Nine Month Check-up (Beware: IMG dump)

Jonathan had his nine month check-up today. He did wonderfully. He was 29 1/4 inches long (90th percentile), weighed 27 1/2 lbs. (still off the charts), and according to the pediatrician, far exceeds the skill set for babies in his age bracket. Like I needed the doctor to tell me he's above average. ;)

We stopped at Kellie's to pick up his nine month photos from a couple weeks ago. I LOVE THEM! I've been trying (unsuccessfully) for the last six hours to upload the rest of the pictures but the site won't allow it on this post. The first five photos were taken on the 8th and the rest were taken on the 15th. I'll try in a couple days to upload the rest from the first day. They're all just too good to keep to myself!

Also, on the 21st and 24th, Jonathan FINALLY popped out his top two front teeth! YAY!

Our little sun dial. He keeps the time in our house.

Peek-a-boo!

I'm ready for my photos now...

Life can be so hard...

Little Angel

Kewpie Butt!

All by myself! Well, almost...

My big boy!

No stoppin' this train!

This one cracks me up!!

Max Factor "bedroom eyes"

Who me?

Last Night of Summer

Tonight was the night I've been waiting for. I LOVE the Larsen's. They are an amazing and CRAZY family. We sit by them at church and Janet is our RS president. We went to a BBQ we've been planning to have for a little over a month. It was SO delish! We had this amazing specially seasoned chicken, rice, rolls, super red and sweet watermelon, and a FABulous fresh green salad my girlfriend Mary made with fresh cilantro.
We sat and talked and goofed around. It's SO wonderful to have so many people who can plug into your personality and understand your 'weird'. Everyone has a different 'weird', but all of us can connect on different facets of each other's 'weird', so it works out. It was the first time we've all gotten together outside of church things. We SO need to do it again!

Mary Puppe, me and Kellie Larsen- my bffs that I do everything with out here! I don't know what I'd do without them!

Then after dinner, we left the boys and baby. Kellie said good night before we left her mother-in-law's house to go to bed and rest her little pregnant body up for her shower tomorrow while Janet, Jennie, Mary and I all headed to downtown LA to this place...

It was yummy! All my girlfriends out here rave about it, so Janet treated us girls to a GNO. It was Mary's and my first time trying it. The girl who took our picture told us that Jake Gyllenhaal walked in and ordered earlier that day! WILD! Left to right: Janet, Jennie, Mary, and me.

Here's to more GNOs and more barbecues with these guys! Thanks for the foodies, Janet! Love ya'll! Mwah!

Apology

Important Notice: For those of you who signed up on this particular post back in April (Rachael, Becca, Katie) I'm letting you know I haven't forgotten about you. I'm upping the the time to when I make these things for you until next year. There were things in life that have just happened that have not allowed me to spend the time or money on things of this sort this particular year. I will however pay my dues in the following year. Thanks ladies.

The first five people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me.

However there are some limitations.

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It will be done this year.

4. You have no clue what it is going to be, poetry, clothes, paper goods, or a little invention of my own. I may bake something and mail it you . Who knows? Not you that's for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

Here's the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

Busy, Busy, Busy

First off, I'd just like to explain why my posts are always sooooo long. It just seems like the beginning and the very end of summer are the busiest. I've been on the internet looking for a place of our own to live and other furniture that we'd need when we move out. Also, Jonathan's been teething and more vocal about his needs, which may I say, can get very obnoxious. But I love him and I want to make sure his owies are taken care of.

Moving on, I want to take you back, oh, a week ago? Yeah, let's say that it was a week ago.

August 17th: Daddy and Jonathan enjoying one of the last naps in the middle of the day for who knows how long.

Last Thursday, we decided to go check out Downtown Disney. It was chilly and we forgot to bring Jonathan's jacket, so we put him in a burrito in his Nemo blankie. He had to have at least one limb outside to flop around. I love the lone foot sticking out.

Wednesday, August 19th: Our good friends the Jenks' invited us out to Bolsa Chica Beach for a bonfire. We got there right before sunset. It was Jonathan's second trip to the beach. He LOVED it and was impossible to keep him still. We ate s'mores and if I hadn't filled up on our turkey dogs, I would've eaten more than the amazing 3 I managed to stuff in my face!

Here's the whole group minus me: Lars and Jonnie with the Jenks and the Larsens. Both Tiffany and Kellie are expecting. I felt left out for a little bit, but Tiff is ready for delivery any day now and I remember that feeling.

Kellie looked SO funny and adorable all bundled up. Lame little me- I've only been to one other bonfire and it was two years ago, so I didn't bring a jacket or a another blanket or socks for either Jonathan or I. It only takes one mistake. I'm SO packing more warm stuffs for our ward bonfire tomorrow if we go. Lars was wonderful and gave me his leather jacket to wear and Jonathan was too wiggly to hold still, so I used his Nemo blankie on my feet. (Notice Brett's lovely foot also in the picture.)

On Friday night, it was the High Priests activity night. We did karaoke. Here's Lars and Chet Douglass singing "Rollin' On the River". It was a WILD night! There were only a few people there, so we got really loud and laughed until our sides hurt.

Lisa Mushet, Mary Puppe, and I singing, ummm, I can't remember. =}

Lars and I weren't going to go to karaoke, but we felt we needed to participate in ward activities since we've been so bad in the past. (I blame our memories and lack of cell phones with alarm reminders). After I got home (which BTW, was far too late to even think about starting this kind of thing), I washed and hand-dipped around 200 strawberries for Lars' cousin's baby shower the next morning. The chocolate turned out the perfect consistency and I was soooo worried about it. I'd never used that brand of dipping chocolate before. I was also a Nazi about how dry the strawberries had to be before I'd dip them. If water gets into your dipping chocolate, it makes it lumpy and it won't coat the berry correctly or even stick.

I double-dipped around 50 of them. Some were milk chocolate-over-white and the others were white-over-milk. The ones pictured tasted better, although the plain white chocolate ones tasted best. I was also worried about how the dried chocolate would taste because the raw chocolate was AWFUL and tasted like chalk. Most gourmet dipping chocolate tastes rich and sickeningly sweet, which is the only kind I've used. (But who has money for that?)

This was the cake. I've never seen anything like it before. The FROSTING had a pearlescent glaze to it, abso-friggen-lutely amazing. And the inside was even better- 3 layers of cake with a real fruit filling in the first layer and a vanilla pudding layer in the second. I would've eaten more, but I totally pigged out on guacamole and my strawberries! I love the little Mexican markets around here. They make the BEST cakes EVER!!

Larry Sr. with his favorite little person at the baby shower. I think they look alike a little bit.

The beautiful expectant mother, Yanela with her mother, Nellie.

One of the five 2 foot (in diameter) platters of strawberries we crammed into the fridge the night before.

Over-tired, but happy with Daddy. Jonathan's been going to sleep for a late afternoon nap and sleeping around 12 hours at night since the shower. He didn't take his early evening nap because there was far too many distractions. Finally, I fed him at 7 and he literally dropped to sleep. Nothing, not even a Harley motorcycle going down the street, could wake him, even though we tried repeatedly so he'd go to sleep later. (Which of course we didn't need to worry about.)

And there you have it a great little week of fun, friends, and sugar. =D

Yay, Question Mark

After nearly 18 months of bliss, my body has returned mostly to a state of normalcy. My period has returned.

As a nursing mother, I was fortunate to be able to go this long without a monthly cycle, as many other women in my family and in my group of friends have not even gone the first 3 months after baby came. I know how lucky I am, but sometimes I wondered if I was healthy or not. I got worried that maybe my first pregnancy was some sort of freak accident and I might not have other children.

It's good to know that I'm back to normal, as much as I hate what 'normal' entails. Now I know why I've been soooo moody and why I've been feeling really funky lately. It means I can have more kids... like we'll ever be ready for more. >.>

Oh My GOSH!!

Just a few minutes ago, Jonathan was laying down on his tummy reaching for the string that ties the sun shade into place on his pool floaty. He reached for it one last time and this is what happened....

He was laughing and and so was I, trying to get him to not roll over before I could grab the camera. I was laughing so hard I could barely get up off the floor and load the memory card into the camera! I love this kid. He's so full of silly antics!

The Mother of ALL Blogs

WARNING: You are about to read the mother of all blogs. This entry contains within copious amounts of photos from the last 4 weeks or more, so if you can't handle that, then back up from the computer and walk away. I would suggest that you have plenty of time when you gaze upon this awesomeness.

On July 24th, we had our annual Relief Society game night. I did pretty well and won 3 candies out of 20 in the first game- more than anyone else!

Since the beginning of July, Lars has let Jonathan sit by HIMSELF on the piano bench. With his beefy little hands, he's sure to be the next Franz Liszt!! XDJonathan gave himself a booboo because Mommy couldn't find his nail clippers. He would scratch at it, so I finally put a Band Aid and some Neosprorin on it and he felt so much better! (As you can tell by his expression.)
I suppose you're not supposed to take pictures in church while it's Sunday and there's a speaker talking, but I hadn't gotten to take any pictures of Jonathan is his 4th of July outfit and he was so loud and happy. Besides, we were in the cry room- no note that prohibits pictures at the doorway in there!

On July 25th, one of Larry's and my bffs was in California for her baby shower and all of our other friends we never see came to it, too. Left to Right: Christine (her baby shower), me, Candy (who's also expecting), and Abby. And later that same day, Lars and I went to the Pioneer Day celebration for our church combined wards. I baked deep-dish apple pie and made my dad's special "missionary salad". Both were gone before we left (and we left an hour early). I participated with Wendy Miller, a good friend of mine in our ward and won the women's record for the pull-saw with 23 seconds! It was a crazy, busy, fun day!

July 29th (the day Larry had the interview that got him his job): It was SO STINKING FUNNY! I left Jonathan in the middle of the floor in FRONT of the couch to switch out the laundry and use the 'facilities', when I heard him whining in distress. When I went to check on him, I found he'd pushed himself in a circle BACKWARD and into the space BEHIND our couch!! I was laughing so hard and ran to get the camera. Jonnie didn't like being left alone while I left for a few seconds, but I HAD to have a picture!

That same night, I made low fat stuffed shells for the first time for dinner with the missionaries. We had a great time and a wonderful discussion on how to be a better husband and wife.

After the missionaries left, I had a hankering to go check out IKEA since I've never been there before. I've been spending all my time online lately planning furniture and all that stuff for when we have our own place. In the children's section, we found this cute little toddler bed (no we won't be spending money to get something he'll only use for a couple years at most) and we put Baby on it. He LOVED all the bright colors and kept grabbing the tags and trying to put them in his mouth.

July 31st: After we had Larry's extended family traditional Saturday breakfast, the little kids got to run around in Tia Yoli's back yard in the sprinkler. Here's Jonathan with his cousin Christopher who, after soaking his own skivvies, borrowed a pair of blue girls undies from his older cousin RaeLynn who's visiting.

Jonathan loves to sit and watch movies in our front room. We give him what we call "Naked Time" for 15-30 minutes two to three times weekly. It does his skin good because the skin in his folds is so very sensitive and fragile. We put him on all our old blankets and surround him with old pillows just in case he wets all over- which he has... several times. But it's all good. Everything gets washed.

In the last couple weeks Jonathan's been getting more steady. He figured out how to pull himself up and now he cruises in his play pen and on the coffee table, but only if he knows Daddy's behind him. He's had a couple falls that have made him a little insecure by himself. Here he is cruising the coffee table for the first time.

August 5th: I set Jonathan down in his crib after he woke up and changed him, so I could do the same for myself. I heard him grunting and singing to himself while I came out of the bathroom. When I saw him I nearly had a heart attack. He'd pulled himself up for the first time in the crib. If he'd figured out how to get his legs out from under him to stand, he would've launched himself out onto the floor!

When Lars got home that night, I had him lower the crib, but now the gate lowering mechanism doesn't work, so I have to heave Jonathan into bed every night, which he wakes up for. For the last 3 months he'd become a side sleeper, but every since the beginning for the month or so, he figured out how to flip himself over to sleep on his tummy so now that's how I put him down for the night. He rarely sleeps on his back now, unless he's sick and can't breathe well.

Sleeping with his bum in the air, just like Mommy at this age.

August 6th: Lars and I went to check out the Pico Rivera Walmart and found out it was a SUPER. I was on the phone with my sister and I started laughing uncontrollably. I had to have a picture. Does this remind anybody else of a certain feminine product brand? BWAHAHAHA!!

Same night- Mormon Night @ Dodgers Stadium: We had one heck of a time finding our way there. We overshot the off ramp by a half hour. And when we pulled off at Universal to call and ask how to get back, Jonathan had been screaming for 10 minutes. We parked so I could nurse and after he was done, all he did was scream more when we put him back into his carseat. We opened the windows to dissipate the sound and save our sanity. We got to the stadium during the third inning and almost didn't even go in. The stress had elevated our emotions and let's just say we'd had enough.

We DID decide to go in, but we kept getting sent further and further around the stadium to our seat and I really, REALLY had to go. We finally found a security guard who let us in on the lower level to use the bathroom and go up on the elevators. It was SO hard to figure out how to operate without a stroller. We each took turns holding Jonnie and eating. Half the stuff we brought we didn't need and we ended up needing to leave before the end of the game so we could make traffic in time for bedtime. We listened to the rest of the game on the radio and ended up missing Dodgers WINNING and at the bottom of the NINETH, 5-4 against the Atlanta Braves.

Manny Ramirez up to bat.

YAY! WE finally made it! It was my first time to the stadium in ten years!

Jonathan briefly happy before the cheers from the crowd made him upset and cry.

August 7th: More cousins from Larry's side visiting from Texas. Left to Right: RaeLynn, Hunter, and Jonathan. (The underwear Christopher was wearing was hers.)

August 10th: My baby boy turned NINE months old! **sigh** He's so big and learning to do SO much! I want his to slow down!

Phew! Now that that's done, there'll be room to post Jonathan's nine month photos soon to come! Hope you're not too exhausted from that little reading marathon!