baby's first cereal and veggies

Well, we did a thing.

We got the go ahead at Bryson's 4 month well-baby visit to start introducing cereal at 5 months, and veggies right before his 6 month appointment. We've done both in the past two weeks. Like everything, this little guy was very serious and showed no emotion at first, but we've been pleasantly surprised at how well he's gotten at eating from a spoon.

There are definitely times he doesn't appreciate that eating this way is slower than drinking a bottle. And there are times he decides he is done sitting in his high chair and wants out NOW. But overall, it's been a really positive experience, and I'm excited to talk to his pediatrician about how well it's going.

Let me first present to you: rice cereal.


The build-up: sitting in the high chair for the first time!

The first taste: 

He was pretty sure he was supposed to be helping.

Success!

The aftermath:

He got a little better as the days went on...

And now for your viewing pleasure: Bryson's first peas (about two weeks later)

Every new thing is a reminder that he's growing up so fast. But also that he's thriving. Each stage and new thing we get to do continues to prove more fun than the last!

Until next time,

xoxo, wife (& mommy)

photo dump

I've been trying to catch up on recent events. Here are some pictures that have no specific event, but are still important (or cute) enough to post.

Whenever I go grocery shopping now, I wear Bryson in the carrier and he loves it! 

Gosh, I just want this to last forever and ever!

I can't look at this picture without smiling. That face!

Forever working on Tummy Time!

We're in the final days of swaddling, and I'm in mourning. First, I'm mourning the loss of my itty bitty baby, because he's growing up so fast. Second, I'm mourning the loss of my precious sleep, because I think we're all in for a rude awakening when we transition him out of being swaddled to sleep every night! He's been such a champion sleeper up to this point. He's been taking a 3 hour nap every afternoon, and sleeping 10-11 hours at night since he was about two and a half months old. I attribute almost all of that success to swadding and his pacifier. Who knows what we're in for now! It will be an adventure, that's for sure!

Another day, another grocery visit in the carrier. Always serious, and always studying everything and everyone around him!

Bryson's first birthday party! This is his best buddy, Malachi, who is about 8 weeks younger than him. Malachi has GREAT hair...no, they don't do that on purpose haha!

Look at this sweet church outfit! Bryson has been doing a fantastic job at church recently. 

Just keeping it real...it's not always fun and games! Bryson currently loves to stand, and would stand for 30 minutes if you helped him...but homeboy does not care to sit. We've been practicing sitting, and he's just not feeling it. This was during a sitting lesson haha!

Diaper Time! This guy has become a wiggly worm during diaper changes!

(Fingers or fist always in the mouth!)

I took him outside during our last snowstorm! Look at that amazement!

My mom did a craft with Bryson! She painted his feet and made his little footprints into this painting!

I think that gets us pretty well caught up. 

Until next time, 

xoxo, wife (& mommy)

the great water debacle of 2020

Without going into a bunch of boring detail (most of which I don't understand and barely remember), all you need to know is that our well went out. We were without water for 12 DAYS. It was not the most fun, and while we tried to be as positive as possible, it didn't really bring out the best in our personalities either. Especially toward the end!

I'm so thankful to have family that lives so close. We were able to go to my parents' house to shower, bathe Bryson, wash bottles, and even do a couple loads of laundry. We filled up jugs of water so that we could fill the toilet tank and flush. We (even the cat) drank bottled water, and used paper dishes as much as possible.

Bath time at Mimi and Grandpa's!

I was so happy to come home and see the top of our new well!

They had planned to drill out from the utility closet and under the deck, but they kept hitting the concrete steps that are still there underneath the deck. So they ended up having to drill through the wall in the basement instead. Not ideal, but I just wanted my water back, so I was willing to say yes to anything!

FINALLY WELL-DIG DAY!

They made it look a little better before they left.

I had about 18 hours to get as many dishes and loads of laundry done as possible before they came back the next day to treat the water with heavy doses of bleach and chlorine due to the copper and possible e coli in our pipes. That meant it was back to drinking bottled water and not bathing the baby or doing laundry for a few days. 

But thankfully it's all over and done with now. I can still smell some chlorine in the shower, but other than that, we're back to normal (even a little better than normal, because we went from a 2 inch well to a 4 inch well.) 

Here's hoping nothing else major happens before we move this spring!

Until next time, 

xoxo, wife (& mommy)