Growing & Learning

I couldn't believe when I saw this picture Popeye took. I don't recall on a day to day basis seeing these really chubby cheeks but here they are... captured on film.

He's really starting to figure out those hands. It still has to be a semi-big item but he loves to chew on just about anything. He's getting pretty good at the hand-eye coordination (or maybe I just see the times he actually grabs a hold of something) but he's starting to love his floor gym. Anymore, when he sits in his high chair, he's leaning forward chewing (see above :O)

~olive

Bathroom Spruce Up

This week has been a decorating week. I found some blogs that try to reuse what you have or garage sale finds to make some really cute things..... I'm so inspired (and overly zealous) !!!!! Here's a few bathroom creations....

I made the vase and used some greenery that we got for our wedding reception that looked kind of palmy.....

Framed some great scrapbook paper that fit the theme and colors. I used mattes from my college photography class so we didn't have to buy any. Hardest part? Hanging them straight!!!

My Swimming Adventure... An Emmett Story

My friend Luke, who lives next door, and I were going to go swimming today!!!

Here I am all ready to go swimming for the first time. My mommy found these snazzy swimming trunks and I was itching to go.

Pool water is COLD!!!! I was not a fan of the cold water. I stood in it, sat in it, laid down in it.... mommy even 'got in with me' but I'm telling you... cold water is NOT fun!

So mommy took me home. We didn't even get to stay long enough to play with my friend Luke who wasn't up from his nap yet!

When we got home mommy wheeled me right into the bathroom and turned on the WARM bath water!!!! I had so much fun!!! Mommy normally puts me in the baby bathtub but I got to go in the big person tub and splash around!!!

It wore me out though!! I didn't even complain when mommy put me down for a nap. I might try the pool again another day..... if someone puts warm water in it first!

Strong Legs

When we were going through baby names, Matthew was really big on the name we choose meaning something good because it can say a lot about the person. Emmett in German means 'Strong Worker'. Here's the little man showing off his strong legs at only 12 weeks :O) He LOVES to 'stand' and be 'so big'!

My New Friend....Soakies

Emmett modeling the trial pair that was originally a purple sweater vest. NOT the color I would have chosen but its surprisingly hard to find lambswool sweaters...

Our 'little' man is a big wetter. Especially when he goes for several hours at night.I found a blog that has a pattern for soakies (wool underwear looking things you put over their diaper). The wool soakies are supposed to breathe really well, be anti-bacterial, and hold in wetness..... surprisingly (I was kind of skeptical myself) THEY WORK!!!!!

I think they turned out pretty cute all things considering ......
(aka: my lack of great sewing ability :O)

When Mommy Doesn't....

When I don't comb his hair for one reason or the other THIS is what we end up with..... :O)


~Olive

Big Things About Turning 3 Months

So when Emmett reached three months on Tuesday we celebrated by pulling out new toys and baby items we felt he was finally ready for. Lately, his hands (while still not quite coordinated yet) have become somewhat proficient in grabbing large objects and shoving them in his mouth (aka: burp cloths, noisy books, etc).

While he still does not like car rides, we bought him a toy that straps onto the carseat. He was able to figure out how to make the objects twirl but easily tires of the toy and often goes back to chewing on his burp cloth or paci.

My mom and Miss Anna suggested his high chair. He does enjoy sitting in there and watching me cook. We talk a little as I work and he , once again, chews on his burp cloth. I'm pretty sure we can't have enough of these things anymore between the kutzing and the chewing :O) We do put some other toys on the high chair for him.


soon to come...... Emmett's big enough for his swimming pool!!!!

~Olive

Diaper Sites

We've really enjoyed using cloth diapers on Emmett so far. They've changed so much since my mom's day and now it seems they don't have to be any different tan disposables except that you wash them instead. Looking into them, it seems like they'd be super expensive to start out.... and they can be but depending on what style you decide to go with (yep, there's more than one option now) but they can also be really cheap. Regardless of what CD you would decide to use, in the end you will save money.

Did you Know???

The average money spent disposable diapering a baby from birth to potty-training is somewhere around $1900!!!!


Even buying the most expensive cloth diaper won't cost you that much AND you can use them on more than one kid!!!!


CRAZY!!!!!

Okay, so I started this pt just to put up a few of my favorite sites in case anyone was interested, but I digressed just a bit :O)

Anyway......

Here's a site that explains all the different kinds:

http://www.diaperjungle.com/cloth-diaper-types.html


My favorite good quality really inexpensive one size:

http://theluvyourbaby.com/


An online store I enjoy:

http://www.kellyscloset.com/


Discounted Clearance Diapers:

http://clothdiaperclearance.com/index.php


A used cloth diaper forum (do you research not always much cheaper. cloth diapers have high resell if you take care of them!!!!):

http://www.diaperswappers.com//


Want to check a diaper's review???

http://www.diaperpin.com/home.asp


Want to be super cheap and make your own? Really not that hard!!!

http://www.zany-zebra.com/free-cloth-diaper-patterns.shtml

Happy Diapering!!!!!

~olive

New Clothes

Emmett's outgrown most of his 3-6 clothes so it was time to pull the 6-9 month clothes out of the closet. So this is the week of new clothes!!!! I'm taking pics of just a few of my favorites (though there are way too many cute ones to post (some are a little big but better than too small!!!!)Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday


Thursday

Friday

2 Month Check Up

Emmett had his two month check-up, which he cried at almost the entire time!!! Poor guy :O(

It was 3:45 in the afternoon (nap time), we had already run errands before heading to his appt. He was, thankfully, well behaved in the waiting area (him and another little boy were smiling it out :O) and while we weighed him but once he was laying on the table with just his diaper the tears started to flow. If you've heard him, he has a mighty howl.

On the bright side, I couldn't tell much of a difference between 'the shots' cry and the present crying (if we want a glass half full approach :O)


His stats were good though: 15.5 lbs , 25.5 inches long.... I couldn't hear the head size.

I can't read the little chart thing to tell you what that is in comparison but we're going to go that it's pretty safe to say big and healthy :O)


~Olive

Garage Sale JackPot

I hit the jackpot thanks to a tip from Iva. Yes, jackpots now = garage sale find of the century for Emmett's future clothing needs. I can't stand paying full price (on sale is sometimes even hard to swallow!) for his clothes because he hardly wears them... or he poops all over them. Both of these reasons deem NEW clothes unnecessary (except in some church clothes situations :O)
We had a garage sale last weekend and Iva stopped by saying there was a lady who had twins... sizes newborn to 18ish month up... that had lots of clothes if I was interested. Were there ever a lot of clothes!!!! I left with everything in a garbage bag .. you heard me- Garbage Bag!!!! I was on cloud nine.... not only were the items like 25 to 50 cents a piece but they were in GREAT condition. ahhhh.... I feel good just thinking about it. Anyway... :O) Here's pics of the stash.

8 wheels

We are now a 2 car family again. It feels good if not a little expensive. We found a manual... yes, a manual which makes it POPEYE'S car... on craigslist. It's amazing how many things I realize that I had to turn down going to before because I didn't have a vehicle. I'm so excited.... anyone hearing the Johnny Cash song, 'I've Been Everywhere'?

Emmett Update

9 Weeks

He's getting big fast! Recently, I've noticed his frustration at not being able to grab things. Oh, he's trying but he hasn't gotten it figured out yet. He's really alert and focused though so I thought we should try this little attachment to the green bouncer. Unfortunately it just made him mad because he couldn't get to it..... maybe someday he'll enjoy it :O)

I was reading in this baby update thing online about how at 9 weeks they should be able to sit slightly reclined and now is a good time to try out swings and bouncers.... I just had to laugh. Other babies are just getting in them, I can hardly put the tray down anymore he's getting so long!!!! We even take a little umbrella stroller out for strolls! Be that as it may, he still loves his swing and takes a 3 to 4 hour nap just about every morning in it!!!

Tummy Time. Something I haven't really done yet because he's always been able to lift up his head. He's been enjoying using his feet recently to push himself up and 'stand' without not much help from us so I decided maybe I should give him a little tummy time to encourage the crawling first (don't really want him to skip that one). Anyway, it didn't go well (my fault) I put a fuzzy/satin blanket down on hardwood. If he wasn't sliding around on it, he was shoving it in his mouth... I have to rethink my blanket choice next time :O)

~Olive

2 Month Photos

Mother's Day Present

So being my first official Mother's Day of an 8 week old brought a little bit of new emotions for me. It was sort of the 'wow, I'm a mom now' kind of thing. And seeing as how my little man is only 8 weeks, I wasn't really expecting a handcrafted card with colorful scribbles on it by any means. So when my son kutzed all over my side of the bed early Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church, I gratefully kissed his chubby cheek and said thank you for the thoughtful Mother's Day gift that only he could give.
He surprised me though with the gift of a wonderful night of uninterrupted rest as he slept 8.5 hours Sunday night just for his mommy on Mother's Day. What a son :O)

Helping Daddy Pack

Last week, Popeye had to fly to Michigan for a few days on business. It's the first time that Emmett and I have been alone alone since he was born. It might not have seemed quite as long if Popeye hadn't had to work that weekend (meaning he was either gone or asleep since the Friday night before). We made it though and was sure glad when he got back!

Way To Soon

Its way too soon to be having this discussion with a 7-week old but, I wanted to set the record straight.....

Friday night was the Rose Festival Parade so we packed up our stuff and headed out to take part in the festivities. I was a little concerned about how Emmett would do, but it seemed as long as I held him he was content to look around. The parade started and we walked down the street while the sirens went by just in case it would scare or hurt his ears. The rest of the parade was fine.

It was in the middle of the parade though that I knew I had 'all boy' in my hands and one that took after his Daddy. While he didn't seem too terribly interested in the rest of the parade, when the motorcycles came to a stop in front of us and revved their engines my son smiled.... big. You better believe I talked to him about that one later that evening. I figured this would come up some day, I didn't realize it's be so soon.

Sleeping 'Beauty' (in manly terms of course)

While Our little guy is sleeping through the night already, this does NOT happen when he's going through a growth spurt (aka. right now) which means not much sleep for me. I had finally got him down to bed after a pretty long day and was in the kitchen boiling pacifiers (thanks to the thrush) when the smoke alarms go off. We're talking those high-pitched beeps going through the house- even in his room!
It takes me a bit to stop what I'm doing, turn the vent fan on, and pull the chair over to turn them off.... cringing the whole time because I'm sure its woken him up and I just can't stand that sound.

Would you believe he didn't stir! Didn't even budge! With all the lesser things he wakes up to...... my knees popping when I lay him down, the shower curtain opening/shutting, door shutting, and more..... you'd have thought the alarms would have done it. Nope, didn't seem to faze him! Thankfully, he slept pretty good through the night giving me some resemblance of sleep.

Chicken Tortilla Bake

a post NOT about emmett :O) We made this last night and I thought it was definitely tasty!!!! Thought I'd pass it on for those who like slight Mexican :O)


Chicken Tortilla Bake

No Stick Cooking Spray
1 Med green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 C chopped yellow onion
1/2 C chicken broth
1 Can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 Can (10 oz) Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
2 C shredded cooked chicken
9 tortillas (6 in), torn into bite-size pieces
1 C shredded Colby Jack cheese


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 8x8-inch baking dish and medium skillet with cooking spray. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add bell pepper and onion; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring several times. Stir in broth, soup, undrained tomatoes and chicken; blend well. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Layer 1/3 each of the tortilla pieces, chicken mixture and cheese evenly in baking dish. Repeat layers twice more. Bake uncovered 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Makes 6 servings (1 C each).

Sporting Fancy Duds

Here's Emmett in his 'business casual'. Ready for any tie-formal event or a jog in the park.