Under Construction- Update

Man Cave Update:
The room is really coming along!  The process is a little slow go because our contractor does contracting on the side.  His full time job is actually a fireman.  But he is a super nice guy and does a great job!  This week....Drywall and doors.  (ignore the mattresses)


Sheet rock is in!



 It actually feels like a room now.  This view is standing in the main doorway as you come down into our basement.

This is the door that head out to the patio and backyard.  This door was already here (obviously)


Yay Doors! =)



Easton at 8 Months

Well I guess its that time of the month again....time to blog about how much older my little Sprout is getting.  This little man is the light of my day!  He is so happy all the time and just an all around Joy!  He's always making me smile and laugh.  Hes getting so big and I cant believe that I will be thinking about a 1st birthday party soon....Ive actually already thought of what the theme will be!  AHH (freaking out)!     



Weight: 16 Pounds
Height: 27 inches
Diapers: Size 3
Clothes: Size 6-9 and some 3-6 still fit
Blonde Hair and Blue eyes! (The light in his room makes it look red for some reason)



My little Sprout:
-Loves to clap his hands.  He started this right after he turned 7 months old.  Sometimes when we sing "If you're happy and you know it" he will start clapping.  He's so smart!
-Can eat bananas that are cut up, real cheese puffs, and peas among other adult foods.
-Loves his Gerber puffs and little crunchies! I haven't found a flavor he didn't like.
-Sticks his tongue out and spits.  Its cute!....for now.
-Loves to talk and scream when happy and playing.  He has lots more sounds when he is "talking."  I can hear S, R, and M's instead of just Da Da.  So amazing to sit and just listen to him. 
-Now that E is an expert roller, he sleeps on his tummy alot at night now.
-Moved to fast flow nipples.  He drinks 6-7 oz every 5-6 times a day.  He has a container of fruit with oatmeal, cereal or granola for breakfast and a container of a vegetable for lunch.  Then he has a snack about mid afternoon.  Depending on what they are having for breakfast and lunch at daycare depends on whether or not he eats baby food or adult food at meal times. He liked the avacado he tried too.  I love my good little eater! Keep it up buddy.
-Still only the 2 teeth.
-Great Sleeper!!
-Gets up on his knees and rocks back and forth but has yet to move forward and actually crawl.  However he is very good at crawling backwards.  This frustrates him sometimes.
-I reluctantly lowered his crib mattress all the way to the bottom level. =(  He will be pulling up in no time.  He didn't seem to notice the change.  Boy mommy sure did...
-He never completely got over his 2nd double ear infection.  We went through 10 days of Amoxicillin, 10 days of Omnicef, and 3 Rocephin shots....The Rocephin finally cleared up the pus in his ears but there is still so much fluid that it could turn into another ear infection at any time per Dr. M.  So Easton will be headed to an appointment with an ENT to talk about tubes.   Hopefully this whole process will go smoothly.
Our little Sprout is really growing growing.....
WE LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH EASTON!!
I cant believe you are 8 Months Old!!

Under Construction- Man Cave

When Kevin and I bought our house in June of 2009 we had a list of things that we wanted to do to the house over a period of time.

-Fence in the yard.
-Build a "Man Cave" in the basement.
-Cover part of the porch.
-Replace the counter tops in the kitchen

Well the time has come to strike through the second item on our list.  Kevin couldn't be happier.  He has been talking about this for so long.  He mainly wants this room to watch football and baseball games in.  And when he does have poker night, he can use his "man cave."  He does alot for this family and I guess, since I have the rest of the house pretty much, he deserves his own room.  =).  I am excited to host a football party when it gets finished! RTR! 
There is a discrepancy over football decor since we are a house divided.  My sweet husband has said that he doesn't mind me hanging a few Daniel Moore Alabama prints. (I'm surprised) 
The construction started August 20th, 2012 with framing.  We decided to only use half of our basement space for the man ca.  It is very long and I still wanted to have room for Easton's outside toys for when he gets bigger.  Plus Kevin also wanted to build himself a work bench off to the side.  So the pictures that you are seeing are only half of the basement space we have. 
 Since the room is near completion at this very moment (haven't had time to blog), I will just post about updates every couple days. 



The Before



Before

Framing has started

 Our basement was already plumbed from the previous homeowners, so we decided we may as well put in a half bath.  That is what the framed box in the corner is. 

Insulation!



Framing and Insulation....Done!

  Its really starting to come together!  Stay tuned for more Man Cave updates!

Easton at 7 Months

Well, my little man is on the downhill slope to 1! =( Say it ain't so!! He has really become even more "animated" in the last month.  Now that he can sit up well on his own and entertain himself  it makes life just a little bit easier.  I love watching him learn new things and soak up new information about his surroundings.  He's so observant and alert about everything.  He really is just THE BEST baby!  Good pictures, as you can see, are getting harder and harder to come by.  His outfit in this picture is something special.  This is actually the onesie that Kevin and I bought when we first found out that we were having a boy.  I almost waited to late to put him in it because its a little snug. =) I love this little munchkin more than words can describe!!

Weight: 15 Pounds
Height: Probably 27 inches
Diapers: Size 2
Clothes: Some 3-6 and most 6-9. 



Easton Lately:
-Still babbling all the time.  Of course its still da da da da.  And it varies in pitch and volume.  SO CUTE!
-Grunting and roaring while hes playing
- Has TWO teeth now.  (the two bottom ones)
-Still my great little sleeper.  He goes to bed at 8:30pm and wakes up at about 7:30-8am.
-Eats 6-7 ounces about 5-6 times a day.  He also eats a 4oz container of baby food for breakfast and another 4oz container for lunch.  I still have yet to find anything he doesn't like.  =) hopefully this good eating streak will continue. 
-Uses a highchair at home and daycare
-Really likes to snuggle now.  He will lay his head on your shoulder if hes tired or if he just got up from a nap.
-He will reach out his arms when I'm walking over to pick him up.
-Had his second double ear infection. =(
-LOVES his Sophie Giraffe!!!
-Has really started to like his Aden & Anais blankets and loves to rub his face in them.  We got them as a gift, and I think they are swaddle blankets, but work great for nap time.  They are super soft and thin.  I'm hoping he will get attached to them.  (especially because one has elephants on it. RTR)  ;)
-Bumps his little hiney up and down on the ground like hes feeling the beat. Its pretty cute!
-Started straightening his legs while sitting up (instead of keeping his feet together).

WE LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH EASTON!! I cant believe you are 7 Months Old!

6 Month Check-Up

Easton had his 6 month checkup on 8/7/2012.  Doctor M said he looked great!  He said he was very strong when he was feeling his hips and that he was sitting well, like an 8-9 month old.  He was very impressed with the change in his percentiles.  From his last visit (5/22/12) he went from:
5-10th % in Weight
5-30th % in Length
15-50% in Head Circumference.  Doctor M said "his brains are growing good!" =)

Even though Doctor M gave him a tongue depressor to play with, Easton was still not going to be his friend so long as he was lying on the table.  Since he was 4 month old, Easton smiles at the nurses and even Dr. M when they are in the room but, when he lies down on the table he immediately starts crying.  Dr. M would say "Easton you are too young to know who I am and not like me."  So he thought... Haha! Am I going to have one of those kids who will be kicking and screaming in the doctor's office?? I hope not! 

STATS:
Weight: 14 Pounds 11 ounces
Length: 26 inches
Head: 17 1/4 inches
Clothes: 3-6 and 6-9 months
Diapers: Size 2

First Food Faces

 Easton started eating solid foods when he was almost 5 months old.  So far he has had rice cereal, 5 different vegetables, and 4 different fruits.  I haven't found anything he didn't like.  I'm hoping that means he will be a good eater as he grows up.  I had started taking pictures of his first few food reactions and then continued, thinking (as usual) this might make a good blog post.  Enjoy!

RICE CEREAL

SQUASH

PEACHES

GREEN BEANS

GREEN BEANS

BANANAS



CARROTS




PEARS




PEAS




SWEET POTATOES




APPLESAUCE

 Though some of these faces may say otherwise, he loved all of the food that he has had so far.  Hopefully we have put a smile on your face! It did mine.  =)

Easton at 6 Months

How does time pass so quickly right in front of our eyes?!  I'm still in denial that our baby boy is 6 months old!! He is a Love, and he continues to amaze and make me smile every single day!  So what has my 6 month (ahh!) boy been up to:

He now sleeps unswaddled completely.  It was, what seemed like, a delicate process but worked out great and hes loving it.  He usually sleeps on his side now that he isn't swaddled.  Another thing we've done was getting him to put himself to sleep at night.  He was almost 6 months old and didn't know how.  So I thought it my mission to help him.  In the book I'm reading (yes I know its shocking...I'm not a big reader) it talked about the Ferber Method of getting them to sleep on their own.  It said to lay them down when they are tired but awake and if they begin to cry wait 5 min before entering the room again.  Talk to them for a second then leave and if still crying wait 10 min, then 15 min before entering again.  Well I thought for sure that this was going to be an awful night.  He did Awesome!  I layed him down and he cried for 4 minutes!  Then went to sleep and didn't wake up until 7 the next morning!  He had done so much better than I expected.  And from then on he has been putting himself to sleep every night with no troubles.  =0).  Yay E! 

Weight: 14 Pounds 11 oz
Height: 26 inches
Diapers: Size 2
Clothes: 3-6 and some 6-9.

 Lately:

-His sleep habits are great!  I put him to bed at 8:30pm and he sleeps until 6 or 7am. 

-He LOVES his solid foods.  He has tried green beans, peaches, bananas, peas, sweet potatoes, applesauce, and pears.  I haven't found anything he doesn't like! =)

-Babbles and "talks" even more and its much louder.  He babbles "da da da da" while he plays.  Of course I'm sitting next to him saying "ma ma ma ma"

-He is a complete sitter now! Its so amazing how quickly he picks up on things because in my phone I write down the new things he does so that I can blog about them. It started out at the beginning saying "sits well with minimal support" and now, at the end of the month, says "doesn't need any support to sit."  Of course when he gets too excited he topples sideways, but he will master that.

-Still loves to stare at Kevin

-Shakes his toys all over the place.  Then throws them down to watch Mommy and Daddy go get them. 

-Laughs without even being talked to.  He just laughs at the dogs and all their silliness. 

-The white noise can still settle him into a nap.

-Grunts alot now.  So cute!

-His car riding has gotten MUCH better!

-Gives a good belly laugh now. 

-Has tried and likes his sippy cup

-He has his FIRST TOOTH!!  I wasn't sure if he had been teething or not but I guess he has been.

-Loves his paci but doesn't have to have it all the time.  Only likes it at nap time.

I feel like my little man grows so much in personality every single day and I am totally amazed by him!

We love you SO much Easton!! I Absolutely cannot believe you are 6 Months Old!!!

4th of July

(I'm a little late with this post.) Since we went to the beach for Memorial Day this year, we decided to go to the lake for the 4th. My parents have a house on Lake Martin so we went for the weekend. Its a MUCH easier trip since its only a little over an hour to get there. This would be E's first trip to the Lake. He was 5 months old. This car trip was interesting because we were also taking the dogs. We had Kevin, Me, Easton, Logan, and Wriggley in the car. Not to mention ALL of our stuff; and as you know there is no light packing when it comes to taking a baby somewhere for the weekend. Having the dogs in the car actually helped because when E would start to get cranky he would watch the dogs being goofy and smile. We got there in the afternoon and couldn't wait to put E in the water. Of course the dogs couldn't wait either!

 All dressed and ready for a swim in the lake! I could just eat him up! Ladies love a Speedo on a man right?

E and G

E and Kevin and it just so happen that both dogs were swimming by at the same time so I snapped the picture.

 Wriggley jumping off the dock

 Logan jumping off the dock

Now we're having a good time! He enjoyed kicking his legs in the water.

 About to head out for his first ever boat ride.  The first of many I know!

We weren't off the dock 5 minutes and I thought E was being awfully still....What do you think is behind those sunglasses?

 If you guessed a sleeping baby then you are correct! I guess you can say he liked the boat ride.  =)

The dogs were IN HEAVEN when we were at the lake.  It is by far their favorite place to be.  They will swim all day as long as someone will throw the tennis ball.  It is so much fun to watch them swim and run around without a care in the world.  I love it when we get to bring them places with us because they are part of the family too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!! Thank you to ALL of the men and women who fought, are fighting, and will continue to fight for our freedom! God Bless the USA!

Easton at 5 Months!

Gosh, is our baby boy 5 months old already?! He is such a love and brings SO much happiness into our lives!  He has been a busy boy lately.  He had been starting on some solids (which he loves), started weaning off the swaddle blanket =(, and trying to sit up.  I hate that I am having to start taking him off the swaddle blanket because that only means he is starting to grow up.  He had started trying to roll to his side and tummy to sleep and so he can no longer be swaddled.  So we are starting with just 1 arm swaddled for a week, then both arms out for 1 week and then we will try him without it completely.  Wish us happy sleep prayers....=)  So far with his solids he has had cereal and squash.  He LOVES them both! I cant wait to start trying even more.  Its so much fun watching him experience these new and different flavors.  He also is working to try and sit up.  I can tell because he would rather be playing and using toys that keep him upright instead of lying down. 

Weight: 13 1/2 to 14 pounds
Diapers: Size 1-2
Clothes: 0-3 some still fit and some 3-6 starting to fit! YAY!

LATELY:
- Eats 5-6 ounces every 3 hours.
- Eats cereal after his 9 oclock bottle and loves it! (tried- 6/13/12)
- Has been eating a whole 2.5 oz container of squash after his 12 oclock bottle (LOVES). Tried squash-6/24/12 Soon we will try another veggie and some fruit. I cant wait!!
- He can now reach his feet to put them in his mouth (so cute!)
- He is starting to get tickelish on his thigh and under his arms.
- Has started fighting some naps.
- Love to scream when hes playing and make his little man noises.
- Laughs a lot now. Especially if you surprise him and say Boo! Its so adorable and as long as he laughs I will continue to do it just to hear him.
- Prefers more upright toys like his walker or bumbo.
- Recently he has decided that he likes being sung to. I sing the goofiest songs but he doesnt care. He gets real quiet just to listen and just smiles.
- Have started to wean off the swaddle blanket.
- Now rubs his eyes when he is tired.
- Sleep: Lately he has been waking up at least once, sometimes twice, in the middle of the night. But then there are some nights where he does sleep through the night like he usually does. I just go upstairs and give him his paci and he's good. Im not sure if it is a growth spurt or if he is teething. I feel some nights like I have a newborn again. I was spoiled from the beginning because he was such a good sleeper.
- Im not sure if he is teething or not. There are some things he does that make me belive that he is and then sometimes I wonder.
- He is so strong. He is always trying to lean forward to sit up.
- Also loves his wubbanub paci

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH EASTON!! I CANT BELIEVE YOU ARE 5 MONTHS OLD!