Bugs

The girls had a great time dressing up today and flying around the house. Ryan was supposed to be a caterpillar in a cocoon, but Steve thought he looked like he was flying in the sky, so he added his own interpretation (as you can see). Just a bunch of silliness, really.

Antics

I keep wanting to take more pictures, but it just doesn't seem to happen. I have a few fun ideas that I hope to get done soon. But in the meantime... Here are a few pictures of what my silly kids have been doing lately.

Geoff and Emily just mailed this dress back to me (I think it's a 9 month outfit) and the girls got hold of it. Sarah loves to dress up and was more than willing to go along with Ellie's scheme.

Speaking of schemes, poor Camo was rooked into this one. They tried to get Daisy as well, but she got away.

Ellie wanted me to take her picture. Not only is she acting like a little mother, but the crazy hair kind of looks like I feel most days, too :) She is very good about getting Ryan out of bed and bringing him downstairs for me when I ask her to. (Steve calls those nightgowns "man dresses")

Ryan has been very social and giving me HUGE smiles lately. For some reason the pictures I take don't do it complete justice, but he's just so cute! And check out those chins!

And I thought this was really sweet. The girls were watching a movie and Steve put Ryan down next to Katie. She is extremely gentle with him and he is always smiling at her.

Diet +

To start off, I will say that Ryan is a very sweet little baby. Very even-tempered and now that he's smiling and talking more it's so fun to be around him. BUT... that's when I'm careful about my diet. I was looking at those pictures that I had posted last time and noticed how splotchy Ryan's face was in a couple of them. That is because not only does he have food sensitivities, but it makes his face/chest break out in that horrible rash. When I eat bad, he has horrible colic and we are all miserable. When I avoid those foods, it's heavenly with him. But get this list of foods I can't eat (these are the ones I know for sure): chocolate, strawberries, tomatoes, garlic, onion and any kind of nuts. That seriously complicates matters, as almost every dish I cook has onion and garlic in them! I've been eating a lot of salads lately. And golden oreos (my non-chocolate fix)... which is why I'm probably not losing any of the baby weight? Yeah, I need to not buy those any more.

We went down to the Oklahoma Temple last week, which was really fun. Winter Quarters was closed for cleaning, so we drove the extra distance (just over 4 hours). We stayed the night Thursday then went to the temple Friday and switched with 2 other couples for babysitting. At one point we had 10 kids that we were watching. Pretty crazy! It's always nice to be able to be in the temple, though. It's nice that we're able to get there once a month, even with the long distances we have to drive.

I had a change in callings at church again. I was released as the Primary pianist (again- extra bummed about it) and called as a Gospel Doctrine teacher (2 teachers rotate weeks). I enjoy teaching, so I was excited about this calling. Funny thing is, though- I might only end up teaching 2 lessons total before we move, as we have General Conference and then Stake Conference in April. I am really anxious about our move and excited for our next stage in life.

Smile

Today I finally caught it- the smile. Ryan has been smiling at Steve for almost 2 weeks now (he's smiling at Steve in this picture). Today was the first time he actually smiled at me other than little half-smiles. But I won't hold it against him :-)

Here are a couple pictures from Ryan's blessing day, too.



And yesterday Ryan got his first haircut. Yes, you might think that 5 weeks old is a little early to be going for that military cut, but I think the pictures will prove why I agreed to this drastic measure.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B: