Wedding Trip #1- Oklahoma

Well it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks but we are back.....for now. Thursday, May 10th, Grandma, Grandpa and mom drove down from Knoxville to our house. Ben got a truck from work and took all of us to the Marta station where we caught the train down to the airport.

Traveling with a 7th month old was stressful. First, when we bought our tickets, I tried my darndest to include Miller's info but the website kept messing up, so I called a few weeks before the flight and they said it was taken care of. Of course it was not so I had to deal with it when I got to the airport. Going to security was a mess. While holding Miller, take off my shoes, take the carseat off of the stroller, take our liquids out of the diaper bag, collapse the stroller and tell them it would not fit but doing it anyway. Then of course I was right and the stroller did not fit so they had to wrestle with it and all the while watching the people behind us getting impatient waiting. Then we gathered up all of our stuff, got to the gate and had just enough time to feed Miller and then pack up the stroller and carseat.

Miller was very good for the flight. A few times he got ready to whine but we just shoved some food in his mouth. He ended up falling asleep and slept through landing. 

That night was the rehearsal dinner. It was at a mexican restaurant on a lake which was very windy. 

Friday was the wedding and we woke up to it pouring down raining. Guess what? It was an outdoor wedding with no plan B. We ran to walmart so we would be prepared then came back and got ready. I did Kelsey's hair in an all around braid.

Miller had the super cute outfit, unfortunately it was raining so he was covered up. 

A few pictures of the tent from the reception. It was so pretty!

The bride and groom, asked us to wear white and khaki, however, with the weather we were all covered up. Below (from left to right) Sam, Veronica, Ann with Miller, mom, Ross and Kelsey. 

The next day, Miller was a mess after he ate some lunch so we gave him a bath. Well during the bath, he left behind a little present. Lovely!

Saturday we went to uncle Larry and aunt Margie's house. Miller played with his cousin Channing. Yeah, she is a whole year older than him. She is just cute and tiny and he is on the bigger side. 

We went to a chicken place called Eischen's for lunch. Knox is sharing his sippy cup with Miller. 

He was so tired after lunch. Thank goodness it was a long ride so he could sleep. 

This is my cousin Callie who is 6 months older than me. Her son Knox is 7 months older than Miller. Knox is on the bigger side and Callie would say that she loved holding a little baby when she had Miller. That cracked me up because everyone always says how big Miller is.

That night we went to some horse racing tracks. Mom and I had never been so we were so excited. We had the best time just hanging out and we never even placed a bet. 

Sunday was Mother's Day and Miller's gift to my mom was to take a nap on her. 

We went to a lunch at my aunt and uncles house. The kids had a great time playing and we all just relaxed and hung out. Grandma was so excited about this trip because it meant that she got to have all her great grandbabies together. We had to get a picture of this. From left to right, Grandpa Norm, Knox, Miller, Grandma Mary Alice, Channing and Hayden.

Miller had so much fun in this wagon. Him and Channing got along so well.

We left Monday midday and Miller was even better on that flight. Some prissy ladies in front of us looked so mad to have a baby behind them and they even turned around at the end of the flight and told us how good he was. We were home for 4 days before we packed up for our next trip.

Miller: Month Seven

That was a big month! Within two weeks, he got two teeth, started soilds, started drinking from a straw sippy cup, and started crawling. Miller went from being a baby to a little boy it seems. We moved, which stressed him out majorly and then went to Knoxville for 10 days which stressed him out even more. Then we went to Oklahoma for a 5 days for my cousins wedding and now we are home for a few days. This weekend we are headed to Knoxville for a friends wedding and my cousins graduation and then to Memphis for Ben's best friends wedding and to see family. We will be home for about a week and a half before Miller and I go to Houston for another cousin's wedding.

Weight: 19lbs 8oz (+11lbs 6oz)

Height: 28" (+ 6.5")

Head: 18.5" (+3.5")- same as the last two months

Sleep: I still crave consistency but we are doing better. We have been out and about lately but when we are home and stick to a routine, he seems to have some patterns that he follows. About two weeks ago, Ben and I were awoken at 8AM by the alarm, and that was the first time since October 11th. Most nights he sleeps 6-10 hours. On the nights that are less than 10 hours, which are most, he has a feeding and then goes back to sleep until 8AM. As for naps, he takes one morning nap about two to three hours after he wakes up that is normal 1-1.5 hours long. Then early to mid afternoon he has another one that is 1.5-2.5 hours long. Depending on when all those naps fall, he might have an evening catnap around 6.

Eating: This darn kid is testing my patience! Since starting solids, he has had a little nursing strike some days, sometimes going 6 to 7 hours without nursing. It is become more rare that he does this but it makes me worried for him and my supply. As for solids, like I said before, we decided to do more table foods than purees. However, over the past month purees have been a comfort to me when we are home. It shows me that he is getting enough, but he is becoming lazy and stopped feeding himself. We are going to transition to giving him more table foods now.

Best Moment: It is really a joy to watch him play by himself and learn new things. I love watching his mind work to figure out something. Yesterday he was just staring at the table, trying to figure out where to grab on to stand up.

Milestones: He started crawling about two weeks ago. It is mostly an army crawl but it gets him where he wants to be. He does get up on his knees and hands and rocks back and forth but no movement in that position. He is pulling up in things.

Monthly Wisdom: Parenthood is just plain hard and chaotic. I have been struggling to find balance and I am starting to realize that there is no getting around the chaos. Just hold on tight and try to enjoy it.

Goals for the Upcoming Month:
- Giving Miller table foods rather than purees.

- Get him on a stable routine when we are home.

Things Miller is doing:
- Getting better at waving to people.

- He does this little thing where he raises his arms and waves his wrists when he wants to be picked up. It is so sad but when he is fussing to go to sleep in his crib and I got put his  paci back in, he does this to me. 

- Sleeping mostly through the night.

- As mentioned already, crawling. 

- He is pulling up on things, mostly us. He did pull up to the table a couple of times to  a full standing position.

- He can go from on his belly crawling to sitting.  

- He has this face, that you can see in the below pictures, where he scrunches up his nose, narrows his eyes, and makes a huffing sound. It is so cute!

 

 

Stay tuned.....

Just wanted to let you know that we are still around. Miller and I just got back from a 4 day trip to Oklahoma for my cousins wedding. I have his 7th month post almost ready to go and another one. Plus you know I have plenty (like thousands) of pictures from our trip. I would love to have them up for you but I have another 3 days to get ready for a 10 day trip to Knoxville and Memphis. Just stick around and I will get to all of these things.

Miller Week 29

We spent last week in Knoxville. It is funny because it is not like we do too much when we are there but we seem to be always on the go.

One night we went and had dinner with some friends that had not a had a chance to meet Miller yet. This is Ally with her best friend Kendra (far right) and her sister Malorie (in the middle holding Miller). He was fascinated with the little girls. 

So one night, mom wanted to go to Brusters to get ice cream for dinner. I have been letting Miller taste whatever I have and this was no exception. He got all messy and I wanted to take a picture so I handed my cone to mom.

He grabbed the cone and went to town.

He would not let us have it back. He screamed when I tried to take it away. He sucked out the ice cream and chewed on the cone. 

On Saturday we went on the JDRF walk. My cousins Mitchell was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes a few years ago and every year my family puts together a team. This is the first time that we have gone in years. Miller walked with mom and Madison and mom said he blew raspberry's and talked the whole time. I stayed behind with Tine and the little girls (who were so slow!). He was so tired afterward but would not eat or nap.

He loves chewing on the ends of bottles and cans.

 

I took him over to the water fountain. He wanted to get in so bad so I let him put his feet in and splash.

That night was definitely bath night. We were all sweaty and gross. This is probably his last sink bath because he wants to splash and that is too big of a mess in there.

We are here in Atlanta this week and half of next. It is so stressful but I am trying to slowly unpack while getting everything ready for our trip next week. I will be flying with Miller (scary) to my cousins wedding in Oklahoma. Wish me luck! Have any tips?