My Kid Is Spoiled

Seriously, as I was preparing Jack's dinner tonight I thought to myself, "Man, this kid eats really well. If I ate what he did I'd be skinny."
Today his menu consisted of
     Breakfast: Fruit, spinach and yogurt smoothie. Oatmeal.
     Lunch: Turkey. Mozzarella. Peas and Corn. Applesauce
     Dinner: Spinach, ham and cheese quiche. Eggplant. Pears.
     "Dessert": Graham cracker with peanut butter.
He really is spoiled. He's never eaten a jar of baby food in his life (once when he was 9 months old I had to try since I didn't have any homemade with me and he refused) everything he's ever eaten has been fresh ingredients and homemade. I don't puree much for him anymore, but certain veggies he won't even try whole, but loves pureed, like carrots. I don't know if the next kid will get this kind of treatment so I figured I might as well do it while I can. Back to my original thought though, I want to eat what he eats. Why not? I'm making it anyways right? Don't know if I'd eat pureed sweet potatoes mixed with oatmeal, but at least if I eat the same foods it would be good for me. Don't get me wrong, we eat pretty healthy, fresh foods and I don't plan on doing the "baby food diet". But, I know I don't eat nearly as many veggies and fruit as I should, especially compared to how much Jack eats. So that's a new goal for me this year. Eat more fruits and veggies!! I'm so inspired by Kath over at KERF and if you haven't checked out her blog I encourage you to see the journey she's been on to get and stay healthy. Here are some pictures of the boy enjoying his yummy food :)

This was taken mid-December, he was practicing feeding himself applesauce with a spoon.  He's actually gotten pretty darn good at it lately! He doesn't really even make a mess anymore!

 This last one was taken a few days after Christmas. I know it's terrible quality, but I love his big grin and the way his hair was standing up :) Eating some scrambled eggs that had ham mixed in since he wasn't willing to eat the ham by itself, which is why there's a pile further in front of him.

Back on the Blogwagon

So, Tom's been actively posting on his blog, and he's inspired me to do the same. :)

Right now I'm at home with a sick baby who is much less cranky after having his smoothie for lunch and going outside for a bit. He has Hand, Foot, Mouth disease though, so no playing at the park or anywhere near other kids unfortunately. We had a great Christmas and New Year's, but after doing so much and seeing so many people it's no surprise he's now sick. I took him to the Dr yesterday and although she told me what I already assumed, I'm happy I took him since it ruled out the possibility of allergies. Although the rash/blisters are difficult to see all over my precious little boy's face, I'm relieved it's not a long term issue.

As sort of a New Year's resolution I signed up for FlyLady which is a great website set up to encourage and challenge you each day to take control of your life through keeping your house clean and yourself on a routine. I mainly like the daily challenges and although I haven't been doing them exactly the way suggested I take bits and pieces and once I accomplish these tasks I feel so much better! Yesterday I thoroughly wiped down all of my exterior doors and windowsills (that I could reach). When I went outside after doing it I couldn't help but smile at my dust and cobweb-free doors. This morning I started the day with wiping down all of my kitchen cabinets. They're white and although didn't really appear dirty, once they got a good wipe-down they are sparkling! She says she wants your house to "hug" you when you walk in, and doing little things like these really make me feel loved when I walk in my house, which I guess is a good thing :)

Well I guess that's it for now. I promise I'll be back sooner than last time :)

I almost forgot!! Here's a link to Tom's blog, TomDraws check it out and follow him and leave comments :)

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Well, we've been in this house for almost 7 years and will be moved out by the end of this month. Read that sentence again...yes it happened that quickly for us also. This came as a surprise to us two weeks ago when our landlord stopped Tom outside on a Sunday afternoon and told him we'd have to start looking for a new place to live. We're pretty much the ideal tenants, but unfortunately his family is having some major issues that apparently will be resolved if his adult kids move back in with them. Yes, I am annoyed and bummed that it wasn't really our choice to move out of here. But, it's his house and he can do with it as he pleases, it just sucks that we had to find something so quickly because of their emergency. The day we found out we drove to Granada Hills and looked at 2 houses. If it were me by myself I probably would have signed a lease right then and there. Not because I loved, or even liked the place, just because I was stressed and didn't want to be homeless. Since Tom is pursuing his illustration we felt like it would be beneficial to be down near LA more. We looked at probably 25 houses from here in Simi Valley down to Montrose in the last two weeks. We decided that Burbank, Glendale and Montrose would be good options for us, and we happened to narrow it down to 3 homes, one in each city. We officially signed our new lease for the house in Burbank last night. We couldn't be happier with our decision. The house has almost everything we were wanting and is less than the other ones we had narrowed it down to. It's a duplex, but definitely feels like a single family home. It's in a quiet residential area, but still very close walking distance to a large library, 3 parks, the bank, stores, restaurants and coffee shops. It's only 4 miles from the LA Zoo where we have a family membership for this year. Plus, we're only about a mile and a half to Tom's parents house and 2 of his sisters. We are so sad to leave this house, but knew it would happen someday. It may as well be now since we're getting more and more cramped with all of Jack's things. I'm looking forward to having a separate room for Jack, as well as more storage space inside the house. At our current house we've been spoiled with a 2 car garage which will be downsized to a 1 car garage in the new place. We're overwhelmed, but kind of looking forward to getting rid of things that we don't need.

Right now they're doing some work on it: painting, replacing the toilet and screen doors and refinishing the original hardwood floors. We should be able to start moving in on Saturday the 19th, but don't need to be out of here until the 1st of April. We're planning on making this a pretty gradual move. I can't tell you how many times I've cried about leaving this house and all of the memories we've had here. One thing that I've had to keep in mind is that although we've built memories here, we'll take those memories with us and build new ones in the new house. Now that we actually have a place that we're excited about it definitely helps though. Pictures to come soon. As long as I remember that I even have this blog. :)

It's a New Year!

Man, I am slacking. I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted on here! We had an awesome Christmas and a relaxing new year's. Christmas Eve we went on a hike up Rocky Peak Trail here in Simi. We had amazing views at the saddle which is where we stopped and turned around. Tom says it's about 5 miles round trip. It was more of a climb than I expected which meant I was tired and cranky, but when we got to the top and got this amazing view, it made it more than worth it.

View at the saddle of Rocky Peak Trail in Simi Valley

Nursing my boy at the top

After the hike we spent Christmas Eve with my dad and stepmom and her family out in Santa Clarita. It was more low-key than past years, but it was really nice. Christmas morning we opened gifts at our place before heading to La Cresceta to have lunch with Tom's Grandparents. After that we headed over to Burbank to have dinner with his other grandparents. It sounds like a lot, but actually was very relaxing.

Christmas Morning at our House

Reading his new book with Daddy

All these new toys and he goes back to his giraffe!

I can't believe the munchkin is already 6 months old! It's true what everybody warned me about, it goes by way too fast! Here's our sweetie in his monthly photo shoot. :)

6 Months old on Christmas Day!

Loves feeding himself :)

We're heading to AZ on Thursday for my Mom's 50th birthday party! I'm so excited to see them again as well as the rest of my family. Tomorrow is my Mom's and Tom's birthday and Thursday is actually Kari's birthday! It's a very exciting week for our family. :)

Homemade

Last night for dinner we made some pasta, chicken and a salad. I made my first loaf of bread from scratch without using my bread maker. It actually came out really good and we got two loafs from the recipe which is nice. I used a recipe in an English cookbook I have. The bread is Oatmeal Bread and it has a slight sweetness to it, with very full flavors. I have to admit I'm pretty proud of it. Also, a few nights ago I made latkes from scratch for the first time. They tasted delicious but I didn't take a picture since they weren't the prettiest things I've made.

Oatmeal Bread

Our Complete Meal

Christmas Cards

So, I've been working on writing out our Christmas cards this year. I'm just sending out some store-bought cards I got last year after Christmas for a really good deal. We're writing a little note in each one, and also sending a picture of us from B and K's wedding. Jack is such a cutie patootie!!

Merry Christmas from Our Family!

Errands

Today I got an email from the library that the book I had sent over from another branch was in. Jack and I went and picked it up, then headed over to Kohl's to get some goodies. What book? (you may ask) The book is none other than Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth.
I've heard, and read rave reviews about this book and let me tell you, I'm willing to try anything at this point. I love my boy, but he's 5 months old now, and I'm ready to sleep through the night. I must admit, he's gotten a bit better the last week or so. He's been sleeping about 6 hours between feedings, but unfortunately still wakes up every couple hours for his pacifier. If he didn't sleep in our room I would probably just let him fall back asleep without it, but Tom has to work early in the morning and if Jack's screaming it will keep him up. I'm looking forward to hear what the Dr suggests, and not only want good sleep for me, but also the babe. I will write a review after I finish reading it and put some of his suggestions into place.

Today is my youngest brother's birthday!! He's 17 today and unfortunately lives in AZ with my Mom and stepdad so I can't celebrate in person with him. Happy birthday Alex!! Also, Jack is doing much better today. He isn't as congested and isn't having as difficult a time breathing while nursing.

Today when Tom came home from his lunch break I had him help me take Jack's 5 month picture on our front porch. Jack was actually 5 months last Thursday but with Thanksgiving and the wedding, we didn't get a chance to take a picture. Since I've done this every month, but just started this blog I'll post all the monthly pictures here so you can see his growth. Enjoy my cute boy! :)

One Month Old

Two Months Old
Three Months Old

Four Months Old

Five Months Old