The Third Floor

On Saturday we moved into our new place! The new one bedroom is a big difference from the 2bed, 2bath town home we were in. However, I have not had one moment of sadness about moving into the smaller place. I am just so thankful to have a clean start where I am forced to get everything organized and clean! We have been blessed with so many things but still found a lot of things that we just dont need to get rid of at our family yard sale in a few weeks. I am hoping to get enough money for a bouncy seat for Tristan and maybe a night out for me and jake (they are re-releasing lord of the rings extended version in theaters and we really want to go see them!) The new place has a large living/dining area which is actually bigger than the living area in our old town home. We also have a covered deck, so we put our table and chairs outside and put Tristans changing table/dresser inside where the dining room normally would be. It may sound weird, but it actually looks pretty good and last night we ate dinner on the deck and Jake said it reminded him of the beach. Even though I really like our new place I am hoping that by the time Tristan starts running around we have a bigger place for him. We may be moving out of state but won't know for sure for awhile. If there is any news on that I will be sure to post it!

A long hospital day

Yesterday we had two appointments at unc hospital. The first appointment was with the pediatric plastic surgeon for Tristans ear. Tristan has a hemangioma on his ear that has to be removed because it is growing bigger and is growing into the ear tissue. The surgery is supposed to only take an hour and he can come home after they make sure he is okay. I am a little nervous about it just because it is my baby boy, but I am thankful that it is nothing serious. Our second appointment was several hours later in the childrens ultrasound department. At Tristans regular check up the doctor noticed a lump while inspecting his genital area and wanted it checked out. It turned out to just be a hydrocele which is very common in baby boys and the dr says it will resolve itself and cause no problems. Our day was a little nerve racking being with our little one at the hospital but he was a champ and our family is so very thankful that nothing serious is wrong! I am hoping that at his 6month check up Tristan has a totally clean bill of health and we won't have to make any more trips to the hospital!

first bites

Tristan had his first try at rice cereal today. He just turned four months on Sunday and today at his regular check up the doctor said to go ahead and feed him one bowl of rice cereal a day. For a first try I think the feeding today went well, although we had kind of a rocky start. A four month old eating out of a spoon is quite a learning experience for both the baby and parents! The first bowl of rice cereal we prepared ended up being flipped out of my hand by an excited Tristan and landed all over him and his seat(it was actually quite hilarious). After our little mishap Jake took Tristan and cleaned him off while I made a second bowl of cereal. I had to make the second bowl with formula because I didn't have any milk pumped or thawed so I was a little disappointed about that. The formula mixed with the rice cereal may also have contributed to the many sour faces that Tristan gave me during the first few spoon fulls. It took awhile for Tristan to get comfortable with the spoon in his mouth but near the end of his feeding he was doing a good job eating out of the side of the baby spoon and actually opened his mouth a few times for more bites. When we were almost to the end of the bowl the inevitable spit up occurred and Tristan got very mad because he had wet stuff on his skin since he was only wearing a diaper and bib after the first bowl spilled on him. He started fussing and wanted nothing to do with the leftover rice cereal (which was pretty cold by this point) so I went and gave him a nice warm bath which made him super happy! After his bath he didn't want anything other than to nurse and go to bed and after his experience tonight he seemed awfully happy to have his regular food source back.

Best Classic Movies on Instant Netflix

Since we know so many people out there, both friends and family, that have netflix and enjoy old movies I thought I would make a quick list of my favorite classic films that are available on instant play!

1. Charade- Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn and don't forget an oscar nominated score by Henry Mancini....need I say more? This zany 60's thriller will have you laughing and sitting on the edge of your seat!

2. Arsenic and Old Lace- I can't think of enough good things to say about this movie. The Netflix summary states,"Two dotty spinsters (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) have a peculiar avocation: helping lonely old gents by poisoning them and burying them in the cellar"...and that pretty much says it all. A hilarious movie!

3. It Happened One Night.- This used to be on instant netflix but now it is not! Maybe it will come back, because it is one of the best romantic comedies I have ever seen.

4. Harvey- James Stewart plays a man with an invisible friend who happens to be a giant bunny rabbit. A heartwarming must watch classic!

5. War and Peace- I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw this! Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda and Mel Ferrer. This movie is FANTASTIC!

6. Happy Go Lovely- This is one of those movies you will love if you are a fan old movies, but if not then it may not be the movie to jump in on. I usually fast forward through some of the singing and dancing because i really love the story but not so much the musical parts. Still it is worth watching!

7. Young and Innocent- Early Alfred Hitchcock thriller about a young man wrongly accused of murder and his quest to clear his name.

8. Meet Me in St. Louis- Yes, this is a musical, but please don't go running off from this movie! It is worth watching even if you traditionally don't like musicals. It is a love story starring Judy Garland and is one of my favorites!

My List of 5 Mom Must Haves (birth-4months)

Here is a list of my five favorite products to have around since having our first child. Remember to keep in mind that I have a little boy and I am breastfeeding so both of those have played a role in my list of must have products. Also, I have excluded the must have essentials such as diapers, wipes, rash cream, Vaseline, changing pad, nursing pads. The reason I excluded these is because everyone usually has their favorite brands of these products and everyone also always has them. This is a list of things that you don't have to have, they are just awfully nice!

1. Manual breast pump

Why? Breastfeeding is really hard at first and having a breast pump allows you to get the extra milk out and also gives you the flexibility to bottle feed your baby when in public or if your baby goes to day care. I like the manual pump because you can take it anywhere and you don't have to worry about batteries or finding a place to plug it in.

2. Sheet savers

Why? Drool, leaky diapers, spit up. Changing a crib mattress is hard enough without having to do it several times a day. Tuck in a sheet saver and lay your baby on it, then all you have to do is stick it in the wash! So much easier than changing the whole sheet.

3. Boppy pillow

Why? Because you can do so many things with it! Perfect for breastfeeding and for propping baby up during play time.

4. Sleepers with Zippers

Why? because snaps are so hard to deal with in the middle of the night! My baby boy is so wiggly it is way easier to do diaper changes at 3am if his sleeper just zips up.

5. Infant rocker

Why? Many of these have toy bars that attach so baby can play with them when he starts to reach for toys. Also most of them have a "calming vibrations" feature. I don't use the vibration because my son doesn't like it, but I love this rocker because it is lightweight and can be carried from room to room and also fits in the back of the car for when we go to friends and family. This way baby has his own place to sit and play while we eat dinner or hang out!

attack of the slobber monster

Tristan has started slobbering SO much. Toys, blankies, shirts, arms, fingers, it is all covered. Nothing is safe either, anything that comes within reach automatically goes into his little mouth. I think we have entered the land of teething. :/

Easter wishes

As Christians we tend to put a lot of emphasis on Christmas and Easter. It is not a bad thing to remember and celebrate both of these holidays, but a lot of times we forget to even think about the gift that God gave us through his son Jesus during other times of the year. I am challenging myself and I challenge fellow Christians to actively focus on the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Christ every day. Remember to give thanks to God for giving us His son and for blessing us in so many ways through His sacrifice. Our lives and our world would be drastically different without Christ and it does us good to focus on the blessings we have been given. I hope everyone has safe travels this Easter holiday and that you are able to spend time with both your family and church family.