Merry Christmas

I wasn't sure I wanted to decorate for Christmas this year because I learned a while back that if you get the decorations out, you have to put them away. But then I decided that I at least needed a tree. I think it was the mom in me that tipped the scales in that direction. I know that Max doesn't know that it's Christmas time and you are supposed to have a tree for Christmas, but I do. And even though he doesn't care himself, as his mom I decided that I did and that he shouldn't spend his first Christmas without a tree. I figure if nothing else he might enjoy looking at the lights. And if he doesn't I will.

And finally, a working washer/dryer!!!

I guess you know you are getting old when you get this excited about a washing machine. When I bought my condo it came with a washer/dryer combo, only the dryer function didn't work. So I hung clothes to dry and it worked okay. But a couple of weeks after Max was born the washer part stopped working too. We took some trips to the laundromat and I took many a trip to my friend Meg's house to do laundry. I enjoyed my time with Meg so it wasn't so bad. But I did miss the convenience of being able to do laundry in my own home. I especially missed it on days like I had the other day when Max peed, pooed and threw up on my in 5 minutes time. That day pushed me to action and we did a search on KSL classifieds and found this. It's not my dream washer/dryer, but it will do. (I guess you really know you are old when you have a dream washer/dryer!)

The day we brought him home from the hospital

Today, 2 months later.

Max enjoying his new bumbo before church

Doesn't he look like such a big boy?!?!

Crazy Hair

This picture should answer any questions about where Max got his crazy hair.

It's a little blurry, but this is one of my favorite of Max's many expressions.

Shots and Giggles

(look at those rolls!)

Max had his 2 month visit with the pediatrician today. I was surprised to learn that Max is actually on the smaller side of things. He is 11 lbs 9 oz and 22.75 inches long. This puts him in the 35th percentile for weight and the 43 percentile for height. He also got his 3 injections of immunizations today which broke his mommy's heart a little.

Max has always been a smiley baby (whoever said babies don't smile was crazy) but lately he has been smiling even more. And he has added a giggle to his smiles which is so wonderful to hear. Tonight he was playing on the bed while Jarek was working at his computer and I was in the next room getting ready to go out. Jarek and I laughed about something and our laughter made Max giggle. So cute! He did it again a little later when we were in the car. Jarek and I laughed and then we heard him laugh from the back seat. And then I was visiting with my friend Carrie and Max was sleeping in my arms. Carrie and I laughed and Max laughed in his sleep. This made me laugh, which made Max laugh again! I hope that Max is always so easily enticed to joy and laughter as he was today.

Today I took Max out for a walk. I wrapped him in a blanket and put a hat on his head to keep him warm. The hat was a little big on him, but he sure did look cute in it.

(Indoor shot. I love the look on his face, but not the yellow tint to the picture)

(Picture taken outside. It was such a nice and sunny day.)

Crazy Hair

Max has had a case of cradle cap. I read that one of the ways to treat it is to put cooking oil on it. I decided this sounded easy enough so I put some oil on, rubbed it around and washed it out. It worked great, but I don't think I was able to get all the oil out because after Max's bath I combed his hair and it molded like this:

I have tried combing it out and it just stays in this position. Looks like Max gets to rock this hairstyle until his next bath.


In my efforts to get a good picture of Max's crazy hair-do I took this picture. I think it is a great picture of Max. I have to admit, sometimes I feel pretty pleased with myself for making such a cute baby. : )

(I am getting over a cold..... and I like to believe that this is the reason for the way my voice sounds in this video.)

Meg and Rachel came over today for a craft day. I worked on Max's blessing gown while Meg and Rachel worked on some burp clothes. I guess all our crafting wore the kids out.

I set Max up with his gym to play with while I was getting ready today. I was so proud of him when I came back to find him grabbing hold of one of the toys. Good job Max!

Happy One Month Birthday Max!

I sure do love this little guy!

Today was a mellow day for us. We made it out of the house and to the last hour of church. We meant to make it to the full three hours, but we are still getting the hang of getting out of the house with a baby. After church we all took a nice and much needed nap. Then we did a little of what we have been doing a lot of this last month: hanging out around the house and taking pictures of Max. As a special treat today Jarek and I enjoyed our wedding cake. We forgot we had it for our anniversary but a couple of days ago when we were cleaning out the freezer we found it. We enjoyed it with a little sparkling apple cider (which we have been saving for a special occasion) and watched our wedding video for the first time. It sure seems like the stuff in that video happened a lot longer ago than just one year!

Ready for church.

Self portrait of mom and Max after our nap.


Max and daddy hanging out.



Eating of the cake, one year (and two weeks) later.


Here goes.........


Surprisingly not so bad!

Shadow Pictures

I am now 3 days past my due date. And my doctor is out of town. I had an appointment today and met with the nurse practitioner and the doctor on call. They were both very nice. But with this baby making no moves to leave and my doctor in Peru I came home feeling overwhelmed and out of sorts. I went in to work after the appointment where I was greeted by bad news about pretty much every patient I am following right now. I am trying to do my job but my mind is elsewhere and I felt a compound of overwhelmedness by my personal life and my work life. I sat in the car for a few minutes when I got home trying to decompress so I could have a good evening and not be so weighed down by everything. And then, on my way in the building I ran into my across the hall neighbor and learned that her husband was killed in a boating accident a couple of weeks ago. Jarek was on the phone when I came home and so I went straight to my bed and laid down in a further attempt to decompress. Then, when his call was over I suggested we go out into the beautiful day and take shadow pictures. I went out a few days ago by myself to take shadow pictures of my pregnant sillouette but it was more fun to have Jarek with me.

29th Ward Reunion

I spent most of my college days in the University 29th Ward. I met some great friends in that ward. This is a picture from a little reunion we had. It was great to see everyone again and to meet some spouses and children that I hadn't met before.

My favorite quote from the day was from Blonde:

"Holy crap! That kid looks just like Gary..........(5 second pause)........ Is Gary here?

Back to School

Yesterday started school, yet again. This is my last year in undergraduate program at BYU. I am not really excited to be back in school but I am really excited about being only two semesters away from graduating.
Juliana and I agreed for me to have at least an hour every day dedicated to homework and studying. I am taking only 12 credits this semester and so I should be able to get good grades despite of having a job and baby on the way.
I am glad to have a schedule that will allow me to stay at home a lot and help with the baby (I have classes only on Mondays and Wednesdays).

ESL

When I first met Jarek he was still fairly new to speaking english and he would often mix up words and phrases. In the past few years his english has improved and he rarely gets things confused anymore. As a result I really find it heart warming on the rare occasion when he does. He gave me two great heart-warming moments last week. The first was when he threw me a surprise baby shower and put on the invitations that it was a secret shower (which I heard about from my friends at the shower). The second was when we got a clothes hamper for the baby's room and as we were arranging things he asked me where I thought we should put the hamster.

4th of July- Road Trip to San Diego

We decided to take a road trip to San Diego for the 4th of July to see Amy and family. We stopped in Las Vegas on the way there to spend the evening with LeeAnn and see her new house. Unfortunately I had got food poisoning on our drive down and mostly only saw her bathroom. We thought we would have to cancel the rest of our trip but by noon the next day I felt better and we cautiously got back in the car and headed south. I am glad that we were able to proceed because we had a great time with the Brunsvicks and at the beach.

We spent the 4th of July at the San Diego County Fair. This picture of us by a giant avocado reminds me for some reason of a strange variation of The American Gothic.

We saw a lot of livestock. Courtney and this pig bonded instantly!

I got to practice my ropin' skills.
I guess maybe there is something amusing about a pregnant lady ropin' but I don't see it.

Turns out I was a natural at it!

We stayed all day at the fair until it was time for fireworks.

This is a picture I took while waiting for the fireworks to start.

Amy and family watching the fireworks.

You can't really see it, but there is a little sign on the house with an arrow and the words "Beach". We got excited when we saw this sign. And, we added this house to the long list of real estate we would like to buy someday.

I always get excited when I see this sign. I think it is cool that the freeway just suddenly ends and there is the beach.

Toes in the water!

I knew this wave was coming, but I wanted Jarek to be surprised by it.

On our way to the coke store. As you can see it was already getting dark and we knew we would be driving all through the night but we wanted to get the most out of this trip so we stopped anyway.

It's blurry, but I think its funny anyway.

July 14, 2010

We have been the lucky beneficiaries of some baby hand-me-downs. I love it! I'm so grateful for everything we get. And each thing I bring home makes it seem more real that a baby is about to enter our home. Today my friend Janet gave me some boy clothes -she has three boys. She also offered us dinner. What a deal - baby clothes and dinner! She made us lasagna from a healthy recipe, with some substitutes. Instead of low0fat cheese she used regular, instead of whole wheat noodles she used regular, instead of low sodium tomato sauce she used regular and instead of ground turkey she used ground beef. It was the best healthy recipe lasagna ever! While we ate I watcher her cute little 13 month and 3 year old boys and tried to imagine having one of my own. Its exciting and really hard to comprehend. It was a nice evening. She even gave me a nursing cover-up that she bought. So nice! I am so lucky to have such good friends! Now I am off to sort baby clothes and admire how cute my boy will be in them.

Tonight I went to dinner with my friends Julie and Angie. We all work together at the hospital, but we became friends when we ended up together on Operation Smile Missions. Julie and I were in Kenya together and the three of us were in India together. We try to go to dinner once a month for some "ethnic" food. I really enjoy our dinners. Its fun to talk about our different travels and adventures and to catch up on what is happening in each others lives. Right now Angie is expecting her second child. She is due just a couple of weeks before me. And, her husband is about to leave for Afghanistan. Julie is getting ready to spend the month of August in Cambodia teaching nurses at a hospital there. Very cool. I can't wait to hear about all her adventures at our next dinner.

Today we took our friends' two daughters to McDonalds. They just had another baby and the dad was gone for work so we wanted to give mom a little break. We had a good time. I think we made a good parenting team. I'm impressed with how good Jarek is with kids, especially considering that he really hasn't had much experience with kids. It was like looking into the future, taking care of a couple of kids while I am pregnant. I hope we one day have two of our own and one on the way.

Sister withdrawls

I am having sister withdrawls. It always happens after I have spent some time with one or more of my sisters. I generally find my self grumpy and just a little bit sad for a few days with no explanation except that my sisters are not with me. Its kind of like I have lost an apendage and I get used to functioning without it, until I have it again for a bit and then the loss is noticibly profound again.

Meeting the In-Laws

Today I met my in-laws, over Skype. Unfortunately we don't speak the same language so I mostly just smiled and waved and answered a few questions with Jarek as our interpreter.

Heart Beat