Weekend with Jenn and Scott

     Last weekend, we were blessed to have Alan's sister, Jennifer, and her husband, Scott, come visit us! 

     Scott works in construction and has a special talent for carpentry. When he heard that Alan was having some difficulty completing the upstairs addition to our house, Scott graciously offered to come up and help. We were absolutely floored (no pun intended) and so grateful for his offer. Jennifer had already planned on coming up at some point, because she wanted to see Silas again, so this past weekend seemed to work out well for all of us.

     Jenn and Scott arrived Thursday afternoon and stayed through Sunday morning. The weekend was jammed packed--the boys spent Friday working upstairs ALL DAY, while Jennifer got to spend the entire day with Silas while I was at work. It was homecoming week for the high school I work at, so I really couldn't take any time off. Jennifer had a blast with Silas, though! That evening, Jennifer, Silas, and I all went to the Bunn High School homecoming parade while the boys finished up some evening work. 

     Saturday, Alan and Scott still had some work to do upstairs, so they spent the morning doing that. After lunch, we all headed into Wake Forest and spent a little time perusing the shops downtown. After that, we went driving around Raleigh and made our way into downtown Raleigh--and discovered a neat little section that Alan and I had not really frequented before. It was great!

     Finally, we headed back to Wake Forest and sat down for dinner at the Carolina Ale House--just in time for the Tennessee vs. Alabama football game. We had a blast! What could be better than watching the first half of the football game on a big screen, eating wings? At half time, we paid the bill and hurried home to see the rest of the game. 

     Overall, the weekend was truly wonderful. It was so special to spend time with family and to have a little bit of help with the work on the house. There's still a little bit to be done upstairs, but nothing extreme. We are almost done! At any rate, we had a fantastic weekend, and again, are just so grateful for Jennifer and Scott!

Fall in the NC mountains

Since we've moved to North Carolina, we have taken at least one trip to the mountains each fall. The colors are absolutely beautiful in the Blue Ridge Mountains this time of year, especially in Blowing Rock and Boone, so this is where we always venture.

The first year we went, it was just me and Alan. The next year we went alone, but left with two adorable 6-week old kittens--Rocky and Boone. Two years ago, we went twice in the fall--and added two puppies to the trip (and Cliff and Samantha to one). Last year, went made it an overnight trip with the pups. Last weekend, we left the pups at home, but got to take Silas!

We had an absolute blast...the weather was perfect and the colors were beautiful. The weather was almost too perfect--the sun was so bright it cast a slight haze on some of my pictures. 

We took Silas to the top of Grandfather Mountain, but unfortunately, he didn't enjoy it as much as we did. Between the pressure on his ears and the high winds, he wasn't a fan. But, he was SUCH a trooper! He only fussed a little, and wasn't a true fussiness--it was more like a confusion with all that was going on. He did look adorable bundled up in his little outfit, though. Nonetheless, I stayed inside with him for a little while while Alan ventured onto the mountain.

We have so many beautiful pictures from the trip. Below are just a few of the many pictures. If you'd like to see them all, click here: Our picture site

Potential Christmas Present?

While we were out running errands on Saturday, we spotted this rocking horse. We thought it would be cute to see what Silas looked like on it: 

He fits so well! If only he could hold himself up...

We aren't really into the idea of a ton of gifts at Christmas--it takes away from the true meaning. Plus, he won't even be 9-months-old; he won't remember a thing! But, we wouldn't mind getting him one or two things. 

What do you think? Should we get it for him for Christmas?

New Stroller

This past Saturday, Kaitlin of 2point5d.com took Silas' 6-month pictures. We started early (well, early for him) at 8:30am. The day before, Silas refused to take a nap at all. I mean, not a wink of sleep. We went to eat Friday night and figured he would sleep in the car and/or while we ate. Nope. So, on top of an early start Saturday morning, he didn't go to bed until 11pm the night before. WOW. 

Surprisingly, though, Silas did really well Saturday morning. We had hoped he would bring his bubbling personality out, but he has some stranger anxiety (sorry, Kaitlin!) and is intrigued by cameras so he was in his "quiet observer" mode, as we like to call it. But, he was a trooper and endured about an hour of pictures, including an outfit change. Then, he put up with a couple of hours of running errands with us!

While we were out running errands, though, Little Bit started getting heavier and heavier to carry around. He's almost too big for his infant carrier (and that just adds even more unnecessary weight to lug around). We didn't have the Ergo with us and also didn't have our travel system stroller. We were shopping at BJs, and as we were going down the baby aisle we spotted this stroller. It was on sale, had a higher weight capacity, and was a lightweight stroller. Sold! 

This stroller is amazing. I have been searching for lightweight strollers online and had the hardest time finding one, but this one is perfect! Alan put it together at our next stop that day. Silas LOVED it! He loved being able to see everything and kick his feet while we pushed him around. It made the afternoon so much better and more relaxed. 

Here is a picture of him while we were in downtown Wake Forest: 

He's so cute!

As soon as we get his 6-month photos, we will be sure to post these for everyone!

6-months old

Silas turned 6-months-old this past Saturday! What an wonderful blur these last 6 months have been!

He had his 6-month check-up yesterday morning. He did have some vaccinations, but Alan said Silas was a trooper and cried for only a few minutes when the shots were first administered. And, he came away with a couple of cute Band-Aids.

Silas is 27.75 inches long and weighs 18lbs 3oz. This puts him in the 90th percentile for height and the 65th for weight. He has a head circumference of 44.5 cm, which puts him in the 70th percentile. We were incredibly shocked over his weight. We truly thought he weighed much more than that. In fact, his weight gain has dropped quite a bit. The doctor isn't worried about this, though. She said that right now, he's fine, but if he continues to drop in percentage with weight gain, then we'll look at what to do next. He is longer, though, so he could just be having a height growth spurt. We aren't sure where he is getting his height from, though!

Before the appointment, Silas' reflux had been so much better. We were feeding him a large amount of oatmeal for breakfast, baby food at lunch, a little baby food for dinner, and about 2 bottles throughout the day. Because he wasn't getting as much formula, but more solid food, this helped his reflux. However, the doctor wants us to give him more formula--at least 16-24 ounces a day. This means, we need to fit in at least one more bottle, if not more.

Well, we started with this right after his appointment, yesterday. Already, his reflux has increased and he is in more pain. The doctor didn't want to increase his Prilosec (he is still on 15 mg in the morning) if he didn't need it. But, we are currently awaiting a call back from the nurse to see if we can increase it now that he is getting more formula. We will be so happy when he grows out of this completely!

Silas is right on track with his motor skills. He LOVES to play with us--he laughs, giggles, grabs, pokes--whatever he can to get and keep our attention. The silliest things make him laugh, too. Funny faces, sounds, singing, peek-a-boo, tickling, smiling--it all gets a reaction out of him. He grabs at things, can pick up things (cell phones, remotes, food, etc.), and loves to throw them, only to pitch a fit when we don't pick them up. Also, he is pretty much sitting up. He needs one of us (or something) for balance, and doesn't stay up long, but he's there.

He is still a quiet observer. He loves to be held and just look around a room and examine what is going on. He has also started grunting all the time. We thought this was a weird quirk, but apparently, it is common for babies. His napping schedule is still minimal--we usually have to force a nap on him. But, he still sleeps through the night like a champ. We aren't complaining.

We are having his 6-month photos taken this Saturday...we can't wait to post those for you! For now, here are some recent pictures of Silas.