Gaines- Eight Months

Gaines Facts

• Weight: He is a big guy! Still thinking a little above 20  lbs. He is longer than Woody was at this age too.
• Diaper Size: 3
• Clothing: 12 months
• Sleep: Pretty much the same as seven months. He is cutting some molars, so naps and bedtime are either a hit or a miss. He is pretty consistent on a morning and an early afternoon nap. He sleeps for at least an hour then. Some days, he needs a late afternoon catnap, but it is usually only around 30-45 minutes. He goes to bed around 7:00 ish. On good nights, he will sleep until after 1:00 am, but some nights he is up every three hours. I have tried letting him cry some, but he gets progressively louder, and if he wakes up Woody, the night is RUINED! Sometimes is is just easier to rock and calm him down for ten minutes than to listen to him scream.
• Eat: For breakfast he usually has some yogurt or fruit puree. Lunch he gets a vegetable and dinner is a meat and fruit or vegetable and some cereal. He still nurses around every three hours, but I don't think he is drinking as much as he use to. And if we are out, I can extend his nursing to every four hours (although it doesn't make him happy.) He loves to eats puffs, those baby rice cakes, and banana bites for snacks.
• Gaines is crawling all over the house. He can really move it!
• He loves to stand up. He still needs to hold onto things to stand, but once I saw him let go and stand on his own for about five seconds! He is trying to pull himself up on his own, so we had to lower his crib. This makes me soooo sad. It looks more toddler-ish and less newborn baby bed. 
• He was baptized! I will post pictures later, but they will all be stolen from Sister's blog.
• If he is being fussy, a bath is the cure. He loves the water. It is nice to put him in his bucket in the shower, because he can splash and make a mess (a little lemons to lemonade from  not having a proper bathtub.)
• I am starting to see some separation anxiety, or as my friend, Beth, Calls is "Stranger Danger." This past week, he completely freaked out over Woody's speech therapist, the MOPS nursery workers, and Santa Claus. Other than strangers getting within six feet of him, he is super happy!

Halloween 2014

Can we talk about the Halloween I imagined?

Perfection! Happy kids! Loving their costumes! Healthy!

Now can we talk about the Halloween that happened?

Any Questions?

Let's start with Cheap-o Momma who just figured that Woody would wear the costume that was in the hand-me down box from his cousin, Jake. Thank goodness I tried it on him and realized it was a 12 month size.

Thrilled.

I didn't want G to miss out on the fun, so I tried his on too. It obviously was the perfect fit...

After a failed trip to Party City, my sister saved the day and sent some larger costume options for Woody. What would I do without hand-me-downs? Emma had a shark costume that I thought would go perfectly go with G's lobster costume. Woody could wear it to school on Tuesday and again on Halloween. I volunteered to help at Woody's school party (as well as every school party, like the psycho mom I am), and Gaines was tagging along. I was running late (surprise), and didn't have it in me to fight to lobster costume, so he was a football.

And Woody was a happy shark...

For all of 10 minutes. First of all, he didn't understand why both his (obsessed, stalker) parents were at school. He wasn't thrilled when Dad left. It annoyed him that Mom's attention was distracted by a football. He was upset when he had endless options of stickers to decorate his bag with. He became angry when Mom left (with the football) to set up for Trick-or-Treat. And he completely lost his cool when Mom gave treats to other children. You can imagine what happened when someone suggested to him that he leave his beloved mother and visit other moms for treats.

However, the real tantrum began when we came back to the classroom and someone had the nerve to offer him a snack. What jerks. (For a reenactment, see tantrum gif above.) One of his teachers suggested that he might do better if I left. I hate to tell them that I signed up for every party.

Fun Mom Moment: If he wasn't already having an awesome day, after his nap, he had to get his flu shot. #momoftheyear

At least he liked some of his treats (that were forcefully put in his bag.)

Gaines did not...

Between the school party and Halloween, I got sick with a nasty chest cold. It was so bad, I had to cancel a playdate, and you know I love a playdate. I also gave that nasty chest cold to Peepers. I took him to the doctor on Friday morning. Our wonderful pediatrician reassured me that it was just a cold, and that his lungs and ears were clear.

So I took him Trick-or-Treating! This is the part that went well!

Seafood Platter!

These pictures are all from my iPhone. Why? Because Brooks was in charge of the camera, and all the pictures look like this...

On Saturday, Gaines began to act worse. His fever kept rising, and his cough sounded terrible. He would cough so hard that he couldn't catch his breath and he even threw up. When he woke up after his afternoon nap, his fever was at 103.7, so we lost our Children's ER virginity. Thankfully, they reassured us (for the second time) that it was indeed just a really bad cold. Oh, and everyone from the doctors to nurses to even the valet guy at Children's Hospital (Scottish Rite) were amazing and kind and exactly who you want taking care of your sick child. 

And not to make this about me (yeah right), but during this time I still had a terrible cough, and G's lack of appetite caused me to get backed-up and develop a mild case of mastitis. So yeah.

See you, Halloween 2014. You were scary.

Playdate with Jessica and Alli

Soooooo, long time no post. The end of October was not the best of times. Lots of stress, lots of sickness. But even better? Lots of Jesus. 

When I get stressed and try to handle situations myself, I have to remember that He is bigger than all my circumstances. I mean, He overcame death, so who am I to worry about anything?! He doesn't always keep me from hard times, but He does walk with me through them. And isn't that awesome?! 

**This concludes your sermon. Just kidding. Go to church to get your sermon.**

Something that did go well during the past two weeks is that Jessica came to visit Alli and me. We were so excited. We did our best to get a group shot of the children. Aren't these kiddos precious?

 Burke (Jessica's son), Gaines, Jackson and Blakely (Alli's children). and Woody

And Jessica is pregnant with #6! A girl!

 Clearly, everyone except Blakely was watching Disney Jr

Do you not die? I hope they get married. Seriously. Mostly so I can like Woody's in-laws. And because they would have a fun wedding. Their children would have ridiculous cheeks as Alli noted. Am I getting ahead of myself? 

There was good food and a jump house too, but I failed to document it. We were just so excited to have Jessica back. I hope her new friends aren't reading this, because we completely plan on kidnapping and bringing her back. 

Thanks for moving back visiting, Jessica!