Nibble Nibble

Kyle has the most unique method of eating some of his favorite foods. He always tends to start in the middle. 

New hiding spot

Kyle has recently discovered a new hiding spot. Well, he seems to think he's hiding anyway. He climbs under Zach's high chair and then peeks out from between the legs as though they were bars to a cage. I love how this picture caught him with his tongue sticking out, as it tends to do when he's concentrating really hard.

Worth every penny

Sold some stuff at a garage sale this morning, just HAD to do some shopping at another garage sale down the street. I found this puppy that I almost bought new for Kyle's birthday but didn't. I'm glad I waited because this one was in like-new condition and cost me a whopping $2

It was worth EVERY LAST ONE of those 200 pennies. I would have happily paid 200 dollars for these kind of smiles. (assuming I actually had $200)

He reads too!

I'm pretty sure I have some similar pictures of Zach lounging, feet propped up, with a good book.

Today's Choice: If Dogs Were Dinosaurs

We've got a climber

So, I was putting laundry away the other day and I came back into the kitchen and found this:

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a climber!

I was totally shocked that he could actually get into this high chair without any assistance. It kinda scared me. It was like in those ghost movies when they leave the room and come back to find all of their kitchen chairs balanced precariously on one another. I had to do a double take, WOW! How'd he get there? The bottom step is well above his hip. I know I certainly couldn't have made it if I were his size.

It seems like he only started standing a few days ago and here he is. He's not a baby anymore. Today he started pushing things around and walking along with them. Chairs, stools, toys. If he can pull himself to stand next to it, he can push it to wherever he wants.

This could be a bit of a concern given his climbing abilities. If he can push a chair wherever he wants and then climb on top of it.... nothing is safe any longer!

Kyle is One!

My goodness time sure flies doesn't it. My little baby is officially one year old. I can't believe it! Now, just a little warning... when Zach turned one we took a bunch of pictures and then by some catastrophe of technology they were lost. Luckily, I had posted a few of my favorite pictures on the blog so we at least had those safe. As a result of that, I plan on posting bucketloads of pictures from Kyle's birthday to make sure they too are safe.

So, here's the birthday boy looking all debonair. I made him this shirt with a big one on it and written at the bottom of the one in bright blue is the o-n-e. It turned out way cute but sadly, a little stiff since my sewing machine is on the fritz and I had to use iron-on stuff. Oh well, it's not like you could really see it anyway... it's the thought!

I put together a buffet of goodies for our guests to enjoy along with little goody bags in hopes that they would take home as much as possible. (Sadly, I think I still ate the bulk of it myself)

It's a bit of an awkward photo of people's backs but this gives you an idea of the sweet streamer decor that Jason put together.
Of course, Zach had to join in on the present opening.
The Cake... TA DA!


We ended up giving Kyle a chocolate cupcake since "the cake" was white cake (all I had) and for some reason I've always thought the birthday boy MUST have chocolate.
He was pleased.

VERY pleased!
He even stole the cupcake from the little girl sitting next to him. Luckily, she was basically done.
I sure love my little boy!

Attitude of Gratitude: Prayer

Today's lesson in Relief Society was on Prayer and I just couldn't NOT put it up as my thankful post for today. I really am so so so grateful for the power of prayer and the knowledge that I have that I can speak with my father in Heaven when I need him.

I have always had a strong testimony of prayer. So much so that I think I almost take it for granted... if that makes any sense at all. I just always think, "oh I'll just pray about it" without really thinking about how very amazing that is. Whether it's a deep need for comfort during a hard time, or requesting guidance on making a decision, I always know I can turn to my Heavenly Father. I'm never alone, even if all I need is a little reassurance that I'm on the right track. The last few nights have been pretty tough as we are trying to teach Kyle some better sleep habits. I was pretty exhausted last night and as I prepared to transition him into his bed at 3 a.m. I was fully expecting him to wake back up and stay awake for at least two hours. That's what he did the last few nights anyway! But before I made the move I said a quick prayer asking for sleep, knowing we would need to wake up early for church and worrying that Kyle would wake up Jason as well. He slept! Some might say that it was a coincidence or that the sleep training of the previous few nights was working. I say, prayer works. Sometimes not the way you expect or want, but it works.

Now, since that was a little on the serious side, here's a little comic relief.

Kyle as Hanna Montana! (the little green toy is actually supposed to be a microphone if you couldn't tell)

Blonds do have more fun after all.

First Hair Cut!

This is a little late in being posted but I was still trying to get used to it myself and wasn't quite ready to celebrate. Kyle finally had his first haircut. Jason has been begging me for a long time but I've just not wanted to. I always feel like once they have their first haircut they are no longer a baby and they start becoming more of a kid, a big boy! So, Monday Jason finally put his foot down and cut the poor boy's hair. I still don't think it was THAT long. There was only one section that had started to be more Donald Trump- ish but I was willing to over look that. ; )

Here's before...

See, it may be pretty long but it was still NOTHING compared to Zach's hair when we cut it and he was only 5 months old at the time.
He does look so grown up now though.
Zach, of course, had to jump in the pictures too. This is pretty typical... Zach torturing Kyle and Kyle giggling away like it's the best game ever.

As a side note:

I missed posting my gratefulness yesterday. I actually had one, and I posted it on facebook but just never got to the computer to post it here.

Yesterday I was thankful for After-Holiday sales.

I know, it's a little 'material' but I was pretty excited. We needed an ingredient for my dinner plans yesterday so we headed out early in the morning to pick it up at Target before the day got underway. I was kinda hoping to catch some decent post-Halloween deals but I hadn't expected to catch them at such a perfect time. They had just barely marked down all of the Halloween stuff so it was really low prices but still a good selection. I decided I'd pick out a couple costumes and decorations for next year. As I was hunting I ran into a friend of mine who had her cart packed FULL of costumes. She explained that she was going to put together a costume box for her boys as a Christmas. I decided that was genius so I followed her lead. I ended up finding Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, the Hulk, and a police man, a fireman, a cowboy and a ninja for around $3 each. What a great, low cost, HIGH fun Christmas present!

Attitude of Grattitude: Health

Today I've been thinking about how lucky we are to be healthy. Sure, we pick up a bug here and there. But for the most part, we have been really lucky to have missed the bulk of the yuckies that seem to go around periodically.

The other morning Zach woke up at about 3 a.m. crying much more than he usually does. I went to check on him and he started to complain that his neck hurt. I had him show me where and then asked him to look side to side, he did that fine. Then I asked him to look up and down and when he tried he ended up yelping in pain and breaking out into sobs again. My mind immediately went to meningitis and I hurried to get Jason. Jason's thoughts were the same but we were comforted to notice that he didn't have a fever. I still would have run him into the ER with my paranoia but Jason ran a few more tests (he's pretty handy to have around) and cleared him saying that he must have just slept funny. I still took him in to the doctor later that morning just to ease the paranoia that still had me but all I was told was to keep him home for the day, give him Motrin and let them know if he did get a fever. No fever ever came and the next morning he was feeling much better, though he did keep his head slightly cocked to the side for another day or two.

The whole thing just really made me think about how awful it would have been if he HAD been sick and how glad I am that we've been able to avoid those sorts of traumatic experiences. I don't deal too very well when my kids seem to be in pain. I've often been known to shed more tears than they do! So I am SO SO SO very thankful that they are both healthy and strong.

On the subject of health. The mystery of Kyle's sleepless nights has been solved, though it really shouldn't have been too very hard to figure out. Over a period of maybe 3 or 4 days Kyle managed to sprout not one but THREE teeth. He is growing up so fast, I really wish I could pause time a bit once and a while. Here's Kyle sporting a grin with his new pearly whites.
P.S. Kyle also had his first haircut yesterday but I haven't had a chance to take any pictures of him yet. He looks to different! I'm really going to have a hard time getting used to it. Just another bit of evidence that my baby is growing up.

First Sweet Potatoes

So.... what do we think of sweet potatoes?

We LOVE them!

First Sweet Potatoes

This is our first attempt at sweet potatoes. Rice cereal was completely rejected so we have moved on to more flavorful fare. Our only problem now is that Kyle doesn't seem to think it prudent to open his mouth to eat. He just prefers this method...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRfshYJBL3M

Guard Baby

Our neighborhood has started up a neighborhood watch and Kyle was more than happy to take over guard duty. He set up in his favorite spot.

"Burglars beware, I've got my eye on you!"
Uh Oh! He's falling asleep at his post!
Yep, he's out. Maybe we should rethink this guard baby duty.
(yes, his head is resting on the window)

Did pigs fly?

The other night I was working on my evening dishes and I noticed Kyle was being especially quiet behind me so I turned around to find this...

Oh! Precious boy! Snuggling with his blanket. I only wish this would happen more often.

Kyle's Favorite Pass Time

Toes! Yummmmmm....

Peek A Boo!

Kyle is growing up so fast that I end up surprised at him every day. This morning I was woken up by him talking to himself. Not in the "Ah's" and "Oooos" of infant vocalization but the happy babbles of a baby learning to copy the sounds he hears around him. He's picked up all kinds of consonant sound and really sounds like he's carrying on a whole conversation. It's the best sound I could possibly wake up to in the morning, even when it's at 5:30 am!

He has recently started playing his own version of Peek-A-Boo or maybe it's closer to Hide and seek. He will get a hold of his blanket and pull it over his head then start to kick his feet excitedly as he giggles quietly under the blanket. Then when you pull it away to "find" him he bursts out into hysterical laughter like he just pulled the greatest prank ever.

Today he rolled over a couple of times until he was all covered up with the blanket and he started his game with Zach.

So here's Kyle in camoflage...

Bet you can't even see him now...
Where did he go?
FOUND HIM!!!!

5 months old

Kyle was feeling a bit left out from these last few posts and I didn't want to leave the spider at the top so here's some pics of Kyle.

He will eat ANYTHING he can get his hands on. And it's not a casual taste, it is an attack! He chomps down on anything that get's near enough.

He also "enjoys" rolling over, though he's not very impressed with the outcome of being stuck on his belly. This is him before church on Sunday. I found this little baby tux at Goodwill for seventy-five cents! I love it. Now I just need to find a bow tie.
I just realized I need to try to get some shots of him without something in his mouth. He really does smile! I promise! I'll work on that for next time.

Kyle standing?

Wait! Is that Kyle standing up on his own??

Or is there a sneaky arm hiding there. HA! We see you Jason!

In other news... Kyle Rolls!

Well, he actually has been rolling on occasion for a while now. It's just over the last couple of days he's started getting a lot more consistent. And today he actually managed to get his arm out from under his body all by himself!

What happened to my teeny tiny baby?
He's starting to grow up WAY too fast.

Blessing Day

So, I'm WAAAAAAY behind but this is stuff I can't NOT blog right? I'm taking us back to May 22. It was kinda a crazy weekend since it was also Jason's graduation but we just decided to throw in one more thing, just to make it really interesting. It actually worked out perfectly because Jason's parents were there to celebrate with us. I was bummed because Zach got this huge party in Idaho but this time we just dressed up and invited the bishop over. Then I got to think about it and realized that the party wasn't the important part. It was the blessing itself and the fact that his dad was able to bless him and his Grandpa was able to be there as extra support.
I love this guy!
The grandparents, I'm SO glad they were able to stop by on their way home from Norway. It worked out so perfect.
A little family pic. See that foot being stuck into the air? Would you believe this was actually the BEST picture we were able to get? Out of like 50! I've decided that toddlers just don't DO family pictures.
And the MAN OF THE HOUR! Kyle Jason Gundersen Oh so handsome!

What Kyle's been up to

Well, to be honest.... He mostly sleeps. But he's pretty darn cute when he's sleeping right?

Though now he also laughs. It's be cutest thing in the world and I realize that no amount of blogging about it will do it justice so I'll just leave it at that. And I'll share these few pictures of those rare gigglish moments.

His favorite thing in the world is to have his hair washed. Yesterday he was so excited it seemed like his laughter started at his toes and just exploded. It made my day... especially since it was mother's day.
Here's that whole sleeping thing again. The beauty of the 2nd child is that they have this uncanny ability to sleep amid chaos. What you don't see in this picture is his 2 year old big brother running circles squealing and laughing as he attacked the rest of us with a balloon. How Kyle managed to sleep through it is beyond me. But I think it was pretty fantastic.