And Jerad is 28

Jerad turned 28 today!!! We started dating not long after his 23rd b-day and at the time I thought he was so old. Ha! We had a low key weekend. We repainted the guestroom/office:

(don't worry--its no VOC paint)

Now we just need to clean up, decorate, and hang stuff on the walls. Eventually Jerad is going to build a longer and shallower custom desk so he can have space to work and I can have space to craft.

While we worked we listened to Catch Me If You Can the audio book


Its one of my favorite movies and hearing the story was really fun. I've never listened to an audio book before. I love it! Usually when I read I just immerse myself in the book. This way I can get something done at the same time. Win-win. Jerad loved it too, now if only our library would get a better audio book selection...


We also rolled out the new wool rug I bought for the living room:


I'm not 100% sold on it yet. We'll see. I think it would be a better bedroom rug.

Saturday night Jerad's parents and sister watched Marshall and we went to Guiseppe's Restaurant. I told Jerad he could pick anywhere that he wanted to go and that's where we ended up. It's where we went for my birthday:) He loves the lamb.

For his birthday I got him the cell salts he had been asking for, and a make your own root beer kit:

Sunday (his actual b-day) I got up with the baby at 6 and let him sleep in. When he got up at 8, he started making the root beer:



It has to ferment for a few days to a week so it will be awhile till we get to taste it.


Sunday afternoon our friends Liz and Gregg stopped by for awhile, and then Melinda and Larry babysat for a little bit while we went out to lunch. At lunch we were looking at the dessert menu and decided it would be fun to make a chocolate cake. We came home and Jerad chose this recipe for homemade Hostess Cupcakes. They were by no means healthy, but at least minimal chemicals!





It was a great weekend, and nice to chill around home instead of jetting off for once. We will be jetting off next weekend for our anniversary though.

And just because it feels weird to not post some baby pics (I know that's why you all come here now-a-days), here you go:

(staring down Sophie)

(being a charmer)

(superman)

(chilling in the bumbo while I shower)

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by two such sweet happy boys.

Rainbow Baby

This one's for Danielle.

Is it over yet?

Man, I can not wait till this day is over. Bleck.

Yesterday Marshall went to bed super early, like 6. Jerad is traveling right now and going to bed early sounded good to me too, so I nursed Marshall in his sleep, read a few chapters in my book, set my alarm for 5:30am and turned off the lights around 9:30.

Setting the alarm is really just a formality because usually the baby wakes up at 4 to eat and I haven't quite fallen back asleep before the dogs and the cat all start whining/barking/beating down the door to be fed. This in turn wakes up Marshall who wants to talk and play. So, we start our day at 5 and the alarm is a "just in case."

Last night Marshall didn't wake up to eat until 3:30 so I got a pretty good chunk of uninterrupted sleep! I wish he'd wake up closer to 2:00am because then I'd have a chance to fall into a deep sleep before I get up at 5, but I'll take what I can get. At least he always nurses and goes right back to sleep. I remember waking up a few times last night and thinking it was weird that it was kind of light outside and that Marshall was holding so still. Usually he kind of thrashes around and wakes me up, but he was just cuddled up to me snoring. I decided to just enjoy the fact that the baby wasn't using me as a punching bag in his sleep, and not to worry about the light outside since it clearly couldn't be 5:30 yet.

Awhile later I got a text message and decided to check it. It was my mom wondering what time I was dropping the baby off. Oh, and it was 6:34 already.

I HATE starting my day off like that! I like to ease into my morning, have time to play with the baby, eat a little breakfast. Today I jumped up managed to shower, get dressed, get Marshall changed and dressed and fed, feed all the pets, load the car, and be out the door all in under 20 minutes. Do not ask me how, it was some sort of miracle. I always pack the diaper bag, all my pump stuff, and my lunch the night before. Thank goodness for that or I would have really been late.

Even with the almost 30 minutes that it takes to drive to drop off the baby and get to work I was only 15 minutes late. Still, its a crappy way to start the day and I'm ready for it to be over. Also Jerad gets back late tonight and it'll be nice to have him around.

If I remember, I'll take a picture of Marshall's outfit and post it. Since I was just trying to hurry he isn't the most fashionable today. He has a tie-dyed onesie and rainbow baby leggings. It sort-of almost matches. Love it.

Waste Not

Every week when I go to the store, I clean out the fridge and end up throwing away a lot of stuff. Its frustrating! A lot of times there are leftovers that we would have eaten had we remembered they were in the fridge. We also forget about produce and it ends up not being as fresh as it could have been, or even worse, getting tossed out.

This is our new solution:

We write down all the leftovers, fruit, and veggies that are in the fridge. Instead of standing with the refrigerator door open trying to figure out what to eat or pack for lunch the next day, we can consult the board! When we use up something, we just cross it off.


Besides not wasting as much, we're also having yummier lunches. Usually we grab something that we've frozen, and this makes it easy to find a good pairing. For example yesterday Jerad was going to bring some baked fish and was able to look at the white board and decide that sliced tomatoes and mashed potatoes would be good sides. I made a sandwich out of the hummus and olive tapenade.

As long as we make it a habit to check the list, cross off things that we use, and add new leftovers/produce as it comes in, I think this will be an amazing help!

Weekend Shananagins

We had a busy weekend! We finished clearing out the guest room and set up our new sleeper sofa:


Now we just need to build the new desk, and decorate. And agree on paint. So... should be finished sometime next year.

Saturday morning we went to the Pioneer Day Parade:






Everything was going pretty well until one of the steam tractors blew its whistle. Oh boy. He kind of lost his shit for awhile. After Jerad finally calmed him down (thanks babe!), I put him in the Ergo and bounced him to sleep. I maaaaay have fallen asleep too.

After the parade we went out to lunch with Jerad's family. During Marshall's naptime. Another big mistake. You know how I always talk about how he's such a great baby as long as he gets his naps? Well between the parade (he was only out for 20 minutes or so) and lunch he missed 2 naps. It just went down hill from there. I had to leave the table twice. We were "those people" with the screaming baby that ruins everyone else's dining experience. Awesome.

He ended up falling asleep at 4 then waking up ready to go at 11. Luckily we were still up and it wasn't a work night! We've been reading Mysterious Island so Marshall got to listen to a few chapters. Maybe he'll be an adventure story lover too.

Sunday morning we got up and worked around the house. I decluttered our kitchen, laundry room, and have another huge box of stuff to get rid of. Jerad TSP'd and started painting our dining room chairs, and a chair for the porch.

Marshall finally discovered his feet:


In the afternoon we went to the Pumpkin Farm:



It was warm and Marshall wasn't that into it. I call this one "The Saddest Little Pumpkin"


And this one "The Angry Little Pumpkin."


Then we headed over to the park and played on the swings. Adorable.





Look how little he is, you could fit three of him in there!



Jerad is traveling again next week, so it was nice getting in some quality family time.


Next weekend is his birthday, and the next is our anniversary, so lots to look forward to!

Taking Back Groceries

Does anyone else do this? Like, if you buy bread and it gets moldy before the use by date I'll take it back to the grocery store and have them replace it. Or is meat seems iffy, produce is moldy or limp, fruit... dairy... anything that I buy and isn't edible by the time I'm ready to eat it (within the use by date).

Jerad HATES this. He thinks its uber cheap. And embarrassing.

I buy almost everything organic. It's expensive. If I have to be tossing stuff out all the time, its REAL expensive.

Trader Joes is a breeze. You don't have to bring in the item with you, or a receipt. You just tell them and they let you get another one. If its meat they'll even let you replace it with a slightly bigger cut. Maybe they figure if you are desperate enough to lie to get a few free peaches, you must really need them.

Two days ago Jerad went to the store to pick up something for dessert. He likes going to Scolaries since its closer to us, even though they are the most expensive market in town. He bought 2 baskets of strawberries and some whipping cream. We ate one that night, and were going to eat the other one tonight. When I went to cut them up, they were covered in mold. Not like a spot here and there, it looked like a science experiment. Way beyond salvaging.

We needed some tomato sauce anyways so I told Jerad he could just exchange the berries when he went to the store. Man. You'd have thought I asked him to go get a voluntary colonoscopy. He whined and moaned and begged. Then he made me *call ahead* to check that he could take them back. Seriously (you can, they want a receipt if you have it and you have to bring the moldy melting things in..... ewe).

I'm betting he just throws them away and buys a new basket and passes it off as the replacement.

Anyways, I was just curious if I'm the only one that does this and it really is as cheap/embarrassing/unacceptable as my hubby thinks?

Comments please:)

Book Worms

Reading was a huge part of my life growing up. My parents read to us constantly. And not just picture books, lengthy novels. My dad would read to us in the living room at night. We didn't have TV, a computer or a phone when I was little so there seriously wasn't anything else to do. He'd read, and have us take turns reading. By 8 years old I was reading books like the Lord of The Rings Trilogy, 20000 Leagues Under The Sea and Mysterious Island. My mom would take us to the library for fun. My and my sister had our own library cards and my mom had to sign something that allowed us to check out more books than "normal" for kids because we would go through them so fast.

I still read constantly. Usually multiple books at a time. I'm a fast reader. I read the entire Twilight Series over a weekend. Working at Borders was my dream job because if you're an employee--they let you borrow books for free! New fancy books that the library doesn't have!

A lot of girls talk about how they want to marry a Doctor or Lawyer. I wanted to marry an avid reader.

Then I started dating Jerad. He used to be not-so-much about the reading. When I say "not-so-much" I mean that one time he proudly told me he had only ever read two books on his own free will in his entire life. Somehow I recovered from the shock and we continued to date. I did however ask him not to share that little tidbit with my family. I thought they could accept me dating a convicted felon before they would approve of someone that had read two books ever.

Luckily, after a lot of reading out loud together at night he's come around. 98.7% of the time when we would go to see a movie, I had read the book that it was based on. Then I would complain about how the book was so much better. After we started reading together he started to believe me. Now he'll ask for books and enjoys reading on his own. Which is great because now he understands when I just want to bury my head in a book and not talk for hours.

When I got pregnant with Marshall I was so excited that now I would have an excuse to buy picture books! Oh picture books. I loves me a good picture book. I would always volunteer to lead story time at Borders because while other employees felt it was a punishment, I saw it as an opportunity to hopefully excite other kids about reading. Surprisingly Jerad was really excited too. When we registered for baby stuff, we registered for a LOT of books. We spent hours at Target reading the kids books and picking out ones we liked. Jerad wanted to have a book shower for Marshall instead of the normal Baby Shower. We didn't end up doing that, but are planning something similar for his first birthday.

For only being 5 months old he already has the beginnings of quite the library. We read to him and he seems to like it. Later on as his attention span grows I'm sure he'll love being read to. Right now he'll sit through most short books and likes looking at the pictures and "helping" turn the pages. He loves it when we make funny voices or read in sing-songy voices.

You can imagine how excited I was today when I discovered Dolly Parton's amazing Imagination Library! They will mail your child a brand new, FREE, age appropriate book every month from the time they are born until they turn 5. And not those crappy kids books that seem like they were written by a 4 year old that doesn't quite grasp the English language. Real books, like The Little Engine That Could. If your community participates, they pay for the books and mailing. And guess what? It's available in our county!

Excited does not begin to describe how I felt. I registered Marshall this morning. I can't wait for us to start getting a book every month, what a fun thing for a kid to look forward to!

Operation Re-do: Our New Bedroom

Welcome to our new, less cluttered bedroom!


The only new things are the swing arm lamps above the bed. Everything else was re-purposed from other rooms in the house. Which also means that the whole makeover cost right under $60.

The headboard came from our guest bed, the picture above the bed came from the hall, and the other pictures on the wall used to be in the living room. We got rid of 90% of our Paris stuff, but Jerad wanted to keep the large painting he bought me, and I like having a few small coordinating pieces.


The chair was in the living room. Can I just say that I LOVE having a chair in our room? Its so nice to have somewhere to sit besides the bed.


The side table was also in the guest room. A few coasters, one candle, and one little figuring. Those are the only knick-knacks in the whole room. Perfect. I also adore the lamps. Putting them on the wall means we aren't loosing precious nightstand space, and they're perfect for reading.


I already had all the bedding and the rug too.

We both agree that it feels like a B&B. Its so peaceful. I can't believe that there used to be a full sized dresser (covered with crap to dust), a big hamper, a massive bed frame, shelves (with most stuff to dust), AND a pack n' play in this room. Its only 10x12ft so getting rid of everything made it feel so much bigger.

5 months

Oh my, how the time has flown! I can't believe he has gone from this:


to this!


We are so blessed. Almost every day Jerad and I look at each other and ask how we got so lucky. Marshall is just so FUN. Every day he charms us in some new way. He loves to be tickled. He loves the nape of his neck munched on. He loves "talking" to us, his mobiles, and anything else that will listen. He has really found his voice and loves to experiment with different sounds, shrieks, and volumes.

The breastfeeding finally feels effortless. I'm so proud we've made it this far without ever having to supplement! I've been through cracked and bleeding nipples, 2 bouts of mastitis, 2 breast abscesses, thrush, a bleb, vasospasms, am I forgetting anything? I despise having to pump at work (3 times per shift plus one on the way to work), but he's growing so well and is so healthy its 120% worth it. In 5 months he's only had one small cold. I don't even know if you'd call it a cold. He had a stuffy nose for three days. That's it! Who knows if the breastfeeding has anything to do with him being so healthy, but it can't be hurting right? All that said, Marshall is not a "nice nurser."

I have a lot of friends who have babies about the same age. Most of them nurse before every sleeping session, nurse for comfort, stroke their mom's faces while nursing... ya, not my baby. He manages to guzzle down 3-4 ounces in around 4 minutes (the lactation consultant measured), then he's done and wants to play not be cuddled. He does not want to nurse before he goes to sleep. Ever. He doesn't want to nurse when he's unhappy. He wants to nurse when he's hungry which is every 4 hours most of the time with a few extra night sessions. He sure as heck doesn't stroke my face because he's too busy scratching, punching, and pushing me:) Thank God he doesn't have any teeth yet because I have a feeling how that's going to go...

It is very very hard to feed him in public because he latches and unlatches so many times, yet also refuses to nurse under a cover. Oi. I'm hoping the novelty of the outside world wears off soon and he learns to focus a little more. We're making it work though. He's so smiley and good natured its easy to let the annoying feeding habits slide.

My favorite time of the day is when I pick him up in his sleep right before I go to bed and feed him in the glider. He doesn't really wake up and is calm and *holds still* while I rock him. I get to snuggle him a little before putting him back to bed. It makes all the speed-feed-beat-on-mom sessions worth it.

It is so fitting that he was born in the water because this little guy is a water baby for sure. I'm fairly certain he would be happy to spend the entire day sitting in the shower. And napping! Oh how he loves to nap.

The first few weeks of his life he would only nap on our chests. Most of the pictures I have of that time are of him sleeping while Jerad holds him. Slowly he graduated to occasionally napping in his playpen. As long as he fell asleep in our arms... and we transitioned him oh-so-smoothly... and he was swaddled... and we put bolsters around him... and the stars aligned. One day he woke up and decided that being swaddled was World's Biggest Torture. We tried the one arm out thing, we tried both arms out. Nope, he would not have any of it. Not long after that he would nap in the sling, or on our bed as long as I nursed him to sleep and then snuck away. When he went down for the night I'd have to go to bed with him otherwise he'd keep waking up. Around three months he started napping in the crib as long as we rocked him to sleep first. This was my favorite. I wouldn't mind snuggling and rocking him to sleep if it took an hour every time.

His love for rocking was also short lived. Now he will scream if I try to rock him, but if I lay him down in the crib he puts his head down and goes right to sleep. Sometimes he will start fussing a few minutes later and I just have to go in and give him back his pacifier and he goes back down. It also doesn't matter to him if its me or Jerad putting him to sleep which makes both of our lives so much easier. He normally naps for 2-3 hours, 3-4 times a day. This kid loves his naps! I wish it were as easy when we were out and about. He really only likes sleeping in his crib, and has a hard time falling asleep in my arms so its hard when we're visiting people. If he will go down for a nap, its short lived and he's kind of "off" the rest of the day. So I just try to work around his schedule which is fine with me!

Everyone always wants to know if he sleeps through the night. He usually goes to sleep for the night between 6:30 and 7 in his crib. Jerad and I go to bed around 10. As soon as Marshall wakes up he's in bed with us for the rest of the night. Usually its around 4am, but sometimes 11pm. Sometimes he wakes up once, sometimes 5 times. I don't feel like we're sleep deprived zombies so his sleep "schedule" is fine with me. The good thing is, whenever he does wake up, he just nurses and goes right back to sleep. There hasn't been one night yet where we've had to walk him, or rock, or try to soothe him back to sleep.

Once he decides its time to wake up (between 5 and 6:30am), we're greeted with this cuteness:







He is just so happy, all the time. Sometimes he starts fussing and its just because he wants to talk and be talked too and he doesn't think anyone is paying attention. The second we look at him and smile he just starts laughing and cooing and making funny faces. He is quite the ham.



I know every parent thinks they have the cutest baby in the world. But he has to at least be in the top 10 right? It seems like he is growing and changing every day, I can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Operation Minimalize Progress #3

We ended up selling everything except the amp and sub which we'll just hang on to. We also got rid of a full size mattress, box springs, and bed frame.

Friday night we went through room by room (including our black hole of a basement) and made toss and donate piles. We ended up filling a 6x10ft trailer about 4 feet high. Um, that's a LOT of stuff guys! Combine that with all the stuff we sold and we got rid of a TON of stuff. I'll be honest, it was hard. There was a lot of second guessing on both of our parts and a few times where we'd decide to get rid of something, then bring it back in, then end up taking it back out. 2 days later and I can truthfully say I don't really even remember what we got rid of so obviously we didn't really need it.

We made so much room in our basement that Jerad is going to reorganize it a little bit and have enough space to wall off part and make himself an office/music room. It will be nice to have another space he can escape to when he needs to make phone calls and concentrate. We are still working on turning our guestroom into a playroom/craftroom/office/guestroom but its one big undertaking for such a small room! I think that room is 10x11 with two doors and a closet that have to have clear paths. We'll see how that all works out.

It feels really liberating to have freed up so much space. I want to get rid of even more, but first we just need to put everything back together! Right now it looks like a bomb went off in our house. We did a lot of rearranging and moving things from one room to another and apparently that creates a lot of mayhem. Over the next few days I'm sure it will come together.

Even with the current mess, I still feel like such a huge load has been taken off. Yeay for minimalizing!