The fruits of our labor!

Last Friday morning I spied a couple tomatoes that were almost ripe.

Unfortunately when I went to pick them, they weren't any good! I don't know if all the rain we have had recently caused this or not.

Eitherway I did finally get my first edible tomato a couple days later.

This tomato was enjoyed on the tacos we had for dinner one night this week.

In addition to my ripening tomatoes, I have picked several of my onions. This year my yellow onions are the biggest that they have ever been. For illustrative purposes I placed a quarter next to them to show the size.

The yellow onion probably could have stayed in the ground a little longer, but I was curious about it's size...so I dug it up! There are plenty more, and I'm sure there's bound to be another onion that is bigger.

I have picked one zucchini. For some reason my squash and zucchini have not done well. Hopefully I'll get plenty for a couple pans of fried squash.

Randomness...if that's even a word

Our first attempt at a sippy cup...didn't go so well.

Just a cute picture.

Frustration

He's sitting up so well, but I still insist that we keep the boppy behind him to keep him from bopping his head.

A couple of his favorite toys at the moment.

Saturday, after babyshower #1, we had dinner at our friend's Jesse and Amy home. They have a daughter that is pretty fond of Bryce, here's some cute photos of the two of them.

Then on Sunday at baby shower #2, Bryce got to hang out with another one of his girlfriends.

Here's my sweet boy is holding her hand.

Then being a typical man by hogging all of her space.

Here's an update on my vegetable garden. My onions are doing exceptionally well. My tomatoes are growing wonderfully and many plants are starting to have flowers on them. All but one squash or zucchini plant (I'd have to smell the plant to tell you which one) are doing well.

Oh looky...what do we have here?! A green tomato already!

OOOOOOKLAHOMA where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...

And has it ever came sweeping down the plains!

For DAYS the wind has been blowing, and we're not talking a breeze. It's been a steady 20 MPH with gusts up to 40 mph! I'm even more irritated by it because so far it has broke 3 of my 6 Goliath tomato plants (the best variety!). Unfortunately I can't replace them because they are sold out of that variety at Carmichael's. : ( So Better Boys it will be.

As much as I dislike the rain, I really hope it does rain because it will usually calm the wind down (and we're not going to the lake this weekend). I know, I know. We complain about the wind now, but when July comes we'll beg for wind and rain.

Okay, I'm over my rant for the day!

Not much exciting has been happening in our household this week, yet we've been pretty busy. Bryce and I had dinner with Amanda on Tuesday at El Tequila. At first Bryce sat in his car seat and managed to drop every one of his toys on the floor. I think it's became a game to him to do this. Then I get him out of the car seat and he grabs my plate, tries to get a hold of my food, and then grabs my glass of water, sticks his fingers in it and knocks my straw out. He's become very curious lately with his sense of touch.

We didn't catch any pictures at the restaurant but I did catch a picture of some drool.

Wednesday we made our delayed Walmart trip to get a few things that we needed, most importantly dog food. Bryce slept the entire time we were there and the entire way home, including a stop at Arby's to grab dinner for Nic and I. Then gave him a bath, that is becoming harder and harder to do because he is so squirmy. I was afraid because he took such a late 'nap' that I would have trouble getting him down for the night, but fortuantely that was not the case.

Last night since Nic was at the station, Bryce and I spent the evening at my Mom's so I could help her prepare for her Annual Kentucky Derby party (hence the reason there is no Tasty Thursday this week). I created some win, show, place tickets and I painted some trim pieces. She conveniently decided to remodel her den area prior to this party, in addition to normal party preparations. Unfortunately Bryce got to bed an hour late and it really affected the entire nights sleep...not in a good way.

This morning we did our usual routine. Bryce sat in his boppy watching Blue's Clues while I pumped and put on my face. As he's been doing lately he pushes himself over the boppy just enough so he can look at me, but this morning he completely pushed himself over it to where he rolled off of he boppy and onto his tummy. I didn't catch the roll, but I caugh where he stopped to grab his feet and then when he got his whole body off of it.

Now looking at the above picture, I realize we really need to start doing some major baby proofing: getting rid of loose cords, breakables out of reach, cover plug-ins, and cabinet locks.

So after we're done with Blue's Clues, pumping, makeup and Bryce's bottle. We head to the bathroom so I can blow dry my hair and fix it. The routine as of late is to put Bryce in the walker in there and he scoots around, mostly in the direction of Fara. This morning I thought it was cute that he went straight to the door (where Fara was on the otherside of) as if he was trying to escape. He then turned around and looked at me...almost to check if I'm watching.

Finally it is raining and the wind is almost nonexistant...for now.

Time is so valuable these days!

This week has gone by really fast,  I had definitely planned on doing this post so much sooner.

On Monday Bryce officially became 5 months old. I weighed him Monday evening and according to Wii Fit Plus he weighs 15 lb 4 oz. He's just a little guy! He STILL has not rolled from his back to his tummy. He just has no desire to anymore he would rather play with his feet. One thing he has been doing while laying on his back is arching his back where it's completely off the ground and he somewhat balances on his head, if that makes any sense. I keep trying to get a picture of it but I haven't been successful catching it yet. He has been sitting up some, but sees his feet and leans over to get them. Even in the bathtub he tries to grab his feet to the point where he almost puts his face in the water! I think his fascination with his feet is so cute, but it's inhibiting other things.

A couple evenings this week we spent some time outside working in the garden and flower beds. I decided to just use the bumbo seat, so he can look around better.  

We're growing special things in our garden!

No need to adjust your screen, we do have another bumbo seat. We took the blue one to Granny's house and she liked having it there so much that it never made it back. Actually she was looking to buy one off of craigslist or at a garage sale but could only find the pink or purple ones. Bryce wouldn't have minded a pink or purple one but his Daddy would. So with one of my many BRU 20% off coupons and a rewards certificate in hand I picked one up at Babies R Us deciding on a neutral color this time.

At first I thought he was trying to escape his bumbo seat ...

...then I realized he was just trying to chew on it...like everything else.

Multi-tasking...chewing on the bumbo seat and getting his hands and feet dirty. How do I even get any work done outside while taking all these pictures?!

One of my favorite pictures for the time being...of course he's grabbing his feet!

This weekend it's back to the lake for us.

We've got a teething monster...

Okay really he's not so bad that he's anything close to a monster, but I'm convinced he is teething. He's had more dirty diapers than normal (and looser than normal), the buckets of drool, the constant chewing (especially my fingers), what looks like little bumps where his teeth are, and restless nights. I wanted to get a picture of his gums and potential teeth but Nic got home too late and I definitely need more than one hand to hold our squirmy little guy.

The last week most nights have been pretty rough. He's been going to bed at his usual time of around 8pm, then he's been waking up at 11pm, then 2:30am then 3:30am then 5am. I'm exhausted for sure! Fortunately he has not been real cranky.

Sorry about my squished eye!

Currently I have a couple decisions that I have been going back and forth with. Actually when I think about it, almost every decision I have made when it concerns Bryce I have gone back and forth.

First is when to stop breastfeeding. The goal we decided on since we spent 2 evenings last September in a breastfeeding class was 6 months...which is fast approaching. I'm very proud that as a fulltime working mom that I have been able to continue this long (via my Medela Freestyle pump). I have no indications that I will lose my supply anytime soon, and because of that I feel guilty about choosing to stop. My guilt is based a lot on the fact that I'm very fortunate to have had no problems whatsoever breastfeeding and there are many mothers that would like to, but cannot for whatever reasons. It's also a nice perk to not have to buy formula!

So at this point I've decided that sometime next month I will reduce my pumping sessions to 3 times a day from the current 4. I also have been maintaining/rotating about 400 oz of frozen breastmilk in the freezer. So it looks like I will continue past 6 months but at that point he will be starting solids...if not sooner...which leads to my next internal debate: when to start solids.

My pediatrician recommends that we wait until he's 6 months old. Studies show that waiting can help prevent food allergies, along with some other benefits. However since Bryce seems to have gone backwards on the whole nighttime sleep situation, I'm starting to wonder if it's not only teething that is preventing him to sleep as well. I know it's not true that cereal helps babies sleep better, but you can't help but wonder if it would. However, he doesn't seem hungry after his bottle and he usually leaves about a 1/2 of an ounce. But he does drink a 6.5-7 oz bottle about every 3 hours, and at bedtime he'll take down 8-9 oz. I'll note that he weighs about 15 lbs, so he's not a big baby. I really would prefer to wait til 6 months and start with something like avocado that will provide more nutritional value than rice cereal. And yes, I do plan on making most of our own baby food. Right now I'm going to weight another week, when he'll be 5 months and reevaluate.

So on to things that are more fun...

My vegetable garden! About a month ago I planted the onions, some red onions, but mostly yellow onions. I cook with A LOT of onions so I love it when summertime rolls around and I always have an onion if I need it. There's a little bit of grass in there that I need to pull, however Nic has been so busy that he hasn't been home much to help me keep Bryce entertained while I go work outside.

So I have waited patiently for April (and the reduced risk of a freeze) to roll around so I can plant my tomato plants. Last Thursday I quickly planted 6 Goliaths and 6 Jet Stars, while Bryce sat in the stroller watching me. This year I decided against Cherry tomatoes as they completely were out of hand last year.

I usually have pretty good luck with my tomatoes and have plenty to share. So let's hope this year will be no different. Below is a picture of one of my Goliath plants.

 

Here's the overview of my garden. Onions on the left and tomatoes in the middle. I have reserved the area on the far right to plant squash...I just have to find time to go get the seeds. That's all I'm going to plan this year. I'll mention that my garden is round because we previously had a pool there, which was taken out because we never used it since we spend so much time at the lake.

Friday evening we headed down to the lake hopeful for a relaxing weekend. After using our hand-me-down pack and play the previous weekend, and realizing how much room it takes up in the travel trailer and the fact that the bottom will not lock, we decided we had to figure something else out.

So with one of my many 20% coupons from Babies R Us we decided to go buy the Graco Travel Lite Crib. It's 20% smaller than the normal pack & plays, and this particular 'crib' has 2 levels for the bassinet. It's also easier in my opinion to put together. The size does make a lot of difference in the travel trailer and I think we'll at least be able to use it through the end of the summer, if not some next summer. Here's Bryce laying in it while I was frying some potatoes.

Saturday we planned on doing a little crappie fishing and taking a cruise on the pontoon. I even went ahead and bought a 5 year fishing license on Friday. It cost $88 compared to the $25 it has cost me for the past several years. Unfortunately I did not quite need my fishing license this weekend, as Bryce decided he would take over a 3 hour nap for me, something he has NEVER done for me (but is common for my Mom). Oh well, that's one thing I have learned is that he's the boss and makes the final decision on our plans. Nic did go ahead and fish a little without us, but he didn't have any luck. Therefore I wasn't too upset about it.

So after Bryce woke up from his nap, we enjoyed a little time outside in the shade. I put on some new Old Navy flip flops I bought him last week, but they didn't stay on because they are still a little big.

Here's Nic and Fara

Here's a zoomed view from our travel trailer.

Sunday morning Nic had another guy that owed him a couple hours work for him so we could stay the night Sunday night. However, he had to leave the lake by 8 so that left Bryce and I alone to clean and get packed up before we headed back home for the week.

Here's Bryce looking out the screen door while I was getting things ready. He really is enjoying his walker so I bought an extra one so we could leave one at the lake. The less I have to take back and forth makes it much easier on me.

We made it home Sunday around 11am to find my a couple of my Tree Peonies in full bloom!

Last year I think this one had maybe 3 blooms, but this year it's probably got a dozen.

Here's the other one that was blooming. Sorry about the mess surrounding this one. I'm in the process of cleaning and trimming my flower beds. Several years ago my mom gave me a start to Campanulas. Unfortunately they have gone crazy and instead of pretty plants with purple flowers, they look like weeds! So I'm constantly battling them.

Wow! This is a long post! I really need to get better about updating this more frequently.

Today was Bryce's day with Ashley and the girls. I decided when I picked him up this evening I would take a couple pictures of him with them.

When I got there to pick him up he and Delaney were sitting in the recliner. As soon I pulled my camera out Delaney decided to give him a kiss!

And a goodbye kiss!

Then Cambrey tries to give him a kiss, but she tries to crawl in his carseat to do it.

Some other random photos.