Strollin'

We actually had a gorgeous day last week. Such random NC weather. One day it is freezing, the next it is sunny and 70, the next, stormy and cool again. So we took advantage and took a quick walk around the neighborhood before getting some dinner! William is so loving his new view in the big boy stroller. He is so glad to be out of that car seat in the stroller.

"Where'd my toy go?"

Dining Room Redo!

Ever since we moved into our house almost 2 years ago, I have wanted to do something different with our dining room! Our main floor is one huge room with the dining room, kitchen, and living room all together. So it drove me crazy a little that with my table that I'd had for years wasn't really cutting it anymore as an adult "dining room".

I am a little obsessed with formal dining rooms. I LOVE them. Even if I never cook a meal large enough to have seating for 12, I want it. (And I'm sure I won't be doing that, BTW). I want a big old timey set with the sideboards and buffets and grand china cabinet.

But not in this house!! So, I remembered that my grandparents had a gorgeous set that would work perfect in the space because the table had leaves to make it larger, and a corner china cabinet! My dad and uncle finally got it all set up for me for it to be delivered to Raleigh! I was so excited!!! I think it looks great in the space! The china cabinet is the perfect size without overwhelming the room.

We had also been looking for curtains for the huge dining room window. Stephanie came to us and offered to have a custom cornice with our monogram done. I was so excited!!!! That is exactly what I had wanted! She knew a lady who does them and actually just did hers, so it worked out great! I LOVE IT!!! I think it looks so great and just completely changes the room. We also had the cushions recovered with the same fabric since they were an outdated white print.

Sorry for the terrible lighting...I keep forgetting to take a pic at night! 

Close up

Ugh, ignore the random baby gear!

View of the whole area. Please ignore the crooked rug (Riley just had a run-through, and the jacket on the chair (robbie) :)

We also were given a gorgeous piece my grandmother used in her dining room for storage. We didn't have enough room downstairs with all of William's paraphernalia, so we put it at the top of the stairs for extra storage up there and covered it with picture frames. I love it!

5 Months Old!!!

William, today you are 5 months old! I cannot believe it! Almost half a year. To me, you are at a very fun stage. You can't get around yet, so you still want to be held and squeezed on, but you are way more interactive.

 You had more shots last month and ran your first (very low) fever because of them. You thankfully haven't had to return to the doctor for any reason, so we don't know how much you weigh. At that appointment, you weighed 14 lbs. and 4.5 oz.

You can barely fit in your 3 month sleepers and clothes and starting to fill out your 6 months clothes. You wear a size 2 diaper, but at night we put you in a size 3.

You rolled over for the first time on January 31st. You rolled over in December, but this was the first time you kept doing it! Now you are a total tummy sleeper, which freaks Mama out! Whenever we lay you down on your back, you flip right to your tummy. Something about it you must love, because you sleep approximately 11 hours each night. Whew!!! In the past week or so, you have started rolling from you tummy to your back in the crib while asleep. You put your little butt in the air and flip right over! It is too funny to watch on the monitor.

Auntie Erica came up to visit this month and you had your first big boy bath!!! It was a little stressful since you can't sit up too well just yet, and you are so slippery! But you had fun playing with the toys! We also put you in your stroller in the big boy seat this weekend - no more carseat! You like it so much more now because you have a lot more room to move and play. And the nice thing is, when you fall asleep, I can adjust the stroller to become flat.

Your first Super Bowl was this month. I was going to let you stay up and watch the game with everyone, but after a couple hours of sitting in the Bumbo and playing, you were exhausted and wanted to go to bed!

On February 8th, we celebrated Nana's birthday and you wore your first pair of shoes!! They are Very Hungry Caterpillar Robeez from Ashley's mama, Susan. They were absolutely precious and you seemed to like them!

You celebrated your first Valentine's day this month! Mama and Daddy had a sandbucket for you filled with books, cereal, bowls, spoons, toys, and pacis.Of course you had no idea what was going on, but we were excited!

The big news of the month is, you had oatmeal cereal for the first time on February 15th!!! That first night, you were not very enthused. You would open your mouth for the spoon and then not close it once the food was in your mouth, so it was messy!! Ever since then, you are in love! You eat the whole bowl. I'm sure soon we will be increasing it to twice a day! I'm not sure if it is a coincidence or what, but ever since having the cereal, you have been sleeping better at night (staying asleep without needing your paci!) Yay!! You are now as of 2/22, sitting in your high chair at the table to eat your cereal! So big!

Another big first this month - it snowed for the first time in your life on February 19th!!! We were on the way home from dinner and I couldn't resist bundling you up when we got home and taking some quick pictures. You just kept blinking your eyes fast as snowflakes fell on you!!

We took you to the museum with your Grandma, Grandpa, and Jeremiah on the 18th. It was a lot of fun and you had a good time getting strolled around as you played with all of your toys, and eventually passed out from the excitement.

You are still our easygoing, happy baby. We are so lucky. Most nights, we lay you down in the crib, and you are instantly asleep. How lucky?! You just smile all day and now LOVE to laugh. You laugh so hard you can't catch your breath sometimes. You have just recently started noticing big sister Riley and smile as soon as you see her and laugh really hard when she comes close to you or sniffs your face. It is so sweet!!!

This month, you have really gotten into the Jumperoo and watching TV. You will jump for a long time! You also really pay attention when people are talking and will turn your head if you hear someone come in or start talking. I think you are starting to realize that your name is William; if we say it, you turn to us and look up at us. I love how you grab your toys and just stare at them and bring them straight to your mouth. You have also started tugging our hair and putting your hands out to touch our faces when we are close to you, so sweet!!! You love to reach out to Riley to pet her. Your talking is still going strong and your new funny trick is putting both hands on your bottle and pulling it out of your mouth and pushing it away when you are done!

William, you are an absolute joy to us. Your Mama and Daddy love you so much! It is unbelievable. Even through all the sleepless nights, in the morning it's like they didn't exist. You are a lucky little boy with so many people who love you!!!

Fun Weekend!!!

This past weekend, Robbie's parents came up! We were excited they were coming, especially since they hadn't been since William was first born! They brought Jeremiah with them as well, which was nice! I wish they visited more often!!!

They got here around noon on Saturday. After the CPI Security installer left, we headed to lunch at the Mexican restaurant.



William hanging on tight on the way to the restaurant!



Wanting to sit up at the restaurant

After that, we went to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and walked around. The dinosaurs were the best part!! William had a good time playing with his toys and looking all around until he got too sleepy, then he crashed! We went into the gift shop and got William a couple books, and Linda bought him the cutest dinosaur bib and my favorite, the dinosaur train!!! I wanted it soooo bad. It is so sweet! I can't wait for him to play with it!



After the museum, we went to Target for some necessities. Linda and I shopped while Robbie, Leroy, and Jeremiah fed William. We then went to Mama's to wait for Hannah to get off work so we could go eat! We were going to Kanki, but by 6:00 they had a 2 hour wait. So we went to Fujisan, who told us we only had a 25 minute wait. An hour and 15 minutes later, we were finally seated, ugh!! I am SO thankful for a baby who goes with the flow. He just hung out in his stroller. He slept almost our entire meal, bless his heart. He is usually in bed by 8:30, and we didn't get home that night until almost 10! So, by the time he had cereal and then a bottle, it was almost 11 when he finally went to bed! And the sweet thing never cried!!!



Nana and William

Grandma and William

Cousins after dinner

The next morning, Leroy helped us around the house with a couple projects. My favorite is the one in William's room. I wanted something on his huge expanse of a wall in there. I was afraid to hang a mirror and William reach up and pull it down on him, so I found some picture frames at Target and filled them up! The W I already had from PBK. It was on his bookshelf, but each time we took down a book, it fell. Annoying. The middle frame was a gift from Ashley when he was born, with all of his stats! I love the way it all came out!

After getting ready, we headed to the Farmer's Market for lunch before they left. They have the best bbq chicken!!! As soon as we sat down, Robbie accidentally spilled his full glass of sweet tea in my lap. O.M.G.....needless to say, I had a cold, sticky lunch! It was hilarious trying to blow dry my pants in the bathroom. After lunch, everyone left to head back to EC. It was such a fun weekend and we can't wait for them to visit again!!

Jeremiah finally held William!!

SWEET face!

We headed over to Mama's to feed William and I threw my clothes in the washer. ;) Mama hadn't had lunch yet, so we went to Applebee's with her to sit and talk to her while she ate. After that, we did one of my favorite things - riding around looking at neighborhoods. I have always loved looking at houses. By that time, it was time for William to eat again. We played for a while and read some books to him and then went to dinner with Mama and Hannah to Longhorn.

William had a snack of book!

On the way home from eating, it was sleeting really bad. About a mile from our house, it started snowing really fat flakes. As soon as we got in the house, we bundled up William and took him outside for his first snow!!! He didn't know what to think of it. I'm glad we took the pic though because this morning, it was all melted! I did get a couple hours delay at work, though, so I got some extra time with my boys this morning!!!

William's 1st snow! 2/19

So happy in the morning!

I think William is still exhausted from the weekend!! He slept 11 hours last night without a peep and has taken 2 long naps today, haha!!!