Swimming

I think we've got a future swimmer on our hands! This weekend Gabe and I took Henry swimming at the Rock for the first time. He's been swimming in the hot tub at my house at 2 months and 4 months, but never in a big pool. He was interested in the bubbles, and was fine, but otherwise not that active. But yesterday at the Rock, he was having a ball! Henry splashed his arms, kicked his legs, tried out a kickboard, and chased after some floaty toys. But the most fun was when daddy "tossed" him in the air! (Hands always on the baby though of course). We will definitely be taking him back for more adventures in the pool - and some pictures too. I know everyone is rooting for something different for Henry's future activities - soccer, piano, baseball, running - but I definitely hope he's a swimmer.

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Henry, what does the sheep say?

Today Gabe had to work so Henry and I went to the 4H Fairground for Agricultural Days, where they had exhibits set up for kids and animals as well. Henry got to see all kinds of animals: baby lambs, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, roosters, baby ducks, horses, cows, alpacas, bees, bunnies. He even got to pet the baby lambs, baby bunnies, alpacas, cows and horses! It was pretty cute, he would touch the animal and open/close open/close with his hand, and then smile at the person holding the animal. Actually, he was way more interested in smiling at and studying the person holding the animal! Ahh, that's our social little boy! I couldn't get any pictures of Henry touching the animals since I didn't have an extra set of hands, but we did take many pictures of Henry parked in front of the animal cages. Another part of the exhibit included many different stations for the kids, where they picked up a basket at the beginning and then went around completing different activities. They could pick an apple, pick cotton, make the stages of a butterfly with pasta (I'm keeping that one in mind for a future elementary science lesson!), pick a carrot, pick an egg, and plant seeds. It was pretty well done and I'm excited for Henry to go back next year and future years to participate in those activities as well.

These pigs eat as much as I do

Had to take a picture with the John Deere for Dad

Can you say ALPACA?

Mom, do you see the cow?

These bunnies sure are interesting (yes, the brown blobs are bunnies)

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This past week my mom came to visit and spend some time with us - mostly Henry. Henry loved spending time with his Grandma too. He enjoyed having someone dote all over him. The weather was beautiful so we were able to spend some time walking around campus and eating outside, which was a treat. We stayed super busy as it was nice for me to get some projects that I'd been wanting to accomplish completed while I had an extra set of hands. We painted an easel that we picked up at a garage sale, complete with a chalkboard and a white board. It came out so cute! Henry can't wait to use it. And I can't wait to see him use it.

Henry has been eating all kinds of veggies lately! Last weekend I went on a baby food making marathon; if you look in the bottom of my freezer, you'll find baby food for a month! Henry loves sweet potatoes, squash, carrots and green beans. Well, we're still working on green beans, they're not quite his favorite yet. We think the waxy texture doesn't appeal too much. If I mix it with another veggie, then he'll eat them....sometimes.






Henry's got big hands for a baby, I must say. I've been wanting to make a mold of his little baby hands for awhile now, so we bought some material at the craft store. First mistake - trying to take an imprint of a seven month old. What is the first thing he's going to do? Grab for the impression material! So we attempted to outsmart Henry and take the mold while he slept. Theoretically, a wonderful idea. Actually, couldn't have been a worse idea. Not only did he grab the stuff as we stuck his hand in, even in his sleep, but he also smeared it everywhere. Carefully, gingerly, so as not to wake the sleeping baby, we wiped his hand and tried again. And again. By this time, Henry woke up and was not a happy camper. Never wake a sleeping baby, right? We tried distracting him with toys, food, and with no success. He's covered in the stuff, I'm covered in the stuff, his clothes are covered. I'm trying to keep his hands out of the way of his mouth so he doesn't ingest plaster of paris. A bath is the only way to quickly clean him before the junk dries all over his hands. Meanwhile, the mold is setting up, so we turned to the sure-fire answer - his foot. Needless to say, I have a very cute mold of his foot, and I don't think I'll get a handprint for a year or two! If I only had a picture of the gunk.....

Trying out a sippie cup! Tip it back, Henry


I'm not crawling just yet, but I'm on my hands and elbows!


With St. Patrick's Day comes a celebration of our anniversary. Two years went by so quickly - we've been busy! What a love-filled day to look back on and add so much meaning to a fun holiday. Our wedding song was "The Best is Yet To Come." Both Gabe and I loved the sentiment - our wedding was amazing, but we both look forward to every day together to come. And we both shared our positive outlook with the couples at the marriage retreat - that every day together gets better and better. We've added a joyous addition to our family, and life has never been the same. When I think back on our wedding day, I remember thinking that I loved Gabe so much, how could I love him any more. And yet, each day, we fall more in love and I am over come at seeing him become a father. Happy Anniversary!

And last but not least, Happy 1st St. Patrick's Day Little O' Cutie Pie!

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Thanks for Babysitting, Uncle Andrew!

Last weekend Henry got to hang out with Uncle Andrew, on midterm break from college. It was nice for him to spend some uncle/godfather bonding time with Henry. He was a great babysitter - gave Henry his bath and bottle and put him to bed. Henry was one happy little guy to have some extra attention.

Gabe and I were busy also that same weekend with leading a marriage prep retreat. We gave two talks on the topics of Communication and The First Years of Marriage. We had gone on the same retreat two and a half years earlier before we were married. It was crazy to think that now we were going to be the ones sitting on the stage, sharing the stories and giving advice. It was fun to sit down together and reflect on these topics as we prepared for our talk, especially since we probably wouldn't have had those kinds of discussions about our marriage unless we were giving the retreat. We really enjoyed the experience, and we think they went pretty well. We were happier with the communication talk and felt like we shared some better stories, but all in all we were excited. Hopefully, we'll be able to lead another in a couple of years.

Henry is a man on the move lately! He's got the army crawl down, and he's rolling and scooting all over the place. We are babyproofing everything this weekend in preparation for the motor man to come! It is exciting to watch him learn to crawl, and he gets better every day. Both Gabe and I were surprised how suddenly things can happen with him and how he can go from one day not being able to do something to suddenly executing like a pro. For example, Henry surprised us both one night when he rolled over. Neither of us were expecting it, and while he had practiced a little, it wasn't gradual in the least. Same thing happened with teeth. One night, I felt the first sharp one poking up whenHenry was in the tub, while even earlier that morning I hadn't felt any thing. It's almost like one day he wakes up and decides this is the day he's going to try something knew. But with crawling, we are seeing the progress more and more each day, so that has been a little different. Life is about to become radically different in a few days!

I'm so lucky to have a crazy Uncle Andrew!



Last Day in the baby tub........................................First day in the big boy tub!


Henry's doing this funny thing when he smiles
where he scrunches up his face. It's really cute!

These diapers look interesting!!

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