I'm Back!

Hello everyone!
I'm back from Tahoe! It was nice to get away and would have been a great vacation had I not gotten terribly sick on Tuesday. I got hit hard with a very nasty cold, complete with fever, aches and pains. I am still fighting it off and am all about pumping myself full of Claritin, ibuprofen, nose spray and cough syrup. This combo, along with being sick and gone for six days has led to a serious milk shortage. Baby boy doesn't seem to mind too much, only wanting to nurse about twice a day. I am ready to wean him because I feel it's time - he tends to pitch a fit if he's tired and wants to nurse, especially in public and that's no fun for momma (or D I'm sure). So, I guess it's time. It's a good and sad thing at the same time. Good because it means more freedom for me and for D, since he can feed himself and drink milk any time he wants from his cup. Sad because nursing was such a sweet time for us both. It bonded us together and gave me the opportunity to hold my otherwise wiggly little boy and sing to him. He liked to play with my hair and pinch my nose (not always sweetly!). Sad because it means he's growing up and is just one of the things he no longer needs his momma for. Sigh. They DO grow up so fast. While I was gone, D got some good bonding time with his daddy, which is very important for little boys to have. Mikel said he woke up every morning saying, "Da Da?" Daddy would reply, "Dunning?" And repeat.... This morning, he woke up, not screaming for momma as usual, but saying "Da Da?" Daddy was already up and got him changed, dressed and in his high chair with no crying for momma! That means I got to sleep a little bit longer, which I really need to get better. I felt that happy/sad combo again that he didn't scream until I came to nurse him like he usually does in the morning. Another little showing of independence.
On a related independent note, he is walking all around and it's awesome to see! He is so proud of himself! His Tita Paula got him a Radio Flyer car and he loves it. Sits in it and watches the Wiggles or drinks his milk, stands up in it and gives his momma a heart attack.
On another note, we had his 15 month appointment yesterday and we met the famous Ms. Harper Stamps and her momma, Kelly. I like Kelly's story and her blog. She is very positive and always reminds me that I need to give more praise and thanks to God for my life, family and love that surrounds me. D got a great report - 22 pounds and 5 ounces, 31 and 1/4 inch long. Doc said he was developing great.
Well, that's all for right now! It's so good to be back. I'll get pics loaded later.

Step by step....

My baby is walking! He took his first few steps on Saturday and I don't think he realized what he was doing. Now he has, and each day, his confidence grows and he tries it out more and more and goes further each time. Here are some cute little videos from the other night.

Garden Update

Washed and ready to eat.

If you read my blog with any kind of regularity, you know that I love to garden! (P.S. all of those container herbs died! Why oh why am I able to grow gallons of green beans and cannot keep thyme alive in a pot is beyond me!) I attempted a fall/winter garden of beets, lettuce, snap peas and spinach this year and the only thing that made it was the spinach. I planted it back in September if you'll recall this post, and finally got around to harvesting it when I went outside with D today to clean the garden out and prep it for this season. I was amazed at how hardy this plant is! I had pretty much given up on anything growing out there due to the cold temps and ice that we got this year. Plus we got tons of water that washed away the beet seedlings and lettuce seeds. The snap peas grew stalks, but the cold killed any peas that formed. But not the spinach! I didn't water it, fertilize it, or even visit it out in the winter wasteland and steadfastly, it grew. I thought it would taste bitter, but it just tastes like leafy green goodness. Here is what I gathered from the two mature heads. There are several more that never grew bigger than my hand, but have gotten bigger and presumably will continue with the spring.

I wish I could come up with some clever spinach/God analogy - maybe something about His steadfast and unwavering love in the harshest of climates? Or maybe how nutritious He is? But I am at a loss. I just sit and marvel at the design of it all. That's one reason why I like to garden. Maybe that's my analogy. :)

First "Real" Haircut

Trying to comb his hair or answer the comb like a telephone.

Mom, would you cut it out with all the pictures and just open the lollipop for me?

This week I took Dunning to get his first official haircut by someone who gets paid to cut people's hair. Now he looks like a little man. It was hard getting him to stay seated the entire time, but we kept him entertained by giving him a comb and he kept trying to comb his hair. Either that or he was trying to talk on it like a phone, which is big with him right now. Funny how they pick things up so quickly.

The Luck of the Irish

I think this was a Great Dane. He was such a good dog and his owner was very nice in letting everyone pet him and letting me get a picture of him and Dunning.

So, it's not quite St. Patrick's Day yet (WHICH is also my bday, by the way :), but Bentonville First Friday on the Square had a St. Patty's Day themed Friday night. There was Irish dancing and they let the kids get out there and dance to Irish music on the little dance floor, an Irish "band," an Irish themed doggy costume contest and the Celtic Grill was serving up some traditional Irish grub. The weather was perfect and we had fun walking around.

P.S. Today is Floyd's birthday (Dunning's grandpa), so Happy Birthday Floyd!!

We have quite a few March babies in this family!

Today

Hello all!

We're having quite a day today. The past few nights have been marked by D getting up quite a bit, so today we are tired (both of us!). He hasn't had much of a nap, so thus begins the great question - What is wrong with him? I think I've pretty much quit trying to figure it out! He's not running a fever, so I can rule out an ear infection. Since it's not that, I'm just trying to breathe in and out and in and out....repeat.

Mikel's birthday was Sunday, so he and his brother went up to Roaring River to have breakfast with his dad, grandfather, uncle and dad's friend. Normally, they would have gone fishing with them all, as it is tradition for them all to go fishing on March 1st, opening day, but it was very cold Sunday morning so they just went to breakfast. For his birthday, we went to Thai Kitchen for dinner and got him FIFA '09 for his Xbox.

D's newest fascination has been throwing things. As long as it's not food, it's pretty cute. He'll get a small toy and throw it (as best he can) then go squealing and crawling after it. Then repeat.

Finally, I'm going to Tahoe this month with my sissy, her family and some family friends of theirs. I'm super excited! I'll be gone for 5 days and it will be the longest time I've been away from D and I'm ready for some mommy time! We haven't weaned yet and my La Leche League leaders say I don't have to for the trip. Mikel, his mom and possibly my mom will all be helping watch D while I'm gone. We are going to San Francisco for a day and then on to Tahoe to ski. I've never skied before so I hope I don't break anything! I'm also scrounging up clothes to take with me, so if anyone has any size 4 or small ski clothes that I can borrow, please let me know!