Baby Food Making Adventures

Good Morning folks it's my turn to get up with the boy so I thought we would head to the office to write a post and try not to wake up Daddy. I got pretty lucky today Jack didn't wake up till almost 7:30, seems like most of the time these days he is getting up before Adam's 6:30 alarm. We have an early riser on our hands but luckily he can be happy to talk and play by himself for a while so we don't have to pop out of bed and get him right away.

We've had a pretty rough week in the Hueske household but I think we are finally getting better. It started with my poor sweet husband getting sick last Saturday. We were out at Huntsville State Park for my family reunion and he got a pretty bad stomach bug. I knew he wasn't feeling good but I had no idea he had over a 101 fever until we got to his parents house that night. I felt awful that he sat out there all day, he is such a trooper and he never even complained just felt bad for not hanging out more with everyone. Thursday afternoon I started feeling pretty bad and possibly came down with the same thing, we aren't sure because mine was a little different. My amazing husband headed home that afternoon and took care of me and Jackson and worked from home. He did such a wonderful job taking care of me and Jackson and I feel very blessed that he is my husband! I don't do sick as well as he does so I require a bit more of attention! I think we are all finally over it now and hopefully this week will bring better times!

As I told you last time we have started feeding Jackson some solids and it has been quite an adventure so far! Our adventure started when I went to a baby food making party with my Stroller Strides ladies. It was pretty crazy since there were 16 of us all trying to take care of the kids and make baby food but I came home with a ton of different foods and had a lot of fun hanging out with the girls!

Jackson hanging out with his friend Peyton at the Baby Food Making Party

I brought apples to the party and I bought way too many so I came home with quite a few. I decided I would make some more applesauce for Jackson, that is one of the foods they recommend to try first. He has done pretty well with rice cereal and I think he might actually like it...

Jackson trying out the rice cereal

He is getting most of it down

Since we were having such success with the rice cereal and I thought he was doing well I figured we could move onto the applesauce that I made with no problem, boy was I wrong he hated it and wanted nothing to do with it. Here is the YouTube link again where you can watch the applesauce video along with many others http://www.youtube.com/user/melissahueske/videos. We have tried again a couple times and still no luck but I am not giving up yet, I have a lot of applesauce!

Here is Jack and I hanging out and making the applesauce he hates so much

Since I was already making baby food and we had a bunch of fresh vegetables Pop gave us from his garden I figured I would make some of the squash and zucchini into baby food as well, what could be better than food grown by his Pop and mushed up by his Mom!! That went over much better he loves the squash, we haven't tired the Zucchini yet but I am hoping that will go over just as well!

Eating some of the yummy squash from Pop's garden! Thanks Pop!

Eating squash in the awesome bib from Aunt Lindsey & Uncle Josh, thanks guys!

It's a fun adventure starting solids and watching all the funny faces he makes as he tries new foods. I'm really enjoying the baby food maker that I got, it makes it so easy I just chop it up and it steams and blends the food all in one step, it even has the food to select so you know how long to steam the food. I bought it with my birthday money from Nanny and Pop so thanks guys Jackson and I are getting good use out of it! So now for the good stuff you have all been waiting for, pictures of Jackson's adventures...

Dad put my new highchair together!

Trying out my new highchair! We really like it, it's not big and bulky like some and it goes right up to the table so he can eat with the family, which he does every night he has family dinner with us and it also will grow with him!

I hung out with my cousin Emily and she liked to hug and kiss me

Grammy got me a highchair for her house and Grammy, Nanny, and Aunt Abi fed me rice cereal

I got to hang out with my Pop

Adam, Jackson and Pop

Hanging out with my Grammy and Pawpaw, they make me smile!

I jumped in the door way while Mom & Dad got dinner ready

I played in the office with Dad while he finished up some work

Give me more rice cereal Mom!! I get mad if they don't feed me fast enough

I'm really silly when I eat rice cereal

Trigger likes it when I eat because he usually gets to try whatever I am eating if I don't finish

Dad got a cool new hat!

I got a bath

I really like baths they are a lot of fun!

My dog Trigger got a bath because Mom said he smelled like a cow!

Dad and I watched Mom cook dinner, Dad really likes his new hat!

That's what we have been up to lately. Next weekend we head home for my 10 year High School reunion, I can't believe it's been 10 years!!! It will be fun to see some old high school friends I haven't seen in a long time, A&M Consolidated Class of 2002! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Four Months!!

Here we are again another month gone by and it's hard to believe how quickly time is moving and our little boy is growing! This has been a fun month full of smiles that make my heart melt every time and a laugh that is just simply wonderful each and every time. This month Jackson has become wonderfully predictable making our days much easier. He wakes up around 4:30-5:30 for a feeding and then goes back to bed till around 7:00-7:30 and he usually wakes up talking in his crib and can be quite happy doing this for a while. He is finally completely in his crib now which has been wonderful, Adam & I are getting much better sleep now. He takes 3 naps a day ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours and spends the rest of his day playing. Adam gets a chance to feed him every night and then we read him a book, sing a few songs and he is usually sleeping by 8:00. He is enjoying going to Stroller Strides with Mommy and meeting lots of babies and Mom is enjoying meeting lots of Moms. Here is his four months likes and dislikes...

We went to the doctor yesterday for his four month check up and he is weighing in at 14 pounds (32%), 25.5 inches (73%), and a head circumference of 16.25 inches (25%), the doctor said once again that Jackson is long and lean and perfect of course. He was also impressed with Jackson's development we told him that Jackson was putting his feet in his month and rolling over from back to tummy and he said these were 5-6 month milestones, of course Mommy and Daddy are very proud!!The doctor also gave us the go ahead to start feeding Jackson some solids, he said since he has such great head control some rice cereal would be a great way to get some iron in his diet. Tomorrow Jackson's highchair will arrive and we will be breaking out the rice cereal and the camera and videoing the whole thing so check back soon for what I am sure will be a very entertaining video.

Here are some pictures from the past couple weeks...

Grammy & Pawpaw came to visit and they babysat me while Mommy & Daddy got to go out on a date!

I went to the grocery store with Dad for the first time while Mommy got her nails done

I helped Daddy pick out some flowers for Mommy's first Mother's Day

Here we are on Mother's Day

My silly dog dug a big hole in the back yard in his never ending hunt for the rabbits living under the deck

Mommy & Daddy gave me a bath

I showed off my bottle holding skills to Dad 

I hung out with Dad when he came home for lunch

Me and my dog Trigger hung out

I got this new outfit for my four month birthday!

We have been having lots of fun around here lately and sometimes we upload videos to YouTube so check here and you can see me https://www.youtube.com/user/melissahueske/videos. We hope everyone has a wonderful week!!

A Reflection on Becoming a Mom

I didn't blog when I was pregnant which makes me sad but I was too busy and too tired to blog. I thought I would do a post reflecting on my journey to becoming a Mother with Mother's Day coming up on Saturday.

I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with Jackson like it was yesterday, it was one of the best days of my life. It was actually last years Mother's Day when I found out and it was the best Mother's Day present I could ever receive.

Adam was going fishing early that morning and I got up and took a pregnancy test and thought it was negative and went back to bed. Later that morning when I got up I looked at the pregnancy test again and it was positive, I WAS PREGNANT, I was going to be a Mother. I paced back and forth in the bathroom, I couldn't believe it, I was so excited and so scared all at the same time. I couldn't wait for Adam to come home and as soon as he walked in I blurted out I think I'm pregnant and after a few more test it was confirmed we were going to be parents. We were so happy, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

Here is the first belly shot I took when I was pregnant, I think I thought I had a bump haha

Here I am again still no belly but I guess I thought it was there

The next 9 months of our lives was amazing watching my belly grow and feeling our little man move. I had a pretty good pregnancy. I was sick and exhausted in the first trimester but by the second trimester I was feeling pretty good and up until the very end when I was just so ready for him to come I felt good. I'm sure I was interesting to live with but Adam was amazing and he was there every step of the way, he never missed anything.

I remember the day we found out Jackson was a boy, also one of the best days of my life. I think at that point Adam and I were convinced Jackson had to be a girl since everyone seemed so certain he was a boy. The ultrasound tech asked us for our boy and girl names and then asked if we were ready to find out then she put a picture of Jackson on the screen with his name on it, I instantly started crying, I couldn't believe it I was going to have a son. It took Adam a little bit longer to figure it out because he didn't see his name on the screen. I leaned over and said babe you are going to have a son, it was amazing getting to see his reaction he was so happy.

I have a little belly here, this is right after we found out Jackson was a boy so about 18 weeks pregnant

Here is Adam painting Jack's room, we painted it the weekend after we found out. We were so excited to finally be able to get started on his room

I'm starting to really get a belly here, I loved it when I finally started looking pregnant

I believe this was early December the belly was getting big

Here we are at Christmas

This is the last picture I took on my phone before Jackson arrived so this was the very end

That 9 months was amazing and I wouldn't trade one single moment, all the ups and downs were so worth the outcome of our son. I loved feeling his kicks and movements in my belly, I miss it sometimes. Now we have Jackson and I love him so much, the kind of love that makes your heart hurt. My heart has grown so much to fit all the love inside not just for Jackson but for Adam too. I love Adam more than I ever thought possible, seeing him as a Daddy to our son is one of the most amazing things in the world. I love our family and life is absolutely amazing. Don't get me wrong I have my days when I am totally exhausted and at my wits end and wonder what I got myself into but I wouldn't change one single second. Becoming a Mother is my greatest accomplishment in life and I love my new job, I think it's the best in the world!

Here it is the moment when I truly became a Mother

There I am seeing my beautiful baby boy for the first time, I was so happy

Happy Daddy

Happy parents finally got to meet our wonderful son!

Alright I suppose that is enough of that and you are probably wondering where is the good stuff, the pictures of Jackson. 

After bath time wearing his frog towel for the first time

Playing with Scout and Rupard

Bath time

Hanging out with Papa while the girls were bridesmaid dress shopping

Grammy and Aunt Abi gave me a bath

I got to hang out with my cousin Emily

I went on my first boat ride on Friday and I had a blast I don't love being in my life jacket for very long but I do love having the wind in my hair

Hanging out with Dad on the boat

I caught my first fish with Dad and Uncle Blake

I went to pick out a highchair

Headed to Stroller Strides with Mom, we go every MWF and we are having a blast working out and meeting new Moms!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Moms out there! A big thanks to my Mom and Mother-in-law for raising Adam & I, you are both such wonderful Mother's to us and we are so blessed to have you in our lives!