March 2013

March was a pretty fun and happy month. During the first half we learned that we'll be moving to Pocatello, ID for Paul's summer job. Definitely not something we had expected or desired, but we think it'll be a good thing. As a bonus, we both have friends living there already so we won't be lonely.

We had a very pleasant St. Patrick's Day weekend. On Saturday we hiked Table Rock, and we'll probably never do it again without a better carrier for C.G.

Beginning our journey to the top.

Almost to the top.

We made it!

C.G. was a trooper, as was Mr. Mitchell who had to carry him on his front. We almost had a fall, but Mr. Mitchell was too quick for gravity!

On St. Patrick's Day we wore our green and had our alcohol-free St. Paddy's day fun.

Corned beef and cabbage for dinner.

Irish dirt cake for dessert.

Caleb had bananas instead.


We wrapped up our day with a viewing of Waking Ned Devine. I crack up every time.

That week Grammy and Grandpa Earls came for a visit. They couldn't stay for long, but we had fun just talking and hanging out. We went to Powell's Sweet Shoppe and Mr. Mitchell and I were treated to a couple of meals out. It was nice to have them here.

Rolling for Grammy.

Snuggles.

We wish they could have stayed longer.

That weekend we went with Grandma and Grandpa Holdaway to The Discovery Center to see Bodies Revealed and play with all of the cool toys.

Welding washers together.

And then, of course, C.G. was just C.G.

Practicing his mermaid dancing - he just needs to get his legs together.

He insists on being on his tummy on the changing pad.

Grabbing his toes.

Hanging out with Dad.

Finally a smiley picture!

Playing footsie.

Lately he works himself into the corner of his
crib and then falls asleep there.

My baby!

February 2013

The month started off with my visit to my sister and then turned slightly dull yet very busy at the same time. Mr. Mitchell's intensive EMT class was very time consuming, but we think it was well worth it. The class started out with 25 enrolled and by the time it was finished there were only 3. The national test is next Saturday so a lot of our time is still consumed with studying and pretending there's an injured person in the house.

Practicing on C.G.

Mr. Mitchell had to take serious advantage of his downtime when he wasn't in class or studying or practicing.

Playtime with Dad before bed.

For the first couple of weeks we had to squeeze Insanity in there. We finished though, and during the entire program we only missed one day because we had the flu. Pictures here because I said I would.

I finally started my job as a reservationist for Vacasa. It's been a slightly difficult adjustment because I'm working nights so now I'm not around to make dinner or help get C.G. into bed. It'll be a very big challenge once Mr. Mitchell's summer work starts. We are grateful for the extra income though.

C.G. turned 5 months. It is so fun to watch him grow!

Trying out his new toy.

Playtime with Daddy!

Believe it or not, this is a very common way to find him asleep in his crib:

Sleeping position: Hobbes-on-face

 I had to document C.G.'s bald spot. It's starting to grow in and I don't want to forget his cute little bald patch. We rub it for luck.

Lucky bald spot!

C.G. once discovered he could scream and had fun with it for about a day. He seemed to have forgotten all about it, but has since rediscovered it. Between his screaming and crazy tongue antics we've decided he wants to be a Maori boy. That is when he's not growling and trying to be a tiger boy.

C.G. really likes his Uncle Garrison's cardboard cut-out. He often seems to think it's better than the real deal.



He's getting better at rolling from front to back and will kind of, sort of, not really sit up. It's a work in progress, but he has plenty of time.

Overall, we're busy and all doing well. Hope you all are doing well too!

Sisterly Bonding

A couple of weekends ago my mom went to a reunion of some of her high school friends in Salt Lake City. She didn't want to do the drive alone so she invited me to come for most of the drive and then she'd drop me off at my sister's house in Mendon for the weekend. It was a good time.

My brother-in-law and niece planned a girls' day out for us to celebrate Jayme's birthday.

Our first stop was The Crepery. Holy deliciousness.

Don't be fooled by its simple look.

We embraced our inner hippies and sat in the egg chairs.

Angela and her youngest joined us for the heavenly crepes. 

 We then went to get Jayme's hair cut. We ended up going back twice to get it finished. Craziest haircut ever.

One interruption during the haircut was going to get cupcakes.

Yummy cupcakes with unfinished haircut.

Our last stop was Plato's Closet for clothes. It turned into a lot of Jayme dressing me up rather than her dressing up, but it was fun.

The kids loved taking care of C.G.

 On Saturday we spent some time with Ryan's family. First we met up with them at Taco Bell and then we played games and had a YouTube fest.

C.G. checking out the Taco Bell action.

Our crowd had a hard time keeping still.

Morynn and C.G. bonding.

 My contribution to Jayme's birthday was a funny story about a fart because that's our sense of humor. She was laughing so hard she was crying. I consider it a success. After our weekend of bonding my mom came to pick me up and it was time to leave.

Except we couldn't leave because she got us stuck in the driveway...

Lots of digging, ice melter, and plywood.

Hard at work.

This spot shall henceforth be known as 'Grammy's Crater.'

It took about an hour but we finally escaped and headed home.

January 2013

January was a very low-key month for us. I continued to apply for jobs that would enable either Mr. Mitchell or myself to be home with Caleb (or perhaps with a sitter for an hour or two), and Mr. Mitchell continued to get all of his ducks in a row for his intensive EMT course. I have finally been employed by Vacasa Rentals as a reservationist and Mr. Mitchell has officially started his EMT class. The class started with over 20 and is now down to 4. Cross your fingers that nobody else drops: Mr. Mitchell will have to switch to night classes and it will takes months to complete the course. 

C.G. has had a lot of education this month.

Here we see him being educated by his father in the way of computer games.

"Don't bother us, Mom!"

 Here we see him being educated by his Grandma in the way of the crossword puzzle.

"You spelled it wrong, Grandma!"

And, lastly, we see him being educated in the way of reading manly books.

"Why read Goodnight Moon when you can read Ender's Game?"

As you can see he's only learning about the truly important things in life. I didn't get many pictures of him this month because I've been doing a lot of videos. I keep hoping to catch him during his babbling or big smiles, but the camera always distracts him and he gets very serious trying to figure out what I'm holding.

He still really likes his mobile.

"It's so beautiful!"

 We went through two outfits before 11:00am so it became a diaper day.

Socks are key.

He's starting to enjoy tummy time a little bit more now that he's getting better at grabbing things, but it's still not as fun as other things he can do.

"Am I done yet, Mom?"

And he still absolutely loves his bouncer from his Great-Aunt Patti. He'll kick and bounce in that thing for 30 minutes, easy. Today he simultaneously grabbed the lion and the elephant and almost didn't know what to do about it. Ultimately, he decided to let go.

Mr. Mitchell wouldn't let me get a 'first-day-of-school' shot, so this is as good as it gets. He thinks the shirt looks stupid, and since he wouldn't let me take the picture I wanted I say we all make fun of his stupid shirt.

C.G. is now four months and just over 16 pounds. He talks a lot and has the most adorable laugh. He'll smile at anybody that will smile at him, and he is a terrific sleeper. He rolls from back to front and spends a lot of time on his sides trying to grab whatever is around him. We find him highly entertaining. 

Our Magic December

Happy New Year! We all survived the end of the Mayan calendar! Huzzah! I waited all year since my trip to Mexico to wear my Kukulcan (sp?) shirt that I picked up at Chichen Itza. I should have taken pictures of Mr. Mitchell and myself in our "end of days" shirts on 12/21/12, but I didn't. So you'll just have to use your imagination. That was a total sidetrack. Back to "Happy New Year!"

December is always magical, but it was even more magical with our little sprout. We started December with a Christmas party hosted by one of my mom's cancer patients. She got quite a few businesses in a shopping center to participate so it was quite fun. We went 'ice fishing,' visited Santa, met Nutcracker characters, met Dasher the reindeer, wrote Christmas cards to our troops overseas, and enjoyed hot chocolate and apple cider.

C.G. chilling with Santa.

Taking it all in.

The lovely Dasher.

Mr. Mitchell and I started Insanity to try and help me lose my baby pooch and muffin top. I still have 7 pounds to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight and apparently all seven pounds have settled on my abdomen and in my arms. I'm putting myself out here by sharing this with you, but if you click here you can see where I'm at and where I'm hoping to get. I'm also hoping the public humiliation will motivate me to reach my goals.

C.G. has reached some fun milestones. Unfortunately we had the minor heartbreak of thinking the videos had been transferred to the computer, when they actually weren't, and then proceeded to delete the videos from the camera. Irreplaceable stuff. Be careful, people! We do have some pictures, however, that help slightly illustrate his growth. He's rolling from back to front, clumsily grabs things (mostly bumping things around with his fists until he gets lucky), discovering lots of new sounds he can make, and getting easily distracted by the world when he's supposed to be eating. **Update: We have since found some of our December videos that were "mis-filed." Whew!

He can very clumsily grab things...such as ewoks.

(Blogger insisted on loading this sideways.)
This is how he used to comfort himself,
but he has since discovered his thumb.

C.G. also got some fun things from family this month. Grandma and Grandpa Holdaway went to Florida to visit a couple of my brothers and go hang out at DisneyWorld, and Granty Patti wanted to give him a 'welcome-to-the-world' present.

His bouncer from Granty Patti.
He's enamored with his elephant.

Mickey from Grandma and Grandpa Holdaway.

My best friend had her baby three months before C.G. arrived. They finally got to meet this month, and it was so exciting! (At least for Jen and me. :) They're pretty much the same size, but Caleb has way more hair, and Jen's baby was very curious about it.

They don't look like good friends, but they are. 

And then, of course, there were the other Christmas activities: baking, wrapping, looking at lights, singing, nativities. I don't really have any pictures or amusing anecdotes about those so let's move onto C.G.'s first Christmas. He was given an adorable stocking by Aunt Angela, he received a Christmas ornament from every set of grandparents, clothes, books, and a stuffed animal.

He was confused about what
 you do with a stocking.

Now he's figured it out.

We bought him because he looks like Hobbes.

Sporting some new clothes from Gammy Earls.

Caleb with his loot.

And then we had my family's traditional white elephant party. Losers of games had to wear wigs; winners had to wear wigs and hats. Therefore, everybody tried to lose.

The tradition of freezing our pants off while the kids hit the pinata.

Sporting their wigs.

Wigs AND hats. My, oh my.

Proud wig wearers.

Less proud wig wearers.

My favorite wig wearer.

The most natural looking wig wearer.

Between this girl and her mom I hardly ever saw my baby.

December was a good month, and now that Christmas is done I'm ready for the spring. Here are my closing notes for the month inspired by one of my all-time favorite books Anne of the Island:

"I love [him] best when [he's] asleep...

...and even more when [he's] awake."

Again, Happy New Year!