Korben's Birthday is only two weeks away and we decided to go ahead and have his pictures done so we could have them at his birthday party! If you would like to see them, please go to www.stillmomentsbyleighann.com, click "capturing life", then click "client proofing", and the password is "KR1."
Y'all, I'm so proud of these pictures! Leigh Ann Hasley did a fabulous job capturing who Korben is in all of these pictures! I would recommend her to ANYONE. She takes incredible pictures, and she is one of the nicest people in the world.
We could not be more pleased with how they turned out! That was a fun day we will NEVER forget!
It seems that during the times I have the most blog worthy material in my life, I have the littlest desire to blog. I guess that is because I'm too busy enjoying the "blog-worthy" things! This has been a great week of blogging material, and I hate that I have waited a week to report all of the cool things our 11 and a half month old has done.
1. Mastered the Sippy Cup:
Last weekend I started thinking about what Dr. Beene told me at Korben's 9 month check up. She said to start introducing the sippy cup, and start working toward having him weaned off the bottle by his one year check up. I felt like a failure because I really hadn't done a great job with sippy cup training, and I knew his birthday was quickly approaching. I would offer it to him a couple time a week for juice, but I honestly just forgot about it, and I wasn't consistent with the training. So, Monday...in all of my impatience...thought- this is the day! So, I started his first morning "bottle" feeding with his sippy cup. He took a few sips of it, then looked up at me like "you know this isn't a bottle, right?" He wasn't loving the experience, but he drank the entire thing. By the next feeding, he was pretty mad at me. He pretty much threw a fit because he didn't want to drink out of the sippy cup. I was determined to be consistent. I had a doctor's appointment soon, so I went ahead and put him in the car without feeding him. He was fussing in the car, so I decided to hand his cup to him. It wasn't 5 seconds before I heard him slurping it down from the back seat! I was so proud! I called Aaron to tell him the news. You would have thought he had just written his name we were so impressed. He was still pretty frustrated with me on Monday night, but by Tuesday morning, he was feeding himself! I was so proud, and SHOCKED that he learned this skill so quickly. On the other hand, I was a little emotional that he had lost a little bit of his "baby-ness." At least he still likes to sit in my lap and cuddle while he drinks out of his cup. Here is a picture I snapped this morning of our big boy!
2. Walking- well, sort of!
On Monday night I was on the phone with my best friend Emily, and I remarked that Korben didn't seem to have much interest in walking. I told her he hadn't really tried to walk while holding on to things, nor did he want to walk with his push walker. Well, all of that seemed to change on Tuesday. I started noticing him going from holding on to the couch, to holding on to the coffee table. I started noticing him side-stepping around his changing table. I thought, "wow, that happened over night." So, I got his push-walker back out, and there he went! Walking around like it was nothing! Here is a video clip I got of him going to town this morning with his walker.
3. High-Fiving
My mom was here this weekend, and I give her the credit for teaching Korben how to high-five. She likes to say that Korben taught her how to high-five. On Saturday morning, he was just sitting in his high chair eating breakfast, and reached his hand out to mom, looking like he wanted her to high five him. She did, and he has been hooked ever since. As of now, he only wants to do this trick while in his high chair at home. So, dont' have your feelings hurt if you run in to Korben on the street and he doesn't high five you. ;o)
Some other exciting things from this week have included:
-He says (a perfected) "Bye Bye", complete with a cute little hand that opens and closes.
-Tried the chicken from my Chicken Cacciatore on Monday night and LOVED it. Has eaten chicken every day since.
-I am barely feeding him any baby food anymore. He is eating fruits, vegetables, toast, pasta, chicken, and loves it! He is adding a new table food to his diet every couple of days.
-Dad, DaDa, Daddy...basically all forms of "DaDa" are still his favorite things to say, although Bye Bye is a close second. Mama is rare these days, but I do hear it every blue moon. He still loves to say "Hey" and "Hi." Sometimes I hear him say "Yeth" when he is playing with his toys. Its like "yes" with a lisp. It is so very cute!
Like I said earlier, my mom came up this past weekend. She was so so kind to take me shopping and help me find a few new things to wear. I have lost over 30 pounds so I barely have any clothes that fit. I am not saying this to brag, just for record keeping purposes. Remember, this is the only baby book I have been keeping. I have lost pregnancy, newlywed, college, and even a little bit of high school weight...so, needless to say, I needed a few new things. I thank the Lord for the weight watchers system. It is a perfect system for me because I don't like to have to do without any of my favorite foods. Now, if I can just give up artificial sweetener. Don't get me wrong...I like water, but I also like a drink with flavor every now and then too! My only options are drinks that have calories (And I would much rather "eat" my calories), or drinks with artificial sweetener (which is proven to be terrible for you). I really want to be healthy in every way, so I am writing about this on my blog sort of as accountability! I drank water with my popcorn last night, which was a HUGE step for me.
Here are a few pictures from this weekend. Yes, you do see a "Happy 1st Birthday" banner in the background. We ordered that for Korben's birthday party, and we decided we would just celebrate all month long. Why not, right?
I tucked Korben in bed at 5:45 p.m. on Valentines night just in time for the pizza guy to walk up to the door holding our romantic valentines dinner!
Let me explain...some of you may be thinking, "Aaron didn't take Kristen out to a fancy Valentine's Dinner???" Aaron did exactly what I asked for! We were watching TV a couple of weeks ago, and Papa Johns was advertising their special "heart shaped pizza" for Valentine's day. I laughed out loud and commented on how corny that was. I said "Who thinks it is cool to eat heart-shaped pizza on Valentine's Day?" No kidding, the next day, I started craving pizza and said..."Aaron,...you know that Papa Johns commercial we saw...THAT is what I want for Valentine's day." After a lot of "Are you serious?" comments, he realized that I was indeed serious.
We thought we could top off the "cheesy" night with watching "Fireproof." We both have wanted to see it, and thought that Valentine's night would be appropriate. We'd heard it was a little corny, but we were told the same thing about "Facing the Giants" and we both bawled all the way through it. Fireproof was very similar to Facing the Giants because the acting was terrible, but the story is incredible. We absolutely loved the movie. I recommend it to ANYONE. Please don't give up on it at the beginning due to the acting. You will get interested in the story line and won't be thinking of how terrible the acting is for the entire movie.
Can I re-iterate just what a perfect movie this was for us to watch on Valentine's day? As Christians, we can IDENTIFY with everything in this movie. We identify with the struggles, and identify with the TRUTH that is proclaimed in it. We could have watched another "romantic comedy" (which I am not against), but I'm so glad we watched something that spoke to our soul, stirred up conversation, and left us feeling renewed spiritually. It was really refreshing to watch a movie that portrayed what true love and romance is. It is so good to be reminded that true love has nothing to do with us. We have to allow Christ to love through us. None of us have enough grace, mercy, patience, or love of our own for our spouse or people in our lives. But when we ask Jesus to give us that love for other people, that can only come from Him, we can truly love. I am reminded of my favorite quote from high school, "When you're at the end of yourself, it is only the beginning of Him." Sooooooo...watch "Fireproof." I pray that you are blessed as we were.
We realized that yesterday was our 6th Valentine's day together! I can truly say that I was ridiculously more in love with my husband this Valentines than ever.
We took Korben on Thursday afternoon to Heber Springs to see his Mopsy and Poppy! Korben was thrilled to death to see them, as well as explore all of the new territory in their house. We had not been there since Christmas, and he has since learned to crawl like a mad-man and pull up on everything in sight. It was a completely new experience for all of us...and SO much fun!
With the supervision of Mopsy, we have actual photographs of Korben going up stairs for the first time! Pretty scary, but impressive! I'm soooo glad that I don't have to worry about stairs at our house!
Have you ever heard of the church fundraiser where church members get "flocked" with pink flamingos? The youth at Don and Julie's church are currently doing this fundraiser, and we got to be there to experience it "up close and personal." Basically, church members pay to have their yard, or someone elses, yard decorated with pink flamingos. If I remember correctly, you must pay again to get the pink flamingos out of your yard. However, You can avoid getting "flocked" buy purchasing flock insurance for $150. It is a great fundraiser and a whole lot of fun.
Korben was very glad that his Poppy and Mopsy didn't get flock insurance. He had a lot of fun playing with the pink flamingos.
As you can tell, we had a wonderful weekend with our family!
Side note: Calling all moms who happen to be reading my blog! I need advice.
We left on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. so Korben would take his afternoon nap in the car. We decided to go ahead and make the "big move" or turning his car seat around to face forward. His legs were starting to scrunch up against the back seat, and we just figured that it was time. Well, instead of falling fast asleep as he usually does in the car, he fussed for about an hour. I know he is so excited to be able to see us, and we are distracting him from going to sleep. He needs sleep, therefore, he just fusses! The driver of this road trip decided he couldn't take it anymore, and we stopped in Conway to turn the car seat back around again. He went straight to sleep. I know that was a short-term solution, considering he can not sit backwards much longer. So, my question to you mommas out there...Did your child have a harder time sleeping in the car once they were forward facing? Does it eventually get better or can I kiss car napping good bye? Leave me a comment if you have any opinion on this matter! I'd love to hear your experience.
Aaron, Korben, and I had a fabulous weekend! On Friday night Aaron and I went to Tulsa and met up with two other couples to eat dinner and see BRIAN REGAN. If you don't know who Brian Regan is, I highly recommend you google him. He is the funniest comedian ever! We laughed for literally two hours straight. Korben was also having a great time while we were in Tulsa. My best friend Emily's mom, Denise Edwards, lives in Van Buren and was kind enough to keep Korben that night! They were so good to him, and she took 25 fantastic pictures to prove it! Knowing the Edwards had Korben set our minds at ease, and we had such a great time! We picked him up Saturday morning at 9, just in time for him to take a nap in the car. We loaded up and headed to Fayetteville for a fun-filled day of shopping (and the best Sushi dinner we have had, to date!). Korben CRACKED us up all day because he kept saying "DAD." He has been saying "DaDa" for months, but all of a sudden he is saying "Dad" like crazy. The funny thing about it, is that it always sounds like it has a question mark behind it and he really annunciates the second "d". Its hard to describe...you'll just have to hear it!
Can I just say...He is such a good boy. I mean, he is probably being the sweetest and happiest he has EVER been today. For some reason, everything I do is funnier than it normally is and he is wanting to kiss me more than normal today. Have I told you that every now and then Korben likes to french kiss? As soon as I think he is over that stage, he will go in to kiss me and, well, lets just say its sloppy! Its a little gross, but still precious. He doesn't know, right? He will be so embarrassed when I tell his first girlfriend that he liked to french kiss his parents.
Here are some pictures that Aaron and I took with Korben before we left for our Tulsa Date, as well as some great pictures Denise took while keeping Korben!
The house felt a little small today as Korben crawled as fast as he could from room, to room, to room. He had so much energy, I decided to take him in the back yard and let him swing for a little while. I can't say it is warm outside, but it is not as cold as it has been! Its hard to believe that Korben's swing had ice cycles hanging off of it this time last week! I can tell that he is going to be a thrill seeker like his momma! He likes to go really up really high in the swing, he likes to hang upside down in your arms, and he loves when we push him really fast in the shopping cart. These are all ingredients to a great roller coaster ride! Fun times ahead for the whole Rodgers family!
Here is a picture of him trying out his new swing!
What's that you say? He reminds you of someone in this picture? Maybe someone on a late night talk show? Yeah, I agree. Something was up with his hair today and he freakishly resembled Conan O' Brian. Ever since Aaron got home today we have jokingly called him "Conan." He answers to it. Ha.
Two weeks ago today Korben started a fussiness frenzy that lasted almost an entire week. On that Monday (the 19th) I took him to the doctor thinking he must have had an ear infection because he was so fussy. He did not have an ear infection, but the doctor said he had probably had some sort of virus making him feel bad or he was teething. After he cried for all of Tuesday and Wednesday, I took him to an after-hours walk-in clinic to see if he had a urinary tract infection. I know that sounds random, but after trying to diagnose him via the internet, I realized he was having all of the symptoms of a UTI. He did not have one, which was a good thing, but that still didn't help our dilemma. Thursday and Friday were even more fussy days. I was doing everything I could possibly do to try to make him feel better and be happy. Nothing was working. By this point, I was losing my self confidence as a mother. I started second guessing him and thinking, "Is this just how he always is?" "Am I blowing this out of proportion?" Praise the Lord, on Saturday the 24th, he was himself again. This entire past week, he has been an absolute angel. He has felt great and been incredibly happy! It is amazing what a fussy baby vs. a happy baby will do to your psyche. I feel like a different person this week than I did last week. I just felt so sorry for him, because I knew SOMETHING had to be wrong, but he couldn't tell me. I know in my heart that it was not teething that was bothering him. I've seen how he acts when he is teething, and this was much worse. I actually ended up sick with a really sore throat later that week, and I am now convinced that he had some sort of little virus like that making him feel awful. Too bad he couldn't tell me he had a sore throat, body aches, or a headache. Even worse, even if I had known he had those symptoms, there would still be nothing I could have done for him. Fortunately, whatever it was "ran its course." Baby Einstein helped me survive that week. Once again, I thank God for Baby Einstein. I think God Himself must send subliminal messages to Korben through Baby Einstein Videos. It really seems like a spiritual experiences for him in those little 30 minute segments.
Speaking of spiritual experiences. Last Sunday (the first day of a happy week), I really wanted Korben to take a good nap before we went to Sunday night church. I never rock Korben to sleep because he does so well at going to sleep alone in his crib, but for some reason I wanted to rock him to sleep that day. I rocked him to sleep, and started to get out of the chair to put him in his crib. I knew I had lots of things I could get done during his nap. Then it hit me...those things can wait. How often does Korben sleep in my arms? I can't even remember the last time he has slept in my arms. So, I snuggled back into my chair and just watched him. Usually, I fall asleep anywhere if I am still for longer than 5 minutes. But for some reason, I never fell asleep. For two hours, I just stared at Korben's precious face, and looked around at the pictures in his room. I couldn't get over how much his "sleeping expression" still looks just like the first glimpse I ever got at him. I have to admit that for those full two hours, I never got bored, I never wished I could get up, and I was never sleepy. I just had a conversation with God in my head the entire time. The odd thing about this conversation is that I don't think I said anything more than, "Thank You." Looking at my sweet, sleeping baby's face just overwhelmed me of God's amazing grace. I looked at the collage of pictures on his wall and tears flowed down my face as I thought about all we have experienced in the past year. He truly carried me through times I could not have gotten through on my own. I know its cliche' to say this, but I don't deserve how good God has been to me. As we sang, "Your Grace is Enough" in church this morning, I really wanted it to be my prayer. Yes, God has blessed me with so much, but if it was all taken away, I would still want to be able to sing "Your Grace is enough for me." His grace IS enough for me. I don't deserve it, but I appreciate it. I want to prove that with my lifestyle. I pray that I will live with an attitude of gratitude, truly believing that His grace is enough for me. I know that my sweet Korben is God's before he is mine. I am honored that HE would trust me enough to allow me to be his mommy. I pray that Korben will see Jesus in me, and grow to know that a true relationship with Jesus is all that really matters in this life. All of this said, those two hours of rocking my Korben, were two of the most "spiritual" hours of my life. I'm so glad I chose to be still.
On a less sappy note, this whole past week has been so so so much fun. I would text Aaron throughout the day and say "We still have a happy baby." Korben gained confidence and speed each day. You would not believe how quickly he can crawl from one end of the house to the other. He has his favorite "spots" he likes to go. He likes to open and close any drawer or cabinet door in the house, and he especially loves to pull up on the bookshelf in the living room and dance to the music that is playing. He is crazy about dancing to music. He smiles and laughs the entire time! Its hard to believe that just a few weeks ago he was a stationary baby.
This past weekend we took 20+ teenage girls in the youth group to Oklahoma City for the Revolve:All Access Tour. This was an incredible conference full of concerts and speakers all pertaining to Girl's finding their identity in Christ. We had a blast! The trip was complete with jumping on the bed, very little sleep, and a wonderful trip to the Cheesecake factory! I think all of us came away from the trip encouraged in some way. Thank you, Mom, for keeping him at our house while we were gone!
I am absolutely cracking up at the fact that Korben only has one top tooth that you can see. He looks so goofy and adorable with that one big 'ole tooth! He has really started to give me the silliest faces when I try to take his picture. He just scrunches up his nose and squints his eyes. Its really hilarious. I was trying to take a picture of he and mom before church, and he made so many hilarious faces this morning before I finally got his normal smile to come out. I meant to take a picture of Korben watching the Inauguration, but I forgot. The picture with the newspaper was the best I could do for documenting Korben's presence during a historic event.
