Bikes and Bananas

Wow, we are excited that spring is finally here. Or I should say it finally feels like it's here! It has been in the 50's the past few days and it's supposed to keep going. So much has happened in the past week I don't even know where to begin. Let's begin with bikes...

My dad (Grant) is in love with Trek Bicycles and has been for the past 6-7 years. One of my earlier posts showed my dad teaching Gerard how to work on a bike. Well thanks to my dad, Gerard can now say he saddled up on his first bike when he was 4 months old. I think the sizing is just a tad off...

Let's move on to bananas. Last Friday we tried giving Gerard solids for the first time. We mixed up some rice cereal and he was sooo confused!! He had no idea what was going on. He didn't make a fuss...just some funny faces. Then yesterday we were spending the day with my family and my dad started mashing up some bananas. (My dad's favorite part of babysitting is feeding the baby!) He started feeding Gerard bananas and he took quite a few spoonfuls! We were so impressed! We assumed he was getting the hang of things so we tried rice cereal again tonight...no such luck. Oh well. He must love a little sugar in his meal, just like his mama! 

On to baseball. Someone gave us the CUTEST baseball outfit ever. I can't remember who it was so if you're reading this, thank you!! I think Seth's heart melted when he came home and saw Gerard in this outfit.

 Mom's favorite little boy

So Gerard is learning to walk already...

Just kidding! He can stand alone for like 2 seconds before he loses balance and falls over. That little boy sure has some strong legs though. He hates laying down, can handle sitting down, and LOVES standing. 

Next up, our adventures around Lake Mills! On Friday it was 50 degrees, so I packed him up and took him for a nice long walk. We walked for an hour and he was such a peach. He didn't cry or fuss, he just looked around at everything passing by until he fell asleep. 

Gerard even had his first visit to Rock Lake. Right now it's frozen, but he'll be spending his next few summers right here!!

This next picture is for Bobbi, my mother in law. She always sends us the sweetest packages. She sent Gerard a cute easter basket and this book was one of the gifts he got. I'm pretty sure he liked it!

Easter...oh Easter. Yesterday we were getting ready to head to my Grandma's for a family Easter party. Gerard was wearing the most adorable outfit...and he threw up all over it the minute we put him in his car seat  What a stinker. Today he was a little sick (or just extremely thrown off schedule) so Seth stayed home with him while I went to church and taught my class. My point is, I don't have any cute Easter pictures to post. I didn't get any yesterday and today none of us dressed up. Oh well. 

This next picture is of my Cousin, Cayleigh. It's sentimental because I used to hold her when she was a baby and now she's holding my baby. I can't believe how much has changed in just a few years. (I think I forgot to say 1,2,3) 

Lastly, Gerard sat up all by himself. I love that little boy. 

Four Months!!

I can't believe it has already been four months. I feel like it was just a few days ago that I was 30 pounds heavier and peeing every five minutes. Now I have a son. A little boy that I am responsible for. A little boy to love and teach. A little boy to snuggle and kiss. A little boy to play with and read to. A little boy to watch sleep at night. A little boy to poop and throw up on me. =) Time flies when you're having fun and losing sleep. We just had his four month checkup...that means shots! I hate shots. I make Seth come and he holds Gerard down while they poke him. I would cry more than Gerard if I were the one to hold him down. I can't even look when they do it. It's hard enough just to be in the room and hear him go from pure bliss to pure discomfort. The only good thing about shots is that he sleeps so long after he gets them. He slept almost 11 hours the night that he got his shots!! Usually he only does 8-9 hours. Anyway, Gerard is 25 inches long and weighs 17 pounds and 6 ounces. Holy cow! Here are some of his recent pictures...

Gerard likes to think that he is old enough to feed himself. However, he also thinks the milk belongs everywhere but in his mouth...

A little four month photo shoot...and by photo shoot I mean I laid him on a blanket and took 50 pictures of him.

Gerard likes to bounce on the bed after he wakes up from a nap. Also, please note that he has a pacifier in his mouth. Yes, he finally takes one and he loves it! 

Just my little cutie...

I threw in this next picture to show how much hair I had as a baby. I think Gerard and I  look quite similar. I'm okay with that!

A Life Full of Laughter

Gerard loves to laugh. All Seth has to do is walk in the door and Gerard starts laughing. My little primary kids can make him laugh during sharing time. My dad can make him laugh teaching him about bikes. However, sometimes it takes me hours to get him to laugh! (Maybe that's my problem). So whenever I have an unsuccessful day where I cannot get him to laugh, I watch these videos. 

I'm pretty sure I've already complained about my recently acquired, chronic back pain...let's just say the heating pad is my new best friend. One day I decided to try laying Gerard down on it and this was my result...

My sister Anna got the best laughs out of him when she was in town a few weeks ago. I wish she were still here to get that high pitch squeal out of him. It's music to my ears!

Father - Son

I don't have much to say about these next pictures...I think they speak for themselves. Seth loves Gerard. Gerard is madly in love with Seth.

Family

I am so grateful for my family. Right now Gerard sleeps in a swing in our bedroom. I love it when he wakes up and starts talking to himself! I get to wake up to my two favorite boys every morning. It's starting to warm up here in Lake Mills...it's been getting up in the 30's this week. I took Gerard for a walk and he seemed to love it! Not to mention he had the cutest little outfit ever!

 Lately we have to put a bib on Gerard when he's playing because he drools so much. We think he looks cute with a bib on...I don't think he feels the same way...

Gerard is doing better and better at church. Less crying and more time hanging out. Seth takes him while I teach primary and then I take him to sharing time. He loves listening to the little children sing, maybe because they sound like angels.

 This is just classic Gerard...

I recently sold my road bike (a bittersweet moment) and my dad helped me clean it up and put some new parts on. So yesterday we spent the whole day with Grandpa. I was so amazed watching my dad play with Gerard. It made me realize how much he truly loves us. He has such a tender heart and I am very lucky to call him Dad. 

My dad sat there letting Gerard feel the grip tape and the tires and the inner tubes...taking the time to carefully explain each one. Then he taught Gerard how to oil a chain. He is definitely going to be a biking boy!!

I am also so grateful for my little sister Carrie. There was a time when all four of us girls shared a bedroom. We had a bunk bed, a twin bed and a crib with little baby Carrie in it. I remember changing her diaper, feeding her, capturing her silly moments on camera. Now she is almost 14 years old and there to help me out with Gerard. She loves holding him and playing with him. She's always the first to hold him when we are there. It's kind of crazy how time flies. I've learned to take advantage of every moment I have with the ones I love.

Our Little Garbanzo Bean

Somehow along the way Seth called Gerard a "garbanzo bean" and it just kind of stuck. I can't stop calling him that or "chickpea." Maybe it's because he's nice and round like a garbanzo bean...but that's the way we love him!! This week I have been working very hard to get Gerard to take the pacifier to go to sleep. So far it has worked a handful of times, so I'm very pleased and also relieved. I can't help but think that Gerard is getting so round because he uses me as his pacifier, which means eating when he's probably not even hungry. So this change over will benefit him and us in many ways! Hopefully he will start napping better. Lately he will nap for 15 minutes and then wake up. Not going to lie, the face that he makes when he wakes up from a nap just melts my heart! When I walk into the room to get him he gets this huge grin and starts wiggling everywhere. I feel such a strong connection with him. Yesterday I decided to put a shirt of mine on top of him while he napped and he slept for two hours!! He hasn't taken that long of a nap all week! So this morning I tried the same thing. After I put him down for a nap I put my shirt on top of him and he has now been asleep for an hour and he's still going! He must love me so much...or at least the smell of me. =) Whatever works, right?

His cute little smile after a good nap.

Gerard loves sucking on his hands and he loves his bumbo. Such a big boy, sitting all by himself.

I love being with my little garbanzo bean!

This is Seth's biking getup ..he rode to work this morning in 10 degree weather. It will be 30 degrees when he comes home after work. He bikes 11 miles there and 11 miles home. No wonder he's in such good shape!

Winter Storm Warning

We had quite the snow day yesterday. Not sure how many inches we got, maybe six or seven? Seth's work (Trek Bicycles) is in a tiny town 20 minutes north of us and they never plow the country roads between here and there. So Seth was able to come home 4 hours early before the roads got any worse. He loves to stare out the window at the snow so we decided to take Gerard on a short adventure!

This is his ridiculously adorable and oversized snowsuit!!!

My wonderful boys

Our snow-loving family <3

For those of you wanting to call child services, we only had him outside for 2 minutes or less and it was 35 degrees (that's warm). We think he liked it =)