I've been tagged!

• Favorite person: Mark and I can say Graeme since he's my only baby right now :)
  
• Favorite food: normally ice cream - during this pregnancy, mmm, fresh fruit and peanut butter!
  
• Quirks about me: what isn't a quirk? lol!
  
• How would the person who loves you the most describe you in ten words or less? I can't ask him right now, but I know he'd come up with something sweet!
  
• Any regrets in life?
  
• What can you NOT live without? Knowing that "God his own he ne'er forsaketh" as the hymn says.
  
• Favorite blog: my own right now, b/c I'm enjoying getting it set up.
  
• Something you can't get enough of: Cuddles from Graeme and hearing Mark's voice on the phone this weekend!
• Worst job you ever had: Well, I actually didn't mind any of the jobs I had - one thing I disliked the most about my job as a sales person at Marshall Fields was standing for 6-8 hours of the day, especially since we had to wear professional clothes/shoes - that got old very fast!
  
• What job would you pay not to have? Ha! Depends on how much I'd be paying LOL!
  
• If you could be a fly on the wall anywhere, where would it be? On Mark's shoulder so I could see what he's going through at OCS right now.
  
• Favorite Bible verse: Psalm 139 has been a favorite for a long time. I find the foreknowledge and design of God even in my birth and into my life an extremely comforting thought, no matter what I'm going through.
• Guilty pleasure: Way too tired to try to think of what that would be!
  
• Got any confessions: Not right now.
• If you had $1000 to spend on YOURSELF, what would you spend it on? First, a plane ticket to see Mark; second, a new wardrobe (so I don't look like a frumpy mama!)
  
• Favorite thing about your house: That we have a house. I've really enjoyed having a house as opposed to an apartment.
• Least favorite thing: fear and worry.
• One thing you are bad at: Spatial judgment.
  
• If you could change one thing about your current circumstances, what would it be? Everyone knows what that would be: I'd be with my husband.
  
• Who would you like to meet someday?
  
• What makes you feel sexy? Mark.
• Who is your real life hero? Mark.
  
• What is the hardest part of your job? self-criticism.
• When are you most relaxed? On vacation or when I have a chance to let go of the daily "stuff" that keeps me busy.
  
• What stresses you out? Self-pressure! Unfortunately.
  
• Favorite quote: Oh boy. I'm too tired to look up one.
• Why do you blog? I started this one actually with Mark in mind, so he could keep up with Graeme's happenings while he's gone - but I've been meaning to keep up a blog so our family can keep up with us :)
• Who are you tagging? Anyone I can think of tagging has been tagged! I guess that's what I get for being new?

Add to the list...

...hard-boiled eggs and grated carrots mixed in yogurt! Two new things in one day WOOT!

And just had to share Graeme's exhausted self after he decided he wanted to take a walk Wednesday afternoon - he just started walking down the sidewalk with me following along, and we walked for a good 10 minutes before I decided he looked hot and we headed home. He looks like he's really "blazed a trail" doesn't he? Oh, and he picked a leaf as a souvenir!

Just some Graeme notes tonight

Last night, we lay on the bed together before putting him down and looked through a nighttime song book - and he actually looked at the pages while I sang some of the songs. It was a really sweet time - could have lasted 15 more minutes for me! As it was, it was probably like 10 minutes that we lay there together. That's the first time he's ever done that.

Dinner tonight: he ate a whole bowl of peas mixed with applesauce! That's a first! Woo-hoo! A vegetable!!!!!

He ate a lot today, actually - I'm trying to up his daytime calories to help night-wean. We're going to start working on that soon, as I'd like him to be night-weaned by the time #2 arrives...actually a little early would be great LOL! I've been reading about how to do that, and one of the suggestions is to set a time-limit on when you will not nurse - I think we're going to try me nursing him before I go to bed (11pm) and then no nursing until 4/5 am - we'll see how that works. I'm kinda nervous doing it on my own - it'd definitely be a lot easier with Mark here, but on the other hand, it would be nice to have him night-weaned by the time Mark gets back...so we'll at least try :) Now that he is enjoying solid foods, I feel more comfortable that he can "make it" without the calories of the night-nursing. My milk supply seems to be cutting back gradually anyway, so he's been naturally eating more during the day. Wish us luck! :)

Okay, and some super-cute pictures from yesterday - one of Graeme's favorite activities is playing with the hose in the backyard!

Graeme's Eating Habits...

...are definitely expanding!

Last night - bean and cheese quesidilla with grated carrots snuck in ;)

Today's meals:
Breakfast - banana/blueberry muffin, some of my berry "Go-Mega" smoothie - Odwalla
Lunch - a *bunch* of blueberries, again, obviously a fave! Tried the PB&J - didn't go over so big today. Cubes of cheese.
Snack - half a banana
Snack #2 - half an orange (yes, a whole half an orange all on his own!)
Dinner - 5-6 raspberries (he seems to really like these!), potato with cheese, a few bits of apricot, and tried to get him to eat a bit of broccoli with the potato - he's too smart for that LOL!
Yogurt & multi-grain cereal mixed in.

So the continued quest is to get veggies in there. Part of it is that his eating reflects my habits - but I mean, he can't yet eat a raw carrot, and doesn't seem to care for things like corn with butter or green beans....it's kinda tough.

I just got this book from the library: "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals"
There are some really creative ideas that I would *never* think of on my own for getting veggies in foods that kids won't even notice. She has a whole list of "juices" made out of spinach, carrots, and all kinds of veggies/fruits that you put in things like cupcakes, milkshakes, even mixed in muffins! And 1 Tab. of the spinach juice equals 1/4 cup of raw spinach. I will not be forever-masking vegetables for my children, but on the other hand, you can't literally force a 1 year old to eat what he just won't eat. So I think incorporating some of these strategies will help get more nutrients in his food, and hopefully I can continue to work on gradually making vegetables more appealing/getting him used to the taste.

Summertime Fruits!

I love the bounty of summertime fruits! And I've been expanding my list of personal fruit eating, as well as getting Graeme to try different tastes....so here's what we bought at the grocery store this weekend:

Golden Kiwi (a little sweeter and slightly more "tropical" tasting than the green)
Red Raspberries
Apricots
Nectarines
Blueberries
Cherries
Oranges
Bananas
Grapes

What a list! Cherries, Blueberries, Raspberries and Grapes were all on sale - it's amazing how much cheaper they all are when they are "in season"!

Graeme tried raspberries and apricot tonight and liked both!!!!!

And he likes...

PB&J! Add that to the list of approved foods :) Yey - finally LOL!

Graeme's Diary 6/6 - 6/13

He ate rice with broccoli in it tonight! Just a little victory, but I felt like such a happy mama putting a VEGETABLE in my little boy! I figure I'll start hiding them in stuff he likes until he gets used to the taste and textures.

Molar #2 appeared a few days ago. They're only in a little bit, so I'm not sure if there will be continued "teething" or not, but at least their both through the skin.

Monday and Tuesday he woke up from his nap in the middle of my piano lessons, and I don't know what it was, but it seemed to me someone replaced my normal sweet child with a crazy little boy. He was hilarious! Monday it was like he couldn't decide whether he was happy or sad - he kept holding his red ball and crying like the world was ending...didn't want to be consoled (yes, this does make teaching very interesting), finally he brought me the ball, pushed it into my lap, and proceeded to walk away calm and happy as a clam. I don't know what was the issue there, but he and the ball were not getting along, apparently.

Tuesday he decided to scoot around the floor backwards in his diaper. It was SOOOOO funny! He'd never done it before, and hasn't done it since - but he spent a good few minutes scooting around and looking up appreciatively at us as we laughed at him. Of course, by the time I thought about going to get the camera, he stopped doing it.

He's doing some pretend playing with some little animal plastic shapes he's got. In the bathtub, he places them "Just so" and almost looks like he thinks they're talking to each other or something. It's funny. Seems early for true "pretend", but hey. He comes from good stock ;-)

Whenever I start singing, or if we're playing with a toy that makes music, he likes to clap his hands to the music. No, not perfectly with the beat, but actually, sometimes! He's trying. This just started, so I'll try to remember to sing with him during the day, because he really enjoys it. I have taught Kindermusik after all, right?!!

Mmm, he's discovered cherries this week and seems to really like them (that makes two of us!).

We spent an hour at the park this morning. He's gotten to be very interested in watching the other children - I know he is just soaking up all the things they do and I can see he's really thinking about playing with them, like it might actually be fun LOL!

He started bringing me books again yesterday, just at random times during the day, interested in actually sitting in my lap while I *read* the book to him. That was encouraging to me, as he'd kind of dropped his interest in books the past few weeks.

Well, I have some "help" now - that's it for now, folks :-)

[Not for Dad/Grandpa eyes!] Father's Day "cards" from Graeme :-)

Here's what Graeme (and I) made for Graeme's Father's Day cards....
just a little non-toxic paint on his feet and hands, and then I decorated with my own
handprints/fingerprints....
and then he went in the kitchen sink for a good rinse-down :-D
It was fun!
And hopefully Daddy and the grandpas will enjoy
a little special creation from their grandson!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm going to give it a whirl! Visit Menu Plan Monday to see what I'll be up to. I'll be posting my menu plan for this week. I'm probably somewhat unique to the group, as I'll be cooking for one (or I guess you could say 3, if a toddler and unborn baby count LOL). I need to plan both my meals and Graeme's, or we end up "punting", which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. The goal is to post it by Sunday night so I know what to get at the grocery store on Monday. Cross your fingers for me :-)

Monday
B - blueberry/banana muffin (made last week & froze), hardboiled eggs, fruit
L - tuna sandwich (tomato, lettuce, onion, cheese, mayo), fruit
S - crackers/cheese, yogurt, granola bar (same all week)
D - Slow Cooker Chicken Mole burritos w/ beans, cheese, salsa, lettuce - 6 servings, freeze 4 for later.

Tuesday
B - smoothie, toast
L - ham sandwich, veggie soup
D - homemade pizza

Wed
B - cereal, fruit
L - PB & J, baked potato w/ cheese and ham
D - beef stew

Th
B - quiche
L - grilled cheese, tomato soup
D - leftovers

Fri
B - cereal, fruit
L - ham sandwhich, veggies
D - leftover burrito

We have a molar!

And when he woke up crying from his nap, the very tip of the right molar had broken through the skin! Woo-hoo! Now we're waiting for the rest to come in and the left one. Sigh. It'll be nice to be through these!

Crazy for Blueberries!

Blueberries have been a favorite this week, and just now, I think Graeme ate around 30!!! He kept wanting more, and I figured those are a good thing to eat a lot of :-) I snapped some photos of his ravenous devouring of the blueberries...the camera died before I could get a really good one, but you'll get the idea LOL!

Got a letter!

From Mark! He sounds really busy, and says it is going to be tough. He asks for prayer for stamina and motivation. He said Thursday and Friday they did a lot of sitting around, which was good for his knee. Keep praying! :-) (If you want his address, let me know, I'll be happy to send it to you)

Graeme's Diaries 5/28-6/3

I'm going to try to do a weekly re-count of Graeme's development :-)

This week was a busy one for our little man! Last Tuesday he was walking, but only for a certain # of steps or with help. Today he is almost completely independent. In fact, I don't think he's crawled at all today, or at least not enough that I can remember. He LOVES to walk! When I was teaching a piano lesson this afternoon, he did "laps" around the room about 3-4 times. It was funny.

His molars *still* haven't broken through the skin. But they don't seem to be causing pain like they were a few weeks ago, so I don't know what's up with that.

His favorite toys this week: the set of stacking blocks by Melissa and Doug that Great-Grandma in Atlanta gave him (he loves to take them out and stack them up and knock them down...); his rocket (still! LOL! He practically runs around the room with that thing. And he is quite impressive with his steering abilities. He can do a 180 in about 2 seconds.); the sorter continues to be a fascination, though less so than a few weeks ago.

A new skill (well, almost): I've been teaching him the "where" sign (holding out your hands and looking questioning while you say "where is it?") - I'll put a little block inside one of the big blocks, hide it, and ask "Where is it?" He started mimicking me with his hands, which is SOOOO cute. But the thing is, he doesn't quite get what it means, because he now does it whenever we play with the blocks. He'll put a block on top of another one, go "where is it?" with his hands, then take it off and go "where is it?" LOL! It makes me laugh. He'll get it though, we'll see if he has it by next week.

Foods -
Loves: applesauce, yogurt (I mix oatmeal with it for extra protein), graham crackers, baked beans!
Likes a lot: blueberries, cheese, baked potato, orange, organic cheese-crackers, pretty much any fruit if it is mixed with something.
Tolerates: carrots mixed with something, cottage cheese, a bite of bagel or bread with cream cheese on it
Didn't like so much: peanut butter, corn, chicken, veggies (ACK!)

Fortunately, the little tantrums he was developing at the beach have dissipated - I'm not sure if those were related to being out-of-his-environment, teething, being extra-tired...IDK. He'll get frustrated, yes, but as long as I am proactive and careful to read what he needs (to work it out, get a hug, be distracted) we're fine!

Oh, he's kind of possessive about Poco's toys lately. He gets upset when Poco plays with his own toys!! Graeme will have the toy in his hand, waving it around and tossing it, then Poco of course gets it and starts chewing or whatever, and Graeme starts fussing like Poco shouldn't be doing that. For the most part, I've been letting them "work it out" together :-D Poco's favorite past-time is hanging around when Graeme is snacking and waiting for him to drop something. That doesn't make Graeme happy either. I have yet to figure out a perfect solution for that issue.

Today's trip to the park...

We love to go to the park. I enjoy taking the walk and getting out of the house, and Graeme just loves the slide, walking around, watching the other children...we found a park close (I don't know why we hadn't gone there yet) that has a little part for 2-4 year olds, which is much more friendly for Graeme. He loves going down the slides on his stomach LOL!

Tearjerker!

Graeme's sitting here with me as I look at the blog, and the pictures of the beach....and he says with bright eyes "Da-da?" He had just started saying "Daddy" a few days before Mark left, and he's said it only a few times since he left....so as you can imagine, that one made my eyes well up for sure! I said, "Yes, that's Daddy!" and he said "Da-da!" :-)

Our beach trip

We took a trip to the beach over Memorial Day weekend with Mark's family (parents, his sister and brother's families). Saw Andrew, our little nephew, for the first time. It was so nice to spend several days relaxing at the beach.

It was sad, too, because it was our last weekend together for 10 weeks, as Mark left for Quantico, VA on Wednesday after we got back. I'm glad we have some happy memories (and pictures) to hold on to until Daddy gets back. Here are some of my favorite pics!

Esther, Hannah, Graeme and I spent a lot of time playing in the sand!

These two in their matching sunglasses were too funny. I was amazed Graeme kept his on so long! He actually seemed to enjoy wearing them.
This is a better picture of Graeme - at least he looked at the camera this time.