It's about time....

that Jason Castro goes home from American Idol! He has fried one too many brain cells & I can't believe he made it this far. Go either of the David's!

9 months

Nate turns 9 months old tomorrow.

He is turning in to such a funny little kid. His facial expressions are priceless. He's almost moving around. He's kinda quirky. He's got his own unique personality.

A few random things about Nate:

He is on the verge of crawling. He C R A W L S in his own way. Kinda like a snake slithering across the floor. But he's sooo close to actually crawling. I'm sure he will this week and then life turns in to a whole new ballgame for me.

He's really been working on his B A L A N C E. He pulls himself up to everything. If we're laying down, we turn in to a jungle gym for him. He's loving it. It's still surprising to walk in his room and see him sitting up and playing in his crib.

He meticulously D I S E C T S the floor, looking for any small fragment he can put in his mouth. I can't vacuum enough. He still finds something to put in his mouth. He particularly loves to eat the rug and the carpet. It's kinda gross yet funny at the same time.

He is going to eat us out of house and home. He is a H U M A N G A R B A G E D I S P O S A L. He shocks me daily by the amount of food he'll eat. And, with the help of acid reflux medicine, he loves his milk again.

He can throw a great T A N T R U M. If we take something away from him or even just put him in the car he screams and cries. If you do it back to him, he sometimes laughs.

He's still our T O O T H L E S S wonder.

I love this little boy to death but his sleeping S U C K S. He is a terrible sleeper. Supposedly I wasn't much better at his age but it's killing me. He's still up 2 times a night. He's 9 months old for heaven sakes!

He is a little S H Y when we are around people he doesn't know very well. But as soon as we're there for about 10 minutes or so he warms up and turns in to his goofy self. You can definitely tell when he recognizes people because he gets an instant smile.

He's a pretty tan kid. I didn't notice it until many people commented on his skin. He already has a little tan line from going on so many walks!

He still loves going on W A L K S. We go at least 3 times a day. He's pretty funny in this particular stroller (I had to borrow it from my mom because it's his favorite!). He either stands up and jumps or lies down on the side with his tongue out. What a goofball.

He gets more and more fun every month. I love this kid!

When he plays with dad, he ends up with his shorts on his head! Whatever makes them smile, right?

Go Braves!

spring

I L O V E Vegas weather most of the time. It's sunny & cheery and not too cold. However, I feel like we always skip spring. It goes from 60's to 90's and we never get the inbetween.

This year mother nature has been nice to us and we've had a

B E A U T I F U L spring. Weeks and weeks in the 70's.....sun shining.....beautiful flowers......sometimes too much wind but at least the temperature is perfect. We deserve a spring since we have to endure June-August, right? I'm glad we finally had one. I've L O V E D it. I've mostly love going on endless walks with Nate. We are both going to miss those for a few months. There's no way I'm walking anywhere in 110 degrees! I'm hoping spring will stay through May.

Adios Ryan, Leslie & Millie

Three of our favorite people are leaving Las Vegas tomorrow morning.

Our good friends, Ryan, Leslie & their baby girl Millie, are returning to good ol' SLC tomorrow. We moved in to our ward about 2.5 years ago at the same time & we've been friends ever since. I swear we were the only two couples in our ward without any kids so we kinda stuck together. Leslie and I have been in young women's together the entire time, too which made my calling even more fun.

We spent A L O T of time with them over the past few years...Countless dinners when cooking for four was easier than cooking for two, endless rounds of Hearts, a trip to Dana Point, lots of shopping (sorry Ryan) and just hanging out. I think it's rare to find friends where both the wives and the husbands get along so well. Thanks guys for letting me invite myself over so many times when Wes was gone!

It's been pretty funny at church and ward functions because everyone asks us, "what are you going to do without your sidekicks?" I'll let you know after tomorrow. :)

We'll miss you guys! I expect frequent blog updates so we can see Miss Millie grow up. Hopefully we'll see you both soon. Travel safe!

Too good for baby food.

Nate has been a very peculiar eater lately. He still loves food but he's pretty funny about it. Last week there were a few days where he would not eat any baby food! It was like he was telling me, "mom, I'm over the mush." He wanted to pick food up himself on his tray. He may not be crawling yet, have any teeth, or know how to sleep, but he sure figured out eating very early. He's been picking up food on his tray for months & loves big, chunky pieces. I'm a little hesitant to give them to him sometimes but he never tries to swallow....he just gums them to death and then swallows. He loves it. Last week caught me by surprise when he would not eat if I fed him. So I opened my cupboards to find anything and everything to give this kid. At every meal he usually eats: a jar of size 3 baby food or cereal & ALOT of cut up fruit or his Gerber snacks. What was I supposed to give him that could equal 6 oz of food? I got pretty creative but I'd LOVE any suggestions. I'm sure that's not the last time I'll be rummaging cupboards for something new for him to try. Did I mention how long it takes for him to eat when he won't eat the mush? FOREVER.

He also loves to be messy. It's funny for me to see the kids that can't stand to be dirty. Nate's the total opposite. If I drop food on his tray, he immediately gets both hands in it, smears it all over the tray, on to his face, in his hair, and just laughs. He thinks it's great to be messy. He's definitely ALL BOY.




These are a few pictures Wes took over the weekend:

Just a little too big ...

Nate thought it was pretty fun to wear his dad's hat. His head is too big for his own hats so he had to borrow Wes'.

228 blocks

I have to say that I like home projects. We don't do them very often so when we do, I kinda like it.

It was the weekend of spontaneity. We woke up on Saturday morning and decided to build us a retaining/planter wall in the backyard. My back felt MUCH better on Saturday morning so I was able to help. We pulled up to Lowes to buy the blocks and as the forklift was putting a pallet on to the truck bed, they couldn't get the blocks back far enough for the truck to hold the weight. So, our only option was to m a n u a l l y load 168 blocks. Keep in mind that these things are a t l e a s t ten pounds each.

So, we loaded 168 blocks to the truck....then unloaded the 168 blocks to the backyard. We used all of the blocks and we were short one row. We wanted to get it done so after dinner we went back to Lowe's where we hand-loaded 60 more blocks on to the cart.....then in to the car.....then in to the backyard. That's 228 blocks moved 2-3 times. Needless to say, we're a little sore from the weight lifting but despite the labor, it was nice to be outside spending time together.

The wall is 99% done. Wes just needs to cut a few blocks to finish up the ends and then our wall is complete. In a few weeks we're re-doing the drip system and planting!