Wednesday, August 21, 2013

10 Months Old

Aaand Another One Bites the Dust!

Ten months old means only two months until this little bullet's FIRST birthday, and of course, I'm in full planning party mode!
Venue is booked, invites are about half-way, almost, can't-decide-what-I-like, 'done', and I have a nice vision in my head as far as decor, food, & games. 
I am. SO excited!!










Weight: Maybe about 19 pounds
Height: 28
Clothing size: 6-9 & 9... 12 months for PJ's
Shoe Size: 3
Diaper size: 3 

Feeding:  I've finally started the weaning process!! *Shew*! I have loved breastfeeding---Loved the bonding, the convenience, and have loved not paying for formula...but I am also LOVING the freedom I get now that he's taking a few bottles a day. My goal is for him to be completely weaned by age one. Right now, we are down to two nursing sessions a day--first thing in the morning and then at bedtime. We started weaning slowly. At 9 months, I started him on one bottle a day, and then right at 10, have transitioned his other daytime feedings--usually just one or two--to bottles. Thankfully Liam has taken any formula we've given him no problem.
I may try a little bit of whole milk at 10.5 or 11 months and see how that goes.
Other than that, he still pretty much eats whatever finger foods we give him, but just this month I've noticed him start to have a preference for things. He's been spitting out broccoli, and has been GOBBLING up cheese. He will actually pick cheese out of a pile of foods on his tray and eat it first. yeah...that's cute. :)

Sleep: Sleep has been pretty good and routine. We still have a few off nights...Liam's been teething like mad this month so that definitely affects sleep. He usually goes down about 9 and will wake up around 4:30/5. I can typically nurse him right back to sleep, but last night, really randomly he was up until 6 gnawing on his finger. I nursed him three times and he just kept waking up, but he finally went back to sleep until 9:30!
A typical wakeup time for him is 8 / 8:30, but weirdly he's been sleeping in a lot. Same bedtime, but several times over the past few weeks he's slept until 9:30. OF COURSE I slept that late, too...Liam is my alarm clock, and I am not the type of person to wake up early on my own. 
No complaints from me!

Milestones: Three teeth popped up this month, bringing us to seven total! Poor Liam, poor mama! Teething stinks, but they sure are cute! A friend recommended these popsicles to me and I'm sooo glad I got them! They're teeny and 'slow' melt and perrrfect for babies, esp teething babies!
He learned to drink out of a straw this month, and learned to wave (SO cute!) but he still won't really wave at anyone but mommy and daddy. He just looks at them like a deer in the headlights. 
OH! AND shaky head and squinty eyes. He learned to shake his head back and forth and has been really proud of practicing that all day every day, looking like a little Liam bobble head..and he learned to scrunch up his eyes really squinty. ADORable.

He isn't walking yet, and I kept saying I thought it would be soon, but who knows! He walks along furniture all the time, and walks with his walker, and has even stood unassisted for about 15 seconds at a time...so maybe one day soon he'll surprise us all with a few wobbly steps :)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

9 months old!

My sweet boy turned 9 months old last week! *SHEW*!
3/4 of a year!





Weight: 18 pounds, 4 ounces
Height: 28
Clothing size: 6-9 & 9... 12 months for PJ's
Shoe Size: 3
Diaper size: 3 

Feeding: Liam LOVES FOOD. The kid will. eat. anything. Like, absolutely anything we put in front of him he eats. I haven't found a food he dislikes. We've been trying different finger foods everyday, and  most of the time he'll just eat whatever we're eating.

He still nurses about 4-5 times a day. I'm in the process of trying to wean him, and he had his first bit of formula this month. (I felt a tad bit of that 'mom guilt' but guess what? He lived to tell about it!) Ideally I would like to nurse to a year, but about two months ago, I got mastitis. Mastitis turned into a bad case of internal thrush, and I STILL have it. They say it's really hard to get rid of, especially in Hawaii where it's nice and moist. I've been through five cycles of an anti-fungal medication to no avail., and I'm afraid that my only hope may be to stop nursing.
Anyway, up until a few days ago, Liam would not take a bottle. At all! And we'd tried several different types.
Here's what we did that somehow worked: He woke up one night around 11, which he doesn't usually do. Keith was trying to calm him, but he only wanted me. Well, I'd had a few drinks, so I didn't want to nurse him. I made a bottle, and then held him in the position that he usually nurses in, but I had the bottle in place instead. He latched right on and guzzled it! I think it probably helped that it was dark and he was so sleepy anyway, but he's latched right onto the bottle for us every day since then!
These bottles came highly recommended for breastfed babies, and they are what finally worked for us!

Sleep: Sleep has been great this month. Liam normally sleeps from 9-7:30 straight, with the exception of a few random times where he'll wake up once in the night. I wait a few minutes to see if he'll go right back to sleep. If not, I nurse him for 10 and then I can usually set him back in his crib and he'll go back to sleep. 

Naps have been wonderful. I put him down for his morning nap around 9--he usually cries for 5-10 minutes and then zonks out, usually for 2-2.5 hours!
Afternoon nap is anytime between 2 & 3:30, whenever I feel like he's acting really sleepy, and it will usually last an hour to hour and a half.

Milestones: Still crawling all over, still pulling & standing on everything. The big one this month was that he starting cruising furniture and walking with his walker! He can also stand on his own for a few seconds, but he's very leery of doing so :)

Overall, a very fun exciting month! This is my favorite age!!
(But so far, they've ALL been my favorite. :)


Monday, July 15, 2013

Meal Planning Monday


Happy Monday!
I know I've not been blogging lately--
I've been getting a ton of custom design orders, (shameless plug here! Check out my Etsy shop if you need anything custom-designed! I've got lots of awesome pre-designed invites, too, as well as Save-the Dates, Nursery, Art, & More!)
Anyway so that, coupled with other day-to-day obligations, have become my priority!

I had a spare few minutes this morning though, so I wanted to toss up our menu for the week.


Looks amazing! I've never really used spaghetti squash, but I'm excited to give it a try.

Marinated Pork Tenderloin
We eat pork tenderloin a lot because it's a pretty lean cut a meat, is inexpensive, and really, really delicious. One of my favorite ways to do it is to marinate it in our favorite marinade or rub (I usually just buy a 'grill mates' packet from the spice aisle!) and then grill it! (Or broil if we don't feel like firing up the grill).

I loove me some Hawaiian Pizza, and I love making pizza at home because it's so much healthier.
My Mother-In-Law posted this recipe on her Facebook and it looks AMAZING. Fish tacos are one of my favorite things to eat EVER!

Who doesn't love chicken legs? They're super cheap and super easy to prepare? Again..A lot of times I'll just buy a bottled marinade (Lawry's are awesome!) and throw on the grill/broiler.

Never made it, but looks super delicious! I'm definitely a fan of these 'one-pot' meals where you can throw in pretty much everything you need for dinner.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Friday Fashion Diaries


Happy Friday! I hope your week and your holiday were both fantastic!
Ours was very festive, & full of lots of fun outfits!


Sorry, I don't know the brand of the hat!



(Sorry, I'm having a hard time finding collared onesies!)



(Janie and Jack is pretty much the only place I can find newsboy hats right now.)
I got the onesie in Target just recently, so it's a fairly new item. I can't seem to find it online. 



and 
Bib made by myself, available @thedappermister on IG


Bowtie made by myself, available @thedappermister on IG

Have a great weekend all!!

xoxox



Monday, July 1, 2013

Meal Planning Monday

Happy July & Happy Monday!



I was doing my meal plan/grocery list Thursday and I stumbled across my new FAVORITE blog/website for healthy meals...  

Awesome and awesome! SO SO many recipes you guys, and everything is organized so well by category over on the right hand side...I seriously did almost our entire meal plan for the next two weeks from this site. And I have to say...I'm suuper excited about some of the grub we're in for!!




Ok. I made this already. OMG. OMG. I can't even say how good it was! I'm actually really disappointed there weren't more leftovers... my husband LOVED it too. Like, really really really loved. 
It's soo healthy, too--so many fresh veggies, and you can really use whatever veggies you like best--red potatoes, but sweet potatoes would be awesome too, and the SAUSAGE, man the sausage. I used spicy italian turkey sausage and it was to DIE for. 
I ate mine with a small side of light sour cream.... perfect. 
(this whole skillet would be great for breakfast, too!)

Had last night. Also awesome. I really modified this recipe, though-- I didn't notice that the directions asked me to bake it for an hour, and I didn't have time for that, so I did it like a stir-fry. I cooked the chicken in a skillet, and then did a separate pan of fresh veggies--broccoli, zucchini & yellow squash-- and then served everything over brown rice with the sauce on top.
I didn't love the sauce-- it was really sweet for me, so next time I'll modify it with much less sugar. Or, just use your favorite bottled sauce!

A friend recommended this one, thanks Amber, and I can't wait to try it! It's not exactly 'healthy', but I'll use veggie pasta and serve lots of fresh veggies on the side to make up for it!

We love traditional Shepherd's pie, and we love sweet potatoes, so I can't wait to try this!

Like lasagna, but lighter and easier? SIGN ME UP!

We haven't made steaks at home for a while, so I'm pretty stoked about this one! 

Friday, June 28, 2013

Friday Fashion Diaries

'ELLO! (Said in a British accent)
Happy Friday!

I've been doing some prioritizing in my life lately, and the good old bloggity blog isn't on the top of my priorities list, but I'm tryin to get a few posts in here and there. 

I skipped FFD last week, so this week I'm throwin in some outfits from the past few weeks. :)



Similar Beatles shirt here
Jeans: I can't find colored jeans on sale right now, but here are some red jean shorts
(I always find great prices on Converse at the outlet store!)





I can't find this exact outfit, but Target has tons of Harajuku mini here. 



I can't find any of Babies R Us' swimwear online, but these trunks are Heidi Klum's brand and the rash guard is just the generic Babies R Us brand. 


Most of this outfit was older/thrifted/bought last season, but check out these red overalls from Gap...CUTE!



I have found that it can be difficult to find cute swimwear for boys! :/ 
There are cute little girl bathing suits everywhere, but it's more slim pickins for the fellas.
However, with that being said, I'm really loving the boy swim selection over at Gap and Oshkosh right now!


Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!






Monday, June 24, 2013

Meal Planning Monday


Happy Monday!
I don't know how the weather is in your neck of the woods, but it's a bit overcast and rainy on the sunny island of Oahu today...And I'm very thankful for it! We rarely get overcast days, and it's a nice break from the heat we've been getting lately. 
It's nearly noon (Liam slept til 9:30 today...???) and we are all still in jammies! Even though I've been working all morning on some custom design projects that have a tight deadline, it's still been a nice, lazy start to our week. 

Here's what's on our menu for the week!
There are a few things that we were 'supposed' to have a few weeks ago and for whatever reason we didn't. I still have all the ingredients, so I added them back and hopefully we'll get to them this week. 



I've never made this, but my gosh it looks hearty and delicious!! While it's not 'technically' a crock-pot meal, I think it would work in the crock pot just as well. 

So I was at the grocery store last week and the lean ground beef was MAJORLY marked down... Like $1.50 a pound or something? So I bought at least 8 pounds, and now I'm looking for lots of yummy recipes that use ground beef. This was one I found that looks yummy!

One of those things we were supposed to have a few weeks ago. You're supposed to marinate the chicken like, overnight. Is it just me? Do you always forget to marinate too? SO hopefully I'll remember the night before this time!

A tried and true now! I make this pretty regularly. It's easy, and chock full of fresh veggies. AND my husband loves it too?? SIGN ME UP!\

Another meal that I was going to make a few weeks ago but didn't get to. I raaaved about these sandwiches because...well, if you've never had one, you just HAVE TO!!!