Long Time Over Due

I have so much to catch you all up on, I'm sorry I have been so bad about updating our blog since I went back to work. My goal for the year is to update the blog twice a month, so please encourage me to do that. If you see I haven't posted in a while call me and tell me you want new pictures or updates.

We are very blessed and can't wait to see what 2012 brings not only us, but our family and friends. This is an exciting time in not just our life, but many of our friends as well! We have many friends starting new journeys of their own, and we love sharing in their special moments, just like we LOVE having them share in ours! Here is to new relationships, marriages and babies in 2012!

October - catching up

Happy Halloween

I like my orange stripes

In October my mom moved in with us. She moved in the week before I went back to work. It was nice to be able to have a week with my mom before I had to go back to work. We started working on Brandon's scrapbook and adjusted to us all living together.

Going back to work was a rough transition for me. My mom helped make it easier by emailing me pictures in the morning. This helped me get through the day, and quickly I changed my desktop picture so I could see B every day!  My class this year is helping me grow a lot as a teacher. 

Near the end of the month my Aunt Michelle came out to visit. We had a lot of fun hanging out with her, but we didn't do much. We did a lot of eating of course, because that is what we do best!


November - catching up

November brought our first time away from Brandon. For thanksgiving break Tyler and I always have to go to teacher's conference. This year the conference was in Long Beach. We decided not to take Brandon, so that way we could concentrate on the conference. It was a good idea, but we still missed him while we were gone. We left him at home with my mom and dad for three days. At conference we were to see a lot of our California friends, which was awesome.

One night we were able to hang out with our friends Jim and Nina. We used to hang out with them all of the time when we lived in California, so it was nice to be able to spend some time with them, and catch up.  Plus they were getting married in January, so it was fun to see them before the wedding again!

After conference we headed back home for Thanksgiving. My dad was already in town, as he had driven in on Saturday before we left for conference. We hosted Thanksgiving this year, which was a lot of fun. We had my parents, Tyler's parents, my grandma and Mills, and then the Axtmans. We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and it was very nice.

My mom and I went shopping on Black Friday, and we were able to get all of our Christmas shopping done! Our lists were a lot smaller this year, but either way it was nice to say we were done.

December - catching up
December was a very busy month, as the holidays always are! Megan and Dan came into town, we had Brandon's baptism, and we celebrated the holidays.

Megan and Dan came into town for a week, and even though we weren't able to spend as much time with them as we had wanted to, it was still great to see them when we were able to. We celebrated Christmas with them, and it was a blast. We had a lot of fun taking pictures with Brandon.

Brandon's baptism was a blessed event. We were surrounded by people who not only love us, but people who love Brandon already too. My grandma and aunt Julie came into town for the weekend, so it was awesome to be able to spend some time with them as well.  My dad was able to come into town for the weekend too!

Christmas was a blast! Tyler and I had different Christmas breaks, so that was hard, but it ended up working out. The week before Christmas my mom and I did a bunch of errands, and things to get the house ready for Christmas. Then my dad flew in Christmas Eve. We went to church at Mega life on Christmas Eve, and then headed home for a gourmet dinner of hot dogs and chili. We went out to look at Christmas lights after dinner, and went to our favorite House in the valley. It was really busy this year, so we'll have to go earlier in the year next year.

Christmas day was very low key. We woke up and went to open presents and see what Santa had brought. Santa brought Brandon a new play mat as well as an activity center. Brandon already loves his activity center!  For dinner we had a very traditional dinner, or our new tradition at least, of enchiladas and tacos.  It was just family over, so it was very low key, but a lot of fun!

For New Year's Eve, Tyler and I left Brandon at home with grandma and grandpa and we headed down to our friend's house for a fun time!!  We were the first ones to get there, and brought some drinks with us, only to find out that they were pregnant!!  We were so excited for them, and honored that they would share that happy news with us!  Their baby is due in the  middle of August.

Pastor Shrank baptizing Brandon

Godparents Dan and Megan

All my girls with Brandon

Great Grandma Sandy

Four generations

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Hathaways

Nebraska Fans

First time in our bumbo

Our Christmas present

Family Christmas picture, in matching sweats!

Team Grandpa

Our outfit didn't fit for new years any more, so we wrestled it on for a picture!

January and February - catching up


Going back to work after being off for Christmas break was a challenge, but Tyler and I both made it through.  In January my parent's put their house up on the market, and they had an offer after it had only been on the market for THREE days!!  We thought that was crazy, and obviously a God thing for sure!!


Susan came to visit us for a couple of days in January, during her Christmas break!!  It was a lot of fun to able to spend some time with her, and she was able to meet Brandon!!  :)  She then drove with us out to California.  While we were in California we were able to spend some more time with Jon and Nicole, and then we went to Jim and Nina's wedding!!  We had a blast the whole weekend we were there, and it was fun to be able to spend some time with people we don't get to see very often!


Needless to say my parent's have now sold their house, and when my dad came out to visit for Valentine's Day weekend, they went up to Prescott and they have already put an offer on another house.  If things going well, then they will be closing on that house by the end of March!


Tyler and I are very blessed to have such amazing support systems here, and friends to count on.  We can't wait to see where God leads us this year, and how he will use us!

Aunt Susan and Brandon

Hanging out in our cool outfit from the Koumontzis family

We fell asleep eating our dinner

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