Silly Baby

Patrick is becoming a lot of fun. He is easy to laugh and giggle (sometimes hysterically). He has really enjoyed eating cereal, and one night he was being super silly, so I took some pictures. These three are of his giggles. You will have to insert your own sound since I don't have a video camera yet.

This is the face I usually get when he is eating. He loves the cereal. I have started adding juice, which makes it even tastier, and he gets watered-down juice in his sippy cup, which he could drink all day.

These last two are trying to capture how excited Patrick gets in his bouncer chair (thanks Grandma!). He can now get the chair to bounce so hard and fast that I think he is going to hit the floor backwards.

A Day at the Zoo

We spent Tuesday at the Denver zoo . My sister-in-law Amy got us a zoo pass for Christmas, and Tuesday was a beautiful day (78 degrees, can you believe it!) so we took Patrick for his first visit to the zoo. Denver has a very nice zoo. It is large, but not so big that your feet ache when you are done. When we first got to the zoo, I had to feed Patrick, and while we were sitting on a bench we could hear the lion roaring really loudly, but we couldn't see him because of a sign in the way. But when we got done, he was still sitting on his rock, roaring away. You can kinda see him in this picture behind me.

This is a great bored picture. It doesn't look like it in this picture, but Patrick really did enjoy the zoo. He liked having lots of things to look around at, even though he isn't big enough to know what animals are. He also enjoyed the sunshine and being outside.

Another cool thing about this zoo is that they have several peacocks that just roam around the zoo. I don't know if other zoos do that, but it is fun to have a peacock cross in front of you while you are walking. Rumor has it that you can pick up tons of peacock feathers if you show up early in the morning.

A lot of animals were out and friendly today. We got to see the gorillas and orangutans up close and personal.The orangutans were putting on a rather intimate show, if you catch my drift. The gorilla was sitting right next to the glass and staring Reed down. We decided not to take a picture of him because he already looked angry. Some kids came over and were really excited to see him, but he stood up, stared at us, and then ran across the room, hitting the glass as he went. It was a little startling, but fun! We didn't get to see the polar bears this time, but here is a picture of Reed standing next to a polar bear to see how he measures up. Last time we were here, we watched the polar bears play for like 30 minutes. Maybe we will see them next time. We also got to see the seals eat dinner and hear the sea lions barking really loudly. The sea lions wanted someone's attention, and they sure got it. We saw the giraffes, and they had a baby giraffe who also wanted to do nothing but stare Reed down, which Reed thought was a little creepy. Sorry, the picture is really dark because we were inside, but he kept staring at us for like 15 minutes until we left.

The zoo was a lot of fun, and weather permitting, we are planning on going with Amy on Thanksgiving day. Amy really likes to go to the zoo on holidays because it's practically empty and you don't have to deal with the crowds. What a great idea!

Eating Rice Cereal

Tonight Patrick had his first experience with "solid" food. I got him some rice cereal today and decided to try some tonight before bedtime. He hasn't really shown too much interest in food yet, but he has been waking up a lot at night, so I thought this might help him sleep through the night more consistently. I don't have any pictures, but he didn't really make any funny faces. He loved the cereal. I thought it might be difficult because he was acting tired, but once I gave him the first spoonful, he couldn't get enough. He ate about two tablespoons of cereal, and he probably would have eaten more, but I decided it would be best to start slowly. I made it really runny so it would be easy to swallow, and Patrick really seems to enjoy eating. I'm excited to give him some more tomorrow!

Where to Start . . .

So we would like to say that we haven't posted in forever because we were busy... but that is far from true. We just had dial-up internet and it takes too long to load anything. Long live DSL!!! Now that we have spent the morning installing DSL we have brought ourselves out of the 90's and we can now communicate in a digital world again.

Halloween

Halloween was a busy day for us. We had a doctor's appointment for Patrick in the morning. We wanted to do his four-month check-up before we moved so we didn't forget, and so it would be covered by insurance. He got some more shots, and he was so good! He only cried for a few minutes. After his appointment we went to Idaho Falls to pick up Reed's last check and visit with my family one last time. All of our big stuff had already been packed into the ABF truck the day before, but we still had to pack the car and clean the apartment, so we were in for a late night.

Even though we had a lot to finish, we decided to go to the ward Halloween party so we could say goodbye to our bishop and friends. Patrick has an adorable cowboy outfit that his Aunt Stacy sent us, so he was a cowboy and Reed and I were his posse. We just went to the dollar store to find things to embellish our costumes. When we got to the party, he was pretty happy, but soon...

he was the pouting sheriff.
Here is a picture of us with our best friends. Jordan is Arthur Dent from the movie Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Bethany is a polar bear (and a cute one too), and Coralie is a horse (which we thought was fun since Patrick was a cowboy). Coralie just really wants to play with Patrick's toy gun.

See?

There were tons of games at the party, including a "pie" eating contest. Our friends Jordan and Marc played. They had to eat the pie tin full of whipped cream and find the piece bubble gum and blow a bubble. Here are their lovely pictures.

Marc's costume was great. Their son, Cooper, was a hotdog, so he was dressed as a hot dot vendor. His shirt says, "This is ketchup not blood."

After the party, we went home and packed, and cleaned, and packed, and cleaned . . . After several hours our apartment was empty and we were finally ready to go to bed. Patrick fell asleep at like 9:30, which was really nice so could finish cleaning, and we took a picture of him asleep on his changing pad, alone in an empty apartment.

Colorado

Our friends were nice enough to let us sleep on their floor Friday night so we could just get up and go Saturday morning. We got about 4 hours of sleep, and we got up and left Rexburg around 5:45. We made really good time traveling. Patrick was a perfect baby. He sleep the whole time, and just woke up when we stopped to feed him. He only started fussing the last 15 minutes of the trip. Our car worked perfectly, we got good gas mileage, and gas prices were low. In other words, we couldn't have asked for a better drive. The sun was setting over the Rockies as we drove in to Colorado, and the beautiful sunset was a fabulous way to welcome us to Colorado.

Reed's family was terribly exicted to see us and kept calling us every 15 minutes to see where we were. We have a bedroom and bathroom in the basement, and Patrick sleeps in the family room down the hall. We picked furniture on Thursday, and nothing was in pieces. The worst was the crib. We spent so many hours painting it, and then we didn't think to wrap it up for the trip. That was not our smartest move. But, oh well. We worked on the puzzle that is crib for several hours until Reed miraculously found the instructions. So, 6 months after picking up the crib, it is finally painted and assembles. Here are the promised pictures. The crib has two mobiles on it because the one on the right is from his pack and play, but it doesn't break down so it can be packed with the crib, so we just put it on this crib. He loves the mobile. He stares at it all the time. We have washclothes under one leg because on the the wheel broke off in transit. Reed is going to see if he can fix it.

This final picture is just a cute picture we took yesterday. My mother-in-law is making hats and muffs for her granddaughters, and she put one on Patrick. Needless to say, this is one cute kid.

So we are all settled in. Reed is looking for a job, and I take care of Patrick and help Ruth with her many projects. She has me cutting out fabric, sewing, and running all sorts of errands with her. But we are happy. We don't feel like we live in Colorado yet, but that probably won't sink in until we move in to our own place. We miss our friends and family terribly, but Colorado is nice and we know we will like it here.

3 Years and Going Strong

It was a gorgeous day three years ago when Reed and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Idaho Falls Temple. Since then, we have graduated from college, had a beautiful baby boy, and we are now preparing for the next stage of our life together--moving to Colorado to start a grown-up life with grad school and a (hopefully) good-paying job.

I just want to take a moment and express how much I love my husband and how much the last three years has meant to me. There are so many things that I love about Reed, but I will just mention a few:

1. He loves me, no matter how big of a dork I am (and that can be pretty big some days).

2. He loves our son, no matter how crabby he is.

3. He tells me often that I am a good mother, and some days I really need to hear that.

4. He like being goofy with me, and he doesn't take life too seriously.

5. He is wonderful at communicating with me. He will even listen to me when I want to talk in bed and he just wants to fall asleep.

6. He honors his priesthood and is working with me to try and keep unworthy things out of our home.

7. He tells me he loves me every single day.

8. He laughs EVERY time I attempt to dance. It is always funny to him.

9. When I get back in bed after feeding the baby in the middle of the night, he lets me warm up against him.

10. He supports me in my desire to stay home and raise our baby.

I'm sure I could think of dozens of more things I love about Reed, but I will just stick with those. I have honestly enjoyed being married, and I can't think of a single day that I would have traded it for being single again.

After Reed gets home tonight we are going to ditch our baby next door and go to the temple. I think this makes for a very nice, inexpensive date. I have my fingers crossed that Patrick will be good for Bethany. He hasn't successfully taken a bottle yet, but Reed and I really need an evening out on our own, so I think he will be okay for a few hours.

Another Cold

We have another cold that has been graciously spread to our family. Thankfully, Reed and I are feeling pretty good. Unfortunately, Patrick is again congested and has a cough. It seems like he has been this way for a majority of his short life now! He is in mostly good spirits though. I started using the nebulizer again as soon as he got congested to see if I can prevent he cough from moving into his chest and camping out for the next month. So far it seems to be helping some. Apparently Patrick has gotten really used to the nebulizer because when I did it the other morning he kinda got excited and wanted to help hold the nebulizer. He sticks his tongue out and tries to eat it too.

Everything else is going well. We have started getting things packed up, so our apartment looks like a tornado blew through. We sold a lot of things, so our apartment also looks bare. Patrick can now grab a toy that is offered to him and bring it to his mouth to chew on. He has also decided that bath time can now be fun, and he has learned how to wiggle and splash in the tub. It's a good thing I don't have any expectations of staying dry during bath time.

Weekend in Nampa

This weekend we took our first trip since Patrick was born and drove to Nampa to spend some time with my family before we move. We were kind of dreading the long car ride with Patrick, but I figured it would let us gauge how he would do on the even longer drive to Colorado, and we might figure out some tricks to entertaining him. Patrick did amazingly well in the car. He slept the entire time. We stopped halfway and I fed him and let him wiggle around for about a half hour, and when we got back in the car he cried for about 5 minutes and then went back to sleep. It was the same for the trip home.

We had a nice time with the family. Patrick was cute and entertaining and spoiled, just as he should be at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He got a new playmat that has lots of bright colors. He lies on it and wiggles and sometimes manages to hit the toys that are hanging down. He also got some pants and a coat so he won't be cold this winter. I think my parents were really sad to see us go, but it is time for us to move on with our lives.

3 months old

Patrick is 3 months old today. He talks and laughs and coos now. He plays games with Daddy because he will only give him little grins when he gives Mommy big laughs and smiles. We enjoyed some family time in bed this morning because it was so dark and cold outside. Patrick and I will stay inside today because my boy only has summer clothes! He only has one pair of long pants and is in desperate need of more warm clothes. At least, according to Mommy. Patrick is really okay with the cooler weather because he inherited Daddy's freakishly warm body temperature and doesn't mind the cool air. He prefers his baths lukewarm/almost cold. He sits there and shivers and his lips turn purple, but he is laughing and smiling! When I try to give him warmer baths, he fusses. What an odd duck, my boy.

Mmmmmm! Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today was a great day for baking because it was cold and overcast, so I baked up some chocolate chip cookies. Now, at the risk of sounding prideful, I believe that I possess the best ever chocolate chip cookie recipe. And I want to share that recipe with you all.

Chelsea's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter-flavored shortening + 2 Tbl water
Cream together. Add:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 3/4 cups flour
Add half of the flour, then 1 1/2 -2 cups milk chocolate chips, then the rest of the flour.

This time I found Nestle Tollhouse "Swirled" chocolate chips with caramel. They were divine.
Let me know if you try making these and how they turn out for you. Have a great Thursday!

Weight Update

We just got back from our WIC appointment. Patrick is now 12 lbs 4 oz (exactly what I guessed) and 24 inches. That puts him at about 25% for weight and 50% for height, which isn't much different than he has been. He is still long and skinny, even though his legs are finally starting to chunk up a little.

This morning Patrick was lying on my lap talking to me, and he starting smacking his lips and making sounds like he was eating something. I checked him mouth to make sure he hadn't gotten a stray piece of paper or hair in his mouth, but there was nothing there. He continued to move his mouth just like he was eating and make little noises like "umm umm umm." I asked him what he was eating that was so tasting, and he just laughed at me.