The Bees!

Since the human baby has been hogging the blog lately it's about time my other babees, our honeybees, get some face time!

 Flash back: I decided to start this little hobby of mine when I was about 7 months pregnant and obviously didn't know what I was doing. Hence the fact that we had no bees to pack up for the big move to Auburn! My failure didn't deter me and I enrolled in a beginner beekeepers class in the fall where I learned all about the things I was doing wrong!



Needless to say, once the days started to get a little warmer I was itching to bring my 50,000+ babees home! So on Easter Sunday we loaded up the truck and went to Central, AL to pick up our 2 nucs. A nuc, as is a small nucleus colony that has 5 frames of bees including a queen who is already laying eggs. I loaded those 5 frames into my 10 frame box with 5 empty frames and off we went.



We now have 2 happy hives in our backyard and both of them are doing pretty well. Each hive has filled up a box with brood (babies) and another with honey and now we are just waiting for them to fill up a second box of honey and we will be ready to harvest. So far the bees are already doing much better than last year! Knock on wood!

I really encourage you all to support your local beekeeping community. Not only is local honey so much tastier and healthier than the fake grocery store stuff but bees are incredibly important to our food supply. Without them we would not be able to enjoy a HUGE amount of fruits, vegetables and nuts that they pollinate. The honeybee population is shrinking dramatically so think twice before you spray your yard pesticides! And off my soapbox I go!

B-boy's 9 Month Photos

Ugh he is growing up too fast! Yes, I know that is so cliche but he is practicably self sufficient now! He can feed himself with his hands which would work in some cultures that don't use utensils.  He poops without needing his diaper, the bathtub is kinda like a toilet right? He waves and he speaks his very own language that he made up himself. I mean he is a brilliant kid.

 
We went to the doc on Monday and he is 21 lbs 11 oz and in the 80th percentile for height.

He still sleeps from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am with 2-3 pretty long naps.

He is eating pretty well and has started eating a little of our food along with the pureed food that he usually eats. He is a bottomless pit when it comes to eating pieces of mango, cantaloupe and banana by himself.

Only 3 more mustaches to go!!

B-boy's 8 Month Photos

Well month 8 is almost in the books and it has been a fun one! Boyd is still sleeping like a champ, eating 3 meals of solid food, nursing a little less, and definitely starting to show his personality.

He is still not crawling and I'm totally okay with it! Crawling baby = chaos

He is not wanting to nurse as much which has kind of freaked me out because it's taking a toll on my milk production. I'm trying very hard not to cry when I pump half as much as I used to!

He are working on is hand-eye coordination and he is getting used to the idea of putting food in his mouth. He will hold is sippy cup but he refuses to hold his bottle. Lazy....

He has played with the same 5 or so toys for the last few months so I guess it's time to cave and get him something new. OR I could just hide one for a few days and then pull it out and pretend like it's new! Much better idea!

He prefers NBC Nightly News, woodworking shows, and House Hunters International over cartoons and he is currently a vegetarian.

Happy Thursday from Boyd/Borat!

B-boy's 7 Month Photos

Truth be told, Boyd will be 8 months old on Saturday. Minor detail...

He is doing great! We are down to 4 milk feedings and up to 3 solid food meals a day. There is still NOTHING that he will not eat! We recently started adding cinnamon to his cereal and he devours it; he loves dill in his carrots and cumin in his lentils. What a weird kid!

He still needs 3 naps a day and sleeps from about 7:15 pm to 6:30 am.

He is not super interested in crawling but recently I did find him reaching for a toy and landing on his tummy. He didn't freak so I figure that is a good sign. In all honesty, I'm okay with his immobility for now because I hear chasing a baby can get rather tiring!

Only 4 more mustaches to go. How very depressing....

B-boy's 6 Month Photos

Truth be told, Boyd turns 7 months in a few days so I'm a bit behind!

 

Here are the stats:

Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz (80%)

Height: 27.5 in (90%)

Head Circumference: 17.2 in (70%)

 



 

They boy is eating and sleeping like a champ, thank goodness! He has mastered the art of sitting up but he has quit rolling over as much. I blame that on his HUGE cloth diapers, they have gotten a bit cumbersome since we went up to the next size.

I have been making his baby food which as actually been a lot of fun. It's cheap, easy and even I can eat it!

His foods of choice:
carrots
cauliflower
peas
green beans
sweet potato
butternut squash
yellow squash
zucchini
avocado
apple
pear
banana

So far he has not rejected anything that we put in his mouth. Kind of scary when you really think about it...

Other than that, things are pretty quiet in the Caldwell Casa. Over and out...

Boyd's First Caldwell Adventure



Our idea of adventure is probably a little different than the rest of the world's. Case in point, the 2nd Annual Lee County Heritage Cake Contest. Yes, that is correct, Tyler and I both entered a cake! The recipe had to be either 100 years old or passed down through 3 generations. We both used our grandmother's recipes so we passed that test!

 

Judging Criteria:

 
1. Appearance: Cake should be presented in its historical context as it would have been 100 years ago.
2. Authenticity: 100 years old. Follow recipe word for word. Recipe must show original measurements.
3. Taste-Flavor
4. Intent of original recipe
5. Symmetrical
6. No suggestion of sugar crystals
7. Layer cake should be soft and golden brown in color. (I think this one is a bit odd!)

 

Tough judges

 

 I made my grandmother's spice cake with pecan cream cheese frosting.

Tyler made his grandmothers apple cake with a cinnamon crunch topping. YUM!

Announcing the winners.......first place went to a fruit cake (really!?), second with to a blackberry spice cake with burnt caramel frosting, and third place went to ME!



Yep, that's right, Boyd and I got our picture in the Auburn/Opelika Newspaper! Our poor child is destined to be a ranging nerd but at least he will have stories to tell!

B-boy's 5 Month Photos

B-boy is HUGE! We don't go to the doctor for a few more weeks but I have a feeling he is going to be pretty high on the ole growth chart. He can eat!

We started on solid food when he hit the 5 month mark. So far he has had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, avocado, squash and green beans and he loves it all. He can down an entire half of an avocado and about an adult size portion of green beans. I'm not sure if that is okay but everything I have read says to feed him until he is full.

We are still using cloth diapers and we love them even with the solid food poop thing going on. We installed a bumGenious diaper sprayer in the bathroom so poopy diapers are still happy diapers.

He is sleeping like a champ and takes great naps. He still manages to wake up every once and while and demand his passie, pronto; but other than that we get pretty good sleep.

 

He is rolling over from his tummy to his back and he is just now starting to work on the back to tummy trick. I went in his room this morning and saw him on his side with his back arched to reach a stuffed animal in the corner of his crib that I didn't even know he knew existed. Funny how babies show off when no one is looking!

Over and Out!