Snow Fun

We were out enjoying the absolutely beautiful winter day with Reid! (Remember you can double click on the pictures to view them larger.)

Where is Reido?

Get it? Like where is Waldo? Reid is even in red and white stripes. Anyway....what happens when Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles go overboard and love Christmas? This is! Look at all this great stuff! It took me an hour + to unpack it and stack it neatly under the tree. I wish I would have taken a picture before I put it all under the tree in piles. Our whole living room was full of gifts! Thank you for everything, Reid is going to have a blast with all of his new stuff!

Christmas Eve

These few pictures are what I have from the Christmas Eve celebration at my parents house.
Those of you who know us know that Christmas Eve at my parents is no small endeavor. There are 40+ people having a great time. Of those 40+ people 18 of them are children opening up tons and tons of gifts! Reid made it to about 6:30 so these are the only pictures I got of him. Believe it or not he pretty much slept through fun times being had by all.

Reid's First Christmas Extravaganza!!

Let the games begin! This was the first of our many Christmas celebrations!
Thank you to the Neuman family for all the wonderful gifts!

Yummmm!

Here is Reid's first attempt at eating rice cereal! The first two times we fed him he didn't quite know what to think. Third time is a charm. He sat on my lap and just opened up like a little birdie and ate the entire bowl!

Elf on a Shelf

Here is Reid with his "The Elf on the Shelf."
My brother Paulo and his family sent Reid this adorable gift for St. Nick's Day. I had never seen this before and it is absolutely the cutest thing ever! If you are looking to start a new Christmas tradition with your children this is perfect! Click here to check it out. The story is so cute and not to mention the funny little elf that you have to give a name to! Thank you Uncle Paulo and Aunt Gwen for giving Reid this great memorable Christmas tradition that he will look forward to doing every year!

5 MONTHS!

I know this is a little late, but here is Reid's 5 Month pic.
Time is sure flying by!

Learning to Sit Up

Reid is almost sitting up on his own! In a week or two he'll have it mastered!

This is How We Roll

Since our weather has been really chilly and the snow has been falling this is how we bundle Reid up for the outdoors! He looked so cozy in his hat and snugly from Grandma and Grandpa that I had to share this picture with all of you! Wecome Winter!

What a Cutie!

Well I haven't taken any pictures in what feels like weeks!
We are all doing well and getting ready for the holidays! I can't wait, it's very exciting to have a little one to share these upcoming weeks with. Getting the Christmas tree, the first snow fall, decorating, and sharing the holidays with family have a whole new meaning now that we have Reid!
We have been feeling very sleepy since Reid has decided that waking up to eat two or three times between 6:30 pm and 6:30 am is a grand idea. At least he is going back to sleep after eating! We were spoiled when he was sleeping from 7-3 and then sleeping again until 6:30 and now we are in the middle of what I've learned is called "The 4 Month Sleep Regression." If you look hard enough on the internet you can find a name or title for anything! I'm not sure that I believe these things exist, but at least it makes me feel better that others are experiencing the same things. You can read about it Here and here if you are interested. BTW, I love this Ask Moxie blog, she rocks and this is the only thing I've read about so far.
Reid has also been going in for weight checks because he is coasting down the charts in the weight category. Now, that being said I know he is healthy, happy and fine but as a mom it still makes me worry and also lose a little sleep. (My sisters went through the same things with their children, thanks for the support ladies!) So again I turn to the "trusty" internet and I found this about breast fed babies. Which again I found comforting. Disclaimer, I do not care how you feed your babies, just as long as you feed them. The lady who wrote this is an awesome writer and she is extremely pro breast feeding. She writes things like, "But I find it absurd that the solution routinely proposed for slow weight gain in breastfed babies is the introduction of a potent allergen with a high potential renal solute load, a substance associated with increased risks of health problems both short- and long-term." when referring to formula. This makes me chuckle and think back to discussing this with my good friend Em. This site and entries are very very well written but do not read them if you are an easily offended about how you feed your baby.
Well anyway that is our update and I'll be back this weekend with some pictures of us getting our tree, hopefully!
Maybe I'll try to squeeze in a nap now!

She's Crafty

So all of you who know me know that I pretend to be crafty. I love to look at fabrics and patterns and always say, "I could do that." About 99% of the time I never do it, or it takes me forever, seriously like years. I've got a huge bolt of fabric to make window treatments for our bedroom that I've had now for almost 2 years. Anyway, I've been saying that I was going to make Reid these little shoe/booties for awhile now, at least since the beginning of October. Well here it is Thanksgiving and I really wanted him to have a pair to match his outfit for his first Thanksgiving. They turned out really cute and I will now be hooked on making them! (That is his sweater in the background)

Yeah! Dad is Home!!

Books Books and More Books!

Reid absolutely loves to be read to. He stares at the pages and smiles and laughs and awaits the turning of the page. It is so fun for us too!

Surprise!

A Post without a Picture?

Well I've got a few friends who have blogs that aren't completely dedicated to photographs of their children and they use the opportunity as almost a journal. So I thought I'd give it a try...maybe once a week at the max!

So I had the wonderful opportunity to have breakfast with my great friend Emily at The Other Side last week. As we gathered there, Emily with two children in tow and me with Reid we met Phil and Anne with their two little ones. Then very shortly after being there they told us they were expecting a baby! Congratulations Phil and Anne! What wonderful news. I felt so excited for them and so happy that we were all there with our families. There is just a great sense of happiness seeing friends that you have had since junior high with their children. Anyway....to the point. Emily and I were talking and discussing judgment. And how when you become a parent your life is all of a sudden an open book for anyone and everyone to pass judgment on you, your children and your parenting. Emily and I have children that are only about three weeks a part and we pretty much do everything different, she works I stay home mostly, she formula feeds I breast feed, I cloth diaper she uses sposies etc. So that got me to thinking......why are we both being judged constantly? Why do people want your babies to grow up when you simply want to freeze time? What I mean is why are people always asking, are they sleeping through the night? Are they eating solid foods? Are they potty trained yet? etc etc. So this is what we hear from everyone including our families friends and complete strangers.

Breast Feeding: First you are judged by the nipple nazis at the hospital telling you that you that it is the only way and absolutely the only way your baby will thrive. Then when you are successful at breastfeeding people wonder....how do you know how much they are eating? What if they aren't getting enough....the list goes on.
Formula Feeding: The devil's brew. That is all I have to say about that.

Working: If you work you are abandoning your child and letting someone else raise them
Stay at Home: You are babysitting and wasting your college education

Cloth Diapering: You are just plain crazy, and it's gross. (This one is very interesting to me, my next "journal" entry will be all about cloth diapering bc I've gotten so so so many emails and questions about it and every response from "Gross, never in my house" to "You are awesome, good for you!"
Disposables: Earth Killer

Having Babies on Schedules: If you have one you are trapped by your children
Not Having Babies on Schedules: The children are running the house

Sleeping through the night: Lucky you! Why?
Not Sleeping through the night: You are spoiling them and shouldn't answer their cries.....

The sleeping question is by far the most commonly asked question. My response is "sometimes" even though Reid technically sleeps through the night (any 7 hour stretch of sleep is technically sleeping through the night). Then I see it, the look. ...the look of pity that my 4 month old isn't sleeping from 7 pm to 7 am. I just smile and proceed to tell them what a good baby he is when in reality I want to tell them this....I love to feed my baby especially in the middle of the night, I absolutely love it. It is so dark, quiet and serene. It's our time uninterupted and I wouldn't trade anything in the world for those hours I've spent with Reid. I also want to tell them that I will be sad when those late night feeding aren't needed anymore. But I don't. I don't bc I don't want that look. The look of ...oh you are a breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby wearing, co-sleeping, attachment parenting lunatic. Yup that's the look I try to avoid. Even though that isn't true, it is the judgement that is made. Like I asked before, I wonder why people want children to grow up faster than they already do? Then I wonder why I don't want Reid to grow up? Maybe it's because we hit a few bumps in the road when trying to have children, maybe it's because it felt like I waited so long for him, or maybe it's because he is just so darn cute every single day, maybe it's because he smiles at me all the time and cries when I leave the room, but maybe just maybe it's bc these past 4 months have been the happiest and most rewarding times for Kevin and I. So we are just going to continue holding Reid, rocking him, playing with him, feeding him whenever he wants, and constantly "spoiling" him! Why? Because we want to and we can.

4 Months!

Here is Reid's 4 month picture! As you can see the pictures with the sign are getting more challenging!
Check up: 12 lbs 10 oz.

Milk Coma

I just absolutely love this picture. He is so content and if you look closely you can see milk on his lips and under his bottom lip. How fitting for a Neuman, a milk beard.

Ahhh Grandma

Here is my other favorite from the last big photo shoot. Here is Reid looking at my mom.
My mom has a special bond with Reid. There has been many times when Grandma comes over to see him and he is hungry, tired or maybe just plain sick of his mom and she just as so much as walks in the door and Reid just lights up at the sound of her voice! She can get him to smile and laugh no matter what! Must be all that practice she has had. Thanks Mom!

Almost 4 months!

Reid is almost four months old! He had a doctor's appointment yesterday. He weighs 12 lbs. 10 oz. and is 24 1/2 inches long! He is in the 75% for length, Kevin told him not to expect that his entire life :) He did great with his shots. He barely even cried, he's my little toughie. I think the shots hurt me more than him! Stay tuned for his four month pictures coming soon!

Is he not the cutest baby ever?

I took this photo on a whim yesterday. Reid had spit up on his outfit because
I ate a pasty (he doesn't like them but I do) so I was changing him and noticed the beautiful light coming in from the window. Being a commercial photographer I rarely use natural light
but I really am getting into it and trying to figure out how to use it to my advantage. So anyway, what I'm getting at is that technically it isn't the best photograph, it is a little grainy because I had to crank the ISO on my camera to get enough light to not have to use the flash which would cancel out this gorgeous light. I will never be able to recreate this image so I'm going to play up the graininess in photoshp. I'm so glad I was able to capture this image, I'm in love with it today. It isn't perfect but it is perfectly Reid.

Trick or Treat

Yumm that tastes good. Very excited to go treating.















Getting tired of the costume. Sick of the costume.











Reid was a little trooper on Halloween as we dragged him in his giraffe costume all over the city to show him off and then of course wheeled him around the neighborhood to show him off even more.

Our tired little giraffe.