Silly Boy

This is Patrick's happy time--sitting in the stroller, chomping on animal crackers.

Fun in the Sun

Patrick has discovered a new favorite pastime: the swimming pool. Grandma has a small kiddie pool that we put in the backyard with an umbrella for shade. We go out about 4pm (because as most moms know, that is the worst time of day) and he sits and plays while Mommy soaks her feet. He LOVES the water. He can't wait for the water to warm up, but he doesn't seem to notice that the water if FREEZING COLD! Yesterday he stayed in for about 45 minutes and his legs were white and cold when he got out. He just plays and laughs and watches Grandma and Grandpa work in the yard. At one point I turned the hose on to put more water in and he started squealing and grabbing for the hose. He grabbed in and started lapping up the water. Patrick didn't even notice the cold water running down his belly! I hope to have pool pictures soon, but we are shopping around for a new camera right now.

Last Saturday we went garage-sale hunting. Of course, Patrick made out because it is harder to find good grown-up stuff. He got some 18 mo clothes, a Baby Einstein play table thing, a push car with balls, and a toy that blows the balls up and they cycle around and around, and a blow up floating swimming ring thing. All of this was under $20! Score! He loves all of his new toys.

The other interesting thing we did this week was go to a Spanish Ward's Mother's Day party on Friday night. My sister-in-law Amy and her husband Marco go to the Spanish ward. They invited us to the Mother's Day party since we were going to pick up Mom and Day from the airport, and it was close, etc. I felt a little uncomfortable because our Spanish is more than mediocre. But everyone was nice, the food was tasty, and the entertainment was great. The bishop does "interpretive poetry readings," they had karaoke, and a group of women did line dancing to the spanish version of "Achy Breaky Heart."

We are excited for summer to be here. Patrick and I go for a walk everyday at 1 o'clock. If mommy had the energy, he would be out there all day long. It is good for the both of us, but I think I might be getting too much sun this week because I have quite a headache tonight. But we enjoy the warm weather!

WOW!

This morning Patrick pulled himself up on the dishwasher! I had put him on the floor in front of the sink so I could clean up breakfast. He was trying to lean and get the dishwasher. I was a couple feet away putting the silverware in the drawer, when I saw him start to pull himself up. I dropped the silverware because I thought he was going to fall hard. But he didn't! He just stood there looking so proud of himself. Reed was walking out the door and saw him, so we both clapped for him.

He will finally scoot around on his bum now. He still avoids his knees, but he loves to stand and he will turn and maneuver around on his bum to get things.

My last post said that we are healthy and happy. We are still happy, but not all of us are healthy. The morning after I posted that, Patrick got a runny nose and cough, and the next day gave it to Reed. So I was at church by myself yesterday while the sickos stayed home.

I have to tell you the funniest thing that Patrick does right now. He puts an empty Mr. Potato Head bucket on his head. My mom got to see it last night when we were on the web cam, and she thought it was very cute and funny. He does it all the time to show off.

The Last Two Weeks

I don't have any pictures this time because I am waiting until I can buy a new one. Mine is too slow and is always blurring, or it says it is dead when I put brand new batteries in.

Anyway, the last two weeks have been pretty uneventful, but when I think about it, stuff still happens. Patrick has four teeth now, and he sure knows how to use them. He has weaned himself off of nursing this week. This was not my idea. I was willing to stick it out for the next three months, but he won't even latch on anymore--he just bites! So, as you can imagine, I'm okay with him stopping too.

I have had a lot of work last week and this week. I've been able to earn a decent amount of money, but since Ruth is in California, it has been a little more difficult to watch Patrick by myself and work. He is amazingly patient though, and we are pressing through together.

Reed enjoys his job. Things are starting to pick up a little more now that he is starting to get more clients and actually do stuff. In the middle of May he will start online classes for his Behavioral Analysis certification. I guess this will let us know how graduate school will be before we apply. We can test the waters.

We have had a couple of strange snow storms lately. We woke up yesterday morning to 5 inches of snow, and we weren't even expecting that. The sun came out around noon and melted it all quickly, and tomorrow will be 75, but the yo-yo weather still takes some getting used to.

We have looked at several apartments in the area, but my mom suggested that we look at first-time home buyer programs, and now we think we might wait and see if we can qualify for a loan. I have found listings for several small homes and condos in our price range, and if we can snag a good deal on a foreclosure or something, this would be the best time for us. So wish us luck on that front. Everything else is trucking along. We are all healthy and happy.

How Winnie the Pooh Saved My Life

Patrick is 9 months old today. His personality is loud and clear now. The last few weeks have been really whiny, but understandably so, as he is teething and I can imagine that would be quite painful. He has lots of games that he plays with us. His favorites are probably peek-a-boo and hide from daddy. Today he had spaghetti for dinner, and you can tell by the pictures that he has a lot of fun. I didn't let him feed himself all of it, or else the pictures would be better. I just put a little on his tray to try and grab while I fed him. Patrick likes to have something to do while I feed him. He can't just sit there.





Teeth!

I love blooper shots!

He still sleeps really well. A couple nights ago, we were on our way to bed when Patrick woke up and started to cry. (I am excited for him to have his own room soon so we won't wake him walking by) As I was trying to rock him back to sleep, his crying turned into screaming and soon I thought we may need to call an exorcist. It probably wasn't bad compared to some babies, but I had never heard anything like that come from my baby before. He had some really bad gas (we still haven't determined why) and after that passed he was so worked up that he couldn't calm himself down. We tried several different positions, toys, books, nursing, and we wouldn't call down. Finally, Reed found the Winnie the Pooh electronic book that Patrick LOVES. He will play with this book ALL DAY LONG. He stopped crying almost immediately. I let him play with it for a few minutes, but then it was 11:30 and I wanted to go to bed, so he had to be torn from his love. But he got over it and went to sleep.

That is how Winnie the Pooh saved my life this week.

This Weekend

This weekend was enjoyable. The weather was cold and yucky, so we stayed in and watched the snow and General Conference. Patrick's two bottom teeth are in now, and one on top is starting to show. This last week has been more cranky than usual because of this, but he is still sweet and gives us lots of smiles. He sleeps a lot right now, which is sometimes really nice. He has learned how to give kisses (which for Daddy mean biting his nose). Still no crawling though! Patrick also got his first haircut on Saturday. His "scare hair" was about 4 inches long and sticking straight up all the time, so I decided to give him a trim and see if his hair will start to grow a little more evenly. He did a really good job. We turned on the clippers and let him feel them and see that it wasn't scaring. These weren't very noisy either, which helped a lot. He didn't cry at all for his first haircut. Pictures will come soon if I can catch him happy and awake.

I think Reed is going to enjoy his job. He likes the people he works with, and the atmosphere is really laid back. Right now work is pretty boring because he is just reading all the training stuff, but he gets to go to appointments this week and shadow. He usually doesn't have to leave until 8:00 or 8:30, so we don't feel really rushed in the morning, which is really nice too.

After Five Months . . .

Reed is finally employed!!!!!

Reed was offered a job yesterday with Developmental Disabilities Consultants, PC. Of course, he accepted, and he started today. It was a little odd to get up really early and rush to make his lunch and get him out the door again since we have had such a relaxed routine for so long. Reed is nervous because several times he was told, "You're not remotely qualified for this position, but we really like you." I think once he settles down into this position and gets the training he needs, he will feel less nervous. He has to get certified in Behavioral Analysis, which is an online program, and that might postpone his Master's (we don't know yet), but it will help his career in the long run.

We prayed so hard for this job, and we feel really blessed that he was offered this position. It pays enough for us to move out in a few months and support ourselves, and it is in Reed's field of interest. Thank you everyone who also prayed for Reed.

New Nephew

On Saturday, March 21st, we got a new nephew in our family (on Reed's side, of course). Reed's brother Adam and his wife Kelli had a boy, Jason Byard (I hope I spelled it right). That makes 11 grandchildren (8 girls, 3 boys). We are so excited that Patrick will have a boy cousin his age to play with, and we also hope that we will be able to see them soon. Congratulations, Adam and Kelli!

Teeth, Teeth, Wonderful Teeth

Patrick's bottom teeth are finally here! Well, kinda. One has barely broken the surface and the other is thinking about making an appearance very soon. I was so excited to see the little white spot on Saturday, and then we finally heard it yesterday. He likes the sound of his new tooth on his spoons. I wasn't paying attention this morning, though, and he bit me! I won't let that happen again!

Patrick sure loves his big kid food. He will eat just about anything we have, except, of course, when he doesn't want to. And I'm never sure when that will be. He still sleeps super well. He usually goes to bed around 7pm and wakes up around 7am.

And . . . we have finally conquered the two-nap-a-day schedule. Hurray! He is happier, and mommy is happier that he now takes one nap in the morning and one in the afternoon, each 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This also helps him eat closer to the times that we eat, which I like as well.

Keep Your Fingers Crossed!

Reed has a second job interview tomorrow afternoon with DD Consultants. We are VERY excited about this and we hope and pray that he will be able to impress the director and secure this job. Needless to say, we are feeling anxious (but good at the say time, you know?). Unfortunately, the BIGGEST SNOW STORM OF THE YEAR is coming tomorrow, with the heaviest snow projected at the exact time he must drive to his interview. Maybe this is a good omen though. We had to drive through the only other big snow storm on the day that I got my job.