Halfway to a Year! (And Crafts Too)

Isn't he just the cutest little thing you ever did see?? I think I say that every time... Yes friends the light of my eye is now 6 months old and I don't think we could possibly love him anymore! His checkup was Monday and he got 2 shots. Here are his stats:

17lb 8oz
26 in

At 6 months you:

• are done nursing and on to formula/solids
• have eaten applesauce, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, bananas, and squash (all homemade)
• go to bed between 8-9pm and sleep about 12 hours
• take a 1 hour nap around noon, and again around 4pm
• can sit up pretty well on your own
• still don't like being on your tummy
• can hold your own bottle
• are wearing size 3 diapers
• still just have 2 bottom teeth
• love to grab grandma's earrings and necklace
• can now successfully sit in the seat of the shopping cart
  

He still has those beautiful blue eyes! They haven't changed at all, and I'm hoping they don't because I love my boys with brown hair and blue eyes.

Daddy {finally} put together his highchair a few days ago, and he loves to sit in it and eat like a big boy! It was a present from my coworkers and I foresee us enjoying it for a long time! The seat can recline or sit straight up, and you can raise or lower it.

Now for crafts! I have been busy busy these last few weeks, and one thing that I took way too long to start was stockings! I wanted to make embroidered stockings for Bradley and I. Nick didn't want a new one because he loves the one I made him back in the day when we first got married. Well I finally found the fabric and embellishments that I like and I got on it!

I wanted to use bullion fringe for the "cuff" instead of your typical cuff; I think it gives it a nice touch. I just happened to have thread that was the exact gold as in the fabric. The green tree I appliqued on is the other fabric that I am making Bradley's stocking out of, and it will have a red tree on it. Hope you like!

As a present for my mom, I had her pick out a nice blouse that she liked so that I could take it home and add a little touch to it. She loves cardinals so I picked this design and added her name. That way she can wear it beyond Christmas through the winter:

I also finally embroidered my name and such on my work jacket. The hospital charges about $30 if you buy one through them, so I thought I would just do my own! I was very happy to find a caduceus to embroider.

And this is a hat I crocheted for my niece's first birthday next month. I am also going to attempt to sew her some summer dresses that are lacy and cute (since I can't get away with doing that for my boy).

This is something I did for almost all the children in the family. My mom bought a bunch of fleece and microplush blankets for them, and I embroidered each person's name on there to personalize it (and so they wouldn't fight over it). This one turned out the cutest because of the colors:

A White Christmas

As promised, here is the first of many posts to catch up on what's being going on with the Pierce family! This one will be all about our Christmas and amazing blizzard that hit on Christmas Eve...

Every year since I've been a nurse, I work Christmas Eve and am off Christmas Day. So we usually do our presents on Christmas Eve (with Arby's roast beef sandwiches) then spend time w/family for Christmas Day after I've had a couple of hours of sleep. Well, this year went a little differently...we started opening our presents early in the afternoon, and during so a heavy snowstorm was moving into Oklahoma from the west.

It was snowing harder and harder, and our family was calling and telling us how bad the roads were getting and how many wrecks there were.

But this is the downside of working in the medical field--hospitals don't close for the holidays!! I had every intention of taking my husband's 4x4 and roughing it the 15 miles to my work. The last time I had missed a day of work was August 2008 because I was stuck in a hurricane in Jamaica! I digress...against everyone's advice I bundled up and hit the road around 5 pm. I called my boss and said I was on my way and would try my hardest to get there. She said that the supervisor headed out at noon and still wasn't there!

I couldn't take the highway because it was down to one lane at a standstill. So the only other road I knew of was this two-lane street that curves through the country past our addition. So I turned around (after spinning a few times) and headed that direction. Unfortunately I made it no more than 2 miles from my house before I completely slid off of the road, spun around, and got stuck in a snow drift. I called Nick to tell him I was stuck and nothing was working. He said he was going to have a neighbor watch Bradley and WALK to the truck and get it out, haha. I kept working on it, going back and forth trying to get traction as other people all around me were getting stuck. Finally after about 20 minutes of this I got it loose enough to get back on the road. I tucked my tail between my legs and headed home.

When I got home I guiltily called my boss and said there was NO way that I could make it to work and that I was very sorry.

We tried to make a good night of it so we built a fire in the fireplace. After we put Bradley to bed, we bundled up and went outside to frolic in the snowdrifts and enjoy the rare snow.

Long story short, only 3 out of 11 nurses made it in that night, and in turn the day shift had to stay overnight and work over 24 hours straight to cover the unit. And since a lot of dayshifters couldn't make it in on Christmas day, some of the night nurses had to stay and work the day shift also! I got a call at 4am from them desperately pleading for any amount of help during the day so they could get some sleep. So on Christmas morning we headed to my mom's house, and after we got done with presents and eating over there, I went in to work and put in a few hours until the night shift came in. The nurse I relieved had been working 20 hours!

Anywho...everything worked out in the end, and everyone got home safely. I think Bradley enjoyed his first Christmas, and we were so happy that it could be a snowy one!! We haven't had a white Christmas in Oklahoma in ages.

^ This is Christmas morning leaving our addition to go to my mom's house.

^ These are some of the cars that were all stranded along the highway.

That's it for now! My next post will be of Bradley's 6 month stats, and of crafts that I made for Christmas presents. Check back soon!

Preview

I just want everyone to know that I have lots and lots of pictures of all that I have been doing, but I left my camera at my mother's house today so I won't get it back until this weekend! Bear with me.

To change the subject...Merry Christmas everyone!!! I know a lot of places got a ton of snow (me included) so I hope everyone was safe and got to spend some time with their loved ones.

I had a good Christmas altogether. It didn't exactly go as planned, but in the end I got to be with my family and enjoy time with them (plus eat lots of good food). I will tell more about it later when I have pictures to go with!

That's all for now, tomorrow my little man will be 6 months old so as soon as I get my camera back I will get his new pic up!

I Remember My First Pair of Shoes...

Except that he just loves to take them off and chew on them! (*notice he is wearing the bib and matching pants that his momma made*) He is wearing a size 3 in baby shoes, and he has two pair now, and two pairs under the tree!!! Granted, he won't necessarily enjoy unwrapping his presents this year, it will be our joy. But next year--watch out!

And here is the latest accessory I have crafted for my little one! The others that I made were a little big so that he could wear them longer, so I made this one snug and it fits his noggin beautifully! Of course he is the cutest little bear cub around :) As always, let me know if you would like to purchase a customized one for yourself/a gift!

Pics to Make Up for Slacking Off

I apologize for not posting much lately! With all of the Christmas hub bub and Nick's school stuff, our days have been pretty full. But not to fret, for I come with pictures to share!

I have been kind of clueless on what to get my dad for Christmas. I asked him and he just wanted a dinner at Olive Garden, ha! Well he uses hankies, so I bought a pack of 6 then embroidered them just for him:


Next of course are our decorations! Don't worry, they have been up since the day after Thanksgiving! I just haven't put pics up yet of them, and I take pictures every year for scrapbooking.





^This is our newest tree, donated by my mother. It is in our downstairs guest bathroom (or the kitties room).

^She was sitting pretty in front of the tree so I had to take her own picture!

As for our little man, I just can NOT believe that he is already going to be 6 months old next week!!!! He is still the cutest little thing you ever did see, and it's so neat to watch him grow and learn new things. I am currently weaning to strictly formula because my supply is simply nonexistent. His voracious appetite has overcome my production and feeding time was becoming more and more of a struggle. I still nurse twice a day but am planning on stopping completely after this month. I'm sure he is happy to get full finally--in one sitting he can already down an 8oz bottle!

^This is little B one morning playing around on our bed. We are working on sitting up these days!


Him and daddy were playing on the keyboard and having fun while I crafted.

We successfully got Nick enrolled in classes for next semester. After this week, he will be on winter break and doesn't go back until next month. He is very happy about that! His weeks will be busy next semester b/c he will have classes M-F 8-noon, T and TH 1:30p-3p, and Wed 5:30p-8p. But after that he will only need 4 more classes and can graduate next December!!! I am so proud of him (and ready for his school to be done). Next fall if he still can't find part time work, he is going to substitute teach again at a Christian school in Norman that he subbed at last spring.

I am going to cancel the refi on our mortgage--the fees are really more than I was anticipating and it would not make it worth it in the end. It would basically void all that we have paid off these last 3 1/2 years and we would be back where we started. Oh well! At least I looked into it.

That is it for now, thank you for reading and I promise I will try to post more often!

1st Family Pictures!

I know it has taken awhile to put these up but I really didn't want to spoil the surprise for those who haven't gotten my Christmas card yet! But for everyone else, here are the lovely holiday pictures that we had taken:

New Layout, New Signature!

You may have noticed my new background and banner! I hope you like it because I do.

Not much else new...just keeping busy decorating my house for the holidays, entertaining my boy, and all of the other things that a super mom does! Yesterday I {finally} refinanced our mortgage--we should close on it next month. I am glad to have that out of the way! Other things to do in December include:

1. Mail Christmas cards/newsletters
2. Begin itemizing tax deductions
3. Finish buying/wrapping presents
4. Catch up on scrapbooking

I think those should take up plenty of time!

I am excited because I love December, and in a couple of days we should get our family portrait in!! I know you all will love it. It will go in our Christmas cards, and this year will also be the first year we start a newsletter since we have our own little family now. We just got our ink cartridges refilled and I have uber cute stationary--all I have to do is write it.

That's all for now, keep on the lookout for the pictures!!

Holidays With Family

First things first! Unfortunately I did not have time to post this yesterday, so we are catching up today. I hope you want to look at lots of pictures!

At 5 months old you:

• Go to bed between 8-9pm
• wake up to nurse around 4am, and get up for the day around 9am
• nurse every 2-4 hours
• love to eat w/a spoon, and have eaten cereal, bananas, carrots, and pumpkin so far
• have two bottom teeth already
• love to stand if we help you balance
• can kind of sit up by leaning on your hands
• can roll over front and back
• talk to us by croaking and squealing
• are ticklish on your back
• usually take 2 one hour naps a day
• like to chew on your feet and pull your socks off
• are still wearing size 2 diaper
• almost always cover your face w/your blanket to go to sleep
  

We began our Thanksgiving celebrations on Tuesday. Since my parents are divorced, I cooked a big dinner and had my dad over for our own fun!

You can see where I get my white hair from! I made a big ham and all the fixings and we stayed up talking late into the evening.

Then on Thursday after I got off work, I came straight home and started cooking. I made two batches of homemade yeast rolls, sweet potato casserole, and deviled eggs to take to my mom's for her big dinner at noon.

This is her (she is down 130 lbs now!!) and my stepdad Gary. We got to see a lot of family that day!

^Me and mom

^Me and my grandma

^My oldest brother Eric

^My brother Shane and his gf Audra

^My brother's 3 kids (and Bradley's cousins) Kiara, Kavin and Cameron.

You can see little B enjoyed wearing his necktie onesie I made!

Our little family all together!!

After that I went home to take a little nap, then we headed down to Elmore City to see Nick's family and have some leftovers. We stayed there for a few hours then came home and went to bed early!!

Look who is standing up on their own!!

Bradley with his grandma Penny.

Bradley's grandpa Mark and greatgrandpa Garrison.

Bradley's greatgrandma Ella who is bedridden with Alzheimers.

Bradley's Aunt Sarah and cousin Zoe (who is 10 months old).

All in all we had a fabulous holiday and lots of fun seeing all of our family.

To end with, I made these adorable pants and a matching bib this week! This is super soft flannel, and I made them a little big so that Bradley can wear them for awhile.