Smiles

This weekend we had some fun visitors come and stay with us Saturday night. Phil's sister Brittany came to see Bruin and our friends Walter and Aria stayed the night on their way from St. George to Brentwood. We had quite the full apartment! Aria is 8 months pregnant and so cute! We just chatted the whole time about pregnancy, labor, etc while the guys talked football. Then we watched THE OFFICE, which we DVRd from Thursday. LOVE THAT SHOW! Thanks for coming to see us Brittany, Walter, and Aria!

Phil left with my dad for the bay area today so my mom and I get to have a girls night tonight :) Watching last week's Biggest Loser and eating breakfast, or whatever we want, enjoying not having to cook a dinner tonight! As much as its sad to have our husbands leave, I love spending time with my mom, just us!

For baby news, Bruin is starting to give us little smiles now, its so fun! He was smiley this morning while I was on the phone with my sister and I caught a little on video.

Obsession

For those of you who are willing to admit your complete obsession with the Twilight books, like me, Stephanie Meyer posted a partial draft of the book she was writing "Midnight Sun" which is the first book re-written in Edward's point of view. I guess it had been leaked so she got mad and just posted what she had, suspending the publishing of it indefinitely :( Anyways, I had read a sample of it on her website a few months ago but this is way more...264 pages of reading heaven!! For the past two days I have been able to do nothing but read it and can't WAIT until Bruin goes down for naps so I can read some more! Here is the link to those of you who didn't know this treasure was out there. Warning: You will love Edward even more, if its possible :) The link is http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html
Go to the bottom of the page and click on Midnight Sun Partial Draft
Enjoy!!

Yesss

Bruin slept from 9:15pm-3:15am last night!! Then after eating he went right back down until 7am! I was thrilled! I got 8 hours of sleep- holy cow I feel spoiled :) I am hoping this is the start to better sleeping, but don't worry I won't get my hopes up just yet...

Baby Wise

So has anyone heard of the book, BabyWise? Its about how to put babies on consistent sleep/wake schedules....The trick being the "feed, then waketime, then sleep" cycle and consistent feedings that help babies organize themselves so parent and baby know what to expect from each other.

I've taken some of the advice from it and I'm quite happy and would recommend it to anyone to read and consider because Bruin has gotten on a pretty consistent schedule now. I even know what to expect at night almost on the dot. He'll sleep from 9:15pm-12:45am then 1:15am-4am and then 4:30am - 6:15am (when I try to hold him off for another half hour or so with his pacifier while I get my last winks in) and start the day between 6:30 and 7. During the day he eats about every 3 hours and takes 3 to 4 naps. Once he's 3 months though it talks about letting him cry it out when going down for naps and I just don't think I can do it! I hate hearing him cry and that look he gives me when I come in to get him is so sad! Right now I rock him to sleep and then hold him until he passes from the REM sleep to his deeper sleep to put him down. I know I can't always do this because he needs to learn to put himself to sleep but it works for now.. and if I don't do it this way he usually wakes up early and is cranky from not getting his full nap! Has anyone else used the "cry it out" method, and what advice would you give? I am all about hearing how different mothers do things because it helps me to take bits and pieces and try them on to form my own way that fits. My friend Joy, and all my sisters, know this because I'm always texting them with questions of "How did YOU do this?" Anyways, if you have methods for anything that you've liked about raising babies please share, I would love it!


Other news..
Well I went to the doctors yesterday for my 6 week postpartum check up and all went well. Unfortunately the doctor had no idea what my chills were from. Her only thought was maybe the making of breastmilk was like how after you eat a big meal you get cold because a lot of your blood goes to your stomach to digest... oh well. I haven't gotten them the past few nights so maybe they're gone.. hope so! Anyways, she gave me a prescription for the mini-pill and holy cow it was $35 a pack! grrr I'm willing to pay it though because I am NOT getting pregnant again for a long time! As wonderful as babies are, my body is shot and needs time to recuperate for the next!

Chills

For the past few weeks I have been experiencing chills at night that no matter how many blankets, sweatshirts, heating blankets I put on I am still freezing! It seems to occur right after I pump... (I pump bottles instead of nurse most of the time) My sister had the same thing happen to her when she was breastfeeding at night. Does anyone know something about this? I tried googling it but everything I found talks about mastitis and I know its not that. The only thing I can think of is that when I lose the calories from the milk maybe my body has nothing to burn to keep me warm or something? Any thoughts or knowledge would be greatly appreciated! Cuz when you've only got about 2 hours to sleep between feedings you don't want to be sitting there shivering! Thanks!

My List

Sometimes when you're having a bad day, the best thing to do is to make a list of all the things you are looking forward to or are thankful for. Today is one of those days so here is my list I thought up!

Things I Am Looking Forward To:
10. Fitting back into my old clothes
9. The BYU vs. Utah game
8. Bruin to fit into his 0-3 month clothes. There are so many cute outfits just sitting in the closet wanting to be worn!
7. My sister April coming to visit!
6. Bruin's baby blessing
5. The new season of The Office to start!
4. Going on vacation with the Barneys
3. The Twilight movie to come out! Even though I'm sure the Edward in the movie won't measure up to the Edward in my imagination ;)
2. Christmas! My whole family is getting together in Utah for the holiday this year for probably the last time (because our families are getting so big and spread out).
1. Bruin to sleep through the night... Oh pleeease let me get some sleep little man!

Seattle and BYU games

Thanks to all who voted in my Poll about going to Seattle and for the advice shared! I am sooo glad I decided to take the trip there. It was so much fun being with my sister that I decided to stay a week longer! My sister April is an amazing woman I've discovered. She is a great mom, a supportive sister and amazing friend.. and I can't forget- an awesome cook! We spent every day hanging out, going on walks by the river, watching Redbox movies, and just keeping each other company through the long days (and nights) of being a mother! The day I went home was so sad because I knew it would be awhile until I got to see her and my little nephew again. Those of you out there that live near your siblings- You are so lucky so count your blessings! I want to live by my sisters more than anything! I am so grateful to my parents for raising us all to be friends and enjoy each other.
Anyways, that is my dream to have all my sisters move to California so we can be buddies and so can our kids! Here are some pictures of our week.

The guys had so much fun at the BYU game and even met Ty Detmer there! In this pic is my Dad, Ty Detmer, Phil, and my brother in law Devin.


At the game



The plane ride to Seattle was a breeze cuz Bruin slept the entire time! On the first plane the tray table in front of me was HUGE so I just set him on it on the Boppy! It was great! Too bad that plane trip back to Fresno wasnt so easy... Yeah, I spent more than half of the flight standing in the isle bouncing him so he wouldn't cry... He was just soo alert and then he peed all over himself and his blankets so I had to change him in the tiny bathroom... oh it was so stressful but oh well- you win some you lose some!



Celebrating after the game and riding in the H2 Hummer my dad rented! So fun



Mom and Dad


Bruin LOVED tummy time and bath time with Aunt April!



My cute nephew at the park. He is so funny - I was laughing all the time at his "tricks" he would do. What a happy/fun personality he's got!



Out and about Seattle


Then this weekend Phil flew to Utah and went to the BYU vs UCLA game with my parents and some family friends. Yes, my dad and husband are hard-core BYU fans and fly around going to BYU games every weekend :) Phil had fun in Provo/Salt Lake that weekend hanging out with his cousins and friends. We both flew back home on Sunday and got to spend Monday home together because he had work off. Now we are back to real life- Phil working in mud holes and me hanging with Bruin and rushing to get things done between his naps!

What do you think?

So Phil, my dad, and my mom are all flying to Seattle to go to a football game this weekend. My sister April lives there and I would LOVE to go but am nervous about Bruin being too young and little and also scared it will stress me out trying to travel there and back and all that. I am not excited though about staying home alone all weekend with no relief and stuck in the house all day. Vote in my poll and let me know what you think!

Eventful Weekend

This weekend we got a nice break from the same ol' routine days with a visit from Grandma Casper and Aunt Jessica, as well as a trip to the beach! Sanette and Jessica flew in on Friday afternoon and we all just hung out and played with Bruin until they had to leave Sunday morning. Grandma Casper treated us to some yummy pork chops and rice, Phil's favorite and a real treat for us, especially since we now get lame-o, thrown together dinners from me these days!
We then drove up to Watsonville with my parents Sunday night and stayed at my Grandmas place. The next day after working on some projects there we took a trip to the beach.

Grandma Casper with Bruin


Taking a break under the pier in Monterey




It was a little chilly in the shade so we turned Bruin into an Eskimo


We ate at this awesome fish joint near Monterey. My dad ordered for us and did a great job picking out the best stuff on the menu. We liked that the restaurant was named "Phil's" :)



Pooped from the long weekend. And finally starting to fit into the Newborn size clothes we have!




We also have some video of his first REAL bath in the baby bath. He seemed to like it the first time but not so much since...