Bad things really do come in 3s

So as if Brian having back surgery one week, and Corbin getting a cold the next, I came down with a nasty 24-hour flu bug the following. Thankfully it didn't come on until after Corbin was in bed for the night and I was feeling lightyears better by morning.

It sounds like it's going around though because within two days, Brian, his mom and sister, as well as my sister and niece all came down with the same bug. Thankfully Corbin didn't get it, but who knows ... he could have been feeling the effects of it along with his cold last week since not everyone has gotten physically sick.

2010 is really going out with a bang. 2011 better be much nicer to us ... I think we have paid our dues to hold us over for a while!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I know we sure did!

After not making it home from Texas last year for the holidays, you have no idea how excited I was to be able to spend Christmas with my family this year. Corbin was spoiled rotten as expected, and Brian and I were spoiled as well! Santa and "Nanta Clause" must have thought we were very good this year!

We mixed things up a little this year and went to my sister's house for Christmas Eve. Brian's family, my family, and the entire Powers family were there. It was great to celebrate the holiday with such a large group for a change.

Christmas morning was spent opening presents at our house with Brian's family and then we headed to my mom's house for the day to open more gifts and eat lots of tasty food (my mom's signature meal on Christmas is Prime Rib ... need I say more?)

I feel so blessed to have such a loving family and didn't need anything more than just their company for the holidays.

Corbin's first cold

Our poor little man came down with his first cold this week. He has been battling a fever of 102 and completely congested. I feel so bad for him. He can barely breathe and when I try to use the aspirator on his nose, it only makes him cry which just causes more congestion.

He just seems so miserable.

We took him to the doctor to make sure it was just a cold and that he didn't have the flu or an ear infection as well. Turns out it's just one nasty cold bug.

I have been living with him in my arms for the past 72 hours because he can't breathe when laying down and I think he just wants to be snuggled. While I am more than willing to hold him and comfort him, I'm not getting much sleep myself so it makes for very tough days.

The worst part about it is this is only the first of many colds and illnesses to come. Thankfully he is feeling better and should be back to his happy-go-lucky self in no time.

Brian's going under the knife ...

Brian FINALLY got the results from his "back injury analysis" we'll call it ... and it looks like he will be having back surgery. Turns out that his disc is almost completely herniated and the nerve is herniating as well. The surgery is pretty non-invasive and he will be able to walk out of the hospital after the surgery, but it's still really nerve wracking for me.

I will never forget how much pain he was in when the injury originally happened and they have said there is a possibility of that pain returning. That scares me.

Recovery should be fairly quick, but he won't be able to lift anything for 3 weeks, and nothing over 20 pounds for 3 months (that includes our 20 pound baby!)

He is very excited to finally get this taken care of once and for all and get back to his active, painfree lifestyle he is used to living.

If you have a spare second to send a thought or prayer for a perfect surgery and speedy recovery, it would be more than appreciated!

Corbin is 5 months old

Age: 5 months

Weight: approx. 20 pounds

Length: approx. 28 inches

Our baby is getting so big! And while he is growing up ... and actually starting to thin out ... he is still Mr. Serious when the camera comes out.

While we don't have a well-baby check up with the pediatrician this month, I can definitely promise you that Corbin is growing big and strong. But even more than that, his cognitive development is at full speed. He is discovering new things and developing in new ways every day.

He is rolling over constantly now from his back to his belly, but is getting frustrated because he can't quite figure out how to get back to his back. He is also talking up a storm and can recognize his own name and will look at you if you call him. His most recent discovery, though, are his feet. He is constantly grabbing at them and trying to pull them into his mouth.

He does this the most during diaper changes and bath time. Its pretty funny to see his little face as his concentrates so hard on these tasks. He is also playing with his toys and loves to discover new things that I put around him. He is so intrigued by everything right now.

It is so fun to watch him grow and develop, but its going way too quickly. I can only imagine how much he is going to change in the next few months. It seems like he is doing something new every day.

He is still napping and sleeping very well, but our biggest battle these days is trying to get him to accept a bottle. He knows what he likes and what he is used to and isn't too fond of our attempt for him to get his food from somewhere other than me. We are working with him every day at this and hopefully he catches on soon. If not, I guess in a few weeks its time we start introducing baby food so he might just skip the bottle all together.

Who me?

"Oh hi Roxy! Come a little closer ...

... Your hair looks like it would be fun to pull ...

... who me? I didn't do anything!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Over the river and through the woods ... to my momma's house we went, for Thanksgiving. No, seriously ... she lives over the river and through the woods. We braved the snowy roads which weren't nearly as bad as we thought and spent the holiday out at my mom's house with her boyfriend, my sister and her kiddos.

We had all planned on starting a new tradition and doing the Turkey Trot 5K that morning, but everything was still snow covered and frozen (too cold for the babies at least) so we decided to skip it this year ... well all of us except my sister's hubby Joe ... who has promised to not let any of us live it down that he is the family Turkey Trot 2010 champion, even though no one else participated!

This allowed us to start dinner early and have a more relaxing day. We had quite the feast of traditional and non traditional fare. Mom made a fantastic turkey and my sister fixed up this great corn bread stuffing recipe from The Pioneer Woman, filled with pork, apples, mushrooms and who knows what else, but it was quite tasty. I'm just glad that one of my two dishes turned out. The jalapeno popper dip was delish, while my apple cranberry soup ... I mean pie ... could use some help. (I realize now that the oven at our new house doesn't cook nearly as hot as it says it is so it was just totally undercooked.) Lesson learned for next year, but at least the soupy pie still tasted good, just a little embarrassing! Although the cranberry whipped cream was fantastic.

Mom and Candice slaving away in the kitchen

Baby's first Thanksgiving

All the grandkids ... Kendall, 3; Brock, 2 months; Corbin, 4 1/2 months; Paige, 19 months

My boys!

Oh Christmas tree ...

The weekend after Thanksgiving we met up with my sister and her family to seek out our perfect Christmas trees. We went to The Red Barn Tree Farm in Orting, and I have no clue how we ever picked a tree there were so many. The Powers and Hall clans decided to divide and attempt to conquer the tree farm.

Brian and I had a very specific size tree we needed. Since our new house doesn't provide ample free space, we were in search of a skinnier, yet still fairly tall tree. After wandering through the farm for a while, we finally found the most perfect tree ... and the fact that we were able to actually find the one we liked again after looking a little longer was a sure sign that we had to get it.

Of course it was the most expensive type of tree but it was so worth it because every time I see it, I wish it was a fake tree so we could put it up year after year its that perfect.

The Powers eventually found their tree too and after our manly men chopped them down and hauled them to the cars, we all loaded up on the train and took a trip around the tree farm. While it was a little muddy and a little cold, it was a great day and another tradition I hope we continue for many years to come.

Corbin's first snow!

It snowed!!! We got a much welcome (in my opinion) early snow this year. It started snowing on November 21 and it just kept coming down for a couple days. We got a couple inches here at our house and I had to take Corbin out to see what he thought about it.

I was so excited to find out that he loved it! He kept looking up and it would hit him in the face but he didn't seem to mind. He sat and stared at the snow for a while and kept wanting to look out the window all day.

Looks like we are getting more snow this week so we are starting off with a snowy Thanksgiving. Now keep your fingers crossed that we get a white Christmas too!

Corbin turns 4 months!

Age: 4 months
Weight: 19 pounds
Height: 27 inches long

Where have the days gone? Corbin is well on his way to many new milestones. He is still sleeping like a champ at night, is moments away from rolling over consistently from his back to stomach (he has done it a few times both ways, but hasn't mastered it just yet), and is starting to show the signs of his two bottom teeth making their move to the surface. He is SO close to sitting up on his own too.
He is completely off the charts in both weight and height now, which makes him perfectly proportionate, and just one big baby. It's funny because Brian and I think he has thinned out so much lately and people laugh because he is still quite the chunky monkey.
I think he is going to be such a happier baby once he can move around a bit on his own. He is always wanting to get to his toys or change positions and gets frustrated when he can't do it on his own. And he HATES laying flat on his back for more than a few minutes. This kid wants to move, and I have a feeling once he can, he won't stop. We can already tell we have quite the dare devil on our hands and foresee many bumps and bruises in his future.
He is still only napping for 30 minutes at a time, usually 3 or 4 times a day. And with him getting into the whole "4 month wakeful" phase, he is fighting me tooth and nail when it comes to napping on his own. He just wants to stay up and play, but when he gets overly tired, he is no fun to play with so I eventually have to win the battle and get him to sleep.

And this post wouldn't be complete without sharing these pictures. I don't think any explanation is needed.

Happy Halloween!

As most of you know, I am not the biggest fan of Halloween. But once you have kids the holiday becomes so much more fun! Although Halloween was also moving day for us, I couldn't miss the opportunity to take Corbin trick-or-treating with his cousins.

And they had quite the cute costumes. Kendall was Tinkerbell, Paige was a Bumble Bee, Brock was a football (LOVE it!) and Corbin was our little Kangaroo.

While the boys can't tell us what they were thinking ... I'm pretty sure they were thinking ...

Corbin: "We're in this together buddy! Our moms are crazy!"

Brock: "Seriously! And why am I drowning in this giant football?!"

The perfect holiday photo of the Powers family! So festive!

Corbin was much more content laying low in his stroller, even though he had a giant Kangaroo tail to sit on.

I can't wait for next year when he can actually enjoy the night of ghosts, goblins and candy.

Doing the "mom chop"

BEFORE:


AFTER:

(Please excuse the awkward faces)

It was time to take some drastic (okay not so drastic) measures and chop off some of this hair. It has lived in a bun for 3 1/2 months so why not just get rid of it in hopes that I might actually take some time to style it once in a while. Not only that, but now that Corbin can reach out and grab/pull things, my hair was becoming his favorite target.

So since I have chopped it, I might not spend more time styling it, but it definitely takes me less time to dry it and it can just go a little curly, add a headband and I look like I actually tried to do something with myself for a change.

A day at the pumpkin patch

One of the great things about living back up in Washington is getting to do the little things, like going to the pumpkin patch, with my sister and her kids. We packed up the four kiddos and headed down to Spooner Farms in Orting. While the little boys couldn't really enjoy the activities, the girls had a great time. They got to see a bunch of animals, do some activities, and the best part ... help pick out the perfect pumpkins.
I think these two in this picture are by far the most perfect pumpkins!


And of course I had to make Corbin take his first of many pumpkin patch pictures. He wasn't too thrilled at the idea but I think he is getting used to humoring me and my picture addiction. He will thank me when he is older I'm sure.

It was a perfect Fall day with great weather and fun times. I'm so excited for many more outings through the holidays with the Powers clan!

Boo!

Corbin is getting into the Halloween spirit and has added "boo" to his repertoire of sounds today. He's had the vowels down, and utters a "goo" here and there, but it's either he is taking after me and loves the holidays, or our frequent game of peek-a-boo is teaching him another consonant.

Oh the little things that excite me these days.

Let the nursery planning begin!

I am obsessed with shopping around online for the cutest things for Corbin's room, and now that he has a room all to himself, I'm becoming quite the addict. And of course when I look at a web page of, say, cribs ... without looking at prices I will naturally LOVE the most expensive ones. Go figure. This is my current obsession that Corbin's room needs.

It is the Babyletto Mercer 3-in-1 convertible crib. I love the masculine look of it and love that it grows with him as it turns into a toddler bed. Plus, it has a drawer under the crib and storage space is limited in our new place so thats an added bonus! I need to figure out how to convince Brian we need this one over the one we originally looked at. With the 20% off coupon Babies R Us offers, it's not THAT much of a price difference.

And my little cuddly boy needs me to have a great chair like this one to rock him in.

Wouldn't these look great together in his room?

Now if I could just narrow down the colors I want for his room I might pick some bedding. Hopefully we make some decisions soon because moving day is 7 days away. Otherwise Corbin might be sleeping on the floor.

We're moving ... again!

As most of you might remember, when Brian and I moved back up to Washington, we set up shop at my mom's house while we figured out our plans and *hopefully* sold our house in Texas. Well, our house never sold, but we did recently lease it out so the mortgage payment is off our hands ... thank goodness!

Our original plan was to find our own place come October, and sure enough, we found a place that we love enough to move into! Its the cutest little craftsman home in downtown Puyallup, which makes it super convenient for Brian to get to work and very accesible to Seattle if I end up going back to work too.

The owners are very cool and flexible which is a big plus. Not to mention the carpets are brand new, which is so important since Corbin is going to be crawling all over the place in no time. And I will finally get to decorate Corbin's nursery! (It's like having a baby all over again, since I get to pick out his crib and bedding and room decorations, which I didn't do originally ... more to come on my nursery wish list soon!)

We are super excited, although part of me will really miss living at my mama's house. We are so grateful for her opening her house up to not just Brian and me, but Corbin and our two rowdy dogs as well. I'm sure she never thought she would send me off to college years ago and I would move back in with the whole family in tow!

But ... if anyone is around the last weekend of October and wants to help us move ... we promise lots of food and good beer! And if you look at the pictures below, you will definitely want to join us for a nice cold one on our awesome back patio! I see many great gatherings in our future ... now if we could only get our friends to drive down from Seattle more often!

My most favorite time of the year ...

I'm so excited now that Fall is here! I love everything about the season ... especially in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Corbin and I have been embracing the great fall days and going for lots of walks down on the river walk in Orting. I have also been taking advantage of the flavors of the season and baking all things pumpkin and drinking my fair share of Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

I've decided to make a new pumpkin recipe every week until Thanksgiving. So far we have enjoyed Pumpkin Scones, Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies and Pumpkin Spice Pancakes. I'm still deciding what my next recipes will be so if anyone has any suggestions send them my way. I might have to remake a few recipes from last year to see if I can do them better this time around ... especially the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins.

(If you want to try out some of these recipes, you should visit annies-eats.com. It's my go-to place for the best recipes.)

I'm looking forward to Corbin experiencing all of the upcoming holidays and celebrating them with our families ... which we haven't been able to do for a few years now.

Lesson learned

When your baby wakes during the night after sleeping for 6 hours, DO NOT try to change his diaper before feeding him. He will yell at the top of his lungs until you put food in his starving belly. Lesson learned!

Why didn't you warn me?

While I was pregnant, I had this idea of how life was going to be once Corbin was born. He was going to sleep through the night from the beginning and take long naps during the day ... I was going to shower, shave and apply make-up on a regular basis, always looking my best ... We were going to go for walks, or the mall, or restaurants while he smiled or slept the whole time.

Okay so I might be exaggerating a little, but to some extent, I thought things would be a little easier. Now after 3 months, I can look back and say things were not as easy as I had imagined. There were times when I was lucky to shower once in a 7 day span, when he would only sleep for 30 minutes the whole day and wake up 6 times a night, when any time we left the house it was guaranteed that he would cry 90 percent of the time.

I know he wasn't your typical baby and was a little fussier than most, but I realize now why no one filled me in on how tough things could be. I realize it because while those times were mere weeks ago for me and I thought we would never survive it, they have already become blurry. The days of crying have been replaced with smiles and "baby talk", the sleepless nights have been replaced with a baby in his crib, asleep by 8 p.m. every night, and outings that used to scare me, now excite me that I can show Corbin the world ... narrating our adventures the whole way.

I write this post now because I realize that life changes by the day when you have a baby and you have to roll with it. I know there are still tough times ahead, but we survived the first 3 months when there were times I didn't think I could survive another 3 seconds. And I write it to let those of you who have yet to enjoy the adventure of parenting that when you are up in the middle of the night crying more than your little one because you are exhausted and neither of you have slept in 24 hours, you are not alone and it will get better!

And if you don't believe me you need to go pick up the book "The Second Nine Months". It's a great memoir about a first time mom who has quite the tough time adjusting to parenthood.

Happy 3 months Corbin!

Age: 3 months

Weight: Approx. 18 pounds

Height: Approx. 25 1/2 inches

The months are just starting to fly by! Corbin is 3 months now and with the holidays approaching, I have a feeling I will blink and it will be time to start planning his first birthday. He is really growing up so fast and is developing quite the personality. It's so nice to now feel like he understands me and will laugh and "talk" with me. He even sings along with me in the car. He is smiling all the time and is just the happiest little thing that I can't get enough of! And he is starting to take a liking to toys that he can hold on to and shake to make noise.

Corbin is able to hold his head up steady when being held, but is still a little wobbly when he is sitting in his Bumbo seat, which he has just started doing. He is starting the initial movements of figuring out how to roll himself over. And if you prop him up on pillows, like he is in his picture, he always flexes his little ab muscles and flings himself forward, trying to sit up on his own.

Also, as of his 3 month birthday, we are putting him down in his crib in his nursery to sleep at night. (this is HUGE considering he wouldn't sleep without being held for the longest time and has always slept in our room at night.) He has yet to sleep through the night, but I am not expecting him to just yet and am grateful that he is only up 2 or 3 times at night (over a 11 hour span) to eat and then falls right back to sleep.

We are such proud parents and it's hard to picture life without him now. I have a feeling the fun is only beginning with him too, and look forward to all his big milestones that are to come!

(When I take his month pictures, I probably end up with about two dozen, just trying to get the perfect shot. During the process I tend to capture some of the many faces of Corbin. I've decided these "blooper" shots need to make the post as well so I will be including a few of my favorites from now on.)

Hamming it up for the camera ...

And this is a face I see all too often ... I think he's saying "Enough with the pictures already!"