We're Coming Home!

Hey Washington! Think you can handle the cutest chunk of baby fat you've ever seen?

Better get ready, cuz we'll see you tomorrow!

Mr. Blueberry

Our Weekend in Pictures.

The highlights of our lazy, lazy weekend...

Hope you all had a great week as well!

Love.

Henry's First Lime.

Henry's Commercial

Hey! It's Baby Henry's TV debut (and the only time we've been able to capture that new little wave of his on film)! Autographs available as soon as he can write...

Sophie's Cousin

Yummmm...

Hey, wait a minute...

This ain't no stinkin Sophie!!

Grawwwwwrrrrrrr!!!

Wordless Wednesday

I know this might come off a little sexist or whatever, but that's totally not me so just bare with me on this one. The other night I was singing Henry his lullabies and I got really bummed. I realized that most likely his own babies will not fall asleep to the special songs Henry and I share at night. His future wife will have lullabies of her own (probably ones that she grew up with) and she'll just sing those.

I guess I've always just assumed that if I sing Henry the same three songs before bed, one day he'd sing them to my grandchildren. But honestly? What are the chances he will be the one putting his babies to sleep? In most cases, the mom is the boss of the bedtime routine. I know there are lullabies that G's mom sang to him growing up, but do I sing those to Henry at night? No. I don't even know how they go. And sure G sings them occasionally but definitely not enough for them to "stick".

It's hard when the whole bedtime routine falls so much on the breastfeeding mom and it's unfortunate that because of this, such a special piece of childhood is easily lost.

Omg Henry, what did you eat?

So there's this new "surprised" face Henry makes and I have been trying to get it on film for the longest time. He kind of makes it in the beginning here, but the real point of this video is to inform you that my adorable little Henry passes. gas. like. whoa. And then looks at me with a huge grin on his face like it's the funniest thing ever.

Listen around the 30 second mark. Actually, this video is pretty pointless after 35 seconds. Unless you like repetitive cat calls. And incredibly boring stuff (not judging!)

by the way. could you please vote for us if you have a second? we really want to stay on the front page (maybe we're even off of it by now?) you guys are the best, thanks!

Biking

look real hard...can you see a baby henry in there??
(photo courtesy of south magazine Aug/Sept '10)

We love to bike.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to ride mine in over a year because the idea of riding with a little baby in my belly was pretty unnerving and strapping him in one of those bike seats now makes me pretty nervous too.

In Chicago, we went everywhere by bike. Seriously, Chicago was our city of a) Sparks and b) bikes. We didn't own a car then and as a result got really good at riding reasonable distances. Looking back on it, having the freedom to just to hop on a bike whenever and ride to band practices and shows was a luxury.

I miss riding so much. I can't wait until Henry is older and I feel more comfortable taking him on rides around this wonderful city. There are so many fun bike events, it will be awesome when we can pedal out as a family and explore this area together.

Kid Loves DOGS!

Garrison and I have been flirting with the idea of getting a dog lately (god help me). I'm not so much of a dog person but G has been wanting one for a long time. We even looked at a few at the shelter while I was still pregnant, but ultimately decided that the timing wasn't right. Because you know. Maybe that new baby would like, require some attention and care? Maybe?

We took Henry to the Humane Society a few weekends ago and he loved. it. To my surprise, he kept sticking his hand in every cage and laughing when the annoying yappy puppies would lick his face and bark really loud. He even loved the big, scary looking ones. This kid loves DOGS! After seeing how happy those puppies made him, the idea of getting one of our own is getting easier for me to consider.

Until then, we'll just keep learning to "play nice" with the dogs at work...even if they are smaller than you are.

ouch!

Today I Love:

Today I love:

• Going out for breakfast with Garrison and Henry.

• That Henry has been napping for two and a half hours.

• The green pepper that started growing a week ago (it's the only plant in our garden that hasn't been destroyed by the heat).

• That someone found my blog by Googling, "Blogs about love".

• Finally hearing from a friend that I thought I'd lost contact with (hey Huck!)

• That I fly home in less than ten days.

Party Animal

Last night we went to a birthday party and didn't get back home until after ten. Henry usually goes to sleep around eight, so by the time we reached the front door he was so exhausted. By nine he had already reached that hyper, crazy, wth? stage that overcomes kids when they've been up for too long. This was the first time I've ever seen him act so wild. He squirmed all around my hip, screeched at everyone walking by, knocked glasses and bottles over, and kept pulling at my shirt and hair. A glimpse of crazy older Baby Henry, I'm sure.

Luckily because the party animal had spent so much time wearing himself out he slept like a college freshman. He woke up around five, quickly nursed, and then slept in until nine this morning. That means we got six hours of sleep. Straight. Today feels amazing.

I think this means we need to go to more parties?

Four Chord Song

Ahahahaha! Borderline annoying alert but pretty freaking hilarious and clever otherwise...

(Teething) Party Over Here!

Henry's first tooth is slowly making an appearance, this is seriously so exciting. That little tooth is gonna pimp his grill, his smiles are going to be 10000 cuter with a little white flashing on the bottom right. Aside from being a little fussier than usual, so far he has shown little sign of pain and discomfort. In fact I wouldn't have even noticed it if he hadn't yawned right when I was putting him in his car seat.

This is not at all what I thought teething would be like (at least for now).
Oh, and taking a picture of a new tooth is like, next to impossible...but trust me, it's there!

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213 Days

Happy seven months ya lil' drooler!!

Some awesome things you can do now:

* Wave at the people you love (you even shake that little hand at toys, the cat, and your food!)
* Say, "Dadadada" (although you haven't placed that sound to the man...)
* Mimic a few signs like "all done" and "more"
* Dance when you hear a song
* Sleep longer than three hours (when we're super lucky)
* Look around the room when we say, "Where's the kitty?"
* Eat a variety of solid foods. You LOVE avocados and green beans best.
* Scoot in circles on your belly
* Sit up on your own and look around the room without falling backwards
* Stop your legs when we hold you like you're walking
* Sit in a highchair and shopping cart
* Laugh when we tickle you or make ridiculous faces and sounds
* Stopping doing any cool trick as soon as we try and capture it on camera

I swear you get more and more fun every day. We love you Baby Henry!

Henry's Signature Look

Henry has always been a very expressive baby, constantly playing around with different eyebrow positions and various ways to purse his lips. Out of his many, many looks (kid can't make up his mind!) this one is definitely the sweetest, one of my favorites. He usually makes this face when he is totally content, like after he's actually napped and allowed himself to suck down a belly full of milk without getting distracted by every. little. thing.

I love Mandy's new photo challenge: Signature Look. To see other cute babies (and pets!) click here.

dust off those *nsync albums!

So I just found my journal from a long time ago and I am seriously lmao.

Did you even know baggy pants AND wide legged pants were in the top nine "must have so cool!" list of 1999? And apparently we all should have collected more beanie babys (oooh the spelling!) because that was number one on the same list.

Um, how cool was I when I was thirteen and how did I not have like, a bajillion boyfriends?

If you feel sorry for my husband right now, click the top baby blogs button!

Awww, Cute! He's Building up his Immune System!

Why is it that babies prefer to chew on the things they know they aren't supposed to? And how do they even know what those things are? Seriously, Henry's freaking and no toys will calm him? Hand him a cell phone. Or a wallet. Or my headband. Or the cat's tail....I guarantee you the crying will stop the second it's in his hands. Even with the ridiculous amount of toys Henry has access to on a daily basis, he'd much rather play with the forbidden.

The other day I laid a bunch of his favorite toys out on the floor around him and left the room to help the other kids wash their hands. When I came back, this is what I found:

What's that weird toy he passed up the happy neon plastics for?

Oh, it's just the DOG BONE. You know, that disgusting one that both dogs drag through the mud everyday. The one that has been around the house since I started working here a year ago? The one that has probably been pooped on at least once. Niiiice.

And just like everything, where does it end up?

Henry says, "IN MUH MOUTH!! MMMMMMMM....."
I can't even imagine what it's going to be like when this kid actually starts crawling. Omg.

could you please vote for us today? we'd really like to stay on the front page! thanks!

No picture for this one, it would only provide incredibly trashy looking images (picture: tired, baggy eyes lit up by colored jewels $$$....)

But seriously? You guys have no idea how good I'm going to be at cell phone Bejeweled by the time Henry is done night nursing.

AHHHHHHH!!!!

Paper Mama Photo Challenge: Orange

Henry's First Peach!

Last Saturday I picked up a bag full of local, organic peaches from the farmer's market. I stuck one in the freezer until it was nice and cold, peeled off the skin, and let Henry go crazy! It was love at first bite, a summer treat just perfect for a teething baby!

To see some other "orange" photos, check out The Paper Mama's latest challenge!

DIY: Baby Silhouette.

Lately I've been feeling kind of sad that Henry is no longer a tiny little cuddle baby. How perfect is this silhoutte to help me remember just how small he was?! These are incredibly easy to make, Henry's took me about forty minutes from start to finish.

Here's how you can make one, too!

If you don't have one already, take a side profile picture of your baby (or pet, or friend, or car, or whatever...) You'll want to make sure that the head shape, forehead, nose, lips, and chin (or chins in Henry's case!) are very noticeable. I chose this picture, see how his nose and lips are really defined?

Open your photo in any editing software (I actually just used Microsoft Office Picture Manager). Play around with the contrast and exposure until you've brightened the face enough to form a noticeable profile outline....It should look something like this:

Trace the entire profile onto a piece of computer paper. Most computer screens are actually bright enough to trace right on top of (use a pen that won't leak through the paper and press lightly!) If this doesn't work for you, print the photo out instead. Be sure and include a tilted piece of torso below the head:

Cut out the profile stencil from the computer paper and trace it onto a colored piece of cardstock. When choosing the two colors of paper (one for the head and one for the background), it's important to make the silhouette a darker color than the background.

Cut the cardstock silhouette using an Exacto knife for a precise and crisp cut.

I found that this was a better time to add the eyelashes than when you are first tracing the image (unless you can already see them in the original picture. In my case, they weren't noticeable). Use a pencil to play around with where you think they would naturally fall. Most eyelashes will actually be higher than you'd imagine. Notice where I've placed Henry's in relation to his nose and forehead:



Also, if your cut is jagged like mine you can easily fix that with the Exacto knife after you have cut it out. Just make sure sure you hold the eyelash down while you cut around it, otherwise it will rip right off.

Using any kind of glue (although a scrapbooking gluestick would probably be best) glue the silhouette onto a lighter colored piece of cardstock. Press it down really well to make sure that there are no bubbles while it dries. It will look something like this!

Find a frame that will fit the silhouette and cut the picture down to the right size. If you have the space, you can write your baby's name and age at the bottom of his portrait. I wish my cursive was better, if I was doing this again I might try and write it a little more professionally.



These silhouettes make great gifts. With most "new baby" photos readily available on facebook or flickr, you can surprise anyone by creating a custom silhouette of their little darling.

I am definetly excited to show grown up Henry just how tiny his head was when he was a little baby. Also, I love that I can tell exactly which one of his famous expressions he was making. It's like I've frozen a special piece of time!

Have fun!

Me as a Mother (Blog Crush)

"Zoo" by Heidi.

I am totally in love with Heidi and her wonderful blog, Me as a Mother. She stumbled across my blog a while back and wow oh wow oh wow am I so glad she did. Her photography is amazing, her children are beautiful, and her writing is genuine and hilarious. I know you will all love her too!