Some News!

If you have been going here hoping for an update to only find nothing...WELL there is a good reason and its totally my fault! I moved the blog. I felt it deserved its own URL. So for now on, please go to www.hereafterever.com

I am still trying to get better at updating it. I was shooting for everyday, which it totally not realistic - maybe twice a week is a better goal for me. Anyway, enjoy!!

xo melissa

On The Move

We are on the move again. Back to Los Angeles! In fact, we are moving right across the street from our old house - how amazing is that?

can't believe we packed it all in! LA here we come!

Hitting Milestones

Ever is rolling over now. He did for the first time a few months back while we were in LA, but had yet to do it again until now. And being the proud Mama I am, I documented the entire roll:


one


two


three


four


five


six a.k.a. "what do I do with this other arm?"


seven I am clearly going "You almost got it!"


eight and the arms out!


ME: "You did it Ever, you did it!!" Ever: "Whatsup"

LOTS of Cherry Blossoms = LOTS of Cherries!

First off, how cute is this picture?



This beanie would always creeps its way over Ever's eyes, but he just sits silently in his car seat not making a sound. Oh yea..he is wide awake just kicking it!



Second - LOOK AT ALL THESE BLOSSOMS!! This mean we will need to have a party/help with picking all the cherries before the birds do.

Starting Solids

Ever is about 5 1/2 now so we have decide to introduce some solids into his diet. I mean, they are no where near solids, more like pureed goodness but you get the idea. First thing on his ever growing menu will be sweet potato's! Homemade in fact with some fresh sweet potato's from Saturday's Farmers Market. I am using the Beabe Baby Food maker and it couldn't be easier. Peel, chop, some water and this puppy steams and blends in one container. LOVE IT! Thanks Mom for the gift =).

Speaking of loving it Ever LOVES sweet potato!!









The little man is such a good eater! We are pretty new so this whole solids thing and I feel like we are entering into another chapter that I have not done a lot of research on. What do I feed him next?

Can you believe it?!

Yup...We are traveling again. Up to Tahoe for a little visit and to take care of the small farm (3 dogs and 2 cats + Bruce) at Uncle Bri Bri's. The animals have not done too much damange...yet.

Only eaten:
- 1 of Ever's bottles
- Pre-natal vitamins
- ALL of Bruce's food. Hope they don't mind sharing theirs!
- 2 picture albums

Ever has done great so far and got to meet a new friend, Austin.



Time is flying by so quick. Can't believe he is already going to be 5 MONTHS next week?!?! Cray Cray! He is showing interest in food more and more. Reaching for bites of ours while sitting in our lap.

Special shout out to Ever's Great-Grandparents who are being snow birds and enjoying the sun in Palm Springs! Wish we could have seen you guys while we are up in the snow =( For now, you will have to enjoy these pictures instead.

=)








and here is a little song for your Monday morning:

Back on the horse

I took it out for a ride in the neighborhood today.





SO FUN!!!

Traveling

The Speer family has been traveling a lot lately! We just went to LA for most of February, then we headed up to Tahoe to spend the weekend in the snow to celebrate Jedreks Birthday. Ever is becoming quiet accustomed to how we like to roll...minus the sleeping. He becomes all out of wake when we travel. Wakes up anywhere from 2-6 times a night which makes for one tired mama. But I am ok with it because I know it wont be like this forever. In fact I have decided to put all those sleep training books away and just take each day as it comes. Again, I know he wont be a little baby forever so I am enjoying these moments with him in our bed.

Some new things 4 1/2 month old Ever has done...
He rolled from his belly to his back while we were in LA...but has yet to do it again. He has started to laugh more and more. His Dad can really get him going. Ever LOVES looking at his buddy in the mirror. After I changed his diaper, I flip him around to check himself out in the mirror and he just smiles away at his reflection. He has started to reach out for things with his right hand. This is a new thing that started in the last few days. I have giving him little teenie tiny bites of sweet potato and home made apple sauce and he has looooved it! Will still wait till he around 6 months to really begin introducing him to food, but I couldn't resist when he was just starring at me eating these few items in front of him.

Speaking of Ever...he is crying right now and so over being in his swing so I must go. Mama to the rescue.

xo melissa

Here in LA

I love this city. I really do. The weather has been AMAZING!! We arrived last Wednesday, and here we are a week later. Time flew by! Its been so nice to visit with friends, go out to dinners and brunches and enjoy this place until....

Poor Ever got his first bug and had a mild fever for 2 days. We visited Dr. Fleiss (who was so sweet) because well I am paranoid. He just said to watch the little nugget, make sure he stays hydrated and give him some baby tylenol if he needs it. For two nights straight he was woken up screaming. In that moment, you feel so helpless. Its kinda scary. Jedrek and I just look at each other and go through all the steps. Diaper wet? Nope. Hot? Nope. Hungry? Nope. I guess its time to just hold the little boy close and sway. Its so nice having Jedrek there in those moments. He rubs my back to let me know he is there when I am trying to calm our little one. I am so grateful for having him as my partner and Ever's father. He really knows just what to do.

P.S. I am still enjoying this place.

Ever gets to meet him Uncle, Aunt, Great-Grandmother and Great-Aunt and Uncle for the first time on Friday! I am so excited to see them all and introduce them to the new family addition.

Wish us luck tonight!!

xo melissa

Happy Baby in the Morning


Aunt Laura meeting Ever at Brunch


Sleepy Nugget

Gloomy Weather

so. tired. of. this. weather.

so. ready. for. some. SUN!!

I heard LA had amazing conditions. 80 degrees...in January? How lucky. It sounds like mother nature gifted all the angelinos with a little bit of the perfect temp to go out and enjoy the weekend with. dicks.

its ok. I know that the 100+ degrees we have here is just around the corner! JOY! =)

Blowing Rasberries?

What is it called when you are giving a raspberry, but stick out your tongue at the same time? Blowing a raspberry? Anyway, whatever _____ (fill in the blank) is called, I entertain Ever with this gesture daily. Yesterday on a grocery store shopping adventure, he did it back! It was AMAZING. Ever blew a raspberry (or whatever its called) back! Now the new daily thrill is getting him shower me with raspberries. I love it! I will try to get a video of him doing this to prove it. =) In the mean time, enjoy this amazing picture of him laughing with daddy....

Active Little Prince

Dear Ever,

It hasn't been a secret that you are such an active little baby, but I guess its been our secret as to how much.

Jedrek and I visited our Midwife today after returning from our last "2 people in the family" adventure to find out that Ever might be breeched. This was not the best news since I am now full-term and a breech baby means no home birth. Our little man, the acrobat. I have to be honest and tell you my mommy instincts kicked in and I kinda had a feeling everything was going to be alright. A few days later we took a quick road trip up to Paradise for a Ultrasound to find out if this is indeed true. Good News!! He IS head down, but a little shy. One of his cute paws has been in front of his face making it slightly difficult to feel his head. Check out the pics below for all the details. BTW, he has no problem showing off his "boy" parts. Is this a little bit of insight to how our little Ever will be? Are you falling in love with him more and more like I am?

OH and p.s.....Paula our amazing midwife has mentioned numerous times that she is not surprised Ever is such a tumbler being that his folks are also people who can't sit still and are constantly on the move. I take that as a total compliment and know we are just an adventurous family. There is already a running list of all the places I want to experience with our family of 3.

xo melissa

Birth, Heart, Love, Place called Tahoe

The other night Mel and I were at our birthing class and we were asked to close our eyes and think of a magical place that we would want to be. The funny thing is that we were asked to do so to take our minds off of the fact that we were clenching ice cubes in our hands. I immediately went to Tahoe. Standing on the top of the half pipe, then dropping in, listening to the wind and that dead silence of snow. I chuckled because I'm holding Ice and I went to the snow. When we opened our eyes I asked Melissa where she went. "Tahoe" she said, on the beach. Just goes to show.. it's a magical place.

This is how we work

How to start....

I know, I know.....why has this taken so long to get going? Well to be honest I just didnt know how to start. I mean, SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED in the last months and I guess I was just too focused on figuring out how to cover ALL of it (which I understand now is a little daunting). So lets just jump right in and get this blog up and running.

Jedrek and I just moved into an amazing house located much closer to downtown and right around the corner from family. Although it has taken us a lot longer than expected to get settled in, we are super excited to make this house our home.
Check out the pics of our new casa. And please excuse the mess!

A trip to Mt. Lassen

One great thing about living in Northern California is being able to explore all the places that I once went as a kid. This weekend, Jedrek, bruce and I were able to take a day trip to Lassen, a place I only remember from a picture I have of my mom, brother and I. It was a beautiful drive up, passing many potential camping spots and flowing waterfalls. When we arrived to the mountain, we both could not believe the amount of snow that was still there! I am talking about banks about 5 feet above our car - it was crazy. You were only able to drive about 500 feet into the park to check out a few of the geyser that are simmering away. We took the opportunity to stretch our legs and smell some sulphur.

On our way back home, we stopped in Red Bluff for burgers at Buds Jolly Cone and a little antique shopping. We totally lucked out and a box full of camera stuff for just 20 bucks! It sounds like the lady just wanted to get rid of it, but we scored a super 8 camera, projector, an old point-and-shoot, and all these lighting kits from the 50's - ps everything was in mint condition. Check out this happy customer..