Christmas on the East Coast

This year, our Christmas traditions will change. We have our first child, so that adds to the fun and excitement. We live far away from our family, so that means we get to travel home. My little sister Brooklyn has been counting the days until we get there, since we left in October. She loves her nephew!! (and Devin and Me..I think). I get to spend about 3 weeks in Utah, and I am looking forward to catching up with family and friends. Since we live on the East Coast, we get to see new things for the Holidays. This is the White House. I felt pretty special to be able to see this at Christmas time. It's really busy with the changes coming up and they are already getting the grounds ready for the inauguration taking place in January. We get to see the lights at "Washington Temple Square" (I made that name up-it makes me think I am not missing the lights in Salt Lake City :). We are going tonight with friends from the ward, and tomorrow night with some of Devin's non-member friends from work. (hmm..when will I pack...) It's fun to have new traditions. I hope we will get to do them again!

This is what Heaman looks like all bundled up. He hates the coat. Devin says it's the fur. I think its because he can hardly breath! Once he gets in his stroller and we start moving, he is very happy and content. He slept a lot of the time we were down-town. He's quite the little sight-seer. 

The National Christmas Tree at the President's Park

On Friday, Jonas and I rode the metro down-town and met Devin after he got off work. We went to see The National Christmas Tree. It was huge, and there are 56 trees all decorated and lit-up around it. There is also a few little trains, a huge fire-pit, Santa's workshop (where Jonas got his first picture with Santa), and a stage for live performances. It was cool! I loved the big tree and you can see the White House from the park. That was my first time seeing the White House. Its so beautiful and especially at Christmas with the lights and the big tree and wreaths. It was cold, but fun!
Here we all are in front of the White House. It's that blurry lighted building in the background. I guess we were shivering too much and we didn't keep the camera steady! Isn't Jonas' face so funny. He was a trooper. Especially since he hates his big heavy coat and since his hat is in his eyes most of the time. He likes the lights and all the commotion though, so he was highly entertained. Devin took me to eat at California Pizza Kitchen (one of my favs) on the way home..no dishes!

The Doctor was a little annoyed that I was giving Jonas cereal in a bottle. Hello?! I just wanted more sleep, it had very little to do with his nutrition. Anyway, she suggested giving him cereal on a spoon and slowly (within three weeks :-o Yikes) introducing him to baby food. He has done really well with the spoon, except he attacks the spoon when I am not fast enough. (see above photo for proof!) The sleeping thing...I was kidding myself, he still gets up to eat twice!
This was the monkey after Thanksgiving dinner. He was tired and worn out. We had a great day. This was our first Thanksgiving without any family, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. I would have loved to have been with family, but we have such great friends in our ward, that it felt like family. We totally invited ourselves to their house, and they were gracious enough to let us come. Thanks to Scott, Aleese, and Barrick for being great hosts (as usual) and such great examples and friends to us. Thanks for everyone else that came for great food, and even better company!
Jonas isn't much into toys because he has these two little hands in his mouth at ALL TIMES. It's cute yes, but we are both always wet!
My Grandma gave him this little shirt right after he was born (well, its a set of three shirts). Anyway, they are 9 months, but they are cute and tight on his chubby little belly. He is growing big, big, big!

Here are his FOUR month stats:
Weight: 16 lbs 6 oz (85%)
Height: 25 1/2 inches (97%)
Head: 17 1/4 inches (normal-that's what the Dr. said)

So Big

Jonas has changed so much the last week. It's so funny how they suddenly learn something new. It's so much fun to watch him. I love to see the little delight in his eyes as he discovers he has hands, or that the toys on his play-mat move when he hits them. My mom told me that she read somewhere that you learn more in your first year than you learn in your life time. I believe it!
This is his favorite monkey. It usually just sits on the shelf above his changing table, but I let him play with it the other day. He was giving it kisses (AKA slobbering).
And if the monkey is out of reach, he goes for this Elephant. Mostly he just likes the trunk of the elephant. It shakes too, but that scares him. He looks at you like you have hurt him when you make it jitter. It's funny.
My Mom and Grandpa Ray gave Jonas these "Hunting" overalls when he was born. They are now too small. Too tight on the old belly!! They looked cute on him though. I don't even want to think about what they are going to brainwash in his head about hunting. I am not opposed, I just hate guns.
He also likes books. He loves this book because of the bright colors and the bumpy things that he can feel. He will quiet right down when I get this book out.
He has been doing so good with tummy time and he can really hold his head up well. On this particular day, he wasn't feelin' it. I love this picture. He is definitely the boss around here!

We've been busy doing lots of fun things, so make sure you scroll all the way down to see all of our fun :)

jOnAs at 3 Months!

I can't belive this little guy is three months already, but he is! He gets more and more fun every day. He is starting to reach for toys and is just figuring out that his hands are his and he can move them. He smiles at Devin and I all the time and laughs quite a bit too, although you have to work for the laughs. We went to the doctor last week and he weighed in at 15 lbs 2 ozs! He's a good boy and we love him to pieces!

This shows the drool on his chin that is ALWAYS there! He is a drooling fool!

He still loves his bouncer and naps in it during the day.

Lately he has been eating just one finger instead of his whole hand. Great! :)

He also loves his daddy! He loves to be on Devin's shoulders and since he can't quite sit up on his own, Devin has to hold him, but he grins the whole time! Are they look-a-likes or what?

Gettysburg, PA

On Saturday we decided to venture out and drive to Gettysburg. Devin wanted to see the History. I wanted to check out the outlet mall :) So we compromised. We went to the Gettysburg Visitor's center first. It was pretty cool, except to see all the good stuff you have to pay. It wasn't the money, it was that these days it's generally not worth the money to pay to see the cool things because Jonas always ends up getting tired or hungry and we have to leave. SO we decided to wait until we can bribe him with stuff and then go back. To see all the battlegrounds, you drive from place to place. Jonas also HATES the carseat, so we just went to one battleground. It was a good choice though. We did the Water-Mark trail. Again it was great weather, so we walked around the sites and then did some shopping later. It was a fun day, and we all came home worn out! I am excited to go back, but I am going to do some studying first so I know what I am seeing!

This picture doesn't do the fall colors, or the beautiful scenery justice. It was a very pretty area!

From the top of this tower, you can see over the battle-fields for miles and miles. The stairs up to the top were steep, and it was hard to see in the dark. The view was worth it, but my camera battery died just as we got to the top. I was so angry!

Devin carried Jonas in the carrier all day. Jonas LOVED it! (he usually hates it...must be because it was Daddy:) He even took naps in it. We would be walking along and I would look over and he would be asleep! He was a trooper at the History sights, I wish I could say the same about the outlet mall. It appears he not only looks like his dad, he hates shopping like his dad does too!!

This is at the visitors center. It has a map of all the battlegrounds. The history is amazing. There were a lot of lives lost, men that were never found and presumed dead. Without the battle of Gettysburg, we might not be the U.S.A. now. It was such a brutal battle. I am so glad I didn't live back then!

A little Culture

Jonas and I rode the metro downtown last Friday to have lunch with Devin. It was his last day in the Office of Apprenticeship, and I had never met his boss, so off we went! It was the MOST beautiful day, so after lunch Devin took us for a walk. We ended up at the Museum of Natural History. It was awesome. Devin went back to work, but Jonas and I stayed for another hour and saw so many things! I want to go back again sometime. Heaman got fussy at the end and there were a lot of things I didn't get to see that I wanted to. It was also free! The best part about D.C.!

This is the Hope Diamond. It is the largest Blue diamond and is 45 1/2 Carats! I think I will put it on my Christmas list! :)

This big guy is right in the front door! It's huge!

This is the museum from the outside. They have several different rooms. Fossils, plants, ocean life, rocks, mammals, soil, gems....and some others I forgot!

Halloween Fun!

What a fun night! Okay the truth is, when your little trick or treater can't eat candy yet, its not as much fun as you would think. It was also pretty chilly and they started the festivites just about the time that we start getting little Heaman ready for bed. He was a trooper though and he looked SUPER cute in this little frog costume. He pretended to like it for a while, then he would get mad because his hands were covered which meant that he couldn't eat them. :( Poor kid. He was pretty worn out when all was said and done (see sleepy frog above). And how cute is our trunk? Jennie decorated it all, I just put my candy in there. She's so creative!

Utah Bound....and Back Again

Jonas' Blessing Day

Well, we had a great time in Utah the past week! We did so many fun things. We were able to get all sides of the family and lots of great friends together to bless Baby Jonas on Saturday the 12th. He was so good and Devin did a great job. It was so much fun to spend time with our families and friends and we are so thankful that they were able to share this special day with us.
After the blessing, Devin had to come back to Maryland so he could work :( It was no fun to have him gone. Jonas and I went to Yellowstone with my family over UEA weekend. It was lots of fun! Jonas was pretty good, even though he got really, really tired of his carseat!! We saw lots of fun animals, stayed in a really nice cabin, ate good food and just had lots of fun. It was a little chilly, so we had to stay bundled up pretty good. All of my sisters were great helpers and they loved holding Jonas whenever they could. He didn't like his coat (its just a little bit big still), and his hat made him mad when it covered his eyes.
On our way home from Yellowstone we stopped at Bear World in Rexburg. It was so much FUN!! We saw the bears run to the feedtruck to get donuts, these little baby cubs were playing and fighting, my sister Taryn got attacked by a deer, we fed the ducks and Jonas got his very first stuffed bear named Baby Ben. I had so much fun on the drive home making my sisters laugh and driving my dad crazy. It was great trip and I can't wait for next time!

All in all it was such a great trip! We always have fun when we go "home", and this time was no different. I can't wait for Christmas!!

Jonas is 2 Months!

We went to see our new Doctor last week. She was AWESOME! I liked her about 100% better than the first pediatrician!  She was great. The office staff was great. The whole thing was.....GREAT! The only bad part was that the little guy had to get shots. Seriously who do those nurses practice on? She just shoved that needle into his little leg and she didn't care that he was screaming! Maybe I was a little more emotional than necessary, but I felt so bad for him. He survived with only a runny nose, so I guess I should get over it. We have to do it next time too. Yea!

Yes, he's almost doubled his birth weight. Way to go buddy!

Oh, I'm so embarrased. :)

How cute is he?