Oliver at 7 months

Oliver can crawl – army style.  He is constantly heading towards everything he shouldn’t – electrical wires, electrical outlets, dog toys, etc.  It’s a pretty constant job to redirect him, but he just loves to be on the move.  He has just started to try and come find me if I leave the room.

Oliver is eating about 2 baby food meals a day.

Oliver can sit on his own for quite a while, but the second he doesn’t want to sit anymore, he crashes hard. 

Oliver is already understanding the concept of pulling up on things, but not really stable enough to get anywhere.

Oliver has 3 teeth coming through.  Two on the bottom and one on the top.

           Oliver at 7 months                                                 Bella at 7 months

A Day in the Run

This morning seemed to be one very long morning and I was very nervous to perform two activities I didn’t want to do – be interviewed and run a 5k.

8am – we arrived at the race and found the PR people who were going to show us to the interview.  And we found out the interview was going to be LIVE!  Exactly what I didn’t want to happen. 

8:18am – Our live interview with Fox4, which included a bunch of “umm umm umm”.  The interview was for a 2 1/2 minute spot, which actually seems like a lot of time when the questions are kind of repetitive.

8:20am – They taped a segment to be aired on the 5 o’clock news.  I’m not sure how long they will have the link up, but here it is for now. http://fox4kc.com/2012/01/29/groundhog-run-raises-money-for-children/  It’s not pretty.  The main question I am asking myself “What was up with the eye closes?”

9:00am – Race starts (all time after this is approximate)

Mile 0.0 – Didn’t get my MP3 player hooked on correctly, it’s dangling down between by legs, swinging as I run.  I have to find it and grab it.  Pretty sure I looked really cool doing that.  Good thing the start is so packed and tight, most people didn’t see me.

Mile 1 – Doing great, can’t believe how good I feel.  I start thinking about how I am actually going to get to blog about finishing the whole race without walking for the first time.

Mile 1.2 – Shoe comes untied.  I have to make it over to the side of the course and stop to tie it.  Noting that even though my shoe never comes untied, I should probably double knot it during a race just to be safe.

Mile 1.4 – Running behind an older couple.  Guy totally trips on some uneven pavement right in front and me and goes down hard (slamming his face into the pavement).  I stop to make sure he is okay, and luckily there is an attendant in a golf cart that comes over immediately.  So I take back off, you know at my really fast pace!

Mile 1.7 – Wondering why I sign up for these races, I hate running.  Not feeling so hot anymore.  Pretty sure Jesse has finished the race already.  If I just keep running I can finish sooner, but it hurts.

Mile 2.0 – Can’t breathe, stop to walk.

Mile 2.3 – Start running again.  Start looking around at all the people running at my pace.  I’m very judgmental as I note I’m with mostly older people, people with quite a bit of extra weight, people running with their 7 year old sons or daughters, finally spot a hot chick…I’m doing okay.

Mile 2.9 – Really hating this run.  Really want to stop and walk but know I’m nearing the end and I can probably make it.  Don’t want to be seen finishing the race by walking.

Mile 3.1 – Finish the race.  Thank God I made it.  Glad to be done with another one.

5 hours later – looking up the next races.  Got to do something to keep me motivated to work out.  Still haven’t decided if I want to try the St. Patty’s run, the costumes are kind of making me want to try it.  But would need to find someone to watch the kids, unless Jesse doesn’t participate with me.  I better figure it out soon.

Breakfast for Two

This morning I attempted to feed both of them at the same time.  They actually did a great job.  Both waiting their turns as the other one got a bite to eat.  I didn’t realize how much of an arm workout it was to continuously have your arm up and feeding kids for 30 plus minutes.  And yes they both have dirty faces in these pictures, it was mid-eating and they were gracious enough to even let me take the picture.  You can tell who the messier eater is, Oliver has bypassed Bella in the eating skills already.

Oliver was much faster at eating, so I gave him some yogurt bites to occupy his time while Bella finished up eating.

He is also working on his new skill of drinking water.  He can figure out how to get the spout in his mouth, but doesn’t quite realize how to tip it up to get the water out.  But I have a feeling he will be figuring it out very soon.

No we shouldn’t have!!

Jesse and I just agreed to be interviewed to promote the groundhog run and Children’s TLC. 
1.  I am terrible in front of cameras and on the phone, I always say the wrong thing, or sentences that don’t make sense.  This is a bad idea.  Maybe I’ll let Jesse do most of the talking.
2.  Now I have to worry about what I am going to wear and I am going to have to put on makeup.  I always made fun of people that put makeup on to run or work out, especially when it’s first thing in the morning.
3.  They asked if Bella would be there, which would be great for the camera portion, as most of the attention would go to her.  Except since we are both running and they don’t allow strollers, it’s not too feasible to bring her.  And they want us there early for the interview, which would really stress me out to get the whole family ready to leave and be there that early.
Just hoping on a Sunday morning, most people that I know, won’t be watching the news.

Just thought I would share a few old pictures from Bella's time at Children's TLC.

 Bella's first day at Children's TLC

 Bella's Christmas program at CTLC

 Bella visiting Santa at CTLC

 Bella at story time during class

 Last time I did the ground hog run 2 years ago

 Bella in her supportive chair during preschool

 Bella at a fairy tale field trip with her class

 Bella wearing her cinco de mayo hat she made in class

Bella's preschool graduation from Children's TLC

Training him early

Busy

I hadn’t realized so much time went by since I posted.  The end of the week I was busy working and helping to plan a surprise engagement party.  We attended the party on Friday and then spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with our family and basically relaxing.  In other words not much to talk about.

Here are a few pics from the engagement party. 

And this little boy loves to curl up in blankets.  He also loves to be naked.  I can just see him as the type that won’t want to wear clothes and will run around the house without a stitch of clothing on.  I guess we will have to see if I’m right later on.

What can a little boy get to?

Oliver definitely has his favorite things, and they aren’t necessarily things he should be playing with.
Shoelaces will amaze him for an insane amount of time (I don’t honestly get why).

He loves the underside of Bella’s brown chair, and as I mentioned before, he loves the computer tower and speakers.

And the posing…..makes me laugh every time I see it, like he’s saying “What I’m not causing trouble.”
And our phones and computer are great motivation for moving all around the room.

During Bella’s feeding therapy we work on self feeding and chewing.  Today she would chew on this toy, every time I put it in her mouth.  She must actually like the texture, since normally she doesn’t want anything like that in her mouth.

There is something about attic work

This weekend Jesse installed an exhaust fan in the kids bathroom.  This included hours of time spent up in the attic.  He needed my help for a few small items, so I had to keep the kids entertained and be able to help Jesse when needed.

The kids spent most of the time on the bed.

I was getting my directions from Jesse through the hole in the ceiling.  Jesse wants you to notice how close the hole is to the window, this means there was very little (actually no) headroom to work with in the attic.

So basically I was juggling two babies that day.  The one complaining and needing help in the ceiling.  And the other one crying when I couldn’t be holding him.

And now we have one more small project checked off the list, and on to our way being finished with the kids bathroom.  And I must admit I had at least one angel that day, who was being very good.

And we all know it wasn’t the adult.

Running

I have been training for the Groundhog run coming up in less than 2 weeks.  Except my training doesn’t really include any running.  Instead it is alternating between running on the elliptical and doing Jillian Michael’s “The Shred” workout DVD.  I did get out once last week and ran for maybe 2 miles before I couldn’t run any further.  So I’m going to guess that in two weeks I won’t build up to running over 3 miles.  I don’t understand what it is about running that I can’t do.  My legs don’t get tired, it’s my lungs.  You would think I was a smoker, the way I feel when I run.    But I guess it shouldn’t matter if I need to walk a little bit during the run itself, it’s just getting out and doing it that counts…right??  I used to have ideas of training for a marathon someday.  I think I am officially giving up that dream.  Not only do I think I would never be able to run that far.  I don’t ever have the time to dedicate to train for something like that.

But on a positive note for myself, some of the stubborn “Bella baby weight” is finally starting to come off.  So maybe this whole training to run in the 5k’s isn’t for nothing.  My end goal really is to just get into shape and get back to a healthy weight.  So with that I am actually feeling quite proud of myself.  I just have to get through this race coming up and then I am trying to decide if I want to sign up for the St. Patty’s day run or just wait until April for the trolley run (a.k.a plaza run).  I think I will wait and decide after the upcoming run.

Hanging Out

I feel like with the colder weather finally here, we are pretty much stuck inside all the time.  I can definitely tell that Bella is getting bored being home, and misses getting out to school on her days off.  I still wish there were more activities she enjoyed at home (inside) besides laying on the floor.  

Yesterday the kiddos where very interested in each other, so I grabbed the camera to try and capture the moment.  The bright light of the camera won and they both kept looking at me, versus looking at each other.

Bella also wanted to show dad that she got his “potty” mouth jar done.

It’s all ready for his deposits to be made.  Now the question will be, a family vacation to Vegas to see all the lights (I know unconventional, but I think Bella would love it), or a trip to Texas to see the new handicap accessible theme park?  Okay so maybe his mouth isn’t that bad, but I still think we need to take another family vacation sometime in the near future (preferably before someone turns 2).

Organizing Toys

We have been busy trying to get our lives organized around here.  We still have some small tasks to finish our ongoing projects, but the next big one is starting some work in the basement.  Which means going through things and organizing. 

We have a million toys, but I find it hard to get rid of any of them.  Mainly because Bella really doesn’t outgrow the 0-1 year toys.  We just put them into a rotation so they seem new.  And every year for Christmas or her birthday, she gets the same kind of toys.

It’s going to be a whole new world when Oliver outgrows these toys and gets more complex ones.  Maybe then I will let go of some and only keep the favorites.

It’s also very interesting to see Bella play with some of the toys she used to have no interest in.  Mainly because Oliver will play with them and put them in his mouth.  Next thing I know Bella has it in her hand.  For someone who claims to not be very coordinated or be able to do many things, she is quite fast at stealing toys from Oliver.  Oliver dishes it right back, so for now they are even.

Oliver is off the charts

Coming in at 29” Oliver is above the 95% for height.  He is about maxing out his car seat already at 6 months.

His weight was 18lbs 5oz (70%).  Which equates to heavy when you have to carry both him and Bella.

We thought we would show off his football hat (my very first purchase off Etsy), and his fascination with shoe strings.

With the mild temperatures today, I thought it might be fitting for Bella to wear her cape to school.

 

She was undecided on the idea.

Oliver can crawl–inchworm/army crawl style

Our little technology nut can move and his favorite target is the computer or our phones.  Of course we haven’t caught it on video yet, that will be coming soon (I hope).  But at a little over 6 months, this boy is motivated to move.  He has also been striking poses lately.

Yes he is pantless in January – blame that one on Dad who feels pants are too restrictive.  I did try to get a video of him crawling, but he wouldn’t do it for me.  It gets a little long, but if you make it to the end, you will be rewarded.

His 6 month appointment is tomorrow morning, so we will get to publish just how much of a giant he still is after that (I’m assuming of course).

I know she knows

I know Bella knows how to win a battle with mom.  I know Bella knows how to test my patience.  I know Bella knows a lot more than she lets on.

Yesterday we were working on self feeding again.  At this point she wasn’t even doing anything herself, she just had to go through the motions of having me help her get food on her spoon and help her get the spoon into her mouth.  But she wanted nothing to do with it.  We kept on trying, we kept on making a huge mess.  And in the end, I gave up and just fed it to her myself.  I couldn’t stand Bella dropping her face into her very messy bib and refusing to open up.  Now of course as soon as I quit making her feed herself, she kept her head up and opened up her mouth for me.

So then I question, if she is acting stubborn and won’t work on it, do I just stop feeding her altogether and make her be hungry until she wants to participate.  I feel like the more I give in to her, the harder it becomes to make her do it, because she knows she will win the battle of wills.

I also know I should be working on this skill once a day, and right now we are lucky to try once a week.  Nothing will get accomplished at that rate, but it’s so hard to get into the mind set to work on it.  And Jesse can attest to the huge mess it causes.  He couldn’t stand it and kept getting mad over the mess.  And that was with me helping, could you imagine if she was doing it all by herself.

I keep thinking to myself….if only I didn’t need any sleep.

New Year’s Resolution

I alluded to a few things in the budget post, but I’ve been thinking about my New Year’s Resolutions.  First I wanted to look up my postings from last year and see what I had written.

“Has anyone been thinking about their new year's resolutions?  Jesse and I were talking and I suggested that ours should be to have more fun.  We seem to get stuck in the ruts of worrying about and taking care of Bella, and worrying about and working on the house.  We need to do a better job about enjoying life and having fun.  Our situation might not be the greatest but I can guarantee that even with our struggles we are very blessed, and we need to remember that.  I am not the most positive person, but for my new year's resolution I vow to be more positive and to take the time to enjoy life and try to the best of our ability to have fun in the process.”

Being that I couldn’t even remember our resolution from last year, I’m not sure we can say we succeeded.  Better add that one to the list again this year.

This year my small personal resolution is to not buy any new clothes for a year.  I do have a couple of exceptions – special occasion wear (if needed), jeans (if needed), under garments (if needed).  Well you get the point.  Anything else, I can either wear the many items I already own, or try and make them.  That’s right I will allow myself to make new clothes (granted I can only buy fabric for two items at a time, and then I need to complete the project before I buy more).  I’m hoping it will get me more practice, for now I haven’t been too excited by my sewing skills for myself.  And if I could actually make it without spending any money even on fabric for the year, that would be even better!

The other item is to finally get organized in this house.  I know organization is a huge thing for everyone in the new year.  I feel I am a couple years behind and it’s becoming a huge obstacle.  I have been working in the office/craft room/guest bedroom for the past couple of weeks.  I am making slow progress, nothing like going through paper from 2003 and beyond.  I’m afraid the paper shredder is going to burn out on me.

Jesse’s New Year’s resolution is to quit cussing.  Bella and I are going to make him a “naughty word tin” and he has to put in a dollar for every F-word and 25 cents for every other cuss word.  He might want to get some change made at the bank!  The plan is to spend the money on family outings when it accumulates and hopefully to curb the cussing before Oliver picks it up.  Bella is a lost cause (i.e. she has heard it all) and if she ever repeats a cuss word…well we might just cheer her on and let her have the dirtiest mouth she wants!

And just to make this post even longer, we have to admit that we are both on a diet and fitness routine.  I mentioned how I was working on losing the baby weight I gained with both kids.  I believe I reported that Oliver’s is gone, now I have Bella’s which has been hanging around for 4 years.  I’ve been losing about 0.5 to 1 pound a week (may have gained 3 back during the holidays).  So let’s see that means its going to take me 12 – 24 weeks to get back to my 2007 weight.  Then if we are shooting for my ideal weight (we will call it my Jamaica weight).  Well that is 8 pounds less.  So here’s hoping in 20-40 weeks (almost a year) I will look like this:

I almost showed you my swimsuit picture….but thought that might come back to haunt me some day!

Any my loving husband has promised me that if I get back to my pre-Bella weight I get to book my next tropical vacation.  Hmmmm…..Costa Rica, no wait, Turks and Caicos, no maybe Belize.  I can dream!

Oliver Go Bang

Today we started to get back into our normal routine.  Jesse went to work.  Bella went to school.  And I juggled watching the kids for a while, and then working while the sitter was here.
Oliver is such a busy little person.  It’s hard to get him to sit still.  Eating has been a little difficult.  He wants to eat it so badly, but surprisingly half of it tends to come back out of his mouth.  I took a couple of videos today of him eating.  I also took a couple of pictures for the people who can’t watch the videos.  He is wearing one of Bella’s old bibs, it fits around his neck better.  Who says guys can’t wear pink!

Can you tell he moves back and forth a lot when he is sitting in the chair?  It reminds me of the old Grover skit from Sesame Street.

The first video was showing his eating skills.

The second one is showing the new skill he picked up recently.