Kinsey Farms

We had a great fall visit to Kinsey Family Farm this year! We found a great half off depot deal for pictures with Elizabeth O Photography, so we decided to have her join us here to capture some family moments. We used some of the photos for our Christmas postcard, like we did last year.  I’m keeping the Christmas card pictures under wraps so I don’t ruin the surprise, but here are some other fun photos that she captured during our visit.

A Rockin’ Halloween

This year we had a wonderful Halloween.  I didn’t celebrate Halloween as a child growing up, but Dan and I have decided to participate as long as we kept it fun and lighthearted (no calling for evil spirits or chants…).  I’ve had a lot of fun living out this holiday through my boys.  Since Parker has shown so much interest in music this year with all of his dancing, guitar playing and drum banging, we thought a rock star costume would suit him well.  With Mason being a cutie “tough” looking baby that he is, I knew he could totally pull off a side kick band member.

We started the day with a playdate picnic in a nearby park.  We had fun enjoying the cool breezy sunny weather.  Parker loved hanging out with his friends and playing per usual.

We’ve become great friends with the Howells‘, and they invited us to go trick or treating with them and their son Logan.  Parker had a great time for his very first trick or treating experience!  Everyone LOVED his costume.  Since it was getting a little cold, and the “tattoo sleeves” weren’t very good at keeping him warm, we threw on a leather Harley Davidson jacket that Sara let us barrow.  It sort-of turned his look into more of a “biker” look, but he still looked super cool in my opinion.  But, I suppose I’m a little bias.  There was a huge turnout in the neighborhood and I have never seen so many awesome costumes all together.  Trying not to sound lame, but it was pretty freegin cool.

For those curious about the costumes, I got Mason’s AC/DC onsie from Target, his bandana from Party City, and his leggings from this etsy seller.  I got Parker’s shirt from this etsy seller, and the jeans were already a consignment find in his normal wardrobe. I used some black hairspray from Party city to help turn his hair into a mohawk, and as I mentioned, we borrowed the jacket from our friend Sarah.

We had the best Halloween ever!  Even though it’s my first time really experiencing Halloween, it was certainly fun and an exciting event.  I can’t wait to see what creative ideas we can come up with next year!

15. Rando things on my mind…

1. Last week we enjoyed Taste of Alpharetta with my Mom, Sis and the fam. Boy was it HOT though. Dan had him in the Bjorn, and after an hour or so of that, we took him out and he was dripping in sweat. We stripped him down to his cloth diaper, and he was a happy camper.
2. I love my little boy…every single day, at least once, he looks at me with the cutest smile from ear to ear and squeals with laughter. I will never get tired of that…EVER!  A few weeks ago we decided he was too big for his “baby” tub, and now he sits up in a “big kid” tub. *sniff, sniff*  he’s just growing too stinkin’ fast!
   
   
3. Mixbook.com is my new favorite place to be on the web. Before Parker came along I was a scrapbookaholic, and I thought digital scrapbooks where for armatures. Well, with Parker occupying so much of my time, it’s hard to do a “real” scrapbook because it involves so much more with printing photos, organizing the pages, buying “do-dads” for each page, cutting out words and phrases from magazines to make a “decoupage” type look to the page. That was all until I discovered how cool mixbook is. You can select background, pre-layout books, “theme” pages and “stickers”. It’s been fun creating a scrapbook for Parker’s first year.
4. Parker’s “screaming” phase is over…Yay! He still gets excited and has a screech from time to time, but not near as much as it was a week or so ago, when I thought I was going to go def. Instead, he likes to motor-boat or blow with his mouth like he’s trying to whistle. I’m not sure if it soothes his teeth, or if he just likes making funny sounds with his mouth, but I’ll take it any day over screaming.
5. I think we may be weaning Parker from breastfeeding pretty soon. It’s sad, but he just doesn’t seem interested in it anymore. He constantly pulls off, makes goo goo faces, slaps me a couple of times and then fusses to get off. At first I thought, oh…so he must just not be hungry, but then later on it was clear that he didn’t get what he needed. He would act SO uninterested, but then later would sucks down a bottle like it’s nobody’s business. I would much rather him get the milk that he needs, than him not get enough because I’m wanting to “strictly breastfeed” him. He’s fine with nursing in the morning, and a couple of times during the day, but it’s much more “work” for him than a bottle. He just much rather play than breastfeed. I’ve tried eliminating all the distractions, and it doesn’t seem to matter much. Oh well…my boy loves the bottle more than me… I’m crushed! I will continue to breastfeed in the morning and exclusively pump the rest of the day.  Hmm…we’ll see how long that lasts.
6. I’m really starting to get annoyed by all the “spam” on facebook. I know, I know…you can just click on “friends” and then “status”, but that’s lame. Why can’t people just stop playing silly games and clogging up the home page? There’s just not enough “hide” to go around.  I need to take an FB break I think.  Hello Twitter… I love your simple facade.  Can I type with you?
7. Does anyone else like Glee as much as I do?  Isn’t it awesome?  It was great tonight and I’m SO looking forward to Lady Gaga songs next week!
8. I went to see my gal pal Danielle on Saturday.  She lives in beautiful home in Woodstock and Parker and I loved making the trip over there to hang out.   It was a nice country drive to her house and it reminded me how much I would love to live on a farm…but close to town where I can have my “shopping” fix too.  That’s another blog post though… We had a good time at her place and Parker as usual, loved the change of scenery and getting a chance to make goo goo at a pretty lady.
9. I’m so proud of my brother Spence and his wife Lisa.  They were featured in their local newspaper in Wilmington, NC for their podcast they are doing on financial freedom called Rebound.  You should check it out.  You will be entertained and inspired.  Just got time to listen to one episode?  Check out Episode 24: Eating Healthy on a Budget. That’s one of my favorites.
10. Parker out grew (like almost everything) his cloth-eez cloth diapers, so he got some new kissaluv cloth diapers. I think Parker is really diggin’ them.  They are going to save us a boatload of dough and I’m really diggin’ that.
11. I’ve really been slacking on the working out lately. I’ve been taking the stroller out for the occasional jog, but the gym is a long lost friend. Tomorrow, it’s on.
12. I entered Parker in the YoBaby cute baby contest.  We got a few great “animated” shots of him while eating.  You can go and vote for him here and here! The winner will enjoy a 2k savings bond for college and some green goodies.  How sweet is that?
13. On Thursday Parker is getting his eight month pictures taken by this fabulous photographer who took his newborn shots. I can’t wait!
14. We’re leaving in a few weeks to go on a little road trip. This will be our first trip to see the family. We’ll be heading out to see my grandparents at their farm in Lake Hartwell, my best friend and Dan’s Mom in Charleston, SC, my friend from college and Dan’s sister and family in Myrtle Beach, and my brother, his wife and kids, and my Dad and Step-Mom in Wilmington, NC. I can’t wait to see everyone and I know Parker will LOVE getting all the love and attention from family and friends.
15. Parker isn’t crawling yet, BUT I’ll leave you with some pre-crawling exercises that he’s been practicing with Daddy lately:

Park it Parker

What a fun day and lots of firsts. We visited Webb Bridge Park today. We went there for the first time last week during Mom’s group, but because of naps and feedings, we weren’t able to stay long and explore the park much. We picked up some yummy sandwiches at Wildflour and had a picnic. We later showed Parker the swings, slides, sandbox and seesaw, all of which were firsts for him. It was such a nice little park and not over crowded either. Dan and I had such a great time playing with our cutie pie, bursts of happiness and all!
No Ma, I’m not choking on the puff you gave me…See, I haven’t even swallowed it yet!

Here’s me hanging out with DaDa

Ooooh, I love this swng!

Weeeeee!

Wow, what’s this cool blue thing?

Is this suppose to be fun?

Oh,  DaDa built me a little sand castle and mommy covered my toes.

Dada, this is my shovel.  Can I please put it in my mouth?

Screamer

Someone snatched my boy. Someone took my sweet cuddly, laughable, smiling ball of sunshine and replaced him with a a loud, shrilling screamer. I thought I we were in the clear since we avoided the dreaded colic, blessed with only few crying nights, and had a son that seemed to have a sunny disposition. That was until, about three days ago. Lord help us.

Parker had found his voice around three and a half months ago and had always been a very vocal baby. He loved to bababaaabbaa and OoooWoooowwhhoo from very early on. I knew right then and there that he would be an extrovert who loved to talk, just like his Daddy. That is all cute and sweet and everything, but that is not what we have going on here. We have a seven month old who only loves to communicate in one way…a loud shrilling screech of a SCREAM!

I’m bored…SCREAM!
Pick me up…SCREAM!
I rolled over and I’m proud of it…SCREAM!
Mommy is making a funny face…SCREAM!
I’m tired…SCREAM!
Look I just crawled backwards…SCREAM!
No, I want to feed myself…SCREAM!
I said, give me that spoon!…SCREAM!
I don’t want to be in the stroller anymore…SCREAM!
Stop tickling me…SCREAM!
Did I mention that I want you to hold me?…SCREAM!

Is this a phase? I certainly hope so! At the end of the night, with a splitting headache, I close my eyes and pray. Dear Lord, whatever I did to upset you…I’m sorry. Please give me back my non-screaming baby and I promise to be forever thankful. AMEN!

Bits of randomness…

~It’s crazy that in the life of a stay at home Mom that I continue to stay so busy week after week. Between play dates, house cleaning and grocery shopping, it seems that I find myself wondering how the day got away from me so quickly. Then, before I know it…the week is over.
~Parker turned seven months last week. I can’t believe that we’re actually closer to a one year old than a newborn now. It’s bitter sweet for sure. So, what does a seven month do you ask? Teething… yep. It’s starting with his bottom right side. So far it hasn’t been too bad. He’s woken up a few times at night grabbing at his mouth and fussing. Tylenol did the trick. He’s also starting to crawl. Yay! Not forward though. He’s pushing himself backwards and clockwise. I left him on the blanket near the coffee table, and while I ate breakfast, he worked himself all the way over towards the fireplace! He was giggling and babbling the entire way.  When I took his picture, he looked up in with a smile, proud of his accomplishment.  Let the fun begin!

~ Earlier this week we went to visit Aunt Marie.  It was nice to drive up to Marietta to visit.  In the past, that has always been difficult because Parker always had three or more naps that he needed to be home for, but now that he’s only taking two, things have been a little easier when it comes to venturing out.  Parker had a blast.  My cousin Lewie was playing with him and trying to teach him how to crawl.  The dogs Wolfie and Thor could not get enough of him, smothering him with kisses and love.  Of course Marie got her fair share of hugs and kisses too.  Parker absolutely LOVED all of the attention.

~So, Dan told me I need to watch Food, Inc. which aired on PBS last week.  My sis in law wrote about it here last year.  I’ve kind of lived by the thought when it came to this kind of stuff  that “What you don’t know can’t hurt you”.  That was until I watched this.  Um…Yuck.  I almost want to become a vegetarian.  Watching images of people chainsawing cows in half that that stand knee high in manure, then moments later it is ground into hamburger meat, was enough to make me want to loose my lunch.  It wasn’t just beef though Nooooo my friend.  It was SO much more than that.  There are so many genetically engineered foods out there, in order to produce a product quicker, larger, and one that last longer. They are pumping hormones and antibiotics into chicken, beef, and other meats.  This my friend is not only wrong…it’s gross.  I know you don’t want to know…but you should.  If you haven’t already, you should definitely watch it.  It’s mind blowing.

~On the heels of watching Food, Inc. I decided that I needed to make some changes in the way we eat.  I dug up some organic coupons by going to a few sites I found on here, and headed to Harry’s Whole Foods Market.  I found a great recipe on Mojo Chicken that I wanted to try.  It really turned out great.  I felt good about making a dish that had all natural ingredients and wasn’t loaded with sodium or high fructose corn syrup.  I’ve never been a fantastic cook, but I enjoy learning and challenging myself to try new dishes.  Next week I’m excited to try some vegetarian dishes.  Tofu Parmigiana tops the list!

~Not only are we being conscience of our own eating habits, but we are also wanting nothing but the best nutrition for Parker too.  Lately, feeding has been a bit trying as my supply has taken a big dip, and nursing has become a pain again.  For some reason, this seems to happen every time the feeding “schedule” changes.  About a week ago I decided to stop waking Parker up for a 5am feeding and just let him sleep.  I was waking him because I was concerned about his lower percentile in weight, but after talking to the doctor, I decided that I would pump during that feeding, and introduce that missed feeding in with his solid foods during the day.  He’s doing great sleeping 12hrs +/- and now we’re doing three solid meals a day and five nursing sessions.  That worked out just fine until about two days ago.  Parker tried to nurse during the third feeding of the day, and my let-down response was taking forever.  After several mins and lots of cries, the feeding began.  Needless to say, this has made feeding time very frustrating.  I’ve reluctantly introduced formula, but I’m glad that I’ve just let the perfectionist in me go, and as a result I’m stressing less about it.  I’m still pumping or feeding every three hours in order to boost my supply.  I know my supply will get back to where it was…but right now it really sucks. No pun intended.  A friend of mine gave me a book called “Child of Mine: Feeding with love and Good Sense” I’ve heard wonderful things about this book as an empowering guide to fostering a loving relationship between the parent and their child around food.  I’m only on the first chapter, but I’m eager to learn how this can help me to be a good parent when it comes to feeding Parker.

~Remember when I posted the “Forced Motivation” back in November?  Well…I’m back to my pre-preggo weight!  Woohoo!  Unfortunately, pre-pregnancy was also post-holiday too.  That means I still have some LB’s to shed, but in true Sunday Slim-down fashion, here’s my progress…