11 months stats

My baby is nearly a year old!!!
Far away from the baby book, and almost a week late.

Weight:
was 20 lbs 10 oz on I think Dec. 8 or 9.
Eats:
about the same as last month. Less formula, and still loves his big boy food, esp Cheerios.
Got:
two more teeth. (One is still coming and hasn't broken through.)
Sleeps:
less now. Usually wakes up at about 7:30 and is up two hours in a.m. before taking a nap, and seems to be down to just 2 naps a day, sometimes even less, rebelling against his afternoon nap. (It's hard because he won't sleep and yet acts like a total grump.)
Locomotion:
crawls very well, cruises along furniture and lets himself down to the floor like a pro. Shouldn't be long before he's walking.
Cute stuff:
comes and bangs on the bathroom door when Mama or Daddy is in there, even sticks his little fingers under the door. Loves baths, especially splashing. Wakes up and chatters and squeals in his bed. Loves smiling at people. At church, boogies up the aisle and "hails" anybody who smiles at him. (I.e., smiles at them and lifts his whole arm up and back in an almost regal fashion.) Loves playing peek-a-boo and hide and seek. Basically is just a busy, fairly easy-going, sweet, smiley little baby who scatters sunshine all along his way. :)

Christmas greetings and link to video

I'm about to go email and Facebook this, but in case I don't have someone's contact info or I miss them, I apologize. Also, sorry for the lateness!



I still don't know how to make it playable right on the page, but I did venture out and try YouTube. Family and other interested persons, you can watch Jamie's first Christmas morning here.

Our Christmas Album

The Yarwood clan is postponing most Christmas Day activities until the return of the star of the family next week, so I wanted to give them pics of him to enjoy today!

This is the best we could do with low light, not the greatest camera, and a wiggly baby. :) My fault, I wanted them with the soft glow of the Christmas tree. (If I get time, I'd like to still make an e-card to send to people, and it will have one of these on it, so, sorry to kind of spoil it...)

Santa stopped by and told us the elves were backed up and didn't have time to put all Jamie's toys together, so Jason told him he'd be happy to finish up for him. (Least we could do for free stuff!)

Some carolers came by and treated us to three songs, complete with drums and bells rung enthusiastically by the kids--and this was on the porch, right outside Jamie's room, where we had put him to bed. :) It wasn't a big deal, but he was kind of afraid of his room for a bit after that, so he got to play in Santa's workshop.

Again, obnoxiously bright picture, but without the flash, it just wouldn't work.

Daddy "getting him by the scruff." This is taken from the floor, looking up. (You can see the ceiling fan above him in the background.)

Grandpa Noall and Auntie Janelle

I'm still working on how to get the video on here, because it's big...

We hope you all are having a very merry Christmas!

We Elfed Ourselfs!

I've seen so many of these lately, I had to jump on the bandwagon and share mine. My brother actually made this for us. Watch it here because it seems like I'd have to pay five bucks to download it and put it straight on the page...

Please tell me about your traditions!

Okay, I lied. One more post. I thought of this and got excited.

What Christmas
Traditions do you have that help you remember and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas—Christ Himself, family, love, charity?

Leave a comment or post on your own blog and I'm sure I'll see it. I'm looking forward to seeing what your traditions are!

One more...

...post, and tooth!

Found the third tooth today, right next to the first ones, on the left. I was just so glad to figure out what was wrong with my miserable baby; I was contemplating taking him to the ER!

Anyway, I'm far away from his baby book, so blogging things like this really helps for future record-keeping.

The-Christmas-Spirit

The-Christmas-Spirit

I have to say, this one hit a personal note. I'm sure it's not hard to figure out why. ;)

What-Shall-We-Give?

You know how in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" CB is down about Christmas, unable to figure out how to be happy for it? And then Linus recites Luke, and tells CB that that's what Christmas is all about? It almost seems too obvious, like he really should have figured it out on his own.

Anyone besides me having trouble focusing on that this year?

I think I'm way too distracted by the Snoopys and their lights and display contests, i.e. annoying Christmas carol commercial jingles, endless sales and insinuations that if you don't buy people expensive presents you're a loser, people posting on their blogs how they're beautifully decorating their homes (not that they shouldn't--my pridefulness and envy is the problem on that), etc. Once again, we're celebrating Christmas living in someone else's home. This is two out of three years we've been married that my own decorations and tree stay packed in a box, far, far away. Also, we have very very little money. Very. Plus all sorts of other things I could complain about. So once again, Christmas isn't what I hoped it would be, and I have to sigh, "maybe next year" about most everything I wanted to do.

But then, I say to myself, don't I have exactly what everyone, in their heart of hearts, would hope to have at Christmas? Loved ones around me, shelter over my head, food in my tummy, and a testimony of Christ and gratefulness for His birth?

Suffice it to say, I've been in need of some TRUE Christmas spirit. Not the kind you get from cookies or fudge (though my mom has the BEST recipe on EARTH...), or from trees or poinsettias or even driving around looking at Christmas lights. I hope you guys will take a few minutes and watch these short videos, because they helped me to remember the Reason for the season and I would love to share that with you.

I hope I haven't been, shall we say, too honest in this. I don't like the idea of pretending my life is perfect or that I'm never sad just so my blog will be cuter. I also don't like my own complainey attitude and have been trying very hard to be of good cheer, but ya gotta vent sometimes. Life can be really hard and downright sucky sometimes, so why pretend otherwise? Right?

What-Shall-We-Give?

(Does anyone know how to put the video right on the page, not a link?)
(I also don't know how to put a second one in, so I'm putting it in a separate post.)

You gotta see this.

I was blog-surfing today, because, let's face it, there are endless amounts of craft ideas and tutorials to be found when you do, and I found a little project here for the wee ones that blew me away. Take a look. Creative idea, but the details are what I loved.

By the way, I actually WON Erin's giveaway! I never win anything! Woo-hoo!!! :)

Munchkin is waking up. Ciao.

giveaway

My friend Erin does so much cool stuff, I seriously think maybe she's a vampire of the Edward persuasion (as in, doesn't need to sleep. And just so we're clear, that's a high compliment, not an insult...). She apparently gives piano lessons, does wonderful photography, and makes really cute stuff, such as key fobs, nursing covers, and hair accessories.

Check out her giveaway on her blog.

But don't enter, because that would lessen my chances!!! ;)

WHY does it do this?!?

We got bundled up and went on a short walk/ride this afternoon.

Geddaloadathose baby blues!

Craft Bragging: Mr. & Mrs Potato Head

You may have noticed that I follow makeitandloveit.blogspot.com. The girl is practically one of my heroes. I can't believe how many ideas for crafts and sewing projects she comes up with, and how naturally talented she is. Anyway, I saw her post for this and decided that it was one I had to do, too. (Often I just enjoy looking. Got no $$$, and she frequently makes stuff for her little girl.)

These pictures posted in the wrong order. Grrr.

Anyway, the un-exciting pocket on the back for holding all the parts. The girl with the website, Ashley, recommended making it pleated, and I would recommend doing a pleat at the bottom, as well. It's just a lot of stuff to hold. (Mrs. Potato Head's hat doesn't fit at all. I over-stuffed.)

The Missus, where any girl would want to be--by the flowers.

Talk about cheesy. :)

I did like Ashley and just made one potato, with parts to interchange. (They go on with velcro. For guidelines on how to make your own, go to Ashley's post link above.) I have thoughts on more pieces that would be fun, but it took longer than I thought it would (three days in my free time) and I just wanted to be done. I'm thinking I'll give it to Jamie for Easter; he'll probably be old enough to appreciate it by then.

Oh, and the point of the thing is that it's quiet. Since I've been looking for cheap quiet toys for church, I jumped on this one. Using my mom's AWESOME bag of felt scraps that she's collected and kept for probably decades for projects just such as this, plus my purchase of potato and pocket felt for 29 cents a sheet, plus the velcro, plus Mom's batting she didn't mind me using, this probably cost me all of $4. Compared to the Book of Mormon quiet book I wanted for THIRTY DOLLARS, that's pretty cool.

You like?? I can't even give it to my kid yet because he'll just chew on it, so please, leave comments and give me praise! :D

More free stuff

Have you ever looked at Vistaprint.com?

They're a pretty cool printing website, for stationery, business cards, address labels, etc. You can add photos to lots of things. They sent me an ad for a bunch of free offers, and again, I have not been timely in telling you guys about it, but...

I just got two sets of ten really cute thank you/note cards for only $6.40--the S&H. I couldn't resist. (I've always love office supply kinda stuff--it's the writer in me.) They are personalized, on card stock, and come with white envelopes. (You can get matching ones for like $4, which I would have done if 6 measly dollars didn't already hurt.) One set even has caricatures of our family that I designed on their site, including the cats. :)

Even though it says they expire 12/5 and it's after midnight, I checked back and they still have a lot listed as free. It seems to be a limit of two items. There are photo flip books, tote bags, calendars, Christmas cards--they have pretty cool stuff, and a lot of it, as long as you keep it basic, is FREE for a limited time.

Check it out here.

It worked?!

It's not the greatest, but it's been a long time since I've put one up at all. Besides, Jason is far away from his boy and needs to see him!

This is one of Jamie's new favorite things. Since this was taken, he's gotten to like doing it way more, way longer, and way louder. :)

Have I mentioned...

...that I LOVE Christmas?
...Especially Christmas LIGHTS??