9 Months!!!

              I know I know I am a few days late, but Hunter is still 9 months old. Better late then never is what I tell myself! Wow how time has absolutely flown by! Hunter is an amazing little boy, full of smiles, and laughter! He has started to army craw. Now has 6 teeth, and is becoming very mobile! If he wants to go somewhere he will roll and crawl until hes there.

             Yesterday we had is 9 month check. He weighed in at 19 lbs, 10oz and 28 inches long. He is doing everything perfect except he only will sit up when he wants to (which is not very often). He would rather walk or play on his back. He is still a momma boy who loves to cuddle and give hugs, they melt my heart every time! After going though the huge 9 month growth spurt for over a month. He is now sleeping through the night again, and wakes up in such a good mood. He will eat everything you put in front of him, and has had all food except for peanut butter and honey (don't worry we will wait on these). I feel like he is never full... growing boy!!! We have also had several "1st" this month:

1st Firetruck Ride 

1st trip to Kleinschmidt's...1st boots and tractor

 Hunter is also starting to mimic sounds like: lalala and still will only say dadada

Chloe (with Ashley and Ryan )came to visit last week, and had lots of fun playing.

Hunter 1 month and Chloe 2 months

Hunter 9 months and Chloe 10 months

Chloe still seems so much older then Hunter, but it won't be long before Hunter will tower her:)

9 months has been so fun so far! He is just such a blessing, I can't believe hes ours.

Homemade Baby Food

      Several friends have inquired about making homemade baby food. Usually the questions are: How do you have time? Whats the cost savings? The answers are simple, and really making the food is easy, quick , and for the most part cheaper then store bought. This is my first "how to" post so excuse the time lapse, and feel free to ask questions.

        I usually make food in bulk, that way I can make one big mess and its over and done with. I have other friends that do weekly and even daily, but I don't have the patients for that. So last week I made a trip to WalMart, buying all different kinds of fresh and frozen produce. I don't buy canned because of the sodium and preservatives. It would defeat the purpose of making the food myself. I spent $29.40, I got all this (picture below) + 2 large jars of Natural Unsweetened Applesauce (you can make your own, but is hardly worth the time if you can find the natural unsweetened), plain Cheerios (we use instead of puffs now), 6 bananas, and 6 sweet potatoes. You can use all fresh, but for time sake I use frozen. Most frozen fruits and veggies are frozen during peak season, when the fruit has the most nutrients.

Peel and Clean potatoes

  I start with the sweet potatoes because they take the longest, and move though the frozen foods.

Dice and boil.. Boil for approx 20 min then drain.

Place in food processor

Process... I wouldn't be able to do this without this amazing kitchen appliance!

Pore into Ice Cub trays and freeze.

  I only have 3 ice cube trays, so once the first batch is frozen I bag it and pore the second batch. Since I do it all at once, I go ahead and cook (microwave) the rest of the veggies, puree them and pore into gallon ziplock baggies. I can now refrigerate them, and worry about freezing them later.  All in all I will get about 132 oz from these fruits and veggies! On which I spent (excluding apples, bananas, & cheerios) $19.80!! That is .06 cents an ounce!!

This is broccoli, sweet potato, peas, and sweet corn.

    When it comes to the fruit I start to get tired of the kitchen, so I don't cook any of them. The only fruit I have ever cooked though was apples (for obvious reasons). This fruit seemed a little more watery then the frozen I have gotten before, and Hunter has had all of them so I pureed them all together for a "fruit cocktail". 

This is Blueberries, Peaches, and Mango...Very Yummy!!

    After the fruit or veggie has been frozen in an ice cube tray, I pop them out on to the counter, label a quart size baggie, place in baggie and freeze. 1 quart bag holds 12 cubes FYI: 1 cube = 1 oz (in my trays). I have been told the food will last for up to 3 months in a freezer if air tight... I would say this is about right. Hunter usually eats it before it would have a chance to get freezer burned.

This is carrots after being frozen and placed in baggie to freeze again. 

      I also puree chicken breast for him to mix with veggies. Just boil a few breast, and throw them in the food processor until you get the texture you want. I have added a little water back in, to make the puree and little smoother, but you don't have to. We are now giving him whatever meat we are eating that night, so I didn't make any chicken this time around. I just cut the meat in really small pieces and he loves it!.

      Every evening I get out what I know Hunter will eat the following day. I haven't made a thing he didn't like yet, but hes not picky whatsoever! Hunter loves food, and it makes me so excited that I can provide a healthy preservative free meal for him.

Look at this face... Who could resist!

No Kids Allowed...

Well except our Husbands! 

Don't get me wrong I love Hunter and honestly all of our firends children, but it sure was nice to get away. 

This past weekend 22 of us traveled to Bass River Resort in Steelville, Mo, to enjoy a nice relaxing weekend on the river. We had a great time, of course drinking and eating way to much, laughing at everything, and enjoying the beautiful weather. If you have never been on a float trip before, its an experience like no other! Its a crazy fun time, but can get confrontational at times. 

I would venture to say their have even been a few marriages end on the river. As I think back to the first time Taylor came with me (about 5-6 years ago)  Its amazing we stayed together. Its quite a trying time navigating down the river in a metal canoe, 2 paddles, crazy drunks, rapids, and last but not least a few drinks of our own. After flipping over mulitple times, losing coolers, sunglasses, and our minds. We decided to trade partners. I end the trip with my dad and Taylor with one of my brothers friends. But at the end of the weekend we had made up and went on about our lives.

Neat less to say after this first trip we vowed in the best interest of our relationship to never get in another canoe with each other again. Every year since we have taken a raft. Highly recommend this...much more relaxing, and has never made me doubt our relationship:)Excuse the amount of pictures, but I can't just put one!

Taylor, Holly, and I ready to start the weekend

Our entire group! READY TO FLOAT

My Mom and Dad

For some reason we all wore Black Swim Suits

Tina, Angie, and Kristin break for lunch

Holly and I

The Girls!

This just shows and little bit of the craziness involved.

This year was no different! Of course the trip had its up and down, but we all made it out alive! We had a blast with our friends, and even my parents were able to come! Too much fun packed into one weekend!

Florida 2012

So the month of July flew by faster then I could blink an eye! Its now August... What? Did I miss something? 

July was a very busy month for us which included the trip to Texas, a wedding, my Grandmothers 90th birthday, and of course our first family of 3 trip to Florida! 
Taylor and I decided about 2 weeks before we left, that we should fly. With Hunter still not doing so well in the car, I knew we wouldn't make it 16 hours in the car, and to say the least I was even worried about the 2 hours trip to the air port. 

We left Saturday afternoon to stay the night in STL, since our flight was leaving at 6am Sunday morning. We had a great time with Max, Jill, and Rylee playing in the hotel pool and eating at our favorite STL spot (Culpeppers).... SO GOOD! 
We woke up around 3am Sunday morning, got to the airport, and though security (which I thought was going to be difficult with all of Hunter's stuff, but to my pleasure wasn't to bad). All the horror stories I read before we left I was quite concerned!We then boarded the plane around 5:30am, to find the back up generator wasn't working, but no worries they had called maintenance and they would be right there to fix everything. Wellllllll 4 hours after sitting on the plane on the run way with an 8 month old and my Husband.... we finally were able to fly! Except for the fact we had then missed our connecting flight in Atlanta and were forced to fly standby. After 1 1/2 hours in Atlanta, Delta had a plane with 1 (thats right one) remaining seat. Taylor insisted that I take Hunter on, and get him out of the airports, because only God knew when the next flight would have space. So in tears, by myself, and loaded down with Hunter, my pump, and Hunter's bag I got on the smallest plane Id ever been on. Fortunately the flight went well and we sat next to a wonderful older lady, and the flight attendant helped entertain an exhausted little boy:) So at this point it had been 9 hours of being in airports. Panama City does have a very small airport that was easy to get around in and plenty of space for Hunter to play on the benches until our shuttle could pick us up around 4pm. We were both exhausted by the time we got to the house around 5pm...in fact I felt like Jello, and Hunter didn't even have the energy to fuss. Taylor and the rest of the family finally made it on the last flight of the day landing in panama city at 7:35pm! Boy was it good to see them! 

Honestly the trip there was the most eventful of any day that week. My in-laws rented a house for the 13 of us to enjoy for the week and that's we did! We swam, played in the sand, ate great food, and enjoyed family. Most of all I enjoyed spending some much needed time with Taylor and Hunter. As most moms can agree, the most time they ever spend with their babies  is maternity leave! Hunter loved the water.. pool or ocean it didn't mater to him as long as he was in it! You can't beat the walks on the beach in the moonlight with your husband, or the sunrise walks with your son... absolutely blessed! WARNING PHOTO BOMB TO FOLLOW! 

Taylor, Hunter, and I playing on the beach

Lovin the water

Max and Rylee building a sand castle

Playing at the pool...Notice H is always chewing on something (teething...you try to take it away)

Happy 2nd Birthday Bella!

Grandma and H playing

Hunter and Rylee floatin

Hunter and Aunt Jill...snuggle time!

The trip home was a lot less eventful. Although towards the end of the week Hunter was starting to not feel himself. He would wake up during the night, and the last night there he never could get comfortable enough to sleep. We were so exhausted when we got home, my mom actually watched Hunter for a couple hours so I could sleep... Later in the week I took him to the doctor to find our poor baby had a double ear infection, sinus infection, and pink eye! Talk about feeling like a terrible mom! He is now starting to feel better, and more like his marvelous self.

Trips like this truly make me realize how blessed we are to be able to get away from work and everyday life! Not many are able to anymore, and it makes to take note on how wonderful our life really is.

Next post Float Trip 2012...