The Joy of Being a Mother

This is the latest Goodwill pile in my house. I hate clutter and am constantly throwing things out. But this pile is different. I gave myself a lot of time to fit back into my old clothes. But now Max is 8 months old and I am within a few pounds of my starting weight. Yet after lots of walks, thousands of sit-ups, and 8 months to let things get back to where they were, I still can't wear some of my clothes. Some seem to be too short and some just seem to make me look wide. So I've come to accept that my body has just changed forever unless I want to spend hours at the gym everyday (which I am way too lazy to do and am still not convinced that my ribs and hips are going to go back to where they were). And the skin that stretched out to accomodate a growing baby is just going to stretch out again with the next one. So I'm getting rid of the shirts that I keep trying on that still don't look right and I'm just going to go shopping. Ugh.

Dogs, Dogs, and More Dogs

Chris gets teased by his family for allowing dogs inside his house and he blames me. But on Christmas Eve I found this when I came into the room. Even the chihuahua (who didn't really care for Chris) was on his lap! By the way, the chihuahua, Pixie, was a "foster" from Chris's grandparents and we found a home for her a few days ago.
Later Pixie came to sit by me and Chris was left with the other two.

Then they all climbed on my lap a few days later.

We babysat our neighbor's dog for a couple days last week. Pixie wouldn't look at the camera.

We had flyball practice at our house last weekend and this is how many dogs were over. One lady brought six of her dogs and another brought her four. We were still missing one teammate and his four dogs. And people think we're crazy for having our two!This is our neighbor's dog with her horse (and our horse on the left). I thought it was a sweet picture.

We're back to just having two dogs (until Jan. 14 when we're pet sitting our landlord's dog) and we decided we don't ever want more than two, probably. We like our two and it seems so much quieter around the house now. And we still have our two horses since selling the other two.

There's No Place Like Home...

...for the holidays. We just stayed home for Christmas after going to see Chris's parents the weekend before. Chris went in for a few hours Christmas Eve but we just relaxed the rest of the weekend. Hopefully next weekend the weather will be nicer and we will go drive through Zion's or the Grand Canyon. If anyone is around or wants to come down, just call!

Remember this?

Well, he's quite screeching and has a new habit.

It's quite impressive - he can wiggle his uvula (you know - the thing that hangs down in the back of your throat, go ahead and try it). I didn't really know it was possible but I came to find out that more than half the Gappmayer clan can do this little trick. It's quite a bit quieter than the screeching.

But I have a question for those of you who go to church for three hours every week. When he does this in church or just babbles or squeals, he's obviously happy but he can get pretty loud. Should I take him out of the meeting? If he's loud during Sacrament Meeting, I usually go to the back of the church. But during Relief Society (when all the women meet alone), it's a smaller room and I think it's really distracting. Sometimes I wonder if the women are turning around and looking because they're annoyed or because they think it's cute. Sometimes he "talks" for half an hour. Shouldn't I take him out?

Thanksgiving and Christmas

All four babies born between October 2007 and May 2008 were at my in-laws for a Christmas party Dec. 20. They are sure growing up fast. The craziest part is the fact that my three sisters-in-law are all pregnant again! I love how in the picture above three of the four babies have their hands in their mouths. I'll be really glad when Max is done teething.
Max got so tired over the weekend that he just laid across Chris' lap at the party Saturday night. He would never, ever do that at home. We went up on Wednesday for the adults' party and Max got dragged everywhere and anywhere over the next couple of days. We got to see lots of friends and family and he was a trooper, but it wore him out.
We didn't set up a Christmas tree at home this year so we borrowed my in-laws for a few pictures. My awesome and very talented sister-in-law cut my hair on Thursday too. THANKS ANTHEA!!!
The picture above is the only one out of a dozen or so that we took that turned out AND didn't have Max's hand in his mouth.Chris' Grandma Healy crocheted Max this ball. Max loved it! He loved seeing her at Thanksgiving too (as in the pictures below). I was so relieved he was a in a good mood for both visits. Christmas was a lot better than Thanksgiving as far as sleeping through the night, but naps were still erratic and shorter than usual. He was really fussy right before we went over and I thought he would just cry the whole time. He held off until he was alone with his parents again though. :)

Max's six-month check-up
Weight 17 lbs 5 oz 41%
Height 27 inches 65%
Head 18 inches 90% (!) Have you ever seen So I Married An Axe Murderer? Chris calls Max Head sometimes...
Everyone says he's such a chunky baby but 40th percentile for weight??? He can't be that chunky. Chris and I think it's those chubby, chubby cheeks and big head. :)

Here's what he was for Halloween (really just for the picture).
And all decked out in BYU gear. Go Cougars.

Family Pictures

A photographer just trying to get started posted an ad on Craigslist for an hour and a half for $45. Chris' car broke down right as I was about to make the appointment but we did it anyway and I'm really glad we did.

I know why some pictures you can make bigger and some you can't. If you move the picture after you've uploaded it, rearrange it to be in a different order or whatever, it messes up the html code. Thank you Kim for helping me with this.

To Swaddle Or Not To Swaddle

When Max was born we wrapped him up in a blanket to sleep. He loved being swaddled and went to sleep easily as soon as you trapped his arms and legs. Awake or asleep, his arms flailed about him aimlessly and constantly and would wake him up if they weren't trapped.

At three months old he slept from 9pm-5am, ate a bottle, and went right back to sleep until 9am. I was loving it. Then he got a little older and a little stronger and started coming unbundled at night which caused him to wake up more often - not something I was okay with.

We decided to try putting him down without being swaddled. I tried everything during the day for his naps. I left one arm out. I tried having him sleep next to me. I tried just letting him cry. I tried everything that I and anyone else I talked to could think of. When I was reading a message board one day, someone recommended The Miracle Blanket. I finally ordered it. The night we got it Max slept 13 hours straight. I had to wake him up! He didn't ever do that again; I think he was just catching up on his lack of sleep. I finally decided to just let him dictate when he was ready to sleep unbundled and to quit trying to force it on him. A lesson that I will probably learn over and over with him.

This is what he looked like in his blue camo Miracle Blanket (Chris picked out the design). Sleeping like a baby.

He was getting too big for the feet section, so they got left out first.
Then one arm - much easier to do with this blanket than others.Finally, no more swaddling. He had a really hard time letting go of that last arm though so I had to replace it with something. I worry a little about him suffocating himself though. But he's 6 months old now and he can move it away from his face, right?

When I first go in to get him after a good nap he has the biggest smile for me. :)