"Don't Judge a Baby by His/Her Bonnet" and other adventures...

Well hellosies!  It has been a while, eh?  I've been BUSY working and knitting and sewing and cooking and cleaning and laundering and grocery shopping but most of all I've been BABY-RAISING!  :)  It is my favorite thing to do.  Mo turned six months old on the 18th and is now 14.5 pounds and 26 inches long.  The doc says he's completely healthy and developing at a normal rate.  In all of our adventures we did find time to put Mo in a very special little outfit:

This was one of Emily's tiny outfits from about 20 years ago and we had a little fun with Nate by surprising him with Mo wearing this.  He walked in and we could see the wheels spinning right away, he said "Who's that... wait, what?  WHAT IS GOING ON?"  It was pretty priceless.  I'm sure Mo will really appreciate this when he's older.

Mo is loving his exer-saucer right now and he looks especially boy-like in this picture so have a look-see at this and erase the previous images from your memory:

Mo is such a big boy now that he eats food from a spoon!  He likes a little oat cereal and sweet potatoes and peas and later today I'm trying applesauce.  I gave him banana and you'd think I'd fed him a spoonful of poo, he definitely was NOT into banana.  He's also not really into taking a bottle which means I'm still nursing the little fella every two hours through the night.  I'm hoping by the time he's 18 I'll start getting some good rest.  Here's a pic of the wee one eating his first solid meal:

In crafty news, I fashioned a new diaper bag out of a Victoria's Secret tote bag because the diaper bag I had been using was just not big enough for all you need to carry when you have a baby.  Here's the bag before I re-fabbed it:

I added two inside pockets and a velcro closure and used some fabric Jonathan brought back from Africa for the fun color and a slanty pocket and then some fuzzy brown for the heart-shaped pocket on the front:

In EXTRA crafty news, this is a cradle that Nate's grandpa made for him and his brother and sister some 35 to 40 years ago and now it sits in our family room for Mo!  He used it when he was tinier and now it holds his toys.  It's a beautiful handmade cradle and a very special hand-me-down:

That's all for today, I have more crafty news but need to take pictures.  Today is our first big snow in Colorado and we got 8 inches so far and it's still coming down!  Luckily Mo and I didn't have to go anywhere and we are spending a fun snowday inside playing with toys and trying to convince our dogs that Colorado IS better than Texas and that the snow will not kill them.  Maybe my next project will be tiny heated moonboots for the two little dogs. 

Here are a couple pics of the sweet boy.  This first one is Mo and his cousin Zephyr:

 Here is Mo modeling the hat and sweater Meemaw made him:

 Here's Mo with his Pop and Princess:

 And here's the little polliwog mugging for the camera:

Movin' and a-Shakin', YEAH YEAH!

Aaahh, Autumn is in the air and it feels SO good!  I am so thankful for the nice cool weather and extremely thankful that my old jeans still "fit" me after having this baby (it ain't pretty but technically they are fastened...)!  We have been super busy and somehow Mo is suddenly 20 weeks old!  At his last doctor appt he weighed 12 pounds 11 ounces and was 25.5 inches long.  We had a HUGE answer to prayer after some x-rays showed Mo did not have craniosynostosis which his doc had said was a possibility.  Weee-ooooo!!!!

Mo is LOVING his Bumbo chair.  We set some toys on the tray and he picks them up and puts them in his mouth.  His fine motor skills are really developing and it's so much fun to watch!  He now grabs for the dogs' ears and tails and grabs for our mouths and pulls my hair. 

In non-baby-related news I'm REALLY proud of my husband, he's not a "runner" but he finished his first half-marathon a couple weeks ago!  We both ran the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon  and it was totally awesome.  My Dad (Mo's "Peepaw") came to Georgetown to watch the wee one while Nate and I tortured ourselves by PAYING to run 13 miles at 8500 feet above sea-level.   

For my birthday Nate got us tickets to see Robert Earl Keen at the Mishawaka amphitheatre and it was AWESOME!  We took baby Mo and he spent most of the time sleeping in the sling and we were able to sit far away enough from the stage that it wasn't too loud but close enough that we felt like we were really at a concert. This was Mo's second concert (we also saw JJ Matott last month, concert #3!) and we're collecting concert posters from each show so he can have them when he's older -- hopefully he thinks it's cool!  Here's a pic of Mo and his Pop enjoying the show.

And here's the awesome concert poster...

And here are a few more pics of our absolutely ADORABLE baby boy:

At the doctor for 4-month check-up:

At Everyday Joe's seeing JJ Matott and The Arctic:

 Going for a hike up at the cabin:

 Having a bath at Meemaw's:

 At the zoo with Jack Dewey (Mo is on the right):

 Thinking about crawling, maybe?

 Kicking Bogey in the head with sock monkey slipper:

 Bumbo-ing with Pop:

 At his first Rockies game:

 Practicing his new favorite face:

 Perfecting his new favorite face!!

The Mo-ster is Fifteen Weeks Old!

Just look at this little GOOBER!  Dangit he is adorable.  I spend much of my day just loving the stuffing out of this little guy.  And then of course there are the times when it is 4:30 in the morning and while I'm feeding him he blows out a diaper and I have the poops streaming down my leg onto the floor... and still, I love him.  He's just learned to roll over which is really exciting.  He can't roll BACK but he can roll from his back to his stomach both from the left and the right.  It's harder to roll from the stomach to the back it seems.  Here's a close-up of Elmer Fudd, er, Mo, in action:

And since I love him sooooo much I made him a rug out of old tshirts for his room, it turned out pretty cool.  I'd started crocheting it in the round but ended up ripping that out and making a rectangle:

It looks a little wonky in the pic but I've since washed and blocked it so it looks nicer. You can tell we are a fan of the gray tshirt in this house!

In other news, I've started working for my Dad part-time.  I'm trying to get 20 hours in each week but so far have been averaging around 5.  It's harder than I thought!  My Mom ("Meemaw" to Mo) has graciously offered to watch the wee babe one day a week and we've tried it once but he refused the bottle... it seems we have a "boob man".  We'll be working with him every day until he gets it, Mama needs to be away for more than two hours sometimes! 

All in all, this whole parenting thing is the coolest thing ever.  I never get tired of trying to meet Mo's needs and I don't even mind feeding him every two hours through the night, although I am sort of looking forward to when he'll sleep for a 6- or 8-hour stretch.  I love how being a parent changes your focus from yourself to someone else.  I've grown exponentially less selfish and much less concerned with what I wear, eat, read or sew.... and I've learned that prioritizing is my main lesson here:  the days I can't even brush my teeth until noon I realize how many more important things in life there are.  For the record, oral Hygeine is VERY important to me but sometimes your baby just really really needs to be attached to you for a few hours and getting dressed, eating, even going to the bathroom or brushing your teeth will just have to wait. I wouldn't trade it for anything and I'll bet I'll be missing this time when he's older. 

Here are a few more gems for your viewing pleasure:

Baby's First Breckenridge Brewfest

Yep, we took our three month old baby to a brew fest.  Thankfully we didn't get too many "what are you thinking, you terribly embarrassing excuses for parents?!" looks... and there were several other kids there.  I had forgotten how beautiful Breckenridge is and it was really fun to see where Nate had lived and worked as he'd spent a year in Breckenridge about 10 years ago.

We also got to try out our new baby carrier:

  After Breckenridge we headed up to Estes to my parents' cabin for my Dad's 60th birthday.  My bro, sis-in-law and their babe Zephyr (almost two months old!) were there too. 

Instead of gifts for my Dad's birthday we rented a pontoon boat on Lake Estes for a of couple hours.  They even had the babies wear life jackets!

On the boat we put baby Mo on the floor to change his diaper and he showed us his new moves...

Jazz Hands!

Opera Hands!

Symphony Conductor Hands!

Freestyle Hands!

He's now 14 weeks old and probably 10.5 pounds, pretty ding dang amazing!   Every single day I'm amazed at how beautiful he is and very blessed we are.  I couldn't ask for a better life.

Five Minute Video of Mo's Facial Expressions... aaawwww....

Bread and Blessings

I recently found a spare few minutes (Mo took a long nap in his swing!) and made this delicious Blueberry Zucchini Bread and wanted to share the recipe.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 eggs

3/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup blueberries

2 Tbs. turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly coat the bottoms of 4 5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl combine flours, sugars, soda, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder; set aside. In a separate bowl combine eggs, oil, and vanilla and mix well. Add to flour mixture and stir until combined. Gently stir in the zucchini and then the blueberries. Spoon batter into prepared pans and sprinkle with turbinado sugar, if desired. Bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of each comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan 10 minutes before removing. Serve warm or cool completely before slicing.

(Recipe courtesy of Parents Magazine)

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

I think I had the extra energy to make the bread (after doing the laundry, feeding Mo, changing Mo, cleaning the bathroom, feeding Mo, changing Mo, sweeping and mopping the floor, feeding Mo, changing Mo...)  BECAUSE I got to spend a few days at my parents' cabin outside of Estes Park.  Their home recharges your soul and the mountain air invigorates your very being.  Here's a pic of their "backyard":

Here's "Meemaw" holding the wee babe:

And here's sweet baby Mo after having a bath at the cabin because he had an epic blow-out while Meemaw was holding him!  Even the grossest poops aren't that bad when you look at that sweet face! 

SOOOO BIG!!!!!

Mo can now smile, laugh, stick out his tongue, grab for toys and raise his arms up for "SOOOO BIG!!"  Ooh!  and I'd forgotten to mention that he's already attended his first concert:

He hung out in a sling the whole time and loved it!  What an easy baby he is!  He's definitely a music fan already!!