Thursday, December 20, 2012

9 Years!

It's hard to believe it's been nine years since we were married! In some ways it feels like a lifetime ago and in other ways it feels like it's been so fast. We have done a lot of growing up together these past nine years. We really were very young and had stars in our eyes about what our future would be like. We'd only known each other 5 short months and yet we were so eager to start our life together! Looking back, I think we were a little crazy and I almost can't believer our parents let us do it, but I wouldn't change a thing. I think for us, it was the right way to go. We did most of our really getting to know each other after the knot was tied and there was no turning back. Thankfully, neither of us had any skeletons in the closet, but that first year (and all the years to follow!) definitely involved a lot of learning and adjusting and figuring each other and our relationship out. I think I made a pretty good choice and I think he agrees ;) We're happy with the life we've built together and we've learned to really depend on one another and trust each other. I love this guy! Maybe sometime I'll tell our story - but for now, here are pictures of our wedding day. And yes, we were married before photographers really started using digital cameras, so all of our pictures are from film!








Sunday, November 25, 2012

Rocket Blast!

Our baby Seth is 4! He loves anything that goes fast: rockets, jets, motorcycles, race cars, etc. He is especially into rockets right now. In his words they are 'awesome' because they have a point at the top. What better way to celebrate his birthday than with a rocket ship party. His grandma (Omi) pulled through with a fun and creative little party.

She set up six stations for the kids to fly their rockets too. At the first station, grandpa (Pa-ki) told the kids a little story about flying in a rocket ship to have a party on the moon! At the second station the kids each had a turn to set off a little alka seltzer in a film case rocket http://www.coolscience.org/CoolScience/KidScientists/alkaseltzer.htm. They had to guess where they would land. At the third station the kids sang a little song and pretended to fly around the moon. At the fourth station the kids each had a turn to play 'Don't Eat Pete.' The fifth station was for presents and the sixth station was cake. They all had such a great time and I am so grateful for Omi and her great ideas!

We love this little ball of energy. Seth has added a whole new dimension to our family and we couldn't imagine life without him. He has such a fun sense of humor and is very clever. He is the sweetest little boy and loves to cuddle and give hugs and kisses. But, he can also be the most difficult little stink and knows how to throw a very impressive tantrum. He is very passionate and feels every thing to the core. I have no doubt he will do great things in his life!






He loves this rocket with Mater (from Cars) from Nana


He is also very into Batman lately!

This little dog may have been his favorite gift. He carries it around everywhere and hugs on it all day. It is of course named, "Puppy Dog." My kids are very creative with names!


Ever Thankful

This next month will usher in the end of an 18 month trial and arduous journey. It will introduce new terrain and unknown territory. David will begin a career in law enforcement. He will begin as a corrections officer for the sheriff's department. Which in essence means he'll be working in county jails with prisoners. The position is not what he had his heart set on, but it is an opportunity to start somewhere and move ahead toward his real goals. We will no longer be stagnant, dormant, dependent. I don't think the reality of it has has set in quite yet. There are still a lot of unknowns . . . where exactly he will work, what kind of shift he will have, how to handle the stress. But, if there is one thing I know for sure, it's that this past year and half has taught us how to get through hard things together. 

We have so much to be thankful for, so much. And through this all, we have always had so much to be thankful for. Above all else we have our little family. We have each other, our sweet little boys. I am thankful that our life is moving forward, and that we've learned a lot on the way. I hope we never take it all for granted!

Really, what else could anyone need?

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Halloween

The boys were so excited about Halloween this year. They've been planning for months to dress as Captain American and Batman. They got very into their roles and were very serious and fierce super heroes.




He was showing us the face he wanted for his pumpkin.


And this was the face Luke wanted for his.

I love that all these little boys in Luke's class are so into it. They're a fun little group.

His school had a costume parade which Luke thought was so fun.




I feel pretty lucky to have these guys in my life.

Getting ready for the sugar overload! 






They are already planning their costumes for next year. Luke wants to be a ghost and Seth wants to be a dog. I am grateful to move on to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love this time of year and I absolutely love that it brings cooler weather. We finally broke 80 degrees and it has been heavenly!

Allergy Attack

For the past month or so we have been thinking about getting a dog. David really really wants a dog (some kind of lab or retriever) and I'm ok with it as long as he does most of the work, haha. We started looking around and going to pet shops and adoption events. A couple of weeks ago we went to an adoption event and let the boys pet a couple of dogs. About half an hour after we left I noticed that Seth's eyes looked a little irritated and gradually they became very swollen to the point that he almost couldn't open them. He seemed to be able to breathe ok, but he had been congested anyway so we couldn't tell for sure.

We immediately gave him some Benadryl and eye drops and decided that if he didn't get better soon we'd head to the ER. Luckily, the swelling started to go down and by the next morning he was better. The swelling kind of freaked Seth out and he kept saying he didn't look like himself. As it started getting better he would say, "I'm looking more like Seth."

He had an appointment with and ENT/allergist later that week and she said that often people don't have a reaction to a given allergen until after several exposures. She also said that people are usually allergic to dog saliva, not fur, so the allergy test he had a few months ago wouldn't have indicated that kind of allergy. We're hoping it was some kind of fluke like the dog rolled in something he was allergic too, but we may not ever be able to get a dog now. Just in case though, we are now the owners of two epi-pens because apparently you never know when some kind of attack might occur. We're grateful it wasn't more serious than it was!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Fall Break and Camping

We decided we wanted to do something fun, low key and inexpensive over Luke's fall break. We'd heard that about an hour and a half north of us there were some great places to go camping so we decided 3 days and 2 night would be just right. David ended up getting really sick the evening before we were supposed to leave. We already had everything packed and several things in the car ready to go the next morning. Instead we took him to the Dr and she prescribed antibiotics for strep throat.

The day were were supposed to go the boys were sad and disappointed and I didn't want to just hang out at home like usual, so I took them to Toys R Us to play and pick a toy and then I took them to Golfland to mini golf and play arcade games. They had a fun time, but next time I'm not paying for myself to golf. I ended up helping them and chasing their balls the whole time! That evening David started to feel a little better so we decided if he was ok enough we'd still try to go camping (almost everything was still packed).

The next morning he was feeling pretty good so we started to gather last minute items and finish packing the car. By 11am we were ready to go and started driving north. It was so neat to watch the landscape change with each mile as the altitude rose. We started with the usual desert - cactus, shrubs, lots of dirt, and then it changed into a ton of huge saguaro cactus and then more greenery with small pancake cactus and then lots of tall pine and oak trees. When we stepped out of the car in Payson we couldn't believe how nice and woodsy it smelled. It also helped that it was 10-15 degrees cooler than it's been in Mesa.

Someone was very tired on the way up and slept almost the whole time!








 We hauled out all our gear and David and the boys set up the tent. Within half an hour of arriving Seth tripped and hit his cheek on a large rock. He immediately said he wanted to go home, but we were able to distract him with a Mater movie (thank goodness for DVD players!). Once he was recovered we set out on a 'nature walk' and explored around our campground. It was so beautiful! The leaves on many of the trees were changing color and we were able to show the boys was 'Fall' actually looks like! The boys were convinced there were bears nearby and were on constant lookout.

When we got back from our 'hike' David started a fire so we could start cooking dinner. The boys were so excited and loved helping set it up and loved throwing little pieces of wood into the fire. We made tin foil dinners and I was surprised that the boys actually devoured them. I've always loved campfire food and I guess they do too! We were all so excited for s'mores, but someone dropped the ball and completely forgot graham crackers and marshmallows. They were on the kitchen counter and I totally spaced it! I think I was more disappointed than anyone. It turned out ok though because we also had popcorn and hot chocolate.




Very enthralled watching the fire. You can see the nice little bruise on Seth's cheek.






By about 8pm we were ready for bed, so we cleaned up and settled for the night. Mom also spaced it and forgot pull ups for Seth and the boys tooth brushes. They thought it was so funny that I'd been so forgetful! Luckily, Seth did really well during the night and didn't have any accidents! It got really cold in the middle of the night (somewhere in the 40s), but we have very warm sleeping bags and we were all wearing sweat shirts as well. I wasn't about to sleep on the ground at 5+ months pregnant so I slept on an air mattress and was actually quite comfortable.

In the morning we cooked bacon, eggs and hot chocolate and just enjoyed the cool weather. As it warmed up we started to clean up and pack up and then went on another nice nature walk and then headed home. We ended up only being there for one night and two half days (about 24 hours all together) and that was actually the perfect amount of time. The original plan might have gotten a bit long, but we had so much fun and really enjoyed this little outing.
 



Since I'd spaced it on the s'mores we made some at home later in the evening. Seth ended up not wanting his, so I just had to eat an extra one ;)

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Little All Star

Luke has been anxious to try out all the different sports and since he did soccer in the spring he wanted to try baseball this fall (if that's what you can call 'the season' here when it's still in the 90's most of the time!). He's been great at hitting the ball in the past, but we've only really played with wiffle balls and plastic bats. The metal bat seems a bit heavy for him, so he's having a hard time swinging, but he seems to be getting more confident and getting the hang of it. It's kind of a complicated game but with each practice he seems to pick up the rules a bit. They've had two games and it has been a lot of fun to watch those cute kids learning to play. He has a great little team and a very nice coach and we're looking forward to a fun season.





Saturday, October 6, 2012

Totally Outnumbered!

On Wed we went to the Dr for the 18-20wk ultrasound. This baby is breach and totally comfy in there so it was hard to see much, but we were able to get a couple of quick glances to see that it's a boy! The tech wasn't able to get any decent pictures or measurements, so I'll go again this next week to try again, but we are 99% sure that this little bundle is a boy. I am feeling extremely outnumbered, but I am very happy. I've actually always thought that I will probably only have boys and really wasn't expecting or hoping to have a girl, although it might be nice someday. Anyway, we're excited and he'll fit right in with our rough and tumble crowd! My belly grows by the day and Seth likes to push on it and asks daily if it's time for the baby to come out.




Seth has been wanting a boy baby and likes the names Sword, Bullet, Race Car, and Rocket Ship. Luke really really wanted a girl and he was extremely disappointed when he found out we're having a boy, but he's adjusted and seems ok with it now. He likes the name Calvin after 'Calvin and Hobbes.' I'm pretty sure they won't be getting the final votes, but I do think Calvin is kind of cute.