Nixon as Rafael for Halloween

Halloween 2013

My family always had holiday traditions back at home and there are some that Travis and I are trying to keep going. So we took Nixon to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins. We were going to have to resort to buying them from a place that just has them lined up on hay, but when we passed the pumpkin patch we found that a whole new batch of pumpkins had been transplanted into the pumpkin patch. (As you can see in the picture below, the pumpkins grew in a perfect line....yeah right...but we were happy to go pick a pumpkin from the patch).

..Perfectly lined pumpkins ;)..

In past years, Travis and I have tried to carve more elaborate and detailed pumpkins, but this year with a baby, we were happy to get something carved.

..Travis is the CR for the Colorado Rockies, and mine is a ghost. Trav lost a part of the C inside the R and mine lost one finger..

..Nixon was a jack-o-lantern during the day..

..and a teenage mutant ninja turtle by night..

..Our little Rafael..

We skyped with both of Nixon's grandparents that night and they just loved his little costume.

Nixon got a Halloween package from Grandma Tidwell. He is loving his new toys.

Nixon's Baby Blessing and Meeting the Fam

September 13-September 23

 

So we were basically crazy to drive to Utah with a 6 week old. Every time we would put Nixon in his car seat he would cry and cry and cry. He wouldn't stop until we would pull the carrier out of the car. Needless to say, I was super nervous that we would have a screaming baby the whole way. We headed out on Friday night and drove to Las Vegas and the next day made the rest of the trip up to Centerville. Our prayers were heard because he hardly even cried. Granted, I stayed in the back with him the whole time and he slept a lot, but I truly know our prayers were answered.

 

Of course, everyone wanted to meet Nixon! Most of the trip was hanging out, eating good food, catching up, and playing games. I was still adjusting to motherhood and was constantly stressing about Nixon crying, or needing to eat, or whatever else might come up. (Side note: Motherhood is a HUGE adjustment. People said that your motherly instincts would kick in, which I agree they did, but still, it is stress intensive for the first 2 months) We definitely had a great time catching up with family.

..Meeting the Guymon Side of the Family..

..4 BYU fans and 1 UTAH fan..

The main reason we went to Utah when we did was because Travis did not want to miss the UTAH vs BYU game. The Holy War has been going on for sometime and this was the last year before there is a gap in BYU playing the U, so he just couldn't miss it ;)

..Meeting the Tidwell side of the family..

Nixon's Baby Blessing-September 22, 2013

..Priesthood Holders in the Blessing Circle..

 

One of our main reasons for taking this trip to Utah was to have Nixon's loved ones at his blessing. We knew that if we blessed him in California that very few family members would have been able to make it. We missed having Adam, Heidi, Austin, and Ashlee Guymon there and my brother Shane, who is serving a mission in Rapid City, South Dakota.

..Guymon Crew..

..Tidwell Clan..

..Our Little Family..

We did buy him shoes to wear, but we didn't open them up until the day of. Unfortunately, they were too small, so he went without shoes. :)

 

..Nixon's Blessing..

-Blessed to gain a testimony

-Stand up for the truth

-Encouraged to read the scriptures

-Be a good Example

-Heavenly Father and Jesus love him

-Huge blessing in our life

 

It was such a special day to have our family surrounding us and to give Nixon Ray Guymon his name and a blessing. We are so grateful that we were able to share this great day with both of our families.

My Sweet Growing Baby Boy

I am sooooo far behind on blogging. Taking care of Nixon takes way more of my time than I would have ever imagined. I am intimidated by all the catching up I need to do from his first 4 months of life, but I thought I better just do a brief overview so I can start updating on a more regular basis from now going forward. It is pretty overwhelming when you have 1000 pictures of your baby from the first month! lol I guess I'm just so in love with his cuteness I can't get enough pictures! I am loving being his mom and seeing him grow. He has changed so much and it seems that everyday he does something new.

..1 month..

..2 months..

..3 months..

..4 months..

I'm so disappointed that I fell behind on my blog. It is sad how fast you forget what they were doing and what they liked at each stage. So I'm glad to be starting fresh here at 4 months.

4 Months Old

-Nixon loves to suck on his hands and he has recently found his thumb. (Not super excited about that ;))

-When we get him undressed to take a bath at night, he knows what is coming and gets super excited. He giggles and squeals and baths are his favorite! It doesn't matter how tired or upset he may be beforehand; his bath always calms him down.

-He has recently started rolling from his back to his side. I now sometimes find him facing a different direction from where I left him.

-He is most content when he is sitting on mine or Trav's lap.

-He still loves the light up cat on his little play gym and always smiles when it starts singing and lights up.

-He is get more hand coordination. He can now hold the oball football in both hands and pull it up to his mouth.

-He likes to hear me sing. If he is getting fussy in the morning as I attempt to get ready for the day, I always start singing and that will usually gets us through it.

-His favorite game with mommy is sitting on her lap facing me and bouncing on my knees.

-His favorite thing with Daddy is a game they play after he gets bathed. We lay Nixon on our bed after we dry him off and get him in a diaper. As I'm putting lotion on him and getting him in his pj's Trav will use part of the towel and move it up and down really fast created a breeze towards Nixon. Nixon always squeals and laughs and kicks his legs like crazy. He absolutely loves it!

-Nixon really enjoys walks. He likes to be sitting up in the stroller so he can see everything as we go.

-One more thing, when Nixon is super upset or we are having a hard time calming him down, we always take him outside. The second we walk out the front door he calms down. There is something about the outdoors that makes him relax. I think enjoying nature is relaxing for us all. We get to enjoy all of God's beautiful creations.

Overall Nixon is a happy baby as long as he is fed and gets his sleep. We have ran onto a few speed bumps with his naps lately. I am really working on a nap time routine so that he gets the sleep he needs. I have decided that once you think you've got this mom thing figured out, something changes and that it is all about trial and error. Something that works for one baby might not work for another and that's ok. Whenever I have a question about motherhood/parenting I always google it. I am such a googler and I sometimes stress way too much over what I read or what I should/shouldn't be doing as a mom. ha ha Both Trav and my friends suggest I stop googling everything, so I'm going to work on that :)

I really do love being a mom and especially to my little Nixon. Even though at times during the past 4 months I didn't know how I could make it through the day on such little sleep, somehow I made it. I know Heavenly Father has heard my prayers and helped me with this adjustment of motherhood. I believe as a parent to any age child, you need Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit by your side to give you strength, patience, and inspiration.

I L.O.V.E my sweet boy!