A Drawer Full of Food

Those of you who follow my blog know that some friends and I recently made our own baby food.  I was so excited for this day to come.  I bought the oh so fancy Beaba baby food cooker while I was pregnant with Jack in hopes of fulfilling my hippie mom dreams of cloth diapering and making my own baby food.  It has been 2 weeks since I made all this food and I want to show you how much I have left (which should seem like a lot if you know my son):

Notice some of the trays and cups are empty.  "Jack must have loved it!  Good for him for eating it all up" is what you may be thinking.  WRONG!  My child refuses to eat ANY of this delicious homemade and nutritious food.  He is not even slightly fooled when I try to mix it with the Gerber baby food.  He absolutely loves the preservative-filled Gerber food.  If I try to sneak in a small bite with his processed and loved Apple Sweet Potato he quickly closes his lips and turns his head.  Now if I go back in with just the Gerber stuff, he opens his mouth and says, "Mmmmmm!"  He even has the Gerber baby sound down (which I must admit is pretty adorable).  I really don't know why I am surprised since this is the same child who refused to nurse, but said, "Bring on the bottle!"  Oh well, I guess I am 0 for 2.  Here is a glimpse into a future conversation with Jack, let's say in 10-12 years.

J:  What's for dinner?
Mom:  Your dad made a delicious meal from Bon Appetit magazine.
J:  Can't we just have Taco Bell?
Mom:  Oi vey!

Surya has been asking if he can eat the frozen mangoes and applesauce.  Why not?!  Someone may as well enjoy it!  Who knew when I bought this fancy machine, I would be making baby food for my husband instead of my baby!

Half a Year Old

Our sweet baby boy turned 6 months old today!  I can't believe it!  Let's ask what he thinks about turning the big 6 m-o-n-t-h-s:

Hello Jack-Jack.

 Hello Mommy!

How does it feel to be 6 months old today!

 I feel great!  I am in big boy jeans and a big boy t-shirt.  No onesie for me today!

Oh!  And I sit up all by myself!

Where did you take a nap today?

 I decided that I am a big boy now and that I should take my naps in my crib.  Even though I don't sleep for very long in there, I didn't throw a fit when you put me there!

Did you have a good day?

Oh yes!  Mommy and I went to the park and played on the slide and in the grass and Mommy pushed me in the swing.  We went for a walk and played all day!  I had apples, peaches, mixed vegetables, harvest grains, rice cereal and formula today.  I feel GREAT!

Whew!  Being 6 months old is hard work!

A day in the life of Jack Richard:

5:30-6:30ish - 7:30-8:00ish (yes big range!  Sometimes if you have a really big poopy in the morning, you will wake yourself up and you WON'T go back to sleep!): wake up and PLAY!

8:00:  Eat 4 ounces.  You are never really too hungry first thing in the morning.

9:00-10:30ish:  Nap.  I must say, you are a VERY good napper.  Mommy gets a lot done!

10:30 - 1:30ish:  Eat cereal and fruits/veggies.  And then you love to play!  We sit and play with your toys, go for a walk or run errands.  Depending on the day, this is the time you and I will leave for our gym day or play dates with Anayah.

2:00 - 3:30/4:00ish:  Nap again!

4:00 - 7:30:  This is your long stretch.  We play some more, you have a snack, dinner, which is usually cereal and fruits and veggies, and then you take a bath.  You love your bath time.  You have absolutely no fear of the water.  I hope that is something that stays with you as our summers will be spent at the beach, the pool, or the river!  After your bath, you have your bedtime bottle and then you go to sleep for the night (yeah, right).  You are pretty easy to put to sleep.

1:00/2:00 A.M.!  Yes, you are still waking up once in the night to eat.  Daddy and I don't really mind.  We know you are a growing boy and your little tummy needs to be full.

Here are some things you have been up to:

• Your vocabulary consists of many sounds.  My favorite of course is Ma, ma, ma, ma moooom!  You also say bah, bah and you love to just babble.  You say ooooo and like it when people copy your sounds.  You also grunt a lot and love to say Mmmmmm when you eat your food.

• I didn't need to worry after all.  You love to roll tummy to back and back to tummy.  You tried to crawl for the first time on Saturday, January 22 at your Aunt Alyssa's house.  You were trying to get back into the tub with Maddie and Kaitlyn!

• You are a blankie boy.  If you get fussy, all we have to do is give you your blankie and you find a corner to chew and go right back to sleep.

• Dixie continues to be your best bud.  You love to lay on her and try to grab her tail when she passes you by.  She loves you right back.  She often "babysits" you while I am busy.

• You love people!  As long as people are around you, you are a happy baby.  Sometimes when it is you and I all day, you get a bit tired of me and I have to take you out and about to people watch.

• No teeth yet!

Happy 6 months baby!  You are the best thing that has ever happened to your Daddy and me.  We love you!

Crafts, Friends, and Baby Food!

This last week has been so much fun!  First, I finished my Valentine's Day crafts!  I was going to do a few more, but the lovebirds garland I HAND-STITCHED did me in (I really need to learn how to sew).   I want to sign up for a basic sewing class, but my good friend Mandi (you know, Anayah's Mommy) insists that it is very easy to learn (yeah, right, remember me, I don't like reading directions!).

Here are the owls, paper flowers, and lovebirds garland

I used a die-cut for the flowers, recycled the vase, and filled it with M&M's.  Surya is VERY upset because I won't let him eat the M&M's.

The love owls.  The one on the right is a bit dopey.

Next up on our agenda was a slumber party with our good friend Cooper and his Mommy, Jennie.  Cooper is much older and wiser than Jack (3 months ahead to be exact) so Cooper showed Jack the ways of the world.  Jennie guided Mandi and I through the baby food making process, which was super easy and fun to do with friends.  We made applesauce, pears, sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  We still have peas and mangoes to make!  Check out Mandi's blog, Baby Boom for pictures and more on our baby food making day!

Jack and Cooper playing in their pj's in the A.M.  Notice the watchful Mama Dixie dog in the background watching over her "pups."

Uh-oh

It is great that Cooper is 3 months older than Jack because Jennie figures everything out and then educates me!  Jack, Cooper, Jennie, Mandi and I had so much fun!  Besides baby food making, we went for walks, played at the park, the boys took a bath together (Cooper doesn't know if he likes bubbles, yet) and the Mommies got to talk and catch up.  We can't wait for the next slumber party!

Gym Time!

No, not for me, unfortunately.  This was Jack and Anayah's gym day.  We took them over to My Gym  to try out a class called Tiny Tykes, but it was a little too much for them since the class is meant for babies 7 to 13 months.  Jack and I are going back today to try out the Little Bundles class.  This time he will be on the older side instead of the younger side of the class.  Then maybe he can graduate to the Tiny Tykes class!  They had so much fun rolling, eating playing with the toys, swinging and just socializing.  Here are some pictures that highlight their day:

 Jack and Anayah trying to figure out what those things are!

Hi there!

This place is AWESOME!

Ummm....Anayah?  Someone feed this girl! 

These orange cones were the hit of the day.  Mandi and I decided to pick one up from the side of the road next time we see one.  Forget those pricey Baby Einstein toys, bring on the construction zone!

What A Week!

We had an action-packed, fun filled week!  Here are some of the things we were up to:

Jack and Daddy worked hard planting palm trees in the yard.

Let's get to work Daddy!

 We had a birthday party for my mom.  Chef Surya slaved in the kitchen making carnitas, chicken tortilla soup, and sangria, all from scratch!  I am one lucky woman!

Yummy!

 Happy Birthday Nana!

Jack loves the ladies (and Papa)!

The girls

 Jack moved on to Stage 2 solids!  He now turns up his nose to "baby" foods such as apples and bananas.  Bring on the Farmer's Market Vegetable Medley with Harvest Grains and Banana Peach Granola!

Feed me Seymour!

 Jack was Jack as usual...full of energy!

Put the camera down, Mom, and let's play!

Another week down.  Time is flying by too quickly!  I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!  Surya, Jack and I will be having a day of rest tomorrow!

New Found Skills

Jack is growing and changing every day!  It is so much fun to watch him grow into himself.  Here are two of his new found skills:

He loves to sit up on his own (sort of) now and play with all his toys.

Surya taught him this one.

This one cracks me up because Jack will actually pull Surya's finger to his mouth and start using his voice to make the noise!  This kid is such a ham!

Happy Monday, everyone!  Have a great week!

Me, A Scrapbooker?!

Anyone who knows me, knows I am terrible with pictures.  I have so many wonderful wedding photos and they are all still collected in a cd collecting dust.  Well, no more my friends.  Do you remember this picture and blog post?

Well, I've re-discovered how much fun it is the print out pictures and turn them into a project.  I will be honest, scrapbooking has always intimidated me.  I am not good with anything spacial and it always seemed like it was something that would take forever.  Oh was I wrong!  I am now completely caught up on Jack's scrapbook!  Check it out!

Hey!  I know that face!

Not my favorite, but it will do.

It was so much easier than I thought that I was even inspired to make a photo box frame of Jack's stuff from the hospital!

Yes, I am crazy...but in a totally efficient way!

I'm On a Roll!!

I finished my Valentine's Day stacking boxes and now I want to make more Valentine decorations for my new home!  I am seriously driving Surya nuts, but I explained to him that if I didn't make up these projects, I would be bothering him.  He asked me if there was anything he needed to get me for my next project...should I be offended? ;)

So owls are my new obsession and I found these really cute felt owls I am going to attempt next along with some felt garland.  Looks like they should be pretty easy...yeah right, famous last words!

Next Holiday, Please!

I am a sucker for all the holidays.  I guess it is part of being an elementary teacher and being used to decorating and celebrating all the holidays in my classroom.  However, I have absolutely no Valentine's Day decor for my house!  I decided to try making my own.  I found some stacking blocks on potterybarnkids.com, but I wasn't a huge fan of the style, so I decided to make my own!

So here is my beginning attempt at some cute stacking blocks for my console table by the front door.

So far, I only made the nesting boxes.  I used cardstock, cereal boxes, and glue.  Next, I am going to buy Valentine's paper and decorations and use Modge Podge to adhere it.  Hopefully it will turn out the way I want it.  I will post more pics as I make progress.

Jack's New Favorite Toy

So if Jack was Oprah, this toy would be on his list of My Favorite Things.  Actually, this has become Daddy's favorite toy, too.  Check it out for yourselves:

As you can see, Surya is having as much fun (maybe even more) as Jack.  He is now talking about putting a net at the end of the driveway to catch Jack when he's old enough to do stunts I can't even imagine (or can and don't want to) on that driveway.  I fear we may have a dare-devil on our hands as Jack didn't even so much as flinch while flying down that long slope.  In fact, he lifted his feet up, held onto that steering wheel, and had a look of exhilaration on his face the entire way down!  I hope I have better health insurance by the time this kid can walk!