Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to the most wonderful mommy (nauna) in the entire world! We are so very lucky to have you in our lives. I cannot express how thankful I am to have you by my side. Your love, endless support and friendship has carried me through the years and has given me someone to aspire to be like. Your kindness and passion for life is one that we should all strive for. I love you mommy and am so glad Henry gets YOU as his nauna! Big hugs. Enjoy your big day! XOXO, Mimi, Chris & Henry

ON THE MOVE

Henry is officially crawling!!! Today my parents stopped by and had a few new toys for him to play with. He wanted one that got away so bad that he literally took off after it in front of them, our good friend Evan who is helping me out on some house projects and his mama! After that he has been crawling all afternoon and even showed his dads his moves when he got home. He is growing up so fast and I am so proud of him! I will get a video and share one of these days. Time to break out the baby gates! Good thing I already baby proofed most of the house aside from the locks on the cabinets/drawers which Evan is helping me with tomorrow. I am just so happy for him.

Growing Up

It's been awhile since I gave a really good update on Henry so here it goes. He is changing so much everyday and I am finding it harder and harder to have time to get on the computer as he is way more active and doesn't seem to need as many naps as before. So I will try to keep this short and sweet as there is so much to tell and not a lot of time to tell it!

He still has only 2 teeth (the bottom middle), but I can see several other white buds coming closer and closer to the surface. He is really pulling at his ear lately and is a bit more wakeful so I know they are bothering him a bit. However, I would say it's not too bad yet. Sleep is still an area we are working on. He is great at naps during the day in his own bed and goes down easily at night in his own bed but half way through the night around 2am usually he wakes up screaming and is not easy to soothe so he ends up in bed with me. Not ideal but this is how we get sleep around here. His new sound this past week is "baa baa" He loves his voice and is constantly chatting our ears off. Both mommy and daddy are trying to turn that "baa baa" into a "mama" or "dada"...pressures on! ;o) His hair keeps getting longer and longer but his growing straight up, so funny. He loves to clap and sometimes will wave goodbye..not sure if he knows what he is doing or just imitating me. He finally figured out how to roll from his belly to his back so he is not getting stuck in the middle of the night due to that and I don't worry about him sleeping on his belly as much. About a month ago he started scooting around on his belly backwards. And now he is great at getting on all fours and likes to crawl backwards. He also goes from sitting to all fours and back to sitting, which takes him around the room. So he has figured out a few ways to get where he wants to go but still hasn't mastered the movement forward yet. Last Friday he had his first big tumble and just about gave mom a heart attack. I had my head turned eating some breakfast while he was at his spot on the floor playing with toys and the next thing I heard was a big bang. He was trying to crawl over the pillow I put to help ease a tumble backwards and went head first into the hardwoods. He was fine after a few minutes of loves from mom but was left with a black and blue bump on his forehead. However, he went right back after it a few minutes later. He is very determined to figure out how to crawl. Our entire house is hardwood and I don't have an area rug in the living room, which is where we spend most of our time, and he has a hard time getting his legs under him due to the floor being so slippery. So we have been spending more time in his room which has a rug and he is so close to crawling on that surface (some pics below). We just ordered a folding tumbling mat from ebay that should get here this week for the living room. I am really excited to have a softer surface for him to play on. Last week I also caught him pulling himself to a stand in his crib. I just lowered his crib a couple weeks ago to the middle setting and wish I would have just put it all the way down as I have to get that done this week before he climbs out! I now find him sitting up, on all fours or trying to do a baby pull up on the side every time I go in to get him. Really funny and amazing how strong those little arms are. We also started our first PEPS Group (Program for Early Parent Support) yesterday and will meet for the next 11 weeks. He is the oldest in the class but really didn't mind as he was scooting his way over to all the other babies to check them out. He is such a social kid and I am so looking forward to getting to know these other parents and learn from each of them. The class is all boys except 2 girls which is a change for him as he is used to being surrounded by gorgeous little girls! And, lastly is how Henry has been taking to mama's homemade baby food. I will say the first couple times was not good. He started dry heaving when he had my carrots, spit out his green beans and peas and did not like avocado by itself. So I made them a bit more runny and put his carrots in with his yogurt a couple times and now he eats them all by themselves and loves them. I put his peas in with a mashed banana and he loved them that way. Now I just warm up the peas, sometimes add a splash of formula and he takes it all down happy as can be. The avocado I mash with a banana for breakfast or just add some formula so it's not so pasty. I think the first time it was like eating peanut butter and stuck to his mouth too much. I have yet to try green beans again, on my list this week. But I will say he LOVES my homemade pears. Since the pears are fresh right now I grabbed a box from the farm and went to work. I now have a 3 month supply frozen in individual cube servings for him and still had pears left so we made some for his girlfriend Westyn. :o) Anyway, I love making his food and I rarely am giving him anything but homemade food these days. We are going to try tofu next. Overall, life is great. I am loving being a mom and find it harder and harder to be away from our little man. My mother-in-law watched him this past Friday so Chris and I could have a date night and it was probably one of the hardest times I have had letting him go. I am becoming more and more attached every day and I just love our special chats, sloppy kisses and all our play time activities. He is growing up so fast and I just don't want to miss anything. My love for this little boy is unbelievable and I simply don't know how to put it in words. He really is the light of my life. Here are some of my favorite pics over the past couple weeks:

Trying to crawl:Almost there...just need to stop and chew the side for a minute!Standing tall:

Bocce Ball

This past Sunday Chris was in the annual Bocce Ball Tournament at a family friends in Bellevue (his team got 3rd). They have an actual Bocce Ball Court built at their house and a ton of all their local Italian buddies join in the competion. Henry and I were able to stop in to watch a few games and enjoy the incredible Italian feast...literally a feast...tons of different pasta, salmon, pheasant, eggplant, meatballs, salads, rice, my favorite green beans, you name it they had it! And to top it off a live band singing songs from their homeland. They also had two really big bouncy houses for kids (all 40+ running around) that Henry will be able to enjoy next year. There is nothing like sitting around enjoying the view of the lake in the sunshine, listening to the beautiful Italian language, watching an intense game of Bocce and enjoying some incredible food. Perfect way to spend a Sunday if you ask me!

A view of the court:

Henry meeting his Great, Great Auntie Maria, he LOVED her!Uncle Mike, Henry, Chris & I:
Uncle Mike & Henry:

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Little Miss Leah! I hope we continue to have fun adventures together in the years to come!
Cheers to you and the BIG 30!!! Wish we were able to join you this evening. Have a blast and see you soon!

Homemade

I had so much fun making Henry's baby food this evening that I just had to share! My mother-in-law bought us this machine called the BabyCook for my shower and I finally put it to the test. Since we have been giving Henry solids for about 3 months now and have covered most of the first foods recommended I felt comfortable enough to give it a whirl on my own. Also, since we have acres of fresh produce right out our front door how could I not save a buck or two? Anyway, I went to the farm and grabbed a bunch of carrots and green beans and went to work. Super easy. Just clean, steam and blend. And, this machine does all the steaming and blending in one device. So fun. It's not the exact consistency as what you will buy in the store so I will have to report back on how Henry's taste buds rate the meal!

In my research for information online about various baby foods and tips on making safe and healthy foods at home I stumbled upon the below website. So helpful!

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Happy Anniversary

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Troy & Ashley and Happy 2nd Anniversary to Russ and Laurel! We hope you both enjoy your day and take time to celebrate one another and the beautiful families you have created. We love you so much and I can't wait to continue to share our journeys together.