Quick Trip to California

Hoyt and I were able to take a quick trip to California last week to see my brother Brandon and nephew Austin graduate from 8th grade. We had a great time swimming in Grandma and Grandpa Hoyt's pool and spending time with family. Hoyt spent 2 hours in the pool the first day and absolutely loved it. I told Ryon that we definitely need a pool now - you can imagine his response!

Nine Months...

Nine months and Hoyt is absolutely everywhere and getting into everything. He can crawl so fast now - one minute he is in the family room and the next he is at the front door! He loves the dishwasher, and no matter where he is when he hears the door open he comes crawling. When the door is down it is just the right height for him to pull himself up and try to gnaw on the bottom rack!

At church last Sunday he got his first "shiner". Ryon had him in Elders Quorum and he was crawling around and pulling himself up on the chair rack. During the prayer he took a dive and plowed his cheek into the rack. Ryon said, "He did that cry where he didn't breathe for like 1 minute!" So in the bottom picture if you look at his left cheek you can see the battle scar, and we know that's just the first of many. (However, I did have to let Ryon know that I didn't think he was watching him closely enough!)

We had Hoyt's nine month appointment last week and he is now 30 inches long (95%) and weighs 22 pounds (80%). The doctor thinks he will be a very tall boy, and says he is doing great! We just can't believe that nine months have gone by so quickly, but we love this age and could sit and watch Hoyt all day. He is such a happy, smiley boy and he loves to laugh - he is truly our entertainment!

Outdoor Adventures

Well....I guess "outdoor adventures" may be stretching the truth a little at this point, but Hoyt does love to be outside these days. Whenever he is the least bit cranky all we need to do is step outside and miraculously his mood changes. Even though it was a bit windy a few days ago, we put on our ball cap and ventured out into the backyard and sat on the grass, crawled on the patio, and even stopped to have our picture taken. (I couldn't resist taking off Hoyt's socks to try and get a picture of his fat little feet - I wonder how they will ever fit into shoes?!)

I am often asked how I am enjoying staying at home after twelve years of working, and while there are some days when I look at myself and think "what should I do now?", who would ever trade an afternoon in the backyard with an exploring nine-month-old for a principal's office? Not me. When I went into Human Resources to resign from my position, all of the ladies were so excited that I would be able to stay home with Hoyt. One of my favorite HR technicians said, "We will miss you Heather, but there isn't a more important job than being a mom. I respect your decision to stay home." While I might not receive the same "kudos" for changing a messy diaper as I would presenting in front of the school board - what greater honor is there than being a child's mother? I can't think of one!

I CAN CRAWL!!

Hoyt has been working on crawling for the past month. For the last few weeks he would get on his hands and knees and try to move himself forward, but other than that he hadn't quite figured it out. That is....until today. While he has yet to crawl across the room, he has finally started crawling short distances.

He loves to crawl to the bookcase and open up the drawers, as you can see in this video. He also loves to crawl to anything that "isn't a toy!" Why is it that when you have all the toys a child could ever want......all they really want is a piece of paper, tupperware, or metal bowls and spoons??

Bathtub Time!!

One of Hoyt's favorite things to do is take a bath. I think he would stay in all day if we let him. He loves to play with toys, splash water all over the place (I think I get as wet as he does) and he doesn't even mind having his hair washed. Now if I could just find a bathmat that would stick to the bottom of my tub...as you can see this one is having some issues!!

Trip to Idaho

Last week we took a trip to Idaho ( according to Ryon the "promised land") to see Grandma and Grandpa Murray. We decided to drive and Hoyt did amazingly well for all 8 1/2 hours there and back. We had a great time visiting, eating, shopping, staying up late, etc. Why is it when you go on a trip you never seem to get enough sleep?

We also got to see my sister, Noelle, who lives in Pocatello with her husband Kyle. She is in her last year of nursing school at Idaho State University and loves to tell us gory stories of her rounds at the hospital! She will be a great nurse.

Ryon can't wait to move back to Idaho, while I could probably wait a little longer. I like to joke that I almost had to sign a pre-nup. stating that I would move to Idaho before we could get married! Whenever I ask Ryon how long it will be before we move he says "two years". We'll see - he has been saying that for three years now. Not that I don't like Idaho; it would just put me further away from my family and that might be hard for me!

Eight Months...

Hoyt is now eight months old, and he is loving every minute of it. He has four beautiful teeth, with another two on the way. The poor kid is constantly teething - rubbing his ears, drooling, etc.! He loves to sit up, wave bye-bye, say mama and baba (we're really working on dada; Ryon can't handle that he can say mama but not dada), and he's trying extremely hard to crawl. He will get on his hands and knees, but then fall flat on his tummy. Once on his tummy he'll push himself backwards, but moving forward is something that I'm sure will take a little time. I could sit and watch him all day - this is such a fun age.

Cowboy Up!

Hoyt was sick with a pretty bad cold this past weekend, so he was home-bound Friday through Sunday. On Saturday afternoon, both Ryon and Hoyt were a little bored, so Ryon decided to get their cowboy hats down and try them on. I couldn't resist taking a few picures. Hoyt was more interested in getting dad's hat off than anything else!

Surrogate Siblings

Hoyt is almost eight months old - it's crazy how time flies - and he loves to be around other children. When Matt, Allison and the kids come over he has so much fun. It doesn't matter if he had been crying 5 minutes before the door bell rang - once Dallin, Mason, Ashlan and Malorie enter the room he is all smiles. I'm sure he loves the attention he gets, and believe me, I don't mind at all. For at least two hours the child is completely entertained!! Malorie loves to hold Hoyt, even though he is about as big as she is, and she will often tell me, "You're so lucky - I want to be Hoyt's mom!" (I assure her that she can probably wait just a little while for one of her own.)

After dinner a few Sundays ago, while the adults were at the table talking, I looked in the family room and found the four kids gathered around Hoyt. I had to take a few pictures. It is wonderful to have surrogate siblings!!

First Easter!

I love Easter. It is an opportunity to focus on the Savior and His resurrection. We had a wonderful Easter Sunday. The primary children sang in Sacrament Meeting, and if I do say so myself, they sounded terrific! (I'm sure I was more nervous for them than they were for themselves!) The ward choir also sang three songs, so Ryon had Hoyt by himself for the entire meeting. He was in and out, but he did a great job.

Hoyt had a new little Easter outfit for church that made his blue eyes "sparkle"! He also had to have an Easter basket. Ryon didn't know why he needed a basket, but I told him that we needed one for pictures. Ryon and I ate the candy and Hoyt was mostly interested in all of the packaging and boxes inside the basket. However, he did like his new soft duck that quacks. After church we had a wonderful Easter dinner with the Bigler's. Hoyt had such a big day, and with only an hour nap, he was ready for bed by 7:00!