a very bingham christmas

This year for Christmas we drove up to good old Idaho to enjoy the holidays with the Binghams. This was a much needed vacation for the three of us. I don't know who loved it more, me or my mom. Tren was able to snuggle with everyone; Keegan loved telling us what Tren was thinking and what he needed, when he wasn't trying to beat me at MarioKart. It made me smile. He was so concerned and loving. What a good cousin.

I was so proud of myself, I told everyone we wouldn't get there until Christmas eve and so when we arrived on the 22nd for the big piano recital, it was a welcome surprise. This was especially great because we got to see Kristina's family. How wonderful! Then Christmas eve was spent at Uncle Richard and Aunt Carla's with part of the Gilbert clan.

 Christmas morning:

Waiting patiently for Layton to wake up so we can start.

Christmas was good to us this year, we received many gifts that will come in handy. Some of the major ones were a sewing machine, an ice cream maker, and Tren got some much needed bigger clothes along with his first John Deere.
Tren was also able to meet his other great grandparents during the holidays. Grandma Bingham was so happy we visited. I had been wanting to see her and show her Tren for a long time and I'm glad we fit it in. She told us he was around her 70th great-grandchild. What a wonderful lady to have such a big family and she remembers everyone.

Jared and I were given a date night before we left and it happened to be the same night that my family was going to a wedding reception. They had a photo booth there and Steph and Ali decided to put a feather boa on Tren and get a picture with their handsome date.

The week we spent there went way too fast and we're going to miss having so many people around to talk to and play with.

procrastination: i'm good at it

The end of the semester is here and my last and final project is due this week. And how do I justify procrastinating? By updating my blog to show off my baby, of course. Jared and I may be a little bit too enthusiastic about taking pictures but at least Tren will have evidence that he was a baby. He's just too cute not to take pictures. Especially when he pulls faces like these.

We thought we were so funny by pretending to give him ice cream but he gave us the look like we should know better. (but he secretly wanted some)

 Watching t.v. with Dad. Those two get into some interesting shows.

 Tren only puts up with tummy time for a little bit but I can get some good pictures at the beginning if I'm quick.

Our cute little Christmas present. We had to try on the Christmas PJ's to make sure they would fit. And why not snap a few photos while he's in them?

holiday decorating

We tried going all out with our Christmas decorations this year. Jared convinced me to get some lights for the outside of the house and you can't just buy one strand. So we stocked up on blue icicle lights. While Jared was busy outside trying to make it all look just right without falling off the latter, Tren and I were in charge of the inside of the house. We put up the tree and got a cute little Winnie the Pooh ornament for Tren's first Christmas. I think it turned out pretty great. All of our holiday books are out on display and our stockings are hung, not by the chimney, but off the banister with care.

thanksgiving

I am always amazed when I step back and think of all the things that I am grateful for. This year I have been blessed a little extra: I have a beautiful, healthy son who has the most adorable personality, my wonderful husband and best friend, Jared, and a warm home to keep all my special people in. I am grateful for many more things but they just don't top those three.

Thanksgiving this year was really fun. We drove down to Kim's house to celebrate with her family. This was the smallest Thanksgiving I have ever attended (inside the US). But it was perfect. Kim did a great job with the majority of the food and the decorations. I really owe her for letting me get away with only making 1 side dish and the desserts. The food was delicious and the company was great, making Tren's first Thanksgiving a hit.

 Jared and Averi played Guess Who while we were waiting for the turkey.

 Kim said that the manliest man carves the turkey and I agree.

blessing day

Our little boy is already 1 month old. Time is flying by. Sunday was the first of many special days in his life, he was blessed in church. Jared did a great job and it was such a perfect blessing for Trennon. He loved all the attention and getting to snuggle with grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunts. He wasn't too sure about all the cousins up in his face all the time, but he made it. He'll be running around with them in no time. Jared and I are so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful little boy in our family and our love for him grows everyday. If I haven't said it lately, I'm jealous of myself.

I think Tren's face is priceless in this photo

our little monster

Halloween is not terribly exciting when you're 3 weeks old but we still had to dress Tren up. He was a little green monster and he helped me pass out candy to the neighbor kids; in between naps of course.

pumpkin walk: year 2

We really needed a reason to get out of the house as a family other than doctor visits or boring errands so we decided to go to the Pumpkin Walk. It's always fun to see just how creative other people can be. Plus Kristina was visiting so we had to pretend we aren't horribly boring. There were some great displays. Jared loved seeing the Calvin and Hobbs ones and my favorite was either the Nightmare Before Christmas display or the Despicable Me one. Tren was asleep for nearly all of it but he got into picture time at the end.

Trennon Wayne

Our sweet baby boy is finally here. He was born Saturday night and came at the perfect time. He was 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long. We are such proud parents. I don't mean to brag but this kid is cute. We have so much fun watching his personality come out. He's going to be a stud, just like his daddy.

He's telling us who's really in charge

owning a home

We absolutely LOVE our new house. And slowly we are getting it all put together as our home, one room at a time. While I was visiting my parents for a couple days Jared was hard at work hanging pictures and decorating. I think we found the next HGTV star. He had some help from his mom but she claims that he was still in charge of how it all came together. It looks really good. He finished up the front room and the baby's room. So those are the only pictures we can show for now. 

 

There is a lot more to this room but it is hard to take a picture of everything when the room is so small. But baby sure does have a lot of stuff.

We do have one very big problem that is preventing us from moving in completely: our basement flooded. Yep, the day after we moved in we found that everything was soaked. It was due to over watering the new sod and not properly sealing the foundation. We are fortunate that we found the problem now but it is still a pain to have all the construction guys coming and going all the time. Not to mention the rancid smell of dirty water that plagues my pregnant nose. They are projecting to put it all back together next week so hopefully I will be posting a much better looking picture of our family room. As for today, this is what I am living with:

movin' on up

Does anyone ever get more grown up than when they buy their first house? I feel like such an adult because today Jared and I finally got to close on our house.

(*This was taken before the landscaping. We actually couldn't close until the fence and lawn were in.)

Now onto the grueling moving process. We are VERY fortunate to have such wonderful family. My parents came down to help us out in any way they could. So they crammed as much as they could into the van. Jared's comment was that they are very good at tetris. And I would have to agree. After a few trips over with them we ran out of stuff they could take. They helped so much and we really appreciate all of their help. Plus it was really fun to talk to them in person and have some company while Jared was at work. And they brought Keegan down with them, and that kid is just plain adorable. Next was Jared's cousin Jeremy. He lent us a trailer to haul all of our big stuff over. Tonight while Jared was at work he rounded up some teenage boys and came and unloaded it all for us. We could not be more grateful, especially since I am somewhat useless in the carrying heavy objects department right now.

We only have a few things left in our apartment (like our bed and the washer and dryer). So tomorrow won't be too bad at all. We get to start the fun part of putting everything in its place and deciding exactly what to do with our new home.

take me out to the ball game

Jared has been wanting to go to a baseball game all summer and so when Tori and Matt invited us to a Salt Lake Bees game, we had to go. Jeana and Marc also came to the game. It was so exciting to be there with everyone. I was really happy to introduce Jared to some of my good friends that we don't get to see because we all live in different places. If only we could get together more often.
We had the general admission seats out on the grass in left field. Jared was so ready to catch a home run ball and we thought we had the perfect spot. But every home run was hit into right field. Poor Jared, I guess we'll have to go to another game. The Bees won by so much that the last few innings felt so long. After the game ended we were told to go sit out on the field for the fireworks. These were some of the best fireworks I have ever seen. It felt like we were right under the explosions. It was so fun! I can't wait to do it again.

it all ended...

The final Harry Potter was something we were looking forward to since last November. Or truthfully since I finished the book, the first time. So naturally we bought our tickets 3 weeks in advance and waited somewhat patiently to see it. Jared's parents just happened to be in town the day we wanted to go and my sister Stephanie tagged along as well. We had to go an hour early to get seats together and I can't complain about the wait. It was really fun to spend time with everyone. The movie was amazing just like we thought it would be. We can't wait to see it again.