The Janeway Family Blog: December 2007

Lost!

Bad news! Over the Christmas holiday with my family (which was nothing short of AWESOME!) I lost my digital camera! I have no idea how. I knew exactly where I put it down, and when I went back to grab it, it wasn't there. My mom and sister dug through all of the Christmas trash today to make sure it didn't accidentally get "picked up" but they weren't successfull in finding it. I'm so bummed! What's a blog without a digital camera? Exactly...anyway, hopefully I find it soon, because at this point in life financially, it is pretty much irreplacable! I guess having 7 kids in the house under the age of 5, (5 of them in diapers) means that things can grow legs and walk away a lot easier than in other circumstances...wish me luck that it gets found!

Merry Christmas!

Usually I get around to doing a Christmas Card. However, this year, it didn't even cross my mind until it was much too late to get started on one. So, I decided that the least I could do would be to post a "Christmas Letter" on our blog. Which is kind of ironic because the people that will see this are the people that know the happenings of our lives anyway. The people that I should send them to, don't read this! Oh well... what can ya do, right?

This year has been a crazy one for us. The first 8 months of the year, we spent every spare second remodeling our house. We wanted to get it updated and looking good since we knew we would be putting it on the market. Sean almost single-handedly remodeled our entire house. He demolished and completely remodeled 2 bathrooms, he knocked out a wall, tiled our fireplace, tiled the kitchen, installed a hood-microwave, and installed heaters. We, along with a lot of help from family and friends painted every single vertical surface in the house, even the hidden ones. My family and some friends helped us with the landscaping, and we had professionals install the granite counter tops, and lay new carpet. Needless to say, our house was in shambles, and I was so grateful when it was done! In August, we put our house on the market. Due to the horrible market that is upon us, in October, we moved in with Sean's parents and got renters in our house to help us pay the mortgage. Having renters in the house has been such a blessing!

In May, I gave birth to a handsome baby boy, Brayden Kyle. He was 7 lbs, 12 oz and 21 inches long. Now, at 7 months old, he looks very much like his father. Good thing I find him attractive! Brayden loves people. He loves to smile and laugh, he loves attention, and he loves his food. When it's meal time, he means business. On December 11th, he cut his first tooth! It's quite incredible how fast Brayden has grown. He has his own personality, likes and dislikes, and yes, even a little attitude.

I was lucky enough to be able to quit my job and be a full time mom which is a dream come true. Brayden takes up all of my spare time, but occasionaly I still find time to scrapbook and I recently started doing vinyl lettering as a hobby.

Sean is the busiest of us all. He still owns his own business, Maid to Shine Cleaning Services. He is also still working for his brother Ryan in Sales and Marketing for an Internet medical software company, MediPro Direct. He really likes it there, and loves that as the company grows, his responsibilities grow as well.

We hope this letter finds you all in good spirits this Holiday Season. We know that the Savior was born in a humble stall, and that He went through His mortal life serving, blessing, and leading by example. We are grateful for His example, and the knowledge that He provided a sure way for us to return to Him again someday. We are so grateful for this.

Merry Christmas!

Love, Sean, Kim and Brayden Janeway

Go Blazers!

Last night we went to a Blazers game with Sean's parents. They were playing against Utah Jazz. We won! 99-89. Brayden had so much fun! He even had a little hand-me-down Blazers jacket. He was energized until after half time, then the screaming and booing started scaring him. We fed him, Sean took him for a walk, and then we put a blanket over his ears so the noise was at least muted. It didn't take very long for Brayden to fall asleep. I have no idea how he did it. It was such a close game at the end that there was definitely alot of noise. He didn't even flinch. I don't get it. At least he got a nap in though and wasn't grumpy!

The Grotto

A post by Sean:
Most Portlanders are intimately familiar with The Grotto but for those of you not living within driving distance, The Grotto deserves an explanation. The Grotto is a a Catholic botanical garden that ends on a cliff. The cliff edge has an elevator to the bottom where you can see the shrine that is built into the cliffside. There is also a nice chapel, a some gift shop, and other things. This is a year round location that is free to visit, but the main attraction is their Christmas event. This is the one time per year they charge for entry. The "Festival of Lights" begins around Thanksgiving and goes through Christmas. Going to The Grotto is a Christmas tradition for many of the locals. They absolutely cover the grounds with lights and other decorations, little Christmas skits off to the side, puppet shows, and other fun little things. One of my favorite parts is the chapel choirs. Schools from around the area plan for this event every year. About 3 different choirs sing each evening and you can sit in on any of the sessions to listen to the beautiful accoustics of the chapel. That is The Grotto, and here are some of our pics:

Father Christmas, Brayden, Kim and I

Our Family

The famous Tree of Lights

Kim and I trying to get Brayden to smile

Uncle Kirt

So, he may not really be an uncle, but that's how he introduced himself. Let me explain...

Tonight was Sean's company Christmas dinner. We were sitting in Stanfords, waiting for our food when Sean looked over and saw a guy that was wearing the exact same shirt that Brayden was wearing. I had my camera on me, so Sean couldn't resist going over there and getting a picture. I believe his exact words were "This would make a great blog!" So...here you go...

First Tooth

Brayden cut his first tooth yesterday! I didn't even know it until I was playing with him last night. I stuck my knuckle in his mouth and he bit. It didn't hurt...but I knew it wasn't just gums biting into me! Yesterday was a difficult day for him, not because he was teething, but because he got his 6 month shots the day before. They always make him more tired and quite the little mamma's boy. I didn't mind! He is such an independent little kid. He goes to anyone which in all reality, I'm grateful for. I'm glad that I can leave him with his dad, or aunts and uncles or grandparents so I can go do things!

At his 6 month appointment 2 days ago, which was more like 6 1/2 months, he weighed 16 lbs, 4 oz and was 26 1/2 inches long. That puts him in the 45th percentile for weight, and 52nd for height. He's definitely a growing boy!

Christmas Ornaments

I'm making Ornaments for my visiting teaching sisters for Christmas. I have been looking and looking for a 1st Christmas ornament for Brayden that I liked and couldn't find one, so I decided to make one of those too! I'm going to fill these with something, glitter, "snow," confetti, so that you can see the vinyl on them better, but I just thought I'd share these!

Brayden's ornament says "Brayden's 1st Christmas 2007", and then it has a snowflake on the bottom.

A Shout To All My Homies

A Post by Sean:
Here is our little player taking his own picture after an all night party with the ladies. You can tell it is from a camera phone because the quality isn't the best but you know my little boy isn't one to miss capturing the essensce of a great shot: Himself. And so of course, he can't be afraid to stop in the middle of the party with his orange shirt turned inside out and stuck on his head, in order to stretch out one arm only to aim the camera back at himself. That's my boy, Mister self-portrait-camera-phone-operater-man. That's my boy. Love ya Brayden.

I'm finished!!

Last Christmas Season I decided to take on the task of making Sean and our unborn child stockings. After I got about half way through Sean's however, I gave up. I really didn't have the patience to do it anymore. This season rolls around though, and my desire to make their stockings came back. I'm so glad! I finished Sean's in the middle of October I believe, and I just finished Brayden's last night! I haven't timed them or anything, but I think I have 20-25 hours into each one. I'm so excited that they're finally done! Now I can start mine and hopefully it will be done next year :)

With Santa and Mrs. Claus

Here is Brayden's first picture with Santa! This was taken Saturday night at our ward Christmas party. He didn't mind at first, but when he looked up to see who was holding him and he couldn't see his face, I think it scared him so he started crying. Oh well! At least we got a cute picture!

It's December!

I can't believe that it is December already. That thought completely blows my mind. It snowed on the morning of the first day of the month which was a good welcome into the Christmas season. While up in Washington, Brayden and I were able to go get my parents Christmas tree with my siblings and mom. We walked into the Christmas Tree farm that we always go to and we found our tree in about 6 seconds. It was the fifth tree in, at the very edge, near the very front of the acres and acres of trees. It is impossible to go look for a tree without walking past this tree so we couldn't figure out why it wasn't taken already. It was the exact right height (10 feet) and it was full and bushy. I have no clue why it was still there. We took 2 minutes to browse other trees in the area to make sure that this was really the one we wanted. There was one that was comparable but it was a lot further away and it had started raining so we took the first one, because it was so close to the car!

The crew (minus Mom who's taking the picture.)