Adrian is 7 Months Old!

This is a hard update for me to write, because the fact that Adrian is 7 months old means that we are now closer to his 1st birthday than further away - agh, my baby is growing up! Nick and I are really blessed with this little man, and his personality is developing well. He is extremely happy, extremely outgoing, and very crazy! He loves to scream, squeal, dance, and bounce.  He is usually always happy, except (at this point) he still doesn't have teeth and the entire has been very difficult on him (and Nick and I)! We're ready for those little pearly whites to break through for sure. 

Here are the baby milestones he should be meeting:

• Enjoys banging toys together.  Yes, and he enjoys banging ON things. He loves to play drums on my legs and he loves when I tap back on his legs.
• Your baby may now be able to support all his weight on his legs. He's been determined to stand since 4 months old, but yes.
• Sits unsupported (or with only a little bit of extra support). Yes! He's a very good sitter.
• Moves upper body to turn and reach for an object while sitting.  Yes. It's funny to watch him lunge for things. Our coffee cups and cell phones are certainly not safe around Adrian!
• Can recognize different tones in your voice. Yes, and he's starting to understand the word "no", although I don't think he knows completely what it means yet!
• Continues to experiment with vocalizing. Oh my yes. Adrian is very loud.
• Can anticipate surprises such as a jack-in-a-box. Yes! He loves peek-a-boo and starts laughing hysterically even if we only raise our hands as if we're going to tickle him.
• Memory has improved and your baby can now enjoy playing hiding game. Yes 
• Your baby is now developing a sense of humor and really enjoys funny facial expressions and sounds. Yes he is so funny. We are always laughing at his facial expressions. Our favorite is when he tilts his head all the way to the side when he wants something.
• Will show a distinct preference towards certain people. Not really, he loves Nick and I, but he doesn't mind other people holding him.
• Enjoys giving people who are close to them kisses and cuddles. Yes - his kisses and hugs are adorable and melts our hearts every time.
• Sees clearly. I have no reason to think that he can't!
• Can easily locate the source of a sound. Yes

I did a fall/7 month old photoshoot with him the other day and here are a few (well maybe a lot) of my favorites:

We are blessed to have this little one as our own!

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
~ John 1:16 from NIV

Abi+Nick=Adrian

I've been wanting to do this for a while, but I finally put our pictures together next to a picture of Adrian.

He definitely doesn't look much at all like me! That's okay because his daddy sure is handsome.

Anyways, that was fun.

My sister is in Africa!

Four have flown the Apon nest! Christie left this week for Limpopo, South Africa. She will be there for 10 months and will be working and studying with Build the Nations. I'm honestly not completely sure of what she'll do the whole time she's there, but I'm really excited for her and I know God will do a lot for and through her while she's there! She is hoping to be able to keep a blog, but is unsure of how her internet access will be.

Here is a picture of her team so you can be praying:

"How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"' Isaiah 52:7

Major Mom Fail!

Oh my...today I think I seriously had the worse mom fail of my life. Adrian has been getting more mobile, but I didn't think he was THAT mobile, until lunch time today when I left Adrian sitting on one side of the living room to go to the kitchen really quick to make his lunch. 

Backtrack to earlier this morning: During his nap I spent a long time vacuuming really well since he's all over the floor now, and had emptied the filter and the bag of the vacuum. I had also cleaned up a bunch of trash, but was not done cleaning when he woke up so I just left the trash bag opened and not full on the other side of the room.

Anyways...I was gone maybe 5 minutes to get his food, and I came back into the living room and SOMEHOW he had managed to get from one side of the room to the other and was shoveling hand fulls of dirt from the bag into his mouth.

I absolutely freaked out.

I picked him up and dashed to the bathroom, ripping his clothes off on the way. I leaned him over the sink and poured water into his mouth and into his fingers. Of course, Adrian was laughing the whole time. It didn't take long to clean him up, thankfully.

I called Nick in tears to confess my epic mistake and do you know what he said? "Well, what did you expect? He's a boy and that's what boys do".  Regardless, Adrian will now be in the play pen every single time I leave the room!

In other news, I went grocery shopping tonight, baby in tow, and he did so good. I was there over an hour with him in the little basket in the front and he just laughed and cooed the whole time. So sweet.

Old Pictures of Our Love

It's always fun when you find an old folder full of old pictures. Especially these - I haven't seen them in a while :)

I love being reminded of our silly courtship and this super handsome man I get to be married to!

Sorry for the mush-fest...but I think these pictures are so cute.

(And they sure do give me an incentive to lose weight!)

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[W]hen you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.  ~Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally

Pulling Up in the Crib

Well, Adrian is just growing TOO FAST for me! This week he started getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth, practicing crawling. He has almost succeeded in going from laying down to sitting, and this morning he decided to pull up to his knees while in his crib. I left the room for just a minute and he was crying, and when I came back a couple of minutes later, he was pulled up high on his knees, screaming loudly for me. Oh my. My heart almost stopped - I can't believe he's flying through these milestones!

Nick and I were just looking back to earlier blog posts when Adrian was just born. He was so little and so cute. I can't believe time has flown so quickly and he's already almost crawling. Wow.

And, of course, I took a video as well :)

Hope you enjoyed this little update :)

Wow Good Deal!

My sister in law shared this great deal with me and I wanted to share with you! I finally got my eyes checked this past week, and I was a little unsure if I wanted to buy "expensive" glasses since Adrian loves to pull them off my face sometimes. I would hate to spend money on something that could be so easily broken! At the doctor's office, the cheapest frames were $150 (my insurance covers a certain amount, but that is still expensive) + the actual lenses was going to cost me a wopping $90! That is certainly not an amount I want to spend on something that could be easily broken.

Andrea told me about http://zennioptical.com and was really happy with her most recent purchase there. I now have two perscriptions (one for every-day wear and one for when I'm sewing, on the computer, etc.) and I was able to get three pairs of glasses for $40 (including shipping)! That's $50 less than I would have spent on one pair at the doctor's office.

So...you should all go buy glasses from there.

More Milestones...

Well, while thankfully Adrian hasn't discovered that he can pull himself up on the crib, he can pull up to stand while sitting in my lap and other things. Today, Nick placed him standing in his playpen and he stayed that way (full of pride) for quite a while. Just another milestone that reminds me that Adrian is growing toooo fast. He is 6 months and 3 weeks old.

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a video :) This was this afternoon and we live near a busy road so that's all the noise you hear in the background.