Friday Faces...

Today we are off to Dr. P's for Will's 6 month checkup. Wish us luck b/c there will be some shots involved. Here are the latest faces of Will w/in the last 2 weeks or so. Enjoy!

His fingers are always attached to his mouth and he just loves to be naked before his bath.

We gave Will a minature cupcake on his 6 month birthday. He was not really interested in it. He did however enjoy smearing it all over his face and in between his hands. What a mess!

Saucer time. He usually ends up sucking on all the little attachments. I end up disinfecting it like 10 times a day!

Daddy used to have a lotus...and all I got was this bib. Maybe one day I will have one.

Just love this pic. It is his snow hat my sister got him to come home from the hospital in. It never really fit him until summer! So I had to get a shot of him in it.

Bath time and drool time!

Will and his sister Ella. Too Cute! They just love each other. He will pull her ears and pretty much annoy her and she just takes it.

Bloggy Hiatus..

I cannot believe it has almost been a week since I have blogged and yes to get my blog reading on! We have been really busy these last couple of days. Will and I went away for the weekend with my sister (pics to come soon on that). We had a blast and Will got to play in the pool which he totally loved! But we have been busy packing and getting ready for our move, so I guess I have a little bit of an excuse. I do miss reading all the blogs though. Exercise of the week will be back next week for anyone who follows with that. Sorry this is it for now as I have to get back to packing and cleaning, the story of my life these last 2 weeks.

I wanted to say a Happy 1/2 Birthday to my sweet little bubba! I cannot believe that he is 6 months old today! He is growing so quickly. My baby is already starting to try and crawl! He lifts his whole body up and then drags his legs. Sometimes he gets up on his knees but he tires quickly. I can't believe it still, I am just in awe of this little being that is mine. Happy Birthday lovey!

Is there such thing as NEW MOM SYNDROME?

I am sure there are other new moms out there asking the same thing. Sometimes I feel I have got this mom thing down and then there are days that I question the skills that I have learned from watching my sisters. One day it works and the next it doesn't. Is it because babies are just so unpredictable?

I find myself questioning the whole food thing, how much should he be eating, when, what etc. Then I tell myself not to put to much pressure on the issue and just go with the flow. Sometimes it works and other times it does not. My sisters and I am beginning to think that Will was not getting enough food i.e. the growth spurt/not sleeping through the night. So this is when I got serious about trying the baby food and really adding it to Will's diet. At first he was not interested in it but now he cannot get enough of it! I am now feeding him the stage 2 dha/organic Gerber baby food. He scarfs it down too! So yesterday I kept a mental note of what he ate and how much, down to the smallest detail(yes I know a bit crazy) and this is what he ate. 5-8oz bottles every 4 hours. After his second bottle of the day he at prunes and apples, the whole container. Then when we were eating dinner I gave him sweet potatoes/squash, again he ate the whole thing and was grunting for more. So then I gave him bananas/granola, he ate it all! Then around 7:45 he had his last bottle. Get this, he slept through the night, well tell 4:30 this morning, but quite an improvement.

It is true though that when you do have your first baby that the mom instinct does kick in. Before I had Will I was really nervous, could I really take care of something so fragile? What if I do something wrong? But I am slowly learning that they will not break, everything is trial and error.

Do I think that I have a little case of New Mom Syndrome, yes. But I think that I am on the way to curing it.

Binky Monster no more...Winky monster oh no!

Well our sweet Will has now accomplished the task of holding his own binky in his mouth and now likes to chew on the nipple of it. We leave several binkys in his crib for him at night and you can hear him playing with all of them, it is the funniest thing. So thank goodness the Binky Monster is gone!

But now there is a new monster in town, now known as the Winky Monster. Yes, you heard me right. I am hoping that I am not the only mom who is experiencing this, maybe the only mom blogging about it. Over the weekend, Will was in the bath in his bath seat, just chillin', when all of a sudden I saw him put his hand down in that area! Then he starts laughing about it! So I remove his hand and try and entertain him with his bath toys and then he puts both hands down there! Then laughs again! Now I think that it has become a game because when I remove is hands he is laughing and then he just goes right back to putting his hands down there. The other day I was changing his diaper, and he decides he is going to stick his hands down there and play. I moved his hands and he played the same game again. He thinks it is funny!
Every time he is in the bath he is doing it and the poor thing is getting red! I have had to put ointment on it because of it. So... please tell me that I am not the only mom that this is happening to. Can you believe this?!

Blog Hopping!

I was doing my daily blog hopping this morning and went to Mommy Learns to Blog with Rachael, she is did this cool word association game that I thought would be awesome to play along with. So join in and check out Mommy Learns to Blog, she has some great blog reading!

I am… very tired right now and my body is sore from too much ab stuff
I want… our move to be over
I wish... for everyone in my family to be happy and healthy
I'm not a fan of… garlic
I miss… my mom
I fear… cancer
I feel… happy when I look at my sweet little bubba Will
I hear… Will's rain forest jumping toy
I smell…Will's last poopy diaper...yuck!
I crave… sweets all the time...yes I do eat sweets! oh..and a tropical vacation!
I search… for happiness all the time
I wonder...a lot but mostly about how life would be if my mom was here and how she is doing
I regret…not getting through school sooner...but life happens
I love… my Lew and Will, and my whole family
I ache…when I see something sad
I always...organize and clean obsessively
I dance…for my Will, crazy silly dancing
I sing... in the car or the shower...I am sure people in the car next to me think I should roll the windows up
I cry… when I think of something sad, hurt, or watch Beaches
I don’t always... clean out my car when I say I am going to
I write… because it makes me feel good...a release...I am in the midst of writing a book for and about my mom
I never… drive fast because I am late for an appt...I am usually 10 minutes early
I listen…to the feelings of others
I need… to be done with school and the move

So now you know a little more about me...

PS . Stay tuned for some more on the binky monster named Will! Coming soon!

OUR BIG NEWS!

Ok..so there is no baby on the way...thank goodness! Maybe in a couple of years. At least 3, that way Will is potty trained and self sufficient, somewhat. What 3 year old is self sufficient though?

Anyway, back to the news at hand.It all happened right after Will was born in January. Our landlord called us and let us know that he would be selling his condo because he could not make his payments. Well, that is exactly the news that you do not want to hear after just having a baby, and loving where you are currently living.

To make this story go a little quicker, the other day a huge packet of papers were dropped off. It was not in a folder or anything and on the front of it, it had our landlords name and some attorneys names. Then it said FORECLOSURE!

So...our landlord has been taking our money and then NOT paying his mortgage. Nice huh?! Lew and I have been going back and forth since January deciding where we would move and when we would move. Our lease is up at the end of July and we have always wanted to move to Texas. But unfortunately right now is not the time, with student loans and such to still pay off.

With that we have decided to move to Chicago!! Yes, I know it is a big surprise. I am still in a little shock because I have been a east coast girl my whole life. But Lew has family and friends there and he is able to transfer his work there. It will be nice to be close to his mom and for Will to have a grandparent around. We will have a lot of support there and I can finish school online and get a job training and not have to worry about Will going to some stranger or to some daycare. (not offending any mom who sends there child to daycare, nothing wrong with it, but if you can stay home with your little one, that is awesome!)

Can you believe this though, that our landlord has not even called us to tell us that his place is being foreclosed? I mean I would think that he would since he has told us everything else! What gets me to, is that he has had at least 100 showings and no one has even made an offer on the place. The other day Will and I were out when there was a showing and I saw this woman and a 3 or 4 year old go in also. When I came back to our condo, almost 40 minutes later, Will's toys had been moved all over the house, someone sat on our bed ( i know b/c i am fanatic about making my bed neat). Then they sat at our dining room table, outside on our deck, with our dog Ella. Plus they left every light on in the house and all the closet doors were open! I was so annoyed! I know I kind have gotten off the path of us moving to Chicago, but I had to throw this in there, since that really set me off.

We will be moving at the beginning of August, so it is soon! We just started packing and I hate it! I have started throwing stuff away and selling stuff on ebay that we have not used because I just can't stand all the stuff. Most of it is Lew's! He is a horrible pack rat! He cannot get rid of anything.

I am sure I will be filling you in on more details of our big move to come. But here is a little something to enjoy...

Skyline of downtown Chicago

Two week old Will...Already a Chicago Bears fan!

Work the BOOTY time!

Let's work the booty today! Anybody idolize J-Lo's or Jessica Biel's? Well this is the exercise that will get you that fab rear end. Very challenging, you will be sore, but isn't that a good thing?

Stand with feet hip-width apart, legs straight, abs tight and chest lifted. Hold a weight in each hand, arms hanging by your sides, palms facing in.
Take a large step forward on a diagonal with the toes of one foot pointed out. Keep front knee in line with ankle and other straight. Push off front foot to bring feet back together.

Do 8-12 reps on one side, then switch sides and repeat.

Do 1-3 sets total with each leg.

I recommend starting with 5- to 10-pound dumbbells

I will post later about the news that is changing our little family...no it is not another baby! Are you crazy?! Stay tuned!