Cutest little guy around!

Use those apples 9

Apple, sauerkraut, & cheddar quesadillas

On a path through the park

Use those apples 8

Apple muffins

Use those apples 7

Ice cream with apples on top

The Pumpkin Patch

This picture optimizes epitomizes how our trip to Stoney Ridge Farm went today. Corbin was crying or falling over, Brody was more interested in the dirt and dead leaves, and we were trying to take pictures all the while! Notice Becky's hand reaching in to stop Brody from eating a pumpkin stem, as Corbin is falling into Brody. It was a comedy of errors! Pumpkin patches are more for moms than for babies. Ha! Becky and I had been looking forward to going to the pumpkin patch all week. It started off with Corbin crying in the car. Then Brody would chime in. After we got some diapers changed we headed into the farm. We got on the wagon and rode to the patch. There we tried to find some clusters of pumpkins. They were pretty picked over. We weren't there to actually get any, just take pictures! They are cheaper at Fred Myer.

It started off ok. But the sun was in their eyes, so they wouldn't look at us. The scarecrow legs look like people behind them, we didn't get the full effect.
Then we tried to shade them, but only one got shaded. So we moved to another spot. But then Corbin started crying, so we got some mom and baby shots instead.

Again, here I am all smiling, this is fun. Then Corbin is like "mom, why are we doing this? I am tired. I don't care about pumpkins!"

"Ok, it's better if I can look at them."

Corbin is starting to lean....Brody's looking for some dirt to eat.

This took about 10 tries to get him to sit up while I moved back for the shot... He kept falling over just as I got the camera ready.

But it was all worth it. Corbin fell asleep as we walked back. Brody got some food. The the moms got to eat SUPER yummy apple pie (hot out of the oven), ice cream and carmel sauce! And the best part of it was that everything only cost us $3 because our awesome relator, Sean, gave us a gift certificate for it all! Thanks Sean!

Maybe next year they will be more interested in the pumpkin patch. I am sure there will be other funnies though.

Use those apples 6

Apple pancakes

Toes

Use those apples 5

Apple turnovers

No more swaddle!

Ok. So we have done it. Corbin is officially sleeping unswaddled! And mostly in his own crib in his own room! Ask me how I am doing? Mostly good. I miss him. But it's really nice to be able to get ready for bed without making a peep, or not turning on any lights. He has been coming back to our room when he wakes up to nurse between 2-4 am. So I get a little of both worlds. He is doing great and sleeping unswaddled. Blue Softy probably helps too :-)

He is also building that core strength. He is getting so strong. He can sit up by himself for a few seconds before falling over. Any day now he is going to roll from his back to his front. And he is noticing his toes! I will try to get a picture of him with them in his hands.

These next few shots, he was just too cute for me not to post them. We were watching the baseball game.

Oh, I love him!

Use those apples 4

Apples and peanut butter!

Use those apples 3

Dried apples

Use those apples 2

Apple cider

Use those apples 1

Applesauce

4 months old!

Corbin is 4 months old today! Wholly cow!
He weighs 15 lbs 1.5 oz- 50%ile and is 25 inches long, also 50%ile. His growing has slowed down a little but still is growing strong!

Yesterday he was feeling "sporty" and wore his RED SOCKS for the 2nd day in a row. It must have worked!

Notice the RED SOCKS! He does have Hinkley blood in him, so he is allowed and MUST root for the RED SOX! If he was from Florida or the RED SOX weren't playing, then maybe, just maybe he could root for the Rays. But he's a Hinkley-Shaffer, therefore he roots for the RED SOX!

Yep. More pictures for you folks who needed a few more!

Winken, Blinken, and Nod

Corbin has been enjoying sitting up with us at Dinner lately, that is if he makes it through dinner! Ever since Corbin was born we have been blessed with a great sleeper! We try not to brag about it and yes, we have had our bad nights. But overall he is a great sleeper. This last month has been a little more challenging though, not bad, but challenging. Once you finally think you have a schedule going, he goes and changes it. For a while, he was going to be between 8 and 9 pm, now he barely makes it to 6:30 on some days. He was taking 3 naps every day, the first one being the most predictable, an hour or hour and a half after waking up. Then while at my parents house, he started taking naps 2 times a day. This week he surprised me by staying up for 3 hours after waking up before he went down for a nap. Crazy kid :-) Then on the night of the full moon, I blame that, he was awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night from 2 am- 4 am. He was just talking away. Not wanting to sleep, but play. He wasn't fussy, he wasn't hungry, he was just awake! Adam eventually went down and slept in the guest bedroom. Of course, as soon as he left, I pulled Corbin into bed, nursed him, and he fell instantly asleep. I moved him over to Adam's spot and we slept for another 4 hours! Silly boy! Then last night I thought, maybe he is ready to move into his crib in his own room. I LOVE having him sleep next to me, but it does make it hard because we have to get ready for bed in the dark, we can't really read in bed, and Adam has to get ready in the morning in the dark. I am also lazy, and like not having to get up to get him when he wakes up and just nurse him in bed and then put him back:-) He is also quickly outgrowing his co-sleeper. After his naps, I find him wedged in the corner because he goes to sleep on his side (not swaddled) and then when he wakes up he rolls onto his back but there isn't much room to go. He is only inches away from the top and bottom of the co-sleeper. Our days are numbered before he is too long for it. All swaddled up he is fine for the sides but when he has his arms out, they both touch the sides. Right now we are swaddling him with only one arm in, trying to ease him into having both arms out. My fear is that one day he will be too big for the co-sleeper and too strong for the swaddle, all at once. That would be too much of a big change for him to not be swaddled and have to sleep in his crib all at once. Or maybe it will just be too much for mom :-)

So anyways, where was I going with this... oh right his silly sleeping. So last night I thought I would have him go to sleep in his crib and then when he woke up in the middle of the night for his feeding, I would bring him into our room and the co-sleeper (thanks Becky for the idea). This was to accomplish a few things. One, he has fallen asleep at other peoples houses and made the transition fine. It would allow us to have our bedroom back at night, we could put away our clothes, read, talk, etc. But I still don't have a very good nursing chair in his room, so I don't want to feed him in there. I like feeding him in my bed and then just putting him down next to me. And I am lazy, like I said before. And I thought this might be a good transition to sleeping in his crib all night. So I thought I could just bring him into bed when he woke up. So we went along with our normal routine, fussy, get into jammies, play lullaby on the cd player, read a book or two, swaddle, put on sound machine, nurse while Adam reads aloud, then into bed. Sometimes once we get to the nursing stage, its only a matter of minutes before he is drowsy and I can just set him down and he is asleep. Before went through the routine, we set up the room with our video monitor. What a vidoe monitor you might be saying... Well our relator, Sean, gave us a video monitor for a gift. At first I didn't think it was nessisarry, I still am not sure, but I thought it might be nice to have two monitors, one for his room, one for ours, then I don't have to switch. And it might be fun to see him sleep. We also brought in the sound machine, his night light, and got the room all warm and cozy. He went through his routine and was aleep soon. I set him down he was still slightly awake but fell asleep quickly. We left, went down to watch the debates, and got to watch him. It was kinda cool. I could see his chest rise and fall. He was sleeping fine and then his sound machine went off after a half hour. His eyes popped open. He looked around, and then the monitor's video function went off. We could still hear him but he wasn't going back to sleep. Now here is where the video monitor is a blessing or a curse. Normally we can't see him, so does he always wake up after the sound machine goes off? This time we could see him. We saw that he was awake, and he was looking around, stomping his feet, and not sleeping. Then it cut out. He continued to not go back to sleep, and then he finally made his come get me noise. I went up and got him. He was REALLY awake. I tried to nurse him, and he finally got drowsy and sleepy again. But we couldn't get the monitor to show us a video. We put him down, and crept out of the room. The video monitor's sound wasn't good at letting us hear him and the sound machine. All we could hear was the sound machine and then very faintly, him, still not sleeping. We tried again! No luck. He was not interested in sleep but I was by this time, being tired from the night before. Adam tried to get him drowsy while I got ready for bed. No luck, just crying. We decided to have him sleep in our room again. He still wasn't sleepy, or just very over tired. He wanted to suck but my nipples couldnt' handle it any more, it had been over an hour of sucking. He wouldn't just rock to sleep, he wouldn't take the pacifier, he struggled in his swaddle, he got hot and sweaty. It was frustrating. Finally he got so tired he finally would take the pacifer, and within mintues he was alseep, 2 hours after he originally went to bed. Silly guy!

Ok, I rambled enough. He is currently napping in his crib. It's been 20 minutes. Still sleeping. Regular monitor.

Today we are going to wear RED SOX. Yesterday we boh wore RED SOX. Go!

PS- Welcome to Luca Leo Jones Pasquini, Daylen and Chris's new baby boy! 3 boys! Let the Wild Rumpus start!

Generations of love

This first photo inspired me to find the other one with me, Jed, and my grandpa. My photo search turned into a small project of generations. We only have a select few photos of Adam and me when we were little, our parents have most of them. And I didn't have any from our father's side. But from what I could find on my short search today, this is what I created with picnik. I hope you enjoy! It was fun to make.

It's amazing to me to see the similarities in Corbin from both of us. Everyone thinks he looks like Adam when they see the two of them together now. I think it's Adam's round, bald head and the nose that they share...but after doing this, you can definitely see me in there too!

Trains, Automobiles, and Buses!

Corbin and I went on our second big adventure this past week, the first being the trip to Spokane with Grandma S in July. This time we went down to Bend to visit Grandma and Grandpa H. My dad came up to Bham last weekend for a Kayak race and then Corbin and I headed down to Bend with him, sans Adam. Corbin did pretty well in the 8 hour car ride to Bend. It helped that we left during his nap time and then it lead into his bed time. He did wake up when we went below 50 miles per hour in Oregon. Ha! We had a great time with grandma and grandpa! Corbin was a steller little kiddo. He slept awesome, except for one night. 8-9 hours a night. He took great naps and played hard. He also had his first giggle fest! He has laughed a couple of times but this one was a huge constant giggle! It was so cute. I of course was the only one to witness it. We went out for coffee with my mom's friend and while they were getting our drinks, Corbin noticed the fire in the fireplace. He just laughed and laughed at it as if it was the funniest thing in the whole world. It was pretty precious. He also got really good at getting his thumb in his mouth and sucking it! We watched some Red Sox, went for walks, celebrated my mom's upcoming birthday. This picture here with my mom has inspired an idea. You will see it soon.

Corbin loves those zerberts! It is so fun to watch as he gets more and more interactive.

Then we headed on the bus to Portland! He also did a great job on the bus. He only got fussy when his diaper was really wet and luckily we were close to a stopping spot for a change. It was weird to be on the road and not have him in the carseat. I kept him in the sling, standing, a lot, because it felt slightly safer. He nursed and took a few cat naps and made faces at the little girl behind us. She wanted to know if he liked bacon or cheese (both of which she was eating) and I said no, not yet. He only drinks milk. Her reply was, so do I! She was funny. We arrived in Portland and Ali came to pick us up at the train station.

We hung out with Sam, Ali, and Sarah in Portland. Took some walks, went to eat, went to some baby shops, ate some good food cooked by Sam, played Bannana Grams and had a good old time with my good college friends.

Here he is with that thumb in his mouth!

Then we went on our final leg of our trip, the train to Bellingham!

We got to experience our first time getting special treatment because you have a baby. Instead of having to wait in the really long line, we got to skip it, board the train first, and have help from Sam and Ali! Which is a good thing, because we had the stroller, car seat, suitcase, and diaper bag. Corbin loved looking around at the train station. So much to see!

Corbin did great on the train too. He did a lot of comfort nursing when he got fussy. I didn't want him to upset any of the other riders and we didn't have anyone but me to keep him entertained. We sat next to a college girl from Portland to Tacoma, she wasn't that interested in him. Then we had the whole seat to ourselves. He loved looking out the window. He also took some naps, played around, walked up and down the train, and ate. He was sooo tired by the time we got to Bellingham. We were so excited to see Adam and Brindzi. They both missed us and we missed them! But we made it! It was a fun little adventure.

Now we are home, making apple sauce, doing yard work, and blogging. I have been inspired to do a special project, hopefully you will see it soon!