Weekend Away and the Joys of Coming Home

 Last weekend Mark and I went away for the weekend.  I'm a firm believer in doing things as a couple without Little Bear in order to maintain a healthy marriage.  So, we finally had an entire weekend to ourselves since Little Bear was born.  I have enjoyed wine for a long time.  And, Mark loves the outdoors and log home atmosphere.  So, we combined the 2.  We went to Hermann, MO to tour several wineries.  We stayed at a fabulous bed and breakfast about 20 minutes south of Hermann.  It was situated on about 130 acres.  The home was a custom built masterpiece of a log home.  We've stayed at this place before and it never ceases to disappoint.  It is called Second Creek Farm.  The breakfasts are amazing.  They also offer dinner if you make reservations.  We had dinner there Saturday night.  The first course was Pumpkin Bisque in an actual pumpkin.  I wish I had their recipe it was so good.  I'll just have to find one.  We toured several wineries over the weekend and came home with several bottles.  Little Bear stayed behind with my parents.  My parents had a great time.  Little Bear did very well.  The weekend was fabulous.  About 18 or so hours into it, I really started missing Little Bear.  It was a little annoying to have to pump 4 times a day.  But, it is worth it for my son.  We got back Sunday afternoon and Little Bear had just woken up from a nap.  You should have seen the look on his face.  It made me so overjoyed.  He wouldn't let go of me.  I loved it!!!  We were able to get outside and take him for a walk when we got back.  The other totally exciting thing is that Little Bear is now taking several steps on his own.  I wish we would have had our camera to capture the moment.  He walked from me to Mark.  So awesome!!  Tuesday I took him to Deanna Rose Farmstead.  He loved the rabbits and goats. This weekend we're taking him to the pumpkin patch.  Halloween is almost here and I have his costume all ready to go.  He's gonna be a turkey and Mark and I are dressing in camo.  I hope to get a good picture to post.

Me enjoying the gorgeous weather and drinking some yummy wine

Beautiful view of the vineyards and bluffs

Oktoberfest at Oak Glenn Winery

Not too bad of a self portrait

Donkeys at the bed and breakfast farm we stayed at

Horses at the bed and breakfast - the owner often hooks them up, goes into Hermann and does carriage rides

The gorgeous home

Little Bear happy to have is Papa Bear and Mama Bear back in the den

Enjoying his walk and the last day of wearing shorts

Had fun watching the goats.  He did get to go in one of the pens and pet them - he laughed

First time meeting a turkey

zonked out after a busy/long day - isn't he cute!!!

Almost Walking

I'm hoping this video comes through.  I got Little Bear a push toy so he can learn how to walk.  He loves it.  I think he likes the music that it has.  He'll even start dancing when he heres it.  He's doing well cruising around and will even go from one piece of furniture to the other.  We're having so much fun watching him grow.  He brings such joy!

Looking Manly

Who is that manly man of a baby boy looking all big in McKenna's carseat?

Well, it's Little Bear of course!

A note to Daddy & Mommy from LB

Daddy & Mommy,

Look at me. Do you see that smile? That's the look of one happy boy in a BIG boy carseat. Ya' see, I'm getting big at the speed of lightning and that infant seat just isn't cutting it for me anymore. I love getting to sit up and see myself in the mirror (attached to the seat back) and LOVE the big kids giggling and playing with me from the back seat. So, good bye, fair well, so long infant carseat and helllllllloooooo convertible carseat. 

Look who's a big boy now! 

Wet kisses, 

Little Bear

Good Times

So again I had problems between blogger and Iphoto so this post is much later than I had hoped.  Anyway, my Little Bear continues to amaze me!!  He's crawling all over the place.  Daddy even caught him climbing up the stairs.  He's cruising around furniture too.  He'll stand for a few seconds by himself.  Before long he'll be walking.  We're continuing to add more and more foods to Little Bear's menu.  So far he likes everything.  He loves to feed himself puffs, pieces of banana, and peas.

I think the whole food thing has been a slight stresser for me.  What foods do I start with, how much do I feed him, and when do I feed him in relation to breastfeeding?  By now I've gotten into sort of a rhythm.  I breastfeed him when he first wakes up (around 7), change him, play a little, then feed him breakfast which is usually oatmeal and bananas (or apples or some other fruit).  After he's been up for ~2 1/2 hours, he goes down for a nap.  He naps for  about 1 1/2-2 hours, when he wakes up, I breastfeed him and then we play.  Around noon, I feed him lunch which is about 2 oz of meat, some veggies, and then a fruit.  He again goes down for a nap after being up for 2-3 hours.  He sleeps for about 2 hours.  When he wakes up, which is usually around 4, I breastfeed him. We then play.  He eats dinner around 6 which is a repeat of lunch.  He then gets a bath - which he totally loves!  Before bed we read a few books and I breastfeed him again.  He's in bed between 7:30 and 8:30.  He wakes up at least once in the night, but often twice.  Of course the days that I work and he is at CC's, his schedule is different.  That doesn't bother me.  I have a general routine for the day, but not a rigid schedule.  I like to be flexible.  

Despite the fact that I often feel very overwhelmed by my responsibilities, I know God will give me the strength and wisdom to make it through.  Here are a few random pics for you to enjoy.

Daddy having fun at Costco with the over-sized bear - no we didn't buy it

just got done swimmin'

Learning to make applesauce

He LOVES his puffs

Lookin' very spiffy with his spiked hair and overalls

2 of my boys on a walk (I can't believe I got Brother Shadow to sit still)

He really enjoys the swing - it's finally nice enough outside

8 months Old

Such a happy boy!!

Little Bear is so mobile, it's hard to get still pictures

Little Bear is getting so mobile.  He is crawling like crazy, pulling himself to stand, and even a couple times stood completely by himself for a few seconds.  He loves his "brother" Shadow and giggles like crazy when Shadow is eating.  We caught a bit of it on video, but I still can't figure out how to get the videos loaded.  I've taken him swimming several times this summer and he LOVES it.  He still doesn't like to be on his back in the water though.  I think he might be the next Michael Phelps. He's doing well with eating solid foods.  The most recent one he' tried is blueberries.  I was surprised he really likes them.  I wish I would have taken a picture today because he had a decent amount of blueberries on his face.  Rather cute I think.

It Finally Happened

 We've been waiting a watching for several weeks now wondering when it will finally happen.  Well, Thursday evening it finally did.  While I was still at work, Papa Bear and Little Bear were hanging out at home.  Suddenly Micah was no longer in the spot Papa Bear put him.  He was several feet away.  Mark grabbed the video camera and it happened again.  Little Bear was actually crawling several feet.  He had been doing some pre-crawling moves and made a few moves, but never a full on crawl.  It's so fun to see him realizing he can move around on his own now.  We really need to baby-proof now.  There's a set of stairs in our living room that has a bannister that Little Bear could easily get stuck in.  So, now we're on the hunt for some type of barrier to protect the little guy.

Sunday, I had to work all day, so Papa Bear, Little Bear, and Brother Shadow got to hang out together - just the guys.  They had a great day.  Papa Bear even ventured out to Home Depot with Little Bear.  I would love to be a little fly hanging out with them.  Papa Bear is so hilarious.  He's such a kid himself.  He insisted on buy some construction trucks so he and Little Bear could play together.  It warms my heart like you wouldn't believe to see how much fun they have together.

I can do what?  Crawl

Before Daddy fed Little Bear

After Daddy fed Little Bear

Ponderings

Last week was a first for me:  I was the one being honored/celebrated on Mother's Day.  It felt weird actually.  I know I'm Little Bear's mother, but sometimes the concept of being someone's mom is still so new and strange feeling.  I so love watching him grow and develop.  I'm very proud to be his mom.  Just ask anyone I know - and especially my coworkers.  I can't go long without showing people a picture of "the cutest boy ever!"  It's not that I think he's better than anyone else's child.  It's just that he's mine and I'm so amazed and blessed by him.  There are things in life that just don't matter as much to me anymore.  The main one is work.  Don't get me wrong, I really like my job.  I think I'm good at it.  God has gifted me to work in the area I do.  I can't imagine not working.  However, when I'm at work, I would much rather be at home with my Little Bear.  When I'm at home with him, I sometimes wonder what's going on at work, but not like I used to.  My days at work are really long.  I leave my house at 6:20am and don't get home till around 8pm usually.  That seems like an eternity to being away from my Little Bear.  The plus side is that I work only 2 days a week.  So, I get to be at home for 5 days.  Right now though when there are so many changes happening with Little Bear, I don't want to miss any of them.  2 weeks ago, he got his first teeth.  I felt so excited to discover them.  The other thing I'm so excited to get to discover is the fact that he started saying, "Da Da" yesterday.  I kept saying, "Ma Ma" to him, but he stuck with "Da Da."  He is starting to vocalize more like he's actually talking.  It's so totally cute.  He's also reaching out to both Mark and I with his arms when neither of us are holding him.  He LOVES us!  Well, at least that's what I'm saying.  I know there will be times ahead of us where I'll get frustrated at him or he'll make decisions that I don't agree with.  However, right now I'm relishing the happy boy I have.
I was really wanting to post some pictures again, but Blogger is not recognizing the new ones I uploaded.  Hopefully it'll be working soon.

Me & my Little Bear on Mother's Day

He really wanted my Chai tea latte

My happy boy (notice the red below his eye?  He scratched himself)

First set of shades