9 Months

Our little Tai man was a skunk for Halloween. He stayed awake long enough to earn us some great candy, then fell asleep right before he could win the Kings photo competition. (Lazy, pure laziness.) Also the skunk suit was made to fit a 3 year old. My kid isn't that huge. We just figured extra leg space = extra warmth.

Heck yes. (Watching him crawl around with a foot of leg space dragging behind him was the highlight of the night.)

On a side note-every person at the trunk or treat picked out something "suitable for a baby." Either they thought we would actually feed it to our nine month old, or they were plotting against us. Regardless, the lady who picked out malted milk balls obviously had a death wish for Tai. Seriously. Who picks out Malted Milk Balls and says "he will love these." Um. Yeah. Love to get those throat sized things lodged in his windpipe....

Sorry.

Anyways.

We also humiliated him this month by making him wear a panda hat to Walmart, a mustache pacifier...everywhere, and dressing him like a girl (okay that was my little sisters babysitting him.)

Ahhh. The real reason people have kids. Humiliation 101.

Other milestones-caught him trying to take a bath in the toilet, and he ate toilet paper for breakfast.

To mix that up we attempted making him sleep in his crib, and you can pretty much see how that went...

This is the life ;)

Just throwing it out there.

Can I just throw it out there that I am sick of baby mama drama?

And no not the Maury kind.

The moms who talk crap on other moms to make themselves feel better drama.

Here is the thing. It's not your place. No one is a perfect parent, and to assume we aren't trying our very hardest is just no good.

Are you trying your hardest as a mom/dad/caretaker? Me too!

So who has the right to say I didn't breastfeed long enough? Or that I gave up or that I'm being lazy.

For anyone who thinks that, and is bored enough to gossip to my best friends: I was pumping more hours a day than I was doing anything else. I did it in the bathroom at work. I would pump while my baby cried. While he slept. While he ate. And I got hardly anything. I got 3 oz when he needed 8 and then i was pumping again. My milk was clear.

And no- you can't just create what your baby needs. I was actually taking MEDICINE to try and produce more. So how is it yours, or anyone else's, place to say you are disappointed in me giving up?

Screw you. Stop talking about my boobs.

While we are on the subject, I'm not being selfish, lazy or a bad parent by working. I'm doing what I have to.

If I was selfish I would sit on my butt and watch Vampire Diaries and eat Bon Bons and snuggle my baby.

Working is not selfish. It's completely unselfish. It's what I do to help my family. That's what my family needs.

So how about instead of talking bad about me, and everyone else's failure to parent as good as you, let's not.

Lets work on our own marriage, family, child rearing and decisions for ourselves.


Okay? Cool.

And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, this probably wasn't meant for you. Have a good day!

8 Months Old

Tai is starting to explore our apartment independently. He loves to be home.

He recognizes grandma and is getting good at pushing his lawn mower around to walk.

He is just learning to open cupboards so we bought some great child proofing gear to kill his exploration dreams ;)

We spent a lot of time napping, and helping grandpa Kynaston build his house (aka be a human dust cloth on sawdust floors.)

Tai skipped size 9 months and went straight to a year, so everything fits funny.

We are watching him become more and more of a little boy everyday. It is so bittersweet.

Cast The First Stone.

I am missing my friends. Good friends who I can talk to and visit and be HONEST with, that don't judge me. I am so tired of feeling judged by people.

I feel like I have had a really hard year. Getting pregnant, living with a guy I wasn't married to, moving multiple times, getting married, working full time, trying to deal with multiple job losses and changes. Every time I feel like things are starting to smooth out, something hits me that just jolts me.

And i'm tired of the people who only come around when i'm jolted.

I don't need your judgement. I don't need you to try and convert me, change me, or fix me. I don't need to think like you do to be a good person or be worthy of someone's friendship.

People say they don't judge, but they do. People are so quick to forget about their own trials, relationship problems, and bad choice and put their judgement on others, on me. No one has a perfect relationship, a perfect financial situation, a perfect life. So why do we spend our time convincing ourselves that we are better than everyone else?

I'm tired of the comparisons. Comparing myself, my baby, my husband, my relationship, my home, my job and my LIFE, to everyone around me. I feel like social networking can be SO damaging that way. Every time I get on I find myself angry or feeling sad. And if i'm not feeling bad, i'm only feeling better because i'm comparing myself to someone who is going through something else.

Doesn't that seem so unhealthy?

I feel like there are friends I opened up to who immediately judged me and walked away or stopped being around.

I also feel like there were a few who didn't even act like it was a problem and welcomed me with open arms.

Thanks to the few of you who have. D&B. J&D. M&W. M&S.

I really, truly, respect the friends I have who have stuck with me through good and bad. And funny enough, the ones who I truly love and respect are the ones I met while battling the biggest trial of my life: this entire year.

At the end of the day, you can love me or hate me for who I am, but i'm upfront about my life. I don't try and be someone I'm not. I don't try and make people think anything different of me, I just wear my trials on my sleeve and hope that i'll end up with people who can look past them.

When I started this blog, I put my whole life on display. Not so people would judge me, but so maybe someone could look past the crap and actually be a real friend. So that people, anyone, could get the story straight from my mouth.

This is it. Love me or hate me.

New Apartment

We are finally in our new place. It's a really great apartment complex and we have a great community.

The neighbor above us is raising a pony. Isn't that great? I mean, I've never met their pony, but I figured that must be the reason for all the noise.

Her husband is training to be in the NBA. He practices playing basketball on the wood floor just above my kitchen. The way the ball bounces day in and day out, whether its 6 am or 39 o clock at night-that's some serious dedication. I love me some dedication. That's good stuff.

Our next door neighbors are Hispanic. At least I assume so. They have a small child named Alex. Sometimes I walk into my kitchen half dressed and Alex is there greeting me. He yells things in spanish. I'm not bilingual but i think he usually says something along the lines of "mama, you look like crap." And yes, he calls me mom.

If you are really into partying we have neighbors for that too. They are 50 years old and They like to smoke and drink beer on our car. If i need to USE my car, they stare at me like I'm crazy. Sometimes they take their shirts off. And sure, maybe they are breaking at least 4 codes on every given day, but hey, they like to have fun. We told the managers they didn't like to wear lots of clothes in public. Now they wear open vests, nothing underneath.

If partying isn't your thing you can join the gang of five year olds that regularly swear at my husband. I heard one call a little girl an "f-ing C$&!" And no, I'm not exaggerating on their age. They ride bicycles with lightning McQueen on them.

Ah, the joys of apartment complexes.

Really though, the complex is great, they just put a swing set in, and the lawn is huge and the walkways are wonderful.

We have run into a few...kinks with the inside of our house (we are on oven # 3) and the electricity isn't exactly..functional all the time. And sure, maybe they didn't take time to glue our countertop down or screw in the shelves, but it's something.

After all is said and done, it's ours and its new and its clean. It's close to family, and we are happy.

Here is a picture of..our front door. Please note that Colton found these glasses in a throw away pile at my work. An old lady threw them out because they were scratched. He put them on, wears them everywhere and thinks they are great... It's great.

Cleaning and Washing

Cleaning and washing can wait till tomorrow-for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow.

This boy has certainly grown.

Being 7 Months Old Is Completely Unsanitary!

This post is a little late, but between my iPhone dying (thank you Tai) and a new house with an Internet service provider that says my address doesn't exist, I felt kind of against blogging.

The point being, Tai is 8 months old and I'm doing a 7 month update. Cool.

Our little guy is SO ahead of the game. He never felt like scooting, or army crawling, or anything, really. He just got up on all 4's and took off across the room. Seriously?

The next day he pulled himself to a standing position, and now he is walking around furniture like its nothing. Will I have an 8 month old walker? Maybe.

I feel like I lost my baby wayyyy to fast. It's also harder for me because the bigger he gets the harder it is for me to manage or hold him. I think that's why I get so sad about him being "big" because I feel like I only got to have the snugly baby who I could HOLD and CARRY for a few short months. Now he is so big, my shoulders can't take the weight...

So not fair!

On the bright side, Tai can now put some pretty great things in his mouth.

On the list?
The plunger (poop end, as Colton calls it.)
The toilet brush.
Used q-tips.
Shopping cart handles.
Diapers.
Garbage.
Other babies toys.
Other babies.
(Don't ask.)

(Judge away.) Seriously. Go ahead.

Maybe I'm just a tad naive for not knowing I would have to baby proof my whole house by 7 months old, but I'm learning fast.

This morning Tai crawled in the bathroom while I was doing my hair and dive bombed into the garbage. He then proceeded to open his mouth and try and grab whatever he could before I could pull him away. And yes, it was a bathroom garbage filled with who knows what. Totally gross.

He is a special soul, and he is into everything!

Other milestones this month:
Feeding himself cereal bites and table food.
Eating a lot of variety of table foods.
Waving hello and goodbye.
Giving high fives.
Responding to his name.
Playing independently or crawling to his room to play.
Saying "ma" and "huh" when you call him.
Laughing and playing chase with dad.
Jumping in his bouncer.
Being interested in toys.

He loves dogs, Mac n cheese, and his new sound toy.

He also loves pulling all the DVD's of the shelves, emptying his toy box and opening his diaper garbage.

He is obsessed with bathing (he puts himself in with all his clothes on) and makes a mad dash to the bath when he hears it running. He then splashes himself silly and stands up and down in the tub repeatedly.

He is really good at unscrewing bath drains, breaking springs that go behind doors (because he plays with them so much) and breaking various household objects.

Colton wants you to know Tai has a "bed wetting" problem, and is kind of lazy because he "still lives with his parents."

He is still sleeping smack dab in the middle of us (Colton is a softie) and he sleeps through the night as long as we are next to him.

When we try letting him "cry it out" or put him in his crib after he falls asleep-we get angry neighbors pounding on walls and a baby who wakes up hourly. Ugh! Any help with this or ideas would be appreciated!

That's our 7 month update! We sure love our little boy, even if he is a monster ;)