Crawl-ish

So, there's been a lot of pressure on Wade to crawl before this Thursday.  He & I are heading to Florida to see Grammy for 10 days. We knew the crawl would be happening sometime in the coming weeks.  But, of course, we didn't want daddy to miss this milestone! We've had 2 sightings in the last 24 hours.

Andrew got to experience the first real crawl.  Even though I was not there, I will not dispute it.  They were sitting on the couch (watching football I believe) and Wade crawled over Andrew to get to the remote control.  Why am I not surprised? He is his father's son. 

Tonight he took 4 legitimate crawl steps in front of both of us.  I didn't catch it on video but I did catch 2 or 3 steps.  He is still reverting to army crawl most of the time.  I think you can also catch him working on his biceps with some push ups in this video.

Take a Hike

Saturday Renee, Wade and I went for a very long hike.  Very long. 

About an hour and a half in we checked out our trail info and noticed that it was an 8 mile hike.  One way.  Then we had to hike back.  I really have no frame of reference for what hiking 16 miles is like.  Part of me is sure that it wasn't really 16, but certainly it was more than 8.  Either way, it was far.  But it was totally worth it.

Once we arrived at Edward's Point we enjoyed a picnic lunch. Wade ate dirt for the first time.  Delicious.

The trail we followed was used by many dirt bikers and four-wheelers.  A couple bikers arrived at the point shortly after us - Wade loved checking out their bike.

 

By the end our feet and backs were screaming at us but we felt great for accomplishing such a feat and getting to see some of God's marvelous handy-work.  We will definitely be hiking on Signal Mountain again in the near future, especially since it's only 15 minutes from our house!

Creative Discovery Museum

Tonight the museum was free. So we went.  Turns out there is a great little area for babies.  And it was free. 

The Old Man is Snoring

It is raining here.  But we are dry inside...unlike some other rainy days of late.  Wade decided to wake up early this morning at 7am.  Fun. Thankfully he was content to play in his crib for a while.  So I could sleep.  Oh wait, no I couldn't.  Sammy was more anxious than usual to go outside.  Actually in the mornings he's not really interested in going outside.  He's interested in his food. But he knows he's supposed to go "hurry up" (pee) outside before he can have his food.  Lately he has been going around the corner-not even leaving the deck-waiting a few seconds then running back to the door like he was a good boy. Ha.  This morning I let him out and stood at the door to redirect him into the yard, thinking he would be especially hesitant this morning because of the rain (which he HATES).  Nope.  He sauntered out to the grass and started eating it, like a cow.  Dogs eat grass when they need to vomit.  Great.  Well, he ain't coming back in this house.  He stayed out there about 15 minutes, eating grass in the pouring down rain.  Finally it happened. It was gross but it was outside so I don't really care.  But he kept eating grass.  Andrew had to go out there and get him.  So we get him all dried off and into the house.  I am keeping a real close eye on him cause I have had to clean up dog puke twice this week already and I'm not planning on doing it again.  I'm not sure what's making him puke.  I spied him last night ferociously eating something in the neighbors yard.  When I went to get him I didn't see anything over there.  Back inside he's acting pretty normal, scarfing his food down as usual.  After a while I got concerned that he hadn't actually peed while he was out there.  So I let him out.  Andrew warned me not to saying now that he realized he wouldn't melt in the rain he would go find his little treasure to eat.  I should have listened.  He tore off to his special spot on the far side of the neighbor's yard.  Picture me marching across the neighbors yard in the rain (this is a big yard-probably like 40yds. from our driveway to theirs) with my sweet green raincoat, pj pants rolled up, no shoes, yelling "Sammy, come!".  Proud moment for Andrew right there.  Have I mentioned before that our neighbor's name is Sammy - not our neighbor's dog, our neighbor himself.  So it's always a bit awkward yelling for Sammy to come.  Finally I convince him to go back to our house.  I still don't know if he peed.  A while ago he was acting all fidgety  but I told him he couldn't fool me and took him out on the leash.  He didn't pee. 

Wow, all of that before 8am.  Well, at least it got my butt into gear.  I've been quite productive since then if I don't say so myself.  Laundry, vacuumed, emptied dishwasher, made baby food, played with Wade, cleaned out Wade's closet.  And it's only 12:31pm!

The little man got his flu shot last night.  That makes it sound like I took him up to the Seven Eleven on a cigarette run and had them shoot him up there.  Just kidding. I don't smoke.  (Nor would I ever consider it) At the doctor's office, silly.  He did great.  Cried a tiny bit after he realized that lady with the big hair had stuck him with something pointy. 

Ok, I'm going to carry on with my productive self here.  We have a guest coming this weekend.  Renee Runyan is coming all the way from Houston and we could not be more excited!  She's coming for the fall leaves, mountains and Wade. Just joshing ya! I think she wants to see our new house too.  Andrew went camping last weekend at Fall Creek Falls so the basement looks like a tornado went through it from his last minute packing.

Surveillance Video Footage

Wade is getting pretty good with finger foods. His favorites are peas, carrots and cheese. Turns out Sammy also likes peas, carrots and cheese. Know how I know that? Mm, hmm, check out the above video of Andrew's son.

Did you see that? Yes, clearly Wade drops food out of his hand onto the floor for Sammy. And Sammy ain't no fool. He gobbles it up almost before I can notice. So, there you have it. Wade is getting smart in his old age.

Wade's 7 Monthabirthday (oops! I mean 8 months!)

Well, here is the up to date monthabirthday slide show, sort of. Just last night I was telling Andrew that I feel like I've been having a multitude of brain farts recently. He concurred (sweetly, of course) that it didn't seem like I'd been bringing my "A game" lately. And I've done it again. Did you notice the sign in this month's photo? Yah, I typed that, printed it, hung it and took approximately 30 photos of Wade in front of it. Then I sorted through all 30 of them to find the cutest one and uploaded it to Photobucket. Guess when I noticed that I had put "seven" instead of "eight"...when I viewed the new slideshow on Photobucket. R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S.

Oops!

Blooper announcement: on the previous post I said to test your homemade Taggy making skills by giving it to your kid and if he puts it in YOUR mouth you've done good.  While I suppose that would show some measure of success, the real evidence is when he puts it in HIS mouth.

 

Also, the printer is working again so prepare yourselves for 8 monthabirthday pics (hopefully tomorrow).

A Little Project

Have you heard of Taggies? I saw one for my first time at a shower last weekend.  They are so cute.  And practical!

And expensive...

regular price $24.95 (Gasp!)

 

Wade loves to put everything in his mouth. But he especially likes ribbons, strings and high chair straps.  As soon as I saw it I thought to myself 'Self, you can make that!'.  A stroll through the fabric section of Wal-mart reminded me that after I purchased the fleece fabric and ribbon I would definitely spend more than even the super clearance Taggy I saw online for $9.  Bummer. 

This morning as I lay on the floor playing with Wade he grabbed for the string on my hoodie.  Immediately it went in his mouth.  I thought to myself 'Self, if you were to make a Taggy, you would have to consider putting such a string on it.'  I started thinking of the other things I would have to put on it.  Ribbons, of course; a piece of strappy stuff like his high chair straps; maybe some buttons on a string...wait a second, I have all those things!!! The fabric, what could I use for the fabric? I took my hoodie off (so Wade could continue chewing on the string) and headed to his closet.  And there I came upon it.  The stack of extra baby blankets.  If you're a new mom, you know you have at least 3 in your closet.  What? You say, you were saving those to regift? Do the person a favor...use it to make her a Taggy (and of course one for yourself).  Join me on my Taggy making adventure...

 

Note: I am NOT a seamstress. And you don't have to be one either.  If you've ever made a pillow, no, if you've ever held a pillow, you can do this.  It's basically the same, except you gotta add the taggies. 

 

Step 1

1. Locate and dust off your sewing machine. If you don't have one, you can do this by hand...just find some needle and thread. 

2. Decide on your fabric.  I'm using a medium weight blanket for one side.  I wanted the other side to be silky so I'm using an old pair of athletic shorts (they originally belonged to Andrew-I wore them and got paint on them (oops!) so they became mine, then I wore them through pregnancy...remember I gained 60lbs. so you can imagine that they're a little stretched out now!).  Other items I considered were: fleece blanket, t-shirt and dri-fit shirt, towel. Be creative.

3. Gather your tags.  I had a lot of ribbon from scrapbooking so that was an easy start.  I found a piece of string like the one from my hoodie. Mom helped me decide against the buttons-too risky if he could pull them off. I cut a piece of strap off of a hiking pack that my brother made useless by cutting off the waistband but I love it to much to part with it. I also had a few of those rattles that velcro to a baby's wrist or ankle-Wade never liked it being velcroed on.  Again, be creative.  Even if you're not crafty, I guarantee you can find items around your house.  Or beg, borrow or steal some from friends. 

4. Cut your fabrics to size. Actually, cut the fabric to about 1-2in. bigger than you want the finished product to be.  My finished product is going to be approximately 9 x 9in.  But make yours whatever size you want. 

5. Cut your tags to size.  You want them varying sizes.  Now, they are going to be looped so you actually want to cut them twice as long as you want them.  Then leave about 1/2 in. extra.

6. Lay them all out. I have 8 tags per side. 

***Pause:  I did all of the above and then blogged about it.  This is what happened next.

7. Lay your material down right sides facing each other. Pin the fabrics together in the middle.  Pin (or use sewing tape) your tags to the edges facing inward like so...

8. Carefully sew around the edges of your fabric but leave a 2-3in. gap to turn it right side out.  Use a straight stitch, thread color doesn't matter (read: use whatever is already on your bobbin).

***There is a far easier way to do this.  Of course I didn't realize it until I was done. It would require a little extra stitching but would be worth it to me as I am not that great at keeping everything aligned as I guide it through my machine.  Easier way...

• Go back to step #7.  Do NOT lay both pieces of material down- just one, face up.  Continue on with the directions, taping/pinning the tags on.  Then sew around the edges.  You are just sewing on the tags.  Then you would lay down the other piece of fabric, face down (like above).  Then stitch that fabric onto the tagged fabric leaving a 2-3in. gap to turn right side out.  You'll want to stitch right on your previous stitch or on the INSIDE of it. 

This is where I got into trouble because I didn't do so hot keeping it all lined up.  My fabric ended up bunching up and I had to cut it about 3 inches so it turned out more rectangular.  I tried a few other stupid things that almost ruined the whole thing before I cut off the 3 inches.  I would tell you more about it but it's not funny yet-I'm still a little aggravated with myself. 

9. After sewing around the edges, trim outside the stitch to about 1/3 in.  Turn rightside out. Now sew up the remaining few inches as you would a pillow. 

Ta-Da, you have a Taggy!

Give it to your kid and see what they do.

If he puts it in your mouth then you've done good. 

Monkey How-us

Yesterday Wade made his second trip to the zoo.  The first time he didn't really get to see too many animals- he was inside my tummy.  The Chattanooga Zoo is exciting for kids probably up to about age 7 so it's not quite like the San Diego Zoo or anything.  But it's still cool. 

 

Our zoo buddies are Aunt Cheri and cousins Ian & Sydney.

Ian, who turns 3 next weekend, started preschool this fall.  Apparently his teacher is real country because he is putting extra syllables in words recently.  Particularly words with ou.  It was so hilarious we kept making him say house, mouse, couch and any other word that came to mind with the ou sound. 

 

Sydney and Wade are only 8 months apart and they are best buds. 

 

Wade loved this turtle. He kept trying to touch the glass.

Standing in a boat.

Watching for a lion or some kind of large cat-like animal.

I forget what these guys are called but I think they are so cute.

Serious face.

Half a second after I snapped the photo this goat licked Syd.

Pretty girls.

 

Riding on the carousel.

Only pic that all 3 are looking at the camera!

After the zoo we went back to our house for lunch.  All 3 kids actually took a nap at the same time (first time in history) so Cheri and I got to scrapbook together for a while.

I know yesterday was Wade's 8 monthabirthday but we are having printer issues.  So as soon as I can get the "Eight Months" sign printed I will take photos and post.  

Look Who's Talking

Wasn't that the name of those movies where the babies' talked.  Yah, well, I had a dream this morning that Wade was speaking in complete sentences.  He was using big words too. It was weird. 

Anyway, can't talk long-gotta go bundle up for stroller blading.  I guess I haven't talked to you about that yet. Maybe we'll get a picture today.  It's about 50 degrees outside right now and my calves are still burning from the Cardio Sculpt class I did at the Y the other night.  Should be an interesting morning!

P.S. Tomorrow we're going to the zoo so be looking for pictures soon! Plus we've got a monthabirthday coming up tomorrow too (8 months!). 

A Date with Mommy

So, yesterday Wade and I headed out to a little children's consignment sale.  I don't know if these things have always been around and I'm just now getting in on it since I have a kid or if their popularity has really exploded lately.  Either way, I'm pretty much loving them.  Especially for pajamas.  Do you know how expensive those footed zip-up pj's can be? It's ridiculous.  I do not even spend that much on my own jammies.  Anyway, we found 4 fleece sleepers for a total of $6!  And 2 super cute hats. 

Then we headed to the best playground in Chattanooga.  It's about 1/2 mile from our old house but about 15-20min. from our new house.         

 

Mr. GQ himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like my hat? Mom just bought it for me.

Am I going to crawl? You'll never know!

 

Intently watching the 100 other kids at the park.

 

You wish you could still fit in this swing.

I own this park.

No funny business mister.

I'm sorry...

Dear Friend,

Please forgive me for leaving you for so long. I have a condition I'd like to refer to as bloggerwhelmed. What happens is I'm blogging along just fine. Then a series of events happens. I plan to write about one but before I can the next is happening, and then the next. Then there are like 8 things to write about but I don't know where to start and am bloggerwhelmed by the idea of sitting down and sharing about each event. The creative juices that would take. (I see this same phenomenon in other areas of my life too. i.e. laundry, scrapbooking, cleaning-anybody with me?). It just requires jumping back in. So, I'll start with 2 weekends ago and share (don't worry, it'll be mostly pictures) what's been happenin' round here.

September 12-13

Andrew had his thing. I won't explain it all but go check it out (by clicking on "thing"). He's really been enjoying it. So he was gone Friday evening and most of Saturday. Wade & I hung out and I scrapbooked while he slept.

September 14

Andrew was again gone all day helping to set up for the Shane & Shane concert. Since pretty much every soul we know was either at the concert or had work/school the next day we took Wade with us. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures, even though we easily could have gotten a pic of Wade with The Shanes. So sad. Anyway, it was Wade's first concert and he loved it. I think he has a crush on Bethany Dillon who opened the show. He could not keep his eyes off her. Then he played in the lobby with Olive-Shane Everett's daughter (again, no pics). He fell asleep in the Ergo carrier during Shane & Shane's first song! Their sweet harmonies kept him snoozing the entire time.

September 15

Within 24 hours Wade got to experience his first concert and his first funeral. Hambone, my brother-in-law's granddad passed away. He was very old and suffering from dementia. The memorial was more of a celebration that he is in a better place now. At the funeral we got to see Uncle Aaron who lives in Eugene, Oregon (they are preparing to plant a church in Vancuver). He's not actually Wade's uncle but he is the brother of his actual Uncle Ben...you follow? Aaron and Andrew were roommates in college and we consider Aaron and his sweet wife Amy family.

Also, Andrew's mom made a quick trip down for the funeral - which was actually in Nashville. So Chattanooga makes a good stopover.

When we got home we went to Aretha Frankenstein's. This is one of the best eateries in Chattanooga. I first experienced it's deliciousness last fall when I was about 7 months prego. So I always associate their amazing pancakes with cooler weather. Hence, last Monday I declared that fall had fallen.

(Cheryl Smith-Anna's mom, holding Wade at Aretha's)


September 20

The long anticipated 1st Annual Wade Scharff Memorial Golf Tournament arrives! Andrew, his brother David and brother-in-law Ben began planning this shindig about 8 months ago. How awesome to see all their hard work come to fruition! Wade was what you might call a scrappy golfer. He golfed many a game in jeans and dress shoes. For him the round would be considered a success if he came home with more golf balls than he went out with. After everyone had taken their shots you would often find Wade hunting through the woods for balls. Appropriately, most of the players of this year's tournament played in tennis shoes and borrowed clubs. But it was a sweet thing to see all these people come together to celebrate Wade's life. All of the proceeds went to the Southeastern Children's Home which was a ministry close to Wade's heart.

Click here to see the rest of the pictures.



You also missed Wade's teeth. Remember I showed you the pic before of them just cutting his gums. Well, slowly but surely they are growing into legitimate teeth. And there will be a picture soon. I tried to take one this morning but he was being shy.

While we don't have any crawling action yet, Wade has found he thoroughly enjoys standing. He cannot pull himself up and you can't go more than a foot away but nonetheless he finds it quite entertaining.


Aside from all that, it's been pretty low key around here. Well, aside from having 30 people in our house Wednesday night! Our small group had a Talent Show here...Wade even got involved!


And we had a break dancer in the house. Nice.


And now I must bake a cake for my sweet sister-in-law who turns 30 today (ok, I'm posting late-yesterday). Oh, and also......Happy Birthday Emris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I leave you with this...


Dwight Schrute:
Welcome to the Hotel Hell. Check-in time is now, check-out time is never.

Jim Halpert:
Does my room have cable?

Dwight Schrute:
No. And the sheets are made of fire.

Jim Halpert:
Can I change rooms?

Dwight Schrute:
Sorry we're all booked up. Hell convention in town.

Jim Halpert:
Can I have a late check-out?

Dwight Schrute:
I'll have to talk to the manager.

Jim Halpert:
You're not the manager, even in your own fantasy?

Dwight Schrute:
I'm the owner.. the co-owner. With Satan!

Jim Halpert:
Okay, just so I understand it. In your wildest fantasy, you are in hell and you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

Dwight Schrute:
But I haven't told you my salary yet.

Jim Halpert:
Go.

Dwight Schrute:
Eighty thousand dollars.


Gets me every time.

*Sigh*