Andrew turns 10 months

Ten months......and now, almost 11! I know that in every single post I do, I always say, "I can't believe how fast time flies." But it is so true. I planned on doing a post for when he turned 10 months, and holy cow, he will be 11 months in just a couple of weeks!

Andrew has hit so many fun milestones the past few weeks. Here are a few recent pictures..

We bought this little dinosaur a couple of weeks ago, and it has really helped Andrew make progress with walking. He can't walk by himself yet, but he grabs "Dino", and CRUISES through the house! Although when he hits a dead end, or runs into a wall, it is the end of the world for him. haha! It is so fun to watch him progress, and learn.

Andrew loves to "help" in the kitchen. Every time I do the dishes, or make something he stands right by my side, and just chats with me. He also knows that when he helps he gets bites of big boy food! :) This week he also learned that the cabinets open, and that there is REALLY fun stuff inside them. We have some major baby proofing that needs to happen asap.

"Hello?" This is his new favorite thing. Evvvverything goes up to his ear. We're trying to teach him that only phones are "hellos", but he insists on doing it with everything. It is so dang cute! Nothing better than riding "Dino" through the house and chatting on the phone! What a big boy!

We've taught him that when we come home, we take our shoes off. He is getting pretty good at taking his shoes off by himself, but still needs help sometimes! We had just gotten home from church the other day, and I was going to hurry and get out of my skirt, and I didn't even notice that Andrew was trying to take his own shoes off! So I had to snap a pic.

Andrew now has 4 teeth. He has 2 bottoms and 2 on top. He also has 2 more that we can see, but still need to break through a little bit more. So he will have 6 teeth any day now! With his new teeth he loves to bite!!!

Homesick Whit

This past week has been such a stressful one for me. Andrew is getting his 2 upper teeth, and it has been completely miserable. (I can't even imagine how the poor little guy is feeling). About a week ago I noticed that his top teeth were looking a bit bulgy, and like they were about to make their appearance. With Andrews 2 bottom teeth, he got a little bit of a rash, and cried for about a day, but that was IT. So seeing the top teeth on their way, didn't make me very nervous. And OH BOY, WAS I IN FOR A TREAT.

On Sunday, I kid you not, Andrew pooped 18 times. EIGHTEEN TIMES. Yes, I counted. Poor little boy was so sick. He had a bit of a fever, and he also had an ear ache. He kept sticking his finger in his ear, and would cry. :( It was such a terrible day. He still hasn't felt very great, so I'm hoping these naughty little teeth pop soon.

Other than having a sick baby, we haven't had a whole lot going on. Steven is just keeping busy working, and I'm keeping busy with school. I only have a few more assignments left in my classes, and a couple finals and then I'm done with summer semester. As convenient as online classes are, I really miss USU campus. I miss going to class, and just being in Logan, period. I have been pretty homesick lately, and hope and pray that Steven can find another job that puts us closer to family.

St. George has been a fun and good change. It's been good to kind of live on my own, and know what that's like. Living in Logan I was at my parents house daily. So being down south has made my life a lot different, and a lot more lonely. I miss Logan so much. I miss just being able to see my family whenever I want, and spending time with them. It also makes me really sad that my family is missing so much of Andrew growing up. There are so many fun milestones that he hits, and I feel so sad when its only Steven and I, who ever get to witness them. Skype just doesn't do the fun things justice!

As much as I love St. George, and the area we are living, I want so badly to just be home. I miss my furniture, I miss my bed, I miss just having my own place. I feel so homesick for everything. I think about potentially spending Christmas in St. George, and it breaks my heart! A Christmas with no snow? I have grown up with snow for 21 years, and to think that I might not get snow this year makes me even more sad.

I probably sound like such a whiney baby right now, but being far away from my life, and family has made me realize how important family is. Never take advantage of the time you get to spend with your family, because when you don't have it, it really hurts.

On a happy note, we are finally going to Logan next week! I am SO excited!! My cousin Brooke is getting married, so we're making the trip up for her wedding, and then celebrating Stevens birthday. So it should be super fun. Hopefully the weather cooperates, and allows us to go boating while we're there.

Anyway, sorry for the negative post.. just feeling a little homesick, that's all! :) Here are a few recent pics

carousel fun

The City of St. George recently purchased an old carousel to put in their town square! They did the ribbon cutting on the 4th of July, and today we went to try it out!

I think Tay liked it more than most of the kids

After a while Drew got brave, and rode one handed, while screaming, "DADA!"

We also played in the river at town square for a bit too. What a fun day!

Family Photos 2011

My family is visiting us down in St. George this week! We are having such a fun time with them, and really enjoy having company. My parents have an awesome camera, so we decided to take some family pictures this week! The weather was a bit overcast while we took our pictures, which was lovely. It made it so much more enjoyable to be outside in the hot St. George weather. Andrew did so good! He was happy the whole time, except for when he had to sit in the grass. Here are a few of my favorites! enjoy! :)

cookie monster

I recently took Drew to his 8 month check up. Drew is a pretty happy baby, and usually smiles at almost everyone, except for his pediatrcian. I don't know if he just associates getting shots with seeing Dr. Nilson, and just doesn't like him, or what? But it is pretty funny! He is such a nice guy, but Drew is not a fan. Sorry Andrew..! Anyway.. I was shocked to see that he weighs the same as he did at his 6 month check up..sure doesn't feel like it! He is 22 lbs and 28 inches long. He grew 2 inches since his last appointment. He is so mobile, and is starting to lose his baby fat, and sprout like a litte bean stalk!

We've recently started introducing meats and more solid foods, and Drew is LOVING it! Every time Steven or I have food, Andrew begs like a little puppy for a bite. It is SOOO annoying! It was cute for about a week, and now it is kind of embarrassing, (especially in public.) Haha! I made cookies the other day for Steven to take to work, and Andrew whined until he got a little bite.. bad idea. He threw a temper tanturm for about ten minutes when I wouldn't let him have any more. So..we resorted to buying him his own cookies, and he loves them! Plums are also a new fave.

{Devouring his cookie}

He now waves periodically, shakes his head "no", claps when no one is looking, makes kissy noises, still only says, mama, dada & baba, scales the wall, screams when he doesn't get what he wants, knows how to manipulate, only falls asleep after we sing a million nursery rhymes, loves his back tickled, gets my cell phone more than I do, HATES getting dressed, opens every drawer within his reach, loves to shut doors, and knows exactly where all the door stoppers are located in the house.

{On our way to church}

{This little guy was just hanging out on our back patio today!}

Not a goodbye... a see you later

This past year my family was lucky enough to host an exchange student from Neuss, Germany. I have to admit, we were all a little bit nervous about having an exchange student hanging around for an entire year, especially if she was weird. Ha ha!

We met Eileen last summer for the first time, and instantly knew she was going to fit in perfectly when she told us she loved diet coke! I think she was more addicted to "crispy & delicious" diet cokes, than anyone else in our family. Not only did she love diet coke, but she had such a funny sense of humor. She constantly had us peeing our pants, by saying such funny things. (You don't expect someone from another country to "get" your sarcasm, and crack jokes in your language.)

The year Eileen spent with us was such a special one. Right after she arrived in Utah, we welcomed two new little people into the family. Not only was Eileen here to be a daughter, and sister, but she also became an aunt! Livi and Drew LOVED her!!!

Eileen and her dad came and stayed with us for a couple of days this week, (after traveling all over for 3 weeks, before returning to Germany.) Today was the last day we will see Eileen for...a while. We grew to love her just like a sister, and will never forget the memories our family made with her. It's just not going to feel right when we go to Logan for a visit, without Eileen being there. Today as we were tearfully departing, we decided, that is wasn't a goodbye, it was going to be a, see you soon.

We love you Eileen, and we'll see you soon.

Even though this day was a sad one for me, my little Drew is always capable of cheering me right up! What would I do without him?!

Here are a couple of cute pictures from today :)

(I let him eat his dinner all by himself...SUPER MESSY, but fun!!!)

(crazy hair)

The {not so} computer savvy...Help!

Like I promised, I now have a picture of Drews bottom two teeth! They are so cute, and boy are they SHARP! He rarely shows them off, so it is really difficult to snap a picture unless we trick him into thinking he's going to get something yummy to eat. The picture is a bit bright, but it's the best I've got...so far!

This is what happens when someone learns how to escape from their bumbo. Although, he loves to play in the laundry basket, especially when Steven pushes him around the house like he is "driving a car". Ha ha!

I don't know where he gets it..but Drew is so happy in the morning! Steven and I definitely are not morning people, but every morning I wake up to Andrew giggling and playing in his crib. He was so smiley the other day when he woke up, and had some crazy hair, so I had to take a pic.

Anyway, I do have a few videos I would like to upload, and I like to think I am a little bit computer savvy, but apparently I'm not. I CAN'T for the life of me upload a stupid video onto this blog!! It always says "an has error occurred".. {really annoying}. So if anyone has some advice, it would be much appreciated. :)