You are a knitting queen, young and free, only 17!

So I bit the bullet and signed up for a Novice Knitting class yesterday afternoon. The class meets for an hour and a half for the next three Thursdays. I was with Sullivan when I went to sign up, and they immediately started talking about me knitting him sweaters. LOL. We'll see if I have the skill and the time to get to that point! I'll keep you all posted.

Sullivan and I are heading to Cleveland this weekend to spend time with Mom, Freddie, Sherri, Madeline, and Avery! I know Daniel is going to enjoy his weekend alone! Although, I'm sure he'll miss at least one of us! I'm hoping these sunny, cooler days continue, so we can spend some time on the porch and deck!

So far, so good!

Week 1 of the Wonderbar as gone smoothly! Had some slight redness, very slight dryness around mouth, and very slight itchiness the first day or two, but nothing since. I've worn Covergirl Clean liquid foundation for sensitive skin 3 times with no adverse affects. I use CeraVe lotion on occasion after my Wonderbar treatment. I definitely think my skin has a much more even tone, pores are smaller, skin is softer. Here's hoping the benefits continue! I never thought I'd be comfortable going to work without foundation or powder during pms week, but here I am!

In other news, Sullivan finally said Dada yesterday! Daniel was giving him a bottle and when he finished, he looked up at Daniel with a milky, slobbery grin and said, "Da..da". After that first time, he said it several other times throughout the day. Needless to say, Daniel is extremely excited! I've been working with Sullivan on several words, sounds, motions, so I'm glad some of it is sticking!

Saturday we all drove to New Albany for my grandfather's 89th birthday! We had a great lunch at Vanissi's and then grabbed some cupcakes to go from next door at Sugarees! Yummy yummy! It was great to spend some time with Gigi and DaddyTim! Sullivan had a great time at the restaurant and at their house playing with old toys! Wood blocks and toy phones never go out of style; even if the phone is a rotary phone as opposed to the toy cell phone we have at our house!


I don't know why, but I'm suddenly feeling rather industrious. Soooo...I'm got several things I'm going to try and accomplish over the coming months. 1. finish Sullivan's Christmas stocking! 2. start playing my violin again 3. take knitting lessons at the new knitting store in Oxford. As with my violin, I'm a super beginner and would love to improve! I have no idea how I plan to accomplish these things other than replacing most of my reading time at night for a while. We'll see!

wonderbar, wonderbar, we're on our way...

So I started using the Wonderbar yesterday. Before you click the link to learn about it, let me start by saying, 1. I'm out of my regular cleanser/lotions, so was looking for something new 2. i'm gonna be mad if this tiny, expensive bar doesn't do something positive. Ok, you can go look up the wonderbar now. Back? Yeah it's stupid expensive for a tiny little bar. But if it truely does replace cleanser, toner, moisturizer, yada, yada, yada, then it's not that bad. The biggest headache so far as been that you can't use mineral foundation with this bar. I LOVE my bare minerals, so this was sad news for me. Fortunately, I had recently watched an episode of Dr. Oz where he talked about the fact that mineral makeups work so well because the particles are so tiny (the reason it interferes with wonderbar) that you can breathe them in and they can like stay in your lungs. Icky. Other drawbacks to the wonderbar, the mysterious 'healing crisis' where your skin gets rid of all the toxins and can cause dryness and breakouts temporarily. Also, they discourage the use of any makeup until after the healing crisis, so today, for the first time in a LONG time, I am without foundation/concealer/powder what have you while at work. I did wear eye makeup and lipstick to hopefully take the focus off the rest of my face. I need to remember to take a photo of this sort of before phase and then document how my skin reacts to it. I can already feel a sort of tightness to my skin and maybe some slight itchyness? I could just be totally paranoid. So, for anyone else interested in the wonderbar, I'll be posting my personal experiences with it here. My fingers are crossed that it will do at least some of what it promises! We'll see!

And now, some videos of Sullivan interacting with Bailey (dog) and Sophie (cat). The video with Bailey is not really the highlight of their playtime, but is better than nothing!





P.S. the title of this blog comes from the cartoon the wonderpets. all i watch these days are kids shows, and that one just fit and got stuck in my head.

9 months!

I'm way behind on my blogging, and just realized I never did an 8 months post. Oh well. What is Sullivan up to these days? * Well, crawling obviously. He is pulling up on anything he can get his hands on and trys to cruise from different pieces of furniture. * The sounds he most frequently makes are Mama, Baba, FaFa and then just general babbling. He really trys to say Bottle, so I'll have to try and get that on camera. He'll get the ba- part, and then strains to try and get out the rest. * Last weekend he started sticking his tongue out like crazy! He hasn't done it much this week, but he wanted to stick it out constantly last weekend. * He can clap his hands, 'give 5s', wave bye bye on occasion. *He loves his musical instruments set and moves from the piano to the drums to the marracas to the tamborine. Loves them all. He loves to hear us sing 'Loving You' to him. The Lalalalala part gets his attention every time! * He's really started to get a kick out of animals- live or stuffed. He'll laugh and get so excited when he sees a dog or a stuffed animal. *He loves books! We often pick him up from daycare and he'll be off by himself flipping through a board book. He absolutely wants to help turn the pages, so I typically give him his own small book to hold while reading to him, so he can be steady turning pages. * Speaking of daycare, he still loves the ladies there. There have been some changes lately at the daycare. They moved his nursery to a larger room, so he has lots more room to crawl around. His 'girlfriend' Harper, an older woman, got moved to the 1 year old room this week for about 3 days and then decided she missed her old pals and came back to Sullivan's room. It is usually Harper, Sullivan, and Hunter (the 3 oldest kids in the nursery) hanging out together. * He's drinking out of a sippy cup on occasion, but preferst to drink out a regular cup or glass. He'll eat just about anything, but if he doesn't like something, he'll make himself gag and spit it right back up. * He weighs just over 22lbs and is 28 inches long. * He still gets up once a night most nights. We have discovered he will sleep through the night if given Ibuprofen, so I don't know if that means his teething pain is waking him up or what. Either way, we don't give him any unless it seems like his gums are bothering him. * Still no teeth popping through yet. * He has decided he doesn't want to be on his back to be changed or have his clothes changed. I have feeling he associates having to lay on his back with getting yucky medicine or having the nasal aspirator used on him, both of which he hates. If he's in a good mood or you distract him with something he'll lay there happy as can be, but most times he crys and kicks at you. Getting a bit of an attitude, although, I haven't a clue where he gets that! ;) * He's still just so happy 99% of the time! We are so blessed and fall more in love with him every day. This age is definitely fun since we get to watch him learn so many new things every day!

Crawling!

I finally got a video of my child crawling and with clothes on too! He is loving his new mobility. Starting to follow us into the kitchen if we leave him on the floor in living room or his bedroom. I've got to remember to run the roomba each evening when I get home from work! The dog hair is out of control!

I'm very tired today and not at all inspired, so this is all you get. I'll try and do better later. :)

and now for some videos

Random assortment of videos, that most will find quite boring. The first was taken after bath time last night. I apologize for the nudity, but I had to get this on camera. We are definitely progressing from the downward dog/roll to something much closer to an actual crawl. Sort of a frog hop at this point!


The next video is just Sullivan jumping in his Johnny Jump Up. Not exciting necessarily, but don't want the grandmas to miss out on anything!


This last video is just Sullivan playing peek-a-boo and playing with one of his toys. Besides the new frog hop/crawling technique, this morning Sullivan clapped his hands during breakfast! I guess he's getting used to me clapping when he eats all his food! Hope I can get that on camera at some point.


This weekend I shall begin an early celebration of my birthday, by doing nothing but stuff at home! Cooking, cleaning, gardening, relaxing! We've been on the go since Memorial Day and I'm ready for a break! The girls and I will be celebrating my official birthday on Monday with a lovely dinner and girls night out! Looking forward to it!

Happy Birthday today to my god daughter, Lulu! Can't believe she is 5 years old!

What did we do before camera phones?

All the photos below were taken with cell phones over the last week.

Newest napping spot. You'll notice Sullivan's left arm is up by his head. When he starts to fall asleep, that arm goes up and he runs his hand through his hair or scratches his head til he falls asleep. Looking back through photos, I realized he's put that arm up from the beginning! Even when swaddled he would work that arm out. Adorable!




Hanging at Aunt Nina's house. This photo was taken AFTER he had tt'd all over Nina's brand new bedspread. Good timing Buddy.


Naked Yoga. Pretty sure he naturally (and more easily) does more yoga poses than I know. I really need to find a baby and mommy yoga class.


Showing off his blue jean diapers. Apparently, the only goal of these diapers is to look cute because I've found they don't fit well and they leak. We are now trying to use these up, so we can get back to the good stuff. Cute is over rated when it comes to diapers.

good for the soul

Something a big more upbeat today. How about some baby giggles and Daniel's famous 'Baby Sandwich'!

Glutton for Punishment

First, a warning. This post is going to be fairly depressing. I don't recommend you click any of the links I provide unless you seriously want to do some crying.

A little history on where this blog post is coming from. My friend Corinne's sister lost her sweet baby just days after he was born. Lindsey and I were pregnant together, both expecting boys, and she was actually due before me. Our paths were so similar and then suddenly her path took a horrible detour. Both Corinne and her sister have blogged about the experience and life since. The words and emotions and experiences in those blogs are beyond heart and gut wrenching.

In the months since, I have been exposed to many other 'babylost' blogs through friends and friends of friends. I've also come across many blogs written by parents whose children are suffering from terrible illnesses or diseases. These blogs would be hard for anyone to read, but, as a new mom, I find myself drawn to them. They make me cry, they make me so scared for Sullivan, but they do help me appreciate the huge blessing that Sullivan is to me. I tell Daniel about these blogs and he doesn't understand why I keep reading them if they upset me so much. I don't really know either. I think part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop in my happy little life. My family are no strangers to random, sudden losses. I read these blogs about people who were so happy one day and then these unthinkable things happened to them. I almost feel like if I can journey with them through their struggle, if it happens to me, maybe I'll be better prepared. Crazy, huh? I walk a fine line between wanting to shut us all up in a protective bubble and wanting to experience as much as we can...just in case.

I never knew real fear until I had Sullivan. I suppose that's because I've never loved anything as much as I love him. The thought of losing him or him suffering in any way is agony. These blogs are like driving by a wreck. I CAN'T LOOK AWAY! I find myself asking the same questions the Moms on these blogs ask...why? Why would God allow such terrible things?

Anyways, I read these blogs, have my cry, and then try to lock those feelings away so they don't drive all my decisions and thoughts. I refuse to be ruled by fear, even though I feel it in my gut and my heart so frequently. It is a very hard thing to know you can't control everything. Can't prevent bad things from happening. Every time I hold Sullivan and rock him to sleep, I say a prayer thanking God for him and the time he has given me with him. I want all the suffering Moms out there to find some peace. I want to thank them for sharing their stories. I want to look away, but I just can't.

Some of the other blogs I follow:
One Good Thing
Williams Family Blog

4th of July

Note to self: don't travel with Anna! Anna and Ricky have had issues everytime they've flown from Seattle to Memphis for a visit. The first time, they lost her luggage. The second time, their rental car got screwed up and they had to borrow a car from one of my aunts. This last time, their flight was initially delay several hours and then their connecting flight out of Houston was cancelled due to Alex induced storms. They ended up having to rent a car and drive the 14 hours from Houston to Memphis. They got up on Friday morning at 2:30 am in Seattle and finally made it to New Albany at about 11 am on Saturday. LONG DAY of travel! We were very glad they finally and safely made it! It was wonderful to spend the weekend with both my sisters! As usual, I didn't take enough photos! I did take some with a water proof camera, but haven't developed those yet. Below are a few hat fashion show/modeling photos! We had a wonderful time at the cabin. Lots of good food and family time! Below is a video of Sullivan and his attempts at crawling. I'll say, on a bed, he can hop from one side to the other in seconds. On a hard surface, he has a bit more trouble. He's slowly getting there though! Once he can hold up that big, heavy head of his, there will be no stopping him!

Mama and the Beach

Although the video above isn't the greatest example, Sullivan has definitely got the mama sound down pat! He pretty much says this whenever he wants something- particularly to be picked up. Of course, I fall for it every time!



We had a great vacation, but I must say vacationing with a baby doesn't really include much relaxing! I did read whenever Sullivan was napping, and I got a little alone time on the beach. Most of our time was spent applying sunscreen, putting on swim diaper, putting on swim suit, gathering all the bottles, diapers, gear, etc to go to the beach or pool. Of course, by the time you get there, you've got about an hour of happy baby time before he's ready to eat again or maybe nap or cool off. Still better than being at work though!

We ate some wonderful food (lots of seafood of course) and had great family time. The beaches were beautiful, as was the water. There was a good bit of seaweed the last day, but we'll take that over oil any day! I'm glad we got pictures and videos of Sullivan's trip to the beach since who knows what things will be like next year. Don't even get me started on BP. Our condo was wonderful! Had a huge pool that was 4-5 1/2 feet throughout except for one tiny part. It was great for kids and parents having to hold/swim with kids. Huge balcony with plenty of room for everyone to sit. Great bar/restaurant right on the beach for grabbing drinks or snacks. There were several pools on the property and we did try one at the spa one afternoon when it rained. Had the place to ourselves and it was great! I saw the gym the through windows and it looked great. That's as close as I got to working out despite grand intentions. :) On the same topic, I actually purchased and wore a bikini for the first time in I can't tell you how long. Sherri and Mom convinced me, it's basically only going to get worse from here on, so I might as well enjoy what I've got at the moment. It didn't kill me, so maybe I'm turning a new leaf. Still have plans to get back to the gym though!


Daniel loves to dress Sullivan just like him. It's cute.

Chilling with his Bebe!

My sister Sherri and her girls. My nieces kept Sullivan so entertained! They were a great help!

Lunch at the beach snack bar.




Yeah I still have my linea negra to some degree. Super cute.

Sullivan trying his first cracker. Can you tell how thrilled he is?

What happens when you say no dessert.



After Florida, we traveled over to Ocean Springs for a friend's wedding/reception. It was held at The Old Place in Gautier. Absolutely beautiful old home and grounds full of gorgeous oak trees right on the river. It was great to see old college friends!

Now for my usual baby updates. Sullivan is practically grown. He's getting so big! He was 20lb 2 oz about 2 weeks ago. He's had his first official earache and antibiotics treatment. He loved the bubble gum medicine. I'm pretty sure that was another food group when I was a kid. Tasty. He has been sleeping through the night (except for while on vacation of course). He is sitting up great and only occasionally falls when reaching for a toy, etc. He is ALMOST crawling. It is definitely more of a scoot still. He begins in downward dog position and uses his feet to push him along. Funny to watch. I'll have to try and get a video of it. He loves to watch the fish swimming in the tank by his highchair. The fish usually check him out as well. This does make it a little difficult to keep him on task though! He's still just about the sweetest thing in the world. Such an easy disposition. Calm and happy and we just love him more than anything! We are so happy and blessed!

Teething Much?

This is the video Daniel took during our drive down to the coast Memorial Day weekend. I can feel and possibly see signs of a tooth on the bottom, but not enough to say he's gotten his first tooth. Any doubts after watching this video that it's coming?

T-minus 3 days until vacation! Needless to say, this week is miserable and dragging horribly! I would love to go home and pack up the car, but that would be jumping the gun just a bit. We'll have to do another load of laundry before packing up I'm sure! Come on Friday afternoon!

Ipad demo

Trying out kent's ipad. It is hard to type on for sure. I am a fast keyboard typer, so it is weird to pick and peck! Over all it is cool, but for the things i would use it for i am just not sure. We'll see.

7 months old!

Tired of me being shocked by how quickly time flies? Me too! I had lunch with some sorority sisters this weekend, and one of them said, "Sullivan is like 4 months old now?". Uhh no, he's more than half a year old. I'm going to blink and he'll be in college I swear. SCARY!

Anyways, in honor of his 7 months, I decided post some naked baby pics! We've taken some naked baby video that will be saved for the first time he brings home a girlfriend or something equally embarrassing. We tried to keep these discreet, with just a hint of adorable baby buns! :) Ok, maybe more than a hint on this first one, but wth.




Our latest milestone achieved was our first trip to the pool! Sullivan seemed to really enjoy chewing on his pool floaty and splashing/hitting the water with his hand. On a side note, I really liked this 'Mommy and Me' pool float. It was nice for me to have something to float around on too. This way we could both comfortably float in the deep end to avoid any splashing, etc. I bought another pool float just for him, but then grabbed this one at Wal Mart recently. Glad I did!


Sullivan and his Dad hittin' the bottle together. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


Beach trip updates. Sooooo, we briefly allowed the media to freak us out about our trip and cancelled. When we called back to rebook the same place, we ended up getting 1 night free and an additional 20% off and a total refund if beaches get closed. We ended up saving $500+. Not too shabby! If the beaches are bad, the pool, big kahunas, outlet malls, food, and relaxation will keep us occupied.

What Sullivan is up to these days: still lots of rolling and really enjoys hanging out on his belly/pushing up. He mainly rolls/scoots to get where he wants to go. Definitely doesn't qualify as a crawl yet. He's been sleeping like a champ for the last 2 months-ish. I didn't want to say much about it since every time I do, he quits. I think he's truly in a pattern now though. I'll let you know tomorrow if I've jinxed myself once again. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8, sleeps until 5 or 6am, has a bottle and goes back to sleep until 7:30 or later! Wow, it's been so nice! He's doing great with his eating (except he still won't eat any meat products). He hardly makes a mess at all these days! He'll copy me saying 'mmmmm' after he eats something tasty! Doesn't care for a sippy cup yet, but we'll slowly keep trying. He LOVES to watch you speak, sing and make repetitive sounds. He'll watch your mouth to intently and usually smile alot. I have a feeling he's just absorbing it all and plans to start replying in full sentences one of these days! He is extremely curious about new things and anything you might be doing while holding him. He smiles at new people, but usually gets teased and hides his head in your shoulder once they start smiling back at him. He loves to watch you clap, sing, or dance. And nothing makes him laugh harder than his daddy 'having a baby sandwich'. Basically involves Daniel holding him on his back and 'biting' him all along his side and belly. I'll have to post video of this soon. Very cute.

Memorial Weekend Coast Trip

Well, we survived Sullivan's first long car ride to the Coast! He actually did really great! We stopped once on the way down for a quick bottle and diaper change, so made decent time. This long weekend was certainly not relaxing, but it was very nice to see lots of friends and family. Our first stop upon reaching the Coast was to Daniel's Aunt and Uncles house/B & B, Chateau Blessey. We enjoyed lovely drinks and appetizers on the front porch while watching the gulf and the schooners going by. Sullivan got his first look at the ocean! After unwinding from the drive a bit, the Blesseys fed us a wonderful meal (as always)!


getting some loving from Aunt Katherine


getting love and a bottle from his Nanna!




Sullivan was very entertained by Uncle Walter!



On Saturday, Sullivan got to meet his other Great Grandmother, Boosha, for the first time! He was quite a hit at the assisted living home! The residents kept wanting to hold him and talked about his sweet disposition, and his good looks, of course! My favorite line of the day: Kids are just like dogs, they know when people like 'em! :)



This is Mr. Hall. He is retired air force and was a elementary school principal for 20 years. He is 94 years young and has all his own teeth. He LOVED Sullivan! I sort of feel like a pageant announcer with that description. :)



Saturday night Sullivan got to 'eat' at Jocelyn's in Ocean Springs for the first time! It was wonderful to see Ms. Jocelyn and her grandson, Patrick again. The food was outstanding as always!


Sullivan and his Nanna worked very hard on blow bubbles together!


Sunday morning we moved on to Mobile to visit MORE family! They were so excited about our arrival, they planned a shrimp boil party for us! I didn't get a photo of all the lovely decorations the girls made and put up, but I sure wish I had! It was a great party with lots of wonderful boiled shrimp with all the fixins!


Uncle Daniel's attention and lap were as in demand as always! My nieces love their silly uncle Daniel!


Madeline was a wonderful help with Sullivan. She had him laughing so hard! My Mom got a video, so I'll have to see if I can get it and upload it here! It's awesome!


All in all, the trip was great! I think Daniel and I had shrimp at every meal except breakfasts! Gotta love the Coast! The return trip was a little long, but we made it! It was good practice for our beach trip which is just 3 weeks away! WooHoo!

On the milestones topic, Sullivan starting rolling from back to front and front to back like he'd been doing it all his life. I don't know what clicked, but he now loves rolling from back to front and then scooting over to whatever toy is out of his grasp! Our days are numbered before crawling kicks in! Lord help us then! Sullivan also has a white speck on his gum where a tooth is popping through! I have another hilarious video of him rubbing his Sophie giraffe along his gums.

Weekend update

We had a nice weekend at home, but it FLEW by. I have no idea where Saturday went except for our 3 hour stint to Wal-Mart (aka hell), Home Depot and Kroger. I made the mistake of telling Daniel I would just do the grocery shopping at Wal-mart since we needed to run by there and would be on that side of town. I told Daniel to slap some sense into me the next time I say that. It never fails that Wal-Mart doesn't have like 3 crucial things I need for my grocery list! So I end up going to Kroger anyways. NEVER AGAIN!

Sullivan tried his first 'meat' this weekend. I use the term loosely for chicken and broth baby food in a jar. Looks and smells just like dog food. Sullivan has enjoyed every food he's had so far...until this one. I don't blame him. I wouldn't eat that crap. So, Bailey got to enjoy some pureed chicken and broth. I'm going to have to find the time to make my own meat baby food apparently. Suggestions from other parents out there? I have some ham, beef, and turkey, but I can't imagine those are any better than the chicken. So nasty. So anyways, you can see from his face below, how he felt about it. It was so bad he didn't even want his sweet potatoes or juice after that.


Trying to get the taste out of his mouth:


I finally got Sullivan some shades. They aren't for babies, but he needed something to help when we go for walks/strolls. He looks like he knows he looks good! :)


Sunday we had some co-workers/friends over for lunch. Their son, Alistair, is just 2 weeks younger than Sullivan. (although he should have been 2 weeks older!) Wasn't much of a playdate. For the most part Sullivan stared at Alistair, while Alistair stole whatever toy Sullivan was playing with at that moment.



Worn out from all the playing!


Sullivan may not enjoy chicken, but he LOVES some prunes and carrots! I tried to find him one of those baby art kits, but wasn't able to. He loves to 'finger paint' with his food these days! Messy boy, but oh so happy!



This week already looks like it will be a bad one as far as work is concerned, but I'm trying to keep my eyes on the prize of a long weekend! Can't wait to get down to the Coast Friday night and visit with family in Ocean Springs and Mobile!