Yams, Carrots & Squash...Oh My

Yum. Yams, Carrots, & Squash, oh my.

Today I cooked. For those of you that don't know me as well this was a notable occasion. Don't get too excited though. This was not for my own benefit, nor Sean's. It was for Bryce.

Let me just start off by saying that I never ever ever ever thought I would be making my own baby food (I mean, who does that and who has the time?) Well, I guess if you make time... It was a holiday today, so what do I do? I get out the big steamer from the basement (I might have used this twice in the past five years) and I steam away. I steam squash, carrots, yams, and pears.

After the steaming comes the 'puree'-ing. Yes, this is what people do-- puree baby food. There are even recipe books-- which I have.

HOLY COW. I'm exhausted. Even though this whole process only took me two hours, it was definitely a tedious task, one in which I am not sure I can keep up with. But, nonetheless, I have frozen baby food that should last for at least a couple of weeks.

So, yams for lunch. Bryce loved the yams. He ate them right up. He loved them so much they came right out 20 minutes later. They came out the opposite end and out of his diaper, up his back, into his hair and onto his elbows. And guess who else got it all over themselves?!?! Yup. Me. Yes, after I slaved for a couple hours (clean up took another hour), I got to clean up Bryce...and myself. Disgusting.

And then to top it on off, he is Mr. Fuss after all that. Apparently those yams did not set so well and we think this is why he's so upset today. Hopefully, tomorrow is a better day, and if not-- it's not my problem-- daycare! Ha!

Squash-- I put it in an ice cube tray and will freeze it until needed.

Steamer in action.

These are the yams. These were pretty easy too. The carrots were definitely the hardest because I had to use the food processor.

Yum. Yams.

No pictures of the incident that happened 20 minutes after this picture.

Off to more adventures in parenthood.

The Rice Cereal Saga

Two Weeks Ago Bryce had his first experience with rice cereal. He really wasn't a happy camper...

You might be wondering what his bib says: My Uncle is HOT and SINGLE!!! (Love you uncle Danny).

And, this is where we netted out with the rice cereal two weeks ago...in the bottle it went.

And this was last week:

And now, we have much to look forward to as baby Bryce will be starting sweet potatoes this weekend.

Happy 5-months!

Baby Bryce was 5-months old yesterday, here's what he's been up to:

- He's a well traveled baby, this last month he made his third round-trip flight to & from Dallas-- and he's a good traveler. His ears never seem to bother him.

- He started rice cereal on Monday. And I'm proud to say that although it takes him 30min to eat 2 Tablespoons, he's finally starting to get the hang of it. We figured out that it only works AFTER he's had the bottle. (The first day we gave up after the first 30-min and put the rest in his bottle...I know I know, my bad.) He eats this twice a day.

- He still is a chugger with his milk. He hardly wants to stop to burp and he gets mad when you do stop for him to burp. He can chug 7.5 oz in t-minus 7 minutes. He eats about 34-35 oz per day in addition to any that's added to his rice cereal.

- Mom is still pumping. It's starting to get a little old. But, having routine is key.

- He's in 6mos clothes and he's starting to outgrow those. Some things I still wish he could fit into, but it's just not worth the effort trying to snap that last snap that just causes the outfit to stretch to the max.

- He stands up all the time. I barely hold him and he just locks his knees and flexes his upper thighs and stands. He loves to stand. The ladies at daycare even say that he is so strong.

- His hands are always on his bottle....always. He loves trying to hold it-- he can't do it, but he loves to have his hands right on it.

- He loves bath time. Scratch that...he loves the water. We took him to the pool for the second time this month. He loves to swim.

- He smiles at everything. He loves his daddy sooo much. He likes to sing the ABCs with daddy.

- He also loves his mommy :)

Overalls are so cute.

Kisses from mommy! Such a cute combo.

New outfit we love!

A Trip to Texas!!!

This past week, the Reedy family had a nice little adventure to TX!! Yay!! So much fun! The trip, however, was unfortunately more of a work trip for me, but Sean and I tacked on some personal time to the front and back end of it.
My company’s annual sales meeting happened to be in Dallas this year, and, I can definitely say that I have been on overdrive at work for the past couple of months in order to help prepare for it. Anyhow, Sean, Bryce and I came in last Saturday afternoon, and spent some time with Sean’s friends and Sean’s sister Sarah. Bryce officially met his two of his 5 cousins—Ethan and Liam. They all had so much fun playing together, and I know that they will be great friends as they progress in age. Sarah is already planning the family trip to Disney World in a few years. Sean and I can’t wait J
As Sunday afternoon rolled around, I had to begin working before all the sales representatives arrived the next day. Sean also was planned to be working the entire week in Boston, so needless to say, we needed some childcare help. And, so, I had to twist my mom’s arm to take Bryce for the week (not really, she was excited). Grammy to the rescue! My mom came and picked Bryce up and drove him down to Houston. This was my very first time away from the little guy—and although it wasn’t bad at first because the 12hr days kept my mind off of my missing child—by the end of the week, I was getting really antsy to get my baby boy back. Grammy and Uncle Dan did a great job of watching him during the week. Thank god they know how to handle breastmilk…side note—shipping breastmilk is definitely not on my ‘fun’ list. It is a pain in the A$$ to do, and it costs a lot to ship four days of milk overnight.
Anyway, Uncle Dan brought Bryce back up on Friday afternoon (long after all the sales people left). Sean, after being delayed by 24 hours due to the crappy Boston weather, beat Bryce back to the hotel just by a couple of hours.
As for the tail end of our trip, we met up with some of my awesome college friends who came into town for the weekend. Kristin came all the way from Milwaukee to meet Bryce and hang out with all us tri-delts. Fun times! Then, Amy, hosted a ‘Sip n’ See’—something that has been in the works since last July—for all my DFW friends to meet Bryce! It was great! Sean’s aunt, uncle, and cousins came, along with many of my cowtown gym friends, school friends, and work friends. We had a great time, and everyone was able to hold little Bryce.
Sean and I definitely miss Big D—and although we are super happy with where we are on the Mainline in Pennsylvania, we love our friends and family in TX.

Swim Lessons

Yes. 4 months. Swim Lessons. Crazy mom.

So here's the story. On Saturday morning I decided to go to the gym. (First time this year.) As a side note, I might add that I loathe January at the gym. Can all you people that make New Year's Resolutions to get in better shape just hurry up and give up already? Usually it takes until spring break time for the gym to clear back out to us normal gym rats. Anyhow, I digress.

I'm at the gym, and I see this 'Open House for Kids Day' going on. So, since I am now a proud owner of a four-month-old, I inquire. And guess what?!? They have a Water Tot class!! And like all sales people would say, 'No age is too young'! So, Sean and I sign up Bryce!

We get to the class, and guess who gets a PRIVATE LESSON!?!? Ha!!! We do! No one else came to the free class!

We had a great time. And Bryce liked it too. We're sold. We're going to sign him up for classes on Saturday mornings. Fun!!

Bryce got a new swimsuit for Christmas from our awesome neighbors-- it's a little big for now, but he'll grow into it! Ladies man...

Mom, this isn't a bath!

Here we go!

Kick kick kick...

Tummy time is better in the water!

Hold your breath!

Swim swim swim...

Let's play kick the ball!

Very intense focus on that ball by mom and Bryce.

The best day in the pool!

Growing Up So Fast!

Happy 4 months Bryce! On January 2nd, Bryce turned four months! I personally cannot believe that he is getting soooo old! It's amazing the difference that four months makes. Let's start with myself first--

1) Although I am nearly back to my original weight, my body is completely different. I would say that is due to a lack of existence at the gym, and mostly, a crappy diet. Let me just tell you that just because you have a salad doesn't mean you can eat a pint of ice cream.

2) I thought I would be done being drop-dead exhausted by now. Not so much. Despite the fact that Bryce sleeps through the night (most of the time), I am tired, all the time. There is no amount of caffeine that can fix this.

3) I'm still waiting for my linea niagra to disappear. I still have a faint brown line down the middle of my tummy. Hopefully this will be gone by the time swimsuit season arrives. Of course that assumes I'll be in a bathing suit during swimsuit season.

4) I feel older. Now I know that today is the youngest I'll ever be, blah, blah, blah, but the difference is night and day from before Bryce to now. I wonder if this feeling has anything to do with not working out and a crappy diet. hmmm.....

5) I'll admit, I miss Hoda and Kathie Lee. I wish I was home during the day just for this. Maybe I'll set the TiVo.

Okay, now on to the (2nd) love of my life. Bryce has been up to sooooo much, and I wanted to just capture a few thoughts for my general, small audience.

• Mr. Smiles & Laughs is his new nickname. He loves to smile and loves to laugh. He's tickelish on his tummy.
• He has a doctors appointment this week, so I don't know how much he weighs yet, but I'm guessing he's nearly 15 pounds.
• He's into size 2 diapers. I actually had to give the rest of my size 1 diapers away because he was constantly using more diaper than diaper could hold (if you know what I mean).
• His hair is really growing in-- we think it's strawberry blonde most days. Other days it's just light brown/blonde.
• He is out of his '3 month' clothing and into either 3-6 month or 6 month outfits. He's so long that none of the legs fit unless they are 6-month size.
• Speaking of sizes, he still eats 32-35 ounces per day. He eats at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm. He actually gulps like he just can't get it fast enough. But, when he's full, he starts to play with the bottle with his tongue.
• Everything goes into his mouth-- his hands comfort him, and all toys must taste yummy.
• He's a drool monkey some days. Gross.
• He can grasp his binky and hold on to it. He actually enjoys taking it out of his mouth just to insert his fist instead.
• Bath time rocks. He's not huge into playing with the water yet, but it's more like he just wants the water to be as high as possible as he likes to sink into the water. Sometimes we have to embrace him just to keep him from trying to submerge himself.
• He is starting to sit up with very little support. He can sit on our laps and doesn't need to be held for a significant period of time.

Those are some main points that he's up to right now.

The best is this little video that he likes of Baby Bach. He's entranced by the TV. I'm not sure if this is good or bad!!!

Bryce's First Christmas

You might be fooled by how great of parents you think Sean and I are to Bryce. But let me just tell you how not awesome we are.

Let's start from the beginning. First, Sean, Bryce and I ventured over to Ridgway, Colorado this year for Christmas. My parents bought a vacation home up on this mountain where there are members of a golf country club. The home is also about 35 miles away from the popular ski resort of Telluride.

The plane ride went really well for the most part. We had to leave the house at 4am the morning of the 23rd, where we caught our flight from Philly to Atlanta. Although long lines awaited us at the airport, checking in and getting through security was virtually painless. Bryce slept much of the flight and we were so lucky because Sean and I got a row of three to ourselves. Once we arrived in Atlanta I had to find a place to pump-- fun times. Accomplished.

Our layover was short lived (thank goodness), and despite our plane waiting in line on the runway, the airlines were on time for the most part. The second part of our trip was 3.5 hours, and Bryce was getting so ancy because he was so tired since we were up so early and he really didn't have quality sleep on the first flight. Thank God that this flight was also not full, and after a 20 minute temper tantrum, I moved to an open row of two where I could lay Bryce on his back in the seat next to me...lifesaver. I think everyone on the plane also appreciated it.

Okay, so here is the bad parenting. Since we have been here (a total of three days and two nights), Sean and I have been skiing our little hearts out. Up at the crack of dawn to get in two full days of skiing-- grammy is heaven watching our baby, so I don't feel bad there. I do feel bad about leaving him with her today-- CHRISTMAS-- of all days to hit the slopes.

Oh well, he'll live and he'll never remember. Anyway, I think we're celebrating Christmas more tomorrow when my brothers arrive.

I'll definitely take some pics of the new area. We all love it-- such a great getaway and so much fun being only 45 minutes away from a great ski mountain.

We hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

A Letter from Bryce

Dear Mommy Friends,

I am having soo much fun being 15 weeks old. I love my mommy and daddy so much. My daddy is so silly-- he makes so many funny faces at me that I can't help but smile all the time when he's talking to me. Daddy also likes to play Bob Dylan music for me. I don't mind, but mommy doesn't like Mr. Dylan, so I don't know how long that will last. I will say that I also enjoy it when daddy sings ABC's to me. I sing right back with him-- I love the alphabet song, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. Mommy and daddy just think that I coo-- but I'm really singing right along.

I love my mommy too. She's so comforting. Whenever I'm upset, I just know that she is going to pick me right up and hug me. She's so good, she knows when I'm tired, when I'm hungry, or when I'm just plain fussy. I try to be good for her. I try to sleep through the night so she doesn't have to get up to comfort me. I think I'm doing a pretty good job at this because I can't remember the last time I was even up in the middle of the night. After I have dinner at 7pm and mommy reads to me, I usually get tucked in to my crib around 8pm.

Mommy always has to wake me up at 7am. I have to stay on her schedule, because she's got to get to work on time. She always sings loud to me to wake me up at 7am-- I'm not a huge morning person, so this kind of annoys me. I just want to keep on sleeping. But once I'm up, I get dressed for the day, eat my breakfast of champions (or so my mommy says because it's 7oz I eat) and off we go to school. She also always seems a bit stressed about my eating because I sure do eat a lot-- but she says she's still able to pump more than I eat per day-- I'm not sure what that means, but I think it means I have plenty of food.

I love school. I love my teachers. They are so helpful and so great. I'm pretty well behaved there too and I have made a lot of friends. Ms. Lisa and Ms. Linda are who I spend most of my day with along with four other infants all around my age. We have a lot of fun and they send me home with a daily report card to let mommy and daddy know what I did that day.

Well mommy friends, I hope I can steal mommy's computer and write more often. Love you all.

Bryce (or as mommy and daddy often call me-- Brycie)

Here are some recent picks mommy took of me in my new Uggs. They say I have big cheeks too.

I must say I was thinking about some of my goals I set the other day-- post pregnancy goals. One of them was my breast feeding goal. When I told my OB/GYN that I planned to breast feed (BF) for three months, she was upbeat when she told me that I probably wouldn't and that I would probably give up before then. She said that people who goal set for three months usually wouldn't make it that long (I have a very straight-forward, no-nonsense type of physician). Anyhow, three months has come and gone, and guess what?!?! I'm still going strong...smile.

I will say that this is possibly the most annoying, toughest thing I have ever done. It seems like every time I turn around, I am nursing. And, on top of that, it's usually pumping. Bryce only gets the real thing once a day in the evening, otherwise he gets expressed breast milk. I have been able to keep up with Bryce (thanks to my 2am pumping sessions every night), but I must say I'm beginning to get a little tired of this routine. I think after the holidays I'll give up my 2am time, and risk getting less milk. I figure that we could eventually supplement with formula if necessary. However, it is definitely nice not to have to worry about the cost of formula, and pumping less would mean more sleep for mom!

Anyhow, I just thought I would share, because I'm pretty happy that I have been able to do this for so long. My work has been very accommodating with a nursing room where mothers can pump, equipped with a sink and fridge. I go down there three times during the work day to pump, so it's very accommodating.

We'll see if I can make it to six months...

Three Months

A few days ago, Bryce turned 3 months. When I think about three months, it makes me think of the first trimester of pregancy. I really never thought it would end...a lot of nausea with many a night and morning spent over the toilet, and endless exhaustion.

Now, three months has a totally different meaning. Time just flew by, I'm so sad to report all the wonderful things that Bryce is doing for the first time, as his 'firsts' are going by so fast!

Here is what he's been up to since the the two month milestone:

- Talking-- well, in his own terms. He just likes to answer you when you ask him a question, and often he'll just coo to hear himself make noises. It's so funny because his pitch changes and it's as if he's trying to mimic us.

- Laughing-- Sean is great at getting him to laugh. He does it for me too, but Bryce just likes silly faces-- one of Sean's talents!!! Ha!!

- Consistently sleeping through the night. Yes, I'm actually kind of sad. He sleeps right on through. 8pm - 7am-- every night. We wake him up for one last bottle at 11pm (just to ensure he'll actually make it through the night), but he goes right back down. I'll miss our midnight and 3am feedings...I love that bonding time. Now that it's over, I think I'll cherish it even more, but I must say I do enjoy my sleep. Now I just get up in the middle of the night to pump...still a pain, but I'm up and back asleep in less than a half hour.

- Eating, eating, and more eating. Talk about growing...this kiddo is so long. We haven't measured or weighed him in awhile, but he's a growing boy.

- Slobbering. Yuck. He tries to eat everything, including my shirt, his hands, his toys-- which leads to lots of bubbles and lots of slobbering. Not a fan of the wet chin.

- Soon to be out of size one diapers-- they still fit, just snug.

- Size 3-6 month clothing. It's a bit big, but the 0-3 months clothes are just too short. So funny because I remember when he couldn't even fit into the 0-3 month stuff because it was just too huge!!!

- Loving the swing and Christmas lights we put up on the tree. His swing faces the tree-- he loves it. And so do we-- that's where he goes when he gets fussy :) The teachers at school love it too for him! Ha!

That's all for now. :) Keep growing Bryce! We love you!