Spencer's baby blessing- Trip to Boise-the final segment.

January 19, 2014
     The whole purpose for our trip to Boise was for one purpose, (besides eating maple bars and seeing our family) to have Spencer's baby blessing! I just really wanted family standing in that circle and Nate and I could think of 1, maybe 2 people we would have wanted if we did in Waynesboro. In Boise we had Nate, his dad and brother Aaron, my dad, my brother in law and my brother. Pretty powerful circle I thought.
     I had been asking Nate for weeks in advance if he was nervous and he kept saying "not yet." Which surprised me because if there's one thing I love about him it's his tender, emotional side (it's safe to say he cries as much if not more than me :) and I love him for it). That morning I asked him if he was nervous and he said maybe a little but not too bad. I was mostly nervous that our Spencer-baby wouldn't cooperate and would scream the whole time, which almost happened.
     Spence pretty much cried up until sacrament started and thankfully fell asleep shortly thereafter. As we sat down I leaned over to Nate and said, "I haven't been this emotional since I gave birth!" my eyes were already beginning to water. Apparently that was something I was NOT supposed to say.
     The blessing went perfectly and I had my other little brother help me write down the things Nate said because I knew I wouldn't get everything. Nate gave a very sweet blessing to our boy and we both cried through it all (my fault, I made him cry because I told him I was emotional). Nate blessed him that he would be a man of faith, he would be an example to his peers and brothers & sisters, he was blessed that he would seek after knowledge and have a desire to learn. It was such a perfect blessing for our boy, short and so sweet.
     Afterward, Nate told me he was doing just fine until I told him I was teary eyed and feeling emotional, he said that did him in and there was no way he was going to keep from crying after that comment. Sorry Nate, I didn't mean to affect you, I just wanted you to know how I was feeling! I got a little flack from everyone for that, I know better for next time.
     My only regret from the day, I wish I would have thought to get pictures!! We took one of our little family but I wish we had got one with my parents and Nate's parents. And especially one with Spencer, Nate, and Ken...but things were so crazy once we got home from church that it didn't even cross my mind or anyone else's I guess.

these boys are my best friends and I love them!

And then came Nate-ism #15.

An ongoing joke between me, Nate, and unbeknownst to him, his brother Jake. to see how long it takes him to acknowledge Spencer. We have told him the stats at birth, announced he was here, sent him pictures and Christmas card featuring Spencer, and usually mention his growth, so he knows Spencer exists, has just never made any mention of him. Well he happened to acknowledge another baby in the family and Nate and I were talking about this and looking at Spencer Nate says, "I guess we know who the least favorite uncle is, Aaron."

A SCARY Nate-ism #14.

Earlier this evening while Nate was at work I was making crazy noises at Spencer which would startle him. His eyes would get huge and bug out and he looked awful cute.
When Nate got home I was telling him about this and how I was trying to catch it on video.
Spencer was sitting in his bouncy seat so I bent down and made a weird noise at him to see if he would make his cute almost-scared-face. He had no reaction.
So Nate bends down and SCREAMS AHHHHHWAAAHHAWA!!!! right in poor Spencer's face! Spencer's eyes got big and he let out a big cry, took a deep breath, was silent much longer than usual, turned bright red, and then let out the BIGGEST cry! It was so sad, and also kind of hilarious...way to go dad! :)

yes, I realize we are the meanest parents ever.

Trip to Boise part 3- Spencer is 2 months old!

     On Thursday, January 16, Spencer turned 2 months old! We had his 2 month checkup (an shots) just before we left on our trip.
His stats were:
Height: 22.25 in
25%
Weight: 11 lbs 12 oz
46%
Head circumference: 15.5 in
66%

     The doctor kept commenting on what great head and neck control he had for his age which is surprising because he hates tummy time and we don't do it every day :/ She also told me he looks like a Spencer...whatever that means, guess we did pick the right name after all!
     He got 3 shots which I was very worried about since my sister warned me she always cries when her kids get shots. I did get teary eyed but that was it. And Spencey cried but not his blood curdling scream I was expected. I just held him and cuddled him for a minute and he was fine! Didn't even need to nurse to calm down. The receptionists were really loving on him at this appointment too and as we were checking out asked if they could hold him, it was really cute and they were really impressed to learn he had just gotten shots because he was so mellow!

     Spencer is getting so big and has been doing lots of smiling lately! And just this week he has started babbling and cooing at us which is my new favorite thing! In Boise he also started sleeping for 7+ hours at a time. That has been awesome! He is starting to outgrow most of his newborn clothes which is so fun to see, and he has lots of cute clothes he should start fitting into soon! He still loves the bath and loves to be held, in Boise we also found out he loves the bouncy seat my mom got so we took it apart and brought it back to Waynesboro with us!

     He is now 10 weeks old and alert for much of the day, he is not the greatest napper some days, but other days he can sleep for 4 hours in the afternoon! He is still not a fan of his own bed. We also think he may be already be teething, he's been a little grumpy and congested and just not his normal easy going self for a day or two, so I guess we'll know for sure in a few days!
     We sure love this baby!

Trip to Boise-part 2.

     Amazingly we picked a great week to be in Boise so we had good weather which made it even better. And we were lucky to miss the big east coast snow storm by one day. Once in Boise we had a lot of fun! Spencer met both his Oakes uncles, his Opa, and his aunt, uncle and Rice cousins. He even met his great-grandpa Oakes and great-grandma Schnupp. He met his grandma and grandpa Moeller and his favorite* Moeller uncle, he was a busy and popular guy! Nate and I also had lots of fun seeing all our family...thank goodness for skype!

meeting Aunt Katie for the first time...not impressed.

and grandma Lynne...

and cousin Lincoln...

and Uncle Brayden...

and Uncle Aaron...

and grandpa Bob...

and grandma and grandpa Moeller...

and Jeannie...

     Things we enjoyed in Boise:
- settling.
- watching Boise high basketball.
- playing with Spencer's cousins.

- talking with our families.

- going on walks.

- looking for the white dear.
- looking for, finding, and taking pictures of elk.

- eating maple donuts.
- eating fish tacos.
- eating snickers cake.
- eating.
- seeing lots of friends.
- Spence sleeping for 7-8 hour stretches.
- Spencer also really enjoyed staring at the fan, but Lindsey and Nate not so much.

     Things we didn't enjoy:
- forgetting half my breast pump and having to buy new pieces.
- Nate sleeping on the floor.
- having to suction Spencer's nose because he wasn't used to the dry air.

Trip to Boise-part 1.

     Early on after Spencer was born we decided we wanted to have him blessed in Idaho so that we could have family stand in the circle. Fortunately, Nate's parents were willing to make the drive from Tucson to Boise (again!) to be there which confirmed that this was what we wanted to do so we made a week long trip to Idaho!

January 14, 2014
     We flew out of Dulles airport in D.C. at 4pm. I was a little apprehensive to fly with such a young baby but everyone told me it was really easy when they are still very young. I'm sure we were such a sight to see getting to the check in counter. Between Nate and I's 4 hands we had; 3 rolling suitcases, a big duffel bag, a car seat, and Spencer's diaper bag, oh yea, and Nate had a backpack stuffed full about to burst...with a cooler bag hanging off the side. We were so relieved when we didn't have to lug most of that around the airport anymore!
     Going through security was interesting. I had a bottle of breastmilk with us that naturally had to be thoroughly inspected. 2 different people shook it up and examined it, then they put it in some sort of machine, I don't know what all happened. Eventually we got it back all shaken up. My mom thinks they should have just tasted it. ;)
     A funny thing happened on the little subway train to the concourse for our gate. Spencer was still sitting in his car seat with the cover over it so no one would see him but us. We sat down and a lady sat across from us. After a minute in a completely bored and monotone voice she says, "do you think your baby is gonna have red hair?" I smiled and told her I wouldn't be surprised but that so far he's just really blonde. She just stared not smiling or anything and then says "oh" like she was disappointed.
     Spencer did super great on the airplanes. Our first flight from D.C. to Denver was about 4 hours and I was very anxious because I just wasn't sure how he would do. But he nursed and slept almost the whole time and never was fussy for more than just a second. We were very impressed with how great a traveler he was.

on the plane.

    One thing that DID stink about that plane ride, is there is absolutely NO leg room! Why do airplanes not give you even 1 more inch? I thought my legs were squished and then there's my 6'5 husband with his knees jammed into the medal pieces of the seat in front of him. And then, why do people find it necessary to lean there seat backs the entire 2 inches, it can't possibly make it THAT much more comfortable. But of course, the person in front of Nate did which made him that much more uncomfortable, and unable to get in and out of his backpack. To say it was an uncomfortable 4 hours is an understatement.

layover.

     Our second flight from Denver to Boise was a little better. First, it was an older airplane so the seats were bigger AND farther spaced so Nate's knees weren't pinned to the seat in front of him! Then, it was a pretty empty flight so we all had basically a whole row to ourselves and that awesome because we could bring our car seat on, and then had room to spread our stuff out a little bit.

layover.

     We were a little delayed coming out of Denver so it was pretty late getting to Boise. I don't think we got to my parents house before midnight but then of course we all stayed up talking and admiring Spencer. His Oma and Opa loved having him there.

   

Nate-ism #13.

Eating peach yogurt.

Lindsey: That was really good peach ice cream, I mean yogurt. Why do I keep calling it ice cream?
Nate: Because it's so good it tastes like fro-yo. Only it's not frozen so it just tastes like......yo.....




And just because, here's a picture of our boy in a baby tuxedo.