Drive-in, 24th, and Bear Lake

We went to the drive-in to see The Dark Knight. Honestly I was a little disappointed....oh well. But the family time was totally worth it. The only catch is that our battery died about 2/3 of the way through the movie. Luckily we could hear the movie still from other people's cars, and we found someone to jump us....but it was an adventure nonetheless. We love the drive-in, and love our Subaru for such an occasion. We fold down the back seats, bring tons of blankets and pillows, and make ourselves a perfectly comfortable couch to lounge on! We also bring along a few drinks and treats....because we don't have to pay the stupid theater prices for them.

On the 24th, we got to take some pictures of cpc with his cousin smc. They were perfectly adorable! We also celebrated by attending the parade with pmc's family! We loved watching the floats, and seeing the bands march by....but mostly we just enjoyed time with family. However, I forgot that I'm still not supposed to lift anything over 15 pounds....and played way too much with cousin Jake who is around 25 pounds and 11 months old. When we got home from the parade, I discovered that my post-delivery bleeding had started up again. But then overnight, my abdominal muscles started hurting again. So when we got home from the cabin, we decided to call the doctor. Well, that was the beginning of a stupid chain of events (doctors telling me that I needed to be seen that day) landed us in the ER that night, only to discover that I'm just fine. But we did make one discovery in the ER. Pmc has been telling me occasionally that my heart skips beats. I always thought he was crazy, how can he really tell by just listening on my chest? But he was right. The nurses noticed my heart rate was fluctuating in the ER, and ordered an EKG to make sure everything was okay....I just have an irregular heart rate! Apparently it's no big deal and pretty common! We have no pictures of this adventure because I gave pmc a dirty look when he asked if he should document the lovely event. I was miserable!

Up at the cabin however, something eventful did happen. Cpc finally cuddled with me. He's never done this before. I was so excited I had to get a picture!

Cpc enjoyed his first dip in BEAR LAKE! I was so excited to finally share this pleasure with him, and he even seemed to enjoy it. We went up and stayed at my mom's cabin for the Hooper Family Reunion. Somehow I didn't get any pictures of the craziness there. We had around 55 people in and out of the cabin all day long. But it was fun to see many cousins (and their kids) that live all over the country right now. We played a little bit of volleyball, ate lots of food, hung out at the beach (cpc and his cousin LucyMae seemed to enjoy that), and tried to manage getting some sleep in the chaos. Cpc did not enjoy the heat or the crowd too much. He was the grumpiest he's been....but has been very good since we got home!

I don't know what to think of this....but I have a thumb-sucker! I can hardly believe it because nobody in my family ever did this. But cpc definitely can find his thumb and enjoys sucking on it. Pmc laughed at me when I showed him this picture, because I told him instead of pulling it out and giving him a binky, I thought it was cute and took a picture!

Now please read and comment on the following post!!!!!!

What I've Learned

I learned lots of things about children before I became a mother. Through all of my experience, natural ability, and studies I learned three guiding principles:

1- Trust your instincts! - Children can be very difficult to take care of; because of that EVERYBODY has advice, tricks, things that they found worked every time for their kid.....and are therefore ENTIRELY confident it will work for you and your child. On top of that there are books, magazines, and experts galore telling you exactly what you need to do for your child. But I guarantee that your instincts are right most of the time! I am not saying to throw out all advice and expertise, or to think that you always know what's right. Sometimes there are things you don't have any instincts about, and sometimes your instinct just doesn't work and isn't right. But when you have an instinct about how to properly take care of a child, it's usually correct! Be careful that what you think is an instinct really is just that, not a habit or advice that just seems smart.

2- Mom has the best instincts! - I've taken care of many many children. Most people tell me I just have a knack with them. Most children love me. Many a mother has come home amazed that I actually got their children to go to bed. I'm very good at knowing what children of every age need. It's partly natural, partly experience, and partly study. But when a mom says "my child needs this when this happens," or "that is not what my child needs," as long as she generally tries to be tuned into her children, she's right. No matter how good I am with children, and how much I've learned about them, and how much experience I have with them....I simply cannot know them the way their mother does. No matter how much someone else understands children, nobody knows what cpc needs the way I do.

3- EVERY child is different! - What works for one child may or may not work for another child. There is NO one answer for anything with children. On top of that, children themselves are different from day to day. What works one day may not work tomorrow, and vice versa. Cpc will not be the same as any other child, he is totally unique. He may have similarities, and certain things that are like others, but he will also have differences....many of them.

These are the things that are guiding me through each day as a new mother. In all my experience with children, these are the only three things that have remained true for me. Some days are tough, especially the days when we don't get the sleep we need, and the days when I feel like I'm not quite sure what my son needs. But there are moments each day that make it all worth it. Like when cpc gave his first social smile last night, that totally made our long exhausting weekend worth it.

I've learned lots of things as a new mother....that I do have limits in taking care of children, that no matter how in love I am it takes work to nurture my relationship with my spouse when we have a child, that newborns display their very individual personalities from day one:

Cpc hates to be swaddled...he doesn't like the confinement, and is strong enough to work himself out of it. Cpc has to be swaddled in order to sleep for any extended length of time, so he doesn't startle himself back awake. Cpc therefore has to be swaddled, then held tight so he doesn't work himself out of it until he calms down, and then put to bed. Cpc loves having something to suck on...aka a binky. Cpc knows his parents.

Stroll Down Memory Lane

For the sake of posterity I'm going to go ahead and give in to this "tagging" thing, just this once! We'd really love to have these comments, so if you never do the tagging thing, or comment thing...will you do it just this once for us?

Instructions:
1- As a comment on our blog, leave one memory that you have of one or both of us. It doesn't matter if you know us a little or a lot, anything you remember....
2- You're more than welcome to join the fun and consider yourself tagged, but we don't require it! Atec will try to find the time to return the favor and post a memory on your blog!

THANKS!

p.s. if you read our blog and you don't post a memory....we'll be mad at you! You have no excuse, we allow anonymous comments, but please do let us know who you are if you don't have an account ID.

Blessings & Games

We've had a few people ask us if we're going to keep up with this blogging thing now that we have new responsibilities. At first I kept responding with "we'll just have to see." But now we're realizing that since this is our journal/scrapbook, if we don't keep up with it, we'd be stupid. In the past 2 1/2 weeks so much has happened and cpc has grown and changed so much....at least to us! So the answer is "YES! And maybe even better!" We've made up our minds. However, this may mean that most of the posts will be done by atec while cpc is napping....which is the case right now. Pmc will do his best to get some in!So at the beginning of July cpc received his name and a blessing at Sacrament Meeting by pmc. Pmc was a little nervous, but did a wonderful job. Cpc got to share his blessing day with two of his cousins also, making three sacrament meetings for us. He was a complete angel all day though, even though it was our first Sunday back at church.

In the past weeks we also got to attend some fun events:

We went to the drive-in theater....which I'm so grateful we still have in Salt Lake. We didn't get any pictures of our little setup in the back of our Subaru, but we had a huge setup of blankets and pillows, with plenty of refreshments. We saw Wall-E and Prince Caspian (hence, the song of the week), which we thoroughly enjoyed while cpc slept peacefully.....that's the way to see movies with little kids (it's not so embarrassing when your kid starts screaming in the middle of the movie!).

We attended another Bee's game with pmc's parents and brother's family. Cpc is already just like his Father, with his rally cap at the end of the game! He sure is cute though isn't he?

The next night we went for more baseball, watching the All-Star Game all decked out.As for how we're doing? EXCELLENT! I've gotten my energy back and lost thirty pounds already. Because of that, I am now totally loving being a "stay-at-home mom." I love being able to always make sure cpc has what he needs, and trying to keep up a clean home and a well-fed husband too. Pmc and I feel closer than ever, as our capacity for love has apparently doubled! Life with a child isn't always easy, especially when the economy is slow. We're forking out all our spending money on diapers and wipes, but hey at least we don't have to buy formula too right?

I have to write one more funny thing, not to brag....but because this is our journal, and we need record of these things! At the hospital, the day after cpc was born, my doctor came in to talk to us. I asked when I could start swimming again....and she said "oh, you're a swimmer" as though that really meant something. So then she told us it really wasn't professional to tell us this, but that during the c-section, she and all the other doctors noticed that I had "really ripped abs." She assumed it must be because I swim. Well, really I don't think I swim enough for that, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's because of waterskiing each summer!