9 months!

I can't believe our little guy is 9 months old!  He is getting big so fast.  I thought I would take advantage of the nice weather and take some pictures of him outside.  He is crawling all over, pulling himself up on stuff, and diving off things if I give him the chance.  He is so much fun, and he keeps me laughing.  He has so many different faces that he makes, I was able to get some of those on camera, and I suppose some will have to wait.  Time flies!

 

He likes the camera... If he could just get his hands on it...

 

Hmmm... what is this?

I wonder if it tastes good?

 

 

 

 

 

I don't like crawling in the grass, but maybe it is good to eat!

Rrrrrrraaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!

 

 

St George Trip

This past week we went to St. George, and Cedar City for our first vacation with Elliot.  I was amazed at how much extra stuff we packed this year when we only had one extra person, and he is so small!   We managed to get everything in though, and we were off.  Elliot did amazing on his first vacation.  He loved being able to explore his new environment, and crawled all over the place whenever he could.  He slept great, even being in new places, which made Trevor and I very happy!  We had a lot of fun!  Here are some of the highlights:

Leaving the house... We weren't sure how he would do on such a long car ride, but we hoped for the best!

Road trips are awesome!  He did great in the car, and a little over half way there, we stopped for lunch at Cove Fort.  They had tables, grass, and trees... it was a perfect spot for a picnic.

He got to crawl around for a bit, after being stuck in his car seat for so long.  He isn't a big fan of grass, but he was enjoying his freedom anyway.

We took a tour of the fort while we were there.  It was really neat, and we enjoyed it.  I would recommend stopping there if you are going by.  It is a great place, even if you  don't go on the tour.

Elliot in the car.  I caught him making some pretty funny faces... I guess he knows how to keep himself entertained!

St. George Temple

We went hiking one morning... it gets hot fast down there!

 

We stopped by the cemetery where my grandparents are buried.

We went to Jack in the Box, and got some shakes.  It is hard to see, but I put the cherry in his mouth.  He loved it!  All you can see is the stem poking out!

On Friday we met up with everyone, and went out to Tuacahn.  We saw Aladdin, and it was amazing!  It is incredible the things they are able to do on that stage!

Swimming! We had fun at the pool, but I forgot my camera, so all we have is the 'after swimming' picture.

We met up with the Shields (Trevor's mom's side of the family) and had a lot of fun at the reunion.  I guess we were so busy visiting and having fun that we didn't pull out the camera and get any pictures.  Hopefully someone got some pictures and we can get a copy.  Elliot had fun playing with his 'cousins' (2 of Trevor's cousins have babies close to his age).  Trevor and I really enjoyed getting caught up, sharing stories, laughing, and just playing games with the family.  I especially had a great time getting to know everyone so much better.  Thank you to everyone who was there and made it so much fun!  What a great family that I get to be a part of!

Visiting Wylies

We love it when we get to go down and visit Grandma and Grandpa Wylie's house!  Elliot gets to play with different toys that he loves, and last time Uncle Alex was blowing bubbles for him.  He wasn't quite sure what to think of the bubbles.  Every time he got his hands on one, they would disappear!

Bubbles!

So bored...Daddy and Uncle Alex wont let me play with them on their I-pods.

He has his Team USA shirt on for the Olympics!  We had a fun time watching some of the events together. 

Grandpa let me have a cup!  Thanks Grandpa, I love it!

Stuck

    Elliot is really enjoying all the climbing around that he is able to do now!  Every once in a while though, he gets stuck when he tries something he hasn't done before.  He stuck his head through the armrest  and then when he was trying to get out he couldn't figure out how to get it out of his way to get down.  Luckily, Grandma was around and she showed him how to duck under and escape!

"Look at me Mom!  I  climbed up here all by myself!"

"Wait... why can't I back up?!  What is going on?"

"Oh... I see... I go UNDER the bar."

Elliot did a little painting.  He was only in the paint for a few seconds,and I was holding his hands the whole time!  I am not sure how he managed to get it ALL OVER himself!

The week my foot got 'stabbed'... twice

This post is going to be slightly different than my previous posts, but I'm going to go ahead and tell the story anyway.. 

This story starts about a week ago.  I was going from the living room to the kitchen, and as I put my foot down to continue my journey I felt a sharp pain in my heel.  I quickly picked my foot up, and reached for what I assumed was going to be one of those poky weeds that someone tracked inside.  Instead, I pulled out a 'jewel' that has pried loose from one of my little sisters jeans and landed in the perfect position to send its barbs right up into my foot.  I was a little perturbed by the event, but life goes on.

A few days pass, without anyone having any unwanted items stuck into their feet, and I begin to relax.  No more scanning the floor to see if anything appears to be awry.  Then, after I had been lulled into a false security, I turned to get up from playing with Elliot and felt a sharp pain in my big toe!  This time I knew what the culprit was and I was getting ready to ban (or hide) the jeans that continued to cause me such pain.  But first, I had to remove the sharp stabbing pain in my foot.  I reached down to grab it and much to my surprise, I didn't feel a barbed 'jewel' at all, but I pulled a straight pin out of my toe!  It had stabbed into the side of my toe about 1/3 of an inch or so, and it hurt!  This event made me slightly more upset, and as I held it to stop the bleeding I looked for someone to blame for this pain I was in.  Unlike the jewel, however, I did not know who had left the pin dangerously in the carpet.

With no one to blame, my frustration subsided and I figured that experiences are no good unless you learn from them, so here is what I learned from these 2 encounters:
1.  Barbed jewels hurt less when stabbed into my foot than a straight pin.
2.  I broke my toe when I was 14. Consequently I had to have multiple shots in my big toe to numb it before they set it. I learned that I don't like my toe getting stabbed now any more than I did then. 
3.  Just because I have grown complacent, that doesn't mean that the danger has passed. This has many life applications.
4.  I think like a mother.  In the end, I found myself being immensely grateful that I had found both of those items before Elliot either hurt himself crawling around, or tried to eat them!  It's funny the things you end up being grateful for.

The week of visitors!

It has been a great week!  We have had a lot of family in town that I haven't seen in a long time.  Trevor's Aunt Dorothy was down and we got to meet up with her at a park.  I also have had my Aunt Karen, and Uncle Mike here as well.  Plus an assortment of cousins that I haven't seen in years.  We have been having a lot of fun with everyone, and I really have enjoyed the chance to catch up.  The nice thing about family is that no matter how long it has been since you've seen them, or how different your interests are, there always seems like there are things to talk about.  It has been a lot of fun to see my dad sit around with some of his siblings and tell stories from when they were young!  I can't believe some of the things that they got away with!

Elliot loves it when I put my glasses on him!  He will sit really still until I get them on him, then he wants to grab them and stick them in his mouth... luckily I am usually faster than he is!

Elliot at the park with his aunt, uncle, and great grandma and grandpa!

Trevor and Alex climbing the pyramid

Bree and Aunt Dorothy

Elliot is pulling himself up now!  I wish he would stop it... now there is much more stuff he is going to be able to get into!

Elliot and Daddy!  He got his hat, and now he's getting out of there before he has to give it back

Like father, like son!



Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike

4th of July, Canada Day, and Elliot's first tooth!

Well, for those of you who don't know, I am Canadian.  It's true!  Not only did I serve my mission there, but I am actually a Canadian citizen.  No, I wasn't born there, and yes, I was raised in Utah.  My mother, however, is from Canada.  She was raised just east of Toronto, and when I was young she got me (and my other siblings) our Canadian citizenship.  I am also, naturally, an American!  I love America, and feel very lucky to have grown up here!  I was born here, and so I am a citizen, of course.  Yes, I am a citizen of 2 different countries.  I could have a passport from either country, and have always thought that it would be fun to have a passport from 2 countries because then I would feel like a spy.  So far, I haven't done that, but I'm pretty sure if I did Trevor would both support it, and be jealous! 

Anyway, we love both countries in my family, and we enjoy the opportunity to have both sets of holidays!

Elliot is embracing both his American and Canadian sides!

Now he has the right flag for the 4th :)

Howdy Partner

My family goes to the Rodeo on the 4th of July (or close to it) every year.  I love the rodeo!  It was a lot of fun, and I was glad that Trevor was able to get off work early so he didn't miss any of it!

Angelina and Tonia

Taryn and Polly

Elliot had a lot of fun, and did so good even though he had to stay up way past his bedtime!

"I wanna ride one of those sheep Mom!"

Grandma was handing out treats

Grandpa took Elliot right up next to the fence so he could see the big bulls!

I did not get my first tooth until I was 15 months old.  When Elliot didn't have any teeth at 6 months, I thought he might be late like I was.  I was surprised when Angelina said she felt his tooth!  There it is if you can see it.

Elliot is very proud of his first tooth!  He's showing it off!... Then again, maybe he is just letting me know that he can start eating real food now! :)