Ladies [craft] Night Out [in]

I had the ladies from my MOPS group [or the people from my planet :)] over last night for what I guess was a ladies night out...but technically for me was actually a ladies night in since it was at my house. Either way we had a really great time! I always enjoy getting together with them...really. Always. Almost everyone was able to come and we had three babies so Frazier had friends over, too!

Everyone brought something to eat and we had sort of a snack supper and then I had two Christmas ornaments for us to make...either a "cookie" ornament or a little house.

I probably had more fun getting ready for the event than everyone else had actually making their ornaments! I did a lot of prep work ahead of time so when we actually made them last night all that was left was the fun part: assembling and decorating.

I ran to Hope's Closet (my favorite thrift store) for some old sheets to put over my table and found these three that were in near perfect condition, a couple of bucks apiece and they coordinated! Random, fortunate find. Since they were all these sweet, vintage pink colors I decided to go with the pink theme. It was a girls' night afterall. I had left over pink utensils and napkins from a baby shower so I used them and I even got out my punch bowl (which I never get to use) and made pink punch!

Did I mention this was great fun? If you're reading, ladies, thanks for coming (and indulging my inner party planner)! Totally made my week. :)

And now in other news...

Frazier found his feet! Now anytime you set him down he immediately balls up, hands on toes. Like every other new development, I find this endlessly entertaining.

He's also begun taking an interest in toys which excites me to no end. For the longest time I've put toys down on his blanket with him, on the tray of his Bumbo or high chair and while he looked at them and sometimes pushed them around, he wouldn't actually pick them up and hold onto them. But yesterday I left him strapped to his changing table watching his mobile while I hung up a few of his clothes. While in his closet I see this soft block thing I'd forgotten we had so I took it out of its box, showed it to him and left it next to him. The next time I looked over he'd picked it up and was chewing on it!

So now every toy we own is out...somewhere in the house. And I couldn't be more thrilled. :)

4 Months!

Frazier was four months old on Monday! Appropriately enough, we had his four month appointment on Monday. All went well...even the shots. We didn't have too many concerns to discuss so it was a pretty short visit. I did ask about his cold, and was told to keep doing what I was doing...elevating his head at night, saline drops, cool mist humidifier....yada yada yada.

Josh took off for an hour or so and was able to meet us there this time, which was nice. Frazier weighed 16 lbs 8 oz and was 26.5 inches long which put him in the 82nd percentile for weight, and the 94th for height...or length, rather.

And now for the pictures. I haven't gotten to post this week mostly because we've been busy and snotty and not so happy after our shots on Monday and because Frazier's been on this "I want to be held every waking minute" kick...probably because he hasn't felt well. While I'm more than happy to oblige, this means I get very little done. None of this, however, has stopped me from taking pictures. :)

I took these the other day and actually got some of him...get this...looking at the camera and smiling!!

These two pictures just made me smile.

I feel that these pictures adequately describe how Frazier feels about bathtime. This also explains why baths happen so seldom around here. For Frazier, that is. Josh and I bathe regularly. :)

November arrived yesterday...half a month late, but September pulled a fast one and took over today. Who knows what it'll be like tomorrow. However, in our one day of real November weather we pulled out some winter clothes including this blue striped beanie and this outfit from Frazier's uncle, Big Jim. Baby's first sweater vest! :) Doesn't he look grown up? It came with shoes to match, but he wasn't in to letting me put them on. Next time, maybe.

This may be my favorite picture of Frazier to date: I'm not sure why. Maybe I just really love this hat:

Hopefully it won't be as long before I get to post again!

Baby's First Chuck Taylors

I ordered these for Frazier and they came in yesterday. Color me excited. Adorable, no?

*They're still a little big...which is better than being too small. :)

Happy Saturday!

Why I'm Not A Photographer Anymore and How I Almost Killed The Dog

I can't believe it's already Friday (and this is the third Friday the 13th this year, by the way)! We had a really busy week- it went by so fast! Frazier and I are just perpetually congested and/or drippy. But we all feel okay. ..and though there was lots of snot and some coughing Frazier never ran a fever. So I count my blessings. :)
I've been wanting to do a blogpost, but haven't gotten a chance, and now that so many days have gone by I can't remember what happened to post about it!

One thing I attempted this week was another photo shoot. Imagine that, right? (Hence the many pictures including those above.) But every time I do this, it reminds me why I'm not a photographer anymore. Sure it was stressful, and sure it meant spending evenings and weekends with someone else's family, but more than that...it's just hard to get good pictures. Especially of babies. Even at home, at the time of day the lighting is perfect, with all his favorite toys, right after he's been fed...Frazier still looks every which way but AT THE CAMERA AND SMILING.

These aren't half the pictures we took! :)

I've come to embrace the non-smiling pictures. They're priceless...and cute...either way. My friend Josie (allforfunphotography) is doing family pictures of us the beginning of December. I'm looking forward to those...and I have high hopes we'll get some good ones!

We're still having mid-70s sunny afternoons which are beautiful, but just not November weather (not that there is a standard East Texas November weather...obviously). I won't complain. It could be really cold and wet.

Oh- about Gatsby...here's a true story from earlier this week (Tuesday afternoon to be exact.) I almost killed the dog. (No- not on purpose.) I left 2/3 of a dark chocolate bar on the coffee table where I thought he couldn't reach. I thought wrong. In over three years Gatsby has NEVER jumped up on the coffee table. I didn't know he could. I don't think he did either until recently, but he's done it several times in the past couple of days. New trick, I guess. Super frustrating.

Anyway, he was outside when I put it there, and then I forgot about it until I heard rustling in the living room and went to investigate. He'd eaten, by my estimate, about an ounce by the time I got there and I wouldn't have been distraught (he got some milk chocolate once before and the vet- I called right away- said not to worry), but this was dark chocolate. I did some [very fast] research online and a number of sites suggested inducing vomitting (within 2 hours of ingestion) by giving the dog hydrogen peroxide (no greater than 3% solution).

So, crying and chiding myself all the while for being so incredibly irresponsible, I gave him some hydrogen peroxide by way of a syringe. Nothing happened. So I called our vet to see if I needed to rush him in and very calmly, they told me to continue with the hydrogen peroxide until he finally threw up. Which I did. Frantically. While sobbing. And sure enough...he finally threw it up. Three days later he's fine. So the moral of that story? Don't leave dark chocolate out...even in places you think your dog can't reach. And if you do...you're going to need a syringe and some hydrogen peroxide on hand.

Here are a couple of pictures of Josh and Frazier I took this week:

And I suppose that's it for this post...and not a moment too soon. I hear the fussbudget...dear little thing.

About The Weekend

Despite the sickness of late, we really had a very pleasant weekend. Grammie and Grandpa Jim came over Saturday... ...and stayed the afternoon to visit and watch the Penn State game...which was a little disappointing so we won't dwell on that. We'll skip straight to the good part: Jim brought vegetable beef soup for lunch. :) That's the kind of company I like to have...ones who come bearing their own meals! ;) I did make rolls, salad and Rhubarb Pie #4: ...with which I was disappointed. It just didn't live up to the hype. I think I'll try another one for Thanksgiving and definitely for Christmas (Nama and Papa) ;)

We were going to all play Josh's Bag-O game since the weather was so nice, and we even set Frazier up outside in his new chair to watch. He and I were out there for all of, like, 2 and a half minutes when I saw a mosquito on his face, freaked out, and took him in.Reading is a far safer (mosquito-free) activity. :)Grandpa Jim: the dog whisperer. :)Frazier and Grandpa Jim watching the game. (We had to lose the onesie we had on with those pants after an exceptionally, um, messy diaper. Hence the missing half an outfit. :)

Frazier was somewhat interested in Sophie since they were on the same level for a minute!Then, Sunday was mostly a sick day for Frazier and I, and true to my word, we pretty much stayed in bed... ...but Josh, on the other hand, was quite productive. He raked the back yard and bagged the leaves (I helped him do some of that while Frazier was napping) ...and got about 2/3 of the way through power-washing the patio! Check out the difference!

A Post About Friday

Well, today dawned gray and slightly dreary...which is about how I feel. No congestion anymore though, so that's good. Frazier is sleeping pretty good right now, so hopefully he feels better.

Since I have a few minutes this morning, I am backtracking to post about Friday and the highchairs.

I've been concerned with getting a highchair lately, not because I plan to start solids soon, but mainly because I wanted somewhere Frazier could sit other than his Bumbo or bouncy seat while he's, say, hanging out in the kitchen with me or while Josh and I are eating at the table. I registered for a highchair at Target that I still love. Aunt Becky and Uncle Jimmy gifted it to us by way of a check for the cost of it because at the time of my baby shower it couldn't be found in their nearest Target store. I discovered later that it couldn't be found in any Target store because it was recalled. Much sadness ensued.So I waited, hoping they'd release a new one. Didn't happen. And I haven't been able to find one I like as well. Until now.

I found a couple I liked at Ikea, but one of them wasn't available online. Finally, I suggested on Friday that, since we have an Ikea just two hours away, we take a day trip. So we did. Josh was taking Friday off anyway so we got up that morning and drove to Frisco. We spent a good three hours at Ikea, and for less than the price of my other highchair, I got two different ones there!

Frazier travelled very well and didn't cry once while we were there. I carried him around in the sling which really wore me out...but he seemed to enjoy it. We also ate lunch there...here are some pictures courtesy of Josh. He wanted his swedish meatballs in a photo...and you thought I was the only one who took pictures of food! :)I'm very pleased with both chairs so far. The first is this little folding booster seat. It has a soft, removable and washable fabric cover and is extremely lightweight so it should travel well.One of the first things Frazier did was start chewing on it. It's obvious we're teething. :)The other highchair is this red and white one which has a little striped support cushion you can take out and wash. The tray comes off and will go in the dishwasher. Plus the whole thing doesn't take up much space and looks really cute in the dining room. :) Frazier wasn't much into taking pictures in this one...or at least not into smiling for them.

I'm very pleased to finally have this taken care of and I love them both...so it all worked out well.

Thanks to Aunt Becky and Uncle Jimmy! :)

Frazier's First Cold

I had two other blogposts planned about the mini trip we made on Friday to get not one, but two highchairs and Grammie and Grandpa Jim's visit yesterday, but I'm postponing them to report that Frazier has his first cold. :( ...or at the very least his first runny nose. He's a perpetual puddle anyway...without the runny nose, but now he's a virtual well-spring of bodily fluids. I have a runny nose, too, and while I can't prove who started it, I'm sure this is entirely my fault. All my handwashing and avoiding people and handwashing some more and disinfecting and he still got something. And I gave it to him. It makes me sick- no pun intended. I, however, have developed effective mechanisms for snot removal in the 25 years, 10 and a half months I've lived longer than him. He has to just sit there and gurgle in it. It's pitiful and I feel terrible for him.

It began Friday with us noticing he was snoring as he napped, then he was drippy all day yesterday and by last night he was in full blown drowning-in-his-own-mucous mode (picture me up at 2 am sucking snot out of his nose...which, by the way, is exceedingly difficult to do on someone so squirmy with such tiny little nostrils.)

The combination of holding his head, sticking something up his nose and slurping gunk out made him (understandably) upset. So I finally propped him up in bed next to me and just elevating his head seemed to help tremendously. Then I decided to break out the vaporizer which I just happen to have. As I'm sitting on the floor in his room putting the thing together and [mentally] patting myself on the back for making such a prudent preemptive purchase, I realize...the thing doesn't come with a filter. They're sold separately. Ridiculous, am I right? I mean, at least one should come with it. And basically, it's just a useless (albeit cute) [frog-shaped] hunk of plastic without one. (For the record, I'm pretty sure it still would have vaporized without one, but I read you shouldn't...so I didn't.)

Briefly, I considered going to Wal-Mart, but I wasn't sure what kind of people might be there (or on the road) at 2am Sunday morning and since this wasn't an emergency (or isn't yet anyway) I opted not to find out. Probably other moms with kids who can't breathe, but who knows? I ended up waiting until 6 only to get there and discover they don't carry my vaporizer or refill filters. So I had to wait until Target opened at 8 and make another trip out. I'm happy to report that they had two filters (I bought both of them) to fit my frog and he's blowing off steam as we speak. :)

Frazier really isn't phased much by all this as long as he's propped up and has been his regular contented self for the most part. He hasn't run a fever either. (But I check every so often just in case!)

Nevertheless, we're taking an all-out sick day. We skipped church (though Josh went to Sunday school without us) and we're hanging out [propped up] in bed within arms reach of our vaporizer, Vicks Baby Rub, Little Noses saline drops, Boogie Wipes, and our bulb syringes. We're going to read stories and maybe watch a movie......and evidently, chew on the comforter, too! :)