Zion and Merry (belated) Christmas!

(I apologize in advance for font/format issues... I'm editing on my phone!) 

Our trip through Zion was a huge success! Gavin was a champion napper in his car seat for a couple of hours so Jake and I were able to enjoy he beauty all around us!

When he woke up, we took a nice hike through one of the canyons. 

Gavin was in awe of the beauty!!

My grandma (the one who broke her hip in San Diego, but is now doing amazing!) was here for Christmas too and she showed off her impressive agility by hiking with very few breaks! She's amazing!

Definitely put Zion on your Bucket List. It's surreal.

The next day was Christmas Eve and Jake and I made trip #2 to Cafe Rio. Just as amazing, if not better than the first time. 

Sly photo skills here. 

Gavin has been making huge development strides since we got here... He's crawling at lightning speed and is determined to climb on anything and everything. He loves standing and shows off all day long :) 

Gosh I love him.

We went to a beautiful Christmas Eve Mass... 

Followed by Christmas Eve dinner and Gavin got to open one present (my family tradition as a child!) Surprisingly he got really into it (although he was definitely more excited about the tissue paper than anything, haha). 

He loved his first Airplane!

Christmas Day was wonderfully relaxing with Gavin opening more presents,

A long run with my favorite guy, 

Plenty of Christmas movie watching, and more smiles from Gavin. 

The best Christmas I could imagine. 

I hope you had an amazing day filled with lots of love, family/friends and relaxation!! 

Trail Run and Cafe Rio!

It happened. Jake got to try my most favorite restaurant in the world, Cafe Rio.

The line was long (as usual) but worth every second of the wait. Jake said,"this is my version of a candy store" when he was ordering his sweet pork salad. 

He declared I was amazing all day just for introducing him to such a place. The things I have to do to win his heart ;) we will be going at least one more time... Or maybe two while we're here! 

Rewind a few hours and I got to explore the a gorgeous trail right behind my parents house. 

Me, the red rocks, blue skies, and a secluded trail = one happy Brittany. 

The only problem with the trail was that every turn looked the same and there were multiple trails leading off every turn... so I had to take a mental note of where I was going! My trusty - or not so trusty - iPhone failed me and randomly shut off after taking the above picture. How is it possible to go from 73% battery to 0%? Anyone have the answer to that mystery?? 

I used good-old fashioned navigation skills and made it back without getting too lost!

Gavin's great-Grandma arrived last night and he is officially the most spoiled and loved little guy ever now. Such a blessing that we get to spend the holidays with family!  

Now we're off to Zion! 

Mr. Grumpypants & Snow Canyon!

 

Yesterday, we decided to name Gavin "Mr. Grumpypants". Since we arrived to Utah, he's been really fussy... Whether it's the change in routine, getting over another ear infection, the nasty cough he developed (darn daycare germs!!), a growth spurt, or teething. I couldn't tell you. It's likely a combination of all of the above. Anyways, we didn't let him slow us down and after church and a run with the hubs, we went to Snow Canyon to hike around!





Incredible! 

 

Look at me mom! 



This guy is the best. Seriously love him.

 



Fun with Nana and Gramps! 

 

Best buds.

 

❤️.  We missed the first true snowfall in Alaska yesterday, but I'm actually okay with it considering I got to see this beautiful scenery! 

Let's hope this cutie is in a better mood tonight and lets me sleep tonight!!

Vacations are for running.

I think we can all agree the best way to start a vacation is a morning run.  The earlier the better.  On Saturday, Jake didn't exactly share my enthusiasm...



Our faces show how we each feel about the run...



(Don't be fooled though, it was actually 10am! He considered this early because we were still on Alaska time.) 

Luckily he warmed up to the idea and we did 8 wonderful miles surrounded by red rocks. A HUGE perk to visiting family? A built in sitter. They practically kick us out of the house so they can hog Gavin. Win-win. 

After nap time, Jake, Gavin and I hit the road to run some errands. Note to self: the Saturday before Christmas is not the best day to go shopping. It was madness out there! 

Hanging out in the car! Champion shopping companion!

Then that night we went to the Live Nativity performance at Tuacan.  It was a short, 15 minute show of the nativity of Christ - complete with camels, donkeys, angels, and more!  It was a beautiful way to start the final countdown to Christmas.  It's so easy to get caught up in the shopping part of Christmas, I loved taking the time to focus on the true reason for the season!  

Though it was long past his bedtime, Gavin loved the lights, music, and of course the mandatory 150 pictures I have to take :)

 

These two. 

A wonderful day with some of my favorite people! 

 

Flying with Baby!

Last night Jake and I embarked on our first Christmas away from Alaska in years! We were both lucky to be able to get the holiday off so we decided it was a good chance to visit my parents for Gavin's first Christmas!

 

This was our third time flying with Gavin, and it was a huge success! He has become a pro traveler. 



And we're off!



The keys to flying with a baby?

1.) Travel at night (leaving anywhere from 11pm-1am) - a sleeping baby is a quiet baby. And a rested baby is a happy baby! 

2.) Nurse, nurse, nurse! Especially on the descent. Helps prevent pressure building up behind their tiny eardrums (= pain). On a side note- Gavin has had 6 ear infections in the last few months and has flown with them twice (today included). As long as he is nursing or using a pacifier, he has been happy a clam. 

 

3.) Don't stress if they do cry. If you haven't learned by now... Babies cry, people get frustrated and then give you nasty looks. But there is a 99.8% chance you will never see those mean strangers again in your life. 

 

4.) Get a window seat for night flights. Not only to babies love to look out the window, but mainly they're great because you'll have more privacy for nursing and you can use the window as a prop in your constant struggle to get comfortable. (I've decided this is impossible- and heaven forbid your leg/arm/butt goes numb with a 20+ lb peacefully sleeping baby in your arms...) 

 

5.) If you do travel during the day, get an aisle seat. Then you can get up and bounce/walk as much as you need to. 

 

6.) Wear your baby as much as you can. The Ergo is a lifesaver. Two free arms are essential when traveling. 

7.) Bring extra clothes (For baby AND you!) and also Ziploc bags. Blowouts happen, and as much fun as it would be to travel cross country covered in poop... Just trust me on this one!

8.) I always pack snacks. I kind of have to these days to avoid dairy, wheat, oat, rice, barley, soy, corn, beef, pork, and nuts... Haha but it makes it so much easier on short layovers when you need to change a baby, feed them, and lug around ridiculous amounts of baby stuff through an airport.
 

9.) On that note, how does something so small need so much? Gavin has his own suitcase and it is FULL. I didn't even overpack. I mean you need clothes for every possible scenario! What if it's hot? What if it rains? Snows? And of course he needed two or three cute Christmas outfits, a swimsuit for the pool, his sound machine... Okay so maybe I did overpack. But better to be prepared than not. Haha :) One tip I have is to buy diapers and wipes when you arrive. Saves a lot of space. 
 

10.) Patience. This is essential for any traveler, baby or not. We will all get to board the plane (but extra thumbs up for pre-boarding with a small child!), the plane will eventually take off (even when you've been sitting at the gate while they fix a light in the cockpit for 30 minutes as they did today)... My theory is be patient, smile, and take deep breaths. We're lucky to get to travel and it's all part of the adventure.
 

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So back to our day, after eating breakfast, you can guess the first place we went.  





 

Gavin shares my love of TJ's. (And also PJ's. Why can't adults get away with wearing PJ's in public?) 

 

Shopping at Trader Joe's was actually kind of a sad experience because of all of my fave goodies are off limits due to Gavin's allergies :( But do not fear, TJ's never lets me down and I was able to get some goodies. 

 

The agenda for our vacation involves lots of family time, dates with the hubby, visiting with friends, lots of family time, multiple visits to Café Rio, and as many long runs through the red rocks as I can!

 

Cannot wait. 

Go where there is no trail, and (attempt to) make your own...

My sister moved back to Alaska in June which has been amazing.  She is probably the most hard-core trail runner and talented athlete I know!  We just started running together because I hadn't been physically ready her 4 hour adventures in the mountains until lately.  I take that back.  I thought I was ready for an adventure with her, but this morning I realized very quickly this was not going to be your average trail run.

After dropping Gavin off with his grandparents, my sister and I drove up to Glen Alps trailhead and started our trek into a dark,  winter wonderland toward Williwaw Lakes.  The temperature was perfect, the city lights twinkled in the distance, and I was feeling great.

Anchorage in the distance

After a couple of miles on a snowy, but well-packed, trail, we steered off to a single-footprint led "trail" (not even). The snow was deep and covered roots, rocks, and streams.  I may or may not have stepped mid-calf deep into an icy-cold stream just 3 miles into our trek.  My toes were numb, my ankles chafed from snow scraping them as I plunged into the snow, but my fearless leader trudged forward!

Not even kidding.  Just another day in AK.

Luckily the views were incredible with tall mountains surrounding us, light snow falling, and a pink, glowing sunrise!

We're not alone... Lynx tracks guide us forward...

1 hour and 37 minutes into the run (uhhhh but who's counting?), we decided to turn around. My legs were cold, my stomach was growling, and I was mentally done.  Have you ever had one of those days?  Where you love being out and running but you're just over it? Yeah. That was me.  I've also decided trail running involves a lot more brain power than your average run.  Avoid that rock, don't trip on that stump, don't fall in the hole/stream/bushes... (all of which happened today at one point!) Gracefulness is not my strongest quality.  Then there's watching out for animals.  We saw just one moose in the distance and Lynx tracks, so that was good!

Winter bliss. Or torture. It's a tough call :)

We made it back to the car with a lot of mental cheerleading/convincing/bribery and I was pretty excited to take my frozen toes out of my frozen shoes.  All in all, 2 hours & 45 minutes that made me a stronger person!  And it also made me appreciate my amazing sister even more than I already do for pushing to go where there is no trail and trudge forward when you're mentally wiped! Oh and I might add, she barely looked tired after the entire day.  Seriously, she's a pro.

We got home and this little wiggleworm was pretty excited to see me.  

Upside-down cutie.

There's nothing better than this smile :)

9 months

Wow. This little man is almost 9 months old. When did that happen?

I'm sure you've all missed me terribly and while I would like to promise that I'll write more frequently, let's be honest- given my history that is probably not going to happen!  But I promise to try!  Life has been busy and I've been savoring every moment of motherhood!

Every day keeps getting better and better as a mom. Gavin is incredible. His smile, his laugh, his personality... Each day there is something more I can't get enough of! He is crawling all over, clapping and waving his hands, pushing himself to standing, and he loves to talk about his favorite person "da da" or maybe that's short for Diego... It's hard to say! He is the smiliest little guy and seriously brings more joy to life than we could ever have imagined. 

I am back at work part time and feel so blessed to have this schedule. I get to have 4 days in a row with Gavin and 3 days working and seeing my patients. It's truly the perfect balance! Luckily Jake has a schedule that allows him to watch Gavin a couple days per week when I work as well, so he gets his alone time with him too!

"And they lived happily ever after..."

It's funny how each month I feel like things get easier and I look back to the month before and think, how did I think things were easy then? The first few months were rough, I won't lie. My love of being a mom was instant and I truly felt connected to Gavin the moment I felt his skin on mine. But let me tell you a little something about being a new mom: sleep deprivation + hormones + breastfeeding = zombie like state. Much of the time I felt like I was in a fog! But I'm finally out of that cloud and every minute gets better than the last! 

There's so many surprises that becoming a parent brings, like: 

1.) That warmth you're feeling at 3am when you're up changing a diaper is not a warm breeze, but a bullseye shot of pee...

2.) Learning that a three hour stretch of sleep is more precious than gold

3.) A shower becomes your 3 minute getaway to the spa

4.) "Fashionable" equates to a shirt without milk stains or God knows what

5.) The car becomes your best friend when a certain someone doesn't want to nap

6.) Hill training takes on a whole new meaning with a 20 pound baby plus stroller 

7.) You spend more time talking about poop than you'd like to admit

8.) There is nothing as cute as a baby's smile and giggle 

9.) Yoga pants, a pony tail, and no make-up are perfectly acceptable for any occasion

10.) You cheer for your baby like they've just won a gold medal when they do something cute (including poop.  See number 7 for more information).

It's the best.  Parenting truly has brought so much joy to my life and I feel so so lucky to be able to be this little guys' mom.

The last few weeks I've been missing writing on the blog, and so of course my goal is to write as much as I can!  I have lots to share about running, baby food allergies, traveling with baby, and the laughs, joys, and challenges of being a first-time parent!  

I hope this finds you well!!