Quick note

I started a DeviantArt page go check it out!! it is at Stygiansatyrcarlyle.deviantart.com

Christmastime!

Tis' the season and it's time to write up some memories hehe. Uncle Dan came by to see his nephew before he left for Boston to have Christmas with Candace and her family. I'm hoping that she is upgraded to Aunt Candace sooner than later after this trip. I could tell that he would miss Alastor, we miss him too. We have those two over almost every night so it's been rather boring without those two around, but we've been managing.

Alastor has been getting better with his baths and seems to enjoy them more once he realizes what we are doing to him. He has been smiling and gurgling so much! Grandma and Grandpa Workman got him some really cute stuff for Christmas. He especially likes this little Glow worm-esque Seahorse thing that glows and plays music when he squeezes it. I wasn't sure if he would like it but he was smiling and kicking the whole time. We haven't made a name for this one yet, but he also really likes his little Octopus we named Otto.

Meghan got me a travel Etch-a-sketch for Christmas, i've always enjoyed those things and I wanted one for when I am stuck in church or something without paper to draw on. I got her this DVD of the movie The Christmas Toy. It's her favorite Christmas movie but she didn't ask for it so she wasn't expecting it at all. It was her favorite gift, she tackled me and everything.

We spent a little time in Springville with the family. Granda took out some old home movies and Dan and Me when I was about four years old. It was pretty intense to see footage that was almost twenty years old of me. We also saw my cousins who are all married and have kids now when they were little. Ryan was doing some bit about nudity and how we're all naked under our clothing, it was the funniest thing ever.

On December 19th Jason and Ellen had their little boy Gavin. He is so cute! Alastor has two little future playmates in the family. Beth is a few months older and now he has Gavin who is 2 months younger than him. It'll be fun when they all get older and play together. It was really fun having Alastor's first Christmas. We dressed him in the only holiday-ish onesie he had and some cute pants that he finally fits. He keeps getting heavier and longer, it's very exciting. I can't wait for him to fit in his overalls! Anywho, the holiday was wonderful and we all enjoyed it.

Long awaited update

Well it has been a long time since I wrote anything on here, and people have been very noisy about me not writing (Zack I'm looking in your direction). I have just been avoiding writing on this thing because there have been a few woes in the last few weeks. I did this on my mission journals too, I tried not to write anything too sad because I knew people would be reading them most likely. But not writing about something does not make it go away. Also I have been working in a ten page final paper that almost killed me, really really.

Thanksgiving was really fun. My folks came up around Wednesday before the holiday to visit. Brad was stuck at work, but it was nice to have most of the clan together. Dad and Ben got to see Alastor for the first time and it was really fun to see the both of them smile, which doesn't happen too often. Ben became very attached once he warmed up to the little guy. It was fun to have another gamer to talk to, what with Niels gone and all.

I'm not big on the traditional foods of Thanksgiving, other than stuffing oooh stuffing, but this year was pretty good, I had my fill. My folks took us out a few times, which I consider better than the big meal.

We've been looking for an apartment ever since we found out that we have been keeping our neighbors up at night with our constant walking. I was a little upset that they didn't tell us directly, but I'm over it. I figure if they don't tell us then I won't personally worry about it and we won't dive into a bad apartment just to get out. That said, I hope the tennants who move in after us are both very overweight and snore loud like a plan taking off.

Looking for an apartment has been hard though since work has been cutting back on hours and my checks have become very small like last winter. This was easier when Meghan could work, but it's different now. Some nice people gave us money in order to have a real Christmas this year and help on some of our more pressing bills. You know who you are, thank you so much.

Meghan's folks also joined us the weekend after Thanksgiving for Alastor's blessing. We did it in the Alleman home in Springville surrounded by family, rather than strangers in a ward we probably won't be in for much longer. It was a really good time.

I am currently working in a new department in Costco selling TVs, computers, cameras etc. It's been real nice to not have to push carts and come home exhausted. Now I can help out more with the baby. It's just a seasonal posistion but who knows it might stick.

Alastor seems to be getting bigger now and we hope he has been gaining weight. We'll find out today at our WIC meeting. He seems to eat a whole lot more than he used to and it looking rather chubby in the cheeks and legs, so hopefully we'll get some good news this time around when he's on the scale.

Otherwise, things have been getting better. We put in an application on a rather nice looking apartment so perhaps that will work out, but it's not too stressful. Work is going well. Meghan seems to be happy and so does Alastor. I figure i'd better load a few pictures before I end this since i've been so lax in writing.

Oh! and I start a Deviantart page. It is Stygiansatyrcarlyle.deviantart.com check it out and show it to anyone who is looking for an artist please please!!!

Alastor's fun time

Well life has become fun for Alastor. At least we think so. He eats a lot, poops a lot and gets to hang out with Mom a lot. Dad on the other hand has to go to school and work a lot. Not so exciting. School is almost over, just one more ten page paper and I'll be done at least until spring. The neighbors below complained about us being up and walking through all hours of the night, which was stressful because we thought we were going to have to move. But we figured that if you move into a downstairs apartment you need to understand that there will be noise, reguardless of anything. So we don't worry about that anymore, we'll move when we can.

We gave Alastor his first bath a few days ago, it was wild. He really liked being wrapped up in the towel and having warm water poured over his head, but as soon as he was exposed and in the water he was terrified! AAAAAAAAA! What are you doing!? But we hope that he will get used to them soon. he needs to be clean!

Meghan has been doing pretty good with Alastor and keeping up on sleep. We got into the WIC program so that should help while work is slow and I'm in school. My family is coming up next week for Thanksgiving and blessing the baby, that should be rather fun! Yay!

Another Grandma Visit!!

This week my Mom (Grandma Workman) came by to help and make life easier. She arrived on Sunday and went home today, it was a good week. We ended up going needing Mom around a lot more than we initially thought.

We took Alastor to his two week appointment to have him check out. We were excited to see how much weight he had gained and all the other things. It turned out that Alastor had actually lost weight. He was down to 6lbs 6oz as compared to his birth weight of 7lbs 3oz. The Doctor seemed very concerned and wanted us to make sure that Meghan was producing milk and nursing right. It wasn't very fun to find out that most likely we were doing something wrong! Meghan took it pretty hard, but Mom was able to help her out while I was stuck at work. We have doubled-up on feedings and started giving him some formula also. He gets weighed in tomorrow, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Mom bought us a rocking chair (pictured above) for Meghan to nurse in, rather than running off to the bedroom whenever Alastor gets hungry. It has been wonderful , and i turns out the chair we got was one that Meghan had been eyeing for a long time.

Work has become very short, with not many hours worked in the week. I worry that my paychecks won't be able to cover a lot of what is needed for the baby and for us. We have an appointment with the WIC program so hopefully they take pity on us and help us out.

On the other side of the fence, things are still going very well. Alastor seems to be happier and more content with his need feeding schedule, and we feel more secure as parents. He keeps getting cuter everyday and we sure do love him. He was even quiet through all of sacrament meeting! We can only hope things continue to get better.

Well the second week has come and gone rather quickly. As I sit in front of my computer just minutes away from the time my son was born two Sundays ago I can't help but feel a little sad at how quickly the time goes by and how fast we have gone back to the way things were, plus a baby. My son does something new and cute everyday. He peed on me two days ago, I had to laugh.

It was amazing having Grandma Bunn over for the week to help out and keep us sane when Alastor was being a problem child. She really helped out Meghan when things seemed to be closing in on her. I was so happy to have her around. Now this next week will be my Mom's week. Sure we're confident enough to do this on our own, but we want to see her and she wants to see Alastor!

Halloween was a hit at work and at home. I was able to enjoy the holiday with family and watch some scary movies. Monster House is a big favorite in our home. Dan and Candace dressed up as the main characters in Grease and Alastor had his skeleton onesie on (pictures coming soon).

Alastor has his second checkup this week, which we are looking forward to. I wonder if he will have gained any weight? We hope that his jaundice is just minor and that nothing too serious will be needed to be done. I can't tell if he is yellow, it's too subtle for my colorblindness to pick up, how sad is that?

Anywho, this is kind of a short post, but I have been busy this week with Grandparents and other visitors so I'll try to keep up.

Precious...

Well, things are getting very fun. I finished my paper and everything is going well with school, as far as I know. Alastor has been eating and sleeping really well lately. He pretty much slept the whole night already! Any Moms I mention that to just freak out "What!? That's not supposed to happen till at least 4 months!" hehe.

This pregnancy was so simple and easy with no morning sickness and no weird complications, so I figure the baby would come out just as simple. No pushing required to get this one out. Now that he is home and settled he has gotten very good at sleeping in his crib and eating when he is hungry. He lets us know when his diaper is dirty but not immediately, so he's a good kid.

The more time I spend with my son the more I find he belongs to this family. He loves to burp and pass gas like his Daddy and he is a very sound sleeper like his Mom. I was singing to him the other day and since I didn't know any baby songs I sang some Mindless Self Indulgence to him. He must have been confused because his little eyes went cross and we nearly died laughing. he is so darn cute!Grandma Bunn will be joining us soon and I hope she is impressed with how the little guy behaves. He already is starting to fill out in his little face and get some meat on him. I'm so excited to see how he continues to grow and surprise us with his little quirks.

Next week I start work again. It'll be sad to have to leave Alastor for work, but then I will be able to come home to him and see him after a few hours! Yay!