Utah Trip-- in parts

Dear Kate and Riley,
It is going to take me forever to blog our Utah trip over Thanksgiving. We headed to Utah to bless Luke and to spend time with every member of both sides of the family! That made for a lot of people and a lot of running around but we had fun. Right before this trip I hit my all time low so far as lack of sleep is concerned. I didn't think I'd make it. But Luke was a great traveler and he actually slept better on the trip than he had his whole life! I couldn't deal with sharing a room with Dad who was snoring and Luke grunting so I made the best move ever and decided to sleep on Aunt Stacy and Uncle Andrew's couch every night while Dad and Luke shared the room. I kept the monitor on really low so I could hear Luke if he needed me and he did great. That plus having Dad around to let me sleep in and have a nap every day really helped give me the boost I needed to keep going. We had a great trip.

O'Farrell Family Christmas Party

 The kids were pretty good on the drive down. Zach got really mad when he realized I was taking pictures of him rocking out to Taylor Swift

 We had to stop to see my Clair bear while the big boys and Dad went to the BYU soccer game. So thankful for nieces.

 Brady screamed when we saw uncle Bret and refused to sit near him because "he's stinky." I felt bad and annoyed at the same time. Wish they could see their family more so they weren't scared of them! 

 Luke was definitely "most popular cousin"

More to come

Luke's Month One Highlights

Luke's First month

I thought that since I'm behind 4 months,  I can try to jot down some highlights from each month. Month one-- he was born which was a biggie, haha. The first month was rough. I'd say overstimulated may be the word to describe his first month. I really can't imagine coming from the peaceful darkness of the womb into this insanely loud family. It was a rough transition for this sweet one. Other than needing to be held a lot and needing to be rocked to sleep and not sleeping as much as he should have, the first month was relatively uneventful. He is a good nurser and gained well. No jaundice or other issues. Just an adjustment period.

The best line from Luke's first month was from Brady, who is obsessed with his baby brother, "Wuke! Baby Wukie! Come here, I feed you!" I about died laughing.

We love our little Lukie!
Love,
Mom

Halloween Fun

Dear Kate and Riley,
Ok, in the interest of conserving time I'm going to compile the rest of the Halloween pictures. We had the Massies over for pumpkin carving, we went to a ward chili cookoff, Zach had a school party and we trick-or-treated with friends. Phew, needless to say, add to that a pretty fussy baby, a body that was having a hard time recovering, and living off of virtually no sleep and I was EXHAUSTED! I don't feel like we had so many Halloween "activities" growing up, the actual day was pretty much it. It seems like it lasts all month for these kids. And yes, it is fun but man, it is also a lot of work.

Love,
Mom