Summer Catch-up

We meant to blog about the 2nd week of our break, and never got around to it. . . and now we have a lot more to blog about! When we don't write things down, it's hard to remember details, so we're mostly going off of pictures. So, for the 2nd week of break, we were able to relax, go to parks, get together with friends, and just enjoy having freedom to do whatever we felt like. We took a trip to Cannon Beach with our friends the Ottos and their baby who was only 5 weeks old at the time. 

 For the 4th of July, some of our friends set off some fireworks for the kids. Collin was mesmerized. Afterwards, we had some friends over for dessert. It was the first year we haven't gone somewhere to watch the big public fireworks, but I was definitely okay with that. We enjoyed the relaxing evening.

Patriotic boy

July flew by and near the end of the month, Collin and I went to Salt Lake to visit my family for the Pioneer Day festivities. We drove to Seattle to fly with my Grandma and my cousin Teghan. Collin did pretty well on the flight, but it was still a little stressful to travel with a baby. He cried for the last 20 minutes on the flight there. On the flight home, he had a blowout right before the plane was about to take off. I asked the flight attendants where I could change his diaper, and they said the only place was the toilet! They gave me a blanket to lay over it, and Collin just screamed as I tried to change him with his head hanging over the side of the toilet seat.
Anyway. . . we had fun in Salt Lake. Liz, Danielle, and Lindsey came with their families as well. We went to the Pioneer Day parade, spent a day at a waterpark, did some shopping, some of us went to Katie's graduation in Rexburg (she also got engaged on the morning of her graduation!), had a graduation/engagement party for Katie, went to a movie, set off lots of fireworks, and spent an afternoon at BYU.
Collin loved all the excitement going on and loved having lots of cousins to play with. The kids called him "Baby Tollin" or "Baby Coll-On." I was glad I was able to make this trip with Collin. Another fun Salt Lake trip!

First plane ride

Aunt Katie

 

It was funny to listen to
Ethan and Kyson's conversations.

 

Dilly

Collin and Bryce

A bunch of cousins

Silver Lake

Collin and Grandpa

Aunt Lindsey

All the boys had shark shirts
that Spencer helped make

Grandma Ness with great-grandchildren

Me and Grandma

With Gma and Gpa

Great-grandma Ness

First week of break

Summer break is here! After a grueling finals week, during which Rob was miserably sick and spent all his time studying/test-taking, coughing, medicating, and trying to sleep, we were so ready for a break! He is a quarter of the way finished with school already. 

The Sunday after finals was Rob's first Father's Day! He really is the best dad and takes good care of Collin. Whenever Rob is about to walk in the room, I say "daddy?" and Collin's face lights up and he starts looking around the room, and when he finds him, he gives the biggest smile. He loves his daddy.

Look at these handsome guys!

 Dan and Kim came to visit for a few days from Alaska. It was so much fun to hang out with them! Wish we took more pictures.

Kim was bouncing Collin and he was totally loving it, but for some reason he just had this look on his face the whole time.

Later in the week, we took a trip to an indoor water park. We brought my niece Annika and her friend. We had fun on the water slides, wave pool, and rock climbing wall. Collin sat with us in the water and even went in the wave pool with us where he floated in the waves expressionlessly until we brought him out and he fell asleep in his life jacket. He woke up after a while, though, and then started to really love splashing and being in the water.

Nap time.

Ready for the rock wall

Rob at the top

Best buds

Check out that hair! That's how it dried during his nap.

We spent Saturday picnicking downtown and then wandering around the city and the flea market.

 Collin had his first haircut today! I was really attached to his long, soft baby hair even though it was getting a little crazy. Wasn't ready for a big boy haircut, but knew it was getting too long. After I cut it, I was sad until I saw THIS before picture. . . Yikes! It was definitely time, Collin.

BEFORE: Crazy morning hair.

AFTER

Thankfully he is still the cutest baby ever. Whew.

Side view

Our Cute Boy

Collin is 9 months old now! He weighs 20 pounds. He is crawling everywhere, pulling himself up to cruise along furniture, and as happy and energetic as ever. We love seeing him learn new things. He mimics sounds we make and loves to hit his toy drums and jump up and down.  He has been trying lots of new foods and eats everything we give him; he hasn't really disliked any food so far, and gets especially excited when he sees the animal cracker box. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the last month.

Hanging out in the toy bucket

He loves swinging!

Collin and Daddy at the park

Look what Collin can do all by himself. Baby gate time!

Big smiles!

Three teeth.

Meatless May

A month ago, Rachel and I were talking about me going to Chiropractic school and how it's a semi-homeopathic profession.  UWS has been working on bringing in other degree programs besides the DC program.  One of them that I'm interested in is a Masters in Nutrition and Functional Medicine.  Being in a healthcare profession, I felt like I should know something about different types of diets.  We decided that we should try a vegetarian diet, to see how it would affect our health.

So! Rachel became a vegetarian mastermind overnight and planned a month of meals. Some were super awesome, others flopped, but for the most part it was a success!  We didn't miss meat at all, and ate tons of veggies that we don't normally eat. We plan to try eating meat more sparingly in the future. Some of our favorite meals included: Quinoa Corn Chowder, Black Bean Tortilla Casserole, and Vegetarian Chili. We loved trying so many new recipes and got in better habits for planning meals in advance. 

We felt healthy throughout the month.  We also focused on some other health goals such as drinking more water.  Rachel and I have been running a lot lately too, so that may have contributed towards the feeling.  Rachel has been doing great.  She runs 5k's frequently and I have upped my running to 7 miles.  I recently ran a 5k barefoot.  We're in good health now.  It's pretty awesome.

Ask if you'd like any of the recipes, or any ideas about vegetarian meals!  We really enjoyed it! 

Pics and Vids

We have been taking videos all the time and they're mostly of our baby being cute of course. Here are a few recent ones. Things that make Collin laugh.

Collin was pretty entertained by Rob's cookie monster impression. (This must have been from Easter since there are Easter basket treats on the floor).

We love his laugh! He is a little bit ticklish. 

We bought a plunger and for some reason Collin cracked up whenever Rob showed it to him and talked about it, for a long time.

We've been enjoying Spring and warmer weather. A few weeks ago, we made a trip to Sunnyside for Rob's sister's graduation and got to see his parents and Amber, Tiffanie, and Cory's families. It was a quick trip but we were glad we could see everyone!

My first Mother's Day was great (minus the fact that I had to speak in church)! Rob made me delicious crepes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, and he also made a dinner of loaded potatoes with chili and toppings. Yum. He gave me a jewelry box, which I love! It is a little mirrored cabinet that hangs on the wall and opens up, and it matches our bedroom perfectly! I loved having a day to relax and be with my boys. 

Other than that, May has been pretty normal. Collin got to try out the baby swings at the park for the first time and loved it. Rob has been doing a lot of studying and running, and I am loving being a stay-at-home mom!

Collin and I have such a perfect routine right now and I want to post it so I'll remember! (Since it seems like as soon as we get a good routine it usually doesn't last very long). I wake up every morning to happy sounds coming through the baby monitor. Collin wakes up between 6:30 and 7:15 in the morning and I bring him in bed with me to cuddle for a little while. If he wakes up too early, sometimes we both go back to sleep. Then we get up, get dressed, Collin has a bottle, then we eat breakfast. Then we go to the gym around 9. Collin does so well at the Kids Club, and I love that he can spend time with other kids every day and he is happy to go to the adults. On the way home, Collin falls asleep and takes his morning nap while I get home, shower and get ready for the day, and maybe do something productive. He wakes up around 12:30 and we have lunch. The afternoon is spent playing at home, going outside, going to appointments, shopping, or whatever else we have planned for the day. Then around 3:30, he's ready for a nap again and I lay down with him, give him a bottle, and he falls asleep in my bed. While he naps, I get dinner ready and do whatever else I need to until he wakes up around 5:15. Rob gets home at about 5:30 and we eat dinner and relax and Collin gets to play with Rob a little bit and take a bath. At 7:30 we start getting him ready for bed by changing him into pajamas, reading a story, feeding him a bottle, saying prayers, and then Rob goes off to study while I sing primary songs and rock him to sleep. He sleeps so well now at night. A few months ago, I could have only dreamed of having a schedule like this- including sleep, predictability, and uninterrupted shower and dinner prep time. I'm so grateful that I'm able to be at home with him, and I love my days with my boy. He is so energetic and funny, and so sweet when he gives me huge smiles right when he wakes up. I want him to stay this age forever!

Here are a few pictures!

At Amber's graduation

I love this picture. They look so alike.

Sunday nap

He fell asleep while eating one time. He would open his mouth for the food, then fall asleep right after.

I know he's naked in these, but he was being so funny and cute for the camera.

He is almost crawling. He crawls backwards and scoots all over the place, and rocks on his hands and knees.