UW IBIS #2

At 2 years old, it was time to take Blake for another visit to the University of Washington. He is enrolled in a research study there. After my experience at the 1 year visit, I knew that there was no way I could do this visit on my own with Blake. I am soooo grateful that my mom agreed to come along on the 36 hour trip, because it was a busy time.

Blake was certainly enthralled with the view out the terminal:

When we landed in Seattle, we had just a couple of hours to check in to our hotel and get to the CHDD for Blake's developmental evaluation. Blake squeezed in a 40 minute nap, but we had to keep to the schedule. By the time we arrived at the CHDD at 2pm, Blake had been in 5 different vehicles in two different states (truck, bus, airplane, car, shuttle) and was now expected to perform typically in 3 hours of developmental evaluations. Hah! But he did well, considering.

We went back to the hotel and walked to the adjacent shopping center with the goals of 1- dinner and 2-keep Blake awake. He was exhausted, but stayed happy(ish) and awake thanks to a cute little playground. And my mom found the BEST cookie EVER at Specialty's.

Then back in the shuttle, this time to the Children's Hospital for the MRI. Blake slept soundly all the way through the MRI, thanks to a crazy day and utter exhaustion. I, once again, found every moment with Dr. Dager extremely fascinating. What a wonderful man, doing wonderful research. The trip is worth it just to spend time with him.

The following morning my mom and I tried to get some tourist-ing in before our afternoon flight. But Blake was exhausted and a total pain to have along, so we managed just a short visit to the famous Pike Place Market. The flowers did not disappoint, but the quality of my phone camera did:

At the airport, we just made it in the doors before Blake flung himself on the floor for his first (of many) tantrums. Thankfully we had plenty of time to spare. We chatted for a few minutes then started walking to the bag check. He followed, of course, then promptly threw himself down again when his beloved rolling suitcase disappeared down the conveyor belt. And this is how it went. Let's just say he spent a lot of time on the airport floor (ew).

Blake's happiest moment of the airport-to-home experience was seeing this "Mickey airplane" as we taxied to the runway.

He definitely deserves a trip to Disneyland after enduring this quick, exhausting trip!

40th Fiesta

Jeff turned ...

So I planned a party and invited some friends and family ...

Ordered and made some delicious fiesta grub (if I dare say so myself) ...

Dug up some old photos - one per year of Jeff's illustrious life ...

Simplified on the cake and ordered it from Costco BUT found the perfect pic of Jeff for the embellishment ...

And took a photo of his bald spot :)

Thank you, thank you to those who helped me pull off this party. It was a scramble at the end, but family and dear friends just rolled in and got busy. Thank you, thank you to family and friends for coming to celebrate with us. I hope you had a lovely time - the weather was PERFECT, hallelujah. Thank you, thank you to Jeff's parents for raising a seriously nearly perfect kid. I love you Jeffrey Noah! I'm looking forward to your second fortieth party in 2052 :)

48 Hours

In about an hour, my four children will return from their 48 hour stay with Granny and Papa. I think I'll record some quick thoughts, while I still have some time to think ...

1. Life without children is a breeze. Seriously, the ability to just schedule my own time and come and go without worrying how it will fit in with my kids' schedules ... it all just leaves me speechless with awe. Amazing.

2. A nine month old puppy is pretty easy to have around when the children are gone. She just follows me around. When she gets restless I take her on a walk or play ball with her or do some training and then she settles down. Amazing.

3. Hanging out with my husband without kids around is pretty awesome. Whether work or play, in house or out and about, it is lovely to be with him. I knew this already, just rarely have the chance to just enjoy him.

4. When I go to church without kids, I can actually FEEL things. Like spiritual things. Like I can be touched in the depths of my heart. Amazing.

5. My house stays cleaner without kids around. Well, duh.

6. I don't really miss my kids when they are gone (can you tell?), but I'm pretty sure that's because I know they are coming back.

So does it sound like I want a career change? It probably does, but, no, I don't want a career change. I'll keep my mom job. I have some children to raise and I'm going to see this through. However ...

1. I need to give myself a little more credit for how much work it is to have a family. I always think this is just our life and what we do and I'm not any busier than anyone else - everyone is busy. But now I say, no, we are very busy. It's a huge responsibility to raise four children and take care of ourselves besides. Just the weight of knowing that we are fully responsible for the past, present and future of four fast-growing children is huge. Add on all the comings and goings and supposed to be doings and this is a big job.

2. Somehow I need to find a way to fit in moments of peace, moments of thoughtfulness, moments of feeling the Holy Ghost in my heart. It's something I thought I was doing, but when I have time without the distractions of children, it's amazing how much more I feel.

And that's about all I have time for because, as my last hurrah, I think I'll make a run (well, drive) to Cold Stone before they get home. Cookie doughn't you want some?

Bathroom Redo

Our hall bathroom has been a target for a redo since we first bought our house 5 years ago. We've used it in a minimal way, but decided it was now time to make it usable for our 4 growing children. It's been a long process of planning and ordering parts but now it is done! Here are some pictures of the process.

BEFORE
The old (original) bathtub shower was only used a few times in 5 years. It included a window to the front yard that showcased a lovely silhouette of the showering individual.

The vanity and countertop (also original, I believe), that exuded a smell of ... oldness.

DURING
Goodbye bathtub, shower and window!

Hello skylight!!!! The first night I gazed up at you and saw the big, bright moon perfectly framed in your glass, I knew it would be love forever more. Yes, forever more, dear skylight.

Hello shower bench!

Hello porcelain tile floor that looks like wood. I wasn't sure I'd like you, but at install time you became one of my favorite features.

And hello new swanstone countertop (and matching shower walls) that cost me a fortune but will pay off with years of durability and easy cleaning. I will treasure you.

AFTER
So the majority of the work went quickly, but it took me a while to pull off the finishing elements. Much longer than Jeff liked, but he's learned to be patient with me :) After painting the walls I was feeling discouraged because it looked so boring, but I finally found the tile I was looking for and now can say I love how everything came together. Phew!

The final needs are towels and a bath mat, a toothbrush holder and soap dispenser. Then the job will officially be complete. Heaven help me if we ever do a bigger remodel because this little bathroom was quite the project.

How Old Are You? Two. Six.

Our Blake is 2! In every way! He is a joy and a pain, back and forth from one to the other several times a day. But we truly do absolutely adore our 2 year old!

A couple of days before his birthday, I started training Blake to hold up two fingers and say "two" when asked how old he is. Well, apparently his favorite number is six because that's the number he always ends on when counting. So my training resulted in this exchange:

I say: "Blake, how old are you? Two." He responds (the moment I say "two"): "Six" (with his two index fingers pointed straight ahead).

It's so cute that everyone in the family asks him over and over again. Maybe I'll get lucky and catch it on camera for posterity.

We celebrated with family, with a little mickey mouse mixed in. Happy Birthday, dear Blake!

We found this list that Sophie wrote to describe Blake. Perfect!

All About April

On the way home from Grandma's Easter party, Blake took some time in the backseat to enjoy his haul without interruption from two tired, unattentive parents in the front seat. And we thought he was falling asleep ... what? With a basket of chocolate in his lap? Duh.

I'm training them young to love Trader Joe's:

Spring Break gave us time to do whatever, including taking Lily for walks and giving her off-leash time for the first time. She was extremely helpful to Eliza's digging project. We laughed because it was just like one of our favorite books, The Digging-est Dog.

We enjoyed a beautiful morning at Stake Conference at the Oakland Interstake Center. As usual, the kids insisted on a walk on the roof of the Temple. Of course we were happy to comply. And look, here's a picture where they all look like the "We are a Happy Family" song. It's a miracle.

I turned 37. I have a strong gray hair presence these days. Have you noticed that no one goes gray at my age anymore? It's because of the vast options for coloring one's hair and it's such a bummer for me who has always said I would always go "au natural."  At times I feel I could use a major injection of vanity, but my practical side says why bother with all that coloring stress. We'll see ...

And Ben ate pickles. A LOT of pickles. In fact, for several days that was the ONLY thing he ate. I think it started when we (and school) started cracking down on manners. He took control by only eating certain foods. The battle continued until he got down to pickles only. We slowly worked back up to include more foods because, frankly, I think he just got REALLY hungry. So here is a picture of Ben eating his pickle waffles.