Some catch-up!

First of all it's probably time to show some monthly pictures. I have been a slacker with these so the first is a sad excuse for his 9 month picture. It was taken during the pregame warmup of the Jimmer game we went to in LA with some of Blake's family. It happened the day before Nathan turned 9 months.

Here is Nathan at 10 months. This little guy is on the move and will not be stopped so this month's picture was tricky!

So to catch up on our last few months: We went to California to see Jimmer play in April, spread hand-foot-and-mouth disease to lots of our cousins, moved into our first house, spent a week with my family in Vegas, saw all of Blake's family for Ashla's wedding, started hanging out with our ward's 12-13 year olds (I'm in Beehives and Blake's their Sunday School teacher), spent a week in Idaho Falls with my family, and went to Salt Lake for April's sealing last Saturday. Whoa has it been crazy around here.

Nathan is doing great too. I can't believe that he is almost a year old!! He is a mad and speedy crawler. He has two teeth and is currently working on his third (yay). He loves to eat though we're a bit limited cause he has some allergies (mainly anything dairy). He loves to pull himself up to anything and everything. He is a sweetheart and he makes us laugh every day! We sure do love him!

We went to the beach in California. Nathan's first visit was a hit! He loved it.

I felt it was necessary for him to touch the water at least for a second...he was not thrilled at all....the wave came a bit faster than I had planned!

Sucking on an orange seemed a better alternative to eating sand.

Before Nathan could crawl forward he scooched backwards and found himself in a few precarious situations (this is under his crib).

In L.A. ready to see Jimmer play!

When we were in Vegas Nathan loved all the walks to the park that we took.

Nathan hanging out with Will in Grandma and Grandpa's bed in Vegas. These two were early risers that week!

We stayed at a house with a pool and these little fishies had a blast! The look on Nathan's face says to me, "Just try to keep me from that pool!"

We went to a chocolate factory named Ethel M's and then walked around the cactus garden outside it.

Will pushing Nathan on the swings at an awesome park in Vegas.

Nathan loves this particular cupboard...something fascinating about lots of pans clanking together LOUDLY

Nathan and Emma holding hands during mealtime...oh the joy of cousins!

Nathan riding the firetruck at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

All the Batt cousins after a game of kickball.

We went to the zoo in Idaho. Grandpa gave all the kids animal crackers...a hit!

Grant watching Nathan and Grandma riding the lion.

The newest addition to the Batt family: Elsie

Nathan and Emma playing cars

Grandpa took Nathan on his first fourwheeler ride. Nathan LOVED it!

Blake wanted to take a Sunday nap...Nathan wanted to play catch...THE RESULT

Watching the annular solar eclipse at Grandma Twitchell's

What a big boy...standing up to the couches we just bought off craigslist....I learned a lesson with these couches. Asking the owner a 5 word question will save you HOURS of work.

Are you ready for them? (Those aren't the 5 words)

DO YOU HAVE A CAT?

Well I didn't ask and didn't notice any signs of a cat until we noticed that George (who helped us move the couches) was covered in white cat hair....grody (plus Nathan is allergic to cats also)! So I spent all afternoon and night yesterday vacuuming every square inch of those couches...then Blake got home and steam cleaned every square inch of those couches. I told myself that it was the WORST job in the world and then I was totally humbled....first Nathan went to the bathroom in the tub (gross). Then while I was cleaning it up he licked the toilet and then when I was doing the dishes I noticed how quiet he was being and found him under the counter playing in his own throw-up. a.w.e.s.o.m.e. 

Anywho that is basically our last few months in a nut shell. Blake's starting into crop this week (yay...) and we're looking forward to one more visit to Idaho to visit my parents before they are New Mexico bound for the next three years!

Phoenix

This week Blake, Nathan and I took a fun little trip to Phoenix for a dairy convention. Blake spent most of the time going to classes while Nathan and I had a great time relaxing, swimming and exploring the area. Nathan went swimming for his first time and really loved it. You can't really tell from all the pictures how much fun he had but he was kicking his little legs and flirting with all the girls at the pool. He also loved drinking the water (much to my dismay). He kept flinging his face into the water and lapping up water with his tongue. Grody!

Not too thrilled with his glasses (I kept telling him he'd thank me later):

He's getting to be such a big boy.

We had so much fun and Blake learned so much from the conference. It was nice to go on a fun adventure as our little family. Nathan even got his first little tooth while we were there. It's just poking through his gums now (yay teething)!

8 months

Hello everyone (I never really know how to start each post...)! A few things have been happening around the Holt house. Nathan turned 8 months old today so as is tradition around here we took some 8 month pictures. Here they are:

He's kind of a turkey some times:

This is Nathan's mode of transportation. He spreads his legs out and reaches his hands in front of him. He grabs the ground and pulls the rest of his body forward. Kind of funny to watch.

We have friends in our ward who only speak Spanish (okay for Blake...not so easy for me). They are the nursery leaders in our ward. One Sunday last month I had Nathan during the first hour of church (Relief Society...backwards I know). Well the wife came up to me and in her very broken English said something like "I take Nathan...." Well I thought she just wanted to hold him but before I knew it she just stood up and walked out of the room with him. I sat in a daze for a minute then I walked out of the room to find Blake waiting for me. He asked, "Where's Nathan?" I just looked at him and said, "I have no idea."

Come to find out she had just taken Nathan to nursery with her. Blake went to check on him and she insisted that he stay so we enjoyed a peaceful Sunday School minus our 7 month old baby (kids usually go to nursery at 18 months). Blake got him from nursery and he walked into sacrament meeting holding Nathan who was wearing his little crown. Funny day.

Nathan has a new found love for his toes. Maybe I should stop this but....I probably won't!

Loves his dad:

Nathan is in love with the mirror these days. He is so funny too because he would rather look at you through the mirror so even if you are sitting right next to him he will lean wherever he needs to so he can see you in the mirror. Notice how dirty the mirror is due to the fact that his favorite thing to do is LICK, yes I said lick, the mirror.

Last month I went to get Nathan out of bed in the morning. He had been making some particularly unhappy noises and when I opened his door this is what I found (no wonder):

On a non-Nathan note we took the carpet out of our house a couple weeks ago. It was so gross and dirty (literally dirt everywhere). The paint is going on this week and the carpet will be in next week. It has been fun to see it all come together. Oh and we discovered Nathan's allergies to all the dust when his face broke out in some pretty yucky hives. Luckily it didn't last long...went away just before the doctor came to get us from the waiting room (felt a little silly).

We've got a couple exciting months before us full of weddings and reunions. Can't wait to see all of our family soon!

6 & 7 months

So I'm a little bit behind with blogging but we've had some fun the last few months that I need to remember so here I go. In January Nathan turned 6 months old. He weighed in at 19 lbs 14.5 oz. so his outfit here is very appropriate (thanks Aunt Ashla).

In the middle of January Nathan and I flew to Idaho Falls to spend a week with my family. My lifelong friend Jessica is having her first baby within the next month and so I got to be there for her baby shower....so fun. She and Jonny will be the cutest parents!! While in Idaho Nathan got a lot of face time with these two wonderful grandparents which always makes me so happy.

Nathan was excited to see his Daddy when he got back. He loves doing what Blake does so I come in the room to this all the time:

Nathan has loved getting to know his great-Grandma Twitchell here in Enterprise.

Happy Valentine's Day from Grandma and Grandpa Batt:

And from Grandpa and Grandma Holt:

On February 8th Nathan turned 7 months old...it only took me a week or so to take his pictures.

Nathan is at SUCH a fun age. He is a great little eater and sleeper. He is rolling all over the place, sitting up like a pro and just gabbing away all day. He loves to sing along with his mom and dad. He is such a laugher. Sometimes he just laughs out of nowhere when he's all alone in the next room. It is so much fun to have him around.

To update you on our living situation....we are still in Blake's childhood home. We are currently doing some home improvements to the house we bought. Blake's taking out all the hardware to make the painter's job easier (and cheaper too). I have been tearing out wallpaper and closet liners (which is actually incredibly therapeutic and fun). We're ordering carpet this week. Our estimated move-in week is the 2nd week of March. All in all we have loved living in Enterprise. Blake's brother Jared keeps telling me that I'm warming up to Utah more and more every time I see him and it's so true. I miss being by my family but I am really enjoying being by Blake's family. They are wonderful and make living in Enterprise great. I feel like Enterprise is the right place for us to be. There are so many kind people here and I'm grateful my kids will get to be surrounded by such great people.

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays everyone!! We had a great Christmas this year. We spent it in Enterprise with Blake's family and loved catching up with everyone. It was fun to spend Christmas with Nathan this year (even though he had NO clue what was going on).

I think all of the holiday celebrations took a toll on this little Santa:

We sure love you all and are so grateful for such wonderful family and friends!

5 Months and A Move

Well hello from Enterprise everyone! That's right...we have made the move down south. This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Batt fam in Idaho Falls and then the next week we packed up our apartment in Chubbuck and moved to Enterprise, UT where we will be permanently residing now. We moved into the house that Blake grew up in. We are grateful to have a place to live and this house is full of a lot of wonderful memories. On December 1st Blake and I bought our very first home and we are very excited about it. We should be moving into it sometime next year.

The Batt grandkids on Thanksgiving (minus William and Emma)

During Thanksgiving break we got to see our dear friends Caitlin and Trent and their cute boy Ethan! We sure have missed them!

This week Nathan turned five months old. He is getting so big and learning so many new things (I'm pretty sure that's what I say each month but it's true).

Last week we thought we'd try introducing some rice cereal. Oh what a funny experience. I'm almost positive that he did not swallow anything but we had fun trying.

After the first bite:

At the end of the bowl:

(Notice the pool of food on his bib...we tried a couple other times and they all went this way...maybe we'll be brave again and try in a couple weeks)

We are getting really excited for Christmas this year. I'm excited for Nathan to experience Christmas even though he will have absolutely no clue what's really going on. We are spending Christmas in Enterprise this year and we're so grateful that so much family lives nearby for us to celebrate with. We hope you all have a very merry Christmas!!