Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!

Hello everyone. It's music to my ears when people say "you need to update your blog!!!!" yes, people, I hear you. You like me! You really like me! Okay anyway.....

Life is great!!!! I think part of the reason I'm hesitant to blog is a) I've been watching "Bones" on Netflix (gotta be honest here) b) I'm not as witty as I once was (I blame lack of sleep!!!!) and c) all I really have to say is MY BABY IS THE CUTEST and MY HUSBAND IS THE BEST and I thought some of you might be sick of this. Apparently not.

Some of you, dear readers, might be thinking to yourselves "did she just mention LACK OF SLEEP? Whaaaaat? Wasn't this the girl with the angel baby who slept through the night at 8 weeks?!?" While that is true, it's also true that Gideon is regressing... a lot. It all started with mobility. Since G has been able to roll around, he has been less interested in sleeping, and more interested in rolling around his crib and then melting down out of exhaustion. We still swaddle (the kids is a swaddle junkie!!!), but even the straightjacket doesn't seem to help..... Then he started teething (2 bottom teeth to date). Then we went to Seattle for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful trip on sooo many levels, but G's sleeping wasn't one of those. Also on the trip he got a little cold, which turned into croup. And croup turned us into the biggest softie parents in the WORLD (leaping out of bed at his first bark, nursing 10 times a night..you get the idea.) All this to say, I can now relate to everyone! Hooraaaaay. Except life was better when he slept through the night, I must admit. ;) Luckily he is so cute it *almost* makes up for it. Thus far, we can only stand hearing him cry for 5 minutes before we go in and sing/pat/nurse/rock/bounce but it's getting old fast. Don't tell Neal I told you, but he's about ready to put G in the car at night. ;) Part of the problem is we're still rocking the one bedroom apartment, and I'll tell you what, there's no escaping G's coughs/cries/screams/grunts/growls. We are looking to move as soon as we find a place.

Okay enough about how my baby is no longer perfect in every way. We are doing great as a family, and are very excited about CHRISTMAS! Those of you who know me will find it no surprise that we decked our halls the day after our Thanksgiving trip and have been blasting Christmas music, making Christmas treats, and going crazy on amazon.com in anticipation for the big day. LOOOOOOOOVE holidays!!!! And now, a year in photos:

JANUARY: yeah.. I got nothing. According to my pictures, January didn't even exist.

FEBRUARY: I start getting huge

MARCH: Baby showers begin
APRIL: Mom and Dad visited and I'm huge.
MAY: My birthday, oh, and G was born too. ;)
JUNE: G is unimpressed with his mama and goes to his first musical at Wolftrap
JULY: Peach picking tradition continues with G and family vacation to Shenandoah
AUGUST: G's blessing and Utah trip
SEPTEMBER: Taylor visits
OCTOBER: Cale visits and G is for Giraffe
NOVEMBER: Freezing family photos and Seattle

DECEMBER: G gets the hang of self portraits
We've had a GREAT year and feel very blessed!

Virginia Beach trip!

Hello people! It's been a while since I blogged, and I'm pretty sure that the blog-o-sphere really missed me, RIGHT?!? Anyway, so life is really great. Mr. G-man gets cuter BY THE VERY MINUTE I'm pretty sure, and he can do all sorts of tricks now. well, as many tricks as a five month old can do-- rolling, scooting, drooling, that kind of thing. He is getting a *smidgen* too small for his 6 month sleepers and I'm in serious denial. I mean, I know he's totally gigantic and chubby and all that but SERIOUSLY!?!? I get really sad and sentimental every time I have to put away his baby(er) clothes. AND I just got some 9 month sized clothes out and they look HUUUUUUGE. Okay enough nostalgia... it suffices to say that I'm not ready for him to grow up and eat solids and wear 9 month clothes. Moving on. I have a lot to catch up on, so I'll start with our trip to Virginia Beach:

We took a quick beach trip a few weeks ago and it was pouring rain, crazy windy, and pretty cold. Of course we all still got in the water-- poor G didn't even have a choice, but he loves water so he was fine with it. We still enjoyed ourselves and no one got sunburned. It was quite tricky to take pics, what with the wind and the rain, and Neal's gigantic finger..... (and of course I didn't yell at Neal for this later... remember I'm chill now?)

As you can see, Gideon is fine with it.

In this one he's thinking "are you guys seriously forcing me to be out at the beach in these conditions?!?!?" It really was one of those times where my extended family motto fits perfectly: WE'RE HAVING FUN, DAMMIT!!!!!* Stay tuned for the Utah trip post as well as Taylor on the East Side!

*excuse my "French".... I know, I should have typed "we're having fun, zut alors!" then it REALLY would have been French!

Gideon's 4 month stats!

Hello people, I know, I've been a blogging slacker.... without further ado, here are G's 4 month stats.

WEIGHT: 18.5 pounds. (>95%) yeah.... this kid is HUGE! I was very validated whilst in Utah to hear my sisters say "wow-- I'm already feeling sore from holding him!!!!" He weighs as much as a 10 month old, but can't support himself like one.

LENGTH: 26 inches (90%) oh man, he's already getting fatter than he is long!

HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE: does anyone care? I don't remember but it was 90%. This kid is huge across the board.

LIKES: his Mama, his Papa, eating, his exersaucer (so cute!!!), pulling my hair (AAAAAAH!), reaching out for toys, chewing on his hands, Prianka, ATTENTION (like his Mama), people singing to him (especially the song "Sweetest Little Fella"), being in water, going on walks, sleeping, his plug, his owl toy, when his Marmie does "This is the way the ____ rides" and bounces him, when his Grandma McMillan talks to him (he talked back to her more than I've ever seen!)

MEH: rolling over. (He does not do this consistently yet, and I'm not worried. How many times have you seen Jabba the Hut roll over?), belly gumming, when people try too hard to get him to laugh

DISLIKES: being ignored, being forced to sleep before he's ready, sitting on our laps for long periods of time (this became obvious during Stake Conference), being burped between sides, when Mama is obsessed with the snot sucker (sorry kid!), shots

What a joy this little one is in our lives. He had a few rough days after we got back from our 2 week UT vacation, but now seems to be back on schedule (PHEW!). It has been a little weird not to be going back to school this month, but I wouldn't trade my time with him for anything in the world! It was so fun to be in Utah with him and introduce him to my friends and family--more on that later. WE LOVE THIS LITTLE CHUBSTER!

The unexpected way being a Mom has changed me....

Now, just to preface this, those who know me well, know I'm not exactly..... hmmmm... how to put this delicately.... laid back. Yeah, I'm more of an uptight planner/any little change in plans MIGHT give me a stress attack, the brunt of which will be felt by my poor, perfect husband. So laid back/chill/go with the flow/play it by ear has never really described me... until now. I know, many of you won't believe this, but even Neal told me a couple of weeks postpartum, "you are much more even-keeled now, babe." That's right people, I'm chill. Can you even believe it? I'm calm, cool, and collected. How did this happen? Maybe at first I just didn't have the energy to be high strung---new baby and all, but I'm getting plenty of sleep now and I've stayed that way! I really like this new side of me (probably not as much as Neal does, though)! I'm basically this chill now:

Yeah, that's right, Lenny Kravitz chill. I don't really know if he's a chill person, but anyone who wears sunglasses that often must be pretty chill, right? (Side note: I am NOT okay with Lenny Kravitz playing Cinna in the Hunger Games!!!! Other than his impressively original and clever rhyming in "Fly Away" does he have any real talent?!?!? I'm hoping, REALLY hoping, to be pleasantly surprised. While discussing this with my friend Jay, he told me "The real thing you should be wondering is if he's gonna wear sunglasses the whole movie!" Jay is hilarious. If you do a google image search of Lenny, he's wearing sunglasses in probably 90% of the photos... awesome. Okay, this has been a very long side note--like longer than the post. Ending side note now.)

Turning more even-keeled has been a very pleasant, yet completely unexpected aspect of Motherhood. Oh Motherhood, how I love thee. Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook can attest that I LOVE being a Mom! I LOVE my baby, and I LOVE my new life. (Side note numèro deux: I think I partly LOVE it so much because my baby is a champion sleeper... my heart goes out to those of you with less-than-stellar sleepers!!!) Gideon melts my heart every day. He is the most adorable baby I have ever seen, and he brings so much joy into my life I can't even believe it. Gideon being placed on my belly right after birth was THE most incredible moment of my entire life. I am forever changed. I am even more in love with Neal, I enjoy life more, and I am CHILL! :)

TRICKED YA!

My baby and husband are taking naps, and since this activity excludes yours truly, I decided to blog. You see, I have never been able to take naps, period. Not in high school after 6 AM rehearsal, not in college after going to bed at 4 AM, not even when I had mono (although occasionally when I'm sick I'm able too). Everyone told me "you'll be able to once your baby comes" and I am here to report that is NOT the case! For the first two weeks after Gideon was born (while my Mom was here), I napped daily, it's true. And I don't know if my body decided it was recovered, or if I simply can't sleep without my Mom, but I haven't taken a nap since the day she left. I used to force myself to try to nap while Gideon was napping, but it got annoying quickly because I never fell asleep and I would have preferred to be facebook stalking, reading, or watching Numb3rs, so I just accepted the fact that my body doesn't like to nap and moved on. But I digress.....

It's weird to blog on Father's Day without mentioning it, so HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I truly have the best Father, Father in law, and baby Daddy in the entire world, for which I am VERY THANKFUL!

Anyway, back to the point of this post: I am a homebody. Yes, it's true. Surprised? Many of you will be surprised to hear this, and I don't know exactly why.... because I'm outgoing and social? Because I'm loud and funny? Because I have a lot of friends? In any case, I really am a homebody. Neal claims "bait and switch" because he had no idea of this until we got married, although he did have a small inkling once we started dating seriously. The truth of the matter is, I'd rather be home in my pj's eating treats and watching movies than out being social, plain and simple, ESPECIALLY after I found my one and only. That cut down drastically on my social inclinations.

Since I've had Gideon, people are always asking me "are you able to get out much?" or "are you sure you won't go crazy staying home with a baby?!?" The thing is, I prefer to be home. I call myself lazy because I love just lounging at home. Last summer, I would work out every single day, but other than that, I might have only left the house once or twice a week. I love my friends, I love seeing people and keeping in touch with them, and I love a good lunch date now and then, but I rarely get lonely being home alone all day, and frequent social gatherings aren't my favorite thing. So there you have it, something you might not have known about me. Other things you might not know about me:

--It's nearly impossible for me to refrain my wincing when I hear people say "irregardless" or "but yet" ... "literally" also falls into this category because people do not know when to use it! I am literally typing. I am not literally laughing my head off, got it?

--I liked the movie "Crossroads" with Brittney Spears

--I loathe putting the clothes from the washer in the dryer... *shudder*

--I love Mac & Cheese, but prefer the store brand over Kraft

--I took a tap dancing class at SUU for fun

--I am certified in SCUBA, mostly to prove to myself my fear of sharks doesn't control me (and what did I see during the certification dive? You guessed it.)

--I think Eminem is brilliant but totally inappropriate

and last but not least...

--I think my husband is best and my baby is the cutest! Oh, you already knew that? Seriously?

Gideon's first week at church!

Here's a picture taken right after the fact... you be the judge as to how much he liked it:

It's okay buddy, we've all been there. . . fortunately, he was feeling more chipper after lunch:

I know right? He's adorable!!!!! Yesterday, we here hanging out with these amazing people:

And Clint asked us what's the biggest change since having Gideon. We decided the biggest change was how rapidly nothing else seems to matter as much as our little baby! Everything else just seems less important, somehow. We're quickly adjusting to getting less sleep, and neither of us mind having to be more flexible with our schedule. Gideon is a very relaxed and easy baby so far (we're still waiting for the other shoe to drop!) and things really are.... blissful! Of course sometimes he wails for a few minutes as we're sitting down to dinner, or just drifting off to sleep, but we wouldn't trade it for anything. Plus, now Neal has a collar popping buddy, since I refuse:

*Note: Neal has never actually popped his collar in his life, I'm kidding. This picture was taken as a joke.

In other news, we're trying to figure out a way that Neal can make millions and retire next week and stay home with us all day... paternity leave was THAT amazing. I realize all I do now is talk about my baby and post pictures of him, but I can't help it!!! He's the cutest!

Getting to know you...

Baby G is four weeks old now, and I can barely believe it. I used to laugh at parents who would talk about what their baby liked and didn't like at this age, but you know, I'm that parent know so here goes:

LIKES:

*his parents :)

*furrowing his eyebrows

*tummy time-- he coos so sweetly!

*baths--he has never cried or even grunted in the tub, which brings me to my next item...

*grunting--(although he is grunting less now)

*his plug (pacifier)

*his bouncer

*being swaddled--it settles him down instantly!

*staring at people and objects while furrowing his brows

*making noise--this kid is LOUD! He is always making some kind of noise.

*snuggling with us

*music and singing

DISLIKES:

*waiting to be fed--he goes from "I might be hungry" to "If I don't eat immediately I WILL DIE!!!!" in 0.25 seconds...whew!

*his back being rubbed or scratched

*hiccups (actually I'm sure he doesn't mind them, but he grunts after each hiccup like "arg! Hiccups again?!?)

*being far away from the action--luckily we have a one bedroom apartment! ;)

*grunting-- yeah, pretty sure he has a love/hate relationship with grunting... sometimes he does it when he's totally happy and content, other times when he's frustrated and/or pooping

*watching us eat molten cakes--I think he's jealous he's not having one!!!

Gideon is still a super chill baby. He's only been fussy without apparent cause for 30 minutes total his entire life, seriously. Of course, he cries, but usually only after the 0.25 second window he gives us to be fed. He is still easily soothed, and is able to fall asleep very well on his own, which is especially good because I'm too tired to rock him back to sleep in the middle of the night. He just lays in his crib and grunts himself to sleep, so good for him! Lately, I've been pumping a little so Neal can take one of the night feedings since he's been off work this week-- it's AMAZING! I may die when he goes back to work and I won't let him (unless I'm really, really desperate!)... It's funny though because when I get up in the morning and see G, I realize I really missed him while Neal was feeding him. It's nice to sleep though. :)

He is smiling more and more while awake, and we cannot wait for him to smile at us on purpose! He is super alert now, and stays awake for 3 hours straight during the day sometimes! His little dented chin is adorable and we love him to pieces. I cannot believe how much love I feel for him... even when I'm tired and he's taking a while to settle down, I just feel so patient and loving toward him. He is the light of our lives, and we already can't imagine our life without him! I've said it before and I'll say it again.. HE IS THE CUTEST!

Look-- I finally had the energy to go on a walk! (And it wasn't 95 degrees out + humidity... shudder!!!!!)