Happy Holidays!

Meeting Great Grandma Pettingill

About a month or so ago Grandma starting living in an assisted living home in Filer. Her mind has gotten too bad with Alzheimer's and its become increasingly more difficult for Grandpa to take care of her. When he has good days and feels good then he's all about taking care of her. But when he has bad days which is more often, then its almost impossible for him to take care of her as well as himself. Its been a hard adjustment for both of them and a hard decision for Grandpa as well as their children. I think Grandma gets pretty lonely and with the new baby, we decided she needed to meet Kimball. I knew it would make her day and bring such a joyful feeling. She loved holding him the entire time we were there and kept patting his little stomach and touching his soft skin. Kimball will probably never know it but his presence made all the difference in the world for her that day. She cried as we left but we will be back again soon to visit. We love you Grandma!

Melt My Heart

About a month ago while we were waiting to be seen for tithing settlement, a member of our ward was asking general questions about Kimball and I since I haven't been back to church yet. He then turned to Lance and asked, "So, is it as good as you thought it would be?" (Implying fatherhood). Lance said, "No. It's better."

Filling Out

Lance doesn't like to look at blogs that are plastered with people's kids because to him, he wants to read about his friends and what they're up to, not necessarily his friend's kids. He vowed we would never be one of those families that plastered photos of our kids and I slightly disagreed thinking there should be a good mix. So when I go back and review my blog and see that every little thing is about Kimball......oops. I'm sorry if any of you agree with Lance and can see we went against our own wishes. But thinking of the past few months, my entire waking life revolves around taking care of the little guy and we haven't done anything spectacular either. Lance goes to work and I stay home to take care of Kimball. December is typically a very busy month for families but since Kimball is still quite young and the weather is cold, we haven't gone to too many places or activities.

Kimball is starting to change. He's getting chubbier and starting to fill out. His face is much more round, his cheeks have doubled in size along with his double chin, his legs are rolly polly, and he's losing all those uber darling newborn characteristics, especially in his face. It really makes me sad to see him get bigger and I've bawled about three times over it.

He's Going to Be a Drooler, Like His Mama

Kimball is the funniest little boy and we can't wait to see more of his personality. Of course we're also partial and biased! But the other day as I finished feeding him, I was just talking and playing with him while holding him up and all of a sudden he was out of it, dead asleep.

We Love Cuddles

And partial smiles

Meeting Great Grandma Lance

December Craft Day

First Shopping Trip

Christmas Devotional

Mom and Dad and I went down to visit Christine for the weekend since she's by her lonesome with Stephen gone to training. We got tickets to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional but they wouldn't let Kimball and I into the main conference center. So Christine and I went to a separate theater set aside for families with children and enjoyed ourselves. It was a great broadcast, one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Although we were both missing our husbands and wished they were with us.

Cozy With Grandpa Pettingill

Sleeping Beauty

This little boy loves sleeping with his arms up.

And he loves his little slippers.

A Good Mixture of Us Both

Dirty but Happy

I don't know how some mothers make it through the day. I have one little newborn who is a good baby for the most part but wakes up like clock work to eat every 2-3 hours. How do mothers do it when they already have 2, 3, 4, 5+ kids AND a newborn??? Holy cow, they amaze me! Welcome a not so welcome thing called sleep deprivation.

I love being a stay at home mom! I had pictured things a lot differently though. For one, I thought I'd have TONS of time to be productive and get things done around house. I fantasized about vacuuming everyday, not so much as a sock left in the laundry basket, no crumbs on the counter, no dishes in the sink, and a dust free house. Ha! What was I thinking? I have finally got into somewhat of a daily routine which includes: feeding #1, two precious hours to be productive, feeding #2, nap, feeding #3, cook dinner and get ready for Lance to come home to help with feedings and such. So during the day I have about two hours to accomplish a huge to-do list. The nap is crucially essential, no questions asked. The rest of the evening and into the night where normal people are sleeping, you'll find me up at all hours soothing and feeding my baby. Currently, you'll find 6 baskets full of clothes, towels, and sheets that need to be hung and folded (at least they're washed and dried), a sink full of dishes, a floor with who knows what that hasn't been vacuumed for a few weeks, what looks like a mound of dust all over, two bathrooms that desperately need scrubbed, and a mom who could really use a week to play catch-up. Totally gross. I know. (By the way, no need to mention the fact that I don't get dressed for the day or wear make up anymore, or do my hair. The only thing in check is a shower).

But on the other hand, Kimball has been going through a growth spurt and as Lance and I stayed up and talked the other night, I got teary eyed thinking about my little baby growing up. I want him to stay little AND sleep through the night which won't happen, I know. So while my house is so dirty, and I mean F-I-L-T-H-Y dirty, my baby is still a baby and I want to enjoy that while I can. The dishes and laundry can stay piled up and people can judge me as they wish when they walk into my house but I don't want to miss one minute of my precious little boy's life. I'll hopefully find time to fold and scrub and sanitize during that itty bitty two hour "productive" time, and if I don't then I'll know I was busy snuggling up to my squishy, comfy, warm, cute little guy.

Kimball & Mommy

This Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for my two boys...

...and this pilgrim child.