All I Want(ed) For Christmas

was some much needed sleep!  

For those who know me well, I don't care to sleep much.  I hate taking naps (I feel like my time has been stolen from me when I wake up two hours later because I can't do the twenty minute power naps, mine always end two hours later) but even I need a solid seven hours (which has been unheard of since having Jordan in our life).  

Lucky parents with kids who sleep through the night are something to be envied.  For a mere while, I counted myself lucky as my sweet son slept through the night.  That quickly changed with teething, crawling, and an overall desire to play instead of sleep.  It's always obvious when Jordan is tired, without fail he rubs his eyes and screams as he's falling asleep.  He will do whatever he can to stay awake, including hitting his toys so the noise will keep him up.

A wish came true this Christmas as Andy and I both got the chance to sleep in while Andy's parents and uncle played with Jordan every morning, enabling us to sleep in a bit.  You see, even if your child is an angel baby who sleeps through the night (unfortunately ours does not), babies are unaware of the adjustment in weekend sleep schedules so when you stay up until midnight or beyond, thinking you can salvage the lack of sleep with a later wake up the subsequent day, your child disregards this and is up and ready at the same time as normal, which for us is 7 AM.  Sleep was all I wanted for Christmas (okay, that and this amazing Anthropologie candle) and I got it!  And much much more...

My family has never been religious so Christmas being a big deal is sort of new to me.  We always had family dinner and presents when we were younger, but as we grew older, I can recall many times when it was just me and my brother eating together (the last time I remember was Christmas 2008 celebrated at Cheesecake Factory while our parents went out with their friends).  For those who treasure Christmas, that might seem odd or even sad, but really, it was great and we all enjoyed it.  Nobody complained, felt cheated, or thought it was un-Christmas.  Christmas was just another day that gave us a day off and an excuse to get together with family but as we grew older, it wasn't always convenient or necessary to get the entire extended family together, and the sentiment translated to our immediate family and didn't seem a big deal since we always ate together a lot anyway.  The presents stopped when I got to college, but if we ever see anything that we know the other person would enjoy, we never hesitate to get it for them.  So Christmas is really year round for my family in the material aspect.  As for the Christ centered part, it's non-existent.  Church for Christmas?  Not us.

So it's no surprise that this year, my first Christmas with a son was really tender.  It's not that last year wasn't, but this year turned my attention to all the thoughtful mothers who put so much time and effort into making Christmas special for their children, both by ensuring they understand it's a celebration of Christ's birth and that the greatest gift was given to all of us.  I cynically agree that Christmas shouldn't be the only time we have an excuse to give, that it should be part of our everyday tasks and thoughts, but I now see that it's not just Christmas that we give... we simply give even more during Christmas.

At first, I was overwhelmed with the presents we had to get everyone, the related costs, and how behind I felt (both in how unfestive our house was, how many nativities we lacked, and how little time we had to get everything), but my sweet husband showed me that it wasn't just about spending money (cuz if it was, I'm pretty good at that!), but being thoughtful in our gifts.  We carefully thought of things that each person would enjoy (we had some help with some wish lists) and put forth the time to make some gifts, and order others.

Christmas was amazing.  I had such a great time and in fact, I'm still on Christmas break, but my part-time from home job doesn't really allow for vacation, so I'm also still working and hence, the lack of blog posts.

 a snapshot from a book we made Andy's uncle called Found a Peanut.  Yes, Jordan, at age zero, has already published two books, the other is called If You Give Jordan a Sweet Potato.    We used a website called lulu.com, not to be confused with Lululemon, another favorite (but one we cannot currently afford, though my friend Sara gave me a tip that the factory stores have amazing deals!).

Wedding Advice from the Pros

Last Friday, Andy and I went to our first wedding post baby and I came to an epiphany about weddings... they are much more fun when they aren't yours!

We went to the wedding of an old co-worker of mine from the Firm (who I've known for six years!) at the Smog Shoppe. The Smog Shoppe, for those who do not stalk Los Angeles wedding blogs often, is literally the facade of a smog shop, an old run down and a bit ghetto from the outside with an overflow of green foliage seeping from the outskirts of the wall.  On the inside, it is hipsterly awesome.

As we witnessed James and Stella become husband and wife (which was super sweet and cute as they touched on how the two met... someone suggested they go out... he called, she was busy, he didn't call back, they found each other on match.com and finally went out thinking their options might be limited the longer they waited... and the rest is history!).  As they were getting married, I couldn't help but notice the glow against the white bricks which were landscaped with an assortment of plants...absolutely breathtaking!  It was stunning, and I can only imagine what it would have looked like in the day.  Following the reception, we hung out for a bit at the posh black leather vintage couches in a corner with other firm co-workers, some current, some alum like myself, and I felt quite hipster.  Yeah, that's me - I'm hip, I'm cool.  Once the furniture moving was complete (they changed the courtyard from a ceremony venue to a lounge like atmosphere with a buffet table), we made our way inside the garage of the smog shop for the dinner reception which had garage doors unlike any I have ever seen at a smog shop - as in, these were basically a stack of huge windows on a garage door.  There was a giant ceiling fan which was probably 15 feet in diameter and on one end of the inside room was a giant movie screen wall that fit the entire wall and on the other side was a bookshelf with old books and large alphabet letters.  For photos of the Smog Shoppe, go here and here.

So back to my epiphany about weddings being more fun when they're not yours... absolutely!!  I got to hang out with other couples throughout cocktail hour before dinner, munch on all the weird mochi balls they had (Korean caterer), oohh and ahhh about the bride's beautiful lace gown, laughed at the groom and his single days when he vowed he would never get married until he met his match aka his best friend ever (I mean really, this guy dated the weirdest girls and even had to change his personalized license plate once ex-girlfriends started keying it...), made fun of the groom's ugly dog and question why he was missing from the reception, overfilled our candy bags at the candy bar (by the way, we were probably the first to approach the bar because that's how we roll), towered our plates with a little bit of everything since it was a buffet line we didn't plan on visiting it again, pointed out which girl was the bride in the slideshow to my husband, and then overheard my friend Jen telling her husband the same thing, jumped out of our seats when the MC announced the photo booth was now available (and then sat back down after realizing the embarrassment of being a little too over eager but then laugh at the fact that Andy was still standing and only retreated back to his seat when he noticed none of us had intended to really go right away....and we did eventually all go after Andy convinced us to beat the crowd),  hunted down the girl passing out wedding cake, and best of all... enjoyed my sponsored date with the hubs, our longest date away from our seven month old son to date (the other being the four hour timeshare presentation we went to and left with two free trips).

And, among the fun that was had... the couples ... all three of us... came up with some good wedding advice for the newlywed couple.  The guys decided being sent to their wives's purses to retreat stuff was the worse and the girls, we just laughed.  We talked with the other couples about Christmas gifts, and I learned that guys do not appreciate gifts that are not truly for them and more for the couple.  This includes, but is not limited to, televisions and speaker systems (because everyone gets to enjoy it, not just them...) but apparently purses are just for the girls (even though guys stuff all their junk into them).  It was really funny to realize all the other couples have the same man vs woman issues that we all encounter and laugh about.  And we all talked about how fast our own weddings went, how we didn't feel like we got to see or talk to anyone, and how this wedding was so much more enjoyable than our own!  Hahaha.

Me and Jen

Merry Christmas Friends!

I decided to go green be cheap and not send Christmas cards by snail mail to everyone.  However, the lucky few who get snail mail cards (family, close adult friends and parents of our friends) won't even get them until after Christmas since we failed to mail everything out in time.  Big oops.


So here's the sneak preview for the rest of the world.

Update: the letter that we sent with our photo this year...probably the only time you will see something written by Andy:

Merry Christmas!

According to the Chinese Zodiac, this was the Golden Year of the Rabbit.  According to my zodiac, it was the year of the Jimmer.  He won every player of the year award possible (except for the point guard award—weird, right?), was drafted in the top 10 by the Kings, and was the sole reason I wanted the NBA season to happen this year.  Thankfully, the NBA figured things out, and Jimmer was able to make his rookie debut last night.  He was truly Jimmerific, and I am hoping for an equally Jimazing debut as a rookie Christmas letter writer.

The year began with Daisy and I trying to figure out the name of our unborn son.  It was a lot simpler than I was anticipating.  As soon as the idea for Jordan Dennis Phillips came up, we were both sold.  The only hesitation we had was when my dad, a Dennis himself, felt the need to warn us that anyone with the name Dennis would likely have a “menacing” phase.  We felt the name was perfect, and couldn’t be deterred.

Jordan eventually arrived on April 30^th, and has been the opposite of a menace up to this point.  Although he didn’t figure out how to smile until he was about 4 months, he has been smiling ever since!  He is already a frequent flier, having flown to Orlando (for Harry Potter World), Salt Lake, Chicago, and Columbus; we were able to make all those flights without getting dirty looks from fellow patrons.  All during the BYU Football season, he was also there to wipe my tears.  He has truly been an angel.  Recently, he has shown glimmers of what my dad described, as he has learned how to make changing diapers and clothes more of a game than we would like.  Further, the world, or our living room, has become quite the oyster for him as he recently learned to crawl and is just starting to pull himself up.

Daisy began the year still a portfolio manager for the Firm, took a nice long break for maternity leave, and recently made the transition to working from home part time for BlueSky Professional Services Group.  They are an executive search firm with personnel all over the country.  The job’s flexibility has allowed her and Jordan to accompany me on a number of interview trips.  In addition to her new part time job, and looking after Jordan, she continues to write (both for the Phillips blog, and for an online magazine, Latter-day Woman), enjoys working out at hipster fitness classes, and is learning how to be a homemaker (which includes sewing and other crafty stuff as well as expanding her arsenal of delicious meals).

I am currently finishing up my 4^th and final year of medical school.  I finally decided what type of residency program to apply to, and am currently interviewing for spots with radiology residency programs around the country.  I have absolutely no idea where we will be next year, as residency positions are determined by something called the “match.”  Every applicant and every program ranks each other, and some computer (hopefully one smarter than the BCS computer that re-matched Alabama and LSU for the title game) will pair up programs with applicants, thus matching us up.  Then sometime in March, we have a ceremony where we get to find out where we matched.  Outside of school, I am just enjoying watching my son get closer and closer to one day holding a golf club.

As exciting as 2011 was for us, we can’t wait for what 2012 will bring.  With Jordan and Daisy by my side, it’s bound to be... unfreddateable!

Insight Into Being Unique

Growing up, people always called me weird.  It didn't stop once I grew up.  In college, at work, in real life.  But being weird isn't so bad when your other half is just as weird.

Yesterday, as we were packing for our short trip to Arizona for Andy's interviews, I started to sing a song.  It went a little something like this.

I need new clothes!  I need new clothes!  I need some new clothes so I can be pretty.  I need new clothes, oh I need new clothes, don't you know that I need new clothes?!

Instead of telling me my song sucked, or ignoring me, Andy joined me with the same melody as he sang, "We don't have money, we don't have money, we don't have money so you'll just have to wait."

I came back with the chorus, "oh but I need new clothes, I need new clothes, if only I had some new new clothes!"

The cacophony of Andy's notes rang loud again, "You'll have to wait, you'll have to wait, you'll have to wait to get new clothes."

Then, on the drive over, we played two truths and a lie.
I started off with, "One time, a guy had a crush on me and-" "LIE!" he interjected before I could finish my statement.  Gee, thanks hubs.

But I think that's what makes being married to Andy so fun.  He really is my best friend.  The one you want to sometimes kick.  The one you want to sometimes hug.  The one you miss.  The one you laugh at.  The one you laugh with.  The one you fart in front of.  The one you make smell your breath to see if it's okay.  The one you complain to.  The one you tell everything to (even if he's not listening).  The one you think about often.  The one you love tremendously.  The one you can every once in a while, pridefully ask, can you believe we created this cute kid together?!

  Family photos in Orlando courtesy of our Uncle Ike!

Is It Mean of Me?

Am I the only mom who sometimes thinks... that it is extremely funny... in regards to when my husband is struggling with the baby, whether it's with a diaper change (which at 7 months becomes a constant battle as Jordan flips over to reach for something) or feeding (where Jordan gets excited, flaps his hands and often knocks the food onto whoever is feeding him and himself)?  I guess it's funny because it's the acknowledgment that I'm not alone in struggling with Jordan's current age appropriate idiosyncrasies, it's also funny because it's not me, and that's always funnier, and lastly, it somehow validates the difficulty and sometimes frustrating things I do all day.

It also makes me feel less of a villain when I shove Jordan into my husband's arms the moment he comes home so I can shower, or pee, or a litany of other things that are seemingly unimportant when Jordan is roaming around, and I must needs be, be capturing it on video or my iphone (yeah, my new work paid for one so I still have NEVER paid for a phone... take that suckers!).

Case in point... today... as I was going through work e-mail the moment Andy got back and I gave him Jordan duty (this whole crawling thing is so fun but definitely more time consuming as everyone promised it would be!),  I almost laughed hysterically and a bit vehemently out loud as Andy exclaimed, "Don't do that Jordan!" as he was feeding Jordan.  I wasn't intrigued enough to go see what he was doing, but I'm pretty sure it was either slumping over in his bumbo to eat it instead of the food, thereby getting food leftover in his mouth on the bumbo, and then reaching over to touch it, or just wacking Daddy with his hands and spilling the food everywhere.

In other news... I really want more volume in my hair.  Voluminous hair seems way cooler than flat lifeless hair.  The commercials agree with me.

I haven't posted any of the photos we took for Jordan's 6 month (we got two sessions - these are done by our talented friend Kate  because our other talented friend Jen wasn't sure if she'd make it out from Arizona in time... she ended up coming and took family photos AND photos of Jordan... more of those later) so enjoy Kate's work.  These are my favorite ones!

goofball. ... what are you doing with your tongue?!

tongue out... favorite thing apparently

goofy smirk

My dad came along for the fun

so did my mom

My Mom Excuse

Getting up in the morning has become increasingly harder to do.   I think it's because since I know I have all day... what's sleeping in a bit going to do?

Once a week, I have a weekly call for my Company that gets my bum up at 8 AM.  Besides that... Jordan seems to be a great alarm clock.  ... except that I really really wanted to get into tip top shape (hate my muffin top and all that mid-section flab that is flabalicious) before Christmas sets me back 5 pounds.  I even resolved to start going to the gym at 6 AM.  If only I could find someone to join me at my fancy gym at 6 AM everyday... then I wouldn't flake on myself.

So far... I've set the alarm four times... and I've skipped out all four times.  Maybe I should throw the towel in, wave my white flag and start doing P90x at home.  Ahhh... the thought of Tony yelling at me that coke is badddddd or pastrami sandwiches are baddddd has me thinking otherwise.  


Here's to tomorrow right?

Meanwhile, Jordan's ready to go to work.  See his cute tie and pocket protector.  

Happy Reading Day

I contributed another article to Latter-Day Woman about my newfound internet obsession, Pinterest.

Check it out on page 30 and while you're at it.. check out Easy Money on page 36 and Family Photo: How to Dress the Whole Gang on page 42, just some of my favorites, but really - the whole magazine is fun and any links viewed can be clicked on directly as everything is hyperlinked!  Enjoy!


Latter-Day Woman Holiday Issue