Monday, July 25, 2011

Colton's 6-Month Stats...

Last week I took Colton in for his 6-month check-up. Both the nurse and the doctor commented on how big he is and how fast the time has gone by :( He was so good during the appointment though…he just laid on his belly and looked at himself in the mirror before the doctor got there (actually, he rolled himself right up next to it and kept trying to eat his reflection). Then during the check-up he did wonderfully…giving the doctors big smiles and talking a little bit. Even during the shots he only cried a little bit and was fine the second I picked him up.

Here are his stats:

Weight: 18 lbs. 5.5 oz (61%)
Length: 28 ¼ inches (92%)
Head: 43 ½ cm (38%)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Food For Colton!

Last night we finally bit the bullet and gave poor Colton some “real” food. It’s sad how the novelty of feeding your baby “real” food wears off sooner and sooner with each kid :) I was starting to feel really bad about it, so last night John brought up the high chair and we fed Colton some rice cereal that I had actually purchased about 2 months ago!

He was such a champ! He still made a huge mess, but he loved it, and ate the entire bowl, and screamed when it was gone. All of the other kids have been so-so about the first couple of experiences with solid food, but Colton is clearly serious about his food. At the rate he’s going, we might be able to introduce Big Macs next month :)




Friday, July 15, 2011

Colton Has Left The Building...

Well, maybe not the building, but our room. Two nights ago we had a really bad night with Colton. He kept waking up “starved” and would not have any patience with me as I would try to feed him. Needless to say, John and I were very tired when we got up the next morning.

So last night as we were getting Colton and Ry-Ry ready for bed, John decided it was time to put the rail back on the crib, and the bumper, so that Colton could start sleeping there. He got everything ready and after I fed Colton and gave him his medicine, I put him up there with his little blanket that he likes to scrunch up with his hands and left the room. I went back in about 20 minutes later and he was sound asleep.

So we moved the monitor and went to sleep. He woke up at 2:00 to eat and then again at 5:15. That’s pretty typical for him, and while the 5:15 one sucked because I ended up having to make him a bottle and was up with him for 40 minutes, I would say that whole first night was a success. It was nice not having to worry about being quiet this morning when I got ready for work.

Of course the whole thing is pretty sad for me…another milestone that I will never experience again. If this continues, the bassinette in our room will never again be used by a baby of mine :( And my little boy looks so little in that big empty crib! But I know it’s for the best and it’s time. But that doesn’t make it any easier…

I will miss seeing this:

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Journey Church's First Ever VBS...

So John and I have volunteered to head up a VBS at our church. We are part of a smaller church (roughly around 200 people) that just started about 3 ½ years ago. We head up the nursery/preschool kids on Sunday mornings and are very involved when it comes to the kids at our church. So it only seemed natural that once someone mentioned possibly having VBS that John and I get heavily involved.

From the get-go I was super excited about it! I found a curriculum and impatiently waited for final approvals from the leadership team to dive in head-first. We have a great little team that consists of two other couples and our children’s pastor and we seem to be working really well together.

We’ve only had a few weeks to plan this…our VBS starts August 1st. That’s 2 ½ weeks away. Aaaaggghhhh!!! When I see that number my insides start convulsing. But like I said, God has blessed us with a great team and some fabulous volunteers at our church, so we should be OK :)

Last night we had another meeting…we didn’t get home until midnight! We first went and looked at the spot where we will have our VBS (Sports Ohio), and then we headed over to the one family’s house for dinner and a meeting. It was nice because our pastor came to the meeting and offered some great ideas and insights that we hadn’t thought of before.

We still have so much to do, but with God’s help, we will get it done. And my only goal for VBS is that the kids have fun and learn about Jesus and see Jesus in all of us volunteers. Anything above that is just icing on the cake :)

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Colton's Six Month Picture

Here are some pictures I took of Colton on his six-month birthday:




I swear the kid is going to need Botox if he doesn't quit bunching up his forehead!! :)

Monday, July 11, 2011

Colton is 6 Months!

Colton is 6 months old today! I can’t believe that my little baby boy is six months old…where on earth has the time gone? Wasn’t I just in the hospital???

He is such a happy little boy right now. You can tell when he’s in a super good mood by how hard he kicks his little legs while he’s giving you the biggest smile. He doesn’t laugh a whole lot – you really have to be doing something funny or that he likes to get a laugh out of him, but he definitely gives a ton of smiles.

He loves to play “itsy bitsy spider,” “pat-a-cake,” and “this little piggy.” He loves to have his face touched and he loves it when I take his shirt/onesie off saying “naked baby” and rub his little chest. And I love to rub his bald head :)

I love that he recognizes me. I was just gone for the whole weekend, and when I walked in the house yesterday he smiled so big and you could tell in his eyes that he had been confused about where I was and was so happy that I was back! He also always wants to nurse as soon as he sees me if I’ve been gone, even if he has just eaten! So I know that every day after work I have to come home and feed him. And while it is annoying, I know that it’s his way of being comforted and showing me how much he has missed me :)

When we leave him anywhere he immediately rolls over. And now, if he’s on his belly and sees something, he will wiggle like crazy, and sometimes will pull his little knees up under his butt like he’s going to crawl and get it! My kids have always been on the late end of mobility, so this is making me a little nervous :)

The one area we are totally slacking on is food. We should have started him on cereal two months ago, but the thought of trying to teach him how to eat and having the high chair upstairs again is not very appealing to us. So we will be starting this all soon…it’s just so much easier for me to feed him! But I want him to taste different foods and learn how to eat…

His reflux is still there (I think :)). I’m too scared to ever try to take him off the medicine. But thankfully, it’s very well controlled with the medicine and he’s a completely different baby from that one 4 months ago when it was first diagnosed! I’m sure the doctor will discuss it with us at his 6-month check-up.

The kids all love him and play with him. Josh has especially been spending more and more time with him which is odd since he hadn’t really paid any attention to him until now. Kylie has asked me to teach her how to change his diaper and get him dressed, so she has been helping with that. And Ryan always says “Oh hi Colton” whenever he sees him for the first time after a nap or anytime he’s been away for a little bit.

So that’s my little CoJo! While the time has flown by, it definitely feels like you’ve always been a part of the family. You are stuck with us, and judging by your smiles and giggles, I think you’re happy about that :)

Friday, July 08, 2011

First Tooth (Teeth)...

Two weeks ago (June 23rd to be exact) I was playing with Colton and noticed that he had some white spots on his bottom gums. I put my fingers in there and sure enough I felt two teeth coming through! Although I’m obviously happy that my kid does in fact have teeth down in those gums, I am sad because my little baby is getting bigger. I was almost yelling at him to stop growing! To which he gave me a huge gummy (with the exception of little white specs below) grin with his hand jammed in his mouth. So at 5 ½ months, my little boy has his first tooth (but there are two of them coming at the same time, so it’s teeth). My littlest baby…my last little one :(

I think this is also a sign that I need to bite the bullet and get out the high chair and feed the kid some actual food. By the fourth, spoon feeding has definitely lost any appeal it may have had with the earlier children, and now I’m just plain dreading having to teach him how to eat and him learning about food. I don’t want him to learn about food because then when I’m eating something, he’ll want some. Right now I can eat a wonderful chocolate brownie or big bowl of ice cream and he couldn’t care less. Those days will soon be gone…

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

4th of July, 2011

What a fabulous, wonderful 4th of July weekend!

The weekend started off with Joshie’s birthday party Friday night. Around 6:00, family members and friends started arriving for his party. He had 5 friends there to spend the night, my parents, John’s parents and his sister and her family, as well as our neighbors. We ate pizza, opened presents and ate cake. Then we all headed over to the baseball field for a nice game of kickball. I loved watching the kids play! They then walked over to the basketball court and played.

We walked back home and John started setting up the tent (they were all going to camp out) while I sent the boys through the slip ‘n slide to get cleaned off :) Then we went inside and got ready for bed. John got them all settled in the tent and they all went to sleep around 10:30 (I was impressed it was this early). Around 5:00 AM I saw the lightning and heard the thunder and knew this was not good :) John came in and we quickly got all the boys in and settled in their sleeping bags down in the playroom just as the rain started to pour! Thankfully, every single boy went back to sleep until 8:00!

We got everyone ready that next morning and headed off to see Cars 2. The boys all looked adorable sitting there with their 3D glasses on and their popcorn and drinks. I thought the movie was really cute! Afterwards all of the parents came to pick the kids up and we all crashed! Everyone took a nap…except me! Just as I was drifting off, Colton decided it was time to wake up and play/talk.

After nap time we all headed outside and the neighbors and us hung out on the porch. We decided to head downtown to Schmidt’s for dinner. By the time we got down there it was a 1 ½ hour wait, but thankfully it was gorgeous outside and the kids were amazing! We finally got seated after 2 hours and dove into the German food buffet. It was worth the wait!

Sunday we got to announce our first ever Journey Church VBS! So those of us involved got to wear our Lifeguard shirts and went in blowing whistles and throwing volleyballs to all the people all to the tune of “Wipeout.” Then we announced the dates/location/etc. After church then we had a VBS meeting and quickly tried to divide up the first set of tasks that need to be done (we only have 3 ½ weeks!!!). After that we headed home and spent the rest of the day out in the sun with the neighbors. We had a cookout, my sister came in, and we watched fireworks all over that night (so many people were setting them off that we could see three sets from our yard!).

Monday I made some homemade waffles for breakfast, and then Kylie, my two sisters and I headed over to the mall and had lunch at Cheesecake Factory. We ate outside on the patio and had a really nice lunch! Then we went shopping at Charming Charlie’s (LOVE that store!) and Kylie used her Visa gift card that my sister got her for her birthday, so it was her first “swipe and sign” (of many thousands in her lifetime I’m sure :) ). The rest of the day we hung out with the neighbors and then all went to get ice cream together.

That night, as I was getting into bed, I got a call from our nanny saying that she was in the hospital with food poisoning. I of course told her to stay home and get better, so Tuesday I got an unexpected day off with the kids! The weather was gorgeous! We went to some fountains and really enjoyed ourselves! I was able to hold Colton and stand by Ryan, all while water shot up to my knee area and kept me cool. After those closed down for the afternoon, we headed home and the two youngest boys took naps while the neighbors and I got out the waterslide. The kids played and we weeded the garden :)

After that we decided to go to McDonald’s and take advantage of $1.99 happy meal Tuesdays and headed to a park close by. John had taken the kids there before, but I had never been there. It was so secluded, had an awesome playground (that even John and I had fun playing on) and a beautiful trail through the woods. It was one of the most fun evenings we’ve had as a family in a long time!

So yes, it was a wonderful long weekend!










Friday, July 01, 2011

Some Summer Time Off...

This week I had the wonderful opportunity to take some time off. I was home with the kids on Tuesday afternoon, as well as all day Thursday. And we spent just about every minute of that time outside enjoying the gorgeous weather!

Tuesday afternoon started with a picnic lunch outside and was followed by hanging out in the backyard the rest of the day. We jumped on the trampoline, played in the sprinkler, ate snacks and just enjoyed each other for hours.

Thursday started with homemade waffles, which Josh and Kylie helped with, followed by a little bit of playing inside while Colton napped. As soon as Colton woke up we headed to the splash pad. Again, it was a gorgeous day, and we had a picnic lunch and then the kids ran through the water and then played on the playground. After the kids were done with that (and I could tell that Ryan was getting ready for a nap), we walked over to Rita’s for some Italian ice. And as it seems to go for the 4th child, Colton has yet to have any “real” food (cereal, baby food, etc.), but he has been fed Rita’s on multiple occasions :) After Rita’s we came back home and Ryan and Colton went down for naps while Kylie, Joshie and I went out and jumped on the trampoline with the sprinkler on it and then laid on the hammock for a while. It was a glorious day!

I love summer, and I love taking days off in the summer to play with the kids. I ran through the grass barefoot for the first time in years yesterday. Such a simple thing that a lot of people do all the time, but I have not, and when I did it yesterday, it felt so good! I was recently asked what I loved most about being a mom, and my answer was that I get to be a kid again. Adults often miss so many little things, and having kids makes us go back and enjoy them again :)