This Weekend and the week before

Our child has turned into quite the cheese monster. He likes any kind he can get his hands on, including the freshly grated Parmesan we had for dinner one night. He will even crawl over to me, pull himself up and try to swoop some from my lunch plate when he thinks I am not looking. I can't believe I am having to share my food with him already!

Speaking of pulling up, both Orson and Lucy learned to pull up on things a couple of weeks ago. Now Orson is trying to climb onto and hang off of things as well.

Isn't Lucy's outfit adorable...if I ever have a girl I will have to steal this one from Gina!

Part of Orson's new found independence has resulted in little games of hide and seek. I will look away for a minute, look back and Orson will have disappeared. One of his favorite spots is under the kitchen table.

Now that is a guilty look if ever I saw one....I had been calling him for a couple of minutes and he was being as quiet as possible!

Orson and his Dad have been hanging out more and more....Orson loves spending time cuddling and playing with Matt. In fact, for the first time, I left them alone together while I went off to an exercise class. (Orson ended up splitting his lip on a chair while I was away but over all father and son seemed to have enjoyed the rest of the time together without mom).

Over the weekend Harrison, Haley and Rowan came to visit! We had a super busy but fun weekend. On Sat. we rented a minivan and drove up into the Sierra Mountains to do a little wine tasting. We ended up at three different wineries and had a little picnic at the last. The babies really enjoyed the toys and soft grass there as well.

Then on Sunday we drove up to Tahoe and went on a hike, drove around the lake and stopped in Trucky at the 50/50 brewery. It was a super long day but the hike was beautiful, as was the lake.

Orson had a ton of fun covering his feet up with sand and then digging them out...he was a filthy little boy by the time we make it home.

We kept trying to take a family picture....this one came out the best :)

It was so nice to visit with old friends and for Haley and I to share baby information and stories with each other.

and to wrap the week up...Orson laughing on the swing.

Boo Boo Monster

This month I was inspired by my little adventurer to create the Boo Boo Monster with the supplies sent to be by Christy's Craft Challenge. I was going to make a lovely little butterfly but then my son (who at 8 months thinks he can fly) entered into the world of climbing...and falling. So instead I wanted to create something we could stuff with an ice pack and give to him to play with in the hopes of getting something cold on all those bumps and bruises.

A lot of the supplies when into the internals like the foam to pad the head and wood bits for the ears. The cloth was used to cover the ears and to make little rings on the edges and the beads and cool thread for the face.

Orson, sporting his split lip, and his new friend.

Just some stuff I don't want to forget...

So I've realized that there are some little things that Orson does that I just don't want to forget...both good, bad and funny. So I thought I would write them down here and keep them safe to take out and look at later.


Orson perfected the use his thumb and pincher finger by pulling the hair out of Matt's back one strand at a time while Matt was trying to take a nap....this made me laugh so hard.


Orson is at the biting stage and bit me so hard this week that I have a bruise on my arm...must be payback for all those times I bit my sister.


Orson got his two outer front teeth in before he got the middle ones...I was really hoping to dress him up as a vampire for Halloween but it looks like his middle top teeth will beat me there.


Orson loves to flirt with the pretty college girls at church, he will sit and stare them down until they acknowledge his presence and smile.


Orson hates to take naps, some days he flat out doesn't sleep all day long and others he falls asleep in horrible positions because he is trying so hard not to.



Orson is a natural climber and adventurer. He loves things that go fast, he loves to use me as a jungle gym and he loves the thrill of flying through the air in his Daddy's arms.


Orson makes the goofiest faces and now the funniest noises when trying to get his point across...talking is going to be so much fun with this kid.


Orson loves to chat with people on Skype, especially his Grandpa Jones, the two of them are so much fun to watch play across millions of miles.


Orson's snuggles (though getting rarer all the time) are the sweetest things in the world and they melt my heart every time.

Orson's laugh is my favorite sound in the entire world....its perfect in every way

7 1/2 months....

It has been an adventurous few weeks here at the Ewalt house. I got a new bike, Orson got a trailer, Lucy and Orson have gone from immobile to crawling, standing, sitting and chasing the dogs and Orson came down with his first ear infection (and of course being related to Matt and I he didn't just settle for one ear but went for the kill with a double ear infection).

Here he is waiting int he doctor's office practicing wearing a mask so as to not catch the pig flu.

Lucy is still coming over twice a week, things have become quite chaotic now that everyone is mobile but they are still tons of fun to watch. Gina (Lucy's mom) loves costumes and between the two of us we have decided that we should dress the babies up in costumes as much as possible the month of October. Last Monday (after an especially tying day with the babies) I decided to try some of the costumes out a little early. It made me smile for the rest of the day, I can't wait for October.

Below are my two budding musicians playing on the piano. Lucy prefers to sing while Orson plays most of the time but on Monday they were into playing duets. The following Thursday, I pulled out the cello, Orson went over to the piano and played along with me....it was amazing to create music with him and I can't wait until he can really play a duet with me.

Now that they are both standing, the crib seems to be that much more fun. This picture was just too cute for words.

My mom's group goes out for lunch a lot after our Wednesday morning meetings, I can only imagine the thoughts that run through everyones' heads when we walk through the door. Even though there is only one baby for every mom, it still seems as if they out number us.

Even with all the craziness going on at our table, Orson decided that the stuff behind him was much more entertaining. I looked away for a minute and he was completely turned around in his highchair. The more mobile and independent he becomes, the more I begin to realize Matt and I may have our hands quite full with him.

Orson is now big enough to sit on his own in the buggies at the shopping centers, this meant that he is now big enough to ride around in the race cars at Home Depot! I found it to be more difficult to drive then a 15 P. Even niftier, we found laminate that matched the stuff already in our house on sell for 99 cents a sqft. Yeah new home projects.

The biggest news of the past two weeks for me...is that I could stand it no longer, I was so jealous of Matt getting to go out and ride his bike everyday that I rushed it a little and decided to see if Orson was big enough for an infant helmet (which would mean he was big enough to ride on a bike!). We tested it out for a day and Orson did great, this meant the hunt for an affordable bike seat or trailer was on....

We found a trailer on Craig's list, bought me a new (fast) bike and we were off and riding this labor day weekend.

In other news, Orson is truly trying to leave a mark at our house. He is worse then a puppy and chews on everything that is wooden in the house. I am beginning to think my son might actually have more of the beaver state in him then I originally thought :)

Orson has gone from supermaning on his belly to full on crawling...in fact if you make it to the end of the video he is even beginning to work on his break dancing moves!

Orson has always been a lounger (take a close look at his pictures and you will notice it too) but he took it to amazing new heights this past weekend in his high chair!


And one last adorable face from my little man...who can say no to that?