FOOD!

I have been pretty adamant that Oakley not have solid foods until six months. There has been the occasional sucked on finger but no full on meals for our little boy. Now he is six months and I had the *honour* of feeding him his first rice cereal on his first half birthday. I think I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

Messy

The one smile I caught the whole meal

Dirty face

Dirty tray

Oakley has progressed very quickly this week. Even the second day he was opening his mouth eagerly anticipating the next bite. I couldn't get it in there fast enough. On the fourth day I changed things up a bit and added formula instead of breast milk to the cereal. At first, he acted like I was poisoning him - apparently formula is an acquired taste - but he quickly adjusted to the new flavour and ate up all his food. :) I'm so excited for this next phase. Way to go my little eater!

183 days

Today, this sweet little boy has been in our lives for 183 days, 6 months or half a year. It has sped by. We love our bright eyed boy. He already exudes happiness. Many times people have asked me how he  is as a baby. I tell them that more than 75% of the time, he is a happy, playful little man. We are so blessed. 

Yesterday was Oakley's 6 month check up and the stats are in:

Weight: 17 lb 1 oz, 50-75 percentile

Height: 27 inches or 2 feet 3 inches, 75 percentile

Head Circumference: 44 cm, 75 percentile

His doctor was pleased with how proportionate he is. And! He has almost tripled his birth weight. Good growin' Oakley!

Oakley has been rolling over both ways. He sits up by himself. He grabs at things he wants. He spins around on the floor on his tummy and surprises me by where he ends up. He laughs lots and tells great stories. He loves mirrors. He doesn't play strange - at least not yet. He is wild about his Jolly Jumper and now wants to jump every time he is standing up. He is really good in the water. We may have a fish on our hands. His favourite toy would be Kirkland wipes cases. He loves the crinkle of them. He gets so excited when he balances on Matt's hand. He thinks his daddy is SO funny. He loves to cuddle his mama and she loves it too. :)  

We love you little one! Happy six months.

Oakley meeting Jimmy the chameleon for the first time

"Look at me, Mom!"

You can't really see it but Oakley got his first goose egg on Friday night

Corn Maze

So, we LOVE the Edmonton Corn Maze. I have been almost every single year since I was 16 and I took Matt to it four years ago and got him hooked. They have a great set up. You get little "passports" to go through with questions that you answer at the ten posts throughout the maze. If you get it right, they tell you which way to go. We always take two passports. One that sounds interesting and one that's easy so we can sort of check our answers. :) They have big beautiful sunflowers, some farm animals, hay to climb on, little cart things and new this year and weird pillow-like trampoline thing.

Our excursion this year was even more fun than usual because we got to take Oakley. He was mesmerized by the tall, tall corn. We also got to have my baby sister and her fiancé of one day come too. We like those two. :) The maze was the logo of Cisn Country radio this year. It was hard for me to associate myself with said radio station but I got over it. ;)It was so much fun! We hit up all of the ten posts, which doesn't always happen. Matt and James ate the corn even though the maze people say not to as it's for cows and doesn't taste that good. The boys said they lied and it tasted fine. Oakley was cuddled up to Matt the whole time just looking at everything. He's such a bright-eyed watchful boy.

We made it all the way through the maze in less than an hour. After we were out, it was time to try out the pillow trampoline. Let me just tell you trampoline jumping is a WAY different experience after having a baby! I had Emily almost in tears laughing at me. If you don't know why, I'm going to let you figure it out through your own experience or that of your wife if you are male.

Emily and James

My boys

Hidin' in the corn

Post 4! Woot!

Look at all that corn!

Wahoo! We made it out.

Emily laughing

Moral of the story: Go get lost in the Edmonton Corn Maze this year. It's a delightful family activity.

Blech!

Just thought I'd share this funny video with you.

I bet you didn't know how funny the word "blech" was, did you?

Finland

Last Thursday, my dear sister-in-law Rachel came over to our house to open her mission papers. She's almost 21 and preparing to give 18 months of her life to full-time service to the Lord. Before she opened her call, we discussed places she could be called to. I figured since three of her cousins are serving (or almost serving) in foreign places, she would go state side. Four would be too many. Oh, how wrong I was. As she read out her call, we were all shocked to hear that she will be serving in the Finland Helsinki mission reporting January 2, 2013. How exciting!

We are so excited for you Rachel and we know you will be a great missionary! Just to prepare you a little for what to expect over there, I have found some fun little facts about Finland to share with you and my other readers. Matt and I had a good laugh about some of them!

Kaamos

• Finland is known as the land of a thousand lakes. It has over 180,000 lakes and just under 180,000 islands.
• The population is around 5 million and about 1 million of them live in the capital, Helsinki.
• It's also known as the land of the midnight sun because in June and July, the sun never sets.
• However, in the winter, there are days you will not see the sun. Finland gets cloaked in this strange blue light they call kaamos.
• One and two cent coins aren't used in Finland. Everything is rounded to the nearest 0.05€.
• The amount you get fined for speeding depends on the amount you earn. I like this one. :)
• In 1982, they made a law which stated you must have your headlights on at all times when driving in Finland.
• Finland is the only country that broadcasts news in Latin.
• Donald Duck comics were banned because Donald doesn't where pants.
• There are around 2.2 million saunas in Finland. To go in a sauna with clothing on is faux pas. Butt naked only. Rachel, you are not allowed in the sauna. They go in with friends and family and they run out and jump in the water or roll in the snow after awhile to cool down.
• Finland hosts some awesome championships like wife carrying, mobile phone throwing, mosquito catching, swamp soccer, sauna, boot throwing and air guitar. I especially love the air guitar one. ;)

Well, there you go Rachel! I hope you feel a little more prepared to head to Finland in four months! We love you and will miss you.

*I found my facts here and here.

The Beginning of a Happily Ever After

My older brother got married a few weekends ago. While we were in YSA together, I was always dragging him to this event and making him go here and there. My brother is not the outgoing person I am. Needless to say, he hated my interference in his life. And he found his own wife without being the outgoing person that I am. :)

doreus.wordpress.com

August 18th was a beautifully sunny day in Cardston Alberta. We met as a family at the temple and were able to enjoy visiting with family we hadn't seen in awhile. After leaving Oakley with a friend, Matt and I headed into that beautiful temple hand in hand. As we sat in the sealing room surrounded by my family, I felt so much love for the wonderful people I have been blessed to call family. As Mark and his bride, Tina, entered the room, you could see their love on their faces. They were glowing. The ceremony was beautiful and anyone could tell that moment was the greatest of their lives.

Waiting

Most of Mom's grandkids that were there

Here they come!

I love this picture!

I love my Mama!

We had a carriage ride!

My little family

The next week, we had a reception up in Sherwood Park. My mom is very good at turning the drab cultural hall into something beautiful! I think that for all of the weddings she has decorated for, she's nervous about how it will turn out and then somehow it all works out and she has created something magical. I didn't get any pictures of all the tables up and such but I did get some of the tulle and lights, etc. We had a good time partying it up.

So pretty!

Denise did this part. Do you see that basketball hoop? It's never looked so good.

On their wedding day as the ceremony ended, we were given the opportunity to go and congratulate the newly weds. As my grandma hugged my brother, I heard her from across the room say, "You did it!" You did it, Mark. Way to go and I am so happy for the both of you!