Seven Months Old

 

The penguin sure is shrinking but I like seeing that.  I am so proud of my little man and all of the growing that he has been doing this last month.  He has gotten so good at his army crawl that he can get anywhere fast.  He can also sit up wonderfully by himself.  He can even go from laying down to sitting himself up.  He has started to try and grab things and pull himself up.  He has only managed to do that once but I'm sure this next month he will get it down pat.  He loves to wiggle!  He enjoys looking at everything and trying to figure it all out. 

 

He started eating solid foods at the beginning of the month and has really liked everything we have given him so far.  I'm very thankful that he isn't a picky eater yet.  He is getting better at playing with some of his toys and thankfully that is entertaining him more so I can do a few things.  He loves his time outside and enjoys playing with the grass or leaves he finds.  Seth still hasn't gotten anymore teeth in but I'm sure they can't be too far away because of how swollen his top gums are looking.  This last few days he has been doing something super big!  He has started to say ma ma after I say it.  He has only done this four times and not always when I hope he will but HEY, it is still really cool.

 

Well we sure love our little bundle of energy and can't say enough great things about this kid.  He is always ready for his next adventure as you can see and I'm sure he gets that from a very special family member.  At least he won't be alone cause his Mr. Pengino will be with him.

Uncle Time

It may be silly but I have a goal to get a picture of Seth with all of our brothers and sisters (his uncles and aunts) so that I can put it in his baby book.  I want him to know who his family is especially since we don't get to see them all the time.

 

Seth with his uncle on Michael's side of the family.  I just know these two are going to have a lot of fun and play lots of cards/computer games together.

As you can see Seth is already looking up to him for direction and guidance.

Queen Of The West

This last weekend we got to see Michael's parents and younger brother.  It was so great to have them hang out with a us for a few days.  I wanted to do something fun/different/special while they were here but the boat races had ended so the only thing that I could think of doing was going down by the river for a nice walk.  Well as luck would have it the Queen of the West paddle boat was at the park we went too.

 We have seen this boat several times over the years that we have lived here but it was Seth's first time so I had to get a picture.

 It is a really pretty boat and I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to at least walk on it for a few minutes to get a good look at the inside.

 Since it was parked at the dock I was able to walk Seth down so he could have a closer look.  Sadly he was more interested in the people that were illegally swimming in that area.

 Here is Michael's brother and my adorable hubby with the girls by the back of the boat.

As you can see it is a large and very beautiful boat and I'm glad that we got to see it this year for a few minutes.  This is actually almost becoming a tradition.

On Going Support

Thank goodness I have such a wonderful and very supportive family.  Right now having a little baby, that is crawling, and being pregnant is very difficult some days for me because I feel like I get nothing done.  This is especially true with my projects.  I haven't been in my craft room for weeks and have three projects sitting out waiting to be finished.  The one project that drives me the most nuts is the quilt in our room.  I feel like I will NEVER get this thing done.

 

This quilt is so large that it takes up a lot of space but I know it will be beautiful when it is done.  I just really want it finished before baby #2 gets here next year.  Faith is really great in giving me some special love and support by being extra cute.

I find it funny how the girls just love to lay under this quilt.  I guess dogs, just like kids, love to be under some fort kind of structure.

Johnny Jump Up

Okay this isn't really called a "Johnny" but a Jenny Jump Up but we call it a Johnny because we are using it for our son.  So even though it is pink we only put him in it when he is wearing a lot of blue.  I guess to help not mess with his manliness.  Yes, I do that for my hubby.

 

 Seth actually really enjoys sitting in it and likes to try and walk.  It was just recently that he learned he could bounce in it and once he figured that out he had a hay day.

I just love that sweet boys smile.  He makes me so happy to see him happy.



Solid Food

I honestly don't know why they call baby food "solids" because it is all mush in my opinion.  I also can't believe how much they charge for the food either.  It is crazy!  But now that Seth is getting older we are able to start him on baby food for at least any vegetables.

 

 As you can see someone is very excited to be a big boy and sit up in his high chair.  The best part of this high chair is that it has a toy attached to it to keep him busy while we get his food ready for him.

 Now because the baby food is so expensive and I also don't like that you don't know everything that goes into it we decided to try and make our own baby food.  We have a garden out back and last year I got a baby/toddler food cook book so we decided to try it out.  It really isn't hard to make the food at all.  It does take some time but we make a large amount to last us several feeding with our little man.

 The very first food that he got to try was carrots.  Reason being it is one of my favorite foods and it is also what we had on hand too.

 His first though was completely unsure what we were giving him and what he was suppose to do with it either.  I just love his expression here.

 After a little while he didn't like it cause he just wasn't understanding what he was suppose to do.  He even started to try and grab the spoon and throw the food around.  As you can see some is already on him.

 But in the end he actually really liked it and ate the entire amount all gone.  I'm proud that he was able to finish it too.

 The next food item that we tired was the rice cereal.  WHAT A MESS!  As you can see we must have watered it down too much because it was just getting all over the place.

 I don't know why but daddy had him in his lap to feed him.  This has been the first and the last time that I have seen him do this.  I guess daddy didn't like having to change him outfit after Seth was finished with his food.

We did learn that this little guy already likes to try and feed himself because he was enjoying holding the spoon and putting it into his mouth.  Still can't believe how big he has gotten.

4th of July Breakfast

The morning of the 4th we were a little late getting to the ward breakfast because we had to quickly stop by the house to get something for Seth.  Thankfully we didn't miss anything.  It was actually quite interesting to see how much my parents ward has changed over the years too.  It really isn't the same ward that I grew up in and I kind of miss that.  I only saw a handful of people that I knew at the breakfast.

 

There was a presentation of the flag and a song and then there was this guy as the speaker for the entire time.  I'm sorry to say but I was totally board and didn't pay any attention to what he was saying.  It is also had to pay attention when you are very tired and distracted by a cute little baby.

 

 Seth was having a blast playing with the balloons that were used as center pieces on the tables.  He LOVED it!  He was entertained the entire time we were there.

 He was also very interested in trying to figure out the sparkle weight they used to hold the balloons down.  Honestly I was just glad that he stayed mostly quite for the entire presentation.

 Seth enjoyed the balloons so much that a lady from the breakfast let us take them home since they were done using them.  As you can see Seth was over joyed to have them.  He was laughing all of the way home.

Now sine we aren't at home, home I thought it would be fun to do a holiday shirt for our little man.  I mean, I have done it for so many other holiday's that I really couldn't leave out doing this for my favorite one so this is the outfit we found for him to wear.

 

 Grandma was also super kind to get him a bib to wear on this special holiday.  Thank goodness we had it too because this kid was running out of bibs while we were there and I packed a lot of them.  My mother got bibs for his girl cousins that are close to his age and I was so hoping to get a picture of all three of them together wearing their bibs but it just wasn't possible with one of my sister's family being super sick so maybe we will get the chance to do something fun like that another year.

 

Even though we had already taken a family photo I thought it would be fun to do another one since each of us was in a different color patriotic shirt.  As you can see Red, White, and Blue!  Hey, I thought it was cleaver and fun at the same time. 

Run Ducky Run!

My oldest sister is BEYOND amazing!  I'm not kidding.  She is so talented and smart and she just floors me with all of her many accomplishments.  One thing that she does that I could never do is run races.  She is really good!  I have only gotten to see her do a triathlon one time before this trip but it was fun and exciting to watch her.  I wanted more then anything to have Seth see his aunt run a race too so I made sure we wouldn't miss this chance.  I woke up at five a.m. just to make sure we were all ready to go.

 

 My little brother has also started to get into racing thanks to my big sister.  Here they are together before the race all number/tagged up and ready to go.

 My little brother hanging out at the starting and finishing line.  I LOVE THIS!  It was great to be able to set up our spot and not have to relocate to another area to see them cross.  It sure makes it a lot easier with a baby and a somewhat sick pregnant lady too.

 Now for this special occasion Seth made his aunt a surprise poster gift.  He did good at holding it and we would have let him hold it the entire time but he has really started to like eating paper and I didn't want him to ruin it before she crossed the finish line.

 This is one of my favorite photos of the day.  I don't know how but somehow I was able to capture the exact time my brother crossed the finishing line.  It was a once in a life time photo shot for me to get.

 Of course after running a good race you have to give your nephew a fist pump no matter how tired you are.

 The one thing that I did want to cry about was how I wasn't able to get a picture of my sister crossing the finishing line.  I'm sorry but I am short and just couldn't see over people to get a photo.  All of us totally missed her crossing but she was okay with that.  She was super sweet and actually took Seth on his first race across the finishing line.

 I loved it!

 After the race was over we had to wait awhile to find out what placement they both got.  Here is how they did there system.  Honestly I can see a LOT of room for improvement.

We did manage to find them on the board after awhile and then headed home to have a fun breakfast celebration with the rest of the family.

July Traditions

When Michael and I first got married we didn't have a lot of family traditions of our own because we were always with one of our families during the holiday's.  Well somehow we managed to get the tradition of every 4th of July we would get matching shirts and take a family picture.  Honestly this is one of my favorite things to do.  I did know it was going to be harder to find matching shirts with having a little baby as part of the family but I lucked out this year.

 

 Of course the two dogs were so excited to be out of the car that they wouldn't sit very still for a family photo so we just took the best that we could get from them.

 Our little family of three that by next year will be a family of four.  YEAH!!!

 Something Seth has been really enjoying lately is grass and he just loved the grass at grandma and grandpa's place because it is much softer (and greener) then ours.

 Of course what is the holiday without watching a few fireworks together as a family.  For most of the time Seth enjoyed sitting on my lap while we watched.  He wasn't scared of the noise at all but got board with the show pretty fast.  I guess it just lets me know how much to be on my toes next year.

Daddy and Seth enjoying the last of the fireworks together and then it is off to bed for a new day full of fun and adventure.

Grandma's Fun House

My mother has so many grandchildren that live close to her that she has a lot of fun things for kids to do and even baby's too. 

 

 Seth had a wonderful time playing with her many different toys.  He especially loved this one wooden toy that had some bells on it.  I think Michael and I will have to figure out how to recreate that thing for him one day.

 Our first night at my parents we unpacked everything into our room and let Seth be a good supervisor in a safe spot.  Can you find him?

 Here is a better hint for you to see our little man who I guess is enjoying hiding.

 This just cracks me up at how cute he is among all of those pillows.

He sure did love his time there and I'm sure he would have slept great too with among all those very fluffy pillows.

First Time Encounters

Besides this being Seth's first big car trip it was also the first time he got to meet several very important members of the family.  Of course we got to see a few new members ourselves.

 

 Here I am holding my second oldest sister's newest daughter who is only five weeks old in this photo.  I am actually amazed that I really DID forget how light a baby is at the beginning.  After I was done holding my new niece I held Seth and he felt like a ton!

My second oldest sister holding Seth.  They sure are a cute couple aren't they.

 

A few day's later Seth was able to meet one of my second oldest sister's daughters.  She has three and Seth got to meet the oldest girl.  They had a lot of fun playing together.

 

 I was more then thrilled that Seth got to meet one of my parents (and mine) friend.  Especially since I didn't know if we would get the chance to see her or not since she does a lot of traveling.  It was great for them to meet.  This wonderful lady has watched me grow up over the years has sent birthday gifts to Hope and now she gets to see my son grow up. 

 Seth also got to meet his great grandmother on his daddy's side of the family.  It was wonderful to visit with her and Seth did wonderfully while we were there.  He was so good that great grandma said that when we go to make sure we forget to take the baby.  It made us both laugh.

 Now this is my other niece that was born during the spring.  She is only three weeks old here.  She is my third sisters daughter.  Isn't she just adorable?

 Seth meeting his aunt for the first time.  We weren't to sure if we were going to get to see them or not on this trip but we made time to because we have no idea when we will get a chance to meet with our family again.  I'm sure the kids are all going to be super big then.

 Of course I just had to hold my new niece for a few minutes before we had to go.  Again she was so light!  I am beginning to really look forward to that part and the sweet snuggling time that I'll have again at the beginning of next year.

 Another important person in the family is my aunt.  She is probably the one of the most sweetest people you will ever meet in your life.  She runs a daycare out of her home and so she always has a lot of fun things for kids to do at her house.  Seth really enjoyed playing the piano with her.  It was his very first music lesson.  I guess that means one day we will have to get a piano.

 Finally the last new person Seth meet was my uncle.  He is totally the life of the party and is a good fun tease to be around.  I'm excited to take Seth camping with him one day cause I know we will all have a blast.

Alright to clarify right up front we did not meet/see this little one while we were on our trip but there is a fun story behind this picture that was taken by the next door neighbors son. 

 

My mother has a very beautiful yard that is covered with flowers everywhere.  Well because of this my mom has to fight to keep her plants alive cause the deer love to eat them.  Every day she finds that the deer have eaten one or more of her plants.  She has tried a lot of different things to keep them out but so far nothing has worked (expect when we lived at her place with Hope; the deer hated Hope and would stay away).

 

Well one day when she went outside to water the plants she saw this doe in her flower bed and squirted water to make it leave which it did.  She didn't think anything of it and went about watering the rest of the plants around the house.  For some reason she did the flower bed that she spread at the doe last and saw something move when she got closer.  She took a hard look and found that the doe was a new momma and the baby was still in the middle of the plants.  Right away my mother looked for the momma and found her pretty close so she somewhat chased her back to the spot or close enough so she could chase the baby to the momma.  Talk about an interesting beginning to life.