Nice Christmas despite illness

We survived our whirlwind of travels, which was a little tougher this year since all three of us came down with a cold.

Checking out the 30+ year-old dwarfs at Grandma Elaine's house.

Christmas Eve we arrived at Grandpa George and Grandma Elaine's house. Evan was already feeling very bad (sinus infection), so my mom had some antibiotics waiting for him upon arrival. Evan was pretty much glued to a couch for the duration of our 2-day stay. I had a fever but was basically feeling ok. Seth did great and was fine until we got home on Friday. He received many great gifts: lots of clothes, books, etc. He wasn't much at all interested in Christmas gifts, decorations or anything else. Maybe next year!

Seth has been dealing with a high fever most of the weekend. He has a cough and a runny nose. Thankfully, the fever went down into the 99s yesterday and stayed there without medicine. He hasn't had much of an appetite, but is eating little bits. Other than sounding bad, he is acting somewhat normal. We are thankful that this is the first time he's been sick, to make it 16 months without incident is pretty good!

Yesterday we were at Grandpa James & Grandma Suzie's for the Hammersmith Christmas. Again, very nice and Seth did well.


New outfit from Aunt Tina & family

We are thankful that our traveling has come to an end for now. We all need to recover and get some rest.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

We wish everyone a most wonderful and safe Christmas!

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Seth's visit with Santa

On Saturday, Seth had his visit with Santa. He didn't cry, but didn't look too excited to sit on his knee either. Oh well, we assured Santa that Seth had been a good boy this year. :o)

In other news, Seth is basically walking these days. I'd say he walks 85% of the time. He walks enough that we decided to move him out of the nursery at church yesterday. He is now in the "walkers" classroom. This may encourage him to walk even more since everyone in there is walking. He seemed a little in shock as we dropped him off, kinda like dropping your kid off at camp. I think it was harder for me than him. After church the attendant said he was very good, so I guess he has adjusted to it!

From Our Family to You...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Did someone call a plumber?

Christmas is coming...

...which means a trip to Gingerfest Christmas. This is a party for children that is created by Evan's uncle, Tom. It's a great time for kids and Evan & I volunteer our help. This year we were at the registration table. It's fun to see kids so excited...and there's a visit from Santa as well.

Seth was extremely tired but was good sport, as usual. We managed to get our family photo for our Christmas card, too. Above is one of the other photos taken (thanks Tina!).

15 months

Seth & his cousin, Kedric, wearing their identical shirts at Thanksgiving with Grandma & Grandpa Hammersmith

Here we are...Seth reached 15 months yesterday. Today we headed to the pediatrician for his check-up. We saw the nurse today. She only sees well children and the office encourages seeing her instead of the Dr. to free up the pediatricians to see sick kids during "sick season". No problem. The visit went great, he got one shot (MMR), and is a healthy growing boy:

Height: 33cm (90th percentile)
Weight: 25lbs. 1.6oz. (70th percentile)

Again he was complimented on his demeanor. We are thankful! Now we wait to see when he'll be walking. He takes a couple steps, then crawls. I assume he'll be there by Christmas. Still happy, still curious. No complaints here.

Two down, one to go

We are nearing the end of our Thanksgiving travels/dinners. We spent Thanksgiving Day here in Lakewood at my cousins' house, Friday at my parents, and tomorrow in Norwalk with Evan's family. It's been fun so far and Seth is a real trooper. Despite getting him to bed late and throwing the regular nap schedule out the window, he has been pleasant and fun.

We've taken a few shots of our last couple days:
Seth all ready for Thanksgiving!

Seth and Grandma Elaine
Seth and Aunt Patti
Seth and his cousin, Adrianna...who loves him to pieces!

A Thankful Heart

Today is my parents' 41st Anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad! We love you very much!

Thinking about my family makes me think about one of the biggest things I'm thankful for...and tis the season to do so! To keep it short and sweet, I'm thankful that my family loves me unconditionally, loves my husband as much as me and considers us one unit, and takes a genuine interest in our son and showers him with love.

Thanks for having a home where we can always feel safe and welcome. Thanks for giving your time, money, and energy to help us when we needed it. Thanks for your love. Thanks for being a picture of Christ.

I'm thankful for my family that lives under this roof with me. Thankful that we are happy and healthy. Thankful that we are trying to do what's right for our future...setting our goals together and accomplishing them together. Thankful that we support one another and know where our true Help comes from. I love you both so much!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Have a wonderful weekend with family and friends!

Seth's First Haircut!

Today we went to Seth's Aunt Tina's house to get haircuts (for Seth and Evan). This was Seth's first and he did great! He held still and was a good sport. Seth was sporting a mini-mullet and it was time to cut it off. Grandpa James even got on the floor so Seth would look down so Tina could cut the back.

Here is our handsome little boy:






THANK YOU AUNT TINA!!

Moving a step forward

Well, Seth is progressing. He has this firetruck in which he used to push around by crawling behind it. Well, not anymore. He now stands up behind it and walks it around the apartment. He's also been known to push kitchen chairs into the living room by walking behind those as well. I suppose there is a possibility that he could be walking by Thanksgiving. Lord. Help. Me. There aren't enough baby gates, cabinet locks, etc. to keep him out of all the stuff he already gets into. The kitchen = Walt Disney World due to our lack of closed storage. We have a shelving unit and a wooden cart that provides entertainment...oh and the garbage can that lures him in like flies on...you get the idea. My day consists of cleaning up whatever surface he has decided to clear off or cabinet he has cleaned out. I basically wait until he goes to bed because there is no sense in putting things back while he's awake.

Another observation about Seth: He now claps his hands when I say the word "patticake". Of course I've sung the song with him a hundred times. He now is catching on to part of the motions that go with it. It's cute. Though, this morning when I asked if he wanted a "pancake" for breakfast, he started to bring his hands together to clap. ha. I guess pancake and patticake are pretty close. :o)

He also has been making my truck sounds when he plays with his trucks for some time now. Well, when I introduced him to some little trains this week, he gave them the truck sound. I'm working on teaching him "choo-choo" but he just laughs at me. Oh well.

Election Thoughts

Here it is, the morning after. I'm sitting here collecting my thoughts and here's what I've come up with:

Though the election may have not gone the way I would have liked, I can recognize the history that has been made. I am proud of that fact. I can recognize what this means for so many people and the impact it has on them. Yes, history was going to be made either way, and what a great accomplishment it was going to be either way.

It's easy to forget about all the freedoms we have here. Do you realize that each Sunday as you drive to church, that there are places where people have to worship in secret? They would be killed if they were found out. Yet we arrive at church with our families with smiles on our faces, excited about what God will stir in us.

We can have the jobs we want, the lives we strive for...and it's not based on the family we came from.

We have men and women who VOLUNTEER to fight and die for our country.

I am proud of where I live. May God bless America!

Happy Halloween!

A big toothy smile from Seth. We took him to the Fall Fest at church this past Sunday. it was in the evening, so he was too tired to even care. Evan and I grabbed a couple pieces of candy for ourselves though! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Blogger has this gadget to track the followers of blogs. I've been seeing it on some of the blogs I "follow". I believe its only purpose is to let me know how many readers this blog gets. It's not a subscription to the blog. So, if you usually "follow" the Hammersmith Happenings, go ahead and click on it at the right of the screen. Thanks for keeping up with our family! :o)

Seth the Builder

Seth has really started to get a hang of stacking blocks lately. I used to have to start the stacking and he would help, but he no longer needs my prodding. Before this photo was taken, he had stacked a tower of 8 blocks all by himself! It finally tumbled when he added #9. It's fun to watch him. (Sorry for the relatively poor photo...he saw the camera and was coming after it!)

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Success!

Well, it seems we have conquered the milk and cup problem...at least for today!

It turns out that the milk was missing a key ingredient: chocolate!! Once we made his milk into chocolate milk, he was interested. I should have tried this earlier since my pediatrician told me that she used Strawberry Quik with her daughter. In any case, I have absolutely no problem with Seth getting a little chocolate as long as he's drinking his milk.

And the sippy cup! We got him a new one yesterday that had a straw tip. He held onto it all through the store and the entire way home. As you can see, I think he's getting the hang of it! Thank you Kris, for your cup recommendation...I think we may have to buy another one if it continues to go well.

* An update* - Well, I think the milk is causing loose BMs at the other end. We are currently giving him organic whole milk, but maybe we'll have to try soy. Not sure.

Long overdue

Don't call Child Services, but I finally found some help with the house work...
It's been awhile since I posted a current photo of Seth. He sees the camera and it's all over. In fact, I took a photo to illustrate my difficulty. Sorry it's been so long, I'll try to be better. :o)

A Time of Transition

Seth is 13.5 months today, and as I think about where we are, I can only conclude that we are in a time of transition. It's hard...for me. I am having a hard time being patient waiting for Seth to grasp some concepts. In my head I know he will pick it up when he is ready, but at the same time wonder if he's ever going to get it! This is where the lack of patience comes in. :o)

For the past month we've been transitioning Seth off of the bottle. It seems he will drink water from a sippy cup or a cup with a straw, but not milk. Milk must be in a bottle and it must be warm. Yesterday I put away the bottles for good and am only giving him the sippy cup or straw option. Needless to say, he's not getting much milk right now. He just isn't interested. It doesn't help that he hasn't grasped the idea of holding his own cup. So my day consists of offering him something to drink, if he takes a sip, great, if not, oh well. I just make the cup available to him and figure if he gets thirsty enough, he'll drink. I want to get him a new sippy cup that holds more than the ones we have now, maybe one with a straw since he does well with those....unless it's milk, of course. I am in full realization that this is partly my issue. I just want him to get the hang of it already. In my mind, everyone's kid has been drinking out of a cup unassisted for months by now. Seems like my kid is the only one and will be going to kindergarten with me still offering him something to drink. ha.

Seth is still transitioning to walking as well. He walks around the table while holding on and can stand not holding on to anything too. He has a firetruck that he can stand behind and push (to learn to walk). He has taken a couple small steps with it, but then decides it's much faster to get on his knees and push the truck. So, it's a process and I'm not upset that the walking hasn't kicked into gear yet. I'd rather he learn how to pick up his cup and get a drink unassisted.

On a positive note, Seth has begun to mock me a little (occasionally). If I make the noise for his trucks, he'll make the noise. If I clap my hands, he might clap. He even started to move his head like I move my head when I'm being silly with him. It's funny. The things he picks up on! Last night, for the first time, I think he was sad to see Evan leave. Evan had to lead his FPU class, so he hugged Seth goodbye. Seth started to cry a little but I thought it was because he was tired. Eventually he went over by the door, whimpering, and I heard "a-da" which is the closest thing to dada I've heard yet. Interesting. He likes to get behind us when we're sitting down and "sneak-up" on us. He thinks that's funny. The other day he was drinking water from his sippy cup and it made a funny noise. He started laughing so hard and each time it happened, he'd laugh. I thought, oh man, here we go...boys being entertained by sounds of bodily functions. It must be in their DNA.

A Baby Questionnaire

Okay I’ve been tagged by Evan's cousin Liz to complete this meme. All questions relating to my child.

1. Were you married at the time? Yes

2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant? Excited

3. How old were you? 30

4. How did you find out you were pregnant? We had been trying for a few months with no luck. It was January and I was late. So I waited a few days and tested early on a Saturday morning. It was positive! I went back to bed and whispered to Evan that he was going to be a daddy. His response: "cool". We both wanted to go back to sleep but somehow that just didn't happen. We laid there and talked about it. Then we prayed together for a safe, healthy pregnancy and baby.

5. Who did you tell first? I think it was my parents. We emailed them a photo of the positive test. Then we called and had them open the email while on the phone. Fun.

6. Did you want to find out the sex? Yes

7. Due date: September 29

8. Did you deliver child early or late? 1 month early

9. Did you have morning sickness? Mine was not limited to morning. I felt nauseated all day long for about 8 weeks. Then it was gone.

10. What did you crave? No cravings, really. I was hungry for pasta and bread pretty often though.

11. Who irritated you the most? No one irritated me.

12. What was your first child's sex? Boy

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? 36. Ugh. Still trying to get rid of it.

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? No

15. Where did you give birth to your child? At the hospital.

16. How many hours were you in labor? didn't really know i was in labor. I had back cramps and was thinking of not going to work. But they subsided so I went. In the meantime I called the doctor. The doctor on call didn't think it was labor. He was wrong. I went in for a non-stress test at 11am to find out that I was 5cm. I was fully dilated by 1p. Started pushing at 5:15 (after my parents were there) and Seth arrived at 7:24pm.

17. Who drove you to the hospital? Evan

18. Who watched? Evan and Mom

19. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? I had an epidural. It was great to finally feel relief from the cramping.

20. How much did your child weigh? 6lbs 9oz

21. Why did you name him/her the name you picked? It was a name we both could agree on. It was short, which is nice when the last name is long. Evan liked the idea of using his name for the middle name...so we settled on Seth Evan.

Seth can clap!

Seth finally started to clap his hands today! I've been clapping and cheering him on, knowing he would do it when he was ready. I guess today was it. Maybe he just really liked his lunch because he started to clap after each bite. Apparently cauliflower and carrot puree was a hit!

Personal DNA test

My friend Sarah had this on her blog and encouraged others to take it as well. Here are my results:



You are an Architect
Your preference for concrete, visually pleasing things, combined with your confidence and your respect for order make you an ARCHITECT.

You are logical and detail-oriented, which allows you to get things done efficiently.

You are quite sure of yourself, so that you tend to know the best ways of doing things.

Your eye for aesthetic beauty and style indicates that you know a lot about design.

Having a routine and sticking to it is important to you; you find comfort in tradition and familiarity.

Self-reliance is something in which you take great pride—you are confident and down to earth.

You have a basic faith in yourself in many areas of your life, allowing you to be self-assured when facing challenges.

You're not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.

You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.

Generally, you believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play a limited role in determining what happens to you.

You are Faithful
Your trust in others, respect for tradition, and caring nature make you FAITHFUL.

Maintaining a few intimate relationships is more important to you than knowing a lot of people, and you share a lot with your close friends.

Those who have managed to get close to you value your camaraderie, and they know that they can trust you with anything; you're a good listener.

While you can usually see several sides of an argument, you often have a strong opinion as to which side is correct—the order of things is usually clear to you.

Your perspective on the world is based on careful observation, and you know a lot about how people feel in—and react to—many situations.

Your exploration of others' feelings has led you to believe that although people generally act appropriately, having clear social rules is very important to a functional society.

Time alone for reflection is important to you—you are introspective and aware of your own feelings.

Faithful is as faithful does—you expect those with whom you are close to be loyal to you, and you take betrayal of your trust very seriously.

Boys and their toys

Just a snapshot of Seth in his jammies playing with his trucks. He's starting to mimic the sounds I make when I play trucks with him. Fun!

A political post

I have never posted anything on politics and may never (never say never, Angela) post anything again. But, as friends have brought up the topic lately, I feel like I need to throw out a thought. I'm just thinking out loud here and so hopefully it makes sense collectively.

This Hammersmith household is a conservative one. Our friend Ryan Gates contributes to a website that had a nice summary of what exactly a Conservative believes. You can read it here: Conservatism Defined, by XEKE.com

Lately I've been thinking about the phrase "I am my brother's keeper". Some feel that if they believe this phrase then voting for the Democratic nominee will be a step in the right (actually the left, ha!) direction.

Well, I have a different view. In my mind, it is the role of the church, not the government, to take care of our "brother". Some of the most important things I look for in a church I attend is that it's a congregation that reaches out to our "brothers". We have several ministries that are helping the poor, hungry, broken, etc. And what I love most is that when these people receive groceries or simply prayer for healing, they are getting more help than what the government can provide.

Receiving the hope of Christ goes a lot further than a welfare check. As a Christian, that's how I see the role of "being my brother's keeper".

A couple of months ago, our senior pastor invited Evan & I along with a few others over to his home for dinner. Half of the guests were white, the other African-American. Our pastor brought up the subject of broken families among the black community and how it has changed over time. A black gentleman who is probably in his 50s responded. Living in an African-American neighborhood as a boy, he was surrounded with complete families. No one was rich but the family stayed together. Today we see so many broken homes, single parents, etc. He felt that the welfare system actually contributed to this. With a welfare check, a wife (for example) no longer needed to stay in a marriage. She could just rely on the government to provide. Well, if you read the above article, you'll see why I have a hard time with this. I want to protect the family unit, not make it easier to split...and let's not forget about the children that get caught up in this. If I support marriage and family, how can I support the idea of government assistance...which may have had a role in the decline of these establishments?

So in a nutshell, I am for life, family, and country. I think "we" can help our brother in more, lasting ways than the government. I feel like faith has a place in the conservative platform.

I don't need comments to this post with arguments or differing opinions, I just wanted to state mine. Take it or leave it.

Seth's 1 Year stats

Toot toot! Seth to the rescue! (taken on his birthday with his new toy)

Today was Seth's 12 month (1 year) check-up at the pediatrician. He has grown so much in the past 3 months! He was due for 2 shots, one of which was a chicken pox vaccine. He did great; he cried during the shots themselves, then was fine.

STATS:
Weight: 22lbs. 12 oz. (50th percentile)
Height: 31.75 inches (90th percentile)

Considering that at 4 months he was in the 10th percentile for weight, he's come a long way! Again, the doctor had nothing but a good report for Seth and said he was great. We are to continue introducing table foods and can now introduce whole milk instead of formula. He also can start a cup with a straw or a sippy to transition from the bottle. We'll see how that goes, Mr. Seth can be rather particular with his food. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it eventually. The Dr. said that no one goes to college still eating pureed food...so there's hope!

Seth has 8 teeth and I think more are on the way with the constant drool and chewing lately. We're working on clapping hands and he still can walk around the table while holding on. He likes pushing things along the floor such as his new trucks...but tends to get frustrated easily when they tip over or get stuck. Guess we could have a patience issue on our hands...or a very anal-retentive son. Either way he gets it honestly. Overall Seth is still a great and happy kiddo. Constantly discovering new places to go and new things to get into. Keeps me on my toes!

5 Years

To Evan:
I can't believe we are celebrating five years already. I would still walk down that aisle today if given the opportunity. I am so blessed to be living along side my best friend – to wake up in the morning and at night rest my head next to the best partner anyone could ask for. We make a great team and I don't know what I'd do without you.

And now, a son...who wakes us up every morning with his cheerful talking. What a joy it has been watching you be such a wonderful and loving father to him! He is so lucky to have you as his daddy – to show him the ropes and work and learn beside you. He loves you so much and I know you can tell when he flashes you a big grin. We thank you for going to work each and every day so that we can have all that we need.

We love you so much! I look forward to the next 5 and the next 5 after that. Thank you for being the hard-working, Godly man of integrity that I dreamed about.

Back from D.C.

Yep, we're baaaack. D.C. was great and exhausting all at the same time. It was Evan's first time and he was impressed with the grand-ness of the monuments and enjoyed seeing everything we walked to see.

Seth survived too. To make a long story short regarding Seth's schedule on vacation: turns out that the day went smoothly if we let him catch 30-minute snoozes in the stroller then trying to hike back to the hotel and MAYBE catch a nap. He was exhausted, but on the first 2 days of trying to incorporate a daytime nap, he cried much more when it was time for bed at night (waking up during the night as well). The second two days, after cat-napping in the stroller, he went right down for the night after his bottle. In fact, on Wednesday night he fell asleep drinking his bottle. There was a perfect nook for his pack-n-play in our hotel room that was out of sight of Evan & I. No need for blankets or anything extra. Overall, went well.

A few pics from our trip...


Side story for Ryan & Jenn Gates (because I think you're the only two who will find this amusing/interesting): this photo above was taken in Dennis Kucinich's office after our staff-led tour of the Capitol. Yes, we had to go in there. After all, he is the rep. of our congressional district and as Evan put it, we'll put our tax dollars to work. We were led on our tour by a young intern named Loren. He was a nice kid and had only met Dennis once. I asked him if he got to choose who he worked for (thinking would anyone of sound mind choose to work for Kucinich?) He said not really. Each office is a separate contract. So I suppose his resumé got put in a pot and each rep's office picks people out of the pot. Evan gave him a very diplomatic overview of the overall take on Dennis. Basically, we don't align ourselves with him, we don't know how he keeps getting re-elected...but Clevelanders must view him as "one of us" because he has a large following (I guess). Loren found that interesting and would like to visit Cleveland some day. He is from L.A. and has never really been to the midwest.
So anyway, after Seth charmed the entire room of Kucinich staffers...and had them on the floor, we said our good-byes. We asked them if Dennis ever brought them Malley's from Cleveland. They had never heard of it. We explained about the chocolate and told them they need to tell Dennis: People from Cleveland were here, told us about Malley's. Why have you never brought us any? I'm sure Dennis will appreciate that.

Seth Turns 1!

Bring on the chocolate cake!

Today was the big day – Seth's first birthday. It was a perfect day to be at the park. Seth was good even when he got pretty tired at the end. He was blessed with many great gifts and I know he'll love playing and wearing everything he got.

BUT, I know what you all really want to see is Seth and his first cake experience. We made him a mini cake by using a jumbo muffin size tin. It was more than enough. I think he's following in his parent's footsteps. The kid likes chocolate!

As I write this, Seth is napping (after a big day) and Evan & I are pretty exhausted as well. We're off to Washington, D.C. tomorrow and we haven't started packing. Hopefully Seth will like it: first chocolate cake...then the White House!

Here are photos of Seth and his cake...and some shots of us and Seth's grandparents. Enjoy!

No nap = Fussy Seth

Seth and I at the Lesch Family Reunion

Seth is always a good traveler. Yesterday we put him to the test, though. He didn't get an afternoon nap and that led to a tiny melt down at the family picnic. It figures. Some of these people were seeing him for the first time...and what do they hear? A crying, fussy child. I know, most of you who read this are thinking: Seth? Fussy? But it's true. The kid needs his naps.

I should have known it was going to happen considering:
1. His morning nap was cut short due to us having to arrive at church early for Evan to prepare for his FPU announcement.
2. Fed Seth his lunch after church during Evan's FPU interest mtg. Was hoping Seth would then fall promptly to sleep for the 1 hour drive to Norwalk. As luck would have it, Seth fell fast asleep...as we arrived in Norwalk! Again, had to wake him up.
3. We forgot to bring his stroller a.k.a. place to sleep. For the next couple hours he was being held by someone and getting more and more hot and fussy.

There you have it. Recipe for a melt down. Granted, the crying didn't last long. He eventually snapped out of it and ran purely on fumes of playfulness and pleasantness. He managed to take a brief nap in the truck while Evan ran in to get his hair cut at his sister's house. I stayed in the truck with him with the A/C running. He stayed asleep even upon arriving at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Eventually he either woke up or we woke him up to eat his dinner. Then played and crawled all over their kitchen floor. He slept most of the way back to Lakewood and went promptly to bed. Ugh.

Both naps today have been around 2 hours long...I think he's making up for yesterday.

Seth shots...finally!

Seth turned 11 months on July 30. He is on the go and getting into everything. He has 6 teeth and still very happy. He loves to laugh and even makes himself laugh sometimes. Crazy kid. He is pulling himself up to standing all the time, even flushed the toilet the other day! He's been getting into potted plants and eating some of the dirt. He likes to play in the dirt, it gets on his fingers...which eventually end up in his mouth. Yes, it's gross, but he's a boy and a curious one at that.

August: A busy month!

I stink. I haven't had a new post here for awhile and sadly, I haven't had a chance to even take photos of Seth to post here either. I've been so busy and unfortunately, I'm going to remain that way at least until September. August is a very busy month.

Seth will have his first birthday this month. I have a few pages yet to go on his scrapbook and I don't even know when I'm going to get it done. I have absolutely no pictures of 11 months so it may not be represented in his book. Aah!

A bridal shower, a wedding, three family picnics, trying to remember gifts for my dad's birthday and nephew's birthday, and planning Seth's party has me busy on the social level...then work has been keeping me busy most weekday evenings. Then our tenant downstairs moved out so we're trying to get some touch-ups done down there. So I need to do some cleaning...oh yeah, and my apartment too! We host our church small group twice a month too.

All this and still trying to do my treadmill time every weekday morning, keeping up with laundry, and taking care and running after Seth.

We leave for our vacation the day after Seth's birthday, so somehow I'll have to find the time to get packed while preparing for Seth's little party. Lord, help me.

Planning for Seth's first vacation

In just over a month, we will be embarking on a vacation. This will be Evan and Seth's first trip to our nation's capitol. While this is exciting, there's a big part of me that is very anxious and nervous about this huge disruption to Seth's daily routine...and what that might mean for the grown-up's routine too.

Food. I'm least worried about feeding Seth on the go. He's a good sport about it and though sometimes a bit messy, I think we can make it work. Instead of bringing along all my homemade foods (which would need thawed), we'll probably resort back to Gerber for the four days for convenience. I'm doubting our hotel room will have a small fridge or microwave, so it's best for us to be prepared to do without.

Sleep. This is where I have some major anxiety. Seth still takes 2-3 naps per day. I know he will not get that on vacation. At this point I'm hoping we can make it back to our hotel room each afternoon (ideally after lunch) for Seth to get a decent afternoon nap (preferably 2 hours). Going to bed for the night is where it could get a little tricky. At home, we can easily put Seth in his crib, turn on his music, and let him drift off to sleep. When sharing a hotel room, this will obviously not be the case. Evan and I have thought about hanging up a sheet or blanket in order to block Seth's view so he can't see us. Seeing mom and dad = no sleep. So even if we do all that, have all his favorite things from his home crib in the pack-n-play, we still are in a hotel room with Seth. It needs to be quiet, especially until he is completely out.

So, do Evan and I have to just sit and do sign language to each other from 7:30-8pm until we go to bed? This is our vacation too, and honestly, I'm not exactly thrilled that we will be prisoners to our hotel room. Guess this is part of having small children. Maybe I just need ideas on how to make it fun. Evan isn't really into playing cards or playing a board game. TV would probably wake Seth up since he's in the same room. So, this is where my problem lies. I'm open to suggestions (keep it clean, now! ha.)

A Step Toward Self-Sufficiency

In the past week, Seth has begun to help himself...mainly by holding his own bottle. He isn't doing this consistently just yet, but it seems to be happening more and more. Just another sign that he is growing so fast! A photo taken tonight after his bath...

Holiday Weekend

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Fourth of July weekend! Ours was busy: a wedding, a parade, picnics, visiting family, and of course, fireworks.

Seth was a trooper through it all, considering his schedule was put to the test several times. I think he will be playing catch-up on sleep tomorrow. He was very interested in the fireworks.

We've entered rooms lately finding Seth in his journey to becoming more mobile: pulling himself up to a standing position. We were able to get some photos of our findings. :o)