Messy eater!

Mom's been letting me experiment with feeding myself a bit lately.....
I am a messy eater but I sure have fun eating!!

8 months old and CRAWLING!!

Wow has it already been 8 months since Colt was born? Time is going way too fast, I can't believe its almost spring and he will be one before I know it. Colt had alot of milestones this past month. At the beginning of the month he started pulling himself up on his crib, I would walk in to get him in the mornings and he would be standing there waiting for me. He is now trying to pull himself up on everything, his crib, the couch, his bookshelf, dresser, the dogs, our legs...pretty much anything he can reach that is taller than him he will try to pull up on. He also mastered going from sitting to all fours, to rolling on his back and then back to sitting again. Its funny the process he takes to get there but it works.

I was beginning to think it might take awhile for him to crawl because he had this technique down where he would sit, then get on all fours lunge forward, go back to sitting and repeat until he reached the place or toy he was working towards. However, yesterday morning before church I had him playing in our bathroom while I was getting ready and he just started crawling towards me. Since then he has just progressed in his crawling skills, he especially loves to crawl over to his dresser and pull his clothes out of the drawers:). I left him alone for 30 seconds today and when I came back he had crawled over to his dresser, pulled himself up and was pulling his clothes out of the top drawer. I know it was naughty but I had to laugh! He also knows who is dad is and is not afraid to tell everyone!! He sees Dave and immediately starts yelling "Dadadadadada." I am convinced he is now saying Dad though Dave has thought that for quite awhile now.

With spring almost here spring sports officially started today at the high school. I am coaching track this spring and we had our first practice today. Its going to be a tough transition but I think once we get on a schedule I will adapt to it. My mom is basically picking Colt up from daycare everyday and watching him until Dave or I get home. Most nights I will be home around 6:30 but there will be some nights when we have a track meet that it could be as late as midnight. Once we start going to track meets we usually have on average 2 a week and sometimes there will be 3. Because of the way we arrange our coaching staff all the coaches go to all jv and varsity track meets. Track season goes until Memorial Day weekend so basically for the next three months this will be our schedule. I can't tell you how excited I am for summer to get here:) I have more pictures to post and I am going to try to upload the video of Colt crawling if I can figure it out. Hopefully I can get that done this weekend!

Hanging out in the sink.

Dave put Colt in the kitchen sink this morning while I was washing dishes. Colt was interested in putting his hand under the water until I turned it off. Then his attention turned to my new birthday present....
....... and him using it to pull himself up.

Sorry no pictures after this I had to put the camera down so I could grab him and my mixer before they both toppled to the ground:)

My Birthday

I turned 27 today, the first date Dave and I went on was exactly 8 years ago when I turned 19. He came into our Nutrition class and said lets skip today and go get breakfast. So he took me to Starbucks for coffee and food. Hard to believe its already been 8 years since that day, so much has changed and all for the better!! Dave has always been really good about making my birthday very special, whether its buying me nice gifts or just treating me really special. This year was no different. Friday night my parents watched Colt and we went out to Sushi then walked to my favorite little candy shop here in town called Brights and then to the movie "Vantage Point." The last time we went to dinner AND and a movie was the night before Colt was born so it was nice to have some time to ourselves. Saturday morning we got up and drove to Kennewick so Dave could help his dad out with the landscaping at his office building. Kenzie, Camryn, Colt and I went shopping because my parents had given me money and gift certificates for my birthday. His family took me out to lunch and gave me a KITCHENAID mixer for my birthday. I was very excited as I have been wanting one since we got married but they are too spendy to buy myself! Then we drove back home, Dave made steak tacos for dinner and my parents came over for dinner and a movie. My mom made the yummiest white chocolate lemon blueberry cake that was excellent. Its one of those cakes where every part of it is made from scratch and it tasted like it. It was amazing! I had a wonderful day and appreciate all the calls and posts on the blog (Randi thanks for remembering!!).

Tractor riding

It was such a nice day out, it felt like spring all day long! Dave was driving a tractor all day so we let Colt try it out.....
he was very into driving it.
Colt is steering and Camryn is doing all the shifting
Fun times!

Colt and Camryn

Dave and I went to Kennewick on Saturday so Dave could help his dad with the landscaping at his office building. Kenzie and I had the kids so we hung out a bit in Mike's office where he has a great little playroom set up. Colt and Camryn had so much fun playing with the train set.
Colt was very into all the trains and was doing very good at standing and playing with them without anyone having to help him. He was even able to pull himself up with no help at all. In the past week he has gotten very good at pulling himself up on things. They still do not quite understand the concept of sharing yet.
Cute little Camryn, she has the funniest expressions!!

Boise Part 2

Dave making Colt laugh after the girls basketball game.
The family stopping for a quick picture before heading back to the car.
Colt got the biggest kick out of looking at himself in the mirror at my sisters house.
As you can see all the kids are having a lot of fun together. The girls are so good with Colt and love to play with him. Lucy is more interested in Dave though, she had him doing this all afternoon....
Weeeeeeeeee!!!!!!
Marni loves to work with Colt on his skills, she was trying to help him crawl AND walk all day long.
The girls thought it was pretty funny to put Colt in this chair and throw the excercise ball on top of him. He kept trying to hit it off of him then it would come back down. This kept him entertained for quite awhile.

We made it!!

Lucy, Emma, Elena and Colt

We are in Boise this weekend seeing my sisters Amy and Marni.  We got here last night around midnight, Colt as usual was great in the car sleeping the entire way! This morning we got up and met Amy, Lucy, Emma and Elena at Elena's YMCA basketball game. Colt loved all the action and is having fun playing with his cousins.

Madelyn and Colt. 

Mads had her basketball game at the same time as Elena's so my dad and Andy went to her game. She scored two baskets, this was the first time she had ever scored in a game. She was very excited.

I will post more pictures later this weekend. I love three day weekends. I think every weekend should be 3 days!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Memah bought me this cute outfit for my first Valentine's Day. It was a fun day. Mommy got Valentine's day cards for all of my playmates at daycare. We had a party and I even had a folder with all my valentines. I got a valentine from each of my friends and even one from a girl!!! Joyce (my babysitter) made us sugar cookies and dipped them in chocolate, she crumbled up some of the sugar cookie for me and I picked out all of the chocolate pieces and ate them first. I am just like my mommy... I already LOVE chocolate!!

I'm Gonna Miss This

Driving home tonight this song came on the radio. The lyrics made me cry, for some reason I have become much more sentimental since becoming a mom. This song really touched me though because I can remember going through those same emotions in high school, college and when Dave and I got married. Always wanting time to go faster, to get to the next great thing in life. Now I just want it to slow down, Colt is already 7.5 months old. What happened to that little boy who would fall asleep on my chest in the early morning hours, the little boy who would wake me up with his sweet little moans in the middle of the night when he was hungry. While I do enjoy sleeping through the night again I still miss those times already, just knowing that it will never be like that again makes me sad and joyful all at the same time. My little boy is getting bigger but he still has a lot of growing to do before his mom will no longer be the center of his world. How do parents handle there kids growing up and leaving them? It makes my heart break to think of Colt going to school, college, getting married. Though these things are still a long way off if he continues to grow at this rate it will all go by very quickly.....
Your Gonna Miss This- Trace Adkins
She was staring out the window of that SUV
Complaning, saying "I can't wait to turn 18"
She said "I'll make my own money, and I'll make my own rules"
Mamma put the car in park out there in front of the school
Then she kissed her head and said "I was just like you"

Chorus: You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Before she knows it she's a brand new bride
In a one-bedroom apartment, and her daddy stops by
He tells her "It's a nice place"
She says "It'll do for now"
Starts talking about babies and buying a house
Daddy shakes his head and says
"Baby, just slow down"

Chorus

Five years later there's a plumber workin' on the water heater
Dog's barkin', phone's ringin' One kid's cryin', one kid's screamin'
She keeps apologizin'
He says "They don't bother me.
I've got 2 babies of my own.
One's 36, one's 23.
Huh, it's hard to believe, but ...

Chorus

Guitar Lessons

On Sunday we did not go to church, Daddy was still not feeling that good and mommy did not want to go by herself so we stayed home and Daddy decided to give me some guitar lessons.
He is starting to get much better at playing the guitar. I do not even cry anymore when I hear him play:) (that's a joke by the way I never cried when I heard him play)
Its been a pretty fun Sunday so far. Di Di and Papa came over this morning and brought me a new outfit and played with me for a bit and we have all been relaxing at home getting ready for the busy week ahead!!

Popyee and Memah visit

Saturday afternoon my Kennewick family came to see me. Popyee, Memah, Uncle Andy, Aunt Kenzie, Cousin Camryn and Aunt Randee all came to Walla Walla. Memah brought me my valentine's day present.
It was this really cute monkey that sings and dances, I tried to dance along with it too. She also got me two new outfits. One is for Valentine's Day I will try and remember to have Mom put a picture of it on the blog for you.
We all had so much fun playing together. Popyee and Memah took us out to dinner at a mexican restaraunt. I was very good, I sat in my high chair and ate spanish rice, corn tortillas and tomatoes. See my cousin Camryn in the corner, she can crawl EVERYWHERE and I think she might walk soon too. I better get with my crawling or she is going to be walking before I even crawl!
We really need to see each other more so we get used to playing together. We don't really know what to do with each other when we do get together. Most of the time we just pull on each other and one of us screams!

Saturday morning run

The weather was so nice this weekend (52 degrees on saturday!) so mommy decided to take me on her morning run. She still bundled me up in my blue smurf outfit (thanks Di Di!!) and I stayeed nice and warm and I slept the entire time so I don't have much to tell you about the run. But when we got back I was in such a great mood.
Peek a boo mommy!
I look like a smurf!!
All right mom just one more smile and then no more pictures!!

Is it Friday yet??

This week has just been too crazy, so I feel like I must write about it. So bear with me and if you do not like reading and prefer pictures I will try and put some up by this weekend! It all started Monday morning at 5am when we got a call from Joyce (our babysitter) that she was sick and would not be able to take Colt for the day. Not a real big deal I took a sick day and then also went ahead and took Colt to the doctor as he was still not feeling all that great and had been kind of crabby the last couple of days. Tuesday morning 6am, another call from Joyce (and she sounded TERRIBLE) so once again I take a sick day and this was my last paid sick day so any other sick day I take will be without pay (which we really can not afford right now). Now usually my mom helps me out but she had been sick herself and had already been out of work for 6 days so she could not really take another day and Dave has so much going on with work that he really can not be out the of office either. Wednesday morning comes and no phone call!! So I drop Colt off at Joyce's (and she still sounds and looks pretty miserable) but she assures me she will be fine and is going to the doctor that afternoon. Wednesday and Thursday this week are pretty long days for me without going into too much detail I had to be at work every night until 8 so I had arranged for my mom to pick Colt up from daycare and take care of him until Dave gets home around 6. I get a call from Joyce Wednesday night saying she will not be able to babysit the rest of the week because she has bronchitis AND an upper respiratory infection (the same thing Colt had two weeks ago). So Dave's mom comes to our rescue but since she has an appointment in Kennewick on Thursday that she can not miss Dave and her decide to meet half way at 8 am Thursday morning, she takes Colt for the day and Dave's sister Kenzie offered to watch him while his mom was at her appointment. Dave drops Colt off with his mom and is headed back to Walla Walla when he starts to feel dizzy and clammy. By the time he gets home he is throwing up and he has the FLU (which I got about two weeks ago). So now Dave is home with the flu, I have to work until 8 and Colt is in Kennewick. My mom offers to meet Julie halfway, so her and my dad go and pick Colt up and then bring him back to there house for the evening so Dave can rest and throw up without any distractions:) My mom then brought Colt back to our house a little before 8 tonight and I got home just in time to give him a goodnight kiss (he was soooo cute and it made my heart melt to see him after hardly getting to see him awake for the last two days). Also, Julie sent a little package home with my mom : homeade chicken noodle soup, 7-UP, crackers, rolls, gummy bears and a new pack of diapers and wipes for Colt ( Thank you Julie!!!). So now its almost 9:00 on Thursday night and we still have one more work day to get through. We do not know where Colt is going tomorrow, it will probably depend on how Dave feels but he could be headed back to Kennewick for the day. I will be glad when spring gets here and this sick bug goes away. I knew that working full time and having a child was going to be crazy but I never could have predicted this!! All right enough for the evening, I promise my next post will have pictures.

Green Beans - YUCK!

Colt has always been a great eater, maybe that explains the fact that he is already 30 inches and 20 lbs and he is only 7 months old. He is also not an any way a picky eater, he will eat anything I put into his mouth. The thing is that I HATE feeding him any baby food that is green in color, mainly the green beans and peas. They smell gross, taste terrible (and yes I have really tasted them) and look disgusting. Today for the first time I really watched his reaction as I gave him his lunch, I put the green beans in his mouth and he twisted up his little lips in disgust and wrinkled his nose. Now I have given him green beans before and I am sure he probably made the same face but me wanting to be a good mother (and being a first time mom) I wanted to make sure he gets all his vegetables so he will grow up big and strong and learn not to be too picky. The great thing about Colt is he will just eat anything without spitting them back at me or complaining. However, after seeing his poor face and then watch him swallow the beans down practically gagging the entire time I have changed the way I feel about feeding him healthy food from now on. If I will not even think about eating it, then I am not going to make him suffer through it. I mean I am sure there are a lot of kids out there who's mom's never feed them these disgusting foods and I bet they are doing just fine. So, why Colt will eat whatever I give him and I love him for that I have decided that I am no longer going to make him eat these disgusting veggies that to me do not even taste like green beans. Besides he loves every other vegetable I feed him so I think I will just stick to those. If he is picky later in life he can always blame his mom for not making him eat all his veggies!!

Colt update: still sick

I took Colt back to the doctor today. It worked out well, our babysitter had the flu so he had no place to go today which left me or Dave and Dave had a big day at work so I stayed home. He was still not feeling well and he had been pretty cranky all weekend. He has had a couple small fevers, coughing, runny nose and sleeping ALOT!! He has been sleeping 13-14 hours at night and then three naps a day which is very unusual for him as he had been only taking about one nap for the last week. So I called this morning when I knew that I was going to be home anyway and figured it would not hurt to get him checked out. Basically his doctor just told me it was a different virus than the last one he had and we had to let it run its course. Right now there is no infection so there is nothing they can give him and hopefully it will go away on its own. He has been so unhappy these past few days, I feel bad for him and just wish he could start feeling better! This month is not starting out so great after all.....

Happy B-day Great Gma

Happy Birthday Great Grandma Milly!

Hope you are enjoying the Hawaiian sun, I miss you!!

Sock time

These things are pretty fun to play with...
I almost have it off...
Okay I will try the other one....
I give up, maybe I should try crawling???

Don't get too excited I still do not have it figured out.

Super Bowl Party

Our super bowl plans were originally to go to Kennewick to Dave's sisters house and have a party. Dave and his mom have this long standing tradition of watching the super bowl together and they always bet on the game every year. Well the weather changed those plans, we woke up Sunday morning to lots of snow and it continued to snow all day long!! We decided we better stay at home just to be safe. My parents do not have cable television so they were planning on using our house for the game anyway, so they came over and my dad brought his famous pheasant stew. I know pheasant does not sound very good but this stew is wonderful! With the first three quarters being a little boring Di Di spent some time reading Colt a book.
Dave was all decked out in his football bandana (and he is betting that Dale was wearing something similar). He had his cell phone in his hand the entire game as his mom and him kept calling back and forth after every change of possession. Dave took the Giants and Julie had the Patriots. He somehow talked his mom into giving him a 12 point spread. As it turned out the Patriots needed the point spread!
Dad and Byson relaxed on the couch.
Chow time.
Colt already understands that no Super Bowl is complete without lots of food!
He got to watch the game from his jump-up.
Touchdown!!

Sick little boy makes mama's heart ache

This has been a hard month for me, hopefully February brings better things. It started a little before Christmas when Colt got a cold, I figured it was just a routine little cold as the other 4 little boys at his daycare also have had colds. However, when his cold was not better by last week and he was getting kind of grumpy we finally took him to the doctor and she gave him some antibiotics to clear up his infection. He had an upper respiratory infection but the ped. was not real concerned. The antibiotics worked very fast and he literally was back to himself by the next day. Then yesterday morning after I nursed him he threw everything back up all over the place, himself, me, our bed. I didn't think much of it, got us all cleaned up and out the door for work. Then in the afternoon about 3 my babysitter calls and says that he has a fever. I pick him up and his eyes are glassy, nose is running, he has been crying, he is very warm and he just cuddles right into my arms and lays his head on my shoulder. It felt so good to hold him like that but at the same time I feel so guilty that I was not the one there for him when he did not feel good. I took his temperature when we got home it was at 99.6 degrees so a little higher than normal. He was pretty quiet all night but slept well last night. My mom came over this morning and stayed the day with him so I could still go to work. I am just about out of sick days because I used most of them for my maternity leave. He seems much happier tonight, I am hoping that he is maybe cutting a tooth??? I read that the symptoms he has are often the same symptons babies get when they cut teeth. I guess we will see in the next couple of days. I just hope we turn a corner here soon and he gets all these sick bugs out of him. As a working mom I often struggle with trying to be a good mom, wife and still do a decent job teaching everyday. Honestly, I do not feel like I am doing any of them very well right now, its frusterating to feel exhausted all the time and never really feel like you can give any of them 100% of your time and effort. I also start coaching track at the end of this month which is just going to add to all of these feelings. Its going to be pretty crazy as I do not get done with track until 6:30 and Colt usually goes to bed at 7! Its going to be a big adjustment especially because its not something that my heart is into doing right now. I need to really keep a positive attitude and focus on the wonderful things that God has blessed me with and be thankful for that!