snowy day

i'm really not a big fan of winter (which isn't a surprise to people who know me well). in fact, each year i like winter less and less (it's been years since i have been skiing. maybe if i go again if will rekindle a little bit of my love for winter). i do think the first snow is magical and i love the idea of having a white christmas. but otherwise, i think i would be perfectly content to live in a place where it doesn't snow. but since i do live in a place with snow, i figured we should get out and enjoy it a bit. we played around for a bit, threw snowballs at our parked car, realized quickly that building a snowman just wasn't going to happen with this snow and i taught the kids how to make snow angels. logan didn't last too long, but emma sure loves playing in the snow!

 

and then to really take advantage of the snow, we made snow cream, a new discovery of mine which was met with mixed reactions. 

i think we've had our fill of snow, so we'd be okay if spring came to stay. but as i type this, the weather forecast tomorrow is for cold temperatures and icy rain/snow. so it looks like i'll have to suck it up a little longer.

it's baby food time for connor!

i'm wasn't too anxious to start connor on baby food because i knew it would be one more thing i needed to do at an already busy time (meal time). but we couldn't put it off forever, so the day before this guy turned 6 months we started him on some baby oatmeal and squash. as you'll see from the pictures, he wasn't a big fan. although i think it was actually that he didn't know what to do with this strange stuff that was suddenly in his mouth. so he just let it sit there. after a few more tries he got it down and now, a month later he loves baby food (especially the fruit, he's no fool) and can easily eat oatmeal and 2 things of baby food in one sitting (followed by nursing). we can't seem to feed him fast enough. if we take too long in between bites (like if we try to take a bite of our own dinner) he lets us know we need to pick up the pace. 

david, the birthday boy!

this year, dave's birthday was a bit unusual. we were originally so excited because he was going to have work off, thanks to martin luther king jr. day. but then his grandma passed away at the end of december and the funeral was scheduled for his birthday. if you can even believe it, this is the 3rd funeral that has been on his birthday (the other 2 were great grandparents). despite the circumstances of the day, we tried our best to make it a special day for him (although truth be told, it's a little sad not to get all the attention focused on you on your special day. it's the one day out of the year you legitimately get to be the center of attention). we started out the morning singing happy birthday and then he got to blow the (3 random) candles on his cinnamon crumb cake muffin out.  

i folded 32 origami hearts and wrote something that i love about him in each one to celebrate his 32 years! 

if there was one positive about having a funeral on dave's big day, it's that erin, john and sophie were here from utah. we love them so much and were so glad they could be here.

 we met up at park burger for a yummy dinner. so many people in the family got hit with the flu, so we were happy people were feeling good enough for this dinner to even happen.

logan's friend at school taught him how to cross his eyes and now it's a favorite party trick ;)

we went around and all said something that we love about dave. it's one of my favorite things to do on birthdays.

 after dinner we came back to our house for brownies and ice cream. and logan and dave surprised pappy with a little scout dress up!

 i'm so grateful dave was born 32 years ago. he is the best husband and father and makes my life so fun! life is sure sweet with him! i just know 32 is going to be a great year!

connor: 5 & 6 months

this cutie is nearly 7 months (what?!) and i still haven't posted his 5 month update. and while i know most people don't notice or care (besides maybe kari :), these update are the only way i can remember what my kids did and when! so in an effort to actually post this, i am forgoing his 6 month pictures (to be fair, these pictures were taken at 5.5 months!). 

people often comment that connor just seems to be good natured, and it is true. he is a sweet and content little guy and everyone in our family is smitten with him. he doesn't cry often, but when he does, wow! he can escalate his cry in no time and it seriously sounds like something is desperately wrong with him. but the second you pick him up, he is good again.

at 5 months he popped his first tooth and by 6 months the second one had arrived (both bottom teeth). teething has definitely rocked his world a bit (especially that 2nd tooth). neither logan or emma were affected too much by teething, so this is a new thing for us.

as a result of teething, he loves to chew on things. he has started to play with toys and any toy we give him is instantly in his mouth (he really loves sophie the giraffe). he also loves his lovey! 

he'll even chew on paper if given the chance! ha!

he loves people. especially faces. i love the way he reaches his little hands up and grabs my face. and he will smile at pretty much anyone who will talk to him.

he loves books. his favorites are a baby einstein "mirror me" book and "brown bear."

his eyes are still blue and beautiful. we keep hoping they'll stay. 

he's been working on sitting up

which doesn't always end well for him

he's seemed interested in our food at meal times, so we decided to try and give him a rice cracker. he immediately grabbed it out of dave's hand, but then wasn't quite sure if he liked it or not. 

he loves sticking his tongue out and blowing raspberries. it's adorable! logan and emma like to do it now too. it's a lot less cute coming from a 4 and 2 year old!

he always manages to get his socks off. they seem to be anywhere except on his feet (often in his mouth). 

he is never short on love when emma is around. surprisingly she has never tried to pick him up, and for that i am very grateful.

connor happened to fall asleep on me at church (heaven!) and one of the sister missionaries grabbed my phone and said i needed a picture of it. i'm so glad she did!

i love to hear him babbling. and dave can get the best belly laughs out of him (it has been the same with all of our kids).

he is already showing way too much interest in screens (tv, iPad, phone). none of my kids have ever been this interested (as in, turning his head or stretching his neck to see something) and i am worried! if he already likes it this much now, what in the world is he going to be like when he gets older. yikes!

connor takes naps and 9am and 1pm. these times happen to coincide exactly with logan's preschool drop-off and pick-up time and so connor will often fall asleep while we're driving and when we get home i will just leave him in his carseat to take the rest of his nap. it never occurred to me that this could be a problem, but now he has gotten so used to napping in his carseat that he does not want to nap in his bed (nighttime he is fine to sleep in his bed). so he takes all his naps in his carseat! yes, i actually put his down for naps in his carseat, even if we aren't going anywhere. and he sleeps great! eventually he will be too big for his carseat and i will have to get him to nap in his bed, but for the time being, i am just grateful he naps!!

6 month stats

14 pounds 5.5 ounces - 5th percentile 

(the exact same weight as emma at 6 months and exactly 2 pounds less than logan!)

25.5 inches - 10th percentile

43 cm - 25th percentile