Demolition Man

Per isn't a destructive child. He does like to gnaw on his plugs, though.

We're glad that the plugs are more of a toy to him than a naptime or nighttime necessity. They are sort of a teething tool for him lately.

Zak builds towers for Per to knock down as part of Per's preparation to become a member of the He-Man Woman Haters Club.

Per tries to nicely pick up the block or toy that's on the top of the tower.

It just doesn't work that well when you are only 8 months old and not terribly coordinated yet.

Our Smiley Boy

Per has a lot to smile about. He's got six teeth, almost seven, and gets to eat, sleep, and play all day long. That's the life! He's also starting to scoot forward, but the object he is scooting toward has to be highly interesting or highly off-limits to merit that kind of action. Sometimes he starts forward, then stops and thinks better of it, and sits back instead of scooting. He's great at scooting backwards and turning himself around. Per is really getting fast, too, though I'm sure as time goes by he'll be even faster at crawling and moving around. He got a new car seat last week because his old one was far too small for a baby of his size -- there are before and after pictures comparing the two car seats coming soon. He is still such a happy baby and we feel so lucky to have him!

More Pics

Discovering his diaper.... we are hoping he does not start taking it off!

Beautiful blue eyes.

Getting So Big

This is Per's bucket for his blocks. It is one of his favorite toys right now.

He's starting to look so grown up!

And he looooves books -- mostly for eating right now, but we think he'll love to read them someday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (belated)

W-I-L-D -- Wildcats!

Just so you know, this was not my idea. A week or two ago this conversation (or something pretty close) took place:


Zak: "Hey, why don't we have a High School Musical marathon?"
Me: "Wha?"
Zak: "Yeah, don't you think that would be kind of fun? Neither of us have ever seen any of the High School Musical movies."
Me: "Wha?"

Pause

Me: "Okay. I'll put those in our queue in Netflix and we'll watch 'em when they come."


Time goes by and all three High School Musical movies arrive at our house. We watch them, at times looking away from the screen and staring at each other, feeling utter embarrassment that we are actually watching these movies. Other times, we found ourselves singing along to the music. In the end, we decided that we really liked all of them, but in this order: 3, 1, 2.


At the end of the third movie, this is the conversation that took place:



Me: "Let's watch the first scene again. I think that's my most favorite HSM (yep, using the acronym now... I think I'm allowed after viewing all three movies) song EVER."
Zak: "I must be experiencing some kind of man-love or something, because my two favorite songs are Troy's solos." (He was referring to Now or Never and Scream from HSM3.)
Me: "Wha?"





Troy Bolton -- the object of Zak's man love -- but not really, thank goodness.

The Results

My box is the winner!! But only by one -- Zak did a great job on his box, too. And really, he gets big points for creativity, whereas mine is far more conventional (read: boring). I like both boxes.

Thanks for voting to those who participated... I'm excited to go home after work and put my nephew's valentine in my box.

I will get some new pictures of Per up soon. He now has 5 teeth and is getting closer to scooting/crawling with each moment that passes... Time goes way too fast.

Valentines Box Contest

Some of you may remember the Valentines Box Contest from a few weeks ago. Sadly, we only had four votes and it was a tie right down the middle. To save James' lovely valentine from being chopped right down the middle*, I am sending out a plea for just one tie-breaker vote on the Valentine's box post. You can post the comment on that blog or on this one, either way. Just vote!

*Zak has suggested that one of us should just acquiesce and take the Valentine. I told him no way, Jose. So please vote!

Biter Biscuits

I haven't ever seen a cuter face than this... Unless maybe it's this one....

Wait a minute. This one has GOT to be the cutest face I've ever seen!

Per loves his biter biscuits. He is such a sweet little guy!

One of My Other Favorite Things!

This is my beautiful new sewing machine: Here are some things that I have made with my beautiful new sewing machine:

This is our bedroom curtain (sorry the pictures aren't very good, I am such an amateur). The patches on the curtain are leftover scraps from the quilt we have on our bed so they match. Isn't that special?
I made this curtain for one of the kitchen windows out of a pillowcase from the DI. That's right, it cost $2. (I want my two dollars! -- name that movie) What a thrifty girl I am!

This is a close-up of the living room curtain. I really like the funky paisley pattern.

I had trauma trying to get this one done (made out of sheets from the DI, also, if you can believe that), but luckily everything worked out and it turned out to be the best of the curtains I made! There are a few other things I have been working on but don't have pictures of -- bibs for Per, diaper-and-wipes holders, curtains for Per's room. Sewing has become my new favorite thing to do. I am sticking to pretty basic straight-line stitching for now, but am planning to make some fabric beach balls for Per as well as some headbands for myself. It's fun being kind of crafty!

Valentines Box Contest

This is the prize: (Thank you, James, for the very sweet valentine, and for providing the prize for our little contest! The translation is: "From James to Per and Aunt Sarah and Uncle Zak")

Box A

Box B

Here's the contest: Zak and I made Valentine's boxes as a Valentine's Day activity because it's something he really loved doing as a kid and something I have never done (at least that I can recall). Leave your vote for the best Valentine's box in the comments on this post. The contest goes through March 14th (at Zak's request) and whoever has the most votes at the end of the contest gets to put our awesome valentine from our nephew James in their box. Please join in the fun and vote!

My Favorite Things

Having a dishwasher is the BEST. Especially when you've been washing dishes by hand for five years.

A new vacuum is pretty nice, too. Per takes the cake, though. Look at those cheeks and lips. Don't you just want to pinch 'em?!

Playing in his room on the new carpet -- and loving it!

Such a sweetie.

Per will always be one of my favorite things.

Random Pics

This was Christmas morning. Not sure why Zak is making that face.
We went to Salt Lake to hang with Rhett, Burke, and Candyce! Per is in one of those sling-things restaurants provide.
A funny one of Zak = only fair to put a funny one of me on too

Zak is responsible for Per's ensemble. Nice.

The Big Move

Okay, okay. The first sign that said, "Don't move in here!!" should've been the dead mouse in the kitchen sink. And the other dead mouse behind the door in one of the bedrooms. But, I was 9 and a half months pregnant, and we had just found termites in our old place which was only one bedroom, and we needed two bedrooms, what with Per about to be born. We moved into what we call "The Rathole" in July last year. The carpet was horrible and it smelled funny. Like wet plaster and old funk. Whatever that is.
Not long after we moved in, Per was born and we brought him home. We planned to stay there for a while, chalking it up to one of those "when-we-were-first-married-we-lived-in-the-worst-apartment-but-we-survived" kind of stories. That was okay until one night, we realized that we were smelling cigarette smoke. I have nothing personally against smokers, but I don't want to live in their smell. And I certainly don't want my baby to be living in their smell and damaging his young lungs. So we moved his crib into our bedroom and the three of us became roomies. We began the hunt for a new apartment right away and shut the door to The Smokers' Lounge to try to prevent the smell from permeating through the whole apartment.
Nothing worked out until the end of January. We have finally found a new place and moved! We have new carpet and new paint and best of all -- no funky smells! We are so excited. And Per loves finally being able to be on the carpet!
The pictures above are, of course, of painting and cleaning the new place, not the Rathole. Who cares about the Rathole anymore anyway?

Dude Days

Like father, like son.
Both of them can fit their entire fists in their mouths. They are demonstrating this amazing talent above.
Yesterday was Zak's birthday and his brothers had the idea to make matching shirts for Zak and Per. Zak gets to stay with Per some days during the week and he calls those days "Dude Days" where they just hang out and have fun. Rhett designed these great shirts for Zak and Per. So cute!

More Per Pictures

Per is so happy! In the picture above he's making happy noises. He squeals and chatters and it is so cute!

Per loves tummy time now! He is getting better and better at reaching for his toys and grabbing them.

Look, Mom, no hands!

Happy, happy guy.

Mama-Per Time

Zak wanted me to post some Mama-Per pictures. Please excuse the schlubby clothes and hair-do. Also, please excuse the unmade bed and clothes strewn across the bottom of it in the second picture. Though, those are all Zak's clothes, just so you know.

Showing Mama how BIG he is!

Yep, I'm gonna do it. Just you watch.

Mmmmm... I love the taste of toes in the evening after I've been sweating in my socks all day. And look at the way I can spread them apart! Yum, yum.

What a happy little baby!

More Carrots

Mmmm, carrots!

Big mouthful of baby food + baby sneeze = Big Mess

Daddy-Per Time

Daddies and babies have a special bond, and that is especially true for Zak and Per. The first picture needs no explanation. It's just really cute. The second picture is one that Zak took while he and Per were playing. Per looks like he's totally into it, doesn't he?

In the morning after I've fed Per, I put him in bed with Zak while I'm getting ready for work. Per immediately rolls over and starts touching his daddy's face, as if to say, "Wake up! I'm here! I'm ready to play!" It's pretty stinkin' cute.