2 Months

This is a little bit late but oh well. We've been really busy. I'll put another post up soon about Derek's second vacation. Derek will be 11 weeks on Monday but these pictures were taken on May 16th. He's such a little cutie!



I can't believe our little Peanut is already 2 months old. He wakes up just 2 or 3 times to eat every night. He still doesn't love tummy time but stays there for longer periods of time without crying. He captures our hearts with his coos, goos, and other "stories" he babbles. I love waking up, greeting him, and having him get so excited, smiley, and wiggley at the sight of me. I love that he holds my hand and strokes my face. I love that he looks for me when he hears me talking. I love his deep little baby voice. I love how he bugs his eyes so big when he's interested in something. I love how he scrunches up his nose and forehead. I'm just in love with that little thing.

Derek Goes to Michigan and My Brother Graduates Law School

Last Friday, Derek and I hopped on a plane to Michigan. Well, we went to Phoenix first and then to Michigan. Derek pooped on both flights and made quite the mess. For the most part he did very well. The second flight was completely full and really hot. I was completely exhausted by the time we reached Detroit. Derek was hot, tired, hungry, and screaming and I was hot, tired with my hands full by the time we reached baggage claim. I stood there while people gave us looks watching the carseat and my bag go around and around with no way to get them off of the conveyor belt. Finally some lady came over and asked if I needed help. I was so grateful. Her husband carried our stuff over to the chairs for us so I could sit down and feed Derek. Thank goodness for good people.

That's where Derek and I were when Mom and Cory walked in. The whole trip was a surprise for Cory. He thought he was going to the airport to pick up his in-laws and get a rental car for Mom. So when they walked in Mom was looking around and Cory looked like he was on a mission to find something. I yelled, "Cory!" He looked over at me confused but then looked away and kept walking. I then started yelling, "Sherry!" and they came over. Cory was so surprised! It was really fun.

Derek on his way to graduation in his Michigan romper.

Cory graduated from MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL! I'm so proud. Isn't he a handsome graduate?

Choka and I spent half of the graduation downstairs with the babies. Derek just loves his Aunt Choka. It was so fun to see her again. I miss her a lot.

Family picture. My eyes are closed. I look normal in the picture where everyone else is not ready for the picture.

Did he graduate from Hogwarts? No, he looks like a wizard though! And "The Reading Room" looks like the Great Hall, eh?

They have a cell phone booth. I thought it was funny.

We celebrated at dinner that night in the banquet room of Carlyle's. We shared the banquet room with 30 prom goers. It was loud but still fun. Mom thought that since no one could hear her, she'd start singing show tunes. Silly. And Sam had me laughing pretty much every time we were together. While we were there Dan held Derek (who he calls, Seamus). When Choka held Derek she said to Ariunaa, "look Ruka, I'm holding another baby. Aren't you jealous?" and Ariunaa just turned around like, "I don't care, mom." But when Dan had Seamus, Ariunaa went crazy! She started screaming and reaching toward Dan. Haha. What a Daddy's girl! It was cute. She didn't want her daddy holding another baby.

Tyler bought bears for all his nieces and nephew. Danny got a pirate bear and named him, "Pirate Skag." He's hilarious.

Mom and her three girls.

Mom and her grandchildren.

Cousins. It's the first time they've all been together!

Zayaa and Danny just loved Derek. It was the cutest thing. They wanted to be close to him. Derek's lucky to have such adoring (and adorable) cousins.

Papa and his grandchildren.

On Mother's Day (my first Mother's Day) we went to church and then had a barbeque in Quirk park. It was very cold. We all bundled and huddled up.

The most precious bundle of joy I've ever seen.

Here I am wearing five layers and still cold. I kept thinking, "Why didn't I pack a jacket?!"

The Walkers

Dan, Choka, Danny, Zayaa, and Ariunaa left right after the picnic. It was so sad. I was so happy to have everyone together again and I wish it didn't have to end. I miss them a lot. I can't wait until they move back to Utah.

Dad, Sam, and Bree left Monday morning. It was sad to see everyone leave. I liked having the family all together. The only way it could have been better is if Tyler could have come with us.

Mom and I got to stay a couple of extra days to play with Cory and Katie. Katie was so cute with Derek. She could put him to sleep like magic. Derek loves Aunt Katie.

They even took naps together.

Cory gave me and Mom a tour of the law school. It was beautiful! I really loved it. Everything just looked so cool. The Reading Room looked like Hogwarts and there was ivy covering the outside of the building. The library had green floors and tan walls to make it feel like you were outside.

Proud Mama and her son.

Derek and I flew home on Wednesday. It's nice to be home. I think Tyler missed us and is glad to have us home too.

We haven't done much since we've been home. I have a cold right now and have been in bed for the last two days. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow so we can start getting ready for our drive to CA for Jessie's wedding!

D-Rock Rolls Over and Some Other Stuff

Well things are pretty good. Derek has been less stuffy since our poor kitty left. We miss her a lot but, what can you do? We're in the process of de-pet-dandering our house now. I guess we could call it spring cleaning. Fun, huh? I put Derek in the Moby Wrap (which I totally love - thank you Crystal and Annie for recommending it!) and vacuumed the whole house. Derek loved it. He slept really well.

Derek is sure fun to have around. We mostly just chill at the house all day.

Unfortunately, we have a bad case of thrush right now. I'm in a lot of pain (that's why I'm still up at 2 am) and Derek is not always happy during his meals. (WARNING: Anyone who doesn't want to read about breastfeeding should skip to the next paragraph now) I shouldn't have been so cocky with my knowledge of nursing. I took breastfeeding classes. Yes, I took more than one. I read articles on "BabyCenter" and in "Fit Pregnancy." I read about it in What To Expect When You're Expecting and even read The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, the official book endorsed by La Leche League. I read about it Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven, a tongue in cheek guide to pregnancy and beyond. When the lactation consultant came in after I had my C-section I was like, "oh yeah, I totally know what I'm doing," but I didn't know how wrong I was in my skill because I was on the happy planet of Percocet. I knew the THEORY of breastfeeding so well that I was sure I'd be able to execute proper technique with minimal problems. I admit, I was wrong. Boy, let me tell you, I'm paying for my pride and cockiness now. Here's the lesson of the day: Let the experts teach you even if you're SURE you know how to do something. And also: BE HUMBLE. I've just had a really hard time. I've already had mastitis and now I've had thrush for WEEKS. This is all with the added pain of an improper latch for the first month. I finally went to the lactation clinic where I was able to learn proper latch on technique hands on but the damage had all ready been done.

Anyways, that's why Derek has purple lips in this next picture. He was treated for thrush with Gentian Violet. He had Halloween-like purple lips for a few days.

Here's Derek doing some Tummy Time.

He doesn't really like Tummy Time. He usually is only down there for a couple of minutes before protesting very loudly. Today, May 7th, I was down on the floor with him and he started fussing. I started to sit up to pick him up and he got kinda quiet. I looked over and he had rolled himself over onto his back! His first roll-over. I tried and tried to get him to do it again so I could get it on film, but the little doll screamed every time I put him back down there. So I just took a picture of him in the push up position.

And here he is loungin' in the tub.

And there's some good news for Tyler. He got somewhat of a promotion at work. He's such an awesome dad, too. He changes almost all of the diapers that he's around for. He gets up with Derek to rock him back to sleep at night. He takes Derek almost as soon as he gets home for some playtime and more rocking in the rocking chair. Our little boy loves to rock. He's a rockstar. D-Rock.

Our Pepper

There once was a cat named Pepper
She liked her Daddy to pet her
She would dig in the trash
And make Mommy mad
That's my cat Pepper

Some people might think this post is quite silly, but to anyone who has really loved a pet, I think you will understand. We gave our sweet PepperAnn to a cute little family yesterday. They are very sweet and were really good with PepperAnn. They have a 20 month old that just adored her. I'm so glad we found a family to love and take care of her the way she needs to be loved and taken care of. I, however, am so sad that she is gone. I miss her. I love that cat. I feel like our house is a little empty without her. I keep asking Tyler, "should we call them and have them bring Pepper home?" and he reminds me the reason we had to say goodbye. I think about my little boy being so congested that he wakes himself up from coughing to try to clear his airways and I know that it has to be this way. It is hard though. Much harder than I thought it would be.

There is a Tim McGraw song that keeps coming to mind. It's called "I Guess You Get Used to Somebody," and the chorus goes something like this:

"I guess you get used to somebody
Kinda like having them around
I guess you get used to the way they make you happy
Bring you up when you're feeling down
I never dreamed when I was letting you go
That I would wake up and miss you this much
I guess you get used to somebody
I guess you get used to being loved"

To one of God's creatures, our beloved PepperAnn:

Goodbye. We'll miss you.
WE LOVE YOU!