Jax: 9 months

Weight: 20 lbs. 4 oz (43%)

Height: 28.2 in (45%)

Oh boy!  This little kid is getting into everything these days!  The TP roll has officially been found!  He has an obsession with the dishwasher.  Anytime I open it, he races over as fast as he can get those cute chubby legs and arms to go.  Then he climbs to standing holding on to the side and unloads as much as he can as fast as he can.  Good times.  He is wiggle-worm crawling really fast all around the house.  He feels like such a big boy and acts so proud of himself as he pulls to standing and cruises along the couch, coffee table, chairs, or anything else he can reach.  One of his favorite times of the day is when daddy gets home from work.  He gets so excited, grins ear to ear, pats him on the face, and laughs over and over.  It is absolutely adorable.  We ADORE this active, curious, happy little baby!  He's growing up so fast. 

Getting Settled in SA the Incredible Way

Moving (and everything that goes along with it) is sort of bitter sweet.  It's sad to say goodbye to people that you love but it's also fun to explore somewhere new and meet new friends. We purchased a house and have been unpacking and attempting to get settled.  Unpacking isn't as fun as "moving."  It's a lot of work and it has helped us realize how much junk we have.  I guess I should be more positive......We are having Christmas in July/August!  We've been unwrapping gifts to ourselves all wrapped the exact same-- in brown boxes with packing tape!  Ha!  Honestly, it IS kind of exciting to see what's in the next box and then think to yourself "Oh good!  Here's our whatever!" (or if you're me..."Oh I love this decoration!  Wonder where it should go...")    Everything has been out of a box for a little while but there are still things just sitting on the floor without an official home in the house.  I can't quite figure out why it takes so long to get things in a good place.  But we're getting there. 

Maybe I relate to Elastigirl from Incredibles when she calls Mr. Incredible at work and says "We're offically moved in!"  And he asks, "and the last two years don't count because.....?" 

She replies, "Because I just unpacked the last box."  :) 

 I guess I'm not the only one.  

 There I am on the far left....Sweet.  I would say Mark makes a good Mr. Incredible since he IS incredible at fixing things around the house and unpacking.  Violet and Dash don't really fit in our family but Little Jax makes a good Jack-Jack just because of his name.

Here's a taste of our "unpacking experience." 

  

And what was "Jack-Jack" doing while we were unpacking?  Well...

 

The before and after of tasting a big dirt-clod.  Nice.  

 

This is Mr. Incredible doing one of many projects.  He's cutting off the curly-cues from the door.  :)  

He also painted Jax's room, sprayed for ants about 50 times so far, and continues to work on the sprinklers.

 In this case, Elastigirl's pointer and thumb "L" does NOT stand for LOSER.  

It means "LAST BOX!"  

In it......a picture frame.  

WHHHHEEWWW!  We did it!

Jax Laughing at Peek-a-Boo

Fruity Surprise

We've been doing the Bountiful Baskets program for several weeks now and  we've enjoyed it.  We like the surprise factor of it and the produce has been good quality too.  We came across a surprise fruit in our last basket!  It looks like a cantaloupe on the outside.  When I cut into it, I just thought it was very under-ripe but then I tasted it and no....it was sweet and delicious! We kept going back and forth.  Is it a honeydew? Is it an albino cantaloupe?  Or is it something else????

It turned out that wikipedia saved the day (and the little sticker that was on the melon--ha ha).  Yep, it IS something else.  A Galia.  They are delicious!  The cantaloupe and honeydew got married and this is their offspring.  If you ask us, it's better than a cantaloupe or a honeydew.  But then again, I think it was perfectly ripe and when you get practically ANY fruit (except papaya) in its prime perfectly ripe and that sweet juicy flesh bursts in your mouth, you think in your mind that it must be the best fruit in the world.  At least that's what I do.  This now makes our list of absolutely delicious (and a bit surprising) fruits.  You should try it!   

8 Months

July Randomness

Mark has been playing a little ball.  His team took 2nd in the league!  They were all TICKED that they lost (for a variety of reasons which I won't go in to) which made the end of the game awkward for me and my little baby.  But, I was proud of my hubby for totally keeping his cool and making some great plays during the game too.  He is an all-star.  And, no, I'm not biased or anything. :)

  It was PIONEER DAY!  I wanted to celebrate since were Utahns at heart and have ancestors who sacrificed so much for us and the gospel.  Next year I'm committing to making homemade taffy and doing some activities.  But this year, I settled for Pioneer Brand Biscuits for breakfast (with homemade peach-blueberry jam).  This was  such a yummy breakfast-- unhealthy, yes, but festive and delicious!  We also watched the 17 Miracles show.  I was again reminded of the sacrifices so many made for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   

 Does it ever amaze you how strong babies are?  This was J's favorite spot in our rental house.  He was awfully proud of himself every time he managed to get up on this thing. 

 We tried out BBQ Pizza from this website. 

 We loved it and highly recommend it to you.  It's not really the prettiest dish but it sure tastes good!

Jax loves Cheerios.  This month, he managed to go from being pretty inaccurate with picking them up and missing his mouth frequently to  picking them up and eating them so fast that we can't keep up with him.  Good job, little buddy!

Visit from Jeff Tew Fam

Thank you Jeff, Heather, and family for making what was going to be a regular weekend turn into lots of fun by coming to visit!  

 

Miss K decided to try out J's Jumper.  She loved it :)

Sea World was the big hit this trip.  Here they are waiting to feed the dolphins. 

The little kiddos played in the water while the "big boys" went on the roller coasters.  A is almost tall enough.  She said, "Next time I come here, I will be a big girl.  Big enough to ride the Steel Eel!!"  I thought that was cute.  
Jax loved the little splash pad they had there!
I didn't take a swimsuit for him with me but next time I will for sure. 

 Highlights of this visit: 3 games of Settlers of Catan, lunch at Chachos and Chaluchi's, a day at Sea World, and dinner at Bun n Barrel.