it's just a game, mom :)

so, here's the deal:

my crib is more like my playpen.

a place that gets me all giggly and silly

and most recently?

i've created a game.

you see, first, i pull up into standing position.

oh my goodness. this is awesome.

k, then, get this.......next i pull my paci out of my mouth!!!

isn't it SO funny, you guys?!!

ok, wait for it........

wait for it..........

then, i dangle it over the crib very slowly.

backkkkkkk and forttth.

clank.

clank.

clank.

against the crib spindles.

oh! hahahahaha

there it goes.

down to the floor!

isn't that fun mom!

oh man, it's so MUCH fun!

and, guess what?!!!

i'll do a little dance for you too!

but mom,

just know that as soon as you pick it up,

i'll do it all over again.

don't you love me?!

he's just got a natural eye for art.

it's true.

the little romanator's got talent my friends:

this year was mr leif's first father's day.

i wanted to start a tradition.

a tradition that could easily be carried on through the years, with each child we will have.

a tradition that would be inexpensive

a tradition that would be created by the kids

a tradition that would produce something their dad can keep, as his pride and joy and possibly display it someday in his office (you know, someday when his office isn't also the storage room, guest bedroom, and the laundry folding station......)

wallllllllah.

canvas and washable paint, thank you hobby lobby.

as you can see,

we had one proud daddy on our hands.....

and yet, an even prouder son :)

and yes, father's day was so 2 weeks ago, but it's summer people! we've been busy ...................we've got things to crawl on, bugs to eat, and adventures to explore!

getting ready for her big moment :)

well, it's no lie that we had ourselves a BLAST last week with all the events leading up to the big moment: the limo ride after the ceremony!!!
right?!!
oh silly me, i mean.............carrie walkin' down that isle!

of course, i was snapping pictures left and right
and......
of course, roman has been literally tearing through the house all week
and so......
of course, i haven't had the proper time to go through them and pick my favorite ones
therefore.....
here is a random handful of photos, of our time together, up until care is heading down that elevator and off to meet her prince for their first look :)

i miss all of you sweet nebraska girls,........... "see you in september"

wedding what?

here's a sneak peek on where i was for the last 6 days.....

oh, he spit up again.

do you have a spitty baby?

i do.

it's gotten way better as of late....

however,

we were playing today and all of the sudden i noticed he had spit on his pants and wrist....oh great.

i had to do the ole' crawl around the room on my hands and knees feeling around the carpet for the "spot".

found it.

cleaned it.

i'll be ready when this phase is over.

me no like babyspitup.

huh, uh.

roman, getting cleaned up after painting his father's day masterpiece.

losing track of time.

i'm apologizing now.

it's summertime.

last night i told mr leif that sometimes i forget what day it is.

because i don't have a care in the world.

just me and the babe. kickin' it throughout the day. waiting for daddy to get home at night.

i do check my calendar.......to see if we have a playmate scheduled or to see if it is TODDLE TIME day.

but mostly?

i don't really know.

it's carefree.

and i love it.

so, this is a quick apology.

if i am missing a birthday, anniversary, or other significant date.

i'm sorry.

i'm busy being mindless :)

oh, and also trying to teach the little dude how to drink from a sippy.

as you can see,

i have my work cutout for me.

all figured out?

as with any new job, the first day is an adjustment.

when we got back home from denver, a couple weeks ago, i had my first official day of summer as a "stay at home mom".

all day, all night, all the next day, and the next day and the next day, etc... would be spent with my baby.

feed him, change him, play with him, put him down for a nap, repeat. repeat. repeat.

there would be no break, other then when mr leif came home from work and would play with little romes while i finished dinner.

dinner? say what??!

yes, i began cooking.

and cleaning!

and doing laundry regularly!

i took on the life of a wife and mom to the fullest.

non stop, i charged ahead.

i kept waiting for the moment i would think, "ugh. that work thing wasn't so bad. it gave me a break from the little romester. and time away from the house".....

it never came.

it hasn't come.

i know there will be plenty of days for the next month of my summer break where i will be "done!" and when i will wish i could pass the child off to someone else for just a bit.

but for now?

i'm embracing this life.

but as i mentioned in the beginning, there is adjustment.

just two weeks ago, roman was refusing to eat baby food.

however, i had to keep trying......

so, it was put him in his seat, get out some baby food or mash up my own, roman stares at it, and even smiles, then i try to feed him, and it's immediate press the lips together and arch the back. i tried airplanes.

i tried weird noises.

i tried crazy dance moves.

i tried all three together.

nothin.

what?! oh no!!!?

it hit me very quickly, "I have to do this 3 times a day. every day. forever...??!!!!!!!!"

then next, it was get him out of the seat, wash him up. wash the seat. wash the table. wash the spoon. clean up the food.......just so i can do it again in another couple of hours??? and there was NO achievement. no satisfaction. no, "my baby ate well!" feeling.

all that for defeat and frustration?

why did i say i wanted four kids again?

but the next day came, and then the next day.

and then i began trying this new way of meal time for roman, and i found some success.

ahhhhh......that's better.

i'm getting my groove on with this whole motherhood thing.

last night, when we put roman in his little seat for dinner, mr leif asked what he was going to eat tonight? (our dinner, tilapia, was a seasoned with non-kid friendly ingredients) and....

waaaa-laaaa! guess who pulled out an already prepared meal for roman???

boo-yaaa.

me.

while he took his afternoon nap, i prepared his dinner plate.

convenience.

now, i am not trying to give myself 36 gold stars.

however, i found some success.

success amongst lots of frustration and failure.

i know that this success is just temporary though, as with any "good thing" here on earth.

it lasts for a bit, and then the newness wears off, it begins to wear out, and we no longer revel in what we once thought was so good.

roman is already sick of his toys. each morning we bust out the two tubs of toys and it all goes great. then by lunchtime. he could care less about them.

so we get out the kitchen stuff. those, too, only last for a little while.

so it's off to the park, or the pool, or target, or hobby lobby.

we do what we can.

this morning he threw a fit during breakfast and refused to eat what he had just previously snarfed down the day before.

but i know success will come again.

going through the little trials, helps me. i know there is always light at the end.

when he had a fever, i knew he would eventually recover.

when he refused to eat breakfast, i knew we would try again at lunch.

when he was screaming in his crib, i knew his needs were met (fed, changed, burped) and he would eventually find his sleep.

during the midst of the crazy times, it's hard to think clearly.

what mom can make a calm decision when her children are screaming?!

but it happens.

we follow our instinct and before we know it, they're munching on that banana again.

the one they just threw across the room in a fit of despair.

the lord couldn't use a better tool then motherhood to refine women.

i know i won't have constant success with mothering, if i did, how would i learn?

i know things won't go easy, if they did, how would i rely on Him then?

i know there will be mistakes and failures, if there weren't, how would i reach out in prayer?

earlier, roman fell and bumped his mouth.

maybe he's teething again, but it's been a rough morning, all. morning. long.

i swiped him up, and when he wouldn't cuddle, drink a bottle, or be calmed in any other way,

i stopped. and prayed.

lord, please give me the patience and grace to get through this day. and dear jesus, please give roman some peace.

i am predicting many more prayers, just like that, for the next 25 years....and beyond.

having children throws you at the frontlines of a battlefield.

i suppose i should put my armor on.

but dang.

isn't he cute?

:)

cheers to a better afternoon!

i'm off to go make roman some lunch while he naps!

then it's off to switch the laundry and mop the floor!

quick now! i only have so much time!!!

baby roman's birth VIDEO!!!!!!!

well, my sweet family and friends, here it is.........8 months and 1 day later :)

truth is, i've been saving for over 2 years to buy a mac.

and a couple weeks ago, mr. leif, romes, and i trekked down to the apple store on the plaza and made the purchase.

this week, i settled down into the couch on two separate evenings, to create this video.... t's something i had been dreaming of creating since i was pregnant with the little romester.

but now that the video is made.......mr leif is constantly asking if we can have another baby.

oh, dear.

enjoy :)

welcome to the world, baby roman. from lindseyleif on Vimeo.

a recap.

considering, i never got around to posting a 7 month update on my little roman, i thought i would do a brief recap on our month in a few pictures :)

while i spent most of our mornings with the curtains open, so the bright and beautiful sun could radiate through the windows and i could soak up this cherished time with my baby, roman played hard....going from one toy to the next, examining them, and crashing them together. all boy.

but his intention for most of his 7 month, was to crawl.

he spent so much time rocking back and forth, and nose diving, to finally reach his goal.

and he has quite the cute crawl, if i do say so myself!

i also got my dress-up fix in, while the little romonster mastered his sitting up skills.

i now feel confidently to leave the room with you sitting my dear son, knowing you won't do a back slam against the floor!

and peek-A-BOO! we finally lowered the crib. yes, although it should have been done weeks prior, i held onto the ittybitty baby somewhere deep inside of you and kept your crib up high. i believe it helped me keep that slightest bit of "infant" in you left. although it was dangerous vs. adorable, i loved seeing you peek above the crib.......but dangerous won. we lowered it for your safety :)

of course, we spent countless moments in our bed. while some of those moments were peaceful, calm, and snuggly while i nursed you, many other of those moments were wild, crazy, and giggly while i tackled you and tickled you until you would give me your belly laugh. it's a good one.

in our toast to summer, we busted out the new pool and you once again became my pride and joy as you exclaimed your love for water (and laying out in the sun, yes!) by splashing and laughing uncontrollably. my pool sidekick for life. i think so!

your adoration for your little baseball game/toy/thingy continued to blossom. now you love to bite on the baseball, and push all the buttons intentionally! sometimes though, you exercise your manhood, and pick up the whole contraption and throw it off to the side as you charge to the next toy. you's a tough one romes, you're gonna blast through that weight room someday.....i just know it :) biceps, triceps, hammies, oh boy!

and of course, we very politely said, "screw the pureed baby food" bring on the solid little chunks. and you went to town.

after a beautiful masterpiece of food-gone-everywhere.....you looked to me for approval. well done, my son, well done!!

and of course, our cherished evenings with daddy. priceless.

and today? your eight month birthday.

happy eight months to you my little one.

oh, baby food, why must you be so...

...unappealing to my son?

he could have fooled us from the start.

remember these photos from a couple months back?

mmmm, lovin that cereal up! (or so we thought....a few days later he went on strike.)

matter of fact, it's been a slow and painful downward spiral when it comes to getting him to eat baby food, he refuses.............and enjoying the baby food? rarely.

a couple months ago, we knew it was time to start feeding him something other than milk, because of his interest in us, while we were eating.

he would watch us in awe of the process, bringing food up to our mouths, and then chewing.

actually, chewing food in front of him would most likely bring upon a giggle or two from little romester :)

he threw up rice cereal. a lot.

so we switched to oatmeal with bananas. he ate that, but definitely not with a smile on his face.

we began trying other random fruit and veggie baby foods......all were unsuccessful.

the kind? gerber. from the grocery store. nothing fancy, folks!

this past week, eating has moved from difficult to becoming such a painful and frustrating process.

he presses his lips together and arches his back even when i try the most distracting and sneaky maneuvers to slip a bite of veggies or fruit into his little mouth.

and when i am successful?

he fake gags and coughs, and lets it slide right now.

most of the time, our biggest battle is trying to prevent him from grabbing the spoon andflinging the food all over.

then it hit me.

BAM!

HE wants the spoon.

HE wants to feed himself??? maybe???

he loved to grab at whatever I was eating, but disguised the pureed crap from the container or that i would mash up on my own.

genius baby himself, wants to do this food thang on his own.

well, ok then!

i did some research online and learned about baby led weaning.

so roman, you win.
even though you only have two little teeth poking through on the bottom. clearly, not enough to chew up any solid chunks, i'm trusting what i've read. you've got a killer gag reflex and i'll only give you pieces smaller than your esophagus (so my pediatrician. says!)

you win!

did you hear me?

YOU WIN!

no more pureed baby mush from a jar, or container, or bowl that i've personally smashed up for you.

no more force feed.

ahhhhh.........

so, we are going for a whole new approach.

and he LOVES it!!!!

meal time is a wonderful experience!!!!!

and, this morning?

i diced up some peaches and he also had some puffs for breakfast :)

wanna read more about baby led weaning??!!

by the way, it's rather cute seeing little roman try to put pieces of food into his mouth.

it takes about 5 or 6 tries.

totally adorb.