Putting up a fence

Well these last few days have been a lot of work. My first week here in Florida we finished putting in the fence posts for the last side of the fence. It really wasn't so bad. This Monday we started the last part of the fence, putting up the wire. I've never actually put up a fence and in my mind I thought it really wouldn't be too bad. Well I was wrong. Here is the main thing you need to know if you are going to put up a fence:

Putting up a fence is HARD.

I thought, "oh, it'll take us maybe 4-5 hours to put up the wire". Well, we started at 8 am on Monday and worked on it til 9 pm. Tuesday we came back at 8 and worked til 11:30 am. There are so many parts to putting it up properly that just take time and tools and make your muscles ache. But we finished and it is up and beautiful. Tomorrow we plan to go pick up the horses to move them over. My mom's lifelong dream of owning land and having her horses on it is finally coming true. Here is the finished product of the fence.

This week I have also been sad that Eric is not with us because I feel like Oliver is changing rapidly. This week he started sitting up on his own, doing a lot of mimicking (especially with his tongue), and talking a lot. He is eating really well now and wants to eat everything. He also is loving to fall asleep on his side and belly. No more putting him on the bed. He is becoming so mobile. When I put him on the floor after a few minutes he is ten feet away from his starting point.


Today we found a cuban restaurant and it was good.

Yesterday after finishing the horse fence we went out on Troy's boat. It was really nice. One really cool part was that when we were on our way back to our start point we were going with the wind and the same speed as the wind so it was still on the boat. No more hair blowing, just still air. I've never experienced something like that, to be moving at 15-20 mph and have no wind. It was really neat.

My dad's blog has the picture that my dad took of Oliver taking this picture.

It was a great day for seeing gators.

This is not really a flattering picture of me at all, but it shows my new farmers tan and Oliver's rosy cheeks. They look extra rosy next to his white belly.

Tonight we went out on the beach around low tide, but it wasn't that low. And it was windy and pretty cold, so we wrapped Oliver in a blanket and hung out for a little bit. It is really nice only having the beach a block away.

Having Fun in the Florida Sun

We are having a blast here in FL. The last two days it has rained non-stop. We went out to the land today to see if it was a lake (which it wasn't!) and the new horse trough that my parents just bought (and hadn't put water in yet) had 1 1/2 feet of water in it. Yep. It rained 1 1/2 feet in the last two days. Only in Florida.

Yesterday we went to see the new house that Bonnie and Sean are planning on getting. It is HUGE! It was fun to see it though. I know they will love it. Here Oliver is sucking on an apple on the way down.

 Oliver liked pulling Baby's hair. Luckily she doesn't bite. Brenna looked cute in her princess dress.

 The day before yesterday my parents bought an antenna. I set it up today and this is what happened when I turned on the tv.

 Today Oliver got into Grandma's purse. Pulled out her hat and sunglasses while we had our back turned.

 Today we went to Target to grab some swim diapers and some other things. This week Oliver has made so many changes. He can now sit up in high chairs, carts, and just generally looks older.

 He is a ham and knows when to smile for the camera.

 Got the Horse Illustrated in the mail today. Training him young just like all the other grandkids.

 He hasn't really been so interested in eating much, but seemed more interested the last few days. Tonight he ate Pear and Spinach and LOVED it.

 We went shoe shopping for grandpa and had to try on baby shoes. They looked great, but couldn't make ourselves pay for them.

Those are just a few updated pictures. We miss Eric SOOOO much, but are having a lot of fun. We are loving being a block from the beach. The weather is perfect (even with the rain) and it is like paradise here.

We have a 6 month old baby!!! And WE LOVE HIM!

So Oliver just turned 6 months and every stage just gets better than the last!

This kid smiles all the time and is so much fun. At his 6 month appointment he measured at 27 inches (if he kept growing an inch a month like he is now, he would be about 18 feet at age 16. Good thing that is most likely not going to happen. We figured if it did, he could be a star basketball player. Just stand in the middle of the court and dunk the ball. No one would be able to guard him!)

And he weighed in at 18 lbs 2 oz.

Now for the funny story at the doctors. The Dr. told me that I could put his clothes back on, but I decided to change his diaper before we left. He had been doing a BUNCH of stinky toots during the appointment. Right when I started to take off the diaper a little poop started to come out. So I waited about 30 seconds and no more came out so I switched the diaper. Of course right as soon as I switch it he poops a bunch into the fresh diaper. So I wait a little longer and more comes out. We think he is done and pull the diaper away and then he poops all over the table twice! It was everywhere and lots of it! Luckily after many wipes and the doctor holding his legs for me I was able to get a fresh diaper on him and we went home. He had been feeling sick (I thought it was toothing, but then yesterday I had an upset tummy and so I think that is what was up instead of teeth) for a few days, so I think he finally let it all out. It was really funny.

Ok, now for the next exciting thing. Since Oliver turned 6 months on Saturday we started solids! Oliver has been watching our food like a hawk so I promised him that he could start a day before his 6 month birthday. We started with avocado. For some reason I though he would just start eating like a grown up but this is what he thought of it.

He didn't love it. In fact, for the next 3 days we tried avocado and he didn't want anything to do with it. Kept his mouth closed and spit it out immediately. And even when something does go in about 90% comes back out. He hasn't cared about food since.

So today we started a new food- banana. I hoped that if it was a little sweeter he would be more interested in eating again. This is what he thought of the banana.

He didn't love it either. But I tried it again tonight and he seemed to enjoy it. He also gulped down a 1/2 oz of diluted apple juice (which he didn't want anything to do with it a few days ago). But overall I keep getting the message from him that he would rather stick with milk and clothes.

Here is the banana video.



And although he didn't like the avocado, I still got a grin out of him.

After we have done banana for a few days, sweet potato and rice cereal are on the list.

6 Month Photos

(There is another new post about our zoo trip below this, so don't forget to check that out too.)

My old roommate and friend Ligia offered to take some 6 month photos of Oliver. She is pretty amazing since she offered to do this the day she was moving to Baltimore and then she edited them that same day! Yikers! AND she has 4 kids, so it's not like she has leisure time. But I think that they turned out really cute and so I wanted to share them on here. Curious, Grins, Yummy Cheeks and Smiles are my favorite.

Thanks Ligia!

Zoo

I forgot to document Oliver's first trip to the Zoo. Cara invited us while we were in town and Derek and Aynna and kids came along too. It was a lot of fun. I'm not sure Oliver realized how cool the animals were but he was the best behaved baby of the day, so he gets props for that. But first some other items of business. Sometimes when Oliver sleeps he turns his head so far around. I don't know why or how he does it, but it is pretty funny.

 We ran out of clean pjs so he got to wear this to bed. It was fun to see his chunky legs.

 So here starts our zoo adventure.

 Oh yeah, Hayden came with us too.

 He never noticed the elephants.

 This was Quincy's model pose. showing some legs and diaper.

 And this is what Cambria gave me when I asked he to pose like a model. She asked what that meant and I told her to do a pretty pose. This is what she gave me.

 Derek always looks really good in pictures. Especially when near bald eagles.

 I didn't think they would want to pose so I had to take a candid shot of Cara and Aynna.

 I'll pose any day though!

 Oliver took a nap over at the new polar bear exhibit.

 Family photo.

 This was the first day he realized there is a design on his stroller. He likes to look at the monkeys now.

 This is the pose I got when I told Cambria to laugh.

 The water fountain from Eric's childhood is still there.

 Daddies pushing strollers.

 Quincy missed her nap.

Still looking at the monkeys.

This is the face I got from Eleanor.

 Eric is always entertaining the kids.

 Jonah with the hands in the pants.

Then it was Oliver's turn to pose.

 I think Oliver is doing a James Kannas face here.

 Although Indee didn't go to the zoo with us, we still got a good shot of her.

 Oh and you can't forget my hot model husband too.