5 Year Anna-versary

We hired a babysitter for the first time tonight! Well actually it was a sister from the ward. Her kids are teenagers but she LOVES babies so I knew even if Connor was unhappy she could give him her full attention and love him no matter what. 

Last year I was super sick so we didn't go anywhere fancy. This year I can't have several food groups because I'm nursing so Logan took me to a Korean place where we figured I could eat most of what was on the menu.  

It was pretty cool. You get your own little personal room and grill that you can cook the food you order from the computer. It is a fun version of an all you can eat buffet.

Yay meat! It was really good and we had fun trying lots of different things. Don't worry we also ate some veggies too. 

This may be silly but honestly my favorite part was that Connor was so good for Alli while we were gone and he got so excited to see me when we picked him up!

This Baby Loves Swings

On Saturday we went to this park just to find a baby swing for Connor. He had a great time! I loved so many pictures I got - some for the sweet pure joy and others for his crazy faces! I couldn't decide on one, so you get to see all my favorites! 

Chicken Tacos and Spanish Rice

Here is mommy's yummy tacos she made me and the Spanish rice recipe I really like.

Chicken Tacos

3-4 Chicken Breasts

1/2 to 3/4 C Chicken Broth

Depending on how salty the Chicken Broth is add up to a 1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp Cumin

1/4 to 1/2 tsp Dash Fiesta Lime

1/2 C Salsa Verde or (2 blended Tomatillos)

1 small can Green Chilies

Put all in Crockpot for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 on low. Shred and put back in juices until ready to serve. 

Serve on corn tortillas with sour cream, salsa, avocado, shredded lettuce (with carrot), cheese and black beans. Optional sautéed onion and bell peppers. 

Spanish Rice

1 c raw regular white rice

1/2 can small 8 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp ground oregano

2 c water

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/8 c cooking oil doesn't matter what kind 

Season with salt to taste

1 You want to make rice in a heavy bottomed frying pan and have a tight fitting glass lid. Place cooking oil in pan with raw rice, use a medium heat to brown the rice making sure all of it is coated with oil. When rice has turned brown you add the 1/2 can of tomato sauce, it should be sizzling by this time.

2 When the rice and tomato sauce are sizzling, you add the 2 cups of water and all the spices, stirring until well mixed. When rice mixture is bubbling you lower the heat to simmer, covering with glass lid. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes. Do not lift lid. 

3 When the 15 minutes are completed, turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove lid and use spatula to turn rice from bottom to top. Rice is done and ready to eat!

Beach Day

It took us two days but we finally got the new car seat installed. Connor giggled in it for about 10 min and then got sad but that's longer then he has been lasting. I'm hopeful. 

On Logan's last day of leave we went to the beach! Sadly all my pics I took using my phone turned out hazy. It is so humid here!

Cononr knew exactly what it was as Logan lowered him down and was kicking those little legs before they even touched the water. He was so cute! 

Oooh sand. Two seconds later he of course tried to taste it. 

Tuesday Fun

We had a great day yesterday. I think Connor is slowly starting to warm up to Logan now that we are back. If Connor is not too hungry or tired he is really good for him - which is great caz I am getting some alone mommy time :) like on Monday, I got to get a pedicure with my friend Claire and he did really well (slept most of the time).  

Connor is just making so much improvement so fast! I thought we would be a month or two away from crawling but the last two days he is pulling up on his knees easily and starting to scoot forward. Yesterday, he was alternatively moving each leg up and back with his hands planted. I think I might only have weeks (or sometimes it feels like days)  till I have a little mover! 

I also thought he could only roll to his right but yesterday I also encouraged him to go the other way and he did.

Connor has only been eating solids for two weeks and is already getting so good! Yesterday he ate two florets of broccoli, a 6 inch stick of roasted zucchini and a roasted carrot stick. Over an ounce! and when I say ate, almost all of it went in his tummy (not floor or lap) and he did it completely by himself. 

After dinner, I was moving the bottles out of their drawer for a place to put the bibs and thought I might try to give him one. Shockingly he took it and ate an ounce of formula!! This has not happened in over 3 months! It was also with the bottles he initially started to refuse leading me to try others that also didn't ever work. Silly kid! At least this gives me hope that if I keep giving him one a day, I might be able to leave him with Logan when I need to or a baby sitter. Note: this happened on the same day I finally threw away over 140 ounces of pumped breast milk from my freezer that was too old to use. 

Last night I was brushing my teeth and came down to this kid making a splash mess all over the bathroom with his daddy. This kid loves bath time! It was the biggest mess I've ever seen him make.  I wish you could see how wet my walls were! It was great!

Side note, I got my teeth cleaned yesterday and this is the getup the Japanese hygienist was wearing - I wish you could see the gloves, mouth mask, glasses and visor that had a plastic screen the completely covered her face. By the way she and the dentist both told me I have great dental hygiene and had no cavities! 

6 and 6 1/2 Month Updates

6 Months

So to recap, the biggest thing of this month was introducing food! And this baby loves it all! He is a good little eater. He has been pretty good with anything I give him. Although the spinach banana puree I tried to give him on the plane got me some pretty good faces haha! He still ate half the pouch.  I still think broccoli is his favorite but he also really likes the baby cereal - I like it too because it is easy to pop in his mouth to make him happy for a little bit. It saved me on the long flight! Some new foods we have tried are chicken, rice and eggs. I'm amazed at how well he can chew and swallow. I really do love giving him little parts of our meals so we all get to eat. I love having family dinners with all the family!

Connor weighed in at about 15 lbs (9%) and 25.4 inches (13%). On the 27th of this month I have his 6 month check up (although he will be 2 days from 7 months). I plan on talking to his Doctor about his green diapers and allergy testing. I've started to introduce a little dairy back in and I think he is getting a little better but he still spits up a lot. 

All these were taken on his 6 month birthday. 

Visiting Megan in Durango

These last two were part of a mini photo shoot a few days later. Connor was so distracted! All he wanted to do was face plant and eat the soft blanket. Have I mentioned how much this little guy loves eating blankets?

 6 1/2 Months

Connor is now half way through this month already! Wow times flies! Just in the last few days I feel like he has made some big changes like getting up on his knees and rocking and starting to scoot. It is crazy how all the sudden he can do a new trick.

Recently he also has been starting to smile at strangers. He gets a lot of attention and loves it all.

Along with the food thing, in the last few days he has started to get much better at the pincer grip (between finger and thumb) and getting little pieces of food to his mouth.

He is also sitting so well now! He can sit for quite a while and bend over to pick up toys. We are still working on not falling to the side or backward when he gets really happy.

In just the last day, when he is standing and you pull him forward by his hands, he will take some steps!

"I pledge allegiance to the flag..." So patriotic :)

The hardest thing we are dealing with right now is mommy separation. If he can't see me he cries and cries until I come back. This includes trips to the bathroom, in the car and if left with is dad. I really hope this doesn't last long! 

Since being back, he has been having lots of tired melt downs but sleeping better at night. I hope that him sleeping better last and improve!