2 months old!

Time really does fly! I can't believe how big this little man is getting. He is so much fun- starting to talk to us and smile a ton. Here are his 2 month stats...

Weight: 12 lbs 10 oz in the 75 percentile

Height: 25 inches in the 90th percentile (Brennon could not be more excited about this.)

Head: 15 inches in the 50th percentile- he didn't get Brennon's large noggin!

He got his shots last week which was like the saddest thing ever. He did so good, I probably cried more than he did. I am loving feeling good again and staying home with my little man. I'm teaching piano to 12 students which is perfect. Brennon just started his summer internship with Cox and is really liking it so far. He only has one more semester to go to get his Bachelors! Yay! We decided to live off the grants and loans next semester and have him finish up. He'll be taking 21 credits but not working. We're excited to be so close to being DONE! And thats really all that is going on with us, just enjoying Strat man and his adorable-ness. Now for some pictures.....

We got to go visit Evan, Cara, and the twins in Seattle when Stratton was just 5 weeks old. A little nerve-wrecking but he did such a good job on the flight. Probably the easiest flight we'll ever get with him for a long time. Brennon had to quit the airline job so we wanted to see them one last time til Thanksgiving. We had such a good time hanging with them and they even cooperated enough to give us a few good pictures.

Going shopping for Stratton's blessing outfit was so fun. He was our little doll and humored us outfit after outfit.

These were the top two contenders...

We ultimately had to go with this one. Could not resist the bow tie.

We blessed him on June 5th at my parent's house- more pictures to come of that!

He's a big smiler

So happy to be 2 months!

First time swimming! Loved it until he jerked and his face went in the water.

Just discovered his hand this week and how good it tastes.

The many faces of Stratton!

Yummy

Thanks Kristal, you are a GENIUS!

The little man is here!

I'm going to try to get back on the blogging train but I warn you, it will most likely be all about the little man from this point on. He's much cuter than us.

So, after a long and semi-miserable week long (after the due date) wait, Stratton finally decided to make his appearance! I was sooo ready- the nesting was getting a bit out of control. Here were his stats...

Stratton Randall Fish

Born on April 7th, 2011 at 5:38AM

8lbs 14oz

22inches

{Long} Birth Story...

I was scheduled to be induced on the 6th at 7:30AM. I wasn't even really nervous at this point, just so ready to be DONE being pregnant. We got to the hospital and they started me on the gels...very long process. They did 3 rounds of the gels which lasted until about 1PM. We did a lot of walking up and down stairs trying to get those contractions going. I wasn't making much progress- still only at a 3 but they were ready to start the Pitocin. They started that around 3PM. Then, by around 5, the contractions started coming on a lot faster and stronger. Good times. I sat on the exercise ball for basically 5 hours while I was enduring the contractions. We played some cards, watched a movie, and Brennon, my mom, and Brennon' mom attempted to distract me. Finally, I was just about at a 5 so I got the epidural. The epidural was scary, but oh so worth it. :) I was finally able to relax and tried (tried being the key word) to get some sleep. They had to have me on oxygen on and off and pumped me with fluids throughout the night. Around 1AM, the doctor broke my water and after that things started progressing much more quickly. I was to a 7 by 3AM and a 9 by 4AM. My mom and I woke up Brennon every time the nurse came in to check me- at least someone was able to sleep. :) By 4:30ish, I was at a 10 and ready to push. The doctor came in and I pushed for about 45 minutes.

Brennon wasn't really planning on watching any of it- I had barely convinced him to cut the cord. But the nurse asked him to hold one of my legs as I pushed so he was kind of thrown into it. Now though, he's so glad he was able to watch and experience everything and said it wasn't as scary as he thought it would be. I really wasn't expecting Stratton to be as big as he was- my guess was in the high 7lbs range. My mom's guess was the closest at 9lbs 2oz. I still can't believe a baby that big was inside me.

We delivered at Mercy Gilbert and could not have been more happy with the whole experience. I am convinced that nurses are part angel. They were amazing and made everything so great. The rooms were huge and so nice. Volunteers would come in and bring little cheesecakes and free cute knit beenies...ummm, awesome. So great that we decided to stay 2 nights instead of one. It was great to have that extra help with everything. We went home on the 9th in the morning.

We are just loving on our little man. His cheeks are so squishy and kissable and he has a nice mullet of black hair that feels like feathers. He has been sleeping great, one night in his first week even making it 6 hours straight through the night...although I woke up in a panic after I looked at the clock! He's on a pretty consistent 4 hour eating schedule and is doing great eating. My recovery went well and after 2 weeks, I'm feeling normal again, except this extra 20lbs hanging on me. It is quite an adjustment having our whole lives revolve around this amazing little person but we are enjoying it all.

After his 2 week appointment, he is now at 9lbs 6oz and in the 75% for weight and height. Practically perfect in every way! He is getting more alert and awake every day- its all going by so fast.

Here are some cute pictures...we take like 20 a day of him. Kristal is taking his newborn shots today so I'll post those soon!

The family can't get enough of him!

Cross eyed loon!

Hairy bum!

LOVE HIM!!!

In case you haven't heard...

It's a

BOY!!!

HAPPY!

So, this is actually Brennon posting this. Its late at night, Danica is asleep, (she is always tired now from the pregnancy) and I feel like I should post something, and I really don't know why.

As many of you have heard through our recent press releases (facebook, Blog), we are having a baby! We are REALLY excited! I will be honest though, I am a little nervous. To think that I am going to be in charge (well, with the help of Danica) of a little, tiny humans life, who will depend on me for everything is crazy. I am still learning to take care of myself and Danica at the same time. Its hard enough to balance that. But, having said that, I do feel that this is the right time. We need a little person to help us in the Fish home.

I always thought that as soon as I found out that I was going to be a dad my life would just completely change and I would all of the sudden be a knew man. Well, that didn't exactly happen. To my surprise I am pretty much the same guy who struggles to balance life. Who really has no idea how we are going to pay for all the expenses that are to come, and the same guy who is actually pretty selfish. I know that we have alot to learn, and this new chapter in our life is going to help us to progress more than we ever though possible.

So, I guess I just wrote this to say that I am excited to be a Father and I am so happy that I have a wonderful wife to experience this next step with! And every step for eternity!

First comes love...

Then comes marriage....

Now comes a baby in a baby carriage!!

Fish baby is on it's way and March 3oth is the day!

Is this real life?!?

I just want to win.

I know it's been so long since I posted- and this seems to be a trend in the way I start my posts. And I assure you, it will come soon. But, first,our wonderfully talented and amazing wedding photographers, The Sloans, are doing a fun giveaway on thier blog and I just really want to win....

this beautiful necklace from Lisa Leonard. Her necklaces are so cute and I just love this one. Anyways, that's all for now.

My goal is to blog about Christmas, New Years, and our upcoming San Francisco trip before next week when school starts again. I wouldn't hold your breath.

Boutique bandwagon.

Yes, i'm hopping on it.

I'm gonna be selling my little diaper wipe containers on Saturday at this awesome boutique in Gilbert! You all should come, at least to say hi to me! :)

Here are just a few designs I'll have there...

More babies!

Ok, if this doesn't make you baby hungry, I don't know what will.

First off, Pearcen Paul Mulder, born a shocking 8lbs 6oz, to Kristal and Jason. Yummy, yummy squishiness. I wish he lived right down the street so I could come squeeze him everyday.

AND, Alina Maurine Jones, born 9lbs 6 oz, to Tammee and Keith Jones. I wish I could go see her right now! Those cheeks are just asking to be eaten.

Congrats to my two lovely aunts, they make especially adorable kids!

The {long} overdue Costa Rican post.

Finally! Wow, I am such a slacker. I have probably forgot about everything that happened but I will do my best to preserve the memories.

WARNING: This will be long and probably boring so have low expectations and maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Ok, so we started off our trip by taking the red eye flight to Denver and then to San Jose, Costa Rica. I'm aware that this is not the most effective route, but we were assured seats if we went this way so I'll take the extra hour and a half.

So we got in around 6 in the AM and found a lovely little car to rent. With a GPS, mind you, which was the best 8 dollar a day we have ever spent. The roads there are super windy and narrow, and people drive like they have a death wish.

So, we drove for about 2 hours through amazing scenery and also some scary, ghetto parts. We stopped in a town and ate at this tiny little place that I was a little apprehensive about at first, mostly because we couldn't communicate with nice man taking our order. But when they brought out our 'comida typical', we were amazed. So good. And only 7 bucks for both of us!

Next, we stopped on the side of the road when we saw signs for canopy tours. We were there at like 8 AM so they gave us a huge discount! Score!

Don't let the excited smile fool you. I was on the brink of hyperventilating.

But after the first line, I was loving it! It was such a rush and AMAZING views! The last line was 350 ft above the jungle floor and really long. There was fog so we couldn't see in front of us. One the craziest feelings ever.





You now have permission to make fun of me.

Then we headed over to our first hotel, which was right by a volcano! But lucky us, we couldn't see the volcano because of the dang fog. You stink, Mother Nature. But the intense greenery and general lovliness made up for it.

We went on Expedia and got awesome deals but it's hard to know exactly what your gonna get. We were VERY pleasently suprised. We got our own little cabana! Here's the view from our back porch.

And here's the front. Notice the crazy thick fog.

I did alot of this.

These are the only flowers that Brennon knows the name of. So whenever he sees them, he gets all excited to showcase his floral knowledge.

We didn't want to leave; it was a paradise. And the breakfast was awesome. All the fresh fruit you could ask for, "typical" rice, pancakes, omelets. I really like food.

After reluctantly checking out, we headed over to the La Fortuna waterfall. It was quite a hike down but well worth it.

The small waterfall.

I was so sad I forgot my rain boots after I saw this lady. And my fanny pack.

My hottie of a husband.

And here's the actual waterfall. Breathtaking.

After the long and WET hike back up, and realizing how out of shape we are, we shook out our ponchos and headed to the next hotel. It was about a three hour drive through windy mountain roads. Our wonderful GPS would say things as we entered into different towns so we stopped a few places like the crocodile bridge....

These are REAL crocodiles in the WILD. People throw chickens off the bridge and watch them go crazy. Good times.

We finally made it to the town of Parrita and we had to cross this scary, rickety bridge that was under construction. I already hate bridges so I thought I was gonna die. And no, I'm not overreacting.

The language barrier was quite interesting. Alot of people spoke English but this town was pretty un-Americanized so we had kind of a tough time. This old man was selling fruit to all the people waiting at the bridge. We wondered what they were so we rolled down the window to see if he spoke English. Negative. We gave him a dollar and he piled a bunch of these random fruits into our car. We had no idea what they were or how to eat them. It was really funny at the time, I promise.

We drank alot of flavored milk, banana milk becoming the favorite.

Our next hotel was on a pennisula, which made it very hard to find. Add in the fact that they had NO signs and we were a little lost. And by a little, I mean ALOT. After driving aimlessly for a while on an extremly bumpy road, we finally found our little peice of heaven.

This place is basically in the middle of nowhere. A hidden gem, if you will. We went during the rainy season so there was only 2 other couples staying there. And that means we got bumped up to a suite! It totally felt like the honeymoon we never had.

And here's our beach. We were literally the only people for miles most of the time. If the weather would have cooperated, we would have just been there the whole time.

Have I ever expressed my love for hammocks? No? Well, lets just put it this way. My only requirement when/if we ever get a cabin is a nice comfy hammock. I have such good memories with the hammock at my grandparents house and cabin and I want to pass this on to my kids. They are just so relaxing and peaceful and wonderful. A little obssessed? Maybe.

Anyways.

Back to Costa Rica.

I don't know if you knew this but it rains there. Alot. We were hopeful in the morning before we left that it might stop but we found out Costa Rican rain is NOT like Arizona rain. It lasts longer than 15 min and it is freaking HUMID.

Nevertheless, we ventured to Manual Antonio National Park to try and see some wildlife.

Don't you just LOVE my pink poncho? So attractive. It poured basically the whole time we were there so we wern't able to see any animals. All I wanted was one little monkey! Is that too much to ask from you rainforest!?

Anyways, we were able to see macaws but on a different day. We were exploring beaches and we heard some really loud noises so we pulled over, looked up, and saw tons of brightly colored birds flying over! It was crazy to see them in the wild. They are loud suckers.

There was alot to do in the area like snorkeling, white water rafting, repeling, ect. but it was all freaking expensive so we just kinda hung out for most of the time. About half way through our trip we realized we had already used all the money we had set aside for this so we had to be cheap. Boooo money.

The next 2 days we got some good weather so we were able to go to just the beach! It was amazing. The water is warm, sand is perfect and fun shells everywhere.

I get so excited like a 5 year old when I find cool shells. The middle sand dollar almost made me have a heart attack. This became our only souviner, cause we are cheap.

Beach shenanigans.

Akward self timer picture.

The National Surf competition was going on about 30 minutes from where we were staying so we decided to go check it out.

Overated.

No, it was cool but it was super crowded and the sand was burning hot. We sat down and watched the surfers for about 30 min until a storm rolled in and we left. We did see an igauna in the wild, which made up for the 5 dollars we paid for parking. (not.)

We went to bed around 8:30 every night, read alot, took lots of walks on the beach, and just relaxed. It was perfect. Thinking about makes me miss it.


Reluctantly departing.

Final picture. We were so sad to leave. I could have used another week or so.

We then drove the 3 hours back to the airport and stayed the night in scary San Jose. Our flight was at 5 in the morning so we wanted to stay close so we didn't have to leave at midnight.

We are so glad we got to go and I got to get some use outta my expensive passport! I was really sad when we realized we couldn't go to Scotland, but this was definatly an amazing substitute. It was some much needed Brennon and Dani time and it was the most romantic, relaxing and magical week for the two of us!