New Year

We spent New Years at the Taff's house. They are good friends of ours and it was fun getting to spend time with them and some new people that we met there. Andrew was a trooper and of course didn't want to miss a thing he stayed up pretty late and then zonked out for an hour or so. By the time midnight rolled around he was wide awake with the rest of us to welcome in the New Year. We played games, ate delicious snacks, and enjoyed each others company and conversation.

Last weekend Andrew and I headed down to Denver and spent some time with my Aunt Sis's family. My youngest brother, Zak, flew out of Jackson  and into Denver. His flight from Denver to Minot got cancelled. So he spent a couple days in Denver until the next flight out. We enjoyed the time we got to spend with them all. Daniel had to stay home to do some more studying for his actuary exam.

Short and sweet post. No pictures.

Until next time.....

7 months

I really need to get on here more often and update! I forget too many things over the course of a few days.

He loves cruisin around with  his walker

Andrew walks pretty well assisted by a wonderful walking toy given to him by Grandma and Grandpa at Christmas. I've caught him standing on his own a couple times. He doesn't like it when I try to get him to walk back and forth between Daniel and I. He figures it's just easier to get down and crawl. He's just too smart! I've got my work cut out for me. He climbs onto anything if his little legs can hoist himself onto. He's also figured out how to open the cupboards. I caught him trying to reach the door handle to the bathroom the other day. Luckily he is too short and will be for a while.

5 months

6 months

I forgot his bear this month. 7 months
His hair is getting so long!!

He's got his two front teeth on the bottom coming in and loves testing them out. This became an issue when nursing. I had several people including my mom tell me that if you flick them when they do it the first time they won't do it again. This wasn't the case with Andrew. He's a persistent little thing, so sadly he is being weened off of nursing and into bottles and formula. My boobs could only take so much biting. Sorry if that's TMI, but that's really what it came down to. I have mixed feelings, but he is making the transition very well. My one complaint....formula stinks!

 He sleeps through the night on and off. Nothing too consistent yet. It's always a wonderful surprise when I wake up to him talking to himself in his room and discover that it's 6:30 (or later) in the morning!

We took him to the pool for the first time and he absolutely loved it. He floated on his back by himself for short periods here and there. He kicked his legs in delight as we walked around the pool. We pretty much had the pool to ourselves which was good for his first time. He gets so distracted when we go places. He just loves watching people. This week when we went to the library he wanted to play with the other kids there. Usually he sits pretty contently on my lap looking at the children books. Next Tuesday we start "book babies" that is offered through the library free of charge. It's for newborns to 18 months old and their parents. From what I understand we'll read, sing, and interact with other babies. I'm looking forward to it! I just hope Andrew enjoys it. It'll give him some more exposure to other children.

Grandma and Papa McGinnis got this neat little gadget.
You stick your iphone or ipod in it and it stays safe from the
slobber and dropping. The kid friendly apps had him
entertained for a short while this day.

Climbing some more

Climbing

I just love this grin! This was shortly before his first tooth poked up.
He hasn't let me get pictures of his pearly whites yet.

That's all that is coming to mind at the moment, so....until next time......

Half a Year

Half a year had flown by since our little bundle of joy joined our family. He isn't such a little guy anymore and my days continue to get more interesting daily. Andrew had his 6 month appointment on Monday. Here are his stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 13 ounces

Height: 27.5 inches

He loves his toes!

He's one growing boy. On November 18th, he figured out how to crawl. He's been doing an army crawl/ seal flop thing for a while. It's a full out crawl now. He's into everything and he's everywhere faster than ever. I can't look away for a second or he's into something else.

Crawled into the bottom of his stroller.

The very next day he was pulling himself up on the couch and anything else he can use to hoist himself to standing. This has led to him falling over and bonking his noggin. After a quick cry he's right back at it. It doesn't even phase him. Maybe it's a boy thing.

At his doctors appointment we got the "ok" to start him on second stage foods. He devours the food that he eats now. He loves his oatmeal cereal and all the fruits and veggies he's had so far.

Southern Utah

We had an awesome Thanksgiving in southern Utah with family. We combined Thanksgiving with the Merritt family reunion. It was the first time that most of them had met both Daniel and Andrew. What a blast! We drove down and did most of our traveling during the time Andrew sleeps. We did the same on the way home. He really travels well. That is an 11 hour trip. We had a wonderful dinner and good time visiting and catching up. Everyone wanted to hug and cuddle Andrew but he had other plans in mind with his new crawling skills. He wanted to be on the go at all times. Saturday before we headed home we did some hiking around in the beautiful red desert.

Andrew managed to get his first cold while we were with the family but for the most part was still his happy little self. It definitely threw off his sleeping schedule though. That made for one tired mama.

Besides that we haven't been up to a whole lot. We helped out with the stake clothing drive. It was amazing to see how much clothing was brought together for the benefit of others.

About a thousand foot drop off over that ledge, but it was oh so beautiful!

Well.....until next time....

October

Woohoo! Another month has flown by! Mr. Andrew is now 5 months old. Once again he is on the move and ready for bigger and better things. He does an army crawl type of movement and hasn't quite figured out to get his hands and legs moving at the same time. He loves walking around the house holding onto our fingers. He gets excited and starts jumping. We can't seem to keep him still; even when he's falling asleep he's one big ball of wiggles. He sits really well on his own now, and is starting to figure how to go from sitting to crawling and vice versa. He's eating solids twice a day, and is still breastfed of course. He's a fan of  his oatmeal and veggies. Well...most of them. Green Beans weren't a hit. We've started on fruits and so far he's had pears. I can't decide if he doesn't like the taste or texture. He's growing growing! Bath time and jumping in the johnny jump up are still his favorite pastimes.

We got our first big snow storms a couple weeks ago, or maybe it was last week. Either way it was great while it lasted, but now it has all melted away and warmed back up. I'm not sure if in a previous post I had mentioned that I am working in the office at the apartments we live in. If not, I am. It gives Andrew and I a reason to get out of the house and keeps my mind working. It also gives us a little extra income.

I have found another pastime that I thoroughly enjoy. One word. Shutterfly! It's amazing. I've had all these photos sitting on SD cards, CD's, or just on the computer. Now I have something to do with them all. I've made two photo books already. The third one is on it's way. I compiled a book of Andrew's newborn photos, my maternity photos, and finally (after almost 3 years) got our wedding photos put together. I can't wait to see it! I had never heard of shutterfly until I got pregnant and went to buy clothes at Motherhood Maternity. They gave me a whole packet of coupons, brochures, and samples. Shutterfly had a $20 off gift card, so I figured why not. It's easier than scrap-booking and I can still document all the wonderful memories that have been made over the years.

Andrew and I dropped by the public library the other day and got a library card in hopes of another reason to get out and do something once it gets colder. The library is actually bigger than it looks from the outside. I was impressed. The selection of children books is amazing. We enjoyed a little reading time last week and will certainly be going back soon. We went to Cabelas in Sidney, NE last weekend.

Halloween was great this year with a little one. We had a small Winnie the Pooh to show off. Daniels company had a trick or treating party the last hour of work. We took baby boy around showing him off and watching his intrigue as he ogled all the other costumed children wander around. After that we headed to the stake center for trunk-or-treat. We ran out of candy to hand out shortly after it began, but that seemed to be the case with most people. This is Daniel's Pumpkin....I haven't carved mine yet...oops! It turned out really good.

Daniel's work is going to be sending him to Kentucky for a few days and we might get to go! Hooray! It would be a blast if we could. November is looking to be a pretty packed month. Hopefully we can keep up :)


Until next time....

Andrew

Little A is four and a half months old! Wow....time really does fly! He's just as busy as ever and keeps us running. It seemed like once he turned 4 months he just wanted to start doing everything.

Sitting.

 Pushing himself up onto his hands and knees. 

Spitting. 

Being a pro at rolling over. 

Drooling. 

Chewing on his hands and anything he can get his hands on. 

Starting on solids. 

He's even starting to army crawl!

The list really goes on....

We just love him more and more every day. He's so fun to watch as he figures things out. It amazes me how smart he is! At his 4 month appointment he tipped the scales at 15lbs 4oz and measured 25 inches long. He's a growin' boy! His hair is starting to thicken and he still has a bald patch in the back of his head. Nights are still pretty rough with him waking up every 2-4 hours and we can't seem to break him of the habit. Some nights he'll take the pacifier and go back to sleep and others he demands to eat. Hopefully the solids will help keep it to 4 hours at a time :)

4 month picture

We don't get many pictures together....

Up on his hands and knees gettin' ready to crawl...Love this picture!

Mom...what are you feeding me?!?!

Nothing really new to report. Daniel's job is still going great and I'm still loving being at home with Andrew. We keep busy hanging out with friends and visiting family occasionally. I'm still loving my Primary kids and getting to help out with the Activity Day girls.

It's hunting season, so Daniel has been out a few times. No luck yet, but hopefully soon. He continues taking his actuary exams with no passing luck yet. He spends a lot of time studying and  here's to hoping it pays off soon :)

Until next time....

In more recent news....

A couple weeks before the fall semester was about to begin I got a lovely e-mail from the school telling me that I wasn't  going to be able to graduate in May 2013. I would need to go to school for another semester. Now this came as a shock because I had been told, advisor after advisor, for the past two years that I was on track to graduate in May. I would complete my student teaching this spring and then be done with school after what has felt like ages. I'm still not sure how that many advisors and I missed 5-6 credits....that's kind of a big deal! I haven't had the best luck with advisors since I started at the University of Wyoming. It really has taken me awhile to get this far, but I finally felt like I was on track and headed in the right direction. Well, that hasn't changed. I still want to teach. However, after much prayer and deliberation we made the decision to have me stay home with Andrew.


It took awhile to adjust to the fact that I wasn't going back to school this fall; along with the fact that I don't have a degree and am not sure when I'll get it completed. I am so happy to be able to spend my days with my sweet son watching him learn and grow. It's been quite a blessing. It's just reaffirmed to me that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us all no matter what we have planned for ourselves sometimes. I hadn't even given a thought to not finishing school until a few weeks  before the beginning of the school year and got me thinking. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Our Trip to Yellowstone

The second week of August we headed to Yellowstone with Daniel's family. We stayed in their condos in West Yellowstone and called that home for the week. We were spoiled getting to sleep in a King sized bed. When we came back home to our Queen sized bed, it seemed extremely small. Andrew was such a trooper on the drive up and just loved talking to Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen. He adjusted well to sleeping in a new place and living on a different schedule. He did really well in his pack n' play.

We went into  the park almost everyday. On Wednesday we spent the day walking around West Yellowstone window shopping, eating delicious food and treats, and seeing what the town had to offer. While in the park we saw lots of buffalo, waterfalls, and geysers. We also saw an owl, bull elk, and mountain sheep. Of course we saw Old Faithful go off and spent a good chunk of a day in that area visiting the surrounding geysers. With all the hiking around that we did Andrew got to spend time in a front pack. i was really surprised at how well he handled it. Only problem was that he didn't want to be facing mom or dad; he wanted to be facing out so that he could see everything that was going on. Then he was content. 

We visited Mammoth Hot Springs. We got to talk to one of the park rangers. He had lots of interesting info to share with us. Daniel's brother, Chris, and I went on a zip-line tour. It was a blast! Andrew stayed with Grandma and Daniel while Grandpa went fishing.  We got rained on and drenched at one point, but it was totally worth it. By the time we were done we had dried out. We had really fun guides and a great group of people to spend time with. 



There was a grizzly and wolf discovery center that we visited on one of the last days there because we didn't see any in the park. It was neat to see. All the animals had been rehabilitated at the center for various reasons.


It was a fun getaway with the family. We'll definitely be going again when Andrew gets older.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mud Pots

The Family (minus Chris)

This big boy climbed up the hill on the side of the road and just kept on his way.

Grizzly at the Discovery Center

Waiting for the river geyser to go off.

The only picture we got of the three of us together.

 

Watching Old Faithful...Andrew sleeping and taking a break from the carrier.

Old Faithful

My favorite picture of this little boy on the trip :) Isn't he cute?!

Chris and I before the zip-line tour

Just me ready to zip-line