11 Months

Happy 11 months my sweet baby boy!

His stats (approx)

Weight: 21 lbs

Height: 28 inches

This is a laugh not a cry 

- Daniel has officially mastered crawling on his hands and knees. (I call it official because I haven't seen him army crawl for a couple weeks) He's been able to do if for a few months now but he just didn't want to do it. He would do it a bit then just drop to his belly and then just pull himself up onto something. Now he is crawling everywhere! He is getting really good at walking along furniture and walls too.

- He has 5 teeth officially: 2 on top and 3 on the bottom! Teething has been my least favorite part of parenting so far.

- He is still such a happy boy. He loves to play and explore and as long as he isn't hungry or tired then he is pretty content to sit and play and crawl around the apartment looking to see what he can get into that he shouldn't :)

- Dan is an awesome eater! He's had black beans, bread, pinto beans, rice, ham and yogurt. So far he likes just about everything (although black beans aren't his favorite) and he is getting better at picking food up on his own. He still has no desire to hold his sippy cup though. I'm hoping that the more practice we give him the more he'll like it.

- Dan loves to read books! We read books every night but I find him in his room reading books almost everyday. I love reading and it makes me so happy to see him reading.

- He also loves to go outside so we go for lots of walks in his stroller. Since he doesn't like the grass too much, we sometimes go outside but he has to have a blanket. I've never seen him sit as still as he does outside to avoid the grass. Maybe we should get grass to put around things we don't want him to touch..hmmm

- We also got rid of the swaddle this month. It was kind of out of necessity and kind of that he was getting tired of it. I think he would've lasted a bit longer but we've been going to other people's houses during nap and bed time and so swaddling wasn't always an option. He transitioned pretty well though. We've had a couple rough nights and he still cries out during the night a few nights a week but he's able to calm himself back down and get to sleep on his own which is great! He's going to bed around 8:30 and waking up between 7:30 and 8 most mornings so he's great.

- He's down to just 2 long naps a day now. He'll usually sleep for an hour and a half in the morning and then another 2 hours or so in the afternoon which is awesome!

- Daniel is wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes and since he's getting a little taller his pants aren't so long and fit better.

I can't believe my baby is going to be 1 in just a few weeks! I feel like he was just born yesterday! One thing is for sure...I can't imagine our family without him. He is so sweet and has the best smile that can cheer anyone up and laughs at everything. He is so curious and strong. We love you so much Dan!

Race Day

This past weekend Mike and I both ran in a race. He ran a half marathon and since I'm just starting to get into running I ran a 5k. For those who don't know a half marathon is 13.1 miles and a 5k is 3.1 miles. We were able to get a babysitter for Daniel (thank you Lauren :) and we got to the start line which was in Traveler's Rest outside of Greenville by 6:45am. It wasn't cold this time but it was raining. I don't mean a light rain or rain that started and stopped, I mean it poured the entire time. It started around 6:30 and didn't stop raining until around 10. Needless to say we got very wet.

This was my first race on hills and only my second 5k I've ever done. I was pretty nervous about the hills but they really weren't too bad. Every time I got to a hill I just reminded myself that if I just got to the top then I would get to run down and that would be a lot easier. I thought I would hate running in the rain but it was not too bad. I think it helped me from getting too hot and motivated me to keep going so that I could get out of the rain haha but I also had my music to keep me going. I felt great after I finished and I found out that I got third place in my age group and a new PR! That was pretty exciting! My official time was 32 min 37 sec which is about 3 minutes faster than my first 5k and I had hills to run this time! I have to say I'm feeling pretty proud of myself :)

Mike did a great job in his half marathon too! He ran 1h34min8sec another 4 min off his previous half marathon record. The Cherry on top of the cake, he got 1st place in my age group and 14th overall! I'm so proud of him for working so hard and setting goals for himself and then reaching them!! He is an example of what hard work and perseverance can bring and inspires me to try harder.

We had to take the traditional post race picture with Daniel of course when we got home. It was a great race and we both had a lot fun. Hopefully the next race won't be so wet though. I would love to see what running in the sunshine is like :)

Easter!

This year Easter was special for two reasons. First, Easter and general conference fell on the same weekend and I love when that happens. Second, it was Daniel's first Easter! It was perfect to be able to stay at home and hang out in our pajamas and relax all weekend but especially on Easter. For Easter Daniel got 2 books (one from Grandma and papa and the other from the Easter bunny) and we bought a bunch of eggs for him to play with. He has a turtle ball pit and we replaced the balls with Easter eggs! He loved it! The eggs (all 50 of them) were all over the living room in minutes haha

Mike and I also got Easter baskets for each other (more like Easter piles since we don't have baskets) We always get a book since those are a tradition in Mike's family and I always get a bunny so a chocolate bunny is always included with my candy. After we got our Easter baskets opened we had a yummy breakfast of German pancakes :)

After the first session of General Conference, we took our little Easter bunny outside and attempted to take some pictures. It was a beautiful day and Daniel was happy when we were holding him. We learned he doesn't like prickly grass though since he got upset when we sat him on the ground without a blanket.

It was a great Easter! Hard to believe next year we'll be in Vegas for Easter :) Our little bunny had a great day though and it made the whole day a lot more fun with him around. I loved watching Easter videos with him. We watched a video on youtube about Christ's resurrection that was 2 minutes long and Daniel was so focused on it. I'm grateful to my Savior for dying for me and I'm grateful that he lives again so that I can be with my family forever and live with him again too. I'm grateful that the Savior loves me enough to die for me so that I can repent and strive to be better each day and I'm grateful he sent me my own little boy to teach and love. The Easter baskets are fun and so are the eggs and candy but the resurrection of the Savior is the reason we celebrate Easter and I am grateful for that blessing.

Happy Easter everyone!