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Rodney Atkins - Watching You

This is SOOO going to be Kent with Boston one day!

He's all smiles STILL this afternoon and I got a few pictures of it! Who would have thought that having your lil guy smile at you would just melt your heart as much as it does! I love him!


Sorry his shirt is so wet...he had just ate and the boy still doesn't know how to keep it all in his mouth.

ALL SMILES!

Boston is definately growing up! Normally Boston only likes to perform (smile and talk) in the morning time between his first feeding and first naptime of the day. Kent and I will just lay him in between us in bed and watch him smile and coo at us. It's ADORABLE but kinda sad because normally he doesn't get to show that off to any one else. But YESTERDAY I don't know what happened but he was smiling and talking ALL day! It was the cutest thing EVER! I could never get a picture of it but hopefully I can catch one today and post it--hopefully he'll smile long enough so I can get it. I hope this wasn't a one time thing and that he will continue from here on out to do this. Maybe he just did it because he was happy that Kent was finally home with us all day!

Since I couldn't catch any pictures of Boston smiling, I DO have pictures of him sleeping---for some reason those are the easiest to catch.

Daddy and Boston both sleeping on their bellies! If Boston could have it his way that's how he would sleep ALL the time. The second you put him down for "tummy time" he's OUT!

This was HILARIOUS the other night. I had to wake him up to feed him one more time before I put him down for the night and he was PASSED OUT! We were doing ALL we could to wake him up but he wouldn't budge...he was just limp! It was so cute and I felt so bad waking him up. Needless to say, we did momentarily get him to wake up so he would eat but as soon as the bottle was gone.....so was he!

Bedding Dilemma



Boston is just over 2 months old and I STILL don't have his room put together. I was planning on waiting to do it when we get back to Idaho...but obviously plans have changed and I get to do it now that we're here in Dallas. I have been surfing the web trying to find the perfect bedding for Boston. The more I look, the more I find. Some more pricey than others but right now I don't care about price I just want to get it all decided on. I can't order my crib yet because I THOUGHT I wanted a cherry crib but when I come across some of the cute bedding I've found, they will clash with a cherry crib and I need a white crib....SO DIFFICULT! Basically I have to hurry and decide on my bedding and then I'll be able to decide what crib I want. Here are the nominations for crib bedding:

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/room/rom/romnur/romnurcha/index.cfm

http://www.distinctivenurseries.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=21667

http://www.distinctivenurseries.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=18517

http://www.distinctivenurseries.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=15948

http://www.poshtots.com/catalog/2374/product_list.asp

So now can you see my dilemma? I need to decide soon. I know it's just a "baby's room" BUT it's BOSTON'S baby room and I want only the BEST for him! This is a serious decision!

House Hunting

I was pressuring Kent a few days ago about getting moving on a house. We haven't not decided if we are going to build or buy and I told him that if we're going to BUILD then we need to start the ball rolling so that we can be in it by the time our lease it up in January. We don't have much time. If we are going to buy then there's no rush but I want to find something I like before I say I'm going to buy. Property taxes here in Texas are a KILLER. They say a good rule of thumb is to take 1% of what your buying price is and that'll be your monthly payments--more than likely it'll be lower but just as a caution! So...we are trying to decide what to do. Yesterday after browsing the internet for homes in Frisco/McKinney I came across these TOTALLY cute Cape Cod style homes. I love them because they are different from what you normally see around here and they look so warm and cozy! I fell in love and Kent and I went and checked them out. I LOVE them! I love everything about the houses!

They don't have this style anymore but you get the idea

The area is SO pretty with EVERYTHING close--Stonebriar mall, Ikea, Super Target, Wal-Mart, DOZENS of restuarants, Lifetime Fitness...TONS! It is growing like CRAZY out there... the only BAD thing is that it is about a 25-30 min drive for Kent each day. Which wouldn't be SO bad but his job isn't normal like others. He drives into work for about 1 hr then drives to the area he will be knocking in then BACK to the office to turn in paper work THEN home. So it would be crazy driving! That's the only delima. We LOVE that area and when Kent starts his pest control company that's the area he wants to focus on developing because there is TONS of growth out there. But at the same time we really like Carrollton and this area. The homes just might be more than we want to spend though and its hard because you can get a house out in Frisco/McKinney area for the same price but brand new and bigger!





Who knows!?! Kent is loosing sleep on it...ha! He said last night he had SUCH a hard time falling asleep because he was contemplating on buying this house from yesterday (its being offered at $20000 LESS than the normal asking price), building on the LAST lot in the neighborhood, or buying in Lewisville/Flower Mound/Carrollton area. We kind of have to make FOR SURE decision soon....this is actually kinda all overwelling....HELP!!!

IT WORKS!


So I have really been working hard about putting Boston on this BabyWise schedule. It has not been easy but really it was paying off! Now I can't say that he is 100% better yet but he is on his way. So far this week and end of last his first few naps of the day he has slept the WHOLE time! Also, his late nap of the day he ALWAYS sleeps through as well. That leaves his 6:30 nap that we have to work on. For some reason he has a really hard time with that one. But things are really well! He sleeps from 10:30 til about 5 or 5:30 everday and then lets me lay him back down until about 8. It is WONDERFUL! It's all paying off slowly but surely. My doctor was VERY impressed that he was sleeping as long as he does. She said normally they don't start sleeping like that until about 5 or 6 months! I just smiled big and proud of my Lil Boss! And just watch now that I'm bragging tonight will be a rough night....

Yes, that's Boston sleeping in HIS bed PASSED OUT...doing it all on his own!

Also, we brought Boston to the doctor today. He weighed in at 11 lbs 14 ounces and is now 23.5 inches long! He really is getting huge! He is in the 50th percentile in both weight and height. His head is still a little small but that's okay...I'd rather a little head than a big whopin head! The doctor also gave me the okay to start feeding him 5 ounces instead of just 4 which I'm sure will help him continue to chunk up and maybe even help him sleep longer! He also had to suffer through FOUR shots today! I felt terrible for him but he braved it and made it through kicking and screaming! The poor little guy! I really do like our new pediatrician, Dr. Monica Beamer (thanks Kristin!). She was so nice and VERY good with Boston! Now we have a break of no more shots for 2 more months...give him a little time to recover!

The Dieting Begins!

It's time to start shedding the pounds! I have 10 more to go and I'm sure this will be the hardest. When I was at Target the other day I picked up Bob Greene's "Best Life Diet" book. Okay so maybe I spent a little too much time at Target but really ever since Oprah's show with Bob I've been wanting to try it. I started reading into it and I wouldn't necessarily call this a "diet." It is more like a change of lifestyle. He has 3 phases. I'm of course on Phase 1. The first part really isn't too difficult. It includes:

• Stop eating 2 hours before bedtime


• Eat 3 meals (BREAKFAST--always been a hard one for me, lunch AND dinner) and a snack daily


• Start moving more--get active!


• No Alcohol (I might have a REAL problem with that! HA!)


• Add daily supplements to your diet


• Stay hydrated

*Weigh in initially and don't weigh yourself for 4 weeks (yes, I bought a scale at my long trip at Target too)

*Do this for 4 weeks before moving onto Phase 2

Easy enough huh? I think so...well atleast until I move on to the next phase where I have to switch to whole wheat foods (YUCK!). He really feels strongly about just being active and eating healthy to maintain a good healthy weight, which is what I want. So hopefully the pounds will start coming off. I have started back to doing my daily crunches and push ups as well. I've also recently invested in Slim-fast shakes for breakfast since I always have a hard time with breakfast (quick, low calories and an ok taste!). My friend Amy has also told me to try Fiber One chocolate bars for my snack each day. I plan on picking some up on my way to Wal-Mart tomorrow...I'm a little nervous about those but I'll let you know how they tast.

Not too difficult huh? Well I hope not. We'll see how well this all works. I have stayed clear of buying snack foods like cookies, crackers, chips, carbonated drinks, etc. Hopefully this will help both Kent and I drop a few...heaven knows we could both use it! Now I just need to concentrate on cooking instead of eating out...that's going to be a problem!

GYMBUCKS!

I was so excited to go and spend my GymBucks at Gymboree yesterday. I finally had a reason why I HAD to buy Boston clothes. That money would just totally be wasted if I didn't! So I went and bought him 3 new outfits! They were all on sale so I was proud that I got so much for my money! Of course when I came home and told Kent the exciting news the first words out of his mouth were, "How much did it cost?!" He can never just be excited and compliment the cute things I buy (what a stick in the mud!). I tried to use the excuse of having to spend my GymBucks but it didn't work...I did spend probably more than I was supposed to but there was TONS of stuff on sale! Luckily, Kent didn't get mad (he rarely does anyway), instead he just sighed and complimented the clothes anyway! So of course when I got Boston dressed today (my favorite part of the day) I HAD to put him in one of his new outfits! He's too cute!

He just got done smiling when I snapped this shot

I DID IT!

I'm a new woman! I feel like I look SOO different!

I did the unthinkable! It took me 23 years to do and I finally did it! I finally actually pierced my ears! This may come to a shock for some of you but I really did it and I'm very proud! I kept telling myself that since I felt so ugly pregnant that once I had Boston and I would go get a pedicure (which I still haven't done), highlight my hair, get a professional massage (yeah probably not going to happen anytime soon), and FINALLY pierce my ears! I didn't think I'd be too nervous but when Kristin and I were on the way to the mall I had to try and keep my mind off it. When we actually got there and I was sitting in the chair I really couldn't believe how nervous I was! My heart was racing and my palms were sweaty! But before I knew it, it was over and both my ears were pierced. Why it took my so long I don't really know. Playing soccer as much as I did kept me from it for a long time because I never wanted to look silly with tape over my ears when I played. Then once I stopped playing it was just never a priority. But now I see girls with such cute earrings and I said to myself it was time to do it! So I braved it and finally did it! Aren't you proud?

I LOVE MY AUNTIE

I had to take a picture of Boston's outfit today and post it! Kristin has been so sweet and has spoiled Boston like crazy! She also gave him this shirt so I just had to show her our appreciation and post it!

I had to post this picture because this is what Boston does EVERY time the flash goes off on the camera! It's hilarious but at the same time I have to continuously take pictures until he's not looking straight at the light!

Sweet Southern Comfort

Here are a few pics I forgot to put up from our trip to Louisiana:

Aunt Kristin stuck Boston's feet in the pool and crazy enough I think he actually liked it!

At the Aquarium of the America's (Mimi's treat)

In the shark's mouth...Boston LOVED it...ok ok so maybe he's a little too young to enjoy it. Maybe Mimi will bring us back when he's a little older!

Aunt Kelli and all the grand kids! They all LOVE her!

By the way I love Boss' outfit from this day. You can't really see it but it's soo cute!

It was so nice to be at home with the family. Coming back home always makes me want to come back and build a beautiful southern home with big oak trees on my property and have my kids grow up true southern style with plenty of crawfish for everyone and tailgating and season tickets to every LSU football game. There's just some things you gotta love about the south!

Now that we have FINALLY stopped traveling from place to place and have now settled down in our own place I can FINALLY start getting Boston on the routine that I've been trying to do on and off since he was 5 weeks! I read the book Babywise, thanks to Kristin, and am now determined to live by it! If you haven't heard of the book, it basically is all about putting your baby on a schedule which in turn will make you and baby happier. The schedule goes as follows: eating time, waketime, then sleeptime. By doing this your baby will be able to sleep through the night sooner, be able to fall asleep on his own, be happier because he gets used to the schedule and knows when he eats and sleeps, and it gives mom a HUGE break. All sounds great and wonderful huh? Well, the process to get there isn't so easy. They tell you that you need to lay your baby down and let him fall asleep on his own. Not all babies (especially mine) like to do that. They would rather be rocked to sleep and held the entire time (which Boston has wanted to become accostumed to). How do they learn then to fall asleep on their own? The book tells you to just let them cry...and when I say let them cry I mean I have experienced episodes of crying for his whole 1 1/2 nap! It is SOO difficult to stand aside as a parent and let your little child cry and cry! It breaks my heart! But I know it is working and that it will be worth it! You are allowed to go in and comfort them every 10 then 20 and then 40 minutes. You can't pick them up though which is hard! But I will say that there have been positive results. This is my third consistant day doing it. The first night, Boston slept for 7 HOURS. His first two naps yesterday he slept the full 1 1/2. His first nap today he slept the entire time as well. He still cries (I'm listening to him cry right now) but not for nearly as long. I just have to keep telling myself this WILL be worth it and I KNOW its going to work. It might take a week or so of doing this but I know it will work and all this hard work will totally pay off!

SUMMER TIME

Normally I rotate my shampoos...Dove this time, Pantene next time, etc. Well when I found these new scents from Herbal Essences and I decided that I couldn't rotate this summer. I LOVE their new shampoo scents! The scents make me feel like it really is summer and remind of being in the sun or at the beach! If you haven't tried them, I advise you to try them...they are FABULOUS!

Team Kent

This weekend I was introduced to the Wii! I absolutely LOVE it! I had heard so much about it from everyone but never really understood how great it was until I actually played it myself! I wanted to get one so bad but thought that right now probably isn't the best time since we just started getting pay checks again and we should probably save. Plus I'd rather my nursery get started over getting a Wii (even though I'd LOVE to have one).

Well I'm in luck! Kent just informed me that they have an incentive going now to WIN A WII!!! It's a competition between all the guys in the office...its kinda like a last man standing kind of thing. In order to stay in the running you have to get atleast 3 sells everyday.....at $89 quarterlys (that part makes me nervous). If there's a day when you don't get it, you're out of the running. I want Kent to win SO bad because I want the Wii REALLY bad! I just talked to him and so far he has 5 today and three of those are $89! So we are officially still in the running...maybe we'll get lucky and everyone will fall out today and we can get it! Cross your fingers!

WE'RE FINALLY HERE!

It's official! We have now moved to Carrollton, Texas! We finally moved into our apartment on Saturday. Its so nice to finally have a place to call our own for awhile. I'm so tired of moving from city to city! We won't go get our furniture from Rexburg until September so in the mean time the company is renting us furniture (which I have been sitting around all day waiting for them to deliver and STILL now sign of furniture!). Kent has told me that now that we're settled I can start my nursery! I've been waiting FOREVER to put it together so I'm excited that I finally get to start! Poor Boston has been having to sleep in a Pack-n-Play and hasn't had a room to call his own! Kent swears he doesn't know the difference but I know deep down he does!


So instead of taking today to kind of organize and unpack the little that we actually DO have, I have been surfing the web for houses. Kent and I drove around all day yesterday looking at houses and different areas we might be interested in living. Kent really wants to stay in Carrollton since its pretty central to everything and right next to work. I, on the other hand, want to go out to Frisco where its growing SO fast! But it would be like a 25 min drive for Kent every day. We talked about it alot and have decided that max we will be in this house is 5 years. We don't want to buy anything TOO big because its our first house and we don't want to go house broke. We want to save our money so that in 5 years we can build a bigger house and customize it to what we want. So I told Kent I would look around at Carrollton and see what I could find. If I don't find anything in Carrollton I like then it's out Frisco we go! I won't find any thing brand new because those houses are TOO expensive but I've looked and found the PERFECT houses and I told Kent that we have to buy NOW! Unfortunately we just signed a 6 month lease so after trying to find my way around things and FAILED, I have resulted to prayer! So everyone pray that one of these houses stay on the market for 5 more months!

http://www.ebby.com/details/-2431901.html

http://www.ebby.com/details/-2392668.html

Happy Baby, Mad Momma

Okay, so I was really excited to go and get my swing for Boston. I had been waiting FOREVER to get it because my parents wanted to give it to him and they waited for the shower to do it. So we went and looked for swings, I picked out the one I wanted and was SO excited to get home, put it together and let Boston sit back and relax in his new swing! So Chad put it all together and we sat Boston in it. We started the swing...and it didn't go. We pushed him a little thinking that would help get it started but after a few minutes, it had stopped! I was SO MAD because he loved it so much! The second it started moving he was PAST OUT! He LOVED IT and yet the stupid swing didn't even work! So then we had to take it apart, put it back in the box and now we have to drive all the way back out to BFE to Baby's R Us and return it and get another one! I'm so annoyed! It's such a hassle that isn't necessary! I'm nervous to get the same swing because I don't want the same thing to happen. But I LOVE that swing and I wasn't really sold on any of the other ones there. I guess I'll try it one more time and if its broken...I'm going to be one MAD MOTHER at Graco AND Baby's R Us! Look at Little Peaceful Boss!
The Cherished Swing...trust me the thing does wonders even though it didn't even really work!

Because TODAY is our...INDEPENDENCE DAY! All the counsins in their 4th of July outfits!

I'm so sorry that all of you couldn't have joined us for the 4th. It was such a fun day and I know you are all jealous you missed out! We invited the Richardson's and their whole clan, Jared and Courtney Rawson, Gary Crowton (YES LSU'S OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR!) and his family, and of course the whole Bluth family minus Kent since he decided he had to be in Dallas instead. It was a total of about 30 people. You know its always a great day with fun people to visit with, a pool, and most of all FOOD!

Boston sportin spirit for the 4th

All the women sat around and chatted while the men had their competative..I mean COMPETATIVE game of pool basketball (YES Papa Bluth included!). They all came out of the pool with scratches all over their chests and backs. Some even had blood! It was hilarious to watch them practically drown each other just to get the basketball! The kids tried to swim but the men were all over the place! Poor kids...all they wanted to do was enjoy the water!

This was just the warm up...trust me it was much MUCH worse than this!

After we all ate our hamburgers, Mom pulled through with her annual 4th of July homemade ice cream! It was absolutely DELICIOUS! Once it got dark enough, everyone headed to the front for the firework show! I don't think we new what dad had in mind! At first the kids played with Roman candles and small fireworks (yes, we're true southern rednecks!). I was about to be let down thinking to myself that if dad really spent as much said he did on THIS then it was REALLY a waste of money! But he proved me wrong when all the sudden the guys started lighting the real stuff, "One Bad Mother and One Bad Mother-in-Law!" I swear our show was bigger than the show downtown Baton Rouge that night! The show went on for like 20 minutes! We had ash and debris falling down on us so we had to keep moving our chairs farther and farther back closer to the house! It was AWESOME! Both kids and adults were quite impressed!

Renecks sitting outside in our lawn chairs without shoes enjoying the show

The Pre-Show

Only of glimpse of the REAL show

The day really was alot of fun and I'm sad more of ya'll couldn't have joined us...even more sad that my hubbie was unable to participate in the bball tournament! There were definately some memorable moments made:

• Austin (Amy Richardon/Bascom's lil boy) asked his dad if he was drinking alcohol when Eric had an IBC Rootbeer...in the glass bottle...in his hand.
• Sophie got too close to the edge of the wading area without her floaties and drowned...don't worry Chad and Seth both dove in IMMEDIATELY and saved her life!
• Gary Crowton gave us the low down of LSU's offense this year...the highlight of my NIGHT!
• Mia (Amy's lil girl) asked me what my name was then said, "Are you a boy?"
• Courtney Richardson introduced herself to Crowton's wife not knowing who she was and said "OH ARE YOU RELATED TO GARY CROWTON?!" Her reply being, "Yes actually...he's my husband and he's right over there!"

It was definately a true southern mormon 4th spent with great friends and family!

ALL IN WHITE

Sunday was Boston's big debut...it was his blessing day! It was such a stressful morning. I was trying to make sure everything was ready so we could get there on time. I was running around getting him ready, packing the diaper bag and stressing because my hair was frowing! I planned to give him a bottle on the way to church but I was so distracted because my feet were so hot they were swollen and wouldn't fit into my shoes!!! So instead of thinking about his feeding..me, the selfish one, stuck my feet in front of the AC the whole way TOTALLY forgetting about feeding him! We got to church just in time and I finally got to sit and relax! Boston sat quiely sleeping up until his blessing and he started to fuss MOMENTS before going up! All of the sudden it hit me that I hadn't fed him! I leaned over to Kent and gave him the bad news! It was too late to try to feed him anything! All I could do was pray he wouldn't fuss during his blessing! Well that didn't work because the WHOLE way through he cried! Poor Kent couldn't even concentrate on what he was saying! He was nervous enough and then to add to the stress Boston was crying! I honestly didn't hear a word Kent said because I was just listening to him cry! I guess I'm just a terrible mother! Oh well...it happens....right?!?!?

Here are some pics of our day:

Our little family!
Boss' blessing outfit
Rylee and Sophie dressed in white too in their cute little matching dresses!
After church the Hooper's and Bluth's united and had some lunch in celebration of Boston's big day! It was fun to have everyone around and visit.
Sophie kept wanting to hold Boston but she'd hold him for like 2 seconds and then say, "I'm done!" Then a few minutes later she'd come back wanting to hold him again followed by a quick, "I'm done!"
Bluth clan
Neal and his semi-new wife, Gwen.
Dark Chocolate+White Chocolate=Milk Chocolate (Heather Marie..she's a doll!)
Jerry and his Beloved Wife......Colleen.

Other than Boston crying through the whole blessing, the day was actually really nice. It was nice to have friends and family come to the blessing. We really appreciate everyone who stood in and helped bless him:

Papa Bluth

Chad Withers

Brandon Combe

Jerry Hooper

Neal Hooper

Taylor Nielson

Chris Tarver

Aaron Saxon

Thanks for such a great day!