Weekend with Nana

Nelson's mom came this weekend for a visit! It was a wonderful time, we love to be with her and have her around to help out! The weather was beautiful- we took lots of great walks, had many great conversations and also enjoyed some tasty food!



Thanks Nana for coming (and we missed you Pops)!

one nap time, two earplugs and a million stares later...

...we have baby food (or some peas at least)! It was quite the adventure to make them. I cooked the peas, got out our handy food processor/blender and started blending them up. But it was really really loud and Tripp was sleeping, so I did not know what to do. But then I got the bright idea that I would take the blender outside! I got the extension cord Nelson usually uses for the leaf blower and plugged in the blender and blended peas on the side walkway with cars driving by giving me very strange looks. It worked well, but my ears were kinda ringing from the loudness of the blender (I am not sure why it was so loud, it is not this loud when I make other things). So I got out my earplugs, put those in and continued blending (or pureeing I guess). I got four and a half ice cube trays full of peas! So sometime this weekend, baby Tripp will be getting peas (and hopefully enjoying them).

Six Months Old!!

Today Tripp turns six months old. It is pretty unbelievable that he has been with us for half a year. Time has just flown. Here are a few of my thoughts as a mom of a six month old:
1. I don't like the newborn stage. It is very very hard. and tiring. and emotionally exhausting.
2. Since about 4 months on, things have gotten a lot easier, Tripp has a cute little personality, is much more predictable, and I have actually been getting a good amount of sleep each night (except since this time change, it is killing me).
3. Being a mom is one of the most self-less things I have ever had to do. Sometimes (a lot of the time) I feel like I am not cut out for it. It is really hard, but God always gives me the strength to get up in the morning and make it through the day (and somehow do all the laundry that comes with the job).
4. Nelson and I actually get to hang out again! One of the benefits of a little baby is that they slept a lot at night. So we have our nights back and we get to hang out again. We can watch our shows, just hang out together, and we have even been known to drink a margarita!
5. I am amazed everyday at the miracle of life and the sovereignty of God. Besides my earthly duties to feed, clothe, take care of, and play with Tripp, God keeps little Tripp in the palm of his hand everyday and is ultimately in charge of his life. This is so comforting to know!
6. I am so thankful I have a job with complete flexibility in the days I work. It has really made working a wonderful thing. I enjoy the time I have away and I really look forward to the days I have with Tripp at home. The combination has been a blessing for me. I am thankful we have a wonderful babysitter and my mom to watch Tripp.
His stats:
Length: 26 3/4 inches (63%)
Weight: 18 lbs 5 oz (67%)
Head Circumference 17 1/4 inches (52%)

It has been a great six months! We love you baby Tripp!

new car seat

we were probably a few weeks overdue for switching Tripp over into his new car seat but today we finally did it and i think he really likes it!

a weekend in the salty ham...

...or birmingham for those who are not fluent in "james." and that is where we went this weekend- to celebrate James's 30th birthday. It was a great weekend, full of an incredible amount of laughing, delicious food, and awesome company. I really could not ask for a better brother and sister-in-law. They are awesome. Steph inspires me to be a better cook, sewer, and wife while James is just my great brother who, although I could not possibly begin to count the number of times he said to me "you are so weird" this whole weekend, is one of my closest friends.
here are some of the highlights from the birthday party-


beautiful backyard


beautiful front yard


steph doing some prep work


beer


sausage (it was a beer and sausage party)


beautiful table (steph- too bad you did not dress up to match your tablescape)


birthday kids


so excited for Uncle James's birthday


party favors

and from the rest of the weekend-


fun with aunt steph


trick or treating (we borrowed a stroller from friends of theirs who only have girls)


happy family


james trying to steal my snuggie


making us an awesome breakfast


Tripp loves it in the Salty Ham

this is how you know the time needs to change

so this morning somewhere between 2 and 3 in the morning, Tripp woke up and was crying a little bit, enough to wake Nelson and me up, but not enough to warrant us to get up or anything. he was back to sleep after about a minute. So I was back to sleep as well. Then he got up again, this time he was really crying. i was confused as to why he was crying so much. i went in there, rubbed his back a little bit, tried to calm him down, and then i went back into our bed. i waited a few minutes, he was still really crying. so i went back in his room, smelled a poopy diaper, changed it, put him back down. Tripp was still crying. then i thought, maybe he is cold so I put on a blanket. still crying. so i rubbed his back some more, and left the room. I was so confused about why he was not calming down. it was still dark outside, so i figured it had to be about 3 in the morning. so i thought, i will just go sit in the living room and check all my automatically sent emails from amazon, walgreens, lands end (hey- free shipping), kohls (by the way, did you know there is a sale this week??), shutterfly, etc., when i got on the computer i noticed the time- 6:55 a.m.!! Tripp usually is up between 6:30 and 6:45 (and sometimes as early as 6:15) so this was pretty late for him. but here i was thinking it was like 3 in the morning because it was still so dark outside, so i had just been telling him to go back to sleep when really he was hungry and ready to start the day!!! poor little guy! so i quickly checked two more clocks just to make sure my computer wasn't messed up (they all said 6:55) and ran into his room to get him up and make amends. I fed him and he was a happy camper again. i am looking forward to the time change this weekend so i can have a little help from mother nature in telling the time in my sleepy state! and while i meant to take a happy picture of him today, i forgot so here is one from yesterday!

Boo at the Zoo

Every October the St. Louis Zoo decorates for Halloween. And on one of the Saturdays they set up candy stations along a pathway in the zoo and all the kids get to come dressed up for Halloween. So we went with some friends and dressed baby Tripp up like Yoda. He is pretty cute if I do say so myself. Here are some pics from the day!