The Goings On

Some things in our lives as of February 2010 (mostly revolving around Devin).

Devin is approximately two months today. He likes holding his head up during tummy time to look around.

This is him being adorable whilst holding his up. Aww.

Rich is really liking his job and feels like an official adult. Devin really likes when Rich comes home from work. And Rich is the lucky guy who gets to burp Devin all night! They are great pals. 

Devin's ears are sticking out a bit in this pic, which I believe make him look a little like the little monkey he is!

A lot of my day is spent taking pictures of Devin. Because I need to document every nanosecond.

This is the face Devin gives me when I've blinded him with flashes. 

Devin enjoys noshing on his hands.

And trying to smile.

We are loving California and getting used to everything more and more each day. I've been looking at houses during the day and taking Rich back at night to the ones I approve of. We're hopeful we'll find something soon. Rich and I are enjoying being a happy little family and we count our many blessings each day. 

Because I'm obsessed with my child

I need to document these moments.

Smiling:
Devin's not really smiling yet, but he gets really happy sometimes! I can't wait for him to smile when I know he's actually smiling at me

Being cross-eyed:

Napping with the arms up (always):

Weekend of Sadness--With a Happy Ending

This is a picture of the pretty scenery on the way to Oregon.

We decided a road trip with a baby would be a great idea, so we loaded up Devin for his first adventure. It was a necessary road trip so Grandma and Grandpa Downing could be introduced to Devin. And the GPS said the trip would only be about 9 hours (that is the non-baby estimate, of course). Rich's mom and Leonard were planning on coming to us, but we figured that they would get to spend more time with Devin, and that I would be further away from the ants, if we visited them.

This was a great plan in theory. In fact, this is Devin being uninterested with the whole idea. He says "Road trip? Please, I'm napping with one eye open."

And the first 3.5 hours of the trip were great: I slept for 2.5 of the hours. Took pictures of the pretty fog. Fed Devin at a little rest stop where there was a gas station and a post office.

See, this is Rich being happy burping Devin.


The sadness starts after the burping ended.

Because the car wouldn't start. That's right. We're in the middle of a redwood forest and the car won't start. And since it was a Saturday on a holiday weekend, no mechanics were open. Thankfully we had the GPS to even look up this information! We finally found a mechanic in Mt. Shasta City, which was still 17 miles down the road, who was open. After a prayer and lots of hoping, the car did actually start and we were able to make it to the mechanic, who ended up being a very nice man who essentially fixes cars in the garage attached to his house. Mt. Shasta City is a very small city.

This is Rich being sad in the deli we hung out in.


Chris, the owner, was super nice and didn't mind that we chilled in his shop for about 4 hours. After we got the verdict that the fuel pump had gone out, we accepted one of the 4 offers to drive us someplace. I think the baby helped with the generosity. People probably felt bad that Devin's parents subjected him to this experience! Since there was really nothing in the area, we had to ride back south an hour to Redding to rent a car. The guy who gave us a ride was very nice. Plus we got to ride in a brand new Charger, which Rich really enjoyed.

After we got a rental car, we decided we would continue on to Oregon because we were already partly there and wanted Rich's parents to see Devin. Plus, since the Jetta wouldn't be ready until at least Wednesday, we decided that new car we'd been waiting to buy was now in the cards. We thought that car shopping with a baby wouldn't be lots of fun, and Rich's mom could watch Devin while we shopped. This is all still good in theory, but we still had 6 hours to drive. By the time we got to Oregon (at 12:30 a.m.) we were pretty worn out. Nothing like an 18-hour road trip! Woot!! Devin was a trooper though. I must say that I have a really good baby!! He slept almost the whole way, wasn't fussy in the deli where we hung out, and was only slightly traumatized from being in his car seat for so long! So we love him even more now! :)

But the trip was worth it so Liz and Leonard could meet Devin and fall in love with him!
Love this picture!

Devin liked hanging out with them and got held the whole time!


Rich and I shopped for cars in Oregon, and hated the whole process. Car salesmen are lame. LAME. But in the end we found a pretty Camry that we loved. We got a good deal on it, and it's almost brand new. And it's pretty. We liked this salesman--his name was Rowdy--and he gave me a Camry key chain I'm pretty sure they only give to the people who buy new cars (score!) and he let Rich keep the pen we used to sign our lives away because Rich kept commenting on how great the pen was (it's probably worth 10 cents).

Here's us with our new, pretty, family car!


We love it.

IT'S SO MUCH MORE COMFY THAN THE JETTA. (Which we hate now, btw.)

Note: Devin does not like his diaper changed from the trunk of the car.

The trip back to California wasn't that bad. The car was comfy, Devin still slept most of the way, and there was no fuel pump going out!

Hi Mt. Shasta City!


We'll be back in 2.5 days to pick up the Jetta!

I'm pretty sure this is the actual Mt. Shasta.

Memories!

And the happy ending is that when we got back to the apartment there was ant carnage all over the cabinet!! I didn't take a picture because I was so excited I wiped them all up before I thought that I should document this moment of joy. I haven't seen one ant alive since being back. This makes me so happy. Yay for ant spray!

I find this adorable.

I love this picture. It's blurry, but I still like it.


Devin loves sucking on his hands more than the pacifier, which I'm okay with. And he recently learned how to suck his thumb. He's pretty cool.

Brittons Reunited

So, we now live in California together.

Devin took his first plane ride outside the uterus last Friday, and was so good. This really helped my stress level because whenever anyone asked when I was moving I would expound about how nervous and stressed and worried and a lot of other words that also mean nervous and stressed. In the end, Devin fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport, woke up briefly when we were finagling him into the front carrier, then slept until there was about 30 minutes left in the flight. And even then he just woke up and was super mellow and looked at me like "Okay, feed me now!" It was actually a little strange how mellow he was--he normally gets VERY worked up. But instead he was just looking around being all cute.


So thankful for this. And the end of the flight was great because I got to come down the escalator and see Rich!


The apartment is small but cozy. I don't mind the size. What do I mind? The ants. ANTS. I feel like they are crawling on me all the time, though I know they're not because they're mainly contained to the kitchen, but still. ANTS. Hate them. They must have been here before we moved in because Rich really only ate Totino's pizzas when I wasn't here, so there were no crumbs to be found. I discovered (because I do watch the ants intently and follow them to their lair) that the main access point seems to be coming from the light socket. I wanted to go buy some ant spray right then. But Rich told me that I couldn't spray directly into the light socket. He is no fun. In the meantime, I will continue to kill ants mercilessly and will try not to think about them when they are not in plain sight. This will help my sanity. So, my only request/wish/desire/hope is that the ant bait starts working soon.

5.5 Week Check Up

Instead of taking Devin in at 2 months for a well child check, I took him in at 5.5 weeks. I wanted to have him okay before I whisked him away to California. And the doctor ensured me at our 2-week check that they could give him the vaccinations early since they normally can do it at 6 weeks. Instead, the doctor didn't check to make sure that giving the shots a few days early would be okay until I got to the appointment. Which is when we found out that it would not be okay. I was a little mad because now I either have to find the health department in Lakeport or take him in for another well child check. Since I like seeing how big he's getting, I'm sure we'll just take him in for another appointment.

So, at 5.5 weeks our little man got poked and prodded and was pronounced to be in good health.


Weight: 9.7 lbs
Height: 21.5 in

He's in the 25th percentile for weight and height, so he's just a little guy. But I'm guessing they were basing those numbers off of 2-month olds since that's the normal appointment time. So he's probably not as small as he sounds.

A Curse and A Trick

Devin really had no hope of not having the hiccups of death. They are a Millett family curse. Devin had the hiccups all the time in my belly, so I wasn't surprised when he came out a hiccuping machine. Besides being adorable, it's pretty much his favorite thing to do. He finds the time to work in the hiccups at least 4 or 5 times a day.

(You can tell I'm a new mom when I post a 30-second video of my child hiccuping.)

In other news, Devin has a new trick. He can roll from his tummy to his back. The first time was when he was about 3.5 weeks. I didn't see it happen as I had walked away for a second to wash my hands. My abandonment apparently really upset him, and when I came back he was on his back, still crying, of course. Really I think he accomplished the feat because he was so so mad and kicked himself over. But, since then he's continued rolling over and essentially ends tummy time immediately after it begins. That is unless it's a time he can't figure out the process and just cries into the floor. That's also another favorite trick of his.

Firsts

Devin experienced some more firsts as he hit the one-month mark.

He got to officially meet Great Grandma Peterson.

He loved her.

He also had his first tub bath! Grandma Millett did a great job.

The next night, when I tried to give him a tub bath, I put his face right in the water. He did not enjoy this much. Grandma might always have to bathe him.

Devin does like his baths though. He calms right down once you put him in the water--that is unless you put his face in the water. We will try not to do this anymore though.

On to Our New Life

Rich officially left for California on the 29th. He and Brad left at around 1:30 that morning to trek out to our new home! I really appreciated Brad volunteering for the road trip, especially since the Uhaul was massive on its own, and with the car towed behind, it turned into a mini semi truck.

How in the world Rich and I have so much stuff is beyond me. The entire truck was full! My 15 boxes of books did add to the pile, but really, what is all the other stuff?

Packing for the past month while trying to figure out how to be a new parent has been a bit stressful, but we've had lots of help and really couldn't have done it without my parents watching Devin and packing some things for us. It was actually pretty fun to go through all the boxes of stuff from my childhood--memories! Even with a massive load for the DI and a pile for the landfill, we will have enough material possessions to make us feel right at home in Cali!!

Dave, Jen, and Reagan came over to wish us farewell,

and Dave and Rich were sad to be parting.

(Note the tears on Dave's part. They might be real.)

Devin and Reagan will be reunited one day, and we will probably pull out this picture in 20 years when Devin begins to woo Reagan.

We are really going to miss all our friends here!

We had a bon voyage party with the Milletts on the 24th.

Rich got to choose the meal, and he picked Hawaiian haystacks. Erik was a little confused why steak was not the choice!

Rich was good-byed with a new computer case and leather folio.

We are hoping this helps him look very professional and keeps him super organized!

I miss Rich already, and will admit that I cried when he left, but I'll see him soon! Devin and I fly out on the 5th of February to start our part of the adventure. Rich started work today, and I'm sure he's going to love being an adult and having a real job! The people have been so great already, so we're excited for what's to come.

So while we will miss living in Utah and being close to family, we are looking forward to our new adventure. And we highly encourage all to visit once we have a house!