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.

ow!

...that's what I thought yesterday morning as John was gnawing on my finger.  so I took a little peek inside of his mouth and, who would have known, there was the top of a little tooth pokin' out of his bottom gums. :) this got several excited squeals from me and another "oh no he's growing up some more" from albert. :)  anyways, we're happy all of his drooling isn't for nothing and that we now have a logical explanation for his horrible sleeping habits as of late. :)

sleeping

this is NOT what johnathan has been doing.  his naps are WAY shorter recently and like i said before, he's been waking up in the middle of the night.  despite this drop in sleep he still manages to get into some pretty interesting positions.

"Johnathan! No! Don't do that!"

^that's what I say most of the time now.  usually it's when he's decided to try to eat albert and I's shoes or our bookbags or a library book or a computer cord. :P
The past month has FLOWN by!
Johnathan has learned how to crawl (he even crawls properly now) and sit up by himself and has started pulling himself up on things (usually this is the side of his crib...or the couch...even the side of the tub if I'm not paying him as much attention to him as he wants me to)

 most of the pictures I have of him are blurry because he's SOOOOO wiggly.

he "bonks" his head a lot more...this usually get's a chorus of "oh yay bonkers!" (or something to that effect) from Albert and I.
He has discovered books and LOVES to chew on them.

and on anything else he can get into his mouth

the crib

Albert's belt

 the lady bug on his toy

 AND the monkey in the tree

 diapers (and his hands) (no worries the diaper is clean, though he tries to go after the dirty ones too)

 small cases with ribbons or cloth stuffed in them

and this is him trying to get my cord...no worries, I didn't let him have it.

 he's talking a LOT more.  :) this is really fun for me because he REALLY likes to talk when it's quiet in the house...which is a lot of the time.  every now and again he'll start making the same noises I make when I'm trying to get him to laugh.  The other day even I was singing a silly song about why I loved him and how much I loved him and every now and again at the start I would go "ooh!" or "ah!" and when I stopped doing that part, he would randomly come in at the right moment and do it for me. :)  SOOOOOO cute!  Recently he's starting trying to say "la" and studies my mouth very hard when I'm saying it.  usually he just get clicking noises, which frustrates him, but is still pretty cute to me.

He's just getting over a bad cold he'd had for about 2 weeks. :(  luckily he LOVED the medicine the dr prescribed for him.
He's wanted to cuddle a lot more at night since getting sick...which isn't so bad cuz he goes to sleep soon after I get home from work anyways. :)  It made me very grateful that we don't have to carry him around for hours to get him to go to sleep like we did back when he was younger.

He still LOVES tub time and splashing and getting water all over me. 

 trying to climb out. :P

he has started to feed himself some.  in the mornings (when i'm eating my breakfast) I'll break up a piece of bread on his tray and put a few pieces within his reach at a time (otherwise he'd stuff the whole thing in his mouth at the same time silly kid).  Albert likes this better than cheerios (which Johnathan has choked on a couple of times).

we discovered that, while he still hates meats just plain, he'll eat the mixed veggies and meats (like the chicken noodle soup and stuff) and LOVES it...I have yet to try mixing the bottles of meat with a bottle of carrots or other veggie...we'll see how that goes.

I guess part of me thought Johnny being able to miss me would be a little happy for me or something, but I now know that part was confused.  Often when I leave the room (or even if Albert leaves the room while I'm still there or if I leave the room while Albert's still there) he starts crying.  and I think "dude, you just saw me, I'll be right back I JUST TOLD YOU that I'll be right back...ugh!"  anyways...every now and again he'll wake up in the middle of the night in hysterics because I'm not right there. :P  I guess it means he loves me right?

Talking about his sleeping habits, for the past 2 nights he's half woken up (eyes still closed and not just cuz he's screaming) and decided he just wants to scream at the top of his lungs AND vocal range for 1/2 an hour to an hour at a time.  feeding him doesn't work very well...Last night he did it while Albert was home (luckily it was right before we went to bed instead of in the middle of me sleeping like the night before) and turns out he just really wants his back patted and to be stood up with (just like he did when he was a little baby)...so I ended up rocking him on the couch and singing him children's hymns.  

As of yesterday, Johnathan has just barely started trying to inch along the edge of something he's standing against (this did NOT make albert very happy haha.  poor guy wants our son to never grow up)  he doesn't do it very well yet, but he does it.

I've decided to give him an actual "bed time" now...so if he's not eating or sleeping by 10 he just gets put in his bed...luckily that's when he's usually tired anyways so I haven't had any problems making that time work.

that's about it that's new for Johnathan...

As for albert and I...hmmm...we got a new entertainment system...

and a new bookshelf (the last tall one broke while albert was moving it as he was reorganizing the living room to fit the entertainment system).

  We were really proud of ourselves for finding both of these for under $300 yay!  anyways yep

Albert's super stressed out this week because he has THREE big tests to take.  (poor guy)

Next week is my spring break (Albert's excited to be able to get some extra homework done, I'm excited to not have to endure my math class)

Someone left their 3g iPhone at the library for a month and didn't pick it up, so now I have a new iPhone....which is used as an iPod cuz we're to cheap to pay for the data plan :P 

because of the large nature of the entertainment system (it takes up a whole wall in our living room...one of the long walls), we gave away one of our couches...the small one person one...

I have OFFICIALLY decided that Papa Johns pizza is WAY better than Pizza Hut pizza (despite their stuffed crust abilities)

other than that...well, we're happy and healthy and loving life and learning and excited for this summer because Albert is FINALLY taking a break from school and he won't have any GOOD excuses for not doing fun things outside. :D

hope you enjoyed the many pictures!

*insert creative title here*

So, apparently my camera is lost...or else I'd be posting a lot more pictures/videos on here.  anyways, we've been enjoying Johnathan learning about Cheerios.  I sit him in his high chair while I'm cooking/cleaning in the kitchen and put a handful of cheerios on his tray...it's been really fun to watch as he tries to learn how to get them in his mouth.  He's getting WAY better at his pincer grasp, but still struggles with actually getting it in his fingers in such a way that he can get the cheerio in his mouth.  usually he ends up with just his thumb in his mouth. :)  lol it's really fun to watch him and see his face go "dang it!  I didn't get it again!"  every now and again he succeeds...though usually the cheerio comes right out again...still it was in his mouth.  Sometimes he chokes (it's happened maybe 2-3 times so far...which makes Albert not want to give him cheerios anymore, but the boy has got to learn sometime) but that's why I'm always right there in the room with him.
Also recently, we've been experimenting with giving Johnathan meats.  he hates them with a fiery burning passion.  he even refuses to swallow.  I even tried sneaking a little bit in with his carrots. it did NOT go over well...and then it took a bit for him to trust that I was giving him just carrots.  ah well.
Johnathan has also started getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth (crawling here we come!).  it's really amusing to me to see him act like he's going to go really far and then kind of just drop on his stomach. :)  cute kid.  videos to come...maybe I can convince Albert to take some on his phone while I'm at work today. :)
     Oh!  last night I peeked in on John before we went to bed and found him dead asleep, but using the crib bumper (pulled down a little) as a pillow.  didn't get a picture of it unfortunately. :P  sorry.
     I'm feeling mostly positive about my schooling right now.  I've gotten almost all 100s on all of my quizzes in my Stress management class and I got a 98% on my first math test! yay!  (though right now my math class leaves me feeling REALLY bored...that's what happens when you understand the math and the teacher is REALLY disorganized and scatter brained and probably adhd and really doesn't try to do anything to make class interesting.)  Albert also feels like he's done really well in his classes so far. :)  though he's a little sick right now. :(  he's ended up missing the past 3 days of work, and forcing himself to go to classes so he doesn't miss any of the work and get behind.  but he's starting to feel a little better...I think.
anyways. that's us!  excited for Valentine's Day!  loving life and our little boy and each other! :)

7 months!!

wow.  time flies when you're chasing a little one around the living room floor. So, little Johnny boy is growing up. it's crazy how fast it happens.  I found a great quote/poem:

I hope my children 

look back on today

And see a mother 

who had time to play

There will be years 

for cleaning and cooking...

For children grow up 

when we're not looking.

yep.  I'm pretty sure sometime soon I'll take the time to cross stitch it or something...but I really want to put it up in my house...or at least in Johnny's bedroom.
Johnathan LOVES to kick his legs around (not that he didn't before...especially while he was inside me)...he'd stopped doing it as much for a while but now he's throwing his legs around like nobody's business...which is usually ok because we don't have any downstairs neighbors to complain about all the thumping...I just feel bad when we're in the mother's room at church and Johnathan is throwing his legs around on top of the changing area and there are other babies in there who are falling asleep...yeah.
Johnathan is also pushing up onto his knees a LOT more...and rolling around everywhere and scooting in circles and it's CRAZY! yep.
Johnathan has decided to giggle a lot more.  this morning I spent a good half hour laughing with him (he likes to laugh when I talking in growly voices or really squeaky ones...and when I laugh) and . :)  the other day he was even laughing in his sleep...which was a little pitiful because he was quite sick at the time (really runny nose and a bad cough).   anyway, here's a video of Albert getting John to laugh. :)

-john is now a lot better at seeing what he wants and doing everything to get it.  he can scoot a little and roll and turn himself around on his tummy.  this makes tub time very...interesting...and wet outside the tub.

-he has decided he doesn't like green beans and his current favorite toy is a little giraffe that I brought home from the library (washed MANY times before given to him of course since it was in the lost and found).

-he's still working on sitting up

-he LOVES to play with wipes and diapers (dirty and clean haha)

-he still really loves to cuddle.

-he's started reaching for us more when he wants to be picked up (which is way cute and usually works on at least me)

-still no teeth, though he drools all the time and almost always has something in his mouth...unfortunately, unless he has a toy in his hands (and sometimes even when he does have one) the thing in his mouth is usually his thumb...yeah, we're working on breaking that.

-he still hasn't started crawling yet, but that's ok.

-he is always trying to taste my food...so I let him...as long as albert's not there to stop me. ;)

-he loves playing with albert's text books...which are basically only out when Albert is studying so...yeah...doesn't make daddy too happy. :P

-he has begun pulling himself up into a sitting position...usually on the side of his crib.

-he's been sick this past week with a stuffy/runny nose and a bad cold, but he's on the up-and-up now.  earlier this week he would cough and then start crying because his throat was so sore from all the coughing.  he still gets snot bubbles in his nose, but he's not coughing even a fourth as much as he was before and he's not sneezing as much and his nose isn't running...just a little stuffed.  most of this progress was in the past day...I'm thanking the humidifier and patty-patties on the back.  so yeah.  I had a MUCH happier baby this morning...which made me happy which means Albert will be happy which means our whole little family will be happy, but unfortunately doesn't mean that Albert won't have a TON of homework to do tonight or that I get to skip class and work.  but at least we're happy today right?!

-John can now hold his own bottle...he's not very good at getting it in his mouth well enough to drink, but he can hold it and chew on it...

(that's the rare case when he actually has managed to keep the bottle in his mouth for a while haha)

so updates on Albert and I:

-I've ended up taking Johnathan with me to my stress management class on fridays almost every week now because albert is busy...and he was going to take John THIS week...only he has a "wet lab" so john isn't allowed in there. :P  next week!

-Albert got a job as a Chem 107 TA!!!! yay!!! now our only problem is trying to find his Chem 107 stuff...ugh.  Unfortunately, he'll only be working about 5 hours at this job, so he still has to keep his janitor job. :(  he says he's going to have me help with some of the grading...I told him he has to pay me...in chocolate...he hasn't gotten back to me on that. heh heh.

-I don't think there's anything else new...if I think of it I'll probably just post again. :)