A beautiful weekend

     We had such a beautiful weekend.  On Saturday we went to Mrs. B's and bought some furniture for Matt's man cave.  So far we just got a chocolate brown leather couch and a love-seat. Matt want's a new tv because the giant 500 pound tv is not good enough for him and he says it's a pain in the ass to move.  I think the room will end up looking very nice.  Too bad the room that was supposed to be an office/craft room is a lost cause.  We have too much to store, including my brother-in-law's kayak.  He will be moving soon though so he'll take it with him.  

     After the furniture store, we stopped by Target and got a portable high chair for when we visit grandparent's or friends.  That night we had dinner at Scott and Sarah's house and it was delicious.  We hadn't seen them in a long time, so it was nice to finally catch up.  Adrian was pretty good, but we had a long day of running around and he was tired.  

     On Sunday we took a walk around a man-made lake near us.  It was a nice change of scenery since we always go to the same park.  I think Adrian enjoyed it, it was warm and breezy.  I had no idea it was such a long walk though.  When we got halfway through we found a sign that said the walk takes an hour.  It is about three miles long with no shortcuts.  After that I complained, got chased by gnat clouds and Matt tried to tell me the sidewalk was for whites only.  We finally reached our car and I was rewarded with a slushie.  Yes, I'm 12.

     

     Yesterday Adrian and I went to Hyvee, and came home to find Matt in the driveway.  It was about 6:00 so he got home from work very early.  It was a great surprise, and a nice change of pace. 

     Now that Adrian is close to crawling forward, he decided to work on putting his feet flat on the ground instead.  I'm starting to picture him crawling like this baby:

If you can't see the gif, you're missing out.

A visit from Eric and the end of an era

     Today we had dinner with some old co-workers. I had to drive downtown by myself, which scared the crap out of me.  Thank goodness for the street view on google maps.  It let me know what to expect and helped me plan the easiest route there.  It was a nice dinner.  Something about the place reminded me of Eric; there were a lot of people that dressed similarly to him.  It made me miss him but I'm so glad we got to see him last weekend!  Adrian really liked him and they got to hang out for a little while.  I think Eric's calm demeanor helped his case; also the fact that he is an awesome uncle.

Is this not the cutest outfit you've ever seen?  Props to my mom.  Also note his trend of only wearing one sock.  Kids these days.

     I went back and forth with myself over the decision to put the baby swing away.  On one hand, he still liked it, he would nap in it, and it's so cute!  On the other hand, he was starting to try to sit up and reach for the mobile.  Of course, safety wins.  I was so sad, but I'll admit my living room looks better.  The swing used to be next to the tv and my second queen anne's chair was awkwardly placed in the middle of the room so it created an L with the couch.  Now my chairs are on either side of the tv and Adrian has a huge space to roll around and crawl in.  He will be on the move any day now; we play on the floor as much as possible.  Even though I will be chasing him, I'm excited for this next stage.  He is growing so fast and I can't help but wonder if we will ever bring out that swing again.  I can't imagine being "one and done." 

     My dad's side of the family hasn't met Adrian yet, so we are planning on visiting soon.  He will definitely be crawling then; if not, he'll learn as he runs away from the giant mosquitos.  Seriously, those suckers go through jeans!  Despite the horrid weather and bugs, I'll be excited to see where Eric lives, and I haven't seen my family for a long time.

Not one of his finest moments

     I'm not gonna lie, I spent a large portion of my day keeping up with the search in Boston.  What a scary day for the Boston area!  We did get to go to dinner though; we went to Hu Hot and it was delicious. We decided to drive around and talk because that's our idea of fun.  We drove past a small fire in a ditch and I'm really hoping no one got hurt.  I haven't found information on it yet.  When we got home we found out they caught the suspect, and it was cool to see everyone in the street cheering.  

On Wednesday Adrian got on his hands and knees for the first time and rocked back and forth.  He is so close to crawling!

Not one of his finest moments.

     I know I just changed my blog title, but I've been thinking about it.  I don't fancy myself so awesome that I have more than five people reading this.  However, this is the internet.  I think I should keep our last name off of this.  Again, I will have to search for a new title.  Be forewarned, the winner might be "Don't put your booger there: Mommy Memoirs" so don't get your knickers in a twist.  That is all.

My used clothing loot and an active baby

     After all the complaining and sarcasm regarding the consignment sale, I forgot to show you a picture of what I actually got.  It's not all that exciting, but here it is:

Seersucker suit (says 18 months but looks huge), polo shirt, sweater vest, and three onesies for $18. Not too bad!  However, I'm craving more deals. 

     We went to Cheddars after the sale and it was a little more hectic than it used to be.  Now there are three kids and I think we'll have to start doing things that the kids like so it's more fair for them.  The nice weather will make it much easier.  

     When we got home we were pretty tired so we had a quiet evening.  At one point I set Adrian down on his back on this blue blanket, facing me.  I left to grab a new outfit for him and when I returned, this is where he was:

     He was stuck under the table a little bit.  He's not actually crawling; he uses a combination of rolling over, pivoting, and scooting backwards.  Like I said though, any day now he'll be crawling forwards.  Doesn't he look proud of himself?  Have I mentioned that he can sit by himself now?  He doesn't fall unless he gets really excited or throws himself forwards.

     The other day we took pictures of him and Hudson in matching pjs.  Adrian was throwing himself at Hudson.  They "talked" to each other a little bit and then they both started yelling and screaming.  I'm sure they'll get along one day.
   

Today

     Today I'm praying for the victims in Boston, holding Adrian close and trying not to think about all the things I can't protect him from.  

Kid's consignment sale; GIF style

     Today we went to a huge used clothing sale called Take 2. There is only one day left in the sale so I didn't expect too much, but I was still excited.  We went with Emilee, Aaron, Jill, Shad and the kids. I hadn't seen my friends in 4 months so I was so happy to see them!  We walked in and there were still tons of items.

I was all:

If you can't see this, it's a GIF of Tina Fey dancing.  It means I was excited and ready to shop.

Then I saw how expensive everything was, and I was all:

If you can't see this, it's a GIF of Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids saying "are you kidding me" with some foul language in there.  This was my exact reaction.

     I have recently discovered how to find and post GIFs.  This is a thrill for me and I can feel more included on my forums.  

     Back to the story.  This sale was for babies all the way to teenagers, with some maternity clothes thrown in for good measure.  Some of the clothes weren't that bad, but there were some things that Matt could have worn 26 years ago thrown in there so the selection wasn't great.  The most expensive thing I got was a seersucker suit Matt picked out for $5.  We are not desperate for clothes; we can buy them full price but I would love to find good deals.  I like the idea of reusing items instead of always buying new.

     When we were done with clothes, I went for the toy section and browsed some of the furniture.  Here is an example of the "deals".

• Fisher-Price kitchen set circa 1985 $35 (not in good condition like this one)
• Disney umbrella stroller $20 
• Baby bouncer $20 (same as it costs brand new in the store, without old baby spit on it)
• One piece toy train for babies $15 (same as a new train)
• Set of 4 random kids books $10 (Jill's contribution to the list)
• Very poor condition Bumbo $30 (Emilee's contribution to the list)

To be fair, there was a jumperoo for $55 that could have been worth it; that's a third of the store price.

In the end, I have learned that I'm more of a garage sale or thrift store shopper.  I want my books for 25 cents, not $3-$10.  I would have shelled out $5 for the train.  If this makes me a brat or stingy, then so be it.

Here is Adrian

He decided it was not time to sleep yet.  He is SO close to crawling; I hope it happens this weekend so Matt doesn't miss it!

Some new tricks, fawning, and a ridiculous ending

     Adrian started to hold himself up on his arms and he has been trying to get his bottom off the ground; but not at the same time.  He now scoots backwards and has ended up under the chair.  

I'm very glad that he doesn't hate his tummy anymore and he rolls over all the time now.  He really wants to get moving, especially if he sees a phone or remote control.  I think I'll make Matt help me baby proof ASAP.  Hopefully he has moved on from our last conversation about baby proofing in this post.  Wow, that was over a year ago!

We had very nice weather for a few days, so Adrian went comfortably without pants at home.  Who wants to cover up those thighs and cute diapers all the time?  He is getting slightly more interested in playing with toys and not just eating them.  He was banging a couple of cups together the other day. We went to lunch and a surprise baby shower for Rachel last weekend and he did very well, and ended up playing fetch with Caroline.  He loves to be around the kids.

He is such a loving baby.  He flings himself at you with open arms and an open mouth ready to hug and kiss you.  He loves "Wheels on the Bus" (complete with actions) and "Down by the Station." Hudson got pictures taken today and I was looking at them with Adrian in my lap.  He kept cooing and laughing as we looked and I told him who it was.  It was adorable!  Michelle said in a few months he'll be poking Hudson in the eye saying "bebe" but they'll be the same size haha.  Hudson is only three pounds shy of Adrian right now.  

There's a spot on the wall at my parent's house that babies always look at.  We believe it's the contrast of the dark shelf against the light colored wall that captures their attention.  There is also a lamp.  So yesterday Adrian kept staring and turning his head like this.  He made this expression while looking at something on the side of the couch too.  I have no idea what he was looking at but I told mom if he ever sees dead people he better not tell me.  I'm just joking.  He can tell me and we can both run screaming our heads off.

Sometimes...

I miss him when he's sleeping.

 It's a sickness, I know.

Bathroom art and a nice day out

     So when I went to Michael's, I bought three square frames.  I took a really pretty piece of scrapbook paper, cut some to fit each frame and called it art.  It cost $12 but would have cost less if I had realized I could use my coupon as well.  Oh well, such is life.

 Before

 After:

     I also got this new lamp from Target.  The sheep are from Easter.  

     On Wednesday I went to see the Storm Chasers practice with Michelle, Caroline and Hudson.  They were having a family fun fair.  We got free popcorn and soda, and even though I wasn't keen on going over to the mascots I realized I'm not actually afraid of them anymore.  That's one less fear in a very long list! It was a little windy and I think Hudson might have been too cold or something so we didn't stay long.   I saw about 50 pictures of Ben Gibson "Our Hometown Hero!" there. But none of Jesus. *Shakes head*. It was my first trip to the stadium and it was pretty nice.  I would love to go to baseball games this summer.    

     We went to Chick-Fil-A so Caroline could play.  Hudson still wasn't very happy, so poor Michelle didn't get to eat very much.  I remember when Adrian was a couple months old I felt like everyone else's baby was happy and easily entertained in public, while mine was making me walk on eggshells.  I don't think Hudson is always like that but Adrian was.  It was really nice to get out of the house on a pleasant day.  

     This weekend I would like to concentrate on the blanket, and cleaning.  Wish me luck.

8 Months

 
   Things can change so much in a month.  When I look at this months pictures I can see the toddler Adrian is turning into.  He's getting so big!  Do I say that every month?  It's true.  Here's what Adrian is like at 8 months.

Likes:

• Talking.  He doesn't babble very much yet but he will coo and "ahhh" very loudly. He makes a gurgling sound that I think is adorable. If he babbles it's mostly "ya" or "la" sounds.  This is especially fun when it gets quiet in church.
• Playing with his toes and eating his big toes.
• Taking off his sock.  Just one sock.
• Eating sweet potatoes.

New accomplishments:

• He waves.
• Sits up by himself.
• He can clap.

Other:

• He's still a happy baby that smiles all the time. He is very energetic and affectionate.
• His hair is growing quickly.
• He sits well in shopping carts and highchairs. 
• He waves his arms and kicks his feet when he is excited. I've gotten smacked several times and punched in the eye once.

Comparison

Easter 2013

     I just realized that my baby turned 8 months today.  I'll have to do his monthly pictures when he wakes up, but until then I'll do an Easter post.

     On Saturday we went to the mall so Matt could find a french cuffed shirt.  They are apparently hard to find in slim fit.  No one wants to bother I suppose. We had Chinese food for lunch and we had dinner at Matt's parent's house and watched the movie "Date Night."  Unfortunately Adrian was cranky that day since he didn't get enough of a nap.

     The next morning we went to church.  Our church did one service at an arena, so there were about 3000 people there (I was told.)  It was very joyful and uplifting. Easter is one of my favorite times of the year.  Adrian got his Easter basket.  We decided that we won't stress the Easter bunny's existence.  He'll get a basket but we really want the focus to be on Jesus.  We don't want the secular part of the holiday to take over.

     Next we went to my parent's where I was prepared to help cook but it wasn't really needed.  So I set the table instead.  Aunt Patty and Michelle's family came and we ate an early dinner.  Michelle found these cool eggs that are filled with confetti, and Caroline had a hunt for them.  I was disappointed in the weather.  It was sunny, but too cold to hang out outside.  We were sad that Eric couldn't be there but hopefully he can come visit soon. (ERIC COME VISIT SOON!!)  Our mom let us have her Easter decorations since we're the ones with little kids now.  I got a couple cute sheep and a bunny that sings and moves his ears.  Yes, I know I just said we would focus on Jesus but the bunny SINGS!  I don't think four decorations will distract us from the meaning of Jesus' resurrection.

     So we had a wonderful Easter.  I took a few pictures of Adrian outside but he was mad so he's crying in all but one.