Keeping Busy

I've been away from the blog for a couple reasons:

1. I've been diving into the Twilight books. I finished Twilight in, I think 3 days... 4 days? I can't remember. And I finished New Moon in 2 days. It was pretty ridiculous. I'm not sure where to find the next two, so I'll probably just wait to read them until I get back to Rexburg.

2. Thanksgiving came. It was great! Jason's brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Jennifer, came up from North Carolina to celebrate it with us. They're foster parents to a 6-year-old boy name Jalal, and he was pretty energetic! He kept us on our toes trying to keep up with him for the weekend. We had Thanksgiving lunch at the church with several other families, decorated sugar cookies (that I made!), attempted to brave the crowds the afternoon of Black Friday, decorated gingerbread houses - where the roof of mine and Jason's caved in! And we went to the zoo. The Columbus Zoo has what they call "Wild Lights", where they decorate the entire zoo in Christmas lights and keep the zoo open later than normal so people can enjoy the lights. It's pretty cool. It's been a fantastic weekend.

3. I had the blog under construction for CHRISTMAS! I'm officially socially allowed to have my blog all Christmas-y, so I've done it. I've been listening to the music for ages, so it's about time! I'll be changing the music here soon (hopefully), so keep an eye out for that.

I don't have any new pictures, but I'll post a couple cute ones of Andrew from our family pictures taken in October:

Uhhh...

So I saw New Moon the other night. It was the midnight showing. I just felt like going (with a group of others) when the opportunity arose, so I did it, not expecting too much because I hadn't read the book. I'd only read Twilight once and had seen the movie twice and thought it was a little strange.

I loved the movie.

Please don't make me say it again!

Now I'm re-reading Twilight, and when I'm done with it, I'll start reading New Moon. And then the rest of the series, I'm sure.

Dang it. I didn't want to get in on all this Vampire hype, but I guess it's too late now!

Too fast for me!

Andrew started crawling a little before his 8-month birthday. Since he's a big boy, it took him a while to get really good at it, and even then he still went pretty slow.



Recently he's been getting faster and faster, which means more of a workout for us! ...but only if we know he's crawled away.


This morning, I was doing something in the family room, and Jason was on the computer. Without either of us knowing, he climbed ALL THE WAY up the stairs, crawled into Carrie's (my sister's) room, and woke her up! I knew he loved his Aunt Carrie, but I didn't know he could go all the way up the stairs. Without falling. Without anyone noticing!


He's just getting too fast for me! Crazy.


Here's a video and a picture for you to enjoy of my speedy little man:






Having a fun time, sqealing at mommy like a happy boy.

Slacker

I've been a slacker lately with posting pictures of Andrew. To tell the truth, it's not because I don't want to post any, it's because I haven't been taking as many of him recently. My phone has been acting crazy, turning off every few minutes that I just haven't even bothered trying to upload any from it, and I rarely have my camera with me. :(

But here's one. I love his squishy looking cheeks, and that hilarious face:



Oh man, I love this boy.

Jason News:

• He only has 2 more days of his internship and then he's DONE! I can't believe the 10 weeks is just about over already. It doesn't feel like we've been here that long.
• Jason is studying hard for the LSAT that he's retaking on the 5th of December. Yesterday, he took a practice test and got a really good score, so we're hoping that the trend continues, and that by the time he takes the real test, he'll have a very competitive score.
• I might've mentioned this before, but Jason's brother and his wife, Paul and Jennifer, live in North Carolina. We wanted to see each other while we were so close in proximity to them, so they're coming up here for Thanksgiving! I'm so excited. I haven't seen Jennifer since Jason and I were married, and I love family and Thanksgiving, so it's going to be great this year.

Andrew News:

• He's done breastfeeding. He pretty much refuses to do it anymore, so we're done. I'm happy about it because it makes me feel like there are so many more things we can do now that we're not tied to each other for survival, but it's kinda bittersweet. I didn't think I'd miss it, but I know I will.
• We're starting to give him 1/2 formula, 1/2 whole milk in his bottles. I want him completely off formula by the time we go to Seattle for Christmas, so we're doing half and half so he can get used to the taste now.
• He hasn't been to the doctor for a long time, but everything he's doing right now seems to be normal (cruising like a fiend!), so I'm not too worried.

Anything else? Ummmm... nope. I think that's it.

Want-a-holic

Oh dear.

Because Jason and I are in Ohio for the fall, things have been a little crazy when it comes to planning for the holidays: How we were going to get to Seattle, how we were going to get everyone's presents, how we were going to get back to Rexburg after the holidays were over... It's been nuts.

To make things a little easier for the people who have to get us (well... ME) presents, I've already begun my Christmas wish list. When I first started, I had a pretty hard time thinking of things I wanted - mostly books or movies. They're pretty cheap, right? Then I started exploring online, and I've realized that I really want a LOT of things. Things that aren't cheap. Things that I'm living without right now, so that means I don't need them. Does that make me a want-a-holic?

I think part of the reason I'm finding so many things I want is because we're poor students and will be for at least the next 4 years. It's ok to want things when you don't have much, right? It's ok to kinda long for things you can't have now because you don't have the money to spare, but that some day you might be able to get, right?

To tell the truth, I really am content with what Jason and I have. I'm blessed to have a beautiful family, a nice apartment, and to live in a great ward in Rexburg. Jason's always reminding me that we have it really good. He served his mission in El Salvador and some people there live with dirt floors. A lot of times our minimum wage is more than what they make in one day.

Ok. What I'm trying to say is this: I feel guilty for wanting more because I already am blessed with so much. Is it bad for me to want more?

More confessions

I thought of more!

#1. I will eat cake for breakfast if it's available. Haha. I love sweet stuff.

#2. I am a list maker. Not because I'm really organized, because believe me, I'm not, but because I need to be a list maker. If I'm not, I forget EVERYTHING.

#3. Since being home, I like watching shows like "House Hunters". It's inspired me to think of what I one day want to have in my own home, like:

-An open floor plan

-Hardwood floor instead of laminate

-Granite counter tops

-A laundry room!!!

-An island in the kitchen

Etcetera. The list could go on and on.

#4. I was hanging out with a friend I had in high school today, and we looked through our yearbook and recalled memories we had about certain people. I realized a couple things: *More boys liked me than I ever recall liking me. Probably because I didn't like them back... *A lot of people used to be pretty mean to me. I had a REALLY long awkward stage where people weren't the nicest to me. I'm just glad I've just about grown out of that... *A lot of those mean people turned around and were nice after a while. I'm glad I got to see that, because I think I might've lost faith in them. I need to remember to stick around, even when they don't make me feel the best, because they could be struggling too.

*sigh* Sometimes it's nice to let people in on little secrets you don't mean to keep, you know?

Confessions.

I have confessions to make.

#1. You know how pregnancy makes you really emotional? Well, for me, the emotions are still there. Even after 10 months. Commercials. Anytime anyone talks about babies. I just start tearing up. Something is going on with me!

And no. I'm not pregnant.

#2. I LOVE to speed. The rush I get when I feel like I'm going faster than everyone else is crazy. I need to get over it, really.

#3. A decorator-a-holic is what I'm becoming. My mom and I went to this store earlier this week that sells decorations for your house, and we spent way too much money. I told Jason earlier that when we have our own house and some money to spare for it, I'm decorating our house for every big holiday and season. I don't want it to be overdone or anything, but it's going to be so fun!!! And the best part is that Jason is ok with it!

#4. I watch reruns of America's Next Top Model when they show the season marathons. I know it's a waste of my time, but I just can't help it! I get drawn in!

Have any confessions of your own?

Oh, and I lied. I changed the background again. It looked too Christmassy, and though I LOVE Christmas, I also love Thanksgiving and Autumn. So I changed it. :)

Finally slowing down! Right?

Well, we now know how much Andrew weighs and how tall he is. Not sure of the percentiles, because we found out at a WIC appointment, but that's ok.

He is *drum roll please*...................................

25 lbs 9 oz! And 29 1/2 inches tall!

He's gained 3 lbs 6 oz since the last appointment almost 4 months ago, and grew (I think) an inch and a half. I think he's starting to slow down! Maybe the crawling he's been doing the last couple of months has done it!

I love having a huge, chubby baby. The only problem is that my back is starting to hurt from holding him. Other than popping meds, do any of you have any solutions to back pain caused by holding you baby/child? He's too heavy to hold with one arm!

Our budding piano virtuoso! He loves crawling up to the piano, pulling himself up, then reaching for the keys. I can't believe he's big enough already!