Six Months

Half a year already?! I feel like six months sounds so old... This month has been chopped full of new stuff for you, little man.

You started oatmeal about three weeks ago. After a few attempts, it really was a no go. Since retiring that nastiness you have moved up in the culinary world to bananas, apple sauce, avocados and sweet potatoes. You tolerate the avocados and apple sauce the best and really only eat well in the evening. It has been fun though. My hope is to mix up some carrots and mangos next.

Little man, you are sitting up now! You wobble at times and if you see something you want, a tumble to the carpet doesn't seem to matter. But, you've got it! You have also mastered the fine art of rolling from back to tummy. While conquering this milestone however, you have forgotten once again how to roll from tummy to back. This results in throwing a slight fit while pancaked on the floor.

Splashing in the bathtub is a new favorite past time. You also have the cutest little fake laugh. You are a loud talker, but have quiet times as well. Your favorite book still tends to be the kid Bible books, you will look with such interest at the pictures or roll to your side to watch me read. The Johnny Jump Up has become a life saver.

As mentioned, tummy time is your worst enemy. Evening times are still no fun. It is always a toss up on if you will be in a good mood or not, so we have a list of possible errands to run in the evening which helps. These have included walks around Bass Pro, driving around looking at houses, Target trips, etc.

You're still a great sleeper. We have officially cut out one nap, so you have two, two hour naps and still go to bed at eight.  Most nights once you are down, you are down until we go get you at 8 in the morning.  There have been nights in the last couple of weeks though where you have flipped to your belly, needed a hug, or kicked off you blanket and needed rescuing.  

Your six month appointment went great. You greeted the doctor with a very loud burp and made your presence known by a stinky smell before we left. You had a look of accomplishment on your face as we walked out. You are 18.4 pounds and 26.25 inches long. A big, healthy babe. The doctor said we need to start baby proofing the house. I chuckled a little because I don't see you being mobile for a while.

You are a delightful, cuddly, sweet little boy. We are already so proud of you and I kind of think you have dad wrapped around your finger. :)

Someone was starving for attention.

One sock is typically always off.  Pointless to constantly put it back on.

Washer oh Washer

Sometimes you've gotta celebrate the little things in life, right?
Like...
Having all the dishes done before bed (I will drop to my knees and praise Baby Jesus the day we get a dishwasher).
Not leaving shoes all over the floor.
Henry making it through the day with the same outfit on.
Having a few minutes to blog.
Getting through a work week with no last minute cancellations (this hasn't happened in a long while).
Etc.
And THEN sometimes you are blessed with big things. Like really, huge, ginormous things. In this case, a working washing machine!!!!!!!
It all started back on December 8 when the thing stopped mid-rinse cycle. Fortunately, we have a home warranty so I got those folks on the phone. Unfortunately, they couldn't get an appointment scheduled for 2 weeks! Two weeks of no laundry is hard for me. I try to do a load a day and a mountain of laundry freaks me out. Thankfully our parents opened their laundry rooms to us and we did I think a total of 9 loads or more.
The day finally came for repairs and not only did the repair guy show up in the last 10 minutes of our allotted time (the whole 12-4 range doesn't thrill me), of course a part has to be ordered. So, he hopes to be back on the 23. Low and behold, they call the day before and say the part won't be there. I beg and plea with them to wait and see, but no go. An appointment date is rescheduled for the 2nd. You can only imagine the rage I felt when I arrived home to have the motor on my doorstep and when I called to inform them, they apologized and said all slots were full. ANGER!!!
The washer finally is fixed and we are good to go for about two weeks I think? Then the thing started smoking one evening. Now this washer is around 15 years old and they put a $400 motor in the sucker. I called them back, the guy came out (4 days later of course), there is another broken part but they don't make it anymore so it will have to be replaced. Why didn't you do that almost two months ago?!
Then a battle started because of miscommunication and laziness to actually call our warranty place (we dealt with Sears the whole time, no sir won't be using them again). We finally got the washer delivered this past Friday. But, since out house is older they couldn't install it. A plumber came out yesterday and we are now in business.
Good grief right!? I even left out some details.
So...
A $75 fee to our warranty folk, a gift card to Sears for $75 because of an enraged phone call made by me (Chris wasn't home and Henry wasn't around so no one was there to witness my customer service call), and $80 to a plumber to drill a hole in the wall and this is what we have...

Praying for Miss Ava

I've got lots of little kiddos on my heart lately. Henry and Jack, of course. Kharis and Benny. Kettie. Lewis. Brody. Brecken. Tess. Evelyn. Bennett. The list could seriously be a mile long. But, this little lady has my heart this week.

My best friend growing up, Casey, had sweet little Ava this past May. Right before my birthday to be exact. Casey and I ran around growing up and I love the fact that we are now in the season of motherhood together. I just told her the other day how neat I think it is that Ava and I have a birthday close together and Casey and Henry aren't too far apart either.

Miss Ava has some spunk to her. She is funny. Chris always loves seeing her because she is busy, busy, busy and always makes him laugh. She is the perfect combo of her mom and dad.

Today, Miss Ava has to go through a major surgery. Casey shares more details about it on her blog, so I won't go into it. But, if you are reading this and think about this sweet little family, send up some prayers. Ava will be just fine, I have complete faith in that. However, the healing process will be just that, a process. And no mom ever wants to see their babe in pain.

I can't wait to get my hands on her again and Henry is begging for a play date. Ready for this week to be defeated by this little spit fire girl! Love you Miss Ava!
(Sorry for the screen shot picture, she's still cute despite my laziness)

This Week

This week has been... Interesting.

We took Henry into the doctor last Thursday because of a cough. Chris figured it would be a good idea to get him in before the weekend just in case something was wrong. I was all, oh it is just a cough he will get over it, but am working on listening to my dear husband more, so we headed in. I hate going to the doctor. Hate. It.

Low and behold they diagnosed little man with bronchitis and put him on breathing treatments. They stink. He never had a fever and took them pretty well, but it is never fun to see your little one with a mask over their face.

The coughing subsided, praise The Lord and we started to cut back some treatments. His sleeping patterns have gone down the crapper and I really think part of it is due to the treatments (and probably some growing and maybe a little bit that he just likes his mom and dad and loves to cuddle). He is a hyper mess at times and the past two nights he will scream bloody murder when you put him into his crib. Ahhhh. So, no more treatments as of today. Praying that helps.

On top of all of the sickness (Chris and I have both been under the weather, too) it has been a battle of contentment as of late. I'm so ready for certain chapters of our life to begin.

To finish up my hours for my license and see what God has in store next. I am overly ready to not be working nights anymore, or at least not three a week. We miss seeing friends.  I enjoy having family time and hate missing things.

To move into a bigger house that gives us a little more elbow room.

To see what God has in store to grow this family (I say all the time that Henry will be an only child, ha).

To see answered prayers in the lives of some people I care about and love.

But, this season is oh so good and I really need to step back and see that at times. Seasons where there aren't major life changes or battles are nice! While there are things we are waiting on, He has been so faithful.

So, this week has been a blur. A take one step at a time kind of week. During those steps we've heard lots of giggles, read lots of books, had great conversation over cups of tea, gotten a surprise pillow from my dear husband, and even ordered a slouchy t haha. Very thankful.

Love his laugh.

Constantly reaching for things and moving however he can to get them.

Thrifty Thoughts

I've been racking my brain to think of something thrifty that I could share! I do consider myself a fairly thrifty person, however either it is so normal to me I don't think of it as thrifty or I feel like everyone does it so it isn't unique.

This week Ashley shared a thrifty way to save on curtains. Curtains are a thorn in my side. In our guest room I spent like $80 on simple white panels. No pizzaz or anything! I have always wanted curtains in my living room and needed them for our bedroom, but wanted something fun and didn't want to break the bank.

Enter the fabric store.

We have a fun place here in Springfield called the FM Store that is filled to the brim with fabrics at a very reasonable price. My mother sews (she says she no longer will for me and I need to learn, ha), so I enlisted her services for some curtains. For both rooms I spent a total of $45 I believe and I think they look smashing. For the living room there was no cutting involved, just sewing up the edges. In the bedroom my mom cut he fabric in half in order to have two for each window and not have an overwhelming amount of fabric.

Presto chango, cheap curtains that didn't break the bank and my husband actually likes.

As a bonus, the lamps were both garage sale finds that were spray painted and a new shade was added. I resold the previous shades in my moms booth which paid for the new shades. The living room lamp is some fancy brand, retail value was $250, I got it for $10. Winning!!!

Yes, I should have gotten out the fancy camera and picked up a little, but I like to keep things real folks.

Don't mind the dog and the game control thingy.

Perhaps I need to invest in a new dog bed :)

Five Months

Little late to post this, but what else is new? My friend Wirth taught me about the blogger app so I am all about blogging on my iPad now. She keeps me informed on technology, thanks friend.

This past month has been so fun! Henry's little personality is shining through. He loves to "nuzzle" and will lean in and give hugs. He also loves Eskimo kisses and will occasionally sneak a slobbery kiss. Chris thinks it is gross, I love me some lippers though. He squeals with delight when you start to take his clothes off and will lift his legs so politely to help with a diaper change.

He has started to roll again, but does so periodically. He prefers to be standing on your legs or sitting in his bumbo. I have a feeling everything will click at once and I will miss the days of being able to lay him in one spot and play. Books are still a wonderful source of entertainment and he will talk through them while you read. We have a routine of reading from our children's Bible every day and I love watching his expressions during these times.

Everyone comments on his rolls and how fun he is to hug. He loves touching faces and pinching... sometimes too hard. Everything goes into his mouth, he has a strong bite and those two teeth are sharp!

He still sleeps from 8-8 with three naps during the day. His 3-6 month clothes will retire soon. We are in size three diapers now and hope to be for a while. I'm not positive on his weight, but I'm thinking he is over the 17 pound mark now and pushing 18.  Chunky!

He is delightful! I tell Chris that I miss him so much every night and just want to crawl into his crib. I mean come on now, look at this face?! Can you blame me?!

This is one of his favorite faces to make.

First Food!

Lately Henry has been very interested in our food. He will reach for your drink, follow your fork with his eyes and grab at your plate when given the opportunity. I love watching him take everything in and learn all of these new things!

Our original intent was to wait until 6 months to start on food. Allergies, a growing digestive system, and just one more thing to add to the plate were reasons to wait. Our pediatrician said we were ok to start after our 4 month appointment, but I wasn't quite ready. However, with the recent interest, we thought he might be ready.

So, I picked up a box of oatmeal at the grocery store and last night we tried it out. He gave the funniest faces and spit a majority of it out. It was pretty comical and didn't last long :) I'm sure we will try again over the next few days, but we are in no rush. My hope is that by six months he is ready to actually start on a food. I'm thinking avocado. Until then, I think he is surviving on his milk diet (he has rolls on rolls).

Sorry for the poor pictures. Chris had the big camera and I had a spoon and a wiggly baby.