Big Boy Room

Madden is officially moved into his big boy room!!

We've been talking to him about his new room for months. We started out by first asking him if he even wanted to move rooms and what he wanted his room to be like. He told us on multiple occasions he did in fact want to move into the other bedroom next to his and he wanted it to a baseball room (go figure!). 

Dave originally wanted his new baseball room to be Madden's birthday present, we hit a few snags with the baseball field print we wanted to use for behind his bed. Plans had to be changed a few times, we had to change multiple local printers,  the prints got delayed and we ended up changing which field it was going to have to be a few times and just ordering a Fathead over the local printers. BUT alas, it was FINALLY delivered last Thursday. Dave really wanted to wait to move him in until the room was pretty much complete, we still have a few minor things to do like putting up shelves on the wall his dresser is on and a new lamp but we were able to get the fatheads up on the wall Friday night and moved MJ in that night. 

My husband was all over making decisions for this room since it's right up his alley. Aside from the Man Cave, I think this is the only other room he's had strong opinions on :) Even though Dave is a huge Chicago Cubs fan, he has said multiple times he doesn't want to push his child into liking any one team, as long as it's not the Cardinals LOL. I could care less about specific teams, it's all about the love of the game and the sport, right?! So we settled on a couple different teams. 

Headboard Decal: Fathead of Boston Red Sox Fenway Park

Player Decals: Fathead

End tables: Dave's DIY project, milk creates from Home Depot - gorilla glued together and painted a dark brown.

Bedding: Bed Bath and Beyond - 20% off coupon

Additional Sheets: MLB sheets, gift from Uncle Mike

Curtains - Reused from his old room

Rug: Target

Wire Basket: Gordman's

Dresser - $40 from Salvation Army, Dave refunished to make the milk create side tables

Dresser Handles: Hobby Lobby, glove, bat and baseball pulls

Mirror: Hobby Lobby - used 40% off coupon!

'All Star' Wall decor: Hobby Lobby - 50% off 

Slugger Picture Frame: Gordman's 

All other sports decor is curiosity of Dave's baseball collection. 

Madden's First Night in his big boy room was a little bumpy starting off.

He was really excited to sleep in his new room and we had our usual nightly bedtime duel of him getting out of bed and opening his door with an excuse not to sleep a good 3 or 4 times. "Mommy I need to go potty, again", "Mommy I want to give you a hug", "I want to kiss you", or "There's a monster is my room".   

Then he didn't want to sleep in his big full size bed and wanted to go sleep back in his toddler bed in his old room. He found his sleeping bag and decided if he couldn't go back to his toddler bed he would sleep in the sleeping bag. Which I was totally okay with. Of course he then woke up just after midnight crying because he was in a new room. I went in and asked him if he wanted to sleep in his big bed and he said yes! He immediately went right back to sleep. I on the other hand was positive he would either wake up again crying because he was in a new room or fall out of bed so I woke up a billion times to check the monitor. I am happy to report he did not! He did wait up at 6:00am ready to party but at least he slept in his bed and new room!

This first nap in his new room was a similar experience. He came out of his room a few times but instead of wanting to sleep in his toddler bed he just opted for the sleeping bag. Night number two went phenomenal! He did not come out of his room once at bedtime, fell right to sleep and did not wake up the entire night, AND he even slept in until 8:00am Sunday morning!! It felt awesome!

Now that he has been in his big boy room for a week now, he has done very well adjusting to his new room and bed. He absolutely LOVES his baseball room and jumping on his bed. He likes mommy being able to lay in bed with him to read books or snuggle in with him first thing in the morning to wake him up. He has fallen out of bed once unfortunately and got a big goose egg on his forehead from hitting the side tables but other than that is has been smooth sailing so far. 

Just hope it continues....

Baseball Birthday Party

The past few months or so Madden has gotten more and more obsessed with baseball. He literally will only wear baseball shirts with athlete shorts (just like daddy!), his River Bandits baseball hat, and when asked what type of big boy room he wants, it's repeatedly a baseball room. He's constantly asking to go to the baseball field or play baseball. And he's always looking for one of his bats, balls to hit or asking anyone who comes over to play or pitch to him. 

So it was beyond clear for this 3rd birthday to make it a Baseball Birthday theme which we had this past Sunday afternoon. And boy was he more than ecstatic ALL week about having his friends over to play baseball!! 

Party Details

Theme: Baseball

Food: Hotdog and Nacho bar with all the toppings, plus assorted fruit and cake

Drinks: Bottled water, Gatorade, mini Pepsi and Diet Pepsi, Capri Suns, Beer

Decorations: Reused his birthday banners from his 1st birthday since they were the same colors

Location: Our backyard (even though it was a bit of a mess with our landscaping project delays

Games: Batting, Pitching and Sliding Practice

Cake: Homemade by me. 

Favors: Each child was able to take home their own bat with ball, a box of Cracker Jack and mini Baby Ruth's

Every time I asked Madden what kind of birthday cake he wanted he would tell me a baseball or a dinosaur cake so I decided to put those two together and here we have a T-Rex playing baseball!

The cake is a chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. Who doesn't love chocolate and peanut butter!?!?

Games included Sliding Practice via a slip 'n slide, Batting Practice via water balloons and Pitching Practice with empty Gatorade bottles.  

The Slip 'n Slide was a big hit!! I only wish they made much longer ones especially for the hills we have in our yard. We may have to start make-shifting them up like we did as kids with double slides and tarps. 

The water balloons were also a hit, however they always go way too fast!! The kids mainly just loves throwing them at the ground and watching them explode lol

The Birthday Boy!

His best CHEESE face

Time for Presents!

A little cousin cuddle and movie time to help wind down after a party and lots of sugar. 

And he's out for the count! Nothing like a 5:00pm nap :)

It was such a fun day!! The kids had a blast and Madden is still asking for his friends to come back over to play baseball again :)

Thank you to all of our family and friends for coming over to help celebrate MJ turning three!! 

Picture Time

Finally got our disc this past week of Madden's 2-year pictures so I thought I would share a few.

 

Madden was quite the handful the day of his pictures. Case in point the follow... 

 This was the majority of his looks at the camera...

 

 that is if he even looked at the camera at all!

Although this picture does show his curiosity at this age. Pointing to everything and saying "Look mommy" or "What that?"

 AND those lashes! To kill for!
 

 He also loved to run away from the camera.

His linebacker run sure is cute ;)

And a majority of any of our family pictures included a blank stare at the camera or a total avoidance of it. Obviously, he was less than thrilled with the idea of getting his picture taken this year. Two years old sure is a difficult age for this!!

 

 

Thankfully our wonderful photographer was still able to get some great shots of our little stinker and the three of us.

Trying to butter me up with a sweet little hug, though I'll take 'em anyway I can get 'em!

 

This is one of my faves!

Thankfully I was prepared with some fruit snacks to get his attention and a few tickles got him to laugh.

 

We met at this beautiful quarry I had never been too. After all the fruit snacks were gone we took some time out and threw rocks into the water. Luckily it was perfect timely as he was just not having it and we were able to take a little breather to distract him. He had a lot of fun with this and almost didn't want to leave.  

I really wanted to get some pictures of him on the baseball field we were at, however mother nature had different plans the night before so the field was soaked and had puddles around each base.

We stood just outside the field with it in the background, not exactly what I was hoping for but this one sure turned out cute.

 

 

Future note for anyone planning to take their little ones to their 2 year pictures:

1. Bring snacks! Snacks, snacks, snacks. 

2. Use what's around you. There were lots of dogs at the park, most owners were more than willing to use their pups behind the camera to get MJ's attention. The baseball field was right up MJ's alley. Even the playground would be cute!

3. Take a break of you need to. Skipping rocks as a family sure kept him entertained and got some of the crankies out.

 

I sure hope next years will got better, than again it is the Terrible Threes!     

23 Months Old

One more month to go...

 

Turtle!

This month has been a fun-filled busy time of year. Baseball has been in full swing so we have gotten in lots of time out at the field during the week and every weekend has been booked with things to do or places to be. I guess that's what summer is all about!

 

Madden is so much fun right now. We of course have our challenges, lots of meltdowns, never-ending No's being told to us, constant running away, not listening, short attention spans, tantrums...the list goes on. But all those things come with the territory and his age. He is changing and developing so much and so fast, it truly is amazing to watch. This month has been a fun one!

 

Watching the pitcher warm up at the River Bandits game

Highlights

• Helped Bopa in the garden all morning, then took a 5 hour nap!
• First non-family/friend babysit, someone he's never met before but he was a good boy
• Spending lots of time playing in his pools in the backyard
• Exploring a new parks, went to Garfield Park
• Enjoyed first Whitey's Ice Cream, smurf ice cream of course.
• Went to his first West baseball game of the season....and many since.
• Loves playing with Jackson and Halana at the baseball games
• Bolts for the park at the baseball complex a minimum of 3 times every time
• Stayed up extra late to welcome Bopa home from the Honor Flight
• Helped mommy babysit baby Violet for the afternoon
• Celebrated Mommy and Daddy's 6th Anniversary
• Took his first shower with daddy
• Went to the Long Grove Strawberry Festival: saw a parade, petting zoo and ate strawberry shortcake.
• Got a haircut with daddy
• Learned to climb "UP" the twisty slide at the park
• Went to a River Bandits baseball game
• Went to the Farmer's Market and a park with Bopa.
• Celebrated cousin Stella's Baptism and 2nd birthday 
• Celebrated Jordan and Steph's vow renewals
• Celebrated Father's Day, had both grandparents over for dinner and fun.
• Learned to repeat cuss words :) Super proud of that one! 
• Enjoyed the Thissen's swimming pool for the first time and grilled out.
• Went over to grandma and grandpa Gorsh's so mommy and daddy could participate in the Miro Brew Mile & 6K
• Went to Iowa City for lunch with the Hayek's

Welcoming Bopa home from the Honor Flight!

Age: 23 months old

Weight: 30+ pounds, TBD at 2 year check-up

Length: 30+ inches, TBD at 2 year check-up

Size: Size 5 diapers. Wearing mostly all 2T clothes and a few 3T things. Still trying to get away with sneaking him in some 18 month pj's.

Hair: Seems to be lightening up a bit, can definitely see some blonde spots coming through underneath.

Teaching Violet how to play with his toys.

 

Health: Perfect bill of health this month! Thankfully no nasty summer colds or sickness yet. He'll occasionally have a day he's extra tired or cranky but it's a very stimulating time of year, the heat doesn't always help and that brain of his is constantly developing. We've been lucky this month.

 

Temperament: His shyness seems to be wearing off a bit most time. He is a very friendly, outgoing, mischievous toddler with lots of energy to burn. He is kind, sweet and loving. He says hi and bye to everyone, will give just about anyone (even strangers) high fives or knuckles. He always gives hugs and kisses when it's time to go. He's still a pretty easy going, chill, go with the flow kid. When we go new places he just hangs out a bit to observe everything and everyone around him, he seems to like to study his surroundings first before off and running to explore. He's always been very observant and in awe of watching people around him. Every once in a while he comes back to check if mommy or daddy are still around then goes back to being Mr. Independent. He is perfectly content playing by himself, loves showing babies how to play with toys, likes to follow and be followed by kids his own age, and just stares at any big kid then will try to imitate them later on.  

 

Strawberries picked right out of the garden.

Sleeping: Another month I cannot complain about. He takes phenomenal naps that average 3 hours, occasionally longer depending on what we've done that day or the day before. Bedtime has been pushed back to 8-9:00pm mainly because of busy schedules. Nights we go to baseball games to see daddy we don't get home till almost 8:00pm, he always gets a second wind and runs crazy around the house so it takes longer to wind down for the night.

 

Eating: It's a miracle, this kid is starting to eat almost anything. He's open to trying new things and being my good little eater again. He doesn't always eat a lot at each meal but he will definitely try things off your plate or anything he's given. He ate chicken and not in a nugget form! He tried steak, chicken sausage, chicken wings, lunch meat, hot dogs, Greek yogurt, peanuts/almonds/cashews. Eating vegetables again and loves sweet potatoes again. All types of fruit, he loves strawberries, grapes, watermelon, apples, bananas, blueberries. Loves dipping anything and everything in ketchup and ranch dressing.

Favorite foods would be cheese and anything sweet like cookies, cupcakes, ice cream.

 

Dogs do it, I can do it.

 

Movement: This kid is non-stop! He is like the energizer bunny and keeps going and going. He's always saying "Let's Go Mommy" grabbing my hand and pulling me to wherever he wants to go or do.

 

Milestones: Said a legit "I Love You" clear as day! A few days later said I love you unprompted. Learning to climb up onto a barstool all by himself and climbs up the slide at the park. Shows compassion and concern for someone else, see Favorite Moments.

Mom thought she put the computer out of reach, she was wrong!

Favorite Toys/Activities: Balls of course. Back to liking bath time again and showers with daddy. Helping clean, sweeping floors, and wiping tables. Going outside. Feeding the dogs and giving them treats.  Hiding, especially in mommy and daddy's closet behind clothes. Loves his blankies and pacifier. Dancing. The movies Frozen and Monster's University.  

 

Dislikes: Staying strapped in his stroller for too long. Having to stay in his seat to eat any meal. Being told no.

 

Daycare Friends

Words: Learning new words everyday, will included a complete list for his 2 year update.

Sounds: Lot of animal noises, will make a complete list for his 2 year update

 

His 5th getaway attempt to the park at the baseball complex

Favorite Moments

• Madden saw Maddux get sick one morning, I has just caught him and ran him over to the hardwood floor (away from carpet!). He saw me holding the dog so he wouldn't run anywhere else and Madden came over, knelt down and asked "What happened? Maddux okay?" with concern like a like human! I was blown away by him and in awe of where that came from and how my little baby just turned into a legit concerned child.

• Every night went we put Madden to bed we read stories then stand up and pass him back and forth giving hugs, kisses and saying I love you and goodnight as we tuck him in bed. After a fun fulled night at the River Bandits game we came home late and went straight to our bedtime routine. This time after I told MJ I loved him, he said a legit "I Love You" back to me that was crystal clear. Prior to that he just mumbles sounds. Melted my heart! And now he continues to say "Love you mommy"! :)  

It's That Season!

Can anyone guess what season it is??

Baseball season.

Hence why I've been MIA for the past 2 months. I have ZERO time for anything!! Between working full time outside the house, being a full time mama, taking baking orders, trying to keep up working out, taking MJ to baseball games so he can see daddy for 10 minutes during the week, tending to two dogs, and trying to keep our house in some sort of order while the hubs is pretty much gone 5-6 days a week.

I'm exhausted just writing that! Yikes! 

This kid loves being out at the ball field. He will actually sit for a while and watch the game when we first get there. Usually Jackson and Halana are there, once everyone warms up they are off and playing, following each other around, monkey see monkey do. In between games we watch daddy out on the field raking the pitchers mound and getting it all ready for the next game. Once he's done, MJ takes off onto the field or in the dugout to find baseballs and throw them to anyone around.  

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Yesterday I completed an item off my baking bucket list, to make homemade cinnamon rolls. One of my friends from work had her birthday so I made them for her since it's one of her faves. I actually found a recipe that only takes 1 hour for prep and cooking. They were so good!!
I may never buy a tube of rolls ever again, how I can I ever go back?! 

After work we enjoyed some happy hour birthday drinks. I may have ordered a ginormous beer and ate an ungodly amount of chips, salsa and white cheese dip. It was heaven!!! All those splurges yesterday sure made me feel guilt plus I wasn't even close to getting in my 10,000 steps for the day.

 

What else does someone do to make up for it?

Sweat the booze out!!!

 

No gym, no problem.

I ran the hills in our yard!

 

How have I never thought of doing this before?

Oh, because it sucks that's why. I only lasted 15 minutes in the heat and humidity then took my workout inside for a Jillian Michaels session.

Totally felt better about my choices for the day :) 

 

12 Month Update

Happy ONE year little nugget!!

 

So you're apparently considered a toddler now...weird.

Ready or not you're starting to look less like a baby and more like a little boy every day.

 

I knew time was flying by but I never could have imagined just how fast your first year would go or how much you could change literally right in front of our eyes.

 I've said it before, and I know this won't be the last time but you amaze me each and every day!

We had your one year pictures taken last week with the wonderful photographer Jennie Peakin, check her work out here and sneak peek of our other pictures. I was extremely nervous all week about them; A, they were scheduled for 6pm and you usually are already getting tired/ready for bed then since bedtime is 7pm, and B, it was extremely hot week. Meaning it just so happened to be THE hottest day of the year so far!! At 6pm it was still 98 degrees and with the humidity felt well over 100+!
But Jennie did awesome with you and overall you did amazing. We can't wait to see the rest of your cuteness!

This month has been super busy!

From daddy's baseball games to holidays to party planning. We have been all over the place. You helped your cousin Stella celebrate turning one at her birthday party. In turn, she of course helped celebrate yours. You absolutely love playing with her even if she can manhandle you already! Every time you two are together you try giving each other kisses. It's the cutest thing EVER. You're so lucky to have a little cousin just your age to grow up with. I foresee you getting into lots of trouble with her ;)

 

You are certainly on the go now!

At the beginning of the month all you did was get on all fours to rock, your preferred method of getting around was rolling everywhere and into or on everything. Each week you would start taking more and more steps crawling. Getting a bit more adventurous and more confident. Now you cannot be stopped. You're one fast little crawler!! 

You love crawling over to the hardwood and bar stools to make noise. You bee-line to the laundry room in hopes to get the chance to play in the dogs food bowls and water. You're not happy when we close that door. You'll pound on it, try to slide it open and most likely cry or through a mini fit because you can't get in.

You always get a second wind in the evening after bath time or when it's time for jammies. As soon as you're naked you try desperately to make a break for it (although I love watching your naked little booty crawling away from me so I let you!). You'll crawl to the doorway in your bedroom and then over to the bathroom or down the hallway. Always trying to get away from us to play a little longer.     

You're starting to get quite the personality. You still are a pretty mellow, laid-back kid. For the most part you're always happy and in a good mood. We can usually guess pretty easily if you're not, which is usually only when tired or hungry. You've just recently started getting some stranger anxiety, usually if you've just woken up or overly tired or have just met someone or haven't seen for a long time. But after only a few minutes you warm up fairly fast.
 

You my love, have stolen my heart!

I'm so proud to be your mommy. This first year has been a roller coaster ride of emotions and fun. There are highs as well as lows but no matter what, we come out of everything together. I look forward to watching you grow each and every day.

Love you with all my heart,
Mommy
XOXO

Highlights:

• Going to cousin Stella's 1st birthday party
• Throwing Tera's Baby shower
• Celebrated his first Fourth of July
• Watched fireworks for the first time
• July 4th cookout at the Vincent's
• Went to first parade - Fourth of July parade
• Had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa Gorsh's so mommy and daddy could go out of town
• Daddy's baseball games
• Got picked up from daycare by Grandpa and Grandma Dexter a couple times each week
• Celebrated Daddy's birthday
• Got his ONE year pictures taken
• Had a Sock Monkey themed First Birthday Party
• Two smash cakes and a cupcake (for pictures, birthday party and actual birth day)
• Had a pizza party on his actual birthday with mom, dad and all his grandparents
• Turned ONE!!

Age: 12 months old
Weight: 23.5 pounds percentile
Length: 30 inches 59 percentile
Head: Back up to 90 percentile
Size: Wears a few 9 month outfits still but is mainly in 12 month and some 18 month clothes. Wears size 4 diapers
Hair: Light brown.
Eyes: Love those Baby Blues!

Health: A few days after he turned 11 months MJ started getting a runny nose then had a hard time falling asleep and would put his hands up by his ears. I took him into the doctor during walk-in hours to check his ears since he never has signs of an ear infection when he does have one and it was the week of July 4th which we were going out of town later in the week so I wanted to be sure he was healthy or start meds. His ears were all good and then two days later his 6th tooth broke through, so that explains the fussy-gus! After that he's been good.

Teeth: As said above, tooth number 6 came through then about 6 days later tooth number 7 popped through. Both on the top. He now has 4 top teeth in the front and 3 on the bottom. Just started drooling a bit more this week so we might be seeing some more here soon.

Sleeping: Aside from those few days at the beginning of the month from teething and the aftermath of his birthday weekend MJ has been back to an awesome little sleeper!! He's usually ready for bed at the same time every night like clockwork. He goes to bed around 7-7:30pm and sleeps through the night until about 6:30am. He takes 2 naps. His morning nap is around 9-9:30am in which he usually sleeps 1-2 hours. His afternoon nap is around 1-1:30pm for 1-1.5 hours

Eating: MJ is one good eater!! No complaints here about that. This kid can eat. I mean like eat an entire homemade waffle plus some fruit kinda eat. He's only nursing once a day (his choice), first thing in the morning. I started mixing whole cow's milk with breast milk in all his bottles/sippys the rest of the day. I started this 2 weeks ago and my stash is just about gone, this will be the last week.

This month he started doing this awesome thing (sense the sarcasm) when he eat, spitting food out. Even to things he loves to eat like sweet potatoes or chicken nuggets. As soon as it hits his mouth he makes a disgusted face and spits it out, even if he's half way through eating the same thing then all of a sudden one piece isn't good anymore. After a few tries by me or a distraction he'll usually go about eating it again but not always the case. Weirdo! It was funny at first but not so much anymore.

Loves - Bananas, sweet potatoes, blueberries, yogurt, nectarines, peas (even though he hated them pureed), chicken, pancakes, waffles, turkey sausage, and  loves loves grapes (new this month)!!

Movement: He's on the move! Crawling that is. Pulls himself up onto his knees and will only pull himself all the way up to a stand in the bathtub of course (the most safest place to practice!). He waves bye-bye, gives kisses and starting to get the whole high-fives thing.

Milestones: Crawling. Understanding simple commands like "No" and "Give me". He's also learning to share. He hands us food or tries to hold it up to our mouths, he'll give me his paci or try putting it in my mouth, and he'll hand out his toys when you're playing.

Favorite Toys/Activities: Bath time by far is his favorite thing of all time. And playing in water. He splashes around like a crazy man. Loves having water poured over his head or being squirted with toys.  Balls! Absolutely loves playing with balls of all sizes (and yes that includes his own junk too ;)). Throwing them, rolling them, hitting them, banging balls together. Balloons. Kid goes crazy when balloons are in his face. Making noises. The louder the more proud! Likes playing patty cake and so big. Brushing his teeth. I just give him his toothbrush and he brushes his teeth all by himself. The majority of the time he just sucks on it or chews it but he's getting use to it.

Dislikes: Sitting still for longer than a hot minute. Getting his diaper changed or un/dressed, which would mean he has to sit still. Waiting to nurse in the morning or waiting to eat solid foods. Seeing other people eat and he's not eating.....meltdown city!

Words/Sounds: This kid likes to make noise and hear himself chatter. He says No-no, mama, dada, nigh-nigh, huh, and uh-oh. Uh-oh is by far his favorite word right now and says it all the time. Every time I talk to him he always will say "huh?" to me. We all swear he says thank you, it sound that clear and every single time any one tells him or prompts him to say Thank You, he will repeat it and it sounds like he really is saying it. Swear to god!

Favorite Moments:

• Madden have a total "cheese" smile now! He has his normal beautiful, perfect little smile when he's happy or laughing, and then he has a " Madden, Say Cheese" smile were he squints his entire face which I call the Chandler face seen here (that's a Friends reference for anyone who still loves watching re-runs of that show, you'll have no idea what that is kid). It cracks me up every time. I LOVE IT!

One word: HAM!