Fall means football games & pretty pictures!

This weekend the weather was perfect! Absolutely great for a football game, and some picture taking at the farm. Jaiden has been having the greatest time playing flag football this year! I'm so sad that I didn't know about this league sooner! He is loving every second of it! This Saturday the game was at 10am, so we got up bright and early, grabbed my Venti Iced Coffee and made our way to the field! 

The best thing about Jaiden's games, is there are so many people who are there to support him! Me, my mom, my dad, my sister, his grandma and grandpa were all there to cheer him on!!

 Aunt Kelli & Emma

 

He is such a cute flag football player!

The final score was 12-0. We lost...Womp Womp.(Ahem..True Redskins Form)

And Jaiden definitely reminds me of my brother when it comes to his losing..He doesn't take it very well.(I doubt my bro reads this but in any event, sorry dude. It's the truth! But we still love you!!) Hopefully we will learn by the end of the year how to gracefully lose...Keyword: Hopefully.

On Sunday John made us breakfast. A concoction that was filled with bacon, sausage, egg and cheese..boy was it good...And slightly heart attack worthy. But good none the less. 

We then decided to go on a sporadic, impromptu photo shoot with the boys at the farm. Baby John only lasted for about 25 minutes, but the few pictures & by few I mean 50-something came out super cute! Jaiden even got his 1st digital photography lesson, and took a few great pictures of Big John & Baby John. He did a great job!  

I did not partake in the pictures this time around because I was no where near camera ready! And although I showed Jaiden how to use my camera, I might have to get him one that's a little less expensive to practice with! But for me Fall means wonderful picture taking opportunities that I fully plan on taking advantage of! 

Happy Fall!( a few days late) & HAPPY NATIONAL COFFEE DAY!

John Henry is 4 months old!

I know I say this every month, but where has the time gone! Our sweet boy is already 4 months old! 

Stats:

Weight: 14lbs 10oz - 50th Percentile

Height: 23 1/2 inches - 40th Percetile

And he is a chunker! He just has these chunky thighs that I am just over the moon about! He has the greatest personality and is such a happy baby! 

There are many new things going on at 4 months!
 

1. SLEEPING AT NIGHT IS A THING OF THE PAST! I'm glad I enjoyed some peaceful nights while I could but now I am the walking definition of a Mom Zombie or Mombie. 

2. John Henry is now 95% formula fed. With going back to work, and having a job that makes pumping on a schedule nearly impossible, over the last 2 months my milk production has depleted and our dairy farm at home has run dry. I still try to feed him from the breast in the morning and in the evening however my production is only getting lower and lower. I never in a million years imagined that no longer breast feeding him would affect me as much as it did. I felt depressed for weeks, cried whenever I thought about not breast feeding and cried the first few times I bought him formula. I guess I sort of got Mommy separation anxiety. I think I truly felt that I was a shitty parent for not being able to work around my pumping schedule and keep my supply up. (I know I'm not a shitty parent, but try telling that to a still severely hormonal woman with baby separation anxiety. Nothing you could've said would have made a difference.) But it's made life a little easier. I can drink milk again, which I had to eliminate while I was BF because it gave John Henry tummy aches! And now I don't have to lug around my pump bag, which means I don't forget any of the key elements to my pump..Which I did more than a few times..I'm not even going to describe the shit show.. You are going to have to figure it out on your own!  

3. Strides have been made in holding our head up. He only falls asleep 50% of the time while laying on our belly!  He has also have rolled from tummy to back a few times and has started to blow raspberries regularly. And let me tell you John Henry raspberries are ADORABLE. 

Some favorite activities are: 

1. Bath time - he is going to be a water bug, I can already tell! 

2. Sitting in the Bumbo seat with my Sophie the Girafe and my fish toy! 

3. Watching Jaiden play football - we have football practice 2 times a week and games on Saturday! We are working on perfecting the wave! 

4. Looking at his self in the mirror! 

Some favorite toys are:

1. Sophie the Girafe chew toy
2. Moo
3. Fish toy(He is Big Johns child)

We finally got the go ahead from the pediatrician to start incorporating baby cereal in his bottle at night! One step closer to baby food! I think baby food has to be my favorite stage! I love seeing their facial expressions when they try something new..I remember Jaiden used to gag when we fed him squash. (He is his mothers child...)



This month we have John Henry's first ever family reunion, that we are really looking forward to! And with fall already having started, that means tons of fall crafts that include baby feeties, and tons of super cute Halloween jammies, that I can't wait to snap pictures in! On a great note to start the season, he has already seen Hocus Pocus? I mean does that get any better?

Coffee, Coffee, oh & more Coffee!

Can I just point out that having an incredibly active 7 year old, a 4 month old who has decided that sleeping through the night was a thing of the past, that plus a full time job makes for one incredibly exhausted coffee addicted MOMBIE. Yup. I said it. You'd think life after the hectic chaos of Back to School in the retail world, my life would somewhat settle down... Yea please let's take a moment to rethink that thought. 

I have never felt so tired in my entire life.(Probably not true, but I can't remember the last time I was this sleep deprived.) My driving is even suffering, and if you ask John it was never the greatest to begin with..I find myself yelling at me while driving..What the hell are you doing? Would you just pick a lane already? Sheesh. Where did you get your license? Out of a Cracker Jack box?...You get the picture.

(Personal Side Note: I totally laughed so hard I started to have one of my emotional meltdowns when I read this ;)

Every time people mention how tired I look, my common response is "Sleep is for the weak", or "No rest for the rad!" Both phrases are available on t shirts that I plan on buying in every.single.color.  

Being exhausted is of course one of the most important requirements of becoming a parent. You are voluntarily giving up the luxury of being bright eyed and bushy tailed every morning(or afternoon for some of you) for bags that take up your entire face, and hair in the ever so wonderful top knot, messy bun, what have you that whenever you take it down you could work as a stunt double for Mufasa from the Lion King or a Chia pet. Whichever you'd rather.

Me personally, I haven't seen a flat iron in about 3 weeks, I have finally mastered the art of the "top knot" or troll hair if you ask my mom, and have found an insane, probably unhealthy addiction to Venti Soy Iced Coffees with 3 pumps of classic. Yes ladies and Gents, I have become that person... Not that there is anything wrong with "That person" I just never thought it would be me ;) I did finally register my Starbucks card and within 3 days I am about 20 stars away from my GOLD CARD. Be jealous. I merely want it just to add another card to my collection. And gold is soo pretty! And since coffee is my new go to, I just have to share these awesome mugs that I found here and here. Can't wait to be sipping coffee out of these bad boys when it get's way to cold for my normal chilly beverage.

These ever so wonderful cold drinks are what get me through most days. I will state that I should probably be going to bed early when I can and not stay up until nearly 11 blogging...Could right, but then that would be just way too easy!!!!!

A Little Tardy- Back to School Blues

I'm about 3 weeks late on this so please bare with me... I totally thought I was going to be great at this blogging thing, that was until oh ya know life and sports and school and sick babies, became a frequent flyer at my house! But...

This year my big boy started 2nd grade. Now as happy as I am that I have a 2nd grader also makes me super sad because Jaiden is growing up so fast! He is becoming a little man and a busy one at that! His open house he was so nervous to meet his teacher, but all was well and come Tuesday morning he was more than ready.. (Despite a minor wardrobe dilemma.) He was ready to venture off into grade 2. 

His first day went as well as could be.. We didn't have any lost pieces of clothing which happened quite frequently last year.. And now in 2nd grade we have a planner that is supposed to come home EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. Which is a bit of a struggle still but luckily it's only been like 1 day a week. He will get the hang of things sure enough and the year will be great! We just need to get past the "if someone talks to you and your not supposed to talk to them, ignore them" speech drilled down I think we will be in tip top shape! And did I mention this year it's all about soccer shorts and football jerseys? This is all I can seem to get Jaiden to put on lately.. At least he got "Best Dressed" in kindergarten, right? 

West Virginia or Bust!

So do you know what sucks about living in the richest county in the ENTIRE COUNTRY....

Well the answer is...LIVING IN THE RICHEST COUNTY IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so difficult to buy a house in our area unless your yearly income is $500,000. Anyone making any less than that..Good Luck...

John and I have been trying to buy a house in this area for years. We thought after 1 year in our apartment we would be able to, yea no, didn't happen. Then after that we tried and realized that we wouldn't truly be happy settling for something that was affordable but something that we didn't absolutely love. So we decided to rent for a year, and that year has now turned into 2 years. So we are bound and determined that 2015 is our year. We are determined to have enough money in the bank to buy the house of our dreams.. and not have to renew our lease for yet another year.

Now we don't want something too big. (Well I would like huge, but that require way more cleaning that I normally prefer to do.) But we want something that is big enough for us be comfortable, and not up each others asses all the time.. I know John never wants to leave my side(ha..ha..ha) But either way I want to be able to have people over, have a big enough outside space so that the dog can run around, and so that the boys can play outside without concern..

And I also have so many things that I would love to do to our own house. Renting makes it difficult to have any real sense of calling it home. Yes you can hang photos, and put your own furniture and decorations up, but it really doesn't feel like home...I mean in a sense. You can paint rented spaces, but unless you plan on being there for long periods of time, it's almost a waste of time and materials. 

And this also sums it up. I WILL be painting and re-painting for the better  part of the rest of my life just because I can. Redecorating will be a seasonal happening at my house.. And you can bank on that. 

But why West Virginia? Because it's the cheapest we can get without moving so far away from our family. I would love to move to Georgia. That is my dream state. I've been a few times, once accidentally and once intentionally and loved it. But West Virginia is about 45 minutes away from where we live now which wouldn't require an entire uprooting of everything we know. We would still attempt to keep our jobs, and when I mean attempt I mean me.(I would try to find something closer. For sure.) But life wouldn't necessarily change a great deal. Or so I'd like to think/hope. So we will see. 

In the meantime wish us luck on finding saving for a house. John has spent more money on tattoos in the last 2 months than I've spent in the last year so we are off to a fabulous start. Ha..ha.(Just Kidding John, we are probably equal...but I do love your tattoos!)

Hopefully this time next year I will be blogging from our home in the mountains.. from a living room that has been painted and re-painted a time or two.. Or three or four!