Alex...6 Months and Counting!

I cleaned out Alex's closet today and couldn't believe I was already boxing up his 3-6 month clothes. He still fits into some of them, but I had to start making room for new clothes in the 6-9 and 12 month fashion. Cleaning out his stuff always put me into nostalgia mode and I can't believe our little boy is 6 months old already! We're definitely enjoying this new stage he's in. He thinks everything is hilarious and has a big hearty giggle at mostly everything we do to amuse him. He's also scooting around the floor, trying his hardest to crawl. He talks non-stop, saying lots of babababa, mamamama, and dadada--not to mention he squeals at the top of his lungs! He's starting to enjoy toys as well. We bought him a little light up ball that moves on it's on and he has a lot of fun trying to get it and make it sing to him. He also loves rattles! It's the simplest toy, but he plays with them constantly and puts so much focus into studying them. He loves to bang on surfaces and pick up anything his hand comes into contact with. He also seems to enjoy watching TV. Sometimes he'll stop playing for a minute and just stare at it for awhile! LOL. We also like to laugh at his "lizard tongue" as Abe calls it. He's constantly sticking his tongue out and curling it up toward his upper lip, looking like a lizard. We keep saying to each other, "I can't wait until he crawls, I can't wait until he walks" But deep down I'm trying my hardest to just enjoy the stage he's in now, because time will go too fast as it is. Below is a comparison of month-to-month photos of him to show how much our little man has grown! Enjoy!

Alex just a few minutes after his birth--6 lbs. 7 oz.

1 Month--Is it just me, or is he a little more bald than he is now?

2 Months--Gotta love those first cute smiles!

3 Months--That hair is coming in now!

4 Months--I love being on my belly now!

5 Months--I'm starting to sit up and have become a drooling machine!

6 Months--He's such a little man now!

Back to B-more...

It's back to B-more and back to business as usual for our family. We spent the weekend visiting my family in Allegany County, MD. It's about 15-20 minutes from West Virginia. It's always so nice to see my family, especially when I haven't been home for awhile. It's hard for anyone to understand how hard it is to be 200 miles from home and my family, but it's extremely difficult. I try to look on the bright side and say, I could a be even farther. At least it's a drivable distance and I don't have to get on a plane to see them. Alex loves visiting, but he's always wayyy off his schedule when we come back home. He didn't get to bed tonight until 10 PM! He usually goes to sleep around 8:30. While we were there we finally got to visit my firend Mary Ann who had her 5th girl on May 16! Lauren is 13, Haley is 10, Samantha is 8, Jayme is 3 and now Molly is 3 months. We walked in her house and they were all standing in the kitchen. All these blonde little girls! Alex stared at them like there was no tomorrow. He's not used to blondes and he's not used to girls! LOL. I can't imagine having 5 of the same gender. I hope 5 boys are not in store for us! I hope 5 kids are not in store for us actually! LOL.Back to good 'ole work tomorrow for both of us. I can't believe it's already the third week of school. I am working diligently everyday to grade as many papers as possible and organize my room before I leave school that day so that I don't get to behind. With 150 kids floating in and out, and 3 times that amount of papers floating around, it can get crazy if you don't stay on top of things constantly. Funniest kid paper this week: On Fridays, I have the kids write a journal entry. It encourages them to write more freely and be creative. The topic this week was what would you do if you had the ability to fly? When would you use this power? So one boy writes "I want to be a butterfly." and then draws a picture of a dinosaur for the rest of his paper. Talk about a spacey kid! LOL. I'm not sure how to grade that one! I hope Alex doesn't do things like that when he's in middle school. Our little man is doing great by the way! He still hasn't gotten any teeth, bt we think it'll be really soon probably. He's very good on his belly, but still not showing signs of taking off and crawling any time soon. He's out of his carrier now and in his big boy car seat--still rear-facing of course. It's a little sad to say goodbye to the carrier, but we know we'll be pulling it again in a few years, so that makes it a little better.

Alex on his 6 month birthday--Sept. 5!

Check me out ladies!

Hanging out with Daddy in his John Deere shirt that Nana bought him

Anyone can hold two legs up, but what about one?

Me on the way home showing off my new short hair--I love it!

I don't need a ninny--that's why I have fingers!

Look at those beautiful eyes!

Riding in his new car seat!

Our Crazy Weekend...

What a crazy, but fun weekend we had! As most of you know, Abe and I welcomed a new niece late Wednesday night, so we spent Thursday night and Friday running from our home to the hospital to visit little Julia and of course her parents! She's a beautiful little girl and I have to say she looks quite a bit like her big brother Matthew--for the time being at least. We know those things change with time. It's seems like Alex changes daily at this point. I think everyone is very excited to have a girl among the children--after 4 little boys! Maybe there will be more girls to come? Only time will tell on that one. LOL. Saturday, we went shopping, which was quite an experience. Alex is starting to get bored with just laying on his playmat or laying on a blanket and rolling around, so we decided to buy him an exersaucer to keep him entertained. I am also hoping to free up my hands a little during the day so I can get some things done before the wedding and before I am back to work for 10 months again! So, we got him the evenflo smartsteps exersaucer. He's used it a little bit so far and he seems to really like it. His little feet just barely graze the bottom, but he can bouce himself from front to back and always looks surprised when he does it! LOL. This boy is spoiled and he doesn't even know it yet! We also got him a new umbrella stroller--it will have to wait for a little while, but we had a great coupon and got $60 off, so we had to get it now so we could get the great discount. We had planned on getting it later anyway, so we just went for it. Plus--he can use it for the wedding. Our oldest nephew Dylan will be pushing him down the aisle, and we don't want him to have to push his heavy,bulky Eddie Bauer stroller. It's a Maclaren Triumph in orange and grey-- Kind of pricey, but well worth the money from what we hear and it should last him until he's at least 2  or older. Speaking of the wedding--we are really getting down to the wire with everything! We met with the organist today to finalize the ceremony music, and we are meeting with the wedding planner and the dj sometime this week to finalize things for the reception. I am finishing up the program tonight and hopefully getting Abe to print it this week. We'll probably work on assembling it this week as well. I am also making a prototype of the favors tonight and assembling them tomorrow hopefully. Ms. Medy and I are going to help Mary tomorrow, so while we are watching the babies and helping her with things, we will hopefully put together the favors. My final dress fitting is July 30--ugh don't even want to discuss that one. I'll probably start putting the seating chart together tonight and tomorrow as well. Remind me never to volunteer to plan anybody's wedding! This is too much work for one day! I told Abe we should've eloped and I think I'm feeling a little more strongly about that right about now! LOL. Anyway I can sigh a big sigh of relief on August 11 and enjoy a couple of days at Ocean City with Abe and Alex. Never could we have guessed we'd be bringing a baby on our honeymoon--oh well things happen for a reason! I definitely wouldn't have it any other way. On a dark note--school will be back in session August 18 for me. That's less than a month. We now begin the search for a quality home daycare for Alex since Ms. Thresa let us know she filled his spot over the summer...Doesn't anybody do daycare for teachers, where they don't want to charge you to hold your kid's spot over the summer? Frustrating...Maybe they should let some of our students take care of our babies during the school day. I have a feeling it would be great birth control! Well anyway I am officially rambling. We just got Alex to bed finally, so we need to go and get some wedding stuff done!!! Some pics of our nephews, new niece, other family members, and of course Alex follow. Enjoy!

Daniel and his missing front teeth!

Auntie Maria holding baby Julia

Matthew laying down on the slide at Merritt Park

New big brother Matthew giving us the "thumbs up" sign

Dylan is proud of his baseball trophy!

Baby Julia wide awake and ready to meet her family members!

Our handsome little boy!

Daddy's boy

Alex trying out his new stroller..he's a little small for it yet, but it doesn't seem to bother him any!

He loves his new exersaucer!

He loves it so much..he doesn't even need clothes on to be in it (don't call SS, it's July people--It's hot!)

 

Alex rolled over!

Okay I'll make this quick--Alex has hit a new milestone at 3 months and 23 days. On Thursday evening, I went upstairs to change my clothes and Abe was on the phone in the kitchen. He called me down because Alex had finally rolled over! I can't believe I missed it! LOL. I'm home with him all day everyday and I still missed his first roll. LOL. Anyway, he can roll from his back to his belly, but can't get back to his back from hs belly yet. So, that night I put him in is bassinett, but woke up around 4 AM because he was making noise and he had rolled in his bassinett and was face down! Yikes! So I offically moved him to his own room at 4 AM on Friday morning. He's doing fine sleeping in his room. He went to sleep around 9:30 and woke back up around 8:30, like usual. I just can't believe how fast he's growing and becoming mobile! I snapped a pic of him right after he rolled over Thursday! He looked shocked--like, how did I get HERE??? lol. It's below, along with some other cute pics of him grabbing at his toys, sleeping in his playmat and trying on his new carrier/sling at Babies R' Us. Enjoy!

               

                 

                   

Abe's First Father's Day, Rice Cereal, and Mommy Daycare :)

So many topics to cover--so little time! First, Abe celebrated his first Father's Day yesterday! It was a lot of fun. My family came down Saturday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning, so it was a lot of fun to see them. And the news is in on my brother--as of right now, he WILL be in the wedding! Yay! He got fitted for a tux on Saturday so now he has to be! LOL. That's what I told him at least. He doesn't often listen to his big sister, so we'll see! I gave Abe his present Sunday morning--a Wii track jacket and a necklace from Alex. We had to go search for something else, as usual ,Sunday afternoon. Abe likes to "see what else is out there" before he decides to keep gifts. Verdict--he decided to keep it! He's lucky I put up with him! LOL. Sunday afternoon, we went down to Dundalk to visit with Abe's family. The boys played in his mom's pool, which we've yet to let Alex venture in--soon though. I forgot to bring his swimmers and his trunks, so that was really the only reason we didn't put him in. We'll probably give him his first taste of the pool next week or so. Mary is getting big--in about 1 more month we'll be meeting baby Dove! Can't wait! In the magical world of Alexander, he's growing more and more everyday. He's a about 3 and half months now, and he weighs around 14 lbs. Mommy daycare is officially in session now, since I am a teacher and I am off of school for the summer. Abe and I decided that I would stay home in the summer and not work, because I saved enough throughout the year for the summer. It's a blessing to be able to be home with Alex! He's eating a little bit of rice cereal in the morning now. I give him about a tablespoon, and he started out spitting it all out, but now I've been feeding him his bottle first and then the rice cereal and he's keeping a couple bites in and even swallowing them! Oh and also, let me tell you what baby product Abe and I are LOVING! It's called a bumbo seat and it's just a little seat designed specifically to prop babies into a sitting position. It's great for feeding him his cereal and I feel like it really is strengthening his back. He's starting to pull himself into a sitting position when he's on our laps and he can sit up for about 30 seconds on his own! He's trying so hard to roll from front to back too, just hasn't been able to do that yet. He'll get up on his side and then go back to his back. He'll get it soon though!! I attached some pics below from this past week!

Alex having his first taste of rice cereal!

Alex smiling with his Nana

Uncle Brandon holding Alex

Alex Chillin' in his Bumbo seat

Alex celebrating Father's Day with his Daddy

Alex looking like a cool kid in his visor

Abe modeling his new track jacket in his Nintendo boxers

And the view from the back...