This week's pictures

Not much has been going on around here. Davis and I have been sick, so we've just been hanging out. I thought I'd post a few pictures from the past week.



My cute little froggy


This tongue is ALWAYS hanging out


Playoff season is officially upon us. Bryson is a HUGE Lakers fan, so this is mandatory attire. (It is not so popular here in Utah, but I think that makes him even more set on wearing it).


This would be Davis trying to tell you how he feels about non-Lakers fans

Crawling

Davis is getting much better at crawling, and I think I can officially say that he has progressed from a scootch to a crawl. I am going to try to figure out how to post a video on here, but in the meantime, here are some action shots. (Plus one or two other pics).

Here he is reaping the rewards of his efforts after crawling to the edge of the bed in pursuit of his toy


Another one of his new tricks is this pucker face... he was doing it all night


Here he is showing off a bit... doing one of his more complicated moves


This one is for all the ladies


He is getting ready for his big race... we think he can take the short kid next door


I wanted to include one or two bath shots... don't worry, they are all PG. (and in case you are wondering, yes, he does have a rash on his neck)


"oh mom, not another picture."

Fablehaven 3 Launch Party

My brother in law's new book came out last week. It is the third one in the Fablehaven series, and this one is called Grip of the Shadow Plague. It is my favorite one so far, and I highly recommend the whole series to any of you who haven't read it. If you like books along the lines of Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, etc, you will love his books! Anyway, they had a launch party for the new book on friday night, and it was a lot of fun. There were over 3,000 people there, including Sheri Dew and one of President Hinckley's daughters. Bryson got to perform with his old Divine Comedy group, and some of his family dressed up as characters from the books. They were there until about 11 or 12 at night, taking pictures with kids and signing autographs while people waited in line to get Brandon's autograph. I forgot to take pictures of the stage, which was awesome, but I still got some fun pictures from the night. I thought some of you might enjoy seeing a few shots.

Hooray for Carrots!!!

I realized it's been about a month since I've posted pictures of Davis, so it's about time for some recent pictures.
These first few are of Davis and his daddy playing with his train. It shoots out balls and does all sorts of things that an 8 month old baby finds fascinating.

He's such a sweet little guy, always smiling for mom.


This is Davis' version of multi-tasking.


Action shot!


I love this cute face!



These next pictures represent a HUGE success for our family... hence the title of the post. For most babies, who like to eat food, this wouldn't be very exciting... but Davis ate some carrots!!!!! This is probably the most exciting news I've had in weeks. Davis is the easiest baby, so I really have no room to complain, but getting him to eat food has been such a struggle. He LOVES to nurse and does a great job at that, but if you try to put anything else in his mouth, he will show you who is boss. He has developed amazing techniques of keeping his mouth locked shut as tightly as possible, blowing out food instead of taking it in, swatting it away with his hands at just the right moment to send it flying across the room, etc, etc. Anyway, tonight we had a break through. He actually ate carrots... sort of. He seemed to be okay with the spoon entering his mouth and was actually helping the process along by taking something similar to a bite. He ended up very messy (which you can't completely see because he's wearing red), but I was thrilled!

Sick Babies are SOOO much FUN!!!

Opening Disclaimer: my poor little guy has been sick, and my #1 concern is for his well being, but having said that, I have to vent. I have recently discovered a very complex mathematical formula that has probably already been revealed to every other mother on the planet. The formula is this: When babies are sick, the amount of sleep mom will get is inversely proportional to the amount of laundry she will have to do that week. For example, on a normal, non-sick baby day... I might get 7 or 8 hours of sleep and have to do 1 load of laundry (or none at all). On a sick baby day, like yesterday, for instance, I would probably get closer to 3-4 hours of sleep and have to wash at least 3 loads of laundry.
Bryson and I had both been sick last week, and on sunday as we were both nearing the end of our colds, I was so proud that we had managed to keep Davis healthy. I should have known better. Davis got sick that night. To sum up his path of destruction through the house, I have had to change and wash the sheets at least once a day due to either throw up or a huge poopie blow out, Davis has gone through an average of 3 outfits a day (with a high of 5 yesterday) for the above mentioned reasons, I have had to change clothes an average of 2 extra times a day when his vomit or blow out was aimed in my direction, we both have averaged 2 baths a day since monday, and of course the sleep has been sucked away to be replaced by a sad, whimpering baby in the middle of the night. Poor little guy. The funny thing is, when he's awake, even when he is throwing up all over his mom, he is perfectly happy and cheerful all day. Don't worry though, he seems to get extra fussy in his sleep to make up for his good moods while awake.
I have learned to never underestimate how much damage a sick little baby can do with a little milk in his tummy. Hopefully he'll be on the mend soon. Sorry for all of the gross details, but I just couldn't resist the opportunity to vent for a minute!

Welcome Rosalyn Mary Mull!

My new little niece was born very early wednesday morning at 12:52 am, and I actually got to be there to see her born! I went to the hospital to check on my sister in law, Mary, and drop off some night gowns around 11:15pm. She was getting ready for her epidural, and in the meantime, she was squeezing my hands through the contractions. So, I thought I'd stay until the epidural kicked in, then take off. But, to make a long story short, the epidural never kicked in (turns out, it was administered in the wrong place), and her contractions got very big very fast. Before we knew it, she was pushing, and little Rose was there! I could not believe that poor Mary had to endure all of that pain without any medication! I know people do it "naturally" all the time, but she was in so much pain, I wanted to cry for her. She did an amazing job, and to quote my sister, she "took it like a woman!" Until I see a man endure a major surgery or something comparible without any pain killers or anesthesia, my standard for toughness will have to be moms who have made it through childbirth. Anyway, little Rose is adorable. Dark hair, long eyelashes, and that dimple chin that is so prominent in Bryson's family. It was such a neat experience to get to be there for her arrival. There is nothing like witnessing the miracle of birth!

This was taken from my phone about 10 or 15 minutes after she was born


These pictures are from our visit the next day.




Look at those chubby cheeks!


I thought this face was so funny and cute, I couldn't resist.

San Francisco!!!

It's been a while since my last post. That is partially because I am boring and usually have nothing to write about, and partially because I've been out of town for the last week. Bryson had a business trip to San Francisco, and since I'd never been before, Davis and I decided to tag along. It was so much fun! Aside from the PERFECT weather (74 degrees and perfectly sunny), the city and surrounding areas are gorgeous! Everything was green and all of the trees were full of blossoms, and I just couldn't get enough of those rolling green hills. We had a blast in the actual city, but one of my favorite things was when we went to Clayton. That is the town that Bryson lived in for about 5 years when he was a little kid. It also happens to be the setting of one of Brandon's books. (For those of you who don't know, Bryson's older brother (Brandon) is an author. He has written the Fablehaven series, as well as a book called Candy Shop War, which is the one that was set in Clayton). So, in addition to seeing Bryson's old house, he took me around to all of the places described in the book. It is the cutest little town, and I loved it! Hopefully we'll have a chance to go back soon.

This is a view from Coit tower, looking at the Golden Gate Bridge and some of the city streets.


Here are Bryson and Davis (in his Alcatraz outfit) at the bottom of Lombard street. It was a little scary to drive down that!


The Golden Gate bridge was gorgeous! We walked across it... much longer than I thought it was!


Bryson and Davis by the creek in Clayton. I'll throw in a few of these shots because it was so pretty there!








Everywhere from town, you could see these gorgeous hills with roaming cows that looked like the "happy cows come from California" comercials. So cute.




Davis and I in "downtown" Clayton. Mainstreet looks like an old Western town. Very cute. For those of you who read the book, if you are interested, I also took pictures at the elementary school, the restaurant that used to be the Candy shop, the museum, the house, etc.


My friend Rachel lives in the San Francisco area, near Stanford University. So, while Bryson was in meetings one day, I went down there to meet her and walk around. It's a beautiful campus.