11 Months!!!

One month to go until we are O-N-E! This has been such a fast and rewarding 11 months. Stafford has been up to A LOT so here we go!

Feeding: We are still taking four, 7 ounce bottles of Nutramigen per day. We have graduated to the Step 3 Gerber baby foods (even though he still loves some of the Step 2 ones) and he's even eating some table foods now. We usually let him taste whatever we eat and if he likes it, add it to the list! Stafford loves yogurt melts and puffs. We pretty much eat those all day long! He loves an occasional Oreo or animal cracker, too! At school, he's eating their food for snacks, breakfast and lunch. Reed and I love getting his weekly menu to see what he's been trying...he is eating some fancy things! His teachers report that he is eating well so I guess this means that it is now time for me to start cooking!

Sleeping: Stafford is still a fantastic sleeper! He sleeps through the night and is still taking about two naps per day. He usually takes a short morning nap and a long (2-3 hour) nap in the afternoon. We have really started using Sleep Sacks at night (because he rolls around so much at night) and they're great! I highly recommend Sleep Sacks!

Weight: Stafford is currently 20 pounds, 3 ounces. (LITTLE BITTY THING)

Clothes: Stafford is wearing his 9 month clothes wonderfully but we are on the tail-end of those. He is more into his 12 month outfits now and wearing 12-18 month pj's. I have SEVERAL 12 month outfits that this little dude will not be wearing since I projected him to be in those around June or July. Actually, he could be wearing them since it stays hot here until October...don't judge if you see him in a sand pail or crab john-john next month! :)

Personality: TONS. That is really all that I can say. He is so sweet and loves to be "loved on." He has been dancing away lately so he's loving music! Those mean ole teeth are coming in so he has been a bit cranky the past few days but for the most part, he's always happy, smiling and jabbering away!! BIG TALKER! Wonder where he gets that from?!

Fitness: We are still trying to crawl and we're almost there! Stafford has been pulling himself from laying down to sitting up A TON lately. That is his new trick so he does it all the time. He will reach out for things (while on all fours) but fall just as he gets it. We're almost there! Pulling on everything and scooting all over the place!!

Routine: We are still in the same routine so far: Wake up by 7:30, School by 8:30, Home by 5:45, Dinner at 6:00, Bath at 6:30, Bottle at 7:00 and Play Time until 8:30. Our weekends, especially now that it's football season, get a little out of whack but for the most part we stay on track!!

Just Beachy

Two weeks ago the Stacy family and the Stafford family went on a little vacation to Orange Beach and OH WHAT FUN WE HAD!! Reed and I usually go down every year for about 5 days or so and this year we decided to invite my parents and sister to come along with us. They had never been to Orange Beach so they were all in...plus, spending 5 days and nights with Stafford was right up their alley! We had great weather with a few, short rain showers and it wasn't very crowded since early August usually means school starting back. We ate out every night: Louisiana Lagniappe, Lulu's, Grazie and our little hole-in-the-wall Mexican place. During the day we mostly stayed by the pool, on the beach or shopped. It was one of the fastest weeks of my life, I think!

Stafford did really well the whole week. He sampled Dippin' Dots and an Oreo (actually, lots of those!) for the first time. Mom bought him a little swimming pool to bring down to the beach with us so we filled that with ocean water and plopped him under an umbrella...he had a blast!! One thing I was super grateful for on this trip: my Ipad! We took it with us to dinner every night and it kept him thoroughly entertained throughout the evenings!! See below for some pics:

oreo experience...a little messy!!

waiting on dinner at Lulu's

Mom and Dad

Lyn and Reed

salt water tastes yucky!!!

he loves Dippin' Dots

Stacy family...minus Ace

Happy Happenings

As the summer months are winding down, we have found lots of ways to enjoy them! We have been busy bees lately: we've had vacations with family, play dates, a new car to test out, baby celebrations and more! See below for some of our happy happening pics!

10 Months!!

Ten months already!!! The double digits make me sad BUT we are, of course, thankful that our sweet boy is growing every single day.  He is such a joy to us and we really can't imagine our life without him.  Here we go:


Feeding:  Stafford takes four bottles of Nutramigen, has 1-2 fruits (baby food), 2 vegetables (baby food) and just about anything "off the table" (that he wants to try, that is) per day! He is such a good eater and will pretty much try anything.  We have found that he really likes refried beans (thanks to our many mexican nights!), chicken, baked beans, puffs, whipped cream and drinking water from a cup!  He has one tooth on the bottom with another one pushing through right now.  He has really gotten the hang of "chewing" and it is precious to watch him!

Sleeping:  Stafford got his sleeping skills from his momma! He is such a great sleeper.  He is still taking 1-2 naps per day (sometimes for 2+ hours each) and sleeps until around 7:15 every morning.  He still doesn't have a set bedtime but is falling asleep around 8:00 - 8:30 each night.  He sleeps through the night but has gotten in the habit of wiggling so much that he's at the complete opposite end of his crib every morning!!  Still, I don't complain about his sleep...he's a good sleeper and I'm thankful for that!

Weight:  Stafford's weight is about 20 pounds.  We were at the doctor's office about two weeks ago and they had him at 19 pounds, 4 ounces so I'm guessing he's right at 20 now.

Clothes:  Sweet thing has FINALLY graduated to 9-12 month pj's!  He does still have some 6-9's that fit but those were always on the larger side of the size chart.  He mostly wears 9 and 12 month outfits and a Size 1 sandal.  Sweet little feet!

Personality:  Still laid-back and generally an all-around happy baby.  He does have his moments, though! Teething is causing him to be a bit cranky and irritable on occasion and he DOES NOT like having something taken away from him...temper, temper!! On the whole, he's an excellent, easy baby.  Always smiling, talking and laughing!!

Fitness: Stafford has mastered sitting up, rolling all over the place, leaning forwards and backwards, catching himself when he starts falling over, etc. but no crawling yet.  He's getting there...he lays on his tummy and pushes up with his arms but ends up scooting himself backwards instead of going forwards.  He's crawling in reverse! He is so close and I know if I would just put him down some then he'd do it...I can't help it though! I love holding and kissing on my boy!!

Routine: We found out the hard way that routine is VERY important to this kiddo! A few weekends ago, we went to Oxford and got our routine all out of whack resulting in Mr. Crank. So, now we are going to be sticklers for it because Stafford was not a happy camper.  Everything is still the same: wake up at 7ish, get to school by 8:30, pick up at 5:00, supper and bathtime around 6ish, play time and bottle around 7:30 and winding it down at about 8.  ROUTINES ARE IMPORTANT if you don't want a cranky baby! :)

July 21, 2012

happy 10 months to you sweet boy!!!

Around Town

How in the world is "summer" almost over?! Mid-July already! Not too much has been going on with us...some traveling, some painting (the house), some "partying" and LOTS of playing! The past few weekends have been nice because we haven't had anywhere to go or anything to do. I took it upon myself to repaint several rooms in our house and that took some time BUT it's all done now and it looks great! We've celebrated two birthdays (mine and Reed's) and a baby! Last weekend we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Miss Elizabeth Anne McCrary and she could not get here fast enough! Stafford is ready for another pretty little girl to join the crew! Stafford is SO SO much fun right now AND he's trying his hardest to crawl...we're almost there!

Happy 4th!!

Happy Fourth of July and Happy Birthday to ME! This year was doubly special because my sister came down for a visit and we were able to celebrate our first 4th with Stafford! These two things made turning 31 "not so bad!" Since the holiday was in the middle of the week, we decided to hang around Jackson and attend the festivities at CCJ. We had a fun day of sleeping in, shopping, going to the pool, having dinner at CCJ and watching the fireworks. I was a little bit curious to see how Stafford would handle the firework show being his first experience with them. He absolutely LOVED them! He sat in Reed's lap and just stared at the sky throughout the whole show. He also has a new favorite thing: glowsticks!! Thanks, Sis, for coming down to celebrate with us!! Thank you, troops, for serving our country and protecting our freedom! Hope everyone had a happy happy 4th!!

9 MONTHS!!!

I am a little late in posting this but my baby is 9 months old!! He is growing up so fast and changing more and more every single day. Here we go:

Feeding: Stafford is a GOOD eater and it makes me so happy! He still has 4 bottles a day but we've knocked it back to just 7 ounces per bottle since we've added a little rice cereal to them. He is still eating baby food three times a day (b'fast, lunch and dinner) AND we've even thrown in a little table food here and there. Wednesday night, Stafford sampled baked beans and ribs (mushed up and in teeny pieces, of course) and he LOVED them both! He is not a big fan of water or juice and he still doesn't like green beans...I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we won't have a picky eater on our hands!!

Sleeping: Still sleeping wonderfully in his crib, throughout the night, which makes Reed and I very happy! We keep all five wubbanubs in there with him so he can find one at any point in the night thereby eliminating one of us having to get up and give him one. He loves looking at his "cow jumping over the moon" projector on the ceiling...it keeps him thoroughly entertained even after he wakes up...best purchase ever!

Weight/Height: At his 9 month appointment, Stafford weighed 18 pounds, 10 ounces and was almost 3 feet tall! :) His doctor said this was the biggest jump in percentile that Stafford has had to date. He's growing!!

Clothes: Stafford is mostly wearing 9 and 12 month "dressy" outfits now, depending on the brand. He's been wearing lots of 12 month playclothes since those tend to run a bit smaller (so I've found). He's also in a size 3 diaper which is fabulous because now we can wear overnite diapers!!

Personality: LAID BACK best describes this little guy. He is so happy, smiles a ton, babbles all day long (and even some in his sleep!) but does have a tiny bit of a temper. We've discovered that he doesn't like having something taken away from him...hmmm, where does he get that from?!! :) He really is such a loving child and I hope he stays that way forever!

Fitness: Stafford is sitting up very well on his own now and I love it! He's not crawling or pulling up yet but I have a feeling it is coming soon. The other day, Reed said he tried to crawl a little bit but couldn't get his knees under him quite yet. He has started clapping and waving his hands around AND kicks his legs all of the time!

happy 9 month birthday to you!!