6 months

Half a year.
It's been half a year since we met our little man.
It's been half a year since I fell in love with his little wails.
It's been half a year since my son first held onto my finger.
It's been half a year since our family was completed(for now)

I'm done messing around with categorizing everything in these monthly updates, I'm just going to roll with it.

I'll start by saying we checked up on his kidney's this last month, and they are doing great. They aren't quite where they need to be, but almost!  He's also grown a ton! We found out he's 17 1/2 lbs and 27 1/4 inches long, he's doubled his birth weight and then some! This is partially because we started him on purees, and he loves them! He has taken a real liking bananas, pears with raspberries and prunes. On the other hand he hates veggies. He refuses sweet potatoes and mixed veggies, and is relatively okay with squash.

He's also figured out how to sit, and squirm across the floor. He's managed to get himself into a sitting position once by himself and the rest of the time we do it for him, he's trying hard though!  The sitting lasts a pretty long time, he's got great balance so far!

He had his first Thanksgiving, which he promptly slept through.
He had his first cold, which absolutely sucked. The stuffed up runny nose was a disaster.
He had his first full carrot, celery and bell pepper, which he loved chewing on.
He got to see his Auntie June! He loves Auntie June! He also met Auntie Abra:)
He met Santa! For a kid who has stranger danger issues, he loved Santa.
He shakes his head no. Not my favorite thing he does, but it's pretty darn cute.

There's not a whole lot more to say, as big of a milestone as 6 months is, he hit all the 6 month milestones last month.

Crockpot Potato Soup

The most delicious thing ever. Okay, maybe not ever, but it's pretty freakin' tasty. And relatively easy. Minimal chopping and the only outside cooking is if you want bacon. And let's be real, we want the bacon. I don't have any of my own pictures for you so I have a couple I borrowed from other people. Plus, their pictures make it look more appetizing.

Ingredients
3 14 oz cans of chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup (reduced fat works fine)
half an onion, roughly chopped
30 oz bag of frozen hash browns
1 block of cream cheese (regular, nonfat doesn't melt well and won't incorporate)
2-3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (depending on how cheesy you like your soup)
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients
Bacon
Shredded chicken
Green Onions
Sour cream dollop


So like I said, super simple.


Add broth and cream of chicken to the crock pot, whisk together so you don't end up with chunks of the cream of chicken. Add chopped onion and bag of hash browns.
Let it cook for 3-5 hours on high or 5-7 hours on low. It's going to look a little liquidy and runny but the cream cheese thickens it upThe last half hour add the cheddar and cream cheeses, I find the cream cheese melts better if you cut it into small cubes and stir it in.

Add whatever additional ingredients you want and serve! It's delicious on a cold with a side of French bread!

Solids

So I'll try and keep this short and sweet, he's officially eating real people food. And by real people food I mean sweet potatoes, bananas, pears, blueberries, and apples. All in mushy gushy form. He has his days when he absolutely digs it, then we have our moments where everything that goes in comes right back out. He recognizes the baby food jar and gets super excited, and also knows if the Bumbo is on the table it's nomming time.  He has done a few entertaining things when he is all done or doesn't want to eat; he's pulled off his bib and tried handing it to us and he will vigorously shake his head no. I don't think he realized what either of those things mean, but the thought of him knowing makes me smile. When he's ready for another bite he opens wide but then starts smiling making his mouth super thin and difficult to maneuver the awkward rubber spoon through his gums (which are still completely toothless). Through all the spoon grabbing attempts and arm waving we've managed to keep mealtime relatively clean thus far and I'm hoping to keep it this way, although I'm not holding my breath. We're so excited for Thanksgiving, I've decided he's going to have a little turkey, a little sweet potato and a little green bean, out of his happy little jars, so he can experience the amazingness that is Thanksgiving dinner!

5 Months

                                       Monster, Monster! He's 5 months!!
                                                  He's getting so big!

Favorites
So Noah's love for his excersaucer has grown immensely. Soo much love for the excersaucer. He's finally learned how to make it sing, and which button makes it sing. He also super digs his Clifford stuffed animal. I'm not sure if it's because it's bigger than him and he can manipulate it, or because it's big and red and easy to grab by the ears. He also loves to stand on everyone and everything.  He held himself up for a little bit, holding onto Auntie's bed frame.  Another love of his? Animals. He loves to look at the dogs and the chickens. I swear he could stare at them all day if we let him. I can't wait for him to discover the fish and the turtles.
Daddy's beard. He's going to be crushed when Jesse's six weeks are up and he goes back to work and has to shave. He loves grabbing it and holding onto his daddy. He checks everyone for a beard and nobody has come close to what Daddy has:)

Not so Favorites
Going to bed/the bedroom. He knows once he's in the bedroom it's time to wind down for the night and he just is not a fan.  Completely freaks out when we try to settle down and only mellows out with a bottle and rocking(but only if he's ready).  If this is any indication of what future bedtimes are going to be like, we're screwed, lol. 
Toys connected to the excersaucer that don't bend. He hates when he can't get one of the toys in his mouth, he doesn't understand that plastic doesn't really bend. I'm waiting for him to pull so hard it snaps in half one of these days!

 Trips We've Taken
Pumpkin patch! We took a lovely trip to Uesugi Farms, he loved seeing all the pumpkins!
We've tried a few more football games and it just didn't happen. Every time Jesse got excited and cheered, Noah freaked out and thought he was angry. Me and The Babes watch by ourselves from the fence when we go.
There was also a mini trip to the farm park, that was cut short due to heat and car troubles. We got to see geese, peacocks, piggies, goats, sheep and chickens(because we don't see enough of those at home). Oh, and a shit ton of squirrels. I'm talking 30+ squirrels, jumping from bush to bush, and dashing up and down trees.

Milestones
WE HAVE A SITTER! And no not a babysitter, a sitting baby:) He can sit gorilla style forever and is starting to be able to sit hands free for about 15-20 seconds.
He's also turned into a feet grabber. He first found them in the car seat and hasn't left them alone since!

I know I probably have tons more to share and just can't think of it right now, but Halloween is coming so there should be plenty of fun pictures to share!

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch!

We went to our first pumpkin patch as a family! We stopped at McDonalds for breakfast to get our million dollar piece (it'll happen!) and then hit the road to Uesugi Farms!

It was super foggy and overcast when we left, but of course upon arriving to Morgan Hill it was almost 85 degrees and icky! Mister Man was all smiles and chatting up a storm the way there and was out like a light when we got there. I know they say never wake a sleeping baby, but I had to! Plus, look at this face. This was the face made when he saw a pumpkin. Priceless.


He was not overly thrilled with the heat but he was a complete angel! We walked around and looked at all the attractions and decided we were going to go on one hayride and Jesse was going to do the pumpkin blaster. It was kind of a no win situation going to this specific farm, on the weekends you get all the parents and families going, and on weekdays there are school buses full of children.

So. Many. Pre-Schoolers.

We held off on our hay ride until all two hundred bajillion kids had done it and made our way over to the pumpkin portion of the pumpkin patch. We found out all sorts of fun facts about pumpkins. Did you know the largest pumpkin pie ever made was 5 feet in diameter and baked for 6 hours? So much pie! And pumpkins can only grow in the same soil every three years? The things you learn at the pumpkin patch! Anyway, we wandered about the pumpkins and looked at a few hundred before I found one, it had personality! It was long, skinny and curvy in the middle. It was going to be a perfect carving pumpkin. But then I gave it up. Why? For a better pumpkin I can carve out and put my naked child in for cute pictures he will probably hate. Oh yes. These will be shown to all his girlfriends. All of them.

Jesse on the other hand is one of the pickiest pumpkin pickers. Ever. His pumpkin has to be a good carving pumpkin, has to have a stem, has to have the perfect cartoon pumpkin shape, can't be too yellow or have green. We're talking the worlds most perfect pumpkin. This is the face of a flustrated man looking for his pumpkin. He was not a happy camper,  he looked at almost every single pumpkin there. In the end he did find his perfect pumpkin:)

We got Noah a baby sized pumpkin. Or 4. One of them is carvable and the other 3 are those itty bitty ones the grocery store decorates with. He was digging it. If he was a little bigger, and it wasn't pure dirt and hay, I would have plopped him on the ground and let him stand on pumpkins. I also wanted to prop him up in our wheel barrow and take pictures, but it was too warm to risk sitting him in the metal tub and potentially burn his chubby little legs.

After all these fun shenanigans someone realized he was a hungry little monster. Jesse loaded the pumpkins into the car and I took feeding duty. After a full tummy and a mommy covered in spit up, we went off to the hayride. We found some shade and hay bales to sit on while we waited for our ride, to come take us on our enchanted tour ride.


So I'm just going to post pictures from our tour and let you imagine you're on it instead of giving you all the deets. That would be a crazy long post in itself!

 But first I'm going to show pictures of my over excited husband shooting pumpkins out of something that looked like it should have been on the top of a freakin tank!

 He shot the pumpkins towards a few bulls-eye targets, some jack-o-lantern targets, and a rusted old pick up truck. The thud of the pumpkin hitting the truck was absolutely amazing. It got giggles out of the baby even though he was more or less asleep.

 

Now for the

ENCHANTED HAY RIDE!

Holiday Bucket List

1. Make a gingerbread house

2. Make gingerbread men

3. Make peppermint bark

4. Go see Christmas lights

5. Go for a carriage ride

6. Make Christmas cookies

7. Get Noah's picture taken with Santa

8. Make ornaments

9. Cut down our first family Christmas tree

10. Put out cookies for Santa

11. Make family stockings

12. Watch Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol and The Year Without a Santa Claus with popcorn and hot chocolate

13. Send out Christmas cards

14. Read Noah Christmas Tales

15. Make an advent calendar