A Very Very Un-Birthday!!

As of today at 12:34 pm Lachlan turned 6 months old!! Yup...he's officially past the "blob" stage...as his father so kindly puts it. :) Here's a run down of some of the things he does to entertain his parents:



Pulls his socks off every chance he gets.
Then promptly attempts to eat his toes...usually while lying on his back.
Rolls from stomach to back...both directions...rolls to his side, but refuses to roll back onto his stomach...hasn't figured out that being on his stomach is how he will eventually become mobile.
Loves to grab his binkie from wherever and put it in his mouth.
LOVES...LOVES...LOVES cell phones/telephones/remotes...anything with buttons...yup, it's already started.
Loves his johnny-jump-up swing thing...hops to his hearts content.
Stands up all the time...loves to stand and check stuff out.
Can sit up by himself...tips over after a minute or two, so still needs some support.
Squeaks when he's bored, and talks/complains when he wants to be picked up.
Lifts his arms when he wants to be picked up.
Loves to eat rice cereal/whole milk yogurt/sweet potatoes.
NOT sleeping through the night...ugh.
Chews (not sucks) on his thumb...don't ask me, I swear he's not teething.
Does not have teeth yet...which is ok with me for right now.
Smiles all of the time!
Flirts with anyone who will make eye contact with him.
Is extremely ticklish...and has the cutest giggle.
Loves the dogs, and loves them even more when he can get ahold of them.
Loves his daddy...loves his momma too.

Perspective...

So, you know when you've had one of those moments where you experience a paradigm shift? Well, last night when I was talking to my friend Kaye...I had one of those. I've had a hard time recently with his lack of sleeping skills. However, I realized last night how lucky I am. Lachlan LOVES to cuddle...and I know he won't want to forever. But...right now he loves nothing more than to just cuddle with his mom...and I love it. It makes for some long nights when he wakes up and just wants to be held, but it could be lots worse...he could be waking up at night in pain from ear infections...I've had friends and sisters that have had to deal with that. He truly is such a good little boy.


So, while I might be slightly sleep deprived...I'm not deprived of the evidence my little boy absolutely adores and loves me just as much as I absolutely adore and love him. How lucky am I that I have the cutest little boy...who still wants to cuddle with his momma?! (And besides...how can you not just melt when you see that huge smile framed by those chubby little cheeks?!)

Update...

Just letting everyone know that we are fine after Mt. Redoubt decided to blow it's top. It only blew ash...no lava. And, the wind is blowing NE, away from us. We are about 50 miles directly East of the volcano. The good thing is that it's a very fine ash, not the heavy abrasive stuff like the previous eruption, and because it blew it so high in the air, the fine ash travels farther before coming to land. So, being this close to the volcano is actually a good thing...this time. It can continue to erupt periodically for the next 6 months, but hopefully the worst is over. We lost power for a bit this morning, but it's back on now, so it's all good. We'll keep you updated if things change...but for now, the dust masks are still sitting on the counter...no need to put them on yet! :)

On a lighter note...

Here's the video from his first eating experience. He has since added a little whole milk yogurt to his cereal...and he loves it!! I would like you all to know...he did sleep very well for about 3 days in a row. Yeah for me!



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That John Denver's Full of ...

You ever been disappointed/disgusted when something someone tells you doesn't turn out the way you had envisioned or how they had described it would be? Well...that's me right now. I started thinking about this post at about 3:15 this morning when my child was STILL crying after nearly an hour. It took cradling, feeding, cradling some more, and another hour before he finally fell asleep...for about 2 1/2 hours. He's been having issues sleeping for about 2 months now. Some nights he does great...others...not so much. So, people (insert moms) have been offering me their best advice:

Start him on solid foods...he'll start sleeping...see pictures below.
Elevate his bed...maybe he has an ear infection.
Put him in his own room in his crib so he can't hear you sleeping next to him.
Let him cry it out...he'll eventually go to sleep.
Check for teeth...maybe he's teething. (He's not...I've pried his mouth open so many times I'm pretty sure he's going to develop TMJ before he turns one.)

I've done them all...with ZERO improvement! The one thing that seems to offer some relief for the weary are the baby massages I learned at Doc's office...thank you Carla!

The only good thing here is that we got some great pics of his first adventure with rice cereal! Yeah for that!! Yeah for the fact that he likes it too!!

So...for all those that have given me advice...I appreciate it but..."That John Denver's full of $#@*."


That's for all the movie buff's out there...you know who you are (Laura!)

Hanging out with dad after his solid food adventure...good thing he's such a good baby during the day...and so dang cute!! It's the only thing that keeps me smiling when I'm exhausted.

Splish Splash...

Last Saturday the 7th, Lachlan had his first swimming experience. The primary in our ward rented the pool in Nikiski for an hour. Becky invited me to go along with her, even though Lachlan isn't in primary yet. He was a little confused with the water at first, kept trying to grab it, but then was so enthralled with all the kids splashing and yelling he forgot about the water...until he got splashed. Overall I think he thoroughly enjoyed himself. We have a waterproof camera, Shayne got it for taking pics of fish underwater, but it works GREAT in the swimming pool...the kids loved having their pics taken under water...especially the Massey kids...they know exactly what to do for the camera. Becky took all the underwater pics...she had way too much fun with the camera.

Not so sure of the water.

I just loved his little pot belly here.

Kali, Addi, and Kaitlyn watching Lachlan negotiate the water on his back. He wasn't so sure about it, until all the girls came to watch him...then he was fine...totally distracted with so much beauty! :)

Addi is absolutely in love with Lachlan...when she knows I'm on the phone all she says is "Baby?! Baby?!"

This is the best pic of Becky I could get.

Eric Massey...his kids are the next three...can you see where they get their photogenic/crazy personalities! J/K Angela...I know they get all their sweetness from you! :) Eric is HUGE/border line obsessed with photography...but I can't blame him he does a great job. You should check out some of his pics on their blog here.

Kaitlyn desperately wanted her pic taken under water, so Becky worked very hard to get one for her...this is the best. She would just plug her nose and bend over in the water. It's hard to get underwater when you're wearing a life vest. :)

This was as close to getting Kali's head underwater as we could get. Love the water-wings!

Owen is only 2, but Eric was determined to get an underwater pic of him...so he kept dunking him in the water. Where's OCS when you need them! You would have to read one of his latest posts to understand. :) There were some other pics of Owen swimming towards Becky that were cool, but I liked this one the best. BTW...he was loving the dunking and stuff...don't worry, Eric didn't drown him.

Becky's boy Braden swimming underwater...he's a little water beetle.

Becky's little girl Addi trying to be like the big kids.

Taegen, Becky's daugher lounging underwater.

This little piggy...

Just some pictures that show what a big boy he's become. He found his toes a couple of weeks ago, and loves to grab them when changing clothes or his diaper. He loves to pull himself up in his swing and chew on the toys I have on the tray...and he's starting to sit up by himself. He doesn't last long, but it's a start. I do have some videos of him grabbing his toes, and jumping in his Johnny Jumper, but again...having technical difficulty uploading them. I'll keep trying, but I make no guarantees.

Watching dad feed the dogs.

This little piggy...

Look Ma!! No hands!!

Dancin' to Shakira

I'm having some technical difficulty uploading videos...so I'm posting one at a time. Lachlan loves his excer-saucer...acts like a spaz in it sometimes. But it's so cute!

Napping at School?

So, I substituted at the alternative high school where I taught last year. I subbed Monday-Wednesday, and Friday last week, and Monday-Tuesday this past week. That makes 6 days of teaching...a lot in a row for me. Anywho...Shayne was able to watch Lachlan for 4 out of those 6 days, but on two of them I had to take him with me. Now...you need to understand...this is an alternative high school, and the school with the pregnant/teen moms. So, having another baby there is no big deal. So...Lachlan went to the alternative high school! So funny how much those kids loved him. I love those kids and miss teaching there...but I love being a mom even more.

Napping at the principal's desk...that's who I subbed for...the principal.

Lachlan chilling in his bumbo with Ben. I told Lachlan to keep Ben on task...not an easy job! He just stared him down...I don't think it worked...nothing does for Ben! :)

Ben with the Bumbo on his head. Kendra his girlfriend, and Jonathan observing the wierdo! :) Ben thought that all bar stools should have an adult bumbo intsalled so no one would fall off. Don't forget...it's an alternative high school. Gotta love 'em!

Just some shots of him getting big. Checking out his swing mobile, hangin' in his jumper chair...which he LOVES!! He's all about jumpin' around now. So funny.

Discovering Bo has long hair on his legs. Bo just stood there and let him grab at the hair. Shayne was there to make sure he didn't step on him. Bo was very careful with his front feet, but when he tried to sit down, forgot where Lachlan was and almost sat on him...that's why Shayne was there. He is so into the dogs right now. Tipz totally lets him pull the hair on her head and ears, thinks any attention in great.

Yup....you got it! His 5 month pics!! He wearing the cutest little outfit from his Great Grandma Woodbury. I'm pretty sure that bear is shrinking, because I hate to think my little boy is growing up this fast! He's all about his thumb too...not really sucking on it, just chewing on it. He's also discovered his toes...loves to grab them when I change his diaper. I have pics of it, but I'll post them later.

He's started to grab anything that's in reach...including my bubble. He successfully popped it.