Baggy clothes are ok, but...

This morning I put Jay in his first size 3 diaper, and after a certain amount of leakage, I have concluded that baggy clothes are ok, but baggy diapers are not. Must switch down a size. (He had Costco brand diapers which are called size 1-2, so when those got too small, I naturally thought he should be a size 3... but NEGATIVE). Those big diapers sure do look funny, though!!!

"It's eating me up!"

Who can resist those dimples?? I think I may kiss his cheeks a thousand times a day!

Cute all over! (in the background that's a picture of Jay's favorite missionary-- Uncle Brad! Jay loves looking at it and trying to take it off the wall)

MUNCHkin

Jay had his 4 month check-up a week ago, and here's the result: he's healthy, the doctor said he had impressive neck and leg strength (he loves standing up), 2 more shots (booohoooooo-- I had to hold him down!! cruel torture for mother AND child!), and he weighs 15 lbs 3 oz (30th percentile) and is 25 3/4 inches tall (54th percentile). What a nice NORMAL baby!!! This may have been the first time he didn't pee on his doctor!! We just got him his first box of size 3 diapers, and he is wearing clothes from size 3 months all the way up to 12 months now!! My baby is growing up! *snifff* But he's SO much FUN--it seems like he does something new every day! Here's photographic evidence of what our Sweet Baby Jay has been up to... (sounds like a good BBQ sauce, huh?)

Sometimes when I make dinner, I put Jay in the clip-on high chair. It still kind of swallows him up, but he likes watching me dash around the kitchen, frantically mixing, pouring, and whipping like the absentminded cook I am. Well, when I looked over the other day, Jay was gnawing on the edge of the counter with his two sharp bottom teeth. It cracked me up!! (don't worry--I put a towel under his mouth for protection after this picture)

Jay is definitely a little MUNCHER now-- he grabs whatever we hold in front of him and puts it straight into his mouth. Sometimes he skips the "grabbing" step and just lunges with his mouth like a dog! It makes me laugh. This little guy also started reaching for my glass of water when I drink while he's on my lap. So, I shared with him the other day, and, after he spluttered and gasped, he thought it was the best thing ever and reached for more!!

Last weekend, it got really really cold and rainy here, so I thought we had skipped the nice fall weather and jumped straight into winter. Jay's only hats were his newborn sized ones, which are like trying to put a balloon on a watermelon now, since his head has grown nearly 4 inches in circumference since birth. SO, in the spirit of recycling, thrifty-ness, cleverness, and craftiness, I pieced together scraps of fleece from Jeff's t-shirt quilt and made him a hat! (And right when I finished it, the sun came out and it's been in the high 60s ever since...)

We Love VISITS!

Last weekend, Jay and I went on a little trip to Seattle to visit my family! (Jeff had school) It was so fun to just hang out with Mom, Dad, Mel, and Kyle! We had lots of tasty homemade dinners, courtesy of Mother Dear, we watched General Conference, went to Costco, went to Mel's basketball game, played Pick Two (Jay and I won 3 times out of 5!), we had take out Thai food (mmmm), and rented the Hannah Montana movie (way better than I thought it would be, but still cheesy). Jay just soaked up all the extra love and attention. He really loved it when my Mom did a funny voice and said "Babyyyyy!" -- he even smiled when she did it on the phone yesterday!

Jay did pretty well on the 4 1/2 hour drive until we were in that barren stretch between Yakima and Ellensburg (NO exits in sight). Then, he decided it was lunch time. So, I took the first exit I could find... a "View Point." What is this a view of?

Jay wasn't pulling his weight back there asleep, so I made him do some driving...

I must admit, I was looking forward to some nice rain, since it has only rained in Walla Walla once since Jay was born. Well, it rained for like an hour all the time I was in Seattle--- the rest of the time it was gorgeous and blue and fluffy out there. I was glad anyways, though, because I got to enjoy the lovely green trails!

We went to Mel's basketball game, and it was Jay's first ever!

He wasn't too excited about all of that cheering and those screeching whistles! He made this same face when the primary kids were belting out "How Firm a Foundation" at church yesterday--too loud!

Go Mel GO! She's gooooood

Mel trudged though mountains of homework and then played with Jay as much as possible. What a good auntie!

yummy baby ribs!

Welcome, Donut Month!!!

It has finally cooled off here!! Once October hit, the temperature dropped from the mid 80s to the mid 40s. BURR! We have a little bakery next door, and it always smells like fresh bread and donuts in the mornings. So, in honor of donut month, we walked over and sampled their donuts. Maybe they would have been better if we had gotten there at 6 am when they're really really fresh... Now I'm hunting for some Krispy Kremes...

Commemorating the first donut of the season... I think Jay wants a bite!

Saturday morning, while Jeff was volunteering at a cross country meet, I bundled Jay up and we went for a run. Wow, that first COLD run of the season is always a shock. I was paranoid about Jay getting too cold, so I think I mummified him in fleece and fur...

I put a sweatshirt and a hat on him, and then zipped him up in Jeff's fleece jacket...

Last, but not least, I tucked in this fuzzy thick blanket. The whole run I was scared he was freezing to death, but when I took him out of the stroller, his little body was SUPER warm! (all but that red little nose...)

Happy Little Helper

When you have to trek across the parking lot to do laundry, you have to be creative...

Don't worry, this is clean laundry!

Lounging in the laundry never looked so fun!

Waking up from one of his short naps

little charmer

Little zombie in the giant underwear

Jay tried out a Johnny Jump Up for the first time this week, and I couldn't help thinking that it looks like giant underwear swallowing him whole! He's a tad too short for the "underwear," so his arms stick straight out. It cracks me up! He hasn't figured out that he can jump in it yet, so mostly he just hangs out and drools a lot...

"I love church!" ...this really means "I love the hallways at church!"

I love my little Joseph ARGYLE White!

Keeping it Real...

Since we've been married, Jeff and I have never lived in one place for more than a few months, so why start now? This week we moved 2 blocks away to an apartment that is $110 cheaper per month than our good ole Birch Street apartment. As always, moving was a big pain!! Since it was so close, we didn't bother with boxes. We just heaped stuff in the car. Jeff got sick the day of the move, so I had to be macho mama and help our friend lift and maneuver our heavy couch and bed out of one apartment, into his pickup truck, and into our new place!!! It was SO HARD! Last time we moved, though, I was 7 months pregnant, and Jeff did everything...so I guess it was my turn? I pretty much moved ALL of our worldly possessions in about a million little carloads. Let's face it, a Honda Civic is no moving van...

All of our kitchen stuff (food, dishes, etc.) took a whole car load! And I thought we didn't have any food storage...

Our freshly organized apartment, complete with sick husband.

Check out our sweet retro oven/stove unit!!! It works just fine--that bread to the right is proof

Our library, minus the bookshelf that we keep in Jay's room. We need to add more pleasure reading to it. Right now it's mostly a reference section plus Harry Potter, thanks to Jeff's history/philosophy studies and my Spanish degree.

And it wouldn't be a true blog post without a few pictures of our little sweetface! Jay rode in the jogging stroller without the carseat for the first time this week, and he loved it!

He may not be crawling yet, but boy can this boy migrate in his sleep! He started sleeping best on his tummy right when he learned how to roll over a few weeks ago. I think he now traverses the length of his crib a few times each night!

I love my baby! Can you see his teeth?

Check out those chompers!

Buff Baby

"Drop and give me 20!"

As if the 2 teeth he sprouted last week weren't enough, Jay has started to lift his head high and push off of his arms while on his tummy! My baby is growing up! He is getting so strong. And he's getting heavier so he's making me get stronger too! I attempted to take pictures of his sweet new moves this afternoon, but alas, the pathetic low lighting of our apartment did nothing to improve my limited photography skills. Plus, Jay is rarely still long enough for a good focused picture:

Happy!

He looks UP at us when we're standing over him

Jay has also started using his hands-- he still only grabs these two toys when they're hanging right above his hands, but it keeps him entertained.

He can really go to town on the bouncy chair with the toys--everything moves!

Labor Day Weekend: an ode to Steph

Thursday, September 3rd, we packed up our trusty, rather dusty little Honda Civic and drove the 9 hours to Salt Lake City, Utah. Jay slept most of the way. Jeff's sister Steph kindly let us stay at her apartment. When we asked her if we could visit, we merely requested 2 1/2 pieces of her floor-- one for me, one for Jeff, and half for Jay. When we got there, Steph gave us HER OWN BED and slept on the floor herself! Of course, Jay chose this weekend to sprout his first 2 teeth. A teething baby after a long day in the car made sleeping before 1am rather difficult on Thursday night. Jay yelled nonstop for a few hours after we arrived! Steph was a very patient host. Not only was she patient with her wailing nephew, she also made us yummy breakfasts, took us out to eat, and hiked lots of trails with us. THANK YOU STEPH!

Our first hike--Jay LOVED it!

Grandma Kay (Jay's great-grandma) went out to lunch with us. We helped her get started on Facebook, and she needed a profile picture-- so we took one!

Steph took us to Frogurt for some yummy frozen yogurt. mmmmm!

Saturday night was Laurs and Chris Snow's wedding open house. It was SO good to see my best friend so HAPPY and married! It was also fun to see a few good ole SVU friends who were there.

Buddies: Liz, me, Midge, and Laurs

Goofy old roomies

Right before my triumphant Blokus victory

Our little family hiking at Brighton-- talk about lack of oxygen!

Lovely aspens along the trail

It was chilly on our hike-- Jay's little nose got cold and his cheeks got rosy!

On Labor Day, Steph, Jeff, and Justin (Steph's man friend) hiked Mt. Olympus. Jay and I stayed behind because, as you can see, the terrain was too treacherous for a baby.

I slipped in the shower and bruised my shin!

On our drive home, we stopped a few times to let Jay exercise. Look at that strong neck! We put his changing pad on the back of the car. Don't worry, we stood right next to him so he didn't fall off!

Teething bites!