little christmas moments

so much to catch up on.

sigh.

i still have yet to do the hospital pictures post, the boise botanical garden lights post, the meeting santa post, and THAT post.  the one where i write about my choice to do natural birth and my resulting experience.

and then there's the laundry. and nursing. and making sure my reese gets her share of loves.  and nursing. and making sure my peeps are fed. and nursing. and all things christmas {oh yeah! and nursing. forgot how much time it takes up in the beginning...}.

this christmas season has been a little different than others.  with a fresh little one, we haven't been able to get out to all the typical concerts and other christmas-y outings that made it feel like christmas in the past.  instead, i've been trying to savor all of the little moments at home that have made this season special. you know, things like..

brushing reese's teeth, holiday addition. she lays under the lit christmas tree while deek scrubs her pearlies clean. which brings me to the next one...
after teethbrushing, deek and reese lay next to each other under the tree and have a giggle fest. for some reason, reese thinks it's hilarious to point at all the individual lights. they laugh their heads off, which makes me all warm and fuzzy.

dancing to christmas music in the family room with deek
cal laying by the tree, fascinated by the glowy lights
reese requesting the "la, la, la" song over and over {Oakridge Boys' Christmas is Paintin' the Town}
snuggling on the couch reading christmas books
reese requesting the "baby jesus story" over and over
nursing and cuddling my sweet baby cal in the family room lit only by christmas lights
reese getting so excited to "see my christmas lights!!!" on the outside of our house. she loves to see all the houses lit up, but especially her own.
waking up to deek and reese jamming to christmas music, complete with air guitars
making christmas cookies with reese and eating the entire batch together on the couch
stories from the santa claus book every night
lots and lots and lots of singing christmas songs {one of the few ways to entertain reese while i nurse...} her favorites? "santa claus is coming to town", "silent night", "rudolph", and "frosty the snow man".

eating dinner on christmas china
discussing the differences between santa and the grinch


it's all been so simple, but i think it's those little things that have made the christmas season so magical this year. and the fact that those little things all revolve around the people i love most.



now all we need is a little snow, {or a lot, but i'll take what i can get}.


cheers to the season!

my curly sue

first time using the flat iron on reese's hair.

ummmm.... hello gorgeous!!

"just checkin' my email ma ma!"

my goof mc-goofster.

the best picture ever taken. ever. this is what happened when i asked her to do a funny face.

in high school she'll probably want to pretend that last picture never happened.

oh it did, sister, it did.

and i love every little double chin smackeral of it.

lights

who: our little fam & good friends lisa, kirk & fam
what: getting our outdoor christmas light groove on
when: saturday, dec 10th
where: boise botanical gardens
why: to get jen out of the house for the 1st time since having cal, to let reese meet a reindeer, and get a second chance with santa. the free hot cocoa and cookies didn't hurt either.

in line waiting to meet santa. already not going well.

one big happy family.

 love the santa. love the reese. love deek's arm.

why did these have to turn out blurry? deek and reese after meeting santa.

she finally calmed down and tried to be happy.

with cute friend natalin, trying to hold hands through their gloves.

dancer.

meeting dancer. went over soooooo much better than santa. she must dig antlers over beards.

moments before grabbing onto dancer's antlers.

definitely a boise christmas tradition. {seeing the lights, not getting traumatized by santa.}

i really can't resist

i won a baby photo plan package from tina le'laine photography a couple months ago and we got to do the first session today.  here are my 2 sneak peak pictures:

{don't worry, it's perfectly acceptable to go sleeding sans shoes.  big oops... kind of forgot to throw them on with the shoot being in our home and all... oh well. they're still adorable.}

how in the world did i get sent such cute little stinkers?? love them. can't wait to see the rest of the pics.

cal: 1 week

some things we've learned about cal this week:

he loves hangin' with reese (or is it the other way around?)

 he loves snuggling (hurray!!). if i put him on my shoulder he'll scoot his head over until it's either against my cheek or nestled in my neck. cue heart melting.

he loves to have his hands free when swaddled.

he's a   s l o w  eater. feedings take almost an hour.

he can turn his head to look for the source of a sound

can track an object

he hates baths

he loves tummy time

so far, he's been an awesome sleeper, waking only once in the middle of the night to nurse. 

he hates getting his diaper changed (side note: changing little boy diapers is different than little girls.  i've been sprayed about 50 million times already and catapult pooped on even more.)

he loves to lay under the christmas tree.  he'll stare at the lights forever, just like his daddy.  tonight before getting in the shower, cal was in his favorite spot under the tree and deek was hanging out on the couch.  when i was done, this is what i found:

 

i think they're going to be pals.

we're home

sneak peak of little cal.

give thanks

still no baby
so fun to have dad, mom, and katie
deek to the ward turkey bowl
jen walk/jog 3 miles in the morning {is this baby ever going to come?}
playground with reese
macy's day parade
dad and his love for holiday retail {bag clips anyone?}
turkey baked according to little america's suggestions {outcome? fantastic!}
phenomenal meal put together by mom
just the 6 of us around grandma & grandpa n's first dining set
pies, pies, pies....
relaxing quiet night
jen walk/jog 3 more miles. still, nothing...
many, many thanks to be given

final moments of family of 3

boy v girl: a comparison of two pregnancies

most importantly, can we just all agree that regina spektor is the greatest thing ever? except for the fact that her name is regina. also, i realize i'm a few years late jumping on the bandwagon, but guys, one of those years doesn't count since i had no access to radio and my internet was too slow to stream anything.

regina.

seriously, what were her parents thinking?

anyway, i can't stop listening to 'samson'. over, and over, and over, and over.... it's the number one song on my birthing playlist.

heck yes. i have a birthing play list and as of right now it only consists of 5 songs.

which brings me to the next thing.

truffles.

chocolate truffles rolled in cocoa.  i saw some in costco today and had an immediate and insanely intense craving.  but then i saw that it was $12 for a bag, and i thought to myself, "what the absurdity costco?" i can make those myself. and so i did.  and now i'm sitting here eating the batter with a spatula.

which brings me to the next thing.

birth.

yikes. that word is really freaking me out lately, despite having a fantastic experience birthing reese.

and just to put it out there, i'm attempting {attempting being the key word} to go natural. as in, no epidural.

more on that later.

and so i sit here, 6 days away from estimated d-livery-day, so beyond ready to be able to wear more than just those 4 shirts that still fit, yet not quite so sure i'm ready for him to make his grand debut quite yet.  i think i'm still in denial that a brand new human will be coming to our home.

my brand new human, no less.

in fact, i still have yet to pack my hospital bag despite there being, uh.... progress down there. it's my little way of making myself believe that the birth is somewhere far in the future. foolish, i know.  somehow it makes me feel safer, less scared of what lies ahead.

i hate the smell of hospitals.

too bad being a parent happens to be the greatest thing ever.

anyway, because in future pregnancies i know i'll wish i could recall all the little differences between having a boy and girl, i wanted to write down a little comparison.  just to see if there are any consistent reactions according to gender in the remainder of my pregnancies.  because yes, checkout lady at fred meyer, we are still planning on having more kids despite having "our girl and boy".

so here we go...

pregnancy with girl
felt like i had a slight flu with major bloating within the first week of conceiving.  lasted 3 days.
all day nausea and dry heaving from 6-13 weeks
bright red spotting from 6-11 weeks
things that especially made me want to sit over the toilet: meat, apples, garlic, alfredo/cream sauces, most veggies, and anything to do with christmas.
foods i couldn't get enough of: fruit, ice-cream, smoothies, taco time's veggie burrito, lucky charms, cinnamon toast crunch, cherry rainbows from paces, and milk.
carried low.
victoria secret effect was very apparent.
super emotional.
no swelling, despite the summer 3rd trimester
slept great entire pregnancy, only had extreme fatigue for the first trimester
no digestive problems
dark line on belly started appearing by 10 weeks

pregnancy with boy
felt slightly nauseous in the morning for 3 days in a row within first week of conceiving. also had diarrhea that lasted same 3 days.
all day extreme nausea and dry heaving from 6-18 weeks
only spotted red once at 4 weeks
things that especially made me want to sit over the toilet: lemon bars, mangoes, chicken, being anywhere near a garbage can, fridge, or sink {i basically couldn't step in a kitchen for 4 months. my poor family.} pretty much all food excluding cereal and candy for the first 4 months, the internet - particularly blogging. so weird, i know.
foods i couldn't get enough of: candy {never been a candy person before but gobstoppers were pretty much the best things ever}, prime rib, top ramen, ice-cream, mexican and thai
carried low
victoria secret effect not quite as much as with first pregnancy
not really much more emotional than normal
quality of sleep lower than normal
extreme fatigue 3rd trimester
ankle swelling during 2nd trimester {the summer}
*heartburn
*constipation and its' beloved cohort that starts with an h and may end with a roid. can't believe i just wrote than on the internet for all to read.  it is what it is.  pregnancy is so glamorous.
dark line on belly started appearing around 30 weeks

1st time around, 39 weeks pregnant with girl:

2nd time around, 39 weeks pregnant with boy {excuse the incredible picture quality}:

yup. pretty much the same looking.  which makes sense, seeing as i've gained the exact amount of weight both times.

and there you have it. boy v girl.

now it's just playing the waiting game. wish me luck!





*i was having a lot of problems with these symptoms until i started drinking herbal red raspberry leaf tea around 34 weeks. since then, all symptoms have disappeared. boo yah. i'm a believer. we'll see how it works in labor...

trick or treat it's halloween

thanks to our awesome friends, doug and marilyn, we were able to borrow this adorable minnie mouse costume for reese. is she not the cutest little thang you've ever seen?

she thought she was pretty hot stuff, being able to wear mommy's make up and all. and sidenote, mascara makes her eyes pop way, way WAY too much. she won't be wearing it again til she's 42.

she's such a cheeseball. apparently, she's been hanging out with my scouts a little too much...

it would be a mild statement to say she was ecstatic to go trick or treating and "get more candy!!!!"

we went into north end to this fairy tale-like place called harrison boulevard. it's a big long street full of big older homes and big beautiful trees and everyone goes big with decorations and treats. people come from all over the city to trick or treat there. it was one big ol' halloween wonderland. seriously just like the movies, only real. and big.

this one house had almost 100 carved pumpkins. isn't it amazing?

as it got darker the crowds got bigger and bigger.  by the end we had to wait in line to get candy.  most of the homeowners dress all up and sit on their porches to hand it out.

just getting going...

and by the end of the night she was drunk on excitment.  as people would drop the candy into her bucket she would yell, "thank you! i love you!!!!!" what's not to love about hundreds of strangers shelling out candy? i was so caught up in the magic of it all, i wanted to say the same thing. it was a beautiful night, sniff, sniff.

sheer childhood bliss. a girl and her loot.

the best part is that the next day she woke up remembering everything about the night before, except that the candy was still there. deek and i hid it and have pretty much been eating it all since.  she's clueless and i refuse to feel any guilt.  mwah ha ha ha!!!  oh the joys of having a 2 year old.

anyway, harrison boulevard was seriously beyond amazing and we'll be going back year after year. here's to new traditions!

a tale of carved pumpkins

once upon a time deek, jen, and reese decided to carve pumpkins to celebrate the upcoming pagan harvest festival all hallow's eve. to their horror, they realized that in their 6 year history of being an official "we," they had yet to carve pumpkins to celebrate the said day.  and umm, what kind of self respecting, self proclaiming lovers of halloween would they be if they had not yet carved a glorified gourd?

and so they set out to carve.

first they designed. and reese handed out forced cheesers left and right.

and reese was fascinated with the way her daddy kept stabbing at the pumpkin with a steak knife.  and slightly concerned. {side note: next year, just break down and buy the darn designated pumpkin carvers.}

and then the mad scientist chuckled her evil chuckle.

until she caught a whiff of the pumpkin guts. and then for the first time in her short life she gagged in response to a smell.  in fact, the rest of the night she couldn't go near the pumpkins until all the guts had been confiscated. and the 9 month pregnant jen tried to fit into an apron.

and at last they were completed and reese tried to mimic the face carved into her pumpkin. but ended up looking exactly like pictures of her padre as a child instead{ok deek's family, does she not look EXACTLY like his pictures as a child in this photo?}

and finally, the reesers gave a normal smile.  and wonder of wonders, jen caught it on film.

the finished products:

linder farms

boise has several farms in the area that throw big halloween/autumn shindigs every year.  hayrides, pumpkin patches, cider & doughnuts, corn boxes {like a sandbox, but, uh... made with corn instead}, and corn mazes. luckily, we snagged some tickets on the cheap thanks to a friend and made a family date night out of it.

it should be noted that prior to visiting the farm, i made my first attempt at homemade doughnuts. ummm....it was a swing and really poor hit. too bad i couldn't pull a david freese aka game 6, world series style.  they tasted ok i guess, but next time they need more frosting and i should probably invest in an actual doughnut cutter.  although reese's shape sorter toys worked as an ok second. also, they were a LOT more work than i had anticipated.  at least the homemade cider was pretty darn tasty!

classic family shot:

reese LOVED the corn maze.  she just wanted to walk around and around. and pull down corn stalks to use as walking sticks.

my big cheesers:

tell me those aren't the prettiest blue eyes you've ever seen?

reese climbed this fence all by herself to get a better look at the animals:

she was so delighted to see all of the pumpkins scattered everywhere through out the patch.

me and my girl

official future black mail picture below.  reese is about to learn the classic life lesson - always beware of gourds masquerading as corn cobs. so sad.  she totally insisted it was corn right up until the bitter-bited end.

 

we did have one successful culinary rendezvous.  reese ate chicken nuggets for the very first time.  it was a beautiful moment. every once in a million blue moons when we actually eat at a fast food joint, i'm forced to bring food along for reese. she's never really loved normal kid food. until linder farms apparently.

loving the hayride.

can't wait til next year!