Three Months Old

As of yesterday (July 10, 2007), Ian is three months old! It is hard to believe how much time has passed, though it seems as if Ian has always been a part of our family. Here is a run-down of what it is like to be Ian at three months.

Height: 24"
Weight: 16 lbs, 1 oz. (97 percentile!)
Eye Color: Blue

Favorite past-times: Drooling profusely, chewing on Mommy's shoulder, smiling at anyone, singing Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree (or listening to mommy sing it, rather, and watching her hands), chewing on Daddy's thumb during dinner time, looking at and talking to the ceiling fans (especially the living room fan) working arms out of a swaddled blanket, eating, laughing, babbling to Mom and Dad, ferociously "gumming" burp cloths and blankets, taking baths in the ducky tub, getting diaper changed (seriously--he gets very excited), being held facing outward, doing crunches (we think in preparation of sitting up) and definitely not sleeping during the daytime.

Ian still insists on being swaddled at naptimes and bedtimes, though he has obviously outgrown even his biggest blankets.

Blue Bell Ice Cream

It didn't take more than a few days in Texas for Scott and I to become acquainted with the greatest feature of the state-- Blue Bell ice cream. We heard about it our first Sunday here, and soon did enough "research" to agree that it is not only the best ice cream on the planet, but also the best edible invention there ever was. And as far was we can tell, it is only sold in Texas. (Don't worry folks: if you come and visit, we promise to have a stock to sample from. Or, it is available for shipping around the country on dry ice.)

The birthplace of Blue Bell ice cream is in Brenham, Texas, a little country town about an hour and a half from our home. And they give daily tours of the factory, with complimentary scoops of ice cream at the conclusion of the tour. What a delightful way to pay homage to the best ice cream on the planet.

So when Allison said she wanted to meet up with her buddy Jenn, who lives in Austin, Texas, I was delighted to realize that half-way between the two was Brenham, Texas. So off we went last Friday, to Brenham.

Sadly, over 945 other people decided to go to Brenham that day too. So the tours filled up, and there was no room for us. Even after explaining to Guest Services that we had driven almost two hours to get there (because apparently everybody does) and then pleading on behalf of our out-of-state guest, there was still no room for us. Oh well. They gave us paper hats, and pointed us to a fabulous sandwich shop, instead. And "Must be Heaven", the sandwich and pie shop, was indeed that good.

And when we returned home, 5 half-gallons of Blue Bell ice cream were waiting for us in the freezer anyway.

PS: The factory doesn't look anything like the above photo, which is posted on the Blue Bell Web site. It looks remarkably like every other modern factory, but they still manage to make extraordinary ice cream.

Blueberry Pickin'

Monday morning, we went down to Moorhead blueberry patch. We picked as fast as we could before it got too hot, and Allison sure picked 'em clean! (she picked three times as many as I did.) We gathered 2.5 lbs. of berries in just under 30 minutes, and they are delicious!A few weeks ago, Ian and I went with some friends from the ward, and came home with almost 7 lbs. of blueberries! (I had some help that time too : ) Blueberry season ends this week, but we look forward to going again next year. We plan to catch peach and blackberry picking next spring as well!

Adventures with Al

Last week my sister Allison visited from California. She is so fun to hang out with, and it was great to get out on some small adventures during the day, with some help with Ian. And her visit probably temporarily raised the population of vegetarians in Texas to ONE. It was so nice of her hubby to let me borrow her for the week!


Allison went on a walk around the neighborhood one evening while talking to her husband Jason on the phone. She found a new friend on the sidewalk along the way. It was an interesting frog, but I wasn't as eager to get as cuddly with it as she was. But we were glad she brought it home to show us!Ian thought the frog was fascinating!

The frog had the bulgiest eyes I have ever seen.