9 months old!

Christian is 9 months old today!! Whew, the boy is growing up :) He is just cutting his 1st tooth through this week. One of many..but its a start. We're glad he is still a happy guy the majority of the time and healthy. We've had to give him allergy medicine everyday for the past several weeks, but its helping take care of the symptoms..so I'm glad. 

Its hard to keep track of all the new things he is doing over the last month..but here are a few:

-claps hands together with somewhat of a purpose

-likes to pat things...the floor, toys, my FACE 

-loves to play peek-a-boo...much more interactive with it

-when going through what animal makes what sounds the "puppy" and "kitty" are his favorite

-has to look ALL around whenever we go anywhere..you can expect him NOT to look at you if you're the one holding him

-drinks from a sippy cup...but really just thinks he's a "big boy" and chews on it more than drinking out of it


-can sit, roll, stand with help...and just on the brink of wanting to try to scoot. Only weeks away from being officially untrusted when left in a room for more than a few seconds.


-can be VERY vocal when he gets excited!


-sleeps through the night almost all the time..can't say he does 100% with nap time, but hey, as long as we all get sleep at night I won't complain

-recently switched to size 4 diapers, weighs 19 1/2 lbs...really curious how tall he is though! His hair is getting longer every week, makes him look so much older. His eyes are still bluish/greyish/greenish depending on the colors around. And he still gives the sweetest smiles that NEVER get old :)

Going to Gpa and Gma H's

This weekend we went to Topeka to see Mom and Dad Hershberger (aka Gma and Gpa H.). It was good to see them, and other Topeka friends of their family. We also got to see the house that Phil is currently working on...it has quite the potential :)

We went to their church Sunday morning and saw the many people that hadn't seen Christian since he was 7 weeks old. I'm pretty sure he's MUCH bigger and more vocal than that time. We enjoyed lunch with their small group and the beautiful weather sitting outside in the afternoon.

Ben

I don't often write about what we are up to in everyday life..but I felt like it this morning. Ben is a week and a half away from completing this semester of classes. For the past month he has been in the actual classroom at an elementary school in Park City doing student teaching and observation in a 2nd grade class. He goes every Tuesday and Thursday for the full day. Last Saturday, he took a LONG test for ESL and Spanish certification. He already has taken the other LONG test that he had to take for elementary ed certification and found out he passed. It takes about a month or two to find out if you pass. So, after this semester, he has the fall semester to student teach and in December he's DONE!!! Yay.

This summer he plans to do some house painting. A couple houses are in mind so far, so hopefully like last summer...the rest will fall into place. It's a little different having Christian now, because Ben is the child care most days when I go to work. I'm sure we'll figure something out :)

God's creation

Last Thursday, we (Mom, Alyssa, Ava, Kade, Christian and me) visited the Botanica Gardens in Wichita. There were so many beautiful flowers to look at...and so many different colors of tulips. I love tulips! We enjoyed looking at all the types of flowers, I would like to go again in the summer to see what different ones are growing. Our timing was just right...God turned on his full force sprinklers right as we got in the car...it was POURING! Glad we could enjoy His creation...pictures don't really grasp it, but at least you get the idea.

One of the many reasons I love Kade...he's just himself! So goofy, but such a sweet little boy :)

The three cousins..we missed Maddox..he was at school.

Ava is a growing girl. She is a sweet-loving girl...she lets Christian know how much she loves him and how cute he is (frequently). :) 

It was kinda hard to get a picture with Christian...he was much more interested in the flowers and dirt than looking up at a camera.

Grandma walking with the "runaways"...they are fast!

Another year, another project

It seems like every spring/summer there is some kind of project to do outside. Last year we changed the front yard...pulled out all the nasty bushes, and planted different ones. This year we are doing some things to the back yard. Ben is making a border/flower bed to cover up the big ol' stump that still remains from the tree we removed 2 years ago. He also is putting one in front of the shed. Then, he thought he wanted to move a couple of bushes in the back yard and transplant them to the corner...so the yappy dog next door can't see us as easily. I'm not so sure they will survive the move...but we're really not out much if they don't.

Hopefully I'll have some "after" photos of successful finished looks!

Daddy's little helper?? Maybe not quite yet...but he does like to watch!

This isn't quite the finished product...the middle/inside bed is not shown and we still need to fill it all in with dirt. This dirt is supposed to be coming from the second driveway we will be doing. Seems like I said we were going to do that last year...oh well. We have the plan in place, so I'm hoping within the next week or so we will have that done!

Bush #1, I gave it a SERIOUS haircut before Ben moved it.

Bush #2..gave him a little more problems, but she eventually gave in and uprooted.

We were watching Daddy work!

the GREAT outdoors

We've been having some beautiful weather...and enjoying every bit of it! 

Springtime at Gpa & Gma's house

We're so HAPPY the weather is getting warmer and springtime is here! These were some of the things Christian did Saturday at Gma and Gpa's house...

Gpa gave Christian his first swing ride..this is pretty much the expression the entire time. He didn't seem to mind, but didn't give any signs of loving it either. I'm sure he'll learn that it IS a fun thing to do!

Mom and Dad bought 40+ chicks to raise for eating. They just got them last Saturday, so we had to check them out. Who knew that little ol' Christian could practically kill the 2 week old chick with his own two hands. YIKES! The picture below was right before he went in for the clench around the poor chicks neck. 

It was a feeding frenzy when they were put in their new home...2 feeders covered in little yellow pecking chicks.