Has it Been 6 Months Already?

Well...nearly.

I can't believe I haven't posted since Oliver's 6 month photo shoot...so many things have happened since then!!

First, we moved. Tommy was offered a new job with Edward Jones at their headquarters in Tempe, so we made the big move from Utah to Arizona. We had to make the commitment to the job and move in about 3 weeks, so it was VERY fast! We came down to Arizona and were super blessed to find a house to rent really easily that was right in our price range. Then we packed up the Utah house and drove down. Tommy drove the moving truck while Pam and I followed in the Malibu with Oliver. He was actually much better on the trip than I thought he'd be. We stopped about every 4 hours to nurse and eat and stretch our legs, but other than that he mostly slept the whole time we were in the car. Once we were like 30 minutes away from our destination, he got really grumpy so I sat in the back and played with him until we made it. He was a trooper :)

Next, we conquered crawling! Before we moved, Oliver was trying so hard to get crawling down but wasn't quite there. After we got to Arizona, he really took to crawling. Now he is very mobile...he is always standing up using any furniture or person he can find and then climbing all over anything he can. This makes for lots of new bumps and bruises, but I feel like he is also a lot less frustrated now that he can get where he wants to go. For Christmas we got Oliver one of those toys you stand up with and push to learn to walk and he's taken to it really quickly so I'm not sure how much longer we will have a crawling boy...

This is Oliver crawling back in October when he'd really gotten it down.

Then, we celebrated lots of our first holidays with Oliver. We spent Thanksgiving with Tommy's family in Cave Creek. Grandma McLaughlin, Aunt Patty, and Charlie all came over to celebrate with us, which was very exciting-it's always fun to see Grandma play with Oliver. I was in charge of pies this year, so I made an apple, pumpkin, 2 strawberry and cream, and a caramel apple. They were pretty tasty if I do say so myself. While Grandma was there, we also went to a Japanese grill restaurant, where Oliver was terrified of the man making our food in front of us, but did enjoy fried rice, shrimp, and salmon. That little boy got so much food, but he was loving it. We celebrated Christmas in Arizona, too. On Christmas morning, I woke up at 6 and couldn't get back to sleep so I made some cinnamon rolls. By 7, Tommy was up and we were just waiting for Oliver...Finally 8 rolled around and the boy was still sleeping, so Tommy and I went and looked at our stockings and opened a few presents until Oliver finally got up. Then Tommy's family came over and we spent the day playing with new games and toys, watching movies, and eating ham :)

Here is Oliver when he first got up Christmas Morning 

Finally, we had a way fun trip to Florida at the beginning of December! It was so much fun!! Oliver and I went to Disney World with Paul & RaeAnn (and company) and Dad our first day there. I was so surprised by how many rides Oliver could go on! He was a little scared on Aladdin's magic carpet ride, but he seemed to enjoy the Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, Philharmagic, and the Peter Pan ride (I think that one was his favorite). He was so tired though that when we rode on It's a Small World, he was standing up on the seat next to me and he just leaned against me and totally fell asleep. Haha, sweet boy. The next day we caught up on some sleep and Tommy came to join us. Then we spent 2 and a half days at Universal Studios. We got to go to the Harry Potter Hogsmeade world and ride a way fun dragon ride and go into the Hogwarts Castle (amazing!!). It was so cool all the stuff you got to see in there!! We also got to go visit London and Diagon Alley. The shops in Diagon Alley were so cool, when you first walk in it is just like the movie. All the details they had in each store was just incredible. And then we rode the ride through Gringott's Bank and got to eat lunch at the Leaky Cauldron...it was SO good. Hot Butterbeer is amazing, you must try it. We also did all the other park rides which were way fun, but Harry Potter was definitely a highlight for me and Tommy.

Well, I feel like you are now caught up :) I will try not to wait so long to post again (hopefully I'll post next week after Oliver's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!)

6 Months Old

Well, for Oliver's half-birthday, we had our friend Tiffanie come over to our house and take his 6 month pictures. She did his newborn picture session and when she saw him at 6 months she said, "Holy cow, I can't believe how much he's changed!" I thought, I should do a post with all his pictures to document what he's doing now and how incredibly cute and awesome he is so...here we go!

Oliver loves his tummy time. He rolls over from his back to his belly way more than going the other way around. He is trying to figure out crawling and, so far, he can scoot backward pretty well, turn in circles, and get his knees under his belly (though he usually has to stuff his head into the ground to do it...he hasn't quite figured out how to push himself up on his hands while his knees are under him).

 Oliver also loves his exersaucer. He really enjoys standing on his legs and loves having the freedom to turn himself around. There is a big apple on his exersaucer and he likes to eat the stem-it's his favorite toy on there.

 Oliver is just starting to sit up on his own. He used to get excited and rock himself over, but he's started to get good control and he can stabilize himself whenever he starts getting excited (though I still stay close when he's sitting, just in case).

 He is always making the craziest faces. He smiles whenever he gets Tommy's attention. He's started sucking his bottom lip a lot (I think he's starting to teethe). He opens his mouth SO wide whenever he's eating, especially with new foods.

 Oliver loves to kicks his legs out super straight and point his toes to extend himself as long as possible. We think he's trying to make up for his shorty legs (that he got from his daddy). All of his onesies get tight on his long torso, but his pants are always rolled up (even when they are a size smaller than his age).

  He is starting to lose his baby hair and grow in lighter hair on the top of his head (though the back of his head still has a lot of the long, dark brown hair). Lately he is very into pulling hair, especially mama's hair. He tries really hard to grab his own, but it's pretty difficult. He also likes to scratch his hands on the wall, his high chair, his car seat, etc. as if he's trying to figure out the textures. Sometimes I can hear him scratching his mattress through the monitor...it's pretty hilarious.

  Oliver doesn't enjoy cuddling-he gets too interested with anything he can get his hands on. When mama is working, Oliver likes to try and grab the keys on my laptop. he also likes to suck on my headphones (he already broke my headset with his slober) and pull out the power cord. When we went to the pediatrician for his 6 month appointment, he was trying to unplug the scale and the nurse said that baby girls never even notice that cord, just the boys. Oh my luck :)

 Oliver is in the 50th percentile for weight, 60th percentile for head size, and 29th percentile for height (our little shorty).

 We love to read books together. On Tommy's nights off of work, we usually try to read a book before bed. When Oliver is getting grumpy but not quite ready for bed, I will put out a book and he will sit in my lap and play with the pages for a good ten minutes before he remembers that he was grumpy :)

 Another activity that is sure to get Oliver in a good mood is bath time. He LOVES to take baths! He has a bunch of bath toys that he will splash with and eat for ever if I let him. He has a big inflatable duck that he takes his baths in so now he can lay back or sit up if he likes (any chance to control his own mobility makes him happy).

Oliver is so much fun, he has completely changed our lives and we are so thankful to have such a happy, healthy baby in our family.

*Pictures courtesy of Tiffanie May Photography

My Golden Birthday

This year I turned 23, and what a special Golden Birthday I had!! We were in New Mexico for my birthday, so after a day of working in the hotel room, we got the party started with Tommy's family!!

On our flight down to Albuquerque, the plane was super empty so Oliver got to keep his car seat...he slept the whole time but he was also flipping his mama off the whole time so...not sure how we feel about that...

We got to go to a BBQ house in Albuquerque that was on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives called The Cube! It was sooo yummy! Tommy got a burger and it was HUGE and delicious, and I got beef brisket and smoked beans that were amazing! I felt so special walking where Guy Fieri has walked haha.

Oliver's Aunts all gave him a bath in Grandma's living room, which is the same spot where Grandma use to give Tommy baths when he was a baby. She showed us a picture of her and all her friends circled around Tommy's bucket/tub just like Oliver's aunts were circled around him; it was pretty sweet :)

After dinner, Tommy and I went shopping with Pam and Monica at Target. I've decided recently that I need to change up my style for a couple of reasons...1. I am a 23 year old now, hello mature., 2. Have you been in American Eagle lately? a little too hipster for me..., and 3. I'm a mama so I should probably look the part, right? haha, so anyway, we went to Target and I got some cute skirts and blouses to help my style out. They are way cute!! Then we also got to go to the mall that weekend (long live the birthday) and I got even more cute stuff from Express! I felt so special in my new clothes! :) I also got surprised with an iPhone from Tommy!! that's right, my first ever smart phone, I felt so special!!

Here we are at the Zoo...you can see me in one of my cute new shirts :)

We also got to go to the New Mexico Zoo while we were down there, which was pretty special since Tommy went there a lot growing up and he loves to go to the Zoo! He was super excited to take Oliver there for his first time, but, of course, Oliver slept through the whole thing...we did get him a monkey toy (his new favorite) and some giraffe play toys for the bath while we were there, so the zoo trip will not be forgotten.

Oliver loved hanging out with his Great Grandma. He laughed SOO much for her; it was adorable! And I got to talk to Great Grandma a lot while we were there about growing up in Japan and how her and Great Grandpa met, which was way cool. It was a very fun weekend with lots of love for the Oliver and the Mama :)

Trip to Germany!

This month our destination was Germany. We really wished we could've gone to the real place and visited Kenna, but our much cheaper solution was the following:

For dinner, we had homemade cheese spaetzle (Americanized with cheddar cheese as opposed to Emmentaler cheese) and mashed potato pancakes...yummy :)

Spaetzle Noodles

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour, all-purpose
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• about 1/2 cup water

Instructions:

• Mix flour and salt in a bowl.
• Add eggs and mix well.
• Gradually add just enough water to make a smooth, light, and firm dough.
• Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Push dough through the largest holes of a grater or metal colander directly into the boiling water. If dough is firm, it can be pushed through a ricer.
• Noodles will float when they are done (will take a few minutes). Remove with slotted spoon.

Cheese Spaetzle

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked Spaetzle (12 oz. dry Spaetzle)
• 2 - 3 cups shredded Emmentaler cheese
• 2 tbsp. butter (or olive oil)
• 2 small onions (sliced)
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325° F.
• Heat butter (or oil) in skillet and sautee onions until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Butter casserole dish. Begin by layering with 1/3 of the spaetzle, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat, until you have layered 3 times.
• Top with the sauteed onions.
• Bake, uncovered, about 20 - 30 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly browned on top

Then we watched the Bourne Supremacy (since it's the one in Berlin).

Stayed tuned for our next (real) trip to New Mexico next week :)