Speights' Stories

Psalm 18:16-24

2012-01-24T16:14:00.051-06:00

This morning, my father in law had the morning off so he offered to come by and watch Aedan for an hour or so so that I could go run errands etc. I had a couple of things I needed to do, and when I was done I still had a few minutes until I told him I would be home so I stopped in at a Starbucks on my way back home. While I was sitting and waiting for my drink, I pulled out my phone. I browsed a few blogs, just killing time, but then something made me want to pull out my Bible and read for a minute. Maybe because it was quiet and I was alone and responsibility free for a few minutes. I don't know. But, I didn't have my Bible with me, so I opened the Bible app on my phone. I'd never used it, but as I scrolled through the list of books of the Bible, the Psalms reached out to me. It seemed to be what I needed, to fit the mood I was in. I randomly chose chapter 18 and began reading. I started off (accidentally) in the KJV and when I scrolled through all the different translations to choose from, again, The Message, popped out at me. I began reading again, still in chapter 18. In fact, I just read chapter 18 a few times over while I was sitting there, because it was just what I needed to hear. And I just thought I'd share part of what I read, in hopes that for someone, it might be just what you needed to hear today too. I love how it says the Bible is living and breathing and how different verses, even sometimes things you've read a hundred times already, can reach out and hit you at different times in different ways and how God can use those same words that you've read before to teach you something new about himself.

This Psalm is written by David, praising God for saving him from his enemies and from Saul.
Psalm 18: 16-24 (The Message)

"But me he caught--reached all the way from the sky to sea; he pulled me out of that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning. They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved--surprised to be loved! God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start. Now I'm alert to God's ways; I don't take God for granted. Everyday I review the way he works; I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes."

We have such a good God. I love every line of that. I especially love the line where he says that God stood him up on a wide open field and he stood there saved--surprised to be loved! For some reason, that just resonated with me today. I can related to the feeling of God saving me and standing me back up and that feeling of, wow, he still loves me. And I love when he says that when he got his act together, he gave him a fresh start and rewrote the text of his life when he opened his heart to God's eyes.

I am so thankful for a God who can and will use my measly 5 minutes of sitting and reading to bless my day and remind me of His love and His control and His power in my life. Thank you God, for your grace and mercy and goodness.

weekend fun

2012-01-23T12:05:00.001-06:00

I think I probably feel like this every Sunday evening as we lay down to go to sleep, but this weekend absolutely flew by! Even though I stay home with Aedan all week too, the weekends just have a different feel to them since Landon is home and I'm always sad to see them go.

Friday afternoon I was feeling better than I had all week, and it was beautiful weather outside, so I decided to be brave and try and take Aedan and the dogs for a little walk around the neighborhood. It went better than expected, after the first 3 minutes or so where the dogs were going crazy barking at our neighbors dog and trying to smell everything.

And, Aedan fell asleep on the way back, which is so sweet--he never fell asleep in his Chicco stroller, but this one I can't keep him awake in it seems. It was definitely good napping outside weather though--lots of sunshine and a light, cool breeze. It made me want to bring a blanket outside and lay down and take a nap with him!

Friday night we had a little makeshift date night at home of sorts. I cooked some black bean enchiladas for us and some apples for Aedan and rented a couple of movies and we just relaxed at home together. It was nice--Friday nights have kinda become our night together and it's fun. The enchiladas were good but they completely fell apart in the crock pot, even though I did what they said to do. And, since we're done experimenting with dairy and soy, we decided to give Aedan some food again, since we held off on anything the last 2 weeks or so. And, he actually seemed to like the apples ok this time. He ate a decent amount and then decided to start blowing raspberries whenever I tried to put the spoon in his mouth, blowing apples all over both of us. I couldn't help but laugh though!

I tried to rent a movie that I thought Landon would like and ended up getting Courageous and Footloose, but failing miserably on both accounts. I didn't know he's reading the book Courageous for a men's class he's doing at church and therefore can't watch the movie, and then I accidentally rented the 80's version of Footloose with Kevin Bacon. Awesome. So, we ended up watching a movie called Faster that we had but had never seen. It was pretty good. And, Aedan fell asleep on Landon during the movie, which is just about the sweetest thing ever.

Saturday we didn't really have anything on the calendar and Aedan woke up and ate and then went back to sleep until almost 9am, so when he woke up we decided to go and check out this multi family garage sale by the farmer's market, and check out the farmer's market since we'd never been. We didn't see anything we had to buy at the garage sale, but we did get some yummy tamales at the farmer's market. And, we ran into Landon's mom there for a minute and our good friends, Kayla and Matt and Jenna and little Parker, so that was a fun, unexpected surprise.

When we got home it was time for Aedan's nap, so while he was napping we did P90X and then got ready for a little birthday party he was invited to. So far, so good with P90X2. I'm not sure if it's meant to ease you into the killer workouts or if we're just in a little better shape, but so far it hasn't been as bad as last time. We're tired at the end of the workouts and I'm actually kinda feeling last night's workout today, but they're a lot more manageable, which has been nice. And, it's nice to have something we're doing together again, even though during the week it does tend to happen at 9pm, after Aedan is asleep.

Anyway, when he woke up we headed to the party (a little late, but we didn't want to wake him up) and spent some time celebrating little Maddie's one year birthday. The other night Landon and I were talking and we realized that literally, before we know it, it will be our little baby turning one. I seriously feel like I just gave birth to him and here we are 7 months later. How does that happen?? This has been the fastest seven months of my life.

Maddie was precious though and we had fun hanging out with some friends.

About halfway through the party, we inherited another little one for the afternoon. We babysat Aedan's little friend, Brooklyn for a few hours and got a taste of what it will be like when we have 2 kids.

I kept wanting to ask Landon to hold Aedan for a minute while I did something, only to look over and see him holding/doing something with Brooklyn. It was so fun though--she is such a sweet, happy kid! We just hung out and snacked on some bananas and played with some toys. It was nice to have a free afternoon to be able to do that.

Then, after Aedan got another nap, we ended the night with dinner at a fun, new mexican restaurant with Brittnie and Brandon and then hanging out at their house. For how late we were at the restaurant, Aedan did pretty good--he's just a loud little one. :) Such a fun night though.

And then, Sunday was grandparent's day around here! My parents came to church with us and watched Aedan for us all during service and class, which I'm sure they all three loved. :) And, it was SO nice for us to be able to sit in big church and not in the cry room! Then, we went out to lunch with both my parents and Landon's and had a nice lunch at the Olive Garden. Aedan just got passed around the table the whole time; he got lots of love and it was fun hanging out with our parents. Then, we ended the day with a lazy afternoon at home--naps were had, some cleaning was done as well as some prep for the week, some football was watched, a cruise was booked, a baby was played with (alot!) and then we ended the night with a little Plyocide P90X. All in all, a good day.

We're so thankful for the many blessings we have and for fun, laid back weekends like this, with lots of friend time, lots of family time and some down time mixed in.

Embrace the camera, baby snuggles edition

2012-01-19T07:40:00.003-06:00

happy baby

2012-01-18T19:40:00.000-06:00

I am so thankful for such a happy baby. Every stage so far has been fun, but it just seems to get better and better. I love that you can just look at him and he smiles. And you can't help but smile back.

And I am so thankful for his daddy, who sat in traffic for an hour and a half to get home from work and still took this smiley baby out for a guys night at church so I could have a little time off duty as mommy.

L-O-V-E

2012-01-16T07:04:00.001-06:00

I love this. And I know it is so, so true.

Happy Monday.

I could sit and rock you all day long, baby boy.

life lately...

2012-01-15T22:56:00.001-06:00

This has been a week of getting things done around the house and hanging out with my boys, but now that Aedan's sleeping and I have a little downtime before bed, I thought I'd do a little writing about what we've been up to over the last few weeks.

We spent the last few days of 2011 and the first few days of 2012 at Landon's brother's house for "Zelda weekend 2011". The guys have a tradition of beating the game whenever a new one comes out and Elizabeth and I had fun hanging out with the kids for a few days.

This picture kinda encapsulates the weekend, ha.

Aedan loves his Uncle Logan. :)

And he loved getting a sink bath--but really I think the huge smile was for Abagael!

There is pretty much nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby.

It was gorgeous weather and one afternoon we took the kids down to a little playground. Aedan had fun trying out his Aunt Eli's new bike.

Cutest, most talented niece ever.

And, she was SUCH a sweet helper with Aedan all weekend. I love this picture of her pushing him in the stroller--they both look very happy with the arrangement!

We also took them to the Children's museum one day--it was a lot of fun and good to get out of the house. :) And, when we got back, the guys were (kinda) close to beating the game!

Aedan had fun playing in the blocks with his Aunt Eli. He likes knocking things over but doesn't quite see the humor and fun in it just yet. I think it's more that he's trying to grab it and it falls over.

And he LOVED looking at the bubbles in the water. He had the biggest smile on his face and was just looking and looking at it all.

We weighed him in the produce scale, ha. It was a little off though--it said he weighed about 20 pounds!

Then his Aunt Eli put him in Abagael's basket as she was checking out. Her face here cracks me up. "How'd this baby get in my basket??"

On New Year's eve the guys took a break for their game and we went to hang out with Blake and Morgan, like we always do. It's funny how our New Year's plans have gone from going to New Orleans a few years ago to our plans this year--an early dinner, a little Praise Baby and playtime, put the kids to sleep, watched Captain America and then celebrated the start of 2012 by watching the ball drop in New York. Not quite as exciting as years past, but so fun to have little ones to celebrate the new year with. Next year though, we decided we're just cooking something at the house rather than braving a restaurant, ha. That was about as chaotic as you would imagine it would be with an 8 month old and a 6 month old. It was fun, as always, just to hang out with them though. We love ringing in the new year with you guys!!

We all piled into Blake and Morgan's car and headed to Blue Mesa for an early-ish dinner with the kids. The last time we put them in the car together like this they screamed the whole way to dinner, but this time was a lot better. Pretty much no crying, and even a little sleeping!

Sweet babies, playing a little before bedtime.

Morgan, you look like a natural with two kids. :)

January 2nd, we headed back to Houston, stopping for dinner with my family, before picking up our dogs and heading home. It was a fun trip and Aedan did well traveling, but it was good to be home!

Since we've been home, we've been trying to get back into the groove of regular, day to day life (and get caught up on laundry and put the Christmas decorations away!). And, we've spent a lot of time playing with this little one and all of his new Christmas toys! I could sit and play with this sweet boy with this sweet smile all day long.

We've also spent some time playing with some of Aedan's little friends and their mommas. Here are some of the 9 kids that were at our playgroup last Friday. So fun--and just a little bit crazy!! (Thanks, Kellianne, for the pictures!)

Since we've been home, we've tried a few more foods--and I tried out making some that I actually had to cook. My first try was carrots and I managed to totally mess them up (I didn't even know that was possible--there's like 2 steps!) but the carrots and pears last week were a lot more successful! He's still not a huge fan of anything we've tried so far though. I'm loving the website www.wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com as I start making his food and trying out new things for him!

Right now though, we're taking a little break from food as we add some milk and soy back into my diet to test out his allergy, just so we can know for sure what he's having a reaction to, if anything. He had a little reaction to dairy last week, but not as bad as it seemed in the beginning, and we're trying out soy next week. I'm still praying that he outgrows it all totally so it's not something we/he have to deal with when he's eating regular food later down the road.

Last weekend our small group threw a "diapers and gift cards" shower for Rachel, one of our sweet friends. We just met at Chili's and ate and hung out and blessed and prayed over their soon to be family of four. It was a fun few hours! And, Aedan stayed with Landon for some daddy time, so it was a nice little break for me too.

Rachel's mother in law and daughter, Miranda, joined us too. Miranda was so excited about all the things for her new baby brother. So precious.

Sweet friends, Lauren and Kaleena. Before we know it, it'll be Lauren's shower we're throwing! :)

Tracey gave Rachel and little Brennan a blessing and I said a prayer over them before we opened presents. Rachel, we can't wait to meet little Brennan!!

Yesterday, we started P90X2. We've been debating for a while what we wanted to do--run, train for a triathlon, P90X--but we knew we wanted to start something around the new year. We were both just starting to feel a little antsy and really out of shape! So far, so good. It's been hard but we've made it--2 days down, 88 to go! And Aedan's at a good age for it because he can play in the room with us by himself some while we do it if need be. Today, while he was awake, he was in his bouncer as we were working out. Some of the time he was watching us and sometimes he was just playing and bouncing and looking at the dogs. At one point though, we were doing this thing where we had to run in place really quickly and then periodically throw our hands up and jump in the air. As we're doing this, we hear this little giggle and look over and he's smiling and laughing at us as we did it. It was too cute!

And, we've spent a lot of time cheering on our Texans lately! Last weekend we had the Strothers over to watch the first playoff game, which was so exciting! And sweet Brooklyn and Aedan had fun playing too.

We were so sad to see them lose today, but so proud of how they've played this year and how they've overcome to many challenges to make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs! See you on August 11th, Texans!

Goodbye 2011 and hello 2012

2012-01-09T12:22:00.001-06:00

Every year, for about as long as I can remember, the end of one year and the beginning of another has been a big deal in my book. I like having everything all wrapped up from the previous year before the clock strikes midnight. I like thinking about what I'm going to do differently in the new year and how I'm going to change things, myself etc. I always have my resolutions ruminating in my head for a while and ready to be written down on new years day.

This year though, I have a baby. And I just find it harder to think. Or have time to think. Or something. I'm not really sure what it is, but things that have always happened in the past--or at least I've always made a good effort with, just seem harder. Planning something for Landon's birthday. Christmas shopping. End of year thoughts. New Years resolutions. I could go on and on. But I'm not complaining in the slightest--just making an observation.

We had a New Years dinner on January 2nd with my family and as we sat down to dinner, my brother asked what everyone's new years resolutions were. And then he added, "because I know Aja would have asked in a few minutes anyway". Which is true. I always do and I probably would have, but I might not have because I hadn't yet figured out my own. Thoughts were still running through my head about 2011 ending and 2012 beginning, but I didn't have anything concrete yet.

And so here we are, a week later. And, I figure, better late than never. We're having a crazy thunderstorm here, so of course, Aedan's taking a super long nap. God's providing his favorite sleeping music--rain. :) I've already run a few errands (before he went to sleep!) and got some things done around the house, so I figured I'd take advantage of a few moments of quiet to write a little.

I remember the end of 2010 like it was yesterday. We were about 3 months pregnant and life was full and exciting. Landon had run his first Ironman that year and I had run my half and we had taken a lot of cool trips and run a lot of fun races and bought a new house and just done a lot. I think back on it as a year of crossing a lot of things off of our bucket list, of doing a lot of things we'd always wanted to but never had. It was a fun year.

2011 has a completely different feel to it. I don't think back over the year and want to remember all the cool things we did or accomplished, even though we did some cool and fun things, like the Cowtown Half Marathon with Team Mercy Project, Landon's Ironman Texas and some fun little getaways with friends. And that's ok. Life has slowed down this year, in some senses, and that's good. This year was Aedan's year. It was the year we spent six months preparing for and dreaming of this little baby. It was the last year we were just Landon and Aja. It was the last anniversary without kids. It was the year I taught my last group of kids at Jane Long Middle School and the year Landon really became a part of the law firm he's now working for. It was the year our family transitioned to me being a stay at home mom, something we'd been planning on since we got married, but never knew exactly how things would play out. It was a year of huge transitions that, while wonderful, definitely took some working out at times. It was the year of experiencing moments with my husband and with our baby that I knew I had been waiting my whole life for, and the year of experiencing moments that I didn't even know I had been waiting my whole life for until I was living them. At the risk of sounding cheesy, it was the year our lives were changed forever when Aedan Hugh Speights was born in the wee hours of the morning on June 25th. It was the year we were forever changed as Aedan made us a mommy and a daddy and made us a family. I wouldn't say it's been a year filled with huge accomplishments. But, looking at my sleeping baby right now, that really doesn't matter as much as it used to.

Before I get to my resolutions, here's my my "Long Live..." list of moments from 2011.

Long live...
   looking over at Aedan and seeing him smile at me
     seeing Landon run down the finishers chute at Ironman Texas, almost 30 minutes faster than the first time, and give me a kiss and wish me a happy anniversary before he ran across the finish line
     Landon's face as we watched Aedan enter into this world
   my first moments holding my baby
     the first week all three of us were at home with Aedan. Pure bliss. Exhausted, no idea what we were doing, in love with our baby, bliss.
     introducing Aedan to our family at 4am and seeing their love for him
   walking the Cowtown half marathon with my mom
     Landon waking me up to say good bye on the first day of summer and saying "good bye, stay at home mom".
     talking with Landon and dreaming about the future and what we want to do
     waking up on June 24th, thinking I was in labor, and telling Landon that we might be having our baby today
     realizing God's providence in the timing of Aedan's birth
     watching Landon as a father--I never thought I could love him more until I saw him with our son
   the moments of panic we felt those first few days with Aedan at home, when we realized we had no idea what we were doing and we were responsible for this tiny little baby
     hearing Aedan's little voice talking to us
     watching, through (happy) tears, as Michael married his high school sweet heart
     finding out, with all of our friends and family, that God had chosen to give us a little boy--it was a surreal moment.
   Christmas morning with our new little family
   going for our first run with Landon and Aedan in his jog stroller
   rocking and singing to Aedan as he falls asleep
     my last day of teaching--more bittersweet than I expected it to be--but way more exciting than sad.
     taking Aedan and practically running out of the hospital the moment we made a deal with the nicu nurse and she agreed to release him--though at that point we probably would have just taken him anyway.
     all of Aedan's firsts--smile, eye contact, laugh, long stretch without crying one random Sunday
afternoon...
     celebrating 5 years together with a surprise picnic
   ringing in the new year hanging out with sweet friends and my precious husband, who had our sweet baby sleeping on his chest. I could not ask for more.

And now, on to my new years resolutions. Last year, my resolution was to be intentionally unselfish. I think I'm getting better. I don't know though. That could probably best be determined by asking those around me. I know for sure though that it is still something I need to work on. I do find it interesting though that in the year I prayed for God to help me to be more unselfish, he gave me a baby. Lots of opportunities there.

So, I'm still working on that one. But this year, the two things that have really been on my mind and heart lately are to:

worry/stress/feel guilty less AND get to know God more.

I am a worrier. I'm better than I used to be, but I want to be better. I thought I was bad before I had a kid but, holy moly, with him it's so much worse. I worry about a lot with him, but at it's core, I think all my worries come down to worrying that I'm messing something up, that I'm going to mess him up and fail at being a mom. In reality though, I know that for most of the little choices I worry about, he'll be fine no matter what we choose. So I'm trying to find that line between relaxing and being a good, conscientious mom and sticking to what I believe is best for our baby. And I'm just trying to figure out better what I believe, and figure out what Landon belives, and trust him and trust myself and trust God and just go with it and not worry so much. And, even aside from our baby, I stress out and worry and feel guilty about too much--often things that I have no control over or aren't my business or that normal people wouldn't feel guilty for a second about. So, this year I want to get over that.

And, I want to get to know God better, through serving, praying and reading His Word. When I was teaching, one thing I would always teach my kids to do was to read with some "critical questions" in mind, trying to figure out what the text is teaching us or making us think about issues that matter in our world and in our lives. I want to read the Bible, holding the question "what does this teach me about who God is?" in my head, instead of just reading. My brother, Matthew, is good at this. I remember some conversations last year with him about old testament stuff and what it shows us about God. And in a Bible study I went to some towards the end of last year, the woman leading the study said she would read through through the gospels every summer, for the sole purpose of getting to know God, through Jesus' life here on Earth. Maybe I'll start there.

Happy 2012 (a week late). I can't wait to see what this year has in store. I hope to learn a lot, grow a lot, find somewhere to serve, find balance and joy and success in being a stay at home mom, continue to work on figuring out what being a godly mom/wife looks like in our family and make progress in this year's resolutions. God has blessed Landon and I so richly, so much more than we deserve, and I want to never forget that all we have is from His hand, not ours.

Aedan's first Christmas!

2011-12-29T12:59:00.001-06:00

This year, for the first time since we've been married, it just happened to work out to where Landon and I were at home for Christmas. Because of siblings' schedules, we were with family the day before and the day after Christmas day but had absolutely no where we had to be and nothing we had to do on Christmas day. And it was just what we needed. We love living near family and love celebrating the holidays with family, but it was so nice to have a lazy day at home with our baby. We got up when he woke up around 9am, opened presents, went to church and then came home and hung out at the house all day. It was pretty near perfection. :)

Christmas morning!

Santa came and he filled all of our stockings with cool stuff.

Aedan may have been a little more excited about hanging out with the dogs than the stockings.

Santa brought Aedan a lot of cool toys to play with!

Aedan gave his daddy a baby carrier for Christmas, so he can carry him when we go places. :)

He loved the tissue paper!

a little piano from Mommy and Daddy

Why is this monkey attacking me?? Get it off! Silly Daddy. :)

He looked a little terrified by the puppy toy from Aunt Kenna and Uncle James, ha. But, he warmed up to it as the day went on.

Sweet boy.

After we all opened our presents, we quickly got dressed and headed to the Christmas service at church. I really love singing the Christmas songs so we went to real church for about 15 minutes. We were trying to make it to the sermon before heading to the cry room, but our little one had other plans. So, we met up with our friends in the cry room for the rest of the service.

On our way out, we stopped to say hi and merry Christmas to Pepaw, who was working at the welcome desk. Thanks, Pepaw, for the Christmas sweater vest!

And after church, we headed home, got back into comfy clothes and spent the rest of the day doing pretty much nothing. Aedan took a nice long nap while we listened to some Christmas music, talked to family and Landon organized the chaos of our house while I made dinner--meaning I defrosted some gumbo my mom had made--and a little bit before we sat down to eat our little munchkin woke up.

And, he was all done taking pictures. I think this is just about the cutest sad face ever though--and it definitely made me put down the camera and give him some snuggles.

And then we all just relaxed on the couch. We switched from Christmas music to country music because Aedan seems to like it and then all three of us, and the dogs, took a little nap on the couch. Possibly my favorite moment of the day. Aedan never falls asleep just laying with us like that.

The rest of the day we just hung around the house. Landon hasn't had a true day off like that in longer than I can remember, so it was a welcome change of pace. About 5 minutes before Walgreens closed I ran over there to get a few things so we could eat dinner, but other than that we didn't leave the house. We ended the night by taking a few pictures of our favorite 6 month old, installing Landon's new speaker and watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I am so thankful for my sweet husband and baby and so grateful for the gift of Jesus.

Bananas!

2011-12-28T21:07:00.002-06:00

Tuesday night, December 20th, Aedan got his first taste of real food--bananas! It was bittersweet for me to watch--it's exciting to think of all the fun to come and so cool that we got to witness someone experiencing eating food for the very first time, but still kinda sad for me at the same time. It means he's growing up and it means the beginning of the ending of nursing him (eventually). And, it means his poop will get a lot grosser now, ha. :)

Ok Aedan, take a bite. Just kidding.

No, Dad! Don't mash it up! I was going to take a bite!

Ooh, what is that?

Umm, I'm not really sure about this.

Dad, that's gross.

I think I need to get this out of my mouth.

Why are you laughing? What is this stuff??

Y'all are so mean!

No, please Daddy! No more!

Ok, maybe this spoon is kinda cool. Let me check this out.

Oooh--whatcha got in that bowl there, Daddy? Let me see that.

Yuck. How did this get all over me?

So yummy.

Give me more!

Ok, thanks Dad. I'm all done. Just wiping my mouth off.

What are you doing?? I said I was all done!

Nooooooooooooo!!!!

Oh no. How did that get in there?

I just want that bowl.

Bananas are yucky.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! What is that?????

Who are these people?????

Oh, ok. It's just you Dad. I love you still. I just got a little freaked out there for a minute.

Phew, that was hard work. I think I'm getting a little tired now. First time in my high chair and first time eating food. That's a lot for a radnom Tuesday night.

Silly parents. Why didn't y'all put a bib on me?

We love you so much Aedan. Thank you for bringing such fun "firsts" to our lives.

Happy half birthday, sweet Aedan Hugh Speights!!

2011-12-27T11:32:00.018-06:00

Aedan, I absolutely cannot believe you are 6 months old already! I remember like it was yesterday being at the hospital and my dad, your Papa, saying that your presents would be perfectly spaced out because your 6 month birthday would be on Christmas. And I remember thinking how far away that sounded. And somehow, here we are. And the last 6 months have been more wonderful than I could even imagine in the hours after you were born.

You're growing, growing, growing still. At your 6 month check up you had your first little cough, which was pretty much the most pitiful thing I've ever seen, but the doctor said you were perfectly healthy, which we are SO thankful for. You weigh 16 pounds, 9oz (25th percentile) and are 27 1/2 inches long (75th percentile). You're still wearing some 3-6 months and all of your 6 month clothes.

I think we've finally got your allergy stuff figured out. For the last week or so I finally managed to cut all the dairy and soy out of my diet and everything finally looks normal with you again! Yay! Now, we're going to test out a couple of things to make sure you're allergic to what we think you're allergic too. I'm just so thankful that through all of this you haven't seemed bothered by anything or in pain.

This has been a busy month for us, sweet boy, and you've done a lot, though we did spend a few glorious Saturday mornings lazily hanging out in bed and playing like this. :)

Having you in our lives made the holidays so much more fun and so very special.

Three days before Christmas we went and saw Santa. It was kind of a surreal moment seeing my very own baby on Santa's lap. I think that's something I've subconsciously been looking forward to since I was a kid dreaming about having a baby of my own. You weren't scared of him, but looked a little confused, like you were thinking "why did my mom and dad sit me down on this strange man's lap and then walk away?". Sweet boy.

This year you also loved seeing all the Christmas trees and looking at all the pretty lights and ornaments.

More than that though, you love the Roomba (though the Roomba still can't compete with Will and Baby!). If it's in the room with us, you follow it around with your eyes and if it comes near you, you always reach out and touch it. I thought you might be scared of it, but you're really not scared of too much, though you do get startled by loud noises sometimes, especially if you're tired, and start crying.

You were my sweet helper this year as I shopped for Christmas presents and wrapped them. It was a little harder and a little more stressful shopping with you, but still a sweet memory.

You also had a little quality time one day with your Mere while I went shopping.

And, you had some quality time with your GramPam and Pepaw while your daddy and I went to his office Christmas party. It was the longest we'd left you--right around 3 hours. You did well, though you didn't really take your bottle so you were really hungry when we got home!

This month you have gotten super steady sitting up. You still lose your balance and fall over some, but if you're just sitting and playing, you can usually go for a good 5 minutes or so without falling. It's when you try to turn and look at something or reach for something you get in trouble.

You're also finally big enough for your jogging stroller because you can sit up on your own!

The three of us went on a little mile and a half jog to Walgreens one afternoon (oh, how out of shape we are, ha!) and then I took you on a little 2 mile jog and you seemed to love both. You laid there and chewed on your toys and kicked your little legs and talked to yourself. Precious.

I may be way more out of shape after pregnancy than before it, but seeing you and hearing your sweet little voice talking away while I run makes it totally worth it.

Since you can sit up now, you also got to ride in the shopping cart for the first time.

You were so cute the first time I put you in it--you smiled at me so big. I have to put a few things in the basket with you to prop you up a little because you still fall to the side some, but you look like such a big boy sitting in there.

And lastly, because you can sit up, you can sit on Daddy's shoulders now! Too cute. And you like to hold onto his ears while you're up there, ha. This month you've also started occasionally showing a preference for your daddy and me over other people, which has been cute--it makes me happy that you like us! :)

I feel like this month we've been focused a lot on sleep. Sometimes I don't stress about your sleep and sometimes I feel very stressed about it. It's weird--and kinda crazy how helpless your little 6 month old self can make me feel when you don't sleep. :) Regardless though, some of my absolute favorite times are rocking you to sleep and seeing your sweet little sleepy face.

This month we stopped swaddling you. It was a rough day or so, but I think it was the perfect time. Your startle reflex is gone and you look so cute all stretched out. In the beginning you liked to sleep on your stomach, but now you always just turn over and sleep on your side, like your daddy. And I think you're actually sleeping better now---and definitely taking longer naps--now that you're not swaddled, because you can turn over and go back to sleep when you wake up. You take all of your naps at home in your crib, with the exception of a very occasional one you take in my arms, and you always start the night off in your crib, with your little night light and sound machine on.j

Your little routine has gotten a little rocked this month, sweet boy. We've been gone a lot and out a lot and there's just been a lot of abnormal activity this month because of the holidays. I've been trying to just help you sleep wherever we are and not stress too much. You seem to be doing pretty well with it--and after the holidays we'll figure things out again.

We've also kinda changed up your nighttime routine a little because your nap routine has shifted a little with you taking longer naps. Some days you only take 2 naps, but I think you still really need 3, so we're working on that. Also, we've discovered that now if you go to sleep a little later, you'll also sleep in a little later, until around 9am or so, instead of always waking up at 730am regardless.

So, we've started giving you a bath in the mornings now (which you love because it gives you more playtime!) and putting you to bed a little later so you can see your daddy more than an hour a day. So far so good, but we'll see. Sorry we don't have it all figured out, buddy. We're working on it. :)

This month especially we've noticed that, though you suck your hands (you sometimes put your whole hand in your mouth!) and individual fingers, when you flip your hand over and suck on your thumb, it means you're sleepy. And when you start to bang your head on our shoulder, it also means your sleepy. And, when you hold our face with your hands and suck our chin, it usually means you're hungry. :)

You still don't seem to have any teeth breaking through (though you might because it's so hard to see since you cover your gums with your lips or tongue every time I try to look!), but you are still chewing on anything, especially if it's hard and flat, and putting everything in your mouth.

You've also gotten really interested in your feet this month. Now, whenever I'm changing your diaper, and at other random times too, you like to stick your toes all in your mouth!

You're using your little ab muscles to try and pull yourself into sitting position--and can sometimes do it if you're already at an incline--but haven't gone from laying to sitting yet.
You're not crawling yet, but you're trying hard to figure it out. You get up on your hands and knees some, and your hands and feet more--like you're in plank position! :) You rock some on your hands and knees and you can lung forward and scoot backward some and move yourself all around in a circle.

So, we've definitely got more movement going on than last month. And you still roll over easily when you want to, but not usually continuously to where rolling gets you anywhere.

We gave you a little milk in a sippy cup once, where you had to chew on it to get anything to come out. Santa brought you another one in your stocking, so maybe we'll try it again after the holidays. You seemed to like it! :)

This month we saw the return of the big bottom lip sticking out. So pitiful and so cute at the same time. I think it's because you haven't gotten as much sleep this month as you're used to. Poor little boo boo. But, you looked really cute in all of your Christmas clothes. :)

You giggle still but are kinda stingy with your real laughs--though not with your scream laughs. It just makes it all that much more rewarding and sweet to hear your real little laugh when we do something you think is funny. And yes, you still think your daddy is the funniest of them all!

You like to be on your tummy more than your back now, but still will lay for a while and play on your back if something is interesting to you. Sometimes I just sit and watch you and am amazed at how you're growing and developing when I see you do something with absolute ease that only months ago was SO hard, like reaching and grabbing your rings. One of my favorite moments this month happened a few days after Thanksgiving. I was in the kitchen cleaning and you were playing in your piano activity center and I sat down on the floor to play with you for a minute. There's a little yellow piece on it that turns that you never play with, so I stick my finger in one of the holes on it and turned it and it changed the music. As I was turning it, I saw you watching so intently. Then, when I moved my hand you stuck your little finger in the hole and turned it just like I did. It was SO exciting to see you watch what I did and learn how to do it--that may have been my most rewarding teaching moment yet. :)

You like your paci, but really only in the car or when you're trying to go to sleep. Other than that, it's just a toy or something to play with, which I'm really ok with. I'm hoping that means it won't be traumatic to take away one day.

You still like playing our games with us and make such funny noises when we put our fingers up to your mouth.

We've gotten together a couple of times this month with other parents/babies and you're so cute. You're not quite able to play with other babies yet, but I still love seeing you with all of your little baby friends playing in the same proximity as one another. :)

And...on December 21st, just 4 days before you turned 6 months old, you got your first taste of real food! Big boy! I was nervous about it,and a little sad because it makes you seem so old and it means things are changing, but it seemed to be a good time and you seemed ready for it. You however, did not seem to love the actual tasting of the bananas. And you (understandably) seemed very weirded out by the texture of something other than milk in your mouth, and the whole closing the mouth and swallowing it--though you definitely did eat some! Hopefully the next food we taste will be something you like better. :)

And, last but not least, this month we penciled in "Dada" as your first word! You say it all the time now and it is precious! You have since then said "Mama" once or twice and like to babble "bababa" and "blah blah blah" a lot too.

This has been SUCH a fun month, sweet Aedan. I have been looking forward to Christmas with you since before you were born and it did not disappoint. :)

I love you so much, precious boy. You make our lives so sweet. I'm beginning to understand more about our parents and their love and thinking more about God and Jesus and his love, the longer we parent you. Thank you for changing us and making us grow and making us better.

Christmas, Speights style

2011-12-27T10:54:00.001-06:00

The day after Christmas we spent doing Christmas with Landon's side of the family. Landon had to go into work that morning, which made for a long day for him, but it was fun to celebrate with family again. We met some of his extended family for lunch at Saltgrass Steakhouse to kick off the day and then headed back to his parent's new house. Pretty soon after we all got there, it was time for presents. Then, we just had a lazy afternoon hanging and making dinner and setting up his dad's new Christmas present. It was a fun, relaxing day and a really nice way to end out Christmas celebration!

Abagael and Aedan had the biggest stacks of presents, so we let them begin opening a few before everyone else did.

His mom had made her yummy wassail for us to drink.

And, all of these pictures are thanks to Logan, my brother in law, because I pulled out my camera, all ready to try out my new diffuser, only to find that I left my card in my computer the night before.

Abagael got lots of fun American Girl stuff for her doll, Kit.

Will and Baby joined us for this Christmas

Abagael enjoying her first magazine from her National Geographic Kids magazine

GramPam and Pepaw got a fun book from Abagael from their time at the American Girl store.

Landon's new Ironman frames--we finally have somewhere to hang his pictures and medals!

Aedan got lots of fun new toys and clothes and had a good time opening presents with his Aunt Eli

I got 2 new pieces of china to add to our collection

Bubble wrap is so fun!!

All ready for our Christmas dinner!

Aedan played with some mashed up banana while we ate :)

We also got to spend some fun time hanging out with cousins at Doug and Jana's house

cutie Ryan holding Aedan

Aedan with his great uncle, Doug

sweet cousins

And, the boys all pitched in and got their surround sound and TV all hooked up and working right--Aedan even joined in the fun!

Sleepy boy, all ready to go home! It was a fun, but tiring holiday season for this six month old! :)

Christmas, Newhouser style

2011-12-26T13:00:00.001-06:00

This year we celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas eve, but did everything we traditionally do on Christmas day. We all showed up mid morning to a house filled with the Christmas songs of Raffi, banana breads baking in the oven, a gumbo on the stove and stocking and presents ready to be opened. It was the first Christmas with our baby, the first Christmas with Ashlee in the family and the first Christmas with Matthew in his new apartment and my parents with the house to themselves. And, this year we all drew names and gave one present and then compiled the rest of whatever we wanted to donate and bought some things through World Vision. So, there were a lot of firsts--things were different, but still the same, which I love. We opened presents, relaxed a little, ate lunch, chose what to donate to World Vision and then went to the Christmas eve service at church. All in all, a great day.

my mom putting the finishing touches on all of the stockings

just hanging out, watching the fire

stockings and banana bread

Aedan and Mere, with a new little teether Santa brought him in his stocking

presents!

Aedan's pile of presents was the biggest of them all!

He liked pulling out the tissue paper!

I love the little baby Toms!

me and my sweet baby

Landon got a cool speaker from my mom. It's already installed in our house and works great.

the happy newlyweds

This pretty much captures what life at my parents house looks like a lot of the time. Aedan is one loved little baby.

He loved his new little blanket and pillow from my mom--it's SO soft!

This year we did a fun white elephant ornament gift exchange--we got some cute ones!

Yummy food! And the table looked so pretty.

Aedan thought the nutcrackers were so fun! :)

After cleaning up and a quick nap (at least for Aedan and I!), we headed out, braving the cold and rain, for the Christmas eve service at church. It was really nice. I always love going back the the church where I grew up and I love Christmas eve services--the Christmas songs, the reminder about what Christmas is really all about, the candle lighting. It was a wonderful way to the the night.

showing off the grandbaby to their friends

the guys taking a mock picture, since the rest of us were taking a long time getting there.

handsome brothers

sweet baby

the whole family (somehow as we were taking this picture about 15 people crowded around the guy taking it and were all yelling and making noise to try and get Aedan to look. It was a spectacle, ha. That's why we all look like we're laughing. :) But, at least Aedan's looking!)

Then, on our way home, we stopped by Landon's extended family Christmas for a little bit to deliver presents and let Aedan see his great aunts/uncles and cousins. It was good to see everyone and they were so sweet to buy him some little presents.

Happy

2011-12-25T23:53:00.000-06:00

Happy half birthday, baby boy.

You light up our lives!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T01:27:00.000-06:00

Love,

Landon, Aja and Aedan

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T23:10:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Jesus

2011-12-21T20:01:00.000-06:00

This Christmas, probably because six months ago I gave birth to a little baby boy, I find myself thinking about Jesus' birth a lot more than I ever have in the past.

I find myself thinking about what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph. I wonder what it must have been like for them, being away from home with no where to stay. I wonder what she must have been feeling, as she felt her labor beginning, not knowing exactly what was about to come but knowing that their baby was about to be born. Knowing that the son of God was about to be born.

I wonder what it was like in the moments following his birth. I can only imagine they were filled with as much love for their baby as we were for ours. But how much of what was happening did they know and how much were they able to comprehend about what God was doing by having his son come down to Earth as a tiny, helpless baby? What did it feel like looking at this little baby and knowing that he was the son of God? And what was it like to watch him grow, celebrating each little thing he learned how to do, knowing that this baby was God's son? What was Jesus like as a baby, as a child? I look at Aedan and sometimes can't believe that our God chose to come to Earth as a baby, someone so helpless and vulnerable.

And I find myself thinking about the reality of his birth. The son of God was born in a stable, in a manger. I was quietly singing "away in a manger" to Aedan the other day as I rocked him to sleep and started really thinking about that. I've thought about it before, but for some reason, having a little baby boy in my arms made it much more real. God could have made it to where his son was born in a palace, into a life of luxury. He could have chosen for him to be born anywhere. And, he chose Mary and Joseph. And he chose a stable filled with animals. I think about the comfy place where I gave birth and how my son came into this world and the relative life of luxury he lives in and I think that Jesus' birth was probably a lot more like that of Olivia, one of my little 8th graders who gave birth last year to her baby boy in the middle of the night at Ben Taub.

And I keep thinking--why? I have a lot of maybes, a lot of guesses, but I don't really know for sure. But I do know that it was on purpose, to send a message, to make some things clear. And I keep thinking--what should I make of it? What do I take from it, from the fact that our God chose for his baby to enter the world like that? It reminds me that I need to look at people with fresh eyes, to try and see them as God sees them. It reminds me that Jesus' life and birth were probably a far cry from what I know as normal. It reminds me to not get too comfortable, to not judge by human standards, to realize that all is not always as it seems, that God's perspective and plans and ways are often so very different from mine.

And I don't want to forget that. And as we raise Aedan and teach him about God and about Jesus, I don't want to gloss over the story of God sending His son down to Earth to live with us. I don't want it to be a simple, cute story about a baby born in a manger, a story that might make someone think--awww, how sweet. Because I'm pretty sure it wasn't. I think about giving birth in a stable and I don't think there's anything simple or cute about that. And I think about giving birth to the son of God in a stable and I know there's nothing simple or cute about it. But powerful--YES. The fact that God's son was born as a baby, in a stable, to a young, unwed mother, and the fact that God chose for it to happen that way--when I really think about it--it gives me goosebumps. That's powerful. That was something that changed the world. That is still changing lives. And I don't want to ever get so comfortable in my life, so wrapped up in finding the "christmas spirit" in gift giving and decorations and Christmas music and all the other things this holiday is filled with, so into myself and my family and my life, that I forget the truth of what God did for us.

I want the story of Jesus' birth to make me uncomfortable. I want it to remind me to stop trying to fit God into my mindset, my perspectives, my middle class life--and to let it mold me more into who He made me to be. I want to let it to get me out of my ruts, out of my comfort zone, to let it help me love better and love stronger, to let it remind me of what really matters and to let it compel me to share God's love and His story with everyone around me.

As I look into the eyes of our precious baby boy, our perfect miracle of a gift from God, I pray that he always reminds me of Jesus. And I pray that as our precious baby boy looks to Landon and I, we do the truth of God's story and His crazy love for us justice.

December in Texas

2011-12-20T11:29:00.000-06:00

We're pretending it's fall around here...

...even though Christmas will be here in just 5 days!! :)

It's Party Time!

2011-12-19T12:28:00.001-06:00

We kicked off the holiday season this year with a fun "minute to win it" Christmas party at Emily and Michael's house--it was a fun evening and SO entertaining to watch people play the games. I had baby and camera duty. :)

Then, 2 weekends ago we celebrated this cute little one's first birthday! Happy birthday, Jack!

That same weekend, we also celebrated the Christmas season with a potluck style Christmas party with our class from church at James and Tiffany's house! It was a fun, busy weekend!

Then, we wrapped up our party season with our small group Christmas party at David and Cynthia's. It was such a nice night--about half of our group was there, so it was a smaller group and we all just sat around and ate and talked and played with the babies. We are so blessed to have these guys as our friends. I forgot my camera that night though, so all I have are a few pictures from my phone, mostly of Aedan. :)

Merry Christmas!

fruit and veggie talk, Aedan style

2011-12-18T10:13:00.000-06:00

Aedan says...

...eat your fruits and veggies!

This is what we're eating this week! Yummy--lots of variety this time! :)

And last week I thought we lost all of our veggies in the garden when it froze because we forgot to cover it! I almost cried when I saw that everything was frozen, ha.

Amazingly though, the sun came out, the ice melted off and, with the exception of a few leaves here and there, everything was just fine.

It's so cool how God makes some plants able to withstand cold and ice so that we can keep eating them all winter. :)

Recipes

2011-12-17T22:28:00.000-06:00

I just thought I'd share a few new recipes I've tried out recently, since eating dairy/soy free. Both were super yummy!

Thanks to my awesome mom for finding this recipe and making it for me on Thanksgiving! And--since I can eat eggs, I went ahead and added 2 eggs to the recipe to make it less crumbly, but I'm sure it would be great without them too!

Vegan Pumpkin Cranberry Apple Pecan Bread from http://www.joythebaker.com

makes two 9x4x3-inch loaves (and it freezes well!)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, or just under two cups
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup water
1 cup chopped pecans plus 8 pecan halves
1 heaping cup fresh cranberries
1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored and cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour two loaf pans (mine are 9x4x3) and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and water.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all of the ingredients together. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl well, finding any stray flour bits to mix in. Fold in most of the chopped pecans, cranberries and apple chunks.
Divide the dough between the two greased pans and arrange pecan halves on top of each loaf. Sprinkle loaf with cinnamon and granulated sugar if you’d like. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Let rest in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Cool completely before slicing. Slice into thick pieces and serve. Maybe even wrap one loaf up in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for future munching.

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Chicken & Shrimp with Orzo from http://www.mspimama.com

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 14-1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, or diced tomatoes with onion and garlic
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 cup port wine or chicken broth
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 8-oz. pkg. frozen, peeled, cooked shrimp, thawed and drained
1 9-oz. pkg. frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and coarsely chopped
2 cups hot cooked orzo

Rinse chicken; pat dry. Cut chicken thighs into quarters. In a 4- or 5-quart crockery cooker place the onion and garlic. Top with the chicken pieces. In a bowl combine the undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, wine or broth, lemon juice, bay leaves, salt and crushed red pepper. Pour over all.

Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. Remove bay leaves. Stir in shrimp and artichoke hearts. Cover; cook for 5 minutes more. Serve chicken and shrimp mixture over hot cooked orzo.

Happy eating!

Friday Baby Love--5 months, 2 weeks, 4 days old

2011-12-16T07:37:00.002-06:00

Love my new flash. Love my thoughtful husband. Love my precious baby. Happy Friday!

Embrace The Camera

2011-12-15T09:25:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday night we left Aedan for the first time (not counting an hour or two once or twice here and there) for a date night to Landon's work Christmas party. We had fun just the two of us--the time absolutely flew by! And at the end of the night, we were glad to have our sweet little munchkin to come home to!

It's workout time!

2011-12-14T09:23:00.000-06:00

Life lately...

2011-12-13T12:04:00.000-06:00

Last night Landon and I had an impromptu at home date night and watched Country Strong after I put Aedan to bed. Oh my goodness. It was so depressing. I knew it was supposed to be sad, but it was still different than I expected. It was a good movie, but kinda a downer. Still a fun night with Landon though.

I finally got my Christmas decorations put up yesterday and I love it. It makes the house feel so nice and cozy and like it's finally Christmas. I'm collecting ideas for some fun Christmas tree shots to take of Aedan this week. Landon bought me a new flash for my camera and gave it to me as an early Christmas present and I'm in love. It makes SUCH a difference in the lighting! It was something I didn't even think to ask for, but so perfect. Thanks for knowing me so well, babe. (This picture was not take with the new flash however--it was taken with my iphone, ha! :)

Speaking of picture ideas, I finally caved and joined Pintrest on Sunday night. I've been putting it off because I've heard it's a total time drain and honestly, I don't have time to waste like that, but then I saw a really cool picture idea someone posted from pintrest (thanks, Morgan!) and Landon clicked on it and we found some other cool ideas and I was hooked. It's a nighttime only, after Aedan is in bed, thing for me though. I have a rule for myself that I'm only allowed to be on my computer when Aedan is awake if I'm doing something that's a necessity and I'm not allowed to be on my phone just browsing the internet etc while I'm nursing him or putting him to sleep. I don't want to miss those special times with him because I was reading about someone else's life and I don't want him to always see me on the computer or my phone as he's growing up. I want to really be here with him while he's here. So, that being said, I can see why Pintrest is addicting and I'm trying to limit myself. I've already found a lot of cool stuff though!

Speaking of Aedan, he's so much fun right now. He's sitting up really well and we have a lot of fun playing together. It's crazy how quickly he changes and how much his personality is coming out already. One of his newest things that cracks me up is that he's started to cry/fuss if I do something he doesn't like. For example, if I take away something he shouldn't be playing with, he'll start to cry in protest. Or if he wants me to pick him up or sit and play with him and I smile at him and walk past him, he bursts out into the most pitiful little cry. It's so cute--and it gets me almost every time. :)

Some of my favorite times with him right now are early Saturday mornings. When he was little I used to be sad that I couldn't sleep in on Saturdays anymore, but now that my expectations have changed (I don't expect him to sleep past 730am :)), I enjoy our time together. I usually take him out into the living room or his room and let Landon sleep in a little, since I have the option to take a nap every day if I wanted to (in theory) and Landon doesn't.

He's up with me for a few hours and then back down for a nap. Some days I crawl back into bed at that point too, but some days I take advantage of the quiet, still house--for some reason I LOVE it when everyone in my family is sleeping; it just makes everything feel so peaceful--and some days I stay awake and get a few things done. I don't know why, but just having Landon home, even if he's asleep, changes the whole mood of the day and makes Saturday feel different, more fun, than the week days. And how can I be sad about having to get up early if it's this sweet face in cute little pajamas that greets me?

He's all about practicing his moves these days. If he's still, I know he's getting sleepy. Because otherwise he's rolling over, getting up onto his hands and knees or hands and feet and rocking, scooting backwards (and forwards with a little assistance) and doing some crunches to get his abs strong enough to sit up. I could just sit and watch him all day.

(I love this little outfit--it's the first thing we bought for him after we found out we were pregnant and I can't believe he's old enough to be wearing it now!)

Does he just look way to little to be up on his hands and knees to anyone else or is it just me?? I don't know if I'm ready for him to be that old yet!

This past week was a little different for us because three out of the five weekdays, Landon didn't get home from work until after 8pm. I know life is still crazy for him at work this week, for other reasons, but I'm thankful that, so far, it looks like he won't have to work late at least.

While Landon was at work all last week, Aedan and I pretty much stayed at the house as much as possible. We didn't have a single thing we HAD to do, so I decided to take advantage of that and spend some time working on helping him to sleep--and sleeping without being swaddled. He was fighting it and it just felt like it was time, even though I knew it was going to be hard. I tried a couple of months ago to stop swaddling him and his startle reflex was still there in full force, so he kept waking himself up. This time, it took him a few days of naps to get used to it, but he seems to be sleeping much better. And he can move himself to his side or tummy to sleep, which he seems to like and just move around a little in general to get comfy. It's cute to see him sleeping all sprawled out now. :) At first I tried to swaddle him with one arm out, but that did nothing, so then I moved to 2 arms out and by the third nap of the first day was just covering him with a blanket. And for the first 3 days, it was a battle to get him to sleep and to sleep longer than 30 minutes. I'm pretty sure I cried on more than one occasion, ha. But, I'm happy to report now that he's (almost) back to taking consistent hour and a half naps--and has even taken one that was two and a half hours, because he was able to turn over and go back to sleep when he woke up after an hour or so. And, he's sleeping longer stretches at night too, which has been a nice perk. So, I think we're on a good path.

We also started putting him down at night in his crib on Sunday, because he was just getting too long for the bassinet. He likes his crib and his room is so warm and cozy so I enjoy putting him to sleep in there, but I'm not gonna lie. I'm a little sad to not have him in our room with us anymore. I liked having our whole little family together at night. But, it's also nice to have some time with Landon. I think I'm equal parts happy and sad. But, I am happy that he's sleeping well because I know that's good for him.

On a totally different topic, Aedan and I were at Target the other day doing a little Christmas shopping. He was sleeping, and had been for over 2 hours, which was crazy both because he was asleep in a store, which he never does anymore, and because he'd been out for a really long time. I leaned down to check to make sure he was still breathing--yes, I am that mom--and then snapped a picture of him to send to Landon to tell him how well he was sleeping, because my sweet husband had been dealing not only with work stuff all week but also our sleep issues and I thought I'd share something happy.

But, before I could send it to him, something else caught my eye and I got completely distracted and had to take a picture of that instead.

Really? Footie pajamas for grown women? I haven't been to Target in a while so maybe I'm just really behind, but seriously? I showed this picture to Landon that night and he said, "so are you showing me this because you want one?" Ha.

And, just for fun, a picture of my sweet dogs. They really are the best dogs ever. They are sweet and laid back and so, so good with Aedan. I'm trying to figure out how to not neglect them now that we have a baby. I took them to the vet the other day while my mom watched Aedan (they freak out at the vet so I knew I couldn't handle them both and a baby!) and I tried to give them lots of love and attention while we had some alone time. I'm going to try and see if I can manage walking them both and pushing the stroller one day and see if I can take everyone out for a walk, since it's something everyone enjoys--and it'll help Will lose those five pounds our vet keeps telling me he needs to shed!

And lastly, just a picture of me and my sweet boy before church on Sunday in his little mountain man moose outfit. We are so blessed in so many ways and I don't want to ever take that for granted.

Welcome to the world, sweet Parker James

2011-12-12T12:05:00.000-06:00

a boy and his dogs

2011-12-07T07:40:00.001-06:00

Over the past month or so, Aedan has absolutely fallen in love with our dogs. It started with him just noticing they were there. Pretty soon, we'd catch him looking at them across the room and following them with his eyes and head, as they walked across the room. Now, he smiles a huge smile whenever he sees them and loves to pat them and play with them. And, to their credit--they don't seem to mind him as much as they once did. I predict a lot of fun in our future with these three. :)

I think I've got sitting down...

2011-12-06T07:20:00.005-06:00

but man, figuring out how to crawl is hard work!

Reese+Aedan, part 2

2011-12-02T14:02:00.001-06:00

About every 3 months or so, we get together with Blake and Morgan and these 2 get to play. It's crazy how much they grow in the few months that pass between the times we get to see each other--and it's crazy how just a couple of months makes such a HUGE difference, developmentally, at this age!

Every time we get them together, Reese is just a few steps ahead of Aedan--last time it was her ability to hold her head up like it was nothing, while they were laying on their tummies. This time, she was crawling and pulling up to a stand like a pro, while our little guy was doing his best to stand up while holding on to the ottoman. He was pretty much standing on his own, but didn't have the balance part down quite yet, so he was a little wobbly and needed Daddy to balance him :)

We all went out to dinner and then, after both babies cried the ENTIRE way back to our house, we decided just to hang out at the house for a bit and relax. Thankfully, as soon as we got out of the car, everyone got much happier! And, they were both SO much more interactive this time, which was so fun to see. We were entertained the whole night just watching them play and talk and look at each other--they made the funniest faces.

See you at Christmas!!

Five months!

2011-12-02T09:11:00.000-06:00

Hey, Daddy! What does that say?

What? It says I'm 5 months old today?

No way. I don't believe it!

Really? It's true?

I'm getting so big.

Happy 5 months, sweet boy!

Time is flying by, but we are loving our time with you! I know I'll probably be saying this forever, but right now is such a fun age. You're still little, but you're doing and learning SO much. I know you've grown so much each month, but it a lot of ways it seems like you learned and did more in this month than any other so far.

About 2 weeks ago, you became a pro at rolling over. You can do it whenever you want to, no problem. It's the craziest thing how one day something is hard for you and the next you've got it all figured out. You roll over from your back to your tummy all the time now, but only occasionally from your tummy to your back.

I think it's because you like being on your tummy more so you can keep working on figuring this crawling thing out.

And, in the last couple of weeks, you officially made me too nervous to have you in the bumbo with me on the counter while I'm cooking. You are content to sit in it with me for about 5 minutes and then you want out, so you do this thing where you arch your back and throw your arms over your head and I'm just too afraid that one day you'll get too strong and pop your little legs out. So, now you play on the floor or in your piano toy while I cook.

Everything, and I mean everything, that gets near you goes in the mouth. You make me laugh--and also make it to where I have to be very careful about where I put you!

Along with wanting to put everything in your mouth, you also grab everything in your reach. If you're on the floor playing and I walk by, I'll usually feel your little hands reaching out for my feet or my pants. If I'm holding you and open the refrigerator, you'll always grab the handle and want to grab the bottles in the door. You reach down when you're in the sling and want to push the shopping basket with me at the store. You like to help hold the books when we're reading. I like to pretend like you're wanting to help me do things, but I think you're just curious about everything around you. :)

One of your daddy and mine's favorite times of the day is right after we pick you up out of your crib after a nap because you are so sweet and cuddly. You're kinda slow to fully wake up these days and we love it. You'll just lay your head on our shoulder and snuggle a little. It's so sweet.

You've been a really good napper lately. You take three naps a day usually. Most days they fall around 9am, 1pm and 4pm, give or take a little bit. You usually sleep for an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half, but sometimes your middle nap is closer to two hours. This next month though, we're taking away the swaddle, because I honestly think if we can get you used to sleeping without it, you'll be more comfortable sleeping. And because you're starting to fight against it when you're going to sleep. So, we'll see how that goes!

You usually sleep from 830-9pm until 715am and are still waking up some to eat. We follow the same bedtime routine we've been doing since you were a few weeks old--bath, lotion, singing, nurse, rock, sleep--and you usually go to sleep pretty well at night, unless it's really late and you're overtired. Then, it can take you a bit to wind down. I'm curious if you'll sleep better or worse--and whether or not you'll flip over onto your stomach to sleep, once you're not swaddled anymore.

These days you do all sorts of things that make your dad and I laugh and one of them is what you do as you're falling asleep some nights. Sometimes you'll move around and move around literally until the moment sleep overtakes you. Sometimes you'll put your hand over your eyes. Sometimes you'll hit your head with the back of your hand, over and over again. Sometimes you'll fling your head from side to side. Sometimes you'll make this loud, whining sound--it's so cute and so funny at the same time. I love it. And, you're a very tactile baby. As you're eating and as I'm rocking you, a lot of times you'll rub my hand or arm or my face or my shirt. So sweet.

Since the weather's been warmer, we've been able to go out on some walks. I love how you now hold on to the side of your carseat and stroller when you're riding in them. It's the new little things like that that amaze me--you're growing and changing ALL the time.

You have moments where you are so focused and intent on something around you--usually either the dogs or one of your toys.

And just recently you started reaching for toys and reaching down to try and pick a toy up if you drop it. Most times you're able to pick up what you want to, though you don't always get it on your first try, especially if it's something smaller. Your favorite things to play with right now are things that make a crinkly sound--which is usually paper or one of your toys.

You absolutely LOVE the dogs right now. Whenever you see them you stop what you're doing and crane your neck to see them. And you smile so big whenever they walk by you. It's precious. And, sometimes if you're fussy or unhappy the dogs can walk over to you and you suddenly are super happy and entertained. Kinda like having a sibling to play with you. :)

Oh the arch. And that face. Up until a few weeks ago, when people would ask if you arched your back when I was trying to put you in your carseat, I was able to say no. Not anymore. And you're surprisingly strong for a little baby!

You're little feet are finally big enough for the shoes that your Uncle Michael and Aunt Ashlee bought you when you were born. I remember thinking that they looked HUGE and that it would be forever before you could wear them, but here we are. And you're really not that huge yet. You crack me up when I put them on you though--you stare at your feet, like you're trying to figure out what in the world is on your feet.

Your newest trick is to twist your body all around while I'm trying to change you and pull a big pile of burp cloths down on your face. And then, we usually play a little game of peek a boo with them and I sometimes get a little giggle out of you, which totally makes my day.

You love both of your Sophie teethers. The smaller one is your favorite though, probably because you can hold on to it easier. But whenever you chew on it, you get so loud!

You pretty much yell the whole time you're chewing on it. It's pretty funny.
We think it's because of the game we play with you where we hold our finger up to your mouth and you make noise, which is one of our favorite forms of entertainment right now.

The week before you turned 5 months old you got to the point where you could sit up by yourself for a few seconds. And then every day from there we practiced and you got sturdier and sturdier. Now, you're good for a minute or two, but usually topple over eventually---especially if you're reaching for something. It makes you look like such a big boy to see you sitting up like that.

This face is one of our favorite things that you do right now. Those little squishy cheeks are just too cute. And there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for why you make it--but it makes us laugh every time.

You've definitely discovered your feet this month, but the only time you really seem to be interested in them is when I'm changing your diaper. Then, you hold onto them and if you don't have any socks on you like to put them in your mouth.

About a month ago your dad set up your piano play place for you and you liked it but it seemed just a tad bit beyond you. Now, that's not the case at all.

You stomp your little feet on the piano keys, spin around in your seat and play with all of the features. It's so interesting to me to watch you figure everything out--how things spin, what makes noise, how to make music. I love seeing the wheels turn as you discover how things work.And yes, you still only have a little bit of hair. :)

You smile as I sing and dance to the music with you. You pretty much love singing in general--when we sing to you you always get a cute little grin on your face and sometime laugh. Some songs we sing a lot around our house are The Wheels on the Bus, the chica-chica song, You Are My Sunshine, the itsy bitsy spider, Aedan, Aedan bo baeden, the ABC's and a little song I made up when you were a bitty baby that I sing to you when I rock you to sleep sometimes. Thank you for liking singing with me even with my less than stellar voice. :) Hopefully you inherited your Daddy's singing voice and not mine, ha.

Occasionally, if you get sleepy while you're playing, you like to take a little rest in your chair, but so far you haven't ever fallen asleep in it. :)

You're starting to fill out some. You're not a big baby by any means--I think you're exactly average actually--but you're not our little skinny baby anymore. You're getting a little chub in your belly and legs--and you have these cute little folds of skin on your wrists. I love it.

You still love your daddy and love hanging out with him in the evenings. You smile bigger for him than anyone else and no one can make you laugh like he does. He kisses you on the neck and you laugh and laugh. And, you still love to watch the tv, though we rarely have it on when you're in the room.

You've gotten to hang out with all four of your grandparents recently and love them all. I love that.

You still like your paci, but just as much, if not more, you like sucking and chewing on your hands. I'll sometimes see you spit out your paci and stick your thumb in your mouth. You don't really suck on it though, like you did when you were smaller--you more stick it in the side of your mouth and chew on it.

You still love to read your books. And its so much fun now because you'll sit in my lap and help me hold the book and turn the pages and look at what's on each page. Your favorites right now are Dear Zoo, You Are My Sunshine, 8 Silly Monkeys and I Love You Through and Through. We read them multiple times a day and it's some of my favorite times of the day. I love seeing you turn your head and look at the pictures as I'm reading.

You still love to stand. We hold your hands and "practice" walking with you--we help you turn your body and you take little steps forward. I'm not ready for you to be really walking yet though! We talk about that sometimes--how funny it would be to see your little self walking around the room!

This is one of your happy places--lying on your tummy with something to chew on.

Your other happy place is your jumper--you still LOVE bouncing in it. You make me laugh some days because recently, when you get tired you've started laughing, It's cute.

Man, teething (or whatever we've got going on these days...I think we'll get a tooth eventually but I don't see any ready to pop through!) is hard work!

And so is practicing crawling. :) You're figuring out how to get your little bottom up in the air and you're figuring out how to push up on your arms but you can't get them both going at the same time yet. Again though, it's so cool to see you figuring things out. Just a week ago you weren't doing either of those things. You were just content to lay on your tummy and play. Now, it's like I can see in your face that you're trying to figure out how to crawl every time I lay you down.

You're getting so big--it doesn't seem like that long ago that your carseat just swallowed you up! Now, you're around 16 pounds and 25 inches long. We're still working on figuring out your allergy (we're pretty sure you're allergic to milk, maybe soy and maybe (though we hope not because it's not an allergy people outgrow) peanuts. But, you don't seem to be in pain and are still eating and growing, so we're so very thankful for that. You're wearing size 3-6 months and 6 months clothes and you're still in the smallest setting of your regular size diapers. This month I finally boxed up all of your newborn and 0-3 and 3 months clothes and put them up in the attic for the next little one. It was a little sad to be putting them away, but we had to make room for all of the bigger clothes you're growing into!

We love you so much, little one. I can't even imagine life without you anymore. You are such a fun, sweet, smiley baby and you bring so much joy to our lives. I love being your mommy and being with you all day so that I can see all the little and big ways you're growing and changing and figuring this world out. Every night before I lay you down I say a prayer for you and my biggest prayer of all is for you to know and love God more than anything in this world because He is better than anything or anyone else. Thank you, sweet baby, for all of the fun and laughter and ways you make life so, so sweet. We love you more than you know.

Welcome, December!

2011-12-01T17:44:00.000-06:00

Christmas is gonna be F-U-N this year!

days of Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T07:40:00.003-06:00

The week of Thanksgiving was jam packed with friends and family! It was a wonderful week and we were so glad to see so many people, but also glad to end the week with a low key weekend (mostly) at home in our pajamas! :)

Sunday night my family came over for dinner and to hang out with us, I mean, hang out with Aedan.

(Aedan decided to dress for the occasion and wear one of my brother's outfits from when he was a baby!)

Monday night some of our best friends were in town and we had a blast, as usual, hanging out with them and little Reese.

Tuesday night our neighbors came over for dinner. When we moved, the people we bought the house from told us we were lucky to have them as neighbors and they were SO right. They are some of the sweetest, most thoughtful people.

Wednesday night we went to Landon's parent's house to have dinner with his aunt and uncle, who had not met Aedan yet. They were so sweet to play with him all night and it was fun to see them again too.

Thursday morning, Aedan woke up around 715am, as usual, excited to celebrate his first Thanksgiving!

After his morning nap, we headed over to my parents house to help cook the meal and spend time with my family. It was a nice, relaxing day and so good to see family.

On our way home, we drive by Landon's aunt's house, where all his extended family was celebrating Thanksgiving, so we stopped by there for just a minute too, to see everyone in from out of town.

The next morning, after Aedan woke up from his first nap, we jumped in the car for Thanksgiving #2, this time with a shrimp feast and Landon's family. Again, it was a nice day and fun to hang out with family.

Happy first Thanksgiving, little munchkin. We look forward to many more years and many more occasions of celebrating with you!

We miss you, Daddy!

2011-11-28T09:37:00.000-06:00

We got spoiled having you home for four and a half days. :)

Thanks for working so hard and we can't wait to see you tonight!

Thankful

2011-11-24T09:17:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for a group of strong, christian friends we can walk through life with--and for those that have already walked some of the roads I am currently walking down and are willing to share their experience and wisdom.

I am thankful that Aedan gets to know some of his great-grandparents.

I am thankful for sweet baby friends--and their moms.

I am thankful that this little baby that was the size of a prune in my tummy last Thanksgiving is now a healthy (almost) 5 month old boy.

I am thankful for organization. (Now, if only I could get the house to be as organized as Landon keeps the garage...)

I am thankful for sweet baby giggles.

I am thankful for a husband who knows me better than anyone else and loves me despite all of my flaws. He may not be perfect, but I know he's who God designed perfectly to be my husband and Aedan's daddy.

I am thankful for the physical ability to get outside and exercise (and thankful for my mom who will do it with me!).

I'm thankful for my puppies.

I'm thankful that I get to wake up beside this face every morning. I have no idea how two very not morning people got a morning baby, but I feel so lucky that he wakes us so happy every day.

I am thankful for my family.

I am thankful that Aedan is healthy and growing and learning new things all the time.

I am thankful for old friends, who have known me through so many phases of life and are still dear friends.

I am thankful for sweet neighbors. And, I'm thankful for their 7th grade daughter who loves to read and will talk YA books with me, which is probably the only time I even kind of miss teaching.

I am thankful for sleep.

I am thankful that I get to pick this baby up from his nap every day (and all of the other little things about being a mom I didn't know I'd been dreaming about doing forever, until I got to do them and had this weird sense of finally...this is what I've been waiting all this time to do.

I am thankful for Landon. I am thankful that he works so hard and is so good at his job and that he has a job that allows me to stay home and raise our kids. And I'm thankful that he wanted that for our family too.

I am thankful for lazy Saturday mornings with my 2 favorite guys.

I am thankful for laughter (and funny uncles who bring baby mustaches!).

I am thankful for loving parents/grandparents.

I am thankful for our garden and the fun it brings--and how we can see God's care and creativity in everything that grows.

I am thankful for the bond these two share.

I am thankful that Aedan and his future wife already like each other. :)

I could go on and on. We are so blessed, beyond what we deserve. I am thankful even just for the basics--a house to live in, clothes to keep us warm, food to eat, heat and air conditioning, especially when I know most people in our world don't have near as much as we do. I'm trying not to take these things for granted.

Most of all though, I am thankful for our God. I'm thankful that He is real and that He does hear us when we pray. I'm thankful that His word is living and teaches us what we need to know. I'm thankful that His peace that passes understanding is real. I'm thankful that He can heal--physically, emotionally, spiritually. I'm thankful that He is enough. I'm thankful that His mercies are new every morning and that His forgiveness is real. And I'm thankful for His quiet whispers of assurance, correction, teaching, reminding, wisdom and peace. And I'm thankful for the times when I am quiet enough to hear His voice.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Tidbits

2011-11-19T22:50:00.000-06:00

It's Saturday night. Aedan is sleeping and Landon and I are just hanging out. I love rocking my baby and watching him sleep so soundly. I know too soon he'll be grown and I'll miss this time, so I'm trying to soak it all up and enjoy it. I mean, it seems like just yesterday he was this size.

He's changing so much these days. Literally, every day it seems like he's doing or learning something new. On Tuesday he was still working on how to roll over from his back to tummy and on Wednesday it was like something clicked and he can do it like it's nothing now. He can put his paci back in his mouth about half the time he tries. He reacts more and more to us, laughing and smiling and playing. He loves his exersaucer play area. I love watching him figure out how it all works. And it's just the little things. He can now stand all by himself; he just needs us to balance him a little. He can sit himself up if he's already leaning up a little. I could go on and on. I know he's changed so much every month, but it just seems like this month he's learned so much it's crazy.

This week has been kinda rough, sleepwise, for all of us. Aedan was really restless both at nap time and during the night all week. We think he may have been a little congested. And work was insane for Landon, so we were both up later than normal because of that, and because of some projects we were trying to finish up to get a good deal on them. So, we had a lot of late nights and Landon had a lot of long days. By the time we got to Friday, I think we were all really tired. Then, last night Aedan slept like a champ. It was SUCH a nice surprise.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week. I'm excited to see family and excited for the holiday season. Next week we have plans every single day/night. I think it's going to be a little crazy. Hopefully good crazy though and hopefully we can figure out how to do it all with Aedan in a way that works for him.

Eating dairy free has pretty much become normal now. There's just a lot of food that I avoid and if we go out to eat I ask a lot of questions, but it's ok. It makes me not eat a lot of junk that I normally might eat, especially snacky kinds of food, and I have found a lot that I can eat, so it's ok. And as long as I cook at home, which I do for most meals, it's not a huge deal. I will say though, there are some holiday foods I'm a little sad to have to pass up though. But, everything indicates that it's working and his little system is clearing up, so it's totally worth it. We go back to the doctor a week from Monday, so I'm just praying the test confirms that.

This past week has been nice. We have some things we do every week (Tuesday morning ladies Bible class, Thursdays with my mom and Thursday evening dinners with some friends), which I like because it's nice to have a little something on the calendar. A couple of days we just stayed at home all day, which I equally love because it's relaxed, Aedan can take good naps and I can get things done at the house and then we can relax with Landon when he gets home. We usually have a day or two like that each week. And then Friday we ran a few errands and bought a few little surprises for Landon to welcome him to the weekend and to say thanks for working so hard all week. Then, we just had a nice weekend at home, with nothing really on the calendar. I really do think those kind of weekends are the best.

I know I said this in the beginning, and I believed it then, but I think I feel it even more now--I am so thankful to be able to stay home. I don't really need to go into detail, and it doesn't mean it's the right thing for everyone, but for our family it just feels like it works, like it's right. I feel like I'm able to do alot more to help Landon and ease some of his burdens (hopefully he feels the same way...it's what I'm going for at least) and focus on caring for our family and running our home and raising our baby instead of having to split my time and energy between my family and work. And I don't take for granted that we're able to make it work or that I have a husband who wanted it for our family too. I love it.

I still haven't taken Aedan up to my old school to introduce him to my old co-workers. I'm thinking I might make some Christmas cookies and take him up there the week after Thanksgiving. I sometimes miss having co-workers, which I know seems silly. But still, it'll be good to see them--at least the few that I know that will still be there. And, my school got a 5 million dollar makeover this summer, so I'm excited to see what it looks like now.

Landon starts teaching our Bible class tomorrow. I'm excited. I like hearing him talk and teach and I know he will have good things to say. We're talking about contentment, something I could always use a good reminder about. Hopefully Aedan will be so happy to hear his daddy's voice he'll sit quietly and listen. Or sleep. :)

Inheritance, the final book in the Inheritance Cycle series came out last week so we've been having a reading week at our house. I've been (slowly) reading it and Landon just finished The Hunger Games and is about to start it. I like times when we both have books going, though reading is a lot harder now than before Aedan.

But, since he's asleep now, I'm going to take advantage of the quiet house and get a few more chapters in...

Tiny Prints

2011-11-17T23:19:00.001-06:00

Hey friends! So, if you're anything like me, you'll love what Tiny Prints is offering right now! They're doing a holiday special for any blogger who is interested in receiving 50 FREE holiday cards--whatever colors, style, size etc. that you want! I love it!

And, I love their cards--all the designs are so fun and unique and cheery! And, who doesn't love free?? This giveaway is awesome for everyone. All you need to do is write about Tiny Prints on your blog, fill out this form and then a representative will contact you by the end of the week you submit the form!

These are some of my favorites...I love them all! I also love that Tiny Prints carries a line of religious Christmas cards, along with all of their more traditional cards.

Have fun browsing all of their Christmas cards!

Embrace The Camera: The Texans' little lucky charm

2011-11-17T06:41:00.000-06:00

Ever since he made his appearance in this world, the Texans have been playing pretty darn good! :)

And, last Sunday, thanks to some sweet friends,we got to go back up to Reliant to watch them play. I think it was the first time we ever went and had paid for seats. It was a fun experience--and good seats made it even better! :)

We parked at Landon's office parking garage and rode the train in for the first time--it was pretty fun. Aedan loved looking out the window at everything passing by.

We were pretty sure he wouldn't mind the noises and everything going on and we were right--he loved it! It was too cute--he was just sitting on his daddy's lap, looking around, watching the game, taking it all in. :)

After a bit though, he started getting tired and decided he'd watch the game from a more comfy position. :)

The second half of the game, he sat with me and eventually fell fast asleep, amidst all the lights and noise and slept for most of the remainder of the game. Sweet boy.

Thanks for such a fun afternoon, Wade and Wendi! We enjoying hanging out and watching the game--and it doesn't hurt that they won!

a weekend of thanksgiving

2011-11-16T06:10:00.013-06:00

This past Saturday night, Landon and I had our small group from church over for a Thanksgiving meal together and had such a fun night!

Friday night we got Pei Wei take out and spent the evening getting ready for the party. After we put Aedan down for the night, we cleaned the house and then Landon made this super long table for us to eat at while I made the food we were bringing to the meal. It was so fun to be able to all sit together at one table!

I made my mom's Jalapeno Cornbread dressing, Landon's mom's Cherry-O pie and Landon and I's Rosemary bread. Yum. :) We were laughing because as we finished things up Saturday morning and the house smelled like Thanksgiving food, it actually kinda felt like Thanksgiving.

Then, around 230pm on Saturday, Matt and Jenna showed up to fry the turkeys. I'd never seen anyone do that before, or eaten one that had been fried, so that was a fun experience. He seemed to know what he was doing--no flames or anything, ha. :)

By about 430pm, others started trickling in, some with prepared food and some with food to prepare and before we knew it the house was filled with friends and their babies and delicious smelling food and football and lots of talking and laughing. So fun.

Precious Brooklyn and Fiona were having fun playing in Aedan's piano toy--good to know it does entertain kids as they get older too!

Rachel and Miranda got some practice as a family of four by holding Aedan--Miranda's going to be such a good big sister!

Miranda always plays the piano when she comes over. I love it. :)

The kitchen smelled so good!!

Kayla was so sweet to hold Aedan for a while--we're so glad to have them in our group and can't wait until their little girl is here!

Landon was so smart to just move our living room furniture to the side of the room so everyone still had a place to sit!

Jack and Fiona--sweet friends!

Finally, it was time to eat!

The table was set, the food was ready and everyone had arrived!

Brandon said a prayer for us and then we sat down to eat.

Our little man sat at the head of the table. We wouldn't give him any food so he resorted to chewing on one of the glasses. :)

Everything was delicious--or so I hear. :) All I could eat was turkey, rosemary bread and cranberry sauce, but all that I had was really good, ha. But, multiple people said it was some of the best thanksgiving food they'd ever eaten--I think because everyone brought what they're good at making!

Aedan loves Brandon because he's always making crazy faces at him!

Landon and I are SO incredibly thankful by everyone sitting around this table. God has blessed us more than we deserve.

Little Michael, just chillin' in the swing (and right after this we buckled him in!)

I can't get enough of this baby. I could take his picture 24 hours a day.

About halfway through the meal though, Aedan was super tired and fell asleep on me in the sling, so Emily was so sweet to help us get everything ready for round two--dessert!

We had banana pudding, chocolate chip pie, cherry-o pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie and oatmeal cookies!

We are so thankful for friends who are like family--I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did. (And, doubly thankful for those who were able to stay a little later and help with the dishes--I should have taken a picture because there were SO MANY dirty dishes I didn't even know where to start! And, thankful for those who helped Landon put the living room/dining room back together!)

We'll have to do it again next year for sure!

Then, because we hadn't had enough fun for one weekend yet, we went over to the Felts' house Sunday evening for a Thanksgiving party. We were told to bring one of our favorite holiday treats and an object to represent something we're thankful. So, after the Texans won their game (by A LOT!) and the rest of my family slept, I got to work making some pumpkin banana pudding to take (I had already taken a nap earlier in the day :)).

I love the color of it--it looks so Thanksgiving-ish to me.

We had such a fun night. It was a different group than we usually hang out with, which we really enjoyed. We ate good food and had lots of good conversation. Then, before desserts were busted out, we spent some time going around the room saying what we are thankful for. It was really a neat time. Landon and I said we're especially thankful this year for our friends and for our little baby boy.

Landon brought the touchpad to pull up a picture to represent friends, but we couldn't get it to work. And, we brought the little baby booties we bought for Aedan, way back before we knew him, to represent our thankfulness for him.

The whole group. Thanks so much for a wonderful evening, Emily and Monty! We can't wait for the 2nd annual party! :)

I guess he got tired of jumping...

2011-11-15T06:25:00.003-06:00

Fruit and Veggie talk, part 2

2011-11-14T16:40:00.000-06:00

We're still loving the co-op. Part of me likes it because it just simplifies things--it's one less choice that I have to make each week! And, it's all been good and fresh. And, I have to say--I wasn't sure about those produce bags that are supposed to keep food fresh longer, but I've been using them and haven't had a single thing go bad on us before I could use it. Maybe because the produce is fresh already, but I'm going to keep using them just in case they are helping!

Last time we got grapefruit, apples, oranges, pears, kiwi (SO good!), carrots, brocoli, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers. YUM.

This time we got spinach, arugula, cantaloupe, potatoes, lettuce, squash, cauliflower, apples, pears, oranges, zucchini, cucumbers and kiwi. YUM again.

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Our winter garden is also growing!

I've been trying to read up on when to pick everything.

So far, we've eaten some swiss chard.

I think it is SO pretty!!

We even had enough to give my mom some--I've always wanted to be able to grow enough of something to share!

I think the spinach is also ready to be eaten. I'm going to cook some tonight and see how it goes. :) Broccoli, jalapenos, cabbage, lettuce and kale all need a little more time to grow, though I think some of the lettuce is getting close.

And just for fun, here's a few of our little helper--way too busy enjoying being outdoors to look at the camera. :)

Brain Dump

2011-11-07T21:51:00.001-06:00

It's Monday night and Landon took Aedan with him to Brandon's house for a while to have a guys night. So, I have the house to myself for a couple of hours. I made some dinner, got a few things done around the house and now I'm sitting on the couch, watching The Sing Off and enjoying a little mental break. It's just nice every once in a while to not be responsbile for someone else. But, when Landon and Aedan get home in a bit, I'll be glad to see them and kiss this little face.

I really don't miss teaching, but sometimes I definitely remember with fondness reading with my kids--in their own books, in books I chose, excerpts we discussed from cool writings. It was one of my favorite things about teaching middle school english. Now though, my reading time looks more like this. And I love it just as much. My favorite book to read with Aedan right now is I Love You Through and Through. We read it for the first time last week and it just struck a chord with me. It's a sweet book.

My brother, Matt, just moved into a house with some guys (kinda) close to us. We went and visited him and saw his new place last weekend. So glad we're back in the same city together--I never thought that would happen! (And no, Aedan ususlly doesn't hang out in public in his diaper--he had on his Yoda costume but then decided he didn't want it on anymore!)

My mom still comes over every Thursday. I love it. It's so nice to have some help and have someone to hang out with. I'm so glad Aedan will be close to all of his grandparents.

This is how we do our grocery shopping now. He is so over being in his carseat, unless he's sleeping (which is rare, with so much going on), but still too little to sit in the basket alone. So, he sits on the little "seat" up top with me and rides around, smiling at people as we're shopping. It's pretty cute.

The roomba is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. That's pretty much all I have to say about it. I am in love. It works and it works well and it makes me so happy. Every morning at 830am it starts and and and hour and a half later it returns to it's docking station to recharge. I tell myself, even if I got nothing else done that day, I vaccumed, ha. Thank you, Landon. You are the best.

This baby is growing up before our very eyes. It' so cool to see him do new things and begin to see the wheels turning as he figures things out. I love it. And, I love that this is what I see every day in my rear view mirror.

I'm still struggling to figure out this new life. I love it. I absolutely love being at home with Aedan and feel so lucky to be able to. And I actually love being able to do all of the "home" stuff--the dishes, laundry, cleaning, taking care of family business. I honestly don't mind it. But, I'm still trying to learn how to balance it all, I guess. Some days I feel like I have a lot to do and I get to the end of the day when I'm putting him to sleep and I feel sad because I feel like I hardly even saw him and hung out with him that day. And then some days my day is all about him and I don't get anything else done. I don't know. It's not like life is bad, I'm just still trying to figure out how to run our home well and still be a good mom and wife and I'm not there yet. I'm trying to figure out how to live out the quote tht has always stuck with me--"wherever you are, be all there". When I'm holding/playing with Aedan, I want to be all there and not just trying to keep him content so I can get something done. And when I'm getting things done while he's sleeping, I want to be focused on that and not all scatterbrained with all the things I need to do. Anyone else struggle with this? Any thoughts/suggestions? I keep trying different things and hoping I'll stumble on something that works for us. :)

I think Aedan is becoming a Daddy's boy. He turns whenever Landon walks in a room and looks all around for him when he hears his voice. He almost can't be in the room when I'm trying to nurse Aedan because he just wants to turn and look at his dad. He can be all fussy with me and then when Landon gets home from work, he'll smile and laugh for him. It's really cute.

I'm now one week into eating completely dairy free. For a week, I thought I was eating totally dairy free, but come to find out, milk protien is in SO much more than I thought it was. I've since then learned all the different names of ingredients that are in fact milk protien, but not specifically called that, and become a major label reader. Dairy is in SO much that I would have never thought it would be in. The first day I discovered this, I don't think I ate hardley anything all day because it seemed like everything in our house had milk in it. But, I'm game planning and figuring out what I can eat and it's ok. Cooking meals isn't a problem--I can easily cook dairy free. What's been hard is finding easy things to eat during the day that are filling because I don't have time, with Aedan, to be cooking myself 3 meals. And eating out, or eating at other people's houses is hard. I have become that person who asks about everything. For example, did you know that Wendy's butters their buns? We grabbed a quick meal there before heading to the Texans game on Sunday and I'm glad I asked. That's the kind of stuff that's hard. Anyway, just for fun, my current menu includes: veggies, fruit, fish, chicken, vegan bread, Sara Lee turkey (the only kind of lunch meat without milk by products as a filler--which I find kinda gross to think about), Smart Balance buttery spread, cheerios, Kashi cereal, Tostitos Natural chips, quacamole, salsa, veggie burgers, Coconut milk, So Delicious coconut milk ice cream (surprisingly good!), tuna, pita bread, hummus, corn tortilla, beans, rice, spaghetti sauce (some jar kinds are ok, but not all), pasta and fruit smoothies. So, there are definitely things I can eat--it's just figuring out what they are and how to make meals out of them. It's been kinda stressful, especially before I started really figuring out what I could eat and what I couldn't, but if it helps Aedan, I'm happy to do it. I'm just praying 3 things--1. we know he's allergic to something, but dairy is just our best guess. I'm praying that this is what it is, becasue if it's not, it's harder to nail down exactly what he's allergic to 2. that he's not also allergic to soy, like some dairy protein intolerant babies are (for both of our sakes, because soy really IS in pretty much EVERYTHING) and 3. that he grows out of it. It takes 1-1.5 weeks for the dairy to all be out of my system and another 1-1.5 weeks for it to all be out of his, so in theory, when we go back to the doctor in 2 weeks, they should be able to re-test and see if eliminating dairy is working.

A while ago my brother loaned us his Vitamix blender and the thing is awesome. I've used it to make some soups and smoothies. A few times, I added some spinach to my smoothies--it looked really green, but actually tasted pretty good. Now that he's in his new place, I've got to give it back and go back to my old blender. Sad day. And, on a totally different note, seeing this picture makes me so glad I did my 70.3 BEFORE getting pregnant, because it like a REALLY long way now!

Italian booties

2011-11-05T06:50:00.004-05:00

A year and a half ago, Landon and I went on a Mediterranean cruise. At that point, we were just starting to maybe start talking about having a baby. Really, a baby seemed like such a far off dream at that point, but we still thought it would be fun to buy him/her something from Europe, since we probably wouldn't be back any time soon! Towards the end of our trip, as we were in Florence, Italy, we spent a little time walking around a market. And, we spotted these little booties and matching mittens and just couldn't pass them up.

A couple of days ago, when it finally got cooler here in Houston, I pulled them out and hoped they would still fit. Much to my delight, they did--with a little room to grow!

And, I just had a moment, seeing our baby there in those little booties, where it hit me that our dream of a child that we had as we bought those little booties, is now a baby I'm holding in my arms.

God is so good. It truly is miraculous that He is the creator of life. Sometimes I have a hard time even wrapping my mind around that.

But, I am oh so thankful that we serve such a miraculous and powerful and loving God.

Embrace the Camera:Then and Now

2011-11-03T16:23:00.001-05:00

        Then
       June 27, 2011

           Now
November 02, 2011