Naptime is becoming difficult...

July 31st 2011

My little boy has figured out how to climb up objects.

{He hasn't even mastered crawling yet, and he's climbing already... ahhh!!}

No matter the object. He will climb up it.

We're talking boxes, his pack 'n play, me, the couch, the printer stand....

At first this was exciting and fun...

Now I'm realizing he can get into more STUFF!

Now we're talking the printer, electrical cords, the fake plant's moss,

my food, the remote controls.... need I go on??

The hardest thing, though, is his climbing up in his pack 'n play.

This is where he sleeps.

So instead of laying down and taking a nap.

He climbs around in there.

Getting frustrated and screaming at me when he can't let go and fall back into his bed.

I love him. He's adorable.

But I am about at my wit's end when he won't take a nap.

But because it is sooo cute that he is climbing things,

and that all started this last week (July 24th- July 31st).

I had to take a photo shoot.

{one}

{two}

{three}

{four}

{five}

Whew! We made it.

(Now if I could only do something productive while he was napping instead of blogging....)

Visiting Daddy @ Camp Fife

July 18 - July 20 2011

Eithan and I just arrived home today from visiting Collin at Camp Fife.

We left on Monday afternoon, and arrived at camp just in time for dinner.

We didn't really do much that first night,

except get unpacked and settle in to sleep.

{It was wonderful being able to cuddle with the hubby for a while.}

Tuesday Collin gave us the grand tour.

We visited almost all of the areas.

{swimming, forge, horseback riding, nature, scout craft}

Collin giving Eithan the tour...

and relieving me from having to hold him.

{sigh... it was wonderful}

We were able to pet some horses.

{Although this one is actually a mule.}

-I love that you can see Eithan reaching out to touch the mule.

He didn't really 'pet' the mule per se, more like grabbed at it.

Still cute none-the-less.

Later that same day, Eithan rode a horse all by himself!

I held him onto the saddle and the horse keeper led the horse around.

Eithan LOVED it!

He giggled and smiled the whole ride.

He also licked the horn {the front part of the saddle},

and decided it was better to sprawl on the saddle then sit up.

He looked like a little jockey while he was sprawling.

These adventures pretty much made up Tuesday.

We left this {wednesday} morning after breakfast.

Here is Collin saying his goodbyes to Eithan.

I know.

It's adorable.

We love our daddy!

We were sad to leave him, but happy to get back to civilization.

We only have 2 1/2 more weeks left.

Then we will be reunited for a long while.

8 Months

July 18th 2011

Here's the little munchkin at 8 Months!

-Scooting around like a little pro

{still figuring out the whole crawling idea}

-Wants everything that he can't have

{remotes, laptops, telephones, our food}

-Finds being held in the air very humorous

{he just laughs and giggles while he's up there}

-Learning how to eat solid food more with "Baby Mum-Mum Rice Rusks"

-In size 12 Month clothing
{I still can't figure out why there isn't a 9-12 month size?}

-Is sleeping through the night, but not without a few 'helps'.

{needs pacifier back in his mouth, needs help getting un-stuck from the corner, etc.}

-Wakes up as soon as the sun comes up {almost}

{This means we are consistently up between 6-7 AM every day}

-Doesn't really like being in the car for too long

{which is difficult since we've been doing a lot of driving}

-Loves to play with his cousins who just came for a visit.

{Korban, Camden, and Addison Rose}

-Discovering his other cousin Brody

{They played nicely together on the floor the other day}

All in all, still a happy, bouncy, giggly, baby boy.

P.S. Mom is still working on herself being happy, bouncy and giggly,

but we're slowly getting there.

As I get more sleep, I think it will be easier.

Discovering Grass Photo Shoot

July 8th 2011

Eithan has been in grass several times before now.

But today I decided to do a photo shoot.

He seems to really enjoy grass so far.

He will pull and tug on it. If he gets some of it out, it's even better.

All in all, he seems to really enjoy it.

Just like Daddy.

P.S. Since that post about him scooting off the bed. He has been scooting ALL over the place. He can now scoot from one place to another very easily. He is even starting to figure out that he can come and find me when I leave him in another room. It is exciting and terrifying all at the same time, because this means I am going to have to be really careful with what I have on the floor and where I put him. I have a crawler coming soon! (eeekkk!)

"...if I only had a brain." on the 4th of July

July 4th 2011

Collin came and saw us for a brief period over the weekend.

Then he went straight back to camp.

{Do you think I took pictures???... nope, I forgot}

On the Fourth, my father was invited to a barbecue down the street.

So we ALL {dad, eithan and myself} went.

It was a Mexican themed barbecue... which included a cow's head as the main course.

I tried a part of the head, just some meat off the cheek.

It was actually pretty good.

If you didn't think about where it came from.

Then I went back to look at the head while they were taking it all apart.

It sounds gross, but it was quite interesting.

As I was watching, the chef started to get out the brain.

I asked him if this was indeed the brain.

He replied with an affirmative.

It is at this point that he took part of the brain, cut off a part,

and told me that it was delicious and that I needed to try it.

I, of course, said no.

He insisted a few more times.

So......

I tried the cow's brain.

It had the texture of Tofu, and was followed with a nasty aftertaste.

Decision: Cow's brain is disgusting!

But at least now I've tried it! {smile}

In addition to cow's brain, I tried some goat's intestine in a soup.

Chewy, and, again, not something that I would eat again.

All in all, an interesting Fourth of July.

And we missed all the fireworks, because Eithan was sleeping.

{...and because we were tired}

Go figure??

We sure hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July.

We are all very grateful for this nation and for the freedoms that we have.

Red, White and Blue Flowers

July 2nd 2011

Eithan and I went to see Joshua for a little bit on Saturday.

We brought him some "4th of July" Flowers.

It was nice to simply sit there for a while with Eithan and enjoy the quiet of the cemetery.

I love the little face he's giving me here,

and that you can see the flag with the red, white and blue flowers

Just another cute face.

We sure miss our other 'little man', but we know he's being well taken care of.

And we are glad that we can go to his grave and leave him flowers.

I am especially grateful that the grounds are very well kept.

The area around Joshua's headstone is always neatly trimmed and mown.

Just like you see in the pictures.

I'm also grateful that I can share these moments with Eithan now.

Hopefully he will grow up loving his older brother as much as we do.

*Preparations for Eithan's 1st Birthday*

Alright... any of you who read this blog know that Eithan is only 7 months old.

I know, I know. But what can I say?

I like to get a head start on things...

especially since his birthday is the week before Thanksgiving.

So his ONE year birthday theme is......

Dr. Seuss

I am in LOVE.

I have found all sorts of cute Dr. Seuss type things.

But what I am going to show you today...

are some of the things that I have already made for his big "1" Party.

Party Favor Bags:

Complete with "Thank You" tag and a Dr. Seuss Pin

Birthday Boy Onesie:

Complete with Dr. Seuss Tie and Suspenders

and

Dr. Seuss Type Pennant Banner

I am loving all of Dr. Seuss and all the things that I can do with it.

I am going to be creating some more items for his party...

so stay posted for some more fun!