7 Months!

Yup...we all know what today is! Lachlan is 7 months old! We had such a wonderful sunny day today, that we hung out outside to take his pics. Can't stay out too long though...with red hair and translucent skin...he's just asking to get melanoma!

He's gone through a huge growth spurt the last month. I'm not sure how much he weighs, but he is definitely growing. Here's a run down of some cute little tid bits about what he's up to now:

Loves to eat his "solid" food. Here's his list of favorites in order from most to least: Pears (mixed with rice or oatmeal cereal or just plain), whole milk yogurt, yams, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, avocados. He may not like avocados or squash as much as the rest, but you get out the yogurt and he becomes a wild man! He will eat ANYTHING if you put a little yogurt in it. :)

Loves, loves, loves to pull off his socks as soon as you lay him down...or just put him in his car seat, then he promptly puts his toes in his mouth.

Sits up just fine without any help, until you walk past him and he looks up or behind him...then he just kinda tips over in slow motion...I took a picture of it...shouldn't be hard to spot, it's the one with his feet in the air. :)

Loves his dogs. Loves it even more when they come up to him and he can get a handful of fur.

Loves to give his mama "kisses". He seriously attacks me. He grabs both sides of my face, or my hair and pulls my chin right into his mouth. Doesn't suck on my chin, he chews on it. And he doesn't just sort of grab my face/hair...he has a death grip hold, and pretty violently smashes into my face. It's pretty entertaining for others to watch. He's tried this on dad, but dad's face is a little bit hairy...not so much fun. He has gotten his nose though. :)

Is sleeping through the night!! In his own room!! Yeah for mom and dad!

Likes to "talk" to himself. He's not a very verbal/vocal baby, but he does like to make funny noises.

Loves to snuggle. He's loved it since the day he was born, and has never grown out of it. He loves nothing more than to just "hang-out" being snuggled in mom or dad's arms. We love that he's been such a snugly baby.

Is all about touching skin. Whether he's just snuggling, or falling asleep, he loves to have a hand on your face, or neck or just rubbing your arm.

Has this new face where he scrunches up his nose. Does it mostly when you are feeding him or getting ready to clean his face. I have to get a picture, b/c it's so funny.

Loves his johnny jumper...I have to get a new video, b/c I'm pretty sure he' s going to jump right out of it the way he gets going.

Will NOT roll onto his stomach. Hates being on his stomach. Almost immediately rolls to his back when placed on his stomach...will roll clear onto his side to get at something, but when I push/pull him back onto his stomach, he places a foot out to keep from going onto his stomach, and then yells at me when he does end up back on his stomach. I'm not sure he's going to crawl...may just walk before he crawls.

Loves to "stand". Is pretty much pulling himself up if he's on his knees and there's something in front of him. Last week he held onto the church pew and looked at the people behind him, without any help from Shayne or I.

Smiles and flirts with anyone and everyone that looks at him. In the store, at church, at school, you name it.

He's definitely a "thinker". I've had multiple people I've come into contact with while being out and about tell me that he's gonna be smart, b/c he's so observant. He's been that way since he was born...watches everything. It worries me a little...he's gonna know how to get into anything. I took some pictures of him concentrating on getting the tag on the teddy bear...very focused on getting a hold of that tag...part of the "thinker" mentality.

Has found grass and rocks, and thinks they are WONDERFUL!!

Loves his mama and daddy...lots. He has smiles that he saves only for them. It absolutely melts our hearts!

Ok...there are lots of other things, but it's late and I can't remember them all. I think you can tell we absolutely love our little bug. We still think he's the best thing since sliced bread! :)

Sorry to bore some of you, but this entry is more for journaling purposes than anything.

For Aaron...

Per Shayne's Uncle Aaron's request...fish pictures. :)






It has finally warmed up enough to melt most of the snow, and we all know what that means...it's time to go fishing! Shayne has been itching for awhile now to get out on the river, and finally made it out during his last week off. He hit the Kasilof river a couple of days and fished for Steelhead. As you can see from the pics, he was successful. He got into a few of them, and was very happy...to say the least. He hasn't taken Lach out yet...it's still a bit chilly to have him out for too long.

The video is very short, Shayne didn't realize it was on movie mode, but it's a good video none the less. It's mostly for Aaron...I'm such a good niece-in-law! :)

Just wanted you all to know that this blog has not been reduced to exclusive pictures of our most adorable boy...we still have a life outside of Lachlan(sorta)...just not in the winter time. Now it's warming up we should be back to some good pictures of the beautiful Alaskan outdoors!

Are you happy now Aaron?! :)

Sisterly Advice...

So...I received an email to all my sister's from my sister Maysi on Monday, April 20th, and I had to share. You need to understand that Maysi is married to a cattle rancher/farmer, so being outside around cattle and dirt and other niceties is totally normal, it's just like how we grew up. She also has 4 little cowboys...and I mean cowboys. They love working the ranch with their dad. They love their cowboy hats, and wear out their cowboy boots faster than any of their other shoes. Cutest little cowboys you've ever seen!

See?!

I received the response below it from my sister-in-law, Ashley, Wednesday, April 22nd. Let's just say I was laughing so hard! I love my family...they are hilarious! I'm so glad that as sister's we get together and share the wonderful things that happen when you have children.

Enjoy the emails:

From Maysi: "I wanted to pop off a very important e-mail to all you moms! This is my fourth not only child but boy, so I am sharing some valuable info for you to be aware of. I know how it is when you feed your child something or they eat something on their own, and you wonder what it will do. Will they have some kind of reaction? Well, I don't want you to worry if your child eats fresh green cow poop! Nothing bad happens, no rash or swollen tongue, so far no fussiness! It was a little messy, and gross for me, but he seemed to like it just fine. Oh, and it was on him for a while because we were where it could not be properly washed off, and no lasting effects from that either. I don't believe there were any toxins it this poop, Pep, the cows have just been eating hay and grass. You can research that if you want. I know it could be a little bit of a panicky situation, but if it happens, don't, it will all be ok. Just dive into their little mouth with your finger and start to shovel it out, they will be just fine. Oh, and on the bright side, they may even become immune to some terrible something! Now you on the other hand, it might take a little bit of time for the mom to get over it. Thus the purpose of this letter to put you all at ease. Green cow poop will not harm your little sweetie pie!! Have wonderful feedings, and I hope you all sleep well tonight. With lots of love, Maysi"


From Ashley: "Thanks so much for the detailed information. I was so relieved to hear that nothing bad will happen when a child eats poop. I am also here to report that dog poop doesn't do anything either (and that is probably worse than cow poop). Not even a belly ache. It is amazing what kids will eat and that their body is totally ok with. Thanks for the report and keep me informed as to any other "harmful" materials I should know about . Thanks and have a wonderful day everyone. Love ya, Ashley"

On Monday, April 20th...

My mother-in-law, Jonette:


is running:



Ya...the Boston Marathon! 26.2 miles of this:


I'm not sure how many half-marathons, full marathons, and triathlons she's run, but it's a lot!


She is amazing, and such an example to me of setting goals and then achieving them.


Good luck Grammy Jo!! We will be cheering, and praying, for you tomorrow!!

p.s. Can you believe she's a grandma, and running a marathon? She definitely doesn't look like a grandma! Seriously...an inspiration that someday I can be in great shape too! :)

Blogger Vomit...

So, I just vomited Blogger style. I posted like 6 different times today...sorry. :)

I just decided that there's no such thing as too many posts...or pictures...when grandma's are 3,000 miles away...and besides...Shayne's home for a bit to help watch the "Bug".

First Easter...

How cute is he in that little sweater vest...just smiling?! Man...I could just kiss those cheeks all over! Wait...I do every day! :)

Yup...it's the token "First Easter" pics! Gotta love first time moms. :)

We didn't color Easter Eggs, I decided we'd wait until next year when he can really take part.

I wasn't sure what you get a little boy who can't eat Easter candy or Easter eggs, but Grammy Jo, and Great-grandma Gerth did a great job of helping me out. I just got him that little chick he's holding in the pics, and they did the rest.

Grammy Jo found a cute little short outfit, and some board books, which he loves right now. Great grandma Gerth sent the most beautiful quilt, that she quilted. She also sent a board book, and a cute little Easter bunny. She also sent some outfits and another little fleece blanket that she had been unable to send earlier, and they fit great! We are so excited to have them come visit us in June!

I accompanied the choir on my flute for two different Sacrament meetings, so I was a little busy with that. Then, for dinner we went to Miles/Becky Hansen's. I cooked the ham and Becky did the rest. It was a good time, with good company.

So...that's Lachlan's first Easter. He might not have been able to eat the candy...but he sure looked good! :)





p.s. Notice the VERY cute Easter Basket...then read the next post to read the history about that thing.

Crafting Craziness.

So...I go through these phases every once in awhile where I feel like being crafty. I'm in one of those phases right now. As a result I'm making myself crazy.

First, I decided I needed a diaper satchel to keep the diapers/wipes in one place to make changing easier forShayne and I. So, I found a pattern online, www.makeitandloveit.blogspot.com, and made one. It wasn't too bad...the instructions had a little to be desired though. Anywho...I didn't take any pics of it, but I'm pretty proud of it.

The next project I decided to make was an Easter basket for Lachlan. Ya...I'm seriously crazy. Anyway...I found another pattern online at www.dabbled.org and decided I was capable of creating this basket. It really was pretty easy to make...the stiff interfacing was a bit of a challenge, but not difficult. The only problem was that I am either terrible at cutting out patterns and making the most of the fabric...or they gave me the wrong amounts to buy. I'm going with the latter excuse. So, about half-way through cutting out fabric I realize I'm not going to have enough. So, back to the fabric store I go, but when I got there, they didn't have the super cute striped pattern I had taken 2 hours to pick out a couple of days earlier! So, I had to pick out another fabric to match it! I was a little annoyed. It all worked out, but I sure wish I had had the original fabric for the entire basket. It's not easy to pick out a Springy/Boyish fabric for an Easter basket. Lachlan didn't seem to mind though so it's all good!

Then...my very basic/beginner sewing machine decided to go on the fritz, just as I was about done with the basket. So, I called Becky to see if I could borrow her sewing machine to finish it up...b/c it was Saturday night and I needed for Easter the next day...of course I procrastinated! She grudgingly let me borrow it, and when I say grudgingly, I mean..."Uh...sure...I've never used it so it should be working great!" :) Now, I have to make her a diaper satchel too, as payment for using the sewing machine she never uses. :)

So, thanks to Becky, I was able to finish Lachlan's Easter basket so I could take some token "First Easter" pictures the next day.

First moms are so sad.

Enjoy the pics.

Look at me mom!!

Shayne loves to play with Lachlan like this...and he loves it. You should see him smile.

I haven't had a chance to mention Lachlan had his 6 month appointment on April 6th. He weighed in at a whoppin' 16.0 lbs and was 25.5" long. Ya...we have a munchkin on our hands. Depending on the graph you look at he measures any where from the 10%-25% weight and length. However, his head measures in the 50% so his head looks a little big for his body...but it really isn't THAT big compared to other kids. He's just a little small for it. :) I'm sure he'll grow eventually. However, while I'm lugging him around in his carseat...I'm TOTALLY ok with him being small for his age! :)

Highchair/Booster seat model...

Here's Lachlan modeling his new ride! Ok...it's his new highchair/booster seat...but I love it! We don't have a lot of room for a full size highchair, so a booster seat sitting on a regular chair was a better option. Up to this point, I'd been feeding him on my lap...not so clean for me! Hence...the reason I love the new chair. He on the other hand, was just loving his sweet potatoes.

Visitors...

So...here are a couple of pics of some visitors we've had recently. The moose was just chillin' in our back yard towards the end of March...can you see her laying down amongst the twigs? The squirrel has been a resident of one of backyard trees most of the winter. We put out a bird feeder about a month ago, and last week we caught him stealing. Ya...a squirrel in the bird feeder. It was pretty comical...he nearly fell out of it a couple of times...and just watching him jump from the tree to the feeder was pretty amazing.

All the pics were taken from windows facing the backyard. It's one of the things that makes living in Alaska worth it...when you have visitors like this.





Notice the snow STILL on the ground!!

Hoppity Hop...

These video(s) were taken on March 22nd. He's improved greatly in his jumping skills. I'm going to have to film him again, because he truly is a maniac in his jumper. Puts a smile on my face EVERY time I put him in it!

6 Month Pics - Part 1

Yes, you read it right...part 1. Erik Massey has taken all of Lachlan's pics up to this point...along with some maternity pics. He does an awesome job! Well, he has a friend/coworker who wanted to learn from the master...ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But...she did want to learn how to better use flashes for her photography hobby, and Erik is a "freak" of sorts with lighting. So, Tami and Erik came over last Friday to take some pics. The lighting was Erik's work, and the pics were Tami's. I think they both did a great job!! I'm so glad we have such good friends/freaks to help us show off our up and coming model/baby! :)

p.s. Part 2 will come when I get the pics back that Aaron Swanson (another friend/freak) took on the 30th of March.

p.s.s. Hope all my friends/freaks know I'm teasing and I love you all!! :)