Otto's First Experience with Rice Cereal

 

We experimented with rice cereal this past Sunday.  Otto is nearing five months old and is a supported sitter, so we thought we would give it a try.  You can see the results for yourself.  I think this is going to take a little practice for all of us.

Happy Halloween!

October has come and gone quickly, and Halloween is finally upon us.  In celebration of this happy holiday we attended a ward Halloween party on Friday dressed as a Celtic family.  The best part of the whole ensemble: Tyson and Otto got  to wear skirts.  The party was a blast, and our family won third place for best adult costumes.  As booty, we carted home our candy prizes, all of the cupcakes we had contributed to the party (there was way too much food), Tyson's own personal stock of donuts, and a pumpkin which is currently in the oven in preparation for our Sunday night dinner.

Ah, the Smell of Fall!

Fall has finally come to Rexburg, Idaho and we are loving it.  Though Tyson and Otto don't appreciate the open windows, I love the fresh, crisp smell of autumn in the air, not to mention the cooler temperatures.  Tyson and I are still plugging along at school and Otto showing his support.  He helps me type my papers.  Well, he drools on my knee as I bounce him with my left hand and type with my right.  He tries though.  I can't wait until I can dedicate my entire day to him instead of worrying about homework that needs to get done.  He is quite a handful, but so much fun.  Over the last few weeks he has become even more alert and smiles, giggles, and gurgles when he is in the right mood.  He is also such a blessing at bedtime.  He has been sleeping through the night consistently for a few weeks now.  I just put him in his crib and though he occasionally cries, generally he just talks to himself until he falls asleep.  Its adorable.

Here is another video for your entertainment.  It is more of the same thing, really, but I just can't get enough.

 

Stay posted for future Halloween pics.  Otto + Kilt = So Cute!

Otto Update

Otto finally reached the 10 lbs mark at his last doctor's appointment.  We're quite proud!  We moved him up to size one Huggies and I just cleaned out the majority of his newborn onesies.  On to the 0-3 months clothes, yay!  I am beginning to realize just how expensive this child is going to be.  Just wait till he starts wanting designer brands ;-)

He has also started to smile quite a bit more, and loves to coo and gurgle...when he is not screaming of course.  Additionally, though I hesitate to say this for fear of breeding jealous thoughts, I can't keep it to myself: he has started sleeping through the night on and off.  Generally he gets up once around 3:00-3:30, but he has just started choosing every other night or so to sleep until about 7:00 am.  It is glorious! (Knock on wood!)

Also, here is another video for your enjoyment:

Happy Little Guy!

Sorry we have not updated anything lately.  We have been getting into a new routine with school starting and having to deal with all that comes with a new year of school.  Otto is growing like a little weed and when he is awake he is super talkative.  Sorry the video is small it is from my phone while we were out driving.

Faces of Otto

First Week

Well it has been a week and life is great.  Otto's bilirubin count got a little high so they sent us home with a Bili-blanket to help out. 

Otto Loves his swing he got from Aunt Kristi and Uncle Ben.

After 48 hours we were able to take him off it and are waiting for Monday to find out if he can continue to bring it down on his own.  Grandma and Grandpa Robinson have been such a great help this week.

 

They have been helping get Julie and Otto to the doctor when Tyson had to get to work.  They have also been cooking meals for us that has been amazing.  Otto was up most of last night and Julie has been in need of major sleep, Tyson and Grandma were able to entertain Otto to help Julie out.

Oma and Opa were able to come on Tuesday evening and spend a little time with Otto.  It was great to see them and have then join us for dinner.

More pictures as promised.

Our Baby Boy

Happy Day! Baby is here and doing well.  Mom is also doing well.  Both are now just getting some rest.  Otto Johan Henri was born at 1:31PM, weighing 6 Lbs 13 oz and measuring 18 inches long.  More post to come.

Otto's Nursery

Countdown...10, 9,8,7,6......

The long wait is finally coming to an end.  Ten more days until Otto arrives and the Tyson and Julie Steenstra Toussaint Family makes the leap to full-fledged family status.  We're so excited and can't wait to post pictures, so be on the lookout.

Thus far, everything is going well with mom and baby.  There are no anticipated complications and Otto is growing right on schedule.  The midwife anticipates that he will arrive fairly near his due date (July 26th), and that he shouldn't exceed 7.5 lbs.  (Keep your fingers crossed!)  If mom had her way, though, Otto would have been here five minutes ago, happy, healthy, and weighing something  more like 6 lbs.  We shall see.  Actually, we'd like to start a poll, a competition of sorts.  Leave a comment and give us your estimate on when you think Otto will arrive, and how much he will weigh.  Sorry, though, no grand prizes.  Just the satisfaction of knowing you were right...but then, isn't that better anyway?  Ok, maybe not...we'll put some thought into some kind of prize...  maybe the sought after privilege of picking a third middle name for Otto: Otto Johan Henri ------ Steenstra Toussaint.  Mmmmm, unlikely, but we'll think of something.

Anyway, other than Otto's impending arrival, there hasn't been too  much of interest to speak of.  Julie has three more days of classes and can barely contain her excitement, and Tyson is still plugging along at Home Depot.  Prized employee though they swear he is, management has failed to reward his hard work and dedication with any kind of real recognition.  The hours are still less than ideal and his coworkers grow more irritating by the hour.  Ah, well, perhaps something more profitable will present itself in the near future.  We are still crossing our fingers for a job with Melalucca here in Rexburg.

Well, hopefully more good news soon.  Once again, keep your eyes open for Otto updates.  Perhaps we will post a pre-Otto teaser with pictures of his nursery.

It's a boy!

We are really excited to announce that we are indeed having a little boy come July. Baby and Mom are both doing very well. The baby is growing right on schedule. Can't wait to see all the family at Dien and Michelle's wedding.

Random Post

Hello Everyone!

Yeah we know it has been a while since our last update and so this is just going to be a whole heap of random events.

So, in two weeks, we will be finding out more about the baby. Yeah we are going to find out the gender so that we can somewhat plan for the baby.

The week before Valentines day we had a little ward activity and the Elders were asked to bring cakes and that there would be prizes. Not wanting to be too cliche i went for something that nobody else would do. Having been inspired my my sister I created a Ladybug. It was a lot of work but was happy to take second in the "Peoples Choice" award.
Both Julie and I are working hard to save money for the baby and are excited to be slowly getting done with school. Julie will be done in December with her English degree, We don't know what she is going to do with it just yet. I am still working at the Electrical Engineer degree and should be done Dec' 2011 (we hope).

We will post any new developments as they come. Being how Julie and I are camera shy there aren't a whole lot of post just yet but with the baby coming we will have more in the future.

It's Official!

We are excited to announce that we are indeed expecting a little addition to our family. Bean should arrive around July 26th. Julie is doing well and we are both working hard to prepare to welcome the addition into the home.