Spencer Walks!

We've all been patiently waiting for our little guy to try to walk and today he finally did it! My friend (also my partner) and I were over visiting teaching at one of our sister's houses. We were just talking and all the sudden Spencer lets go of a chair he was standing at and took 3 steps and then sat down! We were all so excited that we stopped in the middle of our conversation and cheered and clapped. I was glad that someone else witnessed it so that people will believe me. Now we've been trying to get him to do it again but the most he will take is one step.

Spencer says daddy!

1 Year Stats

Length: 28 1/4 inches (10%)
Weight: 17 lbs 13 oz (<5%)
Head circumference: 45 1/2 cm (28%)

Dr Rose says he is a very nice baby (he said it about 15 times). He is growing well and just a happy camper!

Birthday!

For those of you wondering what to get Spencer, he has lots of toys, books, and stuffed animals already. It might be fun for a bunch of people to go in on a bike trailer so Spence can go on bike rides with us!

Spencer is 11 Months!

Yep, that's right, only one more month til he's 1! We love our little guy so much and can't believe it's been almost a year! I feel so bad that he's had a bit of a distracted mom the last 2 semesters while I finish school, but I'm glad I did and someday he will be too. Here are some fun things about Spencer:

• Loves to try to sing along with you or the music (though it's mostly just shrieking or screaming)
• Is a major daddy's boy
• Can walk with his toy walker thing
• Crawls everywhere and gets into whatever he can
• Loves to pull all the DVDs and Wii games off the shelf
• Has 3 teeth: 2 crooked bottom and 1 top one
• Will eat anything I feed him
• LOVES his bath and will try to turn on the water when I empty the tub at the end
• Will put anything in his mouth so we have to watch him!
• Hardly ever cries, even when he got majorly scratched by Leo (we didn't even know it had happened til we noticed blood on his arm)
• Can say mama, dada, baba, and nana (Jacob's mom)

(Sorry for no pictures. We got a portable hard drive and moved all our pictures over to that. However, 5 days later it went all weird and we lost everything on it :'( )

You know you're a mom if...

• You find yourself singing along with the music from your child's toys
• Your day consists of schedules of eating, sleeping, peeing, pooping, playing... and if that schedule is disturbed, all Hell breaks loose
• You vow that someday you will return the favor to your currently childless relative who gave your child the insanely annoying singing toy
• You run out of space to store the hugely bulky baby items that your child required only for a short time
• You can't wait for your child to crawl or take those first steps, but once they do, you wish they hadn't
• You spend 9 months carrying him, woke up at night to feed and comfort him, and were responsible for the majority of his nurturing and care and his first word is Dada
• Your anniversary dinner was at Carl's Jr.
• You find a pacifier in your backpack
• You use LOTS of spray and wash
• You can go from being extremely frustrated to so in love in an instant

Here is a cute picture of my boys!

In my spring cleaning, I have realized we have a lot of big baby stuff that I have no place to put. Things like a swing, baby bathtub, jumper/bouncer, etc. These are all things he doesn't use anymore and they are big and bulky and I do not know where to store them. Ahh!!! Right now they are all stuffed in our guest room, but that can't be a permanent place for them. Oh the joys of children!

Finally!

This is a picture of Spencer and I. I am wearing my Batman scrub top. I had to send in this picture for a picture board of people at work who breastfeed.

Well, Spencer has finally cut his first tooth! Yes, after a long awaited period of about 3 months, it happened. No, I don't have pictures. It's quite hard to try to get pictures of a baby's mouth.

You know what I'm sick of? I'm sick of people thinking that PP depression isn't real. All I keep getting is, Oh you'll get over it, or you'll snap out of it. Or, it's just Satan trying to get to you. Seriously. That's all I keep getting from people. I do agree that Satan works hard on mothers, but there is a real clinical thing called DEPRESSION. I just feel like nobody believes it, and everybody just keeps brushing it off. And you know what? The only people who truly understand are the mothers out there who know what it's like! Nobody else, especially dads, understands what it is like.

Spencer's 9 Month Appointment

Here are Spencer's stats for 9 months:
Height: 27.5 inches (25%)
Weight: 17.1 pounds (5%)
Head circumference: 45 cm (50%)

Overall he is a pretty healthy boy! Dr Rose says he is one of the most alert and curious babies he's ever seen, but maybe he's just saying that. Spencer didn't cry at all when they did the finger poke for the hematocrit. Spencer's iron levels were a little low so we got sent to the main hospital lab for a re-draw. Dr Rose kept saying that with all the illness going around that maybe his bone marrow is just suppressed. WHAT?! That is a naughty thing to say to a nurse! Anywho...we made the trek to the other side of the hospital after a short visit with my peeps on family birth place. I think I hated it more than Spencer. He didn't even cry when they poked him with the big needle until they started pulling back to get the blood. They did give him a cute teddy bear with scrubs on for being such a good little guy. One of the lab techs recognized me from my stint on family birth and talked with me a bit.

Onto school matters...this nursing management class is kicking my butt! It's a good thing it's not very integral to my nursing knowledge. I have passed all the other courses with flying colors but this one is a doozy. It's all just too boring!

Tonight in institute my teacher made me very sad. He was saying something about a lesson we should have just had in Sunday school. No one said anything and he said, "What? Don't you go to church?" I felt totally bad because I have not been to Sunday school in like 2 1/2 years. I really like this teacher and have taken 2 other classes from him. But lately, all I feel when I leave is guilt. Guilt and shame and worthless. I feel like I'm never going to be good enough because I'm not doing all the things I should be like studying the scriptures in depth for at least 15 minutes daily. Seriously, should an institute class make you feel this crappy?

You know those songs that just bring up certain memories when you hear them? Well I had one of those moments tonight. For some reason, Beer For My Horses by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson conjures up memories of my time as a sweeper at Monte Vista. Probably because it was on my mp3 player and I always had it playing while I did my job. And when I heard the Hawaiian version of Over The Rainbow, it brought back memories of a certain someone. Crazy what music can do! I learned that violin music can make a plant grow twice as fast and can change its chromosomes. Maybe I should whip mine out and play for Spencer!

Thanks for letting me rant. Sometimes I feel like this blog is my outlet other than my regular journal.

Spencer Crawling

This is Spencer crawling. Yep he did it finally! And although it is exciting, it is bad in other ways. We've already had a good share of crawling related bumps. And he likes to get into things he shouldn't, but that's no big surprise. He decided on Friday night to try to eat the blue ethernet cable by the TV. He ended up with a bloody mouth and a sad face. He's also fallen down and bonked his head or mouth trying to pull himself up or go somewhere. But, it's fun to watch him learn and explore!

Hmmm...

Well, I can't say much has been going on around these parts. I got my floor for preceptorship (internship). I get to be on labor and delivery at ORMC!!! It's also postpartum too so I'll get to make sure I like that since that's where I currently work. I'm so excited to get started (mostly so it can be over) and I'm very nervous at the same time. I mean, by the end, I'm supposed to be doing everything and being the only nurse! Eek! I'm not ready to be a real nurse yet!
In other news, there is no other news. Jacob has been really busy at work (a good thing, right?) and has lots of fun with Spencer at home too. I've just been hanging out at home doing homework and housework and baby work...it gets kinda old and makes me feel sad sometimes. I feel like sometimes all I have to look forward to in my life will be children. As much as I always said I wanted 3-4 kids, now I'm not so sure. I am getting way too lonely and sad staying at home all day. Motherhood is not always as fulfilling as I thought, and is harder than I thought. Everyone says it gets better when you have another kid, but why would I want to bring another kid into my misery when I can barely handle one?
Anywho... sorry for the drudgery...
O yeah! Spencer is so close to crawling! He can go backwards, and he loves to slide around on the kitchen floor. I was making dinner one day while he was playing on the floor and when I turned around he had backed himself into the corner by the fridge, meaning he had to go under the table and one or two chairs to get there. It was so cute and funny!
He's also getting teeth. I came home from work on Saturday afternoon to find two white bumps that hadn't been there before. I'm pretty sure they are his teeth because they weren't there before and he's been super drooly...

6 Month Stats

Here are Spencer's 6 month stats:
Height 25.5 inches (10%)
Weight 15 lbs 2 oz (5-10%)
Head Circumference 17 inches (25%)

He did really well, but poor baby has eczema :(

6 Months Old!

Spencer is 6 months old today! I can hardly believe it. It seems crazy to think that he's been with us that long. I can't imagine my life without him. He is so much fun and cute and laughs a lot. He has lots of loving family that love to be with him and play with him. It feels like just yesterday he was waking us up every three hours to eat...oh wait that was yesterday...LOL. We love Spencer so much and I wish he would stay at this stage forever. It's the perfect stage- he can roll over but can't crawl and get into too much stuff, he isn't too heavy, he still wakes up in the night but not as bad as when he was a newborn, he loves Mommy and Daddy, he smiles at pretty much everyone, and the list goes on!
Here are some things about Spencer:
He has Jacob's hairline
He has my eyes and LONG eyelashes (although not as long as his uncle Tye's)
He loves squeaky toys
He is starting to pet Leo (grab his hair and tail) and Leo is okay with it
He takes a nap about every 2 hours and eats every 3 hours
He has tasted funeral potatoes :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Little Angel

Edited Pictures

Halloween Outfit Pictures

In the business of school, I forgot to blog about Spencer turning 5 months. Nothing spectacular happened, I just went to clinical and he got to be watched by both his grandmas that day. It was pretty sad because he was sick. This is his first sickness and he's just been stuffy and congested and the first day he was pretty miserable and fussy. On October 21 my mom watched him and took some pictures and then on Friday Spencer and I just had some fun taking pictures. We're going to have to take some of him in his costume as well. (All outfits courtesy of Janaye Carlile :) )

Rice Cereal

Spencer had his first rice cereal today! He made a funny face at first, but I think all babies do that. He did really well and ate all of it, with a bit of it ending up on his face and bib. It was quite the occasion and we took pictures and video of it. It's crazy to think that he is growing up so fast and hitting all these milestones!

4 Month Appointment

Weight: 13 lbs 7 oz (10%)
Height: 24 inches (5%) He's a shorty!

The doctor says he is doing well and a very social baby. However, the right side of his head is flatter so we have to force him onto the back part of the left side of his head. We just have to put a rice bag under his back basically.
He is so much fun to have around. We love him to death even when he is screaming his head off. He went to Evanston with me and was such a little trooper. I am so glad he is a laid back baby for the most part because this allows me to stay in school!

Spencer is 4 months old today!