5 months

it's hard to believe that i am someone's mother. it's even harder to believe that i was so scared to become a mother, and yet it's come very naturally to me. it's even harder still to believe that my son is 5 months old today. in some ways, time has flown, and, in other ways, i feel like it was yesterday that ryan and i lounged around a hospital room all day waiting for "the moment" to come.


wil is a complete joy. i look back at pictures of that first week and hardly recognize the little baby that he was then. he has become such a personality - a true character with an already defined comedic and mischievous streak. i won't pretend that those two things, especially in combination, don't frighten me a little bit! denise has said for years that her greatest joy with her kids started around the 5th or 6th month. i now understand why. if you are a parent you know...they suddenly come to life and it is a joyful thing to behold.

at his last doctor's appointment wil weighed 18.6 lbs and is 27 inches long. the doctor told me that he thought wil was going to be "really tall" and i wondered if it was his height or his huge hands and feet that gave it away. he continues to be in the 90% for growth and i am worried that he'll be eating us out of house and home before too long. (look for two skinny parents and a hearty, growing boy in the near future!) i am continuing to make all his food and have found it to be fun and educational. he loves fruits, sweet potatoes and chicken and finds all things green to be so-so. as true testament to his loyalty for both ryan and me, he chokes it all down with a smile, even when some things (peas) trigger his gag reflex.


in the last few weeks he's found his feet. faye often asked me if he'd "found his feet yet" and i never truly realized what she meant by it. i am picking up socks left and right these days and am amazed that he can actually get his toes in his mouth! teeth appear to be next and i suppose the sky is the limit beyond that. he can just almost sit up on his own. he makes it for a few seconds and then topples forward but never goes all the way down anymore. he wants to be good at everything on the first try and gets super frustrated when he can't move a bead from here to there, or pick up a ball, as quickly as he'd like. he loves music, especially singing, and is showing a keen interest in books (yea!) - especially putting them in his mouth - which i think means he's going to gobble up books as quickly as his mom.


he absolutely adores our animals, especially stone, who he finds hilarious. she is very patient with him when he pulls her ears so hard that she goes cross eyed; however, she seems hurt by his big belly laugh at the sight of her. (even cats have body image issues these days!) he chatters with her incessantly, more so than to either ryan or me, and we find it charming. maybe he is a cat whisperer of some kind...


all of this is simply to say that we adore our son. he is an amazing gift that gives us more joy, more love and more hope than we ever thought possible. we are grateful for his good health and for the fact that he seems so happy and content. i am thrilled to have him here, cannot believe i was ever scared and cannot imagine my life without him. i am overjoyed to celebrate him today - happy 5 months wil!

for more pictures from april, click here.

world book day

wil puts his nose in a book

today is world book day. i feel strongly about reading and love to share my love of books.

take time today to read a book, read to your child, read a cereal box....just READ! after all, reading is fundamental and can take you places you've never dreamed of going.

a serious reader

field of dreams

last monday was an exciting day for me. one of the reasons we fell in love with our house is because it has an amazing backyard. growing up we had a gorgeous backyard and i enjoyed many peaceful hours there - reading, visiting with friends, enjoying the silence. as a small child i can remember going to bed during the summer months and falling asleep to the muffled sounds of my parents and their friends talking and laughing. it was the perfect way to be lulled to sleep.

mom and dad bought a house with a backyard that was nothing but dirt. over the years they have transformed it into an oasis. dad makes sure there isn't a leaf out of place and mom has an amazing eye for placing plants and flowers. their hard work and passion are immediately apparent. i love it so much that we had our wedding reception there and it was perfect.

needless to say the backyard is an important place for me. i am so grateful to have the opportunity to duplicate the yard of my childhood - a place where people want to gather, to eat, to laugh, to play, to enjoy summer. last week we started on the road to creating our own oasis. our yard was cleaned, the grass reseeded and a (tiny on purpose) plot was designated for my garden. only one week later, if you peek under the hay, you can see the grass has started to grow. i am ecstatic! it's the perfect start!
i am under no impression that this will be easy but i am willing to do the work to make it into a place where wil can experience the same joy i did in the backyard of my youth. thanks mom & dad for the inspiration!

road trip

this past weekend ryan, wil & i took a trip to hillsborough, nc to help my second cousin ed celebrate his 60th birthday and to see my great-aunt faye, who flew up from lamesa.

faye is one of the neatest people i know and i couldn't wait to introduce her to wil. i was fortunate enough to grow up with three grandmothers; edie, grandmama...and faye. unfortunately, edie and grandmama will never meet wil so making the trip to see faye was a must for me. wil & his goo-goo bonded and will be buddies for life.

here are some highlights of our trip which included wil's first boat ride and a live concert!

top 5 ~ special earth day edition

today, in honor of earth day, i am doing a special top 5. the planet is a precious gift and we all have a responsibility to protect, nurture, and preserve it for future generations. i am trying to live a greener life and hope to encourage others to do the same. making one small change each day can make a big impact. here are some easy (and FREE) ways to do your part to honor the planet by doing your part to protect it.

top 5 ways you too can be GREEN

1. use your own bags at the grocery store

even replacing ONE plastic bag with a canvas bag brought from home will make a huge impact on the environment. this is too easy not to try at least once and you can do this regardless of where you live.

2. turn off the water when brushing your teeth

EASY.

3. drive the speed limit

driving fast and breaking frequently use more gas. slow down, save $, save the planet!

4. recycle your cans

almost every town (even towns without a recycling program) has a scrap metal yard. taking your used cans to the scrap yard not only helps the earth but puts green back in your pocket!

5. turn down the thermostat

for every degree you lower your thermostat you'll save 1% to 3% on your heating/cooling bill.

make an effort to do at least one of these things today in honor of mother earth. respect the earth! for more ways to get started...click here or here.

love thursday: spring

welcome back old friend!

we missed you but it's always worth the wait.

r.i.p.

it is with a heavy heart that i report that the two squirrels featured in yesterday's post were found dead next to our mailbox last night. we have no idea what happened to them and can only speculate that they were either malnourished or accidentally ate something poisonous.

it made me very sad to find them and i am lucky to have a husband that not only understands my love for all animals but shares it as well.

ryan buried the siblings this morning and i tried to give them a proper eulogy. farewell little squirrels. we enjoyed our day with you!

lucy's big day

there's been a lot of debate over the past three years as to what kind of dog lucy actually is. we usually answer "mutt" but opinions are like, well, a**holes, and everyone's got one. we've heard dalmatian (huh?), entlebucher, swiss mountain dog, beagle and pitbull. more than likely, she's a combo of the latter two, beagle & pit.

no one denies that her body is shaped more like a pitbull than a beagle. add her shape to her muscles and gait and you'd think that pitbull was more dominant in her than beagle. however, watch her hunt something down (tennis ball, rabbit, squirrel, buried bone) and you quickly notice that her body may be pitbull but her mind is mostly beagle.

which brings us to today.

we have a small family of baby squirrels living in a tree on the side of our house. there are three or four babies and we see them roaming the front yard for food off and on all day. this morning i looked out the window and a huge black crow was trying to carry off one of the babies. i ran outside yelling at the crow who, in turn, flew up to the wires above and squawked at me. as i was walking back up the driveway i realized that the little squirrel hadn't gone far. i came inside, got my camera and took a few pictures. cute little guy!

later in the day as i was unloading groceries from my car lucy was wandering around the driveway. i saw her get a line on one of the baby squirrels and run after it. surprisingly, it didn't run and it faced her without fear. at first i thought it was going to attack her but as events transpired i came to realize that the squirrel was playing with her. they played in our front yard for 10 minutes or so before i made lucy come in because i was definitely afraid that the squirrel would attack me or wil. of course, it didn't seem to mind us because it was focused entirely on lucy. (and lucy on it!)

after lunch, on our way for a walk, lucy again spotted the little guy/gal. she ran over to the tree and it ran up the tree and then down and they began chasing each other around the base of the tree. at one point, the squirrel even rolled on it's back and began playfully batting at lucy. if i hadn't seen it with my own eyes, i would never believe it.

lucy lived a dream today - she got up close and personal with a squirrel and, hey, maybe made a friend for life. judge for yourself!

ps: i will not have my feet held to the fire over the fact that she isn't heeding ONE command i give her. there was a squirrel there for goodness sake!