Eight Crazy Months

Can you believe he's 8 months old? I can't. It really doesn't seem like it's been that long. Christmas is about to smack me in the head and I still think it's summer. Maybe that's because my lantana is still 5' tall and blooming and my tomatoes have started making tomatoes again due to the warm weather. Someone should tell them it's actually fall and it's time to die.

It's been an amazing & overwhelming 8 months filled with laughter & tears, newfound confidence & incredible insecurity. Who knew such a small little person could bring all that?

What's he up to now?

- For some reason he has started to wrinkle his nose when he smiles (as seen in photos above). It's really funny but I hope he doesn't do it forever, it's kind of a scary smile instead of a happy one.

- Lots of smiles!! He loves smiling at people. Just today I was holding him at a restaurant and I see him smiling out of the corner of my eye. I look back and he's flirting with a group of waitresses behind me. He's already girl crazy! I know I will be completely gray by the time he's out of his teenage years.

- I haven't given him a food he doesn't like. As you know I've made everything and he can't get enough. Zucchini, peaches, apples, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, plums, cherries, green beans, peas, asparagus... there's more I can't think of. We have also tried puffs and he LOVES those. He's getting good at picking them up with his fingers and it's so fun to watch. It's also a great way to keep him occupied when you need to get something done.

- He can sit up without assistance and rarely falls over anymore. He can also stand holding on to something and only falls when he gets a little overconfident in his ability and starts moving too much. No crawling yet but lots of scooting backwards and rolling. I think his motto is "if I can get there rolling why learn to crawl?" I don't have an answer for him.

- Bathtime is his favorite time of day. He sits up in the tub now and loves splashing and playing with rubber ducky. He could spend all day grabbing my hands and pulling to a stand though. We do that over and over in the tub and he's so proud of himself.

- We have 2 bottom teeth and finally- a top tooth and a dot of a second one. Man, I thought those things would never come in!

- He likes playing with his toys but would prefer to play with ours. Remotes, cell phones and magazines are a few favorites. Many of my magazines now have chew marks on the corners... not from the dogs, from the baby.

He's amazing and I feel so blessed. Every day I'm in awe of how God could create these tiny wonderful people and how much I love him.

Vacation Photos- Finally!!!

Yes, I realize that we went on Vacation 2 months ago and these photos have been sitting on my computer since then but there's just been no time to post.

Here's a quick recap- we went to Gulf Shores AL for a week and rented a beach house. We drove and Cason cried the whole way there. Luckily, it was a pretty place and we were able to recover quickly from the drive.

These are totally out of order because on blogger you have to load your pictures backwards for them to be forwards (ever notice that?) and I didn't feel like messing with it.

Here's the TV room. It was on one side of the kitchen and the main living room was on the other. The kitchen had openings to see in both sides. This is pretty much where the guys stayed when they were not on the beach or golf course.

Cason wanted to make sure his stomach got tan. We got a little tent for him to hang out in on the beach. He loved it.

Lil C and Aunty Cay Cay. He thinks she is just great. I can't believe how much he's grown in 2 months!

He loved chewing on my sunglasses. My sunglasses were not too fond of being chewed on.

Lolli (AKA grandmother) and Lil C had a great time on the beach.

This is the view of the dining and the kitchen. This was on the third floor so we had great views of the golf and beach.

We loved these chair hammocks. Wanted to stay in there all day. It helped Cason get to sleep too.

Dining room and kitchen.

Caylin and Mike celebrating Lil C's 6 month birthday.

We had a cooking contest every night and Caylin and I were paired together and we won (of course). These are the salted caramel cupcakes. They took a few tries to get right but they were totally yummy. Caylin is the cupcake expert.

Happy half birthday C!

We took a ferry on the way home to save some time and get C an opportunity to get out of the car for awhile. So cool being able to drive on to a boat.

Caylin and dad worked this really hard puzzle and finished it. I think i contributed 2 pieces in the right spot. I loved the colorful fireplace.

Mike and C enjoying the water. Well, I guess Mike is enjoying playing in the water and C is enjoying looking at the water.




I usually wear C but he gets heavy so I told Mike he had to for this beach trip. I think they look great.
This is our house. If you ever want to go to the beach, you should stay here!
More fun times.

Looking down the boardwalk to the beach.

Lolli found this cool highchair at Target before we left. it folds up in a tiny pouch. We took it to restaurants and he sat in it at the house too.



A toast to a great time at the beach.

Thanks for doing the dishes dad!

Baby Crocs. Totally cute. Hope they still fit when he starts walking!

Get out of my Sun, Chris.

Nap time on the beach.

Starbucks is out, Yogurt is in!

Have you noticed all the frozen yogurt places popping up everywhere? If you haven't yet, you will soon. I think it was started over in California (where all the cool and not so cool stuff starts) with Pinkberry. I haven't been to Pinkberry but I'm dying to go. If Jennifer Love Hewitt says it's good, I'm all about it. They just opened one in Dallas too. Anyways, Mike and I started going to a new Yogurt place in NRH near Hometown. They have about 15 flavors of yogurt and a ton of toppings. You serve yourself and pay by the weight. It's a lot of fun and also very yummy. Since I love lots of toppings it's the perfect place for me.

Last week I decided to look up the nutritional information on my Starbucks addictions to see how I was doing. I was shocked at what I found out. The sandwich i had been getting, the small, flat, egg cheese and sausage sandwich that i had been getting a few times a week was more calories and fat than two big macs (I have not verified this information but since the numbers were so large i am quite certain it's true.) Holy cow. I can't believe I had been eating these things... AND had become addicted to them. After I finished crying, I decided it would be best to give them up if I ever wanted to get back in my old pants. I was able to adjust my drink to get it down to 2 WW points (thank you starbucks app for iphone). It doesn't taste as good but I pretend like it does and maybe someday it will.

Anyways, after this discovery we became much more frequent visitors to the yogurt patch. Their "tart and tangy" yogurt is only 70 calories for 4 ounces with no sugar or fat. Combine that with a few sugar free choc chips and a few yogurt chips and you have yourself a little low fat low cal bit of goodness. It's a family owned business and the owners are super nice so that helps too. Sorry Starbucks. I love you, I really do but you have let me down here. There should be a warning on those sandwiches. "highly addictive. consult doctor before consuming. you are quickly headed for a heart attack".

Rookie Mistake

Saturday Cason and I had a little girls birthday party to go to in Southlake. I throw him in the car and the present and his diaper bag and head out. About 1/3 of the way there I notice his little hand reach over and grab the bag. How stupid am I? I put a wrapped present next to a child. I'm asking for it to get opened. I start praying that he won't discover the tissue paper. As if he's not going to see the mound of beautiful hot pink crinkly tissue inches from his hand. No such luck, hand grabs tissue paper. Is there any possibility he will just enjoy the crunchiness and not put it in his mouth and completely destroy it so my scant wrapping job becomes really scant? Nope, in the mouth it goes. Now I'm in a quandary. Do I pull over and remove the tissue? Since my brain left when C got here I had taken the wrong way to Southlake and was now on a 2 lane no shoulder road passing rich peoples houses with only their driveways to pull in to. Driveways that are monitored by a security system that would make your local bank look like an easy target. Didn't think that would be a good place to pull in to. So, I opted to just say in a kind voice "don't put that in your mouth sweet baby". I'm pretty sure he just grinned. If the carseat had been in the middle I could have reached him but it is behind the passenger seat right now and I have short arms. When I attempted to reach him the car started swerving. Then I began to wonder how long I could use the excuse:
"Sir, I just had a baby." when the officer pulled me over.
"Oh, how old is he?"
"8 months."
"Um, I wouldn't consider that JUST having a baby"
"Well, it FEELS like just yesterday and I haven't fully recovered yet."
Don't think that's going to work. I got nothin.

This is the scene I found when we arrived. You can't see it but there's pink tissue in his mouth. I fished out what I could, the rest I guess we will discover later.

Oh well, I just spread out the 1 tissue that was left to cover the present and took it to the party. There's no excuse for me.

Here are some pics of our post-party shopping. I think he likes Southlake!

Funny Sleeper

Cason and his dad sometimes chill in the afternoons and doze off. Lately we've had a laugh at his sleeping positions. Yes, he's asleep. Mike said he was looking back up at him and just fell asleep. Doesn't look like it would be comfortable!

Don't try and turn your head around, the picture is rotated correctly. Don't know how he got in this position.
I know you have to be wondering "who is taking the pictures if it's naptime in the Harvey house?" Let's just say not everyone gets a nap at the Harvey house. :-)

Tea Time

I love America but there's one thing I think they got wrong... the tradition of afternoon tea. I wish the Brits had brought that over with them. Luckily a few places have caught on and serve it. I started a tradition at my office of "tea time" and we make a cup of tea at 3:00 and enjoy our 15 minute breaks. The tea I had to day was much better than a 15 minute break at the office.

My aunt had a birthday recently and to celebrate we went to high tea at the Adolphus hotel in Dallas. It was by far the best tea experience I have had in Texas. One of the best things was the tea captain. She was very knowledgeable and very interesting. She helped us select the three teas we would be served through the 4 course meal.

First course, savories. About 5 different tea sandwiches. All of them were very good and served with a red tea. Next up, scone and cream with an orange jasmine tea.


Next up a selection of tiny sweet pastries. We picked a pear caramel tea to go with that. Lastly we had some truffles.

There's my Aunt Pam and her husband Mike.

Birthday girl aunt Marsha and her husband John. For the sweets course they put a candle on her plate and the piano player played happy birthday. It was so elegant and we were treated like queens (and kings). I highly recommend this experience and of course, I'm happy to join you!
The food here is wonderful but while we are on the topic (and because I'm KNOW you must be curious) here are some of my favorites. The best scone is at Montgomery tea room in Fort Worth. Totally random because their actual tea service isn't that great. I mean, it's fun and girly but it's not fancy. Their scones are fantastic though. As for food, the Savannah Tea Room has some of the best. I remember leaving there completely stuffed and the food is delicious. My favorite tea is from there too. It's called Emperors Bride. A friend recently brought some back for me on a trip and it's everything I remember. As for best experience- I have to say The Claridges hotel in London wins. Check out the web site so you can imagine you are there! That's what I do when I need a fix!

I'll never eat a meal in peace again.

That's the title of my new book.
No, just kidding. But it's kind of how I feel. I try to feed Cason his solids when we are eating as well, you know, get in the habit of eating together and get him in the habit of sitting in his highchair while we eat. Well, it sounds simple enough but it's typically a little more hectic.
First of all, Cason wants to hold his own spoon so he grabs it with much force and is delighted when he gets it all to himself. I am not so delighted with the mess. Our typical meals involve a plate of food for me and a bowl of food for Cason. I am shoveling food in his mouth trying to avoid him taking over the spoon, shoveling food in my mouth when possible. If I wait too long C is fussing to go to another activity. It's a similar experience at restaurants. Don't tell me, I already know... It's going to get worse before it gets better. Every day is interesting that's for sure.
It's really funny when he does get the spoon from me. He pulls it close and smiles this evil/happy grin. I laugh every time which is probably encouraging him to spread the sweet potatoes all over.

Bye Bye Breastfeeding... Sort Of

I'm pretty much done with Breastfeeding. With the exception of the last feeding before bed, it's all formula now. I have to admit, it's a great feeling. Sure I would have liked to go a year but it had become such a source of stress and resentment in my life, I made the decision that was best for us. Now no rushing home from work afraid he's going to starve if I don't get home in time, no pumping at the office, no planning every time I leave the house around feeding time, no more stressing about making enough milk, the list goes on. I don't like the smelly poop and all the extra bottles we need but I'm working through that.

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of encouragement out there for moms. When I decided to stop breastfeeding, I went to google to find the best way to wean a baby. The first 3 articles that pulled up were moms saying that you should NEVER wean a baby early and you would become depressed and your baby would never be the same if you did and anyone who doesn't breastfeed for a year is pretty much a horrible mom. I got a little angry. No wonder so many moms have a hard time. There are so many people out there who just want to tell you their opinion and not let you figure out what's best for you. So I gave up on google and just figured it out. And what do you know, Cason is still doing okay!

Pumpkin Photos

LOVE these photos. We took C to Calloways to sit him around some pumpkins to get some photos. He was totoally tired and not interested yet these pics tured out really good. I think the key to good pictures is a good camera. My mom and sister have one... I don't. So, one of them took the photos.

Yummy, Pumpkins.

Yummy, Hay.

Little Visitor

This morning I was outside with Lil C and the littlest dog started playing with something in the grass. He wouldn't stop so I went over to see what it was. Whatever it was it was moving around too quickly for me to see at first. Hmmmm, that's either a big worm or a snake. A snake? That's weird. So, I did what any other woman would have done who has an un-natural fear of bugs. I sat C on the patio and went inside to see what I could use to scoop up the snake. A trash bag? No. Salad tongs? No. BBQ tool? No. A stick, that's it, that's the smart thing. So I went outside and found a stick that was a bit shorter than I had originally hoped but it would do. I draped the snake over the stick and placed it on my outdoor table. I scooped up Cason and we ran inside for the camera and cell phone. Snake was still in the same place, no doubt stunned from his run in with the dog. I started snapping photos with the camera, then with the cell phone so I could post to facebook (of course). Then I poked him a couple of times to see if he was alive and he poked his tongue out at me. Then I called Mike and asked him what to do now. Killing him sounded a little messy and I really didn't want to move him again in case he got angry and attacked me so i just left him and he slithered off the table and on his way.

See how HUGE he is?

Here he is in proportion to my table decorations.

Bye Bye Snake.

Baby Sock Monkey

The Foys had us over for a Halloween party last night. Their neighborhood has a parade and tons of kids so it's the perfect place for a celebration.

Here's Lincoln- chillin after costume.

Cason and Carsyn are playing. Carsyn teaches the boys how to share. I tried to get her to teach Cason how to crawl but he had none of that. Girls are just more advanced... they can't help it!

4 babies under 1 yr. Pretty much the cutest babies ever, I'm sure of it. Carsyn was an M&M, Lincoln was a pumpkin, Cason was a sock Monkey and Jack was a Baylor track star. I was a princess in everyday clothes. The other girls are princesses too but they forgot their crowns. It's hard to remember everything when you are dressing your super cute baby.

Precious.

My little sock monkey chillin. I'm wearing my bling bling princess shoes- all princesses have them.

This actually isn't a costume, it's an outfit we found in Southlake but it worked for Halloween, and it's going to work again next time there's cold weather!

Jack looking at all the trick or treaters. There must have been over 100 kids.

They have police on horseback leading the parade. How cool is that?
Playing with black and white colors.

Daddy and the sock monkey.

This setting is called "seventies" and I thought it fit this picture nicely. So fun!


Baby sock monkey is pooped. It's hard being so cute... it's hard being a princess too but princesses don't get naps.

Sunshine Parade

Cason's school had a costume parade and Cason went as a football player (aka- easy, not hot and already in the closet). They pushed the kids around and all the parents took pictures. Very fun.

This is Cason on the first go-around having a blast.

He's making his best football face (to go with his super cool football hair).

Cason's car got stopped and this is him letting them know it's time to move on. You should hear his grunts!

I wish I had a better picture of Shiloh the flapper- she was so cute!

Church Carnival

We had lots of costume opportunities this year and this was the first. Fall Festival as we call it and Cason got dressed up and ready to go. We inherited this costume from my cousin and as I found out when I poured him into it in the car in the carnival parking lot, it's a little small. The snaps were too tight and his feet were touching the end. Needless to say, he didn't stay in it for long... long enough to get some photos!

Mike and some of his Merge students.Julie and Lincoln- he's a baby monkey

This is how Cason sits in his stroller. Partly because we are missing the piece that straps him down and partly because he loves to sit up. I'm sure the fine print says he must be strapped in at all times but that would take all the fun out!

Grown Up Boy

I thought he looked so handsome in this outfit. So grown up! I took about a million pictures of him wearing this so there may be more...

Teething Advice

Cason's top teeth are so close to coming in and I know he's in pain and no amount of teething tablets or orajel is helping. He was up crying late last night and we are all exhausted. As if the first year wasn't hard enough you then have to throw in teething. Is it this bad for all the teeth or just the front ones. Scratch that, I don't want to know. I'm just going to pretend it's just the front ones that are bad.