No more Internet!

So Nelson and I no longer have internet at our house. We were trying to cut down on some of the things we don't need, and internet and TV were two of them. So I will try and post when I can, but they will probably be few and far between for a while. Sorry!!

By the way, Graham is CRAWLING!!!! He is into everything now, and his toys just don't seem that interesting anymore now that he can explore everythin else!! I will try and get some pictures on, but don't hold your breath. I will try and get you all up to date with pictures and everything soon!!

Downward facing dog... or is it full moon rising?

So here is a typical weekend at the Strong house. 6:30- 6:45 rolls around and the momma is up cause Graham made a peep, or a scream, or the papa rolled over and snored, or some other noise. But since the momma is up, she gets to take these cute picutes of the two most handsome guys ever!!! And they are both angels cause they are sleeping!!!! YAAA!!! When I went into Graham's room, he had his little patutty sticking in the air, and it reminded me of that yoga pose. It was so cute, but I'm afraid the picture doesn't do it justice. And the picture of Nelson? Well, anytime I can get a picture of that hottie I will!

Its not so back waking up that early and no one else is, it definetely gives you time for you!

Late... again

So I'm about as terrible as keeping up with my posting as I am in writing in a journal, so we get to play catch up again. Though in my defense I am a full time employee, a full time mom, a housekeeper, a landscaper, a laundress, a primary teacher, and oh so much more, so finding time to post is pretty scarse. (plus the internet hasn't been working.) Pretty much the only real exciting thing that has happened is that Bryan and Emily and Penny came to visit!!! It was so good to see them, even if it was only for a short while. I got to give Penny her birthday present, which was some homemade sock monsters. They were really fun and easy to make, and endless possibilties on what you could make. I think I am going to make Graham some when he is a little older, but Penny loved them. I have to say my favorite was the owl monster, he was just too cute! Here is some pictures of the monsters and Bryan and Emily's visit. (though for some reason I never got a picture of Bryan!)










I love the picture of Lincoln and Penny riding on the back of dad, or Grandpa! What a better way to prove your a talented cowgirl than to ride a bucking bronco backwards and only a belt to hold on to! They loved playing with Grandpa, and Graham just had fun watching his cousins play, at least he didn't have to strain his neck to look at them!

Graham turned 6 months old!!! I can't believe its been half a year. Unfortunetly I forgot to take pictures, so as soon as I do I will get them posted. He is doing very well. He can now sit by himself, feed himself small food bits, talks alot more, can roll both directions, and it getting very close to crawling. The other day I set him on the ground by our couch and ran upstairs to the kitchen to make him a bottle. When I cam back down stairs (less than 5 minutes) he had rolled over to our fireplace to inspect our welcome bear. He couldn't figure out how to get back to me though, and it really frustrated him. He even rocked up onto his knees a couple of times, but that was it. We took him to the doctor for his 6 month check up. His growth spurt has slowed a bit, (hallejuiah, he might stay in some pants longer than 2 weeks!) He is 17 pounds 13 ounces, and 27 and 1/2 inches tall. That puts him in the 50% for weight and 75% for height. It was so funny watching him with the doctor, cause he is A LOT more aware of whats going on, and so he wanted to "help" the doctor with the stethascope, and he tried to eat it and the thing they check the ears with. We did find out he has had an ear infection, which is weird cause he hasn't been extremely crancky, just stuffy, but we should have expected it with how bad Nelson's ears get. The doctor scraped around in his ear a bit, and gave him some medicine, and we are pretty sure it's working cause Graham has been a lot more cranky than usual the last 2 days. the doctor also had to pull some skin back from him circumcision and he got shots, so needless to say Graham was not happy the next day. He is such a good boy though, and its fun and exciting to see him grow and develope and learn new things. well that's it, I'm sure a lot more happened that you'll never know about, but oh well. I will post pictures of Graham's 6 months shortly!

Grocery Shopping

So today was grocery day. I usually always go on Wednesday's cause it's not busy at Wal-Mart (usually ;0) ) FOr those who don't know me very well, I love (LOVE) grocery shopping. It's a way to spend money and not feel bad about it cause it's stuff you need. I also love setting a budget for my groceries, and seeing if I can come in any lower and still get everything on my list! Lately I have turned into the mega grocery shopper; compare ads, clip coupons, making detailed list of what I need and how many and how much it is, ya the whole bit. I have been pleasantly surprised in how much I save. This week, Smith's had Quaker Cereal on sale for 5 for $5. PRICEMATCH! They also had Betty Crocker brownie mixes and cake mixes for 88 cents, and Suave shampoo and conditioner for 88 cents as well. Then Macey's had an in ad coupon for Western Family cereal buy 5 for 88 cents each!! I couldn't price match that at Walmart becuase they don't sell Western Family, but the short trip out to Macey's was no big deal. So this week I bought 25 boxes of cereal for under $25 dollars! I don't think I will have to buy cereal for a while! My other motto for grocery shopping, if its not under $2 dollars, you usually don't need it. Of course, it doesn't apply to everything, mostly meats and cleaning supply stuff, but if you look carefully, you would be surprised at how much you can buy for under $2 dollars, or very close to it! So this week I came in $15 dollars under budget! (Of course with Nelson working at Walmart I get the 10% discount on most stuff, so that always helps, but even without that I would have saved $10 dollars.) So if anyone needs help grocery shopping, I'm all over it!

Catch up

Ok, I know I haven't posted anything in a while, so here a catch up.

first- Graham learned how to suck his thumb! It's the cutest thing ever. He usually only sucks on it when he hungry and or sleepy, but usually when I wake him up in the morning he is sucking his thumb. He seems to be taking after his mommy!


Second- I turned 25! I'M SO OLD! It was a good birthday though. I took the friday before off since Nelson was off, and we went to lucn so I could get some bread pudding (yum!) then we went to a movie, and then dinner with Dad and Tami. Both Gerald and Kathleen and Dad and Tami gave me money, so I was able to do some shopping just for me. I bought some clothes, a book and some new work shoes. It was nice to pamper myself.

Third- Graham's first Easter! We went out to Antelope Island with the Strong/Jenkins family on Saturday. It was a really sunny day, but very windy and cold. Me and Graham hung out in the car for a good part of the day, and when we did come out, he was pretty bundled up. Sunday we went the Sparks for Easter and Conferance. Graham had fun watching his cousins play, and watching the crazy easter egg hunt. I can't wait till he can participate next year.





Fourth- Graham started eating food! Nelson wanted for him to wait till he was 5 monts old, but he finally gave in one day when he had to watch him and he figured out how much he wanted to eat all the time. So we started him on rice cereal, and moved on to green beans, squash, pears, applesauce, carrots and bananas. So far he hasn't minded any of them, but I think he really likes the bananas and beans. He's turned into quite a chunk!




Fourth- Graham finally learned how to roll over! Well, mostly. He's figured out how to get onto his tummy, but can't figure out how to get off of it! Before we know it he's going to be crawling!



And last but certainly not least, Graham is 5 months old! I can't believe my little boy is so old already. It was just the other day that we were bringing him home from the hospital! He has been one of the biggest blessing in my life. I can't even imaging my life without him anymore!

Ahh, sleep!

So as you all know we've been struggling with trying to get Graham to sleep at night. After fighting with him (and loosing) I had bagged the crying himself to sleep thing and had resolved to be tired for a little while longer. Then when we went to the doctor's for his check up and he made the comment that Graham should be sleeping at night, I thought, I probably should start trying something new to get him to sleep. Well wouldn't you know it that my son inherited his father's stubborness and that night, slept the whole night through ALL BY HIMSELF! Dang kid wouldn't do it for me, but as soon as the doctor says anything... ;0) Its a good thing I love that little man to death! Now Graham pretty much only wakes up once a night now, or sometimes not at all. I love this picture of him, becuase when he falls asleep while eating his bottle, this is what he looks like when you ty and burp him! Squishy face!!!

The Scream

So Graham just learned how to used his voice for more than just babble. I wish this video did it justice, but once the camera comes out, he quits preforming. It was cute for about the first day, now its... interesting!! Its pretty much impossible to listen to the tv or radio anymore!!! He takes after his Aunt Stephanie I think!!Enjoy!

Update on 4 months old.

So when I posted about graham being 4 months old, I didn't have his 3 month or 4 months pictures. Here they are!! They go in order of 4 months, 3 months, 2 months, 1 month, and a few days old!

Bath Time!!

Graham's most favorite thing, (besides his mommy and daddy) is the bath. He is so cute when you put him in the water. So I wanted to share some pictures of Graham's favorite thing!

Graham is 4 months old!

Graham turned 4 months old today!! HOLY COW! How come no one tells you how fast they grow up! He is such a cutey, and I promise as soon as I figure out how, I will put some pictures on here. We took Graham to the doctor today, he weighs 15.5 pounds and 27 inches tall! He is in the 100% for height and 75% for weight. He passed all his 4 month goals except for rolling over. That still seems to be eluding him for now. The doctor was quite impressed with his neck stregth and how well he could stand with assistance. (I swear he's going to walk before he crawls!) He had to get some shots today as well :0( It did not make him a happy camper for the rest of the day! I love my little man though. He is such a happy baby most of the times, and when he gives you one of his dimpled smiles, it just melts your heart! He found his voice as well. Now when he lays on my bed as I get ready in the morning, he talks to me and laughs and smiles. It makes getting ready for work fun, but going to work really hard! I LOVE YOU GRAHAM!

Happy Birthday Nelson!

So today is my lovely husband's 25th birthday!! I was able to get off of work early and we went to see the new Alice in Wonderland Movie. It was really good, the only thing I didn't like about it was that it was hard to understand what they were saying sometimes. Then we went to dinner with Dad and Tami to El Matador, the same place we go every year for Nelson's Birthday. Unfortunately, my car broke down, so that was our birthday presents to ourselves this year. My husband is such a wonderful, funny, caring, and sometimes crazy love of my life. Here's hoping for many more quarter centuries together!!! LOVE YOU NELSON!

Goodnight Graham

After two nights of trying to let Graham cry himself to sleep, I decided I could no longer to do it. I just don't have the heart to listen to the screaming. So last night, I dreaded going to sleep and having Graham wake up 3 or 4 times. He had been such a grump in the afternoon because of no sleep the night before and only a short nap during the day. He actually went to bed at 6:30, woke up at 12, and then slept until 5:00!!! It was wonderful! Maybe he can do it by himself!

Midnight Blues

So last night, after 3 midnight feedings, I let my son cry himself to sleep at 5:30 in the morning. I was so exhausted, I just couldn't get up again. I felt like a horrible mother, but he eventually has to learn to sleep through the night right? So now I've decided that I've done it once, I might as well start letting him cry. Welcome to more sleepless nights.

Welcome to the blogging world

Ok, I finally joined the 21st century and have a blog! Mainly I did it becuase my family is starting to spread out, and I would like to keep them posted on our our adventures. Since this is my first post, and I'm still trying to figure this thing out, this is all you get from me for now. Hopefully there will be more soon!