And We're Off

Today started off great. We had a wonderful turn out of people helping us move. I was really thankful for the help (thanks Ryan and Allison if you're blogstalking :)). After everyone left things turned, um bad. Really bad. And sadly enough, most of the mistakes were my fault. Let's just say our house will be cutting it REALLY close to closing before the moving truck arrives there. These are more details: nit-picky notary, driver's license not in my married name, marriage license packed somewhere in the moving truck, forgetting to include 2 pages in the overnight package to TX, meeting a different notary at a gas station at 8 pm, second trip to FedEx in the evening... are you getting the point?

Lucky for me, Tim has been really nice to me through all of it even though I know how upset it made him. We're still trying to get all packed up.

I'll miss Utah. Tim and I both talk about how "we're so ready to leave Utah," but in reality it's been great for us. I couldn't imagine college anywhere else. Provo is the home to my engagement and Orem is the birthplace of Kyle. Most of my friends have already moved away, but I'll miss the ones still here. I have so many memories from living here.

And let's be honest. I'm scared to death to move to Texas.

My Thoughts

Dear SYTYCD,
Minus Mark's predictably awkward solo, your show was fabulous last night. It was just what I needed to relieve some stress, however, I can't stand to watch Mark do another prance on the ground. Now, please tell me that Comfort will be leaving tonight as well as Mark.

Dear Watermelon Season,
Please don't end. Not only do I love to eat you by myself, but Kyle will chew on your rinds for an hour. It's quite entertaining and keeps him busy. Your produce is so refreshing.

Dear House,
I hope you close on time. I would really like to arrive in TX with a place to live. I've learned a lot of things trying to buy you. One is that next time I should move the closing date up, despite the money it saves me to close as close as possible to moving day.

Dear Odds and Ends,
Why must you accumulate in my house? Where did you come from? I stare at you with anger and don't know what to do with you. I don't want you to take up space in my next place and I'm running out of boxes.

Dear Scale,
I've been ignoring you for a reason. Some day we may rekindle our love-hate relationship.

Dear Time,
Please slow down. That's all I ask.

Stress Levels Elevated!

   Check out that smile. Kyle's first tooth came in a week after turning 6 months.

   This has made for a) more interesting times nursing and b) a very different child. Kyle will not let me leave him alone. Ever since his tooth came in he won't play by himself on the ground and he cries when I put him down. It's very annoying and very tiring. I think I may have cuddled him too much when he had his fever. Is that possible?  
   We pack up the moving van a week from today. My goal is not to gain 5 lbs this week with the stress of moving. I've already spent way too much time in the cupboards today.  Anyone have tips on entertaining a six month old on long car drives??

Tricky Tricky

    My mom flew in on Tuesday night to watch Taylor at lacrosse and to see Alli arrive from Ghana. She also did amazing things like help me pack my apartment for an entire day and help take care of Kyle. My mom always does so much and I am grateful for her help. Well, on Wednesday night we were out getting dinner when my dad called from AZ to see what we were up to. When we got back to my apartment, Tim walked upstairs and then went into the second bedroom. I walked upstairs, put Kyle on the table and started fussing with him. When I turned around I screamed, "Oh my gosh!!" and jumped. My dad was sitting on my couch!! He had booked a flight and had a car take him to my apartment. He rang the doorbell, but no one was home so he called us to find out what we were up to. 

    When we told him we were at dinner he acted like he was still in AZ, but really decided to just sit down on our doorstep and wait. He leaned his head against the front door and it pushed open! Our door is usually never unlocked, but the realtor left it unlocked. So he let himself upstairs and sat on our couch until we came home. Tim saw him when he came up the stairs first but my dad told him not to say anything. It was quite the welcomed surprise and made having my fam in town even more fun.

I'm a Fan of Lacrosse

      For two days this week I watched Taylor and his buddy MacGyver play lacrosse. It is such a fun sport to watch. I took a ton of pics. The weather was great and the company even greater. I had such a fun time with the fam in town. I'm posting a lot of pics for the boys to see. (Taylor is #244 and MacGyver is #270. They played against each other)

Grandma has the touch when it comes to getting Kyle to sleep!

My Ghanian Sister

We picked her up late last night. Alli's back, she looked just like an African doll. I'm headed out the door but I had to post these. How amazing is her outfit??


Sorry for the bad photography. I think it was the airport lighting at midnight and the camera I was not used to using. Welcome back to the USA Alli! We missed you!

Adrenaline

It's 1:16 in the morning... when was the last time I was up this late? I don't know. I feel so young and alive again! haha. Alli came back from Ghana an hour ago!!! I've had an eventful weekend. So much to post. Be ready for post overload!

Yea for Visitors!

   We had a fun weekend with Taylor and his friend MacGuyver here. They played a lot of Wii, went to a trampoline place with Tim and played Monopoly all afternoon yesterday (I don't like that game). We also got in a few rounds of Scattergories, a game more my style.   Unfortunately Kyle still isn't feeling well from teething. It breaks my heart. His fever was over on Sunday though and he was able to give the boys a few smiles. He likes their singing. Both boys have very deep voices that'll leave you laughing when they do a duet. 

  I checked them into their Lacrosse Camp at BYU this morning. Kyle grabbed their schedule from me. I didn't think much of it.   Then, when I took it away there was a huge chunk missing and the boys pointed out that his face and hands were all orange. Maybe paper is a good source of protein?   We are excited to watch them play lacrosse at their camp this week. Even better news is that my mom flies in tomorrow, and Alli gets home from Ghana on Friday night! I love seeing my family.

A Day to Remember

    Yesterday I had one of those "Mother Moments." To me, "Mother Moments" are the times when I'm with Kyle and it really hits me that I'm acutally a mom. It's kind of like the first time I smelt his litttle bum in search of a stinky diaper without thinking twice, or when I non-reluctantly tried to get a booger out of his nose (gross, but what Mom hasn't? See what I mean?). Or when I didn't buy a shirt because I knew it would get too dirty from having Kyle in my hands too fast. Yesterday, however, this moment was a little deeper. Kyle has his first tooth breaking through and ran a fever all day yesterday. He actually let me rock him. Usually he arches his back, flings his arms and grunts when I try to cradle him. He was so sick and just stared at me for ten to fifteen minutes as I rocked him back and forth. That was the moment that it hit me, once again, that I am a mom.
   I started to think about how much Kyle relies on me. I thought about how hot I was carrying him since his body was so hot with a fever. I also tried to ignore my aching arms as I just held my 20 something pounder in my arms. Then I started to think about my parents, who are celebrating their 29th Anniversary today. I have such great parents! They both sacrifice so much for the happiness of their children. I know I can remember many moments with them that I'm sure they would classify as their own "Father Moments," or "Mother Moments." Now that I am actually a parent myself, I think I can understand their love a little bit more.

   My parents are such good examples of a strong marriage. They both respect each other, support each other, have fun with each other, and obviously love each other. Thanks Mom and Dad for all that you do, and for tying the knot in the Mesa Temple 29 yrs ago so that we can be a family for eternity! 

   Today is also a day to remember for a different reason. 18 years ago Tim's dad died after being part of a small plane crash in AZ. I can still remember the moment my parents got the news about Mario's death. It's been humbling to hear Tim talk about what he remembers and the different struggles he's experienced growing up without a dad. Tim is also quick to remember the many people who have helped his family of 5 boys when they needed it. I'm proud of the dad Tim has become even though he has few memories of his own. Once again, we are so grateful for eternal families.  Have a good one today!

A Holiday

  Before I go to bed, I just wanted to remind my fellow bloggers that tomorrow (or today... most of you will probably be reading this in the morning) is 7-11. That's right folks, FREE Slurpees at 7-11. Perhaps this day is equivalent to a holiday in my husband's mind. He is already planning to go get his free slurpee before, during and after work.

(Tim mixing the ingredients for his Slurpee with his Slurpee maker on Christmas morning, 2006)

Lesson Learned.

An excess of baby drool will lead to water damage on a cell phone. Looks like Kyle is getting a new toy.

Time Flies

    Well, my little boy made it to the six month mark on Monday. I imagined in my head a day of celebration--going on a walk, taking Kyle to the pool (his favorite) and a photo session for FHE (my favorite) but we've all been pretty beat over here. Tim went to bed at like 8:30 that night, I put Kyle to bed at 9:30 and then I, by my lonesome, watched home videos of our little guy in a very teary-eyed manner. Here are some pics I did get that day. Cankles!

The calmest I've ever captured him:

     Kyle loves rolling, putting anything and everything in his mouth (except for his solid food), my cell phone, reading "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?," his jumperoo, and playing with his Mom and Dad.
    As a side comment, the stress of moving has hit. My parents brought back a shirt from a candy store in NY that reads, "Desserts is Stressed spelt backwards." I think that sums up perfectly how I feel. I can't seem to rest, our place is constantly a mess as I go through things, and something unexpected seems to always happen during the day, which keeps me from completing my oh-so-planned "Packing Calendar" and "Cleaning Calendar." I'm just looking for my dessert! We are still having fun, however, and are excited for our move in just a couple of weeks. (And our visitors coming soon... more on that later) Have a great day!

Happy Fourth on the Fifth!

I almost had a heart-attack because our card reader wasn't working yesterday, but it is miraculously working this morning!! Happy (belated) Fourth of July! We had a great day. We spent it outside--where Kyle is best. We took the jogging stroller up by Provo Canyon and walked around. We were the only people walking, but there were a ton of bicyclists. Kyle was great and fell asleep. Then we came home and all took a nap. Of course Tim fell asleep in no time, but by the time I got Kyle down I enjoyed a maybe 30 min nap, but it was better than none!

  Next we went to Brick Oven for the first time together. It's this popular pizza place at BYU, so Tim and I decided to try it out before we leave. Miley Cyrus was in Provo for the Stadium of Fire so there were so many little girls with way too much make up and sparkles on everywhere before the big show. Brick Oven was overflowing with a wait line, but dinner for two? We got seated right away.

  After that we walked around Center street. They have a bunch of tents up with people selling mainly junk. Needless to say, we didn't buy anything but it was still fun. 

  At home Tim made his No Bake Cookies that he loves and I put Kyle down to sleep. We didn't see the fireworks, but I don't feel bad because I was exhausted! It was a hot day!

  As you can see, Kyle now has a habit of sticking out his tongue all of the time!! Every time he smiles it is with his tongue out. What a boy. We hope you had a great 4th!