Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hello Handsome!


Thomas is 4 months now! (He's actually 4 months, 1 week and 3 days- but who's counting?) Wow does time fly or what??!

I got this little outfit for him in January and I kept saying, he can wear this now! No one believed me though! Well here he is one month later and he really fills this out well! The little pants are starting to get snug around his tummy.

So, I've never been really good at doing a "here's what baby's doing" report but here goes my best shot!

At 4 months Thomas is really showing his personality. He's laid back but playful. He loves to stare and observe everything. He gets fussy but usually it's only when he's ready to eat and I don't get to him fast enough.

Month 3 was a bit rough for him. He started having colic-like behavior. He would be up all day wanting to be held and he wouldn't really nap well. Finally, I asked the doctor if he could have reflux and/ or a small food sensitivity. Sure enough, it seems like Thomas has both! I have been working on narrowing down what foods tend to make him fussier. It's a bit tricky to do but I think I've figured out that chocolate is one big culprit. I believe my little cake balls really did him in (I really only had a few bites...) So, I have found out that even just a half of a Reese's cup will make him a little fussy! Sometimes a girl just has to have her chocolate though! As for the reflux, it's pretty mild so I'm just taking it a day at a time.

Thomas took his first bottle last week! I had some milk saved up for him, but he never really could get the hang of the bottle. Typically babies won't take a bottle from their mommies but so far, he's only really taken the one I offered. Boy did he enjoy it! :)

Speaking of his eating... I was told that we could go on and start feeding him solids. It's really important for me to nurse Thomas as long as I can, so I want to hold him off a bit. Introducing solids is the first step towards weaning. I'm not sure how long we'll nurse... I'll let him tell he when he's ready. For now, he's a bit sensitive to things I'm eating and he's content to nurse, so we're delaying solids a bit longer. Although, that probably won't fly much longer for my little piglet!
At his last doctor's appointment he was 25 1/2" long and weighed 15 pounds 7 ounces! Although, that was a few weeks ago and I'm just positive t
hat he's hit another growth spurt!

Thomas HATES his tummy time!! I'm not going to lie- I've been absolutely terrible about giving it to him! I'm a big baby and can't stand upsetting him when I don't have to though! The last time I really tried to "enforce" tummy time, it ruined his entire day! Instead, he prefers to spend his time sitting up or standing! He's actually gotten pretty good at sitting up! He'll sit propped up for a bit! I know it won't be long before he's sitting on his own!


Thomas is a great sleeper! His third month was a little different. He started taking shorter naps during the day but then he'd sleep all night. It's a little difficult not having time to myself during Anna-Kate's naps, but I can't complain because I am getting to sleep all night! He normally will fall asleep around 8 or 9 and he will wake up around 5 or 6 to eat. Then he goes right back to sleep for another hour or two- depending on how loud big sis is! Lately his naps have gotten a little longer during the day though- about two hours long!

Derek and I just are so blessed to have such a beautiful baby! (Well two!) I'm so grateful that Thomas is such a calm, laid back little guy! The last month was tough but we got through it and hopefully we can avoid most of his fussiness by adjusting my diet! I'm so grateful for him and Anna-Kate. They have taught me so much about love. Anna-Kate is absolutely the best big sister ever! She loves to hold and kiss on him!



Our life would be pretty boring with out children!!


Friday, February 19, 2010

I'm So Blue-hoo-hoo...


I don't know what to do!

Anna-Kate got sent home with a note a few weeks ago saying that she hit two children! Not only that but one was with a doll and the other was with a bucket! So, after getting a few words of wisdom from my Grandmother I decided to look for a video on sharing. I found a Veggie Tales movie on love. It talks about loving your neighbors, family and God.

Anna-Kate especially loves the Madame Blueberry story. She's really gotten into singing the little song too! The other day I decided to break out the camera and guess what- you're very lucky because she didn't belt the song at the top of her lungs! She got a little camera shy, so you have to listen closely to actually hear her sing it. I think the funniest part are her expressions!


Here are a few pictures of Anna-Kate and Thomas enjoying the movie together!






Saturday, February 13, 2010

Bee My Valentine

I have been reading some really cute food blogs. My favorite treat blog is bakerella.com. If you have not checked her out, you should stop reading this and look around her blog. Well, maybe check it out after you read this post. :) Bakerella makes lots of goodies, but the thing that really stands out in my mind are the cake balls. I had never seen such cute little things and they didn't intimidate me too bad! So, for Thanksgiving I made two sets of turkey cake pops. They were really cute, but probably not the easiest for this first timer.

A couple of weeks ago I started planning a Valentines treat to send my sister. I instantly thought of the cake pops. I checked out her blog for some ideas but I decided that I wanted to try to make bumblebees.

First, I made the cake balls. I used a dark chocolate cake mix and just some standard chocolate icing in a tub. You can find Bakerella's directions here. While I waited on my cake balls to be ready to dip, I made the faces of my bees.

My sister loves Junior Mints and since they are flat, I thought that they would make perfect faces! Then I just used some halloween sprinkles I had in my pantry for the eyes. I used white chocolate to secure the eyes. I also used the white chocolate to draw the mouths on with a toothpick. (Toothpicks are your friend when it comes to cake balls.)


I just played around making the faces, trying not to worry about the imperfections!


I had 2 very good helpers!



What happens when you run out of black sprinkles?? The eyes get colorful and you get creative!!

When I told these bumble bees they were going to Nashville, they were starstruck!


Not convinced? Neither was Thomas...


Okay, now onto the cake balls! So, I pulled the cake balls out of the freezer and melted my chocolate. Then dipped them according to the directions and immediately stuck in the wings. (I didn't do the wings on my first few ones and they cracked when I put them in after the chocolate hardened.) The wings were just sugar hearts. Derek actually spotted them!


Don't worry about the mess around the cake balls. Bakerella suggests using a toothpick to score the bottom of the cake ball so that it breaks away from the chocolate drippings easily.


Now, I let mine cool before I added the yellow "stripes" and the heads and stingers. I found that worked the easiest. I melted white chocolate and then I added yellow food coloring to it. When I added the food coloring it changed the texture of the chocolate, but it was fine. I scooped the yellow into a freezer bag and cut the corner off. I was able to pipe the stripes on. If I was more patient, I think my stripes would have looked better. I was just so excited about how cute they were looking that I went quick. I think the imperfections make them cute...


Okay, okay, those are messy stripes but let's not dwell!

Moving on, all that's left is to attach the head and then the little stingers. I used chocolate chips for some whimsical stingers. Or just because that's what my husband suggested and I didn't want to hurt his feelings... you pick. Either way, they were a cute touch. I used my leftover chocolate to stick the heads and stingers on and for some minor repairs.



That's it!! If I can do it, anyone can! I think they are adorable. Derek thinks I got a little too into them when I wound up having a little story for all of them. Hey- it happens!


Excited about Nashville! Opps, looks like I need to fix the red-eyes! :) hehe...

Okay, maybe a little carried away, but I couldn't resist!


L.O.V.E


Blurry, but here you can see the little stinger!


How can you resist??!!

I know I couldn't...


Mmmm... so good!!

So good my 2 1/2 year old chocolatier snuck into the fridge to eat one while I was in the shower!


HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!


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