Shopping Spree

Today was a perfect day to shop because it was rainy and chilly. So I did a little shopping for me (my first swim suit purchase post baby) and a lot of shopping for Lane. I have been in the market for swim trunks for him seeing we have a few trips to the beach planned that are fast approaching. We are going with Lacey in April and we are celebrating his b-day at the beach with our family in August. I most recently booked a long weekend in Myrtle Beach for Matt, Lane, and I! Our first family trip! Myrtle Beach is coming up in March so I figured I better get shopping.

The trunks are a little big, but they're from Baby Gap people and they WEREN'T on sale....but I did use the gift card he received from Nonie for Christmas....but still, I hate buying stuff from there when it isn't on sale...he just grows out of stuff so fast! But hopefully these will get him through the summer. I also found a hat to protect his precious bald head and perfect complexion. I may be going back for the surfer shirt to match and the outfit will be complete!







Oh and the hat is reversible so this is the other side....cute little turtles...my favorite!

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Saving Babies

You may have noticed I put a donation bar at the top of the page. Matt and I signed up to do the walk a few months ago and I got to thinking.....about every year at this time, my place of employment fundraises for the cause. Ever since I worked at Amcore Bank (I started when I was 19) we always fundraised for the March of Dimes. It was something as simple as paying $5 to wear blue jeans on Fridays. I also walked with my mom a few years in the Peru walk. That was way back in the day when it went all the way down past the Igloo...whew! that was a long walk!! Then onto Jefferson Elementary, where I taught Kindergarten in Pekin, we raised money for these babies. The last 3 years it has been at Bryson Elementary where we arranged a contest between classrooms to see who could raise the most money. My second graders would get so excited to know that their dollar was helping those tiny tiny babies.
This year, I don't have a place of employment so I thought I would set a goal of $50 and hopefully contribute that way, as well as participate in the walk with my baby! So many of us or people we know have been affected by premature births, babies born with birth defects, etc. What a great way to help these families out! If you're able, please consider donating just a dollar. I hope to reach my goal of $50 by April 25th! Thank you!

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Updates

The Gym
So taking him to the baby room at the gym, has been going well. Sometimes I come back to a snotty nose baby, which means he probably has been crying...but not when I get there, so that's good. Other times I come back to a very serious, inquisitive baby taking in all his surroundings or a very talkative baby who is laughing and playing in his seat. But you can bet most days I pick him up, he is in the arms of one of the ladies just watching all the kids from a safe distance....gee he's not my kid, is he now!?!?! My parents can attest, I was a cautious child and remain a cautious adult! ;-)
He sits up very well and seems to be able to hold his own, but he's one of the younger ones there that's able to play on the floor, so I think if there are too many older kids at that time, they don't want to put him down. But all in all, it's going well and I am able to fully complete a workout without having to worry too much!


STTN
So I don't want to jinx myself, but he has been doing great at night. All books I read say to establish a bedtime routine, which we have, since 3 weeks of age. I guess it's taken 6 months to see the benefits! He usually goes down between 7:30 and 8 pm and wakes to eat between 5:30 and 6 am. I dreamfeed him at 10:30 and it has been very successful....running to knock on wood...It seems to hold him through the night and when he wakes in the morning, Matt can hear his stomach growling the whole way down the stairs! He's sooooo hungry at that time, that he can barely hold-off through a diaper change. Matt brings him to our bed and I feed him...laying down...he eats for a long time and then we can sleep until 7 or 8. It's great!
If he happens to wake up through any part of the night, I usually don't fully wake up in time to realize he is fussing before he goes back to sleep....so we are seeing some self-soothing techniques....it's about time!

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Ash Wednesday

Ok, this may be wrong....but it was his first Ash Wednesday so it was only right to go to church (and I happened to document the ashes he received on his forehead.) We attended the noon service and he was a very good boy in church. He even sang along with the music. He had the people around us giggling.




You can see his dimples in this one. He gets them from his Grandma Loret!







Mom! Enough already!!



Oh and I haven't really decided what I am giving up.....

Matt said he had two ideas for him....
1. SPEEDING (I laughed cause he drives like an old man) but he claims he "drives the heck out of his car to and from work." And he doesn't have the Grandpa truck anymore...he upgraded to a sophisticated Infiniti G35. We bought it 1 week before Lane was born.


2. TV-NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Totally against this one cause that would somehow involve me and I'm not ready for that sacrifice....I need my Regis and Kelly, Ellen, J&K+8, Bachelor (Yes, I am watching this season), American Idol....to name a few.


He said I was lame for not giving anything up so I told him I was giving up Facebook (he thinks I am on it all the time) and I am going to attend mass at least two mornings a week, not including Sunday. Mass is at 7am so this should be interesting!

Here are some of the things my family members are sacrificing.....pizza (we can all guess who that is, i told her she is gonna starve), alcohol (WHAT!?!?!?), sweets (bless you, Ali)...I guess they are all better than I am. Please say a prayer for me.

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Bed time routine

Lane's FAVORITE time of the day is bathtime. It happens *almost* every night before bed. Our night time routine goes like this:

*5:30-6 pm Matt comes home and plays with Lane and then gives him some cereal and veggies.
*This is the time I usually start dinner.
* After cereal/veggies, they either play, if its not too late, or start bathtime.
* If Lane is getting cranky (after 6 pm is sometimes the witching hour) he immediately is calm when taken into the bathroom...I think its the water running. He knows what's about to come.
*Then its time for bath! He has loved it ever since he was a newborn.
*They laugh and talk and splash and have a good old time. It lasts until about the time Lane starts rubbing his eyes.
*Matt puts his lotion on him, gets him in his PJ's, and usually reads Goodnight Moon. We've done that since he was 3 weeks old.
*Then we go up to his room and if the eye rubbing hasn't started too much, we read some more books. Sometimes we read his John Deere Books from Mr. and Mrs. Full or The Hungry Caterpillar from Jackson.
*He usually sits really well when we read to him and if he doesn't we know its time for bed!
*Then we say our prayers and kiss him goodnight and he's ready for dreamland.

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And two emerged...

I finally managed to capture the top two teeth that have been paining him so. Really once they are finally through, he doesn't seemed too bothered by them. He is still chewing and drooling though so I think the teeth on each side of those are making there way through as well. Geez, by 8 months old he will be ready for steak!

P.S. OH and Lace was checking them out before they were all the way through and she said he was going to have a giant space between them....please tell me he won't have a giant space between them and as they grow down they will fill in :(

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A Sunday Afternoon Concert

Ever since Lane was in utero, he was VERY responsive to music. When we would sit in church and the organ would play and we would sing, he would do flips and turns and kicks in my stomach. It always made me smile. Our usual Saturday morning routine, when I was pregnant, was to hook my belly up to the Ipod and play music to McBaby. We played mostly classical, some jazz, and a little bit of Amos Lee. (I love Amose Lee)

Matt is pretty musically talented and now that Lane is here, he plays guitar to him a lot. I caught a concert yesterday and thought it was pretty cute. This is the first time Lane decided he wanted to be the singer. He's quickly learning who, in the band, receives the MOST attention!

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See how I've grown!

One week


One month




3 months




5 months




6 months

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My birthday

Yes, today I turned 28. From here on out we will be telling Lane that every year I am 28.....30 is just getting too close for me! It started off with breakfast in bed from Matt. Yummy pancakes....

Lane was still sleeping. He slept through the night again. He had a brief awakening, I think because of me, at 4 am. I went up to check on him and I stumbled in half asleep and flipped on the hall light which was a little too bright. Whoops! But I am still saying he slept all the way through because he was only up long enough for me to put in his paci. And I am working on sleeping through as well, I only awoke once last night (at 4am).

Matt ate pancakes with me in bed...in his work clothes..ha! ha! and Harley assumed his position at the side of the bed in case I happened to spill any. Lane woke just in time to say bye to Daddy. Oh and he made a nice smelly surprise in his diaper for Matt to take care of ;-) The rest of the morning was spent making baby food. I did peaches and pears last night and they were so yummy. (I had to taste test them). I froze them in ice cube trays and popped them out this morning and put them in Ziploc bags. I made apples, avocado, and carrots this morning. They were all really good and Lane had some apples with his cereal. They taste so good and fresh and he loved them!

I received countless cards and got money from my parents and Nonie and Grampa. Lace and Ty each threw $50 into the Bahamas fund. (We are saving for a trip the 4 of us can go on and putting away money for all b-day/Christmas presents.) I got a really sweet picture frame (from Loret and Ed) with a picture of Lane and all the Grandparents that said "Grandparents hold our hand for a while, but our hearts forever" and a beautiful Pandora bracelet (Sasso), with a charm of a little boy, both from Loretta and Ed. I love it and already started my wish list at http://www.pandora-jewelry.com/US/PublicWishlist.aspx?ProfileId=8537468e-2e37-4907-a7dc-ba2b28a2fe51&Sid=34a602d8-b394-4c5f-aaf4-a4a34ed7f022&receiver There are so many cool charms...those are a few that caught my eye!

My new Pandora bracelet with little boy charm. (Goes nice w/my Lane bracelet that Mom and Lace made that I got for Christmas.)

I also got a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure from Matt and Lane and Harley too. That was MUCH appreciated and will surely be used. I believe the last time I got a mani and pedi was one week before Lane was born.

We ended the night shopping and then to dinner at Red Robin...I know it's not fancy or glamorous, but it's really kid-friendly and I was craving a burger and a shake for dessert! I'd say a pretty perfect 28th b-day.

Pretty happy baby for being 10 pm...only about 2 hours past his bedtime!

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Maddie and Max

I've been meaning to post this.....it's some more pictures from our trip home. Lane also spent some time with Uncle Scott, Aunt Melissa, Maddie and Max, as well as Great-grandpa George.

He always finds Grampa george so fascinating. I have a similar picture from the last time we were home. So cute!

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STTN

An abbreviation you probably aren't familiar with unless you frequent thebump.com. It's a baby website that I found through theknot.com (weddings) and thenest.com (newly weds) STTN means SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT and that's what Lane did last night. He slept 11 straight hours. Didn't wake once, didn't make a peep. I know most of you are like "so what, he's 6 months old," but my 6 month old has NEVER slept through the night. I think I faintly remember him sleeping 6 hours straight one night when he was like 2 months old and little did I know that was the last time he would be doing that!
Now I don't want to jinx myself and if this isn't going to be his habit, I just want to thank him for a full nights sleep that I haven't had since August 1st because at midnight on August 2nd I went into labor and was up all night. Then Lane was born at almost noon the next day and since then, well you know what my nights have been like! So let's recap the day and see if I try to repeat it today, if tonight will be as successful:

-7am Lane woke up and ate.
-We played until 7:45 and I put him down for a nap.
-He slept until 10:00.
-I got him dressed and we headed for the pedi.
-He received 4 shots (Oh no! I hope he didn't sleep so well because of the shots!!!)
-We ran to Target and then to Old Navy (Ahh Yes! I shopped, guess shopping wears him out!! That can be a good thing, now I just have to convince Matt...)
-We got home arouns 2 and I put him down for a nap after feeding him.
-He slept 2:30-5:30.
-Fed him when he got up and we read a few books then sang a few songs.
-Then he played in his Exersaucer, while I read Twilight.
-Matt got home and played with him, then gave him a bath.
-He got out and played on the floor and went to bed around 8.
-I started dream-feeding him (feed him while he's sleeping), so I did that at 10:30.
-I woke up at 1:30...Lane still sleeping.
-I woke Matt at 3:30, he checked...Lane still sleeping.
-Matt left at around 7 this morning and as he closed the door I heard someone start to talk in their crib.
-Went upstairs....smiley, well-rested Lane!

We're off to meet Matt for lunch and then to Whole Foods for some organic fruits and veggies...I am going to take a stab at making Lane some baby food. :-)

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6 month Well Check

My growing boy is 17.4 lbs. and 28 inches long. He is in the 85th percentle for length and only in the 30th percentile for weight, but you would think by looking at his thighs he was much heavier! He received 4 shots including a flu shot and the roto virus oral stuff he's been taking since 2 months. Dr. said all looks good and that Lane is the most handsome boy she's ever seen! I kinda think so too, but I am partial. :-) I still have to get his professional 6 month pics...I know, I know, I am a little behind, but I have taken the one next to Daddy's guitar that I try to do every month. It's fun to see the growth progress in comparison to the guitar. I'll post those sometime soon.

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Valentine's Day with Lane and Luca

If you don't think this is cute....then there is something wrong with you! This is actually modeled after a picture of Geno and I around this age, but of course I am crying (as always) and Geno is just chilling (as usual) next to me. Some things never change!

Mom, Luca is my Valentine too!

Oh ok, you want me to look over there.

Umm, she's falling, can someone help us out here?!?!

There you go Luca, now just stay right there.

Pretty girl.

Mom, I know you are my one and only, but is it ok I just put my arm around her for the photo?!

It's tiring being this beautiful!

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My 3 sleeping babies

When Matt got home from work today, I was up in Lane's room rocking him. He fell asleep in my arms and Matt and Harley decided to lay on the floor below us and they fell asleep too.

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First airplane ride

So I don't have any pictures cause, well, my hands were a little full, but I know you are all in suspense about how it went yesterday...ha! ha! Lane slept the whole way to the airport (thanks to Tyler for driving us there and to Lace for keeping us company) We arrived at the perfect time and I loaded Lane in the Baby Bjorn so my hands were free to carry luggage and check-in. No waiting in line to check-in...received our boarding passes and onto security. (I think it depends on the airline, but I didn't pay for a seat for Lane because he can be on my lap until age 2, but I did have to check him in at the desk and they made a boarding pass for him. So just a warning if you are traveling with a ticketless infant!)
Anyway, small line in security, nothing major, but Lane was really entertained by all the sights and sounds and of course charmed the pants off of everyone in our path. Got through security without a problem, small hold up for me to put my shoes back on...that was a little challenging with a baby strapped to my chest. I just had to laugh as we walked through the airport though cause if you can picture it, he's strapped to my chest facing outward with his limbs dangling, and the whole time as we made our way to the gate, his feet and hands were going going going, and he was excited and giggling.
Got to the gate 30 minutes before boarding, boarded on-time, took off without delay, and because of a marvelous tail wind, we arrived early. Total flight time was supposed to be 1 hr. 50 minutes....actual flight time was 1 hr. 20 minutes. It was awesome and the travel gods were definitely on my side yesterday!!!!

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Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Oh My!

This week has been wonderful so far and it feels like we have had a family reunion! So many people have stopped over and driven down just to see Lane, and I like to think, me too! We saw Nonie and Gramps a few times, Aunt Sue, Uncle Luke and Ali, Geno, Katie, Luca Rose, Gigi, Aunt Maria, Amy, and Jax! So glad everyone was willing to travel to see us. We headed to dinner with everyone on Saturday night and then spent one more day in Peru. This visit has been so nice.

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