December

Happy December!!
We are so excited for Christmas to be right around the corner!  Hyrum is so young, but there is just something different and exciting about having a little one in the home for Christmas.  I was super excited to put decorations this year instead of feeling like I needed to just because it was Christmas time.  We don't have any new traditions that we have in mind to start yet, but just plan to enjoy every minute!

Hyrum had his 4 month check up a few days ago and he weighs 12 lbs 4 oz (7th %) , is 25 inches long (25%) and is in the 30% for his head size.  He is still a runt but is growing steadily which is all that is important.  We are starting to get into more of a set schedule now that I'm back to work.  I am so proud of his bedtime routine.  He eats around 8:30 then plays for about 15 and then it's story time, prayers and he lays in his crib until it's time to sleep.  I had heard that when they are younger than 3 months they should be subjected to the "cry-it-out" method to learn b/c they are just too young.  So when he turned 3 months I said this has to be done so that he learns how to soothe himself back to sleep and can go to sleep w/out me holding him.  He really did well!  The first night he fought for 45 minutes and I went in every 5-7 minutes to let him know I loved him but did not pick him up or talk to him.  He finally fell asleep.  The next night was only 15 minutes and then the 3rd night was 5.  Sometime he has a hard time and I have to go in once or twice, but I am so proud of his progress!  Unfortunately now he will almost always wake up around 3 or 4 and need his binkie again but rarely ever fusses enough to need to be picked up or fed.  I can't tell you how much better our night time goes now that I don't have to hold and rock him to sleep ( not that I ever minded it, I just want him to learn good sleeping habits on his own).  Our next item to tackle is swaddling....I know that he will be getting too big for the swaddler and he WILL NOT fall asleep w/out being swaddled.  He is a magician and can get his arms out some nights and always wakes himself up!  So I know we'll have to tackle that someday, but that day is not today!

Halloween was fun.  Hyrum was a darling Giraffe.  We went out trick-or-treating w/Chandler, Jana, Abby, Cami & Lloyd in my mom's neighborhood.  We decorated halloween sugar cookies and had a blast!!

Hyrum has decided to keep growing up and is now rolling over!  He did it one day when i was doing dishes and he was on his play gym on the floor.  He was kind of fussing and it sounded muffeled so I walked over and he had rolled from his back to his tummy.  He then did it again the next day and now he is just a rolling machine!!! He has woken up several time on his tummy in the crib also.  I'm sure it won't be long until he is crawling around and climbing on everything.

Some other things that have happened this last month are I quit my job!  Now don't get too excited, I'm still going to be working, just not where I was.  I have been unhappy there for a long time, well, pretty much since I've worked there (2 1/2 years) but jobs in dental hygiene are rare and hard to come by so I stayed.  Well, I have a dear friend that is going to have a baby in January and needed someone for her maternity leave with the potential of being hired on for 2 days after she comes back.  Well, that was all I needed to hear!  Oh, and that it was a fun and chill office.  So after a few months of prayer and seeking for guidance I felt that I needed this change b/c I am just so unhappy at my current office.  I let them know I was offered another job and that I was happy to stay and work some days until they could find another hygienist.  They said "ok" and mumbled something about how they'd miss me and placed an ad.  It was the best moment ever!  I felt so free knowing that I was now working on a temporary basis and it would soon end!  That sure made it better to go and leave my baby and hubs behind to be belittled and unappreciated at work.  I just cannot express the freedom I feel and the excitement I have that I'll be able to be an appreciated hygienist and do my job the way I thought it was supposed to be not the cumbersome crappy way I've been forced to over the last 2.5 years.  YAY!!! I can't wait for January to come!!

Thanksgiving was wonderful as usual.  My Uncle Larry and Aunt Lindy (my mom's brother and wife) came to join us from California.  It was so wonderful to have them here!  My mom hosted Thanksgiving and my Dad's parents came along w/his youngest brother Chad and his family.  It was so fun and full of food (as Thanksgiving should be!)  We were able to visit w/family and enjoy some time away from the world and work.  I LOVE holidays!

Another change in our life is we had the White family move into our basement.  They have been in the selling their home/buying a home process for the last year and since we have a mother-in-law apartment downstairs w/a full kitchen, laundry hookups and an separate entrance we offered it to them should they need it.  They moved in the last week of November-ish and it has been so fun!  We love having the kids here especially around the holiday time.  They just love Hyrum and Tiffany is so sweet to watch him while Justin gets some much needed sleep to get ready for the night shift while I'm at work.  They are wonderful house guests and are so respectful of our space.  They have an offer in an a cute older home in Brigham City and I hope that everything goes through b/c they deserve to have their own home and space since they have lived in a condo and then w/in-laws.  But we are enjoying having them here!

I can't upload pics right now b/c I've met my google storage limit...boo!  So pics to come later (maybe)....stay tuned!

Life doesn't stop

Just when I think that I am going to be amazing and keep up on my blog, a month goes by!!  Hyrum has just kept on growing no matter how much I try to stop it and freeze each precious day.  Here is what has gone on this past month:

Hyrum got his 2 month check up and he weighs 9 lbs 8 oz and is in the 10th percentile for his weight and height and 30th percentile for his head circumference.  He had a great visit with Dr. Marcus Buchanan and of course won the hearts of all the staff with his smiles and charming ways (I'm going to have to keep an eye on him forever).  He got his immunizations and only cried for a few minutes but really did a great job!

Here are a few things about our little Hyrum:
He loves to play with and suck on his hands.  He can almost fit his whole fist in his mouth (like mother like son...)
His eyelashes have gotten so long
He smiles constantly! He smiles in response to my smiles and laughing now instead of just at random.
He laughs all the time, especially during diaper changes when I tickle his bare tummy
He loves diaper changes and rarely pees on me anymore
His sharp little nails need to be filed weekly....which he does not like and takes an entire day to do
He knows when it's time to make dinner and always needs to be held the entire time while I try to make dinner
He has now slept 7 hours at night 4 times which we hope continues
One day in church he was looking at Uncle Lloyd and had a laughing fit!  All of and the benches behind us were trying to stifle our laughter.  It went on for about 3 minutes.  He did it again that night for daddy.

Hyrum is 8 Weeks:

Hyrum is 9 Weeks

Hyrum is 10 weeks:

Abby comes to visit and gets a bath 

and we of course had to give her a Mohawk with all that crazy hair of hers

Gramma giving Hyrum a bath:

Got some Halloween pics taken:

  Cousins playing

Hyrum's Baby Blessing was on September 30.  We were so pleased to have some friends and close family join us for this ordinance in our church.Thank you to all of you who joined us, it was so special for us to have you there!  Justin did a wonderful job of giving the blessing through the direction of the Priesthood and Hyrum was an angel during it!  One of my Mission Presidents and his sweet wife (Bruce & Mary Ann Hunt) came and he then sent a letter to Hyrum telling him what he was blessed with in his blessing and how special he and his family are.  Both Justin and I teared up reading it and we will treasure this forever. Thanks President Hunt!

 Aunt Jana bought all the grandkids matching Monkey jammies:

Gramma Churchill and Aunt Christine (Justin's Mom & Oldest Sister) drove out from Wisconsin to Visit.  We had lots of fun seeing all the beauty of Utah during this fall season.  We drove Logan, Mantua, North Ogden, and Ogden Canyons.

We went to visit Brannick

 And went to the Golden Spike National Museum and drove out to see the 

Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake:

And we visited the new Brigham City Temple.  

Aunt Christine also stayed with Hyrum so Justin, Barb, and I could do an 

endowment session in the temple.  That was WONDERFUL!!

Gramma Barb

 The Family

Aunt Christine

Aunt Christine brought Hyrum a darling hunters hat. It has a cute little deer on the front and cozy snuggly ear flaps.  He loves to wear it on our evening walks.

Justin is so handy and can do pretty much anything around the house (and anywhere else for that matte...he knows how to do everything!)  He wanted to finish the only unfinished room in our house so we could maximize storage and so that it would be done just in case we needed it one day (it has laundry hook-ups if we needed laundry in the basement).  The previous owners had studded and insulated the room but the studs were not done to code and Justin wants things done the right way so he took down all the insulation and re-studded it so they were 16 inch center studs.

The Room Before

 He then hung drywall (thanks Lloyd for helping with the celing), mudded and taped, sanded and re-mudded.  Then it was priming and painting time.  He got some metal shelves from work that they were throwing away (we have gotten lots of stuff from his work that they are purging) and painted them black and secured them to the wall so we can have sturdy storage.  I just love having the room done this way.  I hate spiders and creepy crawly things of any kind and I always hated to go in this room b/c of the spiders in all the corners and dangling from the celing waiting to drop and eat me (I HATE THEM!!!)  It looks so good and I know that if Mike Holmes from Holmes on Homes (DIY Network...LOVE IT) ever comes then Justin will get an A+ for the work he has done down there.  I just love my Hubby!!!

Brannick's Birthday!

Brannick had his 2nd Birthday on Sept 11!  It was a pretty low key day b/c everyone had to work (except me and Hyrum) so we went to visit Brannick's grave and then went over to Gramma's house for dinner and cupcakes.  It is amazing to think that it has been 2 years since his wonderful Spirit entered our lives for forever.  He is always near and always in our hearts and on our minds.  We wouldn't trade a moment of his time with us here on Earth.

This was Hyrum's first visit to Brannick's grave.  We loved every moment spent there.

Hyrum's First Bath (sponge bath due to umbilical cord & circumcision)

 Hyrum's First time in his bathtub (thanks Aunt Cami!)  He loved being in the water!

He is always excited about something!!

Spending time with Great Gramma Fay Christensen

 Big boy at 4 weeks!

 6 Weeks Old (He is a very smiley baby!!)