Roll Baby Roll!!

That's right Aaron rolled over for the first time on Thur 18th from his front to his back! I got wondering if I actually let him have enough time on the floor to actually work on these skills so I made a conscious effort and he would twist and kick. I had just sat down to the computer and put him on the floor behind me when I saw him doing this and thought it would be a good picture....
Then I helped him roll to his tummy and he flopped right back over. We did this 4 times! Miriam of course loved it and tried to help too. It was interesting taking still pictures mid-roll. "What you looking at? Me! I know I'm great!"
Miriam posing and wanting to be in the middle of everything. Aaron is so strong and as you can see has no troubles holding his head up! When we were in Delta a couple of days later he rolled from his back to his front for Grandma and dad. Of course he hasn't managed to do it since.

Happy wake up!

Typically when Miriam wakes up, everyone in the house knows. She will start with a moan but quickly escalate into more of a yell. Well the other morning I thought I heard something from her room. I decided she must be waking up, so I went in quickly to get her so Jessica could stay sleeping. As soon as I opened the door, it was clear that she was awake, but she was happy. I look over at her, and she had a doll tucked under one arm, and a care bear tucked under the other. And She would mutter something will shaking one arm, then turn her head to the other one, and mutter something as shook that one. So she had them talking to each other. Then she looked up at me and said 'Helloo!' all sweet and happy! Oh if that would happen every morning!

Max's Baby Blessing

Aaron is lucky enough to have a cousin that was born almost exactly 1 week before him- Maxwell Henry Jones or just Max. Max was born Aug 4 at 7:30 am to Marshall and Melissa; Aaron was born Aug 11 at 5:40 am. It will be fun to watch them grow up together being so close in age. Here they are with Grandma and Grandpa on Aug 23 when they were 2 and 3 weeks old. Max was blessed on Oct 11. We actually missed church by a miscalculation of time between the two church times, but enjoyed the family party after. Especially the chance to get Aaron's picture with his great grandparents as none of them made it to his blessing.

The Jones crew: Russ' parents Sherman and Merle, Merle's mother, Grandma Ada, Russ and Deb (5 generations).

The Johnson crew: Deb's parents Hal and Martha, and brother/nephew Sean.

I wish we had gotten a picture of the 2 boys in their blessing outfits together and also with their dads- oh well.

New Target Pictures

It was picture time again and as usual it took awhile to actually get in to do it. The occasion was Miriam's 18 month mark and Aaron's blessing outfit pic. We got them doe on Oct 29 when Miriam was 19 mon and Aaron was 11 weeks old. It was really fun to have one of our previous photographers there and she remembered us too. I was just going to do them separate but right at the end mom insisted that we do some of both of them. I'm so glad we did but this creates a problem of increased pictures already I now need to follow precedent that I set up for Miriam. Some how Miriam still had more pictures though she had twice as many as Aaron due to 2 different outfits. I was so excited to finally have my picture for my wall! There was a picture or two that totally reminded me of one of Eric's baby pictures. It was a good thing we made it in because he wouldn't have fit his outfit much longer as it was the legs were a little short.

Miriam is sooo photogenic and the photographers love working with her. This is the dress we got for Aaron's blessing that her Grandma says she looks ready for the prom.

Then I thought it would be fun to have a bedtime outfit because she looks like a little angel. It was nice to have a dolly, she's a pretty good mommy to her dolls.

Aaron's Baby Blessing

Aaron was blessed by his father on September 27, 2009. He was wearing an outfit that his grandma made him and a coordinated blanket. For the occasion I wanted Miriam to have a new pretty dress and found this one at Costco.

We are grateful for all who braved 8:30 church and missed those who couldn't make it.

My family. Thanks, Ryan for flying up from Texas it was sure fun to see you! As always I wouldn't be able to do anything without my mom's help- shopping, fixing food and cleaning, thanks a million.

Eric's parents plus Myles again because he can't stand to stay away from grandma and William- his mom Nicole wasn't feeling well and couldn't make it.

The rest of Eric's family: his brothers Rusty and Marshall's families. His sister Candi came to the blessing, but then had to get to their own church. Thanks, Melissa for bringing muffins and Kim for the breakfast casserole.

The representatives from my dad's side, Aunt Jamie and Uncle Craig. Thanks for bringing the yummy sweet rolls and for all the tremendous help getting everything set up so we could eat. Without their help it would have been at least another hour and I would have been having a nervous breakdown.

The Grover family (my moms): Uncle Bruce, Aunt Hazel, cousins Jesse, Jordan, Terrence, Jesse and Stephanie, and Danielle. All these cousins are going to college and we're glad they could make it. I want to especially acknowledge my aunt and uncle they came from the farthest (minus my family) despite physical hardships. My uncle was exhausted from canoeing with the scouts the previous day and my aunt had shoulder surgery not long before so thank you thank you.
We had brunch after Sacrament meeting: a couple of breakfast casseroles, scrambled eggs, sausage, a fruit tray, waffles, muffins- basically a lot of yummy breakfast foods since it was still only 10:00.

What Miriam was up to during the brunch:

She discovered she could get in her toy cupboard while playing with all the toys and hanging out with Granddaddy. Also she got to play and love Aaron.

End of a productive fun day. Thank you again all who came to support us!!

Fantastic Stroller!

The whole pregnancy as I thought of what baby stuff I would need the biggest thing I thought of was a double stroller. Up to now we have survived with only an umbrella stroller for Miriam. I really wanted a nicer stroller in particular because we spend so much time taking walks to put Miriam to sleep and because she enjoys being outside. I also wanted a travel system type one so Aaron could ride with us early, but was getting discouraged not seeing any like that. I found one in a catalog and as Eric and I were checking them out while we were in the hospital after Aaron was born Eric went googling and found this one: Contour tandem stroller. It is awesome! I suggested donations towards it when asked what I need ed. So thanks to everyone who helped us get this, we almost didn't need to add any money to it! Whats so cool about the stroller is it has 2 seats that can come off and be in face either forward or backward besides the car seat holder that we're using now. So both can face forward or backward or they can face each other. It has a nice storage place below and awesome wheels that are highly maneuverable. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a tandem stroller.

Our first trip out the beginning of September ( I know that was a looong time ago, maybe by the end of the year I'll catch up on posts ).

Miriam's First Haircut

Miriam's hair has gotten fluffy. I always thought she had an ok amount of hair but when I look back to pictures 6 months or so ago she practically looks bald! She has had a little bang cutting job previous when they got in her eyes and were making them red but this was a little more all around job. I asked my mom to cut her hair when she started looking like the 60's band The Monkeys. I couldn't believe what just a little trim did for her though! It totally change the look of her face making her look more like my sister Jennifer at that age.

She overall held pretty still for Grandma. This was September 5 and then she got it done again before pictures the end of October. Her hair sure grows fast. Thanks Grandma!

Grover Funerals

They say things come in threes, well hopefully that is true because my mom's side of the family has had 3 funerals since Aaron was born. I already mentioned my cousin Angie in August that was very sudden and unexpected. the next one was my Grandpa Grover's older sister Lucille who was 95 years old. It was on September 10 in Brigham City. These pictures are actually from that funeral. That was the farthest Aaron had driven up to that point. Then a couple of weeks later Aunt Lucille's only daughter Moana died from cancer complications. It was also in Brigham City on October 19. Actually from there mom took us home with her for the week but more about that later. I find the life sketches the most interesting part as I wasn't close to any of them and that made me feel closer to them.

Have you ever noticed that mostly the same family members attend everything and are generally supportive? Many of the people in this picture were at all 3 funerals. I told mom the extended family is sure keeping up with Aaron's growth as they've seen him so much more than usual. I hope we get a break from the funerals though. I pray comfort to the surviving family that have to get used to living without them for a time. Miriam was pretty good at the funerals thank goodness. She's here with her cousin Summer. She's protecting her dolly and Summer is protecting the rolls she found. They don't always get along unfortunately though when we went to Summer's house recently they did much better.

Delta Visits

As with Miriam, Aaron's first overnight visit away from home was to go see Grandma and Grandpa Delta. Somehow we always forget to take very many pictures there. Here is one proving we were there- Miriam always so helpful changing diapers etc. We went on September 11-13 and again on Oct 17. We go and just enjoy hanging out though there is usually some of the other cousins visiting too. Just recently Grandma & Grandpa Johnson moved down there too. So we get to see both of them there now! We went to see their new apt. It will be really nice to see them more often! It was only Miriam's second time to see them yet warmed up to them pretty quick. Grandma was tickled to get big smiles from both Miriam and Aaron.It's fun to go to Grandma's because they have lots of fun movies and things to play with. Miriam enjoyed having a tea party with one of Aunt Nicole's old dolls. Grandma also spoils Miriam rotten- she came home the first time with a baby doll feeding set and the second time with a new baby doll and umbrella stroller for her.

Of course the very best things is being held by Grandma and Grandpa! They are always so excited to see us as we are to see them. It looks like we'll be going down a little more often as Eric is going to help his dad make headgates to get a little extra money for bills and such. Looking forward to it!