Moran Family Adventures: musings of a boy mom

  Thanksgiving 2014 Thanksgiving in our house is normally spent with co-workers vs. family. But in the Air Force, the people you work with end up being your family because family in the more traditional sense of the word is usually much too far away to see on every single major holiday. Growing up turkey day was always a huge feast, full of traditional American meals as well as a spread of filipino food. And if someone said dinner was at 1800, it meant people wouldn't start showing up until at least an hour later and we wouldn't eat for another two hours. Matt calls it Hawaii time, I call it Filipino time….in any case, Filipino time has resulted in me having a serious need to always be on time if not early to something. Thanksgiving meals are great and all, and I appreciate the emphasis on identifying things we're grateful for, but really…….huge family get togethers were a norm for me growing up and the same goes for Matt. With that said, I've never made a huge ...

Love DIY  I am such a craft junkie. The amount of STUFF I have in my craft room (most of which I hardly touch nowadays) is appalling. But I truly believe that crafting is such a fun way to express yourself and now that I have Jellybean, it's an even better way to creatively capture my new adventures with my son. Between that and my MANY impromptu  photo sessions…and working/living every day life, I have my hands full. Sometimes I stress out over all the crafty things I want to do and the little time I have to do it. Well, really, I stress out about just about everything I have to do and the little time I feel like there is to do it. Some days it seems like I move at mach 8 the entire day without taking a breather or time to just acknowledge how fortunate I am. Between getting everything together to head out the door by 0630, work, working out after work, picking Jellybean up at 1730, getting home, taking care of the pets, making dinner, feeding...

Here we go…. I constantly find myself doing things I said I would NEVER do as a mother. My naïve judgmental pre-baby self would be absolutely horrified of the person I've become.  That girl can suck it because she had no idea how hard (yet totally awesome) being a mother is! That girl also didn't know what really mattered- I'm getting a better understanding and the judgment is quickly subsiding.  1. I still co-sleep even though I said I never would. 2. I still offer the pacifier when we're out in public even though I said I never would.  3. I don't always wash his toys when they fall on the ground before I give it back to him. If it's covered in dog hair. I pick the dog hair off and give it back to him.  4. I never wash his new clothes.  5. I'm all about baby-led weaning but sometimes, it's just so much faster/cleaner/easier to stick the food in his mouth for him.  6. I'm not as diligent about hand washing as I SHOULD be. Especially a...

It's Getting Cold Outside   It's only November and I feel like we're in the middle of winter already! During the hot summer months all I can think about is this cold weather, now I'm longing for August again. I guess I'm hard to please. How do I teleport myself to somewhere with perfect 65 degree weather all year long?  This cold weather is definitely an adjustment for me and Jellybean. I worry that I don't have enough layers on him or that I have too many! I'm constantly feeling his hands and feet to make sure they aren't too cold or too warm. It's so hard when your little one can't just tell you if the weather makes them uncomfortable. I'm just going with siding with caution and if he's too warm he'll fuss and let me know. Normally, he just starts sweating and that's always a good giveaway.  I've learned that layers are the way to go. Long sleeve onsie, fleece lined jeans, a jacket, beanie, gloves, Uggs, and we...

At a whopping 7 months, my Jellybean, my baby, is no longer a baby. And boy does he know it. He wakes up ready to start the day! He's crawling, learning, exploring, and experiencing the wonders of life and all it has to offer. He's eager to take in the world and meet new people. Every day he grows bigger, stronger, smarter....every day I grow more proud, happy, and in love. He's reached milestone after milestone- from lifting his head to eating solid foods. Now that he's getting good at crawling, it seems like he's crawling away from me. He's no longer a newborn that rests contently in my arms all day long for snuggles and sleep. He WANTS to explore this big new world that he's finally starting to understand exists beyond my arms and nothing is stopping that curious mind. By no means would I ever discourage my handsome little man from branching out into the world that awaits him. I eagerly day dream about the type of man he will become and pray that my pare...

A Day Without Jellybean?  We turned this recent weekend into a long four day. Having Tuesday off of work to celebrate veterans day yet coming in on Monday seemed a little absurd, so we opted to take Monday off too. The daycare would still be open which meant Matt and I would have a whole entire day to OURSELVES. OH MY. What in the world would we do with all that Jellybean-less time? The options were endless. Sleep? Go to a movie? A fancy meal somewhere? The opportunities were endless and we opted for......kayaking from the backyard and exploring the bay we live in. Not quite fancy schmancy but definitely Matt and Amor Moran. All the other times we've kayaked, Jellybean has been with us so Matt has had to do all the paddling himself. He was definitely excited about having an extra set of arms available to help him paddle! But before our kayaking adventure started, we had just a few errands to run. Like gorge ourselves on Cracker Barrel breakfast and explore the wonders of Bass Pr...

Things Can Stay The Same  I've said it before, and I will continue to say it. Matt and I are determined to continue to do the things we used to love doing before Jellybean came along. I just don't think having a baby means hiding out indoors. Sure, it's A LOT more work, the elements always play a tricky factor, and there's always that fear that a meltdown in the middle of a public place will result in hateful stares from strangers. You know what, I really don't care. Go ahead and give me the stink eye all you want, my baby is going to experience the wonderful things this world has to offer. I don't work long days so I can hide out in my house all day on my days off. With that said, something Matt and I used to do all the time was go disc golf. I mentioned in a previous post that he is basically in love with any activity that requires throwing an object at a target. Well, that's pretty much all disc golf is. In Tucson we used to go discing every weekend, a...