Catch Up: December 2010, various activities.

So, this isn't technically my Christmas post, but here's some of December's activities.

Along with Kenny's sisters and their families we made the trip to the Ritz Carleton in Laguna to see the Christmas displays. Always a fun time, but this year was particularly interesting now that we've doubled the kids. We attempted to get a picture with all four...

This was the best one.

Not that we didn't try. A lot.




This next one is blury, obviously, but whatever. I still like it. Lola and Lucy. Born just 12 days apart. They're both turning 1 this month!
A tired girl..
Hud treated us all to fresh baked gingerbread cookies.
And here he is with his nieces.

And here's the Ritz's Christmas gingerbread display - that's ALL candy, folks.
Some of our minimal decor..

And some progress on my Christmas project.

And my family (minus Ryan) hamming it up around SLC (after Christmas.)
And of course, Lola shots. She was scooting at this point, but not quite crawling. (7-8 months old.)

And, my office celebrated the season by bowling. Again. I broke 100 on the first round, and broke 40 the second. So much for getting better.
Yes, that I did work with that creepy guy behind me. (Congrats, John! You made the blog!)

Catch Up - November 2010

November...before I forget.

I started my big Christmas project:

I spent some time in UT with my fam. My dad oversees the UVU team competing in the Ethics Bowl and my brother is on the team. This year, they made it to nationals! Pretty cool. So we went out to celebrate. Anna, once again, demonstrates her knack for making awesome faces.
Lola had some baths in Grandma's kitchen sink, which she loved.
And spent most of the month playing with us and rolling/sitting around the apartment.


(Love those chubby arms, wrists, hands, and toes...she's already thinning out, so this is so I can remember.)

It's crazy how much she's grown since these were taken. Pretty awesome.

That's all.

Next up: Christmas 2010! (Finally.)

SAHM

An update? Sure.

Being a stay at home mom is an adjustment, to say the least. A few observations:

• There is so much TIME in a day. Seriously. A whole lot. Granted, my apartment is tiny, our needs are relatively simple, and i only have one child; thus, there's not a lot of demands on my time. But WOW, there's still a lot of time. The change of pace in my daily routine was drastic.
• Even with a ton of time on my hands I don't get much done.
• The days started to run together pretty quickly. By the third day in, I had already lost track of what day it was. Friday? Saturday? What's the difference?
• If I don't want conversations with other moms at the park to revolve solely around kids and childcare, I have to introduce the subject.
• Ted.com is wonderful. I'm addicted. It feeds my nerd needs.
• It's so much easier to be a mom when I'm with the girl all day. When I'm with her all day I can subconsciously anticipate her needs and wants. In all, it's much less exhausting to keep her happy without all the guess work I was enduring after a full day's work at an office.
• I crave routine. Or at least some sort of loose schedule.
• It's really easy to want to tell Kenny all the banalities of my day the second he walks in or calls to check up on me. I have to remind myself that if they weren't all that interesting to me, they aren't going to be interesting to him. I just get really excited to talk to him.
• I need to get out of the house at least once everyday.
• While I miss my job - and the security of that semimonthly paycheck - I love this. I do. I really do. (Even if I have to remind myself of that fact sometimes.)

So there you have it. Actually, there's more, I'm sure, but I'm bored. Time for something else.

Like a shower. Before my girl wakes up.

Oh yeah, my girl has her third ear infection. This one came with a 103.4 degree temperature and a listless baby. I foresee a full day of cuddling today. Is it weird that I'm excited? This is the first time I'll actually get to be home and take care of her myself during an illness. The lack of guilt has me positively giddy! Happy Monday!

(Check me out; I remembered the day!)

My last day.

Today is my last day of formal employment. For now, at least, but hopefully for a long while.

I’m excited, but also horribly scared and anxious.

I think I’ll be really happy tomorrow, but be really sad and anxious again on the 30th when I don’t get a paycheck and rent is due.

Since turning 16, I've held a continous job (more or less). Since graduating high school, I’ve never before been fully financially dependent on another person. I trust Kenny, of course, but I don't love the vulnerability of all this. Now that I think of it, I didn't love the vulnerability of that arrangement growing up either.

...

Did I also mention that the house we’ve been eying for quite some time (i.e. a few years) – our dream home – went on the market just days after I turned in my resignation? For a great price, too. How’s that for tragic irony.

Here’s hoping for the best. And by "the best," I mean I’m hoping the Universe gives me that house – along with the increased income to support the mortgage and then some. Even better, the Universe gives me that house complete with all the upgrades and improvements I'd like done to it without a mortgage and the extra income. And of course it would be nice for my family and friends to be happy, healthy, and successful. And throw in a miracle in Japan and New Zealand and Haiti, etc. and peace on earth and all that other good stuff, too. And for my finale, I'd also like to be 5'10" (and my same weight) with all the extra height being distributed soley to my legs. Why not?

A girl can dream, right?

...

Totally unrelated...

Here’s our girl back in December (with my mom).

I love her.

And I get to take care of her full time. Starting tomorrow. And for that, I'm happy.

...

(Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get prettied up for the surprise going-away party about which I'm not supposed to know. Wink.)

Catch Up: Whiting Reunion - August 2011

Another catch up post...

Every other year, Kenny's family heads to the Whiting Reunion at their family homestead in the White Mountains of northern AZ. It's huge. As in there are a whole lot of people (think hundreds). You walk around wearing a name tag (which also serves as your meal ticket) that details your genealogy back to Edwin and Mariah Whiting.

First, a tangent: as both Kenny and I come from large, Mormon pioneer families, I live in fear of the day my grandma comes to me and says something along the lines of, "I was doing some family history and I just learned that you and Kenny are distant cousins." I'll die. Anyway, moving on.

The Whiting reunion has lots to do and see, which is great for me as I typically spend the four days wandering from my tent to the Barrett's camp to the various activities while Kenny plays horse shoes or goes paint balling.

This year we had Lola, who was just three months old. We camped as usual, but it poured rain and our trusty tent leaked. Lola was a trooper, though, and we stuck it out for the full reunion.

Now, some photos. Of course. (Please keep in mind that we were camping. In the rain. And that i had just had a baby three months prior to these photos. Thank you.)

Blue skies + fluffy clouds = happy.

At the ol' saw mill with Kenny's parents (DeAnne and Mark)
These mushrooms were even more vivid in person. I might have started humming the old Mario bros. theme song. I did, however, resist the urge to pluck them up and throw them over my head with both hands.
Pretty sure Lola is pooping in this photo. She's gonna hate me for posting this...
Grandma DeAnne and Lola
Yes, that's our Sweet Dee hanging out in a suit case in our trunk.
The set up. In our pajamas.
On our wanderings. With no make up.
Cute cousins June and Clara are in that front car. Kenny and I have a particular fondness for these girlies.
Can you blame us?

A bunch of us participated in the fun run. I have no idea how long the run is, but the altitude makes it seem like a marathon. (I don't know who took these next two photos...sorry.)

Note, this is a very small sub group of all those that actually ran. A VERY small group.

I've lost the cord to our point-and-shoot camera or I'd include photos of the "Pre-Reunion" tradition. Kenny's immediate family hits up the Biltmore in AZ for a few days of lounging poolside in one of the resort's many pools. It's wonderful. It doesn't hurt that the resort's design is heavily influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, so walking the grounds is a bit of a dream for me. Someday I'll post those photos, although they're pretty much just us in a pool or us eating dip'n'dots at the bar - which is also in the pool. Again, it's a wonderful tradition. As much as I love to camp, the few days spent at the Biltmore might just be my favorite part of the reunion.

Here's one more of our chubby three-month-old with her dad.

Notice the name tag?

Lola at the beach

I have so many photos of Sweet Dee at the beach...and for some reason haven't posted most of them. So, here's a few...

Lola, in the foreground, about to make a bee-line for the waves.

She loves the sand. Mostly she loves eating it. (Which means I spent the day pulling drift wood, shells, and even a cigarette butt (GROSS) out of her mouth.)
In an attempt to mad dash into the water, our crawler tripped over her arm and face planted. She didn't love that.
She also didn't love that her Daddy wouldn't pick her up (too sandy and too wet, he said.)

So I saved her.



She might be a bit spoiled. When cousin Evie was getting too much attention from her dad, Lola climbed on up and made sure Jason gave her some attention, too.
She was pretty proud of herself.
I love that little body.
As a side note, our Middle-Eastern substitute pediatrician told us at Lola's last visit that "Lola was a bit pale and needed some sun."

For real.

I didn't remind her that Lola is a baby - a Caucasian baby at that - nor did I point out that it's the middle of winter. I can only assume she was suggesting that Lola was vitamin D or K deficient. Either way, Lola took care of that as she would not stay under the umbrella and kept ripping her sun hat off. I'm guessing beach visits this summer will be a lot less relaxing. Fun!