In other non-Joey news

Most of you have probably been keeping up on Facebook, but I want to post some pretty important things that have happened to us over the last four months or so.

Neal got yet another promotion at the Union Colony Civic Center.  He's now the "Technical Services Coordinator" aka the Technical Director for you theater folks.  It was a HUGE leap of faith for him to apply for and accept the job.  It comes with a lot of responsibility, and he had a LOT to learn in a very short amount of time.  Now that we are a couple months into it, he's really enjoying the job, and he's learning a TON of stuff that he didn't understand before about budgeting, managing, and much, much more.  I can't express in words how proud I am of him for taking the leap.  I am so grateful everyday that he takes providing for his family seriously, and that he strives to do his absolute best at his job!  I know it will give him so much more understanding in his career field.

We bought a house, and moved to a little farm town!  It's a pretty blue house, about 2100 square feet (700 of which is unfinished).  It sits on about a quarter acre so we've got a good sized back yard.  Our neighbors are super sweet and helpful.

We got to meet the local volunteer fire department, and figure out where the closest urgent care was to our new house.  I was getting a sandwich made so I could sit down and eat while I fed Joey and then put him to sleep.  While making said sandwich, I was cutting some delicious colby jack with a cheese slicer (that I never ever use, so don't ask me why I used it at that moment) and slipped and just about took the tip of my thumb off.  It was pretty gnarly.  The firefighters seriously freaked Joey out, so he screamed pretty much the whole time.  The only time he calmed down is when a specific firefighter of the SIX firefighters that showed up at my house picked him up and started playing with him.  I'm guessing that firefighter was a recent new dad because he seemed to know exactly how to calm Joey down.  I'm so grateful Neal works close to home so that he was able to come home and take me to Urgent Care (where I got three stitches).  I am grateful that my in-laws were able to come over afterwards and help me get ready for our housewarming party that was that weekend.  I am grateful that my cousin was able to take my stitches out so we didn't have to spend the money on even more medical bills.

 I LOVE staying at home with Joey.  He brings so much joy and happiness to my life and I am so glad we made the decision to take that road for our family.

Well....that's about it!  :)

Joey - 6 months

I cannot believe that a half a year has gone by since our little dude was born!  People kept telling me time would go faster once he was born, and I didn't believe them.  Now I do!

Our little guy's half birthday was on Sunday!

Here he is all smiley and happy with his big blue eyes:

He's so grown up already!

Alright.  This month was a big one:

- He started rolling from back to front and then about two weeks later figured out how to roll from front to back.  It's now his main form of transportation (besides his favorite, which is mom carrying him...EVERYWHERE).

- He has still been rocking the solid foods.  Some have them have cause a little...hem hem...trouble...in the latter end of the digestive system department, but we're working on getting that one figured out.  He loves sweet potatoes, bananas, bread, and anything that's on mom and dad's plates that he can try and get to.

- Mom's going back to completely dairy free.  He went from sleeping about 8 hours in a row (with a dream feed about half way through) two months ago to having several nights where he's woken up every 1-2 hours.  Thankfully, about the time that mom feels like she's at her breaking point, he has a good night.  But, we're going to try cutting dairy back out and see if that's the culprit.

- He's started falling asleep on his own.  We read a story, rock while we sing three songs, and then he gets laid down.  Sometimes he needs a little more help, but usually he just lays there still and quiet until he falls asleep.  He's SUCH a good little guy.

- He has started sitting up on his own.  It has been pretty cool to watch him progress from needing support while sitting up to learning to catch his balance when he starts to fall, to not having any problems sitting up now.  Just today he started sitting up while in his stroller instead of leaning back onto the back rest.

- He got to meet his Great-Great Grandma Kidder.  She adored him, and he didn't freak out when someone new held him.  We were able to get a five generation picture, and for that I'm grateful because he may be the only great-great grandchild that gets that opportunity with her (she's 98).

- He also met a new buddy, Sarah, who is my grandparents' dog.

- We took our monthly trip down to the temple.  He LOVED the fountain.

- His naps are getting better.  Some days (like today) take a little coercing to get him to sleep longer, but he's getting better at doing it himself.  I'm pretty sure part of the problem is he gets distracted while he's eating and so he doesn't totally "fill up" and then he gets hungry half way through his nap.

- We went up to Estes Park and had a picnic in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We saw some elk and did a short hike.

Here are some other fun pictures from this last month:

And this last one is probably my favorite.  I caught this one while we were in the annex at the Denver Temple.  He was staring and the huge statue of Christ.  There's a look of "Hey, I know that person" on his face, and I love it!

I'm back! (General Conference)

Woo-hoo!

For all my LDS friends - General Conference was amazing, no?  I definitely wasn't disappointed.  My two week social media fast made a huge difference as well!  

One of the biggest blessings I saw was that I was able to hear the answers to the questions I had asked and pondered about even though I was dealing with Joey (he was having a hard time sleeping during those two days for some reason and was WAY overtired.  We finally swaddled him - which we haven't done in months - and he crashed in my arms during the second session on Sunday).

I think the biggest thing that I will remember though is that Heavenly Father knows I'm trying really hard to make sure I do the "little things" (like study my scriptures daily, say my prayers, teach Joey about Christ, etc.), and that He will bless my family and me for the effort that I make.  The Spirit really touched my heart as I had that thought and told me it was very, very true.

I'm so grateful for a God who is intricately involved in the details of my life.  I really see tender mercies like that from Him often.

Something else I've decided to do is take Facebook off my phone.  I want to see if it will help me feel closer to my Heavenly Father more often as it has done over the last two weeks.

What was your favorite part of Conference?  What did you learn?  Did you do a social media fast, too?