Gilcrease Orchard

We took another trip to the orchard on Saturday morning. It was a little cooler that it has been. We got some big squash and zucchini and an Armenian Cucumber. I've never tried this type of cucumber before so if I like it I'll have to go pick more. I just got a small one, but there were some that were probably 12 inches long. That's a lot of cucumber! It's nice living behind the orchard. We need to go there more often. I'm looking forward to pumpkin season.

A giant zucchini right at the front of the row. This picture doesn't do it justice. It was at least a foot long and probably 3-4 inches in diameter. We didn't dare pick something so big, but someone else was brave enough to pick it by the time we left.

Nathan's First Plane Ride and more

 My Mom, Nate and I felw to St. Louis to visit family. We were there for 4 1/2 days.

Day 1 - Friday: Randy and Lisa came over just in time for lunch. We all headed out for our first meal at Lion's Choice (even though Mike almost has us all convinced that Lion's Choice was closed due to an E. Coli investigation). Josh, Amada, and Sarah came over after school. We all just hung out and had a good time. We even had tornado warnings, sirens and all, that evening. That was not my idea of a good time, but obviously it turned out to be nothing.

Day 2 - Saturday:

We spent the morning and afternoon and Grandma and Grandpa's house. Then we went over to Randy and Lisa's house for Lion's Choice and to hang out for the evening.

Nate taking a bath in Grandma's kitchen sink.

Lion's Choice #2

Nate, Sarah, and I on the trampoline.

Nate and Josh

Day 3 - Sunday: Mike, Randy, Grandpa, and Sarah went to the Cardinals game. The rest of us ate Lion's Choice (#3) at the house. Aunt Lisa, Amanda, Grandma, Mom, Nate and I went to the mall to take Nate on the carousel.

Ready for the Cardinals game.

Day 4 - Monday: Nate, Mom, Grandpa, and Grandma and I went to Lion's Choice (#4) for lunch and then off to the St. Louis Zoo. We flew home that evening.

I Can Do It By Myself

The last few days have been incredible busy for me and Nate. Poor little guy has been getting less sleep during the day than he needs, but he's been a trooper. Grandma Peggy came over to babysit on Tuesday while Eddie and I placed two new vending machines in a school nearby our house. Here's a little tidbit to tide you over until Nate and I get back from St. Louis. I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about and tons of pictures.

Nate thinks he such a big boy now that he doesn't have to sit in his tub. It might be time to start giving the big tub a try.

8 months old

Nate turned 8 months old yesterday (Saturday) so we decided it was time to give Nate some chores around the house. Watch the video to find out about Nate's first chore. Sorry the video was a little dark. It was bedtime by the time Nate got around to it.

Nate is an expert army crawler, but he been getting up on his hands and knees more and more now. He doesn't go anywhere yet, but I bet within the next few weeks he'll be crawling that way. He's getting stronger and starting to pull himself up on his knees.

Nate in his "baby prison" or his crib with the mattress moved all the way down.

Nate wearing Grandpa's hat.

Nate with squash all over the place because he's a wild and crazy kid.

More Goodies

Here are a few more videos and pictures for your enjoyment.

Here is Nate exploring Grandma's house. You can also hear his new clicking noise he makes all the time. It makes me laugh every time.

We bought some little cereal type baby food that dissolves in Nate's mouth. He hasn't really had much experience with anything chunky before. I've fed him some, but I wanted to see how he would do trying to feed himself. This was his first time. He doesn't quite have the pincer motion yet with his thumb and pointer finger so it's kind of hard for him. He's had more practice the last few days and he's getting better every time. It definitely keeps him busy while we are eating.

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This was just too cute to not snap a picture. We read to Nate every night before bed, and he was especially interested in this book. He had fun smacking every page in the book.

Nate has fun exploring the trees, pinecones, and rocks on our hike today.

Nate riding along with Mommy at Mt. Charleston.

Catching Up - Visiting with Cousins

My cousin Rachel and her three kids (twins Karena and Hannah and Tyler) came to visit in St. George back in June. My mom, Nate and I went up to visit for the day. This is the first time the 3 kids had seen Nate in person, and there wasn't enough of him to go around. I think Tyler was the most interested. He asked if he could feed Nate a bottle and hold him several times. All of the kids got a turn with Nate. I also got to spend some time outside with the kids while they drew with chalk. One of the twins impressed me by spelling Nathan's name as Nathin. The twins are only going into 1st grade this fall so I was impressed at such a good spelling. I think her spelling makes more sense than the way it is actually spelled. Maybe we should file for a name change. Here are a few pictures that my mom took. Enjoy!