Giveaway!!! Designer Necklace...one more day...

Hi friends,

Yes, I've been gone for two months. It's just too busy to blog these days. Or I guess it's just a really low priority. But I miss it and I WANTED it to be my family journal so that's my motivation to keep it alive :) Blurb Book 'em every year.


Anyway, I had to jump on. One more day for this awesome giveaway. All her jewelry is made with real pearls and gemstones. She is giving away a necklace from her best selling line and I happen to own one of them. It's awesome. I'm trying to spread the word. Just follow the link. It's only a click to enter.

www.blog.mariebruns.com

And yes, I blog for her. And get paid to do it. But NO I do not get paid to spread the word about the giveaway. I'm just sharing the love :)

Cathy

Charlie has fully integrated into the family

Runs in the Family

And now that Kris has been doing photo booths for some of his weddings, the dress up potential is endless! Yes, I'm a dork. No, Tofer won't be permanently damaged, promise.

Charlie

My little Charlie



I love this little boy so much. He is such a happy baby. If I even look in his direction, he smiles. If it's four in the morning and he wakes up and takes one peek at me, he smiles. And not just a little grin - his entire body smiles. He is so full of joy and so sweet.

I completely adore him.

I blog, therefore, I AM...

...a professional blogger!!


(is this a good look for an authoress??)

That's right. Well, let's start off with...I shouldn't have announced my return to the family blog in flaming glory. I WANT to blog, it just never seems to happen these days. I will and I have a million in my head to catch up on because this is my little family blog journal and I want to keep it forever. Anyway...sorry for the big fat lie. It wasn't meant to be a lie, so let's call it a miscommunication with...myself.

In the meantime, it looks like I got a job as a professional blogger. Cracks me up. I worked for HP for 5 years (writing, training, editing, bla bla) and my old boss there is starting a company designing jewelry. I've written all the copy for her website and now I'll be in charge of her blog. I've missed her. When you work with someone EVERY DAY for 5 years, that's a lot of time.

So, I'm very excited to say that I'm now being paid to blog and for a very talented woman that was my mentor all those years. And for a FUN fashion blog that I will be in charge of. What a great job. It's great to be a stay-at-home mom and it's fun to keep my "fingers in the game", here and there :)

More updates to come.

Promotions and such....

So back in my Corporate America days at HP, there were lots and lots of different job levels and payscales and bla bla bla and on and on. There was, however, one common thread across the businesses and that was this: You were either an individual contributor or you were a manager.

When you become a manager, your "worth" changes in the working world because you have crossed the barrier between working for someone, to having people work for you. This is a big deal.

Soooooo with that little intro, I'm very proud to say that my husband has crossed the great divide! :) Congrats on your promotion, honey! You ROCK!

P.S. For those who didn't know, we always talk about photography on here, but Kris actually does have a day job too :) Haha. He works for an accounting software consulting company in Irvine (which I find fascinating in and of itself). Kris is the perfect mix between a math brain and an artist. An extremely rare combination. I'm so lucky.

Some things are worth waiting for....

...and some are worth anything.

On February 19th my husband and his family were sealed together in the San Diego, Calfornia LDS Temple - a day he had been waiting for his whole life.

You can imagine the joy I felt, as I sat there watching them kneel together as a family. I couldn't help but cry. It made it even more emotional for me, as I realized it was the very same room that Kris and I were married in.

Yes, some things really are worth anything. Congrats Sundbergs. What an honor to be a part of it.

Blogging Revival

Back in all my raucous glory.

So last night Charlie slept for 8 hours straight. From 7pm ish to 3ish and then again until 7. I think I am officially back on the map.

Let's just say....I don't do well on sleep deprivation. But now the reflux meds have kicked in and he's eating great and getting chubby cheeks and smiles a TON. He is so cute. He's been smiling since 6 weeks. He laughs in his sleep too. Very very cute. I can tell he is going to be hilarious the way he watches me and Tofer play and tries to laugh about it. I just lug him around with us.

We play in the sandbox and I bring his little (obnoxiously expensive bjorn bouncy chair that is supposed to be good for reflux - yes im a sucker) chair and he watches. He still lets us know what he wants and has bad days where he won't sleep too much and cry a lot but on the whole he's doing GREAT.

I'm one of those people that can multitask anything but life. If something is wrong, I become totally absorbed in it. When he was sick and the meds weren't kicking in yet, I was just stressed and sad and couldn't NOT think about it.

SO LIFE IS GOOD! Tofer is doing great too. He totally cracks me up. He is the social butterfly of the neighborhood. Yesterday we had like 8 kids come over to play. They are all way older....but they always want to play and he LOVES it. So cute. Anyway, I'm back and happy to be back. I need to print this darn thing so I don't lose it.

P.S. Isn't he so cute?

Two kids under Two

Is not easy....

It would be easier if Acid Reflux had not hit our home again. The infamous GERD. Poor Charlie. It seems like everyone and their mother thinks their kid has acid reflux. And since 10% of babies DO, I guess everyone and 1/10 their mother really does...

My kids have moderate to severe acid reflux - meaning, they will STOP eating because of the pain and I will be squirting food into their mouths with a syringe. It's really sad. With Tofer I didn't have it all figured out for two months. With Charlie, I was on it the first week. Sadly, Charlie also refuses to nurse. I had high hopes for him in the hospital but that all went to crap when he stopped eating. Oh well. You do what you can.

The birth story....well, I was grumpy going into the hospital. Hahaha. I suppose knowing what I was getting into, took some of the anticipation out and replaced it with dread. Haha. I got there around 9am. They broke my water at 1 and around 7:30 I pushed for 30 minutes and out came Charlie at 8PM. Since he was face up (back labor) my back was totally hurting, even with an epidural. I was totally irrational because of the whole "being in labor" thing and was convinced that the anesthesiologist had somehow pinched a nerve in my back. Hahahaha. It was an annoying pain but not totally unbearable. Kris posted some pics of the whole birth story on his photog blog: www.burntexposureblog.com .

Charlie came out with dark hair. He is so very darling. Love him. When they laid him on my chest, I got emotional. I just knew I was going to have two boys first. Charlie has been waiting to come down and join the family. For months I before he was born I just kept thinking of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. I think I will point them to those examples often while they are growing up.

Tofer is adjusting pretty well. That was the haredest part for me the first few days. I would look at Tofer and cry, thinking he was sad or worried. I just love him so much. I can't stand thinking he is sad. The first few days were weird for him but he's doing really well now and the days where Charlie sleeps a lot, things are almost normal for him. Too bad I'm not sleeping a lot....

Charlie wakes up around 10ish, 1ish, and 4ish. The 4-ish one, he doesn't like to go back to sleep immediately so I'm up for a good hour or so and then Tofer wakes up at seven and I've got to be rearin to go! Ugh.

Charlie is a crier. Poor baby is probably in pain but man, Tofer had this raspy, soft little cry and Charlie shreaks like you wouldn't believe. LOUD. This little man is gonna tell you when something is wrong.

My mom was hear for 10 days (life saver) and now Kris's parents are coming on Wed for two weeks (and his sis and her fam for a week) and then my parents are coming for a week again so I'll have a lot of help around here for his first two months of life (thank goodness). Mostly so I can sleep and play with Tofer. This post probably makes no sense since I'm so tired. This morning I was trying to put a sippy cup lid on the milk carton and totally not understanding why it wasn't working out for me. That just about explains my state right now. Sleep will come again....and if it doesn't, I already told Kris I'm going to hire a night nanny a few nights a week to help me...this is not a joke :)

Enjoy your sleep.

Start spreadin' the news...

NEW YORK, NEW YORK !!!

Kris had a destination wedding in Atlantic City so we took off for our first trip "sans" baby. I was truly tormented beforehand but things went great and Tofer had a blast with my parents on their ranch in Texas (post to come).

We flew out to New Jersey for the wedding and then went to Kris's hometown and then spent a few days in NYC. This post is all about the Big Apple. Others to come.

New York was a blast. I lived there years ago while doing an internship for John Stossel at ABC News (now he's at Fox). It was so nostalgic and fun. Loved being there with Kris. The trip was a big long four day date. *Sigh*

We begin:


Gotta have the subway shot.


And the Times Square shot.



The famous iced chocolate at the eclectic Serendipitys. Ridiculously long wait but very quirky/cute.


The musicians EVERYWHERE. They were actually quite good.


walking around Central Park with my prego gut...hahaha.


I was too prego and tired for the tandem bike so we opted to be cycled around. They charged an astronomical fee but gave us a huge discount when they saw my big belly and how I was actually contemplating riding a bike myself. Hahaha. It was pretty funny.


Central Park really is so beautiful. A peaceful haven right in the middle of the city.




Kris's "I'm a hard-a, pic". Funny, he ALMOST pulls it off, but we all know the truth.


The ridiculousness of this pic deserves an explanation. I was trying to explain to Kris how HARD it is to actually catch a leaf that is falling from the tree. I don't know why, but I've always found it kind of a romantic idea. Anyway, here I am, making a pregnant fool of myself demonstrating to him. It's just too horrible not to post. I look like a balloon.


So he tries and finally believes me. I'm telling you. Sounds easy. NOT SO.


And my chubby little pregnant face for your viewing pleasure.



Dinner downtown with some of Kris's old buddies.


We rented a car and driving was kinda crazy. But we survived....even had to bump our way out of a parallel parking situation where they sandwiched us in. Never done that before...

Gotta love New York.

Halloween

We woke up Halloween morning to breakfast from Kris. Hahaha. Good man.



Tofer wasn't a huge fan of the holiday but he was a HIT around the neighborhood. Our babysitter lives up the street and every pre-teen that we passed seemed to know who he was. It was cute. And he looked really cute in his Cookie Monster outfit.

That is the face of a child who is NOT very excited. Although he kinda liked knocking on doors and reaching his hand out for candy. HAHAHA - I just looked at the pic and realized I went from door to door in Kriss slippers. Ha.



One of our neighbors (also the ward organist) has spent the past 30 years, yes that's right, BUILDING an organ in his living room. He was playing Phantom of the Opera and other fun songs for everybody. Added a little zest to the evening.


Come on in! Here is the gate to our house. You can see me sitting back there in our little graveyard.



A closer look.



Front window that one day....some day...will be a BIG bay window with seats.


The front door that we sanded and painted and had someone make a custom glass insert for us. The old window was broken....yes, the joys of foreclosure properties.


We were one of "those" houses that gave out the good stuff ;)


And finally, Kris and I made a little bet about who could carve the best pumpkin. Obviously he took it more seriously than I did....