Made From Scratch

So, I did manage to be slightly home-maker-ish during this holiday season....

Even though we had a great Thanksgiving with family, we bought a little turkey breast and cooked it the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Two days later I decided I wanted to learn how to make Turkey soup. I've only ever had it once, and it was scrumptious! So I figured I could do it, right?

Matt's family had a Cream Chicken Noodle recipe that is really yummy. So I kinda merged that recipe and the one from allrecipes(dot)com. Pretty much, followed allrecipes(dot)com, but added 2 cans of Cream of Chicken and half a can of evaporated milk. And my friend Lindsey recommended cooking the noodles first so that they don't soak up all the broth. So I did half broth, half water to pre-cook the noodles.

Matt loved it! And he's been asking if I'll make it again! Hopefully, I can make it just as yummy next time!


My efforts:

The broth is done, one bowl is onions and the other is the bones that are cooling.



The final product!

5 and 6 months

Well, 5 months came and went.

It was all about being propped up. He loved looking around from a different perspective. He also enjoyed his first Halloween and first vacation. On our vacation my friend mentioned we should try to put Reid to bed earlier, and after a couple days of him waking up in the night, it worked! He now happily sleeps 8-10 at night, and then eats for like 10 mins, and sleeps for another 1-3 hours. It is bliss! I actually get some sleep! However, it is hard because now I stay up late getting stuff done! haha.

Reid was getting slightly more mobile in his 5th month... but wasn't doing much about it. He could roll from his back to his stomach, but he had enough control to get 1 leg over but stay sideways on his shoulder, so he could go back to his back.

He started doing the hand to mouth with his toys... I knew I'd be fighting to keep things out of his mouth soon.

I got a view, I got my toy, I'm good!

Oh no, I lost it.

Almost there...

What the ?

Ah, nuts!

6 months...
has been about sitting up on our own, rolling both ways, and getting around. I can't tell you how many times he has escaped the blanket that we put him on. He mostly moves when he spins, but sometimes rolling (both from back to front and front to back) and leg kicking are assistants in the mobility.

He's been a real joy these last 2 months, his belly laugh is terrific and he always has a smile for mom. He has gotten to know Daddy better this month too, and loves him very much! Reid even prefers Dad to feed him cereal.

He is completely a hand to mouth boy. He lunges for whatever he wants to get his hands on. He even bonked his head on my laptop trying to escape my lap and suck on the keyboard.

We've also starting playing the pick-up game. He just loves learning all about gravity!

We've now tried Squash, Carrots, and Sweet Potatoes, he seems to love squash and sweet potatoes... but the carrots are not the favorite. He'll eat them, but puts up a fuss.

And just like his mother... he's going for the Eegee's. (yes, I gave him a tiny bit, it was cherry cider flavor, and he liked it, but isn't sure about the cold factor, yet)

Peek-a-boo is a favorite as well. But sometimes he plays it with us. If there is a blanket of any kind in his crib, he puts it over his face to sleep. I freaked out the first few times, but now I just know to go back and check on him and make sure he can get air.

Where's Reid?

There he is!

4 months

So this post is 2.5 weeks late.... better late than never, right?


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Ok, I'm in shock that I have a kid who is 4 months old. It has gone so fast, and yet, it hasn't. He is up to so many things this month.

He officially can roll over from his back to his stomach. However, he hasn't quite figured out how to shimmy his arm out from under him. So he's there on his stomach, with one arm under him, and he just tries to kick or pushes off the ground with his feet. He loves to roll to his side though, because then he can get closer to his toys.

He has become extremely observant. He stares at all sorts of things. If it is colorful he wants to look at it, and lets me know if he doesn't get enough time to look at something.

He, of course, loves to be held, and has become quite the snuggler. Heavenly Father knew I wanted a baby who would snuggle... I just love those moments. When he gets up from his nap he's usually pretty happy, but likes to cuddle into my shoulder until he fully wakes up.... I LOVE IT!

He has really started to become a smiley kid. He smiles at everyone who talks to him. He laughs tons when we play with him. And one time my 4 year old nephew got him to really crack up. I mean he was full blown laughing. It was the funniest thing.

His legs are very strong, and he loves to stand. I kinda think he's getting interested in being able to move... but we still need more tummy time.

He also gets cranky if he doesn't get a good amount of floor time. I think he likes the chance to stretch and play. He also spins during this time. He's been doing that for a while, but I don't think I documented it last time.

He is strong enough to pull the pull string toy that is on his car seat... which is good, cuz we are about to take a road trip.

However, the little stinker went from sleeping 8-9 hours to sleeping 6-7 hours. So we tried a little rice cereal. It went way better than I thought it would. He kinda looked at us like, what the heck? But then after about 10 tries he swallowed some of it! It was all very exciting stuff. I was so proud. We did it twice so far, but he got really constipated, not sure if that was the rice or just what I ate. (I kinda think it was me) But we laid off for a bit, so that he could get it out. We'll probably start back up soon!

"I'm ready!"

"This is different."

"Take it out, take it out!"

When he is super cranky, the one thing that does calm him down is going outside to watch the dogs. They really love to chase each other around, and Reid tracks them, even when they are going pretty speedy. Since he is also learning to reach and grab things. We've been "teaching" him to pet the dogs. Last night was hilarious, he grabbed onto their hair and just hung on. Luckily near of them seemed to mind.


The most common thing I hear about him is, "He is such a happy baby!" I'm so grateful for Reid, I know we are so blessed to have him. And I'm grateful for his smiles, they bring so much joy to my life.

The official 4 month picture

(I was quite impressed with my photography skills)

Just When I Thought It was Safe to Go Back to High School

So this weekend, we went to a high school football game to see my brother-in-law be official and stuff... he's the new assistant vice-principal.

And I was sitting there thinking, "man it is so nice to finally sit here, confident in my geekiness to not even care what everyone around me is thinking..."

Yeah, well, guess what!? I may have self confidence in who I am... but I still CAN'T walk!

Are my cheeks really that fat?

Ok, so everyone tells me how much Reid looks like me. And I just can't help but wonder if I have fat cheeks. See Reid's pictures below.

3 months

Well, since I'm doing a terrible job at writing in my journal, I'm using my blog to track Reid's moments:

Batting at toys

Grabbed a dish or two in mom's hands

Grabbing rings and toys (held on it his pacifier in his sleep for about a half hour, so cute!)

Loves to sing to songs with hand motions

Sleeping 8-9 hours at night

Doubled his birth weight

Chews/sucks on his fingers and thumbs

Too big for the head rest in his car seat

Goes down for sleep peacefully (after a very hard few days of letting him cry it out) (Except for when he's acting like he's teething... hahaha!)

Very ticklish

Sits up propped with pillows

Has taken a toy to his mouth after grabbing it (not sure if this was on accident, haven't seen it again)
Weighs 14 lbs+

Tries to sit up in his car seat (looks like he's doing little crunches)

He's growing fast! He's such a happy boy, but I'm wondering if he is indeed teething. He doesn't like to chew on the teething rings I have... but he does LOVE to chomp on my fingers.

You have to document these moments!

Too cute for words

Here is Reid's super cute church outfit. Yeah, the sweater is too big, and the label says 9 months, but eh, it still looks super cute. :)

His official 3 month picture!

Oh, and his chunki-ness moved to his arms.

Challenges...

So Reid is having a hard week... I'm not sure what it is, and of course the timing is wonderful, with me going back to work part-time next week.

So he was sleeping through the night and had sort of regular nap times... But then this weekend we had fun doing different things, and being productive... So his nap times got thrown off.

Anyways. Today he was so tired after eating at his normal late morning time... so I put him down an hour after eating (normally he goes for 1.5 hours or more before getting tired). Then he wakes up screaming with less than an hour of sleep (normally sleeps for 1.5-2 hours). I pick him up and he still doesn't calm down. Finally standing in the hallway looking at some pictures he starts to calm down. We leave that spot, and he's upset again. Eventually I did get him calmed down, but I had to hold him tight and keep walking or rocking him.

I checked his gums, and no signs of teeth yet. Could he be having bad dreams? What can you do for that?
I just wonder if its that, because he woke up in the middle of the night last night, and then cut his nap way short today. Then just now when I went to put him down, he was upset about it. Which he didn't used to do. Course, he's so exhausted cuz he's been awake for almost 4 straight hours, that he did crash pretty quickly. But could it be dreams? Or am I imagining it?