Cutting teeth

Leonard cut his first tooth on Saturday. THAT was a rough night!

You can see the white coming through and he has been such a trooper! I would post a pic, but YOU try getting that squirmy little boy to show you his tooth...haha...not happening!

New Toy!

Well, I finished Leonard's Christmas shopping and most everything is under the tree but I COULD NOT resist pulling this thing out and letting him play on it! He really is enjoying playing in it and checking everything out. Basis for picking it out.

#1. I love all things Baby Einstein

#2 Highest weight limit! Haha!

He's been having a blast in it and I hope to get a video of him playing and hollering in it up here tonite or tomorrow (Grandpa Russell loves the videos!).

So here is one of him in the new exersaucer and a cute one. Im having a hard time getting smiles lately b/c whenever he sees that red light on the camera he stops whatever he is doing and stares! Its funny!

Binkys

Leonard's binky has been quite a necessity lately with him teething. He seems to prefer chewing on a binky rather than a teething ring, which is fine.

So last nite he had another rough nite and as I am packing his stuff to go to my mom's im thinking in my head "grab the binky off the couch". Well of course i forget it and im almost to my moms when I remember so I run in Walgreens to grab some more.

Of COURSE they dont have the Avent ones, which is what he has always used. The Mam ones looked the most like his other ones so I went ahead and got those and upgraded to 6 months and up.

I get to my moms and I pop the binky in his mouth to test it and he sort of chews, sucks, spits it out, holds it, looks at it and i stick it back in. He started sucking happily on it so im like "WHEW!".

My mom calls me a couple hours later at work to report it didnt leave his mouth until she fed him and that he was napping and sucking happily on his binky.

GREAT! So now im probably going to have to replace all my binkys...

Bath Time Fun

I only get the chance to give Leonard baths on the weekend, since he takes his baths at Grandma's mostly. We had fun this past weekend doing bathtime in the sink since Leonard seems to have outgrown his tub...along with just about everything else...haha!

Jazzing with mommy...

Leonard is teething and this afternoon he was pretty crabby. We were decorating the tree and he slept through most of it but got up in a crabby mood.

I sat with him on the couch and got out the laptop to catch up on the message board i post on. He sat next to me, snuggled next to me entranced by the glowing screen and pictures everywhere. It seemed to take his mind off of his teeth and soon he was sleeping. He slept on the couch, all snugly in the blanket that Bopchi made...then he woke up and had to cutest sleepy look on his face...so I had to take a pic...



He is such a sweetie...

HAPPY THANKGIVING!

It has been an amazing year so far! We have been so blessed this year. I got some great photos of the kids and just had to get on here and post them for our family up North (Hi mom and dad!).

Leonard has his first try at real sweet potatoes. I got to use the handy food mill I got for the first time and I have to say, I have no idea why I havent used it before. Leonard was a little confused by the different texture, but he liked it all the same.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and took this time to remember all that Lord has done for you this year.

5 Months Old

It is amazing that Leonard is already 5 months old. I cannot believe that so much time has passed and how big he has gotten! He was such a big boy when he was born and sometimes I cant remember him being so little!

He loves to eat baby food. Especially bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots. He is such a happy boy and loves to discover new things! He seems so much more aware of the world around him everyday, whether its looking at the big sky or taking in every detail of his favorite toy.

He is such a blessing and I cannot imagine my life without him :)

Spooktacular

So on with the blogging blitz...
This year me and my friend Jenna thought it would be fun to take all the kids to Spooktacular at the Zoo. We took Alexa 2 years ago and it was really fun. We did it the weekend before Halloween so they could still go trick or treating in Riverside.

Well it probably was NOT the greatest idea...apparently every other parent in Jacksonville and every surrounding town thought it would be a great idea. It was horribly overcrowded and I have to say that I DID NOT enjoy the experience. The kids were such good sports though and even Leonard was on his best behavior in the midst of the craziness.

We had a little party at the house beforehand while the girls got dressed, which was probably alot more fun than going to the Zoo. We still ended up with some great pics because we all have some great looking kids :)

Alexa was a Gypsy this year, she looked FANTASTIC! She is just so pretty.

The girls enjoying their Halloween munchies...

Goblin Goo...

Coffin Sandwiches

Eyeball Cupcakes

Hanging with the Pirates at Spooktacular

Leonard was such a trooper, but boy was he TIRED!

The girls posing in the pumpkin patch...

Next year, we will be wiser and just have the little halloween party...haha!

Post horribly overdue!

Things are going well. We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel so it has been a bit chaotic. Leonard is doing fine after his first ear infection and now we are having fun with teething...no teeth yet, but there is definitely stuff happening. He is getting SOOOO big. Its hard to believe He is 5 months old!

I'll have his 5 month pic up tonite but I have a few photos of him and Alexa from Halloween that I never managed to get up. There will probably be like 12 posts just today because im so behind on EVERYTHING!


Sydney, Alexa, Leonard and Alyssa all dressed up for Halloween.

My poor little bean...

I have some sad news, Leonard has his first ear infection. Leonard has been teething which triggered a runny nose, which gave him a cough, which caused stuff to drain in his ears and voila...ear infection.

None of us have been getting much sleep for the past 3 days but last night was the worst. We had been able to console him my using the Hylands Teething tablets (which ROCK btw) but last night when he started to run a fever we knew something was up.

So he is on antibiotics and is resting at Grandma's while mommy is at work. My mom says he is doing better and is getting some much needed sleep.

Its so sad because he is such a good baby and hardly ever cries so it's been challenging having him cry CONSTANTLY!

So everyone please be praying for healing in his ears as this is something he gets from Jeremiah's side of the family. Chronic ear infections run in his family and while it lessens with every generation, we really dont want this to become an issue for him.

Please be praying!

Thanks!

Losing that baby weight

While im on a role with posting...

Weight Watchers is going really well. In my first month ive lost 10 lbs! So only 24 more lbs till im back to pre-baby weight and another 10 to be back to my dancer weight :)

Its amazing ive actually lost weight considering i've had some bad weeks, but ive gotten right back on track.

Woohoo!

Eating Bananas :) and other cute stuff

Here are just a couple cute pics of Leonard and his first time eating bananas.




This outfit is just too much! I even have matching loafers :)


Oh man! Thats different Daddy!

4 Month Wellcare and Baby Food

Leonard had his last checkup and round of shots a few days ago and as suspected, he is perfectly healthy and normal. The Dr. was very impressed with his development and gave us the OK to try baby food :)

Here are Leonard's current stats

18 lbs 3 oz

27 inches long

Yep! He is one big boy! He is doing so well with eating his rice cereal and baby food. So far we have just tried bananas. Tonite we are doing sweet potatoes! Ive invested in some Clorox for colors as there will be some seriously stained bibs and baby clothes with all this.

Leonard is also teething. The doctor said his upper gums were pretty swollen but it could be a few weeks or even months before we see any teeth so we will see :)

I'll be posting lots of photos and maybe a video today, stay posted :)

Tummy Time Video :)

Ok so im probably the only one who enjoys this, but I think my family up north will enjoy seeing Leonard in action.

4 Months

I havent posted in a while because I have been getting some new photos. Leonard is officially four months old. Its amazing how fast the time has gone by and how big he is. Its hard to believe this big guy was once in my tummy!

We got the ok from his doctor to try rice cereal and he has tried it a couple times. He is doing pretty good with it and getting better at getting it in his tummy! He has also been having a little apple juice everyday to help with digestion and boy does he love apple juice!

Leonard is getting so strong! He does very well at tummy time pushing himself up and he can stand very well, holding onto just our fingers. He is really such a happy guy. He is just so smiley and giggly!

Here are some photos from the past week.

Officially 4 months old!


Cozy new sweater and hat!


Tummy Time! I love my musical catapillar!


Trying on snow hats at Baby Gap...


Trying rice cereal for the first time :)


Sleeping so peacefully...

Leonard just cracks me up.

Lately Leonard has been doing this thing where he basically cries and smiles all at the same time. I wish I had video of it because it is just TOO FUNNY!

He was doing it last nite. He would start frowning like he was gonna cry, then starts laughing, then cry, then smile, frown, then laugh. Me and Jeremiah were ROLLING! Its like geez Leonard! Kinda hard to take you seriously when you have no idea if you wanna be happy or sad!

Look who's talking now.

Leonard has discovered that he has a voice, and boy is it LOUD! Lately he has started making intentional noises. Mostly "oh's", and it is so cute! I just didn't anticipate how loud he would be. Saturday morning he woke us up around 6am, not crying but talking and giggling and having a good time. It was cute but since daddy didnt get much sleep, I had to take him in the living room so he wouldn't disturb him.

He is becoming his own little person with his own personality and its so cool to watch!


PJ's are one of my favorite things to buy for Leonard and I got these totally cute Gap pjs on Ebay and LOVE them! It says "Rockin Baby" on the front :) I have 3 more sets on the way! I think he is starting to look like such a little man, he isnt a new born anymore :(

Since Leonard is able to keep himself sort of occupied with a toy or something, we have been able to start renovations again on the house. Its been very trying living in an old house that needs work, but this house has so much potential and charm. Jeremiah and my dad built some shelves for the kitchen and Jeremiah finished the final design for our kitchen. So hopefully we can get the $$$ to get everything. Its slow coming but its been neat to see the house transform, even in small ways.

My little sweetie

I got a couple new pics from the past few days. Leonard is really starting to become more aware of the world around him and as of late is fascinated by his fingers. They are always in his mouth and he is learning to grab his toys and my hair!

This little outfit is just so cute! It was probably his last time wearing it because he is getting so big! I love the scene from my favorite children's book "The Very Hungry Catapillar".

Since he seems to be able to use his hands better, he has been wrapping his hand around his bottle when he eats...its so cute! He isn't holding it by himself (daddy has the other end), but he will be there soon and then ill be sad :(

My little Ducky loves bathtime cause he gets to be nakey!

Thats all for now.

Baby word albums

I was gonna post this on my scrapping blog, but I figured my other mommy friends would like these.
An old friend of mine is finally pregnant with twins after trying for a very long time. I wanted to do something a little different for a shower gift so I decided to make an album. I found these great word albums online and used my favorite baby collection paper for a girl themed and boy themed album.
I confused the date of the shower and ordered the supplies a little late. I was bummed and figured I could just mail the albums to her. Well, I get home on Friday and behold, my stuff has come in! I wasn't able to start working on them until about 9:30pm and around 1:30am, I only had one completed. So I had to wake up early the morning of the shower and do the other one, which fortunately only took me 3 hours. They turned out wonderful and I really think that she liked them.


So here they are!

We have been doing quite a bit of tummy time with Leonard lately and sometimes he likes it, sometimes he doesnt. Jeremiah was playing with him and pushing his legs into a crawl type position. It was so cute, whenever Jeremiah would push his hips up he would start giggling, it was hilarious. You have to listen carefully though cause Jeremiah is laughing a little louder than Leonard at times.

Body after baby

I think its pretty safe to say that the majority of women have a hard time getting their body back after having a baby. I gained quite a bit of weight with Leonard and am still getting used to my new body. I started Weight Watchers a week ago and after my first week I am happy to report that I lost 7 lbs! I know it wont be that much every week, but it was so encouraging that all the work I put into making the right food choices paid off.

I know I wont be quite the same, but at least I can get back to a normal weight and be healthy. Jeremiah was very proud that I stuck with it and continue to do so. He bought me some Victoria's Secret Pink sweatpants (my FAVORITE!) and a cute matching shirt (so lucky to have a hubby with great taste in clothes).

Anyways, im feeling good about losing weight and getting back my body after baby :)

Life is good :)

Wednesday nights are Leonard and Mommy nights. Jeremiah teaches an Autocad class at the community college so its just me and my little man for most of the night. We usually sit in the big comfy chair together and play with his toys while watching our favorite show, Jon and Kate Plus 8.
He was sooo sleepy last night and went to bed at 8pm. I still had a couple hours till Jeremiah home so I let the dinner dishes sit in the sink (instead of rushing to wash them) and pulled out my scrapping stuff. I got a few layouts done and I also took photos of all the layouts that were not yet in my gallery at scrapjazz.com. Yea that was something like 62 layouts including an altered formula can and a chipboard album project!

My friend, Joanne had posted some recent layouts of her adorable little guy so I thought i'd show my family and friends who dont get to see my work on scrapjazz, some of Leonard layouts.

Ok, I had to show the altered formula can. Got this idea from my SJ pal, Kimberly.





While I think Jeremiah would say my hobby is definitely a costly one...I think its awesome that I am preserving all these wonderful memories so my kids can enjoy them and remember too.

A wonderful weekend

This weekend both me and Jeremiah were determined to spend some real, quality family time together. I spent some of Saturday cleaning the house and then most of the day was spent playing with Leonard and just having a good time all together.

Leonard has had a stuffy nose this week. Poor little guy. He has been in amazingly good spirits for being all stuffed up. Thankfully, he isnt "sick" just a bit congested.

He is getting bigger and changing all the time. Sometimes I look down at him and he looks so different. Just looking at his pictures from when he was just born, I can hardly believe how he has changed.

Here are some photos from our weekend together. We took some in the park with b&w film on Jeremiah's film camera. Those will take about 2 weeks to come in b/c its special film. So hopefully I can get those scanned in soon.