Half a Year!...and half a month

Hard to believe John is already 6 months old.  He's growing up SOOO much!
Fun things since last month:
-he now can roll over front to back and back to front.  this causes some distress when he decides to show off in the middle of me changing messy diapers and he wants to grab the old diaper.
-he's already started pushing back up onto his knees. :)
-he is trying to blow raspberries.  it's his new favorite thing...he's actually getting pretty good at it. :)
-he got a stuffed polar bear from Aunt Sonia for Christmas that vibrates/shivers when you hug it and he LOVES it when we hug him with it. :)
-he's now getting TWO solid feedings a day...and we've had to start putting rice cereal in with the fruits and veggies so that he'll sleep longer.
-sometimes I  don't even have to hold his hands down while I'm feeding him (he'll keep them down himself)...other times it's a huge battle to keep him from getting carrots or beans or whatever it is I'm feeding him all over the place.
-he loves carrots and green beans still.  we've also found that he likes sweet potatoes and bananas...he's not sure how he feels about apple sauce and will now tolerate peas. (practice for his mission right? haha)
-for his 6 mo. appointment, we found out that his head size was in the 9th percentile and the dr said that that's usually when they start getting a little worried that the bones are sealing up, so we went and got x-rays taken of his head and the dr called that night and said that everything was fine. yay!
-he LOVES the sounds of ducks.  that's what Albert's tone is for when he gets texts...so when he gets texts Johnny's head whips around to find the duck :)

About Albert and I:
-We're back in school!  both of us.  I'm only taking two classes, so it's not that bad, but Albert is taking 14 credits again (ochem, advanced physiology, advanced physiology lab, mission prep, and research).  We're also both working still.  Luckily, we've still worked it out so that he has John when I'm in class or at work and I usually have him when he's in class.
-I applied for a job at one of the reference desks at the library.  if I get it, it will almost double my pay check. the position closed today...and I won't hear if I even get an interview until the last day of the month...ah well...
-Albert also was told about a TA opening for Chem 107.  and the hours fit PERFECTLY into his schedule...he hasn't heard anything back about it yet, but the teacher specifically asked him to apply for the job. :)
-When the Dr. was talking to us about John's head size, he measured our heads (apparently the children follow one parent or the other).  my head was in the 25th percentile and Albert's was in the 98th percentile. haha.  so John is getting my head size. :)
-Albert's mom and I decided that Johnathan's first birthday was going to be Cars themed.  and while it's a tradition for Albert's family to have tres leches cake at birthdays, my family always has had the tradition of a homemade cake...so we're doing both...and I wanted to make a car-shaped cake for Johnathan...so I started practicing.  and this is my first (and not so beautiful) attempt.

-So yeah. :)  we're good.  and happy.  loving life. :)  eating cookies and dipping them in delicious milk. :) yep.  life is wonderful.
sorry that there weren't very many pictures this time...

Sometimes I feel like I'm breathing water...

...That's what Virginia feels like.
but it's a good feeling.  like "wow my lungs are acutally getting enough oxygen...unlike in Utah...where my asthma freaks out and I can't even get through one dance on the "just dance" game without being out of breath at the end (even with taking zyrtec)".  wonderful eh?
Anyways.
so we went to Virginia!  and it was fun!!!  We ate lots of good food and sang lots of songs and played a lot of games (yatzee, curses, monopoly) and did lots of puzzles and ate lots of yummy sugary things...and were generally quite happy. :)
day one began with a jam session in the living room on the keyboard...mom played the drums. :)  I think I mentioned that before...It was just really interesting to see my mom doing that.  anyways.  yeah, most of the day we were doing something related to music either showing lyrics or playing guitar or piano or singing or dancing.
day two we...I don't remember everything we did.  haha!  more singing... I went to the library with Beef and showed off my child. :) I laughed at how small the library was.  though it's not as small as I remember it being...still...it's a LOT smaller than the Provo Library.
day three, I convinced Albert to play football with my brothers which ended in damage to his clothing and his body (scrapes on his knees, small cuts on the palms of his hands and a blood-blister on his thumb...nothing to hinder his career as a surgeon).
on day 4 the boys all went to a scout campy thing and taught the scouts how to do things like make rope (albert was in charge of that one) and lashing and...I'm not sure what else...scouty stuff I guess. like hot dog burning.  that night we had a family dance...which was way fun because Albert and I danced a lot. :)  and then John woke up cuz it was a little loud (we like to party!) and then everyone went to bed.
day 5 was New Years Eve...we woke up and had pancakes...I love pancakes...and my mom had grape syrup...I also love grape syrup...and powdered sugar. yummy. :)  anyways, while albert slept a little more, I built a rocket.  not a very big one...well, it was bigger than some of the rockets built that day, but still not very big.  anyways.  my family has this crazy fun tradition of launching home-made rockets on new years (or in this case new-years eve).  So yeah.  I made our rocket.  :)  I was in a pyromaniac mood so I added bottle rockets in addition to the regular rocket motor.  I am pleased to announce that everything worked perfectly...exempt for the fact that the rocket went sideways..but you know, it was a good job for spending only about 1/2 an hour on it...maybe less...idk.  anyways. yep!  we launched rockets and Albert and I took a little trip downtown to take a peak in a little shop called "the Blue Piano" that we'd gone to on our way back to my parents' house the day after we'd gotten married and didn't find anything we wanted to buy, but enjoyed looking.  that night we had Pinos' pizza.  fact: Pino's pizza is basically one of THE BEST pizza places in the world...second only to Papa Johns and Pizza Hut (if the combined and made Papa John's pizza with stuffed crust).  Anyways. the pizza was good.  We all stayed up until midnight doing random things...dad and I sat at the piano and played and sung for a bit, there was a bonfire in the back yard and we roasted marshmallows (ok TECHNICALLY they were just called "Mallows"), and we ate a TON of icecream (albert ate the last banana), we almost finished the puzzle my brother Michael sent us and then we had a little bit of a dance party which quickly turned into sit around and sing the music party.  At midnight we cheered and popped balloons and then went to bed (yay!)
on day 6 (sunday) we got up, had waffles (long family tradition), and then went off to church.  there I experienced the goodness that is being in a small branch.  I was asked to give the opening prayer AND speak in sacrament meeting. :)  good ol' Lawrenceville Branch.  Anyways, when we got back home after church, we had delicious grilled cheese sandwiches and applesauce and tomato soup. :)  after that, Albert and I hurriedly packed our bags and then went out the door.
At the airport, Johnathan decided that he was going to already start being a little fussy. yeah wonderful right? about 45 minutes into the trip he fell asleep...and slept for about half an hour and then woke up for the short little part left of the flight into Chicago Midway.  when we arrived we went to our gate and found that our plane was starting to board.  which was not very fun for me because I really would have liked to have been able to use the restroom and change Johnathan's diaper...but we didn't have time.  so we got on the plane and 1/2 an hour into the flight John fell asleep...on my chest...and if I moved at all he started waking up (which we really didn't want) so....I spent that flight thanking my lucky stars that I'd had lots of practice distracting myself from my bladder all those years when I realized I had to go to the bathroom 10 minutes into the 4 hour drive up to grandma and grandpa's house... yeah...anyways.  I also slept a good part of the trip, which was nice... :)

 Keedz hugging John (they're going to be best cousin-friends I'm sure of it)

Albert played football, tripped in the flowerbed and tore his pants all up. :) good thing we'd just bought him some new ones!

 Albert let me cut his hair!!!!!!!!!! :) and mom's face looks dorky haha! I was REALLY nervous about using the razor.

 john during the hair cut. :)  so cute!

 in the end, albert was actually happy with the haircut and he even agreed to let me cut his hair again. :)  though honestly, the cut wouldn't have been so successful if my mom hadn't been helping me...and she helped A LOT

My dad, Keedz and John. :)

 Matt and his two adorable girls...and john's head in the bottom right corner.

 John dancing with Tiffany during rocket making.

 the Helsing Family Rocket...called 'The Vampire Slayer' because I'm dorky like that haha.

Puppy trying to grab the rocket as it was about to launch. crazy dog...also Hailey taking a picture

 Riding on the plane...John likes his pacifier.

aw!  two sleeping boys. :)  John decided to be nice to us and sleep most of the way home on the plane...unfortunately he slept the most on the second flight while I was holding him...and we'd had to run to get on the plane from our first plane...and I had needed to go to the bathroom...ugh!  ah well...good thing I practiced a lot as a child. :P

Some awesome quotes/happenings in VA:

Brian was standing with the door open.  and I went over to make him close it because...well, it was cold.  As I went towards him, Brian backed out the door onto the porch and closed the door...I laughed and locked the dead bolt. heh heh.  Josh then unlocked it and then opened the door. Brian came in and stated "as you locked the door, I realized that that was a bad move on my part.  Good thing I have a twin" as he walked away, Josh leaned over to me and whispered "yeah, my plan is to do all the good things now, then punch him in the back later haha!"

Will tripped over the piano bench and Brian asked what he could do for him.  Will replied "go get me a treat out of your stocking"

"I'm aware...house.  I'm a warehouse!" -beef

"You catch this with your face, I'll give you a prize" -matt

the first time mom gave me $100 on new years! quick! quick! -TIFFANY


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!