Wednesday, September 26, 2018

This & That

We've had a busy few weeks and somehow I have not many pictures to show for it - that always happens when you're having too much fun, right?  Fall is always busy and this fall seems to be no different.

We've had a lot of rain lately so it's been a lot of indoor playtime.  I'm hoping for some crisp fall days soon for Tatum to finish up with his sandbox and deck playing before we clean it up for the season.


We have a lot of fall/Halloween events coming up and we've already started it off before the official start to fall with a charity event at a local farm with friends.


I had a girls weekend away recently back down to the shore and the weather was perfect - we closed out summer with two sunny days at the pool and beach.


With the upcoming White Out game at Penn State this weekend, a little peek back to last year's White Out... Tatum was five days old and Derek and I skipped the big game and watched with our sweet babe on the couch at home.


Happy Wednesday! xx 

Monday, September 24, 2018

Fall Decor


Happy Fall!  Fall officially hit over the weekend and we've had so much rain and humidity lately, I'm patiently waiting for our first nice crisp fall day! 


I decorated early this year because we have had (and still have) a busy September so I wanted to make sure it was done early instead of too late.


I have most of the rooms on the main level decorated with a few neutral touches and mixed up a little bit of what goes where to make it different than last year - our first year in the new house.


Our kitchen definitely has the most decorations - it's the room we use the most, where we host the most and we rarely actually eat dinner at our table so I love having a nice tablescape setup. 


Everything right now is just neutral/fall but with Tatum a little more active last year (last October he was a tiny newborn) I want to put up some fun Halloween decorations for him on October first at his little play table and by the fireplace.  Until then our only Halloween touches are at the kitchen bar.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Penn State vs. Kent State


We had our first tailgate and game of the season on Saturday and it was great to be back in Happy Valley.  There's nothing quite like Saturday's in the fall - especially for home games.  It was also Tatum's first tailgate/game and he loved it.


It was a noon game which is never a favorite but it was nice to have the rest of the day to relax afterwards.  We had quiches, donuts, a few dips and a bloody mary bar to enjoy for a bit before the game.


Tatum got so much attention at the tailgate and was loving it - he wasn't really into his morning nap though.  After everyone started heading into the game I strolled him around the parking lot then he did a good nap in the trunk while Derek and I cleaned up and watched the start of the game from the parking lot.


He did amazing in the game - loved watching, loved being held by 7 different family members and wouldn't let go of the little lion we gave him to play with.  We had another big win 63-10 to advance to 3-0 for the season.

Monday, September 17, 2018

Tatum Beau: Eleven Months


Height/Weight/Health:
We go back next month at one year for a checkup!

Clothes:

I've officially packed up his 6-9 month outfits (and a couple of the 6-12 onesies from gap and such that run small) and switched his closet over to 9-12 months, 6-12 months and even for some smaller items 12-18 months.  I've been working on getting him a few new things for fall when the weather changes.

He's also made the swap to size 4 diapers after squeezing into a few more size 3 that we had to use them up.

Schedule:

We were very late with getting on a schedule - we had Tatum follow our schedule and just let his fall into place - I'd say this is the most we've ever been to and stuck to the schedule - especially since summer is over we've been working on it more.


7-7:45am: Wakeup (if up early, cuddles with Mom and Dad)
8am: Breakfast (started the month with fruit baby food and puffs now usually fruit baby food and cheerios) then bottle on the couch
8:30am: Play time 
10-10:15am: Morning nap
Noon: Lunch (started the month with yogurt and puffs and now it can range from yogurt, a pouch, leftover noodles, fruit slices, ritz cracker, etc.)
*Afternoon Varies* Depending if we're home, at the office, running errands, etc.
2-3pm: Bottle and down for afternoon nap somewhere between here 
*play time once he wakes up*
6pm: Dinner (started the month with a veggie pouch and puffs now it can range from anything I listed for lunch as well as some of a vegetable pouch.
*playing, etc.*
7:30: Head upstairs for bath time, getting ready for bed, bottle
8pm: Bedtime

Feedings:
He still loves his bottles!  We've definitely noticed a cut back this month though - he always has one after breakfast, before morning nap, before afternoon nap, sometime in the afternoon/evening and then before bed.

Within the past week or so he's really showing interest in wanting more table food - favorites are mac n cheese, ritz crackers, mandarin oranges and cheerios (a recent discovery!)  We still just give him one piece at a time to pickup because if not he'd stuff every piece into his mouth - he did this with puffs too so I know he'll learn soon!

This week I tried to make some meals that we could give him too including a ravioli casserole, little pieces of pasta and some of a potato side dish.

Tried plain pasta, french fries mac n cheese, cheese from the deli counter, homemade mac n cheese.  He's tried all of these in the tiniest, smallest pieces imaginable, ha!

Sleep:

He's been sleeping good this month!  After struggling with naps we pushed his morning nap back to 2 1/2 to 3 hours after waking up and that works much better!  Afternoon nap is only about a half hour or so after he used to do.

He's really hit his stride with sleeping at night and making it about 12 hours (with the occasional quick cry but not as much).  He's usually asleep right around 8 if we're at home - sometimes later if we're out.  He's almost always up between 7:15 and 7:45 each morning.

Activities:
Running around in his walker (and stopping, turning directions, etc. - he's a pro)
Playing hard - in his playpen, in the playroom, etc.
Picking grass when we're at the pool
Riding in the cart at the grocery store (a real favorite!)

Likes:

Ducks! He has a Ducky stuffed animal that's his favorite (I think the long arms/legs on it to hold onto) and he loves playing with his rubber duckies.
Smiles huge for his pacifier.
Flipping the pages of books (won't sit still long enough to be read to yet).
Paw Patrol - he's starting to watch 10-20 minutes of TV per day some days (usually 5-10 minutes before or after each nap).
He loves real TV remotes, cell phones and car keys - his baby toy ones don't seem to do the trick!
Loves to watch the bigger kids play and see what they're doing.

He loves bath time!  We're trying to make this more routine and fun - he's out of his bath seat and I let him splash around at the end now and play before getting out of the tub.


Dislikes:

We struggled with his naps for a little bit right around 10.5 months or so and he really fought them. He realized to try doing his morning nap three hours after he woke up instead of two and then his afternoon nap about three hours after he woke up from morning nap and that worked much better.

He had a little phase of doing his nap half in his crib and then wanted to be held for the rest of it.

Cries if you take away a toy that he's really into playing with.

Milestones:

His first boat ride at the lake.

Went to a practice round at the BMW Championship and met/got autographs from Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler - was even held by Rickie!


Stood for about 8 seconds unassisted for the first time by the pool at around 10 1/2 months old. Within the past week we're noticing more standing just for a few seconds on his own.


He's started waving sometimes - usually a big full arm wave or holds his had up to his mouth but he knows what he's trying to do.


Went to his first football game at Beaver Stadium to see Penn State get a big win.

Adventures:

Spent an overnight at his grandparents with his Daddy while Mommy had a bachelorette party.

Survived his second power outage (about 7 hours) - spent at the neighborhood club house with some friends.

His final stays at the lake for the season.

Spent an overnight with Mommy at Lovie and Poppy's while Daddy was away for a bachelor party.

Other:
His first blowout bad enough to ruin his and mommy's clothes - luckily we were at home and I was in gym clothes!  He also had another accident of being way over full and threw up (all over himself, Lovie and the floor).

Sometime when we're out to dinner if he's good we get him some vanilla ice cream - he usually only wants a few bites but it keeps him occupied and happy.  We've recently started ordering him mac n cheese sometimes too - his favorite!

Mommy started to plan his first birthday party!

Friday, September 14, 2018

Fall Bucket List


Fall is my favorite season - so many activities and so much to look forward to with the holidays right around the corner.  Last fall was a little different with us preparing for Tatum's arrival and then taking care of a newborn (he was two weeks old in the photo above!) so I'm a little extra excited to do all the usual activities this year + some for our almost one year old!

October 1st:
The fall decorations are already out early but on October 1st I want to put out some fun Halloween decorations for Tatum.  I also want to start a little tradition for him and have bucket of Halloween goodies (little things like pajamas, a book, a toy, coloring sheets, some festive plates) out for him to use for the month and begin celebrating.  
*I plan to do this on November 1st for Thanksgiving and then the weekend after Thanksgiving for Christmas *

Pumpkinland:
Pumpkinland is created at a local farm (I've been going since I was Tatum's age!) and is so cute - I can't wait to take him to run around and pick his pumpkins.  We'll also take him on a hayride hopefully when visiting too.

Apple Picking:
We've actually never done this super basic tradition but I'd love to this year.

Football & Tailgates:
This one is a given of course but we so look forward to football season every year.  I cannot wait to take Tatum to his first game at Beaver Stadium, and go to some without him to.  We love having tailgate parties with friends or  family for college football on Saturdays or NFL on Sundays.

Tatum's First Birthday Party:
His first birthday is about a month away and I really can't believe how fast the year went.  We're planning a fun day of celebrations for the big day and then a party with his friends over the weekend too.

Fall Events:
Fall festivals, Halloween parades, trips to the playground, chili bakes, etc.

Pre-Halloween Activities:
Tatum won't nearly "get" Halloween this year but he'll be much more active than last year.  Pumpkin carving and decorating, crafting, baking pumpkin cookies, watching The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and hosting Halloween Eve with family.  On the night before Halloween we started a tradition last year to have a fun meal and have family over to see Tatum in his costume.

Trick-or-Treating:
Not sure yet what he'll be but I'm thinking two outfits - one for Halloween night and one for other activities.  It will be fun walking him to a few houses for candy (that he won't eat). 

Annual Dallas Trip:
Since Derek and I got engaged we've made a trip down to Dallas each fall to see the Cowboys play and explore the area.  We couldn't go last fall because of Tatum's due date but we're really excited to be able to bring him with us this year!

Thanksgiving Events:
We're looking forward to hosting (with help on the food!) Thanksgiving again this year and letting Tatum enjoy the holiday at home.  We'll have a Friendsgiving with friends and also to to my parents the day before for Thanksgiving Eve.  I'm hoping for some baby turkey crafts for Tatum and gathering for the food bank too.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

This & That

Last week in the midst of the golf tournament we celebrated our fourth anniversary!  The night before we went for a casual dinner at the hotel our reception was at -- with Tatum!  We had planned to get Italian takeout (which we did last year when I was 8 months pregnant) but got home too late so maybe a rain check.


Last weekend Penn State played late at 8pm so Tatum saw kickoff and then was off to bed - we advanced to 2-0 with a 51-6 win over Pitt - hoping that the weather isn't too bad this weekend that we can finally take Tatum to his first game!


While Derek was away Tatum and I spent a little bit of time at my parents house and slept over some - it's always so relaxing to go home!


Monday, September 10, 2018

BMW Championship


We spent a few days last week over at the BMW Championship golf tournament that's been going on just down the road for our house.  The final round actually got rained out yesterday so we might try to pop over today for a little bit also.


We took Tatum with us on one of the practice round days and he was able to get a couple of autographs and meet a couple of the guys - Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler - I can't wait to show him these pictures when he's older! 


My mom watched Tatum another day so we could go on our own for our anniversary - both days it was about 90 degrees and insanely hot!  Luckily for the actual tournament we had some tickets to tents with air conditioning so we made do.


Derek always has golf on so it was fun to see the guys up close - Tiger, Rickie and Jordan Spieth were paired tougher so we watched them on a few holes and also Dustin Johnson and a few of the other big names.

It was a fun way to spend a few days!