52 Weeks: Week 21

Awesome weather for an awesome holiday weekend! My in-laws came by to finish up painting the shed/carport and it's looking great. We only have the back left to finish, but it's not like I can see it...

We also had some friends visit and a Friday night off with Papa! The top middle picture would be of Whit enjoying his first piece of sushi that night. We don't always do baby led weaning, but we definitely have to when we go out to eat with little man. He gets jealous if he sees other people eating. So now I have a place mat (thank you Citrus Lane!) in my purse just in case. We usually just pick off a little from our plates that isn't too salty or spicy and let him go to town. That night he got carrot slivers, sticky rice, edamame, and salmon. He wolfed down that salmon like a pro!

Top right is Ben being silly and my flight of beers from our night out with the guys. Who knew milk stout was so tasty? Bottom right is Foster and Whit enjoying some sunshine. And the pictures on the left are the best! My friend, Amanda, her husband and her baby, Pierce stopped by for a visit on their way through town. Whit and Pierce are only a few days apart, even though they were supposed to be a month apart. Not that you can tell now! We were all thrilled to see how happy the babies were to play with another baby. It was way too cute. I hope Amanda doesn't kick my butt for posting pictures of her son, but I had to share! For the record, I tried to post ones that didn't show much of his face so I didn't get in too much trouble.

We had such a good time, we're going to try to make it a monthly thing. Although, this month is looking shaky thanks to weddings and showers. But I guess we can make it up in August when it's both our boys' birthdays!

52 Weeks: Week 20

It was strawberry time at our house! My mother in law got a giant amount of strawberries which had me scrambling for ways to use them. I made a few jars of strawberry jam with the intention of giving them out at work. Except it was way too tasty, so we *may* have kept them for ourselves. Turns out Whit also enjoys strawberries. He should like almost all fruits since that was one of the few things I could keep down during my pregnancy. Top right is Whit learning to fist bump while making our friend Anthony look super creepy. I didn't notice until just now that their fists block out his eyes!

And the bottom left is Ben attempting to clean out our gutters. Y'all.

I. hate. maple. trees.

We have a big one in our backyard and every spring our gutters sprout tiny ecosystems. And the tiny trees are everywhere, not just in the gutters! They're in every potted plant, the flowerbeds, the cracks in the sidewalk, our driveway. And the ones that don't sprout are still rotting in the driveway months from now. Not to mention the ones that get into the house that Whit finds and tries to eat. There just better not be a maple tree at our next house!

52 Weeks: Week 19

I can finally make a proper shampoo-mohawk of Whit's hair! And I guess to celebrate Whit picked up a few new tricks this past week: climbing up the stairs (with a spotter, of course), unrolling the toilet paper, and climbing in the dishwasher. That last one has really made doing the dishes during the day impossible. (Whoa, alliteration, much?) The bottom two on the right are just a freebies that made me smile: Whit's smile when he wakes up and an invitation to my cousin's graduation. When he brother met Whit for the first time he exclaimed, "That baby's legit!". Honestly, one of the funniest things I've ever heard. And quite the compliment!

52 Weeks: Week 18

This past week had a little more Papa time than normal, which I was stoked about. And it was pretty busy, which was nice for a change. The top left is Whit's first Geocache find! If you don't know what geocaching is, and you like the outdoors or treasure hunts or awesome free things to do, you should check it out! I've been doing it for years and I just love the idea that there's all these hidden caches everywhere. You probably pass a couple on your way to work every day.

The top middle picture is Whit clapping Ben's hand for him, it tickled Ben pink. The door is from a local coffee shop where Whit and I met up with a mommies group. It was nice meeting other moms in the area, even if there was only one other baby there. But it was also a little stressful having that many moms, kids, and coffee in one little area. I can't wait to go to more of these meetups, if only they happened when I wasn't working! The bottom left is just before Whit fell asleep in my arms from me scratching his head. I adore all the hair he has.

Speaking of hair, that would be my new hair cut... and a terrible picture of me, I'm so not photogenic. I finally bit the bullet and got bangs and I love them. Usually I wear them to the side like that, but sometimes I rock them hipster style and they actually look good. That last picture is of Whit at my work. Ben and I got eye exams Wednesday and of course brought Whit along to show off. And I promise I hope Whit gets Ben's perfect vision, but kids glasses are sooooo cute. I die every time I have to help moms pick out glasses.

52 Weeks: Week 17

This past week gave us some nice weather, lots of speedy crawling and a visit from some grandparents! Top left would be Whit's latest weirdness. I can't decide if he's giving kisses to the appliances or he's trying to eat them, but the dishwasher, washer and dryer all get these slobbery fish-mouth action now. Next pic over is Ben playing a game of beeminton (badminton + carpenter bees = beeminton). It's been the only efficient, non-toxic way I've found to get rid of them!

Bottom left is Ben's dad and step-mom getting as much Whit time as they could muster. Ben's dad does landscaping work and is driving through town every couple of months on his way to his suppliers, so it's nice getting to see them so often.

Yup, that says "Fried Chicken Day!"... we do live in the South. And bottom right is our cat, Ceti, enjoying a little outside time. If you knew our cat, you'd be nervous about that last sentence. Every time we let him out for more than two minutes he tries to go feral. Last time he accidentally got out on my watch, Ben had to come home from work to get him back in the house. The noise that cat made... he sounded like a panther screaming!

52 Weeks: Week 16

This week was spent mostly just hanging out and marveling at how quickly Whit is growing and mastering new things. He's so much more fascinated by the little everyday things than his toys. As I type this he's squealing, crawling around the kitchen carrying a dish towel and pushing Foster's food bowl across the floor. He'd much rather those things than his blocks, cups or his talking puppy, which has apparently fallen so out of favor he cries at it now. Ben had Whit for two days by himself this week, so after I got out of work Monday we tried the playground. Whit wasn't too impressed at first, he does already have a swing at home. But he did enjoy sliding quite a bit, here's an action shot:

He also really liked swinging in that contraption Ben's using. I've never seen anything like it and can't figure out why it exists. When we came to it I felt like I was discovering a new land like the first time I had escargot or the time I discovered a female urinal (yikes). 

Anyhoo, his favorite activity was watching the big kids play. I have got to find him some other babies to play with. Hopefully we'll get to do a water babies class here soon and we're going to try Gymboree, so we'll see how those go. 

Okay, wow, I can really ramble if given the chance. The top left pic is from Whit's first taste of edamame, which he's still not sure about. And the bottom right I am in love with. I took a bunch of pictures of Ben holding trying to wrangle Whit and every expression is different. And it's so amazing because I see both of us distinctly in him. One picture will be of me when I was little, then the next is a face Ben makes now. Now I want to scan some old pictures of us as babies and compare!

52 Weeks: Week 15

Ooh, that summer is trying to show up way too early! We had a couple days this week of 80+ degree weather, but I'm fine with that since I lurve warm weather. So out came the snoball trucks, which has become a recent sign of warmer weather here. I grew up in Mississippi where there were always snoball places, but since it's warm during most of the year they were open pretty much all the time. Here, there's an actual winter so the past year middle Tennessee has acquired a couple of cute snoball trucks. I got mine with "creme" (really it's condensed milk... and people wonder why the South has such an obesity problem) and the guy making it was surprised, since only real Southerners know about creme in their snoballs.

Whit has become only happy while in motion... or when smearing food into his hair. He's still obsessed with the dogs' houses and opening and closing their doors. And he's recently become fascinated with the washer and dryer. He can sit and watch our Laundry TV run for 5-10 minutes, and that's a long time for him! The main picture this week was from this morning. Ben fed Whit his morning bottle today and Whit started stroking his beard. It was so fascinating/delicate/cute/adorable. I love pictures of my two guys together.

52 Weeks: Week 14

We've had Awesome Weather here lately. Spring has definitely sprung (and Summer peaked it's head a little on Sunday... 80 degrees, sheesh!). So Wednesday we celebrated with happy hour oysters on a half-shell and sweet tea. Most of the pictures from this past week are self-explanatory. We saw a cool car, which around here is a sign of warmer weather, Whit is still in love with his puppies and that bottom right is a picture of our friend Wess enjoying a tiny mug of milk. We tried a swanky new restaurant in Nashville called Urban Grub and it was currrr-azy good. But any time there's bacon ice cream is a win, right?

52 Weeks: Week 13

This past week the big deal was Easter and Ben took some time off work to spend with us. We've never really celebrated Easter in our little family because we don't go to church and one of us was usually working that day until this year. And no matter how many times I asked, Ben wouldn't hide Easter eggs for me! Guess I should've taken out an ad on Craigslist, duh! (And yes, that's my town being repped there... face palm.)

This year we I decided that was going to change. I asked Ben's mom if we could go to their church for Easter service and she almost passed out from shock and glee. So we got up early to go to the service and I was a little taken aback. Not sure if it's because I grew up going to a little Baptist church in the sticks or because Methodist are really that different? Not only were the alter-people and talking back new to me, but there was a brass quartet and the whole thing was being simulcast to the rest of the congregation in a building across the street! After church, we went to the in-laws and had lunch and took pictures of us in our "Sunday best", then we came home and let Whit rummage through his Easter basket.

The other two pictures are our random life right now. Now that Whit is crawling he likes to follow me from room to room, even when I vacuum. He just plays with the cord occasionally. And the rather dim picture is of Ben and Whit hanging out one of the nights he refuses to sleep. Not sure why he's given it up lately. My sister offered that he gave it up for Lent and no one told him Easter is already over. Or that we're not Catholic.

52 Weeks: Week 12

Cold and snow again this week! Except today, which was a balmy 51 degrees and let us get a walk in. Thank goodness, I needed the workout. Because I'm afraid I'll be embarassed Saturday for the Color Run! Over the weekend Ben's dad and stepmom drove through town twice and visited a little both times. Allowing Whit to try his first Thai... just kidding! I did give him a few bean sprouts to chew on, and he tore those suckers up. But most of the week was spent watching Whit becoming a great crawler. He would venture about a foot then sit, look at me and start clapping. It's so cute that he's congratulating himself on going further and further. And thank goodness he doesn't care too much about things around him yet, I've been slowly babyproofing around whatever he notices. He'll point out an outlet, and I'll say "thank you, you're right, I should put a cover on that" as I'm doing so. The more and more he explores, the closer and closer I get to just wrapping him in bubble wrap and calling it a day!

52 Weeks: Week 11

Last weekend was taken over by St. Patty's, well more like Saturday was. It's a rare Saturday that Ben is off work, so we enjoyed hanging out as a family on the weekend AND outside because it was beautiful! Later on Ben and I went out to dinner and drinks with some friends and walked around downtown a little since Brewfest was still going on.

That bottom left pic is of our latest parenting hurdle. Whit has given up sleep for the most part, that night being the worst. He woke up ever couple of hours with either gas, stuffy nose or just wanting to play. That picture was taken at 3:30 am. Oy, it was funny and we kept our wits about us, but it has been rough! Wednesday I got my ring resized and finally look like a married woman again! And the upper left picture is of Friday's story time at the library. There were soooooo many babies and parents there. This was the first story time Whit was capable of being mobile, so the mama bear in me was clawing to come out. And boy was he getting angry with me about it. I wouldn't let him rip the scarf with his teeth, I wouldn't let him stick another child's toys in his mouth, and I barely let the parachute go over his head because I was watching a too-big kid stomping around under there, making sure he didn't step on my baby.

Oh man, Whit gaining a little independence... I thought I was looking forward to it, but I may need some Xanax to get through it.

52 Weeks: Week 10

Sorry I'm late posting this and haven't been posting much, but we've had a healthy dose of real life around here! The weather warmed up for a few days and everyone here got spring fever and had to be outside. Or, in my case, had to be outside working. I definitely got the "love to get my hands dirty" gene in my family. It doesn't always work out, but I'm so happy when it does. That first picture is of some pulmonaria Ben and I planted last year from very tiny seedlings. We did it a tad too early and I kept having to throw sheets over them at night, so I was shocked to see they survived and we're getting blooms already! The spirea has bloomed and is already losing those blooms, and not pictured, but our forsythia look marvelous. Ben's brother was in town a few nights, so we went out to the local seafood joint to enjoy some raw oysters and live music. And for once I didn't mind the band! Usually music around here is country, only country and it's just not my bag. Whit has been "experiencing" some new gear this week. I put up the swing he got for Christmas the first day it was above 60 degrees, and he loved it. I was throwing a ball for the dogs and he would watch and giggle whenever they came back. He's also spending more time in his pack n play, or as we call it baby prison. He just gotten so darn mobile, we have to put him in there to do anything, like go to the bathroom! He likes smushing his face against the mesh and blowing on it. It's the funniest thing to see when you come back in the room!

52 Weeks: Week 9

Obviously most of my pictures are about my new nephew, Thor... ahem, I mean Logan! It's been cold and snowing here again last week, so Whit and I occupied ourselves with homemade toys and around the house stuff. But then Tuesday I got the news that my sister would be induced the next morning. So I drove five and half hours by myself early Wednesday and got to Meridian just in time to say a quick hello to my sis and then things got a little scary.

She started throwing up (and apparently had done so all day) which started upsetting the baby, his heart rate got down in the 50's. So the nurses kicked all of us out and started calling the doctor to do an emergency c-section. They took her back to surgery so fast that her poor husband didn't get to go back before Logan was born! But thankfully, baby and mom were both fine. And boy is he a cutie! And just as aware as Whit was when he was born. Logan has already looked me dead in the eyes a couple of times. Of course, I cried. All these poor boys around such weepy women!

Oh it was wonderful being with my sister and her new little family for a few hours. I wish I could have stayed longer, but motherhood and work called and I had to come back home.

Oh I still want to cry and how precious little Logan is and how cute they all are together!

52 Weeks: Week 8

This week had some definite ups and downs. Ben and I started out Monday with a date night at a new-to-us steakhouse and it was great except we were also in the middle of a "Mr. and Mrs." (that's WASP-speak for an argument). But we got it sorted out as best we could and enjoyed the rest of our night off from the little guy. Because boy has he been clingy/obstinate/on the go. He's so close to crawling that he can't stand it. He tries and tries, and only manages to go backwards, so after a little while he gets mad and let's his Irish heritage come out. My boss thinks he'll be crawling soon since he's been so clingy. She said every time her kids and grandkids are like that, it's right before a big milestone. So here's hoping!

You'll also notice our oldest baby, Foster, is back in the cone. Went to the vet yesterday and I think we've hit their limit of doggy ocular knowledge. It's so frustrating, but I think we're back to visiting a doggy opthamologist. (Yup, they exist) Too bad I can't convince my optometrist friend to take a look and tell me what he thinks may be going on!

52 Weeks: Week 7

Week 7 was spent going to Meridian for the mostly family baby shower for Shan, of which I will post more pictures later! My camera died halfway through, so I'm having to steal my mom's. We had a great time getting down there, even though it meant we spent our Valentine's Day not doing Valentine's day stuff, but we were together which is all I ask. We've learned from past trips to schedule plenty of time to get wherever you're going, since Whit is becoming less and less happy with his car seat. I hope that changes when we get a bigger seat!

The drive back, however, was not as pleasant. I think Whit gets so wound up visiting family that he cannot calm himself down. Our last night there he woke up every couple of hours and when he finally did sleep the hotel's fire alarm went off (for no good reason) and housekeeping walked in (our do not disturb sign mysteriously disappeared in the night). So driving back took about 8 hours instead of 5. If Whit wasn't mad at being restrained or his teeth, we were stopping to get coffee or just wake up a little.

Oh and that second pic of Whit is him wrapped up in our Moby wrap. He's decided he loves it again, haha. Guess I better get good at wrapping that contraption again!

52 Weeks: Week 6

All this week was spent inside (again... wah wah wah). The big event was getting ready for our trip to Meridian and for my sister's baby shower there. Also, Whit and I tried this baby led weaning I'm reading so much about. It's been great fun, very messy and I think Whit really enjoys it, but I don't think we'll be able to do it every day. I just don't really have enough time in the day to buy the fruits and veggies and cook them within an inch of their lives in order for him to eat them, and not to mention all that clean up time. So we're sticking with purees and whenever I cook for us I'll make Whit a little too.

52 Weeks: Week 5

This week was about currrrazzzzzy weather. We went from mid-60s and tornado warnings to snow and are now back to 50s-60s. We tried to play out in Whit's first snow, but he was more interested in watching it fall... from inside... like his mom. It was also time for Whit's 6-month well baby visit and Ben was able to come with this time. Little man thought it was great fun (until the shots) and wondered why we didn't have a huge mirror and a big roll of crinkly paper for him at home. Also for a nice little surprise in the mail from my parents. We're faux Cajun, so it's time to eat king cake and go to parades. My folks went to Mardi Gras in Mobile this year and I'm hoping when Whit gets a little older we can take him and show him how to catch beads (it involves an umbrella).

52 Weeks: Week 4

And my 100th post!

This week Mama and Papa were both home with Whit quite a bit. Ben's parents were out of town which meant I became a full time mom for the week. Which also meant lots of walks while it was unseasonably warm, trying new foods (I don't think he's going to like sweet things), and baking for me. Whitman is loving his doggies more every week. When we had to get in the bathtub (told you!) at 3am Wednesday morning, Whit was petting Zoey. We say he was comforting her and holding on to her collar so she didn't fly away! Oh and that frowny one of yours truly? Just how Ben and I spent our night off when the parent came back into town. We intended to watch the Hobbit and have a hard cider, instead my face blew up and we cleared out our DVR some. Que sera, sera.

52 Weeks: Week 3

This week was spent inside mostly, due to cold and Whit not feeling well. So there was much laying about and being lazy, a bit of cleaning up after the frenzy to get ready for Shanna's baby shower, and quite a bit of appreciating the dogs and cat. When Whit was cranky they were the only thing that could make me giggle chuckle guffaw. We did manage to leave the house on a couple of occasions. One for Shanna's shower, which went very well! And we took another medium-sized trip to Huntsville to visit my friend Amanda and her baby, Pierce.

I have to add, I'm not seizing Whit in that bottom left picture! He's starting to sit up by himself and I was just trying to help him out the only way I could while taking his picture.

52 Weeks: Week 2

Week 2 was mostly about feeling bad (for me), bad weather and finding things to do inside. I had my wisdom teeth taken out finally, which by the way is WAY worse on you when you wait until you're almost 30 to have them out. After last week's warm weather (and tornado warnings) we had off and on ice storms all week. And now that Whit is becoming *very* interested in what we eat I've started making his baby food for when the pediatrician gives us the okay in a couple of weeks.