pulling a tanner

short and sweet, but oh so funny (this comes from my sister meri's latest facebook message):

"Every time Tanner doesn't want to do something he lies down on the ground and says "I died." I wish I could do that. Haha."

next time i don't want to do something at work maybe i''ll just "pull a tanner."

*for those of you who don't know, tanner is my darling seven-year-old brother

veteran's day tribute to great grandpa wiley

a local news station in pennsylvania recently covered the closing of an armory named for my great-grandpa robert calvin wiley, a war hero who died in france in 1944.

click here for a link to the video.

we're so grateful for his patriotic example and brave sacrifice. and we can't wait to meet him in the life to come.

seven months old

and still ridiculously cute...

...even if he does refuse to pose with his doting mother

first halloween

check out christian's expression while watching shane carve

not so sure about his pumpkin

hitting it off with his pumpkin

the pumpkin shane carved -- doesn't it look like jack from "nightmare before christmas"?

halloween pajamas made by grandma larsen

ready to trick-or-treat (or trunk-or-treat, in the church parking lot)

the flying monkey

SUCH a happy guy

our little bear cub

**thought i'd update with a few more photos from the day:
(yes, he did decide to taste the bar on the shopping cart. totally gross, i know, but he did it while i was trying to snap a pic so i captured it accidentally. i couldn't resist posting cuz he looks so cute and innocent.)

fall leaves

fall is most definitely here on the east coast. it's times like this that remind me how lucky we are to live in a state covered with TREES. christian and i saw some GORGEOUS fall leaves on our morning run together:
check out my cute work-out partner -- ALL SMILES:
we make the PERFECT TEAM because whenever i slow down he gets antsy till i speed up again. glad someone's whipping me into shape. ;)

solid foods

christian's been eating solids for about two weeks now. he's still not sure if he likes it.

we've been making out own baby food along so way. so far he's tried: rice cereal, zucchini, apple sauce, banana. next up: peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

any tips for us along the way? we added cinnamon to the rice cereal and that seemed to make it more palatable for him.

his favorite part of eating solids? sitting in his high chair and slurping water in between spoonfuls.

a little 'time out'

went down to richmond this past weekend for a little "sweet assurance" -- the theme for deseret book's 2009 "time out for women" conference. we stayed with my cousin, darla, and her family and enjoyed the company of emily and burke jensen as well.

christian was such a good sport while at the conference friday night and most of the day saturday. the only reason he needed his pacifier was because he would start babbling and cooing TOO loudly at times. he made friends with a little seven-month-old boy who was fascinated by him. it was fun to watch them interact.

mary ellen edmunds was the closing speaker for saturday's session. she served her third mission in indonesia with my dad. she's such a funny, sweet lady. her sense of humor reminds me of my dad and his siblings. i have fond memories of her eating dinner with us back in folsom.

later on saturday we visited the city's folklife festival and enjoyed some scrumptious "bottom's up pizza." on the way out of the town sunday morning, we got to drive down the famous "monument avenue" -- such a beautiful neighborhood. can't wait to get back down for another visit.

six months

yes, six months old today! it's hard for us to believe. we wish christian would slow down all this growing up business but he just won't quit.

some things he's been up to lately:

- sitting up: he's been able to do this for nearly two weeks and he gets more steady all the time -- however, he still needs to figure out the best way to "un-sit"
- giggles: he's already a pretty steady smiler but now he's added giggling to his list of tricks which makes everyone smile
- tickles: he reacts and laughs now when we tickle him under his chin, around his stomach and especially on the bottoms of his feet
- growing hair: it may not seem like much but he does still have some light brown hair coming in SLOWLY. maybe it's more like duck fluff but it's thick enough that he has a visible hairline (and what looks to be a few cowlicks -- like his mom)
- pick-up tricks: he's now able to spot and grab tiny things he finds on the floor -- like my clear rubber bands for my hair -- scary! we're going to have to be more careful about vacuuming around here
- wiggles: this kid won't sit still. we are in trouble once he really starts crawling. he scootches around, rolling and twisting to position himself near toys, cords, magazines, etc. which he promptly puts in his mouth

*sorry for the poor quality photos -- took them on my blackberry with bad lighting

big yawn

i was trying to capture christian's smile to send a fun photo to shane while in class last night. this is what i got instead. (all that sitting up must be hard to do! he's been at it for nearly two weeks now.)