Hectic Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. The holidays were nice, it was the first time Kristopher met his Uncle Andrew. I am pretty sure they liked each other and it was nice to see Kristopher socialized with his family. His also met his Great Grandpa and his Great Grandma on his Daddy's side. I think the best part of the holidays is not having to work and I can spend whole days with my beautiful son. He is really starting to be on the move. I shampooed our carpet again in preparation for the days that are coming soon of chasing Kristopher around. I think baby proofing also takes on a whole new meaning when you actually have to do it.

I did not brave the Black Friday sales. I know I should have, being a new mom and trying to pinch every penny possible. I just couldn't get up and I couldn't imagine dragging Kristopher around to all the stores when I really didn't know what I was looking for. We did go out later that afternoon and got a few things, tools for Daddy and a coffee grinder for Mommy. I think they are set for Christmas. : ) Oh well, maybe next year.

I hate the fact that we can't spend any more time with Kristopher than we do. I'm so ready for our vacation!! December 29 - January 6, we are also taking the dogs so it will be the whole family and it will be a lot of fun. I am going to get a good night sleep tonight. Oh and one more thing, the Bengals won. They don't have a playoff chance but it is still nice to see them win. So until next time, enjoy!!

Funny Incident

I know, I know another week has gone by. I have been very busy and I know I will only get busier. So I'm going to start off with a funny story, last week Daddy was giving Kristopher a bath, or at least entertaining him until I could get there to finish the bath. I got the water running and measured to the right amount since he's taking big boy baths now and leave the undressing and undiapering to Dad. Well a few minutes later I hear this muffled yell. I can't quite understand if James is talking to the baby or yelling for me so I go investigate. I open the door and I see the funniest thing I have ever seen, Kristopher is laying belly down across Daddy's lap with his poopy butt towards the door and Dad is trying hard not to throw up with a poopy diaper laying on the floor between Daddy's legs. I am laughing hysterically as I go and get wipes to rescue Kristopher from the lap and possibly getting vomited on. I got Kristopher cleaned off and into the tub, still laughing mind you and Daddy hightailed it on out of the bathroom. I think that incident officially scared James from ever taking the diaper off without checking first.

Quick Update

I know it has been a week since I've posted and I apologize. I've been super busy at work and when I get home I am just so worn out. I'm tired but I want to be well awake for Kristopher and enjoy the couple hours with him that he is awake. Then by the time he goes to sleep I still have to get everything ready for him tomorrow to go to the babysitter. So I can try to recap the week as best as I can but my memory is a bit hazy.

So Kristopher is now wobbling on all fours. He is definitely more active and is ready to crawl. I am in trouble because as he is scooting, he is already into everything. He wants into our wires to our surround sound and TV, (which is not good). He also loves the vent covers, I'll hear him banging on them with his hands and I know right where he is. We are mostly babyproofed, gate and outlet covers. I guess we need to get the cabinet locks out since I'm sure he'll be interested in opening our cabinets.

Monday, he took his first Big Boy Bath. A bath with no seat but just 2-3 inches of water in the tub. I was having such a hard time keeping him leaning back in the seat that I thought maybe he is ready to sit up in the water. What do you know, he loves it and is able to play and splash. After a week he is already getting on his belly and going after the many tub toys we have for him. It scares me some that he is so fearless of the water. Was everyone else's babies like this? I just pray he doesn't slip and his head go under the water and it scare him. Of course, I never leave him alone when he is in the tub. I don't even like getting into the vanity which is right next to the tub when he is taking his bath.

I am having to get out the next size up clothes 6-9 months, which is about right since yesterday was his 7 month birthday and he was 17 pounds 6 ounces. I just can't believe it, 10 pounds in 7 months is how much he has gained. His weight gain shows his love for food. He has had now Squash, Carrots, Green Beans, Peas and his all time favorite Sweet Potatoes, all the veggies. So tonight I started him on Bananas. I figured they are the most bland of the fruits and it would be the easiest transition. Of course, he loved it. So far Kristopher has liked everything I've given him. He's also very good at letting you know when he is finished. If he's having a bottle, he just turns his head and refuses to drink any more. If I'm feeding him food, he'll bunch up his bib and start rubbing it all over his face usually succeeding in getting all of the dropped food back on his face. At that point, he's finished.

The pictures are random but are so cute and wanted everyone to see them. I hope everyone is doing well and I just want to warn everyone, with the holidays coming up I may be so busy that I won't be able to post or I may have a lot of down time that I will be able to keep everyone up to date. Well tomorrow is Monday, the beginning of a 3 day work week and then 5 whole days with Kristopher. I can't wait.

Good Ole Sundays

So our Sundays we try to relax and hang around the house and spend time with our little one. Yesterday we or should I say James worked on the backyard. Since our dogs are 300 pounds combined weight, run over the yard constantly the grass has been worn down to nothing. So James tilled the yard in the bare spots and I picked up the rocks that surfaced. We figured out why the grass is so bad too, we have more rocks in our soil than we do soil!! It's awful, our home builder did not take care of the yard at all but oh well. So after our morning of hard work we were able to relax and watch it rain while we waited for our beloved Bengals play. We were kind of dreaded the game but were still hopeful. It proved to be a faithful fan since they beat the Baltimore Ravens 21-7. While we were watching the game we were able to play with our adorable son that continues to amaze us everyday. We read books, played with our toys, gave our dogs a massage and even helped Mommy fold laundry. He's good at folding laundry.

Some of his favorite books are "The Wheels on the Bus", "Baby Baluga" and "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." I think at this point he likes to eat the books rather than read them but I think it is good for him to hear my voice and hopefully it will develop his speech and grammar.

Kristopher is definitely getting around now, as he scoots from one end of the room to another. He is curious about everything and I think it's time to put the baby gate up to block off the stairs. It will be a pain to have to open and close the gate but it will be a must do safety feature. So here is a video of Kristopher crawling or "scooting" rather. He didn't crawl very much but a little. He actually balanced up on his hands and knees this morning. So it won't be long before he gets the hang of actually crawling.

So does everyone remember when I mentioned that Kristopher was a model? I finally got his pictures back and I purchased the DVD so I could share some of the pictures with everyone. There are a quite a few but I wanted everyone to see them.

So I hope everyone likes these pictures. A friend of ours has just opened up her own photography studio, RC Photography at http://www.rc-photos.com/ If anyone lives in the area I'm sure she would love for you to come see her if you would like to get your kids photo taken or even your family portrait.

Well I hope everyone enjoyed this post and more will come soon.

Another Milestone

So Kristopher made Daddy's week by "Dada" as his first word. : ) He said it Monday and now won't stop saying it. Everything is Dada, Dada. He's so funny. He's also decided that he's going to scoot everywhere and be into everything. I know this is only the beginning and it only gets

worse but I'm glad that he's slowly preparing me for the days ahead when I will not be able to keep up with him.

We have also introduced the sippy cup with just a tiny bit of Mommy's Milk but I don't think he got any of it. I think he just chewed on it mostly. He is chewing on everything and rubbing is against his gums. I'll be glad when his first tooth breaks through because I know that's the hard part and it will be over with. I'm sure Kristopher is ready for some chewable food. He's always reaching for Mom and Dad's food whenever we're eating. Well I have been busy this week so I will try to post more in the next couple days. As always, enjoy.

More Updates

So I know I have left a lot of things out since I just started this and Kristopher is 6 months old so I'm going to continue to back track. Kristopher was born at 9:26 am on April 17, 2007. He was 7 pounds 13 ounces and 20 inches long. It is so hard to believe that he used to be so little. He was also 10 early due to my complication. For the women who may still have children, don't every let anyone tell you that bed rest is a great thing. I was on bed rest for 10 days and I could not take it anymore. Being so active made it very hard to sit still and I was supposed to keep my feet up when I was off too. The reason I was put on bed rest was to keep me from going into labor. This would minimize the complications that could happen if I was to start delivering Kristopher and we were unable to get him out immediately or I started bleeding internally. But I am ok now and I have the most beautiful son, I hope I don't sound biased or anything. : ) The picture to the right was taken in the hospital.

He is doing great now and is so funny. He is eating Stage 1 food now and I think he is getting the hang of the whole spoon to mouth thing. To date, he has tried rice cereal (he loves), oatmeal, squash, carrots, and peas. I am only introducing 1 new food every 4-5 days as to see if he has any food allergies. I hope he doesn't develop any because I have a hard time keeping up with his sensitive skin. He has a mild case of eczema. Another day, another story. The next food I will probably introduce will be sweet potatoes and then green beans. He is supposed to try all of the vegetables first before any of the fruits so that he will eat the vegetables and not just fruit due to it's sweetness.

So, his feeding schedule right now is a 6 1/2 ounce bottle about 8:30, cereal and 6 1/2 ounce bottle about 10 or 10:30, a food and bottle at 12 or 12:30 and then another bottle at about 3:30 or 4. The babysitter may then give him another bottle at 5 depending on when she last fed him. Speaking of babysitter, Kristopher's babysitter is the best. He absolutely loves her and it makes me feel good knowing that I am leaving him with someone he feels comfortable with and that I can trust. It's hard bringing a child into the world these days. I will worry everyday he goes to school or anytime he has to ride with someone else besides myself. Today is not the same as when I was growing up. I will not even be able to let him play in the backyard without a fear that a stranger may come into the yard, (we live in a subdivision, which I dislike). It is so scary. So I'm going off talking about nothing. I think that's the point of this though. I hope at least. So Gail, Kristopher's babysitter is wonderful. She also babysits 3-4 other boys depending on the day and yes ALL boys. She reads to them, sings songs with them and is even teaching them sign language. I guess I better brush up on my sign language since I thankfully have not had to use it, yet at least. I could not imagine doing what she does. For a person to babysit out of their home and love it so much is a really special person. I know Kristopher is learning a lot and really enjoys being with Gail and the other boys. Here is a picture of her.

Well we have "Fallen Back" this morning and I still need to get Kristopher's bottles ready for tomorrow so I better get going. So until next time, Enjoy and happy reading!!

1st Halloween

Last night was Kristopher's first Halloween. I know he didn't understand what was going on but he certainly enjoyed looking at all of the kids dressed up when they came to get candy. I was suprised he actually kept his costume on for 1 and 1/2 hours. He was so cute and everyone thought he looked so great. Well we passed out quite a bit of candy but of course still had some left over. That's ok though.

I got his picture taken yesterday in his costume so hopefully that will turn out. He was actually able to sit up in it. I will add more pictures as soon as I get them onto my computer. The pictures were taken by a lady that also used Kristopher as a model. Those pictures turned out great too. I don't know when she will put them on her website but I'll let you know when she does so everyone can see them. He did a great job when he was modeling. Hopefully she will keep us in mind in the future and he can go back and keep getting his picture taken.

Speaking of pictures, I want to thank my cousin Laura for a really great present she gave us. It was a two year membership to JC Penney's Photo Club. It's wonderful, we get his picture taken every 3 months. I figured there is not much change from month to month but every three months you can notice a change. Plus, by the time I get the pictures back from 1 month it's time to get the next month taken. Working full-time does not permit me much time to do that. I'm barely able to do everything I need to do everyday. I'm not going to complain though because having Kristopher was the best thing that ever happened to me. Sorry this is such a short post but I haven't quite gotten the hang of this blogging thing yet. Hopefully I will soon though.