I failed again

I failed at not keeping up with this blog. I have three blogs now. I have my exercise and getting healthy blog (that I haven't been posting on much lately because I haven't been doing so well in that area of my life.) and I am now a featured blogger on the WhattoExpect website. It is great because it is a paying blog. Plus I get to blog about mommy things and being pregnant and other child related topic.

Gaven will be 1 year old in a few weeks. We are getting ready for his birthday party. And for Gaven and Caleb's first fishing trip to Black Lake with the Benbens. My family has been going on this fishing trip for years. Actually there is a whole group of people that go now. I am hoping for warm weather so it will be more enjoyable.

Gaven's birthday party will be Elmo themed. That is his favorite stuffed toy and Elmo was also the first thing he acknowledged when shopping. The first of many "I want that Mommy" to come. But I was happy to get. I have been a fan of Elmo myself. So Gaven's Easter basket had Elmo stuff in it also.

He got his first stuffed Elmo, a dvd and an Elmo bib with his "Gaven" embroidered on it. Gaven loves snuggling and giving kisses to Elmo. For his birthday party I got the Elmo paper products and decorations and we will get an Elmo cake also. I'll post pictures after the party. We gave Gaven his birthday present from us already.....

His first toy box. Of course it is John Deere. It wouldn't be anything else.

Check out my blog at http://www.whattoexpect.com/blogs/mommythirtysomethingrookie/default.aspx

Great news...

I have some great news to share. A few weeks ago I applied to be a feature blogger on What to Expect website and on Wednesday I found out I got the job. It is a paying freelance blogging. I submitted a few names for my blog to my editor yesterday and I am waiting to hear back so I can get started on starting my blog and writing my first four blogs. Hopefully I will get the hang of writing so search engines will pick up my blog. The first few will probably be learning experiences but I am hoping to gain alot from this venture. I am SOOOO excited!!!!

Tomorrow Trevor, Lacey, Caleb and I are going wine tasting and to dinner for Valentines Day. It should be a good time. Hope everyone is able to spend sometime with their loved ones this weekend. Have a great weekend!

XOXOXO

New Things

My little boy is getting big. This weekend Gaven grew up a little too much for mommy. Where do I start first...

For about a couple of weeks now I have been giving Gaven a 4oz bottle with a little water in it. He would just play with it and get wet but Saturday he started holding the bottle and drinking himself. Last night he even took the bottle out of my hands so he could do it himself.

This makes me happy and sad at the same time. It will make things easier but also but at the same time he doesn't need me as much now. :(

Then he started feeding himself Cheerios. About a month and half now, we had been giving Gaven Cheerios to work on his pincer grasp. Up until yesterday he really had just been playing with them and I occasionally would put on in his month. Well yesterday he started feeding himself. I was trying to feed him his veggies for lunch and he just kept eating the Cheerios. So I had to wait until he was finished with his Cheerios to feed him.

Next, was his first bruise. On Saturday night we were at a club for my MIL 50th birthday party. We were sitting in a booth holding Gaven after dinner. My purse fell under the table so holding Gaven with my left arm, I bent down to pick up my purse and Gaven lunged forward and banged his cheek off the table so Sunday morning he had a bruise on his cheek.

And last but not least, while playing with Gaven this morning before work I noticed that you could see one of his top teeth. It hasn't broken the skin, but you can feel it under the gum.

So as you can see I am reeling this morning about how my baby boy is growing. I was even dreaming this morning about when he was first born and still in the hospital. 

*tear*tear*sniffle*sniffle*

New month....

First off, it took an entire month for Gaven to get his second tooth. So now he has 2 teeth!!!! YEAH! He is now 8 months old. I can't believe we are now closer to him being a year old. He is still babbling and saying dadada and an occasional mama. My favorite is still "nda". He has his velociraptor screech. He has started to scream more often. Finding new vocal cords everyday.  Still no crawling. But he loves to hold your fingers and pull himself to standing then sit,  stand & sit, stand & sit. I need to take more pictures of Gaven. I haven't put any in his month by month frame since October. Here is a picture that Caleb sent me the other day.

Hi Mommy

Caleb is back to work. So that is good. Gaven loves being at the babysitters and she missed him. Plus it is good for him to be around other children. But I do miss not making the babysitter stop in the morning.  I am doing well with my workouts. I actually have been working out 4 or 5 days a week. I am happy about that. For more info check out cristygetshealthy.blogspot.com. 

Have a great week!

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.