Where has the time gone..

I find it very amusing that when we were little kids are parents would constantly tell us to stop getting so big so fast, or to be patient and enjoy being a kid. Really we all just thought they were crazy and couldn't wait to be an adult and do more fun things. Well now that I am older and Channing is here I wish I would have listened a lot more.

This morning started out like the last few mornings. Chase started his new job as the Creative Director for the Stars and that means that there is a little more work for mommy now. I have to get up a little earlier and handle Channing all by myself  now. Which this is not me complaining but I have just been so use to doing these things in the morning with Chase around which makes it a lot easier for the both of us. This morning Chase was about to leave to head to work and was kissing Channing goodbye when he realized that he had another tooth. I mean he isn't even 9 months old yet and he has another tooth. He is never all that fussy or tired when he is teething he just always has something in his mouth and drool everywhere. Well finally his other top middle tooth came in. There for awhile he looked kind of funny because he had his two middle bottom teeth and then the next one on the left on the bottom but on the top he had his right top middle tooth and the one next to it but not the other middle tooth. Now he has 6 teeth and it makes me suddenly realize that I wish he would already slow down some so we could enjoy him as a little baby for a little while longer. I mean in just a little over 3 months he is going to be 1 and I am not sure how I feel about that yet!!

Anyways just thought I would give a little update on Channing and little bit on how I was feeling about how big he is getting already!!

Baby Proofing and Chase's Bday

Well after spending a lot of time telling Channing to not pull stuff out of drawers and being worried he might get into something that is dangerous we decided it was time to baby proof the kitchen and bathrooms. Little did we know it would take so long to do. The funny part is we installed magnetic locks in the kitchen and when drilling the holes I drilled to far so now you know exactly where to put the key at to open it. Channing had no idea what we were doing but when we were done and he realized he couldn't get into stuff he was really mad. But we saved the bottom small drawer of paper cups and napkins for him to play in and he loves it.
This weekend we celebrated Chase's birthday since we were gone on the river trip for his actual birthday. We had family lunch at Chuy's off of 7th with my side of the family and Chase's. We had a lot of fun and Chase got some great stuff. And I loved the cake I picked out for him!!!

No Toy Box Necessary...

We decided since Channing was starting to really move around now and was playing with a lot more of his toys it was time to do something about them. We have been contemplating getting him a toy box for some time now and I just can't seem to find one that we really both liked and that would still look good in his room. Finally I thought about doing something a little different. I decided to get some cube shelving and add some baskets to a few and that way he could have a lot of toys out at once and it would be way easier to clean up. Of course we anchored it to the wall so he couldn't pull it down but he seems to love it. I have also noticed how easy it is to clean up his toys now and he seems to be able to get to just about anything that he really wants to play with. So here he is enjoying his new toy box.......

New Car

Don't get me wrong I LOVED my BMW. It was the perfect mommy/family car to have. I mean it had tinted windows and leather seats and it had DVD players in the head rests. I mean it was the perfect car for Channing with traveling because once his car seat could be turned around he would be able to watch all kinds of movies in the car. Also there was tons of space for groceries or his stroller and it was so comfortable when we went on trips so it would have been great for vacations. But with all amazing cars that are of that luxury comes the crazy expenses to fix problems it may have. Since we got the car it seemed to only need to be fixed when it was time to be inspected which meant that of course we had to fix it in order to turn off the check engine light. So this year was no different. We thought it wouldn't be all that bad to fix compared to what has been happening lately. Goodness were we wrong! Needless to say it would cost us both my arms and legs and Chases and Channigs as well and it just wasn't worth it.

So this started the "mommy needs a new car" expedition. I love SUV's especially with children they are so much easier to have when you have kids but with this economy and gas prices it was important to start thinking in the what we need and not want state. So I decided I needed something with great gas mileage and it had to be roomy and have a good size trunk. I decided on a Honda. So we went to the local Honda dealer to find this amazing Honda that is certified and has leather, navigation, lots of room, a big trunk and was in great condition with low miles. It was a no brainer. So a couple of days later of more stress about buying a car than a normal person should have to go thru I finally ended up with my new amazing car. I absolutely love it! I mean it is no SUV but hey I will keep this awhile and then I will get back to the SUV especially since we want more kids and this car just won't be able to handle more kids!!

Leaving Channing for the 1st Time

Chase and I had our river trip this weekend which meant no kids which equaled needing a baby sitter for Channing for the weekend. I had weeks to get ready for this but I still was not sure how I was going to leave him for the first time ever for the weekend. I would say I did pretty good. I didn't cry when we left but the nights were hard. I missed being able to put him to bed and telling him goodnight. My dad and Jessica sent us plenty of pics and they took some too of the fun stuff they were doing. We knew he was in great hands so it made enjoying our trip that much easier. But when Sunday rolled around I couldn't wait to go and pick him up. He was so happy to see us and he had a great time with the grandparents and his new found friend Sasha!!!

                                                        This is how we left him

Sick Day

So today I had to take little man to the doctor! He has been having a runny nose and then started a small cough. I wasn't to worried because some of the other kids at daycare have the same stuff and no one is running a fever. I also thought the runny nose was due to him hopefully trying to get his top teeth in!

Well this morning the cough sounded worse and I thought it might be related to asthma and he would need a breathing treatment so I called the doctor to check. They decided it might be a good idea to bring him in and check him out. So we made a 9:30 appointment and I decided we would see if I would go to work or not based on what the doctor said!

At the appointment they took his weight which was 16 lbs and 14 oz! Good lord he is really starting to pack on the weight, although you would never notice since he is getting so long too! While we waited for the doctor to come in Channing started to get crabby and sleepy and very clingy which is not normal for him! Then in came the doctor to let us know that the runny nose was not related to teething and that he did not need a breathing treatment but that he has a right ear infection that looks like was just starting. She gave us a prescription for an antibiotic and suggested we keep Channing home for the day to let the meds sit in his system for about 24 hours.

I called work to let them know I would come up to get some work to bring home! Once Channing and I got home he wanted to play on the floor! So I was letting him play on the floor while I was working on work stuff on the couch! I looked over a few minutes later to notice him playing with one ring(which seems to be his thing lately). He then threw the ring from the rug and onto the tile in the middle of the living room floor. I watched him as he kept looking at it and wondering if he should go for it! The next thing I knew he was out on the tile after the ring! He is slowly but surely starting to make progress with this whole crawling thing! He hasn't taken off or anything where we are chasing him but he is getting the hang of now moving his arms instead of the rocking back and forth part!

When Chase got home I told him all about it and how I think it is time to baby proof the cabinets and get some gates to keep him out of some areas!

Even though little man was sick today and I had to work from home we had a great day! He was very cuddly once I got done with work and slept pretty much the afternoon away when I was working!

So we begin the CRAWLING...

Slowly but surely little man is figuring out how to crawl. It has started out with him learning to get up on all fours and be so excited that he could do that. Then a few days later he figured out how to be on all fours and then push his butt up in the air where his knees were no longer on the ground just his feet and hands! Then we went on to the rocking back and forth! He does this part a lot! It is the cutest thing ever! He get so excited and just laughs the whole time!

I know people will think we are crazy for saying this and later I might even regret saying it but we are so ready for him to crawl! I know we need to baby proof the cabinets and the plugs and get some baby gates and then we will be chasing him all over the place everywhere we go but we could not be more ready! It is just so exciting to us to see him learning new things and being so excited when he figures little things out!

I have even once tried to help him figure out how to move his hands with his knees when he crawls because that is the only thing left he has to figure out and he got so mad at me! He literally did this high pitch scream and started to cry! I figured out right away that he does not want our help and he will figure it out on his own when he is good and ready!

Lately he has been really rocking back and forth and then kind throwing himself forward and then moving his knees to catch up! Of course this moves him around places but it isn't really crawling!

Then today at work I got a text from Valarie(the babysitter) that she had put Channing down on the living room floor next to he couch. Her son Nathan was in the middle of the floor with his small cars couch. Channing decided he wanted to be over by nathan and just took off. She said he slowly started to move his arms with his knees and finally made it to Nathan! She said it was a very slow process and he isn't taking off or anything but he finally moved his arms! Once he got to Nathan he laid next to him and Nathan told Valarie that it was night night time and covered up Channing with his blanket and patted him on the back to try to get him to go to sleep! That is the cutest thing ever!! I can't believe very soon Channing will be crawling and be all over the place! Maybe he will have it all figured out for my birthday! That would be a wonderful gift!

Sleeping in my crib

So as you seen little man had his 6 month check up yesterday.While at the doctors office they gave us a paper with what a 6 month should be doing and what reactions he will have to his shots as well as other things we should be starting with him! The paper stated that at 6 months he should be able to sleep almost thought the night and when we it is bed time we should be able to put him to sleep without using a bottle and rocking him to sleep.
Well as many of you know we haven't even put Channing in his crib to sleep at night yet! I mean we have put him in their for naps but not at night. So I was getting worried that Chase and I were falling behind and needed to get him in his crib! I talked to Chase and we decided we should try to put him in there last night!

So before bedtime we moved his monitor into his room and set up the sensor pads under the mattress. I was already getting a little upset because I am so used to having him in our room right next to our bed so this was going to be an adjustment for sure.

We gave him his bottle about an hour before we put him down and then we gave him a bath. Then we had a little quite time while I rocked him in the rocking chair and read him a few books. I could tell he was getting tired so I tried to put him in his bed. I was sure he was going to put up a fight and it wasn't going to go as easy as I was hoping for.

Of course I was right! Except he didn't fuss or get mad because he was in there. I turned on his seahorse thing and his mobile (which he loves) and he played with some toys. He tossed and turned for about 30 to 45 minutes but then he finally fell asleep. I was completely shocked that I didn't have to rock him or pick him up and walk around with him. It was a sad moment for sure!

He made it through the night with only waking up a few times because he lost his pacifier but that was it. There was also a few times that the alarm went off on his monitor but we figured out it was because he was scooting to far forward in his crib so we needed to move the sensor pad. So for tonight we will make sure to move it. All in all he did a great job!!

6 Month Checkup

Today was little mans 6 month checkup!! First of all I can not believe he is already 6 months old. I mean literally where has the time gone!! His checkup went great! He is in the 75th percentile for his height and the 25th for his weight and the size of his head, which  I must say I was totally shocked by!! The packet the doctor gave us was saying that he should be sleeping in his own crib by  now and we should be starting to lay him down when he is getting tired so he can learn to fall asleep on his own. Well once I seen this I was feeling really bad because he still sleeps in our room in his pack and play so he can be close to us. I mean we only do it because his room is at the front of the house all by itself which is making us a little nervous. But we have talked about it and we are going to try to let him sleep in his crib by himself tonight and put him down without rocking him or giving him a bottle to fall asleep!! Wish us luck!!

Channing's First Tooth and the Second one as well......

So little man has been drooling like crazy for awhile and chewing on anything and everything he can get into his mouth! With all of this we knew he had to be teething! He has not been much of a complainer about it at all and has not been to fussy! We took Channing to his first Ranger game on Saturday of opening weekend and realized that we could see his tooth and that it was about ready to push through! I was totally shocked because I have been watching and waiting to see that little tooth come through! I of course had to hold back the tears at the Ranger game because I didn't want people to look at me like I was a crazy person. The next morning while we were up Chase was playing with Channing and as usual he will grab your finger and stick it in his mouth. Well up to this point it has not been a problem since he had no teeth! Well to Chase's surprise the tooth had come through and Channing bit down on daddy's finger. Chase was screaming and laughing and I could not figure out why! It was hilarious! His first little tooth and it is so freaking cute!.

To my shock it is crazy to think my 4 and 1/2 month old already has his first tooth and he was not fussy or cranky at all. And to my surprise as well when I picked him up today from daycare he had gotten his second tooth. It has only been 5 days and that little booger already popped his second bottom tooth through. Like the first he was not fussy or cranky! I am singing my praises for this because I have heard horror stories of babies getting their first teeth in and it being painful and horrible for everyone involved. Needless to say I have had my tears over this as well because I can not believe how quickly he is growing and changing!

First Rangers Game

This weekend is the opening weekend of the Rangers season and we decided to take Channing to his first Rangers Game! He did so great all night long. He was a little tired when the night started but once he heard the roar of the crowd he was wide awake and ready to see what was going on! We took a little break to get something to eat and let Channing get away from all the loudness. While I was waiting for Chase to get our food I was walking around with Channing and he fell asleep in the most weird way possible. After we ate we went back to our seats to watch a little more of the game. Channing was the passed around to Mema and Pawpaw for a few photos. While Mema had him I noticed that he was drooling a lot more and decided to look at his gums. It looked like a tooth on the bottom was about to come in, that would be so exciting, but of course I just cried! We stayed a little longer and decided it was time to take Channing home so he could get some sleep. Overall we had so much fun at little mans first game!! Go Rangers! Here are some photos!
                                                     
                                                   Trying to figure out what is going on!

Outside taking a break

Then he got sleepy and fell asleep like this

After a small cat nap it was time for baseball talk with dad

Which was followed by dinner

                                                       And then he was all excited!

                                                     Our First Family Ranger Game!

                                               Then off to the car to finally head home!

4 Month Checkup

This morning little man had his 4 month checkup. I can't believe he is already 4 months old but I am super excited to see what new things we can try with him.

At his check up he weighed in at 12 pounds 13 ounces and was 25 and 1/4 inches long. I can not believe  how long he is getting. Poor little guy had to get two shots and he was not happy about it. But on a better note she said we could start him on rice cereal in the morning and if it went well then we could start with veggie baby food!!!!

Fort Worth Cats Photo Shoot

Today we had a photo shoot with the amazing Maggie. She wanted to get some photos of Channing for her portfolio and for us to have some of as well. She wanted to do some kind of baseball theme because seriously we all know Channing is probably going to love baseball!! At first we decided to meet at the baseball fields that all the kids play on. WELL Maggie had a wondeful idea to call and see if we could do the photo shoot at La Grave Field where the Fort Worth Cats play and they said yes as long as they could use the photos later if they wanted too!! I mean who could say no to that opportunity. I was so excited to get some great shots of him on the field, in the dugout, and in the stands. Channing was so great the whole time we were out there too! I am so excited with the way the photos turned out. Thanks again Maggie we are going to cherish these photos forever!!!

It is just Acid Reflux

Channing has been having a small issue. We have noticed that after he eats a bottle he will spit up a good amount of it afterwards. This has made me extremely worried that something is wrong but I am not quite sure what since he is not crying when it happens and doesn't seem upset by it. I decided to have it checked at his 8 week appointment. When we meet with Dr. Vert she said it was possible he could have acid reflux or could have a problem with one of his tubes not opening and closing right which would cause the spit up. She switched us to a new and very expensive formula to try to see if that would work and if it didn't then she wanted to send him in for an ultrasound. We were to wait a week and see if he was doing any better with the new formula. Well when we went back for the check up it hadn't gotten any better so they decided to go ahead and set up the ultrasound.
We took Channing to Cooks Children hospital for the ultrasound. He couldn't eat 4 hours before the procedure just to make sure his system was empty. Once we got back to the room they made him drink a lot of sugar water and burp him to make sure there was no gas blocking the view. We were not there for very long and she said she would have the results to our doctor by the end of the day or the very next morning. Now was just the waiting game.

The next morning we got the call from the doctors office to tell us he has acid reflux and needs to be put on two different perscriptions to help him with the spitting up. She said he will more than likely out grow it by the time he is 1 or before he turns 1. We were so thankful it wasn't the tube problem because that would have required surgery and I am pretty sure that was something I would not  be able to deal with!

8 week photo shoot

Today we had Channing's 8 weeks photos done by the wonderful Theresa! I was not sure how this was going to go down with him being a little tired and wondering if he would even smile for any of the photos. But once we got started with the photos he did great. We took some of him in his crib and he was starting to show his beautiful smile.

Next we took some on his dresser surrounded by all his baseball stuff that Chase got him!

Once we started those photos though he started to get a little cranky because he was getting tired already! So while we tried to calm him down Theresa got some great photos of the room and us trying to calm him down.

After that we took him into the living room and made our own little studio to take pictures.

Channing was great for this part. He was really smiling at Theresa when she was talking to him and she was getting some great shots of him! One of my very favorite is this one, it is a true classic photo!

The photo shoot was a success and Channing did a great job! Thank you so much for the wonderful photos Theresa!!

First ER Visit

I am sure this will not be our only trip to the ER especially with having a little boy but it was enough to make me hope we don't have to go to many more times. Over the past couple of days we have noticed that Channing spits up a lot and doesn't hold much of his bottle down. He doesn't seem to be complaining like he is not getting enough food but it has been really bothering us. Also he has been having diarrhea really bad like every couple of hours and it just seems like a little much for the little guy to go through. I called the pediatrician and he said we could give him some pedialyte to try to help him from getting dehydrated and he told us what to watch for in case we thought he was becoming dehydrated. All of this had Chase and I both really worried especially when the doctor said if it got worse to take him into the ER. Well we only waited a little longer and thought even if they ER tells us he will be fine and there is nothing wrong that would put us at ease.

So off to the ER we went. Thankfully it wasn't busy at all and since we had a little one they didn't want to risk him getting sick by anyone else so they took him back to a room right away. We seen the doctor and went over everything that had been going on and what the pediatrician had told us. He said it sounded like he was lactose intolerant. They were going to check his poop for a bacterial infection and see if it was anything like that but he really thought is was him not being able to have the milk. So we waited for the results of the test that came back that he had no infection that they could test for. The doctor told us to take him home and put him on soy formula and see if we noticed a difference and to check up with the pediatrician in a couple of days. We were so thankful that he was not dehydrated or something more serious was wrong.

If all the other ER visits could go this smoothly that would be great, but I can only hope that would be the case!