Conference Weekend

This weekend we watched General Conference. All four sessions, I might add. I was really looking forward to this, and I was also really dreading missing it if I needed to chase Wesley around all day.

It was perfect.

-Saturday we all slept in. Adam had to catch the bus, but Wesley and I hung out in our jammies all morning! That's one of the best parts of Conference weekend.
-When I put it up on our laptop, he said hi to President Monson about five times...Pretty sure he thought we were Skyping with him! LOVED that moment.
-He paid attention to the choir singing and sat very still (the first couple times)
-Right when the song was over he folded his arms and exclaimed, "pear!" Had to break it to him that there isn't a prayer after every song, but so happy that he knows the routine :)
-Every week in nursery, he colors a picture to take home. I saved a few and taped them to our coffee table so he could color during conference. This kept him very busy. He knew the color pink and he also pointed out all the hearts on his papers! We worked on other colors, too, but he knows this because most of his plastic easter eggs are pink, so he got excited when so many of his crayons were shades of pink...it meant he could identify a lot!

-Snack time consisted of grapes, crackers, and milk. Between snacks and coloring, two hours passed so quickly! It was blissful and way better than I thought conference could be with an 18 month old!

-Naptime took up the entire 2 hour afternoon session, so I got to watch it all by myself while he got some much needed rest. Best of both worlds!

I got so much out of the words of our leaders, and shed some tears as the spirit testified of the truth of it.

We got to spend some time with our great friends Alex and Tara that afternoon! They live in Newport Beach and we found the perfect park! You can see the smiles!

Sunday morning I made crepes!!! New Spjute family conference tradition?? I think yes! Along with the crepes, I heated up some sausage, made scrambled eggs, made a strawberry sauce for the crepes, and topped them with whipped cream! I listed to conference as I cooked, Adam watched it on the couch, and Wesley watched it in his high chair while eating dry cereal and drinking a sippy of milk. Breakfast was ready at 9:30, so we ate for the next 30 minutes and then only had an hour left to entertain Wesley. He colored for half the time, and then we found him in his room reading books for the rest. Couldn't have been better!!

Wesley loved spending Sunday with Adam! They have the best time together, I just had to capture this sweet snuggle moment...even if it only lasted a few minutes!

The biggest thing I got out of Conference was: do it now. If you need to repent, forgive, clean your house, be a better mom, make your home a place of order and where the spirit can be...do it now. Also, it's never too late. Don't feel guilty about not having done something already, just do it now and be happy. One of the speakers said, "Don't hyperventilate about something that happened at 9am when the Lord is trying to bless you at 6pm."

So, that's my goal. Do it now. Don't put things off. Maybe "setting goals" is a strange goal, but I think my work wouldn't be so overwhelming if I broke it down into weekly and daily goals. There are so many little house organization projects that I want to tackle, but just can't when Wesley is awake (like under the sink where the cleaning products are). By the time he goes to bed I am usually exhausted and it's hard to have the desire to think up something to organize. It's easier to sit and relax. Maybe if I have a list, I'll actually keep the momentum and get my home in order. It's not terrible, just little piles of paper here and there, our closet needs to be organized, and so do our cupboards under the sinks. During the afternoon session on Sunday, I actually pulled out our file folders and went through papers from 2008-2012. I made piles to throw away and shred. After conference, I actually shredded the ones that needed it and when we went on a walk, I took the garbage bag down to the dumpster! It's a rare occasion for me to complete a task in it's entirety in the same day! This was a great start to a new month, a cleaner home, and a fun 6 months until next conference!

By then, we'll have a 4 week old baby brother!!

He's studying...

Adam is in the most difficult portion of medical school thus far. I know there will be tougher times ahead, but just for now, this is hard. He leaves around 7:15am and used to come home around 9:30pm, but has been getting home at 8pm this week so he can see Wesley just before bed. It's been great for our family, but it means that we eat, put Wesley to bed, and then he goes back to studying until bedtime (around midnight). It's working fabulously, actually! I am SO happy to have him home sooner...even in the other room. Wesley loves seeing his dada. They are so silly together! He lets Wesley climb all over him and they are just so cute together. Wives, you know, there's just something so adorable about the person you fell in love with playing with the person you spend your days with :)

So, tonight we left the dishes so we could put Wesley to bed. Adam went to study. I sat down to check the computer. An hour later, Adam came out to get a drink and I was super embarrassed inside that the dishes weren't done. (he never mentioned them, sweet guy) Especially since he was talking about how much work he had to get done and how little time he had to do it. (He has a huge board exam at the end of April and pretty much has to know everything about biochemistry, pharmacology, embryology, anatomy, physiology, and even more. And when I say "everything," that's what I mean. From what each muscle, vein, artery, organ, and system does to how they do it and any little thing that could go wrong with each part or system.)

Yep. Here I am, sitting on the couch with the laptop checking out pinterest, facebook, paying bills, checking email...Relaxing after a long day with a busy toddler. But still, I have absolutely nothing on my med-school-hubby! I feel like his job is so much more stressful! Well, no matter what, I was going to show something for my hard work sitting on the couch for an hour. Ha!
I clicked over to my recipe board on Pinterest. I knew exactly what I wanted to make and have been wanting to make it all day, actually. I've made it once before and it seemed absolutely perfect!! No one goes wrong with this recipe! If you haven't tried it...oh my! It's heavenly. And just and moist as it looks. It makes me feel like I'm an awesome wife and mother. It makes me feel like I have awesome baking skills. Really, it's all thanks to those 3 sticks of butter.
Cinnamon Roll Cake!

So there, I just studied too. Thanks butter :)

Another Wesley post

Since I didn't start at the beginning of November with something I'm grateful for, I'll just run down a list of things I've been noticing that I love about Wesley...the little things I wish other people could think are just as cute as I (his mommy) think they are about my son. I've been keeping them in my head for too long and don't feel like getting out my journal.

1. when daffodils tickled his nose on our walk he giggled. (and then ate it as I tried to capture the sweet moment) I am so grateful to live close enough to Target for it to count as a "walk" and "errand running."
2. he ate a whole can of green beans for dinner
3. He can say sssss like a snake. I just taught him this week :) See...maybe this sounds lame, but I just want other people to be proud of his new tricks! And I think S is a difficult sound for kids to say...any one know more about child development that can back me up?
4. He has a book with a puppy in it and I stuck my tongue out and panted like a puppy while reading. Lately he's been opening his mouth and panting (no tongue, but wide-eyed and pointing) when he sees a dog in a book and in person. SO cute that he picked up on it while everyone else things a dog says "woof" :)
5. He panted at a giant stuffed dog at Target :)
6. He panted at the feather boa's at the craft store today! Cracked me up!!!
7. Another thing I love? His hair. It took him a whole year to grow some. (okay, first haircut was at 6 weeks but I had to get rid of that mullet.) I do love his perfectly shaped head (since more and more babies need to wear helmets, I count this as a blessing) and the fact that he wakes up with great hair. I can flatten it out by putting my hand on it. I do want daughters, but for now I am happy putting pants, a top, and socks on my little one. No tights, bows, or other accessories. When I do have a girl, you can send all of these products that your heart desires, for I love love love them...I am just still getting the hang of this "mom" thing and am still late for 1pm church sometimes.
8. To pass the time in lines, I have him identify things or make animal noises. Things like, what does a puppy (snake, monkey, cow) say? or Where is your nose (eyes, ears, head, toes, tongue)? Today I asked where his belly button was and you know what he did? He pursed his little lips together and spat! He's SO smart! Do YOU get it? (made you smile)
9. books make this little one happy. He has been falling and bonking his head a little more often since he started walking, but I have discovered that the simple mention of reading a book calms him down and refocuses his attention. of course, I follow through and actually read him a book. Such a blessing that he loves books so much.
10. On that note, when we read together he leans back against me and gets so cozy in my arms and I melt every nap/bedtime that I get to sort of snuggle with him in this way. He is growing to be such a fun little boy, but I still get my little baby at times :)

Wesley turns one in a WEEK!

Here's what he's been up to lately:

-He is walking all over the place
-What does a cow say? "mboo"
-What does a monkey say? "ah" (We have a book that says ooh ooh! ah ah!)
-I can ask him to get a ball or a book and he does it while saying, "buh."

-He can roll a ball back to me
-He can (still) say "hi," his first word
-He loves to look at books and thinks DVDs are the same so he pulls some off the shelf. He always ends up with this one

-Shows he enjoys food by saying, "num" or "mom"
-he can do sign language for "more"
-he blows kisses by putting his open hand anywhere on his face.
-he blows back at me when I blow on his food
-He understands when I tell him to take a bite... instead of shoving a whole grape in his mouth or when I hold a sandwich close to his mouth
-he really likes grapes, bananas, goldfish, teddy grahams, cheerios (with or w/o milk), broccoli, green beans, yogurt, salmon, meatballs, cheese, mexican rice, fajitas...well, everything for now.

-He really doesn't like: that I am trying to switch him to whole milk from mom's milk. Oh well, we have some time to get this down.
-He loves to play chase. "Here. comes. mommmmmmmeeeeee!" gets him really excited and he squeals and runs down the hall. Every time I get closer he squeals and runs away, which sometimes makes him fall over, but he gets back up as fast as he can and toddles away.
-He loves music. At home, on a toy, at the grocery store. If he doesn't do it on his own, all I have to say is, "Wesley, do you hear the music?" and he moves his little body and bobs his head.
-He gives high fives
-He claps
-He has a super cheesy smile when a camera is near

-He rode in his own seatbelt on a ride at Disneyland

-He sleeps with his bum in the air

And even though he only sees Daddy early in the mornings and on Sundays, there's nothing that can replace the love and pure joy they feel for each other!

Happy (almost) Birthday to my little guy! He sure makes the world a happier place.

A Wonderful Morning...

Wesley and I got up around 6:30, had a delicious breakfast (he had baby oatmeal and some applesauce and I had grown-up oatmeal), crawled around, read stories and we both went down for a morning nap at 8:30! I was going to get up when Adam left for school at 9, but well....kept sleeping until 10. I got ready for the day, made my to-do list of errands, and checked my email. Wesley woke up around 11:30! I fed him lunch and packed myself a pb&j for the car since I knew the rest of the day would be a whirwind of errands and activities.

We were out of the house by 12:30. My thinking: I'll go to the fabric store, then the grocery store, go home, bake a cake, leave the house by 2:20 to be at my eye appointment by 2:30, leave doctor to pick up friend for activity by 3:15 so we can be to activity that I'm kinda in charge of by 3:30. Be done with activity at 4:30, clean up and home by 5. Around 6 I can start his bedtime routine and have him down by 7 and I can whip out a pair of pj pants since I have to teach two girls how to make them next week and we'll be going out of town tomorrow.

Great plans! How'd it go?

That poor little sandwich is still in the diaper bag.

Ch.1
My fabric store plans: pj pants pattern that I have is missing the envelope but I had the pattern number, SO all I had to do was find the envelope, see how much fabric I needed to tell the girls to get, pick out fabric for myself based on that amount, get the fabric cut, grab pins and elastic, check out.
Actual: pattern is currently not in stock. Call mom. She saves the day and tells me I can just measure the actual pattern pieces to see how much fabric I need (perfect-I'll measure those while the cake is baking). Remember that JoAnns has a take-a-number thing for the fabric cutting station so I run to grab one before I pick out my fabric so I won't have to wait later...SO smart right? Well, usually. Today happens to be the only day they decided not to use it and there is already a line of 5 women each with multiple things they needed cut. This was NOT going to work with my time frame. Okay-rethink. I have coupons with me so I'll just grab my other things and come back after the activity around 5 to pick out fabric. Hooray-50% off and 40% off coupons both worked and I left the store pretty happy. In a hurry to get to the grocery store, but happy.

Ch.2
By this time I knew I only had time to run in and grab a box of cake mix since it was going to need to bake for 30 mins. Forget the rest of my groceries...I'll worry about dinner later. Got cake mix. Got home at 1:50. Appointment in 40 mins with 10 mins of drive time. mmmm...not happening. Mixed ingredients together dropped cake batter off at friends house so she could bake it and told her I'd be back to pick her up by 3:15. Run to barely make it to eye appointment by 3:30.

Ch.3
A week ago my eyes were red and itchy, but it was not pink eye. I went in to see this doc and I was out the door 15 mins after I walked in. I found out there was some bacteria in there, got a prescription for eye drops and he told me to come back in a week. Because of the smoothness of that appointment and that my eyes are all better this week...well, that is the reason I scheduled this appointment only an hour before my activity.
Reality:
Wait in office for 10 mins with tired baby, but he's hangin in there. Wait in room for 10 more mins playing peek a boo and just listening to him whine about wanting to be out of the stroller. Doc comes in at 2:50. Asks how I'm doing. Wesley smiles at him and we talk about my happy baby. He shines lights in my eyes.
Doc says, "I'm just going to put these drops in your eyes. Tilt your head back." squirt. squirt. "Okay, so those drops I just put in are going to completely dilate your eyes in 15 minutes. You can wait in the waiting room if you'd like. Your eyes may be a little sensitive to light, but that's all."
Me: Okay, well, I have to be somewhere by 3:30.
Him: what time is it? oh. You should be out of here by 3:10.

I have never had an eye appointment in my life and I had no idea what was about to happen to me. My 20/20 vision went blurry and I couldn't even read the certificates on the wall. Wesley was squirmy. I couldn't use my phone to text or call anyone because I couldn't see! It was the most awful thing I have experienced. With a day already going how it was going...I'd have to say this was worse than labor. At least I knew what to expect with that! Finally I thought the time on my phone said something that resembled 3:10 so I walked back to wait in the room. He came in 5 mins later, shined more intense lights in my eyes, said, "hmm...interesting." Sent me to the room next door so they could take a picture of the back of my eye to check for tumors. I asked if I should take the baby and they told me to leave him. Wesley started screaming by this point because he was the only one left in the room. I thought they said to leave him because someone would stay with him! The guy took a picture of one eye. Then the other. Shows me the screen and says this is the back of your eye...like he was going to explain the picture to me. I just looked over at the room where the screaming was coming from and looked back at him. He told me I could go. I was so frustrated because I couldn't even see the picture he was showing me anyway!! I acted calm, but I was so hurt inside. I felt completely betrayed. At the front desk, they told me I could go home and sent me with some paper sunglasses. The doc walked by and reminded me to come back every 12 mos! :) Seriously, he had the nerve. I asked him if I was okay to drive like this and he said to just be careful, especially because of the baby. DUH! I asked him (which I thought he should have volunteered this info) how long it would take for my eyes to be normal. "3-4 hours." As soon as I walked outside I started balling. All the way to my car. It was 3:30 by now, and I was supposed to have stopped at my house, picked up my 9-year-old friend, and teach a class how to decorate cakes! There was going to be no way I could see the detail to do that. I needed to reset my GPS to get me home. There was NO way I was going to find a freeway with such horrible vision! What's the catch? I can't read my gps to reset it! Just a blur! Still balling, I pulled over, remembered we have a shortcut button that I can push to go home so I found it and went on my way. I wanted to call someone and vent but my bluetooth wasn't charged AND I couldn't read my phone to find any contacts or push any numbers. Seriously. The most horrible feeling in my life! I cried for the whole 15 minute drive home and yelled at my steering wheel. I think I even honked at a car who cut me off in the middle of an intersection. I was not myself.

Breathe.

Conclusion
The rest of the day went much better. Wesley napped in the car. The activity was half over when I got there and the other lady in charge was completely sympathetic to my day. Cake decorating went wonderfully and we made it home safely. Wesley giggled at me and I could finally see him clearly when we got home at 5. It was fun to feed him dinner and play tonight. I have no groceries, no fabric, and no dinner, but I can see clearly again. Hallelujah!

We'll have pizza tonight and see what tomorrow holds.

Salad and Smiles

Strawberries were on sale, but only for 8 hours! I rushed in and got 3 pounds, with no recipe in mind. We ate some plain and they were so sweet and delicious! Wesley even tried some with his dinner :) What DO you make with strawberries?? Strawberry pizza, cake topping, syrup...I found the most amazing recipe on Allrecipes.com! Grilled Chicken Salad with Seasonal Fruit! Heavenly!!! I toasted almonds and they came out perfect! I cooked the chicken so it was moist! (Usually it's dry) The strawberries were perfectly fresh and delicious, and even the dressing was yummy! We don't have any leftover because it was just that good! Definitely will be making this a lot this summer....maybe we'll try some other fresh fruit, too!

On to the "smiles" part. Wesley smiles. A lot.

At Target, I'll see his head cocked to the side to see around me (with a huge smile on his face) and I turn around to find a couple or woman behind me standing there smiling and making faces at Wesley. Just stopped what they were doing to play with my baby from a distance. This happens weekly.

On our walk tonight a lady asked me how old he was. As I'm telling her he's 7 mos, Wesley is sitting in his stroller giving her those sweet eyes and a little smile. She notices and says, "What a happy baby you have!" As she says it...he smiles bigger...open mouth smile this time so she can see his little bottom teeth. "Oh wow! He's so cute!" The two of them just went back and forth - making each other happier and happier.

Had a meeting on Wednesday and we had to wait for about 15 minutes. He smiled at a little girl, and old man, middle aged people...it's like they are all best friends now. He kicks his legs and get's so excited to see people!

OH and Wesley's first word shall go down in history as ... "hi." Not even close to mama or dada. A pleasant "hi" goes along with all of the stories above. He says it to everyone and everything...even trees sometimes. Usually when I open the door he says, "hi hi hi" to show me he's excited to go outside too.

A happy kid makes for a happy mom. If you ever have a tough day, take your baby to the store, any store...even if you don't need to buy anything...and let people admire your baby! It's the greatest advice I'll ever give! I've had my down days and my lonely days and this always works. You are welcome to come shopping with us anytime!

And now for some pictures... what you've been waiting for!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Cousin bath-time! Has nothing to do with this post, but you gotta love 'em!

Time Out

What is a time out?
A corner where you send children when they're in trouble and stop talking to them?
A potty break in the middle of playing Tag?

I believe it's an opportunity to take a step back from the current situation. An opportunity for coaching and listening. A time to reevaluate what you are going to do next. Focus on the goal at hand and recommit yourself to getting there.

I attended a woman's conference this weekend and I have been thinking about taking time outs the last couple days. They aren't bad! I actually look forward to them. I feel like Sundays are my time out from the rest of life and the day that I can reevaluate my next step in reaching my goals. Sometimes I forget my long-term goals. I've made a promise to try to be like the Savior. I'm not saying I'm the opposite, I'm just saying that I love setting new goals and making myself a better person.

I'll say this: I was having a difficult time taking Wesley to the conference with me since he wasn't the calm 4 month old he was when I signed up to go. He's my active, I won't sleep unless I'm in bed or in the car, laughing, squealing, sitting-up, bouncing baby boy! He's such a sweet kid and I love him to pieces, but neither one of us was getting what we needed: me-listen to speakers, him- sleep. He's usually only awake for maybe 2 hours at a time during the day. Friday night we left at 5pm and he couldn't fall asleep until we got back in the car at 9:30pm. Saturday morning he woke up at 7:45 and was still awake at 11:30 when I finally had Adam come get him. Imagine if he would have stayed with me until the conference was over at 4! No thanks! Like I said, Adam was so sweet and put aside his study time to take care of our little one! Thanks to Ashley, too, for feeding both of them and playing with Wes so Adam could study a little.

Adam and I had some great conversations during the 10 hours we spent in the car and shared some of our deepest thoughts and feelings about taking time outs and becoming who we want to become. A carrot seed can't become a pumpkin even if it wants to. The creator had a different plan in mind and it's up to us to be the best "us" we can be! We may think the pumpkin is cooler or more fun to be around, but there's a reason we were created as carrots and we need to find our potential and develop our talents. I loved this lesson so much!

Another thought I loved was all about being happy. The science shows the single most effective way to make yourself happier is to serve others. Random acts of kindness. Months ago I heard it as building the ARK (Acts of Random Kindness). We can also be grateful for what we have. Savor your food. Enjoy your time with loved ones. Find the joy in EVERY day!

These are just a few points I loved from the conference! I'm off to straighten up the house while my sweet baby naps! Oh how I love taking time outs!

(no, I didn't give Wesley a time out)

New Perspective

So, for those of you who know us, which you better if you are reading this, you know that we have worked very hard to get where we are. Our first 3.5 years of marriage were spent in Utah where I worked 40 hour weeks while going to school. Adam worked two jobs, volunteered, did breast cancer research, and went to school. Those jobs carried us through our undergrad at BYU. We made it out of BYU with two college degrees, two paid off cars, absolutely no debt, and a baby on the way. Now, Adam is in medical school! We have a son who's almost 6 months old! Life is amazing!

Is it life on the streets? Nope.

I thought you had to live on the streets and be really poor and have no direction in life in order to be on government programs such as WIC and Medi-Cal.

Yes, we saved our money and counted our pennies when we were at BYU, but our savings could not even cover the amount of one year of medical school tuition and simple living expenses....let alone the 4 years we will have.

So, Wesley gets free checkups, his delivery was pretty much covered, and WIC gives pregnant and nursing moms checks to help out with certain food such as milk, eggs, cheese, whole grains, and peanut butter.

Today was the first appointment that they gave me some checks for Wesley and I realized how truly blessed we are. I got 15 jars of meat, 20 of fruits and veggies, and an 8oz box of cereal! Throughout the month I will end up with a total of 60 (4 oz-stage 2) jars of f&v, 31 of meat, 24 oz of cereal, and 4 bananas. That's just for one month for Wesley! I have the same checks for the next 3 months. They are probably figuring he won't like some of the things I give him, so they plan for extra. (Or maybe some babies eat this much food! Wes has only had a total of 4 little jars of baby food and some rice cereal, so I don't know how much most people go through)

Am I ashamed to be on WIC? Nope. I feel like we are in the perfect position to receive help considering the fact that Adam is in school to be a doctor and cannot work. If I were to work outside the home, that money would go towards paying a babysitter, so I might as well stay home and enjoy watching my sweet baby grow and giggle!

I know we'll give back to the community in the future, and we will always be frugal with our money because that's just who we are. I am SO greatful that these programs exist for people like us. Without it, we'd be paying for this food with loan money that we have to pay back with 7% interest over four years...meaning on top of the value of the food we probably would have to pay an extra $10.

The Question: Does Wesley like baby food?

Tomorrow will mark 5 months that my little Wesley has been my playmate.

When we were home for the holidays, I heard that my niece (12 days older than Wesley) was already trying rice cereal. That got me curious to see what Wesley would do.
Evidence #1: I gave him some at the beginning of February when he was just over 4 months old. He didn't really love it, but he would swallow it. He didn't like having to sit in his bumbo seat, either, due to our lack of a high chair. I had tried it a few times a week and each time seemed a little better than before, but he arched his back to get out of that seat.

Evidence #2:Monday, 2-21-11, Wesley actually was opening his mouth for more bites. This made me really happy and proud of him! How did he learn that? He does stare at me every morning while I eat my breakfast, I guess. I've been using our 1/4 measuring cup as a bowl for him and I fill it about half full of thickened cereal. I even made him another serving that night. Still...squirmy toward the end. I got him in the tub and he was so happy in there! Soooo...
He ate the rest of his dinner in his bubble bath! What a happy camper!

Evidence #3: That brings me to tonight. We went grocery shopping and dropped off some dinner for my cousin at Chapman. By the time we got home, I knew it was time to nurse him again. After that, I thought...maybe he'll want some more cereal?! So I filled the measuring cup a little over 1/2 full like normal. He ate it all! Hmm...I wonder if...? Nah. Should I wait another month? Well, let's just see. I have 2 days to get through a jar if he doesn't like it tonight.
Yep. That's right. I gave him a little taste of baby food. Tender sweet carrots to be exact.
He was in love! I couldn't shovel it in his mouth fast enough and he ate the WHOLE jar!!

The answer: Yes.

Happy Birthday

Sunday, February 20th, was my 24th birthday! My niece, Lydia, was born that day in VA and she's such a doll! I was born 8 days before my sister Laurie's 8th birthday so this month is a pretty special one for the family.

This is the 5th year Adam made a special birthday breakfast for me! In the past, he woke up around 4:30 or 5am so we could eat before I left for work at 6am. This year we got to sleep in as a family. He made pancakes the size of my head, strawberry syrup from scratch, sausage, and scrambled eggs with cheese. YUM! He took care of Wesley when he was fussy during Sunday school, and he even made dinner and cake so we could have some friends come over last minute!

I gave Wesley a bath and he fell asleep and stayed asleep the entire time our friends were here! What a super fun birthday! My gifts from Adam this year consisted of the following DVDs: The Incredibles, Kung Fu Panda, Full House season 1, and Full House season 2! I watched the first 3 episodes last night and they made me laugh all over again! Adam had the day off yesterday so we indulged in some Red Robin burgers and Wesley was so good the whole time! It really says something about your baby when he's good at a restaurant.

Church was all about service...all 3 hours...so it's in my head now that I need to be serving people around me. I see so many opportunities, but my head always comes up with some excuse like, "You can't afford that cute baby outfit for your friend" "They probably already have enough meals coming in" "You can't do that service for that person, you have a baby that will get in the way!" So I guess Satan's pretty good at what he does because I haven't been serving people lately. Even when Adam asked for a back massage yesterday...what's my first response? "What happened to the one you were supposed to give ME last night?" lame. I know. I fell asleep to his playing of the guitar. He was singing the song he wrote when he proposed...on my birthday. How selfish can I be? He's so sweet.

SO today I have been super productive. It's only noon and I've already tackled so many things on my to-do list. Do you ever have days where you feel like you will disappoint your husband because he worked super hard all day and you just took care of the kids and couldn't even find time to make dinner? Adam knows that it's hard to take care of kids, so as long as we're happy he's fine. I've never disappointed him (he told me so last night).

Solution: To-do list the night before! I cannot wake up and make one because I've already wasted valuable time! Same thing with grocery lists...can't do it same day. Menu planning takes too long for me to find time between Wesley's naps. I'm definitely up for new recipes and menu ideas if you are willing to share. I figure that I'll be better at serving others when I have the right attitude and I can have the right attitude by taking care of my home and family first. By setting my priorities straight, I'll have a realistic idea of what I can and cannot handle.

So there. That's my new "one year older and wiser too" wisdom for today.

50 months!!

This photo is from a trip to Disneyland last week

Wesley is approaching the 5 month mark quickly, but today Adam and I celebrate 50 months of marriage! What have we done to celebrate? We saw each other for 20 minutes so far and then he left again. Leftovers are in store for dinner. I'll let you know if anything else happens.

I guess my post a couple weeks ago showed up that it was from Oct. 5 (the original day I began typing it). It's all about how I was feeling 11 days into motherhood. No pictures, but a pretty good story.

Updates from that post:
-I fit in all my pre-pregnancy pants...I unpacked them a week after that last post and could button up my jeans! I now weigh the same as I did at my 9-week-pregnant checkup, which is pretty much my pre-pregnancy weight! The nursing tops I was in love with are a little big on me now that I don't have much of a pudge left on my belly.
-a good day consists of showering, doing hair, and doing make up before noon. It used to be that just getting all of those things done was an accomplishment, but now I can throw in some grocery shopping, a trip to the park, or a doctor's visit. Lately I've been able to get ready during Wesley's first nap, so I've been ready as early as 9am, but it's usually about 10:30.
-He's still an incredible sleeper.
-still likes his bink, but I bought blue ones for him AND he's able to console himself by sucking on his fingers. This saves me from panicking when I forget to pack a bink.
-still smiles in his sleep, but smiles much more while awake!

I am in love with his little features. I look at his fingers and toes every day and I'm still in awe at this sweet little guy. He does fuss when he is tired, he has an open-mouthed cry when he's hungry, and he screams when he accidentally covers his face with a blanket. But now that he's a week shy of 5 months:
-He rolls onto his tummy
-He only plays on his tummy for a few minutes before he gets sad that he can't roll back
-He smiles when I come in the room
-He loves his daddy
-He will stop eating when Adam enters the room and stare and smile at him
-He grasps things with his hands-toys, paper...
-I've walked into his room after a nap to find him watching his mobile (I didn't turn it back on-he reached and pushed the button)
-He wears a size 3 diaper - might be a little big, but it catches everything :)
-His favorite trick is reaching up for our hands, holding on to them, and pulling himself from laying down to standing up by using his core and arm muscles and straightening his little legs
-He is SO strong
-When told that, he smiles so big
-His fingers are always in his mouth, drool is always on clothes, me, blankets...
-He's pretty smiley in the tub
-He scoots around on his back by pushing his heels into the carpet and going backwards
-He likes to look at books and sits still on my lap while I read him a story and sing him a song before bed
-He won't fall asleep in my arms anymore. At the end of the song, he fusses for me to put him in his crib where I cover him with his blanket and he snuggles and falls asleep. This is great at home, but church is a little more tricky.
-Not so much a fan of rice cereal, but I tried it and think it's so gross so I'm not concerned. He ate it, he just doesn't open his mouth looking for the next bite. We'll try again next month. What's your advice on highchairs? I want something I can wipe down, not machine wash. I'm considering a booster that straps to a chair. -He's an awesome travel buddy! He sleeps a lot in the car!
-He's been to Disneyland too many times to count already! His first ride was Pirates 12-6-10 when he was just over 2 months old, which was the day after his baby blessing.

Happy 50 months Adam Wesley and happy almost 5 months to my little Wesley Charles! I am in love with the two greatest guys that make me feel like the luckiest woman in the world!

There was really a baby inside!

Now that it's been 4 months since Wesley was born, I feel so overwhelmed and like I have so much to write and I don't know where to start! Luckily I started to blog on October 5th but got distracted with something, probably Wesley, and never finished the post. It was fun to read the labor story from my perspective after only 11 days so I will post it now and let you enjoy it too!

So it turns out that I didn't stay pregnant forever! Actually, my ankles aren't swollen and my belly is considerably flatter after only 11 days! People had told me that breastfeeding really helps you with the baby weight, but I didn't think it would happen this fast! I am one happy mommy! I'm still figuring out what I can wear since I despise my maternity shirts (I lived in the same ones for so long and they represent a time when I thought I would always be pregnant), but I'm too busty for my regular shirts that I used to wear. I'm still wearing maternity pants because my hips widened and I don't fit into my size 5s anymore. Not complaining...after all, delivery went quite smoothly thanks to that, but I just need to get some new clothes that fit my new shape. My mom bought me some nursing tops and I am in love with them! I would have never thought to buy a new mom clothes...I mean people bring the baby new clothes and gifts, but the mom needs new clothes too. I also received jewelry from Marlene. These are the little things that make me feel like a human again, not just a mom who is recovering from stitches, has mood swings and a cough, and who is feeding her baby every 2-3 hours on command. I actually feel like a confident woman and am having fun being a mom!

Wesley Charles Spjute was born at 3:28pm on Friday, September 24th. He weighed in at 7lbs 5oz and was 20 inches long, which Adam says is the perfect size fish! By the time he left the hospital Sunday, he was 6 pounds 13 oz (babies lose some weight but should be back to birthweight by 2 weeks). At an appointment on Tuesday the 28th he was 7 pounds 2 oz. Today, one week later....our little stud is a whopping 8 pounds! He gained 14 oz in a week and he's only 11 days old! Average is 7 oz in a week. I guess we got the hang of breastfeeding!
-He's an incredible sleeper-so much that I set alarms to wake up every 2-3 hours to feed him the first couple nights we were home. Ya, it only lasted 2 nights. Then I wised up and took everyone's advice to never wake a sleeping baby. I was nervous he wasn't eating enough, but it looks like we don't need to worry in that category.
-He likes his bink (the ugly green one from the hospital) and it soothes him most of the time.
-He smiles in his sleep, but is otherwise a very serious baby so don't be offended if he doesn't smile for you when you make faces at him.
-He is so snugly and loves to sleep on my chest...or at least I love it when he does =)
-When he's hungry and Adam has him...he still looks for the milk =)

Thursday, the day I thought I would be "forever pregnant," Adam and I rented a movie and during the movie I felt some contractions that were 20, 15, and 30 minutes apart. They were a little stronger than the usual "tight-stomach like I'm doing a sit-up," but weren't uncomfortable. This made us a little nervous and we went through what we would still need to grab if we did go to the hospital. I packed a bag of VHS/DVDs and made sure I knew where my makeup was. Adam grabbed a blanket, snacks, and the camera and we had everything by the door (the carseat/hospital bag were already in the car). We finished our movie, went to bed around midnight and set our alarms for 6:30 so we could leave at 7:30 for my 8am weekly checkup with my Ob/Gyn. Adam got a good night's rest and I was up once every hour with a pretty strong contraction that felt like really bad cramps. I felt like I needed to vomit or go to the bathroom...which makes sense since my stomach was tightening and preparing to get something out.

I stayed awake at 6 and just got in the shower since I figured my alarm would be going off in 30 minutes and I would need that extra time to get ready if these contractions persisted. They did. I felt another one in the shower and they were getting so strong that I had to stop what I was doing and focus on getting through the contraction for the minute that it lasted. They were every 10-15 minutes and by 7:30 I had managed to get dressed, blowdry my hair and put on make-up. I knew I wasn't coming home from this check-up without a baby (or some good pain meds) so I better look good! In the car the contractions were 5 minutes apart and I vomited (Adam had grabbed a bowl...hooray!) and that was the only time I threw up during the pregnancy.

They strapped my belly to a monitor to check the baby's heart rate for 20 mins...this is a non stress test that they do when your baby is over 40 weeks. After 5 minutes and 2 contractions, the nurse called the doctor in to check on me since she probably thought I was making funny noises as I tried to breathe through the contractions and squeeze Adam's hands. By 8:30 the doctor checked me...I was 100% effaced and dilated to 3. She offered to call labor and delivery and admit me or I had the option to walk around outside for a little bit. If they admitted me, I wouldn't be allowed outside and would have to stay on the same floor. My sister told me that they could give epidurals when you get to a 4, so my first question to my doctor was: once they admit me, how soon would I be checked to see if I was a 4. She smiled and said that it was up to her to give the permission and since I was in active labor she would give them permission to give it to me right away. What did I say? Admit me! Let's get this epidural started! Adam helped me walk over, change into my beautiful evening gown, and let me squeeze his hands through the next series of contractions while they started my IV and the epidural. By 9:30 I had the epidural and felt like a princess for the rest of the day!

Forever Pregnant

"This morning I woke up, looked in the mirror, and thought to myself, "I'm going to be pregnant forever."

It's been over 10 months that my body has been growing a baby. At least 8 or 9 months of this pregnancy I felt like it was exciting to watch my belly grow and read about the development of this baby. I've read up on all sorts of things and asked all sorts of questions. Recently, it's been so fun to feel him move around and watch him play with Adam. There was a period of a about a month where I woke up every morning wondering if it would be his birthday.

Now, I've gotten used to the fact that my belly is huge compared to what it used to be (though strangers still tell me it looks little), my face is rounding out, I have stretch marks, and I have to wear flip flops to church due to water retention in my feet and ankles. Lately, I feel like this is who I am... Like I'm always going to have all of these features. Sometimes I think, "there's REALLY a baby inside of me who is going to come out and this is only temporary?? Nah."

Every weekend when I go grocery shopping and clean the house I think it's going to be the last time I do it before this baby comes. Every time we go to Disneyland we think it's going to be the last time before the baby (We've been 6 times since August 23rd). Every time we go to the dollar theater or hang out with friends or go to church or send Adam off to school...we think it'll be the last time before the baby comes. Adam's been coming home right after he gets out of class at noon and studying at home instead of staying on campus just in case.

Today was the first day I sent Adam out the door and didn't worry about what would happen if I needed to get a hold of him before he gets out of class at 5 tonight. Pretty sure the baby's going to be inside for a few more months =) I had a pretty busy and fun day yesterday full of laundry, a long walk, scrapbooking, making granola bars, and a couple hours at CA Adventure. It was followed by a soothing banana bubble bath and some icy hot rubbed on my back before bed since I get sore just by walking around these days. I felt more contractions throughout the day and they are getting stronger, but there were only a few per hour depending on what I was doing.

My last post was on Saturday, the 18th, and it was all about our trip to Disneyland on the 17th. We went again on Monday with our friends Sean, Rachel, and their 6 month old Jakob. Here we are in the Haunted Mansion:
Jake wears headphones when things are too loud at the Park:
Adam, Sean and Rachel went on Splash Mountain so Jakob and I hung out. He's such a mellow baby!
Guess who sat in the front...
Tuesday, the due date, we went to the dollar theater to see the Sorcerer's Apprentice! Adam has really been spoiling me lately with all the time we've been spending together! Last night, we got together again with Sean and Rachel to go to California Adventure! We got there around 6 and the park closed at 8, so here's what we were able to do in that short time. After our ride on the ferris wheel, we caught pictures this time of us being weighed in tortillas while we ate our free samples.

There is a 3D show called It's Tough to be a Bug and these are the cool glasses we got to wear!


They finished off the night with Tower of Terror and Jake hung out with me outside since there was only a 13 minute wait time for that ride. Lines sure are short on weekdays!

Adam's classmates are so nice and they ask him about me and the baby every day! I'm sure he feels like I'm going to be pregnant forever too since they've been asking him the same questions since he started school almost 2 months ago. I'm a little worn out from yesterday and people keep telling me to sleep while I can because I'll need the energy when I'm in labor. You got it....I've started the bread machine, blogged, and now I'm off to take a nap! =) Maybe a walk and some shopping will follow!

What would you do if....

...your doctor told you she didn't expect your baby to come this weekend since you hadn't changed/progressed since last week??

Go to Disneyland, of course!!!
Friday was the first day it was decorated for Halloween so we went around 5:30 and stayed until 10:30. We went to the Haunted Mansion first, since it was all decorated like the Nightmare Before Christmas. When we go with friends or family they will have to go on Space Mountain with Adam since that's decorated too, and I can't go on it right now.



We went to CA Adventure and saw an awesome Muppet 3D show, which I will highly recommend to all children and adults! Such a fun and interactive show! Turtle Talk with Crush was really cool and interactive too!
We found out that our personalities are most similar to Buzz Lighyear and Mulan...quite the combination! We got some free tortillas and got on the scale which said we weighed about 2000 tortillas =) Ursula stole our voices but gave them back after we acted out a scene from Bambi for her. We went to an animation studio art class and learned how to draw Mickey Mouse. We went on a Monsters Inc ride, and then we headed back over to Disneyland so that Adam could crush my score on the Buzz Lightyear ride once again!

We grabbed some yummy burgers at In n Out on our way home and watched the first half of Aladdin before we both fell asleep on the couch! When we crawled into bed to read scriptures, our little guy was so active! Adam caught some of it on video and I wish I could share, but the file is too big. Oh, and the update on the baby...he's coming when he wants to. The latest we'll go is 41 weeks, which is September 28th...the day Adam proposed. I'll let you know when he decides to let us know his birthday!

While getting out of the car to see Knight and Day at the local dollar theater Adam said, "I know why the baby hasn't come yet. He likes going to the movies with us!"

Latest Adventures

Here are some photos to capture the memories we've been making these last days before the baby. We are having so much fun together! I made all of them small on accident, but if you click on them you can view them larger. We were goofing around after church on September 5th and this is one of the best shots we got! I was almost 38 weeks.

Disneyland the very next day on Monday, September 6th. We were so happy it didn't turn out to be our "Labor Day!"

This Monday, September 13th (the day of my last blog post), Adam took his big exam. Once he got home we had lunch and he pulled out his guitar! He hasn't played since we've been here in Irvine and it was so wonderful to hear him play again! He played some fun songs that we could both sing along to, as well as some songs that he plays/sings just for me that always make me cry! His voice makes me melt when he sings those and it brings back memories of when he proposed!

Around 4:30 we headed out and got into Disneyland around 5. It was only open until 8 on Monday, but we did eight things in three hours! We started out in Fantasyland and hit Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and Snow White. The Snow White ride is all about her wild adventures and takes you through the scary woods and the evil queen tries to give you apples...kinda scary...and then the doors open to a wall that is painted like the last page of a fairy tale that says, "And they lived happily ever after." I was laughing pretty hard because it was such a surprise! There's no closure to the story! Just scary part, scary part, and they lived happily ever after!

After that, we went on the Tom Sawyer river cruise. It was nice and relaxing and the weather was perfect!Then it was off to Pirates which had NO wait time...we walked right on the ride! I was amazed! Adam kept talking about the Captain EO show and how it had replaced the Honey I Shrunk the Kids show. I had not seen either show, so I didn't know what to expect...let me just tell you that I was laughing so hard once again! That same laugh from the Snow White ride...the one where you laugh because what you are watching doesn't really make sense and it catches you off guard that you just have to laugh! Michael Jackson did have some pretty amazing moves in this 1986 production, though! It was 3-D (the reason for the glasses in the next picture).

Alright, so after the amazing Captain EO show, we hopped on the Buzz Lightyear ride(no line) where Adam crushed my score by over 100,000 points!

We had time for just one more ride and so we decided to ride the rocketships! It's the same concept as the Dumbo ride, but in tomorrowland. The man counted us off, just assuming that we would ride together, so we thought nothing of it...I mean, if this man thought we could fit in one rocket together, then we probably would. WRONG!!! =) Another moment of intense laughter!! Here we are in the rocket! Okay, so we made it in, but it was an incredibly tight fit (Adam's legs were stuck and I was just wedged in there). We finally figure it out and were barely situated, but laughing like crazy, and the man comes over to ask us about our seatbelt! Oops...hadn't gotten that far. I was nervous it wasn't going to fit and they were going to make us get out, but luckily it fit! That would have been so embarrassing! We laughed during the entire ride like we were dating again!! Moral of the story: 2 adults + 1 beach ball do not fit very comfortably in a child-size rocketship.

On the way into the park (at 5) I smelled the waffle cones from the ice cream shop and told Adam we should have waffles for dinner. At 8:30, when we got on the shuttle to go back to our car, Adam asked what we I wanted for dinner. I reminded him about the waffles, and he laughed and said it sounded like a good idea. I think he thought I may have been kidding earlier, but they still sounded like a yummy dinner idea! I mixed up the batter and remembered that my mom had sent us a Cinderella waffle iron a couple years back that we've only used a few times. This was the perfect night to get it out (it has the belgian waffle grid on the other side)! Adam picked out a movie from redbox and a package of sausage and what a fun rest of the evening we had!

Last night we watched an Indian movie (3 Idiots) and had Indian food with a group of Adam's classmates! It was a really good movie, despite the title, and the food was delicious! As I was washing my face and getting ready for bed, Adam came in with the camera to get some shots of me at 39 weeks. Surprise! Had I known he was going to do this, I would not have been getting ready for bed, so please excuse the lack of make-up!

I can't believe tomorrow we'll celebrate 45 months of marriage and he still finds new ways to make me laugh and melt my heart!

8 Days to Go

The grocery shopping is done, house is clean, bag is packed, laundry is going right now, clean sheets are on our bed, and we have a trip to Disneyland planned for this afternoon.

The day has come.

Adam has been telling our little guy for weeks that he can't come until after Adam's biochemistry exam on 9.13.10. By the way, if you're wondering how med school is going for him, follow the link to his blog on the top of this blog. His last post was August 31st and it's a great post!

I've been having appointments every week lately and here's the rundown: At my appointment on August 27th, I was not dilated and about 40%. September 3rd, I was at a 1 and about 60%. This past Friday, September 10th, I was 1.5 and still 60%. I think I could have progressed more last week, but I purposely tried to lay low as to not give this baby any chances of coming before Adam's exam. He's been studying for it for 3 weeks straight and it covers a lot of material!

Adam is at school right now taking his exam so we made it!! Our little Wesley, Logan, Mason, or McKay has permission to arrive.

My sister-in-law had her baby girl yesterday: Payton Sawyer Simes! She is such a doll from the pictures I've seen and I can't wait to meet her...probably next month! Looking at those pictures, I can't believe that our baby is about that same size (Payton was born 2 weeks early and was 7lb 11oz). Our doctor is guessing that ours will be somewhere around 8lbs when he's born too. I still can't comprehend that there's a baby inside...my belly looks so round that it's hard to imagine the shape of a baby with little fingers and toes. I recognize him when he moves around, but it's a feeling I can't quite express. I am amazed at the creation of these little babies and can't believe we are going to have one of our very own!

I think Adam said it best yesterday: "It's like getting married all over again, except you don't know the wedding date. Once we are with this person, we are going to be with them for eternity."

Disneyland!

Adam and I are now the proud owners of Annual Disneyland Passports! Since Mondays are the days Adam has exams, we treat them like Fridays! He came home and had lunch and then we met up with Kate and the boys for the afternoon!
The entire time we were in line, Hamilton wanted to ride the green Dumbo, so we raced out of the gates and we actually got it! (kinda looks like he could be our kid)
Beckett did not look like this the whole time we were there, but this does capture his level of calmness and contentment. Hamilton rode his very first roller coaster once Alex arrived and so Beckett and I hung out and made each other smile and giggle the entire time they were gone! Unfortunately, Adam had the camera during that time so I couldn't capture those smiles.
Of course, Kate was kind enough to capture our first family (the 3 of us) adventure to Disneyland! I was 36 weeks along for this one. We had the most relaxing time (since I can't do any roller coasters) going on Pirates, Small World, Roger Rabbit, Dumbo, Soarin over CA, and just being together as a family! I am so happy to be back in California!

Quick update on the pregnancy from my appointment this morning: Baby's 5.5 pounds, still high, not dilated, about 40% effaced, he's in position (head down), and I lost a pound since my last appointment 2 weeks ago (which is perfectly okay according to the doctor)! Everything is looking great and she's not expecting him to come any time soon. I love to watch him move around every day...It almost feels like he's tickling me from inside and it makes me smile! I just love this time I have with him inside, but I feel ready if he does decide to come sooner than his due date!