Johnny 9 months old!

We can hardly believe that our little man is already 9 months old and how fast time is flying by. This last month has been a whirlwind of new things and we are enjoying every moment we can. Below are a few pictures from the fun we've been having!!

Mommy and Johnny at Ardenwood Farms

Johnny and Cousin Paige visiting at Ardenwood Farms

Not only did Johnny learn to crawl this month, but low and behold he learned how to pull himself to standing as well!!!

Us with our playgroup at the "little farm" at Tilden Park in Berkeley

Johnny's first jack-o-lantern!

Johnny on Halloween. .. 9 months old!

Happy Halloween!

Today was a special day. Not only did it mark 8 years that John and I have been a couple, but it was also Johnny's 9 month "birthday." It was so fun to spend our first Halloween as a family all together and dressed up matching as a pirate family!

ARRRGGGGGGG!!!

On the go!

So for the last month or so Johnny's been learning to crawl. He's mastered the art of turning in a circle on his tummy, getting up on to his knees and rocking back and forth, doing a "downward dog" like yoga pose and even scooting backwards, but today was a very exciting day when Johnny took his first crawl forwards!! It was only once, but I know that this means that it will be sooner than later that he's flying through the house on his hands and knees at lightning speed! Now to say the least I am trying to enjoy my last few weeks (If that) of a "non-mobile" child. Below are a few pics of him starting the process. . .

Johnny 8 months old!

This month has been so full of fun and new adventures for our little man and for us too! Here's a few pictures from the last few weeks.
I'm so close to crawling I can taste it!

Johnny at the pumpkin patch

Pumpkin patch

Our first family trip to the lake.

I'm SOOO big - Johnny 8 months old!

Johnny and Mommy

Johnny and Daddy

MIA

No hands in the bath!

His new teething toy

I've been so Blog MIA lately and there's so much I want to post!! I'll be up and running again soon. In the meantime here's a few new photos of our little doodlebug.

First trip to the ER :(

Today sucked as it was Johnny's first trip to the ER. I was out to lunch with my mom today and noticed he was making this funny grunting/gasping sound. Kinda like he was tryin to push one out or just experimenting with new sounds (as he does often these days). Over the course of a few hours he seemed to get fussier and fussier and so I finally made a call to the advice nurse through our pediatrician. I made an appointment to go to urgent care hours later, but when I realized he really seemed to be in pain I decided not to wait and headed straight to emergency. It also sounded like he could have had some trouble breathing so I really wasn't willing to take any chances. Long story short: two rectal temperature readings, two nasal swabs, one chest x-ray, one abdominal x-ray and a suppository later we are home with no solid news as to what was going on with him...maybe something with his GI tract or some kind of bug. And with nothing more than a fever (and shear exhaustion) we have no other symptoms to write home about. Not sure what exactly his deal is, but I'm sure glad to be home and wearily pleading not to go back there any time soon. Crossing my fingers for a restful night and a healthier baby in the morning. Wish me luck!

bloopers of my photography

It's amazing the shots you get when you take 100 pictures of your kid. These make John and I laugh so hard I thought I'd share them to make you smile!

This one MIGHT be our favorite. I call it: Drunk baby

Johnny's 6mo elephant picture plus more

Johnny 6 months old!

I had a great time taking some pictures of Johnny right before he turned 6 months. Here are some of my favorites.

Johnny and Ellie. . . the pictures say it all!

Ellie and Johnny bonding

Talking to each other I think!

Kisses!

Tahoe Trip

Last weekend we went away with John's family to Lake Tahoe for 4 days. We had such a blast seeing family and friends and to top it off the weather was incredible. Couldn't have asked for a better time. Below are some of the pictures from the weekend.

Johnny sitting on the golf course

Johnny with his cousins, Tyler (4yrs) and Brandon (15months)

Johnny loved the wagon!

Having a great time with Nana and Pappy

Enjoying our time in Tahoe as a family!

* A special thanks to Doreen for letting us stay at her home and Janis and Bill for having us over!

Making the Shift from Resistance to Gratitude

I just recently read a post on Jenny Blake's blog (lifeaftercollege.org) about appreciation for the things we have in our lives, good and bad. After reading her post, I was really inspired to make a list of the things that I am grateful for in MY life, so here it goes.

I am thankful for the disagreements that John and I have
because it shows me how well we communicate and how much stronger we are every day.

I am thankful for my son in even his fussiest of moods
because no matter what we know that he is healthy.

I am thankful for John's commute
because that means that he has a job to go to everyday.

I am thankful that our house got broken into
because that means that we have things worth stealing.

I am thankful for our overgrown lawn
because it means that we have been spending more time doing fun stuff than yard work.

I am thankful that I have to be concerned with the price of gas
because that means I have a car to put gas in.

I am thankful for the never ending housework I face
because it means I have a house to clean.

I am thankful for even the lowest moments in my life
because they enable me to be more empathetic to those facing difficult situations in their lives.

Beyond the "bad" stuff I am thankful for so many wonderful things in my life:
My marriage, son, family and friends.
My health and the health of those I love and care about.
Our opportunity to go on so many wonderful trips this summer
My creativity
And the list goes on. . .

Thanks for sharing the awesome post Jenny and for helping inspire me. I hope I can do the same

Half Birthday

Today, Johnny turned 6 months old and I am having a hard time believing that his first year is already half way over! It seems like yesterday that they put him on my chest and I managed to utter a few words between the laughs and cries of excitement. I think those words were "Oh my God look at his toes" (because they're so long!) to be exact. Over the last 6 months we have grown to love, cherish and adore this little man and can't wait to see what the next 6 months will bring. Happy half birthday Johnny boy!

I wanted to share this photo that John's friend Behnam did for us. He is an incredible artist. He did a similar photo of John and I when we got married, but he gave this to us after we had Johnny. He takes an actual photo and alters it digitally. . .so cool!! This shot is of John holding Johnny in the hospital. Thanks Ben!

Our San Diego Trip!

It's been a while since I posted and so much has happened! I wanted to do a whole post about our trip to San Diego, but I have so many pictures and so much to say it would take me forever and it'd be months before I just even got the pics uploaded so alas here are some of my favorites.

Paige (my cousin's daughter who will be 2 in Sept.) and Johnny got along really well! Paige would come into our room in the morning and lay with Johnny and insisted on having him next to her pretty much at all times. She was so good with him and you could tell he loved her by how he'd watch every move she made. I can't wait to watch these two grow up together!

Johnny LOVES to swing at the park!

This is John, Johnny I at the beach. Johnny loves to put his toes in the sand although he's not too fond of the cold water yet!

The main reason we went to SD in the first place was to see my cousin Tim, his girlfriend Jillian and their adorable new addition, Hayden. It was so fun to have my cousins together with all of our kids. This one's a keeper for the great grandparents!

Seeing friends was awesome too!