BOM-RAT

I know I am going to blow everyone's mind by blogging 2 days in a row, but it is a rare moment where both of my sweet boys are asleep and I am eating lunch at the dining room table (where the computer lives) and felt a spur of the moment update desire. FYI, I intend to start being an "earnest" blogger again in 2014. And I tend to keep my New Years resolutions so, maybe I will be on this more than once a month and tell you more than just Dallin's latest and greatest.

So... BOM-RAT. What's that all about? Let me tell you. It's the abbreviation for "Book of Mormon Read-a-Thon". We are planning one for next Friday with the Young Women in our ward. We will read the entire Book of Mormon in a mere 24 hours. Is it possible? Well, lots of other units have done it and lived to blog it about it later that week so I can only assume it is. I will tell you this much though, right now, it's very daunting to think about.

Here is the thing, it is A LOT more than "just reading" for 24 hours. Let's not even think about the content of what we are reading- that's a whole thing in and of itself. But there is a lot of planning involved in "just reading"for 24 hours. Like a lot of food. I mean, we are talking about teenage girls. Like a lot of activities to keep them us awake. Like a lot of outside help to come and read to them. Like an awesome host family who is willing to turn their house over to a bunch of teenage girls and their crazy leaders for 24 hours. Like a detailed schedule of exactly what we will read at exactly what time and where in what groups. This is all just the tip of the iceberg.

I want to share details with you all, but I just can't right now. It's ALL a big surprise for the girls. And we've got lots of tricks up our sleeves. So stay tuned and I promise to provide the reading schedule (which some of you have asked for), the details of our night, and maybe even some pictures.

Who knows, now that I am back to blogging, you may wish me to be gone sooner than you think!

Dallin- 5 Months

Sweet baby Dallin is 5 months old. He is SUCH a different baby then he was a month ago. He is wide awake, very aware, and becoming very much his own person. He did go to the doctor, so I have some "official" stats to share.

He weighs 16lbs 9.5oz, which is perfectly normal, 50%
He is 26.5" long, 75%

Other "unofficial" facts and stats about him:

He is a great napper. A short nap in the morning around 10, a longer nap after lunch, and then another nap at Grammye's while I teach piano.

He is reconsidering the whole "food" thing. We tried to give it to him right at 4 months and he was not into it at all. Gagging, terrible faces, lots of spitting- it just wasn't working out. Now at 5 months, he is able to get in 2-4 bites each time and enjoys it, so some major maturity is shining through :)

He loves his jumper. He will stay in that thing as long as I need him to (like right now while I upload pictures and write a blog post). The sun on it frustrates him, just like it did Evan. I'm considering writing a review for that thing "WARNING: Sun may cause your babies first case of stress." He also likes to sit in his bumbo and the high chair and still likes laying on the floor and playing with his play mat.

He rolls over, gets up in the little army crawl position, squirms backward, grabs everything, and is just all around a busy boy. Much more curious than his older brother was at this point. He loves to babble/yell; Evan always says "what is he saying, mommy?" And he is very hands on- like his hands have to be on anything he sees i.e. hair, necklaces, clothing, toys, drinks, keys, books... you get the picture.

He is still oh so smiley! He is easy to get to laugh and if you smile at him, expect a smile back. He is almost never fussy- even in the car lately! We still have our car moments but we can definitely make it to Grammye's without a fuss (it's 3 minutes away).

He loves: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (song), for Evan to get in his bed and play with him after a nap, Mommy, Grammye, Daddy (in that order), toys, the Nativity book, drooling, the lights from his sound machine, and just life in general.

He is cuddly but very playful. He is loud but can be so sweet and still. He is busy but can be trusted to play on his own for a while. He is cute and cute and cute! We love him to pieces. He is just an awesome little baby.

Dallin- 4 months

This sweetie pie gets cuter everyday- can't you tell! He really does seem to be growing up right before my eyes. He certainly is not a newborn anymore. He's strong and solid. He holds his head up, sits up with support, and loves to be standing up while holding onto your fingers. He has found a love for toys. He plays with the toys on his car seat, including pushing the dog's nose for a song, he loves the toys on his play mat and swing, or you can just hand him a toy or a teether and he's entertained for quite a while. He is still the drool king and has to have a bib on all the time. He now has enough body control that the drooling is only magnified thanks to him constantly chewing his hands or toys. He has been getting up once a night, usually in the 5 o'clock hour which means I just bring him out to couch, feed him a bottle, and then we go back to sleep together until Evan comes and wakes us up around 7. He LOVES his big brother. It's more evident all the time. He watches everything he does and can
immediately be calmed down from mild fussing with Evan's attention. He also now knows who his Daddy is and gives Matt the biggest smiles when he comes home or when he can hear Matt's voice. He is still a Mommy's boy though. He prefers for me to be holding him when we are home, although really he just prefers to be held. He's a great sleeper during the day- especially considering his brother is not always careful to be quiet while we are in the nursery for diaper changes. He still HATES the car. We are doing everything possible to help with that. Other than that his general personality is happy, curious, a little loud when he's talking (which is a lot of the time), and very sweet. Dallin is just joy in a little baby boys body and we love him to infinity and beyond! (Evan is watching Toy Story right now...)