New photos

It was time for new photos! We took some to serve as head shots but mostly just for fun! Thanks, Jeanette!

Give a Day, Get a Disney Day

We took the challenge and donated a day of service in exchange for free entrance to Disneyland! We made scrapbooks for a foreign orphanage organized by the HandsOn Network and Utah Charities Co-Op. It was inspiring to see the loooong list of volunteers that were donating goods, services, food, and time for this cool program! Visit this link for your chance to serve and go to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Little Buddies

James and Charlie are becoming quite the pals. Chelsea tends Charlie one day a week while I'm in school at her house and when we arrive, James is usually asleep. Chelsea says that Charlie is usually a little reserved and nervous until James is awake from his nap and then he comes alive! They (of course) take each others' toys, food, blankets and love to grab faces and clothes. It's going to be a process of teaching them how to be gentle with each other. James is still a little smaller than Charlie, so he gets the worst of the mauling. He's always quick to forgive, however.

They love each other!!

Biting, bottles and sleep, oh my!

Here's what's going on around here recently:

Well, the biting is back. Owie. And now it has escalated to where Charlie is no longer nursing much at all. (He'll still nurse at night sometimes if he's sleepy enough to not try to bite me). And he's become mobile enough to get booted out of our bed and into the crib (finally). In just a few days, I've gone from having a co-sleeping, nursing baby to an entirely different one. This baby drinks bottles. And sleeps in his crib (mostly). And is learning to go to sleep on his own. And wants a binkie (sometimes)!

I'm not sure that either of us is ready to wean yet (ideally, I'd like to breastfeed a few more months) so I've been pumping to not lose my supply. I'm hoping that once his other top tooth breaks through (it's so close!) that Charlie will stop biting and we can go back to our happy nursing relationship.

One positive note, Charlie is now taking naps in his crib and slept the other night from 7 pm to midnight in his crib without needing help to get back to sleep (two brief wakings, but he was able to fall back to sleep on his own). The bad side is he wakes at midnight and sometimes takes 2 hours to get back down. I feel like I have a newborn again.

Another negative, the bottles make him gassy. He's not used to them so he has a hard time burping which leads to finally vomiting a whole feeding.

In the meantime, being in the limbo of kind of sleep training and sort of weaning is really strange and difficult. The other night I dealt with making bottles, pumping, projectile vomiting, changing his clothes, changing my clothes, rocking, patting, shushing, administering medicine and laundry. John has been working late nights so I'm going solo, too. Bummer for everyone involved.

We're kind of settling into a new normal (?) but it's been a rough couple of weeks. I have a whole new appreciation for co-sleeping/nursing because I really don't fully wake up while doing that, even though Charlie wasn't sleeping through the night. Doing this bottle feeding/rocking thing in the middle of the night is killer. I've figured out to prepare bottles in the evening so our night wakings are briefer, but I don't know how long we'll last in this current situation.

Charlie does LOVE that bottle, though. He will ask for it by saying "Ba" (but heck, practically everything is "ba" to this kiddo). He's been a little bit more stranger anxious and mommy-oriented, which I attribute to the loss of that nursing time.

We'll see what happens in the next few weeks!

Lucky girl

It must be karma for hosting my own photography giveaway but I won Katie Dudley's photo giveaway on her blog! Lucky me! I think I shall schedule Charlie's one year pictures.

Check her out!

Also, just as a reminder, anyone who commented on my photo giveaway post has the chance to schedule a photo session at a discounted rate! Contact me at getupandplayblog@gmail.com to schedule!

In the Motherhood

I just discovered (via Danielle's guest post on Bloom) the most wonderful advice blog! It's written by the mother of 11 children and she's delightful! It's just what I need to be reading right now as I am (still) learning how to be a mother. I just spent 30 minutes re-reading old posts and each one resonated with me- the focus on confidence in mother's intuition, closeness to the Spirit, positive attitude coupled with practical advice on sleeping, eating, discipline, marriage and more- it's a treasure! One of the best pieces of advice I read was to chuck out the parenting books and turn to the scriptures. Being close to the Spirit of the Lord will bring more insight and answers than any book will! This is speaks directly to my researching tendencies- I love to read and read about parenting!

Check it out!

Sick of being sick

Poor Charlie is recovering from double ear infections and a sinus infection. I'm grateful for antibiotics that can turn this:

into this!

Charlie's First Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day. In our family, we have a tradition of making it a family day. My Grandma Bonnie used to buy little presents for her kids and my mom always made us little valentines and got us gifts, too. I love that spin, it's much more fun to celebrate it as a family holiday than a romantic one!

We were pretty low-key this year because we're still getting over being sick. Charlie opened his valentine gift- new books- almost completely by himself. He's getting so big.

Could I love this little guy any more? What a cherub.

Daddy (check out that beard and the new spectacles!) and Che

Mommy and her little valentine

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Hilarious. Oh, so worth watching. Thanks, Andrea!

Cutest Baby!

Recognize anyone?



Let's take a closer look:



It's baby Charlie! Thanks to your votes, Charlie won second place in his age group in the Utah Baby Guide cutest baby contest. (February issue, page 53)

Photo Shoot Winners!!!

Photo from a few summers ago, just because I like it :)

I am excited to announce these! We've been hit by another bug here (winter, GO AWAY!) so I apologize for being a few days late.

I was so excited about all of these possible photo shoots and I couldn't possibly choose on my own. I turned to Random.org to choose for me.

Alrighty... here we go.

The first shoot goes to:
Comment #24- Heather!




Photo shoot #2:
Comment #24- Sjaanie!




Photo shoot #3:
Comment #7 - Cotter (who technically isn't a SLCer but is here often enough visiting that I included her. Plus, she's my pal.)




Because Lyndsay technically wasn't eligible, I decided to give away one more shoot.

Bonus shoot goes to:
Comment #6 Bart and Michelle!


Congrats, you guys! Please email me at getupandplayblog@gmail.com to schedule your shoot!

Thanks everyone for playing along! I really appreciated feeling validated in my new effort! As my thank you to you, anyone who commented on this post can schedule a mini-session for 30% off- only $35.00!!

Missing the twins

Tuesday we sent Mom and Aunt Barbara off to the United Arab Emirates. Mom is returning to her home and husband and Aunt Barb is off to have an adventure! Today is their birthday (they're twins, you know) and we wanted to wish them a very Happy Birthday! We love you and miss you already!

Charlie and Auntie Barb

Charlie and his Grandma (I think he tries to say Grandma and it comes out BaBa)

Grandma left a kiss on Charlie's cheek to remember her by

PS- Don't forget to enter the photography giveaway!

Charlie Bit Me

This little guy's got some sharp chompers and more on the way. This has caused some painful biting situations! After the yelping (me), crying (Che), and bleeding (me again) was over, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself thinking of this YouTube video. I know how this kid feels. (Except times it by ten for nipple involvement.) My favorite part is around the 40 second mark when the baby Charlie laughs. Priceless.

Making it Happen! (Giveaway!)

So, the problem with posting your New! Life! Ambitions! on your blog for all the world dozens of people to read is that you are now forced into action. Your adoring fans are going to ask you how things are going. There's some accountability there. Which is good. It is great, actually, because I'm the kind of person that sometimes needs a kick in the pants to get going sometimes.

I registered for a blogging conference, which was scary but feels good. And now for phase two of my plan. I have realized that more than anything, I need to feel like I am credible. That I am being taken seriously. To feel that way, I need to gain confidence in my photography skills and portfolio.

This is where you come in.

I am giving away *THREE free photo sessions. (I am still learning as a photographer, but I am confidant enough to know that I have some worthwhile skills and that this giveaway will be desirable to some of you (hopefully at least five!))

You may enter TWICE.

First, leave a comment on this blog telling me what or who you'd like to have photographed. Your family? Your kids? Your amazing quilt collection? Your dog? (Please include your name and email address).

Second, post about this giveaway on your blog, on your Facebook page, or on your Twitter account and leave me a link to it.

You have until Sunday, February 7th at 11:59 p.m. to enter.

*Photo session is for 45 minutes, one location, up to six people. Salt Lake City area only. Davis county and Utah county eligible with a $15.00 travel fee. I will provide you with a disc of edited images (minimum 20) to use as you wish.

Good luck!!