NINE MONTHS!! (& a few days..) and a trip

9 Month post a few (10) days late.

Look at those eyes! He is such a good little traveler

Roman had his check up last week and he is growing but its slowed up since he turned 6 months as expected.

He is:

29 inches puts him in the 75th percentile for length

18 lbs 3 oz in the 25th percentile for weight

17.5 inches around in the 44th percentile for head circumference

He is for sure getting a tooth! We finally see a little white under is gums. He has had some other signs of teething as well. He doesnt seem any more annoyed by his mouth then normal but there is FOR SURE a little white speck that is getting bigger and bigger. Cant feel anything yet. He had chicken from the table last night and HE LOVED IT. He does not like the ground up stuff in the jar but he enjoyed eating the little pieces I gave him.

In other times..

We drove up to Oklahoma to see some friends from Germany who are now based there. Matt and Mike both worked with Tony but they didn't know each other before the course and they have become friends. Mike has a wife Rebekka and two kids. One they had before they left Germany 2 years ago and the second we got to meet for the first time on this trip. She was a bit over a month old I believe. Tony would have been in this very course had he stayed in the Army. He actually got his orders when we were still in Germany to go and he had to cancel them. Hard to believe our lives are still up in the air after almost 4 months but I know that when we look back this time will seem like a blink of an eye. We are thankful that our families are able to help us out and let us crash with them. :)

Here are a few pics from our trip up to Ok. Its a long drive but it was worth it in one day to see them and hang out a little! We have added two kids to our group since we last saw them!

Roman is very worried about her since she is crying.

about to go four wheeling

He is off.. I think.

Mike and little William

The Sky on the way back from Oklahoma on July 24th

Sale on organic baby food

Recently I found out about these awesome baby foods. They come in a bag and they mix the fruits and veggies AND Roman (your baby) can just suck them out of the bag. They are so good I dont even put a bib on him because he doesn't spill. You can also squeeze them onto a spoon or in to the mouth, but he learned fast how to suck on them. There are 2 brands that I found at BabiesRus, Ella's Kitchen see selections on web {here} and Plum Organics {here}.

They are both on sale now at BabiesRus. I have found that the Plum ones (8 for $8) have more in them then the Ella's Kitchen (I think it was 8 for $10). The Ella's kitchen are on sale at Central Market now for $1! So the better deal still is the 8 for $8 (because you get more) BUT They have different selections of fruits and veggies.

We also just tried yogurt too! HE loves it. I got a tub of the whole fat plain and we mix it with a fruit. Today I thought about mixing in his veggies too since I already mix them with his fruits anyways then when we were at Central Market we found this yogurt that mixes fruit and veggies! CRAZY! We got strawberry and Carrots and he LOVED it tonight. Yumm.. doesn't that sound good?! It didnt taste that bad. Yes, I try everything Roman eats - potatoes and spinach are gross in baby food but good in real food, odd.

I have been buying only organic foods for him. He has eaten a few non organic things but I am trying!! Its more expensive but I think its better for him. I think its even more important when I am going to make it for him since I dont test them like the baby food people do. I said I always mix fruits and veggies and for the most part I do BUT today he ate lunch that was ALL veggies and no fruits. :) SO happy. He had sweet Potatoes and cinnamon and summer squash.

The other day he had a "my first baby soup" I don't think it is any different then other baby foods are so I am not sure how they can call it soup but they do. I got a variety pack at babiesRus (2 for $15 - on sale now) and didn't realize it had chicken in it till he ate half of it!!!! I was so freaked out about him eating meat! I just think its weird for babies to eat meat, they are sweet little babies not carnivores. Why would they have a split pea bisque with chicken in it?!

So I am still making him foods, but he tends to like the store stuff. So I have to force him to eat my stuff. I personally think mine is just as good but he disagrees. I might try to mix it into his plain yogurt tomorrow.

pretend I posted a pic of Roman being cute.

Without Roman

Last weekend I was able to go out on a boat and assist Dixie Dixon. We went to TCU together and were both in Thetas. She is an AMAZING photographer and she let me tag along. She posted some of these pics on her page and gave me photo credit. I feel soo special! I took a ton of photos of her and the crew and it was a great experience. Everyone was so great and it really made me realize how much I love fashion photography. I thought I would put up some of my fav pics of Dixie at work. Kelley Eller was able to come along for the second half of the shoot too and that was fun to have her there. We want to do a shoot of our own. Do you want to be our model?! Let me know.

Mango, Peas, and Pears Please.

Roman on July 5th in the pool with his ducky

Same day

Roman eating the beets my mom made for him - Or not eating

He looks like he just killed something.. and put on lipstick.

I was laughing so hard when i took this because it really looked like he had on lipstick!

I love reading posts but I just hardly have much to say and plus sometimes I don't feel like anyone reads my blog. I know you do.. Since you are right now. BUT sometimes I don't know who YOU are. I will admit that sometimes I don't read a post if there are no photos. SOO I posted photos. :) Just for those like me.
Leave some love.

Well this post might not interest many but I made a second attempt at making foods for Roman.
To backtrack - So far I have pureed and froze (Organic) Carrots, sweet potatoes, and pears. All in individual little cubes. I was so excited because he had liked the sweet potatoes and carrots that I got at the store at that point and when I was making him the pears I let him taste it in his mesh teether and he LOVED them. But he seems to hate my food. I think its not as smooth as the jars. I had to mix it with jars to get him to eat most of it. Sometimes he ate mine alone, not its still not gone. I decided to buy jars in an effort to get him to eat more things and see what he likes because at almost 8 months he had had like 5 things. I tried to start him on Veggies. I think he had bananas, then avocados, sweet potatoes - Maybe? Did I post about this already? Why did I not write this down? OK well. He hates veggies now. He has had a handful of others now and its official that he does not like any and all veggies unless they are mixed with fruits and preferably pears. He LOVES pears. I think tonight he ate so many that he was stuffed and not happy. He also likes bananas but I found out they are binding we are trying to be unbinding so I am limiting his banana intake now. Poor little guy was having troubles with his output.

I recently found a new prodcut at BabiesRUS. Its food pouches. They have mixed fruits and veggies in fun combos. Like "sweet potatoes, pumpkin, apples, and blueberries" or "Broccoli, pears, and peas". The two companies are Ella's Kitchen and Plum Organics. They have many combos and I was told by two people in the isle that their kids LOVE them. SOO i had to try them for Roman. He of course loves them and he can suck on them like a little juice pack with a giant straw. Or you can squeeze it right into his mouth or onto a spoon. We love them they are so easy to use! PLUS I think I can upcycle Ella's Kitchen. See Terracycle for more info on upcycling. Get paid to save the earth! I think I might do a post on them. !?

Why am I talking about them when I am supposed to be talking about homemade foods? Because they inspired me to make my own veggie/fruit mix. I came up with drum roll.......... Mango, Peas, and Pears of course - Hint hint! Let me tell you I am so proud they tasted good! I did about 1 cup peas and used one small pear and one mango. I choose not to peal the pear since he should be able to digest them at his age easily (according to the internet). I used ice cube trays for the first half then had the brilliant idea of freezing them in my extra Medela bags. BRILLIANT Idea. Since the peal did not puree very well I decided to strain it in a pasta strainer to get some of the larger pieces out. I put them in the bags and was able to see how much it was. Since its in a larger portion for him now I plan to just take out the bag and thaw in the fridge or in warm water then serve! The cubes also were getting freezer burn in the bag and I hope this will prevent it. I plan to make something with apples, broccoli, carrots, blueberries and I think blackberries. Whats the difference with Yams and Sweet potatoes I have those to use too? I know people have different thoughts on berries, but he has had strawberries and raspberries with no reaction so as long as the internet doesn't freak me out I plan to use those soon too.

Roman liked it tonight, but I gave him the unstained version so I did have some food spit back out, but he ate most of it with some added pears and some bites he ate just fine with no added pears! (I have a ton of Organic Pears since it was the special of the day at BabiesRUs - 3.60 for 12 jars!) I think I will for sure make this again and maybe just use mango and pear? Or Peach instead? The possibilities are endless! Wish me luck!

Giveaway Post

Jessica over at Diamond in the Sky is giving away a super cute Bag from Ding-Bats a baby store located in Tulsa, OK. It happens to be marketed as a diaper bag, but its so cute anyone could use it. It has great storage and a gender neutral pattern too.

Hit her up over here .

Happy 4th!!

I Hope everyone had a great 4th of July Weekend! Fireworks for anyone??! The rain has kept us from wanting to venture out to see any. We spent yesterday at my parents house with the coronas too. IT was an surprise birthday party for me. The earliest I have ever officially celebrated, but not the earliest I have started! Its my birthday month, right?! Missy made me a tree hugger cake. It was so cute and perfect for me.

Today we plan to spend the afternoon at Tony's Aunt and Uncle. My parents might stop by too for a bit. I plan on swimming rain or shine and it looks like shine! I know Roman is excited about getting in the pool too.

Roman turned 8 months old yesterday and he is doing so many things. I uploaded all the videos from the past 4 months from our computer and got to relive it all again. From our last days in our house there to the hotel to all our trips. He started to push up and roll over all the time, then he started to pull himself on the floor, then he ate his first solid foods, He started to officially crawl, Pull up to standing, Sit on his heels, sit up alone, go from crawling to sitting and vise versa, eat more big people foods. He also has been saying momma and sometimes dadda, he clicks his tongue and mouth making all kinds of sounds. He has also been sleeping all night long- That is a BIG one, I think it took him 7 months longer then all other babies we know. We are still nursing too. I have made him food too but he doesn't like my consistency I guess (I watered it down too), so I have been mixing it with cans till he will eat it more. He LOVES pears and raspberries. That is the only food he will eat the entire jar/container of. We are on 4 now. He hasn't eaten that much of anything else.

The following are a few pics I snapped in my parents backyard last.

Pulling up to stand

So cute

My mom helps him smile

"where did that kitty go?"

"now you see mom.."

"this is why I need.."

lounging baby

What a big boy!!!

The chair is from Iowa ;)

Roman update!

Roman is 7.5 months old now. He is sitting up all by himself and he also has started to crawl for real! He was moving around in a weird way that was half army crawl and half face planting. He likes to go from crawl to sit too. His crawl is still slow. I am sure he will just get faster and faster as the days go by. He likes to pick his arms all the way up in the air as he moves along. He loves dogs and he has been trying to eat real food. He has had sweet potatoes, bananas, avocados, apple sauce, pears, and, rice cereal. I have bought some peas, spinach and potatoes, and carrots for him to try next. I wanted to make his foods but its just not the right time. I made the banana and avocados and he has also tries small pieces of peaches and cantaloupe. He is getting so big so fast. He learns things so fast too. He is a pretty easy baby as long as you doing things! He can entertain himself ok, but he doesn't ever want to do that when I need him to.

We went to San Diego the first part of the month and it was a great trip! I lost my camera at the zoo, but luckily it can be replaced and I only lost 2 days of pictures. Other then that the trip was great and the weather was crazy. I was cold in the morning and nights and soo hot during the day, but it was cool and foggy by the coast. We went swimming this week too and we used his new floaty and its so awesome. I highly recommend it! It has two blow up tubes that have a mesh in between and as the seat and also a canopy on top to keep the sun off. He even kicked a little too!

I will work on getting videos and pictures posted. My computer is full so I have to clear up some space soon.