Brrr!!!!

Corbin rolled under the tree...ooh, don't eat that!







Christmas morning







Wait a minute...where did that picture come from?

Peek-a-boo!

Christmas chorus performance

The Boys and the Big Guy

Bryant's Chorus performance at Jacksonville Landing

We are freezing! The temperature has been dipping into the low twenties (brrr!). They're even forecasting snow for late tonight or tomorrow - the first time in twenty years.

Christmas was really good. We finished everything about two weeks early (including wrapping of presents - yes, you can be disgusted), so we were able to sit back and relax. Jeff took off the entire week between Christmas and New Years. It was so nice.

Santa and others were really good to us. Jeff got a drill press, I got my netbook (hurray!), Bryant got Bakugan and a couple of games for Wii and DS, and Corbin got a driving toy (steering wheel that makes a lot of noise) and a mini basketball hoop. We were all very happy.

We also got a GPS from someone...who was that again? (Ha! Just kidding, Darrell and Terry!) We utilized it to go to Blue Spring State Park and saw literally dozens of manatees, including babies! It was so much fun.

Corbin is now a whopping 17 pounds! What a big baby. No need to lift weights with that kid around. He's such a happy kid, too. Smiles left and right to anyone and everyone. He's been eating solid foods for a whole month now. He absolutely loves squash, sweet potatoes, and applesauce mixed with oatmeal. Green beans...not so much. He cries when I try to feed them to him.

Bryant is getting so tall. And his hair is getting so long. He no longer wants me to buzz it, so I have to get it cut. I just don't remember to go and get it done until it's falling in his eyes.

Bryant had a couple of chorus performances before the Christmas break. One was at Jacksonville Landing. It was really neat to see and he did a great job. He really gets into the acting part. He puts up with the singing aspect. My kid is the one you always see being a total goober. He's not being bad, just really funny.

Jeff just started in a new position at work. He went from having the best team in the site to possibly the worst. But he had been 'asked' to take it on from the higher-ups, and it's not a good thing to turn them down... He'll do a great job, though, and turn them around. He's got a reputation for being able to do that sort of thing.

Jeff has also been spending a lot of time in his workshop (formally known as our garage, which is too small to fit our vehicles). He's built a couple of cabinets for the garage and refinished a chair. Santa's elves gave him a couple of woodworking reference books (they highly recommended them) and he's going to build a shelf for them. Soon, he and Bryant will be building their Pinewood Derby cars. Busy, busy boy!

I graduated from my children's writing course (finally!) and received a pretty diploma, which was promptly framed and hung up in the office for inspiration. My instructor recommended me for the advanced course. I'm considering it for now, but I think it's something that will have to wait for a bit. I'm utilizing nap time to get my writing done. My goal is to have my manuscript submitted by the time we leave for Yellowstone in August.

As for Yellowstone - we have determined we'll be driving and pulling our fifth-wheel. It just made more sense. And we really want to be able to bring home some more green beans and tomato soup. We're down to just one jar of each. :(

Hugs and kisses to everyone!

Need sleep...

Wow. I'm exhausted. Corbin was doing so well for a while - going to bed at seven and sleeping until three or four, eating, then sleeping until six or seven. I didn't mind getting up with him the one time at all. Now...I spent all of an hour-and-a-half in my own bed last night. The night before, he was up every two hours. He's not sick, he just won't stay asleep. Right now, he's in his crib crying because I just need him to take a nap. He's so tired. I'm so tired. But as soon as I lay my head on a pillow, he wakes up. He no longer sucks his thumb, which was my saving grace. I just need some sleep!

Merry Christmas!!!

I love the holidays. Especially when I'm COMPLETELY done with my Christmas shopping. Sending is another matter, but what can you do when you're waiting for the item you bought online to arrive so you can send it off? You post on your blog!
Thanksgiving was pretty nice. We spent it at home. Jeff insisted on buying a whole turkey (because he wanted the giblets, crazy boy) instead of just a turkey breast. It turned out pretty good, though, because we 'adopted' our neighbors from across the street. It was just the two of them and they weren't going to celebrate Thanksgiving, so we shared ours. It was so much fun, I think we'll try adopting Thanksgiving orphans every year. We enjoyed turkey (duh!), mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans (thank you, Terry!), and more. Even Corbin joined in by trying his first cereal. After tasting it, he looked at me with an expression that said "I'll try it for you, Mom, but this is really weird." After a week, though, he's starting to come around.
I'm constantly telling Bryant I'm always right (which he denies). The other morning, I was telling him he had to do something he didn't want to do. I followed it with "I'm such a mean mom." He agreed. I said "You weren't supposed to agree with me!" His reply: "I have to, Mom, you're always right." I didn't know whether to laugh or growl. Dang kid.
Jeff just got back yesterday for a business trip out to Salt Lake City. The three days he was gone were the busiest I've had in quite some time! They were pretty busy for him, too. We considered ourselves lucky to be able to talk for even a couple minutes at a time. It's sure nice to have him home again. We stayed up late last night catching up on everything. After all, communication is very important in a marriage. And it was nice talking to someone about something other than homework or dirty diapers.
Bryant received his first letter-grade report card and did his mom proud - straight A's! We took him out to dinner to celebrate. I'm not too surprised, though. He's always bringing home A's on his tests. He also has his nose in a book all the time. I went outside to find him one day only to find him in the neighbor's yard, sitting on a soccer ball and reading a book. He will walk to or from the bus stop reading, too. He's finished the first three Harry Potter books and is working on the fourth.
Bryant is also the best big brother! He's always willing to play with Corbin while I make dinner or do the dishes. I absolutely LOVE seeing them together. I think those are my favorite pictures, too. I find myself almost tearing up watching them sometimes.
Corbin is getting so big! He's smiling and laughing almost all the time now. He's very jealous of my time and absolutely hates our office since that's where the computer is. I don't get a lot done when he's awake. But he's very sweet and snuggly. Everyone on our street, and most of the kids in Bryant's class, knows Corbin. I can't walk down the street without someone calling out "Hi, Corbin!"
Jeff and I have discovered the joys of Facebook. I resisted it for so long, then after seeing something about it on television, I decided to try it out. It's amazing! I think one of my favorite things is being a fan of the church and both the Friend and the Ensign. Every day, they post an inspirational thought or video. I love it!
I'm sure there's more, but it has taken me several hours to get this much written (thanks to Corbin) and I would really like to go to bed tonight retaining at least some of my hearing. He really, really, REALLY hates the office.

Sleep is Good...

After letting him cry it out a couple of times, Corbin has finally started letting me sleep at night! He wakes up just once - about 3 am. Four nights in a row, I've actually gotten enough sleep. He's also napping better. He's found his thumb and uses it to put himself back to sleep. I don't mind too much right now, but when it's time to break him of the habit...I'll worry about it when the time comes. I'm just glad to feel like I'm once again in the land of the living!

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween was the warmest yet! We enjoyed a muggy 85 degrees - enough to make anyone hot and sweaty. Eww! Friday night, Jeff and Bryant carved a pumpkin to go near our front door. I drew the faces on the poor little pumpkins "Jack" decided to have for dinner. Bryant liked getting his hands into the pumpkin guts. Jeff liked using his dremel to carve the face. I enjoyed not having to be the one cleaning up afterward. Jeff started off Saturday building a cabinet for his garage using the workbench he built earlier this month. (No more woodworking projects cluttering my kitchen counters - hurray!) Around 5:30, Bryant and Corbin got ready and posed for their shutterbug mom. Okay, Bryant posed. Corbin slumped and refused to smile. I think he was still irked that I woke him from his nap. In my defense, I think a three-hour nap was too long anyway! At six-thirty, wondering where all the trick-or-treaters were, we wandered outside and explored our neighbor's haunted house he set up in his garage. He seriously had ten to twelve life-sized Halloween figures that talked, moved and/or sang positioned between sheets of plastic. He even had a huge blow-up archway. Needless to say, they were the most popular house in the neighborhood. We had easily double the number of trick-or-treaters this year. They didn't really start until about seven, but I was out of candy by eight! I kept getting ambushed by groups of a dozen or more kids. Next year, I'll either buy twice as much or just hang out in my neighbor's driveway. That seemed to be where the party was anyway.
As for the rest of the month...Corbin had his two-month appointment and weighed in at 13 lbs, 7 oz. The kid is growing like a weed! He's started smiling for everything - bathtime, diaper changing, cuddling, etc. On Friday, he laughed his first real laugh. During his bath, of course, just like his big brother did. We've discovered a fun game for him. I build a tower of cups and put it within his reach. Corbin reaches over and carefully tips it over, then looks at me for approval. Once I start clapping, he smiles really big. He also loves to hold any toy that makes noise and wave it around. This kid doesn't stop moving!
Bryant and Corbin love to spend time together. We tried Corbin in an exersaucer someone gave us. Bryant would push the buttons to make the music play, then dance. Corbin absolutely loved it. He tried moving to the music, too. He thinks his big brother is really funny.
At Bryant's pack meeting this month, he received some more awards, including a couple of beads and a belt loop. He loves being in scouts. He especially loves being able to pass off something new. Only a half-dozen more things to pass off before he gets his Wolf badge! I'm so proud of him. And as a special note, he's almost finished reading the third Harry Potter book. He started the first one a few weeks ago and he's making his way through the series. Jeff just shakes his head in amazement and tells me Bryant is definitely my kid.
A couple of weeks ago, we took a drive out to Suwanee State Park. Okay, so we actually drove all the way to Valdosta, Georgia, but decided as we drove through town it wasn't a place we wanted to stop. However, Suwanee State Park was on the way home. It was a nice, cool day and low humidity, so it was perfect to get out of the car and take the stroller on a hike on a trail that was definitely NOT made for a stroller. Fun, fun, fun. Despite the adventure of navigating the stroller over and around giant tree roots, it was absolutely beautiful. We're thinking of going back with the fifth-wheel soon. That's it for now. I think I've pushed the limit on how long I can do something without Corbin fussing.

Chunky Monkey!

Corbin just keeps growing!
Tuesday, August 4 - 8 lbs, 2 oz, 20-1/2" (birth)
Thursday, August 6 - 7 lbs, 12 oz (2 days old - normal weight loss for a newborn)
Monday, August 10 - 8 lbs, 3 oz, 21" (6 days old)
Friday, August 28 - 10 lbs, 6 oz (3 weeks old)
Thursday, September 10 - 11 lbs, 6 oz, 22-1/4" (5 weeks old)
Monday, September 28 - 13 lbs (8 weeks old)
At his one month visit, he was ranked 90th percentile on weight and length. Bryant was only ever 15th percentile on weight and 50th percentile on length. What a big baby!

Baptism and Blessing

Today, my boys are eight years old and eight weeks old. They're getting so big! Bryant is such a great big brother. He loves to hold Corbin and play with him. He insisted on me getting a picture of the two of them. Corbin loves Bryant, too. The other day, Corbin was lying on our bed and Bryant was acting crazy. Corbin was loving it! He kept giving Bryant the biggest smiles.
We've had a crazy month. Bryant and Corbin got to have all of their grandparents visiting at the same time. Boy, were they spoiled - I mean, loved. Corbin was cuddled and held all weekend long and my poor arms got to have a break. For some reason, Corbin decided the only guy he liked was his daddy. Every time we handed him to one of his grandpas, he would get upset. Once, we just mentioned handing him to his Grandpa Meibos and his face puckered up and his lower lip stuck out a mile. What a funny little boy!
On Saturday, September 5th, Bryant was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a great service. His grandmothers each spoke and his grandfathers witnessed. Even Corbin was very good and slept through the whole thing (much to the disappointment of my grandma, who was on baby-tending duty). Afterwards, we had a barbecue and Bryant opened a few presents - a baptismal plaque from Grandma and Grandpa Meibos, a new tie and some cool Legos from my parents and grandma, a CTR tie tack from Marshelle, and a new set of scriptures from Jeff and me. We're so proud of our kid!
Corbin had his blessing the next day at church. He slept through that, too. The tux was a little big on him, but he was so handsome! There was a mix up with the bishopric and they almost forgot to announce not only Bryant's baptism, but the blessing as well. The primary president had to send up a note with her son to the stand during the sacrament to remind them. If they hadn't done that, we would have just done it later. It's not like Corbin would have known the difference anyway. Of course, he wasn't too thrilled to have to wear the 'monkey suit', especially the jacket.
Bryant started school on the 24th of August. He's in the third grade now - can you believe it? I tried to get a good picture on the first day of school, but he kept looking at his brother, who decided he didn't want to be in the stroller at the bus stop. It was so nice to get back on a schedule. And Bryant is doing so well with his schoolwork. Most of his homework is done online and he's usually done in an hour or less. His Friday folders are filled with tests he's gotten 100% on. Oh, and I can't forget - he's read the first Harry Potter book on his own and has started the second. I've seen such an improvement in his work already. He's more focused and excited about what he's learning. It's going to be a great school year.