Christmas Post... Finally!

We had a GREAT Christmas in Alaska and if I hadn't been working every minute that Louis was asleep since we came home, I would have posted a lot sooner. It was awesome to be with so much family that loved us, and loved our sweet yet tempermental baby. They would hold him even when he was yelling at them.

We'll use pictures to recap most of the trip, since I'm a boring writer and pictures are so much more fun.....

Before we left to Alaska, we had to open our presents from family in Hawaii and each other- we didn't have enough room to pack them all!

We decided that this year, Louis could be Santa Claus. He doesn't look too excited about the honor.

One of his favorite presents was a great book from his Grandma and Papa Faustino.

This hat looked adorable in its package, but when put on Louis has the unfortunate trait of making Louis look like an idiot. And not just in this picture. It looks like the old fashioned, soft football helmets on him. Too bad.

When we got to Alaska, Louis loved meeting his relatives. Here he is with his Grandma Kenley in Grannie's rocking chair.

He loved his Aunt Rachel, and she was soooo good with him. She would hold him, bounce him and even change poopy diapers. I wanted to bring her home with me!

He of course loved his Grandpa Kenley. He would let him look in the mirror at himself as long as Louis wanted to.

He also met his adorable cousin Daisy for the first time. She is so dainty and cute. Her pictures really don't do her justice- I tried so many times to capture how cute she is, but it is just impossible on film.

Louis also got to spend time with his cousin Andy. Andy loves babies and was so cute with Louis. They even had a matching outfit.

And Andy loved Louis, even when he was mad. I love this picture because I was trying to not use the flash, but Louis was so mad and flapping his arms so fast that you can't even see them with the slower shutter speed.

He also got to meet several of his great grandparents. Here he is with Grannie and Granpie Oberg. They are still as funny as ever... more pictures will prove this for Granpie.

We of course had the annual baking day, with enough chocolate and cookies to blow anyone's mind (and waist line). This year my new favorite was the little peanut butter cupcakes with the Reces Cups in the middle.

Christmas Eve was a big party with all of the Oberg relatives. Since there was no snow, we mixed it up with some games and a white elephant gift exchange. One of the games included passing an apple from person to person, with increasing obstacles if you were stuck with the apple. Granpie was having fun with that one.

Heather and Scott were the winners of the apple siamese twins game. Surprisingly, Uncle Barry and Uncle Chris were second place.

And of course Granpie also found some time to tell some good stories at the party.

Keith got a bunch of weird present from Calvin from Mexico. One of them was this Nacho Libre mask, which Andy was initiall y terrified of. If he saw Keith with it on he would immediately start crying. This is several hours later, after he had conquered his fear of the mask.

We used the babies to attack Calvin when he was napping, no one can get mad at babies!

Louis loved all the lights on the Christmas trees.

Brett's wedding was the day we were there and it was a fun reception. I love this picture because I think it looks like Louis was photographed by paparazzi, like he's trying to get away but we caught him by surprise.

And finally, to end this post, a beautiful picture of the one, the only, Calvin Smooth.....

New Year's Eve

We spent the majority of New Year's Eve on a plane coming back to Boston. But since we were still on Alaska time [four hours early] we decided to spend New Year's Eve with some friends playing games and hanging out. The highlight was the trek to the top of the hill to see Boston's fireworks without having to drive clear to Boston.

It was pretty cold, so we really had to bundle Louis up. This is about all you can see of him- the blanket even covered his face.

James and I made some fun family goals for this year, too dorky to list on here. I know that resolutions usually never get done, but I still love them anyway. There is something about a new year that makes you feel like it is a clean slate, and that anything is possible.

Bishopric Christmas Card Out Takes

In December MK decided he wanted to do photos for the Bishopric's Christmas card and asked me to snap a few. The majority of them were all the same and the guys all looked nice. They got progressively worse as the photo shoot went on. These are some of my favorites.

Sleepy Sleep

No wonder James says the bed feels a little bit crowded.....

I usually cave in about 5am if Louis is crying and bring him back to bed with us. I always wondered why it felt like he was kicking me in the ribs- and now I know. He likes to sleep in our bed sideways and crowd Dad out!

Lazy Saturday?

After I put Louis down for a nap, I came downstairs to our living room to find James like this:

He'd been helping me with a little photo shoot using the comforter as a backdrop and I guess he got tired.

Halloween

We were so excited this year for Halloween. James and I love dressing up anyway, so having a little accessory to add to our collection was awesome! We thought long and hard and this is what we cam up with.....

Yes, you are seeing right- we are two chefs and a lobster (or lobstah if you are here in Boston). Kind of sick, but very cute. Here are some more pictures of our catch.

Anne Gedes Style

Chef James and Lobster

Finally, Louis Arrives

Louis made his long overdue arrival on September 11th (easy birthday to remember). To be honest, I was perfectly content to stay pregnant another couple of weeks. I had no problem sleeping and the thought of impending labor and then parenthood scared me a little bit. When he was 10 days overdue they sent us in for a nonstress test and ultrasound and after both of those exams they determined they would need to induce me. I was so sad- I had really wanted to have my baby in the birth center.

So that evening they gave me some cervadil to help prepare me for induction the next day, gave me some ambien so I could have one last good night of sleep and about 10pm, James and I went to sleep for the night. Around 2:30 I think I went into labor, but for the next hour I really couldn't tell because I was so sleepy from the Ambien! I will spare the gory details, but everything went really quickly, really smoothly and really very easily and Louis was born at 7:30 am. It was an intense experience, but (I know other mother's will shoot me for saying this) not really all that painful for me. I opted not to have an epidural and felt great through the whole thing. Louis was 7lbs, 6oz and 21 1/2 inches long. He was a skinny little beanpole with a great head of hair.

After his birth however, there were some minor complications that resulted in me being transfered to the operating room and having some minor surgery. Now that hurt! The recovery for that was far worse than actually having Louis. So three hours after I had Louis I finally got to get back to my room, relax and spend some time with my baby.

Louis is a tiny little thing, but already has a lot of personality. He is so sweet and snuggly sometimes and then yelling at us the next. Of course we love every minute of it. We named him Louis after James' grandpa Faustino, Wilson after my Grandpa Kenley and Keaunui after James' friend Jason. The poor kid has a lot to live up to.