Emotions

Holy Hannah have I been a WRECK lately! I have tried my hardest to keep them under wraps, but I feel like postpartum depression has hit a year later! I never thought I would be so emotional about Gavin growing up & having his 1st birthday, but every time I think about it...I really don't even know how to describe it or explain it! Is this normal? I haven't cried yet, but the more I let it build, my waterfall will probably soon flood open!

I have also been looking at blogs, friends, others who are expecting babies soon & I have become quite baby hungry. Is that weird, because I kinda think it is. Don't get any ideas, we aren't going to be trying for another baby for a while. Just think it is a little out there that all of a sudden I am baby hungry. I really didn't get baby hungry before until we had our miscarriage, so I only had to wait about 2 months after that to get preggers & then 9 months for the little guy to get here. I will just enjoy as much of my "baby" as I have left!

On an unrelated note, Gavin has become quite the little walker. He can't walk by himself, heck, he can't even stand by himself yet, but when he is holding your hands that is all he wants to do is walk! He has become quite good at it! One day he will be running circles around me & I will wonder where the time when..what the heck, I already am thinking that. Where did the last year go?

He has also become a "follower." When he started crawling he would go to where he wanted to & that was it, if you left the room, he would cry until you came back. He has now learned that he can follow you where ever you go (for the most part) He has also become quite fond of Bear's food & water dishes. (We are still working on that one) Other than that, these are the "daily" updates on Gavin. Told you that he is changing & doing something new everyday!

When I get home I will try to remember to post some recent pictures of our little cutie! I have become so wrapped up in this Digital Scrapbooking phase that that is all I really want to do when I am on the computer. Maybe in the near future I will post some of the pages I have made so far! Love it!

Today

Today I am grateful for a LOT of things:

I am thankful for a baby boy who will be 1 soon. I am thankful that he is healthy & did TWO new things today! He pulled himself up on something other then Mike or I (the couch! YAY!) and he pull himself into the sitting position from laying! Oh my, I am so PROUD if my little guy! He is AMAZING.

I am thankful for a husband who can make a cake look like a Monkey, because some of us (me) stink at decorating cakes!

I am thankful for a sister in law who is willing to take time out of her busy life to teach Mike photo shop so that he can in turn teach me so that I could make Gavin's 1st birthday party invitations & start making digital scrapbook pages for him! & for us! Thanks Michelle, can't wait to learn more from you!

I am thankful for a GREAT DEAL at Toys R Us today & a $5 off coupon to finish off Gavin's birthday shopping! $50 worth of toys for $21 bones! AWESOME!

I am thankful for the fact that we are getting a GREAT Tax refund back!

I am grateful for Parents who love me & look out for us & our best interests!

Today I am grateful for a busy life, I have been on the go all day, but we have a stocked up & we are enjoying life. Tell me what you are grateful for today!

Happy Valentines

Gavin's Valentines day t-shirt! Isn't he cute? We totally think so!


ps - Yes...I did make it, kinda...with the help of Jessi! Thanks girl, it turned out great!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

11 Months

So, so so crazy our little monkey is 11 months old. In T-24 days he will be 1 year old! AGH! My baby soon won't be a baby anymore. But seriously, I say this every month & it is totally true, I am so excited to see what he will be doing next! Of course he is our first, so we haven't ever done this before & it is exciting to see what he learns from 1 day to the next & what he does 1 day & does the next! Lets catch up & see what the little monkey is doing new this month!

*I still have no clue what he weighs, but I bet it is about 19 lbs. He is really growing height wise too!

*WE HAVE A MOBILE BABY! HE IS OFFICIALLY CRAWLING & has been for about 2 weeks now! He still does prefer to roll, but if he wants to get to something fast, he gets right up on those knees & goes for it. He is definitely fast as well!

*His vocabulary has really grown as well, he says do-do, dada, mama, Hi, Hey, Mmm when he eats his food & jibber jabber all over the place. He gets really quiet when it is nosy around him, but when it is quiet, he will let you know he is around!

* He still only has 4 teeth, but I think he has been cutting more for a while now. No new ones have popped up yet though.

*He hasn't been the best sleeper lately. He goes to bed anywhere between 7:30 & 8 & will be up anywhere from 9:30 to 11:30 just screaming. He will go back to sleep a couple minutes later but then about 1-2 he will be screaming again. Only once was he hungry, the other times we have no idea what was going on.

*He has really had a spurt of Separation Anxiety lately. Even when Mike is holding him & I am around he will reach & cry & scream for me until I have him.

*He is still a great eater. We have been trying new & more things with him to kinda get him "Table ready." He is also hand feeding himself now, another big accomplishment from last month.

*He still isn't pulling himself up on things yet, but he just started crawling, so we will give him some time for that.

*He has a favorite toy. It is that green dog you see in the picture above. It sings, says his name & does fun activities with him. He lights up when he sees that dog & it will turn a frown into a smile.

*He has really become interactive with Bear. They both play really well with each other.

*His new thing is to crawl over to the DVD stand & pull all the DVDs out of the bottom row. We definitely for sure need to start baby proofing & securing things to the wall so they don't fall over on him.

I think that is all I can think of! Next month is a BIG MONTH for us! Can't wait! Stay tuned...

Wallenberg Family Update

I feel like every time I blog, it is about our cute Monkey & never about Mike or I. So here is a "Family Update."

Mike still works for Home Depot. Sometimes it is okay & others it bites, but we are getting through it. I am still at Provo Canyon School. I'm not really liking it as of late, but again, that is life. We still of course have a babysitter for the Little Guy. It varies from week to week depending on Mike Schedule. I am still the Nursery Chorister & Mike is a Substitute Primary Teacher because he is only about to go to church once a month. Mike still has Drill Weekends monthly & is enjoying them.

We have started to broaden our meals lately. We have used our slow cooker so much more lately & cooked Cafe Rio Sweet Pork & Chicken & made there salads! YUM! We have also made some yummy meatballs & chicken. I love the Slow Cooker.

Our house is still for sale, so if you know anyone that would like a good, nice starter home in Eagle Mountain, let us know. We still have NO IDEA what we are going to do when we sell it. We could join the Navy full time & move to Cali or move to Arizona & find some jobs for both of us (Mike wants to go back SO BAD!) Or we can stay here & stay at our jobs & get an apartment, or even look for another house in Lehi/American Fork area. We really aren't making any decisions until we get something on our house.

Lately we have been planning our little Monkey's 1st Birthday Party that will be in a month. That really consumes a lot of our time lately.

I have been on my diet for about 6 weeks now...kinda. I had to kinda stop to get back up the milk supply that I enjoyed before dieting. It still hasn't come back in full force yet, but I haven't lost anymore weight either. I am still at the 9 lbs lost, which I am not disappointed with at all. As soon as I am done nursing (hopefully in the next 2 months or so) I will go back to exercising 5 days a week & watching what I eat. I only need to lose about 8 more lbs to get back down to pre pregnancy weight. I want to lose 10 to be below it. We will see what happens. I am just glad I am back into the 120s...the high 120s but I am in the 120s, so that is a start. PS. Today is my last pumping day! YAY!

As far as everything else goes, we are still just trekking along. We are hoping for some changes (maybe BIG ones) in the next couple months. We will see what happens.

Sharing

I haven't posted in a while. I haven't really had anything to say. The last couple weeks I have become quite the blog stalker & have found a couple of blogs that have made me think...about my own life, my family, basically everything. We do have trials & things going on in our lives right now that I wish we didn't have to deal with, but they are really nothing compared to these blogs that I would like to share with you today!

The first blog I found from Mike's Cousin's blog. It is a Family here in Utah whose baby boy had a tragic accident a couple weeks ago. Baby B has made great progress, but still needs our prayers. Please check out their blog here & read their touching story for yourself! It truly shows you that Miracles are real & do happen! It also reminds you to have faith in the Lord & that our Father in Heaven really is there for us & loves us! It also reminds me to not rush things, not worry about the little stuff & hug my baby boy that much tighter & love him that much more because we don't know what tomorrow will bring.

The second blog I found from Amanda. It is a Family of 3 who just had their 2nd baby girl a couple weeks ago. She was born with Down Syndrome. We have our own "Down Syndrome" story in our lives...our cute niece Preslie, but this mom's account of her darling daughters birth & their discovery of her "specialness" was breath taking & honest! Check out her blog here & join her on this special journey of a turning point in their lives.

I cried when I read both of these stories, so you know they have to be good & touching because I NEVER cry! If you have any great blogs that you like to "stalk" please share, we all I am sure would love to follow along on their journey!

Come back later for a FUN 11 month post & maybe if I feel up to it, a Family update, not just a Gavin update!