Mike's Birthday

On December 21st, we celebrated a very special birthday. My hubby turned 27! We had a very relaxed day since it was Sunday and also right before Christmas. We spent the morning at church listening to my parents wards Christmas program and we spent the afternoon playing games and watching movies. It was raining and Sunday so we couldn't go out :( A few days after his birthday we did go out to dinner at Panera Bread though :)

After a yummy dinner of taco salad, we had delicious cookies and ice cream for dessert. It was a quiet birthday but we had a fun day together as a family. Happy 27th birthday sweetie!! We love you! You're the best dad and husband in the world and definitely one of my greatest blessings!

Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year!!!!

We had a quiet new years eve this year. We were still in Charleston with my family and we spent the evening eating homemade lasagna (very yummy) and playing games until midnight. We rang in the new year with the traditional martinelli's.

2014 was a big year for our family. We had lots of ups and downs. We also received the greatest blessing in 2014 which is our sweet boy Daniel. Regardless of what else has happened in 2014, we have been blessed with a healthy and happy baby boy and we couldn't ask for more than that. My family definitely makes up for anything negative that has happened during 2014.

Our greatest blessing :)

We are looking forward to 2015! This is another big year and we are labeling this year as "The Year of Finishing". Mike will graduate from Sherman college and be an official chiropractor at the end of the year, Daniel will turn 1 in May- finishing his first year of life, and my brother graduates from high school. We have also set lots of other goals that we hope to accomplish this year. Happy New Year everyone and I hope that 2015 brings health and happiness for all of us.

Daniel's First Christmas

This was the best Christmas ever! Having Daniel here, even though he had no idea it was Christmas, was so much fun. Daniel starting doing the army crawl during Christmas so had a lot of fun exploring the house. He loves the color red so he was in heaven. He crawled under the tree to get to the red tree skirt and he got a candy cane off the tree. Luckily we caught him before he got to the actual candy :) He actually opened one of his presents from his Grandma and Grandpa Epperson early so we had to re-wrap that one silly boy. Its lucky he's so cute and sweet...it makes it very hard to be too upset with him.

A few days before Christmas, my mom and I were busy wrapping presents and baking so we left Dan to play in the living room. After a few minutes, we both realized it was way too quiet. This is what I found in the living room. Dan had pulled the stockings down and had also unplugged the box of lights. He looked up at me and smiled and yes instead of fixing the situation, I ran and took a picture, he was just so pleased with himself :)

 It is a tradition in our family to leave cookies out for Santa (and milk of course). Josh and I have taken this picture every year since I can remember. This year I was so excited to have Daniel take the picture instead. It was fun to have Daniel take the picture and be part of the tradition.  After we took this picture we all went straight to bed to wait for Santa :) I was so excited for Daniel's first Christmas that I had trouble sleeping, he however slept all night without ever making a sound, such a good boy.

We always have to take the picture on the stairs together. At this point we're ready to go downstairs and see the tree. We aren't allowed to go into the living room until everyone is awake and ready.

Daniel was fascinated with the tree. We put him down and he started scooting right for the presents. He got to one and tore the bow right off. I think we could've just sat and watched him explore the tree for a few hours but we wanted to get on with the morning.

 

Daniel got some fun stuff right from the start in his stocking. I think he could've stopped right then and have been totally happy. We were able to open a few more presents but then we did stop and let our boy take a little nap. While Daniel took his morning nap, we ate our traditional coffee cake for breakfast. It was so yummy. I always eat two pieces because honestly I behave every other day of the year so this is the day I just go crazy and it was worth it. 

Once Daniel was awake, we were back at it :)

Daniel's favorite part of Christmas...playing with leftover wrapping paper and bows :)

Daniel had a great Christmas and was very spoiled by his wonderful grandparents and other family members. However, Mike and I were also very blessed this Christmas. We received many wonderful gifts. Mike surprised me by getting tickets to see Taylor Swift in June :) I'm super excited! Mike got lots of running gear and airplane models which will give him lots of stuff to do after stressful days at school.

After we opened everything and facetimed with Mike's family in Washington, Daniel seemed like he missed them. So we considered shipping him there to play ;)

We had a wonderful Christmas! We enjoyed spending time with family and especially getting to make so many wonderful memories with Daniel. Merry Christmas 2014 everyone!

7 Months!

7 Month Stats:

Height: 26 inches

Weight:approx. 17 lbs 5oz

- He is changing so much right now. He is rolling everywhere now and he is starting to pull himself onto his knees. He wants to crawl but right now he is just scooting a bit. I don't think it'll be long before he is crawling though.

- Some of his favorite things to do are: pull mommies hair, eat daddy's tie or his grandpa's tie. He loves the color red and is attracted to anything red. 

- We also started solids during this past month. Since he is so short we decided to wait until he got a little length. We started with rice cereal. The first few days were rough but after about a week or so he was eating rice cereal like a champ. So far he has had green beans, peas, sweet potatoes and carrots. His favorites so far are green beans and sweet potatoes. He wasn't a fan of the peas and he had a pretty bad stomach ache the day after having peas. He is a great eater though. He is drinking out of a sippy cup now too. He is so independent though. He tries to grab the spoon while we feed him. My baby boy is growing up too fast.

- He loves people and specifically he loves his grandpa and uncle josh. One of his favorite things is when you sit by him and pretend to ignore him and then he'll kick his feet and when you look at him he will start laughing hysterically. Its so much fun to watch! I love his sweet laugh. He is usually a very happy boy! He loves to play and smile at whoever will play with him. 

- He got a new bathtub over Christmas which he really loves. It still amazes me that we can pour a cup of water over his head and he doesn't scream. He just looks annoyed and then gets over it and starts splashing some more. 

- Dan puts everything in his mouth (as babies do) and just loves to chew. He is starting to teethe and actually he had his first tooth break through on December 30th which is very exciting. Warning that if you hold him he will probably try to eat your clothes and hair or jewelry :)

- Dan is getting better at sitting all the way up. He can when he wants to but most of the time he just won't sit still long enough to sit up.

- Daniel is a very active little boy. He has way more energy than any baby I've seen. I'm a little worried for when he starts to walk. He is always moving and talking. When he is tired he even makes a kind of motor boat noise until he falls asleep.