6 Month :)

Happy 6 Month Birthday Grayson

I love you like Peanut Butter and Jelly. Your daddy's little Monkey Man. Your "meesh meesh mush mush" to your aunties. Your "chubby wubby" to your grandma. Your "so cute" to your Pepere. Your "a biga boy" to your nonna. Your the best chicken nugget I've EVER seen. (we'll tell you that story when you get bigger:)

Since Dan and I don't want to get TOO sappy with the post, we've decided to list: Reasons we love being your Mom and Dad

1. We love that: Your idea of kisses are really just chewing on Momma's face (note - momma, he only chews on MOMMA's face?!!)

2. We love that: You smile so big....You laugh SO BIG

3. We love that: Getting up early is kind of fun when you have a cool little monkey like you

4. We love that: You started giving hugs in your own little way. MELT

5. We love that: You LOVE watching us do things. Your very observant.

6. We love that: We sometimes both get up for your night feeding - because it's family time.

7. We love that: Our lives are full of showing you new places/things

8. We love that: We love watching you LOVE, to jumpa, jumpa, jump! in your Jumperoo.

9. We love that: You have lots of people who love you, who beg us to send them pictures andtexts and emails with your little face attached. That, my little boy, is awesome. and true love.

10. We love that: Because of you, we have the perfect little family.

Your Stats:

Weight: 17lbs 1 oz - 50th Percentile

Length: 27.5 in - 90th Percentile

Pretty decent sized kid, there!

What he's been up to:

*started eating solids. Along with the rice cereal, we've introduced avocados, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and will introduce peaches next week. Out of those foods, he refuses to eat the banana. (also, if you didn't see my last post - I've been making G's baby food - homemade!)

*He's started babbling a lot more.

*He's in 9 month Carter Clothes and 6-12 month Old Navy/Gap clothes

*Enjoys sticking his tongue out

*Pays attention to Flash Cards

*Still in size 2 diapers

*We had to pull up his Jumperoo to the middle notch

*We finally brought the swing down to the basement. I don't think he's been in it since Thanksgiving.

*We brough the "baby" tub down to the basement

*He laughs a lot more!

*He will shut his mouth when he doesn't want food.

*He loves playing/observing his toys

*He's signed up for Swim Lessons in February! We are so excited to get him in the water.

Can't do yet

*still has not rolled over yet

*we're working on getting him on "all fours" when he's on his tummy. He can push his little body up with his arms, we just have to work with him on his lower half.

So, for some pictures:)

I last minute decided I would try to throw a sheet over his crib and make a "background". It worked until I realized that the sheet had the fold marks in them. hehe. Next time, I'll be sure to iron out the sheet for a nice, clean background!

Pulling at the sticker.

Look at the chubb face!

Glazed look in his eyes..

I think he's giving me an eyebrow

So, that's it for the monthly update!

Whatt????

How do the weekends go by so quick? I swear it was Friday 5 minutes ago.

Because you want to know all about my weekend, I'll fill you in:)

Friday night we went to Olive Garden with Dan's parents and headed home for a movie. I heart Movie nights.

Saturday we ran around Cincinnati running errands. (pretty much how every Sat is) We came home in time for me to make THESE

They were sooo deliciously good. LIKE SUPER DELISH. and fat free....{i kid}

After delicious cookie baking, Dan's parents came over to our place to babysit the little man, while we did some Birthday partying for our friend Laura.

Sunday we ran some more errands and gave G his six month birthday gift. No, we didn't specifically get him a gift for his 6 month birthday. It just happened to be a toy we bought him..today! We don't buy him too many toys since he tends to play with the same two or three things.

We decided to go out and buy him some sort of "standing" toy since he LOVES to stand.

The toy below is a sit - to - stand toy(and has wheels to use as a walker eventually). We removed the wheels on the bottom since he's most definitely not ready to walk, but he's had a ball with it just standing there and looking around. He actually let go a couple times "thinking" he could "stand" It was soo funny.

We were watching the X games on T.V - not sure where this face came from, but I think it's my favorite one yet!

The Delicious Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies...Yes, that would be a Chocolate Chip Cookie WITH an Oreo inside it. YUMMEH

Along with buying the wonderful toy. and baking those delish cookies. We bought a baby food processor to make G's food homemade.

We had looked into what product/products we wanted..and finally settled on a simple Cuisinart Food Processor. I love it. It was about $35, I had a 20% off BBB coupon, AND a $20 BBB gift card. So, it was pretty much nothing. We looked into a couple BabyFood Makers, ones that steam and puree the food for you, and finally decided that we wouldn't use it enough for the amount of money it would cost.

The great thing about the Food Processor is that I can use it all the time, even when I'm done pureeing baby foods. SCORE!

I've already made and frozen carrots, sweet potatoes, peaches, and avocadoes (well, the avacodoes I didn't need the processor for..but still used it to really puree the food) for about 2 weeks! I would've done more, but didn't buy enough food. Next week I'll take more time and do maybe a month's worth of food.

Behold, the Cuisinart

To store the food, I bought these lovely Green Sprouts Freezer Cubes. They are 2 oz cubes, so perfect for a Fruit/Veggie Serving, whether I want to do 1 oz or 2. All I had to do was steam the veggies, puree them, and throw them in these little cubes and off into the freezer. Every night I will remove one fruit and one veggie cube and place it in the fridge to thaw for the next days' use!

(As time goes on, I will up the amount of cubes to 3 a day, ect). I love how easy these guys are to use, and the are VERY economical - $10 for the set shown below! Oh, and they come with labels too. LOVE!

Even though it's G's 6month birthday today...I'm going to wait until tomorrow to do his 6month post. He has his 6month well baby check tomorrow - might as well wait so we have his official stats!

Sleepy Gray

GOOD MORNING!

I is sleepy.

Dear Grayson-

If you didn't wake up 2x a night, then maybe you wouldn't be so mad at me when I wake you in the morning to go to "school". Silly little boy. I love you.

Oops. We did NOT do it again

So. We're not pregnant.

Let me back up.

New Years Eve, Dan and I had an "oops" moment. The next morning we realized what had happened and new the timing was spot on. I also knew I had to wait aprox 1.5 weeks to find out if, in fact, we were pregnant.

Fast forward a week. I start testing. I get a FAINT blue line. Mind you, we aren't trying. I had a million questions going through my head.

How are we going to afford daycare for 2 babies? Were we being unfair to Grayson by having a baby so quickly right behind him? and most importantly - another summer being pregnant? whaattt??

I know a lot of people worry and fret over 2 under 2, but that really doesn't bother me at all. I think kids that are close in age, have very close relationships. My mom had 5 kids in 8 years....enough said. My brother, sisters and I are very close. I want my kids to have the same.

So, after we got the faint blue line. I ended up testing negative a couple days later..and then getting my period. (exactly 14 days after our "oops moment")

You know what happened? It was a little bit of a let down. I mean, we were completely unprepared for something like that, but the second we thought it was real, we were really excited about it. Babies are so infectious. It's like instant happiness just looking at them. I was sad for a little. Like I lost something I never had. We both got prematurely excited, and now Dan keeps telling me that he's ready for number 2. (I think I need to remind him of my hormones during pg 1)

Either way, we'll be waiting to have number 2 until G turns 1. I want my year with him. I also want to wear summer clothes:)

Coloring

Oh hello last week of January. It's nice to meet you.

We're in the midst of a house re-arrangement. It's a slow re-arrangement that will probably take a couple months, but in the end, will be worth it for our family. In my head, I'm not sure it's worth it. I really really REALLY hate mixing and matching different types of furniture. Not because I don't think it looks good. It's because when I do it, it looks stupid.

My issue: I have all espresso furniture in my Family Room.

We just bought a new T.V(gasp) that requires a T.V stand.

I can buy another espresso -ish stand that matches the set for oh, say $4oo.

OR, I can buy a nice black one...for a lot less.

The horror. Black and espresso furniture. Together.

Someone help me because I know this shouldn't be an issue...:)

On to more pleasant things.Our weekend in Pictures!

Dad Love. Oh, how I love dad love. (and for the record - completely candid!)

Do I not have the most handsome boys ever?

Um kitty? I just want to pet you. Don't run away again. Mmkay?

Sup?

"I'm just helping Dad with the Laundry. See, his hat fits me Perfectly" and this towel is DE-LISH." Momma, why don't you feed me towels instead of rice cereal??

Moon River

A little Nostalgia:

Rach and I

I believe this pic was taken the first winter Dan and I moved out here to Ohio. I had this pic taped to the inside of my civic until the day it died. It's just one of those pictures that makes me smile.

I've been feeling a little MEH these past couple weeks. I have the "Januaries" which I'm sure will turn into the "Februaries"...

I got my nails painted in a most obnoxious light pink sparkly color to help my mood. and it did. For every time I look at them I'm reminded of spring and happy things.

I keep over-analyzing every little thing...and I'm not supposed to do that -remember??? I'm not supposed to "sweat the small stuff", I'm supposed to "Enjoy the Small things"

AM I already failing at my New Years Reso?

ANYWHOOO.

Too keep the "Januaries" away. I've enlisted myself (and maybe even Dan) into some movie watching. I'm a SUPER, DUPER, FREAKISH fan of musicals and old movies.

I've seen Funny Face more times then I'd ever like to admit. The combination of my sweet Audrey Hepburn and the most amazing dancer/singer EVAH, Fred Astaire makes me want to pop the picture in the DVD player over. and over. and over. It's S'wonderfully S'Marvelous.

Clearly, Funny Face is on the list. Prob number 1.

Top Hat will be my number 2. I seriously cannot get enough of dancing Fred Astaire. I'll throw in a Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra number since Dan has actually requested watching one lately.

It's kind of funny to see Frankie try to keep up with Gene Kelly's dancing. cute even. He's slightly slower, flings his arms a little too much, and wayy more out of breath after each number.

In the end, Breakfast at Tiffany's will be served. Moon River. My favorite. Ever.

A lovely weekend.

Went too quick, as always.

Lucky me - I have tomorrow off

Unlucky me -I have to run a bazillion errands.

We hit up the outlet mall this weekend in hopes to find some deals on sneakers for *yours truly*.

Saturday morning we get up (after a really long night with G. I got up 3 times with him, and Dan twice) do our morning routine, and I start getting ready for the day. So, Dan got Grayson dressed.

Please note his face. It's a "help me mommy, I don't match at all" face. Really, it is.

Looks perfectly cute here, right?

I'll enlighten you on the color scheme here since my camera didn't quite catch the beauty of it all. Bright blue hoody, Black and cream plaid shirt. Navy blue and gray pants. The plaid shirt killed me. Of course, I let him walk out the door like that because that's how I roll.

At the outlets- No Sneakers to be found for me. I'm super picky and really only want one of two shoes. My Nikes (which I LOVE) or the Vibram Barefoot. I went to the Nike outlet with high hopes my sneakers would be there, in my size, on sale. They weren't there. Grr.

In light of such sadness, I bought Grayson some super cute winter hats for hiking in Gatlinburg....

I love my hat, Momma!

"Dad, how am I supposed to shove my fist in my mouth with those things on??!!"

MY TEETHIES!

"I LOVE my MOMMA!" (What? He does:)

After outlet shopping we headed on to John and Laura's for the Football game and movie watching. It was really nice to sit back with a glass of wine and relax. Our weekends are always packed, so winding down with friends is always the perfect Saturday dessert.

Sunday..more football watching - at Christina, Brian, and Zach's (G's Bestie, remember!??)

A couple pics of the dudes playing...

Um, does anyone notice Zach is palming the wiffle ball? ha.

"Yo Zach, I'm just gonna eat your book - OK?"

I love it. They are so funny to watch. They really don't pay attention to each other unless you stick them right in front of each other's faces.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Let's Get Loud

I finally figured out how to put music on my blog. (I'm slightly embarrassed it took me so long to figure it out) In adding the music, I'm able to post this picture and dance a little in my head. ENJOY.

Oh, and guess what...it's been a FULL week of Grayson eating rice cereal. WOOT!

He's still hasn't slept through the night since Thanksgiving, though. When we put him to bed between 7-8 he likes to get up twice. We go to the pediatrician in a couple weeks for his 6month well baby check-up. We'll ask him if this is something we should be concerned with (our primary care doctor told us he "should be sleeping through the night by at least 4 months") Our biggest concern is that he eats roughly 12oz when he wakes up -and he's definitely hungry when he wakes. I can't get the food to him fast enough. He sees the bottle, grabs it,and pulls it directly to his mouth.

We don't mind getting up with him at all - it's not an issue of being tired, just whether he "should" be sleeping through the night at this point. I actually like getting up with him at night because it's the one time he's still really cuddly. I miss my baby, and if I get my snuggle time with him at 2 in the morning, I'll wake up at 2 in the morning every day until he goes off to preschool{...or college} ( I'm thinking G won't want to "snuggle" at 18 - but he better be a Momma's boy, that for sure!)

I don't think I'll have to worry about G being a momma's boy -all Italian boys are:P It's a given.

Sweet Baby Jesus

Appropriate? Innapropriate?

Either way, it's hilarious.

Is that Bear Grylls? No, that's Grayson B..

Cuteness OVERLOAD. The kid loves the backpack.

Dan and I were really excited to get the Kelty in the mail today. We were hoping that Grayson would love to be toted around. Kind of assumed he would like it, but didn't imagine he would bust out with huge smiles while up there on his Dad's back. So.freaking.adorable.I.could.die.

Dan loading G in.

Dan walking around the house, testing it out.

"Ma, really. You already took 1800 pics of me in this thing"

and of course, watching a little bit of Football on Sunday.

Love. <3

Big Things

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

....and with the New Year comes the New Years Resolutions.

and because you REALLY wanted to know - here are my Resolutions{TO DO list}

1. Try to go Paperless in hopes that I can stay more organized{less paper means more organization, right?} Really the organization part is the most important. With G around, our house seems to be in a state of disarray at all times. odd. :P

2. Travel with my family

3. Get rid of the ridiculous amount of cardboard/junk in the basement {this is already organized into piles, just need someone to come take it away from my house for me}

4. Convert the Formal Dining Room/Living Room into a PLAYROOM: the process has started on this one. Things have started to be boxed up and moved to the basement. I think this will be a good move for us, having a designated room of toys for G - but for some reason I'm balking a little on it. Like I need someone to tell me - that's a GREAT idea. ha. Decisions, Decisions.

5.In the words of my favorite blogger -I really and truly want to take the time to "Enjoy the Small things" - MY TOP PRIORITY. Too much time is spent worrying, over-thinking, stressing, about...what?? I'm going to enjoy my family and friends to the fullest. That is a true Resolution I'm sticking with.

In OTHER NEWS - we made some big purchases while I was on break.

1. My New Laptop - I knew it was going to die, it was ready. The day I got back from CT -the screen wouldn't stand on it's own at all. Pathetic. And no, I couldn't splurge on the Mac, even though Dan said I could.

2. SEE PIC BELOW

I've been looking at Umbrella Strollers for awhile. I honestly didn't want a Maclaren. AT ALL. But, when we went to test the strollers out...DAN actually picked this one! {if you know Dan and you know the price tag on this stroller -you can pick your jaw up off the ground} HE was the one pushing to get the stroller. OMG. He is such a sucker when it comes to that kid. I'm not lying when he said "it looks comfy for him"

We also booked a trip to Gatlinburg during Presidents Day weekend in Feb! It'll be our first family trip together.

We knew we wanted to take a family trip and decided on Gatlinburg for a couple reasons.

1. It's only 5 hours away. A great 3 day weekend trip

2. There are TONS of things for us to do. We think G would LOVE hiking with us and there are tons of trails we could take him on. Being in Tennessee and the Smokey Mountains...the weather will be slightly warmer in Feb. If the weather is bad we have lots of options - stay in the cabin, shop (there are TONS of places to shop)

3. It'll be good practice for our trip we would like to take to Salt Lake in the summer!

In preparation for our trip {and trips to come} We purchased the backpack carrier below. Dan thought he wanted a framed carrier, but we both realized that if we want to travel {especially by airplane} we need things to be compact and the framed carriers were just waayyyy to big to carry around easily. We loved that it works as a child carrier AND backpack to store diapers, bottles, food, ect. We're pretty excited to try it out!

Christmas - the Secondwind

Since Dan already did the Christmas update, I'll just finish off with some pics that were never uploaded.

Before we left for Christmas in CT, we did Christmas in Ohio. Along with the superhero cape, Dan and I decided to build G a Build-a-Bear.

G testing out the Build-aBear

The day before we left for CT, we read "Twas the Night before Christmas" together as a family.

See...he IS looking at the book:)

A couple pictures from our trip to CT....

Playing on the bed

Giving Momma a big smile

Playing with dad

Christmas Eve with the Bouchards - 4 generations

Christmas Morning with Uncle Scott and Aunt Dani...it looks like they're having a staring contest!

Grandpa Chiulli playing with G

Christmas Day at my Nonna's - 4 Generations

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of Grayson with my mom! I'm so sad. Once we got to my mom's, Grayson had gotten pretty fussy and really wasn't up to taking pictures. Hopefully within the next couple months we'll get a good one of them together.

Once we got back to Ohio, it took us a couple days to get back to normal. G was recovering from Croup, and Dan and I were just recovering from the craziness of the Christmas weekend.

On my Birthday I got to spend the day with Grayson and the evening with my girlfriends for a well needed Girls Nite In. It was exactly what we {all} needed, to wind down. I'm electing we do it more often:)

New Years Eve was spent at our house - babies in tow. Pictures are already uploaded to Facebook, so I'm not going to spend any time uploading them here. The night was spent playing games, drinking champagne, and ringing in the New Year with "what we'll do's" for the next 12 months. I think we all deserve and will make 2011 a great year!!!

5 Month!

Happy 5 Month Birthday G!

I'm a little late with the update, but we've been super super busy.

G goes to the doc at the end of the month for his weight and length, so I don't have those stats for ya.

*is making his way into 6-12month clothes, 9 month clothes (carters)

*eats roughly 35-4o ounces a day. If he's not feeling well that number drops to right below 30.

*still in a size 2 diaper

*laughing more

*has grown TWO bottom teeth

*hair is coming in..definitely blonde

*eye color -still undecided. We're pretty sure they're going to be brown.

*he can sit on his own, unsupported.

*he loves to stand. We've set up our ottoman so that he can stand on his own. (he would let us hold him standing for hours if we let him)

*still won't take any food other then formula.

*still hasn't rolled over.

*still HATES being on his stomach. Not sure how he's going to crawl!

Loving to stand!

Close-up of the happy boy:)