Best (pre) Birthday Present Ever

During pregnancy they always talk about how they prefer to have you sleep on your left side because it is the best for blood flow. When I was prego anytime I rolled or tried to sleep on my left side Ty would kick like crazy until I rolled onto my right, then he would instantly stop. As soon as he was born I figured out why. He loves to roll onto his right side whether he is sleeping or cuddling. This picture of him is completely typical and an everyday experience. Although I love cuddling with him during the day, nights are another matter. Well last night T surprised me by giving me a heart attack when he sleep through the night. I never would have thought 6 hours straight of sleep would make me panic. But now that I realized he was sleeping and not dead I can say I am so excited to start getting at least 6 hours straight of sleep! Needless to say it was the best pre bday preset ever!

True Love

My mom always likes to tell this story about me when I was 4 or 5. It was Halloween and it was on a Sunday. My mom had forgotten to buy candy and since it was Sunday she didn't go out to buy some. So she turned off all the lights and pretended we weren't home. Suddenly she hears me yelling through the window to 4 large families "go away, we are very very poor and have no candy". I don't remember this but clearly I was unsatisfied with pretending we weren't home.

This is my 3 Valentines Day with Jake. Each year he has gotten me a dozen roses and mixed in a pink, yellow and orange gerber daisy because those were the flowers in my bouquet for our wedding. This fine my words are ringing true. Since we are about to completely pay off the bills from 4 hospital visits...jake and I are very very poor and have no money for Valentines day. So Jake let me know weeks ago I wouldn't be getting my normal flowers. For me that is completely fine because I said we could celebrate Valentines day during my bday dinner this weekend. Because to be honest id rather eat than have flowers. Even though we're the poorest we've ever been its been one of the best Valentines Days and one I'll always remember. We just got some ice cream and watched a movie as a little family. It was great having 2 Valentines this year! It goes to show that true love is about spending time with the people you love. Material things cant be taken with you in the next life but amazing memories can. Who would've thought the year where we have literally no money to spare, we would make some of my favorite memories. Hope everyone else had a wonderful day celebrating the ones they loved!

Ty's Blessing

Sunday was a special day for this little family as we blessed Ty.  We were fortunate enough to do the blessing at Jake's parents house.  It was nice being able to decide what time worked best for all our family as opposed to having to do it the first weekend of the month at 9 am.  It is also nice to have a small and intimate atmosphere as opposed to sacrament with everyone.  When Jake and I were doing a quick count of everyone we were inviting we realized that we were inviting 59 family members to his blessing.  At first I was shocked with the number and then the more I though about it I was overwhelmed with how what a blessing it was to have that many family members a part of this special day. 

It was an amazing sight to see so many family members standing in the circle giving T a blessing.  One of my favorite things about being a member is the emphasis placed on families and the vital role they play in our lives.  From the second T was born my heart broke for all those children who are not born to situations like he was, he is so surrounded by people who love him.  It makes me sad to think that not every child is welcomed into a home where there are not only two parents who love and adore them, but grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.  I am so grateful that Ty will always be surrounded by a countless number of people who love and care about him.

It was a little bittersweet getting Ty dressed for his blessing because it hit me how fast he is growing up.  Before I know it he will be all grown up and having a family of his own.  But luckily for now I get to stay home and just cuddle with him all day.  I am so grateful for all my family members and friends who made the effort to come to his blessing and to celebrate in this special day.  It is a day that I will never forget and one that I will always cherish.  As a mom nothing breaks your heart more than someone being rude to your child and flip is also true where nothing in the world makes you happier than people loving and recognizing what a special child you have.  I look forward to all the special memories that are just waiting to happen and I love Ty more than I ever thought I could.  Jake and I always talk about how that first night we all spent together in the hospital, looking at T I finally understood how my parents felt about me.  Words cannot describe the feelings that come over me when I hold him or when he looks up at me and smiles.      

I'll stop being a crazy, sappy mom and finish this post with some of my favorite pictures from that day.

From left to right: this is a picture of the D ring that Jake wore when he was blessed, Ty with G&G Dallin, Ty with both my Grandparents, Ty with his buddy Eric, Ty with Nana and Papa Foutz

Ty in his outfit on his blessing blanket my gma made, our little family, Ty with both his grandparents, Jake putting the Dallin ring on Ty, Jake holding him right after blessing him,  Ty with his 3 single Aunts.

One of my all time favorite pictures from that day

Another favorite picture, Jake is wearing the same tie he wore when I went to the temple to receive my endowments as well as the day we got married. 

Personality

Little T isn't feeling too great today so we have spent all day in bed doing this

It seems that the only thing that makes Ty feel better is to have me hold him.  It would make things hard if I had things to do but luckily I completed all the laundry yesterday so today is a lay in bed and make Ty feel better day.  On a side note I absolutely love this second picture.  Ty always has his right hand up on his face when he sleeps.  When we went to get our 20 week ultrasound picture more than 1/2 of all our pictures have his hand up by his face just like this picture.  It is funny to think about how he had already developed his personality before being born.  It makes me look forward to what other little personality traits he will show us.  Hope your day is as cozy as mine is. 

Changes

Before Ty was born I hated being stuck in the house.  Some of my earliest memories are feeling the constant need to either play with someone or to be out going somewhere.  I hate feeling trapped and bored, which leads to random drives around town and wandering pointlessly through Target and Walmart. 

Well every since Ty was born I have become essentially cured of this problem.  I dont know if it is because of the fact that I am just now starting to sleep for 5 hour periods or the fact that I now live in pjs... I have come to learn that it is pointless to get dressed in cute, normal clothes when I spend all day alone with T and due to the fact that breastfeeding requires its own unique wardrobe.  Regardless of the reason, I just love being at home with him which is a little weird for me but fun at the same time.      

During his early morning feeding he conveniently falls asleep and sleeps best if in our bed 

But its hard to be annoyed that he wants to cuddle in our bed when he has this face

 

So for now I am one happy stay at home mommy who is counting down the hours till my family comes!!! The big day happens tomorrow at 9:30 pm ish.  I am so excited that they are coming out here this weekend for T's blessing.  Its been almost 4 weeks since I have seen my family and I can't wait! 

I have always missed living near my family but I was always happier to live in Utah than Hemet, and was grateful for my little bit of independence.  However all that was shot when Ty was born.  Since having him I truly miss spending a TON of time with my family.  It is so nice to see them interact with him and to just be together as a family.  Although I dont know if I will ever live close to my family I am grateful to be done with school so that whenever I want I can take the opportunity to go down and visit them. 

Needless to say this weekend will be much needed.  Plus if I have to guess I think T is sick of my telling him every diaper change and feeding about how many days left he sees his grandparents and aunts.  Oh well I'm sure I have plenty of days left ahead of me where he will be sick of my telling him things.  For now I'll wait and see what other changes are in store for me and this new adventure of life.

Infomercials

Ty has never been a baby who ate quickly. I don't know if it is because he is a boy or just likes to take his time eating but feedings always take like 30 min. So this week I wised up and left the tv on mute when I went to bed. This way when T wakes up to eat at 1 and 3 and 5:30 I have sometime to watch besides staring at the wall. After last nights feeding I have decided that late at night I am a sucker for infomercials. I watched 4 different ones and every one of them had me convinced to pull out my card and call. Then the working part of my brain let me know that I don't actually need to pay 120 dollars for hair conditioner when my hair is in great shape. But I did convince myself to go to best buy (jakes other love beside me and ty) to see if I could find a fun Zumba DVD. Why Zumba? Because Monday I decided it was time to start working out. Let me tell you that was the most pathetic I have ever felt trying to run. It was a sad day and I have yet to try again. So last night watching a Zumba infomercial I decided that, that is the key to making me fit in my pants again. So fingers crossed I can find something to make me drop the remaining pounds hopefully before Ts blessing where I'll be taking lots of pictures. I am a little excited to see what's going to be on tonight...

Valentines Day

I always love the month of February. Maybe it is because we always had a nice long break or because it means that spring and summer are right around the corner. But in honor of the first day of the month I snapped this little pic of my valentine this year. I have a feeling this will be a great holiday