3 months...

my baby is three months!!! wow time flies and this has been an awesome month!!  we have done a lot and so many things have been going on!! here are his latest stats:

height: 24 and 3/4 inches (75th percentile)

weight: 11.7 pounds (11th percentile)

my little string bean

he has definitely woken up this month and has started interacting more with us... some thing he has done this month:

- started smiling on purpose... the best is when he wakes up in the morning with a huge grin on his face

- he's basically sleeping through the night from 9pm to 6am... thanks!!!!

- he still loves the bath and water...until you take him out

- he is getting better all the time at standing up and is happiest doing so...

- he also likes to be held facing out so he can see everything going on... he's very curious!

- he is fussy right before you feed him and right when he is ready to sleep but otherwise he's a good baby

- his hair is growing back in and is sooo cute! it sticks straight up like a buzz and chris really wants to cut the rest to be even... but i wont let him... thats too silly...his hair looks good as is!!

- nursing is going 100% better and faster these days... no more than 20 min tops!  hallelujah!!

- his legs finally have a little meat on them!!! 

- he is too long for 0-3 month sleepers but they are still baggy on him so we have moved onto the next size as he couldn't straighten his legs anymore

- his day schedule is pretty set at eat for 20 min, wake time/ play time about an hour and then nap for an hour or two... its an easy schedule.

- he loves to play with his dad...

- he is loving tummy time less and less

- he is also becoming a definite mama's boy... anytime he is tired he immediately wants his mama!! woops!

- he has found his fingers and is constantly putting them in his mouth... he just hasn't figured out how to not gag on them at the same time... haha

- he now spins around in his bed while sleeping... i put him down one direction and in the morning he is facing in the exact opposite way... head where his feet were...

- he loves to roll on his side so when i lay him down for bed he immediately lifts his feet straight into the air and rolls onto his side.. its pretty dang cute.

- he has also acquired a few new nicknames.. i call him bubba a lot (ever since the masters tournament) and string bean...

- he is talking so much more now... i mean baby cooing talking... but its very cute.

-poor kid still gets hiccups often

part of play time with daddy involves watching tv.... they both love it... haha can't ever get their attention!

he also took a nap in his swing the other day... it totally surprised me as he never falls asleep in it... but there he was zonked out!

he also randomly fell asleep on the couch... chris was holding him and had to put him down for a second and when he turned around he was out on the couch with his hands still in the air.. haha

he also took a nap with me one sunday after church... we were both exhausted!!

these are his new sunglasses for the summer... he looked pretty cool going to church in them (chris' idea)

we also had fun at a pool party with some dental friends and their families... this is daniel's new summer hat... so cute!!!

proof that my little man is tall and skinny!!!

bloopers from trying to get is 3 month pic... he wasn't cooperative 

it really does surprise me how much he has grown in just a month!!!!

cousins cousins and friends...

this month we had some fun visits with cousins and friends... first we had gig's 2nd birthday party.  she was so cute and excited for people to come over and play... i made her a tiny snuggly wrap for her doll... it turned out super cute.  she is also currently obsessed with horses so her mom made her a tiny horse cake!  she also wanted to open presents the second we got there!!

daniel also got lots of love from people holding him... his mom and dad... and aunt emily who can't get enough and cousin tally even got to steal him for a bit and hold him!

one night chris was camping with the young men so i went over to emily's to go out to dinner with her and her boys since greg was gone camping with the girls... cody couldn't wait to sit and hold daniel for a while and daniel was loving it!! he kept smiling and talking like crazy the whole time.. it was too cute!

we also had a fun visit from our favorite hicks family!  adelaide was so cute wanting to hold little man... and when she wasn't holding him she was playing peek a boo

we also got to see the twins... and boy are they cute!!! ella and riley... 8 months old now... and just so dang cute!!! i just wanted to squeeze their legs the whole time!!

we love visitors and being able to show off our cute little man!! 

the spillers fam in az...

after chris finished classes at the end of april we decided to take a road trip down to tuscon, arizona so chris' spillers grandparents could meet daniel... and me.  we got up early loaded up the car and headed off.  the drive was actually pretty easy. daniel slept most of the way except to eat briefly, and then he was right back to sleep.

 we made it there in the early afternoon.  grandma lil first thing apologized for her messy house which was perfectly spotless but she swears there was dust... haha but seriously it was spotless.  grandpa bobby was worried the dog would jump up and scratch daniel so he yelled at him the whole day. it was too funny.  they of course were completely smitten with our little man.  grandma held him for a while until he was ready to eat.  at that point grandpa and chris headed off to the hotel to get us checked in.

that evening grandma lil made us a feast!  it included prime rib, potatoes, salad, fruit salad, chocolate cherry cake, and a bunch of other stuff... we definitely ate well that night.  after we headed off to the hotel gave little danny a bath and went to bed... it was an adventure bathing him in the tiny sink of the hotel.. i think he enjoyed it!

the next morning we ate a gourmet breakfast at the hotel courtesy of grandma and grandpa... it was really good... i loaded daniel up in my wrap and we walked over... it was such a nice day in AZ... not too hot!

after breakfast we went back over to grandma's and they took us to lunch at the golden corral.  that was quite the adventure!  we then went back to their house and looked at old pics both from chris being a young kid and from grandma's life back in casper, wy.  they were a crazy bunch of people always hosting the best parties!! it was really fun to sit around and hear about her family and her kids and how chris' dad was such an easy child to raise.  i came away with some great gems as she gave me all the pics.  excited to have those!  that night we had left overs from the night before and then took pics so we would have proof that grandma and grandpa got to meet the first spillers great grandson.

i will say it was hard to get the grandparents to look at the camera as they only wanted to stare at the baby!  but we finally did get a few of them looking:

daniel was being so cute and smiley we had to take a picture of that too...

that night we went back to the hotel and went for a quick swim and then headed to bed... daniel had fun looking at the toys in his little bed...

the next morning we said our goodbyes and headed off to flagstaff.  we had decided as long as we were in az we should see the grand canyon.... i've been once but have no memories of it... the next morning we got up and while i got ready chris entertained daniel by watching tv... a little too close maybe??

 and then we jumped in the car.. it was raining in flagstaff so we were prepared for the same... but as we got about 30 min on the road the rain turned to heavy snow and the temp dropped to 32 degrees!  after a short debate we decided we had better turn around because it only seemed to be getting worse... but we did stop and take a few angry pics in the snow first!  

when we got back to flagstaff it had started snowing there as well!! view from our hotel room:

instead we went to the mansion of the first family of flagstaff.... the riordan family... massive home!! and i got to play on the 1904 steinway piano!! that was awesome.  then we went to dinner at black barts steak house... they have singing waiters.  it was fun entertainment with awesome food!  on the way home we stopped and got a little ice cream... when getting out of the car chris dropped his shake on the seat and dumped out half... i had to just laugh because the night before we had gotten some ice cream and chris had dropped his head down on the ground and had to scrape off the top half... he was not having luck with ice cream this week!! haha 

that night we gave daniel a bath in the sink and he was just in an awesome mood and smiled and even laughed a little and just talked the whole time!! it was so fun!!!

even though we didn't get to see the grand canyon we still had an awesome trip and were really glad we got to see grandma lil and grandpa bobby!!

the masters...

the masters... also known as chris' favorite golf tournament of the year. the weeks leading up to the actual tournament chris gets excited and basically giddy everytime he hears the theme song on the commercials or he sees the famous green jackets.  this year was especially exciting as it was the first time in a couple years he didn't have to study for any test the whole weekend and we didn't make any big plans so he could watch the whole weekend.  he was also excited to share the experience with daniel...

they watched live feed together on our computer for a while on saturday until the tournament started showing on tv.  as you can tell daniel was very focused on the screen (like his daddy). i believe it is because the computer screen is bright and colorful... chris thinks he has a future famous golfer sitting on his lap... haha 

i am not much of a golfer myself (i'm pretty good at miniature golf but thats about it)  but i have gotten to know the sport more just from spending time with chris watching a few tournaments here and there.  chris' dream is to one day go to the masters with some buddies of his and spend the whole weekend eating food and watching good golf at the amazing Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.  after watching the tournament for 3 days you can't help but get involved... even my mom was anxious to see who would win.  

chris and i can't help but make games or bet over everything and as per usual we picked different winners... i felt that Louis oosthuizen should have won since he had the amazing and historical double eagle on hole 2... and someone who makes a historical shot should win... chris was going for Bubba watson because he had never won a major tournament before and he really likes his pink driver (wishes he had one himself).  when it finally happened and bubba made the amazing 40 yard hook shot from the pine straw and then the putt right after... it was fascinating to see what kind of winner he was... a big blubber baby.. kinda like this

it actually made me like him so much more... he was so touched and overwhelmed and excited that he won he just bawled like a baby and every time he got interviewed he bawled... he was overwhelmed with emotion since he had just adopted his son two weeks before which was life changing and then he won the masters which was also life changing... and he just cried .. and really it looked more like this when he hugged his mom:

 it was a fun weekend and its always more fun to watch when chris is so excited the whole time.  i'm glad bubba won and i'm glad daniel apparently likes golf.. haha... 

2 months...

time really does fly!!! this month has felt really busy and yet i feel like i accomplished nothing.  here are some really neat things daniel is doing now:

- he is only waking up once in the night for a feeding!!! its so nice for me to get longer stretches of sleep!!! 

- he is starting to smile more and more.. we get open mouth smiles and a few little smirks and i even caught a glimpse of one of his dimples... which i usually only see at night when he sleep smiles.

- he is standing up really well and loves to play with his dad because he had him practice standing up the whole time.

- he is also a champ at holding up his head.. it is not nearly so floppy as it was in the beginning.

- he is just barely starting to coo and talk to us... barely

- he is still a really good eater and likes to eat for a long time... like 40 min each feeding. he just likes to take his time

- he loves to sleep on his side.  i always put him on his back when i put him down but when i go in to check on him he has lifted his legs up to tip over to his side.  

- he enjoys tummy time for the first 15 min and then he's done... unless daddy is lying on the floor with him.. then he goes much longer.

- he focuses on our faces and knows who mommy and daddy are

- he loves to stare at lights and fans... and the tv.

some not so fun things he does:

- the projectile poop... while we are changing him... 3 different times we lift up to wipe and it just shoots out so much that it covers his bed, which has since been moved out of the firing range.  it was too hard to keep taking all the bedding on and off to wash.

- he does this pig squeal when he's eating and it gets taken away too soon or for a brief pause... its cute but also crazy.

- he also does this mad eating when he's gassy or needs to go... and its not fun for me.. it hurts as he kinda thrashes around.

otherwise he is an awesome baby!!! such a pretty face and good little boy.  he has gotten a bunch of nicknames:

monkey man (cause he has black hair all over)

mr. blueberry (my sister gave him this one cause of a pair of blue stripped pajamas)

little stinker (mommy calls him when he poops while she's trying to feed him... cause its stinky)

buddy

bubba

little man

i'm excited for these next months when he really starts to wake up more and be more interactive. here are some fun pics i took today... it was fun until he was done and he let me know very loudly that he was done.

i also saw on pinterest where someone had taken a picture of their baby's feet and put it in the shape of a "v" and used it in the word "love" so i decided i wanted to try something like that... and daniel's middle name is vern... so here is my attempt... its kinda funky but i like it.

here are the bloopers from trying to take his month photo... i love the one of him smirking... but he wasn't looking at the camera.

our little man is getting so big already!!!

first road trip...

beaver, utah... my grandpa vern built a cabin here when i was little and we have been making several trips a year ever since.  we twice a year to getaway from the city to watch LDS General Conference on tv away from the distractions of home.  this year we went with my mom, grandpa, sam, meesha, gig, jack, laura, and will.  i was a little nervous to take the baby in the car and worried about needing to stop and feed him half way there.  the trip is only 3 hours, but thats how often he eats.  we worked it out and he slept otherwise.  he loves the car and amazingly sleeps the whole time.

friday night we had dinner and then sat around talking till way too late at night, but it was fun to just hang out with my brothers and get into these crazy philosophical conversations about who knows what.  the next day we woke up to meesha and sam making steak and egg sandwiches for breakfast and then we sat around pretty much all day and watched both sessions of conference.  gigi and will played with toys and masks that my mom brought to decorate and then gigi decided it would be a good idea to put them all over mommy.  quite hilarious.  i mostly fed the baby, put him to sleep, and then napped myelf.  i did manage to catch a smile in his sleep on camera...

at some point (i took a nap and missed it) my mom did an easter egg hunt with the kids and they had a blast looking for the eggs.  they had to rehide them a couple times.  my mom also made hamburgers for lunch... yum! after the men got back from the priesthood session we did our traditional run to dairy queen for blizzards.  at one point chris and i also took a ride in the gator around the cabin.  at the same time jack was teaching laura to drive stick o we had some racing and crazy driving (by me) and crazy photo taking (by chris)

here is a little tour of the cabin... 

and here are some neat things grandpa has collected that surround the cabin

the weekend ended with snow!!!! i love watching it snow and cover the mountains surrounding us.  it also makes for a much more interesting drive home.  daniel amazingly sleep the entire way home not waking till we took him out of the car... and then he was STARVING. haha  it was a great weekend and i'm really going to miss our quick trips to the cabin when we move to north carolina this summer.

first real bath...

daniel didn't lose his cord until we were at the hospital... at almost 6 weeks old so he had only been getting washcloth baths before that.

 we were excited to go home and use our little baby tub and give him a real bath.  he loved it! he sat so content in the warm water while i scrubbed him down... the only part he really hated was the end when we pulled him out of the cozy water and cover him in cold lotion.  sorry babe!

he and i also went to church for the first time (his first time, my first time in almost 2 months).  he looked super cute in his little church clothes.  and he was the perfect baby all through church and never cried.

he also randomly fell asleep on his tummy time/play time blanket the other day... it was too cute with his arms up by his head.  i love sleeping babies.. they are so sweet!