Who needs fireworks? We've got carrots!

We already showed y'all the video of Caleb's first rice cereal. he has since decided he does not like it...he still eats it for the most part, but he does not love it. So, we have a mill that a friend gave us back in Utah (Thanks, Kim and Jeff!).
I decided i wanted to try it out.

1) we don't have a lot of money to buy jars of baby food.
2) I like knowing exactly what it is I'm feeding him.
3) it's fun to "mill" my own food! lol


So, here he is, enjoying his carrot. This is not the first time...I think it's the 2nd or 3rd? Anyway, he opens right up and leans forward and grabs the spoon/my hand to bring it towards his mouth. Then chomp--and he tries to figure out how to swallow it.

As a side note, when I was steaming these carrots before I milled them something strange happened. We steam most veggis in the microwave because it's easy and quick. and really good. So, I'd done it once already with carrots, but THIS time when I steamed them...they SPARKED!

yes, I'm not kidding! they sparked!

I opened the door, called Mom over and she saw it too. It even made little scorched marks on the carrots. i was perplexed: what is happening?! So I "Googled" it and i found out that lots of fresh foods sometimes spark/flame in the microwave: celery, pinto beans, apples, and yes, carrots. I don't know why...

Does anyone? anyone else had some food spark in the microwave? crazy!

And he keeps growing...

Caleb is so upset that he cannot sit up on his own yet. He insists that I sit with him, because on his back he just screams. It has encouraged him to roll over a bit more frequent because it's at least a different view.


These are the split second solo runs he did...



And then just some updates: he's getting chunky! I've tried propping him up so that he can see around (since, like I said, he can't quite do it on his own yet). And I love that face! And then his 5 month pictures! He turned 5 months a week ago Sunday...but look how big he is! lol I love it!

House Remont

That's a bit of Russian for you...It's not in Cyrillic, but it's still the same: Remont. It means construction.

Anyway, these are a few more pictures of the projects going on here at the house...

BEFORE: disgusting!!! I know. I couldn't stand to rinse diapers in the toilet becaue i could smell this every time. And cleaning it seemed like a joke! The bowl wasn't this dirty, mind you, but it still made a presence. This is mildew. Just in case you weren't sure. GROSS!


And this AFTER! yaya, clean toilet! This was done to both toilets in the house. New flushers and valves and other things were put in. it was an all day project. So gross. But I'm really grateful to have it done since we're hopefully going to be switching to cloth diapers soon and I don't wanna gag every time I rinse one out in the toilet! Thanks goes to Justin. He works hard!! :-)

And here is the man himself! lol
This is head.
It's in the ceiling.
He is in the attic.

The project this time was replacing the vent/heater in the bathroom. That required lots of re-wiring, cutting a bigger hole in the ceiling, and poor Justin spending lots of time with his next to the roof surrounded by insulation.

We just thought this was funny. Dad's not really on the pot. :-) But that's where Justin spent about half of his day. Again...he works so hard!

So...small details that take a lot of time...and this is why it doesn't really feel like we've made much progress. Because who notices a new vent/heater?

Somehow Life Passes By

It seems like so much has happened in such a short amount of time. But then again, nothing extremely "significant" has happened. Sometimes it seems like I do the same thing every day, week by week...and before I know it, 5 months have gone by! But what have I accomplished? This is something I almost have to write down for myself because I get so caught up in the "I've done nothing" mindset...

And writing it down really does make a difference. Every week I make a list. Then I check it off. What I don't get done, goes on to next week. I don't get caught up in what i DON'T get done. I focus on what I DID get done. And it works.

So what HAVE I done? Well, it's interesting that I've started to feel more like a "member" of this commonwealth (lol, yes, commonwealth; not state). I think the even that finally made the switch final for me was the involvement and camaraderie I felt with the most recent special election to fill the Senate seat left vacant by senator Kennedy. It's interesting...

So, I'm registered to vote here; I voted in the primaries; I voted on Tuesday; I finally converted my driver's license to MA...and paid an outrageous $100.00!! Yeah, that makes no sense...

Anyway, it's just nice to feel like I HAVE made progress...I feel like I AM making a difference...and my mundane, ever-so-simple daily routine is a great achievement.

That's saying something for me.

What makes you feel like you've accomplished something? How do you fill that "I need to feel important" necessity?

The joys of having a little boy...

Caleb's First Solid Food

I cannot believe how old Caleb is getting! When he was born, a friend gave us some bowls and spoons and I thought, "Wow, she's really thinking ahead. It's going to be so long before we use these!" But man, he'll be 5 months on Sunday and here we are, using bowls and spoons! It was a lot of fun...I'm most grateful that Justin was able to be home (since classes start in a week and he'll be getting home later) to enjoy our baby's continued exploration of this world. Enjoy! (Grandma and Grandpa Hart, this is especially for you. :D)

Naked Baby!

Caleb really likes being naked. He gets all giggly and blows bubbles and just enjoys going natural. Plus, Justin has a song he sings when Caleb is naked. If only you could hear it! lol

A few weeks ago Caleb found his feet...these pictures are actually from about a month ago, so he's a bit bigger, but I love how much he focuses on getting those sneaky feet!

He grabs them most when he's laying down, but sometimes...

He'll even grab them when he's sitting up. Haha, in fact, he also loves to "stand" (no picture with this post) with us helping him to balance. Well, he's started to try and reach and grab things that are down by his feet. He has a favorite monkey he'll go for; or the opposite book; or even the burp rag. Anyway, he'll just bend over, folding himself in half in his attempt to get said treasure. He makes me laugh all the time!

Oh, one more thing!

Just remembered, Caleb has officially rolled over! He did it three times this weekend. He doesn't do it all the time yet, but he definitely did it all by himself! and guess what! We're starting him on rice cereal tonight. Let's just say, after one day of 13 feedings in 14 hours I'm ready to give him a little supplement. :-)

Health, a great blessing

I just want to say how important health is to me. I've been a little sick the past few days (with a cold!!) and I almost didn't go to church yesterday because I wasn't feeling 100%. But then, I remembered how hard it was when I had no choice BUT to stay home from church because I was so sick. I decided to go. It was long, I didn't feel the greatest, Caleb got really cranky and was cranky all night because of it...but I'm glad i went.

I still don't feel the greatest today, but I'm so glad to be getting better. It helps make everything easier. I'm so happy to change a diaper because on Saturday, I could hardly pick up Caleb to get him to the changing table! I must admit, I'm a little nervous for whenever baby #2 gets put in the oven: will I be too sick to be a Mommy? But, until that happens, I'm going to enjoy each day for what it has to offer, and most of all...

I am so grateful for health and strength!

What about you? What do you treasure because of some time in your life when you didn't have it?

Guess what....More Christmas! :-)

So, here are some more pictures of that fun holiday. I've got more recent ones to upload, but these were just sitting as a draft, and I figured I'd get them up for all to see. These are some fun gifts...


This is baby Caleb wearing the Utes bib Uncle Spencer gave him. :)

And THIS is the Santa outfit Grandma and Grandpa Hart gave him. It's meant to be a hand-me-down outfit for all our kids...so much fun!

Drum roll please: this is the rocker we wanted to give him...and here it is! I was a little worried at first because he didn't seem to like to sit in it for very long, but he's starting to really like it. and an unadvertised advantage is the effect of the vibration: it makes him very regular! lol. But really, if he hasn't pooed and won't sleep because of it, we'll put him in his rocker, turn on the vibrator, which sits right below his bum, and within 10-15 mins, he's relieved! haha

Christmas: Installment 3

It's CHRISTMAS DAY!! yay! We slept in and I made some breakfast and then we started the fun stuff! We had to make sure Caleb was awake and we went through all his presents first...


This is the onesie Shalon gave Caleb at the beginning of December, so he got enjoy it all month long! It says, "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a silent night." He actually gave me that gift about a week before Christmas! So grateful. He sleeps through the night almost every night of the week! I love it! He is also wearing a hat that came with his stocking that Grandma and Grandpa Hart gave him. It says "Baby's first Christmas 2009."

Here's a close up of him. I forgot to tell y'all about his 4 month stats:
height: 27 in. (98%tile);
weight: 16 lbs 14 oz. (84%tile)
He's so big, and so healthy! We love him!!


Here's one of me and my baby Christmas morning. :-) Look at his foot. haha

Here is all three members of our little family. We are helping Caleb open his gift from Uncle Spencer: a Utah Ute onesie and bib with shoes. very cute, very nice!!

Christmas: Installment 2

More celebrations before the actual day...


When he first met her, Caleb wasn't sure of what to make of his Aunt Trisha, but they're good friends now!

We made cookies, a tradition I insisted on continuin in our little family. Well, Justin took the cake with his cookie-deocrating skills! This is his awesome santa clause...he even used piped icing!

Our great cookie collection. We delivered them to the people Justin home teaches.

Christmas: Installment 1

Here is the first installment of our Christmas celebration! It's actually good that Picasa only lets me do about 4 pictures per post, because doing all of them would take forever to narrate and you might get overwhelmed! haha...


Okay, this picture deserves a background story. There is a jolly neighbor here who dresses up as Santa Clause and comes and visits all the little children. Sweet. He said he'd call before he came. Well, on this particular night, Justin had loaned his camera to a sister in the ward, and she'd had it for like a week, but we thought, okay, we'll get it on Sunday. I'd been giving him a hard time all day (s) saying, "If only we had a camera!" Well, Justin comes in the house from outside and says, "Guess who I saw walking down the street?" I looked at him and said, "He has to come back! He can't come now! We don't have a camera! He's just going to have to come back!!" I didn't want Santa to come and not have a camera for our little baby!

Anyway, there ensued a mad scramble all over the house for any sort of camera. Including an old film camera with film sitting in the fridge to use. Then there was a digital that had no batteries; a digital that had no card; a digital whose screen was going out. Through it all, we finally got one to work-- and here ya go! Baby Caleb with Santa! He had no reaction whatsoever...just another person to hold him. But it was a fun story!

Caleb's nonchalance towards Santa.

This is another attempt to get a reaction from Caleb with Santa. But he just sat there. This was at the Hebert's candy mansion...for free! I went with my friend Jenny and her daughter M.

I just liked this ornament. It was also at the Hebert's Candy Mansion. Very awesome place: it has a chocolatopoly! haha