A Nine Month Old

This adorable nine month old had a big month! He became part of our forever family, he has decided he is too big for bottles and wants real food all of the time, he loves to chase after Jaxon and Baxter and thinks it s the funniest thing when he catches them. He is Mommy's painting helper, and Daddy's construction buddy. He is the sweetest little boy and I kind of love that he wants nothing to do with anybody but Mom and Dad. 

An Eternal Family

On October 10th we had the amazing experience of sealing baby Ryker to our family. It was a very special day. We arrived at the temple at 9:00 with Ryker. Jax came a little later with my famiy. We dropped Ryker off with the nice temple ladies. I was a little nervous because he has started the stranger danger phase but he seemed to do just fine. After Luke and I got all the paperwork figured out we got changed and got to sit in the Celestial room while we waited for our families to get there. Our sealer was very nice. He told us that he felt Ryker was a special spirit with great things in store for him (we very much agree). He also told us we had many spirits in the room supporting us on this special day. Then they brought in our sweet boys. I was a little nervous about Jaxon who gets a little rambunctious in new situations. They had told me that he didn't need to be in white so I was surprised when both my handsome boys come in wearing white, and my heart melted just a little. Jax is calm and smiling as he goes to sit on Grandma's lap and Ryker hangs on the best he can during the sealing and doesn't start to cry until its all over. I have had several people tell me that I'm missing out on some amazing experiences by not being pregnant, giving birth, etc. but I feel truly blessed to get to have this amazing experience with my little family and I would not trade it for anything. I was so grateful to spend this beautiful day with family!

Bubble, Balls, and Bouncing

Jaxon has loved music pretty much from the day he was born and he loves to dance. Most moms take their kids to the library reading time but I hear they want them to sit quiet and listen which I don't think Jax is quite ready for so we signed up for this class. We've only been twice and its still hit and miss whether he likes it or not. Some of it is a little young for him (rolling the ball across the floor) but he likes the trampolines and the dancing. He seriously loves the wall of mirrors! Everything we do has to be in front of the mirrors. The end of the class ends with dancing, which is his favorite. I'm hoping my cute energetic boy will be able to follow directions by the end of the class but right now we are just enjoying getting the wiggles out and having some fun. 

Adoption Finalized

September 16th! Ryker's adoption is finally finalized. Woo hoo! He's thrilled if you couldn't tell. It took about two months longer than we would have liked but now its done and we have our appointment at the temple to seal him to us for eternity. Our appointment was set for 9am and we were supposed to meet our lawyer Doug early. Always with two kids we got a later start than planned but were still in good shape until we had to wait in construction for ten minutes. At this point I was having a bit of a panic attack that we wouldn't make it in time. I might have exceeded the speed limit just a little. We were a little late but everyone was very nice. It is always a little surprising how low key these things are. Afterwards we went to the Lander park to celebrate. Jax had a great time playing on the swings and throwing rocks in the stream and Ryker was loving being up on Dad's shoulders. I sure do love this family of mine. 

An 8 Month Old

 We have an eight month old! How did this happen? He is growing so fast. Still no teeth but he LOVES food. He loves to watch Jax and follow him around all day and Jax loves to make Ryker laugh. This boy is never still until he is sleeping. He is a happy smiley guy. When Luke gets home from work he will smile and scoot right up to him, which is how he started crawling the night before he turned eight months. He saw Luke and just got up and went. So exciting. I also kind of love that he cries when other people hold him. I know that makes me a crazy mom but I love feeling loved. We love this sweet boy!!

 

Date Night

After we put the kids to bed one night Luke and I had some fun playing with blocks and built a castle and village. It took us about an hour to use every single block we own and the finished product was awesome if I do say so myself. Jax was pretty excited to come downstairs and find our masterpiece and knocked it down in ten seconds. He had a super mischievous grin on his face the whole time and he loved it. Glad our date night could make him so happy :)

Our New Dining Room

Since our kitchen has been gutted we have set up shop downstairs in our storage room. Its not ideal but we are surviving off of our microwave meal. I am dreaming of cookies though. I miss my oven!

A Construction Injury

We had our first remodel injury. Jax was running around and tripped on our floor with a bunch little splinters of wood that are stuck in glue. He split his palm open. It was just a shallow cut but he was pretty freaked out about the bleeding and since bandaids stay on for about point five seconds we put some medical tape, then the bandaid. A week later he still says "Mommy I have an owie!" 

Bouncy House

When you live in a small town you jump at any chance to break up the routine, so when my friend Emily called and said they had some bouncy houses set up for some business appreciation we headed over after naptime. There were hardly any other people there and the kids had a great time. After we cooked in the sun for awhile we headed over to McDonalds for some dinner. It was a nice break from the construction mess in our house right now! Thanks Emily for suggesting the afternoon out :)

Playdate at the Lake

The boys and I joined some other Mommas for a play date at the lake. It is always nice to get out of the house. Some days I feel like we spend the whole day napping (Ryker, Jax, Ryker, then dinner time!). Jax still isn't sure he likes playing with other kids, just near them, but he enjoyed throwing rocks in the lake. I enjoyed having some grown-up conversation. 

A 7 Month Old

Holy cow this kid is growing like a weed. He only holds still when he's sleeping. He scoots around all over the place, usually trying to keep up with big brother. He loves big kid food, especially bananas. He survived a move, loves big brother more than anything, and is getting his big boy hair (though still has his bald spot). We are so happy this little smiley guy is part of our family!

First Food

This big boy is so excited to eat real food! His first grown up food was a strawberry and he devoured it like a starving man. 

 He hasn't quite got the hang of the spoon and kept pushing all the food right out of his mouth. 

His face when you don't feed him fast enough :)