9 Months Already?!?!?

Today Steven is 9 months old. It's weird to think that only 3 months from now he will be a year old! In the past few weeks, he has gotten his two upper teeth. Along with those new arrivals, he has discovered a new use for them: grinding. He will grind his top and bottom teeth together & make the most HORRIBLE noise. He is getting much better at walking but is not quite on his own yet. He balances really well with just one hand on something & we won't be surprised if by his 10-month mark he'll be walking. Below are some pictures and a few videos as well :)



Steven sucking on his lower lip during meal time



Nice face, huh?



He does this thing where he opens his mouth as wide as he can (usually with a scream) & even pulls his upper lip in beneath his teeth. This picture really doesn't do it justice



Parents, lock up your daughters! Those blue eyes are going to be trouble! ;)



Steven in his froggy robe.



Josh was blowing into his face & here Steven was closing his eyes in anticipation



Oh, Steven is obsessed with the bath now. Literally, even if he is lightly asleep, if you turn on the water, he will bolt right up & want to get down from his crib. From there, he will commence to pull everything down within reach from the sides of the tub & attempt to crawl in. If the shower's actually on, he will get himself & the floor very wet before he's done.



We took him to the pool the other day & he pretty much just splashed for 45 minutes straight.

Steven in the bath enjoying himself immensely

Steven showing off a new "trick"

He also puts his hand in his mouth & makes a similar noise as the one above. In the middle, you can also hear him grinding his teeth. Ew.

Ginelle's Birthday

This is sadly one of the most recent pictures I think I have with my sister, Ginelle, and it was taken last November!! Anyway, ever since my oldest siblings have started turning 40, we've been having pretty big birthday bashes for them (a LOT bigger than our normal parties). They've had themes & all been way fun. This August Ginelle is having her big party & decided in lieu of party, she is going to....

GO TO........

I am so uber excited!!! She's not taking her kids or spouse & so it's shaping up to be more of a sibling thing. So far it looks like most of my siblings are going to be able to go. I don't think we've all ever gone to Disneyland together (yeah 9 kids plus adult admission...PRICEY!) & certainly not recently. We're planning on wearing cheesy matching shirts (I vote for neon lime green!!!) & just having a blast together. I don't think anyone is really planning on bringing their spouses (except for Dave & Mary) & less likely their kids so it really will just be a "big kid" day. :) Josh is so busy during the summer that he won't be able to go :( & I definitely do not want to stand around holding Steven the whole time so I'll be leaving him here. (Anyone know of any good babysitters for a day???) If anyone would like to donate to my Disneyland fund, let me know ;)

Oh, and if anyone wants to join us, you're welcome to!

Visiting Family

Last week my sister, Lisa, along with all 4 of her kids & my brother, Marc, drove out here from California. Lisa's oldest daughter was going to EFY that week so they decided to make it their summer vacation & take everyone. Marc was coming out here to stay for the summer & find a job. It was a lot of fun seeing all of them! Here are some pictures.

We went on a walk the first night they got here & the "main attraction" was seeing a dead deer. Gross but oddly interesting...

Ginelle (white shirt) & Lisa on our walkOh, yes, we ARE the human oreo!! Marc & I...especially bad when he's just spent 3 months in Hawaii..My niece, Savanah, & I. She really is like 4+ inches taller than me (at least) but I was able to make this camera angle rather deceptive & make it appear as though there's not too much of a difference...Mandy on this bike-thing...I have no idea what it's called, I just remember riding one as a kid. Remember?? You turn the handle & it makes you go. Soooooo fun!!!We had a family birthday party for my nieces Ashley (left) & Lizzy (right) up the canyon one of the nights. They are almost exactly 1 year apart. (Seriously, what the heck are "pixos"???)Lizzy also got a razor scooter from her mom. It even has a Utah name plate on it (and they say they don't like Utah... ;) )Steven munching on a cucumber. He liked it a lot, actually. My two youngest nieces were trying to feed him all sorts of crazy things that night...cheetos, pinecones...Marc had a disease...his arm grew a babyOur homemade pinata!! (That's right, it was my idea! ;) )Ashley & Lizzy after the pinata had been smashed. They had used party hats to make the points on the pinata so they decided to wear them after. Anna with her party hat

Mother's Day

Sunday was my first official Mother's Day. It did not go exactly as planned.

Normally, my husband's side of the family gets together at Josh's brother's to have dinner & celebrate Mother's Day. This year was just a quick impromptu gathering to give Josh's mom her presents & wish her a happy Mother's Day. (The reason for this is in a post below.) Josh & I didn't do much together either & my family here was with their in-laws.

Silly me, I had actually expected Josh to just "know" what I wanted to do for Mother's Day (I think my exact words were, "I just assumed you knew what happened on Mother's day." [you know what happens when you ass-u-me things, right? ]) & when he wasn't able to read my mind *shocker*, I was pretty ticked. I said some pretty stupid & insensitive things which now I look back on with disgust at myself. I always told myself I would never be "one of those women" who expect their husbands to read their minds. There I was complaining when, in actuality, Josh did provide me with a pretty great Mother's Day gift.

A few weeks ago, Josh asked me what I wanted "Steven" to give me for Mother's Day. I said I thought either a pedicure or a clean house (I never understood why my mom would say that until now...) & maybe breakfast in bed sounded pretty good. He jokingly said that he'd probably just get me a gift certificate so he wouldn't have to clean. About a week ago he & Steven came down with a cold & felt pretty lousy. However, after coming home one afternoon, I was very pleasantly surprised to find the house very clean & Josh just finishing up. Even though he didn't feel good, he decided to clean the house because he knew that would make me happy. Not only that but since then he's been continuing the trend. He'll do the laundry AND fold it AND put it away before I even get around to it, empty the dishwasher before he leaves for work & I'm still in bed & other wonderfully helpful "little things". When I look back at how shamefully I acted a few days ago, I can't believe that I hadn't really appreciated all he had done & all he continues to do. Needless to say, I am feeling pretty lucky & loved right about now. :)

8 months

Time for the monthly update! My little boy is 8 months old already! I sometimes think of him as so grown up that I have to remind myself that he really is still a baby & it really is okay if he's not walking on the moon yet ;)His ever-present facial expression. He constantly has his mouth open.

Awww....my little future BYU student ;)

Hello morning hair! (I don't know how well you can tell, but yes, those are his two front teeth!)

Father & son taking a nap. Neither look all that comfortable...

I left Steven on the bed with lots of pillows around him to take a nap. Apparently he woke up to crawl to the very edge of the bed before zonking out again. Good job, me.

He must really enjoy walking in the stroller because he always just lays back & chills the whole time.

Steven's first experience with a big mirror. He throughly enjoys it.

Is he trying to scare himself? Yes, that is a black eye. His first exploration accident (eye: meet desk leg...)

He would make this face at himself in the mirror. I think he liked seeing what his various faces looked like.

Standing already! One of his favorite past times now is standing himself up on anything.

Playing with daddy's work boots...

After a bath

Instead of staying on his back all night, he now moves around quite a bit.

He uses this activity center as a makeshift walking toy. It slides easily across the carpet. Works pretty well.

He loves pens. Since he doesn't choke himself anymore, I've given in a few times...

Steven seems to be more aware of the concept of "mine!". If you take something away from him he will scream bloody murder at you.

Oh, and he must take his favorite toys with him now...

Steven with his uncle David's sunglasses. Blue Steel master, here he comes!

Holding Angels

I am going to try to make this blog as private as possible out of respect for those involved. However, I wanted to share because it had such a huge impact on me.
On Wednesday, May 6th, my newest little nephews were born. They were only 22 weeks old, weighing about a pound each. They were too little to survive. We are all stunned, shocked, & deeply saddened at this loss. I was able to hold them for a few minutes & I've never experienced anything quite like it. As the volunteer photographer so eloquently put it, "Now you know what it feels like to hold angels." (*A special little side note to all those volunteer photographers out there who specialize in these situations: I am so amazed at what you do! It brings a little bit of comfort knowing those babies can be remembered in a more concrete way. Thank you!*)

Erin's Wedding

A few weeks ago, my good friend Erin Black got remarried. She had lost her husband in a motorcycle accident a while back so we were all very happy to see her so happy again :) Here are some pictures.
The wedding was at this pretty cool building in Lindon. The actual ceremony took place on the top floor which had a partially open roof. There was a canvas covering to protect it from the snow. There was a leak, though, and this very tall guy had to switch the pail out because it was over flowing and getting some seats wet.

We were all sure he'd spill it all over himself...

Erin walking down the aisle with her dad.
First kiss as husband and wife. The place where the ceremony was backlit with the sun so some of the pictures didn't turn out very well.

Cake time!

High school buds: (L-R) Arika, Erin, me, Mary (Erin's sister, my sister-in-law)