Baby Blessing

Alex's baby blessing was such a special day. Dave and I began preparing the night before readying the house for guests and dinner. Sunday morning Dave baked cookies, I made icing, and we got Alex and ourselves ready for church. Dave did a great job on his blessing. It was wonderful to have so many family members there to support us. Alex was a little fussy while Dave was bringing him to the front of the chapel but after his daddy started talking he quieted right down. Afterwards we all crammed in our little condo for dinner. Thanks for coming everyone! (from Provo, Idaho, SL, and Midway!)

Have you ever...

... bought anything without looking at the price... because you were running through the grocery store with a crying baby?

I have.

I had never bought pine nuts before but thought they would be yummy and save me the time of making croutons on the salad I was bringing to "cousin dinner". (a monthly dinner my cousins and I have :)

Dave wasn't able to attend the dinner but when I got home he said, "Did you know the pine nuts you bought were $50 a pound?" WHAT!!! Good thing it was only .2 lbs, totaling $10. "I didn't even look at how much they were!" (Another answer he loved :)

Haha.

Happy Halloween!

Smiley Alex

Top photos are at 9 weeks, others are at 7 weeks

Yummy Pumpkin

Awesome Pumpkin Pancakes by Tricia Crandall

1 C          All Purpose Flour
1 C          Whole Wheat Flour (or 2 C All Purpose Flour)
6 Tbsp    packed Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp  Baking Powder
1/2 tsp     Baking Soda
Dash        Nutmeg
1 tsp        Cinnamon
1/2 tsp      Salt

1 2/3 C    Buttermilk
3/4 C       Canned Pumpkin
1 tsp        Vanilla
2 Tbsp     Butter

mix dry ingredients then add in wet. Heat skillet to medium and cook.

New love

On Friday Alex and I ran a ton of errands, one of which was to Bed Bath and Beyond where I bought my new love, a potato Ricer, it makes perfect mashed potatoes. The potatoes get pushed through tiny little holes and they are smooth, lump free, and ready to serve. No mixing or mashing required! In addittion to this amazing tool I have the perfect mashed potato recipe too from Food Network Star, Alton Brown.

Ingredients

•2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes

•1/2 cup heavy cream  (I use skim milk)

•4 ounces unsalted butter, cut into pieces

•1 teaspoon kosher salt

•1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Peel the potatoes and cut into uniform 1/2-inch pieces. Place into a 4-quart saucepan and cover with cold water by at least 1-inch. Cover, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the potatoes can easily be crushed with a pair of tongs, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Drain in a colander.
Put the cream, butter, salt and pepper into the now empty 4-quart saucepan and place back over the heat until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and set a food mill fitted with the smallest die, on top of the pot. Add 1 cup of potatoes at a time to the mill. Once all of the potatoes have passed through the mill, stir to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve immediately.

7 weeks

Here's what Alex has been up to:

-Sleeping, eating and a little crying at night
-Gone to church, the grocery store, cleaners, bank, and grandma's house
-Grew out of his newborn clothes
-Starting to coo and smile!
-Hair is growing back on the top of his head (he lost it at about 2 weeks)
-Still going through a ton of diapers
-Still isn't sure about his car seat
-Has rolled from tummy to back twice while napping
-Strong neck and legs, Loves to hold up his head and stand
-Sleeps in his crib and I always find him in a new spot when he wakes up
-Loves tummy time

baseball boy (onesie by becksta)

Cute Giraffe outfit (thanks Tricia!)

Cutest sad face ever (worst mom ever for taking pics of her crying baby)

Mommy play date- Cousin Ashley and me

Baby Alex and Big boy Benson

 

Tummy time

"Waaa!"

Sleepin' in the crib

Snug as a bug in a rug

Just the two of them...

How sweet is he???

 ... and how sweet are they together???

Hi Mom!

Oh... and I got new mommy hair :)

He's here

Baby Alex will be 3 weeks old on Monday! We love our sweet boy and are enjoying cuddling with him.

Here's a quick recap of Alex's entry into the world! 

My water broke on Sunday, August 22nd at 8:30pm and we headed to the hospital since I was strep B positive. I was admitted when at 2cm; 5 hours later I was 4cm dilated and decided to get an epidural. Then we turned off the lights and tried to get some sleep before the big event. An hour later I was feeling a lot of pressure so my nurse checked me and I was already at 9cm, we were so excited! Things slowed down and I was still at 9cm a few hours later so they gave me some pitocin to finish things off. At 7am I was 10 cm! Yay, finally time to meet baby! My doctor wasn't there but the nurse wanted me to do a test push and when I did she saw head.  Since our baby was so close we decided to wait for my doc to arrive before I did any more pushing. (Ok-I'm going to brag a little now :) Dr. Summers arrived and 5 pushes later baby Alex was here! 

Wow, what an overwhelming miracle to experience. I'll never forget the way I felt when they put baby A on my chest and I held him for the first time; I loved him instantly. It has been so much fun to see him grow already. I love  his sleep smiles and think he is going to have dimples! It has been a tiresome first few weeks but has also been magical. It's just starting to sink in that I have a baby, I am so blessed.   

Alexander David Mann

8/23/2010, 7:54am

6lbs. 11oz., 19"

3 weeks and counting...

... well actually I have been counting down for quite some time now, I just can't wait to meet our "little Mann"! I think we are even ready for his arrival. He is the last piece of the puzzle. Here are some pics of our rearranged digs...

Maternity pics

My amazing sister in law, Katy took some great maternity pictures for us. You can check them out on her photography blog!

Happy 3rd

Yesterday was our 3rd anniversary!

It was a normal day in the life for us. Dave was on call on Monday night so he was at work from about 3:30am until 10pm. Even after a long, stressful day he managed to bring me some beautiful flowers! I had a normal day at work and then straightened the house and went to a Relief Society activity.

Sometimes a dressed down celebration is better than making extravagant plans. At the end of the day I was grateful to have a few moments together to talk and tell my sweetie I loved him and hear him tell me the same before we went to bed so we could do it all again. I'm so glad that Dave is my partner on this journey. He lightens my load and lifts me up the same way our Savior does. Thanks for blessing my life so richly, love you Dave!

Babymoon

We had an amazing time in Cancun with our friends Coray and Anya!

One view from the balcony

View from our room

Pool and beach view from the balcony

Yummy dinners out

VIP movie viewing (they are looking at the menu!)

Anya, Coray, and baby girl (coming in 6 weeks!)

Anya and I went to the beach and pool, enjoyed virgin pina coladas, and massages while the boys were out recreating!

Dave caught a tina Mahi and Coray caught a Tuna deep sea fishing. They also went scuba diving.

handsome hubby

We all had fun discovering the ruins at Chichen Itza!

Picture update...

Dave's new baby

Look at that blue beast!

Work it, work it!

Janie's new baby

Becky stop taking pics of me, you know I can't pose...

Notice the bend of the elbow creates a waist line by adding space between your body and arm (info by Becky)

Marti and me, one of my gorg cousins

Ashley (aka gorgeous cousin #2) and Becky

Baby Benson, handsomest baby ever!!!

Talkin in the lot

I got to have Beck in Utah with me this weekend, head to NC next weekend, and Cancun the week after that, I am one pampered gal...