10 Months

I know this is a little late but we just barely got the internet set up at our new place. Here are some pictures of the latest happenings.

I think pretty much every time someone sees Steven they comment on how long his hair is. It is very long and there's not much I can do with it but I still like it :) This is after we had gone to the pool & I made his hair all crazy.

If I could just somehow get his hair to look like this & stay like this, life would be good ;)

This picture to me looks like he would be saying, "Oh, Mother, I didn't realize you were there. I was just reading this delightful book."
On Wednesday Josh's parents took us to dinner at Thaifoon (YUMMY) & Steven started to get a little restless. I thought I'd fed him enough but he constantly surprises me with how much he eats. Rhonda came up with the great idea to get him some cookies. He very much liked that idea :)

Steven stuffing his face with cookies

I'm not sure where he learned this but whenever he's getting down from the couch or our bed he will turn around and go down backwards. Neither of us taught him that...

He loves my phone & if it's in eyesight & I don't let him play with it he will screech like a banshee. I don't let him see it anymore.

This is Steven's new happy face. I'm not sure where he came up with it but I think it's very cute :)Surprise!One day I came home while Josh was watching Steven & I found him asleep on the floor. Josh said he had been playing & then didn't hear anything for a while & he was like this. First time he's ever done that.Steven will do this sometimes. I'm not sure if he's sleepy or just worn out from holding up all that hair ;)

One of the many funny faces my son makes.Groucho Marx impression?Who needs toys? Just take the funnel from the utensil drawer!How could you not love this face? :)

Happy Birthday, America!

Saturday was Independance Day & a pretty darn good one, too. In the morning I went down to Provo to see their Grand Parade with my siblings Marc & Dave plus all Dave's assorted in-laws. We had an awesome spot right near where we grew up as kids. Very big blast from the past! Afterwards we had a BBQ with lots of yummy food. Later that night we went to see the Riverton Fireworks which are always great. I took lots of pictures so enjoy!

My nephew, Ethan, during the parade

I thought it was going to be hot so I brought my AWESOME purple umbrella...instead it rained.
Sibling love! Me, Marc, & Dave

Marc

Ethan

Mary

Dave

I make the weirdest faces when I'm with my brother, Marc....

Woooooooo Missionaries!

I thought it was kind of weird that there was a human drop of blood....

What can I say? The Outlander Series has made me obsessed with all things Scottish. Did you know that Payson has not one but two pipe bands to its name? I thought that was kind of weird...maybe Payson was settled by Scottish people....

This picture was actually supposed to be the next one but we didn't realize the camera was zoomed in this time...

What we meant to do with the above picture

What did I say? AWESOME purple fan, huh?? ;)

I just thought this was a cool picture

In between parade & fireworks & waiting for food, Marc & I played Super Mario Brothers 3 on the Wii! It was awesome! We stunk, though...

Steven at his first fireworks show

Sweet as pie picture Marc took of some of the fireworks

Family shot at the fireworks

Steven & I enjoying the show

I really like this picture even though you can't see our faces

Too bad Steven looks drugged or sleepy in this picture...hehe
More fireworks in this one but no Steven...

Home Sweet Home!

For those of you who don't know, and that's probably a lot because we've been pretty "on-the-down-low" about this, but Josh & I are officially HOME OWNERS!! It's a first for me, Josh owned a home before we were married, but it's been long enough that we get the first-time homebuyer tax credit! That's one thing I'm thankful to Obama for. Anyway! One of my goals in life was to be the youngest member of my family to own a home. So unless my brother buys a home in the next year, I can check that one off my list ;) Stupid little goal, I know, but I'm happy I've accomplished it, especially without breaking the bank!

So here's a little about it. It's a 2 bedroom condo in Taylorsville between 950 & 1100 square feet (the previous owner says the later, the appraiser says the former...who knows? Still bigger than our place now!). I thought Taylorsville was far away, but it's VERY close to i-215 & there's tons of stores & places to go around. Plus, since it's so much bigger, we'll be able to have people over more often! It's an older place but very nicely remodeled so the only major thing we are going to do now is paint. We may decide to redo the countertops later & Josh is thinking about doing some bookshelves around the fireplace but all-in-all we're very happy with it. We hadn't been telling a lof of people about it until recently because it was the third place we had put a bid on & the others had fallen through & we didn't want to tell everyone and then have this one fall through as well. Anyway, here's pictures of the "before" & I'll post more later of the "after."
This is the living room. It's kind of an odd shape (very rectangular) so there's not a TON of room but it's still great. Pretty floors huh? "Fake" hardwood but less matience and they're throughout the whole house

I almost wish there wasn't a fireplace because it makes the placement of the TV very tricky...

Dining area (to the left when you walk in)

The kitchen is great, especially with the bar & pot rack, but I HATE the color.

This is actually the second, smaller bedroom, but in this picture it's the "master". It's really hard to tell what color the room actually is because it's so dang dark in there....
This was the kids room so they had more room to play but it will be the master room when we move in

Bathroom

Obsessed!

A few months ago, my friend from work, Brooke, told me that she had started reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Since I very much love reading (especially series) & hadn't really started a new series in a while, I thought I'd take a wack at 'em. The first book was only....oh about 750 pages but I was very much hooked from the start. One night I seriously stayed up until 3 am reading & only went to bed because I knew Steven would be up in a matter of hours & I wouldn't feel good on so little sleep (not because I was tired or bored). Currently I am on the third book, Voyager, & still loving every one of it's 1059 pages. Brooke started reading the series again in anticipation of the seventh book coming out in September & was hoping to catch up with me but I really don't think that's going to happen ;) Thanks, Brooke, for the recommendation! I am so hooked! Go read them everybody :)

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!