Minnestoa Here We Come!

Last week Collin, Justin and I had the opportunity to go to Minnesota for a visit with all of my side of the family and make some needed introductions. Preparations started about a week prior to our trip with lists of things not to forget and lots of laundry. I started the packing around the same time too.

The morning of our trip we had to get out of the house around 5:30am, so I put Justin to bed in his outfit for the next day so he wouldn't need to be jostled around too much. I had all the bags ready to go so we could toss our toiletries in hit the road to our long term parking at LAX (about an hour away).

My biggest concern was that Justin would wake up on the ride to the long term parking place and want to eat. Luckily, he waited until we arrived, but he was hungry. So, I grabbed the baby and Collin grabbed our things and we hopped on the shuttle to the airport. Justin, being hungry as he was, could not wait to eat. So there I sat on the shuttle with a bunch of strangers watching as I struggled to stay covered and nurse my wiggly little boy. Then Collin turned to me and asked, "Did you grab my coat from the car?" and I responded, "No, did you grab my coat?". Just remember that it gets below freezing at night in Minnesota right now, so that was not good. When our flight landed in Minneapolis (after our layover in Seattle) we went straight to the Minnesota store in the airport and bought a sweater for me. Even after my week of packing in advance I somehow managed to forget to pack a sweater.

We really only had that one snafu on the whole trip. Although, Justin had the uncanny ability to fill his pants just as the fasten seat belts sign would go on and the poor people sitting with us were stuck for 20-30 minutes smelling his perfume. Good thing he's cute!

Waiting at the airport between flights

Baby slings are life savers on a trip

Pics with Great Grammy Rose

Four generations

Great Uncle Tom

Great Uncle Bill and Cousin Gina

Minnesota outer wear (California babies are foreign to this) More of the Hoffman Clan

(Great Aunt Jane, Uncle Tom, Uncle Dave and Aunt Laura)

Great Aunt Jane


Collin & Great Uncle Rick
Great Aunt Debbie






Great Grandpa

Great Uncle Rick holding his first baby!!!! Lucky Justin!

Three Months...

Three months ago I had no idea how my life would change. I no longer worry about my makeup, whether or not I have shaved my legs (although Collin would debate that I may have never cared about that one), getting a pedicure every couple of weeks or which accessories I will wear. In a sense I don't exist anymore...at least not right now. Now my worries are all about a little boy named Justin Ray Rueppell, who is all consuming and the purest joy I've ever known in my life. Today is his three month birthday!

I can never quite catch a smile. He's too quick!

Justin is changing at the speed of light these days. He is discovering his voice, hands and abdominal muscles. He is pretty much cooing whenever he is awake now. He loves to talk back and forth with us as we mimic his noises and faces. His faces are really cute since he has a little dimple on his right cheek and when he is really excited he scrunches up his nose and his eyes turn into little slits. He also has started to flex his body forward like he's curling in to a ball. He almost grabbed his toes a couple of times. I guess it's no wonder he needs 3 or 4 naps a day with all of that learning happening in his tiny little body.

Not only is it hard to catch a smile, but he's constantly moving and I have a hard time getting a clear pic without the flash anymore :)

My life with Collin feels so much more complete now that we have our own little boy to love together. As we fumble through parenting and the challenges it presents us as a couple, we are growing to love each other in a whole new way. It's an intense journey that I couldn't understand until "it" happened to us.

The Many Faces of Justin

 

 

Already November

I can't believe that we've already slipped into November and I haven't finished posting about October! The time is zooming by and before I know it I will be back at work which is very conflicting for me. I love my job and the people I see everyday but, I also can't imagine leaving my little boy for eight plus hours a day. I know it will be okay and that it's just another "first" we have to experience.

Papa Gary and Judy drove down from Portland, OR to meet Justin two weekends ago and we had a wonderful time. They cooked for us and Judy taught me a recipe for a tomato sauce that was soooo yummy! We also found a great new place to go for breakfast on a golf course. It's up in the hills and makes you feel like your out of the city for a little while. They stopped by the morning they were leaving and I was planning to get a picture with Papa Gary since I had forgotten to do it earlier. However, my memory is not improving quite yet.:) We did get a great pic with Judy...

Gary and Judy even did a little babysitting for us so we could go to a Halloween party. I almost cancelled so I could just stay home because I was really nervous to leave, but I found the strength and it was nice to get out. Of course, I found another woman at the party who has a 16 month old daughter so we talked about our kids the whole night. It was what I needed to do so I wouldn't start obsessing about the baby and wondering if he was okay. By the way, he slept the entire time we were gone. Thanks to loving and trustworthy family members, Collin and I had our first night out since we have become parents.

Here are pics from the party. I was a ladybug, and Collin was the Professor from Gilligan's Island. The group pic is of him with the ladies from one of the offices he calls on.

Last weekend was not only Halloween but a visit from Grandpa Gus and Nana Nancy. They came in from Minnesota for the weekend to meet Justin and see where we live. We drove down to Newport Beach, watched a lot of football, went to our new breakfast spot and celebrated Halloween. It was fun and exhausting for Monkey. He took some really long naps on Monday. :)

Grandpa Gus & Nana Nancy Handed out candy so we could take Justin out to Trick-or-Treat

Our Friends stopped by for candy

Heidi, Audrey( she is four days older than Justin) & Justin

It wasn't all fun

No, I'm not pregnant, that's just my ladybug costume

The little pumpkin