Four Generations

Anthony Jack is lucky enough to be alive with 3 generations before him. My mom's dad is the only grandparent I had living in my life, and I often think of what the others were like. I like to think that some of my personality came from each of them, and I know from Grandpa Seibold that I have some of him in me. Anthony, Tony, Howard and Howard Sr. are in the picture below. I love to hear the stories of my Grandpa, and his experiences in Germany as a missionary during WWII and Tony's grandpa has awesome stories from that era as well. He was a child at the time, and living in Sacramento. Because his family is Japanese, they were moved to an interment camp, and lost everything they had, including a lot of land (they had a strawberrry farm) and all their personal belongings. It is really heartbreaking to hear what had to endure and what they lost, especially because our government never fully compensated those families for what they lost. Imagine what a big chunck of farm land in California would be worth today. They hardly got anything. Although a sad part of American History, it's fascinating to hear about it straight from the horses mouth so to speak.

Up, Up and Away.

Anthony has not only started to crawl, but he's learned the fine art of pulling him self up onto EVERYTHING. The coffee table, the couch, lovesac, dog, carseat, fireplace, wall, bookshelf, bathtub, cupboards, you get the drift. The Christmas presents are on that list as well.And the toy basket...Decisions, decisions..This one will do.

Rubber Duckie, you're the one!

This child LOVES to have a bath! He is so impatient to get in. I will lay him down on the rug to get him undressed and he pops right up and leans over the edge of the tub. It's great to watch, so cute, but a little difficult to undress and undiaper him.

When all is said and done, he doesn't love getting a diaper back on, or clothes for that matter. He tries to crawl away. Good thing he can't go very far when he's on the changing table. When Tony changes him, I often get called in to help...4 hands are always better than 2!

Coffee Table Jail

It's offiicial...He crawls! I find the coffee table photos particularly funny, because that was Scouts favorite napping spot when she was a puppy! He gets everywhere. The cutest thing is when Tony comes in the door, he'll drop what he's doing and b-line for Tony. He loves his daddy!

SNOW!

This happened about a week before Christmas. I ran a lunch time errand and right as I got back to work, there were a couple of little white flakes falling from the sky. GREAT! I thought we'd get a little flurry, of course it would never stick...it never does here. By the time I left work, there were a good 4-5 inches on the ground, and it was still coming down pretty heavily. WOO HOO! Scout of course loved it, and I was so happy for the change! Growing up in the snow, it didn't really seem like that big of a deal for me, but the entire rest of the day, the news was on with coverage of the snow... "Breaking News!" Yeah, I found that pretty amusing. It was the biggest snowfall in like 30 or something, not bad Mother Nature...not bad!

Happy Unbirthday! SIx months old!

Here's a picture of the six month birthday. He got his first tooth on that day and the second tooth the next day. He started fully crawling that week and shortly after started mostly sleeping through the night (he still has his moments)!

Oreo Madness

First oreo experience...This is definately his father's child

Mess Maker, Mess Maker, Make me a Mess...

I have learned that it's much easier to update my blog while AJ is asleep, or at his Grandma's. I was trying to do something ever so quickly on the computer, and he was getting a little grouchy while in his excer-sauser, so I sat him on my lap and let him play with the few remaining things on the desk ( I had just mostly-cleaned) and of course I was right there, I mean he was on my lap for cryin' out loud, but within about 45 seconds...this is what I found.

The guilty party.

Turkey and Stuffing

Again...I claim no chronology (pretty sure that's not a word endorsed by Webster...wait just looked it up and...SAFE!) so, here are a few pictures of my little turkey on Thanksgiving!

First Airplane Ride!

Before I begin, I should note that my posts are in no way chronilogical...with that said, Anthony had his first airplane ride! When we went to SLC for Thanksgiving! He was SO good. It was way past time for him to eat when we were at the airport, but there were so many new things to see and so much going on, he didn't seem to notice. I was trying to hold him off so I could feed him while taking off ("they" say they should eat when taking off and landing to avoid ear pressure). So, we took off and I fed him, he fell asleep until landing and then ate again when landing and DONE! No problems, no fussing, nothing! What an angel!

Excited for the flight!

Biggest Loser

So, a woman in my ward started a friendly weight loss competition. I am giving it a go. I set a goal of losing 20 lbs by my anniversary before I found out about this. My anniversary is April 9th and the deadline for the competition is April 15th. So, I figured I'd join. 20 lbs gone and some extra dough. Woo Hoo! I thought there were a few people in the ward that joined, making the pot maybe a little over $100 ($20 to join), but I just stumbled upon Sarah's blog (the contest starter) and she just updated that there 37 people... 37!!!! That would make the pot a whopping $740. That's a lot of money. The real reason for joining is to loose the 20 lbs. but a little extra cash doesn't hurt! A few of those girls were doin' a little trash talkin' at church (can you do that?!?) and I must say...it just added fuel to the fire. I'm ON IT! Went to the gym yesterday, and gonna go today, and I have to do it. Any motivation you can send my way...I joyfully welcome! Wish me luck!

Sprite Lap, Rib Pants, Hurl Shirt

I said I would elaborate on the reason for not leaving the house for dinner. And here it is... When we were in SLC, we went to dinner with the Hart family, and thought, hey...how hard can 2 babies be? WELL...now I know better! Anthony doesn't love to sit in a high chair, so we don't go out nearly as often as we used to, which is actually a good thing, but I know he has to learn how to behave when we're out (I know he's a little young still), so what to do? Anyway...we ventured out to PF Changs and thought while we were waiting we'd get a few pics of us. I can't keep my eyes open in a picture to save me, so that explains that, but that's not the point...the point is, if you look closely, you'll see THE LOOK in Anthony's eyes. If you're wondering to yourself..."what is THE LOOK?" I'll tell you...it's the look of "I'm up to NO GOOD!" The drink you see in front of him, was FULL of Sprite, and the moment after this picture was snapped, the entire glass was on my lap, upside down. OK...that's Sprite Lap. The next photo is of the Harts...doesn't Addie look sweet and innocent? Well, a few minutes after Sprite Lap, our appetizers arrived and Megan had put a nice, sauce-y spare rib on her plate. If you have been to Changs, you know those tables aren't so big, and we were in a booth, which limits the space you can put between kids and tables. Addie must've wanted that rib because she grabbed the plate, and down went the sauce-y rib onto Meg's pants...Rib Pants!

So, I enjoyed a wet lap dinner and Megan enjoyed slimey pair of pants, and after all the fiasco and yummy food (what made it to our mouth's anyway) we were getting ready to leave and Meg and I went to the restroom to change Addie ( 4 adult hands = better than 2!) and came back to Tony traumatized and covered in baby throwup. YUCK. Apparently AJ, a.k.a. Lighting Hands, grabbed a cocktail napkin that Tony didn't see and started snacking away. After he started choking, Tony did a finger through the mouth to remove said coctail napkin and his Paul Bunion fingers made the baby gag, and he ended up with what other than...Hurl Shirt?!?

So, the moral of the story is this: GET A BABYSITTER IF YOU WANT A NICE ADULT DINNER!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

We have this great new mall in Vegas, it's outdoors, and they have a little Norman Rockwell style house set up for Santa. Once a week, they allow pets with Santa. I thought that was perfect, since she is a part of our family. We got ready, and headed out to see the man in the red hat....got there and about a billion other people had the same brilliant idea we did. GREAT! It was cold, but we braved it and waited patiently, and waited and waited and waited and waited...well you get the point. It was maddness, and not worth it. We finally got there and AJ was awesome the whole time we waited, the as soon as he saw Santa, MELTDOWN CITY! He was curious, for about 2.3 seconds (picture snapped) then melted down. Poor Baby. We got a couple of good shots and he crashed the second his little bum hit the carseat. Next year, no dog, not peak Santa hours. NOTE TO SELF. More on Christmas later. Moving those pictures to computer requires time that doesn't seem to exist.

Half Way, 2 Teeth and Crawling for freedom!

So these pictures were taken back in October when the Hart's were in town, and AJ was trying his darndest to crawl. He was getting pretty close too... But the along came his 6 month birthday and literally on that day, he sprung 2 teeth. He went from sitting up by himself, to crawling to pulling himself up on things all in a matter of a week. WHAT?!? Slow down kid, what's the big hurry? I'm so sure I was ready for that, but I love it. He is so fun to watch. He particularly loves crawling over to the dog, which she doesn't love...she usually just walks away when she sees him coming. A few nights ago, she left one of her toys, a cow, on the floor next to Love Sac she's claimed as hers, and she had another, her duck, in her mouth. AJ crawled over to the cow, picked it up and starting waving it at her. She hopped down, grabbed the cow, leaving the duck behind, and back up to the Love Sac with the Cow. He grabbed the duck, and waved that in the air. She hopped down, grabbed the duck, left the cow, AJ made a move to get the cow back, Scout looked at him, nudged him out of the way, and on her merry way she went, with a mouthful of duck and cow...NICE DOG!

He loves his independence, and I'm sure will be walking before we know what to do. We've tried to baby proof, but I'm sure he'll discover something we've forgotten about before we do!

Oh so Thankful!

I really do have a lot to be thankful for. We got to go (home...I call it) to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving, which was so awesome. He packed a lot into a short week/long weekend! First, of course the best meal ever! I love Thanksgiving food. Well, let's be honest, I love all food, but I do play favorites when it comes to Thanksgiving food! It was so good and it was the first time my entire family was together in a long time! All 11 adults and 12 kids. If anybody ever asks "when exactly did you loose control?" The answer is right there...as soon as the kids outnumbered the adults. There it it!

Then came family pictures... with everyone. That was a bit of a challenge, but they came out great, and I'd love to share some, but something about copyright, and laws, blah blah blah.

After that, we had the awesome opportunity to have Mr. Anthony Jack blessed by his pop (my dad) and his cousin Everett was blessed by Josh. It was so fun to get the cousins together, since they are the closest in age...only 2 months apart. That was such an amazing experience. What a great blessing to have this amazing baby in our lives that I know will be an amazing example to both Tony and I throughout his life. It really made me reflect on the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and how grateful I am for Him, for my family, for my wonderful husband, and of course the center of it, Anthony Jack! I love my famliy so much and I am so blessed and fortunate to have the knowledge that I do and the love that I know surrounds me.

AJ's blessing day...Tony cleans up nice eh?


Me and my little man, hanging out at Nana and Pop's house

Anthony and Everett...can you believe that they're only 2 months different?!?

Proud Pop and AJ after blessing

The Hart's after the blessing...Thanks Chris for being there for us! We love you guys!

The Boys and the Babies!

Next Item up... a Monkey!

Halloween kind of came and went, and really there was no fanfare. I'm not sure what I expected with a 5 month old. I got this great Monkey costume that I was so excited to put AJ in because I call him "Monkey" more than I call him his own name! It has a curly tail on the back and a banana in the pocket. I had a great idea to dress Scout up as a banana also, but finding a banana for a 100 lb. dog isn't so easy! So, she was the old stand-by...a witch! On Halloween, we took the baby to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a few minutes, just to get a few pictures, and then went to Capriotti's for a quick bite to eat, hopped in the car to go to Dan and Jenny's, where a whole bunch of people were hanging out and BBQ-ing, and of course passing out candy. As soon as we headed to the Skelly's, the baby crashed. It was a bit past nap time, and there was a lot going on. The most unusual thing about it is that it was borderline HOT that day. Strange for Vegas, it almost always rains and is cold here for Halloween, but of course not the year I get a plush, padded, 900 degree monkey for my baby. So...the cosume got about 10 minutes of use. Great.
Tony had the Idea of putting an Angels jersey over the Monkey, so he would become the rally Monkey, but that didn't work either.
Oh well...Maybe next year it will be a little more eventful.

Trick or Treat

Don't worry, she's a good witch!

Harts in Vegas

So...here is my best atempt at an update! I'm gonna start slow and work my way up, so let's see how this goes!

We'll start out with were we left off...waaaay back in October. We had a great visit from our friends, Chris, Megan and Addie Hart. We had a great time! We shopped, shopped, ate and shopped, then ate some more! Poor Chris for enduring the shopping. And, I feel a little bad that we were such home bodies, (no shows, no doing out to dinner, just boring old home) but lately I've discovered with the baby(ies) home is so much easier. We can eat, they can (at the time roll) crawl around on the floor. I don't have to worry about Mr. Squirm Worm wiggling out of a high chair. Poor Addie had no choice...she's pretty highchair-y, AJ, not so much, especially at that time, he wasn't even sitting up by himself. Now, it's a little better (not much...which I will elaborate on in a later post). So here are a few of the kiddos hanging out together.

I think this is so cute with her little head on his shouler...say it with me now..."Awwww!"