THANKS

I'm grateful for:

~Thanksgiving....the Holiday. It's my absolute favorite holiday. I love getting together with family. I love that at least for my side of the family, this holiday minimizes our fighting. I hate that people start decorating for Christmas & playing Christmas music & having Christmas sales before Thanksgiving. It's not that I don't like Christmas, I do, I love it. But I feel like Thanksgiving gets passed right by. I think Christmas should be more like Thanksgiving. I love taking the time to talk about the things that make life so wonderful, and reminding ourselves that even though we don't always have everything we want/need, we have a lot. So to the pilgrims & indians, Thanks for Thanskgiving! Mmm, I can hardly wait for my 2nd Thanksgiving dinner!

~A husband who works so hard that he does this during a family party...

~The talent to be able to do this without any guidance from anyone on my first try, and have it taste good...

~A mother who loves to have big get-togethers with lots of good food....except she hasn't emailed us the pictures yet! We had an early Thanksgiving dinner last Sunday because she doesn't have the kids for Thanksgiving this year. So it was a big party with all of the step-family. Pictures coming soon.

~A husband who is passionate. Like super passionate. Like he's been agonizing over "the big game" for weeks. Although it wasn't planned, Cpc & I got to attend the game with him. Boy was I happy that they won, it means Pmc won't be depressed for the next year. Mostly I'm glad that both football and baseball season are now over (exempting the final BCS bowl) and I get my husband back. Anyone ever seen "Damn Yankees" the musical? Anyway, the game was FANTASTIC, and Cpc totally dug the whole shabang.

~A child who proves to me every day his thrill for life.

1-He's been dying to get his mouth around some good solid food for at least 2 months now. We finally started rice & oatmeal cereal the past two weeks. I've cared for many babies, and I've never seen a child TOTALLY get how to eat the very first time. He didn't have a problem with the texture at all. I didn't have to give it to him runny, or mixed with breastmilk or anything. He got the spoon in his mouth, took the food, let the spoon go, swallowed the food.....like he'd been doing it all along. And he LOVED it.

2-He is totally thrilled that he can get himself wherever he wants now. He knows that rolling around gives him access to whatever he wants to get his hands & mouth on. He loves it. However, this also means he doesn't care for sitting. Until three days ago, he wouldn't even try. If you placed him in sitting position, he'd just bend over and get on his tummy so he could roll around. Luckily, he spent a little time with his cousin Lmze this week, and she's so proud of herself for her sitting abilities that I think Cpc got jealous. So he'll sit for a while if he has a cousin sitting in front of him to play with.

3-His favorite toys are the simplest. He loves "baby paper" which is fantastic stuff his Aunt Swc gave him. He also really enjoys his plastic goblet, and the wooden spoon. It's like he wants to know exactly how stuff works at what it's for. So if it's interesting enough for me to use, it's a toy for him. He also loves the phone, especially when I put it on speaker with his daddy talking to him.

Aside from pictures, I have a few other things I want to express my gratitude/love for.

~Pmc! Yes, I absolutely adore my husband, and my love for him has grown exponentially in the past 2 weeks. His greatest joy is to make me happy. I can see it in his eyes every time I look at him. Those GORGEOUS blue eyes melt me. I love the way he still opens the car door for me, always carries Cpc's carseat for me, helps around the house willingly, and supports every wish & dream I have. He makes every day "the best day of my life." The rest is between us! Thanks honey! I love you!

~Cpc! Of course. I've been meaning to share the things I'm loving about him for a while now. He changes so fast it's hard to keep up. So here goes: the way he really understands cuddling now, the way he nestles his face in my neck when he's tired or sad, how he squints his eyes and crinkles his nose when he's laughing (just like me), the way he raises his eyebrows & crinkles his forehead when he's excited (just like me), how he loves loves loves the water (just like Pmc & I), how he looks at me when he's eating or falling asleep and hears a noise to see if everything's okay, how he's already such a flirt especially with girls, how he loves his cousins & talks to them, how he's already polite (see video of Cpc & Lmze) even when he's being attacked, how he holds onto my lip or nose when he's eating or falling asleep, the way he needs a good cuddle & a story and a little rocking to help him get drowsy & then can easily fall asleep on his own in his bed, how he's very patient with me when I get upset that he's not having a good night, how he charms all my violin students & their parents, his cute dimples on his shoulders, how much he's teaching me about love & patience, the way he's totally showing me up in the "passion for life" category, the way he charms his dad into getting anything he wants (like being picked up from his cradle when he's supposed to be sleeping), how he totally has a protest scream (this is not a sad or mad scream, it's a "hello?" pause "hello?" pause  "what about me?" scream), how his eyes get pink and he starts rubbing them when he's tired, how he uses the exact same stretches as me when he's waking up (hands behind the head to arch the back, flex the feet to stretch the legs, etc.), how he can pick Pmc & I out of a crowd for reassurance. Okay, I think that's enough for now.

~One last thing I'm grateful for. I've always thought that the whole aromatherapy thing was a joke. I thought people just chose flavors they liked and made them into something that relaxes them. Then we started using the "clinically proven" nightime Johnson & Johnson baby bath & lotion that someone gave us. I don't have any idea if it's been helping Cpc or not. But when I was using the baby wash that first night, I was totally feeling sedated. So, since it has Lavendar in it, I decided to make an attempt to help my sleep (it's been taking me a LOOOONNNNNGGGG time to fall asleep ever since half-way through my mission). I went and bought some B&BW pillow mist, Lavender & Chamomile. Oh boy does it work. I couldn't believe it at first. It honestly makes my whole body relax the moment I lay my head down, like I'm almost convinced it has drugs in it to sedate me. So I'm grateful for 3 nights of EXCELLENT sleep so far. Now I'm not so annoyed when Cpc wakes up too many times at night, because it's easy to get back to sleep.

I'm sorry for blabbing a lot, I'm going to use the excuse again that this is a journal! Goodnight!

The Greatest Time of the Year!

That's right... this is my favorite part of the year.  I love the months that include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and our Anniversary.  These next 2-3 months are just nice... lots of family time, lots of chances to give hugs and sing songs, and just general opportunities to reflect on how good life really is from certain vantage points.  I also kinda like that college football is winding down ... it distracts me so much, and after a long baseball season in which my Red Sox were rather successful, I'm looking forward to being productive again!  (I'm sure atec appreciates that as well.)

Can I just say, being a Dad is wonderful.  On Friday, one of my best friends became a Dad as well, and seeing him holding his new son brought back such joyful memories of when cpc joined us.  If you've read this very often, you know that cpc has his difficulties like any other kid, and that can be tough.  But it's wonderful too.  I sure love cpc's anxiousness to be smiling.  He and I can each be doing our own thing, and then suddenly look at each other and cpc does his big wide-mouthed grin.  It strikes a chord within me than can't be touched by anyone else, even atec.  There is a part of me that only he gets.  And when I'm having a hard time, I can look at him and be lifted up by his confidence in me and I feel empowered by him cause I can tell already that I'm his hero.  That feels really good.   I know enough from my studies to know that cpc has a very healthy and strong primary attachment to his mom, and that's great.  I'm ok with being secondary because I can still see how he's always looking at me - always ready for the little moments when I return the favor and strike a special chord in his little heart.  Even though it doesn't work out every night, I enjoy going on walks with atec and cpc, and coming home to give him a bath and send him to bed.  And when I get home from work or school, I LOVE the excited smile he gives me as a welcome home present.  He is sweet and beautiful, and together with atec, is the greatest thing I have in this life.  I couldn't imagine being without either of them for eternity. 

Another blessing of being a Dad is gaining a greater appreciation for my own parents.  They are absolutely, completely, and inarguably fantastic. So many times they sacrificed their wants so that we kids coulds have more.  I know more surely now that they would do anything for me because I know what it's like to have a son that you would do anything for. I love them.

As for school and work, I guess they're getting a little bit better only because I'm getting a little bit closer to being done with them.  I'm looking forward to grad school, and feeling better and better about it.  I'm shopping around for one more place to apply besides Utah State, UC Davis, and (shiver shiver) the Y.  (I still can't bring myself to writing out all three letters... I'd be a pilgrim in an unholy land if I went there!)  But such is life.  We go where we're led, and I feel like I should apply there.

I wanted to put Daddy's Homecoming on the music player, but I couldn't find it.  So I've opted for probably my favorite song without words.   It's probably not the first time you've heard it.  But I felt it was a good time because I'm discovering 'All of Me" through fathering and being stretched in my life right now.  It's a good happy song, and I feel good and happy right now.

Halloween & Beyond

Okay....yes we're way behind. I hardly know where to start when so much time has gone by....I've got to keep up with the weekly posts!

So, in the past two weeks, I maxxed out my violin studio. I now have 10 students, with 2 more that my sister CDEE is giving to me in January when she moves. I am honestly barely keeping up with them, but really, I am absolutely loving it. I somehow found the joy in teaching violin, and I am so grateful. I love being able to keep CPC by my side, and still give him the attention he needs. I have the greatest students, as well as the greatest families. See, with teaching the Suzuki Method, family is SUPER involved. I work with the students and their parents. I really got lucky this round.

We enjoyed our annual Halloween get-together with the Naylors. This year the Johnsons joined us, now that JJ found a wife! Sadly, the Severinsens and the Mathesons didn't make it this year. We had bread-bowl-soup and played "Curses," but didn't get to carve pumpkins. We also forgot to take pictures....oops.

For Halloween we took CPC "treating," by treating some family & friends to a viewing of our little Giraffe. He totally LOVED being in that costume....why? Well, everyone was paying attention to him for starters, but he also enjoyed getting to have something to totally surround his face....so he could suck on it! Besides that, he got to stay up and play for an extra hour before taking a nap. This picture from the Mom's Club Halloween Party shows his costume well, but that face......?

We also spent the past couple weeks figuring out CPC's sleeping habits. Yes, he still hates to sleep. He still gives his wide eyes that make him look like he's not tired at all, but he is. He has learned to fall asleep in his own bed again. He sleeps at night, waking only once or twice to eat. He takes a nap every 2 hours whether he looks tired or not. And the best bonus of all this, he rarely gets overtired anymore, which means he can always fall asleep at nap-time and he is always happy when he's awake! PMC and I are feeling so much better. We feel like we have our child back! We can tell that CPC is happy about it too, he seems to feel understood.

On Sunday, we enjoyed getting to attend my little brother, HDHE's ordination as a Teacher. Afterwards we went to my Mom's house for dinner, which we haven't done in ages. We enjoyed playing mind games.....literally. Have you ever heard of the games "Umbrella" or "What I Like"? Again, no pictures there.

We highly recommend going to "Bodyworlds." We went on Friday morning with Aunt HCO and her kids, AO & SO. We learned so much, and it was so worth the money. 

Besides all of this:

We voted. It snowed....this is CPC getting warm after his first walk in the snow, the day after we voted. They gave him his own sticker because it was his "first voting experience."

CPC discovered his reflection in the mirror. He really likes to laugh at himself.

CPC had his first bubble bath, which he LOVED.

PMC attended the "Blackout" game at the U. It looked pretty cool to see a stadium of black.

CPC ended up as a pumpkin for our Halloween picture, because we just couldn't get a really good shot of him in his giraffe.

Oh and CPC can now roll both ways, and get himself up on his knees. Please tell me this kid won't be crawling next week! However, he seems to be camera shy on that one.

Just A Note

I know we're like the last people to post Halloween pictures. Our apologies. We are going to get some better pictures tonight, and I'll get up a post as soon as we can. In the meantime, we added a few pictures to the slideshow.....my sweet friend AP took the first four of cpc. THANKS AP!