Graduation.

So, I finally officially have a college degree. :)  But it's only my Associates.  Still, some degree is better than none, right?  Anyways, I've officially graduated.  No, I didn't walk across a stage or take any cap-and-gown pictures.  I'm just graduated.  :)  Yes, I still plan on getting my Bachelors and then Masters...I'm just waiting until after Albert's done with school and until our children are a little more grown up. So yep! Here's some cute pictures of Johnathan.

 (patting the grass and a dandelion)

(playing with my cousin and her husband and another cousin's daughter.)

 (he LOVES his toothbrush)

 (first time with a sippy cup)

(we're pretty sure Johnathan is going to be a GREAT student because he just wouldn't leave our school books alone. :P   )

That's all for now.  Tune in next week for more pictures and possibly a video of what Johnathan does when I get home from work. :)

playing outside

So I took the footage back at the start of the month...I just hadn't put it together until today. enjoy!

happiness

things that make me happy today:
-the way Johnathan lays his head on my shoulder when I pick him up out of his bed.
-knowing that Albert is done with finals.
-John's grin he gets when I give him a big kiss on the cheek.
-Orange Chicken!!!
-Raisin Bran (which is probably like my very favorite cereal EVER...yes, I would sometimes even choose it over Cinnamon Toast Crunch.)
-Johnathan getting excited when I come home from work
-John saying "ma" even though it's not in reference to me...still...at least he's saying it.
-watching my adorable little boy's face light up when he catches me watching him.
-the look on John's face when I go into his room when he's just woken up from a nap/sleeping and isn't screaming his head off.
-getting Johnathan to laugh at me.
-finishing my papers (which I'm procrastinating by writing this)
-"talking" with John (huh, I bet you can't tell that Johnathan makes me happy)
-the idea that I have a butter finger that I could eat RIGHT NOW if I wanted...but I'm possibly going to be saving it for until I'm done with finals.
-the idea that Albert and I are going to go to Trifalga next week in honor of me graduating. :)
-plotting tickle battles...made even more fun/happy by the thought that I'm the least ticklish member of my 3-person family. :)
-hearts <3
-Cheerios (cuz they make John so happy)
-having ground beef in my freezer for the first time in FOREVER (we were waiting for it to go on sale, no worries we still had chicken)
-meatloaf
-my guitar (I'm planning on playing it sometime today)
-not having to ride the bus.
-a fixed car (all thanks to Thad)
-John trying to find clever ways to steal my glasses (yesterday he tricked me by not looking at me then reaching out and grabbing them without looking.  :P  he's getting clever)
-Johnathan playing with my hands (he likes thumping them on his tray, especially my left hand cuz my ring clicks loudly)
-john copying my speech patterns or the rhythms in which I say words.
-the elevator in the CS building already being up on the 6th floor and open right when I get there so I can take it down to my class.
-knowing I don't have any more math homework.
-the way a room looks right after I've cleaned it.
-compromises
-being alive.
-knowing that my Father in Heaven loves me, despite everything that I do wrong. :)

9 months

     once again, time has flown.  As I started to write this, Johnathan was sitting in his high chair and...well, he was half playing with and half eating his Cheerios... actually they're "toasted oats" (western family) and I don't blame him for just wanting to play with them...they're not as good as real cheerios...they're super bland and don't have ANY kind of sugar to them.  yuck!  who would make such a cereal?!
Anyways...what's new with Johnathan?
-I mentioned last month that he was starting to inch along things...well, now he's cruising along things...nothing is safe on the couch anymore either.
-sometimes he tries to do little pull-ups on things...every now and again he'll get his feet all the way off the ground (just like a few millimeters, but still)

-he's got FOUR teeth now and enjoys rubbing things on his gums...ANYTHING works from seat buckles to my fingers.
-he loves playing peek-a-boo
-every now and again he'll surprise us by copying us.  ie. the other day I was exclaiming "Wahooooo!" and throwing my arms in the air...and he looked interested...so I did it a few times.  then to our surprise he tried to put his arms in the air and said "ooooooooo!!!"  he hasn't really done that since, but it was some progress. :)
-he really likes it when I carry him on my shoulders...which I did for about 15 minutes straight Tuesday (we were walking to the library/byu campus where daddy had parked the car so that I could get him to his Dr. appointment in Orem.)
-he's grown about a pound in the past week.   he's in the 63rd %tile for weight 46th %til3 for height and 7.7th% tile for head circumference....

-he's at the end of getting over ANOTHER cough right now. :P
-finally figured out why Albert's been so hesitant to let me just give Johnathan basically everything...because Johnathan has a high chance of getting Diabetes and so Albert is worried about giving him too many carbs this early on in his life...makes a LOT more sense now.
-he's still talking a lot and smiling a lot
-recently he's started blowing raspberries a lot...
-he's still missing me if I leave the room and makes sure I know that he misses me.  (ugh!)

(this is him pausing in one of his crying fits because I got the camera out)

-he has decided that he now LIKES the baby food meats and has eaten everything we've offered him (though he still refuses peas and beans) he even tasted the lime juice off my finger today (that got a WAY cute face lol)
-Johnathan has decided he likes looking out windows and playing with blinds

...thus his bed is pulled about a foot away from the wall now so that the blinds will stay intact

-he is taking a lot more interest in books and not just to bite on them...he'll now look at the pictures some too. as you can imagine this has made me quite happy. :)
-he likes it when I give him carrot sticks to chew on.

What's new for Albert and I?
-neither of us have any more tests until finals. (well...I have a big project, but that's it)
-We're going to be moving in May...I have mixed feelings about this only because my sister is moving out of the house we're moving into and now she's going all the stinkin' way to PHILADELPHIA!!!  of all the crazy places to go! (love you Ange. I'm just really gonna miss you is all)

-We're pretty sure Albert's laptop got stolen last week (he had it one day, took it to campus, and it was missing the next day), which is sad because it would have happened on BYU campus.  :(  yeah.
-I'm getting excited for Albert to take this spring and summer off from school (this means he won't have a good excuse for not using our passes of all passes whenever I want us to ha!)
-Albert and I went and saw "The Hunger Games" with some friends the night it came out...yeah we ended up going to bed at like 4 in the morning but it was SO worth it!  What an amazing movie!  plus it was the first midnight premier I'd ever been to...not sure if i'd do THAT part again...just for all the busyness.

-My parents were out here this past month and it was really good seeing them :)  at one point dad decided to try to hold Brooklyn, Addie, and Johnathan on his lap at the same time...yeah.

-that's all the new stuff I can think of right now (besides the drunk guy we're waiting to be escorted out of the library as I write this haha).  perhaps I'll post more if I think of anything else.