Baby Tastes

Yesterday I made applesauce and gave Barker his first bite of apple! I think he liked it. He wasn't quite as excited about it as he is for oatmeal, but he didn't give me "what are you feeding me?" looks like he does with peas. I even mixed a little apple in with his morning oatmeal and he enjoyed it. =)

Peas are a different story of course. I'm still giving him some every day though to help him acquire a taste for them, but I can't blame him. Only recently have I begun to enjoy peas and I'm 26 years older than he is. ;)

During lunch yesterday he giggled as I fed him peas because he would put up both his hands and take the spoon from me. He would also stick his fingers in his mouth to play with the food, pull it out, and then push it out with his tongue. He also would giggle as he refused to open up for another bite.  That's my silly boy!

I wonder what peas taste like when mixed with applesauce...

Self Soothing

I don't know if it's the "6 Month Wakeful Period," teething, traveling, or an uncool combination of all three, but Barker seems to have forgotten how to self sooth. Our poor baby can be halfway to sleepytown in our arms but as soon as we put him in his crib, he's "wide awake" and crying. Last night he kept reaching towards me. It's so sweet and hard to not just bring him to bed with us, but I know he has to relearn how to sleep in his own crib. Waking up every 2hrs through the night is not fun.

For now I pace and pat him on the back until he falls asleep and then very delicately put him down in the crib while rubbing him until I know he's asleep. Here's hoping he'll adjust soon and be able to get himself back to sleep in the night on his own! Mommy needs a solid block of sleep.

Say a pray for our little guy.

Sleeping on our flight back to Tampa

About to Fly with a 6mo Old!

I have successfully packed one bag and one diaper bag that should contain everything my 6 month old and I need for the next week and we're ready to fly to Cincinnati! This will be our first time flying just the two of us.

Barker was pretty good when we flew over Christmas, but he was only 6-8 weeks old and there were four adults to hold him. Now I have a very wiggly 6 almost 7 month old that wants to roll on the floor and has a hard time falling asleep quietly in someone's arms. I'm optimistic though.

I've put together some "busy" items for him to play with, such as, felt shapes on a ribbon, foam shapes, and straws in a bottle. He hasn't seen these before either so I'm hoping they will keep him entertained on a direct 2 hr flight.

We're also flying out in the morning so he shouldn't be worn out and cranky from a long day yet. ;)

In 12hrs, we'll be in Ohio! Guess I should try and get a little sleep now...


P.S. I took on driving with Barker and Sahara at the same time today when I went to drop Sahara off for the next week and they both were very well behaved! Although Barker seemed to be a little confused as to why the dog was in the car with us. ;)

Awkward Strangers

The other day my mom and I went out to eat at a Chinese Buffet with Barker. It was just the three of us and we were at a booth with Barker in a high chair at the end. When we sat him up the waitress was very helpful tightening up the straps and was friendly to Barker. He's a smiley baby and often gets attention so this seemed fairly normal.
Then she was touching his hands and even kissed his cheek...this started to make me feel a little awkward, but I figured, well, she's just being friendly.
Throughout the course of our meal Barker was greeted by about 5 different waitresses that came over to say hi and touched his hands and feet. At one point Barker started to get a little fussy so I picked him up. The waitress then came over and wanted to hold him. She then wanted to carry him around the restaurant with her so we could eat. (Um...no, I don't know you.) I politely said I was okay to hold him.
Then as we were leaving my mom was holding Barker as I was looking over the receipt and the waitress come to hold him one more time. By this time Mom and I were already feeling pretty uncomfortable, but you don't want to be rude and she practically took him out of my mom's hands...Barker must have sensed something was off though because he immediately reached back for my mom. Haha so smart.

So, while the waitresses were very sweet and friendly, I didn't know them. I don't mind strangers smiling and waving at my baby. But when you start touching him...then kissing him...then trying to hold him...then trying to hold him and walk away...I have a problem. I don't think I'll feel comfortable going back there for awhile.

My First Mother's Day

I had a really special Mother's Day. =)

At our church, mother's day is also baby dedication day! I had a huge, proud smile on my face as Brett and I dedicated Barker to God yesterday.

It was made even more special because my parents were able to fly down and celebrate with us.

I also got to sing on mic as part of the worship team yesterday where we sang "Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus" in three part harmony and debuted our worship leader's new song to the church.

Then when I came home, Brett (and Barker ;)) spoiled me with beautiful flowers, a necklace with 3 hearts to represent the three of us (Brett was very specific that I was the middle heart), a ring with Barker's birthstone, and Happy Cola gummies. =)



I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day. =)

Guess who is eating solids now!?

(Written on Friday but delayed in posting)

Now that Barker is 6 months old we're starting him on solids! Last night was his first try. We gave him oatmeal.

He loved it!







His favorite part may have been the spoon. ;)

The Walk Series!

Yesterday I got Richard Paul Evans' latest book Walking on Water in the mail! I preordered it about a month ago so I'm pretty excited.

(yeah, my backyard is pretty awesome)

Walking on Water is the 5th and final book from Evans' series "The Walk" and if you haven't read it, I high suggest that you do! The series is one man (Alan Christoffersen)'s journey as he walks across America. In the first book he loses everything, seriously, EVERYTHING. His wife. His Business. His money. His house. His car. He is at his lowest low when he decides to walk across America from Seattle (where he lives) to Key West, FL. His journey along the way is very inspirational and pretty amazing. It will also cause you to start making a list of places you want to visit! So be warned! ;)

What is awesome about all of Richard Paul Evans' books is that they are always hopeful and insightful.  Nearly every chapter begins with some sort of quote that will make you go, "hmm." Not to mention because he is a Christian author, you don't have to worry about the language or distasteful scenes.

Sadly, I can't begin the final book of this series quite yet. I'm about 300pgs into my current 700pg book, but I'll get there soon! Then I'm looking forward to rereading the entire series now that each book is out. I'mmmm pretty excited.

Guess who's 6 months old now!?

On Sunday Barker officially turned 6 months old. We've survived a newborn for half a year! Cheers! ;)

Today we went in for our 6 month doctor's appointment. Until today, Barker's height and weight stats were always in the 90's percentiles, but it seems he has finally started to slow down on the growth.

His Height is 26.75" (62%). (According to his numbers, he's only grown .25" since 4 months, but we're fairly certain the last measurement must have been off. He is definitely much longer.)

His weight is 19lbs 12oz. (86%) (When we went in during his laryngitis last week he was 20lbs 7oz fully clothed. So his weight is probably down due to sickness at the moment.)

His head Circumference is 17.25" (51%)

His next appointment isn't for another 3 months now. I can't imagine how much he'll grow by then. He is slowing down, but his look is maturing. He even has two teeth already!

So what is Barker going to do now that he's a whole half year old? Start eating solids! Due to his sickness and Brett's schedule he wont get to start until tomorrow, but we're definitately looking forward to it! He's already been practicing using spoons. ;)

  Oh and he can do this now...

I can't wait to see what he does next!

Waking Up

I love those (rare) mornings when I actually wake up, on my own, feeling rested and ready to begin the day.

When I'm not woken up by an alarm or a baby.

I am able to read my bible, take out the dog and get some breakfast without rushing to get back to Barker before he gets upset or stuck attempting to roll under the bed. Haha.

After a night where Barker slept pretty well and I even got a block of FOUR hours uninterrupted sleep, I was able to wake up just before 7 and enjoy a fresh new morning on my own terms. Barker even woke up happy around 7:15 but decided to entertain himself for about 10min before calling out for me.

This is shaping up to be quite a nice week so far. =)

Vote for Barker!

Barker is in the photo contest for Parents Magazine! Please click and vote! =)

Vote for my Little Baby!

Staying Motivated

I am generally a well organized and motivated person, but last week, I wasn't feeling it.

Barker was sick with Laryngitis, plus teething, and had me up quite a bit at night. Then during the day he was especially irritable and resisting naps so I didn't get out of the house too much. This delayed grocery shopping quite a bit so the cooking thing wasn't happening either.

Plus it was very hot and muggy outside so we didn't get out on our morning walks and Brett had very full work days that included him being away in the evenings.

So, it was a long week and in the end, it didn't feel very productive.  That's not a fun feeling =/ and I wasn't seeing much change on the horizon.

Finally, the weekend came. We went out for a family dinner, watched a movie at home, relaxed in our hot tub and went shopping together.

Meanwhile by Saturday Barker was finally starting to get his voice back and feel better. =) He even one a toy in a raffle at Babies 'R Us.

Then on Sunday Brett agreed to watch Barker on his own and set up a massage appointment for me since I'd been so busy with him all week and my back was killing me. Just looking forward to that all day put me in a better mood.

And last night, I finally got a solid 3hr block of uninterrupted sleep between Barker's quick wake ups during the night. (I never realized how important uninterrupted sleep was until the baby was born.)


Today I'm feeling motivated again. It's only 10:30AM and we've gone on a morning walk, taken some 6 months pictures, I did a little party planning and managed to pump.



It's amazing what a little family time, sleep and a massage can do. ;)

Sahara

My husband, Brett, had always wanted a big dog and the dog on his mind was an Alaskan Malamute. During the first year or so of our marriage we'd day dream about our future dog and come up with names that could go with that breed. Every time though, Brett insisted our dog would be a boy.

In the summer of 2012 we decided it was "now or not for a long while" (as opposed to now or never) if we were going to get a dog. We needed time to really train the dog before I went back to teaching in August, and we were hoping to have a baby within the next year and we didn't want our dog to be too much of a puppy when that happened.

As Brett began searching the internet for Alaskan Malamute breeders we quickly discovered (no real surprise) that that breed isn't very common in Florida. He thought about buying a dog and having it flown here, but we really wanted to get to meet the dog before officially adopting it into our family.

In July it finally happened. Brett found an Alaskan Malamute breeder only a couple hours south of us that was going to be passing through Tampa with a litter of puppies. When they were to be passing through, however, there were only 3 puppies left and they were all girls. In the end, however, Brett decided that could be a good thing because she would probably be a little smaller and he had picked out a name.

Sahara.

It was a name we both liked but because our last name is Harrison, we didn't think we'd ever get to use it for one of our kids. Sahara Harrison? Just a little too silly. But, for a dog that rarely uses her last name? It was perfect!


So, on July 13, 2012, (on my way to opening night of playing Penny in a community theater production of Hairspray) we met the breeders at a park in Tampa. We picked Sahara because we loved her markings, especially the white diamond on her forehead. Then we loaded her up into Brett's truck with us and she's been a special part of our family ever since.






Today is her 2nd Birthday. She is often a punk and does silly things, but overall she is sweet, friendly, caring, playful, beautiful and always good for a hug. And best of all? Our son LOVES her. Adopting Sahara is one of the best decisions we've made. I am so happy to have her in our family. =)