So we're back.....

We're back. We didn't end up going to Farmington. Gabe woke up this morning feeling rotten. He screamed and screamed unless 'mommy' was holding him. His nose was runny/stuffy, he had a mild fever, and was just totally miserable. So I called my mom to tell her that I didn't think that a trip to Farmington for the week was going to work out. If he was this miserable in his own bed/environment, I knew taking him out would throw a whole new dimension, and I knew he would be a wreck. (This decision was made after lots of crying, and feeling sad that we weren't going to make it).

However, we had Julia here, so we arranged to take her to Page and meet my mom. Cory was sweet and willing to come with us so that if Gabe kept up his fussiness I could take care of him while he drove, and the weather was crummy, so he was trying to help with that too. But by the time we got to Page I don't think Gabe had even fussed once - he was in fine spirits. I would have just driven to Farmington with my mom, but all I had was the clothes we were wearing, and 2 spare diapers....Yeah, we could have bought diapers in Farmington, but I wasn't up for outfitting the 2 of us with clothes/toiletries for the next several days. So we dropped Julia off, saw Gramma for a few minutes, and headed back to Cedar City.

And now we're home. The roads were rotten – VERY snow covered. I was glad Cory was driving. But we made it in one piece and managed to do our good deed for the day (Cory helped get someone out who spun off the road). Gabe was really good considering all the time in the car, and how yucky he felt this morning. I feel like an idiot with my decision to keep him home. Especially if tomorrow has gone as well as the last few hours have. But Julia knows that he was upset and didn’t feel well…..I just wish I would have known he’d be feeling better by now.

I feel lousy because I ruined everyone’s plans. I especially feel lousy because now other family members don’t get to spend time with him. I can’t even tell you the amount of guilt/frustration I feel about all of the family (Ellis and Rhien) not getting to see him more. I hate it. I really, truly hate it. He is really the one true joy in my life right now, and I want to be able to share him with everyone. I hope that over time I can get over this frustration – since we’ll probably always live some distance from everyone. It just makes me feel like I’m a bad mom/daughter/daughter-in-law because I don’t “share” him enough, and create opportunities for him to spend time with family. I want him growing up to know his family well, and feel comfortable with everyone.

I guess part of my frustration is selfish also. I really wanted to get out, and get away. I’ve just felt in a funk lately, and the stress is doing me in. I just needed a change of scenery, and a change of pace. I needed a time when I couldn’t work on stuff for The Blind Guy, when I couldn’t even worry about it because I was too far away to do anything about it. I wanted to take a trip that didn’t involve something for “work” – I don’t remember the last time that happened. I guess I wanted my own version of Spring Break.

So now I’m still hoping that Gabe feels better – I don’t want him to feel icky….but I also just feel stupid when I look at him smiling and laughing – when I know that he was screaming all morning (unless he was being snuggled by me). I hope we made the right decision, and I guess there will always be time for other trips to Farmington….

Love, Joanna

Aunt Ju-Ju

Julia told us that she hated being called Ju-Ju - but we thought that it would be easy for Gabe to say.....what do you think? Doesn't Aunt Ju-Ju have a cute ring to it? We've enjoyed having Julia here to visit for the last couple of days. It's her spring break, and she's spending some of it with us. Aren't we lucky? She's been so cute with Gabe, and he really has loved having her around. She makes him giggle really well, and they have had fun. It makes me sad and wish that we have more family around for him to get to enjoy.....

Julia, Gabe and I are hopping into the car tomorrow and driving back to Farmington. Gabe wants to see his Grandma and Grandpa Rhien - he hasn't seen them since Christmas time. He's grown up so much in the last couple of months, they'll hardly recognize him I think. We'll spend a couple of days there, and head back on Friday or Saturday (still not sure when). Cory will stay here and work on the many unending projects that he has going on (and most likely will start a dozen more while we're gone).

Speaking of Gabe - he's feeling sick. I have had a yucky head-cold the last few days, and I hoped he'd be lucky enough to avoid it. Unfortunately not so. Today he was so sad and fussy. All he wanted was for me to hold and snuggle him. Poor guy. I'm hoping that he'll feel up to the drive tomorrow. I'm praying that a day in the carseat will be just what he needs - plenty of nap time. Keep him in your prayers. We'll post more when we get back. Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Cory!

Happy 29th birthday sweetie! Hope you have a wonderful day!

We love you!

Playing around with some new digital kits I got on cd this week. I have found one thing I don't like about digital layouts. The other night I was working on one - and spent quite a bit of time on it. I was just finishing up the journaling, and my computer froze up and I lost everything I'd been working on. At least with paper scrapbooking you don't normally loose everything in a matter of seconds......Oh well.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Cory was super busy with a home and garden show in St. George this weekend (his 3 show in the last 3 weeks with more to come.) Poor Gabe doesn't get to see his daddy very often - but when he does it sure does make him happy. Hopefully some point in life Cory will be less busy and will be home more (although I don't see that happening anytime soon....)

Have a wonderful week!

3 months layout

Here's a layout I did tonight. Man I love this little guy! It is so hard for me to realize that he's 7 months old now. He is getting bigger by the minute, and when I look at these pictures I get so sad - I really wish he could stay small forever. As a mom will I ever get over that, or will I look at my 26 year old someday and wish he was a little baby all over again?

Baby Gabe

Just a layout I worked on with some of the great Making Memories stash I have. (THANKS JESS!) This is one of my favorite pics of Gabe - he just looks so sweet and innocent. I hope he can keep that look for years to come.

Thanks for looking - have a great day!

My cute sister

Just a very quick layout I did tonight on the computer. Not in love with it....I seem to have lost my "scrappin mojo" this week, I'm struggling to get anything to come together. Anyway, here's my cute little sis.

bedtime

Here's a couple of pictures of Gabe before bedtime in his cute jammies. I've decided I love the pjs from The Gap. They are so soft and cozy. Wish I could get some in my size :). Anyway, the poor little guy seems to be getting tired earlier and earlier every night. I think he's just so much more active - it just wears him out. He is sitting up all of the time now, and would rather be doing that than just about anything else. I don't think he'll ever crawl, because he is always sitting up. Surround him with toys and sit him down - and he's a happy camper!

SNOW

Since Thursday it's been snowing. Off and on, but it's managed to accumulate quite a bunch. The poor work van is back by the shop, and our installer was worried he couldn't get it out this afternoon to get to the job he had scheduled. (Luckily he didn't have to go because the people he was supposed to install were snowed in....) I hope they can get the poor van out Monday morning - it's going to be tricky.

Anyway, the world is covered in white. Gabe is fascinated by it - wish he was old enough to go play in it. Next year he'll love it. He got so excited yesterday morning that he wouldn't eat - he just wanted to look outside. For a while in the morning it was sunny, and I ended up bundling him up and taking him out while I tried shoveling (I have a new respect for Cory.....) He enjoyed the fresh air and watching the snow. He's going to be just like Cory.

Up until we've owned The Blind Guy Cory has been obsessed with the snow (now he's too busy/preoccupied with the business). When I used to get up before him he used to ask me every single morning from about October till April, "Did it snow last night? Did it snow??????" He was like a little kid at Christmas if it had - he was thrilled. It was cute. Maybe Gabe will follow in his daddy's footsteps and be obsessed with the snow.

A great quote!

I was working on my YW lesson for Sunday and I came across this quote and I LOVE it! I'm making it into a fridge magnet for all the girls.

“Be one who nurtures and builds. Be one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart, who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them” (Marvin J. Ashton)

Time flies!

I am blown away by the fact that time goes by so fast since Gabe's been born! It literally flies by at lightening speed. This last month has gone by faster than it should, and Gabe's growing faster than he should (at least according to his mom!) He is now 7 months old and cuter than ever. Today he was quite the chatterbox. He made the funniest squeals and excited noises. He loves sticking out his tounge and spitting - the noise makes him so happy. I don't mind it except when he has a mouth full of carrots.....kind of messy.

I guess that meant sleep too....

In my last post when I said that I may never get anything else done again, I guess that meant sleep as well....I was just going to look through some digital files before going to bed....and now I have another page done. Sheez! I don't know if I've scrapped 3 pages in one day in years - at least not since Gabe was born! This reminds me of when I started scrapbooking (10 years ago this year!!!) and I'd stay up for hours and hours at night scrapbooking. Back then I'd do like 10 pages in a night (with stickers, glue sticks, and stationery) and it was exciting. That's kind of how I feel now. Anyway, thanks for humoring me. This really, truly is the last one of the night!

I may never get anything else done again!

Now that I'm enjoying this digital stuff so much, I might not ever actually accomplish anything else again. Kind of scary! I love that I don't make a mess all over my scrapbook room, and that if I don't like how it turns out - I can hit "undo" on the computer. Fun! I have to admit that I've enjoyed avoiding other things I should be doing too - but hey, I can vacuum the baseboards tomorrow - they'll still be dirty! Here's one of Paul and Nicole on their wedding day.

Oh to be a Rhien!

Not colors that I'd normally use....kind of bright, but fun. It's a joke in our family "Oh to be a Rhien" (I know, all of you non-Rhien's are JEALOUS!)

Stalling....

Ok, so I'm stalling. I should be working on tax stuff for our company, but I don't want to. I don't want to spend precious Gabe napping time on doing something mundane like WORK. So instead I've been scrapping. It's scary how easy, fun, and addictive this digital scrapping can be. I can see me getting quite a bit done this way. I think I like it because it's different, and kind of a challenge. Not a challenge in that it's hard, but a challenge in that it's not something I do all the time. And yet, it has a sense of familiarity to it. Does that make sense? Anyway - here's today's layout.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Sweet

Gabe looked so great in this cute outfit he got from his Great Grandma and Grandpa Whisler that I had to snap a few pictures. And he's down for a nap right now so I took a chance to scrap them too. This digital scrapping could really be a blast!