Countdown - Day 7

My little baby is 7 days away from turning a year old. I am excited and sad at the same time. He started walking so that makes it double sad.

We've been super busy getting the house straightened up. Screens out, windows cleaned, stove/oven cleaned (yuk), etc.

I can't wait - LET'S PARTY!!!

This and that

It's been a while so....



Last weekend I met up with Alanna & G at Macqueen's orchard and cider mill. It was a perfect fall day - sunny but with a little chill in the air. Bret and G had a good time and if only we could get them on the ponies!!

Bret couldn't get enough of the pumpkin and G couldn't get enough of the water fountain. How adorable!!

This week has been a huge milestone for Bret. He started walking!!


Yesterday was his first for lifting himself up (without a prop) and taking steps on his own. I got it on video but I don't know how to upload them to my blog. Every time I try to, I get an error. Engineer, yes. Computer whiz, no.

Anyway, yesterday was also Bret's first walking accident. He got himself up and started following me. I thought nothing of it since I was just going into the laundry room (15 ft from where he was). Then I heard a thud and a scream. Bret doesn't cry everytime he bumps his head or falls but this time was different. I scooped him up, did a quick check and found a red spot on his upper cheek. I kissed and held him for a while and then noticed that the boo-boo started to bleed and it was coming from the corner of his eye. I tried not to freak out and cleaned it up. It turned purple last night and this morning he's got a definite shiner. One for the baby book! I was just scared that he needed stitches. He doesn't, thank God. So, my baby is a walker, albeit a wobbly one but he's on his way. I cried a little bit yesterday because of it. He's not a cuddly blob anymore. He pushes me away and wants to walk. *sniff sniff*

Like I mentioned before, Bret and I joined a playgroup. It's a small one (5 parents, 5 kids) but it's a good start. At first Bret was pretty shy. He'd stick close to me for a few minutes and then wander off. I noticed yesterday that he was pretty much ready to go right when we got there. He still plays solo for the most part. He'll share toys, grab toys and observe the other kids but they're still a bit too young to really play together (all the kids are 13 months and under). I like the group of moms and it's nice to have adult conversations every once in a while!! LOL

This weekend we have a birthday party (Jason's cousin's son - 2 yrs old). That's pretty much it. I have a shiz-load of stuff for Jason to do this weekend and next week before Bret's party and to "winterize" our house. I'm not ready for winter. Brrrrr

What goes in, must come out

For those of you who have kids, I'm sure you know where this story is headed. The rest of you are in for a treat.....

On Monday, Bret and I went grocery shopping. I gave him a Roma tomato to hold and occupy his attention for a little bit. After about 2 milliseconds, he took a bite and threw the tomato on the ground. NICE :) I didn't think anything of it......until I changed his diaper that evening. He had pooped out a BARCODE STICKER. When he bit the tomato, he chomped off the stupid sticker and swallowed it.

I understand that kids put everything in their mouths, but seriously. Bret puts EVERYTHING in his mouth - fuzzies, cat food, paper, crumbs, etc. I am constantly scooping something out. It's almost my part-time job. Good Lord.

Definitely a story that made it into his baby book. I can't wait to tell his girlfriends!! LOL

Clap, clap, clap

Bret shocked the crap out of us last night. After he finished eating his dinner, he started clapping his hands. I didn't know he knew how to clap!! I had been working on it with him since his birthday is coming up. I was hoping he'd learn how to do it by then but he showed ZERO interest. Whenever I played patty-cake, he'd let me clap his hands together but that was about it.

Then all-of-a-sudden, Bret can clap! YAY!!! *clap, clap, clap*

If only he'd catch on that it's OK to sleep through the night! That's going to be the next lesson. Pray for me!!! LOL

Pfffffewww- Updated

I've finalized the menu for Bret's party and now I'm so not stressed out!! I love cooking so everything will be homemade (except for the chips). YUMMY!

• Pulled pork sandwiches
• Chicken bites (for the kids)
• Mac 'N cheese (for the kids)
• Napa cabbage salad
• Spinach and artichoke dip (with homemade garlic pita chips)
• Cold veggie pizza
• Fall fruit salad (made with Golden delicious apples, Bosc pears and green grapes)
• Tortilla pinwheels (turkey and ham)
• Chips

Dessert will be yellow and chocolate cupcakes frosted and decorated with fall-colored sprinkles. I'm going to be way too busy to cut cake so guests are getting cupcakes (plus less clean up and *hopefully* less leftovers). I'm going to make Bret's cake - a recipe I found made out of semi-sweet chocolate and chick peas (instead of flour). He needs the fiber anyway. LOL! I've tried it and it tastes like a "regular" chocolate cake to me. He won't know the difference. The cake will be lightly frosted with white frosting and decorated to look like a baseball.

To wash everything down we'll have:

• Soda
• Bottled water
• Coffee / tea
• Milk or juice (for the kiddies) - HEAD: where did you get the small milk containers?

Let's see - now what can I stress out about?! LMAO

11 months old!!

Hooray!! You're almost a year old!! You've made our lives so much richer and fulfilling. We love you so much, Bret.

He's got 4 teeth, almost 6. Bret is still light on the hair department but that's not surprising since Jason and I didn't really get hair until we were about 1-1/2 to 2 years old. He wave 'bye' and almost claps but not quite. He likes it when I clap his hands for him. Cruising is his preferred method of motion. Gets into lots of things and keeps Jason and me on our toes every day!!

Halloween spoiler

Ok, I can not wait 'til Halloween to show you Bret's costume. I love it and think that it suits him perfectly. He looks so damn cute!! It's a size 9 months and it fits him well, but I may have to exchange it for 12 months. I took back the ladybug costume that Jason's mom bought him (God love her). I hope I don't hurt her feelings but he looked too much like a girl in the costume and I don't want people to say "oh SHE looks so cute." Ya know?! So, we have this one instead.

In other news - I think that I may have to find a part time job. For the past two months, we've been taking money out of our savings to get us through some expenses (taxes, etc). Today was the last straw....I kind of freaked out and got frustated, which led to me snapping at Jason this AM. We went to turn on our furnace last night and it didn't turn on. Something is wrong with it. It's 65 degrees in my house right now and Bret didn't sleep very well last night. Needless to say, it's not Jason's fault - he unfortunately is the one that takes the brunt of my rantings. So that's another expense that we have to take money out of savings for. If this keeps up we'll be out of savings by this time next year. *SIGH*