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.

2 Months

Another month has gone by and Seth is getting cuter and chubbier by the day. He is really smiley and interactive and he LOVES when Luke and I sing to him. So far, his favorite songs are "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Once There Was a Snowman," and his Dad's spontaneous silly songs.

We found out about a week ago that he has GERD or Acid Reflux. He had been throwing up and spitting up a lot more than I thought was normal, and waking up screaming as if he was in pain, so I started doing some research and asking around and I had a strong suspicion that's what it was. His pediatrician confirmed it and we've started him on some medication that is supposed to neutralize the stomach acid, so hopefully that will help him be able to eat and sleep better. Fingers crossed, because both of us are getting TIRED. :)

Other than eating, sleeping some and hamming it up for our silly songs, we've been trying to take lots of walks to enjoy the last bit of good weather before it gets too cold. I'm dreading winter! We may have to become one of those "mall walkers"...

Watching TV with Daddy:



Precious moments of sleep:





I finally captured some good smiles on camera:





This is usually the look he gives me when I bring out the camera:



Happy Halloween everyone!

Visitors!

We had two special visitors at the beginning of the month at our house. Grandpa and Grandma came to visit/meet Seth and we had a great time! The weather was so beautiful the whole time they were here, so we spent a lot of time outside enjoying the fall colors and mild temperatures.
They were able to be here when we blessed Seth and it was so nice to have some family in town for that special occasion. Seth was kept pretty entertained for the week and when they left, I'm sure he was wondering where all his adoring fans went. :)





We love you both! Thanks for coming!

Seth's Blessing

Yesterday, while Luke's parents were in town, we had the opportunity to bless Seth in our ward. I was worried that he was going to cry through the whole blessing because he was a little fussy before the meeting started, but he was an angel and slept the whole time. The blessing was really amazing and I couldn't help but tear up as I thought of my little baby and all the potential that he has. I think we have a pretty special boy on our hands.

Posing in his cute little suit:


Looking a bit bored with the whole photoshoot thing:


Proud Momma and Daddy:

Chair Redo

I was looking for a chair to use in my guest room and I had an idea for the perfect cheap solution:
I went to an antique/consignment store and looked for an old, inexpensive head dining chair. I wanted one with arms and some character in the styling.
I found this 1920's chair for $22:



I gave it a rough sand and two coats of a high-gloss black laquer spray paint.



I also added some padding to the cushion, recovered it in a new fabric and wha-la! A brand-new chair for about $35.

Elusive Smile

Seth has been smiling since last week, but it has been incredibly hard to catch on camera. As soon as I try to take a picture, he gets a really concerned look on his face and the moment is ruined. But, this morning I was able to catch a bit of a smile from him. I couldn't get his full gummy smile, but this will have to suffice for now.
He can just melt my heart with his smile though: A few nights ago it was a particularly rough one -- he had been up at least every hour or more and I was SO tired. After getting him up for a third time in about 20 minutes, he looked up at me after calming down and gave me a big "I'm happy to see you, mom" smile, and it just melted me. The whole frustrating night was forgotten. I tell you what...sometimes it is really good that they are so darn cute.

1 month!

I can't believe my little squish is almost a month old! Time has just flown so fast!
We've been having a good time together. He has been really great, so I've been able to get out a lot. The weather has been ideal the last couple of weeks, so he and I have been going on a lot of walks. Thankfully he loves his car seat and stroller, so he's usually so good. We've only had to hurry home a couple of times. :)
He's a great eater -- in fact maybe too good; he thinks he's hungry all the time -- and he's already up to 8 1/2 pounds. Way to go, little man!

Here's a few more pics we've captured in the last few days:

New Look, Same Great Taste!

We have updated our web address for the blog to: beyond-idahome.blogspot.com because "houston-pals" just didn't seem to describe us that well anymore (as we are not there, sadly it was a short stay). We hope not to lose contact with anyone because of the change, so I have kept the old address alive with a redirect function and an update blurb when we post at the new blog. For those that have a link or shortcut to our blog, I don't think I will leave the redirect functional forever, so updating links is highly recommended (well, only if you want to see what Em, Seth, and I are up too). The new name was inspired by Idahome, my made-up nickname for Emily's hometown. Hopefully by using a geographically specific point of origin rather than a current location in the web address, there will be no need to change it for a long time.

Enjoying the ride

I love being a mom! I can't believe how in love with my little guy I am. In only six days, he's completely turned my life upside down, and I couldn't be happier. He is just darling and even though this last week has been an adventure learning how to take care of a newborn, I am loving every minute. Even the 3 am feedings.

Seth has been such a good baby. He was pretty impatient for my milk to come in (such a boy...hungry all the time)...but now he eats great and in turn, sleeps really well for a newborn. He's affectionately earned the nickname "T-Rex" from Luke because of how frantic to eat he gets when he first wakes up. He is quite vigorous. ;) Again, such a boy.
His bilirubin levels were slightly elevated when we left the hospital, so we've had to have a couple check-ups with the pediatrician, but he's doing great. Healthy and strong.

Mom and I gave him his first bath and he wasn't quite sure what to think about it at first. After we warmed him up by placing a washcloth over him, he calmed down and I think he actually enjoyed it.



Of course, cuddling in a warm towel after is the best part:



Seth and I chillin' during the few hours he's actually awake during the day: