Good Bye 2010!

Wow, what a year! I was looking back and reading my post from last year, and it is so crazy to think how much can change in a year. This past year has been the best ever. I am so amazed by John every day and how much he has changed our lives.

I know I am behind on posts, and I will post about Christmas and add more pictures this weekend, but the one thing I am compelled to write about as this year ends is just how incredibly grateful I am for our son and his health. Last week, John had tubes put in at Children's Hospital. Yes, we were worried, but it was totally put into perspective when we were at the hospital and saw so many babies with severe issues. I'm sure they were wishing tubes was what they were there for. It just makes me feel so blessed to have a healthy, beautiful family and my heart goes out to those who have to deal with much more severe issues. I look back at worrying about him not sleeping through the night, or his colds from daycare, and yes, I know those are normal mother worries, but I know we have it good. So today I am counting my blessings and am so thankful for what 2010 has brought us. I am so excited to see what 2011 has in store!

I tried to get a picture of John wearing a Happy New's hat, but you can imagine how that went over :) So, in lieu of a picture of John, we hope everyone has a great New Year and Happy 2011! XO

Sneak Peek...

Our photographer, Emily, just sent me a preview of John's 9 month/Christmas pictures for my Christmas cards...so many to choose from. Here is my favorite:


I am so excited for Christmas with John this year...doesn't he look excited too?!

9 Months

Well, another month has flown by. I still have not printed John's 8 month picture to put in his monthly frame, so I guess I will have to do 8 and 9 together :) Luckily, he was a little more cooperative for his sticker pictures today!

At 9 months, John is doing great! I hate to type it, because I don't want to jinx it, but he has been sleeping AWESOME! During the week, he is normally in bed by 7:30 and then we wake him up at 6:30. On weekends, he will sleep for usually 11-12 hours, so we can sleep in a little bit, which is nice. He is still taking two naps a day.

He is now eating three times a day and has about 4 bottles during the day. He is loving his yogurt and cheerios to snack on. He is slowly mastering the sippy cup, but to be honest, I am not that good of giving him one on a regular basis. But he will get there. We go for his 9 month appointment next week, so I am not sure of his weight, but I am guessing somewhere around 22 pounds.

We had an appointment with the ENT last week and tubes it is for John. It was a hard decision, but he didn't pass his hearing test, and that was the deciding factor for me. The dr said he could hear, but it was like you are under water :( Poor little guy. So, on the 23rd we will head to Children's Hospital for his surgery. I know it is so routine, but it is still scary that they have to put him out. So any extra prayers that day would be appreciated :)

This past weekend Brad's company had their work party and John had his first overnight at my mom's house. He did pretty good, and Brad and I got to spend the night at the hotel and enjoy a nice evening out. I forgot my camera, so no fun pictures, but we did get to dress up and we had a lot of fun. My work party in this upcoming Friday, so my mom will be coming here again, which will be nice. Thanks Mom!! We have two parties on Tuesday, so it will be a busy week. I love this time of year though!

Our December and holiday festivities are in full force around here. We decorated our house last weekend. John had his 9 month pictures taken at our house last weekend. I am DYING to see them! This is the same photographer we used for his 3 month pictures. She is supposed to get me some for tomorrow so I can use them in my Christmas cards, so I am so anxious. John wasn't the most cooperative, but he did smile some, and she is amazing, so I know there will be some good shots.

Today is actually Brad's 31st birthday...Happy Birthday honey! My sister's birthday is on Wednesday, so we all went out to brunch today and John got to meet Santa for the first time. He wasn't too sure. He just stared at him. Libby wouldn't even look at him. Neither of them were too thrilled. Maybe next year :)

Well, here are some more pictures from the past week. I'm sure I will post more soon! Hope everyone has a good week!

John and Libby with Grandma and Grandpa

At Grandma's house

Not too sure...

Neither is Libs

Now Santa looks unsure!

Happy Birthday Brad! We love you!

Have a good week!

Cruisin'

My sister sent me this picture today...my mom always picks John up on Mondays at noon and then heads over to my sister's house. This is him and Libby cruising around town (Jenny's hallway). I love the look on their faces...Libby is thinking "Not too sure about this driving!"

Kitchen Reveal and Thanksgiving Recap

Kitchen before...

Kitchen After...

Isn't it amazing??? I love it so much. I am still in awe when I come home and see it. Corey does such great work. It always makes me want to do another room :) I am trying to make it an organized kitchen, so that the counters are not always full of all of our "stuff." I am still debating about the valances and a few finishing touches, but overall it is pretty much ready to go! I am hosting a baby shower for a girlfriend from work on Friday, so it will get it's first hostess night!

In other news, we went to Indiana this past weekend for Thanksgiving and had a great time. John was a lot of fun, and loved spending time with his grandparents and aunt! Brad's family always holds a big Thanksgiving dinner at a hall and the food was DELICIOUS. I love Thanksgiving food :) Who am I kidding, I love food in general, but Thanksgiving is the best. Anyways, we had a great time and continued to have a great time at Brad's parents house. We played cards, drank wine, slept, and just relaxed. It was perfect. Thanks to Don, Nan, and Lisa for a great time!

John was spoiled too as usual this past weekend. Grandpa had gotten him a bunch of new toys and he was all over the place! He must have wore himself out, because he slept 11-12 hours every night in his pack and play, and took good naps too. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

John and Great Grandma Monhaut
All that turkey...
John LOVED this walking car. He did laps around the house and the hall with this.
John and Aunt Lisa
Being a ham with Daddy and Aunt Lisa We went to Lunker's on Friday, and John got to visit with all of the animals.
Not quite sure of this bear...


Out of all of the toys, John was just as happy to ride around in this cardboard box.
This one is for you Aunt Lisa! On Thursday night, John was riding and riding. Every time he would stop, he would throw his head to the side. It was hilarious. Or maybe it was the wine?? Either way, we were all laughing pretty hard.
John and Grandma Nan
John with the Monhaut family

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving as well! I can't believe it is officially the Christmas season. I am starting to get a little excited/anxious about all the shopping. Cyber Monday, here I come! I have been shopping online a lot lately, and it is wonderful. Hope everyone has a great week back to work!

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are excited to celebrate John's first Thanksgiving this weekend. The holidays have such a different feel this year now that we have John. I feel so blessed and lucky to have so much. I am so grateful for John and his health, and all of our family. John is so lucky to have such loving grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We took John and Libby to get family pictures taken last weekend. I won't steal my mom's thunder and post all of them (yet) but here are a couple of just John and Libby. It is so much fun that they are close in age.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving weekend! I will post updates and pictures after!

8 Months and Crawling!

One thing I am realizing as John is getting older...these "cute" little onesie numbers are a pain once babies hit a certain age. This is the first month John has noticed it, so the second I put it on all he wanted to do was try to pull it off. Add that to the fact that he won't sit still anymore, and this is basically what you get:




What a little goof! It has been so much fun to watch John all of a sudden become more mobile. He is crawling like a champ, pulling himself up on anything and everything, and even walking by himself with his walker toy. We had to lower his crib since he can now pull himself up over the side. It is amazing to me how much he has all of a sudden been able to do in a matter of weeks. I went up north this past weekend for a girls weekend of wine tasting (so much fun and relaxing--much needed!). I swear, when I got back, he was crawling so much better than when I left!

We had such a fun trip to Traverse City. It was so nice to relax, dance, drink lots of yummy wine, and catch up with my sister and friends. Up north has such a unique feel, and it was so pretty there. We did a wine tour for the day, and had our own personal limo bus for the four of us...pretty cool. We hit 7 wineries and had lots of fun!

This dog climbed into our limo at one of the wineries...he was so cute!

Speaking of last weekend, my sister-in-law Lisa qualified for Worlds half ironman in Clearwater a while back. It was this past weekend and she placed 7th in her age group! Amazing. She beat her personal best by an insane amount of time. She is incredible. We are so proud of you Lisa! Can't wait to celebrate next weekend!

John is still battling with his ear infections. He just finished up his 3rd round of antibiotics, so we take him back on Thursday and if this didn't do it, then we are off to an ENT. So we'll see! It doesn't seem to bother him too much, but he is still randomly waking up at night crying, and I know that's what it is.

One question for all of you bloggers...any tips on uploading a video from my digital camera? Everytime I try, it loads and loads, but never finishes...I am trying to get a good one for the grandparents of him crawling in action :)

I can't believe it is Thanksgiving next week. Where is time going? I will leave on one last picture that is making me doubt my kitchen choices...what were we thinking when purchasing a bottom freezer with a baby who loves to pull on EVERYTHING?! Have a good week!!