Book, Books, and more Books

I am obsessed with buying books for Gaven. Last week I order 9 more books. Gotta love Amazon's 4-for-3 book deal. I am mostly buying board books right now but I try to add a regular book into the mix also for when he gets older. But I will read it to him now too.  This is my newest purchase....

My latest Parents magazine suggested this book. I will have to let you know what we think of it. Any comments?

7 months and counting

Gaven is growing like a weed. He is now 7 & half months old. Last week we took Gaven to the Doctor for the 2nd half of his flu shot, he had gained a pound & half in a month.  He got his 1st tooth Christmas weekend. Now we are still waiting for the second tooth to break thru. I am beginning to think that he is going to get his top teeth before this other bottom one comes threw. We have all the same symptoms as when the first tooth broke threw: runny nose, increased pooping, crankiness at times, trouble bottle feeding. But still nothing, just a one tooth grin!

Now that he has a tooth, we have started giving him teething biscuts & cookies. He is having fun with them. I get at least 15 minutes of free time. I also bought a box of Cherios so he can start working on his pinching ability. For now he is just raking and having fun throwing them. I have added an additional feeding at night for Gaven, maybe this is what attributed to his pound & a half weight gain. He gets Beechnut Goodnight cereal. He loves it, just wants us to shovel it in as fast as we can. Giving him this additional feeding has changed his eating patterns for the rest of the day, some. Before he would eat a jar and a half to two jars of food for lunch and dinner. Now he eats one jar of veggies and sometimes a few bites to a half jar of fruit. I think this is working for us. He is gaining!

He is playing with all his new toys very well on his own, but does enjoy when mommy and daddy play too.  Thanks to Gaven's Aunt and Uncles for the noisy toys. He seems to really like playing with his steering wheel, the gears and the fish bowl (it lights up too). We didn't get many books but we are still reading our books. He likes to touch the books now so we are reading our 2 touch & feel books often. Time to hit up amazon for books. Gotta love the FREE SUPER SAVER SHIPPING. To bad mommy can't use her Bath & Body works gift card there, lol.

This weekend we took Gaven for his first sled riding experience in his very own "baby boggan". He liked being pulled around the yard, but when I stopped he wanted out of it. Gaven really enjoyed watching the big kids, i.e. daddy, Uncle Trevor, Poppa Jim, build a snowman and go down the hill on their sleds. I wonder what adventure Gaven will go on this weekend?

Being a new mommy, I am just trying to take in all his new experiences and enjoy them for the simplicity of an infants view.

2010....A new year

So I have been thinking about resolutions and goals since the new year is fastly approaching. And I wanted to have some place where I can write down my goals and be held accountable. I have even been thinking about starting another blog just about my resolutions/goals for 2010, since this blog is supposed to be about my family and our adventures. It is ambitious but maybe if I have to write about my progress, lets say once a week then I will be more likely to stick to my goals.

So lets start here by me writing out my Goals:
1. Be the best mom & wife, I can be.
2. Take better care of myself.
A. Drink more water and much less pop.
B. Eat more veggies.
C. Exercise more.
3. Make more time for my friends.
4. Train to run a 5K. (Couch-to-5K running plan - http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml)
5. Blog more
6. Have more date nights with my husband.

I think this is a enough to tackle in one year. As I write these I really do think I will start another blog to track my progress/set backs for 2010. A blog about me. Please check out my new blog:
Cristy Gets Healthy

MIA - Catch up

Let's see from about the beginning of November until now, 2 days before christmas, time has just slipped away from me. I have been busy at work and when I get home from work I just want to be with Gaven and of course I hve to do some house work. Some nights Gaven takes a nap and then still goings to sleep between 8&9. So that gives me even less time with him in the evening. So I do the house work while he sleeps. To all my friends I am sorry that I have not kept in better touch. I do think about you and want to call but I just want to spend all my free time in the evening with my lil boy.

So to catch everyone up, early November brought me some overtime at work. Then we went to Medina the weekend before Thanksgiving. We celebrated my mom's birthday, Thanksgiving and of course Caleb went hunting with my brother and Dad. December rolled on in and we found our family sick with a cold. So Gaven has officially had his first cold. Gaven is officially a sitter now. Then he had his 6month well baby check up and shots. He is 27inches and weighs 15lbs 4oz. He is growing like a weed. This past Sunday, the Rhodes family went to church for the first time with a baby. Gaven was a hit and we was a very good little boy during the service, he even slept through the sermon. So we will be going back.

We are looking forward to our first christmas as a family of three. It should be alot of fun since Gaven is sitting and he likes to play with paper. I will post some pictures after the holiday.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!! God Bless

October

October has been a busy month so far. It started out with an amazing anniversary trip to the Finger Lakes in New York. First we went to my parents house to visit with them and let Grandma, Grandpa & Uncle Jimmy babysit Gaven for his first ever sleepover. Then it was on to Seneca Lake where we wine tasted for a whole day and then stayed at the Belhurst Castle in Geneva, NY. It was beautiful sunny day with the first of the fall color change happening. The wineries we great, I like them all. My favorite winery was Three Brothers because it was 3 wineries and a brewery all together. It was just fun. But the best place we tasted wine was Wagner winery & brewery. The man serving the wine for tasting was wonderful. He helped us find wines we both really loved. But my favorite wine of all I would have to say was Red Cat from Hazlitt. We will definitely be going back in the future!

Gaven had his 4 month well baby visit and shots. He is now 25.5 inches long and weights 13 lbs 4 oz. The doctor said he is right where he should be developmentally and maybe even ahead in a few things. He is now eating rice cereal, green beans, oatmeal (actually I am beginning to realize that he doesn't like oatmeal so I will put it away for awhile) and we just started peas last night. Onto orange and yellow veggies next. The little boy has discovered his legs and wants to stand alot now. We are in the process of deciding whether to get a walker or a stationary entertainer. Gaven has started to sit on his own, only for a few seconds at a time. We are working on this.

I have been doing well with my weight loss. I am down almost 10 lbs. I have been going to cycling on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Zumba Monday or Wednesday nights. I am feeling a little under the weather with a hacking cough and sinus pressure so I didn't make it to cycling yesterday and deciding whether or not to go to Zumba tonight. But I need to keep up the momentum and keep working out. I really should start some weight training but that is probably going to have to wait until Gaven is 6 months so he can go to babysitting at the gym.

This weekend is our 3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. The weather is not looking all that great but it is only Wednesday and the forecast could change between now and Saturday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no rain.

Looking ahead....we are planning on getting family Christmas portrait done along with Gaven's 6 month portraits. The Benben's are excited for us to come up for Thanksgiving, Caleb is excited to go hunting with my brother and dad. I have a busy work weekend in there also. PA buck season starts November 30th, Caleb is taking a few days of for that. So I will keep you updated on our adventures.

Halloween Pics

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

Losing baby weight

So I had put on some weight before I got pregnant and then of course the pregnancy pounds packed on. About a month ago I started Weight Watchers at work. This is how I lost weight before, so I know that it works. I have lost 6lbs so far. I guess I'm on the right track. Now it is time to fit in some me time and get to the gym. Tomorrow morning I am going to get up at 4:45am to go to a 5:15am cycling class. I need to do this even though I am not looking forward to getting up so early, especially since Gaven still gets up once in a while during the night to eat. I know that eventually it will give me more energy and help me to lose the weight. Here is hoping I get a full nights sleep tonight before class. I'll post my progress as time goes on.