9 months (plus a few weeks.. :-)

So I guess Samuel's actually closer to 10 months now, but since he didn't have his 9 month appointment until this past Tuesday, I kind of postponed posting anything about it.

Here's his 9 month stats:
Height: 29 1/2" (85%)
Weight: 19 lbs. 15 oz (51%)
Head circumference: 17" (7%)

So the unfortunate thing about this is that since Samuel's head is still small and even slightly smaller percentile-wise than it has been, we have to go back in a month to get his head re-measured and check his fontanel to make sure it's not closing up too early. :( I know I shouldn't be too worried... Samuel's development has been great and he's ahead in most areas (probably because he doesn't have much head to lug around!). Still, I hate that he's so disproportionate. We'll see how everything plays out!

It's funny how he's started doing new things since I posted about his cute habits just a few weeks ago. For instance, now he can stand by himself when he lets go of something after pulling up. He gets up on one knee and tries to stand up, but ends up falling a lot. Poor guy. He waves back when people wave to him (though his hand is usually turned toward himself. We're still working on that one!) He's started taking his milk in a sippy cup occasionally instead of a bottle. I'm trying to start him on a regular cup, but that has pretty much been a bust so far.

My favorite new thing he's started doing the last week or so is DANCING. I don't know what possessed him to start swaying back and forth, but one day he pushed the button on his little puppy that made it play the ABCs, and off he went. We've always listened to Pandora throughout the day, but it's a lot more entertaining now!

He's also gotten really into tickling the last week or so. If we tickle him he just DIES laughing. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever!

Samuel's also gotten a ton more hair in the last month (still no new teeth though)! He's finally backed off on the spitting up too, something I am sooooo grateful for!

As far as eating goes, he's been pretty stubborn about not wanting purees any more. He'll occasionally let me feed him some mashed up banana or something, but he wants to hold the spoon by himself and we usually end up getting into a small tiff over it. Pretty much I've just been giving him finger foods or sharing what ever I'm eating. In the last few weeks he's tried a burrito, sloppy joe, chicken pot pie, taco casserole, chicken and rice... the majority of dinners I've cooked. We've also made a habit of going to Trader Joe's when Eric has to work late and trying whatever they have on sample there. I even let him try some spiced apple cider, which he went CRAZY over!

Sleeping is still pretty great. Morning naps are kind of a mess with preschool/church three days a week. Some days he doesn't take one at all, other days he sleeps an hour and a half. He normally evens things out with his afternoon nap though. He's definitely taken a few 3 hour-ers the last few weeks! Night-time sleep is still good. He pretty much always goes down without an issue around 8. The last few weeks he's been waking up once or twice and crying, but he usually self-soothes, though occasionally I have to get up and give him a pacifier. He typically sleeps until 7/7:30, so I can't really complain about that. I've seriously been spoiled having a such a good sleeper!

The one not-so-great thing about the last month or so is that Samuel's started getting a little bit of an attachment issue with me. The funny thing is he doesn't have a problem if I leave him. He's still totally happy at church or at the Y or with friends. The problem is when I'm nearby but not with him. I need to go to the kitchen? He follows me and bangs on the door and cries. I leave him with Eric upstairs so I can run and do some laundry? He screams until I come back up. If I leave him with Eric and leave the house though.... he's happy as a clam.

I guess I should be grateful. At least he's willing to stay with other people. And it is kind of sweet he wants to be with me all the time. It sure does make it hard to get things done though! (Wonder why I'm blogging 5 days after his appointment? Because he won't leave the computer alone!).

I probably shouldn't admit this on the internet, but one of the funniest things that happened this month was that I found a Starburst wrapper in Samuel's diaper. He's been pretty into eating paper... cat food... books... whatever he can get his hands on. I bought some Starbursts for our trip to Arkansas and had a few left over when we got back that I enjoyed after dinner. Apparently someone got into the trash can and enjoyed the leftovers a little too! I guess those don't digest super-well, because they pretty much came out whole. Ew! It gave us a good laugh though. So there's my mom-fail for the month!

Samuel is such a super sweet, funny, happy kid. He definitely keeps me on my toes! Watching him grow is SO fun and I'm SO glad I get to be his mom!!

Quitting Wal-Mart

After almost 10 months of going without, I think it's safe to officially say that I've quit Wal-Mart. At least for the time being.

It's crazy, right? I've literally shopped there my whole life. I spent half of my life in Arkansas and know tons of people who work for Wal Mart or Sam's or Murphy Oil or some other company that basically subsists on their association with the world's biggest mass merchandiser.

I don't have a problem with Wal-Mart as a company, so please don't hear me wrong. And I like most of their products and find their prices to be perfectly reasonable.

But about this time last year, I started to get frustrated. Like really super frustrated. Everytime I would make the trek across town (okay, it's only like 10-15 minutes, but Harris Teeter is literally less than a mile away, so by comparison it feels FAR), I would go get the items on my list and then wait. for. FOREVER. I rarely saw more than three cashiers available for 15-20 customers. Ridiculous, right?

Then came Black Friday (Thanksgiving night?) shopping. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't gone to Target first. Target had a nice organized line. They let people in as other people came out. They had a map of the store laid out for their customers. They had a great system for checking people out. It was so polite and easy and I got everything I wanted in just a few minutes.

Wal-Mart? I couldn't find anything. I asked some workers where things were... they didn't know either. I had to fight to find a place in one of the twenty lines and I wasn't even sure which line I was in. The other customers were pushing and shoving and saying kind things like, "Get out of the way, pregnant girl." And I waited. And waited. It took me nearly an hour just to buy the Harry Potter movies I'd been wanting. It was such a stark contrast from my Target experience.

Then I went again the weekend before I had Samuel. That was it. Once again, my 38-weeks-pregnant self waited for nearly 30 minutes to check out after running all over the store to find the last-minute baby items I needed. The cashier seemed annoyed that I had so many products. I didn't get so much as a smile. It was just kind of a miserable experience. That was when I finally decided I wanted to quit. At least for a little while.

So I did. I kept thinking I'd go back, but it turns out that I really don't miss it. The few things that I bought at Wal-Mart regularly weren't particularly good for me (Great Value Pop Tarts are surprisingly delicious!). Using coupons and catching sales, I can get just about everything I need from our local grocery stores. Bigger items are usually available at Target. And, if I'm really desperate, I can always order from Wal-Mart online.

I'd probably feel differently if we lived closer, and I'm sure I will eventually end up going back, but it's been kind of nice living in a world without Wal-Mart. My shopping experiences have been much more pleasant and we've been able to support more local vendors. I'm sure time will change a lot of things, but for now and the foreseeable future... I'm glad to say I've quit.

When life hands you lemons...

Make lemonade.

And when you're stuck at home because your kid is running a fever for three days straight (ugh.), make Pinterest projects!

Poor Samuel got his first fever last week. It was weird, because he didn't really have any other symptoms. He's had a few little things going on for a week or two that I thought were because of teething, but then Wednesday he got a low-grade fever and Thursday it spiked up to around 102. It got better with Tylenol/Advil, but every time we let the meds wear off, it spiked back up and he got into super-grouchy-inconsolable mode. Sad.

Anyway, I tried to make some use of my time at home. I had a lot of plans this weekend, most of which got cancelled. Bummer. So instead I pulled up some pins I'd been wanting to try and went to town.

Cajun Chicken Pasta -- I've been meaning to try this recipe for a while, but finally got around to it Thursday night. It was sooo good! The recipe calls for sun-dried tomatoes, but I swapped them out for some tomato paste since sun-dried tomatoes are super-pricey. It tasted akin to something I've had a Carrabba's a few times. Definitely a keeper!

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
4 ounces pasta, cooked al dente
2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used half milk and half whipping cream)
2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I used tomato paste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken in butter or margarine until chicken is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat add green onion, heavy cream, tomatoes, basil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and heat through. Pour over hot linguine and toss with Parmesan cheese.

 Art Work - I made this in Word and printed it, then stuck it in a dollar store frame. I really like it and may re-do it on photo stock. Easy playroom art work!

Vanilla Candle in Coffee Beans - It does smell really good! I haven't tried burning it yet, so it hasn't been super strong, but I love the smell of coffee when I walk in the door. :-)

DIY Sensory Bag -- This was fun while it lasted. Sweet boy chewed a hole in it after about 5-10 minutes. Good thing I colored the water with Jello powder. Just what he needed, right? haha.

Project Board - This is still a work-in-progress and will probably get re-done when Eric has time to help me with it. Samuel really likes it so far though!

I definitely did a lot of lounging around too. (Notice most of these projects are not super intensive :-) 

Little man seems to be feeling better today, though, so hopefully we can get back to life as normal! 

The cuteness.

Samuel does a lot of cute things these days. So many, in fact, that I often chuckle and then forget about them. By the time his little birthday rolls around and I decide to blog about him, he's doing something new. So here are a few things he's been up to lately.

- Saying mama. It took him a good month and a half after learning to say dada and dee dee and bye bye. But he finally has mama down, and it's definitely his favorite word! He likes to wrap his lips really tight around his teeth and focus really hard when saying it. It's one of his silliest faces so far, but he LOVES it.

- Fish facing. We have no clue where he got this from, but one morning last week he woke up and made a fish face at me and then kept doing it for the next two days. He hasn't done it much since, and I guess he didn't really realize he was doing it, because he would look at me like I was crazy when I would make the face back at him. Such a goof!

- Clapping. He hasn't quite figured out clapping with music yet, but he knows to clap when I throw him a ball or when he puts a cheerio in is own mouth. He's also great at clapping whenever I say the word, "Yay!" He's so proud of himself!

- Indian noises. He loves it when we put our hands over his mouth while he makes noise. He also loves to flick his bottom lip while humming just to hear the noise it makes.

- Waving. He still hasn't 100% gotten this one down, but one of my friends told him "bye" the other day and he put his hand up in the air. We assume that was a wave goodbye. He does actually make the waving motion, but usually only to himself.

- The smile. I love love love love love how he makes this scrunched up smile with his whole face. This isn't the full-blown version, but it gives you an idea. Such a happy kid.

- Self-feeding. Or attempting to self-feed. He really has gotten a lot better at it, but he likes to get whatever he is eating balled up in his fist and then hit his mouth with his fist until he gets it in there. As previously mentioned, he gets super excited when he is successful.

- Playing Peek-a-Boo. He's learned how to pull the covers up over himself and "hide" for a minute, then come out while we say "There he is!" His timing isn't great, but he gets pretty excited anyway. :-)

- "Petting" animals. He usually just ends up pulling out chunks of their hair. Our poor Conner cat is probably going bald thanks to Samuel, but he's taken it like a champ.  He gets SUPER excited when he sees a dog or cat and makes this crazy squeal while chasing after them.

- Switching out pacifiers. It doesn't matter if he already has a pacifier in his mouth. If Samuel sees a new pacifier, he will switch it with the one he already has. Fortunately, this has been known to entertain him for 5-10 minutes at a time.

I'm sure there are a lot of other cute/milestone things that I'm missing. It's just crazy how much he's been learning the last few weeks! I'm so grateful for my funny, happy baby boy!

Into the Wild Blue Yonder...

It's been a couple of weeks now since I made my first flight with baby in tow. It was definitely an experience!

We left Wednesday morning with 5 (yes 5!!) bags and a stroller packed away. My friend Tara was sweet enough to drive us to the airport in Charlotte. I hated that it was such a long way, but I couldn't figure out how in the world I would manage to get ALL of our stuff from long-term parking to the shuttle to the terminal... and I was right. Just getting to the check-in from the door was hard enough! (And I was lucky enough that my parents bought a car seat & pack and play for Samuel so we didn't have to haul that too!)

Checking in was kind of a pain. I wanted to check my pump, but the lady thought it was "too sensitive" and that I would "have to sign a waver because it would probably get damaged." So there was one extra bag I got to carry through security.

Oh, security.

I sent my four bags through the monitor. I took Samuel out and folded up the stroller and took my shoes off and put them back on and opened the stroller back up and strapped him back in and... oh, wait! They decided to totally unpack my bags because of the baby food. They had to test everything (milk included). And apparently ice packs aren't allowed, so they took that and threw it away. Great. Never mind that it was in the bag I already tried to check and they wouldn't let me.

Once I finally made it through and got my bags repacked, we booked it down to the end of the last terminal to catch our flight. Luckily, it was running a little late. We waited about 10 minutes and then on we went! The plane was full (of course), but everyone was really nice. We sat next to an older lady who was returning from visiting her daughter, grandkids and great-grandkids in Myrtle Beach. She was super-understanding and even let Samuel play with her watch (brave lady!).

As I hoped, Samuel fell asleep when I gave him a bottle during take-off. We got up to cruising altitude, and I was feeling pretty good. Baby was sleeping. I had the iPad out playing some games. It was all set up to be an easy two hours... then the captain came over the loudspeaker. Just to say HI. Normally I would probably think that was very nice of him. But it was NOT nice of him to wake my baby!

Samuel didn't sleep any more after that. He jumped and bounced in my lap and tried his hardest to escape my grasp. I entertained him with new toys and shoved him full of cheerios and puffs. He kept trying to grab the hair of the people in front of us and flirting with the lady across the aisle. He let out a few [happy] shrieks which, thankfully, elicited laughter from my fellow travelers, not looks of scorn. All in all, I think he had a good time, and generally did well. I, on the other hand, left with several bruises from his crazy flailing about.

We made it to Little Rock, though, and were greeted by my parents who were gracious enough to pick us up. We spent some time shopping and eating with my brother, then went to their new home in De Witt. We stayed there for a day and half. It was fun to explore a new little town, and Samuel had a blast playing with his Grammy and Pappy!

First time playing on a real piano. He wasn't sure what to think!

Samuel experienced cornbread for the first time. Oh boy!

Friday we made our way back to Little Rock. We ate lunch and got checked into our hotel and Eric's mom and family friend, Shane, joined our little soiree. We hung out and played with our sweet boy and I got ready for my friend Karis' wedding. Then Eric's grandparents and aunts, who happened to be coming through Little Rock on their way home from New England, stopped by for a bit to see Samuel too. I'm pretty sure he was the most popular kid in the state that day!

Little man didn't nap much at ALL while we were there, so I put him down for a bit then went to the wedding. It was beautiful, as expected, and one of the sweetest ceremonies I've been to. :-) I hate that I couldn't spend more time there before and after! My parents brought Samuel to the reception so he could "visit." Unfortunately, it was well past bedtime for him, so he pretty much just stared blankly at everyone. I ended up leaving before they even cut the cake. Sad. We did get to visit with Karis a bit though!

Saturday morning we woke up and ate breakfast, said our goodbyes and headed to the airport! This time around we seriously barely made it. We were the second to last ones on the plane! I was kind of glad, though, because it meant we only had to wait about 10 minutes and we were up in the air. Once again, Samuel fell asleep on the way up. Once again, he was awakened, this time by the stewardess accidentally dripping cold water on his head. The return trip was pretty similar, and I was pretty exhausted by the time we landed. Unfortunately, we still taxied for about 30 minutes AFTER landing. Talk about torture for an 8 month old who is ready to move!

Isn't that face adorbs? 

Anyway, Eric picked us up from the airport and said I looked like superwoman with my baby and all my bags. Glad somebody recognized! Haha. I definitely have some serious respect for people who travel overseas or cross-country with multiple kids alone. I'm SO glad we went, but I am in NO hurry to do it again!!

Politics {venting}

So I don't have much to say about politics. Sure, I have opinions, but I usually choose to keep them to myself. I've never seen ANY good come of arguing about political opinions, only disgruntled friends and family and broken relationships. Our government is set up so that citizens can have a voice by voting, or by writing letters to people who have been elected to office. If we feel strongly about something, we should express it that way. That's just my two cents.

That being the case, I have been SO annoyed lately with the crazy amount of political garbage that has been shared lately through both social and mainstream media. A lot of what I've seen propagated are flat out lies. Almost every ad or story attacks officials in one party or the other. Some are so vicious and ruthlessly mean that it makes me sad for the people sharing them.

As a believer, the thing that really bothers me about this is that a lot of what I see is coming from well-meaning Christians. Don't get me wrong here. I am all for standing up for what you believe in. But does that really have to include severely slandering someone else based on information that may or may not be true? Someone you don't even personally know?

It seems like people are so ready to have their opinions reinforced that they will believe anything they hear from any source and then shout it from the rooftops. If, as a believer, I'm really convinced that a person or party is in the wrong, shouldn't I pray for them rather than turning to slander?

I'm not a politician and don't ever plan to be. But I can imagine that it's a HARD JOB. You have to make decisions for millions of people. There's never going to be a way to make everyone happy. You have to try to stick to your own beliefs but compromise enough to find something that works for a whole city or state or country. I may not agree with everything every politician that represents me does. But I'm not in their shoes, either.

Jesus said we should pray for those in command. I definitely don't do that nearly enough, but I hope to more, and I hope that others will choose that route as well. Arguing and party-bashing hasn't gotten anyone anywhere in the past, and I don't think it will now either.

End vent.

Weekly Pics and Such

No time for a super long post today, but here's a few more recent weekly pics. I probably won't be able to keep this up much longer.... I wanted to go a year, but maybe just doing them 40 weeks (aka as long out as he was in!) will be enough. He's just so crazy-wiggly. At least he's cute though! :-)

Swinging with his big buddy, Charlie.

"Hiking" with daddy!