Memorial Day Weekend

Our friends, Sebastien and Sara, came in from Philadelphia over the weekend to visit. We had the worst weather possible so we mostly stayed inside and relaxed. Steven really enjoyed being the center of attention (even more than usual) and his new playmates. Thankfully, the rain took a short break mid-way through the weekend and we got to catch a movie and have some great Mexican food. A trip to Texas isn't complete without Tex Mex! We miss living close to them so much and unfortunately this weekend's weather did not help persuade them to move to Houston. =) Steven even missed them after they left. He looked around the house several times this morning- I'm sure wondering where everybody went. I told him that unfortunately he is stuck with just me for the rest of the week.

Playing Catch-Up

It's been a while since I've posted so now I'm playing catch-up...sorry! We've been busy and Steven's been teething (i.e. fussy, clingy, and not taking long naps); I've decided that I don't like Steven getting teeth, but he'll probably look cute with top ones. I can't tell how many he's getting but the whole front part of his top gums have red indention's where I hope teeth are about to pop through. All these pics are from last week.

Hilary and Reese came out to visit us and Ashley & Jackson last Wednesday. We went to the playground because the weather was beautiful and then went back to Ashley and Jackson's for some very delicious chicken salad that Ashley made. We were laughing about how funny we must look walking down to the park all in a line. Who says that suburban moms are all alike...just look at this first picture...our jogging strollers are totally different! Mammaw comes over once a week to play with Steven so that I can get out to run errands and have some alone time. It is lifesaver for me and Steven loves time with his Mammaw! We were trying to get a picture with Mammaw and her Mother's Day corsage but Steven was too interested in the corsage to look at the camera. He also promptly tore the orchid out of the ribbon- thankfully we took these a few days after Mother's Day and she had already worn it to church.
Jackson and his mom, Ashley, live across the street; their pic has been up before (and above in this post). Steven and Jackson really like playing together now. Steven watches every move Jackson makes- I am convinced that this is why he worked so hard to crawl and now wants to walk. He wants to be able to keep up with Jackson (he's 13 months). Jackson likes to pat Steven's hair and stick his fingers in Steven's mouth. We play together a lot and are at the playground again. [Will someone please tell Charlton that this hat is cute for a boy. He says it looks like a bonnet; I told him it has to have a strap or Steven won't leave it on and I like that it comes down further because it shades his eyes. For the record, I did not purposefully match his hat and shirt that day- it was a coincidence, I promise. Steven wears this hat every time we go to the park- Charlton doesn't like that. =) ]

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day with Steven was very nice. Charlton and I celebrated last year since I was a mom then too, but you could say that this year motherhood is more of a reality! We had a quiet Mother's Day weekend at home and took these pictures in our dining room before church on Sunday.

We celebrated with my mom last weekend when Lindsay and Kyle were in town, and we went to dinner with the Wimberlys last night.

Not to change the subject but....everyone's been commenting on how light Steven's hair has gotten, but I didn't realize until I looked at these pictures that his is about the color of mine now . I had very dark, crazy hair when I was a baby like he did so I guess there is no surprise that he has my hair.

Motherhood Poll

With Mother's Day this weekend, I thought that it would be fun to post a motherhood poll that a friend sent me months ago. It's one of those forwards that you get; I always love reading what everyone else writes but rarely do it myself.

MOTHERHOOD POLL
1) age of child: 8 months
2) your age at birth: 26
3) years married when 1st born: 6
4) ultimate desired number of kids: 3, max 4 (we’ll have to reevaluate after every kid because this is harder than I thought!)
5) how long was your labor: 16 hours
6) labor: easy, hard, soso: epidurals are a blessing from the Lord so it was not as bad as I expected but they do call it "labor" for a reason
7) most shocking thing about motherhood: how hard it is and how most women don’t talk about it
8) favorite part of motherhood: watching Steven grow and playing a major role in that, the three of us spending time together, laughing and playing, taking pictures of milestones and happy times
9) least favorite part of motherhood: lack of sleep, not getting a break, clipping Steven’s fingernails and sucking out his nose, Steven being sick
10) how are you finding yourself like your mom: enjoying staying at home and focusing on Steven
11) how are you different from your mom: I don’t think I’m as sweet; I definitely have more attitude (that’s where Steven gets it) =)
12) your short term mommy goals: that I would learn how to discipline and react to Steven constantly changing behavior (this is a long-term goal too)
13) your long term mommy goals: to be a Godly mother who looks for wisdom in the Bible and not in parenting books; to diligently hold my child(ren) up in prayer; that I wouldn’t have or push my own agenda on my child(ren) but be supportive of who or whatever it is they are and God wants them to be in life.
14) scariest mommy moment so far: 1)Steven choking on a cracker. 2)In the first 6 weeks after S was born, I would wake up in the middle of the night suddenly and panic because I had dreamed that I had put him in the bed with us and he was tangled in all the bedsheets or I had rolled over on him. Thankfully after a few seconds of sheer terror I would walk over and see him peacefully and safely sleeping in the pack and play bassinet. I never put him in bed with us for that reason- I'm a very deep and fitful sleeper. Sleep deprivation was rough especially for me- I like my sleep and don't function very well without it.
15) best part of a typical day: playing with Steven and making him laugh, helping him learn and discover new things, S getting excited when C gets home
16) worst part of a typical day: 3:30 to 6 is hard, he won’t sleep again until he goes to bed so is cranky sometimes and it’s hard to find new things to do that we haven’t already done that day. Thank goodness for friends and the playground (and baths- always a good distraction and necessary now that he’s so active)!

Extras:
Favorite grocery store: HEB, but I frequent Kroger a lot too because it’s closer. I’m also a big fan of Wal-Mart and can’t wait until they finish our new one across the highway because it will take me 5 min door to door.
Favorite techie things: Amazon.com is a lifesaver during Christmas time and for anything you need during the year. We just signed up to Blockbuster Online since we don’t get to go to many movies anymore- a big change for us. It lets us watch all the movies we want to see without having to go to the nearest store (12 min), and it only takes two days to get them in the mail after they receive our last one, so we always have something to watch that we picked out (ingenious and a little dangerous). Also, you can go into the store if you have a problem with the DVD and they switch it for you so you don’t have to wait for it in the mail to see how your movie ends (brilliant).
Favorite places to shop: Ann Taylor Loft; Macy’s; Target; Bed, Bath & Beyond (kitchen/cooking stuff); Kohl’s (home dept); Hobby Lobby
Forgotten Confession #4 (from last post): Steven was not teething a couple of weeks ago. He just wanted to find out what goes on at 3:00 am and if he is missing out on anything. If I can't figure out why he's acting strange, I usually think he's teething.

Confessions of an 8 Month Old's Mom

Steven is 8 months old today. He has changed so much in the last few weeks. It's not just that he is getting physically bigger but he really is getting more mature (I feel funny saying that about an 8 month old). He's very expressive and uses his hands while he talks- I wonder where he's seen that. He used to enjoy nursing as "mommy time" and gaze adoringly into my face, but now he wants to get down on the floor as soon as he's done. Hmmm...maybe he'll wean himself- that would be nice because when that time comes I'm expecting a real battle. He is constantly on the move. It's exhausting because he's getting fast and he always finds stuff to get into. Like yesterday when he crawled to the back door, got grease on his hands from the hinges and then tried to pull up on the wall beside him. I was watching the whole time and trying to get there but it took about 5 sec. to happen. One more thing to add to the house to-do list: paint over greasy mini hand prints. He loves crawling but now that he has that under his belt, he is working on walking. He likes to try to walk around the ottoman or his exersaucer and is not very interested in his toys anymore. He's becoming pretty good at pulling himself up and was standing in his crib (that has already been lower once) when I went to get him from a nap yesterday.

Also, I have a few confessions:

1) Steven has not had a haircut. His hair just looks differently because he's getting some wave on the top and it's getting long. It falls to the front now and gives him kind of that bowl haircut. I swear that yesterday his hair looked just like Jim's on The Office. We are going to try to go a few more weeks before getting him another haircut.
2) Everyone keeps commenting on Steven's great tan. While it's true that he does have more color than me and his Mimi does have a little Native American blood in her family, we do not think that his coloring is permanent. I had heard that some babies can turn a little orange if they eat a lot of orangy vegetables, but for some reason I didn't think that this could ever happen to my child. I mean, I rotate his foods to make sure that he's getting a balanced diet, but my delusion was shattered last week when a nurse at the ped.'s office asked me if he ate a lot of carrots and sweet potatoes. So there you go! The doctor said that some babies can't absorb all the keratin from the veggies and so the extra shows up in their skin. He said that it just means he's very healthy. Ah ha...one point for neurotic mommies.

3) Steven's cool onesies (Chick Magnet and This Is How I Roll) are from Aunt Jenn. She made them especially for Steven because, well, our family has a lot of attitude and Steven is showing signs that he is no exception.