Ready for a New Year!

I have to preface this by saying, Jameson is one of the absolute best things to ever happen to me. My life changed for the better the day he was born and I am so extremely thankful for him to the point that I could burst. I cannot even begin to put into words how much I love him and he truly is a blessing to all who know and love him. However...I am so very glad to say goodbye to 2011. What a horribly tragic year for so many people whom I care about. I am ready to start fresh and am hoping 2012 brings hope, happiness and health to all of those around me. We have some exciting things happening...a baby turning 1 (sheds tear), the much awaited birth of my precious niece, the big 3-0 birthday for someone who shall remain nameless, and much more that only time will tell. I clearly have enjoyed every minute of the last almost 10 months with my sweet baby boy, but am definitely ready to ring in the new year with my loved ones and look forward to what 2012 has in store!

Happy New Year!!!!

Beautiful photo of Baby J - courtesy of Sarah Rogers Photography. Silly embellishment - courtesy of yours truly.

Bean's 1st Christmas!!

Ahh, I love this day!! Christmas this year was 10x better just because of precious little JR. He is by far the best gift ever....even though we made out like bandits this year! Christmas Eve was fun - we celebrated with the Webers during the day - had a wonderful time chatting, eating and opening presents. The cousins had great fun together. Then we went to church at 2PC at 5:00. Jameson seemed to enjoy the singing. After church, we went to my parents for dinner and then came home to start our family Xmas Eve traditions. This included getting into Christmas jammies, leaving out treats for Santa, sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn, reading Twas the Night Before Christmas as a family and then (kind of) watching Mickey's Christmas Carol. So. Much. Fun.

We woke up Christmas morning around 7:45 and opened presents as a little family. Got it all on video thanks to Santa for bringing us a tripod for our video camera! Jameson had a good time opening the presents and then immediately playing with each one. We had to take a breakfast break in between opening gifts, but overall, Jameson did a great job! He was exhausted after everything, so he took a little nap and then we all got cleaned up to head over to my parents' house for the day/evening. We made a pit stop at the cemetery to drop off an ornament for Lauren - Jameson was finally awake during this visit, so it was a special moment.

Of course when we walked in to my parents' house, we were greeted by my Dad singing, "Christmas is coming...I can hardly wait". This is an annual tradition with my Dad - he will start singing it the day after Christmas each year...maybe this is why I get so excited for Christmas! Jameson was a bit tired by the time everyone got there, so the girls iced cookies while baby boy napped. After he was rested, we opened gifts and of course Jameson got SPOILED! He and Braden were so much fun to watch.  For the rest of the afternoon, we all played with our toys, helped Mom make dinner, and then the Finns came over to eat. We all ate way too much and had a good time catching up. It was a wonderful night and I left feeling even more blessed.

All in all, I think Jameson's first Christmas was a huge success. I know that I probably spent too much money and worry on getting everything perfect for him even though he really did not quite understand what was going on. But, that is what I do, so no big surprise (I guess I take after my parents in this respect too!). Next year will be even more fun, as I think he will understand a bit more and begin to appreciate the magic and joy of Christmas.


Merry Christmas to all...and to all a goodnight!

Opening presents at Gma and Gpa Webers!

The big kids got a bouncy house from Gma and Gpa Weber!

So happy it's Christmas time!

Hanging with Daddy!

At church on Christmas Eve

Jameson and Hoyt tried to steal Santa's cookies! And, then we sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn!

Christmas morning!!

Opening presents!

So cute.

Stopped to thank me for all of his presents!

All of Jameson's presents from Grandma Debbie and Ray (and Santa!)

He's on the loose! Heading straight for his presents!

I LOVE my Little People Airplane!

So big!

Braden was showing Jameson how to use his new car!

Thanks Gma Debbie and Ray for spoiling me!!

One of the best gifts ever! My parents recorded themselves reading The Night Before Christmas with music for Jameson. It is an amazing gift that will be cherished.

Man, someone is spoiled!!!! Thanks everyone who made this Christmas amazing!

Christmas is Coming!

As Braden used to say, Mismus is Coming!! A phrase that Darin and I still say to this day! For those of you who know me, you know that I turn into a little kid around Christmas time. It is by far my favorite time of year and I am so excited to be sharing it with Jameson this year. I hope to be able to instill this type of excitement in him as well when he gets older! And, I cannot wait to start traditions with him. We will probably handle things similar to how Darin and I grew up because I have so many amazing memories and traditions that I still look forward to even now as an adult. The Christmas spirit is upon me, that's for sure...so I figured I would share a little with you. Here are some pics from Jameson's 9 month session. We decided to go all Christmassy for a few...Tis the Season! The other non-Christmas ones will be saved for a non-Christmas post!

Merry Christmas...almost!

Ho Ho Ho

One of my favorites!!

He was fascinated by those lights!

His face cracks me up in this one!

So big! And, so darn cute.

Family shot

Showing off his standing skills!

And, thanks Sarah Rogers Photography for the awesome pictures!

Working Mom vs. Stay at Home Mom

No, I am not quitting my job and no, I don't have a choice in this matter. I have to work. Darin and I enjoy our lifestyle way too much for me to not work!! And, I really do love my job and my company. But, unlike what most people told me, it is not getting easier to leave Jameson as time goes on. It is actually harder. I have had a really rough few weeks with leaving him in the morning. And, I am even leaving him with people who love him so incredibly much!! I am not sure what is going on with me, but I think it is partially because of the age he is. He is just so much fun right now and I want to literally spend every minute with him. It's bad...when he is sleeping in his crib at night, I physically miss him! I also think it may be because he is more aware of the fact that I am leaving now. Whatever it is, that drive to work after I drop him off has become a bit of a lamenting session for me. I am typically fine once I get to work and get immersed in things, but it's still tough. I catch myself looking at pictures on my phone quite a bit!

Honestly though, I am not sure being a stay-at-home Mom would be a good job fit for me. I like to be around the people, I like the challenge of my job and I like using the skill set that it takes for me to do it every single day. And, I know how incredibly challenging it is to be a SAHM. I see just how much I treasure my time with Jameson now...would it be the same if I saw him all day, every day? Yeah, probably, but I am just trying to make myself feel a little better :). Anyway, I know that when Jameson is in school, I will be glad I have a job that I love coming to each day. It will just be a challenge until then. Luckily, I can sneak in a few snuggles over my lunch break if my withdrawal symptoms become too much for me to handle!

On that note...it's time to go home, which means I have about 4 minutes until I get greeted with a huge smile and hug from the sweetest little boy.

How could you not miss that little face during the day?!
Thanks for the picture, Michelle!

Ready to show off my walking skills for you, Ma!

9 Months - Happy 3/4ths Birthday!!

Wow. That is all I will say because we all know what I am thinking...is he really 9 months?! We had his 9 month appointment on Friday and he weighs 22lbs. 2oz. (75%), is 29.5 inches (75%) and his peanut head is 17 3/8 inches (25%). He did really well with his hep B shot, flu shot booster, and the heel prick for hemocrit testing...was a champ as usual!

Good times as always with our little bean! I swear right after his 8 month post, he learned how to do a ton of new things:

• I can stand unassisted for pretty long stretches of time. Mom gets SUPER excited when I stand on my own, so I am trying really hard to learn how to do it without falling on my tush after a minute or two.
• I still haven't quite mastered crawling on all fours. I can get up on all fours and rock and take a few strides, but then I get sick of that. But, I can army crawl and/or roll to get where ever I want to go, so I am not too worried, plus...
• I prefer to walk. I can take lots of steps across the living room with my new walker. Or if someone lets me hold their fingers, I will just start cruising all over the place. I also cruise while holding onto the couch or ottoman.
• I can officially clap on my own. And, I do it a lot when someone says "yay!".
• Mom taught me how to high five and I think it's so fun!
• I can wave hello and goodbye and always have a big smile while doing it.
• I dance, kind of. I get this adorable little smile on my face and start rocking back and forth. Mom always chants, "dance, baby, dance!", so I shake my little tush.
• Talking is definitely one of my favorite things. I discovered again just how loud I can get, so I happily yell a lot. A lot.
• I say Mamamama ALL of the time and Mom just loves it. Every morning when she comes in to wake me up, I look up at her, smile and say Mama. I say dada too, but I'm saying Mama more to make up for the long stretch of when I was only saying dada! And, babababa is probably my favorite.
• I have an adorable little laugh. Dad called me Beavis once...not sure what that means, but Mom thought it was funny. And, you can really get me giggling hard when you tickle me...especially my thighs!
• I am sleeping through the night, yipppeeee! I usually go down some time between 7:30-9 and sleep until 7 and Mom usually has to wake me up in the morning to feed me & get me ready for the day. She is extremely paranoid that putting this in writing is going to jinx it, but I have to document this momentous milestone!
• I get a little upset now when people take things out of my hands (things I guess I shouldn't have like Mom's phone or the remote). I guess I get mad because I understand now what's going on! And, they think they can fool me by putting it behind their backs or under a blanket...guess what people, I know it's still there and just hidden!
• Daddy started using the big bathtub now for baths...no baby tub for me anymore!
• I graduated to size 4 diapers, even though 3's probably still fit better!
• I am in the clingy, want to be held a lot phase. I really don't see what the problem is - I just want to be close to those who I love and love me back!
• Doc said all 4 of my top teeth are about to break through...makes sense why sometimes I go from being super happy to super sad in a matter of seconds...the pain comes out of nowhere!
• I make this adorable pouty lip and fish face a lot and it's just way too cute!

Events/Places I went:

• I went to Braden's 4th bday party at Chuck E Cheese's and had so much fun. And, then another one at his house with family. I was a show-off there because it was right when I was learning to stand on my own!
• I went to Festival of Trees with Mom, Gma Debbie, Aunt Lindsay and Braden. I had a great time looking at the lights and trees and I got to meet Santa!! I wasn't even scared of him!
• I got very sick. I know I had croup a few months ago, but my parents consider this my first real illness because I actually had a fever and was down for the count for multiple days. It was very rough and my family was so sad they couldn't fix me. But, I got lots of snuggles from everyone, including one on one grandma time with both Gmas! I was fully back to myself in about 5 days and everyone was thrilled.
• I celebrated my 1st Thanksgiving! Mom put me in this silly turkey hat - she knows that seeing those pictures later in life will probably make me pretty mad, but I'll let her do it for now! I liked celebrating with both families and I am looking forward to being able to eat all of that yummy food next year!
• I went to Mommy's surprise 29 1/2 birthday party that her friends and family threw for her! I guess she threw Gma Debbie and Aunt Lindsay surprise parties for their bdays, so they had to "get her back" with the help of her friend Lea and of course Daddy! We had to keep it a secret for many months. It was great to see her so happy and so surprised! I hope I get one of those sometime!

Adventures with eating:

• When someone asks me if I want to eat and then signs the word eat at me, I get really excited and know what it means! But, if you do sign it or say it, you better have milk or food ready!!
• I eat pancakes for breakfast now sometimes! I am not too sure about them, but I still have a few bites. I have also tried waffles, but not a big fan yet.
• I am finally on stage 2 baby foods and am loving pretty much everything. The only food that I really have not been a huge fan of was prunes. I did OK with them on the first day and then the second and third day, I didn't even want to open my mouth!
• I also tasted some rolls on Thanksgiving. Looks like I might be a carb lover like Mom!
• I LOVE my Gerber puffs. I just needed some time to understand how to eat them because now I devour them. I can even stick my hand in the container and grab them myself!
• Still going strong nursing, but I have definitely cut back in the amount of milk I drink every day because I get more solids.
• I am a pro with my sippy cup & am partial to the ones with straws.
• My doc told my parents to start introducing more table food, so I am excited to try new things!

Yes, I take way too many pictures, but can you blame me?!

I am 9 months today!

Fun with the Christmas decorations!

Love that little face.

Taking a break on Mom's leg!

Getting so big!

 Still loves his Sophie! We swear this wasn't staged!

Look at me standing on my own!

And, I can crawl, kind of!

So excited!

Ewww, prunes!!

Love my sippy cup!

Driving with Ray at Chuck E Cheese

Hi Hoyt!

Waving hello!

Webers and Gibsons on Thanksgiving

Braden and Jameson with Santa at Festival of Trees

Helping Daddy decorate the tree!

Hanging out at my 9 month doctor appointment!

Cutest pouty lip ever!! New nickname: Rallo