Dave, Melissa, and Clay Geddes

Cute Face = Staying Alive

2009-12-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

Some days I wonder how I filled my time before I was a mom. Life must have been so easy! I look at people who have more than one child and wonder why they are not institutionalized ;)

Anyhow, here are just a few reasons why Clay's cute little face and personality keep him alive:

1. Not a day goes by that the toilet paper doesn't get shredded and hidden in every nook and cranny, everything in the dishwasher and cupboards is pulled out and hidden around the house, and at least one thing is dropped in the toilet everyday.

2. The neighbors probably think I am beating him every time he needs a diaper change. I have to put my leg over his chest and arms, so he can't get away or get his hands in his diaper.

3. Without fail, at mealtimes, most of his food is dropped or thrown on the floor.

4. Whenever the phone goes up to my ear, he is right there tugging on my legs making an awful sqwaking sound. As soon as I put the phone down, he runs off and plays happily!

5. If I am in the shower or putting on my make up, he has to join in the fun or he is not happy. Those things usually have to wait til naptime.

Hopefully our next child will be cute, otherwise he/she might not be so lucky!

However, aside from his cute face, here are some other things that keep me loving this job: His raspy little laugh, his excitement to see me when I get him out of his crib, his little hands and face while he's discovering new things, watching him play with his daddy, his slobbery kisses and soft skin, laughing at himself in the mirror, his cuddles and gappy-toothed smiles, his funny little run, his innocence and tenderness.

Fun stuff...and change

2009-11-10T08:36:00.000-08:00

#1--DAVE GOT A JOB OFFER WITH THE LDS CHURCH
So, we will be moving to Riverton, UT (or there abouts). Daves current job has been so good to us and we have loved Colorado, but we feel so blessed to be able to move closer to family. We will be leaving Colorado sometime before Christmas and we will continue to try and talk our friends into coming with us!

#2--HALLOWEEN
Clay--Curious Clay (George)
Dave--The man in the yellow hat (I made his costume and i am so proud! It took lots of yellow dye and spray paint, so he smelled a little fumey!)

Clay loves his daddy and tries to charge out the door with him every morning when he goes to work. I'm sure it breaks Dave's heart to have to shut the door and hear Clay crying. Usually, he opens the door and hugs him one last time.

Anyway, I was "Dr. Pepper" for Halloween (and we forgot to take pics :( .) I just wore scrubs and pinned paper peppers all over them.

We carved some pumpkins--Clay was in heaven with all those pumkin guts! (oh, and you'll notice Clay was sportin a little mullet--I trimmed it a few days ago :(

We went to some Halloween parties.

I made a cheesball that looked like a pumpkin
They had a pumkin pinata!

The guys were intense with the foosball table.

On the actual Halloween night--Stake Conference! Woo Hoo! (No, actually it was really good)

#3--OUR BABY TURNED ONE! *Snif snif*

So, on his birthday, we did some playing outside (His favortie thing)

I built a lion cake

Me showing Clay his cake ( and yes, those are Christmas decorations behind me. Dave talked me into decorating a couple days after Halloween!)

Had a fun party with friends (I made some homemade soup and bread bowls)

And we ate cake and ice cream! (Thanks so much to Alicia for taking these adorable pics of Clay enjoying his cake)
His stats: Height 90%, weight 25% (I promise I do feed him!)

The End

Eventful Fall

2009-10-21T12:06:00.001-07:00

This fall has been really BUSY in the geddes fam:

We went to D.C. to visit Obama and Hillary. They are very good looking in real life--the pics don't do justice! Hilary has the best sense of style!

We got a pet snake, except he bit me (and it really scared me), so we had to send him back.

I went back to Georgia for a quick visit and absolutely fell in love with the men's hairstyles there, so Dave and Clay agreed to get new "do's". Clay especially loves his new hairstyle and I just can't keep my hands off them now!

We also took a trip to Jamaica and met the cutest little Jamaican. So weird--he wasn't even black!

But the WEIRDEST thing of all--Papi got really old and came back to haunt us!

Papi came to Colorado!

2009-09-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

We are so happy that Papi came to see us! Boy have we missed him! Clay loves his Papi:

Questions:

2009-09-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

What healthy snacks can you feed a baby that he will like? I feel like I feed Clay pretty much the same things everyday.

How long do you let your baby cry when you KNOW they're tired and wont take a nap?

What do you do during the day for yourself?

What do you do for your husband to make him feel loved and taken care of? (It can be so difficult with demanding little ones)

Sarah, I saw your blog, liked how you asked some questions, and I had some questions of my own.

We're not dead yet! Our summer:

2009-09-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

The ZOO feeding the giraffes:

In Tremonton visiting friends and family--reunions, playing with cousins, games, shopping with friends (so fun!), eating lots of yummy garden food, and the good ol Box Elder County Fair.
Camano Island beach house visiting some of our best friends Russell and Kristin (can't believe we didn't get a group shot!)--crabbing, looking for Edward Cullen, berry picking, thrift storing, canoeing, relaxing on the beach, and eating all the crabs we caught (soooo good!).

Island Park Cabin--hiking, campfire, EATING, movies, and huckleberry shakes.

Colorado--Swimming, BBQs with friends, HALO parties, celebrated 4 years in June (went miniature golfing)....mostly just the normal everyday stuff (Dave goes to work and I take care of the monkey and the apt).

Updates:

Dave--Starting his masters degree this week (Human Computer Interaction), trying to get into good sleep and exercise habits and has had a week of success, liking his job, missing Chewy and wanting to get into a house so we can buy "Clay" a dog, gearing up for fall softball, helping me around the house, and eating up every moment with our little guy.

Melissa--trying new and different meals to cook, getting ready for a bunch of big events in the YW, just finished training Clay to sleep through the night again after all this vacationing (it's hard on the little ones and thier mommies!), learning how to re-finish furniture (Craigs list is awesome in a military town), and really just trying to be a good wife and mommy.

Clay (10 mos)--laughs a ton, follows mommy around the house, loves to pull things out of the dishwasher, has taken a couple steps, will play with anything but his toys, sleeps from 7:30pm-6:30 am, is really naughty in church, has 4 teeth, will sit in his highchair for hours as long as there is food in front of him, hates to snuggle, but has a mommy and daddy who smother the bajeebies out of him.

Oh, and we miss you Bryce and Jamie--Can't wait til you come back!

Update

2009-05-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Every monday night, we have been going to Dave's softball games. Clay is happiest when he's outside and it's been fun cheering for daddy.

So, I have actually been doing really well with this sugar thing (suprised?! I am!) and I feel so much better! I have a lot more energy and my cravings are much less. There have been a couple slips here and there-like when I baked chocolate chip cookies for YW; I had to eat a little dough! But I have only eaten a little sugar like twice since I started this. I think I will try it for the month of June too!

Dave got me a grill for Mother's day and has been cooking for me a lot--it has been wonderful!

We are loving Colorado, but we miss our families terribly. Dave and I have had a lot more time just the two if us, which I cannot complain about! However, eventually we would like to end up closer to family.

I took Clay over to my friend Alicia's the other day, and while I was on the phone for 5 minutes she stole him and snapped these pics. She is so good! Thank you Alicia!

Going public with my addiction

2009-05-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

SUGAR.
I am completely addicted. So I am letting you all know that i am going off sugar for the month of May.
I know there is sugar in just about everything, so I am talking candy, chocolate, cake, cookies, ice cream, sugar cereal, popcicles, etc. I am hoping that this will cleanse my body of it, so my cravings will be less.
I wanted to make this public, so I would actually do it. There ya have it! Wish me luck!

Can I just state the Obvious?

2009-04-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

BEING A MOM IS HARD WORK!

Clay has been teething lately and not sleeping a wink. I have been using teething tablets, oral gel, teeth rings, cold wash cloths, and Tylenol. I feel so helpless to see my usually happy baby in so much pain. We are both exhausted! Do you have any teething secrets to share?

Clay eating his rice cereal and apple sauce.

Dave loves burping Clay after he eats. This was after i did a "Dream feed" so Clay is out!

Update

2009-03-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Life is good and really busy! Dave has been loving his job and I am getting used to this stay at home stuff. The hardest part about my day is "What do I cook for dinner?" I think I'm needing some more good recipes. Dave is so sweet to choke down whatever I make.

Dave and I have been streaming episodes of "LOST" every night and have been eating cookies and cheetoes while watching. Not so good for my baby weight, but lost of fun! We are still watching lost, but are trying to eat oranges and butterless popcorn instead.

My calling in the Young Women has been keeping me busy and I love it! I am over the Mia maids and they are all so adorable. I love hearing their stories...It feels like just yesterday I was one of them! I am so thankful for the inspired youth programs and for the opportunity I have to share my testimony with the girls. They teach me alot too!

About a week ago, we noticed a little lump on the back of Clay's head. I took him to the pediatrician--they did an ultrasound and said it was an infected limphnode, so I had to put him on antibiotics for a week. He has the most random things happen to him!

The pediatrician also highly recommended that I let Clay learn to soothe himself to sleep. Previously, I would put his binki in, rock him, and snuggle him. I would then lay him down and pray that his binki wouldn't fall out. If it did, the process would start all over again. So, I do see the wisdom in the "cry it out" method, but it takes every ounce of self discipline for me (and Dave especially) not to go pick him up. The first night took 45 minutes and I cried along with him. Last night it was down to 10! Yipee!

I sure do love my boys. Both Dave and I can't imagine our lives without Clay. Here are some pics of my guys:

To whom it may concern...

2009-03-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

Mostly to Christy and Morgan...and anyone else who has a private blog, will you please invite me to view yours? I've really been wanting to see your posts!

Rubba Dub Dub!!

2009-03-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

What the?!

2009-02-27T15:19:00.000-08:00

I got tagged...So, for this tag, I was supposed to go to the documents on my computer, go to pictures, pick the 6th file, then the 6th folder, and the 6th picture. I was to then post the picture on my blog, tell about it, and tag 6 people to do the same. This is what I found! I inherited my husbands old computer....no idea what the heck this is! Creepy.

I tag Aimee, Heidi, Cassi, Lali, Alecia, and Brittany.

Sneezing=Laughing

2009-02-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

A girl at church sneezed and Clay busted into laughter. So, I tried it when we got home and it worked! His laughs and smiles brighten my day.

2009-02-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Clay is growing up way too fast!

2009-01-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

We made it!

2009-01-18T17:05:00.001-08:00

After the long drive of stopping every 2-3 hours to feed Clay, we finally made it to Colorado Springs. This area is so beautiful with the mountains and all the pines. The weather here is crazy! One day it will blizzard and the next day it will be 65 degrees. They have warm winds that sweep down from the mountains, so the snow melts right after it comes. All next week will be in the 50's, so there's no complainin'! Yesterday, Dave, Clay, and I took a long walk on some paved trails out in the country area.

We love our apartment, but with the move, it is a disaster. How to people get anything done with a baby? I don't seem to know how. I have stayed really busy, but it has been a big adjustment going from working to being a stay at home mom. Plus, I don't know anyone here yet, so it gets a little lonesome sometimes.

So a day or so after we arrived in Colorado, Clay started being really fussy. He cried for a whole day and night straight and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. The next morning Dave took Clay's socks off and found this....

There was a hair wound tightly around Clay's toe and it was cutting off the circulation. His toe was swollen and bleeding, because the hair was cutting into it. We dug in and got the hair, but it wasn't looking any better, so we took him to Urgent Care. We found out that this is pretty common with babies and is called "Turnicut hair syndrome." It happens especially often with babies in the post pardum months when moms start losing thier hair. Hair can get wrapped around any of the baby's apendages and if it goes unnoticed for too long, the apendage will either fall off or have to be amputated. So now, i examine his fingers, toes, etc. every time I change his diaper. Poor little guy. His toe is doing much better now.

Bye Bye Rexburg

2008-12-13T22:40:00.000-08:00

Dave has just accepted a position at Lockheed Martin as a software engineer, so it looks like we are heading to Colorado Springs in the middle of January! We are really excited about the offer and the area we will be living in, but we are actually sad to be leaving Rexburg. We have so many good memories here and wonderful friends and family that we will miss very much! I still can't believe I am moving away with a boy! I still feel like a little girl......I love you all!

Happy Gradutaion Dave! WE LOVE YOU!

2008-12-13T22:32:00.000-08:00

I am so proud of you sweetheart and am so thankful for all your hard work and dedication! You have really put in the effort to be great at what you do and I am excited for our new journey together. I love you!

Caught! Santa Sleepin on the job.

2008-12-06T22:45:00.000-08:00

Dave's mom bought Clay this darling little Santa outfit and his sister Lisy took this awesome picture.

Nakey!!!

2008-11-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

2008-11-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

Clay is such a good little boy! I have only heard him cry 3 times--at birth, his first bath, and his PKU test. I have to wake him up to feed him at night. He is such a good little sleeper. I feel so blessed to have such a sweet baby. Dave and I love him so much!

Clay Christian Geddes

2008-11-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

It's not a puppy, but it sure is cute.

2008-11-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

He came! I've got to be the happiest dad in the whole world. Melissa is doing great too. Here are my boy's specs:

20"
7 lbs 13 oz
exact replica of my nose, eyes, ears, and dimple!

Yeah he's pretty much the cutest kid I've ever seen. Everyone else's babies all look the same, but this guy is awesome. I changed a diaper today for the very first time :)

Enough rambling, here are the pics.

Dave

voila. We'll post some more later!

Stubborn little guy

2008-11-04T09:29:00.000-08:00

If this little guy doesn't come either today or tomorrow, I am being induced on Thursday morning...there is light at the end of the tunnel!!! I will post lots of pictures of our little dude when he gets here...Dave is still hoping it's a puppy. =)

Still No Baby....But Sweet Sponge Bob Pumpkin!

2008-10-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

I love Sponge Bob, so Dave carved me a pumpkin of him! It was to cheer me up, since I am still pregnant. The Doctor stripped my membranes yesterday...owww! We're just waiting for contractions to start. Please pray that I will have this little guy soon!

Stretched to the Max!

2008-09-29T21:32:00.001-07:00

So my belly button popped out a few days ago. That makes it easier to clean :) I can't imagine getting any bigger and I still have 5 weeks! I am so excited for this little buddy to come, mostly so i can get him out of my rib cage. Dave and I already love this little guy and are so excited to meet him. We are thinking of naming him Clay, but we will see what he looks like first.

Love My Family!

2008-08-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

Dave and I spent some fun time with my family this last week and we get to spend another week with them next week at bear lake! Yea! We were in Garland for the annual Wheat and Beet Days celebration. Small towns are so funny. We got to go to a sweet parade and fire works later that evening. Cassi is up from Arizona and it's so fun to have her and her darling little girl here for a few weeks. I love my sisters! Dave was really cute with her baby and I can't wait to see how he is with our little guy. Dave put his head on my tummy today and the baby gave him a nice kick in the face. He is moving alot--it's so fun!

Updated Belly

2008-07-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

The girl I work with--she has downs syndrome--said, "Boy, you are getting fat!" Also at the bowling alley, a worker told me that I wasn't allowed to smuggle bowling balls out of the bowling alley! Dave has been so sweet to me and has been giving me back rubs and he told me he has never been so attracted to me as when I'm pregnant. However, hugs aren't quite the same!

Our smiling little boy!

2008-07-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

2008-06-21T14:48:00.001-07:00

Preggie....and is Dave ever gonna love our baby as much as Chewy?

Cruise Pics

2008-06-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

2008-06-21T14:02:00.001-07:00

Mom has been wanting to see some cruise pics...here they are.

2008-06-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

I am getting a belly!