Merry Christmas

That's right we already had our Christmas. We will be in Idaho and Utah from the 17-26 and decided we wanted to do our own thing and not haul everything there and back. The Jeep is crowded enough as it is when we travel with all our ski gear.

MAVEN WAKING UP CHRISTMAS MORNING

HE'S SO EXCITED TO OPEN PRESENTS

PATIENTLY WAITING BY THE CHRISTMAS TREE

OPENING HIS FIRST PRESENT

SPORTIN' HIS NEW HAT

Merry Christmas to everyone we hope the holidays are amazing for you all. Can't wait to see the family!!

Fifty Dollars

Fifty dollars may not seem like a lot of money to most people ... but to poor students who dish out way too much money for med school and watch as our debt continually increases with ridiculously high interest rates ... IT'S A LOT!!!

For Christmas this year I gave Brad a $50 bill as his budget. I did this for two reasons.

#1 I didn't want him to spend a lot of money

#2 Being a banker and the crazy person that monitors our accounts the way I do it's really hard for Brad to surprise me without me knowing.

While at work on Friday I received a phone call from Wyoming Medical Center Security about Brad Oliverson's wallet being turned in. First I was confused on why they would be calling me at work. Then I remembered giving Brad one of my business cards. Somehow they must of made the connection and decided I was who they needed to call.

I left messages on Brad's phone and he was finally able to go pick up his wallet when he got out of surgery around 6 o'clock. And to his great disappointment the $50 bill was gone. WHO DOES THAT? His wallet was in his white coat in the doctors lounge. The wallet was taken out and the lab coat was stashed under a bunch of other white coats.

Sad thing is... earlier this year my purse was stolen at church. Maybe we just get too comfortable at certain places and think the best of people. Why would any of the doctors or nurses take a wallet and obviously you trust people at church.

And both times we had cash. I'm addicted to credit card reward points so I never carry cash and neither does Brad. Isn't it ironic that it can take up to a year of our frugal spending to get enough reward points to earn $50.

The Little Man

HE SURE LOOKS LIKE HE'S SICK OF MOM

ALWAYS HAVING A CAMERA IN HIS FACE

Brad is so excited for winter he can hardly stand it. There isn't enough snow in Casper to ski yet so we decided to go to Bridle Falls, one of our favorite places in Casper. see bridle falls posts And it is now an ICY water fall.

THAT'S MAVEN HIDING INSIDE BRAD'S

COAT NOT THE THANKSGIVING TURKEY

OUR LITTLE MAN IS THREE MONTHS OLD

Time fly's when you are having fun and already Maven is three months old. He's rolled over once but we are still waiting for a repeat so we can believe it. He's had his first haircut, he sleeps through the night and he is a perfect little angel for the babysitters when mom has to go to work. The whole working thing is obviously a lot harder on me than him.

He wanted me to take a sick day today and stay home with him so he decided to get a horrible cold that turned into croup, and that is why I finally get to catch up on the blog. I do have to brag about how good he is. He's still smiling and having fun even though he feels horrible.

In One Short Week

I'll be leaving this handsome stud...

and I'll be spending my days here...

I'm not sure how I'm going to handle this yet. Any Advice?

A Little Scare

I believe the worry part of being a parent has just begun. On Nov. 8 Maven had his two month doctors appointment including those dreaded shots. He's a champ he cussed the nurse but he didn't cry. While we were there the doctor decided he still looked a little jaundice so he sent us over for another bilirubin test. I didn't think he would ever forgive me after taking four tubes of blood from his heel, but once again he didn't even cry.

A couple of hours later our doctor called me saying his bilirubin was higher than he would like at this age and wanted us to go in for an ultrasound. Not only had my poor baby been stabbed with needles and pricked for blood he now couldn't eat anything until after the ultrasound. By the time we got in there the shots were starting to hurt, he was hungry and he did not want that gel on his belly, but we survived.

The next day we got a call from our doctor saying his liver looked good but there was some concern with the gallbladder. We scheduled an appointment with a Pediatric GI specialist in Denver.

By the time we got to Denver we could hardly see any yellow in Maven's eyes and he was still his usual happy self. When the specialist saw him he kind of laughed saying he didn't look jaundice, he was growing well, he was happy and he didn't think we had anything to worry about. He wanted to diagnose him with breast milk induced jaundice, but first he wanted to do some more labs and get another ultrasound by a pediatric radiologist.

Once again Maven couldn't eat anything and he had to be pricked. Of course he didn't even cry. What a tough little guy. He still wasn't a fan of the ultrasound and managed to wiggle himself free from three people holding him down and make a complete turn on the table.

After three long days of waiting we got the results. His bilirubin has dropped by 50% and his gallbladder is already looking better. The doctor still thinks it is breast milk induced jaundice which is harmless as long as the bilirubin doesn't get too high. We will repeat bilirubin tests in a few weeks and go to Denver for another ultrasound in 2 months.

This is one of those

kind of random posts

How about we let the pictures catch you up on what's been going on around here.

Maven was blessed on Nov. 6 at the Oliverson's home in Smithfield. It was an amazing day and Maven was able to have all of his cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and great grandparents there.

Of all the pictures that were taken that day this

is one my favorites with Maven and his uncle Bud.

Whenever we go home to visit Brad gets anxious to get outdoors so we take advantage of what Cache Valley has to offer. Maven may possibly be the only two month old to hike flat top.

Maven's Grandpa Oliverson checking out the view

Of course while we were home Maven was spoiled by his grandma's. He got new toys and he's starting to enjoy playing with them.

I wasn't so sure about these Bumbo chairs but Maven loves sitting up so much we thought we'd give it a shot.

And he loves it!!!

This is Isabelle, Maven's closest cousin in age she is 7 months old.

Poor guy getting beat up by a girl.

He's in training to fight back at Christmas.

I just thought this was funny. After one of Maven's blowouts that Brad was so kind to take care of he dressed him in this. I just thought it was funny that Brad accessorized Maven's outfit with this still too big vest.

Don't you love...

trying to get family pictures.

No wonder we haven't taken one in 23 years.

Choosing Names

Since Maven is getting blessed on Saturday I figured it's a good time to explain why we chose the name Maven.

While I was pregnant we were doing the usual search for the perfect name. We knew what we wanted for a girl but we weren't so sure about a boy name. One night Brad came home late from studying at the library and announced to me that he had a perfect name. MAVEN...I thought about it for a minute and asked him where he came up with that name. He explained that there was an awesome pair of backcountry skis called THE MAVENS. I laughed about it and went back to bed.

Brad didn't just forget about the name he kept bringing it up and it started to grow on me. Of course we started doing our research and found the dictionary meaning.

A maven (also mavin) is a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others. The word maven comes from the Hebrew, via Yiddish, and means one who understands, based on an accumulation of knowledge.

While I was impressed with the meaning I decided the meaning it had to Brad was far more important.

Being someone who was named after my dads dog I've always loved my name and the meaning it had to my dad. I couldn't think of a better name for our little man than something that has meaning to us.

Happy Halloween

LOVE MAVEN MONKEY

WEEKEND GETAWAY

Last weekend Brad was suppose to take a test but the proctor didn't show up. To make a long story short we decided we needed to get out and do something. We listed our options put them on little sticky notes and drew from a hat. We ended up driving 4 hours to see this.

It was off season but since the weather had been holding there were still plenty of places that stayed open and lots to see. It was a little cold so we had to turn Maven into the cookie monster.

We went up to Mount Rushmore monument and got pictures with our state flags.

Charlsie-IDAHO, Brad-UTAH and Maven-WYOMING

We walked the boardwalk in Keystone, South Dakota and got ourselves a lot of old fashioned taffy and fudge.

We enjoyed the beautiful sights. This includes accidentally taking the scenic loop through the black hills. There are some very interesting roads and tunnels.

We loved every second of it, but there is so much more we would like to see that we didn't have a chance and a few places that were closed since it was off season. So if anyone would like to join us next spring we are planning on returning. Maybe Maven will do more than just sleep next time.

MAVEN OVERLOAD

Being far away from home is hard on Maven's grandparents. So I've used the blog and facebook to keep everyone up to date. But let's face it Brad and I take way too many pictures and the blog isn't the easiest place to deal with lots of pictures and video. So I started a photo share site through shutterfly. I'll still update the blog but we wont overwhelm you with pictures of our little monkey.

If you are interested in a Maven Overload let me know and I'll give you the site and password since it's private. You can leave a comment with your email or email me at charlsielyn@gmail.com.

Split Rock Hike

Brad bought himself this belly pack for fathers day so he would be able to take Maven skiing. It took Maven a month to tolerate being in it and now he enjoys it quite a bit so we went for a little hike around Bridle Falls previous post have several pictures of the falls. It was a 4.5 mile hike to split rock and we couldn't have asked for a better afternoon. It was beautiful weather.

BRAD AND MAVEN AT THE START OF THE TRAIL

OVERLOOK

CHARLSIE AND MAVEN AT SPLIT ROCK

BRAD AND MAVEN AT SOME RANDOM HOLE IN A ROCK

We got our season passes for Hogadan Ski Resort here in Casper. BRING ON THE SNOW!!!

A Day in the Life of MAVEN

I woke up at 3:30 this morning for my midnight snack when my mom discovered I had wet the bed. I'm pretty good at soaking through everything. Mom got me fed and changed and I was back to sleep in no time at all. Then my lucky mom woke up to another surprise. Once again I had managed to make a mess of everything only this time while mom was cleaning me up I decided to pee on my face. She was nice enough to hurry and wipe off my face so I took this opportunity to send out an explosive pooh all over everything. (excuse my language and the graphic details)

I love taking baths so if this is what I have to do to get another bath in less than 12 hours it works for me. I didn't want to dirty my bath water so I snuck in a quick whizz all over the kitchen counter.

Mom punished me by making me take my vitamins.

I got all dressed up nice and cute and while mom changed me right before leaving the house I peed on my outfit. I'm pretty good at that.

After my long morning nap I decided it was time for more milk. I LOVE THAT STUFF!!! But for some reason I decided to spit it up right as I turned my head so it could go down the front of mom. I didn't want to get my bright green burp rag dirty.

You would think she would get mad at me but all I have to do is grin and she gives me lots of hugs and kisses.

Good thing the days still young.

Camping

Brad got a new tent for his birthday so since we have been experiencing warmer temperatures than usual we decided to head out to Ayres Natural Bridge for a quick camping trip. It was beautiful and Maven did awesome. I think he actually liked it. It was one of his best nights.

AYRES NATURAL BRIDGE

This is the only natural bridge that has water running under it.

I had to sneak this picture in. Maven hates to be swaddled he will kick himself out of any blanket I put him in and then his hands and feet are always cold. I'm afraid he's going to be stubborn just like his mom and dad.

And since everything we do now revolves around Maven and we have family requesting pictures here are a few of Maven's 1 month pictures. I can't believe he is already a month old.

And we have internet...

You would think I'd have more to catch up on but as exciting as our lives have been the last three weeks they sound kind of dull. It goes something like this. Brad goes to rotations everyday. He just finished cardiology and nephrology and is now doing surgery. As for me, I am thoroughly enjoying my time home from work being with Maven all day. We are pretty chill. He eats which usually puts him to sleep for a little while we try to play while he's awake and alert. There isn't much you can do with a newborn so usually I just ooh and awe at him. We change several diapers, go for walks and enjoy company. We have had both sets of grandparents here to visit.

So in place of a boring post here are some pictures.

Joey holding her new cousin Maven

Maven testing out the belly pack at Glenrock.

(he's not quite ready for it)

First Bath...He's not so sure about it.

And maybe it's not all that bad.