More pictures from the past month

Our photo journey starts on Halloween. I got this shirt at Target when I was out visiting my sister. It was in the $1 bin. I couldn't pass it up.

Cuddling with daddy

Holding his bottle all on his own.

Enjoying his bouncer

He likes watching the lights.

He has become quite the pro at finding that finger. Sometimes he'll put 2 in his mouth, or his thumb, but usually it's just this one. He still has yet to learn to use it for soothing. For now, it's just drool and slobber and sweet baby stuff.

The finger again. Hanging out with daddy after the adoption walk.

Sweet, happy boy

We figured if he liked looking up then we would put things "up" to look at. We started with the binkie, then moved on to rattles and a mirror.

Helping mommy with laundry. When I first put it over him he was super giggly and happy.

Our 16 week tuba growth chart

Getting ready to go outside.

He's doing great! We're in week 3 of sleeping through the night. It's A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! He usually sleeps anywhere from 8 to 10 hours at night. There's usually 1 night a week where he gets up for a single feeding, but we'll take it in comparison to the 2 or 3 times he was up before. He generally wakes up happy and I find him in his bed all smiles and talking. It's a good way to start the day. We've got him eating a little bit more at fewer intervals too. He's definitely getting chatty and coos. It's especially fun when he does it during church. It's hard to shush him because it's so adorable, but sometimes he's louder than the teacher. He's drooling tons, but doesn't seem to be teething yet. He's still our happy, sweet boy. We have experienced his growing stubbornness tho, so we know he's going to keep us on our toes as he gets older. He still makes us work for smiles when we pull out the camera, but as you can see, we've gotten a little bit better.

We sure do love our boy!

Grandpa's Favorite Toy Store

We took the little guy on his first field trip to Grandpa's Favorite Toy Store - the Home Depot.

He loved it! He's really started looking at anything and everything that is UP these past few weeks. He loves looking out the windows and looking at the fans and lights in our home. He's even starting to enjoy being tossed up in the air, which he didn't enjoy before.

So he loved looking at everything. We took him down the light aisle. We couldn't capture a good picture, but take my word for it - he thought it was pure awesomeness.

We were trying to think of how we could take a picture to send to Grandpa so that he would know where we were. We thought the orange bucket satisfied the criteria.

He's already gone back with daddy.

And we know he'll get to tag along with grandpa someday too.

The Bear

So, winter has arrived. It's been COLD! And for all of you that know me, you know that I hate being cold.

The one downside to our basement apartment is that we don't get to control our own heat. (I really think that is the only negative aspect of our home. Seriously.)

So, with this cold weather, and now snow, I've had to figure out how to stay warm while the little guy and I am home all day. We have a small space heater which we use to keep BJ's room warm at night. I know, we are awesome parents to give up the heater for our son. At least, I think I'm pretty awesome for my sacrifices. Thankfully we have a heated blanket on our bed that helps!

Now, I can put on sweaters and cuddle in blankets. The little guy, however, doesn't stay all curled up in blankets too well, except for when he's sleeping. And he doesn't keep socks on if he can help it. And for some reason it seems silly to me to bundle him up in sweaters and jackets while we're home. (Why it's ok for me, I don't know.)

But what we do have, is this:
Let me just tell you that he loves it! Every time I put him in, he starts giggling and cooing. It's the cutest thing E-V-E-R!So, here's just lots of pictures of our little teddy bear.

He's gotten really good at getting that finger into his mouth.I tried playing with the settings on my camera and caught some sepia pictures.
I thought they turned out nice.I really like his expression in this one.That finger again, in sepia.

Best Teddy Bear Ever!

November - National Adoption Month

The Gift of Life

I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.
...For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true!
No, I didn't give you The gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.

--- Unknown

We celebrated adoption by joining in the Salt Lake Adoption Walk.

The best thing about it was that it got us out of the house. :)

It was fun to see a whole lotta orange.

Here's a self-family portrait. Sadly we're missing half of Joe's head, but this really is the best looking one of the bunch.

BJ was definitely the cutest black kid there, not that there was any doubt. Especially with this cute smile!
He was also probably the youngest kid there too.

We're looking forward to many more years celebrating such a wonderful gift for our family!

Cousin Playdate

So, like a month ago my cousin Brittany and I did a playdate. We had 4 kids between the 2 of us; we both were watching another kid in addition to our own. It was one of the first and only times I ever ventured out with both boys, and lucky for me, I had my mother-in-law's car so that made the juggling of people and vehicles easier on my end.

It was really nice to spend some time with Brittany. We grew up living pretty close to each other so she's one of the cousins I am closest too. We're also closest in age in the family.

Her little girl D'Anna is about 7 months, and BJ here was about 3 months. D'Anna is pretty tiny, but such a cutie!

Family Pictures...

...wonderful roommate.

Katrina was my very last roommate I had in college before I got married, minus my stint abroad while being engaged. I had never met her before moving in. I was terrified. It was my first semester back to school after my mission. I had had some good roommates before, but I had also had some that I really didn't get along with. I was returning to school with no friends and no family. I'll even admit that when I found out she was a freshman, I was a bit concerned.

But all my worries, doubts, and fears about my roommates were dispelled. Katrina was my answer to prayer. It was the best semester of my college years, even if I hadn't gotten engaged. :) She was the friend I needed and could count on. She let me mother her and give her advice. We cried together. We laughed together. I remember coming in and jumping on her bed and waking her up so I could tell her I was getting married. Oh, I just love this girl!

So, Joe and I have been so excited to have her take our first family photo. She was awesome and just snapped away, which is terrific with a little baby. The little bugger would hardly crack a smile, that is, until it was all over. So yeah, go check out the preview she put on her blog. I'm so excited to see the rest!

Halloween

These are all much of the same, but different enough that I felt they deserved to be represented individually.

Our landlords are big on garage sales. A couple weeks ago they were out and about and found some baby costumes for $1, and this is what they brought home for our little guy:

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"At least it's warm and fuzzy."

"I don't know what you're laughing at, but what I'm looking at is pretty darn funny."

Hope you had a Smooky (aka Spooky) Holiday.

We went to a ward chili cook-off with a "social interactive activity" for the entertainment, aka square dancing. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun.
We spent Saturday with our friends, the Jones, eating soups and rolls.

And then on Sunday we made squash soup, pumpkin spice cake - yummy!!!, and visited with family. All in all, a good way to welcome in the fall. If only I had gotten me some candy...

October

So, here's the rest of our life from October:

When I got back from Indiana, we stayed at Joe's oldest brother's house and hung out with their younger 3 boys while the parents were in China. It was fun. The boys loved having BJ around! They even took care of him for an evening for us. The boys did a great job with meals and cleaning, and I really felt my presence was superfluous, but it was fun anyway.

The little guy had his 2 month check-up and got shots. The shots weren't too much fun, but he did well. He weighed 12 pounds, 11 ounces (I could have sworn he was up to 15 pounds) - 75th percentile, and was 23 inches long - 50th percentile.

We went back up the mountain for another fun afternoon of polka with Joe's older sister Suzette, and her family. BJ finally got to meet his cousin Josh, who, for some odd reason, had been a little MIA around family gatherings since July.

I did catch this picture of cousin Megan holding the little guy. This was right before Joe got all of us up to do the Chicken Dance.
It was a fun evening with the Asplund clan. They pulled out a mean tail-gate party. It had felt like such a long time since I had seen them, so it was fun to reconnect.

I captured these pictures of the sunset as we were heading home.

The pictures don't do it justice - it was a beautiful sight!

Here's the little one all bundled up for the mountain top.
It had definitely gotten colder since our last polka experience, but it was definitely the warmest Oktoberfest ever, considering there wasn't any snow.

The next evening, I was able to join Joe again up the mountain to finish up the Polka season. We were able to ride the tram up with all the other performers and those involved in Oktoberfest.

Here's Joe at the top

It was a really fun evening with delicious food. We got to sit at a table with the rest of Joe's band. There were "thank-you's" and toasts and just an enjoyable time. I'm grateful the little guy behaved for his cousins while we were gone. It is nice to have Polka season over with; I get to see Joe on the weekends, he gets a weekend, and as he put it: he "gets to be Mormon again!" Next order of business: I want to learn to play the accordion!

The rest are just some cute pictures of the most popular member of our family:

I know it's a little blurry, but I just love his smile!

Got the flash going and those bright, shining eyes again.

He's laughing. It's adorable!

Showing off how far he can lift his head. He's got some strong neck muscles.

Almost 3 months. Wow, time flies! This was October 18, 2010.

I was watching another little boy several days a week. He was 8 months old. He just adores BJ! He could be screaming and mad at me, but the minute he saw my little guy, smiles and giggles erupted. For being such a hard baby, it was pretty endearing. Before our trip to Indiana, BJ wouldn't even acknowledge his existence. And anytime this little one got near BJ, he immediately went for pulling hair, poking eyes, or hitting. I know he didn't mean to, but it's what he did, so generally he wasn't allowed to be very close.

But when we got back, he seemed a little different. Without realizing it, I let him down after his nap, forgetting that BJ was doing tummy time on the floor. And this is what happened next:

It was super cute!

BJ finally acknowledged the lion by doing the only thing reasonable - pulling his hair.

Showing off during tummy time again.

"Mom, why do you always put those things in my face?"

Capturing his smile and sweet personality

This is what we usually get once he realizes we have a camera:

I sure do love my boy!