Out with the Old...In with the Cash!

We participated in our annual neighborhood garage sale this weekend. Our first ever. The verdict? Not as bad as I thought it would be.
I had a friend come over Friday to help me and we had a great time just chatting all day and taking turns caring for the babies. Seth did so awesome! He was pretty content just to sit on a blanket and play with his toys and stare at all the strangers that came wandering in the garage. (It was pouring rain for part of the day, so we literally had a 'garage sale'). He has quite the stare-down face when he first makes eye contact with a stranger. He did warm up to a few people and give them a smile, but mostly he played it cool.

His 'cheeser' for the camera:



The days went fast and we actually sold almost everything! Awesome!

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In other news, we've been doing A LOT of work in the backyard. We thought it was going to be a pretty low-maintenance backyard when we first bought the house, but boy, were we wrong. I've been weeding for three weeks straight -- every nap and pretty much every free moment I've had. Granted, the reason there is so much to do this year is because we've never had it under control. The first year we bought the house it was pretty overgrown, but we were so overwhelmed with all the projects to do inside, that the outside got neglected. And last summer, I was in my third trimester of pregnancy, so bending over to weed just wasn't going to happen. (Oh, and I was on a pesky little thing called 'bedrest' for most of it). So, hence the three weeks of working our tails off.

We did build a DIY firepit in the back and we're really liking it.
(Can you spy Seth in the background?)



Oh, there he is:





Now, we can start enjoying the backyard and invite people over for some s'mores. :)

As soon as I get pictures rounded up from different cameras, I'll post about our trip to Idaho in May. It was so fun!

Omaha

At the beginning of April, Luke and I drove to Omaha to see his oldest brother's family and also his parents while they were in town for our niece's baptism. We could only get away for the weekend, so Thursday evening after Luke got off work, we packed everything in the car and made the 8 hour drive. We figured because Seth usually sleeps during most of that time anyway, it would be ideal. He wasn't too thrilled to sleep in his car seat for that long, but all in all he did really great. He was a bit confused when we woke him up at the hotel at 1 a.m., but he settled in pretty nicely after a while.

Friday we met up with his family and toured "Old Market" in downtown Omaha. It was a really fun place to walk around and they had some really interesting shops and restaurants.

Grandpa Werrett bought the kids some candy at little shop and they were pretty excited:



The whole crew (minus Luke, the photographer):



Seth has just started to like the baby bjorn -- Luke caught a rare moment of cuddling:



Feeding the ducks:



Saturday morning, Luke and I were able to sneak away early and attend a temple session (thanks Alan and Brenda!), and we also went to the visitor's center at Winter Quarters. Coincidentally, Luke's youngest brother is on a mission in Omaha and apparently there were several near-sightings of him throughout the weekend, but to Luke's disappointment, we didn't get to see him.



Our niece was so excited for her baptism! It really was one of the most special baptisms that I've been to.



I couldn't resist snapping a picture of Seth in his little tie:



With his cousins:





It was a great weekend, despite a nasty flu-bug that made the rounds...but we are so happy that we were able to see everyone! It was so fun.

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter! We had a great weekend that included friends, hints of sunshine and massive amounts of dark chocolate. Yum!

Light Easter Dessert

With all the great fruit (especially strawberries) just coming into season, I decided to publish an Easter dessert that features all that fruity goodness. It is a Strawberry & Melon Compote with an Almond Streusel. For the full recipe go HERE.

Whoa! Seven Months!

I cannot believe how fast time has flow by since our little Seth joined the family! He is learning so much so fast and changes every day. Seth has also been sitting up on his own and he's pretty proud of himself. We have only had a few bad tipping moments, and he recovers quickly, so it is his new favorite thing.



We can also see his little teeth a lot better when he smiles. It looks like he might be getting another one on top soon.



When Seth gets a hold of anything resembling food he thrashes like "Tyrannosaurus Seth" with his little razor sharp teeth. We have to watch to make sure his bites are reasonably sized, as he can tear off large chunks of whatever he is gnawing.

Seth has a lot of silly expressions, and it has been so hard to catch them with the camera, but I think we finally got a few.






One of our favorite things that Seth does, is his "High Alert Mode". Since I like to surprise the little bugger so much, he keeps a close eye on me until he decides Daddy isn't going to do anything crazy. But I usually do something crazy, so his heightened awareness is probably justified. We can get him laughing pretty hard with a good surprise or Chris Farley bit.

Little Fishie

That's what Luke calls him because he loves water so much. He is fascinated with running water and he loves, loves, LOVES his baths. And I love that he's so dang cute in the bathtub...

Half-A-Year

My little sweetheart turned six months old today. It feels a little bittersweet -- my baby is just growing up so fast -- yet I absolutely love seeing his personality start to come out. He is the happiest little guy. All we have to do is smile at him and immediately his grin stretches from ear to ear. His giggle is adorable and Luke and I just can't help but spend most of our time trying to get a good chuckle out of him. Although sometimes it is unintentional -- who knew cutting a pineapple could be so hilarious?

He's hit a few milestones lately:
1) He's getting better and better at sitting up on his own-- although when he starts to go sideways he just falls like a tree -- no arms out or anything.
2) He absolutely loves it when I stand him up and he gets the proudest look on his face. It's so cute.
3) He's willing to do tummy time for a few minutes at a time now, although he still despises it.
4) He's got two little chompers. Yep, his bottom teeth have cut through and they are sharp as razors. His favorite thing was to chew on my fingers, but unfortunately I had to put a stop to that. Although he's still a little sneaky about it. Yesterday he was sitting on my lap and he just dive-bombed my hand trying to get my finger in his mouth. I've been keeping his teething ring a little closer lately. :)
5) He's finally started to sleep better. Hooray! For a while there I wasn't sure I was ever going to get more than an hour and a half of sleep at a time!





Such a cute little guy, eh?

My Laundry Buddy

Good Eats

Seth tried rice cereal for the first time a few days ago and was primarily unimpressed. (I tried it too, and I really understand the hesitation)

I thought he'd be excited to eat because he's been incredibly interested in our food, but when I offered him his tiny spoonful he just stared at it and after some prompting from both Mom and Dad, he opened his mouth a crack and gave it a taste. After the initial spitting it all out for the first few bites, he finally swallowed some, but from his facial expression I got the sense he was pretty underwhelmed. Sorry bud, we'll try something a little more exciting soon.

Caught

I wasn't sure if I wanted to encourage a thumb-sucker (I've heard all the horror stories of kids that can't kick the habit)...but if it keeps him happy, well, we'll just worry about breaking the habit later. Happy baby, happy momma. Besides, I think it's pretty cute.

Back into the Swing of Things

After decorating for Christmas, making cookies, caroling, visiting neighbors and friends, attending parties, flying to Portland, making gingerbread houses, playing chimes, eating great food, playing lots of wii and spending time with family, we are sad that the holidays are over, but we had a really great time this year.

I'm pretty sure Seth didn't know the difference between any other ordinary time of year, but he definitely loved all the extra attention he got from grandparents, aunts and uncles and other "little people" (cousins).







He looks pretty ecstatic Christmas morning, doesn't he?







His first New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful for him; he spent it in bed. :)



He's 4 1/2 months now and getting bigger, more interactive and more fun by the day. At his 4 month checkup he was average weight (50%), a little taller than average (75%) and he has a big head (80%)...he must be growing a great brain in there.... ;)

I love:
- His giggles and chuckles. When he gets going I can't stop laughing at him and then he laughs back and we just sit there cracking up at each other.
- His smiles, especially his wrinkle-nose one. It's darling.
- His preference for the ladies. :) He is quite the flirt. He'll smile for a guy, but they have to work for it. As soon as a woman smiles at him, he turns on the charm full-blast.
- His new warrior yelp as he attacks things with his mouth. He does it with gusto! I feel a bit sorry for some of his toys...
- The way he'll hug me when he wakes up from his naps. He'll wrap his arms around my neck and burrow his head into my chest for the first few minutes after I get him up.
- How he loves his baths. No matter how fussy he gets before bedtime, as soon as I start the water running, he's all smiles. He loves to pick up both legs at the same time and slap them down into the water to make a great splash.
- How much he loves his daddy.
- How he loves to look at himself in the mirror. I can't decide if he actually knows it is him in the reflection...but he likes the baby smiling back quite a bit.
- His beautiful blue eyes.

It is so fun having him in our family.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Good luck with the resolutions, although for most of us it's been about 11 days since we've broken most of them, eh?

3 Months Already

Wow, this month has just flown by. On the 2nd, I flew to Idaho to visit my family for 2 weeks and introduce Seth to everyone. I had SUCH a good time. It was so awesome to see everyone -- I had been getting pretty homesick. Unfortunately, we had such a great time, that I only remembered to bring out the camera a handful of times...
I was supposed to fly out on the 16th, but due to a huge blizzard, my flight was cancelled. After trying to figure out the best time to rebook the flight, I decided to make it a week later and go down to Utah and visit Aaron, Melanie, Bethany and Neal. Luke was such a good sport to let me stay that long! He was getting pretty lonely at home all by himself.

Luke was worried that Seth was going to forget him after 3 weeks, but when he met us at the airport, Seth gave his Dad his first giggle. It is SO cute! So Luke didn't need to worry that Seth forgot him; he still thinks his Dad is hilarious.

Seth is now three months old and he has brought so much joy to our home. Luke and I love entertaining him and making him smile. We have to work pretty hard for his giggles, but I'm sure those will come quickly as soon as he figures it out better.





His cousin, Brooklyn, was so cute...She wasn't really reading the book, she was just making up a story based on the pictures and it was hilarious!



Seth loves listening to his Dad play guitar:



Luke decided to see how Seth liked his choice in music -- and I couldn't resist a picture. Seth didn't quite know what to think about it:

Happy Halloween!

We have had a pretty low key Halloween this year, but we did get to do the usual caramel fondue and pumpkin carving. Seth dressed up for our ward "Trunk or Treat" last night, and seemed to enjoy it so long as the camera was put away.

Seth with his mad scientist dad.

Our little bear.