Heber Springs Weekend

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.

Great Weekend!

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!

Just a swingin'

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.

The past two weeks

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.

Thanks for reading! Have an awesome day.

Videos

Here are the videos of Korben I have been promising. This past weekend, my best friend Emily came to visit me. It was so much fun watching Korben interact with her. I think he was pretty sad to see her go!

I had just told Emily, "He really likes when you pretend like a stuffed animal is a puppet." I think he could have laughed all night long with this little "screaming- bear" routine she had going on. They seriously went back and forth with this for about 15 minutes. We were laughing so hard at him, we were crying.





For Christmas, my mom got us a Bose iPod dock. We are enjoying it so much! We just leave our iPod on it and listen to music all the time! Korben is loving it the most. He absolutely loves music. Whenever he is fussy, I just turn on an up-beat song and dance circles around him. Lets just say that he has been really in to "Cotton-eyed Joe" lately! Here he is with Emily, "Bringin' sexy back." **Please notice the dance break he does entirely with arm motions in the middle of this clip!




And last, but not least- Here he is discovering one of the best toys in our house. In fact, one of these toys is located in every room! It only took him learning to crawl for us to notice we even had these built in toys!

Little Stinker

I have some good news and not-so-good news to report.

The not-so-good news is that Korben is teething something FIERCE. Monday and Tuesday have were miserable days for him. I am trying everything, but nothing is really seeming to help. If he is awake, you can pretty much guarantee he is fussing. Of course, you won't believe me when you see the adorable picture below. I promise you, this mischievous smile was one of the only smiles I have seen in the past two days.

Good news is that his crawling skills are become quite incredible (says the proud momma!). He is following me around the house like a little puppy. Its really cute, except I don't think he wants me to know he is following me. When I turn around and catch him following me, he stops. When I turn back around to walk forward, I hear him coming after me. He is sort of like a 10 month old spy. He is also pulling up on everything! He really likes to crawl up to a drawer, open it, pull up on it, and then pull things out. Tonight, before I put him to bed, he found my swimsuit drawer (located inconveniently in our night stand, because it is I drawer I never need to open). He was so proud of himself.

Look at that face!

OFFICIALLY CRAWLING

My job as a stay at home mom has just taken on a more extensive job description. Part of that description would include, "keep Korben from crawling out of the house." Okay, maybe not out of the house, but he is officially "on the move." I can't believe how much has changed in one week! On Sunday the 11th, Korben could still not crawl. Sunday the 18th, he was promoted to the crawler room at church and he was keeping up with the best of them. I can't believe he is so good at something he has only been doing for a week. If he gets his eye on something he wants, it doesn't matter how far he has to go to get it. The things he wants the most: cell phone chargers, cords of any kind, gum wrappers, and pieces of lint that are (almost) to small for the human eye to see. It is pretty scary. Aaron and I just can't quit commenting on how different life seems at home with a moving baby. We were both in the bathroom brushing our teeth this morning and we just wanted Korben to sit on the carpet with his toys for a SECOND. Everytime I'd move him back to his toys, there he was, pulling up on our legs again!

One week ago, I first saw him standing in his crib. Of course, I was so proud of this new skill he had learned. I am no longer as enthusiastic about this little trick. I'm going to entitle it "the sleep stealer." You see, he will lay down to take a nap, sleep for about 5-10 minutes, and then stand up in his crib and scream until I come to get him. I don't think he has figured out that he can lay back down once he stands up. I'm determined to teach him this very soon, though. These 10 minute naps are not going to cut it.

He did NOT take a good nap after church yesterday, which means by 4:30 when I dropped him off in the church nursery he was incredibly fussy (due to exhaustion). When I came back to pick him up at 7, he had only napped for a few minutes, and spent most of his time crying. Poor ladies in the nursery! I'm convinced this behavior can be mostly blamed on no nap in the morning (because of church) and a lame afternoon nap (standing in crib). However, he did have a 101 temperature last night which made us think that an ear infection was possibly to blame for this fussiness. I couldn't help but take him to the doctor today to rule out an ear infection. He has only ever had one, and the only symptoms were fussiness and ear pulling. Now every time he is fussy and pulling on his ears, my heart is unsettled until I know for sure that he doesn't have an ear infection. Dr. Dupree said there was no ear infection. Yay! She said his fussiness could be coming from teething and the fever from some sort of cold.

My favorite thing about taking Korben to the doctor is finding out his height and weight. I could not believe how much he had grown in ONE MONTH. When I took him for his 9 month check up he was 22 pounds and 30 inches. Today he was 24 pounds and 31 1/4 inches. I told y'all he'd been making up for lost meals after that stomach virus.

I am having problems getting my videos uploaded to you tube, but hopefully I'll get them posted soon. I have some CUTE ones to show.