lizzie in progress

Hunter: Four Months

We regressed a little in our sleeping habits. We had you on a solid schedule of going to sleep at 7:30- 8:00 pm and sleeping till 6am. Now you wake up around 10:30 pm-- just as I am drifting off to sleep.

The epic nap from 9:30 am- noon has gone the way of the dodo bird. Now you sleep in 20 minute increments-- which means I have become really good at getting a shower, dressed, hair done and make up on in 19 minutes.

You have really taken an interest in your toys. You'll reach out and grab them and shake them around for 15 seconds. Then you drop it and look around helpless until someone picks it up for you. Your new favorite toy is Frank the Elephant.

Something else you have really taken to is screaming. You aren't angry or frustrated; you just learned that your volume can go up. And you think it is hysterical. Daddy and I don't find it as funny.

You have really developed a laugh this month and you laugh a lot around you Dad. He is totally your buddy.

The drool keeps coming like a faucet. We change just as many bibs as we do diapers.

We are getting a little better with tummy time. Daddy discovered that you might not realize you can look up, so he propped you in the Bumbo seat and dangled a toy above you. Ever since, you have gotten sooo much better with tummy time.

You got to meet your cousin Alexi last week. She was all about you. You couldn't really be bothered.

But you did try to hold her hand, which was the most precious thing in the world.

I finally packed up the last of your 3 month clothes and got out all your 6 months outfits. Seriously dude stop growing, because it's making me super sentimental and I may have choked back a couple tears as I folded the onesie with the puppy paws printed on it.

Always & Forever,

Telling Victoria's Secret

Anyone who knows me, knows that I curl my hair pretty much every day. I rarely wear my hear straight.

That being said, I am always looking for new ways to style my hair. One day I was putzing around Pintrest and I stumbled upon a tutorial on how to achieve beachy waves a la Marisa Miller

Source

I was intrigued so while the monster was napping, I gave it a go:

A couple things to note:

*About half way through the bottom row I realized I was essentially crimping my hair. How long Hunter's naps are going to last is really any one's guess right now, so I busted out my crimper and used that for the lower levels. Yes. I still own a crimper. And it is bright pink. Don't hate.

*It does indeed give you an IN. SANE amount of volume. It may not look like a lot of volume in my pictures, but keep in mind that my hair is uber thin.

*I don't love the way it looked in the back. I don't know if that is because my hair is layered, or if because I couldn't really reach the ends to finish it off, but it just looked like a crappy rat tail.

Regardless, I felt sexified. I decided to test my new look by packing up the monster and going to the mall. I walked into Vicky's to ~~return a sweatshirt~~ see if anyone confused me with Marisa. I strutted my sexxy ass waiting for someone to ask for my autograph or at least roll out the red carpet.

Surprisingly, the paparazzi was not called and I returned my item and left. They must have been star-struck, because clearly Marisa and I were separated at birth, don't you agree?

Always & Forever,
~~Marisa~~ ME

Testing out technology

You guys, I hate technology. I am basically like your 60-year-old mother who doesn't understand what texting is (LOVE YOU MOM!) However, right now I am doing something completely out of character; I am blogging from an iPad. And I am kind of loving it. My friend Connie stopped by with her ~~boyfriends~~ new iPad and let me take it for a spin. I think I might be saving up for now. Any of you use an iPad or something of the like? Do you like it? I am really curious for your feedback. Always & Forever, ME

Spiffing Up the Nursh.

>> Monday, January 16, 2012 – our home

Last weekend I added a couple new things to the baby's room.

First up is this great little pillow that JEGs' Aunt Marlene made for us. I love love love the bright colors and the geometric shapes. I also love that the print has owls without smacking your in the face and screaming "THESE ARE OWLS ON THIS PILLOWWWWWW". We can all agree that fabrics can totally say that, right?

My friend Hilary was at Joann's Fabric a couple weeks ago and spotted this little stuffed owl on sale for $8. I was all, 'dude, grab that.' I think he is so adorable, and where he is perched on the window sill is right in Hunter's eye sight when I am burping him. Hunter has taken to screaming while getting burped, so this little guy has become a welcomed distraction.

The wall over the crib was screaming for some art, so I made this little number in Photoshop, and framed it.

I don't know why the paint color keeps photographing pink. It's really not.

Fun fact about me: I collect picture frames. Every time I go to a yard sale, I leave with gobs of frames that I only paid $1 for and feel victorious. I have no real need for these frames at the time, I just purchase. The result is us having 20 million frames stuffed in a closet that drives JEGs bonkers. I finally put one of them to good use though! I ran three lines of beading wire across the frame and now have a place to display Hunter's monthly photos.

Some touches to make that corner a little cozier:

I seriously think this is going to be the room where I am constantly changing the decor. Let's be honest, in less then 6 months, it went from walk-in closet to nursery-- it seems to be my M.O.

Have you guys added something small to freshen up a room lately?

Always & Forever,
ME

A Very Uki Christmas

>> Wednesday, January 11, 2012 – friends and family, holidays

JEGs' family is Ukrainian Orthodox, which means they celebrate Christmas on January 7th. Every year, his family hosts Christmas dinner at their house and it always means a spread of yummy food like Momma G's sweet corn, holubsti (cabbage stuffed with rice and meat), ham, paska (raisin bread), kapusta (split pea and sauerkraut soup)

...and the star of the show is MomMom's homemade pierogies. So. Freaking. GOOD.

It's always a casual affair served buffet style and grab-a-chair-where-ever-you-can kind of deal.

It's also a time to spend with family we don't get to see very often, like our nephews Wyatt and Wesley.

JEGs plays Santa to Wyatt

Wesley waits patiently for his gift

LEGOs are totally smile worthy

I love this picture of my father-in-law with Hunter. So sweet.

Hunter was gifted some very sweet gifts from JEGs' cousin Heather and Aunt Marlene, including some adorable t-shirts, a book, the coolest elephant-popping-ball-toy ever and a pillow for the nursery.

JEGs and Wesley inspect the book together.

The best part of getting gifts is opening them right away and playing with them

Hunter hanging out with his MomMom

JEGs received a late gift from "Santa" as well. It was the Perplexus Epic ball that contains a maze in a sphere that you flip and turn to move a marble around to the end. To say it is aggravating but addicting would be an understatement...

Wyatt and his dad give the Perplexus a go..

..but sometimes the box is just as fun to play with.

Every year, my in-laws pick out the most perfect Christmas tree. So perfect, I always think it's fake

JEGs' Uncle Jimmy comes up from Naples, Florida once a year for Christmas. We've started a tradition of traveling across the bridge the day after to the Jughandle Inn for the most delicious wings I have ever had.

The anticipation of yummy wings is almost too much for JEGs to bear...

JEGs and I with Uncle Jimmy

We don't even bother with the menu; a pitcher of Miller Lt (a Sprite for me since I am breast feeding) and 20 of your hot wings (or in my case, a mere 10 will do). All conversation is to be done before the wings arrive. Once they are placed in front of us, we get down to business. The only conversation afterwards is about how delicious they are and worth the trip.

Nommy nom noms.

I think it is the perfect way to round out the holiday season.

How about you? Any belated holiday traditions?

Always & Forever,
ME

Hunter: Three Months

>> Monday, January 9, 2012 – our little monster

Our Huntface Killah turned 3 months old on New Years. Dude, you're like a quarter of a year old already. Stop it.

Anyway, this past month you...

discovered your hands. They immediately went in your mouth and haven't come out since.

learned how to grab things. One morning you were sitting in your bouncy chair staring intently at the doo-dads hanging down. The next thing I knew you were batting at it. Finally, you opened up your hand and grabbed onto that thing like it was trying escape. I got all up in your face and started congratulating you. You gave me a look like "NBD Mom. "

Your 3:30 am feedings slowly diminished and about half way through the second week of this month, you were sleeping soundly through the night. Now, we put you to bed at 9pm and you sleep straight until 6 or 7am. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank. YOU.

I don't know if you have an aversion to saliva in your mouth, but you drool like it's your job-- we go through almost as many bibs as we do diapers in one day.

Speaking of diapers, this month we started cloth diapering you. We started out part time until we got the hang of it, and now you go full time.

You started to enjoy baths a little more. And by "enjoy" I mean you don't scream so loudly that the neighbors pop over to make sure everything is ok...

This is your new favorite toy. You are so enthralled by it and if we try to take it away, you scream. I will now be gifting this toy to every person I know who has a baby.

This month you also met your G.G. (Mommy's Grandmom) and your Big PopPop (Daddy's Grandpop)

Four Generations

This month you started cooing. It started with the adorable 'ahh-goo' followed quickly by high-pitched squealing. Even though it makes my ears bleed, it's kind of adorable.

No doctor's appointment this month to check your weight, but we are guessing you are around 14- 15 pounds. You have pretty much outgrown all of your 3 month clothes and are in 3-6 month shirts and sleepers and all 6 month pants. Every once in a while I'll try to sneak in an old outfit that I love, only to realize you can't straighten your legs all the way. Buck up kid... fashion isn't comfortable.

Happy Three Months Bubbers!!

Always & Forever,
ME

My Son Takes a Mean Picture

>> Wednesday, January 4, 2012 – our little monster

A couple weeks ago we had the amazing Kelly Miller come to our house and snap a couple photos of the monster. I could. not. be any happier with how these came out. Kelly was so easy to work with, and I loved that she just took natural pictures and didn't try to dress up my child like an Anne Geddes poster.

Anyway, enough yapping. Here are some of my favorites