Happy Christmas!

We hope you have a memorable Christmas or at least one of those wonderful Christmases that blend into all the other wonderful Christmas pasts that make you grateful for family, friends, health, liberty, peace and all the multitude of blessings we enjoy because of our Lord and Savior.

I didn't get any kind of newsletter out this year, but if I had it would have said something like:

We had a baby! Look at our blog for more details.

My parents' newsletter had the following:

Lisa, Pedro and Pedrito enjoy living in St. Paul, Minnesota (except for a few really cold weeks). They love being parents of the cutest baby boy ever, Pedro Tzion (meaning “sunny mountain”, named for his hiking guru grandpa). Lisa had a blast playing with her aunt, Sharla, in Florida for a few days. Now, as a full-time mom, she continues working from home on a few management projects for Goodwill-Easter Seals and participating on the board of directors for their neighborhood cooperative. Pedro is half way through law school at the University of Minnesota. He maintains a good balance by playing with his family, working with inner-city boys in scouting and making his own light-weight hiking gear. He tested it on part of the beautiful Lake Superior hiking trail. They have learned a lot teaching the 3-year-old sunbeams in primary.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!

DragonSlayer

Pedro T enjoys his baths, but it's after bathtime when the real adventures begin.

We join our hero in the middle of his battle. Oh no! It's not looking good. Is this the end for our dragon-slayer . . .


No! He escapes and conquers the creature.

"Come on, Mom. Piece a cake!"

Happy 4-month birthday Pedro T.!

Beanie Pictures

He Knows Him

Above my baby's crib hangs a much larger picture of Jesus and the children, the same one you see on the right side of our blog. Pedro T. loves this picture. Before I put him down for a nap, he always bursts out of his tiredness for a few minutes when he sees this picture. He focuses on Jesus and gets really excited, smiling and making his body bounce up and down. He knows Him. These are the precious moments of motherhood.

What a sweet gift it is to care for a baby, one of God's precious children. I feel honored to be a mother. I hope I can teach my baby to always remember that God loves him unconditionally and to love God by keeping His commandments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for you!!!

melted blue otterpops

Random, I know.

Today I discovered a melted blue otterpop balanced precariously near my African drum. It is the second melted blue otterpop I have found there this week. Curious, don't you think? As luck would have it, both times the culprit who abandoned the blue otterpops left them at a slightly upward tilt. So, due to that piece of luck (or common sense) and the magical cohesive properties of water, the blue-hued liquid sugar had stayed in the plastic.

Next time, I think I'll go for pink.

Early Thanksgiving

It's been such a nice week. I love my husband and my baby so much. Both of them have made my life nicer this week. I am so thankful for all the blessings the Lord has given me.

Weekly highlights include:

• getting my little boy to laugh over and over again - I LOVE MY BABY'S GIGGLE
• attending the temple together for the first time since Junior joined us - yes, this meant a babysitter - Thanks Jana!
• getting our home more organized and less cluttered
• setting up the crib with the cute boy sports bedding Grandma gave us - the first night was a bit rough, but last night he slept until 6:25 a.m.!!!
• walking around the neighborhood in 55* - 65* sunshine
• repotting my plants - the beautiful aglaeonema I saved from an untimely death a year ago is doing great
• chatting with friends and eating yummy food at a Relief Socity get-together - Pedro is so good about watching the little guy
• making what I call a Twix pie - basically Mrs. Pike's Boston Banoffee pie with melted chocolate on top in place of bananas - thanks for the recipe - I aspire to be as domesticly-talented as you

3 Month Pictures!!!

Family Picture

A prophet speaks with God then tells the truth

"Now we have a world where people are confused, if you don't believe it, go and watch the news. We can get direction all along our way, if we heed the prophets - follow what they say."

I recently read a few forums discussing marriage and whether physical intimacy before marriage is justifiable. Wow, there is a whole lot of confusion in this world.

Just for the record, I am so grateful for my personal witness of a living prophet who speaks with God then tells us what is right. I know that chastity before marriage is a divine principle. And, no matter what confusion is going on in this world, I know that God will bless those who keep His commandments.

Back to Blogging and a buzz

I was gone from the blogging world for a few weeks, but I'm back. I'll post some pictures really soon.

My son has really discovered his mouth and enjoys blowing spit bubbles at his mobile bears. Yesterday I even saw him buzz his lips. Then I spent the rest of the day buzzing my lips at him to try and get him to do it again. I've converted from a mostly sane rational adult to a doting parent who makes strange faces to get a smile, talks in gibberish and gets super ticked at stupid speed demons people on the highway -- Don't they know my BABY is in the car!

San Diego

HERE WE COME!!!

I'd love to see you next week

My adorable little son and I are coming to Utah for a visit next week. His grandparents have dibs on most of his time, but I'd love to have a little reunion with whoever is in Utah. It will most likely be either Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday of next week at my parents home in Mendon. Stay tuned for more details to come. And, let me know if you are in the area and which day might be best.

Hip hoorah! Hip hooray! Pedrito slept in HIS bed today!

Prayers are answered! Our little guy who has refused to sleep in his own bed for more than 20 minutes or so finally slept in his bassinet for about three hours in between feedings last night and during naps today.

We've started to incorporate some methods of routine from Babywise with methods from The Happiest Baby on the Block. I was skeptical at first having been "warned" about Babywise. But, I like the idea of building a relationship based on healthy interaction (with a mom who isn't completely exhausted) and not just constant, close proximity.

It is amazing how much better sleep I got without all the cute little baby noises in my ear. And, it's been so fun playing with my baby now that I'm less of a zombie.

Life is good.

Has anyone ever . . .

. . . thought their infant son has an old man face sometimes?

. . . laughed a little when your baby pulls away and milk squirts in their face?

. . . gone to bed and realized you ate nothing but animal crackers, cookies and a bowl of cereal all day?

. . . thought it an accomplishment if you can shower and get dressed before 3 or 4 p.m. - 1:30 on a really good day?

Miles of Smiles

Happy [insert # here] Birthday Baby!

I love that we count a newborn's age by week, generally up to 12 weeks or about 3 months. And if you count months one, two and three, which mothers do, of course, that means 15 birthdays in just three months. What a deal!

But, you know, baby gets yummy sweet milk any time he wants, so he doesn't really need cake or gifts. And, really, after those 41 weeks of cooking this cute kid and hours of intense, painful labor to get him out of the oven and every waking and sleeping hour spent feeding, burping, changing, bouncing, soothing him - these 15 birthdays really should be special days of honoring MOM with cake and gifts. Oh, and ice cream, too. Can't forget the ice cream.

What do you think? Anyone agree with me?

Now, it's just a matter of getting baby - and daddy - to cooperate.

first visits of the Pedrito Fan Club

Our Happy Family
Future fishing buddies Grandma cried more than Pedrito that day

playing with Auntie Kelsey

Chatting with Auntie Brette

Planning with Uncle Dev for the next 2-on-2 basketball tourney

a special moment with Nana Miles Hugging Grandpa Miles

Happy Birthday to our one-month-old boy

Has it really been a month? Wow!

We are so grateful for this little chunk.

Pictures are coming as soon as he sleeps long enough in his swing to allow me time to download and post them.

Thank you to all of our family and friends for your support in this very special somewhat chaotic month.

Glorious night of peace and rest

two wonderful things happened last night.
1. Pedrito slept in his swing for a record hour and a half. He usually only sleeps outside of our arms for 10 - 20 minutes.
2. Pedro took the 1 a.m. shift then gave our little boy a bottle for the first part of my shift, then he stayed asleep until 6. So, for the first time since his birth, I got five hours of sleep. Thank you my love!

Dashingly Handsome Little Fellow

My mom bought a white tux for Pedrito's baby blessing. Though it was obviously a bit too big for him, my mom. sisters and I sure had fun playing dress-ups and taking pictures before returning the suit. Poor kid was such a good sport.

The Education of New Parents: Kissy poo face & typing one-handed

Now we know that when our sweet son makes what we first called his kissy face, he really is just letting us know that a dirty diaper is on its way. So, now this particular face is called the kissy poo face. I love it when he does the kissy poo face with his eyes crossed. It wouldn't win any "cutest baby" contest, but it sure wins a mother's heart (and laugh).

"Come on, Mom, can we be done with the photo shoot already?"

We are learning more about his personality, too. With his main baby needs taken care of, he is a very calm baby - as long as he is being held. This kid does not like to be put down. Even when he is fast asleep, he wakes up after five or ten minutes in his bassinet, bouncer, or swing. I don't know how he knows. So, if anyone has any ideas for helping a baby learn to be okay not in someone's arms, please comment and let me know. In the mean time, I'm getting a little better typing one-handed.

The Education of New Parents: SwaddleMe aka life saver

This post is dedicated to Pedrito's Great Grandma and Grandpa Miles. Thanks for the cute book, A Baby's Guide to New Parents. We used the gift money to buy additional SwaddleMe wraps, AN ESSENTIAL FOR ANY NEW PARENTS, only slightly less important than diapers.

As new parents, Pedrito is giving us quite the hands-on learning type of education. The first week of his life we learned the SwaddleMe wrap is a new parent's best friend. The second week of his life we learned that swaddling a baby often requires four hands to get him in tight enough so he doesn't wiggle his way out, but without great communication, parents risk injuring each other. Daddy and I bumped heads trying to wrap this kid tightly.

Happy Two Week Birthday! and photos

Wow! Has it really been two weeks since this hungry little miracle joined our family? We love him so much!