stargazer

well, we have a new addition! luke jeremy young made his way here on 12.12.10 at 4pm. he was 8 lb 3 oz and 19.5 inches. absolutely perfect! seth loves him! i catch him rubbing his head all the time. their newborn pics are near identical! ill do a post later to compare.... if i remember. remind me.

well, this is going to be a short post. here are pictures! hopefully i will reemerge after christmas :)

hospital:
i look like i had just taken a beating! haha!



first days home:


ready for christmas!



love you all!

a first... in almost 21 months

ok, i had to share this news with you, but let me set up the back story first:

i'm not sure if you know or not, but i end up sleeping in seth's bed with him about 1/2 the night. judge me. i couldn't care less. i've heard it all! i usually put him down between 9 and 10. i lay with him and read him a few books and sing him a few songs. then i lay there and wait until he falls asleep. at that point, i come out to hang with jer, watch some dvr, or go to bed myself in my big girl bed. around, say, 2:00 seth wakes up crying and i go in and lay with him until we both fall asleep and wake up the next morning when jer comes in to say good bye for work. it's been the routine for months now. seth used to just sleep with us... much to jer's disdain. he has NEVER slept in his crib.... ever! for like a week i put him in for naps, but ended up sleeping in there with him. did you get your visual? good. anyway, we got him a queen-size bed and he's been in his own room ever since.... with mommy 1/2 the night.

i've gotten A LOT of grief from a lot of different people about our little 'arrangement' but i think i would rather put up with it than make him cry it out for a couple weeks (the amount of time his pediatrician said it would take to get him to learn how to put himself to sleep and stay asleep). it just sounds TERRIBLE!!!! i even asked jer if he thinks we should let him cry it out, and jer agreed that it seemed too cruel. i created the sleeping monster, i can deal with it....for now. we tried one night when he was about 9 months... jer called me a wuss for going in after 10 minutes, so we tried it again and i vowed to be stronger! this time, JER went in to get him! neither of us can handle it! i can't STAND the thought of him alone and terrified! again, judge me. PLEASE don't think that i frown upon other parents that teach their kids to sleep through the night! i think it's great!! i wish i could be that strong at night and not let my mind make up thoughts of seth being 16, hating me, and running off doing drugs to get back at me for making him cry it out at 20 months. i know it's delusional, but it's honestly what i think about!

well, now for the point of the rambling: last night, November 10th, 2010 seth slept through the night! the WHOLE night! like, didn't wake up until 8! i tried something a little different last night: i kept the light dimmed all night. now maybe that was just a coincidence, or maybe it helped. either way, i'm going to try it out again tonight. wish me luck!

now, seth may have gotten some great shut-eye, but i DID NOT! i was up and checking on him at least a couple times through the night. i first woke up at 4:00 and FREAKED! i ran in there to find him peacefully breathing and asleep. i woke up again around 6:00 and freaked again. again, he was fine. woke up an hour later, again, he was ok.... but this time i decided to stay with him since jer's damn alarm kept going off and i was tired of kicking him to turn it off. i have not heard jer's alarm clock in MONTHS! that's how long it's been since i've been in bed at whatever time his alarm goes off! i don't miss the alarm. at. all. but, if i can get over freaking out in the middle of the night and seth still sleeps until 8:00, i'll take it!! wait.... that won't happen, will it? #2 Luke will be here just in time to keep me on my little toes at night. man, oh man. i think i have learned my lesson, though and will try a new sleeping method with Lukey from day 1.

we'll see.

halloween week

hello.

update time! and what a perfect day to reminisce the glorious past couple weeks! could the weather have been any more perfect? seriously. seth and i have been loving our days outside! i'm pissed that snow weather is amongst us, but i can't be too upset since we were able to enjoy freaking near 70's weather in november! im also lucky because seth and i have a pass to the treehouse museum (thanks tiff) and a connection to discovery gateway (thanks sarah), so i'm sure we'll still be busy :) i get SO stir crazy if i don't have plans! i say, once a week not having anything planned is great, but more than that and i go bonkers! ok, just realized this makes me sound like a brat, but i honestly, more than anything, feel bad for SETH when we stay home or don't have anyone over. i am so LAME!! i feel like he just looks at me and goes 'ok, so..... ummm, what next lame-o?'i need to get over that, though, since baby #2 is nearing and we aint gonna do nuttin for a few weeks. poor seth and his insecure mother!

well, here is a mini update of our past week via storyboard... something new i'm trying. i think before my pics took over, but maybe that was a good thing? i think this way presents everything in a concise way and looks pretty.... but the pics may be too small for the grandparents eyes to see. lemme know :) i think if you click on the pic it will take you to a screen where it is larger. i know my mom is blind, so that may help mumsy!
here we are at wheeler farm! cousin paula was in town! seth loved following her around and chasing geese and chickens! we took a hay ride, played in a treehouse, went through a "corn" maze, chose pumpkins, and really had just an awesome time! i havent been there since elementary!! i remember going every year at good ol carl sandburg, but haven't been since. i will DEFINITELY be going back! i think they have a winter 'thing' that goes on there. we'll have to bundle up and check it out!
a couple days later we went to the zoo with all the cousins and morgie, seth's 'adopted' cousin, as well as grandma denise, grandma free, and marsha. seth and i couldn't stay long, but long enough for me to be totally exhausted! seriously, that place is SOOOO hilly! my legs felt the burn! oh, and we didn't leave before i showed seth the tigers! he carried his plastic tiger that whole time and kept saying 'rawr!' at everyone. at one point, boston had enough and got a little freaked out by seth's antics and started saying 'scared!'.... in the top left pic you can see seth with his tiger while looking at the tiger through the glass. i also got some cute pics of him kissing the glass... come to think of it, that's not the most sanitary thing to kiss. meh, it made his day :)

on halloween weekend, we had a jolly time. first, we did pumpkins for the first time since we've been married. jer was an overachiever and did the spiderweb. i did the owl on the tree which looked more like...well.... not like that. seth was not interested in helping like we thought :( maybe next year.

for dress-up, seth went as a monkey!!! he wore the same costume last year, but if you don't recall, it was SO HOT last halloween and seth only put it on long enough for a picture or two. this year we took him to jer's work at mrs fields to do trick-or-treating around the office. side note: jer's new office is SOOOOOO coool! the have, in the middle of the office i mind you, 3 tv's set up in a triangle coming from the ceiling and couches in a circle around it, 2 ping pong tables, pool table, fooseball table, playstation 3 and xbox station with cool chairs to sit in, yogurt machines, cookies, soda fountain, and the ceo got 200 soft balls to leave around the office for people to just throw at eachother!! it's nuts!.... ok, where was i... well, seth had a great time being cooed by all the women that work there, eating cookies, and playing with the other kids. not a fan of the monkey hat, however.

for halloween saturday we went with jer's cousins to trick or treat. it was miserable! cold! wet! not fun out there. jer ended up taking seth, but i guess seth wasn't interested in going to get candy, just being with the kids.... so, jer didn't get anything out of it. it was so funny seeing all the kids who were brave enough to trick or treat because you couldnt tell what anyone was! everyone had their big rain coats on or under their costumes! i remember halloweens like that, and i hated them! my princess dresses didn't look that wonderful being worn over the overstuffed coat my mom would make me wear! bah!

well, cheerio!

ps, i decided not to do a psa on ugly fake spiderweb decorations and poorly hung icicle lights. i felt too bad. meh.

winding down

here's just a quick rundown of our fleeting warm weather days...

we made it to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. seth LOVES it! he even loved it last year when he wasn't even a year old yet! His favorite thing for sure was the train area and riding the horse. he HAD to put on the cowboy hat.

we've also made another trip to discovery gateway. this time, daddy came too! oh my gosh! it was the greatest! i could just relax and watch jeremy play with his son as i took pictures. it was seriously a blast. i think jer is just like a big kid, cause i think he loved everything as much or even more than seth did!

here, seth is just about to throw a foam block at me. guess where he got that behavior from? yeah, you guessed it, daddy.

we also made a fun trip to the aviary with grandma tiffany. the weather was seriously perfect! seth really enjoyed himself and loved seeing and listening to all the neat birds.


here, seth thinks he is being cheeky and going through the first fence barrier to get a closer look at the birds. being the great mother that i am, i let him, even though signs clearly state not to let your children do that. meh.

ok, so jer and i have decided that these two must marry! this is little kelsy davis, our good friends corey and erin's totally adorable little girl! she is so mellow and happy. love watching seth interact with her.

p.s. we will miss you, corey, erin, and kelsy! see you next fall!

So, last night my dad took seth for a bike ride on sunflower. i wasn't home but i REALLY wish i could have been there to take a picture of that sight!

if you haven't already, please sign up for the chelsie hill memorial 5k run! http://www.active.com/running/west-valley-city-ut/chelsie-hill-memorial-5k-2010

well, that's all i have for now. stay tuned when i will be giving a PSA on fake halloween spiderwebs and christmas icicle lights.

i caved

i was determined not to do any real work at the great harvesting this year. i was just in it for the photo ops, but when i went over on sunday and saw how tired/stressed my pappy was over trying to get everything done that day, i caved. ok, maybe i was bribed, but i prefer to think that i did it to be a helpful, loving daughter. besides, my pappy's tiredness was self-inflicted: the day before he biked a 100-mile race and left jeremy to try to defend the mrs fields golf championship title with new players! pfffft! they needed you, jello-shot inskeep! they needed you.


although pappy was tired, i think he had a great time with sethers. ok, so funny... i asked my dad why HE didn't harvest the grapes? my mom stepped right in and said, 'because he doesn't, sarah! he's the wine maker NOT the harvester!' o-k.


so, i harvested a few rows out of the goodness of my heart while pappy was busy disinfecting everything and watching seth eat giant mutated marshmallows.


harvesting sucks! it's so hard! it seems all easy breezy/under the tuscan sun.... NO! spiders. heat. heavy grape baskets. crouching. oh, and don't let my dad catch you feeding the grapes to the horses! in hind sight, it was a terrible idea. that horse would NOT leave me alone! oh, and if he catches you drop grapes on the ground and accidentally stomp on them, there will be words! i believe his exact words to mumsy were 'that's juice we're never going to get back!' nick, on the other hand, seemed to actually ENJOY harvesting!! what!?!?! i asked him what HE's getting out of this and he just shrugged and said that he will never have to buy a bottle of wine in his life. i just don't like pregnant hard labor. at all.
nick is genuinely happy

REAL work... i had to white-trash it up and take off my top shirt.

we later stomped. we got seth to join in the fun, but he wasn't a fan. i've got a vid to show his lack of excitement, but you'll have to look on my facebook page for that. for some reason, i can't get them to load.

it was a good time, even if the actual hard work wasn't. oh, and we met chokey's harem! they were stuck up. i tried to get close to them but they wouldn't even give me the time of day.



these pictures are just super random, but i love them! jer got a well-needed haircut yesterday too, but halfway through it was a total bowl cut! i don't know if he's sad because his long locks are getting cut away or because he had a jerry seinfeld inspired cut at the moment; either way, HI-larious. Thanks for the final cut, Shayla!


Jer should have been happy because he made his baby boy SO happy last night! seth would NOT stop giving jer hugs! no hugs for mommy... just daddy. it was like christmas! new pjs, train, cars, and dump truck... thanks daddy!

big boy photo shoot, grape stomping, etc

the past few weeks have been a dream! i love staying home with seth! the house is clean (mostly), the laundry is getting done, seth has a schedule, we've been able to do lots of activities, jer is happy, mommy is happy! it's overall been a grand decision.

here are a few things we've done the past few weeks:
gateway water fountains
ute game
bear lake
grape stomping/harvesting
liberty park carnival
tracy aviary
zoo
discovery gateway
ogden dinosaur park
downtown picture taking
swimming
lunches with family and friends
and my favorite, bike rides with sethy. i don't have any pics with him and me on the bike, but i'll post one with my mom and him. he loves to go for rides! he points at the garage and motions me to come over. i'll ask him, 'wanna go for a bike ride?' and he'll shout 'YAY!' and pat his head to motion putting on a helmet. love this slightly cooler weather!

before the weather gets too cool, i still want to make it to thanksgiving point gardens and let seth play in the liberty park fountains. anyone want to join?

here are some fun pictures:

us at the ute game! sethy loved the food, band, and company! we loved the tickets in the suite!

GO UTES!

i don't know if i've mentioned this, but seth love Love LOVES his daddy! so sweet!

discovery gateway

ok, i HAD to get a pic of this kids hair! no one would have ever believed me if i told them! yeah, it's a boy. yeah, he has spikey hair AND a 2.5 foot ponytail. best of both worlds. magoo!

i think this is the ONLY shot i have of seth AND ruthy. i love that little girl!

music? sign this kid up!

seth and mom-mom on sunflower!! although he doesn't look it, he does, in fact, love to go for rides

ah, bear lake labor day weekend!

is this a little boys heaven or what!

seth, boston, and the boats! they had such a great time in the water

literally the second we got out of the car and made it to bear lake, seth was on his way to the lake! i couldn't stop him, so i joined him

gateway ice cream. where does he put it?!

seth and boston playin in the fountains... neither of them got wet like i expected. they were both too scared once the water shot up.

grape stomping was divine!
here is my gorgeous mommasita!

me! i actually didn't pick or stomp any grapes this time; just there for the photo op. yeah, i totally threw down the pregnancy card. judge me.

now here are some of the crew that actually did some work


so, the first year i did stomp and it was fun, for like 5 minutes. it's A LOT harder that it seems. just ask these fine ladies.



ok, now how great are these pictures!! the best photographer, Missy, took them and got them back to me the next day! no waiting for me!!!!

those baby blues melt me! i loved this photo session!

if you want to contact missy, let me know. she has a really great eye and gets as enthusiastic about the pictures as i do!





if you made it this far through my post, congrats! give yourself a hand!

well, that's the past few weeks in a nutshell. i wish i had pics of them at the ogden dino park, cause man, seth loved that!