Lets Try Sweet Potatoes

What another big day. We tried sweet potatoes for the first time, and judging by the amount eaten (ALL OF IT!) I would say Archer is a fan of them! I was nervous about something other then the cereal, but luckily it does not look like we have a picky eater on our hands. I am not sure what we will try next, but hopefully it continues to be smooth sailing.

We also cannot wait for a very exciting weekend. Archer's GeeMa and Pop Pop are coming to visit! It has been almost two months since he has seen them. We are looking forward to a nice weekend of football and you guessed it...MORE PACKING! Only two weeks left here in Arkansas.

Climbing up Pinnacle Mountain

We had SUCH a fun family day today! The three of us joined up with the Jones family and took a trek up Pinnacle Mountain. It was a great day to do it, as the weather was quite a bit more mild then it has been. We got there at about 8:30 a.m. and started up the mountain. Nick had Archer strapped to him, as there would be NO WAY I could make it up the mountain with the little man attached to me. This was a huge milestone because it was the first time Nick had worn the baby carrier. They sure did look cute though! I took this pic before we headed up:

Our trip was quite remarkable for a few reasons. One - I have not done any very strenuous working out in over a year...being pregnant and then having Archer did not make me into much of a fitness freak. The fact that I made it all the way up and back down with out passing out surprised the heck out of me. Two - Piper made the trip. She may have been carried for a lot of it...but still, a two year old tackling that is pretty impressive. On top of that, she still managed to have energy afterwards to play on the play ground! Three - I was in the presence of three very impressive daddies and an amazing Nana. Nick had an extra 21 pounds strapped to him and didn't slip, fall or pass out. He also made it to the top first. Jared carried Piper for a lot of the trip and again, he managed to make it to the top with out one bad foot placement. Kelsey's dad also went with us, and he kept a watchful eye on his daughter, making sure she was okay the entire trip. Kelsey's mom also kept an eye on Kelsey as well as entertaining Piper!! AMAZING!!Four - and by far the MOST impressive, Kelsey made it all the way up and back down at NINE MONTHS PREGNANT! That chick is my hero!! I know there is no way I could have done it when I was nine months pregnant, so she deserves some kind of award. After our climb, we all went to IHOP which was much needed and DELICIOUS! Many thanks again to Kelsey's parents for treating us to breakfast! To end our day, we came home and had a nice family nap. It was a GREAT day!!

New Car Seat

As I have posted in all of Archer's monthly updates, he is a growing boy. This means that I have to be constantly aware of what the weight limits are on all of his baby gadgets. Seeing as he weighed in at 20 pounds, 9 ounces at his four month check up...I knew he would be waving bye bye to the 22 pound weight limit on his infant car seat. Soooo, after reading tons of consumer reports and doing lots of price comparison we bought him a snazzy new car seat. He will still be rear facing until he is a year old, but he is in a much bigger seat. He also seems to be more comfortable in this one. I was sad to say good bye to the infant car seat, as it is so very convenient to get him in and out of the car and into stores via his travel system or putting the seat on a shopping cart. This also brought up two other issues. Where will he sit when we go to restaurants? Should we buy a new stroller since the travel system is huge and he can now fit into a more compact stroller? The answers quickly came as we took a trip to Babies R' Us. We purchased a smaller stroller. Then we went to a restaurant for lunch and we had no choice but to put him in a high chair. Is he ready for the high chair? Not quite. He wobbled quite a bit in the high chair, but we made do for lunch. I am going to have to buy one of those high chair covers in order to help make him a little more stable. He did seem to think he was kind of a big deal in the high chair though!

New House

We found out two days ago that we got a house on base in Colorado Springs! We are thrilled about this, as the houses are BRAND NEW and gorgeous. Also, as luck would have it we happened to get a four bedroom! I quickly gave our friend Jennifer Gill a call as she was visiting family in Colorado to let her know the news. She was thrilled, and a little while later called me back to let me know that she was AT OUR NEW HOUSE! This made me think of how wonderful our friends are and how lucky we are to have them. Jen sent me a picture of the new house and gave me lots and lots of details. I was so thrilled that she was able to do that for us, and it made me all that more excited to move! This is a real first, because usually I dread moving...but this time seems like it just might be different. Anyhow, here is the outside of the house. I will have more pictures soon, as we will probably be moving in sometime in the middle of September.

Happy Five Months

Five months old and ready to rule the world! That is one really good way to describe Archer. He is becoming quite the personality and has an amazing presence. He is also a comedian. If you laugh at whatever he is doing, he usually will do it multiple times to see if he gets the same reaction. He also likes to laugh at himself. There are so many things that he giggles at that I wish I knew why he thought they were so funny. He is still very much in love with Buck and BeauLeaux. Luckily, they love him right back. BeauLeaux does not seem to mind when Archer squeezes his face or tries to go after his tail. The dogs are just really waiting for him to eat real food so that he can drop it on the floor for them! Here are some more 5 month updates:

Weight - Around 22 pounds
Height - 26.5 inches
Activity - Loves to jump in his jumperoo, is working on rolling from back to belly. There are attemps at trying to creep, as he rocks back and fourth on his elbows when he is on his belly. He is also sitting up by himself.
Eating habits - Has been eating cereal and is now eating 1 1/2 tablespoons twice a day. Still nursing five to six times a day.
Sleeping habits - Sleeps about six hours at a time and is still getting up once every night to nurse. I don't see this ending any time soon. Naps are a struggle as he does not like to take them at all!

In other news, we are starting to work on packing the house to move to Colorado Springs. We finally got dates, and our report no later than date has changed to October 29. We will be out of here before then, as Nick will be headed to SERE on September 10. I am starting to get VERY excited for this move!

Yummy Cereal

Well, we have been experimenting with baby cereal for the past couple of weeks. The APA says that you really shouldn't start feeding your baby solids until they are six months...BUT our little guy has quite the appetite. He would get hungry about every 2 to 2.5 hours. This is not normal. It was getting to feel like all I was doing was nursing him. He had also started watching Nick and I VERY intently at the dinner table and began to grab at things on our plate. SO, enter the baby cereal. The first time we tried it, things did not go so well. First daddy tried:
Then mommy gave it a go:But, most of the cereal wound up on Nick or myself. We waited for about a week and gave it another try. This time, success! He ate every bit of cereal and yelled at us in between spoon fulls. We could not get him the cereal fast enough.
It is hard to believe that he will be five months old a week from today. He changes so much and is getting more fun as each day passes. Who knows what he will do next??

Four Month Well Baby Check Up

We headed to the doctor bright and early this morning! We had an appointment on base at 7:30 a.m. I was dreading this one because Nick was not able to come with us and I knew Archer had to get more shots today. When we went in to see the doctor, everyone smiled and told me how cute the little dude is. This is something we never get tired of hearing, of course! He is the BIGGEST flirt, because he made eyes at pretty much every lady who spoke to him. I know, we are already in trouble! After getting poked and prodded Archer was given a clean bill of health and his measurements were as follows: 20 pounds, 9 ounces (95%) 25.5 inches (50%) and his head circumference was 42.5 (50%). We where given the go ahead to start veggies, as Archer has tolerated his cereal very well. We have to up his cereal intake to two times a day for a week and then we can add in veggies! After the appointment was over we took the terrifying walk to the room where the vaccines are done. Archer had to get three shots...and guess what? We have one tough little boy! After the first one was done he only cried for a second or two and then seemed to be over it...even as he got the other two shots! I was very proud of him and glad to have that over with for another two months! Here are a few new pics of the little dude...