4 years

The weekend before our anniversary we made plans to have a friend watch Oliver so that we could go to the Temple and have dinner just the two of us. That never happened since Oliver got sick... got me sick... and then we got Chad sick. So instead we spent the weekend trying to take care of each other and sleep as much as we could!

We felt better by the night of our anniversary, but I felt it would be best to bring Oliver along with us since we had just gotten over the sickness. We went out to dinner and then decided to go bowling.

It was not how we planned to spend our anniversary, but it ended up being really fun.

Oliver had a blast watching us bowl, and Chad really enjoyed winning... by a lot... I blame it on being distracted by the baby. Seriously though- I only got 55 pts. When I bowl I'm usually pretty good, or really bad and this was REALLY bad!

Sunshine in my soul

The sun came out!!

I was excited to let Oliver crawl around and enjoy the open space on the grass (as opposed to the 5x10 ft square that he's used to in our house). He loved it.

We made use of the sunny day and went out as a family.

We stopped by the park to let Oliver try swinging for the first time. He had this huge smile on his face the whole time.

Then we took Oliver on a short hike to the beach.

He was mesmerized by the water.

It was such a fun and relaxing day. I can't wait for summer time and more days like this!

Growing up

My little man is 7 months old and learning new things every day!

Oliver loves to give kisses. He'll give Chad and I kisses if we ask for them, but I absolutely love it when he just decides on his own to give me a kiss. There is nothing like the unconditional love of your baby... in the form of slobbery open mouthed kisses.

He loves to eat strawberries. By far, it's his favorite food. I sneak other foods like green beans in between his bites of strawberries to get him to eat those other foods that he doesn't like so much.

Cute feet!

He enjoys being able to feed himself, and I'm getting better at ignoring the mess and letting him try more finger foods.

OLIVER IS OFFICIALLY MOBILE! He crawls (mostly army crawling), pulls himself up onto things, and gets into everything! The solution? A baby-gate. It is a bit ridiculous since our place is so small, but this way I can let him play without having to sit right next to him and repeatedly pull him away from the hazards around the perimeter of the room.

... so far he just goes to the gate and cries.

Isn't he the cutest alarm clock ever? I often wake up to his little fingers tickling my back.

His first two teeth are coming in, and his favorite thing to chew on... is me.

He is such a sweet and cuddly boy.

Let it SNOW!!

It DOES snow in Seattle!

We took Oliver out to play in the snow. I couldn't tell if he actually liked the snow, or if he just liked (1) being outside, and (2) playing with mommy and daddy.

Yes- those are socks on his hands. We had to improvise with 3 layers of clothing and the socks instead of mittens.

My favorite boys!

The snowman looked more like a snow-penguin :)

Here is a video, I hope it works!

After coming inside we got him warm, dry, and gave him a bottle, but he still had to reposition himself so he could see out the window and watch the snow fall.

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Today work and school are cancelled!! So we have all day to have a fun snow day together as a family. Our neighbors had seen us take Oliver out in the yard yesterday, and brought over a snowsuit and infant sled that we could borrow!

We bundled Oliver up and took a walk to the diner just down the road.

I love walking in the snow, everything seems so quiet and magical.

I was afraid that Oliver might get too cold, tired or upset, but he just enjoyed the ride!

Isn't he just so cute!?

 We made it to the diner. We ate yummy food and Oliver ate the menu ;)

It was such a fun morning. Oliver fell asleep on the ride home, Chad managed to un-bundle him and transfer him to his crib and now I have Chad home on a Wednesday, Oliver peacefully sleeping, and nothing to do but relax! :)

A walk to Hamlin Park

 

Today I took Oliver for his first walk through Hamlin Park. It is a "park" (more like a forest) located just down the street from where we live. It is so beautiful, one of the perks of living in the great northwest!

A couple of minutes into our walk I was startled by this huge owl that swooped down 20 feet away (I am NOT exaggerating) from us and attacked a squirrel. The squirrel was lucky and got away... it might have had something to do with my scream that startled the owl.

I'm not sure how large owls are typically, but this one was at least 2 feet tall, and with that and having him attack the squirrel so close to us... lets just say he made me nervous. (The photo on the left is one of him turning his head around-- they really do that?!-- to keep an eye on Oliver and I as I grabbed a quick photo before I backed away). The bird was beautiful and it I was glad to see it, but I do admit that even though the exit was uphill, I walked backward just to keep an eye on the owl. Haha, I know I'm a bit crazy, but JUST IN CASE the bird decided to swoop down on us I wanted to be able to protect Oliver... that's not unrealistic, right?

 Oliver fell asleep pretty quickly so it was a short walk and I was excited to take him home and transfer him to his bed for a nap...

but in true Oliver-fashion, he woke up and refused to go back to sleep, which completely messed up his nap/sleep schedule for the day... again.

But who can be mad at that face?

As frustrating as being a mom can be, and as much as I miss sleep, this little guy is so VERY worth it!