Knitting for October

Ya...I knit constantly. I think I have a problem. 

I made these monster feet for Ashton! The only bummer thing about it is after they were all finished, they barely fit him! Who knew my little guy had such big feet?! I want to make them again and just use a bigger sized needle to make them a little bigger because they are just so darn cute on! I have to build up some stamina for it, though, because although they were really fun and relatively easy, it's impossible to see any mistakes with that furry yarn so I had to knit a few before I got it exactly right.

Here's Ash in the "sea monkey" baby hat I knitted for him when he was first born :) It's starting to get a little small already so I may resort to making another one of these as well! It's hard keeping up with a growing baby! He looks so cute in it though!

I actually JUST finished this hat tonight for my niece Chloe for Christmas! She's turning 10 in November and some days she's a tomboy while other days, she slowly dips into wearing things like pink :) I thought this was absolutely perfect for her! I can't wait to give it to her! It was really fun and super easy!

Bubba Burgers

I'm really prone to headaches so every once in a while, when I get a bad migraine, I'm not able to make dinner like I had planned. Our solution? Bubba burgers!!! They are absolutely amazing! They come frozen and all you do is throw them on the grill as is (still frozen). They take about 15 minutes to cook and are honestly some of the best burgers I've ever had. If you find them in your grocery store, please try them! :) They even have low fat ones or ones that come with different spices and flavoring. They're our fall back on those nights where dinner falls through.

Ashton's first visit to the pumpkin patch!

My parents came to visit for about a week and a half which was so exciting! It was so sweet watching them bond with Ashton and see how much they enjoyed him and he enjoyed them! :) One of the things we did while they were here was take him to a little pumpkin patch! I know it was absolutely ridiculous because he will never remember it but I just wanted to do it as a little family outing and if anything, to get pictures of him with all the pumpkins in the background. He pretty much slept through almost the entire thing but we had fun anyway :)

Always has his hands out :)

All the baby pumpkins were so cute! 

They had a thing where you could see how tall you were and mark your height and I thought it was too funny not to put him up next to it hahaha 

I just love his little ghost hat on him!

Ash and his Grammy :)

With his Mama

On occasion, Ashton likes to suck his thumb (never for any real length of time). The funny thing about it is even when we would get ultrasounds, he always had his hands in his face. He does the same thing now...his hands are always spread out somewhere across his face so it's fitting that he sucks his thumb with a flared hand (instead of a fist) hahaha I always love it when he does that! 

The three of us! :)

2 Month Baby!

I can't even believe it but Ashton is already two months as of Oct. 21! I can't even believe how quickly time is flying! It amazes me every day how quickly he's developing and growing! One of the things that really blows me away is how early he's doing some things. He can completely hold his head up now and has been able to for a few weeks!

He also rolled over for the first time a few weeks ago!! It was soooo cute! I couldn't believe he had done it so early but he did! He was on his back on our bed with his head propped up on a pillow and I layed down to the side of the pillow. He loves to cuddle so as soon as I layed down, he high-tailed it and rolled from his back onto his tummy which put him snuggled right at my chest. Within seconds, he had his eyes closed ready to go to sleep! It was so adorable that his motivation to roll over was to snuggle! :) I thought he had been close for a few weeks because he had been rolling on his side a lot but it just shocked me when he rolled so fast over to me!

Here's a pic of me and Ash napping on our first day home from the hospital! :) 

I cannot wait until he starts really smiling! He's SO close! He keeps doing these little half smiles that makes me think he's smiling but I just feel like a big smile is coming soon! About two weeks ago, he was passed out on my lap and started smiling and then was laughing in his sleep! It was sooo funny! I had never seen anything like it and it just cracked me up. He laughed for about 5 seconds straight. I'd love to know what in the world he was dreaming about that he found so funny! I'm not sure why he can smile and laugh in his sleep but hesitates when he's awake but I just can't wait for that one good first laugh :)

One of my favorite things he started doing is his baby chatter. He LOVES lights and anything that moves (mobiles, ceiling fans, etc.). He makes all these sweet cooing noises and talks to things in his baby talk. It's so funny to listen to because some days, he'll just be going nuts! One of the things he does it to the most is his floor gym. He talks to the flashing lights, the toys dangling off it, and even himself in the mirror!

I started noticing a few weeks ago that he's REALLY into his mirror. It's so funny to think that he thinks that's another baby in there! It's so sweet to watch him stare at himself forever. He thinks he's the sexiest baby out there! :) hahaha

Loves that paci :)

He has become QUITE the cuddlebug these days. I always said I would never let my kid be in bed with me but I absolutely cannot help it! I LOVE cuddling with him! I do make him sleep in his bed until early morning but then I let him come cuddle in bed with my for a few hours. The second I put him in our bed, I lay him on his back on my pillow and he immediately rolls over and buries himself in my neck and passes out. It's so sweet I don't think I can give it up!

One big development, though, is that he is finally in his crib! He had been sleeping in his pack'n'play in our room and I was getting really used to being able to wake up in the middle of the night and look over to see him (I'm REALLY attached to my baby hahaha). But I started noticing that he wasn't liking the pack'n'play mattress very much so I moved him into his room in his big boy crib which really needed to happen soon anyway. He's a happy camper in there! He loves all the colors and shapes on his bumper pads and sheets so it's nice to put him in his crib and watch him look around and feel like he enjoys being in there. Thankfully, we have one of the most amazing baby monitors on the planet (with video!). Otherwise, there's no way I would be able to be away from him. Anytime I wake up, I can look over and see him in the monitor so I feel pretty good about that. It's hard but it needed to happen. (Just imagine what a mess I'll be when he goes away to college! Geez.) He's sleeping great at night too! I've been SO lucky with this. Starting a little after he was a month old, he sleeps for about 7-8 hrs at a time. I usually feed him once before I go to bed and then once early in the morning around 8am and that's it! Getting my sleep is something I definitely did NOT expect and have really come to appreciate because I'm thinking my next little munchkin won't be as convenient. Can I really get that lucky twice??

Over the last week or so, my stomach has been bothering me (not sure why) so he's been temporarily on formula because my milk was hurting his tummy, too. One not so fun development? Formula diapers. Yuck. That's all I'm gonna say on that subject. Besides the fact that I just can't wait to go back to breast feeding because I miss it sooo much, I won't miss those nasty diapers!

Little stinker :)

He's growing so quickly. It makes me so sad! He has his two month shots coming up next week too and I'm absolutely dreading it. I just can't stand the thought of anything making him cry. :( Hopefully it'll be quick and he won't even notice! I may have to post an entry about how traumatized we both were by his first set of shots :( Ahhh!

Bath Time is Bonding Time!

One great thing I've learned to appreciate about Ashton is how much he loves his baths! I know some babies love it while others absolutely hate it! I'm lucky enough that bath time for Ashton and I has become our calming part of the night. When he's cranky and tired, I like giving him a bath if he needs one because he gets so into it! While he screams when I strip him of his clothes and diaper, the second he hits that water, it's heaven and he goes into these sweet cooing noises. Something about the warm water just puts him in the best mood and gives us the opportunity to "chat." :)

This is the time where I make sure I talk to him alot because I know he's listening and I feel like it's a good time for him to develop more awareness of his senses. I've noticed that while he "chatters," he's looking around at everything and feeling the water with his hands. It's really special to get to watch him discover new things and enjoy something so simple that stimulates his senses.

After his bath, he usually cries for those 3 seconds when I transport him from the tub to his towel and then I lotion him up! I lay him on our bed covered in his towel, give him his pacifier, and talk to him while I lotion him. His favorite part is when I get to his feet - he gets a little baby foot massage! I just go up and down the bottom of his feet with my thumb and he LOVES it! He flexes and curls his feet every time I go up and down them and just keeps making his happy noises. It is so sweet! After all that, he gets his diaper and his jammies and he's a happy camper! It almost always soothes him if he's in a bad mood (I know, you can't imagine that, right??! lol!)

While I always thought giving a baby a bath was going to kind of be just one of those extra things in your day you HAVE to do that takes up time, I've quickly learned to enjoy it and even look forward to it on some days! I know Jordan is looking forward to the time when Ashton takes his baths in the big tub with a ton of toys and plays and splashes but for now, I'm enjoying the bonding time we get for these little one-on-one baths. :)

Mompetition

A friend of mine recently sent me this hysterical video through email:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikvcS3Oe-oA&feature=player_embedded

After watching it several times, I just realized that the person who created this video referred to it as "mompetition" and "mompetitors." I thought that was one of the greatest terms I had ever heard because I have realized that one of the curses from having kids is occasionally having that one insane person around you who wants to turn motherhood into a constant competition!

Mompetition is something I unfortunately had a horrible experience with very early on in my pregnancy. Shortly after announcing my pregnancy, a friend of mine became incredibly jealous and quickly scrambled to become pregnant as well. While it should have been the happiest time in our lives and something we could share with eachother, she thrived for mompetition between our unborn children! While I was further along than she was, she saw it as a losing battle for her which quickly made her crazy and ultimately, ended our friendship. As you can imagine, it was ruining the joys of my pregnancy. I can't imagine it wasn't ruining the joys of hers as well which is why I struggle to understand why she wanted to live that way to begin with! Months later, while she is still pregnant, I keep hearing tidbits of her poisoning mutual friends and obsessively trying to find out information about me through other people. Why her mompetition is getting the best of her is beyond me but it fascinates me. In the end, she is only failing to see that while she should be enjoying one of the most precious times in her life, she is too busy looking at someone else through jealous eyes and she will never get this time back. When she looks back on her pregnancy, all she will remember is her psychotic and obsessive behavior! It's honestly sad because she may even begin to miss out on her child's life if she continues this with other moms.

Mompetition is such a curse but something that's easy to fall into which is why I found this video absolutely hysterical. It is so incredibly accurate! While this video made me laugh at how crazy some people can get, it also reminded me to savor absolutely every single second of Ashton's life! If I had not chosen to distance myself, I would have been allowing someone else to ruin my own pregnancy. Without that unnecessary, childish drama, I was able to remember my pregnancy as one of the happiest times in my life! I honestly cannot wait to be pregnant again because it was such an amazing experience!

It also ruins another joy in life which is having mom friends to share things with! I absolutely LOVE the fact that I'm not the only mom among my friends! Having people who share helpful tips with me and give me ideas for better ways to do things has been amazing! I love the fact that I have several moms I can go to and ask how they did certain things or how they dealt with little problems babies have. It also has become such a great support system and has been so exciting to see their babies grow up!

It has given me so much to look forward to in Ashton's life! One friend of mine texted me the other day and told me that her little boy had just taken his first crawling step! I was so excited for her and her little guy, I felt as if he was my baby! Sharing in her happiness was so much fun and I was so proud of him! Another friend of mine was telling me how her little boy was just starting to try out different vegetables and which ones he liked! Hearing her pride and the excitement of his development was so special and gave me so much to look forward to. Facebook has also given me several opportunities to see friends' babies being born and to be able to share in their excitement as they, too, enter into new parenthood! It makes us feel closer as our babies grow up together! Being a mom with other moms is only a stressful, crazy thing if you make it and if you do, it's really a shame because there is so much to enjoy in it!

God gave us one life! So enjoy it, and laugh! Enjoy the video above and if you're a mom, remember that compulsively comparing notes to other moms only ruins your own experiences and takes away from a time in your childrens' lives you will never get back!

When I'm not laughing at this video, remember I'm up to my eyelashes in diapers!