Baby's First Christmas Pt. 2

Christmas Eve night, we were to my Aunt's house for my dad's side of the family party. The theme was Mexican food and it was delicious! I made churros poppers and everyone said they turned out great! My cousin, Sarah, was home. She has been in Mozambique for the last two years with the Peace Corps. She brought me a beautiful necklace and Adam a stuffed giraffe. Adam also got lots of toys, clothes, and books! We had a fantastic time just sitting around and talking (Rusty and the boys also played pool).

Christmas day was amazing. I woke up early to put the chili in the crock pot and was able to shower before Rusty or Adam got up. We then had Christmas morning to ourselves where Adam opened his gifts from us (books, a keyboard and paci's) and Kirby got his presents (a bone and some treats). Rusty and I decided not to exchange presents this year since he just bought and built his own computer, I got a new living room set, and we both got a house.

About noon Rusty's family began arriving. I made three different kinds of chili in my three-burner crock pot (white chicken chili, beef chili, and spicy beef chili). Surprisingly, the white chicken chili was a smash hit! Everyone wants the recipe, so I'll be giving that out to them soon. I was nervous that I wasn't making enough overall, but it turned out great! Everyone else brought toppings and desserts, so they were happy that they didn't really have to cook much. It was a great time and I think Rusty enjoyed showing off the house.

The baby was in better spirits too, which I think is because he was able to stay on his regular schedule and nap in his own crib. He got an incredible amount of toys. Although Memaw stuck to the two toy limit, his great-Grandmother didn't. However, being a great-grandmother, she isn't really bound by rules. She got him a really good quality Radio Flyer wagon and filled it with some toys. He also got some adorable clothes from his great-Aunt Sandra. Rusty and I also received some shirts, video game stuff (for him) and baking stuff (for me) from Memaw. We also got some electronics and cash from great-Grandmother. We were beyond blessed during this time and everyone was full and happy by time they left.

The day after Christmas we were off to Nana and Papa's house! We arrived around lunch to some delicious roast and rice, opened presents, and had finger foods in the evening. Again with all the toys... Adam was absolutely spoiled rotten this year. We had a fantastic time - I don't know what I would do without my family.

Here's Adam's loot from all six parties:

Baby's First Christmas Pt. 1

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! It has been a fantastic holiday season so far!

Saturday, we went to the Carter Family Christmas Party (Grammy's side) to begin our Christmas party schedule. It was potluck style and Rusty and I were stuffed by the end. Adam got to see a lot of people he met over the summer when we went to Jasper. They loved and doted on him... and bought him presents. I had the foresight to ask the grandparents to only give two presents each in the hopes of not ending Christmas with a mountain of toys that Adam will grow out of in a couple of months. Little did I know that every aunt, uncle, great-aunt, great-uncle, great-grandparent, cousin, second cousin, and on and on would want to buy him something. So at this party alone, we ended up with more items than I thought we would have.

Cute side note - Adam and Jade became friends. Jade is Grammy's granddaughter, making her Adam's cousin. She is about five months older. They were so funny - they would share their toys when all of the sudden, they would begin snatching their toys back and making each other cry. I'm very excited to see their relationship grow.

 Sunday, my siblings and I snuck into our parents' house when they were at church. We had been planning this for months, had been collecting frames that matched my mom's style, and gathering photos from the past and present. We spent two hours creating a gallery wall on their stairs. When they came home, my mom was so excited that all of her children were their for lunch - she didn't even notice the wall!! Once we pointed it out though, she thought it was fantastic.

Monday - Adam and I stayed at home and cleaned (since I left my debit card and license in Rusty's car -_-).

Tuesday, I went grocery shopping in the morning, my mom came over and we had lunch, then Rusty, Adam, and I went to Grammy and Grandpa's house for their Christmas. The theme was pasta. We had lasagna, spaghetti, and desserts. Adam got more toys, I got a beautiful engraved cutting board, and Rusty got a book. We were able to give the cousins their presents that they loved and Grandpa and Grammy got picture frames with pictures from our pumpkin shoot. We ended the night with Grandpa and Brad (Aunt Julie's boyfriend) playing the guitar and our music-loving baby couldn't have had it better.

Jade and Adam had the same cute interactions that they had on Saturday and there were more between he and JoLynn (who's three). She thought he was so cute, kept petting his hair, and pushed him around in the walker.

Tonight, we have the Cooper Family Christmas Party, then are hosting Christmas for Memaw's side on Thursday and ending the week with Nana and Papa's Christmas. I'll post Pt. 2 later in the week to encompass these parties.

Gearing Up

This week was all about gearing up for Christmas. Because of the family situation with Rusty's side of the family, we offered our home to host Christmas for his mom's side of the family this year. I love hosting parties, so on the one hand I'm super excited. On the other hand, our new house isn't ready for that many guests!!! This has sent me into overdrive in cleaning and prepping for twelve people.

Saturday, I was hired to make a cake for forty people and a smash cake for a one year old (I make cakes on the side for fun - www.topnotchbutterscotch.com). The cakes were for a coworker of my sister and she loved the cake, plus she said her daughter dove right into the cake. As I delivered the cake, Adam had a "Daddy Day" where he spent the afternoon with Rusty. That enabled me to relax a bit and not have to rush to deliver and get back home before snack time. I was also able to go to the local kid's consignment shop for their sidewalk sale (all winter clothes 50% off!!) and got the cutest outfits for Adam and a perfect one for Christmas morning.

Sunday, we went to church and that night we had an adults-only dinner party with some friends. One couple Rusty's known since high school, another we've known for about three years and the third we just met that night. We had a great time. We are super lucky that Rusty's mom lives literally right down the road from the dinner party hosts' house, so she eagerly volunteered to watch Adam for a few hours. He had lots of fun with her and she of course bought him a new outfit.

On the baby front - Adam turned 8 months on Thursday! It is crazy how much he has matured in just one week. He is now mobile and says "dada" and melts hearts by smiling at everyone he meets.

However, we have had some issues. Just this week, he's had quite a bit of issues falling asleep and staying asleep for nap time. For example, today, he only got about 1 1/2 hours of nap time between two naps, when normally he gets 3-4 hours worth of naps. He also has had trouble finishing his bottle. Not sure why since I haven't upped his food or formula intake. BUT he has been as giggly, excited and happy as always, so I guess I shouldn't be too concerned.

Oh, and he also tried a bell pepper for the first time and loved it!

Red & White Burlap Tree Skirt

I looked and looked for a tree skirt for our Christmas tree that I liked, but couldn't find one. What's a girl to do? Oh, that's right! Make one!

I originally had good intentions to make a one with my sewing machine, but the image of one I liked on Pinterest could be done without one... I'm not complaining.

What is needed:

One yard of fabric
5 Burlap Rolls
Hot glue gun and sticks
Scissors

Notes:
 - The fabric doesn't have to be soft or cute, since it's just a base. However, you might want to get a more durable one to last longer and hold the glue/burlap.
 - Michaels and Hobby Lobby sell rolls of burlap in different colors that are about five or six inches wide. I needed four red rolls and one white roll.


Steps:

1 - Fold your base fabric twice to make it a quarter of the size. Cut in a circular fashion from two opposite corners, so the corner with no folds is removed.

2 - With the fabric still folded, cut in a circular fashion the remaining 90 degree about 3-4 inches.

3 - Unfold your fabric and you should have a circle with a small circle cut out in the middle.

4 - Cut in a straight line from the outside in. This will enable you to slide the skirt over the tree.

5 - Begin to cut the burlap rolls. Cut them approximately by the foot - just try to make sure they all are the same size.

6 - Fold over the rolls, but don't press them. You want them to stay rounded.

7 - Begin gluing along the edge of the fabric. I did red with white every so often so it was just speckled throughout the skirt. You should finish an entire row before beginning the next, working from the outside in.

In this pic, I've almost finished the first row.

8 - Continue folding and gluing until you've reached the inner circle.

9 - When you've reached the end, fold the fabric over the inner edge to prevent fraying of the fabric.

10 - It may take a while since the there are a lot of strips of burlap, but it is easy and looks great.

Here is the final look under the tree.

I had some left over burlap, so I will post next week to show what I decided to do with it! Merry Christmas!

Rollercoaster Week

Late last week Rusty and I got a call that Rusty's cousin had took his own life. We had literally just seen him one week earlier, played games, ate food, laughed. It really came as a shock and it just makes me realize that you never know what's going on beneath the surface. It brought up a lot of thoughts and memories from the death of my own cousin a few years ago. His was a little different as he overdosed the morning after leaving rehab. It makes me start to question: why didn't we notice anything? what turmoil was he going through just a week ago when we saw him? was there anything we could've done? Unfortunately, there are answers we will never get and questions that will always be asked. My heart and prayers go out to his parents, sister and brother.

Friday, Rusty and I went to his company's Christmas party. Delicious food, karaoke, black jack... yes, please! Thanks to Grandpa and Grammy, we didn't have to worry about the baby at home! Glad that our long-time friends Keith and Meghan get to come now too!

Saturday, Rusty threw a party at our house (it was already planned before this unfortunate news) for his friends to play the new Smash Bros. game for the Wii U. Rusty and his friends are huge Smash Bros. fans . I believer there were 8 or 9 guys in all, including my brother. I decided to stay with my parents so that Rusty and the guys wouldn't have to stay quiet once Adam went to bed. Katie and Emma came to my parents' house too and we were able to just talk and hang out. However, that night, I guess from being in a different place with different sounds, Adam and I did not sleep well at all. I couldn't go to sleep and when I did, I kept being awaken by Adam crying. It meant running on less than four hours of sleep for the next day. I was able to finish our tree and my tree skirt before Rusty's party.

We attended the funeral on Sunday. It was a beautiful service, but so incredibly somber in laying to rest someone so young. My parents sat in the back with me in case the baby got noisy and Rusty sat in the front with the family. He was a pallbearer along with the other male cousins and uncles. As we drove home and that evening with Julie (Rusty's sister) over, we were all physically and emotionally drained from the day. I can't explain the emptiness and constant questions filling my mind.

Today, Adam and I (Rusty was at work), my parents, and my siblings went to the wedding of a girl I've know for about 15 years. It was so beautiful, there was great food, and Adam enjoyed his first wedding. There was a surprisingly large amount of people given that it was a noon wedding on a Wednesday. I'm excited for the two of them as they entire this next chapter in their lives. Adam did great, but he was so exhausted by the end.

One last pic to leave you with. After almost eight months of never touching a paci, we now can't trust Kirby around them:

Santa-Free Zone

My family does not and will not do Santa for Christmas. Before I go into why, let me give you some background. Whether or not to do Santa was the ONLY thing Rusty and I didn't agree on when we got married. We knew we would have to make a decision at some point, but decided to shelve the issue for a later date. Rusty was raised in a Santa-believing household and I was not.

Now that we have Adam, that decision had to be made. After much discussion, Rusty decided (whether he agrees or just wants to please me) to not have our child believe in Santa.

There are two sides. First, you are lying to your child and everyone else is in on it. Everyone I've talked with remembers the exact moment they realized Santa wasn't real - and it was heartbreaking. I even know people who pretended that they still believed even when they didn't because they wanted to still get presents or didn't want to disappoint their parents. Not only did their parents lie to them, but the child now felt it was okay to lie right back, and why wouldn't they? If you lie to your children, they learn that it is okay to lie to you, but also, they will begin to question the validity of everything else you say, in the past and in the future. When I tell my son something, I want him to be able to know without a doubt that what I say is true. I'm a true believer that relationships are based in truth - any relationship. How is it fair for you to tell your child to be truthful and turn around and lie to them?

Second, I am a firm believer in Jesus Christ. I realize that he was most likely born in the Spring or Summer, not in December, and that the Wise Men didn't visit him until he was a toddler, but this is when he is celebrated. I want Adam to know that we celebrate the birth of Christ, not a jolly fat guy delivering gifts. At the same time, I will spend all of Adam's childhood teaching him about an entity that he cannot see, who's all knowing but whom you can still feel. I can't teach him those traits about God and about Santa and then turn around and say, oh, but one of them is not real. Why would he believe either is? I know some of you will say you do Santa, but your child knows the true meaning of Christmas. Sure, your child knows that Jesus was born and we're celebrating his birth - but is hard for me to believe that they are not more focused on Santa.

Am I telling you not to do Santa? Of course not; as a parent, that is your prerogative and I don't ask for you to tell me how to parent so I won't tell you. However, I do wonder why people don't treat Santa as fiction. Tell your child he is pretend, make-believe or fiction. I'm not sure why our society treats him as a real person until our kids wise up, especially when children start to use critical thinking about it and the logistics and parents cover up the original lie with more lies to try and make everything make sense.

Our Christmas won't be any less than yours. My child will still wake up excited (when he is not an infant) to see the presents. He will get excited to see the lights, to make the cookies, to see family. Christmas will still be a fantastic holiday for him, even without Santa.

Don't get me started on a creepy elf that does naughty things, but that is supposed to watch to make sure you don't.

I encourage your point of views. Agree with me, argue with me, but bring me logic.

Music Lovin' Baby

I got the cutest video from the nursery workers this Sunday! Apparently Adam decided to put on a concert for them. I'm definitely hoping he will like music as he grows and learn to play an instrument (and I know his grandparents want that too).

Guess what?!? My new shoes finally came in. I can't wait to run the next race with them. Hopefully, they'll cut my race time in half.

Adam has been very curious these days. He's been army crawling (and so close to real crawling) everywhere. Today, he was in the living room with Kirby and I look over, he is trying to pick up Kirby's shadow. Kirby was just watching him and it seemed like he couldn't figure out why Adam wasn't succeeding either. They were just so perplexed.

Now that it's December I can begin decorating for Christmas! I believe you need to get through one holiday before you start another, so I have waited until after Thanksgiving before the decorating began. The next hurdle is getting decorations. Since we've been married, we've lived in apartments, so we just had a small four foot tree since we didn't have the room. Not this year! I ordered a 7 1/2 foot tree and have been going to Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Wal-Mart and Target to find the exact decorations I wanted. I decided to do my tree in red and white - but it's not quite done yet. I'm making my own tree skirt because I haven't been able to find one I liked. When I'm done (hopefully this week), I will definitely show you guys.

In the meantime, I've made my own wreath, which is now on the door. I've also finished my fireplace - I think it turned out very cute.

Before I go any further, let me tell you that I do NOT do Santa. I will be putting up a special post in a couple of days about my reasoning.

Give Thanks Part 2

Because of everything going on, I'm posting a bit off schedule because I just can't wait any longer to share!

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we had such a great (albeit long) day! At lunchtime, we went to Rusty's Aunt Sandra's house. I made cream cheese cookies (another Cooper family recipe) and they were a hit. Adam got to see his great-grandmother. He was a bit fussy most the day, again I believe just because there were a lot of people passing him around and talking to him. Most precious part of the day, Adam was on his last limb and he was handing to his great-grandmother who started rocking and humming to him. He fell right to sleep and continued to sleep for about 45 minutes (even with everyone taking pictures of this precious moment). She was so pleased too! We also took pictures on the stairs of the whole family - we were missing one cousin (Bob), but everyone else was there.

That night we went to Rusty's dad's house for some low-key family time. I made a cheese plate (you probably don't know how much my husband LOVES cheese plates - but trust me, no one loves them more) and everyone just snacked. It was a great time and Grandpa (Rusty's dad) got out his guitar and played a bit for our music loving baby.

Friday, Rusty, his sister, Aunt Julie, and I went to the movies to see Mockingjay Pt. 1 (I love this book series). We waited until after lunch so we were stuck in Black Friday traffic. It was a great movie, although I didn't like a couple of minor details, but that's just me being nit-picky. My parents watched Adam during this time, which they had no complaints.

That night we get home and wouldn't you believe it, Adam was holding his own bottle during his dinner! We've been practicing for a while, but this is the first time he succeeded! Yay for milestones!

Today (Saturday) has been thankfully low-key. We've been just relaxing and spending time between just our little family.

Give Thanks Part 1

So last Thursday we got Rusty's trumpet back from the cleaners. Rusty hasn't played his trumpet since high school - that's almost ten years ago! We visited Rusty's mom and he saw the trumpet and decided to take it home, after some much needed cleaning. Adam was very nervous the first time Rusty played it, but now he can't stop staring at Rusty whenever he plays.

Friday, Adam and I visited my sister, Aunt Emma, Uncle John and their dog, Dex at her house. Her friend Melanie decided to bring over a little boy she babysits for a play date. They were very skeptical of each other - but it made me realize how small Adam actually is. If you look at the picture below, you'll see, these babies are only a month apart!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning, Rusty went to Athens, so Adam and I were on our own. Every year Rusty goes with a group of college buddies to a UGA game and just to get together and catch up. He had a great time. While he was there, my Uncle Jimmy and his girlfriend came up from Florida to visit family and met up with us and the rest of my family (except Katie) at our favorite BBQ place. Adam got to meet a new family member and we all got to enjoy delicious BBQ.

I love, LOVE Thanksgiving! I love food and I love family. It has been even better this year because Adam joined the crew. On my side of the family, we always celebrate Thanksgiving the Sunday before. We went to my Aunt's house and Adam got to meet two of my cousins and two great-uncles that he had never met before. Adam was a little fussy throughout the day because of all the new people, but I believe he got to be held by everyone so their days were made. We ate good food, played board games and just caught up.

Tomorrow we will go and celebrate with Rusty's side of the family. That means more food, more family and more love! I can't wait!

Birmingham, Alabama

Lots of stuff this week! Rusty and I went to Big Peach Running Company for good quality running shoes. This place is amazing. You stand on this step thing and it gives you a heat map of pressure of your foot. It shows what part of your foot you tend to lean on, it shows how high your arch is and it also gives you the exact size you should wear. After that, they put you in a starter shoe and record you running down a runway at the store. They watch this in super slow-mo to see if you are rolling your foot in or out, then you start trying on shoes. Because I have very tiny feet, mine had to be special ordered and they didn't have the color Rusty wanted, so now we wait.

Last week, my sister and her boyfriend went to Disney World and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I am so jealous, but she did send us a Howler in the mail. For all of you non-Harry Potter fans, you probably won't get how awesome this is, but I LOVE the series and this was the perfect gift for me!

This weekend though we took a trip to Alabama to see Rusty's family. It was Barbara's (Adam's great-grandmother's) 79th birthday! She wanted a nice, dressed up party to see all of her family. We decided to get a hotel instead of driving back so it wouldn't be as hard on the baby. It was so great to see everyone - especially because we normally only get to see them once per year. Adam also looked completely adorable in his formal wear (although the cost of it will mean he will wear it at every formal event from now until he's popping buttons).

 Pop and Barbara (Great-Grandparents)

The night after the party, we look into Adam's mouth and what do we find - his first tooth!! I wash his gums every night after bath time and didn't even feel one coming through, but by golly, there it is! He's becoming a real person!

Example Seven-Month Baby Schedule

I've been asked a lot about sharing Adam's schedule. I am a VERY schedule oriented person (hello, type A personality) because if I don't have a schedule, my day is completely frazzled. Children also thrive by having schedules because (according to the research I've done) it allows them to feel secure and know what is happening next.

A couple of notes:
- As Adam hit seven months, he is no longer breastfed, so if you're breastfeeding, this is probably not the schedule for you.
- You will probably have to tweak for your own baby's needs because all babies are different.
- Adam has always been a great sleeper - so he hasn't woken up in the middle of the night since 12 weeks. You'll definitely need to change it up if your baby wakes up at night still.

 Example Baby Schedule

 9:00-9:30a
     - Wake-up
     - Put on clothes

 9:30-10:00a

     - Breakfast

         > 6oz Formula

         > 2 Tbsp rice cereal

10:00-11:00a

     - Playtime

11:00-11:15a

     - Books

11:15-1:00a

     - Nap time

1:00-1:30p

     - Lunch

          > 4-5oz Formula

          > Baby food

1:30-3:00p

     - Playtime

3:00-5:00

     - Snack

          > 6oz Formula

3:30-6:00p

     - Nap time

6:00-6:30p

     - Dinner

          > 4-5oz Formula

          > Baby food

6:30-7:30p

     - Playtime (special playtime with Daddy)

7:30-7:45 p

     - Bath (every other day)

7:45-8:00 p

     - Snack
           > 5-6oz Formula

8:00p

     - Prayers and Paci

     - Bedtime

           > Kiss and say goodnight before laying down

           > Put on back, big blanket, little blanket
           > No talking once he’s laying down



Now it's your turn to share with me about your experience with putting your baby on a schedule. Do you have one? What works best for you?

More Milestones

Adam turned seven months old! He is now rolling back to front in addition to front to back! He's started getting a bit of an attitude when it's tummy time, so he would always roll to his back. Imagine his surprise and dismay, when he rolled again and ended right back where he started. He was not a happy camper.

We have had some lovely fall weather this week so Adam, Kirby and I have spent our afternoons on a blanket in the backyard. Adam loves crushing the leaves and watching the wind through the trees.

Adam and I also attended a bridal shower for an old friend. My mom and her mom have been great friends for many, many years. Everyone loved Adam and I had a great time seeing people I haven't seen in forever! Plus, she is going to make a beautiful bride next month. My sister will be their photographer so you know the pictures will turn out great!

Oh, Rusty and I have begun watching The Walking Dead (once Adam is down for the night of course) and it's been really good. I keep having nightmares about zombies, but who doesn't like to be a little frightened now and then. Living in Georgia, it's been really fun to point out the places we've visited.

Halloween

Baby's first Halloween! Well, October is over and it was a good one. Rusty and I went to a Halloween party thrown by my former employer at a speakeasy in Atlanta. Grammy and Grandpa babysat and we had the night out. It was great to see all of my former co-workers. On Halloween night, we got dressed up to hand out candy. Sadly, the rain deterred a lot of children, but we still got a good many and they loved our group costume.

Guess what else I did this week?!? I unpacked the last box!!!! That's right! Right at two months ago we had moving day - and we are now officially moved in. I told myself that I couldn't being decorating until I was unpacked. Well... let the decorating begin.
Oh wait, now I have to make more decisions.

Rusty and I (and Adam in the stroller) also participated in our second 5K this weekend. Again, I urge everyone to try it. It felt so great to cross that finish line. This one was also right down the street, so we didn't have to wake up as early. However, we did decide not to do anymore until the Spring. It was sooo cold - there were flurries at the finish line! We also decided we should invest in some good running shoes to prevent injury.

We attended JoLynn and Jade's birthday party! Jasmin is Rusty's stepsister and these are her two daughters (turning 3 and 1 respectively). They had a Frozen themed party, which is all the rage these days, but it was really cute! This is a picture from a couple weeks back of the girls because I didn't take any at the actual party. Fun fact: Jasmin (who didn't become Rusty's stepsister until three years ago) is married to Daniel. Turns out Rusty and Daniel went to school from Kindergarten to Senior year of high school together! Not many people can say that they have known someone for that long and now we are spending holidays and birthdays with him!