Here's Sam sitting on top of the new toy chest that Dan built. He can sit up now for about 30 seconds before he tips over. Dan was waiting in the wings to catch him.

After church yesterday we wanted to go on a walk, but it was SO freezing (so freezing meaning like 48 degrees)! So here's how we bundled Sammy up:

Last night we got together with Dan's old roommate Adam and his cute wife Kacie. They were in town visiting her family. They have an adorable little boy who's just 3 months younger. It was so fun to see them and their little guy! I'm sad I didn't get any pictures with Kacie!

Last night we celebrated Christmas since we're leaving TOMORROW for my mother land. (YAY!!!) Sam got some great gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Durst.

We forgot to take pictures of each other with our presents. Maybe I'll take some today. Maybe not.

Santa Comes to Town.

Saturday was the church Christmas party. I was on the activities committee so I was at church a lot of the day. While I was gone, Dan made Sam a toy chest using some of his new tools. It's nice. He did a great job.

Santa came to the party and Sam got to say hello. Some babies cried out in fear. Sam couldn't care less. I was kind of hoping that Sam would cry - it's better for pictures. But he kind of just sat there and looked around. I guess after dealing with these guys:

Santa's no big deal.

(Sidenote: The planned Santa bailed at the last minute so the part of Santa was played by a 16 year-old boy.)

I made a cool cupcake Christmas tree but I forgot to take a picture. So here's a picture of me and Sam. He got pretty tired.

Pants are overrated.

Sam has been doing this thing lately where he opens and closes his mouth but nothing comes out - no sound, no food, no barf. It's just cute.

A Haiku

Titled "Sam"

Used to poop weekly.
Now it has changed to daily.
Tragic occurrence.

*snap* *snap*

The BRAINWAVE

Much like my obssession with bongo drums, Dan has been begging for a Brainwave (a head massager). Back when we lived in Provo from 2004-2005, Dan's boss got a Brainwave. He let Dan use it and ever since, Dan has been asking for one at each birthday and Christmas. So, for his birthday (which was Dec. 6) I scoured the web for it. The only place I found that had a Brainwave sold it for $30! $30?? That's insane. I wasn't going to spend that much for a battery-powered head scratcher. Not to mention, I had a $50 birthday limit. So I looked for alternatives. Finally I found something on ebay called the Ting Ting Uno. It looked basically identical so I snatched it up for a fraction of the price. I didn't notice until after I had already bought it that I had gotten it from an adult store! YIKES!

I gave it to Dan on Saturday and he immediately put the batteries in and went to town.

Although it's not the Brainwave, I think the Ting Ting Uno worked out well in the end.

We started off Dan's birthday celebration by going to Red Robin on Friday night so that Dan could redeem his "Free Gourmet Burger" coupon. It was really good. Minus the random bits of paper I found in my chocolate shake. Nasty.

Saturday we went to the temple, worked out, Dan took a nap, and we watched ELF. I love ELF. Probably even more than my dad hates it. He can't even stand to watch it. I think it's hilarious and it gets me in the Christmas spirit.

Here's pic of Dan with his spoils.

Happy birthday, Dan! We love you!

6-Month Stats

Weight: 75th percentile
Height: 50th percentile
Head size: 95th percentile

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

This year we got to spend Thanksgiving with Dan's brother and his wife in Austin, Texas. Dan's parents also flew down from Washington so it was a big party. Thanks Adam and Yinelli for letting us crash at your place for a few days! Yinelli made an awesome turkey. I didn't get any pictures. Dan, however, got a mean shot of our niece chowing down on a turkey leg.

It reminded us of this guy we saw at the TexRenFest.Or maybe this guy:

Sam got a little too much tryptophan in his system...

We played Settlers (which I used to hate but has grown on me) and some super intense Monopoly. I did not win either game. No surprise there! I stink at strategic games.

The sunset on Thanksgiving was absolutely gorgeous.

On Friday, we drove back home with Dan's parents in tow so that they could experience the Houston Space Center and see some of NASA. We took a tour to mission control. It was pretty neat to see and also hard to believe that they sent people to the moon with such basic equipment. Sam did great the whole weekend! He is a dream baby.

All in all, our Thanksgiving was wonderful. I love to spend time with Dan. Thanks to his parents for coming to visit!

BABY FOOD

I'm guessing a lot of you already do this, but no one really talked to me about it, so I thought I'd share it with you other new moms and soon-to-be moms out there. Lately I've been into making Sam's baby food. So far I've made it out of carrots, green beans, apples, and sweet potatoes. It's really easy, doesn't take very much time, and saves money!

Today I took two yams (about $1.50) and pureed them with some milk and poured it into an ice cube tray. It filled the whole thing - 16 cubes worth. So that will feed Sam 16 times! A thing of Gerber baby food that will last 4 meals costs about $1 I think so I'm saving a lot!

A site that I've found useful is http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/.

Also, today Sam is 6 months old! I can't believe it. It's gone by so fast. He's such a fun little guy.

TRIP TO UTAH

You know that really annoying baby on your flight who screamed and fussed the entire time and made you want to throw yourself out the window? Yep, that was Sam. Sorry about that. I tried everything but he was so cranky! The flight back to Texas was right during his nap and he only sleeps well in his crib so it was a recipe for disaster. Oh, well. The rest of the trip was awesome!

Wednesday I arrived in Utah and met up with my mom to head down to Provo. We got to see my sister for a little bit and then I left to meet up with my old roommates. I love these girls! It had been a long time since I'd seen them, but whenever we get together, we have so much fun! Thanks to Britt for picking up the grub and to Julie for hosting!

Thursday we went to BYU so that Sam could meet his Aunt Erin. He loved her and it was nice to see her. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of the two of them together! After visiting campus, I went to one of those beauty schools to get my hair cut while Mom watched Sam. It took almost 2 hours! Holy cow. She did a good job though and it was super cheap. After grabbing some lunch and an incredibly thick and delightful chocolate shake, we went to visit my grandparents. Grandpa was so cute with Sam trying to get him to smile and play with him. Sam liked him, too.

We met up with Candice and Craig for dinner and then Mom spoiled me by getting me some clothes. Thanks, Mom!!!

Friday was the big day for my cute cousin. The ceremony was really nice and she looked beautiful! They make a great couple. I got to see many of my relatives and they met Sam for the first time. When I got home, Dan greeted me with beautiful flowers. It was a great trip!

PROJECTS

I've made a few projects since we got here. This first one is footprints from when Sam was 10 weeks and handprints from when he was 20 weeks. I couldn't do his handprints at 10 weeks because he always kept his hands clenched.

This second one is a shadow box with the hat the hospital gave him, a polaroid the hospital took, the card that went in his cart thing, and one of the bracelets he had to wear. All of these things say "Boy Kristen Durst" because we didn't know what his name would be yet. Just thought I'd share!