9 to 10 Months

On March 16th I turned 24! Woohoo! It was a pretty great day. I told Daniel that all I really wanted was flowers. Of course, in Daniel's true fashion he had purchased my present well in advance. Not only was I surprised with a wonderful bouquet of flowers but also a plane ticket for Andrew and I to fly to North Dakota for my little brother's high school graduation! We had Funfetti cake and Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Yum Yum! I got my present a little late from my parents, but it rocks! I got an amazing Canon EOS Digital Rebel xti. They had bought it for themselves and used it a couple times and it had been sitting gathering dust. I must have mentioned at some point that I wanted to get into photography a little more. I'm having fun learning to use it and can't wait to get some great pictures. I have lots to learn!

Lets fast forward a bit to the Saturday before Easter (March 31st). We had an awesome dutch oven dinner that we provided and hung out with our friends the Bade's and Cory's. The guys went out and hid plastic eggs in the Bade's backyard.  I wasn't planning on Andrew participating, but last minute sent him out with the kiddos. They hid a few on the ground for the smaller kids to find. As soon as the kids reached the bottom of the stairs Andrew had his eye on an egg and headed straight for it. What happened next had us women in the house, watching out the window, laughing hysterically. He walked up to that yellow egg and kicked it. Poor kid thought it was a ball! He found another egg and kicked that one too. It was rather entertaining. He finally just started following the big kids around the yard. the rest of the night was filled with good conversation,. dying eggs, and kids running around the house. The only down side of the night was little man getting his pinky finger shut in the door by one of the other kids. It had a dent in it between the two upper joints and really didn't look good at all. He took it like a champ crying it off after a while with the help of some ice to reduce the swelling. Its still a little puffy but he is using it fine, so no permanent damage done. Easter Sunday was spent relaxing and remembering the reason for the season.

Easter Sunday

Easter Outfit

My how time has flown by! Has it already been 10 months? No way! It just doesn't seem right. My baby doesn't seem so much like a baby anymore. Cruising around the house and putting his little hands on anything he can reach. He started standing on his own in the middle of the floor and started clapping on his own. He continued to amaze us with his walking skills. Here are a few 9 month pictures:

9 months

Found him like this during a nap

This is a Reese's Egg that he thought would be fun to chew on

Static hair!

New Things all the Time

Once again I have fallen behind with my blogging. I was doing so good, or at least I thought I was. It's been since Christmas, and we're already into March. There isn't a ton of new things to report, but nonetheless I have to get caught up! 

The beginning of January brought a new weekly activity for Andrew and I. It's called Book Babies and we have LOVED it. It was a great time hanging out with other moms, singing fun songs, meeting other babies,  and explore a new environment. It was fun to see the different developmental levels and ages all the different babies were at. It just ended this last Tuesday and it was kind of sad. We will definitely be attending the next session which starts up in a couple weeks.

I feel like we missed a whole lot for Andrew's 8th month, but really he just had us running around like crazy. Moving things higher and farther out of his reach. On January 25th he took his first recorded steps and was standing very well on his own. He's gotten really good at hitting milestones right before his monthly birthday.

His monthly picture w/his bear.

And another 8 month

He found the toilet paper. Simple as that. We have to keep the door closed to the bathroom or else whenever he gets the chance he sneaks in and is taking it off the roll. He's gotten into the cupboards in the kitchen and we had a slight mishap with one of my glass pans. We have since installed the baby proof latches inside the cupboards we don't want him getting into. It must have landed just right to have ended up like this.


It scared the daylights out of me and Andrew just acted like it wasn't a huge deal at all. He figured out how to open the drawer under our stove. It's the only drawer in our kitchen and at the moment he is in love opening and closing things....doors, drawers, and cupboards mostly. Occasionally, he gets the wipes lid open. Just the other day I walked into the living room and he was pulling them out one by one. I asked him what he was doing. He turned around and looked at me and quickly tried to shut the lid. This little boy of ours is too smart! I just love him to death!

The beginning of February brought sickness to our house. After a few days of fever I took Andrew in only to find out we were on the tail end of RSV and the start of an ear infection. he was put on Amoxicillan and an inhaler. He hated both. It was sad trying to get him his meds when he was fighting so hard. We were successful anyhow and by the end of ten days it wasn't so bad and he laughed when we used the inhaler. One good thing that came out of the situation was that little man FINALLY started sleeping through the night! Hallelujah!

Being a monkey in his exersaucer

Playing peek-a-boo

We are walking! February 26th was his 9 month birthday and his 9 month check up. He started walking on his own pretty well a couple days before, but of course he wouldn't walk for the Doctor. Like I said, he really good at hitting milestones right before his appointments.

Here are his 9 month stats:

Height: 29 inches (75%)

Weight: 19lbs 15.5 oz (50%)

Head: 47.6 cm (95%)

That same day he started doing this shrugging motion. It's really cute. He cocks his head to one side and lifts his shoulder up like he is acting shy. It's the funniest thing. He also does this scrunchy face that makes me laugh. We have teeth! Shortly before Christmas Andrew's first two bottom teeth popped through with out much of a fuss. It really seemed like they came out of nowhere. His top two front teeth have made their appearance and so has a crabby baby. He's waking up again at night because they are bothering him. I really hope once they are all the way in he will transition back to sleeping through the night. Teething hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. 

This is the only picture I could find that shows his bottom teeth well when they first came in.
We aren't anywhere close to having him show us his top ones.

I think that is everything on the baby front. In other news....

We've been really busy with work, life, and church callings. The last weekend in February we traveled up to Gillette, WY for Boys 3A State Swimming to watch Chris swim. He did really well and it was good to get to see Daniel's family for a little bit. 

I'm not entirely sure if I already posted about Daniel's new calling, because I'm not 100% sure on when he was called. Anyway...he's our ward's Young Men's President. He has really connected with the boys and really enjoys all the work that the calling entails. He's got some excellent counselors and boys. Wednesday nights he has mutual so we don't get to see him much that evening. I'm really glad that he's loving it as much as he is. I'm excited to see him excelling. 

I'm still in Primary teaching the CTR 7 class. It's a great group of new kids and such an exciting time for each of them as they decide to get baptized this year. I love their curiosity, individual personalities, and even their craziness at times. They can get rowdy and reeling them in and getting on task has become a new mission of mine. We're getting better. They are starting to figure out what I expect of them and what they should expect from me as their teacher. I thought I had laid a better foundation for this than I had.

On February 24th, I was given another calling that I am SO SO SO excited about. I was called to be our ward camp director! Woohoo! I loved girls camp growing up and hope that I can make it as fun for my girls as my leaders did for me. With the new calling they want me there on Wednesday for mutual, so at least Daniel and I are in the same building, right? The downside.....we aren't home until after Andrew's normal bedtime. He did okay this last week, so hopefully it doesn't throw him off too bad as time goes on. He really doesn't like to hold still anymore so this could become an issue as we continue having him in tow during activities. The girls just want to hold him all the time anyway. I have so much planning to do and have already dug in and now just need to work on getting the girls excited. They had a not so great experience last year, so hopefully they will think this year rocks in comparison. :)

That's it for now....Until next time.....

Christmas

Christmas this year was spent in Lyman with the Sorensen family. It was Andrew's first Christmas and of course he was more entertained with the wrapping paper and boxes than with the presents themselves. It was great to see him with his cousins. He stole all their wrapping paper. I think his favorite toy of the day was a balloon. He chased it around the room through all the wrapping paper strewn all over. Here are a few pictures to remember the day:

His balloon and Christmas pajamas

A family picture for good measure :)
We didn't manage to get family pictures in time for Christmas.

Christmas outfit and opening presents

He was asleep when we took pictures with Santa and he stayed asleep the entire time.
One tired baby.

Another Santa photo

He crashed in grandmas walker on the eve of Christmas Eve 

Andrew LOVED talking to his cousins in Australia.
He was bouncing up and down a jabbering away.

Until next time.....

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....