End of Fall

We met the 4 months mark of his little life.

Only 4 months ago this little guy was born and it has gone by SO fast!!

At the same time I feel like he's so old!!!! Just the other day he got interested in our water bottle, so we gave him a little bit through a straw..Same day we got him a sippy cup. He loves it.
I can't believe he's actually interested in it!

The next step is baby rice and I'm REALLY procrastinating!!

We don't have an appointment with his Doc. for a couple more weeks but I can't wait to find out how much he really weigh's his length..all that.

Also one of his new things is reaching up when you are reaching to pick him up. It's SO SWEET! He is sitting up a little better, holding his head better..he's getting so big!

Yesterday he laughed for the first time!! Hunter was at work so I'm really sad he missed it, but I video taped it. It was so cute! Unfortunately He hasn't laughed since....

He isn't quite sure what to do since we are staying in one place for so long. But he's getting the hang of it..

hopefully.

quick rant.

How do single mothers do it?!?!

My parents are out of town this weekend, Xaundelle and Hunter are working..How am I going to do this without them?

We are having a group of people stay with us this weekend so I also feel like playing Miss Hostess.

and...Julien has decided he likes waking up early.

Today:

Wake up at 7am, I have to clean the kitchen to start Challah to freeze for tomorrow, clean my room because it's a wreck, and finish cleaning the living room. Oh on top of it all i smell so a shower hopefully can be in the equation.

I got Julien to sleep in my bed by himself for an hour, so I got a huge chunk done. But since then..he's grumpy! Not letting me do ANYTHING!
How am I going to finish anything I need to do!? I need a babysitter just so I can shower.
How do single mothers do this?
What do you do when you need a shower, pee, clean a dish?
Do you let them scream the whole time? I don't know if I can do that.

I need my Mom.

Proud Mama!

I am a proud Mama.

For the last 4 months my baby has been sleeping in bed with us (not changing that anytime soon), but I always wanted to put him in his crib for nap time. Which was impossible.
I would lay him down and he would start screaming right away..I would wait a few minutes but it wouldn't stop. I felt bad to let him scream it out ( don't judge me ).

So, on this past tour of 2 1/2 weeks I started putting him in his Moses basket more often to see if he would fall asleep. Success.

Last night was our first whole day home, and Hunter had gotten Julien to sleep. So he laid him down in his crib and he slept for a whole 3 HOURS!! I was so proud of him! When he woke up I fed him and laid him right back down and he didn't wait up until midnight!

He is growing up so fast! I dread the day I have to give him solid food because it's one step closer to toddlerdum. (hah)

There is a new baby in the household, Congratulations Steve and Serena Pinder. Gavyn Anthony Pinder was born 11/11/2010 a whole 9lbs! It's exciting to have another bugger around, makes me feel like Julien was born so long ago!
But we have great plans for the two to be best friends!
Julien looks monstrous next to the little guy, but I'm sure he'll catch up in size soon enough!

We are home, I couldn't be more excited to have a few months off, but then I remember it's not really 'off' just preparing for the next year!
I am so proud of my JuJu bean being so good on tour! He is definitely the DREAM BABY!

I will try to keep everyone posted over the next few months, but we will be very busy booking shows (contact us if you want us menastreeswalking.net), buying tires, doing minor renovations to the bus, and recording our new EP. All in a days work my friends, never a dull moment with the Trees (aguirres, nelsons, hellermanns, pinders) it's great!

A day in the life..

We are driving to our next destination.
Hunter, Julien and I are crammed onto one bench of the van with our day bags, random dirty burp cloths, loose baby socks, and the occasional bag of candy/medicine/and or target goodies.
I happened to eat a taco bell bean burrito the night before, not knowing it was going to upset Julien's belly..he is now fussing aka screaming, crying and farting.

It is that time when no one in the van is saying anything about anything but in your mind your being that frantic mother trying to get your child to shut up because the people behind you (or in front) are getting irritated and you can just tell by their sighs and stares.
What. do. you. do.
It is your fault your child is screaming yet there is nothing to calm him down. I am passed the point of shoving Binky's in his mouth, bouncing him on my knee, changing positions..I can't walk around with him so we are both frustrated.

We arrive at a new location where we are playing a show that evening. We have about 45-1 hour for loading our stuff in/setting up. Awkwardly you meet people while you are breastfeeding and your son decides he doesn't want the blanket covering him, so you fight to keep your breast covered. We sound check and Julien gets handed off to my Mom whom he will soon call KiKi, she holds him while we are on stage. Luckily for all of us he usually sleeps during this time. Either she has him in a sling, his Moses basket, or on whatever soft surface she can find, she is also watching our merch table/selling Cd's, tending to the dog (romeo) and making sure the baby stays quiet this whole time (she is wonder women).

After possibly getting something to eat after the show, we then arrive somewhere to sleep: church, hotel, host home..you name it. Upon arriving we unload 6 blowup mattresses, 3 bags of blankets and sheets, 10+ pillows, 10+ suitcases, and whatever necessary for baby.
This might all be for one night. The next day no meal is promised so you eat or don't eat, and do it all over again.

oh..a day in the life.


Pictures: August 2010

Photos/update

I heard from SOME people, that I didn't have enough pictures (Grace Brindle). So this post is dedicated to Grace.



JuJu's First bath at home!!


Packing all these Diapers for the road! After 3 months I still haven't used them all!



JuJu Hits the road!



JuJu falls asleep listening to his favorite singer Kristene Muller!


JuJu LOVES his KiKi!


And his Sabba too!!



JuJu reading his first Pooh book!


JuJu meets Veda!



JuJu is in California!!


Family photo at the famous PeeWee Dinosaurs (peewees big adventure anyone?)


JuJu meets his Great Auntie Kim!


JuJu meets his new friend Banjo (who wanted to bite him)



JuJu at a show wearing his Headphones!


JuJu being Good lookin!

Julien has already doubled his birth weight (I know) He's a big boy!!
It is a great adventure having him on the road with us and I absolutely LOVE it! sometimes it's hard and frustrating but whose life isn't?

Right now we are in Brandon Florida (close to Tampa), KiKi (my mom), Xaundelle, Hunter, Julien and I are all sick! Please pray for a speedy recovery and that no one else in our group gets sick. We are touring with a few other bands and two young girls 7 and 9 are really sick as well. We need healing!!

Thanks for reading!

married, mother friend

Life has been crazy, thus the long space between these 'blogs'.

Having a child, a husband, and a community of 10 around you is incredible..But there is a whole new realm of loneliness that comes with it at the age of 20.

Julien is my life, I love him like I never thought I could love, and even his quivering lip before a loud screech is adorable.
Along with Motherhood and being a Wife at my age comes quite a few changes:

I consider myself a hippy Mom, I hold my baby more then not because I know it's good for him (find links at the bottom of blog), I breastfeed exclusively (not even pump) because I know what is healthy for him, I'm not going to feed him real food until he is 6 months old because who wants their baby to grow up too fast?, and I'm not going to cut his hair until he is 3.
Because of my parent 'choices' it limits my activity specially with people my age.

No 20 year old girl wants to hang out with her married, mother friend while she is breastfeeding outside of Jimmy Johns, and changes her baby's dirty diaper on the TABLE, No 20 year old girl wants to take her married, mother friend to the movies because she will probably be alone the whole time while the mother is taking her fussy baby out.
No 20 year old girl wants a curfew because her FRIEND is the one with the kid, She doesn't want to miss out on life because of her Friend's baby. Mom friends are few and far between..specially ones your age, stable, God-fearing, and willing to be there throughout the ride.


Being a Mother is perfect, being a Wife is a theme park. I am so happy with my little Family and my guys are really the most important thing to me.

Julien is a trooper! He has been to 11 states in his short 3 months of life, he has probably met more people then the average 7Th grader, slept on more air mattresses then the average Cabelas customer He is a trooper!

He is now rolling over from tummy to back, discovering his hands, and slowly learning he has feet..but he knows how to swing'em.
Only 2 more weeks and we will be home for the winter!!


Links
holding baby: http://www.thebabywearer.com/index.php?page=bwgreatthings
feeding baby: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html
cutting hair: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_haircut