Winter is Coming

So winter is coming here in Cheney. We got a little snow two nights ago that has stuck to the ground. It is now starting to melt where the sun hits. We might get some more tomorrow, so I guess it is time to bring out the big coats and boots.



Here is Whitney with a big smile. She has been smiling more for the camera now. I think it is because she knows she can crawl and grab the camera when she wants to. And she does that sometimes.

We went back to Pasco for a couple of days because Courtney's friend was getting married and I was in charge of the bridal shower. Unfortunately, our camera went on the blitz and the battery didn't hold its charge so I didn't get any pictures of the bride and groom. Here is one with my two younger siblings, Kaitlin and Conner.



I wish we had gotten more pictures in Pasco because going to the temple and to the reception was really fun. And the wedding dress was pretty, but oh well. Whitney has learned a new trick. She can now pull herself up to the standing position onto objects. This means that the puzzle I was working on is now going back into the box unfinished because Whitney broke it. But oh well. Soon she will be walking and we are really going to be in trouble.



That is all the pictures we have this time. Will is enjoying his new job. He is helping people sign up for Medicaid, so he gets to use the phone at work a lot. I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving. We will post new pictures after that.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This was Whitney's first halloween and I think it was a good one. We were given two costumes by Courtney's aunt and we had a hard time between the two on which one Whitney should wear.



The first one was a cow and it was really cute. Especially if we could get Whitney to hold the cow stuffed animal.



The second was a pumpkin and that is the one we chose. Oddly enough, when I took Whitney trick or treating at Eastern campus, another girl in my ward had her daughter dressed as a pumpkin. So we went around the different campus buildings together and we were the pumpkin patch. All the older people giving out candy to the kids thought we were great.

Whitney was really interested in the pumpkins. She loved to hit them and she loved to lick them - a little bit gross.







Can you tell what our two pumpkins are? Will carved the pumpkin shaped pumpkin (which was my idea) and then I carved the rocket shaped pumpkin (which was his idea). It was really fun. I love roasting pumpkin seeds and eating them for the next couple of days. With two pumpkins we had plenty to eat. Yum.

Our ward had a big trunk-or-treating activity for the kids because Halloween was on Sunday and the children all wanted candy. I couldn't believe how many kids there were. Will and I almost ran out of candy to give out. Of course, all the walking around and saying trunk-or-treat made Whitney very sleepy.



Her hat only looks like it covers her whole face. I promise that she could still breath just fine. And Will and I shared a pumpkin shaped pizza from Papa Murphys.



So all in all, Halloween was great. It's fun going around with a kid and picking up candy. Whitney even got to eat some of her candy.






I have been giving her little pieces of chocolate and things like that and she has loved it. What small child, or even small adult, doesn't love chocolate and sugar?

A while ago we received an outfit from Scott and Emily, Will's sister and brother-in-law, who live in Japan. The outfit said it was for babies 3 - 6 kg. Now I don't have a clue how many pounds are in a kilogram, so I wasn't sure when I should let Whitney wear the outfit. But we tried it on the other day and it fit okay. If you look really close it says happy hachikun. I don't know what that means. But the outfit is still really cute. So thank you Scott and Emily.



Whitney has been developing a lot over these past couple of weeks. She got her two bottom teeth, hooray.



Now it took me a long time to get a picture with Whitney showing off her teeth, so I know it isn't the best lighting and quality, but you can see her teeth. Does anyone know if teeth take a long time to keep coming up after they have broken through the gums? Whitney's teeth broke the gums over two weeks ago and they still look really small. Shouldn't they be pushing up some more?

Also, Whitney has learned how to crawl, sort of. She is really slow and will only go a little bit before getting upset. But she is getting there and we are really excited about that. Here is a video of her crawling.






It has been really fun to see Whitney grow and develop. I hope that everyone else has had good Halloweens. I am so excited for all the holidays coming up. Take care everyone.

some good news

It seems that all my siblings have some good news to share so I thought I'd share some of my own. After a very brief stint of working at Wal Mart in the far north of Spokane (2-3 walmarts away) I received a social work job at outreach services in Spokane, the office is located in downtown Spokane and will pay considerably better and give more hours that wal mart would. I will be working with individuals to help them deal with medicare and medicaid to help them to pay their medical bills. I am scheduled to start on the 8th of november. so that is my good news moment.

Getting bigger

Hi everyone. We just have some cute, kind of random, pictures of Whitney. People at church say she is getting so big and looking more and more like Courtney. What do you think? Here she is all dressed up for church. I love putting little dresses on her and little things in her hair. I don't know what I will do if we have a boy next and cannot dress him up.



Here she is trying to fill daddy's shoes. Whitney seemed to kind of like being in Will's big shoes. One day she will be big enough to not need us holding her up.



Will has a couple of favorite toys that he has owned since before we were married. One of them is this little block man that can move all around. All young children who have seen it just fall in love with this toy. Apparently, Whitney has as well.



But now she is making a break for it. Whitney can now put herself from sitting up to the crawling position and then she goes flat on her tummy. She moves backwards and in circles, but not forward yet. I have had to get her out of a trap or two when she gets her feet stuck somewhere.



Eating books and sleeves are some of Whitney's favorite past times. There are so many actual toys to chew on and even a teether, but why would we want to chew on them when there is a sleeve readily available? What part of this doesn't make sense?





Here Whitney gets up close and personal with the camera. She was sitting up at the beginning of the photo shoot, but the camera was just too tempting for a little girl.



Now Will and I love to play Yahtzee. It is one of our favorite games. During this video, I am counting to see how many rolls it would take to get a Yahtzee. And it was bad, but Whitney thinks I am just hilarious. Take a look.







After all that playing and laughing, Whitney was just zonked. She rubs her eyes constantly when she is tired.



So that is all for us. I hope that everyone is doing well. Will is now working at Walmart to help pay the bills until he can find a cool social work job. He had two interviews this last week; we should be hearing back from them soon. I really hope he gets one of these jobs. Okay, see you later.

Last Summer times

I am afraid we haven't been as diligent as we should be when updating this blog. But we took a few pictures of the last times of Summer. It is just now starting to get chilly. So I feel pretty fortunate that Summer lasted so long here in Cheney. Bring on the soup and sweatshirts; I am ready for a little cooler temperatures.





Here are two pictures from our last picnic of the season. Will and I have always loved packing a picnic lunch and going to a park to enjoy the warmth; Whitney has now become a joyful part of that equation. And if Whitney is reading her book upside down, so be it.

We got a cute shirt that seemed to be good for Whitney, at least how we see her.



Whitney is our little princess in training. She already yells at us if we don't give her what she wants. We will be in trouble when the terrible twos arrive.



Here Will and Whitney read Cinderella together on the bed right before bedtime. Whitney really loves books and will stare at the pictures for long periods of time before getting bored. Goodnight my beautiful baby.





We finally decided to try to get Whitney's hair out of her eyes because it seems to bother her and I know that it would bother me. She seemed to like being pushed by Will in the box.



We threw Will's pajama top onto Whitney and she immediately tried to eat it. Not that we didn't expect that from our almost seven month old baby. But then she started screaming like she didn't like the taste or something. I don't know what the deal was.



And sometimes you just have to laugh as your husband and your daughter both stick out their tongue together. I think Whitney inherited his tongue.

We went back to Pasco for Courtney's birthday and we had lots of fun. I have reached the ripe old age of 24. Unfortunately, our camera's battery died on the trip, so we don't have many pictures. Oh well.



Both of my sisters are in cross-country. I don't know why; I think they are crazy. But they claim to like running. Who would of thought? This is Kaitlin right before her big race.



And my dad is holding Whitney. Just ignore the random people in the background. I have no clue who they are.

We have been trying to take more videos of Whitney lately because she is growing so big so fast. Here is one that made both Will and I laugh hysterically yesterday after church. I promise no sugar was given to any babies in the making of this movie. She is naturally this hyper.