Stubborn

I have come to realize that I have one heck of a stubborn child. It was bound to happen. He really had no chance at all, seeing as how both of his parents are pretty darn stubborn. All that to say that I took him out for a "photo shoot" a week or so ago and this is what I got.

He pretty much avoided ALL eye contact with me (aka: the camera)

He would look over my should at "the birds chirping"... still not acknowledging my presence.

Pretending to be interested in the dead grass...

And once he finally lifts his head up towards me, this is what I get.

hhhhhhh. Stubborn, stubborn child.

I was so frustrated with this that I asked Tammi to come take some pictures of him. She is bound to be able to get him to do something! And even though he was being a stubborn child, yet again, she managed to get some uber cute pictures!

So click the link to see results of the photo shoot!

My how time flies

Its so hard to believe that Zachariah was born 6 months ago, today.

It seems like just the other day that we brought him home from the hospital, but at the same time, I cant remember what life was like without him.

Here are a few pictures to show you how much he has grown over the last 6 months!

1 day old

1 month old 2 months old
3 months old

4 months old

5 months old

6 months old

And to commemorate his 6 month birthday, he started sitting up all by himself today!!!

Product Endorsement

I am a pretty paranoid person. The thing I am most paranoid about, as a mother ,is SIDS. Ever since we moved Zachariah to his crib (10 weeks old), I have to go check on him 524 times a night to make sure he is still breathing. And then I make Daniel go check on him another 213 times before we go to bed. Every sound that comes from his nursery wakes me up and gets me thinking that something is wrong. Even though I know that his humidifier just made a gurgling sound, I go check on him… again.

Recently I came across the Angelcare Movement and Sound Monitor in my babytalk magazine. At first I thought it was too good to be true. But then I did a little research, and before I knew it, they were mine! Here is the skinny: There is a sensor pad that you put under the mattress of the crib. Then you hook it up to the cute, cloud shaped monitor (aka: nursery unit). It detects all of your baby’s movement, which of course includes breathing. If 20 seconds go by without movement, it will sound an alarm in the cute, cloud shaped parents unit and in the nursery unit. (Just in case you don’t have your unit on, you can still hear the alarm)

Last night was the first time that we used it, and it was wonderful. I only got up to go make sure he was all warm and snuggled under his blanky. I didn’t have to get up 524 times to go check and make sure he was ok. And even if I did feel like checking on him, I don’t have to go over to the crib and hold my hand in front of his face, or over his chest to make sure he is breathing. Conveniently located on the nursery unit, there is a light that flashes every time he moves. So I can stand at the door and see the light flashing and know everything is fine and dandy.

The one concern Daniel and I had about this was that Zachariah would move off the sensor pad and we would get a ton of false alarms. But I tested it by moving him ALL OVER THE CRIB. At times he wasn’t even near the sensor pad and it picked up his breathing. So that was very reassuring.

Anyway. This is great. I wish I had it for the first 6 months of his life. I would have slept a whole heck of a lot better. If you want to read more about it, you can click here for the official website. Or you can click here to read reviews of what some parents think about it. Walmart and Target sell it, but I have only found it online.

Happy shopping everyone!

Weirdo

As most of you know, naptime has been pure mayhem lately. Much to my relief, it has slowly been getting better. I know you all want to ask the question, “What has helped Zachariah go to sleep faster and sleep longer?” None other than the burp-cloth-over-the-eyes trick!


No really. He has to covers his eyes every single time he is going to sleep. If he doesn’t have something to pull over his head (ie: burp cloth, blanket, etc…), he will try to burry his head, like an Ostrich, into his crib. Or into whoever is holding him when he gets tired. Today he woke up after a 45 min. nap screaming, so I went in there and covered his eyes with his burp cloth. He slept for another 45 min.

What a weirdo.

A Change Will Do You Good

Daniel and I have been making small changes here and there over the past few months so that we can “go green” like all of the cool kids. We have done things like replace our current light bulbs with more energy efficient light bulbs (they will actually last a lot longer too), we unplug appliances when they are not being used (and that has saved us a nice chunk on our electricity bill), we have been recycling cans and bottles, and we (and by we I mean Daniel) have been trying to turn the lights off in the rooms that are not being used.
They aren’t big changes, but at least they are changes.

One thing that we have wanted to do for a long time now is to stop using those preposterous grocery bags. To make a long story short, I hate them. So we tossed around the idea of using reusable cloth bags, instead of the plastic bags. But we just haven’t done it for one reason or another. Mainly, I didn’t really want to go spend a lot of money on cloth bags when we get free bags at the store.

And then we saw them. At the front of the store, on the isle across from the bathrooms.
Reusable grocery bags.
At Wal-Mart.
For one dollar.

Since they were only $1, I really didn’t have an excuse not to get them. So we bought 10. And I love them. They can be used for about a year, and then they disintegrate, or rot, or dissolve, or something like that.

Anyway, we bought the reusable bags, and they are fabulous. It only took 8 bags to fit all of our groceries in (compared to our 20+ plastic bags), and it only took 2 trips to unload them into the house! And another added bonus: Its great for the planet that we call Earth.

Want to start making a few changes?
Start with reusable grocery bags.

It only takes a little to make a big difference.

Nakedness

Here is my chubby little man! Check out those arm rolls and chubby cheeks!

I love it.

Insight

This post is for all of you mommy's out there.

How the heck do I get my son to take longer naps? They only last for about 30 min. during the day. Its RIDICULOUS. So if you have any tips that worked for getting your baby to nap longer, puh-lease let me know.

And just in case you were wondering, this is the time for you people to actually comment. I know, I know. Its rough. But get off the blog lines and let me know what has worked or not worked for you. I am desperate here.

Awwww

We love our Sunday Afternoon naps!

Feedback Required

Saw this on a friends blog and thought it was fun. Give it a try and let me know your score!

88 words

Speed test

Baby Einstein

I am in love with Baby Einsteins. They have the most amazing products. And I want all of them. I LOVE their teether books, toys, dishes (even though we don't need most of that yet), and their movies. We have three of the movies and Zachariah loves them. It gives me around 30 min. to fix dinner, fold laundry, or check my blogs. (I usually take the time to do the latter) So yeah. Baby Einstein is amazing. And just for everyone's information, the next movie I am wanting is Baby Neptune. Because it looks so freaking awesome.

That it. I just wanted to express my love for this ingenious company.

He gets it from his dad

After fighting a nap for THREE GRUELING HOURS, Zachariah finally fell asleep with his infamous pouty look all over his face.

I didn't know a 5 month old could be so dadgum stubborn.
Excuse me while I go collapse on the couch.

Jumperoo

Just wanted to extend a BIG thanks to our friends the Nobles, Johns, Dix's, and the Barkley's. They gave us this Jumperoo at our baby shower and Zachariah loves it! He is getting really good at the whole jumping thing, and he is pretty dern cute while doing it. I have a video of him in action that will come later. :)

Thanks guys!

Crabby

Words could not express how aggravated I am right now. I am so sick and tired of hearing my son screaming because he doesn’t want to go to sleep. And it isn’t even because he doesn’t want to sleep. He just wants to be held while he goes to sleep. I don’t know why the heck he has started this up again. He was doing so great going to sleep by himself. But lately he WILL NOT take a nap without me holding him. But I am bound and determined to break him of this! That is why I let him cry and scream and yell at me. But I give in after 15 or 20 minuets. Listening to a blood curdling scream may sound fun to you, but it doesn’t rank high on my list. It bugs the crap out of me knowing that if I held him for 5 minuets he would go right to sleep.

And to make matters worse, I desperately want/need to shower. But I don’t see that happening until Daniel gets home today.

5 Months Old Today

You dont get any cuter than this

Penguin

I just wasted 30 min. playing this game. It was very addicting. So if you want to kill some time (and penguins) I definitely recomend it.

Dishes can wait

I love being in my Pajama's all day not having to go anywhere or do anything.

Its my favorite.

None of Your Beezewax

Most people who know me know that I worry a lot. I worry about something happening to my baby. I worry about not having enough money. I worry about my husband finding his dream job. I worry about getting pregnant again. I worry about finding a church that is right for us. And I worry about doing this whole parenting thing right.

I was reading Acts 1 today (from The Message, in case you were wondering). The apostles asked Jesus when He was going to restore the kingdom of Israel. He answered their question with, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Fathers business.” And then it hit me. Duh. I don’t get to know if something is going to happen to Zachariah. I don’t get to know if we are going to stop struggling financially. I don’t get to know when Daniel will find the job of his dreams. I don’t get to know when the “right time” for us to have another child may be. I don’t get to know when we will find a church that we love.

That’s kind of hard for me to grasp. Because the way I look at it, it’s my life. I should be able to have a say in it. I should be able to know what is going on. I should be able to choose the timing of my major life events. But I don’t. And that’s (slowly) becoming ok with me. I guess I need to learn to stop worrying about things I have no control over. I need to realize that if I did have control over those things I would screw it all up. I need to learn to keep my nose out of His business and let Him do things His way.

I hate it when I get slapped in the face like that.

Infomercials

Do you hate dusting in those hard to reach areas? You know what I am talking about. Fan blades, blinds, floor boards. Lets be honest here. Who really likes to dust? If you are anything like me dusting doesn’t get done except for once every 4 or 5 months. (Yeah I know, I am a bad housewife)

So we have determined that you hate to dust, right? You better grab a seat, because I have the perfect product for you. What is this wonderful dusting product you ask? Its the handy dandy Swiffer Duster of course! I just dusted our whole living room (fan blades included) in less than 5 min. It was quite amazing. And I actually enjoyed doing it. Shocker I know. Amy Lynn, who doesn’t lift a finger except to turn on the TV, dusted today. The best part about it? It cost less than $10.

Read up on it. Buy it. Fall in love with it.
I know I did.

Bath Bucket Anyone?

I was doing some online browsing today and found this infant "bathtub". I read up on it and supposedly the tub promotes a fetal sitting position for the baby. Its supposed to be safer and make bathtime enjoyable. The thing I am wondering is how on earth you are supposed to bathe the baby while they are in a cramped little bucket with water up to their chest. Now, I haven’t used it, so I probably shouldn’t pass judgment on this tub. In fact, most of the reviews I read on it were very positive. But I just can’t see it being any easier to bathe a baby in that.

With my luck, everyone that reads my blog will probably have one of these and they will love it. So then I will look stupid for insulting it... but for now I will just giggle at the image in my head of bathing a baby in a mop bucket.

Keep On Rollin

Quick update on my adorable child:

1) He has become an expert on sucking his fingers/thumb (see picture below)
2) He has tried ALL of the Stage 1 baby foods and only found one that he doesnt like (Peaches)
3) He is a big fan of hiding under his burp cloth
4) He has recenly gotten his hand eye coordination worked out (which means mommy is losing a lot of hair.)
5) He has beeng "talking" a lot here recently, and its the most adorable thing in the world.
And our biggest accomplishment so far?

drum roll please.........

He rolled over for the first time this weekend!!! Horray!

We are going to the Dr. on Wednesday four our 4 month check up (even though he is almost 5 months, but who is counting?) ... so stay tuned for another update soon!

Loads and Loads of Laundry

Its a little overwhelming

Frustration

Recently I have put together a photo album of Zachariah. In it I have put two pictures of him from every week since he has been born. Its a really quick way to see how fast he is growing up. Luckily it has been really easy to get two pictures a week that I love! I usually have a hard time deciding on just two to put in the album. But this week has been a nightmare. I have tried for 6 days now to get just 2 pictures. I am not a photographer, so I have come to accept that my pictures are not going to be magnificent. So it shouldn't be hard to get 2 pictures of my son, right? They don't have to be glamorous. They don't have to be stunning or adorable. I do not expect them to be the best pictures of his short little life so far. But I just want two pictures that aren't blurry. That's it. If he will just hold still for one moment that would be perfect. But I have had no such luck. I have taken over 20 pictures this week and I have NOTHING to show for it.

Does anyone have a picture of your kid that I can borrow for this week's entry in the photo album?

4 Months Old

At our last Dr. appointment (about 2 weeks ago) my little man weighed in at 15 pounds 11 ounces. He had been nursing every 2 hours or so and waking up more frequently during the night, so the Doctor told me to start him on Rice Cereal and Stage 1 baby foods. He didn't like the Rice Cereal very much, but he has been LOVING the baby foods. I was actually a little worried about him eating from a spoon, but he did really well! Now, when its time to eat, he gets so excited and tries to help me... which is cute, until he shoves the spoon to the back of his throat.

So far he has tried Green Beans, Applesauce, Sweet Potatoes, and Bananas. He hasn't found one that he doesn't like yet, but can you tell which one is his favorite?

A Whole Lot of Nothing

For the past few weeks I have started writing several new posts. But they are all incomplete. I could never finish a though, much less a post. It isn't like I haven't had things to post about. Things have happened. For example:

The writers strike is really cramping my style
I am officially hooked on the TV show LOST
There is something about a presidential election coming up
Thespacebaronourkeyboardhadabreakdown,causingustotypelikethisforawhile.
I have been slacking in the Harry Potter department. I have read the first 5 books. I am hoping to start the 6th one soon.
Our stove caught on fire last night, and I am almost positive it was my fault.
Zachariah has started eating baby food (and he is loving it)
He has also turned 4 months old
And he is currently yelling at me for not paying him any attention

See, I have stuff I could have blogged about... but for some reason I just cant motivate myself to complete a post.

Oh well, maybe next time.

Christmas Bandit

I couldn't even begin to list out everything that Zachariah got for Christmas... but I can tell you that he made out like a bandit. He got a ton of cute toys and clothes. Look at this outfit that his Aunt Christie gave him! Isn't it adorable? I am in love with the vest.

(Cute boots compliments of Hayley Catt)

Good News, Bad News

Good news:
Zachariah is following a sleeping schedule at last! (which means I am following a sleeping schedule also!)

Bad news:
Its from 11:00pm-10:30am - with 2 feedings in there somewhere. (which means I don't wake up for the day until 10:30 also!)

I need him to start going to sleep at 8 or 9:00pm and waking up at 8am. I cant get anything done around here when I am laying in the bed until 10:30.

This is going to be fun.

Regurgitation

Zac was sitting in his bumbo on the computer desk when he decided to projectile puke.
Its all over the floor, bumbo, desk... me.

*shudder*

Excuse me while I go shower.

Freakin Adorable

I just cant get over how cute he is!

Bad Mommy?

I let my (almost) 12 week old son watch his first movie today. At first putting my child directly in front of the TV, with the hope that he would be entertained by Shrek 2, made me feel a little guilty. But then getting a shower and being able to shave one of my legs was pretty gratifying.

Now I need to find another movie he will watch so that I can shave the other leg.

Taking after Pops

Zachariah is balding. I know its "normal" for babies to loose hair on the back of their heads. It makes sense. All they do is lay around all day. But I am not liking this bald spot. He has the most beautiful hair all around it... and I don't want it to go away!

Complete head control cannot come soon enough.

My little man

This week Zac will be 3 months old. We went to the Dr. last week and he weighs 13 pounds 10 ounces and he is 23 and 1/4 inches long. He is getting so big! Although we haven't completely mastered the head control yet, he is sitting in his Bumbo on his own pretty well! He has also started babbling recently, and let me just say- its the cutest thing ever. Anyway, here are a couple pictures of my chubby little baby.

Do the Dew

I basically went my whole pregnancy without it.

Now its back.

Oh how I have missed you, Mr. Dew.

Mr. Poopy Pants

I never would have guessed that a human being so small could produce such a large amount of poop...

I Do

Two years ago today I married the most wonderful man in the entire world. He was my first boyfriend, my first kiss, my first love, and my first… Well you get the picture. I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that I would find someone that would want to put up with all my crap for the rest of their life. I never thought I would get lucky enough to find a guy that I would fall more in love with each and every day. I never thought I would find a guy this perfect. I never thought it was possible be this happy.


I love you Daniel, and I am so excited I get to spend the rest of my life with you.

Year 1

Yesterday I started reading the first book in my new series I am going through. I have never had the desire to read Harry Potter before (mainly because all I ever heard about it was that it was of the devil), but over the years I kept running into more people who absolutely love Harry. So I decided to give it a try. I read 7 chapters within a 2 1/2 hour time period... and I am hooked. I can totally understand why people love this series. Its such an exciting story, and I haven't even finished half of the first book yet.

Glorious.

Thank you to everyone who opened my sheltered eyes to Mr. Potter.

8 weeks old

He is already growing up so fast!

Brrrrr

I'm cold.

Its like -13 degrees in this house.

I need to make sure our child hasn't turned into a human Popsicle.

*Leaves bloggerville to check on son*

Bookworm

I am officially done with the series Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I absolutely loved the books. It has rekindled my love for reading a good book. I am kind of sad I finished them though.

Now I need to find something else to read. I have heard Harry Potter is excellent. I have NEVER done so much as pick up a book or watch any of the movies. So what do you say? Should I give Harry a go? Or do you have another series to suggest?

The Great Pumpkin

Yesterday was Zac's first Halloween! Since Zac couldn't really do anything but sleep, we went to the Candy Fest for a little bit and walked around with our god-daughter Leecy. (See picture below)

Anyway- here are a couple of pictures from Zac's first Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Slackers

Being the blog stalker that I am... I have noticed something very interesting. Bloggers in general are getting lazy. They are updating their own blogs, but no one is commenting on anyone elses blog! (Except for Tammi's. She is uber popular) Anyway- I have noticed that people are getting very lazy when it comes to commenting and decided to blog about it. So there.

Not like I am expecting any comments from you people.
*folds arms and walks away*

*sigh*

Daniel is out of town for a work conference.


I miss him a lot

Luckily he is coming home today. :)

TaDa!

Finally got a smile on camera! Isn't he the cutest?

Zac

Zac started smiling a little bit. (and no, not just when he is pooping) So during our play time I tried to capture one of those cute little smiles. And this is what I ended up with...

Maybe next time. :)

Horray for clean clothes!

This afternoon I have washed, dried and folded two loads of laundry that I started today, folded the two loads that I did last week (yeah... bad habit), packed up all my maternity clothes and moved the last of my pre-preggo cloths back to their home.

Ahhhh... it feels good to have my closet back.

Two down, two to go

A couple blogs down I said that I needed a book to read. Well Amy N. has supplied me with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR books to read. And let me just say, I LOVE this series. Its just what I needed to read for my chill time. I have finished the first two, and have started on the third.

Thanks Amy!

Slacker

I have been a lazy blogger. I just haven't found anything "blog worthy" lately. I am in a dry spell. Which I guess doesn't come as to much of a surprise... considering all I do is feed Zac, change him, and watch him sleep. Every now and then a kink will be thrown into the plan of eating, sleeping and pooping. But that kink is usually Zac screaming all day unless I am holding him. *sigh*

On a side note we did go on a our very first stroll yesterday (which, by the way, was one of the screaming days). And boy howdy am I out of shape. We walked around the block, which didn't even take a full 10 minutes, but by the time I got back to the house I was tired and sweating. Then I quickly remembered why I NEVER did any physical activity before I had a baby. Anyway- Zac fell asleep before we strolled out of the driveway and woke up when we got back into the house. Oh well. At least I had 10 min. of quiet.

Special Thanks

Zac wanted to make sure to thank his Mimi and Poppie for the wonderful glider they gave us! As you can see, mommy isn't the only one who snoozes in the glider.

Thank you Mimi and Poppie! :)

Book

I need a good book to read. I haven't sat down and actually read a book in forever. I don't want a book that makes you think too hard, or that is too serious or spiritual. (am I sounding like a heathen yet?) I just want a gool ol book that will not help you with anything in life. I want to read a book just for the heck of it and enjoy it.

Enough repetitiveness. I need suggestions. What have you read recently, or not so recently that you think is worthy to be suggested? The only requirement is that it must be interesting. I cannot sit down to FINALLY read a book and fall asleep immediately.

Ok. Suggest!

Bath Time!

I know all I have been doing is posting pictures of my kid... But I just cant get over how cute he is! So I apologize for the lack of substance in my blogs lately. But I am obsessed with pictures.

So here is my baby getting ready to take a sponge bath.

(we conquer the actual bathtub next week.)

(he needs to grow into his towel)

And the after shot. He isn't a fan of being naked.

by the way... I am obsessed with adorable hooded towels. So you will probably be seeing a lot more pictures of future bath events.

Mommy Necklace

As everyone already knows, my husband is the absolute greatest. I probably don't have to go down the list of all the house work and cooking that he does for me. And now he helps out a TON with baby Zac. But he apparently felt the need to one up himself as he shows his greatness once again. I found this on my pillow after we came home from the hospital. Meet my mommy necklace. Isn't it beautiful??? I LOVE it. He does the greatest job picking out jewelry. :)

So I have a mommy ring and a mommy necklace. All that's left is a mommy bracelet and mommy earrings! (And mark my word, we will be waiting a while to receive those)