Hi!

I'm not sure why Blankey is always the lucky one to get a "Hi."  Sometimes people get it, but more often it's to inanimate objects.  

10 months

Loungin' . . . celebrating 10 months . . .

In reality he was flinging himself all over the chair so I don't even know how this pose happened.

Prior to Bo's little 10 month well visit, I started to suspect that this kid might actually have gained more than a handful of ounces.  

I don't know what gave me that impression.

I mean, there had been previous visits where I was absolutely positive he felt so much heavier in his carrier . . .  and really he hadn't gained a thing. 

And yet, I couldn't shake that feeling . . .

So yes, Bo had gained a couple pounds since his 8 month visit when our pediatrician pointed to his weight down in the second percentile.  He'd actually gained FIVE POUNDS, and is weighing almost 21 pounds these days!  He is square in the 50th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference.  

So average. :)

Apparently he wasn't the only one packing on some winter pounds . . . 

Besides beefing up, Bo has become increasingly mobile this past month, eating lots of finger foods, and working on his littler personality.  He's saying Mama, Dada or Da-ee, Baba, and lately - Hiiiiiee!  I will try to get that on video because it's hilarious.  Especially because he ALWAYS says 'hi' to blankey but the rest don't really need to be greeted.  He's clapping, waving, throwing, putting things away (like stashing his toys in our shoes), kicking, crawling, clacking, and cruising.  

a before (November?) and after (January).

 

44 weeks

a valentine story

This year, I expected a quiet Valentine's Day.  My expectations were pretty accurate.  What I did not expect was that four days later, I'd be standing on top of a mountain with boards strapped to my feet and my heart in my throat.

So. Back to Valentine's Day.  Or, the day before.  I was starting to suspect that ole' Matthew was up to something and I decided to worm it out of him.  After all, we had a little guy to think of.  A surprise for me meant separation from Mama & Dada for him. 

Mama? Da-ee? Where are you?

So, Matt reluctantly told me that he'd planned a weekend away for us.  Skiing.  In New Hampshire. With a couple of our friends from church.  And when I didn't approve of his plan to 'tow Bo around on one of those little sleds,' he told me that my MOM was coming out to watch Bo Buddy!  That is some pretty great planning!

And yes, my husband is pretty incredible.  The next morning he tucked gifts and cards from him and the boys around the house in spots he knew I'd check (Moose's water bowl, the freezer where I get baby food for Bo's breakfast, etc.).  In Bo's car seat was a phone case that I'd picked out and left open on his computer.  (umm, I'm not winning any points here.)  

Also I forgot to set my alarm and I didn't even get to make him lunch on Valentine's Day.  And then I gave him underwear.  Yes.  About as unglamorous as you can get.  Bo gave him an "I heart Dad" mug with his face on it . . . 

When I expressed my apologies for slacking off as a wife, he told me once again how he doesn't ever want me to buy him anything and he feels best when I don't spend any of our money . . . I'm not sure if he ever got over the time I gave him a kayak. 

Can you see the dollar signs above his head?

So for now, I'm very content to let him plan the surprises.  He does a pretty good job.  Friday afternoon we picked up my mom from the airport, handed her four pages of typed instructions, and kissed this little nugget goodbye!

I'll say it was pretty easy to do, knowing he was in good hands!  I missed him, but didn't worry once.  

 After a night in Lexington, MA, we got up early Saturday morning and hit the slopes of Gunstock Mountain in New Hampshire as soon as we could.  This might be an appropriate time to mention that I hadn't been skiing in 15 years.  So . . . I was pretty nervous!  Especially since Meghan and Adam had their own snowboards and Matt grew up skiing and snowboarding.  And then there was me.

Despite not knowing how to put the skis on, or get on the lift, or OFF the lift, I found myself halfway up a mountain with only one way down.

I guess it somehow stayed tucked away in my memory, because even though I didn't know what I was doing, I ended up skiing all day.  It was kind of an out of body experience, because I honestly can't remember anything from skiing in 8th grade (like how to get skis on and off), but somehow my legs remembered what to do.  

The unfortunate truth is that I was alternately thrilled and terrified every 10 seconds . . . In my old age I don't like feeling out of control.  I also don't like being shown up by three year olds, but that's just how it is.  

It was a gorgeous view, uncrowded, beautiful weather, and we all stayed safe.  

It was so amazing to get away and do something different and just spend time together!  Matt has been/will be working Saturdays and Sundays so we just aren't getting the time together that I'm used to.  

Meghan's parents live in Lexington, MA, as in the Lexington of Lexington and Concord.  Sunday afternoon we walked from her parents' house to downtown Lexington, passing John Hancock's house and the green where the 'shot heard round the world' was fired.  Right in the middle of town, and not very big.  Hard to imagine what it was like to wake up at 5am to the villainous Redcoats starting a war outside your window.  

above, the green

below, the old belfrey

It was a wonderful weekend, and so sweet to come home to my favorite little man.  He was so happy all weekend and my mom loved every minute of chasing this wild man around.  She described him as 'precocious' and 'so funny.' I agree that he's hilarious.  And wild.  

Thank you, Coco!  Come again soon!

McSmarty

Whoops, I can't believe I forgot to put this up last week, because I was one proud Mama Bird!  I guess 'surprised' is more accurate.  It's so fun to see everything Bo can do right now.  He's such a funny little person.

I suppose we will write "baba" as Bo's first word, even though it's not a word. :)  He also says Mama and Dada with some regularity but Baba comes the easiest.  We have video of him saying all the words (repeating after us, not labeling) but he's naked in it . . . so . . .

His voice is so cute and gravelly, unless he's talking to Moose or a stuffed animal, and then it's all high-pitched and so stinkin CUTE.  I absolutely love seeing him talk to his animals, but when he gets going with Moose . . . oh man, I could cry.  

week 43

outtakes:

the tufted wonder

We got a little ambitious this weekend.  You know we like a little DIY and it had been quite a while since we'd tried anything.  A few weeks ago I got the supplies for Matt to refinish his old weight bench. (Which is at least 50 years old . . . his grandpa's . . . the thing was just a BOARD . . . much better now!)  That little reupholstering project inspired Matt and he suggested doing something similar to our coffee table.  I had started to see 'coffee table to ottoman' projects on Pinterest, so I showed him the pictures but of course he did not want to read and see what anybody else did . . . he prefers forging his own way.  But that didn't stop me from reading a bunch of other people's experiences!  

The table:

It was pretty scratched up because we use that thing all the time.  I wanted something softer for Bo to protect his little noggin.  

So.  What we did.  

Matt took the top off the table:

And suggested we cover it with this fine fabric.

no.

He measured and drilled holes for what would eventually be the tufting. 

After Bo woke up from his morning nap, we took a family trip to JoAnnes to pick up the necessary supplies.  While there we grabbed foam, batting, button kits, heavy waxed thread, giant needles, and of course- the fabric.  We discussed some of the patterns but couldn't agree on one, and our house is so eclectic (since it's primarily 'found objects') . . . so we decided on a solid blue.  

I made grilled cheese and Matt cut and arranged the foam:

He put foam on the top and three of the four sides, since we wanted the drawer to be accessible.  Then he covered the foam with batting to smooth it out.  He then cut the fabric and upholstered the table.  

So, yes, it would appear that Matt has done the brunt of the work up until this point.  That is because it's true - he did it all, while I kept the baby happy and out of trouble.  When Bo went down for his second nap, I got started on the buttons.  I first covered the buttons with the same fabric . . .

Giant needles for sewing through inches of foam and batting.

Then I started the arduous process of sewing the buttons into place.  It's harder than it looks, and this guy was no help whatsoever:

I got most of the buttons in place but it took both of us to pull the string taunt and tie it to a washer underneath the table to keep the tufting in place.

And . . . voila!  

Except, not quite.  The once-perfect height of the coffee table now had an extra three inches added to it, so Matt had to cut the legs down a bit.  

And so!  Now, finally, finished! 

A close up of those sweet tufts and the reason we did all this in the first place - that precious noggin.  Stealin' somebody's phone and trying to make a run for it. 

And with a tray (a Vday gift from my mom, how timely) to hold our stuff:

How do you like that styling?  Dog toy on the floor, rumpled pillows, baby bottle on the side table . . . that's life!

So, we are pleased.  My feetkins are propped up in comfort and Bo's little head is a bit safer.  Matt said he was chasing Moose around the table when Moose tried to pull his usual move of diving under it, but our doggy got a little stuck and had to army crawl to the other side.  Ha!  What a hilarious animal.  

valentine's tchotckes :)

I've been switching up the spot on top of one of our bookcases for a few seasons now, starting with the random choice of HALLOWEEN!  I'm not a big Halloween celebrator or anything, but I came across some cute printables from a site that also put out some for Thanksgiving, and then of course I had to change things around for Christmas, and by the time I got around to switching those out, it was almost Valentine's day.  And I've finally got around to taking a picture.  And it's very random.

I actually did very little to switch it from the Christmas theme, which was red and green.  I changed a couple of the pictures around and added some new books so they weren't just red and green.  For Christmas I made a little Christmas tree from Bo's footprint . . . I meant to take a picture of it or at least describe the experience of painting my baby's feet green and trying to stamp them on cardstock . . . yikes.  Anyway, I replaced that with the photo of us dancing at our wedding and I didn't even change out the ribbon.  The WillowTree family was a Mother's Day gift from the family I work for and I love it because it looks eerily just like us.  :)  And a pic of Bo and his girl friend and a favorite picture of our boys . . .

The blue 'LOVE' print was a freebie from this site, and she has some cuter ones on there but I spilled water on the one that I really liked so this one went up instead.  Blue was a random choice that I kind of don't like, but it went with my blue dress in this picture taken 2 days after we were engaged.  I made the "We love because he first loved us" print because I couldn't find any on Pinterest and I wanted a Biblical reminder of true love.  It was supposed to be more a teal color but I must be low on ink. :) 

I also did the mantel a couple days ago because it was lonely after the Christmas lights were removed. 

I made the sign in the green frame (which we found on the side of the road once, ha!).  I added some little meaningful things - the picture that went on our Save the Date, the mold I used to make our wedding favors, a watercolor print of the lighthouse at the end of our road, and a picture from our wedding that I had in 5x7 but had never framed.  

We actually went out to eat alone last night!  My friend graciously offered to watch Bo so we brought him over to her house after I got home from work.  Unfortunately we did everything wrong and caused our child much distress.  Poor Bo.  He has to put up with me all the time.

When we extracted him from his car seat and plopped him on the couch, he got all overwhelmed by his new environment at bedtime and started to cry.  It's so sad to see him flip out when he's normally so cheery!  After calming him down we put him in the pack n play and he started to wail . . . oh my.  Of course I didn't want to leave my friend with two crying babies (her daughter was settling down for sleep, too, and acting rowdy) so we went in to check on him a couple times before realizing we had a little diaper failure and he was soaking wet!  Ooops!  Fortunately I had another outfit - never mind that it was a one-piece Polo number . . . After a diaper/outfit change he went down well (nevermind the wet spot on the pack&play) and we left.  We hadn't even made it out of their street when I realized I couldn't find my cell phone.  Matt called it and we couldn't hear it in the car so I had him turn around so I could find it at their house.  As I walked in their front door, my friend told me that Bo had just started screeching again.  At that point I was ready to just call it quits on this date night.  Bo is such a good sleeper at home that I thought he was completely traumatized by this night.  Once again I got Bo out of the pack&play . . . and voila!  There was my phone!  When Matt called it had started ringing and startled him awake . . . poor baby.  After all foreign objects were removed from his bed, he slept fine, we enjoyed a rare night out, and we all lived happily ever after.

And when I went into Bo's room this morning he had a collar on his pajammies.

Happy Valentine's Day!