Ch-ch-ch-changes!

 So many changes around here!

Last week, I went into Little Bub's room to get him out of his crib after he woke up from a nap. And I had to run and grab the camera because he was sitting up in his bed! He's been sitting on his own for a long time but I'd never seen him do it in his crib before. Time to move the bed lower!

You can tell he wasn't happy I ran out of the room for the camera instead of getting him out of bed.

 Little Bub is 8 MONTHS OLD!!! I love that little curl on the side of his head. 

 He makes this face a lot and says "oo oo" like a monkey.

Another change: Our boy has his first tooth!!! You can just barely see it in this monster-smile face. 

AH! Love him.

Another change: Little Bub is MOBILE! Army crawling and rolling and going all over the place!
I tried to upload a video of it but blogger is being stupid.

And... a change that isn't going to last. No, really. It's NOT. 

Bret and his buddies decided to do "Mustache March." He grew his goatee at first. Then the plan was to shave all but the 'stache on "Mustache March Day" or whatever it is. 

 At first I liked his goatee. But it doesn't quite match the rest of his hair so it doesn't really "fit." 

Then he shaved all but the mustache. 

I love him dearly and I think he's the hottest thing ever....

But the mustache does. not. work.

We've had a lot of laughs over it though. Good memories.

But even Little Bub knows this thing is creepy.

Wordless Monday

Ella's Run

Every year we do Ethan's Run, a race to benefit and raise awareness for Congenital Heart Defects. This year, Ethan's (a CHD angel) incredible mommy wasn't able to organize the run. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to finally being able to run my first 10k in honor of our Ella. But Ethan's mommy needed to rest and take it very easy because of her pregnancy!

Needless to say, she's completely forgiven. (And she and baby are doing great!)

But what to do about running my 10k?
Well, I couldn't organize a run. I had no idea how to do it and I lived too far away to do "Ethan's Run."
So I did my own.
I called it Ella's Run.

All I did was choose a day, map a course, invite anyone who wanted to come, and train.
It was small. Very small. I knew more people would have been there and participated in the run if not for scheduling conflicts and/or pregnancies! But I knew a lot of people were thinking of Ella and Ethan and many other CHD angels and warriors. And that was the whole point.

Here's pictures of that day:



My mom and nephew sporting their Remembering Ella shirts from last year's Ethan's Run. Waiting for us to finish the run.

 An extremely cute group of boys. The two on the left are mine. :)

Little Bub and his cousin E. No, he's not standing on his own even though he looks big enough to do it. The kid is gigantic.

 Here we come! Finishing the first half of the race. Me and my awesome friend Leigh. She's wearing her Remembering Ella shirt from Ethan's Run 2011. She ran by my side for 90% of the race even though she could have gone a lot faster. I'll never forget her support.

And here I come at the end. 10k. The first one ever. Ran the whole way. Roughly 70 minutes.

Glad to be done. Proud of myself. I did it for her (and for me.)

And here's my sister, her boy C, Leigh, Me (red faced and gross), and my Mom.

I miss my girl. Shed a few tears that day. We'll be back again next year, running our hearts out.

What's going on?

I don't know about you but January flew by like, I dunno, a crazy hummingbird on honeysuckle steroids or something.

So here's what we're up to:

~We needed some family pictures for a special photobook on Bret's side of the family, so we had his sister Adele take some pictures for us. Turned out beautiful!!

~I've started school through BYU-Idaho Pathway. It's going well and I'm enjoying it! We have weekly gatherings with other pathway students in the area and they are ALWAYS so awesome and uplifting.

~Little Bub is now eating solid foods (some of the time), sitting up on his own, and trying to crawl. We also think he's trying to push out some teeth. He sure is a cranky little stinker lately. But man is he adorable and generally a happy kid.

~Not much else going on. We started using Tide laundry detergent. We have to use the free and clear kind. The other kind makes us break out. And I bought regular almond butter last week instead of the freshly ground kind from Winco. Just to change things up.

Wow we're exciting people.

OH! And I finally saw the Hobbit!!! Oh my gosh you guys I was almost crying in the theater. It was that awesome. I felt like... I'm back! I'm home! Ai laurie lantar lassi surinen!! (That's elvish for Ah! Like gold fall the leaves in the wind.)

I'm such a geek.

Six months

I can't even....

Ella's Birthday

She would have been two. Probably running around like crazy. Maybe even talking up a storm. Loving on her baby brother. Learning, growing, trying my patience.


We bought her new flowers. We gathered at her grave. They sung Happy Birthday (I couldn't bring myself to join in.)

They released balloons.

I hugged my boy.

Still a hard day, but a day filled with gratitude. And even some smiles.

I love my family!

Here's my dad tying a pink balloon to her gravestone.

Everyone came to show their support. I am so grateful for them.

(from left to right) Bret, his sister and mom, Little Bub and Me, my dad, and my nephews L and C. Little C brought his bubble blower to blow bubbles for Ella.

Isn't that the coolest thing?

Getting ready to release the balloons.

And off they fly!

Cute Little Bub and Grandpa.

 My mom holding Little Bub, Me photobombing the picture, and my sister holding her baby E.

Thanks for the pictures, Mom.

Little Bub and Rice Cereal

A few days after Christmas, we gave him his first taste of rice cereal, mixed with breastmilk. 

He did pretty good!

 "What's Mom doing and why is Dad taking a picture?"

"Um... okay. I guess this stuff ain't too bad."

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

 "P.S. I'm way too stinkin cute for words."

"CHOMP! Yum."

Oh those cheeks. Those cheeks!!

Our next attempt at solid food will be vegetables. But probably not for a few more weeks. Rice cereal's on the docket till then.