Christmas 2011

Renner's first Christmas was a success in that he slept most of the day and wasn't cranky when he was awake. We started our Christmas on the Eve, with my parents and sister coming to our house. We ate pizza and cake and J took so many pictures I threatened him once... okay, more than once.

He likes this hat from his Aunt Jessy way more now that it fits

Renner cleaned up! For being only five weeks old, he got so many fun things. My dad got him his first pair of gloves (adult sized, which was hilarious) and his first pocketknife. Those will be going in a safe place for quite awhile, I assure you. He also got a stocking full of toys, a clap and play dog, the Little People's farm and the cutest firefighter rain jacket, among other things. 

On Christmas morning, we went to my grandma Mazie's house like we always do for breakfast. As I mentioned before, Renner slept the entire time.  We had a houseful, as every member of the fam was there except two of the great grand kiddos.  We took pictures of the 6 grandkids, since we hadn't all been together for awhile, and also a picture of the 5 of 7 great-grands with their great-grandma Mazie.  J, Ren and I also took our first family photo... of course Renner couldn't be bothered to wake up for it. 

That's my kid, all sprawled out in Mazie's lap, in the middle of his Christmas nap

For Christmas lunch (which we didn't eat because it had only been two and a half hours since breakfast) we headed to J's parents house. While everyone ate, I fed Renner. Then, he was bright eyed and bushy tailed for opening gifts.

The butt of Renner's adorable Christmas outfit

Renner and his daddy

Renner and his stocking at Grandma Debbie's house

Needless to say we had a busy busy day.... Which lead to over stimulation for a certain baby and it threw what we thought was a schedule out the window. But that's ok... You only get one first Christmas!

Renner also visited Santa Claus a few days before Christmas. Santa told us he asked for a LaZBoy recliner with heat and massage functions. Big request for a little guy.

Santa was fabulous and we hope so much he's back next year.  If you live in the Springfield, Missouri area, we highly recommend the Santa at the Battlefield Mall.  For whatever reason, the line moves way quicker compared to Bass Pro Shops and this Santa was the nicest, most gentle, funny Santa ever.  I think Renner liked him.

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Renner.  Maybe next year he'll be awake for more of it!

Renner - Three Months Old (2/16/12)

Clearly this post is late by two weeks, but I'll blame a teething tot for my lack of internet presence.  So Renner, if you ever read this, it was your own fault this post was late.  Mommy loves you!

I have to share this (probably not so) quick story with you:  I had to run some errands this morning and it included having to go into the bank, which I hate (I just feel like if it's got a drive thru, I should be able to use that for everything).  So I go into the bank with Renner and the teller is a grandma aged lady.  She sees Renner in his car seat and lights up, which I love.  She says, "She's so cute!" and I think, maybe I heard that wrong.  My son is wearing a neon green sleeper with alligators on it, is in a blue and brown car seat, and has a bib on that says MVP.  I say thank you of course, and she continues to say how cute 'she' is.  Finally she says, "It is a girl, right?"  (Who calls a baby 'it'?)  I kindly told her no and introduced him and she followed that up with, "Well he's just really pretty for a boy, so I assumed he was a girl." 

Thank you for complimenting my son's prettiness.  He'll love this story when he's older.  Anyway, here's his 3 month pictures!

Renner

3 Months Old

2/16/12

Really showcasing his chubba-wubba status with that round belly and double chin!

(Note to self: Clean up around your photo area next time! ;)

Each month I will take a photo of Renner on our couch and in his dad's recliner.

Real deal Holyfield.

Wow.  This little blog of a thousand names is now officially thestorysofarblog.com.

I know.  This is big news. 

I've continued to use thecottageapartment.blogspot.com because it was my original blog name "The Cottage Apartment" back in 2009.  At the time, I was moving from a house to an apartment that I was just sure would be my home for a very long time.  But things change and life happens and just five months after signing the lease on the apartment, I was moving into a house with my at-the-time boyfriend (he became fiance shortly after). 

I toyed around with different blog names along the way, like JandM, Your Mom's Blog and City Farmhouse.  I kept changing the name, but nothing seemed to stick.  Nothing fit what I was trying to do.  JandM was great for when I wanted to talk about my wedding (which was few and far between), Your Mom was great for when I was feeling super snarky (there was a string of posts that are hilarious but not necessarily posts I'd let my grandma read), and City Farmhouse was great, but I felt it put pressure on me to have an interior design blog, which is really what I planned to have.  But because of the wedding planning that was underway and the new chapter I was about to start, I found myself wanting to talk more about life and more than just interior design inspiration.  Since I was just sharing the occasional decor or design project, putting myself in the 'interior design blog' field pushed me away because it wasn't what other design blogs were.

This is my blog, after all.  And I should be able to talk about what I want without feeling cornered.  So in 2010, I started mulling about a new blog name... one that would stick.  I honestly googled 'how to choose a good blog name' a million times.  I may have visited more than one 'name my blog' random generator.  One afternoon I looked around my living room and saw my collection of CDs (yes, I still own CDs) and realized, "What do I love more than music?  Couldn't my blog name come from that?"

I made a list of favorite songs and favorite lyrics.  I texted my mom a final list and we both knew what the answer was:

The Story So Far

from a song by the same name by New Found Glory.  NFG was very big for me in high school and the name epitomizes what this blog is to me... this is just what I've been, where I've gone, who I am... so far.  The lyrics that I love the most are, "And everything else is irrelevant/to the story so far." Love.

So my promise at the beginning of the year to make this blog legit... official... the real deal Holyfield... is slowly coming to fruition.  On top of being a real domain now, I also have an actual blog design from Designer Blogs.  If you follow the blog in a reader, I encourage you to come check out the new digs... and everyone (meaning my mom) needs to update their favorites now to come straight to

www.TheStorySoFarBlog.com

So tell me... have you done anything exciting lately?  Made any big changes to your blog?  Or just tell me how your week is going so far...  I L-O-V-E comments.

Happy Leap Day!

P.S.  I want to thank those that commented on my last two posts with baby advice and home help.  Sadly, half of those that commented had no-reply emails :(  Go here for a quickie tutorial on how to not be a no-reply... because I want to respond to you for taking the time to visit with me!

P.P.S.  If you're not familiar with this song "The Story So Far" or if God forbid you don't know New Found Gory, here's a youtube video for your listening pleasure.  (Warning: the images in the video are super emo... just ignore that.)

My house needs to be cleaned but I’m writing this post instead. You’re welcome.

Seriously.  Things could not look worse around here.  I was all on my game and doing pretty good not totally failing keeping up with the hizzouse but then things happened and now I see no light at the end of the house cleaning tunnel.  So, in an act I can only classify as ‘master avoidance’ (at which I have a PhD), I re-organized some pictures on the laptop and sat down to write this post.  Since I’m being honest, I’m writing this post in the dark of our bedroom because Renner takes his afternoon nap in our bed.  And who am I to fight a 2 hour afternoon nap?  Given, I don’t get to nap because I’m generally fretting about what I should be doing and I don’t accomplish anything in the house because I’m too busy hovering. 

I’d also like to clarify that I *know* he shouldn’t be sleeping in my bed and yes, I plan to get him to take this nap in his crib (where he hasn’t ever slept) but this two hour afternoon nap is only 5 days old and I’M NOT ABOUT TO SCREW IT UP.  Babies are happy when they get sleep.  SO SO HAPPY. 

In other news, J was released from crutches.  Thank God.  Don’t get me wrong… I liked having him around.  But my day went from ‘see ya later’ at 9 am and ‘how was your day’ around 3 or 4 pm to me taking him to work every day at 9, me picking him up every day at 12 and then getting him things until he went to bed around 10 or 11.  Let me repeat from a previous post… I was happy to be able to help him but dang, Gina, two weeks is a long time.  His surgeon says his knee looks great and he should be back to normal in 3 months or so but he’s free to resume some normal activity, like driving himself to work and getting his own water.

Risking putting this out there and having it come back to bite me, Renner has dropped one of his night time feedings.  I was just on the verge of emailing every mom blogger I know in desperation when I realized after two nights in a row what was happening.  So major milestones this week: I’m now down to just two feedings a night and he’s taking a two hour afternoon nap.  Blessings, I tell ya. 

Renner has also started making a lot of noise and drool this week.  I’ve never experienced baby teething but I’m 98% sure he’s got one on the verge.  The kid just turned three months this week and he’s teething.  Maybe he’s just an overachiever.  Or maybe he wants to bring me back to earth after praising his new napping abilities.  Apparently my sister and I were super-droolers and my grandma says my dad was too, so lucky kid is taking after me already.  He’s also started making so much noise in the form of the cutest ever coos and gurgles.  He even surprises himself by blowing a raspberry every once in awhile.  It’s stinking adorable.

I cleaned out his dresser because the pile of things that couldn’t fit him was really getting crazy, and I was pushing more and more outfits aside because I knew they didn’t fit.  He started wearing his 6 month clothes at 6 weeks and now at 13 weeks I’ve started pushing 6 month clothes aside.  I knew the kid had a bunch of clothes, but I really had no idea until I sorted everything into ‘definitely sell’ and ‘keep IF we have another or if not, sort to keep the important stuff’.  These were the results:

This is tote is full of the things I love enough to keep for another baby (WHICH IS AN IF) or can’t bear to part with IF Renner is our one and only.  I love every.single.item. in this bin.

This is a diaper box (ended up being two diaper boxes) full of things I’m ready to part with.

The child is 3 months old and I already have this much stuff he can’t use.  I’m amazed by what people have given us and seriously, there is nothing more heartbreaking than looking back at the little outfits he wore over the last three months and realizing he’s already too big for them.  Time goes way too fast and babies grow way too quickly.  I also cried while sorting these clothes.  Don’t act surprised.

Renner’s awake, thus ending my post prematurely.  Story of my life.  Have a happy weekend and if you have free time, come clean my house.  I promise you won’t have to do anything really, because I’ll feel too guilty and waste your time talking to you about baby things.  Enticing offer, really.

Quickies

Pretty picture: This is my wedding bouquet.  Seriously I need to just share my wedding pics.  ASAP.

Quick questions, that is.  Get your mind out of the gutter.  Now answer!

1.  Do you have a baby or have you had a baby?  Tell me when you felt like you had your days figured out and didn't feel like you were always behind.  How old was your baby?  I'm drowning in a sea of dishes, laundry, and other crap. 

2.  Directed at baby mothers still... did you exclusively breast feed and if you did, do you have any tips for getting the wee babe to sleep better at night?  FYI: He sleeps one 4 hour stretch and then wakes up every one and a half to two hours until morning.  I'd like to deal with the waking up like crazy in the wee hours.

3.  If you lived in a house where every room was a different paint color you didn't really care for, where would you start painting?  Master bedroom?  Kitchen?  Living room? 

4.  If I told you I took pictures of a recipe I planned to share but the pictures are totally not food blogger photos, would you care to see the pictures or do you just want the recipe?  I'd ask if you even want to see the recipe but I'm sharing it.  So there.

5.  I'm still taking recommendations on blog designers.  Because this is one ugly blog and girl needs help.

Happy Wednesday, mother lovers.