Night time Ritual

I never knew that bathtime and books would ever be so important and exciting as they are now. Right now. In this moment. There are so many things I love about being a stay at home mom and spending every moment with my little man, but one of my absolute favorite things is bath time & reading. Each night after Tiuke eats his last bottle of the night, I fill up his bath tub, get out a clean washcloth, grab a new hooded towel and hang it on the towel rack, and then put my little buddy's squirmy body in the water, and he giggles. He splashes, and giggles, and smiles. It is better than I could have ever imagined.

And after his bath is over, and he gets his "swim" time, I pull him out, wrap him in his towel, snuggle him for a while, and then lay him on the bed to lotion up his soft silky body & put him in some warm baby jammies that smell like they've just been taken out of a room full of Dreft. It is the most delicious smell in the world, by the way! He laughs the whole time. Then, like magic, his eyes get sleepy, and as I pick him up he snuggles up to my chest just a little bit closer than usual. It's story book time. And he LOVES to read!

Tonight was a new book that we bought at Witches Night Out. It's called "Frank was a Monster who Wanted to Dance". It is so adorable, and he just loves the pictures. The contrast of Frank's lime green face next to the dark greys and deep purples make it so fun to look at. And it is the perfect book for October. I've made sure to make it a ritual, every night before bed, to read to him. I can see that as he gets older he will love having story time before bed, and I hope that as he grows up and becomes too big to read with me that he remembers his childhood, and that one of his favorite memories is reading books before bed with mom and dad.

There's just something about having him sit on my lap and talk to the pictures while I read him the story that is just so comforting and relaxing. It's like a special bonding moment. Just my son & I, sitting in bed reading books together. I promise to cherish these moments, every day, and never take a single one for granted. I was born for this. And it is so much better than I ever thought it would be.

I even let him lay in bed and read the book himself sometimes!

I can't wait for tomorrow night!

Comfort Cookies

I got up this morning, just like every weekday morning, at 7am to take Lisi to school. I picked Tiuke's warm body up out of bed, and layed him softly on my shoulder while I carried him downstairs to buckle him into his carseat. We drove her to school, and when we got home I hoped that buddy would sleep til 9 like he does most mornings, I could really use the extra hour of sleep. My brain has been busy the last few nights and I haven't been able to get to sleep before 1am to save my life. But I wasn't that fortunate, Tiuke was awake & giggling and ready to take on the day. So I gladly put on a pot of coffee and talked and giggled with him in bed. I was actually glad to be awake, even though I was tired, I was determined to mark off a good chunk of things from my "to do" list.

Do you see where this is going? Well, the deep cleaning that I really thought I'd get done today, didn't. And I didn't get a single load of laundry in the washer. I didn't even make the bed, (but I heard making the bed actually promotes bed bugs, so I'm feeling ok about that!) Other than washing a few dishes & clipping my coupons, I didn't get anything done that I needed to. So, to make up for feeling like I just didn't accomplish enough, I decided to make some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Not those pre-made frozen cookies, oh no... these were from scratch!

Don't get me wrong, I love pre-made cookie dough just as much as the next girl. And I'm totally guilty of using it most of the time when I'm making cookies, but I had a dream.... that's right, I had a dream about homemade chocolate chip cookies. There's just something about the taste, and even the smell of chocolate chip cookies made from scratch that you just don't get from the pre-made dough.

And they did not disappoint.

I forgot how much a single batch will make though, so I took some over to the neighbors, and I even bagged some and put them in the freezer so Duke can chow some down when he gets home!

And I must say, I've been feeling just a little bit lonely lately and really missing Duke, and nothing makes you feel more comforted than walking into a house that smells of homemade baked goodies. It's like walking into a time machine. I can just remember the smell of my house growing up when my mom was always cooking homemade treats, it's kind of like the comfort of chicken noodle soup when you're sick, only this is the comfort food for a lonely heart!

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I gave Tiuke his nightly bath tonight, and then handed him over to Lisi for a bit while I went downstairs, turned everything off, and grabbed the things I would be needing for the night (bottles, formula, binkies, etc). I had planned to come back upstairs and read buddy a book before putting him to bed, but instead I walked in to this...



He was OUT!! My cute little buddy must have been exhausted from watching all the coupon clipping I was doing today! I always look forward to reading with him at night, but when I walk upstairs to this it just melts my heart. He is just so dang cute. And it's UEA weekend, which means I get to sleep in for the next 5 DAYS!!!

With that said... happy long weekend everybody! I'm going to attempt to get some sleep now!

It Has Begun...

My favorite time of year is officially in full swing. I love walking onto my front step and breathing in a deep breath of cool, crisp air. Especially when it smells like living room fireplaces burning, and homemade chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. And there's nothing like a beautiful orange, red and yellow backdrop of fall leaves to top it off. And I must say, I thuroughly enjoy the bright oranges, blacks, deep purples and lime greens of Halloween decorations to really bring in the Autumn cheer! I think what I like most, is it symbolizes the beginning of the holiday season. It means it's time to put away the flip flops & pull out the snow boots. Grab your snuggliest blanket & an extra large container of hot cocoa cause winter is on the way, and that means cold nights in watching movies & hanging out with my little family. 

And to get into the mood of fall, I decided it would be a good time to take Tiuke to Wheeler Farm & shoot a few fall photos. The time passed so quickly, I wasn't able to take any "3 Months" photos, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to capture this time in his tiny little life, as I know I will never get these precious moments back, and he will never be this little again.

Grandma Jacalyn came with us to take the photos, she was a great "prop holder"!! She made it so much easier and she just loves "her" baby!! And thanks to her being there, Tiuke & I got a couple shots together!

This Saturday marked yet another tradition that just makes Autumn feel like Autumn even more, Witches Night Out!! Every year the ladies in my family get decked out in our witch hats, and brave the traffic to make it out to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village. It's such a fun tradition, and I just love walking around and seeing all of the creative costumes and checking out the neat little shops with their creative decorations & must-have trinkets. Although this year a lot of us were boring & didn't wear a hat.... but next year FOR SURE!!

Tiuke absolutely LOVED it there! I wasn't sure how he would feel about the whole thing. It could go one of two ways, either he was going to get freaked out by all the crazy women dressed as witches, or he was going to love it, and he LOVED IT!! (Such a momma's boy!) I put him in his baby bjorn and decided I'd have him facing out, at least to begin with, so he could see what was going on. We walked up to the event and all of a sudden I start hearing this tiny little voice squeeking and squeeling and making out a tiny little baby laugh. I realized after a few moments that it was Tiuke! He was loving it! I'm sure he was thinking "look at all these silly women dressed up in their funny looking costumes, and running around like little kids." But it just made me so happy to hear that tiny little squeek every couple of minutes!

These "witches" made their own costumes... and even stayed in character the whole night!

About halfway through the night Tiuke needed to be changed, and then I decided to turn him around to face momma in the baby bjorn. It took about 2 minutes and he was OUT!

We had so much fun at Witches Night Out. My Aunt Debbie & cousin Stephanie came, and my Aunt Tracy came with Lacee, Martina & Becca. Then my cute mommy, (who spent the weekend with us), and my sister came out. We also invited my neighbor Jaclyn and her 2 daughters. It was so fun to see everybody and hang out. Even though we all got split up for a little while, it's always nice to catch up for a bit and see how everyone is doing.

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I forgot to mention in my last post that we took Tiuke to the doctor for his 4 month check up. He is so big! He has grown 5 1/2 inches, he is now 26 inches long, and he also weighs in at a whopping 15 lbs. 11 oz. ... HOLY COW!! Then he had to get a couple shots in his chubby thighs, but he & I both braved through it, and he barely even cried. He's such a brave little buddy!

And my sweet little boy has a new, well, lets just call it a "hobby" that he has recently discovered as a means of entertaining himself. He likes to grab his blanket, or burp cloth, or whatever is close by, and pull it up over his head and then he wiggles around and giggles. It's almost like he's playing peek-a-boo with himself. Its so hilarious. And the other day while he was playing his game I turn to look at him and find this...

I just adore him!

That's it for today. Happy Monday everybody!

Sick Day

I decided it would be a good idea to get my annual "season changing cold". Every year,  just as the seasons are changing from Summer to Autumn, I get a really neat cold. It starts with just a small cough, and rapidly turns into  a cough that sounds like it's coming from an 80 year old man, accompanied by a headache, chills, hot flashes and aches and pains all over. So, I was happy to be able to stay home today. This is the first time I've been sick, and not have to worry about calling my job to tell them I wouldn't be in. It was such a relief. And lets be honest, it doesn't hurt having a beautiful baby boy to snuggle with while I'm feeling crappy.

It also gave me a chance to catch up on some beanies I needed to make. While I was pregnant and on bed rest I started crocheting, I had posted a few photos of some of the things I had made, and had quite a few people ask if I would be willing to "take orders"!! I, of course, was more than happy to whip up a few things for everyone... but then I had more and more people asking for them. So I started posting photos on facebook, and selling them at a very decent price! It's so flattering to have people who like my things so much!!



My bed was turned into a play place/ crochet garden!


The weather finally cleared up today, and it was just perfect for going outside. I was a little bummed that I wasn't feeling well enough to go out and enjoy it, but I'm hoping to get feeling better by the end of the week, so I can get Tiuke to a pumpkin patch. But it's days like today that I appreciate Duke so much for what he does for our family. Not only did I not have to call in sick to a job today, but every day I get to be with my baby boy, and I don't have to miss a single minute of his little life!

 Today was wonderful.

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And just one more add-on.... how do you not love this...

He MUST hold my finger as tight as possible while he eats, and he absolutely WILL NOT let go. I love it!

Overload

 I think this is the only thing I could name this post because it is going to be an overload of photos and activities since my last post! My laptop got a virus, (that will teach me a lesson not to renew my virus protection!), so I'll be pretty much dumping a whole bunch of stuff into this post!



Big boy outfit for the aquarium!



We took buddy to the aquarium for his first time! I was really excited, but was prepared for him not being able to really enjoy it, I mean lets be honest, at only a few months old he had no idea what was going on! But I was pleasantly surprised when we got there, and realized that there are tons of bright colors and neon lights everywhere. He actually loved looking at everything and discovering all the new things he had never seen before!

Buddy on the froggy... and can you spot the bull frog??!!

I can't lie, it was nice for Duke and I to be able to get out of the house and do something out of the ordinary also! We really had a great time together, and it was fun seeing all the new attractions they had there. Especially the penguins! We also watched an anaconda eat a guinhea pig. It was interesting for about 2 seconds, then I was ready to go! I think Duke really enjoyed it though. (That must be a dude thing!)

Alligators, sting rays, electric eels & driving the "boat"!

I can't wait for him to be big enough to run around the aquarium grinning from ear to ear, unable to contain his excitement for each new creature & critter he discovers there! But for now, I will enjoy every moment of him being a little baby, and I'll love his excitement for colors and bright lights, and my heart will be full being able to have these moments with my boys!

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ATTENTION: The following is yet another "first" and a milestone in our litte buddy's life! His first time eating cereal!! It was hilarious... and a mess!



He was NOT happy at first!



We learned our lesson... we were going to have to feed him his cereal, before he thought he was going to waste away! It took a few minutes before he realized that what he was eating was food. Once he realized that, he just wanted to eat it as fast as possible. This posed a problem for him, though... he had no idea what the blue plastic thing was that we kept putting in his mouth. And he would move his little tongue in and out of his mouth, which ended up pushing more food out, than shoveling it in! It sure made for some really cute pictures though...

Bottom right... sexy face!

Oh I just love this one!

Okay, I promise that's it for the eating photos... I just couldn't choose!!

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 Tiuke is rolling over and cooing, and is getting closer and closer every day to crawling. He's just over 4 months old. I can't believe how quickly they grow up. I'm so thankful to be able to be a stay-at-home mom so I don't have to miss a single moment of my little buddy growing up!