Overdue Update September 25, 2011

First of all I have to apologize for the long delay in updating this blog.  Why no updates you ask?  Well, there is really no excuse but I will give you one:  Max became mobile and sleeps less, therefore less free time for mom.  I’m sure you understand and will forgive this momma.

Max is almost 11 months old now.  He is a professional crawler.  He loves to eat food, toys, and his brother.  He loves dogs and says “dog” even though we do NOT have a dog.  He also says dada, ball, Jackson (which sounds like “duh da”) and he moos like a cow and barks like a dog.

We had a fun summer.  We spent Jackson’s 6th birthday in Hocking Hills with the family.  Jackson got to zipline for the first time.  We took the boys to Kings Island where Jackson rode his first roller coaster and Max rode in a stroller all day.  But as you can see from the pictures below, despite the heat wave and being stuck in a stroller, he had a great time at Kings Island.  Here are some pictures of our summer.

Sun's out Guns Out

Max in his pool

Mike and Jackson at Kings Island

Max at Kings Island

Jackson on the zip-line course in Hocking Hills

Now lets talk about the last month. Whew, it has been a busy month! Max has had a rough month; first a bout of Hand Foot Mouth, then he cut his first tooth -Yea!, then another virus with a sore throat, then he cut his second tooth – Yea!, then came this week. He cut his 2nd tooth and Mommy thought we were in the clear. Mommy thought Max would return to his old self and be a happy baby that wasn’t in pain. Mommy was hoping to start a routine and a normal schedule because guess what, during this month Jackson started First Grade! But mommy was wrong. Mommy made toast for Max and spread a little peanut butter on it. While Max seemed to love it, he ate very little. We finished our meal and got down from the highchair when I noticed his face was red. Then his eye and lip started to swell. Ahh! Max got to round out his very difficult month in the ER. Don’t worry, Max is ok and so is Mom and Dad (in case you were worried about us too).

But after complaining that Jackson cannot pack Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches in his lunch because the school is peanut-free, we now have THAT kid for who the “peanut-free rule” was developed. Talk about Karma. For a house full of peanut LOVERS, this is been hard on us. But we will survive, we are tough! Here is a picture of Max in his little hospital gown in the ER. He looks pretty pitiful doesn’t he? Poor kid.

Max in the ER

What else? Well, how about we let the pictures speak for themselves. Here are pictures of the last month.

Jackson picking apples

We went apple picking. Jackson ate more than he picked. But he had fun. Did I mention that we brought all the neighborhood kids too? Yup, one kid hears we are going and then everyone in the neighborhood wants to come with us. We had to bring 2 cars because we just couldn’t say No to anyone.

All the neighbors and friends!

Max enjoyed apple picking too!

Jackson is a first grader now!

I hear you all asking: Where are the pictures with you Jennifer? Great question! Ha! I couldn’t find one darn picture with me in it! I must be taking all the pics or something. Anyway, just yesterday we posed in front of Brutus so there I am, alive and well.

Brutus!

And in case you were worried about Max, he is doing great. Here is Max this morning reading his favorite books.

Max reading

Max is fatter and more… March 8, 2011

Sorry for the lack of postings, the last couple months have gotten away from me.

Max had his 4 month checkup yesterday and I am happy to report he is singlehandedly the reason why my back hurts.  He weighs a whopping 17 lbs and 8 ozs!  We had some bad news too.  The Dr confirmed my suspicions, Max has eczema.  And apparently there is a link to asthma so he will probably have that too.  I’m very happy that this was the only bad news.  We have a very healthy and happy baby!  Some good news for mommy – I can eat dairy and peanuts again!  Max has grown out of his dairy intolerance.  I gave up peanuts thinking it was causing the eczema, but I was wrong.  So, back to a normal diet for me.  The first dairy item I had was carrot cake with cream cheese icing!  Life is good again.  Anyone out there have any experience with eczema?  This is all very new to me.  Would love to hear from you.

 

Max has also received two haircuts in the last couple months.  His hairline is very unfortunate.  He seems to grow hair very fast on some parts of his head but none in other parts.  Regardless, he needed a trim to even it all out.  Mom and Dad gave him one.  As you can see from these pictures, he enjoyed it.    And by “he” I mean Michael.  Max couldn’t care less.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jackson has been very busy not jumping on our new couch.  He will walk on it, run into it, anything he can do BUT jump on it.  You see, jumping on the new couch is not allowed.  But apparently we have to be more specific with our rules to encompass all movements.  Here is a picture of our new couch….LOVE IT!

 

Hope all is well with everyone!

 

Nurseries January 15, 2011

So I realized the other day that I never posted final pictures of our nurseries!  I’m so excited with how they turned out.  Both nurseries have a modern theme with a couple owls thrown in for cuteness.  It was when I was browsing a vintage store when I decided to have owls in my nursery theme.  I found these cute vintage owls at Shine, a vintage store in Columbus.

The more I searched for owls, the more I realized that owls are popular again.  Lucky me!

As many of you already know, We have two homes and split our time between both homes.  I’m in Toledo for one week then in Columbus for the next week.  Therefore we have two nurseries.  Double the fun!  I wanted to keep the theme in both nurseries the same with the only difference being the colors.  Same brown and white crib bedding, same birch trees on the walls, just different accent colors.  The Columbus nursery is accented with orange.  To me, orange is way under used.  I just love a nice bright orange.

Unfortunately, I haven’t completely finished the Columbus nursery.  I have some wall shelves to hang, and a couple cute prints I got on Etsy that need a home.  The rocker hasn’t been moved to the nursery yet so we have a rocking horse holding its place.  Otherwise, here is our Columbus Nursery.

 

 

 

 

Of course we have the owl mobile that my mother made.  And as you can see from this picture, it turned out awesome and little Max LOVES it.

Here is a closer look at the mobile

 

 

And last but not least here is the adorable owl pillow to match the mobile

Now for the Toledo nursery.  We accented the Toledo nursery with green and blue.  The room is much bigger so we were able to fit 3 birch trees on the wall.  These trees were inspired by a tree wall decal I saw.  I had my mother paint them on the wall instead of forking out over $100 for the decals.  Love having an artist in the family!

The wicker rocking chair was in my nursery when I was a baby.  We just updated the fabric to match Max’s nursery.

Most of the cuteness credit has to go to my mother, Ms Lexie Blossom, who of course made all the owls, the changing pad covers, numerous pillows, and painted the birch trees.  I just couldn’t have these cute rooms without her.  Thanks mom!  I did make one thing in the room and I’m so excited how it turned out.  Did you notice the mobile?  I wrapped a stick with white yarn and mounted it to a towel holder.  Once the towel holder is mounted to the wall it will swivel outward.  How cool is that!

I have to give props to Addison.  On a playdate with Jackson at Wildwood Park in Toledo we went stick hunting, it was Addison who found this perfect stick for Max’s mobile.  Thanks girlie!  (by the way, Addison is 4)

Also, huge props to Ikea.  They had these fabric stretcher frames.  Love the instant art I was able to create with fabric!

So there it is.  Our little modern/vintage/owl nurseries and Max’s haven.  What do you think?

Chunker December 7, 2010

Our little Chunker had his 1 month checkup today.  Mr. Max now weighs 12lbs 6ozs!  That puts him in the 97% percentile for weight.  Yikes!  No wonder my biceps are looking good.

He is also cooing and smiling, both of which are 2 month milestones.  So it is safe to say that Max is developmentally advanced and very happy.  Duh!  Who wouldn’t be with Jackson as his big brother!  In fact, here is a picture I took yesterday of our little chunker with his big brother.  Don’t worry, he really does love his big brother.  That face is expressing love.  I swear.

Mad Max and Big Brother Jackson

Max Again… December 3, 2010

Max LOVES Kroger.  Lots to look at.  Here is a picture of Max checking out the view from the window in his car seat.

Max and his tongue November 26, 2010

Max’s tongue is very active.  It is so darn cute.

The Fog is Lifting… November 18, 2010

Max is here!  Max didn’t come during the full moon on Oct 23rd.  Max didn’t come when we had a record drop in barometric pressure a few days later.  Nope, mommy had to schedule his arrival.

Born October 29, 2010

8lbs 3ozs

20.75″ long

The fog is sleep deprivation is lifting….slowly.  And I am now finding time to actually take pictures of the boy.  Max is definitely Michael’s child.  I haven’t found one feature on this kid that is mine.

Not my nose, not my eyes, not my eyebrows, not my lips, not my widows peak…okay, maybe my hair color (sorry about that kid).

 

 

 

Not my fingers

 

 

Not my toes

 

 

But that is okay. My husband is handsome, so if I am to have a boy, he should look like his dad, right?!

Owls! August 27, 2010

I have a nursery teaser for you guys!  My ultimate crafty, creative, artistic mother Ms. Lexie Blossom, has been helping me decorate my nursery.  Let me just say my nursery would not be as original and cute if it weren’t for her.  She inspires me to be creative, and when we talk, I just feel her creativeness oozing into my blood.  I actually get good ideas when she is in the room!

So, Lexie Blossom made these owls for my nursery.  Go ahead and write me to tell me how adorable they are!  She reads the blog, she will see your swooning.  And it is okay to be jealous too.

Owl Pillow - Columbus Nursery

Little Owl - Columbus Nursery

Owl pillow - Toledo Nursery

Little Owl - Toledo Nursery

Another little owl - Toledo Nursery

Picky Eaters and How to Deal With Them August 1, 2010

How many times have we mothers told our children “If you take 4 more bites you can have dessert” or “If you eat all your vegetables you can have a special treat”? Yes, I know mothers have the best intentions when we are trying to bribe our children to be healthy. I admit I say these things to Jackson. But let me share with you a simple method of handling meal times that will change how your child eats and more importantly it will change how you react to his/her eating.

Jackson, at the age of 3 had turned into a picky eater. Implementing this feeding method helped tremendously. The method is called the Division of Responsibility coined by Ellyn Satter.
A great article was published that summarizes the Division of Responsibility method, written by Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen, Registered Deititian, and creator of www.RaiseHealthyEaters.com. This article is posted here.

RaiseHealthyEaters is my all time favorite blog for great information on feeding our children. For the entire Picky Eating Series, here are all the articles.
I had the honor of being quoted in her last couple articles on picky eating
10 Pitfalls to Feeding Picky Eaters
and this latest titled 15 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Kids to Eat Healthy

I encourage you to read these articles. As I spoke about in Maryann’s article 15 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Kids to Eat Healthy the biggest problem to kids eating healthy are the parents. It is harder to change our ways than it is to change the ways of a 4 year old. Trust me, I still struggle.

I hope this information helps make your meal times more peaceful and your household more structured. Enjoy!

Trees! July 19, 2010

Check out the trees my mother, artist extraordinaire Lexie Blossom, painted on a wall in our nursery. I just big puffy heart love love love these trees. I keep going into the nursery and looking at them. It is my new obsession. I haven’t touched clothes in 24 hours people, instead I stare at trees now. It’s good to have a healthy obsession…..at least that is what I tell myself.