October 2015

This was Jefferson's first Halloween month so we took advantage of every opportunity to dress up and be a little spooked. Zooperheroes, Comicon, Witches Night Out (Jefferson was our little Warlock- cape, wand and all), numerous "Incredible" Halloween parties and parade, and a our Black out Utah Football game. We even found a new family tradition of getting donuts and driving around to all of the Halloween houses. Some people are much more motivated than we are to "decorate and animate" for Halloween so we enjoy that.

I'm grateful for my girlfriends who like to dress up for a party and will roll down a gigantic hill with me like we are all 10 and laugh with me when I hit the mud puddle. whoops:)

This little man turned 11 months this month and shortly after took his first step!

 He is so excited to explore his world, He especially loves the pantry and his playroom bins., He is eating everything like a champ and has funny little habits with food like putting his puffs in his bib pocket and he has been teething and one of his favorite gnawing spots is the corner of his high chair, So meal times are always entertaining. 

His fangs (as Brad affectionately calms them) have been quite troublesome coming in and our angel baby has resisted napping and has had some difficulties sleeping through the night. We hope those fangs come in soon. 

September 2015

This September Jefferson went to his first football game. He did really well and liked the music but definitely did not like the cannons! 

We also went to Oktoberfest and had some delicious German food, did some polka, and enjoyed the mountains.

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And Jefferson is growing fast! He loves every box, he can get his hands on. He loves to go to the swings multiple times a day once with daddy and once after his walk with mamma. He easily stands but doesn't dare try that first step yet. He is babbling ma ma mostly and da da,ba ba, na na. He gets really excited when we mimic him and he gets louder and louder. He is a happy little goose. It was about this time last year when we were contacted by his birth mother and visiting with her. Our hearts were full of hope then and now our hearts are full of gratitude for our little man and especially his sweet birth mother and her priceless gift to us.

August 2015

August was a busy month for us with our home remodeling projects. We had our kitchen cabinets painted white and added some new hardware, Yes it was pretty before, but we loved our old kitchen in our condo and wanted to recreate it here. We love the results:

before:

after:

While our kitchen was being painted we stayed with mom and dad Dennis and mom Dennis helped me make the cushions for Jefferson's room. They turned out great. It was a fun DIY project.

Our zinnias came up from seed this month and the result was beautiful!

We tried to enjoy the last of summer with swimming, summer concerts, checking out the car show, Real soccer, and enjoying our garden veggies while eating on the deck as much as we could with friends and family. 

And our little Jefferson Amal turned 9 months! We had a 9 month photo shoot at home to celebrate.

Jefferson is standing every chance he can get. His funny army half crawl has gotten more sophisticated and he is getting fast. Of course the dishwasher and refrigerator are his ultimate goal. He is eating everything he can and is 50ish percentile all around. He is an active sleeper and has gotten his legs stuck in his crib more than once so now we have the tradition of fixing him at night and laughing about his funny sleeping positions. Most times in the morning now when we get him he is standing in his crib and very proud. He can stand on his own 20 seconds now and counting. He made a friend at his baby class and they are the cutest together. He still loves his walks and delights everyone he sees.