March & April

The last time I blogged was Justin's birthday! I haven't posted about his birthday...or much else lately!

I was a pretty scattered brain wife when it came to Justin's birthday this year. I was so focused on buying his birthday presents that I forgot about a party or dinner. Thankfully Mom Blackham happened to be in town the Friday before his birthday so we were able to enjoy a family dinner, including Amanda and Brandon too! We loved having them all down our way in Pleasant Grove. I know I say this a lot, but I love where we live! We have quaint restaurants nearby that thankfully aren't busy on the weekends so we were able to enjoy a BBQ dinner then have cake at our place afterwards. It was a really fun night!

I scrambled Saturday morning to try and find a sitter that night for Caleb so we could have a date. I didn't find anyone and after feeling like a failure of a wife I told Justin about the situation and he, being the incredibly sweet husband that he is, was so reassuring when he told me that he wanted nothing more than to stay in and enjoy the evening with me and Caleb. So that was what we did, stayed in! We had Heather and her family down Sunday afternoon for dinner and to help us eat cake. Then Monday we celebrated with just our family.

I have always had this thing with birthdays, I love my birthday and truth be told, I expect far too much when it comes to celebrating my birthday. But because I feel this way I get so stressed because I think Justin must feel the same way about celebrating his birthday and I want to make it grandiose. Justin is actually the opposite of me though, he doesn't care much about his birthday and is fine with being low key. Opposites attract!

Anyway! I really can't remember anything else that happened in March!  We celebrated Easter as a family with the Whitmers. Grandma Blackham sent Caleb the CUTEST Easter outfit and I was so thrilled to get him dressed Sunday morning. Nana (Froneberger) sent Caleb a darling Easter basket with toys and candy (which Caleb's parents thoroughly enjoyed! lol) So Caleb was set! We hurried to make it to church on time (@ 9am) so we didn't have time for pictures but I figured we could get them after church. Well... Justin had Caleb during 3rd hour and out of nowhere Caleb threw up all over himself and Justin. We all ended up leaving church early, we went home and were on full sick-Caleb watch. Poor guy was the sickest I have seen him yet! After getting EVERYTHING out of his system, he was able to keep down a little formula then took a nap. He woke up and didn't get sick again-whew! But sadly we don't have any pictures documenting him in all his cuteness. I had intentions of us all putting on our Easter outfits and posing for pictures but I am losing interest in that. Anyway we had a wonderful family dinner, here are some pictures of us with the Whitmers:

The many tired faces of Caleb

He isn't all that tired all the time! I promise I devote most of my day to his nap times and he sleeps pretty solidly throughout the whole night. We do get our smiles in each day as well...

Hello stranger

That's what my blog is thinking...and maybe you too? I haven't blogged in a while.

The to-do list in my head is growing longer every second. Caleb is going down for his nap (however being very noisy about it) and its my time to get things done. I need to make a grocery list, I need to make our bed, I need to clean the kitchen, I need to clean myself... but I want to blog instead.  :-)

We Blackhams have been feeling very blessed lately. Caleb is the sweetest child ever. The weather is warming up, the days seem longer after DST, and now that Justin is done with school we have been getting a lot of quality family time in the evenings. I didn't realize how mediocre I have been feeling until it started getting warmer out then I just feel so happy and giddy! I am not a winter person.

Here are some updates...
Up until about a month ago I was feeling kind of bored during the days. Being stuck inside with the cold weather and not feeling much motivation to get outside. Then I got a calling as a counselor in our ward's Relief Society and I am bored no more! I love it. I wanted ways to serve but didn't know how to get out and do it. Now the opportunities are endless. I wholeheartedly agree with this quote from this month's Visiting Teaching message: "Our Father in Heaven has given us specific work to help build His Kingdom. He has also blessed us with the spiritual gifts we need to accomplish this specific work. Through Relief Society, we have opportunities to use our gifts to strengthen families, help those in need, and learn how to live as disciples of Jesus Christ." Without Relief Society I don't know if I would find that many opportunities to serve, I love being a part of Relief Society! So between kissing Caleb and doing Relief Society items, I have been keeping house and doing my usual routines. So I am busier but loving it.

Justin is loving his time with me and Caleb (I am putting words in his mouth... but I am sure they are true!). His 31st birthday is just around the corner, on the 19th. I plan to make him a spoiled man on his birthday! Since the beginning of January he has been working with a trainer and a nutritionist to help him get in better shape. He has been working so hard and is incredibly diligent about his food intake! As a result he has lost ~15 lbs and it is all body fat. He is one good looking hubs if I can say so :-) I am so proud of him! He motivates me to finally get rid of all the leftover pregnancy weight and eat better. So far I am eating slightly better...but that's it. I just don't know if I could eat only 6 oz of chicken and a vegetable for dinner...I like my food too much. 

Caleb is silly as ever. He is blabbing all the time. No teeth yet! He will be 9 months next Tuesday. He is consistently rolling onto his belly but hates it when he does, he hasn't quite mastered the art of rolling back onto his back. He loves sticking out his tongue and playing with his toys. We don't sit him up too often but he is pretty solid at sitting. He only will eat stage 2 babyfood. I tried mashing up a banana the other night at dinner and he choked on the tiniest piece!  I am honestly a little paranoid about him not rolling around, pushing up with his arms or making movements to crawl. I will be interested to see with the doctor says about his development at his 9 month appointment. As of this week Caleb is no longer nursing. For the last couple months my supply has been almost nonexistent. Pair that with my low-to-non-fat breastmilk and Caleb wasn't getting nearly what he needed from me. I would guess that Caleb's low weight and low weight gain is a direct result from my nonfat breastmilk, I just hope it isn't the cause of his slower physical development. So now Caleb gets 2-4 oz formula when he wakes up around 5:30am (then he goes back down to bed), he gets babyfood +oatmeal for breakfast, followed by 4 oz formula. At lunch he gets babyfood+rice cereal with 4 oz formula, a mid-afternoon snack of 4 oz formula and then for dinner babyfood + cereal with 4-5 oz formula. Does that seem like enough food/formula throughout the day? I am pretty much feeling my way around blindly with his feeding schedule, I get different schedules/bits of advice from other moms and do what I feel is right for Caleb. But I am open to more suggestions!

That's pretty much all I can think of at this point.. we are so grateful for all our beautiful blessings and especially for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now I will get going on my to-do list!

Video attempt

Certain loved ones are dying to see videos of Caleb... I am dying trying to figure out how to successfully get them posted somewhere...anywhere on the internet, that doesn't take 1/2 a century to upload. Here's our first attempt at video blogging, hope it works!

Caleb gets a kick (or sometimes sad...) when we growl at him. He has never been around dogs so I don't know why he thinks its so funny! I love playing with him!



This is what I hear most all the time when Caleb is playing... and its loud! Note his arched back and tilted head.. that's his form of crawling. He can get anywhere he wants by throwing back his head and pushing off with his feet. Silly man.

Put a sock in it

This is not a lovely habit, but Caleb loves putting everything fabric in his mouth...socks included.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I LOVE Valentine's Day! Granted most of the time, growing up, it seemed like such an anti-climatic holiday, but I love celebrating love. Yesterday Caleb and I spent all day long preparing dinner and decorating (read as: Yesterday Amy spent all day long trying to decorate in between Caleb's naps and trying to keep him happily detained to his bounce-a-bout). But all our effort was not in vain! Our family enjoyed a lovely, quasi-romantic, dinner followed by a few presents and cards. Oh and these beauties were for dessert, yum!, (thank you again pinterest). Unfortunately Justin is being careful with his diet so most of the dessert went to my grateful mouth (& ungrateful waistline). We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. It helps me remember how much I want to celebrate our love every day, not just on this holiday. I love my sweet husband and our adorable boy!

It's dead!

Since Justin and I have been married I have had a plethora of strange/uncommon illnesses. Uncommon for me at least. I used to be like Justin, where each year I would only have to worry about a short-lived cold coming once or twice a year. Now in the 3.5 years that we've been married I have had bronchitis, a cracked rib, strep throat, 2 ectopic pregnancies, kidney stones...and my latest problem? A dead, stinkin' tooth!

For the last couple weeks I have had issues/pains with my upper left lateral. I made an appointment with the dentist for a cleaning/check-up yesterday and the news was beyond disappointing. After tapping on the tip of several teeth, it was obvious the pain was isolated to just that tooth. Then the real cherry on top was the liquid nitrogen test. The cotton swab with the gas was excruciatingly cold to several teeth but when placed on my lateral, I didn't feel a thing! I kept waiting for the searing cold pain to hit but it never did. That was when the worst was confirmed. Either this tooth no longer thought life was worth living or it seriously offended my big front tooth, but in any case it is definitely dead.

Here's the thing with my teeth, I am slightly obsessed with clean teeth. I do not have a single cavity/filling in my mouth. I pride myself on going to the dentist twice a year, having flawless x-rays and getting a bill of excellent teeth care. (Maybe this has something to do with being the teacher's pet growing up... I now need to get an A+ from my dentist?) I floss constantly and can't stand the feeling of any plaque on my teeth. And then out of no where this happens. In all honesty the dentist said it could have been from something that happened a long time ago (perhaps the bike accident where I flipped over the handle bars and landed on my face? or maybe the aggressive orthodontics to get these babies all in a row?) but my tooth held on for as long as it could then gave up.

Anyway so this means a stinking root canal. That phrase to me is like saying Voldemort. We'll see how it goes. I have never minded the dentist because I have never had any intrusive work done. Who knows what my relationship will be with the dentist after Monday. Hopefully the laughing gas will work wonders. On the up side, since it is a small front tooth the procedure *should be* simple and straightforward, with only one root to deal with. I just hope the rest of my teeth like my mouth enough to stay alive!