Photos Featured on The Wise Baby!

Eek! I am so excited that some of my photos have been featured over at The Wise Baby. If you have not checked out this website before and you are a new mom [or a mom to be!] you absolutely should! Lindsey runs an excellent site with lots of great advice and tips for new moms, as well as product reviews. Plus, her site is gorgeous [I'm a sucker for a well-designed blog!]

The photos featured are of a maternity and a newborn session that I did earlier this year. They are some of my favorite photos that I have taken & I am honored that Lindsey has shared them with her readers! Make sure you visit her site!

Six Months*

Another day, another post where I tell you that my little kiddo is growing up too quickly. This past weekend, we hit six months. Half a year old! It really is hard to believe.

Lucas is growing with leaps and bounds these days, although apparently just out, not up. At his six month check-up yesterday, he weighed in at a whopping 21.6 pounds, landing him in the 93rd percentile. However, this kid only grew 1/8" in the past two months, landing him all the way down in the 20th percentile for height. I'm hoping for a growth spurt between now and his next checkup, but if we have a little shorty on our hands, that's ok, too.

This kid makes me laugh on a daily basis. His smile is so infectious, as is his laugh, and I look forward to coming home at night and spending time with him. M has been working late a lot these days, so Lucas & I get some good quality time together in the evenings after work, snuggling and cuddling on the couch and working on his crawling. Which, speaking of, he is SO CLOSE. I mean, really, really close. The poor kid gets so frustrated because he can get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth, but hasn't really figured out what to do from there. Soon. Very, very soon.

We've also introduced solid foods. I wrote a while back about introducing rice cereal and oatmeal, but we didn't really stick with that. There is some conflicting information out there about when to introduce food, and we decided that waiting until the six month mark would be best. Avocado was the first food of choice, and the kid loved it. LOVED IT. He likely ate more than the recommended amount each night, but I wasn't going to tell him no if he was wanting more [and he was!]. We are working on squash and sweet potatoes this week -- we've chosen to go the Baby Led Weaning stage, where Lucas essentially feeds himself. We've done some spoon feeding, and when breakfast time comes, may introduce oatmeal again in the mornings, but he seems to understand that what is on the tray goes to his mouth -- but I also think that he thinks EVERYTHING goes to his mouth! We will see how this works for us, and go from there. Obviously, formula is still our main source of nutrition for him, so the food at this point is just for fun & learning.

Also, if you can't tell, we're big football fans around these parts :) Which gives me so  many amazing reasons to dress up my kiddo for Sundays. I'm looking forward to plenty of family photos in all our football gear in the coming weeks! Luckily, little man is not really opinionated enough yet to care about what he's wearing -- we're getting him started early in cheering for the right team! Go Cowboys! :)

Autumn Has Arrived!*

I'm happy to report that Fall has finally landed upon us here in North Carolina. While the weather is still tipping into the 80's during the day, the nights have progressively become cooler & cooler. It's been glorious. I hate the heat. The extreme heat, at least, which is anything I consider above 80 degrees.

I'm from Seattle. A born and raised Pacific Northwesterner. Which means that when it hits 70 degrees, we busted out the shorts & t-shirts and basked in whatever sunshine we were lucky enough to get. That's just the way it was. Living in North Carolina, though, I've become slightly more acclimated to the warmer [blistering hot] temperatures of the summers. I don't like them one bit, but I've adjusted. Of course, I still complain about the heat. And the humidity. And pretty much everything about North Carolina in general [a post for another day!] but this cooler weather we are getting is making me happy.

I love opening the doors in the morning to let the dogs out and feeling that chill that comes from the cool morning breeze. It's nice to feel like I need a sweater when walking out to my car in the mornings. It doesn't last long, but I am looking forward to the days when the chill doesn't go away by mid-afternoons. I love sweaters. I love boots. I love jeans. I love warm, comforting food that fills the belly & warms the house. And I love football. Which, doesn't really seem relevant, but it's just not football Sunday in shorts and flip flops.

Now that the cooler weather is here, we are looking forward to getting out and doing more things as a family. Typically neither M or I have had a problem braving the heat for a little fun, but toting along a new baby isn't very feasible [or responsible] when it's 90 degrees outside. We have a trip planned to the Carolina Tiger Rescue sanctuary in a couple of weeks, and I am hoping that we can go hike our favorite trail without the fear of nasty summer bugs before it gets too cool. Cooler weather means for fun for our family & I am looking forward to the adventures we plan to get ourselves into!

Our Date with the Cardiologist*

When Lucas was born, aside from things like his cord being wrapped around his neck, swallowing massive amounts of meconium and having to be on anti-biotics right away, his heart rate was also a tad lower than what the doctors and nurses wanted to see in those first couple of days. While we were still in the hospital, he had an EKG ran on him (scary, but not really). It came back fine, but we were advised to follow up with a children's cardiologist just to make sure everything was ok.

We had an appointment with Duke Children's here in town, but I screwed up and got him enrolled on Tricare prior to our appointment, and because Duke wasn't "in network" we didn't actually get to be seen. It was annoying. BUT, we were finally able to get into another doctor, and last week we got little man checked out.

Safe to say, everything is good to go.

They ran another EKG on him just to make sure that everything was ok from that perspective, and it all came back perfect. Although, trying to keep an almost six month old baby absolutely still for a short period of time was difficult. It took both M & I and lots of shhsshhh'ing to make it happen. It was determined that Lucas has a very teeny tiny heart murmur -- not at all surprising considering I have/had one as well as almost everybody else in my family. His is so tiny, the Cardiologist said, that most GOOD doctors wouldn't even be able to hear it. They did an ultrasound on his heart just to double check & verify that everything was ok (it was -- a perfect little heart, they said!) and then sent us on our way.

Not before little man decided to take a nap on the table, much to the pleasure (and humor) of the ultrasound technician. 

If you don't know much about heart murmur's, I don't really know how to explain them other than it's a "whooshing" sound that the heart makes. From my understanding, they can definitely be worse than what Lucas's is (and what mine always was) so we are lucky from that perspective. I lived a perfectly normal, healthy & active life growing up so this will not impact him in any way.

And because his is so minor, no follow up or course of action is needed. It's just something that we are aware of, something that is in his records and we now go about our merry little way.


We are so grateful that things were not more serious, but never for a second doubted that they wouldn't be.Everybody loved Lucas at the Cardiology Office and I never get tired of hearing how healthy, happy and adorable my child is. It definitely makes for some proud moments. And there really was nothing cuter than the little guy passed out on the ultrasound table.

Changes*

As you can see, things look a little different around here. And I have to admit -- I am liking it :)

The always and amazingly talented Shay Bocks whipped up a new design for me. She did my original layout back when she was just getting started so I was thrilled to work with her again on this new design. I think she captured ME perfectly and I am loving the way things are looking. If you are in need of some blog designs, I highly recommend her.

Aside from the look, you might notice a lot of other changes, too. While my little blog started off as a way for me to vent about our infertility struggles, we are not at that point in our lives anymore and things have definitely taken a turn for more family related posts. Infertility is still a huge part of who I am, who WE are, and is not something that I will ever forget or ignore. I still am very much involved in the community and have many close friends who still struggled with this disease every day of their lives. I still very much hope to be a voice for those people when it's right and when it's needed. But, I also need to be true to what we are going through in our current lives, and this is a way to do it.

You'll notice some labels over there on the right. I would love for this site to become a resource for new moms (or just moms in general who have questions!) I have some posts scheduled in the coming weeks in regards to cloth diapering, from my perspective as a pocket diaper user, and from friends who use prefolds and all in ones. My goal is to share what we have learned about all things baby in multiple aspects, but also continue to publish recipes and my photography. A little hodge podge of sorts.

You'll also notice up at the top that I am also open to submissions! Do you have something to share? A product? Are you a photographer that takes amazing photos? A crafty mom that has some wonderful craft products? I want you. And I want you to share your goodness with my readers.

I still have some work to do to get this place to 100% but I am working diligently to make sure that everything is where I want it to be and that this place will be as much of a resource for you as it will be for me! I am so excited about the direction that I am planning on taking this, so please bear with me as I continue to to make some more changes. The bulk of it is done (yay Shay!) but I have a few little odds and ends things that might pop up here and there.

But I hope you stick around and share the love. I can't wait for things to come.

Red Potato Salad with Bacon*

I post the occasional recipe on here, usually one that I have found somewhere else and attempted at home. But the truth is that I love to cook, and I love coming up with my own ways to cook things. My own meals. My own dishes. Most of the things that I come up with aren't that original, and I am sure there are various other recipes out there similar. But I love my time in the kitchen. My husband makes fun of me because even though I'm whipping food around our tiny kitchen and making a huge mess, it is oddly calming for me to cook. Baking? No thank you. But having the freedom to mix and match while trying to create something yummy -- I love it. With my website about to take a massive overhaul (did you notice the direct domain?? YAY!) one of my goals is to post more original recipes and meals on here.

So, why not start with something simple? Whenever any type of cookout happens with us or our friends, one of the number one requests I have is to bring my potato salad. This recipe started off as wanting a healthier, lighter version so I wouldn't feel so guilty about inhaling massive amounts of carbs. Don't get me wrong -- my mom's old fashioned potato salad is still one of my favorites. But the massive amounts of mayonaise (I'm pretty sure there is a whole jar involved) is enough to pack on 10 pounds just looking at him.

This is by no means "healthy" (did you see the word BACON in the title?) but it's not as heavy, either. It is quick and simple. And very, very good.

Red Potato Salad with Bacon

Ingredients

• 6 cups red-skinned potatoes -- cubed with the skin left on
• 1/2 packaged of thick sliced bacon (about 5 or 6 strips)
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper (I always use green but any color combination would work) 
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions (about 3 stalks)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 heaping tablespoon of mayonaise
• 1 heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard (I use horseradish mustard sometimes. Try it!)
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Salt & Pepper

Directions
Place the red potatoes into a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, boiling for 8-10 minutes, until fork tender. Drain and set aside to cook.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. When cooked, set aside on a paper towel to help soak up some of the grease. When cool to the touch, chop into small pieces.

In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mayonaise and mustard with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

In your serving bowl, gently mix the cooled potatoes, bacon, onion, bell peppers and scallions. Pour the dressing mixture over the potato salad, tossing gently (you don't want to break up the potatoes!) Cover and refridgerate for four hours or serve at room temperature.