September 8, 2015 by Stephanie

A Baseball First Birthday Party

For George’s birthday, I wanted to do a classic baseball theme. I found these signs at Hobby Lobby last fall (on sale), and that was what started my thought process of the party planning.

I have been collecting things over the past 6 months, and then the past month we made the last minute touches.

So here is a look at our celebration of George’s first year.

Let’s start with the decorations.

These were our centerpieces. I was able to get a pound of peanuts for $2 at our local grocery store. A pound goes a loooong way. Real baseballs were expensive, so I bought these stress balls instead for super super cheap. I think I got 24 for less than I could get one real baseball. We also had sunflower seed bags and Big League Chew gum that people could take. And of course a little Royals flair had to show up.

I really wanted to emphasize how far George has come, so the month to month pictures with the NICU picture was a must. The tags say “Rookie Year.” We made these with our Cricut and a punch out device.

We printed these large architecture prints at Staples for cheap. I took the first baseball one when he was a couple weeks old. The middle picture is one of our favorites, and he was 6 months then. The last one is from his invitation shoot when he was 11 months old. Tom and I made that dugout sign. When George graduates to a big boy bed, we are going to change his decor to a baseball theme, so this will eventually go in there. I will share how we did that later this week!

That mitt is actually a pool floatie that my sister-in-law found online.

I saw this autograph idea on Pinterest, and it was just too cute not to do. We made the sign using our Cricut and a pre-made scrapbooking sheet.

This is the cupcake stand. Tom made this, and I helped with the baseball stitches. I will share this soon too!

This scoreboard is another piece that will go in George’s room. It is a chalkboard sign, so eventually we see George playing with that as his imagination grows.

I found a picnic table cloth that looks like grass so we could do the cake smash on it easily instead of doing a high chair. My SIL got the idea to have a grandstand behind him once I told her about the grass. She found that wall hanging and the blow-up catcher on Zulily I believe.

For the food, we did hot dogs of course, but I wanted it to be pretty low key and easy to prepare. We also had popcorn, a fruit and veggie tray, cookies, Hostess cakes, ice cream, and cake pops.

We made this sign to make it be a “concession” stand.

We had it in our church gym, and the kitchen opens up nicely to add to the concession ambiance.

My SIL has a cookie lady who does an AMAZING job decorating cookies. Seriously, look at those things! We also found Hostess baseball cakes which are on our nicely made baseball theme cupcake stand. My father-in-law found the KC Royals peanut bags at a local grocery store, so obviously we had to have those added! I found the Royals napkins at party store here, and there are also regular baseball ones.

My SIL, the party planner, also has a cake pop lady, so yep these happened.

These were our party favors. I just made balls that say, “Thanks for Coming! Hope You Had a Ball!” I made them in Publisher and printed them out myself. Easy peasy. I got a bulk box of them off Amazon for like 10 bucks.

Since there are a lot of kids in our family, we knew we had to have something for them to do to get all the sillies out. So we had inflatable balls and bats just thrown all over the gym. They had a “ball.”

My SIL found these online in a 12 pack, which covered all the kiddos in case they didn’t want to share. And same with the baseball beach balls.

So I bought this little bloomer outfit when George was like 4 months old, and let’s just say it’s a good thing he only wore if for a couple hours. It was a tad snug. I mean this shirt was just calling my name. Especially when I got it for $4. He wore this after he dabbled in the icing.

Tom made the baseball cake.

Doesn’t the backdrop look awesome?

The nice thing about doing it at the church was that it had an industrial kitchen with a big sink perfect for hosing George down.

This is George’s great-grandma who is 96.

These are George’s only first cousins, one from my side and one from Tom’s. I love that we were able to have them both there!

Yes Tom is awesome for agreeing to match me in these baseball tees that were basically heat traps. Seriously so much sweat…

Tom and I love this little man. We are amazed by him every single day. We are so blessed, and we never knew how much our hearts would grow to let him in. I know George won’t remember this day, but this celebration was also to thank all of our family and friends for being there and supporting us in our first year as parents.

Can’t wait to see where year 2 takes us. We are oh so curious at what big things will happen.

Like talking. George said his first word this week. He said ‘mama!’

We had so much fun putting this baseball party together and celebrating George!

September 7, 2015 by Stephanie

Let Them Eat Cake

The last couple weeks we have been celebrating George turning one, and the fact that Tom and I made it through a year of parenting mostly unscathed.

With George’s ferocious appetite, I think everyone was hedging bets that he would hulk smash his cake.

Which he did.

During our cake smash photo shoot, George didn’t need any prompting.

He dug into that cake the second we set him down.

He had no hesitation.

And he proceeded to eat at least a third of the cake and most of the icing.

This was the George we know and love.

Then yesterday at his birthday party, we saw the complete opposite.

He didn’t want to have anything to do with that cake.

We tried for a few minutes trying to get him to eat it but he just kept getting up and walking away trying to chase his cousin down with icing.

Here are my thoughts as to why the switch:

He was not feeling well. He had been puking all afternoon.
He is teething, so he is kind of all over the place. Also see not feeling well.
He had a huge audience of people he isn’t so familiar with. While he loves people watching, he doesn’t like to perform on command.
He may have remembered that they last time he ate a whole cake that he didn’t poop for 2 days. I would probably stay away from that food too.
George is George, and he does what he wants. The life of a new toddler. They are unpredictable even if you have the best intentions.

But hey, at least we had the cake smash photo shoot from before!

August 26, 2015 by Stephanie

George-12 Months

I had no idea what was in store when I became a mother a year ago.

I still remember all the emotions leading up to the day-the shock, the excitement, the fear, the love. George has been an unpredictable surprise in our life since we found out about him. And his entrance into the world was anything but normal. It seems like it was just yesterday the doctor was telling me we were having this baby today, and here we are a year later with a little boy that you would never know was a month early and spent some time in the NICU.

I just can’t believe how fast it went.

But here we are, on his first birthday.

I feel so lucky to be his mom and to guide him as he grows. (As daunting as it may seem some days…) We have all changed so much in the last 12 months.

His sweet face just makes my heart explode every day.

Weight: He is somewhere around 24 lbs. (I will update his height and weight next week when he has his 1 year check up.)

Health: His teeth fully broke through this month, so we have 6 teeth (four on top and two on bottom). He has had a runny nose for the last week and has been all over the place with sleep, so I wonder if another is coming. He had a weird rash one night too that we think was due to teething. Little man also got his first black eye this month thanks to trying to stand in the bath tub. It was awful. Honestly though, I am surprised that he doesn’t have more bruises with the amount of falling that is occurring. He wants to go every where and climb everything but still doesn’t have the stability to do so. So there have been some bumps and tears.

Diet: He still has a love affair with his food, so much so that he tries to rub it into his belly like it is lotion. He only has two 6oz formula bottles a day (morning and right before bed). At his one year check up, we will talk over how to do that transition away from formula because he still seems like he needs it. He has three traditional meals a day, and several snacks throughout. His favorite foods are blueberries, bananas, beans, pasta, and oatmeal. Anything covered in cheese or tomato sauce is a win. We do have to be strategic on the order of food we give him. If we give him carbs before fruits or veggies, he won’t eat anything else. Also if he sees us with carbs and he still only has fruit, he will just protest and refuse to eat. So he usually starts eating his fruits while we are cooking dinner to avoid it. I have started trying to teach him how to scoop and spear food, but he always tries to turn the spoon like a baton which makes the food fall off on the floor. He doesn’t spit up as much, but we still have some days where his whole bottle comes back up. Now that he has more teeth we have been giving him different textures and things that need more chewing to see how he does. Some things are still off limits because of the choking hazard, but for the most part he eats what we eat.

Clothes: He is wearing 9 month clothes and some 9-12 month. We have gotten a lot of comments lately about him being huge, but he still can’t wear 12 month clothes consistently, so he must be average if not smaller.

Sleeping: For the most part, he is sleeping from 7:30/8pm until 5am, give or take some minutes. We have had some glorious days where he has slept until 6:30. And we have also had some not so hot days where he thinks 4am is an appropriate time to get up. When George sleeps, he is a roamer. He never stays in the same place when he sleeps; he rolls over every inch of that crib. He does go down pretty easy. If he doesn’t fall asleep right when I put him down, usually he just talks himself to sleep within a few minutes. He still is taking two naps a day. Until we see a big affect on his night time sleep, we will keep this up!

Likes: Food is still the closest to his heart. He loves to be moving. He does not like to be sitting anymore. He will work himself into a standing position if he can. He loves to carry things around. He mostly carries books around, but there are some toys he likes to carry. He also loves carrying his food tray around the kitchen. He will pull it off his high chair and carry it around like it is a briefcase. He loves books. His favorites are the “That’s Not My” collection from Usborne. These are a great touch and feel book. I also like that they are board books, so really they are only destroyed when he tries to eat them. We are going to double his collection for his birthday. They are the greatest books for his age! And they fit perfectly in our diaper bag so we always have one. He is really fond of remotes and knows how to turn things on. I think it is more he knows which buttons light up, then knowing that it turns on the telly. If you saw my Instagram, you will notice that George loves the Macarena. I don’t know why I started doing this a few weeks ago; I think we were just playing one day and in my awkward baby talking moments it just came out of my head. It is one of his favorite things now, so we just roll with it. He laughs so ridiculously hard when we do it, and I laugh because a baby doing the Macarena is the best. He also loves drumming on the toilet seat. It is his thing before he gets in the bathtub to bang on the seat and try to flush the toilet. Whatever floats your boat bud. He also loves to try to sneak the dog food into his mouth. He has almost gotten away with it a couple times. I have had to dig out dog food out of his mouth. He is quick! He also love to try to eat the acorns off the deck. He is going to be really good at “I Spy.” He loves his cousin Ava. Watching her be silly is one of his favorite things.

Dislikes: (Apparently Dad’s finger puppet shows…) He is not liking hearing “no.” He still is not fond of the car. Hopefully our 5 hour drive to Iowa on Friday goes smoothly…He does not like it when we take things like remotes and tennis shoes from him. He HATES getting dressed and diaper changes. It is a wrestling match. It may take me awhile, but I always win.

Milestones: His walking is getting really good. You can tell he is trying to run too, because he does this weird hop step when he is trying to walk to fast. He has started pointing. I am not sure he is purposely pointing at a specific thing but he does point his finger. It is so cute! He went to the zoo and the lake for the first time. He seemed uninterested in the animals, so maybe next summer we will see more from him. He also was NOT a fan of the lake water, and was super happy to just stay on the boat. We are going to try a pool for the first time this weekend, so hopefully it is not all bodies of water that he hates.

Quirks: He is oh so sassy. He is Mr. Independent and loves to explore despite what may be safe. He is fitting “Curious George” to a T. He has this grunt that makes him sound like a gurgling goat. He pretty much needs to be holding something at all times, whether that is a toy or my glasses, whatever he can get those little chunky fingers around with his death grip.

We parents are: doing well. We have been busy with house stuff. School started up this week, and Tom is officially on the road by himself so it has been busy work wise as well. Tom has been on days this month so it has been really nice to be on the same schedule for once. We are getting some great family time in. We also finally got our living room furniture so we can actually hang out comfortably which is life changing. Also we are constantly being tested because George is in this discovery stage and wants to push his limits. He also doesn’t really understand no, so our patience is being pushed.

The dogs are: doing great. They are loving their yard. We are also able to leave them in the basement while we are gone, which is such a godsend. They have windows and a sofa and lots of space to circle around, and I don’t have to worry about them getting into any of our nice stuff upstairs. They are also loving on George a lot. George feeds them regularly so they obviously love that. (He tries to find them when we are at restaurants, and will bend over in his chair trying to find Crosby’s head.) George loves to crawl over them too. I have caught him snuggling up on them when he is super tired too.

George, we just love you so much. You have changed our lives in ways we just couldn’t comprehend, and we just love you for it. You have a tremendously large personality that we can’t wait to see you develop even more in the upcoming year.

Happy birthday my stinker-man!

I have so many pictures to share to celebrate his first year that we have taken over the last couple weeks.

What are your bets on how George reacted to cake when we let him loose on it?

June 26, 2015 by Stephanie

George-10 Months

Seriously? 10 months?

Weight: 19 lbs and 4 oz which is the 40th percentile. Height is 27.75 inches which is the 20th percentile. His head is 47 inches which is the 93%. Considering everything but his head was under the 11th percentile at 6 months, he definitely grew this month to catch up to his peers! Always be bulking…His head is just huge. Big brains we hope!

Health: He has been pretty healthy this month. We have been battling some pretty awful diaper rash, and we cannot seem to find something that helps cure it. (We have tried coconut oil, bourdreaux’s butt paste, and baby powder.) He has been a little raspy and snotty this week so there may be another tooth coming soon since this is what proceeded the last two. We are still only at 2 teeth. He is still spitting up after he has formula. He doesn’t do it with anything else, just that dang formula. (He did it with breastmilk too.) Our doctor thinks he is just a happy spitter, and he will eventually grow out of it. He doesn’t seem to be effected by it; it just dribbles out 5-10 minutes after he has finished a bottle. And it doesn’t matter if he has 2 oz or 6, so it is not a matter of being full. It’s obnoxious, not happy.

Diet: He eats what we eat. We have dubbed him Carbisaurusrex. He eats pretty much anything in sight. His hanger issues have gotten so bad that we have to hide food as we are preparing it or he gets a fruit/veggie pre-dinner while we are cooking. And forget him seeing a bottle without it being in his hands-tantrum galore. Then you have to ignore him as he pitches a fit when meal-time is over. It’s hard to keep track of all the new things that he has eaten now, but he is basically eating like an adult. People think I am kidding, but he eats as much as I do at meals. He can pack that food away. There hasn’t been anything this month that he hasn’t liked. He was a BIG fan of Red Lobster. All the other patrons got a dinner and a show from George’s eating antics. He is down to only three (4-6oz) formula bottles a day (morning, before afternoon nap, and right before bed). He has three traditional meals a day, and several snacks throughout. We are also transitioning him to a sippy cup with water and milk.

Clothes: He is wearing 6 month and 6-9 month clothes. Some are getting a little snug so I may be digging out the 9 month stuff here in the upcoming week. He is in size 3 diapers. For as much food as he is eating, I am really surprised he hasn’t had to move up clothes faster.

Sleeping: He is still doing fairly well with sleeping through the night. We put him down at 7:30, and I would say 90% of the time he is asleep within 5 minutes of being laid down. Then he stays asleep until 5ish am, even on the weekends. He does NOT want to sleep in, unlike his parents. And normally during the week he is my alarm clock instead of the mechanical one I have set for 5:40. He still is napping pretty well twice a day, although one is typically much longer than the other. You can definitely tell when he is getting tired; he starts rubbing his eyes. And when I am singing him his nighttime songs he has to stick his hands in my mouth. Then he giggles when I sing long notes as he is trying to hold my tongue. I guess it is his new bedtime game because he doesn’t really do that any other time that I am singing with him.

Likes: Food is still pretty much his favorite. He loves his new walker and trying to make it light up. He loves to stand and try to climb on things. He loves his little play mirror. He loves to dig in his laundry basket. I may have to hide it in the closet he loves it so much. His singing books are really fun for him. He loves to get his teeth brush. I think it tickles him, so he just giggles the whole time.

Dislikes: Diaper changes. It’s like a wrestling match trying to get a diaper off and on. I am surprised we don’t have poop smeared everywhere. He also tried to dive off the changing table the other day, little wiggle monster. He hates seeing food that is not his. At Miss Brenda’s, he does not like his sippy cup to be empty. He throws it across the floor when it’s empty. Generally, he does not like it when he doesn’t get his way so hearing no is not his favorite thing. (He may have gotten a little anger streak from him parents.)

Milestones: At the beginning of the month he was flip-flop crawling, but two weeks ago he actually started crawling. And he hasn’t stopped moving since. He can fully bring himself to a standing position too. He can’t stand completely without holding on to something, but he is making a lot of efforts to do so. So I think solo standing is going to happen here very quickly. You can tell he wants to so badly. Also seeing him standing in his crib on the monitor has to be one of the most terrifying things. He isn’t talking yet, but he yells at you and sings. He is also throwing temper tantrums, so his cognitive level is rising. We aren’t using the pacy too much now. Most days he only has it when he goes down for his bedtime. I don’t even remember the last time Brenda has used it with him during the day. She is much more hard core than we are, and we use it more on the weekend because we are softies at this point. We do take a pacy still with us when we are out of the house just in case he throws a fit, but generally at home he doesn’t have it until bedtime. Unless we are taking pictures…

Quirks: He pants like a dog when he is trying really hard to stand. When he sees other people, he will bury his head in my shoulder like he is trying to hide. He has figured out how to turn on the radio and is pulling all the books off the shelves. Needless to say, he likes to change the landscape of his room.

We parents are: pretty great. I am losing hair due to George’s pulling it all out. We are actually having to parent George now that he is more mobile. I think I say, “No” or “Stop” more than any other word in my vocabulary. We are trying to teach him there are many things he can’t do yet…Tom’s schedule has been pretty great this month, so I feel like we have gotten more time together.

The dogs are: sooo sweet and patient with George. His relationship with them has changed dramatically since he can crawl and climb. He is all over them ALL THE TIME. Crosby just sits there and takes the abuse, even the innocent ball pinch…Grace tries to make out with him hoping for some food/spit up remnants in those baby folds. George also tried to eat their dog food yesterday, and is very made that we would not let him. They share the dinner we give George which I think has solidified their BF status. George thinks it is funny to feed them his food. (But then he gets mad at us when there is no food on his plate.) The dogs have done a really good job leaving George’s toys alone, even though George now thinks the dog bones are his toys.

In two months, we will have a ONE YEAR OLD! I have his birthday already planned out. We just have to make a few things and then wait for the day. I am already so excited to see it all come together. But I also want to freeze time because there is no way I am actually ready for that.

May 26, 2015 by Stephanie

George-9 Months

9 months of this guy. How is this possible?

Weight: 18 lbs and 3 oz. Not sure of his height or head measurement. I feel like he really grew a lot this past month. I can definitely feel it when I pick him up. (all those carbs…)

Health: Earlier this month, he had a really bad cough. He sounded like a rattle can when he was breathing. I took him to the doctor because I was afraid of stuff settling in his lungs. She said it was a good thing that we did because he had a really bad ear infection. George however was not showing any of the typical signs of being bothered by an ear infection. On the plus side there was no mucus in his lungs. He actually liked the antibiotics this time around.

Diet: We are no longer feeding him purees at home. He still does purees at the babysitter’s purely because we have so many left over from people giving us food. I know it is easier for her to do purees to while we get him a little more used to real food at home. We are down to 5 bottles a day. Most are 4 oz, except the last bottle of the day is 6 oz. He is really good with feeding himself, so we just put something on his tray and let him have at it. He has pretty much mastered putting food into his mouth on his own. Although, he forgets when he has things in his right hand. He predominantly eats with his left hand. This month he has tried a lot of carbs: bagel, pancakes, beef, fish, peppers, watermelon, toast, angelfood cake, icing, corn on the cob, nectarine, ravioli, baked beans, banana bread, and alfredo. He pitches a full out fit after every meal is over. It is the worst when pasta is involved. (Which makes sense because Tom and I are both pasta lovers, so he got that 100%.) If you follow me on Instagram, I post some of the after-meal aftermaths.

Clothes: I just put away all the 3-6 month clothes this weekend. He still is ok in the 6 month stuff, but I did get out the 6-9 month stuff. He is filling those out nicely. He is in size 3 diapers.

Sleeping: I wrote the other day that he is a through the night sleeper! He will start out on his back, but within a half hour of being put down he moves to his stomach. He stays face down most of the night. This is terrifying for me because he likes to smash his face straight down. Fortunately though, he has gotten my sleeping traits for this month, and I can go in and move him so he isn’t breathing in mattress. He does not like to be rocked much anymore. It was a little sad to part with that routine, but we are getting snuggles elsewhere. Also I love to take pictures of him sleeping.

Likes: Food. Phones. Dancing; he loves to watch us dance goofy. He also loves to dance with you. We are already practicing our mother/son dance. He is enamored by straws, which is awesome at restaurants. He would rather play with the tags on toys than the actual toy. If you are wearing a watch, George will be your new best friend. He loves to be tipped upside down. He thinks it is the greatest game. Another great game is Peek-A-Boo. So much fun. Food.

Dislikes: Meal time ending. You eating food in front of him that he is not getting. Sleeping in on weekends. Not having the controller that you are holding. That above is his displeased face.

Milestones: We got a new carseat, and he is sitting in the front of the stroller now. No more infant seat! He started reaching for us to hold him. Best feeling ever to date. He did have a few big milestones this month. He got up on all fours! He just rocks back and forth, and when he tries to move his legs or arms forward he falls down. I still am convinced we may have a walker before we have a crawler. He stood on his own a little bit this weekend, and he does really well standing when he has something to hold on to like a bench or couch. He also officially has teeth! Two sprouted up right after turning 8 months. It looks like he may get ear infections along with the teeth, but honestly he has been super mellow considering all the teething horrors we have heard.

Quirks: He is ticklish! I just love his tickle giggles. He makes all sorts of noises and squeals. I feel like there is a new one each day. We are his jungle gym. He likes to crawl all over and pull up on us. He definitely remembers people now, and you get some pretty good smiles when you come back in a room. But he also gets sad if you are out of his eye-sight for too long. He also loves to twist around and belly up when his diaper is being changed or putting on his pajamas. It’s like a wrestling match trying to get his butt covered.

We parents are: doing pretty good. We have had a lot going on this month so this last weekend was pretty nice to both have some extra time off at the same time. We have been getting more serious about house hunting, so keep good thoughts for us. That whole process is nerve wracking.

The dogs are: still being a pain in the butt. Grace has stopped going potty outside. I will have just let them out or walked them, and then she will come back in and crap under the dining room table. We created a new schedule for them to hopefully help her out. God bless her. Tom also thinks a lot of it is because we have carpet and she has made certain spots “her” spot. George loves them though. He pets them and grabs for them. When he sits with Grace, he uses her ears as a chew toy. It’s adorable. She sits and takes it because she knows that he will eventually have something she can lick up. He also likes playing with Crosby’s paws and his toenails. It looks like they are holding hands all the time.