The haps

I've been really bad at blogging. I keep looking at all the pictures on my computer from summer that I never posted and think, "I'll post them tomorrow." And here it is the end of October. Thus, I've decided to just update you on the here and now. So here...we...go:

1. Aspen: She's over 6 months now, weighs around 17 lbs, and is gobbling up all the solids we can give her. She's rolling, doing a little bit of the army crawl, and making all kinds of funny noises. The clip below is the noise she makes the most often. Not a high-pitched squeal, not blowing bubbles, but a strange growl. I still don't really know how to describe it.

I'll admit, the first time I heard it come through the baby monitor after her nap, it kind of freaked me out. But now we hear it so much we barely notice it. It makes me laugh the most when I'm going up and down the aisles at the grocery store and she keeps "growling" over and over again. We've received some funny looks. :)

She also likes to fly. It never gets old seeing her in that superman pose.

One last thing about Aspen, she is still pretty sensitive to what I eat. Way more than Toby ever was. So a few of my favorite indulgences have been put on hold until after I am done breastfeeding: Dr. Pepper, Mexican food (or any spicy/flavorful food), and chocolate. Only about 6 months to go. *sigh*

2. Now for the Toby-man. He started preschool the beginning of September. Can you believe it? I still clearly remember venting/blogging about his 5:30 wake up times (which still make an appearance now and then) and his never ending teething days. How did we get here?




Toby absolutely loves preschool though. He comes home singing songs and jabbering on and on about what he learned that day.



Lately Toby has been surprising me with how loving and sensitive he is towards Aspen. He loves talking to her, making her laugh, he'll grab a diaper for me when I need one, and he demands to know Aspen's whereabouts when she's not in the room. Little things like that make me smile and realize what a sweet, protective, big brother Aspen has. It also makes me a little more at ease when I think about her entering the dating years knowing he's got her back. :)



3. Me: I'm still half zombie these days, meaning I'm getting up about every 3 hours with little Aspen. Wow, it's been hard. Especially on the mornings Toby shuffles in my room at 6:00 (though he is capable of sleeping another hour and a half) and I know Aspen will be sleeping another 2-3 hours. But, I'm surviving. I know it's not going to last forever and one of these days she'll get this sleeping thing down. I hope. But anytime I want to throw myself a pity party I just think of my little sister, Vanessa, who is currently pregnant with twins (due in April) and suddenly my sleep deprivation doesn't seem so bad. As much as I am completely elated for her, I can't even comprehend what it would be like to get up with two babies all night long. How does one get any sleep? Ever? Oh sweet Nessa, sleep well while you still can!

I thought the above picture was the epitome of motherhood. It's around noon, still in jammies, hair pulled back with tired, puffy eyes. But the little, chubby one I'm holding is worth it right? :)

4. Nick: He's over half-way done with fall semester. It's actually blown by, at least that's what he tells me. He's got just one more semester left and then he will be done with school and I will have a husband again. I. can't. wait. I really hate trying to tell him about my whole day, discuss future events, ask him about his day, and attempt to reconnect in about 8.5 minutes every night. OK so it's not that bad, but I do have limited time from the moment he comes home until he starts his homework to get everything out of my system. All I know is that I gotta throw him a huge graduation party in May. The guy is a machine. I really don't know how he's powered through the past 4 years.

Welp, that pretty much covers it. Next post: corn mazes and Halloween pics (but don't hold your breath. At my pace, I might not get around to posting before Christmas)