An Eventful Week

I guess it's more like an eventful month, so eventful that I haven't had a chance to blog about it.  My son is one, what?!!  Still need to post on that day, but we'll just start with this week for now.  

1.) Mckay got his first haircut today 

Before

Look how old I am!

Why is this lady cutting my bangs straight across dumb and dumber style??  Hope mom says something.

 Whatever you do, don't take away my sucker.  And please excuse my mom's random curly Q hair.

After

I look goood!

2.) Bryan got accepted to dental school

He is my inspiration.  He is the most hard working, tenacious, persistent person I know.  Don't let someone tell you you can't do something because they are wrong and my husband is living proof of that.  We had a stressful few years with lots of prayers and lots of tears.  We learned patience.  It would be nice if I could perfect that skill so I wouldn't have to keep learning it.  We grew closer together.  We learned to turn to our Heavenly Father who comforted and directed us.

It feel so good to have a plan, when we have live a pretty spontaneous life our first three years of marriage.  I don't even know how to do this whole planning thing anymore.  
Oh, and I finally get to use my wedding gifts that are stored in my parents attic. No more furnished apartments for us!

I'm Late

But late is better than never right?

Happy Halloween, from our little cow.

Miami Zoo

About a month ago we took McKay to the zoo for the first time. 

My fav were the giraffes.

Bry loved the Rhino

And McKay was most excited about leaves.

 The best part was that we saved $40 and got in for free.  Thank you library card (and miamiflonthecheap.com)! 

 

Pictures by Grandma

About a week ago my mom took some pictures of McKay.  He was kind of out of his element so he wasn't his smiley self, but she did a fantastic job.  How is my sweet boy almost a year?  He is growing up way to fast.  He took a step on his own yesterday.  It makes me sad as he becomes more and more independent.  My baby is becoming a toddler.  Part of me wants time to freeze and for him to stay in this sweet, innocent, and still very dependent stage forever.  However I love watching him experiencing new things.   He is so giddy when I take him to the park and he swings and slides.   I love the excitement on his face when he sees daddy walk through the door.  I love watching them play, while dad is so happy and baby laughs so hard he gasps for air.  Every time he eats, he reaches over for me to have a bite and giggles when I do.  He is the only person in the world that enjoys my singing.  He smiles at strangers and will let almost anyone hold him.  However, when he is sick, teething, or tired he is clingy to me, which I kinda love.  This little boy makes my life so full and meaningful.  He is my little buddy that goes with me everywhere.  I am so humbled and grateful that Heavenly Father trusted me to be his mother.  

Mommy Flying Tips

Only in Miami...
Would our evening walk include a random woman interrupting her phone call to tell us, "You need to cover him.  He's cold!"

WHAT?  It's 85 degrees outside!  And he has footed jammies. 

This pic isn't the best quality...but you get the idea.  There is a higher chance that he is sweating than him being cold. 

On a side note, McKay is an expert traveler.  Every time we fly people say, "Is this his first flight?"  The follow up question is, "do you always fly alone?"  I laugh at the first question because I calculated that McKay has been on 7 flights (14 including departure and return).  6 of them had at least one layover.  Therefore he has been on 28 Different planes at 10 months.  Crazy!  That kid is a trooper.  Because of this he actually flies quite well.  Or maybe I am just less frazzled because it is no big deal now and it rubs off on him.  Regardless, when I reflected how I flew most recently without any random people helping me, I realized my flying skills are improving.  Especially in comparison to the first time when random people were helping me left and right.  I realize this is no major feat in comparison to the many women that fly alone with several kids, but for me it is!

Because I would have loved these tips before flying with the babe, I will share a few things I have learned.

MOMMY FLYING TIPS:

1.  Don't try to breastfeed on the plane- It is extremely awkward when you are elbowing large men sitting next to you.

2.  You can fill bottles with water to go through security.  How did I not know this till the most recent flight?  I knew they did this for breast milk, but not plain water.

3.  Keep it simple- backpack, shoulder bag that goes over the stroller.  Check the carseat.  If there is a chance there is an open seat next to you and you have someone helping you bring it to the gate, but I usually don't have those luxuries.  I bring a big shoulder bag and backpack now because it fits more than my diaper bag and I don't have to check a bag.  I throw a smaller bag in my shoulder bag that I'll be able to use on a day to day basis.

4.  Books!  McKay is entertained by books forever.  He gets tired of other toys but can look at books over and over again.  His favorites have mirrors or random things to feel.

5.  Aisle Seat.

6.  Pacifier- helps their ears.  (this is the one thing everybody told me to do before first flight.)  Use a clip for the pacifier so it doesn't fall in the toilet on the airplane...yes this has happened before!  Don't worry I threw it away.

7.  Hand sanitizer- the kind safe for babies to put their hands in their mouth after use.

8.  Tylenol and teething gel- just in case.
9.  If all else fails, there are people all over the place more than willing to help you!  People love babies.

If anything, writing this down will help me next time I have a baby!  Anyone else have any travel tips?

10 months

How is my baby almost 10 months?  I wish time would slow down a little.  

A few tidbits about McKay at 10 months:

1.  He follows me around our apartment and says "mum, mum, mum, mum"

2.  He crawls around us and claps while Bryan and I do our insanity workout.

3.  He eats most things (even Bryan's notes), except baby food. He is getting to the point where he  wants to feed himself.  Favorites are refried beans, wheat toast, cheese chunks, oatmeal, and banana.  He drinks from a sippy cup.

4.  If he doesn't want to eat something, he sticks his tongue out and spits it out.

5.  He has just learned how to wave.

6.  He LOVES books.  I can read him book after book and he just sits there contently and helps turn the pages.

7.  He hates getting his diaper and clothes changed.  He gets extremely distracted.

Trying to change the diaper, then scurried off to get Grandpa's delicious food.  Looks dangerous, right?

8.  He walks around the furniture and loves scaring me by pushing chairs around the apartment.

9.  He is still huge.  25 lbs and 29.5 in.  He wears 18 or 24 mo. clothes.  Everyone thinks his is like 18 months.

He crawled over and sat right on the scale.  We were cracking up.

10.  He won't let me be on my computer without attacking it, so yes he is sleeping.

11.  He loves his dad.  They play and crack up together for a while when his dad comes home.

12.  Peekaboo with dad makes McKay so excited and giddy, but scared, so he has to hold my leg and giggle, while periodically burying his head in my leg while dad hides behind the couch.

13.  The vacuum scares him so bad.  I have to hold him while vacuuming, which makes things difficult.
14.  He loves getting into anything and everything.
Scenario 1:

Scenario 2:

15.  He sleeps 10-11 hours at night.  He takes two naps that are not always as long as they should be. 

16.  He likes his pacifier, and can put it back in his mouth, which is nice.  Don't know when you are supposed to take the binky away?

17.  He is just getting over a cold.  I hate when he is sick.  It makes me feel so bad.

18.  He loves to crawl up to me, nestle his head into my chest, and then suck my chin and laugh.  

19.  He's pretty happy-go-lucky.

Camping for the first time, August 2011

20.  I just love this little boy!  It makes me sad that he is becoming more of a little boy and less of a baby. 

A city of fantastic aroma

As many girls can attest, pregnancy causes unpleasant symptoms ranging from swollen fingers to off the wall cravings mixed with hormonal mood swings.  One sense that intensified during these 9 months was the unfortunate ability to more acutely detect random whiffs of sickening men's cologne, ethnic foods, trash, animal poop, mildew, body odor, the list goes on.  Ultimately this led to emptying anything that remained in my stomach.  I predicted giving birth would chase away this hidden talent.  Instead motherhood has taken this skill to a whole new level.  I always wondered why mom's could instantly tell their child had a load in their pants.  Apparently pregnancy prepares us for the tasks ahead.  Fortunately giving birth put an end to the urge to clear out stomach contents, though the acute sense of smell has remained.  

When not pregnant, this skill can be a blessing and not a curse.  As we were walking through the streets of San Francisco last week, I thought about how much I love the city, more specifically the smells of the city.  I love the clean, cool, ocean smell.  Each street explodes with different aromas.  The street outside of our hotel smelled of rich coffee in the morning.  While walking to Fisherman's Wharf, we passed bakeries, a street of Italian restaurants, and little China, each which strong and amazing smells.  I love the smell of fish along the coast.  

AT&T Park smells of mouth watering cinnamon Almonds and hot chocolate (yes it was freezing!)

McKay joined in the Pandamonium

McKay and Grandma

Ghiradelli Square smells of rich chocolate deliciousness

In honor of mi hermana who I love!!

 I am salivating right now thinking sour dough bread smell protruding out of Bodines, and about the best clam chowder bowl I have ever had (which Bry and I shared from there.)  

We had the perfect, most relaxing vacation.  Thanks to our parents, we stayed in a fancy hotel that smelled of rich cologne, fresh paint (not our room thank goodness), and classiness.  We felt slightly under-dressed.

I think we fit in perfectly with this city, don't you?  Cross your fingers that Bryan will rock his interview here next month and we will be experiencing these smells on a more frequent basis.  

These are a few of my favorite things

My parents still make fun of me for being extremely concerned about things at random and inconvenient times, usually when I should have been sleeping.  When I was 12, I was worried that I didn't have a bank account.  I know, this is ridiculous.  I came into my parents room a few times a week around 10:00 at night because I wanted a safe place to keep my cash.  I feel similarly about documenting the life of my son now.  I often get random spurts of fear that my son is growing too fast, that I will forget everything, and that I need to take more pictures and better document our lives.  The problem is, these flashes of fear still come at 10:00 at night, when I am snuggled in bed ready to fall asleep.  So McKay just went down for his afternoon nap and I am ready to highlight some tidbits about him that I don't want to forget, mostly for my sake.

McKay's Favorite Things (8 months)

Swimming- We did Baby and Me swim lessons with my old boss, Amy Morris and McKay loves to swim now.  He has grown up a water baby.  We had him in the pool and ocean since he was like 6 weeks old but I didn't start putting him under and taking him for swims until the beginning of this summer.  He loves the water and I'm so happy because swimming is pretty much part of our daily ritual.

Going Outside-  Since this is my first baby, I'm not sure if this is something all babies love, but he is pretty much always happy when he is outside.  Sometimes when I come home from work in the morning, I find Bry feeding McKay in his high chair outside.

Taken at Zion's in St. George

Babbling- He loves yelling "mamamamamama," "dadadadada" and "bababababa" at the top of his lungs.  He cracks up when you say it back.


Eating- His thighs and belly prove it, but he will eat anything and everything (except pees, which he immediately spits out).

Look at that muffin top!

Soda- Grandpa Reed ruined him.  He seriously reaches with both hands and stares with his mouth wide open when anyone is drinking a soda.  This is what we came home to the other day when Bryan and I got back from a date:

Sassy (our cat)- I have videos of him clobbering her, but maybe we'll save those for another day.  He can't keep his eyes off her if she is in sight.

Little Kids- He is so entertained by kids.  I guess Kylie is a technically a preteen now, but he thinks she is hilarious.  Without her having to do anything, he cracks up the second he sees her.

McKay and all of his cousins

Getting into stuff- His funky 'getting on all fours, rocking, and then doing the worm' crawl is  slowly turning into a legitimate crawl.  Cell phones, laptops, any type of chord, and trash are a few of his favorite things to get into.  I'm realizing I have to be OCD about making sure things are put away.

The Bjorn- I think every new parent needs one of these things.  It is amazing.  I don't use it too often anymore due to the fact that my son weighs 25 pounds and would much rather be getting into stuff, but I used to do everything with him in it.

Fast asleep

Shark Pool Toy- I need to remember to take a picture but he has been carrying that thing everywhere.  

Those are just a few random things I can think of right now.  Life is  so good.  Words can't express how much I love this little dude.  I still have periods of shock where I can't believe he was in my stomach and now he is huge and busy.  I'm sure life will continue to go faster, which is probably why I have my random spurts of fear.    Sometimes I wish life would just slow down a little.   In the meantime, I am going to savor the little moments (like cracking up with McKay today while I made the bed) and keep documenting.  

Coast to Coast

Yes our blog has been extremely neglected, and our life is much different than I thought it would be right now.  That's the story of my life I guess. 

First we'll touch on the most important things.  My baby is almost 7 months old!  Where in the world did time go?  Remember how I said I never wanted him to get older and bigger?  Oh my goodness, I lied.  I love this stage so much.  I love his little smiles and laughs.   I love the way his hair sticks up. I love when he holds my face and babbles to me.  

Here are the 6 month stats for my sake:

21.4 lbs

28 in long

18 in head circumference

According to babycenter.com, he is 90th percentile in everything.  Yikes!  I knew my back has been hurting for a reason.  We had to purchase a new car seat recently.  Note to self:  listen to friends and go for the bigger car seat in the first place!

PS those pics were taken at 6 months by my wonderful mother.  Didn't she do a great job?  Its awesome having a mom that loves taking pictures because sometimes I fail to remember to photograph my child.  

As many of you know, we are not soaking up Miami rays this summer. I totally miss Miami.  I miss our quick beach trips and our fun group of friends there, but Cali had our name on it this summer.

Sadly we had to leave McKay's career to have jobs of our own.  

Probably a good thing, because I would have ended up spending too much money on adorable baby clothes he wore. 


I got out my scrubs and stethoscope out and am living the nightlife.  Honestly, I am grateful to be a nurse.  I love taking care of people and feeling I am making a difference.  I also love that there is the flexibility to do this part time and at nights so that I can be with my sweet boy.  

My hard working husband is studying his brains out and selling alarms on the side.  He is so devoted to doing what he loves.  He was also the cutest dad this past week was the best full time stay at home dad while I did orientation.  

Side note: write my sister Kara in Argentina.  She would absolutely love it!  Even if it's not very long.  You can even email it to me and I can email her if that's easier. 


Life is great.  I have come to realize as long as I have my sweet husband and baby boy I can be happy wherever I am, whether it is my hometown or across the country.  I have a goal to be better at documenting my life because I pretty much fail at any other form of journaling.  I'm considering going private.  Thoughts?

17 Hours...

Until I get my husband back:)

I thought final's week stress would end after nursing school...

Until I realized I've probably got at least 8 more years of school stress.  I am so grateful for how hard Bryan works, but Sometimes that thought overwhelms me so I try not to think about it.  I have so much respect for single parents and moms with husbands in medical and dental schools, and residencies.  I don't know how they do it and days like today I question whether I am strong enough.  I look around at friends in these situations and they seem so put together.  I am grateful for their examples and open to advice... 

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to a relaxing time at the beach with the husband tomorrow afternoon.

 

Amishville

Last week, McKay and I were able to visit my grandma, aunt and kids in PA.  They live in this adorable town with large yards and windy roads.  It was such a relaxing change from the craziness of Miami.  Sadly, I was having too much fun and was not able to capture pictures of the adorable Amish carriages and houses.  Most of all, I regret that I didn't photograph the Zonkey I saw.  You read that right, Zonkey- half zebra, half Donkey.  Weird, I know.

I absolutely loved my trip.  We went to the cute little amish markets, did the Hershey chocolate tour, had some amazing food, and just hung out.  My grandma is amazing.  She is so positive and I want to be her when I grow up!  One of the most important lessons she taught me on this trip is that its ok to eat a little (or a lot!) of chocolate.  We're all going to die at some point anyway, right?  Why not die happy.  

I also learned that my aunt Diane and I are a lot more alike than we thought.  It is interesting how you can grow up far away from someone but still be so much like them.  She was always the "cool aunt" growing up.  I always wanted to be like her, and nothing has changed.  Her kids are absolutely adorable and she is the best little mom.

I am so grateful for this relaxing trip.  I was amazingly able to get a nap in everyday!  Now back to real life.  Why do I always feel like I need to keep myself so dang busy?  For some reason I can't accept the fact that I cannot do everything I used to be able to do pre-baby, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  

 I hope your Easter was filled with lots of treats like mine.  
 

Grandma Bonnie treated McKay to a picture with the Easter bunny during our sweet trip to PA last week

Father-Son Bonding

Chillin and watching the fish after a large, delicious Easter feast.  This was too adorable not to photograph!

I keep thinking of the Chris Farley SNL skit, "diet starts Monday!"  Oh chocolate, how I love and hate you at the same time.

On a more serious note, I am truly so grateful for the Savior and for the knowledge I have of Him.