straw-licious

Takin' me back to my childhood - Will and I joined our neighbors Karen and Even for some strawberry pickin! Eckert's farm just across the river in Illinois has "pick ur own" seasons. Strawberries now, then blackberries, peaches, apples, and even pumpkins! It was a beautiful day to do it, the sun was up but not too hot.

Will didn't mind too much the bending and stooping, but Mama sure did...now I remember why I hated so much as a child picking strawberries at my grandparents farm...not meant for tall people for sure!



All and all, our box weighed in at 5.2 lbs...what's in store for these berries - PIE!!!


They had old farm trucks on display too!


Evan sure enjoyed his strawberry brownie cupcake...lickin' it up!

keep on rollin'

He's on the move!

Low and behold, less than 2 weeks from rolling from tummy to back, Will is rolling from back to tummy now. Go figure - he doesn't hate tummy time so bad since he's getting there himself now!

Here's how it went down: I layed him on his back on his gym mat, went to do some dishes at the sink which overlooks the family room and when I look up, he's on his tummy! It was a surprise really - it seemed like he had no interest in rolling that direction. Oh well, shows ya what I know! So now the baby proofing really begins...Mark and I have a lot to learn.

We've got a busy week here at our house. Mark's birthday is Sunday so Mama and Will have been hard at work getting ready for that. Sewing, shopping, baking, making apple butter (yumm) and packing for a trip to Springfield!

Here's the video...and some pics to follow!

Really he was pretty happy to be on his tummy after his very first roll...he played for a while:

I couldn't resist this shot, while Mama was sewing he played with his giant ring stacker thingamajigger. He got the ring around his arm then just kept on playing!

Go Royals??? So Mama's favorite player left the Red Birds to go play for the Royals - this is a tough one, I still don't think I can really root for the Royals, but Will can still sport Rick's Cardinal jersey with pride!

Rolling Along...

Big news from our house! Will has finally decided he'll just get himself out of tummy time! He's fussed about it for 3 months now and finally he's mastered rolling out of it. He's been doing it with a little help for a few weeks now, but this weekend was the first time on his own! So - you say - what's the big deal? Big deal to Mama and Daddy who've been waiting for a while for this first big milestone. Won't be long 'til he's going from back to front, crawling, then walking. It's all over now! Here's a little clip, enjoy.


Ever had a day like this? Really - Will was having a great time - getting supper all over his face! Sweet potatoes and green peas to be exact. Sunday Will decided to only take half his milk for 3 of his bottles. He'd rather be lovin' on the bottles than drinking his milk!

This past weekend we attended a graduation party for Mark's cousin Alyssa. She graduated with honors from Ozark High School - isn't she beautiful - both inside and out. We are so proud of her!

At the graduation party - another cousin Chaya thought it would be fun to climb into and rock in Will's car seat - too cute!

As always, check out more pictures HERE!

Kara

Mother's Day

Whew - what a weekend! My first official Mother's Day AND Will's baby dedication at church. We had a houseful! My parents, sister, neices and Mark's parents joined us for the occasion. What a beautiful weekend to celebrate motherhood and make a committment to raise Will in a loving Christian home.

We had a wonderful meal Saturday night with all the family, then breakfast for Mother's day, followed by the dedication service and then lunch (thankfully I didn't have to cook that one!).

Grandmother, Mama and Will.


Mother's Day Breakfast - Grandma, Mama and Grandmother. I made this quiche - it was extra yummy if I do say so myself!


Will all decked out in his finest. Grandmother made the smocked bubble outfit. Isn't it ADORABLE! She did an excellent job and Will got MANY complements.


Here's a close up - it's Noah's Ark.


Pastor Charles and his wife Karon dedicating Will.

So what does this dedication mean? Mark and I have made a committment to raise Will up in the way of the Lord, based on Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. It's not a baptism or christening...just a promise as parents to do our best to rear Will in such a way to point him to Christ. We believe to nurture Godly values in our home, so that when Will is ready, he will make his very own personal committment to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.


Here's all the other babies being dedicated in the same service. Will's nursery buddy, Anna, is up there too.


So, I couldn't leave this out. Abbi gave Will a mohawk on Saturday night during bath time.

Sunday, all dressed in our best and well groomed, Abbi was so excited to ride to church with Aunt Kara, Uncle Mark and Will the next morning. Halfway there, we hear from the backseat, "Will, you look so good in a mohawk!" Mark and I about FREAKED! The conversation proceeded as follows.

"DID YOU GIVE HIM A MOHAWK, ABBI?" I inquired politely.

"Uh-huh" Abbi responded.

"Are you kidding me, we are going to church - for his DEDICATION - I brushed his hair just so..."

"I can fix it, I can fix it!"

"This is a special occasion...what were you thinking...he can't go with a mohawk..."

"I'm fixing it, but I don't know what's so special about it."

Uncle Mark: "If you were Will's sister you be getting a spanking right now!"

Yep - that's right folks - he said it. I think it's all talk of course - we'll find out in not too long when Will starts getting into stuff he shouldn't, but Mark is ready to dole the spankings out right now!

I don't think that Abbi was the least bit threatened by the statement and by the time we got to church we were all laughing about it! And now - here I am blogging about it.

Oh - and last but not least - my Mother's day gift:

I actually received it on Easter - cause that's when Will started solid foods. It's an all in one baby food cooker. It cooks the food just perfectly, then you drain off the liquid and it processes it to just the right consistency for baby food. I LOVE IT! Thanks Mark, Grandmother and Aunt Diane!
Happy Mother's Day!

Fussy Five Month Old

So today marks Will's 5th month! Boy has it flown by...then somedays it creeps along...like today. Will woke fussy, napped fussy, bathed fussy, ate fussy. Luckily he had 1 1/2 hour lull in the fuss during lunch with some girlfriends!

Don't get me wrong...I love him to death, but this was new for us both! Will is always a happy dude, so today threw me for a loop. I'm figuring that after 2 months or so of drooling and chewing on everything in reach ALL THE TIME, that he's probably cutting some teeth. But you know, even when he's fussy, that bottom lip cracks me up every time!

No checkup this month, so we don't know his weight, but we know he's packing on the pounds now that he's loving solids. He's already fitting into 12 month jammies (with a couple inches to grow into) and 9 month clothes! He's so close to rolling over, just not yet - maybe in the next couple of weeks. See more pictures here.

So - to end a fussy day, Daddy gave him is night time bottle and he was out...