Happy New Year!

We are ready to celebrate! Brendan wishes everyone a super sweet rockin' New Year! Bring on 2010!

Merry Christmas!

Brendan has been so much fun. I just have to share. This morning Jeremy decided to feed him some applesauce while I was making breakfast. The entire time he was trying to feed him he wanted to watch me. It was so cute. My little man wanted to watch me cook. I HAD to take a picture of him.



This afternoon Jeremy took a nap and Brendan and I were a little bored. Okay. Well I was a little bored. So we decided to make some christmas cookies. He loved it. He was a big help. :)






That has been our Christmas Eve so far! We are enjoying him so much and wanted to share. I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ugh...my hair.

Okay...so a few months ago I thought having bangs was a fabulous idea. I researched pictures of celebs that had bangs and skipped merrily to my hairstylist. For a few weeks I loved them. I thought they were so cute but eventually they began to bug me. I tried to refresh them but just having bangs in my face became more of a hassle than what it was worth. Flash forward to December. I thought for some reason my bangs would just super grow back to normal. Not the case since preggo hormones are all gone. The only hairstyle I have been able to do is the "pull back to one side with a bobby pin". If I put it in a headband little hairs stick up all around like when I was in elementary school. Ugh. Anyone have any ideas on how to style semi-grown out bangs?? seriously I'm in need of a overhaul.

Things I didn't realize before having a kid.

Sleeping in? Ha....

The power of coffee.

My new bedtime.

My new wake up time.

Everything is loud and will wake him.

I now dislike restaurants that do not have a changing place.

My dogs seem to be always on a mission to sabotage nap time.

My body will never be the same. I seriously thought things would go back to normal!

You don't need a huge diaper bag. It will just get in the way.

Your patience for people who waste your time will be nonexistent.

You will get poo'd on and will still want to kiss the person who did it.

Merry Christmas!

It has been such a great year. I can't believe how fast it went. I am so thankful for my family, friends, and that Brendan is healthy! For those of you who haven't heard Brendan had a wonderful report from Dr. Skiast! We went back to LA for a visit and they did an ultrasound. We were totally prepared to hear the next tests that he was going to have to undergo. However, when they did the ultrasound his kidney dilation was down. The doctor said it was "miraculous"! We were so happy!! All plans for another surgery were put on hold. What a relief!

We are spending our first Christmas with Brendan here in Santa Maria. Jeremy has been away for work so it will be nice to be altogether. Brendan is 5 months and weighs a whopping 17lbs. He has been rolling over and somewhat sitting by himself. He is still a little wobbly on the sitting part.

The other day I was bored so Brendan and I had a Christmas photo shoot in the living room. :) I will leave you with a few. Enjoy! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

The best caption for the photo came from Aunt Megan:

"You wanna buy tickets to the gun show"

Such a Ladies man...

...and he's spent.

A for effort

Brendan is trying to roll over. He really tries but isn't quite there yet. Here is a cute video of him on his tummy. Pretty soon I will be posting a video of him rolling over!!

A morning with Brendan

Playing with some features on the Flip.

Happy Birthday Meryl!

Brendan 13 Weeks old

Here is a cute video of Brendan during his Tummy Time! He even makes a little squeak halfway through the video:)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We hope you are having a wonderful birthday!!!

My Loots...

Okay, so my friend Cammie has been telling me all the fab deals she finds by clipping coupons and using them when there is a great deal on something. SOOOO...When I saw an offer for Johnson & Johnson baby products I could not pass it up!

All I paid was tax for all of those baby products. It was glorious. The check out lady was very impressed. Thank you Cammie for showing me how to do this and getting the addiction started.

In other news, my sister made a blog too!! Her website can be found at http://www.megjoshmolly.blogspot.com/. I can't wait to read more posts from you sissahoe:)

That's all for now...just thought I would show off the fab deal.

Later,

Tori

My new camera

I got one of those new Flip HD cameras. Brendan was kind enough for me to experiment on him:) He really likes that paci.

Doctor visits, crafty days, and Lost

Howdy,

So we had another visit to the LA kidney doctor. He still has Hydronephrosis. It hasn't corrected itself so the doctor now wants to do some tests. He goes for a test called a VCUG in a couple weeks. That test should tell them what type of blockage it is. We are still hoping that it will clear up on it's own! He was such a good little patient at the doctors. He held still and didn't even mind when they did the ultrasound.

**Me Being Crafty**

I know it may be a bit early but I really wanted to decorate for Halloween and Fall. So J watched Brendan and off to Michael's I went. I decorated the mantle. I also made a sweet wreath. Oh yes. With the left over pieces I made a centerpiece for my table. Here are my before and after pics.

I found this way cute chore chart online. I know I have quite some time before I can bust this puppy out on Brendan...but I am so going to use it. You can find it here: www.parents.com/chorechart I come across way cute ideas sometimes either in books, other moms, magazines, internet, etc....So I decided to make a binder of ideas, games and other things I find along the way for Brendan.

**Me trying to get back in shape**

I decided after 7 weeks that I need to get my butt back into exercising! I lost alot of weight right after he was born but then came to an abrupted hault. I want to lose about 7 more lbs. I love doing videos on the T.V. So I started the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. H-o-l-y Cow, I am so freakin out of shape. You should see me trying to actually do the entire video. It's actually quite the show and I'm sure Brendan laughs at me.

Our latest obsession this holiday weekend has been Lost. We find that in our no-sleep state that buying seasons of shows that we never watch is a good idea. We are too tired to do anything else. We never really watched the show so we bought season 1 and put it in. We watched that in record time and now are on season 2. It's a pretty good show. There are times were it gets on our nerves like OK no more flashbacks! Or the fact that if people would just communicate to the others things would be a little easier for them. Everyone likes to keep their secrets and it drives us crazy. Overall, we have enjoyed watching it.

Well this blog is done for now. I have a squirming little boy on me that wants to cuddle.

Tata for now,

tori

Brendan is a whole month old!

Today is Brendan's 1 month update :) He is getting so big and growing every day. A few new things he is doing:

• Starting to lift his head way up during his 'tummy time'



• smiles randomly when you talk to him (it could be gas but I think he really smiles)



• talking to himself before he goes to sleep at night (well he makes little sounds)



• looks at toys, people and other things that get in his face. :)

We have had one crazy fun-filled month. If I wrote everything that went down this month you would be reading FOREVER! I just want to thank our family for helping us! It was so nice! I PLAN on writing more often in the blog to keep you up to date!

Enjoy a new freshly taken pic of the B-man:

and here is another one with Daddy:

He looks thrilled.

Anyways, will write soon:D

Tori

Brendan is here!!! He was born July 17th at 12:03 a.m. He was 6lbs even and 19 inches. A little of a surprise coming 3 weeks early:) Enjoy the pictures!

Go to this link for the pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=253011&id=795280491&l=01e532b032

30 is the magic number

Hellllllllo.

We have had some crazy times here in good ol' Santa Maria. J's Squadron put on a picnic not too long ago. Fun stuff. J was entered in a pie eating contest. He won. His new nickame "Captain Peaches". Enjoy the pics, I enjoyed taking them.

Starting the contest

"The winner"

J has also joined a bowling team with a few guys from his office. He is really getting into the whole bowling thing...he has shoes and a ball now. He is pretty good at it. He is in a summer league and his games are on Thursday. I go down and cheer them on...Im kinda like their unofficial pregnant cheerleader. Quite cute I must say. I've been trying to come up with a name for their team...right now they are known as "TEAM 11" (snooze). Here is a pic of J and his team.

I am now in week 30 people! WEEK 30!! Whoohoo. It is now in countdown status...(okay not really) but for me it is! The belly is cute. He kicks ALL the time. I don't think he sleeps or if he does sleep he might have a twitching leg problem that just constantly kicks me in various places. Either way...he is very active. People keep telling me "oh he is active now, that means he is going to be way active when he gets here" Well I think it means the opposite. He will have tuckered his little self out by the time he gets here he will be sleeping through the night in the first week. Hey, a girl can dream can't she. Anyways, we are excited...J and I will be getting our knowledge on in the month of June. We have signed up for Infant CPR, breastfeeding and infant care. :) We hope it will teach us something

I had to go and do a 2nd glucose test the other day...Those are not too fun. It's not the juice...the blood...it's like a combination of EVERYTHING... I had to fast for 12 hours before the test... FAST...I knew it was going to be a long day when I woke up and I was already hungry...then you have drink a bunch of this orange stuff...not as bad as I thought...I just gulped it as fast as I could. THEN it begins....the headache, your stomach hurts...then you realize it's only been 30 minutes and you have 2 1/2 hours to go! After the first hour I was feeling better and the nurses were all super nice and let me hang out in the back with them. After the fourth time of having my blood drawn that day and three hours later, I was pretty dizzy and out of it. J picked me up and took me to a buffet:) Mm food.

At the lab....2 hours into the test.




Here are some new "30 week" pictures that I made J take of me:) He doesn't like to be my photographer. I tell him it's his duty. I like how I still pose in my "skinny" position even though Im preggers. It's natural now. All of my poses are like that. Makes me feel skinny.

My doctor told me my belly was too small for how far long I am. So I had to do an ultrasound today. Everything is fine! He is right around 4lbs, where he should be.

On to other things...to complete my blog about 30. Jeremy is turning 30 this week!!!! Whoohoo. His co-workers set up a party at the bowling alley for him and Im getting him a cake. Should be good times. On the night of his birthday he wants me to make chicken tacos and have a movie marathon on the couch. It has to be a least 2 movies. I want to watch the first season of true blood but that will be a no go. Whateve.

Anyways, that's all for now.

Love,

Tori

Hmm...maybe I should find something else to do with my time.

Not wanting to clean the bathroom, I thought it would be fun to see what our Brendan might look like...


this is what happened:

I think I'm going to clean now.

-Tori

Dance, Dance

Let's start things off with Brendan, shall we:)

Thank you for all the prayers, they were answered and we got a clean bill of health on Thursday! I am 25 weeks this week!! 25! It is going by so fast. I HAVE to post a picture soon of my belly. I know. This week I have been full of energy and have been getting lots of things done around the house. I want to connect my energy boost in a prenatal workout video I have been doing. It's called Erin O'Brien's Prenatal Fitness Fix. I LOVE it. She also includes a video with a postnatal workout...



Look at this little guy's foot!




Things I have done this week:



Okay, well I really didn't do this but I watched as we had our ugly wood garden wall knocked down and replaced by this new and improved stone wall.



I organized all my crafts and made a little section of the house for all my crafty work.



We went to see Wolverine. Which I really didn't have high hopes for. I was like Xmen...really J. I didn't put up that big of a whine because at the very least I get to see Hugh Jackman with his shirt off. Bonus: Ryan Reynolds - not too bad either. BUT it was a pretty good movie. I was entertained by it anyway:)



I went and bought Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) for xbox this week. I wanted to try it out. For those of you who are not fimilar with DDR it's a game with a dance pad. Arrows come on the screen and you have to match the arrows in sequence...like your dancing. It looks like this:
So...J and I decided to have a dance off. P.s. I'm alot better at this game then he is. WHOOHOO. A game I can beat J in. (okay...he will argue the fact that he is better at ONE song than I am...the song you ask...Gloria Estefan's Conga. lol. )

Oh...look a bonus. A little shot of the belly.

Now for Brendan's room!! Here are the pics of Brendan's little room. It's not finished but it's started. I think you can click the pictures to see bigger versions.






Cute huh. :) I am now going to leave you with a cute shot of Rogue. Sometimes, she can be so peaceful and cute...usually when asleep.

I finally found some time to update!

J and Tori ~ Solvang

Hello, Hello!

Well let me back up a few months...We left Utah in Feb. We experienced the wonderful up's and down's of a home buying experience and were blessed by all our friends and family that came to visit. The first of March, our friends, Matt and Veronica came down to help us with setting up our new house. I can't even begin to thank them for all the work they helped us with. We had a really fun visit with them and it was so nice to catch up. Next time we see each other won't involve moving so we are not pooped by the end! :) I had such cute pictures of Veronica and I painting the baby's nursery but MY CAMERA ERASED ALL MY PICTURES, THEN BROKE!!!! So the only pictures I have are from everyone else. So Veronica if you took any pics when you were down send them my way!

After Matt and Veronica left, Meryl and Jill came to visit. We had a great time. We were able to explore a little of California. Here are some pictures Meryl sent me.

Jeremy and the mini-horses The Morro Bay Aquarium
Ostrich Land
After they left, Mom and Chet came by to visit us. We went to LA for the day and toured the Warner Bro. Studios then went down to Hollywood Blvd. We also went to the vineyards and had a shopping spree day. My mom took me shopping and I got some new clothes. We had a really good time with them. Here are some pics of their visit.

After they left, we had our last set of visitors, J's Parents, Gloria and Paul. Again! I have no pictures because of my wonderful camera so send me those pics! We had a great time with them. We went to the Hearst Castle. It was amazing! We did the first tour and the evening tour, both were really fun! It was really cold and rainy that day but we still had a great time. We also went to see the elephant seals. They were HUGE and smelly but cute. They kind of reminded me of Rogue:

We were also lucky enough to see the wild zebras that run wild on the Hearst property. Sorry, no pics:( We had a great visit complete with a fun day of craft shopping. Who knew that Santa Maria was a quilting mecca. Anyways, as you can see we have had a pretty fun-filled month.

Baby Update

I go to the OB on Monday. I can't wait to hear what he has to say. Hopefully, we hear all good news. I will let you know what he says. We don't go to the ultrasound appointment for another 2 weeks so we are just going to keep positive! Thank you for all who have been keeping us in your prayers.

I'm 23 weeks and he sure does move around!!! He is an active little guy for sure and my belly is getting bigger by the day. It's a cute belly:

When I get a new camera, I will snap another picture!

We are finally settled in to the house. We love it and the weather. I actually laid out in the sun today with the puppies. They LOVE the sun and sit out on the patio most of the day. To be fair I have to post a pic of Lola. Well that's it for now! I should be able to update more often so watch for updates!

Take care!

Tori