Laundry Day

Today was laundry day. I normally LOATHE laundry. I loathe it so much, it is the reason we do not cloth diaper Grayson. But today, the laundry was not such a task.

Why?

Because I had a little extra help today.

Really cute help too.....

Where is Grayson?

Peek-a-boo

This is fun Mom!

I think we got it all? Anything left in there to fold?

Nope Mom- we are all good!

Grayson loves tagging along while I clean house. He motivates me to clean quickly too. I just put him on the floor and as he crawls and walks towards things, I go over and try and clean the area/pile before he gets to it. Yep, he has been quite the little motivator.

"A New Kind Of Family"

I remember an addiction I had to a certain show a while back. It was a great show, although, looking back- very "corny." Everyone on the show would have similar problems during the same episode, they would all learn a valuable lesson together. The father was a church leader, they preached the importance of waiting until marriage to have sex, yet addressed that teens do engage in this activity before marriage, and the consequences from it. The family loved each other through all these small problems, and even a rebel child who had to be sent to live with the grandparents. YEP- I was addicted to "7th Heaven"


"7th Heaven" now has reruns on ABC Family. I have taken the time to enjoy a few, especially a season I missed during a year without cable, while being a stay at home mom. Becuase of this viewing time, I have gotten to see commercials for the show on this network in the primetime.

Let's pause for a moment and think about the network's name.... ABC FAMILY.... One would imagine that such a network would show uplifting shows with good values, right?

Well, the current shows include : "Pretty Little Liars" "Secrets of the American Teenager" and the such. Each involves young teenage girls who gossip, spread rumors, have sex, often times very casually, and much of it is glamorized. And what is the networks slogan at the end of each commercial: "A New Kind of Family"

It is sad, that we now put on a "FAMILY" network, shows that actually glamorize the actions that are leading to the downfall of a healthy family and society. While it is reality that many teenagers do engage in such activities, there are still those who do not, or those who would not if it did not appear as though the consequences were non-existent on these shows.

I read an article somewhere that MTV actually thinks some girls are now TRYING to get pregnant as teenagers- for the stardom they may be able to find through shows such as their very own "Teen Mom."

The downfall of society begins with the values we teach our children...or rather DON'T teach our children. Should we shun a child that makes a bad decision...no. BUT- we should detour them to the best of our ability, from making such choices. We should help them seek uplifting entertainment that encourages the values and morals we want them to hold.

Satan has realized that the easiest way to destroy the family is from inside the home. While he can't just walk in the door, he has found two very easy entries from television and internet. Both are wonderful tools, but if not used with caution, can lead someone down a path that is destructive to the family and the soul.

I hope and pray that there will be a change in the hearts of man. That shows such as "Pretty Little Liars" will not be on networks that are marketed as "family" networks. I know they will never disappear, but I would hope that they would not be tied to a network that promotes FAMILY in their title or company.

8 Months Old

Yeah- Last minute picture of Grayson for his 8 month post.

I find it hard to believe that it is only 4 months until we will celebrate his 1st Birthday!

Grayson has had a CRAZY growth spurt this week! Leading to wanting 28-30 oz a day of Breastmilk/formula and solids all day long. We had 2-3 days of non-stop eating!!!!!

He now weighs in at 16 lbs 1 oz!!!! This seems so big to me. He just barely got into 3-6 month clothes last month and now, many of them are getting tight. A few 0-3 months still fit him, but only the brands that run REALLY big.

Grayson enjoys food right now. So, I suppose this picture is appropriate. He is enjoying the Gerber Puffs here. Oh, how I hate myself for those (actually these ones are the knock-off Parent's Choice brand). These things are filled with things he probably should not be getting yet- Gluten and Sugar....YUM!!!

I should really accept the fact that this is really such a small part of his diet, breastmilk is super sweet and packed with sugar (although natural), and it is something he really enjoys as he can feed himself, and it eases OUR minds because they melt as he chews them. He also is becoming open to purees- which he formerly despised. This is kind of nice because it is giving us a lot more options for food during the day. I am doing weight watchers now, so I make foods that are geared towards that, not always Grayson friendly. So purees are great for us during the day.

On to other milestones- Grayson has ditched the army crawl for real crawling. Well, usually. Sometimes he realizes that he can army crawl faster (maybe because he did it for over 2 months before moving on) and will drop down to the army crawl.

He has been pulling himself up to a standing position for quite some time now and has also been walking all around the living room using furniture.

Recently, he has taken a few steps every day with no support. However, he is not confident enough in himself to do anymore than that. I hope he continues to be timid with walking. I am not ready for him to be that mobile. He is already getting into everything!

Grayson has fought sleep a lot more since we returned from Texas. We have been trying to work on this, but after 2 weeks of trying to get him down for the night and him waking 30 minutes after he falls asleep, then fighting sleep for 2 hours, we have decided that we are going to go with the flow a little longer. However, during the middle of the night we are working to get him to realize he can put himself back to sleep and not comfort nurse every hour. Since we do not use "Cry It Out" this is taking some time, but we have seen improvement.

He is extremely talkative and has been playing with the words DaDa and MaMa- although I am still sure he has no idea what they mean.

Grayson has a sense of humor that is really starting to show through. He loves to make people laugh. He also has no problem letting you know if you have displeased him, taken away something he wants, not giving him food fast enough, etc. He loves to bounce on our legs and will bounce up and down if we stop- letting us know he wants to do it some more. He will dance to music (bounce up and down).

This has been a fun but exhausting stage. I have learned that mental and physical developments are so much fun, but also exhaust both baby and parents. I look forward to everything that we have yet to experience but am trying to treasure the here and now.

FOOD

Just wanted to share a few pictures of Grayson exploring food.
We have found Grayson has little interest in purees and so we are doing Baby Led Weaning/Solids. The name may be a little deceiving. (That is why I put Solids next to the word weaning) It is not about weaning from nursing. It is about how you introduce solids. It is a way of skipping purees for the most part and letting your child lead you in starting soft, solid foods that are in managable bite sizes. Letting the child learn to feed themselves. Now, we do give Grayson oatmeal and some purees- but not many.
Grayson is quite fond of bananas if they are the real thing and not purees. He refuses to eat pureed bananas.

However, his face today when we gave him broccoli was just too funny. I had to get the camera out. This is after about his 5th taste that I was able to catch one of his expressions on camera. After that he was not even willing to put the broccoli in his mouth. I guess we will try again another time.

He is also learning to use a sippy cup. I am not a fan of the ones with handles. For some reason they always seem like a step backward to me. Bottles do not have handles and regular cups do not have handles so why would I want to give him a sippy cup with handles.

Avent does make an insert for their bottle to replace the nipple and turn it into a sippy cup. So we bought some of those. The best thing- the water will not come out if you are biting!!!! Hoping that will help detour him from biting too much once he gets his top teeth in (during breastfeeding that is).

I must say, I never thought I would be on the *crunchy* side of parenting. So many of our parenting choices have suprised us. Baby Led Weaning is one such choice.

Top Moments of 2010- Part 3

4) Halloween

We enjoyed our Halloween this year as we were able to dress Grayson up (as Mickey Mouse thanks to Terrie) and go to the ward party, family members homes, and a few friend's houses. Mike used this as an excuse to collect candy for him to eat.

Mike and I decided we wanted to dress up a little as well so we had our friends bring us back a few accessories from Disney World. This is not a very good picture but it will do.

This was at Carma's office on Friday before Halloween.

3) Christmas

The first Christmas of a child- particularly a family's first- is more fore the parent's than the child. We were so excited that Grayson was old enough to help open his presents, crawl around, and enjoy the toys and other gifts he was given without too much help from Mommy and Daddy. However, I think we will enjoy watching him next Christmas even more.

Since I just posted pictures from this a few posts back- I think I will leave this moment pictureless.

2) TEXAS 2010!

We LOVE our friends The Bolander Family. We were so sad to see them move from Boise. However, we have enjoyed visiting them in Texas a few times. It is nice for us to escape the cold and head somewhere warm. We lucked out- Boise had some pretty cold temperatures while we were gone, and Texas stayed warm until about 2 hours after we were dropped off at the airport.

I learned a lot from the trip to Texas-

I will not take a baby who is teething, fights sleep and sleeps well in their own bed on a trip where they willl share a bed with mom and dad, be completely sleep deprived, and have to suddenly adjust to 5 kids who adore him, ever again.

Ok- I probably will, but needless to say, we are still trying to get Grayson to sleep in his own crib again, he is not napping well AT ALL, and has become SUPER CLINGY ever since the trip.

1) May 20, 2010

The Birth Of Grayson

Was there any doubt that this would be #1?

Grayson blessed us with his arrival on May 20th and has continued to bless our lives every day since.

He looks every bit like a Farrar but acts every bit like his Daddy.

He is a complete ham, extremely active, attentive (which is the only thing that resembles me and NOT Mike), and curious about the world around him. He enjoys walking along furniture, crawling, books, and any toys that he can make move, light up, or make sound.

To read Grayson's birth story CLICK HERE

2010 was definitely a year of changes, adventure, and BLESSINGS!

We look forward to 2011 and all that it holds.

Top Moments of 2010- Part 2

7. Road Trip-

When Grayson was just shy of 2 months old we took him, along with my parents, on his first road trip. We went to Omaha, NE and visited Winter Quarters- This is where my parents served their first mission- We also visited the Henry Doorley Zoo. If you have never been to this zoo- it in itself is worth the trip. It is AMAZING!!!!! We also went to Mnt Rushmore and Cody, WY where we visited the Buffalo Bill museum.

It was a great trip, Grayson did well, but I don't think I will do a 8 day roadtrip with only 1 day not driving, with a 2 month old again. However, it gave Grayson the claim that he had been to 7 states before he was 2 months old.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE POST FROM THIS TRIP

6. Last day at the J-O-B!!!

May 5th was so surreal to me! I couldn't believe that day was finally here. It was the last day at my job at Shearer & Bonney, PC- Attorneys at Law!

I still go back, with Grayson, and visit the old job and the last time I was there, I even trained a gal on something...LOL! At times, I miss getting up and ready everyday and going to work, but I would never give up this opportunity to stay home with Grayson.

5. May 12th comes and goes!

Yep, May 12th, my due date, came and went! I felt no hurry to push Grayson out before his due date, but being anti-induction, I began feeling a bit anxious. Between that and the constant emails, texts, and Facebook messages asking if I had gone into labor yet. I began walking, using the birthing ball, and so much more to encourage Grayson to drop and labor to begin. However, none of it seemed to help. I never got to the point of being "done" being pregnant, maybe that is why none of this worked.

Taking a little break

I am taking a little break from the family blog. I will probably be back within a week or so, but right now I am focusing on getting healthy and a few other things so taking the time to do lengthy posts is not at the top of the list. So yeah, the top ten moments- well, they will be put on hold.
Hope everyone is enjoying this new year and using it to accomplish the goals they have set.