Family Pics

Just wanted to post a few of our fun family pics taken by Alana Lange. She is a local teacher/photographer here in the valley that does an amazing job. Her website is alanalangephotography.com if you are interested in using her talents. The most amazing part was how quickly she got some great shots of Colin. He was "done" after about 10 minutes, so the fact that she got about 30 really cute shots of him was pretty amazing. Thanks Alana!

Yes, I Do Still Blog, But I'm Mentally A Month Behind

Ok, October was nuts. Sadly I love the month and I'm going to pretend like this is a post from then. I absolutely loved decorating for Halloween even more this year because of Colin. Maybe that sounds dumb, because I'm sure he didn't appreciate the umpteen witches and jack-o-lanterns permeating every nook and cranny of our house, but still it was great! I'm finally going to be able to share my love for these holidays with my own child. It started with two Halloween shirts he wore all month long and ended with his dalmation costume that complemented my Cruella costume. Mind you, when I purchased my Cruella costume three years ago I fully intended then that my future child, girl or boy, would be a dalmation on their first Halloween. I purchased his costume in April and anxiously awaited my opportunity to wear it with him. Fun for us, with Halloween being on a Friday I got to wear it to school and bring him (it wasn't my day to teach so we just came for the party) AND wear it the next night to open the door for trick or treaters. I loved it. We just had so much fun and I can't wait until next year when he will understand more of what is going on.

Meet My New Interior Decorator, C.S. Williamson

As I look around my house at my new furniture arrangements, attractive floor accessories and lovely stairway barriers, I must admit that I never thought the time would come that I would be forced to redecorate against my will. Alas, a new member of the household has a very distinct opinion on how my living room should look. You should meet him. Short, round, handsome, and very quick on his knees, he has dictated virtually every new look you will find in all of my rooms. No longer do we have a nice collection of Golf and Martha Stewart magazines on the coffee table or nice coasters with tall glasses of water. Oh, and that aformentioned table now resides as an artistic barrier to the screen of the tv. I don't know about anyone else, but I prefer large living room ottomans placed strategically in the middle of my foyer (oh, also blocking the entrance the second set of stairs) for that welcoming affect, "Please, come right in, don't mind the ottoman." I suppose you didn't know that the new thing is to place your dining room chairs on their sides, again conveniently in front of open walkways. It is all the rage according to C.S.. Finally, while I used to prefer a nice, open look to my living room floor, Mr. Williamson has convinced me night after night that it just looks so much better covered in primary colored plastic objects and cardboard literature. I think he's quite gifted and I will probably continue to listen to his decorating advice for some time to come. Please, stop by, he would love to show you his work. (I'll post some video of our little speed demon in the next few days--I think he'll be walking by Halloween!)

Happy Birthday Dad

This is Greg's first birthday that he gets to celebrate being a dad. My how this year has flown! We are only a few short months from Colin's birthday which just amazes us both. The last few weeks have been filled with momentous changes (he's a mover and a shaker folks--but that's another post). It is safe to say Greg enjoyed his birthday with his wife, Joan, Julie, Kim and Sharon, but most importantly his son.

I Go in Reverse Real Well

So, as you can see he has reverse down. No, I don't purposely put my child underneath his jumper to keep him under control. I was busily running around in the kitchen and in the laundry room folding laundry continually saying, "Hey! You're ok, you don't need me to entertain you every second! Just play for a few minutes longer and I'll come down!" Now this was in response to his general "I'm annoyed" sound--not crying, not in distress, just grunting and well, whining. Finally after a few minutes of it becoming even more incessant, and thinking "geez this kid needs some attention today!" I looked down to find him trapped. Thank you, thank you, yes, I'm applying for Utah Mother of the Year next month.

Tinnin' Up Prov Canyon

We have such great memories of heading up Providence Canyon on a Friday night to set up a quick campfire and throw on the tinfoil dinners (tinners). We decided the summer wouldn't be complete if we didn't go up at least once and sit around the fire enjoying the ubber-good saucy tinner and gorging ourselves on smores. So fun and only would have been better if Lance, Ty, Beth and Will could have been there. Luckily we had Brady and Jace Dart to beef up the group a bit. Colin seemed transfixed by the fire, but most happy when upside down. If I let hime he'd hang from his ankles twenty four seven--is that a sign that he's going to be a little bit of a daredevil? Maybe he'll like bungee jumping? Gee I wonder where he gets that from?

Manna from Heaven

I have discovered the food of the gods. Those of you who have not experienced motherhood--I was there only seven short months ago myself--you would not comprehend how much you miss having even 15 continual minutes to accomplish such menial tasks like taking a shower, doing your hair, changing laundry...you get the picture. In comes my new favorite food. I'm sure you are wondering what this delightful new treat is and where, pray tell, may you find it. Well, walk into Walmart, hang a left at the second aisle and head straight to the wall-o-Gerber and you will find...BITER BISCUITS. This wonderful creation is, like I said, manna from heaven not because it tastes particularly good, but because it occupies the interest of my very busy baby for up to FORTY MINUTES!! This is an ETERNITY in the life of a mom. Do you know what you can do in FORTY MINUTES!! Months ago I may have complained about not having enough time in a week to clean my house and do laundry, but now, sheesh, how I look forward to the mad dash through the house that forty minutes gives me! Now, like all gifts, it comes with a price. I include with this post video of how my son looks after forty minutes of biter biscuit. It isn't pretty, but man he's happy, mom's happy, everyone's happy, so yes, I'll do this every day as long as I continue to get my forty minutes even if that means I have to give him and his high chair a hose down when he's done.

Our Own Personal Buddha

Lucky for us we don't have to go out and buy a buddha statue anytime soon, we have one alive and well at our house. We just had to post that belly and the man boobs for all to see because, well, on a baby its cute--unfortunately not so cute on adults. So, if anyone out there needs some extra luck this week, let me know and I'll let you come rub his belly.

Goodbye Bumbo, Hello Big Boy Chair

Hey fun groupies out there following the cute progression of our big little boy! I am finally out of school for the summer and I am slowly finding the time again to do my blog and check things like email! So, if you have felt neglected and/or ignored by me in the last few months, I can only plead my case as a newly working mom trying to figure this whole dual-role thing out! Let's just say motherhood is a heck-uv-a lot easier without work in the way! As for the little man, he is just so damn cute! He is getting stronger, funnier and even more attached to us each day. He is really battling teeth at the moment which has completely ruined my perfectly honed "babywise" schedule, but I keep telling myself he'll return to it once those little buggers pop through. It is so interesting to me how a mom really knows their baby's different cries. I can so tell in the night when it is the teeth, or food, or just a little comfort need. I always thought that would be so hard to figure out his needs, but it just seems to come! He is really a very happy baby so it has been hard to see him so sad with those big puffy gums. I swear he's trying to break four teeth at once. All I can say is that he was a record breaking baby at birth, so maybe he's trying to show off by getting teeth in quads and aiming for a full mouthfull by one! I hope not! As for these fun pics, I just had to showcase the progression this month from the bumbo (which now resides in the closet) to the big boy high chair. Check out those thighs! It was a sign to Greg and I that if you have to pry your son out of the Bumbo, because it is literally stuck to him hip to knee, you probably shouldn't shove him in it anymore! Too fun!

My Little Foodie

So we have ventured into the world of real food beyond mommy milk and he LOVES it. We haven't gone too far as many of my friends recommended leaving fruits to the end so he'll actually try and like the veggis so we have done carrots and squash. One day as I was eating breakfast and talking to him I just watched him as he tracked my spoonful of mini-wheats to my mouth and back to the bowl with his mouth hanging open like a codfish the whole time. I thought, "hmm, I think he's interested." With that, I spooned out some carrots and away we went. He puts his arms straight out and opens his mouth wide in anticipation of each bite which surprised me as I was sure he would put his hands right in his mouth after I loaded him up, but he doesn't so so far, so good on the major messiness. The best part is that he does his little "huh, huh, huh" stutter laugh (those that have heard it know what I'm talking about) as he waits for the next bite. He clearly thinks this food thing is great. That night when Greg got home we fed him the rest of the carrots and he developed a rockin carrot goatee like his dad's--like father like son. Love my boys!

Snake-ed! (That's naked in baby talk)

What is it about naked wet babies that is so cute? I just love taking pictures of him after he has a bath. It helps that he loves baths so he's super happy for the camera!

The Bumbo

The Bumbo chair has to be one of the coolest products invented. I knew about it for a while, but I wanted to wait until Colin could hold his head up good to get him one. So, when I went to stay with Josi for two days the week before I had to go back to work we picked one up! Colin loved it! I love being able to sit him in it in the middle of the counter while I'm making dinner. So super cool! The only problem is that this picture is from one month ago. He is barely fitting in it now! He sits in it, but when I go to get him out he is wedged in and I have to use my elbows to push it off --what a chunky monkey! Actually, he really isn't that chubby--just big everywhere! We have his four month check up in a week and we'll get to see how big he really is. Last time I weighed him here he was 17 pounds and he's currently wearing 6-12 month clothes. Crazy! He is such a fun, happy, smiley baby!

Retro Jammies

I headed to Josi's house a few weeks ago to hang with her and the kids. Wouldn't you know that my son would poop out TWO outfits while I was there. I had just rinsed the first and not washed it so I was in a quandry of what to put him in. Jos headed down to the basement and found a tote of some of her favorite outfits from Mason--umm 13 years ago. Ahh, the hot, awesome, totally cool GUESS? brand jammies were the ones we picked. We just had to laugh as they looked pretty feminine with the tucks and pleates, but she remembered they were her absolute faves to put Mason in at the time. It must have been the little triangle on the bum that made them so cute. Along with these pics I had to include the ones of asperating Colin's nose with my battery powered asperator. He gets so goopy at night (even with a humidifier) that I do this to him every morning. The funny thing is if you just saw the "during" you'd think it was torturous. However, by checking out the "after" you can see that he LOVES it. I think it really tickles his nose. What a cutie!!

Me and My Friend Dilan

So Colin has a little friend named Dilan. Dilan is the daughter of Ryan and Dana Rigby. We've had a couple of mom lunches these past few weeks and couldn't resist taking some pics of the two of them together. We find this humorous as Dilan was born in October. Yep, that's right, two months BEFORE Colin. She is the same length and weighs right now what Colin did at birth! I didn't realize really how big Colin was for his age until we put them side by side. He is quite a big baby, but still feels pretty small when he's tucked in under my chin going to sleep--his favorite place. His smiles are getting bigger and bigger all the time. So fun! Not looking forward to Friday as that is his two month appointment and he'll be getting his first round of shots. I'm making Greg come.

Bath Time

These are some of my favorite pics. Colin has always been good for his bath, but lately he's starting to really enjoy it. He smiles a lot even though I didn't get any good smiley pictures. I think he just enjoys all the massage and attention he gets from both mom and dad at the same time. Such a cutie!

Our New Baby--Our New Life

I am finally getting my life together after having my baby six weeks ago! It is amazing to me how much time is spent kindof doing nothing--at least not doing anything real active! We knew life would be different, but like anything new, until you experience it, you don't really know HOW different it is really going to be! If he looks a little large, it is because he is! He was 11 pounds 9 ounces at birth and 22 inches (thank you medical technology and c-sections!) and currently at about 6 weeks he's sitting at 15 pounds. A good friend just took her baby in for his two month appointment this week and her baby, born three weeks before Colin, weighed in at 11/13 and measured 23 inches. I can't wait to see how big he is at his two month visit! These are a few of my favorite pictures from the hospital and the last few weeks.