Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!! We hope you all have a wonderful time where ever you are! We know some aren't able to spend Christmas with family this year, but we hope you will feel the peace this season brings and remember the wonderful memories of past Christmas's shared with loved ones. To Amanda (in Iraq), we love you and are proud of the service you are giving to our country! We are grateful for all of our wonderful family and friends and hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

No, No, NO!!!

This week Ansel has started shaking his head, "no". Well, the Dr.'s office called today to say we had to come back in because the last lead testing didn't work right. We got into the room, and Ansel was smiling away at the nurse; then he got a very serious and worried look on his face. (It was the same nurse who gave him his vaccines (5 different shots!) last week.) I think the situation was becoming a little familiar! When the nurse started putting on her gloves, Ansel, looking even more concerned, began shaking his head (as if saying, "no, no, no") and began crying before he even got stuck. It was sad and cute at the same time. Usually he isn't phased at all by finger or toe pricks, but seven shots in one day can leave their mark! (he also had RSV shots on his vaccine day) Anyway, his fun new discoveries this past month have been getting into sitting postion, pulling up and cruising a little, and his new "no" head shake.

My Birthday Party!

After graduation, we had Ansel's birthday party. It was lots of fun, and great to get together with our friends and family. Ansel didn't mind the chocolate cake either (although with all of the frosting, I'm not really sure that he got down to the cake part! )


No more pictures please!




Here's what the bigger cake looked like. (The theme was animals)
Ansel's cousins: Jewell, Kaley, and Kelsey!
Checking out some of my presents!


Cousin Lindsey and I playing again! Yep, we can both stand up and play now!
It was also gingerbread house weekend... a very anticipated tradition each year!

Daddy graduated!!!

Cody graduated on Saturday!!! (His major was Spanish) We were so proud of him!


Ansel found some more strings!














I realized after the last post that the picture I
was thinking of wasn't actually posted early on... so here's Ansel's first picture with his puppy!

One year old!

It's actually been a year already!! We took Ansel to get his pictures taken today, so here's a link where you can view them..



https://www.searsphotos.com/?shareid=S204957754lNT32BY43PG


We gave him a little carrot cupcake for today...which he LOVED. (We're having his party on Saturday.)
Part of the perks of turning one year is more vaccines, which he has tomorrow, plus his next synagis (RSV) shot is also tomorrow.. not a birthday present to get excited about! At one year he weighs right at 17lbs, and is 26.5 inches long.















We had to leave really early the other morning ...he looked so cute all cuddled up. He's such a good night sleeper.. we got lucky on that one!




So ... the spoon feeding thing is going much better (haha)



Got this thing figured out!


You guys have been holding out on me.... how come this is the first time I've had carrot cake?






I'm busting out!






Me and my milestone marker
(In very early posts this puppy looked huge next to him!)

Thanksgiving weekend

It's always fun getting to spend time with grandparents , aunts, uncles, and cousins!




Me and Aunt Rachel... this cucumber feels great on my new teeth!



Grandpa's beard feels neat





Cuddling with my cousins






Ansel likes playing with necklaces people are wearing... Karina wasn't too thrilled about that!





Who ever came up with these videos knew what they were doing!






Fascinated by a golf ball



Grown up shopping cart rider

Tooth #2

This past week was a busy one for Ansel... shots started up again. He got both synagis (for RSV) and another flu shot this week. To top that off, his second tooth (also on the bottom) popped up. Needless to say he was a little fussier than usual, but not as bad as I expected he'd be. He's also getting more excited about food which is great.. mostly just finger foods. We actually did find one thing he didn't mind eating off of a spoon... he saw us eating icecream and and kept going after it! At 11 months old this past week, he weighed 16 lbs. 7oz. This next week should be lots of fun getting to see a lot of his cousins again! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!




Hmm... I don't know about this one








Baby Mozart?


The simplest things can be so much fun

Who said you have to be a teenager to start driving?

Superbaby

We had our ward Halloween party at church this past weekend.









Practicing flying






Trick or Treat...





Ansel even found a cute little chick to snuggle up to

Things I like to eat

First tooth!

Ansel's first tooth popped up just over a week ago! (You can barely see it if you click on the picture to enlarge it)



He sometimes will eat little bites of some types of food. He loves the little baby puffs that look like dry cereal.

I'm beginning to think he's going to skip the whole pureed baby food and rice cereal from a spoon phase. We keep trying it, but he just hasn't taken to it. We tried again the other day, and as the spoonful of green beans sat on his tongue (accompanied by a look of disgust) he began frantically making the sign for milk.

We began showing him some signs, so far he knows milk and will sometimes do light. (He's getting pretty good at signing milk when he's ready for it!)

He's been sitting up really well for a month or so now, but still hasn't really scooted or crawled yet. He still LOVES bath time. He splashes and kicks so much the floor, mirrors, and mom are usually soaked. He also still loves to drink out of a glass.






Trying to be like Daddy

My Shadow!

Ansel's new discovery this past week....his shadow. He loves it. He tries to grab it off the wall, he talks to it, laughs at it, and just gets really excited to see it.

Our Nine Month Old

Ansel turned 9 months Wednesday and had his doctor check up yesterday. He weighed 15 lbs. 7 oz. and is now 26 inches long.





He also decided to roll from his back to tummy earlier this week and is having fun with his new found ability to move more. He used to practice by grasping one of our fingers to help him roll off of his back. Then, when he started to do it on his own, we caught him grabbing on to his own finger in order to make the move!





Check out my new ride!






There's more than one way to use this thing!




They even sleep the same!









*P.S. Happy Birthday tomorrow Daddy!