You have a baby...in a bar?

We went to The Loft in Ballard to watch the Huskies. Unfortunately they lost, but we had a good time with friends. We brought Andy with us, and afterwards I kept thinking of the quote from Sweet Home Alabama. Although part of The Loft is a restaurant and it's okay to have babies there (we checked in advance), we were getting some looks.

Kyle and Car

Beks and me

Such a good influence...Uncle Allen

Sculpture Park

On a sunny Saturday, we met the Lentz's downtown. Don't be fooled - it still was FREEZING! We walked the waterfront, visited the flying fish, and enjoyed the sunshine. Andy had his first experience in his backpack.

At the Beach

Showing us where the "hairy shore crabs" are located. Our future Marine Biologist.

Ryan and Nick

Mollie, Callie, and Robbie - Nice natural smile Robs

Nice stick Callie : )

Robbie excited to be turning 3 in two days!

The Market

Watch out...here we come!Hang Loose Dude!

Nick hangin' out

Nice look Mol : )

Maggie and the cow Gotta love the Market flowers!Dads and their boysThe Lentz Crew

Visit from the cousins!

Maggie and Masin came over to play to give their mom, auntie B, a rest. Masin made sure to hand me everything that was within her reach...which was so sweet (she had such good intentions) and made me realize that our house will be re-decorated once Andy can walk. And I thought our house was "baby-proofed" - ha!

Maggie concentrating at her computerMasin showing Andy how to do "so big"Andy's response to "so big" - a stare into the camera. Not quite there yet : )

First Finger Food

Andy enjoyed his first official finger food - Gerber baby bites. It was pretty messy, but fun to watch!Cleaning up mid snackYUM!

Family Time

We spent Saturday night just hanging out. We have been busy lately, so it was nice to just put our sweats on and hang out with Andy and Henry.

The Boys

Enjoying the sunshine...

Andy was having fun sitting in his personalized chair (thanks Kings!) and taking in the sunshine... and then was ready for nap...

7 Months

I can't believe how quickly this past month flew by. Andy is at the 7 month mark! He is so fun with his laughing, silly facial expressions, belly scoot, and leg thumps. He has a new love for reading (being read to). I think he just likes to be able to grab at the pages as he seems to love grabbing at ANYTHING. He loves to "talk", meaning babble noises in all sorts of ranges. His laughter is infections. I think his laughter is Kyle's and my favorite attribute about him right now, and I think we have hours of footage of the video camera of Andy laughing. Now, Andy thinks Henry is funny, and just looks over at Henry and starts laughing.

Andy also is pretty opinionated about his food. He LOVES bananas and HATES peas. When he is done eating, he lets you know by making raspberries with a mouth full of food. This means carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas...everywhere. Once that is established, he laughs. "Spray and Wash" has become a staple in our house.

Lastly...Andy finally has graduated from baby poops to what we call "human poops" (solid and stinky!). Sorry if this is TMI, but being first time parents, these observations become part of our regular conversation. It's amazing how babies process food so quickly...carrots for breakfast, big orange human poop mid-day and an orange tush to prove it. And, when one of us comes home from work, it seems like the first thing we talk about is...oh my gosh, he had the biggest poop today (like it's a surprise). Enough about that topic : )

Andy continues to love to jump or stand whenever he gets the chance. His jolly jumper still is his favorite, and if we try to get him to sit up, he goes straight to standing. He is a happy boy and makes us laugh, smile, and appreciate the simple things in life.

The observations we receive about his looks...he has his mom's lips and eye color and there's something about his cheeks that are like mom...but everything else is dad.

Celebrating Baby Warme #3

Last night we celebrated Betsy! She is such a good mom to her girls, and she soon will be a mom to her baby boy. I forgot to get my camera out, but pulled out a list that Betsy gave me for my first Mothers' Day. It was a great reminder for me, and great advice from the expert!

"What I've Learned as a Mom"

*Try not to compare yourself to other moms.

*Don't be too hard on yourself.

*Seek out the strengths in your child rather than focusing on what he/she doesn't do or doesn't have.

*Try to spend quality time with your child each day. Turn off the phone, tv, computer, etc. Just play : )

*Hug, kiss and tell your child you love him every day.

*Everything takes longer with kids - except going to the bathroom. That gets cut in half : )

*Try to NEVER take your children for granted. Life with children and family is the most precious thing.

*Trust your instincts.

*Have a lot of faith...in yourself, in God, in your husband.

*Make your relationship a huge priority. It's the foundation of your family and provides stability for your children.

*Have a sense of humor and try to roll with the punches. Most of the time your days don't go as planned.

Bets, thanks for the words of wisdom and for giving us a reason to celebrate!

Back to Work...

Yep, March is here, and I am back to work at EY. Yesterday was my first day back, and today I am "off" and resuming my job as mom. There are so many emotions with heading to the corporate world again. I felt like it was my first day of school...the night before I double checked my alarm was set (hadn't set the alarm in awhile), my computer bag was ready to go, my pump was set and ready to be used. In the morning, Andy still was sleeping before I left...which was hard, but I don't think it would have been easy to "hand him over" if he had been awake.

Kyle decided it was important to document my first day back...so he pulled the camera out as I headed out the door. Yes, I took the bus, which made me feel even more in my "work" role. Luckily, Kyle was able to work from home and watch Andy, which made heading into the office a lot easier. I now officially can check off my first day back - and when all is said and done, I am more appreciative of the time I spend with Andy, and appreciative of the opportunity to work part-time in this wonderful economy.