Thanksgiving Week: Part II

The guys spent Thanksgiving morning relaxing while the girls slaved in the kitchen.  One green bean casserole, one pumpkin cream cheese roll, and two apples pies later and we were off to Aunt Shelby's for an amazing Thanksgiving dinner.  The only time we've spent Thanksgiving with my family in our marriage was during our trip to Mexcio.  It was so nice to have all the delicious fixings I drooled over as a kid.  Austin had a ball playing with his cousin Parker and being smooched a thousand times over by the ladies in the family.  Toren killed everyone at Monopoly (for the record, I wasn't playing, otherwise I would gave won...naturally).  And I ate A LOT of food.  It was absolutely fantastic.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.  I must've been too busy eating.

Friday we set up the Christmas tree and decorations.  Last year we had a beautiful, real Christmas tree.  This year we took the lazy route and grabbed my parent's fake tree out of storage.  It looks great though.  Eventually I'll get a picture of the tree as a whole, but I do have some cute pictures of Austin hanging an ornament on the tree.  He was absolutely fascinated with the bright lights on the tree. 

David, Mandy and Jana headed home on Saturday.  It was so good to spend time with them.  To be honest, my favorite part was that they were so eager to play with Austin all the time which left me with much more freedom than I'm used to.  It was simply blissful. 

Thanksgiving Week: Part I

We were lucky to have David, Mandy, and Mandy's sister, Jana, visit us for the week of Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately they brought the snow from Rexburg along with them.  The snow started in Sunday evening and didn't really stop until Tuesday.  Needless to say, we were stuck in the house for the first couple days of their visit.  We played some games, watched some TV, and had a good time just visiting and laughing with each other. 

Once we were finally  brave enough to venture out on Wednesday we headed to Seattle.  The temperature high for the day was 29 degrees, but that didn't stop us.  We started out at Starbucks for peppermint hot chocolate, then made our way down to the gum wall and Pike's Place Market. As you can see, we ran into a few big celebs as well.  We're so lucky.

After the market we went down the the waterfront to check out Ye Old Curiosity Shop and then to stuff ourselves with delicious fresh seafood at the Crab Pot.  Austin desperately wanted to crack one of the crab legs. 

Six WHOPPING Months!

Austin is 6 months old today!  As I say each month, I cannot believe it's been 6 months.  This time it actually feels like it's been 6 years.  Right now we're actually between insurance companies because Toren just started his new job, so Austin won't have his 6 month doctor's appointment until next month.  He seems happy and healthy, though, so I'm not too concerned.

At six months Austin...

...can completely sit up.
...is eating baby foods twice a day.
...loves carrots, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, pears, applesauce
...STILL doesn't like rice cereal.
...turns into a demon at night (he's been waking up hourly for nearly two weeks, though I think we made a breakthrough two nights ago and I'm optimistic tonight....)
...loves to smile and giggle.
...is extremely ticklish.
...prefers his binkie upside down about half the time.

In honor of his six month birthday I dug out some pictures of Toren and I around that age.  Whaddya think?

We Call Her The Boo Bear

Or Booshkins, or Booey, or Boo Boo, or any other variation that rolls off the tongue.  She is my sister and today is her birthday. 

Laura is a peculiar girl.  Peculiar in a good way...a really good way.  Let me explain by way of a few of  my fondest memories. 

When she was little she slid down the stairs in a laundry basket and knocked herself out.  We called 9-1-1 and a firetruck arrived.  Before the firefighters could really assess her, Laura stood up an exclaimed "I want some pizza!"  That's my girl.

As a little girl Laura LOVED to sing and dance and dress up in tutu's and leotards.  We have one of the funniest home videos of her dancing and singing in the living room to Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me.  Which reminds me -- she also has great taste in music.

Every once in a while, when we were lucky or perhaps looking particularly homely (evidence in the pictures below), my Mom would take us out on a shopping trip.  Within minutes I had my arms weighed down with clothes I wanted to try on while my Mom was pleading with Laura to pick something -- anything -- out.  Laura would insist that she was okay and Mom didn't need to spend any money on her.  She would have rather my Mom spent the money on the rest of us.  Peculiarly selfless. 

She never had an awkward phase (mine, on the other hand, lasted a good 10 years).  She is a dame.  An absolute beauty.  And she's one of those girls that doesn't need to do anything to look good.  She'll typically toss her hair up in a messy bun and it looks like every silky strand was strategically placed for optimum style.  I admit, I envy her hair.

A couple of years ago Laura took home Best in Show for a drawing she did of a pair of Converse shoes.   She is a talented girl. She could seriously (and probably someday will) make some good money with her artistic skills.

And, my favorite thing about the Booshkins, is that she is hysterical.  I've enjoyed many painful belly laughs with her.  She cracks me up in a way that no one else can. 

Well, what can I say, I'm a lucky girl to have Laura for a sister. Happy Birthday Boo Bear!!

One Thing's For Sure

This baby inherited MY tastebuds.

Sweet, Sweet October

October was a really busy month for us, but we also had plenty of fun.  Maren, my sister-in-law came into town with her boys, Braden and Brody.  I always love it when Maren comes because my usually drab, boring life gets instantly exciting .  And this time was no exception.  We spent the first day just chatting and hanging out.  She gave Austin his first taste of squash.  Upon first bite his realization was clear: his mom had been holding out on him.  I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough.  It's been downhill ever since (we welcomed carrots and, most recently, sweet potatoes).  Funny, though, he still doesn't care much for the rice cereal.  Don't you just want to kiss that last photo?  MMMmm...delicious!

 

The following day we took a trip to IKEA and the Scholastic Book Warehouse (where I bought about 8 books for less than $25!).  But the highlight of the entire week was our trip to Roloff Farms.  If you're an avid TLC viewer you know the farm is owned and operated by Matt and Amy Roloff from the show Little People, Big World.   We watch the show, and were absolutely beside ourselves to be going to the farm.  We saw EVERYTHING...the house, the Previa, Molly's castle, Old Western Town, Zach's soccer field, and (of course) the family.  I'll post the pictures of our brush with the celebs later.  I still need to get them from Maren.  I can't say that it was the best pumpkin patch I've ever been too, but it was absolutely worth it to see the place that has charmed my Monday nights for so long.  Note the picture of the boys and the pumpkins.  Austin was on his way to a very dramatic face plant.

And, of course, we celebrated Halloween.  We actually moved on the 30th, but we were lucky enough that Toren's parent's had a ward party on Friday night.  It was fun to get the boys all dressed up.  Sadly, though, we failed to get a picture of all three of them in their costumes.  As you can see, Toren and I dressed up as frazzled, sleep-deprived parents.  On the 31st Austin and I met up with cousin Parker (the duck) and went trick-or-treating to Nana and Papa Spader's house.  The boys both crashed on the drive over, but woke up long enough to stash a few pieces of candy in their jack-o-lanterns and get some kisses.  Neither of the boys were too impressed with Papa's Barbie Graveyard.  Disturbing yet amazing, huh?

Finally Exhaling

Wow.  It's been a busy few weeks.

1. Toren accepted a job offer from Collette Vacations.  We've been wanting/hoping/looking for a new job for probably a year now.  But I can say for sure that we now have the right job at the right time.  He started work the end of September and has been out of town training every other week since then.  He is absolutely loving the job and he feels like it's got great future potential for him.  Oh, and it's in Seattle, which  means....

2.  We've moved.  I LOVED living in the Portland area.  I can't really explain it, but I was just really happy where we were.  Perhaps it's because we'd been in the area for two years (more than half our married life) and I dreaded the thought of packing and moving.  But, alas, pack and move we did (thank you family for your help....we probably would've been packing til midnight without you).  We are actually living in my parent's house in Auburn (just south of downtown Seattle) while they are living in Thailand.  We are so grateful to them.  The transition of all of our "stuff" from a third-floor, two-bedroom apartment to a two-story, 5-bedroom house with a garage and backyard has been glorious.  In the kitchen I pretty much have room for a plate on every shelf.  I'm in absolute bliss!  The only thing we need to do is install a bigger doggie door.  Baxter has been driving me absolutely bonkers from wanting to go outside about every 3 minutes. 

3.  Austin is changing by the hour...or so it feels like.  He started his first round of teething (during the week I started packing, of course).  After a late-night trip to Rite Aid for some baby Tylenol and keeping him drugged every 6 hours we managed to keep him comfortable.  Still, though, he refused to be put down for more than a half a second at any given time, making packing quite a challenge.  We've also started feeding him baby food in addition to the rice cereal.  So far he's only had squash, but tonight we'll branch out to something more exotic...carrots or sweet potatoes perhaps.  He's also starting to sit on his own.  He can sit for a quite a while slouched over with his hands by his toes, but when he tries to straighten his back he gets a little tipsy. 

4.  My sister-in-law, Maren, came into down the week of Halloween with her two boys.  We had an incredible time, to say the least.  I'll dedicate another post for this. 

5.  I've had an eye twitch for a week and a half now.  I guess I've been stressed.