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....

This WAS the place!

Last September we took a little trip to Provo. All those college years...so many memories. Since we didn't meet until after the good ole Provo days, we decided to make some memories together. Had a great time.



Who can forget the museum cafe? We met up with our buddies, the Lyons, for some lunch. Nick just started the MBA program.



Tofer was hilarious the whole time. Here he's giving the window cleaners for the Tanner building something to do :)


And of course, my old stomping grounds...."From all of us here at K-BYU...I'm Cathy Geigle". Haha. Looks like Tofer is a NATURAL!


Met up with Kris fam for a few nights.


Nina looks amazing. She just had baby number two when we took this pic.


So we decided to swing by Antelope Island. Ever been there? Apparently it makes lists of "places to go" in travel mags. And you can see my prego gut here.



K seriously, you can't even tell how windy it was from the picture but it was INSANE.


Very fitting to take prego pics with the buffalo...Today, I'd probably need to find a beached whale.



And of course, Kris met up with some old buddies to go mountain biking. Here we are with our friend Craig - that we both happened to know but didn't know we knew, until we were dating. Random. Our circles ALMOST crossed at college :)

How 'bout them apples?

JULIAN!

Back in October (yes, I'm doing some major blog catch-up) we went to Julian with our buddies, the Woolstons, to go apple picking.

It is the CUTEST little town you've ever seen. We're talking - the town plays, quaint bed-and-breakfast, built in the 1800s, antique shops, markets, apple orchards everywhere - kind of town. Check out the link. If you are ever near San Diego, go CHECK IT OUT! We even waited in line for 30ish minutes for a piece of their famous apple pie. The line went out the front door and clear down the sidewalk.

Can't wait to go back!

P.S. The Woolstons are new 2010 friends :) Ha. We love them.

Handsome

I look like barf in this picture. But I am 7 months pregnant and had rolled out of bed to go to a photoshoot with Kris at a fun place in San Juan Capistrano so I had "yesterday's" make-up....you know what? Who cares...blablabla

The point is, Tofer looks so grown up to me in this picture! He's a little boy now! Ugh. When did that happen? I keep telling myself he's not even two yet but he sure doesn't look like a baby anymore does he?

Not only that, he's just such a good looking kid! I love that little face. Perfection.

Who knew it could come out of such an opposite blend of parents!

P.S. Go ahead, click click, get a closer look. So cute, huh?

California Dreamin'?

I am DYING to get someone in my family to move to California. What I would GIVE to have family close by. Ugh. My sister, Jen, has six kids and lives in Texas. My brother, Jeremy, has six kids and one on the way. They live in Arizona. My other sister, Liz, has three kids and lives in Illinois and my parents are in Texas. Considering all this, my best bet for success would be uprooting my parents or Liz.

In an effort to "woo" Liz, we had them come stay with us for a little California visit last fall with their two kids Sam and Josh (she just had her third, a little girl). Anyway, they got the works! Disneyland, a cottage a few blocks from the beach, Halloween in downtown Huntington Beach, the list goes on... We thought for sure we could win them over.



As luck would have it...when they went to pick up their Disneyland tickets they got for a "deal" on ebay, the cops were investigating the place for fraud and they almost lost their tickets. Halloween consisted of skanky moms dressed in bunny ears and lingerie, dragging their kids from store to store along Main street. The short walk to the beach, turned into a few hours as we gave bad directions and they got lost...To top it off, when we got home one evening our street was lined with forensic police vans and red tape. Turns out our next door neighbor had a meth lab going on in the garage.

Dang you, California.

Needless to say, they still live in the midwest. Maybe we'll try again in a few years...

P.S. I was driving along the freeway today when that memory came flashing back and I had to laugh and knew it needed to be blogged for memory :)

Happy Choices are....

1. Refinancing a rental property from a 6% interest rate and 30 years down to a 4.25% interest rate and 15 years WITH the mortgage only going up $150 a month. Love that we can now plan on rental payoffs when Kris is only 45.
   
2. Getting epoxy garage floors so I can move all the boxes out of every room of our house and back into the garage in an organized fashion
3. Baby sign language videos and watching Tofer SIGN in his sleep. Not kidding. So cute.
4. New windows and doors to replace the circa 82 windows
5. Making homemade pizza for FHE and watching Tofer roll the dough with a pin and sprinkle with cheese (the chunks he doesn't eat first)
6. Watching General Conference - having a living Prophet on the earth
   
7. Paying for things with cash when you can so you don't let the temptation of "EVERYTHING NOW" spiral you into debt (minus house/car etc - i wish)
   
8. Hugs
9. Saying prayers as a family and watching your 1.5 year old bow his head and fold his arms.
   
10. Making cupcakes for the neighbors kids
    

Wife of the Year

Surprisingly, I have never mentioned on the blog that we have been a ONE CAR FAMILY since we bought our house - almost a year.

When we sold my car I told Kris the one car thing would last a month.... So, we made a deal. We would save up and the longer I waited, the better car I would get. This was GREAT motivation for me. There were STARS in my eyes - a Lexus RX350, fully loaded. Let the saving begin!!

Well, I picked the car out and was going to buy it last week (AMAZING CAR, a few years old and really not much more expensive than any other mid-sized suv when it comes down to it - but felt like driving in a cloud...amamamamazing).

Turns out, I couldn't sleep the night before. I didn't need that kind of car. I was being impractical."Why on earth am I buying this car when we are trying to renovate a house?" So, I told Kris to get a sedan since they are so much cheaper, and I would use the money we saved to fix up the house as much as possible. In the meantime, we can keep our old beat up suv a while longer until we really need a new one.

I've had contractors here all week. I am very excited. It is a good decision. But a hard one since I'd been waiting so long and was so excited to buy the darn thing. And Kris was so cute to be excited for me to get it too. I just couldn't pull the trigger. I even cried, dangit. But it felt good to make the right decision.

Well, Kris has been haggling all night at a dealership. Looks like he finally won. This is the car he is currently buying at 11 pm tonight.





It is a Nissan Altima Hybrid. It is a 2007 with ONLY 10k miles on it. Crazy. Anyway, he negotiated with them to put in navigation and blue tooth AND take off about $3k more from their best price. Then somehow he get's them to finance it for 0.9% for the life of the loan. He's been there sine 8:00! He must get his negotiation skills from me ;). We finally have another car. And no worries. My day will come. I'll probably end up in a mini-van and that's ok with me :)

The end.

And the Sundberg name carries on...

That's right...this morning we found out that baby number 2 is a BOY!

Looks like my due date is January 21st :) Yay for Tofer having a best friend! Yay for a sweet boy to adore. And yay for another good man to add to the gene pool :) Haha.

We are excited!