Christmas Break in Review...

Christmas break was a blast.  I have a whole lot of pictures to post and not a ton to say... so I will just get on with it.

Trey did a great job adjusting despite all my worrying.  After a couple rough nights he slept great and only had a few random nights in between.  But I was very happy with how well he slept, both at night, and during naps.  He also did great on both the flight to Utah and back to Pittsburgh with maybe a couple upsets that didn't last long.  As Jeff often tells me... all my worrying was for nothing.  But my philosophy is, it's better to be prepared than not. So, I will continue to worry.... mostly because I can't help it anyway.

These three bonded right off the bat.  In fact, it took Carson a few days for the excitement of seeing Trey to wear down a little.  He was REALLY excited to get to play with his VERY FIRST cousin.  He even kept a little calendar counting down the days until Trey would arrive.... and he made sure to let everyone know.  It was cute.

Family Christmas Party with my fam.
Good Food. (aka Firehouse)
Santa.
Lots of chatting.
Watched Inception.

Santa showed up at our Christmas party.  I thought Trey would be terrified.  He was just a little skeptical is all... that's my boy. :)

My friends and I (minus Laci) had ourselves a Christmas shin-dig... or whatever you want to call it.  Usually that consists of food... talking... reminiscing... laughing... staying up late...more food... and more laughing.  

We had a great time.

If you know my friends, you know how impossible it is to get a good/serious picture of everyone.  Let me just show you....

This is the best we got.

Here are a few more random pics of our fun-filled night.

We also had a Christmas Party with Jeff's friends.  We are both so lucky to have such a good group of friends that we both love spending time with.

These two munchkins are becoming great friends... and if we're lucky... one day they'll date.  :)

Christmas Eve--Day with the Wegeners.

We had a yummy ham loaf dinner and played some fun games.

 Tell me this isn't the cutest thing you've seen...

Lydia loved giving Trey big kisses... and MOST of the time Trey wasn't a huge fan... but somehow we managed to get this pic.  I LOVE it.

Christmas Eve Night with my fam.

We had yet again another yummy dinner... including prime rib and shrimp.  Unfortunately this is the only picture I got of that night and it isn't that great.  Oh well.
My mom read us all a Christmas story and shared a nice little spiritual thought/story with all of us.

Oh yes, and I almost forgot...
I got to meet my newest nephew, Henry.

Isn't he precious?


Christmas Morning at my house.

Trey's FIRST Christmas!  I thought he'd be more interested in the wrapping paper than his presents... but again, I was wrong.... He WANTED HIS presents and got impatient when we were trying to open up the box. (which are THE - MOST - RIDICULOUS things to open)  Silly Boy.

We opened presents and then had our traditional french toast breakfast.

Christmas Day with the Wegeners.
Kathie made two different kinds of soup and breadsticks.  It was Delicious.

I know I got a lot of pictures of these two, but I'm tellin you... they had so much fun together.

Little Miss Lydia turned one!
We celebrated by having pizza and cake and ice cream.

 Then we followed up the night with some Aggie Basketball.
Go Aggies!!

Trey was excited!!

 And Lydia.... just wanted to give Trey more kisses.  You can tell he's thrilled.

Our Little Snow Monkey.

New Years Eve
For New Years Eve, Jeff went to the Utah State game and I went to dinner at Hamilton's with my family.
Afterward, we hung out and watched the ball drop with these lovely people.
We always have a good time with Jeff's friends.

New Years Day
We threw a Baby Shower for my cousin Jani.
Her and I are only 11 months apart and have always been super close.
Now our boys are going to be 11 months apart.
We can only hope they will be as close.  Right Jan??  :)

Isn't she just the cutest pregnant girl!?

We paid my sweet Grandma Western a visit...

Me, Trey, my sister Ashlee, and her husband stayed that night at Jani's.  She made us homemade ice cream and fruit smoothies... AFTER I made her spill hot candle wax all over her brand new entry-way dresser.  I'm still sorry about that!  You're the best host Jan, thanks!!

We woke up early the next morning for my nephew's baby blessing.... which we ALMOST missed... due to a horrible navigator (me), and some not very clear directions.  But all is well, thanks to my mom.

My bro and his cute little family.

Unfortunately that day I woke up with some sort of stomach bug.  Boo.  I hate being sick.

Jeff's family was planning a big birthday bash that evening for four of us in the fam who all have a birthday the end of December/early January.  Sadly I had to miss out.  But I was still able to hear them sing to me from where I was laying in my bed.  :(

For those of you still reading....
Hang in there.... we're almost there!!

Trey with my Grandma and Grandpa Anderson

And yet another fun girls night with my friends... (aka "The Lucky Seven")
to celebrate my day of birth and watch the Batchelor.
Good times.

The Ring

Can't forget... "Black Swan"

Love you Girlies!!!

And in honor of my birthday (yes, birthday party #3)... my wonderful mom made one of my favorite dinners.
Turkey Steaks.  Mmmhhmmm...

And in addition to ALL of this... we had many lunch dates, game nights, dinners, and more dinners with some of our very favorite people.
This trip might just take the cake of all our trips home.
We had fun.
REAL FUN.

I'm already looking forward to our next trip home.

Thanks everyone for making it so Great!

Happy Birthday To Me

The BIG 25

I sure got spoiled for my Birthday this year... thanks to all my family and friends who made it so special.

You are the BEST!

Ten Month Pics

Remember how I said he loves to dance?  Well here is one of his many dancing moments...  Please excuse the unmade bed...


Untitled from Kimi Wegener on Vimeo.

10 Months

Disclaimer:  I know these posts are boring but I know I'll appreciate it when my next baby comes around and I'm wanting to compare.  So this post is for the grandmas and anyone else who is bored enough to want to read this.

Today my little monkey is TEN months old!  Just two more months and he's going to be one!  Crazy!  He is starting to act and look more grown up every day.  He's not my little baby anymore!  It makes me happy to see the little boy he is turning in to, but it makes me sad to see him grow up so fast.  I miss the days of snuggling him while he'd sleep for hours in my arms.

Trey is getting more and more independent every day.  In fact he is starting to get a little bit of an attitude if we don't let him do what he wants or let him put everything that he wants into his mouth.  And trust me, that's just about everything.

He was so much fun to take to Utah.  I stressed and stressed that he would have a hard time adjusting to so many new people and to all the craziness of the holidays... since our days here are rather dull with just the two of us.... But he absolutely LOVED all of the attention he got from everyone!!   And he also loved going places, which has made the transition coming home much more difficult.  This kid thrives on attention and once he gets it, he is all smiles.  You may think I'm exaggerating but I can't tell you how many people have told me they have never seen such a smiley baby.  And it's true.... he will smile for just about anyone....  people in the grocery store, people on the plane, people at church, people at the USU games... you name it.  And the funny part is, you don't even have to be trying to make him smile, he just does! Sometimes I think he just stares at people waiting for them to look at him....  and as soon as they do, he gives them the biggest open mouth grin you've ever seen.  It's enough to brighten anyone's day.  :)  It makes me so happy to see him so happy. 

In general, Trey is a pretty contented baby.  He is pretty good at sitting by himself on the floor playing with his toys, which makes it nice when I need to get stuff done.  But don't get me wrong, Trey definitely has his moments.... like yesterday for instance when he whined all day for no apparent reason (or at least that I could see).  We picked him up... he whined... we set him down... he whined... we took him outside.... he was happy.  And the routine continued.... The problem is that it is 20 degrees here and FREEZING so going outside for longer than 5 or 10 minutes is NOT an option.  Poor kid.  He just wants to be doing something!  Summer better get here quick! 

Trey is starting to understand certain words.... He understands "No" and will often test our patience to see if he can get away with whatever he is doing.  He also understands "look."  Jeff pointed this out to me the other day...  Sometimes if you say Trey, he won't look at you.  But as soon as you say "Look!",  he will quickly turn his head.  Funny how that works.  He knows what, bye bye means when I say, "should we go bye bye?"  and he knows what outside means because every time I say, "do you want to go outside?"  he gets all excited and starts kicking his feet... same with, "are you hungry?"  I am sure there are plenty of other words and phrases he understands that I haven't quite picked up on but it sure is fun to see him starting to understand a few things.

He has really started babbling a lot lately.  Dadadadada.... is one of his more common "babbling words."  Still not ma-ma yet... but I am working on it.  He also is good at giving kisses when he is in the mood.  Only his kisses are open mouthed and wet.  Kind of like Jeffs.  hehehe. :)

Whenever Trey wants something, like to be picked up, or more food, or when he gets really excited.... he does this really fast circular hand wrist motion.... I don't know how else to explain it.   I guess you just have to see it.

Trey is easily humored by the game peek-a-boo.  It will entertain him for some time.

He still hasn't quite mastered the whole sleeping through the night yet... (and by that I mean 12 hours straight).  His longest is 11 hours.  I really don't mind him waking up once around 6 or 7 to eat because then I'm usually guaranteed another 2 or 3 hours of sleep.  His naps lately have been great.  He takes a morning and an afternoon nap that both average around an hour and a half.  Although lately we've been having to wake him up from his naps because he sleeps too long!  I love naps!

Trey is still trying to figure out how to crawl.  It's been a work in progress.  I thought for sure he'd learn to crawl while we were in Utah, but alas, he is still trying to master that skill........  You can tell he REALLY wants to crawl but he just can't figure out how to go forward.  He can go backwards but that sometimes just frustrates him.  As nice as it's been not having to chase him around everywhere, especially while we were in Utah, I am now ready for him to crawl.  He is to the point where he is getting grumpy because he wants to move but can't.  He's also discovered that he can pull himself up on things... and just in the past couple of weeks he tries to climb up on EVERYTHING! 

Have I mentioned Trey loves music??  Well he does.  In Utah we discovered that when he gets grumpy in the car, if you give him a phone or an i-pod that plays music he will hardly make a peep.  Brilliant.  It was, and still is a huge life saver at times.

He has always been a good eater.  Go figure.  He has tried all sorts of new foods and will pretty much eat whatever we put in front of him.  Except drink from a sippy cup...  ahh!!  What is a mother to do!!??

We are so grateful to have such a fun and happy little boy!  We just love him to pieces!  

Well I have lots of new pics and a video to post but I left my camera cord that connects to the computer in Utah.  So as soon as I receive it in the mail I will post some 9 month pics and a video..... as well as catch up on the last month of our happenings....

Ugly Sweater Party

Some friends of ours hosted an Ugly Sweater Party the other night.  We had lots of great food... played some fun games.... and most of all, enjoyed the company!  Thanks guys!

The Lovely Host:

Don't you love her outfit!!??  She went all out!

And this guy wins the BEST UGLY SWEATER contest!! I Love It!!!

Nine Months

Nine months and cuter than ever!  I can't believe how big our little guy is getting.  He is growing up TOO fast!  He is starting to look more grown up... especially with his 4 big chompers (and two more on the way!)  A few things he's been doing as of late...

He has figured out how to clap.... he actually figured this out about a month ago but just recently started doing it more often.  And I swear he knows how to wave.  He just doesn't do it enough for me to figure out if he's really waving or just really excited.  

He still scoots on his bum, but he has also started scooting backwards on his tummy.  He is oh so close to crawling. He gets up on all fours like he is about to, and then doesn't.  Soon I am sure!

He is getting stronger on his feet, he hasn't totally got the strength to pull himself up, but he is close.  If we stand him up against something he can pretty much hold his own.

He is starting to babble more and more which is my favorite!  He just recently started saying Da-Da... Jeff of course loves this.  And he often says it over and over while I am putting him to sleep... only he whispers it which makes me laugh a little.

He is also really in to blowing bubbles lately.  He thinks it's funny if he copies what we do, so if we blow bubbles he will do it back, if we cough, he will cough back... so cute.

I love that he's starting to figure things out.  He is one smart little cookie.  He has started becoming a little leary of strangers, especially when they hold him... (not always, but if he does it is mostly with guys.)  I hope this stage doesn't last long. 

I know I say this every time... but Trey sure is a smiley baby!  Whenever we go to the grocery store people will often tell me he has one of the biggest smiles they have ever seen.  He smiles and flirts with just about everyone.  The best is when he cocks his head sideways and gives them a big open mouth grin.....  Gets them every time.  :)

Trey LOVES music.  He bounces to just about any beat.  He even started bouncing to Away in a Manger today at church. 

My favorite time of day is when I get to rock him to sleep.... this is the one and only time he will let me cuddle him.  Occasionally he is past tired, so I just have to lay him down, but most of the time, he will let me sing and rock him to sleep.  He often blows bubbles and babbles himself to sleep.  I love it!

Nine Month Stats:
Weight: 25 lbs. 1 oz.
(Only barely off the charts this time) ;)
Height: 30 1/4 in.
(95th percentile, we are making progress!)
Head:  Off the charts
(Big head= Big brain!)

He only gained almost a pound and a half over the past three months so he must be slowing down... if he'd ever start moving maybe he'd trim down even more!

NINE MONTH PICS 

Happy 9 Months Little Guy!!!

Thanksgiving

Well this is a little late.... but this year we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner with friends from our ward and friends from Jeff's class.  Like always, it turned out great.  Lots of great food + Lots of great friends.  What's not to enjoy??

I love Thanksgiving.  Not only because I love the food, but each year I am reminded how blessed I truly am and how I have so much to be thankful for.  It's too bad that it sometimes takes a holiday for many of us to sit back and reflect on the things in life we are grateful for.  

I loved President Monson's message in general conference on The Divine Gift of Gratitude.  Because of his wise counsel, I have been trying especially hard lately to focus more on the things in my life that are going well, rather than on the things that aren't.  

He reminds us that, "Regardless of our circumstances, each of us has much for which to be grateful if we will but pause and contemplate our blessings."  In the Book of Mormon we are told to “live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which [God] doth bestow upon you."

He goes on to say that although material possessions can make us happy and grateful, that is only temporary.  But those things in life that provide deep and lasting happiness and gratitude are things that money cannot buy.  Things like: our families, the gospel, good friends, our health, our abilities, and the love we receive from those around us.  Unfortunately, these are some of the things we often allow ourselves to take for granted.

We need to refrain from the realm of negative thoughts and "cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude."  

I'm going to make it a personal goal of mine to try a little harder this next year to focus on the things I have to be grateful for and express gratitude to the Lord each day for all of my blessings.  Along with that I'm going to try and be more positive.

I am especially grateful for many of the things that President Monson mentioned above.  My Family.  The Gospel.  Good Friends.  Good Health.  And an unconditional, loving Heavenly Father.  What would my life be like without all of that?  I'm glad I don't have to know.  And living so far away from home, I have gained a huge appreciation for technology, of which I can communicate with my family daily.  Mainly the computer, webcam, and my phone.  Thank heavens for all of those things.  I don't know that I could have survived back in the olden days before all of that.  And most of all this year I am grateful for one little person in particular... who I can't possibly imagine my life without.  This little guy brings me more joy than I ever could have imagined.

Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing us with such a beautiful, happy, little boy.
Happy Thanksgiving to All!  Hope everyone had a good holiday!

Now in Other News.....

Jeff's semester is coming to an end which means I lose my husband for a couple of weeks to his darn textbooks!!  He has nine finals in one week.  NINE!!!  That is one more thing I am grateful for, GLAD it is him and not me!  I would have a mental breakdown.

He is becoming more and more confident in his dental abilities and has had LOTS of experience pulling teeth.  So if you need a tooth pulled, he's your man.  It seems that most of the people who come to the dental school have either waited far too long to get their teeth fixed to the point where there's no other option but to pull it, or they just don't have the money to fix it so they make it easy and get rid of the tooth all together.  Seems crazy to me but I guess, "to each his own."

Despite all of his school work, Jeff still manages to be an excellent husband and daddy.  I am so lucky to have married such a great guy.  Both Trey and I can't wait for him to get home everyday.

Today is December 1st, marking the first snow fall of the season.  Seems quite fitting.

Poor Trey has been battling a cold for the past month.  He seems to finally get over one, just to catch another.  And let me tell you... a sick baby is miserable.  As I'm sure most of you can attest to.  Here's to hoping his current cold is the last one for a while.  I'm ready for a break.  And so is he, I'm sure.

I am getting so excited for Christmas, mostly because that means we get to go home.  You better believe I am counting down the days.....

He can't crawl... but he can SCOOT!

Untitled from Kimi Wegener on Vimeo.



Untitled from Kimi Wegener on Vimeo.


And... I just think this video is cute.  Love this kid!


Untitled from Kimi Wegener on Vimeo.