Discovery Gateway

I wanted to venture out of the house today, but Derek was studying all day... I decided I just needed to bite the bullet and go out by myself with 2 kids or I never would. I am getting braver. :) We went to Discovery Gateway back in May with Derek's family and Kael LOVED it. I wanted to take the kids again to see if it would be worth a season pass for somewhere to go in the winter.

Here is my pros and cons list from what I learned today:

Pros:

Kael LOVES this place.

Different toys for kids to play with.

Inside activity for during the long winter months where it actually snows here.

Kael LOVES this place.

Cons:

GERM FEST!

I lost Kael 4 times... I looked down for 2 seconds and he darts away. (SCAREY)

Very hard with Eden. - I really could use another arm or two.

GERM FEST!

I figure my kids are going to be sick ALL winter no matter what because all of the vents in our apartment complex are all connected so everyone here says plan on them being sick, so hey lets just spread the germs.

Anyone in the Salt Lake area wanna buy a season pass together and go with me? I could use a buddy. If I buy a pass by myself I need to go 5 times in the next year to pay it off with regular admission, so I should go at least once a month to make it worth it.

Did I mention Kael LOVES this place? ;)

Kael's first love... Balls... He would have stayed in this area all day if I let him. I wanted him to explore everything though and it was worth it.

Kael wanted to sit on this stupid horse. Not an easy task with Eden in a front carrier and the horse being like 20 feet tall... Kael LOVED this awesome Life Flight Helicopter they had available for kids to explore. He stood in it forever patiently waiting for kids to move so he could sit down. When he finally got a chance to sit down a great big man came and sat on him trying to take his place. The poor kid got scared and cried. I know I would have. But, he faced his fears because the helicopter was too cool to pass up a chance to explore. Makes me miss you so much Mom. Good times.

This is what Eden thought of being dragged around all day just so Kael could have fun. ;)

Derek's White Coat Ceremony

Pictures at bottom of post if you don't want to read.

Now that the trauma of this experience has worn off I think I'm able to write about it. I don't want to forget this experience, mainly just so that I can look back and remember (remember what? hmm...) I don't know if I really want to remember, but oh well.

To begin I need to say that I have been excited for this. Derek has worked so so hard to get into medical school, and this is one experience I really wanted to see. For those who don't know what the white coat ceremony is, this is where all the new medical students get to receive their white coat to wear for medical school, take the hipocratic oath, and they get basically initiated into medical school. It is a formal occasion, so I got to get dressed up a bit, exciting again.

As excited as I was for this, it really isn't that big of a deal. But, yes, I was excited.

The reason I was so excited was because Derek worked so hard so far to get to this point and it was exciting to see the beginning. I have been his biggest cheerleader through this process and so I feel a little bit of accomplishment myself. Selfish, yes a little. ;) However, I really just wanted to be there to support Derek. To be able to tell Kael and Eden someday they got to be there, and I could tell them about how hard their dad worked to become a doctor.

Now, the story.

We have known about this date since May and invited several people. As the months went on the numbers trickled down to who would be able to make it. I knew I was going to need help with 2 little children. I knew that Kael wouldn't last 1 1/2 hours sitting still and quiet, and knew I would have to walk with him in the halls for basically the entire program. I was prepared. My brother Josh and Derek's mom turned out to be the only 2 who could make it. The day of the ceremony came and we decided it was a big hassle and didn't want to make Josh drive all the way out here. I would have enough help with the kids with Derek's mom being there. Well, less than an hour before we had to leave Derek's mom got sick and wasn't able to come.

I was a little devastated. No HELP. I REALLY didn't want to just stay home. I was already all dressed up, and got the kids in their cute little outfits. Months of anticipation to be canceled an hour before it began. So, I did what any crazy person would do. I got the kids packed up and told Derek I wanted to come and if I had to leave early , then I had to leave early. I was prepared to chase Kael in the hall with Eden in a carrier, I was prepared for crying, I had doodle boards, snacks, juice, change of outfits, I was prepared. I was prepared to leave early as well. I just wanted to see Derek walk in that room and stand up with his class. I wanted to take maybe ONE picture of him in his white coat.

Derek had to be there 30 min early and parking was really far away and I couldn't walk with both kids, so we decided to take the bus. Kael LOVED the bus! It was so exciting for him. He liked how it was so bouncy, and it was a fun new experience for him.

When we arrived Derek went to get in line and Eden of course needed her diaper changed. I was prepared, so I was able to handle this. After she was all cleaned up I put her in the carrier and had a lion leesh backpack for Kael so he could still run around before it started. We went and found seats. I chose the very back by a friend Raquel. Her husband is in Derek's class and they have a little boy who is about 15 months old, so this was perfect. They were so sweet and let Kael borrow toys and helped us out.

The chairs were just rediculous. They were like movie theatre seats that fold up. Poor Kael was just too little and didn't weigh enough to keep the seat down. I had Eden in the front carrier so I couldn't hold Kael on my lap. He kept getting smooshed by the seat, or his feet caught. Every time it made him cry. A man brought in a big booster cushion for the seat, and that really didn't help either because Kael was too wiggly and it kept smooshing him too. So, we were in the hall waiting for the ceremony to start and Kael really liked the up and down arrows on an elevator. It was really cute actually.

The ceremony was about to start and I knew Kael was still really wiggly, but I wanted to see Derek walk in, so I rushed Kael back in and sat him on the big smooshy seat. He had already drank all of his juice at this point. Eden had her pacifier in her mouth because every time I had to pick up Kael she would get smooshed herself and start crying.

Right before the medical students were to walk in line poor Kael's leg got smooshed in the seat. I tried to get it out and Eden got smooshed by Kael and so she started crying. So now both kids are crying and smooshed and not happy. Then students start walking in and I'm trying to look for Derek and stop both kids from crying because it is fairly quiet at this point.

At this point a rather RUDE lady came up and grabbed me on the arm and said, "You need to leave now. They want it quiet while the student's walk in." So, I'm super embarrassed already because of my crying children, and now this lady of all things. So I try to pick up kael with eden, and the lady wouldn't let go of my arm and she starts pulling on me. I couldn't even grab my diaper bag or anything and as she is twisting my of course Eden's pacifier goes flying out of her mouth and bounces to who knows where. I hurry out as fast as I could mortified.

Kael noticed the elevator arrows and started to calm down. I couldn't see Derek walk in even though he was one of the first in. I missed it. I got the kids calm somewhat and had to look away from the ushers. If I would have looked at them I probably wouldn't have been able to control my emotions. I just stood there while Kael pointed at the arrows. The lady who grabbed my arm was now gone. There was one lady still at the door. I didnt' know what to do. My bag and Eden's pacifier were still in the room. I didn't even know if I was ALLOWED back in. At this point I wanted to just disappear magically.

Soon, Kael decided to throw another tantrum when I wouldn't let him go down the stairs. This set Eden off and again my children were crying. All of my preparedness was in the room holding the ceremony. I do have to say they had awesome television setup showing the ceremony in the hall, but it didn't matter anymore. I was already kicked out. I just wanted to go home. I was planning on watching the ceremony from those TV's in the first place. Like I said, I just wanted to see him walk in.

This usher lady was kind and asked if she could hold my baby. I just asked if she could grab my bag and I would leave. She did this. However, it doesn't change the fact that I lost my favorite pacifier!!!! That made me just as upset as everything else probably. ;)

Kael really liked the bus ride home. I was glad to be gone. I called my sister Shannon and just bawled when I got home. It took her a while to understand what I was saying. I was trying to laugh at the same time as bawling.

I'm just glad it is over.

I grabbed these few photos from Raquel's facebook. Thanks Raquel, I'm glad I got a few pictures with Derek even if I couldn't be there.

Derek's name is on the bottom of the list.

Derek is the first student to go to the University of Utah Medical School who graduated from Dixie State College. This is a picture with him with all the student's who came from Southern Utah University. They should be doing an article on him in the spectrum down in St. George.

Derek's medical school class (University of Utah Medical School class of 2014). I should have made the picture bigger. He is on the bottom row on the left. There are 82 medical students in his class. At the white coat ceremony each student was given a really nice stethescope from the alumni of the school.

As Big As A Cow's...

So a little boy that's 5 years old on the play ground made a comment to me today. I had Eden in the front carrier so she could look around at everything while I chased Kael.
The comment: Her eyes are as big as a COW'S. My repsonse. Yes, probably, and I love them!

The little boy then went on to tell me about a movie called "Bedtime Stories". If you haven't heard about it, it really is quite funny and has Adam Sandler in it. Well, the boy was telling me about a guinea pig named "Bugsey" that his eyes bugged out of it's head. So, I said, yes I remember that. Then he replied... "Her eyes are bigger than BUGSEY'S! Ya... Couldn't help, but laugh that time. So without further ado, my little girl's eyes that are as big as a cow's and bigger than Bugsey's. Aren't they the most beautiful big blue eyes you have ever seen though?

Her magna facial expression.

5 months

Watch out world she is growing up! Eden at 5 months. Love this little girl. She brings so much joy into our home! Kael has really loved giving her hugs lately and every time I try to take a picture he thinks he needs to pose for the camera instead of hug his sister so I haven't caught that sweet moment on my camera yet...

I have lots to post about, but for now just enjoy this sweet 5 month old girl!

Love you Eden!

PROUD OF HIM!

This last little while has been quite stressful. I won't go into details, but we finally have some relief in our lives...
Derek has been dieting since November 2009 trying to make weight for the airforce. This morning at 5:30 he went in for his physical and to see if he would make weight. I won't post how much weight Derek has lost since November, but we are SO PROUD of him! The physical is complete! We just have to wait until October to see if he got the scholarship now. With how good his GPA and MCAT score were and passing his physical he should for sure get into the airforce as a Captain.

What a relief this has been for us. Derek made weight and had room to spare. I can't even describe all that he has done for our family and continues to do. We love you so much Derek! Thank you for providing for us, loving us, tickling, and all that you do for our family!

WE LOVE YOU! THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK!

Now, on to medical school on Tuesday! Good luck!

Love,
Sharice, Kael, and Eden

MWAH!

It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To

Kael woke up sick on Saturday when we were suppose to go to the zoo. So, his big party plans got changed. We ended up skipping the zoo. Kael still had TONS of fun. He loved every part about his day, other than being sick and tired. The poor guy had a fever. We went to Derek's parent's house and spent the day there. We tried to keep everything very minimal so that he didn't over do it. He loved seeing all of the balloons. Derek made a fabulous lunch. Kael was too sick though and didn't even touch his food. He was so tired from not having a morning nap that he went straight to bed after lunch. So, that means he didn't get to go swimming either. Two strike outs in one day... Don't let it get you down though he still had a great time! When Kael woke up from his 2 hour nap he was so so sad. You could just tell he was sick because he wouldn't even take his juice, which he could drink all day long. When he started feeling a bit better we decided to have him open presents. WOW! This kid is spoiled. He LOVED all of his presents and opening them. It was so hard to decide which toy to play with. We even saved a few for home. Then we had brownies and ice cream and he loved getting sung to and loved watching mom and dad blow out the candles so much that we sang about 3 times. Then he got to play with his new toys with his cousins. He had a BLAST!

The Birthday Boy

Balloons are his favorite!

Table, big ball, bowling pins, Elmo telephone, and in the unopened presents were a race car toy from Aunt Shelly and a Thomas Train flashlight. He also got a super cute new outfit. All in all, the boy was spoiled. :)

WE LOVE YOU KAEL! Thanks for 2 amazing years!

2 Years Ago...

I think I finally realized why people celebrate their children's birthday's with these HUGE parties and such when the child isn't going to remember the party at all. It really isn't a party for the child. No. It's to celebrate keeping your child alive for a specific amount of time. ;)

Kael always keeeps me on my toes, and I love the kids GUTS. Yes, his guts and everything else about him.

I was so excited last night I stayed up getting his presents wrapped. I probably should have slept while I could, but it just hit me that my baby is no longer a baby, but a toddler, and he is 2 years old! We are going to celebrate his birthday on Saturday, but I was too excited.

I blew up some balloons from Great Grandma Sapp and had them ready for when he woke up. He was so cute. He LOVES balloons. I even let him have some of my orange juice for breakfast. Spoiled child really.

Things I love about my 2 year old that I don't want to forget.

*He is so happy.
*He LOVES people. Literally he will walk off with a stranger some day I just know it...
*He gives the sweetest hugs to EVERYONE. Strangers included. It makes my day when he gives one of his hugs.
*He pats my back when I am holding him. It's his way of saying I love you.
*He loves his sister. He is always trying to put her bink in her mouth or smile at her or hug her. A little dangerous, but seriously the sweetest boy ever!
*He does noser noser with me. (Dad, you know what I mean) so cute!
*He is best friends with his Dad. (He loves mom, but dad is his buddy)
*He is our angel sent from Heaven, and we are so lucky he is in our lives.

I LOVE YOU BUDDY! You are going to be a great man someday. Just try not to have so many tantrums until you get there to help your poor mom out. ;)

Opinionated

Here is my opinionated little girl. I have NOT wanted to try feeding her cereal or anything for at least another 2 months. With Kael I was so excited and then a month into realized how much work it is. Eden has been getting up every hour in the middle of the night for several nights now, and eating about every 3 hours at night... She used to sleep for almost 8 hours at a time at night, but lately no such luck. I'm pretty for certain she is hungry. And she hasn't been taking very good naps during the day. So, this morning I decided to try some cereal to help fill her up.

Obviously you can see what she thought of it. The picture was taken about 5 seconds before she started screaming at me to stop putting the stuff in her mouth. I think I will try again for another 2 days and then I'm just going to have to deal with the lack of sleep if it doesn't start working.

Kael LOVED his cereal. It did take him some time to get used to it, but he never cried about it, and he loved holding the spoon. She really is opinionated and is her own person. I love that about her. She still is a great baby even with this lack of sleep. ;)

Love you baby girl!

Sundays

Sunday's have always been "difficult" since having kids. Today was a unique experience that I will probably never forget. Derek and I were asked to give talks on modern pioneers. Luckily we were only asked to speak for about 5 minutes each, which made preparing fairly easy. The difficult part... OUR CHILDREN.

We arrived in the nick of time. I had to feed Eden right before we left because she decided that everything should be on HER schedule and not ours. Derek sat with the kids for the beginning of the meeting and I got to sit on the stand. Was I up there worrying about how my talk would go? No. I was worried how my children were going to act. They did pretty good. At first.

As soon as the first hymn started both of my children decided it was time to fill their diapers of course. Derek unable to leave because he had both children and was afraid of missing his talk sat through it. I got up for my talk and Kael gives me a HUGE grin. Loved that! As I was saying AMEN however, both of my children decide to start screaming. I walk very brisquley (sp?) down the aisle and take the kids from Derek so he can go to the stand. Kael decided to throw himself on the floor and have a tantrum and Eden began crying.

I not knowing that my children both had full diapers kindly asked the nice couple behind me to hold my baby. Oh the sweet innocence of not knowing a diaper is full. I pick up Kael and take him to the back of the room. I immediately get a woof of his wonderfully full diaper. I quickly take him out to do his business thinking Eden should be fine. By the time I get back to the sacrament room Derek is done with his talk and back getting Eden.

At this moment I find out Eden's diaper leaked ALL OVER this poor girl who was so kind to hold her... This unfortunate family does not have any children yet, and after helping me with my children may not want to... I had NO IDEA Eden's diaper was full. I quickly rushed her out to change her diaper before it got anywhere else. By the time I came back in the poor couple behind us left to go clean themselves up at home.

We made it through the rest of church and I even got a calling by the end. I'm certain our new ward is not going to forget our faces for a while. I had to ask the relief society who the poor family was behind us so I can take a peace offering to them. They weren't for certain, but a husband in the bishopric knew. When I asked him he said his wife was laughing so hard because she just couldn't believe my baby pooped on someone else. Yes, I said pooped.

I'm pooped so I'm going to end this post now. :)

PS: Any idea how to make a piece offering for something like this? I was thinking cookies, but that may not be enough...

Eden's Check Up

EDEN 4 MONTH STATS:

WEIGHT- 13.7 LBS
HEIGHT- 61 cm or about 24 INCH

Eden came in at exactly the 50% on everything.

We had an eventfull doctor's appointment. She made heads turn everywhere we went. She had a watermelon on her bum and the nurses thought that was SO CUTE, so they made me show it off. ;) Then, everyone commented on her big and pretty blue eyes. Walking through the halls at the U of U hospital just about every head turned to look at her, and about half the people commented on how cute she was.

Between waiting, seeing the nurse, seeing a resident, the doctor, and getting shots, and waiting again between everyone we were gone from home for about 2 1/2 hours. After her shots she was SO tired she passed out in my arms walking to the car. She's such a good baby and I couldn't be luckier. The doctors seemed to agree with me on how lucky I am. :)

Creative Kael

He is either crazy, or gifted. I think gifted. :)

Kids Rooms

Eden's Room

Kael's Room

The rooms are still not finished, but I am happy with how they are turning out. I need to find a way to put up curtains in both rooms. Kael's room is so bright, but I don't want to put cardboard in his window because I like having his room bright during the day, but there is no where for a curtain rod. I'm going to have to get creative I think and also find some cheap curtains...

Air Force and Ward Update

Derek got the main application in for the airforce. It was pretty intensive. He had to have tons of references and write lots of essays. We are now waiting to hear back from the recruiter to see if he needs any additional information, and we are trying to get some medical information for them too. We should hopefully know if he gets the scholarship in October. So, we are back to waiting. I think we are getting pretty good at being patient. Don’t get me wrong, I would rather a trial in patience than some medical injury or something weird like that. J Yay for one more step in this long process being done.

We are really liking our ward so far. Everyone is very motivated, prepared, and hard workers. The bishop is the CEO of café rio, so I’m hoping for some yummy benefits from that someday in the future! ;) Everyone is very friendly, and everyone knows everyone. I’ve had several people already introduce themselves to me just walking to do laundry. I think this will be a good set up once I become a medical student’s wife, to help keep me sane. Overall, I am feeling that our family is very blessed. We have been guided where we need to be and I know we are doing what we are supposed to. I’m really enjoying having Derek here all day long. He is always running errands and keeping busy. It is going to be really hard when he has to start school in August. Anyone want to join my lonely wives club in August? ;)

Back to Work

I’m so proud of Derek. Not only is he going to go to medical school for our family, but he has been trying to find many ways to get extra income for our family. He has had great success! He applied for a job at the medical school to do the computer work, and set up the projectors for class. He had to do a resume and compete with just about all 80 medical students in his class, and guess what folks “he got the job”! The extra income is going to be so helpful. Thanks for all you do for our family Derek! Kael, Eden, and I love you so much!

The Fourth

Yoda's twin sister. Her ears poke out like mine.

Kael loved watching Grampy light fireworks.

We had so much fun at Kael and Eden's Grammy and Grampy's house. We got to play outside, eat yummy food, and watch some fireworks. Kael loved watching the fireworks with his Dad.

Kael at 23 Months

Our Little Koala Bear. He loves climbing trees. Kael outside our apartment. He LOVES playing outside all the time.

Kael in a nutshell: Climber, Dancer, Hugger, Big Brother, Energetic

The list goes on and on. This busy boy is growing up way to fast. His first day at our new wards nursery was a learning experience. Our new ward is very organized and Kael just had a hard time sitting still through singing time. We have been working very hard and Kael has gotten so much better. His favorite song is Book of Mormon Stories. Why? Because he gets to go boom boom with his hands through the song and he LOVES that.

He has become quite the climber. He is always jumping on the furniture and climbing across couches any chance he can get. He wanted a toy in Eden’s crib and somehow managed to get up into her crib while I was in the bathroom. Luckily he hasn’t learned how to get out of his crib yet, so I feel lucky about that.

Kael loves to hug EVERYONE. He doesn’t always hug, but he will go up to just about any kid on the playground and try to give them a hug. The other day we had our friends Christian and Kenna and their little boy Oscar over and Kael went to give Oscar a great big bear hug and poor Oscar was off balance and the two of them fell and Oscar’s head hit the entertainment center and cracked it. Poor kid has a tough head. It sure scared Kael, but it hasn’t stopped him from trying to hug everyone.

Another person Kael has tried to hug was the ENT doctor he saw this morning, Dr. Muntz. However, I don’t think he wanted to hug Kael back. It was kind of a shock for Kael to not have someone pay attention to him and he came back to me with a sad face and needed mom to hug him for a bit. Some good news is that we are going to watch Kael right now to make sure he doesn’t have sleep apnea. I have to get up at 3 am to go in for 15 minutes every night to check for certain signs the doctor told me about. Not fun for me, but it will be nice to make sure he DOESN’T need surgery. We went over what will happen if he does end up needing surgery, and I hope we don’t have to go that route. The doctor did say Kael does have large tonsils, but that alone is not reason enough for surgery, and that makes me happy!

Kael loves to be with Eden. He is always putting his head close to hers because he knows he isn’t allowed to pick her up or grab her. He tries to put her pacifier in her mouth, but she doesn’t quite appreciate that yet… He sees me do it so he tries to “help”. He is such a sweet boy.

Kael has been doing music time and coloring time lately. His favorite song is “Muffin Man”. He gets so excited and starts doing this silly dance. He is getting really good at coloring with crayons too.

Kael has been getting bored during bath time for some reason and has taken to destroying our TINY bathroom. He seems to be able to get into everything unfortunately. He got into some oils and poored them all over everything, then he put all of the wash cloths in the bathtub with him, and a roll of toilet paper as well… Busy little boy.

I dropped something the other day and said “uh oh” and Kael repeated it, so I told Kael to say uh oh and he did. It was the cutest!

And last, but certainly not least… Kael’s naps have been so off lately and I can’t get a good schedule down for him since we moved. Church is at 9, and so we don’t get home until around 12. Kael used to have a nap around 10ish, but not anymore. He is so hungry when we get home from church, but he is also so tired, so we try to get him fed quickly before he sleeps. Kael is the kid who can’t fall asleep anywhere besides his bed. He fights sleep the whole time.

Sunday we found him like this…

Kael you bring so much joy to our family! We love you so much and love seeing you grow. Your happy, smiling, energetic face makes it so worth it to get up every morning. Love you bud!

4 Months

This is little Miss Eden at 4 months. I love how I fall in love with my children so much more ever single day I am with them. Eden giggles like crazy when you nibble her neck. Only for a while, and never long enough to get on video. She smiles when she is happy. She rolls over like crazy, mostly from her back to her stomach. She isn't very interested in her toys yet, but loves her big brother so much. He gets excited to see her and they look at each other and smile and giggle at each other. It is so precious. She can sit in her bumbo chair so well, and holds her head up. She still loves to be swaddled to sleep. She has been a GREAT sleeper. Last night for instance she ate at 7, and went to bed at 8. She didn't get up until 3 am. You do the math. She went right back to bed and was up at 7:00 again.

Story for the month:

Derek was going to pick up some food, so I thought I would take the trash out with Kael while Eden was sleeping. I didn't think to check the lock on the door and when I got back to the apartment Kael and I were locked out of the house with Eden about to wake up starving... It started raining too. My luck. I ran to the one neighbor that I could remember her name and luckily she was there. We were able to call campus security to come and unlock the door for me, which took 20 minutes and Eden screaming as loud as she could the whole time and Kael getting to run around in the rain. I guess that gives me worst mother of the month award. I felt so bad. It all worked out and Eden was fine in her crib, just starving. She forgives so easily and still loves me.

Eden, I love you so much and thanks for bringing so much joy to our family. You have your dad wrapped around your finger, and he thinks you are the cutest little lady bug ever. I love seeing him hold you and cuddle you and see you give him the sweetest smiles. I will NEVER forget how you screamed at Uncle Jerris when he held you the other day. It wasn't just once, but twice he tried to hold you. Sorry Jerr. ;) You are so opinionated and I love it. You are you, and you are special. Love you little lady!

A Roll Is A Roll

Eden officially rolled over from her back to her front yesterday and decided it was so fun she had to do it today... I can't wait until I can catch it on camera. She is getting big too fast. I can't believe she is almost 4 months. Where did the time go? She is great at holding herself up, but is not a big fan of tummy time. This was a little after she rolled over from her back.

She is really great at push ups. She likes to show off her muscles.

PS: Kael wanted his photo taken too tonight, but he had food all over his messy face, so I'm not showing you. :) He got a hair cut yesterday morning. It was much needed since his last one was in February... So basically his hair does not grow very fast.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

Residents of Salt Lake City

We are moved. No pictures yet. Unpacking is still a work in process. We have been going non-stop for this move with packing, loading, unloading, unpacking for what seems like forever. We get up at 7 am with the kids and get working and don't usually stop until around 11 at night, and the kids have been going to bed at 7. I don't remember moving to be this complicated, only the last couple of moves I didn't have 2 children occupying most of my time.

Kael and Eden's rooms are turning out so cute. I can't wait for the finished project. It is going to take some time. I still have many projects to do, but I am loving that Eden finally is in a room by herself, and Kael has all of his toys in his room. He is turning in to quite the little boy and his room proves it. The princess finally has a crib, and pink to match.

Derek has been working so hard to put everything together. We have had to get lots of extra shelves to make extra space and it is turning out wonderful!

Just want to say thanks to everyone who has helped us move. Whether you helped us pack, clean, unload, decorate or whatever it has helped SO SO MUCH. THANK YOU!

A few names in particular: Becca, Brooke, Jonathan, Chris, Josh, Jerris, Ryan, Kirk, Kelly, and lots more, but i'm tired and can't think... THANK YOU EVERYONE.

And thanks Derek for putting up with me being a cranky pants with everything going on. I get grumpy in clutter, and I'm working on being nicer. :) LOVE YOU!

June Kids

Eden at 3 months exactly.

"The Serious Face" She is so stinking opinionated. She has only just barely started smiling and giggling for us. The other night I got her giggling so hard you couldn't help but laugh with her. We went to grab the camera and she decided she was done. She usually has a VERY serious face, but when you can get her to smile, it makes all the hard work worth it! Love my precious baby girl. Kael has been smiling so much for the camera lately. He usually tries to grab it and look at the picture, which he still does, however he wants his picture taken first before he grabs the camera. He is so funny posing for the camera all the time.

I think it is hilarious that the flower is bigger than her head practically.

I caught a grin on camera! I was so lucky to get this, and it is blurry. It is the huge open mouth grin like Kael would do when he was little. I couldn't get her real smile though, but I'll take what I can get.

In other news, packing has been going well. The count down is on... Two more days of packing and then we will leave first thing on Saturday morning. Poor Kael doesn't understand what is going on. He will cry whenever we take down something off the wall, or start putting stuff in boxes. I know he will have fun with another big trip and a new house and the playground right outside our door, but it is sad having to get to that point.

I am getting nervous/excited. I am trying to think of this as a big adventure, which of course it is. I mainly am trying to not think about how much Derek will have to study and be gone. Or, how I don't have a dryer anymore, or how I won't have a dishwasher, or closet space, or a garage... When I forget about that stuff, which really isn't that important it seems really exciting. I am sad to be leaving St. George. Southern Utah is where both Derek and I call home in a sense. We now will be calling home where our family is, and that is most important to us. We will be moving a lot throughout our lives, and it will be a great adventure. I'm grateful to be reminded about what is most important to me, my family.

We are thinking about switching to cloth diapers in August. I'm trying to get some research done to see how to best go about it. Any advice would be helpful. Poor Derek has such a strong sense of smell, that is my biggest concern.

And, last on updates we have officially decided for Derek to go for the AIRFORCE SCHOLARSHIP. He will have TONS of paperwork to fill out, letters of recommendations, interviews, physical stuff, etc. Basically it will be like applying for medical school again. He will be working on the application the whole month of July probably. It is very competetive right now with the way the economy is. We feel like this is the route we are suppose to go. We have prayed a lot about this and have got as much information as we can from people who have been in the military. This was a tough decision for us, but yet again, another exciting adventure in our future.

So, this will probably be the last post before we are official residents of Salt Lake City, Utah. To any who live St. George, a sad fairwell. To those up north, see you soon!

Quarter of a Century

I'm 25 now.
My birthday this year was so much fun. I didn't really plan on anything since we are getting ready to move and I have a little baby now. Derek decided that just wasn't good enough and I got spoiled once again.

I'm so grateful for Derek. He takes such good care of me and the kids. We couldn't be more blessed and are so grateful he is our provider, dad, and husband.

He took care of the kids in the morning and let me get a little extra sleep. Even Eden got in on this present for me. She slept for 6 hours straight! She got up at 1 and 7 am! She must have known it was my birthday.

Then, Derek made me pancakes for breakfast. So yummy. I still needed to work since I have taken so much time off for traveling, but I was going to take Kael swimming with my sister-in-law Jill, and didn't have time to finish, so Derek even worked for me! Spoiled. Yes. I know. Thanks to my brothers who let him do this for me too.

Swimming wore Kael out so he took a good nap, which meant that I got a nap too. I love any extra sleep I can get. Derek told me that his transcripst got all messed up and he needed to go to the college to get it worked out for medical school. I was kind of bummed about that, but I figured it was better to get it taken care of now rather than later. So off Derek went.

I learned that my husband can be a really good liar. REALLY he was buying me Olive Garden for dinner and getting me an ice cream cake.

I was so surprised. It was so yummy and I didn't even have to leave the house! Really, what person out there doesn't like to be surprised. It was so much fun.

Derek was on the phone after dinner and my sister-in-law Becca came over, and we were planning on getting together sometime that week, but didn't know when so when she came over I was a little surprised, but happy that we could visit. Derek got off the phone and surprised me again. She wasn't there to visit with us at all... Derek asked her to baby-sit the kids while we went on a date!

Suprise again! Totally LOVE my husband. We were able to go see Shrek in 3D which was so fun. We ended up visiting with Becca until 1 in the morning. Good thing I got all that extra sleep the night before. :)

Overall, my birthday was amazing. I love my family so much and am so grateful they love me!
Thanks for a super fun birthday Derek.

Giggles and 3 months

My little girl giggled so hard for the first time last night. It was so so cute! It's a sound I hope I never forget. Kael had a little boy giggle, but this was a little girl giggle. Both wonderful, but so different. Love both kiddos so so much. I can't even describe the joy they give me. And what perfect timing. Giggles at exactly 3 months yesterday.

Both kids traveled so well in the car over the the last month. Every other week we had a big trip. I'm so proud of them. Only one more big trip this summer is scheduled and that is our big move to Salt Lake in one week exactly. Time has gone by so quickly. It is a lot of mixed emotions, but mostly we are excited to begin this new journey in our lives.

California

Kael and Eden with Nana and Papa Pat Pinkston.

We can't go on a trip to California without stopping at Tommy's!Kael's First Trip to the Beach.

We had such a great time in California. We were able to go down June 10 -13th. We stayed with Derek's grandparents. We were able to visit with all of Derek's cousins and Aunts and Uncles. It was so nice because it had been about 2 years since we had gone to California. We also got to show off our amazing kids. Derek's Aunt Julie watched the kids for us so we could go on a date and we were able to see Iron Man 2 and then went to Tommy's. Then, the next day we got to take the kids to the beach. Eden had a nice nap with wonderful weather and Kael got to experience the ocean for the first time. I couldn't tell who had the better time Kael in the ocean and sand, or me watching him have such a great time. He LOVED every minute even though he was frozen solid. I was so afraid a wave would pull him in that I made his fingers turn blue from holding so tight and also from the water being cold. It was very overcast and a little windy which made it chilly, but it didn't bother him at all. Derek was a trooper and had fun playing in the sand with Kael. Between the sand and the water Kael had a BLAST!

We sure loved visiting with everyone and hope it isn't 2 years before we get to see everyone again.

Have I Mentioned?

Have I mentioned Eden hates her bath? If I haven't mentioned this, let me now. Eden HATES getting bathed. I dread it. It is miserable. She screams so loud.

Ok. I'm done complaining.

Any ideas how to get her to like it?

First x-rays

No broken bones. Thank goodness.

Ever since Kael's 6 month doctor's appointment the doctor has questioned if Kael snores, and if he might possibly have sleep apnea. I haven't really heard him snore until we were on this Phoenix trip. I have always known he breathes VERY heavily, but I never thought he snored. Turns out, sometimes he does. Not every night.

We took him to the doctor just to get it checked not really expecting anything, but we thought while he's young let's just get it looked at. The doctor said that they have a scale from 0 to 4 with 4 being the worst for tonsil size. Kael is at a 2. So, a little bad, but not surgery bad, yet.

The doctor ordered an x-ray so we could see what his adenoid tonsils look like. These are up higher in the throat towards the nose, so the doctor can't visually see these.

Kael decided he didn't want an x-ray or to sit on a stool, so he screamed, and I couldn't believe this was my child screaming because he was told to sit on a stool and hold still. I had to pin his arms down and the technician had to hold his face in the right place. Let's just say I hope for MY sake the child never breaks a bone, ok his sake too. We ended up having to take an extra x-ray because he moved so much.

We got the results back and it turns out that Kael's adenoids are in fact enlarged. At this point the doctor recommends us going to primary children's in Salt Lake (mainly because we'll be living there so soon), to get an ENT (ear nose and throat) doctor to evaluate Kael.

The treatment for child sleep apnea is to remove the tonsils. We are not quite to this point. We are hoping that the ENT doctor will just want to watch it for now, but we figure if something is wrong, better to get it taken care of while he is young and won't remember.

Derek actually had his tonsils taken out the month before we were married and had something like a whole throat reconstruction for sleep apnea. Thus, better to take care of it sooner rather than later...

So, for now we wait. We will keep you updated.