So long 2009.

I can't believe that a decade of 2000's has already flown by. Seriously, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when 1999 clicked over to 2000. Oh how life has changed!

Love, marriage, college degree, career, baby... 

Even more recently, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when 2008 clicked over to 2009. Ben and I were having a fabulous time ringing in the new year at Sundance's Owl Bar. I had no idea at the time, but I was probably barely, barely pregnant with Dylan that night.

This year we are not at the Owl Bar dancing the night away... we are at home, watching Greys Anatomy, happy as clams. We spent the evening with some of our best friends and our sweet boy. Parties are fun, but sometimes it's even nicer to have a quiet night at home with your party of 3 + 2 cats.

2009 really was a happy new year, and I'm convinced that 2010 will be even better.

2010 means...

A new planner!

I know that I'm a nerd and a half for getting so excited about a planner, but aren't these adorable? Seriously, they're shimmery, sparkly, and the colors are fabulous!

I just ordered mine in pink and I am sososo excited for it to arrive! Those close to me know how much I love organization and anything that goes along with it. Seriously, I find great joy in organizing anything I can. Husband likes to pretend that this annoys him, but I know that he secretly thinks that it's hot.

Get your planner right here.

Five years.

 

Merry Christmas to all.

Mr. Harris, Baby Danger, and I are taking off for Denver tomorrow afternoon. For a brief moment we considered driving, but 500 miles of driving + stopping every 2-3 hours for feeding baby and changing diapers + nasty roads= thoughts of suicide. Doesn't a 60 minute flight seem much better? Yes, I thought so too.

Christmas in Denver is going to be a blast- all of Ben's siblings will be there and Dylan will be able to meet his aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time. Also, Dylan has two cousins on the way- one in April and another a few months after that. I love that Dylan will have cousins that are his age! Cause seriously, family gatherings are so much more fun when you have a buddy to hang out with.

Unlike during our Thanksgiving flights, I am not panicing about flying with an infant. If Dylan could handle a 3 hour flight to Indianapolis, he'll likely be fine with a 1 hour flight. Mind you, I'm hoping that he doesn't have a repeat performance of 4 (seriously) #2 diapers while in air. All during the same flight. And we ran out of diapers in the end. TMI? Sorry. The joys of motherhood, right?

Anyway.

I hope that you all have a fabulous Christmas and are able to spend time with the ones that you love.

When I get back from Denver I really want to discuss the current fashion trend to which I finally gave in- jeans tucked into boots. Brace yourselves.

Good to know.

If you ever find a long-lost skin care product in the depths of your bathroom cabinet, take a second to consider that it probably has an expiration date that passed long ago. If you choose to use said skin care product anyway, you might have less than positive results. Like a rash on your face and neck. Not like this has ever happened to me or anything.

I thought it would never die.

It, meaning my washer. Sounds cruel, doesn't it? I thought that it would never die?

Well, after 4 1/2 years of living with our family, our circa-1980 washer finally bit the dust. I've been waiting for this to happen for quite some time, since I've been itching to get a new washer for a few years, but couldn't bring myself to buy a new one until the old washer had stopped working.

Last Friday I was so excited to call Ben and let him know that the washer was indeed dead. I think that he was excited too, because we went to RC Willey the next day to pick out a new one. Typically Benjamin would have exhausted countless hours trying to fix the dryer, but not this time.

Here's a picture of the new beauty:

Makes poor dryer look pretty shabby.

Ben and I had no idea how fascinating front load washers could be! Seriously, sometimes we just sit and watch it in action- spins one way, spins the other way, adds some water, etc., etc.

Yes, we're nerds.

While we were at the furniture store, I decided to finally give in and allow Ben to get some new couches. Poor guy has hated our couches since the moment I spied them in the furniture store.

Seriously, if these couches don't scream masculinity!, I don't know what does.

So here are our new couches:

 

I'd say these are quite a bit more masculine, no?

And in case you forgot about this little guy, here's Baby Danger:

Happy little clam.

It's a Christmas miracle!

Get excited people, because Dylan slept through the night! Ben and I put Dylan down at 9 pm last night and he didn't wake up until 6 am! Craziness!

When Ben's alarm went off at 6 am I was momentarily confused, since I couldn't figure out how it was already 6, since I didn't remember getting up to feed Dylan. I then had a moment of panic that Dylan had died in his sleep. How else would he have not woken up for food at 3 am? But when I rushed to his room to check on him, he was awake and happy as a clam gurgling at his mobile.

My baby slept for 9 hours straight! Hallelujah! It's about time too... I was irked to learn that I started sleeping through the night at 20 days old. How lucky was my mom? (although I don't think that babies are supposed to go that long without food at 20 days, but whatev. I turned out ok.)

Dear Dylan,

Please continue sleeping through the night. I will buy you a pony for Christmas if you do so.

Love,
Mom

One of my favorite things.

Seeing my two favorite boys snuggling up on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Oh my yum.

So I last posted about my 25th birthday. It was fabulous- Ben took the hint and got me the gorg locket, and we went to Communal for dinner. Tonight he's taking baby duty all night (since he doesn't have to wake up early for work tomorrow). I'm 3 for 3 on the birthday wish list.

But that's not what I'm wanting to discuss.

I want to discuss the deliciousness that is Communal.

Holy Cow. This place is a-ma-zing.

Remember me posting about Pizzeria 712? The owners of the pizzeria opened up Communal a few months ago in Provo and wowza, this place is delish. Seriously, best meal ever. Even tastier than Chef's Table and cheaper too. I had the pot roast and mashed potatoes, Ben had grilled flatiron steak with mashed potatoes.

I don't know how to best describe the restaurant, but I can say that it exceeded my expectations in every way. The food? Amazing. The service? Amazing. The decor? Amazing.

Do your tastebuds a favor and hightail it to Communal. You won't be sorry.

My birthday wish list.

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday... I seriously can't believe that I'm already going to be 25! I really feel like I'm still 19 and should be racing to BYU campus to turn in a paper or something. How quickly the time has flown by!

This is what I was actually doing on my 19th birthday:

That's right, my BFFs blindfolded me, dressed me in a crazy getup, put this sign on my back, and took me to the boys dorms to get spanked. I like to think that they did this out of love.

I don't have unreasonably high birthday expectations- it's not like I demand that Ben shower me with gifts, plan a party, and become my slave for the day... I just like to have a good day and definitely some cake.

That being said, I still have a few hopes for tomorrow... here is my birthday wish list to Ben:

1. This lovely locket. Since becoming a mama I have become unbelievably sentimental and whatnot. All I want is to have this necklace to put pictures of Ben and Dylan in each side. 

2. Dinner at Communal

 

 3. Take night time baby duty allllll night. Lemme get my rest.

Family Photos.

Last night we had a family photo session with Laura Bunker. She's the same photographer who did Dylan's newborn photos and again, she has taken some amazing photos!

Peek.

How cute is Dylan peeking over my mom's shoulder? Love, love, love him!

Thanksgiving review.

Last night Ben, Dylan, and I got home from Indiana, where we spent Thanksgiving weekend. We had a great time and looooved hanging out with family. I was super worried that Dylan would turn into a demon baby on the flight, but he was absolutely perfect (if you don't count pooping  a total of 5 times while airborne. Yikes). He just has a mellow personality and the baby Tylenol probably didn't hurt.

Here are some weekend highlights:

I never thought that I'd say this.

I am going to kill my cat. Kill. Moo is driving me crazy!

Ever since Dylan's arrival he has been the most obnoxious animal. He's really good with the baby- he ignores him for the most part (other than jumping on my lap when Dylan is already in my lap, stepping on Dylan in the process), but there is definitely some jealousy going on. Moo isn't just jealous of the baby- he wants to be the baby.

Here are some of his regular offenses:

• stealing Dylan's socks and peepee tepees and batting them under the fridge
• going into Dylan's room during naptime and howling
• sneaking into Dylan's room at night to sleep on the glider, changing table, or hamper
• sprinting from room to room all day long
  
• following me everywhere, crying

{Moo trying to get me to hold him. If it were up to him, I would be holding him all day long.}

 I know it's obvious that the poor animal wants some attention, but he is driving me bananas! I thought that cats were supposed to be independent and not care about anyone... I guess that my cat is abnormal. I make a conscious effort to give both cats attention every day, but when Dylan is awake my attention is obviously on him.

Any cat whisperers out there?

Lunching with my girls.

Today I was able to go to lunch with some of my favorite girls- Andrea, Melissa, Kaylee, and RaNae (not pictured)  to celebrate Kaylee's 24th birthday. Since having Dylan, my outings- especially social outings- have been extremely limited, so getting out to see some of my girls was v. exciting... definitely the highlight of my week.

There's something special about spending time with people who have known you since you were 10... you can be completely real with them and not worry about them judging you or anything... they've known you so long and have come to accept you and your little quirks years and years ago. It's nice.

Melissa, RaNae, and I were able to freak out prepare Andrea for the joys of motherhood- she's expecting her first baby in June. My piece of advice to her was to accept that the first night home with the baby would be absolutely terrible. Cause it is, isn't it?

Not knowing what you're doing + crying baby + crazy hormones = worst night ever.

The lunch was great, the company was even greater. Happy birthday Kaylee! Love you girls!

Dylan came to lunch too- he did great. He looked like this the whole time, not making a peep. 

ps- I think there were a few chickies missing from this lunch... you know who you are. Move back to Utah.

My stinky boy.

I admit, I am obsessed. Someday I will blog about something other than Dylan.

Dylan being cute.

I think that I captured the cutest 3 minutes of Dylan's life thus far. Please excuse my appearance at the beginning of the video- it was first thing in the morning. Video gets really cute around 1:20.

Happy bebe.

Whatcha working with?

I was tagged by Katie C. to share the some of the beauty products that I use. Here goes...

Face wash:
I've been using Neutrogena's Visibly Even face wash for a few years now. I love it, because my skin tone is naturally pretty uneven (lots of redness), and this wash seems to calm it down.

Face lotion:

Nothing fancy here, just regular Olay complete moisturizer with SPF 15. Never gives me any problems and gets the job done.

Body lotion:

Lately I've been using NuSkin's Epoch body butter (thanks Sarah!). It's a great moisturizer that never feels too thick or greasy. Plus, I think that it smells like marshmallows :) A double bonus is that with the purchase of every jar of this lotion, Nu Skin plants a tree to help reforest Malawi. How great is that?

Body lotion when I was pregnant:
The Body Shop's cocoa butter body butter was fabulous! I put it on my stomach every morning and evening and my stretch marks were very, very minimal.

Shampoo:

Kinda pricey, but I really love everything about this shampoo. It smells great and it helps my color last.

Conditioner:
Same deal as the shampoo, kinda pricey, but worth it in my eyes. The only drawback is that it has dye in it, so it dyes your hands for a few minutes after you use it. Not to worry though- my hands are always back to normal by the end of my shower.

Deodorant:
Nothing special here, just regular Degree. Keeps me from stinking. The end.

Makeup:
I have been in love with Bare Minerals for over two years now. I'm not going to go on and on about it, but I will never switch back to regular foundation. Best coverage, most natural, best for my skin.

Now it's time to tag a few others to share which products they use.... I tag Sarah Bennett, Angela R, and Stacey M!

And on the 39th day...

We went on a date! Yes, after 39 days of parenthood, Ben and I went out for our first post-baby date. From the moment that Ben arranged a sitter for Dylan (his aunt Sheila who lives in Lehi), we were both so giddy and excited to go out. For three days we talked about what we would do and how fun it would be to get out of the house without worrying about whether Dylan was warm enough, full enough, etc.

Don't get me wrong, we are absolutely in love with Dylan. Obviously. It's just nice to go out without lugging around a carseat, stroller, diaper bag (even though it's amazingly cute), etc. Just me and the hub, out on the town.

Anyway, we decided to keep our first date pretty short- we dropped Dylan off around 6:15, ate pizza at Pier 49, and the saw Couples Retreat. I know, I know- typical dinner and a movie. But really, we needed something typical. Just a normal, drama-free date night without the baby.

Although it was really, really nice to get out, about halfway through the movie Ben leaned over to me and said ,"I miss the bug." Dylan = the bug. You know, after less than two hours away, I really missed him too! About 30 minutes later, Ben asked me if we could leave the movie. Not because there was something wrong with the movie- he just missed little Dylan. Cute, right?

No, we didn't leave the movie. Seriously, Dylan was fine without us and it would be silly to cut our date night short. But when the movie was over, we were both so excited to pick our little guy up, go home, and put Dylan to bed. The night out made me realize how much life has changed, and how much I love it. It was great to get away for a few hours, but it was even greater to come back and resume normal (the new normal at least) life.

Growing like a weed.

Where did my newborn go? I know that to most he still seems tiny and newborn-like, but to me he is enormous! It was a sad day for me when he outgrew his newborn clothes and diapers. I can't believe that he was inside of me less than 6 weeks ago and now he's over 10 pounds. Make the growing stop!

So long...

It's true, I have to give up (or at least drastically reduce my intake of) chocolate. Poor Dylan seems to get an upset tummy when I eat chocolate, and I'd rather have a happy baby than sweet tooth satisfaction. Gaaaaah, I was afraid of this! Chocolate is part of my daily life and it's going to be hard to give it up. Oh, the things I do for my little man.

Fabulous fall.

We are loving the fall weather this year. A few Sundays ago during what my mom would refer to as "peak week," Ben, Dylan, and I went on a walk around Provo Canyon. As much as I like to gripe about living in Utah, you can't deny that it is an absolutely beautiful place to live.

Why does this picture make me pine away for my husband?

Poor little tyke couldn't keep his eyes open during the walk.

Happy Halloween!

This little skeleton wants to say hello.

Big day today.

What is so big about today?

I am leaving the house!

Yes, leaving the house has turned into a noteworthy event. I didn't leave the house at all yesterday and I only got out for about 30 minutes (waited until Ben got home to watch the bebe) the day before. Needless to say, I'm ready to get out today.

I am trying to plan my big outing as well as possible, since I want to have a happy baby during the outing. Dylan is currently sleeping, and when he wakes up I will feed, change, and burp him. Once that is all done, we're going out!

Oh how my life has changed in the past month. It wears me out like I never thought possible, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

Oh Oscar.

Oscar likes to be involved in all things baby, especially if it means there is a box for him to sit in.

Four weeks old.

{what Dylan is doing this very minute. Swaddled (hooray!). Sleeping on back (double hooray!). I know, I know... too many blankets}

I can't believe that my sweet Dylan is already four weeks old! I've learned a lot about this little guy over the past few weeks, which includes but is not limited to the following:

- He wakes up exactly every three hours at night... seriously, almost down to the minute.
-He still prefers to sleep on his stomach, but back sleeping is acceptable (as pictured)
-He no longer hates being swaddled.
-He is most alert and excited when daddy comes home from work.
-He goes through more diapers in the first two hours of being awake than the next 6 hours. Seriously, it all comes out first thing in the morning.
-He takes forever to burp. Seriously, I sometimes fall asleep in his glider while trying to get him to burp.
-He cries whenever you put him in his carseat, but quiets down after about 10 seconds.
-He still loves listening to Bob Marley, although Ben Harper is a close second.

Remember this day? I can't believe it has almost been a month!

A horse of a different color.

Actually, more like a cow of a different color.

After three trips to the lactation consultant (seriously, more drama than I thought was possible), it is suspected that Dylan and/or I may have thrush. I don't really know what thrush is, but I know that it can make nursing painful. Yowch.

Treatment for possible thrush?
Gentian Violet.

I had never heard of this stuff before, but I have to put it on my nursing bits every day for a week and it will clear up any thrushy bacteria. TMI? Sorry.

Anyway, here's the result of nursing with the G. Violet:A little scary looking, I know. Don't worry, no babies were harmed in the making of this post.

Do you want the good news or the bad news?

*typing this post one-handed while holding baby Danger

Let's start with the good, shall we?

The good news: Ben and I have managed to get Dylan sleeping on his back! Hooray!

And the bad: He only will sleep on his back in our bed, not his crib.

Two steps forward, one step back. I'll take it.

Two week stats and other news.

Height: 35th percentile
Weight: 30th percentile
Head circumference: 26th percentile

Dylan had his two week appointment a few days ago and handled it like a champ- barely crying with the heel stick and peeing all over the exam room wall. He weighs 8 lbs 4 oz, which means that he's gained a pound in the past 11 days. Wow!

In other news, my mom went home yesterday. Boo. I was so sad to see her go- she is the reason that I kept my sanity over the past 2 1/2 weeks. I know that I'm really lucky that she was able to be with me and Dylan for so long, but I wish that I could make her a bedroom in my basement and have her stay on a permanent basis. Not even kidding. Dylan absolutely adored his grandma too- he would calm down whenever he heard her voice.