Collyn- 9 Months

I am a little late posting this. There has been so much going on these last few weeks, I have neglected a lot of things in life. He is an update on our little guy. 9 months already!?

GROWTH: Weight: 16 lbs 4 oz (3rd percentile) Height: 26 1/2 inches (3rd percentile)

SLEEP: Collyn is sleeping through the night. His bedtime is between 9 and 9:30 PM. He sleeps until about 7:45 AM or 8 AM. His first nap is at 11 AM and his second nap is around 2:30 PM. I have scheduled his second nap with Alden's only nap of the day. I am able to get a lot done because they both usually take a good 2 hour nap.

EATING: He is still on Sensitive formula. He isn't spitting up at all which is great. He eats about 3-4 8 ounce bottles a day. He eats breakfast in the morning which is baby cereal mixed with some sort of fruit puree. A snack mid-morning (Bottle and finger food). After his nap he has a bottle and a little later he has lunch which is a veggie puree and a finger food. Nap time again. BOttle when he wakes up. Then, about 7 PM he has dinner which is a meat, veggie, and grain. Then, he will have a bottle before bed. I swear all I do is feed the kid! :)

CLOTHING: 6-9 Month

DIAPERS: Size 3

DEVELOPMENT: He is pulling himself up to stand but sometimes can't remember how to get back down, so he either cries or falls backwards onto his bottom. He is still army crawling, not on his hands and knees yet. He tries, but it is much faster army crawling. He is self-feeding. He says Momma, Dadda, Baba, Uh-Oh. He plays really well with his brother.

I can't believe times has flown this quickly. Pretty soon I will be planning a birthday party!

The Haines go Healthy! :)

So, I think in some of my past posts, I've said my cooking has been just "Farm cooking". Lots of butter, potatoes, red meats, etc. Good "Stick to your bones" cooking. It's true.

Our favorite meal around here is Shepherds pie. Nice, fattening, way too many calories.

This past couple weeks, Lyndon hasn't been feeling good. He's not sure if it is stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, or a combination of all three. Of course, I can't really help the stress. He's has some big decisions on his mind (See past post) and the company he is working for was bought out by a different company, so he is going through a transition stage, and trying to deal with all the end of the school year things with youth group. It adds up.

I can, sort of, help with lack of sleep. He has to be at work now at 6 AM. And the company he is now with is about a 30 minute drive away. If Collyn or Alden are up in the night, I get up, so he can sleep.

The main thing I can help is his diet. I cook the meals, he eats them. If I don't have the time, energy, or motivation to cook, we eat out. And living in a small town, there are about 7 places to choose from. Maybe 2 of them have healthy options... Which means they have a salad bar.

On Saturday, we got to talking and I told him he is scaring me. He doesn't feel good, he has no energy, he is tired all the time. It's time for a healthy diet change.

Yesterday after church, we headed to the grocery store. We shopped in the meat department and the produce department. We stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies, some good chicken and some nuts and some "Treats" that were low calorie, low fat, low everything.

For breakfast, we made our normal Sunday morning rush through McDonalds drive-thru because we don't have time to make anything in the morning. Instead of the normal 500-750 Calorie breakfast, we chose fruit and yogurt parfaits and orange juice.

For lunch, we made a big salad with green leaf lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, a little cheese, un-salted sunflower seeds, croutons, and light dressing.

For dinner, I made another salad, Caesar this time, with grilled chicken, and strawberries on the side.

Lyndon ate some pistachios for a snack and I had a nectarine and a string cheese.

Lyndon is a pop drinker. Instead, he is drinking water or lemonade. I've always been a water drinker or an unsweetened iced-tea drinker so this wasn't a big switch for me.

The nice thing about it.... With just that in his body, he was out yesterday afternoon mowing the lawn and doing yard work. I was pulling weeds in the flower beds and sweeping the sidewalks. We were both motivated to do more.

It's such a nice change. I'm excited to see the results.

I don't have much weight to lose, but I want to be more tone and healthier. Lyndon has some weight to lose. It will be nice to see the changes in both of us.

Dance Recital 2013

The Next Step dancers had their spring recital last night at the high school auditorium here in town. They did a wonderful job. There were 18 total routines with dance and tumbling.

I was a little frazzled the whole night because Lyndon had to work late and I had both kids by myself. I had family there, thank goodness, otherwise I wouldn't have made it.

Of course, we all pulled it off and the recital was great!

Lyndon Preaches for Mother's Day

Lyndon was asked to do a tribute to Mom's for Mother's day at church. He did the sermon.

It was wonderful.

He talked about Mary, Jesus' mother and how great of a mom she was.

I was so proud of him.

If you want to hear it, go to

http://www.westvalleychurchfm.org/sermon-audio/

Click on the play button underneath

Worship 5-12-13

The Next Step performs at the Mother Daughter Luncheon

My dancers were invited to perform at a Mother Daughter Luncheon at the Weiser Christian Church. We brought the Tots, Pom, Jazz 1, and Jazz 2. The dancers did amazing.

Lyndon did the music for us. He braved his way to the sound booth around aout 60 women to do the music. What a great husband! :)

We brought 8 routines which was a 1/2 hour show. They all did wonderful. Our recital is this weekend, so it was a great chance to practice on stage.

Mother Daughter Luncheon

For Mother's Day, the Weiser Christian Church, where my parents and sisters go to church, had a Mother Daughter Tea/Luncheon. My grandma put together to luncheon. She did a wonderful job. It was a potluck with salads and finger foods and great drinks with tea and lemonade. There was a "Photo Booth" so to speak where we got our pictures taken and The Next Step Dancers performed for the entertainment. (There will be another post for this, of course).

It was such a fun time. The food was great and the dancers had a good 1/2 hour show for all the ladies of the church.

Lyndon was busy the hour before the luncheon, he took Alden with him, and I took Collyn with me. He was the little ladies man for a little while before the luncheon started. Lyndon picked him up right before it started, but I was able to get a picture with him.

Big Decisions

A couple months ago, Lyndon applied for a lead pastor position at a Christian Church in a small town in California. He went through numerous Skype interviews (I was involved with two) and recently found out that they were offering him the position.

Last weekend, we made our way down to Northern California to visit the church. It is an 11 hour drive... With a 2 year old and 9 month old. The kids did AMAZING! There were only a couple meltdowns along the way that was taken care of by stopping at the next town on the route (Some with only a population of 250). We would stretch our legs and maybe find a little gas station with a bathroom and convenience store where I would change diapers and Lyndon would find little things to buy for distractions. Normally, crackers and juice and one stop was a little toy car (Cheap toy car for $3... I about choked but it kept Alden happy for hours so it was worth the.... 3 whole dollars for a 5 cent car)

On our way down we drove through Oregon and Nevada and stopped in Reno, NV for the night at a Holiday Inn on the Freeway. We got there about 9 at night so we got to the hotel room and let the boys run out some energy and then hopped into bed for another day of traveling.

We drove through Sacremento, CA the next day and headed north on I-5 for about an hour until we reached the town. When we got to the hotel, there was a little care package on one of the beds with snacks and drinks and toys for the boys. It was very refreshing to have. We went to a local Mexican Restaraunt for a late lunch (and the boys were restless, so it was a little bit of a disaster. Thank goodness the restaraunt had a little pond with turtles.)

Later that evening, we went and visited the church, met the board members and they had some snacks and drinks for us to enjoy. We did a walk-through of the church and then chatted with them for about an hour. We were exhausted by this point, so we went back to the hotel, swam in the indoor pool and went to bed.

The next day, we went out to breakfast with the pastoral search team and board members. Then, Lyndon went to a meeting to talk about the job and all that fun stuff. I stayed with the boys in the hotel room until he got back, getting them down for their naps and resting a little bit. We then were picked up by a couple who drove us around town showing us some houses and the town in general.

Later that night, we were off to a BBQ at one of the search teams houses and had a great time enjoying their company and fellowshipping.

We came home the next day, driving the whole 11 hours in one day. We were all exhausted by the end of it.

Now, the question is... Do we take the job??

We have gone back and forth a lot. The town is adorable and the church members were friendly and inviting, but we would be leaving everything we have always known, including all our family and friends. It's a big decision, but we know God will show us the right way.

Lots of changes and big decisions ahead.