My 8 month old little big baby! lol

Yup, Boston is officially my Big baby! What I mean by that is he's more independent, can do things on his own, and he's not so fragile. He's always been kind of big though, but I love it. And I really feel like this 7, 8 month mark has been the magical age! He's so happy all the time, and very interactive!

We're excited for Halloween coming up!! (I'm really not a huge Halloween fan, but I Can't wait to put Boston's costume on!!) For now though, we've been getting into the Fall spirit by trying a pumpkin on for size! :)

It took 3 of us standing around him to get him to look up. lol

mmmmm, pumpkin.....not so yummy pine cone!

My SIL Sierra and I saw this idea on Pinterest and LOVED it! We had to do it with the babies! Boston had a BLAST in the pumpkin!!! I think he would've been fine playing in it the rest of the afternoon. He was squealing and screaming, and laughing. ha ha it was so fun! Sierra's leaves from her grapevine were perfect for some added Fall decor, add that to the jumbo pumpkin, and a mostly naked baby, and it was bound to be a cute pic! Daphne wasn't too excited about sitting in the cold wet pumpkin though. She must have thought getting in the cold, gooey pumpkin was for boys.... I don't blame her. lol

 Grandpa Crandall loves to make him laugh! I'm so glad he was there to help!

I sure love being home with Boston. It's been 9 months since I quit working, and I thought it would be a hard adjustment, not being around adults more, having a reason to get dressed up etc. But I have been doing great, especially as Boston has gotten older, and he has become more of a friend. And I know it will just continue to become more fun to be home with him. I'm so grateful that I have a husband that supports me and makes it possible to be home as well! We just make sure to plan something small everyday to get out. We LOVE going for walks!! I have had a hard time finding a walking partner that loves to walk as much as I do (pretty much every day) so often times it's just Boston and I....and I've become ok with it, cause he's my buddy, and we keep each other company. And as my mom as always tells me, "You're not just raising a son, you're raising a life long friend, just like you are to me." :)

These are the chickens we stop and say hello to every morning on our walk! The rooster always talks back a lot to Boston! :)

So as I was saying, we find reasons to get out, and get ready, and we make sure and get with family and friends a few times a week, which has been so fun to develop closer relationships than I feel like I had before. We usually spend a whole day at my parents once a week, and that has really meant a lot to me, as my little brother Dallin (14) is still there, and it means a lot to me to be there for him, and be able to spend time with him. And of course my Mom, who is my best friend in the whole world. Love. Her.  I can't believe how much she helps me grow, and face my fears, and whenever I go to her about a problem, or worry, she turns me to our Savior Jesus Christ, which is what I love most about her.... she doesn't just let me vent, and say oh, I know how you feel, or I'm sorry (although she does say those things)....she turns to me to the one person who can sympathize most, and actually help me fix my problems.

Anyways, Boston is doing great! He's still 21lbs, so he's really slowed down on the weight gain, and is just kind of stabilizing. He takes 2, 1-2 hour naps per day. He sleeps from 8-7am eating for 6 minutes at around 5am. I am slowly decreasing the amount of time that I am feeding him, instead of just cutting him off cold turkey from that feeding. Cause he may still need it and I want to take it slow and let his body adjust. :) It will be nice when he can go all night though!  He's normal size in shirts, but in pants he wears 12-18 month size! He's tall, no idea where he gets it though. lol He loves solids, and is NOT picky in the least! He'll try anything I give him, and will go back and forth between veggies and fruits without a glitch. I hope this continues. I keep his diet pretty same ol same ol though. Cause I feed him lots of what is in season, as it grows in the garden or I find it at farmers markets. So he's loved squash and Zucchini, beans and oatmeal still, and apples, bananas, peaches, and grapes. I would say his FAVORITE is frozen bananas, and frozen celery!!

He still shows no signs of crawling really, but he can stand!!! Leaning on something a little, but he loves it cause he feels so proud and independent! ha ha

He loves to sing with me. We'll just be cleaning and cooking in the kitchen and I'll be singing and next thing I know he's making sounds right a long with me! he does the same thing in the car. ha I'm also teaching him sign language, going on two months now...He hasn't done them back, but hopefully he will if I continue the way I have been! I also repeat the words in Spanish, which is helping me learn more Spanish as well.

Also 3 of Boston's favorite things to do with me, is rubbing foreheads (which my Mom says was one of my favorite things!) I will just be holding him and he'll lean forward to rub foreheads, it so cute! He also loves to hold hands while he's nursing, which is soo special to me! I love the bonding time we get everyday at least while he's nursing! As he's getting more independent, and likes doing things on his own, it's meant more and more to me to have that time to just cradle him, and snuggle and talk to him while he's eating. It's worth every sacrifice in the world! And lastly, this is one of my favorite things to do as well, basically with anything I am doing, if he's in his bumbo, or jumper, I will peak around corners and objects to surprise him, and we both just start laughing! He definitely brings out the silly in me! :)

Here's some more fun pics!

 We have been having lots of fun with our friends Megan & Jack Jones lately! They let us go to the Hogle Zoo with them again, and we've had some fun play dates, trying to teach the boys how to share, and play. :)

We

 Fuzzy bed head, that I'm in love with for some reason. lol

Park City Farmers Market, for Uncle Dallin's Birthday!

First time Bowling!!! He was pretty good! We went bowling with the Crandalls, and he scored the first Spare of the night! ha ha

 His FIRST Football game to watch his cousin Brandon, who is on the Northridge jr. Varsity team. We're a Lancer family at heart though! ;)

 Shopping buddies! Yes I will pretty much do anything to keep my child happy in the store! That includes letting over sized stuffed animals ride along with us. lol

 

 Who knew his new favorite toy would be our napkin basket....I swear I'm never buying real toys again.. Grandma Hawkins sure loves Boston!!

Lunch date with Dolores! Daphne was being tended there as well, so Boston got a lunch buddy too!

 I had to tell Paul to just look at the camera instead of talking to the babies so I could get a good shot. ha ha That was hard for him to do, cause he sure loves those babies! We really enjoy the times he is able to come up from St. George and spend some time with us. He's always so helpful, and generous!

Speaking of Paul coming up, this last time he came up he went to Priesthood conference with his Boys, and also Andrew's Step dad Jeff, and brother Gabe! That was quite a special thing!! I know that had nothing to do with Boston, but I wanted the pic in the scrapbook so I'm throwin' it in!! And I'm pretty sure this was the longest post ever! Wow. Over, and out.