Ready for Our Closeups

My brother, Zach, will soon be leaving us for two years. My mom decided she wanted to get family pictures done before he goes. So on Saturday we all (minus Craig (my sister's husband) - he was MIA) braved the cold and put on our happy faces for some family photo fun. They turned out great! I am so happy with all the photos, but here are some of my favorites:

My most favorite people in the world.

 

Brothers and Sisters

The Boys

The Girls

The Kiddos

I love my family!

Looking through the pictures has made me stop and contemplate how much I love these people. I truly believe I have the greatest family in the world. We're slightly nutty, but we have such a good time when we are together. There's nothing that compares to family - it is the one group where I feel completely comfortable and where I am completely myself.  My life is so blessed and I am so grateful for each and every one of them. 

Stinker

Guess who was a stinker last night? Jack - that's who! He did not want to sleep. I laid him down around 9:00 last night and he didn't settle down until around 10:30. He was more interested in kicking his feet like crazy and jabbering to himself. Next we had a spout around 1:00 in the morning that took about another hour and a half to settle down from.  It didn't seem like there was anything wrong with him other than he just didn't want to sleep. And finally at 7:00 this morning he woke up all mad and impatient. We tried getting him to go back to sleep but he wouldn't have it. He was breaking free from his swaddle so we unwrapped him all the way to find this:

He had kicked open all the buttons on his sleeper. No wonder he was upset. He's got quite the kick going for a three-month-old. Don't you love his face in these pictures? It's like he's saying, "Seriously?! You're going to take my picture when I am this angry?! And Seriously?! You're going to lay me down while you go take a potty break?!"

The little stinkpot finally calmed down enough to eat some breakfast. I changed his diaper and got him dressed for the day, then let him watch TV on his dino while I got my own breakfast. We had some fun playing together, and then he decided to have a good blow-out. Perfect. Changed his diaper again and got him dressed for the day again. At this point, honey badger decided he was ready for his morning nap and zonked out on momma's lap. And momma couldn't be happier about that.

Precious right?! But don't let that sweet face fool you. My gut tells me he'll be up in 20 minutes, ready for another round. It's only 9:00 in the morning - it should be an interesting day.

Date Night, Birthday, and Football = A Super Weekend

Birthdays are always more fun when they fall on Saturday. Such was the case this year with Brandt's 26th Birthday. We had a good time celebrating the entire weekend. On Friday afternoon, Jack went to his first official babysitter while mom and dad caught a movie. We saw "War Horse" (really good by the way) and Brandt taught me the difference between infantry and cavalry. It was fun going on a date just the two of us, but I did miss my little guy. I had worked that morning, so I had been away from him almost all day. I think Jack couldn't have cared less - he had a great time hanging out with the Riedles. And other than pooping on Amber and her couch, he was a good boy. Here are some pics from Jack's night at the sitters:

Saturday was a fun day with just the three of us. Our day started with breakfast in bed for Brandt. Later we made cookie bars and Brandt was able to blow out all the candles with just one blow - I hope he wished for something good! Brandt's main present this year was "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy" on Blu-ray. We may not have a Blu-ray player yet, or a fancy schmancy TV, but hey, one thing at a time right?! :) We finished the day with dinner at Olive Garden and our waitress sent us home with plenty of yummy breadsticks.

Here are a couple of pics from Sunday. There was nothing incredibly amazing about this day, other than it just reminded me of how much I love the weekend. I love that work is suspended for a couple of days and that usually there is nothing more important for me to do than rest and hang out with my boys.

I LOVE my boys!

One of Jack's new favorite things to do is lay on his dino he got for Christmas and watch TV. Here he is Sunday night watching the Niners vs. Giants game that determined who got to go to the Superbowl. I grew up in a house full of Niner fans, so this was exciting for me. It was a great game, very close; but sadly the Niners lost in overtime. Oh well, better luck next year.

Spilled Milk

Today at work I dropped my freshly-pumped breast milk down the drain. 

The bag spilled when I set it down to grab a paper towel. I turned my back and three seconds later heard that splash; I knew instantly what had happened. Liquid Gold down the drain. My heart dropped. And it ached for just a bit. If I had been at home I probably would have cried. There was no time for crying; I had to keep it together and get back to work. I cleaned up the mess (I was able to salvage about three ounces; I estimate my losses at about six or seven ounces) and tried to put on a good face as I went back to work. It didn't help that after that we were running about thirty minutes behind schedule and my next patient was one of the most ornery old men I've ever met. Needless to say I was a bit stressed. I couldn't help but think of this Hallmark card I've seen before:

Amen sister. Amen.

I've got plenty of milk in the freezer, so no worries about Jack - he won't go hungry. But it was still upsetting in that moment. But all things considered, my day actually wound up being an all right day. It helped that I got this great picture text in the afternoon:

 

"Hi Mom. Lunch was good."

I sure love that sweet face. He makes my heart hurt - in the good way. On an up note he went EIGHT hours between feedings last night. A record for him. And Brandt said he actually took good naps today! Maybe he's finally figuring out that sleep is a good thing (knock on wood).

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday :) And next time I pump, I will think twice before setting my Liquid Gold down in a compromising position.

Have any of you mommas out there had a similar experience with spilled milk? Please share!

What the H?

Happy New Year! Today is our first day home after spending nine days in Burley for the holidays. We had a blast. I have about ten blog posts written in my head. Hopefully I'll get them on here soon. In the meantime, here is a story from this morning to make you smile. Or laugh out loud depending on your mood. Enjoy!

 

Do you remember The Bed Post? (If not, look it up, it's funny). To recap, Brandt broke our bed several months ago. The bed lift on his side of the bed cracked, which sent the bed crashing to the floor. Good times. Well, since then, Brandt, aka Mr. Fix It, has kept the bed up in the air on a broken bed lift by propping it up with a scrap piece of wood (disaster is written ALL OVER that sentence.) I told him we should just buy some new lifts, but he preferred the 1x4 piece of wood idea better. Every few months, the bed would show signs of breaking again, but Brandt would make some adjustments and life would go on. Until today.

This morning, we are sitting in bed eating breakfast (I should put a plug in for my sweet husband here, since I'm kind of making fun of him. He made breakfast this morning and brought it up to me since I wasn't feeling very well. What a sweetheart. Love him to pieces. Ok, we can go on with the story now). Jack had just finished his delicious breakfast and was laying on the bed between us while we ate. Suddenly, the bed starts creaking and BAM! Brandt is on the floor, my food slides off my plate and onto Jack who simultaneously is rolling towards his dad on the floor, I grab Jack and the bowl of oatmeal that slid across his face, Jack then sticks out his bottom lip as far as it will go and starts whimpering, and I'm left sitting there wondering what the H just happened.

Now before you all go and call Child Protective Services on us, Jack is fine. He just got scared momentarily. I picked him up, got him out of his oatmeal-soaked pajamas, kissed his cute little face, and he was fine. He takes after his father in that way - very much a "go with the flow" kind of baby. And in case you were wondering, Brandt is fine too. I think his pride was hurt more than his backside.

Needless to say, Brandt's 1x4 was a failure. And since baby doll could have gotten hurt, we decided it was time to fix the problem for good this time. Brandt made a trip to B, B, and Beyond and got a new set of stellar bed lifts. And when I say stellar, I mean these guys are top notch. I quote from the box: "300 lb (136.1 kg) Weight Limitation Per Bed Lift" Per Bed Lift! I'm pretty sure we'll be safe this time. But just in case, Brandt will be making a few extra trips to the gym in the coming weeks.