New Year!

Well, we rang in the new year at Barkin' Ball. I'm not sure who would echo this feeling, but I didn't think it was all that great this year. I thought the food was VERY sub-par, like not even as good as wedding food, and the band wasn't as good as the ones they've had in the past. I have also come to find out that I am a) addicted to silent auctions and b) have really bad luck with drama at silent auctions. First, I ALWAYS bid on things at silent auctions. I love it. And I win. I always win whatever I really want because I stalk my bids. Well, two years ago (the last time we went to Barkin' Ball), there were a couple photo packages being auctioned off. There were several people standing around them, so I asked which ones they were bidding on so that I could bid on one they didn't care about. So, I wrote my name on one that no one wanted. Or so I thought. When the auction was over, an older lady realized that she hadn't won (I had) and she acted like I had just stolen it right out from under her. I told her that I asked if anyone was bidding on it, and she told me that she had just had a grandson born and that she wanted to have his pictures taken. Well, I guess the fact that I was planning on using the pics for our engagement pictures didn't matter. Anyways, I felt bad, so I ended up marking my name out and letting her have it. I vowed to never let that happen again.

Sooooo....maybe I took it a little too far this year. I actually held the piece of paper until 1 minute until the auction was over. Then this girl came over and wrote her name on it. So, right as they were saying it was over, I picked it back up and wrote my name. And I won. Of course, but there was never really any doubt that I would win, was there? Anyways, she told her husband that I had stolen it (not sure those were her words, but you get the idea), and I fessed up to it. Then I felt bad because they were going to use them for their son, and I've already had some awesome pictures taken of Robert Alan, so I told her she could have it. Then I remembered that my sister had bid on a photo package as well, so I offered to let the girl take her package. Ha! Sorry sis! Anyways, she ended up taking that package, and now all I have to do is get out of trouble with Dave for bidding (and winning, let's not forget) on yet another photography package.

Oh yes! Let's not forget that New Year's Eve was our first night away from Robert Alan. He had a slumber party at Gigi and PopPop's house, and, while it was hard for me to come home and not see my baby boy, I reeeeeeeeally enjoyed myself. I hope I didn't do or say anything too terribly inappropriate. I mean, I reeeeeeeeeally enjoyed myself. :-) (There will be no incriminating pics posted, sorry! Only some of the previously mentioned awesome professional pics of Robert Alan when he was 3 weeks old. So long ago!)

The two loves of my life.

Sweet little muffin (his quilt and our marriage quilt underneath).

Fast asleep in the sheepskin. If only I had some of this at our house.

Christmas!!!!

So I've given up even thinking that I'm going to promise to update this thing twice a week, or once a week, or even once every two weeks. I'm just going to update it whenever I feel like writing, and that'll be it. Sorry.

Robert Alan had his first Christmas celebration tonight! David's mom always hosts Christmas for us on Christmas Eve's eve so that everyone can go to their other family's Christmas celebrations on Christmas eve and Christmas day. It was good. Robert Alan got a lot of stuff that he doesn't even understand. Oh well. He was really good and actually did seem to look at some of the toys he got. That's all I can ask for. I love him so much. He gets cuter by the day.

I don't really have much on my mind right now. I'm pretty tired--last-minute Christmas shopping and wrapping can wear a girl out! I don't recommend it, but it's all we could do this year. I'm so excited for Christmas morning. I need to go to the grocery store tomorrow and get something to make for breakfast Christmas morning. It will just be David, Robert Alan, and me Christmas morning and I'm SO EXCITED about that. We'll get to lounge around and do what we want and then we'll go to my sister's for my family's Christmas celebration. That'll be fun, but I'm nervous about her dogs. They're big, and today I started thinking of where I would put Robert Alan for his naps--the dogs go everywhere in the house and jump on the furniture and everything, so really no place is safe because I can't shut the door to any room or else I won't hear him when he wakes up.....we'll figure it out though. :-) I feel so blessed for my family.

Talk to you later!

So GRATEFUL!

I feel like a lot of times, I take for granted the simple things. Health, love, family, friends. I am so blessed to have a loving husband. He is so wonderful to me and to our son. We are all healthy, and I am so grateful for that. I can't believe we have gone 6 weeks and I have complained as much as I have about the seemingly endless crying (it isn't endless), sleepless nights (they aren't that sleepless), and the endless chores that don't get done (the do get done and they aren't endless). I recently found out about a sorority sister of mine who had her second baby boy 3 weeks after Robert Alan was born. He's 3 weeks old now, and he's been in the hospital since the Monday after Thanksgiving with breathing problems. He took a turn for the worst last night, and now they are on their way to Cook's hospital. You can keep up with her updates at http://www.kristyboyd.blogspot.com/. The baby's name is Hayes, mom is Kristy, dad is Lee, and big brother is Price. I can't imagine seeing my little baby boy hooked up to so many monitors, oxygen tents, etc. It has to be so hard. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Letting us know how much he hates taking pictures.

All better now!

It's been too long!

I can't believe it's been almost over a month since I posted last! I feel bad, although I'm not sure who, if anyone, reads this, so I can't think I've let too many people down. :-)

Man! I never knew I'd be so busy taking care of a little baby! I'm trying hard to get used to the new man in my life, and he completely owns me. Partly because I'm nursing him, and partly because he's so cute and sweet....except when he decides he's really mad at me and screams without stopping for several minutes.

Let me think about some things I don't want to forget about the past month....

1. There was a mouse in our hospital room. Did I mention that in the last post? Well, our last day there, I was looking at David on the couch and I saw a mouse run under the couch. I told him, and he said I must be crazy because there wasn't a mouse. I began to wonder myself if I had imagined it, but I kept looking over there, and sure enough, it ran out from under the couch and across the floor. David finally saw it when he lifted up the couch, and we had about 4 nurses in there trying to corner it (sidenote: what would they have done if they had caught it?!) We ended up moving rooms.

2. I can't imagine having twins, much less twin boys. Taking care of a circumcision is NO FUN. It adds a lot to the diapering process, which, I might add, is also NO FUN. Especially with a little boy who seems to have an old faithful geiser, if you know what I mean. I haven't figured out quite how to keep it from getting everywhere yet...he always seems to surprise me.

The first couple days, he was so patient with us and didn't do it. He let us doctor his circumcision and was always completely calm and peaceful on the changing table. It was so nice of him. Then, it was like a switch turned and he decided we had figured out how to do that so he was going to challenge us. That's when he started leaking every time we changed his diaper. It was like he was testing us every time to see if we'd be ready. We never were, and I'm still not. I don't know if I'm a slow learner or if I just have a very sneaky little boy.

3. He has an awesome "fish face." He pouts his lips and looks like a fish, but sometimes he does his fish face coupled with some crossed eyes, and he looks like a little monkey. My little guy has perfect timing, too, because just when I think I'm going to lose it and start crying because I'm so frustrated with myself or the situation, he does his face and all I can do is laugh. It's too precious, and I hope he doesn't stop doing it anytime soon.

FISH FACE!

4. I can't believe I used to wake him up every two hours to eat. My mom kept telling me that it was okay to let him sleep, but I listened to all the lactation consultants and woke him every two hours to nurse. What was I thinking?!

5. My favorite thing to do with him is rock him to sleep. I love when he falls asleep on me and we can rest together. He is so sweet. He loves for me to sing a lullaby that I made up called "Go to Sleep." When I swaddle him and sing that to him, he is usually asleep in 10 minutes.

6. He's going to have the cutest smile! He's been smiling some, but I think it may be gas, but his smile is AWESOME! I can't wait to see more of it and know he's smiling at me because he loves me.

That's all I can think of right now as far as what I've wanted to note for the past month. I know there's more, but with baby brain I have a hard time remembering much past the last feeding. My mother-in-law is supposed to start coming over for a few hours every Tuesday and Thursday so that I can get out and run errands or get things done around the house (this Tuesday, I'm really looking forward to putting up Christmas decorations). I'm thankful that she is here and willing to help so much. She loves being around Robert Alan.

Oh yeah! Thanksgiving!!!! I can't believe I forgot to write about Thanksgiving. I'm so thankful for my husband and my healthy baby boy. I'm thankful for my job, and I'm thankful for my sweet parents who are going to be wonderful grandparents to my son and I'm thankful for my in-laws who love us all so much.

This Thanksgiving, though, was probably the hardest Thanksgiving I've ever had. I've always LOVED Thanksgiving, maybe more than Christmas, but not this time. We went to Fort Worth to spend the day with David's dad's side of the family. It was little man's first road trip, and it was so hard. He was PERFECT in the car. We timed it so that he would sleep during the 1.5 hour trip, but once we got to Dave's uncle's house, it was a rough time from then on. I guess it was the unfamiliar surroundings and perhaps the fact that there were about 40 people there and it wasn't exactly the calmest surroundings that made him cry the ENTIRE day. In fact, I hardly got out of the room we were staying in because I couldn't get him to stop crying and didn't want to ruin everyone else's day. I was so tired by the end of the day. So was he. He slept for 6 hours straight that night, an answer to one prayer that he wouldn't keep everyone up all night.

We came home Friday morning after stopping by Robert Alan's great grandpa and nana's house, and then my parents came in to see us and spend the weekend with us. We also went to David's mom's house for a late lunch on Saturday. All the excitement really wore on all of us. We are all now super tired and it's been kind of hard on David and me. We don't like for Robert Alan to be stressed out. That stresses us out, and then we take it out on each other, and now David is sick. I think we've decided that we're going to start saying "No" more often to each side of the family. It's too hard to try to see everyone, and then no one ends up feeling like we spent enough time with them and then we feel guilty. Hopefully, from now on, each holiday will entail us going to only one family event. If anyone else wants to see us, they can come to our house and visit. It'll be a shock to each of our families, though, because every year we've known each other, we've done a "Texas Tour" each holiday to try to get around and see everyone. Now, though, with a little one, it is way too hard to do that.

Starting tomorrow, I'm starting us on a routine (I started it on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but you can imagine what happened to it during the traveling, etc.). I've read Babywise, and I'm going to incorporate some of the priciples (not the crying it out part, though. I think he's too young for that still). I'm excited about it. I'll let you know how it goes. I also want to tell you about our portraits session we did. I'm going to set a goal of posting every Tuesday and Thursday, or at least once a week. I think that way I'll be able to remember what I want to write about and won't have to put too much in each post.

Until next time, here are some pics of my little chunky monkey...

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Aunt Britt caught him at his chubbiest! (4 weeks old)

My favorite pic of RA. Daddy took it and it's awesome! (3 weeks old)

After his first bath...he LOVES the water! (2 weeks old)

Halloween night. He's having a blast, can't you tell? (1 week old)