RenFest

Sunday was the last day of RenFest.  While we have a family tradition to go to the festival every year, we have never gone on the LAST day of the festival...until this year.  It was neat, because we got to see Father Christmas, aka Santa!

Cash got to experience a lot of fair food, and just like his daddy, he LOVES meat on a stick.  Also, just like his mommy, he loves pretzels.

The first thing that happened as we walked in, he was "kidnapped" by some peasants:

Then we stood in line to meet Santa.  He did okay for a while, then he started looking at him longer and longer.  The longer he looked at him, the more disturbed he got.  Eventually, the bottom lip came out and then he started crying.  

Cash rode on an elephant...  

...Went duck plucking (& won!!)

and of course I had to get him a little fox tail :)

& I went "bungee jumping!"  THIS, is not NEARLY as easy as it looks.  I was able to get 2 flips done.  barely.  And upon accomplishing them, I felt like a baby who'd just rolled over for the first time.  My body aches today.  I can't say that I will ever do this again.  

Cash loves being outside, so he had a blast.  And he loved eating all the foods that we were eating.  He's still eating baby foods for the most part, but we experiment with giving him tables foods occasionally.  For example, Thanksgiving - he ate the crap outta some turkey, sweet potatoes, croissants, and cranberry salsa!  

Ribbit...

For Halloween this year, Cash HAD to be a frog.  He told me so.  :)

Actually, I decided that a frog would be the PERFECT costume for the time that Halloween hit his age/milestone for crawling.  Except he isn't quite crawling yet.  :/ He's getting in the position, but not quite moving yet.  So, the frog is still perfect.

A couple weeks ago, Leslie, Oscar and I took Kaila and Cash to a local church that had a pumpkin patch.  We took some plain clothes pictures amongst the pumpkins as well as photos in their Halloween costumes.

Here are some that I came up with:

love my lil' man!! 

the princess and the frog!  (Leslie made K's Belle costume!)

pretty sure he's the cutest little frog in town :)

PawPaw

Last night we lost an incredible person.  PawPaw.  I know he's in a much happier place now, where he is finally able to walk without the help of a walker or a cane.  And hear without hearing aides.  And see without glasses.  He can sit without pain or without his pump to supply him with medication for easing the pain.  He doesn't have to take a whole pharmacy of pills anymore.  Or shoot insulin into his tummy any more.  He doesn't have to depend on the help of anyone.  He's dancing with other angels like himself.  He's smiling down on all of us.

I'm so grateful of two very special things.  1) I was able to take Cash over to his and my grandma's house on Sunday to spend several hours with them.  He got to hold and play with Cash.  I even snapped this VERY sweet photo of the 2 of them, that I will treasure forever.

and 2) I was able to make it to the hospital in time to hold his hand as the life left him.  And say good-bye.  And kiss his forehead.

PawPaw said he wanted to be able to live long enough to see Cash walk.  Well, he didn't quite make it.  But, he will be able to see him take his first steps through perfect eyes.  And he will be able to hear Cash's first words through perfect ears, thanks to the promise that Jesus made to us.

I love you PawPaw and I will miss you.  I'm so glad that you are no longer suffering and in pain.  Save me a place by your side.

6 months

We don't go for our 6 month shots until week after next.  But, due to our weird sicky-ness issue (see Cash's Weird Sicky-ness post) we have been to the doctor 3 times in the last 7 days.  fun.  The ONLY positive I can see in this is that we have an accurate height/weight/head circumference for his 6 month stats RIGHT at 6 months.  And since I'm OCD, this is good.

Height: 25" (< 5%)

Weight:  15 lbs, 14 oz. (10-25%)

Head Circumference:  17" (25%)

Basically, he's still a tiny thing.  However, he's quite advanced according to the doctor.  He's been sitting on his own since 5 1/2 months.  He rolls from front to back and back to front.  He's started sleeping on his side and tummy (on his own).  He talks A LOT.  And what the doctor was most impressed with was how well he communicates.  He says he's much more advanced than most others his age are at verbal communication and facial mimicking/expressions.  

They (as well as many other people) kept complimenting his head.  How nice and round it was.  HAHA.  We just think it's cute.  The (male) nurse at the clinic was like "can I please touch his head?  It's just so...perfect!!"  

Cash is still in size 2 diapers, although as soon as my last package of 2's are gone, I will start using 3's, since he's on that borderline.  And he's just started wearing 3-6 month clothes, or 6 months, depending on the brand. 

a 6 month collage I created with my new favorite software program.  :)  (photos are from our trip to Amarillo)

and just for giggles - how he's grown.  I love this little guy SO much.  :))

Cash's Weird Sicky-ness

So, on Wednesday of this week I get a phone call from the daycare that Cash has a fever of 101.9 (WOW) and needs to be picked up.  (AGAIN?! - he had a fever of 100.3 {or something like that} last Thursday and had to be picked up - trip to the pediatrician on Friday of last weekend determined it was a mysterious "fever virus")  So I tell the worker that I think it's just allergies as Trey and I are both going through allergy attacks right now and Cash has been displaying the same symptoms.  She says if that's that case that I just need to get a note from the pediatrician stating so and that he's not contagious and he's welcome to come back.  *sigh*

Trey goes to pick him up.  As he's putting him in the car seat Cash starts SCREAMING.  This is totally abnormal.  *huh*  He gets him home and he's fine.  Just playing as usual.  Once I got home from work, after he woke from his nap, I was loving on him.  I happened to look at the back of his right hand and noticed a welp, which looked like a bee/wasp sting.  I asked Trey about it.  He said he noticed it after he got him home from daycare, but that he screamed when he put him in his carseat.  We tossed around the idea of whether there was an insect lying in wait in the carseat and it stung him once Trey put him in it?  Or if he got stung earlier and no one said anything to us (perhaps not knowing it?, but HOW??? note: this option is unlikely because they told us about a scratch on Cash's face that came from a little girl in his class.  And they were so nervous telling us about it.  This could easily have been blamed on Cash scratching himself.) and maybe Trey agitated it as he put him in the carseat??  We are still kinda questioning this.

first bee sting...right there on the knuckle :(

His fever gets as high as 102.3 Wednesday night.  I give him a half dose of children's Allegra before bed (which is non-drowsy), and he sleeps All NIGHT.  without changing positions.  at all.  We checked on him several times to make sure he was still ok.  Obviously the poor thing could BREATHE finally!  When he wakes up Thursday morning his fever is completely gone.  98.7.  *huh*  Trey takes him to the pediatrician anyway, just to make sure the sting isn't anything weird or infected.  They run tests and FINALLY determine that he has the FLU.  WHAT?!  They give him a shot and call in a rx for Tamiflu and want to see him again on Friday morning.  *urgh*  He gets home and STILL is not acting sick.

I think he had a little bit of a fever once he got to the doctor's office on Thursday, but by the time I got home on Thursday evening, there was no more.  And wasn't running one at all on Friday.  But, they wanted to see him anyway to follow up.  They did another blood test.  Determined that his white count was back to normal.  He had no fever.  No boogers.  Was acting fine.  The doctor was thoroughly perplexed.  He said "well, I saw the 'flu positive' result with my own eyes, I just don't understand."  So he still wanted to treat him as if he has it.  IMO - perhaps the bee sting and the allergies just made the test wacky.  Because he DOES have boogers.  But the Allegra clears them up.  Which tells me it's allergies.  But who knows.  ???

Ranch Weekend

Last weekend Cash and I rode up to Fairfield with my parents to meet Danielle, Matt, Aubrey, and Maci for their work weekend (along with several of Matt's family and their friends).  After Friday they got rained out, so it turned out to be more social than work, but that's okay.  We all need that sometimes.  Especially when my favorite sister has moved far, far away.  :(

We literally did nothing but relax and play with our babies.  Cash got to play with Aubrey and Maci and he loved it.  Danielle and I got to talk and we loved it.  Mom got to sleep and she loved it.  Dad got to sit out in the wilderness and he loved it.  It was just a weekend of greatness!

Here are a few pictures:

Oh, I've been introduced to a new software and I LOVE it.  It's like a ray of light beaming down on me. I can't stop playing with it!!

Happy half-birthday Cash man!!

The day we drove home from Amarillo was Cash's half birthday.  My little man is SIX months old already.  I can't believe how the time has flown.

sporting his 6 month tie; I remembered this month!!

his favorite new "trick": spitting :)

This month we had a little 6 month-day birthday gathering for him when we got home so that he could see Grammy, PaPaw and Oma after his long car trip.  Mostly because they all missed him.  Oma got him a gift of some new jammies.  They were all nice and wrapped up and HE opened them all by himself!  This makes me excited because that could mean that he will totally get into Christmas!!!

He's also finally started to REALLY grab hold of his feet when he's rolling around.  I haven't been able to get a picture of this.  Still don't have a picture of bathtime yet either.  :/  

Stay tuned for another exciting weekend!  :)))

Amarillo

We went to Amarillo this past weekend for one of my best friend's (Amanda) wedding.  It was a LONG drive, but Cash did so great.  When he wasn't sleeping, he was talking or playing with toys.

On Thursday, we went to The Big Texan restaurant.  Trey wanted to get a photo of Cash there.  We also got to witness a brave soul attempt to eat the big 72 oz steak dinner.  I don't know if he accomplished it, as we left before his hour was up.

We went to the mall to kill time on Friday before the rehearsal dinner.  We also ate Rosa's, my favorite taco place for lunch on Friday.  Then went to the Tri-State Fair on Saturday before the wedding (rodeo events were in the evening, so we missed out on those :( )

Amanda had a beautiful garden wedding.  At the rehearsal, we were able to capture some sweet photos of Cash throughout the garden setting, for his 6 month memories.  His newest "trick" at 6 months is sticking out his tongue and "spitting" in a pphhhhllltttt fashion.  It's so cute....until he does it with food in his mouth.  :/  He's so exploratory and I love it.  He has the longest attention span.

looking up at Daddy...

I just love his sweet laugh!

just before the wedding..

And then of course some of the wedding:

walking with her Daddy

kissing the bride...

Mr. & Mrs. Garrett Allen

Even though we didn't get to stay that late because of the wee one, it was beautiful.  And I'm sooo glad we could make it.  Amanda, if you ever read this, you were beautiful!

Scrapping

Alright folks, I have picked up a new hobby.  I've decided to get into the whole scrapbooking craze and  scrap the funnier/sweeter moments I get of Cash/family making memories.  If Cash doesn't appreciate them one day, then I figure maybe his future wife or children might.  And I'll have fun playing in the meantime.  :)

I've been so excited to start receiving my kits and additional add-on supplies from Studio Calico and TwoPeasInABucket as well as shopping at Hobby Lobby and Michaels.  This new hobby will cost me a small fortune, I'm sure of it.  It has already, and I'm only going to insist that I NEED more stuff!  At least it will start tapering off once I have a good amount of stuff - I hope.  And of course, my monthly subscription will keep a good flow of new "stuff" coming in to play with.  

So, I started out practicing by making a few cards.  I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out considering I've never done any of this fancy scrapping stuff.  I guess I shouldn't be TOO surprised because I'm a pretty "crafty" person, but still.  I'm unsure of what half of the stuff in my new kit is for, so I'm a bit overwhelmed.  HA

I made a birthday card, a baby gift card and a lingerie shower gift card.  

I'm scrapping on our pool table.  Classy, huh?

I'm hoping I get more daring and creative and can learn to work my mom's sewing machine so that I can accent with that!  (until I can get my own, of course - but by then, I'll be so used to hers I won't want to learn another new one I'm afraid :/ )  But for now, I'll just be proud of the cards I've made!  

Another Milestone

Well, Cash is no longer a "supported sitter."  He sat all by himself tonight for the first time!!  He fell over after a bit, but he was able to do it for a while and actually play with some toys.  I'm so proud of him!

sitting and playing peacefully, all on his own!

Boom.  

Also, I've got Cash entered into the Gerber generation photo search.  You can vote for him once a day and *IF* he wins his milestone category (supported sitter - at the time of entry) then he would win a $10,000 college bond.  So PLEASE vote!  And ask your friends to vote.  :)  Thanks!
https://nestle.promotions.com/gerberps3/mobiledetail.do?entry_id=216467

Mommy Must Haves

Ok, now that I've got some friends having baby's asking for some tips and I'm experiencing more new things as a first time mommy, I've decided to share some of my "mommy must haves" that I can't live without and feel you shouldn't either.

1) Mylicon (or now known as gas relief drops).  I put ONE drop in every single bottle.  This helps reduce gas bubbles before they happen, therefore causing less spit-up and need for burps/intestinal gas.  And by doing this, I don't have to let the bottle sit and wait for the bubbles from shaking it up to go down.  I can feed right away because anti-gas drop is there to "eat" the bubbles.  

I just use off-brand, but this is one brand that's available.

2)  Video Monitors.  These are fantastic because we don't have to go INTO his room to check on him.  We just click on the screen to take a peek and then we can shut it back off and wait for sound.

This is the exact ones we have, by Summer.  The camera can mount on the wall or set on a table top and it can be remote controlled by the handset that you carry.  It also has a zoom function and "night vision."

3)  Gripe Water.  This is great for colic and hiccups.  We needed it initially to relieve Cash's constipation, but it turned out that his case needed prescription strength.  However, we still use(d) the gripe water for hiccups.  Works like a charm at the first sign every time.  I don't use it every time, but especially the violent cases.  It's a sweet, ginger flavor and he loves it.

Mommy's Bliss is the best brand and it's best found at WalGreens.

4) Dunstan Baby Language.  Ok, y'all, if you don't read/watch/listen to anything else, watch this.  It's a quick 30 minute 2-disc DVD that teaches you how to interpret your baby's cries.  It shows you examples of each type of cry and what they each mean.  When I was told about it, I put it off for 6 weeks and it was the worst thing I could have done, because that was 6 weeks worth of crying I missed out of understanding.  But I thought it was hoakie when I was told about it.  Finally, I broke down and watched it and it was the BEST thing we ever did.  I watched it THREE times.  It's incredible how right it is.

available at Amazon.com, like $16.  WATCH it!

5)  aden + anais blankets.  These are great because they are so versatile.  They are sweet, soft and just cuddly.  & they have adorable patterns on them!  We have about 8 of them and they all get used.  LOVE.

6)  NoseFrida.  People kept telling me "don't leave the hospital without getting a nose sucker!!  Their's are the best and you can't get them anywhere else!"  Lies.  Their's suck.  (not literally)  Those people have OBVIOUSLY never had a NoseFrida.  This puppy can suck. some. snot.  Well, you have to suck it, but it gives you some great tools to do so!  The idea behind it is kinda gross, but the concept is brilliant!

You literally put the blue part in baby's nose and put the red thing in your mouth and suck.  But boy, does it work.  And since it's clear, you get to SEE the fruits of your labor!  Then you wash it out and start anew.  (there is a filter in there to keep from sucking snot down your mouth).

I hope this is helpful for more of you new mommy's out there.  And anyone else, feel free to add!

The Sand & Surf of Galveston

This past weekend we all packed up and headed out to the sandy shores of Galveston.  Trey's grandparents have a timeshare with SilverLeaf Resorts and, for some reason, choose to use it in Galveston.  Every year.  Of all the lovely places and beaches across the country, we go there.  Oh well, it's convenient.  At any rate, we took Monday off work so that we could enjoy an extended weekend with family, and even though we got some rain, it still ended up being a beautiful weekend to be there.

The waves were rolling in kinda harsh so we had to be extremely careful with Cash by the water's edge.  And we couldn't really wade out with him, because 1) the waves were so rough, but also 2) the tide/undertoe was pretty bad.  We didn't want to take any chances.  Cash really enjoyed sitting on the edge of the water digging his hands into the wet sand...slipping handfuls of sand into his mouth when he could sneak it in.  It was always obvious when he got a splash of saltwater on his lips as he was licking them with a smile.

During Cash's first dip into the ocean.

Trey and Kaila built a lava castle.

whhhoooooooooaaaaa!!  (with Aunt Amy)

Saturday, Amy kept talking about "ghost crab hunting".  I thought it was something that she was just going to take Kaila and Alexia (K's friend) to do as a fun "kid thing".  When I asked what it was she explained that I was deprived as a child and that she would stay in with Cash so that I could go.  I said that I didn't want to lead this mission not knowing what it was.  Everyone laughed at me.  :(  They "duh-ed" me and said that EVERYONE was going.  That you take flashlights out on the beach after dark and "hunt" for crabs.  Once spotted, they freeze under the lights.  Then dart off really quick, hence "ghost" crabs.  It was like they were never there.  Well, Oscar (Amy's hubby) and I decided that we were going to try and catch them.  This made the girls FREAK out and shriek in excitement.  It was hilarious.  We caught at least 4, some more than once as they kept escaping.

our little crab family

Sunday, Alexia and Kaila had a blast building sand castles and playing with hermit crabs!

a very special picture of Cash's greats doing something they love the most.  

Monday, before leaving to head home, we did a little shopping on the strand and grabbed a bite to eat.  In all, we had a great and relaxing time.  :)

5 months

Cash is now 5 months old!  I still haven't taken his photo with his little tie on.  However, I've taken plenty of photos right at 5 months.  For shame, for shame.

So, some 5 month milestones are:

• he found his feet here
• he found his tongue (no pics or video yet) and LOVES to stick it out
• he's rolling over quite often now
• he's trying VERY hard to sit up on his own and he can do it in the corner of the couch or if he's sitting between your legs. 
• peek a boo.  He can't get enough of it.  He tries to play it by himself if no one will play with him. He actually started this just after he turned 4 months.  {It all started with his satin-y monkey woobie, which his Aunt Danielle/cousin Aubrey gave him.  I'd go so far as to say it's his favorite toy.  He has a thing about soft textures and loves to just feel it because it's a soft fleecy feel on one side and satin on the other.  He puts it on his face and pulls it off.  Over and over.  Just to feel the softness of it.  Then he rubs his fingers on it gently as he's getting sleepy.}
• he loves to read books and turn the pages
• as far as foods, if it's a shade of orange, he likes it.  Anything else is pretty much a no-go.  Except pears.  He tolerates those.  And he's definitely allergic to apples.  His favorite is sweet potatoes.  He says "mmmm, mmm, mmmm, mm, mmmmmmm" (in all of his different voice inflections) the whole time he's eating if the meal is sweet potatoes.  It's adorable.
• he still HATES his crib and insists on his swing.  Y'all, the motor is broken and it won't swing anymore and he STILL wants to be in that swing.  I've emailed the company about getting it replaced because it's still under warranty.  (I neglected to tell them that it's used for 12 hours a day/7 days a week -- they're built for that, right?!)
• he still loves bath time and has been promoted to the big boy bath tub - no more kitchen sink baths because all he does is SPLASH!!!  The kitchen becomes a war zone during bath time! (and I STILL have NO pics of bath time :/  and this makes me sad)

this is as good as it's gonna get for "5 months" this month, I think.  Look at those chunky legs!!  

He's only intrigued by them when they are in the footie jammies.  The fact that his feet move the fabric independently is what makes him so mesmerized.  When we free his feet, he no longer cares about them.  It's like, "oh, those things - psssh."

Stay tuned: coming up - Cash's first beach trip!

Swimmin' with Oma

A couple weeks ago we went swimming and I got some good action photos and video of our swim.  I forgot to post them.  Cash LOVES the water.  And as soon as you put him on his belly, he starts splashing.

Humpty Dumpty Sat on the Wall

Cash-man Floats

I'm so sad our swimming season is about to come to an end.  But it makes me smile when I think that next year when we go to the pool Cash will be walking and talking (a bit) and playing on his own!  We do have a beach trip planned for this coming weekend so hopefully I'll get some fun pictures from that :)

4 month shots/stats

Cash went to the pediatrician today for his shots and well child checkup.  He's had better days.  Poor thing.  

We got his measurements:

height - 23 1/4" (less than 5th percentile)

weight - 14 lb., 5 oz. (between 20 & 25th percentile)

head circumference - 16 3/4"

in sum, he's tiny.  

He cried his head off during shots.  He only cried for about 3 minutes (if that) and I don't think I've ever heard him cry so much.  We are SO BLESSED to have such a wonderful baby.  He calmed down pretty quick with a little lovin' from mama and daddy and off we went.  I had given him a little Tylenol before we went to the doctor to ward off any fever.  Daycare said he slept a good portion of the day, but when he wasn't sleeping, he was fussy.  Which isn't typical of him.  So they definitely affected him today.  He didn't really want anything to do with dinner tonight.  So we just gave him a bottle, skipped bath and he went to bed.  A little early.  And he was totally content with that.  Those dang shots.  I'll have my sweet angel back tomorrow though.  

look at that face... :(((

gettin' a band-aid.

alllll better...