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.

My Baby Girl Turned 5!!

How did this happen? I know all mothers say that when their children turn a year older, but seriously, turning 5 seems like a big milestone. She is so grown up now. I am so thankful for this ray of sunshine girly in my life. She is such an angel. She puts up with so much from her crazy, hyperactive brother, and still loves him more than ever. She usually always does what I ask her to do, with minimal complaining. She also never throws fits, and is so easy to entertain. We have decided to keep her back from Kindergarten, even though she is officially old enough to go this year. I just can't bear to part with her yet. Every day I see her maturing, and coming into her own. Thank you so much, girly girl, for coming into our lives, and making it so easy to be your mom!! We love you so much!

Blowing out 5 candles.

Because our life is still a little hectic with a newborn, I opted for a very low-key, small birthday party. Tay wanted a costume/Halloween party, but, it turned out to be just a fun girly party. The girls came dressed as princesses, and Taylee was "Mouseketeer Barbie." We had her 2 cousins, little friend, McKay, and one friend, from church, Kate. I would say, I loved having just a few kids. It was so easy to control, and they mainly just played together in the playroom. I went and picked up my sister from Tacoma the day before the party so she could help me get ready. She was a life saver, and I probably would have gone crazy without her. Thanks a lot, Nat. What am I going to do without you? You better enjoy having her around Bryan, and Holly, because she Awesome!!

All the kids singing Happy Birthday

A very happy, purple mouth. She loved her cake.

The present frenzy begins

It turned out to be a Barbie mania. I think everyone knows her well enough, because she LOVES Barbies. Her and Rohne have been playing with them non-stop.

Our good friend, Lori, and her very handsome son, Kai.

Monique and Collin just hanging out.

Cute Cute Cute Cute Parker. Isn't he 2 cute?

The men passed the time playing Madden on the X-Box

We played "Pin the mask on the Barbie", and here's Tay getting ready

Natali's wonderful Barbie drawing. She's very talented, isn't she?

The kids got to make their own masks to wear home, too.

Taylee's requested purple and pink bat cake. Sharon, and Natali did most of it, while I was busy with the baby, and it turned out great.

What post would be complete without a picture of our little guy? Here he is screaming for me to pick him up, while I was trying to get him to entertain himself in the crib. He loves his fists, and when I swaddle him, he promptly wiggles his arms out. He still wants held all the time, and doesn't let me get much done around here.

My Handsome Boys

I've taken some cute pictures of my boys lately, and thought you would all like to tell me just how cute they are!!

Tristan is getting to be such a pro at smiling, AND sticking out his tongue. Sometimes he is way too precious that I wanna just squish him, and eat him up!!! I mean, really, couldn't you?

Aunt Natali gave Rohnie a haircut. This is the shortest he has ever had it. She did a great job. Boy, we will miss her when she's gone!! Rohne is getting taller, and leaner every day. Jake is a little sad that he's losing some of his bulk, but, it will probably come back someday.

Just another smiling pic. Check out that "to-die-for" dimple on his left cheek! I could kiss it all day long.

My 2 boys. Rohne does like to hold the baby occasionally. Even if it's just for a short time, we take full advantage. They'll be playing and wrestling together before we know it!

Starting to Smile

A little one.

It's so hard to capture those first smiles on camera, but, I managed to catch a glimpse of it this morning. Tristan's favorite person to smile at is his sister. I tried to get his cooing on camera too, but, he just liked to stare at the light.

This is Tristan, and his cousin, Collin. They are 3 months apart. Collin is a jolly, chubby, boy. They will be great friends someday.

A Few Recent Pics

So, I have a very short moment to actually blog. I will be heading to Relief Society in a minute to play the piano, my first time back since the baby. I am still waiting to take the baby, and the older kids to primary. If you don't already know, I am a major germ-o-phobe. The Pediatrician told me to wait at least 2 months. And, I fully plan on adhering to that. But, here a few recent pictures of our family. We have been having a very low key last month of the summer. I'm glad we had some fun before the baby came, because we don't do much now. Thanks for all the supportive comments on my last post. Good to know that adjusting to another baby wasn't a breeze for everyone.

Tristan had his 1 month check-up on Friday. He has grown to a whoppin' 12 pounds 4 oz., and 22 1/4 inches long. That being said, he is in the 95% for weight, and 75% for height. He is doing great, and growing like a weed. After all the worries during this pregnancy, I am so thankful for a healthy, CHUBBY baby!
Dad, and the kids. Pretty cute.

You gotta post a naked bath photo sometime right? Isn't he getting to be so handsome?

Tay, being silly before bedtime. She loves all of her stuffed toys to sleep with.

Here's Rohne with his itchy, allergy eyes. He is just miserable this summer every time he goes outside. This picture is after playing with Grandpa in the yard. Thank goodness for Benadryl!