Everything Easton: 9 months

Look at me! Not only am I actually writing a 9 month post for you....but it's ON your nine month birthday. Well, I'm starting it...can't promise I'll finish it tonight - it's already pretty late and I should get some comfortable sleep BEFORE you wake up and demand to sleep with me! :) 

Let's see....we don't go to the doctor until July sometime (remember, we're behind on our monthly appointments...) But I'm guessing you're closer to 19 pounds now...That would mean you gained 2 pounds in 2 months. 

You have started giving kisses - which I LOVE :) 

Your favorite toy is balls....you love basketballs, soccer balls, bouncy balls, etc! You start jumping in our arms if you see them!! It's crazy! I find it so crazy how you just automatically started liking those - we didn't really push them on you at all, whereas your sister was more into dolls at this time. Boys are so different and I love it! :)  

You love to play with your cousins...you like activity, whenever stuff is going on you watch! 

We think you're hardcore teething right now. You have had a fever off and on for a few days now and the poopy diapers are crazy! And you have a specific whiny cry when your teeth hurt and you put your fist in your mouth. I'll be so ready when those teeth finally pop through!

You are wearing 6 and 9 month clothing. Still a FEW 3-6 month onesies.

You are in size 3 diaper, but some days I wonder if you need a size 4! ;) I have no idea what size shoe you wear because you NEVER wear shoes! :)

You love the water! But you have started to HATE baths. I don't get it, cuz if I set you in front of water outside you're happy as can be - but not in the bathtub!

You are not sleeping good at all. Most days and nights I'm lucky if I can lay you down for a nap without waking you. I tried to let you cry it out - but you're so stubborn, and eventually Eliana has to go to bed so I can't let you cry anymore. So, I think we're just going to continue with the poor sleeping. Right now you nurse around 8:30, I try to lay you down at 9, you wake up, we rock, I try to lay you down at 9:30, you wake up, we rock, I try to lay you down at 10:30...I crawl in to the crib with you (yes, that happens!), I comfort you to sleep, and quietly slip out by 11. Then, you are usually up around 12:30 and in my bed with me. You nurse off an on throughout the night - some nights barely eating at all - some nights it feels like you literally eat all night. If you don't eat a lot you sleeping with me is no big deal, I can sleep holding a baby - but when you're constantly eating I can't sleep! :) Then you wake up sometime between 7 and 8 for the day. You eat some breakfast, which has been some fruit around 8:30, have a bottle at 9:30. Nap usually about 10:30 - if you let me lay you down this can be a 2 hour nap - but usually it's 30 min, because then I lay you down and you wake up! Then lunch at 12 - which is a veggie and fruit - you just started eating solid food instead of pureed food (which just means you're messier!). Nap at 2:00 (again, if I hold you it is long...but if I lay you down it's short). Then a bottle with formula at 3:00. Then dinner at 5:30. Then you nurse at 7:30, bottle after you nurse. Then bed...and nursing at night :) 

Could the two of you BE any Cuter!!??

You're starting to pick on your sister already....Your sister has also started to take your toys from you....we are constantly having to remind her to leave you alone! :)

We are working on blowing kisses. You are to the point where when I say - blow kisses - you put your hand up to your mouth! :)
You can wave hi and bye! It is the cutest wave ever!! You flap your whole arm! :) 

We are working on your signing. I am teaching you "more" and "all done" You think it is so funny when we sign! :) You are starting to get "all done" and sign it back to us! :) 

You LOVE to get dirty! You always want to go into the garage - which is Filthy! You love to play in Murphy's water dish too! And rocks are your best friend as well! :) 

Oh!! This is what I see all the time!! Okay - really, you're a happy baby - but you don't like it when it's time to nap or sleep - so you throw your head back and cry! Your sister never really threw fits like this! Your favorite song is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" so I sing that and we rock and you throw your head back a few times and cry - then you go to sleep! :) 

Look at you go!! You just started walking behind things! :) So proud of you! You do really good with the lion - the walker toy we have your legs kind of hit the foot of them....and then you started walking on the sides of your feet...which concerns me with your treatment - I'll watch some more and if you do it again I might make you another appointment with your orthopedic. 

Eating away! : )

Your clubfoot treatment is going well. We're going to call the Hanger office to see if you need new shoes for your brace - we think they are getting too small. Our Dr said they're not like normal shoes, in the fact that your feet can stick over the edge - but if your toes are able to curl over we need to get new ones. You are starting to have red marks right in the crevice of the top of your foot - You have a lot of extra skin there (which is normal for a clubfoot baby) - and I'm not sure if it's because your shoes are getting too small or what - but you have red marks there now. They don't seem to bother you though - which is good. 

We've been going to story time every Wednesday this summer! You love this book castle!

Pizza is your FAVORITE! :)
Anytime any of us are eating you think you have to eat too! :) Graham crackers are our new friend in the fact that I give them to you every time you think we are eating and you should too! :)
Speaking of food - Your sister didn't get certain foods until she was a certain age (for example poptarts!!) Well, you're already eating poptarts...not because mommy and daddy give them to you - but your sweet sister shares with you. And despite my best effort to encourage her not to - it's just a lost cause at times - so you enjoy your occasional bit of poptart :)

Oh! And you know your name! I wrote on your sister's 9 month post that she knows the word "no". I don't feel like we tell you "no" very much - but I do say "Easton" and you stop and turn! :) Yesterday you were picking on your sister and I said, "Easton - don't do that" and you turned around and gave me this ornery smile!! 

You sure are a sweet sweet boy! Your smile is great and your happiness is priceless! Your sleeping habits could improve though sweet baby!! Let's work on that! :)
I am so excited to take you to the Beach this next month! We're going to make lots of good memories in the next month and then August will be here along with some new firsts for us all! 

I love you sweet baby (and even though at times I need you to go to someone else, I'm loving that your a momma's boy! I love how excited you get when I walk in the room - and how at times the only person that can soothe you and the only person you want is your momma!)

I love you Easton, 

Mommy

Moving

I wanted to write a more interesting title...but I can't think of one...I'm still not sold on this moving thing(even though we already have!). I have been sitting on this post for quite a while. And now that we are officially moved in to our new home - I guess I better write it :) 

Your daddy got a new job this past August (2013) in Iola working at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. This was the first step to doing his dream job working in theater. His title is assistant tech director. He has learned so much in the past year doing this job. His job also requires a lot of time. There were many days he would leave home at 8, drive the hour down to Iola for work at 9. Work all day, have a few hours off where he would go to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner, then back to work by 5:30 and he would work until 10:00 pm. Then head back to Ottawa and return home at 11:00...just to turn around and do it all over again. We talked about daddy just spending the night in Iola on those crazy work weeks...and he did before Easton was born. But after Easton was born, there were many nights where you both would be up and daddy would go in to Eliana's room to help her go back to sleep, and typically I was already awake feeding Easton. There for a while the two of you kiddos were going back and forth waking up - we would get one to sleep and the other would wake up. :) So, it resulted in daddy driving home just to sleep at our house....and mommy feeling like a single mommy throughout the evenings. So - we decided it would be best to move to Iola so that at least when daddy had those 2 or 3 hour afternoon/dinner breaks he would be home and able to help out! :) 

So, step one was to get mommy's resume in order again and apply for jobs in Iola and Chanute. Then we met with our AMAZING realtor. She told us we had to declutter!! Yeah, we knew that....we tend to hang on to too many things. So, we got a uhaul and packed up most of our stuff and moved it down to Iola. Our house was ready to start showing. I then got a call from Chanute that they wanted to interview me as did Iola. So, the Wednesday before Spring Break I had an interview on the same day for both schools. Chanute called me the very next day to offer me a job teaching 4th grade. Iola wanted me to wait to answer because they had a few more interviews...but your daddy and I decided to go ahead and accept the Chanute position. So- step 1 - get house ready - check. Step 2 - get mommy a job closer to Iola - check. Step 3 - start showing house - check.
We did get an offer on our house from our very first showing - but it wasn't a great offer so we said no. 

Step 4 - sell house - check. 5.5 weeks after we put our house on the market we sold it! And then we had to start moving.
We were so sad to leave Ottawa - but knew it was best for our family. We sold our house on May 20th but we couldn't get in to our new place until June 1- so we spent 1 week at mimi and papa's house and then two weeks at Grandma and Grandpa's house. And then we had ONE more week at Grandma and Grandpa's while we tried to finish unpacking.  

Here's mommy and daddy having a picnic the first day we moved in to the house. September 24, 2009.

Five years later....May 18, 2014. We are having a picnic right before we move out.

Walking in to our new home :) 9-24-09

A lot can happen in five years! Walking out five years later. 

5-18-14

We are so thankful that God helped guide us as we made all these new choices. We prayed and asked God what we should do - and we felt he was telling us to move - and then he opened and closed the doors as we walked through. 

This was when we moved in to Garfield Elementary. This was a hard good bye for mommy. I loved working at Garfield and loved the people I worked with. It was hard for mommy to move. This was May 2012

To now - May 2014!

Our U-Haul :) 

Our family :) Ready for our new adventure.

Easton is our big driver!

So, we moved to Iola. We moved in to Grandpa-Great Jimmie's place. He built himself a one bedroom with a HUGE garage on 33 acres of land. SO, we have lots of land -but not a lot of room on the inside. But you will be amazed at how I've made this one-bedroom work! It's amazing when you downsize the amount of stuff you have how you can save space! :) I think we will survive in this house - I really do. The hard part is going to be living on 33 acres of land and in the country.....surviving the bugs and supposed snakes...which thankfully I haven't seen any! But we have seen plenty of bugs!!! eek!! I'm gonna have to toughen up! :) 

Eliana and Easton, we changed your world a whole lot in the past month - but we will all survive! Easton is clearly little enough to not notice the difference...well, obviously he does because his sleeping habits (which were not good to begin with) have gotten worse! :) But, Eliana, you're old enough to ask questions and really know what is going on. 

When we finally moved in to our new place - which you were ready for - you kept saying, "I go to my new house?" You were SO excited to see your things! You ran from item to item exclaiming "Mommy! Look! My bed! Daddy! Look! My minnie mouse! Mommy look! Easton's crib! etc" It was so precious - and you're still doing it as I bring in more boxes! :)
But along with the new excitement comes the sadness of leaving your house that you knew, and your friends at Sherry's, and our church family. You may not have known it was our last goodbye at the time -but now you will ask about your friends, church, or Sherry and you just don't understand why we won't take you to see them! 

Ottawa was mine and your daddy's home for 10 years. It will always have a special place in our hearts. I hope (and I'm sure it will) Iola will eventually leave an impact in my heart as well (Iola is already in your daddy's heart since he grew up here). Luckily, I feel very confident that this is where God wants us. He has made it very evident to us, and I'm happy that we listened and followed what He wanted for us.

I look forward to writing about all of our new adventures soon! 

Love you both!
Mommy