11 Months Old!

Happy 11 Months Scott!
Currently he weighs 25 pounds and has 5 teeth!

Right now Scott:

 Loves carrying his "friends" around the house. He generally has one with him at all times. 

 Loves going for hikes with DaDa in his snowsuit in the backpack.

 Can frequently be found making messes of all sorts.

Has the cutest toddler walk ever! He walks everywhere with his hands up in the air.
I am constantly followed around the house ;)

He also loves reading books.
A lot of times he will sit on the ground by himself and turn the pages babbling like he is pretending to read.

I also know he understands a lot more. Like if you say "Scott go turn on the fan" he will go over to the light switch for the ceiling fan that is about his height and turn it on.

He still loves people. He has a fake laugh these days that he does ALL the time.
Anytime someone is laughing he starts laughing too. So cute!

I cannot believe he will be a year old in a few weeks!
At the same time I can't imagine life without him.
We love our little buddy!

Scott Dancing

Brad Paisley!

Last night we went to the Brad Paisley concert! 

I can't imagine a concert I would be more excited about attending. 

I like country music and I LOVE Brad Paisley the most of any artist.

Luckily the only person more enthusiastic than me about attending a Brad Paisley concert is my sister-in-law Emily. 

She is a member to his "fan club" and got us awesome tickets!

What would a country music concert be without going to Texas Road House first? 

I have to admit Texas Road House was not at the top of my list (or anywhere near) of places I'd like to eat.

But I do love good barbeque and have been sold on their ribs and rolls with cinnamon butter. 

I still don't love it nearly as much as Nate. He is a man who appreciates such things.

 Emily and Graden!

 Picking up the tickets!

Being a member of his "fan club", Emily got to go on a backstage tour before the show. 

She got to touch his guitars and learn cool things like that Brad helped build part of the set for the show.

 

I've never been so close for a concert! Our seats were literally right there. 

Scotty McCreery and The Band Perry opened. 

So awesome!

 As if we weren't crazed fans enough, we went and stood along the stage before Brad Paisley came on. 

Nobody made us move. And it's always better to ask for forgiveness than permission right?

It turns out Brad Paisley only high fives guys and touches little kids heads. 

So I can't say the hands that are typing this post touched Brad Paisley's hand. 

But it was still cool being so close!

Loved loved loved the show! He played all his best songs.

And can I also add how great it is to have a date night without Scott? Always a treasure.

Such a perfect Friday night!

This Morning...

I sent these boys off to church! I am home relaxing because I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday. 

Yesterday I crocheted Scott a bow tie using this tutorial. It was a great beginners project!

I think he looks oh so dapper with it on.

But what can I say? It's always a good hair day when you're Scott...

  I love my sweet boys!

Hopefully Nate survives church alone!

New Food Blog

My best friend Jessica and I started a food blog together!

Because we both share the same love for fresh basil, throwing parties, diet coke, and pasta.  

It's nice to have a creative outlet for my greatest passion - cooking!
And it may be my secret ploy to get recipes out of Jess, because she is a fabulous chef.

Check it out:

http://twokitchenpromenade.blogspot.com/

Right There!

Scott has been trying to say a new word lately. 

He has a series of books where there is a mouse on each page. 

Lately he has been pointing to the mouse and trying to say "right there!"

I love his little funny voice!

A Date and First Steps

Yesterday this lovely lady watched Scott so we could go see the Young Ambassadors!
Nate got me tickets for Christmas.
I'm glad he supports my obsession with all things music/dance/theater related.  

 

These days a night to get away is extra special. 

Where we can talk at dinner without being interrupted by a cute, but demonstrative 10 month old.

 Seriously the lightest gnocchi I've ever had at Gloria's Little Italy!

The show was fantastic! I literally laughed and cried....

In other news, Scott took his FIRST STEPS!

watch here!

I'm so proud of my big boy!

Realistic Goals

Last year I set 2 very realistic fitness New Year's Resolutions for myself.

1. Survive childbirth. (I was 32 weeks pregnant and seriously doubting my ability to give birth/in shock that I would actually have to do so.)

2. Loose the baby weight!

I am happy to say that I accomplished both. The baby weight thanks to this. And childbirth thanks to an epidural. Even with an epidural, I am still proud of myself! I HATE medical things (seriously - I was traumatized by the "Body Wars" ride at Disney world as a child,  threw up getting my kindergarten shots even before they did anything because I was freaking out so much, passed out in 7th grade health class in front of everyone, felt quesy during our lamaze classes, and yesterday I got lightheaded at a consultation appointment to get my wisdom teeth out because they made me watch some movie about the procedure -the list could go on). Even despite my unusual level of anxiety about medical things, giving birth is no walk in the park! So go me! I did it.

This year I set a few fitness goals for myself again:

1. Run another half marathon in June. (I'm signed up and ready to go!)

2. Exercise 4 times a week.

3. Eat only 1 treat a day.

I was feeling pretty good about these goals. They were realistic and wouldn't require changing too much of what I was already doing. I really enjoy running so doing another half marathon would be fun. I was already going to the gym regularly (because of my awesome gym buddy EMILY) but just needed a more concrete schedule. Nate and I like eating healthy and I've tried not to keep treats in the house. Because I lack self-control to not eat them when they are in site. 

Then my sister-in-law, Emily, said she wasn't eating sugar until Valentine's day and that I should do it with her. I instantly agreed too. Because I am a joiner, and I love being part of things. The "no-sugar" thing would start on January 7th and go to Valentine's day. "Sugar" was defined as any treat-like product, i.e. ice cream, cookies, cake, cupcakes, candy, etc. The days leading up to January 7th I was a mess. I felt like I needed to eat all the sugar in site to compensate for not being able to for over a month. I made cookies, bought cupcakes, and ate random candy from Christmas I don't even like. 

January 7th came and I woke up not able to stop thinking sugar. It consumed me. I felt like life was being unfair. In a world where I was going to the gym 4 days a week and running long runs on Saturdays, surely I should be allowed to eat sugar? And them I realized I was right. Not eating sugar is a totally unrealistic goal from me. In normal life I don't obsess about eating cupcakes (acutally I do...). The goal was counterproductive. So needless to say, I switched back to my original goal. Maybe one day I will do something lofty like not eat sugar for a month or run a full marathon (those are equal in difficulty magnitude). But for now I happy with my easily achievable or "realistic" goals.

This Weekend...

This weekend I...

caught up with old friends...

made butternut squash soup...

went running and to breakfast with my best friend...

ran errands with this boy...

had a mancala tournament/hot chocolate/netflix date night...

went to church...

and had Sunday dinner with family!

An Experiment

Yesterday I did an experiment. 

Usually when Scott starts to make a mess or get into something he shouldn't, I quickly redirect his attention to something else.

Yesterday I let him do whatever he wanted for 15 minutes. 

Just to see what he would do.

Within that 15 minutes he...

 

pulled 1/2 the roll of toliet paper down and ruffled up the rug...

 

ripped the toys off his shelf...

 threw diapers from his changing table on the ground...

 and attempted to break the printer...

It was a very productive 15 minutes for Scott.

Oh the joys of busy baby boys!

10 Months Old!

Happy 10 Months Scott! My how the time flies...

Poor Scott has basically spent his 10th month of life sick! 

He was sick during our whole holiday trip and yesterday had a fever of 102 again. 

He tries so hard to be a good boy and to be happy when he's sick. 

Is there anything more sad than a sick baby? 

Right before New Year's Scott had his 2nd trip to the ER. He woke up sounding like he couldn't breath and wouldn't stop crying/gasping for air. We took him into the ER and sure enough he had Croup. Croup is fairly common, but it's good we took him in because they gave him some medicine to stop the swelling in his throat so he could breath easier.

Poor little guy passed out in Daddy's arms after they gave him the medicine.

Consequently I have been sick for the past month as well. 

It seems impossible to not get sick when your baby is sick because you are constantly touching their drool and cleaning up their noses.

Other than be sick Scott is still one happy guy.

He calls everyTHING an "A-Da" these days and LOVES to point at things he finds interesting.

He calls everyONE a Da-Da - including the Nate, me, and the cashier at the grocery store.

I'm hoping for a MaMa one of these days. 

But DaDas are still very cute.

Top 10 Photos of 2011

Last year we got a nice DSLR camera for Christmas. And let me tell you, it's been worth every penny!

 We've captured so many awesome moments with Scott. I am not an experienced photographer by any means, but this camera has aided greatly.

If you read my blog you've most likely seen these in various posts already. 

Here are my top 10 favorite photos of 2011!

#10

I love everything about this moment. 

What Scott was really excited about in this photo was all the happy people watching him and encouraging him to rip the paper. 

He is so lucky to have Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles who love him.

#9
Perfect fall pumpkin picture of little Scott.
And you guessed it, just seconds later he partially ate that piece of hay.

#8

I love this because it captures one of Scott's most frequent facial expressions.

#7

Ahhh this picture just makes me want to pinch those little cheeks and squeeze those little thighs!

Quintessential chubby baby cuteness.

 #6

This was the photo we picked for Scott's birth announcement. I think he looks so handsome!
At my old job I used to work with a lot of people from China. My old coworker sent this photo to some of the people I worked with and forwarded me one of the Chinese lady's responses.


"you know what I
show my sister
the baby photo ( bcs we went to shop the gift for baby last time ) and
she sets it as desktop
background. She says she feels so comfortable looking at him …see how
wonderful and magic
Scott brings up."


Sometimes I wonder if a random lady in China still has Scottt's photo as her desktop background.
There you have it. Such is the wonder and magic Scott brings up.

#5
  This just captures so much of his personality!

#4

Swinging = Pure Joy for Scott. Can you tell?

#3

This is Scott with his Great Grandmother a few days after he was born. 

Such a beautiful and special shot.

We love Grandma Bea!

#2

My favorite picture of my boy and I. So sweet. 

 

#1

This is my favorite photo of 2011. I know his pants aren't buttoned and there is nothing particularly impressive about the lighting or framing. But its all about the two boys I love most loving each other. Scott was only 3 weeks old in this picture and was so excited to see his Daddy. 

They are in love. They love me. And I am in love with them.

And that is what pretty much sums up 2011 for me - Nate and I falling head over heel in love with our little boy. We are so blessed!

Happy New Year!

Winter Wedding

 On Thursday I went to my good friend Ellen's wedding in LA!

She looked stunning and the whole day was wonderful.

Congratulations Ellen! Wishing you and Gregg a forever of happiness!