Ingredients to a Brown Family Christmas

1. Santa

2. Family. Jay loves his Aunt Mel!! She's so much fun!

3. Crafts. Mom, Mel, and I made Christmas fleece pants a few days ago, with a very uncouth pattern: we traced another pair of pants. Since we were paranoid about them being too squinchy, we cut them extra big, so when we first tried them on, they were rather huge and for some reason that reminded us of kangaroos...

[finished product=very cozy]

4. RUNNING! Tradition-- The Christmas Eve run!!! We were matching this year (I've got my game face on).

5. Unexpected weather. The presence of the Whites at the Brown home was the only white part of this Christmas! It was actually sunny here in Seattle ALL DAY on Christmas Eve and Christmas!

6. Cookies

Where's the sleigh?

7. Gifts! Mel made us matching aprons (and a bib for Jay)-- if you can't tell, Jeff's says "Bringin' home the bacon," mine says "Cookin' up the bacon," and Jay's says "Achin' for some bacon!" AWESOME.

8. Toys! (we may or may not have given Jay a toy box for Christmas... filled with his own toys!)

9. FOOD! (Jeff made crepes, Mom made everything else delicious in this world)

10. Goofiness

11. the Must Be Santa Dance

12. Family phone calls (especially missionary phone call!!)

13. Luke 2

14. Christmas Eve carols around the piano,

15. Word games

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho

Merry early Christmas!!! And happy 7 months old to Jay! How is he already been alive for SEVEN months???? He had his 6 month doctor check-up a last week (when he was closer to 7 months). Baby stats: Jay is 16 lbs 15 oz (22nd percentile), 27 inches long (2 foot 3!!, 66th %-ile). Horray for a healthy, FUN, SWEET, HAPPY boy! On Wednesday Dec 16th, we started our Christmas travels--first stop: the Whites. Final destination: the Browns. Our life is just so colorful... Bring on the Brown Family style Christmas: cookies, games, music, treats, Pick Two, carols, candy, Blockus, tunes, English toffee, Wii, duets, snowballs, Uno, singing, fudge, Snorta, and jingle bells!!!!!! (plus a few Christmas movies, presents and one missionary phone call).

Grandview High School (the school where Jeff's mom teaches) had Santa visit, so Jeff took Jay over for a photo. Our brave boy didn't even cry! How unexpected!

Early Christmas at the Whites: Jay got hung up on the bow and the wrapping paper, so we finally just tore open the rest of the gift for him.

"Wait--I'm ALLOWED to rip this??"

Jay ripping one :)

Sitting in the bleachers at Aunt Mel's basketball game. Jay still doesn't love all of those loud whistles and buzzers--we had to spend plenty of time out in the hall peeking through the window at the game.

Grama Meri gave Jay his first biter biscuit, and that's the first food he's actually LOVED

mmmmmm slimy cement-y cookie!

and I just love a sleeping baby--this is proof that he has been sleeping some... lately Jay has taken to waking up 2 or 3 times per night to eat. I know he's growing and all that, but my sleep deprivation is growing too!!!

PS and Happy 3 year Anniversary to Jeff and me!!!!!!! THREE!!!!

Our Week

Yay for Christmas!!! Let the festivities begin! The holidays bring out my crafty side. This week: I finished making all of my homemade Christmas gifts (sorry I can't say what they are...) and it was quite exhausting! I also finally made my "birthday skirt." I got a pattern and fabric with my birthday money back in November, and I finally got my courage up to actually make it. I wanted a skirt that is long enough for me to wear knee-highs instead of the dreaded pantyhose, and since I'm 6 feet tall, I have to make things like that. And amazingly, it actually turned out! How rare for a Shaina Sewing Project! (I'm wearing it in the last picture of this post)

Yesterday, we had our FIRST SNOWFALL OF THE WINTER!!! Yeeeehawwwwww! I love snow! It was less than 2 inches, but everything is white and bright. I don't have any pictures because Jay doesn't have any snow-worthy clothes still seems a tad young and fragile to sit him out in the freezing snow, even for a picture...

...so how about a picture from the archives? I went running in the snow yesterday, and it reminded me of Christmas in 2004 when there was a ton of snow and ice in Jackson, TN, and my Dad and I ran 6 miles on the slick, white country roads (above). Let's just say that running on slippery surfaces works very random, unexpected muscles!

Last year I found a fun pattern online for quilted Christmas stockings, and I only made 2. So, this week I made Jay's stocking!! I had a dilemma of whether to put Jay or Joseph on his stocking, and decided on Joseph because let's face it-- Christmas stockings are just about as official as birth certificates! That being said, I didn't put names on our stockings till this year, and it was REALLY weird putting "Mom" and "Dad" instead of "Shaina" and "Jeff" on our stockings!

I hung our stockings in the window due to our lack of a fireplace. Notice the pillows by the front door? There is about an inch gap under our front door! When they mow the grass, we get grass clippings blown onto our carpet. When it is FREEZING outside, there is a serious draft blowing through, so I got a tiny space heater to keep Jay warm while he's on the floor.

Jay tried baby food turkey, and was not a huge fan... what's new? he doesn't really like anything in a spoon. He also tried peaches and liked them a lot better than all the other stuff, but plain, unflavored oatmeal is still his favorite. (By favorite I mean he'll eat at least 6 bites without losing interest or shuddering)

Jay is growing. Shocking, I know.

When I fold laundry, Jay sits on the bed and reaches for any article of clothing in range. So, I make him my sock pile

I love this face! Jay is so much fun to play with--he laughs at the random-est things, like yyyyyyuck (I say that a lot during diaper changing), hiiiiippo (hippo), and peek-a-boo, to name a few.

Jay loves bath time in the sink because the sprayer fascinates him--he tries to grab the water and he loves having his tongue sprayed (it reminds me of Free Willy when they take the whale to the car wash)

His favorite place to cook up a stinky diaper. and it always leaks when he's in the jumper! We are going through OxyClean faster than toilet paper! (ok, pardon the slight exaggeration...)

It's exhausting being this cute! I keep 3 stuffed animals in Jay's crib, and he always goes for Piglet. This week Jay randomly decided to start waking up at 3 or 4am each night to yell. No fair!! He's always been such a good sleeper-- 9pm to 7am! I was spoiled. But I think it has to do with his increased mobility-- he rolls all OVER the place, and it wakes him up. Hopefully he'll get used to it soon!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Fake but still cheery

This year we traded the hour of sawing down the Christmas tree trunk (to get it to fit into the little stand) for a few minutes of putting together a 3-D "Christmas tree puzzle."

In the student apartments of Walla Walla University, they do not allow live Christmas trees due to the claim that a dry evergreen wrapped in hot lights plugged into the wall is a "fire hazard." Give me a break, people... Ok, so maybe they have a point. I have been sad about that ever since we moved here in March. I thought we were going to have to go without a tree because I am quite vehemently opposed to fake trees for 2 reasons: 1. no plastic thing could ever smell like a festive fir, and 2. fake trees = expensive. Well, as the Christmas spirit worked its magic, I found myself craving a tree, even though we'll only be here for half of the month. SO, when I saw a black Friday deal on a fake tree, I scooped it up.

Jay likes the tree!

Christmas cheer!!! This is what Jay looks like when he does this funny new little booty-scoot: he flaps his arms and digs in with his heels, and he moves forward. The farthest he's traveled so far is about 4 feet. Then he usually runs into an obstacle like a chair. Or he tips over. Or both.

Merry Christmas!

Cruising

Here's the picture of Jay in his mall stroller from Black Friday:

Jay-in-a-Box

Happy Thanksgiving and HORRAY for the Christmas season!!!! For Thanksgiving, we went to the Whites' house in Grandview and spent the weekend with Jeff's parents and his sister Steph. We had fun eating pie and turkey (actually I didn't eat any pie--just my superior celestial pumpkin cheesecake).

Thursday morning, Jeff and I did our annual Turkey Trot-- we had to invent our own 5K course because there wasn't a local road race. So, it was a 2 person run. I surprised to run 3.1 miles in 22:24--my best postbaby time yet! Weehawwww! (Jeff still ran 4 1/2 minutes faster than me)

Thursday evening, we took advantage of the "built-in babysitting" that you get when you visit family, and Jeff took me on my birthday present movie date: to see New Moon. He dutifully sat through the sappy, soap-y vampire-werewolf-human love triangle with me. I loved it! I did bust up at the extra cheesy ending, but still a good chick flick! What a brave, dutiful husband I have.

Friday before morning even came, Steph, Leslie (Jeff's sister and mom for you non-Whites), Jay, and I went out and about (along with about 99% of the country's population). We left just before 5am and shopped until noon! it was exhausting. It made me miss my sisters Em and Cammie! Good times. At the mall, Grandma rented a little car-shaped stroller--complete with steering wheel--for Jay. He loved it! He charmed pretty much every single person we passed because he was lounging with one hand on top of the wheel and one arm hanging out the side of the car like a little cool dude. I need to get that picture from Steph! Jay was so irresistible that a few people stopped and TOUCHED him. That was a little much for me. ADMIRE FROM AFAR, PEOPLE! It may be the Christmas season, but it's still FLU season too!

I had a random inspiration to put Jay in a box this week, and he LOVED it!! He spent 45 minutes happily playing in his box. Who needs big plastic baby toys when you have a box? It is great because 1. he can't tip over, and 2. his toys don't roll out of reach. This little guy knows how to think inside the box!

"What are you guys going to eat?" Jay tried applesauce for the first time yesterday, and he shuddered and grimaced, possibly due to the coldness or the intensity of the flavor. So today I mixed it into rice cereal, and he actually seemed to LIKE it! He ate almost 1/4 a cup! Finally--he hasn't ever eaten more than a few bites of spoon food. Jay's palate now includes: Mommymilk, rice cereal, carrots, and applesauce! Bring on the Christmas cookies!

A word about CHURCH: I can't wait till our ward switches to the 8:30am meeting time in January, because right now, it starts about an hour before Jay's afternoon nap. Therefore, he is IMPOSSIBLE for the last half of church. He zonks out the second we start driving--today he didn't even wake up when Jeff carried him in from the car!

Boo!

Cuteness, car, cousin, CARROTS!

It's been a good week in our family! My sister Em had her baby Daniel Scott on Tuesday (after a 30 minute labor!!), so Jay and I drove the 4.5 hrs to Seattle to stay with my other siblings (Mel and Kyle) while Mom went to Missouri to help Em out. It is so nice to be within easy driving distance of so much family, even though this week I was wishing we lived closer to Em and that cute new little boy! Here are some pictures of the week:

Jay is getting much better at sitting up, which is both good and bad-- now I never know when he's actually going to tumble, so I sometimes don't put a pillow behind him, and then he bonks his head when he tips over!

"Huhhh...?" Jeff thinks this pictures is hilarious

While I was making chicken puffs for Mel and Kyle, Jay wanted to see what was going on, so I put him on the counter... I turned around for one second, and this is what I found! Jay has a longer reach than I give him credit for--he picked up the spoon and it splatted a mushroom onto his forehead!

Mushroom man to the rescue!!! This week Mel and I discovered another tooth peeking through in Jay's mouth! I think he's growing teeth at top speed so he can graduate from his icky rice cereal to something much tastier. Maybe mushrooms?

Jay has started doing this goofy little monkey face. I laugh a LOT these days!

It was Jay's half birthday on Saturday-- how on earth is he 6 months old already?

Playing with the teddy bear that I had when I was his age!

We braved the Snoqualmie Pass to get to Seattle, and squeaked back through on Saturday with a winter storm on our heels. I fondly refer to the Pass as Mordor.

...and this is what it looks like on the other side of the Pass...

...and when the trees disappear, you know the only problem you may face is a bright sun or high winds. The many weather varieties of Washington never cease to amaze me.

For Jay's 6 month "treat," I gave him carrots for the first time... he didn't really love them. He still prefers milk to spoon feeding.

My husband is great!

Since I became a mom, I have never really felt like "ahhhg! I need some alone time!" I have 3 possible reasons:

1. Jay is a good, cute, FUN little boy;

2. I only have ONE baby;

3. Jeff is so good about being around to watch Jay when I want to go running or something.

I think it's all of the above! Jeff has been SOO sweet this week! Yesterday he encouraged me to drive the 20 minutes out to a park so I could run on trails, even though I was gone for nearly 2 hours (trail running makes me feel like I could run forever!) This morning, Jeff changed a poopy diaper. Today was a stake conference at church, and it happened RIGHT during Jay's nap time. Since he hates sleeping in public when there's so much to see, Jeff kindly took care of a very crabby little boy out in the foyer (and in a classroom and who knows where else) so I could sit and enjoy the speakers--Elder Jay E. Jensen of the presidency of the Quorum of the Seventy spoke, and he was awesome! I met up with a slightly stressed, frazzled, but still patient Jeff after the meeting. Five gold stars to Jeff!

Since it goes against my personal philosophy to do a blog post without a picture, here's Jay showing off his ever-improving sweet sitting-up solo skills

1+1= too many

Dogs. All they want is affection and attention. The one thing I can't seem to give. This weekend, Jeff, Jay, and I "dog-sat" for Jeff's parents while they were out of town. In the past, I've stayed at their house for weeks with minimal problems, but that was before they acquired a second dog. Apparently ONE indoor dog produces the maximum amount of allergens that I am capable of handling without serious discomfort, because the by the second day of dealing with doggy duty, I thought my head and sinuses were going to explode from the irritation and stuffiness and itchiness! Jeff recognized that my death was imminent if I inhaled any more dog dander, so he worked out a scheme with his parentals so I could drive home Sunday night (it's only 2 hrs) instead of Monday morning. Jay and I got home last night around 8pm, and after a mere 12 hours here I feel like a new person! Or like I'm back to my "old person..."

This is us with Toby. If you know me, you may be wondering if that's really ME letting my child TOUCH a dog MOUTH. Well, Jay kept reaching for him, so I thought I'd let him check things out...

But that's as far as I let things go! I constructed a "chair-ier" (a barrier made of chairs), so Jay could jump without getting his face eaten off

Jailbird Jay

Toby eventually settled with guard-dog duty

And now, for Jay's latest discovery-- his FEET! He has also recently started crying if someone he doesn't recognize holds him, which means he loves his Mommy and Daddy!

Four fangs in five and a half months!!!!

Biting, Bundling, and Birthday!

What a week! Jay's top 2 teeth poked through, accompanied with much weeping and wailing and drooling and dripping. Jay had his first non-mommymilk dinner: Rice cereal!!! And, I turned 23! Poor Jeff had big plans to give me a surprise birthday breakfast in bed and a surprise dinner date out. Well, Jay got up REALLY early on my birthday, so I had already eaten by the time Jeff got up. Foiled. Jay was taking a MUCH-needed nap when Jeff came home and asked me out to dinner. And, I really really wanted spaghetti. So we ate at home. Being the tricky wifey that I am, I cashed in my postponed birthday dinner date for a movie date. Jeff agreed to take me to see New Moon when it comes out! I'm not a Twilight fanatic or anything, but I do enjoy them...

This is the best I could do to get a picture of Jay's 2 new teeth-- he's still in pain, so he hates it when I touch his mouth!

When all else fails, a walk in the brisk fall air calms our little teether down. It cracks me up every time Jeff zips Jay in the baby carrier in his coat. It looks like Jeff has 2 heads and a pregnant belly! Why get a baby coat when Daddy has room for two?

I am officially 23 years old! I made my favorite chocolate cheesecake, and since we didn't want to mangle the top with candles, Jeff put 2 candles in one row, and 3 in the other (2+3 now=23). The cheesecake turned out rather well-- it was slightly pudding-esque, but still smooth, cool, and chocolatey. Jay really really seemed to want some cheesecake, but all he got was bland ole rice goop:

We first gave Jay a little rice cereal on Monday night, but that video was far too long to post, so I took a little quickie for your viewing pleasure. As you can see, Jay doesn't exactly spit OUT the rice goop, but he doesn't seem to enjoy it too much either! He dutifully eats his little teaspoon sized serving, and then gets down to business with the real stuff: MILK!