'Til We Meet Again

This is my grandpa.  

Patient.

Kind.

Loving.

Funny.

Intelligent.

Understanding.

Lover of roller coasters.

The list could go on forever...

Today I lost one of the best people I have ever known, my grandpa.  He was so full of love for everybody that he met.  He always wanted the best for everybody around him.  He spent his life teaching not only as a profession, but as a symbol of his love.  I could make a list a million pages long of all the things that I learned from him, but I will spare you.  

He has been sick for quite some time and has been getting rapidly worse.  I feel so blessed that when he took a turn for the worse my husband was so sweet and loving.  There was not a moment of hesitation when I talked to Richard and told him that I wanted to take Soren to California to meet his great-grandpa.  His immediate response was, "of course, go, stay as long as you want."  And I am so glad that I did because less than 3 months later he has passed on to the next life.  My grandpa was so proud of his first great-grandchild.  I would have been so sad if he had passed without meeting Soren.  I know that Soren will not remember him, but I will and we have pictures of them together that I can share with Soren when he gets older.  I know that my grandpa is in a better place and that he is watching over us.

Til we meet again, I love you!!!

8 Months

I love this sweet boy, even when he is crazy and doesn't sleep.  How could you not love this face even on 3-4 hours of sleep?

At 8 months:

-A week ago I would have said that he only wakes up to eat once around 4am, but that is no longer the case.  His nighttime sleeping has been less than stellar.  And he's been waking up for the day at 6am...way too early in my opinion.

-On a happier note, he naps really well.  He isn't super consistent, but he usually has at least one good nap (1 1/2-2 hours) and then one or two other shorter naps.

-Still wearing 3-6 months clothes, I think we will be moving up in a couple weeks.

-He crawls EVERYWHERE!  Nothing is safe anymore.

-He can pull himself up onto his knees.

-Eats soooo much.  He eats 1/2 cup of cereal and about 4 jars of baby food plus 4-5 nursings per day.
-Has two teeth.

-Loves to talk to anybody who will listen.

-Smiles at everybody.

-Still no stranger anxiety (feeling pretty lucky with this one).

-"Sings" the hymns at church.

Likes to help me fold the laundry (attack everything I have just folded).

-Loves dogs, every time he pets one he just laughs.

-Tummy sleeper

-Still has a foot fettish

-Finally cares enough to sit up

-Can get himself from laying on his belly to sitting up

-LOVES to laugh. BEST SOUND EVER!  My favorite thing is listening to him laugh while Richard plays with him.

-Loves going swimming

We love this boy so much and we love watching him discover new things.  Love you lots baby boy!

Meet Suzy, Soon to be Radley

This is our dog...yes, we adopted a dog today.

Richard has been wanting a dog FOREVER, but my rule was always that we could get a dog when we had a house (and therefore, a yard).  Well...we close on our house next week, so the time has come.

We had no intention of getting a dog this soon, we were planning on looking seriously at the end of the summer.  

This afternoon we were feeling the need to get out of our apartment, so we decided to go walk around some shops.  We saw a PetsMart and that it would be fun to take Soren in to look at the animals...and then we saw Suzy (Richard is going to change her name to Radley).  He fell in love, and I fell in love as much as is possible for me.  Soren loves her, they will be great friends.  

She looks like a black lab puppy, but she is 10 months and nearly full grown.  She is the perfect size for us and so cute.  Not sure what breed she is, but whatever it is she is adorable.

We adopted her today, but she is going to stay in her foster home for a few more weeks until we get settled in our house.  

Richard is thrilled and I am coming around.  If Soren had any idea what was going on he would also be thrilled.

At Least Somebody Thinks I'm Funny...

Splash Pad

Today we went to check out the local splash pad, it was great. Soren enjoyed it a lot considering he can't really do anything but sit and play with the fountain.  We had a lot of fun enjoying the sun and we are excited for next summer when Soren can really enjoy the splash pad!!!

"Hey!  Who turned off the water?!?"

Wonderful Weekend

I have been feeling the need to get out of town so this weekend we went down to Austin to visit Richard's sister and brother-in-law.  They have a pool...what else do you need??  We spent the weekend playing in the pool and relaxing.  It was perfect, I now feel rejuvenated for another few weeks.  :)

 Soren was OBSESSED with this waterfall, it was really funny!

Sitting Up

Had to take a few pictures of my cute boy, he has finally decided that sitting up is worth his time.  :)