Wordless Wednesday

Babyfood...

Stockpiling squash...thanks to Uncle Charles and Bettilu!

I am loving making my own baby food! It is so simple and easy. The Beaba steams, purees, and defrosts. Plus, let's face it what I make looks way more appealing than some of the things that come in a jar! :) I've learned a lot in the last few weeks. For example, peas should not be the drab green that they are in the processed version, instead, they should be bright green. (But so far, AG is not a fan of peas! Or mashed bananas....but he loves to munch on 'em in his teether.) Also, you SHOULD buy carrots in the jar. This is due to the nitrates that are found in carrots...we have no way of pulling them out and they could be toxic for your baby if you make your own.

Tomorrow, Berry will be having its first ever farmers market! I'm excited besides fresh fruit and veggies they will also have milk from Berry's cows and beef from Berry's angus herd. Plus, everything is organic! I'm hoping to be able to stock up on some summer veggies so that I will have enough to last me into the fall. I'm not going to lie I'm excited about the fall veggies that will be available before we know it. So we will see what I end up with.

I've been using the book Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes and AG has worked his way through the first section. So we are moving on to the next section which has new recipes and mixtures of foods to introduce new flavor combinations.

AG is a fan of:

Applesauce

Summer Squash

Zucchini

Sweet Taters

Peaches

Carrots

Watermelon (in his teether)

Bananas (in his teether)

Apples (in his teether)

AG is not a fan of:

Peas

Mashed Bananas

Rice Cereal (by itself...we mix it in his squash, zucchini, and peaches)

Wordless Wednesday

So my dear friend, Laura, has an older sister that blogs weekly about life with her little man. (And soon to be addition in a few weeks.) Greta posts a picture once a week and titles it "Wordless Wednesdays". I've been meaning to do it for sometime...so here it goes.

Stand Up...

Watching the Braves cream the Giants!

Well our little man is now 6 months old. Before we know it Christmas will be here and we'll be planning AG's first birthday! Here's a quick update from AG's doctors appointment yesterday. He was 20lbs 1.6oz and 27.6inches long. So here is a recap of the last 6 months:

Birth 7lbs 13.4oz and 19.5inches

1 month 9lbs 7.8oz and 22inches

2 month 12lbs 3 oz and 23.75inches

4 month 16lbs 15.4oz and 26.5inches

6 month 20lbs 1.6oz and 27.6inches

Yesterday, AG also received his next round of vaccines. He did great and was flirting with the receptionist on our way out! What a ham. His doctor was pleased with his growth and how he is doing with solids. She predicts his teeth should be coming in sometime in the next few weeks. She is also predicting that we may have an early walker on our hands due to his excellent leg muscle control. (Which Andy has been predicting since he was an infant! He would rather stand than sit or lay.) She says that once he figures out how to pull up he might just take off. The pictures above are of us standing him next to the ottoman to see what he would do. He already stands himself up when sitting in someone's lap. It will be interesting to watch him over the next few months. These days we are also sitting up unassisted while rolling/scooting to get around all over the house. We've got a mobile man on the move!

I'll post an update and slideshow of our weekend later. (And 6 month rocking chair photos.)

Cows and Home Improvements

Well, here is another super long post and slideshow! Since my last update we celebrated AG's first 4th of July. We went to the farm to visit and show AG off to all of Andy's family. We had an amazing long weekend with family and friends. AG enjoyed being passed around and loved on. He was a trooper on the ride down and back. I'm so glad we had switched him to his big boy car seat a few weeks before...I believe it made the difference. This was the first time Samson and AG were on a long trip together and they enjoyed each others company. While on the farm Samson enjoys roaming and running around on the grounds. One afternoon he decided to check out some cows and determine if life is greener on the other side of the fence. He managed to slip under the electric fence without getting shocked after getting in and realizing he had no business hanging out with some cows he decided to leave. However, he was not as smooth in his exit and hit the electric fence! He shot out of there like you wouldn't believe. We busted out laughing and then checked on him. He was fine. Life with Samson is never dull!

We came home last week and celebrated Caroline's birthday with friends. Dinner at Las Palmas and birthday cake at our house. AG did not like the candles on Caro's cake. We turned the lights off to sing to her and he melted down! As soon as Caro extinguished the flames he was fine. So we might be bypassing a candle on his first birthday cake if he keeps this up. It took us by surprise because he is so laid back and nothing phases him. 'Cept for 21 birthday candles! :)

Last week we also celebrated Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A! We put AG in his cow outfit and headed to the Dwarf House for a free lunch with Andy. All of the staff loved him and he put on a show for them. He's quite the charmer. One of girls in the drive-thru came out and took his picture with her personal camera! Ha. I look forward to putting him in a complete outfit next year! Next year he can even eat his own nuggets. Our boy is growing up!

We are moving right along in the solid food department! AG loves to eat. We are eating solids three times a day. I am really enjoying making my own baby food. It is super easy and we already have a nice stockpile. Thanks again to Ginny for the inspiration and helping me get started! Another skill we are currently working on is learning to drink water from a cup during meals. He's getting the hang of it. Ginny and Emma were over last night for dinner and it was so much fun to watch Emma. She's 6 months ahead of AG and we enjoyed watching her play and motor around the house. Before we know it that will be AG! This Saturday our little man will be 6 months old! I can't believe it. I'll post his 6 month pictures at Berry next week. This weekend we are looking forward to the Fullers coming to visit along with AG's G-Daddy, GiGi, and GrandNan. We'll have a full house. The guys are looking forward to playing golf at the country club and I'm sure we'll end up at the pool with AG. The Rome Braves will also be in town and so we are planning to go to the game Saturday night. Should be a great weekend with our family!

Next week we have AG's 6 month check-up and the remodeling of the kitchen should get underway. The next few weeks should be interesting without the use of my kitchen but I'm excited to see the end result! I know it will be worth it. This week we've been busy prepping for it by taking down the wallpaper. We also decided to take down the wallpaper in the guest bathroom while we are at it. Andy's already started patching and fixing the walls in the bathroom. I'm in the hunt for a vanity and fixtures. Lots going on and never a dull moment. I'm looking forward to our college students returning in about a month. We've missed them! Tonight we are having a date night...dinner and a movie thanks to Aunt Caroline. We can't wait to see Harry Potter! Hope everyone is having a great week. New pictures of the kitchen and AG's rocking chair next week!

Whew! Long update...

Whew! So the last two weeks have FLOWN by. I haven't had a chance to stop and catch my breath. Here's a quick recap of the last two weeks:

~Vacation: Our first trip to the beach with AG was great! He did well riding in the car both ways. ('Cept for Andy turning off his Baby Einstein cd on the way down. Ha.) He LOVED the sand, ocean, and the pool. We were extra careful with him due to his extremely fair skin. We are looking forward to seeing his reaction next year when he can actually "run" and "play" in the sand. Everyone couldn't get enough of our handsome, little red head! Samson missed us but had a great week with our friends Laura and Daniel.

~Varsity: We hit downtown Atlanta around dinner time on our way back from the beach and we decided to take AG to the Varsity for the first time. (It was between the original CFA or the Varsity. The Varsity won out because we had already had CFA earlier in the day.) We sat in the upper section that has all the glass window and AG was content to just watch the cars drive by. No trip to the Varsity would not be complete without a hat to wear. In the years to come I look forward to many happy memories at the Varsity, in Atlanta, with our children because it holds so many for me. Almost every outing I took with my grandparents when I was little included a stop at the Varsity for a Frosted Orange and fries. Andy also has lots of memories at the Varsity with his family and of course we'll be visiting the one in Athens as we cheer on the Dawgs between the hedges.

~Visit from TX: Upon our return my Aunt Joy and cousin Abby met us at the house. They drove cross country to meet AG and take Abby to camp. In the two weeks that Abby has been out at WinShape AG has spent lots of quality time with his Great Aunt Joy. He has enjoyed every minute of it! Aunt Joy also brought AG a wonderful collection of Mo Willems books. (One of my favorite childrens authors.) We've been reading a lot about what the Pigeon should not do to what the Pigeon wants and what his favorite food is.

~Father's Day was wonderful! We enjoyed visiting with Joy and had dinner with AG's friend Emma. Andy got a Wii and had is set up on the big TV in the den. Should be a lot of fun when the college students return in the coming months.

~AG's five month rocking chair pictures were a blast to take. He had such a great time rolling around and playing. I can't wait to take his six month ones in a few weeks. And I've already got a place picked out for the fall when the leaves change!

~Samson and AG: Since our return Samson and AG can't seem to get enough of each other. Anytime AG is awake Samson is right there with him. AG has been "talking" to him and gets a big smile on his face any time Samson is near him. We are really enjoying watching their relationship develop. The following quote sums it up.

"As soon as a child is born he or she should be issued a dog and a banjo..."

-Charlie Brown

~The rest of life:

-We've finalized the details on the kitchen remodel. Demo is set to begin in three weeks!

-We are excited to be taking AG and Sammy to the farm for the 4th. (Wadley, GA here we come!) I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures to post next week upon our return.

-I've been cropping a lot this week and working on several different albums for different people.

-We've decided to make AG's baby food for the next few months because its healthier and cheaper! We purchased the Beaba Babycook due to the high recommendation from my dear friend Ginny. It's amazing and I can tell I'm going to have a lot of fun with it!

-We've started using sign language with AG. I'll post more about it in the coming weeks but so far we are enjoying learning a new form of communication with our little man.

Thats us in a nut shell! Sorry I've been such a slacker with posts and pictures. I think that has to be the longest slideshow to date. Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. We are so grateful to live in an independent country! God bless!