Mr. Grumpy Bottom!

This picture pretty much sums up the last month of our lives with this grumpy little monster baby! 

It may not be the best picture of baby H ever, but it was about the best picture from our five month session last night. Man, he sure has been a grump! He has been skipping naps... skipping sleeping all together. He's still going through something in his sleeping patterns at night; but we're hoping he'll get back into sleeping several hours through the night soon as we work through it with him. Lets just chalk it up to him being a BABY, right? 

 I am still adjusting to my new life at home; some days I really miss the workforce, but being at home with Harrison and watching him as he grows and learns has been a wonderful blessing! This last month and a half he has been making huge strides in his physical and mental development. I know that's been tough on him and mostly why he's been so grouchy. 

He is learning so much and it's amazing to watch as he learns how to move his little fingers to grasp small items or to wrap his whole hand around a toy or bottle and put it in his mouth. He is able to maneuver his bottle into his mouth and hold to feed himself for a minute or two at a time. Not every feeding, but on occasion he'll fight you for the bottle. We introduced solids around four and a half months; Harrison didn't know what to do with the spoon at first... or his tongue, so all the food ended up on the bib. That's what they're for, right? We have kept slowing introducing every week or so and he is catching on. He still doesn't seem entirely interested so we're going to back off until next month and try again. After all, foods "before one, just for fun!" He gets all the nutrients he needs from his milk! 

Harrison saw a new doctor [whom we love!] and was weighing in at 14 lbs. 7 oz. only two weeks after his four month appointment where he measured at 13 lbs. 4 oz. More than a pound! I'd say that's good gain! Only in babies are we happy for tipping the scale. I have been avoiding the scale at all costs these days, oh baby, what you have done to my body! Ergh. 

Well, despite that angry little face above, it really has been a great month! Having a child has been such a HUGE change in our lives, but we wouldn't trade it for the world! We love our little angel more and more every day. I am going to burst soon if this love keeps growing inside of me!  

Jordan really enjoyed making a monthly update this month as well. In case you were feeling jipped out of some cute baby smiles, don't leave before checking this one out... 

[Don't forget you can click the pictures to enlarge]

A Fine Evening for Baby Blessing Pictures

Earlier this summer we were able to go home to California to bless our beautiful baby boy, which I wrote about here, but never got around to posting any pictures until now. 

Such a little man already! 

My wonderfully talented Mother in Law made Harrison's special blessing day outfit from my wedding dress. She created an adorable little mini pant and a vest set. We decided to forgo the tie, [although it would have been super cute!] not wanting a fussy and uncomfortable baby for the service.

It was a perfect morning for a baby blessing and I feel very grateful that Jordan is a worthy priesthood holder able to administer a blessing for our son. Jordan and I both come from large families so the first four or five rows of the church hall were filled before the 'regulars' started arriving! It meant so much to us that our families were able to share in the special day with us. 

Below are just a few memories captured from the reception held after. Thank you to my in laws for hosting such a loud and rowdy group! 

[Photo credit: Sara Young]

I am in awe of this amazing little soul that God has blessed us with. 

Jordan and I are so grateful to be able to love on this little one every single day. He is so bright eyed and curious! We are grateful for such a large and loving family; a family that shares an abundance of love and is never short on noise! We are grateful for friends, who have shared our lives with us and grow with us each new step we take through this sojourn here on earth. 

We are grateful for our membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; to know that families can be together forever and for the happiness our Heavenly Father so freely blesses us with.  

I fall more in love with these two everyday! 

XOXOXO.

What do you get when you pinch a penny?

As a new "Stay at Home Mom," I have found myself looking for ways to cut corners so as to stretch our now single income budget a little further each month. I find myself keeping receipts so I can fill out those absurdly long online survey in hopes of winning $1,000 to Wal*Mart, Target or Winco... you laugh now, but just wait and see who'll be laughing when I'm walking out with a whole cart full of Kazoosles! BAM! [#hellalove]

Sometime a few weeks ago, I thought about how people who file complaint letters with companies are often rewarded with coupons and goods, which the company hopes will sway the consumer back to their product. The small sacrifice that the company makes in sending samples and coupons will usually garnish a larger reward in having made a customer for life! There was even a pin on Pinterest suggesting you write to companies whose product you love and fake a complaint saying you love their product, but recently bought a sub par batch. LIES! I do not believe one should be so deceitful, but do believe that loyalty should be rewarded. I mean doesn't it drive you nuts when your phone or internet/cable company offers some huge discount to NEW CUSTOMERS? What about me, the CURRENT customer, who pays her bill on time, if not early, every month and constantly extends her contract? 

Well, I decided that my loyalty was due a reward, so I wrote a few letters to some companies whose products I rather like and use OFTEN, explaining my loyalty and why I should be appreciated as a repeat customer. One letter was an actual complaint letter-- Glad Saran Wrap sucks! So I politely let them know that I would like my money back... and they sent me a check for eight dollars and change to refund my two purchases. Not coupons for my next purchase. Because I specifically said I would never purchase their overpriced inefficient product again and would simply appreciate my money back and it worked! Now you'll notice about 3 sentences back I highlighted [bolded. bold-ed. made bold] the word "politely" because there is no reason to go about in the world being rude to people for no good reason. Plus, "You catch more bees with honey."

My other letters were to Sam's Club for distributing the store brand SIMPLY RIGHT FORMULA and SIMPLY RIGHT DIAPERS which I LOVE. Baby boy has been using SIMPLY RIGHT FORMULA since our first month home after I couldn't breast feed anymore and after deciding that paying the big bucks for Similac was stupid when all infant formula has to meet FDA standards, so essentially they're all similarly healthy. SIMPLY RIGHT DIAPERS only start in a size 3, so we use Wal*Mart brand now [same producer] until H gains some weight... which might be a while the way this kids metabolism is set. Well, Sam's Club called me to let me know the distributor of the SIMPLY RIGHT BABY CARE line would be sending me a FREE supply! We're not talking a free sample here... They sent me a whole 64 oz. container of formula and an entire box of diapers! 228 diapers -- F-R-E-E-! Simply [no pun intended] because I asked! 

I didn't have to lie about a bad batch of their product, I just wrote them praise and appreciation for making an affordable product I enjoy and was shown some love! 

*Note: This is not a sponsored post. 

The makers of SIMPLY RIGHT BABY CARE nor Sam's Club did not send me product to sample and blog about. [...because I have 4 followers. Sad face emoticon.] They would probably prefer I hadn't posted about my experience as one of the emails I was sent from HR at Sam's Club said that in order to keep costs low to all customers, this was not the norm. 

I guess they bent some rules for me! Hooray for praise paying off! 

Look at all those free goods! 

Freebie within a freebie, say what!? 

So I suggest ignoring all the nay sayers out there suggesting you lie, cheat and steal to get a little something when it is just as easy to ASK. 

And thus comes the end of this post without a warning because I must get on to my online surveys! 

Bahaha, kidding. It's 10:00 and this little mama needs to sleep while baby sleeps. 

Good night to all my proud penny pinchers! 

A Man of Many Faces...

Sometime this summer Jordan decided to grow out a beard. I'm not exactly when and I'm not totally sure why either, but he did and here it is in all it's "Duck Dynasty" glory. Well, almost.

THE BEARDED DRAGON!

[Get it!?] 

I think he might have rather been enjoying the look, but this lady was not. I enjoy the look of a scruffy, manly, bearded man; but as it turns out, beards are more of a thing of theory. They look good in theory and even in implementation, but kissing up on my bearded man is not as quite as sexy as Ryan Gosling makes it out to be in "The Notebook."

[I'd still probably get it on with him, beard or no beard!] 

So alas, BEARDY had to go.
I convinced Jordan to have some fun with it and we shaved all sorts of looks before finally getting rid of it all and returning to me my smooth baby faced husband. 

Here are some of the best... 

A hearty pair of 1800's MUTTON CHOPS! 

The Classic "too-old-to-be-in-a-boy-band-but-still-in-a-boy-band" extended side burns and goatee.

[Unfortunately to get the Mutton Chops we had to forgoe the REAL boy band gem, the sliver of hair along the whole chin line leading into a goatee look as made popular by The Backstreet Boys' AJ McLEAN. I was more bummed about this than I should have been really.]

Plain Moustache & Goatee Combo. 

Channeling Edward Norton from "American History X," only less angry. 

I guess he liked this look!  

Handle Bar Moustache & Soul Patch. 

I really wish we could have shaved everything but the souls patch to see that extra douchey look, but then we couldn't have completed our next two looks... 

THE RON SWANSON

Now I know that THE TOM SELLECK is the original RON SWANSON, but lets be real here, no one, not even my fine hunk of man meat, can recreate the beauty and the glory that is THE MAGNUM, PI. We would have needed some Rogain for Moustaches and a thickening agent and maybe even some moustache dye to try to pull off a moustache that magnificent. And frankly, we have too much respect for Mr. Selleck, so we didn't even try.  

And finally, Jordan's last shave before he was a baby faced teen again... 

[Viewer discretion is advised!] 

THE HITLER

Yes, we went there! 

[Please don't unsubscribe!] 

And finally, Jordan was back to his old self. 

THE DRAGON

Gee, you think he'd be a little happier! 

Well, we have discovered that my favorite look is a clean shaven hubby, pretty sure Jordan loved the beard; what about Baby, what did Baby like best? 

The votes are in... 

Feeling it out... 

...not too sure about this caterpillar... 

"Mikey likes it!" 

The Brian Fantana with a soul patch for the win!

Kid tested, Daddy approved.

A third of a year come and gone...

Baby boy is 4 months old! 

We are a little late on the post because we have had visitors [again...]

Here is whats new in this adorable little guys life...

[click picture to enlarge] 

Grandma and Uncle Zack came to visit for a long Labor Day weekend and Harrison is still very hesitant about new people. I don't blame him though, he is at home with Mama all day long so he has grown very fond of me and sometimes daddy. I have been making it a point to take him to "play group" at the church to socialize him. He has no interest in the other kids or their toys, only wants to lay and play with his. He has gotten used to their screaming [most the kids are significantly older than him and can run around] and ruckus, he isn't as terrified as his first day.

He is doing a really good job at sitting up with assistance. He has always been big on standing and sitting and I think soon, here, he'll be sitting up on his own. He is reaching all his monthly milestones and is a great learner! We do ABC flashcards with letters and word associated pictures, which he just loves! We can usually get all the way to Q or R before he starts to get fussy and bored. He coos and talks back to me as I say the letters and you can really see him watching my mouth, trying to mimic me.

As I said last month, he discovered his feet, and he now loves to lay with his bum up in the air holding onto his toes... only a matter of time before he will get those in his mouth too!

Along with sucking, drooling and putting everything in his mouth-- Harrison has taken up LICKING. EVERYTHING. If you're holding him you can bet he will be licking your shoulder, it's the creepy baby equivalent of the weird kid in high school who leans forward and smells your hair... yeah we'll work on that! Ha ha. Really though, he is just very curious and only has a very few ways to explore his surroundings and taste is his easiest option right now!

I guess the biggest change from last month to now is that we seem to have a little Houdini on our hands! Harrison is becoming a master escape artist and can almost wiggle right out of his vibrating chair. We have to strap him into his swing because he arches his back and turns sideways to roll and almost falls out! He does the same in his car seat, as he HATES being in it, but loves car rides-- oh, baby logic! If only they understood, it would just make Mama-Life so much easier, huh?

And lastly, his new favorite thing is WALKS. Only, again-- baby logic, he really doesn't like being in his stroller, so Mommy or Daddy have to carry him facing outward so he can see the big world around him! He is a mini male version of Dora the Explorer and just wants to see it all!

I can't believe my baby boy is going to be sitting, eating foods and crawling soon! The days go slow but the weeks and months fly by. Harrison is our little lovebug and we are so blessed to be the parents of such a happy, wiggly and eager baby boy! 

Loco, Laca, Besa

I used to run around calling people, "loco, laca, besa" while twirling my finger in a circle around my ear and yelling with a crude Hispanic accent, 

"You crazy in the brain! You loco!" 

I later learned it was actually, "Loco en la cabeza," but you know how quickly those Mexicans speak and it all slurs together. You never have any idea whether they just said three words or thirty! And I say, 'those Mexicans' in only the most endearing of ways; my uncle is one of THEM, so it's not racist when I say it. [Isn't that the rule? If you know someone who knows someone who's black then you can't be called a racist, that works with all ethnicities, right?] When you're six and getting your information from your burly Mexican cow wrangling uncle, things are bound to get misconstrued. He once told me what apple pie was made out of at a family holiday... 

"Do you know what's in that pie?" 

"Yeah, Tio, apples. It's apple pie." 

"NO. It's bulls juevos. Do you know what that is?" 

"No?" 

"BULLS BALLS!" 

Yep, my Uncle Tony told me apple pie was made out of bulls balls. 

And who knows, it might have been. I can't be sure who brought the pie, so maybe he made it and was playing a Thanksgiving prank on everyone. 

And I never ate apple pie again.
No, seriously. I am nearing my thirtieth birthday and I have yet to taste apple pie since that fated day. I have only recently taken up eating whipped cream again; only on things I can be certain are NOT bulls balls. See, there was whipped cream on the pie and I associated it with the traumatizing event of the day; surprised I still use forks? Honestly, me too.

Jordan has been thinking lately that I am a little crazy in the head because I'm a little bit overprotective of my family and our home. He'll tell you it's more than a little, but like my Tio Tony-- he can't be trusted. 

I keep warning Jordan not to open the door to salespeople and most certainly not to give our information out to a n y o n e . Summer salesmen [and one super butch lesbian that came by last week-- again, I am protected by the rule of association, my sister and her lover are lesbians!] are so pushy and NOSEY! And there are all sorts of scams going on out there, so it's really best to politely tell them we're entirely not interested and let them go on their way. Jordan is a trusting guy and I used to be a pretty trusting gal, but I've got a defenseless little one to protect now, so my Mama Bear instincts are kicking into full gear and I see nothing wrong with just telling people we're in no need of their services and asking them to leave.

  

Well, the latest scam is this: Some "foreigners" [I don't know a single "foreigner" so I have to put it in quotes like that] come to your door and tell you they're selling children's books to raise money for their stay here in America. When you tell them you have no children and are not interested, they ask you to point out houses in the neighborhood that do have children. Or if you DO have children, whether you buy books or not, they will ask you to come inside to use your bathroom. If you oblige, they come in and look around to locate your child's bedroom so they can later tell their handler where your children sleep at night because they are not foreign exchange students at all, they are pawns in a sex trafficking ring looking for children to kidnap! 

I know, I thought this all was a little elaborate when I first heard about it too!

Until I was at my friends house AND IT HAPPENED! 

Nobody got kidnapped, but some very pushy foreign girl had come to the door before I'd gotten there and luckily nobody had given her information, but rather told her the police were being called, at which point she ran off, got into a sketchy car at the corner of the street and high tailed it out of there. 

Totally scary, right? 

Turns out, I am not crazy after all. HA- Jordan! 

Well, I did meet this particular friend on the internet and was meeting her for the first time that day... so maybe I am a just slightly loca en mi cabeza.