3 Years and Going Strong

It was a gorgeous day three years ago when Reed and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Idaho Falls Temple. Since then, we have graduated from college, had a beautiful baby boy, and we are now preparing for the next stage of our life together--moving to Colorado to start a grown-up life with grad school and a (hopefully) good-paying job.

I just want to take a moment and express how much I love my husband and how much the last three years has meant to me. There are so many things that I love about Reed, but I will just mention a few:

1. He loves me, no matter how big of a dork I am (and that can be pretty big some days).

2. He loves our son, no matter how crabby he is.

3. He tells me often that I am a good mother, and some days I really need to hear that.

4. He like being goofy with me, and he doesn't take life too seriously.

5. He is wonderful at communicating with me. He will even listen to me when I want to talk in bed and he just wants to fall asleep.

6. He honors his priesthood and is working with me to try and keep unworthy things out of our home.

7. He tells me he loves me every single day.

8. He laughs EVERY time I attempt to dance. It is always funny to him.

9. When I get back in bed after feeding the baby in the middle of the night, he lets me warm up against him.

10. He supports me in my desire to stay home and raise our baby.

I'm sure I could think of dozens of more things I love about Reed, but I will just stick with those. I have honestly enjoyed being married, and I can't think of a single day that I would have traded it for being single again.

After Reed gets home tonight we are going to ditch our baby next door and go to the temple. I think this makes for a very nice, inexpensive date. I have my fingers crossed that Patrick will be good for Bethany. He hasn't successfully taken a bottle yet, but Reed and I really need an evening out on our own, so I think he will be okay for a few hours.

Another Cold

We have another cold that has been graciously spread to our family. Thankfully, Reed and I are feeling pretty good. Unfortunately, Patrick is again congested and has a cough. It seems like he has been this way for a majority of his short life now! He is in mostly good spirits though. I started using the nebulizer again as soon as he got congested to see if I can prevent he cough from moving into his chest and camping out for the next month. So far it seems to be helping some. Apparently Patrick has gotten really used to the nebulizer because when I did it the other morning he kinda got excited and wanted to help hold the nebulizer. He sticks his tongue out and tries to eat it too.

Everything else is going well. We have started getting things packed up, so our apartment looks like a tornado blew through. We sold a lot of things, so our apartment also looks bare. Patrick can now grab a toy that is offered to him and bring it to his mouth to chew on. He has also decided that bath time can now be fun, and he has learned how to wiggle and splash in the tub. It's a good thing I don't have any expectations of staying dry during bath time.

Weekend in Nampa

This weekend we took our first trip since Patrick was born and drove to Nampa to spend some time with my family before we move. We were kind of dreading the long car ride with Patrick, but I figured it would let us gauge how he would do on the even longer drive to Colorado, and we might figure out some tricks to entertaining him. Patrick did amazingly well in the car. He slept the entire time. We stopped halfway and I fed him and let him wiggle around for about a half hour, and when we got back in the car he cried for about 5 minutes and then went back to sleep. It was the same for the trip home.

We had a nice time with the family. Patrick was cute and entertaining and spoiled, just as he should be at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He got a new playmat that has lots of bright colors. He lies on it and wiggles and sometimes manages to hit the toys that are hanging down. He also got some pants and a coat so he won't be cold this winter. I think my parents were really sad to see us go, but it is time for us to move on with our lives.

3 months old

Patrick is 3 months old today. He talks and laughs and coos now. He plays games with Daddy because he will only give him little grins when he gives Mommy big laughs and smiles. We enjoyed some family time in bed this morning because it was so dark and cold outside. Patrick and I will stay inside today because my boy only has summer clothes! He only has one pair of long pants and is in desperate need of more warm clothes. At least, according to Mommy. Patrick is really okay with the cooler weather because he inherited Daddy's freakishly warm body temperature and doesn't mind the cool air. He prefers his baths lukewarm/almost cold. He sits there and shivers and his lips turn purple, but he is laughing and smiling! When I try to give him warmer baths, he fusses. What an odd duck, my boy.

Mmmmmm! Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today was a great day for baking because it was cold and overcast, so I baked up some chocolate chip cookies. Now, at the risk of sounding prideful, I believe that I possess the best ever chocolate chip cookie recipe. And I want to share that recipe with you all.

Chelsea's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter-flavored shortening + 2 Tbl water
Cream together. Add:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 3/4 cups flour
Add half of the flour, then 1 1/2 -2 cups milk chocolate chips, then the rest of the flour.

This time I found Nestle Tollhouse "Swirled" chocolate chips with caramel. They were divine.
Let me know if you try making these and how they turn out for you. Have a great Thursday!

Weight Update

We just got back from our WIC appointment. Patrick is now 12 lbs 4 oz (exactly what I guessed) and 24 inches. That puts him at about 25% for weight and 50% for height, which isn't much different than he has been. He is still long and skinny, even though his legs are finally starting to chunk up a little.

This morning Patrick was lying on my lap talking to me, and he starting smacking his lips and making sounds like he was eating something. I checked him mouth to make sure he hadn't gotten a stray piece of paper or hair in his mouth, but there was nothing there. He continued to move his mouth just like he was eating and make little noises like "umm umm umm." I asked him what he was eating that was so tasting, and he just laughed at me.

Sitting Up

Of course my little boy is growing up too fast. He is no longer content to lie down if he thinks he is missing out on something. He will still lie on the floor and wiggle sometimes, but I put him on my bed yesterday while I was sorting laundry, and he would have nothing of that. He kept grunting and straining as he was trying to lift his head up, so I got a couple of pillows and propped him up. He was content after that. He loved sitting up and talking to me. (Yes, he is in a Halloween shirt. I couldn't resist.) Later that evening Reed came home and sat him up between the cushions of the couch and Patrick was thrilled to just sit there and look around for almost 20 minutes while I finished dinner. He won't even recline on my lap anymore; he wants to sit straight up.

I'm Not Sure How, But . . .

I'm not sure how, but this morning Patrick wiggled right out of his diaper! He woke up at 2:00 (after 2 weeks of sleeping through the night, I knew he was tricking me!) and maybe I was sleepy and didn't get the diaper on perfectly, but somehow when I got him at 6:30 his diaper was barely hanging on one side and he was soaked. Of course, he was super excited with himself and giggling almost uncontrollably.

Conference weekend was really nice. We spent time with friends and had a big potluck brunch on Sunday between sessions. We had caramel breakfast rolls, banana bread, home fries, bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, and juice. Naturally, after such a wonderful brunch, we all had a difficult time staying awake for the afternoon session. But I still managed to hear most of the talks. I especially enjoyed President Monson's talk about change. We will be moving at the end of the month, and some days it has been hard to have the faith I need to make this move. We are both excited to begin this new stage in our life, but things are still so up in the air that sometimes it is frightening. So it was really nice to have encouraging talks from the Brethren this weekend. Conference always gives me a much needed pick me up!

So Wiggly!

This week hasn't seen anything spectacular, but I'll let you know what is going on anyway. Reed and I have decided to move to Denver, Colorado, at the end of October when our lease is up. Originally we had planned to stay here until next summer, but Reed's job isn't providing enough hours, and he can earn twice as much in Denver. His sister Amy lives in Denver and has been kind enough to start looking for jobs for Reed. We are going to stay in his parent's basement for a little while until he finds a job and we can save enough for a deposit and first month's rent. I am really hoping that we can find a place by the first of the year or shortly there after.

Moving is going to be difficult because we have made some really good friends here in Rexburg. Our best friends live right across from us and we see them every day. Most days we fix dinner together because neither of us like leftovers that much. Of course I am going to miss my family, but I already live away from them and I don't see them every day. I see Jordan and Bethany and Coralie every day, so leaving them will be difficult. We hope it will only be for a couple of years though while both husbands finish grad school and then we can find some cute houses next door to each other.

So now that we have decided to move, I am trying to sell a few of our things so we can collect some gas money to drive to Denver. We are moving our big stuff like our sofa, bed, and table, but some of the things we got for cheap when we were first married we are selling. I want to move the least amount of stuff possible. So our apartment is just going to be in shambles for the next month while I do things like sell the bookcase and scatter books all over, or sell the DVD rack and have a pile of DVDs on the couch. Such is the life of moving, right?

I thought someone might be buying our TV last week, so I unhooked everything and got it ready to be picked up. Well, she changed her mind, and I didn't feel like hooking the cable back up, but I have decided that that was a really good decision. Once I didn't have the TV available for background noise, I realized how much the TV was driving me crazy the last few weeks. I know that there is a lot of trash on TV, but it seems like even when we find a decent show to watch, the commercials are risque and inappropriate. So I think Reed and I have officially given up television again. We didn't have a TV for the first year we were married and it was absolutely wonderful. We read books and played games and talked to each other. But recently we have gotten addicted to TV again and last night we decided that it wasn't for us anymore. It shouldn't be too difficult, because when we find a new apartment we won't be able to afford cable anyway. We have a few shows that if we decided that we really want to still watch them, we can find them online (minus the sleazy commercials).

Well, on to the title of today's blog. Patrick has turned into a full-fledged wiggle worm. He is moving almost non-stop when he is awake. I have uploaded a couple of videos to demonstrate his wiggling abilities. Unfortunately, we don't have a video camera, just a regular digital camera that takes tiny videos, so I there isn't any sounds, which is sad because in one of videos he laughed really loud (it is more like a squeal). But you can still tell that he is super excited that he has arms and legs. The other new development with my baby boy is that he had mostly discovered his hands. Of course, he isn't very coordinated yet, but he has started hitting things on purpose and grabbing toys. I need to get him a little playmat with toys so laying on the floor is more fun.

Also, I think it is safe to say that Patrick is officially sleeping through the night now. About a week and a half ago, I woke up all of a sudden and it was 5:00 am. At first, I panicked. I had that same feeling you get when you think you have forgotten an important test or you slept through a job interview. I thought Patrick had cried during the night and I had just not heard him. So, like any good panicked mother, I went in his room to check on him. Of course he was just fine and sleeping, so I went back to bed. He woke up ten minutes later, but he had slept 7 hours in row! I was amazed and full of energy that day because it was the first good night's sleep I had had in like 4 months. Since then he has usually slept 6-8 hours each night. It has been heavenly. Because he is sleeping more at night, he is awake a little longer during the day, which means we have more time to play!

Happy Monday

Hopefully these pictures will make your Monday a happy one! As you can see, Patrick still has his happy moments even though his cough won't go away. I really hope using this nebulizer will help soon so we can have a happy baby all the time!