First go at puréed meat...

Well tonight I made Rhett chicken and apples. I cut up some chicken tenders and boiled them in a cup of water. I let them cool in the pan and then blended them with natural applesauce. I have to say chicken hasn't been this gross to me since last year during pregnancy! But don't worry there is no sibling on the way!

I will try Rhett on it tomorrow at lunch to see how he likes it. I can see how the recipe says it could be gritty or gummy and will alter accordingly. I find the art of making his food so relaxing... If you want to hire me I will be a baby food chef for you!

And as an added bonus a sweet shot of my boy playing on a Saturday.

Homemade food

I have been on a quest to make Rhett's baby food and to my surprise it is not hard. My absolute favorite thing I have made so far is peaches they smelled amazing and after roasting the skins fell right off. Last night I made plums using the same method. I am so filled with joy that I can do this for my sweet baby!

I am still in awe that he loves vegetables more than fruits and doesn't love carrots the most.

The plums in the pan are beautiful! 10 plums made 24 servings of baby food. Not bad!

Colorado is burning

Not much to say here aside from pray for the fire crews and the victims. Pray for a rain that does not cause more fires to spark. Support one another! This disaster is just as serious as any other!

Hot weather happenings

Rhett has been rolling all over the living room to get to things he likes recently. He can even roll to his tote of baby toys and get things from the top of it! I cannot believe he is getting so big!

We had a visit with the Kocals at the start of this week which included taking Rhett to the Amarillo Zoo. It was a sweet little zoo and incredibly hot out. Out of all the animals we saw Rhett like the Burmese pythons the most! Praying we one day do not have a snake for a pet!

Yesterday we drove out to the field to see Reid for a bit. Gary rode the tractor with Reid and I melted in the heat of the day. It was all going so well until the tractor broke down and Reid thought they could walk-- thank goodness for quick thinking and a nearby gate! And as a final visual picture this... Small red Hyundai driving in tall grass down a pasture road to get to the field.

Swimming!

On Saturday Rhett went "swimming" for the first time. We loaded up and headed over to Aunt Amy's house to splash in the baby pool. Rhett had a blast splashing in the pool with Gracee! Needless to say we are going to have to have another swim experience again soon.

I just wish we could have a baby pool at our house but Duke would have too much fun in it!

On a whole other level Rhett is sitting up on his own now for small bursts of time! It is so fun to watch him grow and learn! He also knows what it means to sit in his high chair and he gets wildly excited for a snack!

Time Flies

Well I can't say that I know where the rest of May went, perhaps all to Rhett which is completely ok! After returning from NH we had a wonderful visit from Aunt Steph, my birthday, a cousin's birthday, and a trip to Lubbock!

Aside from the day to day aspects of being a SAHM we have been busy introducing some solid foods to Rhett! So far we have attempted rice cereal, avocado, banana, squash, green beans, apple sauce, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and pears. Up next are peas! I can only imagine what the reaction to peas will be but I imagine it will be similar to "what on earth did you put in my mouth?"

More updates on baby food with pictures to come soon!

P.S. I am still continuing my never ending debate of whether to leave facebook or not... I am working on privatizing this blog and/or starting an email newsletter that will get us off the big blue bus...

Travels

As many people in my life know we went to New Hampshire recently to visit my mom, for 8 days we strayed from Texas and as the popular song notes... Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go... We did something similar and it went like this, On the highway for an hour, airport security, a short flight to Denver and stretch of the legs... back on board another plane for a much longer flight, back on the ground and a drive around town, what's that? Her place in sight!

All kidding aside, Rhett did so much better on the airplane then I could have ever expected! He played and laughed and only cried for a few minutes total! He seemed to like the flight attendants and was very interested in the man who refills the ice and drinks and takes away the trash as we were waiting in "line" to get off the airplane. It also helped that Catrina came with us and helped keep Rhett amused!

New Hampshire was great we went to my favorite place to eat, The Puritan Backroom, and spent a lazy rainy day walking around the mall. We had a delicious feast with Rob Weiss and his family on Wednesday, took a day trip to Rumney on Thursday to see the Polar Caves. It was a bit cold at the caves! We even saw snow and ice and while Catrina and I were crawling through dark and tight spaces my mom walked with Rhett around the cave property. Friday morning we took off to head north to Danforth, Maine to see my Aunt. That trip was like this... drive in the car hours out of the way to smell the ocean breeze, stop at Dysarts to see Uncle Gar, all you can eat fish at the Eagle's Nest, and more time in the car... and just when you and the baby who is screaming his head off because he wants out of the seat think you will never arrive you are still 20 minutes away! But aside from that low moment in our travels we arrived safely and had a wonderful time. I even managed to get the lasagna recipe out of my auntie! On our return trip to New Hampshire we stopped at the LL Bean flagship store (more like complex) and stretched our legs and perhaps wallets. If you ever get up North you MUST take a trip to LL Bean.

Monday our travels took us to Boston. I managed to navigate Boston with only a minor problem-- GPS does not work there! All was well though as we found our way to the aquarium and got out Boston Go Passes. Rhett seemed to love the aquarium or at least the penguins, this place had at least 50 from what I could tell! They were noisy and playing which held his attention and the best part is that I have that memory now. From there we hit up Faneuil Hall where we had lunch with some wonderful Italian women who plopped down at our table and spoke only Italian the whole time. I know they were saying some things about us as the word bambino came up several times and they motioned to Rhett. After our delicious lunch we headed back to the wharf to go on a magical trolley ride! It was wonderful and so informative, I never realized how small Boston was during colonial times or that Paul Revere was insane and had 16 children. Monday when we returned Catrina and I prepared soft tacos for supper and worked on beginning to pack for our return journey.

Tuesday we had pancakes with Andrew and my mom at the Maple barn, YUMMY! Followed by a short visit to a lovely retirement village (which I will explain later if anyone has a question,) and on to the best part Salem. Now Salem is not really as historical as one would like it to be... sure they have the old houses and the waterfront and oodles of "museums" about the Witch Trials but overall next time I would skip it and go to the Plymouth Plantation. I did love the House of 7 Gables though and while it was remodeled several times in the past 200 or so years it was so neat to see it!

Wednesday morning we got up ultra early I had a less than pleasurable airport experience and by the grace of God we made it back to my house where Catrina's vehicle decided not to turn back on in my driveway.

I have yet to load any photos off of my camera but will sometime in the near future and when I do I am hoping everyone enjoys them!

A high chair joins the family

Today Rhett's high chair arrived! I have to say I was blown away by how fast it arrived, I ordered it on Monday and here it was today!

As soon as I saw it on the porch I pulled it inside and got to work. The box was massive and all the parts were nestled inside safe from harm on their journey.

It took me about 45 minutes to get it all put together because I am the queen of put it together and then back track because I did not read all the directions. :)

All in all it looks great and Rhett sat in it just fine. I am only 5% unhappy with it because the manufacturer made it seem taller but I think it will all work out just fine! I can't believe he is almost ready to start eating solids. And if you have any suggestions on how to keep my white wool rug safe left me know!

Baseball <3

Last weekend I took Rhett to his first baseball game. It was a varsity high school game and the teams were Borger (my former employer) versus Pampa (the town where I live). Naturally we rooted for Borger because I know those kids and want them to do well. They did great last weekend! Rhett wore a cute little bulldog outfit and had his baseball pacifier with him. They ended up winning last weekend! :)

Well this weekend Borger was playing Perryton and my dear friend Darenda invited us to come watch and cheer for the dogs... The only condition was that we needed to wear our lucky outfit. We got there and Perryton took the lead right away and continued to do well. It wasn't until the 3rd inning that I realized the baseball pacifier was at home 30 miles away! Needless to say Rhett was not so lucky for them today and the dogs lost.

Next weekend they are back in Pampa so we are going to wash our bulldog outfit and remember the baseball pacifiers!

This picture is from last weekend-- Rhett sitting with Darenda keeping score.

A wonderful Wednesday

Today I tested the waters and tried something new! I went to Amarillo to run errands and get Reid's birthday present alone with Rhett. We did great!

Our first stop was Cavender's Boot City for some new work shirts for Reid and while we were there I got Rhett the cutest outfit. :) Stop two was Kohl's where we picked up some footie sleepers and a baby gift for my dear friend Ashley. I also managed to find a picture frame for our big black and white picture of Rhett from the hospital. Our third stop was Target where we picked up some work pants for Reid. Target has Wranglers for $15.99 a pair!

We had to run to BRU for a few necessities and also so Rhett could have some lunch. And finally our last stop the busiest store in Amarillo-- Sam's Club. I have to say I love that place because you can get 2 pounds of lunch meat for $5.98 and my farmer husband lives off of sandwiches during the farming season.

We finished off the night having dinner at FCC with Amy, Kyle, Lisa, and the kids. It sure is nice to have someone to eat with once a week! I am so happy to be staying home and spending time with my sweet boy who is laughing more and more each day.

Brrr

It has really been cooling off in Pampa during the night so we don't need air conditioning. BUT.... Waking up in a house that naturally goes down to 64 is not my favorite. And poor Rhett hates to be swaddled and refuses to wear gloves because he sucks his thumb and therefore has hands of ice. And these hands of ice are in his mouth a lot!

So the question is do I turn the heater back on and set it at a low temperature or do I leave it off? I guess I should enjoy the free a.c. while I can because I remember last summer and the miserable heat. They (the pediatrician's office) say that babies sleep better in cooler rooms but Rhett woke up at 6:12. He must still be tired as each little burst of playing is getting shorter and slower with longer between each kick...

Success and now we are headed back to "nap" in our very chilly home!

Naps

I will be the first person to admit that Rhett is a terrible napper but this last week has shown positive progress! Rhett has had his longest out of the car naps this week! A full hour and a half of a nap! I can't believe it!

Sadly yesterday was very busy and we did not have a chance to have a good solid nap. Rhett did nap at the baseball game and then again for 30 minutes before the wedding reception we went to. Not our best napping day which led to one of our worst nights of sleep ever!

Today is a new day and Rhett is having a nap right now so hopefully we will be having a much more restful nap! As always mommy-hood is an ever changing adventure and I would not change a minute of it!

Easter

This year Easter was very different for us as we now have a baby. Rhett was 14 weeks on Easter weekend and the Easter Bunny was very thoughtful and he did not bring us any candy. Instead Rhett got spoons for when he starts solid food like cereal and purees. He also got two adorable plates that have cars and dinosaurs on them as well as bowls.

We spent the morning at church with family which was wonderful and then had a delicious lunch over at Aunt Amy's house. There were pictures and laughs and even more presents from MamMam. We got some adorable books, a monkey rattle, and a very fun green ball!

January, February, and March in a nutshell

January-- life with a new baby is busy! My mom came to visit for 10 days after my c-section and I spent time looking for new health insurance. I officially resigned from my job at the end of January.

February-- my dad and stepmom came for a visit and we got a flat tire on the way to Canadian for dinner. After that we went to Lubbock to see Rhett's mawmaw and that was a wonderful trip!

March-- Rhett had his 2 month well baby check and weighed 13 pounds and was 24 inches long. He was sick for 2 weeks battling a cough and then RSV which was so terrible.

I am happy to report he is all better now and so far we have smooth sailing in April.