6 months and loving my first food: AVOCADO!

I can't believe 6 months has passed so quickly, yet in the midst of a recent HORRIBLE week of sleep, it seems so long!!  Isn't it crazy how they both can co-exist?

We go Tuesday for Jackson's 6 month well-child check!  I am anxious to get all his stats, but mostly his length!  This boy is already busting out of the 9 month outfits.  I need to cut out holes for his feet! Ha!!

Tonight we enjoyed a 3 mile walk with Jackson!   We lost Sophie the Giraffe during out walk and didn't realize she was missing until we were packing up!  We had to retrace all of our steps which was a LOT!  However, no worries, I found her on one of the last trails we walked.  Thank heavens b/c Sophie is part of this family!! Ha!!  She has probably been the favorite toy of both kids and cousin Hannah!  Looking for a good baby shower gift, give the gift of Sophie the Giraffe!!

Once we got home, we decided to take the plunge and give Jackson his first food!!  I wanted so badly to exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months with baby #2 and I MADE IT!!  Woot Woot!!  Such a big accomplishment for myself, considering my many struggles with Sophia! I always skip cereal (if you would like to know my reasons, don't hesitate to contact me or leave a blog comment!), so we started with avocado!  This boy could stand to have a little more fat in his thighs and tummy!  Plus avocado is very easy to digest and loaded with healthy fats and protein!!  I mixed it with a little breast milk and Jackson went to town!!  He LOVED it!!  He actually started fussing for more!!  It is amazing the difference in how well a 6 month old can handle a spoon vs a 4 1/2 month old (when we started with Sophia!)  This KID loves to eat.  By the way he handled the spoon and the food, you would have thought he had been eating for the past month!!  I see why they recommend you try to wait till 6 months for food!  I am excited to start making his food again and explore many options!  I love feeding my babies real food!!   Check out the video!!

YUM!!!  

I quickly learned how to lick my lips!! Ha!

One final, but VERY important special event today was Jackson's baby dedication at church!  This was a very special time for our family!  My parents, Nate's parents, Sarah, Brandon, and Hannah all were there to witness this act before the Lord!!  My father-in-law reminded me of this awesome verse in 1 Samuel 1:27-28.
²⁷ For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him.²⁸So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there. 
Oh this is a perfect description of our hearts!!  Let us remember these all the days of our life!  How we pray that our children will grow strong in the Lord and serve them all the days of their lives as well!!

Papa and Jax were twins today!  (This was totally not planned!)

Grandpa Long, Sophia, Jax, and Grandma Long

Love my "little man" outfit from our friend Erin!

Yes, this was the best picture of all three grandkids out of 10 that were taken!  Oh what did parents do in the days of film? Waste tons of money on horrible pictures .... that's what!

Enjoy this beautiful week of weather that is ahead and join me in THANKFULNESS for the goodness of our GOD!  

Spring Fun!

All I have to say is this has been THE.BEST.WINTER.EVER in Indiana!!  I am so grateful for this mild winter so my hubby doesn't have to face horrible weather in his 120 mile daily commute!!  It has allowed us more family time and less stress for Nate!  Praise God!!  

We celebrated Leap Day by heading to the park in 61 degree weather!!!  It was VERY windy, but so mild outside!!  I put Jackson in the swing at the park for the first time ever and he LOVED it!  Sophia did an awesome job pushing him!  He would giggle and cackle at her each time she gave him a little push!! 

It was hard to get a good picture due to the crazy wind, but I am not complaining!!

I'm a big boy now!  Look at me!

We were so blessed with this adorable Adias track suit from our dear friends in Russia, Jeff and Amy!!  I am so glad Jackson can now fit into it!  I have to say, he is one heart breaker, huh?

Doesn't my smile melt your heart?

Yesterday, March came in like a lamb ... Sunny and 54 degrees!  I will take that!!  We headed to the park again for more swinging and also walking with friends!

Sophia is such a good big sister!

heart breaker ... dream maker ...

The group of kids after our walk ....

Isaiah, Andrew, Jackson, Sophia, and Josiah

She really wouldn't look at the camera ... ugh!!

I hope you have been enjoying this MILD winter!!  Bring on spring, bulbs, flowers, and warm evening weather for park trips and walks!!!  

Exciting New Opportunity

As many of you have most likely noticed, my blogging frequency has gone way down since sweet Jackson was born!!  Once I get past the craziness of these early infant months, I know I will have more consistent time to blog!  I really miss it!!  Blogging was a creative outlet for me to journal my thoughts and opinions!  Plus I had the wonderful opportunity to receive and review products, you my readers, might enjoy!!

In the mean time, I have been presented with a WONDERFUL opportunity!  I have been a long time follower of the blog "What Mama Wants" since she started with all her amazing cloth diaper reviews.  Her blog has grown tremendously over the past few years.  I am going to become a guest reviewer on her blog for some products!  I already have 4 products to review and write up!  Many of the products will also have giveaways, which you all can enter over at her blog.

I will make sure and post a link to the reviews I write, so you can head over, check them out, and enter!!

I am thrilled about this new opportunity .... well, it's time to get cracking!!

Stay tuned ....

Ahhh ... the taste of Michigan in February!

With the kids in bed last night at 7:30pm, Nate and I were able to sit down and enjoy peace, chocolate, talking, and wine!   We don't usually do anything really elaborate on Valentines Day, but try to come up with meaningful and economical plans to better strengthen our marriage!   We love sitting at the table in candlelight and enjoying a yummy dessert (a must make for everyone!) and some wonderfully refreshing wine.  I picked a book chapter to discuss while Nate picked a podcast to share.  It was wonderful to connect with each other while the normal hustle and bustle of life STOPPED for 2 hours!!

Thanks Mama Pea for the wonderful recipe!  So glad it made  enough for leftovers today!

Ahhhh .... so tasty!!  So refreshing and so Michigan!  

Our Valentines celebration makes me long for our Grand Haven, MI summer vacation in July!  Ahhh .... the warm weather, beautiful MI coast, friends, and family!!  What more can a girl ask for ...

Epic Success and Failure all in one day ...

We should begin with the epic failure ....

Looks like a VERY VERY dense doughnut ... not a loaf of bread!

My first attempt at Gluten-free baking in the bread machine without researching recipes!   I thought I can just sub the flour and add some Xanthum Gum ... well, I was WRONG!!  Back to square one ... GOOGLE!!  I need to find good recipes that work to make GF bread b/c buying a tiny loaf for $5.50 each time isn't sustainable!!  Anyone have any good recipes?

On to the epic success ....  THANK YOU PINTEREST and this blog!

I made a few changes .... turned the "I love you ..." into a "We love you ..."  I traced each one of our hands since Sophia, Jackson, and I all LOVE our favorite Valentine!!

I have a funny story about our little craft.   Sophia and I called Nate around noon to wish him a Happy Valentines Day.  She was telling him about our morning and that we just were working on a "craft" for him for a present.  She started telling him that we were tracing hands, but I quickly quieted her and said ... "Shhhh, don't tell so daddy will be surprised!"  She said, "Mommy, I want to tell him, no secrets!"  She told him that we were tracing our hands for him and that we had to trace Jackson's hands when he got done nursing.  Nate tells me later during the conversation, "Oh, all I ever wanted for Valentine's Day is a copy of hands!"  HA!!

Wonder if he will be impressed??

Do you have any fun Valentines crafts or projects you are working on for your VALENTINE??

Jackson LOVES his toes!

My sweet lil' guy LOVES his toes!  He is way more flexible than Sophia ever was!!  The kid loves having his toes in his mouth!!   However, he only can reach them on the changing table when the cloth diaper is off!!

A Valentines Card!

This year Sophia was asked to bring 10 Valentines for her Valentines Party at Preschool.  We looked at all the Valentines at Target and I was not at all impressed.  I couldn't justify spending $4-6 on a box of Valentines plus they were major lame-o!!  What is a girl to do when she needs valentines?  Of course, hop on Pinterest and find a super cute, easy idea!!  Pinterest very rarely disappoints!!  I found this pin and had to try it!  I made a few changes to make them a little cheaper!

What do you think?

They were super easy ... quick hole punch in the card, feed the pipe cleaner through the back (see below), cut out red hearts out of card stock, add the wiggly eyes, a nose, and smile, then glue the face onto the card!  Last, wrap the "hand" around the sucker!

Used a little peace of tape on the end of the sucker so it wouldn't be as "floppy"

The best smile I could get ... she was being extra silly this morning!

Sophia helped on the first few, but then it got a little boring she said!  Ha!!  She loved putting on the wiggly eyes!!  

I was able to snap a few more pictures over the past few days!

She loves practicing her letters.  "S" is her favorite letter!  I wonder why!

My sweet boy with Daddy's favorite shirt!  Already have him in baby camping gear! Ha!

Yes, she really has Christmas Mickey socks on.  The girl lives in those things!  Some things aren't worth the fight!

Have a wonderful weekend!!  

Warning: HEART BREAKER!

Wow, it just doesn't seem possible that Jackson is 5 months old already!!  Where is the time going? (I am happy to look back on months 1-4 as just a memory!) I love seeing his smiling face each morning (well, at a normal hour that is! Ha!) or after he gets done nursing!  Just such a happy baby!!  Don't get me wrong, he has his periods of time where he can wail with the best of them!

I know, with a face like this, I know it's hard to believe he cries!!

He has been doing some rolling around!  Mostly likes to roll from his back to his "near" tummy ... fully on one side!  He also has been enjoying playing with his feet!  Problem is that he can only get his toes in his mouth on the changing table without a diaper on!  I love my cloth, but it is a bit restrictive when trying to be uber-flexible!  

We enjoy Wednesday mornings to ourselves while sis is at Preschool!  Usually mommy enjoys watching the Glee and Parenthood episode from the previous night on the DVR while Jax sleeps!  Ha!!  

Tried to snap a pic with self-timer ...  didn't work so well as
he didn't have my funny face to laugh at!

He has been laughing more and more!  He loves playing "airplane" on my legs!  He enjoys being tossed in the air, well, a few inches at this stage in the game!!

Now if we could just get this night time sleep down a little better.  These short stretches are NOT fun!  Seems like month 1-2 were horrible, 3 was much better, then 4 has been YUCK!  Maybe the 5th month will be the best yet .... come on, a mom can dream right???

Oh, what I wouldn't give for 5 FULL nights in a row of uninterrupted sleep!!!  Back to dream world for me huh?

Jackson's Room ... FINALLY complete

Jackson's room has been painted for a few months, but the last lingering project was to recover his glider rocker cushions and make a new pillow!  I seriously have had the fabric sitting in the corner on my room in the JoAnn bag for 3 months!!

Here is the final product ... I absolutely LOVE the colors!!  If you would have told me the gray would have looked awesome, I would have told you NO WAY ... but it rocks!   Good job hubby on picking it out!

Artwork my mom found before Jackson was born and before we knew it was a boy!

Love love love this decal!

Jackson Grant Long ... so presidential huh?

You can see the green glider cushion in the bottom of this picture ... no more ...

My first sewing job since 8th grade!  I think it turned out pretty good!!  The extra white pillows are my new "nursing support" pillows!  My arms always fall asleep while he is nursing.  Probably b/c of his big head! Ha!

Of course sis wanted to be the first one in the chair!

Up close of the pattern colors that match PERFECTLY!

I am so glad our room re-do's are over for awhile!!  So much work ... yet such an awesome reward and finished product!

If you give a mom a muffin ...

* Updated to the correct author!

Most of you know and LOVE the famous kid book titled, "If you give a mouse a cookie ..."  We must read that book at least once a week in our house!  Yesterday on Facebook, a friend posted this ...


IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MUFFIN


"If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer... will remin...d her... she has to plan supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamburger.) The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it." by Beth Brubaker


Ok, so for all of you mom's out there (or even just anal, task driven busy bodies like myself), doesn't this describe your life perfectly?  Start one task, see another that needs done, then see another, and another, and before you know it, you have forgotten about the first task you started and NEVER finished.  This is my life EVERY day it seems like ... with laundry, washing diapers, changing diapers, hanging clothes, cleaning out this closet or this drawer, eating, emailing, etc!  


So glad someone thought of a cute, accurate way to describe my life and probably hundred's of other mom's out there!!


Do you have this problem?  If not, how do you keep yourself on track so that you are not derailed?