trevor :: 33rd week

9/23/14

trevor: first times for: on a school bus, johnny jump up, in a shopping cart, gnawed on an apple core, in a restaurant high chair

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Wednesday night al's mom, diane, and step dad, rick got into town (from Alaska) so we hung out with them and ordered in pizza. it was the first time they met trevor and he loved them and they loved him! he showed off his dance moves and a little bit of his smiles.

Wednesday night was our worst sleeping night we've ever had with trevor. he caught a little bit of al's cold and with a stuffed up nose, he didn't sleep well. the longest stretch we got out of him was rom 2-4 am, otherwise he was up somewhere between 20 minutes to an hour. ufffda! and al had to be up at 630 am to get the dog up to bloomer by 730 to get neutered. we also dropped the Volkswagen off to get an oil change.

Thursday we were all super tired but wanted to be able to do stuff with diane and rick, so we powered through. they came over around 11 but trevor ended up napping from 920 until after noon. once trevor was awake we headed out for some adventures. we went to an apple orchard, the leinie's lodge to sample beer, picked up the dog in bloomer, then picked up the Volkswagen. once home, trevor took a short nap while we waited for althea to get there. once she arrived and said her hellos, we went to eat at Milwaukee burger company, it was a little late but trevor did pretty good. he went to bed once home, and we followed shortly after. althea slept on the couch with beeker on the floor next to her.

Thursday night was a better night of sleep. Friday morning while trevor took his morning nap, al and althea met up with diane and rick and went to big falls (a cool outdoor place with waterfalls and beaches and walking on rocks). then my mom came down in the afternoon and we all went to fish fry for dinner at northwoods. mom headed home and trevor and I said our goodbyes since we had to leave early the next morning.

Saturday morning trevor and I drove up to mom's and then we went to lake phalen for the als walk. it was a great walk, tons of people, beautiful place and weather. we parked in a parking lot and then were shuttled in a school bus to the lake/park. trevor loved being on the bus and was a little crabby during the walk because he was tired and wouldn't fall asleep. we walked most of it next to angi and ruby and their stroller. we then went to stout's (nick's bar) afterward for "ales for als" beer that my cousin travis made/created. it was tasty (I only had a sip of aunt Sheryl's). it was good to see everyone including the lund's and maren's friends.

sunday we went to the munchkin markets at the state fair grounds and didn't find a whole lot but did find 2 fall/winter over suits for trevor that I've been looking for but haven't wanted to commit the money to. so finding them for $3 a piece was ok with me. he may need a bigger one by the end of winter but at least we have them for fall and the beginning of winter. we also ran to Burlington coat factory since mom had a coupon and had dairy queen. :)

Monday trevor and I went to visit kris, jeff, Easton and new baby colton (ellie was at school). colton is so cute, tiny and looks a lot like Easton. then al came up to watch trevor while I played softball. softball was good, beautiful weather and we won both. once I got home, al headed back to eau Claire so that he could get some more/better sleep.

Monday night trevor slept from 715-540!!!! and then slept from 715-9a (so did I); that was so good! hopefully he keeps going on that trend. I figured out this weekend that i'm not feeding him nearly enough baby food. so Monday evening al fed him 3 tablespoons of cereal, sweet potatoes and peaches. hoping that's what helped him sleep so long; we'll be feeding him more each night now (I have to make more food for him soon) and possibly start feeding him some lunch too.

happy to have grama back!

 crazy hair (while wet)

 leinie's lodge

 

 al and his mom

 cone head :)

at big falls

 al and his sister at big falls

grama diane, auntie althea, and grandpa rick

 hanging with auntie althea

 first time in a restaurant high chair

 fish fry

 grama's trying on his giraffe costume from mary burge

 the cutest giraffe

 grandpa and grama Alaska

 2 times the grama's

 stretching out :)

 silly selfie

 first cart ride

 grandpa rick making him laugh

 first school bus ride

 the als walk group, team pinecone

trevor :: 32nd week

9/16/14

trevor: tried puffs: picked them up but did not put in mouth, really likes to bang to make noise, baths in his tub in the bath tub, tried pears and zucchini (loved the pears, the zucchini got a funny face at first), likes to dance and stomp and throw his head back when someone holds him standing up

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uffda! another busy, overwhelming week just when we were starting to settle in. al was off wed-fri so that was nice but we had a lot to get done and a lot of errands to run. mostly just little things like grocery's, menards for some stuff to feel more set here, target, etc. we also got my new computer that we had to be here for and kept missing the fedex guy, got a new dishwasher installed, went to the consignment sale in eau Claire, our furnace wasn't working (gas valve was off and therefore pilot light was out, al fixed it!) and drove to black river falls on Friday and got a dog. a lot to take in for this still unsettled momma. (for more on the dog, read below the pictures: it's a lot but i wanted to have it in writing so i know how i felt/his story) no name yet.

Friday night after getting home with the dog, al and the dog drove to get my computer at fedex then drove up to mom's and back to get the kennel. Saturday manda and her girls came down and we went to the consignment sale, got trevor a couple little toys and some clothes. otherwise we didn't do much just tried to get used to the dog. that night al went to work and the dog did good; he sleeps a lot but i think that will change once he's used to being here since he's still a puppy. sunday was football and al's last day of work before a week off (his mom and rick are coming into town!).

Monday we all went up to the cities for softball. when we got up there, I met manda at the Eagan jbf consignment sale for their half off day, and what a great sale! I've gone to several sales and half off days and this was by far the best! they had to much stuff left! I got a lot but got trevor pretty much done for Christmas and outfitted for the winter (I think). I finally found some of the wood pegged puzzles I've been looking for all summer for T for Christmas. then I took trevor to the chiropractor since he was overdue and had gotten gassy again. she said his left hip area again was pretty stuck. softball was great! the weather was perfect: chilly. they were both good games; we won the first and lost the second.

Monday night neither me nor al got much sleep due to softball being so late, T got up at 1 to eat, then got up at 430-6 that I was up with him, the dog whining several times, and al got up at 630. Tuesday late morning we drove to Minneapolis to streichers to get al some actual cop work boots (he's been needing them and it's about time he got some nice ones). then we waited until after trevor's afternoon nap to leave so that we all could nap while he did. that meant we didn't leave until 7ish and we found out that trevor does NOT like to be awake in the car when it's dark. he cried the whole second half of our drive. noted.

trevor eats every night that we're able and does great with it! he's a great eater, he's just not chunky to show it. :) i hope to have him try all the fruits, veggies & meats that he can for his age according to his sheet, but i need things to settle down a bit before i get to that. I've been meaning to let him try picking up little things, to see if he'll grab em with his thumb and finger, but didn't know what to let him pick up that he could put in his mouth because everything goes in his mouth. i tried chunks of avocado a couple weeks ago but it was too slippery and he was over it quickly. so we bought some puffs at target and he was able to pick them up eventually, not with just thumb and finger, but did use the racking technique, but he did not put them in his mouth. strange. so i fed him a couple and although weird for him, he did eat them and appear to like them. we'll try them again in a week or so and see how he does then.

I've started bathing him in his tub in the big bath tub and we both enjoy it. it's much easier to fill his tub, i can fill it fuller (couldn't before because he splashed so much :]) which will hopefully help him stay warmer in the colder months, and he can splash all he wants. it's a little odd to find a good position for me to wash him (knees? sitting?) but it's going great! i can also just remove the plug to drain it now. i think we'll try removing the middle seat thing that's for infants and see if he likes that better, now that he can sit on his own (he usually just planks in the tub so with the middle thing in there, he's not all the way in the water).

the chillier weather means trying on/wearing some off his hats

this one is an adorable camo/aviator type hat

 I pulled out some of the toys I had packed away for him

he wanted nothing to do with the little people yet but loved the big giraffe...

 he loves his high chair and playing in it

 the new pup, beeker (I think that's the name we're going with)

 kisses for momma <3

 he loves playing music on the little piano I got him

 little doggie

 he's great at showing us when he's tired

 we missed grama!!!

the dog we got is another little terrier mix but a little smaller and with short legs than tator. they estimate him to be 11 months old and he is not yet neutered but we will get that done next week. al had his eye on this dog the first week after we moved but by the time he had a day off, the dog was already adopted. so on Tuesday when al was looking for dogs, he saw him again. so al called the humane society he was at and talked with the lady a lot about him. he found out that an elderly couple had adopted him and he just wasn't the dog for them. she also indicated that the shelter was full and he had been there a while (kind of indicating he might not last long since they're sadly not a no kill shelter).

we drove there and al went in to meet him while trevor and I stayed in the car. I don't do well with humane associations, seeing all the dogs in the tiny, messy kennels, didn't want to bring trevor in there, I've been super, extra empathetic towards animals ever since getting pregnant, and this one was tiny, low income and knowing they were full. eventually al came out with the dog so we could see him and run him over to the local vet to have him checked out. the vet gave him a clean bill of health other than the 'dog' smell he had and a small itchy spot on his leg. so the decision was made that we were taking him: he was cute, fun, playful, great in the car, good with kids & other dogs, and my heart would not let me leave him there.

he's a pretty good dog other than he's not tator and he's not trained beyond potty, occasionally sit and mostly kennel trained. we got really really lucky with tator and i miss him so much, and sometimes feel like i'm doing almost a disservice to him by getting another dog. this new dog (we haven't decided on a name for him yet; trying a couple out) is very trainable tho and loves al.

that night, Friday, was a hard night for me once i went to bed. i could not sleep thinking of all the things that could go wrong with the dog, how i was not in the mind-set to train a dog (nor do i know how) while having trevor who requires all my attention when he's awake. i worked myself up to a point of stomach-in-knots and stayed that way most of Saturday too. i'm still not sure about having another dog and i kind of liked the ease of it being just trevor, so we'll see how it goes. i know both the dog and us need time to adjust. plus we'll get him neutered and al just worked Saturday & sunday then will be off for a week (his mom and rick are coming into town!).

trevor :: 31st week / 7 months

9/9/14

9/4/14

i put my son in a packers shirt...

i apologized to him as he tried to pull it off :)

trevor: pulled off a sock for the first time and likes to do it often now, likes to play with his little dump truck, tried and likes green beans (from the farmers market), does not like his patch & ripped it off once

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wednesday al had off and we were busy running errands and trying to get stuff done. we sold our non-working dryer to a guy who fixes them, bought a new (to us) dryer out of menomonie, picked up trevor's quilt that i made, went to the bank, among other things. so we got our garage cleared out and our new dryer in and working! it was so good to be able to do laundry and walk in our garage. al got the file cabinet in, his computer hooked up, and the curtains hung.

thursday was trevor's 7 month birthday and the first regular season game for the nfl, which just so happened to be the packer game. i didn't want to but did dress him in a packer onesie for his daddy and since they didn't play on the same day as the vikings. we went to red lobster to use the rest of our gift card since it was endless shrimp! it was not as good as we remembered or wanted it to be, but trevor did great and of course was a hit! then we went to the grocery store where, in his packer shirt and football socks, he was an even bigger hit! we watched the game at our neighbor's, jodi & matt's, house next door and had dinner with them. well, trevor and i only saw a little bit of the game before bedtime and i think i waited too long to put him down because he had trouble falling asleep.

the weekend was nice and relaxed for trevor and i, but al had to work a ton! we went to the farmers market on saturday, we took a couple of walks, unpacked/organized more, cleaned, etc. and saturday night he finally slept through the night again: 830p-6a.

monday all 3 of us went up to the cities so al could watch trevor while i played softball since mom was on her cruise. it was the first night of fall ball (al will be watching trevor for 4 of the 5 nights of fall ball since mom bowls on monday nights; thank goodness for him!) and that meant double headers. there are only 6 teams this year so we play the same team both games. the first game was almost a tie but the ump let us play another inning since we could take that time out of our next game, and we ended up scoring 8 runs and winning! we won the 2nd as well. i didn't hit worth crap and bruised my thumb but it was fun and nice that the weather is cooling off!

tuesday we went back to bloomer once both al and trevor were awake since al had to work (his friday).

 

 i got trevor's quilt back from the quilting lady and it's so cool!! footballs, baseballs and stars

 the front i made from fabric from our wedding!

 little long john outfit, so cute!

 my favorite! i love when he sleeps on my shoulder

 he loves to make noise, lots of noise, shaking toys now :)

 of course had to represent the vikings on sunday!! pj's and all!

 watching the vikings with mom

 pulling magazine clippings out of an empty kleenex box,

a great idea from an activity sheet we got from auntie jodi

trevor :: 30th week

9/2/14

 raccoon ears, alaska socks from grandma diane :)

trevor: sits up on his own every day especially when looking at toys, still falls over eventually but getting stronger, very fussy the end of this week (teething, moving, separation anxiety?)

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wednesday was moving day and also an extra sad day for us as while we were packing up in bloomer, our beloved dog, tator tot, was hit by a car and killed. :( we were already sad to leave that house, bloomer and the cats, and then we also had to leave our tator there. we love that dog so, so much!

the greeder bunch came down with their truck and trailer to help us, and we got it all in one load! the new place is larger than i originally thought so that's good. and although we're really heart broken over the loss of tator, we're slowly unpacking and making it home. a larger new chapter in our lives than we thought and it's definitely going to take some getting used to.

we live right next to our friends matt & jodi and their 2 kids and 2 dogs now (we share a yard with them), so wednesday night we went to their place for a beer and to watch some tv. it was good to have some distractions and let trevor get tired out from watching their kiddos play.

thursday and friday were really tough days for us but we tried to distract ourselves by unpacking, running errands, and getting some stuff done. trevor had been off schedule for multiple days so he was pretty fussy and not such a good sleeper, but we'll get back on routine and try some sleep training again if necessary.

friday al had to go back to work and had to work 12 hour shifts then and saturday (labor day weekend). saturday mom came down and we went and cleaned the bloomer house. it only took us a couple hours so that was good. it was really hard to say goodbye to that house and to tator and the cats!! mom helped me organize the new place, get the garage settled so we could get the explorer in it, and unpack a bunch more stuff. it was great to have her here but sad to see her go on sunday as there was no softball this week and she left for her cruise the next weekend. which meant we wouldn't see her again for 15 days. :(

sunday i made trevor some more baby food since he was just about out and out of his favorite, sweet potatoes. monday we actually got more than an hour awake with al! we spent some time outside since trevor was pretty fussy (he loves being outside and isn't fussy when out there). matt & jodi came to chat and jodi mowed our lawn with theirs! then later when al was getting ready for work and trevor was still fussy, we went for a walk with matt and the kids. after that trevor was less fussy. tuesday was al's friday (thank goodness! long week) and we were both hurting, physically and mentally/emotionally so we didn't do a whole lot.

not many pictures this week due to so much going on.

fussy baby wants to be held all the time,

so we tried our ring sling like this for the first time and loved it!

 he's been sleeping like this a lot lately:

side, leg out, hand grabbing leg

 new socks perfect for winter!

 thighs :)