6 months

Nathaniel is now 6 months old.  While it feels like just yesterday he was born, it also seems he has always been a part of our family.  He is growing up so fast.  He is sitting up by himself and has two teeth.  He loves to smile and laugh.  He knows his name and thinks it is funny when people say it too often.  He just went to the doctor for his 6 month checkup.  He is growing and progressing really well.  He is 28 inches long (90th percentile) and 14 lbs 7 oz (10th percentile).  Yet another tall skinny boy.  It always suprises my doctor when he checks my children's mouth and he finds teeth.  All of my boys got their teeth before 6 months.  Although children, on average, get their first tooth around 8 months.  He is eating second foods now and loving it.  Wesley and Jon also really love to give him things to eat.  We have to watch them though; they are not too picky about what they try to give him.  We love Nathaniel with all our hearts and are so happy to have him in our family.

House update!

 We met with James (our contractor) last week and did an electrical walk through.  This means we walked around the house telling them where we would like ceiling fans, TV's, and other major electrical items.  This way our electrical system is configured to our exact specifications.  We also talked with our plumber regarding the shower head and water in the master bathroom.  We also changed the layout of the stairs since there was an issue with head clearance.  The stairs are now more open at the bottom than the original plan.  I happen to like it better.  Right now the electrical is done, most of the plumbing is done, the framing is finished, and the roof is on.  They should be getting started on the exterior of the home soon.  More updates to come.

Great Room Fireplace

Looking down the stairs into the great room

Looking into the great room from the dining room

The stairs (improved design)

More house pics

We stopped by our new house and walked around a little bit.  Here are a few pictures.  We have met with Victoria Ray (our builders wife) and chosen cabinets and paint colors and counter tops.  We have an appointment tomorrow to pick out our granite countertops for the kitchen.  We will choose a sink and lighting and things as we get more information.  Our builder is upset with the framer who is framing our house.  He is one of the best around and was asking for work so James hired him, but now the framer is not working as quickly as James would like him to.  Things are coming along on the house just not as fast and James would prefer.

Kyle walking up the driveway

Kyle looking out the living room window

Part of garage and storage area

Other side of the garage looking into the kitchen and dining room

Mini Vacation

 Since I used most of my time off for maternity leave I did not have a lot of vacation time this summer.  We decided to go on a mini vacation instead.  Last Sunday(the 5th) we took off after church and headed down to Utah.  We had a night booked at Wolf Creek outside of Ogden.  When we got to the condo we got changed and headed down to the pool.  The boys really wanted to go swimming.  We got down there and got into the pool.  Earlier this summer we bought some arm floaties for the two older boys to help them stay afloat.  Last time we went swimming they were very clingy/needy and we thought these my help.  Jonathen quickly found out that his arm floaties helped him stay above the water and that he could go out farther into the water than he could before.  Wesley took some convincing.  By the time we finally got out of the water Jonathen would float on his back and swim forward and Wesley had even gone down the water slide. The slide was for ages 3-13 so Jon couldn't go down the slide.  Nate even started "swimming".  He would reach out with his arms and bring them back to his body like I was trying to get his older brothers to do.  The next morning we got up and packed up.  We then headed to the dinosaur park in Ogden.  They have fossils inside, a robotic dinosaur display and many dinosaur statues around the park. We walked around the park and showed the boys the dinosaurs and told them about those dinosaurs.  After the dinosaur park we went and got lunch and then headed to The Treehouse Museum.  The Treehouse Museum is built around a tree and has different exhibits and projects that the kids get to do.  There was a farm with horses for the boys.  Wesley watched me show Jon how to get on his horse using the stirrups and got up on his horse all by himself.  He is growing up so fast.  There was an oval office with different facts about all of the past and present U.S. presidents.  There was a superhero station and even a castle with knights and a sword in the stone.  Wesley especially loved that section of the museum.  After the museum we got back in the car and headed home.  It wasn't a big vacation, but we did get to do some really fun things.