Henry: 8 months

This update is a couple of weeks behind schedule due to being gone, (his monthly birthday is on the 22nd), but better late than never, right? This month has been the most fun as far as his growth and change, and it's like we watch him grow up a little more everyday. With all of this growing comes so many new, fun stages but also less of little baby Henry too. Bittersweet for sure.  As far as actual size, Henry has gotten so much bigger! Right now he's just getting out of 9 month clothing and into 12 month. He's tall and on the slim side, like another Henry I happen to know quite well!  I'm curious to see how long he is at his 9-month check up which is right around the corner.

As far as foods, Henry is a really, really good eater. He's still breastfeeding and going strong. Here's how our day usually goes:

6:45am: wake up, BF
7:30am: breakfast - usually a fruit and oatmeal concoction although this week we'll be venturing into the world of organic yogurt too.
11am: BF upon waking up from his nap
noon: a small lunch or snack - lately it's been a mashed up avocado or other veggie
2pm: BF before his nap.
5pm: BF a upon waking/before dinner
5:15pm (or so): dinner - some sort of pureed veggies
7pm: BF before bed.

Henry also has a sippy cup of water available to him and will drink whenever he's thirsty. We only do water and he's been doing the sippy cup thing since he was about 6.5 months old. He really got the hang out it around 7 months and knows how to hold it, tilt it, etc.  He never really used a bottle, so now if I have to be gone during a regular feeding he'll just drink my milk from the sippy. We use the Nuk Orthodontic Sippy and love them. I also make all of Henry's food, but while on vacation I couldn't do much outside of mashing up avocados and bananas, so to mix it up he also enjoyed some of the Earth's Best jarred food and a couple other types of organic baby food in pouches.

It's crazy what a difference a month makes- you can even see it in the 7 month to this month's photos. 8 months is the most fun yet (told you I'd say that everytime!).  But really, everyday is something new. A new sound, a new "trick," something else to make Hank and I just die from cuteness overload, laughter, or both.

This month Henry:

will wave hello and goodbye
says "mama" (his first word!)
still doesn't have any teeth
tries to stand with no hands - doesn't quite have the balance down yet
bounces and dances to music
laughs a lot
all smiles, all day
loves to be carried on my hip all the time
knows what "up" means and will raise his arms when he wants to be picked up
lots of squealing and funny noises
lots of babbling and "talking"
good at playing independently
loves Madeline so much
sleeps through the night every night

This upcoming weekend I'm leaving to go to California for a friend's bachelorette party and I'm a little nervous about being away from Henry for two nights, but I know Hank will do just fine.  I am so, so excited for some true "me" time though but I can't imagine how it is going to feel not seeing Henry everyday. My heart already hurts a little but I'm also really excited! I'm sure some of you mamas know what I mean. I've been pumping like crazy, getting Hank prepped on what to do, and I feel ready. So come Friday, this mama is getting on a plane and heading off to a fabulous girl's weekend in Manhattan Beach. Wish us luck!

So, happy 8 months sweet Henry. We love you so much. We're already halfway to 9, and I can't wait to see what it has in store for us.

p.s. note to self: for our next baby, take monthly photos SITTING UP. Even if I have to prop the baby up, it will much easier than trying to keep a rambunctious 8 month old on his back. Talk about baby-wrangling- I should film one of our photoshoots, I'm sure you'd get a laugh!

Flagstaff day trip

This weekend was great and exactly what I needed to feel a little more in the groove of our regular life after being gone for so long.  Saturday morning we headed up to Flagstaff to the Cardinals Training Camp (yes, I married a sports fanatic), and although football isn't typically my thing, it was a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful.  I attended college in Flag at NAU, so whenever I'm up there I'm flooded with nostalgia as I look around at all the places I used to go during some of my most favorite years ever. This time Hank and I went to Crystal Creek for sandwiches to bring on the field, then headed up and parked by the dome. We watched the new quarterback and just enjoyed being in the fresh air and shady pines. It was beyond crowded though, so that was the only drawback.  After camp we headed downtown and explored for awhile; ate some gelato, visited some shops, and ended our afternoon at Dara Thai.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of football I also have to mention that this season I am actually going to attempt to get into it and partake in our tradition of Sunday football parties.  I grew up playing sports very competitively and really enjoyed watching too, but after I tore my ACL at the end of HS and didn't end up playing collegiate soccer, I think I avoided sports related things because at the time I felt too upset that my "future" didn't end up as I had pictured it all those years. (Funny how now I am SO thankful for how it did work out!).  But after staying away from sports for so long my avoidance turned into total disinterest.  Even now though if I'm in the right mood, I'll catch myself getting totally engrossed in games if I happen to sneak a peek while Hank is watching. I can't deny that I love it!  So this football season I'm all in - I'm even playing in a fantasy league with Hank. Those who know me will find this VERY laughable and I'm laughing too, but I'm attempting to have fun with it so we'll see how it goes!

Today was a good day too. We did a lot of grocery shopping to prepare for our cooking this week. Before vacation we were getting into such a food rut- we'd been eating and cooking the same things week after week.  We'd maybe tweak a recipe here and there, but ultimately we found ourselves eating the same thing over and over. Yesterday while wandering through the cutest culinary store ever we decided to just put our love for food to good use and branch out a bit. So last night we planned out recipes for each night and today got the fresh ingredients for the next few days.  I'm really excited!

Here are just a few photos from yesterday- have a great start to your week.

I'm back: An update & our vacation via Instagram! (super image-heavy)

Hiii, I'm back! Did you miss me? ;) I have to admit that it was so incredibly nice to take a full three weeks off from blogging, and I need to send a huge thank you out one more time to all of my fabulous guest posters. I really appreciate all of them, and I also appreciate all of you who made them feel right at home.

I took a million photos over the past few weeks, and sorting through them will take a bit, so I thought I would quickly post an overview of our East Coast vacation via Instagram!  As much as I loved bringing our Nikon out and about, there's something about these quick little snapshots that make me smile. I'm definitely going to be utilizing Blurb's Instagram book option to make a fun keepsake from our trip.

Overall it was a great time, and I have so many things I'm looking forward to sharing! From what I learned flying and traveling with an 8 month old to my new favorite beauty product discovered on this trip, I feel like I have a huge list of upcoming posts. I'm feeling really inspired, which I'm thankful for, because to be honest I actually really loved being free of all things computer on my trip, and I was curious how I would feel when I got home. I enjoyed not blogging so much that I was actually thinking I wouldn't want to do it in the same capacity when I got home. But now that I'm here, typing away in this little box, any thoughts of being disinterested in this space has totally gone away. I'm beyond happy to be here sharing my words and day to day, and if I learned anything not blogging, it's that I need to continue to keep this blog true to me. What that means is less of the things I don't really enjoy and more of what I do. Having this space enhance my life rather than play too large of a role. Exactly what I've been thinking anyway, but I was only reminded of it during my break. Awesome.

And to give you some quick background on our trip, my parents, sister, Henry and I flew into Boston where we spent a short time (Salem, Rockport, etc.), then headed up to our family's house on Lake Champlain. From there we picked up my brother in law Abe and Hank, and headed to the Jersey Shore for beach time, then up north for a family wedding. It was a whirlwind, but so much fun and went by far too quickly.  So with that said, here is our vacation via Instagram!  Actual photos from my camera to follow in the next week or so, and I'll be breaking them up so the posts aren't as image-heavy as this one! ;)

Henry's first baseball game // Sakura Bloom Styleathon Round 3

This past weekend Henry attended his first baseball game, so of course we made a video to commemorate such a fun day.  This particular video is a little special though, because it's also my Sakura Bloom Styleathon Round 3 submission. 

I can't tell you all enough how much babywearing has truly changed my little family's life. Sponsored posts and slings aside, I 110% support Sakura Bloom and what they stand for. I've spoken about it before, but I'd always been a little apprehensive about babywearing in the past- I wasn't sure if it was for me, if I could actually be comfortable carrying around a baby in a piece of fabric, etc. etc.  I was so wrong. Once I gave it a try I was completely hooked, and now I can't imagine parenting any other way.  I am so thankful that I was invited to be a part of this project, and besides the obvious bonus of meeting new mamas and getting to know them, I got to know a lot more about myself, too. We'll move forward as a babywearing family, and I'll continue to profess my love for these slings to every parent I meet that asks me what this piece of fabric and ring is all about. Thank you Leigh, Sakura Bloom, Marla Cielo, Selima Optique, and Lilla P. for making this journey so fashionable and fun. And thanks again to all of the awesome Moms I met while doing this project- we're all so different and it's been amazing being along for the ride with all of you fabulous women!

And now, here is our movie - Henry's first baseball game:






Outfit details-

Pure Linen sling: c/o Sakura Bloom
coral dress: Urban Outfitters
white leather flip flops: Tory Burch
burgundy sunglasses: c/o Selima Optique
woven clutch: c/o Marla Cielo

Henry's day in photos