Family Moments Monday: Silly Traditions Can be Fun

First of all, a very happy Mothers' Day to all you mothers out there! I am so blessed to have an amazing mother who is talented, smart, funny and fun to be around, cares so much for her family, and who has taught me so much.
I love this picture--I remember taking it with my mom when I was three or four. I was too scared to stand on the edge of the hill by myself, so she held me so I'd be safe.

I have also been blessed to be a mom this year. My little Wesley is such a joy in my life!
Yesterday also happened to be our little guy's six month birthday! I can't believe how fast the time is going. He celebrated his half-birthday (yes, it is a real holiday in our family) with some presents and the above animal cracker--which he managed to get all over the place. We read some stories, talked to Grandma and Grandpa on the phone, and pretty much had fun.

This whole "half-birthday" tradition is something that started when I was a little girl. Perhaps I missed my calling in life as a lawyer or negotiator, because even as a very young girl I recognized a discrepancy in the number of holidays I got to celebrate (birthday, Christmas) and the number of holidays my parents got to celebrate (birthday, Christmas, Mothers/Fathers Day, wedding anniversary)--and so to remedy this egregious deficiency in holiday cheer, I talked my way into getting a half-birthday. My parents didn't go overboard spoiling me, but it was a special day where I got to pick what we had for dinner, I got a few presents, and generally was made to feel extra special. Now that I am married I wanted to carry this silly and fun tradition into my new family. Randy thinks it is ridiculous still, but has come to welcome his half birthday celebration so he puts up with the holidays!

Something silly I added to the mix: what has come to be known as the birthday stocking. I think Christmas stockings are so fun--all the fun silly little candy and presents inside--and one day I was speculating to my mom that I thought birthdays should have a similar tradition. Boy did she come through for me:

See what a cool Mom I have?

So of course I had to do one for Wesley:
I'm sure it isn't quite as perfectly crafted as my mom would have done, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Now I just have to make one for Randy before his half-birthday the end of July . . .

**Oh and Congratulations to Casey, who won my first giveaway! Those burp clothes will be making their way to you very soon!

Sixth Month Check Up

Today Wesley went in for his sixth-month visit. Here are the stats:

Height: 26.2 in--45.77 %tile
Weight: 13.62 lbs--2.12 %tile
Head: 17.7 in--71.95 %tile !!!

So . . . yeah Wes has the Johnson head after all. When he was born he only was in the 7th %tile for head circumference, but his genes finally caught up with him!

He is now rolling over from front to back, and loves to bounce and turn himself around in his exersaucer. He has started to push up on his knees a little bit . . . so I'd better start baby-proofing the house! We are supposed to start him on vegetables now, so we gave him some green beans tonight. So far he has been very patient and good natured about trying new foods--let's hope it lasts! I'll cook vegetarian for him at home, but I'm sure his grandparents will sneak him a hot dog or two when he comes to visit.

Play time

Our happy little guy. He is such a mellow little spirit.

Cuddle-bug

He is getting more and more independent in his play time, but he will still look up at me every so often and give me a big grin!

Little monkey feet. He loves to grab things with his toes :o)

I love how he looks at the world with such wide eyes.

Everything--especially fingers--go in the mouth these days. Teeth should be soon to follow.

I love our quiet moments of reading together. Our favorites are What's Wrong, Little Pookie? and Goodnight Moon

Crochet borders and a giveaway

Soon after we were married, my mom learned how to crochet adorable borders onto flannel infant receiving blankets from a friend of hers, and she passed along the information to me. They make really cute gifts for baby showers, don't take a lot of money to make, and are so useful! My mom made me a bunch of them along with matching burp clothes before I had Wesley, and since he was a "spitter" they ended up being so useful. They are wonderful to burrito wrap an infant, and the ones she made are large enough that he'll be able to use them for quite some time. Plus--did I mention they are adorable? That is really the most important part :o)

Since I had a boy and the last several friends/family members I have made these for have had boys, I had been sticking to a pretty basic border around the edges--nothing too frilly. Then when Randy's cousin had a little girl, I decided to branch out and try something a little more fancy. Here is the result:
I was pleased with the result. I had a difficult time finding a pattern for a border I liked online, so I just kind of made one up. Here are the instructions if you are interested:

Zigzag the edges of the flannel with a wingtip needle. Single crochet around the edges, in each corner making two sc in one stitch. Next row: in one half of one stitch sc four times, sc in each of next two stiches, repeat. Last row: go behind the shell where you made the four sc in one half of the stitch, and in the other half make four double crochets. Slip st. to the next shell, and repeat all the way around. Here is a closer look:
To the aforementioned cousin: I apologize that these are getting to you after your very cute baby has been born--but I will get them in the mail to you this week!

To everyone else: leave a comment on this post and I will randomly choose someone to receive a little gift packet of girl or boy burp cloths (your choice) to either use on your own munchkin, or give as a shower gift. If no one responds, then I guess I will just have something put aside for the next baby shower I'm invited to!

Things Are Changing

Spring/Summer (is there really any difference here in Orem? It goes from 0-80 in about a week) is finally here, and we have been busy with all the changes a new season brings. Randy started his last "semester" (composed of one spring and one summer term), Wes is nearing his six month birthday, I have been continuing with my freelance job and trying to get various projects done. But on to the good stuff . . .

This is a project from last fall that payed off on Easter morning: bulbs from gifts I received. Sadly, two days later, they looked like this:
The other ones not open never had a chance. Very sad. But when the snow thawed the pot above sprouted with lettuce from seeds I planted last year. I may have been so morning sick that I planted lettuce that just went to seed . . . but at least I can enjoy it this year! I love fresh salads in the summer--something I miss very much about my parents' home in Salem.
The Easter Bunny came and brought all kinds of fun surprises. He even brought Wesley some rice cereal a month early (I wanted to wait until six months, but Randy was really excited . . . )

A first taste . . . Dinner with cousin Sydney . . . (she hoped her Aunt Joy would think the picture was cute!)

. . . and the many . . .

. . . stages . . .

. . . of being oh so cute in my sleep!

And Dad brought Mom some flowers just because. How sweet was he?

Two Very Good Excuses (or at least I think so . . . )

So I have been absent from blogging the last couple of weeks, and it hasn't just been a bout of laziness/business/the fact that Wes isn't sleeping through the night anymore . . . (how many growth spurts can this little guy have? I really am just a milk machine these days . . . ) Anyway, my first excuse is--well--technical.

So my trusty old laptop was having . . . issues. I work from home as a freelance writer, so you can imagine my frustration when I was losing pages of work. So after one particularly frustrating day, the decision was made to get a new one. I hate making big purchases, especially when I don't have a lot of time to shop around. But with my dad's help, I think I made an okay decision. Life has been much easier with the new computer.

My second excuse is, Family!! The best kind of excuse. My parents came to visit Wesley us, and we had so much fun.

Grandpa and his boy!

Grandma time!

Taking walks together.

Reading together!

And just having so much fun we got all tired out!

We miss you guys. Come back and visit us soon!!

My Boy

I have been rather absent to the blog world this past week. My spring allergies hit with a vengeance, and my energy didn't really extend beyond caring for baby and husband and keeping up with my house. But this little guy keeps growing and changing, and I have to keep the grandmother contingency satisfied until they can come visit in a couple of weeks.

We took Wes for a walk down in Provo to see if there were any baby ducks yet. Every spring when the baby ducks arrive I have to go down to the duck pond, because baby ducks are pretty much my favorite thing. Other than my family :o). Anyway, Wes loved the walk--he was fascinated by the trees and the light and all the moving things going by. Luckily he was too young to really pay attention to the ducks, who were doing UNSPEAKABLE things. Really. I guess there will be baby ducks in a few weeks. We'll have to go back then.

We took Wes for another walk--no ducks this time--just to the park around the hospital near our house. This time we brought Che for a little fresh air. It was a beautiful sunny day, and both our little ones had a good time . . .

. . . until Wes had had enough, and it was time to go home . . .

We were lucky enough to get a visit from his cousin Brady and Aunt Mandy. These little guys are only five weeks apart (if Wes would have come on time it would have been a week). We are pretty sure these little monkeys are going to have a lot of fun together when they get a little older--let's hope they aren't as rambunctious as their daddies!

Spring really came to town yesterday with 70+ degree weather. So we had to put Wes in his little baseball cap. I think he's pretty cute! (Thanks Aunt Mandi and Aunt Karen!)

And of course I needed to include a picture of my little sleeping angel with his book. Maybe he takes after his mommy? :o)

My Baby's Growing Up

The other day I realized that some of Wesley's pajamas were getting a little short . . . so I pulled out his six month clothes . . . and they fit. I didn't realize how fast my little guy was growing up! He loves to sit in the kitchen with me while I do the dishes or cook. He coos and laughs at me while I work.

Here he is in his little train overalls. So cute! Yes, I know he's my baby, but still . . .

For the most part he's pretty good about sleeping through the night. If he's not too sleepy after eating, he likes to have stories and be rocked before going to bed.

I really think I have the cutest, sweetest guys in the world. They are quite a pair together. They love to play games, and sing songs, and make Mommy laugh.

Oh, my supermodel baby. Strike that pose!