Fathers and Sons :: Mothers and Daughters

Camping is one of the things I've missed most from our pre-kids days. What with Colby being violently opposed to the outdoors for the first year of his life and the addition of Alice to our family, it's kind of gone on the back burner, something I think about wistfully every now and then when I have to rummage through our stuff in the garage.

But thankfully our ward decided to host a Fathers' and Sons' campout and after coming home tired and covered in dirt (and in Colby's case, chocolate), I think camping might be making a comeback. Here's Robb's account:

"To commemorate the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood on May 15th, the ward held a fathers and sons campout on a ranch out in the desert west of us, so I took Colby along on his first ever camping trip! To entice him to get in the car without Mom, we made sure he had Frozen loaded and ready to go on the Kindle. The trip there was fairly uneventful. The way was paved for all but the last few miles, and, while the road was a little rough in spots, the ol' Civic has seen worse (see Spiral Jetty). Colby didn't want to get out of the car at first, but once I got the tent setup and unpacked the car, he decided it was getting too hot in there without the A/C. One of the first words out of his mouth was "Momma!" I told him that Momma wasn't there and he'd have to deal with it. He took it well, though he didn't stop inquiring as to her whereabouts for the next hour or so until his best friend, Dawson showed up. Colby followed him around everywhere he went for the rest of the trip. Lakin made us some breakfast burritos for dinner that night. Colby wasn't impressed. He was even less impressed when he saw that Dawson had yogurt and someone else had Cheetos for dinner. Luckily, Bro. Hancock had the foresight to bring a Hot 'n Ready pizza and graciously gave Colby a slice. He was much obliged. The burritos were good, by the way. After a short presentation on the Priesthood and "sharing your light" from Pres. Bateman, we all headed back to camp and got ready for bed. Colby was restless and was having a hard time finding the right position for sleep. It didn't help that every 10 minutes or so he would look up and see the stars and yell, "Stars!" and then stand up and point excitedly. He likes stars. He finally got a little sleep until about 2 AM when the moon came out and Colby looked up and yelled, "Moon!" and then stood up and pointed. He likes the moon, too. Eventually I realized that he wasn't even using his sleeping bag so I unzipped mine and laid it over both of us like a blanket. He finally went to sleep. That is, until his friend Dawson woke up and started talking. Colby had to get out there and socialize! Breakfast was...breakfast burritos, this time made by the High Priests group. Also excellent. Luckily, they had pancakes, too, which is a Colby favorite. We then went exploring with Dawson and had lots of fun tramping around in the sand and brush while Kellen and I looked out for snakes and gila monsters and scorpions and all other manner of desert beasts. Once the sun came out in force, I got the car packed up and got my tired boy home to his Momma. First camping trip, successful."

So during that time what were Alice and I doing?

Manicures/pedicures with a Pride and Prejudice marathon--classic girls' night.

I also made Indian spiced lentils in a crockpot and have come to the conclusion (for the second time) that Indian food was never meant to be made in a slow cooker, but the possibility of it always tricks me into trying. Lucky for me there were still leftovers in the fridge :)

Bits of March and April

:: I applied for a job on Monday and received a rejection email on Tuesday. But regardless it was a big step for me. I love being a nurse. I love helping people and knowing that in small ways I can ease their suffering. I also love being a mother, in fact I love it so much that I haven't missed working for the past 8 months (at all). So now I'm officially licensed as a nurse in Arizona I have a guilty feeling that I should find a job...we'll see where that goes. I've been on the fence and occasionally losing sleep over this decision for awhile and it will probably require a bit more thought and prayer before anything happens.

:: Colby said "sister" on the March 31st for the first time, but mostly refers to her as "baby"

:: Alice is teething. And drooling. In the early stages we were going through six bibs a day, now we're down to three or four.

 :: Colby has definite opinions about getting dressed/undressed/bathed. In this picture I wrestled him into his pants, but he refused to take off his pjs.

:: Robb built us a gorgeous raised bed (about a month ago..I'm way behind again)

:: We tried to paint Alice's room a mellow-er shade of yellow and were given a beigey-gray by Lowe's instead...so baby girl is still sleeping in our closet.

:: Easter: I can't remember why exactly (the perils of journaling retroactively), but we were kind of swamped coming into Easter and had to skip dyeing eggs and hunting them down. We had our big dinner on Saturday with our friends, the Halls, and her parents, which was amazing and the next morning the Easter bunny dropped something off for the kids:

Colby completely missed his basket and had to be redirected several times before he spotted it

And here's us in our Sunday best:

Fortunately (and ironically), the upside of running out of time to do the normal Easter activities is you're left more time to focus on Christ, a lesson I'll need to remember as the children grow older.  

 :: My little brother, Jordan, graduated from BYU with a degree in exercise science and while he opted out of walking, we decided it was a good excuse to come up and visit everyone. We met our new nephew, Carter, for the first time and spent lots of time hanging out with both sides of the family.

The only downside was the trip itself. Alice didn't like staring at the back of the car (she's a people person and thrives on smiles), so she'd start to cry, which set Colby off, causing Alice to cry harder, etc....so it might be awhile before we attempt another road trip

Making Time

Having two kids and keeping up a blog of their doings is nearly impossible...or at least I'm struggling. I used to have two golden hours in the afternoon to myself while Colby napped. Now Alice seems to wake just as Colby drifts off to sleep and I have a difficult time ignoring her smiles long enough to write anything.

So catch-up...

:: St. Patrick's Day Robb was the only one to get pinched...although in his defense he'd only been awake for five minutes. We munched on the traditional corned beef and cabbage that night and Robb wished there were more excuses to celebrate the Irish.   

:: Colby's learned to open the deadbolt, the fridge, and, with the aid of his stool/kitchen chairs (he switched to chairs when I hid the stool due to his love of toothpaste), can reach almost all of my old safe places. We're in trouble.

:: And speaking of trouble, this little girl is getting pretty close to rolling over already and based on how strong she is, I'd bet she'll be an early crawler.

:: We attempted to paint Alice's room, but it's too yellow, like being shoved in the middle of a yellow meringue pie...so we'll be painting again next weekend (Valspar's love your color guarantee was made for people like me). Robb gets depressed every time I mention it.

:: Colby's love of the week: our pineapple-mango scented candle. He carries it everywhere and rubs small amounts into his hair and face when I'm not watching. 

:: Alice's love of the week: her toes. After 3.5 months of life, they suddenly appeared in her world and she can't get enough of them

I can't blame her. I'm kind of obsessed with them myself

:: Colby decided Squishy needed a lift

:: Either food costs have recently gone way up or my tastes are suddenly more expensive because I've blown our grocery budget within the first couple of weeks for every month in 2014.  The result: lots of variations on beans and rice and a few newlywed favorite recipes I'd forgotten about. Next month I vow to plan better.

:: Best.Easter.Present.Ever. Thank you, Mom.

:: Colby's buddy from across the street, Dawson, came over to play (we're making it a weekly thing now). I love watching these two together. Here they're wearing matching apple stickers. Colby put one on and Dawson thought it looked cool.  

:: This almost always happens when she's wearing a headband. She doesn't even cry, she makes a distinctive sputtering noise and I know that once again fashion has blindfolded my baby. 

:: Colby and I took turns being sick. He threw up six times in two days and we mastered the art of deep cleaning carpet (the secret is laundry detergent, lots of water, and something to suck it all up).

 I came down with a fever that left me feeling mentally fuzzy and physically cold. So I bundled up in flannel jammies, a hoodie, and our biggest blanket while Colby cuddled on my lap (I tried to keep him away at first, but how can you deny a two year old who wants to snuggle). Robb took great care of me and all the spoiling almost completely made up for being ill.

:: Alice joined me for the first historic General Women's meeting for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was amazing and left me wanting to be a more compassionate woman and a more loving Primary teacher (because I just got a calling to teach the 4 year olds!).

:: And because they're cute: 

Tender Mercies

:: Robb is the choir conductor in our ward and they sang an arrangement of "The Spirit of God" he did himself. He also gave a wonderful talk on Temples. Large chunks of our weekend were devoted to preparing for both and by the time I got both of the kids in the car I was exhausted and a little grumpy, definitely not the kind of mood that invites the Spirit. Anyway, we were driving and Colby asked for music ("mu-SAK")

So I cautiously turned on our Sunday playlist (the caution was due to Colby's obsession with Frozen...most days anything outside of that soundtrack is unacceptable) and the atmosphere in the car completely changed. I had time to calm down, breathe, and remember how blessed I am to be a mother. Later, he screamed all the way from the car to the church building, but Heavenly Father knew I really needed those five minutes, the peace in the midst of the storm, and He gave them to me.

Alice Danae: 2 and 3 Months

Little Things

:: Monday night the kitchen was a mess, two loads of laundry were scattered over the floor, and a thick wad of bread dough sat rising in the trash can. I'd scheduled too many things and after running around all morning, I overfloured (and omitted the eggs in) my rolls while half watching a Downton Abbey episode with a friend. So I started over while Colby asked to be picked up and Alice looked at me with her big brown eyes. It was a day where I said "just a minute" too many times to my children, the house was a mess, and then to top it off I had to throw out 45 minutes worth of effort. I was beat. Then Robb came home, friends joined us for dinner, and we went to another house for FHE. I felt discouraged about my day and even more reluctant to tackle the kitchen. It doesn't sound like much to get worked up over, but all those little things got to me and Robb recognized it. So he gave me a hug, told me to get ready for bed, and then removed all traces of my flour-y fiasco from the kitchen. It was exactly what I needed and I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful guy in my life.  

:: A stunted tree in our backyard surprised us by blossoming (we're hoping for lemons) while our grapevines still look like dead twigs.

:: Colby's new word for the week is "stuck." It's used when you're holding him and he wants to be free, when he can't open a door, and when he's tangled himself up in the big blanket and can't get out.

:: Friday, Robb and I went on a lunch date to Cafe Poca Cosa.  The waitress explained the menu in detail (it changes from day to day), but by the end I couldn't remember which dish was which, so we both opted for their famous Plato Poca Cosa (basically you get three random things off the menu, or between the two of us six different items). Everything was amazing and it was glorious to have those hours of us time.

:: Saturday we decked ourselves out in preparation for the BYU basketball game

Self-timers and a two-year-old make for fun pictures 

:: Colby got into my makeup (it was only a matter of time) and I guess we're a pretty good skin tone match.

:: Alice started giggling this week and shows signs of being ticklish. She's also chunked out enough that I can finally break out her 0-3 month clothes. I can't get over how adorable she is.

:: And these boys make my heart melt.