Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Our 8 month old

Leeland is 8 months old today! I know I say this a lot, but I truly am surprised at how fast he is growing.  Babies grow, learn and develop SO much during the 1st year. I am so happy to have the little fellow in my life and I know that Daniel is too-- and I am even happier to say that I have been an at home Mom for 8 MONTHS!!! God has truly blessed us and I am so thankful for all of the time that I have been able to spend with him.  Without further ado, here is what my 8 month old can do.....

-CRAWL!! He is full on hands and knees crawling, and he is a quick little booger and lets nothing get in his way.

-He is pulling up to a standing position using furniture such as the couch, his crib, and he has even been known to pull up on the dog.

-He is a very active, independent little boy... he can go from crawling to sitting position, standing to sitting position, rolls all over the floor with the dog-- he gets around quite well for himself.
-He can walk when you hold his hands (super cute, sort of like a high knee march... lol)
-He is still sleeping through the night, aside from a few colds/viruses he has had.  He usually goes to bed around 8/8:30 and wakes up around 7/7:30.
-With all the moving around has come several falls and tumbles.... he got his 1st bruise a few weeks ago trying to wiggle around on the changing table :0(

-He is eating 3 solid meals a day, and there isn't a fruit or vegetable out there he hasn't tried.  And he has LOVED them all.  Not picky at all, just like Mommy :D
-He has not tried pureed meats, the thought of grinding up meat into a smooth "liquidy" form grosses Mommy out, so he will try meats at a later time when he has table food.
-He usually has 1 snack a day, he loves "Baby Mum Mum" rice crackers and goes even more crazy for "little puffs"
-He has NO TEETH yet!! All the other babies I know got their first teeth around 6 months, Leeland still has none.  I have read online that the longer it is until they come in, the healthier they are so I am trying not to fret much but most people think it's weird.
-Leeland recently celebrated his 1st major Holiday, Thanksgiving and had a blast with family and friends and he is ready for Christmas!
-Leeland can say "Dadda" and "Momma" and he knows who we both are.


Sunday, December 12, 2010

Meeting Santa

Friday night Daniel and I took Leeland to meet Santa for the first time.  We met my sister and my nephew Tyler there.  Tyler is only 1 month old and was asleep when we got there-- we thought he might wake up once placed and Santa's lap and he didn't.  We took some pictures of Tyler and Santa first and then we put Leeland on Santa's lap to get some photos of the two of them together.  Then we snapped a few pictures as quick as we could of Leeland by himself with Santa.  We had to be fast because Leeland DID NOT like Santa AT ALL!!! He screamed!! And Tyler slept through the whole thing... Here are some pictures....







Wednesday, December 8, 2010

And Leeland wins!!!

For those who hadn't heard, which would be hard to believe considering I posted all over Facebook and all over Twitter about our win.... Leeland won his very 1st contest on November 24, 2010.  The contest was sponsored by "Rockin Green" on Facebook.

If you are a cloth diaperer, you have probably heard of Rockin Green and if you haven't you REALLY need to check them out.  It is the BEST cloth diaper detergent out there.  It is a clean rinsing detergent, that really gets all the ickies out-- and even better, they make scents that are completely clean rinsing and make washing dirty diapers fun!  Click here for more  It can however also be used on other things, like carpets, dishes, set in stains and clothes.

If you use Rockin Green soap or plan to use their soap, you really need to follow them on Twitter and "like" them on Facebook-- they are ALWAYS giving stuff away.  The contest we were in was Thanksgiving related where we were asked to send in pictures of our little turkey's.  The prize was a "jingle bell gift pack" worth $45.  Daniel and I got Leeland's costume together the night before and were anxiously awaiting 10 am that day to post a picture of our little turkey-- we were pretty proud of our creativity but weren't sure what others ideas were.  Turns out, our anxiousness made us only the 2nd picture posted that day...  I found myself on Facebook checking out the competition ALL day (lame I know).  Rockin' Green also decided to give away a bag of detergent every hour that day-- so I was waiting on them to say I won a bag of detergent and when they didn't I began to think "wow, we really must have a shot at the grand prize...."

At the end of the contest, they said it was hard to choose and that they were going to pick top 5.  They started posting off #5, a few minutes later #4, then #3, by the time they got there I began to think we didn't win.  Surely there was NO way that we were #1, I've never won anything.  I was ready to write it off as a loss... then #2, and finally the winner of the grand prize was ME!!!!! I literally squealed and jumped up and down (trying to be a little quiet because Leeland was down for his evening nap).  Daniel was at work so I had no one to celebrate with, I called him at work nearly in tears because I was so shocked that we had won.  He didn't believe me at first and I showed him the announcement online when he got home.  We won the grand prize out of 110 pictures entered!

This is the picture we submitted-- the feathers were made of
the "Rockin Green" bag and silver wrapping paper.

Leeland was napping, this is Hooey the parrot modeling
our "Jingle Bell Gift Pack"

The gift pack included--- tote bag, magnetic laundry scoop, Rockin Green detergent in Might Marshmallow scent, Funk Rock ammonia bouncer, A shake-it-up pail freshener in the holiday "Sugar Ray plum" scent, a small bag of Rockin Green samples (in every scent) and a small bag of random goodies from other companies.  

THANK YOU ROCKIN GREEN!!!!!


Monday, December 6, 2010

A baby MUST have!

For all you mother's of newborns, moms to be, or those dreaming of a family in the future.  There are many items that you NEED when you have a baby, and then there are many items that you are told you need and yet never use.  One item that I would recommend to anyone that you probably haven't even really thought about that is a definite MUST have is a play mat or preferably play gym.

They range in price from $25-60.  You can find them at Wal-Mart, Babies R Us, Target, consignment stores and online.  They have a variety of themes, characters and colors depending on what you are looking for.  Most gyms come with 2-4 hanging toys and have loop holes so that you can add more.  In fact, I ended up with a TON of extra toys to hang from people using them as decorations on a wrapped present (brilliant idea).  I often swap out the toys between the gym and hanging on the car seat to keep Leeland interested.  We got our gym pictured below from Target.com, it is Infantino brand and cost around $50.  A little steep for us but we liked the design and to be honest we were using money from our baby shower to purchase it.

Leeland 2 months old playing
We started placing Leeland under his gym when he was about 3 or 4 weeks old and started staying awake a little longer.  He couldn't quite reach the toys but enjoyed looking at the colors and at himself in the mirror.  We also used the gym to introduce tummy time to him (which he did not like).

Now that Leeland is almost 8 months old he is STILL playing with his gym.  He can crawl now, so he definitely doesn't stay under it, but he will crawl through it like it's a tunnel and often stop to chew on (teething baby) the toys.  Originally I thought that $50 was steep but considering he has played with this toy for 7 months and still continues to play with it, it was well worth the cost.  It made a fabulous distraction when he was little so that I could eat, change over the laundry, or even just use the bathroom and now it has paid for itself simply because he still has interest in it.

A must have for any Mom!

Leeland 7 1/2 months playing with his gym

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Baby's 1st snow

Greensboro received it's 1st snow of the season (and it's actually still only Fall) on December 4, 2010!  I was so excited to see the snow because I look forward to it every year, but I was even more excited that we got so much.  All week our local weather man has said things like "Don't get too excited, it won't be much," "Only light flurries," and "None of it will stick".... AND, he was wrong!  It is currently only about 3:00 PM and the snow is supposed to continue to at least midnight and we have probably 1-2 inches on the ground. It's definitely enough that I can't see the grass and is actually sticking to the sidewalks and parking lot here at our apartment complex.  Here are some pictures of Leeland in his 1st snow-- he didn't really care much for it, just stared at it, ate a little and then after a few minutes began to cry.  Maybe next year he will understand a little more.







Friday, December 3, 2010

Cloth!

Fellow Cloth Diaper Addicts should totally check out this blog.  They have great information and reveiws about products throughout the year and they are currently doing a promo called "The 12 Days of Clothmas" and giving away REALLY cool things.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Sneak Peek for blog readers.

My blog readers can get a sneak peek of our family photo shoot that we had last weekend with my dear friend Alisa.  You guys are seeing the pictures before they go on facebook and before the Christmas card goes out.  I love them and I hope you enjoy them as well! :D








Those are a few of my favorites! There's over 100, but I don't wanna fill up my whole blog with one photo shoot! 

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

In honor of World Aids Day

Today, December 1st was World Aids Day. I day that we reflect on and educate ourselves on this world-wide pandemic called HIV/Aids.  It's crazy to think how far we have come (at one time we thought you could get the disease from simply touching someone) but we still have a long way to go! Here are some great sites that I think you all should check out!







I'm sure that there are many more links that I could post, but this is a start.  If you know of places that I could check out, please let me know! Be blessed!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Baby's 1st Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was SO much more fun this year because of all the new babies! Leeland was of course celebrating his 1st Thanksgiving this year, then my sister's little boy is only about a month old, and my brother-in-law's baby was also celebrating her 1st Thanksgiving at only 9 months old.  We spent the morning watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and then headed over to my parent's house for lunch.  Then after lunch we came home and while Leeland and Daniel took a nap, Lilly and I went for a walk around the apt complex-- had to burn off some calories before the next meal.  Then we went to Daniel's parents house for dinner.  There was lots of eating, relaxing, checking out the sales ads, and playing board games.



Did I forget to mention that I made 2 cakes?  My mom wanted me to bring a side, but I requested bring dessert because that's more my thing.... and then I also took a cake to Daniel's parents house to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Crafts as promised

I promised my readers in an earlier blog that I would show you all the crafty goodness that I have been making... the unfortunate thing is that most of them are Christmas presents so I can't show you until after I have given them away.  Here is a holiday wreath that I made for my Mom and gave to her on Thanksgiving.  (More to come soon as the gifts are given away)

bad picture taken from my phone, and hanging on a random nail at our apt

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Lean not...

     Time and time again I am reminded of God's sovereignty.  I recently met with an old friend at Starbucks for coffee-- she wanted to meet up and talk about life and being a stay at home mom.  She doesn't currently have any kids but was thinking for the future as her and her husband intend to have children.  She had questions about how Daniel and I make it work.  This particular meeting was set up about a week in advance via Facebook messaging.  I was honored to meet with her and talk to her about being a SAHM, advocating for SAHM's and try to give her accurate information.  With this said, I had a week or so to get my thoughts together.  I don't really remember our entire conversation, and we sat and talked for about 3 hours-- the only thing I remember is leaving the Starbucks in complete awe of God's grace, love, and SOVEREIGNTY! 
     Looking back at the conversation as I got in the car to leave the Starbucks, I don't even think I gave her any true information.  The only thing I remember is telling her how God has worked in our family and my life over the past year.  This year has been a whirl wind for me, and I'm pretty sure for Daniel also. (SN: Can you believe we're a week away from Thanksgiving? WOW!)  In May 2009, I graduated for UNCG with a Bachelor's degree in Social Work.  I applied for probably upwards of 50 jobs not sure of where the Lord would take me (at the time I was still working at Starbucks).  I found out in July that I had gotten a social work position at "The American Children's Home" in Lexington.  I was SO stoked to finally use the degree I had studied  hard for, to work full-time, and to have a regular 8-5 schedule.  Probably about a week or so later I found out that I was pregnant with Leeland.  I had taken a home pregnancy test and the results were verified by my physician with a blood test.  I was incredibly excited! I jumped up and down in the kitchen on the phone with one of the nurses at my doctor's office and I'm pretty sure I let out a little squeal too.  It wasn't in our plans that I get pregnant only 8 months into our marriage, but it was God's plan.  
     No, we didn't plan to get pregnant with Leeland, but we weren't worried because I had a new job! It's so comforting to know that God provided me with a job before he provided me with the baby.  (I think He knows that I'm kind of a worry wart.)  My job at the children's home began as part-time so I continued working at Starbucks until the job went full-time in October.  There was a lot of stress that came along with that job, but I can honestly say that I truly LOVED it! I loved the kids that I worked with, the social workers I worked with, I even didn't mind writing the reports and doing the paper work. It was what I went to school for, and what I was meant to do at the time.  
     After working at the children's home for only 8 months, I was laid off.  The reason that I was given was that they were downsizing from 3 social workers to 2 as there weren't as many children.  I don't know if that is the  real reason I was laid off, but I have to trust that it is because that is what they said--and if it's true, then I believe it's a good thing that there are less kids at the group home.  I didn't take the lay off easy.  I was 8 months pregnant, Daniel was trying to finish up school, we would have to provide for a baby soon and I loved my job! I was very stressed, nervous and anxious.  I immediately started applying for ALL kinds of jobs and received no fruits from any of it.  
     Looking back, the lay off has been a total blessing in disguise.  Originally before I found out that I was being laid off, I had only planned to take 8 weeks off work.  I didn't think that we could afford to be without my income for the full 12 weeks.  Since being laid off, I have been at home with my sweet baby boy for 7 months! Being at home with Leeland is something that was taboo to me and something that I never thought was possible.  I don't want to give you a false impression-- it hasn't been an easy 7 months (not that I expected it to be) but it has been a blessing!  We had to make some cut backs, we don't go out to eat as often, or on dates as often (it's hard for Daniel to pry me away from Leeland anyways), we don't go shopping as often (that really only effects me), we are more careful at the grocery store.... 
     On top of the cut backs, Daniel has had to pick up a 2nd job.  He bounces downtown at a bar/club 2 nights a week.  The position opened up about 2 months after Leeland was born.  At first I really didn't like the idea, and still don't care for him to be gone so late at night (10pm-3am), but it has grown on me for one reason.  Well two, 1. we need the extra cash and 2. hearing of the impact he has had in the lives of those that work with him.  Many of the other bouncers (Daniel knew some before hand) were very curious when Daniel started working there.  Daniel is a righteous, Bible believing, conservative christian man.  I think they all wondered why he was there, and also were very curious about what Daniel would do given certain situations.  I'm sure he had quite the audience his 1st night.  Daniel has talked to several of the guys about God, a couple came to church with us (have now found there own church where they feel comfortable). And he even took a few out the the David Crowder Band/Chris August concert.  I don't like that Daniel is away from Leeland and I, I don't like that he has to be out so late at night, but God has shown us that he is exactly where he needs to be at this point in our life.  God is shining a light through Daniel at that night club and it has been fun to watch.  The night's that Daniel works downtown I get on my knees before I go to bed and I pray for his safety, for his spiritual protection (he has witnessed some bad things), and for his witness to others.  You can pray for him too, if you wish.
     All of this said, I want all of you to know that my God truly is an awesome God!  He is the one running the show over hear at the Kroh house, and I can't help but sit back in awe!  I have no idea what the future holds for us-- finances are currently pretty tight, as they are for lots of people.  I have applied for a couple part-time jobs (20 hours a week) and have considered going back to school for either my Master's degree or a 2nd Bachelor's.  We're doing a lot of praying about our future.  Daniel wants to pursue his dream of being a college football coach and I can't wait to see it happen.  Until then, we're trusting in the Lord and following after Him whole hearted. Because the only way that I can describe the whirl wind of this past year is,
 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 
And lean not on your own understanding; 
In all your ways acknowledge Him, 
And He shall direct your paths." --Proverbs 3:5-6

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Crafty Christmas

I have always enjoyed art and creating.  I haven't always been very good at it and still don't consider myself all that great, but I try.  As time has passed, I find myself with more and more time on my hands-- kind of hard to believe since I now have a husband and a kid, but it's true.  Throughout High School I worked various part-time jobs after school and on the weekends.  Throughout college I worked a part-time (almost 40 hours but not quite) job to support myself.  If I had free time during these years it was spent doing homework, cleaning my room, being with my family, my (at the time) boyfriend... now husband.  And then my senior year of college was even MORE crazy! I was working at Starbucks, I had an internship, classes, planned a wedding, got married.  I remember when I finished college just thinking "Now what? All I have to do is work? That's gonna be a breeze!"  And it really was a breeze, I suddenly had all this free time on my hands to read the books that I wanted to read and wasn't assigned to read, to do laundry, to go out with my husband or my friends.... Then I found out I was pregnant and I got laid off.  Yes being an at home mom is A LOT of work-- I would argue that it is a lot harder than most people think it is.  But I feel so free! I feel like being a Mom is what I was made to do.  I am very organized, I multi-task like no other.... and when the baby naps, I can sit down to a good book, pick up my yarn and crochet hook, plug in my hot glue gun-- whatever I want to do!

With all of that said, I have found myself doing all kinds of crafts lately! It has been so much fun! My love language is gift giving as it is, but putting the time and energy into all of these creations has made me so much more anxious and excited for Christmas!  (And there's also the benefit that crafting is less expensive and our income has significantly dropped) I would love to tell you what I have been making and such, but that would be at the risk of revealing too much to my family and friends I have crafted for. I look forward to writing a blog and posting pictures of all that I have made.  Until then, I leave you in anticipation! :D

Crafty folks??

If you like to do all kinds of neat crafts and decorations, you should check out my friend Anna's blog.  I have found great inspiration there this holiday season :D The link is below....

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Rebels do it before....


Those who know me well know that it is a complete understatement to say that I LOVE Christmas!! It's hard to say exactly what I love about Christmas because I love all parts-- celebrating the birth of my Savior, glitter and glam of the decor, giving gifts, receiving gifts, standing under the mistletoe,  eggnog, cuddling to keep warm when it's cold outside, getting lots of mail (IE Christmas cards)..... I could go on forever.  Usually around the beginning of November I start to get overly anxious-- there are shopping deals to be found and the stores are already filled with spirit and decorations.  Many people are anti-Christmas before Thanksgiving, but each year I find that I just can't contain myself.... and it seems each year I put up the decorations earlier and earlier.  This year is especially fun because we have Leeland to share the holidays with.  This is his very first Christmas and I have planned to go all out, and so that he gets the full effect, I have already put all of my decorations up WAY earlier.  They were all up last night as a matter of fact (November 15th). Here's a glimpse of the holidays at our apartment--
Our balcony in lights


This was our wedding cake topper, turned into an ornament--just add ribbon :D


By the way, I should add that Leeland is truly mesmerized by the lights! He LOVES them!



"Man's man" perspective on breast feeding

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Splish Splash!

Tonight I decided to get in my bathing suit and get in the bath and play with Leeland.  We had lots of fun splashing around and I think he enjoyed the company :D





Wednesday, November 3, 2010

My nephew Tyler

My very first nephew was born on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 at 12:43pm.  He weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Tyler and his Daddy

Big sister was SUPER excited! 


Precious little boy! 

I'm a proud auntie!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Leeland's 1st Halloween!

Below are some pictures of Leeland on his very 1st Halloween.  Daniel and I aren't big halloween people so it was enough that I dressed him up.  In fact, last year at this time when I was pregnant I was ranting all about how it was pointless to dress a baby up, they can't eat candy, they can't even walk.... blah, blah, blah.  As you can see, I gave in to peer pressure and put the kid in a costume!  We didn't do much-- he wore his "baby's 1st halloween" onesie to church this morning, we went out to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa and then came home.  Leeland didn't go trick or treating, he really only wore his costume long enough to take pictures.  Feel free to call me lame, but I just wasn't in to it this year and Leeland doesn't know the difference.


And here's the cutest lion I ever did see!!





Monday, October 25, 2010

Take That Apple!

So our old computer crashed... an HP laptop that  I purchased my sophomore year in college.  I have always wanted a MacBook but never had the money to fork out for one.  It's so sad how consumed in technology that I have become that I felt like life was sooo horrible without a computer.  I have become so attached to all of my gadgets that it's kind of ridiculous.  There are countries where people have to walk for miles to access a computer, and I'm sure that are countries out there where people have never actually seen a computer.  Anyways, we finally broke down and got a MacBook--after killing 2 PC's, it was time to try something new.  However when we got it, I immediately went to sync my iphone to the itunes on the Mac and I guess I just assumed that all of my music was going to be saved.... And it was not! I have about 1000 songs on my iphone and none of them would transfer into itunes!! And of course I don't have all the CD's that I have ever uploaded, that would be insane! I was devastated thinking that all of my music could be LOST FOREVER!  So they make music so that it can go from itunes to your ipod/iphone or other gadget but not the other way around.  I understand the reasoning to prohibit copying music, blah blah blah... but it still sucks for people like me who aren't doing anything wrong.

Well, it turns out that there is a solution! It is possible to go from iphone/ipod or other gadget to itunes.  You just have to use 3rd party software!  A friend of mine suggested a program called "Senuti" which is itunes spelled backwards.  You can download it for free and it transferred 1000 songs from my iphone into itunes in just a few minutes! Amazing!!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Leeland is 6 months!

Leeland is officially 1/2 a year now! Not too much longer and it will be time to plan a 1st birthday party!! Can you believe it?
At 6 months old, Leeland can....

-Sit up without support
-Eats solids 3 times a day now.
-Has been introduced to rice crackers and LOVES them! We call them his cookies.  They are banana flavored "Baby Mum-Mum"
-Has been introduced to the sippy cup, we put water in it and gave it to him a few times.  The baby books say to introduce it this early-- he didn't quite get it, and since he's teething, he really just wanted to chew on the handles :0/ We'll try again!
-He hasn't started crawling yet, but it's definitely going to happen soon! He can do baby push ups, and he gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth.  Currently he seems content barrel rolling everywhere. And it's cute, so I'm not complaining!
-He is doing some serious teething right now! His gums seem to be a little swollen so we're expecting his first teeth to come through any day now.
-He weighs 16 pounds and is 27 inches long.
-He is extremely ticklish and loves to laugh.
-He is a social butterfly and will smile, babble and laugh at anybody.  He likes to "talk" to strangers while we are out and about at the grocery store or where ever.
Excessive drool from teething
-He loves singing and music, and dancing and jumping
-In fact, he is all around an extremely active little boy! He doesn't stop moving, even in his sleep!
-He's still sleeping about 10 hours a night
-He had his first cold a couple weeks ago :0( It was very hard to watch him be uncomfortable.  He was quite fussy and rightfully so considering he was so congested and had trouble with his bottles and his binky (who he loves)
-His binky's (pacifiers) are his best friend! And I am already dreading the day that we have to wean him off of them.
-We have been putting all of our change in his piggy bank for the past 5 months and took it in to the bank and opened his very own savings account!
That's about it for now! I say this every time, but time is truly flying by! Life has been SO exciting the past 6 months and every minute with our son has been incredible! He is learning so much, growing quickly and becoming more and more active as the days pass!