Seven Months

RYAN - YOU ARE 7 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO THIS MONTH???

• You weigh around 17lbs
• You are 28 inches long
• You are still wearing size 2-3 diapers
• You wear sizes 6-9 month clothes - you grow out of your footie pajamas quickly since you are so long
• You love sucking your thumb. You have a pacifier and will take it sometimes but you usually like to chew on it like a teething toy

• You are a great sleeper! You take a 30-60 min. nap in the AM and a 2 hour nap in the PM. You also sleep between 12-14 hours each night!
• You did great on your second road trip to Memphis over Christmas! It's those last 50 miles that you are done and ready to be home. For the most part you are a great traveler.
• You are a well adjusting baby, you just go with the flow!
• You are usually the best baby in the nursery and we never have problems....except you spit up on the workers!
• You are a great eater! You have made your way through all the first stage foods including Applesauce, bananas, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, peaches, squash and prunes. Your favorite is probably peaches and carrots!

• You also tried some "real" food last week including cheerios, yogurt melts and gerber puffs. You can't pick them up yet and get them to your mouth but you like cheerios and yogurt melts, the jury is still out on the puffs. You like yogurt but not super crazy about it.
• You smile alot and everyone comments on what a happy baby you are!
• You have recently wanted to cuddle and be close to momma and even fall asleep in your arms. Momma loves that you want to be held and cuddled.
• You are sitting more and more every day! You are most interested in toys that you can chew on but you can balance yourself pretty well.
• You love sitting up and watching Annabelle and Gracie. You reach for them and want to grab ahold of them.

• You LOVE your Jumperoo and Exausaucer
• You love blowing rasberries in the morning and "talking" to yourself in your crib!
• You babble and love to "talk" to us. Sometimes you even squeal with excitement!

I can't believe how much you have grown in the last six short months. I can't imagine what you will be like in the next 6 months but we can't wait to find out! Every day we think we can't love you more but we wake up and our hearts are overflowing with our love for you!

Blog Makeover

I'm loving my new blog makeover! It's fresh and fun! Thanks so much Danielle from The Design Girl for doing such an awesome job!

SO HOW DO YA'LL LIKE THE NEW BLOG?

We've had a good and busy day today! Our morning started off with MOPS. MOPS has been such a blessing for me and I've gotten to meet some sweet and precious moms there. I have the youngest little one in our small group, most of the moms have 2-4 year olds. It's interesting to hear what their life is like with a toddler. I wonder how our days will change and evolve as Ryan gets older. The other day I was thinking about how I workout in the afternoon when Ryan naps and how that won't last forever. One of the moms even gets up at 4:30AM to run. Now I don't think I will ever do that but I might have to get up early before Ryan to get my workout in and use naptime for household and other things. It's funny how you get used to a schedule and routine only for it to change and adjust.

Ryan and I had lunch with my friend Mandy. Her husband and two adorable boys just moved to Cincy from Oklahoma. She is a southern girl and the sweetest person. We are in the same small group at church and have enjoyed getting to know her and her husband. I look forward to having more lunches and getting to know her better!

Can you read Ryan's shirt? It says "I love mommy's kisses". Isn't that precious? My sweet little valentine!

Ryan seems to be teething big time. He is chewing on everything he can get his hands on and drooling all over the place. Bless his little heart! I called the doctor yesterday about Ryan's cheek and the nurse said it's probably dry from the cold weather. She said it's most likely not teething. I've been putting more lotion and aquaphor on his cheeks and face and that seems to be helping!

Praying for Haiti

My heart has been heavy today for the people of Haiti. If you've seen the news you know that the small island of Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake on Tuesday Jan. 12. Reports are saying millions have been affected by this disaster.

Here are some interesting facts I found today about Haiti.

- Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest countries in the world.

- The nation is mostly comprised of small farmers.

- More than half the population lives on less than $1 a day and 78% on less than $2.

- They have a high mortality rate - 60 for every 1,000 births) and the prevalence of HIV among those between ages 15 and 49 is 2.2%.

- Haiti's infrastructure is close to total collapse.

(www.Encyclopedia.com)

I had no idea that Haiti is such a poorly developed and struggling nation.

I saw this on the news tonight. This is the presidential palace before the earthquake...

And this is the palace today! UNBELIEVABLE!!

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/13/haiti-earthquake-presiden_n_421510.html)

We are so blessed beyond measure! I can't imagine the poverty and devastation these people are facing. I'm praying for this country and the people who live there. I pray for the leadership and government of Haiti as they respond to this disaster. I pray for the protection of the survivors. I pray these people will find order out of chaos. I pray they will rise out of the rubble and ashes.

What's For Dinner?

I hate cooking! I'm not very good at it so I'm always looking for a good, healthy, quick and easy dinner recipe. I found this great IPhone app from Jennifer's blog. She talked about it the other day so I checked it out for myself. It's so cool! It's a spinner and you just pick what type of dish you want, what ingredient(s) and how long you want it to take to cook and it gives you tons of recipes.

Tonight I made Baked Ziti using the recipe from All Recipes. It turned out great and Matt loved it! I will definitely be making this again. If you don't have an IPhone you can still check out allrecipes.com and find new recipes to get you out of that cooking rut.

Today Ryan and I had lunch with my friend Anissa and her daughter Elizabeth and my friend Ruth and her son Nicholas. All three of our babies are within a month apart in age. It's great sharing the new things the babies are doing and getting support for the struggles we might be facing.

We came home and Ryan napped while I worked out. I'm looking forward to doing Cardio Resistance again tomorrow morning. Hopefully this week I won't be so sore on Thursday, ha!

P.S. Poor little Ryan has this rosy red right check. It comes and goes but I think it's from teething. Just to be sure I'm calling the doctor in the morning.

Riding Along In My Automobile

We recently retired Ryan's infant car seat and installed his new convertible car seat. The last time we were at the doctor he said we should go ahead and move him to the new seat for safety reasons. The max length on his infant seat is 29 inches and Ryan measures 28. Plus he was getting quit heavy and hard to carry around in the infant seat. So it was time to change!

And this is the car seat we chose. We looked at all the reviews and consumer reports and decided on this Britax. The only bad thing is it's HUGE!!!! It's bigger than I thought it would be but I think it will be much more comfy for Ryan.

Can I just tell you how much I love this thing?

This jumperoo is a life-saver! Whenever Ryan is fussy we put him in it and he LOVES it! He just goes to town! We even took it to Memphis with us! It's the best $80 we've spent, ha!

Of course not every baby will not love the jumperoo. You just do what works!

The last few days Ryan has been a little crabby. He is usually the happiest and easiest baby. But I think his top teeth are getting ready to come in. He's gumming and drooling alot, which he did when his bottom teeth came in. I am praying big time that Ryan's teething doesn't interrupt his great sleeping. He took a three hour nap this afternoon. I'm hoping and praying he sleeps well tonight!

What a great day!

This morning started out with our weekly ritual of a picture before heading to church. Of course we were running late as usual but we made sure to get a cute pic with Ryan.

I love this pic of Matt and Ryan. You can just see the love Ryan has for his daddy in his eyes! We heard the best message at church this morning. They are doing a sermon series on "Making Family First". Our worship pastor brought the message this morning and it was so encouraging about raising godly children and being a Christ-like example for them.

After church we met up with my in-laws, sister-in-law and her husband for brunch. Ryan didn't take a morning nap but he did well at the restaurant all things considered. We came back to our house to finally have Christmas with them and open presents.

Ryan was very excited to open presents. Matt's step mom Kris, aka Grandma, was helping Ryan. As you can see he thought the best part was the wrapping paper. He did get some cute new clothes! This boy has a better wardrobe than I do, ha!

My Father-in-law is a Cleveland Browns fan and Matt is a Cincy Bangels fan. It was a battle of the NFL when my FIL got Ryan a Brady Quinn Brown's jersey.

I prefer Ryan in ORANGE! TN Orange that is!!!!

As you can see he not only liked the wrapping paper but he loved the ribbon. Everything goes directly to the mouth these days! I'm waiting to see those little white dots appear on his gums. I'm sure it will be soon.

And speaking of things going right in Ryan's mouth. We decided to try cheerios and gerber yogurt melts tonight. By the way, our pediatrician said we could try these. Ryan loved them. He had trouble grabbing them and when he did grab one he didn't quit have the coordination to get it to his mouth. I had to put one in his mouth but he caught on quickly. The dogs are gonna love this boy, he kept dropping them on the floor. Our little rumbas, ha!

Puppy Love

It was another frigid, snowy day here. It's so cold outside! Even the dogs don't want to stay outside long. Thankfully they enjoy the snow but I don't think they like the cold. Even with more snow today it seems the roads are much better and almost clear. We hung out at home but I'm getting cabin fever and anxious to get out of the house!

Ryan is noticing Annabelle and Gracie more every day. He stares at them and when we play on the floor they will come sit by us. Ryan will lean over and try to grab their head. It's funny because they will lick his hands but he just seems fascinated by them. It's really cute. When they bark he stops and looks over at them.

(Both these pics are of Gracie)

I think these three are going to be such good buddies. When I was pregnant I was so worried about how Annabelle and Gracie would adjust to having a baby around and not getting my full attention. They have done great and if Matt is playing with Ryan or when Ryan's sleeping I try to spend a little extra time giving them attention. Our dogs LOVE attention and will even nudge your hand if you are petting them and you stop. Annabelle is notorious for this. They are just lovers and snugglers. I can't imagine them not apart of our family.

Today I finally started taking down our Christmas decorations. Seems like we just put them up. Unfortunately they aren't going to take themselves down, ha! It's so much more fun decorating for Christmas than de-decorating, don't you agree? My house seems so bear once all the decorations are packed away. I do enjoy though putting things back in place and feeling organized.

I'm looking forward to getting out of the house tomorrow for a friend's baby shower. Might even do a little shopping by myself while I'm out!