Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Trying Solid Foods

We started Kimball on solid foods this week, putting him first in his high chair. But that was a bit too big and since he can't sit up on his own yet, it wasn't going to work too well.

So we moved him to his bumbo (which he loves) and that worked much better for him. At first he didn't really know what to think of it. He hasn't got the hang of opening his mouth and swallowing down very well yet but with some practice he'll get it. Him and I both like the change to our day and he's just so funny to watch. Most of it ends up all down the front of him but that's the fun of it, right?
I love that him and the duck have the same expression, haha.
He definitely needed a bath after his first time, and he loves to cuddle up to his warm daddy after bathing.

Look at this cute little bee!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Adventures

  • Kimball and I went to Boise last weekend with mom, Christine, Heather, and baby Britney. We shopped and ate and experienced Sub Zero Ice Cream for the first time. It was also craft day weekend and we sewed table runners and celebrated Grandma Watson's 82nd birthday. I'd post a picture of my table runner but I didn't get it done. However, Christine's turned out uber cute!
  • Kimball caught Britney's cold over the weekend and its the first time he's been sick. I know he feels awful and despite that he's still a happy little guy, always smiling. He only eats about 2 oz lately and mornings are the worst. His cough sounds so terrible, that deep burning in his chest kind of terrible. His sinuses are congested but he doesn't have a runny nose. It's gotten into his eyes, they're always red and watery. Poor little baby!
  • I took on the adventure of painting the downstairs bathroom. I've got the ceiling painted. That's it so far. I've put it on hold so I could devote all my time to helping Kimball feel better during his bout of flu. Next week I'll start up again.
  • Spring fever is in full swing! I can't wait for outdoor adventures with Kimball! Take walks to Grandma Cox's house, take walks to visit Daddy at work, walk to the park and have a picnic, walk to the library.....its nice to live in such proximity to important places. I can't wait to work outside in the flower beds and have dessert and evening talks with Lance on the porch. I can't wait to open the doors and windows to hear the birds chirping and feel the crisp spring air!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Oh My Boy

Dear Kimball,
You slept through the night last night sleeping 8 hours, but I still didn't want to get up at 6:30 so we both went back to bed. You're turning more and more into a Cox, I can't see the Pettingill features in you anymore. You're such a happy baby, always happy and smiling. You're very mild mannered and love it when people talk to you, you smile at everyone. You're really quiet and only cry when you're hungry. Your laugh is developing and its so funny when you pull a Pettingill poker face around other people, it really cracks me up. I'm the luckiest mother on earth! Your dad loves you more than life and can't wait to come home from work everyday, he just wants to see your face. He loves talking and singing and dancing with you. You are the center of our world and we cherish every moment we have with you.
All Our Love, Mom and Dad

Monday, February 27, 2012

Grandma Lance

Last night I typed up this long post about Grandma Lorene Lance who past away last week. But the computer wigged out and I lost my post. I'm not even going to try to recreate it but this poem she wrote was part of her funeral service.


I'd wandered aimlessly about
and felt the dark despair
of one who'd traveled life alone
and had no one to care.

I'd known the desolation
of long and lonely days
of seeking peace and happiness
in wrong and worldly ways.

I'd searched in diverse places
but no where could I find
the thing that I was searching for,
what was it? Peace of mind?

And then by chance, I came upon
a little child in payer.
She spoke in plain and simple phrase
to Someone who was there.

She talked with Him as friend to friend
in her sweet childish way
with utter confidence that He would hear
each word she had to say.

And then she said, "I love you God
I'm glad you are my friend.
I'll talk with you tomorrow
when I come back again."

That night as I trudged homeward
my thoughts kept turning back
to the little child who had so much
of the things my life had lacked.

And I began to wonder if
that God I'd never known
would help me find contentment
or leave me still alone.

I struggled long into the night
with thoughts both old and new.
The panorama of my life
kept coming to my view.

The wasted years, so many gone
I needed help to carry on.
And so in doubt and trembling
I knelt beside by bed
I know not what the hour was
I know not what I said.

I only know I begged that God
for faith as that small child
to help me change my worldly ways
and make my life worth while.

And all at once I felt a glow
in that early morning hour.
I felt a peace I'd never known
what was that source of Power?

There is a God, my heart cried out!
I feel Him near to me.
I know He lives, that He is real.
He's heard my humble plea.

And so my friends don't search alone
for something you can't find.
Just pray to Him who cared for you
He'll answer yours, He answered mine!

-Grandma Lance

Four Months

Kimball had his 4 month check up today, I can't believe he's that old already and I love his little personality forming. He smiles and laughs whenever he's awake, I love it. His stats are this:
  • Head circumference 38.5 cm which isn't even on the charts. Needless to say he has a little head. Dr. Jones said not to be too worried about it yet.
  • Weight 13.7 lb getting to the 25th percentile
  • Length is 24.75 getting to the 50th percentile
Can I just say how much I love Dr. Jones, he really is my favorite!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Aunt Carolyn

For FHE on Monday we went with Ma and Pa Cox to visit Aunt Carolyn. She looks just like she always does and acts just like she always does - chipper and humorous. It was the first time she met Kimball and although she couldn't hold him because of her ailments, it was special. She's a strong woman and had been through so much the last several months, I honestly don't know how she does it. I had to be sneaky, she hates her picture being taken.

As of Late

For the past three weeks Kimball has been fairly consistent at getting up only once every night. On these days I feel like I'm on top of the world and can accomplish anything I want. There are a few nights here and there where he will get up 2-4 times and on those days.....oh my. It's so easy to get used to the nights of good sleep that I forget he's only three months old. But I think we're making progress. He's got a good routine during both the day and night so everyone is happy.

This past week he's started to laugh audibly.....like there's actual noise coming out. He's always done a little airy chuckle that is often times confused with a grunt, but now he's got more of an umph to it turning it into a giggle. I can only get him to do it in the mornings when he wakes up and its for just a few seconds. Music to my ears.

I do get tired of all the doctor check ups he has to have. Yesterday he went to the ENT doctor for another hearing screening. Apparently there's an antibiotic called gentamicin that they give NICU babies and it can stay in the their system for six months. The audiologist said 1 in 200 babies have hearing loss because of it and luckily Kimball isn't one of them although he has to have another screening in three months.

In the evenings he tends to be a little more needy/fussy and doesn't like to nap very well. This is also the time Lance comes home from work and he perks right up when he sees his Dad. He's the center of our world and the reason we get up every morning. Quite literally. :)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Fabric Leaves

These little fabric leaves are my latest fave. I LOVE THEM!!! You just cut out about 30 leaves from fabric (front and back), cut out 30 smaller leaves of peltex and iron them together. Sew a line down the middle. Sew a zigzag all the way around the leaf. Use pinking shears to cut a decorative edge. Then zigzag the branch onto the back. My sewing isn't great since I haven't sewed for about 12 years and this was the best leaf I could find that I wouldn't be too ashamed if I showed anyone. I used 3 different coordinating fabrics which I picked up at The Quilt Barn (a definite ooh and ahh fabric store if you haven't been). The free detailed instructions/pattern is found here, compliments of Amy Butler.

So, what do you get when you put 30 of these fabric leaves on branches in a vase?

Pretty little leaves! I love every little inch of them and they reside by my trusty duck in the corner of the kitchen.

Accordian Fan Banner

Are you thinking, enough of the banners? This one was super easy and is going above the mantle.


Scrabble

This was January's craft that mom brought home for me since I was in Provo with Lance. I added the fabric heart because I felt it needed a little extra something. It sits atop my bookshelf.

ABC Banner

I love this scrapbook paper. It's vintage and uber cute. I just cut it apart (it had all these squares on one sheet) and tied it together at the top corners. I also bought a sheet of these little ABC stamps which I tacked on here and there. It doesn't have all the ABC's on there but just look at the paper, man I love it. I'm working on some ABC's for him as well.


Sunday, February 5, 2012

Lessons From the Week

  • The dollar store is pretty amazing most of the time. I'm starting to think regular department stores are ripping me off.
  • Never underestimate the power of a fresh coat of paint
  • I weighed myself this morning after having started exercising two weeks ago. Guess how much I've lost? None. Nada. Zilch. I've gained two more pounds. Dang Gina, seriously?! It's so frustrating!!! I don't know if my body is always going to be like this since having a baby or if I need to give it more time. I know my body will never be the same but that doesn't mean I have to be Captain McJello all the time either. So I'm going to try harder. But man, I was livid when I saw the numbers.
  • It feels wonderfully awesome to cross something off my to-do list or to finish a project. I think I'll start listing minuscule and trivial things such as brushing my teeth or putting socks on.
  • I finished two craft projects this week and still have a few others I need to post pictures of. Both are for my kitchen and I'm deeply in love with them. Even Lance was impressed.
  • Today was the first day I taught the 15-18 year olds in sunday school. The general public doesn't give teenagers enough credit. They really are good kids who are trying to find their place in the world and want to make a difference.
  • We went on a date to Death By Chocolate, our first time going to the annual event, and I'll never go again. It was so unbelievably crowded I was about to have a panic attack, I wasn't impressed by the live music which was so loud I couldn't hear Lance yelling in my ear, and the chocolate was just mediocre. I wasn't wowed by any of the samples. All in all, two thumbs down.
  • During my pregnancy my feet grew. Not tons but just enough that all my high heels are too small. Dang.
  • In the middle of the night while feeding Kimball, I had an idea of another way to spruce up the living room besides the crown moulding we already put up. I won't say yet but I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I hope I have enough play money to get it done (I cashed in all my coins...yes call me 7 years old but money is money) and I'll need to enlist mom's help for this one.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Newborn Photo Shoot

We got the pictures back from Kimball's newborn photo shoot. He was two weeks old at the time, we had to wait for him to come home from the NICU. I still can't believe how little he was! The most phenomenal picture to actually see being taken was the one in the suitcase. No, it's not a regular size suitcase, it's a tiny 10" makeup case and I'm still shocked he was small enough to fit in it. It's funny to me to see the red marks around his lips, chin, and nose from his pacifier; he wouldn't let go of it for anything.

It's a nostalgic feeling looking back through all of them.......I've already forgotten how small he was, I miss his hair now that its fallen out, whenever his eyes were open he always wrinkled his eyebrows, and his pointy ears have now rounded out. He's lost some of his newborn-ness and its sad for his mama.

Thanks SO MUCH to Emily for doing it for us!!










Sunday, January 29, 2012

Projects

I have come to love pinterest because of all the inspiration out there in every aspect of life. Just to jot it down while its fresh in my mind, here are some diy projects that I want to get underway.

  • I want to create a Mud room sort of area by the back door. Technically there's not a separate room but we definitely need a place for muddy shoes, jackets, gardening gloves and buckets, etc. And I'm going to try to get it done out of a few old doors, complete with a padded bench that opens up for storage.
  • ABC blocks so I can finish an area of Kimball's room I've been working on.
  • Last summer I bought a child's school desk at a yard sale for $1. It's currently Lance's nightstand and I bought all the supplies last year to redo it, just haven't had time with the pregnancy and now new baby. But I will get to it soon. I also bought a little side table at the same yard sale for $5, I need to redo that one as well.

I've got a few projects finished this past weekend that I need to document, that will be coming soon. And the super cute branches/leaves from the Amy Butler pattern....I'm finishing that on Tuesday with mom, so excited! Most craft posts to come.

On the same note about projects, during the summer Lance knocked out the porch windows and doors to open it up. It looks so much better! I keep forgetting to post a picture so I'll try to do that soon, I'm only 6 months overdo. Also, a few weeks ago I painted the living room ceiling and Lance put up crown molding. It looks good but we're not quite finished with it yet. I'm trying to convince Lance that we need to repaint the whole room. Initially I just thought we'd touch it up and I do love the chocolate brown color but its really dark. Dark walls and limited lighting drives me crazy in the evenings because we can have all the lights on in the house and its still really dim in there. We'll see if I can convince him, but the catch is, he'll want me to paint.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Growing Like A Weed

I'm amazed at how much Kimball has grown and developed the last few days. He's discovered his hands and tries to eat them all the time. His 3 month clothes are too small and what's funny is the 0-3 month clothes are a little too big. His little legs are so strong, every time I try to sit him up he doesn't have it, he loves to stand (with help balancing of course). He's awake during the day all day, I'm lucky if I can get him to nap more than 20 minutes. I think he's ready to sleep through night because of the past seven days, three of them he only got up once to eat. Wahoo! If I can get his daytime schedule down I think he'll master it, its the weekends that throw him off. He's trying to figure out how to laugh which is funny in itself, he chuckles in his sleep all the time. I love to see his little personality developing, he's such a crack up!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Missing the Burn

Today I'm feeling good. I fed and changed Kimball and WORKED OUT all by 8:45 this morning. That's right, I started to exercise and I'm rather proud of myself. For the past month or so I've just been feeling so jiggly, wiggly, squishy, and gross since I've gained weight after having Kimball. Thanks to Pinterest, I've printed out some motivation pictures as well as work out routines and I've taped them up all over the exercise corner of my craft room. Surprisingly, I've really missed the feel of the burn. I hope I can keep this up!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Wet, Cold, Windy...No Thanks

This is what it looks like outside.
So we're staying inside.

What A Goober


The Many Faces of Sweet




I love this picture because you can actually see his neck.

You can't really see it that well but here he scratched himself a mustache.





This Face Cracks. Me. Up.

Chalkboard

I finally finished the chalkboard for the mantle. I got the frame at the DI and painted/antiqued it to match my end tables I refinished last year. One of the easiest crafts ever, just spray paint the glass and you're done.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Ugh

Today. A cold Sunday with gray skies and even colder wind. However, this morning I was all gunge-ho about going to church for the first time since I had Kimball. I had to meet with the bishopric before church to receive my new calling, I was even excited about that and the opportunity to serve again. I got us both ready for church and was even punctual for my meeting. It went great and I'm now a sunday school teacher. I was anxious and felt ready to accept a calling and go to all 3 hours of church. I fed and changed Kimball before church started so he'd sleep the entire time. Easy as pie.

Sacrament meeting wasn't too bad but I did hand him off to Lance eventually because he was fussy. Not like him. Sunday school came and he was still fussing. Odd, he's usually conked out after he eats so I thought I'd take advantage of sunday school and feed him again so I can listen to the RS lesson. He slept for about 5 minutes before starting to fuss again. I tried to get him to sleep but to no avail. I was done. Had it. I passed him off to Lance. I should have gone home instead of going back to RS. Then the meltdown started and I tried to suppress it but a few tears still leaked out. I was too upset to even listen to the lesson but I tried. As soon as church was over and I got into the car the flood gates opened.

I thought I could handle going back to church. Easy, right? He was fed and would sleep the whole time. Why didn't he? My excitement to listen and feel the spirit totally disappeared. I don't know what the heck I'm doing and its so frustrating! I feel so bad for Kimball because he has to have a mom like me that's totally clueless and can't even handle church. I look around and see tons of moms with 4-7 kids and a newborn to take care of. They can handle it so why can't I? To them the whole mothering thing comes with the snap of a finger and its as natural as the sun coming up every morning. They don't have stupid meltdowns like me and pass their kids off to their husbands. They can handle anything. I see tons of moms who are skinny and yet here I am gaining weight instead of losing which is a whole other problem in itself. I don't want to get any comments on here that I'm already so small and such and don't need to lose weight. That's incorrect. Every woman I know loses weight after having a baby. Not me, I've been gaining weight after having Kimball and even though I'm petite I still need to lose weight. I feel gross!

What's my problem? Why can't I figure any of this out like the other moms? Its so disheartening because I love being a mom but its so dang hard at the same time. I wouldn't trade Kimball for the world, he's my everything! I just wish other moms wouldn't make it look so easy. I'd like to see one of them have a meltdown. I'd like to see one of them pass off the baby to the husband. I'd like to see one of them call their maternity pants their skinny jeans after they had their baby. I'd like to see them in pajamas with no hair or makeup done and a tear stained face. I'd like to see them on the edge of upset and frustrated. Maybe I'd feel more sure about what I'm doing because I'm pretty sure they've been the #1 mom from the get-go.

Later on Kimball was ready for bed around 8:00 and I hadn't had a nap at all. Perfect, now is my time to catch up on sleep and time for Lance to visit his parents since he'd been helping me all day and needed a break too. Within two minutes I was just about to the land of bliss when Kimball started crying. Ugh, what?! He should be sleeping, why is he awake? Insert meltdown here. So I bawled and tried to sleep with him on the recliner. Well, Kimball slept but I didn't. In the meantime Hero Sir Lancelot came home to the rescue from his parent's house. I didn't want to burden him anymore so I just said I'd lay with Kimball a little longer while Lance cut his hair and showered. I finally put Kimball back in his crib and I crept off to join Lance in bed only to hear Kimball crying again once I laid my head down on the pillow. Insert meltdown here. So I fed Kimball and bawled the entire time. Surprisingly he ate quickly and I went to bed.

I don't know what's wrong with me today. I just couldn't couldn't do it, at all. Any attempt I made at trying was shot down. Maybe Kimball just wanted his dad, I don't know. Whatever reason it is, I'm SO SO thankful for Lance. Not only did he take care of Kimball, it was all the little things in between. He came outside and helped me into the house from church. He did the dishes and even washed all the big stuff by hand. He swept the kitchen. He even wiped down the counters which he doesn't do. He came home early from his parent's. He came into Kimball's room to check on me every time I had a meltdown.

I hate having all these meltdowns. I hate feeling jealous of all the moms and women out there who make it look so easy. I love Lance and I love Kimball. Today was just not my day and my Hero Sir Lancelot kept me sane.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

My Most Special Gift

This was part of a Facebook comment giving mothering advice to someone I knew in high school. It struck a chord with me and I have no idea who the person was.

"Children aren't inconveniences to be managed. They are gifts from heaven. A symbol of trust between you and the Father."
"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one."

-Unknown