4 Months

At 4 months old, Adrian:

*Is trying to sit up. He will lift his head and shoulders when he's reclined.
*Is getting better control of his hands. He is a pro at sucking his thumb and his fist.  He's getting very good at grabbing toys and bringing them to his mouth.
*Has a habit where he eats for a couple of seconds, stops, looks at me, smiles, repeat.
*Just gave several belly laughs while watching Glee. I've never heard him laugh so hard.
*Has great head control.
*Stares at his mom like there's no one else in the world!
*Must weigh at least 16 lbs, Matt weighed him a couple weeks ago.
*Has started crying when someone besides me or Matt holds him.
*Seems to have a preference for men or at least is more fascinated by them.

Adrian's first Christmas will be so awesome!  Matt helped me picked out his first stocking, and I got three so when we have more kids they'll match and I won't have to search for coordinating ones. We don't have a fireplace so I put hung them from stocking hooks on the bookshelf:

I couldn't help myself. Sorry if this is picture overload, it's hard to choose when you're the mommy!


His 4 month appointment is on the 12th so I'll give more updates then. Finally I won't be dreading that scale!

4 month preview

 I've been working on a post for a couple days but I haven't been able to load a video from my phone so you can see Adrian roll over!  So here's a preview of his 4 month pictures, and I'll be back soon to post and update you on last week. Tonight we are going to my parent's to finish making some sugar cookies I started on Saturday. My poor dad has been waiting for cookies for days I tell you.  I'm thinking of using the santa hat pictures for Christmas cards. Thoughts? I've got more.

Pictures of...wait for it...Adrian! What did you expect?

Since I just posted something so negative,  I'm going to give you some photo's of Adrian; because I love you.

First I have a complaint that I'm mostly putting on here for Jill since she has a blog too.

Complaint: I tried to upload pictures in the last blog and it said:

Whoops! You're out of space. You are currently using 100% of your 1 GB quota for photos. Upgrade storage

Photos are stored in your Picasa Web Albums account and are included in your 1 GB free quota for photos. Additional storage that you purchase is shared between several Google products and is in addition to your free quota. Learn more

So I said "@#$%"

I tried to make my pictures in past posts smaller but I think it's more complicated than that.  I don't want to delete any posts. I think I have to manually go through all the photos in picasa and make the pixels smaller. I found a post that really explains it, and hopefully this can save Jill's blog so she doesn't have to pay.  I caved in because I didn't want to lose anything.  I just looked at my pictures though, and the ones I upload are HUGE.

http://jansfunnyfarm.blogspot.com/2012/08/vibrating-dog-and-picasa.html

Ok, now the baby:

 

 

So I laughed and said I am NOT spending $500 on pictures

     Two weeks ago we spent the day in hell.  That is to say, we got Adrian's pictures taken professionally. I don't want to name the place we went because I know it's possible to have a good experience there. Michelle always takes her kids there and gets good pictures. For now I'll just call it "that place." Original, yes? (wait, is that an actual store somewhere? I don't know.)So anyways our goal at That Place was to get 3 month pictures of Adrian. My MIL also wanted pictures of him in the baptism outfit she made. So we figured we might as well get it all done at once.

I took pictures of the pictures because although we got a cd, all we have is Matt's netbook and it doesn't have a disk drive. So the strange shadows are me.

     There were several other spawn in the place running all over and sitting in other peoples car seats. The bottle I made for adrian spilled all over my purse. When it was finally our turn, our photographer informed us that Adrian was his first 3 month old. This wasn't a big deal. However he asked if we wanted Christmas pictures and we said no. So of course he handed my 3 month old a glass, glitter covered Christmas ornament. Then he gave Matt a white glove and part of the sleeve of a Santa costume so he could hold a plate of a fake cookie and milk in an offering to Adrian. The whole thing made zero sense to me. Adrian gave him a look like "what the hell is that?" So when we finally got to the pictures we were actually there for, Adrian was starting to get hungry and annoyed. I didn't know what color background to pick, so he picked black. I think it's too harsh for a baby but I didn't realize it until we were picking out pictures. After a few pictures Adrian needed to eat so we took a break. The photographer asked us to change outfits while we waited, so we didn't end up getting as many of the normal 3 month pictures that I wanted. Also the only ones that I actually like are in the baptism outfit.

     Adrian gets too hot in the baptism outfit so he didn't stay in it too long. There's the pants outfit and then a coat that looks like a gown. So my MIL wanted pictures of both outfits. We told the guy to get a full view of the gown but somehow that didn't happen. By the time we needed to pick out our pictures I was stressed and tired. Of course, I was working with a sales person instead of someone who actually cares if I get what I want. I made the mistake of telling him first hand that we needed a 16X20 canvas for my in-laws so I think he got $$ in his eyes. We went through one time and picked what we liked. Then he acted like that was done and started moving on. I looked at the price and it was over $500 no joke. I immediately thought he was legitimately crazy. So I laughed and said I am NOT spending $500 on pictures. So he said "well it's cheaper this way" and I asked how much it is per sheet and he said "but look at all this cool stuff you get in the package." Finally he said we could cut back on pictures. So we went from 25 "packages" (three sheets each of the same pose) to 18. If we went any lower we would pay the same price since we needed the canvas, and we would just get less pictures.  I'm not going to tell you how much we spent on pictures because you'll want to punch me in the face. But my in-laws helped. I really wanted to talk it over with Matt but we pretty much didn't have a choice. What a waste! Especially since we mostly got sub par pictures. We could have redone it but the whole thing was so horrible I'd rather just make sure the 6 month pictures go better. The moral of the story is: know your price point, stick to your guns, and know when to say NO. Like I told Emilee for some reason in college "'No!' is a complete sentence."

Don't even get me started on the "designer sheets" that came with the package.  This is the only cute one. Some of these things just look so ridiculous. All I have with me right now are the ones I picked out for myself. My MIL left them in MN when she went up for a party. 

Next time I'm planning to do what any reasonable, mature adult would do. I'm taking my mommy.

I think I'm "that" neighbor

     Our living room curtain rod fell down.  It was no big deal during the day but once it got dark my neighbors were outside and it was awkward.  I was sitting on the couch with wet hair (after moisturizing it) and a big thick hoodie (to keep my wet hair from getting all over my clothes) eating a pizza and watching tv.  Way to perpetuate the stay at home mom stereotype, self.  I think I'm "that" neighbor.  Thankfully my father in law put it back up for me, and as a bonus they aren't sagging on the floor, so they look better than when they were first put up.

     Today Adrian has been playing a game that he doesn't realize he's playing. It's called "I dare you to put me down...bitch" I get him to sleep, wait til he seems to be in a deep sleep, slowly walk to his swing, then I put him down, throw on a blanket and start the swing in one fell swoop. I make it 5 feet away with fingers crossed and the soft whimpering starts and eventually turns into screaming. This was in the evening though, he was fine during the day. He is currently on my lap where he will sleep forever.

     A couple posts back I mentioned the dress I was expecting in the mail.  It came last week but was too big so I had to exchange it.  I'm expecting it tomorrow but here's a picture of the one that was too big:

     I've started a search for Adrian's Christmas stocking.  I'm not sure if I should get one or three for aesthetic reasons.  I'm so excited to pick it out!  Matt has no opinion.  His apathy towards Christmas decor could be a blessing because I can do whatever I want.  I offered to help my MIL decorate her house for Christmas because her boys always complained and made it difficult when they lived with her.  She said Chris' girlfriend had offered too so we're going to make it a fun little event.  I hope Adrian takes after me and loves the holidays!  It will be so fun to have a little helper one day.

     On Sunday I couldn't help but dress Adrian up:

     I'm thinking of adding a bow-tie but it's already adorable as it it.  I must get more pictures of this outfit.  This is him bundled up. Winter is coming:

   

Fall Wreath

     Today was cloudy and rainy but I still got a picture of my wreath.  I took inspiration from this site, Miss Lovie. I found it on pinterest.

I really like how it turned out, and it didn't take me very long. Adrian took a nice long nap yesterday so I did most of it then.  I used the extra flowers and twigs to decorate my house..  I would like to put pumpkins out too, but I'm not sure yet.

Tomorrow is Election day! I hope everyone votes!

3 months

   

     Adrian is 3 months old!  Are you shocked?  I don't have any numbers on weight, height etc.but I can tell you what he's up to these days.  Future Adrian, at 3 months you:

*are wearing 6 month pants and pajamas and you're just about to grow out of 3 month onesies

*reach for toys, fingers, hair and my necklace

*sleep 6-8 hours straight on a good night

*are my shopping buddy

*might be teething already (dad says he sees teeth coming through but I don't.  However, you're drooling a lot, sucking on your fist all the time and you had a couple of days where you screamed bloody murder at the drop of the hat.  We shall see.)

*love music, especially when I watch Glee

You love to be carried in the moby wrap, but don't mind your stroller. You've started going to church with us and the loud music doesn't even bother you. You are learning to hold your head up well and will probably be sitting up with help in a few weeks. I am so excited for your first holiday season!  We love you, and love being your parents.

Here are some pictures I haven't posted yet:

First trip to Halleck, a park that's really special to us

 There's a picture of my mom next to my stroller like this when I was a baby, that's partly why I did this.  Also it was more chilly than we realized.

A boy and his monkey

What are YOU lookin at?

Comparison from last month:

     I actually finished my wreath! I want to take pictures in the daylight so I'll post tomorrow.