Merry Christmas

Tamales! Yum!!!

5 months!

Another month has flown by. A few highlights from the last month:

*Van started eating real food! He had rice cereal and sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving and loved them. We have given him rice cereal, yams, bananas, and oatmeal so far. He will be trying avocado tomorrow. He has devoured everything he has tried so far and gets upset when it is all gone.

*He went to his first movie in the theater. He did so great that we took him to another movie the next week.

*4 month shots :( He did great and didn't have any reactions only a little crying.

*Van is now scooting to try to get his toys. Most of the time he ends up going backwards, but he is getting better and better and moving around every day.

*He can sit up on his own for a little bit at a time.

*Van is talking more and more. For 2 days at the beginning of the month he screamed/ squealed non stop. He screamed/ squealed when he was happy, sad or mad. Luckily that stopped pretty quickly. He also started to put his lips together and say "M-m-m-m-m" and also learned to do a little fake cough.


Pilot wanted to get in on the picture :)

Cutest Kid Ever

Turducken

Warning: Graphic bird butchering images...

For Thanksgiving we decided to make our own Turducken. Turkey- duck- cornish game hen. They are $80 at Vons and we managed to make it for about $30.

A few days before Thanksgiving we de-boned the birds. The hen and the duck were fairly easy, but both of us had to work together and break out the heavy artillery for the turkey. After all the bones were removed (except for the turkey legs which we left on) we seasoned the birds with Tony's Cajun seasoning and wrapped them up until Thanksgiving morning. Total weight after de-boning was 22lbs. of pure meat!

Since the turkey was cut in half in order to de-bone him, we sewed one side up before we sstarted putting everything together. We unwrapped the birds and layered them with cornbread stuffing, onions and bell peppers. After everything was layered, we closed up the turkey, tied everything up good and tight and put him in a bag to bake. He cooked away at 350 degrees for 4 hours (until 185 degrees).

The turducken turned out better than we even imagined. Because there are no bones, you just cut straight through the bird. It is cool seeing all the layers of the birds and the stuffing. And splitting up leftovers is a cinch, we just cut him in half.

It was so much fun and we will definitely do it again!

Anyone want to come over for leftovers?!?

Van's First Food

Van LOVED eating real food. He couldn't get enough and cried when it was all gone. What a fun Thanksgiving treat :)

Winner!

I just won a free Bebe Belay clip that Petite Saver was giving away! I love that I can use it as a paci clip now and later on use it to make an instant bib for Van (or Kenny). No need for disposable bibs :) I am so excited!



My mom told me about Petite Saver. If you haven't checked out her blog, it is pretty cool. She lists sales and coupons for kid & baby items.

Another great blog for giveaways is Penelope's Pitstop (which I designed!) A few months ago I won a changing pad from her. Penny is so sweet and has great giveaways all the time! Her blog is definitely a must read :)

... I probably shouldn't be telling you all this... it just means more competition for me in the giveaways! Ha ha! You will have to share if you win anything cool!!!

4 months!

4 months old already! Every month it comes faster and faster. My newborn is no longer a newborn, and is growing up so fast. This month he learned and did so many new things...

• Van switched to a 4 hour feeding schedule. I love it! We have so much more time to do things and he gets longer naps which he seems to like.
  
  
• He went to Disneyland for the first time.
  
  
• First time at the pumpkin patch and trick-or-treating on Halloween.
  
  
• He started sleeping in his own room. At first he would wake up a few times during the night, but we would just pop in his paci and he would fall right back to sleep. In the mornings he would come into bed with us for an hour or so until it was time to get up. These last few weeks he has started sleeping straight through all night without even a peep. No more getting up for us!
  
  
• Van loves his walker and his exersaucer. He wants to be standing all of the time. Earlier this month he really seemed to only want to stand and hated sitting.. especially hated the Bumbo seat. Now he is sitting a bit more, but really prefers to be standing and moving around. He can stand by himself for a little bit by holding onto the ottoman!
  
  
• He is also trying to sit up by himself. When he is laying on his back he strains to sit up. He wants to so bad, but just can't do it yet.
  
  
• Just this week he started to roll from his back to his side. Once when I wasn't watching he rolled over from his back to his tummy. Since he can roll from tummy to back and back to tummy, we have to watch him more closely or else he might just roll away :)
  
  
• Last Thursday he found his thumb. He has been sucking on his fingers all month, but now is using this thumb if he wakes up during naps or at night to put himself back to sleep. It is so cute to go into his room and see him with his little thumb in his mouth.
  
  
• He also just started to be able to put himself to sleep for naps and bedtime. Most of the time he goes straight down with no crying. If he does cry it is only for about 2 minutes at the most. It is so crazy how this just started to happen. We have been working on this for a while, but it is like one day he just figured out that if he closed his eyes and fell asleep he would feel better.
  
  
• "Sounds" he makes: "Hi" (at least that is what it sounds like), "Doi, Doi, Doi", "G-g-g-g-g" (rolls his g's), "A-goo"
  
  
• He got a bit of a cold a week ago :( A new humidifier and baby vapor rub seemed to do the trick and he is feeling and sounding better now!
  
  
• Van laughs and laughs when we put his toes up to his face. He also thinks it is the funniest thing ever when we take his clothes off to change him. Silly boy!
  

Our typical day:

7:00- Wake up and eat
7:30- Take Pilot for a walk & Play
8:30- Nap
11:00- Wake up, eat, play
12:30- Nap
3:00- Wake up (sometimes wakes up around 2:30), eat, play
5:00- Nap (usually 1 hour, sometimes more)
6:30- Get ready for bed, take Pilot for a walk
7:00- Eat
7:30- Bedtime
9:30- Dreamfeed & sleep until morning
6:30- Usually starts to make noise, but puts himself back to sleep

The day varies depending on what we have to do or how long/ short naps go. Van seems to be really flexible so if he misses a nap or only sleeps for 45 minutes or so for a nap, it is ok.

We love you Van! It is so much fun watching you grow and learn!

Thumb Sucker

Van discovered he has a thumb that works great for putting himself to sleep. He is able to put himself back to sleep when he wakes up from naps and during the night. I know we will have to break him of it one day, but it is so nice having him sleep all night without a peep... and it is so stinking cute too :)

I think I am getting tired

Fast asleep in his stroller

Happy boy after his nap. We found him a hat like Daddy's at Baby Gap. We just tried it on for now.

P.S. Pictures were taken on my cell phone so they are a bit grainy, but you get the idea. Our kiddo is too cute :)

Sleepy Boy

Van doing one of the three things he does best.

Happy Halloween

Pumpkin Patch

We love having Daddy home

Visit from Nana & Papa

Last weekend Jen's parents came down to visit which worked out great because Kenny ended up having to work all weekend. It was so nice having them here so Van & I weren't all by ourselves. We had a great time just hanging out.

New Hair Cut

Today Papa watched Van while Nana & I went to get our hair cut. Mom trimmed hers up for their upcoming European holiday and I cut off all my "baby hair"

I donated 13 inches of hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths who create free wigs for women with cancer just like Mom did 2 months ago.


Before:


After:

Where in the world is Kenny Shepherd?

Easy enough right?

What river is this in the picture?

I took it from 41,000 feet in an HS-125 Hawker Jet.

Van's 1st Visit to Disneyland

Thursday Van & Jen went to Disneyland to celebrate David's birthday. We had a fun time and Van rode on It's a Small World and Winnie the Poo. He really seemed to like Small World and enjoyed looking at everything. Can't wait to go back!

Tie Dye Fun

We went down to Campland on the Bay this afternoon to hang out with Jake & Deb. It was Campland's 40th anniversary so the Director of Fun (remember him Mom & Dad?!?) went all out and had music, jewelry making and tie dying. We had fun listening to the Grateful Dead cover band while making our tie dye shirts. It was our first time doing tie dye and they turned out really great, if i do say so myself. Even Van has a cute little tie died onesie! We'll be sure to take a picture once they all dry ;)

Action Shot

Trying to get a cute pic of van smiling and he spit up :) I think that is his way of saying he is done!

3 months old!

Van is 3 months old today! It is hard to believe that he is no longer a newborn, it seems like it was just the other day we were leaving the hospital with him.

He is growing up so fast and is such a fun little guy. He loves to smile and laugh and is so happy most of the time. He is starting to play in his walker and jumper. Pilot better watch out because he is getting more and more mobile.

Here are his 3 month pictures (13 lbs 6 oz). Daddy was making him laugh :)




2 months (12 lbs 10oz):



1 month (9 lbs 1 oz):

Baby Talk

Go Big Blue!

On Wednesday night we went to see the Dodgers take on the Padres at Petco Park with Danny, Tonita and Isabella. Even though the Dodgers lost, we had a great time riding the trolley, taking the kids to their first baseball game, eating hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and ice cream (we bought all-you-could eat tickets) and just enjoying a great night out!

Thanks Nana for the great Dodger apparel! :)

Hi from Van :)

I love my new teddy bear from Grandma & Grandpa Shepherd!

Twinkle, Twinkle

Visit at Nana & Papa's House

A few weeks ago Kenny had a 6 day trip so Van, Pilot and I made a trip up to Leona Valley to visit my parents and Jamie, David & Jeffrey. Half way there, Kenny found out his trip had been canceled... he ended up picking up more flights which is good because I was not about to turn around a drive home!

We had fun and it was so nice to be able to be up there instead of home alone :)

Papa loved feeding Van!

Van LOVES Auntie Jamie

...and Uncle David too!

The cousins loved hanging out!

Jeffery loved having Van and Pilot there. Every time Van would cry he would run to tell everyone that "Baby Juan" was crying and made sure that we all did something about it :)