Saturday Market

We had a great time this morning at the Green Market at Piedmont Park. I specifically wanted to go because a local grass fed beef/pastured poultry farm, Nature's Harmony was there this week. We've gotten some beef from them a few times, and I've gotten on their wait list to be part of their CSA, so I was excited to see what they had available.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the wide range of offerings. We picked up a stewing chicken (to become coq au vin), a pound of grass fed beef, and a dozen pastured eggs. I was very excited about the chicken and eggs. The chickens are out in the pasture with the cows, eating bugs, grass, and whatever else chickens eat when they follow cows around. I've been exploring pastured eggs for a while now, and finally found some at Whole Foods, but they were $6/dozen! Yikes! I scored these eggs for $4/doz and could not be happier! The stewing chicken was $3/lb, slightly more than the organic one I pick up at Trader Joe's, but I think it's worth it to get a chicken from a sustainable and local farm. Stewing chickens require slow cooking, but the flavor is supposed to be more intense. I'm sure it'll be tasty.

After the farmer's market, we went down to the dog park to watch the dogs. Joseph LOVES dogs. It was nice because the dogs were running around and chasing each other, which we don't usually see on our evening walks. After all the dogs left, we headed up to the playground. Joseph played on the swings and slide, and followed all the bigger kids around. He's almost as obsessed with older kids as he is with dogs!

We really wore him out, because he passed out on the way home (which totally ruined his nap - argh!). It was worth it for such a fun morning, though.

Strawberries!

Joseph and I went strawberry picking yesterday. I've been waiting patiently for several weeks for a nice day that coincided with ripe berries, and finally got it after about a month! We went to Harry Stacy Farms in Dallas, GA. Their berries aren't certified organic, but they don't use pesticide and that was my main concern. Strawberries are at the top of the dirty dozen list of foods you should eat organic. I really try to avoid the dirty dozen in conventional farming, and I refuse to pay over $3/pint for strawberries, so I've been itching to get my hands on a strawberry this year. I don't know why it took so much longer for the organic stuff to come into the grocery stores, but they just now are getting down in price, and the conventional have been rock bottom for several weeks. Such is life.

Anyway, strawberry picking was a lot more work than I thought it'd be, and Joseph wasn't a huge fan as he just had to sit in the stroller most of the time. He did great though considering that I left his food AND toys in the car. Bad Mama.

After we picked our fill of strawberries, we got to see some chickens - and scored a dozen farm-fresh eggs - in addition to our 2 gallons of strawberries!

They are so delicious, they were worth the drive (50 min each way) to Harry Stacy and the work (over an hour of picking). We ate 1/2 gallon yesterday alone! Joseph is apparently a big fan of strawberries. I think he ate a pint yesterday. Today I tried to give him a little at a time, but he probably ate about the same amount again. He knows the good stuff!

Today we cleaned and hulled the other 1.5 gallons, and I made a batch of freezer jam. I still have a pretty good sized bucket, and I want to turn that into a strawberry rhubarb crisp tomorrow.

I had to bribe him with car keys to get him to stay quiet.

Oooh, chickens! Why do they say "cluck cluck" for Old MacDonald,
but "Bawk Bawk" when you see them in real life?

Mmmm, mom, why do we eat anything else? Seriously.

What is the meaning of life? Is the answer in the keys?

Grandma and Auntie's Visit

My mom and sister, Deb, came down last weekend to visit. We had a blast. Grandma did dishes, cooked, played, and did NIGHT DUTY. I slept 8 hours straight, two nights in a row. Seriously rocked my world. Auntie kept Joseph busy playing and reading books. I think she even changed a diaper (maybe)!

Fish? What fish? I'm too busy with my snack.

Look! Mama gets to be in a picture!

Grandma and Joseph

Auntie and Joseph

Grandma gave Joseph his first official ice cream cone. (He liked it)

We went for a walk one night

And saw this super cute puppy

Grandma bought us muffins (I see a trend, here...)

And we went to the park

I think he's planning something.

Best.Video.Ever.

You have to go here - blogger can't seem to handle my flip videos.

Open Letter

Dear Son,

You must not have gotten the memo from the other babies, so let me tell you how this works.

Step 1: Mama takes you out for a super-fun morning at the children's museum with all of your buddies
Step 2: Mama feeds you a delicious lunch - you even got a chick-fil-a nugget!
Step 3: In return, you take a really great nap. Or even a satisfactory one. 30 Minutes is not satisfactory.

If you want to continue to do fun things, you must take naps.

Love,
Your Mama.

PS. For further information on great naps, please speak with your buddy, Megan.

$5 - Help Baby Sam

I've heard about this poor little boy, and now Jill at Baby Rabies has set up a give-away to benefit Sam and his family.

Sam is 4 months old. Sam has cancer. His chance of survival is 30%.

Thanks to our awesome health system, since his mom stopped working to care for him while he undergoes chemo, they are no longer eligible for her insurance. To keep COBRA it's $1500/mo. Dad makes enough to pay for their mortgage and bills. Not food. Not health insurance.

Don't let baby Sam's family fall through the cracks of our crappy system. Click here to donate $5 (or more) to help Sam's family survive this time.

WWF

I'm pretty sure that T.J. is just taking advantage of the time that Joseph is littler than him! It shouldn't be long before he's bigger than Daddy!

"Hey Daddy, wanna wrestle?"

Wait, I didn't say "Go"!

"Ah that tickles!"

"Must.Escape.Can't.Breathe"

"Relief!"

What's Better?

Listening to Joseph babble to himself as he drifts off to sleep at night while rocking in my arms, or

Watching him turn into a little boy, pushing his tow truck from one end of the living room to the other?

I can't decide. Good thing I don't have to!

Playdate Fun

We had a "Memorial Day" playdate on Monday, and all the kids looked great in their red-white-and blues!

This is what he looks like if I don't let him hang on my leg for a while.

Love this one of Vivian - isn't she precious?

Meera and Joseph are teeny-tiny buddies. Oh her outfit!

Caught you, Cole!

Rachel and Lily enjoying the park

Before and After

I finally figured out why Joseph gains weight so slowly...

All of his energy is going towards growing that mop of hair!

Is this haircut #5 or 6? I don't even remember anymore.

What a handsome boy!

First Sentence!

Well, If it qualifies. He said "Hi Dada" this morning when he rolled over and saw T.J.! It was definitely not a fluke. Pretty neat!

He also had what appeared to be his first "tantrum" today. He got really mad and sort of threw himself onto me while screaming when he didn't get his way. I'm sure hitting the floor kicking and screaming is next! Yey for todder-hood!

On. Off. On. Off. On. Off

Joseph learned how to work the light switch today! It was really cute. He fipped it on and off about, oh 50 times before I got bored/tired of holding onto him.

Other fun stuff:

He rarely eats books anymore! It's so nice to let him play with them finally, instead of monitoring him to make sure he doesn't choke on cardboard.

I gave him a big sticker today. Absolutely hilarious. He thought it was pretty amusing when it stuck to everything. I thought he'd freak out after a while of it being stuck to his hands, but he thought it was great!

Sleep is improving! T.J. is my hero - he's been doing the night time job since last FRIDAY. Wow. I've slept 6 hours straight every night since then, and I feel like a new woman. I've made breakfast two days in a row, now (pancakes and bacon, eggs and toast), and I'm trying to get stuff organized around here.

Joseph got another hair cut. He looks very dashing. I will post pictures soon. Now it's time for me to shower and get ready for knit night!

Traveling DomerBaby

Last week we went to Rosemary Beach, FL with our friends Sara and Mike and their daughter, Megan, who is Joseph's age. Sara organizes my super-awesome mom's group, so we spend a lot of time together already. It was great to spend time as a couple; besides getting fun adult time, 4 adults vs. 2 kids makes things easy!

We spent some time at the beach (Joseph didn't think much of the sand, but he liked watching everyone else play), some time in the pool, and lots of time just relaxing. It was a great vacation.

Joseph did well in the car - it's a 7 hour drive from Atlanta, and he was a real champ. We did the first ride at night which worked out since he could sleep most of the way. The ride home was more challenging for him, but we stopped a few times and let him stretch his legs and he did ok then, too.

Some day Joseph will appreciate such nice attention!

Getting the hang of the sun and sand

Trapped! Guess we know where Megan gets her hugging from!

Daddy even enjoyed the beach since he had Joseph to hang out with!

Building castles

Is there anything more fun than a cell phone? Not in Joseph's world.

PS. Check out the map at the bottom of the blog - Joseph's hit 12 states already!

Sometimes it's Good that Daddy Doesn't Check the Blog

Some days I get annoyed that T.J. does not check the blog. Other days, it's probably a good thing.

Today is one of those days.

Meet Josephina:I needed to check the fit, and well, he was the only baby handy.
Sorry Joseph, we promise we won't tell anyone, except our closest 250 blog readers.
And maybe facebook.

Yes, I am saving for your therapy.

FO: diaper cover, gnome, and an ensemble picture

My ensemble for our St. Paddy's day baby, Ella, is finished! Well, possibly. I'm considering ripping back the top to make it longer... it's much larger than I'd anticipated width-wise, so it could use some more length. Grr.

ANYWAY. It's still super cute, so here it is:

Diaper cover:

Ensemble with gnome baby:

Standing!

This morning, after pulling myself out of the fog that only comes from getting a night's sleep in one-hour increments, I was watching Joseph play with a bunch of cd cases (yes, I tend to be more lenient in a sleep-induced haze, at least he didn't pull the tower over). He had one in his hand, then in BOTH hands. He was not hanging on to anything! He was standing. ALL BY HIMSELF! He did it for about 5 seconds before falling back on his bum.

He did it 2 other times today, as well! What an all-star!

Being the super-awesome mom that I am, I managed to catch him doing it at the park this afternoon on my phone:

Look, Mom, no hands!

Sleep, or Lack Thereof

Remember when you were a kid, and getting to go to a sleep over was the BIGGEST DEAL IN THE WORLD? Or when you were in high school and NEEDED to go to the movies, or you would die?

It wasn't the biggest thing in the world. You weren't really going to die. That time passed, and in retrospect it's so trivial.

I'm sure that's how people feel about their child's baby years in retrospect. However, as I am in the throes of sleep issues, I have no perspective. There is no forest. Only trees. Trees that stay awake all night long. Trees that have prevented me sleeping more than 4 hours for 14 MONTHS. Yes, I have not slept more than 4 hours straight for 14 months. I tell you this so you know WHY I'm doing what we're doing.

The things that we were doing (bed sharing, nursing to sleep and on demand all night) are no longer working. Our bed isn't big enough for the three of us anymore. Joseph doesn't fall asleep nursing anymore, and I can't handle nursing all night anymore with a kid who then will not go back to sleep. The post partum depression drugs aren't strong enough for this kind of mental torture!

On Sunday, T.J. and I moved out. Joseph is now the proud owner of a bedroom. All to himself. And I'm determined to get him to sleep there. All night. Well, at least most of it. After reading many books, websites, message boards, and talking to friends, we've decided to go with Dr. Jay Gordon's night weaning plan. He promises me a full night's sleep in two weeks time. I picked this program for several reasons:

1) He advocates this for toddlers, not babies
2) He is a huge proponent of cosleeping, and recommends this only if it's not working for YOU
3) I read his book "Good Nights" and it really helped me be secure with the choices we made when Joseph was a baby. (I need to remember this point).

So wish us luck. I really want to do this, now. I want to stop complaining about Joseph's sleep. And I want to move towards my goal of 8 hours of sleep on my birthday at the end of the month.

First Word!

We've been on vacation, and he learned his first word from his friend! He is now an expert at saying "hi". It's super cute, and he is very proud of himself. We're proud of him, too! I'll try to get it on video asap.