Dixie High School Here We Come!

So football season has well outlasted autumn this year. All the leaves have turned brown and dropped- but football soldiers on! We entered the State Playoffs and won our first game against Bountiful- a team we have beat only 3 out of the last 16 times we've played them! Make that 4 now! So this weekend we are headed down to play Dixie High in the second round and I'm so looking forward to a game in the sun!
GO LAKERS!
If we win there the next two games will be at the University of Utah- the last being the State Championship. Good luck to all the players and coaches. We love you Bonneville.

Halloween!

Halloween this year was a short but sweet night full of crazy costumes and cold weather. PW dressed up for the first time as a pirate. Since all my things were packed away I threw together what all I could find to make a sad Pippi Longstocking costume. It was nice to be dressed up though.
PW and I first made our way to Aunt Lene's house for some trick or treating then me tup with Jake for dinner and games at Aunt Mara's house! By the way- when people asked Jake what he was for Halloween he said... "The Future" Haha.

Baby Blessing

Our little PW was finally blessed at 3 months of age! It was a grand ordeal with lots of family and lots of food. Thanks to all those of you who came and brought things and took part in the party. Also a big thanks to Aunt Jolan who shared her blessing outfit with us. PW looked awesome in his white tuxedo!!

Welcome Grant Richard Watkins

I want to welcome our newest nephew (son of my friend who is like a sister to me). He was born today at 4:38pm weighing 6 lb 12 oz and was 20 inches long! We are so excited to have another boy around. Even though PW has lots of little cousins around his age- none of them live close. So we are looking forward to play dates in the future with little Grant and Aunt Amy!
Amy and Jeff- we love you both so much. Congratulations. You've been so blessed to have this little guy in your house and we know you'll enjoy every single minute of it! We love you all!

Football Season

Football season, more commonly known as flu season, is upon us. NFL Sunday is such a fun time for us as we listen to the 49ers games on the internet radio- they don't broadcast them here in Utah very often. NFL, college and high school teams have all new players and we get to know the teams all over again. We never miss a game to the local high school where Jake is a defensive coach. (Our defense is one of the best in the state!)
It has been so fun introducing Peewee to football. He loves to watch it on tv (ok so maybe it's just the fun colors but hey- it's better than that other junk on tv!) and he has only missed one of Daddy's games. He got a cold this week and the doctor told me he had to stay home. Because of this tragedy- we lost. :(

This was earlier in the season when Aunt Eth joined us at a game! Peewee loved her being there! (We miss you Aunt Eth!)

And then all of the sudden the crazy Utah weather turned cold- Overnight! Honestly- we went to bed with the A/C on and woke up and switched it to heater!

Our little guy looks good in hats!

Play Time- Jungle Friends

This is a little taste of what I hear all day long- though he is usually much louder!!! He sure loves those animals Grandma!!

Nap Time vs. Bedtime (What babies know)

You think babies don't know much, and don't care much so long as they're taken care of. They only cry when they need something, they poop and peep when they need to, and they go to sleep if they're tired. Simple life right? WRONG-O!
Among other things he knows, Peewee knows the difference between naps and a good night's sleep. I let him play in the pack 'n play with his toys during the day. He's very content to talk to his jungle friends and squeal with joy at the colors of his toys hanging above him. When he's tired, he simply snuggles his little face down in his blanket and falls asleep. NO BINKY NEEDED! It's amazing. But when bedtime rolls around a fit of crying ensues that can only be soothed by a binky and at least 10 minutes of cuddling and bouncing from Mom or Dad. What a smart little guy!

Might I also add in his defense that once he does get to sleep he sleeps for a long time! Peewee sleeps from 8:30-2:00 and 2:30-7:00 and then he just plays for a little bit while we keep on sleeping. Oh how joyous is a home with a good sleeper!

Impracticalities- Doing Things I Shouldn't

Did you know that it's impractical for a mother to pick up her child every time he cries? She should let him cry it out. Otherwise he will come to know that if he cries, he will get picked up. He will know that he has his mother wrapped around his little finger.

Did you know that's it's impractical for a mother to rock her baby to sleep? She should put him in bed while he's still awake. That way he will learn to put himself to sleep- a skill he will definitely need in the future so that's he's not always looking for his mother to comfort him.

Did you know that it's impractical to give your baby a binky before he is 2 months old, and after he is one year old? Giving a child a binky can make them dependent on it. It should only be given to a baby at bed time, when they can use it to soothe themselves- going along with that whole idea of being able to put themselves to sleep.

Did you know it's impractical for a mother breastfeed her baby all the time? If she's set on using breastmilk, she should pump it and use a bottle at least once a day. That way she won't be tied down and she'll be able to leave baby with a sitter while she goes out.

Did you know it's impractical for a mother to let her baby sleep in her bed? How are she and her husband ever going to get any alone time? How will they have a sex life? And baby will never learn to sleep by himself!

Well I guess you can call me MRS. IMPRACTICAL! Because if my baby cries, I'm going to comfort him! Of course he has me wrapped around his finger!
And I could let my son scream for 15 minutes while he tries to put himself to sleep, or I could spend 15 minutes and rock him to sleep. So what if he looks to me for comfort! That's what I'm here for!
And guess what- my baby LOVES his binky! It makes him feel safe in a way that I can't- so I'm going to let him have it!
And I won't give my baby a bottle once a day! He's only 2 months old! At this point, if I go somewhere- he comes along!
And yeah- we bring our baby into bed with us sometimes! And he loves it! And we love it! And we STILL love each other!!!

Photo Op-portunities

Photo opportunities seem to come more and more these days with little Peewee smiling all the bad from this world. A smile and a few cute noises from this boy make all my toubles melt away like an ice cream cone at a baseball game.
When we came home from a car ride the other day I found the little guy like this... He LOVES his binky. His newest thing is that he hates to lie down. He wants to sit up and greet the world. I have to tell myself that while leaning back his head on my chest may be comfortable and convenient for him, I cannot be a chair all day long. Thank heaven for bouncy seats that let him sit up quietly for 2 hours straight while I baked in the kitchen!!
Time for a new outfit!!
After this one he got mad and fed up with the photographer and bright flashbulbs in his face. Well- really he was just tired.

Video World!

This is what I get to listen to every day. I feel so lucky to be a mom and to have this wonderful perfect little boy in my home!

Polo's Polo

Isn't this cute?!

At the Temple

I heard that Uncle Eddy and Aunt Jolan were gonna be in town last Saturday and that Rayden would be staying with my parents for the day. They decided to take Rayden to the Clark Planetarium and I got to go down there and meet them! Rayden and my Dad were getting along great- and checking out everything there was to see!
Then Uncle Eddy and Aunt Jolan came over from a temple sealing and we started to eat lunch at the Gateway Mall outside. We got yet another surprise when Regan and April shared their "date weekend with us" and joined us for lunch.

"LUNCH"- by the way- was a modge podge of egg salad slapped on a few pieces of bread, a bag of cheese curd, a few veggies and dip, an orange, and a bag of cinnamon bears spread out among seven of us. Rayden was content with simply a yogurt. :)
To top off the afternoon I got to show the fam how to use our wonderful transporation system! We all hopped on the downtown Trax and rode two blocks to the temple. We took a few pictures and then rode the Trax back down to the mall to our cars. It was such a fun couple of hours that we got to spend as a family! It was so great to get to see everyone. I miss and love my family.

P.W. of the Jungle, and P.W. Balboa

This is where PW plays during the day- here or the couch. He was recently joined by several jungle animals of which he already has a favorite. The monkey is his favorite to look at and he even talks to it. It's very cute to listen to.

As you can see- it's also very cute to watch!!


He also loves the shower- a place where he is insanely calm and clings onto me real tight and falls asleep- another thing that is cute to watch. He gets a little sad once we leave the warm water so I wrap him up in his boxing robe- yeah it has a frog on it!- and he's ready to enter the ring... well maybe just the world... or maybe just the living room :)

Latest and Greatest

Our little P.W., Powa, Peewee, had quite the start to his new life. Only a week after being born both Jake and I got the swine flu. With symptoms from head to toe, night and day, we were quarantined in our basement for an entire week. Jake wasn't allowed to go to work and we really didn't have the energy to do anything. While it was nice to be able to be together as a family for so long, it was really an awful experience.
This is our beautiful son (I can say beautiful cuz I'm the Momma) sucking on his much beloved binky. He's wondering why in the world his daddy is wearing this blue thing on his face. Well, if he only knew that we wore those masks the whole week without kissing him and washed our hands every time we touched him so that he wouldn't get the awful swine flu!! Luckily, and with many blessings from our Heavenly Father, P.W. came out unscathed and we have since recovered.

Another thing he loves aside from his binky- his fingers!!! He happened to find his thumb on this particular day and I couldn't pass up a picture!

Rohrer Union

Here are some of the awesome pics from our recent family reunion. It was our son's first family reunion and another awesome year for the rest of us! Thanks to Lene and Beau for organizing it and letting us use their house. Thanks to everyone who came and participated and helped out. It was so great to have everyone together. It was especially cool to have my whole family around for the arrival of our son. We love you guys. To everyone else viewing this- enjoy!!

The First Week- A Week of Firsts

So we've had quite the experience as new parents. The first week was full of fun and lots of surprises. On the first night home my mom came to stay with us and stocked our fridge with wonderful dinners and snacks. She only got to stay one day- but we were sure glad she was here to help us out! Thanks Mom!


So after Grandma left we were left to discover parenthood on our own. We found that our little Peewee doesn't much care if he's wrapped up in his blanket as long as he knows we're close by. His favorite spot is undoubtedly on our chests where he lies his head and then curls his legs up and sleeps for hours. We also found that he does quite well when we set him on the couch in the crack between the cushions. Here we decided to join him for a family photo.



On day we were craving some sunshine and I took the little guy outside on the lawn. Of course- he was wonderfully content and loved it!

Honestly- our little boy doesn't complain about much. He hardly ever cries- but he does make some of the cutest noises ever! He's perfectly happy just to be alive and be with us. I could really take a lesson from the sweetie. However- he doesn't love to be put in his carseat.

He doesn't spit up. He doesn't cry much. He doesn't blow out his diapers- true I know that's involuntary. But he does like to pee when I'm in the middle of changing his diaper! This is me giving up on burping him (it's really hard to get him to burp and when he does it's the sweetest quietest burp I've ever heard) and instead playing Squishy Face!


One other thing that we've learned about our little prize is that he loves to suck. He doesn't have to have his bink- though it is nice to have around sometimes. Instead he sucks on his fingers- one, or many, or all of them. He loves to put his hands to his face- so we really have to keep up on cutting his nails!

All in all we are very lucky to have such a good little baby. He's so cute and we love him so much.

Welcoming Polo Warren Afuvai

He finally came! We would like to share with you our pride and joy- Polo Warren Afuvai. Aka- Peewee or P.W. He was born on Sunday July 12 at 11:52 pm. He weighed 7lb 15oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. He is so handsome and all is well.

So the story goes that there were no signs of labor until sacrament meeting started on Sunday when I started having contractions suddenly and only five minutes apart. I waited out the meeting, went home and waited out another two hours. By four o'clock we had made it to the hospital, and I was dilated to 6 cm. Needless to say they gave me an epidural, a STRONG epidural, right away and we waited until almost midnight to greet the cutest baby in the whole world. We're very excited and very exhausted! We love him though!

Jet Skiing for Labor!!

"Jet skiis" and "39 weeks pregnant" are two things I bet you never thought you'd hear in the same sentence- unless that sentence ended in a "Yeah Right!" Well Jake's family is having a little reunion this week and we headed up to Pineview Dam yesterday to join them. We decided to skip out on the camping in a tent thing due to the very frequent bathroom trips in the middle of the night caused by a hefty (7 1/2 lbs) baby sitting on my bladder.

We got up there are soaked up plenty of sun- though we piled on enough sun screen to keep us white as we were when we arrived. We figured sunburns in the delivery room were something we should try to avoid, just so I wouldn't scream, "Don't touch me!" anymore than necessary. We played on the beach, and spent plenty of time in the water! We were joined by some friends for a total of 16 kids and 14 adults! I had made up my mind beforehand that I wouldn't be going out on the jet ski this year due to my Panza (belly). However, Jake's brother Darce said to me, "Grab a life jacket, I'm taking you out there!" And so I did. And so at 39 weeks pregnant I jumped on the back of a jet ski and cruised the dam! I can't say he went much over 35 mph- but it sure was nice to be able to skim the water. It was, after all, a beautiful day and the views were awesome!

And then we headed back to camp for some delicious taco soup, hot dogs, and dutch oven peach cobbler! Sad to say we did come home late last night and slept in our own bed. But you can be sure our little guy will see plenty of camping trips once he gets out here to see us.

Speaking of baby news--- No, the water skimming ride didn't induce labor and the doctor tells me I'll probably have to wait until next week for the big day. But all is well and he's looking healthy!

BABY SHOWER!!

Thanks to all the wonderful women who came and hosted my very first baby shower. The treats were so yummy and the gifts were more than I deserved. This little guy sure is getting a lot of love already!

Grandma Rohrer and Aunt Ethnee

Grandma Afuvai

The women who put this all together and threw it for me- Aunt Lene and Aunt Mara

The three adopted Aunties- Amy, Kara, and Rach

The diaper cake Aunt Cathy sent up- and the monkey that watched over all the treats!

Thanks everyone! And thanks to all of those who could not make it here but who sent gifts or expressed their love, concern, and excitement! We love you all!

What Does That Mean?

I've really been asking my doctor this question A LOT lately. He'll give me a measurement... 1 1/2 and 50% and I'm looking at him thinking- "does he think I have ESP?" Or he'll say, "Doesn't look like I'll need to intervene this week" and I'm staring at him wondering why he would say something like that! Obviously- this is my first baby and his Millionth or something! He's such a great Doc though that he laughs at me and then calmly explains what he is trying to say. Thanks Dr. Bierer! Basically- the general idea is that our little boy just loves where he's at. We hit 37 weeks today but there's no sign of his descent. Kind of grateful really as we're both pretty nervous and scared. And no- my hospital bag is not packed yet! I still lack the Butterfinger candy bars and a few other things- close to my crispety crunchety peanut buttery bar in importance :).