Dust, Crayon, and Dirt

What a mess! Although I never cared to know, I have experienced first hand what it is like to clean four years worth of dust build up. Not to mention the crayon and grim on all the walls. I spent a few hours this morning just on the hall way and stair case, I feel like it is the never ending job. I get done with a wall just to look back and think "It looks like it still needs to be washed!" I must admit we are making progress on the smell. In an attempt to start destinking we tore out all the carpet and padding, it has definitely helped but the scent/odor still lingers. The outside of the house is looking much better, thanks to Gage. He has done a lot of weeding and turning over dirt. Anyway, to sum it up... A week of cleaning up the house and we made it out alive, with the exception of the many "Mr. Clean Magic erasers".
On a totally different note, I got to pamper myself yesterday, I got my nails done. Charlee is in cosmetology school and needed a to practice, I was a willing volunteer. She said this was her first set... I think she did way good, Thanks Charlee.

MOAB 2008

After getting left out of the Moab tradition last year, I jumped on the chance to go this year. I'm not sure when the tradition started but, for as long as I've been around, James and Ryan (my brother in laws), Justin (friend), and Gage have gone to Moab to prove their manlihood and test the limits of their jeeps. Let me tell you, it wasn't anything like I expected. We spent three days on Moab Rim and Pritchett Canyon, two of the more challenging trails. I had a lot of fun being the passenger, as well as the photographer. I learned that Jeeps don't really need most of their parts because it seemed like any time something got broken or bent someone would say "You really don't need that anyway." The other phrase I got used to was "You're already scratching it, you might as well keep going." Anyway, we met a lot of interesting people, made a few creative repairs, the Jeep got a few dents and scratches, and it felt really weird not having to carry a diaper bag everywhere we went (Trevin stayed with Sugar). It's hard to describe all the fun and excitement in words and the pictures don't really do it justice, but we had fun and I can't wait to go again.

YUM!

Well, Trevin just had his four month appointment and every thing checked out! Just in case you're wondering he weighed just over 16 pounds (72%) and was 25 inches long (84%). The doctor was amazed when we told him how much Trevin eats, and guess what... He encouraged us to start Rice cereal. What an experience! For the first couple times I'm positive more ended up on his face than in his mouth but, you know what they say, third time's the charm. This morning he definitely caught on and loved every bite. We still ended up pretty dirty, thanks to one big spoon full of rice and one very large sneeze. (the best part: I started to laugh and that got him started too.) What an adventure. :) :)
To catch you up on some other news... We are home owners! Whoo hoo! It is so nice to have our own house and kinda scary too. I can't wait to get started on home repairs so we can move in. It was a lot of fun shopping around and picking out paint and carpet and now the hard work begins... Wish us luck!

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

I have an amazing baby that has slept through the night from day one. But, every now and then he likes to remind me how good I have it. Last night was one of those nights. We put him to bed at about 9:30pm and by 10:30 he was up and crying. We tried everything to make him happy, bottles, diaper changes, tylenol, bouncing, pacing, cuddling... the list goes on. He finally gave in to sleep at about 4:30am and I was able to finally hit the sack too. I can't complain though, this is probably only the second time I've had to pull an all-nighter with him. Gage is such a great dad, he is probably the only guy I know that would sleep on the couch while I rock Trevin, just in case we need something. And I love him for it.
We had quite a busy day yesterday, so I'm really surprised that Trevin didn't sleep well. We played all morning on our stomachs, practiced sitting up and even standing! We went out to lunch with Sugar and Cass, to the bank and he even helped me mow the lawn. I put him in a little carrier, He loved it. I thought that the noise might scare him but, by the time we were almost done he was asleep. Gage wasn't so sure about our lawn mowing job... If it wasn't awkward enough carrying a baby between you and the lawn mower, just add in that I've never used a self-propelled law mower (which i know is supposed to make it easy, but I beg to differ). I had a hard time keeping up with the thing, you can just forget making straight lines. To make things worse Gage had adjusted the lawn mower height settings. But after going around the edges of the yard, I swear I was hitting dirt so, I adjusted the settings higher. As you can imagine the bald edges around our yard really do look funny, I'm sure our neighbors (in-laws) really enjoyed seeing that. But lets look at the upside... Gage will pry never ask me to mow the lawn! ;)
Just in case you were wondering Trevin is back to his happy, jabbering self this morning. :)

Today is Trevin's 4 month birthday. I can't believe how time flies, our life has changed in so many ways since we brought him home and it's hard to imagine what we did before we had him. We had a fun night last night, Trevin managed to fill his diaper to the point of soaking through his clothes, his blanket and his sheets. So we got him all cleaned up and decided he could spend the rest of the night in our bed. Good plan, right... WRONG. We woke up this morning to another set of wet clothes and wet sheets, for a boy so small he can sure make a lot of laundry for me. He's worth it though.
This past weekend was a fun break from the norm... Kami, Erwin and Chase came up to visit so we got to spend a lot of time with family, which I love to do. Chase is a big ball of energy and never seems to stop! He gets right into the action and loves cameras, and he has definitely got one of the cutest smiles I've ever seen. I can't wait until Trevin reaches that stage, but I'm sure it will come all too soon, so for now I'll enjoy the time I have while he is still small.

Life at the Crabtree home is GREAT! Trevin, our little tank, isn't staying very little, he has cute chubby cheeks and rubberband wrists. He weighs at least 15lbs but if your holding him for more than a few minutes it feels like alot more. He smiles and giggles all the time and loves learning to make new sounds. He is getting so active and has started rolling over, although Gage doesn't believe me, because Trevin hasn't show him yet. Life overall is good, we keep busy, we laugh everyday!
For those of you that have begged me for pics, here is a little slide show that should catch you up! Enjoy!