Nikki's Wedding Weekend

My little sister Nikki got married this weekend, and it was probably the longest weekend of Rowen's life so far! He was super cute, though- and a very good baby, of course!
Thursday night he hung out with Nana and Poppop while Momma & Daddy went on a date- well, out to dinner and then to Nikki & Josh's "dessert reception." Luckily, he's used to spending Thursdays at Nana & Poppop's house. But he was still out super late. Then Friday we went to the rehearsal dinner, and he got to meet lots of new people, like his Great Aunt Tina! Much fun and socializing led to one tired, slightly dischevled baby.
Then Saturday was the big night. He even wore a tuxedo! It was all black so we didn't get a great picture of the tux, but you get the idea :o)
Being tickled by Daddy:
Lookin' sharp! They had a "black and white" theeme. I think the vest and bow-tie were the best part about his outfit! hahaha. Maybe if you click the picture to enlarge it you can see it better...
And again, much fun and socializing leads to....

...zonked!!!

ooooooh.... those little toes :o) We thought he was pretty hot and uncomfortable with all those clothes on, so he lost them piece by piece. Shoes, socks, jacket, bow tie, vest... what a night! After this little nap (in the picture) he woke up happy as a clam, so we headed out to the dance floor where he promptly started crying & screaming- I think it was a tad bit overstimulating! So we headed home to tuck him in. ...he got maybe 6 hours of sleep Saturday night? (He wanted to continue the party in his crib all night long... ) And then Sundays are always busy days as well, of course. So up and adam, off to church, home for a nap, off to the grocery store, then costco, then to Home Groups- (a local fellowship & worship time with our church family) where he screamed and screamed... until I got him to fall asleep. Poor baby!! He slept great last night, thank goodness, but woke up with a stuffy nose and a cough. Good thing the next wedding isn't for another year!

Kyle & Haley's wedding

Rowen attended his first wedding last Sunday- Congrats Kyle and Haley! Matt was an usher so baby and I just sat in the back, hoping to be content enough to not make a peep for a couple hours. He fell asleep just before it started and slept peacefully through the entire ceremony- phew!
Aren't weddings fun? Always makes me think of my own- which was four and a half years ago by the way- my how time flies! We were both friends with Kyle in college, we lead worship together at Campus Crusade for Christ, and he was one of Matt's groomsmen in our wedding. It's great to have watched him grow over the years and we're so happy he found his perfect bride!
Happy Marriage!!

My Horn can Pierce the Sky!

Too bad the pic didn't quite get the whole box- click on it to zoom in and see her beautiful horn! hahahahaha.
my dad must have been very good this year, he got a "princess unicorn" for Christmas! It was from Dwight.

(aka- my sister & brother in law who felt a little cooped up in all the snow and ice and got crafty with a barbie, a screw, and a little photo shop!) The box was complete with the phrase "my horn can pierce the sky!" Oh man, my sides STILL hurt from laughing. hahahaha

(If you don't watch The Office, this will be totally lost on you. Sorry.)

Christmas Eve with the Happels

Rowen's first Christmas with Gramps & Grams! Check out my Christmas PJ's

I got lots of nice new clothes!
and a bow on my head- which is the most fun of all, of course.

Christmas Eve Dinner

alternate title:
Adventures in Butchery


I wanted to make an elegant Christmas Eve dinner this year- so Matt and I put together a menu I was really excited about:
Pan-Roasted Pear Salad with Balsamic Glaze
Stuffed Roast Tenderloin (stuffed with caramelized onion, mushrooms, and Marsala wine)
Braised Brussels Sprouts with Sage Butter
Mushroom Risotto
Yorkshire Puddings
and
Egg Nog Creme Brule for dessert.
Yummy!
Well - we had a tough time finding the beef tenderloin. We didn't want to drive all around town because of the nasty weather, so after THREE grocery stores, we went home. VERY disappointed. I called around the next day and discovered that they have them at Costco (wahoo!) so Matt went after work and picked up the smallest one they had (6.6 lbs!) That meant I had a lot of butchering to do. Yep- that's a chef knife in the picture! and my BIGGEST cutting board. Covered in Parchment paper because it's not big enough- haha.
I went on You-Tube and learned how to trim, clean, and butcher my own Beef Tenderloin. This is, by far, the most money I have EVER spent on dinner, and I was a wee bit nervous about getting it just right! So praise God for You Tube, after about 4 videos I felt confidant enough to start slicing into the most valuable part of a dead cow.



beautiful! I got my nice center cut roast for dinner, plus a small, 2 person roast for another night, 6 petite fillet Mignon's, and some stir fry scraps. Oh boy, am I glad for a nice big freezer :o) What treats we have in store for us! This frugal wife almost always buys top sirloin.


Well, I stuffed and tied my roast... a little tricky but easier than I thought! Pan browned and then into the oven for a mere 20 minutes.


Oops, forgot to take a picture until she was carved and half gone!

And here's the plate- my food pictures never look too good.... but I'm more than happy with how it all tasted!
Matt's pretty presentation of the salad


Table for four?

Don't forget dessert! We love to bring out the torch at the table, of course

Hey Santa!

Despite the blizzard, Nana just had to take Rowen to meet Santa. (How else would he tell him what he wanted for Christmas???) So- we met Nana and Poppop at the mall, and of course Nana brought Rowen a Christmas outfit for the occasion. Since the line was so long, we just decided to dress him right there on the mall bench. How embarrassing for him! hehe.


Funny, Santa didn't ask him if he'd been a good little boy, or what he wanted for Christmas. I guess he already knew!

look out, ladies

We had a really nice "Christmas" dinner with some friends at the Buckendorfs about a week ago. Rowen of course had fun flirting with Miss Riley. Boy, are we going to be in trouble when all these babies get older! There may be no shortage of girlfriends ;)

CHEEEEEESE!

Bustamante Bliss!

Oh. My. Goodness.
A whopping 5 pounds, here is little miss Fiona! Can you believe her hair? Oh man. She is such a cutie pie. Kathleen and Bryan had their teeny sweetie Wednesday morning in the wee hours - about 5 weeks early - but Mama and baby are doing great! Bryan has already warned Rowen that he'd better have Fiona in by 10pm.
Look how giant he looks next to her! I guess he is 35 times her age. (72 days old - 2 days old - har har har)

The happy new family!

We love you guys! Can't wait for play dates!

Oh yeah- and they have joined the blogging world: http://www.bustamante622.blogspot.com/

Rowen's Dedication, part 2

attempting to upload a video.... I think it might be huge. Matt taught me how last night - I think I'm supposed to "compress" it for the web, but I can't remember where that step was... haha. Oh well!

It was 4 weeks ago, but here's Rowen's dedication at church in case you missed it!

Cutting Down a Tree!

I love Christmastime! Exhausted as we were, we decided to go chop down a tree with my fam on Sunday. Crazy, huh? It was pouring down rain while we ate lunch, but thank heavens it stopped just as we got to the tree farm! The ground was still all mushy, but it was so nice to be "warm and dry." (We had been in South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska all weekend, afterall!)

Rowen thoroughly enjoyed himself, as usual!



Searching for the perfect tree...

"Hey mom, Nanna and I found one!"




Hmm.... this one is more like it!

Happy Thanksgiving

It was Rowen's first Thanksgiving- and of course he was the star of the show! He got to meet his Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Happel for the first time as they drove up from California to spend Thanksgiving here.
Four generations of Happel Men! I'm pretty sure he's yawning here- not screaming.
Great Grandpa is so proud!



Rowen's first Thanksgiving meal: breastmilk as usual. Don't worry hon, it'll be more exciting next year!

Little Friends!

Early this month we got together with our Birth Class for a little pizza party baby style- aren't they darling? It was fun talking about how the past couple months had gone for each of us and what are little babes were doing. Rowen's the youngest at 4 weeks here, the oldest (2 1/2 months) & her mommy left before we got a picture taken. :o( We're hoping to get together again next month! Isn't that fun? Check out these pictures: what dorkey first time parents we all are! haha. (We're even lined up in age order- hahaha)

and THIS is Baby Eilee- the sweet little girly I'll be caring for starting in December. Isn't she darling? She's sooo cuddly and adorable and has the softest hair- Rowen and I got to hang out with her and her mommy for a little bit yesterday- and I can't wait for more snuggles! They're going to have lots of fun together as they grow! See what pals they'll be? They're already holding hands! She's (get this) TWO DAYS older than Rowen. That's right, we ended up being "neighbors" in the hospital- just a couple doors down! So funny.
Wow- I didn't notice this in person, but she's really putting Rowen's cheeks to shame! Yummy!

and here is little Mr. Billings! Nicole and Jered welcomed little JJ into the world yesterday morning and he is soooooo handsome. It's going to be fun watching them run around at church together one day! And isn't Nicole beautiful for just having an almost 9 lb baby? Way to go, sister! We are so happy for you guys!!! He is perfect and God is so good!

Little Monster

Nanna bought Rowen his first halloween costume. He was a little monster- though he's the sweetest, calmest little monster there ever was!

One Week Old!!

Can't believe it's already been a week- Hasn't Matt been GREAT about updating the blog? I, on the other hand, am either nursing or sleeping or nursing or eating or nursing or.... you get the idea: no time for blogging :) But our little champ has been napping for an hour and a half and I'm finally caught up on email and facebook- so I thought I might be able to sneak in a few details about MY whole experience! (a few details- haha- this is going to be LONG- but I've been storing up for a week!)

Last Tuesday we went in for our 41 week check up, and little Rowen was still floating way above my pelvis and my cervix was still completely long and closed- no signs of my body preparing to go into labor. Being a week over due already didn't help- and after two weeks the placenta can start breaking down so the uterus is possibly a dangerous place to be for a baby after that point. My doctor said we could continue to wait it out that week if we needed to, but again- no signs of "hope" for a natural start. She also could not recomend induction as the chances of it working were slim to none, and that could make it dangerous. At this point in my perfect pregnancy, it the odds for a safe delivery and healthy mom and baby were shifting over to the surgical birth side. My doctor also made it very clear that she would be more than happy to get me in to some of her collegues for a second opinion if we felt we needed one. But we trust her and the way she's worked with us this far so there was no need- what she was telling us was just the facts. So, after discussing all the options and spending some time in prayer, Matt and I decided that the safest and best delivery at this point for this baby would be cesarean. My doctor happened to be on call Wednesday so we scheduled the surgery for 5pm so that she could be the one to do it. As most of you know, I had really wanted a natural vaginal birth so it was a hard decision to come to and I was nervous about the surgery and the epidural and the recovery etc- but God was SO faithful to my nerves and my heart! There was concern about the epidural being difficult, but it went without a hitch. The anesthetist did a great job and after a little trial and error with the dosages everything was perfect. The surgery then went perfectly as well, no complications whatsoever, and I was thrilled to discover I could "feel" the entire birth, minus pain. That was wonderfully unexpected. When the doctor pulled him out and he made his first cry it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard and I've been in love ever since!
They showed him to me and then cleaned him up a bit and did their thing, and then placed him by my head and Matt and I got a few moments with him- I was in awe. I couldn't really see him since he was right next to my head and I was strapped down, but ooooh I could feel him and smell him and it was all so delicious! Matt went with him to do the baby thing as they finished sewing me back up. I couldn't wait to see him- but I don't remember it taking long. The "clean up" was suposed to take 30-45 mintues, and I'm sure it did, but I wasn't watching the clock. The next thing I remember is being wheeled into the post-op room and seeing him in his little bassinette so perfect all bundled up- they let me nurse him right away and it was just beautiful. I dont' have words to describe all of the emotions - it was so euphoric and unbelievable - (I know, gush gush gush!)
We had to be in post-op for a little over 2 hours before being taken to the recovery room. Meanwhile all our family was in the waiting room since about 7:00- so it was a Happel/Hosford/Leahy/Carroll/Rekate/Christiansen party for about two hours before they finally let them in to see us! We were surrounded in the love of 13 visitors at 9:00. Everyone got a chance to hold Rowen and he was alert the whole time- quietly observing everyone with a little peep here and there, always settling down so easily. It was quite a night!
We were in the hospital until Saturday noon and had lots of great care and visitors- I'll recomend St. V's to anyone- they were awesome. But I was so happy to be headed home!

Recovery has been slow and a wee bit tender- but going VERY well. My dear hubby keeps reminding me to take it easy and I'm doing my best to obey! ;) Nursing is going so smoothly I can't believe it- from the very first try he's been 10-15 minutes each side and every 1-3 hours. Which is helping him sleep about 3 hours at a time at night- and boy do I know that we're blessed by that! Everything he does is amazing and we are so thankful and filled with joy- I just can't describe it. Aahh, love.

Everything has truly been beyond comprehension. I know that being so completely covered in prayer has made such a huge difference on our whole birth experience and everything concerning his first week of life. God has chosen- for whatever reason- to bless us with this amazing tiny being and we just can't get over it!

So thanks for your prayers, thanks for reading this incredibly long blog, thanks for your well-wishes and visits, thanks for the meals if you've been one of the providers :) thank you for being our friends and loving little Rowen into his new life! It's amazing!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD ROWEN!

Wow has it been 41 weeks and 1 day already! It seems like the time has flown by and Rowen has entered the world. Brianne's pregnancy has been for the most part wonderful. From a husband's perspective I went into this whole prepared for the worst; mood swings, strange cravings at 2am, bed rest at the 6th month, complications from her bone disorder, etc. But all I have to say is the Lord is awesome and He does amazing things. Brianne's pregnancy I don't think could have gone any better. It it so cool to see the Lord work in mysterious ways and bless us in so many others.

Well today is the day when we got to see God's precious little gift that he has been working on for the last 41 weeks and 1 day.

Yesterday Brianne had her 41 week appointment and with much prayer and discussion with her doctor, it became clear that a Cesarean birth was going to be the best and safest mode of delivery. And since her doctor had today off at the clinic she was able to schedule us at the hospital for today at 5pm.
So that brings us to the birth of our precious little Rowen. Everything with the Cesarean went perfectly and at about 5:20pm on October 8, 2008, Rowen enter the world. He weighted in at 7lb 7oz, 20.5 inches and 9 on his APGAR. Both he and Brianne are doing wonderful and we couldn't be more happy. Here is a sneak peek at our little guy.














There will be more to come so stay tuned.

Matt's Mumblings: It's Time!

Well we are on our way to the hospital for a 5pm Cesarean birth. It is crazy to think that in about 4 hours that I am going to be a dad! Keep checking for updates and pictures!

baby shower madness ;)

Nicole (due Nov 11) Kathleen (due Jan 14th) Me (due Sep 30 - what the heck?) and Brittany (due Oc 14th)
Okay, so none of it was madness- but going to two back to back was pretty funny :) I have to say, it is nice to be pregnant at the same time as some of your friends! Its a really joyful yet tough time in life and sometimes it's nice to have gals that are right there with ya. Oh my- how many bellies there were at Nicole's shower! Kathleen's was after hers. Both were a good time and I wish you ladies the BEST for the last part of your pregnancies!

2nd annual progressive dinner

My family is so fun. A little wacky- but they're the best. Last year, we decided it would be fun to do a progressive dinner since we all live fairly close. So we put one on for my mom's birthday (Sep 20th) and had a theme of "around the world!" We started out at my folk's house for European appetizers then went to my sister's for salad in Mexico, then our condo for main course in Japan, and finally to my little brother's for an Italian dessert. So this year my mom decided that's what she wanted to do for her birthday again- and perhaps every year after! The theme was hard to top, and she thought long and hard about what it should be. First, it was "exceptional sauces" and then she thought no, that's too easy. Let's do "mystery ingredient!" and then thinking about it some more, she decided that since we're all just sitting around waiting for me to go into labor (...yeah) that the theme should be "bring on the baby!"
I tried not to roll my eyes too much. ;)
So- we started out at my folks again with appetizers, and of course, my mother did not disappoint! There were baby dills, baby corn, baby bell cheeses, baby carrots, a ranch dip with pineapple since pineapple supposedly has some cervical ripening properties... baby avocados, baby red twice-baked potatoes, baby yorkies (including spicy horseradish to get things going,) baby BLT's (stuffed Roma tomatoes,) and a baby blue punch complete with little floating plastic bottles and safety pins. Too funny! After we were all totally stuffed from the first course, we stopped at Brit & Laurel's for a soup and salad course. Laurel made a fantastic baby carrot soup, and a salad of baby field greens. yum! We all sat around and chatted, quite stuffed, for about an hour before deciding we really did have to move on and continue eating. The main course awaited!
So off to Trevor & Lindsi's we went for baby back ribs. (of course!) They were delicious- and they did a little research on how to induce labor with a side dish. Here's what they found:
Thankfully, they didn't make me eat it. hahaha.
And of course, no progressive dinner would be complete without a round of "shotski" or this year's version: "three strikes you're out."
oh, man. That's all I have to say. Oh, man.
Feeling so full we could all explode, we rolled down the road to our little apartment for dessert.
Now, I struggled with what to serve for a week and a half. I was not feeling creative, and didn't want to cook anything. (Let alone clean anything up.) So Tuesday night as I was lying awake with insomnia once again, it hit me.
"I'm 9 months pregnant- make your own dang dessert" Sundaes. The ideas started flowing... including "Insomniac's Ice cream," "Braxton-Hicks Brownie Bits Ice Cream," "Backache Bananas," "Swollen Ankle Strawberries," "Colostrum Caramel," "Hershey Squirts," "Heart Burn Heath-Bar," "Whipped Hemorrhoid Cream," "Mood Swing Marshmallows," "I Have to Pee-nuts," "Call Me Butterfingers," and "Sciatica Sprinkles."
I'm such a dork- but I was totally loving it. Of course, I used paper bowls (ooooh- wasteful!) because for one, we don't have enough bowls to serve everyone and ice cream on a plate is just wrong. And for two: so easy to clean up... never a good excuse for me, but hey. I AM 9 months pregnant, after all! When I was at the store yesterday morning I couldn't remember if we had any (paper bowls) in the camping stuff so I called Matt at work to ask him. I don't call him at work very often, so he almost had a heart attack thinking I was calling to tell him I was in labor. Sorry honey. :) These days if I call anyone it seems they're always expecting me to say "we're going to the hospital!" or something, and then I don't so they're disappointed. hehehe. Oh, what power I have over everyone these days! ;o)
Anywho-
it was a great night and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year! Hope you all are jealous of my super fun family. ;)