Our new (rental) house!

What a month it has been!

So, we had been sort of-ish toying with the idea of moving out of our basement apartment. Not really considering it, mostly just a "Wouldn't it be nice to not live like a gopher...." kind of thoughts. But, after the Alabama trip, our landlady informed us that she would be getting dogs for her teenage kids. The idea of listening to dogs barking every time someone came to their door made me cringe and prompted us to just "look and see." If we found something within our budget, great, if not, we would be fine. And to our delight, the PERFECT rental house popped up and we immediately called about it. We were not the first to call, and we wouldn't be the last (the landlord had over 60 people call about it.) We looked through and immediately fell in love. We put in our application, and even told them that we would be willing to sign for more than a year if that's what it would take. We just knew we wouldn't get it, but couldn't help but hope. Then the landlord called a few days later asking when we could sign!! We couldn't believe it. There have been several times where I have been so happy I thought I could cry.

It was such a busy month--we moved in our new place, and then two days later went to Lake Powell. So much packing! Our ward and friends were SO kind and helped us move out, and a ward member even lent his trailer to us. Oh, and to celebrate our new home, we got a sectional! We loved our battered love seat, but it would have looked rather small in our new living room. Our landlady happily took it, and we found the perfect sectional for our new living room.

Here's our house!!

A BATHTUB!!!!!! Our last place didn't have one. I can tell I will spending a LOT of time in here.

part of our backyard, including some flowers (and 6 ft tall weeds)

The other part of the backyard. Our own backyard!!! No more landlady's cat coming to snuggle and shed all over me!!

Master. There are 2 main bedrooms+a little windowless room that is Caleb's bedroom.

Living room. Infant not included.

Look at this huge kitchen!!! So much bigger than our one-bum kitchen. And don't you love that tile???

The front! Isn't it darling??? I'm so in love!!! We even have a GARAGE! (which will actually be made into a studio for me!!! Squeeeee!!!!!)

I'm so happy! We still can't believe we live here now. It is very weird to be living so far west in Provo after having lived so close to campus for so many years, but our neighborhood seems nice and our ward has seemed thrilled to have us (the ward choir was especially ecstatic). We will REALLY miss our last ward, but luckily they aren't too far away. :) We our so happy to not be sharing any walls, floors, or ceilings with any neighbors for the first time, to have a yard, a bathtub, a huge kitchen...the place is practically perfect. And guess what, we have a guest room, so COME ON OVER!!!!

Happy nine months! (Plus a funny story)

Holy cow, what a month! In just a week you learned both to crawl and to pull yourself up to stand, activities which you have realized you love! Unfortunately that has meant that our days are full of lots of bonked heads and more tears. My days are now spent making sure you don't kill yourself as you find your way to areas and objects that aren't baby friendly. You are a very busy baby now! It is so fun to watch you explore the world around you.

You have branched out to eating more foods, thank heavens! You still hate pureed vegetables, but I can't really judge you there. We have found that giving you cut up cooked vegetables is the way to go. You LOVE all fruit except for pureed peaches. You still have no teeth to chew any of it, but you make it work. You've been extra drooly and snotty lately, though,  so I bet by next month's post you'll have a little tooth to show off.

    

Enjoying our backyard one last time before our big move

You favorite activities now include: pulling out the wipes from their dispenser, conducting invisible orchestras, smacking hard surfaces with your hand, putting anything and everything in your mouth, going on walks, being outside, putting your wrist in and out of your mouth to say "bababababababa," playing with the handles on the dresser, being tickled, eating (both foods and non-foods), playing in the water, bonking the back of your head onto the wall repeatedly (not sure why that is appealing), and growling (to our much amusement). 

Discovering the pleasures of tile in our new house!

 At your nine month appointment last week you had all the same percentiles as before, which is about 91st % for height and 43rd % for weight. You are tall and lean! You unfortunately had some eczema, but that has mostly cleared up with the help of Aquafor.

Check out that awesome bed head

Funny story from this last month: I was talking with an expectant friend on the phone and this is how the conversation went:

 Me: "You are just going to love being a mom!"

Friend: "Yeah I know, we..."

Me: "Nevermind!!!! Caleb just pooped on the floor!!!"

Yes, Caleb, you left a massive pile of crap right on the freshly cleaned carpet of our new house. It was quite the spectacle. You and the floor both got an immediate scrub.

Making new friends! (sort of...)

 Caleb, you have now been out of the womb for the same time that you were in it. And boy are we so happy that you aren't in there!

Playing with Grandma while Dad does the Hit n Run 5k

Trying a lime for the first time...you actually loved it! Ha!