Our baby's a BUDDY!

The other day, Steve asked me why I haven't written much on our blog lately. I post pictures and captions, but that's pretty much it. I guess I just haven't had (or made) the time to record everything that's been going on around here. Since this blog is basically my journal, besides my personal journal that I write in probably only a few times a year, I feel that I have a lot to catch up on!

Here's a rambling recap of the past few months: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Our baby boy, Steven Daniel Lowe III, "Danny" was born in Charlotte, NC. It was a crazy experience. So surreal, emotional, and definitely spiritual. It was wonderful having my mom and Steve there to experience it with me. I was in labor 11 hours, pushed for about 20 minutes, and then, in one split second, I was a mom. I never knew that I could love something so much. Everyday I am overcome with gratitude for how very lucky and blessed Steve and I are to be able to have Danny in our lives.

The first few months of Danny's life were trying, to say the least. We dealt with a colicky baby from week 2 to month 4. Although every doctor told us there was nothing wrong with him and nothing we could do, we kept looking for solutions. We tried everything: acid reflux medicine, Prevacid for babies, all kinds of gripe water, herbal drops for bowel health, ColicCalm, chiropractic adjustments, natural healers (we were getting desperate!), allergy tests, the miracle blanket, etc. Nothing seemed to really help. We never slept more than 2 hours at a time, couldn't put him down, and sometimes held a screaming baby for up to 15 hours. We felt totally helpless. There were even times where I became so fatigued and weak that I physically couldn't pick up my baby anymore. I would just sit next to him and cry while I watched him cry. It was awful! I couldn't even take him anywhere for fear of him panicking. The good news is that now the colic seems to have subsided. We still have a sensitive baby, but he is much happier and quite the life of the party.

For the weekend of Danny's baby blessing, my entire family drove up from California. We had a blast! We went to the BYU football game in the President's Box (thanks Mom and Dad!), hung out with the family, watched conference, and had a great Sunday at Steve's parents' house for Danny's blessing.

Thanksgiving was great! We got to go to California for a few days first, then we drove with my family over to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with the Stapley clan. We spent Thanksgiving day at our cousins amazingly beautiful cabin in Payson. There were about 65 family members, and the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had! It was great getting so spend so much time with my Grandma and Grandpa. My Grandpa has been having some health issues lately, so it was especially wonderful to see him and give him a lot of love. Danny loved meeting all his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. He was a hit with everyone. The weekend was a total vacation because I practically had to take care of the kid! Haha, just kidding -- but seriously, it was a breeze!

This past month has FLOWN by! I can't believe Christmas is next week. Steve finished up his finals today (woo hoo!), and he's all ours for the next 2 1/2 weeks! We get to spend Christmas here in Utah with Steve's family, then a couple days after we will drive to California to spend a week with my family. We are so lucky to be able to spend so much time with our families and each other.

I can't wait to wake up on Christmas morning and have a special little Christmas with just the 3 of us. I will miss my family, especially my little brothers, but it is going to be a fun and new experience to be the mom of the house on Christmas morning. Danny already got all his presents because we figured there was no point in making him wait for a warm jacket and fun bouncer, especially because he has no clue what's going on, haha. He loves playing in his bouncer, but prefers to be naked over wearing any item of clothing, no matter how cute it is :) I can't wait for Steve to open his presents (even though I'm pretty sure he totally already knows what they are, bah!) I told Steve I didn't want anything, but he was pretty insistent that I make a list of ideas for him. We'll see what he comes up with -- he's always got something thoughtful up his sleeve. The end, for now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

New Year's Resolutions to come.