Sunday, November 20

Oh yeah, there was that holiday...

Hey, did you know Halloween happened like 3 weeks ago?

Did you know Corbin was the cutest boy ever to grace the holiday?



See? Told you. (That's a giraffe in his hands... a lion's gotta eat!)

Brit's brother and sister-in-law were in town, so we joined them at Erin's house for trick-or-treating. Corbin did ok, for a 1-year-old, but he was not excited about the idea of trick-or-treating. Oh he loved the candy, but we ended up carrying him for 99% of the trip. I just love Halloween. I'm so glad he's already in the "tradition" of celebrating every year.

More pictures, because words are boring...

Rawr!

Brit as Doctor Who
The Doctor and K-9

Cousins

More Cuteness

...have you passed out from the cuteness yet? I'll spare you and move on to other kids....


The Gang

Chess, in her own costume

Corbin's attitude about trick-or-treating...

Wednesday, October 5

Words


Corbin doesn't say much. He's learned a lot of signs, but his words are still pretty much mush. I've noticed that he uses the same mush with the same signs every time, though, so I'm calling them words. Instead of trying to spell them out phonetically I took videos of the ones he uses-- all done, more, and up. Of course he babbles all day long and says "mamamama" and "dadadadada"... whether or not he's referring to us, I have yet to determine.

These are so weird, Brit still doesn't believe me that they are actual words. Well... they're not. But Corbin thinks they are, so who am I to argue?

1: All Done


2: More (the "muhmuhmuh" right before I turn off the camera)

3: Up. This one is the weirdest, and takes the longest time to get him to stop whining and talk to me. He holds his hands up in the air (although he's digressed to just holding his ears... I guess holding them all the way up is simply too tiring) and says "eee?" Yeah, sure, that sounds just like "Up".....

On a somewhat random note... he also likes to stand at the top of the stairs and yell "Biiiht?" at the top of his lungs. It doesn't seem to mean anything, but I'm wondering if this is a reflection of how often I stand at the top of the stairs and yell for Brit....

Kid in a Box

Tuesday, September 20

15 months, other happenings



At 15 months, Corbin:
is 25 lbs {55%, and he's lost weight since his 12 month checkup}
33.5 inches {97+%}
So he's gotten tall and skinny!
+Still takes 2 naps a day, but sometimes drops his 2nd nap
+Still drinks 4 sippies of milk a day
+LOVES juice, hates water {we're trying to wean him out of this!}
+Also loves: goldfish, cheddar rice cakes, pretzels, FRUIT SNACKS, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, cereal with milk, hot dogs
+Eats at his own pace... some days, hardly anything; other days, he's a bottomless pit!
+Dances whenever he hears music
+Waves Bye-Bye
+Loves to sneak-attack hug... he comes up to me about 10 times a day to grab my legs and bury his face in them
+Loves his ball popper, throwing balls around, and taking all the tupperware and measuring cups out of the drawers
+Loves banging on keyboards and remotes and phones... but only if they work. No faking him out with broken play equipment.
+Loves to go outside and walk around, but hates the playground
+Has a mind of his own! He definitely knows how to throw a mini-tantrum. If I try to hold his hand when we're out, he will throw his head back, stamp his feet, scream, and try to bite my hand. It's lovely.
+He has EXPLODED in communication skills this last month! I feel like something has "clicked" in his brain, and he understands infinitely more of what we say, and makes a visible effort to communicate back. 
Words he says: Doggy, Daddy {these two sound the same}, MaMa, More, Nonnie {although he will probably forget this one before he needs it again}
Words he tries: All Done {he says something like "a-ya" while making the sign}, Milk {I think he's used it once, anyway}
Words he signs: Up, More, All Done, Please {he walks around signing Please for EVERYTHING, like maybe we're holding something out on him}
He is copying us more and more, and making an effort to tell us what he wants. The other day, I was trying to get him to sign "juice," which we had never used before. I could tell he knew what I was asking {"Do you want some juice?"} without seeing it, and he whined {his very elegant way of saying "yes"} and then tried to copy my sign for "Juice." He ended up just hitting himself in the side of his head, but hey, A for effort!
He also suddenly loves to read, and his very favorite book is Baby's First 100 Words, followed closely by his other word book. Not that he actually stays on any one page long enough for me to READ to him, but he still brings it to me and climbs in my lap every chance he gets to look through it.

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I've started a new blog. I have a lot of these now. And I'm not going to share the link to this one, but I will share the thought process. I am a terrible journal keeper, as probably evidenced by this outstanding blog right here. There are too many memories that I think "Oh, I will always remember this," only to forget years down the line. Corbin does so many cute things EVERY DAY that I want to look back and remember when he's a bratty 12 year old and I need to remind myself why I love him. I also want to remember the little milestones, like when he learned to dance to music, and wave bye-bye, and started talking in complete sentences. I want to remember all this, but to blog it for a public audience would either be excruciatingly boring for you, or filled with pressure to make it fun and interesting for me. So I started another blog, and am filling it with several very short {and boring!} entries a day. Things like "Corbin loves baby einstein lately. It's the only thing he will sit still for." I can keep it up because there's no pressure of other people reading and commenting, and I know I will love and appreciate these silly little reminders in years to come.

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I'm back on a regular work schedule. NO, that does not mean I'm working days! I'm back to working every weekend, still all nights. I am totally in love with having a predictable schedule again. It makes me feel like I have more time every week to get things done. In fact, I've started housekeeping for the first time in my life! It feels WONDERFUL to have a clean house. I've made a schedule of chores for each day I'm not working, put it on my phone's to-do list app, and shared it with Brit so he can help me get things done. He really is good at helping me when I tell him exactly what to do, he will never on his own see the problem of a 3-month buildup of pet hair on the carpet.

Wednesday, July 20

My favorite age

"So what's been your favorite age for him?"
"This one!"

Remember when he was brand new and tiny, and just curled up into this perfect little ball that slept all the time?

Remember when he started figuring out how arms work, and learned that he could make the toys rattle if he hit them just so, and so he spent minutes on end focusing on getting his arms to move the way he wanted?

Remember when he first started smiling on purpose? And you would make an utter fool of yourself for a glimpse of that crooked little grin? Remember when he started laughing? And you spent your whole day trying to coax it out, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world, and you saved it as a ringtone on your phone (where it still lives on)?

Remember when he started grabbing his toes, and he was the smartest baby in the whole world for figuring out where his feet were?

Remember when he first started reaching for you, and you really truly felt like "mommy" for the first time?

Remember when he started rolling? Started scooting? Started pulling himself up to stand and you realized your tiny little baby was turning into a toddler?

Remember those first few steps when you realized your whole world was about to change?

Remember when he would yell at the top of his lungs and do the goofiest things, secure in the knowledge that he is the funniest person on earth?

Remember when he would run into your arms and climb into your lap just to snuggle for a minute?

-Oh wait, that was today.

Friday, July 8

3... I mean, 4 years!

Our anniversary was last week! I can't believe we've been married 4 years already. I'm really stuck on 3. This is going to take some getting used to.

I wasn't going to do anything for the occasion, what with having a baby around and working most of the weekend, but then my brother just happened to be staying for a few days! We took advantage of his presence and went out for a movie date Saturday, my one night off. We saw Pirates, and used the free tickets we got from a car dealership. It was ever so fancy.

So, four years. Wow. In four years, we've both graduated, I found a job I love, we bought a house, got a dog, had a baby, went through 3 different cars... and I really don't have an elegant segue into pictures.

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Wednesday, June 29

More Video

One of Corbin's favorite activities.... walking around, waving his spork, yelling at the top of his lungs.


For Grandy

I've had these for a while, but I've been in a bit of a photography slump lately and haven't posted them. Grandy (Brit's grandmother) sent Corbin a great toy for his birthday! He doesn't really "get" unwrapping yet, but once it was open, he loved it..... and it's still his favorite.



Tuesday, June 28

Silly Boy

My baby is the greatest, funniest, bestest guy in the whole world. I love making him laugh!! I especially love making him laugh, then stopping for a second and waiting for him to grab me and make me do it again.

I love this kid!!!!


Tuesday, June 7

It's my birthday!

I've been reluctant to post about my birthday because I didn't really take many pictures. Oh well, you can have a  summary anyhow.

My birthday included:
+ Work. 3 admits, 1 discharge, 1 transfer.
+ A giant tray of cafeteria junk food, including nachos, frosted brownie, soda, and chocolate-covered gummy bears
+ Telling everyone who said "hi" that it's my birthday!
+ French toast in bed, then lots of sleep
+ Lots of snuggles from my boys
+ Beautiful flowers from my husband
+ Dinner at Texas Roadhouse, including prime rib, cheese fries, and about 5 cherry cokes
+ Costco chocolate cake and Doctor Who!

So you can see, it was a pretty fantastic day. And now I'm 26. I love my birthday.










Monday, June 6

Carseats

This photo was taken with my phone on June 2, 2010, on the way home from the hospital:


This picture was taken with my phone on May 31, 2011, on the way to Corbin's birthday lunch:


My baby has turned into a toddler overnight.... *tear*

Saturday, June 4

BIRTHDAYS!!

Big week. Corbin's birthday was on Tuesday, and my birthday was yesterday. I still want to do a "one year photo shoot" with Corbin, but I need to put some thought into it. I wanted to at least post about the day. It was fun!

We started out with belgian waffles...


Then a bath... still a favorite!


Then to Wheeler Farms after a nap, in his brand new booster seat!


...where he tried some KFC Macaroni & Cheese....





...and saw some animals...




...including this man-eating horse:
(I have a picture of this horse trying to bite us, but I think it looks ridiculous so I'm not sharing. Brit made me keep it. Stupid mean horse.)

After another short nap, we headed up to Smash Burger for a birthday dinner of chicken strips and fries and shake!





...he mostly ate the fries.

But Mom and Dad enjoyed the birthday dinner too!




I promise he did smile at some point during the day. But he was pretty blasé about the whole thing. I guess that's how it goes with one-year-olds and birthdays! I certainly enjoyed myself, and that's really what counts, isn't it?

Friday, June 3

Yes, I am a Birth Mom

Every time I check my reader stats on Google (which is admittedly rare), I see visits from places I never expected, and these inevitably turn out to be through links on adoption/birth mom sites. So, I guess people are coming here expecting to see the blog of a birth mom? If it were me, I would be very disappointed in this mediocre, not-at-all-related-to-adoption blog.

It's true, I'm a birth mom. I had a beautiful little girl, Isabelle, over 5 years ago now. For a long time, I talked about it and thought about it almost constantly. At that point you probably could have visited my blog and realized this is a part of my life. I still love Isabelle, she's still a big part of my heart, but that's just not a big part of my life anymore. I've moved on. It's something that happens in a healthy, well-adjusted adoption relationship. We're all happy. Isabelle is growing and thriving, I'm married (to the birth father, as a matter of fact), and we have a baby who just turned one. I have other things to think about now. Every once in a while, you may see a random post about a random visit with a stunningly beautiful and clever little girl. But that's probably all that will come up about adoption from now on.

So, I'm sorry if you're looking for a "birth mother" blog, this probably isn't it. On the other hand, if you do have questions or want to talk about it, I'd be more than happy!!! I honestly do love talking about it, and feeling like I'm helping people through my experiences. Feel free to email me: jenandbrit {at} gmail {.} com

Thursday, May 12

Old School

I am IN.LOVE. with this picture, taken with my old-fashioned point-and-shoot. (It's so old you can't even see the settings on the dial anymore! Haha.)


It's definitely not as crisp and clear as my DSLR, but with a little photoshop it almost looks intentional. I do love my fancy camera to bits, but taking my little Kodak to the pool forces me to practice actual photography skills, which I definitely lack. Skills like framing and composition, and capturing the right moment. Also it forces me to think more about the lighting, since this camera won't let me manually set the exposure to compensate for bright sun in the background. It's a learning experience!

Friday, April 29

Wednesday, April 27

Cute Things My Kid Does

We went to the pool today with Brit's brother and sister-in-law. I knew Corbin was a fan of the water from his baths, and I was super excited to see how he did in a pool. And I wasn't disappointed! This kid is a FISH!! He went nuts splashing around in the 5-inch deep kiddie pool section, and then decided he wanted to go somewhere else... so he leaned right over and started crawling through the water. He got more than one face-full of pool, but just coughed it out and kept going. His hair was soaked within 5 minutes, just from the splashes. His favorite was when daddy would grab his arms and drag him through the water on his back, in the "deep" (8 inch) end. I cannot wait to bring him to Florida in 2 weeks and spend every day at the beach and in the pool.

Later, on our way home (after grabbing In-N-Out with the in-laws... yesss), we had turned the radio down on Cake's "Short Skirt Long Jacket" so I could make a phone call. After a minute, Corbin started yelling. Brit assumed he was over-tired, I said he was just mad we hadn't turned the song back up yet. Sure enough, after I turned the volume back up, he was fine. What can I say? My kid has good taste. :)

I never did Corbin's 10-month update. I didn't have any new measurements, and I was distracted with our trip to Colorado. By now, I can't remember what happened during March specifically, but I'll try to remember what was new when we were in CO:

~He's crawling everywhere, and pulling himself up on furniture, and walking along said furniture. Nothing can keep this kid contained!!
~He's trying pretty much anything Mom eats. He tried baby food chicken and turkey by the end of the month, and his favorite is Chicken Noodle (stage 2, not the chunky kind.... he gags on chunky baby food, but not on adult food. Weirdo!) He's also started feeding himself cheerios and puffs and goldfish. Finger-foods are now a regular part of his diet.
~He tried the swings while we were in Colorado, and he loved it!

A couple of videos from this month:

March 8: Corbin's early crawling. He could get around, but he's still working on it here. To get him to crawl toward me, I just had to put my laptop on the ground. That got him moving real quick!!


March 25: Corbin's adorable laugh.