When It Snow's

Happy

2012-02-17T09:45:00.001-05:00

The birthday boy and valentine's day

2012-02-14T21:51:00.001-05:00

Obie's birthday was today. He had a touch of the stomach flu, so we had a fairly low-key day, but I think he had a good day. We got him a small trampoline for outside and a basketball. When he woke up this morning there were streamers on his door and his toy mailbox waiting by his door with birthday cards from family. Then we went downstairs and the trampoline was set up in the living room, which made for a fun day. He played with it pretty much all day. He loved when we sang happy birthday to him...we did cupcakes and candles twice today. When he wanted us to start singing the happy birthday song, he started singing "happy day! Happy day!" It was pretty cute. He went up to Adie and wanted us to sing to her as well, so we did :). He loved his candles and had fun blowing them out. Overall, it was a good day.

Obie and Adie

2012-02-13T20:11:00.005-05:00

Newborn Photos

2012-02-13T19:45:00.006-05:00

I got Adie's newborn/our family photos yesterday! Sorry for the picture overload ;)

Cheese!

2012-02-13T15:38:00.001-05:00

2012-02-12T20:05:00.001-05:00

track painting

2012-02-06T19:24:00.001-05:00

Artist smock+toy car+fingerpaint=awesome

Yumm...

2012-02-06T13:57:00.001-05:00

I knew it was too quiet downstairs....

2012-02-06T13:56:00.001-05:00

A Trip

2012-02-04T04:04:00.001-05:00

Last week Jon had to be in New Jersey for some training for the new
business he is starting, so Obie, Adie and I tagged along and stayed with
Jon's sister and her family in New York. We had a fun trip. We went to
the Strong Museum of Play, which Obie loved! His favorite thing was the
train rides. I rode with him a couple of times and we sang If you're happy
and you know it shout hurray while on the ride, and Obie enthusiastically
shouted hurray while on the ride. It was pretty cute.

The next day we went to the Hill Cumorah, the Sacred Grove, and Palmyra.
It was neat. I'd never been there before. At the visitor's center there
was a large statue of Christ. Obie saw it while we were driving up and got
so excited and shouted "Jesus!" Once we got inside, he ran straight to the
statue to touch it.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Obie went with Emily, Grace
and Anne on several fun outings while I took care of Adie. I really
appreciated Emily and Kevin letting us come visit! We had a fun trip (even
if Obie did want to hit Anne every time he saw her :)

Strong museum of play

2012-01-29T18:07:00.003-05:00

2012-01-29T18:07:00.001-05:00

Hill cumorah visitors centef

2012-01-29T17:52:00.001-05:00

Daddy's girl

2012-01-16T16:13:00.001-05:00

We had newborn pictures taken today. More pictures to come :)

Eyelashes

2012-01-14T21:51:00.000-05:00

2012-01-14T19:53:00.001-05:00

2012-01-14T19:52:00.001-05:00

2012-01-14T19:51:00.000-05:00

2012-01-14T19:50:00.000-05:00

2012-01-14T13:35:00.000-05:00

Headed home

2012-01-13T13:00:00.001-05:00

2012-01-12T15:37:00.001-05:00

The story

2012-01-09T16:47:00.001-05:00

Last night, Madison Claire Snow came into the world...very quickly! I had a normal day with Obie (we didn't go to church because I felt like I had the flu on Saturday), had gotten him in bed and just laid down to sleep myself when all of a sudden I felt a huge gush (time: 10:10 pm). I started screaming (ok maybe hyperventialing), yelled at Jon to find me some pants and go see if our neighbors could watch obie. I knew I had to get to the hospital quick based on Obie's delivery after my water broke. Anyway, we made it to the hospital by 10:25 and my contractions were coming 2 or so minutes apart (I wasn't even having steady contractions at 10:10!). I got checked into a room and yelled that I wanted an epidural. When I checked in, I was 5cm. They got me an epidural in about 20 minutes or so, but I was in so much pain I didn't even feel it. A few minutes later they checked me again and I was a 7...then a few agonizing minutes later the doctor came in, sat down, and said one or two good pushes and she'll be here. And she was! I thought I was going to DIE, but 4 pushes later, Madison was born at 11:27 pm, at 6 lbs, 13 oz and 19.5 inches. She is a doll and we love her already. Obie was so excited to meet her this morning. Pictures soon :)

I cook

2012-01-08T20:30:00.001-05:00

Lately, Obie has been really into cooking. It's been fun to watch him
play with the little kitchen, pots and pans and vegetables he got for
Christmas. He gets really excited around meal times and says "I cook,
I cook" and "hot" over and over. He also asks for pizza pretty much
every day. Other favorite foods commonly asked for are cheese, drink
"usually milk, sometimes juice, "snack" (fruit snacks), and "more" of
whatever he's been eating. He also loves ranch on pretty much
anything.

More christmas memories

2012-01-04T07:23:00.001-05:00

During the week before Christmas, Jon was wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Carl Marx on it. Obie pointed at him and said "ho, ho, ho". We thought it was hilarious and pretty much sums him up.

Also...I'm due on January 10. Any guesses on actual delivery time and date?

Christmas morning and some random pictures

2012-01-01T20:09:00.001-05:00

Merry christmas and a happy new year

2012-01-01T19:59:00.001-05:00

This has been a crazy few months! We had a great Christmas. Obie loved everything about it..the tree, the lights, the presents and especially the cookies! We put out cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, but he got mad and made a break for them. The next morning the first thing he said was "ho ho ho, cookies"!

A Trip to Memphis

2011-10-16T20:35:00.004-04:00

October has flown by! Last weekend we took a few days and went down to Memphis. It was a short but very fun trip. We spent Friday night and most of Saturday with the Snows. Saturday morning we went to the Collierville Town Square to see the trains. Oberlin loved it. He kept saying, "Choo Choo".

After the trains we went to the Memphis Zoo. Obie LOVED it. The weather was gorgeous and all the animals were out and moving. After a few hours there, Jon, Teresa and I met up with my mom and went to a craft fair.

The orangutans were all carrying blankets

Obie LOVED the giraffes

The next day after church, we headed to my parents and Teresa, Bruce and Cathy came over for lunch. It was a fun visit. After they left, we relaxed and let Oberlin spend time with the Carlson side of the family. The next day, Aunt Callie went to school, and my Mom, Obie, Jon and I went back to the zoo for another fun trip. We did the petting zoo, rode the train, and went to the aquarium this time. Then we met up with my dad for lunch in downtown Memphis at the Trolley Stop Market, a fun little place with gigantic pizzas. Then after a trip to Costco, we headed back home. All in all, it was a fun trip.

A Rough Week

2011-09-30T20:28:00.005-04:00

This past week went a lot differently than I originally planned. It was supposed to be not too busy, fairly relaxing, etc. Then on Tuesday, I got a phone call from the doctor. Oberlin was scheduled to have surgery with a urologist in November, but they asked if they could bump up the surgery to the next day (Wednesday). On Tuesday night, Oberlin got a blessing. Wednesday, he woke up with quite a bit of congestion, which sometimes can cancel a surgery. After talking to practically everyone at Riley Hospital, we decided to head on up to Indy and hope for the best. We went to the Children's Museum for a bit, then headed to Riley Hospital in Carmel. We got checked in and waited for about 2 hours. Not fun for a little kid or his parents. At one point, we were walking the halls and he made a break for it through some open doors leading to the surgery area. It was pretty funny--at least the 10 nurses yelling "Run Forest Run" watching down the hall thought so. We got bored of the waiting and took a few pictures:

At about 2:30 they started operating. Everything went well, but instead of 1 procedure, they ended up doing 3. Poor little guy. At 5:30 or so, he started stirring, so they called us back into a recovery room. We were in the room when he woke up. He was pretty groggy and sat up. Then he looked out the window (we were several stories up) and started saying "TRUCK, TRUCK". He saw a big semi out the window. I figured at this point he would be fine ;)

We headed home around 6 or so. Recovery has been surprisingly fast, but still not a fun few days. Oberlin has been a trooper!

Cars

2011-09-10T21:18:00.005-04:00

Oberlin has developed an obsession with cars and "choo-choos" lately. We got him a toy car at a garage sale the other day, and we have a meltdown every time we come home and don't play outside in it or the real car. Oberlin climbs in his car and starts waving bye-bye and blowing kisses. It's pretty cute. He's gotten pretty good at pushing himself backwards. He also tries to get us to sit in the car with him, which makes me laugh. There's no way my pregnant belly would fit. We also have to play in the real car (the driver's seat) at least twice a day. At least the weather has been BEAUTIFUL this past week! I love fall!

Summer

2011-09-04T20:24:00.004-04:00

A few pictures taken earlier this summer I never posted:

A New Favorite Thing

2011-09-04T20:18:00.004-04:00

Obie discovered a new favorite thing this week: playing in the bathroom sink. The other day he pushed his leap frog toy table over to the kitchen sink and tried to turn it on, but he was too short. I pushed it to the bathroom and he is just the perfect height to turn it off and on. There's also a bowl of decorative rocks next to the sink. Add a cup and it's the perfect recipe for 30-40 minutes of fun while Mom makes dinner. Sometimes he points to the toilet seat and wants me to watch him. And yes, he is soaking wet by the time he's done playing. He's done playing the first time he dumps water on the floor. :)

He's also started "fist bumping" in addition to high fives. It's pretty cute.

A Girl! A Girl! A Girl!

2011-08-18T17:04:00.001-04:00

We found out today that our soon-to-be little one will be a girl! What a delight!

14 Minutes of Fame

2011-08-18T08:04:00.001-04:00

http://utmn.ru/

Watch from minute 5:27 to 7:18 or so.

This is a video taken during the presentations we did while in Tyumen.

Cheese, Please

2011-07-26T19:38:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, Oberlin said his first "sentence:" Cheese Please!! We've been working on saying please A LOT lately. Sometimes it works :). Food is a powerful motivator.

Ultrasound

2011-07-18T19:32:00.002-04:00

I had an ultrasound today. Pretty crazy that this little thing is growing inside me. This baby is a little wiggler (Obie was a kicker). They can't tell the gender until next month, but we did see 2 arms, 2 legs, and a stomach, heart and spine. And a faint outline of a smile!

o

A Few Things I Don't Want to Forget

2011-07-16T15:45:00.004-04:00

Today was Oberlin's first day in nursery at church!!! He doesn't turn 18 months for a few more weeks, but they let him come in today because there weren't many kids. He started BAWLING when I came to pick him up. The nursery leader said he had a few rough spots :(. At one point Jon and I looked in the window and he was sitting at the little table eating his goldfish. He looked so big!

Oberlin has done a few super cute things lately I don't want to forget. Because I'm a horrible journal keeper, I'm putting them here.

1. Eskimo kisses. The other day, for no apparent reason, Oberlin came up really close to my face and put his nose to mine for an Eskimo kiss. Then we both giggled and kept doing it throughout the day and laughing. It was so funny.

2. Puppy face. The other day, Oberlin bumped his head and started crying. I asked him if he wanted me to kiss it better. He gave me The Look...this adorable little puppy dog face that just cried "Oh, Mom, please!" He ran to me and buried his head in my shoulder and let me kiss his little cheek. I pretty much melted.

3. Dandelions. The other day we were playing in our driveway. Oberlin saw a dandelion in the yard and picked it. Then he FLEW down the driveway at top speed to show me. I love the little moments like this :).

4. Reading books. This is one of my absolute favorite parts of being a Mom. I love reading books with Obie. He's gotten a pretty good attention span for them, too, especially at bedtime. We'll read for 30 or 40 minutes sometimes before bed. A few absolute favorites (especially the first one):

5. New words: At 17 months, Oberlin can say "marshmallow" (a FAVORITE treat), "woof, woof," "dog," "bus," "truck," "what's that?" "please" (more like peez..and this one took a LONG time to catch on), "stuck," "all done," "milk," "mom," "da da," "bird," and I think a few more but I can't remember them right now. He also loves to babble all the time. He's a pretty big talker.

What's going to be even better than Christmas this year?

2011-07-10T19:59:00.001-04:00

A baby due in January!

We're excited. And a little nervous about having TWO kids. :)

The Children's Museum

2011-06-26T19:41:00.002-04:00

With our friend, Mike

Obie was obsessed with this little wheelbarrow..for at least 20 minutes

He loved the carousel (and cried when he had to get off)

WHOA! A dinosaur egg!

Excavating or brushing hair?

Climbing

These are made of Jelly Bellys!

Dinos!

Yesterday we went up to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Obie loved it. He was freaking out. We just put him down and followed him. It was pretty fun to watch. The wheelbarrow, the moving train, and the carousel were definite favorites :).

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

2011-06-26T18:55:00.004-04:00

Untitled from Whitney Snow on Vimeo.

Aunt Teresa, Grandma and Grandpa Snow came to visit us on their way up to and down from Maine. It was a fun visit. Bruce and Jon finished part of our attic..thank you! We also had fun going to the best park in Bloomington (Lower Cascades Park) and to the pool. Oberlin LOVED Aunt Teresa. When he saw her in the driveway, he got SO excited and started bouncing in my arms and waving. He loved to bang on the window to get her attention. We also had a short visit from Stephani and Matthew. Oberlin really liked Matthew, too. We're excited to see more family this summer!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T20:28:00.003-04:00

Happy Father's Day! We are grateful for both of our Dads, and Oberlin and I are grateful for the great Dad Jon is. Oberlin LOVES his daddy. He gets so excited when he comes home. Here are a few pictures of them lately.

And here is a picture of the gorgeous flowers Jon planted for me last year. They have come back beautifully! Thanks for being such a great husband and father!

One dollar. And a bunch of trucks

2011-06-18T03:36:00.003-04:00

Whoa!

This week in Bloomington, there was a community "touch-a-truck" event. Oberlin loved it! After a bit of a fiasco involving a blank checkbook and a bunch of change, we finally made it in. I think the pictures show Obie's excitement. He kept looking everywhere and saying "Truck!" "Truck!". He loved sitting in the firetruck and running up and down the city bus. He has been obsessed with trucks and buses lately, so this was perfect timing. He also liked the garbage truck and running up and down a carrier. It's a weekly event to watch the garbage man take our trash. :) Overall, I can see this becoming an annual tradition.

Fish out of Water

2011-06-05T20:15:00.002-04:00

Oberlin's swimming outfit. And documentation that he is always trying to hold as much as he possibly can in his little hands. He has also discovered "smooshing" fruit to make juice go everywhere. The kid can get juice oozing from strawberries. I looked over today, and he was "smooshing" a strawberry so hard he was shaking. Funny kid.

Shades

2011-06-01T21:02:00.003-04:00

This kid is hilarious. He has developed such a fun personality lately. And he LOVES being in the sun and water. We've gone swimming twice this week and he has been having a blast. When I pull out his water shoes he gets SO excited. He knows something fun is getting ready to happen. We went to the pool today at 1:45 and went up to the door but there was a sign saying "Closed until 3:00". Oberlin just about had a meltdown when we left. (Thank goodness for the animal crackers I found in my bag.) We had a great time when we got there at 3.

We also got a picnic table for our backyard (my early birthday present :)) and have been spending a lot of time outdoors. I think this kid is in heaven. And no, he will not leave the sunglasses on.

Mother's Day

2011-05-11T21:15:00.000-04:00

Jon surprised me this past Saturday with a trip to Memphis for Mother's Day! We left Saturday, spent the evening and half of Sunday with the Snows and the rest of Sunday and Monday with my family. My mom didn't know we were coming and was shocked! I thought she was going to have a heart attack ;). We had a great time with family! It was fun to see both of our mom's on Mother's day!

Last week, we also visited some friends who have chickens. Oberlin was very interested--but didn't like them getting too close. It was pretty funny.

Kisses

2011-05-04T22:26:00.003-04:00

Lately, whenever I tell Oberlin not to do something, he looks back at me and blows me kisses, then proceeds to do exactly what I don't want him to do. It's SO hard not to laugh.

He also learned how to unscrew his sippy cup and open containers with his teeth. It's amazing what he can get into :). He also decided tonight that he wanted to eat with a fork by himself. He barely got anything in his mouth--most of it was shoveled on the floor. Then, after I let him down from his highchair, he stuffed all the food on the floor into his mouth. Why is it always cooler to eat off the floor?

Back to Russia

2011-04-27T18:09:00.002-04:00

So I promised Whitney I would write a post about my summer. I applied for the U.S.-Russia Global Environmental Issues / Language Learning Course Study and Field Study Program offered by IU and my MPA in SPEA. I was selected for the program and will be going back to my mission for two weeks this summer. All expenses related to the language course and field study are covered by a grant so who could ask for more than a free trip back to their mission?

14 Months

2011-04-17T19:10:00.005-04:00

Earlier this week, Oberlin turned 14 months old. A few of the new things he's been doing:

trying to blow his nose! He's had a runny nose all week. We were in the bathroom the other day and he pulled some toilet paper off the roll, held it up to his nose, and made the sound he hears when I blow my nose! It was so funny! He doesn't actually blow, he just makes the sound. It's so funny what kids pick up on.
saying more and more words and imitating sounds...milk and truck and dog are current favorites
really liking buses and trucks. He gets really excited in the car if we see either of them and he says truck :)
doing a funny face like a monkey
loving dogs
we took down the baby gate on the stairs because Oberlin would kick and pull at it until it came down (and gave us a dent in the wall). He's very good at going up and down the stairs.
throwing around his body weight and rocking his high chair when he's done eating.
folding his arms for prayer

More Lasagna, Mom

2011-04-13T21:41:00.002-04:00

I think I'll be making this more often.

Random other pictures:

This kid loves to climb everything lately!

At The Park

2011-03-23T19:43:00.007-04:00

Kisses

Untitled from Whitney Snow on Vimeo.

I love spring. And warm, perfect weather. And little boys named Oberlin Snow--who walks EVERYWHERE.

Spring Break

2011-03-20T13:44:00.005-04:00

This past week Jon had spring break. We went to Memphis last weekend and then drove to Nashville, TN and stayed for a few days. My mom and sister, Callie, came with us. It was fun to do some shopping. We also went to the Hermitage--President Andrew Jackson's home. I can't believe I lived in Tennessee for 18 years and never went there! There was a good tour of the home and an excellent audio tour of the grounds. I never knew that Jackson married his wife before she was legally divorced from her first husband (she left him because of domestic violence) so they were quite the scandalous pair. We happened to go on Andrew Jackson's birthday, so admission was half-off, but it was pretty busy.

Jon had a paper due on Friday, but after that, we spent the rest of the week relaxing and getting projects done around the house. It was a great spring break! A friend in our ward gave us a little climbing gym and table and chairs for Oberlin. He loves them! All afternoon yesterday we played on the gym. I have a feeling we'll be doing that a lot in the coming days. :) I'm so happy the weather is getting warmer!

Oberlin also turned 13 months this past week. He's getting much better at walking, which has been fun to watch. I think the longest he's gone without falling down was 15 steps. He's also saying more words, with the current favorite being da!da!da! (dog...we watch out the window several times daily), what's that, and occasionally turtle (his room is decorated with turtles). My boss gave us their old train table last week, and he loves it because it's just his size. We've done a lot of pushing cars and trains lately!

Funny face

Excited face...reserved mostly for dogs, ice cream and the fan/lights

Jungle gym

Oberlin's first chalkboard drawing (we made one of our walls into a magnetic chalkboard)

Nativity Blocks and other Projects

2011-02-27T18:36:00.003-05:00

I'm excited about the set of Nativity blocks I finished the other day...I've been wanting a kid's nativity set, but didn't want to pay 30 bucks for the Little People one. So we found some scrapbook paper on sale after Christmas, and it was perfect. I went to Lowe's and they cut each piece for me (!), then I sanded, painted, distressed the edges, and modpodged the scrapbook paper on, then covered them with lots more modpodge. I love the way they turned out:

I made most of the blocks reversible. My favorite is this one. If you flip Mary and the manger over, it looks like Mary put Jesus in it.

I've also been making some baby shower gifts lately. I found the tutorial for the elephant here (I also made the alligator, but didn't take a picture. They were both pretty simple and fun to make.)

Teeth, Teeth and More Teeth

2011-02-27T18:23:00.003-05:00

We've been doing a LOT of this lately:

Biting couches, Mom, Dad, keys, apples, popcicles, or pretty much anything that isn't a vegetable. I don't even know how many teeth Oberlin has lately (10 or 11?), but I know he's gotten 2 molars in this past week and is working on at least 3 more teeth right now. Poor kid. It's been rough, but he's been a trooper.

This past week, I was watching a friend's little boy who is about the same age as Oberlin. He wasn't happy, so I was hugging him, and Oberlin was just looking at me sadly. I started blowing Oberlin kisses and he got SO excited, started blowing me kisses like crazy and was giggly for much of the afternoon. He would look over and laugh and blow me kisses. It was so sweet---like he realized that even if I was holding another little boy, I still loved him. SO FUN!

He also learned to "fold" his arms for prayer (clasp his hands together). It's really cute. I'll have to try to get a picture. He's getting closer to walking, but he still isn't willing to let go of whatever he's holding onto.

One One One

2011-02-14T21:50:00.004-05:00

It's crazy how time flies! It's hard to believe how much changes in one year!

Today was a great day. Having Valentine's Day and Oberlin's birthday on the same day is kind of weird, but also kind of fun. Jon made me and Oberlin pink heart/I love you pancakes. I got breakfast in bed, but Oberlin will have to wait a while on that :).

We had a good afternoon together. It was warm (!) so we went to McDonald's--Oberlin got an ice cream cone and played in the playplace for the first time. I think he really liked it, especially being up high and seeing cars drive past. We also played with some of his new toys. He is getting so big! When Jon came around the corner this morning, Oberlin started saying da da, and when I said I was leaving for work, he started blowing kisses. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to be a mom. This past year has brought many changes, but also wonderful blessings.

A few favorites lately:

Different types of breads (banana is definitely the favorite)
Cupcakes
Not eating any vegetables unless dipped in something else
Real milk (not formula)
Sippy cups
Saying NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO to pretty much anything, including getting in the high chair and changing diapers.
Playing with trains/trying to eat the trains on the train table at the library and Barnes and Noble.
His push toys. He is so close to walking!
Practicing letting go of everything and standing by himself
Unrolling the toilet paper any chance he gets
Playing with new toys...especially his musical instrument set he got from Grandma and Grandpa Snow and books from Nana and Grandpa Carlson
The Children's Museum in Indianapolis, especially the train room, little dino table and the science center with moving gears/pool table balls

Winter Onederland

2011-02-13T19:08:00.003-05:00

We had Oberlin's birthday party this afternoon. It was so fun! We had 20 or 30 people over, so it was kinda crazy, but it was really fun. Oberlin loved his cupcake and ate every last bite. I think he enjoyed it, and was blowing everyone kisses and waving goodbye to everyone. It was sweet.

This day last year...

2011-02-07T21:36:00.002-05:00

I was due with this kid. Crazy how much life can change in one year! He is into EVERYTHING--starting EARLY in the morning. We've been waking up at 4:30 AM(at the latest), even when he goes to bed late! Today, he learned how to take the safety plug out of the electrical outlet, stand up in the shopping cart at the store while strapped in and knock down/break our lamp (not the first time). But we also had fun jumping up and down together, reading books, sharing some homemade ice cream, and playing "chase". Oh how I love this curious little monster!

Life Lately

2011-01-29T22:55:00.003-05:00

This kid is sick. Not fun. I'm going on like 6 hours of sleep for the past 2 days. Enough said.

I threw a baby shower for a girl in our ward today. It turned out pretty well. We played charades and baby shower bingo. It was fun :).

the favors (cake balls)

hot chocolate

11 Months

2011-01-16T18:43:00.006-05:00

Oberlin is now 11 months old...it sure was a busy month! I think this next month is about to get a lot busier though...Jon just got called as the Elder's Quorum President.

Anyway, here were a few of the highlights of the past month:

1st Christmas. He spent Christmas Day with Mom's side of the family and after Christmas with Dad's, got a laugh and learn table, hand puppets, a little people school bus and new books and clothes.
Staying for 4 days with Nana WITHOUT Mom and Dad. The night he got back home, he was so excited he stayed away from 1 to 3 AM. At 3 AM he finally crashed, but before he did, as I was rocking him to sleep he pulled out his pacifier and blew me a kiss! I melted!
LOVING songs. Current favorites: "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man" (with hand motions on "and the rain came tumbling down and the floods came up"), the "Itsy, Bitsy Spider" (sometimes hand motions) and Old MacDonald. We also got a new CD of songs from Jon's sister for Christmas, and he seems to like those, too. ("We are the Dinosaurs" and the rocketship run/blastoff song are CONSTANTLY stuck in my head.)
LOVING books. We read books for up to 30 minutes everyday before bedtime/naptime. Current favorites: "The Ear Book" (he will clap his hands and try to snap his fingers during the correct part in the book), "Goodnight Gorilla," "Beep, Beep, " "Spot Loves His Daddy," "I Love You Baby" and several Usborne books: "Animal Hide and Seek" and "Playtime Baby."
Getting more teeth. Total so far: 6.
Walking from thing to thing....and RUNNING with a little toy he can hold onto and push.
Learning to open all the kitchen cabinets (which now have locks :))
Sitting in his "camp" chair. He thinks its pretty fun.
Playing with anything that isn't "his," especially my straightener, curling iron, and the vacuum cleaner. He's also taken a liking to the water in the toilet recently :(.
Blowing kisses and waving bye-bye!
Da, da, da, da.......and sometimes ma ma ma ma!

Untitled from Whitney Snow on Vimeo.

Green Jello with Carrots Giveaway

2011-01-14T17:14:00.003-05:00

I really like Green Jello with Carrots...it's a cute site with lots of file folder games for kids and clip art for RS/YW. Today if you write a blogpost or facebook status about them, you can get 2 free file folder games! I like the nativity file folder game and the Joseph of Egypt add on to the dress up man file folder game.

The Holidays

2011-01-02T20:38:00.007-05:00

We had a VERY Merry Christmas! On Dec. 23 we drove down to Memphis, spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with my family and then spent the majority of the week after Christmas with Jon's family (who also live in TN). We got to see both sets of parents, every single one of our siblings (3 + a girlfriend on my side and 5 + 3 spouses on Jon's side) and all of our living grandparents (4 on my side and 2 on Jon's).hristmas with my family and then spent the majority of the week after Christmas with Jon's family (who also live in TN). We got to see both sets of parents, every single one of our siblings (3 + a girlfriend on my side and 5 + 3 spouses on Jon's side) and all of our living grandparents (4 on my side and 2 on Jon's).

Oberlin and Uncle Sheldon

Oberlin and Papa on Christmas Morning..we failed taking more pictures

There were 18 of us staying at Jon's parents house, so it was kind of crazy at times, but it was a lot of fun! We ate way too much food, opened presents, read the nativity story, went shopping and all in all had a great time with so much family. We also celebrated my brother's graduation from high school on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we went to the zoo. Oberlin had a good time and got to sit in the double stroller with cousin Aiden. It was great until Aiden wanted Oberlin's pacifier.

We did a temple session with Jon's family on Thursday. On Friday we spent a quiet New Year's Eve with my grandparents in Arkabutla, Mississippi and then headed back home (without Oberlin, who is still in Memphis for a few days with my mom, who will be bringing him to us later this week..I can't wait to get my baby back!). We also dropped off my brother, Tanner, in Nashville, TN to catch a flight to BYU. Whew! Let's just say I love spending time with family, but it's good to be home in my own bed! Oberlin did pretty well on the trip, considering he cut 2 teeth in 2 days while we were there!

Oberlin with his cousins

Oberlin and Aiden had fun together, but touching was always an issue.

While we were there, my brother, Tanner, took some pictures for us. I LOVED the way they turned out:

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas, too!

10 Months

2010-12-16T21:19:00.004-05:00

Oberlin is 10 months old this past week. He also had his 9 month checkup. He's doing pretty well. 21 lbs, 4 oz. (50th percentile) and around 29 inches, (also 50th percentile). The doctor said he's doing great, except for the ear infection :(. He's on penicillin and should be good to go by Christmas. Poor little guy.

A few favorites from the past month:

Biting into foods (i.e. Mom's banana)
Tearing up things and throwing them (especially paper and bread)
Pulling up on everything and waiting for Mom and Dad standing up in the crib
Finding the stairs in our house
Lots of new noises
Wanting to sit or stand up ALL the time
Books with flaps
Getting really mad when he can't eat what we are eating
Crawling into Mom's lap (he's never really wanted to be held before)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-12-12T20:09:00.003-05:00

Oberlin's new favorite thing is crawling under our chairs like an obstacle course. He stands under the chairs, tries to crawl across them, bites them, etc. He has a grand time. I'm happy as long as he doesn't pull them on his face :). He's also started wanting to stand up all the time. He's also figured out how to pull himself up on things. I went into his room the other day to get him up, and he was standing up waiting for me in his crib. Then Jon went in this morning and he walked along the crib to be picked up. He's getting too big!

Tonight we all had the giggles. We had a snowstorm today and they canceled the last hour of church, so we had a bit more time together as a family. It was fun. Here's a video:

Untitled from Whitney Snow on Vimeo.

I finally (almost!) finished up one of Oberlin's homemade Christmas presents---Old MacDonald hand puppets. I saw the idea here and thought they were cute, so I made some. I love them, and Oberlin thinks they are pretty funny too. I showed him just to see if he would like them. He kept smiling and giggling, so I think they are a go :).

Snow Much Fun

2010-12-04T22:16:00.004-05:00

Today we woke up to our first "real" winter wonderland. There was so much snow...at least 5 inches (for the record, it was 50 degrees 3 days ago!). Jon took a bit of a break from studying to go outside with us. It was hilarious. I'm not sure if Oberlin liked it or not, but he looked super cute in his snowsuit and mittens! But he definitely did like trying Dad's post-playing in the snow "hot" chocolate!

Mom, I'm not sure about this white stuff...and these things on my hand. HELP!

Hmmm, this is interesting! I'm a bit confused!

I think I like it!

Let's taste it!

COLD!!!

He did like pushing the snow off the mailbox.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

2010-12-01T19:46:00.004-05:00

I love all things Christmas! One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up was when my mom wrapped 25 Christmas books, put them in a basket, and let us pick one each night (well, we took turns) and she or my dad would read it to us. We had the Berenstain Bears Christmas Tree, and that was my favorite! I wish I still had a copy.

Anyway, this is a fun tradition that I'm excited to carry on. Jon's mom gives us a new Christmas book every year, so I had a few, but I've also been collecting books for the past several months at garage sales, etc. I've got about 14, so we're taking a trip to the library tomorrow to finish up the 25. Oberlin unwrapped the first one this morning! It was fun. He was more interested in the paper than the book, but it was still fun. Tomorrow night I'm hosting an Usborne book party (for the online show click here), so I'm hoping to add a few more Christmas books to our collection. What are your favorite Christmas books?

A new Christmas tradition we're starting this year is an advent calendar. I bought one after Christmas last year and am excited to use it. Instead of candy every day, I decided to put in an activity we can do as a family, such as sing "Silent Night" in Russian, drink a cup of hot chocolate together, drive around and look at Christmas lights, watch "It's a Wonderful Life," make Christmas cookies for friends, have dinner by the Christmas tree, make paper snowflakes, etc. You get the idea. I hope this helps bring a little bit of holiday cheer into life!

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-28T11:16:00.004-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving! We headed down to Memphis to spend time with both families. We brought the turkey (haha):

During the trip, Oberlin got his first haircut, my mom and I went Black Friday shopping (we started at 3 AM!), we celebrated Callie's 14th birthday and went to Starry Nights with the Snows (a really fun Christmas light display). All in all it was a fun trip, even if I didn't take many pictures.

9 Months

2010-11-14T10:45:00.003-05:00

Oberlin is 9 months old today! He is getting so big...and heavy! It's almost time for a new carseat--in another pound he will be at the weight limit for our infant carrier. Yesterday we went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum as a family. It was really fun. They have a little area for infants and Oberlin held onto a bar his size and stood for awhile by himself. He's getting pretty good at it.

A few new favorites from the past month:

Sitting up without flinging himself to the side (finally!!)
Starting to pull himself up on things
Lots of talking (ba ba, ba ba, ba ba is the current favorite.)
Getting VERY UPSET when he can't eat with us. I repeat, VERY UPSET...especially if it's ice cream. He loves teether biscuits, graham crackers and dry cereal. And he's getting good at actually getting them in his mouth :).
The sippy cup...I think he finally got the hang of it today!
Starting to recognize where things are when we ask, i.e. where the light in the room is, etc.
Opening (but not closing) the mailbox
Finding every electrical cord very quickly in the room
Reading books with mom and dad (we've been doing this since he was born, but he is getting more into it...especially books with flaps and touchy-feely pictures. He also loves the Spot the Dog books. We have Spot Loves His Daddy and gets excited when we read it.)
Waking up at 5 in the morning everyday. (NOT mom's favorite, but dad loves it because Oberlin sleeps while I'm at work)
Oberlin Sandwiches...big hugs with mom and dad. He smiles and laughs. It's pretty cute.

Just Playin'

2010-11-11T19:56:00.001-05:00

Life Lately

2010-11-04T20:16:00.002-04:00

Not Our Week!

2010-10-31T07:44:00.009-04:00

Hi Fives!

This past week was pretty much crazy. It was Jon's busiest week of the semester for school, he ran over a huge tree branch and blew out his tire and bent a rim, Oberlin pulled one of our heavy kitchen barstools over on his face, leading to a bloody nose and a doctor's visit, and then later in the week Obie got the 24 hour stomach flu. Let's hope this week is better! I have to say though, Oberlin was a champ. He wasn't too fussy for not feeling well. Let's hope next Halloween will be a bit more festive!

Anyway, here are some videos of normal, everyday playing for the grandparents:

Typical Playing 1 from Whitney Snow on Vimeo.

Normal 2 from Whitney Snow on Vimeo.

A Box and the Pet Shop

2010-10-24T10:41:00.004-04:00

Last week, I put together some shelves that came in a big box. Oberlin has had literally hours of fun playing in it.

We also had fun this past week going to the pet store in the mall. There were tons of little puppies and Oberlin loved looking at them.

Doesn't this face say "Can we please get it Mom!"? Sorry buddy! No way Jose!

8 Months

2010-10-14T14:40:00.005-04:00

I can't believe my baby is 8 months old! This past month has been great! Oberlin has been learning so many new things. Here are the highlights and favorite things:

starting to crawl
clicking with his tongue
loving to watch cars drive by when we go on walks
blowing on things to make them whistle
starting to eat "table" food, not just baby food. He now gets mad if he can't have food when we do, but he still hyperventilates if he sees his bottle and he's hungry.
tearing up magazines
playing with his toys (he always figures out where his toys are in whatever room we are in)
playing and chewing on anything electronic and real (i.e. my cell phone, Jon's watch, keys, camera, and especially computer.) We pulled out my old laptop for him to play on while we are on the computer. He likes it.
singing! Especially Old McDonald Has a Farm and The Wheels on the Bus
giving hi-fives

He still loves to scream (and is doing so at this moment) just for fun and loves to roll around and kick as much as possible. He's also figured out how to get pretty much anywhere he wants by kicking off furniture. Sadly, he's pretty much outgrown the jumperoo and wants to just be "free". I miss having him in one spot ;). We love this little guy!

Wylie House Museum

2010-10-08T21:53:00.001-04:00

Today I met up with a friend from church at a local museum, the Wylie House Museum. It was built in the 18120s and was the home of IU's first president. It's fun to see the neat things that are in your own town. Thanks Juliana!

Pudding Painting

2010-10-07T20:42:00.002-04:00

Oberlin and I had too much fun today. We played at the library (we have an infant's area with lots of toys and books), went to the park and finger painted with pudding. It was a blast! I think he really enjoyed smearing it all over his highchair tray, his diaper, his chest and flinging it on the floor. He also loved the bath that quickly followed :). I had to completely take apart his highchair, but it was worth it!

Pudding Painting from Whitney Snow on Vimeo.

A Quick Trip to Memphis

2010-10-04T19:30:00.005-04:00

My brother Sheldon was in Memphis for a few days, so we decided to take a quick trip to Memphis over the weekend. We left on Friday afternoon and got home around 10 on Sunday night. It was a fun trip. We went to the Mid-South County Fair with my family and Teresa Oberlin got to feed a cow, pet a goat and ride on a couple of rides. It was fun to watch, but he started bawling when a performer started singing because we were standing by some speakers. He loved the train ride...or maybe just the steering wheel.

Then my mom, Callie, Teresa and I went to a big craft fair. It was really fun...I got this beautiful cake stand that I LOVE.

Later that day, we had a cookout at the Snow's (the weather was beautiful!), jumped a little bit with Oberlin on the trampoline (which he LOVED) and got ice cream at a fun new place in Collierville before Bruce and Jon went to the priesthood session of general conference. Then on Sunday we watched conference with Jon's family, had lunch with my family and Nanny and Papa and then headed back home. It was a crazy weekend, but very fun :).

Oh, and Oberlin is SO CLOSE to crawling! He's got the army crawl down, but just needs to push up a bit more on his arms. He's also doing a little bit better with sitting up, but he's still really reckless and tosses himself everywhere without realizing (or caring) if it hurts. I think I'll call him my little adrenaline junkie :).

He also pulled off his shorts somehow in the middle of the night the other day. Crazy kid!

The Amish and Benjamin Harrison

2010-09-27T15:32:00.005-04:00

What do the Amish and Benjamin Harrison have in common? Well, not much really but we visited them both this weekend.

On Friday night, we went with some friends to Amish country, about an hour and a half from our house. We went to go to an auction, but they weren't having the auction that night, so we went to an Amish restaurant instead. It had good food and was located by a pretty lake. We watched the sun set over the lake. It was a really fun evening. It was fun to see so many horse buggies! Most houses we drove past had a long pole to hitch horses to. It would be such a different life to be Amish.

Then on Saturday, we got up and headed up to Indy to meet the Hillams at Benjamin Harrison's house museum. It was a fantastic tour. We really enjoyed it. 75-80% of the things in the house are original, which is pretty unusual. We all agreed we learned several things we didn't know, such as Benjamin Harrison was the President that got electricity in the White House, but he was afraid to flip the switch, so the servants had to. He also married his wife's niece after his wife died. She was 24 years younger...and so Benjamin Harrison has a grandchild still alive today (she's 80)! He was a lawyer before he was President, and he was pretty wealthy. In those times, people were taxed on how many rooms they had in the home, and each closet was a separate room. He had two or three closets, which shows how wealthy they were. Overall, it was a fun tour. Then we headed back to the Hillams house, had tomato fondue for lunch, and headed home. It was fun for Oberlin and Minnie to meet. She is a very calm baby!

Benjamin Harrison's original rug

Overall, it was a good weekend and Obie did great! He's been a little mischief maker at home though--he kicked over one of our tall kitchen chairs with his high chair attached (and almost gave me a heart attack! Thank goodness it fell away from him!) and dented our crown molding, kicked a hole in our BATHTUB (I didn't even know those could get holes), and almost succeeded in kicking over himself today while in his high chair. Crazy kid!

Ice Cream, Ice Cream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!

2010-09-17T19:59:00.004-04:00

First mini ice cream cone from The Chocolate Moose. Enough said. He started hyperventilating when we tried to take it away. I love this boy!

Smithsonian Museum Day

2010-09-16T21:02:00.001-04:00

Just an FYI--September 25 is the Smithsonian Magazine Free Museum Day across the country. Here's a link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ We're going to the Benjamin Harrison House in Indy. Should be fun!

7 Months

2010-09-14T19:12:00.007-04:00

Today Oberlin is 7 months. Here's a recent picture. He's loving SCREAMING lately. Loudly. For no reason but to hear his own voice. He does this new trick while jumping in his jumperoo or during closing prayer at church. He's also into rolling everywhere, playing with mylar balloons, swinging on swings, "running" to mom while Jon helps him jump/run (see video), playing peek-a-boo and eating real food. And trying to get my keys, cell phone or any paper product into his mouth. He's also started getting mad and protesting when he can't do something, like eat my keys or go outside if we go near the door. He's also sleeping through the night and taking LONG naps during the day. YAY! He also got his second tooth today. We love this little guy!

Jumping to Mommy from Whitney Snow on Vimeo.

Brown County State Park

2010-09-04T21:47:00.003-04:00

This afternoon the temperature was 73 degrees! We decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and go on a little hike around a lake at Brown County State Park about 30 miles from our house. It was beautiful! My boss gave us some baby backpacks for hiking so we decided to try them out. Oberlin was a big fan. He had fun playing with Daddy's head and enjoyed being outside. It was fun to get out and enjoy the weather. Fall is my favorite season in Indiana.

6 month Shots

2010-09-03T14:53:00.003-04:00

Who, Me?

Yesterday was Oberlin's 6 month checkup. He weighs 18.7 lbs (50th percentile), 27.5 inches (75th percentile) and 44 cm head circumfurence (50th percentile). He is getting too big :).

He's really into clapping and rolling these days. He tasted his first bite of bread yesterday and LOVED it. Yum Yum.

First Tooth!

2010-08-29T17:50:00.005-04:00

Oberlin cut his first tooth this past week! You can't really see it yet in a picture, but you can definately feel the hard ridges that have cut through the gum. It's the bottom right tooth, and he's working on the bottom left because we can see it through his gums. He's been pretty good, considering the stories I've heard about teething babies. Today at church he was a handful though! He's figured out rolling, and can cover some ground pretty quickly! A few weeks ago I got called as the Mia Maid and Laurel adviser/teacher in my ward, so it's a good thing Jon watches him when I teach several times a month! Oberlin will not stay still :).

He's also started to clap, which is SO cute! I'll start clapping when he does something cute or fun and he will too. We're still working on sitting up. He throws himself backwards and starts kicking when we try to practice sitting up by himself.

Memphis Trip

2010-08-19T22:02:00.007-04:00

Nanny and Oberlin August 2010 from Whitney Snow on Vimeo.

What can I say? We had a great trip! It was really really hot, but we got in some quality time with family. And got pictures of Oberlin with all the relatives that were in town, hence the bajillion photos.

Six Months

2010-08-19T21:32:00.003-04:00

First time at the pool

Oberlin turned 6 months old this past Saturday while we were in Memphis! I'll have to post about that soon, but here's what he's been up to this past month:

He has really developed such a personality! He's usually a very happy kid, but if he's upset, he flings himself away from me. He still LOVES to jump and be standing.

Trying to sit up by himself. He pulls up his head, but then can't quite get all the way up. Then when he is sitting up, he flings himself back down. I guess the grass is greener on the other side.

Eating all sorts of new foods. He loves sweet potatoes by themselves, sweet potatoes with corn, green beans, peas and bananas. He also really likes mango, but not squash. He's also into bananas with rice cereal on a good day. He also LOVES when we make his food/spoon into an airplane

Giggling A LOT.

He also loves songs: peekaboo, patty-cake and especially "The Wheels on the Bus." If he's being fussy in the car, I start singing and he calms down. I've had to study up on my nursery rhymes (I'm not kidding).

He also loves to sit in his high chair like a big boy while I make dinner. He gets a big kick out of us running at him saying "I'm gonna get you!". We just love our little guy!

3rd Anniversary Celebration

2010-08-07T08:57:00.004-04:00

This past week was our third anniversary! Jon post-it noted (?) my car while I was at work. Then we got a babysitter for this little guy:

And did a little shopping and went out to dinner at Olive Garden. Then we watched a movie and had dessert. It was a really fun evening. I love my husband and feel like the luckiest girl alive to have married him!

Jon also got a new job this past week! No more nights! Whoo-hoo!

He'll be working as a technical editor for Slavica publishers. We're pretty excited about it!

A Strange Sucking Sound

2010-08-01T06:52:00.002-04:00

The other day I was making dinner and heard a strange sucking sound from Oberlin's direction. I looked over and he had his foot in his mouth. It was pretty funny. We find him doing that several times a day now.

Oberlin also loves to ride on his dad's shoulders.

Homemade Blocks

2010-07-26T21:31:00.003-04:00

I finished up the sets of blocks that Jon's family and I started while they were here. They turned out cute (and to be a lot of work :)). I don't think I would have ever finished if the guy at Lowe's didn't cut them for me. I have 3 blocks left to saw because the machine couldn't cut that small. I tried tonight to hand saw them. Let's just say it was MUCH harder than I thought to saw wood.

The turtle was Teresa's favorite. Mine, too.

Oh, and I got the tutorial here.