Travelin' Man

September 7, 2009...The day our little boy took his first steps!

It was just a typical Monday, I didn't know Case would be taking his first steps that day, and I have to admit I almost missed it!

Monday mornings are pretty lazy for us. We wake up, I feed him his breakfast in a bottle, and we watch his favorite morning cartoons.

Well, this Monday was a little more exciting! He's been cruising on the furniture for a while, but all of a sudden while pulled up on the ottoman, (I just happened to glance up) he just took off walking into the middle of the room! It was very wobbly and it only lasted about two steps but I can't explain the amount of excitement and pride I felt for our little man!

I called his Daddy right away, and had to leave him a voicemail...However, I wasn't convinced it was his true steps for some reason, but my sister insisted I write down the date, and I'm so glad I did! For some reason I thought it was just a fluke moment, that he didn't really know how to walk yet...but he has been practicing and practicing! He's getting better and better! In fact, just last night he walked about four or five feet across the room without falling! He's so funny too, he walks with his hands straight up over his head, in little fists with a big smile on his face! I love it!
I'm also pretty excited that I can officially say Mr. Case started walking before his 1st birthday! Wow! Speaking of...the big birthday party is only 5 days away, and the actual 1st birthday is only 8! I know every mother or parent says this, but man is it true. Time really does fly once you have a child. It has been such a beautiful and wonderful year, I'm sure I will get all sappy and emotional on the official birthday blog, so I'll leave it for that...
Just so proud of our little walker!

Seriously?

Is it seriously time to plan a 1st birthday party?

Surely not! However, this Mama did give birth to the best baby boy in the entire world about 11 months ago, so I guess that means it's almost time for a 1st year celebration!

We're going to have a cook out at the house, with lots and lots of balloons and of course a big cake, I mentioned to Matt the other night that I might make cupcakes for everyone and Case would have his very own cupcake for his "cake"...well Matt immediately disagreed and without twisting my arm hardly at all, we both decided that we'd go ahead and go all out and get Case a big ol' birthday cake, I mean he only turns 1 once right?

I recently read an article on First Birthday Parties, warning parents not to get too fancy, because they won't even remember it, right? Well, we're certainly not spending a fortune, but I am a true believer that pictures are absolutely priceless. I want the pictures with balloons everywhere in the background. I want the pictures with cake all over our boy from his hair down to his belly, I want paper flying, smiles, family, friends, and laughing...ok I'm getting pretty excited now!

Bob.

This is Bob.

Bob has become part of the family. Previous to our beach trip, I was rummaging through my hope chest through all of his stuffed animals, trying to find one he might become attached to. I was hoping he could have something that reminded him of home on his first big trip...well little did we know not only did Case like it, it became Case's new best friend!

The second I handed this stranger of a stuffed animal to him, he squealed with delight and hugged it! It was as if he already knew him and was wondering where he had been his whole little life! I almost melted right there. I decided to name him Roufus, I thought it was cute and catchy and I could hear us saying "Don't forget Roufus, Case where's Roufus?" for years to come. Well, my darling husband didn't think it was adorable as I did, and it just didn't catch on. We then called him Doggy for a couple of weeks, until Matt came up with the cutest idea! Case babbles all of the time and it mostly it comes out "Ba Ba Ba Bob Bob Bob Bob" ...and so Matt said one day "We should name him Bob because he can already say his name!"

And so, that is how Bob got his name. :) Case knows it too, he truly does. We can say "Where's Bob?" and he will literally stop, look around, crawl as fast as he can to Bob after he has found him and collapse on him and give him big bear (or dog?) hug!

We've been thinking about getting a 'Back up Bob' in case the unthinkable happened, so Mom and I did some research online and she found out they are discontinuing our Bob! He's actually named Jumperjack Puppy from the Jellycat stuffed animal collection, but thankfully Mom found Bob on Amazon...there were only 5 left! She told me today that she's buying our little man 2 just in case! (Thank goodness!!!)

Here are some captured moments with Case and his best bud...

Per-son-a-lit-y :

-noun
1. the visible aspect of one's character as it impresses others: He has a pleasing personality.

Matt & I are loving this age. Case has the biggest personality, he's laughing, giggling, flirting, and even testing his limits. :)

What could a 10 month old possibly be testing his limits with you might ask?

1. Climbing the stairs all by himself, scares his parents half to death!
2. Closing big doors all by himself, almost slamming his little fingers every time!
3. Climbing under and over everything he possibly can
4. Opening cabinets, pulling open drawers
5. Playing in the dog's water and food bowls
6. Putting EVERYTHING in his little mouth...

Oh the list goes on and on and on!

Luckily, we have baby gates which help tremendously to keep our little guy out of things he shouldn't be getting into. Right now we have his big stroller folded and laying sideways to block him from the stairs until we buy yet another baby gate to keep him safe...and to keep him from tumbling down the stairs backwards! (EEEEK!)

Even with all of this testing, (which is so totally normal) :) we are just in awe of how Case is becoming his own little person, he makes us laugh daily and we thank God every day for giving us such a wonderful little man.

"If you want to know how much I love you, count the waves"

Outer Banks

July 4- July 11, 2009

With much anticipation the date finally came! We were on our way to the beach! We left late Friday evening, July 3 hoping our little man would sleep through the night. It was so strange packing during the day knowing I still had hours and hours until we actually hit the road.

Neverless, the clock finally struck 11:30pm and we scooped up our sleeping baby and buckled him in his car seat. He was wide awake for a litte while before he finally nodded off.

Mommy and Case both slept in the car, waking up every time we hit a toll booth, and when Daddy got gas. However, much to our surprise he did great! Case is such a good sleeper, but he isn't such a great car ride sleeper...so we were pretty nervous.

We were almost to Raleigh, North Carolina where Matt's Step-sister and husband live, when the sun rose...it was so refreshing. We got to spend some time with Eric and Erica, stretch our legs and let Case crawl around and play before hitting the road again...we still had about four hours to go before we reached our beach house. Case's Nanny and Poppy also met us at the apartment, Matt took a quick cat nap...and we were off again!

Well, Case was a trooper on the last leg of our trip...and finally we were there! Matt's Mamaw and Papaw arrived minutes after we did, so everyone made it safely and we were ready to begin our vacation!

It was beauitful. Matt's family and I visited the same house 2 years ago, but this time it was a little different. Matt's other step-sister Kelli wasn't able to make it :( The other teeny tiny detail....we had a baby this time! :)


We were so excited to take Case to the beach, what's better than a baby seeing the ocean for the first time?


We spent our days relaxing, reading, swimming in the pool, fishing...well Matt and Papaw at least. :) We had a couple of beach days...one of which Case slept on my lap for 2 1/2 hours. I was in absolute heaven, Case never sits still these days unless he's sleeping so I held him and watched the waves, and the big beautiful ocean...which never ceases to amaze me.








Well, as most first experiences go with a child, Case seemed a little worried about this massive blue thing, that was very loud and throwing water in his direction...and was surrounded by this odd shifty ground... However, by the end of the week...he still seemed a little worried, but didn't seem scared and he even let us dip him in the ocean a few times! The first time we tried that...he let us know that that was not his idea of a good time.


Case even learned a few tricks that week! He began crawling on his hands and knees, instead of his previous army crawl. He also learned how to pull himself up! My favorite though...he learned how to say "Mama". Melts my heart.


We headed to Ocracoke one day, and to the Outlet Mall another. We played board games and cards. The girls even did some scrapbooking one night, which I really enjoyed because I had never tried! The boys played Risk that night, and well...let's just say the girls were glad they had something else they could do!



It was just so nice to spend so much time with the family.



Above: At the fish fry! Mamaw, Papaw, Matt, Liz and Case. Sally, Roger (aka Nanny & Poppy) Eric and Erica.






Here are a few of the memories we captured...






















We had so much fun, and will always keep these memories close to heart. We can't wait to take Case back to the ocean each summer and see how his reactions change with the years. You never know, next summer he might even smile a little while dipping his toes into that big scary blue thing. :)

We are officially Mobile, and getting so much bigger!

Well we are 9 months old now, and we are crawling like a big boy! He is army crawling like a champ, and he is a fast little thing! I am constantly looking away and looking back while he's playing and finding that he has made his way into a different room! (and probably trying to get into something he shouldn't be getting into :)

We had our 9 month check up this past Monday, and he is 18 pounds, 9 ounces. 28 3/4 in long, and is right on track! He had to get a second round of a shot...my goodness that is hard to watch. Especially when you accidentally take a look at that huge needle the nurse is about to stab your baby's leg with. :( In addition to the shot, our Doctor informed us that this is the age to screen for anemia, so he had to get his finger pricked for a blood sample. Yeah. Let me tell you...that was NOT fun. He was all distracted, talking to the nurse and smiling and laughing...when BAM! He turned as red as an apple and let out the most awful scream/wail I've ever heard. Broke my Heart.
He was such a trooper though, he even gave the nurse a sweet flirty smile as we were leaving, so I know he wasn't too mad. :) We came home and relaxed and he seemed to be all better from the traumatizing morning.
Well, we got a call that evening about the results, and it turns out our little man is "Moderately Anemic" and needs to take some extra iron daily until screening at his One Year Check up. So, we are dropping some Multi Vitamin Iron Drops in his food every morning and he doesn't even know. :)
It's been a slow and relaxing summer so far, almost too hot to even do anything during the afternoons. I took Case on a walk today around 5:00 and it was SO sticky and hot I had to cut it short! We're looking forward to some pool days, and I have Mommy and Me Swimming Lessons coming up in the end of July that I'm so excited to take Case to!
What are we REALLY looking forward to though?? THE BEACH!!! We are beach bound in 1 week and 1 Day! Outer Banks here we come! We're a little nervous about the long haul, but we're planning on leaving late and hoping and praying Case sleeps through the night. That might be a whole other blog to write about... the 11 hour trip with a 9 month old :)
Until then... :)
p.s. I'm watching Matt do Yoga with Tony from P90X and it's very entertaining :)

We are crawling! (Almost)

First of all...it's my hubby's birthday...Happy Birthday Matt! :)

Looks like it's going to be a busy & fun summer...

We are all better from our ear infection (Yay for antibiotics!) Case started feeling better right away, and actually started liking his bubble gum medicine!

Matt and I have busy weekends scheduled for the next few months, we've had Memorial Day weekend, and a trip to visit Matt's buddy Akers in Beattyville. (Nanny and Poppy watched Case, and they had a blast! I swear he grew while we were away for those two days!)

Coming up we have Ashland to celebrate Matt's birthday, followed by Matt's Summit Engineering Outing in West Virginia. A couple of lazy weekends and then we are headed to the Outer Banks! (YAY!)

Now...to the exciting part! Case has been practicing his crawling "skills" recently, but today, (his Daddy's birthday!!!) he moved in a straight line with his knees and hands and army crawled about a foot! I was sooo excited, and giddy, I even had butterflies! Matt was on his way home, and we met him at the car as he pulled in the drive way and told him the good news! Then, Case showed off his new moves for his Daddy when he came in! (I was a little nervous it was a one time fluke, so that made me happy) We've been practicing all night...and now we're talking about getting the baby gates...we know it won't be too long until we are chasing him all over the place.

:)