Saturday, March 30, 2013

Screw You, Spring. We're Starting without You

Anyone who I've actually spoken too in the last six weeks or so is probably aware that this never-ending winter is driving me absolutely crazy.  I feel like we're in freaking Narnia. We have been stuck inside for the past five months solid and I thought it would have warmed up by now. We're not in Nebraska anymore. We're not in Michigan. We are in Missouri and all evidence led me to believe that it wouldn't snow in March. But I was wrong.

The weather was SUPPOSED to be sunny and warm today. Of course, when we woke up, it wasn't. Chilly, cloudy and windy. We had been planning on going to the park as a family and letting Rhett try to find some Easter eggs. And when we woke up, I ALMOST wanted to cancel our plans. But you know what? Screw it. Who cares if we're a little cold. I cannot stay cooped up in this house for another weekend, I just CAN'T.

So we went to the park. And actually had some fun! Rhett and Josh were properly dressed in hooded sweatshirts, and were perfectly fine out in the cool weather. I didn't dress as smartly and I was cold but I had fun anyway.
This is what Rhett was supposed
to wear for his Easter egg hunt.
Adorable, right?
We're going on an egg hunt!
There will be eggs!
We just purchased a brand new Ergo carrier, so that we can start wearing Rhett on our backs when we go out. We babywear a multitude of reasons, but mostly because it's simply easier to maneuver around that way. I hate dodging through crowds and aisles with a stroller, and I hate having to hunt down an elevator whenever we want to move to another level. Babywearing solves that problem. Our new carrier is awesome. It's much more comfortable for us and Rhett than the Bjorn we were previously using. 

Rhett actually did have fun grabbing the eggs off of the ground and playing with them. He predictably had trouble getting them into his bucket. He thought it was MUCH more fun to take them out of the bucket. He loves holding things that fit into his hand and when he can hold one object in each hand, he's pretty thrilled. So Easter eggs were right up his alley in that regard. 
It might be hard to tell, but this is a happy face
Hopefully spring will come and join us soon so that we can enjoy lots more outdoor time together. The fresh air is so good for all of us, and we're really outdoorsy people. I get claustrophobic being inside for too long. Rhett really likes to see and explore new things, so I'm really looking forward to getting out more in the months ahead. 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Somebody Figured out the Self-timer



Everyone can look forward to a lot more pictures of Rhett and I now

Saturday, March 23, 2013

11 Months




he's gotten a bit dramatic
Holy Crap, this is the last one of these until Rhett's birthday! I cannot believe it! Rhett continued to grow and change this month. He is eating just about everything now. We were surprised to learn this week that pineapple is one of his favorite foods. He also loves any form of dairy--cottage cheese and yogurt are big hits. He feeds himself crackers like an expert, so I've been sandwhiching various spreads in between two crackers so that he can give himself a proper meal. Hummus and peanut butter are popular.
his reaction to meeting a dog

Rhett developed a love for taking things out of containers this month. Whether it be laundry, blocks or DVDs, he loves to find items and throw them all on the ground. He likes to put them back in their containers again as well.

I'm not entirely certain, but in addition to 'mama' and 'dada', I THINK Rhett has picked up his own version of "no". Whenever I change his diaper or buckle him into his car seat, he whines "nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh". It occurred to me that he may be trying to tell me 'no' over and over. I'm keeping an ear out to see if this is real.

One of his funniest quirks this month is that he likes to look under things. He has a collection of small balls that are always rolling under the couch and he's learned that if he lies flat on his belly and puts his face on the floor, he can see under there. He likes to look under all sorts of things now.



He's also starting to develop a fondness for his stuffed animals. His favorite seems to be a stuffed Lamb, that Josh and I have appropriately named "Lambie". He'll carry it all around the house. He has also started to become very attached to a particular "snuggle blanket". He's always needed to sleep on top of it, but lately when we go to get him out of bed, he has it all snuggled up in his arms. When he cries at night, he'll stand up in the crib and rub it against his face. Another change this month is also that he's becoming a side-sleeper (transitioning from his belly).

His hair is growing, but it's so fine and thin that he still looks like a total baldy. His hair is different colors, I think he'll have similar hair to Josh--very light brown. Though he has a ton of blonde hairs, so he may end up with hair like his cousins.

Well, next month my little baby will be a little one-year-old. I can't even believe it! Where has the time gone?






Sunday, March 17, 2013

Cliche Photo Shoot FAIL

how the heck do people get this photo?







Saturday, March 16, 2013

Car Update

I wrote about our accident a little while ago, and realized I never posted an update on the situation. Originally, our insurance was going to repair the damage. Upon further inspection, there was more damage than initially estimated, and the declared the car a total loss. We were pretty upset when we found out, because car shopping is a huge pain and we figured we weren't going to get much for our old car. As it turns out, we ended up getting A LOT more for it than we thought it was worth. Along with our tax refund, we made budget and this month, we are able to comfortably purchase a car in cash. We a lot of payments left on our old one, and not financing a vehicle is going to be a huge relief. Also, our "new" car fits our needs much better. We decided on a 2005 Ford Explorer.

Our new car!
The picture above is our actual vehicle. It much more spacious than the caliber, and with good upkeep by us a just a little luck, it could last another 100,000 miles or even more. We feel blessed for the whole situation to have worked out much better than we thought it would. 

Cleaning out our little caliber was kind of sad. We purchased together, a few months before our wedding. We drove away from our wedding ceremony in it. We took it on our honeymoon. And we brought our son home in it. It was a good car and we were sad to see it go. 

Thursday, March 7, 2013

My Busy Baby

At this time last year, I could not picture in my head what it would be like to have a mobile baby in my home. Whenever I tried to picture myself as a mother, it would always be with a tiny newborn. I could picture so clearly in my head rocking the baby to sleep. And giving it baths in the kitchen sink. I saw myself giving bottles and pacifiers and kissing a tiny baby goodnight.  But for some reason, I could never picture myself with a baby beyond those first few quiet months. I couldn't imagine a baby being at the stage that Rhett is now.

And what Rhett is....is BUSY. That baby never. slows. down. He can make a mess out of anything. He enjoys it! Parenting right now mostly consists of watching him dart back and forth in my living room, destroying everything he can find.

Bath time no longer consists of me sponging around an umbilical cord stump with a moist sponge  Think you can give this kid a bath and stay dry yourself? Think again. 

Feeding, of course, deserves a post of it's own (I'll get there some day). Here's a preview:

I always thought it was so strange that I couldn't picture myself with an older baby. All of the care and attention I knew he would need just didn't fit in my lifestyle back then. I couldn't even imagine it. And right now, I can't imagine much beyond what we're doing right now either. I keep thinking of what our summer travels will be like, with Rhett crawling all around hotels and other peoples' houses. And I have to stop and remind myself: "not crawling. He'll be bigger than. He'll be walking". I can't picture it. Just like I never could for this stage. We are so unbelievable blessed by this little boy. Every day is filled with so much fun and laughter. He has brightened up our home and our lives in ways we never imagined the day we brought him home from the hospital. He keeps us busy, certainly. But in that busyness, we are having so. much. fun. And now I can't remember what filled our days before we were constantly chasing him down. 
For my next trick, I will make this stack of DVDs disappear