Eternal Rewards

Mortality has its share of guessing games, but death is something I suppose we can all count on. Melanie and I have really been hit hard the past few months in that department. The latest was the passing of my great-grandma this week. She was 89 years old. I continue to love her so much. One of the last times I recall seeing her - that she remembered who I was - she told me I was "so special". The truth is it takes a very - very - special person to make anyone feel the way she made me feel. I always knew she loved me.


I continued to remind her the last few times we were together that, "I am your grandson and you are my grandma and I love you." She often cried and sometimes I think she felt sad that she could feel a remembrance but the pieces were not coming together in her head. I was told a story about her getting her hair done the other day and she said, "I'm not who I used to be."


Now she is herself again, and very happy.



I looked over her obituary and she had 5 children, 22 grandchildren, 73 great-grandchildren (surely, all special), and 17 great-great grandchildren!

The funeral is Friday and I hope to honor her by speaking as she requested.

b.c.

I really like blogs. I like reading others, keeping up to date with friends and family -as well as complete strangers. I like making my own record of most of our comings and goings and being able to go back and read it.


I'm not the only one who has had a life altering experience or milestone while keeping a blog. And, I also know that we're still in that first phase of parenthood (or at least I am) where it's pretty all-encompassing and I do little else but feed and change the little man, try to keep my house in some resemblance of order and catch up on countless hours of missed sleep.


I've just been wondering when I'll have something to say on here that doesn't involve the little man.


I think its safe to say that I USED to have more in my life before having a child (b.c. - before child). That's actually one of the reasons I started the baby blog, so I'd have an outlet for all the kid stuff -but there's little else to talk about.


I used to talk about work. When it was too hot in our offices, road trips to see kids, moving to a new building, our new 10 hour work day, and how I really feel about my job.


I used to talk about baseball. I'm not going to add links, just assume that most posts authored by me in September and October every year reference my obsession with the red sox.

I've spent a lot of posts about trips... books I've read... concerts we've attended.

But now... it's all kid all the time.

The good thing is we've already been out (Justin and I) twice, so I may actually feel like I have a small life away from the little man soon. Don't get me wrong, I'm actually enjoying myself. I am WELL aware that he's a 'good baby'. Once he actually started eating ,he's rarely cries for more than an hour where he can't be consoled. He doesn't spit up much, he loves his baths, and as Justin always says, he's pretty dang cute! Our biggest thing now is getting him to sleep and in the bassinet right after a feeding -and the frustration of having to supplement with formula.

I wouldn't trade this time for anything and feel very blessed to have this baby in our lives. It's just weird to barely remember what my life was like... ya know, b.c.

A year end review

2008

We said goodbye to a few important people in our lives

President Hinckley

Grandma Petersen

Grandpa Lafeen

And Justin's brother, Bryan... but just to England for a couple of years -he'll be back.

We bought a house

Had our first wedding anniversary

And hosted a friend of Justin's from Brazil

We went on a few trips... some far

some not so far

We attended my 10 year high school reunion

The nation elected a new president (yipee!)

Lets see... I think I'm leaving something out...

Oh yeah...

So much more than a bag

For those of you have seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. For rhose who haven't... watch this:




It wasn't QUITE that dramatic - I wasn't buying a gift for an office romance and trying to hide it from my spouse who was in the same store, and there were no cinnamon sticks, but this is what I thought of. Little Man and I went to a local store for a birthday present and the women offered to wrap the gifts. As... slowly... as... possible. It was almost comical. And, I'll be honest, a couple of boxes covered in tissue paper, placed in a bag with tissue paper is really NOT that impressive.

Then, to top it all off, when we walked back outside there was a guy working on his van directly in front of our car on the street. He gave me whole new concept of plumbers crack. I think if I had seen any more of his... bum, I would seen what was on the other side.

What an interesting outing.

At day at the grandparents

Justin working in Ogden today and our Little Man and I came with
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My mom getting a new camera for Christmas
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Merry Christmas

Compared to our first two Christmas's, this one was probably the least chaotic for Justin and I. Not as calm as my dad's, but compared to our first year together, when we were engaged and went SEVEN different places in two days, thus was pretty nice. We might have to take a lesson for next year and only do one side of our families each day.

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents and siblings- dinner & presents. We also opened gifts (including birthday ones) with Kathy and Bryon -and my mom is STILL vacuuming up glitter, by the way! It worked out pretty well that we went up there yesterday since the weather would have kept us away anyway.

Today we talked to Justin's brother, Bryan, who is serving a mission in England. We went to Justin's moms house for brunch & presents, and then headed to his dads after that. Our little man did great, and everybody was pretty excited to see him.

Justin gave me and our Little Man (and sort of Kathy) plane tickets to see her this spring in Arizona. I'm super excited to go... and a little nervous about the trip.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Merry Birthday

and Happy Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Kathy.

Love you more than a fat kid loves cake!