January 2014

The first part of January was very brief as we spent it getting Mr. Mitchell ready to attend his fire academy boot camp in Texas. He flew out of Boise and we hardly heard a word from him due to the workload he had while at the boot camp.

Sprout and I were spoiled by my parents for two and a half weeks.Sprout loved his snuggle time with Grandpa, and I got to see more movies in two weeks than I have in the past two years combined.

Mr. Mitchell had the camera with him at the boot camp, and he wasn't able to take many, but there are some good ones. He was voted as one of two battalion captains which means he's in a red helmet. To be more specific: He is in the red helmet without the reflective patches. Hopefully that will help you spot him. 

Engine 5 getting a post-operational pat on the
back/chastisement from Instructor Hale. (He's the baldy.)

Full gear push-ups as punishment.

Class 158.

This high-rise pack weighs 50 lbs in addition
 to the 70lbs he was already wearing.

CPR on a hose baby.

Lunchtime.

Preparing for entry.

Mr. Mitchell completed the boot camp without any problems, and we just got word today that he aced his certification test, so he will get the following IFSAC seals:  Firefighter I (beginner), Firefighter II (intermediate), Hazardous Materials Awareness (beginner), and Hazardous Materials Operations (operational- meaning he can take care of small incidents and help on big ones). I'm a proud wife. Whether or not he pursues a career in structure fire is still up in the air as he currently has a good foot in with both the BLM and US Forest Service. 

Here are our Random January Treasures for the grandmas:

He LOVED being able to sit in mommy's work chair.

Excuse our dirty window, but I just love our view every night.

I took this video to show my sister that Sprout was learning how to use the present they gave him for his first birthday. He's much better at it now.

Sprout doesn't really sit and watch cartoons or movies, but he loves animation that has songs with it.

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.