Little Man's Milestones :)

There have been a lot of crazy cool things going on at the Fohner Pad lately.

I mean, this might be my favorite stage yet...

Well, this stage was pretty awesome...

{sigh}

Oh, I LOVED those newborn days...those first 3 weeks when it didn't matter that the largest chunk of sleep I got was 4 hours in a row because we were just so thrilled to have that little one in our lives, his smell, the way he scrunched his legs up to his chest when we picked him up, how easily he would fall asleep nursing before just laying there curled up on me for hours, skin to skin naps, I could go on for hours...

Anyway...

14 months...you are fun!

In the past month, little dude has...

said his first word

"Azzie" of course, it makes sense since that's what he first thought his name was...

taken his first steps

& is now going across the room without falling or stopping in a matter of 2.5 weeks...

become super independent at meals

now he's taking the spoon from my hand, keeping the food on it until it enters his mouth, & handing it back to me to put more food on it.  He's also attempting to "cut" food up with his fork (not successfully yet), but he can stab a piece of food with his fork & bring it to his mouth to eat...it's crazy awesome but kinda of sad at the same time.  I mean, this is my baby boy...I'm not sure if I'm ready to start letting him handle eating all by himself.  And then he's all like, "mom, get outta my face with that utensil, I'll do it!"  I can just hear my mother repeating back my favorite phrase from when I was about 6 months older than Abram, "no, I do it!" over & over.  Yes, he is blossoming into my child.

started making animal sounds on command

what animal?  Take a wild guess...

Yes, I realize that "oh oh" does not sound like "woof woof"

After a night at Mimi & Pap's house while Mommy & Daddy were hanging out with their cousins in VA Beach (it took us 14 months to leave him for the night, but it went super well), we came back to Abram responding to "what does Deacon say?" (their Chesapeake Bay Retriever) with "oh oh".

Since Aslan almost never barks, it was challenging to try to even teach him this.  When we got home from that night away, I would occasionally replace "Deacon" with "Azzie".  Sometimes when we let Aslan out in the backyard to roam around inside the fence, she likes to let the occasional passerby know that this is her yard by letting out a random bark every once in a while.  A few days ago I noticed that when Abram heard this he would say "oh oh".  I'm assuming that when he learns how to pronounce his "w"'s & "f"'s this will turn into "woof woof".  In the meantime it's fun to hear him practice his new skill.  We're working on other animals now, but somebody's too busy looking at his board books & toddling around.

I think the coolest thing to watch is Abram's face when he's learning all this...he gets this look like he just knows he's doing something new & fascinating & he just can't contain his smile.  Like he's thinking, "hey, mom...check this out!  Can you believe I'm doing this?  This rocks!"

With all these fun things, some interesting skills have also developed...ones that make me realize that the Bateman genes are starting to come out.  Abram has become a bit more sure of what he would like at certain points in time.

For example, my dialog sounds like this while Abram's internal dialog is as follows...

Me: Abram, let's go run some errands, buddy!

Abram:  Um, no.  I'd rather play with my truck.

Me:  Come here, bub.

Abram:  I can't hear you & to prove it I'm going to look extra into playing with my truck despite the fact that I wasn't all that interested in it just a few seconds ago.

Me:  I'm gonna get him.

Abram:  Haha, have you seen how fast I crawl?

Me:  Hey, quit wiggling, crazy man.

Abram:  If I keep throwing my head back while attempting to dead fish, this may work.

Me:  Here's your bink...take your bink.  No?  Here's your sippy cup.

Abram:  Bahhh!  Yes, my 180 degree turn worked.  I think I can crawl out the top of this car seat thing.

Me:  Hold still!

Abram:  Hey, this handle would be a great way to act like I'm on the high bar about to do an Olympic dismount if I grip it with both hands.

Me: WHOA!  Hang tight, bub.  Just let me get the straps snapped...

Abram:  This isn't working...flail, flail.  Yes, yes, now she can't get my arms in, it's working.

Me:  Let me see that arm...I'm gonna eat them fingers, give 'em, give 'em.

Abram:  Here's they are, don't eat them, that tickles!  Hey!  Darn, that works every time.  Okay, start to buck again, then she can't tighten the straps.

Me:  Abram Brian, look at Mommy.

Abram:  One...last...buck...should...do...it...grrr...

Me:  Oh my goodness do you feel that wind blowing (while I blow on Abram's face).

Abram:  Ahh, I love it...do it again, do it again!  Seriously?  She tricked me again.

Me:  Annnddd done...ready to go?

This time frame leading up to those "terrible two's" is going to be fun...I can just see it now  ;)

aaand we have steps :)

He "officially" took his first steps three days shy of his 14 month b-day (my little take-my-time boy :) in front of BOTH Matthew & I!!!  This video was taken on the day he turned 14 months.  That was the first occasion he actually put on the show for me when I was ready to film it.  I would stand him up in the center of a room with my phone all ready for filming & of course he would decide that he would rather crawl...go figure  ;)

It's only taken 1.5 weeks to go from his first 2 steps to going halfway across the room.  Little man is on the move & it's adorable to watch him learn new things!

Stomach Bugs & Things I Never Thought I'd Be Able to Do

this...

is how we Fohner's have been feeling in the past 3 weeks.

Matthew was spared the stomach bug (praise God), but poor A.B. & I had it baaad.

I lost 5 pounds in a week due to having absolutely no appetite for a full seven days (all I managed to keep down was a few crackers or a random piece of bread everyday).  It got me down to what I weighed when Matthew & I got married 6.5 years ago, but it was not they way I envisioned dropping those last few lbs.  I didn't throw up as much as poor Abram but I still felt awful all week.  I have never felt so thankful for not having morning sickness while I was pregnant with Abram & I hope I never get it with any subsequent pregnancies.  Is that what morning sickness feels like...having no appetite?  Knowing you need to eat but having no desire & feeling like you're going to yak any second when you even think about food?  Oh please, Lord, no morning sickness!  Oh, I felt terrible.  I have only had colds since I was in middle school so I had forgotten what truly being sick felt like.

Speaking of getting sick, I DO NOT handle vomit well.  Aslan has a bad habit of chomping on grass every once in a while so occasionally she throws up...& I cannot handle it.  Even if she does it in the morning while Matthew's at school (I know this is not sanitary but) I just don't go near it so Matthew can clean it up when he gets home.  If I happen to see it or hear her dry heaving I run in the other direction {shudder} or I will get sick, too.

But a small miracle happened in the past few weeks.  I was actually able to clean it up.  I mean, I had to.  When your child vomits in their crib & they nap twice a day you have no choice.  Oh, & it was sad.  I laid him down on Saturday for his morning nap & he promptly rolled over on his hands & knees, threw up, & proceeded to fall into it.  It was so sad that I got over myself real quick, plucked him out of his mess, & got to cleaning him up & loving on him pronto.  Poor boy.  I know I keep saying that but really, poor boy.

It's been 3 days since either of us threw up & I sure hope that stomach bug is clear out of our house by now b/c that was no fun at all.  But we survived with snuggles & Netflix & Pedialyte.

Here's to a healthy house soon!

It's A New Year...

From this day in 2010...

{side note...this 3 week old newborn thankfully did not pull an all-nighter on New Year's Eve last year (or ever, Praise the Lord)}

to this day in 2011...

from our home to yours...

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!

May this new year be your best yet...

we Fohner's are super excited for what this year brings for our family...

& we hope your's will be as blessed ours looks like it will be  :)

Merry Christmas 2011...& what a year it's been!

Last year, Christmas came a little early...

16 days early, to be exact...

at 1:52 AM on that day, Matthew & I received our favorite gift to date...

and at a time so early I can't even remember...

on Christmas Day of last year...

I awoke to the soft cries of a hungry newborn...

and as we snuggled while he got his early breakfast...

I could not think of a better way to be woken up.

and this year on Christmas Day...

I again woke to cries that were a tad louder than last year...

and was greeted by a smiley one year old so happy to see me that he was bouncing in his crib like he does every morning...

and here I thought that Christmas couldn't get any better than last year's  :)

This year I'm thankful again for the Lord's promises...

I'm thankful for our health...

I'm thankful for our little embryos waiting for us at Shady Grove...

and Lord willing, that He allows one of those to join our family by next Christmas  :)

“'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 
   'when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, 
a King who will reign wisely 
   and do what is just and right in the land. 
In his days Judah will be saved 
   and Israel will live in safety. 
This is the name by which he will be called: 
   The Lord Our Righteous Savior.'"

-Jeremiah 23:5-6

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!!

Somebody's ONE!

Five days before A.B.'s big day we threw a shindig for little dude.  We squeezed in most of the following on 2 out of 3 floors of our house...

Abram's great grandparents...

our four parents & their spouses/fiance...

all five of our siblings & their spouses/girlfriend...

all ten of our nephews & nieces...

all twelve girls (& their families) from my Bible Study...

& a few other of our closest friends

{whew}

needless to say it was a packed house,

but a very fun one  :)

Abram looks like his father here, no?

these are what Abram has in his hands for most of the day, every single day.  I mean, I have to hide these suckers from him so he can actually use his hands.  He even crawls with them...cracks me up. 

one of Abram's gifts from his great grandparents, a beautiful antique wooden rider with a chrome plate from my grandfather's motorcycle store

opening his rider that Mimi (my mom) & Paps got for him...I'll post a hilarious video of Abram's favorite thing to do with his rider (hopefully in the next few days)

what we gave Abram.  For now he loves holding the blocks in his hands while he crawls, just like his rings...silly kid

this boy LOVES to read

 speaking of what Abram loves, Gianna (Matthew's Goddaughter) is definitely on that list.  I'm not going to lie, I would not be opposed to a future union of these two...my grandbabies would be absolutely gorgeous (Gianna is b-e-a-utiful & A.B., well, you know, handsomest dude ever [besides his father, of course])

 yup, I was crying here

 & here, on the rocking horse that my dad & Cindy made from materials from the house they're building

with his cake (a giant cupcake) I made for him to go to town on.  He was all gentleman-like & didn't get near as messy as I thought he would.  There's plenty of time for me to teach him to get all dirty in the future (among other boyish things).  Since I was constantly outside on some practice field or playing football with the boys at recess through middle school, between my tomboy self & Matthew, little boy will have plenty of opportunities :)

here are the pics I take each month that I post about here

Abram's photo book containing all his ultrasounds, my weekly pregnancy pics, our maternity shoot, newborn photo shoot, A.B.'s monthly pics, & pics Matthew has taken of little boy since he's been born 

after most everyone had pieced out, little dude had his cake & ate it, too (he actually liked the organic icing...it was sa-weet!)

It was a beyond fun day.

We feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful, memorable, & healthy first year with Abram.  We never want to take for granted any moment we have had with sweet boy.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of being Abram's earthly parents...we feel so honored that You chose to give him to us!

First Haircut

Question of the Day

You know it's time for your son's first haircut when...

a) half of it goes under his shirt while the other half spills over his collar

b) no stranger has said "what a beautiful girl" yet but you're beginning to tread water into his-hair-is-long-enough-to-make-him-look-like-a-girl territory (ironically some people see his blue eyes [despite the fact he's always dressed like a boy or in blue...I'm very purposeful in how I dress little dude] & say "he's too pretty to be a boy".  I'm sorry, but what does that even mean?  If someone can tell me a response back to this, I'll gladly take it.  I don't even know what you say to that?)  Anywho...

c) his hair is doing the awkward I-can't-decide-if-I-want-to-start-to-curl-on-the-ends-or-get-weird-kinks

d) see pic directly below

e) all of the above

If you guessed "e", congrats!

{sorry no prize for you except knowing you're awesome}

So the day before Abram's 1st Birthday Party (saved for a coming-to-you-soon post) I grabbed my rarely used & therefore super sharp sewing scissors, stripped him down to his diaper, & sat little boy on my lap in our big tub...

can we just press pause for a second to look at that line of drool from his lip to mid-upper arm...me boy is a serious drooler

I wet little dude's head down with a spray bottle of water just like my parents used to do when they cut mine & my brother's hair...

shed some tears...

okay, a lot of tears...

mine, not Abram's thankfully.

Meanwhile, Matthew was staring at me like I was on crazy pills.

This whole cutting hair process took like half an hour...

seriously

it was really hard to actually bring myself to cut his hair.

I mean, this was his first haircut...

FIRST HAIRCUT.

Can you tell I'm a first time mom?

My baby,

who had still been growing inside me not even 12 months before this day,

was about to have the hair that had been sprouting on his sweet not-so-little-Bateman-inherited-noggin since he was a wee one inside me belly CHOPPED OFF.

{I'm about to cry again just thinking about it...silly mom hormones}

I digress...

Abram was a champ & I didn't do too shabby of a job.  Matthew & I took turns holding him so I could get the sides & back (his front didn't need a trim).

We loaded up the clippings in a plastic baggie (not the cutest way to save his first sheared locks), but hey, it works.

And we saved some $ by having me do it here at home...

as well as my sanity since I'm pretty sure I would have cried like a baby at the salon & probably tried to yank the scissors out of a poor beautician's hand at the last second anyway.

That's all for now...FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY POST COMING NEXT  :)

de-cluttering

this...

is what de-cluttering your walk-in closet & dresser looks like after over 6 years of living in the same house (the women who shop at Frederick's Goodwill are totally going to score in the next week)...

especially when said walk-in closet is the size of a master bath...

because your husband has his own walk-in closet...

& he lets you use all the drawers in the dresser...

did I mention he's awesome?

well, he is...

especially because he took me on an all day surprise road trip back to our old stomping grounds & favorite places to go when we were dating while his mom watched the kiddo...

but that's for another blog post  :)

did I mention that Matt's mom is awesome?

10 hours with an 11 month old is super fun, but can be exhausting even if said 11 month old is charming & takes good naps

anywho...

I guess this makes me a kind-of hoarder?

{shudder}

I'm getting better.

Look out Fohner kitchen & basement...

I'm coming at you next!

muwahahaha  :)

A.B.: Year One

Birthday

12/09/10

9 lb. 8 oz.

21.5 in.

1 Month

01/09/11

11 lb. 4 oz.

23.5 in. 

2 Months

02/09/11

13 lb. 9 oz.

24.25 in. 

3 Months

03/09/11

25.5 in.

4 Months

04/09/11

15 lb. 5 oz.

26.25 in.

5 Months
05/09/11
 27 in.

6 Months
06/09/11
15 lb., 12 oz.
27.75 in.

7 Months

07/09/11

28 in.

8 Months

08/09/11

28.25 in.

9 Months

09/09/11

16 lb., 5 oz.

29 in.

10 Months

10/09/11

29.25 in.

11 Months

11/09/11

29.5 in.

Abram's 1st Halloween

Hope everyone had a very happy Halloween!

Cloth Diapering...9 months in

This post has been a long time coming...I've written this in my head dozens of time, but have yet to type it out (& of course, this has not been written all in one sitting, that would mean that it wouldn't have been edited close to 5 kazillion times & throwing something up that I haven't re-read over & over just isn't me).

Anywho...

So, how's cloth diapering (CDing) going, you ask?  I'm so glad all 2 of the people who read this blog did ask this question, sike.

I still love it & so does Matthew.

Updates/Changes
(refer to this post for how CDing looked for the first few months we did it)

• we've moved Abram's snaps over a bit on the side to make room for the few lb. he's gained in the past few months.  Our shrimpy shrimp has only gained just under 7 lb. in 10 months...what can I say?  When you start big, I guess it takes a while?  Though is it any wonder that he has a super high metabolism with his genes?  Babies normally double their birth weight around 4 months old & triple their weight by one year, but considering I didn't even double my weight by the time I was one & (are you kidding me) look at my boy's father...high metabolisms run in the family.

• we've also moved the vertical snaps down since while Abram may be a skinny boy, he certainly isn't short.  He's consistently been in at least the 85% since he's been born.  Since I haven't taken a picture of his diapers since we've moved the vertical snaps down, for those that are unsure of what that looks like, they are basically on the medium rise setting.

• we haven't used the Econobum's in about 3 months.  I still love them (Matt's not a huge fan, but that's why we have the bumGenius [BGs]), but right around 6.5 months when Abram cut his 2 teeth, he started having evidence of teething in his diapers (fellow parents know what I mean).  It made it, errr, a little more challenging to rinse them.  Due to the nature of how the Econobums are folded, it just made rinsing them more tedious & hello, people...I'm trying to make this as less mess for us as possible.  I'll planning on going back to using them once Abram is a year old & on solids exclusively since I really do like them, they just don't work super well for us now.

• due to #2's being occasionally more messy now, we always take a select-a-size paper towel & place it in the diaper.  When there is a #2, we just toss it & the mess in the toilet & spray down the cloth wipe before putting it in the pail (almost zero mess & very few stains that have to be sunned out after they are washed  :)  They do make disposable liners for CDs that you can buy, but they are not as inexpensive as paper towels, so that's the route we went.

• speaking of teething evidence in the diapers, starting solids at six months, WHEW!  Exclusively breastfed (EBF) diapers have little if any odor to them (& boy, were they simple for 6 months).  We did have a rare #2 leak when little guy was EBF, but for the most part CDing was a cinch then.  Not that it's complicated now, not at all, just different.  EBF diapers don't need to be rinsed since BF waste is water soluble, so we didn't really even need our diaper sprayer until Abram started solids, but the sprayer was great to have to rinse in case we wanted to.

• bonus to starting solids, Abram has not had one, notta one, #2 leak...it has been awesome!

• I still only do CD laundry twice per week & it's been working great.  Our laundry doubled when little guy arrived & thankfully, it's a chore I actually like to do so it works great.

• I no longer use essential oils on a cloth wipe placed in the diaper pail.  Even though the oil smelled great, we didn't need it & still don't.  That's what is so nice about CDing, any waste is flushed down the toilet, so it's not stinking up our house like a normal diaper pail.

• speaking of the diaper pail, it is now in Abram's bathroom.  Since we rinse his #2 diapers, it just made more sense to keep the pail in there.

• another plus of CDing is once a kiddo is on solids, the cloth covers up the smell of #2's.  When I'm with our friend's kiddo's, I can smell a dirty diaper from across the room.  I literally have to lift Abram close to my face to attempt to smell through his clothes to see if he might have gone #2.  It contains everything super well.

• once Abram turned 9 months old & his appetite picked up, he could no longer make it the 12-13 hours he was asleep at night without the diapers leaking a bit (just urine, thankfully).  We ordered 4 of these.  We fold 1 into quarters & stuff it underneath the sewn in liner for his nighttime diaper & we're good to go until morning.  They are awesome & they makes our skinny boy's middle look adorably cute since it's so bulked up.

• we also don't air dry the diapers much anymore.  It's a lot easier to just hang the stained ones (few & far between since #2's don't happen everyday) in the sun & throw the rest in the dryer.  We just always make sure that they dryer is set to "Delicate" to help prolong the life of the diapers.

I think that's about it.  I'm so thankful that we decided to invest in the more expensive, but highest reviewed brand.  I feel like we might have given up if we had gone another route, but the BGs are just so easy to use.  We're almost at breaking even (meaning what we paid for everything up front has equaled the cost of what we would have spent on 'sposies so far if we weren't CDing).  Since we were given a few packs of 'sposies by people before Abram was born, we have only had to buy 2 forty packs of 'sposies thus far (we spent $15 total & we still have around 20 'sposies lying around for when we have the occasional overnight trip).

It's been neat to watch Matthew really catch on, too.  I've caught him bragging to other parents about how easy they are & how much he loves how the chemicals that are in 'sposies aren't sitting next to little man's privates all the time (the biggest reason I was drawn to CDing to begin with).

Here's to another 9+ months of happy CDing!

bahaha

oh.my.word

Has anyone seen these?  Matt & I cannot stop laughing right now.

Guy On A Buffalo - Episode 1 (Bears, Indians & Such)

Guy On A Buffalo - Episode 2 (Orphans, Cougars & Such)

Guy On A Buffalo - Finale Part 1 (Origins, Villiains & The Like)

Our Day at the Zoo (according to my iPhone)