Greased Pig

Never question Gods plan. Case didn’t learn to roll until almost 11 months, because God knew how hard it would be to change that boys diaper once he started rolling! I swear it is like trying to change a greased pig. As soon as he hits the changing table his body turns into a tornado twisting and rolling and twisting and rolling. Have you ever tried to change a diaper with a baby lying on his stomach? Believe me people, it is harder than it sounds. When can I start potty training, because wrestle mania is wearing me out!

Mama Mia!

Today when I got back home from the doctor’s office, Case said mama! Imagine my excitement. Mama! He said mama! My heart swells.

Can't Keep Up

I just can't keep up with all the new developments Case experiences on a daily basis. He has learned to feed himself and that opened the door to eating many things he didn't previously like such as, drum roll please......peas! He is gobbling up peas, green beans, broccoli watermelon and cantaloupe. He still loves the old staples like Cheerios, cheese, lunch meat and bread, but I am excited to see him try more things. Case is also waving hi and good bye, rolling with a purpose such as to get a toy and he is able to really move in a modified version of crawling. Yesterday he scooted or pushed himself backwards all the way out of the living room, into the kitchen, out of the kitchen and to the front door before he got stuck. He was so excited at his accomplishment that he was laughing the entire time. For now, he is stuck in reverse mode only, but I am sure its only a matter of time before he gets his forward gears rolling. I guess its time to finally baby proof the house. Every day he is learning something new and I am so proud of all his new accomplishments. He keeps us laughing every day and I am so blessed to be a mommy.

Look at my boys guns as he practices his backwards scoot move.

White Trash Baby

Yes, we put our son in a large tupperware container and call it a sandbox (P.S. he loves it)! We even have a matching pool (not pictured).



Yes that is a picture of Case eating a cheesy puff. Not the most healthy thing to eat, but they are great for teething little mouths and it was actually the first thing he ever fed himself.



Raising a white trash baby starts early. I think tupperware containers and cheese doodles are a start.

The Coolest Thing

We have air conditioning! Hooray! I am soooo excited! No more showering late at night because its too hot to run warm water any other time of day. No more using the hairdryer with sweat running down your back. And forget about plugging in a curling iron! No more cooking in the microwave or crock pot because turning on the oven would roast everyone in the house along with dinner. No more surprise rain showers blasting through the windows and soaking the floors when you can't get things shut down in time. And last but not least, no more sleeping with the windows open at night while Cody is out of town. I hated leaving the windows open for safety reasons, but if you didn't leave everything open at night you would smoke yourself out of house and home by midnight.

We have air conditioning and I am so excited! Thank you hubby. We love it!

Snap, Crackle, Pop

We had a great 4th weekend. My parents were in town visiting and it is always so much fun to have them here with us. Especially when they help us with house work! While they were here we extended the back porch. Now we have a little more room to spread out and I love the final product. Thanks parents! We also had a cookout and firework show with a couple of our closest friends for the holiday. The rain threatened to ruin our fun, but we managed to squeeze in some fireworks excitement in between the showers.

Its a completely different experience living the holidays through the eyes of a young person. Before fun was all about 'what can I do to have fun,' now its 'what can we do so they will have fun,' and let me tell you, we had a blast. Cody and I had fun picking out kid friendly fireworks for all the visiting little ones. And I know Cody had fun being the master blaster who lit everything up. Maddie's father is coming home from Iraq after being gone a year. Here she is donning her fatigues in honor of her papa. Thank you for all the amazing people who sacrifice so much for our country.

Case even enjoyed the fun complete with sparkling fountains, spinning flowers, noise makers and smoke bombs. He only got scared twice. What a brave little man!

Explosion

These past few weeks have been an explosion of activity. Case has finally decided rolling is fun. He is 10 months old and only rolled a few times on his own. Everyone says don't worry if your baby isn't doing the same things other babies are doing, but secretly we all want our babies to be on the cutting edge of development. Thank goodness he has found a groove and now loves rolling back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. He even goes from a sitting position to a tummy position in order to grab things out of his reach. What progress! The same day he began rolling, he learned to scoot on his bottom on the kitchen floor. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to turn yet. So if you put him on the floor with his pots and pans to play, a few minutes later he has scooted nose first into the center island and needs rescuing because he can't go anywhere else.

Next step, crawling. Cody and I are always crawling around on the ground demonstrating how to complete the task by manipulating his little arms and legs to help him move. Its pretty funny to watch. While on his tummy he will move all his limbs at once, but just not in the right sequence to produce movement. Then he gets frustrated. One of these days he will get the hang of it and then lord have mercy! It will be on and I can't wait to watch him explore a mobile world.

Case also likes to play open and shut cabinet doors, mailboxes, gym lockers, etc. He will pass a toy back and forth to you, roll a ball to me on the floor, feed me a cheerio and put toys back in a box after taking them out. The floodgates of learning have opened up.

Other big news, I have decided that Case has said his first words. His first word was Da-da on Fathers day (how special). Cody was traveling and missed the big ta-da, but Case was saying Da-da all day long. However when I tried to get the video camera out and capture the moment, of course, Case just wanted to smile for the camera. He has since replicate the moment for Cody to hear with his own ears. The second word happened while my parents were visiting. Case was engaging in a hilarious game of 'drop the water bottle off the cabinet.' Everyone was taking turns saying 'Uh-oh' after he dropped the bottle and then he clearly said 'Uh-oh.' I have 3 witnesses who heard it. I don't believe he knows what he said, but I am still categorizing this as his first words. My baby is brilliant.

Final news, Case went to the dr for a check up. The little porker weighed in at 17 lbs. He is still a little on the shrimpy side and is only 26" long, but we are hoping for a growth spurt. He can't keep growing out or else he will be as round a a beach ball and we will have to pull him around on a skate board!

Every day is a new adventure and I don't want Case to ever grow up. Can't I just keep him small and wonderful forever?

Quadruplets!

Our house is a summer wonderland of nature, birth and babies. I have been following a family of birds as they made a nest in one of our hanging ferns off the front porch for the past few weeks. Now I am proud to say we have a set of quad baby birds. Apparently the fern is a hot property for making bird nests, because we have 2 more hanging ferns and 2 more families moving in. It has been a lot of fun to watch the progress and hear there chirping in the mornings.

Here the family is checking out thier real estate.

Four little eggs.

Just hatched and still one more to go.

Its hard to tell, but this little bundle of feathers are 4 fluffy little birds. So sweet. P.S. sorry the pic isn't turned correctly but I couldn't figure out how to switch it around.