On a scael of 1-10

How wrong is it that I was thinking of entering Van into some baby contests just so we could have some extra money if he won? We're buying a house (yeah!) and I was just thinking how much it would sweeten the pot if Van won a few hundred bucks by his cuteness. Everyone has to pull their weight, right? This will help teach him responsibility... by his mother exploiting his perfectly proportioned chubbiness. Don't know if I can do it, will keep you posted about this moral dilema.

Three years ago...

We took this picture on our honeymoon! Wish I could still fit into those jeans. Anyway, I had to write a quick post about our anniversary. As of 11am this morning, its been 3 funfilled years of marriage! Neither rain, nor hail, nor snow could have stopped us that day (and yes it did all three).
Matt fills my life with laughter beyond measure...for that I am forever grateful. How did I get so lucky to marry my perfect match? I know not. What I do know is I enjoy the hell out of it. And I always will...So here's to late night giggles, whimpy back massages (by you) and letting me pop the zits on your back. I love you Matthew!

Weighing in at 16 lbs 3 ounces...

its our little chunky monkey! I took Van for his four month check up and shots about two weeks ago. How do those nurses do it? Seriously? Anyway, our little guy isn't so little. For the first time in the history of my family, we have someone who is in the 87 percentile in height! He's 26 inches long...when's the last time you grew 5 inches in 4 months? So the doc noticed that Van is VERY aware of his surroundings and asked if Van had started to watch us eat. Yes, yes he has I said (in fact, that's been the only way I can eat a meal because he's fascinated by me eating!). The doc said to go ahead and start with the baby food and rice cereal. Four months seemed early to me, but I LOVE this pediatrician so we tried it out and Van is a champ! He loves to eat (shocking for a child of mine, I know). I know every baby goes thru these milestones, but I still think he's a genius because by the third bite, he was opening his mouth and ready to chomp!

Pop quiz: who do you think he looks like?? (my answer is a bit of both, but really, truly he looks like his Uncle Carson did at his age.)

Disclaimer...

Just so everyone knows, this will be the one and only time I EVER on purpose post a picture of me in my swimming suit and that is ONLY because I have a stratigically placed, darling baby with me and it happened to be his first time in the pool. I think I have a water baby on my hands. Van was so content he actually fell asleep after being in the pool for about an hour! Most people may not think much of this, but my baby does not sleep much during the day (ie 20 minute naps here and there after me trying for an hour to get him to sleep). So the fact that he was that relaxed tells me we may be spending our summer in the pool.

Another big event, was Van's blessing. This is him before church. Van isn't so hip on church, but don't we all feel like that sometimes? He actually did really well and didn't scream during the blessing like I thought he would. He was, however, due for a huge blow out since he hadn't pooped for a day and half, but he was kind enough to wait until after the blessing! What a kid! Matt's whole family was able to come from out of town for the blessing, so that was fab. Matt was so nervous to bless Van, but of course, spoke from his heart and it was beautiful.

Here are my boys...TADA!! Aren't they both so cute? Also of note from this week, I got the swine flu. NJK. So I am thinking of making a shirt that has a pig coughing saying, "I survived the swine flu." Just to let you all know, its not that bad. Influenza A or B is BY FAR worse. If it wasn't for the fever I would have just thought I had bad allergies. But I probably had a mild version and now that I wrote this I'll get it really bad sometime in the future. Ciao!

A quickie...

So I started back at work with mixed emotions about 2 weeks ago. Not sure how long I can keep up this gig full time. Look what I have to leave, do you blame me? (He's 7 weeks old in this pic).

Here's a few pics of bath time. Van loves his bath as much as I love mine. He would stay in there forever if we let him and I love to countdown how long it takes him until he pees all over.

He is 9 weeks old in these bath pictures and he just keeps on growing. I'd type more but I have no time!

Weekly birthdays...

Who knew it would be so fun to have weekly birthdays? Well, Van is officially three weeks old! Everyone always says babies change so much, I can now say this is v.v. true. I love the creativeness I've tapped into by entertaining a 3 week old. These talents include but are not limited to: impromtu interpretive dance, spontaneous singing about everyday tasks, and changing a diaper before Van can pee on his face. We are having a grand old time, me and Van. Grandma Norm is here a lot since Matt is on the road half the week, its a WELCOME help! Anyway, the point of this blog is to show you how cute Van is (again.) Here is a picture of him at two weeks old. He looks so much like his dad in this one I think. Here's another one from the same 'session' (I forgot to add photography is a new found talent.)

This picture looks sooooo much like Uncle Carson I can hardly stand it! I wish I had a baby picture of Carson to post because they could be twins. Needless to say we call this his Carson scowl. He does this alot but I chose to think its because he's deep in thought.

Here is his other personality...I know babies aren't supposed to 'responsively' smile til they are about 6 weeks old, but I feel safe in saying this kid thinks I'm hilarious.

Thanks to Grandma Norm, there are plenty more smiling pictures. We were a great team, I got him to smile, she got the pictures. I wish there was a way to show how much hair he has, but its mostly in the back.

I think he was just happy to be 3 weeks old, so he put on quite the show! Seriously, he laughed and smiled at me for like 15 solid minutes. Then he started pulling jokes of his own (ie the tongue sticking out.) I can't promise to document every week like this, but I'm on a roll now. I'll keep you all posted on the most intelligent, darling child ever! Ciao for now!

'My first cry...it was a joyful noise'--Bono

He's finally here!! Van Jeffery Mendenhall decided not to come on his due date, but its ok, he made it here on April 16, 2009 and we love him so much its crazy!

Despite my attempts and deep desire to do this whole thing natural, I ended up having an emergancy c-section. Apparently you have to get the epidural with that...I did labor for quite a long time (7 hours or so) before they doc decided it wasn't safe for Van anymore. I wasn't dialating fast enough and his heart rate kept dropping with each contraction. PS contractions hurt like hell. Then, of course, I let them give me the epidrual so that Van was healthy and ok. He came out crying at 5:32pm on the 16th and weighed 7.6 lbs and was 20 inches long. He is just perfect! It was so hard to wait to hold him!! But they wouldn't let me sit up FOREVER!! The moment the nurse handed Van to Matt was priceless...Matt's face was full of every strong emotion I think anyone is capable of showing (ie fear, excitement, love, fear...fear...fear). Van cried for a bit, then Matt asked, 'So should we name you Van?' and Van stopped crying, and looked right up at his dad and just kept looking around and he didn't cry again until later that night.

This is me with him later that night. I always thought going on a drug trip would be kinda fun, but I can't say I wanted to do it during my labor. Oh well. It seemed to take a long time to feel normal again, but I truly didn't care much once I held this little angel. Matt did such a great job of stepping right up, since I couldn't walk/stand for a while, he got a crash course in diaper changing and soothing a newborn. I'm so grateful for his patience and love with everything. He's an amazing dad already. Sleep deprived, sure, but a great dad nonetheless. What an adventure we've started on!

Here's how small Van is in his daddy's hands! I love this picture so much! I know he's going to grow so quick so I want to document all his smallness while I can!

Here's a picture of the first day at home. What an exhausting first night...Van decided to wake up every 30 minutes until 6am. It took me that long to realise he was still hungry after I fed him! Ugh, so once I connected that I gave him some formula and he slept wonderfully. Now that my milk's come in, the boy sleeps like a hibernating bear cub. He pretty much sleeps through the night-at least gives me 5 hours of consecutive sleep, for which I am extremely grateful. Parenthood is not for the faint, I'll tell ya that for free. So far, I love it. I just hope Van stays patient with a mom who doesn't know what she's doing! More pics to come...