It's Party Time!!!!!

Remingtons first birthday party was an absolute success!!! I spent lots of time planning every detail of this day to make sure it was perfect!! .....and it was!!!

The theme was airplanes and the main colors were yellow and blue. I made some spinach, turkey and cream cheese pinwheels. My sister made her famous pasta salad and my mom made delicious weenies in the crock pot. Mikes dad also brought his home made guacamole and salsa. We had soda and water for the adults and juice for the kids as well as fruit loops, animal crackers and popcorn. Mike and I made the cupcakes and cake and airplane shaped sugar cookies.

The hot chocolate favor bags were a hit! I filled little bags with a packet of instant hot chocolate, a few marshmallows, chocolate chips and 2 mini candy canes. They were set up in a suitcase with a "baggage claim" sign above and the area to drop off Remis gifts was labeled "baggage check-in".
We had lots of personal touches such as the cupcake toppers: Remington Airlines- those labels were also used on the favor bags.


We had close to 30 family and friends come to celebrate Remingtons first year! They were so kind to get him all sorts of gifts including books, new outfits, bath toys, trucks, the alphabet train, two huge teddy bears (that ironically both of my best friends bought him without knowing), and my mom and sister also bought him the same gift- a musical helicopter.

Remington with his GREAT Grandpa

Mommy and Remi

Remi and Daddy

Remi LOVES stuffed animals and as I mentioned above, both of my best friends, not knowing, got Remi the same stuffed bear. And let me tell you......this kid spotted one of the bears from a mile away and did whatever he could to get it in his hands......

Like I said...he LOVES stuffed animals :)

Remi didn't miss a beat when it came to eating his first cake. In fact, as soon as daddy set the cake down in front of him, Remi went face first into it for the first bite. It was great!!!

This was his face when we were singing Happy Birthday to him :)

"Here you go Daddy"

"Try some cake Mommy"

 It was sure a great day :)

Busy boy!!

Yes.....Remington is suuuper duuper busy! He's so curious about what everything is, what everyone is doing, what your doing on your cell phone and computer (he'll literally pull your hands down to look at your cell if texting and he does some crazy maneuver to peak around at the screen. He LOVES playing with boxes and hiding in them. He's SO much fun!!!

This was his favorite 'toy' for a long time!!

"Look what I can do Mom"

Had to get comfortable somehow!

Lets just say he got under it a lot easier then he got back out

I think he's pretty handsome :)

He wanted daddy to play under the box with him too

Look at that sweet face...and his pretty eyes!!

He figured out this new trick at Grandmas when no one was looking......

And this new trick too!!

These two boys are my whole entire world!! I breathe these boys, love these boys and am complete with these boys

Gobble Gobble

Remington celebrated his first Turkey day!!! He had a blast trying out all the new foods. At first, I was feeding him bites off my plate then I realized that he's a big boy now and we got him his own plate. He was in "awe" and at first didn't know what to do. But once he figured it out...he went to town on his plate!
All in all, it was a pretty low key day spent at Mikes parents house. He did, however, take a 1.5 hour nap in grandpa Pauls lap :)

Things are getting close...

This coming Tuesday will mark 3 weeks 'till Remingtons "big day" and things are coming along nicely. I'll re-cap:

His birthday is Airplane themed. I made the invitations my self and will be sending them out ......TOMORROW!!! Here is the invitation ----

I am going to make cupcakes for the guests and have ordered custom made cup cake 'tags' that say "Remington Airlines". I have also ordered 144 plastic airplanes that will go on each cupcake as well serve as the decoration on Remis own personal sized cake. And today I just got the airplane shaped cookie cutter that will make the cutest cupcakes!
Speaking of Remis cake, It will be a small one, just for him. It will be green on the inside and blue on the outside, same as the cupcakes.
The colors theme of the entire party is blue, green and yellow. We will serve pasta salad (courtesy of my sister), pigs in a blanket and some snacks like goldfish, fruit loops and animal crackers and a side of crackers and cheese.
Not quite sure on what drinks we'll serve but I know one drink will be my famous 'fall' drink ~ few cups of pineapple juice, a few cups of apple juice and a few tbls of Cinnamon heated in the crock pot for a few hours. MMmmm!
On the creative side, I will have a video montage playing of Remis first year. I will also have the "alphabet pictures" and his "monthly time-line" pictures hung for viewing. And last but not least, we will have a time capsule. Each guest will write Remi a note with some advice and wishes for his future. We will keep it under lock and keep 'till his 18th birthday.
I can't wait to put all these ideas into reality! Only 3 weeks away!!!

One year 'deadlines'

As Remingtons First Birthday party "Celebration" (you must know, I celebrate anything I can and I go 'all out' for it) comes more near, I have some last minute things that I have to finish up. We have been working on some 'photo' stuff over the past year and am so excited to finally give it its' debut.

I love taking 'time lapse' photos. For example, when I was pregnant I took a picture of my belly every week, in the same outfit and in the same spot. It's so much fun to literally watch my belly grow.

Next, Since Remi was 4 weeks old, We have taken his "monthly" birthday photo in the same rocking chair with the same stuffed animal with the occasional holiday photo in the chair as well. So we're nearing 12 or so photos of him in which you can also literally watch him grow. I am going to display his monthly birthday photos at his "celebration".

And, last but not least, starting when he was just a few weeks old, we took pictures of him with objects that made up the alphabet.We have a few letters left (we forgot about this project for a few months, playing catch up now) but they will be done this week!

Only 3 weeks left 'till my sweet baby boy reaches his One Year milestone and what better way to show him 'growing' through pictures...literally. Oh, and I've made a video montage of his life starting from the day we got our positive pregnancy test and it will end with Remis first birthday cake smash (one week before his actual birthday) We have it set to the song "Anything like Me" by Brad Paisley. Its the most perfect song ever.

Now.....like I said, we're just 3 weeks away from turning one...... I'm getting the itch to change things up and think of a new way to take his monthly photos for "Year Two".....Hmmm...This could get fun!!

Do YOU have any ideas for me??

Teeth!

I had forgot to mention that Remingtons 7th tooth (top, left side of his front tooth) came through on Halloween day. And the 8th tooth (opposite #7) is starting to peek through! WOW-za!!

11 months old....already!?

Most of the day went by before I realized that today is November 6...which means my sweet little boy is 11 months old. Holy moly! One month away before he turns ONE!! Not sure how I feel about his right now. Well, excited but kinda sad that my 'little baby' is turning into a 'big boy'.
So here are the stats from month 10:

Weight: He weighs 22 lbs (50%)

Height: Probably about 30 inches (will find out next month)

Head Size: Close to 18 inches

Diaper Size: He wears size medium and large cloth diapers and size 4 in disposables

Clothes Size: 18 month although he owns a few 24 month old sizes

Sleep: Still a great sleeper. He's going to bed a bit later now, between 9 and 10 and sleeps in 'till 8am or so. (talk about nice that he lets mommy sleep in )

Favorite Activities: He's recently discovered how fun it is to feed the doggies his crackers. He thinks is soo funny to smash it up in his hand all throw the crackers and the floor and watch the dogs go crazy. He also loves feeding the dogs straight from his hand. Though....we run out of crackers pretty fast now.

Favorite Toys: He loves sticks! We keep rods in the window cracks and since we keep our windows open now, the rods are propped in the sides. He figured out how to get them out of the window seal to play with them. He loves swinging them around and actually laughs when he hits himself in the head with them.

Eating: He is officially on whole milk. We have been switching him over from formula to whole milk for the last few weeks. He actually prefers whole milk over formula (wont finish all his formula bottles but will if its whole milk) Anyways, so he takes about 6oz of whole milk every 4 hours or so. He's doing great on it. Never had problems with constipation or diarrhea.

Talking: His newest 'word' is "Gag"....which we believe is him trying to say Dog. He also says "baba" which is what we say for bottle. He gibbers allllll daaaaaaay loooooong. Definitely a talker!

Milestones: WALKING!!! Yes...hes taken steps more and more. He gets soo excited when we prop him up, and let him go....'till he realizes what he's doing then freaks out. LOL!

I can't believe he's almost a year old!! WOW!! We went out and bought all of his party-ware and I bought his first birthday outfit for his big day...and photo shoots of course :) In just a few weeks, he will be celebrating his first Thanksgiving!

Halloween and Mommys birthday

Remi just celebrated his first Halloween! Officially, he was a dragon (we dressed up as "The Rubbles") for an earlier costume party) and the cutest dragon ever! We started off trick or treating in our own neighborhood with a few neighbors. After about an hour, we headed to my parents neighborhood (in which I grew up in). We stopped at all of Remis "Aunties" houses. It got very emotional in every way when Remi "walked" up to them all to get some candy for the first time. His "aunties" have wanted Remi in this world just as much as we did so He is so very special to them.

Remi with his best friends

Hanging out with Papa Paul afterwards

Halloween is also my birthday. Last year on my birthday, I was 8 months pregnant so it was so much fun to celebrate  my birthday with my son this year. I held him while everyone sang happy birthday to me and he helped me blow out my candles :) And Mike got me a beautiful diamond and sapphire ring. Sapphire is Remis birthstone :)

And as I mentioned before, we went to a costume party the night before Halloween and we dressed up as "The Rubbles". I made our costumes out of old sheets. I thought we looked pretty darn good!

Pumpkin Patch

As a side job, I am a photographer so this month of October we were at the pumpkin patch two weekends in a row, both Saturdays and Sundays. Remi and Mike came along to them so that we could also get pictures of Remi with the pumpkins. It was pretty darn hott still ( at least 100*) so his dragon costume wasn't the greatest choice. The very last day of my photo-shoots, Remi had pneumonia (didn't know it yet) so he wouldn't smile and wasn't too cheerful.

Mommy FAIL award ~

So long story short...........I locked my keys in the car.....with Remi inside!!!!!

I was meeting my parents at a smoothie shop. I got the stroller out of the trunk, opened the door to get Remi out but before I did, I locked the car up and threw the keys in the diaper bag (so I wouldn't forget to lock the doors). Just as I was about to get Remi out, this lady that was parked next to me starts backing out and almost runs the stroller over. I panicked, grabbed the stroller, shut the door and jumped behind my car. I looked at the lady and said "Did you not see me". She rolls her window down and says "I'm sorry, are you okay".........then it hit me........Remi is locked in the car!!!! My mom was still in her own car on the other side of me. I started screaming to my mom. Remember, I live in Arizona where its still 100* outside. I called my hubby (he was at home with a spare car key) and told him to get down here ASAP.  A crowd grew pretty quickly once the word was out that "a baby was locked in a car". People were so nice though. They grabbed towels and tablecloths from the restaurant and covered my car to help keep the sun out. Mike called back and said he was stuck in traffic and couldn't get to us as fast now. So the next call I made was to 911. Within 2 mins, a fire truck and 3 cop cars show up and rescue Remi. Remi was calm the entire time but super sweaty once we got him out. The firefighters checked him out and said he was going to be just fine.  Ugh!!! Talk about a scary mom moment!!!!

Want to hear the funny part of this whole story??? I once dated a firefighter.....low and behold.....My ex boyfriend was the one who saved Remi. Yea....put that one in the baby book huh!?

Lets just say...I have now changed my habit of where I put my keys when I get out of the car :)

What a CRAZY 2 weeks!

Our poor little prince has been so sick these last two weeks.

It all started out with a really nasty and weird rash on his entire face. No where else, just his face. Nothing we did at home would make it go away so we went to the doc to see what they thought. Diagnosis: Contact dermatitis and/or eczema.  Okay..great!

4 days later, Remi came down with a stomach bug. He had a 103 temp for 2 days straight, wouldn't eat and had diarrhea every 20 mins for 4 days straight!!! NOT FUN! And of course with diarrhea brings rashes. So he developed the WORST rash i'd ever seen everywhere 'down there'. -- so now hes got a rash on his face, super duper diarrhea and a rash on his 'private parts' and no appetite and slight dehydration. Back to the doctor we went. Doctor said he's definitely caught a 'bug' and gave us some cream to put on BOTH rashes. He also said he could see that his nose was stuffy so to expect some boogers too. Awesome.....

That night, Rem develops a nasty cough. Weird 'cause it seriously came out of nowhere. We shrugged it off thinking it could just be his boogers draining to his throat since doc had mentioned his nose looked stuffy. So we went on with our life. With in 2-3 days, he got really congested in his chest and developed another 103 fever. You could hear a "gurgle" sound when he'd breathe. He was super cranky, would not sleep and started losing his appetite once again. We gave him some albuterol treatments hoping it would help clear his chest up. Another 3 days passed and he was sounding worse. So back to the doctors we go (3rd time in 2 weeks) His doctor immediately sent him in for a chest x-ray. Diagnosis: Bronchitis AND pneumonia...... Seriously????  So now our poor guy is on some super strong antibiotics 2x a day for 10 days.

His face rash is gone though, his stomach bug has left and the rash on his bottom has cleared. So now if we can just get past this bronchitis and pneumonia, then mommy and daddy will be VERY happy.

TTC update ~ Canceled

Well......AF came into town a week LATE! Yea...talk about intense around here for that whole week. Any-who...after much thought.....I have personally decided that we will stop TTC altogether and wait 'till the summer time to start up again. Remington is going to get more and more fun in the next couple months (not that he isn't fun right now) He'll start walking soon and being able to really play with me so I want to give him another FULL year all attention..just him. He still has lots of "first" coming up and I want to enjoy them to the fullest without thinking about #2 on the side. Remi deserves ALLLLL of our attention. He did for a year and a half while we TTC him...9 months while pregnant with him and now the 10 months that he's been alive. I feel he is the most special and important thing in the whole world and he needs just a little bit more time to be able to feel what its like to be spoiled :)


We are SOO happy and comfortable with out decision and it seems that ever since making that decision, things around here have been even happier. TTC Remi was a rough and super tough journey and we realized that we're not ready to do that all over again- YET!!!! My endometriosis IS getting worse BUT.....if we're meant to have another baby then it will all work out in the end...when the time is right. And right now - we want it to be all about Remington :)

So no more TTC talk 'till at least May :)

TTC update~

Well its day 27 or 28 and no sign of AF. I don't feel like this is the  month though so totally not going to test or get excited till like next week (if shes not here) I have super bad Endo so if my period is late, then I won't assume right away that its because I'm pregnant. This will be cycle 3 for us. Seems so easy this time around compared to the 14 months we tried for Remi, the tests, the surgeries, the meds, the IUIs......And it helps that were not in a hurry :)

Holy Crap-OLA!!

I just realized that I will be sending out Remis FIRST birthday invites in just over a month!! WOW!!! I can't believe how fast time flies. I've been a mommy a whole year already?? I still remember the emotions of trying to conceive him for almost a year a half. And now its a few months shy of 2 years since I received  my BFP........I'm just soooo blessed to be Remingtons mommy and even more lucky that he is my son.

Baby #2 ~!!

Well, I am finally coming clean.....we have been TTC #2 for 2 months now. Yes!! We are ready for another baby! I'm scared, nervous, excited and well....super excited!

Heres my back story:
In 2005 at the age of 18 I was diagnosed through Lapo with stage 4 Endo. My periods had stopped for almost a year at this point 'cause the endo was so bad. I had 2 lapos in a period of 6 months before starting 3 months of the strongest doses of Lupron. It worked!! My periods returned within 3 months of my last dose (by this time, it was my first period in almost 2 years). Hubby and I started TTC our first baby in Jan 2009. He was also diagnosed with Male infertility 3 months after we started TTC. Long story short, we had 2 failed artificial insemination's (IUIs), over 14 cycles of Clomid, estrogen AND progesterone. In March 2010, we got pregnant ...ON OUR OWN! Yes! Although we did use "Instead Cups" and Clomid...but we did "IT" the 'ol fashion way which we were told would never happen. In fact, we had a LESS then 5% chance of conceiving on our own.


The last few months, my cycles have been resorting back to what they were when I was being treated for my Endo..20 day cycles and pain....not good. I'll be making a doctor apt soon to discuss fertility drugs again. I don't mind them, my body needs all the help it can get.

As a "success" story with Endometriosis, I have learned a lot. I have learned that you CAN beat endo, that endo does not mean "no kids"...just means you have to try a little bit harder. I'm expecting a super long road again just in case. I've said it before and I'll say it again ~ I'll do whatever it takes to be a mommy. The day I gave birth to Remington, I said and I quote " It was a long 2 years (TTC to Birth) but I'd do it all again in a heart beat. So here's wishing that baby #2 will come when its' ready, that my body will accept this baby and that our TTC is a learning process but a successful one.

Play Day with Rylee

Remi has too many girlfriends! Today we went to the park with Rylee. Shes older but I think she has a crush on him :)

Was actually cold enough to wear a jacket today!!

Cool kid

First time Remi actaully liked playing in the sand

Rylee was teaching him a few things about sand :)

"Get it! Get it!"

Mr. Independent wanted nothing to do with me. He wanted to climb all by himself

He giggled the whole time on the swings

Weight: He weighs 22.3 lbs (50%)

Height: He is 29 inches tall (50%)

Head Size: 17.8 inches (50%)

Diaper Size: He wears size medium and large cloth diapers and size 4 in disposables

Clothes Size: Mostly 18 months

Sleep: He's an amazing sleeper..still!! Goes to bed on his own by 9pm and sleeps till 9am! WOO!!! He's starting to skip his  morning naps but when he doesn't, he'll nap around 1030 for about 45 mins. Then nap again around 2pm for an hour

Favorite Activities: Now that the weather is cooling off, we've been leaving the backdoor open and so his new favorite thing is to sneak outside and sit on the back porch to watch the dogs play. He takes notice at anything that plays music - cell phones, toys, TV and radio and loves to dance to it!

Favorite Toys: His 'toy of the week' is a harmonica. He can't 'play' it but just holds it all the time (we 'play' it so he tries to as well). He also loves his truck!! He crawls around and pushes it at the same time. My boy!!

Eating: He's a monster eater!! Drinks 3-4 8 oz bottles a day, snacks on cheerios and can eat an entire jelly sandwich!! He loves food!!

Talking: He definitely knows who's "mama" and who's "dada" so he'll scream that when we are near. He's also got this new "yelp" going on. He'll get super excited and "Eeek"...a super short scream or yelp. Its his 'happy' voice!

Milestones: He's standing for a few seconds on his own! He'll be off playing on his own and will let go!!! But....as soon as he sees that we're watching him, he laughs and grabs onto something almost like hes trying to not get caught being a big boy :) Little stinker

He think he gets annoyed with me taking pictures and tries to get my camera!!