Embrace the Camera

Just doing a little shopping with Mom at Tarjay. :)

Go and embrace!

Six Months

It is amazing to think that this time one year ago, little man was just a growing speck inside of me. 

Now that he's been part of our family for the past six months,
we can't imagine our lives without this very busy little bundle of joy!

 

 

 

At his well visit on Tuesday, Max weighed in at 17 pounds 9.5 ounces
and measured at 27.75 inches long. 


Max nurses four times a day and eats solids (pureed veggies) at lunchtime. 
So far he has tried sweet potatoes, avocado, butternut squash, and carrots and has eaten them pretty well! We've also tried out a sippy cup, but he mostly likes to chew on the spout unless I hold it up for him to drink.


He still takes three naps a day, and sleeps from his bedtime around 7:00pm until 6:45-7:00am. 
Right now he's in a stage where he likes to practice his skills (rolling over, talking, etc) if he wakes up during a nap, but I give him a few minutes and he'll usually go right back to sleep! 

Max has his two lower central incisors (translation: bottom middle) and, I feel, 
is most certainly working on his third and/ or fourth. That kid chews on EVERYTHING!

Little man is becoming quite the socialite and LOVES to meet new people (though I hear that stranger anxiety is just on the horizon!). He will smile and coo at just about anyone - which makes the old ladies in the grocery store very happy. :) It is also a joy to see his face light up when Daddy gets home from work!

Max can sit up very well without assistance and only the occasional topple. His primary means of transportation (when he's not being carried) are rolling both ways and scooting himself backwards. 
He is certainly making progress towards crawling but is not there yet, thank goodness!

Max has discovered his voice in the past month or so and LOVES to hear himself (or so we think). 
Laughs, coos, and many other noises often come out of his mouth when he's playing (or "taking a nap") - and sometimes I think he's trying to sing along with me or the Christmas music that's on. :)

Sudden loud noises, most diaper changes, and initially being put in the carseat are a few things Max does NOT like - and he lets us know! It's funny how he is starting to show his preferences for things.

Little man is growing so! He now wears 6 month and 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers (when in disposables). We have graduated out of the infant carseat to one that doesn't have a carrier, we've lowered the crib and are trying to childproof as much as we can (though we're sure we'll miss something!).

It is so much fun to watch our little man growing and discovering the world around him. Each day he is becoming more a little boy and less a baby, and while it makes me sad that we won't have as much snuggle time (not with this wiggle wort!), I'm excited for the next phases of his development.

We are so blessed to be parents to such a beautiful, healthy baby boy!

Weekly Wows

It has been awhile since I've posted one of these, so I have a LOT of wows to share!

Our Christmas cards went out in the mail last week, so now I can share it without any spoilers (although I think the entirety of my readership is on our Christmas card list :)).

 

I am so so pleased with how they turned out! Melody with MinkCards did a fabulous job - as did the nice people at Staples who printed and cut it for me...three times. ;)

We finally hung the letters above Max's crib!

One morning I came to get Max up and noticed that the letter X was in the crib with him - yikes! Since he's been scooching around everywhere and reaching for everything, we decided it was time to hang the letters AND lower the crib. Nothing like cutting it close. :)

Little man is just amazing us with new skills every day, one of which (we think) is getting him that much closer to crawling.

Crazy little guy, doing pushups. Of course, he would do it the hard way! ;)

I tried my hand at making bath fizzes to use as gifts from some instructions I found on Pinterest (where else?!). Unfortunately, this was the result...

EPIC FAIL. Not sure why they ended up all crumbly (and yellow?)...

Now for Plan B. Any suggestions?

Friday afternoon, my sister and I went up to The Women's Center 

to wrap Christmas presents for client families. It was so much fun!

I used to coordinate the program when I was there, so it was a nice change 

to be on the other side with no stress. :)

I dressed Max in this cute little outfit the other day, which was his cousin Jaxon's. He looked so cute I could hardly stand it! But apparently he didn't want his cuteness preserved for all eternity.

Oh, that face. :)

Saturday night I went to a cookie exchange hosted by my friend Stephanie. As always, her home was so festive and she made a yummy meal (La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup) - and even had a hot chocolate bar! It was so much fun to chat with my girls - and, of course, EAT COOKIES! 

Here is my plate after we had tasted all the cookies:

 (Clockwise from top left:  Muddy Buddies; Chocolate Crinkles with Caramel; Cranberry-Pistachio; Homemade Thin Mints; 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip; Coconut Wreaths; S'mores Cookies, and Caramel Apple Cider)

I had hoped to pull through with a win (last year my Molasses Crinkle Cookies came in second), but Courtney beat me to it again with her stellar Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with caramel in the middle! I'm already brainstorming ideas for next year. ;)

Clay and I went out today to do a little Christmas shopping for Max - with Max. Yeah, we know we'll never be able to do that again, so we're taking advantage of it now. :) We decided to try out our shopping cart cover and see how little man would sit up.

He enjoyed chewing on the straps, for sure. :)

So now I'm technically finished with all my Christmas shopping - but I've yet to finish making part of Max's present. And, oh yeah, I should probably wrap them too. :) I'd better get crackin' - December 25th is not very far away!

What's wowing you this busy time of year?

iPhone Dump

So I FINALLY got around to transferring all the great pics I've been snapping on my iPhone 

and thought I'd share a few of the gems...

 Hugs from my little man :)

 Thanks, Mini, for this cute shirt!

One day when I was at Target, I saw footie pajamas - FOR ADULTS. What is this craziness?!!?

Max and his daddy!

Max loves to scoot around backwards...but the problem with that is he can't see where he's going! He often ends up stuck under furniture or in a corner like this. Eventually he'll learn. ;)

I just love everything about this pic: the drool, the rosy cheeks, the dimpled fingers. Presh!

I saw this hairstyle on Pinterest and thought I'd try it out.  I've actually worn it several times since then, but have learned that it works better when my hair is wavy and I haven't washed it in a few days.

Max has started to be more expressive with his face. I love it when he raises his eyebrows. :)

  Most of the pictures on my phone look like this. Max sees the bright cover and tries to grab for it (while opening his mouth, I suppose to try chewing on it?). Too funny!

Play time with Aunt Rachel :)

Clay and I went to Cat City Grill for dinner last week (thanks, Groupon!), 

and I had the Pork Milanese with brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes. So yummy!

 Afterwards, we went to see White Christmas at Bass Hall. It was so fun!

Our friends, Dustin and Chelsea, found this mug for us scooter-lovers at Starbucks. Too cute!

A happy little man after bath time. It is seriously his favorite time of day!

Hope you've enjoyed these snapshots of daily life in the Rich household. :)

Embrace the Camera

Enjoying a few snuggles (giggles?) before naptime with my little man. :)

Go and embrace!

Christmas In Your Mouth

My husband really surprises me with the foods he likes to eat. For instance, 
he really loves black licorice, asparagus, and sushi. He is a much pickier eater than I am, 
so I find it strange that he enjoys these less popular foods - although maybe they are just 
less popular with me! (For the record, I do like asparagus and sushi. Black licorice...not so much.)

Molasses is another one of those things that I am not so crazy about. Growing up, my dad and 
sister would slather it on their biscuits at breakfast - and I would nearly gag from the smell! 
So when Clay told me that his mom's molasses cookies were some of his favorites, 
my jaw nearly dropped to the floor.


And then I tried one. And it was SO good!


These molasses crinkle cookies are officially known as TCU Frogettes on the recipe card; 
my mother-in-law got the recipe from her friend who is a Horned Frog. (We won't hold that against her. ;)) Clay calls them "Christmas in your mouth" - because that's really what they taste like!


I think they are a softer version of gingersnaps, nice and chewy with lots and lots of yummy spices.
You can't even taste the molasses!

Molasses Crinkle Cookies  

Makes about 3 dozen

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling

1 egg, slightly beaten

¼ cup molasses

Stir together the first seven ingredients and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar, then gradually add egg, molasses, and vanilla. Add in flour mixture. Shape dough into balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and slightly flatten. Bake 8 – 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until crackly and golden. Let set for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Go ahead – whip up a batch of these Molasses Crinkle Cookies 
and enjoy some Christmas in your mouth. :)

Three

I saw this on my friend Ashley's blog a while back (who saw it on her mom's blog 

and friend Annalee's blog) and thought it was kind of fun. 

And what better day to post it than the 3rd of December?!

THREE NAMES I GO BY:

Jessica

Jess

JB

THREE BEVERAGES I DRINK FREQUENTLY:

Water

Decaffeinated tea

Hot cocoa, especially now that it's colder :)

THREE THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN:

Copperplate calligraphy

How to use more settings on our Nikon D7000

How to snap

THREE SONGS THAT GET STUCK IN MY HEAD:

Someone Like You by Adele

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Well...pretty much any Christmas song right now!

THREE MOVIES I COULD WATCH AGAIN AND AGAIN:

White Christmas!

Under the Tuscan Sun

The Sound of Music

THREE TV SHOWS OF MY CHILDHOOD:

Full House

The Elephant Show

Fraggle Rock

THREE CAREERS I WOULD ENJOY DOING:

Volunteer Coordinator (I loved doing this at The Women's Center!)

Small bookstore owner

Calligrapher

THREE CAREERS I WOULD NOT ENJOY DOING

(but I'm thankful someone else does!):

Animal Control

Plumber

Returns and exchanges desk

THREE THINGS I AM WEARING RIGHT NOW:

My house slippers

PJ pants

The t-shirt from our Pedal Paddle Pound Challenge two years ago

THREE THINGS I CAN HEAR RIGHT NOW:

Max and his daddy playing :)

The washing machine

A car driving down the street

THREE THINGS TO DO TODAY:

Fold Max's diapers

Run to Target (this is on my list every day - ha!)

Get dressed up for Clay's work holiday party tonight :)

THREE end. :)

The Many Girlfriends of Max

Many of our friends have baby girls that were born within a few months of little man - in fact, three out of the four babies in our small group are girls! Talk about outnumbered. :)

Last week we invited Max's girlfriends and their mommies over for a little playdate. 

It was so fun to see all the kiddos together!

Max really liked Charley's headband

...but she really didn't like him trying to grab it!

Madison liked to show off her sitting skills. :)

Sorry I didn't get one of Abby! She was napping most of the time. :)

We tried staging a photo with all four babies - and here are a few of our shots:

I don't think there were any where all the kiddos were looking at the same camera - ha!

All the mamas and their little ones :)

So glad you could spend a few hours with us, ladies! Can't wait to do it again soon.

Book of the Month: November

So I'm starting off strong with my 29 Before 29 goals, one of which was to read one book a month - for fun. You wouldn't think this would be that difficult. But it is.
Especially when you have a little mover on the loose!

In November, I made some time to read Unbroken, which was lent to me by my friend Katie.

(It also helped that our internet was out for a few days, so I couldn't waste hours on Pinterest. :)) 

When she passed it along to me this summer, she had great things to say, 

and I was excited to read it. Five months later...and I have finally finished it!

I won't go into a whole lot of detail about the story - which is true, by the way - but it was absolutely riveting. With each page I turned, I could not believe the words I was reading! Some of the stories were pretty amazing: surviving on a safety raft in the ocean for more than 40 days with sharks continuously circling and even attempting to snatch them from their boat, enduring brutal conditions in the POW camps (illnesses which under other circumstances would require hospitalization, extreme weather, hard labor), and even the pranks they were able to pull off. I especially like seeing old photographs of the places and events that the book described.

What struck me most was the optimistic attitude of his generation, despite the hardships they faced - even before the war. They took the difficulties in stride and kept their outlook bright. And even when faced with the atrocities of war, these men kept their heads held high. Reading of all the incredibly difficult things that these soldiers faced, I was absolutely amazed at their resilience. It gave me a new appreciation for our military forces, both veterans and those in active duty. I am so grateful for their willingness to make such huge sacrifices!

Had this book not been lent to me by a friend, I probably wouldn't have read it.
But now that I have, I would definitely recommend it.

Up next: My Life in France by Julia Child. I'm salivating already!

Cousins

Max is so lucky to have two cousins that are very close in age - and proximity! 

We know they will be the Three Amigos when they get a little older. ;)

We tried to stage photos of our cute boy-cousin trio at Thanksgiving this weekend.

Emphasis on the "tried."

Here are some of our funny shots on Turkey Day:

Jaxon ran off and left Max with Garrett, aka Mr. November. :)

A BIG thank you to Allyson Keker for knitting the perfect headgear for Max's first Thanksgiving. 

Isn't she amazing?!!!

Max is going to love us for these pictures when he's 13, I'm sure. :)

We decided to try staging a photo again with the boys in their Christmas outfits the next day. 

The result wasn't much better - but still humorous!

By this point, it was getting close to bedtimes and the boys were ready 

for the paparazzi to leave them alone! They were still pretty darn cute, even if the pictures don't capture them at their smiley-est.

 Unfortunately for them, I don't anticipate things getting any better in the future. :)

Max, Jaxon, and Garrett - get ready for LOTS more crazy family photo shoots!