Six Months Old

After the party and presents I took the monthly photos of Autumn.  Autumn is becoming quite the little person.  After the long road trip she decided she didn't like the car again.  She lasts about five minutes before fussing.  She likes big people foods, well rice cereal.  She has been to 15 states (Arizona, Utah, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan).  She now sits up unassisted really well.  She fell off the bed for the first time oops.  She started to fake cough as a means of communication.  She still loves going outside.  She is exploring much more now with her hands.  When you hold her she is very squirmy because she likes to look at things, and sometimes look at the side ways.  She grabs and holds onto toys really well.  She likes to look at other little kids.  She stopped sleeping through the night. boo.  She wears size 2 diapers and 3-6 months and 6 months clothes.

Trying avocado...not sure about it yet

Autumn's (half) Birthday

June 24th was Autumn's half birthday.  Since Autumn was born on Christmas Eve we will be celebrating her half birthday like her full birthday.  If she thinks that it is weird then we don't have to celebrate it this way.  For now... party on!  Lucky for us our dear friends the Andersons from Midwestern moved to Michigan for an internship too.  Thus we had them over for dinner, Mac N' Cheese.  Autumn didn't nap at church so she napped during her entire party!  Nora blew out the "Zero" candle for her. And the adults played a board game.

 

After the party she woke up!  She did not get any of her cake she's just admiring it.

Her gifts

A new hat, a telephone, and a ring toss thingy.

Motor City and a new job

Evan started his "big boy job" a couple days after we arrived in Michigan on June 18th.  He had two weeks of orientation and team building activities.  Autumn and I accompanied him to a Detroit Tigers major league baseball game with the other interns and significant others.  Autumn was the only kid there.  I felt like we were both out of place.  Evan didn't feel the same he thought it was fun to show off his cute kid.  The Detroit fans are very devoted to their team, but are super nice and friendly.  I saw a couple fans sporting Detroit tiger tattoos.  The people Evan will be working with also seem very friendly.

First day of work

On the bus on the way to the game...it was hot

We went to "music in the park" with one of Evan's coworkers and his family one Friday night.

First pay check!!!

First Father's Day

We got to Michigan on a Thursday and that Sunday was Father's day.  Evan's first Father's day as a dad.  I made him eggs and bacon before church and had a salmon dinner after church. It was very low key, but I cooked fish so you know it had to be a special occasion.

Autumn and Evan in the "courtyard" of our new place

New Tricks

A week or so before Autumn turned the big 6 months we gave her rice cereal.  She had been interested in big people food for a couple weeks, but I wanted to wait until we got to our new place to try it out.  She loved the rice cereal.  She couldn't get enough of it.  She kept grabbing for the spoon.  It was really fun to watch her discover something new.

Also she started this new thing where she bends her head to the side to look at things.  It poses quite a problem when you are trying to hold her, but it is so darn cute.  I wanted to make sure we had a picture of her discovering her world from the side view.

Road Trip

The short version: 5.5 days driving from Gilbert, AZ to Detroit, MI.  Stopped to see family, gave Autumn a bath in the sink at a Holiday Inn Express after a blow out, lots of stops for gas and feedings, listening to "Dr. Jones" and "Upside Down" to calm Autumn down and one 16 foot Budget truck pulling one of our cars.

The long version:  

LEG ONE: We left AZ Saturday afternoon and arrived in Albuquerque at Aunt Meagan and Uncle Justin's place early Sunday morning.  The hills were killer for Evan and the Budget truck, but Autumn took a very long nap in the car and we did just fine in the car.

LEG TWO ABQ to Cheyenne:  Autumn pooped.  ALL OVER.  We stopped to feed her in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn Express and ended up bathing her in the sink of a public-ish restroom in the hotel.  It was gross.  She was also awake a lot of this leg.  She was soothed by Aqua's "Dr. Jones" and "Barbie Girl" as well as "Upside Down" by A*Teens  basically I kept it on repeat until she fell asleep then I turned on my book on tape.

Melted chocolate chips anyone?

a toy I discovered that kept Autumn's attention for a while and even if she dropped it she could still play with it using her feet

Why hello Uncle Patrick

On a walk with Grandpa

practicing good oral hygiene

After a full day of rest with Grandpa Norby and uncle Patrick it was time to hit the road again (Grandma and Cameron flew back to Arizona to help Sara after she had her baby)

Leg Three Cheyenne to Omaha: at a gas station taking a break

LEG FOUR Omaha to Indiana:  It took awhile to get on the road this day because I insisted we go to Winter Quarter's, Nebraska and check out the church history site.  However it was very difficult to find a place to park a 16 foot moving truck with a car hitch that can't reverse, so we drove around the little city for almost 30 minutes.

The temple in the background...Angel Moroni is above Autumn's head.

Autumn sitting in front of a replica Salt Lake Temple at the Winter Quarter's visitor's center

playing dress up

corn...I was disappointed at how short it was

cool ride at the hotel in Indiana

Leg FIVE Indiana to Detroit:  This should have been our shortest leg.  Autumn was doing well and we were close to our new home.  After we stopped for lunch there was an accident involving a semi-truck and they closed the freeway.  It took us 90 plus minutes to get to the next exit.  We finally made it to our new place after dropping off the tow dolly and signed our lease.

We stopped at too many McDonalds for lunches, breakfasts, and dinners.

Home sweet Home