Dayton-nesses

 Our first trip to the Botanical Gardens here (the kids' display was farm themed) thanks to some new friends who told us how awesome it is. Jaydon is sitting in front of one version of the "Agave" plant...we've been grateful for that little guy during Jyson's hiatus from sugar

 Our trip to the temple (thanks to friends who had points for 2 free hotel rooms it made for a much less stressful trip--minus the all-six-of-us-trying-to-sleep-in-one-room-thing :) It was pretty durn awesome to see the stares we encountered at the super-delux breakfast when Tony & I brought all 7 children down to eat (9 & under).

 Ah, Ikea, how we I love thee, especially when there's a cute little girl pushing the baby out front, but refuses to let go of her sippy despite how difficult it makes it...gotta have priorities

Ari-isms

 Changing Tony's bum. Hee hee.

Cage 'em up--the boys' solution to keep Rhett 'safe' from Ari whilst in the bouncer. 

Catching up...and some paper scripture fish...

 i luv these socks. they came from korea from a very special english-speaker. sad to say, those holes are increasing in size. good bye, dear ones. i know, it's a lot of luv for a pair of socks.

sleeping baby bum in the air-- {capital} LUV! 

 February trick

 under the stroller...she got stuck.

 pirate {aka spinach smoothie} teeth

 Jyson's Sunday creative activity-turned-lesson--fishing for scripture fragments

 The blue & Gold...and the cake that goes along with it: no sugar, dairy, gluten/wheat, or eggs. What WAS in it, you ask? Many first-time ingredients...sorghum flour, chia seeds, yeah...pretty good actually (Jyson is on an experimental diet to see if will help with his illness-induced asthma)

 The big blur of awards (our pictures of awards always seem to have some serious issues)...

8 months (recorded at 8 1/2)

-Crawler extraordinaire
-starting to pull up to things, but very shakily, still at peril to himself
-Has started turning his head w/ a big grin on his face to find Daddy the moment he hears his voice!
-Loves EVERYONE & is so easily entertained (faces, one toy, a crumb off the floor)!
-When he gets tired he just stares & won't smile...otherwise he pretty much smiles constantly!
-His little freckle/birthmark has faded a ton (you can barely see it in the top picture right along his crooked-I-need-another-haircut-hairline)
-His finger pincers are way too adept at picking up whatever looks interesting off the floor
-2 bottom teeth are very present to use on his ever-increasing array of victuals (unfortunately we must use loads o' prune juice to keep his body going healthy & strong)
-Has almost NEVER cried while in the car...he absolutely loves it & until a couple of weeks ago would just go to sleep instantly. *I might add that this is a first for us, & polar opposite from little missy
-Maybe it's me but these last two kiddos are sure giving me a run for my sleep (Ari is good now, but wow, it's taken 2 years for me to come to the conclusion that she just has more need of us at night--though she does sleep through the majority of the time & still takes fantastic 2-3 1/2 hr naps)! He goes to sleep at 6:30 or 7:00pm (sometimes earlier!) & has broken the 2am habit, but can't quite kick the 3/4am thing. He will fuss (with us going in, standing by him, doing brief touches or pick-ups until he falls back asleep on his own) for up to 3 hours!! I almost always feed him at 6am & then he goes back to sleep until 8:30/9ish. He naps during the day around 10:30 & 2ish, but is such a happy guy it's been harder for me to make his morning nap an absolute priority (like I HAD to do with missy-moo)...maybe that's my problem with the night-thing though...
-He's had one mini haircut, & his hair has some wave in it!
-Stood up in his crib for the first time a week ago
-Will babble "ba ba ba ba" at Ari & she will do it back to get him to do it