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!

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

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!

Seth is 7 months old! Alternate title: We've moved!

So much has been going on lately that I'm kind of struggling to keep up sometimes. On our two-year anniversary (September 1st), we closed on the house. We didn't think we'd be able to move in yet, but it turned out that the sellers were gone and we got our keys! That night Manny and I ate Thai food together in our new home. We spent the next several days cleaning, painting, and moving things, and on Saturday we were able to move all our furniture and start living here. We have gotten a lot unpacked, but there is still a lot to do. I am honestly flabbergasted by how much stuff we have accumulated since we got married only two years ago. When we moved into our apartment we barely had anything. We're blessed to have all that we do, and very blessed to have this home. It is wonderful. Here are some pictures of our moving process, and Seth's seven month shots of course. I will post photos of our home when we're done with everything.

Manny and his dad painting our bedroom

Our room, new paint color

Seth playing in the midst of all the work

Seth's room- before photo. Thankfully, we've ditched the yellow. More photos coming soon :)


Our living room on day one

When we were first starting to move boxes in

Empty boxes starting to pile up on the patio





Yum, carrots!

Seth's Half-Birthday

So it has been 6 months now since I gave birth to this awesome little guy. It is hard to believe. He is growing more every day and is getting to be more and more fun to hang out with as he gets older. He weighed 17 pounds at the pediatrician's office this week, and he is sitting very strongly and sort of trying to crawl. He has also started trying some solid foods. His first food was avodcado mashed with a fork, and he liked it and ate it really well for a few days. Then we moved on to sweet potatoes, and over the last few days he hasn't been so into eating solids- he tastes things but spits it out mostly. He is definitely much more interested in nursing still, but I'm not worried. At this stage solids are more for the experience of it all. I'll just keep offering. I am mostly making our own baby food, though I have picked up a few jars of Earth's Best organic. I love this website: http://wholesomebabyfood.com/. It has a lot of advice on when and how to introduce solids and which ones, etc, and has recipes and tips for making baby food.

Before Seth was born I was a little worried about losing the baby weight and all that, and I had it in mind that it would be nice to lose it all by the time he was six months old. Well, I made it. My stomache is still kind of "softer" than it used to be, but I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I haven't excersized a whole lot, but nursing has definitely been a huge help. I am always hungry- Seth still nurses every 3-4 hours day and night.
Besides physically, though, motherhood has been such a huge adjustment and challenge. It has brought me the most joy of anything I've ever done, but at times to most anxiety as well. Every emotion is magnified when you're a mom, especially a new mom I think. Even the smallest decisions regarding your child seem monumental, and you're always wondering if you've made the right ones. Staying at home with Seth has been hard but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am still hoping that I'll soon have the time to do some work from home to help us out, but overall the financial sacrifice is well worth the time given to our little one. It has enabled me to truly use attachment parenting tools, and I believe that in the long run that will pay off.

We are living with Manny's parents now, and waiting to close on our home. A few weeks now if all goes as planned, and we will own a house. It's really exciting and I think we will appreciate it all the more after not really having our own space for a while and missing a lot of our stuff because it's packed away. But we are comfortable here and truly blessed to have family who are close and so generous.

And now that you have made it through all my babbling, here are some new Seth photos (that's why you follow my blog anyway, right? ;)

Our Lives Lately

Seth is exactly five months old today. I must say, four months was kind of rough, so I am really hoping five is a little easier. Don't get me wrong though, he is still just the coolest baby ever :) Just more fussy lately than he used to be, which can be hard on mama. He is so active now- constantly moving. He can almost sit up on his own, and he loves to stand up with someone holding him for balance. He laughs and smiles a lot and is overall a very happy baby.

We are waiting to hear back about the appraisal on our new house, but if that went okay, then we're just waiting for closing, which is set for August 28th. Our lease here is over on the 7th, so we have less than a month now to pack. We're going to stay with Manny's parents for the few weeks in between. I am so excited that we are going to own our home. It's funny- this is the house we wanted all along and didn't think we could get, and now it is all working out. Amazing.

Manny and I are doing well. I feel like we are facing every challenge that comes our way with solidarity, as we always have. Seth has tested and strengthened our marriage and our love. Manny is still working overnight shifts, and we have fallen into our own version of a normal routine. My photography business is pretty stagnant for now, unfortunately. I am seriously considering trying some freelance writing- maybe something will come of it.

Here are some shots of Seth being silly, (In his wool diaper cover from this Etsy seller.)