New Years

So in the spirit of the new year coming up I thought I would write down some of my resolutions. I have never been a big "resolution" kind of a person but it's never to late to start.  2011 has been a really good year. I had a baby, bought a new car (which desperately needed to happen), my sister got married and my brother in law went on a mission to Japan. So I am hoping that 2012 will be equally as good. Trent will turn 1, my husband will turn 28 (weird) and hopefully our future will become a little more secure. I think one of the reason's why I don't really like resolutions is if I don't accomplish them, I feel like a failure. But it can't hurt to try! So my resolution list for 2012 is:

1.  Loose weight. I only have 10 pounds to be at what I was before I had Trent but I carry my weight differently now and it makes me depressed because my jeans fit differently which makes me feel like a hippo.

2. Start cooking more. Before I had Trent I would cook every day except for twice a week and I really enjoyed it. I still enjoy it now but with Trent and working it's really easy not to.

3. This kind of goes hand in hand with the cooking more and loosing weight but create a healthier lifestyle so Trent grows up being healthy.

4. Be more laid back. I have already been working on this but I could do a better job.

5. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Not everyone is doing things on purpose to piss me off. 

6. Be a better person (aka better wife, mom, sister, daughter).

7. Make a budget and try to stay with it. The making part isn't hard for me it's the staying with it. 

8. When the weather is warmer, go outside more. Trent loves being outside and I can't wait to take him to a park. 

9. Try and be more appreciative of Utah because I honestly really struggle with this one. I'm not the biggest fan especially during the winter months but it does have it's perks. One being it's a pretty cheap place to live.

10. Have a better attitude about things and realize life's meant to be enjoyed. 

I know these are very basic resolutions but they are one's I hopefully can work on to make 2012 an awesome year. I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year's!!

A Christmas story

 

Trent's first Christmas was a success! He didn't really understand what was going on and he was more excited about the wrapping paper and boxes (which I knew he would be) but it was still so much fun seeing his faces. He got a TON of new toys. We were especially excited for the walker that he got because he has been walking along side basically anything he can and so this will help him with the motion of putting one foot in front of the other. I know I shouldn't be pushing him walking as much as I am but he gets so frustrated that I know he will be happier that he's walking even though I probably won't. He also loves this little baby piano that we got him and this light up phone. Christmas came and went way to fast, as it always does, and I can't wait until next year already! Next year will be way more fun because he will understand things a little better. A little Christmas present for me from Trent was him being able to do the hand motion of "more". I have been working on baby sign language with him and one day I did it and then he did it right after me! It was so cool to see him put the two together. He has been doing it every day since and it's so exciting. We have been working on "all done" for a while and he watches me very intently when I do it but doesn't quite have the had motion down yet. But "more" is enough for me right now! If that's all I got for Christmas that would have been fine with me. For Christmas this year we went up to my parents house and it was really fun to be up there with all my family. We all spent a couple of days up there and even though it was really loud we always have the best time. I love my family so much and am so thankful for them. I love them more than anything in this world and am so glad I have them! I love how much we laugh when we get together and how many good memories we have. I love Christmas and the spirit it brings and am sad it's already gone but now on to the next thing which is Eric's birthday. I can't believe he is turning 28. What an oldie!

I don't want no nudies

Last weekend my Mom, sisters and I went down to Vegas for my sister Jessica's birthday. Her birthday is in November but her husband bought us all tickets to Phantom and a hotel room at the Paris hotel. I was super stoked since I had never been to Vegas before. (Obviously when we drive down to Southern Cal we drive past it but we never stop and look around.) It was a quick trip just like Disneyland. We drove there Thursday and came back on Saturday. Everyone told me to be prepared as there are basically naked girls and smoke every where and man were they right. By the end of Friday I seriously could not handle the smoke smell anymore. That and the STUPID PEOPLE ON EVERY FREAKING CORNER TRYING TO GIVE ME A CARD WITH A NAKED CHICK ON IT. I yelled at one of them "I DON'T WANT NO NUDIES." The best was my oldest sister Jamie screaming "If I want to look at boobs I'll look at my own!" Stop trying to get me to go to a club and stop trying to get me to take your nasty cards cause it ain't gonna happen. Just let me walk in peace and enjoy my time! Anyways, other than that Vegas was a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing the fountains at the Bellagio, the decorations inside the Bellagio, the lions at MGM, the M&M factory, the Venetian (which I think was my favorite hotel) and everything else. Our room at the Paris was awesome and the best part was the Sugar factory which not only had everything sugar you could imagine but it had an amazing restaurant. The other really fun place we ate was in the New York New York. It was this sports place that had giant tv's and good food. Phantom was seriously SO good. I recommend everyone seeing it. I had seen it before when I was 8 in San Fransisco so I didn't have the best memories of it but I had obviously seen it recently because we own the movie. Anyone that hasn't seen it live should because it is 10 million times better live. Overall it was one of the best weekends of my life. I love getting together with my mom and sisters because we are always laughing super hard and having such a fun time when we do. We always are silly and goofy and it's so fun just to let loose. I know we won't always be living this close so it was a wonderful memory that I will always have.

The inside of the Bellagio

Turkey Day

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Southern California to visit Eric's family. I was so excited and ready for the 70 degree weather but I was not excited on how we were getting there. Instead of paying a ton of money and flying we decided it would be smarter to drive. Which meant a 10 hour drive with a 7 and a half month old baby. So we packed up and left at 12:00 in the afternoon and to my delight Trent did pretty good except at the very end. 9 1/2 hours of driving + sitting in traffic for 45 min = a MAJOR melt down. He ended up crying himself to sleep despite all of my efforts in trying to calm him down. So needless to say I was really happy when we finally made it to Eric's house. It was a wonderful, relaxing, uneventful week filled with mouth watering food, family and warm weather. It's always so fun to get away from it all and not have to worry about anything. Trent loved it because obviously Eric's parents house is a ton bigger than our tiny apartment which meant Trent had a ton of room to play and crawl around. He loved being with his aunts, uncles and especially Eric's mom. She would sing this one song in french to Trent (no she's not french but just took a lot of french classes) and every time she did Trent would always get super calm and just stare at her. It was really cute. I was really worried because he is getting into the stranger danger age and he is really shy but he took to Holley (Eric's mom) really fast. As always Thanksgiving day was so awesome and I stuffed my face way to much but loved every minute of it. It was really weird not having Eric's younger brother Troy there because he is on his mission in Japan but Troy had sent home pictures so that helped. Before I knew it the week had passed and it was time to come home. I was really anxious about the drive back but we decided we would try something different. Instead of leaving at 12 in the afternoon we left at 3 in the morning and it was so much better. Trent basically slept the whole way and It was a much easier drive. I hate that we only get together with Eric's family twice a year but with all of our schedules it gets to hard to try and get together more than that. Especially since the next time we see them Trent will be over a year old. He is already pulling himself up and walking along side the couch and can stand up for about 3 seconds without any support. We still don't have any teeth yet but I'm sure they will come in soon. Sorry this isn't the most exciting post, I never take pictures when I go to Cali mainly because we don't really do a whole lot. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now on to the BEST PART OF THE YEAR. Christmas. Oh yeah I was so stoked for Christmas that the night we got home from Cali I put up our Christmas lights and decorations even though I was so exhausted. I LOVE CHRISTMAS.

7 months

I can't believe it has been 7 months already...well almost. He is 7 months on the 14th and it's crazy how fast time is flying.

He weighs 20 pounds and is in the 82nd percentile

He is 27.75 inches tall and is in the 78th percentile

His head is 17.63 inches and is in the 66th percentile

He has been army scooting for about 3 weeks now and can get up on his knees and crawl a little but then just falls flat on his stomach. I think he is more interested in standing up now.

He can pull himself up to a standing position with the couch cushions. I think he will be like his dad and skip the crawling on all fours stage and go right to walking. Eric was walking by 8 months and I have a feeling Trent is going to follow in his fathers footsteps.

He talks all the time but growls a TON too. 

He is a little shy with strangers at first but will still give smiles.

He LOVES eating solids. Pears, Oatmeal and Cinnamon are his favorite right now. When he doesn't want to eat anymore he growls to let me know he's done.

He LOVES his Dad and will be fussy with me all day sometimes and then the second he sees Eric he gets all happy and giggly.

He has been sleeping in his crib for naps for about 2 months now and it has been awesome!

He doesn't have any teeth yet.

I am so excited to see what the next three months bring! I love my Trenty Trent. (That's what my nephew Kayden called him once and it kind of stuck).

Trick or TRENT!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Growing up it was awesome because we never really had to worry about weather because it's California and the weather is amazing all the time so this year I was really grateful that it wasn't butt freezing cold like it normally is. Although I probably should have stayed home because I have a cold but I wasn't going to let that stop me from enjoying Halloween. So even though I was sick I made cupcakes, got dressed up and went Trick or Treating! We headed up to Jessica's house in Daybreak (which by the way is the best place to Trick or Treat because they have a lot of rich people who live there and hand out full size candy bars. SCORE) ate some dinner really fast and headed out. Trent only lasted a little while before he fell asleep on my sister Jamie but it was the funniest thing to go up to the houses and watch his reactions to everything going on. He mostly just stared and would occasionally smile but he didn't cry so I would call his first experience a success. We did get some stank eye from people because they realized basically we were getting the candy for us since he was to young to eat it but hey..I didn't care! I can't wait until next year when Trent is older and he can walk from house to house and understand what is going on a little better. All in all Halloween was a wonderful/exhausting night. 

 Eric and I made these. Jack Skeleton, a Mickey mummy and an eye. First time ever making Halloween cupcakes..hopefully next year they will look better

Trick or Trent! 

 I was batman and Jessica was a BYU Cougar

 Best part of the night: Jaden running from house to house yelling "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue" while shooting his gun.

 Can't believe all my nephews and nieces are getting so big!

After a not so long night of Trick or Treating.

Now it's on to getting everything ready to go to Cali for Thanksgiving. I CAN' WAIT!

Disneyland

This past weekend my mom, sisters and I took a really short but awesome trip to Disneyland! It all started with a phone conversation my older sister Jessica and I had about how we hadn't been in a long time (4 years..that's a long long time for Jessica and I) and how we both had really been wanting to go. Up until a year after I got married I had gone to the d-land 4 straight years in a row! Seriously so awesome you have NO idea. My sister Jessica and I are hardcore d-landers and don't need a map of the park because we have been so many times we know the park by heart. Anyways..after talking to the rest of the sisters and Mom we figured U.E.A. weekend (for those living in Cali I had no idea what that was either as we don't have U.E.A. It's basically something for teachers and it means students get Thursday and Friday off of school) was the best since Jamie (my oldest sister) is in nursing and actually got those days off. We set the plan in motion and I couldn't wait! I was a little anxious about leaving Trent for the first time but new it would be a good mom re-charge and It would be good for him and Eric to spend some quality bonding time. The day finally came to leave and man the drive down to So Cal was the funnest drive I have ever taken. All I did was laugh for 9 straight hours. It was so nice to have it just be the sisters all together again without kids and husbands (not that we don't love the kids or the hubby's). No one can make me laugh like my sisters and I love being with them. It was a very short trip as we left Thursday at 2:00pm, got up Friday and went to d-land all day, then got up the next morning at 4:00am and drove home. It was a whirlwind of a weekend but one of the funnest I have had in a long time. I love my family!

I am SSSOO sad this picture is blurry because we totally made these faces on purpose and we all look hilarious! Best picture of the day for sure.

Life

Sorry I have been m.i.a guys It's been crazy and well I have been lazy. So to get you up to speed here are some things that have been going on in the Monson house. 

After 6 months Trent has decided he no longer wants to nurse. Trent usually eats every 3 hours during the day so a couple of weeks ago when he was getting fussy around 2 hours after eating and waking up a ton at night I wasn't really sure what was going on so I decided I should pump to see how many ounces he was getting to see if that was possibly the issue. I have always been a cow and had more than enough milk for him. On more than one occasion I would pump and get 7 ounces out of one breast. Yeah I really did feel like a cow. So when I pumped and only got 2 ounces out of each breast I was shocked.  No wonder this kid was fussy/cranky. He wasn't getting enough and he LOVES to eat. So we had the wonderful task of trying to transfer him from the breast to the bottle.When Trent was a baby I had given him a bottle with my breast milk about once every other day to keep him use to a bottle but after 3 months he decided he didn't want a bottle and only wanted breast. He is a stubborn little man. None of Trent's transitions have been easy so I was dreading this one. But found that it went pretty smooth. It took only a week of mixing breast milk with formula and after that he was hooked. He loves his bottle and gets super excited every time I come around the corner with it in my hand. At first when I realized I needed to give him formula I was really bummed. I have really enjoyed nursing and that special bonding time with Trent but I am super excited to be able to FINALLY sleep on my stomach and to not feel like I am on call every 3 hours. But at least I did it for 6 months. 

Anyways...this last weekend I went with my Mom and my sisters Jessica and Nicole to Gardner Village. To bad we went on Witch's Night and it was packed! Gardner Village is always packed but it was the craziest I have ever seen it. It was fun though because they had music playing and a ton of people dressed up. Sadly my oldest sister Jamie couldn't come because she's in nursing school and she has no life. But as always it was a ton of fun. I was a little disappointing that the shops didn't seem to have as many things in them but it was still awesome. 

Well my little bug is 6 months and 19.8 pounds! He has his doctors appt and shots next month so it will be exciting to see how much he has grown. He is army crawling all over and I know it's just a matter of time before he starts really crawling. He is every where! He is so fun and I love every minute of him! 

That's a little on what has been going on with us. We have been busy with work and life and the changes that come what feels like every day. This weekend my mom, sisters and I are driving down to Cali on Thursday  going to Disneyland on Friday and then coming right back home on Saturday and I am SSSOOO excited! It's the first time I will be leaving Trent for 2 nights and I am nervous but I know it will be good to have a mommy re-charge. I will try and take pictures but you know me..I'm kind of bad at those things. I can't wait! It's going to be such a fun trip. Us girls have never done anything like this before so I am beyond excited. And I love Disneyland and haven't been in like 3 years. SAD I know.

A typical day in the life of being a Mom.

I saw this article posted on a friends blog and LOVED it. It makes me really frustrated how the world thinks that being a stay a home mom isn't hard and that the only way to be accomplished is to work. I can't explain it better than this mother so I won't even try but let's just say we mother's don't just sit at home and eat bon bon's all day. I WISH. 

Carolyn:

Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .

Okay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.

Tacoma, Wash.

Relax and enjoy. You're funny.

Or you're lying about having friends with kids.

Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, 

because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.

Internet searches?

I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. 

To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.

So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, 

constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. 

It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, 

or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. 

Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself.

5 months

My little monster is 5 months old! I can't believe it! His hoodie says monster for sale or rent and it's actually his dads! Eric wore that when he was that age and I was so excited that Trent could finally fit into it well kind of. It's a little big but oh well. Here are the stats for Mr. Trent:


Weight: 18 pounds and in the 80% 
Height: 27 in and in the 88% 
He rolls over from stomach to back and back to stomach

He is ticklish EVERYWHERE. His chunky thighs, back, tummy. You start tickling him in any of those spots and he will just go crazy and start laughing. 

He LOVES food. Prunes, oatmeal, rice cereal, apple sauce. We are slowing adding more but probably not fast enough for him.

He is still so chill and will play either in his bouncy chair or under his play mat all day if he could.

He loves going for walks and I try to get him out as much as I can.

He talks non stop and has picked up growling. If he can't fit a whole toy in his mouth he will just start growling to try and fit it in.

He isn't the best sleeper (as you can see in the post below) BUT I am happy to report he is sleeping much better. I don't know what was going on but he is doing 4-5 hour stretches in between eating at night now.

He eats every three hours.

The only time he gets real fussy still is when he is hungry or tired which is a lot these days as I am transitioning him from being held for naps to his crib. He's not liking it AT ALL.

He kind of already has a little attitude. If I need to change him into a different outfit and he has a toy in his mouth and I take it away for a second he gets frumpy. 

He loves Elmo's world and anything electronic. I have a feeling I am going to have to limit his t.v. intake as he probably could watch it all day.

I could go on and on about my little man and it is so fun seeing his personality really starting to come out. Even though some days I am exhausted I can't get enough and just love him more and more every day. Being a Mom is the greatest!

Calling all Moms!

HELP! Trent is the sweetest happiest little boy but his sleeping habits are HORRIBLE. He is almost 5 months old and sleeps in his crib. He has slept in his crib since day 1 and at around 2 months he started sleeping pretty good through the night. Then we went on vacation when he was 3 months and the only way he would sleep at night was with us in our bed. I really didn't want to put him in bed with us but I had to get sleep. I came back from those vacations and I started a night time routine where I would feed him and rock him and then I would put him down. In the beginning it was a transition and a little rough but he started sleeping 4 hours and then would wake up and feed and then sleep 4 hours again. Then about 2 weeks ago he started sleeping from 10-5 and would feed and then would go from 5:30-7:30 or 8. Now this last week he has been waking up every 2 hours and when he does wake up he is wide awake. He plays with his blanket, his toes and looks around. I go in and put his pacifier in his mouth and touch his hands and he goes back to sleep, I leave the room and then 5-10 min later he wakes back up again and I go in and start the routine all over. Sometimes it takes me 4-8 times to do that until he falls back asleep and sometimes it only takes me 2 times. Last night I was up with him for 2 hours. This also happens when I put him down for the night. An hour after I put him down he wakes up and does the same thing where he will go back to sleep and then 5-10 min later he's awake. It's really frustrating that I can't just put him down for the night and then go to bed myself because a half an hour or an hour after I put him down he wakes up. I don't eat sugar before bed and I give him pro biotics every day. I am at my wits end as I just got mastitis and now have a really bad cold. Also he doesn't sleep in his crib for naps which isn't something that I planned and I was going to try and transition him but I have been sick and don't have the patience. He takes about 4 naps a day. Usually two 1 and a half hour naps and then 30-50 min naps for the other 2. I just am not sure what to do. I am so tired! I need suggestions/advice/ if this is normal. If this doesn't make sense it's because I am so exhausted/sick that I can't really think straight.

Update

Hey guys sorry I have been M.I.A. but life has been a little crazy! With vacations, work and Trent my life has been going at such a fast pace that I haven't had time to blog. So here is a quick update. 

Oregon was AMAZING! I had forgotten how green it is and I loved loved every moment of it. Burgerville was as good as everyone said it was and Camp 18's cinnamon rolls really were as big as my face. While we were up there we went to a lake house and on the way we stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory which wasn't as fun as it could have been just because we think Trent has a food allergy to dairy which meant I couldn't eat any cheese or ice cream :( BUT I was able to eat this really yummy raspberry sorbet. The things we do for our kids.. Any who..the lake house was such a blast! Besides Trent not sleeping well (that is an entirely different story) it was so nice to just relax. We hung out, rented ski doo's and played games. I haven't been on a ski doo in like a billion years so it was way exciting. Eric and I decided when we are billionaires we are going to own some. The week defiantly went by way to fast and before we knew it we were home. Here are some pictures of the trip!

It doesn't look as big as it is in person. 

(

 LOVE this face.

About 6 days after we got back from Oregon off we went to Cali for Eric's little brother's mission farwell. Troy got called to the Fukuoka, Japan mission. It was really special to be there and support Troy. He gave a wonderful talk and we miss him already. While we were there Trent had his first experience with swimming and he LOVED it. He could have stayed in the water all day if we would have let him. It was also Trent's first time at the beach. It was overcast and cold so unfortunately he wasn't able to feel the sand but it's just an excuse to go back.

By the end of our Cali vacation, I'll admit, I was ready to come home. Vacationing isn't the same with kids. Its just as wonderful but a little more exhausting and with our vacations so close together it was nice to be in our own beds and back to the usual routines. After all the vacations work was a little insane and finally life is starting to settle down a bit. I am sad that summer is ending especially since it's my favorite time of the year but I am ssoo excited for football, Halloween and Christmas. Trent has his 5 month check up and second round of shots so a Trent update will be coming soon!

Vacation!

 I am so excited because in a week we will be going up to Oregon for a family reunion. I haven't been to Oregon since I was in high school so it's been a LOOONGG time. For those who don't know, my mom and Eric's mom grew up together in Oregon so it's extra exciting because I will be able to visit where they grew up for the first time. Every time we go to Oregon we either go to Beaverton or the coast but never Forest Grove. I am a little anxious about flying and being away from home with Trent for the first time but I am sure he will do great. I know Eric's grandparents are really excited to meet Trent as he is their first great grandchild. I can't wait for all the fun times. 

 I have never been here but I hear they have the best burgers. We will see if they are better than In N Out.

 Ever since they were on this TLC show I have always wanted to go here.

 Also some place I have never been but I hear they have really good food.

The gorgeous Oregon coast. Nothing else like it.