Squish is Ten Months Old!

Happy 10 months, Squishy!

Ten months + two teeny baby teeth!

I literally just found these two teeth yesterday (Tuesday, 4/17). I *never* would have guessed the boy was teething... much less having TWO pop through at the same time! He is such a happy lil' babe!

We're starting to round the corner into mobility. He's scooting a bit, and has essentially mastered the front to back AND back to front rollovers... even if he still has a tiny struggle pulling an arm out from underneath himself once over. And the boy LOVES to hold fingers and WALK. I haven't seen any notion towards crawling as it seems this guy has his sights set on the walking game.

His only/favorite word continues to be DADA. And my feelings aren't hurt or anything... ((sigh))

The boy can EAT. He's up to 21 lbs. and we have yet to find anything he won't devour. He still loves baby foods and yogurt but his favorite thing these days is pizza crust. My little carb lover! Basically anything he sees us eating, he wants to have some, too. It's a messy life we live, y'all!

He's seriously just the sweetest thing.

I just can't get enough.

Sweet baby!

Those rolls though. Love this dough baby!!!

Feedback Required!

NOTE: If you're reading this post (and we both know you are), you are hereby REQUIRED to submit SOME FORM of feedback. Help a girl out!!!
FOR THE RECORD: I've had over 30 visitors since this post went up earlier today... Where y'all at

Okay, so Chase's big birthday is just around the corner... a short 31 days away! I've already been in full planning mode for at least a month now, and am happy to say the invitations, thank you cards and one of the little party favors have been designed and ordered and shipped... just awaiting the delivery! The paper goods are purchased, and a few cute little ideas to bring out the colors and theme of the party are figured out (although I can always use more cute ideas like these if you have any).

So now I'm moving on to cake. Of course I've ordered cakes for all three of LO's birthdays, but have been dying to start the tradition of making the kids' birthday cakes myself. Chase's first birthday seems like the perfect opportunity to start! So I began with an unconventional (in my opinion) cake idea: banana. I found a recipe (along with a cute monkey-themed cake idea that I don't plan to use) at smitten kitchen. I paired it with a quick and easy one-bowl dark chocolate buttercream recipe from Hershey's.

Unfortunately, the cake tasted very "banana bread-y" (too dense, in my opinion) and it just didn't seem right to have chocolate buttercream on it. Oh, well. I might have to settle with plain ol' chocolate and/or vanilla. Boring, but typically accepted by the masses.

Okay, so once the cake is figured out, I've got some food planning to do. Problem is, I have no idea what to do! I'm tired of the ol' finger food approach, which almost always results in a veggie tray, fruit tray, chips, meatballs, little sandwiches, etc. But I don't want to do a huge sit-down type meal when I have nowhere near enough seating for as many people as will be attending. The party will most likely be during the lunch time frame, so I definitely want to provide a meal of some sort, but am at a complete loss of something "new" and "fresh" to serve. 

THIS IS WHERE YOUR FEEDBACK COMES IN!

Can you help me? I need to think of something other than finger foods to serve at Chase's birthday party. I don't want to do anything that's too difficult to eat (considering there will be lots of chairs, but no tables), or too heavy (it'll be lunch, not dinner). I don't mind the time and effort that goes into making whatever it is I make... but I'd love it not to be too time-consuming, considering the plethora of other things on my plate the day of his party. I'm open to ALL suggestions, and am hopeful one of you will have THE suggestion that will relieve the insane amount of stress I've been carrying when it comes to the decision of what to serve at the party.

Okay, so... it's FEEDBACK time!!! Help a sista out!


Please??

Feeling Better

Well, I'm happy to say my little guy is finally feeling better. He had a very rough day yesterday. He just wasn't himself at all -- wouldn't eat, take a bottle, sleep... his eyes said it all. Normally he's a happy, smiley baby, but yesterday, he just looked so pitiful! We took him to the doctor, who of course said it could either be as simple as constipation or as not-so-good as the stomach virus (including vomiting and diarrhea) that's been going around. We hoped for the first one, but made the decision yesterday to nix our plans to travel to Charleston for the heart walk and Pediatric Cardiology reunion. :( This totally bummed me out, but we were told if he had the stomach bug, we probably wouldn't see the worst of it for another 24-48 hours, which would have been smack dab in the middle of our busy day in Charleston. I had been looking forward to that trip for a while, so it totally sucked that we had to make the decision yesterday (cancel hotel reservations, etc.) based on how Chase was feeling. But on the BRIGHT SIDE, I'm so happy to report that he's feeling much better and so much more like himself:



See what I mean? ;)

Start! Heart Walk

Hey, folks! If you haven't had an opportunity yet and would like to support us as we walk this weekend for the American Heart Association's Start! Heart Walk, please click here to give a donation in Chase's honor. I set a fundraising goal of $500, and am happy to report that we exceeded our goal and have raised $520 for heart research and treatment! The money we've raised will help fund research to develop new treatments for heart disease, heart defects and stroke. Just imagine the small gift you give today can very well make an impact in Chase's sweet life down the road. He has one more scheduled heart surgery already planned, and there's no telling the countless things that could be required as his body continues to function with a single-ventricle heart. There are babies all over the world just like Chase who desperately need newer technologies and treatments to manage Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, as well as all other congenital heart defects. Unfortunately there will be thousands more babies born with a special heart like Chase's in the years to come. My greatest desire is to determine what specifically causes heart defects like HLHS. If we can find what causes it, we can take a huge step forward in eliminating it! Research to determine what causes heart defects is not cheap! We need to do all we can to figure out how to prevent CHDs and how to treat them successfully.

Please consider giving a donation in Chase's honor. Your contribution will make a bigger impact than you can imagine!

Oh, and Chase wanted me to give a big "THANK YOU!" to all of you who have already supported us and to each of you who will give a gift in his honor. See how happy you've made him?

A Little Beach Fun

Over Labor Day, my family went on what we're calling our "1st Annual Family Beach Trip" to North Myrtle Beach, SC. We left the Thursday before Labor Day and came back the Tuesday after. There was a total of 20 of us staying in a PERFECT condo right on the beach. It was a wonderful vacation, and we've already begun planning our 2nd annual trip for next year!

I thought I'd share about our trip visually rather than drone on about it. Honestly I think the pictures say it all!

Aren't I cute?

Cheese!

What LO did during her "down time." I think she and her 9 cousins watched Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs a zillion times!

Chase enjoying being the center of attention. Such an animal!

She loved flying her Yo Gabba Gabba! kite!

Playin' in the sand!

I included this pic just because I think it's awesome!

I thought this one was pretty awesome, too!

SOMEBODY loves playing in the water!

My little cuties!

Uh, I told ya he likes the water.

See??

Oh, and let's not forget the cute little mohawk he's sporting, thanks to the wind! Just darling!

Love these two!!!

Somebody's having a great time! What is she up to?

Oh, that's right... riding in the "Thomas" train at the little carnival down the street from our condo.

"Hi, Mom!" This girl loves her carousels!

So while we were on vacation at the beach, we DID visit this joint pretty much daily.
It was a close walk from our condo and SO worth it!

She really was happier than her face says in this pic...

Honestly, I think she enjoyed her ice cream... ;)

The ride home from the beach. It was a VERY fun and enjoyable vacation!

Chase's New Toys

Happy Labor Day!

Hope you're finding a way to celebrate the holiday today!

Many blessings to you and your family!

Start! Heart Walk

Later this month, I will be participating in the Start! Heart Walk sponsored by the American Heart Association. I felt like this would be a good way to do something to help raise money and awareness for the American Heart Association. I set a personal goal of raising $500 and am ECSTATIC to report that as of this post, I am only $75 shy of my goal! That means I've raised $425 for the American Heart Association!

Won't you consider helping me reach my goal? Click here to access my page and make your online donation. It's easy, hassle-free and secure! Take a good look at the little kiddo below with a special heart and do whatever you can to help us meet our goal.

Thank you in advance for your participation! And thank you again to all of you who have already given a donation to support us!

Cuteness!

cute |kyoōt|
adjective

1. attractive in a pretty or endearing way : a cute kitten.

DERIVATIVES:
cute•ly adverb
cute•ness noun

ORIGIN:
early 18th cent. (in the sense [clever, shrewd] ): shortening of acute.

---

So now that we all know the definition of cuteness, let's take a look at a few images that define the word:




Yes, that's right, folks! Somebody had some 10 month pictures taken last Saturday! Is he not the definition of cuteness? He did absolutely amazing and we had a TON of adorable pictures to choose from. He was ALL smiles! I took him to a new studio and have to say I was shocked at how awesome it all went. First of all, it's a small studio that recently relocated from a location that was waaaay too far for me to drive to. So yay! Secondly, we were the ONLY appointment scheduled at the time and never ran into customers before or after our session. I loved the one-on-one attention. And the best part? Our photographer has a teenage son who has had a variety of medical problems (unfortunately--but he's doing well now!) so she knew EXACTLY how to handle us without us having to ask! She washed her hands before beginning our session. She sprayed down everything that Chase would sit on with Lysol and then dried it off with a paper towel before I put him in each chair. She was also smart enough to save the shots of him on his belly 'til the very end, since she imagined he probably wasn't a big fan of tummy time (boy was she right!). Overall it was without a doubt the very best photo experience I've EVER had with either of my kids! I can't thank her enough for how great she was! We will DEFINITELY be back in 2 months for Chase's ONE YEAR PICTURES!!!

Hope y'all enjoy these pics of my handsome little cutie as much as I do! :)

Dinner for Two

When LO was very young and just starting out on table food, we immediately realized that she had some serious "texture" issues. The child wouldn't touch anything that had a weird texture: the "stringiness" of chicken, the "gooeyness" of cranberry sauce or jell-o, the "sliminess" of pasta. We knew we would have our hands full keeping this kid fed and satisfied.

Fast-forward a couple of years... she's still as picky as ever. Still almost impossible to get her to try new food. Still feeding the child at least one pb&j per day--every day. So I guess I was imagining Chase would be just as picky. But you know, he'd probably enjoy all the opposites of what LO likes, thus making dinnertime in our house a MAJOR source of stress.

Well, wouldn't you know it's as they say... every child is different, and a lot of times, you end up with kids that are exact opposites. In this case, it means Chase will pretty much put anything in his mouth that isn't nailed down to the floor. He's not picky. At all. It's awesome. And now that's he's pretty much shunned all forms of "baby" foods, I have no choice but to figure out ways to feed him table food -- enough to keep him full and happy.

Imagine my surprise when I was preparing dinner Monday night, and had a great epiphany: my kids can both eat the SAME THING for dinner!!! What an amazing realization! So I went to work making ONE meal (for the kids--hubs and I flaked out with some Joy of Tokyo take-out) for both of my kids, just slightly modified!

• Grilled cheese sandwich
• Apples
• Cheddar Cheese
• Crackers
• "Ants marching on a log" (for LO only... until we confirm Chase doesn't have a peanut butter allergy) ;)
  

What a relief it was to not have to make THREE different meals for dinner. Usually it's one for hubs & I, another one for LO (Little Miss Picky) and one for Chase (baby food, etc.). I can definitely get used to this two-meal situation! And of course, the nights when I cook dinner (and don't go for take-out), I typically give both kids some of what we're having, which takes us to -- you guessed it!! -- only ONE meal for dinner! Yay!

Chaos

Things have been a bit more chaotic than normal around here lately, with no sign of easing up anytime soon! Big decisions, big trips... a lot of stuff! I figure to lighten things up a bit--if even just for myself--I'll share a short little clip of the kiddos from yesterday afternoon. They do keep a smile on my face (most of the time!)!

Enjoy!

10 Months!

Somebody is 10 months old today!

And somebody's mommy is so grateful and blessed to have this little man in her life!

Happy 10 Month Birthday, Chase!

Mommy loves you!