butt-load of pictures!

I am no longer making excuses for not posting; I have a baby, I'm a full-time student, and it is the start of the holidays. Okay, NOW no more excuses. For now, I will not be doing the "weekly updates" for Joel (and me & Robert), at least not until school is out and the holidays are over. I will post when I can... which may mean a day in between posts or two weeks in between posts. But since I haven't kept up with posting, I have a butt-load (seriously, a TON) of pictures to share.
The first few are some pictures we took while waiting for a recception to begin. They are the first "family photos" that we have taken - "family photos" being photos with all three of us in it.

These next pictures are some shots I took at the temple for my ASU graduation announcements. For those of you who think it is silly that I am going to the graduation ceremony (well convocation, anyway), tough. I have more than earned the right to walk with all that I have accomplished. How many LDS girls do you know that have graduated from a major university? Not many. How many LDS girls do you know that have graduated from a major university with a baby? Even fewer. How many LDS girls do you know that have graduated from a major university with a baby who was born during midterms (and the proud mom still graduating Magna Cum Laude AND maintaining a 4.0 GPA for the semster)? Maybe like two. December 19th is MY day.
The following set of pictures are all of the cooking creations I have undertaken the last week. The first is the yummy birthday dinner I made for Robert on Monday (the 24th). The second is the chocolate frosting that I made a mess of in the microwave (a reminder that hazmat should be on-call when I am in the kitchen). The third is the non gluten-free, Funfetti cake I made for Robert. The fourth is the awesomely delicious gluten-free pumpkin cake I made for Thanksgiving. The fifth and final is the scrumptious gluten-free apple pie (with crust leaves) that I also made for Thanksgiving. I have met my monthly quota for cooking; too bad tomorrow is a new month...

A generation picture from Thanksgiving follows. From left to right in the photo are: Robert, Robert (Joel), Jess, and Jess (Barry) Root. One of the neat things about having a son was being able to have a picture like this where everyone has the same last name. PS... Robert's grandpa will be 100 and freakin' 2 in two weeks. crazy.

On Thanksgiving, Robert was finally able to eat his cake. We didn't have twenty four candles on hand, so I arranged the candles in the shape of the number 24. The smoke from the candles looks awesome (please excuse my husband; he is like a four-year old sometimes)!

We went to Temple Lights the night the lights were turned on (by Brooke White, all you American Idol fans). Baby didn't care too much for the lights; he wanted to eat the entire time.

Finally (yes, there is an end to this picture madness), below are pictures from my friend Jason's reception. He married a cutie! It was random, one day he couldn't talk to a girl to save his life and then (magically) the next day he was engaged. I love how life can throw you in a different direction in a matter of moments.

Speaking of different directions, Joel has been sleeping in his own room for the past week. Yay! He adapted to the change by sleeping longer through the night; mommy and daddy now get about 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night.
Besides a week filled with school and weddings and birthdays and family and food and holidays (Black Friday counts as its own holiday, right?!), this week has been just another week. Hopefully I will get time this upcoming week for Christmas crafts (oh yes, there will be pictures)! I will leave you with one last glimpse at our life... enjoy this video (this song may be permanently stuck in my head).

a little late

I am a little late in posting this... Joel reached six weeks two days ago. That's what happens when you have school and a baby; you are late for most things. Honestly, I really have no recollection of what has happened this past week. I know I made an apple pie on Saturday evening (didn't finish until like 11pm). Amazingly enough, the apple pie turned out pretty well for it being my first try AND for it not having wheat flour. We have started taking videos of Baby since he does more than cry, eat, sleep, and poop. The short video we have posted below is of him crying; hilarious. I really want to capture some of his pathetically sad(in the cutest way) faces. He's a keeper... even if he is demanding (I think he gets that from Robert...).

Yum!

This is how you can be fat AND skinny at the same time...

all about us

Robert so graciously decided that I needed a break from Baby on Friday. Joel had been screaming all day and I was frazzled. We dropped him off at Robert's parents' house and went on a date! It was so nice to be alone with Robert again; I've missed "us" time. We went to As You Wish, the most awesome place on earth, if you ask me. As You Wish is a paint-your-own pottery shop; Robert decorated a snowman and I decorated a plate. We got to talk and laugh like we did when we were first dating. I enjoy being silly with my hubby. Our crafts turned out well (though we don't get them back until tomorrow). I don't think it will be hard on me to leave Baby with someone once a week for a few hours for Date Night; I need Robert time!

a lesson in gratitude

So, just now, as I was contemplating how horrible my day has been because of my screaming baby (seriously, pretty much screaming and crying nonstop ALL day) I got a lesson in gratitude. I was blog-hopping (to the blogs of people I don't even know) and read of two cases of newborn deaths in the lives of friends of friends. The first case was the death of newborn twins; the second case was of a baby born two weeks early. I cried for both families. Even if I may have miserable days, I HAVE them and should be grateful.

what's all the HUB bub, bub?

The most EVENTFUL thing for me this past week involves my car. Now, I am not one to name my car or consider it my "baby", but I do take some pride in it. Well, as I was loading Baby in the back of the car to go to the in-laws', I realized something was off. I couldn't figure out why the back tire looked like a donut. Then I realized that the tire was too large to be a donut. I stepped back from the car. This isn't my car! Wait... the car seat base is in the back and my shell necklace and otter are hanging from the rear-view mirror... This IS my car! But... but... SOMEONE STOLE MY FLIPPIN' HUB CAPS! Seriously, people. Who would do such a thing, especially since they were dinged up like crazy?! Now I have a ghetto car. At least it looks relatively decent now that it has been through the car wash. I would have a picture, but the situation so.
Robert is doing MUCH better (this evening he told me he knew he was better since he had the "munchies"). Luckily for me, he is back to helping me 100% with Joel.
Baby Joel has hit a few milestones this week. On Saturday, he "turned" one month old. I was going to take pictures, but his little face was BRIGHT RED with baby acne (it made me so sad). On Sunday, he was blessed by his Daddy. The blessing circle consisted of Robert (daddy), Barry (grandpa), Jess (great-grandpa), Jess (uncle), James (uncle), Troy (uncle), Jared (uncle) and Bishop LeBaron. Thank you to all who came and/or participated. He was perfect during the blessing; no tears or crying. Later on Sunday, he smiled voluntarily at me for the first time. It was such an amazing feeling to know he was smiling in recognition of my voice and face. Joel was able to "meet" with all but one cousin this past week (Little Seth, we may see you in April). Joel knows exactly how to handle such a LARGE family; sleep. He is good at that!

Blessing Day
Smile!
He never looks the same from picture to picture (I promise it is the same baby). It's weird, I know.

week four

Technically, Joel won't be four weeks old until tomorrow, but close enough! Besides, I have the time NOW to blog, so I might as well take advantage of it. Baby's belly button finally healed COMPLETELY (the cord fell off on day 13, but he had a scab that lasted for a while), so he has been taking "big boy" baths. He LOVES them; nothing calms him down faster (well, maybe nursing). After his first bath, he decided to take a "sprinkle". Lucky for me, he made it right into the sink so I didn't have to worry about giving him (or the counter) another bath! Joel also "met" my entire family (all seven of them) on Sunday evening. Family members enjoyed playing "pass-the-baby".
Robert has not had such a good week. Early Sunday morning (and by early, I mean freaking early 1am), Robert decided to spew forth all the contents of his stomach. This, unfortunately for him (and anyone within earshot; i.e. me), lasted for seven hours or so. Robert spent the entire day in bed. Luckily, it appears to have only been a 24 hour flu. But Robert's "fun" doesn't stop there; OH no. Today he found out that he will have to wait ANOTHER semester before applying to ASU's business school (unless he wants to play the switch-your-major-a-billion-times game). Though this doesn't suck as much as having the stomach flu, it sucks regardless.
I have had the normal week; so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Between baby and school and baby, I have no time to think straight. See. Did that even make sense? Oh well. I attended the funeral for the family friend that passed away. That was an experience worth blogging for in itself. I have never been to a non-LDS funeral so high in attendance. There were literally over 200 people there. My family and I were stuck out in the hall during the service; we watched the service via a tv and camcorder. The funeral was beautiful... with the exception of the conductor leading everyone in singing "happy birthday" at the end. That was a little strange for me...
School continues to go well. I am counting down the days until I graduate! I am excited for graduation; Baby already has his ASU onesie waiting (if it still fits the little hippo in a month and a half).