Jared’s First Day

Today Jared started his intership (well at least the training for it).  After having him around for about a week and a half I’m wondering if I’ll miss him like crazy (or if he will miss me) or if I’ll be grateful to manage my time without input.  He’s already called me twice so I think he might miss me!  I’ve got a bit more done in a morning then I have lately…dinner is in the crockpot and I’m working on some curtains. 

I enjoy our apartment here, it’s the nicest set-up that we’ve had inside an apartment.  I do miss my friends, family and the ward that I moved from though.  Yesterday I was missing my own ward where I already have friends that I had to go in the ladies room to shed some tears (blasted hormones).

We’ve become quite the early risers (probably it’s the heat that wakes me up with the sun as well as the time change).  So we were all ready for the day and eating breakfast together this morning when Jared was ready to leave.  Here are my two boys saying good-bye for the day (do you notice the healthy glow they are both getting slowly?)

 

Here’s Christian happy to be left as man of the house for the day to keep mommy all to himself!

Stake Road Show

Saturday was the Stake road show.  It was really interesting to see what the people had come up with.  There were 5 shows and two of them were based off the Wizard of Oz….  Weird huh?  The last two were my favorite the one being “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” to the temple.  The last one was about likening the scriptures to ourselves where these two boys went back in time to meet the Book of Mormon characters, Nephi, Captain Moroni, and Samuel the Lamanite.  The best thing about this one is someone made up parodies to the Primary songs that fit.  They were hilarious.

 

This is a picture of the one where they followed the road to the temple (Sorry so grainy it’s from my phone)….notice the Mesa Temple (at first I was wondering what the square building was…I’m apparently not a native).  A good line from this one was “I’m not superstitious…just slightly-stitious”.  My favorite part of this was when the flying monkeys had a big sign they held up of all of the temptations and then Glenda came and gave them balloons that represented the values they needed to float over the temptations…very creative (a young women’s leader must have written it).

Here’s Christian making friends and eating snacks while watching the show.  He’s been trying to make friends too.  He was really excited with a darling baby girl sitting behind us and wants his baby sister to look like her…too bad there’s not much chance for me to have a brown eyed beauty!

I Found a Gold Mine!

 

Okay…maybe a fabric store but this place is AMAZING!!!  They have all kinds of materials for incredible prices.  I got material for sheers at $1.99 a yard, and material for my Christmas quilt at $2.49 a yard (when I know that at other places I would have had to pay at least $4.99 for what I got).  I also found some pretty white satin brocade for $1.99 to make a blessing dress out of.  I’m so excited.  Most of their trims are $0.25 to $2.00 per yard and they have tons of them.  They do have so material that is above $10 but it’s embroidered with sequins or other elaborate stuff that I really don’t know if I’ll ever need much of.  It’s called SAS Fabric By the Pound and I’ve already been there twice this week. 

I guess this is one giant perk of my moving out here with no friends….I have some projects to keep me busy and a shop to keep me out of the red. 

Here’s Christian being my big helper and following me around with the pretty green for my Christmas quilt.  I’m so excited about this place.  I’d better get to work before Jared forbids me to go back there again!

Taking an Unpacking Break

We’ve been here for about a week.   Mostly it’s been done to business (like packing, finding stores, setting up insurance…etc) but we have taken time for pleasure as well.  We’re really enjoying our pool (remember this you who are thinking about visiting us, it is a perk)!

This is from my camera phone when Christian first started to try to swim on his own.  He’s been incredibly clingy in the water up to this point but this day he actually  would let us let go (he’s still in a life jacket so it’s not like he doesn’t have help).  I’m so proud that he’s doing so well.  Maybe he will become a water baby!

We’re Here! We’re Here! We’re Here!

After a lot of hard work, drama, and driving; we’ve made it to our new place!

 

Hard Work:

Wednesday morning we went and picked up the truck from Penske and then came to our apartment.  There were a couple of guys there to help us load the truck at first until each left for work.  We were trying to at least get the house empty by 2pm when our inspection was scheduled.  We thankfully found some more people to help us get our stuff out of the apartment by about 1:30.  Some very sweet sisters in our ward came and helped me with the remainder of the house (most had been done the couple of days before)and miraculously we finished about a second before the inspector came.  Thankfully we got a full refund of our deposit!  He told me that he didn’t care when we left as long as it was by midnight which is very good because of drama #2.

 

Drama:

1. My friend Amy moved the fridge back for me (I know I’m a little bit of a wimp when I’m pregnant). We were cleaning behind it and I couldn’t believe the dust bunnies!  There was one huge flat one that wouldn’t vacuum up and then I realized IT HAD A TAIL!  I screamed my blood curdling scream and got John (the only remaining guy besides Jared at that point) to take it out.  He got it with two sticks and then Jared came in and we explained the situation and he cleaned it up with some disinfectant.  I was sure their was a peculiar smell in my apartment.  I’m totally grossed out!

2. Once the inspection was over, Jared came into the apartment to tell me that there just wasn’t enough room in the 16-foot truck for all of our things.  When you read on the truck description that a 16-foot truck is good for a 2-3 bedroom apartment—don’t be fooled like we were!  He ended up on the phone for quite a while trying to get a hold of Penske to get a bigger truck.  When we finally were told that we could get a 26-footer, the RS President (thank you Angie), Jared, and I called around to find some guys to help us unload and reload the truck.  Then Angie, Jared and I went out and started unloading the truck.  Once guy showed up and then Jared took the truck and more guys showed up so we moved the stuff outside our door to right where the truck was to be parked.  Once Jared came back there were even more guys there to help us reload the truck and it went pretty fast.  Thank you!  Thank you to everyone who helped us get out including Brooke who kept us fed and Kristal who watched Christian!

 

Driving:

We got in the truck and went to our shed and picked up all of the baby things we would need in the next year.  Then we stopped by to say good-bye to my grandma before we left.  After that, we were on our way to Kanabe.

Tip: Expect a lot of delays when you’re pregnant and driving a car with a three-year-old who’s newly potty trained.  Hopefully, if you’re following a truck it has a cap at 70 mph and the speed limit is 85 mph…it helps to catch up with them after potty breaks!

We got into Kanabe by 12:30 a.m.  I’m so glad we decided long ago to break up the driving.

The next morning we left around 9:30 and got into Phoenix by 6:00 pm (Utah) time.  The wonderful thing was that it was Utah time and not AZ time because they don’t do daylight savings here!  So were were actually here at the time we originally planned.  Nice how things work out.

 

 

The elders from our new ward were here right at 6 pm ready to help us unload.  The manager of our apartments is this cute lady named Anna who was very impressed by the help we received from our church and she was very sweet herself and made dinner for us.  Very thoughtful of her!

So far, everyone here has been quite welcoming and kind to us which I very much appreciate.  I’m so glad that I belong to the church I do….though not all people in it are very thoughtful, there are many gems that I’ve met that I’m so grateful for!

Hanging Out At Grandma and Grandpa’s

Tuesday night as we packed up our house to leave the next morning, my sister Julie and her husband were sweet enough to come over and help us box up the remainder of our apartment.  They left their little girl with my mom and dad where Christian was staying as well.  He was so happy to have his cousin with him.  When we finally finished packing and got back to my mom’s for the night this is the scene that was being played out.  It was very sweet!

       

 

New book…Christian wanted to see better!

 

 

Saying goodbye to Lily for a while!

   

Thank you Julie and Jake for all of your help!  I couldn’t have done it without you!!!

Dayna Drop In

The Monday before our move, my good friend Dayna dropped by my mom’s house.  She moved to a hot place on Wednesday as well but in her case it was Las Vegas to be with her fiancé.  So now we’re both living in hot weather with no friends besides the man closest to us…funny how life works out isn’t it?

      

Here’s Christian with her…children just love her.  I guess that’s why she went into teaching!

Lunch with the Girls

The Monday before we moved, I got together with two of my best girlfriends from High School.  We had lunch and caught up a bit on our lives.  It was really a fun time for me and I’m so glad that they made an effort to get together amidst their busy lives.

  Poor Shawna is being bombarded by Charisse and my bellies.  I guess I always was the short one around these two!  They are some of the best friends I could ever ask for.

 

Here is a shot of my two cute cousins who made it possible for me to get away without Christian.

 

Thanks to everyone for making my day so fun!!!

Sunday Dinner

Jared’s sister Deborah is borrowing my piano while we’ve moved out of state.  She invited us to dinner the Sunday before our move so that we could tour her new house.  Christian had a lot of fun playing with his cousin Trystan.

Here are some shots of Christian giving “one more hug” to her before we left!

 

 

Thank you Deborah for babysitting my piano and the lovely dinner!

Bear Lake Trip

Though we had a move coming up, we felt it was still a priority to go to Bear Lake this year and be with our family.  Christian has wanted to go to a beach ever since he played the Curious George “Building a Sandcastle” game on www.pbskids.com.  This year was fun as we stayed at someone’s house that we borrowed and then had a private beach to play on.

The first day with all of the packing for both the move and the lake slowed us down a lot. We didn’t arrive at the lake until about 1 pm and then we ate lunch and headed down to the beach for some sun and sand (and wind).

 

 

Helping Cousin Zachery build a sandcastle.

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back for more sand.

Hanging out with his girl cousins.

“Look!  I found a gun!!!” (wonderful)

 

 

At one point he took his water socks off and was afraid to get out of the water because he didn’t want to get his feet dirty.

  

 

Here’s my uncle Steve and his newest fashion creations…

 

 

Check out this hot guy I got to spend the day with!

 

Christian trying out his new float toy..more or less.

 

 

We told him to go test it out…but he decided to go find some different people to chill with…. I think I need find a way to emphasize stranger danger!  At least he’s not shy?!

 

 

My cousin Carly graced us with some tunes.

 

Here’s Christian checking out the giant hole in the sand his cousins created.

 

Looking for tiny seashells.

 

 

 

Christian figured out a way to get as much sugar in his body as possible!

The second day it rained quite a bit and so we hung around the house for a while and then some of the group went to the hot tub.  I stayed at the house so that I wouldn’t poach my stomach.

After lunch we all watched Sandlot and then pretty much everyone left.  It was a fun year…a little different  than the others but I’m glad we came.  Who knows if we’ll be able to go for a couple of years!?!  It’s nice to be part of a family that though we have some differences basically have the same beliefs which will hopefully help install good beliefs in Christian.  Plus I hope he can see that it’s fun to get to know his extended family as well.

“But still I love technology…”

This morning was my ultrasound!  I love ultrasounds!

They dated me at 19 weeks and 2 days which I thought was interesting since I thought I wasn’t 19 weeks until tomorrow.  My new due day is January 4th 2010.  I guess we’ll see when the baby really wants to come and then we’ll really know what my due date is since I’ve been told the 9th, the 7th, and now the 4th.  How odd “guess dates” can be!

 

 

Here’s the baby’s sweet profile…darling huh?

 

 

 

 

Here are the feet and legs.

 

 

 

And it’s a ….

 

GIRL!!!

 

Christian’s been telling me since we told him that he was going to be a big brother that it is a girl.  Last year he used to beg me for a baby sister.  When I told him last night that we were going to find out what kind of baby we’re having he looked at me like I was crazy and said “Duh, well I already know that it’s a girl”.  Then I asked him if it was a boy what he would think and his reply was, “Well, it’s not a boy.”  So I guess he had some inside info or something.

Personally, I’m very excited to have a baby girl to dress up and sew fun things for!

Time for a Haircut!

I have a love/hate relationship with Christian’s hair.  I’m never sure if I like it best longer with his curls or short.  One thing I know I don’t like is the in between stage (which it ends up being most of the time while I make up my mind whether to take action and get it cut or wait it out for a while until the curls are cutest).

I finally caved after seeing him one too many times with his head just covered in sweat from the heat and hair combo after playing outside for about 15 minutes.  His hair is getting thicker and thicker.  I know he didn’t get that from me.  Lucky boy.  I am just afraid that if I have girls they will get my hair….

Check out all that hair!!

Now he looks about a year older.  I hate that!  My baby is growing way too fast.

Thanks mom for the haircut it’s really cute..even if it makes my boy look so old.

Summer Outings

Despite the crazy summer we’ve experienced so far, I’ve been able to take Christian to a couple of fun places.  I’m showing the most recent to the furthest just for those of you who may have already seen some of these pictures already.

 

These are the pictures from “The Living Planet Aquarium” where we as a family yesterday.  Christian really had a fun time feeding the stingrays and it was pretty enjoyable to watch him wiggle and squeal after he touched one.

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Here are pictures from the day Jared, My mom and I swung by “Thanksgiving Point” with Christian to go to the Petting Zoo on our way to Provo when my dad was in the ICU and we couldn’t see him until after the staff meeting.

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Here are pictures from our adventure to “This is the Place Monument Park” With our Andrus cousins earlier in July.

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These are pictures from going to the zoo with my sister Julie and her daughter Lily.

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These pictures are from visiting Tracy Aviary and then Liberty Park on Jared’s day off.

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I’m not sure that he will remember this summer but it is a possibility…I hope he has fond memories of the times we’ve spent together if he does.