Dance Party!

(Yes, Valentine's Day was nearly two weeks ago. Yes, this dance was nearly two weeks ago. Yes, I'm just now getting the pictures posted. Do you expect anything less?)

As I've mentioned many times, Darrell and I don't really get into Valentine's Day (although I do love me some Russell Stover chocolates!) But that doesn't stop us from getting into a Valentine's Day bash at the Shriner's Mosque. Friends, family, drinks, and a great band? Sign us up. Of course, now that Darrell is a Shriner, he usually has to work for a few hours (aka most of the night because he always likes to be helpful), which typically makes the night not quite as fun for me. But that was not quite the case this year--I happened to run into this girl at the dance and we had some good fun at the shot bar on the dance floor.

My good friend Brooke--one of the girls I coach soccer with, and new mother to Gavin, one of William's future best friends

But, as always, the highlight of my night was spending some time with this guy!

While we love our lives now as a family of three, it's still great to have some nights to just the two of us. And I even managed to stay out until midnight--go me!

Part Falcon

I am convinced that William is not fully human. The only explanation for the razor-sharp fingernails talons that grow on his hands is that he is part falcon. Because no matter how often I trim them or what "strategy" I use to trim them, they always grow back in as weapons of mass destruction. And since one of his favorite past-times is playing with faces and the insides of mouths/noses, anything with even the tiniest amount of sharpness is unacceptable. I seriously wish I could hire out someone to take care of his nails--do they do manicures for infants?

Now, I'm not usually one to point the finger of blame, but I'm pretty sure the falcon traits do not come from my side of the family. I've researched my lineage fairly extensively, and there are no traces of any birds of prey. But Darrell, on the other hand... Well, he has lots of family that hail from the Atlanta, GA area (he himself was born there!), and it also happens to be the home of the Atlanta Falcons. Coincidence? I think not.

Baby Must Have

I've started like two different drafts of "must-have" and "please skip" purchases for baby, and hopefully someday I'll get around to finishing them and posting them, but for the time being I at least want to get this one out there. Because we have loved every penny put into this purchase (which, for the record, wasn't even very many because we found it on Craigslist!)

I know you may be thinking "I'm not a runner", but trust me, you should still seriously consider getting a jogging stroller. It handles so much better and rides so much smoother than any other "traditional" stroller I've ever used, especially if you'll be using it on any surface besides flat, level pavement. We initially decided to get a stroller like this because we knew that in the summer we'd be trekking through grass and gravel frequently at my brother's baseball games and our soccer games. But what we hadn't considered? Navigating the stroller through this:

There may be city ordinances requiring people to clear their sidewalks so many days after a snowfall, but that doesn't always mean that it happens. And by golly, when we get a day with temperatures above twenty thirty you can bet I'm going to want to get us outside and get some fresh air--snow-covered sidewalks or not (and yes, I know the road is clear in this picture and that we could have walked on that, but they aren't always cleared--and definitely not as safe).

Yes, the stroller may be a little bulkier than other varieties, and yes, Darrell and I can barely get it in the trunk of our cars, but that doesn't matter in the least. The fact that I could enjoy a walk with William today without cursing out the snow-covered sidewalks has more than made up for the negatives.

William: Ten Months!

One of these months I'll actually get the update posted the day week William turns the new "age". Although who am I kidding--I only have two of these updates left (EEK!!), and there's not a very good chance I'll get more punctual. But gosh darnit, I'll get them posted. Because this is the closest thing to a baby book that William has.

We (hopefully!) won't have another doctor's visit until his one year well-visit, but we're guessing that his is pretty close to twenty pounds. And he's definitely getting longer, although I haven't bothered trying to get him to hold still so I can try to measure him (any task requiring him to be still is difficult these days). He's still in size three diapers, and hopefully will be for a while because we have a few boxes still to go through. Most of his 6-9 month and 9 month clothing still fits, although I swear he grew an inch one night because the next morning it seemed like all his pants were borderline capris.

William is still a fantastic eater; we're hard-pressed to find something he doesn't like. The only thing I can think of that he hasn't really liked was red beans and rice, and we're pretty sure that was just because it was too spicy (we felt a little bad for him that night--he was hungry so he kept opening his mouth to eat it, but would make the most pitiful faces once it was in his mouth. We quickly prepared something else for him). And as the introduction of red beans and rice indicates, we've started giving him more of our table foods--including a variety of meats (fun fact--his first red meats were prime rib and T-bone. We may be creating an elitist eater)--in addition to his pureed fruits and vegetables. Oh, and I would be remiss if I forgot dairy products; kid loves himself some cheese. We've had to make it his "dessert" otherwise it's hard to get him to eat anything else once he's had a few pieces of cheese.

Nighttime sleep has improved dramatically, mostly due to the fact that Darrell and I finally toughened up and let him cry it out (I hope to do a more detailed post about that... Someday...). After a few rough nights, he's been consistently sleeping nearly ten hours every night--and some mornings he'll go back to sleep for even longer after waking up for a feeding around five. Now Darrell and I just need to learn to go to bed a little earlier so we can benefit more from his improved sleeping habits (says I as I'm typing a blog post at 10:00 at night. Whoops). However, about the same time his nighttime sleep improved his enjoyment of baths plummeted... You win some, you lose some. Bath time is slowly getting better though.

I probably say this every month, but William has gotten so much more fun. He loves to play ball with Daddy and has gotten really good at rolling it back and forth. He also does "so big" (but only when he feels like it) and has started playing peek-a-boo whenever he has something to pull over his face. Although he's always pretty well enjoyed his books, he's shown much more interest in them lately--not just while we are reading him to him, but he'll often go pull them off the shelves and turn the pages himself. Of course, there are times he prefers to use them as "surfboards" (one under each hand and then he pushes himself around the house with his legs), but at least he isn't ripping them up or anything. And truthfully, he'll use anything he can get his hands on as a surfboard--apparently crawling just isn't good enough these days. He has, unfortunately, mastered opening drawers and cupboards, and thinks emptying them of their contents is the best thing ever. Hopefully soon he'll learn the concept of putting things back--but I'm not holding my breath. He is learning to associate certain sounds with different events: he knows the sound of the garage door and usually makes a beeline for the stairs when he hears it because it means Daddy is home, he knows the sound the gate makes when it is opened/closed, and, the weirdest one, he knows the sound the dishwasher makes when it is opened--and no matter what he is doing he will make a beeline for it as soon as I open it. He's also developed a few "quirks" that we haven't quite figured out yet: he has this strange fascination with scratching at his scalp/pulling his hair (always fun at mealtime) and he's started randomly extending his arms, kind of like he is reaching for something or pointing at something, but then sometimes he acts like he's maybe trying to wave. We aren't sure (and, quite frankly, he probably isn't either).

Can't wait to see what excitement next month will bring--and can't believe we almost have a one-year old on our hands! Oh, and I can't forget the outtakes from the photo shoot--more expressive and more mobile means more fun outtakes (but a much harder time getting a good shot!)

Trying to play "So Big" without letting go of his foot

Doing his best to protest the photo shoot

Trying to take his teddy bear and make a run for it...

Good thing Mom was there to catch them on their way down to the floor

Looking all sweet and innocent after making his escape from the chair



Happy Valentine's Day!

So Darrell and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day (his logic: I don't like being told when to be affectionate and tell you I love you. My logic: s%&@ is crazy over-priced and restaurants are crazy busy). It's been this way since we started dating (in fact, I know for a fact that the first Valentine's Day we celebrated together was on a Tuesday because the card Darrell bought for me was crossed out and re-written in mulitple places, including the ending, which was modified to read Happy Valentine's Tues Day!) However, Darrell still knows that I love me some chocolate, and especially the Russell Stover chocolates. Which--while they do sell them at all times during the year--they sell them in much larger packages and much wider varieties around Valentine's Day. And while Darrell refuses to prescribe to the typical Valentine's Day mushy-ness and sappy-ness (some things haven't changed in eight years--I got a text from Darrell this morning wishing me a "Happy Friday"), he still knows how to make me feel special. With the most awesome box of chocolates I've ever seen in my life.

And for the record? Darrell actually bought that for me ten days ago; I've just taken forever to get it posted. Which means he doesn't even consider it a Valentine's Day gift--just a random "I'm feeling like being nice" gift. And those are my favorite kind. 

Easy Valentine's Day Craft

I know, I'm not really giving you a whole lot of time to do this craft before Valentine's Day is actually here, but don't worry. This craft can be pulled off in no time at all. In fact, I actually spent more time prepping for and cleaning up from the craft than it actually took to complete the craft itself. But if you aren't crafting with a ten-month old, then you probably won't have to worry about taking some of the precautions I did (or cleaning up some of the mess I had to deal with).

All we used was some tape, paper, and red paint. If you are feeling really artsy you could easily mimic this concept on any medium (I'm thinking you could make a pretty awesome canvas this way!)  but until I have an artist a little more reliable (and interested in the crafting) I'm going to stick with paper.

The most tedious part of the prep was tearing the tape into pieces and making the design I wanted on the paper. In honor of Valentine's Day, I opted to write "LOVE" and use a heart shape for the "O". (And if you are crafting with a little one like me, I'd also recommend taping the paper onto whatever surface you'll be using--in our case it was William's high chair tray.)

Then cover the paper with paint using hands, feet, brushes--whatever works.

(Don't let his look of concentration fool you. He actually had very little interest in any of this process. I ended up doing most of the painting while he just watched)

Once the paint has dried, peel off the tape (carefully!) and bask in your beautiful masterpiece. Easy peasy!

Christmas 2013 (Part Three)

I almost considered not posting this since we celebrated Christmas with my family well over a month ago, but then I figured it'd be a shame not to share these cute pictures. And because this post is so overdue--and because you'd probably much rather look at pictures than listen to me ramble--I'm just going to get straight to the point. Be warned, though--it's a little bit of a picture dump.

Checking out one of the gifts from Grandma and Grandpa

Forget the toy, this box is way better!

Okay, okay, the toy is pretty great too

And look! I can even walk behind it!

Close up of the happy boy

Enjoying gift number two from Grandma and Grandpa

Ride 'em cowboy!

Uncle Nick and Aunt Amanda got me wrapping paper!! Thanks guys!!

Oh, wait, there was a gift under there too? Hmm, that's neat, but I'm gonna just keep chilling with my wrapping paper

Checking out the gift from Uncle Mike and Aunt Macy...

Crinkly elephant ears?!? I love it!

No more gifts for William, so he's off getting into what's left of everyone else's gifts

(As a side note: there is a perfectly legitimate reason I'm not in a single photo--and why I'm the one struggling with using Darrell's fancy camera. Remember my post about starting the new year off on the wrong foot? This was the day after my adventure with the tummy bug. To say I was still feeling under the weather is a little bit of an understatement. But at least William was in good spirits.)

Big Trouble

So I forgot to mention this last night when I posted about our weekend in Chicago. At the wedding reception, I learned a very important, very troublesome, fact: we are in a world of hurt if (when?!) we ever have a girl.

Now, this is not totally new information. I already knew that our pocketbook was going to take a hit thanks to yours truly. I may not be a girly girl (and you can bet I will do my best to keep pink and anything with the word "princess" on it out of my daughter's closet), but I am a sucker for bows and flowers and ruffles. I mean seriously, have you seen some of those adorable outfits for little girls?!? And all the headbands?!?! I die. But Darrell? He was supposed to be the level-headed one. He was supposed to be the one who would stay strong, who wouldn't cave to the pressure and dote on his little girl. He was going to keep himself from getting wrapped around that little girl's finger. And now? Well, I realize now that we are both screwed.

Here's what happened. We were seated at a table with one of the flower girls and ring bearers from the wedding party (they were cousins). Our main course--which was selected by the guests on their RSVP cards--had just been served. The little flower girl received chicken nuggets, which was the "children's" offering. Her cousin, however, selected one of the "adult" entrees, and was served a New York strip--as was just about everyone else at the table. That poor girl who had, weeks prior, determined that she wanted chicken nuggets instead of the other options, was now unable to understand why she couldn't change her mind. The server, who noticed the imminent meltdown, promised to go check in the kitchen to see if there were any steak entrees left. Meanwhile, as I was beginning to enjoy my steak, I noticed that Darrell had not yet touched his. And do you know why? He was waiting to see if there were any steaks left for the flower girl, because if there wasn't, he was going to offer to switch with her. That's right. My husband--lover of all things red meat--was going to trade his perfectly good (and perfectly delicious, I might add) New York strip for chicken nuggets just for the sake of keeping this poor little girl (who he didn't even know) happy. Thankfully, the kitchen was able to come through for the little girl and Darrell and the girl were both able to enjoy steak for dinner. But seriuosly though? How much trouble is Darrell going to be in when the little girl is his own flesh and blood? All it will take is a bat of her eyelashes and a "pretty please" and Darrell will turn to putty. I'd better start workingon my sternest "no" face--because apparently I'm going to have to use it on my daugther AND my husband (except when it comes to flowers and ruffles and hair bows and cute dresses, of course. I'll still say yes to all of those. Eesh, are we ever in trouble. Maybe we should just quit having kids while we are ahead).

Weekend Away

I'm actually a week late on this, and I should probably work on getting that last Christmas post put up before it's March or something, but whatever. Last weekend Darrell and I made the trip out to Chicago for a good friend's wedding, and we left William behind with my parents. And I'm happy to say that we all survived the ordeal. In fact, I daresay we all had a good time--we actually enjoyed getting away for the weekend (hitting up the outlet mall near our hotel certainly didn't make matters worse, although I bought more for William than I did for me), and my parents loved all the time with William. And William? Well, he had toys, food, milk, and plenty of loving, so I'm pretty sure he was perfectly content (although he was certainly happy to see Mom and Dad by the time Sunday night rolled around). While we certainly aren't jumping at the bit to leave him for a whole weekend again soon, we will definitely be taking advantage of Grandma and Grandpa's overnight services more frequently!

And just to prove that we did actually have a good time (and because picture-less posts are boring), here's some pictures from the wedding!

Darrell and I being super mature. NBD

Acting boring normal

With Steve and Ashlee, who we carpooled with (and who are getting married in August--Can't.Wait.)

With the beautiful bride!

College buddies--we were all goalkeepers at Wartburg!

So Darrell and I always do these self-portrait shots; it's kind of become a thing. Inevitably, though, someone always asks if they can take the picture for us and we have to awkwardly explain that no, we like the self-portrait look

Photo booth fun!

And even though William doesn't really look like he is enjoying himself too much in this picture, it's the only one I have to share of him from the weekend (apparently my parents didn't feel the need to follow through on our whole "it's okay if you send us a picture every hour or two" request).

Saturday morning pancakes courtesy of Grandpa (and for the record--even though it may look like they were letting him eat the raw batter, supposedly it's just his yogurt. At least that's what I've been told)

January Randoms

I'll be honest, I totally almost forgot about posting these. Which would have been a shame... There's some cute ones in this bunch (but is that really all that surprising??)

Love the personality in this one. And it showcases two of his favorite things: parading around with something hanging out of his mouth and using empty diapers boxes (or anything similar) as a push toy to walk around the house with

More fun personality in this one--he can pull himself up on anything these days!

This kid is obsessed with stickers. He loves finding them, he loves peeling them off, he loves eating them. I can't tell you how many places he has discovered stickers where I had no idea they existed

A little GQ pose before bed one night

Having fun on his Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa (which makes me realize that I completely forgot to post about Christmas with my side of the family. February isn't too late for a Christmas post, is it? Eek)

Another favorite pastime: opening and emptying drawers, cupboards, and cabinets. Any and all drawers, cupboards, and cabinets. It's made me seriously start to consider whether or not we actually need all those DVDs stored in those cabinets. 

Absolutely love this shirt from one of my dad's law partners!

Happy boy helping Mommy with this dishes!

So apparently I have another Christmas post to get up soon, plus our little cutie will be ten months next week, so I'll have that update to do too. Looks like I actually have a few reasons to keep my poor little blog from becoming too neglected!

Team USA

Let's go Team USA! William is dressed and ready for the Olympics to begin!!

(Ironically, the likelihood that he'll actually watch any of the games is pretty slim. And it's certain that he doesn't have a clue what's going on. But he's still just as cute!)

Boo Boo

A mere week shy of his ten-month birthday and William has already had his first band aid-necessary boo boo. To be fair, I'm not typically a band aid type of person, and this scratch (which I think he got by trying to stick his hand under the fridge? I'm actually not entirely sure) hardly warranted any sort of protection, but it was bleeding just enough that my hyper-active kid was bound to smear blood on something. And at the time it seemed like less work to put a band aid over his finger than deal with trying to clean blood out of clothes (or the couch or the carpet). What I didn't take into consideration was the fact that he would be unwilling to hold still long enough for me to get the band aid over the scratch, not to mention the fact that the band aid--once attached--would be greatly fascinating to him.

And, like all things he is interested in, the finger with the band aid went straight into his mouth.

Paranoid mother that I am, I watched him like a hawk for the next ten minutes because I was afraid he was going to suck that band aid right off and choke on it. Thankfully, he lost interest in it fairly quickly after realizing that it wasn't going to do anything (and after sucking off all the "new" taste of course). Hopefully this isn't a harbinger of more accidents to come, but knowing who his father is, I'm willing to bet that he'll have stitches or a broken bone at least once before kindergarten. Joy.