Another Birthday Boy!

Luke, you are amazing!!! I love you so very much. Happy Birthday, babe!

Birthday Boy

Today is Seth's 1st Birthday. What a year it has been! Luke and I are so blessed to have this little ray of sunshine in our home.

Some things I love about our little guy:
- Of course, his giggle. It is so, so darling -- it cracks me up every time.
- The look on his face when he gets excited. He looks straight forward with his eyebrows raised, eyes wide, arms out and he breaths so fast I sometimes think he's going to hyperventilate. I guess you have to see it -- it's hard to describe. It typically happens when Luke comes home from work. ;)
- His little micro-cuddles. He's not especially cuddly, so the brief moments he'll lay his head on my shoulder I treasure.
- When he's playing on the floor with his toys and he looks up to see what I'm doing, he'll catch my eye, cock his head to the side and just smile. So cute.
- His random babbling. He gets going pretty good sometimes and I can't help but wonder what he telling me all about. It sounds pretty exciting.
- How he loves water. In his bath he splashes so exuberantly that we have to wonder if they'll be any water left in there. He'll splash for several minutes then look over with water dripping off his face and give a big cheeser.
- His love for music. If there is a song playing that he likes he starts bobbing his head and "dancing."
- How much he loves his jumper. When we first put him in there, it took him a while to really get into it, but now he just goes wild. He jumps so high he actually gets air off the seat!
- His big cheeks and gorgeous blue eyes.

Ball Fun

Seth has started to show some interest in throwing stuff. In general, this is a precarious development, but we all had a good time when he discovered that throwing a racquet ball was funny. It was pretty hilarious to see him wind up and hurl the ball. He froze up a little bit when the camera came out, but we still caught a few good belly laughs.

Idaho Trip

Last month, Seth and I made the trip home to visit family for a few weeks. After hours and hours of delays at the airport, we finally landed in Salt Lake City and it was such a relief to see Bethany waiting for us; ready to take us somewhere we could sleep! Seth did SO well, even though it took us almost 5 hours longer than planned. We were supposed to arrive around 9 p.m., but we didn't arrive until about 1:30 a.m.
The first weekend we stayed with Aaron and Melanie and we had such a good time. You guys know how to have some fun! :)

Seth trying out a swing for the first time at a park near their house. He thought it was pretty awesome:

I also had the opportunity to make the trip down to St. George to visit with my Grandparents. (My Grandfather has cancer and unfortunately, I knew this was probably going to be the last time I would be able to see him.) It was so much fun talking and laughing about old memories and all the crazy stuff we'd done as kids. As Grandpa put it, "I wasn't sure you kids were going to live to adulthood..." Well, we did, and it was fun to spend the day reminiscing about all the good times.

After getting back from southern Utah, my Mom met us halfway from Idaho and took Seth and I the rest of the way to Rexburg. Again, Seth was such a sport during all this driving.

The rest of the next couple weeks were kind of a whirlwind -- trying to spend time with all my siblings and planning a few hours here and there to see friends. No matter how long I stay, it seems like I never quite have enough time to spend with everyone.

Seth on the riding lawnmower with Grandpa Hoopes:



Loving the "Big Swing" at my parents' house:



There's a baby granny on my blanket!



Cutie pie:



For the last week, Luke was able to join us. Seth was so happy to see his daddy. It was cute. Those two together just melts me.

I've been dying to go over to Jackson Hole and spend some time in Grand Teton National Park, so Mom and Dad took us over a few days before we had to leave. My goodness, it was breathtaking! I've seen those mountains about a million times, but they still never cease to amaze. It was unseasonably cold for being almost June, so there was still a good amount of snow left. On Jenny's Lake, the ice was just beginning to break up and it was incredibly picturesque.

It was a fabulous trip. Thanks everyone for the beds, the food and all the fun! 'Til next time! :)

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!

****

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.