Is It Two Months Already?!

Well, month two was much more exciting! 

The first week were just enjoying getting back to normal life and even took it easy with General Conference weekend.  We just used the air mattress we had blown up for company and sat on it while we watched conference on the computer.

The following weekend my brother, his wife and four children came to visit.  They were here for 3 days total, but I think we had a lot of fun.  We visited, played games, went to the Nature and Science Center where we got to play in the dino pits, we rode on the train in the park downtown, we even were able to fit in seeing the bats come out at night.... and one of those days was Sunday!  I was very humored by my nephews who are 5 and 7 and all the questions they ask.  I gotta get ready for that age when kids absorb everything.  We are so grateful they took the time to come visit and meet Weston, it was a lot of fun!

(who would've thought watching bats come out at night would be so impressive)

 

(and yes, you do get "dropped on" we had a run for it when the flight path changed)

They left on a Tuesday morning, so we began the craziness of packing for a week and a half, and left for Arizona the next day.  Matt's brother was getting married on Friday.  We planned to do it in one day, but gave ourselves two days, just in case.  We did make it in one day.. one very long day.  It was rough from the first hour on, including missed turns, stressful pit stops.  Then the afternoon, things calmed down, but by evening Weston was DONE.  So we nursed, changed him, and drive into the sun with a crying baby.  Eventually he fell asleep, but the poor kid was just sick of the car seat.
Friday was the reception and the wedding, thanks to my sister who watch Reid all morning and my parents who came up to the temple to watch Weston.  That evening was a beautiful reception and lots of friends and family to visit with.
Saturday was Matt's sister's baby shower which was a blast, lots of girl time.  Plus our friends drove down from the Safford area and hung out with us all day.
Sunday was busy because we were able to bless Weston with all the family in town for the wedding.  Matt and I were busy being hosts, Weston was in heaven being passed around and loved, and Reid got to play with his best buddy Ryde.  It was so much fun, we had so many loved ones there, it is times like that that I realize how blessed I am.  I had tons of people there, and a bunch more who couldn't come.  I am so grateful for all the love and support we have.

Matt couldn't afford another day off work, so we stuck around all week.  Monday was a recovery day.  Tuesday - Friday were about trying to make visits, take care of our rental house, let tired children recover, and other various errands that just seemed to make the week fly.
Saturday we drove home and Weston slept and slept and slept!  We made great time, and it went really well.  Reid had been asking for about 3 days to go home, so he was a very happy boy.  Regardless of the craziness, we were so grateful for parents who hosted us and social things at there houses so that we could make the best of this trip with a 6-7 week old.

I don't know where last week went, but between playgroup, church callings, tired boys, Matt's long hours at work, doctor appointments, laundry and all that comes from a trip, the week flew by. 

This week is full of fevers, running noses and lack of sleeping.  I knew it would catch up to us, I am grateful that it waited until the craziness was over.

Weston's 2 month stats:
Weight: 12lb 4.5oz
Length: 24in (although, it wasn't quite that if you ask me)
Head: 39.5in
(I looked it up, Reid was the same weight, but over and inch shorter)
Sleeps 8-9 hours at night!
Thanks to cornstarch the diapers are no longer stressful, and I usually only get presents once a day!
Smiles always at mom, especially when he's crying cuz he's hungry and mom picks him up
Loves to smile and laugh instead of eat
Loves kisses and zberts on his cheeks and neck (I even got a full blown giggle!)
Is cooing and talking all the time
Has a fussy time of day (dinner to bed time)
Weston has become the sweetest boy ever and just chills and is patient with me
Doesn't love tummy time
Sleeps in his own room
Loves to watch his big brother play and will even give him smiles

(2 months old)

  (smiles for Grandma, 7 weeks old)

Reid's done some new things this month too: 

• With new visitors with different vocabularies around him for a month, his talking has improved so much.  Not only does he say more complete sentences, he is getting better and pronunciation (which really is a shame, I'm going to miss "nin-nows", a.k.a. windows).
• He has started copying us... we are learning that we have to be careful what we say around the house!
• He is now learning how to say prayers, which brought tears to my eyes the first time.  (always has been good at folding arms, now we are working on closing our eyes... very tightly! hahaha!)
• He is becoming a more experienced and brave climber on furniture, playgrounds, it doesn't matter, he'll climb it.
• After going to a play date, he learned about Thomas the Train, and now it is ALL about trains.  He loves them... he spends hours each day making car trains, or toy trains, or something that isn't a train into a train.  He still loves cars too though.  He pretty much like moving vehicles.
• He has started asking for diaper changes when he actually needs them.  Oh boy, guess I gotta figure out how to potty train!
• The jealousy is just beginning.  Mom is the favorite right now, and there are times he wants me when I'm holding Weston, but cries until I put Weston down and pick him up.  It is sweet but hard.
• But on the up side, he's very sweet and always tells me when Weston is crying or if he is sad, and then he'll let me go take care of him.  Such a good big brother!
• He can count to ten and is getting better at counting to twenty
• He knows almost the whole alphabet in capital letters, we are now working on lower case.
• My favorite is that he has started to sing songs.  Sometimes just a word or two, but he just sang 1 entire line from Bob the Builder all morning, it was so cute!

So that was month two... Phew!  I think I need a nap.  :)

Driving, Vacations and More

We survived our long vehicular summer vacation, super prego, sprained foot, toddler and all.

What summer vacation, you say?
Well, Matt's family had a reunion in Utah.  So the question is... what is the quickest way to get from Texas to Utah?  Flying of course!  Well, it sure wasn't the cheapest.  So we looked at other options.  If we went to Colorado and stayed with my brothers instead of driving straight there, we'd add only 100 miles to our trek.  So thus began our fabulous vacation.

We started out bright and early on a Saturday morning.  We were thrilled to just be out on a vacation, it didn't matter where.  About two hours into the drive, we got stopped on the road.  The man that stopped our car said, we have to stop traffic because they have to land a helicopter on the highway.  (how cool is that?!)  Then he continued for accident victims.  (ok, that's a bummer)  So, while waiting, I figured, let's eat something.  I pull out a mango we hadn't managed to eat before leaving.  I brought paper towels, a knife and a bowl, surely I was prepared.  HA!  That sucker was so juicy that it got everywhere.  And did you know that mango is super slippery?!  Yeah, went right down into that place by your seatbelt and the console... that teeny whole that you hate wedging your hand into on occasion when you drop some item that CANNOT be left behind?  yeah, that one.  Well, I might have let it go, except for the GIANT wasp that flew into the car through our open windows!  AHHH!
So, I'm trying to get the food cleaned up, with my totally mango juice covered hands... in the mean time, Matt's trying to wave the wasp out of the car, with his mango covered hands.  Oh and let's try and keep the wasp out of the back seat, because I do NOT need a wasp stung toddler on my hands while we drive for 14 more hours!
Thanks to a cheezit box and quick automatic windows... we managed to get the wasp out of the car.  But then it was chasing Matt around wanting the cheezits!  So he jumps in the car, and we sit there breathing trying to pretend we did not just run around like crazy trying to get a wasp out of our car.

After that we were grateful to get going on the road and had a wonderful drive to Colorado.  Reid made it 12 hours before we put a movie on!  I couldn't have been more proud.  (don't worry, he didn't make it more than one hour by the last trek of the drive)

In Colorado and had a blast with two of my older brothers' families.  We had an ice cream tasting contest (which me and my 9 year old niece won on a team effort!), we played hours of games while it rained and poured, we thoroughly enjoyed the cool nights, we toured geeky things like NIST and NOAA, played an hour or two of tag (which was pretty hilarious), and got spoiled as my dear sisters-in-law fed us and let us relax for a few days!

After that, we headed to Utah for the family reunion.  To give us a little time to rest up, we stayed at my aunt's house for one night.  They have a gorgeous home and are so gracious to share it with us.  They fed us and even watched our son so we could attend the Salt Lake Temple.  (something we both have wanted to do for years!) 

Then with a little grocery shopping, it was time to head to the family reunion.  Matt's aunt found this beautiful huge cabin in the mountains east of Salt Lake.  It was so nice!  Tons of rooms, big open social areas.  Not to mention sand volleyball court, tether ball, hammock, two playgrounds, fishing, fire pit, lovely front porch and lawn, Oh and the gorgeous Utah air!  The only bummer, which isn't completely bad cuz it was beautiful, was the creek that was a raging river due to all the snow melt.  We got to share our room with Matt's sister, and I hope she slept ok with a toddler in the same room!  (she was polite if she didn't)  The funny thing is that it was on the 3rd floor, so all the heat of the day was in there by the end of the day, and I was sweltering by the time I would put Reid to bed.  So I did my best to open up the windows to cool it off... and man, that's so fun to just open the windows and enjoy the beautiful cool night air, and even be quite chilly in the mornings!
A family favorite at these reunions is playing Rook.  It is hard to play Rook with just me and Matt, so we did our best to get all of the playing in that we could.  Matt's cousins and aunts and uncles are quite skillful at this game... so it is a fun challenge.

Then after a few days there, we headed back to Arizona for a quick stop in.  The best part of the travel was carpooling with Matt's parents and sister, so we got to have some great chats while driving out on the open road.  Reid was struggling by this time, but other than his break down when I didn't realize how late it was and how hungry he probably was... he was a pretty good sport.

In Arizona, we visited with a few friends (the dentist included for me) and family.  I enjoyed getting my Eegee's and Frost cravings satisfied, and visiting with great people!  Reid really enjoyed some one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa A at the house he mostly remembers as home. 

We only stayed for one day, just to break up two super long days of driving.  Then we headed back to Texas.  This drive was painful and hard, and altogether worthy of forgetting.  We got stopped twice in the last couple hours because we had a headlight out.... which we knew about, but what can you do?
(When we got home I am proud to say that my husband manned up and saved us $100+ by changing the headlight himself!)

A great family vacation with lots of family visited and enjoyable times had!


Super prego, yeah how's that going?
Yes, I figure we drove about 52+ hours on this vacation.  I was 30 weeks when we left, 31 weeks when we got home.  Just got this trip done in the knick of time!
I am now 33 weeks and I'm not allowed to leave town once I'm 34 weeks.  I'm starting to get ready for this baby.  Car seat covers are being washed, birth plans have been updated, hospital bags are being packed, and labor/birth education courses are being reviewed.
This baby is measuring 70%+, and so am I.  I guess that belly measurement they do shows me as big.  It makes sense to me, because I was over 8lbs at birth, and Reid didn't even make it to 7lbs until he was a week old.  So this baby may be getting the taller genes in the family... we'll see!


Sprained foot!  What the ...?
So 2.5 days before it was time to be driving out of the driveway, I was rushing down the stairs and rolled my ankle.  Yeah, that's to be expected.  I don't have the greatest ankles, and I'm all loosy-goosy from being prego.  Well, the sprained ankle I can deal with.... it was the other foot that I landed on that was killing me!
After a rough night involving me at the church with 8-12 year olds, nail polish, Matt home with Reid and a power outage, and LOTS of pain... we sent Reid off to an air conditioned house and headed to the ER.
Can I just tell you how frustrating it is to feel like you have broken a bone?  In the same general of your body as the ONLY other broken bone you have had?  And getting this injury on the same apparatus as before?  Yeah, its frustrating.   And no one in the ER wants to give a 29.5 week pregnant woman painkillers without checking with the doctor first... so wait we did.
Of course it wasn't broken!  GRRR.  But it was pretty badly sprained.  So basically I went to the ER to get some painkillers to make it through the next few days.
My tailbone also hurt some, so they sent me to labor and delivery to double check that all is well with the baby, and it was.

We finally got home @ 2am, and thank goodness to amazing friends who made it possible to sleep all day long while she kept Reid at her house.  THEN she came over the next day and packed for me!  LIFESAVER!

So as if tredging around on vacation while super pregnant isn't fun enough... I was also sporting a big black ortho boot and donut pillow.  If I got a dollar for every look that said "ohhhh", "poor her", or "oh man!"  I would be a very rich woman.  I really did look pathetic.... plus, I was still dealing with pain because I couldn't take pain killers because I needed to help drive.  Oh man, was that fun!

3 weeks later it is finally getting better.  I no longer wear the boot, but I am currently still sitting on my boppy pillow because let's face it a bruised tailbone takes like 100 years to heal!  Really I'm doing just fine, I have to admit... I'm wondering if a bruised tailbone is gonna make labor hurt more?  Anyone know?

================================================
So, that's our summary for now.  Add in doctor appointments, playgroups, church callings, work, and pregnancy exhaustion and that's what kept us busy this summer.  Hope your lives are a little less crazy!

2010 Recap

I saw a few friends do this, and loved the idea, so I decided to try to recap our year... so here it is:

2010!

January - Reid went through a horrible sleep schedule this month so I don't remember much. (Apparently, I didn't even blog) According to our calendar we did the usual church callings, family stuff, and I attended baby showers for friends.

February - Reid learned to crawl and got his first tooth! Girls' Camp prep was gearing up here for me, literally my calendar has meetings written all over it! Various family events pretty much filled up the rest of my time.

March - Got a new niece (who was born on the side of the road!). More camp, more baby showers, more family activities. Start thinking about trip to England. Started up New Nester's FHE. Thyroid ultrasound.

April - Girl's Camp Sleepover. Biopsy for my thyroid. Get taxes in (barely).

May - Finish up Girls' Camp Preparations. Attend an olympian's wedding reception (I just feel cool that I know someone who was in the Olympics!). Car break down on the way to the reception. A week later and $1500 later, our car works again. Visit with friends and family. Meet with thyroid surgeon and decide that surgery is a good option. Go swimming with Reid as much as possible before surgery.

June - Girls' Camp (yay!), post Girls's Camp meetings, etc; this also meant spending a WHOLE week away from Reid! It was hard but camp kept me busy and we had a wonderful week up there. Reid turned 1 the day I got home from camp, and we had a small family party. Square Dancing ward activity and surprisingly had a blast. Thyroid surgery: have more than half of my thyroid removed. Find out thyroid had cancer in it, so it was great that it was removed. Matt's job changed and is now based out of Austin, we start exploring the options of moving.

July - Spend 4th of July camping and fishing in the White Mountains with the in-laws (and I actually caught a couple fish!). Do lots of laundry! Whirlwind week long trip to England with a 1 year old, so great to see my parents! Thyroid check-up says that cancer should be completely cured, make no more plans to get the rest of it out. Starting swimming with Reid again (just no working out, cuz that stretches my neck).

August - Attend the temple and be the escort for a dear friend of ours. Spend 3 weeks recovering from the jet lag. Leann worked lots of extra over-time to cover for a co-worker. Get new renters, clean and paint our house.

September - Recover from the past 3 months. Start playing D&D with family. Baby shower, dinner with friends. Date night swap with Anderson's! (we went to Cheesecake Factory, yum!) Start making more decisive plans about moving to Austin.

October - Take a week off of work (due to August over-time). Celebrate Leann's birthday by spending time with my sister's family and then they took Reid for the night for us, while we got to go to Texas Roadhouse and then sleep in! Be in charge of ward Trunk or Treat. Spend a week and a half making Reid's Tow Mater costume (which we still don't have a picture of him wearing), but it was all in vain because Reid got a stomach bug for Halloween.

November - Craft Saturday, made these awesome wall hangings for our bedroom! Clothes shopping spree for me! A nice quiet Thanksgiving with the in-laws. Leann help out in nursery in church, so Reid got to go a month early!

December - Reid turn 18 months old! Leann set up plan with work to go on full leave of absence at the end of January. My grandmother's 90th birthday party. Reid get a fever the day before Christmas Eve. Reid then follow the fever by getting his molars on Christmas. Matt gets a mountain bike for Christmas, and we spent the rest of our Christmas break going on walk/rides (I push the stroller, he rides the bike, and we'd bring the dogs half the time). Matt's birthday dinner at Saffron. Gaslight with the family. Continue with plans to move to Austin.


I can't decide if I think my life is boring or not. It is what it is, I guess.

How did Reid do on the Plane?

Well, we did it. We traveled internationally with a 1 year old. Crazy?... definitely. But it was so great at the same time.

Here is our travelogue for getting to England:

Thursday 5:30pm
Drive away from our home to head to Phoenix to spend the night at Matt's grandparents, so we can catch our flight in the morning.
Reid didn't sleep very good this night, unfamiliar surroundings and such. Oh how I was so thrilled he was going to be sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings for the next week.

Friday 8:15am
Leave grandparents house with aunt to drop us off at the airport.

Friday 8:45am
Walk into airport to see horrendously long lines - Oh crap, we're never gonna make it! Then we find our line... 6 people (well, groups of people). Sweet!

Friday 9:00am
Airline lady gives everyone dirty looks for actually standing in the airport's shortest line and not doing self check-in! So we attempt, which of course we can't, because we have an infant. Big suprise. So we continue on.
Check-in was easy, Security was easy. They had to do this vapor test on Reid's milk. It was interesting.

Friday 10:30am
We board our plane. The plane was overbooked, so no extra free seat for Reid. Bummer. But the plane was 2 seats on 1 side, 3 on another, and we had the seats with 2 on the side. Perfect, we can just manage him and not have to bug anyone else.
Reid slept for about 45 minutes, as opposed to his usual 2-3 hour nap. So we attempt to entertain him. Right behind us were two teenage boys that would smile occasionally at Reid, but behind them were 2 teenage girls who just loved him! He had a blast the last hour of the plane ride flirting with them.

Friday 4:00pm (Chicago time)
We land a little early, but our gate wasn't ready for us, we wait on the plane. Then we get into our gate late, so basically by the time we get out, find our gate, talk to the lady about options with a baby, get our seat re-assignments, they are boarding the plane. So we quickly get on.
Well, its lunch time Arizona time, and I'm starving! But don't worry, they claim they are serving dinner an hour into the flight. Ok, I can wait an hour. Except that we moved all the way to the back of the plane, so we could get an extra seat for Reid. Well, we were right by the galley and the latrines, and wow it is NOISY back there. Plus, you don't get served your food until last. And all that stuff about the stewardesses being nice and letting you walk to the plane... LIES ALL LIES! They kept telling me they needed to get by, and getting frustrated with me. I understand that they need to do their job, but seriously, could you at least be nice about it. There was one really nice blonde stewardess, but 1 out of 7 can only do so much.
In the mean time, Reid is sooo cranky, cuz he never got a real nap. So he finally crashes, and sleeps for a good while. Of course he wakes up everytime a loud chatty person comes back there to wait in line for the potty. Then he wakes up with 3 hours left of the flight wide awake.
Now that it is 10pm AZ time, I'm tired, and he's ready to play. Oh well, no sleep for me. Basically, I try to watch the in-flight movie and play with him, while he tries to dive into the aisle so he can go push every button in the galley. Oh well, all in all, it really wasn't that bad. I mean that's all normal stuff for a 1 year old. No screams, no fits or tantrums. He really did do pretty good. It's just hard when the parent is tired and trying to get some sleep.

Saturday 7:30am (England time)
Plane lands, we de-board. Bathrooms for me and Reid. Let Reid run and stretch (which was harder because it was midnight my time, and I just wanted him to play in one area), while Matt waits in the customs line.
Finally, we get through customs. The wonderful part was that at this point, everyone had gone ahead, so the only luggage left on the carousel was ours. Yay, a silver lining! We get our bags and try to find our way to the exit.
By the way, this is the exit sign in Europe... man running at the white rectangle?

(ignore the imprint... I coudn't find one without it)

Or if running, beware of the white rectangle below you that might swallow you up?
We go through the door, and there's my mom. An emotional embrace immediately occurs, and Reid is just chilling in his stroller (or trolley as my mom quickly corrects me) wondering why Mommy is crying.

It was so GREAT to see my parents! I didn't realize how much I miss them! At this point my father joyfully reminds us that the best thing to do is to CONTINUE to stay awake. Awesome.

Ta-da! We are in England. Stay tuned for updates on our actual vacation in England!