You're the only TEN-I-SEE

We took a week to visit with Greg's family - we all met in Tennessee where Momma Stawicki goes to Milligan College for OT.  {{So proud}}  We got to see her home-away-from-home and enjoy all things Southern.  Greg's family got to see how Alden belly-crawls himself into all sorts of trouble.  I think Alden charmed them all.

We were also able to visit the Biltmore and take some fun pictures...

 

Seven Months {June 30}

He's getting a lot more interested in the calendar and making this photo shoot a little more challenging.  He's a whopping 19 pounds, 10 oz, difficult to carry for very long.  He's grown his two bottom teeth and seems to enjoy feeling them with his lips, fingers and tongue.  I've been enjoying the time I have with him this summer and while I am looking forward to my new adventure in 2nd grade, I look forward to one day being able to spend every day with him...

Weekend with the Grandparents

Ready for some fresh air!

Alden's grandparents came down for a visit this past weekend.  Thankfully for us they came with their work clothes.  While Greg went to work Alden got to play with his grandmother (Omo) while I worked with Greg's dad to repaint or main room/hallway/kitchen to a whitish gray.  (It was a straw yellowish color.)  We were thrilled with the results and thrilled that Alden got to have some time with the grandparents he doesn't get to see often.  Alden took this opportunity to start cutting teeth, we were all so excited to see the first hole in his bottom gums.  Since the weekend the tips of the front two bottom teeth have emerged.

On a painting break, Alden is eyeing the grapes...

They even followed us to Charlottesville so that they could watch Alden while Greg and I attended my friend's wedding.  SO GRATEFUL.  Alden went to dinner with Omo and Opo and we got a few pics along the way, this is one of the boys right before heading out for the night...

Pool Rat

Working on getting a video loaded; but until I do, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfkeuUy4pc

Late May/ Early June Recap

Too many pictures to catch up individually, so here are some memories of the last month or so...

At Chelsea's wedding.

College buddies reunited!

Alden and Aunt Emily

Before dinner with soon-to-be Uncle Nate

How Alden prefers bedtime stories to go...

Finally fits in the Alaskan "babymoon" outfit we bought...

Alden loves playing at his Grandma's!

Alden wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth!

Trying to crawl, but hasn't quite figured it out yet...

Morning walks sometimes end like this...

Alden has started cuddling and I LOVE it!!

He also turns around and grabs at your face if you hold him like this.

Walking to CVS and back is exhausting...

A toy my friend gave him...

Chelsea was the baby whisperer!

Alden adored Kristin!

I love his laugh!!  Haha, and I love this shirt.

Daddy says, sometimes you've just gotta take your shirt off... haha.

Six Months {May 30}

The end of the school year caught me up in a whirlwind of deadlines and activities.  Posting on my Blog became a very low priority.  ::sorry::

Alden continues to be a very happy baby.  He will go to just about anybody and babble and coo his way into their hearts.  (I'm inferring a lot here.)  He was quite happy at his 6 month check up (picture, left) but I was shocked to find out that he needed to be fed MORE because his weight percentile had dropped.  He was 16 lbs, 10 oz and 27" long.  Not a problem, this kid LOVES to eat.

He's been grabbing his toes a lot recently, and still uses his "kickstands" to sit up on his own.  No teeth as of yet...

What?!

A Little Sooner Than Expected...

Greg and I want so much for Alden.  We want him to love God, to be happy, to be respectful, to be content, to be loved and to be loving, to be thoughtful and kind, to be successful and driven, to be compassionate and generous, to be a good friend and to be dependable, to be a leader and brave... just to name a few.  We have been praying for this little boy before we even knew he was coming and have been working hard since we did to do all we could to give him an advantage.  This meant daily prenatal vitamins, healthy organic-when-possible diet, veggies even when my stomach said "NO!", lots of walking, classes and books!, and a long, sober 9 months.  We were grateful to have a baby coming and prayed that he would have all the expected body parts attached, and indeed he came out with 10 fingers and 10 toes!  We prayed that I would be able to feed him, and I can.  And we set our sights on making it 6 months before introducing solid food to him.  But it was not to be.  And realizing so was a very difficult process for me.
This healthy little boy who is such an enormous blessing to us eats a lot of food (and yes, it shows because everyone proclaims "he's a big __ month old!").  He eats more than I can pump in a day.  We were hopeful even still that what I had stored up over maternity leave would hold us out until month 6 but we have come to realize that we would have to re strategize. It was an easy problem-solution for Greg but I agonized over it and attempted all I could think of to try to bump back up to provide for Alden.  Ultimately though, I had to come to terms with the fact that we would either need to supplement with formula one bottle a day or move to solid food.  Now came a new problem to fret over: which option is best?  I think the biggest problem for me was I couldn't, and wouldn't, allow myself to get over the first hurdle - I couldn't make enough milk.  But God reminded me that he has been faithful to us and to Alden so far and will not leave us stranded now.  I was also reminded that as much as we are able, we do not want to make decisions for Alden based on emotion - and my emotions were definitely crippling my ability to actually make a decision in this situation.  So, together, we decided to use this weekend as the weekend to introduce solid food to Alden.  And it went mostly as I expected...

We decided to start with Avocado, strongly suggested by both of our mothers 

  We started with some speculation...

Getting ready to take the first bite...

He had some trouble adjusting his sucking instinct to the spoon.

The I'm-not-sure-about-this face...

                                  

 Followed by the hey-this-is-good face...

By the time Daddy got his turn, Alden had decided that he did like Avocado!

With Alden wanting to help...

And here he is complaining that we were "All Done"...

Yep, this kid is a bottom-less pit.  Already.