Bringing in the New Year

We made it through the Canfield Christmas extravaganza, which is 3 full days of opening presents, eating, and spending time with everyone that Troy is related to. It was fun, but a bit draining. Ian got way more presents than any 9-month-old could ever need.

Ian and I are currently in Illinois with my parents. Troy left for Guatemala a few days ago. Once I go back to Anderson, I'll definitely be ready for him to be home! I'm going to spend New Year's Eve with my parents' small group, which is also what I did last year when Troy was in Mexico. I'm happy Troy can be a world traveler, but a little disappointed that that aspect of my life is on hold for now. On the other hand, I'm glad not to be sleeping on the floor in one big room with 16 college students and taking showers from a large jug while in my bathing suit. I'm also happy not to share my sleeping quarters with rats, mice and scorpions, and I like not having to pee in the middle of the jungle because the outhouse is full to overflowing (that's what happened last time I was in Guatemala!) Call me high maintenance if you'd like.

At Ian's 9 month appointment on Monday the doc said he's in the 97th percentile of height, but only 25-50th percentile of weight. She told me I need to start buttering him up (literally), which I think is a bit ridiculous. Instead, I'lve been feeding him lots of avocado, the world's most perfect food! Luckily, he seems to have his daddy's incredible metabolism and love for being active ALL OF THE TIME!

Here's our long, lean little guy.

I've lost several pounds since he's started solid foods because I can't eat in front of him. He gets mad and starts crying if he sees me eating and can't have any. He has his mommy's love of food! There have been days I've forgotten to eat meals because I've been so busy taking care of him. I don't think I've ever forgotten to eat before...ever. Who said being a stay at home mom is easy???

Hope this isn't annoying. ...

Troy and I just started a new business distributing Shaklee products. While I don't want to use this blog to regularly promote this (because that would be annoying!), I wanted to at least write a bit about what we're doing. Shaklee is a company that sells natural and organic products. While I never thought I'd want to sell this stuff myself, we were really impressed with the products once we used them.

For the past couple of years I've become more aware and concerned about toxins in the environment, and especially in our homes. We started using the Shaklee cleaning products because they are completely organic and non-toxic, especially important now that Ian is crawling all over the place and putting everything in his mouth. You buy the main cleaning solution (Basic H2) in a concentrated form for like 10 bucks, and it makes something like 48 gallons of cleaning solution . . . it's really amazing stuff. There is a whole line of cleaning products since there are harmful chemicals in everything from dish soap, laundry detergent, fabric softeners, and basically everything else we use to clean. You can buy individual products, or the entire line.

So, I'm not going to make a long sales pitch, but those of you who have kids, or who are getting ready to have kids, or those who don't want to inhale any more toxic chemicals from your cleaning products should take a look at our web site, http://canfield.myshaklee.com/us/en/whynow.html, and watch the short video (the statistic about stay at home moms having a 50% higher rate of death from cancer is quite frightening!!) . If you want more info, just ask. There are some great deals going on right now. We have a trial kit of the Get Clean line if you'd like to try the yourselves.

Just know that we NEVER would do something like this unless we truly believed in the products (like most of you, I hate it when people try to sell me stuff I don't need or want!!) They also offer vitamins and a line of baby items if you're interested.
Thanks for reading my spiel!!

the last month

OK, so I always wait to blog until something exciting happens. Then, inevitably, a month or so goes by, and nothing exciting has really happened. I could write about all the cool new things Ian does every day, but that would bore everyone except for us as new parents. So here's the quick Ian update: He's army crawling all over the place. Today he made it to our dog Petey's water bowl and dumped it all over himself. Yum! We must get in gear and baby proof the house. It's amazing how kids are magnets to anything they shouldn't be playing with. He also LOVES to eat. His latest favorites are pumpkin with apples and tofu...Aunt Heidi and uncle Josh are trying to turn him vegetarian. We'll see how that goes.













For thanksgiving my family came to stay with us. Since we're all crazy, we decided to make over our family room, which was in desperate repair of a face lift. My sister is amazing and decorating. So here is the before:

































And here is the after:




























We love our new room, and we never would have finished it without the help of my family. And I must add that my sister made all of the artwork herself. She's amazing!Thanks guys!!!

Ian also recently experienced his first Pacers game. He was mesmerized by the crowd, noise and lights.















































I must also add that Ian is doing great sleeping. He sleeps about 11 hours at night, and takes 3 naps a day like clockwork. If you would have told me that 3 months ago, I would have laughed (or maybe cried) and never would have believed you. So anyone out there who has a difficult or colicky baby who you think will never get easier, call me! There is hope!