natural progression

Find new object, inspect.

Bang it on another object.

Put in mouth.

This is what A does with EVERYTHING.

LOVE

Kristin over at Project Baby  posted this video via The Daily What.  SO HELPFUL!

There's also this one done by Christopher Straub for my amazing company.

Ahh, I love scarves.  I can't wait to try different styles.  Every time I do, customers always ask about them.

 :)

Wordless Wednesday

A's first Christmas list

It's getting to be that time ...

:)

Family/friends are asking what they can buy for A-man's first Christmas soooooo ...

Here's some things we are thinking A might like:

[Foam play mats.  He loves playing in the floor and he needs his own crawl space.]

[The conversion kit to turn his bottles into sippy cups.  These are Think baby.]

[High chair that can attach to our tall table.]

[Diaper covers from our favorite place: Rock-a-bye booty!]

Of course, we could always use clothes (9-12 months), books, puzzles, anything with dinosaurs (or monsters), and learning toys.  

I'm so excited for A's first holiday season.  It just means so much more now that he's here with us.  Ahh, love it.  

Off to bed.  Every second of sleep is precious for a retail girl during Black Friday week.

It's been 10 days ...

... since my last post.  I'm a SLACKER.  

No, not really.  I have a sick baby.  I have a sick, TEETHING baby.  I've had a sick husband for about two weeks.  Its holiday time at work.  I'm pregnant.  The list goes on ... #whine.

My nerves are shot.

On the bright side of things, A has two teeth.  They are pretty, white, and cute.  We're conquering our first sickness (I think I'm going to post about it).  The husband feels much better.  He was also Crossfit level 1 certified recently!  My store looks so festive and sparkly.  We get another cute baby to snuggle on.  

Life isn't that bad.  I just need more hours in the day.

I promise, I'll be back soon.  There's a few posts in the works.  I just need to sleep for now.  Forgive me, please?

Get to know me a little better...

With these 50 questions.  I found this from A Shoe that Fits and decided it's time for another little "about me" fun.

Honestly, I just have to admit I'm a sucker for these things.


1#  Where were you 3 hours ago? - Sitting here at my house.  I have the weekend off so I plan to soak up as much time with my little man as possible.  
2#  Who are you in love with? - My house full of boys.  Including our pup.
3#  Have you ever eaten a crayon? - No.
4#  Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? - I'm actually wearing pink pajama pants right now :)
5#  When is the last time you went to the mall? - Today, I work in a mall so I'm there constantly.
6#  Are you wearing socks right now? - No, but I really need to put some on.  We got our first snow today so its a little chilly.
7#  Do you have a car worth over $2000? - No.  It's nothing fancy but gets us around and that's all that matters.
8#  When was the last time you drove out of town? - Technically, today.  I don't think it really counts when you live 7 miles from the border of another state though.
9#  Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days? - I haven't been to the movies in almost the past 5 months.  Transformers was actually the last thing we saw in theaters.  It's just so pricey.
10# Are you hot? - No, I'm cold.  Remember, snow!  ;)
11# What was the last thing you had to drink? - Water with lime.  I love it so much more than lemon.
12# What are you wearing right now? - Pink PJ pants and a comfy hoodie.
13# Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it? - The husband does it.
14# Last food you ate? - A and I shared a steak.
15# Where were you last week at this time? - Eating sushi with my family.  A loves miso soup.
16# Have you bought any clothing items in the last week? - No.
17# When was the last time you ran? - I haven't ran in a month or so.  I'm sure that will change with all this new information my trainer husband is learning.
18# What's the last sporting event you watched? - Crossfit games.  Most impressive athletes ever.
19# What's your fave animal? - My Memphis pup.  I loves him so much.
20# Your dream vacation? - Honestly, I just really want to go back to Colorado with only the husband.  That's where we got married.  I was actually looking at the pictures today and renewed that urge to go back.
21# Last person's house you were in? - The neighbors.  We took A to their house to trick or treat.
22# Worst injury you've ever had? - None really.  (knock on wood)
23# Have you been in love - Best feeling in the world.
24# Do you miss anyone right now? - I miss my BFF and my family.  I also miss Chick-fil-a, white mexican cheese dip, and krystals.
25# Last play you saw? - Oh goodness, I can't remember.
26# What is your secret weapon to lure the opposite sex? - I don't like using "secret weapons".  Either you accept who I am or not.  That's why the husband and I work so well together.  We never "tried" with each other.  We just were.  I actually have a tattoo on the top of my shoulder that says "I am because we are".  That's how much we just fell into each other.  Gah, I love him.
27# What are you plans for tonight? -  Snuggling with my baby boy in our room where its warm.
28# Who is the last person you sent a myspace message or comment to? - And now we see that this came from an old myspace bulletin.  Love it!
29# Next trip you are going to take? -  Not sure.  Holiday seasons don't allow much for travel when you work retail.
30# Ever go to camp? -  All the time when I was little.  Now we just go camp wherever we want.
31# Were you an honor roll student in school? - I was.  I graduated 8th in my class in HS.  Now college, that's a whole other story ...
32# What do you want to know about the future? - Nothing, I want to live it as it comes.
33# Are you wearing any perfume now? - No.
34# Are you due sometime this year for a doctor visit? - I'll have a midwife appointment sometime in the next few weeks.
35# Where is your best friend? - On the other side of the country.
36# How is your best friend? - She's finding her way.
37# Do you have a tan? - Never.  I'm always pale.
38# What are you listening to right now? - My sweet A-man fighting sleep.  He's so, so sleepy but won't give in.  These teeth are going to be the end of me.
39# Do you collect anything? - I don't think so.  I used to collect anything, and I mean ANYTHING with Britney Spears or Justin Timberlake on it.  I had boxes, and boxes, and boxes of things.  They were burned.  I cried.
40# Who is the biggest gossiper you know? - I think we can all be a little gossipy.
41# Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over? - Almost a year ago.
42# Have you ever drank soda from a straw? - Who hasn't?? 
43# What does your last text message say? - I don't text.
44# Do you like hot sauce? -  Oh gosh yes.  Especially while pregnant.
45# Last time you took a shower? - Yesterday morning.
46# Do you need to do laundry? - I have like one small load I could probably wash.  Just random things like the baby sling, the moby, bibs, etc.
47# What is your heritage? -  I'm not really sure.
48# Are you someones best friend? - I am.  I love her with all my heart.
49# Are you rich? - Not money rich.  But I have a wonderful life.
50# What were you doing at 12 am last night? - Crawling into bed after watching American Horror Story with my man.

I'm glad you're here ...

I did something BIG today.  Like, REALLY BIG.

I deleted my facebook ... AHHH!

I was way too addicted to the thing and found myself sitting on the computer for hours.  Neither can be healthy.  Not only that, but I was tired of reading everyone's "crap."  Pretty much everyone I went to high school with is in the EXACT same place as 8 years ago.  There's only a small amount of us that I truly care about and those either follow my blog (like, Heather at A Young Wife's Tale) or I actually talk to them (which again, is not very many).  The people that are truly important in my life have some other way of getting into contact with me.

It was seriously turning my brain to mush.

But, I have to say, I'm already having minor withdrawals.  I've already found myself looking for facebook in a tab, typing in the address, and just wondering what's going on in the big social network.

I keep telling myself, I'll be better for this.

Hi, my name is Sam.  I have an addiction to facebook.

So, lets be super social on my blog.  Y'all are my new blogger friends and I look forward to getting to know you a little better.  I think this is exactly where I'm supposed to be in my life!



PS:  Keep A-man (and mom/dad) in your thoughts.  He's teething hardcore and the blood curdling screams aren't good for any of us right now.  It makes me really sad for him.  We have some homeopathic Hyland's gel which seems to work, but he's just so miserable.

Deep breath in ....

Already half a year ...

My baby is 6 months old today, y'all!  This is so exciting and a little sad all at the same time.  It seems like just yesterday that my amazing husband was coaching me through bringing our first little one into the world.  We labored as a team, as a family, and honestly we didn't even look to see what the sex was for the first 5 minutes.  We didn't care.  We had a happy, healthy baby that was wide-eyed and alert.  We had a little pink baby that was staring into our eyes like he knew exactly who we were.  We had someone that now relied upon us for everything.  Someone that we made.  Someone that we loved more than we ever thought possible.

Now that little someone is 6 months old.  He has his own personality.  He's mobile.  He eats like a champ. He cries when we aren't doing what he wants us to do.  He runs the house.  He listens to Muck Sticky "Feel so Good" AT LEAST once a day.  He loves going out to eat Japanese and will drink half a bowl of miso soup by himself.  He sleeps sideways in the bed, now at the very end so he has his own space.  He nurses for comfort but prefers real food to milk.  He loves his Memphis pup.  He can grab anything and everything in sight.  He hits his toys on EVERYTHING.  He is 100% boy.  His little blonde hair is finally growing in.  His eyes are the most amazing gray-blue I've seen.  He loves momma.  He and daddy have a schedule and he gets upset if momma messes that up.  He loves swimming in the bath tub.  He hates to be sitting still.  He loves ice cream.  He uses the potty more than his diapers.  He's so healthy.  He's freakin' strong.  He was such a big boy when mom was out of town for the week.  He loves being worn, still.  He has routines.  He loves his bink, but is a big boy and can sleep without it.  He hasn't tried a food he doesn't like.  He loves being in the gym with dad.  He would stay outside all day if we let him.  He has the biggest smile.  He goes to sleep so easily.

We are lucky.  We are thankful.  We could stare at him all day.  We are IN LOVE.

A-man,

Happy 6 months, sweet boy.  Mom and Dad love you more than you will probably ever understand.  We want nothing but the best for you and hope you always know how important you are to us.  Thank you for being YOU and always remember that is most important.  We will always be here to support you in whatever path you take in life.  You are the most amazing thing that's ever happened to us and we can't wait to watch you teach your little brother/sister to be as amazing as you are.  We are very thankful to be your parents.  We love you so, so much.



PS:  We are totally saving up for a nice camera so we can get more pictures of our boy.  He's too cute for grainy iPhone pictures.  Merry Christmas to us?!? Fingers crossed.

Wordless Wednesday

I'm not MIA ...

I spent this last week on a business trip and that's why I haven't updated! My company is absolutely amazing and sends all new managers for a week training where basically you get to pick the brain of a very successful manager and if you are lucky, you spend the week with another new manager too. We spend the entire week talking about things like accountability, feedback, creating a great store environment, motivating your team, and all those other fun leadership concepts most new managers struggle with. I now have a battle buddy and an amazing support leader to call when I'm having a hard time being the manager instead of the friend. It was truly eye-opening and I am so thankful I work for a company that is so invested in our growth.

I'm home now though and snuggling on my boys. It was my first week away from the A-man and I did surprisingly well. I think that because dad is always home with him and he's in his own space, it doesn't really bother me to be away. I'm so happy that we have this set-up and my husband is a WONDERFUL stay-at-home dad. He loves it and I love him for it.

I also have some really good news: My blog won its first award!!! Yay!! :)

 HEATHER AT A YOUNG WIFE'S TALE AWARDED ME THE LIEBSTER AWARD. THE LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD IS GIVEN TO UP AND COMING BLOGGERS WHO HAVE LESS THAN 200 FOLLOWERS. LIEBSTER IS A GERMAN WORD MEANING DEAR, SWEET, KIND, NICE, GOOD, BELOVED, LOVELY, KINDLY, PLEASANT, VALUED, CUTE, ENDEARING AND WELCOME.

To keep this award going and pass it along to other new deserving blogs, the recipient must now recognize five other bloggers with less than 200 followers that have really stood out in the crowd.

The rules for the Liebster Award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love too!

So first thing is first: Heather, thank you so much. You are the sweetest thing ever and I'm very blessed that it was you that gave me my first award. For those of you who don't know Heather, she's a new mom living in the UK with her gorgeous family. Milo is the cutest little girl like EVER, and man, you should see her hair. They cloth diaper, breastfeed, practice baby led weaning, and blog their day to day life living away from their family. Her blog is FULL of the most adorable pictures that will always put a smile on your face. We've been friends since high school and toss opinions around now that we are mommies. I so wish we lived closer so Milo and A could be friends! Check her out, she's great.

Now for the new shout outs:

[Dawn's blog is all about her Paleo Pregnancy journey. It's nice to have another person out there going through the same things and trying to eat Paleo as well. She's due any day now so we get to welcome a new Cave baby! Everyone follow her journey and get ready to squeal over new baby posts.]

[CJ, or Carly is a sweet little Texas girl who married a British-born, Cali-raised boy. They are about to about to have not one, but two babies!! CJ has the cutest style and her pictures are so cute. Her posts consist of cute fashion ideas as well as her pregnant with twins stories. More power to you, sister! Plus, being from the South myself, I love the pictures of their big truck!]

[Jennifer is young. She's funky. She's cute. She has tattoos. Her daughters name is Olive. She gave birth to her at home. Seriously, I think I have a mom crush. Or maybe we should just be BFF. Haha]

[Lindsey is on of my best friends. Drew Needs Rest is her blog where she talks about the loss of her first son, our sweet angel Andrew, and her brand new baby, Thomas. Like brand new, brand new. A few days old. He's adorable and she is the BEST mom in the world.]

[Judah is the cutest little boy ever and loves to take pictures with mustaches AND wigs. Need I say more?]

So there you have it. Everyone give these amazing ladies some love and lets grow our blogging communities! 

E.C. WIN!!!

So ever since A was about 3 or 4 weeks old, we have been practicing elimination communication.  Basically, we watch for his potty cues (after naps, after meals, etc.) and then sit him on the potty rather than just letting him go in his diaper and changing him.  From the very beginning he's done really well.  As soon as we sit him down he goes.  This is awesome in itself, but what's even more awesome?

A HAS STARTED COMMUNICATING!

A few days ago, my sweet baby started doing this fake cough.  It's the cutest/slightly annoying noise and we just attributed it to him learning to make more sounds.  When analyzing it further, he goes crazy during diaper changes.  We started taking him to the potty when he does this and what do you know, he goes every time.  Now, he's just started doing it randomly during the day so dad takes him to the potty whenever he makes this noise.  Again, he's either poop'ed or pee'ed (TMI, I know.  I'm totally being THAT mom.) every single time we take him.

My 5 1/2 month old is letting us know he needs to potty.  I'm so stinkin' proud.

T.V. Shmeevee

The husband and I have always been big television buffs.  We had our shows that we watched together every single week and Tuesday nights were "our night".   I would drive two hours after work to order pizza, drink some bud light, and veg-out in front of our beautiful 60" Sony.  We watched WAY TOO MUCH:  House, The unit, American Idol, Lost, 24, Family Guy, The Cleveland show, Lie to Me, The Mentalist, Fringe ... the list goes on and on.  Seriously, we loved t.v. and HATED to sell our 60" before we moved.  There are some days I really, really miss it.

When we made the decision to commit to a healthier lifestyle, we also decided to cut back on the amount of shows we watch as well.  We have our few "must watches" and indulge in these.  We even sold our smaller t.v. as well and just use our laptops.

These are some of our staples:

[We've never missed an episode.  So good]

[Oh, Jax Teller.]

[Funniest show ever.  Seriously, watch it.]

[This is our only reality show.  The competitions are great.  The weapons are awesome.]

[We had to watch the first episode of the season to see how it was without Michael.  Surprisingly, I like it better.]

[The Husband recently got hooked on Dexter.  I don't really watch it but he loves it.]

[Of course.]

So, we don't watch a ton so these shows have proven to be our absolute favorites.  I love cuddling up with my man and watching t.v. just like we used to do when we were first dating.  Now, its just not 80 million hours a week of it.

Tradition Tuesday

One of the things I love most about having a baby is starting our own traditions.  Most people automatically go to holiday (Totally got my holiday binder in at work today.  Christmas already?!?!) when they think of traditions, but even the little day to day things are so exciting to me.  Most people just think of these as setting a routine, but I'm not talking about:

6:00 pm - dinner
6:30 pm - bath
7:00 pm - bed

I'm talking about the fun little things that make our family unique.  Some of these include ...

-Waking A up in the morning.  He almost always wakes to nurse around 5 and then goes back to sleep while I get in the shower.  I keep him in bed until I get my hair dried and all that fun stuff and then I go wake up the sleeping babe.  It ALWAYS starts with the biggest smile.  What a way to start your day!
-Listening to "Feel so good" by Muck Sticky.  This is A's go-to song when he gets fussy.  He loves the video and even loves me singing "Oh baby Archer, you just make me feel so good.  Oooohhh yeah.".
-Trips to the post office with dad.  Sometime during the day they walk down to our neighborhood post office.  They go and talk to the mail lady and A loves being outside with dad and Memphis.
-Ice cream Tuesdays (and Saturdays).  We have some great friends that make local, homemade, organic ice cream for the growers and farmers market.  We make it a point to get some almost every week.  A has started recognizing the words "ice cream" and smiles.  He loves Keith and Mandy and loves their ice cream even more.
-Bedtime.  A will only go to sleep laying sideways in the bed if we aren't in there with him.  Dad takes him to our bed, puts him sideways, turns on his babysoothe app on the iPhone, and he's out.  He gets so happy to be in bed.  Although, we aren't sure if he goes straight to sleep or just likes to chill by himself for a while.  Either way, I'm cool with it.
-This one is kind of dumb, but I love it nonetheless.  If A is in "the cave" before I turn the light on, I have to say "bright light, bright light, bright light".  I say it in this weird voice and he loves it.  I even caught dad doing it the other day, just not in the weird voice.  He's the practical one.

These things make my day.  I cannot wait to start the bigger traditions and holiday traditions too.  That's what I remember most about my childhood.  We have a candy cane countdown that we always hung up in December.  My sister and I currently fight over who will get it one day.  I think I'm going to make one, because its still important that my baby sisters have while they're growing up.  Christmas eve, ever since my baby sisters were big enough to really enjoy the Christmas magic, we go outside and pour reindeer food in the driveway.  Every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, my grannie makes ME my strawberry cake.  Since I was a little girl, grandma ALWAYS gave us a big bag of m&m's in our stockings.  Every Easter, we eat probably a BAJILLION bags of Reese's eggs, they have to be out of the fridge though.  At bedtime, my 2nd baby sister and I had a secret handshake...she couldn't go to bed unless we went through the entire thing.

There's so many things and those are the moments that mean the most.  The ones that as I type, I smile and even get a little teary eyed.  That's what life is about.

What things are you starting with your little ones?  What was your favorite tradition as a child?  What are some of the fun, little things that make your family unique?

Someone needs to say it ...

How freakin' cute are ALL THREE of the guys in Foster the People?!?!

So we all love "Pumped up kicks", which by the way has been out for over a year.  I get sort of snobby when a song I liked a long time ago becomes popular.  I like it before it was  played EVERYWHERE!

... snobby rant over

But seriously!?!? These guys are super cute.  I should have looked their images up a long time ago.


swoon

Wish list ... for A

So since A-man has been waking up super early wanting to play/look at himself in the mirror (he is his fathers son) on his play mat, mom just cruises through the interwebs. Mostly I'm a sucker for things for him, because lets face it, baby things are so much cuter.  Here's a few of the items I'm currently debating on purchasing for the little guy.

[Every baby with a Crossfit Endurance trainer dad NEEDS a cute kettlebell]

[Super cute diaper covers from Rock-a-bye Booty]

[Paleo baby needs to represent]

[Cute monster hat for winter]

[My first bacon plushie]

[This is more of a need.  Seriously, any boy of mine must have a 3 button velvet blazer.  No exceptions.]

[Chili Pepper for Halloween?]

[Another must ... Bowties]

[Dino blocks]

[Initial cape]

Ok, I need to stop. I could seriously find the cutest little boy stuff all day long if I could. But, its nap time and I have a bucket full of diapers that need to be washed. And coffee to drink. And breakfast to cook. And a movie to watch. And laundry to do. And a bedroom to clean. Aaanndd...


Oh, forget it. Back to Etsy :)

Momma's got a sweet tooth.

I've always had a sweet tooth.  I love deserts and desert drinks.  I love chocolate.  I love ice cream.  I love cookies, brownies, you name it.

The husband is an amazing cook and is the main chef in our house.  If I'm feeling froggy I'll let him have a night off, but usually you can't find me in the kitchen.  Unless I'm baking.

I LOVE PALEO BAKING!!

Right now, I'm in the middle of Paleo fudge brownies.  Let me tell you,  the last two times I've made these, they've turned out divine.  Easily the best brownie I've ever had.  Even though they are grain-free AND dairy-free, they are the most fudgy, chocolaty, moist brownies.  Instead of making a huge pan of sweets, I use a muffin pan greased with coconut oil to make 12 brownies for the week ... or couple of days.  These are great right out of the oven, but don't lose any credibility after sitting out.


2 cups of almond butter -We make our own, which is super easy.  Just throw almonds in the food processor and watch until its peanut butter consistency. If you are allergic to nuts, you could use sunbutter.
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 TB vanilla extract
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder (We used the Hershey's special dark)
2 eggs - If you don't do eggs, ground flax seed might serve as a good binder.  
Enjoy life chocolate chips (optional)


1.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Line your cupcake pan with coconut oil and set aside.  You could use baking cups but you don't get the crispy brownie edge.  You could also probably make these in a 9x13 pan, but again we like the individual portions.


2.  Mix together your almond butter, eggs, and maple syrup.  I do all of mine by hand so just play around with the speed on your mixer if you use one.


3.  Fold in the vanilla, baking soda, salt.  


4.  Add cocoa powder.  Don't just dump it in there.  The powder is so light it will go all over the kitchen.  Add a little at a time, or mix slow.


5.  Add chocolate chips.  Some other tasty add ins might include: coconut, fruit, or even espresso powder.


6.  Pour into muffin pan.  It's easier to get them roughly the same size if you use an ice cream scoop.


7.  Bake 20-30 minutes.  I take them out at 20 because I like them a little gooey in the center.  If you prefer a more cake-like brownie, leave them in a little longer.

Enjoy ... they are all three of our favorites.

PS:  It seems that the new baby enjoys them as well.  Momma is happy :)

Struggling mom

Archer, could you please do this again? Please!?! Mom would really appreciate it if you would just sleep.

So we are cutting our first tooth, finally. It seems as if sweet baby A has been teething since about two months old, and we actually have a little white bud poking through on the bottom. This is so exciting because baby teeth are stinkin' cute, but oh man am I tired. Between the pregnancy exhaustion and Archer's evil twin, mom is NOT sleeping more than an hour at a time. I'm tired. #wwhhhiiinnnnnneeee Ok, all whining aside, everything isn't that bad. A is a great sleeper for the most part so I know this too shall pass.

Onto baby #2. Everyone has questions and we still haven't been to see our wonderful midwife yet. Honestly, we don't see the rush. We have our prenatals and I'm feeling pretty confident that I know what I'm doing. But I'll try and just answer the most common questions I'm getting right now ...

1. How far along are you? I'm not 100% sure with this baby like I was with Archer, but I'm guessing right around 4-6 weeks. Another reason I'm not rushing to the midwife. We can't do much yet so it's kind of pointless.

2. Do you want a boy or a girl this time? Everyone is saying that we need a girl, but I honestly feel like its a boy again. I feel like I'll end up with a house full of 'em and I'm ok with that.

3. Are you going to do everything the same? I'm going to absolutely try. We had a very successful pregnancy and an amazing birth with A and I wouldn't change it for any reason at all. We'll still go with a water birth, at home, with my husband doing most of the coaching. The only thing I might play around with is different positions during labor. The majority of my contractions with A were spent on the couch with Memphis because that's where I felt most comfortable. It's a proven fact that moving around during labor helps most women so if I can eliminate some of the contraction pain, I'll definitely try.

4. How are you feeling? I'm great actually. I have some food aversions every now and then but it seems more manageable this time around. Another plus from the Paleo, maybe? So far, onions are the only thing I'm just "absolutely not" eating. They don't taste like onions right now. Blech.

5. Was this baby a surprise? Yes and no. With Archer, we were actively trying to get pregnant. We were charting and following all the fertility signs. We got pregnant exactly when we thought we would, and I went into labor on the exact day I had said since the very beginning. With this baby, it's not like we were actively trying or not trying. We knew we wanted them close together for development purposes and just to be close in age, but we could never decide on how close. Honestly, we didn't think we could get pregnant yet. I'm still nursing A all the time and only 2% of women ovulate before their period comes back. Guess who's in that 2%?!? So its a little different because we don't have all the data like we did with A-man, but we are glad nature made the decision for us on how close they would be.

6. Are you excited or freaking out? Oh, definitely excited. There is not a single, tiny part of me that is nervous or freaking out. I'm very confident in my body with pregnancy and birth. Quite frankly, I feel like I rock at producing kids. We are totally prepared for another one, and have already settled back into the pregnancy life. Now we just have to enjoy the journey. This is a completely different baby and might be a different experience all together.

At least you get to somewhat share with us ... Yay for blogs.

BIG news

We're expecting another baby :)

Our family is beyond excited to welcome another sweet little one. We aren't exactly sure how far along we are as we haven't seen our midwife, but we are happy to be able to blog this pregnancy.

Smiles all around!!

The ABC's of Sam

Who doesn't love answering lots of questions about yourself. We know we all were guilty of posting at least 18,000 myspace bulletins that probably said the same thing over and over. Well, I miss those and since I can blog about whatever I want, today its about me :)

A. Age: 25.

B. Bed size: Queen. Although, we're really hoping to upgrade to a California king since we have a family bed.

C. Chore that you hate: Dishes. I'm terrible at them.

D. Dogs: Memphis pup is a huge part of our family.

E. Essential start to your day: Waking sweet baby A up. He is SO happy and alert in the mornings. Those smiles are my absolute favorite.

F. Favorite color: It changes frequently. I'm a big fan of basic black and white though.

G. Gold or Silver: Silver.

H. Height: 5'4"

I. Instruments you play: I've dabbled in a little of everything. Piano, clarinet, recorder ... but I play none of these well.

J. Job title: Retail store manager.

K. Kids: Just baby A ... for now.

L. Live: Idaho.

M. Mother’s name: Tina.

N. Nicknames: Mom, Mimi, Samowen, Sammy-Sam, B.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Never, I don't think. Maybe once when I was little and super dehydrated.

P. Pet peeves: When people blatantly copy me.

Q. Quote from a movie: "I don't even know what the f*** a quail is."

R. Right or left handed: Right.

S. Siblings: Kelsey, Luke, Remington, Delaney, and Teagan.

U. Underwear: I like the hipster ones.

V. Vegetable you hate: I don't think I hate any right now. Paleo will do that to you.

W. What makes you run late: I'd like to say its being a good mom and doing things around the house, but mostly, facebook.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Just dental.

Y. Yummy food that you make: I make some awesome Paleo baked goods. Brownies, coconut cookies, bacon muffins ...

Z. Zoo animal: Flamingos :)

5 months ... no way!

My sweet little A-man will be 5 months old tomorrow.

5 Months!!!

Wow.

Here's a cheat sheet on all things A at 5 months ...

Loves:

-food. Seriously, all kinds. Pumpkin is the current favorite, especially mixed with almond or walnut butter and/or almond/breast milk. We've also done well with carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, bananas, mango, sweet potato, apple, and butternut squash. In fact, there hasn't been a dislike yet! :) He's also started getting small pieces of mom's food.

-his feet

-Memphis

-grabbing a hold of ANYTHING he can get his hands on

-play mat

-mornings. He's so chatty in the morning. Its our favorite time together.

-gnawing on everything in sight

-being worn by mommy OR daddy

-Muck Sticky

-playing "Where's Archer?"

-walks to the post office with dad

-nursing when mom gets home

-rolling around

-swimming in the bath

-bink

-sleeping sideways in the bed at nap time

-BOTH the rain and waterfall sounds on the babysoothe app. They have to be at the same time!

-Iron chef

-Sophie

-ICE CREAM :) momma's boy

Definitely does NOT love:

-being hungry

-not being fed fast enough

-light in the room when he's trying to sleep

-the covers on him

-this one spoon we have

-being in the car for a long stretch of time. We for sure need to make more stops on our next road trip.

-getting water in his mouth during bath time

-cold water

-Nickelback

-wheat

-high fructose corn syrup

-having to be alone when he wants attention (Lucky for us, this doesn't happen a ton. When it does though, he's MAD.)

-the sun in his eyes

-getting his face wiped of after eating.

-not being able to figure out how to get bink in his mouth the correct way

-when dad doesn't share ice cream

-being sleepy and not being able to go to bed

All in all, our boy is happy. He is strong. He is smart. I couldn't ask for anything more. I love that little monster to pieces. He is the single best thing in both of our lives.

Happy 5 month day baby dino. Momma loves you.

Yes, I sometimes think I'm better ...

It's sad to admit, but its true. Don't we all do this on some level or another though? Especially as parents, we get in this "my way is the best way" mentality. Sure, we made those decisions because we think they are the best. For our child. I sometimes have to remind myself that other parents also make their decisions based on whats best for their child. It's not really my place to tell others how to raise their kids. Just like I hate when people tell me the things I do are wrong. We all have our own opinions and are allowed to make our own decisions. That's the cool thing about being humans.

It definitely gets hard not to force your opinions on others though. The cave husband and I did countless hours of research on everything from vaccinations to cloth diapering. There's a lot of decisions that just make sense. They were no-brainers for us and I think it gets frustrating when other people don't see them as no-brainers as well.

Take circumcision for example. That was a very resounding NO in our house. When you read that even the American Academy of Pediatrics says it is not medically necessary, why would you even consider it? That was the quickest decision we made. WE WILL NOT TAKE AWAY ANY PART OF HIM WITHOUT HIS CONSENT! Yes, I know there are religious reasons and other things like that, but seriously?!? If its not a religious belief, it's simply just a lack of knowledge. Do your homework! And if you can honestly you say you read all the research, and decided to still remove something that isn't yours, I don't think we can be friends. It's sickening to me. Sorry, but its true.

I'm trying really hard to not be THAT parent, but honestly its hard. There are just times I want to scream "you're doing it all wrong" but that's not my place. Again, for whatever the reasons may be, they made those decisions based on what they think is best for their child. I definitely don't want to be known as the crazy pushy parent. I want friends/family/strangers to ask for my opinion and to value it, because I did put A LOT of time and energy into researching every side of every decision.

Good job, A.

I'm currently writing my staff's reviews at work and felt it appropriate to give A his very own review. Overall, I'd say he's significantly Above Standards!

Archer,

You constantly demonstrate the desire to learn more. You succeed at everything you set your mind to. Recently you have learned to roll over (front to back AND back to front), you've found your toes, learned how to grasp things and reach for whatever you can (often). You don't really cry, you go to bed very easily, and are very sweet to momma and daddy. Everyone loves you. People fall in love with your smile instantly. You exhibit characteristics of being a leader and as long as you have goals, you'll go very far in life. I truly appreciate everything about you and hope you know how much you mean to me. I couldn't be who I am without you. I challenge you to keep pushing your boundaries. Learn everything you possibly can and ALWAYS ask questions. I'm here to support you in everything you do and teach you as best as I know how. Thank you for being you.

Changes.

Being a breastfeeding mom, its funny how just the smallest of things revolve around feeding the baby. Working in retail, I've always been able to wear the cutest things that are the latest hot trend. Now when putting together an outfit, I have to consciously be aware of how practical it is to feed/pump in. Luckily there are a couple of cute blogs out there about this very same dilemma. My fave? Milk-Friendly.

Warning:

I'm restarting my blog. The majority of my day consists of my sweet baby A so if you don't like to hear about babies, being a momma, and all that comes with it, you should probably block this page. For everyone else, welcome to my cave.

I say cave, because since the beginning of this year, we went paleo. We try to do everything around here as simply as possible. We started a paleo lifestyle for several reasons:

1. Health - I was starting my second trimester (lots of brain growth for baby k) and my husband was a fatty. Like really y'all! When we look back on pictures, all that drinking really did some work on his (mine, too) body. He's now in the best shape of his life and surely added some good quality years on his life.

2. It just feels so much better - I hate eating crap. Sure, we have our cheats and sometimes just fall completely off the wagon, but it doesn't feel good. I like that my body can tell the difference.

3. We want to raise Archer without overly adding junk in his life. Junk as in food, over stimulation with television, chemicals, vaccinations, you name it. We want him to be as natural a baby as he's intended to be.

4. Sleeping in a dark room is rejuvenating.

5. Again, it just feels good!