Y is For...

 Wearing Daddy's old jammies!

 Giggling and playing with your buddy Cyrus!

 Two cute boys!

 Going to TOWN on your orange slice!

Week 25 - July 21, 2011

• You went with Mommy and Daddy to Corvallis for the Da Vinci Days Art Festival.  We strolled around town (literally, you were in your stroller) and enjoyed food from Andale Burrito, Great Harvest Bread, American Dream Pizza and New Morning Bakery.  You did so good and fell asleep in your umbrella stroller.  It was SO cute!
• Jayson, Steph and your buddy Cyrus came over for dinner this week.  This was the first time that you and Cyrus are about the same size and you are both more interactive!  You laid on the ground and played with him and shared your toys.  You boys were so precious!
• You picked your foot up, put it right in your mouth and sucked on your big toe!  Daddy is jealous of your agility.
• You tried some solid foods for the first time!!  You had peach-spinach, green beans and butternut squash - all made by your mama.  
• You had the funniest reaction to eating! I think (sadly) you have the same gag reflex that I do...and you did the most hilarious gagging/body shaking after every bite!  But once you got it down, you'd grin and open your mouth for more...
• You've had a rough week of teething...poor guy. :(  Makes us feel so sad when you are in pain.
• You are sitting up on you own, mostly.  It's still not a bad idea to have your boppy behind you, but you can sit up for quite a while on your own.  Your stomach muscles have gotten so strong!
• We've been giving you oranges in your little food sack...thinga-mambobs.  You LOOVE it.  You will pull it out of your mouth, look at it, go "ahh!" and shove it back in your mouth.  And you'll do it over and over and over again.  SO funny.
• Daddy has been saying more and more how much you look like me as a baby!

Little Monkey.  You are becoming more and more fun as you are getting more interactive and giggly.  Whenever you go to bed, Daddy and I always look at pictures of you, look at each other and simultaneously say, "I miss him".  It's so true!  We MISS you so much when you are napping!  Thank you thank you for bringing SO much joy to our lives!

Love, Mama K

"It's not like you get a trophy for natural birth!"

... umm yeah, you do.  :)

Made out of a wine stave!

 

Handmade by my love.  Thanks, baby.

X is for...

 5 months old!!

Recovered pics from the week before:

 Hanging with dad at the beach house on Independence Day!

Your cute 4th of July outfit!

 You threw your binky and it landed like this...wedged on your nose!  You left it like that for a really long time before you seemed to even care :)

 We had a paintball tournament this weekend.  This is what you did while Daddy had a meeting with the players.  No one even noticed you... :)

 Swimming in the pool!

 You love your tag block!

You fell asleep conveniently right at dinner, so Daddy and I had a little hot date on the back deck!!

 24 Week Stats - July 14, 2011

 

• You have mostly stopped holding up your pinky when you are hungry.  It makes mommy and daddy sad to see that go.  :(
• This is the week of finding body parts, it seems! You've found your head, your hair, and...some other body parts! ;) You like to run your fingers through your hair - so cute!
• You are seriously about to crawl.  You've definitely figured how to get your legs up underneath you and you are scooting around (sloooowwwwllly).  I think you'll be crawling in the next couple weeks!  SCARY! 
• You are wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes right now.  Almost all of your onesies are 9 months (the 6 months ones still fit but are pretty snug), and your pajamas are mostly 6-9 months.  Your pants are still 3-6 months though.  You seem to have a long torso.
• You played in your baby pool for the first time this week.  You seemed to enjoy it and your little rubber ducky.
• You've been taking reeaaaalllly long naps this week and only wanting to be awake for an hour or two in between.  Daddy says you're in a growth spurt.  I'm afraid that you're going to wake up from one of these naps and all the sudden be a toddler. :(
• In just a matter of days, you look really big laying in your bathtub.  Your legs can't stretch out straight anymore.  They have to stay bent.  Daddy hasn't given you a bath in the tub for almost 2 weeks because we have been gone.  Yesterday, as he gave you a bath, he noted the difference too.  You, my son, have gotten huge.
• You are almost sitting up on your own now!  You can sit with your boppy pillow behind you and not fall for like a 1/2 hour!  When you do fall, you fall forward because you were leaning too far for a toy and then you can't get back up.  When you fall like that, it always makes me laugh because it looks SO uncomfortable...and, you're stuck.... what would you do without me, little guy?! :)
• You LOVE to "sing" and squeal.  Especially in the mornings, but also when the sun is shining and you're looking at the trees or shadows.  You LOVE that and you always vocally share your excitement. 
• You learned how to arch your back when you are upset... which is, like, totally fun!...
• You have recently discovered the tags on all your little stuffed animals and blankets, etc.   You love to feel them.  This also makes the tag block toy that "aunt" Jessi made you an AWESOME toy.  You love it.  (If only I could find where I put the tag blanket...)
• You've also noticed my phone this week and just cannot wait to get your grubby lil hands on it whenever you see it. :)
• I'm thinking possibly you're left-handed like your daddy and uncle Jeremy.  You tend to reach more with your left hand when you grab for things.

Well, Mr. Z, you have only 2 more alphabet letters!!  I remember when I was planning this that I was like, 'ok 26 weeks of photos!  He'll be about 6 months by then!  That will be SO LONG!'  Well, now I have to say to myself: HA!  It was so fast.  :(  Daddy has no idea what I'll do with my time once I'm done with the ABC's!  I assure him, I still have plenty to do. :)

Love you Babe,
Mama

"Why I'm Choosing" Series

Although Zeek is only 5 months old, I've been a parent for 14 months now - since I knew I was pregnant.  With becoming a parent comes many many decisions and choices.  About every single thing.  You really start to realize that YOU are making the decisions and choices that will completely affect someone else other than yourself. 

In our own personal decision making, Skyler and I seem to be making some choices that go against the grain.  Once we made our first "abnormal" decision (natural childbirth), we started looking at all of our decisions in a different light.  We started thinking "what other decisions are there to be made that many people make based on the 'it's just what we do' mentality?"  In my own experience, if my good friend Gemma hadn't gone to Bella Vie Gentle Birth Center for her son, I am not sure that I even would've questioned a hospital/drugged birth or thought twice about it.  "It's just what we do!'"... right?  It became really apparent to us just how many things American's do because of that mentality. 

I'm going to begin a little series in my blog - "Why I'm Choosing".   I'll go through some of the "abnormal" choices that Skyler and I have or are making for Ezekiel and explain the reasoning behind it.  Perhaps this will help answer some of your questions (those who have questioned) and perhaps it might shed light on some popular decisions and show that there are alternatives.  And hopefully, it will encourage you also, if you are making those gosh darned "hippy" choices like we are... :)

If you want, you can read my first entry in the "Why I'm Choosing" series: Why I'm Choosing: Natural Birth posted last October, before Zeek was born.  I may update and add more information to this topic later...but for now - there are so many other topics to address!

I hope you'll enjoy this series...and I hope you'll still be my friend, even if we don't choose the same things for our kids.  :)

Love, K

Does ANYbody Know How to Spell February?!

um.... hello?  People who design products??? People who proof products??


Does ANYbody use Spell Checker anymore? Apparently not Old Navy or Verizon.

Good grief, world.

Shabby Chic Baby Shower

I know.  I have a slight obsession with Shabby Chic.  It's just so clean, sweet and dreamy though!  :)

A few weeks ago, a friend and I co-hosted a baby shower for my lovely cousin Andrea (the one who threw my little bird baby shower for Zeek).  She is going with sage green, brown and powder blue for the nursery for her baby Logan, who will greet us sometime in August!  Since she isn't going with a "theme" for the nursery, we decided to just use the colors and do a shabby chic theme...because well, let's face it.  I'm in love with it and I had the stuff to make it work already! ;)

The table as you walk in the house:

 As one of the gifts for Andrea, I made the Logan letters with paper, mod podge and buttons. 

She is going to hang them above his crib!  I can't wait to see how they look. :)

 We had a picture frame for everyone to sign as a "guest book".  They wrote well wishes for Logan.  

On the little green cards, we had everyone write advice for the mom-to be.

On the blue cards, we had everyone to write love notes to Logan.

Food table:

 (Pay no attention to my wrinkly tablecloth...yikes).

Pin It

I made the Logan banner out of paint sample cards from Home Depot.  

I saw the genius idea on one of my favorite blogs, here.

 We served cheese, crackers, veggie tray, fruit kabobs, brownie bites and chocolate cupcakes.  

 

Little Darling Logan!

Drinks: Cucumber Water, Strawberry Lemonade, Italian Soda and Coffee and mason jars to drink from.

 Andrea had seen a baby shower where everyone decorated onesies on Grey's Anatomy. 

She thought it would be really fun to have everyone do that at her shower too.  Everyone was so creative and came up with some really great designs!

The lovely ladies at the shower:

 Grandma and Zeek match...not on purpose. :)

The cute Old Navy outfits that I got for Logan. :)  Yes...I love birds, I know.

Sweet cousin Kaily putting Zeek to sleep!  She did a great job!

 

The hosts with the mom-to be!

So excited for Andrea and cannot wait to meet little Logan and be an aunt again!!! :)

Love, K

W is For...

You're welcome for the creative editing, son... :)

 

Watching fireworks.

No, we didn't actually give you DB.  You love to grab at our food and drinks and you instinctively grabbed my cup and put your lips around the straw!  It was so presh.

Hey fish.

Mom, look!  There's shiny things floating in there!

Zeeky loves otter fur ;)

ugh.  WHAT is on my foot, mom?

 Mom, why is my Nemo pacifier swimming in the fish tank??

 

23 Week Stats - July 7, 2011

• We took you to Lincoln City and to the BEACH for the first time!!  I cannot believe that you have been in 6 states...and not the gorgeous Oregon coast an hr and 1/2 away!  
• We spent the long weekend in a beach house with 3 other couples and two girls that were both almost a year and 1/2.  You flashed them grins and flirted with them.  They had a tendency to wake up earlier than you, but you adjusted well and did so good the whole weekend - even being out of routine!
• You took your first official swim in a pool.  We all went to the community pool in Lincoln City and you just gazed around awestruck.  You seemed to like the nice warm water.  You looked so stinking cute in your swimming trunks. :)
• We brought you down to the beach and you instinctively dug your toes into the sand when I sat down with you.  We tried to keep your toes covered with the warm sand so that the cold wind wouldn't chill them!
• Daddy took you down to touch your toes in the Pacific Ocean.  He watched for the wave to come to the shore, stood you up right at the edge and waited for the next wave to come.  The next wave stopped about 2 feet in front of Daddy, so he scooted you forward and waited for the next wave.  Again, the next wave stopped about 2 feet before reaching you.  Daddy put you closer again... this went on about 5 times before he finally caught you a wave. :)  You showed no expression at all as your toes got swept with the cold cold ocean.  Someday you'll squeal with delight. :)
• You found your left foot this week!  You sat on Daddy's lap, holding both feet, and proudly looked at him.  "Daddy, look!  There's two of them!" :)  That's what we imagined you saying.
• You experienced your first Independence Day and fireworks this year!  We took you out to a grassy knoll overlooking the bay and watched as the fireworks shot off of the peninsula directly across from us.  It was a gorgeous night and the moon was just to the right of the fireworks display.  You just stared and watched the fireworks.  You seemed to love it!
• We took you to the Hatfield Marine Science Center while we were in Newport.  You got to feel sea anemones (with your feet even!) and star fish.  You watched intently as the salmon swam around in their tank and you seemed confused at seeing Nemo (like on one of your pacifier's) in a tank.  You kept trying to reach through the glass and grab him. :)
• You had your first trip into Mo's for some "world famous clam chowder".  (I mean...mommy and daddy enjoyed it for you...) The waitress thought you were so cute and liked you so much that she brought over a little toy shark for you to play with.
• You had the worst blow out this week than ever before.  We were packing up the leave the beach house and you were getting fussy and I could tell your diaper was bulging.  I picked you up and took you out to the car to get a diaper and wipe out.  I switched you to the other hand to grab the diaper and as I did, I thought, "boy, I smell poop all the sudden" and looked down.  It was oozing out your onesie and shorts, down both your legs and inbetween your toes.  It was all down my shirt and on my shorts.  It was covering both hands and down BOTH of my arms all the way to my elbows.  It was dripping on the ground.  I called Daddy for help and all he could do was laugh and he wanted to take a picture so badly.  At the time, all I could think about was cleaning both of us up, so I told him no!  (Now I wish I had let him, so I could've showed you the damage you are capable of).  We laid you down on a beach towel in the front yard and stripped you down and took you inside for an impromptu bath in the kitchen sink...
• We gave you your first taste of lemon this week!!  You are used to sucking on fruit when it's brought to your mouth, so you didn't even seem to notice.  You hardly even made a funny face... booo.  Maybe when you're a little older and used to other foods you will make a more puckered face?? ;)
 

 Love you, big boy.

Love, Mom