Thursday, April 30, 2009

New Windows!!

We finally got our new windows installed on Monday! We LOVE them. They are double hung windows. We can finally get some fresh air in the house. Its such an awesome breeze! Here are before & after pictures :-)

BEFORE:

AFTER:


Next on our list is a new furnace and new AC since ours decided to conk out the day we got our windows. LOL! Funny how that worked out. At least we have a really nice cross-breeze in the house so we're not in a huge hurry to get the AC. After that we really want to get the rest of the windows done on the house!

It was funny because the installer said that our windows were the biggest double-hung window's they have ever made! Oh, and we love that we were able to pay CASH!! And we bought them from a MI-based company. Nothing feels better than helping a local company in this economy!

Carrots = FAIL, Bananas = WIN

So Brock is just like his daddy... HATES carrots :-( Brock literally gagged when i tried to give them to him. I have a picture of it, but its on our other camera and I'm feeling pretty lazy about downloading the pictures of it...

Still like daddy, he likes bananas! He only eats a few bites at a time, but its a start.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Happy Half-Birthday Brocko!

Happy half-birthday baby! Man! Can you believe Brock has been in our lives for 6 whole months already? Time has gone by soooo fast :-( Here are some fun facts about you kiddo:

- You can almost sit up by yourself without tipping over
- You love sweet potatoes
- You love it when daddy tickles you
- You love it when mommy tickles you too
- You love bath time and splash water all over mommy every time
- You love talking
- You love story time right before bed time
- You can roll over
- You are learning to crawl
- You always wake up with a smile
- You have a natural gift of making other people smile
- You have a lot of nick-names: Brocko, B-Rock, Little Man, Champ, Papa, Stinker-Butt, Cocho-Pechocho, Brockie, and Brockster!
- You've been teething, but don't have any teeth yet
- You always stop crying when mommy sings to you

In these last 6 months, mommy & daddy have tried really hard to be the best mommy & daddy. It hasn't always been easy, but you are so special to us! Nothing brings us more joy than to walk into your room in the morning and see you peeking up at us with a big smile on your face (especially on long nights).

Mommy nursed you pretty much exclusively (with an occasional bottle of formula) until about a month or two ago. Since she started getting really busy with work, you spent more time with aunt Dawn. Mommy just couldn't keep up. So, now you only nurse if you wake up at night or first thing in the morning. Its kind of a sad time for mommy that nursing is coming to an end, but we're trying to stay positive. Because now mommy is able to make you real homemade baby food :-)

Well, here are some pictures of what you liked like the day you were born (10/14/08):



Here is what you look like today (4/14/09):


We love you buddy!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Homemade baby food!

When I was pregnant Spike and I were at a Babies R Us store, when the lady in front of us at the checkout was buying some jarred baby food. We overheard her total, looked at each other, and in that instant, we both decided we would be making Brock's baby food. She spent over $200! Granted not everything in her cart was food, but the food made up the majority of what she bought.

Spike bought me the COOLEST gadget for Christmas this year:
The Beaba BabyCook


Its an all-in-one cooker/steamer and food processor! So, yesterday I decided to make Brock some sweet potatoes! It was soooo easy and I had a blast! First, I peeled the potato, cut it into small chunks, filled the water compartment with water, turned the steamer on (steamed them to fork-tender in about 30 minutes), then pureed them right in the same container.

What the potatoes looked like once I added a little formula and water to make it the consistency I wanted

For storage, I decided to put the left overs in an ice cube tray. After they froze I just popped them out and put them into a Ziploc freezer storage bag.

I'm telling you, this baby food maker is the bomb!
Brock LOVED them! I was so excited and it made me feel so good that he liked what mommy made for him.

Spike's dad and step-mom gave us for Christmas a couple of years ago a big rubber maid bin full of jarred foods:spaghetti sauce, jams, spiced apples, pickles, salsa, and chili. Anyway, we asked them if we could use their canning supplies to start jarring Brock's food. That way our freezer doesn't fill up and if we're on-the-go, we can grab a jar of food and not have to wait for something to defrost. I am sooooo excited to do this. We're going to start that in about two-three weeks. So I'll have to save up and go buy some organic fruit and vegetables! Look for more of these homemade baby food posts! I'm going to try to journal it and start adding recipes (fruit and veggie combos) and Brock's interest in all of the new flavors that we'll be introducing to him!

Easter at the Zoo!

My sister invited us to go to the Zoo o Saturday for their annual Bunnyville event. It includes an egg hunt, pictures with the Easter Bunny, arts & crafts, and plays. My sister went with her two babies and we took Brock. It was the first time for all 3 babies to go to the zoo! We had a lot of fun, but Lenna and Brock both skipped their afternoon naps and were getting cranky.










One of the cutest moments in the day - Brendan holding Brock's hand while we were walking!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Bouncy Bouncy

My sister-in-law is letting us borrow her jumperoo! Brock loves it. This was his first time in it. I'll have to put a new video up of how he goes bananas in it!

Friday, April 10, 2009

New pictures!

Here are some super cute pictures of Brock :-)

Eating his car seat


Trying cereal for the first time