Walker's first Halloween

So we survived Halloween and I actually had fun.  It is much more exciting for me to dress up Walker than to get myself into a costume.  It is like the parents get a 'pass' if their kid is dressed up. 

Our weekend was not too busy, but we did find some time to do fun fall/Halloween things.  My awesome neighbors, Joel, Alexis, and Chayce, went with me to the corn maze.  We walked through the maze, went to the petting zoo, and then rode the cow train.  I probably should have felt ridiculous on the cow train but instead I felt proud and excited to share it with Walker.  I also am a pretty silly kid at heart, which is why I think I play for a career.

 

We had fun, but wish marcus didn't have to work.  Hopefully next year he can come too.

On the cow train

After the corn maze, we met up with my parents and Marcus for the Halloween Festival at my parent's church.  I remember going to this when I was little and now I am taking Walker...kind of a crazy thought.  Walker was obviously too little for the games but he loved watching all of the other kids run around and play.  He is such a people person. 



I wish I would have put his NASA sticker on his hat, but I forgot it at home

worn out from all the playing/watching other kids play

On Monday, Walker went to mom's day out.  He wore his special Halloween outfit from Alexis (my neighbor, not me :) ) and had a lot of fun.  That evening we went trick-or-treating with Joel, Alexis, and Chayce.  It was super cute to watch Chayce go up to the houses and say trick or treat.  We didn't stay out too long because Walker got tired...and I keep him on a pretty set schedule :)...but Marcus and I sat out in the drive way and handed out some candy once Walker was asleep.  I know next year will be fun because Walker will be more into it, but my guess is that in two years he will understand Halloween and be totally into it.  

his owl "whoooo's got treats shirt" and his favorite thing to play with

ready to trick-or-treat

I think he had a pretty good time

(The outfit was from a Rhea Lana's sale, brand new for only $5.  I got the cap at hobby lobby for two dollars and then used poster board, trash bags, duct tape, and print outs from google to make the space shuttle)

So it's Halloween again...

Some of you might remember last year's post and my dislike for Halloween. I have been trying to keep a positive attitude about it this year and it does help to have Walker and his costume to get excited about...it's going to be awesome!!

This Halloween is the one year anniversary of learning about my mom's cancer. It is crazy to think that last year at this time we had just started painting Walker's nursery and I had no idea my mom was sick. But the amazing thing is that she is getting better. We didn't know much about her cancer last year, but she has been such a trooper trying different things and working hard to get better.

We are hoping that under the current treatment that she will show a great improvement and even NED (no evidence of disease...like remission for stage IV).

You can keep up to date about my mom from her blog mylifeline.org/jeanpharr

Here's to hoping for a fun Halloween for everyone this year and starting fun Halloween traditions with my new little family.

Off to Sunny California

The National Play Therapy Conference was in Sacramento, CA last week.  I was excited to go and needed to get some CEU's for my counseling license.  I figured that if I have to get CEU's, the national conference is the place to go because you get to hear the best speakers and meet really awesome play therapists. 

However, going this year meant that I had to bring along my 7 month old and all of his stuff, plus a baby sitter (my awesome mother in-law).  I was both nervous and excited about the trip.  The more I prepared the better I felt about going.  I created our packing list (a full 3 column page) and started to pack the week before.  It is incredible all of the in's and out's that you have to consider when traveling with a baby.  I am pretty sure the hotel, airline, and car rental place knew me by name before we even arrived.

I packed very lightly and shared a suitcase with Walker.  We had our clothes, his bath seat, his johnny jump up, sippy cups, toiletries, and the boppy crammed in there.  We also had a carry on suitcase with food, juice, and items in case our bag got lost or delayed.  Then we had his pack'n play, diaper, and stroller.  It was a hand full.  Luckily, my mother in-law and my friend Temple, who was going with us to the conference, were so helpful.

What it looks like to travel with an infant for a week

I'm sure people around us were thinking "oh great, baby on board" but he did so well

taking a little nap

my arm fell asleep during this nap

Walker did great on the plane.  He proved that he is a total flirt, smiling and "talking" with all the girls on the plane.  By the time we landed and got to the hotel it was 10:30 Arkansas time.  Walker made it all the way to the hotel room before he started to cry.  I consider this a pretty big success considering he usually goes to bed by 8.

Walker and I shared a room and then had a connecting room with Linda and Temple.  This worked out great because it gave us a place to hang out when Walker would nap or go to bed early.  I can't imagine how crowded it would have been if we all would have shared one room.  I was so pleased that Walker slept through the nights and did so great during the trip.

hanging out in the room

bath time with his travel bath seat

getting some cuddles from Nahna (you can see the hallway that leads to the other room.  It was a great set up)

I really enjoyed the conference and spending time learning new things, but it was hard for me to be away from Walker during the day (not to mention I was so ready to be finished with my pumping sessions in the bathroom, yuck).  However, I knew he was in good hands with Linda.  While in Sacramento, we were able to visit Old Sacramento and eat at The Melting Pot.  We also made a trip to Walmart the first day to get diapers and baby food (because it would have taken a whole suitcase for a weeks worth :) ). 

In front of the Capitol building

napping at Starbucks

Had to give daddy some love because we missed him

downtown Sacramento

swimming in the pool

entrance to Old Sacramento (it's a lot like Eureka Springs)

The Arkansas crew

ready to be home

It was a definite experience traveling with a baby to California for 6 days, but a fun time and lots of great memories.  The only bummer to the trip was that Walker picked up his first cold somewhere...I am guessing the airplane...So, when I got home Sunday I was exhausted but unable to get any sleep because little man woke up every 30-45 minutes.  He was pretty sick most of the week and spent almost all day rocking with mom in the rocking chair.  After missing him all week while I attended the conference, these cuddles were fine with me :)  But, now that we have been home a week and he is feeling almost better, the laundry is being done and the house is getting clean...finally...sometimes you just have to prioritize, and when you have a sick baby they do that for you :)

dad was a big help when we got home

7 Months

You turned 7 months on Monday.  We have been having so much fun this last month.  Fall is here, but the weather is still really nice.  We have started back to taking at least one walk a day.  You used to fall asleep in the stroller, but now you just quietly sit and watch all of the things as we go by.  You are still such an easy going kid.  I have taken you to "mom's day out" at Fellowship Church this month and they always comment on how "happy" and "sweet" you are.  They also say that you love to watch them and interact with people more than playing with toys.  If you are anything like your dad, I believe this. 

You ride in the cart now when we go somewhere and try to reach out and grab things.  I have to be careful not to get to close to the corner displays or you will snag something and try to eat it. 

Your favorite toy is a water bottle, empty or full.  I think you love the crinkle sound it makes when you chew on it.  You always smile and giggle when you see me drinking mine.  It's pretty cute.  You sit up by yourself now, but I usually stay close to you or put a pillow around you because sometimes you will see something that you want and just fall over to get it.  You have gotten better at rolling around the room, but are not very close to crawling.  You scoot back sometimes but haven't figured out how to get on all fours yet. 

You don't babble yet, but still make lots of noises and fake coughs.  As long as your first word is "mama", I don't really care when you start to talk :) 

I had to go do some marketing for my business this month for two days.  Dany, your baby sitter, came to watch you from 8:00-5:00.  This was the longest that we were away from each other so far.  You did great and didn't even seem to notice, but it was hard for me.  I am so thankful that I get to stay home with you!!! 

You are doing great on eating your solids still.  Your basic schedule is: 8:00 nurse, 9:00 juice (with Miralax to help your tummy), 10:00 short nap and then play, 12:00 nurse, 1:00 4 oz of baby food, 2:00 nap, 4:00 nurse, 5:30 4 oz of baby food, 7:15 nurse and start bedtime routine, 8:00 asleep.  You have been sleeping from 8a-8p regularly now.  It has been wonderful.  You really seem to prefer to just be placed in your crib and not rocked but I often try to rock you because I love that time :)  Some days you don't nap for long so we work on a 3 hour schedule as opposed to 4, but I try to keep us at feeding every four hours.

I was making your baby foods until just this week.  I stopped because now you are eating a lot of the 'stage 2' foods, which are combinations of things.  It is honestly just easier for me to buy these already mixed together.  We stick to the 'p' foods to help with your digestion so you don't have much variety.  Sorry about that.  I don't ever see a preference for any particular food, so you might not care.  You eat peas, pears, peaches, butternut squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, prunes, apples, and mangos.  You have also tried the puff snacks.  You have this mesh feeder that I will put frozen purees in and let  you suck on while we eat.  This works great during our family dinners.

You are starting to show a preference for me, which I love, but try not to encourage because I want you to be able to enjoy others too.  Sometimes I have to leave the room so that you will calm down and play with other people.  You don't ever really cry, but you have definitely learned how to whine to express yourself this month.

Once a month cooking experience

Last Sunday I tried "once a month cooking."  I was browsing around Pinterest (a fun website) and kept seeing all of these recipes for freezing.  I loved the idea of not having to worry about what you are cooking or making sure that I have time.  Some days Walker would be napping and I would get a chance to prepare dinner, but most days it was a challenge to play with him and get a decent dinner ready.  So when I came across this amazing blog where this woman cooks for an entire month in one day I was intrigued.

The blog is http://onceamonthmom.com/.  She provides a monthly menu, the recipes, the shopping list, instructions for the most efficient order to cook things, and the labels for freezing and how to re-heat.  It was so simple.  My neighbor had mentioned doing some sort of cooking club a few weeks ago, so I asked her if she wanted to help with this and cook for her family too.  I went to the store and picked up the items off the grocery list and then Sunday we set to work.  I started the cooking at noon and was finished by 6.  It was definitely a lot of work, but has been so worth it each night.  Did I mention that you also cook breakfast and lunch too! 

I have loved walking to the freezer and getting my breakfast, being able to make a super quick lunch, and then not taking a bunch of time out of my day to make dinner but still enjoying a great meal.  I totally recommend that you try this if you feel stressed about "what's for dinner."  It was also great going to Wal-Mart this week and only getting some salad and sides.  So quick and cheap. 

Here is the list of food that we cooked:
Raspberry Breakfast Cake, Bacon Hashbrown Wraps, Breakfast Popsicles, Smoked Sausage Mac and Cheese, Pita Pizzas, Chicken Burritos, Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken, Green Chile Burgers, Ranch Burgers, Baked Vegetable Sandwiches, Garlic Chicken Farfalle, Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches, Peanut Butter Pork Kabobs, and Dressed Up Sloppy Joes.  (Yes, 14 different things)

This is some of the ingredients.  It was a lot of stuff!

Each item is made to eat twice during the month.  So far everything that we have had we have liked.  I am going to wait and see if it is enough for the month and is better financially.  I think it is cheaper, but not sure that it will be enough for the month...I am still eating a TON because of breastfeeding Walker, so maybe I should have cooked for 3 people instead of 2 :)

Happy 1/2 birthday Walker

You are officially 1/2 a year old.  I have heard that 6 months starts the beginning of "the fun times" from many parents, so I am pretty excited because we have been having a lot of fun already.  I can only imagine how much better it might get.  You weigh 19lbs and 13oz.  I am not sure how long you are because you don't go in for your 6 month check up for a couple more weeks. 

August was really hot and...well hot.  I had big plans for us to go on the lake all the time since I am not working much, but it was just too crazy to try and put you on a boat while it was so hot outside.  The lake water was even so hot that it was not that refreshing. 

We started off this month with some "poop issues" and me giving you a suppository (see previous post if you dare).  We have continued to have some issues in this area.  I think you just don't like to go or you are trying to be a super sweet baby and know that I don't like to change poopy diapers.  I think I only changed 4 this month.  We have seen the doctor about this but he doesn't seem worried and thinks that you will grow out of it. 

We started on some solids this month for two reasons.  The first was that you started waking up at 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 6:30 and then 7:15.  It was exhausting!  You would nurse all the time so I figured you were just hungry.  Now that you are eating a small lunch and dinner you sleep SO much better.  I also thought that if we started you on solids with fiber that they would help to move things along.  We first tried avocado, which you loved but it upset  your stomach and gave you a small diaper rash.  We then tried sweet potatoes (you loved), then butternut squash (you loved), then pears (not surprising you also loved).  I have plenty of other things for you to try in September.  I love feeding you and you have such good table manners...hope this lasts.  Right now I am making your food because it cheaper, more convenient, and fun for me to do.  I freeze it in little ice cube trays.  You eat two ice cubes for lunch and two for dinner.  Each cube is approximately one ounce. 

Great news, you are drinking from a sippy cup now!  This has been wonderful and means that I have been able to work or go out while someone else watches you for a bit.  You and your dad spent your first evening together for longer than two hours the other day while I went to play softball.  You had so much fun and did great together. 

You stopped wanting to be swaddled for bedtime this month.  I think that might have been part of the waking up more too.  I had to go and buy some sleepers because you didn't have any.  The only thing you had ever slept in was the halo sleep sack.  I just cut the bottom when you started to get too big.  Your dad and I love watching you sleep in your sleeper pjs.  We just talk on and on about how big you look and how fast you are growing up.  Some nights you don't even want me to rock you.  I just put you in the crib and you put yourself to sleep.  I am sad about this because I used to use this time to pray for you and our family, but I am working on finding a new routine for this.  Even though I don't get to rock you every night I still pray for you as I place you in the crib.  Soon I hope we will be praying together.  You have started sleeping on your side, which would be fine except you smash your face into the crib bumpers (which are mesh) and stick one leg over the bumper out of the crib slot.  I would go crazy worrying about you if we didn't have the Angelcare monitor that lets me know you are still OK. 

You were dedicated at church this month (also a previous post) and did so great. 
You babble much more now and are blowing "raspberries."  This would be fine except you also like to spit your spit up everywhere, so now rather than just dripping out of your mouth it is projectile as you spit it across the room...fun for me to explain and clean up. 

We traveled with G-mama to Little Rock for 3 days because she had some work down there.  You and I went to the mall and played in the hotel pool.  I loved being able to just be with you and watch you enjoy a new place and new people.  G-mama also loved getting to spend so much time with you.  However, your dad was ready for us to be home because that was the longest he had been away from you.

Our daily schedule looks something like:
8:00 wake up and nurse
9:00 1 oz of apple juice with 1 oz of water
10:00 nap
11:00 wake up and nurse
12:00 2 oz of food
1:00 nap
2:00 wake up and nurse
4:00 nap
5:00 wake up and nurse
6:00 2 oz of food
7:30 nurse
7:40 bath time
8:00 bedtime massage
8:30 asleep
you usually wake up once and nurse during the night.
When you awake you have blanket time on the floor with your toys.  You like to practice rolling over and sitting up.  You also play in your jumper or exersaucer.  You still like to be in your swing a lot too, especially when you want to be rocked but I am busy.  Some days you take more short naps and then some days you take only a couple of long naps.  But you are happy no matter what. 

Baby x-rays

What started out as a slow paced craft day quickly turned into an all-nighter (well, morning if you consider that it was really 1am-6am) and then all day at the doctor.  Yesterday made day 7 of no poop for Walker.  We have been eating solids consistently for a couple of weeks now (2 oz at lunch and dinner).  He loves to eat, but I was starting to worry about where it was all going...Well bright and early, way too early, Walker woke up with gas.  He was wide awake and wanted to play.  Every few minutes he would strain like he wanted to poop, but nothing would happen.  At 3am, I finally broke down and gave him another suppository.  It worked for the night and gave him some relief to be able to sleep in his swing until morning.  We got in to see the doctor, not really because I thought he was super sick, but because I wanted to be educated on how I can keep this from continuing to happen.  The doctor was very supportive and said that we are doing the right things and to increase our juice to 1 oz a day.  He also ordered a stomach x-ray to make sure everything "is in the right place."  During the appointment he asked if we had ever been told of a heart murmur.  I said no (but then Marcus later reminded me that Walker had one in the hospital when he was born).  The doctor went ahead and ordered a chest x-ray since we were already getting one for the stomach and he thought he could hear a murmur. 

Walker and I then spent the afternoon waiting to get his x-rays.  We had good cuddle time and he loved watching all the other kids in the waiting rooms (all the other sick kids, yuck, germs).  Everything turned out fine on the x-rays, healthy heart and tummy.  The doctor said to add some miralax to Walker's juice to help keep things moving.  I hope this works because Walker is definitely into his solid food and did not like it yesterday when we missed his lunch. 

The whole experience really made me stop and realize how much my heart has grown because of Walker.  I feel like before him I was like the Grinch, but now my heart has swollen full of love for him.  I honestly didn't get that anxious about the x-rays yesterday because I trusted that things would be ok, but I still ached and hurt in my heart for my sick baby.  It is crazy the amount of feelings that I am aware of now.......I am sure some of them are hormones still from having a baby, but I think most of them are because I was given this great gift to love.