7 months & Baby #2

Can't believe our little boy is 7 months already!! He is such a little love bug. He weighs a little over 20 pounds and still has a big ole pumpkin head! He sits very well, but he still doesn't have ANY desire to roll consecutively/crawl. Mommy and daddy are just fine with that :) He stays in one place and we don't have to baby proof our home yet. He still takes the shortest naps ever, but this week we have been on a mission to get him to sleep through the night. Tonight is day 3 of no night time feedings. Andrew has been a saint & has slept in Colten's room for the last 2 nights to "shh" him back to sleep the 2 times he wakes up during the night. I can't stand to leave him alone screaming and screaming, so this has been a great solution. It has also meant that I have gotten TWO full nights of sleep.. the first ever in 7 months! Glorious!!

We had a great Christmas this year :) Everyone talks like Colten's first Christmas is a big deal, but we didn't really think it was. He got some cool books & toys from his grandparents and was as happy as can be. Adam and David & Liz were both in town for the holidays, so we had a homemade pizza, banana split, kinect competition Christmas Eve at my parents' house. It was loads of fun!! Having all of us together is such a rare, special treat.

(Colten's new sled. Awesome gift!!!)

Christmas day we made homemade sticky buns for breakfast, and then went to my grandparents for a delicious dinner & fun with the family. We had a hilarious white elephant exchange there, where we left with some pretty awesome gifts ;P Andrew has this week off from work, so it has been AMAZING. It's so strange to have help with Colten, to be able to take a nap, and to be able to go out without taking Colten with me. Colten is SO happy when Andrew is home... he can't take his eyes off of daddy <3

This pregnancy was a total shock to us. I was "baby hungry" for a couple months, but then I did realize I was insane and was content with waiting until the spring to get pregnant. Well, this baby had other plans :) One day I just had this feeling to take a pregnancy test... I laughed out loud when I saw the results & sent Andrew a picture of the pregnancy test because I was sooo sure it was wrong. Like really. Come to find out, there really aren't false positives & we really were expecting a little one. I was beyond excited, then overwhelmed, and now I'm back to excited! He/she is due July 10th/12th.. not sure which date they'll keep. This pregnancy has been the complete opposite from the last (thank goodness). I have not been sick once.. and was only nauseous for about a week. I have been eating everything in sight.. and have already gained 5 pounds! Ha! I only craved healthy foods with Colten, with this baby I want pizza, fried chicken, fast food, chinese.. and chips. I've been super healthy as you can tell ;) We can't believe that we are going to have a newborn and a 13 1/2 month old, but we know this baby was meant to be in our family. We are so lucky.

We worked realllllly hard on these over the last month. They really weren't "hard", but they were very time consuming. I'm proud of Andrew for finishing his own, and I'm so glad I won't have to make another one next year since it's already done. Baby #2's will not say "Baby 2" forever, haha.. I wrote it on wax paper, peeled it off, then stuck it on his/her stocking just for the picture. We're excited to have these hanging next year... and to have a family of four next Christmas!!

Snot Sucker

If you have young children and do not have one of these, buy one. They are amazing. Andrew thinks it is absolutely disgusting that you use your mouth to suck out your baby's snot, but what other way is there to get it all out (the filter catches it all anyway.. if you suck that hard & it goes up that far)? I use it for boogies that are too far in to reach, and now that Colten has his first little cold and can't breathe, I use it to clear him out. Of course, he hates when I use it on him, but I always tell him it will definitely be worth it afterward :) $15 on amazon. Worth every penny.

Love, love, love! Such a wonderful baby.

Gratitude

I'm not one to post something I'm grateful for each day in November on Facebook, but there truly is a ton I'm thankful for. Just by being a citizen of the USA we have soo many more privileges and opportunities than the rest of the world. We are a blessed people. I am so grateful for:
-My incredible husband.
-The knowledge that I have of Jesus Christ.
-Our little chicken nugget, Colten.
-This country.
-My brothers safely returning from the middle east each time.
-Heat.
-Running water.
-A home.
-Being able to eat milk again!
-Friendship.
-Beautiful fall days.
-Refrigerators.
-Parks.
-Grandparents.
-The beach.
-Being a stay at home mom.
-Toilet paper, ha.
-My amazing mom and dad, sister, and brothers.
... and so much more. I seriously could list a thousand things. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, although now that it's over it's time to get in the Christmas spirit!

 Love this little Gavin..

 If you know her, you adore her!!

 My TURKEY lovin man! I "help" him carve the turkey every year!

 

 Trying applesauce for the first time I think.. :)

My little cuddle bugs before church one morning <3

A Strong Nation

Today all I can think about is one thing: the strength of a nation comes from the strength of its families within. Strong families make a strong country, just as weak families make a weak country. Let us stand up for what we know is right.. always. Let us keep our families strong by teaching our kids to love everyone. Let us teach them to stand for the right- to love God more than anyone/anything. Let us teach our children to pray. Pray for those who are suffering. Pray for the wicked that their hearts may be changed. Pray for the sick and needy. Pray for our great country and for its leaders. Pray that those who are lost might find hope. Let us teach our children to have faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the one who will never lead us astray. Let us teach our children that there is always HOPE. If we all strive to strengthen our homes each and every day, our nation will only become a better place. No matter what goes on in the world, our homes can always be a sanctuary from the storm. Strong families make a strong country.

Chica Chica Boom

Around here we love Sundays. Sunday is the only day that we get to spend all day with Andrew. He and Colten get special bonding time during church while I'm in Primary :) & we get to relax, sing, dance, and go for walks! This is what we did last Sunday.

Goodbye September

September was a good, busy month for us. Colten and I went to New York for Labor Day weekend with Val, B, GP, and my mom & dad. We had a wonderful time visiting with my dad's family. They were in LOVE with Brooklyn, Colten, and Gavin. The youngest few in their families are 15 years old, so babies are very fascinating to them :) Unfortunately, the drive home was pure terror. 12 hours long due to traffic & stopping to eat/nurse/use the bathroom.. and Brooklyn and Colten cried at least half of the time. I thought I might die on that drive.. if I didn't kill one of the babies first. Yikes.

Yay, daddy is home!! Andrew had TWO trade shows this month, along with a few other work meetings on top of his normal, super busy work schedule. We missed having him around.. I know we only have one baby, but being alone is the worst. I get nervous when Andrew is gone & lock me and Colten in our bedroom at night so no one can kill us. I'm a little crazy, I know...

                                                                        



 Colty and I go to the park at least 3 days a week while babysitting.. sometimes we go five days!! It's 100 times easier to watch 2 children for a long period of time if we get out of the house and hit up the playground. We have 2 really nice playgrounds within a half a mile of our house, so we're really lucky. Colten actually enjoys the swing now which is cute!

We finally got most of our place painted, and it's 90% decorated. We haven't painted Colten's room yet, but we did get his crib put together. This was his first (and last) night in the crib. Ha! He sleeps in a nap nanny & loves it, so for now I'm sticking to that. He still sleeps terribly at night for a 4 month old. A great night is when he only wakes up twice.. it never gets better than that. Sometimes, he's still up 5 times. He wants to eat, and I am not all about that. So, last night we tried rice cereal for the first time. He loved that stuff and was really good at swallowing it, but he had an absolutely terrible nights sleep. Praying tonight is better!

Yes, he is on the counter in a bumbo seat.. don't judge :P I didn't leave his side, so he was safe!

 Aside from the last 3 days (he got his immunizations on thursday) and from the 4 days after I ate an entire container of Ben & Jerry's (C has a milk allergy/sensitivity.. I don't eat any dairy.. other than that blessed day), Colten is such a joy. He laughs and laughs and laughs all the time. We love every bit of our 17 lb boy :) Woot woot, my birthday month is here!! Time to celebrate!

PS- I STILL WANT ANOTHER BABY. (pretty please, babe???)

PPS- Can you believe I actually went to the beach at 41 weeks?!?! I was a massive whale!!! Hahaha!

Baby hungry..?

Recently, I have been feeling a bit baby hungry. Colten is almost 4 months old & I LOVE this age. I love the giggles, raspberries, and constant talking. I keep thinking that he needs a little sister.. I mean, if I got pregnant now he'd be WALKING already when baby #2 comes along! Andrew is trying to keep my sane & reminds me often of how much I hated being pregnant (& how terrible it was having a cray cray wife :P). He definitely is right about that one.. maybe I can wait... 9 more months?

Watching a little Nemo with Juliet :)

Colten and I did another overnight at Juliet's house last weekend. We had a great time! We went to 2 parks, watched some Nemo, went for a nice walk, and played lots with Juliet's Finding Nemo toys. The weather was perfect & both kids were great :)

Here are a few pictures from yesterday morning. When Colten wakes up around 7am, I feed him in bed and he usually falls back asleep for 2-3 hours in our bed. Yesterday he decided it was much more fun to stare at and talk to daddy. He was babbling loudly for at least 20 minutes before Andrew noticed. Colten even whacked him in the face a few times, and Andrew slept through it :P I love my boys.. even though one wakes me up a ton at night & the other just sleeps right through it <3

3 months

Our big boy is 3 months old!! This last month has definitely been my favorite yet. Colten is ticklish. He laughs alllll the time. He coos when he wakes up (or screams, lol), and then he smiles at me when I go to get him after he's awake. He rarely screams in the car anymore. Hallelujah!! He chews on his hands constantly. He loves the stroller. He LOVES the swing. He falls asleep on his own at night. He's the bomb baby. He does still get up A LOT at night. He usually eats twice & falls back asleep on his own once or twice. Thankfully, he goes to bed at 8 and isn't up for good until at least 9.. so I get to sleep in the days we're not getting up early to babysit.

His head is so hard to hold up in his bouncer! He's still a bit too small for it, but he still enjoys it.

We took him to the park and put him in the swing for the first time. He didn't care much about it.. but look how little it makes him look!! He is far from little, however. A week before he turned 3 months, he weighed 15 lbs 11 ozs (95%) and was 24.75 inches long(85%)! He's biiiiig... and adorable :)

Val and I took Gavin Parker, Brooklyn, Gavin Dominic (we actually met another Gavin when we were there :)), and Colten to the Salisbury Zoo last week. The zoo is small, but it has an awesome park outside of it. G & G played well together & had a lot of fun. It was a nice day trip out of the house.

Colten loves water! We have spent many hours at the pool this summer while babysitting Gavin & Colten really enjoys being in the pool. He also loves bath time & doesn't mind the rain. That reminds me of 2 nights ago. I decided to go for a walk with Colten even though the sky was grey in the distance. There's ALWAYS a thunderstorm warning in the evenings during the summer, so I figured it was another fluke. Well, when we were 1/2 mile away it began to POUR. And I mean poor. I started to run, but my shorts were so wet that they started falling down. I stepped in puddles deeper than my ankles. I was laughing as we passed many people out on their porches watching the intense downpour. Colten smiled the whole way home... and when I went to take him out of his stroller once we were on the porch, he started laughing. It was a very fun experience ;) Thankfully, Colty didn't mind..

Brooklyn at 5 months & Colty at 3 :)