It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

We got several inches of snow yesterday, and it is beautiful! I would enjoy it more if it was -1 degree outside..... Burrhhh!! We finally got our tree decorated on Thursday; Seth was a big help. ;) We also enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving free from travel, but still full of food and family and football!

Seth is officially 2 years old now. It seems like he has been 2 for several months, but it's only been a few weeks now since his birthday. So far, the "terrible two's" have been the best! (Everyone says that three's are worse....) The two words that best describe him are energetic and sweet. He is talking in sentences more, can count to 3 by himself, knows colors, and can even point to his mandible and sternum when asked. :) Can you guess who taught him those? :) We have a lot of fun together.

Here are a few pictures to summarize the last couple of months:

Happy Halloween! We almost didn't go trick-or-treating cuz he didn't want to put his costume on. Fortunately, Seth's little friend came to our house to trick-or-treat, and when Seth saw his friend in a costume, he was OK with putting his own on. Unfortunately, at the 1st house we stopped, the lady that answered the door had a really scary costume and it scared Seth enough that he didn't even want to walk up to anyone else's door. Not even candy to coax him into it!

Here's the tree almost done being decorated. You can tell which ornaments Seth helped with the most.

Seth was fascinated with this little nativity set that my brother David got for us a few years ago.

This is just Seth being a little crazy. He got the vacuum out and plugged it in all by himself, turned it on, and tried to suck his ear off.... He thought it was pretty funny. Maybe eventually he will put his vacuuming skills to good use.

Well, we are looking forward to Christmas! For me, I'm mostly excited for Geran to have a break! I get a little break from teaching, too. In fact, I am pretty much done for the semester. It has been a great experience, and I love all my students. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, but I won't say no to a break! I'm sure the Christmas season will fly by anyways, and before we know it, school will be in session again! School actually starts on my birthday this year, just a little side note. :)

That's it for now! See ya next time! We repainted our kitchen (with a lot of help from my family!) during Thanksgiving break so next time I will hopefully have a few pictures of that. Thanks for reading!

Goodbye, summer! Hello, Fall!

Well, here I am again, 4 months later with a quick post! We have had an unusually busy/stressful last few months (I'll get to that late in a minute...) First I will recap just a bit.

I can't believe I don't have any picture of our annual camping trip to Couer d'Alene with the Call's! Next year I will actually bring a camera.... I don't have the proof with pictures, but we had BLAST!! Seth LOOOOOVED playing in the lake water, and thoroughly enjoyed the boat rides. The best part for me is simply to be with family. We don't get to see Geran's family too much since they live in Washington, but I love talking with all of them; I learn a lot especially from my sisters- and mother-in-law. They are all amazing mothers and women and have so much more experience than I have! It is great to have so many people to learn from.

Another fun thing that happened this summer was my sister, Rosemary, and her family moving to Pocatello from Kansas! Only a few blocks away from us! It has been so fun to have them so close. Seth loves playing at their house full of little boys. I feel like I missed out a bit on cousin relationships as a kid since I didn't have any cousins even in the same state growing up, and I have like 60 cousins! I want my kids to actually know their cousins. Even though Seth does have a lots of cousins that live out of state, I have pictures of most of them on our fridge, and Seth knows their names! I hope it helps to foster good cousin relationships as he gets older. Of course, when he has cousins living in the same neighborhood, that definitely helps, too! I have just loved having a family member so close, especially my big sister! She is so sweet and generous; always offering to help and thinking about us. I have learned a lot from her already.

Switching gears: I'm really excited that the holiday season is coming, for 2 primary reasons: #1: I love to spend time with family during the holidays, and #2: it means this semester will be over! Geran started teaching a new class within the Robotics program at ISU this semester, and he has a 2 hour lecture and a 3 hour lab EVERY DAY to prepare for, almost from scratch! He has been putting a ton of work into it (i.e. up till 2AM almost every night reviewing/prepping etc., plus the grading he still has to do....). The good news is that next semester he'll have all the stuff he did this semester, and won't need to spend as much time prepping. That is why I am excited for this semester to end--so Geran can get a break! 

I also started teaching as adjunct faculty in the radiology program at ISU this semester. I am really enjoying teaching. It's only one day a week: four two-hour labs. It is really fun to be in a teaching position, and I love all my students. I was wanted to cut back a little at my technologist job at the clinic, but couldn't due to my co-worker moving. When I accepted the position this summer, I had just found out I was pregnant (but I wasn't sick and tired yet!), and my co-worker hadn't moved. Everything happened all at once: school started, I had to work more at the clinic due to the move, and I got sick and was completely exhausted from this pregnancy. So Geran and I were both totally exhausted all the time. And of course Seth has enough energy to make up for our lack! We had some long days that poor Seth just wanted a playmate, but I was too sick to even get off the couch, then Geran would come home from work exhausted from staying up so late the previous night, so it was all we could do was let him play on the ipad! I am almost 19 weeks now, finally not feeling sick anymore, and mostly just tired. I can do tired; I haven't slept through the night since Seth was born! And my work schedule is a little more back to normal. We are doing much better now, and it helps that I can usually take a nap with Seth on my days off.

If you actually read that last paragraph, thanks for letting me vent a little bit! On to a few pictures. They are not too exciting. Next post will probably have Seth's Halloween costume and birthday pictures. :) The only pictures I have to post this time are from Rosemary's baby shower, and a couple of random Seth pictures.

Food table at Rosey's baby shower!

My oldest sister and youngest sister and I! This was 2 days before Rosemary's C-section (she had a baby girl--Evalyn Rose!), Diana is due December 10 (she is having a boy), and I am about 14 weeks along in this picture, due March 24 (we are having another boy)!

These are the only pictures I had of Seth on my camera. He really needs a hair cut! I still can't believe how blonde he is.

I just love this cutie pie!

Big Boy Seth

Wow, Seth is getting so big! I went to transfer a sleeping Seth from his bouncy chair into his toddler bed last night and thought, "You are getting so heavy, Seth! Where did my little baby go?" He is almost 19 months old now! He has definitely graduated from "baby" to "toddler." I don't even call him "Baby Seth" anymore, though it still slips out sometimes, particularly when he falls asleep next to me.

This age is so fun (not that is doesn't have its challenges!). It is so easy to make him laugh and to entertain him. We play outside A LOT now that the weather is warm. I love it! I am grateful our backyard is fenced in so he can't escape. :) Right now, he is playing in his Cozy Coupe from my mom (thanks, Mom--Seth LOVES it!) out on the patio while I am typing this. He is a boy through and through: his favorite things are lawn mowers, tractors, cars, trucks, and bugs! When we go on walks (which is quite often), we often end up sitting on the curb watching a neighbor mow their lawn. I hope he is this enthusiastic about lawn mowing when he gets older! :)

Enough writing; here are a few pictures:

Geran got new tires for his four-wheeler. Seth had his fun until Dad got them on.

Seth loves playing with kitchen things. He always wants to help me cook.

Chocolate face! Yum!

Seth has a blast on this little slide. Now it is in the little kiddie pool. He also is holding the beloved pooper scooper... Kinda gross. He loves that thing.

The favorite passtime: playing with Dad's iPad! He's got that thing figured out.

This is his "I want to play with that camera you're holding!" face. I don't think so!

What a handsome kid!

This is his very serious driving face. :)

Well, that's what's going on around here! Geran is taking a class this summer, so he is busy with homework and studying. He was just called to be an Assistant Scout Master for the Deacons, so he will get to go on campouts and everything that goes along with that! That will be fun for him. I am enjoying playing with Seth, and am so glad to be done with school! No doctorate for me--Master's is quite enough! We are looking forward to the rest of this summer! It always goes by too fast, but we are making the most of it!

Winter Fun

Living in Pocatello, one must learn to love snow, or all 5-6 months of wintertime will be pretty miserable! I've tried more than once to introduce Seth to the fun times to be had in the snow, but he is still a little young for snowmen and such, but he did like to be pulled in a sled. I didn't get any pictures of that though, because I was too busy pulling him up and down the sidewalk. Here are a few pictures of our recent happenings.

 This is Seth and our neighbor Cameron playing in the snow. It was one of those perfect play-in-the-snow-days: not too cold, no wind, and beautiful fresh snow!

Seth is getting a little tired at this point.... Cameron was doing great!

Yes, Seth is a climber. :) He almost always has a bruise or scratch on his head...

Seth is modeling one of the hats I made for our friend for Christmas.

What cute smile, huh!

Yes, Seth loves chocolate as much as I do; he also has been playing telephone anything that resembles the shape of a cell phone. I don't know if this is evidence of his love for chocolate, or evidence of how much his mother talks on the phone....

Bubbles! Seth loves bubbles. :)

And on a different note, these are the tomatoes Geran is growing hydroponically at the ISU. Some of them are 6 feet tall when you pull them up to their full height! One of them is FINALLY starting to bud. Geran can't wait to have fresh tomatoes during the winter! Good thing winter lasts a while 'round here...

Well, that's what we have been up to. Geran has been especially busy mentor the FIRST Robotics High School 4H club. Their task was to build a robot that throws Frisbee's into big slots and retrieves them. The robot is done, and the regional competition is later this month down in Salt Lake. It's been a good experience for him to help.

I have been busy trying to finish up the Health Education Master's program this semester. I can't wait to be done. It's really hard to find time to do homework and work on my project when Seth wants to help me type on the computer.... Thank goodness for nap times, though, even if they are only 45 minutes naps.

And of course, Seth is always busy. He loves to explore, and is quite the dare devil. He likes to stand at the top of the stairs, get my attention, lean over like he's about the jump down, then, as soon as I get close enough to catch him, he actually does jump! (Well, kind of jumps, he hasn't quite mastered the jumping thing yet.) His is making more and more sounds, so I think he might start saying actual words soon. So far, he only says a few things. What he lacks in speaking skills, though, he more than makes up for in problem solving and motor skills--he is definitely like Geran that way. I love to watch him figure things out. Some parts of being mother to Seth have been challenging: not taking a bottle, he has yet to sleep through the night, he will not hold still for anything, rarely naps longer than an hour, but I just love him so much that I don't need to get caught up in those things! After all, he'll only be a baby for so long, and all those things he'll grow out of. He's already entering the exciting world of toddlerhood, and I don't want to miss anything!

Birthday Boy

Happy 1st birthday to Seth! The big "0-1!" His birthday fell just three days before Thanksgiving this year, so we got to celebrate with family! We traveled to Seattle for Thanksgiving--Seth actually spent most of his birthday in the car! My amazing in-laws hosted a birthday party for Seth on Wednesday of that week. (Pictures below). We had a great week in Washington. Seth fit right in with his cousins, and they all played with him well. I love watching him play with other kids! We are looking forward to seeing more cousins at Christmas time.

Here are some fun pictures from the last few weeks:

The snack table at Seth's birthday party. (Contruction-themed, if you couldn't tell!)

Fun balloons for decoration!

This is after the ballons came down.... Seth LOVED playing with them!

He wasn't sure what do to with the smash cake! At least I didn't have to clean him up!

My amazing sister-in-law made both cakes! They looked (and tasted) great!

One of Seth's presents! Thank you, Nina!

This was Seth's Halloween costume our friend loaned to us. He didn't like the hat thing, but was still cute without it!

Finally he left the hat on long enough to take a picture!

Well, that's it! As you can see, Seth is doing wonderfully! Just growing up too fast! Geran and I are doing well, too, just plugging along at work and at home, absolutely loving being parents of a one-year-old! It's amazing how much they grow in one year! I love seeing Seth learn and develop, and can't wait to see what his 2nd year has in store.

Oh, Seth

"Oh, Seth, oh, Seth, oh, Seth!" (That's a lot of commas in one sentence--was that the proper use??!!) I have found myself repeating "oh Seth" when he's about pull the table cloth down, get into the fridge, smear his food all over, or the like. But it's said with love--there is just no way I can get frustrated or angry with such a sweet little boy. I get satisfaction from cleaning up his messes knowing he had a good time making them!

Since the last post, Seth has grown so much! This little 10-month-old is walking all over the place and loving it. He learned how to crawl down the stairs a couple of months ago, so he can pretty much go anywhere he wants now! Sometimes he gets frustrated because he's not tall enough to get up on the couch, chairs, or bed, but he's getting close to be able to climb on to them. He loves to explore and get into EVERYTHING. As long as whatever he wants can't hurt him and won't stain him or the carpet, he's playing with it. I genuinely have blast watching him play and playing with him. This age is so much fun.

On another note, I can't believe it's October already! It seems like school just started, but the students I work with are already doing mid-terms! Wo. Fortunately, my graduate classes don't have midterms. :) Just lots of readings and on-line forum discussions....not sure which I would prefer, though. Geran's teaching is going really well, even with his extra classes he's teaching this semester. Each semester has been progressively easier and less time-consuming, but always presents new challenges with a new group of students. But he is still really enjoying his job.

Nothing too blog-worthy has happened lately; we are just rolling along in life, enjoying (mostly) every minute of it! We are super excited to have another niece or nephew coming along in March, courtesy of Tressia and Hiram! And we're just weeks away of adding the 7th grandson (no granddaughters yet on my side of the family)--my brother and his amazing wife will be having their 3rd boy later this month! Yay! We are looking forward to the Holidays so we can meet this little boy and see the rest of our families! And of course, here are some cute pictures of Seth.

I think that medicine dropper on the right is in mid-air, and I don't know how it got that way.... I didn't think Seth could really throw things that well yet....

Walking in action part 1!

Walking in action part 2!

Pretty blue eyes, huh!

A few of my favorite things

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens.... Bright colored kettles and warm woolen mittens.... Don't you love the Sound of Music? I could write whole new lyrics to represent Seth's favorites: Bright colored rattles and sucking shoe laces.... Laughing at mommy while making cute faces....
Seth is sure a fun little baby! He is a busy-body and loves to explore everything around him. I can't believe he is already 7 months old! Here are a few more of his favorite things:
-trying to drink juice from a sippy cup (Somewhat successfully...He has never taken a bottle, so I'm trying to teach him the sippy cup thing.)
-Mom playing "pat-a-cake" with his feet
-standing on the OUTSIDE of the exersaucer (Though my life would be easier if he spent more time in IN it. I don't know what the big difference is....)
-splashing Mom while he's taking a bath
-playing with kitchen utensils
-ripping up and sucking on paper (except phone book paper; apparently, it doesn't taste very good.)
-watching Dad mow the lawn
-trying to get to the multiplicity of cords around the house
-stealing Mom or Dad's phone
-the ipad. Oh the ipad. Seth LOOOVES that thing. He is so sad we don't let him play with it.... What a tough life, right?
-sucking on watermelon rinds, we discovered tonight at the Patriotic Celebration in our neighborhood! He sure went to town on that thing....

He recently starting crawling, though he doesn't seem too fond of it. He uses his right knee and left leg to get around on his hands! I think he just wants to walk! When I try to sit him down on his bum, he locks his knees so he can stand up instead. He hangs out for a while standing up at the coffee table, which is a perfect height for him to stand. When he crawls around, he usually heads towards either furniture or stairs so he can pull himself up. If we're in the kitchen, he pulls out the bottom 2 drawers so he can pull himself up and get into the drawer. Mobility really is a big change! Keeps me a little busier.... But I love to watch him progress. I just love taking care of him. We are so blessed to have such a sweet little boy. Here are a few pictures:

Trying to climb the stairs. He hasn't been successful yet though, and I can tell he is frustrated by that!

I was surprised to find him standing in his crib when I went to get him after his nap.

Just hangin' out! The clothes basket was a little tricky for him to support himself with because it kept sliding across the floor! He used the wall to steady himself once he stood up!

What a fun baby, huh! We just love him to death. Geran has enjoyed spending more time with him this summer since he is only teaching one summer class and is able to be at home more. He watches him a lot while I'm working. Seth loves his Daddy, and it's so cute to watch them play together. I can't believe the summer is half way over already! Life just never slows down. But we love it!