Last week home

This has been my last week to be a stay at home mommy. I have loved every moment of the past nine and a half weeks, and I can't believe that it is all over.  :(

Tummy time waiting for grandma and grandpa to get here ~ October 6

Check out my cute toes!  ~ October 7

In the past week a lot has happened.  A week ago my mom moved in!!  We are so excited to have grandma here.  My dad came with my mom, and it was great to spend the weekend with them.  We spent a lot of time playing games, moving my mom's stuff in, and of course eating.  My dad makes the best tacos ever, so we had to have him make those before he got on his flight on Sunday.  The boys also watched some comedians, while my mom and I got some stuff done around the house.  It was great just to spend time with grandpa, as he won't be back again until Thanksgiving.  I know it is going to fly by, but I know it must be so hard for my mom and dad.  For those of you who don't know my parents well, they have never been apart in the 26 years they have been married, and they are more in love then any other couple I have ever met.  They are even still VERY affectionate with each other, yes to the point where sometimes I am grossed out as their child.  But to look at their marriage, it is a marriage I could only hope to still have when Tyler and I have been married for 26 years!

Grandpa and Grandma with B

Sunday we celebrated B's two months!! I can't believe he is so big already!!  We of course did another photo shoot, and we took a big family picture as well.  Tyler's parents came over to have a play date with B, and they took him for the afternoon.  So since my dad was here, and they were both here, we took a big family picture of the seven of us!

2 months old!

I love my little guy!

Family picture

Hathaway clan

After my dad left, Tyler had Monday off as well for Columbus Day.  Tyler and I took B to the doctor's office in the morning for his two month check up.  He hasn't grown as much as he had in the past, so now we get to feed him more!  We are up to 5 ounces a feeding now, instead of just four.  He weighed in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces.  Not quite as much as I guessed, not even close.  I thought he would have been up to 10 pounds the way that he was growing before.  I guess he just needs to eat more!! :)  He also had to get his first round of shots.  :(  He wasn't as excited about those, and I was very thankful that Tyler went with me.  Tyler held him, so that way I didn't have to.

During the week I have had volleyball practice. I had practice Monday and Wednesday.  My girls are looking good, and I am excited about the season.  We have our first game this afternoon, so we'll see how we do.  I have confidence in them, and they have confidence in themselves, so we'll see how it comes out on the court.

My mom and I have also been doing a lot around the house.  My pregnancy album is officially finished!!  We added the extra page protectors, and put in the extra posts to bind the album.  We even started working on B's album, and we are almost done with his week at the hospital!  I can't believe we've almost used 50 pictures in that first week though!  Crazy how many pictures we have of our little bundle of joy!

Thank you all for your continued support, and words of wisdom as we have started this journey with our precious baby boy.  I apologize in advance in my blogging starts to taper off.  Going back to work tomorrow is going to be a hard transition for me, and I know every chance I get at home I'm going to want to spend with my new little family.  I will keep you all updated though, but ask for your prayers as I go back to work.

Supporting Aunt Megan

Grandma Moves In

We are super excited because Grandma and Grandpa (my mom and dad) are on there way today!!  They drove to Palm Springs last night, and will be here this afternoon.  We know that Grandpa isn't very excited about the end of this trip, because then he will be leaving and Grandma will be staying with us.  We are looking forward to an exciting weekend together though.  We'll be cuddling our sweet babe, eating yummy tacos only my daddy can make, having a grease night (deep fried food, yes please), and of course I'm sure we'll squeeze in some games. My mom and I won't tackle the scrapbooking until he leaves.  :)

Now if only the driving part wouldn't take so long and they could be here already!!  B and I are super excited to spend some time with them before daddy comes back from camp tomorrow afternoon!

Smiling because Grandma spoils him!

Last Week Alone

This was our last week B and I had to spend the week alone, because next week, GRANDMA MOVES IN!!  :)  If you can't tell, I am a little excited!!  :)

Anyways, B and I had a great week!  We spent the week sleeping a lot, so I think that he is growing!!  Due to the fact that he slept so much, I was able to get a lot done around the house.  I was able to clean up downstairs a lot, which was nice.  I also was able to put out all of my fall and Halloween decorations.  I love the holidays, and am even more excited that it is already October 1!  That means only a month and a half left until Thanksgiving, and then I get to take out my Christmas decorations!!  Plus my mom will be here this year, so she will be able to help me put everything up, and bake!

Our beautiful china hutch, with "new" wedding pictures above

Our fireplace.  Would look much more fallish if there was a fire in there!

Our downstairs bathroom

I also started volleyball this week, which was a lot more tiring then I thought it would be.  Luckily it wasn't too hot out, which was nice.  I only have 12 girls this year, which will make rotating in a lot easier.  Last year I had 15, and that was hard to make sure everyone had enough playing time.  There were some games when girls didn't get to play very much because the game just went too quick!

Brandon did some tummy time this week, and I was able to take some video.  He couldn't decide if he liked his knees in or out more, so he kept kicking them in and out.  It was really funny to watch, especially since he was making silly faces too.  As soon as I figure out how to get the video to my computer, and then on here, I will make sure to upload some video for you all!!  Until then, enjoy these pictures of us!

Tummy Time, Sept. 29

Onesie from Aunt Megan and Uncle Dan

"If you think I'm handsome you should see my Daddy"

At bible study I decided we needed a picture of all the kids too.  We don't have very many pictures of us adults, so I figured I should start early with the kids so that way we have them to look back at.  It was perfect too, because we were celebrating Kyrie's birthday. She just turned 3 yesterday!

Brandon, 7 weeks ~ Kyrie, 3 years ~ Caleb, 7 months

The last project I finished around the house this week was my DIY picture frame wall.  I love these pictures, and was so excited to put them up!!  Tyler just left for the ASU game, so I hope he enjoys them as much as I do when he gets home.  He won't, but it's nice to pretend he might!

Some of my favorite pictures by Oh Snap! Photography

Brandon's Baptism

Please save the date!!  We're so excited to share this special day with many friends, and family!  We hope that you'll be able to come and celebrate with us.  If you will be traveling in from out of town, please let us know as soon as possible.  We are planning special activities and accommodations for our out of town guests!

http://www.punchbowl.com/save_the_date/c32a29d87a814d58dd15

Breast feeding, Pumping and Formula

Just a warning, this is a rant about feeding, so if you don't want to read, I totally understand.

Okay, so we all know how important breast milk is, and I totally understand that.  I have/had every intention of breast feeding as long as possible. In my mind it was going to be something that was going to come easy, and I was going to pump when I went back to work, and hopefully we'd have breast milk until he was about one?

Well, we all know that nothing goes according to plan.  Hello, we have a baby, and according to my plan I wouldn't even be pregnant for another year.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love my baby boy, but just saying, nothing goes according to plan.

Needless to say, it didn't work out.  B came three weeks early, and according to EVERYONE, he was too wrong to latch, even though we tried, so we started him on the bottle the day he was born.  I tried to get him to latch, for three weeks I would try every time it was time for him to eat, to get him to latch.  He did latch a couple of times, but never for more than a few seconds.  I tried the football hold, holding him across me, with lots of pillows, lying down in bed, walking around with him, even standing on my head.  Just kidding, I never stood on my head.  :)  He just didn't want to latch, and why would he when he knew that he could have a bottle if he just cried long enough.  Luckily I let my nurse talk me into renting the hospital grade pump, and God bless her for talking my stubborn head into it.  As much as I hated pumping then, I didn't know how amazing that pump was until I had to return it.  We were able to get enough that we were feeding him breast milk about 95% of the time.  I was able to do both sides at once, and be done in about 15 minutes.

Then came our month, and me being cheap, didn't want to pay another $80 for the month, when I had a $150 pump sitting in the house ready to be used.  At least we had a little supply built up, because when I switched pumps I swear my supply plummeted.  I could barely get out two ounces, and I was pumping almost four times as long!!  I only bought the swing, which I thought would be great.  The HUGE downside, is that you can only do one side at a time.  So my 15 minute pumping sessions were turning into 30 minutes to an hour depending on how long I had time to sit there.  Now, imagine doing this six to eight times a day.  I was not a happy camper.  Plus, B is now getting to the point where he isn't really napping during the day. (Thank God, really praise you Jesus, that Grandma will now be here in nine days!!)

I started taking Fenugreek about a week and a half ago.  I was taking two pills, three times a day. By Tuesday, I had to go back to the doctor and my supply had not gone up.  I read about women who had their supply instantly go up. I talked to my doctor about this, and she prescribed something else for me to take.  Now I take that three times a day.  I still haven't seen much of an increase, so we are having to supplement A LOT with formula, and not really getting that much breast milk out.  It seems like I am either feeding B, or pumping.  I try to pump for longer periods to see if that will help, but it really isn't.  I go back to work in three weeks, I can't believe it is already here, and I don't know how much I want to try this once I go back.  I know I am going to be even more stressed once I go back to work, so that isn't going to help.

So, my main point is, I think my baby may be a formula baby by two months old.  I know there are plenty of formula babies out there, for lots of different reasons.  One of our good friends is a formula baby, because they adopted and he is a great baby, and very healthy.  I'm not worried about any of that, the cheap side of me, just wishes I would have saved the $150 and spent it on formula rather than a pump I was going to use for a month!

Thanks for listening to me vent, or if you didn't, and just skipped this entry, good for you!!

Aunt Bree's Visit

This past week one of my best friends, Bree, came to visit us!  We had a great time, just doing nothing.  We were able to spend the week relaxing, reading, and eating.  Some of the things that we do best!

Bree flew in Tuesday, and after our busy morning, B and I went to pick her up.  That night Tyler came home and we grilled steaks and had salad for dinner.  It was quite a yummy dinner.  While Bree was unpacking, she also gave us a present.  Check out the pictures to see if you can figure out what she gave us.  :)

Wednesday we spent the day just hanging out with B.  Actually that is how we spent our week, and it was our evenings where we did things.  Wednesday night we went down to Tyler's school to go to dinner at the Vig.  They were donating a part of their sales to Christ, so we went to support the school.  It was nice to spend time with some of Tyler's co-workers too.  A couple friends of ours just put offers in on houses, so it's exciting times for all of us!

Thursday night we had Chili's for dinner because a pat of the sales were going to Shepherd.  We had a bunch of people over to have dinner with us too, which was a lot of fun.  Then Bree stayed home to watch B for us, while Tyler and I went to bible study. I love our weekly bible study, and our group is a lot of fun.

Friday night we went to a murder mystery dinner party.  This time, I was not the killer, which was nice.  I don't think I played very well though because I didn't really know anything about what was going on at the murder.  My clues kept telling me to only talk to two people, so I didn't really expand too much.  Bree was able to go with us, and we had a lot of fun.  Tyler died, and our friend Joe killed him!! It was really funny, because Tyler wouldn't go out with me, so it was fun to ask him why he wouldn't date me.  :)  I would love to do another one, now that we all have a better understanding on how to play.

Saturday morning we had to take Aunt Bree to the airport.  We hate saying goodbye to good friends, but at least we know it's we'll see you soon, and not goodbye.

Getting ready to leave for the airport

Saying goodbye to Aunt Bree

Our firsts...

Last week Tyler and I decided that we wanted B to start sleeping in his crib.  We were able to borrow a basinet from some great friends, but we were ready for him to move into his own room.  It was a long week full of ups and downs, but he is sleeping in his room now all the time!!  It is great, because it gives us quiet in our room, which is great for Tyler since he is working.

I started taking B out for walks during the day too, which has been great.  I'm really looking forward to getting back into shape, and being able to go out and buy some new clothes!

Saturday Tyler and I left B with grandma, and headed up to Prescott for the day with our friends Sarah and Bryant.  It was a blast!  We went hiking around Lynx Lake, and then went and had some lunch with them.  It was great to get out, in the cooler weather, and exercise again!

Today B and I went to Mega Life!  We had a blast, and we were able to meet some more friends.  :)  B did great in church, while people passed him around.  I thought he would be upset by the very loud music, but he did great!

We have an exciting week coming up with Aunt Bree coming to visit!!  :)

DIY - frames

I have been living on Pinterest lately, and have been finding a lot of great ideas that I would like to do in my house.  We have been moving things around, and finding new spaces to put up all of our great photos of B.  In the process of doing this we have moved some frames, and decided we didn't want them any more.  Instead of going out and buying new frames, I decided to give ours an updated look.

I took the old silver frames and decided to paint them using the sample colors left over from B's room.  Then I am going to use these frames to put outside of his room, where I am going to put up pictures of our little monkey.  I'm excited to see how the wall turns out.  For now, here are the frames.

The frames were silver with wedding pictures

 Now they'll be green and khaki with B's pictures

Another pinterest idea I took i decided to hang in our bedroom.  I love this, and decided it would be a great way to affirm each oter.  It was really easy to make too.  Thank you Joann's for the frame, and my Cricut for the words.

Happy birthday Daddy / Grandpa

Yesterday was my dad's birthday!  We just wanted to say happy birthday to an amazing man who is always willing to give us any thing we need!!  We know how much you are sacrificing in the next year for us, and we just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate it.  We all love you!

High school graduation, June 2003

Disneyland trip, October 2005

Christmas pictures, 2006

Double fisting because I graduated college, May 2007

Playing at IKEA, May 2007

Disney World Vacation, July 2007

Disney Cruise, July 2007

Merry Christmas, 1987

Parent's 25th Wedding Anniversary, March 2010

Lake Tahoe, March 2010

Phoenix, November 2010

Christmas 2010

Grandpa and B in the hospital, August 2011

<3 Family <3, August 2011

One Month Old

We can't believe our baby boy is already a month old.  So many things have happened in the last month, and time is going by so fast!  Before I know it I will be back at work already.  We are trying to enjoy our time while we can.  Here are some pictures from our one month photo shoot.  My goal is to take the same photos every month so that way we can see how much he grows!!

Two weeks of visitors part 2

Instead of updating the other entry, I just thought I would make a new one.

So we had a very busy end of our week.  Wednesday we took B to the doctor.  We were having everyone guess how much they thought he would weigh now.  We were all guessing low 8 pounds.  Well, we were all surprised to find out the little guy already weighs 8 pounds, 7 ounces!!  He has really started to pack it on!  While we were at the doctor she told us that we need to cut back on how much we are feeding him.  He was eating, so we were feeding him 5 - 6 ounces at a time.  She wanted us to cut it back to 4 ounces at a time.  Since we have done that, he now has decided that he needs to start eating about every three hours again.  Not so fun.  I was enjoying our longer stretches at night.

Thursday night we took B to his first experience at Benihana.  It was a delicious dinner!  We went to celebrate my dad's birthday, my birthday, and B's birthday.  We had a lot of fun, and our cook was very entertaining.  Of course, B slept through the entire experience.  He is pretty good at sleeping through things.  :)

Friday we just hung out.  My dad got some more things done for us around the house, and we played some more Catan.  My mom and I also made B a onesie to celebrate the fact that he was one month old.  I can't believe how big our little boy is already!

Saturday my grandma, and my parents left to go back home.  It is always sad saying goodbye, but I am excited to know that my parents will be back in just three and a half weeks!!  Plus Bree comes to visit next week, so we know that time will just fly by!

Enjoy some pictures from the last two weeks!

Uncle Jon and B just relaxing

Hanging out with Aunt Nicole

The boys are so cool :)

Saying goodbye to Aunt Nicole

2011 Family Picture

 Daddy's first ASU game of the season

Daddy and B hanging out with CJ and Matt

Cuddle time with grandpa

B is a crazy sleeper!  And yes, that is a pink sheet, we borrowed the basinet from great friends! (who had a girl)

My mom and I love our punch bowl!

B and his two favorite women!

Four generations

Huey family