six months

Wow.

Parents always say "it goes so fast."
But there isn't any better way to say it.

It goes so fast.

And now our little baby boy is six months old. I remember thinking, those early days, sometimes when we were having a rough moment, I would think, "If I can just make it to six months..."

We did make it. And life with our little Nicholas is now funner than ever! We smile more.
We laugh a lot more. We have a really silly little boy.

He thinks he's pretty funny sometimes.

Nicholas laughs a lot more now. Every single thing Kent does is hilarious to Nicholas. He especially likes it when Daddy dances or sings.

Nicholas can roll from back to front, but not the other way. And he does not like being on his stomach. I spend most of my day simply rolling him back over.

He sits! And he loves it!
He is sleeping a bit better, usually only waking up once or twice a night now. He'll sleep from 8 until 3 or 4, and then he doesn't wake up again until 7. It's not "sleeping through the night," but I'll take it.

He has two bottom teeth and the top two are looking very swollen and ready to come through. But he's a pretty tough little guy.

He wakes up very happy now, and in the mornings we like to listen to him talking to himself in his room. Kent taught him to say "Dadadada" and he says it all the time, but I work it to my advantage:

In the mornings when Nicholas wakes up we can hear him in his room "Dadadadada!"

And I tell Kent, "Honey, he wants you."

And I get to sleep a little longer.

Perfect.

This is what I see when I come to get him from his naps during the day. He'll play in there happily for quite a while usually, which is great for me if I need to finish whatever I was doing before he woke up.

He loves to explore, and he grabs anything he can reach.

He likes to blow raspberries, and he knows it's funny so he spits even more when we're watching.

He weighs 19.9 lbs and is 27" long. We love every bit of him!

my garden

A few months ago, Kent built me
this beautiful raised garden box.

Please excuse the weeds encircling my garden. One thing at a time.

On Saturday it was planting time
(still a shock to my Utah-raised mindset, where there's still two feet of snow covering the ground)
and so I planted.
Asparagus and strawberries.

And yet to come: squash, bush beans, carrots, and tomatoes.

I'm hoping they grow.

when I went downstairs

on Valentine's morning, I set Nicholas down and then turned to see how much time we had left before we had to leave for Church.

And I noticed this:"Time stands still when I'm with you!"
And I went "awww!"

And then I saw this:
And this:It wasn't until a little later that I found my personal favorite:
Kent left notes on nearly every non-permanent surface he could write on. I had so much fun all morning hunting down all the places he wrote on.

And on Friday, I received these beauties while Kent was at work. He's so sweet, isn't he?
I think I'll keep him.

my valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love these boys more than I can say.
Seeing them together like this just
fills me up with warm fuzzies.

And that's the truth.
"The only life worth living is a life full of love."
-Pam Houston

I agree.

love in cookies

just sitting

Nicholas was sitting on the couch, smiling at Daddy.Daddy started singing the "oompa loompa" song.
That's Nicholas's favorite.
"Will you sing it again, please?"
"But I really, really love that song..."
"Oh thank you, dad! You're the best!"
"What do we do now?"

"This pillow looks like it would be good to chew on. My two almost-teeth could use a good gnawing session."
"Uh, Mom?"
"Help me up?"
"Stop taking pictures and help me up!"

Oh those eyebrows...I just can't get enough of my baby boy! He's so delicious!

groundhogs day

When my mom was in college, she and her roommates started a tradition
of celebrating Groundhog's Day.
Yep. You heard me.
We celebrate Groundhog's Day.

It is a very simple tradition, and it includes only two things:
1. Ice cream
2. Drawing pictures of groundhogs

Although I was a bit concerned that they might think it rather silly, we invited our friends over to celebrate with us.
And they had fun! (Or at least they pretended to.)
And I added two more little things to this year's celebration:
1. Eating sausage for dinner (ground-hog, get it?)
2. Groundhog cupcakes

I believe it was a success. I did my part in spreading the tradition.
And until next year, Happy Belated Groundhog's Day!

bits of January

I started a new project early last month. I was inspired by a lot of others and decided to take one picture every morning this year and put them in a book.

Here's a little taste of what our January was like:


Jan 9-We recieved a load of topsoil for my planter box in the backyard. Kent spent the morning hauling it to the backyard using a rented dolly and a green recycling bucket.

Jan 23-Nicholas and I went on a walk almost every day this week-the weather was so nice!
I wore shorts.
In January.
Yes, Texas isn't so bad after all.

Jan 27-Sewing placemats for my mom.

Jan 25-Kent (finally) recieves his new laptop! I can't even tell you how anxious he was for this day to arrive.

Jan 18-Just me and my buddy

Jan 16-The weekend of the "small project blitz." The little to-do's had piled up, and I couldn't take it anymore. We accomplished a whole lot that Saturday.

Jan 15- We cuddle in bed every morning after Kent leaves for work.

Jan 12-Rain. And a very tiny corner of my beautiful planter box.

Jan 11-Sometimes Nicholas needs a bath in the mornings. Sometimes I'm too tired during the night to change his wet diaper. Sometimes it leaks through. Sometimes Nicholas bathes in the mornings just because we want to, though.

Sorry they're not in order. Maybe next month.