Nap Time

So our sweet little JT, almost nine months, has figured out quite well how to pull up to standing. The past few days this little stinker has had quite a fun time when I put him down for a nap.

Mind you, when he is placed down for a nap, he is showing all the signs of being tired. Rubbing his eyes, a little fussy, and me knowing how long he's been awake. It's not like I'm putting him down and it play time. I think hes enjoying his new found independence of sorts.

The nice thing is that while he doesn't go to sleep right away- moving around for 15-20 minutes- he's quite content. I check on him to make sure all is well, and before long, the baby babbles subside and he's sleeping away.

Invention Convention Champ

This week Lindsay was a part of the regional Invention Convention at MTSU. Her entry, along with a few other classmates, were selected from many other 6th graders from her school to compete.

This all started out as an assignment in her science class a few months ago. She had the choice of inventing a new game or a product to help make life easier with a spending limit of $15 for materials. After some thought and discussion, she came up with the idea of the Shopping Buddy. It is a device that can be secured to a shopping cart, or buggy as some folks call it here, and it can hold a sippy cup, a snack cup, and has two straps to hold toys. It was geared to help parents shop easier so their babies/child would have all of their common needs met in one place.

At MTSU, there were at least 60 other students with entries. There were a panel of judges who went from student to student asking questions and looking at their inventions. Even before the judging started, Lindsay was interviewed by the college news! I think this helped get some of her nerves out and feel more comfortable talking about the Shopping Buddy.

Once it was time for the awards, we were so excited to hear the announcement that Lindsay placed 3rd overall for her entry!!! She received a trophy for her efforts. It was great to see my creative child's innovation be recognized in an official manner. Congrats Lindsay!!!!

Big Boy Seat

The time has come to bid adieu to the infant carrier! Goodbye old friend, JT has grown too big to safely use it any more.

A few months ago, I had looked over the choices available at Babies R Us and thought I had narrowed it down to a select group. So this past weekend, we brought JT along to test sit some of the front runners to see how he fit in them.

The main thing to consider was did we want a seat that could possibly last until he is old enough to ride with just a seat belt- that is it converts to a booster seat down the road, or did we like a car seat that didn't have that option? After trying out 3-4 seats and looking over the specifics, weight limits, safety, styling, we decided on the Safety 1st Complete Air car seat. What really sold us on this model was it has this great airbag like technology in the head and hip area, for extra safety for side impact crashes. That along with the fact that this has one of the highest weight limits to keep JT rear facing- 40 pounds! From what I've read a toddler/child is 75% more likely to not sustain injuries (perhaps just head/serious) if they remain rear facing at least until age 2. With this higher weight limit, he will be able to remain there for 2 years and then some if we choose for added safety.

The main challenge was installing the seat in the van! I'm sure something all parents can relate to. It wasn't difficult to install, but more difficult in getting the seat into the correct angle since it's rear facing. A great trick we found to help was using some extra yoga blocks to lift the front up to where it needed to be.

JT is loving his new seat so far. He has extra space to be more comfortable, but we are so happy that he is well protected :) Here are a few snapshots of his new seat:

Ha Ha!

Today JT was in a giggly mood for a bit and we were able to capture it on video! There are times where he has this deep, throaty laugh and you can hear it on this video at times. I say its the man in him coming out already-LOL! About half way, I make this noise at JT that really took him off guard and you can see how serious he gets until I resume the play. Yes, that is NASCAR on in the background- one of our favorite sports- but today "our" driver, Dale Jr. broke an axle or something and was knocked out of the race, so we didn't watch it very long.

Best Baking

At Courtney's school ,the 4th and 5th grades have 4 H club every month in their classrooms. This is required and every month there is a different task they complete that counts as a grade in a particular subject, depending on what is being done.

This month one of the tasks was to bake biscuits from scratch. This was to count as a math grade as they had to find a recipe and follow the directions (measurement, fractions). The biscuits could have different "mix-ins" but no additional toppings were allowed. The students made the biscuits at home and brought their best 3 for judging in class by the 4H adult teacher, Miss Dawn.

Courtney looked over recipes on the Internet and decided on one that she could mix in cinnamon. Courtney chose her best 3, wrote her recipe down, and headed off to school. To our delight, Courtney returned home that afternoon with a 3rd place ribbon for her entry!!! She was beaming with excitement of the good news.

She now has the option to enter her biscuits in the County level of competition against all the other 5th grade winners. That happens the 1st weekend of March, so we still have a bit of time to decide if we are going to do that. Here is a few picture of Courtney's winning entry. There is extra cinnamon sugar on for Court to eat for her snack, the top biscuit is what the official one looks like.

Birthday's Red Robin Style

Red Robin has some of the best burgers this side of the Mississippi! The Apedaile family was very happy when we had a local chain open up in our area about 2 years ago. For us, it was a taste from the West Coast coming to greet us here in the South. If we could only figure out how to get a In-N-Out here.... we miss those even more!

With our 2 Feburary birthday's we decided to cash in on the 2 free burger's Sarah and John received for being signed up for the Birthday Club at Red Robin's.

It was a fun time with the whole Apedaile6- we haven't really gone out to eat much since JT was born. JT was good and had a few bites of bun. John and Sarah received birthday sundae's and balloons. A big benefit of these birthday's was that our tab was less than $20 before tip! Won't see that again until next year with a family of 6! Afterward we came home and ate frosted brownies as Sarah is not a fan of cake. I think this picture is great! It looks like John is thinking, "Not another year older...." and Sarah laughing in reply, "Yep old man! Iv'e got plenty more....."

8 Months, 8 Teeth

Another month has passed and our sweet baby is beginning to emerge into more of a little person each and every day.

One of his funny faces- cheesy smile. He wrinkles his nose up and just hams it up big time! Cracks us up every time!

JT is now fully mobile and he is pretty darn quick! Like I had in a previous post, JT loves crawling in, around, under, and on top of things. His personal favorite is the fireplace area- you know the area with about a 10 inch tall stone bottom/ledge- yep, he goes to that area over and over and over! I just picture him slipping his arm and then bonking his chin on the stone so I pick him up over and over and over. Or I sit there and hold him safely as he slaps the stonework ledge. The fun thing is JT loves being able to follow us from time to time down our long hall. I feel kinda guilty, like I'm calling the dog or something. "Come here JT, come to Mommy." as I clap my hands enticing him to follow me.

With his 8 teeth, I'm hoping that we are done with teething until his 1st molars come in around 12 months. Poor guy doesn't do teething very well- he fusses, chews, and drools a lot! JT is still a drooling machine for some reason. Hope that resolves soon, I make the poor baby wear bibs almost all the time because he gets his shirts soaking wet otherwise. We never had this problem with the girls.

My sweet baby is also becoming a "Mamma's Boy" now. He has now figured out how to do the "nose-dive" reaching for Mommy when John or the girls are holding him and I walk by. It is pretty darn cute to see I must admit. I figure he does this because we spend so much time together- and he loves me the most :p

Food is still an adventure- never quite know how he's going to take his veggies. Some days great, others not so hot. JT never fails to miss his fruits though. He loves sweet stuff! We are now slowly beginning to introduce a few more solid type regular food- a few bits of Kix cereal, crackers, mashed potatoes,etc. He is enjoying the new textures and tastes.

We are all enjoying watching JT learn, explore, and develop. We are blessed to have him in our family and equally blessed to have great big sisters to guide him as he grows!

Now that he crawls, he moves about in his crib and gets into pretzel like shapes when sleeping! Night, Night Sweet Baby!

Splish Splash

Here is a little video showing JT during bath time.It's one of his favorite activities! He loves chewing on his washcloths, playing with his duck and splashing in the water.

Nooks and Crannies

Now that JT is fully mobile, he is on the move and getting everywhere!!! We now have to keep an extra careful eye out for where he is and what he's getting into :) He has fun exploring the house on his own and trying to see the world from his level. Here's a look at what he's finding on his exploring adventures.

Real Snow Storm

We finally had a true snow storm this winter. Last year, we had just a dusting once or twice, but this year we have had 3-4 snow storms come through and one of them was significant. During that storm we ended up with about 4-6 inches here at the house! The most snow we have had since moving here almost 5 years ago.

It was enough snow for me to bundle up JT in a snowsuit that we purchased in a bundle of clothes last year before he was born. JT didn't quite get the reason why we placed him on the snow and snapped several pictures of his first snow. However, he did love looking out at the snow covered yard through the window and inside the warmth of our home.

The snow lasted several days, and the girls being out of school for a total of 5 days from this one storm. After a few days, the sun broke out and we all worked at making a large snowman. It took almost 2 hours to shovel, pack, and shape our 6 foot snowman. We decorated his face with radishes, red leaves, scarves, and a Beech High School flag.

Seventeen

Our first born is celebrating her 17th Birthday today! Sarah Nicole entered the world 17 years ago at 2:17am. We were all so anxious to meet her as she was quite the stubborn one to make her debut. Her due date was 11 days earlier, January 23rd. I remember with such clarity the agony each day that crept by without so much as a labor pain. The people in the stores who would ask, "When are you due?" and my reply would be, " Eight days ago..." But alas, she did come with the help of induction of my Dr. Even that event was long! A total of 20 1/2 hrs of labor which included walking, breaking my water, walking, pitocin, walking, and finally Sarah's birth!

John, myself, and my Mom who was in the room, were all so tired, but so elated to meet our firstborn.

I guess I am so sentimental with Sarah's birthday this year because I know that her time with us, living together is limited and nearing the end. Almost daily we are looking at different college brochures and information. Sarah's interest so far are in colleges' that are a bit away from here- maybe 2-4 hours. She isn't one to want to fly the coop to escape her parent's (that's what I tell myself-LOL), she just feels led to where she is going to get the best education, college life, while not being too far away from "home".

I can't believe this is her last year as a "minor". Next year she will be my equal as adult status with more responsibilities and freedoms. That thought just blows my mind! I feel that even though she is such a level headed young woman, I haven't finished raising her. It feels like sand running through your hands and desperately trying to keep it from sliding through your fingers. I know in reality I will always be Sarah's Mom and have lessons to teach and wisdom to share regardless of her age. It's just a bit bittersweet seeing my baby grow up.

So I am going to do my best to cherish each and every moment Sarah has with us in our home. From all of the hot cups of tea we drink, the review of schoolwork, mother/daughter talks, and even the occasional teen drama I will do my best to enjoy this season of our lives. Sorry for the sappy content today, just a mother's love for her children being put down for memory. Happy Birthday Sarah!!! Love you.