Six Months

Toby is officially six months old. I can't believe how fast that time has gone and how much sleep I have lost. Toby is doing great. He grew two and a half inches since our appointment in October. He is 27 inches which puts him in the 70% (up from 35% last time). He weighs exactly 18 lbs which is a little less than I thought. That is the 59%, down from 73% in October. And to round it all out Toby's heat is 18.2 inches putting him in the 96% - oh my goodness. He is very healthy although we are still having problems sleeping. He is getting a little bit better at naps and has on occasion taken some for almost 2 hours. Nighttime is still a nightmare. He wakes up between 4 to 7 times. Sometimes he wants to eat and sometimes he just wants his binky. Other times he wakes up screaming bloody murder and I can't figure out what is the matter. I really don't know what to do at this point except let him cry it out, but I'd rather not if I can figure something out. Part of the problem is that I have trouble getting back to sleep after getting up with him.

Other than that Toby is a pretty happy kid. He laughs hysterically (like in the video below) and gives the biggest smiles. He loves eating solids to the point where he doesn't really want much formula except at night. He just barely started rolling from his back to his tummy. In fact he has only done it a couple of times. He loves toys now and will actually play with them. One of his new favorites is an elephant that Karma gave him when he was born. It plays music and he smiles every time we give it to him. Toby also loves to cough. He has decided that coughing is funny and fake coughs all the time. He even does it to get our attention. What a silly boy.

Laughter is the best medicine

Tonight I was coming down the stairs and saw Toby lying on the floor. I started jumping from behind the wall to surprise him and he just couldn't get enough. It's times like these that make being a mom worth it.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

We left our apartment Sunday morning on the way to church only to see the poor fate of a snowman that had been built outside our front door. I still can't decide if I find it hysterical or horrible.

Toby's New Trick

Baby Toby is Big

Yesterday we had our friends Jason and Kiley come over. Toby was asleep when they arrived but woke up shortly after. When I brought Toby downstairs Jason introduced him to his son Jake by saying "Jake this is baby Toby." Jake answered back "Baby Toby is big." Boy isn't that the truth.

My First Sewing Project

A few weeks ago Zach and I were looking around at a store and Zach suggested that instead of buying Toby a stocking I should make one. I thought the idea was crazy then and I still do now, but after receiving a sewing machine for my birthday it made a lot more sense. So I decided to try it out. At first I tried to make my own pattern using the stockings we already had as a pattern. I can't believe I tried this considering I haven't sewed anything in six or seven years. I didn't really like the finished product but it did help me refresh my sewing skills and get used to my new machine. My sewing machine is awesome. First of all it has this little switch you use to put the thread through the needle, then you don't even have to use the pedal. There is a stop/start button that you push to get going, and there is a speed control. So I can just find the right speed for what I am doing - slow for the hard stuff and fast for those straight edges. Some people might not like this, but I always had a bad habit of pushing the pedal harder when I was getting stressed out and having a hard time. Now I can just pick a slower speed and the machine keeps it that way.

After my first attempt I decided that I needed a pattern to go off of. So I picked up a pattern and some fabric on Monday night. Yesterday during Toby's naps and then when Zach got home I made Toby's stocking. It took me a little longer than it probably should have because I was nervous after messing up the first time and was trying to be extra careful. The finished product turned out awesome and I can't wait to sew more things although I have no idea what to make next.

Cutest Baby Ever

Best Husband Ever!

Well, today is my birthday. I am officially 25 years old. We celebrated my birthday on Sunday at Zach's parents house in Sandy and Zach gave me the most awesome present ever - my very own sewing machine!!! I have wanted a sewing machine for a while now, but figured it would be several years before we had the money to spend and get one. But for the meantime I had put "sewing things" on the list of stuff I wanted. I thought that while I waited to get my sewing machine I could get some of the essentials so that I could mend things in the meantime. Then as I was opening my presents I opened a little sewing kit from Zach. I didn't really think anything of it until I opened a sewing machine case from Zach's parents. Zach had wandered out of the room at that point but I asked if he was getting me a machine to go in the case. Karma told me that I better look in the box to make sure it was what I thought it was. Just as I opened the box and saw a real sewing case Zach walked back into the room with a box the same size, and inside it was a sewing machine. Yippee!!! I can't wait to use it. Thanks Zach! Thank you to everybody else for my other presents, they are great.

Five Months Old

Toby is now five months old. I can't believe that he is that old, but it also seems like it has been so much longer than five months. In celebration of this we started him on solids. He actually did pretty well the first day and now on the sixth day he is doing excellent. I am surprised at how quickly he has caught on. Toby still doesn't sleep through the night. He had been doing really well for a little while waking up only once at about 5 in the morning, but he is currently waking up two times a night wanting to eat plus a bunch of times where he wants his binky or to be rocked back to sleep. It is driving me crazy, but I am not ready to just let him cry himself to sleep yet.Toby is getting really close to rolling from his back to his stomach (he can already do the other way around). He loves to grab things that you put in front of him, but can't hold onto them for really long. He hates his carseat and when in it is constantly trying to sit up and then falls back in frustration. I think that we might move his to a bigger one soon for this reason. Toby is always so happy when he wakes up in the morning and sometimes after naps. His naps have gotten a lot better. He used to take 4 or 5 45 minute naps and nothing I did made them any longer. But lately he has been taking 3 1.5 hour naps, so we are getting better. Most of the time Toby is great and I love being home with him.

Disneyland Vacation Ends

After going to Disneyland last Thursday and Friday we decided to take it easy and travel back home over two days. So on Saturday afternoon we drove from California to St. George and stayed overnight at the Woodmansee's house. Then Sunday morning we drove to Sandy to visit Zach's family and have dinner. Later that night we drove home. It was a fun, but short, vacation. It was nice to have a break, but I do love being home where I don't have to worry about bothering anybody if Toby wakes up screaming in the middle of the night.

Disneyland Vacation Days Two and Three

After arriving in California Wednesday we went to Disneyland on Thursday and Friday. We were able to purchase discounted passes from Hill Air Force Base and Toby got in free. I was a little worried about how Toby would do and for the most part he was okay. When we got to Disneyland Thursday morning however Toby screamed and was inconsolable for 15-20 minutes. He hated the tram ride and did not want to be in his stroller. We did get him calmed down and then he was a lot better.

This trip was a lot different than our other because of Toby. He went on a lot of the rides with us, they let him on any ride without a height restriction. Although when he was sleeping or it was a bigger ride someone had to sit off the ride with him. This wasn't too bad because Carolyn had her baby, Keyan, and then Britton also couldn't go on those rides. So those sitting out would usually go do something else and then everybody would switch places.

It was so much fun to see things decorated for Christmas, but it was also a little weird since it was 70 degrees. My favorite part was the Haunted Mansion that is decorated like Nightmare Before Christmas. I also enjoyed the fireworks program that Toby slept through.

Disneyland Vacation Day One

A few months ago Zach told me that he would have Nov. 11, Veteran's Day off of work and that Nov. 13 was his normal every other Friday off of work. He suggested that he take off the day in between so that we could take a trip somewhere. Immediately both of us thought of Disneyland, but with a little baby we didn't think it would work. But then I ran the idea past Carolyn and she said that they had wanted to go to. I figured that if we went with their family it would be possible. Two people would sit off the rides with Toby and with their son Keyan. The person with the baby wouldn't have to wait alone and the other person would have people to ride with. So last Wednesday Zach, Toby, and I headed down to California. It was a pretty good drive. Toby slept well in the car and for the most part entertained himself. There were a couple of times where he started to get fussy and wanted to either get out of his carseat or eat. Luckily this always happened just before a planned stop. We left at 5 am and stopped in Fillmore to feed Toby. Then we drove down to St. George. We stopped at the Woodmansee's to feed Toby, visit, and take a break. Our next stop was Primm, Nevada for gas and to feed Toby. We stopped one more time to feed Toby, but I have no idea where we were. Despite the fact that we stopped so many times we made great time to Cypress, California where we stayed with my aunt and uncle. Carolyn and Bryant met us there later that night (they had come down earlier to visit Stephen and Heather in Yucca Valley) and so did Stephen and Christopher. That night we visited and then got a good nights sleep before heading to Disneyland. I guess you could say that our night was a little stressful. My aunt and uncle have been remodeling their house and were in the process of getting wood floors put in. Because of this there was hardly any furniture downstairs and everything echoed. We were sleeping in the living room downstairs because we couldn't go into our bedroom until the wood floors were finished the next day. Everytime Toby woke up and cried I was worried that he would wake everyone up because of the echo. Luckily he didn't do to bad and most people claimed that they hadn't heard him.

The beautiful sunrise we saw in Fillmore when we stopped to feed Toby.

Toby eating in the car (a practice that will only be allowed on vacations).

Family Picture

Zach's Business Trip

Zach was on a business trip for most of this last week. He went to Panama City, Florida. He went with a few other guys from work to a conference about tactical shelters. While he was there he took some great pictures that I thought you might like to see.

Halloween

I know that Halloween was a while ago, but Zach was out of town with our camera so I was never able to post pictures of Toby. The night before Halloween we went to Sandy and participated in a trunk or treat that Zach's parents ward was doing. It was a lot of fun and Zach and I love the candy that Toby got for us. On Halloween we had dinner at James and Jackie's house and then just came home and watched tv. We decided not to go trick or treating because we had enough candy.

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A Haunted House

During the past month I have seen several haunted house decorations that I really liked but didn't want to spend the money on. So I decided to try and make one. After several failed attempts here is the semi-final project. I would still like to add some decorations like a skeleton, little pumpkins, or something like that.

Pumpkin Carving Party

Every year my parents grow a ton of pumpkins in their garden. Then the weekend before Halloween we all get together and carve them. So last Saturday most of my family gathered at their house for the event. We all carved pumpkins and the little kids dressed up in their costumes and then we had dinner. It is such a great tradition. Zach's pumpkin was awesome just like it always is and mine was not. At least I carved it without it breaking or me getting upset like I usually do (pumpkin carving is just not my thing. Anyway here are the pics.

Zach's pumpkin

Grandma and Grandpa with all of the little kids (except Toby - he was sleeping)

Marisa and Lizzy

The kids in their Halloween costumes

Tyler's pumpkin

Carolyn carving her pumpkin

Thomas, Marisa, and Lizzy

Jayden and Britton

Zach and Toby

Boo at the Zoo

Saturday our friends Jeff and Sarah were in town. We hadn't seen them in a while and wanted to do something fun with them, so we went to the zoo. After deciding to go I looked on the website and saw the it was "Boo at the Zoo" day where kids come dressed in their costumes and can go trick or treating at different tables set up all around the zoo. Even though Toby is not quite old enough for candy we brought his costume along. He was the cutest monkey in the whole zoo. After the zoo we had lunch at PF Changs, one of my favorite places. It was delicious.