The Good Life: A Journal-y Post

There has never been a time that Sterling and I haven't commented during our conversation that we have such a good life. We have been lucky and blessed with so many things. Then I watch a Call the Midwife episode and bawl my eyes out for an hour and get all sappy on my blog about how wonderful my life is. Because it is wonderful. And I'm still in a sappy enough mood to share that deep, deep feeling of gratitude for my incredible husband and beautiful kids. I truly love. My life. My family.

The other night Sterling and I met up with my brothers Wyatt and Ethan and their spouses Lindsay Ann and Kourtney and my mom at the temple. It was beautiful. I looked at Wyatt and Ethan and Sterling sitting in a row and thought of times when they have sat around mom's kitchen table and laughed at some ridiculous little boy joke. Where Wyatt keeps laughing and turns red and Ethan tries to act cool and keeps laughing despite himself and Sterling is thoroughly enjoying himself. I thought of how much I love having Lindsay Ann as a sister-in-law and how much I'm sad that Kourtney and Ethan are off to Texas and then we're off to Miami--hopefully we meet up somewhere and get to know each other much better. But we were all in the temple. It felt so amazing. I am so thankful for those opportunities.

Then we had to stop for pie and hash browns. It's become a family tradition (its happened twice). Last time Lindsay Ann and dad got sides of hash browns with their pie after the temple. This time I was ravenous (pregnancy) and got hash browns and sausages. Wyatt and Lindsay Ann rock-paper-scissored for type of hash browns, cut or shredded, and since Wyatt lost they got both kinds. It was hilarious. 

That reminds me of last week when we tried going to the temple. There was a series of unfortunate events. Kourtney was sick. My sister lost her temple recommend. Others were running late. Sterling and I made the most of our babysitter and went out to this AMAZING restaurant that my parents had previously recommended (Mount Ogden Grill. It's right by our house. Their mediterranean menu is out of this world and they are super reasonably priced. Here's my plug for Ogden's small businesses!). I tried baclava for the very first time. I crave it regularly now. Words cannot describe. Then we all decided to head to my sister Megan's house and play games. My sister Megan had worked a 24 hour shift and then stayed up all day doing things, because she is crazy like that. In her over-tired state she was easily amused. There was a lot of laughter, which, in her case, led to crying. Which made us laugh harder. We played a game called Timeline, which is not my cup of tea, but very educational and extremely fun with the right company. At one point during a deep Adam and Eve theological discussion Megan goes (while laughing and crying and holding her head) "Oh my little brain! It's steaming!" Everyone was laughing. Such a fun night. I am so glad my family has made such a big effort to fit things in before we move! Also fun that Danica and Myles joined in. I remember being the teenager of the 'married couples' party. So weird that I am a married couple and my nieces and nephews are old enough to be the teenagers! (Another hilarious point was Myles and Sterling telling each other chemistry puns and jokes. Like the the atom missing an electron and then claiming it was 'positive'. I loved it.)

So after the hash browns and pie night we had a long drive home. The next morning was an early morning (although thanks to Myles breaking his finger I didn't have to get up QUITE as early to teach piano) and so this morning Sterling let me sleep in. 

He also went and got me doughnuts. He said it was ok if we paid to get his haircut so I didn't have to clean the kitchen afterwards. He took me to See's to get my free chocolates (that we've had forever and never used) and as luck would have it Pretzelmaker was giving out free pretzels! It made a perfect lunch date and it was fun to watch everyone at the mall watching Will toddle around. People watching is fun. People watching other people watch your child is even more fun. Especially when you enjoy his wobbly toddling so much. 

On our way out of the mall Sterling saw me glance at a bag and he told me I should look at it. I only did because I know I'll need a bigger diaper bag when baby #3 gets here (I use a half-size one that straps over my shoulder, I hate bulky things) and I want a backpack, not a shoulder strap, because I hate it falling off all the time. I was in love with it. But then my genes kicked in. I am my mother, sometimes. Indecision is inherited. Maybe it was too colorful? Maybe it didn't have the right amount of pockets to make it worthy of diaper bag material? Maybe I should do more research to see if I really wanted that kind? Maybe…but Sterling knows me really well. After all, one bag can't be everything--however much my mother and I want one thing for everything. He reassured me that I loved the bright colors(even if the birds are a little…trendy). That it was cheaper than anything I'd find (true story, the ones I've pinned on pinterest are all over 80 bucks and this one was 20) and that if I needed, I could pick two. HAHAA. I didn't pick two. Sometimes I love that he knows me so well. I really do love the bag. A lot. We also found GREEN Puma shoes for Will. He has a thing for green shoes. Just like Ruthie has a thing for purple shoes. And maybe I slightly love dressing them that way. It was the greatest. Can I just say how much I LOVE that Ogden has a Burlington Coat Factory?!?! 

Ruthie's original purple shoes. (she looks so tiny here, how is my baby getting so big?!?)

Then her purple converse.

Now she has purple Nike's.

His first green shoes. That everyone always commented on and loved. I am so sad they are outgrown. I need to glue them together for the next boy. Also, this picture makes me sad that my chubby baby is gone. He has slimmed down SO much lately!

See those shoes? Can't mess with tradition. So we got some green Pumas. Because if they're green and they're Puma, you really can't beat it.

After that we went to Kangaroo Zoo, because we had a coupon, and it was pouring rain, and neither of us felt like doing anything but hanging out. It was perfect. Last time (over a year ago, with our good friends Adam and Aleesha) we took Ruth she was only big enough for a few things. This time I was amazed at how brave she was and what an incredible climber she was! There was one super tall slide that she climbed up REALLY. SLOWLY. I kept thinking she'd get scared and I'd have to go up and bring her down, but she kept going and afterwards went on that slide over and over. 

Will had just woken up from falling asleep in the van. He was very unsure of everything. Haha.

Ruth really didn't like the lion's teeth at the entrance of this one. 

And this one. I think that's why she crouched down so small. 

The REALLY BIG slide!!!!

I put this picture in because Will is the huggiest little boy and I just love it. He gives hugs all the time to everyone and it is so sweet. 

It was a perfect day. Sigh. 

 If you'd like to see a video of Will walking, you can click here: https://vimeo.com/93045947 or paste it into your address bar. 

Pictures

I just got my package of pictures back from Target. I LOVE some of them (whats not to love about my two adorable kids sitting on a wooden crate with dangling bare feet?!?!) but alas, I still don't love Will's photo. So, I think I'm going to go with the ones I took to put on my wall--and I'm asking for input. Which one?

one

two

 I think I'm already leaning to two, now that I see them side by side. But I do love number one. Kayli, do you think I should do any coloring fixes before it goes on my wall? Now for Ruthie's. I think both of these smiles look a little staged--but so does the one from Target, so.

one 

two

 And then I just put some in that I don't think I posted before, because my kids are adorable and I love these pictures.

I didn't realize before that Ruthie was in the background with her tongue out. She does that a lot when she runs and I think its hilarious.

The bear crawl to save his knees! He rarely does this now since he is pretty much exclusively walking, so I'm glad I took a picture. 

These are from another day at the park-Ruth LOVED that swing. It is pretty sweet, I must say.

Why is it so much more fun to LOOK at pictures than to actually do something useful with them--like load them onto photo books or onto snapfish to print out. I desperately need to finish that before we move because I'm worried I'll lose photos if I don't. Sigh.

Easter

Our Easter festivities consisted of our own little family at our own little home. It was nice, actually. One Friday afternoon when Sterling worked and Will was napping, Ruthie and I dyed eggs. It was great! It was on-the-fly so we used Kool-Aid and regular crayons, but Ruth was in heaven, spent way more time with them than I expected, and we had a great time! Although, she was obsessed with putting every egg in every color, so they all were brown by the end. She liked them that way.

The Easter bunny came to our house and Ruthie was THRILLED! 

She got a Caillou board book and is in love with it. She's a big Caillou fan.

And bubbles! That she loved and loved and carried around for three days and when we went out to use them she promptly dumped them out. Awesome.

The Easter bunny had great timing, the kids needed some summer pajamas for Miami, all they had was sleeper pajamas!

The Easter bunny even hid eggs in daddy's boots!

This is what Will did from the very beginning. He held the pinwheel up above his head and grinned. All morning long. It was awesome.  

It was a fantastic Easter and the kids had a great morning. 

On a separate note, we've sold our car (that was quite the blessing!), been approved for one of the applications for our Miami apartment (enough that they asked us what paint we wanted and started painting already-yay!), decided our moving date, planned out our last activities with family and friends, gone through our schedules for work, doctor appointments for me and the kids, dental appointments all around, and have a big list of all the other little details that need to happen before the big move. Last night as some of these major decisions were happening it all felt so real. We are MOVING. To MIAMI. Sterling was wondering what he would do in the two weeks between when we get there and when school starts (because apparently getting financial aid, deep cleaning our apartment, setting up bookshelves and unpacking, buying groceries, and everything else wasn't enough) and I reminded him our apartment complex has a swimming pool. Instantaneous happiness. It's going to be awesome.

 Now Sterling and I are going to put the kids to bed, make menus for the next month, pull everything out of our food storage that we'll need for those meals, and then pack the rest. I'm trying to remind myself how thankful I am that our food storage is so ginormous.

PS Today at my appointment my OB said he'd move to Miami to deliver my baby. Check and check.

A little bit o' Life

Around these parts there has been a LOT going on. Mostly in the way of learning the Miami real estate agendas. It's brutal. This isn't Kansas anymore, that's for sure. I can't just walk up to someone, hear they are moving out, ask to move in, move in, sign a lease a couple months later like I have done since…I moved out of my parents house 8 years ago. So. There have been days of paperwork, disappointment, excitement, and now just plain annoyance. We have filled out so many papers and right now are just hoping our application gets accepted so we might have somewhere to live when we get there. No matter that it will be three times as small, three times as expensive (those are both literal amounts) and cost us more than our savings to pay the first month rent, last month rent, and obscene security deposit that is required there. Sigh. All of this to leave a place I could see myself happy in for at least the next five years---oh duplex, how I love thee.

In other, much more exciting news, Will is WALKING! Officially. He is such a funny kid, its hard to pinpoint when he started walking. It's been at least two months now that he's been taking steps. He still looks like every step he takes he's going to fall over with. But he now walks more than he crawls-and chooses to crawl over and stand up on something to start walking again when he falls over. So I am calling it official. It's adorable, and I will load a video when I can load it on to my computer. Which will be when I get through the last two years of photos that I need to put on the new hard drive. Which can only happen after I finish my continuing education credits that are due in a week and a half. It might be a while.

Also, in news for Will, he has his two upper canines. Finally. The bottom two are almost through. But I've been saying that for weeks now, they've been bothering him for weeks now, and he constantly chews on them. So who knows. But the fact that the top ones finally came through give me hope that we might finish that round of teething before we get a new babe around these parts. Maybe.

This morning I was doing Kiersten's hair in the bathroom (after I taught her a piano lesson) and Anders said "I like all the colors in your hair." I said thanks, I thought it was a fun change. He said "Yeah, I think it would be fun to do what this kid at school has, a green mohawk. That would be sweet" Yes, that would be 'fun' too. Haahaa.

Other than that, we are having a garage sale at our house tomorrow. Being the youngest of several kids we have received bassinets, strollers, swings, and all sorts of things for babies that we have loved and used---but we can't take all of it with us to Miami. We have also gone through quite a few washers and dryers, maybe someone will want them? We have an old table that Sterling has used as a desk for the past two years, with matching chairs that I hate, so that'll go. The downstairs couch will go since we won't have room for both at our new place. Depending on our application acceptance and if it happens before tomorrow I might sell Ruth's bed too (my bed from college, trustworthy thing) because we will have to get bunk beds, but I'll wait and see. So…hopefully it goes well? I've never done this before, and neither have my parents, that I remember. Dad threw everything away when we moved. We're hoping to make a little bit off of our junk. Haha.

And that is all our news for now. Not very exciting, I know. But hey, Will is walking, and that IS exciting!

The Best

We have had some GOOD times enjoying Sterling's new work schedule and the fact that we see so much more of him lately. We are trying to take full advantage of that since med school starts in less than  two months-yikes! I know what its like to do everything by myself (pretty much) and I'm a little nervous about baby #3 coming and being in the same boat. But right now, for this moment in time, we have a wonderful job that only requires 4 10-hr shifts a week and I am only working one day a week, which means…TIME TOGETHER! And we couldn't be happier about that. Especially with this 75 degree weather. It makes life seem pretty much perfect. 

Will is 14 months and still not walking everywhere. Ruth learned to walk and that was all she did after that. Will has been consistently walking across areas as big as our living room for three weeks now, and still chooses to crawl a lot of the time. Or bear-walk, to save his knees on the concrete, haahaa.

Oh I love seeing those little legs when he wears shorts! I just love them! 

Sometimes I think this is why he doesn't walk further. Ruth thinks that because we cheer when he walks that he deserves a hug, which results in knocking him over. Every time. Haha.

My two little monkeys.

I do have to say though, Will is a crazy climber. I remember when Ruth was one at the end of the summer, she didn't really do much on the playground. Granted, Will has a good six months on her for his one-yr old summer, but he can crawl up, turn around, go down slides, and all sorts of things by himself! It's so much fun to have them both playing together! 

I took them to Target to redo his one yr old pictures because I was so disappointed in them, but he did the same thing. Cried at the photographer, wouldn't let go of me, and when we did get smiles it was so fast that they didn't catch them that well. So I enlisted Sterling's wonderful help (he really was wonderful) and tried to get some more pictures at the park afterward.

Nothing better than having a stick!

Oh I just love that boy. He is still my cuddly, loving baby that is so much a momma's boy. He has my heart.

And that girl! She is still outgoing and adventurous and independent. She is also such a great help. This morning I asked her to get her clothes and she couldn't reach her panties so I said I'd help as soon as I had Will's shirt on. She said "It's ok mom, I get my stool. Then I reach it." What a smartie pants. She is doing great with potty training, even though it was rough while camping (she would NOT go in the latrine, only in the open air) and only has had a few accidents now and again over the past few weeks. 

Oh those big brown eyes. 

Nothing better than chasing each other! 

Oh I love my man and my little family so, so much. We had such a wonderful afternoon at the park. I also love this sunshine!

Now I really should start learning how to use my camera better. I love it so much anyway though!