A little about me....OK!

At work we were asked to write a short paragraph about ourselves for a "Getting To Know You" board. There are over 100 people in my department, and it's impossible to really know everyone. I had some fun with my write up & wanted to share it. As you have all probably gathered, my blog is mostly about my baby. So now is my chance to share a little about me.

I’m just a small town girl (♪♪living in a lonely world♪♪) who moved to Bloomington in 2001 to attend ISU. I graduated in 2005 with a degree in Public Relations. Shortly after graduation I met my now husband, Bryan, and started working for State Farm. I’ve been with State Farm for 7 years now.

When I’m not working, I’m spending all of my free time with my 9 month old son, Aaron. He keeps us very busy, and is at such a fun, playful stage right now – who also thinks being told “no” is hilarious. When I do get those rare, free moments to myself, I love cooking, gardening and going to garage sales.

My favorite season is Illini football season (aka fall). I come from a very large family who often hate that we love the Illini so much. I’m also a Cubs fan – double whammy. My husband is a die-hard Cardinals fan, so it will be interesting to see who our son cheers for – but I think I already know (sigh). 

I love all genres of music. I believe music tells a lot about a person, and is also a great way to make a lot of people mad by playing tons of Madonna & Pat Benatar at a sports bar get to know people! I guess I will always be a child of the ‘80s.

Once you have a baby, your life revolves around that little person. It was a little hard writing about myself. I really had to think..."hmmm, what do I like these days?". Most of my conversations with people are about Aaron. It was kind of nice reflecting on who I am, and what I enjoy for a brief moment.

Have a good weekend, all!

9 months!

I'm 9 months!

I can't believe my little red head - well, is a red head for one! - but also that he is 9 months old now. He's a very happy baby and really on the move these days (see previous post). 

Some of Aaron's favorite (and not so favorite) things right now:

1. He loves shoes & pretending that they're cars.

2. He is starting to like music more & will sometimes dance to it.

3. He loves water - water running in the sink, bath time and watering the garden.

4. He's crawling all over the place and all over us! We're like his jungle gym!

5. He likes to blow bubbles with his mouth. 

6. He's babbling ALL the time - but still only saying "dada". He's really trying to say other things - nothing close to "mama", though. 

7. I'm starting to see hints of separation anxiety setting in, but it's ok - it just means he really loves his mama, and I'm ok with that. 

8. I learned that he doesn't like when I imitate the different animals in some of his books. He started crying tonight during our bedtime story when I imitated the hippo, lion, zebra, boa constrictor & flamingo. I finally just stopped reading the book. 

9. He loves when we go on walks. I'm finding that it soothes him into a nice little nap, and then I power walk home so I can get some things done!

10. I think he's going to be very independent. He wants to feed himself, hold his own bottle, and turn the pages of the book by himself just to name a few. I'm so proud of him, but would be fine with him staying a baby forever. 

Pulling Up

Look at my big boy! He's starting to pull himself up on everything....toys, chairs, the couch, your leg. He likes to be standing up. He's very busy these days!

Meet Baby Jackson!

We finally got to meet sweet baby Jackson over the weekend! I love this little angel. My cousin & BFF had their baby - 1 month early! But Jackson is doing incredible, and we are so happy to have yet another baby boy in our family. Grandma & Grandpa Bosch now have 4 great grandsons!

Aaron looks so big next to Jackson!

Proud Parents!!

Aaron loves his Auntie, K

We're going to have so much fun with these little boys.
It's going to be like Adam & Jared - Take 2.

Mother's Day & 8 months

I enjoyed my first Mother's Day with my baby so much. Being a mom is the most rewarding experience. I can't express enough the amount of pure joy that he brings to my life, and the amount of love I have just pouring out for him. Every day is a new adventure, and it's so fun to watch him learn, grown and experience this world. I am so lucky and blessed to have him in my life. This whole mommy thing is pretty awesome!

Our little man also turned 8 months on Mother's Day. Only 4 more months and he'll be 1 year old, which means he's almost 18, and almost out of my house forever.....waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!! 

I just can't believe how quickly each day, week & month goes. SLOW DOWN WORLD! 

I guess time flies when you're having fun. 

Aaron has finally started sleeping through the night. If he fusses, he usually doesn't fully wake up, and he is able to put himself back to sleep. 

He is loving all of the food I've been making him, except those darn bananas. He still gets the willies when I feed him banana. We've also been trying some Puffs. We're working on getting him to open up his fist and put it in his mouth by himself. He'd rather just eat it out of my hand, though. 

He loves pulling himself up on to things. And he loves standing in an upside down V shape with his hands and feet on the ground. This kid really wants to walk. 

He still loves the "Hot Dog Dance" & this other really terrible song on Disney Jr. about vegetables. It's the worst, and it's stuck in my head all day long. 

I'm trying to teach him sign language - like signs for more, milk and all done. He just laughs at me. He also laughs at me when I tell him "no" when he's getting into things he shouldn't be. 

And he's still saying dada all the time. I wonder what his next word will be??

Teething

Within the past 2 weeks Aaron got his first 2 teeth! And let me tell you....that was NOT fun. There were many long, wakeful nights where I told "teething" that it could go straight to....well you know where. My poor buddy was in some pain a few nights last week. Just when I finally got a taste of what sweet, beautiful, wonderful sleep felt like again, teething started. Isn't it ironic.....don't you think?! But they're both through now, and he's back to his cheery self!

Birthday/Marathon Weekend

I'm a little late on this post. Last weekend was my dad & Kristen's birthdays, and the Illinois Marathon. Each year my family gets together to run some aspect of the IL Marathon. This year some of my family did the 10K & the Youth Fun Run. I went to watch.....and eat food all weekend!

It started off by celebrating my dad & Kristen's b-days on Friday night at my parents' house. I was a little under weather all weekend with a cold, but that didn't prevent me from carb loading with the runners.

Saturday morning my dad & I got in to Champaign a little before 7am to eat breakfast at one of my favorite diners.....Merry Ann's. I have only ever ordered the diner stack when eating there. This features hash browns, biscuit, sausage patty, eggs and gravy. You can hear your arteries clogging up. So good.

After we stuffed our faces, we went to watch my family race. 

Love this pic

Here they come

So proud of them!

Ryan was very pleased with his time

There's something about watching a race that is so inspiring. Tons of strangers people united for a common goal. These people train very hard for months to run a race that may take 30 minutes to a few hours to complete. People are on the sides of the road routing the runners on, handing out water, picking up the clothes they shed along the way. The whole process motivates you, and it's so nice to see good people out there.....people helping others, cheering for others, supporting others....others they don't even know. It's also nice to see the paper the next day which features positivity, success stories, and stories of triumphs instead of all the hate and negativity in the world. That's a nice & welcome change. 

After the race it was my turn to race - to my next meal that is. Bryan & I went to Black Dog. It's my favorite BBQ place, and it's seriously always so packed you have to wait hours & hours a really long time to get in usually. A long enough time that you might want to make a scene. But I would never do that. But seriously, we had to get there before it even opened to get a table (and it was already half full at that point), and within 5 minutes there was a line outside the door and around the corner. It is an illusion, though. This place is soooooo small. But that adds to its character. 

burnt ends, fried polish, sweet potato fries & slaw

flight 'o sauces - because we can't pick just one 

It was a nice weekend to end my month of weekends back home.