tiny t.

The many faces of Mr. Theodore Maxwell

Theo is three months old! Can you believe it? He's all squeals and smiles. He has quite the little personality and I love getting to know him every day. My highlight as of late is having baby talk conversations with him. He looks very confident and convinced that he is making perfect sense with all of his noises. He's learning how to nap thanks to Auntie Paige who gave me advice when I was falling apart exhausted and totally clueless as to what I should do. He's also getting very strong and looks like a skydiver during tummy time with his head and his legs arched towards the ceiling. If you remember his antics during the ultrasound this is no surprise. Phil calls him Mr. Sir (like the bad guy in HOLES) I call him baby teddy and we both call him tiny guy.

chicken and waffles.

Have I told you about Y+S Dinner Rotation? No?

The Y stands for young and the S for sexy. The group is comprised of four couples; Mollie and Steve, PJ and Courtney, Jaicy and Evrhet, yours truly and Phil. (Teddy too!) I guess the young is relative but the sexy is an eternal state of mind.

at court's for heart shaped pizzas!

We love the chance to try new recipes, hang out, and enjoy food. We get to celebrate together (jobs, babies, babies on the way (!!!!!), funny stories from the week). Since we're all basically family it's nice and low key with none of the weird Stepford Wives competition some dinner groups suffer from. It's something I look forward to every thursday.

Two weeks ago it was our turn to cook. I was completely uninspired. It was dreadful. I was scared to do something new and adventurous while simultaneously mortified by the thought of a food creativity road-block. I was a sad little chef. That is until Phil came to the rescue with a fantastic suggestion; CHICKEN AND WAFFLES.

some of the grub.

It was my first time frying chicken but Miss Paula Dean and her southern cooking bible came to my west-coast-never-fried-anything-aid. I was totally channeling her in the kitchen as I tossed around oil and crisco and flour Y'AAALLLLLL. I wouldn't recommend making this meal as a family staple (America's obesity problem= this chicken) but it was scrumptious especially paired with a syrupy waffle. It was easy too (once I ruined a box cake in Utah and threw a handful of it across the counter like an upset child. If I can ruin box cake and still fry chicken, so can you my friends!) FOOD TRIUMPH!

ps. baby teddy!!

how to.

How to get ready for church.

Our little Cheeky.

Theodore and his raccoon at 2 mo.

cuddles.

thinking about smiling.

done done done with pictures mom!

Tomorrow is January 27th. Our little cheeky will be 2 months old. Time is flying.

Theodore can coo, grunt, and smile. He is a champion when it comes to raising his head. He has big bright eyes that are still dark blue. Peach fuzz is ever so slowly growing into a hairline. His eyelashes are long and curly like Dad. He is up every three hours at night to eat and say hello. He toots like an adult man. He has a very gentle and observant nature. He loves our wall clock, our bed canopy, and anything else with light or high contrast. In fact we're pretty sure he thinks the wall clock is his third parent. He talks to it frequently.

Hooray for two month Teddy!

you live in a zoo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

YOU LIVE IN A ZOO

YOU LOOK LIKE A MONKEY

AND YOU SMELL LIKE ONE TOO

Happy birthday to my very best friend and husband Phil. He's practically perfect in every way (like Mary Poppins says). He is a dedicated and incredible husband, father, and son. I love him with all of my heart.

dar luz.

Here comes the birth story.

Phil taught me that in Mexico giving birth translates as "to give light." I think I almost cried when I learned that. (I was pregnant! I almost cried at anything slightly laced with emotion.) What a beautiful way of looking at birth. A woman goes through an indescribable physical gauntlet to push a new shining light out into the world. My little ball of light is asleep in my room with one sock on and one sock off. He has completely wiggled from his swaddle and has spit out his pacifier. While he's sprawled in slumber let me tell you a little about his birth story.

(*editors note: after typing above paragraph it took me almost a week to finish this post. Mommy time management problems.)

November 24th was Thanksgiving. I started having random contractions. I thought the baby might be coming sooner rather than later but Phil assured me that they must be braxton hicks contractions. They can go on for weeks. With Phil about to start his 2nd year law school finals that MUST be the case. Baby couldn't come early.

November 25th was Black Friday. I did in fact shop at 5 am while my body prepared to go into labor. Can't beat the deals.

November 26th we went with my O'C fam to the Christmas tree farm to cut down a tree. As I waddled around the little forest I had a few more cramps and baby felt low and heavy. That night Phil and I went with father in law Jim and SIL Camille to the Oakland Temple Christmas Lighting Pageant. During the performance I had two more big contractions. Jim told me I could have the baby that night. I thought that sounded like a good idea. So did baby Theodore.

At 2 am that night my contractions became regular but manageable. I woke Phil up to let him know he would be canceling his talk in church the next morning and we would instead be having a babe. Then in what will forever give me "good wife points" I let him go back to sleep. For the next 6 hours I labored at home. I watched Flight of the Concords, read, scanned over new Pinterest pins, sat on a yoga ball, and napped. All the while I timed my contractions. They were always close together but just not long enough.

Finally that morning (November 27th) at about 8 am we decided it was time. My mom came over to meet us and we headed for the hospital. I wasn't sure if I would even be admitted so I was surprised when they told me I was already 5cm. Maybe it was that reality that made the pain start. I felt like every birth video I'd ever seen. I wailed. GET. ME. AN EPIDURAL. After the longest 40 minutes of my life they did just that. The epidural itself was nothing to write home about. I have no fear of needles. It was heavenly. The rest of my labor was really pretty dare I say fun. Phil was so encouraging and stayed with me the whole time. The cord was over Theo's shoulder like a backpack strap so pushing took a while. Finally he was freed and delivered after 6 hours in the hospital.

Out came Teddy with his eyes wide open. That moment was slow motion for me. My tiny baby staring right at me as he came up into my arms. Phil cut the cord and welcomed Theodore Maxwell into the world.

So that's the birth. And now our family of two is a family of three. We love our Theodore.

baby new year.

What could be better on New Years Day than a brand new baby's blessing? Everything is new for baby.

Theodore was blessed January 1st in the Alamo 1st Ward by his proud father Phil. We are so thankful to have little Teddy in our lives.

This new year is already full of new things:

new smiles

new record breaking diapers

new eyes seeing the world from a stroller

new shows to watch in the middle of the night

new messes all over the apartment

new tiny fingers to hold

new lessons learned every hour

Happy New Year!