The Young and the Priceless: January 2010

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Marshmallow World

Y'all know that the world shuts down when it snows in the South - even more so when we get a half a foot, as happened Friday night.

Sometimes I believe that snow in the South is God's invitation to slow down and relax; after all, you can't really do anything else!

So what did we do?

Russell and I mostly camped out in the cozy warmth of our house:

while Jason generously shoveled not only our sidewalk, but the neighbors' as well:

And what's a snow day if you don't, um, grill steak?

But obviously, you must end it with some homemade snow creme and a movie:

(although I don't recommend the movie we watched - District 9 - blech.)

Hope you had a great snow day yourself - and if you didn't get snow, then hopefully it was just a great Saturday! We will be holed in here for a while, it looks like.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Many Phases of Waking Up

Waking up sure is tough business! When Russell wakes up from a nap, you never know what kind of mood he'll be in.

He may be cranky:

He may be serious:

He may be happy:

Or he may be all 3 within the span of 60 seconds! :)

Monday, January 25, 2010

Seven Months Old!

Russell is 7 months old today!

Here are a couple of his 7-month pictures:

He continues to amaze us as his personality shows through more and more. Here are some recent tidbits about Russell:

~Loves the hairdryer and our electronic toothbrushes - they make him laugh.
~He has started to scoot backwards! I think he's actually trying to go forward, but hey, he's moving at least.
~His babbles are sounding more like words: I have heard him say "mom" and "yeah," although I know he has no idea what they mean.
~Toes are a big favorite - his, yours, anyone's he can reach. It's hard to get him to wear socks sometimes because he pulls them off and puts them in his mouth (hmmm, reading this again it sounds kind of gross!)
~Has started eating meat - although he will only tolerate it if it's mixed with something else that he likes. He has had turkey (from a baby food jar) and homemade chicken and beef purees.
~Has still never had a drop of formula!! This may not mean much to some people, and I'm certainly not against formula at all, but this is a big accomplishment for me since nursing was so difficult to begin with. (And to be honest, it helps our budget!)
~He is certainly the loudest baby we know, although Cole gives him some competition! I'm sure Russell's shrieks and squeals are the delight of our neighbors...
~Loves carpet - if you set him on the carpet, he will touch and rub it for a few minutes.

I'm sure I could write so much more, but we'll leave it at this for now. He is such a funny baby and we're so glad he's ours!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Favorite so far

So I got my camera on Tuesday! So exciting! I am very s l o w l y learning how to work it. Anyway, here's my favorite pic so far (taken at Josh and Leigh Anne's today):

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Okay, just kidding!

Remember this post?

Of course you do - it's the one that required you to get a password and log in every time you come here!

Well, guess what?

We're going public again!

I know, I'm a mess. But when I went private, I didn't realize a) that you can only have 100 readers if your blog is private, or b) that I have more than 100 people who want to read this thing!

So to keep the "crazies" at bay, I am just going back to safe Internet practices: no mention of specific locations, last names, etc. And I will moderate blog comments and block followers if I have to. Just in case you were worried. :)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Babysitting Sweet Caleb

Russell and I have the privilege of babysitting sweet Caleb for Josh and Leigh Anne a couple times per week while LA sleeps after her night shifts. Today was our first day! I must say, Russell wasn't a very helpful babysitter, but he sure was curious about Caleb - he kept staring at him and trying to touch him. He just loves his friend!

Caleb was so good today - hardly fussed at all. Russell had a tough time going to sleep for his noon nap (tough is putting it mildly); Caleb, on the other hand, fell asleep while I was changing his diaper! I've never seen anything like it!

Here are the little buddies hanging out:

Let's Play a Game...

Take a guess - what do you think this is?

Not bubblegum...

Here's a different perspective:

This is what it looks like when you melt a tupperware container in the oven.

This is what it looks like when you're in such a hurry to clean the house before the realtor comes to take pictures that you think it's a good idea to store said tupperware in the oven, and hours later you are supposed to cook dinner to take to your friend who just had a baby, and your baby needs a nap and is fussy and is distracting you, and you hurriedly preheat the oven to 400 without looking inside it.

And then, you come back downstairs to see smoke pouring out of one burner, and you open the oven to find, well, that gooey mess. And you say a few choice words, and call your husband (since he is at work and obviously can deal with this problem), and then you go on a walk with your baby - who is still fussy - to get away from the toxic fumes.

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Monday, January 11, 2010

Russell's Dedication

"child of mercy and grace

who blessed Your name

unapologetically

leave that kind of legacy"

At our church, babies are dedicated rather than baptized. (It's similar, but baptisms are for those old enough to profess their own faith.) We dedicated Russell yesterday. It was so special to be able to do this, and to give him a Bible verse to live by:

Colossians 3:17 - "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father through him."

Here we are before the service with our pastor:

Being dedicated - Russell waves to the congregation:

Passing him over when it was time for the prayer:

He was so good while up on stage...but terribly cranky the rest of the day - he didn't have long enough naps, plus he was overwhelmed by all the family who was there to see him, and he is starting to have separation anxiety (so only wanted to be held by me), and we went out to brunch which we never do - so he was just all-around exhausted. Oh well. We still appreciate all the family who came to support us, and who were patient with a stressed-out mommy and fussy baby! :)

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Playing Around with Photography

Who doesn't love good, professional-looking pictures? But they're so expensive to buy frequently, and besides, you have to make appointments and can't just get them all the time.

So, I think I'm going to buy a nice camera. I've been researching basic photography, and in so doing, have discovered that my current point-and-shoot is even crappier than others (you can't adjust ISO, white balance, anything.) I can't wait to begin, once I figure out exactly what I want! {Photo people, if you have advice, please give it! I'm all ears!}

In the meantime, I am playing around with paint.net to adjust some of the pictures I have on current camera. On the "after" below, I adjusted the color and blurred the background. What do you think?

Before:

After:

(ps - no babies were frozen in the making of this photo - he was only out there for a second!)

Monday, January 4, 2010

Russell's 6-month Stats

Today was Russell's 6-month doctor's appointment. Thankfully, he was able to get the first dose of his flu shot! Now I won't be as worried about taking him out during this winter season.

Here are his stats:

Head Circumference: 43 cm ~ 25th percentile
Length: 26" ~ 25th percentile
Weight: 16 lbs 5 oz ~ 25th percentile

He's becoming a little runt! But the doctor said he's as healthy as can be, and that his measurements are perfectly fine.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Looking Back at 2009

This is a year-in-review post - to look back over all the good times, overwhelming times, and accomplishments of 2009. And my goodness, were there a lot!

We had many balls in the air as we juggled pregnancy, my master's program, Jason's demanding job, student teaching, still my never-ending pregnancy, a difficult newborn with tummy troubles, who turned into a sweet baby boy, learning to become a stay-at-home-mom, stretching our frugal dollars, etc. It was a whirlwind year, but one of the best yet.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the year, most of which I don't think I've shared here before:

January: (celebrating Jon and Grandmother's birthdays - this was one of the first times I wore maternity clothes)

February: (celebrating baby Scott at Casey's baby shower - one of so many babies born in 09!)

March (babymoon! 28 weeks pregnant):

April (at the Hearts Ball and auction):

May (at the baby shower my friends threw me):

June (hours-old baby and new mommy in the hospital):

July (snuggly after a bath):

August (enjoying tummy time on the ottoman):

September (cheering for his cousin's team):

October (outgrowing our sink bathtub):

November (Thanksgiving with several 2nd cousins):

December (warm in the carseat):

Here's to 2010 - may it be as sweet and joyful as 2009 was :)

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Russell's First Hair Trim

Yeah, I called it a "hair trim." It wasn't really a "hair cut," per se, because it only involved his bangs. If you've seen Russell lately, you know it was time - his crazy bangs were getting in his eyes, and there was just no way to style them.

So my dad, who used to cut mine and my brothers' hair when we were younger, trimmed Russell's bangs for him in Atlanta.

Before (amazingly, his hair looked kind of tame here):

Russell and Pops the Barber:

During. You can't tell here, but we had to work hard to keep him away from the scissors:

After! You look simply mahvelous, dahling!:

Thanks Pops! Looks like you'll be the go-to barber from now on :)

Family Holiday

I was so busy having fun that I barely took any pictures of our stay! We had a great 6 days with my family. Russell finally met his great-grandmother, Beanie, and his doggie cousin, Bababunda.

Russell and Baba checking each other out:

It was the first time Russell petted a dog, and the first time Baba had seen a baby. Russell was curious, but Baba was SO excited. He followed Russell around everywhere. It was funny.

Pops, Mimi, Russell, and Uncle Jon: