LA Christmas

We've been able to do a few Christmasy things so far while we've still been in LA.  First we went and looked at the Christmas lights.  It was a lot colder than I thought it would be so I ended up wearing Oskar in the carrier which turned out well because it kept both of us warm.

This is the house with the huge creepy Santa.

Then we had a Christmas party at our apartment that was a lot of fun.  We decorated it with decorations we scrounged up from various people and Joel made his special eggnog.  It was a lot of fun!

 

Lastly we had a ward Christmas party where Santa came!  Oskar wasn't too scared.  The Primary did a live nativity that I helped with and Joel was the narrator.  Our ward goes all out for ward events and this was no exception.  The food was amazing and the decorations looked professional, it probably was professional now that I think about it.  It's been so fun having Oskar's first Christmas and we're excitd that it has only begun.  Oregon, here we come!

BuhKACK

Birthday and Shenanigans

This is the only picture we got that has anything to do with my birthday.  I had to work on my birthday so Joel made me breakfast that morning and got me some books.  One of the books he got me is The Story of the Chinaman's Hat.  It was one of the books Grandma had that I loved.  Now I can read it to Oskar even though it's too long and he can't sit still.  Anway, my friend Halley sent me that giant chocolate bar for my birthday and we set it up next to our gifts of the Magi display.

This has nothing to do with my birthday, it's more of a shenanigan.  One week Joel and I were fighting what seemed like every night and so one night I told him he made me mad and he needed to fix it, and this is what he did.  It totally worked.  Every time I look at this picture I start laughing.  His theory is that mermaids are fish on the bottom and human on the top but mermen are the opposite, fish on the top and human on the bottom.  Hilarious.

I've done two crafts recently, both done hastily without detail or patience.  I like doing crafts a lot but I can't seem to care too much about how they come out.  The first was this done after the likeness of Kelsey's  wreath.  I didn't end up buying enough ornaments and I didn't want to go get more so this had to work.  It's just a little lopsided.  But Oskar likes it and thinks he can plug the glue gun into it, I have no idea where he got that idea.

The second craft was these blasted curtains.  This project was terrible.  I hate sewing.  HATE IT!  I don't have the patience for it.  I wanted to stab the sewing machine with the scissors over and over.  I was so mad I about peed my pants in anger.  I eventually got them done but by the end I was so fed up I didn't care what they looked like so it's a good thing the picture is far enough away or else you could see the terrible workmanship.  But now that they're done and hung up I like the affect they have in our  room, it definitely brightens it up and adds some much needed color.  The fabric actually reminds me of something my Barbie wore, which isn't necessarily a good thing, just something I remembered that you probably don't care about.

And here a few pics of The Precious just for good measure.  His hair looks reddish here but I assure you, it's not.  I think it's just the warm reflection off of his scalp.

Thank goodness he's feeling better!

 

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we planning on going to Grandma and Grandpa B.'s in Arizona.  We were going to leave Wednesday night and drive all through the night so Oskar could sleep.  But that morning Oskar woke up with a cold that he must have gotten from another baby he was around earlier in the week.  So we all decided it was probably a good idea to stay home and not risk getting G&G sick.  But it was really disappointing.  So for the second year in a row we stayed in LA for Thanksgiving.  This year we went to a park and had a picnic lunch complete with turkey sandwiches (we splurged and got the expensive and delicious Tillamook cheese), baby oranges, and crackers and cheese.  We were invited to Thanksgiving dinner by some friends but we didn't want to get anybody sick.  We did end up going to our friends' place for a little while to have pie.  Hopefully next year we can at least make it out of the city.

I love this picture.  It looks like Oskar is trying to be funny.

Then a week later Oskar got infected again!  This time with a much much MUCH worse sickness.  It was complete with diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, not eating, sleepless nights, and a visit to the ER.  It was so terrible.  And about halfway through the disease week Joel came down too and he couldn't help me take care of Oskar.  After about a week and much much worrying (I think I called Jared four or five times (he's going to get annoyed sooner or later)) he started to feel better.  And then another couple of days later he was back to normal.  It was preeeeetty rough though.  After all that just dealing with his normal eating issues are a piece of cake.
We are the stripe family, the Starburst stripe family.

He was not feeling well.  It was very sad.

But he feels better now!  And loves to take baths.

Caught on Tape

An accident?  Probably.  But it still makes me happy to hear it.  The GI doctor said reflux can damage babies' speech and hearing but it doesn't seem to have affected Oskar's.  Thank goodness.

Walking: The Beginnings

Crawling for Real

Baby Ursula

This is Mom's (Grandma) fave.

Halloween 2012

We are the Marx Brothers!  I'm Chico, Oskar is Harpo, and Joel is Groucho, of course.  We went to our ward Halloween party and only the older people knew who we were, who knows what everybody else thought.  But Oskar kept the wig on nearly the whole time and was a big hit.  I had people coming up and asking to take a picture with him.

I hope Oskar has curly hair because this is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

We tried it with a hat but couldn't figure out how to keep it on so we just went without.

Halloween Preview

This is a preview for Oskar's Halloween costume. 

Besides his eating issues he really is a happy easygoing baby that is SO smiley.

And he is pulling himself up on EVERYTHING!

And pretty proud of it.

 

Laughing Video

Mom asked for more videos and I listen to my mother.

Oskar Jump Up

Little Crawler

He's a fast little guy especially when the bait is something he REALLY wants.

Things are going better since my last post.  Oskar is eating a lot better and hasn't thrown up regularly in probably two weeks now.  We're starting again attempting solid foods daily  and he's slowly but surely getting better.  He must have read my post and decided to get his act together for the sake of my sanity.  Good boy.

Nothing too new is happening with Joel and I.  I was working every morning taking a little girl to school but it got to be too much so I just have my CSUN job and freelance transcription stuff.  Joel is in the beginning stages of a web series for Red Bull and is still working on getting his book illustrated and eventually published.  It's still super hot here, unbearable really, but hopefully we've had the last heatwave before fall hits.  I love fall.  I love Oregon fall the most but California fall will do.  Mom and Keri and Kelsey are coming to visit me and the fabric district at the end of the month and in November Joel, Oskar and I will be going to Arizona to have Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa B.

Mama's Boy

What do you think?  The picture of Oskar is a little fuzzy because he won't hold still when he smiles but I think there are some similarities here. 

 

After my rant last night I feel better today and realize things are going to be okay and I probably need to take a chill pill.  So here is the happy post after the crazy post.  Here is my baby who really is very sweet and precious (except his eating habits) who makes us laugh a lot.  His latest talent is clapping his hands which I'm sure means he's super smart.  He still doesn't have any teeth but I think at least one will be coming in soon.  He likes to sit on the couch facing the window that looks out on to a busy street and stare at all the cars going by.  He likes his highchair, perhaps too much, and scoots around like nobody's business.  His hair on top is growing longer and kind of sticks up so it makes the top of his head look even pointier than it already is.  He can now fit into 6 month clothing which I'm excited for because I've got a lot of cute outfits in store.  9 months is going to be a problem because I don't have hardly any clothes for him in that size.  He says ba and ma and makes random sounds a lot and screams occasionally.  He's precious and I love him and I feel bad for getting so frustrated with him.                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

8 months old

Oskar is 8 months old today and I really feel like I'm going to lose it.  He's taken a turn for the worst when it comes to eating.  He resists EVERY SINGLE feeding to the point where he is screaming and writhing and jerking his body when I try to give him the bottle.  If he's not half asleep we have to literally pin his arms and legs down to get him to take any of the milk.  And if he does take the milk, at least one feeding a day he throws right back up, usually all over me and this sometimes happens multiple times a day but hardly ever does it not happen at all during the day.  It's driving me absolutely crazy.  I'm half tempted to just let him starve and see how he likes it.  He also won't eat solid food anymore either.  I sit him in his highchair and he won't even put his head up when I bring the spoon to his mouth.  He won't stop playing with his tray and highchair to eat. And if I do manage to bring his head up for a half second to where I can literally shove the food in his tightly sealed mouth, he will spit it out.  I was looking online to see what it said about babies who wouldn't eat and all it had were comments that made me even more mad.  Their babies are 16 or 17 pounds (Oskar is maybe 14) and younger than Oskar and eating more than Oskar and they have no idea what it's like to actually have a baby who doesn't weigh much and won't eat.  I'm very frustrated and I don't know what to do and I wish I had happy positive things to say right now but I'm about to blow my brains out.

Plus we don't have a doctor to go to.

Ryan Darton

Our friend Ryan just recorded his album and has been touring around playing rock shows like nobody's business.  Here is a music video to one of our favorite songs, one that Joel sings constantly.  Take a listen and see how awesome he is!

Here is his website: http://ryandarton.com/

Food, Costumes, and Sitting

Oskar is growing up and doing a pretty good job eating solid food.  I've introduced almost all the vegetables and he likes them I think.  Fruit he's not as fond of which doesn't make sense to any of us.  Luckily we have someone else in the house who will finish the fruit if Oskar doesn't.  We don't have a booster seat/high chair yet so this is why he's eating in his bouncy seat with a blanket on it.

I found this swimming suit recently on clearance and thought it would make a good costume AND a good swimsuit, his head won't even get burned.  (Not that it would, I keep him well out of the direct sun so don't judge me.)  And this picture just happened because he is so grabby and immediately picked up my book once I set him on the couch.  I thought it fitting though.  Batman would have done a lot of good in Airstrip One.

Yay, sitting in the bumbo.  Now I have two places I can put him when I'm not holding him.  Next on the list is a Johnny Jump Up and Exersaucer.

Going swimming.  

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland this week!  It was so much fun!!  Joel's brother and his wife had extra days on their park passes so they gave them to to use for the last day, so we got in for free.  The only catch was they had names on them already so Joel was Karen and I was Sherry, the people letting us in didn't care because they were too busy looking at Oskar.  One of the many reasons why having a baby is awesome, they are a great distraction when we are breaking rules.                      
Here we are in line for Splash Mountain.  When I went to Disneyland when I was in high school this ride was closed down so this was my first time.  And I loved it.  I love rollercoasters, the bigger the drop the better.  What I don't love is things that are not real that pretend to be real, like taxidermy or ... animatronics.  Before getting on the ride Joel told me to make sure and keep my eyes open the entire time, he made me promise that I would because knew that I didn't know there were TONS of creepy animatronics on this ride.  So that was a shock for me.  And I definitely did close my eyes, but just for a little bit.  I got used to it after a while and wasn't scared anymore.

Another nice thing about having a baby at Disneyland is they let you do a Baby Swap.  Basically one person waits in line and goes on the ride while the other person stays with the baby.  Then when the first person is done they switch and the second person doesn't have to wait in line, they just get to go right away. It was awesome.  And if you're riding by yourself some rides have a separate line for single riders and that line is super fast as well.  But we went on Splash Mountain before we knew all this and I ended up waiting in line for about an hour and then we swapped and Joel got right on.  

Doesn't the guy behind them in this picture look a lot like Dad?!  Creepy.

Oskar was getting sad about being left out so when I was waiting in line Joel took him on Winnie the Pooh.  I think he threw up (not because the ride was bumpy or anything) and then started crying.  So I don't think he loved it.

 

It was SOO hot there, probably around 100 degrees.  So in the middle of the day we did things that would keep Oskar cool.  We went in a a lot of shops and got ice cream and watched the parade from inside.  Last time I was at Disneyland I didn't do all the calm rides so it was nice to do them this time.  Here is the Mark Twain.  It takes you on a 15 minute ride around the island.  It was really nice!

 

 

 

 

Oskar's first Disneyland trip.  He's so spoiled.  I didn't get to go until I was 17.  He gets to go at 7 months.

 

They let babies go on some surprising rides.  They let us take him on both Pirates of the Caribbean the Haunted Mansion, both of which are kind of creepy.  But he completely slept through the Haunted Mansion and was asleep at the beginning of Pirates but woke up when the boat takes a little drop.  We did get to take him on some other rides like The Bug's Life and The Little Mermaid.  I LOVED The Little Mermaid, it was my favorite kid ride.  

Yet another awesome thing about having a baby is the Baby Center.  It was awesome!  It looked like the nursery from Peter Pan.  There were old ladies working there that had old fashioned nanny outfits on that helped us.  They had stalls for women who nursed their babies, a room for changing baby's diapers, a place for people to lay down, a kitchen to prepare and warm bottle food, extra diapers, wipes, etc., and high chairs for feeding.  Plus it had AC and was sooo nice and cool.  We spent a fair amount of time in the Baby Center. I loved it.

This was earlier this week, Oskar's first time at the beach and seeing the ocean.  I put his feet in the water and he hated it.  Too cold I guess.