Sick Baby

Brendan was five months on Sunday, we spent the day with a sick baby! Scott and I have realized that God gave us a sick kid. It seems like he gets sick so easily, we are hoping this means that he will build a good immune system that will be able to fight off sickness later in life. It doesn't help though that Scott and I keep getting sick, I think this time Brendan caught my cold.

Sunday morning Brendan woke up early and we could tell me was not feeling well. Scott brought him into bed with us and he seemed to like the closeness and warmth of our bed. We decided that we should not take him to church to infect the others in the nursery, so Brendan and I stayed home while Scott went to church. Below is his attempt at a smile for me.

I got up and gave Brendan a bath hoping that would help calm him down and we spend the day mostly at home doing all we could to make Brendan comfortable. The bath did make him feel better, you can see him making faces at me while in the tub, finally my kid likes to take baths!After the bath we got dressed and then watched Baby Einstein for the first time. We got a sampler DVD from the hospital when he was born but had never watched it. The DVD is only 15 minutes long but Brendan seemed to like the bright colors and the movement (plus my kid will pretty much watch anything on TV). He was pretty clingy all day (all week really) wants to be held or at least have me sit on the floor next to him. I can tell he just didn't feel well!

Even now you can tell that he is not completely better, my cold is still hanging on and has been for almost two weeks now and you can hear the congestion in Brendan as he breaths and coughs. Marion, (our new day care lady) says that she doesn't mind a sick kid, she says she will just "doctor them up love" as long as they don't get too bad of a cough, then she will call me. Hopefully he does okay because this is a terrible week for me to be out at work!

More Memories

I have noticed that lot of the Christmas decorations in our house are mine or from my childhood, even most of the decorations on the tree are mine. So this year I really wanted to bring a focus on something of Scott's. We got his Santa ornament collection a couple years ago from him mom but we have never hung them. These ornaments are 17 Santa's from all over the world, made out of porcelain. I believe these Santa's were given to him by his late Grandma. Scott's Grandma was very special to him and he talks about her very fondly, so I know these ornaments are very special to him.

When we got the decorations, many were broken and Scott was very upset, he was ready to throw them all away. Instead, I found some super-glue and fixed what I could, most had a clean break and were not shattered so I could fix them, I then wrapped them all safely so they wouldn't get broken again and that is where they have stayed safe in a box - for two years now. This year I kept bringing up that we should hang them, being that they are so special to Scott. Scott declined this year saying that he didn't want them to get broken, so instead they stayed in the box.

Last weekend I decided to surprise Scott by hanging them on our garland above the window. I was very careful with each one and insured that they were securely on the hooks and hung securely on the garland. I think they look great, and it is nice to have something so special to Scott part of our Christmas decor!

Christmas Memories

One of the nice things about pulling out all the Christmas decorations after being in storage for 11 months is the memories that come with each decoration. Like the Gingerbread house my Grandmother got me that smells like gingerbread when the candle inside is lit. The Rocking horses that have been part of our Christmas decor since I was a little girl. The Rocking grandparents that used to rock in Scott's Grandma's house but now grace our living room. The teddy bears playing in the snow that my mother bought for me. New memories are added each year. In 2005 we were given a dated collector's plate to commemorate our first Christmas married. This year we added the Fisher Price Little People Christmas set with Santa & Mrs. Clause, I really wanted to get Brendan the Fisher Price Nativity set, but it was a little too much for us this year, perhaps next year.

Each decoration has a story for me, each one either reminds me of previous Christmas celebrations or help me to look toward developing new memories and new Christmas traditions. I enjoy this time because it is not just about me and how I want the house to look for Christmas, but it is about Family, and sharing the joy of the season together.

Deck the Halls

One of our favorite Holiday Traditions is decorating the house for Christmas. Since Scott and I are usually away for Christmas and Thanksgiving, we like to decorate early so we can experience the Christmas Cheer as long as possible. We start our Christmas decorating the weekend before Thanksgiving. It may seem a little early to some, but we love it! So this year we started decorating right away. We usually go out and purchase new decorations to add to our collection to make each year a little better than the last. This year money was a little tight so we were happy with what we had. We did buy a new stocking and stocking holder for Brendan and the "Little People" Santa & Mrs. Clause, other than that we spread what we had around the apartment.

Decorating for Christmas is hectic at first (not only because we have a 4 month old around), we start with a deep clean of the entire house before setting out the decorations, we then take room by room setting up the decor together. Not a room is missed! Every year we have "discussion" (argument) about how we want the house to be decorated, I tend to lean more towards the elegant, matching Christmas, (white lights, themed tree, hallmark, nativity scenes, candles and order), while Scott enjoys more of the "family" style Christmas, (colored lights, cheap glass balls, snow-globes, Santa's, snowmen, and the fake silver garland). This year, I think we have finally reached a compromise, sure we had a discussions about why we don't have snow-globes in the house, but overall, we have come together in our decorating style. (I must admit, he has given in to my decorating style more than I have to his, you will notice we still don't have snow globes or that silver garland that we once did.)

Below are the pictures of our decorated Christmas house, here is a tour of our little but wonderful apartment!

*****Our living room is set up differently this year than it has been in the past, we usually like our nativity set to sit in front of the window, but our set up this year didn't allow for it. The garland hangs above the window, the tree in the center of the room, you probably can't tell, but both the tree and the garland are decorated with colored lights for my husband. My favorite part is the bookshelf full of Christmas nick-knacks that have stories of their own. One of Scott's favorite are the candy dishes set about the room that he insists on keeping full!*****
*****On the other side of the Living room is our little sitting area. More garland hangs above our Kitchen area, the stockings are hung with our initials and the Santa from Scott's grandparents stands in the corner.*****

*****Our Kitchen doesn't have as many decorations, we have a set of Christmas dishes with 4 place settings, my Grandmother bought me a beautiful set of Christmas dishes with 8 settings but we haven't pulled it out yet. There is a small Christmas Tree in the corner with glass decorations that were a wedding gift from Scott's Grandma & Poppy.*****

*****The Bathroom is actually my favorite room to decorate, as funny as that sounds. You can't get the full effect of the decorations because it is so small to take a picture. But you can sort of see the red shower curtain with Christmas balls hanging and the Green & Red towels (I know the color is a little off). I decorated it like this for the first time last year and I love how it looks!*****

*****This is the first year we have put decorations in the spare room, but being that it is now Brendan's room, Scott thought he should have decorations too, we have the lights above his window which Brendan loves to stare at, and a tiny Christmas tree in the corner by his crib (not pictured)*****

*****Our bedroom is pretty much decorated by the bedspread my Grandmother gave me last year, I really think it does enough for the room, and the cradle that is no longer being used has stuffed reindeer that I have had since I was little (some how, I also have my sister's reindeer)*****

*****Finally, our Christmas Tree, it's little and fake (Scott is allergic to real Christmas Trees) but it is just perfect for our apartment. Maybe one day when we have a house we can get a nice big tree to fill the room but for now, our little 6 foot tree is perfect for our little family! *****

Thanks for joining me on the tour of our apartment as I was able to show off all our hard work and Christmas decorations!!

Housework

Keeping up on housework after you have a baby can be a challenge. Scott and I try every Saturday morning to do a complete sweep of the house really cleaning everything so that it doesn't get overwhelming and one of us isn't doing more work than the other. It takes longer now than it used to with a baby around. We find little ways to include Brendan in our cleaning, his favorite is doing laundry!

Traditions

I was realizing last night that this is Scott's and my 4th Christmas married. In that time we have developed Christmas Traditions that we hope to keep as we now extend our family. I was thinking about all of Christmas Traditions and thought that I would share them as we continue with them this year. Tradition has always been big in my family, growing up in a family of six, we had a variety of Traditions at Christmas time. Scott and I are now at the point where we are taking the traditions from each of our family and combine them together while also adding traditions of our own. Christmas is our favorite time of year and it is a great opportunity to really enjoy your family, that is our goal as we develop family traditions together.

Still no Silent Night.......

I am not sure what is going on. Brendan was doing really well; sleeping about 7-8 hours in the night, eating at every 3 - 4 hours in the day and was doing really well. Starting on about Thursday, it seems as though we have gone backwards! He cries in hunger every 3 hours on the dot if not sooner, even in the night. He wakes up to eat every 3 hours, he hasn't done this since he was 5 weeks old. Scott and I are at a loss of what to do, we are exhausted and overwhelmed. Is there anything we can do to fix this problem?

It's a good thing he is so cute during the day!

Silent Night......

Early this morning Brendan woke up earlier than expected. He was upset and I was tired, all I wanted to do was cover my head and ignore the crying. But instead I got up and picked up my crying baby to try and comfort him...he did not want to be comforted! The picture below explains how I felt exactly! There I sat on the couch with my crying baby in my lap and all I could do was sit there and cry with him. Tears streaming down my face; all I wanted was to crawl back into bed and not get up in the morning.
Through it all we made it through the night. Brendan took his bottle and went back to sleep, I dried my tears and crawled back into bed, got up in the morning and faced the day. Thankfully, it is Friday, the weekend it here!

Do you see what I see... 2008

Keeping up with the Christmas Carol titles, here is a picture of Brendan that my parents took on Sunday morning. My mother says this is the first time that she has seen me in Brendan. He looks so much like Scott that she was surprised to see that he is getting my eyes. I even have noticed that Brendan's eyes are getting bigger like mine were as a child. What do you think?

...oh the weather outside is frightful...

On Saturday, November 15th we took a day and went to Disneyland, it was a beautiful day out! Brendan went on most of the Fantasyland rides and we just enjoyed our morning at Disneyland.

However, after lunch we we went back outside, the weather had completely changed! The sky was full of clouds and I realized that ash was falling from the sky! As we know know, a major fire had started in Yorba Linda that was covering the sky with smoke and ash. What a dramatic difference in the pictures over just a few hours!

Scott and I decided to go home then and not stay out in the smoke and ash. It was quite an adventure driving home since the 91 went right past the fires in Yorba Linda, we could see homes burning out of our window! Of course I left the camera in the trunk, so we don't have any good pictures of the file we experienced, but it was a scary drive home. Parts of the freeway we were driving 5 miles an hour with our flashers on because the smoke was so thick!

Good Christian Men, Rejoice...

Last Sunday morning (November 30th) we had Child Dedications at Church. This is a time for us to gather as a congregation and commit to pray for these little children and commit to work together to teach these children about God's Love and the Christian life. Faith is not based off parents belief and for that reason we do not baptise infants, instead and dedicate them as a reminder to all of us that it is the entire church's responsibility to help raise these children to understand who God is and that Christ gave his life for all of us. We are also instructed to teach these children the way of life, to honor and respect their parents and to become strong independent and hopefully Christian men and women of God.

I am thankful that I have a church family that is now committed to praying for Brendan and teaching him through Sunday School, fellowship and by example. It is our responsibilities as parents to bring our children up in the way of the Lord and I am happy to know that I am not alone, I have an army standing behind me.

We were blessed to have my family join us on Sunday in the commitment at child dedications. My Mother, Father, Grandparents, Sister, Brother-in-Law, and Brothers, all followers of Christ, were able to be with us when we made the public decision to our church family to dedicate our son to God as they joined us in praying for Brendan. What an amazing opportunity we had this weekend. I pray everyday for my baby that he may grow in Christ and one day know him as a Saviour. I pray for guidance as Scott and I raise this gift from God. Scott and I would be honored if any of you would also like to commit with us to pray for and support in the raising of our child.

Over the River and Through the woods...

Okay, so really it was down the freeway and to the coast, and we didn't go to Grandmother's house....but it was a nice Thanksgiving for us all! Last Sunday afternoon all of my family met together in Oceanside (San Diego area) for Thanksgiving week. Myself, Scott, Brendan, My sister Bekah and her husband Kevin, my parents, my Grandparents and both my brothers, as well as my Aunt & Uncle were able to join us! Thirteen people all together!

Our Thanksgiving Table (one of them). My mother made little goodie-bags as place holders. We even made Chocolate covered pretzels in the shapes of pumpkins for the occasion. They were very cute, and although we were in a timeshare, it felt like home with all the cooking, decorations, shopping, sibling rivalry, and family together, just like the holidays should be!

My Brother, JT (Brendan's Uncle Bud) slept through most of dinner after working a very early morning shift before flying to meet us.

Along with a new Thanksgiving outfit, new Thanksgiving bib, Grandma also gave Brendan a Thanksgiving Turkey that "Gobbled" he just loved to hear it make noise and of course chew on the feet. It was quite a long day for Brendan, by 8:00 he was out!

What a morning!!

This morning I woke up and I knew it was going to be one of those mornings. Brendan didn't do as well last night as we had hoped, I think being away from home for a week and surrounded by people threw his schedule off, but nonetheless, I was exhausted this morning when I woke up - I slept in a little more than I should have.

I quickly took a shower this morning and went to go pick up my now screaming child (who wouldn't eat for me at anytime convenient), with nothing to wear this morning (still can't fit into a lot of my pre-pregnancy clothes) I finally throw something on and go to dress Brendan. Once both him and I are dressed and ready to head out the door, we are only 10 minutes later than I normally leave, not too bad I think to myself.

I pack the diaper bag, grab Brendan, pick-up my purse and realize.....I have no keys! I call Scott and he goes out to his car, sure enough, my keys are in my jacket pocket - in my husbands car! I start making phone calls and text-messages to try to find someone to help me. I finally get ahold of Natalie (a friend from CBU) who is just walking out the door to go to work. She agrees to come and get me and help me to take Brendan to Day Care. What a Friend!

With all that excitement, I still get to work only 1/2 an hour late! Now the errands I was going to run at lunch will have to wait for tomorrow... Happy Monday everyone!

Friendship Friday - Erin

A friend of mine has really been on my mind lately, I just thought I would share with you all.

Erin and I have been friends since 8th grade. We have kinda been on-again-off-again friends. We have had our differences, had our fights, and had many good (and stupid) times together. We were part of a group of friends that we named ourselves B.E.E.R (Brittany, Erin, Elizabeth, Rachel) and at almost every gathering, we would have a six pack of IBC Root Beer to celebrate. To this day I can't drink an IBC Root Beer from the bottle without thinking of those girls.

Our "gatherings", were usually held at Erin's house because her parents didn't really mind us being loud, obnoxious, high school girls. We had a lot of fun times, and as I mentioned before, did some pretty silly/stupid stuff (that will not be mentioned here). I really wish I had a picture of the four of us together from freshman year to show you. But I have gotten off topic a little.

Erin and I went to the same high school (Folsom High) and had a few classes together. Although we were both stubborn leaders and wanted things our way, we managed to tolerate each other through all four years. When I left for college to Riverside, and Erin left for Seattle, we lost touch a bit and had a falling-out of sorts. But no matter how many times we decided that we fought and I decided we weren't friends anymore - she always came back.

Erin (who has an amazing voice) sang at my wedding, I flew to Sacramento to go to hers, because despite our differences, we were still friends. (She was a VERY beautiful bride, just ask her husband :))

Last month when I went to Sacramento, I got to spend just a short amount of time with Erin. Although it was brief, it made me realize how much I miss her and the fun times we used to have. We sat and talked about how stupid and innocent we were in high school, we talked about life and what was going on. We talked about her coming to visit sometime, perhaps going to Disneyland together. But it was nice to just sit and have a nice conversation with an old friend.

I know most of you probably don't know Erin, especially not like I know Erin. But like I said, she has been on my mind lately and so I wanted to share a bit about my friend. I hope that her and her husband are able to come and visit sometime soon.

Sears Portraits

Last week we took Brendan to get his Professional 3 month pictures taken (1 day before he turned 4 months). Below are the pictures we took, some are better than others.We ended up ordering a package of the last picture. It was our favorite, even though I thought they were all REALLY cute.