Cael's Baby Blessing

We blessed Cael last week.  He was such a sweetie and looked so cute!  Shaun did a great job (even though he was rather nervous).  Afterwards we had everyone over to our house.  I get so intimidated inviting a lot of people over.  I worry about having enough food and whether people will like it.  Thanks to my mom and sister Chelsea, the lunch seemed to be quite a success.  At least I enjoyed it.  Anyway, thanks to everyone who joined us for the day and participated in Cael's blessing.  We love you all!

Feeling a little nostalgic . . .

So tonight as I pack my computer bag in preparation of going back to work tomorrow, I'm feeling a little nostalgic.  These last three months have been both wonderful and have pushed me to discover things about myself that I don't think I would have ever learned otherwise.  Cael has changed me.  He's such a sweet little guy and it's crazy (and sometimes more than a little scary) to realize how completely dependent he is on Shaun and I.  I just love it when he smiles at me and coos/talks the way he does when he's super excited to see me.  I'll be feeling so frustrated with him because he's refusing to go to sleep and then he'll get all happy and excited and smile and I can't help but smile back.  I've never had such an easy time letting go of negative or frustrated feelings as I have with Cael (granted, he never intentionally upsets me but that hasn't stopped me from getting and staying rather angry with other people in my life).  I've learned more about my Heavenly Father and about my parents.  I've learned to rely on my Heavenly Father more because I've repeatedly faced situations when I had no idea what to do or when there was nothing I could do.  I've been fighting back tears several times this last week as I've thought about all of the time I'll miss spending with Cael--but thankfully, he's in the best of hands (at least three days a week--thank you Chelsea!).  So here's to my sweet baby boy and three of the greatest months of my life!

Anyway, I'm sure I could go on and on, but someone needs to eat (surprise, surprise) and I need to get some sleep before I head back to the grindstone tomorrow morning.  Wish me luck!

Hooray for Prevacid!

As of Tuesday, Cael is officially two months old (can you believe it?!?). I consequently took him in for his two month appointment yesterday. He wasn't such a fan of his immunizations, but we did learn that he likes tart flavors when he gulped down the Rotavirus vaccine (or perhaps that just meant he was starving half to death). The best part of the visit, however, was the Prevacid prescription that we walked out with. Cael has grown increasingly fussy in the last several weeks and finally this week I started looking into what could be causing his fussiness. After doing some research, I realized that he was demonstrating a lot of the symptoms of acid reflux. I mentioned it to the doctor yesterday and after asking a few questions she thought it would be worth trying medication to treat acid reflux. Glory, glory hallelujah! I feel like I have a whole new child. I think Cael wanted to be happy and easy going before, but he just felt too crummy to smile and contentedly hang out. Since I gave him the Prevacid this morning, however, he has been smiling and laughing and just chill! I love it. Coincidentally, I've been in a great mood all day because I no longer feel like the worst mother in the history of the earth. God bless the makers of Prevacid!

Draper Temple

On Sunday, my family had the opportunity to visit the open house for the new Draper Temple. It was beautiful and so much fun to tour the new temple with my family--even Cael came along.  It will be great to have a new temple in the valley and I hope you all get a chance to visit the open house in the upcoming months.

Best Friends

The other night I got to hang out with one of my best friends in the whole wide world. Ruth has been in England for a little over a year where her husband, Marcos, was doing a masters program in International Politics at the University of Manchester. I've missed her terribly and was so excited to see her again. I don't think Shaun and I have ever met a couple with whom we got along so well. You know, sometimes the wives get along and the husbands don't or vice versa or maybe the wives get along with the wives and the husbands get along with the husbands, but one husband bugs the other wife or something like that. Ruth and Marcos, you're the greatest and we're so glad that you're back in the States!

Cael's First Christmas

We had such a fun Christmas this year and really enjoyed spending time with our fun family! Brandon and Janae came to visit with their kids for a few days and we had a blast! We miss them lots and can't believe how big they're getting. Chelsea's Baby Ayden also enjoyed opening his presents and is the funniest little kiddo I've ever met. Here are some pics of our Christmas morning - I only wish I had a picture of Ayden playing with his new toy vacuum!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas . . .

So, I've finally started feeling like Christmas is coming. I've been so busy feeding baby and trying to catch a few Zs every chance I get that Christmas has really snuck up on me. This weekend, however, the snow and the fact that I started doing some Christmas-y things have me really feeling the Christmas spirit. Yesterday Shaun and I took care of some Christmas shopping and then I went to see the Nutcracker at the Capitol Theatre with my sister and some friends. It was so much fun! Then this morning Shaun and I went downtown again to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. The weather and streets were crazy and I almost wondered if we'd make it. That being said--it was totally worth all the effort! We thoroughly enjoyed the concert and the chance to get away for a few minutes. And finally, this evening Shaun and I set up our Christmas tree. There's glitter all over the front room, but I'm really enjoying the warm glow of the lights as I sit here typing this. The new Cranberry Spice Scentsy we've got going isn't hurting things either. Merry, merry everyone!