Changes...

Time changes everything. And big changes came the Manwaring way this month...

...before a five day business trip that took Nathan to 5 states in 5 days (AK, TN, PA, MD, and NJ, and the jet lag and time on a plane, it actually makes me feel dizzy just to think of it) we wanted to at least be close to a decision concerning which business school to attend. Nathan would be with Rick, the main partner of Equation Consulting for five days, and what a perfect opportunity to tell him if he wanted to stay and grow in the company, or if he'd be leaving. We'd been praying lots about what to do, talked to many different people, had lots of applications and interview processes, and even a rejection from a school in California. We decided that the best thing for our family right now, and in this economy, is to stay with his current firm and attend the University of Utah to receive his masters degree there. What a decision, and to wait for so long (a few years) to now apply to the other schools to now decide to stay?! Well, it felt right, and after telling Rick on the trip, Rick was so excited he got Nathan an iPhone (which is cool, but at the same time can be annoying to have so much information at your fingertips. Did I mention that I hate texting?)

Anyway, so there we go, now onto stage two of that decision....HOUSE HUNTING!

Can you say yikes?! And to meet the tax credit deadline, we've got to get our behinds moving! We've been probably to close to 35-40 houses in person, not to mention the {hundreds} we've been looking at online.

Oh yeah, AND this all happened the same week we bought a car, which I bought at the dealership without Nathan as he was somewhere on a jet plane.

Anyone interested in buying an 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe? Still working on selling that too.

Big stuff, and now it feels like we've only touched the tip of the iceburg since the house buying process is now upon us. Can you say stress?

On to the fun stuff though...James is the CuTEsT baby EVeR!! Grandma Hiller pinned it on the nose... "he is just perfect".

Could he be any cuter? I submit that he cannot! James and Mommy

Fun Sunday Times...

...in our little house in Provo. We are going to miss it here when we move, so we'll be enjoying all the time we've got at the moment. Life is {relatively} simple, and I like it.

On a walk with Daddy and Lady

Kisses from Mommy

Enjoying some tummy time

6 Months Already!?!

A whole half a year has gone by since my baby was born, and I don't know where the time went. We got his pictures taken on Saturday, and we'll post those when we get them, and today he had his six month appointment. His stats are as follows:

~Weight: 13 lbs, 9 oz, 1%tile (down from 2%tile)
~Length: 24.5 in, 2%tile (down from 7%tile)
~Head circ: 16.7 in, 16 %tile (up from 11%tile)


big smile on my half burfday

Okay, so he's little, anyone surprised? Have you seen me? Nathan isn't that big either, and hey, I wasn't even on the charts until I was about 6 years old, so this is doing great. Most importantly though is that he is healthy, he's never been sick (had the sniffles once) nor had an ear infection, he eats a ton and loves solid food, he is reaching milestones ahead or right on time, and he is the happiest baby anyone has ever seen. James has his two bottom teeth that are sharp! He can roll both ways and likes to roll everywhere, gives kisses, sits up all by himself, can stand, and most importantly, sleeps through the night, still! He had a little trouble at Christmas time with everyone there and so many new things around (and a growth spurt because he ate a TON of food while there), but after we got back home and back on a relative schedule, he is fine. Can you believe how incredibly cute he is! We are so blessed to have this little one in our family.

Nathan looking at the small lake formed by James on the kitchen floor, James thinking "What, I'm just splashing?"

Just a happy kid in jammers

New Car

Just the first of many big things happening around here that I'll blog about soon :)

We bought a new car!

I think the roof rack thing makes the car look more rugged and SUV like.

Quick Update

Sorry, haven't posted in awhile. I have been so busy! But, I've heard and learned that life from here on out just gets busier, so I had better get a crackin' and learn how to catch up. Nathan left for a 5 day business trip last week, so that left me with the babe, all by myself. I did it too! Kirstin was so nice and stayed with me at nights. James rolled over from his back to his belly on the Monday he was gone (Jan 11), and the next day was rolling continuously. Then I'd hear a noise at night, I look on the monitor, and he'd be practicing his rolling all over his bed! Silly baby, just wanted to perfect it before his daddy came home I guess. Kirstin was so nice and stayed with me at nights. I got to work 3 nursing shifts these last two weeks as well which has kept me busy. With all of that going on, I haven't had time to download pictures to the computer; here are just some cute fav's of James (he is almost 6 months!):

Everything must pass the "mouth test", this pig passes


Hmmm, this spins

Get a picture of me before I wiggle away! James has become a wiggle worm


How he falls asleep, with one had over his eyes as he has rubbed them because he's tired.

Accidental Falconry

The craziest thing happened to me this week, and I didn't have my camera to capture it, so a well told story will have to do. Lady had been down it seemed since we'd gotten back from AZ on Sunday. On Friday I decided to take her up hiking at our favorite place, Indian Trail Head, here in Provo. We go up, James in his snowsuit and carrier, Lady running along, loving the snow. There are wild turkeys up there, I've seen them with Jenn before. Well, we found the turkeys, pretty cool I think. They were wondering among some shrub oak and I send in Lady to "go get the turkeys". She's done it before, she can't catch them, so all is well, right? WRONG! I didn't see (and I don't know how I missed it) this GIANT hawk or eagle in the shrub oak that is all around there. Lady goes into the shrub oak, flushed out the turkeys, they fly out, and the hawk gets one, about 30 yards from us! I didn't see the actual kill, but I heard it, Lady did too, and ran back to me (luckily). The hawk made good time, and was trying to carry his catch away, but it was too heavy. It kept trying, only getting about a foot off the ground, then it would fall back down. I held onto Lady because I didn't want her going over to investigate, I mean this hawk just took out a turkey, and obviously wants it. Lady would probably win, or at least run away, but probably not without battle scars. Anyway, we watched it for a little bit, then went back to the car. I called Nathan to tell him, and he was like "did the hawk leave it, lets have turkey for dinner". Haha, he was kidding, but I felt so bad for that turkey. However, I do know that birds of prey have a hard time in the winter and only about a third make it through their first winter. Either way, I participated in some accidental falconry, and the circle of life continues.

The Predator

The Prey


The accidental falconers (picture taken earlier this year, same spot)


The accomplice (picture taken earlier in year, same spot)