Sunday Salad

Yesterday I made pot roast, potatoes and gravy, and Sunday Salad for dinner. This is my ultimate comfort meal, and it tasted really really good. There was a lot of salad left over. Jake isn't a huge fan of it, and although Taylee likes it, she doesn't eat very much. Today, I finished it off. All of it. In one setting. That is 1 carton of cool whip, 1 carton of cottage cheese, one box of jello, and one can of mandarin oranges. I ate it all. And, I liked it.

I'm tired, and no matter what I do, I can't get my baby to sleep better, even during the day. I miss my sisters, and my mom. I hate my body, and these post-pregnancy pounds, especially my "Grandma Belly" (as my friend, Janell calls it). I need a hobby, but, I can't remember what I used to like to do. I need a friend. Someone else to talk to, besides my cute kids, but, don't know how to get one. So, I sit here, sick to my stomach, watching Sense & Sensibility, while my baby cries in the bouncer, and my children scream at each other upstairs in the playroom. I am counting down the hours until Jake gets home, and DWTS starts tonight. Is it baby blues, or am I just pathetic? I can't decide. . . . Thank goodness for Sunday Salad.

2 Months Old, and the Baby Blessing

My baby turned 2 months old! Time has flown by, and gone slow at the same time. I don't want him to grow up, but, I'm also looking forward to the day when I will be able to function normally again. I'm still trying to get the hang of being a good mom to my other kids, while taking care of all the needs of a newborn. Tristan had his 2 month checkup yesterday, and, besides having the sniffles, and a cough (his second cold already, can you believe it?), he was great. He is currently 14 pounds 9 oz. which puts him in the 95th percentile, and he is 23 3/4 inches long, which is the 75th percentile. He is getting bigger every day, and really starting to develop his own personality. He has a fever today, and is pretty fussy from the shots yesterday. Let's hope it passes soon. He is still waking up at least 3 times a night, but, is not too hard to get back down, as long as his tummy is full, and he has a clean diaper. We sure love having him around, and can't imagine our lives without him.


I'm a little slow in posting this, but, we also blessed him last Sunday. He wore a little outfit that had actually belonged to Jake's Uncle Chris, and my mother-in-law thinks Jake may have worn it also. We had a blessing outfit for Rohne, but, it was way too big for Tristan, and I hated to buy another one. They only wear them once, and they are so darn expensive! Thanks for finding this treasure Sharon. It looked so cute on him. My mom also made him some cute little white booties, which she whipped up in a couple hours, and overnighted them to me. Thanks Mom! Of course I didn't get many pictures. We should have done them before church, but, I forgot, and afterwards, we had everyone over for a luncheon, and I was crazy running around, and Tristan was very tired and fussy. Jake said I can always put the outfit on him again, and take pictures, but, I haven't done that yet, and, it's just not the same.

This is the only picture we got of our guests. This is Jake's best friend, Clark, his wife, Lisa, and their kids. It wouldn't have been the same without them. Jake also had Bryce, his brother, his dad, the Bishop, and good friend, Jon participate in the blessing. Jake gave such a wonderful blessing, and Tristan didn't cry at all. My other 2 screamed the whole time, and I was sure that Tristan would, but, he was good as gold. How thankful I am to have a worthy husband who holds the priesthood, and honors it.

Here's the one picture of Tristan in his outfit, with Grandma holding him. What a sweet little guy, right?

Natali took this video before she left, and of course he didn't perform very well for the camera, but, I thought that my mom and sisters would like to see him smiling and cooing a little.

"Natali, We Love You, That's all we Have to Offer. Natali, we Need You, Please don't turn us away!

So, my sister is leaving Wednesday to head back to good ol' BYU-I. I cannot begin to explain my devastation. In fact, it has consumed my whole day, and I have been crying a lot. Although it has been a crazy summer with the new baby, it has been one I will never forget, because I shared it with her. She is such a great person, and a wonderful sister. I don't know how I possibly survived without her. Why does she have to leave?

How is Taylee's hair going to get braided into her favorite Princess crown?

Yet another magnificent Natali 'do. Oh why can't I french braid?

She recently also cut Tay's hair, and it's so much easier to comb through now. She was always helping me with the kids, and cleaning my house. At first, it made me kind of nervous, and I would furiously clean before she came over, thinking she was disgusted with my clutter. Turns out, she likes to clean, and organize. I just let her do it after awhile, and enjoyed the sparkles.

We have been spent lots of quality girl time together. One of the most memorable was seeing "WICKED" last week. Although she had already seen it, she paid the big bucks, and accompanied me to Opening Night. It was soo awesome!

My kids will probably miss her just as much as I will. She is the master at inventing things to keep them occupied. They love her to death, and get so excited when I tell them she is coming over. She has been such a great help in taking them to the mall, to the park, cooking & cleaning with them, playing games, reading books, coloring, you name it. I couldn't ask for a better influence for my children. She will be such FANTASTIC mother someday.

I will miss her great smile, and fun personality. Tristan adores her, and she always quick to feed, burp, and change the dirtiest of diapers.

I think she might miss him a little bit too.

This is our most recent trip to Red Robin. We made sure to frequent the restaurant often when Nat & Bryce were around.

They are such a great couple. It was fun getting to know Bryce this summer too. We have never spent very much time around him. He sure loves her, and treats her good. I'm glad she found such a wonderful man.

I've always said that my best friends are my sisters. I feel kind of lost without them. I have not been able to make friends up here very easily, and Natali has brightened my whole life this summer. When Jake calls home, he can always tell when she is here, or is coming, because I sound so much happier.

I know you will do great in this next chapter of your life, Nat, and I'm so proud of you for taking it. Thank you for sharing the summer with us. I love you so much, and will miss you a ton!! Please come back someday.

Heads Up!

As I have mentioned before, my husband loves sports. He is not only an avid sports watcher, but, he likes to play them too. Whether it be Basketball, Softball, Golf, Football, or Volleyball, he's always involved in something. It is usually much to the dismay of his lovely wife, who is left to watch over his 3 beautiful children while he's playing, or to nurse his wounded body, or ego when he returns. He is a good athlete, but, he tends to forget that over the years, his age, and his weight, have slowed him down. I guess I forgot to remind him last night before he left, that he is not Derek Jeter. While playing First Base, he unsuccessfully attempted to catch a ball thrown by none other than an ex-Minor League pitcher, and it bounced off his glove, and hit his face. He called me while I was putting the kids to bed, to tell me he was injured. This was not alarming to me, until he said he had been hit in the face, and was going to Urgent Care to get stitches. Poor guy. This is the worst sports injury I've had to deal with since we've been married. Not to mention, that we were planning on blessing the baby on Sunday. We'll see if that still happens.

This picture is done from his cell phone, after they had cleaned it, getting ready to be stitched up. It required 13 stitches. Thank goodness it was mostly in his eyebrow, and it shouldn't be as noticeable of a scar.

This is how he looked this morning when he woke up. Still smiling, though. He even got up with the baby this morning, so, I could get an extra hour of sleep.

We removed the bandages for a minute today, to see if it would relieve the pressure, and allow him to open his eye. He can just barely begin to open it. He is icing it now, to hopefully reduce the swelling. Thank goodness for that Vicodin prescription!!

And, here's the close-up, all stitched up. Not as scarey.