for a lovely walk with Sarah and her little girl Blythe on Friday. Anders, in usual fashion, decided it was way too much work to try and stay awake in his moby, so instead of socializing he napped, and napped, and napped. After our walk, Sarah and Blythe came over for tea and for a chance for the babes to play a little. Oh yeah, and the two babes are only 1 day apart, Anders on 6/4 and Blythe on 6/5. Here's a few shots of the kiddos:

S and I also got to enjoy a beautiful Friday evening with our wonderful neighbors, their fun pup, a good outdoor fire and some champagne. I'm pretty sure bubbly and wood smoke are the best ways to start off a weekend.

The pups also got some "friend" time with 3, that's right 3 trips to the dog park. The guys love the park, which is a beautiful fenced in area about 10 minutes from our house, with space for the big dogs and the little dogs. Saturday, Bogey made a friend, a 20 lb beagle (yes, this is our 65 lb, hyperactive, leggy, 1 year old lab) who could easily barrel roll Bogey and kick his butt. Did I mention this beagle was 9 years old? And Bogey, in true insane puppy fashion, loved every minute of it. Cooper loves the park too, especially when there are fun weimeraners to play with...there's just something about them that makes Cooper have an extra bounce in his step.

Since I was too busy watching the pups and wearing Anders to remember my camera, here's a shot of the pups with Anders from 2 weeks ago (I'm a really bad blogger lately....)

No Baby legs were crushed in the making of this picture. Bogey and Anders with Cooper looking on in supervisory mode.

Bogey and Anders.

Bogey making sure Anders doesn't get all the attention.

Mildly Dreading Thanksgiving....

This will be our first Thanksgiving without our close family, and I am not looking forward to it. This will be our first "serious" holiday where it is just S, A and I, and, of course, S and I also have Friday off, so it will be a long weekend filled with thoughts about what our families are doing.

So, in order to minimize the loneliness, we are remodeling yet ANOTHER part of our house. We moved in 1/1/10 and have remodeled our dining room, living room, one spare bedroom (turning it into our nursery), our master bedroom stairwell, and all of our flower beds (that's 5 beds....and they were a hot mess). Left on the list includes: our first floor bathroom, first floor hallway, repainting the master and updating the outside trim. Let me just take a moment and say, we have a 1395 brick tudor, so everytime you touch something everything around you falls down.

For Thanksgiving we will be remodeling our first floor hallway and possibly our guest bath. Our hallway will be getting a new paint color, all of the trim (which includes 4 doorways and doors) painted ivory, a new ceiling and a new light. We are hoping to tackle the pink bathroom also...all depending on how much Anders naps!