Teary Update and Such

- Where have I been? Living in my brother-in-law's house while my house is a crazy construction zone for our new bathroom... It will all be worth it when we get to move back in and have a new, nice, mold-free bathroom though!
- Because of this, I have not been able to do Griffin's 8 month post (no Internet). So maybe I will get it done before he turns 9 months?! Ha!
- My son is always on the move now, so getting pictures of the little guy is sooo hard right now.
- And why a teary update? Because I just watched this weeks One Tree Hill. People, there is only ONE more episode of this show... EVER. Sad sad times. I am loving this season though- I is dramatic and almost more than I can take, but soooo good.
- We have an Easter Egg Hunt tomorrow for church, yay!

Happy Friday people!

Whew... The art of a fit

Well I knew the day would come, the day when my sweet innocent little boy would showcase his rebellious sinful spirit. And now it is upon us at 8 months old. Griffin has thrown his first fit.. And a few since ;-)

So I need input STAT! Does anyone have good tips on how to handle a deliberate fit at such a young age?

Things he has thrown fits over/seem to set him off:
- diaper changes
- getting dressed
- taking something away from him
- telling him no and moving him away from somewhere he just got to that he wasn't supposed to be

We have so far been telling him no in a firm but controlled voice and squeezing his hand if needed. He never seems to acknowledge that. Ugh.

Help!!

Farewell

To our ugly ugly bathroom that is! Those of you that have been to my house know that our bathroom is a real downer. It is serious smaller than most closets. And pink. And moldy. And you are hardcore touching the tub when you sit on the toilet...

Until now! This weekend the amazing Porter & Broady families are helping us redo our tragic bathroom! We are sooooo thankful!

I will do full before and after pics when it's all done, but here are some pics of demo night! Woo hoo!! (and some may be sideways, sorry)

Throwback Monday

Maybe we will start a new tradition around here (and a baby free one at that, wow!)? Let's start reminiscing on things from the past long forgotten. I know the usual thing is "Throwback Thursday" but lets be different shall we? This will be interactive, so start brainstorming your favorite throwbacks right now.... Mine for this week:

(Picture from here)

1. Sun-In

Remember Sun-In? You sprayed it in your hair in the sun and it lightened your hair (gave it a "sunned" look). Of course if you have dark brown hair it just turned you hair orange instead. Which I apparently thought was super cool, because I did it lots!! Haha! Anyone else use Sun In? Or just straight up bleach?

2. Physicians Formula Bronzing Powder

This was the compact with multicolored bronzing powder in it. We wore it like blush and thought it made us look so hot... Now I look back and realize I just looked fake tanned. Oh youth!

Ok, what random thing from the 80s-90s you gonna throwback to me? Most random but popular wins! Ha!

Training thoughts from the trenches

*complete sidenote: I am walking back to my office right now, and man it's a gorgeous day!!

I just delivered some things to the top of the hill, and one of the ladies I work with is recently back from maternity leave. I asked her how she was and she said "hanging in there I guess@. I knew the look well... It's the "I love my baby more than anything but I am exhausted and feel pretty clueless" look. Her baby is 2 months old.

Those first three months are by far the hardest. Hormones raging all over the place, learning a whole new reality and routine that will actually change several times over the next year, figuring out how to still be you and be mommy, and feeling inadequate to be the one deciding what's best for this tiny human. Oh and a MAJOR lack of sleep.

There really is no way to prepare or train for this. I can't give you an outline of how to do this right. After 8 months I think the key is grace. Continually pray for the Lord to give you grace for yourself, your child and your spouse. Let yourself stumble and be unsure. I think the hardest part is being hard on ourselves for it being so hard.

Admitting motherhood is hard does not equal you not loving your baby. It doesn't mean you don't like being a mom. It is just acknowledging that you can't handle this perfectly. You need help.

Sounds like the Lord may have designed it this way so we have a perfect picture of the gospel?! We cannot do life on our own perfectly. We needed help. Only Jesus can do this perfectly, and Praise the Lord He was willing to for us!

Accept his grace in salvation today, and in motherhood. You need them both :-)

What's your thing?

I bought another baby carrier yesterday (used and cheap btw) and when talking to Mr. Pate about it he remarked "you just love to buy 50 of the same thing don't you?" ha.

Well, for the record, I do not have 50 carriers. And they are all different. But he brings up a great point... I go thru phases (so does he actually) where I seem to be obsessed with one thing. Right now it's baby carriers (and cloth diapers but I feel like that's different,ha). I am on a quest to find the perfect one for me... But they are all good in different ways.

Not the point. The point is, I am wondering if everyone does this or just me?

Do you guys get on kicks like this with stuff??? What is your "thing"?

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

More??

We are pretty certain that Griffin signed more to us last night! His first sign! Yay!

We have been feeding him puffs at the dinner table while we eat so that a) he is entertained, b) he learns to feed himself, and c) to work on signing. Well last night he seemed to get the concept and would bring his hands together after his bite so I would give him another one. It's hard to tell though, bc clapping and more are similar. But we both watched him do it several times and think he understood. Yay!

My son will be 8 months old in less than a week! What?? Crazy!

And he slept for 12 straight hours on Sunday night randomly. Weird but awesome!!

Its a Beautiful Day

Today was awesome. My baby slept really well last night. He was in a super cute mood this morning. He took a 2 hr nap this morning. I got to watch one tree hill and sip on decaf coffee. We had a family outing to the park, where Griffin had his first swing experience. I went to a Baby Shower for one of my bible study girls (miss those girls terribly), Alex and had a blast hanging with some fabulous girls. We had dinner at Starbucks with the hubby and now I am studying up for Youth Small Group in the morning (which I am loving so much). Great day. Just great.

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Dear One Tree Hill,

Dear One Tree Hill,

The Drama Level this season is almost more than this girl can handle... Seriously, does every character have to be going through the hardest event of their life?!! I know you are trying to go out with a bang, but This is going to be a long season on my poor heart! Let's just find Nathan, get rid of Xavier, and let Logan love Clay. Whew... for the record, I would have watched a happily ever after season too.

Emotionally Exhausted,
Mrs.Pate

Ps. I.miss.Jamie.Scott.
That is all.

Crawling!!!!

Baby Food Makin Take 1

The first baby foods I made for Griff were Sweet Potatoes and Acorn Squash. They were super easy and he loved them! These instructions will work for sweet potatoes and butternut or acorn squash.

First you need to preheat the oven to 375. Then you need to wash & dry then stab the sweet potatoes with a fork. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet. Cut the squash in half and get rid of any seeds. Then place the squash flesh face down in a pan and fill it with about an inch of water. Bake veggies until fork tender, about 45 min to an hour (really depends on the size though).
Once they are done and cooled, remove the skin and quickly dice/mash up the flesh. Then place it in a blender/food processor/baby food maker and add some water. I almost had to add equal parts water and veggie, just FYI. Blend until you get it to desired consistency.



Pour the finished veggie into ice cube trays and freeze. Usually, each ice cube is a tad under an oz, and most jars of baby food are 2 oz. Just for reference.



Once they are frozen, pop the ice cubes out and throw them all in a freezer bag and label. Now you can pull cubes out as needed!

It really is super easy and way cheaper! I got a bag of sweet potatoes for about $3, and made about three weeks worth of food! I acorn squash was $0.67 and I made 18 servings.

Most babyfood is $1 for two servings

And a disclaimer- all images taken from google images. If I were a great blogger, I would have taken pictures of my process... But I am not.

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Poppin that toothy-to-the-tooth

Guess who's first tooth popped thru this morning? Griffin's!

Poor thing has been showing all the "signs" for teething since three months old, so it's about time one actually made its way thru. I can't believe how quickly he is growing up...