Teefers

Guess who finally had his 2 front teefers pop through!?

The first one started showing up last week. It finally broke through this weekend. The second one is making an appearance right now. (just in time to board a flight tomorrow at 6am! score)

These teeth have brought out a side of River that I have never seen. I feel like he is handling it well for the most part. Except all the sudden he is pretty unpredictable. One second he LOVES that you are tickling him .. the next he is pretty ticked off that you are tickling him.. that sort of thing.  Hopefully its just the teeth! (right?)

Im busy packin up shop and getting on a plane tomorrow to head towards Tejas.

Thankfully the Texas weather has started to cool down just in time for us to arrive. (not as cool or fallish as Erie - but I'll take what I can get! :) And at least River can wear his shorts a little bit longer than he could if we were in Pennsylvania!

Oh and we painted our bedroom Gray on Sunday! Im lovin it. Ive never EVER ever really decorated or invested much in what our bedroom has looked like. It normally just gets the left overs. So in return Ive always hated the bedroom. So this is SUPER exciting to for once walk in and love how it looks. I still need to post (actually I still need to TAKE) pictures of the living room to show you the updates there.

okay.. back to packing.

3 years later

Oh did I not mention it was our 3 year anniversary yesterday? True story. 

This is reposted from when I was celebrating our 4 years of just dating.. 

a brief photo essay in honor of the


years


we have been boyfriend & girlfriend:




























it was our first anniversary as parents

celebrating after we put our son to bed

with lots of ah-mazing food I might add! (Chicken with Goat Cheese and Basil, sauteed broccoli, homemade crab cakes, Bellini's.. I mean we (Freeland) went all out people!)

I imagine the celebrations will last through the weekend too! 

can you tell Im avoiding pictures?

not on purpose I just haven't had time to open them up & post them. 

will do that soon. promise

because it turns out babies this young change daily. So you deserve to see more pictures of him. 

I dont think I have to tell you this but the boy gets cuter everyday. So the last picture you saw of him - guys.. he is even cuter now! Just wait!

thank you for all your help & traveling advice! seriously! Yall are wonderful and Im thankful you take the time to comment and help little ol anxious me. (i never thought to take the bjorn so thats a GREAT idea and will help a ton as I will also be taking my laptop for work through security so unloading that, plus a baby, plus a stroller... etc.. = bjorn is heaven sent! all of your comments and help = heaven sent also!)

Oh and River finally eats food. I guess it turns out he just hated the Rice Cereal and wanted to throw it up to show us that? Because he eats veggies like a stinkin champ. leaning over and practically begging for more. But put rice cereal in front of him and his lips are sealed shut. Or if they arent then 4 hours later you have throw up all over you. SO I think we will stick to the veggies. I dont think Ive heard of any other kids doing this? (except ones i found on google searches) The doctor never mentioned she thought he was allergic just that his stomach didnt like the texture. So its strange to me. But it only proves the theory that every child is different.

Freeland is finishing up his OBGYN rotation this week and moving on to work in a pediatricians office next week. It will be a nice change in pace since he wont have to carry a pager with him everywhere. ;)

flying with a baby?

SO it was bound to happen at some point. seeing as we live so far from family.

Im leaving soon to go to a wedding.. with River.. via an airplane.. all by myself.. with a connecting flight..

I originally planned on going to visit family in July or August when he was younger. But then realized I didnt want to even attempt to put myself through the kind of heat Texas was having much less introduce River to it.

But I cant put it off any longer because my sweet friend is getting married in San Antonio and I must be there!

SOOOO any tips for traveling with a 6 month old baby? 

Id love to hear anything & everything you have to say about it. The good, the bad, the ugly (i want to be prepared for the worst so I trick myself into hopefully thinking it was easy!)

okay go... 

grace like a river

just heard the lyrics "grace like a river" and it just hits a little (HUGE) part of my heart.

I love this guy. And I love the personality he is starting to show.

I love when he grabs our faces (which ps. it only took him grabbing my nose ring twice for me to take it out)

I love when he hides his face from the mirror

I love when he tries to sit up (even though he still cant without help)


I love when he laughs after he toots

I love when he gets so excited that he cant contain himself

I love when he sticks his tongue out.  (see post below)

I love his little hands & his chunky thighs. his tush is my favorite though. 

my favorite picture at the moment:

cutest picture ever alert:


from my phone.

this kid just melts my heart.

we had a great weekend. River pretty much lucked out at all the garage sales. He got so many great toys. (basketball hoop, car, tool set..) Of course he wont be able to use them until next summer probably but it was fun to get such a great deal on everything while we could. He'll never notice all of them are 10+ years old!

Look what else River did this weekend. (note: mom dont look)



He became a steelers fan.

(note: right now my mom has closed the blog and is ordering a Dallas Cowboys outfit for him so he never wears this again)

But really, River did watch the game & wear his little uniform while watching it thanks to Kevin & Becca! He's a true Pennsylvania baby!

I cant explain how much Im loving this fall weather & having our windows open. Im so glad to not experience another 80 degree day for a LONG time! Oh and we repainted our living room & dining room. Did I already mention that? I'll post some pictures soon.

5 months

rockin the mohawk (freeland loves styling his hair)

Im absolutely loving this little guys personality these days. He continually cracks us up. And you can tell he is starting to understand so much more & wants to play & interact with us more. His newest trick is sticking his tongue out. I think he figured out it makes us laugh so he does it all the time now. (or he just does it all the time and we continue to laugh) But I love it either way. He's also learned that he can scream really loud if he wants to. (like a happy laughing squealing) I love it.



At 5 months he weighs 15.4 lbs. And he actually ended up hating .. I mean absolutely hating Rice Cereal. I think the first time he enjoyed that we were all laughing so much & never really swallowed any? Im not sure because since then if we try to give him any he throws it up. Same with oatmeal. After trying lots of different things (and amounts.. and times of days..etc.) The doctor said its probably just because his stomach cant handle the texture yet? And we'll just keep trying every few days until he can handle it. We are going to try veggies (even though she said the same thing will probably happen.. so yay for green vomit!)



Im not concerned because he laughs right after he throws up (probably because he threw up all over us.. and thats funny to him) so I know he isnt in pain. And he doesnt have any other reaction. And he is still thriving so in due time he'll get it.



Now that the weather is getting colder he finally gets to wear cute beanies and all his warmer outfits. Which of course he looks like the cutest thing Ive ever seen in all of them. (especially footed pj's.. and hats!)

We've been taking him to all the festivals still. He loves them & just sits back & takes it all in with the most serious look on his face. I cant wait to take him to the pumpkin patches soon!



In his 5 short months he has been all over the place.. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Central PA and Niagara Falls! And soon we get to add Texas to that list! World traveler I tell you!



He is definitely a daddy's boy. (if I haven't already mentioned that? :) But really he is. However there are still times that he needs his mom. And I think its such a beautiful thing how we can both meet different needs for him & love him in different ways. Its definitely teaching me so much about the love the Lord has for his children (us) and both the Father heart of God but also the mothers heart too.

lame-o

I have a 10000 things to blog about. but I also have a 10000 things to get done at work .. and my house is a wreck right now. So Im trying to get those things done first.


Labor day was wonderful though. It was refreshing for both of us even in the midst of all the craziness life throws our way. Hopefully I will get some pictures up soon.

PS. Camille.. come home. kthnxbye

progress

I would never say that she doesn't like River because compared to how scared Sam is of other strangers she is practically in love with River. Ive come to the conclusion that the problem is she just doesn't like to show it. a pride issue maybe? just kidding.

Really, she used to just ignore him for the most part.

Recently though, she has been walking by and sniffing him.. hanging out in his room.. following us around.. and her favorite thing is to hide under his play mat.  



here she actually makes an effort to get closer to him instead of us moving him closer to her:


and that is progress.

It really does feel like you are watching a kindergartner flirt or something. (like she is curious but doesn't want us to see that she is starting to like him)

ps: today River is officially 5 stinkin months old.

over stimulation?

Freeland decided River should get to play with all his toys at once the other day

Im pretty sure this is over kill ..









you cant even see all the toys that are in front of him too. jeez. ;)

(sorry for the lack of posting. its been a busy week. but good news is that Im taking half days wednesday - friday this week so I couldnt be more thrilled! seriously. it feels amazing to have half the day off!!!!)

updated: I just realized I have monday off too - holy moly this is going to be one amazing weekend!

ps: I also forgot to mention our dear friend Sarah started a blog. You know.. THE Sarah who hosts all the amazing parties.. yep! her! Pretty sure you will want to check that out - click here