Looking back at 8 months

Evan is 9 months old now and has his well baby appointment this upcoming week. But, before he gets too big on me, I wanted to remember a few special things about 8 months.

At the beginning of month 8, my little man learned to sit up(from laying down) on his own. One day I walked into his room to get him up from a nap, and there he was sitting up and smiling at me. :-) The next day, he was standing. Standing! Needless to say, he hasn't looked back since.

 "Look at me mom!"

We also started a lot of new foods this month-spaghetti, macaroni, yogurt and chicken to name a few. My boy is such a good eater, and a bit of a glutten too! He may just eat us right out of house and home in a few years. ;-)

Speaking of eating, we've got not one but two bottom teethe now, and no doubt working on more as you can see.

 

 We also started pulling up and cruising this month. Oh my goodness my handsome boy is getting so big! I always think babies look so much older when they're standing up, and I'm not so sure I'm okay with that just yet. :-)

 

As a future note for myself, we did experience some sleep issues over this past month. First, I have to say that we are so thankful that our boy has always been a dream of a sleeper(thank you babywise!). So, you can imagine our shock when he began to randomly wake up once in the middle of the night, and then also earlier in the day. Add to that, he threw a wrench in our daytime nap schedule too by waking up earlier from naps or boycotting them all together. Thankfully, I think we're almost through this patch of sleep silliness and are now mostly back on schedule. The culprits? I'm guessing a growth spurt, with a pinch of teething and not so nice diapers that awoke him in the night.

Eight months was so fun for me, and I can't wait for nine! Evan's little personality is really peaking out now, and I love to see him learn and grow. He's so smiley and has the best disposition a mom could ask for. Thank you Lord for our healthy, happy baby boy!

Happy 9 months baby boy!

Well, you get the picture. ;-)

The lion king, and a couple of cute cubs

This past week my mom treated me to an amazing night out to see "The Lion King" at the new DPAC.

The costumes, colors, singing and dancing were all truly breathtaking, and I am so thankful for the experience! I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting from this Disney Broadway musical, but it did not disappoint! If you have a chance, I would highly recommend catching it before it ends-I really can't say enough good about it! My favorite part was the opening "Circle of Life" number-the animals were amazing to see coming down the aisles and successfully set the pace for a very entertaining show. I hope we'll get a chance to bring Evan to see it one day!

 

 

Speaking of my little cub, later on that week he had his first "official" playdate with his friend Cole, who is just over a month younger. It was super cute to see them play together and actually sort of "interact" versus just observing each other. I'm noticing more and more that Evan is really starting to leap out of his shell, engaging himself more with what's going on around him rather than just taking it in. They grow up so fast!

 Cute cubs learning to share. :-)

I had a great time catching up with friends and enjoying some fun fellowship-thanks for having us Kristie and Cole!

Adventures in the Kitchen take 1

In making the most of my new enthusiasm for stayathomemom-dom, I've resolved this week to try a few new recipes.

Cookbooks from the library-check
Apron-check (seriously, have you seen my collection?)
Inspiration from "The Food Network"-double check
A refined palette and willingness to try new things-let's just say we're working on it, one tomato slice at a time!

On Monday night I started the week off with a "Tomato Vegetable Minstrone" soup and garlic bread sticks, courtesy of Betty Crocker and insanely modified by yours truly.

First, I have to say my excitement for getting creative and trying new things was slightly dulled when my husband quickly informed me that a soup & bread dinner was in fact no dinner at all, due to the absence of a manly meat. Ohhh boy. My response? "Deal with it." Ahem, I mean..."It really is hearty dear and I know you're going to love it! :-)

Second, I admit I took a wide margin of creative license with the ingredients. Zucchini and beans in this house? HA! Like I said, I'm working on it. :-)

The verdict?
Surprise surprise, Chris loved it, and even had a second helping or two! It was the perfect complement to the rainy day outside. Unfortunately the tomato taste was a bit strong for my sensitive taste buds, but I ate it lest my mess in the kitchen be in vain. And, Evan even got a piece of the action with some spiral pasta of his own!

All in all, a simple, small step in the right direction. Next up, an apple tart. Wish me luck!

Up, up and away

Slices of January

...a taste of what we've been up to so far in 2011. 

To kick off the new year, we visited the "Imagination Station" Science museum here in downtown Wilson.

  

Learning is fun!

 

Our weekends lately have been littered with furniture store hopping as we've been on the search for a new couch for quite some time now. Thankfully, we found the perfect one just recently and it's on its way! Not only will we be welcoming our new chocolate couch soon but also-insert dramatic music here- "monster ottoman." I may dedicate an entire post to monster ottoman, otherwise entitled "Compromise in marriage...giving your husband a few inches in home decor." We did get an amazing deal and in the end, monster ottoman was thrown in for f.r.e.e! Hence all is well in love and war-ahem-furniture shopping that is.  And who knows, I may come to love it in the end (read-compromise). :-)

In other highlights, Piper (remember him-brown eyes, curly hair, mischievous paws) got a special treat from our recent trip to Greenville-a Pupcake! I love it when we find new "gems" of shops here and there and "The Perfect Cake" in Greenville definitely made my day. I wish we had a cake shop here in Wilson! Then again, it's probably for the best-says my waistline!

 

 

Evan and I have been home bodies lately as it's been very chilly outside! This past week we saw another snow and a not so fun mix of rain and ice. I think it's safe to say we're ready for Spring...though I do enjoy our cozy mornings reading by the fireplace(a new favorite part of the day with my sweet boy)! :-)

Next up in January-"The Lion King," new recipes, old books, and of course, a lot of picture taking!

Crazy Eight

Evan is 8(and a half) months old now, and quite the handsome little man!

In big news, he's got not one but TWO bottom teeth coming through! We had a lot of "diaper" issues at the start, but otherwise he hasn't seemed too bothered by his first pearly whites.

Along with his new teethe, Evan's become a chatterbox in his crib. He goes down and wakes up in a sea of babbles. This month we've noticed a Jurassic difference in the volume of his nonsensical noises. I say Jurassic because at times they are quite dinosaur like!

Not too much has changed schedule wise since last month, except that we are mostly through with that third nap-which, as I was warned, currently equals pre-dinner meltdowns and a slightly earlier bedtime.

Perhaps the biggest new thing this month is his awesome army crawl! With proper motivation(read-puffs), Evan has become quite the little crawler. To my surprise, he has way more arm strength than I had thought as he primarily uses his arms to pull and scoot himself about. We're very much enjoying this "turtle" like stage. See for yourself...I'm sure by the time I post this it will be "old news" as he gets better and better everyday. :-)

2010 in Review

This past year was a big one for the Scott family. Of course, we grew our family by two  tiny feet. Chris graduated and got a great job which opened the doors for us to move from Raleigh to Wilson. And me? I finished up the year with Glaxo to become a full time stay at home mom. As I reflect on this past year, there's so much to tell! Here's a closer peek through the looking glass of 2010...

In January I said goodbye to my belly button and hello to my 3rd trimester. It snowed in Raleigh, and we had just begun decorating our baby's nursery. We were just two people then, and seriously took for granted our movie going privileges. ;-)

In February we received a very special delivery-Evan's crib and dresser. My belly continued to grow larger than life as we enjoyed our last few months as a family of two.

March was full of baby showers, childbirthing classes, decorating and you guessed it, an even bigger belly! Oh my...and baby makes three.

April gave us Evan

and changed our lives forever. Our church family blessed us beyond belief during and after Evan's birth. We were/are so thankful for family and friends to share in our rejoicing!

In May I celebrated my first mother's day as a mom with a new cornflower blue kitchenaid. We experienced many fun "firsts" this month as we navigated the new waters of parenthood. Cupcakes and McCallisters also made the May list as we commemorated Chris' long awaited graduation from Southeastern-praise the Lord! My sister Sam also graduated from ECU around the same time w/ her Education degree-congrats to both of my favorite grads. :-)

Summer kissed us with it's usual North Carolina heat and humidity. To name just a few highlights, friends were wed, and I turned 25 on July 29th. Just one week before, Chris and I celebrated 3 years of marriage. I made festive cupcakes for the fourth of July, and we made some great memories out and about downtown Raleigh-the farmers market, history and art museums to name a few.

Fall and September greeted us happily with cooler weather and a growing baby boy. Chris interviewed for and was offered his job at BB&T, and so began our much anticipated move to Wilson.This happy boy just sat back and enjoyed the show!

Also in September, Chris' mom came down for a visit before his sister, Paige, began her freshman year at college. And, we enjoyed a Surf City beach vacation. It rained and rained and rained some more, but it was still a nice time to get away and enjoy family. :-)

October was full of Halloween fun for this little monster

We had our annual fill of the NC State fair, complete with kettle corn popcorn, sweet corn and deep fried donuts. 

This year was also marked with loss.  Chris' dad passed from his long battle with MS on October 24th-we are ever thankful that he has been made whole again in heaven.

November was a whirlwind full of packing, paperwork, and holiday hustle. We found a renter for our townhome and were quickly put to work tying up our Raleigh ends. On November 4th we pulled our U-Haul into our new driveway in Wilson, home at last.

We also bought our new car this month, a shiny blue Honda  CRV. Thank you Lord for providing above and beyond our every need. God has been abundantly faithful to us over this past year.

In December I hosted a gingerbread house decorating party, my sister got engaged, NC was blanketed with snow, and I became a full time stay at home mom! Evan's first Christmas was wonderful, and the perfect ending to a year full of dreams realized and promises fulfilled. High five 2010!

Happy New Year!