Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Very Merry Christmas

This Christmas was extra special because we had Dane to share it with. Even though he didn't know I was dressing him in strictly Christmas attire since Black Friday, or didn't know the plump man with the white beard that I made him sit on his lap, it was still fun! And will get even more fun as the years go on. The tree was loaded up with gifts 'To Dane', from us, grandparents, aunts/uncles, it was so nice of everyone! Bret and I enjoyed opening them all too! :)
Bret had to get Dane his first football!

On Christmas Eve, my side of the family gets together, and this year my aunt Darcy hosted. She's a pro at hosting parties, and she always does such a nice job!

Christmas day was celebrated at our house this year! Its usually celebrated at my parents house, but its much easier for people to come here instead of us going there right now. Plus, Bret and I love to host! :)
Dane was an obviously on the good list this year, so Santa brought him a bunny bounce/vibrating seat. Santa also put it together for him! Thanks Santa!

My little happy Santa!





All in all, we had a great Christmas, but missing our NE family. We love you all and hope to see you all soon! <3

Monday, December 19, 2011

Pulling off the Bandaid CONT...

(I said I was new at this... didn't mean for it to post unfinished!)

It's literally like brick being lifted off my shoulders knowing that Dane is in great hands! It's nice to focus on my AMAZING job while I'm working, and not have to worry.

I have to work this week until Thursday, and then I'm off for the Christmas holiday, not returning until Jan. 6th. So, in a nutshell, I work 5 days, and then get off 2 weeks.. BRILLIANT planning if I do say so myself! :)

Pulling off the bandaid

Well, I am officially back to work! As I was excited to get 'back into society' and interact with adults, I was very worried about being away from my babe. We've had times that we were apart, but the longest has been 3 hours... didn't know how I was going to deal with being gone for 8. My first day back to work was Friday, and Bret took off the day to be with him.. so that was a piece of cake! (Although I did text Bret frequently during the day, asking him to send me pictures of what they were doing. haha, What would we do without Smartphones?) But today was my first day actually dropping him off at the sitter. With tears streaming down my face on the ride over, I just kept telling myself that he will be just fine! Once I walked in to my sitter, Erica's house, which is convienently located directly across the street from my school, I instantanously felt a sense of relief. She is so welcoming, and I knew that he was in great hands! I am so thankful that my good friend/co-worker Krista, got me in contact with her. It's literally

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

My Little Sleeping Angel

It seems like the two questions that people ask you after baby...

"Is is sleeping through the night?"
and
"Have you lost your pregnancy weight yet?"

So far, both answers have been no.... But something miracleous has happened... Dane has started to sleep 7-8 hours!! Holy 'MOLE! The first night it happened, I litterally woke up at 2:30, (his usual feeding time), and checked to make sure he was breathing! He was, so I went back to sleep. As of today, we've had 4 consecutive nights of at least 7 hours of sleep. Wa-hoo! My angel is so good to me, he must know that I am going back to work soon. :) I'm so proud of little Dane and being able to sleep that long. Not bad for just 9 weeks!


So hopefully we have got the sleeping situation under control, I will keep working on the pregnacy weight! The holidays are not a time to try to lose! :)

Mommy and Daddy Time

Some say that one of the tricks of successful parenting is to stay connected to your spouse and enjoy eachothers company the way you did before child. We are trying to stay 'us', but still manage to be mommy and daddy at the same time. :)
In the past year, we have become close friends with Dyan and Carlos. They moved here from New Mexico about a year and a half ago. We met them from my school. Dyan and Carlos both share December birthdays. For their birthday this year, we decided to get a babysitter, and hit the town with them! My brother Ryan was gracious enough to give up a Friday night to hang with our little Dane. (Thanks Ryan! Greatest Uncle in the WORLD!)

Here's the birthday couple! We had such a great time hanging with our friends! It's nice to get out, a bit dressed up, and enjoy eachother's company.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Creating our own traditions..

So Santa? Am I on the nice or the naughty list??

I know this isn't a 'new and creative' tradition, but each year I would like to take Dane to see Santa. I remember growing up, my mom and aunt would take us and my cousins to see Santa on Black Friday. I like to shop on Black Friday, so I won't take him then, but would like to get a picture of him with Santa each year! Memories that later down the road we will look back on and cherish.
Pretty sure this is the CUTEST reindeer I've ever seen!!
(put the tune of rudolph in your head)
"I'm Daner the cutest reindeer, and I have very blue eyes. And if you ever saw them you would even say "oh my". All of the other reindeer, used to laugh and call my cheeks chubby. They never thought ole Daner would be a ladies' man someday. Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say (ho,ho,ho) Daner with your heart so big, girls will chase you around for it. Then all of the other reindeer gathered round to say Yippee,(yippee) Daner the cutest reindeer, you'll go down in history!
I know what you are thinking... Kanye West look out... Amber Erixon is a lyrical genius! :)

Bret seems to think that I'm going 'overboard' with the pictures, blog, photobooks, baby books, ect. that I have been doing. But I just think that I am just helping capture moments that we will never get back! I have spoke with many mom's, who do all this extra stuff for their first born and forget to do it with their next... so, in the event that we ever do have another... I am appologizing already to you second born! :) haha!!

The bummer about living in AZ...

I am an AZ girl, raised here all my life. I love it, and can't imagine myself any where else. Sure, the summer's are hot, but the winters are nice and springtime is perfect. Bret is a midwest gentlemen, being raised in Nebraska. Bret moved out to AZ for sunshine and hopes in playing for the Arizona Rattlers indoor football team. His hopes were shattered when he blew out his knee for the um-thinth time. But decided to stay in AZ! Fast forward 7 years and here we are married with a baby!
But the only bummer is Bret's family lives in Nebraska still and it's hard not being able to see them as often as we would like.
Last weekend his Dad, Royce and sister Tami were able to come and stay for the weekend! We were thrilled! It's the first time they have seen Dane in person!

They were happy to leave Nebraska's first snow of the season to come to AZ winter... low 60's!While they were here, we managed to take some family photos.. my dear friend is a terrific photographer, and we were able to book a session with her. Her business is really taking off and I couldn't be more proud of her! She is so talented, and I'm so thankful I have her around to document Dane's growth in pictures!


On our last night with them after a long day of shopping, we were able to unwind and have Tami cook for us! Thanks Tami for sharing your FAMOUS stuffed shells recipe. Maybe I will try to recreate it one of these days!


Thanks again to Tami and Royce for taking the time to visit us and Dane. We greatly appreciate it, and can't wait to see you both very soon!! <3

Thursday, December 1, 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like....

That's a cute title to this post, but in all actuality, it's looked this way even before Thanksgiving! Christmas is my FAVORITE time of year! I love decorating the house, love the parties, and family gatherings. It's a family tradition to go shopping on Black Friday, and then after shopping I usually do an 'overhaul' on the house and change it into a Sugar Plum fairytale. :) But this year, since I'm home on maternity leave, I decided to pull out the decorations the week of Thankgiving and do a little bit by bit. I'm learning that everything takes a bit longer with a little babe around. We have moved into this house earlier this year, so I have MUCH more room to decorate! It's a work in progress and will get better each year!



I just can not believe how fast this year has flown by! We've stayed busy this year with attending 3 out of town weddings, (Congrats to Tami and Jesse, Dan and Erin, and Sarah and Tim!) moving into a new house, getting house ready to move into, and finally the icing on the cake... DANE! Like other years, we have alot to be thankful for, and we (I) need to sometimes slow down and not take these wonderful things for granted. <3