Newborn Nathan at Home

Before I get to Halloween pictures - only 3 months late, I thought I'd post these pictures that were taken BEFORE Halloween :)! I was just realizing that we never made it on our annual drive up the canyon to see all of the beautiful Fall colors and take pictures of our kiddos in all the changing leaves. We were too busy cherishing this sweet new baby, who like the change in seasons, has been changing before our eyes, much more quickly than we would like! I remember some of my friends back in my college days trying to convince me that living somewhere where it was warm year round was the best. I remember explaining that I loved the change in seasons. I have always loved the Summer, Spring, Winter, & Fall and look forward to experiencing each season of the year. While I love the newborn stage, I also love each other stage that my children have grown into. Nathan is now 4 months old and is smiling, loving his jumper and exersaucer, starting to grab things (his favorites include Daddy's scratchy chin & Mommy's earrings & hair), and is just plain adorable as ever. I know he will continue to change much too quickly, so I really am going to try hard to document these changes, picures included. I hope to be all caught up this coming month! As you can see from the picture above, he has been loved from day one, at times, more than he would like! Oh, and take note of all that adorable hair, because you will notice it slowly starts falling out and we actually had to give him his first haircut recently - it was hard for his mommy to watch - probably about as hard as it was for his daddy to watch the circumcision, maybe.

Just before his first bath in our handy dandy baby sink - maybe someday my grandbabies will be washed in this sink - now that makes me feel old - I'm sure that will be a wonderful "season" of my life, and will come much too quickly, but it feels VERY far away :
The girls LOVE to help give Nathan his baths and always wash their own babies in the sink when I'm done. I've been washing lots of extra washcloths lately and going through way too much babywash! I hope these girls remember all the lessons they are getting in how to take care of a baby!
He was happy until he got wet. Luckily he has changed his mind and now loves his baths. This towel was given to us by our friends the Radfords from our old neighborhood. Kassi has adopted the towel now and is officially the "Princess IN the Frog" after every bath! Make sure you get that right if you ever drop in at bath time or she will correct you!
Nathan loved hearing Drew read his "How do Dinosaurs . . ." books to him. He didn't even complain too much when Kassi found him!

Drew is ALWAYS asking to hold his little brother. It is adorable. As soon as he gets home from school, that is what he wants to do. He has gotten really good at standing and bouncing Nathan and is learning to be patient with his fussing and having to wash his hands consistently when he walks in the door :).

Andy's sweet Mom came and helped me the second week after my c-section, when my mom went home. I don't know what I'd do without our wonderful Moms to help us out! Our ward was amazing too! We felt so loved with all of the support we received with this baby and can't say thank you enough! Darren and Cari were a great help as well and I can't seem to locate our pictures with them - as well as the hospital pictures. I know they are on a CD somewhere and maybe when I get this office organized, I'll find it!

You can see she had her hands full with this sweet 2 year old :)!

Jesi has been so fun to watch with Nathan. She is always wanting to help take care of him and is so thoughtful. These pictures were actually taken during my first attempt at blogging after Nathan was born. She found him some toys and a book, and read him one of her favorite stories. He loved it and he loves her as much as she loves him.

I think I'll have Jesi take care of me next time I get sick :). He looks pretty comfy!

Whoops! I guess I should have turned this picture sideways. You can see that Nathan has been learning a few lessons in patience himself. Kassi is trying to make him smile in this picture. I know - I shouldn't allow her to torture him, but a little bit is good for him, right?!?

Andy has always thought it was weird that the countertop is one of Nathan's favorite places to be - helping me with cleaning the kitchen and preparing meals, etc. But, I know why it is his favorite. He knows that he will be safe from his 2 year old sister for at least 10 seconds until she discovers where he has gone! (I love having him help me in the kitchen, by the way - he doesn't even complain about my singing - in fact, he even smiles when he hears me sing, unlike Kassi, who oftentimes asks me to stop singing, with quite the attitude. It has become difficult deciding which child to please lately :))

The 10 seconds is up! She found him!

The girls and cousin Ash with Nathan.

A fun visit from G-ma, G-pa, and Aunt Nicole.

He was so adorable in this little outfit - I tried to get some pictures - lots of them. This was his happiest shot :)!

Andy and Nathan matched this Sunday. It was so cute I had to take a picture or two, or three, or maybe more! Of course, you can't even see in this picture that Andy has Khaki pants on too, so of course I had to take more than one! More to come soon, I promise! I couldn't overwhelm you with 4 months of adorableness all at once, right!?!