Happy half birthday!

I cannot believe that as of yesterday, my little Steven is already 6 months old! That is very crazy to me. He is increasingly fun to be with & basically the only time he's sad is when he's hungry, tired, or not getting enough attention. He is a people person & loves the attention & smiling right back at people. I could not be more grateful for how great of a child he is! Aside from eating solids now, here are some milestones & pictures from the past month.
No, we are not abusing our child. This little red mark is a HICKIE he gave himself! He really likes sucking & chewing on things...

Finally able to sit up! He still topples over but he can sit on his own for several minutes before reaching too far for something & doing a face plant.
This is what his face looks like a good portion of the time
Josh thought it was funny that while rolling around, he had skewed up his hat.

I thought it was a good photo op & Steven did not disappoint ;)

Father & son taking a little nap. Last night Josh wouldn't give Steven to me so Josh could eat even though he hadn't eaten since lunch (it was around 10 at night). He simply said, "I like holding my son!" :)

Ah, the joys of bouncing!

Yes, that is a bit of carrot on his nose

He will stick just about anything in his mouth. This picture doesn't do justice to how crazy he was getting on that elephant.

This is a still shot of how he gets his right leg (or both of them) kicking like crazy to get himself to bounce. A video of the actual bouncing will follow.

Valentine's Day

Whoa...a bit late, I know, but I figured I'd post the few pictures I have anyway :)
Josh & I have decided that going out for Valentine's Day on the 14th is never really worth it. This year & last we've either gone out before or after the 14th & enjoy it a lot more. I've also decided that as our kids get older, we'll make the 14th more about family & go out by ourselves another night (it'll be easier to get a babysitter that way, too). This year we ate at Little America downtown, went to the Jazz game (SUUUUUCCCCCHHHH an AWESOME game!!!!), & then were able to have an over-nighter all to ourselves! (Mary is the BEST!!) Below is the winning score! Take that Lakers!
Josh & I on the Traxx on the way back to our car after the game. Josh...
Every year that we've been married, my mother-in-law has brought us a balloon & some treats. It's definitely something I look forward to! I thought it would be fun to have some pictures with Steven & the balloon. This idea was so cute in my head but he REFUSED to look at me or take his hand out of his mouth.
I think this one is very cute :)

Ahhh...my little baby model ;) Do you think it'd be exploitation if I got Steven some modeling gigs & didn't give him 100% of the money? ;)

Abreviations

Now and again, Josh & I will talk about baby names and which ones we like or dislike. One of my favorite names for a boy is Jackson (or Jaxon). Every time I mention it, however, Josh claims that most people will shorten Jackson to Jack & he doesn't like Jack. I tell him he's crazy & people don't shorten Jackson, but he's convinced that if you went up to a stranger & asked them how you would shorten Jackson "more than 50% would say they would shorten it to 'Jack'". Today, I asked him what he thought about the name Caroline. He thought people would call a girl named that Carol. I told him again that he was crazy & that if they shortened it, it would more likely be to Carrie. Now in order to more satisfy both of us, we would like to take a poll. Please comment and tell me if you would shorten Jackson & Caroline, & if so, to what. Please respond with your first gut instinct :) Thanks! :)

The plague that is my car

Ahh...my car. A necessary evil. It is very important and we need it to get around. Josh's truck will seat two people...if that. He uses it for work and has a TON of junk inside. However, I believe that my car must be possessed by the devil. It has continually given me problems, and expensive ones at that, and apparently it lures thieves with it's siren call. Two summers ago (2007) someone broke into my car and stole my stereo and all of my CDs (we're talking 200+) which was a real tragedy because I didn't have an iPod yet & therefore lost all of that music. These thieves were real professionals because they just removed the panel on the side of my passenger side window (you can see the silver metal exposed in the below pictures) rather than smashing my car. Well this past Tuesday as I'm leaving for work, I walk out and find that my car had been broken into. This time whoever did it did break my window. It's a real shame, too, because I had nothing in there worth stealing. The only thing they took was some papers in my glove compartment (registration, proof of insurance, etc.). I'm sure that they could see there was no face plate to my stero & nothing else in plain sight but I'm sure it was a bunch of bored teenagers looking for a thrill. I can't wait to get a car that has an alarm & won't give me so many problems...Oh, and one that doesn't have 205000 miles on it...Yes, those are golf clubs in the back. Josh had left them in there and obviously our little thieves did not know that they are worth a few hundred dollars.

Feeding time!

Last Saturday (the 14th) we started feeding Steven solid foods. He's taken to it fairly well although he's still not quite used to the different way he needs to swallow it (i.e. not trying to push it out with his tongue like he would when he's drinking a bottle). He also thinks it's pretty funny to try & blow spit bubbles when he has food in his mouth...
Yeah...he was done

He's actually happy in this picture (a little hard to tell)...and yes, I had spent the morning counting our change...we ended up with over $50!

Scottsdale Retreat

At the beginning of this month Josh, Steven & I went down to Arizona for our winter vacation. His brother, Jeremy, & his wife, Chirin, provided us with rooms for our Christmas present. Josh's 2 older brothers & their families were all down there with us. It was a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful (70-80 the whole time! :) ) & we were able to just relax & spend time together. Josh's dad also joined us down there for a few days.
We were also able to see my sister, Sammy, & her husband a few of the days. Sammy is an awesome hairdresser & usually does my hair when I see her. This is a "before" picture of my hair. The "afters" follow.

My sister-in-laws, my sister, & I at this great Greek restaurant. L-R: Vanessa, Chirin, Sammy, me

Enjoying my VERY yummy gyro. I have found that I really love Greek food now. Too bad I filled up on hummus & my portion was HUGE

We went & saw the Broadway musical "The Lion King". Way fun!

The view from where we are sitting. This picture does not do justice to how incredibly high we were nor how steep the incline was.
Sammy & I

Chirin, Vanessa, Sammy

Steven by the pool wearing my much too big sunglasses

5 Months

Steven is now 5 months old. It's crazy how fast time flies! He's still pretty little but he's huge to me (he already weighs 14 lbs!). He's growing & learning to do new things all the time. I'm so glad I am able to spend so much time with him & see all these changes :) Here are some pictures from the past month.

He sticks pretty much anything he can get ahold of into his mouth. My mother-in-law, Rhonda, predicts that he will be the human vacuum cleaner when he starts crawling.

About 2 weeks ago, my father-in-law, Steve, taught Steven how to suck on his toes. He does it all the time now.Handsome little man!

He is on the verge of sitting up! He'll lean forward for a while and then do a face plant.
Josh & Steven taking a nap together

Steven already likes ice cream! ;)

Steven & I out by the pool in Arizona

Josh & Steven

My brother-in-law, Irwin, with Steven

How cute is he??? I can't wait to get him a little suit as well...

His hair has come back! I think his head grew for a while but his hair didn't...

Steven has discovered the wonderment that are his toes

Steven & I

Ever seen the movie "Big Daddy"? Drool anyone? ;)

Classic baby portrait pose

Steven with his cousin, Mandy

Steven's first French Fry

Steven has started to roll from his back to his stomach. In his video, I had just made him move from his stomach back to his back and he was not happy about it.