Peter Fernandez and the Economy

so...peter has not had a weekly appearance, much to my chagrin...perhaps the economy is effecting even our dear peter, but this one came up last friday and it made me giggle...i love him.

it reads, "Photo shows Peter Fernandez of San Fernando City with whiz trumpet blower James Smith of the CJS Quintet Band interpreting a diligent farmer of Hawaii, & happy to harvest good crops of pineapple, spinach leaves & cherries, & thus, loving his occupation, even if he dies for it. Taken on September 4, 2008 at a lively music concert in Los Angeles."

I mean...really...what Hawaiian farmer WOULDN'T die for his right to be a Hawaiian farmer...

First Trip to Dland

today was Bodie's first trip to disneyland. we went with Becky and her kids - Asher & Ella Jayne. we actually only went to californialand if you wanna get technical. i was nervous braving the park by myself - we were outnumbered and all...but we survived and not only survived, we had a wonderful time! i even got to go on California Screamin' thanks to Becky! we took the boys to the grizzly park/obstacle course thing and they loved it...bryson probably went down the same slide about 25 times before we sidetracked him...while waiting for him (over and over and over again) two bears happened by and became enamored with Bodie...it was kinda cool...then kinda awkward and then kinda surreal and Becky snapped a pic of the whole mess, for which i was grateful. it was just that it was quite odd to have furry people fondling my child and not just that but they couldnt talk, so the whole encounter was eerily silent - i wanted to answer their voice-less questions...5 weeks...i almost told them...a boy...i wanted to say, but then i realized - these are bears... i wanted to take more pics of the boys, but my camera was out of battery and shut down right after the bear incident - so i am inlcuding a pic of the boys from the other day at the park instead...just pretend mickey mouse is in the background :)

Dustin' off the machine...

ever since my "labor stockings" i haven't looked at my poor machine...Hand...that is his name - Hand...and why is it a "he"? not sure...it just came out, so it must be...perhaps because he is so technical...hmm...anyway - ever since my "labor stockings" (i might have made about 17 embroidered stockings whilst in early labor to get my mind of off said labor) i put my machine away and told myself to give myself some time off - i had a fury of hand-made gift making for 2 months and perhaps needed a vacation. but with Bodie's birth i decided it would be nice to make something for him. i rarely make things for my own boys and thought since i never ended up finishing the knitted blanket i was making for him, i would take an easier route. i am not giving up on the knitting per se, just breaking...hmm...anyway - i thought i need to start making things for my boys since the other day bryson broke some toy and then told me it was okay because i could make him a gun on my machine. i felt so proud i almost whipped up a stuffed toy gun right then and there, but my vacation hadn't ended then. so i made this baby blanket for little bodie - the only problem is that the embroidery does not work so well on fleece come to find out. i had to go over his name a couple times and it still doesnt show up well, however - oh so soft and what a great size and it reflects how i am feeling as of late....mooooo....

One Month Old

Bodie Bo, Bodie Blue, Bodie-Odie-O...you are one month old already! Happy 1/12th of your birthday! You are such a happy baby - you smile when daddy lets you jump off of him or when i give you loud kisses. you rarely cry but you often grunt. you have many different grunts- your hungry grunt, your nursing grunt, your middle of the night grunts, your "moby" grunts, your happy grunts...i am stilll learning them all and still studying which ones can be left alone and which need attention! for the most part, you are happy to sit with me in the office and keep me company while i do terribly boring stuff like taxes. you are strong too - you can hold your head up for a long time and are liking to use your legs a lot! you are a great eater and like to eat every 2 hours during the day, but you give me a break at night (thanks for that by the way) and go for 4 hour stretches usually. you are growing out of control - you are wearing 3-6 month clothes, size 2 diapers - size medium in cloth, and you almost are too big for your moses basket. you are starting to look a lot like daddy especially when you make your serious face - the one with the one eyebrow - the one you made right when you were born and looked at us with your sweet face for the first time. your big brother loves you and is such a great helper - he always wants to help give you a bath and get your diapers for me and smother you with kisses. today he tried to cheer you up with his "sticky sticky bubblegum" song...we can't imagine our world without you and are enjoying you in our lives tremendously. you are such a blessing and there is nothing i enjoy more these days than watching you and staring into your sweet face.

Introducing Baby Griffin

Our sweet niece Kassai (pronounced ka-sigh) Rose Griffin was born January 21st - at 6:29 p.m. - weighing 7lbs 4oz. The mother (Kristie) and baby are both doing great. Big brother and big sister Kairee and Kaliya are so excited about their baby sister! Also VERY excited is Meema (Grandma Kathy) to have 2 grandbabies born within a month of each other...We can not wait to meet the sweet girl! Congratulations Kristie and Kiko!

Cookie Man in Bed

our little cookie man (bryson) is such a nutty sleeper. he has been coming into our bed around 5 or 6 in the morning...which is not a new development, but now that i have a baby attached to my breast most of the time bryson now gets between bryan and i, and bryan can not stand it. now - anyone who knows bryan knows that he rarely gets mad...very few things make him upset (which is probably why i am so attracted to him...he can stand me on most days) - there are exceptions to this rule...like mint and futons...but that is an entirely different story. back to my point- one thing that does manage to make him MAD is when bryson puts his feet on him in the morning while we are in bed. now - to bryan's credit bryson doesn't just put his feet on you - he uses you like a swimmer uses a pool wall to make their turn...he is super annoying...BUT what I dont get is that bryan does the exact same thing to me! i call him "the conqueror" because he always has to have a foot or a leg on me at all times when sitting on the couch or lying in bed. so it is no surprise that bryson inherited this trait from his father, but is surprising that it makes bryan so irate.

i noticed this and then started reflecting also on what bryson does that i find extremely annoying and it is when i ask him to do anything and he replies with "no" or "but..." or gives some other excuse and i say, "why can't you ever say 'okay mommy'," and then that phrase from my mom rings like an alarm in my head from childhood and i cringe...so its not surprising that bryson inherited his strong will from his mommy...i found it amusing that those things that annoy us so much as parents are the traits we see in ourselves - consciously or not. i guess its true that what goes around comes around...something like that...at any rate - bryson deserves a little more grace and patience from me - which is a great resolution...although - sorry bryson - i can't promise that from daddy...hopefully you won't be in our bed the rest of your life and it wont be an issue!

we like to party party...

This was a weekend of parties...birthday parties...young and older...elder...getting on with age...how to say it nicer...hmmm...it was so packed with parties, we had to miss one and i was so bummed about it (sorry hank...we will make it up to you...hopefully soon?) we went to my nephew Jakob (Buddy)'s birthday on saturday - his nerf gun war party. this consisted of a bunch of 8 and 9 year old boys shooting nerf guns at each other and apparantly trying to get a flag? at some point the flag ceased to matter and it became ultimately more important to shoot at each other instead. buddy was so sweet to bryson - he even picked him to be on his team - or as Big Jake stated, "I love how Buddy chose Bryson over his sister - hmmm who do i pick - a 3 year old who will be absolutely no help to our team, or my sister....Bryson you're in!" Bryson brought his double barrel shotgun, which turned out to be a disadvantage re-loading since apparantly nerf guns are now automatic weapons. it made me feel sorely outdated for my son. i am sure he will recover - at any rate i was over it before it began so if that helps him any...good.

My Aunt Corrine's surprise b-day was on Sunday - she had the best reaction i have ever seen at a surprise party...true surprise...and some tears - she thought she was going to dinner at my dad and julie's and instead showed up at their clubhouse to 80 people - friends, family, co-workers all there to celebrate her. it was good to see our family too - who are getting more and more spread out all over the country unfortunately. it is rather odd to go from living/growing up next door and down the street from relatives to only seeing some of them once maybe twice a year. i have such great cousins and am really fortunate to have such a close family - we all truly enjoy each other's company and i find that to be rare these days. to actually delight in your family. (By the way - the pic of my dad and my uncle darrol and uncle jeff is them doing "the carlee" - i thought uncle jeff -far left- nailed it!)

we spent the night at my dad's and bryan played golf today with my dad and his friend mike. i was watching a special on Martin Luther King, Jr and was realizing that less than 50 years ago our nation had a much different atmosphere of tolerance. i realized that bryan and i would not have it so easy...that bryan probably wouldn't exist...that bryan definitely would not be golfing on a gated members only golf course with a white middle aged man...golfing anyway...maybe caddy-ing...maybe. i take it for granted...call it progress, but today i was truly thankful for martin luther king, jr and those that have come before him and after him to help change our cultural thinking - we are achieving his dream and we still have a ways to go, but what an amazing time this is as far as our nation's attitude is concerned...that our nation's first african-american president is starting his term tomorrow. thanks MLK!

3.5 Weeks

i'm sorry...i know i keep saying it, but i really can not get over how big this boy is. i told sue that its not fair because i only had a newborn for a couple of days. this kid is like a 2 or 3 month old in so many ways - in the way he holds his neck up...his facial expressions...his smiles (true reactive smiles, not gassy smiles -i know the difference i swear! he even laughed once...true story)...the way he nurses...how he sleeps (another 5 hour stretch last night)...the clothes he wears...

Bodie is a lot of fun and i am trying to keep my eyes open enough to soak it all in because i know how too soon it will be over...way too soon! I mean...look at this face!

what a 3 year old dreams about...

so bryson waltzed into our room this morning and crawled into bed around 6:00 - he then woke up at 7:30 and exclaimed that "i was at the park and somebody pulled down my pants and the poop came out all over the ground. and it was dirty. and it was dark." - not accustomed to waking in such a manner i asked him, "did you dream that?" - "yes" he said. "who was it that pulled down your pants?" "it was jack the pumpkin king" - scary dream...i think he is having these dreams because he is so nervous about having an "accident" - he hasn't had one in about a week by the way...which is a lot sooner than i expected it all to stop and it probably has a lot to do with bryan's technique of "washing it off" with a cold shower because "we dont have time to wait for the water to heat up" - only a father could have the sense...and although i hate to admit it...it worked!

fuzzi bunz

i love the new style of fuzzi bunz...they fit so well, but it looks like the small won't be fitting our big baby for long! i also had to take a pic of monica's adorable onesie before he gets too big!

baby gazing

i am so happy its the weekend. we had a lovely day today and its so nice to have bryan around - he has been working hard in the office by himself...usually the winters aren't so bad for our pool business, but lately there are some annoying federal laws that have him teeth grinding. but today there was no work and we spent the day with auntie sara and uncle pete and walking around on 2nd street. it was nice to get out as a family and to be outside in the beautiful winter weather we are having...i hear that the santa ana winds are coming, so it was nice to be out before they come crashing through...

Bodie is doing wonderfully and it is as though he has always been around. we have been calling him Bodie Blue since his eyes are still a crazy blue color! last night he slept a 5 hour stretch...i was amazed...and i am not getting used to that idea, but it was nice to have a solid stretch of sleep...he did great today in the moby too - i love that thing...thank you so much Jena! we have been very content just taking it easy and baby gazing and movie watching. my sewing machine is catching dust and my running shorts are as well, but there will be plenty of time for that soon enough! i am enjoying our "babymoon" very much!

Sizing Up and Sizing Down

this is a big day for Bodie and myself...Bodie moved into 3-6 month clothes today after i noticed he is crammed into 0-3 and I shouldn't force him into clothes even though i feel like he needs to wear all the cute outfits he was given...i am trying to force him into all the onesies our friends made as fast as i can though...here he is in his DARLING 3-6 month jumper given to him by Jena and he is also wearing Jeff's BIG onesie, which i though appropriate as well...

it is also a big day for me...i am wearing jeans with an actual ZIPPER for the first time in like 6 months...granted they are my fat jeans..and i crammed myself in them, but i am quite happy about it thank you very much!

2 Weeks Old

Bodie is 2 weeks old today. It is crazy that we have known him for so little a time since he has been out, yet we can't picture our lives without him. He is a sweet baby and already fitting in. At two weeks he has outgrown any newborn clothes and fills out 3 month clothes all too well - i am sure in about a week or 2 he will be moving on to 3-6 month clothes! He is a great nurser and he is nursing about every 2-3 hours (sometimes every hour but not often). he is learning how to go back to sleep at night - still a challenge, but he'll figure it out. He is so strong too - the way he moves his neck and pushes off of us - he really feels more like a 2-3 month old than a newborn. He still has blue eyes and in comparing pictures of him and Bryson, he is fairer than his brother at this point. He loves the moby and he can defintely live without the carseat. Bryson is also calming down quite a bit - he hasn't had a potty accident in 2 days and his tantrums aren't quite so bad and he has been super sweet to his little brother. There has been quite a bit of movie watching for him, but i am trying to give myself a little grace as well - balancing the business and bryson and a newborn is not an easy task and I am trying to go easy on myself. I am so surprised at how we all have adjusted so quickly to all these changes. I am continually amazed by God's design of women and what He has made us capable of!

My sister came over yesterday to give the boys well checks. I am so blessed to have a sister that is a PA (Physician's Assistant) - she was able to check the boys and we have a home chart now - so much easier than going to the dr. office...i have to figure out a way to compensate her...she is so sweet to do that - always answers my calls - better than any pediatrician i could hope for! Both boys checked out well and healthy - we are very thankful.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support and meals. We are loving this time getting to know our sweet little Bodie Owen and can't wait for you all to spend more time with him as well!

Bryson and Bodie at 2 weeks - our little Bodie still has blue eyes and fairer hair...he may have gotten some of my powerful Swedish genes!

like father like son

i love this picture. i love it because it captures what a crazy sleeper our bryson is...just like his daddy. he is so peaceful when he sleeps...i sneak in every night and kiss his sleeping face because i can't help myself...he is still my baby :)