Home Pictures

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Master Bedroom (Ryan installed the ceiling fan for my birthday)

Master Bath

Guest Room (Any takers?  We'd love to have some company!)

Second Bath

Jake's Room

Loft

Thanksgiving

2013 was my first year hosting a "real" Thanksgiving.

Turkey, 10+ people, company spending the night, the works

I was stressed the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

I think I probably read 200 turkey recipes and scoured pinterest for hours to find the perfect (and cheap) table setting.

I was starting to think I took on too much but Ryan stepped in and said he would be in charge.

He even offered to take the blame if the turkey was a complete flop!

Ryan took over all the coordinating of when things needed to start cooking on Thanksgiving which was fantastic because I think I birthed part of my brain with Jake!

I think it turned out great and I hope our guests enjoyed themselves.

The Guests

We had all 5 missionaries in our ward over.

A single sister who recently joined our church and lives far away from family.

My parents and sister.

And of course the 3 of us (well Jake was napping which was a plus so that everyone could sit and enjoy their meal)

The Food

Turkey (I brined it and it turned out marvelously, I'm definitely doing that every time I make a turkey)

Pork Roast and Raspberry Sauce

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Stuffing 

Corn

Green Beans

Asparagus

Homemade rolls and Cinnamon honey butter

Pumpkin Dessert

Apple Pie

After eating we played some "Minute to Win It" games.

It was so much fun to host Thanksgiving in our new home but I'm glad all the stress is over!

JPC:: 7 Months

I seriously can't believe that another month has gone by.

I was looking at the calendar this week and realized Jake turned 7 months.

I think it snuck (is that how you spell it?) up on me because it has been a rough one.

Jake has kept me busy and running a little ragged.

But at least he's cute and still smiles at me when I walk into the room (most times).

Sleeping

Nights have still been great!

All during October we had been shifting his schedule to account for Daylight Savings and it has been nice to have him back to 7pm-7am.

The 8pm-8am was just keeping me up too late!

Naps were an issue this month.

He just wasn't napping for his usual length and was getting grumpy!

I think it was because he was ready to drop to 2 naps (sad day)

So we've been working on that for the past week.

I think it is working but then he gets really grumpy at night and sometimes needs a cat nap if he had a short nap during the day.

So now he naps from 9-11am and from 1-3pm with a cat nap around 4:30pm if needed.

Although toady he only slept for 30 minutes this morning so who knows!

Feeding

Since we dropped the third nap we also dropped a feeding so now just four liquid feedings (7, 11, 3 and 7) a day with solids 3 times a day (7, 11, and 5). 

This month we added apples, pears, peaches, prunes, and mango.

He hasn't been thrilled about fruit. 

For a couple of weeks he refused to eat them plain.

I had to mix them with cereal and milk and then he would tolerate them.

This week though he has been willing to eat apples and pears plain.

He detests prunes and does okay with peaches and mango.

He will also eat green beans now if I mix them with pears (weird I know) so that is a good sign.

Playing

Oh is this boy getting frustrated that he can't crawl.

If I put a toy in front of him when he's on his belly he tries to move but hasn't coordinated his arms and legs.

He either reaches for it or buries his head and wiggles his legs.

Then he'll look at me and cry.

It is nice that he isn't mobile in terms of baby-proofing but he is so upset about it.

He did figure out though that if he rolls the same direction over and over he can move.

He started on the brown blanket with his head up by the stuffed bunny.

He still loves to put everything in his mouth.

He figured out how to shake toys and bang on surfaces this month.

He locks his elbow and whacks away.

He still needs some pillows behind him when he sits up because he likes to throw his head back.

Loves singing and reading books.

Loves water (watching it, playing in it and drinking it)

This and That

He finally popped his first tooth through and three days later another one came through.

So he has his two front bottom teeth (well the first quarter of them).

He thinks it is absolutely hilarious when I make the sound a seal makes.

 Despite all his shenanigans this month he is still a sweetheart!

I can't imagine our life without him!

The Even Bigger Move!

Okay so it wasn't a big move based on distance but it was still a big move because we moved into our own home.

Now I know what you're thinking didn't you just move?

Yes we did 5 months ago.

And yes, this is our 11th time moving in the 4 years we've been married.

We weren't planning on moving so soon.

In fact we were planning on waiting a year until our lease was up, but we found a house we fell in love with so we bought it.

We absolutely love it!

I'll post more pictures of it soon.

 

We are so blessed to have such amazing family that helped us with our move.

My parents and sister came up to help us move again.

(Only 5 months after helping us move to Milwaukee)

They were amazing and helped us pack boxes, clean our new home, paint our bedroom, and move our kitchen.

Our new bedroom was green (walls and ceiling) and now it is a beautiful cream.

My sister was our permanent babysitter and took care of Jake so I could get work done at our home.

After they left, Ryan's parents and sister flew in to help finish the rest of the move.

They were superheroes and helped us move everything into our new home and clean our apartment.

I didn't have to do any cleaning in the apartment that is how wonderful they are!

Ryan's Aunt and Uncle let us borrow their trailer and brought us dinner twice so I didn't have to worry about cooking during the move.

In the midst of all the craziness of the move we still got to spend lots of time with the Calders.

We loved every minute of it and were sad to see them go.

We wish we lived closer but look forward to seeing them at Christmas.

THANKS TO OUR WONDERFUL FAMILY!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Jake's First Halloween

Jake had is six month checkup on Halloween.

Poor kid got nothing but tricks this year.

He rarely cries so shots are so heart breaking for me.

He calmed down pretty quick though.

His legs didn't seem to get as sore this time but he did get a low grade fever and lost his appetite.

Now for some cute Halloween pictures!