Chase - 8 Months

You have such a sweet personality and good nature about you.  We love getting to know YOU better with each passing month.  I cannot believe you are 8 months old already...before I know it, we'll be preparing for your 1 year birthday party! :)

You stayed up and rang in the new year with Momma & Dadda.  As long as you are entertained, you seem to do pretty well even with your schedule interrupted.  Wow, what a difference this year will be for us!

> You now have two teeth.
> You started crawling.  The first of the month brought 2-3 movements and now you are all over the place!
> As soon as you started crawling you realized that being mobile was tons of fun and have wanted to stand or walk ever since!
> You walk along the couch, climb on everything you can and are getting brave working on your balancing techniques.
> You are going through a bit of a clingy stage.  I love the extra cuddles and time with you, but it is so sad to hear you cry whenever we leave the room and you realize you're by yourself.
> You have the cutest little ornery smile where you wrinkle up your nose and show your teeth.  It makes me laugh every day!
> You are making more noises with your mouth and have your tongue moving around a lot!
> You have started doing this shy thing where you put your head down and look up with only your eyes...sometimes with strangers but even with us.  I can't tell if it is a shy thing or if you are acting embarrassed :)
> When we went to the doctor at the beginning of the month, you were 19.3 pounds (55%) and 28 inches long (75%).
> Your sleeping pattern still isn't consistent.  For the most part you only get up once during the night and then take 2-3 naps during the day.
> You are really becoming a Daddy's boy during the day.  You always want to see what Dadda's doing and love when he plays with you.
> You love your puppy and always try to get your walker over to the garage door to see him.  Because your walker is noisy and your movements are quick, Hunter is kind of scared of you right now.  He has let you pet him several times and you always seem to enjoy watching him!  I bet this summer is going to be so fun with the two of you!
> We have put away most of your 6-9 months clothes and started you in 9-12 months.  I can't believe it...my baby boy is getting so big!

My Cold Weather Coping Mechanism

My Momma's Chicken Noodle Soup

2 cans chicken broth | onion powder | salt & pepper

can of cream of chicken soup | cup of sour cream

shredded chicken | egg noodles

I will warn you, my Momma always doctors up her recipes, so it's awesomeness may not be reflected by these ingredients exactly.  I've even been able to make it to where my husband was impressed though, so that's saying something! :)  Try it...it will help you make it through these cold weather months.  I guarantee it! 

Product Review: Smoothing Spray

I try to be careful how often I use a flat iron on my hair.  My hair doesn't really have the greatest texture on its own, so if I'm wearing it down I try to style it every few days so it looks ok.

When I blow dry it after washing it, I normally do it upside down while combing it out...just to give it some EXTRA volume (picture showing extra volume I've created!).  I'm not a hair expert...obviously!  I know some people don't even like the idea of using a hair dryer, but this is what happens to work for me.  

I had purchased some heat protector smoothing spray from the salon a while back and while I like it, it's heavy and a little more sticky than I'd prefer.  

During a quick trip to Target the other evening, I saw this and thought I'd give it a try.

Tresemme keratin flat iron smoothing spray

My review of this product

1) I love the way it smells!!!

2) It isn't heavy on my hair, but there some hold

3) It gives my hair a healthy shine

4) it's MUCH cheaper than the salon product

New Year - New Feelings

Going into the holiday season this year, I had a lot of feelings that were different for me.  Experiencing holidays with a baby and my baby's daddy (haha) brought all kinds of mushy emotions.  Several times I was overcome to tears (of thankfulness) that I was finally experiencing life with a baby.  

I have no intentions of raising a spoiled brat, but I've got to admit, I'm so taken with this little guy that I do have to be careful not to "baby" him too much!  It seems to me that these are normal feelings for parents of just one child...after all, you have no where else to put your attention.

Anyhow, we are at such a fun stage with Chase now.  Each week seems to bring on new and fun stages!  Yes, there are hard times already in raising a child, but experiencing all of the good times and doing this with my best friend (baby daddy) is my own little dream come true!  I have to fight the urge I feel to be sad at how quickly this first year of his life is flying by, but we are having so much fun with each stage that I'm just trying to enjoy the moment instead!

We're looking forward to what 2014 brings our little family and my prayer is that I honor God with the wife and Momma I am.  My plan is to be intentional with all that I do!

Product Review: Concealer

Mary Kay Concealer

I have been on the hunt for some GOOD concealer for a while.  I have awful dark circles under my eyes and needed some serious help disguising what could be misunderstood as black eyes! :)

My review of this concealer:

Good price point.  You only have to use a small amount to cover an area of concern.

It is thick.  I like this because it seems to last on my dark circles or in effort to cover blemishes.

Several shades to choose from.

I like this better than any other concealer I have found so far.  I have tried quite a few, but admittedly, they have all been grocery store brand quality level.  My results with those have been "get what you pay for".

If you have trouble finding a good concealer as I have, TRY THIS OUT!  

* no, I did not get any free product or commission from sharing my review.  just wanted to share my good find with you.

Chase Is 7 Months Old!

I got behind and didn't post Chase's 6 month progress...

We had to postpone his 6 month doctor's appointment because of the weather so I'm excited to get his measurements when we go in on January 9th.

Chase has become more vocal and mobile!  He is now in 6-9 months clothes.  

He loves eating his baby food and fruit puffs!  He's tried minimal food off our plates, but hasn't turned his nose up at anything he's tried yet!

Chase is now 7 months!

With this month I have been surprised at all of the changes we have seen in Chase.  He is developing such a personality!  

Chase decided to sit up on his own one night when we had dropped him off at Grandma's house.  I wasn't 15 minutes down the road when I got the message he had done that!  Chase also got his first tooth this month.

He did experience his first cold.  The cough got bad enough we had to take him to the doctor.  Poor baby was wheezing so we were able to get him on some cough medicine.  He wasn't cranky necessarily but bless his heart, he wasn't sleeping well!

Chase really became more mobile this month as well...between rolling, scooting and using his walker to get around, he has no problem getting wherever he wants to go!  He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks a little, but hasn't yet figured out the motion he needs to do to actually crawl.  

He's learning what the word "no" means already.  Between getting in the Christmas tree and the trash can, we are learning just how stubborn he is already!  Oh boy!

Chase loves to have us "walk" him.  He has gotten so use to walking in his walker so he wants us to hold his hands and walk him around the house that way as well.  He gets so excited to be on the move!

Chase has already outgrown some of his 6-9 months sleepers.

He is learning to rest in his car seat so much better...even sleeps while we're in the car quite a bit now!  Chase is still on a pretty good schedule.  He's up for 1-2 hours in the morning and then goes down for his morning nap.  He'll usually sleep an hour at that time.  His afternoon nap is sometimes up to 2 hours.  He will sometimes take an evening nap, but it isn't as consistent.  His bedtime is between 9-9:30.  He has been sleeping all of the way through the night this past week.  We'll see if that lasts, but even if it doesn't, his usual was getting up 1-2 times a night.

He has gotten more vocal and makes all kinds of new sounds with his mouth.  He is blowing bubbles, smacking his lips and giving big slobbery kisses quite often!  He is becoming quite the Daddy's boy and I'm loving watching their relationship develop even more!  

Chase is still a very good eater.  He is taking fewer bottles and enjoying more and more food from the table and trying new kinds of baby food.

Happy New Year!

 Nathan & I had a little date while on Christmas vacation.  I wanted to look cute for my man, yet still casual enough to be comfortable while we were out and about.

I just got this sweater at a blog sale and I've worn it twice already...love it! 

 outfit details:

black wedge booties > gojane.com

denim pencil skirt > old navy

watch > walmart

sweater > blog sale

blue handbag > jane.com