Happy 6 months, Waylon!

Oh Waylon, your mom is the worst.  Not only has she not blogged in a solid month, but she has no pictures from your christening earlier in April and she lost your chalkboard in the move so now we'll never know how much you grew in the past month.  Mom fail.

April has been a busy month for us.  We started out by heading to Chicago for Waylon's christening.  My brother is his godfather and my dear friend Diana flew in from NYC to be godmother and we have not one picture from the day.  Toward the end of the ceremony, Waylon got really fussy because of the intense stink of the baptismal oil (also, teeth) so we didn't take pictures at the church and just never got around to it at the restaurant.  That's terrible.  It still turned out to be a really nice day with family and friends and I'm glad we decided to do it at the church where I was confirmed. (which has not changed one bit in 17 years.  Literally, not one thing.)

After we drove back (yes drove 15 hours straight with a 5 month old, what of it?) we had about 2 days to pack up our house before the movers came.  What a shitshow that was.  The new house wasn't as far along as we'd hoped when we moved but there's not much we could do about it because we had to be out of the old house.  So after two solid weeks of working on things every day, we are still no where close to being done, but at least our family room is complete (ish) and ready for a reveal.  Remember this super cute room?

Here's how it turned out:

There's a couple little things still to do but I was excited to reveal something!  I am really happy with how it turned out.

Waylon has been so good throughout the whole move.  There's no way we could have pulled it off if he was a little fussypants.  He literally gets cuter and more fun every day.  He's gotten really good at sitting up and has been trying to crawl with little success.  I know I'm his mom, but I seriously lucked out because this kid is really joyful and expressive (best mean face ever) and I'm so glad I get to hang out with him every day.  He has two teeth on the bottom, which he won't let me take a pic of, and he loves just about every food we give him.  He also really loves the sound of his own voice.  I'm telling you, when this kid starts talking, he might never stop.  His eyes are still a very pretty blue color (I'm hoping they stay!) and he still has blondish red hair and really pale skin.  We spend our days playing, reading, chatting, going for walks now that it's warm, and visiting with his new friends at playgroup.  It's a good life.  I can't wait to take him swimming this summer and to hear him say his first words, but I am really enjoying the stage he's in right now.  I can't believe it's been half a year already with this little munchkin.  It's been the blink of an eye but I can't imagine life without him.

I'm so mad I lost the chalkboard!  Here's a couple pics I took on Friday, his 1/2 birthday.

"I've grown tired of your incessant picture-taking, woman!"

Happy 5 Months, Waylon!

Life has been crazy busy around here and there's just been no time for blogging.  We are trying to finish the new house enough to move in the next two weeks and are leaving for Chicago in a few days.  Things I'm planning on blogging about in the next two weeks:

-More detailed updates on Waylon, including his upcoming christening

-My experiences in a mom's group

-Dogs and babies

-Moving!

For now, just know that my little 5 month old Waylon-bear is still delightful and gets more handsome by the day.  He smiles all the time and has such a calm, sweet personality.  He loves avocados, sweet potatoes, beans and broth.  Peas and carrots, not so much.  He still sleeps like a champ and is super alert and engaging for his age (at least that's what other people tell me).  He wants to be mobile so badly, he rolls around a lot and prefers standing with assistance to any other position.  Like I said, more later, but here are some pics I've taken in the last month of the little Sprout.  He's starting to look more like his dad, don't you think?

Here's Waylon getting ready to watch some March Madness last weekend.

Bath time!

So fresh and so clean!

And finally, Baby Badass.

Are you vaccinating?

I can't believe it's been exactly one year since we found out we were having a little Bean Sprout!  I felt so panicky that day, mostly about not fitting into my wedding dress and the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about babies.  A year later and...well, my wedding was fantastic but I still know pretty much nothing about babies.  I just know I got really lucky with mine because he's awesome.  (That's not a humble brag.  I'm not sure I'm emotionally equipped for a fussy baby or a bad sleeper/eater, etc.)

Anyway, Waylon had his 4 month check up on Friday and he's 26 inches tall (81st) and weighs 15 lbs, 10 oz (51st).  Developmentally, he's on pace or a little ahead of schedule.  Again, I had no idea what babies are supposed to do when, so this was nice to hear.  He's very expressive in the face, he laughs all the time (I MUST get video of this, it's the cutest thing), he's pretty good at grabbing at/playing with his toys, and he can sit up very well when propped up and for a few seconds on his own.  He rolls over 3/4 of the way but can't quite figure out how to get his arm from under him.  Oh well, he'll get it.  Here's him chilling halfway rolled over.

The other part of the 4-month visit was vaccines.  Can we talk about this for a moment?  I feel like every day I see something about people no longer vaccinating their children for fear of autism/allergies/I'm not sure what else...is anyone still giving their kids vaccines?  I talked to the doctor for a good 20 minutes or so about this because I was kind of on the fence.  Do people still get polio?  Is there any conclusive evidence that says that vaccines = autism?  I really appreciated my doctor taking so much time to talk to me about my concerns.  Ultimately, I decided to give Waylon the shots (reluctantly) because we are going to Mexico in a few months and I'm just not convinced there's a grand conspiracy among pediatricians to harm the children of America.  But I am very curious about why people do or don't choose to vaccinate.  Do share!

In other news, the new house is coming along.  We have about a month to get in there and it seems like we are on pace.  I can't wait to share some new photos once we are done (with a few of the rooms anyway).  Right now I am so sick of scraping wallpaper I could punch someone.  Wallpaper is not the look, people.  Just say no.  Also, who puts paint on 200 year old hardwood floors?  Not stain, not varnish, paint.  Ugh.

Happy 4 Months, Waylon!

I can't believe my little Bean Sprout is already 4 months old!  Waylon is the most joyful baby, he smiles all the time and has the sweetest laugh ever.  He is happiest when listening to music, especially when you dance and sing with him.  Lately he's really been babbling up a storm.  I think we are going to have a little chattypants on our hands!  Check that out below.

I feel like he has been changing almost every day this past month, getting better muscle control when playing with his toys and holding his bottles.  Ever since Way was a tiny baby, he has preferred to be held upright instead of cradled and now his favorite thing to do is "sit-ups" where I hold his hands and he pulls himself up from laying down.  Best baby abs ever!  He is still a little wobbly if he's not propped up against something but I don't think we're far away from him sitting up by himself.  He's almost got the hang of rolling over but he just stays on his side instead of going all the way to his tummy.  He really hates being on his tummy.

I have been checking for teeth every day since someone said they thought he might be teething when we were in Phoenix, but so far I haven't seen anything.  This past week, Waylon finally got the hang of eating cereal and now face-dives at the spoon whenever I hold it up.  It's really cute and I tried to get some video of it but it's hard to feed a little boy and videotape at the same time.

He has his doctor's appointment on Friday so I will find out height and weight then but he grew out of my favorite jeans about a week ago so I know he's getting taller.  He just seems like such a big boy right now!  I look at photos of when we first brought him home and I can't believe what a tiny peanut he was.  He will be moving around on his own in no time so I am trying to enjoy the last few months of him being my little snugglebug.  *Sigh*

Waylon's First Phoenix Adventure

Last Thursday we flew down to Phoenix to attend a wedding and so Waylon could meet the Manos side of his family.  I have to tell you, baby boy did awesome.  He didn't fuss at all, not even during take off or landing, and passengers and flight attendants kept telling us what a good baby he was!  Hooray for having a little champion traveler!

It really was a whirlwind weekend, I felt like as soon as we got there it was already time to leave.  But man, it sure was nice to get out of the cold and snow for a couple of days!  I also felt like Waylon got to spend some quality time with a lot of important people which is so nice, considering that we live so far away from everyone.

On Thursday night there was a little party at Annabelle's that my parents were also invited to so that everyone could see the baby.  I wish he had been in a better mood but the traveling and messed up sleep schedule turned him into a little crankster.  Not his most charming moment.  The next morning he was pretty refreshed and got to hang out with his grandma.  She fed him and then they sang songs together.  Here is a cute photo of them deep in conversation.

On Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner.  Waylon did not start the night in a particularly lovely mood but after some walking around he went to sleep and we ended up having a really nice night.  Some of the fam has suggested that he might be teething but I don't know.  Isn't it kind of early?  And wouldn't he be in more consistently crappy moods?  Eh, what do I know?

Saturday was the wedding and my first night out since Waylon was born.  It was so nice to dress up in normal clothes again and abandon my baby with my parents for a night of adult fun.  I know my parents really enjoyed the time they got to spend with Grandson #2.  Look how nicely I clean up!  (Scott too)

Then all of sudden it was Sunday and time for us to head back to Connecticut.  We didn't get back to our house until almost 3 in the morning and I woke up yesterday feeling like I was dying.  Thanks, Germ King who sat behind us on the plane.  I really appreciate your inability to turn your head when you cough/sneeze/hack.  I hope the little boy doesn't get sick, but with both Scott and I under the weather, I don't know how he can avoid it.

Sorry this is lame entry, but I'm off to take 2000 milligrams of Vitamin C and snuggle under the covers.  I leave you with a pic of the little beast's reaction to avocados this morning.

The New Casa Manos

I was going to do this post over the weekend but then SNOWMAGEDDON 2013!  It was bad y'all.  We had about three feet of snow, couldn't open any of our doors, my dogs had to pee in the garage and my dear friend got stuck here for an extra two days.  Behold!

Friday morning, and I'm thinking "ugh, I can't believe these New Englanders are so panicky about snow!"

Aaaaaaand Saturday morning:

I guess they weren't overreacting.  This time.

Anyhoo, in the midst of SNOWMAGEDDON 2013, we closed on our new house!  Because things were getting a little slow there for a while, so we needed to add a big move to our lives.  I present the new Casa Manos:

True to form, the house isn't exactly turn-key.  I mean, it's 200 years old with a run down barn that has only three walls and it's friggin' PINK for the love of paint.  What can I say, I like projects.  I think it's from all those years of watching It's a Wonderful Life at Christmas and desperately wanting to fix up an old house a la Mary Bailey.   So I'll need to document all the Before pictures.  Join me for a tour, won't you?

Let's start in the kitchen, which is also the way you enter the house.  Not much work to be done here immediately, except I truly hate the green cabinet knobs.

Don't you love this kitchen fireplace/bread oven?  I need a huge black cauldron to hang over the fire.  Anyone know of any discount witch stores?

Off the kitchen there's a full bathroom/laundry room which is truly abysmal...we need to lose the shower and just make this a real laundry room.  With actual full-sized machines.

Next up we have the dining room...that's a real wood-burning stove along that one wall.  Just a little freshening up and we're good to go in here.

Okay, so far not too bad right?  So here come the rooms that need real work.  Let's start with the living room:

That wallpaper!  That carpet!  And oh my god I hate ceiling fans (which are EVERYWHERE, btw).  There's potential in here and I'm excited to transform it.  Moving on to the library...

That's an amazing fireplace, right?  And how about all those shelves?  I have Ideas for this room.  I think it's going to be magnificent once I eradicate all that nasty greenness.  Yes, that is a hot tub outside the French door. No, I have no idea what condition it's in.  It could actually be home to a family of rabid possums (opossums?  what's up with that word?) at this point.  Moving on...

This probably going to be my little workout room.  Or maybe the dog's playroom.  Either way, the carpet's gotta go, the ceiling fan's gotta go, and it needs some fresh paint.

Here's where it starts to get really bad....Here is a room painted green, with purple curtains and trim.  And a stupid ugly ceiling fan that I've hit my head on like three times.

And here is the room across from it, purple with green curtains and trim.  Yikes.

Here is the front hallway/stairway.  I'm still waiting for inspiration to strike here but I think it could be really elegant.  And I don't totally hate the light fixture in here.

See the tiny little bell above the door on the right?  That's the doorbell.  The wire connected to it shakes when you push the front doorbell, ringing the bell.  Man, I love the things you find in old houses.

Let's head upstairs, shall we?

We can start in the master suite.  Here's the bedroom.  Paint, carpet, done.

This is the sitting room off the master suite.  The wallpaper and carpet are hideous, obvs.  And of course it has another gross ceiling fan.  But that closet is huge and there's a window seat!  My favorite thing ever.  I think we'll put another wood stove in here too and get rid of the fake fireplace.

Okay, it's about to get weird.  Because the master bathroom is majestic but unfinished.  And in no way does it match the style of the rest of the house.  I don't know what happened here, but I'll take that bathtub!

I'm not even sure what I would call this style.  I am confused but delighted.

To all my prospective visitors, pay special attention to this next area.  It's the guest suite.  This is the sitting room area...

...which walks out to a good sized porch.

This will be the guest bedroom.  That carpet is so painfully gross, but at least the room is a good size.

And at least the guest bathroom is large and luxurious!

Next up:  Waylon's room.  I think he might not love the color scheme and he definitely has the ugliest ceiling fan known to man, but I see potential here.

Other than that, there are two other bedrooms that need some updating/freshening up.

Yikes, that's a lot of pictures!  Going through them makes me realize just how much work we have ahead of us.  But I think it will be fun to see the transformation and I'm really excited to start checking things off the list and shopping for furniture.  I'll let you see After pictures as they come!

Getting in Shape

In October, 2011, after months of training, I ran the Chicago Marathon.  Then I sat around for the next 6 weeks and ate anything that looked delicious to me.  Then it was Christmas time.  Then we celebrated our engagement with family and friends by heading out every week for appetizers and cocktails.  And then I found out I was pregnant.

So, needless to say, I was not at my ideal weight when I got pregnant.  But what can you do?  Baby needs you to eat.  I tried to be as mindful of weight gain as possible and stayed pretty active but especially at the end, it just piled on like whoa.  All in all, I gained almost 40 pounds but I'm happy to say it was mostly in front.

In the first two months, I dropped about 30 by doing nothing before I hit a wall.  I was pretty much back to where I started but that's nothing to be too proud of.  So, about a month ago, I went on a pretty strict diet and exercise program and recruited Scott to join me.  It's going pretty well so far; I've lost 12 pounds and Scott has lost 21 (ugh!).  Ideally, I'd like to lose another 30, which would put me at my smallest adult weight ever but hey, let's aim for the stars.

Now is the time I should be posting photos of myself but I haven't taken any since my 38 week picture.  You'll just have to wait for the big reveal.  For now, enjoy some photos of the little man.

Here's Way chilling on the Boppy.  His head and neck are getting strong!

Baby was constipated this week and completely miserable.  The only way to get him to calm down was to bicycle his legs and let him cuddle with his little monkey friend.

Found his thumb!