Year 3(ish), Day 5

Guys, I can't keep using some stupid counter on my computer to figure out what day it is. I'm doing this year by year. Executive decision executed with perfection.

That being said, guess what?! CHRISTMAS HAPPENED!!! Bet you didn't see this post coming. OH WAIT. YOU DIDN'T. Because I'm not even going to post about Christmas. Mainly because you better believe that I didn't take a single picture of my son's first Christmas. (this is the part where you all praise me for being such an awesome family historian) I would like to point out the less-obvious-but-only-because-you-didn't-think-of-it-first point that David was also NOT taking pictures. AND PDD didn't actually care all that much. I have determined that if I put a picture up of PDD in his Christmas pjs, you will promptly forget that pictures of the actual Christmas celebrations are missing.

I mean, seriously. Could this guy be any cuter? I think not. If in doubt, check out the belly.

Some important parts of Christmas included: snow on Christmas day, crazy Christmas Eve complete with Ninja nativity (something I never, ever, ever, want to forget. Brooks, age 4, swapping his shepherd gear for 'ninja' gear and then karate chopping Liz in the back during the reading of Luke 2), Eric and Rebecca getting engaged, and... that about covers it.

What you REALLY want to hear about is PDD's birthday celebration...which also didn't happen. Actually, I recant that statement. It kind of happened. When happened means that several days after his birthday we let him eat an ice cream cone in honor of his birthday. I would tell you that PDD didn't really care, but that would be a lie. He LOVED the ice cream cone. He cried when it was over.

In my defense, I did have minor plans for his first birthday. Imagine something awesome. Now decrease that awesomeness by about 75% 90% and you should have a general idea of our birthday plans. Those were completely blown by a fever averaging 102 and misery. Poor guy had to go to urgent care ON HIS FIRST BIRTHDAY. Since he won't remember that day, I still think my 23rd birthday (the one when I peed my pants) is worse. Not that I'm competing with my 1-year-old son.... I do have pictures of PDD on his birthday in the urgent care. Maybe not our finest hour, but certainly a sadness worth documenting.

Although the sickness was awful (cold, flu, and ear infections in both ears PLUS the strong possibility that he is getting more teeth. UGH), I must admit there was a part of me that loved having PDD sleeping in our bed and cuddling with me 24/7. He is so busy and it is really difficult to find moments like that anymore. Now that he is almost back to normal, we can't keep him from doing everything himself and running away whenever the opportunity presents itself. At least the kisses (which I was beginning to worry were in extremely short supply) have returned.

The sickness basically ruined PDDs birthday and New Year's Eve, and working ruined our anniversary, so our holidays finished with a strong stink bomb instead of a solid bang, but whatevs. You get what you pay for.  I'm still determining life currency and how that all works, so if you have any insight, just let me know.  Something tells me I could be paying for more.... KIDDING! kind of.

I'm focusing on the fact that we survived the last year.  P-Dizzle reached his first birthday and I am going to take a little bit of credit for that since he is still on the helpless end of the spectrum. Also, this has been the hardest year of my life, so helping a little one survive that year is certainly going on my list of accomplishments.  I AM LIVING LARGE, GUYS! I don't have a photograph-worthy nursery (really, I don't think PDDs room even qualifies as a nursery), we haven't had any formal (or non-formal) family pictures taken, I didn't send out baby announcements or holiday cards, we skipped our son's first birthday and left his first Christmas undocumented, BUT THERE IS STILL REASON TO CELEBRATE! And if you disagree, then this is a party you obviously can't understand and no one is forcing you to be here.




PS--in the middle of this post, I had to reboot my internet (because our internet service is the absolute worst) so, naturally, I got a bowl of ice cream. This got me thinking that I should share with all of you this fabulous diet I am on to maintain weight--it involves eating a strictly healthy diet during the day and then at least one bowl of ice cream at 2 in the morning. Seriously AMAZING. I haven't shed a pound in weeks.

PPS- I really loved getting all of my friends' holiday cards, so I may do some "post-new-year's cards" just because. This is a very strong maybe.

Day 469: Deep in the Heart of Texas

Well, we made it. We are finally in Texas. It was a long road. 4 full days, to be exact. 

It began when David rented a Budget truck that was about 3 feet too small... and we had to unload everything to reassess what was going to be left behind. (at 1 am. Did I mention that?) Fortunately, David's coworker is a saint and came to our rescue with one of his roommates at 1:30 am and helped us until 3. Two extra men=much less work for us. But we were still up until 5 the morning before we left.

  

mid-unloading. 

Thankfully, Tori and Eric saved us by bringing over an air mattress and a few blankets so no one had to sleep directly on the floor for the few hours that we did sleep. So when we woke up at 7:30am with PDD, we were better rested for it. We finished the last details of our move (AKA threw away trash) and said goodbye to our little apartment. As we were closing up shop, David noted that Apartment 32 was all Pearson had ever known and suddenly, I felt even more sad and nostalgic about leaving.

 

 our door--and the loudest doorbell ever. I hated that thing and finally dismantled it.

Then we began the roadtrip by stopping at Target for some snacking necessities and In-N-Out for Burgers, Fries, and Milkshakes. Did I mention that Michael joined us for this roadtrip? He did because he is the best brother ever. He also really enjoyed finishing three books in four days while I drove all but 2 hours and David drove a crappy truck all the hours.

  

I think this is book one.

 

 We found some friendly shower-cleaning employees...but no bathroom-cleaning employees, which made me really concerned.

 

 And we faced P-Dizzle forward (which I'm pretty positive is against the law in maybe all of the states we drove through, but made this even remotely possible, although still traumatic.)

We stopped at the Grand Canyon. It was dark, but we had already cut Big Sur out of our initial trip plans (thanks a lot, Budget truck), so we decided to just go for it. Although I wish we had also been there in the day and we definitely did not get ANY good pictures, it was MAJESTIC. And Pearson loved being awake and out of the car. 

 Oh, you couldn't tell they are standing in front of the Grand Canyon? Are you blind?

 Just PDD being his cute self, like always.

and practicing walking with dad to blow off some steam before we got BACK in the car, which was a huge battle by this day of our trip. (end of day 2, of course.)

The third day I finally stopped at a target in the morning and bought a "Best of Sesame Street" DVD. Since PDD has never really watched TV, I didn't think it would be all that successful, but BOY WAS I WRONG! Especially since most of the "Best of" consisted of songs and he is obsessed with music. He also seemed extremely fond of Anderson Cooper's moment with Oscar the grouch, but we haven't revisited it, so I can't be sure. Also, I realized I hadn't been distracting him with much in the way of toys when I noticed him going to town on his toes... never fear that two top teeth appeared about a week after this picture was taken. 

 Our final day! At this point, it felt SO CLOSE.

 and book 3 on the home stretch!

 Poor Michael was, I think, a little tired of hearing PDD complain by the time we went to Texas and immediately sought some quiet solace when we arrived at my parent's house. 

After a little apartment drama (seriously, moving in two weeks made me such a stress case), we finally decided to stay somewhere for a few months and look for a house! We haven't started looking yet, but in the mean time, I am really enjoying our new apartment. It is almost twice as big as our last apartment, and feels new, and WE LEFT THE DENIM SOFA BEHIND! Which means I got a new sofa and suddenly the sun is shining brighter than before! haha. But I still have this aching hole in my heart that misses Palo Alto and all of our friends there. I miss the outdoors more than I can say, and Pearson misses it too. Every time the door to our apartment opens he seems desperate to escape, and I don't blame him. BUT we are still enjoying ourselves in a big way. Here are some of the highlights of our new life: 

 Stairs at grandma's house! He didn't even have to think about how to get up them. 

 A big bath tub. I mean, seriously, it's like a swimming pool for him. Especially compared to the pink tub at our last apartment as illustrated in the pictures below: 

 

eating apples. New favorite. 

 playing cars with Uncle Michael. Also favorite. Uncle Michael. and cars. Sometimes he will only go to Michael.

cousin Calvin! built in friend and soon to be best bud. 

 

 getting accustomed to our new ward...by sitting/crawling/screaming/shouting/gabbing in the foyer during at least one, possibly two, and sometimes all three hours of church.

 emptying the shelves of DVDS...

 ...to find Despicable Me. No joke, he will find the case and bring it to us to put it in. Then, he will watch a lot of minutes at a time. Enthralled. As demonstrated by this photo. And did we cover the fact that he is walking? He started walking about a week after week arrived--10 months. Now we are at 11 months and the slow and steady walking has turned into running (as of two days ago.) Before yesterday, it was hard to keep walking when he could drop to his knees and crawl like lightning.

 

We are also into kissing really hard. Not always, but sometimes. I love being the recipient of these kisses. A lot of intensity. And these kisses don't happen for everyone. But Chandler and Corinne have both been beneficiaries of Tiny Dancer's uncontrollable love. 

 we also enjoy being goofy

 and lately, we really hate sleeping. Actually, I've always really hated sleeping, its just the babe who is finally catching on.

other things PDD likes to do:

-throw balls

-dance (which actually means bounce) in almost perfect rhythm (sometimes his body can't keep up with the beat and remain balanced since he is usually doing this standing up)

-chase after the dogs and point out all of the "dahs" we see or hear

-try to whistle (which means that he puts his lips in an "o" shape and then sings really high)

-click his tongue until you copy him

-open up all of the cupboards and empty them all as fast as possible

-throw food on the floor (especially at grandma's when it brings the dogs running. This is usually accompanied by giggles)

-throw tantrums when tired

-avoid naps (especially in the afternoon)

- try to stay up until Dad gets home, when he will then cooperate and go to bed fairly well. Stinker.

-cry when Dad leaves for work

other things I do:

-get ready to go back to school in January

-work at Anthropologie

-read books I check out from the library or borrow from my sisters. (They basically have an amazing YA library of their own.)

-watch Next Iron Chef: Redemption with my mom and sisters

-take trips to the QT

-fill up my car for less than $3/gallon (on a good day)

-see my family whenever I want

-see the Dance family whenever we want

-watch the girls dance

-take piano and voice lessons

-be a cool mom (obviously)

and believe it or not, David actually made it here with us! He is...

-loving his new job. Seriously. All he does is talk about it. Fortunately for him, I find it interesting, so I like to listen. :)

-training for the Iron Man Houston in May

-wearing jeans and a t-shirt to work everyday (perks of only two people in the office)

-loving learning about Terreno (the farm business his Dad owns. I would say empire, but maybe that's just me exaggerating...)

And after all of that, here are a few pictures of P just being adorable because everyone loves pictures of a cute baby.

he just gets really excited about shaking things...

Day 377: This is Awkward...

There are two announcements I always feel awkward about. They're important enough that you feel obligated to make them but there is no way to finesse the conversation towards the topic. Those two announcements are 1. being pregnant  and 2. moving.  Especially if there is no anticipating either event. In better news, I'm not pregnant. (I cannot handle another surprise on that front).  In worse news, we're moving. Seriously. In less than a week we decided we were moving two weeks from then. A week from Sunday, to be precise. I have so many mixed emotions. I absolutely do not want to leave where we live now. It is my ideal location in every way except cost. To offset this disappointment, I started making a list of things I will be happy for in Texas. It looks like this:

1. Family (this really occupies several bullet points, but I'll spare you. One of those includes my sisters and home videos that have yet to be made. Even though I'm 26, I can still party.)
1b. QT!!!!!!!!!
2. One-Stop grocery shopping
3. A Wal-Mart that is open 24 hours and actually lower prices (even though I rarely went before I came here, I feel my joy at these two things may lead me to frequenting Wal-Mart post-move)
4. Super Target. 5 minutes from anywhere
5. Hot Tubs
6. Hot Summers
7. Humidity=curlier hair (not really a plus because when I say curly, I mean frizzy) and clearer skin (my skin loves Texas)

I don't even want to get in to things I will miss about living here. The list is far too long and I am trying to avoid tears. I think if I can get through the move without tears, they may never come.

So, that's my list. and this blogpost is my answer to the awkward announcement. If you can think of another awkward announcement or more positives to my Texas moves, feel free to share. If you can only think of things I will miss, keep those to yourself--my list is far too long as it is.

Now, on to packing. I haven't packed a thing and we move in T-minus 10 days. Ugh.

IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! HOLLA!

Since I have NO NEW BABY TO ANNOUNCE, I am going to dedicate this post to Corinne, who this day turns 16.  I've written her a poem.

Corinne

No longer a child.

Not a girl, not yet a woman. 

When you were a wee one, I held you in my arms. 

Now we don't hold each other because you hate that.

Even though I am far away and when I get to see you I just want a lot of hugs.

You are good at a lot of things.

Like:

Doodling

Harry Potter Lego on the Wii

Dancing

Sistering

Jogging

Anything.

When I grow up, I want to be like you.

And OF COURSE, this post would not be complete without some great pictures that dad left behind on this computer.

 Gymnast Corinne!

 Easter Corinne!

 Harry Potter Corinne!

 Fourth of July Corinne!

 FACE!

 Shark Attack! Corinne!

You just look so nice, Corinne!

 Nice 'stache! Corinne!

(remember how much you hated the world this Halloween day? hahaha)

 We're both smiling and you're hugging me, Corinne!

the real reason I even started looking at photos. I still love you like this many years later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORINNE!

Day 116: Larger than Life

Remember back in the day when Backstreet Boys came out with that awesome song "Larger than Life"? Because I do. It changed the face of boy bands forever. Let's review some of the lyrics:

I may run and hide when you're screaming my name, alright

but let me tell you now there are prices to fame, alright

all of your time spent in flashes of light

All you people, can't you see, can't you see

How your love's affecting our reality

Every time we're down, you can make it right

and that makes you larger than life.

That was absolutely NOT related to my thoughts whatsoever. Except for the Larger than Life part. I feel larger than life. I cannot even tell you how strange my body feels. I feel like I am going to explode or something. Also, I can't fit into any of my clothes except for leggings and about 3 tops. (Maternity, not other clothes, obviously.) AND this baby isn't coming any time soon as far as I can tell. I have a countdown on my computer that calculates how long it will be until baby comes (assuming he comes on his due date) and it was slightly refreshing to see that there are only 19 days left. NINETEEN DAYS! Those might be the longest 19 days of my life, but being under 20 is really a big deal.

Since we last spoke, I've been running around like crazy. Even though we are new here, or maybe BECAUSE we are new here,  I've been asked to do any number of things, and I decided it was a good idea to say yes to all of them. Since I said yes to the majority of them quite a while ago, it was before I realized that I might not feel up to doing so much when I am so pregnant. 

So, right after Thanksgiving I spent a week and a half living at our church building. Each year they do what is called a creche exhibit, and I helped with the Children's Room.  (Creche = Nativity) It really turned out so wonderfully and we had so much help putting it all together, I could never thank everyone enough! My two main projects were a huge map of the world from which children could pull cards out of pockets and learn about the Christmas traditions in those countries, and a holy family made of chicken wire then covered in burlap. 

(pre-burlap family)

 

The entire room was pretty magical. There was a great display of nativities that the children in one of the primaries had made with their picture and a little bio by each one.

There was an I Spy game with stuffed animals that had been hidden in the awesome paper trees around the room:

And there was a dress-up area with a mirror wall.  All the kids loved it. Even the older ones.

the fact that the family is framed so perfectly in that mirror may almost have been an accident...

The other really neat thing that was done was a wall/trees where kids could hang up cards on which they had written their "gifts to Jesus".  It was based on the idea that we can give Christ something in return through our service, our love, etc.  It looked SPECTACULAR with so many cards on it! And I brought most of the cards home to decorate our own barren Christmas tree. 

I  had a lot of fun reading through what some of the children wrote down as their gifts. There was a lot of "I will give Jesus my love" and a lot of really colorful drawings. But a few choice cards really struck my fancy.

 I loved this book.  It was 4 pages long and about Cats. In Space.

I was really grateful for the clarification written by the mothers on a few cards

 The last clarification leads perfectly into my favorite nativities offered by the artists of the group

The next two are the same card, front and back, by the poet:

A few gifts were a little more practical:

A few maybe a little ambitious....

Although I think this kid had the right idea:

 And then there were a few that were completely unrelated:

But my VERY VERY FAVORITE OF ALL was this one:

 Because who DOESN'T want that?

The point is, the exhibit was successful! And then after 5 days and 12,000+ visitors, we tore it all down in a matter of hours. Now it is on to the next! I'm working on things for the Christmas party we are having this Saturday.  One of the things I'm in charge of is a service activity we are doing.  We are making little signs/decorations that people in nursing homes can put up in their rooms and have of their own for the holidays. Naturally, that means I got completely distracted while trying to make examples for the tables where people will be working on the signs.  The idea was that they can just use markers, glue, and strips of paper to make things.  I thought it would be a great idea to try and draw a few things as well so people don't have to deal with the glue and paper strips if they don't want to... and this amazing Christmas card happened:

I don't think it will be on display as an example of something to make for the nursing home... but when all is said and done, it will be going in my bag of tricks to perfect for the day I start selling cards on Etsy or somewhere.

Well, that was the perfect card to ring in the Christmas spirit! And now I'm going to go look at more baby names... bane of my current existence: thinking of baby names and being pregnant. I wish this guy would just get here so I can enjoy myself more. (kidding...kind of)