9 Months Old

I couldn't help myself. This series of pictures was just too funny. As you can see our little man is on the move. He doesn't sit still for long these days. Well, he never really sat still, but now he's into everything. I can't believe that he is already 9 months old. The time sure flies. At 9 months Cormac:

~ sleeps through the night about half the time!! (He is still likely to be an only child though. I am too dependent on my sleep to do this again.)
~ loves to sing and yell and scream and just make noise.
~ enjoys banging his head on everything. The other day he was sitting on the ground in front of the couch and kept banging his head over and over and over again against the couch cushion. He hurts himself all the time doing this. Crazy kid.
~ is fascinated by the sound of him hitting various surfaces.
~ smiles when I walk into a room. Oh that just melts my heart and makes being a mom so awesome.
~ loves his daddy. He really lights up when Ammon gets home.
~ is starting to be shy around others. I love it because he snuggles up close to me. Anything for those snuggles.
~ is so strong. He can almost do a chin up!
~ crawls and pulls himself up on everything.
~ is learning to cruise along the furniture and up and down on Mom and Dad. His favorite is pulling himself up by Ammon's leg hair! I'm so glad I shave.
~ our big boy is now 25 lbs! Time for a new car seat. He is also 29 inches long. Tall kid, but mostly heavy.
~ loves to feed himself, he's a fan of finger food.
~ is not very patient. He gets that from his mother.
~ has a curious streak, he's into everything.
~ is very smart. When I give him water from a straw he has figured out that if he blows instead of sucks it will shoot out the end.
~ still loves to spit.
~ likes to be tickled.
~ loves to laugh.

What a boy. He makes me happy. I'm so glad I have him.

Private

I'm thrilled about the attention my new blog Mirror Health is getting, but I'm a bit nervous about our privacy here. So I have decided that we are going to take the blog private again. If you would like to continue reading send me an email to melanee.dahl@yahoo.com with your email or leave me a comment with your email and I'll make sure you get added.

Kitchen Remodel - Stage One

Did you hear the angels singing Friday around 7:00 pm Mountain Standard Time? The chorus was beautiful. Here's why there was so much rejoicing.

This is what our kitchen looked like the day we moved in. Nice right. It was good of them to clean up for us.

Before:

Current:

So we've been busy bees. I finally refinished my cabinets. I also ripped down the ugly back splash and painted. We replaced the stove and the dishwasher. We ripped down the mess that was above the ceiling. I'm so thrilled with how it is turning out.

We still have the top of the cabinets to finish and the ceiling. We are hoping to get working on that in the next few weeks, but we'll see. Eventually we are going to put handles on all the cabinets. Ammon is going to make me a beautiful concrete counter top that will be a shiny black. We also want to replace the floor, but we haven't decided what finish we are going to do there yet. It will be amazing though.

It has been so nice to have a fully functioning kitchen. It is really amazing. Although I find that I often forget to close the cabinets doors. We went a long time without them.

The Amazing Ammon

Today is my handsome husband's birthday and I would be remiss if I did not sing his praises. I could fill volumes with praising my husband, but since the magic number today is 27 I think I'll give you that many facts about Ammon in no particular order.

1. Ammon is kind.
2. He is so incredibly handsome and good looking.
3. I have never met someone more intelligent.
4. He is an amazing father. This picture says it all:

5. Ammon loves to build things.
6. He also loves to invent.
7. Ammon has an incredible sense of humor.
8. He is a natural leader.
9. This boy can jump! Did you know that his PR is 6'11"? That's 5 inches over his own head.
10. Tall. Ammon is tall.
11. Have you seen Ammon smile? He has an infectious smile.
12. Ammon will not rest until he has figured out the best way to make something work.
13. I love having a handy husband. Ammon can fix anything. If he doesn't know how to fix it he will figure it out.
14. Ammon has the best laugh.
15. I have never ever met anyone who didn't like Ammon.
16. It is impossible to fight with Ammon.
17. There is no one on Earth that possesses the patience that Ammon has.
18. Ammon enjoys playing basketball and he is very good at it.
19. This guy possesses many talents from being capable on a horse to being a skilled writer.
20. Ammon is a good brother and son.
21. Ammon has an incredible testimony.
22. There is a certain love for adventure that Ammon has that is so attractive.
23. Despite how incredible Ammon is he is incredibly humble.
24. Ammon is dedicated.
25. He makes me happy. Ammon makes me feel beautiful and intelligent. He makes me want to be a better person.
26. Ammon is so much fun.

27. And he is adored by both Cormac and me.

Shine on me

When Cormac was still in my belly I knew I was in trouble. He moved so much all the time. That suspicion has only been confirmed as we've gone along. Now he's on the move. He crawls everywhere, but that's not good enough for Cormac, he has to try to walk as well. He is pulling himself up on everything. And now he has his first black eye.

Notice the bruise under the eye. He also has a mark on his nose that I'm not sure where it came from. Then this morning he hit his cheek on the bookshelf to complete the look. I'm in trouble. But this is one tough kid. He didn't cry about his cheek and only cried for about a minute with his eye. He is rough and tumble, that's for sure.

He sure is cute. What's a mom to do? I really do try to keep him safe. I guess I'll just have to accept that this one is always going to be a bit bruised. When you play like Cormac you're bound to get some bumps. I just don't know if I'm ready for that. Lucky for me he's tough. Here we go...

Alligator Tears

My grandma with her brand new son, Leonard.

I remember how sad I was when Cormac started crying actual tears. It's one thing to have a baby crying. It's another thing entirely to have tears. I told Cormac how sad I was to see his alligator tears. I'd been calling them that for a few days when Ammon finally asked me why I called them alligator tears. I stopped for a minute to think. I couldn't come up with a reason other than that is what my mom used to call them.

The next time my mom was visiting I asked her why she called our tears alligator tears when we were growing up. Her answer? Her mom used to call them that.

Dorothy Lister Wilson

My grandma passed away a few years ago. I miss her. I've been missing her a lot lately Maybe it's because every time I walk through my house I see her beautiful table and chairs (thank you so much Aunt Harriet for giving us these).

Maybe it's because becoming a mom has made me think more about the moms that went before me.

Dorothy hugging her oldest, Harriet.

Maybe it's because I did her life story and there were so many unanswered questions. Maybe it's because I've been cleaning out my computer lately and backing up old files, many of which are pictures from her life. I don't know what it is, but either way, I really do miss her lately.

Dorothy and Jesse Wilson on their wedding day.

My grandma was an amazing woman. She is a legend in my family for her work ethic. It is common knowledge that no can pluck a chicken, shuck corn, or peel a potato as fast as my grandma could. She was handed a lot to deal with in her life and she did it so well. I admire her for the life she lived. I hope to be the kind of woman she was.

Me, Christie (my mom), Nick (my brother), Sera (my sister), and Dorothy (my grandma) in Hawaii.

So, I don't know why I'm missing my grandma so much at this particular junction in my life, but I am. It's good to know that we will see our loved ones again. I know when I see my grandma I'm going to make sure to ask her why she called them alligator tears.

Silverware and Kitchen Bliss

A momentous thing happened this week in the Dahl House. We finally have a silverware drawer. Now this may not seem a big thing to any of you, but we moved in back in October and have been without one since that time. Instead we had to walk all the way back into the pantry to get our goods. But not anymore. Behold:

I'm so excited to have it done. I'm still working on the doors for the cabinets, but the remodel is coming along nicely. Here is just a quick teaser. I hope to have more to show soon.

Busy

We have all been super super busy around here. Our kitchen is still in the works of being remodeled, as is our bathroom. Our yard needs mowed...again... Work is keeping us all rather busy. Even Cormac has been a busy bee. He officially has 4 teeth now. He broke the top two yesterday. Not only that, but the little one has officially started a traditional crawl as of yesterday. He gets around just fine by throwing his body in all different ways. But yesterday he finally figured out how to move in the way we often think babies should. So, here we go. As if I wasn't busy enough, now this boy can really move and my life just took on a whole new dynamic. Bring it on.

The many faces of Cormac

I couldn't help myself. He's just so cute. That and I'm avoiding getting to work. This is my first movie I've ever made and there are mistakes, so you movie buffs go easy on me please.

This is especially for you Grandpa G since you don't see much of our boy. It's a little long. I got carried away. But if you make it to the end there's a special treat. You'll get to see those pearly whites. Enjoy!

Mirror Health

I would like to tell you all about a new project I'm working on. I hesitated to share it with the world. My original intent was to only share this new project with strangers, but I felt that in the end that wasn't really what I wanted. I have started a new blog called Mirror Health. This is a blog all about my personal journey to learn to accept and love myself where I am at while trying to achieve health and wellness for myself and my family.

It really is no secret that I have always had low self esteem and never thought too highly of my body. Then, as you all probably know, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. The pain I sometimes have is terrible. But I have learned that by living healthy and well I can usually cope with the pain. Sometimes I would rather be lazy though and not live healthy. This blog is an attempt to move past that laziness and to document my journey along the way.

As part of this whole journey I have decided that I want to start teaching yoga again. So, I am going to be offering a free yoga class in the park. This class will be held on the border of Orem and Lindon, UT. I hope that many of you locals will make your way there. I am really looking forward to sharing something that I love with others. The class is open to all levels and age groups. Children are encouraged to attend or to just come and play while their parents participate. I hope it will be a rewarding experience for all of us.

Oh, and did I mention it is free? That's right, this is going to be a FREE class.

Check out all the details on the new blog. I hope that maybe my journey can help someone else along their own journey while giving me the motivation (and possibly some support from readers) to follow through on my goals.