Happy Halloween!

Hoping you all have a fun and safe Halloween.

The cutest candycorn

How can anyone resist that smile?

BOO! Don't be scared

Grandma's little pumpkin

Spiders have been busy decorating our deck for Halloween.



Two Sick Boys

Brandon has bronchitis, Zander has a cold in his eye (no not pink eye), and I am exhausted. Both boys had doctor’s appointments and are currently taking the necessary prescribed antibiotics. Let this be a warning to all.... get your flu shot! I did and am praying I stay healthy.

Thursday's Favorite Things

I have two new obsessions to share with you this beautiful Thursday afternoon. Fall is my favorite season for many reasons; one particular reason is that I LOVE roasted pumpkin seeds! Sunday evening we spent with carving pumpkins and roasting seeds with the family, however you can never have too many seeds so I went out yesterday and picked up another pumpkin to gut and roast seeds from.

Recipe for the Perfect Pumpkin Seeds

After separating seeds from the pumpkin goo, soak seeds in salt water over night.

Dry off and spread thin layer on a baking sheet

 Season with Jonny's seasoning salt and garlic salt to taste

 Bake for 1 1/2- 2hrs at 300 degrees

Seeds are done when lightly brown and crunchy -not chewy.

My next obsession is picture editing. I stumbled across a fantastic new app called Picsay. I'm strictly a free app girl, however this one I couldn't help but pay for the upgrade. Besides being able to edit and enhance the color in pictures, it's also a lot of fun to play with the stickers and caption balloons. These are just a few of my favorites.



Oh he's so cute!

Random Quick Pix

Here is a wide variety of photos, enjoy.

 

    At the hospital, right after Zander was born  

     Both Grandma's 

              

 

    Aunt Suzi and her Z

                                      

 

  Meeting Great Grandma

    Heading into the Pumpkin Patch

 

                              Great Grandma, Grandma and Aunty's                               

birthday Party really wore him out

         Trying out the bjorn

                

Zander and his future love

             Bath time with Daddy

 

Cuddling with Papa

     Grandpa and his boys

Happy Monday!

Best Buddies

A great quote from "Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Child"

There never was such a precious child

but his mother was happy to have him asleep.

Zander's Firsts Thus Far

Being brand spakin new means Zander has embarked on many new experiences. Here are some of those experiences so far from his oh so young life.

First doctor appointment                   First trip to Target

                                                               (aka the best place on earth)       

First car ride home from the hospital                    First Birthday party

 loved the first half of it cried at the top                                                 

of his lungs the rest of way                                                                 

                                                               

First bottle                                        First Walk

First bath

First Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We spent Saturday morning (10/15/11) at Spooner Farm with Grandpa and Grandma Stover, Brent, Kendra and cousin Ryker. It was the perfect day for it since it wasn't raining and seemingly many many many other families had the same idea. Although it was very crowded we all had a blast. We broke out Zander's baby bjorn for the first time and it was a big hit, he loved it! We took pictures, got lost in the corn maze, picked out pumpkins, and got carmel apples, while our little man slept most of the time, but we're pretty sure he had a great time too.

My New Obsession

It is official I am obsessed, my family is a little concerned and I am predicting a small intervention coming soon on my behalf. What is my new obsession you ask?? Expressing milk.... yeah that's right I have no shame in admitting it. I am obsessed in expressing and freezing breast milk. Now I am sure many of you cannot relate and think I am a little crazy but I have no doubt that those of you who have or currently are breast feeding understand me very well. In our house we call this milk liquid gold and it is coveted. I'm sure you're now asking why Sophia, why is this such a big deal. Well, this obsession means many things. It means a nap, it means a solo trip to Target, it means a date night with Brandon, it means a break and did I mention a nap? I have so far expressed and frozen nine 6-ounce bags of milk that is 54oz! I am currently working on my tenth bag. This does not include a full 6oz bottle of milk that Brandon demands replenished and full for his feedings either. I'm pretty amazing I know. The time and dedication breast feeding and pumping requires is unreal. It is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done. I applaud and commend breast-feeding mothers everywhere.

FYI, the shelf above is now also full

Mans bestfriend??

So many of you may have already heard that our loveable dog Willy didn't have the greatest reaction to Zander. On the day of his birth Willy, who has never had an accident inside, decided to poop in every room of our house! A big thank you shout out to my parents and Suzi who were so wonderful to clean it up while we were in the hospital. While still in the hospital, Brandon made a trip home to retrieve a few things for us and while there, he had Willy smell and lay with one of Zander’s onsies he had worn... Willy wasn't interested. So, we were a little nervous about how they'd get along and at first Willy was not a fan. He would leave the room when he cried, sit in between us when on the carpet, spend a lot of time at my parent’s house and I swear he rolled his eyes a couple of times when we would talk about him. Anyways, Zander's cuteness proved to be too powerful for even Willy to resist. He now sits next to where ever Zander is, gets up in the middle of the night with us for feedings, and sits in his room when we change him. He also loves to lick his feet when he's in the bouncer. It's very cute and we are now proud parents of two happy loveable boys.

The Bassinet Battle

So the battle has been won...... dun dun dun.... (I added sound effects to make it more dramatic).... and the winner is..... the parents!! Allow me to explain, after coming home from the hospital Brandon and I quickly realized Zander hadn't spent any real time sleeping anywhere but in our arms. Once home we began the "attempt" of getting him to sleep in his bassinet, we were not successful and instead spent a few nights with him in the bed with us, coincidently something we promised we would never do. (All you experienced parents who heard us say this have our permission to laugh and do the told you so dance) Anyways, we spent many nights trying to get Zander to sleep in his bassinet but unfortunately failed each time. However, we did not give up... we were relentless. We swaddled, padded and cradled until finally we were successful! We are very proud to announce that Zander not only sleeps in his bassinet but also is and has been for a few weeks now sleeping 5 hours at a time in it. As much as I hope and pray this continues, I am very aware of our next battle.... the Crib Combat.

The first of many Random Quick Pix

So I will admit I have been slacking on updating our blog... but in my defense taking care of this little guy is no easy task and can be very time consuming. Anyways, because of my slakiness I have decided to post some random pictures to share with you all and am titling it Random Quick Pix. Enjoy!

 Someone jealous?                          Just hanging out

 

 

Tougher than I look                                 Daddy and me

 

                                         Playtime..... also known as mom's chance to go pee                                        

One Month Old

On October 7th, Zander turned ONE MONTH old. At one month he is smiling, making cooing sounds, drinking from a bottle, holding his head up, grabbing things, responding to different sounds, playing on his own for about 10 minutes at a time and has grown out of a few of his pajamas! Each day he changes in some way and is developing more and more of a personality.