Trunk-or-Treat

We got all dressed up for our ward's party tonight. Luisa thought a football theme would be good for this year. We made a nice little outfit for Jared to be our football. Luisa cut out a sweet 'A' for her cheerleader outfit and I borrowed a set of shoulder pads from one of my deacons. We got quite a few compliments for his cute little outfit that matched us so well. :-) it was fun.

 

He liked to suck on the hood when he was in the costume.

Of course, I couldn't pass up on taking the chance to bust out a Heisman pose :-)

Happy Halloween!

Jared's Presentation to the World at Pride Rock

There is an amazing cliff overhanging the Provo Temple and Rock Canyon. I'm not entirely sure what Squaw Peak is because it's kind of a long sloping mountain with several peaks. I call the amazing cliff Squaw Peak. After Jared was born I thought it would be cool to go up there for the first time and take a picture like what's in the Lion King. After a really long drive up a crappy dirt/potholed road we made it to an overhang that would work. The only bummer was that some guy that had sped past us up the mountain had just gotten there to do his scripture study. We waited half an hour or so for him to vacate our picture spot... he was still goin strong by the time we had given up on him leaving.

Here is the product of our efforts...

Thanks for the photographer skills Dad :-)

Oh and it turns out the cliff I wanted to use is accessible to hikers not cars... not good for men in sandals. So our cliff is directly east of the big cliff.

Crib time

Jared is getting just big enough that it's time for him to start sleeping in his crib. We'll be giving it a try tonight.

 He's getting so big!! =0

We had a lot of fun and got to see a lot of family for Jared's one month birthday. First, to celebrate we had a special dinner Saturday night with the Anderson's. We had baby back ribs, baby carrots, baby corn, baby boy tie pasta, and a bunch of other delicious food, including a "1" cake that looked amazing!

His actual one month birthday was Sunday, the 16th. That day we got to spend a lot of time with more family at the Jacobs. We had a delicious lunch and everyone got to see Jared again.

He looked adorable wearing his daddy's old baby clothes. ;)

Play Time

Jared's found himself a new pass time, besides the usual sleep, eat, and poop. ;) He's discovered that it's a lot of fun to arch his back backwards so he can look at everything upside down. I don't know what's so exciting about seeing everything upside down, but he loves it. He just lets his arms hang and then looks around. He's even laughed a couple times while doing it. It's so cute!

Now whenever I sit him down on my lap, he gets this excited look on his face like we're sitting down to play. He even kicks off with his legs if I sit him back up and he's ready to go back down again.

It's so fun, but then he cries if I think we're done playing and he's not ready to be done.

I've learned that he's pretty content if I just hold him sitting up in my arms and let him just lean his head back and look at the ceiling. What a silly boy! :) But it's a good way to get him sleep for bed. ;)

Hitting the Weights

So between my child development class at BYU and all the pamphlets and what not we receive from different organizations, we decided to help him get his tummy time in so he can exercise his neck and other muscles. I guess if he doesn't get enough 'time at the gym' he'll likely be slow to crawl, sit up alone, and all the other great milestones.

This picture is just after we talked about it. I was pretty amazed at how strong his neck muscles were already :-)

He's bound to be a strong boy :-) watch out Thomas and Sup, Ben's gonna have competition for the scariest cousin.

Are you my mommy?

So Jared has really gotten into the groove of feeding. Unfortunately I can't do my part like he wants me too, I guess my arms and fingers and chest just don't cut it :-)

I really didn't have a chance satisfying him with my biceps though because he is way into eating...

Oh and I guess he's already a good bubble blower :-)

Smarty Pants

While Jared is definitely the highlight of most of our fun or interesting news now-a-days, this blog is really about our whole family. So, I didn't want to neglect Ryan's great news. Ryan took his first Child Development exam last Thursday. It was automatically graded that day and he got a 98%. When he went in to class on Monday the professor announced that the class average was something like 77% and that the high score was 98%, which was Ryan's of course. All Ryan's classmates (freshman girls) gasped. The professor then explained that he'd be taking off two of the questions because they weren't very good, making Ryan's score an even 100%. =) The tradition in our family is that when you score an 100% on any test you get a special treat. Ryan chose apple pie for this one. Ryan's good at making sure we have treats in the house. :)

It was the first apple pie I'd ever made, but it turned out pretty okay. =)

Growth Spurt

Ryan and I were discussing the other day how fast a change has to happen for it to be considered a growth spurt instead of normal growth. Well, I think Jared's definitely been through a growth spurt in the past couple days. I know he's supposed to have one about this time. When he had his check-up at WIC seven days ago he was 8lb 12oz and 20 and 3/8 inches. Yesterday he was 9lb 5oz and 21 inches. He feels heavier and even looks different. He has a nice little double chin, but I think he's always had that. He's just really good at being a baby. =)

We both really like our new sling. It makes it easier for mom to get some work done while Jared is trying to fall back to sleep. (Thanks Becky!!!)

Visit to the Doctor's

I took Jared to Pediatric Care, yesterday, for his two-week check-up and circumcision. He was such a good boy the whole time. He didn't cry or fuss when he was being checked or even when we were getting him prepped for the circumcision. My job during the procedure was, of course, to hold his pacifier in and try to sooth him. Easier said than done! I wish I could've took the pain for him. It seemed like a lot of pain for someone so small and innocent to go through.

He was pretty pooped out the rest of the day. I didn't want to put him down, but he seemed to be more comfortable when he was laying down. He'd wake up every now and again and just cry for a second and fall right back asleep. Changing his diaper for the first time after we got home was really hard. He cried a lot and it made me cry. Luckily he didn't need another diaper change 'til Ryan was home to help. 

Today he's doing a lot better and back to his usual self. He's smiling a lot and eating a lot and sleeping a lot, and doesn't cry when he gets his diaper changed. I told Ryan yesterday morning that it hadn't really sunk in yet that I'm actually a mom, I'm a parent. Well, now it's sunk in pretty well. I just glad we only have to do that once (but I'm not looking forward to shots).

Bath Time

Last week Jared had his first bath at home. He was a little nervous and unsure, but he did well. He's had two more since then and doesn't mind them anymore. Now I know where that yummy baby smell comes from... nice baby shampoo :)

 

He didn't mind so much by the time daddy was holding him and he was nice and dry...

First Day at Church

Two Sundays ago was Jared's first sacrament meeting, not his first Sacrament, that was in the hospital with the senior missionaries. Luckily someone made a fitting outfit at our baby shower...

He sure is a cute little baby,

 

and he's extra cute when he smiles :-)

Settling in at Home

We made it home safe and sound. I was kinda surprised the nurses actually let us take Jared home with us :-)

 

We found out that we were pretty well set. There were only a couple of things we were missing...

:-)

Jared's Delivery

Two weeks ago we spent some time at the Utah Valley Regional hospital.


Jared Nathan Anderson was born September 16th, 2011, at 9:50 pm. He was 8 lbs and 3 ounces and 20 inches long. He had the cutest sounding cry; after a long day it was the best sound I'd ever heard.




He was much more enjoyable on the outside :)

And so it begins...

So, Luisa and I are starting our blog now to help keep our family involved with us and our children as we grow.