Happy Birthday!

This past Wednesday was Alec's birthday. He celebrated the day by...mowing! Yeah, he's kinda crazy like that!

Here's his beautiful lawn after his birthday mow:


Then he fixed the problem we were having with our gate not staying shut during super windy days. He decided to dig a hole, pour some concrete, and add a pipe that the latch on the bottom of the gate would fit in. After he dug up the dirt, he found someone else had this idea but didn't quite execute it very well. Here's what he dug up:

So now he has to break this thing up with a sledgehammer so we can put it in the trash.

Alec poured the concrete and added a little decorative touch:

And now the gate latches perfectly!

We went to Chuck E Cheese that evening - Mine and Tucker's first time! The pizza was pretty good and we were able to buy 6 Laffy Taffys with the tickets we won from the games!

This weekend was pretty low key. I had to work from home so we were pretty much homebodies all weekend. Which was good for Alec...he just got finished mowing!

Mama Mia!

Since our garden has been so plentiful, I decided to give homemade spaghetti sauce a whirl. The recipe Alec found online called for 30 pounds of tomatoes! I was sure there was no way we had that many, but Alec weighed all that he picked on Tucker's baby scale and sure enough - 30 pounds!

The first step was to peel the tomatoes...all 30 pounds!

After coring and quartering the tomatoes, it was time to boil them.

I then added chopped onions and green peppers, minced garlic and parsley, oregano, salt and pepper.

After the sauce simmered and reduced down by 1/2, we poured into jars and put them in a hot bath to seal.

And voila! Homemade spaghetti sauce!

Alec was so excited that he decided to decorate the patio!

I thought that was sweet so I made a banana cream pie - complete with shaved chocolate!

Yummy!

And Tucker took a loooonnnnngggg nap!

Tucker is A Quarter Year Old!

Today is Tucker's 3 month birthday! WooHoo! We can't believe it's already been 3 months! I still can't believe I was pregnant!?!?!

In Tucker's first three months, he has learned to roll over from his back to his belly (right side) and is starting to roll from his left side. He can stand when you hold his hands and he can hold his head pretty steadily. He smiles, laughs and "talks" quite a bit too!

He has outgrown his newborn clothes and most of his 0-3 month clothes. He's even outgrown his bassinet!

He lost all of his hair but it's growing back into an awesome baby mullet. His baby acne has cleared up but he still has his stork bites on his nose and the nape of his neck.

We constanty hear what a good boy he is - rarely fussy (unless he's hungry or wants to be held). We're not around other babies so we just know he's sweet and super snuggly.

We're amazed at how much he's changed in such a short time and can't wait to see what's next!

Tucker's First Independence Day!

We decided to take off work Friday and make this weekend a long holiday weekend.

We bought Tucker a Bumbo so he can work on sitting up. He did pretty good except he kept leaning to his right. The Bumbo came with tray and detachable toy. Tucker seems to favor his left hand when playing - perhaps he'll be a southpaw?


Tucker celebrated his first Independence Day in style as Captain Adorable!


A guy on our street threw a big party Saturday night and lots of our neighbors were there. It was a nice way to finally meet everyone! We had a cookout with all sorts of yummy things to eat. Tucker slept through most of the evening, but he did get to enjoy some fireworks.

The fireworks were a little loud for a baby so we moved inside and watched them through the front door.
On Sunday, we went to see Papa Bill and now Tucker is all tuckered out from his long holiday weekend!

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk?!?!

I've been very very careful about making sure not to ruin any of my...well..."mother's milk". I make sure to keep any that I've pumped in my bottle cooler bag and I'm very careful when handling open bottles. This stuff is a precious commodity - liquid gold if you will!

Well today I had my first casualty. I finished pumping and was quickly detaching all the parts so I could stash them in my sleek pump bag. Wouldn't you know it, I knocked over a bottle - a FULL bottle - all over my desk, keyboard, mouse and me!

Needless to say, I cried over spilled milk! Honestly! I was so furious and upset that I ruined a whole bottle. Those who have not produced mother's milk or who have not been around a mother's milk producer, may not understand the magnitude of the time, pain and utter frustration involved with this "simple" process.

Every time I don't produce 4 full bottles, I feel like a failure and that I'm neglecting Tucker. It's not unusual for me to shed a few tears when I'm only a 1/2 ounce away from a full bottle. And of course just when I've mastered meeting my quota for the day, Tucker decides he would like just a little bit more at each feeding.

But I keep reading about the benefits of breast milk so I trudge on... at least for another month or 6 months or a year.