New milestones

Now that Eddie is feeling better, he seems to have learned all sorts of new tricks overnight! It really is crazy how many new things he showed us last night and this morning.....when I called my mom to tell her about one thing, she guessed something else that he did and I said "oh, that too, but he also did this. and this. oh! and this!" the list now includes:

Pulling up to standing, using the couch. Can I get a big uh - oh on this one? Now all he wants to do is pull up on everything....earlier this evening he tried to use Saddie's collar - Frank was sitting with him and didn't even notice (boys....) until I walked in and Saddie looked at me like "moooommm"...she wasn't really thrilled with it, but let him do it anyway. She got some major love from me on that one, to which Jack walked over to Eddie, let him grab on, then ran to me to get some love too. Ha...at least the dogs have figured out that being patient with the baby = love from momma.
Using his baby sign language!! This was the most exciting development for me. I have been using the sign for "milk" since he was about 2 months old and yesterday I noticed him doing something weird with his hands...as I watched more through out the day, it finally hit me at night - it was the sign for milk! A little messy, but it was there, and it is what he wanted. We also have been teaching him the sign for "eat" when we do solids, but he hasn't started that one yet. Since he at least seems to be retaining the information, I added "more" into the mix. We'll see. My theory on the whole thing is that doing the sign takes an extra couple seconds out of the day, and if it works, great! if not, no biggie.
Walking with assistance. Um, another uh - oh, please. He loves to stand, but a couple days ago (with the help of Nanna - we'll blame her) he started taking steps. Now, whenever he stands, he immediately takes steps. Crawling if for wussies, apparently.
Wussies or not, he is trying to crawl. He will push up all the way on his hands and try to get up to his knees. He definitely has the leg motion down, he just needs to push up all of the way. He is regularly going from back to belly, and can also go from sitting up to on his belly smoothly. While I'm still skeptical that it is around the corner, he may surprise me.
Not sure if this should really count or not, but he is really starting to play repeating games and what not. His new favorite game is to close his toy laptop whenever I open it, so we open and close his little laptop alllllll day long. Thankfully his laptop does a ton of different things, because sometimes it will say "open" "closed" (in english and spanish) and it also plays a variety of songs, including the ABC's. If it did the same thing every time, I think I would go batty. He will also roll his ball back and fourth with Frank, but not with me....the little stinker.
While I am pretty sure he is teething, the symptoms seem to have been going on forever - so I'm not sure if it is teething or not. I can hope that it will be over soon! After Eddie kicked the sick we got little glimpses of our happy baby back and now the teething symptoms seem to hit full force...so we'll see. We're going to get back into our normal routine of classes and socializing, so hopefully he's just got some cabin fever and misses playing with his friends!

-maggie

Spring?

The difference a couple days makes....

{Friday}

{this morning}

spring? I think you're confused. Eddie, on the other hand? After a week of being sick he is finally himself again. He also has a new favorite toy....a whisk.

I think he is going to be a chef - if he is mad, any kitchen utensil makes him immediately happy. At least we've got him figured out!

-maggie

Y3W

As I mentioned in the last post, Eddie has been sick since Monday. He has wanted to snuggle all day and all night, something that Saddie took advantage of. I was holding Eddie on my lap and he was fussing -since Saddie has realized that she makes Eddie stop crying, so she was pacing next to my chair. When I finally let her jump up (ever so gently - this dog is so smart) she snuggled into me and Eddie snuggled into her. He put his little head down on her with his arms wrapped around her - it was the sweetest thing. Anyway...this round started with just the sniffles and a cough for a couple days, and then on Wednesday his low grade fever in the morning turned into a 103.0 fever at night. We piggybacked some Motrin and Tylenol to get his fever down, and tried our best to keep him drinking whatever we could (pedialite is GROSS, by the way) - but we did stop short of our on-call pedi's recommendation to give him flat Coke. Now, I love Coke - I have a rather sick addiction to soda, but I refuse to give that to my baby. I had a hard enough time giving him pedialite and gatorade. Frank and I have seemed to dodge the bug so far, I am feeling it a little today. While Eddie coughed almost to the point of vomiting last night, I told him I would take the sick for him if it made him better...so maybe my wish worked! I honestly don't care if I feel like I've gotten run over by a truck - as long as my baby doesn't have to feel it anymore. Not to mention mommies can take DayQuil! :)

I do have a lot of posting that I'd like to get to (mainly my FOR BROOKE! post), so hopefully Eddie will get better soon so I can keep up - so far he refuses to sleep without me holding him, and is sleeping most of the day, so I have been glued to the couch and honestly, I have never felt more lazy in my life. So while you're sending the flowers some good vibes, send them to Eddie too!

-maggie

Flower Friday - the day the music died

Today was a disaster. While I was (quickly) trying to get a couple pictures of the newest seedling to come up....

This happened.....

I knocked the other planting box off of the table. Now, I usually prevent this by pushing the table against the wall and window so I can't push it off while I move it around to take pictures....but nooooo, the one time I forget. Not to mention Eddie is sick, so while I'm trying to clean up the mess and save my littlest babies, he is screaming in his high chair. He's all "WOMAN! What are you doing? Stop playing in the dirt and pay attention to meeeeeeeeeeeeee *cough cough* Hellooooooooooo - mooooooooooooooommmmmmmm what are you doing?" and you want to know what is going through my head? "grumble, grumble (expletive) (expletive), grumble, grumble - stupid me (expletive)". Cute, right? Now, do you notice how the dirt is right by that heat vent? Well, guess what happens next....the heat turns on. FOR REAL. Dirt is flying everywhere. But by God, I was saving my little seedlings. So I picked each one out of the dirt pile and did my best at replanting them in the pots. Not an easy task, especially when you have a baby screaming at you. How did it turn out...well, um...not so good. They look a little rough.

Poor little guys. The worst part? I thought the fallen box was doing the best out of the two. That's what I get for picking favorites. Basically, I have no idea what to do now. I suppose just some good old fashioned TLC and positive vibes....I gave them some water, blew some kisses and wished them strength.....keep your hopes up!

-maggie

Doodles

one year ago today, I was walking around Disneyworld with my mom, on a trip that seriously tested our relationship. (my pregnancy hormones didn't help either) we just came off of the little mermaid ride (show?) and i peaked at my blackberry to see that a blogger that i followed gave birth to her twins (the doodles - noah and talia) at 23 weeks. schmoodle (bustedbabymaker.blogspot.com) was a fellow chicago nestie....i read her blog when i was trying to get pregnant, cheered when their ivf worked, aw'd at the ultrasound pictures and felt proud when she got the courage to overcome her many fears. and one year ago today, i sat in the middle of disneyworld and cried for a woman i have never met and only talked to via the internet. i cried the rest of the day and would cry throughout the rest of the trip. my heart broke into a million pieces and still does when i think about that day. i can't even imagine the strength it is taking her to get through the day....especially since she is pregnant again (toodle). big hugs to schmoodle. big, big hugs.

Y3W

This week, Eddie has been a really strange mix of Independence and klingy. He suddenly wants to feed himself....and while I'm not quite ready to clean up the messes that will entail, we compromise with this mesh feeder. I just throw a cube of food in there (last night was butternut squash) and let him go to town. He loves it! I also think it helps him work on his coordination, because he really focuses when trying to get it into his mouth....he touches it to his nose and then drags it to his mouth, which means squash all over his face! It's okay though, because he also likes to share, as you can see if the last picture. His new favorite game is giving me his paci (as in, putting it in my mouth) so I hold it with my teeth on the hard plastic part - he cracks up. We do it all day long...I'm sure people see this and think I'm crazy, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for baby laughs. And I'm teaching him to share! Haha. We are still working on the crawling and he has taken leaps and bounds this week. He really likes to try to crawl to jack, so I guess my theory on them not liking eachother is bust....at least on Eddie's end. I think it will suddenly happen one day, to the shock of me and Frank....the poor kid already spends most of his tummy time with his pants tucked into his diaper, so he can get some traction on the wood floors, because he hates doing his tummy time on the rug. I'm in for a doozy, here. His other new favorite activity is trying to pull himself up on everything - including Saddie. Poor dog. He is used to me giving him a little help when he goes from sitting to standing, so he is currently trying to pull himself up on his ball drop thing and looking at it like, 'come on! gimme some help, monkey!' Did I tell you about the stomping? He stomps all. the. time. This makes diaper changes especially difficult. And it also makes standing difficult, when you try to stand and stop at the same time. Eddie already takes after me, apparently...wanting everything at once :)

-maggie

Flower Friday

I didn't kill them yet! Yay!!! I would even venture to say that I'm doing pretty well at this whole thing! This shot is from Wednesday, when the big brown things suddenly opened up, like something out of Alien....

I thought that was cool....until this morning, when I woke up to this....

Isn't that awesome? I'm so happy we decided to do this. It is so exciting each day to see what they're doing, how big they have gotten and so fourth. These big brown ones seem to be the fastest growers...you can kind of see the other ones in the background, just hanging out. I'm sure they will have their own FF post soon! (ps - I am no photograper. I take the shots how I like them...the top one is at night, the bottom one is this morning. I don't want to take the time editing them, so I'm just leaving them how they are!)

-maggie

Dollar Store Diva!!

Yup, that's what I'm calling myself now. I went to the dollar store, seeking some simple Easter decorations just to cheer this place up a bit. I'm always looking for wreaths to put on our full light glass doors, but hate how expensive they are - I mean, for one, I can handle. When I have to buy 2 of everything at $40 each, Frank starts to get angry and I get buyers remorse. So I got some inspiration at the dollar store and came up with these.....

And put them all together to make this...(x2)....

Well, they're much cuter in person. I obviously get my inspiration at night, once Eddie is asleep, so I can't really get a good picture of them outside. I did take this one, that doesn't have the finished bow....

Basically I just smooshed the round berry things so they weren't circles anymore and then just attached them to the wreath with wire. Then I just hung them with a bow and voila! Pretty good, seeing as they were SIX DOLLARS. SIX DOLLARS, PEOPLE! Isn't that amazing? Are they perfect, no. But they give me some spring cheer, and that's all I'm really going for.

I've also remembered why Easter is great....the candy! Chocolate everywhere! Almost as good as coffee...

-maggie

Glich

Seems to be that some of you still have cutestblogontheblock blocked, which means you aren't getting my new, supercute background. Too bad. I'm not changing it - I love it!

Naner-naner-booooo-boooooo

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

Scrapblog, you lied. You didn't come back better...you came back saying "HEY YOU! BUY STUFF!!" I know that they starting this game a while ago BUT it was easier to ignore. It is just getting old, honestly, but I love the site and will continue to go back and use the free stuff. Even though the new stuff is really, really cute.

In other news, our washing machine died last night. With a ton of Eddie clothes in it, water up to the top. GREEEEEEEAT. Apparently, the thing that goes into the thing and under the thing cracked. That is exactly how Frank explained it to me. You know, the thing! The thing! He kept shouting. OH! YEAH!! THAT thing. Now I've got you. Silly boys. He apparently fixed it, but I'm still a little nervous to go down and put some stuff into it. I don't want to break THE THING! Wow, I'm using a lot of caps today. Sorry!

In Eddie related news, he has been a crab apple (or crab pot) for a couple days now. I'm not really sure what his deal is....I keep trying to tell myself that it isn't the switch over to formula that is doing it, but the timing is right. More mommy guilt, just what I need. I try to give him the frozen BM throughout the day, but sometimes he will take it no problem and other times he freaks out. He always takes the formula fine, so hopefully that means that the formula isn't upsetting his tummy. I am going to try to move him to a generic brand, since the name brand formulas are almost double the price of generic. This is a big move for me, as I'm a name brand lover...something freaks me out about generic....if it is the same stuff, why is it cheaper? Something has to be different. The world isn't that black and white....call me a skeptic, but whatever. We'll see if Eddie is as namey as his mommy or could care less like his Daddy.

With Spring hopping up on us (haha) I am really feeling the spring cleaning bug, hardcore. I also have a sudden desire to decorate the house for Easter, which I have never done before. I am loving blogs like A Soft Place to Land and Tip Junkie (who will link you to a bunch of other awesome sights).....I'm turing more into the domestic goddess than tired momma - it is amazing the difference coffee makes!! I haven't had coffee since I was pregnant, since caffeine really made Eddie crabby when it was in my BM. But now I no longer feel the need to nap when he naps - I can just pound a couple cups and I'm like the energizer bunny! My tolerance hasn't been built up yet, so I still have a pretty hard crash when it wears off, but man oh man, sometimes it is worth it! Coffee for all!!!

-maggie

Scrapblog!

My beloved scrapblog is down (they say it's going to come back bigger and better...hopefully!) so while I've changed the background, I need to change the header still.....hopefully I can get it done soon!

....and yes, I'm being a little post crazy. I've missed my computer!

-maggie

My Newest Babies

This post couldn't be bunched with the others, so here it is by itself. This year, I have decided to re-do the planting bed in front of our house. We have a prairie style home, so I really wanted to do something with wildflowers....well, at Mendards the other day I found a bunch of wild flower seeds and decided to see if I could grow them on my own and move them from their small pots into the ground when they're ready. I've never done anything like this before, and while I love plants, I normally lose interest in them after about a month and let them die. So, by posting the growth of my little babies on here every week, hopefully I will stay interested! I'm thinking of doing a "Flower Friday" where I post pictures of them every week, but I'll post these just to get started, and will update on Friday, too.

{Just starting to come up}

{Isn't this such a cool picture? I was kinda proud of myself on this one}

{See that big brownish guy? Those just started to pop up yesterday...I looked in the morning and they weren't there, then all of the sudden - BAM! Big momma-jomba's everywhere}

Now I have no idea if this will actually work, but it is fun to have them growing in the house...it really feels like a spring renewal when you have little plants popping up! My main goal is to get them big enough so I can take out all of the bushes we have in front now and just do a mix of wild flowers and grasses....I think it would be so cool.

{And just for the record, our house!! Well, the front porch. We don't have a lot of space to use up, so hopefully my plan will work....our house it so, so great in the fall with the color scheme (and my crazy mums) so hopefully we can make the summer landscaping look just as good!}

Catch up

When we switched from Dish to Mediacom (like Comcast) we were blinded by the massive price difference - we saved a ton by switching our phone/internet/TV with them. Well, what we didn't think was that when there is an outage, everything goes out. We have had 4 outages in the past week. ARG. I'm guessing this is only going to get worse as the summer continues and there is more construction and digging. Oh, joy. Anyway...

I really had a lot to post, so I'll just do it in pictures.

{Nakie baby jumping! Is there any better way to start your day?}

{Saturday we went to the St. Patty's parade in Dundee - Eddie woo'd everyone with his awesome hat!}

{The weather was so nice we were able to put Eddie in the swings for the first time. He loved it!}

{Everyone knows I love to put Eddie in hats, but even he looks embarrased of this one}

{Eddie with his new favorite toy, his ball}

I really can not even express how happy I am that the weather is starting to warm up a bit. Eddie and I spend nearly all of yesterday outside, walking, playing and swinging. I love to take a blanket out front and sit with him to play....it is really like some sappy commercial or something - a mommy and baby playing outside in our adorable neighborhood. If anyone was driving by looking for houses, I don't know how they could pass this neighborhood by....so, maybe I have alterior motives, too! Nothing else is really new....Eddie is loving Saddie more and more each day, and she is starting to just walk over, give him a kiss and sit next to him. AWWWW! Eddie just watches Jack and Fiona....he doesn't seem too interested in them, but the feeling is mutual so no one is feeling left out. I honestly think that Saddie has realized that if she gives Eddie attention, Frank and I give her attention for being so patient with him, so she's just a smart cookie taking advantage of the situation.

Sorry for the randomness of this post...it was kind of a bunch of posts that I wanted to do just shoved into one. Hopefully Mediacom will start to cooperate and I can post as necessary!

-maggie

Fixed!

I have been getting some complaints that the blog background from cutestblogontheblock.com wasn't coming in and since I changed the text to white to match the background, people couldn't read what I was writing. SORRY! I have it fixed now...but it is more obvious that the blog header isn't centered, which is driving me nuts. Anyone know how to fix it?

-maggie

Cousins

We are very thankful to have a lot of cousins that have babies, especially of Frankie's side. We have Brianne and Brian (with Cade and Amber), Mike and Colleen (with Michael and Mikayla (still cookin)), Michelle and Jim (with Shelby May), Heather and Dustin (with Blake), Jesse and Luke (with Meika), and then Frankie and I (with Eddie). All of the babies make getting together so fun. Who doesn't love a bunch of babies running around? Well...not running. Michael takes off crawling, Michelle walks around holding Shelby's hands to walk, Eddie watches it all from the sidelines. We hung out with Michelle and Shelby one day and the day after, Eddie was pushing his torso off the ground. I think he saw Shelby crawling and got some inspiration! (While reminds me, we should do another so he can learn more! Wait...do I really want that?)

Besides the playing together, the other great thing about so many babies is the advice. I'll never forget Michelle talking to me at one family event saying 'you don't need that, get this, not that' I went home and changed my registry that night. A couple nights ago, I was talking to Heather, who has 2 week old baby Blake. I gave her all of my pumping advice, something I had mastered and was happy to pass on. You can do it, Heather!! With Eddie being one of the youngest, we kind of collect the advice from the older babies and store it away, ready to be used the day I have to baby proof my house (joy!).

Did I mention the cute photo ops? Oh my gosh, the photos....

Michael decided that Eddie's baptism was a good time to crawl stairs. He mastered it on the first try! It was so cute. Eddie loved talking to Michael on the couch, too. I'm sure he was teaching Eddie all sorts of trouble to get into! The top picture is all of the Turza babies, minus Jesse and Meika (we miss you, come back soon!!!). This summer is going to be CRAZY with all of the little monkeys running around - I can't wait!

-maggie

Check, please!

I don't know how many times we get asked wen we're going to have another child. It started with our neighbor, who has a baby 2 days older than Eddie asking when Eddie was about a month old. I laughed. I thought he was kidding. I mean, can you give us some time? He wasn't joking. He said he told his wife that it they were going to TTC (try to conceive) when they got home. FROM THE HOSPITAL. Okay, Duggar wanna-be's.

Don't get me wrong, I love big families. I just went to see the Lovelace's, a family I started baby sitting for when I was a sophomore in high school. It was so fun to sit around a table with a bunch of kids, talking, laughing and fighting. God I love the fighting. Something about sisters.....holy geez can they go at it! I just can't see that for myself. I love Eddie so, so much and honestly can't see bringing another child in and feeling the same way. If we have one, we can give him the world. If we have 2, we will have to pinch. And I'm spoiled, people. I don't want to pinch!

Not to mention I don't want to go through labor again. And to those people that say you forget - you don't. I'll never forget passing out on a birthing ball and waking up to my doctor screaming and throwing it across the room, mad at the nurses for having me get up there. I will never forget my baby's heart rate going so low that we lost it on the monitors and seeing the look of panic on the nurse's faces. I will never, ever forget the pain when my epidural wore off and screaming HELP ME, HELP ME with so much desperation and fear. I honestly don't understand who would want to do that again! MICHELLE DUGGAR, I'M TALKING TO YOU. For real....I love the Duggars. Have you ever seen a cuter family? All of those kids (18) are adorable, the parents are adorable and so sweet. But Michelle, for the love of God, I think you're a little nutty. I mean that with love. I just watched the episode when she gave birth to their 18th child, Jordan. They went to a 'refresher' labor course (please...like she really needs that. She should teach it) and the instructor had Michelle stand in a frog pose - butt held off the floor, knees to the side, arms in front for a little balance - and the only thing I could think was CLOSE YOUR LEGS, MICHELLE! THAT BABY IS GOING TO FALL OUT!!!! CLOSE YOUR LEGS!!! Seriously....I was screaming. Now, that might have been the 2 beers that I drank to numb the pain of engorgement, but still. After 18 kids, that baby was going to fall out if Michelle Duggar sneezed, let alone the crazy frog pose.

So no, if anyone asks. I'm done.....until I look at Eddie one day and think 'where is my baby?'...I'm sure the day will come when I miss the coo's, the still not being able to crawl and thus stay out of trouble, the cuddles....and I'll want another (that shriek you just heard? that was my mother, screaming with joy). But by golly, don't ask. Let me surprise you, because otherwise, I might just ask you something you don't want to be asked. (meant with love, I promise!)

-maggie

Throwing in the towel

**I apologize in advance for all of the boob talk. If anyone is reading this via my facebook page, please don't continue if you don't want to know more about my boobs than you probably know about your own. I will never sensor myself on this blog - it is, after all, the good - bad - and ugly of parenting. Who knows, one day, when you have a baby and are learning about the world of breastfeeding, maybe you'll think of the girl you took horticulture with your junior year - and her miraculous, milk making breasts, and you will suddenly understand.

When Eddie was 3 days old, our pedi at the time told us to give him a paci since he wanted to be at the breast all the time. She said he was preventing my milk from coming in. On the contrary, he was encouraging it to come in. Either way, we didn't know better so we listened. Later that day, he stopped latching on my left side. We went home with the hope that the lactation consultant would come to the house in the morning and help. That night, Eddie stopped latching all together. When I think of that now, it is such a fuzzy memory. I was so tired. I was so scared....my baby wasn't eating. Damn the pacifier. Damn the pediatrician. Damn the formula company that sent us the samples, knowing that breastfeeding was hard and that people were bound to give up. Good thing I'm stubborn. I started to pump and never looked back. I tried and tried and tried to latch Eddie back on once he kicked the jaundice, but it wasn't happening. Well, I lie. Once it did happen and I cried. It was a beautiful, wonderful moment that I will hold close to my heart forever. Let me say this - moms that can breastfeed - cherish it. Love it. I know it is hard, but having your beautiful child attached to you is so much better than a ghetto, blue and yellow pump from the early 90's. One with lovely, see through horns in which you could see your nipple being pulled out an inch an a half. TRUST ME - you don't want to see it in action, but here it is in all it ghetto, 90's glory.

Once, my UPS man came to the door while I pumped, looked into our full light glass door and I think I temporarily blinded him and scarred him for life. Seriously...when he comes to the door now, he rings the bell with his back to the door and RUNS for the truck. He drops that box and runs like a bat out of hell away from that house with the crazy woman and that crazy contraption attached to her chest. THE HORROR!!

I will give it this, I rent this pump from our hospital because the smaller (less scary, I may even call them....cute) pumps don't keep up the the amount of suckage us EPers (exclusive pumpers) need. While I do have to give back the pump itself, which means that I can't run it over with my car as I have been fantasizing, the horns/tubing/bottles are all mine - which means they are going in the next neighborhood bonfire!! Yes, I am done pumping. D-O-N-E. DONE! DONE! DONE!

The sheer jubilation I feel at this moment is completely compounded by the fact that I feel completely selfish and guilty. Thankfully, I have a rather large freezer stash...

...haha, I just *had* to include this picture somewhere. Yes folks, that is a bunch of frozen breastmilk. That is all that would fit in our little freezer - we also have a large chest freezer that is full - to the brim! - with breastmilk. So, in the end, all of my work did pay off. I think I have enough for a month, so that feels good. What doesn't feel good? OH MY GOD THE ENGORGEMENT. To feel like there are bowling balls attached to my chest.....dear Lord. This morning I pumped just to relieve some pressure and gave Eddie his last fresh milk. I cried. It sucked.....but I am sick of feeling attached to that thing. Frank is worried about me dealing with this - the guilt I have is tremendous. But, I gave my son breastmilk for 6 months....more with the frozen. I know I've done well....I wish I was never in this position. I am trying to ask myself if I would have made it this far if I was actually able to nurse. While I'm not sure, I know it would be easier if I didn't have to heat milk, wash bottles, wash pump parts. Will I still feel that pinch of envy when I see someone able to nurse? You betcha....but that one time, months ago out of the blue when Eddie nursed....I will hold onto that feeling forever. I did well, despite the obstacles. I made it, and now I'm ready to enjoy every part of my day - I will no longer dread the time I pump and will instead give Eddie more kisses and hugs. Because you know, he can always use more. :)

-maggie

Boycott

Just wanted to pop in and let you know that I'm boycotting this week's Y3W. It is 10:20 and 51 degrees out. 51 DEGREES, PEOPLE! You know what that means - I'm rocking the flips flops and taking the boo for a walk...then we plan to play outside until I realize that 50 isn't really that warm.....but it will feel soooo good. We've got a busy weekend - tonight I'm heading to Barrington to play with my beloved Lovelaces for a bit, then Saturday Eddie and I are heading to Forest Park for the St. Patty's parade and Sunday the whole fam-damily is going to Bloomington to check out Mac's new (not yet his - but offer in) house. Yayyy! Big brother is growing up :)

-maggie

6 month stats

Today we went to Eddie's 6 month appointment with the yet again, wonderful Dr. Phillips. Here are Eddie's recent stats and milestones....

*18lbs, 11oz, 27 inches long

*Says "ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma" over and over again - mainly when he is crying. He will also say "mi, mi, mi, mi" when he wants milk. He hasn't signed eat or milk, although I still do it each time.

*Rolls regularly from belly to back and will go back to side (how he sleeps) and will scooch (or inchworm, as the pedi said) when on his tummy. Basically he pushed his legs around until he moves the littlest bit. He tries :)

*Will do "stand up" and "sit down" alllll day long (while I'm holding his hands)

*Will hold either side of my face and "give kiss" when I ask...most of the time

*Holds his own bottle and will start a sippy cup soon

*Has eaten - banana, apples, pear, butternut squash, carrot and we're doing zucchini and spinach this week

*Prefers to be sitting up instead of laying down, even on his tummy

*Loves petting the dogs, especially Saddie. He has also learned that we don't pet Fiona, because she will run away, but he loves to watch her. When he was sick, the only things that made him happy was watching the animals.

Overall, Dr. Phillips is impressed with Eddie's development and thinks he may even be ahead. My little over achiever :)

This man, my big man, LOVES his jumperoo. Even more than before, I promise. Now that he can reach out to things, every time we walk by he reaches for it. The good (or mean, depending on who you ask) mommy in me only lets him in for 10 minutes at a time, only twice a day and even then, only a couple days a week. And let me tell you, he makes the most out of those 10 minutes. That man is CRAZY. He screams the whole time he is in it, you have never heard more joy from a little person.

-maggie

I love Picnik

For those of you that don't know, picnik is a super fun website where cheap-o's like me can play around with some photo editing and not shell out the moola for photoshop. love,love, love it.

now I just need to convince Frank that I need a 'good' camera, and I'll be all set for those photography classes I've been eyeing.

-maggie

Baptism

{is there any better way to start this post?}

{seriously...is this not the cutest thing ever?}

{Eddie in his adorable outfit!} {With Arn, who married us} {with God parents, Mac and Christine} {So proud!}

{our beautiful church with Eddie on the big screen!!}

{At the church}

{proud parents}

{Eddie, Shelby and Michael}

{cousins and babies}

On Sunday, March 1st we baptised Edward Francis Turza. In the planning of is baptism, I asked Rev Cope, the new Pastor of our church if he had the email address for Arn Shaper, who married Frank and I 2.5 years ago at the same church. You see, this church is as much a part of our family anyone - it is a place that I can walk into and know that I belong there - my parents were married there - aunts, uncles, baptisms, funerals - this place is mine, forever. My great grandmother's painting still hangs in the hall. Any number of things there will bring my mind flooding back with memories. It had been about 2 years since I've been and right away, I felt at home. What a great feeling. I think Eddie felt it too, as he didn't cry ONCE during the whole service - not even when they drenched him with water (Arn's words, not mine :) ), or when I dug boogers out of his nose, when I didn't let him chew on Stef's bracelet (or hand, for that matter)....he let out the appropriate growls, coos and babbles when he felt necessary and everyone laughed and smiled with his joy. There is something about a baby - and a happy baby, at that - which will bring people together. In so many ways, Eddie's baptism came at a time when I have never been more open to my faith, never more thankful to God for His blessings....Frank and I plan to make the trip to church as often as we can...it is a little over an hour away, so at times that may be difficult but I feel as though Rev. Cope is a great addition to the church and I'd love to show my support to him in any way I can. He has brought a new life into that place, for which I am very thankful.

After the service, we took some pictures and booked it to Mak.ray Memo.rial G.olf Co.urse (where we had our wedding reception..hehe) to have a luncheon with some family and friends. It was so great! The food was amazing and although I have some serious complaints about the wait staff and people running the show, my guests were pleased at that is all that matters. Seriously, they are lucky that place is so beautiful and that the food is amazing. It's funny how sometimes good food and a good atmosphere can make you overlook the most stupid people on the planet :)...but I'm not going to get into that - I'm keeping this post HAPPY!

I'll leave you with this amazing quote and my favorite picture of Eddie (except for that blankie picture - that is my new favorite!) Enjoy.

-maggie

(ps - you can click on any picture to make it bigger)