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.

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

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!

I should blog more.

Seth didn't get sick at all for the first eight months of his life, and finally last week it happened. Manny and I went to a Metallica concert (Manny's birthday gift from me), and while we were there Seth started running a fever. A couple days later he broke out in a rash all over his tummy and back, and the pediatrician confirmed he had roseola. Luckily, it is not a serious thing, and the biggest risk is the possibility of a very high fever, which Seth didn't get. For a few days we called him our "spotted baby", and cuddled him a lot, and now he is just fine. It is so hard to see your baby not feeling well though :(

On top of that I have been dealing with some pretty awful migraines, and just started seeing an acupuncturist today. This doctor also works with herbal medicine, homeopathy, nutrition and massage therapy, and he's covered by our insurance, so I am really hoping he can help me finally get to the root of my headache problem. I've been dealing with this for the last five years and am just really tired of it.

I will update with photos in a few days for Seth's 8 month "birthday". He is just growing up way too fast for me...

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!