Happy New Year

 Merry Christmas and a happy new year!  To all those waiting (patiently or impatiently) waiting for a new post, I have lots to post about. However, you will have to wait until after the first of the year for a true post.  I will get back on track with posting and you will see lots of posts for the new year!

Our Thanksgivings

This year we ended up having three Thanksgiving dinners.  I was a total slacker on taking pictures throughout the whole holiday weekend.

On Wednesday, Shin and Heather came over and we had pizza and games.  They were spending Thanksgiving day running a 5k and having dinner with their neighbors.  We hadn't seen them for several weeks (our normal Sunday dinner routine had been shaken up a bit) and we had fun catching up.

Thursday, we went to J's parents and had an early dinner with his siblings and parents.  We perused the Black Friday ads, watched the game, and relaxed.  More family came over later and spent some time with us and Kai, who had a special place set up for him in the formal living room so he could be a part of everything.

Kai did really well.  He fell asleep not long after we got there, and slept until we woke him several hours later when the other family members came over.  He was very content--I think he enjoyed being out and somewhere new. 


Friday, I dropped Zuri off with my mom, so Kai and I could brave the crowds for Black Friday.  Emily had something she wanted me to get for her (since she cannot go herself being out of the country), and it took me four different stores before I found the item for her.  Whew!  That is a lot of work with Kai--hauling him and all his stuff in and out of the car.  I went to Costco first, they didn't have the item (but it wasn't a total waste because I found my Christmas present!), so I went to Best Buy next.  They had already brought the price back up (I guess it was just a doorbuster item good for the short time window only), so I went to Shopko, but they were all out.  Finally, I went to Target, and if they didn't have it, I was just going to get it online.  Target did have it--lots of the item!  Hooray!

Since I was there, I decided not to brave another store with Kai, so I picked up some grocery items that I needed for dinner with my mom and aunt that night.  I started out with a basket; pushing Kai's stroller and the basket handle resting in the crook of my arm.  It soon became apparent that I needed too much stuff for the basket, so I got a cart.  I pushed Kai's stroller with one hand and pulled the cart along behind me with the other.  It was awkward, but I did it.  I went grocery shopping by myself with Kai!  I am proud of myself.  It may seem like such a simple thing, but it is one more step toward independence and not being locked away in the house.  Last year it was unthinkable to drag him around as I did Friday because of his condition.  Amazing what a difference a year makes; Kai loved getting out.  He was cooing and blowing raspberries the whole time.

Friday evening we had dinner with my mom, stepdad, sister, aunt, and my cousin.  We celebrated my sister's birthday--she is turning eight, and just enjoyed spending time together.  Even though we all live within the same neighborhood, we really don't see each other very often.


On Saturday, we got a call from J's "Uncle" Lucy, who was in town from Las Vegas, and she wanted to stop by to visit.  It was her first time meeting Kai and she took to him right away.  We spent a couple hours catching up and trading stories, and before we knew it, they had to leave. 


Saturday afternoon we had respite hours, so J and I went out shopping for Christmas gifts.  We really didn't get very much because we are in the final stages of closing on our house and we don't want to upset the status quo, but we did get a start on it.  :-)

Snowy Day

Early in November we got a big snowstorm.  It dumped a decent couple of feet in a relatively short amount of time.  Zuri was so excited to go out and play in the snow, and she kept saying "Mom look!  Snowy day! Snowy day!"  Since I cannot bring Kai outside to play (the cold goes straight to his lungs, so it is dangerous to have him out in colder weather), I told Zuri that she had to wait for J to get home to play in the snow.  She eagerly waited and was rewarded with some fun in the snow!

Since then, the snow has melted and we have had relatively mild weather.  Zuri keeps asking when winter is coming so she can play in the snow again! :-)

Trick-or-Treat 2012

Zuri got a large candy haul this year for Halloween.  She filled her bucket!  We started out in our neighborhood, only intending to be out for about 45 minutes or so, but as we got started, we noticed no kids, and only a few homes had anyone actually there.  So, we decided to canvas our *new* neighborhood.

--That's right, we are "under contract!"  Our soon-to-be new home is in a really great neighborhood.  In fact, the house next door has a little girl close to Zuri's age.  It is located really close to major access roads and is very centrally placed.  It is in an established neighborhood and has been really well taken care of--so much so that it is move-in ready!  It is a little bit older and smaller than the homes that we have been looking at, but it is in an area where the value of homes is pretty high.  We have almost a third of an acre of land (that has been our biggest issue with some of the newer homes--no land!) and apple, plum and cherry trees.  Our backyard borders a neighborhood "park" and the current owners tell us that they see deer and elk all the time near the little creek that runs through the park.  It has a walk-out basement so Jeremy has easy access to all areas of the house.  Everything has fallen into place with this home, and it will be a great little starter place for us!  If all continues to go well, we should be able to move in before Christmas--so exciting!

We ended up trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood for a couple of hours.  Zuri kept saying that she wanted to go to more houses, but I think by the end, even she was tired.  Until we got home, then she wanted to go back out and didn't want to take her costume off.  Kai was a trooper through the whole thing and just enjoyed getting out.  He stared wide-eyed as we went from house to house, just sucking on his fingers.  He didn't get fussy at all, but he fell right asleep when we got into the car.  He stayed asleep even when we brought him into the house!

First Snow

We had our first bit of snow on October 25th.  Since then it has melted and we have returned to almost 70 degree weather.  That is Utah in the fall for you.  Zuri was so excited to see the snow.  She ran outside in her pajamas and socks wanting to make snowmen, and snow angels and throw snowballs.  It was all she talked about all morning before school.

Trunk-or-Treat

 On Saturday, my mom's ward had their annual trunk-or-treat and chili cook-off.  The primary is so small in my ward (we are talking six kids including Zuri in the whole primary) that we don't have a trunk-or-treat, so for the second time we crashed my mom's ward.

Since we have to plan our respite hours before the 15th of the month prior, we don't always know exactly what our plans are going to be (or what pops up).   Therefore, we try to be flexible, but we have to plan things in advance.  Well, we planned to have respite hours Saturday evening for a date night, but it happened to be on the weekend of the deer hunt (which we hadn't planned on).  When I found out about the trunk-or-treat, I figured it would be perfect--except the trunk-or-treat started at four and our respite hours started at five. 

My plan was to take Kai for the first half hour, take him home, then go back.  My mom and sister were still at the trunk-or-treat, so they would be able to watch Zuri and she wouldn't miss anything.  Well, I got to talking and left the trunk-or-treat later than I planned, which put me in a frantic hurry to make it home before the nurse.  I made it home with one minute to spare, and was relieved when I discovered the nurse hadn't arrived yet.

Then I waited...and waited.  The nurse was over fifteen minutes late.  I was calling our nursing agency (to make sure a nurse was coming, or find out what was going on) when she arrived without so much as an apology or explanation.  I quickly gave her the rundown on things with Kai, but it had been quite a while since she had last taken care of him, so she had several questions.  By the time I made it back to the trunk-or-treat, I had missed the winner of the chili cook-off, the parade of costumes, and the magic show, Zuri was almost done with trunk-or-treating. 


After the trunk-or-treat we went to pick up my sister, Breanna, from work, then we went over to my mom's house and we chatted and played scrabble (Shin, Heather, and Dad bought me a really nice Scrabble board last week while Dad was here).  I was safely in the lead until Breanna used all her letters on a triple word score and trounced Mom and I.  We had fun and it reminded me of old times.



* Side Note:  We were originally going to have a pirate theme for the kids, but when we were looking at costumes, Zuri saw the Cinderella costume and just had to have it.  She would not be persuaded toward anything else, and she had to carry the costume around the store herself.  She would not let it out of her grasp.  It was too funny.

October Conference and Dad's Visit

For General Conference this October, we had unusually perfect weather both Saturday and Sunday.  My dad came out Thursday from Tahoe and ended up staying over a week--leaving the following Sunday; he stayed in Orem with Shin and Heather all but the last two nights.  We spent a lot of time with my dad, Shin and Heather throughout the week, which was a lot of fun.  I miss doing things with family.

I didn't take many pictures for this Conference.  Zuri, of course, was running around in between sessions.  She found some friends to play with at one point, and played tag with Heather, Dad and J at another.  She did really well this time; we didn't have to take her out during any of the four sessions. 

Saturday afternoon, as Heather and I were talking on our way home (the guys all stayed for the Priesthood session), Heather made a comment about how she really loves Conference.  From the backseat, Zuri pipes up: "I love Conference too!"  It was so cute.

The youth from the Tahoe ward also made it out, and we met up with them briefly on Saturday, and we all had lunch together on Sunday.  It is cute to watch the young women get excited to see Heather.  J made a joke that I am long forgotten when Heather is around.  I reminded him that when I left Tahoe, the young women were just babies (wow, I feel old) and so they didn't grow up knowing me as they do Heather (who just moved out here last year).

It is hard to believe that it has been over ten years since I moved out here.  Over ten years that my dad and I have been attending General Conference in Salt Lake--and we haven't missed a Conference all that time.  Crazy (in a good way).  :-)

Dad was originally going to leave Tuesday, but Monday evening we got a phone call from Heather saying that Shin was in the emergency room.  He had flipped over his bike and hit his head.  He was all right except for a few scrapes and some bruising, but he couldn't drive for a few days, and he needed to be woken up every few hours during the night the first night.

Dad, who had planned on staying with us that night and leaving in the morning, got the rest of the week off work and went up to Orem to help Shin.  It gave us a few extra days with Dad, and we also got to see Shin and Heather more, so although it was an unfortunate accident, it had its silver lining. 


Thursday, we all went out to dinner together.  It was our second restaurant excursion with Kai, and just like the first (for my birthday a few weeks prior) it went well!  Kai just sat munching on his hands and being cute while we ate.  We had two tables and placed Kai in between the tables, so we were split up a little but it worked really well. 

I love the curious expression on Kai's face in the photo above.

Zuri had her first experience with cotton candy.  She got all excited about it, hugging it, and liked the cotton candy up to the point when it dissolved into the small, chewy candy in her mouth.  She would spit it out then and no matter of coaxing could get her to eat that part.   Funny kid.


We were sad to see Dad leave on Sunday, and he didn't want to go either.  Shin kept trying convincing him to sell his house and move out here.  Who knows, it may happen! ;-)

Milestones

Kai hit two milestones this week: he brought a toy up to mid-line, and he switched the toy from one hand to the other!  Two very big milestones!  (Remember, Kai is developmentally at the age of a 3 to 5 month* old even though he is 16 months old.)   I was able to capture a replay on video last night.  He prefers to hold toys in his right hand, so if I give them to him in his left, he will transfer it over to his right.  Sometimes it takes a few tries before he will hold on to the toy long enough for the transfer, and oftentimes he will forget about the toy once it leaves his hand, but I was able to capture a moment when he not only remembered the toy (probably because it was on his face) but was excited when he managed to pick it up again.  It is so exciting to see the progress he is making!

If you watch (and listen) closely in the video, after he makes the switch, he starts blowing raspberries as if to say "hey, I did it!"  Then he gets excited after he picks up the toy from his face.  



* Last assessment done in July 2012

Preschool

Monday Zuri started preschool.  She is in a brand new building and it wasn't completed on time, so she had to wait two weeks to start.  She was so excited to go to preschool and see all her "friends."  It was all she talked about.

My mom is taking her to school and I will pick her up.  We have arranged it so because her preschool is in Riverton (about half an hour drive--and don't even get me started on that subject).  There are no buses, so I need to load up and haul Kai with me.

Zuri was fine when she got to school yesterday, but then one of the kids in her class was crying and it made her nervous.  My mom got her interested in a puzzle, and that calmed her to the point where my mom could leave.

When I picked her up, she was so excited to see me!  She was ready to go and kept pulling me toward the door.  When I asked her if she had a good time, she told me that she "got scared."

Her teacher told me she did really well until about half an hour before class ended.  She got really nervous and clung to her teacher.  I asked Zuri what she was so scared about, and she said a boy scared her.  When I told her it will be better tomorrow, she said she didn't want to go to school tomorrow!  Luckily, by the time she went to bed, she was okay with going to school in the morning.

This morning, she was even more nervous and threw a little tantrum when my mom got here.  She was a little more clingy with my mom when they got to school, but soon became interested in a puzzle.  When I picked her up, she was a bit more social and telling all her friends that she will see them tomorrow.  Progress!  Her teacher said that she had a short period where she got nervous, but otherwise had a good day, and mentioned how well behaved and advanced she is!  :-)

Anxious to go to school!

Dentist Visit

So this little cutie had a dental appointment on Wednesday afternoon.  All week she was really excited to go to the dentist.  We get there and they start the bite wings for the x-rays.  She makes it through the first two without too much issue, but when we get to the third one (where they get your back teeth) she threw a fit.  After a good ten minutes or so of trying to coax her into it (with even me trying to get it in), we finally gave up and just went into the next room for the cleaning.  At that point the dental assistant had lost Zuri's trust (and I wasn't high on her list at the moment either) so it took another fifteen minutes to convince her to lie back in the chair and permit the cleaning.  Three teeth were cleaned before she freaked out again and wouldn't let anyone near her.  She hid in the corner behind some chairs.

Another ten to fifteen minutes and we finally gave up and just pulled the dentist in so he could get a look at her teeth.  We had to literally hold her down kicking and screaming.  It was rough.  For such a little thing, she sure has a lot of strength.  The dentist was able to get a good look at her teeth though and pronounced "no cavities!"  He also said she was a ten out of ten on her fight.

Zuri has been to the dentist before and not had any issues.  With all the appointments that we have had for her, we haven't had to deal with anything like that.  She has been a champ through vaccines and blood draws.  I don't know what was different this time, but she definitely wasn't having any of it.  Hopefully, in six months the visit will go better! 

Labor Day Weekend

Saturday, we had a nurse all day for Kai, so we took advantage of the time and dropped Zuri off with my mom and went looking at houses, which was a bust.  Nothing really fit our needs; so we will keep looking.  J and I had a date night--we went to Texas Roadhouse and then to a movie (one we have been wanting to see since July but haven't had the opportunity).

Sunday night the nurse who was supposed to come had a "family emergency" and was unable to make it.  We didn't find out until after seven and we were having our Sunday dinner and games with my brother and sister-in-law.  They were so sweet and offered to stay overnight and help keep us awake.  We didn't take them up on the offer (as tempting as it was) and J and I took shifts.  J went to bed just before eleven and I stayed up until a quarter to six.  Zuri woke up at seven-thirty and came into the room with me.  She snuggled until eight-thirty.  Despite J's best efforts, she kept coming into the room and I was "up" before nine.  Needless to say, I was tired all day Monday for Labor Day.

I only mention it because we are starting to get really irritated with nurses calling off.  That was the third time in less than six weeks--and it only seems to happen on the weekend or holidays.  I just don't understand the lack of work ethic.  If the nurse calls off, the family is left without a nurse.  I am not supermom--I cannot function 24 hours around the clock.  I need my sleep.  We take care of Kai for 16 hours a day, plus we have another child to care for--we need that 8 hour break at night.  I understand something happening every now and then, but three times in less than six weeks?  Not cool.  I don't want to complain, but come on!

Getting back on track; for Labor Day we met up with J's family and went to the Tracy Aviary in Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.  My sister, McKenzie came along with us, and we took our first adventure out with Kai.  Although the weather was hot, we had a lot of fun.  Kai did really well for most of our trip, but he started getting fussy when we stopped for the rides after the aviary.

It has been years since I have been to Tracy Aviary, and a lot has changed.  We didn't watch a bird show, but the kids were more intent on going to the splash pool to get cooled off.  They did have fun with a couple of misters that were set out, though.

The kids were (obviously) most excited about the birds that were out in the open.  Peacocks ran all over the place, and there are a couple sections where you can get pretty close to the birds.  The aviary has pellet machines where you can feed the birds--the kids had a blast doing that.  Zuri had fun but wouldn't smile for the pictures.

After the aviary, Adilynn, Emery, and Zuri went on a little airplane ride (it swoops up and down as it goes in a circle).  McKenzie was too big for that ride, so she, Maria and Kynlee, and I went on the Ferris wheel.  McKenzie was a little nervous at first on the first couple of complete circles, but she enjoyed it.  Poor Kynlee was terrified for the first quarter of the ride, then Nolan was able to get her to smile (he was off the ride) and she was laughing by the time it was over.

The splash pools were our next destination (also in Liberty Park), and the kids had a blast splashing around in the freezing water.  We had a picnic, and not too long after we finished eating, Kai's ventilator beeped "low power" so we had to head back to the car for a power source.

The ventilator only goes for four hours on battery charge before it alarms low power.  At that point we have approximately 45 minutes to get it plugged in before it shuts off.  Scary.  For obvious reasons, we don't try to test the limits of the battery life.  We have a car adapter for the vent, but we have found that it doesn't charge the battery, it just keeps it from draining, so when we go places with Jeremy, we need to either have a power source or keep it under a four hour excursion.

We drove home with Kai's ventilator alarming at us most of the way.  He fell into a deep sleep the last five minutes of the drive and didn't even wake when he was moved from the car seat to his stroller to transport him inside. 

Patience and Persistence

Okay, time has come to spill the beans...J got a new job!  Ever since his internship in Georgia, he has been wanting this job, and through much patience and persistence, he has gotten it!  He is working as a Development Specialist in Salt Lake County!  No more long commutes!  He is back to a five day work-week though, which has been really nice having him home earlier in the day, but the trade-off is having to work Fridays.

His last day at DBH (his previous job) was Wednesday, and he started at the new job on Monday.  It worked out perfectly for our anniversary since J had already taken Thursday as a vacation day.  Today completes his first week and he is really enjoying the job.  He gets to work with a variety of people, and right now the store he is working in has a lot of refugees from Nepal.  He is getting a work phone (Utah area code--we still have California area codes on our phones) which he is really excited about.

J will miss his clients and coworkers at DBH, but he is looking forward to this new career.  With this new job there is a high probability of being able to move around the country (which I am really excited about).  I love exploring new places, and we count our summer in Georgia as one of the highlights of our marriage.  

Congratulations J!

Weekend in San Diego

For our 6th wedding anniversary this year we were originally planning on going to Hawaii, but funds ran short, so we altered our agenda for some beach fun in San Diego, California.  We left early in the morning Thursday, and came back Sunday evening.  We used all our respite hours for the month for Kai, and Zuri stayed with my mom, so we were kid free for the weekend!

The trip started out with a rainbow, and ended with a rainbow, and although we brought along three audiobooks to listen to for the long drive (it is just over ten hours each way), we only ended up listening to the audiobook for about half an hour and talked the rest of the time.  I absolutely love road trips for just that reason.  I absolutely love that I have a husband who will carry conversations for that amount of time (for those of you who know J, you know he loves to talk)--and all weekend.

San Diego was a beautiful 75 degrees during our stay.  It was overcast the majority of the time we were there, with a slight drizzle now and then, but it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves and taking advantage of being outside.

Our resort was located in downtown San Diego, so after we checked in, we spent the evening wandering downtown and looking for a good place to eat.  We went to a nice restaurant in Little Italy and enjoyed a relaxing meal.

After our meal, we headed back to our hotel and ended up falling asleep before ten, but we were up bright and early just after seven.  We walked to Balboa park and spent the day there.  We debated whether or not to go to the zoo (for those of you who don't know, the San Diego zoo is pretty fantastic), but in the end, we opted against it.  Instead, we wandered around Balboa Park (even after spending the day there we didn't even cover a quarter of it).  The architecture at Balboa Park is amazing!  It was so beautiful and intricate.  We saw several botanical gardens, not limited to, but including, the Japanese Tea garden, the Casa Del Rey Moro garden, and the rose and desert gardens.






As we walked the Japanese Tea Garden, we could hear the organ from a nearby organ pavilion.  It was really pretty and added to the atmosphere.









This multi-colored flower reminds me of Georgia!



Fire and ice roses used to be my favorite flower.  They are still beautiful--and among my top three, although orchids and lilies are my top two.  :-)


For dinner we went to Anthony's Fish Grotto and had some fabulous sea food as we looked out over the harbor.  We had a beautiful bay view from our table (below).



Some neat ships.




What trip to San Diego would be complete without going through a session at the gorgeous San Diego temple?  After the temple session we tried to get some frozen yogurt, but it was late enough that it was closed.  At that point we called it a night and went back to our hotel.


Saturday was spent at the beach.  We went to La Jolla Cove to see the tidal pools and watch the seals.  We wandered the beach, but didn't get in the water because the air was still a bit on the cool side.

We saw some snorkelers right next to the seals.  It was amazing how unaffected the seals were by all the people.



The kids actually got in the water and were playing all around that rock formation and the seals didn't even pay them any mind at all. 

This seal was injured on its tail, looked like something tried to take a bite, but otherwise the seal was fine.  The people around kept creeping in closer.  In this picture (I was on the pier above them) the seal is lifting its head, but mostly it ignored the people.  By the time we left, there was a crowd literally less than a dozen feet away (despite all the signs that clearly state to leave the wildlife alone).  I hope the seal is okay.


We went to lunch, stopped in at a local Bizarre and then headed to Encinitas Beach, where we took advantage of the surf and played in the water.  The beach was relatively deserted; just enough people not to make you nervous.  It was a rather large beach, and I had fun watching the lifeguard travel from one end to the other in his 4-wheeler (really, what a cushy job?).



When we had our fill of Encinitas Beach, we went over to WindanSea Beach.  Wow, that one was just beautiful--too bad we didn't go to that one first!  We weren't going to get back in the water, but the waves were just fun enough that we couldn't resist.  J was the first one to get in, and as I was following closely, the force of the outgoing tide knocked me off my feet and the incoming wave pushed me right into J, which tipped him over as well.  I got up, laughing and a little sand-burned on my thigh.  Wow, that was unexpected!  You definitely don't get waves/tides like that in Tahoe! ;-)





Sunday morning we got up early again and made the trek back home.  We had so much fun, but with all the walking and swimming we did, we were sore!  It sure felt good to get out and away though!  It was a great anniversary, and I am so grateful for J and to be married to my best friend.  It makes this roller-coaster of life a little more fun.  :-)