first snow pics

Finally, I'm able to load some pics! whew... These were from November (old i know) but i'm so behind on posting pics! yikes. And since this Nov snow, we have only had ice since. This saturday they are finally calling for some more snow, apx 6-10 inches at that!

The kid didn't pay much attention to the snow really...


Until we put him in it...


Woops....


Playing in the snow is tiring... whew...


later, after a mug of hot cocoa (that was me, mom ha) he gazes out the door, watching the snow come down and a random person or dog go by...

Pictures!!

News Flash! We have finally loaded all new pictures onto the mac and i'll be posting them as soon as i have a brief moment. well no, a long moment actually. brief just won't be enough time! No, our camera connection isn't repaired. Husband brought home some contraption from work where you insert your camera card, and a wire connects that to the laptop, etc - load photos! whatever it is, I hope we can continue to borrow it on occasion, until we either fix camera connection or buy new camera. ugh. either one sounds like it will cost us some cash. damn. maybe i'll catch a good after christmas sale??? fingers crossed.

Photos we loaded - more of the kids first snow. the kid sleeping. eating. smiling. sitting up and sitting in a box. chewing on wrapped packages. holding bows. first christmas. laying in a pile of torn up wrapping paper. being held by lots of family/friends over the holidays. I won't bore you with posting them all. just the cute ones. well thats too many lol. so a few of the cute ones. stay tuned.

FYI - the kid has a new cuz, ashley claire:) he's psyched to have another cuz his age (now thats two, taylor and now ashley) but is wondering, where are the other boys? Guess we'll have to adopt BF Cole as an adopted cuz. I think Robin will be okay with that!!

Vaccines

The Vaccine Debate. No matter what you do - its scary. Vaccinate - scary. Don't vaccinate - scary. I hadn't really thought about this indepth until becoming pregnant and my OB reminded me to get my flu shot. My mind shot back to the two times i actually did get the shot and how sick i was afterward, for days. Casually I tell her this and that i doubt i will get one, especially considering it has mercury in it... and well, lets just say we didn't agree on this decision and i left there considering changing doctors due to her reaction! (BTW, very glad i didn't change doctors because i loved this group of OB's for the most part, even though we didn't/don't see eye to eye on all issues).

The debate continued between husband and i. what was the 'right' thing to do. for society. for our child. i did lots of online reading (which can be scary no matter what side of the fence you're on) and read books on this as well. Many online opinions were harsh, critical, and fueled with arguements on discussion boards. But one theme was consistent - everyone wants to do whats best for their child. We were no exception. I found The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears to be my best resource. Its a pro vaccine book but (I felt) rationally looked at the pros/cons of each individual vaccine in a fair non-bias way. This book convinced me to get certain vaccines i thought of skipping for the kid, and others i realized had too many side effects for me to be comfortable with so we will either skip or delay those. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has concerns about vaccines or just wants to be more informed on this heated topic! The book can be pretty dry in parts but it covers everything you could possibly want to know... If you want to check out more on The Vaccine Book, go to Dr. Sear's website www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook

Husband read the book as well. For the most part, we are following the Alternative Vaccine Schedule Dr. Sears presents in the book. (we made a few tweaks to it, eliminating a couple we are not comfortable with at all and delaying a few for the kids later years, before he begins school.) FYI, the Alternative schedule, if followed exactly, works in all vaccines but spreads them out over a longer period of time, also ensuring the kid gets no more than 2 shots per visit. It does mean you go to the dr more often, especially in the beginning but i have zero complaints about that. Mostly he's done well with his shots - no side effects until his 7 month ones. After the 7 month shots, he had a fever for a couple days after.

Our pediatrician has been respectful of our decision to not follow the standard schedule (while politely informing us of his opinion of why we should, and we of course, respectfully listened, he was doing his job) and has complied with what we wanted. I've heard horror stories of dr's who refuse some parents service! whew... Overall, we are feeling good with our decision and hope other parents are able to come to a conclusion they are comfortable with as well.

Our Fridays

I'm off from work on Fridays... and though it means working 10 hours each day monday-thursday, is really worth it to have three full days with the kid, making for a little longer weekend. Fridays are OUR day and i hate when anything causes us to even have to leave the house! So my 9am dental appt ended up being canceled. I used the icey weather as an excuse but deep down i know if it hadn't of been icey, i would have found another reason! he's taken to getting up again at night, and the most during the weeknights (of course!). So when he wakes at 3:30am, i finally get him back down around 4:15am, i just stay up because my usual wake up time for work is 4:30am! those nights are rough... if all else fails, we put him in the carseat and he will snooze till 8 or 8:30am in there. He's always slept best in the carseat! and its incredibly tempting to just put him in there at 8pm (his bedtime) during the week but he does okay in the crib so we always start him there. Last night was much better - he was only up once. I nursed him, and he went right back to sleep, in the crib! yippee.

Yesterday I go to pick him up at daycare... there is a window where you can look in before the entrance to his room. I also look for him before i go in, to see what he's doing, if he's happy, etc. I see a baby sitting on the floor... for a split second i thought, oh well thats not him, that babies too big. Then to quickyl realize, crap, that IS him!! wow, is he growing!! i couldn't get over it. He was sitting on the floor across from another baby boy his age. Both with boppies around them, sitting up, sharing toys. Too cute! I wish i had the camera.... then he looks up, spots me, and GRINS:) We drive home together and i talk to him briefly, then stop and turn on christmas music, knowing he's asleep.

abrams first snow

I woke up on a November friday morning... the kid was awake and i stumbled in to get him. He notices me as i tiptoe into his room and grins, raising his head straight up, while laying flat, trying to situp, like always! i whisk him up, holding him close, taking in that baby smell. He's in his best mood first thing in the morning. Back in our bedroom, husband flips up the blind, and wow!! snow!! we had only been expecting rain... We all gaze out the window. Trees are covered, grass covered, and the deck looked to be showing about 3 inches! I announce to husband, get the camera ready, and the camcorder, Its the kids first snow! pictures. video. I layer him up, hat, mittens, two pairs of pants, shoes, coat. He doesn't know whats happening, because our friday mornings are usually filled with a lot more snuggly cuddle time in bed, mainly because i love it, but also because i'm still half asleep...

we bound outside. use all possible cameras. he doesn't really notice the snow much but does lay back in it... here he is afterward... in a snow induced daze i suppose?

Some pictures finally...

I finally have some new pictures. Husband took our camera to work and was able to upload some there to his cpu and then transferred to our home cpu via email. complicated i know!! cameras are on sale right now all over the place but its a bad time of year for us to be spending money on ourselves since we're supposed to be buying gifts for others! But i'll post a few new pics hopefully sometime before the weekend. In the meantime, michelle once again took some adorable pictures of abram while over at the house. We had her and her family over for dinner and hoped to do some photos of abram and all 3 of us too. But it was SO cold. and SO windy. We took pics for about 5 minutes!! but she rocks and managed to get some great photos. A few she took of abram are posted on her blog if you want to check them out. Our family photo will be in christmas cards:) Many thanks to michelle! Husband thanks them too b/c I actually cooked chicken since we had them over. lol.

29 weeks

He will be 29 weeks tomorrow. We still haven't gotten the camera repaired. Thank goodness we can still TAKE pictures at least. and we can print from our memory card at Sams Club. But who actually makes the time to go print photos these days. People just pass around the whole camera anymore I notice. Telling whomever, just hit the forward button to see them all. We do it ALL the time.

29 weeks. Wow. He's heavy now. I can't carry him in his carseat carrier anymore. When i pick him up at daycare, i have to carry out his bags and the seat first. Then return inside to actually get him. He's eating foods though Peas are no longer a favorite. He loves the other stuff though. Apples, Bananas, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Squash, Pumpkin, Rice Cereal, and soon he'll be trying Green Beans, Lentils, and Oatmeal.

I put on a 3-6 month onsie on him a couple days ago. It barely snapped at the bottom!

"This is too little Abram!" I tell him in my baby voice.

He grins as if to say 'yea mom duh. i'm close to seven months old now...' ha.

I've already had to put away clothes of his that are too small. A huge bag of them.

The other day I took away the bread bag from him when he was in the grocery cart (not lose, in his seat!) and he started crying like he'd been injured! His personality is emerging. And it is SO. MUCH. FUN.