Happy Halloween

Our ward Halloween party/Chili cook-off was last night and we went as Aladdin, Jasmine, and Abu. My mom got the monkey costume for Dallin a few months ago, so we tried to think of a theme that all three of us could use for our costumes that included a monkey. Of course, this was the best one.

I made the vests for both of the boys and Mckay made the hats.

My costume was assembled entirely from things that I already had in my closet.

(Doesn't every girl have a pink jingly scarf?)

We had a good time eating chili and seeing friends. I think Dallin's favorite part was playing with his Daddy.

Progress!

After working on this one for almost 3 weeks, Dallin has finally finished one entire jar of baby food! He is making a lot of progress with eating. Today I fed him sweet potatoes straight out of the jar (not diluted) and I gave him twice as much as I normally would. He ate it all. Now that he is getting used to the texture and thickness of baby food, we'll try some other flavors. I hope he likes them.

Mirror, mirror

Dallin really likes looking at himself in the mirror.

He hasn't realized yet that it's himself he sees.

But he sure likes smiling at that other baby.

Notice how he's sitting by himself. He's pretty good at it.

most of the time...

The trouble with food

Getting Dallin to eat baby food has been a struggle. He really puts up a fight and screams and tries to jump out of his chair to get away from the food. The following two videos show some of the things he will do when I try to feed him. Because he was too distracted by the camera, what you see is very tame for his normal reaction to food, but you get a taste of it.

And I'm happy to report that for the past 3 days, he's been eating a lot better and actually enjoying the food, I think. Who knew that sweet potato soup is what the little guy was craving? (pureed sweet potatoes thinned with milk)

Snuggly Bug

This is Dallin relaxing and getting ready for bed.

Just sucking his thumb and snuggling....

...his burp cloth.

best. book. ever.

While perusing the local library today, I came across a fabulous book that I think no home should be without.

I'm sure my mom would enjoy this book. Adapted from the story of the Gingerbread man, the story starts as a baker makes a man out of his leftover matzah dough. Of course, after the dough is baked, the Matzah man pops out of the oven, recites a rhyme, and runs away. And everyone in town wants to have that matzah man at their very own Passover Sedar, so they begin chasing him through town. The best part of the whole book is at the very end when the matzah man comes upon the house of a young boy. The boy tells the matzah man he has a perfect place for him to hide, and the boys helps the matzah man onto a plate and covers him with a napkin. If only the matzah man had been taught about Jewish traditions! He should have known that he had been tricked into being the Afikoman, and the matzah man is then served to the guests at the end of the passover meal.

If you're not familiar with the Jewish traditions of Passover, read up on it and this story will be a lot funnier.

Seriously, a great book.

What a smart boy!

He's figured out how to slide out of his bouncer chair.

And he's learned that he likes to chew on graham crackers.

(getting them down his throat instead of on his shirt is a different story)

Fall Craft

I got the idea for this craft from something my sister Katie did to decorate her baby room. I got wooden letters that you can get from just about any craft store. You can do this to spell out whatever you want (Fall, Merry Christmas, your baby's name). Then I got scrapbook paper in varying fall patterns. Scrapbook paper is pretty cheap, and I'm not very creative with a paintbrush, so using paper gives you a beautiful pattern ready to go.

Trace the letter onto the desired portion of paper. Then cut the letter out with scissors.

Next you need to glue the paper onto the wood letter. I'm sure there are many methods of adhesion that will work. I wanted my glue to go on flat and not create lumps under the paper, so I used a foam craft brush (as seen below) to apply wood glue.

Then place the paper on the letter and push. Make sure the paper is lined up correctly with the letter and that there aren't any air pockets trapped underneath.

And there you go! A cute decoration you can use for any holiday!

Right now my letters are standing on the kitchen table, but I think I'll put them in the window so that more people can see them.

General Conference

Conference Weekend was really great. I kept trying to remember what we did for last general conference 6 months ago, and it's all kind of a blur. And then I remembered that Dallin was just a few days old and fresh from the hospital for last conference, and I was getting used to a little baby and trying to walk like a normal person. Needless to say, I couldn't keep my eyes open for too much of it. So I was really excited for this weekend of conference and listening to the words of our wonderful church leaders. And it was nice to have Mckay home the whole weekend without him leaving for work, homework, or church meetings. I think it was hard for Dallin to grasp sitting at home all day and watching the TV. He got very bored. And it was a cold and rainy weekend which made us want to stay inside even more. Once again, I was glad to have another person to keep Dallin happy.

We prepared for conference by getting lots of sleep the night before.

And Dallin looked for all the good weekend sales.

I was inspired by my sister-in-law Ashley to clean the house to create a more peaceful environment for watching conference. Unfortunately, the cleanliness didn't last into Sunday. There were some really great talks, and I enjoyed the hours of hearing what our church leaders want us to hear. I feel like there were a lot of talks about love and building relationships with others. President Monson is an inspired man, as are his apostles. I wanted to write down a few things that I heard in conference that are things I want to work on to make my life better.

Conference Goals

• Record spiritual experiences and promptings.
• Create an environment in my home where the spirit can be felt.
• Be more diligent and concerned at home.
• Express love to others and show it.
• Share testimony with others by speaking and through my actions.
• Be more consistent in scripture study, prayer, and Family Home Evening.
• Serve others more frequently and ask myself, "What have I done for someone today?"

Possibly one of my favorite quotes from conference was from Elder Uchtdorf.

"Try. And keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible. And that which seems only possible becomes a habit."

Especially right now as I am struggling with getting Dallin to fall asleep by himself, eat solid foods, gain weight, and learning how to be a good mother and keeping up with everything I have to do, I know that I just need to keep trying. And if I keep trying it will get easier.

All in all, it was a great conference. I'm excited to get the conference edition of the Ensign and re-read the talks and study from them for the next 6 months.