Best of Friends

I'm truly lucky in life to have friends like Melissa. Check out her newest blog entry. Thanks Melissa for brightening my life. Your friendship has meant so much to me.

elf in training . . .

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Gavin. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day. . .

Gavin, look what Santa left us under the tree. Is that for me?

opening gifts with daddy . . .

Grandpa Dial, what did you get from Santa?

Gavin's own big boy chair - thanks Grandma Dial!

we enjoyed a yummy prime rib dinner.

Great Grandparents - so sweet

nothing better than snuggling with a sleeping baby Gavin. This is what bliss looks like . . .

But next year I've decided that we're not leaving our house . . . you'll have to come to us on Christmas day. :-)

Yesterday morning started off okay . . . up at 5:45am feed Gavin and get him dressed. It was downhill after that . . . While waiting for Karl to finish getting himself ready I was playing with Gavin and his adorable new snow boots. I stood him up and saw it - a little dark spot creeping out of the back of his pants and up his back. Now we are seriously moments away from putting him in his car seat.

"Karl he's pooped his pants and it's leaking up his back - I'm going to change his diaper and outfit.," I shouted out. This should have been a fairly quick exercise, but once I opened him up it wasn't just leaking up the back. It was down the leg and on the socks. Up the back all the way to his shoulders. Gavin just smiling through it all. Karl peeps his head in to see what's taking so long at this point. He surveys the scene and says he can get into work late, because he knows I'm thinking, "This kid needs a bath."

So I strip him down and give him a quick bath - no shampooing the hair, just soap him up and hose him down.

Back on the changing tabble just as I'm pulling out the new diaper . . . he turns into a fountain. Peeing eveywhere! I gasp - which sends Karl running to the room. He helps me clean it up and I finish putting on the new diaper.

I get the new pants on and ask Karl to put the jacket on while I search for the baby comb (it's never where I left it). We're so close to getting them out the door and then just as Karl goes to put Gavin's second arm in . . . he spits up on Karl. Karl who is fully dressed and read to walk out the door now has baby spit-up running down his arm and pooling in the elbow of his dress shirt. I help mop it up but Karl decides that spit-up is not the odor he wants to share with his co-workers and needs to now change his shirt.

So finally with both boys in their second outfits of the day and it's not even 7:00am - I send them out the door (SIGH). Being a mom is harder some days than others. :-)

busy bees

Since it has been a little while since my last posting (yes we are still surviving) thought I'd update what's been happening since I returned to work:

Gavin was dedicated on November 23 at Covina First Baptist Church. He did perfectly as he made the congregation laugh by making noise which the pastor took as an Amen! and he spit-up both while on stage. :-) Lots of support and love from friends and family. Also we were blessed by our good friends James and Kim who dedicated their daughter, Sophia, that same morning. These two kids will have the joy of growing up together and this was a perfect pairing for us. We just love them!

Also we had Thanksgiving, lots of yummy food, but I stepped away from the table to nurse Gavin mid-dinner and by the time I got back the table had been cleared. So here's my bone to pick with my family . . . we spend weeks and days preparing for holiday dinners, hours cooking and selecting the right dishes, so why can't we stop for a few minutes and enjoy the meal?!? Just because you have finished your turkey do we really have to start the dishes before it is even settled in your stomach? I want to stay at the table and enjoy the company of family. Have a conversation about what's been going on in our lives, the world, etc. For the life of me I wonder if this is just my family or does this happen in other houses too? So at my house, my tradition will be that dishes stay on the table long past the meal being over and we've enjoyed and relished in the holiday. Now I'm wishing I was having Christmas at my house. Next year for sure! :-)

Other than that we've been busy with work, taking care of household chores (which is much harder now that I'm not at home during the day and we want to spend time playing with Gavin on the weekends), partying with the normal holiday festivities (5 parties in one weekend - sigh!) and watching Gavin grow and chance before our eyes. He has recently found his feet - I love it when he grabs his toes!

We also had our first cold. Both Gavin and I got sick, but we're starting to feel better. Yet I have to say I hate using the nasal aspirator. He just screams and cries after I do it. The first time I did it he cried so hard I ended up crying too! (They never tell you when you become a parent that it really does hurt you more than it hurts them. I thought my mom was lying when she told us that.)

I'll try to be better about finding time to blog more often. I miss it!

Monday Is Coming . . .

I've long dreaded this coming Monday, it's the day I'll return to work and leave my son for longer than I've ever been away. He'll be bottle fed for multiple feedings in a row and be comforted by another's loving arms. [Sigh] I write this through tears.

I'm not sure how I'll hold it together to make it through a day's work. Good thing my boss is understanding. I called my office today to check in and remind them that yes I really am coming back. I cried when I got off the phone. Not because I don't like working, actually I love working. And I'm good at what I do, but I am a better mom. Actually I enjoy being a mom way more than I thought I would. That may sound crazy to other moms, but I really thought the baby phase would be so boring and to be honest it is a little dull at times. Yet I love him so much. I know my baby so well. Will anyone else be able to calm him down like I can? Will they make him laugh like I can or tell when he needs a nap?

He's starting to try new things and he's just really discovered his hands. Staring at them constantly and grabbing things. Plus he wants to sit and roll over. I'll miss those milestones and I hate that.

It's killing me that I'll be away for so many hours during the week. I keep telling myself that I'm lucky though . . . he'll be with grandparents who love him. Adore him and will spoil him with love, attention and toys. I'm so grateful for our families and the support they provide. I don't know what we'd do without them.

So keep me in your thoughts and prayers this Monday. Lord knows I'll need them and probably a box of tissues next to my computer for every time a co-worker asks "How's the baby?"

PS On a lighter note . . . Here's the new 'do!

Change is in the air . . .

This weekend we were busy, very busy working on the house. My uncle Chuck helped Karl start tiling the kitchen backsplash. I hope it's finished before Christmas! Check out the progress so far.

This is how it looks after two days. Now there is just like a trillion custom cuts that have to happen and then maybe I'll get my stove back in its proper place.

To get any serious home improvement project started right you must include your infant child . . . so Karl dressed Gavin in work clothes, but all the lazy kid did really did was hangout with the ladies. That's okay because he's so cute!

My aunt Sandy (my mom's sister) and cousin Jaci came and played with Gavin, but the real baby lover was Gwen, Chuck's Mom. (Although she may not be directly related, she's like a Grandmother to me in many ways.) I think Gwen has her mother's touch, Gavin calmed right down just being in her arms!

New tile on the walls isn't the only new look around our house. I've followed in the foot steps of many moms before me and today I cut off my long hair after having a baby. I didn't think I'd do it, but there is a reason so many of us do. For me, I was just sick of the pony tail. Everyday, the same old look. Pulled back and boring! Now I just hope to find the extra time to actually do the new 'do. No pictures yet, but maybe tomorrow. Karl has to get home first and see what I've done to myself. Hope he likes it! :-)

Narssicsm

Check out Jeana's pictures from our photo session on Friday . . .

http://myjourneyintophotography.blogspot.com/

Thanks Jeana!