Photo Contest – WANT TO VOTE FOR OUR SON?!

Yes, I have entered our son into a photo contest. (HAVE YOU SEEN HIM?!?!)

Yes, I feel a little silly about it.

Yes, I think he could totally win! (Of course I do)

But to do so…..he needs your votes!!

If you happen to have a few minutes free in your day (and over the next week until May 27th) and are trying to figure out what to do....please click on the link below or click HERE and vote for Henry and ignore the other hundreds of cute kids!

http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/1313267

Henry thanks you all and promises when he is a famous baby model he will not forget everyone who helped him to get there.  

I am so that mom.

My First Mother’s Day

I loved my first Mother’s Day. 

There were no gifts; just a cookie monster card.

No fancy meal; just some tasty Mexican food.

The day was pretty much like any other Sunday in our house.  Henry & I played outside a bit while T. was at work.  Henry & I shared a bunch of cuddles, smooches, and smiles. 

Mixed in with the happy times there were also some grouchy times and it wasn’t all perfect (like when someone got up at 7am!) but that is why the day was PERFECT.

The day symbolized our new life as a family and my new role as a mother.  A role that I could have never truly imagined just how much it would change my life.  A role that I will happily take through both the grouchy times and the happy times.  A role that I am honored to have.

It was another reminder that THIS is my life now. And I love it. 

EVERY single day is special to me and I am so thankful to be Henry’s mommy.

I have days that are frustrating as a mommy and days that are easy.  But no matter what, nothing changes the fact that this little boy is my son and I am his mother and he is THE BEST thing that has come into our life. 

Mother’s Day, like every day to come, makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have this special little man in my life.

 Outside on Mother's Day

 He is being ornery....see what he is doing with his hands!!

And to my own Mom.  You know this and it goes without saying but I will say it anyways….I love you and you are an amazing mother.  I appreciate now more than ever all the sacrifices you have made for me, especially early on and I will forever be grateful for everything.  Thank you for being such a wonderful mother.

Camera Phone Pics

So because my phone was new a new model in I think 2006 and I have had this phone for well over 3 years my camera phone is not the best nor does it have great memory so this weekend was that monthly time to delete the old camera phone pictures to make way for the new ones!

So I decided to share.  Enjoy!

(While I am not sorry for constantly shoving pictures of my son on everyone who wants to look at my blog, I am sorry for not having more blog posts other than him.  I swear I have some coming up, I just have not had time to finish them....but they are coming!  Until then, you just get more pictures of my 8 month old darling boy!)

 Going for a walk!

 His favorite place to be....because he gets to eat PUFFS and cheese!!

Mr. Smiles. 

Bath time is his second favorite place to be.....what a ham for the camera. 

Mom, really again with the camera.....I must concentrate when eating puffs. 

 Look at his belly :)

This is how we now find him when he is in his crib.  

Where is my tiny little boy?!  Not in this bed! 

Just so you don't think he is always happy.....proof that he does have an attitude and gets angry!  Believe me when I say I see this face EVERY night, especially when he doesn't get his way or is tired. 

(Look at that pout!!)

We are going through the "must always be touching mommy or else I cry" phase.  sigh

I love seeing what he does in the video monitor.....

 ALWAYS standing now.

Sitting up and then falling asleep in the sitting position.....heehee!

Another falling asleep in sitting position!

Daddy and Henry!

I Don't Want To Look But I Can't Seem To Look Away!

I am sorry to scare you!!

I know the main story is and should be whether this mom let her little girl go in a tanning bed. (CLICK HERE for the full story) If she did, she should totally be punished.  But lets just go with the fact that the courts are taking care of the legal stuff and talk about the big bronzed elephant in the room that the news people don't seem to be talking about!!

LADY, WTF HAPPENED TO YOUR SKIN?!?!?!

That is crazy.  At first I thought it was a joke....but alas, it is not.

This women should scare EVERYONE away from tanning and should be the poster women for why tanning is bad.  Granted, most people don't get this bad, but holy crap!

I can't even look at her without wondering the following:

(1) Does she thinks this is attractive?

(2) What does her skin feels like?

(3) How often does one have to tan to get that natural looking tan?

(4) Is she being tested for skin cancer?

WOW.

I mean....WOW.

(I apologize to all me readers for posting this picture....it isn't pretty!)

HDH - 32 Weeks....When Did That Happen?!?!

32 weeks old today.

STATS: (As of March 23, 2012)

Weight: 20lbs 3oz (4 weeks ago)

Length: 27.5” (4 weeks ago)

Clothes: 9 – 12 months

Shots: All up-to-date!

Food: Each day he has – 22oz Milk, 3oz oz fruit, 3 oz Veggie, 6tbsp oatmeal, occasionally an extra tbsp applesauce in his oatmeal, just starting to test out puffs, cheese and foods with a bit more texture. (eh, he just likes to play with them) 

Naps: He naps from 1-2/2:30pm and then an evening nap from 6:30 – 7:15.

Sleep: Has bottle at 9 and falls asleep around 9:30 in his crib and is in there till about 9:30am.

..........

Oh my goodness, our son is changing so quickly and growing SO fast.  Literally, growing so fast he is growing right on out of his 9 month clothes!!  Dude, you are a monster.  He is already wearing 12 month clothes.  (I love it!)

This time really flies.  Have I mentioned that before?!  Oh yes, only like ALL the freak’n time.  But really, every week it seems like something about him changes or he has learned to do something new.  It is truly exciting.

So what is new:

- Sitting = Accomplished!  Yep, he is a professional sitter now.  Good job Henry!  He loves to sit and he figured out this week how to put himself into the sitting position from the laying down position.  It is funny seeing him SIT in his crib. (And yes, the crib has been lowered!)

- Babbling = CHECK.  The boy has been talking up a storm lately, especially in the evenings.  He will just carry on this conversation with you that is very philosophical and deep….just like his daddy ;)  Through his babbling you hear words like “Mama”, “Dada”, “Hi” “Hey” but until he can repeat them on demand (which he can’t do), we don’t consider them his first words.  However, it is surprising when all of a sudden you hear something that sounds just like “mama”….it totally catches you off guard!  And the “mamamamamama” sound is always used when he cries. Convenient baby, convenient :)

- Mimicking = CHECK. He loves to mimic, usually in the form a scream or something vocally.  He does also mimic blowing raspberries and pounding on things.

- Laughing & Smiling. = HELLS YEAH!  This boy has an awesome laugh….and the best part is he loves to laugh!  THE. BEST.

- Crawling = Almost!  I call it dead man crawl.  He uses his upper body and part of his lower body to get where he wants (one leg drags the other pushes!!).  He is pretty fast and can turn quickly! (so hilarious to watch)  And while he can get on all fours and move back and forth, he just isn’t ready and hasn’t figured out how to crawl. 

- Standing = Getting there.  He tries to pull himself up, and with just a little assistance from us he can do it.  He is standing, eh…leaning, against things to help him stand.  But he is trying to pull himself up.  I am sure it will be soon as this child is strong!

- Drinking out of a sippy cup = Working on it.  It is still a bit of a toy right now.  He can drink out of it, but he is not very good at it and makes a mess and chews on the top.

- Teeth = NOPE.  Not a one.  We thought one was coming in this week as his drooling went from leaking faucet to busted pipe and he is chewing on EVERY THING in site.  But still haven’t seen anything.

Favorite Things:

·         Laughing

·         Kicking things

·         His suk (pacifier)

·         The ON DEMAND channel on TV. (huh?! Yep. Silly boy)

·         Magazines (He gets mad if I am looking at one and he can’t have it.

·         MOVING! The boy can’t sit still.

·         Jumper.

·         Toys….we have cut back how many toys we give him at one time but he loves toys.

·         His bed & mobile.  His bed is HIS place and he loves it, which is awesome.

·         Music

·         Walks in his stroller

·         His Daddy.

Dislikes:

·         Being too far away from me at night (He has a little separation thing going on)

·         Getting his diaper changed

·         Pasta Primavera in Stage 3 foods

·         Straight up formula

Funny story.  We were at the store and he was riding in the front of the cart.  A couple goes by with a little girl in the cart who seems to be maybe 2 months older than Henry.  Henry had his pacifier in his mouth when he notices the pretty little girl.  He instantly spits that thing out and smiles at the girl.  Yep, he is flirting already!!

 Goofy face time!

"Really, mom?!"

I do not think this will be the last time we see this face!

 He loves his Kristen!

 He loves looking at himself (and raspberry-ing himself) in the mirror!

Getting ready for bed, turned into a mini photo shoot :)

Loves playing toys with his Grandpa

 "Really! Iz had no ideas!"

His favorite channel....the On Demand Channel

This was before we purged all his toys!

 Happy baby boy!

 Grandma & Grandpa!!!

 He loves his Grandma :)

I love you Henry!!!

P.S. Of course I had to enter Henry in the Gap Casting call because I think he is just too flipp'n cute!!  You know, just like the 21,000+ other parents who think their kid is just too flipp'n cute :)

And for the record, I never thought I would be that parent who wanted to enter their child in photo contests....BUT I AM and not ashamed to admit it. (I actually want to enter him in more....just looking for legit ones. No really, I am.)

Folks, I want to show off my child to every poor soul who wants to see him or not.  Thank goodness I have social networking sites so I can just stuff all his cuteness onto all my friends!!! (I shall not apologize.)

Henry

Henry is such a happy baby and brightens up our life and the lives of those close to us with his big smile, goofy laugh and silly personality! Smiling is contagious around him!

Click HERE to see his entry.

Friday Funny! Scratch That…Friday Flipp’n HILARIOUS!

One of the BEST things about having a child is when said child thinks you are the funniest thing EVER!  I know in the future, Henry will think I am totally lame and no longer funny (pshhh) so I am soaking it all up now and getting all the giggles I can out of him!

Well the other night I rocked the Improv with my one (wo)man performance.  Henry thought I was WHO-larious!!

I know it sounds like he is crying, but believe me he is cracking UP.  His face was bright red and he was shrieking with laughter.  And what was I doing to get this laughter, just making some random noise and shaking my head. (I know. Genius.)

For the record, I will be taking my act on the road, performing for babies all over the Midwest.  I do noises, I shake my body, eat toes, get noses, and an array of other skits that have babies rolling in their seats. (Literally rolling for some because they can’t crawl or sit yet. Others, only wish they could roll in their seats….someday little ones, some day.)

Please enjoy the videos.  And sorry for the poor video quality, it was on my camera phone (circa 2008) and I wasn’t paying attention to how I was filming.  I can’t do it all folks.

ENJOY!!!!!

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup!

My sister and I will make meals and then trade with each other containers of food.  Last week she gave me a delicious chicken taco soup that was made in a slow cooker. Taco soup IN a Crockpot….you can’t beat that!

The soup really was tasty and a bit spicy! Delicious.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans

1 (15 ounce) can black beans

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer

2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning

3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts

shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

sour cream (optional)

crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions:

Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. (My sister just let it cook all day and shredded it before eating, she didn’t do the 2 hour thing)

Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday - The Face

Is it his: "Why, Hello Ladies" Face or his "Excuse me, I am trying to concentrate on making a poop" face?! You decide. You caption the photo.


Hint: he progressively turned a bright shade of red after this picture was taken. :) heehee

HDH – 6 Months Old!!

Hold on a second, I just need to take in the fact that our little man is SIX MONTHS OLD! He is half way to a year and if this second half goes as fast as this first half has then we need to start planning his first birthday party now!!

It is crazy how fast this has all gone.  C.R.A.Z.Y.

Granted, in the beginning when every night for 4 hours or more he was fussy and crying it may not have seemed like it was going all that fast but looking back at how far we have come in such a short period of time just blows my mind!  This little man who only came into our lives a mere 6 months ago is growing into this little boy who is fun and exciting and starting to develop his own little personality!  LOVE IT.

Ok, enough with me being sentimental, let’s talk about the big boy, shall we?!

A little bit about Henry:

Henry is a fantastic child.  No really, he is.  Am I about to jinx everything, eh?  I don’t think it will change the fact that he is such a WONDERFUL baby.  He is very laid back and calm.  He just wants to observe the world while also playing with EVERY. SINGLE. TOY. he has at the same time!

Henry is also, shall we say active and curious.  The boy loves to move and get into everything and anything he can get his little hands on.  Changing his diaper, getting him dressed, feeding him a bottle all take extra work on our part as he just wants to move the ENTIRE time!  Kick, grab, wiggle….there is no sitting still during the waking hours for this child. 

And he is strong….I am talking baby hulk strong!  He has a basket of toys in the living room that he will grab and dump ON him.  He feeds himself his bottle and good luck trying to take the bottle away before he is done.  You have to fight him to take it from him.  It is crazy just how strapping he is, you don’t think a baby should be able to be stronger than you!!

Finally, this kid is hilarious to watch!!  He is always smiling and laughing.  And he makes these faces that crack us up!  This child is a hoot, and doesn’t even know it yet!!

Some videos for your viewing pleasure:

(These videos are on my phone and since my phone is about 3-4 years old the picture is really dark, even with the flash!  For the laughing videos, hearing him works just fine!!)

Being really silly. (It is hard to see but his suk is in his mouth upside down and he is laughing and smiling with it in his mouth while also jumping!)

Laughing with Aunt K. (similar videos)

Likes:

- He LOVES his jumperoo!  This is THE. BEST. toy he can have right now.  The boy LOVES to move and this thing lets him do that.  He goes crazy in this thing and jumps hard; so much so that you think it is going to break.

 I luvs it mumeez!

Its do lots of tings!

Likes dis...

...ands it has dis tings...

...ands i jumpses in itz...

...itz is amazings!!

- Bath time.

- To be free!  I am fairly certain his motto is: “Do not hold me, I want to MOVE!” followed by some jazz hands.  Even in his crib he must move all around!

 Terry says we bought the Hokey Pokey crib...heehee

- TV.  Yes, we let him watch TV.  He loves it.  What he loves most, singing.  Any singing show that is on he will stop what he is doing and watch them sing.  So maybe Henry will be a singer or in a band when he grows up!! 

 (Watching American Idol with his feet on the entertainment stand. COME ON child, you kill me!!)

Our piano man :)  Mama gets bored by herself with Henry.

heehee!!

- Tags.  If there is a tag on a toy, he will suck that tag rather than playing with the toy.  And his boppy, well that is his favorite tag….he is always wiggling around to get that tag. 

- Getting at his neck and making him laugh. LOVES that.

- Reading!

- “Talking” aka yelling and mimicking the sounds you make.  We call it the parrot game, and he loves when you “scream” and he “screams” back.

- Food!  Yep, he loves to eat.  Surprise, surprise.  He is actually an exceptional eater, only a few times in the beginning did he refuse to eat something (green beans).  But now he eats his food right up, no problems. 

Foods he has tried:

- Rice Cereal

- Oatmeal

- Sweet Potatoes

- Carrots

- Peas

- Peaches

- Bananas

- Prunes

- Green Beans

- Mashed Potatoes

- Apple Juice

 I want to smooch that face...prunes and all!!

Apparently prunes and a clean colon are sexy!

Dislikes:

- Sitting still or being in one place when he is awake for longer than A SECOND!!

- Lotion

- The vacuum.  LOATHES the vacuum or other loud noises.

- Nose sucker…what kid doesn’t, really.

Milestones:

 -Putting himself to sleep.  I am rather proud of this.  We feed him his last bottle at night, burp him, and then lay him in bed with his suk and mobile on and he goes to sleep! He loves to sleep.

- Rolling over and rolling all over the place and getting into everything!

 (Child proofing will be starting very soon!)

- Sitting up!

- And trying to prop himself up on his own…aka high school senior picture pose!

ahhhhhh, we love it!!

Folks, these last 6 months have been the hardest and the best 6 months of my life!!  

And it is all because of this amazing little man.  

We Love you Henry!! 

Extra Pictures:

 All smiles every morning!

 Iz too bigs for its mumeez!

Iz wantes dat.