Could We All Just Agree to Stop Time?

Today is Mother's Day.  My first Mother's Day with a baby.  I loved it!  I kissed those little cheeks all day!  And held him through two naps at church!  It was wonderful!!  All the kissing and cuddling made me realize that I would really just like time to stop for awhile.  I think all the mothers out there can agree with me that babies just grow WAY too quickly.

I can't believe that just 6 months ago my baby looked like this!

Now that he's six months old he's got places to go and people to see!  We've had so much fun here in Kansas!!  Some highlights from the last few weeks.

My mom hung a swing up in the tree in our front yard and Isaac LOVES it!

Umm... Check out that awesome string of drool.  Isaac is still a drooler!

Isaac gets really excited about his ability to scoot around!

How Isaac moves... He first gets in downward facing dog...

...and then lunges forward!  Then he'll feel around to see if he can reach the thing he wanted  and if he can't, he repeats the process.

While clicking through pictures I found this gem... isn't his face priceless!

At 6 months, Isaac is:

~ Babbling like crazy!  He's starting to combine consonants and vowels.
~ Scooting around!  There is nothing safe anymore!  Luckily my parents just got a new tv remote a week or so after we got here, so Isaac can now have his own and we don't have to worry about him clicking random buttons.
~ Copying everything we do.  He wants to be part of the big people so bad!

This is definitely the funnest age!  I just love this little guy so much and I am so happy that I get to be his mom!  Sure there are moments when I wonder what on earth I got myself into, but I couldn't ask for a better baby or a better job.  I am so excited to continue to watch him grow and develop!

Andy's Graduation and Moving

We made it!  Andy is done with school forever (we hope)!  We got to Kansas in one piece!  The end of April was full of activities as we packed up our life in Utah and got ready to move to Kansas.

We were lucky enough to have my mom fly in on the Tuesday of graduation week to help us with packing and getting ready to move.  Really, we just wanted another person for Isaac to play with.  And play we did!

Isaac has decided that apples are AWESOME! I can't eat one anymore without him giving me big eyes and wondering when I'm going to share.

Isaac loves playing tug-of-war!

Andy's graduation was a little long for a 5 1/2 month old like Isaac.  Luckily he is turning into a pro at sleeping wherever we happen to be... as long as there's no organ music.  Seriously... the kid doesn't like organ music!  He was fussy all through the processional at commencement and then fell asleep as soon as it was over.  Gotta love it!  Same thing happened at convocation the next day.

Andy crossing the stage!

The day after graduation, we loaded up the moving truck with some help from Andy's brother Chris, both sets of parents, and some of the awesome guys from our current and old ward in Provo.  Since time had got away from me, any thoughts of having a nicely organized box inventory listing exactly what is in every box went out the window as we threw things into boxes and put them into the truck.

The actual drive out to Kansas really wasn't too bad!  It took us a little longer than normal since we took longer breaks every time we stopped for gas so that Isaac could move around a little.  When it came to the actual travelling part though he was an awesome travel buddy.  We sang songs and played with a little tin bucket and there was minimal fussing.  I was so grateful because I had just had nightmares of him screaming the whole way to Kansas!  The thing that helped the most was leaving Denver early in the morning so that we could drive for a few hours before Isaac woke up for the day.

We were very happy when we got in to Kansas and my sisters had dinner all ready for us!  Now we are loving life here.  Isaac is so happy to have more people to play with him during the day!!

Family Pictures

The last couple months, I've been realizing that I'm really an adult.  I've been married for almost three years.  I have a baby.  My husband and I have both graduated from college.  The list could go on and on.  Long story short though, I realized I needed to start doing grown up things... like getting family pictures taken.  Luckily I have super talented friends to help me with things like that.

On my birthday I dragged Andy and Isaac up Provo Canyon so we could do family pictures with our friend Chelsy before we left Utah.  Here are some of my favorites!

I love how Isaac looks like he's trying to explain something to us!

Isaac LOVES to suck on his shoes!  Also, my sister Allie made that quilt!

Funny story, Isaac sat on his own for the first time during the  photo shoot!

We had so much fun doing these pictures and I'm so happy we have them!  I can't wait to get some printed, framed, and hanging in our apartment in Dallas!

Mommy, Wow! I'm a Big Boy Now!

Isaac's getting to be such a cute baby that I thought I'd let the pictures I snapped this month tell the story of what we've been up to.

My water bottle... also known as Isaac's favorite toy (which he only gets on special occasions).

Doesn't that smile just melt your heart?

Check out the (non-existent) eyebrows on that boy!

My name is Isaac and I will  devour you!

I think we waited too long to start him on solids.  He was really excited about the spoons!

First Bite!

Not so sure about this stuff.  And don't be fooled by the fact that Dad is feeding him... I'm the one who feeds him every night now while Dad holds down his arms.

Look at that height!

He wants to attack the camera.

If you thought the eyebrows on the other picture were good, check out these ones!

Best picture ever! He LOVES to suck on his bottom lip now.  It cracks me up!

So anyways, that's pretty much what we've been up to lately.  Isaac is now in 6-9 month clothes and is loving them!  Andy is done with all his classes and work, so between now and Saturday we'll be packing up all our stuff to get ready for our big move to Kansas!

4 Month/Life Update

Since coming back from Kansas, we have been having so much fun!  Isaac has just been growing and developing by leaps and bounds!

Here are the stats from his 4 week check up last Friday:

Weight: 15 lb. 7.5 oz (59%)
Height: 26 1/2" (92%)
Head: Don't remember size but 75%

When he got his shots it was so funny because he was trying to play with the nurse as she pinned down his legs (which made her feel awful for what she was about to do).  She gave him his first shot before he realized what was happening and then he cried during the next two.  As soon as we picked him up though he was just as happy as could be!  He was just looking around and smiling.  Man am I jealous of that ability to forget something like that so quickly!  Just thinking about it I remember how awful it felt to get blood drawn and my IVs put in when Isaac was born 4 months ago!

At 4 months:

• Isaac LOVES to play with his toes!  He'll reach up all the time and grab them.  Today he started pulling his toes clear up to his mouth to suck on them (but there are no pictures because he can only do it when he's getting his diaper changed since the cloth diapers get in the way otherwise).

• He also loves to jump in his doorway jumper.  He'll spend at least 20-30 minutes every day just jumping away.

• He rolls!  He can roll back front and front to back.  For awhile he'd only do it in his crib at night (since he's in a disposable), but now he can do it in a cloth diaper too.  The first video was when he was trying to do it.  He made the most hilarious noises as he was trying!

• Isaac is completely fascinated by shiny objects (like our TV remote) and anything with a screen.  He loves my cell phone and always tries to steal it from me when I'm texting someone.
• He's figured out how to pick up objects if they're on the floor (and he's standing) or drag them over to him if they're on his blanket and out of reach.  It's cute to watch him pick up his pacifier (which he finally likes) and try to figure out how to get it in his mouth the right way.
• Isaac loves to look around.  Sometimes it gets in the way of him eating, but it's hard to get too angry when he's looking up with me with those big blue eyes and cooing and telling me how much he loves me (as he strokes my face or holds my hand).  
• He likes to help me turn pages when we read a book (or try to sing a hymn).
• Isaac can stand with us just holding him at the waist (or when we're not holding him at all!).

I am just loving watching him make all these connections!  I can practically see the wheels turning as he tries to figure out new things!  I can't even imagine what he'll be like in a few months!

In non-Isaac news... we have just 37 days until Andy graduates!  And 39 until we are all packed up and on our way to Kansas!  I'm more excited for the packing part than the actually driving halfway across the country part.

Andy and I are starting to look on-line for what areas we might be interested in moving to in Dallas when we get there.  We'd like to be semi-close to the basketball arena (because it's right across the street from his office), so if anyone knows of good apartment complexes let us know!


Also, we're finally going to get family pictures taken!  On my birthday (which is in exactly one month from today in case you were wondering)!  Sounds like a good reason to get a hair cut and a pedicure to me!

Trip to Kansas

So, mid January, my mom decided that she couldn't go until the end of April without seeing her favorite grandson (and only grandson, but that's besides the point).  Luckily for me, in order to see him she had to see me.  As a result, I packed my bags and flew home at the beginning of February.

I must admit... I was absolutely terrified to fly alone with Isaac.  Anything you read online will pretty much convince you that you are incredibly stupid to do it (and that everyone around you will be really mean to you).  Not only was I scared of the flying part... I was scared of being away from home for a full week with Isaac.  Babies require a lot of stuff!  I spent hours making a detailed list with every single thing that I was going to take with me on it (I'm glad I did... it made it so much easier to make sure I packed everything at the end of my trip when I knew I had brought 9 burp clothes and 11 bibs).

Long story short... flying with Isaac wasn't that bad.  I kept him up during layovers so he'd take a bottle and then sleep during the flights.  It worked out great!  He slept through all our flights.

We had a lot of fun while we were in Kansas.  Isaac was cuddled and played with to his heart's content (and maybe a little more).

Tuesday afternoon after we touched down.  My mom and sisters were all over him!

He also spent some quality time with Grandpa... who could make him laugh like none other (except his Daddy... and his other Grandpa)!  He also loved staring at my dad's fish.

Isaac learned to love tummy time!

Especially since he got to give the nose suction thingy a piece of his mind.

He put on a concert for Grandma!

And we Skyped with Daddy (a couple times he tried to lean in so daddy could hold him)

He also had a heart to heart with his bear.  Oh... and he loved that jumper... he loved it so much that we bought one for our apartment.  Best money we've spent!

He also got to meet his Uncle Ben through pictures (since Uncle Ben is currently serving in Venture California!)

He wanted to get to know Uncle Ben really really well.

And when he got tired, there was always someone to hold him!

One day, while I was showering, my mom decided to vacuum, so she put a burp cloth around his ears to protect them.  I just laughed when I saw it.

Things we did that were not pictured... we sewed a lot!  Isaac had a new wearable blanket, 2 pairs of pants, and a pair of shoes by the time the week was over.

I got Chipotle!!  One of my only requests when I go home is to get Chipotle because I love their burritos so much, but the closest one to Provo is in Sandy.

We went to Saigon's.  It's this little Vietnamese restaurant that my family loves!  Mostly because my mom hasn't put it on her black list yet despite going there for the last 15 years.  I branched out this time and got soup instead of my traditional chicken, vegetables, and noodle bowl.  The soup was good... but I'm going back to my noodle bowl.

Now I'm just looking forward to the end of April when I get to be in Kansas for the next 3 months!  The weather there has been in the 70s the last couple days, so I can only imagine how wonderful it will be in 2 months!