William Joseph is 9 Months Old

On May 21st, William Joseph became 3/4 of a year old!  Slow down, time!

Length: 30" (19" at birth, 20 1/2" at 2 wks, 24" at 3 months, 27" at 6 mos)

Weight: 20 1/2 lbs (6.9 lbs at birth, 7.1 lbs at 2 wks, 14 lbs at 3 months, 18 lbs at 6 mos)

 

How Big You Are: You are currently wearing some 6-9 month, mostly 9 month and some 12 month clothing.  You are still a little butterball!  You have acquired the nickname "Tank" and it seems to be appropriately sticking around!

Sleeping Patterns:  Such an easy sleeper.  You start each day about 6:30 AM.  You take a mid-morning nap at about 10 AM, then an afternoon nap around 1 PM.  You are ready for bed and down-for-the-count by 7:30 PM.

Eating Habits: You start each day with an 8 oz bottle.  Then you will eat a breakfast of a fruit and/or some cereal mid morning just before that nap.  Lately you have been eating real oatmeal sometimes.  You seem to love it, too.  You eat fruits and/or vegetables for lunch and may take a small bottle just before your afternoon nap.  If not, you will drink it as an afternoon bottle.  Dinner is fruits and vegetables, but you have to have your bedtime bottle.  It may be the hardest thing for you to wean, if I'm making predictions.

New Discoveries and Accomplishments:  You babble all the time.  You say "da" for dog, "dada", something for "mama" although it doesn't sound like that.  You say "Hey!", too, which is the cutest thing!  You are mobile, but your crawling looks hilarious!  You have this crazy stance where hands are forward, one leg is back in crawling position, and one leg is kept curled under yourself.  But you definitely get yourself wherever you wish to go.  You are just barely starting to pull up; if you are placed at an object standing you will stand for long periods of time.

Places You Love: You love being in your Go-Pod hanging out in the yard with the family.  We have had some nice evenings and you definitely love being outside.  You love the pool, too!  I worried you would not like the cool water, but you giggle and squeal when you are "swimming".  You still love your bed; you are truly a creature of habit and would rather sleep in your own bed than anywhere else.

Special Friends: You got to spend a couple of days this month with our beloved Ms. Beth, and she said you did great.  I'm not ready for you to be a daycare baby yet (for financial reasons; not because there is anything wrong with daycare).  But I am so relieved to know you are happy and adjust well.  You got to spend the night with Nona once this month and she said you were a perfect gentleman, too.  You are starting to really enjoy hanging with your big brother.

Current Events:  We have had terrible weather.  Mother Nature's fury took its toll on Moore, OK in a very destructive path of tornadoes.  We are also still finding out information regarding the bombing of the Boston Marathon.  The world celebrated the safe return of the "Ohio Three", 3 young women who were kidnapped and held captive for 10+ years.  Thank God they are home with their families and their alleged captor is being prosecuted.  Mommy got completely absorbed by the live coverage of the State of Arizona v. Jodi Arias.  She was convicted of killing her boyfriend.  Unfortunately the jury could not decide on her penalty and will reconvene in July to decide life or death.

What We Did This Day: Today was a slow day.  It's only 2 more days until the official start of summer.  Mommy had to be in Pensacola for a quick business appointment.  I was gone less than 24 hours, but still I missed you like crazy.  You spent the day with your Mimi and Rocky.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Here's a recap in pictures and iconic lyrics of this Spring's baseball season.  Rob played 6U Coach-Pitch baseball in Helena.  He did great! He showed real improvement and a maturing understanding of the game.




Coach Carl S and the boys (L-R) Greyson M., Nate F., Andy M., Charlie S., Rob, Hudson P., Holden C., Jeremiah T., and Asher C.



Take me out to the ball game,

Take me out with the crowd;

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,

I don't care if I never get back.

Let me root, root, root for the home team,

If they don't win, it's a shame.

For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,

 

At the old ball game!

Am I A Missing Person?

Am I a missing person?  Well, only if I have actually been "missed", I guess!  Ha!  But seriously, 2 months have gone by.  In these past two months, my home computer died.  I was without any power source at all.  It's kinda hard to blog the paper-pencil way.  That's just journaling. 

In these past two months, my sweet oldest child finished his first year of Kindergarten.  It was a bittersweet day.  I look back to when he started school; it was our last day of being a family of four.  I was an emotional wreck!  But now the school year ended and it was emotional all over again.  Rob's kindergarten teacher set the bar so high for engaging, meaning-based learning.  This should be a warning to all his future teachers.  You have your work cut out for you.

In these past two months my daughter's personality has doubled -- tripled in size.  Is that possible?  She is such a spitfire.  I had the pleasure of meeting Taylor Swift when I was pregnant with C, and Swifty rubbed my belly.  Just last night I was joking with my sister-in-law that TS must have transplanted some of her individualism and spunk into my uterus!  Caroline loves "Ta'er Fwift" and demands that we listen to her music over and over in the car.

In these past two months my wee one has turned into a mobile 9-month old with six -- YES SIX -- teeth.  He is the sweetest, squishiest, happiest baby I have had the pleasure of raising.  More updates on him coming soon.

 

In these past two months Bobby and I have joined a pool, worked our rumps off at our jobs, done landscaping projects, enjoyed baseball season, traveled to Louisiana, and welcomed summer.

I will try to blog more often.  I would love to recreate our blogging relationship.  But in these past two months I have been living life to the fullest.  I have so much to share with all of you!

Stay tuned,

Much Ado About [Something]

Y'all, how did I not know about this until now?  I now realize that I have heard about this, but it's only recently that I was confronted full-on with this news: Much Ado About Nothing has been filmed as a latest adaptation and will be released on June 7th nationwide!

Joss Whedon directed this one and, honestly, I'm not sure how big a fan I am of Whedon's.  He filled this low-budget production with his band of brothers / familiar Whedon-land actors.  My only true excitement is to see Nathan Fillion on the big screen.  I have quite a crush on Richard Castle; however, here Fillion has been cast in a smaller role, likely and essentially reducing him to comic relief and scene-stealing.  Familiar territory to Fillion, but I believe he is capable of so much more.  (See also: what great scenes he has performed in this season's rejuvenating Castle episodes.) 

 

If you are not familiar at all with Much Ado About Nothing, here's the general plot summary: Leonato (Clark Gregg), the governor of Messina, is visited by his friend Don Pedro (Reed Diamond) who is returning from a victorious campaign against his rebellious brother Don John (Sean Maher). Accompanying Don Pedro are two of his officers: Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). While in Messina, Claudio falls for Leonato’s daughter Hero (Jillian Morgese), while Benedick verbally spars with Beatrice (Amy Acker), the governor’s niece. The budding love between Claudio and Hero prompts Don Pedro to arrange with Leonato for a marriage.  In the days leading up to the ceremony, Don Pedro, with the help of Leonato, Claudio and Hero, attempts to sport with Benedick and Beatrice in an effort to trick the two into falling in love. Meanwhile, the villainous Don John, with the help of his allies: Conrade (Riki Lindhome) and Borachio (Spencer Treat Clark), plots against the happy couple, using his own form of trickery to try to destroy the marriage before it begins.  A series of comic and tragic events continue to keep the two couples from truly finding happiness, but then again perhaps love may prevail (source).

All this excitement has motivated me to do something I've pondered for a while.  I have changed my blog's tagline.  What do you think?  "To most it's nothing but to me it's life."  Get it?  To most it's nothing because the play which inspired my blog-pun is called Much Ado About Nothing, haha.  Also, Shakespeare, when penning this little story played upon the word "noting" (pronounced "nothing" but meaning idle gossip and meaningless diatribe).   That's kind of most scholars' ideas of Much Ado...it's a light-hearted romantic comedy.  You can make a big deal of its themes and character development.  It really is in there.  But it was more for enjoyment and entertainment.  Like my blog!

I am thinking I'll conjure up my first blog giveaway in celebration of this film's release. Details to come at a later date. But make sure you are following me on Bloglovin' or some other feed because you do not want to miss a moment!

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Much Ado About Nothing is scheduled for release nationwide on June 7, 2013.  No compensation has been given for my endorsement of this film.

Build 'Em Up -- The Joy of Playing With Our Kids

Today is the 2nd installment of this four-part series on what's right with our journey into motherhood's deepest successes.  Missed week one?  Read it here.  I must confess that I don't really know where to begin today. Enter my stream-of-consciousness.
 
It has been documented here more than a few times that I am a worrier. Furthermore I worry about my kids' behavior, manners, and independence--or lack thereof. Sometimes as a family we will venture into public dressed like little angels. Then their mouths open and produce the sound of screeching brakes. The crazy train has arrived. Now boarding.

When having moments of self assessment or personal clarity I realize this: at the times of their most unkempt behavior, my children really just want a little attention. But they are children. They are physically and emotionally unable to verbalize their every need.  As both adults and caretakers we have the great responsibility of discerning what our kids need.

I do not believe that kids whine for sport, even though it often seems so. Kids get bored, feel neglected, or even overstimulated. For example, we recently took the kids to the beach for spring break. (More on this trip will be documented soon.) Four hours into the road trip they grew restless, despite having every 21st century amenity possible--DVD player, iPods, Leap Pads, mom's phone apps, etc. They desired the most primitive of life's enjoyments: quality time with family. So we pulled out an old tried-and-true game of Road-Sign-Alphabet. Do you remember this as a kid? You would carefully look at billboards, truck signage, and strip malls for an "A", "B", and so forth. This lasted for a good 30 miles and produced many giggles. The warmth you feel by entertaining your kids and fostering their imaginations is irreplaceable.

I have already read some other posts in this series where bloggers are confessing their addictions to instagramming the "moments" rather than truly existing in the moments. "Checking in" on Facebook rather than checking into the experiences. You're not alone. I am there right along with you.

Right now my family has crazy schedules. Bobby coaches middle school baseball, Rob plays U-6 baseball, Caroline and William are on their own time- and needs-agendas. But you don't have to spend all day together. It's called "quality" time not "quantity" time. When your children are young they have no concept of time. The 15 minutes you spend completely lost in play with them will last a lifetime in their hearts. I can tell you that a quick 15 minutes of playing baseball in the yard, a brief game of Candyland after dinner and before bath, a short wait in Rob and Caroline's "restaurant" while they serve up some plastic peas are going to affect them far
more than how many "likes" your FB status received.

That said, remember my post yesterday on being a work in progress? I've just typed my way into painfully guilty feelings. I'm signing off for now. I have some beautiful babies who want to spend time with their mom.

PS:  The fabulous bloggers responsible for this series have some enlightening things to say.  For further reading, check out Kelly at Kelly's Korner who struggles to keep the balance between wife and mother, Jennifer of Life In The Green House who has learned how to stop multitasking and accomplish so much more; Erin, a.k.a. The Blue Eyed Bride, talks about being the mommy of boys; and Lil Light O'Mine where Courtney offers a great list of 10 Tips For Playing With Your Kids.