1 Year Old

Nursing/Eating: We have reached our 1-year mark for breastfeeding and I feel like it’s such a huge accomplishment! I would like to nurse for 2 years so we’re half way there! Cash still loves nursing so I feel like that goal is attainable. Cash is showing more and more interest in food as well so that’s really fun. So far he has eaten avocados, beets, carrots, green beans, ground beef, peas, squash, sweet potato, turkey, zucchini and basil. He loved the turkey so much on Thanksgiving! We gave him a big hunk the next day and he ate most of it and then proceeded to treat the rest like a car (everything in a car). He didn’t want to let go of the hunk of turkey and would pause his car play to take another bite! It was hilarious! Every summer we buy a half of a beef from the Selkirk Ranch, they have the best organic, grass-fed and grass-finished beef ever! I made tacos this week and we deiced to give Cash some ground beef (no seasoning or salt and pepper – just fried) and he loved it as much as the turkey! I think we have a little carnivore on our hands!

Cloth Diapering: Cash is still wearing medium OBFs and I think they will fit for quite a while too. He is also trying his hardest to wear out the knees in all of his woolies by crawling like a mad man! He is such a busy, busy baby! Yes baby! I can still call him my baby for a few more hours!

Sleep: I think it safe to say that you are sleep deprived when you are too exhausted to life your head to look at the clock across the room. I think Cash has maybe slept for 2 hours at a time here and there but I can’t be positive. He still nurses throughout the night but I’m hoping that will decrease a little when he starts eating more.

I swear my mom should be a baby whisperer! She is so good as rocking/walking Cash to sleep and then transferring him to the changing pad on the ground! Every time I try he wakes up! So naptime is still something that Cash and I will share for a while longer.

Likes/Dislikes: Like I said above, Cash is such a happy boy! He is so silly and loves to laugh and smile. I always tell him that “he’s so silly” and it only encourages him to be sillier! He loves so many things but his favorite thing is his car. He has his Grimm’s Toys push car and, two Bannor Toys wooded cars and a Plan Toys car. He loves them all! When he doesn’t have a car in his hand it’s not a big deal because he can make any, and I do mean ANY, object a car. Water bottles become cars, hunks of turkey become cars, daddy’s brand new iPhone became a car once (this resulted in a cracked screen protector on day 2 of getting said phone), toothbrushes become cars…I think you get the point. Cash is all about his cars!

He also loves his books still, but has started to eat them so I have to put them up when we aren’t reading them unfortunately.

The dogs are a big source of smiles and laughter these days too. Cash loves on Harrison all the time and Harrison returns the love ten fold, including daily wet willies. Cash really loves Addy, but she is still on the fence about her. He tries to “sneak” up on her whenever she is within reach and then he lets out a war cry and lunges for her. She is still too quick for him though.

Cash doesn’t like diaper changes still and he really doesn’t like getting dressed or undressed. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that he is just far too busy to stop playing for silly things like diaper changes and getting dressed or undressed!

He also isn’t crazy about the car seat still but he is WAY better than he used to be!

Activities: We have been so busy this month I could possibly list all of our activities, but one thing I want to mention is that Cash clapped for the first time this month! Our friend, Katee, and her baby, Davey, stayed with us while they didn’t have power and Cash learned how to clap by watching Davey! It was so cute to see him clap and them get so excited about it! His laughter and smiles are so contagious! I just want to bottle them up and share them with anyone having a bad day!

Cash is also quit the chatterbox! He is always talking up a storm! He says lots of “ma ma ma mas” “da da da das” “ya ya ya yas” “ooooohs” and of course “brrrrrmmm brrrrmmms” for his car noises!

We have taken Cash to tons of trustee sales in both Washington and Idaho and he has also attended a few signings! He's always the main source of attention course!

Health: Cash is 30 ½ inches long and weighs about 18.6 pounds. He is in the 75^th percentile for height but still in the lower percentile for weight. Nick and I were both skinny babies so he’s just like us! Even though it’s cold season, Cash still hasn’t’ been sick. I know it will happen one day, but for now he’s just super healthy and happy!

Best Moment: His birthday of course! He woke up so happy and I sang “Happy Birthday” to him right away! He liked it so much that I sang it 4 more times and kept singing it to him throughout the day! We had a great day together running errands with nana Bezzie and then he got to see Pops in the evening. After dinner he was just so silly and happy playing with his car in the living room - it’s almost like he knew it was his special day!

Nick and I reminisced all day about his birth! This last year has seriously flown by! We cannot wait to see what the next year with our little Mister holds!

Hello My Name is Cash – 1 Year Later

The day my water broke Nick and I took some fun pictures of my belly with Cash’s name on it! Little did we know that he would be making his way to us the very next evening!

I just had to take a picture with the same nametag a year later! Cash is such a huge blessing in our lives and I thank God for him every single day!

The Morelli Family Thanksgiving 2015

This post should be titled "The Griswold Morelli Family Thanksgiving 2015"

We had quite an eventful Thanksgiving this year – one that will not be easily forgotten!

My mom and I prepped for our big Thanksgiving dinner the day before and it was the most relaxing and peaceful day! Truly a zen prep day. We listened to Christmas music (yes a day early but I couldn’t help myself), cooked, baked and enjoyed our time together. Cash was such a happy boy all day and my mom was even able to get him to sleep and transfer him onto our changing pad on the ground in his room. He slept for over 2 hours while we prepped!

Thanksgiving day arrived and Nick, Cash and I had the most relaxing morning! I love getting the prep work don ahead of time because it makes Thanksgiving Day so much more enjoyable and stress-free.

My mom came over around 9 and we continued on with our peaceful morning. 

Now for a little back-story…Spokane and Northern Idaho had just experienced one of the biggest windstorms on record and over 130,000 people were without power, including my grandpa. Now my grandpa is really stubborn, not very pleasant and not a very nice man. With that being said we still invited him to Thanksgiving. We found out that he was still without power, water and heat. He has a gas fireplace he could have used but he’s too cheap and decided to burn wood in the gas fireplace! Yes, I said WOOD….in a GAS fireplace. There is no explaining things to my grandpa because he simply won’t listen and always thinks that he is right.

Anyways, my mom’s husband went into town and picked him up.  They of course arrived right when my mom and I needed to start making the last minute dishes. My grandpa had not showered in over a week and he reeked of smoke and was filthy! It made our whole house smell like we were sitting in the middle of a campfire! Things got so crazy and I ended up arguing with my grandpa about taking a shower! He insisted that he told us he was “coming just like he was” and I told him I didn’t care and that he was getting in the shower and putting new clothes on. After, arguing and basically pulling him off the couch and escorting him into the bathroom he took a shower! His clothes all smelled horrid so my dad went to Walmart and bought him new clothes to wear. 

Even after a shower and with clean clothes on he still smelled like smoke a little, but it was WAY better. It truly was a sad sight to see hi in such poor shape. My mom has tried and tried to get him some help and has encouraged him to go into assisted living but since she is only his stepdaughter she has been unsuccessful. Like I said, my grandpa is crazy stubborn. Enough with the depressing stuff though!

We did finally get the meal served and everything tasted wonderful! I love having my house filled with my loved ones and it was so fun experiencing Cash’s first Thanksgiving with him! He ate his first meat – Turkey of course- and LOVED it!!

Holidays are so much more special with a child and I can hardly wait for Christmas!

Did I mention that we also had 7 dogs in our house too? They all get along so well so it doesn't feel like a pack of dogs in running through our house!!