Food

8 months, 22 days old

A common nickname that you will hear us call Barrett is "chunky boy." It's crazy to think of the little pipsqueak he used to be compared to him today. He is certainly not a pipsqueak anymore. He is a solid, almost-9 month old and I can thank real food for that.

Ever since he started eating meals, he has been a fan. There are very few things that he does not like and if you see him, either in person or in pictures, that should not come as a surprise.



B is mostly self-weaned off of purees. It's not that he doesn't want to eat them, it's just that he'd rather feed himself and he does not have the dexterity to feed himself with a spoon. It ends up being a mess even more so than him eating finger foods. I'm trying to get through our supply of jars so that they don't go to waste but we're about done. For records sake, (you know this is his baby book, right?), I wrote down his meals for a few days last week.

Monday
*Chicken boiled, shredded and seasoned with taco seasoning (he was be.side. himself with love for this)
*puffs (all babies think these are crack, I think)
*cottage cheese
*spinach, peas and pears puree pouch

Tuesday
*rice
*string cheese chunks
*pureed bananas
*grapes

Wednesday
*watermelon
*sausage chunks
*apples/blueberry puree
*sweet potato-chicken dinner puree

Thursday
*english muffin chunks
*broccoli apple puree pouch
*nectarine
*turkey slices




It's no denying, Bubs loves food.

Project 365: Week 25

8 months, 20 days old

06-18-12

B and I went to the grocery store tonight after work and I had decided after taking him in and out that we would move him from his infant seat to his convertible. He almost never sleeps in it anymore. Of course, this is what I found when we pulled into the garage.

06-19-12

We all took a little after dinner trip to visit the construction site at Jason and Becky's new house. Mister was in pj's but it was so hot that we stripped him while we got the tour.

06-20-12

Bear butt.

06-21-12

I should have called this week "Car seat week." As you can see, we switched to the convertible. He seems to be unaffected much by the decision.

06-22-12

We got into Pontiac about 7pm and since Bub slept the whole ride, he was raring for some play time. Grandpa Bob did not hesitate to get him in the pool.

06-23-12

Chunky boy spent most of the day outside in/around the pool. Since he no longer sits still, we used the pool storage bin as a playpen.

06-24-12

Eating purees by the spoon is not happening anymore. Barrett is almost strictly on real food except he still loves to suck up his food pouches.

Project 365: Week 24

8 months, 13 days old


06-11-12

Super Baby Barrett after his bath.

06-12-12

B practically shovels puffs into his mouth. He would eat an entire container if I let him.

06-13-12

I'm afraid we are at the start of out-of-focus pictures because Bubs is on the move. Not quite "moving" but he certainly isn't stationary either. He rocks back and forth and tries so hard to get some distance.

06-14-12

Little Man fell asleep on Mom before we even got to read books tonight. It's all the excitement at his new daycare making him extra tired.

06-15-12

Baby boy hung out with the big boys tonight. He fit right in...pants-less and all!

06-16-12

Joe took B for a golf cart ride tonight. He's a natural.

06-17-12

Daddy and his little buddy for Father's Day

Saxton wedding

8 months, 9 days old

I'm almost 2 weeks late on this update but better late than never, I guess!

June 2, 2012 was pretty much the most low key wedding ever. Allyson had a very small "must have" list consisting of one thing....she must have peonies. Those flowers were the reason she chose the date because they are only available for a short time period.

Exibit A & B


If you think they are pretty, multiply it by 100 and that's how fantastic they smelled.

With peonies being #1 on the must have list, centerpieces were #1b on said list. She wanted a cluster of 3 vases of fresh flowers in colors white, blue and green. That's it. She had zero opinion on almost every other aspect of the wedding. My mom picked all the appetizers and food, she gave the bridesmaids almost no guidance in dresses, she had no tiered cake (she had sheetcakes that were cut in the kitchen and served, no cutting and feeding each other), she wore shoes that she has worn to every single wedding since 2007 (I'm serious. They have their own name, they are so famous), she wore my veil and had no headtable.



My kinda wedding, if I say so myself.


So onto the day itself...

We started off like always at Studio 724 getting ready....at the very late hour of 10am! We are all pros in this wedding thing that we pretty much just told Audra, Melissa and Sara to do their thing.


We all got dressed right on time and after some struggle with the double sided tape, we were off to the church.





But before we kicked off the ceremony, I had to get a picture with one of my main men. Bowtie and suspenders from Etsy, shirt from Gap, and pants from Macy's. My cousin Kaitlin handled him for the day for us and he was quite the talker for everyone during the ceremony. He sorta moans, just because, and he was not quiet about it in church. Not in a whiney way, just in a talkative way. The whole wedding party, Eric and Allyson included, were laughing at him while the readings were going on.



I obviously didn't get ceremony pictures as I was on the alter but 22 minutes later, we had Mr and Mrs Saxton!



And the party/pictures had started.




We went to an old barn on the outskirts of town where Allyson and Eric took their engagement pictures. The photographers took the two of them off first so us wedding party took advantage and got our own partner shots.

Joe and the Maschings.


The Tissieres and future Baumans


After pictures, we finally got to the reception place to see the star of the show, Mr. B! He was passed around and passed around all day long. He was loving it too. I know there was probably a bunch of people who didn't get to see him but there were just so many vying for his attention. He sure is spoiled.



I did manage to tie him away for a family picture.


Barrett did finally crash about 6:15. My dad was holding him and he was alert and looking around and then all of a sudden, he dropped his head on his shoulder and was done. The babysitter was picking him up at 6:30 to go back to my parents for bed so he slept on me while everyone ate dinner. I couldn't have asked for a better behaved day from him.

Then the party started...

All my younger boy cousins were big hits on the dance floor.



The dj may have played "Call me Maybe" twice this night. Who doesn't love that song?


Girl picture! I think I have an almost identical picture of most of us from a football game in high school.


At weddings, these boys like to relive their junior high days. Little Willy and Chumbawumba brought out the dancers/moshing.



Last picture of the night is with the St. Mary's crew. Our class of 28 went from Kindergarten to 8th grade (plus high school) together. There were 10 of us at the wedding (not pictured: Jill who had to leave early to get Baby Lilli to bed). Go Saints!


We danced out butts off and managed to get home before midnight to relieve the babysitter. It was actually our first night having a non-family member watch B and it was probably the easiest money Grace has ever made. She picked him up for us and basically put his pajamas on and put him to bed. Joe was so happy with her help that she got 3 hugs from him when we got home. Ha!

Only three more months until the Brazil/Carls wedding!

Giggles

8 months, 7 days old

I have 3 posts in my drafts that I need to write but I'm low on words so..

Project 365: Week 23

8 months, 6 days old

06-04-12

Somebody's warming up to his dog. Instead of crying, B stares at it curiously and even grabs at it.

06-05-12

He is out.

06-06-12

I'm not sure what it is that makes babies have such amazing eyelashes. Barrett is no exception to this.

06-07-12

Little Man still loves to stand. He will bend his knees and flap his arms so excitedly.

06-08-12

This Friday night we took a little family date in to town for frozen yogurt. It was a full hour past bedtime and he didn't even fall asleep during the car ride home.

06-09-12

Baby-proofing is in full swing. While Joe lowered the crib mattress, we played on the floor. Bubs loves it when he goes upside down.

06-10-12

When B was teeny, he would zone into the TV anytime it was on. For quite a while now though, he could pretty much care less about it. Today, we decided to try out our first Disney movie, Jungle Book. He actually sat there for more than 5 minutes and watched. Much better than I thought he would.

Deck Build: Part 2

8 months, 4 days old

Today is officially 3 months into the deck project. We're getting there but it's taking a while as you can see. Since my last update, we have stained and installed the stair support, poured a footing for the end of the stairs, installed more support posts, finished laying deck boards and added posts for the railings. Still to do is laying the stair treads, cutting some of the posts for the railing so they are level and staining & installing the railings. Slow and steady.

Before:


Current: Please ignore the trash and debris.




Before:


Current:




Before:


Current: I spy baby boy.



Close-up of the stair side. Eventually, we will have a landscaping bed/retaining wall that goes under the stairs. This will hopefully keep traffic to a minimum under this space. Another phase of the project will include a paver patio at the stair landing and outward, as well.



We will carry the landscaping beds to the left of the stairs in between the two support posts. Then a walkway right in front of the sliding door where those adirondack chairs are.




View from the top. All the siding has been put back up after installing the door. Unfortunately, it laid in the grass for a month so it's a bit dirty. Powerwashing needs to happen. Joe also ran electrical so we are ready for an outdoor light to the left of the door once I get around to picking one out.


The landing area before the stairs all ready for railings.


Looking out from the door. I need a wide angle lens because these photos don't show how huge the space is.


More posts ready for railing. And a view of our neighbors ugly playground and overgrown yard.



That's it for now! Hopefully it won't be 3 more months before you see the next installment!