Mr. Bean

We had a great Christmas. I thought Grant would love the wrapping paper, but he really didn't pay much attention to it. He was too busy checking out his new toys. We expected it to be the other way around. We were glad it wasn't. Grant loved being around family all day. He wore himself out really good with the late nights and all the excitement. Luckily he is back on schedule now so his personality is getting back to normal too.

And he likes green beans.

Temple Christmas Lights

He did pretty good for having just woken up

We were driving around looking at Christmas lights tonight when we saw Santa in front of one of the houses. We didn't know if we'd get a picture of Grant with Santa this year because we were not about to stand in line at the mall to see the jolly old elf. So we pulled over and woke up Grant, got him to giggle a few times, and then handed him over to the man in the red suit. He has that same look of concern as he had in the shopping cart. In other news, Grant took his first steps last Thursday. He took them while I was videotaping him doing something else. What luck! I'll work on getting the video on here soon. He has taken a few more steps during the past few days. We are excited, but I would like him to slow down on the walking just a bit.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

It's what you've all been waiting for. Well at least 2 of you have been.
I made this wonderful Spinach Artichoke Dip for our Relief Society Cozy Cottage on Tuesday.
You can find it here.

This recipe is for the crock pot. I made 3 batches of it so it didn't fit in my crock pot until after I had melted it all down in a big pot on the stove. Then I put it in the crock pot just to keep it warm for the activity. I will be making it this same way in the future too because it just makes more sense to me.

And last, this is my 100th post!

Grant is so excited. Can't you tell?

I couldn't decide on a picture. He's just too cute! He greats me every morning with this much enthusiasm.

Must See Trains

Last year Keith's parents introduced us to these great trains. At Christmas time, members of this train club open up their collections to the public. There are several locations around the area. This year we just went to the one on 24th St & McKellips. It is awesome! Grant even loved it at his age. His eyes would get big every time a train would go by. Our pictures don't really show much of the trains, but there's a whole bunch of them and the tracks go all over this big, beautiful backyard. They are still having these train open houses next weekend. Go to azbigtrains.org (look under Holiday Tours) and you can get a list of all the locations with times and maps.

My attempt at the onesie dress

It all started with Christmas. I was making Christmas pillow cases for Keith's sister's family. I thought, since their baby is too young to use a pillow, that I'd decorate him a Christmas onesie also. So I made this one. And then, of course, Grant needed a matching one. But we couldn't leave out the other cousin that was born this year too. So I made her a onesie dress. And since I feel that a girl should not wear a shirt that says "HO HO HO!", hers says "JINGLE."

The onesie dress was fun to make. It wasn't hard, but with my skills it took me longer than it should probably take. Great instructions are found here on my friends blog. In fact, there are a lot of great things on this blog, like how to shorten your jeans and have them keep the original hem, how to really swaddle a baby, and my favorite...how to be a stay at home super mom. Check it out.
And just for kicks, here's Grant taking his very first ride in a shopping cart! I'm glad I had my camera with me. He looks a little concerned and he was hanging on really tight, but overall it went very well and he really seemed to like it.

La La La

He was so tired. He'd had lunch. He'd had a book read. He'd had a bottle. He could barely keep his eyes open. I layed him down with two blankets on top. He was so calm and looked up at me and smiled. I quietly left the room to indulge in my favorite break in the day...afternoon nap time. And then I heard him singing. He must have sang for an hour and a half. But no crying. I listened to his music while I finally cleaned off the dining room table from sewing a few projects this week and then wrapped some presents for Christmas. Then the music stopped and he is now sleeping like a baby. We'll see how long this lasts. I give it another 30 minutes. I could be that lucky today, right?

We need a little Grant right this very minute!

A Thanksgiving Chandelier

We decided to have Thanksgiving dinner on our back patio. To add some festiveness, we created an outdoor chandelier and hung it over the table, and lined the edge of the patio with icicle lights. The picture doesn't quite do it justice. It was so pretty! Just wait for our Christmas chandelier.

The placemarkers were pictures of Grant's hand, decorated to look like a turkey.