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Happy reading,

Hannah

An Update...

I am going to do an official holiday post, complete with pictures- the whole nine yards.

The reason I haven't yet is that our holiday celebrations haven't ended. Jackie came home from the hospital today, and we are hanging out at her house now. It is so good to have her home. We are going to have a whole Christmas and New Years celebration with them now that she's back. Life will feel more normal for all of us now, at least for a while.

Seth is changing so much all the time, he constantly entertains and exhausts us. He crawls really fast now, and we are always having to move things out of his reach. He's very curious and intelligent, and brings us a never-ending supply of joy. Some of his recent accomplishments include unrolling all the toilet paper onto the floor in the downstairs bathroom, climbing the stairs (don't worry, I was right behind him and a gate has since been installed!), and shaking his head "no" when he doesn't want something. He also doing much better at cruising along the side of the couch or coffee table and feeding himself finger foods. He loves to go outside, and he loves animals.

In other news, I am considering a new system for my blogging. Rather than keeping with my three different blogs here on Blogger, I want to create one big blog with different sections for topics I write about a lot. So stay tuned, because things may be changing around here :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Seth and the guitar

He loves music, and always has fun with it at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

having fun with camera on my new phone :)

playful boy

Making music!

Seth loves the toys he got from Santa, including this one.

It's all about the smiles

He really can put a smile on my face like none other.

Here is a happy face wet with drool from teething and leftover tears from a recent meltdown.

We went to the park today and Seth really enjoyed the swings for the first time. We all needed a family outing like this- it had been a while. It's around 70 degrees here and Manny was in shorts in a t-shirt. Usually he's not so brave about cooler weather. :)
He's not quite in focus here but I had to post it anyway, you can see why.


Oh yes, and I posted a few of Seth's "Christmas Pictures" on my photography blog.

Christmas Tree!

The place where Christmas trees are bought in Florida... since there are no "tree farms" here. (btw it was probably in the 80 degree range that night!)

We got a kid who was working there to take our picture.

Seth and I were looking for the perfect tree...

...and we found it, and brought it home. I love his face in this photo.
Little hands always ready to grab.

Examining the first ornament to go on the tree.
And after trying to chase the lights around and having more the one meltdown about something dangerous being taken away from him, and laughing at the Christmas tree... Seth finally fell asleep, and Manny and I were able to finish the decorating job. I like it.

Another New Seth Movie

I had to post this because it captures some of Seth's newest accomplishments. He has just started to "share" things with me and it is adorable. He tries to feed me his cheerios, and he'll hand me toys as you can see in this video. He's such an active and (most of the time) happy baby!

Seth is 10 months! (Yay!)

He loves playing with pots and pans (and paper bags, etc) in the kitchen while mommy cooks!



This is from the day he started clapping- he does it all the time now- so cute :)



He loves rolling a ball back and forth- it's his favorite game.


Our little guy is growing up so much! He "pulls up" on everything and has started "cruising" a little- walking while holding a table, etc. He is very smiley and happy and has learned to wave goodbye and clap his hands. He is perfecting his crawling skills and we're sure that he'll start walking in the next few months. I can't believe my baby boy is almost one- it just doesn't seem possible.

For those that don't know already, my mother-in-law, Jackie, is currently undergoing chemotherapy in the hospital. This has been a hard time for our whole family. Please pray for her health and that she can be home again soon. I'll be posting more often here so that she can have plenty of updates on her grandbaby!

Beach Baby

We went to the beach for a while today. We hadn't been in a while and Seth absolutely loved it! He always did like going, but of course he used to just lay or sit on the blanket or towel. Now it's a whole new story. He was covered with sand just minutes after we arrived. He surprisingly didn't try to eat it, but was rubbing his hands in it and trying to crawl around. I went and dipped him in the water, which he was not even the least bit afraid of, and whenever a wave would come and touch his feet he'd squeal with laughter and kick his legs. We had a blast.
And now he is sleeping peacefully.
Bliss.

Mamameeee!

^ this is what Seth says when he is sad and wants to be picked up :)

He loves to crawls around and play, but there are just those times when he has to be in someone's arms, usually mine.

I never knew that having a child would bring me this much joy. He is awesome and such a blessing.

Today he pushed himself from crawling to sitting for the first time.

I love when something really random makes him laugh, it makes me laugh too.

He literally gets more grown-up each day. It almost hurts to watch.

Have I mentioned how much I love this kid?

Nine Months In, Nine Months Out

Seth has officially been alive as long as I was pregnant with him. I think that there are theories about everything getting easier at this point, but I haven't noticed any really magical changes. He is much, much more mobile now- hmm maybe that's what the changes are supposed to be :) He loves to explore and get into things, and now that he is doing very well feeding himself finger foods, he thinks that everything has potential to be finger food. So I am always trying to prevent catastrophe.

I love being Seth's mom. He is such an awesome baby, and now watching him become less and less of a baby is so cool. He says "mama" a lot now, and it absolutely melts my heart every time. He is very smart and very observant- I am really looking forward to seeing what he's like when he's older, and having conversations with him.

He got his first vaccination on Tuesday. We waited to start, and are following an alternative schedule, because from the extensive research I have done I feel that it is less of an assault on his immune system this way, and will put him at lower risk for adverse reactions, and also the vaccines will be more effective. This was probably the hardest decision I have had to make as a parent- whether or not to vaccinate Seth. There are risks either way, but I feel that we made the best choice for our family. Anyway, I was a nervous wreck before his appointment on Tuesday, and I gave him homeopathic ledum which was recommended, and then when they gave the shot he didn't even cry!
Besides the shot, Seth's nine month appointment went well. He has only gained four ounces in the last month, so his pediatrician asked us to come back next month to check his weight. I think it is because he is so active now that his weight gain has slowed. He still nurses a lot- day and night- and he likes his solids foods too. I'm sure he's just fine, but they want to keep an eye on it.

Our lives have been very busy lately. I am trying to balance working from home with being a mom and maintaining our home, and it isn't always easy. I have times when I feel utterly defeated, but I am trying to keep plugging away and telling myself it will get easier. Seth gets bored if we stay at home too much, so I try to go to playgroup events and get together with friends as much as possible. That has really helped me feel less lonely, too.

I have just started a new blog, so I'll have a personal one that is separate from my Etsy business blog. It's http://spicygranola.blogspot.com.

Finally, new Seth pictures (I know that's why you read this after all!)

More pictures mom, seriously?

Look I can stand! (With help from chair.)

I think I'll do a little reading now... (he loves to turn pages- it's so funny to watch!)

Crawling around

Strolling around downtown

A few more things, because I'm a little obsessed with my son :)

-- Dancing in Whole Foods- he loves music!

Seth at Green Cay Wetlands- I love this photo of him :)

The New Pumpkin in the Patch

And He's Off!

A few days ago Seth finally figured out how to move forward. He's still just "army crawling", with his tummy still on the floor, but he's definitely getting where he wants to go and starting to get into things that are in his reach!



We have been pretty busy lately. Seth is teething a lot, though no teeth have shown up yet, and some nights I get very little sleep. He is so miserable because of it sometimes, and even had a fever one day. I use Hylands homeopathic teething tablets ad teething gel, and a teething oil that has clove and chamomile oils. Those things seem to help some at least.

I am working on handmaking Christmas gifts (yes already!) and new things to sell in my Etsy shop. A friends and I are also toying with the idea of getting booths together at craft fairs in the area, which I think would be really great. Between all of that and trying to keep the house clean and trying to get out with Seth at least once a day, I keep pretty darn busy.

I got this batik sea turtle onesie for him at a local craft fair- I love it :)

Playing on the deck in the back yard

"8 Months" Pictures

Green Cay Nature Center

Seth loved the turtles in the tank at the nature center!

Sunrise at the beach- Seth was up at 5:30 because of teething and wouldn't go back to sleep, so we decided to go watch the sunrise. It was wonderful!

New family photos taken by my mom in our backyard. The only time that Seth has ever worn a long-sleeved dress shirt!