On the verge

I feel like Colin is on the verge of so many things right now... on the verge of crawling, on the verge of saying "real" words, on the verge of having teeth.

As you can see, he can get into the belly-off-the-floor crawling position, but he just hasn't figured out step 2. It's really cute. Sometimes he'll rock forward and backward in that position, and every now and then he'll scoot backwards. Still no forward movement, though. His preferred way of getting from place to place at the moment is to roll over and over again until he gets there.

I just know he'll be completely mobile very soon. Oh, goodness.

We're gonna be in trouble with this little guy.

RAWRRRR!

Who, me? Get in trouble? Never, Momma!

It's nice, though, that for now he's still pretty content to snuggle with me. Last night, after he had been bathed, diapered, lotioned and dressed in his PJs, my sweet baby laid his head on my chest and let me cuddle him until it was time to go to bed. Those moments are the ones that make every single poopy diaper and spit-up stain worth it. Even though Colin will grow up and become a man one day, I hope he never loses his tender heart. He is such a sweet little guy, and I love that about him. I hope he never stops hugging and kissing his Momma. :)

More to come!

Cool Mommy Tip (and a recipe)

Actually, you don't even have to be a mom to appreciate this tip... and it may not come as a revelation to some of you. It is very possible that I am the last to find out about this little gem.

We use our electric  can opener quite a bit. My go-to dessert recipe is Paula Deen's "Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding." It's delicious and doesn't require any cooking. Score! However, if you use your can opener to open cans of condensed milk all the time, well... things can get pretty gunky. Once that stuff dries on one of the metal parts, it's all over.

As crazy as my life has been lately, I had put my icky can opener problem on the back burner (pun intended). But then, I read a "Dear Somebody-er-other" article in Good Housekeeping that suggested using vinegar to get gunk off of metal things. This morning, I soaked the whole "arm" of the can opener, metal parts and all, in a bowl of vinegar, forgot about it for an hour, and wiped it off. Wouldn't you know it... good as new! As a bonus, I used some of the leftover vinegar to wipe down my stove top. It is now very pretty and shiny. Winning!

Just thought I'd share in case someone else is dealing with a particularly gunky kitchen item! Enjoy your weekend :)

{Kid}ding Around Friday {Linky party!} ~ 9/16

Welcome to {Kid}ding Around Friday!

{Kid}ding Around Friday is the place to share your kid-related posts about:

Crafts, Milestones, Homeschooling, Kid-Friendly Food, Pregnancy,
Decorating, Photography, A Funny Story,
Great Deals, Organization and more!

<a border="0" href="http://www.sbuxsweetie.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><http://i52.tinypic.com/mv0rgn.jpg" /></a>

{To Join the Party}

1. Follow your hosts, Katie & Amanda (first 2 links)

2. Link to a specific kid-related post - not your main page.

3. We'd love for you to grab our adorable little button.

4. Enjoy reading through some of the other posts
and make new friends!

Each week we will feature our favorite posts

from the previous week.

By submitting a link, you are granting Amanda and I permission to use the photos from your post.

~~~~~

A FEW GREAT LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

How to Make a Thunderstorm

from Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

Super cool idea! Colin will love this when he's older.

DIY Initial Frame

from Memoirs of a Mama

What a cute and creative idea!

We loved this video of Bryn getting her roll on :)

from The Scherman Family Four

Why we won't be returning to play group

from Growing up Geeky

Mrs. G. has been featured on my blog before- she's amazing,

and so is her beautiful baby girl, Carina!

Featured? Grab a button from the left side of my blog!

Happy linking... and TGIF!!!

Fun Facts

Pretty much since I found out I was going to be a mommy, this blog has been all about my little man. It's not very often I blog about myself, and since I recently hit the 155 follower mark (thanks for that, you guys are awesome!), and a lot of you may not know much about the girl behind the blog, I thought I'd share some fun facts about me. Here goes!

1. I worked as a barista for years, and on most days I need my one cup of coffee a day. Every once in a while I'll have an afternoon cup, too. I can't bring myself to drink it black, though. If I had my own personal barista, I'd have a double soy hazelnut latte every morning.

2. I lived in Michigan most of my life, and I miss it. A lot of people think I'm crazy for missing Michigan winters, but sometimes I really do. I hate that South Carolina is so hot in the summer and I hate that we rarely get any snow.

3. I enjoy cooking, but only when I have plenty of time to do it. I hate that during the week we're so pressed for time, and as a result, I rarely cook a full meal. Usually we just throw together what we can. Last night, we made burgers on the grill. No sides... just the burgers.. we found other little things to snack on later.

4. On the food note, I hate seafood. Don't ask me why, I've just never liked it. Not shrimp, not fish, not crab or lobster... none of it. All gross. You're not going to be the one to change my mind, either. Sorry!

5. My all time favorite movie is Sleepless in Seattle. I think Meg Ryan is adorable, and Tom Hanks is completely amazing.

 

6. I speak a little French, but I'm out of practice and I'm sure I've forgotten a good bit.

7. I was engaged at 18 and married at 19, and I was 25 when Colin was born. Justin and I celebrated 6 years of marriage in August, and we're still going strong.

8. I have an English degree, but I currently work in the technology field. Go figure.

9. I have a major sweet tooth. I've never met a dessert I didn't like. I could probably eat Tiramisu every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

10. In my humble opinion, dogs are way, way cooler than cats.

What about you? Tell me about yourself!

Oh Snap! Wednesday - Little Foodie

It's so funny to watch Colin's "palate" develop,

to see what he likes and what he doesn't.

His first foods were rice cereal and pears,

and he has tried dozens of other flavors since then.

He's usually pretty neutral and will eat just about anything.

We recently discovered that he loves lemon. Who knew?

Mmm, this is yummy!

He  likes just about every fruit and veggie,

especially sweet potatoes and carrots. Yum!

I'm ready for more carrots, Momma!

Well, yesterday I finally found a food the kid doesn't love:

 Peach yogurt. I think it was Gerber; it's the one made for babies.

Anyway, as you can see, Colin wasn't a big fan.

What the heck, Mom?!?

Bahaha... oh, well. Sorry for torturing you with the yogurt, buddy.

We'll probably wait a little while before we try that again.

Little Stinker

Want to know something no one ever told me about parenthood that I've just recently discovered for myself? It's not mind-blowing... heck, I'm pretty sure I should have just intuited this one. I never promised to be the sharpest crayon in the box, though. So, here it is:

Babies go through rough sleep patches.

Even "good" babies who usually sleep well. Even my sweet angel. The past few nights, even if he's totally pooped when he goes to bed, he wakes up full of energy and ready to play multiple times throughout the night. He goes through his entire bag of tricks and practices rolling, scooting and doing baby push-ups. It's adorable, but Momma needs her sleep so she can wake up early and work a full time job!! Last night I went ahead and fed him a few ounces of formula when he woke up and started playing, just to help him settle down and get back to sleep. He hasn't required a night feeding in weeks, but suddenly now that's what it seems to take to get him back down.

Colin never stops moving. Here he is doing a yoga pose. ;)

 Before I get a bunch of comments about "cry it out" methods: As tired as I may be some mornings, I'm just not ready for that yet. He still seems so little to just leave him there and let him cry. We tried a variation of Ferber at bedtime, and, well.. that didn't go so well for either of us. I'm hoping this is just a rough patch, and that my sweet boy will be back to his awesome sleep patterns soon. I like to think he's just so thrilled that he can roll and scoot, that he wants to practice his awesome skills as often as he can - even if that means waking up at 3 am to do it. :)

What?? You want me to SLEEP in here? Yeah right, Mom!

One of Colin's first days at home... oh so peaceful.

One day, hopefully soon, we'll all be sleeping soundly again. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. For now, I'll just enjoy the fact that my little one still wants to snuggle with me, even if it's in the middle of the night. I miss him so much while I'm gone during the day that I'll take whatever snuggle time he'll give me!

More to come,

On birth control... or rather, off of it.

WARNING: I am about to talk about something highly personal. If this makes you uncomfortable, look away now!

Can I just say that it's ridiculous how much effort goes into not getting pregnant?

In the time I have "been with" my husband (he is my one and only), I have tried pretty much every type of contraception out there. The pill (multiple types and doses), the patch, condoms, etc. Most recently, I gave NuvaRing a try because my OB/GYN gave me a free one, and... I hated it. I know some women do great with it, but for some reason it just wouldn't stay in place for me, and things got pretty uncomfortable in the three weeks I was using it.

The only time I've ever felt totally "me" was when I was off hormonal birth control (basically when we were trying to conceive). During that time, I used my basal body temperature to chart my cycles, and I found myself to be pretty "regular" and therefore pretty predictable. Within two or three cycles, I could look at my temps and know exactly when I was ovulating, and also when I could expect "Aunt Flo" to arrive. It's pretty awesome the way our bodies work, isn't it?

So, anyway. A few days ago, as my days with NuvaRing were coming to a close, I told Justin I'd probably call my doctor and ask for a refill of the pill. We got to talking, and a few ideas came to mind. First of all, the whole reason I decided to try the ring was because I'd missed a few pills last month, simply because life with a full time job and a 7 month old baby is too crazy to always remember to take it at the same time. Secondly, I have sometimes felt "off" on the pill. I've had hormonal headaches and mood swings, among other things.

I think you see where this is going. We've decided that I'm going to stop taking hormonal birth control and go back to natural family planning (with condoms as a back-up). Let's be honest: there aren't very many days each month where pregnancy is possible, and if you can anticipate approximately when that is going to be, preventing pregnancy isn't rocket science.

So.. to recap, no, we're not trying for another baby. :) I love my little squishy man, but I'm not ready for another one like him just yet. Although we do want more. Just not right this second. We're just taking our fertility into our own hands. If you're curious or want to know more about natural family planning, check out Toni Weschler's book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility. This book taught me a lot about how my body works, and gave me the knowledge that helped us conceive our son. I think it's pretty cool that the same knowledge can be used to prevent another pregnancy until we're ready to try again. Know what I mean? Whew... if you've read this far, kudos. Here's a cute picture of Colin as a reward!