Courageous

I have to give my two cents about the movie DJ and I went to see on Friday night. It actually knocked Crash (a movie that came out when I was in college) out of the #1 place on my favorite movies list. It was that good. I really haven't stopped thinking about it since we saw it; it made such an impact on me which is somewhat interesting because it is really aimed at men/fathers. But I really found that the women in the movie had quite an impact as well, in supporting roles.

I mentioned on Friday that we would be seeing this movie and that I was excited to see it because the movies that these directors put out always have a good message. Well this one was no different. The message was relayed in a very believable way that I could apply to my own life quite easily. The scenarios that were important to the plot of the movie were not far-fetched at all and in fact, most people could probably relate to them. Yes, the acting wasn't always spot on which is why this movie won't be getting any Academy Awards any time soon, but for me, I was able to overlook the few times that the acting was amateurish. I was more interested in seeing if the message was believable. And it was.

The movie was full of action, from suspense to comedy to tear jerker moments, it really had it all. The sad parts were devastating (to the point that I wanted to go to a corner and just sob my eyes out). The humorous parts were hilarious, laugh out loud moments (for those that have seen it...Snake Kings!!). And the suspense had me tightening up in my seat (there's one fight scene that is incredibly intense. Of course, this is no Saving Private Ryan and I can't speak for the men out there -- there idea of suspense is going to be different, I know that, but I can't help but feel that this movie was put together very well so that men and women alike could enjoy it.

Most importantly, this movie plot was centered around God's plan. As a Christian, it is very hard to watch a movie these days without finding at least one thing that could have been removed from the movie to make it "cleaner", often it is so much more than one thing. Even Disney movies these days need to be cautiously guarded! So when a movie like this comes along that is completely enveloped with scripture-based lessons and dialogue, it is hard not to love. For me, it made the movie all the more emotional because I knew this was what God wanted people so badly to hear. His message. I feel like the directors of this movie (Stephen and Alex Kendrick, by the way since I have mentioned them so many times) have really listened to God's call in their lives and that is evident in the success that their movies are having. I'm really not sure what a non-believer would think of this movie because God really is part of this entire movie. He's not just written in here and there. It's all about Him. So it makes me wonder if the main reason I love this movie so much IS because I'm a Christian and I believe 100% what this movie's message is all about. I was hoping that friends of ours who aren't believers would go to the movie this weekend after we told them how much we loved it just so I could hear their take on the movie. It would have been interesting to hear what they liked and didn't like. For this reason alone, I would suggest to Christians out there to support this movie just so there continues to be more movies like this one produced.

So, I obviously recommend this movie to anyone although I think young couples, parents and single people will probably get the most out of the message itself. And if you do see it or have seen it, I would really like to hear how my reaction to the movie compares to yours. A small part of me wonders if my pregnant hormones have played a part in this emotional response (especially when I can't watch anything about a mistreated or endangered child, especially young children about Jayden's age, without crying immediately). Regardless this is a movie I could watch over and over and it's one of the few that I feel motivated to buy.

Friday Randomness

It is snowing outside. And it's very cold. And I can't see the hills that are less than a mile from my house. Brrrr. Or beehhhhh as Jayden would say.


These are the books in the queue on my Kindle. I am excited to dive in to each one. My goal is to cut back on my TV watching and replace it with at least an hour of reading each day. I miss reading!

 I've started this one and it really makes you think! I love the way this author paints concepts in a very literal way. It's so much easier to wrap my head around some of the more complex things in the Bible and about God.

 This one was just recommended to me. It is written by Billy Graham's daughter.

 We are going through some desperate times with Jayden and bedtime and night waking and I'm still not 100% on board with letting Jayden just "cry it out". I think this book will have some helpful tips that will hopefully work and get us all sleeping again!

I need to throw some good fiction in there with all these non-fiction books that I'm reading. I like a good escape now and then and this author has been on my shortlist for so long and for some reason, I've just never read one of her books!


Tonight DJ and I have a date. We are going to see a movie that is being shown by a local church. It's called Courageous. I'm excited to see it because it is by the same directors that created Fireproof which you may have heard of. It was in the theaters a couple years ago. Every movie these directors make get better and better each time. I highly recommend all of them, even the earlier ones, because they have solid Christian messages (and the acting in the earlier movie Facing the Giants is somewhat amusing).

Speaking of date night, DJ and I are going to try trading off with another couple each week where we watch their daughter one evening and they get to do whatever they want and then the next week they will watch Jayden for us for a few hours. I'm excited about it because I have been wanting to find another family that we could do this with and the topic just kind of came up yesterday when we were chatting. We're starting this weekend because they are watching Jayden for us tonight and tomorrow we are watching their sweet daughter. It should be fun!


A friend moved away yesterday and it was pretty sad. It was really the first time that I've had someone move away from me; I'm usually the one doing the moving. She was one of the ladies in the group that I spend the most time with; she will be really missed. Her husband got a great opportunity though to work at the University of Missouri so we are all really happy for her and wish her the very best!


DJ and I bought a new reclining love seat a few weeks ago and I'm so ready for it to come! It might get here as early as next week. I'm nervous, to say the least, of how it's going to fit in with our current couch and love seat set. It seems to be much more "voluptuous" (can a couch be voluptuous?? I'm going to say it can.) and I'm afraid it's going to look out of place but it's something we've been wanting for quite some time (a recliner anyway, not necessarily a reclining love seat) and Ashley Furniture here in Laramie is going out of business so the sale was too good to pass up. We won't be living in this house forever so even if the love seat isn't the best match, I think I can live with it for now. Plus it will be comfortable and cozy and probably not too hard "to live with".

My coffee maker broke for the second time. I am waiting on my replacement to come (Keurig is really good about sending replacement machines when their machines break; I like that a lot since my machines keep malfunctioning) and in the mean time I have had to find other ways to get my coffee fix. I treated myself to a coffee from Starbucks yesterday and, at the recommendation from another friend's blog, I got a plain ol' coffee instead of the fancy lattes that I usually get when I buy a coffee. I have to say I was not disappointed. I tried the new Blonde roast and it was perfect since it's much milder than Starbucks' other roasts. I still paid way too much though for a plain ol' coffee so I'm ready for my new Keurig to arrive.


Since I started this post, I think another inch of snow fell outside...


Yesterday a fox ran across the road as Jayden and I were driving back to the house from his day care. So fun.


I think it's time to end this post since my thoughts are getting more and more sporadic. Have a great weekend!

Things I Love...Right Now

I have found that my tastes are always changing, things I like now are not necessarily things I liked 5 years ago but there are certain things that I've really enjoyed for quite awhile so those are the things I LOVE. It takes a lot for me to say I love something. It has to stand the test of time. So here are some things (somewhat random) that I can say that I LOVE at the moment!


Color: Various shades of blue
Color Theme: Gray and aqua
Book Genre: Historical Fiction
Book Series: Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon (I'm currently waiting for the next book in the series to come out!!)

Drink: Coffee
Frozen Drink: Big Train

Snack: Toast with any variation of toppings (Does that make me boring??)
Season: Spring (which is also my middle name and when my first daughter will soon be born!)
Household Appliance: Swivel Sweeper (given as a gift but it would have been the best $20 I ever spent if I had bought it for myself!)

Comfort Food: Breakfast foods...yummm

TV Show: Parenthood 

Game Show: Price is Right
Makeup: Bare Minerals

Group Activity: Board Games! (For the record, I love this because of the energy it puts into a group and how people really can have FUN together as opposed to just getting together and sitting around talking...wah wah wah...)
Vacation Location (so far): Sandals Jamaica and Italy - this is a total tie and I love each location for different reasons so I had to list both.
Splurge Activity: Spa Services (My dream vacation would be a spa vacation at a Sandals resort in Italy I think...oh man, I would never want to leave!)

Past time Activity: Reading
Clothing Accessory: Scarves, cozy ones in the winter and light airy ones in the summer!

That's about it for now I think. So very random of a post but I didn't want to leave you hanging while I thought of something more interesting so there you have it! Now you know more about me, if you didn't know it already!

A Bite to Eat

Jayden decided to show his skills with the spoon last night. I was so impressed because I didn't know he could do that! I'm not sure if it just clicked last night and he got it or if this is something that he's been practicing a lot at "school" but either way, he is quite the big boy when it comes to feeding himself now! He's eating some rice in this video and in the first part of the video I think there must be a grain stuck on the spoon which is why he keeps putting it in his mouth. So funny.

He impressed me even more this morning at 5:30 a.m. when he fed himself half of his bowl of cereal! It hit me how fast he's growing up.


On another note, I have started working out and I am loving it! Tuesday and Thursday nights I go to a workout class for prego ladies. It's quite a blast. Tuesdays is either Pilates or Yoga and I was very surprised to find out that a pregnant lady can do just about anything that a non-pregnant lady can do. I kind of knew it in my head but needed told by a professional because I was always afraid I might do something unknowingly that hurt the baby. Thursday nights is strength training. Bring on the defined muscles!! And I'm walking again in the mornings which is actually more of a workout then it used to be so I'm glad I started that up again. Here's to only weighing 25-30 pounds more this pregnancy (instead of 50...)!!!

Four Generations

DJ and I are both beyond blessed to have our grandparents in our lives. Unfortunately DJ's grandparents live a little further away right now but they graciously made the drive from Taos, NM while we were in Albuquerque to see us and Jayden (I think mostly Jayden though which is pretty typical these days... We completely understand though since he is pretty fantastic!). My grandparents live a little closer in Rapid City and we see them pretty frequently throughout the year. We took a 4 generational picture on both our sides this past month. We will cherish these pictures forever. (Forgive the quality of these camera phone pictures. Also Jayden has a fever in the first picture so he is not in a picture-taking mood and the sun is obviously in our eyes for the last two pictures. So, not great, but it's the subjects of the pictures that matter, not the quality so much.)

 L to R by generation: 2nd - DJ's Dad, 3rd - DJ, 4th - Jayden & 1st - DJ's Grandpa
This picture could also be titled "Which One is Not Like the Other" and the answer would be Jayden since he is the only one in this picture not named Donald. Sorry, but we stopped the tradition.

 L to R by generation: 4th - Jayden, 2nd - My dad, 1st - My grandpa & 3rd - Me

I really wanted a picture with everyone in it since we have a "Four generational Full Set" (I came up with that term) but unfortunately it was so so cold and we have many picture haters so this is the best we got. Sorry mom and DJ! In this picture, my grandma is included.

16 Months and 3 Weeks

Who says I need to wait till Jayden reaches an actual milestone to provide some updates?? I figure if I don't do it while I'm thinking about it, it probably won't get done at all so here goes...


Jayden has at least 12 teeth (the front 8 and 1 molar on each side on the top and bottom) although I really need to count to make sure there aren't more. Thank goodness we finally made it through the molars coming through! That was torture for everyone in the house, most of all Jayden. He was so miserable... runny nose, fevers, coughing, you name it. We're still waiting on the eye teeth to make an appearance; I've been able to see them under the surface for months.


Jayden says numerous words now although most people besides myself and DJ probably wouldn't know that he was saying an actual word. I suppose the pronunciation will come later. He says:

• Up (this word IS very clear and he uses it often)
• Bye bye
• Night night
• Thank you (I was most impressed when he started saying this especially because he uses it correctly!)
• Mama
• Dat (daddy)
• Doggie (He has only says this once but it was very clear so I have to include it)
• Yes
• No
• Boo (We say this a lot when we are playing with him so he's picked it up, so funny)
• Chace (It is so cute when he says my brother's name and we really only know he is saying Chace because he points at a picture of my brother when he says it.)
• Papa (This one comes and goes but he has started pointing at my dad in a picture and saying it so I think it's starting to make more sense to Jayden.)
• Nana (This usually means a banana...sorry Nana...My mom is also called Nana but Jayden hasn't really started calling her Nana.)
• Water (Actually it sounds like he says "agua" which is the Spanish word for water. Maybe he inherently knows Spanish because it's in his blood??)
• Book
• Baby ("bebe" - also the Spanish way of saying it...hmmm)
• Bath ("bap")
• Oh no 
• Uh oh

Jayden definitely understands many more words then he can say right now. He is a pretty good listener and really impresses me when I ask him to do something and he actually goes and does it! He is such a little helper and I try to really take advantage of that now and praise him a lot so hopefully he will continue being a good little helper, especially when Ava makes her arrival!


Jayden is sleeping better and better at night. He usually goes to bed in his own crib about 8:00-8:30 but it usually takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an 1 hour to get him to sleep. So we actually head upstairs about 7 or 7:30 and then he will finally drift off to sleep awhile later. He's been waking up pretty consistently at midnight and then sometimes one more time before he wakes up for good at 6:00 a.m. or a little sooner, much to DJ's and my dismay since we would really like him to get more sleep (and we would appreciate a few extra minutes too).


He is a good napper and apparently a different boy at daycare then at home! One day I asked his teacher how he was doing with naps and they told me that they just tell him to go to his cot and lay down and HE DOES. Just like that. No tears. No screaming. Just lays down and goes to sleep. Oooo. When I heard that, I was a little "annoyed" (because I really can't be annoyed at this sweet little boy, not yet anyway) because I do believe Jayden has learned that I am much more lenient and will rock and hold him until he goes to sleep whereas at daycare, it's just cut and dry. He is very hard to put down for a nap on the weekends although he will sleep about 2 hours once he is down.


Jayden becomes more and more opinionated every day about the food he likes and doesn't like. The foods that he will eat without question are Greek yogurt, grapes, cheese, corn, craisins/raisins, bread/grains of any kind and mandarin oranges. That's it. Everything else is a mystery from day to day and it is somewhat difficult to get any sort of variety in his diet. Thankfully most of the listed foods are on the healthy side so I'm not worrying about it too much right now and we just keep offering other foods to him in the hopes that we will find other favorites in the process. He still doesn't drink milk (at least not at home although daycare tells me he drinks milk there, I'm just not sure I believe it) but he LOVES water and will drink a ton of it each day. He also takes half of a multivitamin each evening.


Jayden has some favorite toys now which I love because for so long he was so indifferent to all the toys he had. He has a toolbox that he got for his birthday (but we just got it out for him recently) that he carries around everywhere and will play quite a while with. DJ has shown him how to use all the tools so he will actually screw the screws with the screwdriver, hammer the nails with the hammer and drill the screws with the drill! He's also gotten pretty good about putting the shapes in the right holes. It's adorable.

He received some pots and pans from Grandma for Christmas that he continuously plays with. He'll make noises like things are sizzling in the pans.

He received a rolling Thomas the Train backpack from Nana for Christmas that he loves to roll around and say bye bye. He loves to put things in it and take things out of it. He also likes to have it put on his back so he'll carry it around that way. Since the thing is definitely as big as him, this can be pretty comical.

Jayden's backpack is actually different from this one, much cuter I have to say. I think my mom got it at a specialty store in Phoenix so I couldn't find an exact picture. Jayden's is made of a corduroy material.

Jayden likes to roll his backpack around while mowing at the same time. He received this lawnmower as a gift from his Uncle Dan for Christmas and he mows our carpet daily.

Lastly, Jayden loves to play with Tow Mater. DJ got this toy for him as a surprise for the plane trip to Albuquerque and it's become more and more of a favorite. We play a lot with this. You pick it up and shake it and it revs up and then when you set it down it will go as far as you revved it up.

I'll do more updates later because there are some funny stories I want to share but since this post has become rather long, I'll save those for another day!

Everyone's a Lobo!

Except when you move to a rivalry school and work for the school...

The Lobos played the Cowboys in basketball in the Cowboys first conference game of the season this past Saturday. We decided to go watch the game for a bit before DJ had to go to work. It was a lot of fun and Jayden loved it. Cue video...

Jayden was all about the band music.

At halftime our friends' son Trace was in a crawling race. It was so funny to see these little babies crawling to half court. Unfortunately Trace wasn't feeling too competitive that day and he didn't win. The little girl that did win was the smallest of the three crawlers! Now that's some competitive spirit! 

It was hard not to cheer for the Lobos because the team has always been really good since Steve Alford came on as the head coach. Plus DJ and I loved going to games in the Pit when we lived in Albuquerque. I let out a little howl one time just to prove that I haven't completely deserted them but then I cheered our Pokes on the rest of the time. The Pokes ended up losing by only 10 points so all in all a good start to the season really. They seemed to play fairly well against the Lobos who are a pretty strong team. I hope it's a good season!

A Day Trip to Cheyenne

We received an Olive Garden gift card for Christmas and decided to drive to Cheyenne yesterday to use it. It ended up being just what we needed to do on a Sunday afternoon. Jayden got a nap in on the way there and on the way back which was perfect and we found a way to get out of the house. 


We had a very nice lunch and Jayden got to try his first OG breadstick. It's a rite of passage somehow I'm sure. DJ and I both looove the OG breadsticks. Jayden loved it too of course and he definitely loved the penne pasta with meat sauce that he had for lunch. I had the never-disappointing soup/salad combo with my fav Zuppa Toscana.


After lunch, we found a park/lake where we walked around for a while before heading back to Laramie. It was a very overcast day but it wasn't too cold where we couldn't walk around for awhile. 


Here are some pictures from the walk! And also the most-up-to date pictures of our family since I haven't posted any in for. ever.

 This is Jayden's fake crying face - it totally cracks me up when he does this.

 Jayden was kind of over taking pictures at this point and just wanted "up"!

Me and Ava! I'm 22 weeks now and feeling pretty good overall!

Random Thoughts on Friday

We got our carpets cleaned today and I have to say it's one of the more exciting things that is happening around here. I feel like I'm living in a new house again. I've also given our house a good deep cleaning over the course of the last two weeks so it feels really nice. One of my "resolutions" is to keep on top of the house cleaning and manage it rather than do these deep cleanings every few months.

We are working on getting Jayden to sleep in his own room, in his own bed... This is one of the more challenging things going on around here. I will say overall, things are improving but I am still waking up with him 2-3 times/night and it takes, on average, about an hour to get him down each night. I need to continue repeating to myself "this is only a stage, I will miss it when he's 18 and moving out, enjoy this stage, it is only a stage..."

It has been downright COLD here. I feel like I have gotten soft since we've had such a mild winter so far but the last couple of days have been windy, snowy and freeeezing! I just never seem to feel warm!

I feel Ava move all the time and I love it. I love even more that I can actually picture a teeny little baby moving around in my stomach because last time it just felt weird. I couldn't picture an actual baby and I just didn't know what to think about the whole pregnancy thing but this time around, I have to say it's been much more enjoyable. I cannot wait to meet her. The anticipation grows and grows each day.

I have a cold...a nasty, stuffy in the head, burning eyes, can't breathe cold. I feel somewhat miserable. And I can't take any knock-me-out-for-a-few-days-so-I-can-wake-up-better medicine. Ugh.

Dinner tonight is Baked Ziti. Yummm. The big question though is "will Jayden like it??" He is one picky little eater these days and I blame daycare. Let's just say, I am not a fan of what they feed him there. But I also don't feel like I have much of a say. Seems rather backward since I am his mom and all.

Tonight is movie night and the feature film is Moneyball. Anyone seen it? Liked it? Not liked it? I'll try to remember to let you know what I think. The previews looked good.

On Monday I will be starting a workout regimen. I have been doing some little exercises recommended by my chiropractor to help ease/prevent hip and back pain that I got later in my pregnancy last time but that has been occurring much earlier this time. But I also really really REALLY want to stay within a healthy weight gain for this pregnancy (unlike last time, which wasn't necessarily unhealthy but it definitely wasn't recommended). So I am striving to be more active and not have such a garbage disposal mentality when it comes to my eating habits.

My last lingering thought is about the room re-design that will be taking place somewhere in the next few months. We will need to change Jayden's nursery into a big boy/nursery that is both boyish and girly. I think I have some good ideas so I hope I can make it happen! It involves re-painting the room a neutral color, adding some painted stripes and buying some new furniture. The only problem now is, where will our guests sleep? We haven't gotten that figured out yet. It would be great if anyone had some ideas of things they've seen work in other peoples' homes!

Happy Friday!

It's a.....

GIRL!!!


And thus begins the onslaught of shades of pinks, purples, aqua, lemon yellow, and any other girly color that I have been forced to put on the back burner! Also along with the colors come frills, lace, ruffles and adorable dresses that I have been dying to dress a little baby in. Seriously I am so glad that I had Jayden first so I could really appreciate the cuteness of girl clothes. I mean, I thought I did before but now that I have had to search high and low for cute boy clothes and had to wade through racks and mounds of girl clothes in order to find one little rack of boy clothes in the stores to find them, I will now truly appreciate how easy it will be to find something adorable. 


So the cute clothes and girly toys and hair accessories are obviously what have me excited about having a girl this time around but when I think harder about it, I get even more excited about how another girl in the family will round us out. I think our sweet little girl will bring an additional element to our family that no one else can, which hopefully doesn't include a lot of drama but who am I kidding? Drama runs in the family so I probably won't be so lucky. Still, I'm going to pray for a laid back, mellow kinda gal that can roll with the punches because I really do want what's best for her. Drama is never any fun in my opinion.


Because DJ and I have had a name picked out for a girl forever and haven't kept it a secret, I will go ahead and tell you that our little girl will be named Ava Grace. Ava is a bit old-fashioned but I love that. And I've always loved the name Grace, especially for it's meaning. Grace is a powerful word and hopefully we can teach Ava just how special it is to have such a name.


Aside from the fact that we found out we are having a girl, we also found out that Ava is quite healthy, praise the Lord! She has a steady strong heart, 10 toes, good looking organs, spine and brain and is the perfect size for a 21 week and 1 day baby. I truly feel blessed that God is giving us a girl and I can't wait for Jayden to understand what that means. I am trying to teach him to say sister but we're not very far with that yet. 


It's actually always been my dream to have 1 boy and 1 girl (at least... I'm not saying there will be more but I'm also not saying that there won't...) and I always thought it would be fun to have an older brother so I hoped that I would raise children that fell in that order. Jayden will be a great big brother!


Oh, and it has occurred to me that I will probably end up with a tomboy that hates frills and pink but as a baby, I will have my way!!

Thanksgiving 2011 and beyond!

Well we wrapped up the last couple of months of 2011 in the Martinez household and man oh man, it was a whirlwind! 

Some highlights/memorable moments...

My parents and brother were able to come to Laramie to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and keep me company while DJ traveled to Boise for a football game the day after Thanksgiving. I love having my family come to visit especially when they all come together.

Not so much a highlight as it is just memorable, Jayden began his, what we would find out to be, weeks of illness. It started with a cold, turned into croup, developed into a double ear infection and finally made it's way the heck out of dodge. But not before it reared it's ugly head on me as well. Jayden and I have been sharing germs back and forth for some time now and not because we're both feeling especially generous... I guess it's just part of the mother/son bond.

The Cowboys finished up a very successful season after winning 8 games, 2 more than needed to be bowl eligible! Jayden and I didn't make it to any regular season away games even though I had planned on going to Fort Collins and Colorado Springs but between being constantly sick and then having not-so-good weather, we ended up cheering on our boys from home. 

Mid-December found us traveling to Albuquerque though for the New Mexico Bowl. Unfortunately we lost that game but we were able to introduce Jayden to his great grandparents that live in Taos as well as some other family and friends that were able to come to the hotel where we were staying so for the Martinez family it was a pretty good trip. Once again though Jayden became quite sick, this time with a very high fever (at one point it got to 103 degrees) so each day was a waiting game to see if we would be able to venture out and enjoy the day. It didn't happen often and needless to say, we were very happy to head home after the game on Saturday. It's not very fun to take care of a sick baby in a hotel room! (Another tiny little highlight is that Jayden got his own seat on the plane ride to and from Albuquerque and now I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to travel again without purchasing another seat for Jayden. It was great!!)

A personal highlight for me was getting to travel to Rapid City during the first week of December for a quick one night stay in order to attend my grandma's cookie exchange. I didn't realize it at first but discovered later that it had been 9 YEARS since I had been to a cookie exchange so I was even happier that I had braved the drive to be there for one night. I was reminded once again of the amazing hosting skills that my grandma has - I hope after about 50 more years of my own parties that I can be as efficient and organized as her and make it all look effortless!!

AND even more notable about that trip was that it was the first night I had ever spent away from Jayden. DJ and I had been working on weaning Jayden from nursing at night and two days before the trip, he went the whole night without nursing so I got it in my head that it might be a good time for me to leave Jayden and finish the weaning process for good. It turned out to be a very good idea because in addition to having great one-on-one time with his daddy, Jayden hasn't nursed since that day (he was already done nursing during the day so we were just down to nighttime nursing sessions). As a side note, I have to tell you that I miss some of the benefits of nursing A LOT such as having an easy way of calming Jayden when he has a temper tantrum and providing additional nutrients during cold and flu season but I do not miss the responsibility. I was needing some "me" time and having my body back to myself before the new baby comes.

After the bowl game, DJ's schedule has significantly slowed down much to my GREAT relief. We attended a few Christmas parties (a very funny memory coming about one of those), traveled to Rapid City for 10 days (also very memorable) and spent a week of enjoying a 2 hour/day work schedule for DJ. It's times like these that make me wonder what the heck we are doing in this profession because man oh man, it can be brutal! It has been so nice having DJ around more and I think DJ and Jayden will really be able to develop their relationship more before the baby comes!

At the football Christmas party that the head coach holds for his staff, babysitters were provided to watch the kids in another room at the hotel where the party was held. It was a great idea I thought, until we got there and I realized the sitters were high school girls that didn't really seem to have a whole lot of experience with children. But I threw caution to the wind given that we were literally next door in the other room and tried to stay out of the way since it seemed to bother Jayden more if I went in the room to check on him. Well.... I later found out that one of the activities the girls did with the kids was decorating cookies. They give the kids GIANT bowls of icing that were filled with ooey gooey deliciousness that Jayden had no idea was intended for the cookies. All he knew was that it tasted really. really. good. And he proceeded to ingest more icing than any other child there according to reports from other mothers and the babysitters... I was mortified to say the least. To top that, they had also given dinner to the kids but, given my naiveté of being a first time mother, I didn't think to ask what they would be serving. I just assume that other people realize what is appropriate to feed a 15 month old such as not feeding them greasy, breaded, sugary foods as a meal. Well I learned my lesson that night. Jayden got his first taste of french fries and I was also told that he ate more chicken strips and fries than any other kid there and he was one of the youngest there... I left the party very worried about what the night was going to hold in terms of a sick baby but thankfully, Jayden's digestive system seemed to handle the sugar and grease just fine. Yaaay... I hope to have pictures soon that another mother took so I'll be sure to share those.

We spent a mostly fantastic Christmas in Rapid City which was the first time since May that we had traveled there as a family of 3. It's hard to believe how much time had gone by! And I say it was mostly fantastic because on Christmas Day, lovely of all lovelies, I came down with the flu. I made it through the gifts and Christmas waffles before I stationed myself upstairs for the rest of the day. I then spent the afternoon in the emergency room because I became dehydrated and I got worried about the baby so to be safe, we went to the hospital where they gave me a couple liters of fluids (I'm starting to feel at home with an IV in me this pregnancy. This wasn't the first time I've gotten dehydrated/sick and needed fluids. Hopefully it's the last time though.) I felt much much better once we returned from the hospital but unfortunately I passed the bug to DJ, my brother Chace, my brother-in-law Dan, my mom, my mother-in-law and my aunt. Merry Christmas. So that part wasn't fantastic but the rest of the time was great and the bug tended to only last about 15-20 hours so it was a quick thing. 

DJ and I had a couple of dates while we were in Rapid City too! We went to a movie with our brothers, Dan's girlfriend and another friend (Mission Impossible 4 if you're wondering and it was really good - DJ and I enjoyed it anyway, others were only moderately entertained). And we also got to spend New Years Eve out when we attended a very exciting hockey game and then rang in the New Year with our very good friends from high school at one of their homes. I think it was probably the first time I had celebrated the New Year by staying up till midnight since high school! My inlaws graciously offered to watch Jayden both times and he did really well and went to bed fairly easily both times - what a relief that was for us!

And now here we are our first week into 2012! I definitely have some New Year's resolutions in mind that I hope will include being a better blogger!! Especially because I have become quite lax in documenting Jayden's life. I know I'm really going to regret that later because he is going through so many milestones right now. So here's to hoping!