Christmas already?

Well, so it’s been a little while since we’ve done any kind of an update about our lives or little Bruin. It turns out that I’m writing this by candle/flash light because the power is out. I’m using the laptop and typing this into a Word document and then I’ll just copy/paste a little later. So right now, the house is perfectly quiet and the family is still asleep. It’s incredibly serene – just Payton and I and that’s it. I wonder just how long that will last.

So, Bruin is 12 weeks old tomorrow. My goodness, it’s hard to believe that he is almost 3 months old! People say that the time just flies by and I’m sure this is only the beginning. It is awesome to see him change from day-to-day. I remember wondering when he would be able to focus on things and wouldn’t ya know it? He is totally looking around and locking his eyes on so many things! He’s even smiling deliberately! Yes, I’m sure it’s not gas! He’s gotten to the point that not only is he smiling, but he laughs too. It’s also so amazing to see his face as he’s focusing and concentrating on whatever. He looks so determined and deep in thought. Okay, so that may in fact be gas. But it’s cool to see anyway.

He is sleeping pretty well at night. He’s usually just up the one time. He sleeps for about 6 hours and then up for about 20 minutes, then back down for about another 3 hours or so. There have now been 2 nights that he has slept for 8 hours at a time. I have to admit, the first time that happened – I was the parent who sneaked into his room to make sure he was still breathing. Andrea and I went out on a hot date and left him with two great friends from work. We were just gone for a couple of hours and they said he did great. That was the first night that he slept for 8 hours. We told them that they definitely will need to babysit more often! The second time was just a couple of nights ago. My Mom wanted to watch him, so Andrea left him at their place for about 5 hours. Then he slept through the night that night when she got him home! Maybe there is something to leaving your child with someone else! She’s offered to watch him again on the day after Christmas. I think we’ll be taking her up on that.

We had Bruin’s 2 month visit and things are great with him. The doctor said he is in the 90th percentile for his length and weight. So he is just a really healthy boy. He’s probably about 16 pounds now, he’s just a beefy kid. But, he is healthy and that’s what is important.

Christmas is right around the corner and I think we’re ready. Andrea is finishing up the Christmas card. She is amazing to be juggling a newborn and still be able to create and mass produce our Christmas card. Pretty impressive. It’ll be cool to celebrate our first Christmas as a family with little Bruin, even though he probably has no idea what is going on. What do you get for a 3 month old? We’ll be heading to my folks’ place on Christmas eve and spending it with them. Last year we kind of got robbed of Christmas. This was the week of the big snow storm so I was working on a 12 hour shift rotation for about 8-10 days right through Christmas. It will be good to get back to normal and our Christmas tradition. Andrea and I have had the discussion of starting up our own Christmas tradition. That will be fun to do. Then on Christmas, I think we’ll do a whole lot of nothin’. Just relax and enjoy the day.
So, I think that’s all I’ve got. If we were to post more often – I’ll bet these wouldn’t be near as long! I’ll try to get a little better at that. No promises though!

The Whitakers sincerely hope that everyone reading this, and those that aren’t, has a Great and Merry Christmas! Be safe and do a little bit of extra lovin’ on your friends and enemies. Go ahead and let that guy cut you off on the highway, don’t get too irritated when someone jumps in front of you in line, and be the first to forgive. As cheesy as it sounds and as marketed as it is – don’t forget:

Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Sounds overplayed – but so very true.

This pic is of Bruin's dedication at church, he did really well:




This is the 4 generations of Whitaker, I'm really glad we got this pic at Thanksgiving: