Pearson Scott Norris

I cannot believe it has taken me this long to get to this post!

On June 26th Pearson Scott Norris was born!  You see, Pearson and Matty (as Beth calls our sweet baby boy) are best friends.  They really have no choice in the matter as their mothers have determined that it will be so!

You see, I met Beth back in 2002.  Her friendship has had an incredible impact on my life.  She introduced me to Paul, helped me get my career off the ground when I moved home and most importantly has been a wonderful and amazing friend to walk through life together over the years.  Our new house is around the corner from the Norris' and we are sure the boys will figure out a way to traipse through the woods to go back and forth.  I am so excited for these two boys to grow up together!

Insane week

Thank goodness this week is over and followed by a three day weekend.  I need it!

Paul decided last week that he was going to start cooking!  This happened to coincide with an insane deadline at work.  It has been wonderful to come home and not worry about what's for dinner.  I can get all of the chores done and let Paul do his thing in the kitchen.  We have been able to eat around 8pm and have some downtime before it's time to go to bed.  Wonderful!

And for Matthew, another cold. He came home from daycare on Wednesday with an awful sounding cough.  I wasn't terribly concerned. But Paul was very concerned.   So on Thursday, Paul took Matthew to the pediatrician and it turns out he has some sort of bronchial inflammation caused by a virus. I am so glad Paul had the mental space to focus and take him to the doctor.  Looking back I should have recognized his cough.  It's the same cough my mom has when her asthma is acting up. I wasn't there, so I initially freaked out thinking he was diagnosed with asthma. In further discussion with Paul and our family doctor, it is way to early to diagnose him with asthma but the message was clear that it could be.  We are praying that this is just a one time deal and NOT asthma!

He is getting breathing treatments several times a day right now and we are being very vigilant.  But, as usual, he is his happy go lucky self.  To get him (and us) used to the breathing treatments he stayed home from daycare both Thursday and Friday.  I hated being away from him, but Matthew and Paul had big adventures!

Here are a few of the pictures I received.

Wednesday morning.  He clearly is not feeling well. Meltdowns in the morning are rare.

Thursday, playing with the toys at Dr. Horton's office

Morning routine with Daddy!

Lola came over both Thursday and Friday so that Paul could work from home.  Mateo loves his Lola!

Peaches everywhere! He looks just like Whit in this one!

On Friday, they went to Early Works, a local children's museum of Alabama History.

Is this not the cutest kid you have ever seen??!!!

Learning to shop

I LOVE Peas!!!

Maybe he can help me in the garden next year?

The deadline has come and gone and I am so thankful for Paul stepping up and taking care of us all.  I am looking forward to a nice long holiday weekend with my boys!

Still Cooking!

I love everything about sharing a meal with loved ones.  Planning the meal.  Shopping for the best ingredients for the meal.  Preparing the meal.  Even growing herbs and vegetables for them meal.  

ALL of this went out the window when I got pregnant.  I couldn't stand to be in the kitchen cooking.  Exhaustion.  Overwhelming smells.  Nausea.  Ughhh.

Thankfully, once Matthew started sleeping through the night and I was able to get some sleep myself my love for cooking and gardening has returned in full force.  I am starting to get the hang of it again with all of the added chores of taking care of a baby.

My weekends are usually filled with lots of chores and making food for the week to try and get ahead so that meals can come together easier during the week.  I also wanted to try something new: Petit Fours!

My dear friend Heather made the most beautiful petit fours for my baby shower and I wanted to make a batch with her for Matthew's teachers at Ms. Marcia's.  We had  a fun day of baking and glazing and decorating, but most importantly friendship.  

There was sugar and glaze EVERYWHERE!

I bought 5, yes F.I.V.E. LARGE bags of powdered sugar.  We used all of them.

Heather brought all of her cake decorating supplies!

yum yum yum

An interesting side not and lesson learned.  It is so important to know what goes in our food.  Blindly eating whatever is put in front of us, whether it's the chicken nuggets at McDonald's or the gourmet meal at the upscale restaurant.  Knowing what is in our food gives us the power to make better decisions and live healthier lives and this will result in changes in our food industry as more and more people demand healthy food.  As a result of SEEING how much sugar goes into these things, I only ate a few of them.  They were amazing, but clearly to be enjoyed in moderation as opposed to the mass quantities I consumed when pregnant!

7 Months Old!

How do I have a 7 month old baby???  Well, he's not really a baby any more.  Every day, he is more and more little boy.  And he is ALL BOY.  I am in for it!

He eats really well.  He LOVES the new foods and tastes we have introduced him to.  We have tried everything from squash to broccoli to pears.  We are mainly on pureed fruits and vegetables right now and will start introducing yogurts next and soft meats as soon as he can chew a little better.  The few times I have tried giving him food with a little texture he balks so I go back to a smooth puree.

His teeth have started coming in.  He has one lower tooth and an upper is on its way to emerging.

As for mobility, he hasn't quite figured out how to crawl yet but it could be any day now.  And he loves to stand!  If you hold his hands and wrists he'll pull up easily to a standing position. I can tell he is just DYING to be on the move but just hasn't put it all together yet.  I am sure I will be wishing for these easy times of sitting up but no mobility soon enough.

We love to laugh together.  All I have to do is flirt a little with him and I get rewarded with the sweetest giggle!  

Thank you Aunt Erin for the seersucker jacket!  Isn't he just precious!

We lowered his crib bed and the first time I saw it I was sure I would fall into it with him but somehow I manage to get him in and out of it without too many problems.  I think he likes the crib being lower cause he can hang out with Dex!

Mommy's little helper

While the merry go round of off to work, pick up Matthew, clean, clean, clean, cook, sleep, and start all over seems a bit overwhelming at times I love my afternoons and evenings with Matthew.  We usually pull out one of his quilts and set him up in the living room.  If I need to get dishes done and dinner started, I set him right in the doorway to the kitchen so he can help me!  He isn't mobile yet, so this makes it really easy.  I am not sure what I am going to do the day he can actually move!!!

One of our weekly projects is making his food.  I have been steaming and pureeing fruits and veggies for him and am about to start more complex "meals" with more intense flavors.  Aunt Melinda gave us a great baby cookbook that has lots of yummies in it! My wonderful bamboo steamer has gotten lots of use and we just made roasted apples with cinnamon. I will never buy store bought apple sauce again!

Chattanooga!

At the beginning of August the Baird family got together in Chattanooga for a nice family weekend.

Cousins hanging out at the house on Friday night

Isn't she the prettiest little girl you have ever seen???

On Saturday, we headed to downtown Chattanooga to visit the aquarium and we all had a wonderful time.  Paul LOVED showing Mateo all of the "tasty" fishes :-)  You see, Paul's mom comes from a small island in the Phillipines and she has passed along her love for fish to Paul who hopefully will pass it along to Matthew. I like fish, but can't say I LOVE fish.  Every time I prepare fish for dinner, Paul literally goes gaga commenting that I just don't make enough fish :-)  I love watching these two bond

Look at all the big fishies!!!!

The Aquarium wiped out our little boy!

Hanging out on Saturday night getting ready for bedtime so the adults could have a nice dinner together!

On the incline...it was STEEP!

  

 On top of Lookout Mountain...we still haven't been able to get that family picture!

Whit and the Mateo

A Day in the Life...

Each day seems to blur into the next with little time to reflect.

I wake up around 5 or 5:30, mostly depending on Matthew.  If he has started to stir, I go ahead and bring him into our bedroom and feed him.  Sometimes, he falls right back asleep and I leave him snoozing with Daddy.  Paul LOVES to wake up with Mateo.

I have finally managed to break my Starbuck's Venti Mocha habit by making my own homemade version.  I pour my cup, get the breast pump together and am off and usually at work between 6:30-7:00 am.  My boss has generously allowed me to shift my work day so I can be done at 3pm.

In the meantime, Paul sends me pics of their mornings.  I LOVE these.

I set out their breakfast for them.  I hate that I can't be there to enjoy it with them, but I am determined they will BOTH get a good breakfast!

Playing with daddy in the living room

In the car on the way to Ms. Marcia's

Loves the exersaucer!

And he LOVES the big kid room!

At 3pm I leave to go and pick up Matthew from Ms. Marcia's.  We usually head home.  Once a week, I might go run an errand with him, but the few times I have done this, he has a total meltdown.  He usually naps at 4pm for about 30 minutes.

After his 4pm nap, he gets up and its time for dinner.  We are still trying to figure out his feeding schedule.  We are in the process of adjusting as I got a little ambitious with the solid food and he clearly LOVES to eat so he has been consuming more solids than milk, which is not good.  So, I am cutting back on the solids.  For now we have a bottle around 5pm.  Then it's BATH TIME!  Paul usually makes it home by 6pm to give him his bath.  And he LOVES it.  So much, that when it's over he pretty much goes into a temper tantrum fighting sleep.  As a result we are toning bath time down a bit to try and ward off this fit of rage resulting from being tired and over stimulated.

In the meantime I have my list of chores that have to happen each night.  Clean bottles from daycare, make lunch box for the next day, clean breast pump parts and bottles, set up coffee maker, make dinner, do laundry, and on and on and on.  If I am lucky, we eat dinner around 8:30.  Then it's time for a shower and hit the sack.  I usually manage to get in bed by 10, but no later than 11pm.

The alarm goes off way too early. And we start all over again.

In the middle of all these chores and obligations are the moments I get with Matthew.  He lights up my world and I cherish each and every moment.  He is pure joy!