Summer summary

Let's catch up with what's happened over the last few months.

June started out with Ryan turning 3.  This kid is so full of personality and is hilarious, but I often feel he's under appreciated!  He talks a lot, and he often talks loudly and is sometimes hard to understand, but when you are willing to take the time to understand him you can catch some real gems that come out of his mouth. Also in June we set up the bunk beds, but he doesn't have any interest in sleeping in his "big boy" bed.  He did it for a few nights, but seems to prefer the containment of his crib, so he still sleeps there most nights.  He also has no interest in wearing underwear and being potty trained.  He likes being a little boy and doesn't want any of that to change.

The first week of June was also the last week of school for Alexis and Tyler.  Tyler "graduated" from kindergarten and all the kindergarten classes put on a really cute play showcasing some of the things they learned in class. Tyler loved kindergarten and made lots of friends, including his new best friend Gabe, who is sitting in front of him in this picture.  Alexis also made some great friends in 3rd grade, but she also had a REALLY tough year.  I think 8 is a hard age, but combined with a move and being in a classroom that was often very chaotic, she was often very emotional.  I was more than happy to get her out of school so we could have a summer to relax and distance ourselves from some tough situations and it was exactly what she needed.

 
During the second week of June we had a family reunion planned with Jeremy's family.  I debated about going since I would be 8 1/2 months pregnant and it was camping a few hours away from home, but I finally decided I could do.  I'm so glad I did because we had a lot of fun and I know I would have been lonely and bored if I just stayed home. I don't have any pictures of it because I forgot to take the camera!

I do have a picture of Ryan's face looking like this, though:

Two nights before the reunion I was driving home from picking Alexis up at a birthday party when Jeremy called to tell me he was on his way to the instacare with Ryan.  In the background I could hear Ryan crying hysterically, but Jeremy was very calm.  He didn't give me details but told me I could meet him there if I wanted to.  Of course I wanted to!  But when I was almost to the instacare he called and said they had to go to the ER instead because the instacare wouldn't treat Ryan.  At this point all I knew was that Ryan had fallen off his scooter and hurt his head and it was bleeding.  Fortunately Jeremy's brother lives right next to the hospital so I dropped Alexis off there, I knew she wouldn't do well with seeing Ryan upset, as well as seeing the blood.  After dropping her off I raced to the ER to see Ryan sitting on our neighbors lap (he had driven Jeremy there) while Jeremy was getting checked in.  The image of Ryan sitting there is one I wish I could erase but probably never will.  He was so incredibly upset, and had a giant bloody hole (yes, a HOLE!) on his forehead between his eyes.  It was so disgusting I could barely look at it.  Jeremy took a picture of it once I got Ryan calmed down, but I can't look at it even now, it's too upsetting to me.  Anyway, I took Ryan from our neighbor and they gave him a blessing, and then he calmed down quite a bit and even fell asleep on my shoulder.  But then they had to do a CT scan and had to put several layers of stitches in.  I wish they would have sedated him for the stitches because it was very traumatic.  They swaddled him in a blanket like you do with a baby, and had us hold his legs down while they numbed him and did the stitches.  He did pretty well at first, but I think he was really annoyed because their hands were right in his eyes while they were working, and at one point he tried to scratch his nose and when he realized he couldn't move his arms he got even more upset.  Finally they finished and we left the hospital and he was perfectly happy!  But I was super stressed about him for months following, even now I worry about him getting hurt.  When we took him back to get his stitches out, something that should have been easy, ended up being almost as traumatic.  His wound had scabbed over so they had to soak it for awhile, and then they tried taking the stitches out with the scab still in the way, and he was just as upset.  He clearly remembered the previous experience and wasn't happy to be there again.  Finally one of the male nurses completely sat on him to keep his arms to the side.  It was such an unpleasant experience that Tyler (I had taken the older two because I thought it would be quick and easy) started throwing up!  It was a pretty horrible day to say the least.

AND THEN!  Two weeks later, the night before I was due, Ryan fell off his scooter again and cut his forehead open AGAIN!  The first wound was actually caused because a neighbor kid hit him with his bike handle while Ryan was on his scooter.  This second time Ryan just fell off his scooter (which despite all this, he was actually really good at riding) and didn't catch himself so his head hit the cement and split, just by his eye.  I was on the other side of the house and I heard him crying and heard Alexis yell "Mom, Ryan fell", and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty.  I took off running (while 9 months pregnant) and saw blood all over his face and said, "You have got to be kidding me!" This time Jeremy wasn't home so I had Alexis call him, and I was able to stay relatively calm, mainly because I could tell the cut was MUCH smaller than last time.  So we cleaned him up a bit, gave him a Popsicle and decided to forgo the ER and just close it up ourselves.  Our kind neighbor who's a nurse came over and did it for us.  There was no way any of us could handle stitches again after the last time, and it's really healing up well.  And the best news is he hasn't done anything like it since! (Probably because I made Alexis throw his scooter in the trash immediately after he fell the second time.)

Moving on to more pleasant topics.

Jeremy's birthday fell on Father's Day this year, so I tried to make it an extra special day for him.  But again, I was very pregnant and very tired.

I also had a birthday, but it wasn't the greatest day so I'm not sharing those pictures. Also, the 26th of June marked the one year anniversary of my kidney donation.  We had Crystal and her family over for dinner a few days before to celebrate, and I was going to take a picture but I forgot!  (Seeing a theme here?)

But here's a picture of me a few days before I had a baby.  I didn't take many pictures of me pregnant, but I really didn't get as big as I usually do.

And then, on June 30th, Connor was born!  He was due on the 27th but I asked them to not induce me until later because I really wanted to see if I would go into labor on my own.  So they scheduled my induction for Monday July 1st, but on Sunday morning my water broke.  I kept waiting to have contractions but never did, so I finally went to the hospital around 3 pm.  They gave me Pitocin, so technically I still had to be "started" but I was just thrilled that my body did SOMETHING on it's own!  

Connor has been THE BEST baby, and is so loved by his older brothers and sister.  I expected Alexis to really love him, and I expected Tyler to like him, but I've been really surprised by just how much Tyler really likes him.  He wants to hold him all the time and play with him and talk to him.  He is the one that gives Connor the most attention and will often tell me what Connor's up to, if he's tired, if he's crying, if he's sleeping.  He'll usually say, "Mom, I think Connor's tired, he's got his tired eyes on."  I love that he's made up a phrase like "tired eyes"!  Ryan likes him too, but doesn't know how to be gentle with him.  Or how to not yell in his ear.  Connor is in for a loud life, though he himself is very calm and patient.  I'm hoping he'll continue to be the peacemaker in the family.

Sheesh, that was just June?  Fortunately July was much more uneventful.

Jeremy gave Ryan a mullet without asking me first.  4 days after I had a baby.  I wasn't too pleased. But I got used to it and we kept it like that for 2 months.

Jeremy took the kids out on the Rhino a few times.

 And the rest of the month was spent adjusting to having this new guy around.  He's pretty great.

This summer Tyler has taught himself how to swim and become quite the good swimmer.  He's good enough that I let him jump off the low dive at a local swimming pool.  The water was 13 feet deep, which always makes me nervous, but he did great.  After a few jumps he asked if he could do a front flip off the diving board!  He's crazy!

In the middle of August Alexis turned 9!  She was so excited for her birthday, and is at the age where things are starting to get expensive.  Here she is seeing the cake grandma made for her.  It had three different layers of three different flavors of cake! 

One thing she really wanted this year was an iPod.  So she got one! One of the best things about Alexis is how excited she gets when you give her something.  Whether it's big or little, she loves to receive gifts and always makes it worth the giver's while.  So it was equally exciting for us to give her the iPod.

Here's a picture of Connor with my sister's son, Jackson, who was born two weeks before Connor.  These little cousins are going to be so fun to watch grow up together.

Grandma with her arms full...just the way she likes it!

The day after Alexis' birthday was one of my most exciting days of the summer...the first day of school!  Tyler went off to first grade and Alexis went to fourth.

For awhile I felt guilty about how desperately I needed them to go to school.  You often hear of moms talk about how sad they are when their kids start school, and how much they love to have them around.  In fact, I think I've written that on this blog a time or two.  And I started to wonder if maybe I wasn't as good a mom as those other moms, but then I realized a few things.  One being that I have four kids now, which is more time consuming and demanding than when I had two, so I think it's perfectly natural to enjoy having less kids around for part of the day.  And second, I'm not a high energy noisy person.  I've always been mellow and I've always needed my space and my quiet and time to myself.  And as I said before, I have four kids which means life is always loud and I'm NEVER alone.  So by sending two of those kids off to school I have a greater chance of having some downtime at some point, and having a quieter day so when they come back I can appreciate them even more.  Phew!  I do love my children after all!

Do you know what else I love?  My mammoth sunflowers!  I planted these in May and have been patiently waiting all summer for them to bloom.  It's probably safe to say that I'm obsessed with them.  I check on them multiple times a day and am so fascinated with how big they get.  It's hard to tell from this picture, but they are pretty tall.  From the ground to the top of the gutter is 11 feet, and a few of them go past the gutter.  One is 12 feet tall!!  I've done a little research since planting these and am really excited to try and make them even bigger next year.

 

This summer was also our first summer gardening.  Probably planting a garden while 8 months pregnant and then trying to care for it when you have a newborn is not the greatest idea, but it's been a lot of fun anyway.  I have lots to learn and I'm excited to try again next year, but I've loved it.  I took this picture below to remind myself next year to try and contain my tomato plants better next year.  I think they are the most unruly tomato plants I've ever seen.  But they sure do produce a lot of tomatoes!  Probably too many tomatoes...

Jeremy spent all summer constructing these cornhole boards.  He made two sets, and I'm sure he could have got them done sooner if it weren't for the new baby.  But he had fun building them and got to exercise his creativity a bit.  He's so talented!

And finally, last Sunday Jeremy blessed Connor at church.  He's 8 weeks old now and I can hardly believe it!  The time has flown by and I'm try to snuggle him up every spare minute I can because he's growing up already way too quickly.  Life is starting to return to normal, which is nice, but this is the first time I have loved having a newborn.  Why can't I learn to appreciate things sooner??

He does smile now, but I couldn't get him to smile on Sunday while I was trying to take his picture.

But then Alexis came along and he was all smiles!

I might be biased, but that's the cutest group of kids I've ever seen.

And that wraps up our Summer summary! 

the "little boy"

You know how people always tell you to not wish away the times when your kids are young and with you constantly because when they get older you see less of them?  Yet when you have toddlers you think it's not possible that they will ever go away?  Well, I can see it happening with Alexis already.  She still needs plenty of things from me, but I've realized lately that I don't see her as much as I used to.  Between being at school all day, piano, tumbling, activity days, friends, homework, her new favorite computer game, and reading, our interactions have dwindled.  The boys still follow me around like I've got candy falling out of my pockets (Tyler because he's bored and Ryan because he's that age), so it's not that I'm lonely, but I do miss my frequent interactions with Alexis.  That's one reason why family dinner every night is a priority to me, and I've also learned that it's not such a bad thing to sit down with her while she does her homework even if she doesn't need my help.  But more importantly, I've seen that if we are interacting less frequently I better do my best to make as many of those as positive as I can.  So I guess I should also learn to better appreciate every morning that Tyler is still following me around asking, "What can I doooooooooooo?" because those times will soon be gone too.

On another note, see this kid right here?



I happen to think he's the bees knees.

Sometimes when I have a two-year-old I start to worry that I'm playing favorites, but then I remember that the child is not my favorite (I love them all the same...), but the age is most definitely my favorite.  And since they were all two once, they all had their chance at being the favorite!

Anyway, I am enamored with Ryan as a two-year-old.  In my eyes he can do no wrong (except on occasion), and everything he says is captivating and funny.  I'm pretty sure most people feel the same about him, though my vision might be a bit clouded by my bias as his mother. Nearly every night I ask Jeremy, "are you SURE our other kids were this cute when they were two?" He assures me that they were.

Lately Ryan's into telling me things are boring.  Anything he doesn't want to do is boring.  Eating dinner is boring.  Wearing any jammies that aren't his doggy jammies is boring.  Going to bed is boring. Sitting in his car seat is boring. And when he's mad at me (or anyone) he says, "I'm not playing with you mom!" He knows that's the ultimate punishment.

Alexis has trained him to call her "Alexis Mommy".  One time she told him to call me "Lisa Mommy" but I put an end to that real fast.  I didn't give birth to the child just to have equal ranking with his sister.  So during the day he'll ask "When's Alexis Mommy coming home?"  He loves her and misses her a lot while she's gone.  I'm sure he would miss Tyler too if Tyler were gone all day instead of just part of the day.  Because that part when he's home? He makes himself unmissable by torturing Ryan constantly.

Ryan also seems really unwilling to give up his status as the baby, and I don't think it has anything to do with the prospect of a new baby either.  He just likes being a "little boy".  I asked him if he wanted to sleep in a big bed and he declined, saying he liked his crib.  He has never once acted interested in sitting on a toilet seat, and if you ask him to he absolutely refuses.  If you make the mistake of calling him a "big boy" he will correct you and tell you he's a "little boy", except at the times when he wants to do something the big kids are doing, then he's all of a sudden a "big boy".

And his hair?

I don't even know what to do about it.  A HUGE part of me doesn't want to cut it, but another part of me knows that it needs to get cut.  He's starting to look a little girly, and he has such a cute face that is hidden behind all that hair.  But it's so thick and curly on the ends and such a pretty color that I just can't cut it, but...he's not a girl. His nursery teachers have joked about signing a petition saying we can never cut it, but we may have to disappoint them.  What would you do?

And to end it, a picture of two handsome boys in a moment free:of torture.

5 1/2 months later...

Do you think I've put off blogging long enough that no one even reads this anymore?  I do, but it looks like I'll blog again anyway.

This move has been a little rough for me.  I knew I was bad at change, but I guess I'm finding out just how bad at it I really am.  And to top it off, I'm pregnant with baby #4 (boy #3), and being pregnant really sucks the life out of me.  So, there are my excuses...

Let's recap what we've been up to since September:

*Alexis was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was great and we love her.  She definitely adds some pizzazz to our family.  And I love Ryan in the second picture--he almost has me fooled into believing that he's not the constantly moving insane child that he actually is because he looks like an angel there.

*Tyler lost some teeth.  Pardon the dirty fingernails.

*We enjoyed the fall leaves and did some exploring up the canyons that we now live by.

*In October Tyler turned 6 (Oh my...) and had a soccer themed birthday party:

*He also finished up his soccer season.  Tyler seems to be a natural at soccer, but he has a tendency to fall down a lot.  I think this was his last game, and he probably fell down a million times.  We started taking a picture after each time because it was happening SO much.  Obviously he's not on the ground in this picture, but I love it because it shows how hard he works.  He doesn't ever slow down during the game, he's so excited to be out there and he knows the meaning of the word "hustle".

*Jeremy and I also took a Rhino trip without the kids.  It wasn't supposed to be this cold when we planned it, but that's the way it worked out.  I have NEVER been that cold in my life.  Jeremy has taken me out four wheeling in some pretty cold temperatures, but this was by far the worst, so we spent most of the time hanging out in our cabin instead of on the trails. I felt bad for ruining his fun, but he was a good sport about it, and I think he was a little glad that I was there to force us back because it was cold even for him.

 

*We went to a local nature park to feed the ducks and we were swarmed!  I'm a little afraid of geese (I know, I'm a sissy), so it made me nervous.  But Ryan obviously loved it. 

*Then Halloween happened.  It was the best weather I remember having on Halloween in a long time.  Here we have a punk rocker, a transformer (Ryan's costume was a bit snug on him...) and Wolverine, ready to trick-or-treat at dad's office.

 *In November we planted some fruit trees (maybe that happened in October), and Jeremy poured some cement and moved our shed from one corner of the yard to the other.  That involved screwing some 2x4's inside of it, and having about 20 guys over to lift it by the 2 x4's and walk it across the yard.  It provided some great Saturday morning entertainment for me, but Tyler slept right through it and was really disappointed that he missed it.

*We also had our first real snow, so we took advantage of the empty lots around us and tied a sled to the back of the Rhino and pulled our kids and the neighbor kids around.

*We decorated our Christmas tree, and eventually the rest of the house for Christmas.  Including hanging Christmas lights on the house for the first time ever!

*Alexis and Tyler baked a cake basically all by themselves!  They were very proud and it was delicious.  And it gave me the idea to have each of them help me make dinner once a week, in the hopes that by the time they are teenagers they will know how to cook so I can put them to work!  So far they have loved it and no one has chopped off a finger or burned themselves!

*Ryan tried (unsuccessfully) to dress himself, and was really cute in the process.  His hair has gotten longer and we've successfully rid him of the pacifier...when he's awake.  He can have it when he sleeps only because I want him to continue to sleep, especially in the middle of the day so I can have some time to myself.

*Tyler fell off his bike and skinned his forehead.  And then they all got new helmets for Christmas.

*Then there was Christmas.  We did Christmas morning on our own this year, then got together with family later.  Christmas morning is always so fun when kids are involved. Jeremy likes to build suspense and make them wait in the hall as long as he can get away with.  It's pure torture for them and me.

*Alexis and Tyler both got some badly needed new scooters and a whole bunch of other stuff that I can't remember (helmets!).  Alexis did get a bunch of new clothes, including some black boots that she's worn everyday since Christmas.  She also got another American Girl doll from one Grandma and a painted chest (for her AG doll) with hangers and a beautiful dress from the other Grandma.  Tyler got a lot of Lego's, which he sometimes loves and sometimes hates.  Ryan didn't get a whole lot because he doesn't care, but Santa brought him a toy workshop with lots of tools and he got some new monster trucks. He also raided every one's stockings and ate all their candy while they were distracted with their new stuff.

*We went sledding with Aunt Ashley.  Ryan didn't love it so he and I sat at the bottom of the hill and watched everyone else sled.

*We spent New Years Eve in Lehi with good friends (and good food) and family.  And then January and February happened, and with it, A LOT of snow.  Sadly I hardly took any pictures during these months, and the ones I took are on my phone.  Jeremy went on a business trip to Laredo, TX.  He was born there and hasn't been back since he was a baby, so it was fun for him to see.  We missed him...especially since it snowed constantly while he was gone.  Also during those months Alexis started piano lessons, Jeremy built a 10 foot wall/replica of a living room in our garage for his dad's booth at the boat show, and the rest of us tried to not go crazy being cooped up in the house all the time.  But now it's March, you're all caught up on our life (at least the stuff I remembered to add), and I can feel spring on it's way.  We've been dreaming of yard work and how to set up our garden, and the kids can't wait until we get the trampoline we've promised them.  Hopefully then they will stop doing flips on my couch!

learning new things

I mentioned in my last post that this move has been tough for us, and I suspect it will be for awhile, but I'm trying to focus on the positive.  I deal with bouts of homesickness and loneliness, but I generally don't believe in dwelling on the past when nothing can be done about it.  So, I'm here, I'm trying to make the best of it. The town we moved to is half the size of our old town, population wise.  And it definitely has much more of a country feel to it, especially the part of it that we live in.  So because of that, my kids and I are having more encounters with wildlife.

So far we've learned that Ryan is allergic to mosquitoes.  Fortunately, we have lots of mosquitoes here to teach us that.  The poor kid has been eaten alive and has some weird looking bumps on his skin to prove it.

Every morning we wake up to birds all over the house and the empty lots behind us and next to us.  And the other night I heard an owl hooting somewhere outside!

Because we live by the "stinky salt lake" (as Ryan puts it), we have plenty of flies that make their way into our house.  That's allowed me to develop a new hobby--fly swatting.  I suspect its not much longer before I can go pro.

Last week we passed a field of horses when Ryan yelled out "cows!"  I got to correct him and teach him what horses are. (Actually, there were horses in our old town too, I was kind of embarrassed that he got that one wrong!)

And this morning as Tyler was eating breakfast he noticed some mating bugs on the window.  He went and tapped the glass, trying to get them to move.  When that didn't work he resorted to banging on the glass, and finally concluded that they must be dead.  Alexis came out a few minutes later and immediately started tapping the glass, then banging on it, then came to the same conclusion.  Looks like it might be time to teach my kids about the birds and the bees...and the bugs.

Speaking of bugs, there are waaaaaaay to many earwigs for my liking out here.  We had a lot of earwigs in Sacramento when I was a kid and I've had an extreme hatred for them ever since.  I usually don't kill bugs that are outside, only the ones inside my house, but I make an exception for earwigs.  Those get killed no matter where they are.

Other things not related to wildlife:

We live down the road from an air force base, so everyone up this way is used to jets flying overhead and pretty much ignore it.  My kids still look up at every single plane that flies over and get excited about it.  Ryan always points and yells "Jet Tub!!", because he learned about jet tubs before jets and can't seem to separate the two words.

Our neighbors all have gardens and all have been very welcoming, so we've had lots of fresh veggies and lots of zucchini bread--both wonderful things!

The other night I was in Alexis' room helping her with homework while watching Tyler out the window.  There was a little dirt and gravel in the gutter in front of our house, so he would ride his bike down to the end of the cul-de-sac to get up some speed, and then hit the brakes as soon as he got to the dirt and gravel.  The bike would skid sideways, and once he'd stopped he would turn around and study the line he'd made with his bike tire.  Then he'd get back on the bike and do it all over again.  I called Jeremy in to watch it, and a look of pride came upon his face because he used to do the same thing as a kid, but had never taught Tyler to do it.  And I was proud of Tyler because after trying it the first time he decided on his own that he should probably be wearing his helmet, so he went and put it on.

And this morning was the first morning we've had before school that didn't feel extremely chaotic.  Even though I've got a schedule, our mornings still seem off, so I guess they'll just take practice.  In the meantime I'll take any morning I get that isn't too crazy.

So wish us luck as we continue to settle in and get used to our new lives here.  We miss our family and friends we left behind and talk about them everyday, but we are grateful for our new space and all the experiences we'll have here.

maxed out of summer

Whew.  Summer, for all intents and purposes, is over!  I have always loved summer, but this summer has been a doozy for everyone in my little family.  It's been emotionally and physically draining, and I don't think a one of us is sorry to see it go.  Also, this summer I experienced a brain malfunction unlike any I've ever experienced, even while pregnant.  You'll see hints of it throughout my retelling of the summer events.  I sure hope I find my brain again soon because I have missed it, and I'm tired of cleaning up the messes that occur when I don't think.  I guess I could spread this post out into a million little posts that would touch more on each topic, but that's not my style.  I know myself well enough to know that it would never get done, so I'm just going to lump it all together right now.  Hopefully I don't leave anything out...

This is him showing you that he's two!

June started out with Ryan's 2nd birthday.  This is great news because I honestly and sincerely believe that 2-year-olds are among God's greatest creations.  Sure, they are emotional and struggling with independence, but the cute things they do far outweigh all of that.  So I'm going to enjoy the next year before he turns three, because I do not appreciate 3-year-olds nearly as much.


Two weeks later my brother's family came to town and we went to the zoo.  It was a lot of fun to see them, yet somehow I don't have a single picture of it.  How is that possible?  That same weekend Jeremy had a birthday, and I also don't have any pictures of that.  Brain malfunction.



A week after Jeremy's birthday I had my 30th birthday.  30!  Kind of a big deal, but it got overshadowed this year by a few other bigger events.  I do have a picture of this, but only because Jeremy was in charge of the camera and his brain was working fine.


Two days after my birthday I had surgery, which I talked about in the previous post.  But before having surgery we headed up the canyon for a fun family night/picnic and so I could take a few pictures with the kids for them to keep while I was gone.


The night before surgery I dropped my kids off at my in-laws, which was very hard to do.  I've left them before, and it's always a little sad, but this time was extra hard because I knew I was going in for major surgery and the worrier in me took over.  Plus, Alexis was old enough to know what was happening, and was a little worried too. After leaving them I met Jeremy in Salt Lake for dinner before he went to a concert of one of his favorite bands, Wilco.  He's been waiting for them to come here for a long time and I was supposed to go with him originally, but then I found out that I had to drink a laxative before surgery, and I didn't want to be taking care of that business at a concert.  So I went home, drank my laxative, turned on a movie, and waited for something to happen.  Nothing did until 4 AM, which means I could have gone to the concert instead of sitting home alone, missing my kids and worrying about surgery.


Surgery at the end of June meant that July was spent recovering.  We had so many good people around us that wanted to help.  I had more help than I knew what to do with at times, and I think that's part of what made my recovery go so quickly.  I was in the hospital from Tuesday to Friday, and then Jeremy took a few days off work, and between him and my mom I had full-time help with the kids for the first week.  Then the two weeks following that I took care of them in the mornings, and in the afternoons the older two kids would go play at friends houses while Ryan and I napped. In addition to the babysitting people brought in dinner, a few breakfasts, and random snacks and treats, and constantly checked in on us to make sure we were okay.  If we would not have had all that care and attention the kids would have been in much worse shape.  Even with all that, by the end of July they were quite stir-crazy and just out of sorts because their life was a little unsettled and their mom wasn't behaving normally.  Jeremy was a true champ to step in and take over a lot of my responsibility, and even worked in a few Rhino trips with the kids.




A week and a half after surgery, Jeremy and I celebrated our 10th anniversary.  Yet another event that's kind of a big deal, but got overshadowed by other bigger events.  We did go to an outdoor concert at Thanksgiving Point that was a lot of fun, but completely wiped me out!  Again, no pictures.



By the end of July I was feeling well enough to take the kids out to do things, though I still couldn't pick any of them up, and any outing completely wore me out.  We went swimming with cousins (still, no pictures), attended a few birthday parties, and went to the aquarium in Sandy.  Look!  A picture!


August started out with a last minute thrown together birthday party for Alexis.  Good thing she has a summer birthday--water parties are usually pretty easy to plan!


Then later in the week we had Jeremy's family reunion in Great Basin National Park (that's in Nevada).  It was fun, and we actually have tons of pictures, but I'll just share one of us crowded under a canopy during a seriously cool rainstorm.


Jeremy and I were in charge of planning it this year, and despite everything else that we had going on, everything actually got done and it seemed like everyone had fun.  Though the day before we left I did a countless number of stupid things (because of my brain malfunction), including starting a pretty large fire in our grill by neglecting to take out the cooking utensils.  I wish I didn't have a picture of that...


The week of the reunion also marked 6 weeks since surgery, which was when I was technically allowed to lift heavy things.  Even now, a month later, I still love being able to pick up Ryan and snuggle him--not being able to pick him up was easily the hardest part of recovery. 


The week after the reunion is when things got REALLY crazy.  All spring and summer we had been house hunting, and in July finally had decided on a home, about an hour north of where we lived.  Making the decision to buy that house was extremely emotionally hard, and then everyday after was harder and harder as the move became a reality and I started to really realize everything that would be changing and all the things I'd have to say goodbye to.  Moving is always tough, but this seemed extra tough to me.  But we couldn't deny that the timing of everything was working out perfectly.  We had wanted to move by the time school started, and the new school district started school two weeks after our old school district, which we needed because we were homeless for a week. 

We decided to keep the town home that we lived in for the last 7 years and rent it out, and we happened to have some good friends that wanted to rent it from us.  It has been a huge, undeniable blessing to have renters fall into our laps, with no extra work from us to find them, and have them be people that you know will take care of your home.  But we needed to put in a little work to make it suitable for renters, including getting new carpet.  Jeremy and I tore out the carpet ourselves, which made for a late night but was fun to do together.


Even though we both knew that it was time for us to move, it was definitely bittersweet. That little town home has been our home for the last seven years.  I brought two of my three babies home from the hospital there, we had many milestones there, made many friends there, and experienced a lot of emotional and spiritual growth there.  It was very hard to leave, but things always change sometime, and we knew without a doubt that it was time for this change.

We said goodbye to that house 2 days before Alexis' birthday. We hadn't yet closed on the new house, so we moved in with my parents who were kind enough to open their home to us, even though they had also just moved weeks before. Then, on the 18th, Alexis turned 8 and celebrated by getting her ears pierced!  Following that, we spent several days with NOTHING to do.  It was a nice change of pace considering everything we had just gone through, and everything we had ahead of us.

Finally, the last weekend of August, we moved into our new home.  We do love our new home and all the extra space we now have, but it's going to take awhile for all of us to adjust to the change.  Last week was easily the HARDEST week I have ever experienced with the kids.  The end of summer is always hard anyway, as kids are antsy and ready to get back to school and a routine, but then you add the upheaval of a move, the uncertainty of a new school/new neighborhood/new friends, missing old friends and familiar faces, and the cumulative effects of the rest of the summer, and you have a recipe for disaster.  Constant fights, meltdowns, tears, tantrums, etc.

We ended that week with Alexis' baptism (go here to learn more), a visit from dear friends, a trip on the Rhino, and a BBQ with family.

Which brings us to today, my first real day with Alexis at school all day, Tyler at school in the afternoon during Ryan's nap, and me enjoying some much needed (and deserved) quiet downtime.  I had quite a bit of anxiety of the kids starting at a new school where they wouldn't recognize anyone, but Alexis came home yesterday saying that it was "the best first day of school ever!"  More proof to me that prayer works.  And despite the fact that I can tell I'm still experiencing a brain malfunction, I did manage to take pictures of them yesterday.  (But today I forgot to make Alexis a lunch for school or to fix Tyler's hair.)

And now I hope that fall goes much more smoothly, and that we all settle in and adjust very soon!