Sweet, TOOTH!

With me being gone and busy all week and weekend I was really looking forward to our family time on Sunday! We kinda took our time getting ready in the morning and once we finally got going our first stop was the Greenlake wading pool. We bought sandwiches and snacks to have a picnic and let Brandon go for a dip. He absolutely loved being in the water! It's funny because before I was a mom I remember looking at that wading pool and thinking "yuck, I would never let my child go in that poop and pee infested water!" but after going here the first time and seeing that they had a person maintaining the pool it change my mind. This little lifeguard/maintenance persons job is to make sure that all babies who are in diapers are wearing proper swimming diapers, check the water levels and its cleanliness frequently. It's pretty cool how she does it, and once the pool needs to be cleaned she makes everyone get out and adds the proper chemicals! I was a bit worried how B's skin would react to the chemicals cause of his eczema, but he has yet broken out or had any reaction to the pool or chemicals. Thank goodness!!

Ok, moving forward. After the pool we went downtown to walk around. We hit the usual Josh spots (Nike, Nordstrom's, & Old navy). I dragged him to greenlake, so it was only right that i agreed to go to 'his' places...

After we were all done and got the car packed to go home i was playin with Brandon in the back seat and saw a little white sliver on his bottom gums. I was just expecting it to be a little spit up, so being a little curious I put my finger in there to feel around and was so shocked when I felt a hard little pearly white sticking out of his gums!!! I immediately yelled at Josh and told him Brandon has a tooth!!!! We were both surprised because he didn't have the signs of teething that we had been keeping a close eye on. No fever or crankiness... He is our little trooper for sure!

Now it's only a matter of time until he uses those to chomp on Mommy's boobies!

Slow life

How can I even begin to describe my stay here at Roche harbor.  When I got here the first thing that came to me was how quiet and peaceful this place was.  People here walk more slowly and take the time to enjoy their surroundings.  They talk calmly and quietly...and seem genuinely happy with just being here.  I got to talk to a gentleman in the bar last night and he happens to work on one of the boats that dock here, and he said that the people that come through here are always very pleasant.  He said that every summer he sees the same people.  They all travel from different places and come from a different walks of life, but come summer time they all congregate here to take a break from their everyday life.  

This made me realize how caught up in mommy hood I have been.  It’s a very unselfish job, but very rewarding.  It’s very fast paced and stressful at times.  I try very hard to make sure that Josh and I reward ourselves by going out on date nights, but being here makes me realize that a little quiet family getaway may be something we need.  As important it is for us to show Brandon the importance of hard work, we want to also show him the importance take the time to slow down and enjoy your life and family.   

High chairs are for big kids!

On Friday when I got back from my 2 day trip Josh and I decided to go out and have a nice family dinner! Usually when we're out to dinner we do the parent swap when we eat or I sometimes just eat with him on my lap. As much as I enjoy holding my son, eating with both hands has become a luxury that I miss terribly. So a lot of the time we just skip going out to dinner or just end up doing take out.

So when we got to the restaurant we asked for a high chair. I wasn't sure how he would do on it seeing that it was one of the wooden ones that weren't really padded or had a lot of support. Anyway, we decided to give it a go and placed his seat in between us so he felt like he was being included. We also gave him a few of his favorite toys to keep him distracted... Dinner was a success! Josh and I both got to enjoy our dinner and Brandon loved being in his high chair! He enjoyed looking around and watching other people. Our waitress loved him and kept telling him what a big boy he was! Oh man our little boy is growing up!!

I promised myself I wouldn't cry

I said goodbye to Josh this morning when he left for work it was a bit sad cause it was going to be the last time I see him until Friday night. As I was giving him a hug I just started crying. Oh man what a sap! It was kinda funny cause all I kept saying was 'take good care of him ok?' I'm not sure why I said that... It's not like I'm never going to come back, I think that the emotions just got the best of me.

I took yesterday off work so I could have an extra day to be with Brando! It was nice, we ended up going to the greenlake wading pool with Mama Cherrie and my sisters kids! We had so much fun playing in the water and enjoying the sunshine. I also got a chance to spends dinner alone with Josh at our favorite Korean BBQ spot. We don't have a lot of opportunities to do date nights like that, so we really cherish it when we do. It's funny cause the majority of our conversations are usually about Brandon!

Well this morning I got finished up the last minute packing I needed to do and as soon as I was done I spent he rest of the late morning playing and napping with Brandon! I kissed and hugged him every chance I got. Thank God he let me without getting annoyed!

Well when I dropped him off at his grandparents the water works didn't hit me until I said my final goodbye. He was a bit preoccupied playing with his toys to even know that I was leaving! I knew that if he would've watched me leave it would've been a lot harder! My mother in-law was so sweet and kept reminding me that he will be in good hands and not to worry. When I got into my car and saw Brandon's empty car base that's when I lost it! I had a pretty good cry, but I'm ok now! I got here safe and sound. I called my in-laws to check on him and got to chat with Josh for a little bit. They're both doing good. I think that I'm starting to settle down now. I had a chance to have dinner by myself and walk around town. It was nice to have some alone time and have a chance to take a break from being a Mommy. Although, It is a bit weird to just to sit here and not have to tend to anyone...

Just.be.strong!

Well this Wednesday I leave for a wedding shoot over in Friday harbor. I've never been there before and I am really excited... Well kinda...

This will be my first and longest time I will be away from both Josh and Brandon! I will be leaving Wednesday evening and coming back early (not early enough I'm sure) Friday morning! I know that they will both be in good hands because Josh's parents were sweet enough to offer the boys to stay with them as well as look after Brandon while Josh is at work. So as far as being worried about Brandon in the babysitting area I'm not really worried about it, although I just hope that he's a better sleeper with them than he is with me! My biggest worry is that I don't want to inconvenience them. I know that they offered to watch him and are very excited to do so, I just hope that B will be in his best behavior and not give his daddy and grandparents a hard time! I know I'm probably sounding a bit crazy and over thinking the situation, but I can't help it sometimes. I'm sure when I get back I'll be looking back and saying 'what the hell was I so worried about?'

I'm sure Brandon is not even gonna notice that I'm gone, so I think that the person who will be having major separation anxiety will be me. The other thing that I'm most worried about is breast feeding. I don't really pump very much these days, I think I have trained my body enough to where I can go as long as 6 hours without having pump or feed him, but strictly pumping for 2 days will be a bit of a challenge. I worry that I will get so engorged even with pumping that it will be painful or my supply will decrease. Oh, I hope that the twins will figure it out...

Well besides the boob thing and praying that Brandon will be on his best behavior...the one thing that will
make this trip all worth it would be that I may get a chance to have a good nights sleep, cause its been 31 weeks since I've had one of those.

6 months

Brandon is going to be 7 months in a few days and I just realized that I haven't done a monthly update, Eeks!  Well this month has been one of my favorites so far.  Ya, I probably say that with every month, but this month I feel like he's definitely been taking a bigger step into becoming a little bit more independent.   A few weeks ago he began to finally sit up on his own and no joke, a few days later he decided that he was going to take up crawling too!  Um, where's the fire Brandon?!  I really didn't think that he was going to start crawling so quickly after!!  So far he gets up on all fours and is doing the rocking thing, but has yet to properly move forward.  He hasn't figured out to move his arms yet.  He does this for a little bit and when he doesn't get the results that he wants, he gets frustrated and gives up.  

He's talking a bunch now and have expanded his vocabulary by adding "Dada" "Nana" and "Ateh". While Josh and I were getting him ready for bed one night he just out of the blue said "Dada!"  Oh lord, the excitement on Josh's face when he heard it was just great!  We both had this bet on who's name he was going to say first.  Even though he did say "Dada" first I feel like he's really saving to say "Momma" when he really knows what he's talking about :)

 He has been doing great with his solids.  He's had the following so far: avocado, butternut squash, bananas, mango, sweet potato and peas!  We tried peas 3x's and all 3x's he was not a big fan! I don't think that the taste bothers him as much as the texture, because it would make him gag... I still enjoy making him all of his food and hope to continue to do it for as long as I can.

Marie and I have gotten pretty close over the past year.  Ever since we found out that our due dates were  around the same time we kinda gravitated towards one another.  It has been nice to have someone to confide in about Mommy-hood.  It's funny that we both call our get together "play dates", but our kids are usually far too busy and distracted by other things that they really don't even really play with one another!  I think that maybe it's more of a Mommy chat-date than anything! We share a lot of silly stories that I feel only parents would find amusing.  We talk about our little ones, their new milestones, work, and our husbands...it's just great to have someone to share and talk about the same things you're going through.     

Just this last week we got the chance to take the kiddos out to enjoy the sunshine at Greenlake.  We decided to have a picnic and the kids finally started to interact with each other!  It's been so great to not only watch Brandon grow, but Renae as well.  She is just the sweetest little thing!  She never really gets fussy and is usually very laid back.  Brandon could learn a thing or two from her ;)

Marie, Renae, and Brandon

This is probably my favorite picture of the two of them!

We had another few 1st for Brandon just these past weeks:

Brandon's 1st time experiencing grass!  He loved it!!

Brandon's first time at the beach

Brandon's 1st time experiencing sand!  He's trying really hard to hold in his excitement!

Brandon's 1st time in a pool!  He's my little water baby!

I still can't believe that my little guy is already half a year old!  Oh, Brandon you are one great kid.  Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

Brandon's 6 month well check-up stats:

6/18

Height: 26.5  (55%)

Weight:  15lb 12oz  (20%)

Head Circumference:  42.5  (18%)