We were out of town for Rowland's 8 month mark, and celebrated it at Grandpa and Grandma White's AND by saying "Mama" for the first time. Music to my ears!
How could ANYONE in their right mind EVER say no to that face? Good thing he can't talk yet. Whew!
One of the only pictures I have of him not attacking my paper.
Our little Rowland is rolling all over the place and getting much closer to crawling (heaven help me). He's finally sitting up more now, and has learned the amazing skill of blowing raspberries constantly (makes me wonder if teething is on it's way).
He loves to stick his tongue out. Also please admire his beautiful chubby thigh with the rolls. MMMMmmmm delicious!
Grabbing the paper - his face totally says, "oh all the things I could do with THIS!"
He is trying to do the army crawl, but still figuring out the rhythm for it, but he can do 360's like a pro. He LOVES to talk and plays with the volume of his voice all the time (a true White). We've found he has a level of tolerance for strangers, but once that quota has been met, he's done. Too many people in a crowd or one too many holding him and he loses it. He is such a happy, go-lucky, laugh-y baby, that when he melts down, you know he means business. I also have to give him credit. He DOES warm back up to people fairly quickly too - which is validating to them I think. ;)
He sees it...
Going for it...
GOT it.
This kid also LOVES to play with his feet and eat them. I die and go to heaven when my babies find their feet. It's so cute. His emotions are quite visible in his little leg too. He loves to kick them, and goes crazy with it when he's excited.
Mom's going to have to work 50 times as hard now to keep hands away AND get cute smiles! (I usually am sweating by the end of taking pictures - just a little TMI for you.)
Paper is just too much fun to leave it alone on the ground.
He completely adores his siblings, especially Ross - since Ross completely adores and LOVES playing with Rowland. The looks, conversations, and playing that goes on between my children makes my heart just want to burst out of my chest - it makes me so happy. There is nothing that compares to sibling love - especially with how little these guys are and how that are all best buddies right now.
Still has that good strong forehead going for him....but still working on the sitting up thing. ;)
LOVE this little cuties :)
Brown eyes for days!!!
Some of his army crawl caught. ;)
Rowly weighs in at about 18 lbs. - roughly the 17th percentile - still our little guy. His height is about 27 inches - 18th percentile.
Feeding him is a little tricky. He doesn't open his mouth very wide (unlike his cousin, Jax, who I've been told opens his mouth as wide as he can make it for that food!), and with the raspberry blowing - mealtimes are not my favorite. Who am I kidding - mealtimes stopped being my favorite way back when we just had Ross refusing to eat, or spitting out his food at me that I had just spent 2 hours making....the struggle is real people. If it weren't for Steve liking my cooking, I would just give up cooking all together. Back to Rowls! He DOES prefer squash, yogurt, most fruits, and carrots for the most part.
We sure are loving this guy. His lightheartedness, and quick-to-laugh personality bring so much light in our home. Happy 8 months little Rowly! We love you. :)
As we made our way back to Utah to pick up our three parcels, we spent a few days in Utah before heading back to our regular life. Of course that meant we were having a White Family reunion as well.
Back with my babies. It was a bit hard being away from this little one especially - since I've never left my little babies for longer than half a day before!
Playing in sandboxes with cousins is the best!
This little guy likes being outside :)
This is Princess Ruby's outfit of choice when at Grandpa and Grandma White's house. We like the bangles skirt - it's like a cowbell for her, letting us know where she is in the house. :) This is her "get married" outfit. :)
A video I got while we were gone from Uncle Young:
We played a bunch outside, since it was still warm we had a little pool to play, we had a game night, and some family pictures taken by our wonderful adoptive brother Young. :)
Bum shot!
Ross got really in to the idea of a water fight...
And so did his daddy.
And this little cutie was loving the grass.
He's pretty good at holding himself up now.
That face is just dying to be kissed ALL the time - so I must comply! His angel's kiss on his forehead isn't going anywhere fast either. :)
Cute girl in a cute polka dot swimsuit.
That is one face full of mischievously pure joy.
And he proceeded to get grandpa after.
Still lovin' the grass and me lovin' this face. :)
And grandpa got gotten. ;)
Cousin Alex - a must have at White family functions. He Ross and Ruby have a grand ol' time whenever they're together.
Me and this kid stayin' out of the way of the water fight.
LOVE him.
Steve and Megs had a showdown...
My beautiful Maple Mountain with the colors changing. I LOVE fall with the mountains!
I think we look pretty dang good!
Pictures are a serious deal.
I LOVE this picture. It shows so much of each of their personalities. Ross is the protective (police-type) brother, looking out for his sister. Ruby adores her brother, and is also looking for something fun to get in to (you can totally see that in her eyes) - as Ross is trying to "maintain" her before she gets in trouble. ;)
Uncle Young who took our pictures, may or may not have a special place in his heart for this girl. :) And vice versa.
Love this cousin picture! It was a miracle getting them to sit together at one time.
And my kids together :)
Feeding the neighbors horses some apples.
Rowly getting some Uncle Michael time in.
Banana Bread time!
Get in!
YUM
We also went out of the semiannual Conference dinner to Joe Vera's. While Steve and I didn't really get to participate in much of the conversation due to taking three children with us to the restaurant (you understand how that goes), Steve and I shared our favorite talks with each other. Mine was from Elder Holland from a story he told of two brothers hiking around and getting stuck:
Without
safety ropes, harnesses, or climbing gear of any kind, two
brothers—Jimmy, age 14, and John, age 19 (though those aren’t their real
names)—attempted to scale a sheer canyon wall in Snow Canyon State Park
in my native southern Utah. Near the top of their laborious climb, they
discovered that a protruding ledge denied them their final few feet of
ascent. They could not get over it, but neither could they now retreat
from it. They were stranded. After careful maneuvering, John found
enough footing to boost his younger brother to safety on top of the
ledge. But there was no way to lift himself. The more he strained to
find finger or foot leverage, the more his muscles began to cramp. Panic
started to sweep over him, and he began to fear for his life.
Unable
to hold on much longer, John decided his only option was to try to jump
vertically in an effort to grab the top of the overhanging ledge. If
successful, he might, by his considerable arm strength, pull himself to
safety.
In his own words, he said:
“Prior
to my jump I told Jimmy to go search for a tree branch strong enough to
extend down to me, although I knew there was nothing of the kind on
this rocky summit. It was only a desperate ruse. If my jump failed, the
least I could do was make certain my little brother did not see me
falling to my death.
“Giving him enough time to be out of sight, I said my last prayer—that I wanted my family
to know I loved them and that Jimmy could make it home safely on his
own—then I leapt. There was enough adrenaline in my spring that the jump
extended my arms above the ledge almost to my elbows. But as I slapped
my hands down on the surface, I felt nothing but loose sand on flat
stone. I can still remember the gritty sensation of hanging there with
nothing to hold on to—no lip, no ridge, nothing to grab or grasp. I felt
my fingers begin to recede slowly over the sandy surface. I knew my
life was over.
“But
then suddenly, like a lightning strike in a summer storm, two hands
shot out from somewhere above the edge of the cliff, grabbing my wrists
with a strength and determination that belied their size. My faithful
little brother had not gone looking for any fictitious tree branch.
Guessing exactly what I was planning to do, he had never moved an inch.
He had simply waited—silently, almost breathlessly—knowing full well I
would be foolish enough to try to make that jump. When I did, he grabbed
me, held me, and refused to let me fall. Those strong brotherly arms
saved my life that day as I dangled helplessly above what would surely
have been certain death.”
He proceeds to use this story to illustrate how justice, love, and mercy meet together. It made me think that the boy who was jumping as the person who finally is humbled enough and desperate for change in his/her life and is truly ready for repentance. As we allow ourselves to be completely vulnerable to the Savior, THEN He can come and utilize that beautiful Atonement in our lives. As we leap out with all that we have, He will be there to catch us and make the difference, because there is no way we could ever do this on our own, no matter how hard we've worked or tried. We ALL need the Savior.
Anyway - I do enjoy doing these Conference dinners - and especially if I get to hear everyone's favorites. :)
Ruby saying bye to Uncle Young. BFFs
Rowly and Grandma time.
Got some piano playing in as well.
Saying bye to cousin Alex as well.
We also got to sneak in a temple trip to the Payson temple during our trip which was nice - though they don't rent out the temple clothing there just FYI.
Steve and I also did some shopping (when you're in civilization - you have to) and bought ourselves a deep freezer for a good deal. Woot Woot! We even hauled it home ourselves due to Steve's mad tetris packing skills. :)
OH and we also checked out the cool Springville Reservoir. We went on a good day when there was a Homecoming dance and everyone was busy doing other things so the crowd wasn't so bad.
On the way home we stopped in Grand Junction to check out their Dinosaur Museum. It was pretty sweet and the kids loved it. It included mechanical dinosaurs as well which was pretty awesome.
Testing out how rivers work
Checking out the moving Triceratops
The head moving stegasaurus
The picture with the cool dinosaur truck before we left - no one was happy about leaving.
It was a very fun trip - it always is when family is involved. :)
I was dying over these gorgeous fall colors that pictures don't do justice.
