Birthdays, Belly Laughs, and Being a Bum!

Let me tell you... I have been slacking on the blogging lately! After all our family Christmas' were over with, it was all I could do to get things unpacked, organized, holiday decorations taken down, laundry done, and the house cleaned up! I just now am feeling like I can catch my breath and get caught up on other things. PHEW! You would think that because I stay home all day everyday that I would have things under control more, but some little boy makes accomplishing things take ten times longer (and I wouldn't have it any other way).

So what has been going on with us lately? Well, this past weekend was Roarke's cousin Mae's first birthday! That is hard to believe! So we loaded things up and headed over to celebrate!


Roarke arrived to the party just before Mae was getting ready to have her cake (he was napping in the car). I don't think he quite understood why she was just in a diaper and he was dressed in layers :)


Roarke and Great Grandma Saxman enjoying the festivities together.


Roarke loved Redwood! I think we may have succeeded in our boy being a dog person ;)


What a sweet picture of Roarke with Gramps... and then he spit up ALL over him! I tell you it never fails that when my Dad holds Roarke this happens :) HAHA!


Roarke and Mae enjoying Mae's gifts!


Playing!


Legos rule!

Besides birthdays, Dan and I have just been enjoying our little boy. Lately, Roarke has been cracking Dan and I up. His personality is the very BEST! He is soooo easy going and just plain happy most of the time! HORRAY he is taking after his father! Dan and I have been talking about how he gives us "belly laughs"... like laughing so hard at him he makes our bellies hurt! It is like this unexplainable feeling of joy being around him. Never thought I would feel that way about a kid ;) Here are some pictures that "belly laughs were involved!


We had a weight check with the doctor this week... look at this happy fellow!


Daddy tickling him is the best!


Even getting clean is fun!


Roarke drinking his morning coffee... haha!

So besides spending time with family, taking care of a baby, and cooking/cleaning I have been kind of a bum. You have probably noticed that I have not been running at all lately! YIKES! I had all these grand plans that with the start of the New Year I was going to get serious about losing the 10 pounds that I'm still holding onto from pregnancy, but yeah, it kind of turned out the complete opposite. With the weather turning cold finally I have instead hunkered down in my nice warm home. O'well... there will be time for all that right.

Week #31


Roarke

We have a doctor appointment coming up next week to get a weight check done, but our guess right now is that Roarke is weighing 14.6 lbs. I'm not really sure what his length is, but I swear he is getting bigger :) Roarke is eating a lot more at each feeding now which is between 7-10 ounces. This is a great thing, but I haven't been able to keep up by just breastfeeding alone so we have been supplementing formula to make up for it. He also eats baby food twice a day and LOVES almost anything we give him to try. His favorite is a banana/avocado mixture and also sweet potatoes. But he absolutely HATES peas! Roarke loves to army crawl around and get into things I would rather him not. He is basically sitting up on his own, but I do keep and eye on him because he at times loses his balance and wipes out. His jumper is by far his favorite thing at the moment and he will jump and entertain himself while I get things done around the house. Roarke's personality is the very best. There is never a morning that he doesn't have a huge smile on his face. He laughs constantly. He loves to be tickled and kissed. And he is sooooo easy going! He is a pro at sleeping... boy can that boy sleep! I usually get lucky enough to have him sleep 13-14 hours straight every night! What a blessing! I asked Dan what his favorite thing was about Roarke right now and he commented that he loves how everyday is a new adventure with him. Roarke is changing so fast and you just don't know what he might learn new each day. He is such a joy and I have to constantly remind myself to soak up everything about him!

#52weeksofRoarke

Retired Therapy Dog

I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time now, but just never seemed to get around to it. As many of you know, Remington has been a Therapy Dog for almost two years. Once Roarke was born we both took a bit of a break from doing visits at the nursing home until we both adjusted to a new baby.


I wouldn't say that Remington adjusted badly to having a baby around, but he has definitely struggled with it. As time has progressed I have noticed more and more jealously come out in Remington. He started to become extremely clingy to me and during our Therapy Dog visits I noticed that he was losing interest in visiting with the residents and just pretty much wanted my attention at all times. Then one evening during a visit he snapped at an employee for no reason at all and I knew it was no longer in mine or Remington's best interest to do visits anymore... I just couldn't take the chance of him biting someone.


Not being able to go visit our residents every week was a hard adjustment for us and it was really heartbreaking for me to not be able to volunteer with Paws and Think in that way anymore. But what is more important than Remington being a good Therapy Dog is that Remington is a good family dog... and that is what we are focusing on now. 

Remington continues to develop his relationship with Roarke and Dan and I continue to make sure that we give Remington the attention and love that he is use to. But it is a learning experience for all of us, especially as Roarke becomes more and more mobile. Not only does Remington have to learn to be more tolerant and patient, but I also have to make sure to teach Roarke the proper way to treat dogs.

Christmas 2015

Christmas was different this year with a six month old baby in the house. Christmas was never much of a big deal for Dan and I, but obviously times have changed and its much more fun with a little one around. Here is our Christmas recap in a few words and lots of pictures!


Roarke got a jumper from his Grams and Gramps! That gummy smile says it all about how he feels about it :)


My dad picked out this special book for Roarke. It features Farmer "Fowler" and all his farm machines! The perfect gift for Roarke from my Dad!


What do you do when you have a baby and want to eat Christmas dinner with the family? Make him the centerpiece on the table of course! "Get me some ham Mom!"


Roarke and his cousin Mae! They are about 6 months apart in age! Sweetness overload!


After Christmas in P-town with my side of the family we headed to Ohio to celebrate with Dan's side!



Of course Roarke was quite busy with his cousins. I had to laugh at how he seemed to just take in everything that they did :)


So many people love him like crazy! Its nice to see and feel from everyone.

Roarke will grow up with two very different types of families I have decided after the holidays together. My family is pretty small and things are very low key most of the time. Dan's family on the other hand is very big and things get pretty crazy when they are all together. He'll have the best of both worlds :)

Week #29


#52weeksofRoarke

**The holidays have kicked our butts... running behinds on posts, but bear with me as I try to catch up this week**
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