8 Months Old.

Grant is 8 months old!

• 18 lbs 8 oz.
• 28 inches long
• Still wearing same clothing sizes as last month.
• He is still sleeping 12 hours at night. This kid loves to sleep as much as I do!
• He still eats mainly pureed fruits, vegetables and meats; He also eats different kids of cereals and crackers. He makes it plainly obvious when he doesn't like what he is eating because he starts babbling and growling and spitting.

• We started him on formula just before he turned 8 months. I was a little worried at first because up to that point I have given him a bottle once, but he adjusted right away. Unfortunately my boobs are taking a little longer to adjust to the change! 
• He has approximately 3-4 8 oz. bottles a day (every 5 hours) and he eats solids twice a day.

• Changing his diaper is a lot harder now that he is more mobile and trying to grab everything.
• He is more friendly with strangers. Before he used to give you a blank or concerned look until he got to know you. Now, he smiles and laughs at everyone.

• We left him with a new babysitter that he had never met before. Apparently he was great and just kept waving at her when she put him down for bed.
• Usually takes 2 naps a day, but lately he has been taking 1 very long nap.
• When he coughs, it sounds like a fake cough haha.

• He has this rash over his lips that we can't seem to shake. It comes and goes and has been around for over 2 months now so we are trying to figure out the cause. It doesn't seem to bother him at all which is good.
• I think my favorite thing that he does is raise his eyebrows when he smiles. It only happens once in a while. You can't possibly capture it in a picture, so I will have to magically capture it in a video someday, but it is the cutest thing I have ever seen.
• When he gets really excited he starts breathing really really heavy and kicking his legs.

• He is way more aware of what is going on around him. A couple weeks ago Garth was tickling me and I was laughing in a really distressed way, Grant didn't like that one bit and started to cry.
• He loves reading books, especially lift the flap books!

• He gives me wonderful, lovely kisses, where he pretty much tries to eat my face.

• Last month he started waving his arm around and now he can wave back at you if you wave at him.
• Attended his first basketball game. First of many I am sure.

• He has really found his voice, he loves to yell and gets a huge kick out of it.
• I love putting him in his bed and listening to him talk until he falls asleep.

• I say this a lot when people bring it up, but Grant is the easiest kid ever. He doesn't really cry and he is generally always happy. He goes to sleep well every night and I didn't even know he was teething until teeth showed up. I really enjoy playing with him everyday and making him laugh is my favorite thing to do.

Here are a couple more pictures from the past month:

First SELFIE haha 

Sushi Night... for Mom and Dad

G for GRANT

 I'm one lucky momma <3

-A

Blondes have more fun right?

I have been dying for a change lately and I knew I wanted it to be different then anything before. I haven't been one to do anything dramatic to my hair; mostly trims, I went through a hideous bang phase, I even cut it short a couple times (never again). When I walked in the door to the salon, I still had no idea what would happen.

When I walked out, I looked like this:

!!!

Ok, so maybe it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but there is now blonde in my hair. Never ever did I ever think that would happen, ever. But it was genius (hear that Brigitte? you're a genius!) and I love it. She did blond highlights and slight ombre on the bottom. I still have to go back a couple times to get it to the point where I want it, but I am so excited to try this out for awhile. 

Blondes have more fun right?

I guess we will see!

-A.

 

One Hecka Crazy Night!

On November 2, we had the opportunity to attend the Vivint Year End Party in Calgary. We always look forward for this chance to celebrate Garth's hard work during the summer and see all our friends again! 

Garth collecting his prize locker

The party consists of a cocktail hour, candy bar, award show and a "Deal Or No Deal" game. Last year it was so fun watching people go up and either win big prizes, or completely blow it. This year they handed out wristbands with different designs, and displayed them on the screen, so the people with those wristbands got to go up for the chance to play. Looking around at everyone else's, we realized that we all had the same generic bands and didn't have a chance of being called up but we were happy to sit and watch. After everyone had played they still had boxes left and decided to pick more people using the wristbands. Garth then proceeded to yell "THE WRISTBANDS SUCK! USE THE BOWL!"

(Earlier in the night before the party, those who arrived earlier for trainings entered their names in for a chance to win a trip. We obviously didn't win, so we knew our names would still be sitting in that bowl.)

So, because my husband is insanely loud and persuasive, they went with the bowl. And sure enough, what name did they draw? Garth Forsyth. So he went up there, beat out another guy with an entertaining game of "Hunter, Hooker, Bear" and then decided on Box 9. The Banker offered the deal of $1500 and IPOD touches for everyone in our row (so basically, all our friends from work at the party). Garth started yelling at me asking what he should do and I just started yelling "Take the deal! The deal!" He took the deal and came back $1500 richer just like that. What a crazy night! Oh and if you are wondering what was in the box that he passed up, it was 1 dollar.....!!! So we did well. 

Vivint is still really surreal to me because of all the crazy prizes they give away. People walked away with loads of cash, trips, entertainment systems etc, it just so happened that we were lucky this time around.

All of that was so crazy cool, but most importantly I just feel so blessed for Garth's job. I know how blessed he is to have not only a job, but a job that can get him through school debt free, a job that gives me the freedom to be a stay at home mom and work on my music, and a job that he LOVES. We are so blessed.

We had such a fun time together and I am so grateful for all his hard work during the summer. He deserved this crazy night!

OH AND SIDENOTE....  As if the night couldn't get crazier, Garth surprised my with my Christmas present a little early this year... We are going on a Cruise in January! Second Honeymoon here we come ;)

-A.

A Day in the Life of a Nerd.

Our little boy catching up on some light reading while all the other babies are out trick-or-treating. What a nerd.

"This is quite interesting..."

"Economics is so much FUN! No wonder you like this stuff dad!"

"Alright, now on to some Aristotle..."

.......

......

...... 

"My brain is going to explode! I got to take a break. Mom! Dad! Lets go meet my new cousin!"

"Wow! You are sooo cute. I love  you Baby Georgia! Now lets go see everybody else's costumes!"

"Everybody look at one of the 4 cameras!"

"We forgot to carve our pumpkins!!!"

"Best first Halloween ever!"

Thanksgiving!

 We decided to do Thanksgiving dinner a little differently at the Peterson's this year! Growing up, every New Year's Eve we always either went out for Japanese food, or had a japanese feast of our own. We decided at the last minute to scrap Thanksgiving dinner and eat this deliciousness instead.

Turkey dinners are overrated anyway ;)

We also went out and snapped a couple of family pictures (that I will post later).

..then we played the most ridiculously fun game of charades I have ever played, EVER.

Then to add to one of the greatest weekends, my sisters agreed (after my endless begging) to record a cover with me. I am so grateful for this memory. They're the best!

Parade of Homes, Mexico and a Fairytale Wedding

 The past 2 months has been a whirlwind of show homes, late nights, and that oh so familiar drive to Calgary. When I think back on our fall I can't believe how busy we were! Just last night Garth and I were talking and we realized that we have only had two weekends at home since we moved back to Lethbridge at the beginning of September.

We attend the "Parade of Homes" every fall. Basically, there are lots and lots of show homes open all over Lethbridge all evening for about 2 weeks. The homes we see are anywhere from $200,000 to 1.4 million. The reason we like it so much is because we don't have a house yet and I feel like we have a much better idea of what we do want in our future house as we see things we love or don't love. We are so excited to buy our first home together in the upcoming years! 

Aunt Jessica came along one day, which Grant loved!

We would seriously go and look at show homes for 3 hours, almost everyday and Grant did not even cry once. He just sat there happily in our arms as we lugged him around. He would even fall asleep in our arms. I can't believe how easy going he is. 

 Our Fall season has lasted such a long time this year, and it has been fantastic! We enjoy going for walks, out shopping and watching high school football games.

I look like Voldemort in this pic (no nose) but Grant looks adorable in his "Churchill" jersey!

At the beginning of the summer when we first moved to Edmonton, Garth's manager, Tim and his fiance, Eleni, hired me to sing at their wedding in September! Over the summer, we became great friends, so it made this day even more exciting!! Their wedding was perfect, it was a dream location and they were such a stunning couple. Apparently it used to be someones house and he sold it and it was turned into a hotel. I had the opportunity to sing "A Thousand Years" as the wedding party walked down the aisle, and then I also got to play a 90 minute set during their cocktail hour. It was the most fun I have had in a long time, I just love singing and playing more than anything and I am excited now that Grant is a little bit older, I can start focusing on that a bit more. I am so happy for Tim and Eleni, I have grown to love them so much in the short time I have known them, they are some of the nicest people I have known, such a remarkable couple and obviously head over heels in love with each other! I am excited to spend more summers with them.

The Azridge Boutique Hotel in Priddis, AB

Good Grief, could they be more perfect???

A Fairytale Wedding

At the beginning of October, Garth had the opportunity to go down to Mexico with his work and build houses. I can't write much about it because I wasn't there, but the stories and experiences he shared were amazing. Maybe I will get him to write about it sometime. 

Dropping Garth off at the airport was fun...at 3 in the morning! haha I got home around 6:30 am and was just about to fall asleep when I heard crying from the other room. I knew it was going to be a longggg day haha.

Goodnight world! 

Jokes. 

-A