Reeves Go Road Trippin'

Sometimes when I have a ton of stuff I really need to get done, I get really overwhelmed and instead of doing those important things, I get distracted and do a bunch of things that don't particularly need doing. For example, right now I have approximately 439 errands to run, my house is a disaster, we have zero clean spoons in the house, and my baby is currently napping. So, logically I decided I should use this time to blog. In my defense, I never know if this kid is going to nap for 20 minutes or 3 hours, and I hate getting all invested in a project only to have my little cherub interrupt me and demand I feed him. Babies, man!

We got back yesterday afternoon from a wonderful trip to Utah to see both our families. I am already learning that once you have kids, you no longer go on "vacation", you go on "trips". It wasn't very relaxing and I rarely slept more than 5-6 hours a night, but it was so worth it to see our amazing families. The drive was perfect. It's a 10 hour drive, and Nate slept the entire time both ways. That is like the most he has slept since he entered this world. I am considering just asking someone to drive Nate and me around all night and I will lay in the back and sleep since apparently sleeping in the car is Nate's jam.

Anywho. We pulled into Logan on Saturday, played with the Reeves, and blessed baby Nathan on Sunday afternoon. It was such a perfect blessing. Cary blessed him that he would always have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that he would be smart and eager to learn, and that he would be a blessing to those around him with his light. It was a beautiful blessing and we were so happy we were able to bless him surrounded by so much family. Nathan was blessed in the arms of both of his grandpas and many of his uncles, and it was a sweet and tender day for our little babe.

With all of family that made it to the blessing

The Reeves (minus the little kids who went MIA for pictures)

Love those Reichmans! Thanks for driving out to be with us!

The men who helped bless Nate. What a lucky baby to have such great role models!

After the blessing, we took off for Snowbird! My only complaint about our time in Snowbird is that it was entirely too short!! And it is so dry up there that my poor baby got all congested and sounded like a sad little bulldog. Snowbird was full of eating, skiing, hot tubbing, games, and the general merriment of Christmas. There is nothing I love more than spending time with my family, and poor Cary always has to deal with a blubbering mess every time we leave them. On Christmas Eve, we read the Christmas story and sang Christmas songs, which is always one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Having a newborn baby boy at Christmas time has been so special. Whenever I look at my tiny little boy, I can't imagine how Mary felt. We are all dependent on Christ, and yet for a short time, He was dependent on her. The Savior of the world laid in her arms as a tiny little boy, and holding my own little boy really made the reality of His birth and His life sink in.

Cary was so excited to get Nate his very own Hobbes. It was pretty stinkin cute.

"We are going to be best friends, and I am going to eat your snout."

Grandma life is tough. 

Hanging out with gramps. Nate looks so much like my dad to me sometimes. I love it!

One of the best parts about having a baby is making them look ridiculous and laughing at them. 

I just can't resist the napping pictures. Those cuties.

Ahhhh, skiing was divine. It was a fantastic break from taking care of my babe, and being in the mountains just soothes my soul. 

We got Ryan this incredible beard balaclava for Christmas, and I was pretty proud of that excellent find. 

Nate got to meet Aunt Katie!! Snow was threatening to keep them from Snowbird, and I'm SO glad they got up there and we got to say a quick hello! Love my seester!!

Christmas morning cuties.

Sleepy Christmas morning family

Modeling my Christmas presents. Santa was digging the color purple this year, with my purple shirt, purple jacket, and purples sunnies. 

He was just killing me in his Christmas jammies!

Merry Christmas from the Reeves!

Oh that sweet little babe...

Matching Reich-women in our Christmas jackets!

Christmas day was filled with presents, delicious food, and seeing both of our families. We drove through a snowstorm to Logan, and it took an eternity, but Nate was a champ and slept the entire time once again. That kid is powerless to the hum of the engine and zonks out whenever we're in the car. I am serious about hiring someone to drive us around all night. It sounds like my only shot at ever sleeping through the night again. Any takers? Once we got into Logan safe and sound, we had a few fantastic days with all of the Reeves- the first time in ages we have all been together and the last time for a couple of years most likely! We played tons of awesome games, spent lots of time chatting and catching up, and just enjoyed all being under the same roof! Nate got to meet his cousin Matthew, who is 6 days older than him. It was so fun seeing our babies together and swapping mom stories with Sarah. When I met Sarah, I never could have predicted that our conversations would involve so much poop and nipple talk.

Meeting great grandma Peggy!

Nate has started smiling, but ceases immediately upon sight of the camera. So like his daddy already...

Oh goodness, I want to go outside in cold weather all of the time just so Nate can wear his fluffy suit!

Nathan and Matthew! These two are going to be the best of friends. And the two of them in their fuzzy outfits was just the cutest.

Happy Birthday to Cary! Nate is a little too young to help you with those legos right now... 

We were originally supposed to drive home on Sunday, but it was dumping snow along our entire route, so we opted to stay another day which I was super stoked about. We had a little mini birthday celebration for Cary with his family before we left, since we would be spending Cary's birthday driving home. We drove home on Monday and the weather was mostly fine, and once again Nate zonked out the whole drive. It was actually a really nice day- with our baby snoozing in the back, Cary and I were able to talk the entire drive and it was so great to be able to spend time with my hubby and reconnect. It was the most time we've been able to spend together uninterrupted since Nate was born! Thanks for sleeping the whole time, Nate! Baby of the year! He made up for his good behavior on the drive by barfing all over himself, me and my new Christmas jacket and the couch immediately upon arrival. We ate Cafe Rio for Cary's birthday dinner and in a true miracle, all of us were asleep by 9:30! And Nate slept 5.5 hours and I was one happy girl. Let's not talk about the second half of the night, because it would ruin the beautiful memories of being in my bed uninterrupted for that glorious stretch. And let's also not mention that I spent half of that time staring at the ceiling because my body thinks it's super fun to not sleep even when I'm so exhausted.

I think things are starting to look up for me and Mr. Nathaniel. For someone who knows what they are doing, Nate would probably not be that difficult of a baby. But man is he giving me a run for my money! He is doing loads better since we started him on some medication for reflux. Poor little man was puking nonstop, and crying every time he would spit up. He spent all night grunting and coughing and gagging, and was just generally uncomfortable all of the time. He is pretty long suffering about the ordeal, and doesn't usually cry much, but he is fairly restless and fussy, especially in the evenings and during the night. All of this made for one exhausted Amy. There was a spell there where I was sleeping maybe 4 hours a night and I was slowly coming unraveled. I took Nate to the pediatrician because I was at my wits end. Our pediatrician is in our ward and is a good friend, and she walked into the room and asked how I was doing, and I immediately dissolved into tears and whimpered, "Not good!". She let me cry in her office for a while and gave him some medication that seems to be helping a lot. And before you judge me for medicating my 7 week old baby, let me assure you that I've tried feeding him for less time and more often, burping him constantly, he sleeps on an incline, I hold him upright after feedings, and nothing was helping my sad baby. And if you tell me about an essential oil that would cure him, I will tell you somewhere you can feel free to stick that bottle of essential oils and it will not be comfortable. I told someone recently that we had Nate on reflux medication and they acted like I was giving him rat poison. Judge me after you haven't slept more than 2 hours straight in a month!

Being a mom makes me feel slightly bipolar- sometimes I am so completely in love and obsessed with our little guy that my heart feels like it could burst. Other times this feels like a terrible babysitting gig that will never end and I just want the real mom to come home so I can go back to my regular life. But I feel like things are slowly evening out and I am getting more used to having a tiny human around all of the time. I was supposed to have a week of clients the week before we left for our vacation, but that happened to coincide with the peak of crying and unhappiness, both from me and Nate, and I was really on the verge of seriously losing it. I texted one of my clients to tell her I wasn't sure I would be up to doing her hair, and she texted me back saying that my only job right now is to take care of my sweet baby and take care of myself, and nothing else matters. For some reason that text meant so much to me, and I felt so validated and liberated. I have felt a lot of pressure, probably mostly from myself, to be back to regular life- busy running errands, taking care of the house, working out, doing hair, and having a baby who naps at predictable times. I have felt so frustrated with myself and with Nate that just keeping my head above water has been such a struggle. But having someone else tell me it's okay to just snuggle my baby on the couch and let everything else fall to the side for now meant so much to me, and I'm taking her advice. So the dishes are still in the sink, the laundry still needs to be folded, but my baby is smiling at me today and I'm happy, and that means I'm doing everything right.

Baby overalls make it all worth it.

Tummy time is so tiring. I sure love that little guy.