My Son Smells Like a Daiquiri (Virgin).

I was all snuggled up with Easton yesterday begging for a smooch.  He finally relented and leaned in for an open-mouth, slobbery, breathy kiss.  He smelled like a tropical daiquiri.  Like he was from the islands.

My son could live on fruit.  Seriously.  He practically does.  He went from eating everything you put in front of him to turning his tiny nose up at everything (almost) except fruit.  Any fruit will do.  Blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, grapes, oranges, avocado (is that a fruit?) and especially, bananas. Sure, he'll throw down some cheese and crackers and toast here and there.  Even the occasional bowl of cereal or oatmeal (with fruit), but typically, he is holding out for nature's candy.  FRUIT.

I've made some headway lately.  Last week, he actually had several bites of pork roast, potatoes and carrots.  The next day, I was so excited to give him it again for lunch and of course, he gagged and threw it on the floor.  A few days later, he ate spaghetti.  I packed a ton of spinach in that sauce along with tomatoes and onions and other spices and was pumped he actually ate it!  The next day, forget about it.

Since then, it's been nothing but cheese toast, eggs, whole grain pancakes (with bananas), the random piece of bacon, cheerios and FRUIT.  Everyone says it's a phase and they will come and go, but honestly, two months seems like a very long phase in baby/toddler time.  The child smells like a tropical fruit daiquiri!

Adding to this problem is that because of the fruit, he poops a ton.  We erroneously gave him way too many clementines two weeks ago and ended up with a raging case of diaper rash.  We're still fighting that.  He's only had bland fruits since then because I don't want his tiny hiney to be rashy and I'm pretty sure that's what is doing it!

We brush his little teeth with water every day and he drinks a lot of water so I'm not worried about his teeth.  Our friend is a dentist and he said it's fine as long as we're keeping his mouth clean.  My only problem now is that I worry he will be deficient in some vitamins he needs.  He is only nursing twice a day now and we have moved him to whole milk instead of formula so I am SO stressing about his vitamins/nutrient levels.  Yet another reason I do not want him eating a lot of processed junk.

Does anyone else have this problem with their tot?  Any ideas on how to combat his love of fruit and try to get him to eat more savory things?  He'd rather starve than eat vegetables (unless it's a Monday night and you stand on one foot and they are cold, not hot and served in a tupperware container).  I'm just stumped here and I need some help from someone other than Google.  :)

I will wrap this post up with the most adorable picture of my fruit-smelling little rugrat.  This is from his 1 year old session.  My little aviator!

Toodles.
Shannon

365 Days Together- My letter to Easton

On November 8th, 2013, you turned a whopping ONE year old.  That was last Friday and I still can't wrap my mind around it.  Where did all this time go?

Last night, you were sitting in my lap and we were reading your "Color" book.  We got to the page with yellow and as I turned the page, you slapped your tiny little pointer finger down on the bottom corner and said emphatically, "ANANA!" (BANANA!)  I just sat there, wide-eyed for a moment.  My little boy is growing up.  Doing and saying things I guess I'm not yet ready for.

Sweet boy, you are everything to us.  Our whole world revolves around you and I think your Daddy and I both worry that we are setting you up for hardship later in life by loving you TOO much.  Will you be one of those "entitled" children?  Will we make you bratty?  Goodness, I hope not!  But we do love you and your smile and laugh is absolutely the most wonderful noise.

You started walking the day before you turned 10 months old.  It's like you knew that day was coming and you were NOT going to miss walking at 9 months.  You took three steps to me and then about five steps to me and back to your Daddy.  Now, you run everywhere and we can barely keep up.  From about 7:30 in the morning until about 8:30 at night, you are one busy little fellow.  We chase you and play with you and tickle you and love you as much as we possibly can during those hours.  You are down to napping once a day usually and it's a good one.  That's the only time you slow down and even then, I'm pretty sure you're up to no good in your dreams.  You are our son, after all.

You have eight teeth and you already love biting.  Yesterday, you were screaming at me for taking my hand out of your mouth and explaining to you that we don't bite mommy, we bit our FOOD.  I'm still not sure you why you are so set on chewing me up!

You're a rather picky eater most of the time (at my house, anyway!).  You prefer nothing but FRUIT around here.  At other places, you will eat eggs and many other yummy things but at home, it's toast w/ applesauce and some type of fruit with the occasional bowl or oatmeal, cereal or yogurt.  I'm hoping this is a phase and soon enough, you'll be on to lots of new things!  :)  I can hope, right?

You can say a ton of words already.  I'll try to list them all, but I always miss a few!  You can say: Mama, Dada (favorite word), Dog, Geese (you and Daddy go bird watching at night and see all the geese flying over!), Banana, Tess, ATTACK!!! (you attack the doggies and I started saying this word every time you did it and now you say it clear as day!), Bye-Bye, What IS dat?, Night-Night, Yeah-Yeah & Yes.  I know there are more, but I'm drawing a blank.  You make hilarious noises like a car.  When I show you your fire engine puzzle piece, you make a siren noise.  You can meow like a cat and bark like a dog.

You have your favorite books that we read over and over and over.  I'm trying to sneak a few new ones in but your a tough crowd.  Your all-time favorite book is "Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!" by Dr. Seuss.  The other few that you'll sit for are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear", "Goodnight, Moon", "ABC's", "COLORS" (a flip book), "Where's Spot?", "LMNO Peas" and "Spot Counts to Ten".  I've tried many, many others and you are just NOT interested after a page or two.

In an attempt to get you to bond with a stuffed animal or blanket (to help with falling asleep in your crib), I made a game out of "squeezing" this little dog/bear I bought you before you were born.  I'd hold him in front of you and say, "SQUEEEEEZE!" and then hug him.  You'd hug him and say, "EEEEEE!" and then throw him down and run off.  Now, you think hugging is called squeezing and it's adorable.  You're still not falling asleep on your own in the crib and that poor stuffed animal gets nothing from you but a random hug every few days.

You are quite obsessed with the dogs.  You love, love, LOVE attacking them every morning.  We are still nursing in the mornings and at night only and so after you eat in the mornings in our bed, you sit straight up, look at the foot of the bed for your first victim and go on attack mode.  I think it's pretty darn fantastic and hilarious.  Baxter and Tess aren't so sure but the tolerate you well and Baxter usually gets even by rolling you over and pinning you down for a lick-fest.  He definitely gets his kisses from you in the mornings.  You also feed the dogs, help us take the dogs on their potty breaks, rub their bellies, give them lots of open-mouth kisses and play fetch with them every chance you get.  Chance is probably your favorite dog to play with, but he is the least tolerant of you.  He kisses you and lets you pet him, but when you start squealing or running, he gets outta town.  The poor old guy is usually hiding under a table or in a corner trying to escape you.

You like cars a LOT.  I think your Aunt Kiki and cousin Maddox are to blame for this one!  When you were about five months old, you would come home from a day with them and rub your paci on the floor and make raspberries with your lips.  It wasn't long before Maddox gave you a few of his hot wheels and you would roll them around you making the vrooom sound.  Since then, you have mastered many different car noises.  There are noises I can't even make and they all sound like different cars and trucks and motorcycles.  I love it and I know they do!  Uncle Ricky will have you out there racing with him and Maddox before I know it and then I'll have a heart attack.  *sigh*

You love music and dancing.  Your Daddy has played the guitar for you since you were in my belly and I've been dancing with you since about the same time.  :)  You have a ukulele, a tambourine, hand bells, a keyboard, a tiny electric toy guitar and a few whistles you haven't figured out yet.  I'm sure you'll end up with some drums, too.  Your Dad has already mentioned that a few times.  I love how you smile when you hear music and how you start bouncing and squatting and bobbing your head.

All these little "adult" things you do are so sweet, but also pretty sad for your Mama to see.  You're just growing up so fast.  You'll never be this small again.  Your little hands won't ever be this little and your words will turn into sentences and then you'll be in college and I'll miss you so.

I prayed for you for so long and longed for the day I would hold you and see toys scattered around my house.  I would sit in the living room sometimes and look around and wonder what life would be like with a tiny person living with us everyday.  I wondered how tired I would be and how I'd manage the loss of those few precious extra hours of sleep I enjoyed on the weekends.  I thought about how freely I would give up my time with my friends if I could just have you to spend it with.  I'd sit upstairs sometimes and wonder which bedroom we would make into a nursery for you if God every blessed us with your presence.  I imagined what playing in the yard would be like as well as folding tiny pants and losing tiny socks.  I could spend hours thinking of what you'd look like and sound like and act like.  All of this before I ever even knew if I would meet you.  And now, here you are.  You came into this world and turned us into a family.

Here you've been for a year.  I have the answers to all these questions and yet it still doesn't even seem real.  YOU are my son.  A part of me and your Dad.  An extension of who I am and who your Dad is and who our parents and siblings are and a long line of wonderful other people you'll never meet.  This beautiful little miracle that we worked so hard for to share with the world.  It's so surreal that I'm blessed with the responsibility of raising you, caring for you, nurturing you, loving you and leading you to be a good man someday.

I am so full of love for you, baby boy.  There is nothing in this world that means more to me than you and your Daddy.  I have fallen in love with being your Mother and I pray every single day that I make you proud someday...that I do a good job.  I want you to look back on your life and KNOW that we loved you so much and did our very best to teach you the right way to be as a man.  I hope we make you a happy little boy and go on thousands of adventures together.  I want you to be able to LIVE your life every single day and watch you grow and learn and love.

Easton, this first year has come and gone.  I've loved it all.  I have no regrets and have learned from every mistake and every triumph we've had together!  You have taught us so much more than we've taught you, little man.  I don't see that every changing, honestly.  We all have so much to learn.

You have already said your farewell to babyhood and have transitioned into your toddler stage (I've already caught you drawing on the cabinets with a pencil!).  You are no longer my sweet little baby.  *sigh*  I'm looking forward to what is to come for our little family sweetheart but I'm also
looking fondly over my shoulder at the precious memories we have already made together.  I'm so incredibly thankful for you.

Happy Birthday!

Your Mama

Picture update! Our past month!

So, I know I haven't posted in what feels like a year, but we have had a busy summer and I have been soaking up my time with Easton. I wrote a very LONG post in July and my phone died just as I was about to post it. That's what I get for using my phone.  

Quickly, I will give you a run down of what we have been doing this past month! Maybe I will pull a Tarantino and go backwards for my next post? 

He spends a lot of time in higher altitudes.

Going splish splash is his fav. Don't worry, we make him wear a shirt and shirts and SPF 1000 but this was a two min dip just before heading home. He loves it. 

Officially obsessed with dog food and dog water. Putting in higher places used to help, not anymore! 

I made him magnets to play with and learn by. Hopefully, he will continue soaking up things like a sponge! His fav is the bee, "buzzzzzzzzzzzz!" It's adorable.

About five weeks ago, he decided to crawl up our staircase. That's about 17 steps. We spotted him but he never faltered. Just panted and slapped those steps like he owned them!

He loves sports so of course, we go cheer for Daddy when he plays baseball. 

I melt when I see this picture with his sleepy eyes and alfalfa spike.

Nine month old picture. I think I will keep him forever.

Who me?!?

He started standing right before he turned nine months. Sturdy guy.

He loves aquariums (small ones) so we took him to a big one. He was amazed and....

Couldn't get enough of the fish. He really loved our day at the Tennessee Aquarium. If you are ever in Chattanooga, I recommend it! 

This sums up most days. Toys, disaster and Daddy. Their bond is unreal. 

I can be funny sometimes...sweet boy!

We took him to his 2nd Braves game! That smirk CRACKS ME UP!

Go BRAVES!

May end up in a frame....

Post game love! Check out those peepers! 

Did I mention he loves to climb? 

He has a love for our three dogs that mirrors our own. He can't get enough of them. He attacks Baxter every single morning.

His favorite is Chance. They play with Chance's toys and its so sweet.

He really likes to go to the park and swing. I'm sure he will love the slide too.

Daddy needed help mowing the high school baseball field so who better to help than Easton?

Ten months? How is that possible? Naturally, he is staring across the ball field at his Daddy. :)

He really loves them most when he attacks them.

This was my view the other morning. Best view ever.

Pinkies up! Impeccable manners.

Like I said, a very special bond. He loves his Daddy most.

This morning, he figured out how to stack Legos and was pretty thrilled about it. I posted a video on Instagram if you want to see. I'm ShannonOnTheFly.

This was a few mins ago. Before I put him down for his nap. You can barely see tooth #5 in there. 

Hope you enjoyed this brief update! I'll shoot for a 10 month update tomorrow!

Till next time, 

Shannon

Raw Food Diet/Cleanse

Well, it's time for me to do something good for myself.  :)  I've been feeling so tired lately.  So wiped out every day by about six o'clock.  Sometimes, it's a struggle just to get through the evening until bedtime.  Easton doesn't sleep all night, (hasn't since he was five months old) so I know that has something to do with it, but I also think it's my diet.   I eat pretty healthily 80% but that 20% not-so-good-for-me-stuff is starting to wear on me, or so I have convinced myself.

That being said, I've decided to do a raw food "challenge" of sorts.  No one else is doing it with me, so technically, it's not a challenge but I'm not doing it for any other reason other than to try and rid myself of some of the toxins I have stored up in my body.  I'm looking at it like getting an oil change, new battery, new vent thingy for your air they always try to sell you at Valvoline AND new tires.  My body is my vehicle and I need it to be healthy!  I'm very optimistic that this will help!

I've lost five pounds so far since I started eating healthier/working out three days a week and though I'm not doing this as a weight loss tactic, I'm assuming it will also cause me to drop a few pounds.  I've done some research into it the past few weeks and going raw just seems like a good fit to me.  I had considered just going vegetarian for a week, but I know 100 different unhealthy ways to eat those (hello, I live in the south!) and that's not what I want.  I want clean, healthy, tasty, yummy fuel for my body.

GOOD food has become even more important to me since Easton has started eating and I'm going to do my level best to make sure he gets the most nutritious foods I can possibly give him.  I don't want his tiny little body filled with junk that doesn't benefit his development!  I want to be an example to him.  I don't think I'll go 100% raw for good or anything, but I think learning to eat raw foods and creating raw dishes will be just one more thing I have to offer him from our kitchen (and garden).

I'll have to keep you all posted on my week long attempt!  I can already tell you that eating WARM food will be what I miss the most!

I'm starting my day off tomorrow with a HUGE smoothie and a bucket of fruit for a snack.  Who knew you had to eat so much more food doing this diet!?  Whooohooo!

Ok, good night everyone.  I have to get to bed!

Shannon

1 Tooth, 2 Tooth, 3 Tooth, BITE!

Well, my little munchkin has his third tooth and with this new development, has come a new habit. Biting.
Most of the time, it is a finger or a nose but now and again, he chomps down while nursing. This is a problem, friends.
His pediatrician recommended pulling him away, getting on his level and firmly saying, "Easton, no biting." So far, that has only made him laugh or smile sweetly before giving me the shove and yanking down hard on my shirt front.
Last night, he surprised me and I gasped and said his name suddenly. He was half asleep so it scared him to death. He cried and cried.
Any tips out there from you Mommy's or Daddy's? Desperate here!

Getting back to a shape other than round....

So, a few weeks ago, I posted about how I wanted to get back into shape.  Not the round shape of post-pregnancy, but the shape I was in BEFORE I found out I was infertile and pumped myself full of medication and extra weight.  :)

This was me before all of that:

This was the night before our wedding!

I was at 123 pounds on my 5"6 frame and I was strong and lean and I felt GREAT.  So, I've decided that's where I'm headed.  :)  Today, I'm finally going to set up my workout room downstairs.  I have a treadmill, hand weights, tension bands, yoga mat, exercise ball, pull-up bar and several dvd's (Zumba, Dancing with the Stars Cardio, Yoga, Jillian Michaels, etc.).  There is no reason why I can't get back to my healthy ME.  

I've told the Hubby to purge the house of all the junk (which we usually don't have in the house anyway) by eating it asap.  (He lost some weight in recent months due to his crazy schedule with his baseball coaching, so he can afford to eat all that junk.)  I went shopping and bought all more usual healthy food and so far, this weekend, I've done really great.  I've never been one to "diet" because those things don't last in my opinion.  I just eat healthy foods that I love and work out.  I have great muscle memory so this has usually been enough.  We'll see if it still is after having a baby!  :)

I probably won't weigh myself very often because I really don't care about the # of pounds I lose.  I just want to look good and feel good again.  I've always been fit so this is just the twilight zone for me!

Wish me luck!  If any of you are on the path to feeling and looking better, let me know.  We'll support one another!

Off to get my workout on!

Shannon

Mother's Day 2013

Well, on Mother's Day, I woke up to this sweet face.  After years of wishing I could celebrate such a sweet holiday, I wasn't quite prepared for the joy I felt on Sunday.  I know I've been a mom for six months now, but it's the first time I've been "honored" as a mother.

Those cheeks....totally smoochable.

Rik had asked me for a few weeks what I wanted to do for Mother's Day and I couldn't think of anything I'd rather do than spend the day with him and Easton.  He was offering to basically "give me the day off", but that wasn't what I wanted.  I did sleep in a bit and I did let him fix me dinner but I couldn't imagine not spending the day doing something fun with these two handsome men!

I mean, really?  Look at these faces!

So, we started the day off by relaxing a little bit and opening gifts.  :)  Rik outdid himself and Easton went way over the top for a six month old!  Not only did I get the sweetest card from both of them, but Easton signed his own card and stuffed the envelope.  I've never seen such a crinkly, wadded up envelope in all my life.  Perfection!  In addition to my cards, Easton painted me a beautiful picture!  You may notice a few hand prints here and there (top right corner in yellow) so you can see just how big his hands are!  He can already palm a baseball!

My little Picaso.

Rik was a sweetie and gave me the money to go get my hair done (it's SOOO overdue) and a pedicure. I've been whining about how bad I need a haircut but I haven't wanted to spend the money on myself.  I'd much rather just deal with this mess and complain about it.  Rik is obviously tired of hearing me complain! :)  Thank you, honey!!!!

After that, we packed up and headed out for lunch.  I wanted this really delicious Thai restaurant but they were closed so we went to our favorite pizza joint instead.  In honor of Mother's Day, Rik bought Easton a new t-shirt to wear and I have to say, I am 100% in love with it. 

The cutest little inmate to ever come out of Folsom.

I decided we needed a day out at the zoo where we could stroll around and show Easton some of the animals and just kind of relax.  It was awesome.  We went to the zoo for Easter and even then, Easton was kind of amazed by the animals he could see.  I knew with him being a little older, he'd love it even more now.  I wasn't wrong.

We started off at the chimpanzee exhibit and while we were standing at the glass, a HUGE chimp walked right up and sat up against the window for about 5 minutes.  Easton was 4 inches for this massive creature and they just looked at each other for a bit.  It was pretty amazing.  Rik got it all on video but we didn't get a photo.  :(  Maybe I'll post the video later.

We decided to let E be our navigator and he didn't get us lost once!  He definitely takes after me in this department.  Just ask Rik about how long we were lost in Atlanta a few years ago.  :)

El Navigator.

When we found our way indoors to see the smaller monkeys, Rik and Easton sat on this ledge.  I kid you not, this female monkey walked straight over to them, turned around and practically stuck her girl parts to the glass.  AND.JUST.STOOD.THERE.  It was hilarious and a little weird.  She finally strolled away as I got the camera out!  It was so funny to see Rik's face when he realized what was being flashed their way.  It was one of those looks like, "What do I do?! I can't let my son look at this!"

And here, fine gentlemen, is my undercarriage!

This beautiful bird scared Easton a tiny bit when he would shake out his feathers.  He was HUGE!

Peacock!

Easton and I went into the petting zoo and made friends with a few goats.  Easton thought they were funny and kept giggling.  I was a little nervous about being so close to a creature with horns, but we survived and he loved it.  I did NOT love the goat drooling in my sandal.  Thank the LORD for wipes.

Baaaaaaaaa!

Awkward family photo!

We found the aviary exhibit and it sounded so pretty. All the birds were calling and making lots of racket.  Easton loves to sit outside and listen to the birds so this definitely had his attention.

He may have figured out how awesome it is to suck his thumb.

"Daddy!  Check out that coyote!"

they are so handsome....

  

My tiny tot...I love him so much!

 By the time we were finished meandering around, the zoo was closing up and we were all pretty tired so instead of dragging E around on any other wild adventures, we headed on home to spend the evening grilling out and watching a little baseball.  Easton did what Easton does and wrapped up his day with a little snuggle time with his favorite doggie.

Pillow Pet.

So, that's how my day went.  It was fantastic and wonderful and beautiful and honestly, one of the best days I've had in a VERY long time.  To be a Mother and to feel honored by my family was such a beautiful experience.  I feel so blessed to have my precious son and such an amazing husband who appreciates all the love, effort and hard work that I've put in so far being a Mommy.  It really is the hardest, most rewarding job I've ever had and I would not trade one second of it.