Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun. We didn't do too much, just went over to my parents (they get a lot more trick-or-treaters, so it's more fun to go over there) and showed Daniel off to the great Grandparents. He has been fighting a cold and is starting to get better, so I didn't want to push it too much. I ate way too much candy and other yummy foods (i.e. Grandma Pete's fantastic caramel apples). Oh and also that day, I went scuba diving and probably perforated my eardrum, but that is a story for another time. Here are pictures of our adorable son (he really is so adorable, I take pictures of him all the time and just look at him and smile/laugh).

This was before Halloween, but the outfit is somewhat Halloween-y and he is so cute and smiling. Isn't it cute with all the cute baby things inside the skeleton. Thanks Uncle Danny!!!


This was his Halloween day outfit.

This is me trying to be creative. Notice the cute socks!!

Actual Halloween costume. My mom and I made it (okay, so mainly my mom, but I did actually sew some of it). He is quite possibly the cutest Winnie the Pooh of all time.

My Mom did the Pooh on the shirt. There are also Pooh's on his feet. I should have taken more pictures!!

Though this picture is fuzzy, I love it!

Picture of the whole family. Aaron was the Grim Reaper. His costume didn't scare Daniel at all. He was like, "whatever, are we going to move soon?"

This is for Julie, since I wasn't going to post it, but I know you want as much pictures as possible. I really should have taken more- I'll have to check out my mom's selection too.

He was much happier when we took the top off and even happier when we took the entire costume off (though he prefers being naked in the first place).

In keeping with tradition, here are pumpkins for Halloween 2009.

Mine, a cute and simple bat.

Aaron's- a complex and so cool Maleficent in her awesome dragonness.

Stacy and her cute witch. Doesn't it remind you of Wicked Witch of the West? "Elphaba- dreams the way we planned 'em, if we work in tandem. There's no fight we cannot win, just you and I defying gravity!" Sorry that just popped into my head. That music makes me happy.

Finally, not a Halloween post. I have been gushing about Daniel, but I need to gush about my fabulous husband. On Friday he surprised me and took me out- child free for a whole day and night and the next morning. We went shopping, saw a matinee, took a nap, went to dinner at the MGM, saw 'O' at the Bellagio, stayed at a nice hotel, slepped in, and ate breakfast at IHOP. It was so fun and relaxing and what I needed! (I have also been sick and needed a break- I know, it's only one baby, but I was whooped.) And, then I got to come home and see my fabulous adorable Pooh. I am the luckiest woman alive.

Hawaii part 2

The rest of the Hawaii trip was awesome. We carted poor Daniel all over the place- it was not his most favorite thing (there was lots of crying and being held), but it was still so fun. Thanks Jen and Todd for the fabulous time!!!!!

Daniel at the Polynesian Culture Center (I would not recommend going there with an infant). It was still really neat though seeing all the different islands and the food at the lua after was really good.

A picture of a picture of us in the PCC (aren't I cool with the abbreviations!!).

Grandma playing with Daniel. Everyone was so good to help me out and keep him entertained.In front of the Laie (sp?) temple. It is closed for remodeling but the outside is still gorgeous.

The temple had hibiscus plants all over the place- they were amazing!!! I thought my hibiscus plant was happy- little did I know they come in bushes!! ("they come in pints?!")

One of my favorite pictures of all time!!!! Baby Pink Sassy would kick Daniel when he was sitting on Jen sometimes (she's a little possessive of her mom- and wouldn't you be if your mom was Jen and everyone loved her??).

More pictures at the beach. My hair was so out of control. Since I lost half of my hair post pregnancy (no one told me that was going to happen! At first I thought I was going bald and had to look it up on the internet.) I have these little wispies that just can't be tamed.

More sister shots (and cousins!!). Notice all the kites in the back ground in these pictures. There were tons of kite and wind surfers that day. [It was the day of the tsunami in Samoa. There was an advisory to stay out of the water- which told everyone it was a great day to go surfing I guess.]

This guy was kite surfing and was awesome! He was catch a wave and literally float in the air for a few seconds. When he came into shore Grandma told him he rocked (those exact words).

Hawaii!!

Here is a quick blurb about what we have been doing in Hawaii (Daniel, my mom, my grandma, and I all left this past Thursday to visit Jen and Todd). The plane ride was, well, not so fun. Daniel did okay but I am so glad my mom was there and that we had Jolly Ranchers for him to suck on (we held on to one end and went to town on the other).

We went to the beach that is close to Jen's place (like a 10 minute drive tops). It was beautiful, the water temp was like being in a pool. The waves were not huge, but it was still fun to get in the oceanbecause it cooled you down! (I miss air conditioning, though it's not too bad). It was kind of windy, there were wind surfers which was neat. Daniel liked the water, but did not like the bigger waves or the sand washing over his feet.

Like my Gollum hairs??

Happy at this point!

Deck change! (By this time he was not excited about being wet and sandy- but he loves being naked). What a cute little bum!!

Outside Giovanni's shrimp place, where they cook your shrimp in a van and it is so good!!

We visited the giant turtles (for info see Jen's blog). There was only one on the beach but still so cool! Todd went in the ocean and snorkled and saw one, but it was pretty turbulent out there so the rest of us stayed on the beach.

Cute Grandma in the background. My hair is out-of-control.

"People like pictures"

The last few weeks have been rather uneventful, so I am struggling with the direction of this post. And so, I will take the easy way out and blog about Daniel (and really, what else would you like to hear?). Oh yeah! What I am talking about uneventful?? Aaron passed his PT boards!!!!! We are all so excited- even Daniel- he did an extra special toot when he found out. We went up to Pine Valley when Aaron took the test and had a wonderful time. We see deer fairly often, but we still get excited. This one had no trouble getting into my Grandma and Grandpa's garden.

This was a cute bath picture taken up in Pine ValleyAaron started working 4 weeks ago, which is nice, since money is nice, but it was also really nice having him around. That was a lot of nice's. We are the knights who say nice! Okay, sorry random thoughts. Anyways, it has been an adjustment with Aaron working and me working (only two nights, but still it is tough to leave the little guy). But, things are starting to slow down and we are getting into a little bit of a routine (if such a thing is possible with a baby). Daniel is getting older- 4 months last week. He had a special toot on his four month birthday as well. He wiggles all over the place, rolled over once but has yet to repeat the feat (he was fairly surprised when he did it), starting to eat cereal, and even went swimming. And he sleeps about 10-11 hours during the night (can I get a Hallelujah!). Enough of the ramblings, here are pictures.

Daniel on his side and with his hands in his mouth (I think he is starting to get a little bit to the teething stage). I know, that onsie is a little tight, I have since retired it. If he had chest hair, it would be showing.

Here come a slew of swimming pictures (I considered cutting a few, but as Aaron reminded me- people like pictures.) This is his swimming outfit. He is the Ugly Betty of the swimming world.

He did really well in the water. He stayed in with Aaron for about 30 minutes.

Isn't his hair out of control??? There is not much I can do about it- or that's what I tell myself at least. And, besides, I love it. His pose here is fantastic.

He and Aaron were so cute. He loves his Daddy.

Notice the hair again.Daniel eating for the first time. He usually does pretty well, though at this point he was saying, "Stop torturing me and give me a bottle!!!"We had a video of him rolling over, but it is MIA. sad.

We took family pictures today just for kicks (we were all dressed up, so why not?)

I just love this picture. He looks so old!!

The many names and faces of Daniel

As promised, here are pictures of Daniel. I know that's all you really want, so here you go. ;)

P.S. I am not a big fan of slide shows, so there is just about a bazzilion pictures. Sorry the post is so huge.

We have many different names for Daniel. First, and foremost, Daniel.

Aaron calls him Danny-boy (not my favorite- he is only a solid Daniel, no "ee" about it)This is The Daniel (his signature move- one arm up in the air)Stinky Face- though admittedly he is the opposite of stinky in this picture. But, seriously this kid farts all the time. It cracks us up. I really do call him Stinky Face by the way.Cutie Face.

Not a name here, but he has a volleyball. Pill Butt. Look at his shirt, need I say more? I know, he doesn't look like a Pill Butt, but trust me, he can be.His Indian name: Likes to be held

Buddy (this is the closest picture we have to him smiling) Handsome Boy.Cutie FaceSad Face. I know, what great parents we are- he is crying with his face in the floor and we grab a camera.

No name here- this is the "seriously mom?" face. I know it's June, but he will have grown out of it by Christmas.Cutie Face x2. He likes to put his hand up like that and it makes my heart melt. I know they are pretty much the same picture, but I couldn't decide which one was better.Boyfriend. These are definitely the two most important boys in my life.
Have I said Cutie Face?

A tale of two mountains

For those of you that do not know, I have the blessing of being the Young Men's president in our ward. One of the many perks of this responsibility is the opportunity to accompany the priests on their annual summer campout. This year we had decided to take on an ambitious backpacking trip to Granddaddy Lake, located in the Uinta mountains 50 miles from Heber City,Utah. I have never been on a true backpacking trip and thus had to accumulate all sorts of fun gear. Needless to say having to pack everything in and out on your own back makes camping a bit more difficult. Much to my satisfaction I used every piece of equipment that I purchased and added to my 50+ pound pack. I was prepared and ready to conquer the wilderness and embrace the unique personalities and antics of the 6 teenage boys that somebody deemed me worthy to be responsible for.
It was with this optimism that we embarked on our outing at 3:30 AM. Nine and a half hours later we spilled out of our two vehicles disregarded the rain we had driven through, stared down the thunderheads looming over the mountains, threw our packs over our shoulders and attacked the trail to Granddaddy Lake. Three hours later after about five miles of trudging through snow banks and mud and occasionally having to hunt down the trail, we found our camp and began to pitch our tents in the beginnings of a light snow/hailstorm. That was about the best the weather got during our Uinta experience.
For two nights and two days we toughed out the unpredictable, but always cold, weather of brief sun, snow, then hail, then overcast, and then a teaser of sun again.
We fished and caught some beautiful trout, but once many of us realized we had just donned our last dry article of clothing we threw in the towel and retreated to the comforts of the Ripplinger cabin in Pine Valley.
Despite the change in plans I still call the trip a success. The boys learned that they can weather some pretty rugged conditions and we also came to value some of the simpler comforts that we may have previously taken for granted. (Like a dry pair of socks) Below are some pictures from our trip. I think that you will be able to tell from our attire and the surroundings which are from the Uintas and which are from Pine Valley.

Excuses

I know I have not posted in eons, and I apologize. I don't know how all you women with children do anything. I have only one and feel like I've accomplished something if I have showered that day. The only reason I am blogging now is because I'm at work, and I happen to be having a pretty good night (I hope I'm not jinxing myself). But I do promise to post something with pictures soon (withing the year- ;)).

Daniel is doing wonderful- he is such a chunk. He's almost already doubled his birth weight and he's only 2 1/2 months old. What can I say? He's like his mom- he lives to eat. Ü He doesn't sleep much during the day (like 30 min stretches here and there), which is also why I haven't posted and why I am posting at 2 in the morning. I was talking to a friend whose baby slept for two hour naps consistently during the day and I just giggled in that hysterical kind of way because I can't even imagine how beautiful that would be. BUT (and that's a big but) Daniel does sleep pretty well at night- about a 5-6h stretch and then goes back down right after, which is fabulous because if he did what he does during the day I would probably cry all the time.

Aaron is amazing. I don't know how I got so lucky to marry that man. He is a great dad. People at work always ask if I worry when I'm not there with the baby. I truly don't worry at all because I know Aaron's got it covered (don't get me wrong- I miss Daniel incredibly, but I know he's in good hands). In fact, I sometimes don't wake up at night when Daniel is crying because it's Aaron's "turn" and I know he will wake up. I do wake up if I know Aaron is not going to (I'm not the worst mom ever).

K I have to go work now. I promise pictures are coming.