All Aboard

We went to the north pole last night. It was amazing and really put us more in the Christmas spirit (if that is even possible for me). If you are ever in Lubbock if is definitely worth the money. I will let the pictures do the talking. It is the most amazing thing to experience stuff like this through your childs' eyes. Crewe loved the music and danced the entire time.

Crewe's popper (grandpa) insist that we arrive everywhere and hour early so here we are warming up waiting to get on the train.

Poppers with his grandboys.

Getting some lovin from daddy.

Crewe definitely does not have issues with strangers, but wasn't too sure what to think about the conductor. He had to give him the stare down before we boarded. 

 Once we boarded it was all smiles. I felt like I was 5 years old again. I am sure the aunt and uncle sitting across from us (childless) thought "If this is what children do to you we are NEVER having them!" Don't worry Cole and Joni it is worth it :)!

Cousin Wyatt pondering his next mischevious act.

Getting ready to leave the station.

The conductor puncing Crewe's golden ticket.

Sharing hot chocolate with Daddy.

At the North Pole waiting for Santa and the elves to board.

Playing and dancing with Aunt Joni.

Making sure this elf was legit.

And finally SANTAAAAA (incerpt Will Ferrel in Elf yelling Santa at the top of his lungs).

We ended our train ride dancing in the aisle to Jingle Bells and throwing people the "Whatz up" sign.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Warning: this is a looooong post!

Crewe had an amazing first birthday that was spent with close friends and family! Crewe has developed a great love for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! He really just likes the first and last song, but that boy can dance when those songs come on. That, along with pinterest, inspired most of his party.

It all started with the invitation; I knew it had to be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed

We had a mini photo shoot.

I found a recipe for oreo cupcakes on pinterest. They were a hit and delicious. You can find the recipe here.

My honey cut and painted the cute sign for the front yard and I had every intention of taking his pictures next to it since we did not have professional 12 month pictures taken. What I did not intend for was the weather to be 35 and rainy.

Crewe was all about this mickey balloon.

This is another charm I found on Pinterest. I think it added so much to the table, was super simple, and taste delicious!

I made the party favors myself. I found the candy boxes at walmart for 0.47 (steal). I cut the mickey heads out of felt. I think the entire favor was maybe $2.00, including what was inside.

So this is what I invisioned for Crewe's first birthday cake, until my sweetie kindly asked me when the last time I made a cake with fondant was, to which I responded, "well never"!

So this is what we compromised on :)! The cake with the 1 candle on it. It looks like the cake above. Don't ya think???

His sweet Grandma made this shirt for him that turned out great! Crewe loved the way the minky felt and kept rubbing his belly when I first put it on.

He played with his buddy Nixon!

Opened presents

And drumroll please......................... THE CAKE! Ultimately Crewe enjoyed getting messy more than eating all the sugar. He spent the first 5 minutes trying to flick the icing off his hands.

He finally decided to take a bite.

John thought he looked like a little hobo with the icing goatee. I kind of agree.

I am so blessed for this past year and that God has trusted me to be your momma. You have taught me so much and all for the better. I am forever changed because of you. I love the time I right before you fall asleep in my arms and I lay you in your crib. Your Daddy and I joke that it sounds bad that we just want to squeeze you to death. We remind each other to not say that in front of others so they don't think we mean it literally. Both of us cannot get enough of you and even though it was hard to leave my job and there are days that I would gladly go back to work :) I feel so thankful I have not missed a single first in the last year. Most the time your Daddy doesn't miss them either because I am blowing his phone up with videos and pictures. You have lived in 3 different cities your first year and that must have made you well rounded because you have blossomed and become quite the social butterfly, which I love. You will give anyone a smile and most the time a high five if they ask. You are just like your Daddy in that regard. I think we will be having the "stranger danger" talk in the near future.

You are tall and skinny. At your 12 month well baby you weighed 21 lbs and were 31.5 inches long. Your weight is 40th percentile, length 90th, and head 85th. See you are already a genius. You can clap, kiss, wave bye-bye, shake your head no (which looks more like a full body jive), and you are definitely starting to get an opinion. Your are still taking it slow with sleeping through the night. I don't think you are in a rush to give up the middle of the night cuddles, but you are doing better. Diaper changing is still an olympic event. You scream with excitement and breathe like Darth Vador when somebody you recognize walks through the door (especially Daddy). We are still nursing, which I am sure you will like knowing when you are 20  ; )!

You are an absolute joy and I cannot wait for the next year. Please slow down how quickly you are growing!

Love,

Momma

Baby items I L-O-V-E

So, I was emailing a friend a list of baby items I L-O-V-E. She is due in about a month and doesn't know the sex. I am sooo excited. There are a few others that I know are on the verge of parenthood. Such and exciting time. These are the big things that got me through the early days.

Okay here is what I would reccomend for the early days.

A Boppy pillow for nursing. I didn't use it a ton if both my hands were free, but on the nights that he wanted to nurse non stop I could prop him on that to nurse and have both of my hands free to eat.

I would definietly splurge on a nice glider and if I could do it all over again and yall have the room I would get a recliner. Some nights they only want to sleep on you and to have a chair that you are comfortable sleeping in makes all the difference in the world.

Aden and anais burp/ bip clothes are the bomb and they grow with them. When they are itty bitty and spitting up all the time these give great coverage for your cloths and when they get bigger they snap around their neck to become a bib. AWESOME!!

You can find those here:

http://www.target.com/p/aden-and-anais-for-Target-Burpy-Bib-Vroomaroo/-/A-11276656?reco=Rec|pdp|11276656|ClickCP|item_page.adjacency&lnk=Rec|pdp|11276656|ClickCP|item_page.adjacency

The Angel care monitor helped me sleep more deeply at night becuase I knew an alarm would go off it did not detect breathing on him. It was a heaven send to ease my fears on SIDS. They have one now that is a movement detector and video in one. Mine is just the movement detector but we are about to
purchase a video monitor since Crewe is getting to the "crawl out of his crib stage". Might as well save some money and do the all in 1.

You can find that here:

http://www.angelcare-monitor.com/United-States/en/products/angelcare-monitor-AC1100

Babies r us sells these in stores

I would also splurge on a good carrier to free your hands up during the day. I purchased the Britax, but I see a ton of people with the baby Bjorn so it MUST be a good one too. I still use it with Crewe some, when all 21 lbs. of him wants to be held all day and I need to put up laundry or something. It is also good, I think, so he gets a view of everything I am doing.

Simple, simple clothes for when they are itty bitty. There are so many things I bought that never got worn because they were to complicated on such a little body. In my book the more simple the better. They spit up and poop like it is going out of style :)! Just a tid bit more on getting out the poo stains that come from blowouts on nursed babes. If you put the clothes out in the sun for a few hours after you wash them the stain literally fades away.

I am sure if you ask 100 different people you will get 100 different answers on what diaper to use, but I love huggies and will not waiver! They have what John and I so fondly refer to as a "poop catcher flap"! Their poo is super runny if you exclusively nursed. It is a piece of elastic at the back of the diaper that saved us from many a blowouts. We still had a few but nothing compared to what we had with pampers or the off brands.

Wiper warmer- self explanatory.

Play mat- I started using this with Crewe about 4 to 6 weeks and it just helps with developement.

A breastpump is a definite splurge on this one too. It was very important to me to be able to stock up a little milk in the fridge in case you want to have a glass of wine ; ) or let your honey have a chance to feed and bond. Sometimes I just needed a break from feeling like a dairy cow.

The moby wrap is nice but not necessarily necessary (like the combo of words?), if you have a carrier. It is just a little more comfy for the babe because of the cotton material and no buckles or straps.

Lastly, this is someting you wont need for 5 to 6 months but John and I love it!!! The chicco space saver high chair. It is soooo convienent and easy to travel with if you will be going to someones house that doesn't have a highchair.

You can find that here:

http://www.babyage.com/baby-gear/chicco-baby-gear/chicco-360-hook-on-high-chair-79599.htm

Welp, that wraps up my list, but I will leave you with 2 things.




1) Can I tell you there is nothing sweeter than sweet baby breath on your chest when you are rocking them to sleep!?! If you haven't tried it you should!


2)A ton of people will give you a ton of advice on your baby and what to do. Just remember this is advice on what worked for their baby and your babe is different. If you ever question yourself (and I did a ton), remember that you are the best momma for your little babe and know him/her better than anyone else. Although sometimes they might look at you like you are crazy. Crewe have given me several of these since he has been born.

Busy Much

Maybe I decided on a horrible time of year to start a blog. Well, horrible and perfect. I am so glad that this time of year will be captured with little man, but it has been a bit of a challenge to post regularly. I have only been blogging for maybe a month and it kind of stresses me out having something interesting to post about because I realize our day to day happenings might not alwasy be soooo interesting to others, but then I remind myself that this is for our keepsake to look back on years later, so day to day happenings are just perfect. That being said, here is what we have been up to.

Crewe has started interacting and playing with us rather than just watching us and it is opening my eyes to how truly fun having a little buddy is. He is one happy little guy and love to play with his daddy.

Crewe is constantly stretching me and reminding me not to take life to seriously. I was frustated for some unknown reason all day today and in the middle of feeding him he decides he needs to start spitting out all of his food in the midst of it being way past his bedtime. I was feeling those feelings of frustration that I hate having towards him, but I will admit, I was getting annoyed and then he has to go and hit me with one of these.

Followed later in by this

I look at him and realize how uneffected he is by the world. No concept of time, to do list, what needs to be done tomorrow, and the next day and the next.... (all things which can frustrate my day). He just lives for the moment and is so full of life, energy and wonder. I am convinced we let ourselves get stripped of these joys on a daily basis unless we keep it in check and really realize how precious life is. I want to start choosing to be unaffected by all these things.

Okay on to something more light! Snowy weather always seems to make everyone breath a sigh of relief or at least it does me. It snowed here last week and I had big plans to bundle up play all afternoon in it. This time it did cross my mind that I have a 1 yr old who would not think the freezing temps were so fun so we stayed inside next to the fire. Baby snuggles in fleece jammies are the best!



Of course we had to pay our respects to the snowman

Crewe has a new love for crawling around with anything in his hands that will make noise on the tile floor. This week the chosen items are puzzle pieces. He cracks me up and loves to put lids on anything. His language is changing everyday and he sound like he has created his own chinese language at the moment. We are still working hard on Momma.

We also enjoyed a little mexican food and lemons.

Stay tuned for a birthday party post!

Little Man is 1!

I cannot believe I am the momma to a 1 year old. What a learning experience this past year has been. Time has never stood still and flown by at the same time the so fast since you came into my life. Your daddy and I could not be more in love with you. You have taught me soooo much in this past year. You and your Daddy have shown me what true happiness is, even on the nights when you (still) wake up 3 times, because your momma officially failed the cry it out method. It was just not for us and broke my heart to hear you cry when I knew I could do something about it. That being said I have learned so much patience from you :)! You are so precious to me! Your Daddy finally got it through my head to quit listening to everybody else's advice and just go with what felt right to me. You are changing so quickly it seems. You seem to learn something new overnight. Right now you are can clap, roll it up (roll your fist in a circle), and throw your arms up when we say touchdown. You also do a mad squinchy face and blow through your nose when somebody blows on you. We started teaching you that so that you would know how to blow out your birthday candle. It seems like in the past 2 weeks you understand what we are saying to you. You understand: let go, open/ shut, no, and give kisses. You are a little man of few words, but when you get to talking you definitely get everybody's attention.

You opened you first birthday card

Had your first mini cupcake and surprisingly wanted nothing to do with it.

I often forget that you are only one and don't appreciate all the things about the Christmas season quite yet, but with some stuff you humor your momma. Last night was not one of those nights. We went to the Carol of Lights at Tech. It was supposed to be cold, but this unexperienced momma thought a shirt, jacket and blanket would be plenty. In fact it crossed my mind that you would be sweating. This is how the night played out.  

Not thrilled about the cold, but still smiling (kinda)

 Starting to get a little chilly and we are wondering if this was ever going to start.

Screaming starts shortly after the above picture that prompts me to offer you some food, which I then squeeze too much in your mouth because it is pitch black. You procede to throw up EVERYWHERE. You threw up right next to this bag and a mortified onlookers leg. I still wanted to stick it out when Daddy shoots me a "You are crazy, we are leaving" look. We are then stuck trying to figure out what to do with the pile of puke. Of course any logical person would put the luminary back on top of it right???

We spent the next 20 minutes trying to warm your icicle nose, ears, and cheeks up in the closest warm building and you were back to your normal self. 

We ended the night at Starbucks with coffee, coffee cake, a banana, and you were a happy camper.

We had an awesome birthday with you and I cannot imagine spending my days any other way. You have an infectious personality and like to entertain, just like your Daddy. We love you so much!

Happy Birthday little love!

Randomness!!!

This should be the new motto of my life, which I should add is not a bad thing. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving; kind of low key. I really debated going out to do some Black Friday shopping, but decided since I have a baby who is waking up at night, my sleep was MUCH more important. I did hear that some lady maced someone just to get and XBOX 360 at Wal-Mart. REALLY?????

Crewe spent the day feeding his food deprived, college aged Aunt B

Did a little Christmas tree decorating

Played in the shower with a poopy diaper we did not find out about until the diaper was soaked.

Took major advantage of having his Daddy home for 5 days

Momma is teaching this boy how to play dominos early. He is learning how to dominate the table by banging the domino container on the floor as hard as he can.

Have I shared yet how I measure my alcohol??? No? Well let me show you!

Is something wrong with that? I sometimes think so but need a somewhat consistent way to measure the alcohol since I am still nursing and this have become my tride and true way. I have to remind myself that this is not appropriate to do in public.

This boy will be 1 in 2 days. I can hardly believe it!!!

One last note just becuase I don't want to forget anything about this time in my life. The emotions of parenting are so conflicting at times. I have days where all I can do is laugh/cry when the hubby comes home and I am still in my pajamas, Crewe was only changed out of his maybe 10 minutes before, a shower has most definitely not been taken and gum has been my toothbrush (gross I know); that will immediatly be followed by a day that goes smoother that imaginable with a one year old. I am slowly learning that all of it is precious time and one that will be looked back fondly on. Just the other night I was in the bath, searching Pinterest and enjoying my time when I realized I did not have a washcloth. Who wants to get out of a hot steamy bath and drip all over the floor to get a washcloth? Not me! Luckily I turned around and was pleased to find a washcloth sitting behind me, so of course I used it, only to remember that it was the washcloth I had spent the better part of the morning wiping Crewe's nose with. Those are the times all I can do is shrug my shoulders and laugh.

Love being a his Momma.