HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, here we are just hours from 2010. It certainly has been an interesting year. While most would say that 2009 was a terrible year, this has been one of the best for us; Sebastian made an otherwise horrible year the most memorable of my life. What is most exciting is that the adventure of being a parent is just beginning- that we have a lifetime of experiences to look forward to living.

2010 already holds a great deal of promise. I can't wait to see what it holds for us. To those of you reading this and following our blog, I wish you all Happy New Year!

Christmas 2009 Recap

Well, we made it through our Christmas vacation. Overall, Sebastian did very well. Our flight out and back were rather uneventful, though he didn't like being confined for a whole hour. Then again, I don't care for it either! He did a great job at my parent's house, despite the shared sleeping quarters with us, and his very first tooth coming in. We started most mornings very early, and luckily could get him downstairs to the basement rather quickly and keep the sleep deprivation down to a minimum.

My mom and dad got lots of baby time in, they really enjoyed playing with Sebastian, and him with them. My dad had Sebastian giggling all the time, and Sebastian loved playing with his Grammie, mostly because he wanted to pull her hair. We also got a few visits in with my brother's family, and Sebastian got to play with his cousin Amalia. She has really grown up quickly since the last time we saw her back in the summer. It's times like this that make me really wish we were closer to them all. Sebastian also got to finally meet my brother Matt and his girlfriend Saana for the first time.

Our trip was topped off with a chance to visit my cousin Bobbi Jo and her girls (all 5 of them!) and a night out with some old friends from high school. We certainly squeezed a lot into a few days. I do have to say that traveling with an 8 month old is quite a pain especially with the weather causing extra burdens for coats, scarves, gloves, hats... ugh.

Now we're back home and Sebastian is happier than a pig in "you-know-what." He seems to have really missed his toys and the cats. He managed to sleep rather well last night as well, even with the teething causing him some discomfort. In all, Christmas 2009 was a great success.

The picture in this post is the result of a family photo shoot we did on Sunday. I will post the link to the Picasa online album once I get it cleaned up and ready for viewing.

Ready for Christmas!

 

Where has this year gone? We are in the final countdowns to our first Christmas as a family. We certainly are excited, but we know that Christmas 2010 will be far more exciting. Sebastian just hasn't grasped the concept quite yet but he will still have a great time we're sure.

We have been venturing out a bit more over the past two weeks. As is typical, there are a lot of holiday events and parties to attend. We went to a party last weekend, last night and have dinner and a show with friends tonight. Thank goodness for Todd's family, we have three babysitters that have been able to help out: Todd's mother, his brother and his niece.

We went to the Columbus Zoo to see the annual "Wildlights" display. It was beautiful but poor S fell asleep before we got to see too much of it. We'll add that to the 'must do' list for next year for sure. Tuesday (12/22) we leave for my parent's house. We will spend from 12/22 to 12/28 with them for the holidays. I can't wait to be near my family again for a while and give S some time with his "Grammie and Pop-Pop."

We want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and check back here to see how our trip went.

Sebastian Met Santa!

 

Our good friends the Alcorns had their annual Santa party on Saturday, December 5. Sebastian had his first chance to sit on Santa's lap. He did a great job, no tears at all, and though we didn't understand what Sebastian was saying I am sure Santa got all his wish list down.

The "little" guy is really growing fast these days. He has mastered crawling, and loves to pull himself up and stand at tables, the couch or any other object he can reach. He manages to "cruise" around the entire family room now and thanks to us moving some furniture really has a great play space. We also moved the rug and ottoman out of our upstairs living room, giving him a huge area for his Jeep walker.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Well, it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving 2009 is already behind us. We had a nice day overall, visiting with Todd's family in the evening after a quiet early day home together. Sebastian was the hit of the party especially with the other kids. Everyone wanted to hold and play with him. I had to watch closely like a nervous parent, but they all did fine with him. He didn't mind the attention at all!

Another Embarassing Bathtub Picture

 


Our "little" guy certainly isn't so little any more. At his pediatrician visit last week he weighted 20 lbs and was just shy of 30" in length. Recently he has discovered how to clap when he is happy or excited, which is so cute, and he is crawling and climbing all over everything, which while cute, also makes being with him a lot more demanding.

We finally had to give up his "newborn" bath tub. Even though it had a side for bigger babies, we never did use it. To do so we would have risked hitting his head on the kitchen cabinet near the sink. He also has gotten so "kicky" in the tub lately that the kitchen floor looked like we had a flood after each bath. This is really much better, even if the bending over the side of the tub kills our backs.

The countdown to the holidays has begun. It sure will be great to celebrate our first Thanksgiving and Christmas together as a family.

ADOPTION FINALIZED

We got a call late last evening from the wacko attorney, the adoption decree has been finalized and is on its way. Vital statistics has been notified and our official birth certificate should be forthcoming. We couldn't be happier to have this finally over with.

Someone asked how we'd celebrate. I said "Oatmeal cereal, butternut squash and maybe some pureed mango for dessert."

Long Time No Blog

 

It has been a few days since our last post; it feels like a lot longer than it actually has been. This past week was extremely busy for me at work, including a long drive to the Cincinnati area and back that cut into the free time. As you can see in the picture, Sebastian is continuing to develop very quickly, he is now sitting up for longer periods of time on his own, and has just about figured out how to go from being on his belly to sitting up. It is only a matter of a few days before he gets the hang of it.

He has two new "tricks" that he is doing recently. Todd taught him how to turn the ceiling fan light on and off in his room by pulling on the chain. It has gotten to the point that if you enter or leave the room and don't turn the lights on/off he gets a little upset. I guess he will be a conservationist if nothing else. He has also learned how to clap when we clap along with him. He gets so excited and loves to do it. I love that he can see me do things and mimic them now.

He has a pediatrician appointment on Friday for vaccines and another general check up. We'll have to go back 2 more times in the coming weeks for his flu and H1N1 follow ups. That's a lot of shots for the little guy in a 2 month period! Too bad we couldn't have timed them a little better, but better this way than not at all.

We're excited about our first holiday season as a family. This year Thanksgiving will be spent here in Ohio, and Christmas in NJ with my family. My middle brother and his girlfriend will be home as well, and we are looking forward to them finally meeting Sebastian.

One last thing- we have been playing with a new nickname for Sebastian; we call him Sea Bass. Cute, right? We'll see if it sticks...

Handing out Candy

Sebastian donned his costume once again and helped us hand out candy. All of the neighborhood kids thought he looked real cute. He used a bag of Skittles as a toy, and giggled the whole time. Next year he can visit the neighbors and bring home some candy for Daddy!

Halloween Party

Boy oh boy did we ever have a fun day! We went to Sebastian's first Haloween costume parade and party with friends of ours. Their neighborhood does a big parade down the streets and then the kids trick-or-treat. We skipped the candy collection since Todd and I would eat it all ourselves, but we did love being with all of the other kids and seeing their costumes. Sebastian's astronaut costume was a hit, though he fell asleep during the parade. Next year he will be able to walk in it, but I am sure we will bring the stroller just in case.

Finalizied?

Officially our adoption is supposed to be final on 10/24. We were hoping to hear from our attorney today, but so far no word. Maybe since the 24th is a Saturday we won't get this done until Monday.

This weekend should be rather quiet. We opted to run our standard errands during the week since we knew it was going to be rainy and colder this weekend. We met our friends Steve and Sherri for lunch today. It was great to catch up with them. Sherri offered to babysit sometime, we may take her up on the offer!

We are looking forward to spending the day with the Alcorn family on Sunday for their Halloween party at Stephanie's mother's house. Sounds like a good time will be had by all... I am sure we will have pictures to post afterwards.

Happy Six Months, Sebastian!

Six months ago today little Sebastian came into the world. He's not little any more, that's for sure! We love you so much baby boy, thanks for making our family complete.

This is his Halloween costume, he is our little astronaut!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Sebastian!

We took Sebastian to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. Unfortunately this is the best picture we got of him between him falling over and closing his eyes. Still, we had a great time with him and picked out a great big pumpkin to carve.

We also bought his big-boy car seat yesterday. The little guy has already outgrown the infant carrier. Our little guy isn't so little any more!

Chew Chew Chew

Hey everyone! Sorry we haven't had much to blog about lately. I was on jury duty for 2 weeks and I got a little sidetracked. Sebastian is doing quite well these days. We have our ups and downs with teething, I know that as soon as these 4 come in there are plenty more waiting to follow, so we are far from being in the clear.

Sebastian is eating quite well these days, in fact we calculate his weight around 19 pounds. Time for a new car seat! He loves sweet potatoes, prunes, banana, carrots, and peaches. The jury is still out on peas and green beans. He takes after Todd with that for sure. Between his growing and the seasonal changes clothes have been our biggest challenge. Luckily we have friends that have been giving us plenty of clothes that their kids have outgrown.

He is so close to figuring out the whole crawling thing. I know most parents will warn us not to be in such a hurry, once they start moving they never stop. Still, watching him struggle to scoot around the floor is so cute but he gets so frustrated sometimes.

We are really looking foward to the holidays and all the fun that goes along with it. Having a baby sure changes everything!

Musical Baby!

Sebastian had his first organ lesson from his Grandma Felumlee on Saturday, October 2. While he loved banging on the keyboard and hearing the noise, the organ was turned up pretty loud and he scared himself once or twice. We actually noticed that he really does love music, and "sings" along in the car when we have the radio or a CD playing (when he is not sleeping that is). Time will tell if this is just playtime fun or if he really does have an interest in music.

Sebastian is sleeping much longer during the night. Though we have our occasional early AM wake ups, they are fewer and less intense. Usually all it takes is finding his pacifier and he is back to sleep. The other night he found it himself. That was pretty cool! His crawling is getting better and better too. He is still scooting and rolling more than crawling, but he can cover a lot of ground, especially if you turn your back on him for even the shortest moment.

I am on jury duty this week, and I was gone from 9 AM to 5:30 PM yesterday. It was the first time in quite a while that I wasn't home all day. I can't imagine having to do that every day. He was napping when I got home, I couldn't wait to get my hands on him thought. He finally woke up and I got to play with him, read him a book, give him a bath and put him to bed. I let Todd relax since he was "on duty" solo all day. I think he appreciated it. I realize that millions of parents are away from their kids all the time, but it was just a bit of a reality check I guess. We have 2 more weeks of this to look forward managing. I am already looking forward to my one-on-one time tonight.

A Great Week for Sebastian

Sebastian is finally settling into another nice schedule. We have his teething under control, and his sleep is getting more steady and lasting longer at night. He slept until 7:30 this morning, it was like a present! It was the first time in 5 months that I woke up before he did. It was nice to make a pot of coffee and get my day underway before having to deal with a crying baby.

Sebastian is really moving a lot these days. If you go to our YouTube page you can see some videos I posted, including one of him "crawling" to get to a toy. It is only a matter of time before he is fully crawling and having us chase him around the house.

A Long Week Home

WHEW! Coming home from vacation can be so rough you need another vacation! It took a few days to just get unpacked and get the laundry done. Add to it that we had no food in the house when we returned and other various things out of whack and we were just busy getting back to normal.

Sebastian is still a bit congested, but we think it has more to do with teething than it does being sick. He doesn't seem to be feeling bad at all, just having a stuffed nose is enough to disrupt his sleep though.

Todd's mother and her friend paid a visit this week. Her friend's son was returning from a trip and they needed some help getting to the airport to pick him up. Sebastian got to spend some time with his Grandma Felumlee, and she always enjoys seeing him.

We went to Babies R Us this week and got some great products I want to recommend. The first is a battery operated nasal aspirator. Now, before you judge me for how that sounds, consider this. The suction power of a typical rubber syringe is limited to the small volume of the buble itself. While probably good at the mucus in the outer nostril, we were having trouble getting everything out. Sebastian also cried every time we had to use it. The battery operated one provides constant, gentle suction and we are amazed what it removes. As an added bonus, Sebastian giggles when we use it. Go figure...

The other product is Hyland's Teething Tablets. The link is to their gel, but we chose the tablets. You place two of the tablets under the baby's tounge, and it sooths their mouth. The product is 100% natural and and homeopathic. The tablets dissolve pretty quickly and they really seem to help.

Final Visit from Shannon

Monday was our final visit from Shannon, our social worker from Franklin County. We had a great visit, she finalized her questions necessary for her report, and now we just wait for her to file the documentation that is due to the court on October 4. We should hear from our attorney on 10/24 that the adoption is finalized. Shannon has been an amazing part of this process, so very supportive and clearly dedicated to her job and helping the children she works with every day. We will miss her, and promised to stay in touch. In fact, I am sending her the link to this blog so she can keep up with our escapades.

Vacation comes to an end...

We had a great trip and we are sad to see it end. To be 100% honest there were some challenging moments but all in all it was a lot of fun. Sebastian's nose caused a few sleepless nights, but now we're home and he is feeling better. I think he is really teething now and that is just making it worse.

Friday night Todd and I ventured to Atlantic City for dinner at Fornaletta. No, we didn't see the winner of last season's Hell's Kitchen, but the food was A-MAZ-ING! We walked through the casino floor on the way out and I won nearly the entire cost of dinner back on penny slots in just 2 minutes!

Saturday Stephen, Julie andAmalia came down to spend the day. We were blessed with beautiful weather, and got a few hours of quality beach time in. WOO HOO! Unfortunately it was time to pack up and head back to reality. We left the beach around 10 AM on Sunday and stopped to see my "Grammie." OK I will always call her Grammie, but I guess to Sebastian she is "GG" (great-grammie) and my Mom is Grammie. All of this is getting confusing!

We had a nice quick lunch visit with Grammie, then off to the PHL airport. A quick walk through security, a nap for Sebastian at the gate and a full bottle on the plane proved to be the way to do it once again. He had no problems at all; Todd even changed him in the TINY bathroom on the plane with hardly any trouble.

Now it is back to the "grind" as it were... lots to unpack, a house to get back into order and some version of a schedule. Goodbye Summer 2009!

Bye Bye Summer 2009

Today was our last full day at the beach. Steve, Julie and Amalia came down to join us for some fun in the sand. We lucked out and had a beautiful day. We pack up and head home tomorrow. It was a great vacation!

Chilly at Old Barney

Well, day 4 at the beach is a little better than yesterday. It rained off and on yesterday, today is just cool and cloudy and VERY windy. We decided to bundle up Sebastian and head to the north end of the island where "Old Barney" the Barnegat lighthouse is located. We walked out to the end and looked around, but the wind was a bit too much for the baby so we came back home. At least he got to see it! Next year we will go up inside and show him the amazing view from the top.

Vacation, Day 2

Today, my mother and my sister-in-law came down and we went to the bay beach for a while. Amalia and Sebastian were so cute together. I can't wait until this time next year when they can play with each other more and Sebastian can enjoy the beach a little more. Now it is quiet time and we're all ready for BED.

BEACH BABY

Sebastian got to see the beach today, and even put his feet in the sand and water. We all had a great time! He seems to love watching the waves and didn't mind the feel of the sand and water on his feet at all.

OK, back to relaxing!

Sebastian Loves Corvettes!

My parents got this for him on their Corvette Caravan trip. How cute is this!

Labor Day Weekend!

OK first of all, how cute is this picture? We had a bunch done, but of course our favorite (and everyone else's) is the one with his tounge out. That's my boy!

This weekend started off with a 4 month checkup for the baby. He did great as always, and the report from the doctor was wonderful. He is 17 pounds 9.5 ounces, and 27.75 inches long. That's up over 2 pounds and 2.5 inches in 2 months. All that formula he is eating is doing its job, clearly. He tolerated his shots just fine and we got the "all clear" for solid food.

We made our own sweet potato puree on Friday night, and started feeding it to him on Saturday. He really took to it, and though it was a bit different than the oatmeal or rice he was used to, I think he enjoyed it. We made some peas today, we will introduce them tomorrow and see how it goes. The "funniest" thing (not so funny actually) is when he sneezes with a mouthful of food. It just goes everywhere, and there is nothing you can do. We also noticed that we go through a lot of bibs and burp clothes these days... not a surprise.

Just a few short days until we head to the beach. I cannot tell you how badly we need this vacation. I'll blog about the trip next week.

Short Visit, Big Fun

My parents are on their way to Bowling Green, KY on the Corvette Caravan 2009 and they stopped here on their way. Their friends Max and Larry Uhlig were with them. We had a nice lunch together before they got back on the road. Sebastian had a nice visit with his Grammie and Pop Pop, and he got the cutest Corvette onsie!

Zoo, AGAIN

OK we might want to just sell the house and move to the zoo, we've been so many times. We certainly have gotten our money's worth with our membership that's for sure.

How about Sebastian being so observant and really taking things in this time! He spent most of the time in his stroller again, and remained awake for the better part of the trip. It was a hot day and all four (our niece Kirsten was with us too) of us were ready to go after just a few hours. We managed to see even more areas that we hadn't covered yet.

Today is Sebastian's 4 month "birthday." I can't believe my little guy is that old already. We started giving him a teaspoon of rice twice a day, he loves it. I can tell eating is not going to be a problem for this child.