Week 24- July 4 – July 10, 2016

You tried avocado for this first time this week! You liked it so much that you were trying to suck everything off your bib once you were done. It’s been alot of fun giving you new foods to try and seeing what you like and don’t like. I think your mom and I would both agree that so far avocado and watermelon have been your favorite.

You also started really sitting up on your own this week! You have done it a few times but then would fall over pretty easily. I would say that this is the first time you are really sitting up and staying up without falling. It’s amazing how you are growing so much and learning new things pretty much every day.

We are taking you on your second flight and your first trip to Ohio this weekend! I know Grandma Patti and Grandpa Mark will be excited to see you and you will also get to meet your Uncle Link for the first time. Get excited!

You did great on the flight to Cleveland! It was a 4 hour flight so we were a little nervous how you might act on such a long flight, but you did great! We landed in Ohio really late on Friday night, but with the 3 hour time difference it was still pretty early for us and you weren’t tired at all! You ended up going to bed around 2 am and sleeping until close to noon! It will be pretty interesting to see how you do with the time change and how it effects your sleeping.

You had a big milestone on Sunday. You took a bath in the real bathtub for the first time! You loved it!! You kept splashing the water and playing with your bath toys. Usually at home you bathe in the tub in sink, but i guess those days are over now 🙁

Week 25- July 11 – July 17, 2016

We spent this entire week in Ohio. Here are some of the highlights:

• You got to swim in the same pool that your mom grew up swimming in. This pool is the reason we will probably have to get one for ourselves one day!
• You met almost all of our family on mom’s side. Of course everyone loved you! They also said that you looked like a good mix of both me and your mom. That was good to hear as most people say that you look mainly like your mom, which is totally fine by me 🙂
• The most special thing took place on Wednesday when you were baptized at St. Mary’s. Not only is this an important sacrament of the church, but it was very special because we did it in your mom’s family church. Getting you baptized meant a lot to both of us, but I know it means so much to your mom that we were able to get it done at St. Mary’s. It was a small, but beautiful ceremony. In attendance was: Link (your godfather), Aunt Kathy (sitting in for Kim who is your Godmother but couldn’t make it), Aunt Beth, Grandma Patti, Grandpa Mark & Deacon Jeff. The dress you were wearing is very special as well. Your mom was the first of the cousins to wear this baptism outfit 33 years ago!
• Your mom and I also received the sacrament of Marriage in the church from Deacon Jeff. We had a “civic” marriage when we got married at The Fairmont in 2012, but that is not recognized by the church. It was important to us for our marriage to be recognized by the church and it was also special that we did it on the same day as your baptism.
• You had your first trip to the Cameo. You won’t appreciate this place until you are old enough to eat the best pizza in the world!
• We watched Uncle Link’s softball tournament and went to the Cold Creek Festival.

All in all it was a great week and Grandma Patti really loved having you around and being able to hold you whenever she wanted to. The time difference really messed up your sleep as you were up until 1 or 2 every night and slept until at least 11 most days. You slept great but your hours were just a little off. You were such a good girl the whole week and everyone kept commenting on how well behaved you were. Your mom and I have no idea how we got so luck to be your parents.

Favorite part of the week:

You had an Epic blowout in your diaper on the plane ride home. It was awesome! It came out the back of your diaper and onto your onesie. Good thing we had an extra one in your diaper bag! It was so much fun trying to change you in the tiny bathroom at the front of the plane. It was such a bad diaper that they had to put in a new air freshener in the bathroom as soon as we got done. That’s my girl!! 🙂

Week 26- July 18 – July 24, 2016

Nothing too exciting going on this week except for the fact that you are crawling around all over the place and starting to pull yourself up on things. It is really amazing to see the progress of your motor skills and how you start to focus on more and more things every day. I don’t want you to grow up too fast, but I do love seeing you progress more and more everyday.

We did have to lower your crib this week because you are starting to stand up in it and might be able to flip yourself over.

Foods you are really loving:

• Frozen Mangos and Pineapple
• Watermelon
• Applesauce
• And pretty much everything! (just like your dad)

Week 27- July 25 – July 31, 2016

This week was your last swim class at Hubbard Swim School. It has been really fun watching you progress from the first class to your last. You are really starting to like the water and just splashing around. I am excited to have Brittany give you some swim classes and put you under water. I think you are almost ready!!

We also took your 6-month pictures in the DC Ranch area. Your mom and I always argue (not really) about spending money for these pictures. We are on a really tight budget these days and these expenses hurt. But of course your mom wins this argument and I couldn’t be happier! These pictures were alot of fun and turned out great. You are such a beautiful little girl and we are so lucky to be your parents!

You did take a ride in the stroller for the first time with your car seat like a big girl! You seemed to love it and then proceeding to quickly fall asleep. It never fails that you last about 10 minutes in the stroller and then you are out!

Can’t believe you are 6-months old!!!

Week 28- August 1 – August 7, 2016

It’s been a big week around here because we are starting a sleep schedule with you and having you sleep exclusively in your crib at night. It’s not the easiest thing to do but you are learning and getting the idea that being in your crib means it’s time to go to sleep. It’s not easy on us either as it’s hard having you in the other room and worrying about if you can breathe ok and if you are scared or not. It’s really been hard on your mom not having you next to our bed in your rock and play. To help out, we put some cushions on the floor next to your crib so mom can sleep in there with you at night. There are so many opinions out there as to what works and what you’re supposed to do to get your babies on a schedule, but mom and I decided that we are going to take some of the advice and then just do what works best for us. It’s not going to be a quick process but you are doing great!

We have been having some crazy monsoon weather this week which has been nice because it cooled down the weather quite a bit. While I was in the garage working out, you and mom came out and made a little homemade splash zone so you could play and enjoy the weather. It’s extremely hot these days so we have to take advantage of being outside whenever we can.

For some reason this week you really started noticing the cats. You start making the weirdest, almost meowing noise, when you see them. You get really happy and excited and start crawling towards them. It’s so sad to see your face when they immediately run away. It’s ok though, they will start to like you one day when you learn how to pet them gently.

On Friday night we went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant and you sat in a high chair for the first time like a big girl! You did great! The only setback we had was when the servers came to sing happy birthday to the table next to us and you got scared because they were extremely loud.

We took you to church for the first time on Sunday. It is quite different going to church with a kid then when it was just me and your mom. You don’t like sitting still that much so me and mom had to take turns standing up and walking around the back of church with you. It was also right around nap time for you which didn’t help either. Besides all of that, I am glad we all got to go to church for the first time as a family.

I’m going to go on a little rant right now that you won’t appreciate until you’re a little older. As of Tuesday, August 2 we are officially a DEBT-FREE family! We don’t owe anyone or anything money! This is a real life changer for our family and changes our family tree. When your parents are in debt then more than likely you will be in debt as well. We will start saving money for your college so when the time comes you won’t have to take out student loans and go into debt yourself.  When you have no debt you are able to really build your wealth, take care of your family and help others. That is what life’s all about and we will be able to do that now. You don’t know this yet, but we will do everything to make sure you never go in debt! Enough of that 🙂

Week 29- August 8 – August 14, 2016

You had your 6-month checkup this week! You are healthy as can be and the doctor was really impressed with your motor skills. She said you are way advanced for your age. The fact that you can crawl and pull yourself up is impressive because she usually sees that around 9 months. You now weigh 16.65 pounds! We thank God every night for giving you great health.

This is the second week of you sleeping exclusively in your crib and you are doing great! You still aren’t sleeping completely through the night, but we are making great progress. It’s also been a little different for you this week because you received 2 shots at the doctor and it usually takes you a couple days to get over those shots and until then you are pretty cranky and just not yourself. But it’s ok because those shots are important to keeping you healthy.

Week 30 – August 15 – August 21, 2016

You attended your first Friday Night High School Football game at SCA. Our good friend Tim Koehner is the offensive coordinator and Jack Miller is their starting Freshman QB. I am sure we will be attending quite a few games over the next four years.

Week 31 – August 22 – August 28, 2016

We are starting to give you a variety of different foods now and we make sure whenever we eat, you eat! Mom had the great idea of freezing some of your leftover jar food into little ice cubes that we can later put in your mesh thing for you to suck on. Genius! It works great to save leftovers and you love it! Even though you make a HUGE mess, i love watching you eat and really focus on things when you try to pick them up with your hands. Your success rate of actually getting food in your mouth is at about 5% but you’re improving on that stat every day!

Week 32 – August 29 – September 4, 2016

Football season is back!! You started off your first ever Ohio State Football Season with a big victory. They beat Bowling Green 77-10! You will soon find out that your mom is in a much better mood when the buckeyes win. If they happen to lose (which doesn’t happen very often,) we better all watch out because she can get in a pretty bad mood!

NFL season starts next week!

We took  you to one of our neighborhood parks this week and you went on the swing for the first time. You loved it! I think mom was a little nervous because she thought the swings were a little dirty. But that’s just mom being mom 🙂 The weather has been much nicer in the mornings and evenings so we have been trying to get outside whenever we can. I can’t wait until it gets a little cooler and we can start going on our Saturday morning garage sale walks again!

You are doing  a great job of sleeping through the night again and have been getting on a pretty consistent schedule. You usually go to bed around 9/9:30 and wake up around 7/7:30. You’re awesome!! I know mom really appreciates you sleeping a little better through the night.

Week 33 – September 5 – September 11, 2016

This was your first labor day! We spent the day over at the Aardsma’s house to celebrate JD’s birthday. It was just a small “family” gathering but it’s always nice to see them!

You also got to meet Aunt Jane Jacobson for the first time.

Friday night your mom went out to dinner with some friends so me and you went to watch the SCA Football Game. This was a much needed night out of the house for your mom. It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy hanging out with me and you everyday, but it’s good for her to get out of the house and have some girl time with her friends. I’m happy for her when she gets to do this because she deserves it and it also means more time for me and you to hang out together! It’s a simple thing to take you out to a high school football game, but I love so much hanging out with you and it was so much fun. Everyone of course loved seeing you and you even let Marlee hold you for a while (you are kind of going through a phrase right now where you don’t like going to other people.) All in all it was a great night and I enjoyed taking you to the football game! I really can’t wait until we get to have our “daddy/daughter dates”!!

Week 34 – September 12 – September 18, 2016

You slept in your room for the first time! But yes, Mom did sleep on the floor with you. That’s just because she loves you so much and wants to make sure you are safe and sound.

Grandma Patti arrived in town this week!

Week 35 – September 19 – September 25, 2016

You met your cousin Boo for the first time as he was visiting AZ for work.

Week 36 – September 26 – October 2, 2016

You got your 1st tooth on Sept. 26. We have been feeling around your gums to see if any teeth had come in because you were pretty cranky. Every time we tried to feel, nothing! Finally I felt something and when I told your mom she didn’t believe me. It was really cool to feel your first tooth come in! Such a special moment!

You clapped on your own for the first time this week! It’s the small milestones that we really cherish and that mean the most to us!