My baby is SIX MONTHS old.

Okay. How did this happen?! Half a year already? Well, it has been wonderful. I have the sweetest little guy. He makes my day EVERY DAY! Well during the past month of Liam's life he has...
-Perfected his rolling skills. He is all over the place. Front to back, back to front, and back and forth...It's funny to watch him.
-He is so interested in grabbing everything! It doesn't matter where it is either, he sees something he wants and he goes for it.
-He gets up on his knees and goes backwards crawling. Haha, he hasn't quite figured out how to really crawl yet but i'm sure it will be any day now. Which means I need to learn to baby proof.
-Has two teeth that decided to sprout up. They are the bottom middle ones. I'm so proud of them. This is also great news because he is now bottle-fed all the time!
-He mostly sleeps through the night. I was getting mad the week his teeth were coming in (which I didn't know at the time) because he was waking up like every 3-4 hours. But he's back to sleeping at least 8 hours a night.
-He sits up mostly on his own. He'll still fall over if he gets really excited, but he can sit on his own and play with toys for 10 minutes without falling over.
-He hasn't had his 6 month appointment but the last time we weighed him was a week ago and he weighed 19.5 lbs. and measured him at like 27 inches. He wears 6-9 month clothes already and might grow out of them soon!
Here are some cute pictures of Liam:
Lately, daddy has been scratching Liam's back when he gets a little fussy. And he fell right to sleep...
Liam playing outside in the yard! So cute.
Chewing on a teether.
Okay, I love when he tries to intertwine his fingers. It's so cute!
And his famous tongue smile.
I have a cute video of Liam giggling, but it's not working. I'll post it later!

The rest of my Wisconsin visit..

The rest of Wisconsin was wonderful! We went bowling. And let me tell you, it was the most embarrassing game of my life! My niece Kadance almost beat me. She bowled all by herself and scored 80. My mom tied with her. HA. I ended up getting lucky at the end and getting a strike. So my final score was 85. Pathetic. My dad won with 100 something….Needless to say, age-wise my niece was the best bowler that night for SURE!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from my Wisconsin visit:

This is Liam playing with a glow-stick that Papa gave him

Liam chilling on the couch. Just being cute.

Liam started laughing SO hard when he saw Nigel for the first time. It was super cute.

Sunday outfit. So handsome!

We also went to Milwaukee on Friday to go to the zoo and stay in a hotel. We went to the zoo and had so much fun! I decided it was important for me to go on a little safari the same day that Devin was on an actual African Safari..I saw way more animals than he did I bet. (Trying to make myself feel a little less jealous about his whole Africa experience). Liam was such a good boy the whole day. He just chilled in his stroller.Here are some pictures from the zoo..

Grandma Trena and Papa pushing the kiddos in strollers
My mom thought this was hilarious...see the Elephants name..
Kady doing her little pony ride:

Liam being a good boy in his stroller

Mommy and baby, wishing daddy was with us :)

Grandma Trena with Kady and giraffes:

Kady and Papa and the bears:

Liam in his new sunglasses:

Anyway. The zoo was great fun! At the hotel that night I had my dad watch Liam for a little bit while I went to soak in the hot-tub. Wonderful. I need to get one someday. Maybe AFTER we get a house. Anyway, we all went to bed a little bit early so we could wake up for the airport Saturday morning. All of our flights were on time and pretty good. Liam freaked out a little bit on our second plane (before we left the ground), but he fell asleep and was a good boy after that.

Well, I am going to make Devin do some posts about Africa this week with pictures! So, stay tuned!!!

Gratitude

I just wanted to do a little post on how thankful I am for friendly and helpful people. A weekend of traveling could have been the worst experience of my life, but thanks to helpful people it was all right.
First of all my parents. They took the time to drive to Milwaukee and stay in a hotel on Friday night. We were able to hot-tub (Thanks Dad for watching Liam) and go swimming. It was wonderful. We also went to the zoo and my dad pushed Liam in the stroller basically all day. It was fabulous. Anyway, my parents were able to help me get my tickets in the airport and check my bags for me. Then my mom got a pass to come help me through security in the airport. Man, did i need that. I had my little 6 month old (almost) baby and my 4 1/2 year old niece (who I love, but she is a handful!!). Anyway, mom thanks for all the help. I probably would have freaked out.
Secondly, STRANGERS. We had so many people offering to help us. Several people carried our bags for us since I had my hands kind of full. Also people were just really kind and offered to help in whatever way they could. And Liam screamed for the first 15 minutes on our connecting flight, so thank you strangers for not killing us. They were all very understanding.
Third, my sister Tyler. She drove to Salt Lake to pick up her daughter. But she also picked me up and carted me around and ran my errands. Also she took KADY! Haha.

Anyway, this is just a shout out to all you helpful people. Thank you so much for all you do. And for making life easier on ME!

Here in Wisconsin, missing my husband.

So, I have been gone from home (wherever that may be, mostly i mean gone from my hubby) for over a week now. This is lame. I miss him so much! But, he is doing GREAT things in Tanzania. We have been emailing back and forth. We actually got to skype for like 3 minutes. You know what the first thing he said to me is? "Britt, i'm getting an i-phone." Haha. The reason is because he was skyping me from the i-phone and he thought it was pretty cool. Like we can afford that.. :)

While in Wisconsin I have:
-Played with my little man
-Hung out a few times with my high school best friend Katie Schultz. I have missed her!
-Played with my niece Kady. We have been working on her letters. My mom bought these alphabet stickers and I let Kady stick them on a page as soon as she can write it and tell me the letter. I think it's working pretty well.
-I picked out some fabric and a pattern to make a skirt, but haven't started it. My mom needs to measure me because my measurements are SO different from the last time I measured. I thought I had big hips BEFORE i had a baby.
- Went to a hotel in Milwaukee before we dropped off Kayla at the airport. We went swimming, and Liam went in the pool for the first time! He looked super cute in his little swim trunks.
Heres a picture with me and Liam

And here's a picture of just Liam.

-Missed Devin. It's actually really hard being away from him. Mostly because i can't talk to him all the time like I would like too. I can't wait to see him!
-I've watched Grey's Anatomy... I have just started season 6 and i'm sure i'll finish it this week..
-Started working on a "Quiet Book" for church for Liam (and future children).

So far in Africa Devin has been drilling, shopping, and missing me! (HAha).
He keeps telling me these stories that make me want to cry. They were at an orphanage drilling so they could have water. Devin brought a ton of fruit snacks to give to all the little kids. Anyway, he gave one little kid a pack of fruit snacks, and saw him give one fruit snack to all of his little friends. How amazing that those who have NOTHING are willing to give EVERYTHING they have. Devin gave the rest of the kids a bunch of fruit snacks later. He's so wonderful.
Then he told me another story. He said they hired a couple of people from Africa to help with the drilling. They told the guys they hired to go take a break for lunch. Devin said they left and came back really quickly (so they didn't really eat). He said his whole capstone team waited until they came back for their lunch so he felt AWFUL eating in front of them. Devin said he gave them half of his food because he felt so bad, and everyone else followed suit. I love my husband and his willingness to give and love others....
Anyway, their drill has been successful (I believe) and they are already moving to a new location to start drilling again! I'll have to have Devin post a lot about his different adventures, because we really haven't been able to communicate very well.

Oh yeah. My hair is now dark brown. :)
I'll do another post soon!

Life, Liam at 5 months

So I know I gave a tiny little update my last entry. But so many things have happened. Liam had his FIRST EASTER! We went to our ward in Provo for the last time and then went to the LeBaron’s to celebrate. Liam got some toys that he loves playing with. Devin and I got some pajamas. I will put some Easter pictures up later. It's just taking way too long here at the library...

Liam had his 5 month birthday! At 5 months Liam is

-rolling over (mostly tummy to back. He doesn’t like too much being on his tummy)

-Is getting up on his knees.. but once he does this, instead of crawling he shoves his head in the ground and tries scooting forward that way. It’s hilarious.

- Passes his toys between his hands

-Laughs, mostly when dad tries to “eat” him.

- Yells and screams with delight or when trying to get your attention.. This happened when we moved to Lovell mostly. Devin’s boss Travis Nichols invited us over for dinner our first Sunday here. Then his wife and him took us on a ride around Lovell just to show us where everything was. Anyway, they had their twin boys (I think they are 5 or 6) and their little girl (who is 3) in the back of the car. They were screaming and making so much noise, that Liam decided he needed to be loud. He started yelling. It was hilarious because he’d never done that before. Well, ever since then he’s been doing that. We love it.

- Gets mad when he can’t reach his toys.

-Starting to sit up on his own. We still have to watch him though, because he will tip sideways after a while.

-Flaps his arms when he gets excited.

-Is wearing 6-9 month clothes. (He can still fit into some 3-6 month ones, but most are too small). I’m not sure how much he weighs, but I’m assuming somewhere around 17 lbs. BIG BOY!

-Eats rice cereal, loves carrots and squash. Hates green beans or peas.

-Loves watching Baby Noah.

-Eats every 3 hours.

-Hates formula….we will have to work on this.

-Is very easy to get to smile. And when he smiles, he almost always sticks out his tongue (notice this in lots of pictures). Here are some pictures of Liam:

I turned 22! Devin was so sweet on my birthday. I didn’t have to change any diapers, Devin put Liam down for his naps, he cleaned the house and unpacked everything. It was fabulous. I also got Donkey Kong for the Wii. Needless to say, that is how we’ve been spending our free time together! Devin also got me a cricut cartridge, and a cricut. (Well, the cricut was partly from Devin’s parents for graduation!). Devin’s parents got me a beautiful ring to wear that won’t scratch Liam all the time, one I can wear around the house.) They also got me a few kitchen things and bathroom towel set. My parents got me a plane ticket to Wisconsin and some cash to buy a bed! Yahoo!

Mothers Day: WONDERFUL. Devin was even more wonderful on Mothers day. He was so thoughtful. He bought me fruit snacks, playing cards, stuff to make mint oreo milkshakes, tomato seeds, and took care of Liam most of the day. I thought this was hilarious-Devin bought me a card from the only small grocery store in town and I will have to post pictures of it later. It said congrats on your new baby boy, and he crossed it out and put Mothers Day! I LOVE him.

I love being a mom to the sweetest boy in the world. He is the happiest little guy and I love spending time with him. It’s so fun watching him grow!

Anyway, we were also able to skype with Jessica (Devin’s sister who is on a mission in Mississippi). She looks great!! And she is coming home in October, I’m so excited!

Lovell: Things in Lovell have been GREAT! I explained how nice everyone is in my last post. But I have been able to go out with some of the ladies from the ward. I went with Camee Nichols to watch all the prom kids! Apparently every year all of the juniors and seniors at prom are announced and then they announce royalty. (There are only like 20 couples total..haha). Anyway, it was a lot of fun. It made me really excited for when my Liam (and future kids) grow up. Hopefully I have a girl and she will let me make her prom dress (and that will be a good excuse for my mom to visit me wherever I am so she can help make it!). I also went out to dinner with 5 other ladies on Saturday night. It was fun to get to know some people here and make a few friends. Devin’s job has been going really well! He loves it. Here's some pictures from the park in Lovell:

Anyway, the next couple of days will consist of: cleaning, doing laundry, packing for our trips, getting all of Devin’s stuff ready for Africa! Be excited for some awesome posts when Devin comes home. Knowing him though, he’ll probably forget to take pictures!!!

Oh life without internet..

Here i am at the LIBRARY in Lovell, WY. The middle of nowhere. Don't worry, i'm enjoying it. Except, I don't have internet.. And the soonest someone can come out to this tiny little town to give us internet is JUNE. Some things that have happened lately are..Devin graduated, we moved to Wyoming, Liam is 5 months old today, i'm going to Wisconsin next week, Devin is going to AFRICA next week (yes, i'm going to miss him TONS..i don't know if I can even talk to him for 2 weeks..ugh). I turned 22, and my first mothers day is coming up (last year doesn't count because I was barely pregnant). so I will have to update at a later date since i'm running short on time.
Let me just quickly tell you a little bit about our move. We got to Lovell after 9 hours of car-time. We arrived at our little apartment with little things. Well, the lady we rent from gave us a list of church phone numbers, utilities, internet and all other numbers. she also said she had a bed that we could use, called some people from our ward who brought us couches, a table, and chairs. Then that evening her daughter brought us dinner. These friendly people definitely made the move a lot less scary. You'd think after moving so many times in my life it would be no big deal, but it was tough. Anyway, we also went to church Sunday and met a ton of new, very friendly people. It's not going to be so bad. Anyway, Ill update later with pictures and lots of fun stories. Mostly of Liam (since that is basically my life!)
Oh yeah, and I just found out my best friend Richelle is having a BABY BOY! Him and Liam are going to be best friends!!

the end of March, conference, Liam at four months.

The end of March was wonderful! We attended a baptism for Devin's cousin Grace. It was so wonderful to be there and hang out with all of Devin's family too! After the baptism we went to Aunt Sue's house where we had a delicious lunch and some good jokes :)
Pretty much all of March we just hung out with ourselves. And Bryan and Richelle Bozung. They are the best. One of the days it was really nice outside we had a BBQ! And of course the next day it snowed. But, it's always fun hanging out with those two. I'm going to miss Richelle TONS this summer!
Devin has completed his BYU capstone final project: A DRILL for the people of Africa to get water! All of the Mechanical Engineers at BYU were able to present their projects in the Wilk at BYU, so Liam and I took our first trip on campus. I pushed Liam up the steepest hill ever (for you BYU-ers, it's the one by the Smith Field House) in the stroller. My first workout since, well probably since I got pregnant :). While there we had lunch, and Devin showed me his drill and other people's projects. We also ran into Sami and Ben Van Noy! It was good to see them. Here's a picture of Liam asleep in Sami's arms...poor guy. He just needed a nap:

And here's a picture of Devin's awesome team..
Hopefully we'll be finding out in a couple of days if he really gets to go to Africa and implement this drill there. What a blessing it will be for those people to finally get clean water. Click here to see my famous husband and all of the amazing work his team did!

Conference weekend was super. As always. It's so great to listen to the leaders of the church. We spend most of the weekend hanging out in Highland with Devin's family. It was great. We went shooting on Saturday while grandma watched Liam. Devin got a really old shotgun from my dad (from my grandpa) for Christmas! He has been dying to shoot it!
Here he is.

Here's me shooting. Don't make fun. I already had a bruise and the gun was getting heavy.
Here's me and Rista (the LeBaron's foreign exchange student). It was windy up there!
And the past few days I have been working on lots of things...I have made a couple of aprons for my little sister (a late wedding gift). I have been typing some interviews for my dad (and getting paid, yahoo!). And I just went to my first cake decorating class last night. It was so fun. Maybe one day i'll be a professional :) Other than that I've just been doing laundry, etc...But i'm really excited to start making my sister Tyler a church bag! I'll post pictures when I'm done!

Liam at four months...
-Weighs 15 lbs. 10 oz (gained 8 lbs since he was born...7 lbs 11oz.)
-Is 25.25 inches long
-He actually laughs (When you try really hard, it's soooo cute).
-Can roll over tummy to back (when he really wants to), and can roll from back to side, but hasn't quite made it back to his tummy yet.
-The doctor says to start feeding him solids! He is a big boy and probably could use some more calories says the doctor!
- Sleeps worse than he did in the beginning...about 5 or 6 hours at a time(all though he slept 8 last night..)...hopefully he'll get over that soon.
-He talks (by talks i mean baby talk)
-He reaches for my face, and lots of other objects.
-Is cuter than ever!
Here is is playing with dad's football.

first time eating cereal. he was confused...

This is Liam outside on one of the nicest days all year


I absolutely LOVE being a mom. Liam is the sweetest little guy. I find myself always saying how cute he is (even to random strangers...embarrassing I know...). At least 10 times a day I have to tell Devin how much I love our little baby because I have this crazy motherly love thing going on. but it's the BEST!