For Now...

I have at least 5 different posts I have been working on, but things have been busy and we are off to California tomorrow. It may be a while before anything substantial is up. So, until then, here is a video I took last week. It includes some standing, some bouncing, and some new sounds. He is an active little guy. I just can't get enough of him!

This Tiger Has Some New Tricks!

This little tiger had his first Halloween!

Okay, he had two costumes - both equally adorable. The cow costume arrived right on Halloween (from my family).

And lots of pictures ended up looking like this:

because he is a very busy little guy now.


Will has changed a lot over the past month. He has learned several new tricks - some that I like, and some that I don't.

First, the not-so-good tricks:

• Will has become a screamer. As soon as I move about 6 inches away from him, he promptly begins to scream. It could be separation anxiety, or we could have spoiled him a bit. Either way, it makes getting things done very difficult.
• Along with that, he now hates it when I step into the shower. I usually just put out a bunch of toys for him to play with and then peek out at him every few seconds. Now, the minute I put one foot into the shower, he begins to scream. So, my showers have become much shorter than I would like and I get to listen to screaming the whole time.
• The scooting around is still fun, but he is getting fast. He really likes he burning hot fireplace (and eating paper).
• He is getting very heavy. I guess that is really a good thing, but it has not been so good for my back. My back hurts way more now than it ever did when I was pregnant with him.

But he does have some good tricks:

• This little man has 2 bottom teeth now. They are very cute (but also very sharp).
• He loves to stand (with some support). He would like to stand up all day long. Sitting is never acceptable when he could be standing.
• He has figured out how to pick up Cheerios and get them into his mouth. This has been a nice way to distract him in church and while we try to eat dinner.
• And my very favorite.... He has begun to reach! He will now reach for the parent that he wants to go to. He will also reach if he wants to be picked up. I LOVE it when he reaches out with his cute and chubby arms.

He is still lots of fun, but starting to make life a little more interesting!

(Here he is with one of his beloved pens.)

Our Apartment

Update: In addition to the 6 month video, we've added the original "Empty Apartment Tour" video from when we first moved in. Will sure is tiny in that video!

In case you wanted a tour of our apartment, here it is! We have been here for 6 months. We have done hardly anything since the first few weeks. So, now is as good a time as any for a tour. I have plans to finish Will's room very soon. Hopefully. Maybe.

Halloween Packages (and more scooting)

We have received some fun Halloween packages in the mail. It is especially exciting because it is Will's first Halloween! My family sent us some mummy candy bars and this super cute Halloween banner. I love the googly eyes on the black circles.

Janie and Allan (some of our very favorite people ever!) sent Will a wonderful package. There was an adorable ghost beanie and a very cute Halloween shirt. So cute!

Also, there were two Halloween board books. Yes! We love books. One of them was Will's very first book with a mirror in it. He is intrigued by it.

(I realized that the bunny toy in the picture was also a gift from Janie and Allan. However, that one was from before he was even born. It has become one of his favorite toys. He loves to cuddle it.)

If we zoom out a little, you can see what else is around him. He is quite the mess maker now! He has also spotted the pen. I love his determined little face as he begins scooting towards it.

Today, he has been scooting around like crazy. Here is a video so you can see him in action. You can also see his crazy/frantic mother (me) as she realized that the pen wasn't the best idea.

                  

My Phone

Will has finally begun to scoot forward. Yesterday, he was going for my computer. Today it was my phone that he wanted.

He tends to only like the things he shouldn't have. Other favorites include cords plugged into the wall and plastic bags. You have to watch this kid like a hawk.

Back to today's story: He had a pile of different toys next to him, but when he saw my phone on the ground, he started breathing frantically and scooted his way right over there (pulling himself forward with his arms and pushing with his legs).

Here he is with his reward. Notice the pile of baby-appropriate toys next to him. He really likes sucking on it (which is especially gross considering that it is the very same phone that he peed on a few weeks ago).

This is what happened when I decided to be a good mother and take the phone away.

It has been a long day. Thankfully, it is the weekend and Daniel should be home in exactly 9 minutes.

Disney Cruise!

We were so lucky to be invited along  on a Disney Cruise with my family. It was definitely magical! Some highlights were: the food (of course), the shows/movies (so fun!), and the spa - specifically the rainforest room (oh my goodness).

It was so great to spend so much time with my family with nothing else to worry about. Daniel and I even got some baby-free time while Grandma, Papa Pete, Aunt Kylie, Aunt Ashley, and Uncle Austin watched him for us. I even got a nap or two.

There are so many pictures that it is extremely difficult to narrow them down, but I will try.

First, we took a train up into Canada. We got on the boat in Vancouver. Here is my dad (Papa Pete) and Will shortly after getting on the boat.

One our first priorities was getting ice cream. We repeated that about 12 more times during the week.

My mom introduced Will to his first Disney characters.

Will loved to look out the window in our room.

Austin and Ashley were all dressed up for dinner.

There was a character breakfast where we got lots of photos. Notice Will's face.

He also got his first taste of water out of my straw. He loved it!

Normally, I do not care for clothes with characters on them, but I made an exception for the Disney cruise.

Here is a particularly flattering picture on Pirate night. Will is really excited about it. As a side note, the restaurant we are in in this picture changes from black and white at the beginning of dinner to color at the end of dinner - pretty neat!

We stopped to see the sea lions in San Francisco.

There is Alcatraz behind my lovely parents.

Will REALLY wanted that ice cream at Ghirardelli. He didn't get any. Although Daniel did give him a taste of ice cream on the boat.

Will had a fantastic time with Ashley's empty Sour Punch Straws wrapper. Things got pretty crazy after he got a taste. I will have to post the video later.

You can't go to San Francisco without getting a cable car picture. Here is Will (hiding in the Ergo Baby carrier on Daniel's back), Daniel, Me, my mom, and Kylie.

You have to love all of the towel animals.

Our waiters thought that Will's name was "Willian" (with an N) the whole week.

Here we are at the airport in LA. Will was exhausted after such a fun week.

Click HERE to see a book I made about the cruise (just in case you want to see even MORE pictures).

It was an amazing trip. Thank you Mom and Dad!! 

Even though Will has been waking up multiple times a night after that disruption to his schedule, it was totally worth it! Disney does an awesome job. We would recommend it to anyone. 

Awesome Recipes - Turtle Ice Cream Sauce

I never got where "turtle" title came from in reference to dessert. It's not particularly descriptive.... But in all fairness, when does that matter? I've never suffered any hurt from "Death by Chocolate".

I don't get it, though. Turtle? Perhaps someday I will. One can hope.

At any rate, this Turtle Ice Cream Sauce is pretty awesome. I first tasted it at my sister's wedding reception (the recipe itself is from my mother-in-law), and I was hooked.

Ingredients

1. 2 cup butter
2. 2 12 oz. can evaporated milk
3. 2 cup sugar
4. 1/3 cup dark corn syrup
5. 1/8 tsp salt
6. 2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
7. 1 14 oz bag caramels
8. 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

• Combine the first 7 ingredients in a heavy sauce pan
• Heat (low to medium) and stir constantly until the caramels are melted - do not boil
• Reduce heat (to low) and add vanilla
• Beat with electric mixer for 5 minutes
• Remove from heat and cool

Enjoy this banging sauce over ice cream!

Because it's October...

We went to a pumpkin patch. Yay!

It was a very sunny Saturday.

Yep - very sunny. This is how most of the pictures turned out.

There were a few cute ones. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't great in any of them. If I was really dedicated, I would edit them. But that would take a lot of work. Maybe someday.

He loves his daddy.

He loves me too.

This last picture was taken while I was saying, "Look at Daddy!" right as he got my face with his slimy hand.

Also, now that it is October, we bought something very exciting! Our favorite candle of all time:
             
Mmm. Now our house smells like Christmas. We have been waiting since LAST Christmas to get another one of these amazing candles. I asked in the store, called the store, and checked Bath and Body Works' website obsessively. Finally, all of that hard work paid off yesterday. Our store had gotten 6 candles in!  I immediately bought two, and as soon as they get more (at the end of October) and are on sale, we are planning on buying more. Our house smells delightful.

6 Months Old???

I cannot believe this little guy is already 6 months old!

September 21st was his half birthday. I wanted to do something creative to celebrate, but that didn't happen. However, we did get some excellent photos snapped on the way to the car. We were on the way to eat at Chipotle. After that, we watched approximately HALF of a season of Modern Family together. We decided that that was a pretty good celebration after all.

Here is that awesome photo on our way to the car... Not bad.

Will did get an early half birthday present, though - a real high chair! He has decided that he does like real food after all. He is now a baby food champ. Sweet potatoes are definitely his favorite.

Will can now sit up on his own. What a big boy! These are pictures from his very first time in a shopping cart - at Target, of course. I wasn't planning on putting him in the cart, so I didn't have his cart cover with us. He got a whole cart full of germs that day.

Also, we decided that it was time to teach him to shave.

We sure love this little boy! He is the best baby we could have imagined.

Will is Popular!

Will is pretty popular at the Harthun house. This is what my family's fridge looked like:

Five pictures of Will. Hmm... I think they like him.

Also, please notice the whiteboard in the top right corner. My favorite part is: "Remember: Sweat is fat crying" (with the crying frowny face).

Our Return to Portland

After our week in Morgan Hill, Will and I flew to Portland where Hannah and Cameron's second wedding reception was. We were so excited to be back in Portland! We had a great summer there last year. We took Daniel's family to Saturday Market and Powell's Books (two of our favorites), but sadly didn't take any pictures. We did get a few at the reception.

Daniel and his Dad:

Will and his Grandma:

Will sleeping on his Grandma:

Just a random picture while in the elevator at the hotel:

It was so fun to get to see the Larsen's two weekends in a row! It was a great mini-vacation.