Camera Love

I'm seriously just SO excited about my new Canon Rebel T3i that I bought yesterday. Here's a pic I snapped over at Meg and Steve's house earlier today:

Yep. I can tell that it's the beginning of a beautiful relationship... can't wait until I can learn more and more!! But, until then, enjoy this picture of my sweet little one who is growing up WAY too fast for my liking.

And also make sure to see the other post I did tonight about our trip to Jackson Hole, if you haven't already! :)

Jackson Hole

Despite having a pretty rough start to our weekend (what, with a FedEx truck backing into my car in the middle of nowhere Wyoming where we had to wait for 2 hours for the police to come and then 2 more hours for him to do paperwork and then finally deciding that my poor smashed car might be drivable and making it into town at 6:30pm instead of 1:30pm...) we ended up having a great time! We decided to have a weekend vacation in Jackson Hole, WY with Dave and Heidi & family after T and Dave ran a 200 mile relay race from Logan, UT to Jackson Hole.

On Saturday night, after we finally arrived in town, got into our hotel rooms, and unpacked our cars, we all drove over to Bar J Chuckwagon where we enjoyed a good down-home meal of beef, chicken, applesauce, beans, rolls and spice cake! After inhaling dinner (I was SO hungry and cranky... and food helped a lot!) we enjoyed the music and comedy show they put on for the crowd. I was in heaven with the live country/bluegrass music and couldn't help but think that my Dad would have LOVED it!! We all got into bed pretty late that night, but we once we were asleep, we were out COLD until morning.

The next day, Sunday, we took it easy in the morning, recovering from the day before. Closer to noon, we ran some errands in town and ended up going to Sacrament Meeting at the Jackson 1st Ward in town. It was just a few blocks away from the main square, so after church we decided to take a stroll around the main tourist area of Jackson Hole!

Here is everybody (including a third couple - I can't remember their names at the moment - but the guy was the captain of their relay team) standing under the famous arches made of elk antlers!

And a bit later T and I got a shot of just the two of us (Charlie had fallen asleep... you can sort of see the stroller in the background).

Sunday evening we went out for dinner at one of the nice restaurants in the Teton Village resort where we were staying. The food was good, but not quite worth the price tag attached. All I can remember, though, was three tired kids making lots of noise. By the end of dinner, we were all exhausted and had headaches and sent our kids straight for their beds!! After the kids were all asleep, the adults had some much-needed social time talking, eating chocolates and ice cream, and playing a round of Settlers of Catan. Kudos to Heidi for claiming the victory! :)

Early Monday morning, the two guys went off to play a round of Frisbee Golf at a course set up on the ski slopes near our resort. After they got back, Heidi and I got to go on a girl's day where we ate breakfast crepes at a delicious little cafe in Jackson and then walked around the town square window shopping. My favorite store, by far, was a toy store they had! I LOVE toy stores and it took everything I had inside of me to keep from buying some new items for Charlie!

We then joined back with our families to have a late lunch at the Merry Piglets Mexican Restaurant (which had EXCELLENT food, by the way, and was totally worth the reasonable price tag!). Afterward we tasted huckleberry smoothies, played a little game of chess, and decompressed in a quiet park. The weather there was just perfect! Warm, but not too hot to make it miserable.

When we finally ventured back to Teton Village, we took an opportunity to take the free gondola to the top of the mountain to see the views. Here is everyone at the top:

And then when I saw how cute my little boy looked, seeming all grown up sitting on the steps with his Daddy, I couldn't help but get a little photo happy!

Toesies!

And a cute, tired face.

Sweet Emma with Heidi.

After we made our way back down the mountain, Trevor and I got everything packed back into the car so we could start our trip back home to Utah. I drove the whole way and it was utterly horrifying. I don't mind driving, but driving at night with no other cars around in the middle of nowhere when a deer could jump out in front of you at any moment and everyone else in the car is asleep... yeah... not my cup of tea. But, despite getting in at 12:30am and being very tired, we made it!!

The next morning we woke up to realize that Charlie had caught Emma's cold and that Trevor had left his car up in SLC (so we drove up to get it ugggh). I've been trying to decide if the trip was worth a busted car and a sick child... and after writing this blog post, I'd have to say we made some pretty good memories, so YES, it was totally worth it! At the end of the day, my car will get fixed and my son will recover from his cold. Those things will pass. But the memories will stay forever. :)

Like this one:

Yessir. That was the bedroom that T and I slept in at our hotel. Romantic, isn't it? ;) Have you ever seen anything like this in your life? Yeah, me neither. But it served its purpose and it sure gave us a few laughs. :D Good times.

Life As My Phone Sees It 7/26/12 - 8/7/12

Friday, 7/27 - Rocking Charlie to sleep. There is nothing in this world I love more than holding his hand in mine, especially when he is sleeping.

First pic: Also taken 7/27, while watching the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremonies on TV that night. I love the Olympics! And it was a pretty neat Opening Ceremonies. Wish I could have actually been there to see it all. Let the games begin!
Second pic: 7/30 - Went outside to soak up some Vitamin D while Charlie was napping. Does anyone else's feet swell up like tomatoes when they get hot? Also, I was so glad that I wasn't where T was that day (at Scout Camp where it was pouring rain!).

7/31 - Charlie had his 9 month checkup at the doctor. Here's my view looking down. We had seen the nurse who took some blood from his big toe and we were waiting for the doctor. He was in his diaper and shoes so he wouldn't pull the band-aid off his toe. :)

8/6 - My child loves to watch Jeopardy just as much as I do! He didn't move from that spot for at least 5 minutes.

8/7 - Played outside on the lawn in a little blowup pool today. So nice to get some sun and get ready for the beach in a couple weeks!! I gave him a little baby Mohawk in his hair. Gotta love it! :)

Getting ready for some fun vacations coming up, so I'm going to be busy busy! Also, I'm participating in the August Photo-a-day challenge, so I'll post all of those Instagram pictures at the end of the month! :)

9 Months Old!

Well, I can't believe it. I know I keep saying that, but I really can't! I have a 9 month old little boy! That's 3/4 of a year! He has been OUT of me for about the same amount of time that he was IN me. I'm going to have to say that pregnancy felt a lot slower than the last 9 months have been. As much *fun* as being pregnant was, having a baby takes the cake! Especially now that he moves, smiles, babbles, eats, and is gaining more independence. I'm loving it.

As usual, here is his 9 month photo I took today.

And the comparison over the last 9 months!

As he gets bigger and more mobile, you can imagine that it would get harder and harder to take these monthly pictures. I'm lucky to get one where he's sitting still. That lasts about 5 seconds. The next collage is of the nine photos I took during today's photo shoot. You can see he was much more interested in the bear than in looking at me. Fortunately, the first one was good! My other favorites are probably the bottom left (eating bear's nose) and bottom right (so proud that he's standing on the soft) photos.

Some new stats and updates:

• Eating habits are about the same (6 to 7 ounce bottles, 4 times a day, plus solid foods once or twice a day). 
• We've broken out the larger bottles and the fast flow nipples.
• Size 3 diapers, but will transition to size 4 in the next day or so as the 3's run out.
• Clothes: Size 9 month, 6-12 month, 12 month, quickly growing out of 6-9 month.
• Weight is probably around 19.5 lbs. Height is about 26 inches, I think.
• Just started babbling "ba ba ba ba" last week! (See video)
• Developed object attachment this month. If you take something away that he was playing with, he will most likely start to cry because he's mad. Especially if he can still SEE the thing you took away.
• Knows what his bottle is. If you show it to him, he starts to freak out until he gets it in his hands.
• Getting more and more stable with standing (supported), crawling, and standing up on unstable objects like our chairs or his jumperoo, which sways around a lot. I want to get him something to help him learn to walk as it moves. Hmm.
• Has his two bottom teeth! I'm just waiting to see when the next ones will pop through. As he gets more teeth, I'll feel more comfortable giving him more "grown up food" because he will be able to chew better. 
• Current grown up food that we have tried and he will eat: crackers, peeled and sliced grapes and blueberries, peaches, strawberries, noodles, cooked beans, small bits of bread. 

I also want to list some of the things I love the MOST about my wonderful little boy:

• His long, beautiful eyelashes
• His toes
• The way he kicks his feet while sitting when he gets excited about anything
• How excited he gets when I come into his room after a good nap and he sees me
• That little, sweet voice that I'm getting to know now that he's babbling - melts my heart every time!
• When he thinks he's a big boy because I let him brush his teeth (see video) or play on the sofa or eat big kid food.
• Those chubby cheeks
• His slobbery, wet, wonderful kisses
• That LAUGH. Oh man. 
• His pouty lip when he's sad
• How I can tell he loves me so, so much
• Blue eyes... need I say more?

The other day I caught him after he had gotten into the toilet paper for the first time. Oops! I normally keep that door closed for a reason. Here's his guilty/"I'm too cute to be in trouble" face. :)

And finally, a couple little videos to enjoy that illustrate some of the things I was telling you about. Brushing his teeth and his "excited feet":

And babbling with daddy:

Sometimes when I read about or talk to others about how their child is developing, I feel like saying "Hmm.. Charlie definitely doesn't do that yet", but then I remember that babies are so unique, and develop so differently on their own schedules. I have such a smart little boy, and he is MY little boy. I am so happy to have him in my life. 

Life As My Phone Sees It 7/16/12 - 7/25/12

Still loving having Instagram, and taking way too many pictures of my boy! Enjoy these gems :)

7/18 - It was laundry day, so I put Charlie underneath the laundry basket to play and he loved it! I know it seems a little bit like a baby prison... buuuut he was happy so I wasn't complaining!

7/18 - Later that day we went visiting teaching. We saw Dani and her sweet 1-year-old son, Christian, who loves to give Charlie kisses! It's so freaking cute when they play together, crawl around together, and sometimes even take toys from each other and get mad. It's hilarious. Poor kids are going to need to learn about "sharing".

7/21 - I let him eat strawberries for the first time without the mesh feeder. He thought they were yummy, but of course they are very, very messy! Having him wear long, white sleeves and a white bib probably wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had, but fortunately it all came out nicely in the laundry! Sweet boy.

7/25 - My little 9 month old (as of today!) just LOVES to "brush" his teeth. Okay, so he isn't very effective, but at least he likes it and he's getting practice for when it really counts, right?!

Another post coming soon with all the 9 month stats and pictures! Yay!

Twenty Five Years

Oh wow! Wouldn't you know it!? I'm a quarter of a century old. How did this happen? Better yet, WHEN did this happen? Oh... you're right. It was last Friday the 20th. Silly me. Well it was a lovely day. I got to spend the evening with 3 of my closest girl friends having a girl's night out (yes... that means NO kids!!!) in Salt Lake. Woo hoo!

I was so excited to get to explore City Creek Center mall for the first time. It's absolutely incredible. I have this raging desire to go back as soon as humanly possible. We ate dinner at Cheesecake Factory (one of my all-time FAVs!). Our fantastic waiter took this picture of us at the table. We look absolutely fabulous, if I do say so myself:

Of course I ordered the Godiva chocolate cheesecake (my ultimate all-time favorite dessert, ever!) and they decorated my plate with an appropriate "Happy Birthday to You". Oh yes, they also sang to me. I sang to myself too. Yes. I did. It's my birthday and I'll do what I want, thank-you-very-much!

Forced the ladies to take one more pic outside in the courtyard at City Creek. It was all lit up like a summery Christmas present. I'm pretty sure my heaven will look a lot like this mall.... :D Thanks for humoring me, friends!

On Saturday, I got to hang out with my sweet hubby and son. It was a fun, relaxing day. On Sunday, we made sure to break out my birthday "pie". It's one of those thaw and serve cookies and creme pies from the freezer section in the grocery store. It was delicious. Who needs a homemade cake anyway?!? You may be able to see that my candles are in the shape of the numbers 25. That was the hubby's creative idea.

And me, the birthday girl, holding my cake-pie. We took this picture ridiculously fast (after singing ridiculously fast) so we could dig in and consume it! Om nom nom.

Please excuse my crooked shirt. Apparently I'm still learning how to dress myself, even at 25 years old :) It was a fantastic birthday weekend!! 

Salem Pond + Instagrams 7/6 - 7/15

Our big family holiday week ended with an afternoon trip to Salem Pond to eat dinner and hang out one last time with T's family. Since so many of us had been sick during the week, we felt like it would be nice to eat dinner outside and let everyone get some fresh air. It was a beautiful, breezy afternoon!

I let Charlie try watermelon for the first time. He wasn't sure if he liked it in the beginning, but quickly decided he enjoyed it. He even took a bite using his little teeth!

I realized after a minute that watermelon is pretty fibrous and doesn't really dissolve. Charlie kept rolling it around in his mouth and "chewing" on it, so I eventually had to take it out with my finger before he tried to swallow it and maybe choke. Watermelon is now on the list of foods to eat with the mesh feeder or just a little later when he has more teeth and can chew things up better. :)

My two boys, contemplating something deep...

We let Charlie do one of his favorite things - crawl around in the grass and try to pull it up and eat it :)

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I've been slacking a bit on taking photos through Instagram. Since I really only have two to post, I decided to lump them in with this post instead of make a whole new one. Both of them were taken on 7/10.

For this first photo, I was tagged in another "What You're Doing Right Now" post. I was in the middle of trying to keep this mischief-maker out of trouble! He loves to stand up and dig toys out of his basket.

And then I kid you not... 2 seconds after I had a chance to post the first picture, he was sitting on the carpet and decided to make a nice little poop. So nice, in fact, that it ended up squeezing out the side leg of his diaper ONTO MY CARPET. Yuck! So, needless to say, it was a "crappy" moment and the best thing for all of us was to get Charlie in the tub. And get some Resolve carpet cleaner soaking on the spot he made. Instead of throwing him in his baby tub like I normally do, I let him have his first bath in the big-kid tub!

I think he rather liked it! That is, until he stood up against the edge and his feet slipped and he fell over into the water and scared himself really good. *Sigh* Too bad you can't reason with an 8 month old and tell them they need to stay sitting in the tub. Back to the baby tub it is... just for a little while longer! :)

Oh, and in better news, the spot DID come out of my carpet. Thank-you-very-much! :D