Geekily Ever After

Birthdays of 2011

2012-01-25T12:19:00.000-08:00

So this post is quite late... but I want to document it anyways.

October 2011 - Leann's birthday happened amidst a 7 week old infant, and brother's wedding and a trip to AZ, a baby shower for much awaited little nephew, Matt's insane work hours, and a baby's blessing. So needless to say my birthday got a bit overshadowed. My parents were still very kind and got me a ice cream cake (my favorite), and sang to me. I enjoyed the moment and just let it pass as I didn't have much time to focus on that.

November 2011 - Matt kept trying to find out what I wanted to do/for my birthday, albeit a little late. I finally decided what I wanted was a dinner out. A really nice dinner. No work, no kids, just us, and some incredibly delicious food that I didn't prepare. And I wanted nice.... not so nice that the portions are teeny tiny and the food is prettier than me... but nice in that it was quality food with lots of flavor. I LOVE going out to eat and since quitting work, we don't go out very much, so this is truly a treat for me.
However, this month Matt was getting calls for work at night and on the weekends. I did not want my evening of relaxation to be ruined by work... so I told him to wait until work wasn't so crazy, so I could enjoy it.

Naturally I put my friend G up to the task of helping me pick a restaurant. We discussed prices and food amounts and food tastes and such. Finally landing on a choice of Mainstreet Grill. She even offered the perfect set up. Come to her house, feed the baby and then leave, so as to maximize the worry free time allotment when it comes to babies you aren't certain will take a bottle.

So now to picking a day. We found one, early December...

December 2011 - We got to go on our date. We dressed up for each other, we dropped off the kids and headed to our little getaway. And let me tell you, it was HEAVEN! It may have lasted only 1.5 hours, but it was perfect bliss for me! The salad, oh the salad with bleu cheese and candied pecans, strawberries, and balsalmic vinegarette, the fried avocado for an appetizer, the steak and veggies prepared to perfection and with delicious seasonings, and then the ice cream sandwich that was seriously pure heaven, trust me this ain't no cheesy ice cream sandwich, we are talking pastries worthy of European origin on top and bottom, delicious cream ice cream rolled in candied nuts, drizzled with chocolate fudge yumminess... oh man, I'm drueling just remembering it. I felt like my taste buds were doing that little dance from Ratatouille, where Remy is trying to explain flavors to his brother. My mouth was singing. I loved it!!!! My birthday was a success. (also need to thank my kind brother for helping pay the bill by giving us a gift card after they came to stay with us)

(G's kids love Weston while we were gone! Can you blame them? He was very loved that night)

Well, Matt's birthday is also December. And he loves to celebrate on the day. So we made plans with friends to bbq and put kids to bed and play games all night. Matt still wanted to go out to eat... so we started searching. Found a community magazine and checked out some restaurants in there. Matt decided he wanted mexican food. Sounded good to me. So we found one, and decided to try and head out the night before his birthday. No luck with babysitters, so we trekked the kids with us this time. They were champs! No complaining, just happy eating and smiles! We enjoyed our dinners... good classic flavors for a good cheap price... I love mexican food! I mentioned it was his birthday, so when it was time, out came the sombrero and the delicious dessert.

The dessert was good, but the true entertainment was the hat. This thing was so huge, the girl in the booth behind Matt, had to duck to not get hit by it. It was awesome!

(If you look close, you can see her ducking)

The next day Reid came down with a terrible fever. Matt and I were still recovering from something as well. So we cancelled our bbq, and stayed in. I still made a cake, nothing extravagant as I don't know how to do sick kids and still do everything else, but it was a yummy cake. (win for the recipe on the back of the Hersey's cocoa powder) But considering all it was a good cake. In spite of feeling terrible, Reid love singing Happy Birthday... he loved it so much, we did it again 3 days later for family home evening.... candles and all! A little ridiculous, but when they are 2 and running fever, why not?

Happy Birthday to us!

The Sweetest 2.5 Year Old

2012-01-24T11:55:00.000-08:00

- Reid started singing songs with us. At first, he would just say the last word, but now he knows almost whole songs. His favorites are: Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, John the Baptist, Christian Soldiers, Country Roads, Love is Spoken Here, and the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song. Truth be told, Country Roads is the cutest.
- Reid is starting to learn about sharing. According to nursery leaders, he's pretty good most days at sharing. Other than the Lightning McQueen car, black train and his ride truck, Reid is good at sharing his own toys here at home.- Reid has mostly adjusted to having a brother, but I think one thing that helped was that her learned how to ask to have mom to himself. "I need a mommy hug.... No, Weston down... need a mommy hug". I try to support his need for some mommy attention, but trying not to baby him... it's a tricky balance.
- Reid is starting to learn cause/effect. So we are trying to teach him consequences. Reid spilled his drink the other day, so I went through the motions of helping him get a rag and clean it up, and what to do with the rag afterward. I was pleasantly surprised when the next time he spilled and I told him to go get a rag... he did!
- Reid is starting to like his brother. When Weston sees him, he always smiles and Reid gets excited that he can make him "happy" or "smiiiiwwing" (smiling). He will often share a car with Weston, and we've started teaching him about asking for a toy and then trading for another toy.

- Reid has really starting understanding and responding to our requests. He understands that we want something, or when we explain why he can't have what he wants. His comprehension has expounded.
- We have constantly worked on colors, but had no luck, until he started asking for me to draw Thomas (with a blue crayon), or James (with a red crayon), or Percy (with a green crayon). Success! Our child is not colorblind! So, we worked on it for just a bit, and then BAM! he knew all of his colors all of the sudden. Pink and purple still need a little help (but well, we don't use them much, they are girl colors), and orange and yellow are a little confusing, but he's getting better.
- One of my favorites is that like every 2 year old, Reid whines. But we have talked about being happy and saying things in a happy and nice voice. He gets this cheesy closed mouth smile and tries to show mommy that he can be happy, so he can get what he wants. I love the face... I can't help by smile myself.
- Ever since about a week after Christmas (when Reid got really sick), he takes Lightning McQueen to bed with him. This was such a surprise, cuz Reid does not like stuffed animals, so I thought he would never want a toy in bed with him. Well, Lightning McQueen has won the cherished place of bedtime with Reid.
- Reid goes through phases of bringing his blankets out of bed. We started with him leaving his bed blankets on mommy's bed, and slowly moved it to his bed. But occasionally he still likes to bring them to mommy's bed. But it is comical now, because with the colder weather we have added a full twin size blanket on his bed and watching him drag it to our room makes me smile. But then I ask him to put them back on his bed and he does it right away.

Reid shows his love unconditionally for mommy and daddy. He is my friend and buddy right now. He is behaving so well and rarely gets in trouble. If he does, its to the corner and before his 2 minutes are up, he's in the corner apologizing or saying what he should have done differently. I know this won't last forever, so I am enjoying every moment I can. We made it through the months of adjusting to moving and then adjusting to a baby brother, and now we are just enjoying being us... at home.... and he's the sweetest boy. I want to never forget these precious moments.

(Reid helping Daddy play "robots"

a.k.a. Daddy doing his robotics hobby by tearing

apart our broken DVD player for parts)

Play Trains / Christmas

2012-01-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas! My Christmas started a little early around 5am when Weston woke up to eat, but like the champ that he is, he went straight back to sleep. Then just before 7am a little toddler came in. Matt and I did our best to be excited to get up. Reid still didn't quite get what Christmas morning was all about. Well, it didn't take long, he was so sweet to wait his turn while Mom and Dad took turns opening presents. He was happy to play with the toys he had already gotten in between each new present.

Our extended family was so generous with our gifts... we even spoiled ourselves a bit with a new Blu-Ray player and the entire Harry Potter collection on Blu-Ray. But the main event was the train set! Santa (with the help of my sister) gave Reid a basic figure 8 train track set. Little did we know Grandma was also in cahoots with Santa and she gave Reid a Thomas and a James train! He was so happy. He played with the trains ALL day on Christmas. We even tried to watch the new Cars movie and Reid lost interest in about 10 minutes and went back to the trains! He's a boy in every aspect. The most common phrase in our house that week was "Play Trains?"

Weston woke up when we were close to ending, and we opened up his presents as well. Then we took some time to enjoy our breakfast casserole that I made the night before and then headed upstairs to get ready for church. There was some protesting when it was time to get ready for church and to leave for church... but he got through it. Church was great and it was fun to see all our friends dressed up so spiffy for the Christmas day.

When we got home he played a little and then it was nap time for all. Except Weston didn't get that memo and didn't let mommy get her Christmas afternoon nap. But alas, all is still well.

Then we had a yummy dinner of pork roast, cheesy potatoes, salad, and strawberry jello. Shortly after we finished dinner, our friends came over to wish us a good Christmas and leave us some "brownies from a jar".

Such a fun holiday. We did miss seeing our families, I did call my parents and talk to my brother and sister, and Matt's family skyped with us the night before. However, staying home and taking it easy allowed us to rest and reflect on Christ and why we celebrate Christmas.

(our small hand-me-down tree with all the presents)

(Matt gave a beautiful the Christmas story lesson on Christmas Eve)

(the after math)

It was a wonderful day!

Baby 2: 3 and 4 Months Old

2011-12-31T12:50:00.000-08:00

Weston @ 3 months
- Weston has started to giggle, specifically when you change his clothes. I don't know what is so funny, but he just cracks up.
- He loves being tickled on his cheeks and neck.
- He loves it when he gets attention
- He will not sleep unless his arms are swaddled. (That works ok for these cold months, we'll see how next summer goes.)
- Weston outgrew most of his 3 months clothes! I can't believe I'm already putting 6 months clothes on this guy. We compared pictures of Reid and Weston the other day, and Weston is definitely in bigger clothes in the pictures of the same age.

Weston @ 4 months

- He's gone 10 hours straight sleep multiple nights, but sometimes goes back to 7-8 hours, then back to 8-9 hours.
- He has really started responding to us, he loves to plays games. If he makes a sound, and you make a sound, then he makes a sound, he starts to really smile for you. If you start to tickle him, he'll giggle each time, then if he hears you laughing, he'll start giggling too, even if you aren't tickling him.
- He's a home body. He doesn't sleep well out in public. And is only ok if he can see mom. (wondering if the car seat cover is going to last much longer)
- He also loves the quietness of home. When it is really noisy and chaotic, he can't seem to settle down at all. From the time he was born he couldn't sleep with loud noises. Some people claim you can train this out of them... but he has always been this way.
- Comments from others:
"Wow, he looks just like Reid"
"He sure looks like your family"
"Reid and Weston definitely look like brothers"
.... Sure I hear the obligatory, he's cute, but he really is!
- He's a momma's boy. Both my boys are which is tricky.
- Weston is eating 6 times a day, giving me "present" diapers once a week (but he's cranky if he goes that long), and still is spitting up a bunch (some days not so much, other days it never stops)
- He's adjusting to Reid noises. He actually has calmed down a few times once Reid starts making a racket with his toys or stomping, but he seems to know when if there are strangers around making noise too
- Gives the BEST smiles when you go in to pick him up after sleeping, super open mouthed
- Starting sticking his tongue out. I can decide if it feels funny or he's trying to be silly

It's cuter than this, I promise... still trying to get cute pic of it

STATS:
Weight: 14lb 7.5oz 50%
Height: 25.5in 75%
Head: 41.5 cm 25-50%

Official 4 month pic (even though it was a couple days after)

Weston is a good and mostly predictable baby... I'm grateful for his spirit and I truly am so glad he's here, it sounds weird but I really think I missed him. The more I get to know him, the more I wonder how I felt at home without him here. He's such a comfort to my heart. He loves Daddy and Reid too... he smiles for them almost anytime they want one. We love you Weston!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it was our first big Halloween... here's how it went.

We missed our church party, but went to our friend's, but Reid still didn't like it much... partly cuz of the costume drama. We made this super cool Mater costume last year, but then Reid got super sick on Halloween, so we didn't use it. He didn't even want to put it on. Then about a month ago, we got it out and he drove Mater all over the house. "Sweet!" I thought, "my kid actually likes the costume this year." So we thought we try it again. No, he didn't want to use it. So we carried it around and trunk-or-treated at the church party.

Since that didn't go well, the day before Halloween we got out Reid's Halloween bucket and had him go "trick or treating" to each of us, so he could practice and get excited. Well, he asked about it for the next 24 hours!

On actually Halloween was a Fall Festival for little kids at a local park. I wasn't about to carry Mater, a baby and a sad toddler, so I put on some hole-y jeans and a flannel shirt and Reid's tool bet and called it good for the morning. He ran around and had a blast... feeding a lion, putting into a nelephants trunk, and riding on the hay ride ("tractor ride"). Went to lunch with friends and came home and napped.

I was foolishly still hopeful that Mater would be selected for the evening, but NOPE, he wasn't. So we grabbed the tool belt and he was ready. Our neighbors invited us to go with them, and I thought that would be better for him to see how it worked with other kids. They had a blast. Reid loved having other "guys" (non-adults) to follow. He would say "ick o TREAT"... always screaming the treat part... it was hilarious. He was also very good to say "thank you" and sometimes even a "bye" or "see you later". He was the hit of the night. He also got very excited about the moon, and saying hi to fellow trick or treaters that passed us.

Unfortunately, after the first scary house (and it was actually scary), he required mom to go with him up to the door from then on. For the first few houses after a scary house, he would ask, "Scary?" and we would all reassure him it was ok. I never made him go up to the door at the scary houses, but he still knew if it was a scary house just by passing it. And some houses that weren't scary, but had Halloween sounds, still made him very cautious.

About halfway through the night he started slowing down, I finally figured out it was because his candy bucket was too heavy! I started carrying it for him in between houses, and then he perked right back up. But by the end, my neighbors, Reid, and I were all tired. Matt stayed home with Weston and the dogs to hand out candy. Weston was a champ and slept the whole time, doorbells and all, can't say the same for the dogs. :)

When we got home, he asked for some nerds, which he loved and milk duds, which didn't last, and a lollipop. Then he happily sat down watched Thomas while I got Weston to bed, and then he went to bed quite easily.

It was such a fun time for us to see Reid as he's growing up, interacting and participating more. We had a great Halloween!

Is It Two Months Already?!

2011-11-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well, month two was much more exciting!

The first week were just enjoying getting back to normal life and even took it easy with General Conference weekend. We just used the air mattress we had blown up for company and sat on it while we watched conference on the computer.

The following weekend my brother, his wife and four children came to visit. They were here for 3 days total, but I think we had a lot of fun. We visited, played games, went to the Nature and Science Center where we got to play in the dino pits, we rode on the train in the park downtown, we even were able to fit in seeing the bats come out at night.... and one of those days was Sunday! I was very humored by my nephews who are 5 and 7 and all the questions they ask. I gotta get ready for that age when kids absorb everything. We are so grateful they took the time to come visit and meet Weston, it was a lot of fun!

(who would've thought watching bats come out at night would be so impressive)

(and yes, you do get "dropped on" we had a run for it when the flight path changed)

They left on a Tuesday morning, so we began the craziness of packing for a week and a half, and left for Arizona the next day. Matt's brother was getting married on Friday. We planned to do it in one day, but gave ourselves two days, just in case. We did make it in one day.. one very long day. It was rough from the first hour on, including missed turns, stressful pit stops. Then the afternoon, things calmed down, but by evening Weston was DONE. So we nursed, changed him, and drive into the sun with a crying baby. Eventually he fell asleep, but the poor kid was just sick of the car seat.
Friday was the reception and the wedding, thanks to my sister who watch Reid all morning and my parents who came up to the temple to watch Weston. That evening was a beautiful reception and lots of friends and family to visit with.
Saturday was Matt's sister's baby shower which was a blast, lots of girl time. Plus our friends drove down from the Safford area and hung out with us all day.
Sunday was busy because we were able to bless Weston with all the family in town for the wedding. Matt and I were busy being hosts, Weston was in heaven being passed around and loved, and Reid got to play with his best buddy Ryde. It was so much fun, we had so many loved ones there, it is times like that that I realize how blessed I am. I had tons of people there, and a bunch more who couldn't come. I am so grateful for all the love and support we have.

Matt couldn't afford another day off work, so we stuck around all week. Monday was a recovery day. Tuesday - Friday were about trying to make visits, take care of our rental house, let tired children recover, and other various errands that just seemed to make the week fly.
Saturday we drove home and Weston slept and slept and slept! We made great time, and it went really well. Reid had been asking for about 3 days to go home, so he was a very happy boy. Regardless of the craziness, we were so grateful for parents who hosted us and social things at there houses so that we could make the best of this trip with a 6-7 week old.

I don't know where last week went, but between playgroup, church callings, tired boys, Matt's long hours at work, doctor appointments, laundry and all that comes from a trip, the week flew by.

This week is full of fevers, running noses and lack of sleeping. I knew it would catch up to us, I am grateful that it waited until the craziness was over.

Weston's 2 month stats:
Weight: 12lb 4.5oz
Length: 24in (although, it wasn't quite that if you ask me)
Head: 39.5in
(I looked it up, Reid was the same weight, but over and inch shorter)
Sleeps 8-9 hours at night!
Thanks to cornstarch the diapers are no longer stressful, and I usually only get presents once a day!
Smiles always at mom, especially when he's crying cuz he's hungry and mom picks him up
Loves to smile and laugh instead of eat
Loves kisses and zberts on his cheeks and neck (I even got a full blown giggle!)
Is cooing and talking all the time
Has a fussy time of day (dinner to bed time)
Weston has become the sweetest boy ever and just chills and is patient with me
Doesn't love tummy time
Sleeps in his own room
Loves to watch his big brother play and will even give him smiles

(2 months old)

(smiles for Grandma, 7 weeks old)

Reid's done some new things this month too:

With new visitors with different vocabularies around him for a month, his talking has improved so much. Not only does he say more complete sentences, he is getting better and pronunciation (which really is a shame, I'm going to miss "nin-nows", a.k.a. windows).
He has started copying us... we are learning that we have to be careful what we say around the house!
He is now learning how to say prayers, which brought tears to my eyes the first time. (always has been good at folding arms, now we are working on closing our eyes... very tightly! hahaha!)
He is becoming a more experienced and brave climber on furniture, playgrounds, it doesn't matter, he'll climb it.
After going to a play date, he learned about Thomas the Train, and now it is ALL about trains. He loves them... he spends hours each day making car trains, or toy trains, or something that isn't a train into a train. He still loves cars too though. He pretty much like moving vehicles.
He has started asking for diaper changes when he actually needs them. Oh boy, guess I gotta figure out how to potty train!
The jealousy is just beginning. Mom is the favorite right now, and there are times he wants me when I'm holding Weston, but cries until I put Weston down and pick him up. It is sweet but hard.
But on the up side, he's very sweet and always tells me when Weston is crying or if he is sad, and then he'll let me go take care of him. Such a good big brother!
He can count to ten and is getting better at counting to twenty
He knows almost the whole alphabet in capital letters, we are now working on lower case.
My favorite is that he has started to sing songs. Sometimes just a word or two, but he just sang 1 entire line from Bob the Builder all morning, it was so cute!

So that was month two... Phew! I think I need a nap. :)

The First Month with Two

2011-11-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

The first month of Weston's life was full of all the normal adjustments and recoveries required with child birth and additions to family. We survived it thanks to AMAZING parents! My parents were able to stick around for two weeks and cook, clean, babysit, purchase absurd amounts of food, and repair various things around our house! Matt's parents only had a couple days, but I still got laundry folded, meals cooked and paid for, and entertainment for Reid! It was a blast. We even had a special visit from Matt's cousin who had a business trip here, which is fun cuz he was MY friend in high school, before I even met Matt.

We are so happy to have Weston here and have been working on adjusting, so this is late, but I want to write a few things down before I forget them.

1 Month Stats:
Weight: 10lb 2oz
Length: 22in
Head: 38in
Sleeps 5-6 hours at night (bless you child!)
Smiles but not always at us
Great eater
Spits up a ton
Gives me presents in his diaper almost every diaper change
Had the worst diaper rash and I struggled to figure out the trouble. (at this point I tried changing my diet to help, but nothing)
Reid liked to tickle his toes and hands
Reid would check on Weston first thing in the morning, but other than occasional tickles, he didn't really care.
Everything else is a blur :)

3 weeks old

1 month old

One super fun thing we were able to do with Matt's parents (which completely wore me out though) was going to the Old Pecan Street Fall Festival. Legos had a station there were you could race your cars. Needless to say, Reid LOVED it. There were some great naps had that day.

Welcome Geek Baby #2!

2011-09-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

August 26th 2011 @ 1:16pm Weston Cade was born! He weighed in at 7lbs 15oz and was 19.5 inches long. I was induced, but still was able to labor and deliver naturally.
We are really enjoying him and adjusting to our new life. I hope to write the story down soon. But for now pictures will have to do.

A few hours old

Getting his hearing test (he looks like he's jammin')

5 days old

Why Two Year Olds are Great

2011-08-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

Because when you are busy stressing and counting contractions...
They come up to you on the couch, and start bopping you on the nose saying, "Boing, boing, boing!"

I totally lost all my concentration and that contraction time was off a little bit... but I sure did get a really good laugh!

(p.s. the contractions slowed down later that night... so no baby yet)

Thoughts of Soon to be Mom of Two

2011-07-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

Lately, I just find myself staring at Reid, wondering when did my baby get so big? I remember when he couldn't do or say anything. And now he can almost always clearly explain what he wants, and when I check to verify, he accepts that as a "yes", and then I have to disappoint him and tell him no. Thus begins the tantrums. But really, his tantrums are fabulous as far as tantrums go. He'll either drop his head and shoulders and stick out his bottom lip in the most perfected pout you have ever seen, or he'll let out the most pathetic cry and then throw his face on the couch/automan/chair/etc. Give him a minute or two and he's over it. I am grateful that these tantrums aren't bad. But the testing of the limits, OH! I'm so tired of saying no, and saying no to the same thing! But really, can I blame the kid for wanting more fruit snacks/juice/M&Ms/popcorn/etc. No, not really. I just have to be a mom and do what is good for him.

Then there are the truly sweet moments, when he grabs my head and snuggles it up next to his. Or when he wants to play "dark again" (hiding under a blanket), so we can giggle together. He always gives me and his daddy sweet kisses. He jumps for joy when Daddy or Mommy come home when they have been gone. He loves his independence, as long as he knows where we are. And the trust my child shows me is amazing. I was overwhelmed one day at a beach entry pool, when I was trying to show him that the water went deeper, and he just kept walking towards me, even though the water was completely over his head. I love this little boy so much, and I can feel the love that he has for me.

So how could anything be wrong? Well, in church a few weeks ago a friend gave a lesson about how scary it was to have another child coming into her family. And it hit me... that is what I have been feeling! Will I love this 2nd baby enough? Will I still be able to show my 1st baby all the love and attention he needs and deserves? Will I end up abandoning the older child, because the baby needs more? How is my 1st child going to adjust? How am I going to adjust? Will I be able to give everyone what they need? All these fears have hit me like a ton of bricks.

Deep down I know this is the right thing, and I am so excited to meet this little guy inside of me. And I would never want to deprive Reid of the love you can feel for and from a sibling. So I know this is the right thing, but man am I scared for them. Will I be enough of a mom for BOTH of them?

I am grateful for the comforting words of my best friend who told me that I'm normal in all this, and shared some very reassuring thoughts and feelings from her experience of having multiple children. But I still find myself crying every time I read those "baby is coming" books to Reid. I ache for him and the change he is going to have, and the challenges that this little boy will have to soon face. And I just want to help him and make it easy, but alas... I need to let him go through this, as much as I need to learn how to be a mom of 2.

I have tried to make the most of this summer, spending time with Reid, letting him learn and grow and experience all that he can. I have tried to bond with him and show him my love. I have tried to teach him about shapes, colors, and Jesus Christ. I hope that through all of this, he knows that I love him, and come what may, we are a family forever.

Driving, Vacations and More

2011-07-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

We survived our long vehicular summer vacation, super prego, sprained foot, toddler and all.

What summer vacation, you say?
Well, Matt's family had a reunion in Utah. So the question is... what is the quickest way to get from Texas to Utah? Flying of course! Well, it sure wasn't the cheapest. So we looked at other options. If we went to Colorado and stayed with my brothers instead of driving straight there, we'd add only 100 miles to our trek. So thus began our fabulous vacation.

We started out bright and early on a Saturday morning. We were thrilled to just be out on a vacation, it didn't matter where. About two hours into the drive, we got stopped on the road. The man that stopped our car said, we have to stop traffic because they have to land a helicopter on the highway. (how cool is that?!) Then he continued for accident victims. (ok, that's a bummer) So, while waiting, I figured, let's eat something. I pull out a mango we hadn't managed to eat before leaving. I brought paper towels, a knife and a bowl, surely I was prepared. HA! That sucker was so juicy that it got everywhere. And did you know that mango is super slippery?! Yeah, went right down into that place by your seatbelt and the console... that teeny whole that you hate wedging your hand into on occasion when you drop some item that CANNOT be left behind? yeah, that one. Well, I might have let it go, except for the GIANT wasp that flew into the car through our open windows! AHHH!
So, I'm trying to get the food cleaned up, with my totally mango juice covered hands... in the mean time, Matt's trying to wave the wasp out of the car, with his mango covered hands. Oh and let's try and keep the wasp out of the back seat, because I do NOT need a wasp stung toddler on my hands while we drive for 14 more hours!
Thanks to a cheezit box and quick automatic windows... we managed to get the wasp out of the car. But then it was chasing Matt around wanting the cheezits! So he jumps in the car, and we sit there breathing trying to pretend we did not just run around like crazy trying to get a wasp out of our car.

After that we were grateful to get going on the road and had a wonderful drive to Colorado. Reid made it 12 hours before we put a movie on! I couldn't have been more proud. (don't worry, he didn't make it more than one hour by the last trek of the drive)

In Colorado and had a blast with two of my older brothers' families. We had an ice cream tasting contest (which me and my 9 year old niece won on a team effort!), we played hours of games while it rained and poured, we thoroughly enjoyed the cool nights, we toured geeky things like NIST and NOAA, played an hour or two of tag (which was pretty hilarious), and got spoiled as my dear sisters-in-law fed us and let us relax for a few days!

After that, we headed to Utah for the family reunion. To give us a little time to rest up, we stayed at my aunt's house for one night. They have a gorgeous home and are so gracious to share it with us. They fed us and even watched our son so we could attend the Salt Lake Temple. (something we both have wanted to do for years!)

Then with a little grocery shopping, it was time to head to the family reunion. Matt's aunt found this beautiful huge cabin in the mountains east of Salt Lake. It was so nice! Tons of rooms, big open social areas. Not to mention sand volleyball court, tether ball, hammock, two playgrounds, fishing, fire pit, lovely front porch and lawn, Oh and the gorgeous Utah air! The only bummer, which isn't completely bad cuz it was beautiful, was the creek that was a raging river due to all the snow melt. We got to share our room with Matt's sister, and I hope she slept ok with a toddler in the same room! (she was polite if she didn't) The funny thing is that it was on the 3rd floor, so all the heat of the day was in there by the end of the day, and I was sweltering by the time I would put Reid to bed. So I did my best to open up the windows to cool it off... and man, that's so fun to just open the windows and enjoy the beautiful cool night air, and even be quite chilly in the mornings!
A family favorite at these reunions is playing Rook. It is hard to play Rook with just me and Matt, so we did our best to get all of the playing in that we could. Matt's cousins and aunts and uncles are quite skillful at this game... so it is a fun challenge.

Then after a few days there, we headed back to Arizona for a quick stop in. The best part of the travel was carpooling with Matt's parents and sister, so we got to have some great chats while driving out on the open road. Reid was struggling by this time, but other than his break down when I didn't realize how late it was and how hungry he probably was... he was a pretty good sport.

In Arizona, we visited with a few friends (the dentist included for me) and family. I enjoyed getting my Eegee's and Frost cravings satisfied, and visiting with great people! Reid really enjoyed some one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa A at the house he mostly remembers as home.

We only stayed for one day, just to break up two super long days of driving. Then we headed back to Texas. This drive was painful and hard, and altogether worthy of forgetting. We got stopped twice in the last couple hours because we had a headlight out.... which we knew about, but what can you do?
(When we got home I am proud to say that my husband manned up and saved us $100+ by changing the headlight himself!)

A great family vacation with lots of family visited and enjoyable times had!

Super prego, yeah how's that going?
Yes, I figure we drove about 52+ hours on this vacation. I was 30 weeks when we left, 31 weeks when we got home. Just got this trip done in the knick of time!
I am now 33 weeks and I'm not allowed to leave town once I'm 34 weeks. I'm starting to get ready for this baby. Car seat covers are being washed, birth plans have been updated, hospital bags are being packed, and labor/birth education courses are being reviewed.
This baby is measuring 70%+, and so am I. I guess that belly measurement they do shows me as big. It makes sense to me, because I was over 8lbs at birth, and Reid didn't even make it to 7lbs until he was a week old. So this baby may be getting the taller genes in the family... we'll see!

Sprained foot! What the ...?
So 2.5 days before it was time to be driving out of the driveway, I was rushing down the stairs and rolled my ankle. Yeah, that's to be expected. I don't have the greatest ankles, and I'm all loosy-goosy from being prego. Well, the sprained ankle I can deal with.... it was the other foot that I landed on that was killing me!
After a rough night involving me at the church with 8-12 year olds, nail polish, Matt home with Reid and a power outage, and LOTS of pain... we sent Reid off to an air conditioned house and headed to the ER.
Can I just tell you how frustrating it is to feel like you have broken a bone? In the same general of your body as the ONLY other broken bone you have had? And getting this injury on the same apparatus as before? Yeah, its frustrating. And no one in the ER wants to give a 29.5 week pregnant woman painkillers without checking with the doctor first... so wait we did.
Of course it wasn't broken! GRRR. But it was pretty badly sprained. So basically I went to the ER to get some painkillers to make it through the next few days.
My tailbone also hurt some, so they sent me to labor and delivery to double check that all is well with the baby, and it was.

We finally got home @ 2am, and thank goodness to amazing friends who made it possible to sleep all day long while she kept Reid at her house. THEN she came over the next day and packed for me! LIFESAVER!

So as if tredging around on vacation while super pregnant isn't fun enough... I was also sporting a big black ortho boot and donut pillow. If I got a dollar for every look that said "ohhhh", "poor her", or "oh man!" I would be a very rich woman. I really did look pathetic.... plus, I was still dealing with pain because I couldn't take pain killers because I needed to help drive. Oh man, was that fun!

3 weeks later it is finally getting better. I no longer wear the boot, but I am currently still sitting on my boppy pillow because let's face it a bruised tailbone takes like 100 years to heal! Really I'm doing just fine, I have to admit... I'm wondering if a bruised tailbone is gonna make labor hurt more? Anyone know?

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So, that's our summary for now. Add in doctor appointments, playgroups, church callings, work, and pregnancy exhaustion and that's what kept us busy this summer. Hope your lives are a little less crazy!

Summer is Off to a Good Start

2011-05-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I've had a few requests for a new post... so here you go.

Pregnancy:
I swear I'm bigger than I was at this time. I am currently 26 weeks, and I think I look like I did at 30 weeks last time. This little guy is carrying super high, he is already in my ribs all the time. Matt has felt him kick multiple times, but I can't seem to get Reid to wait long enough to feel it.
I've had some back pain this time, so I asked my doc, and she recommended a maternity belt. So now I'm strutting to the groovy belt under my clothes. So far I think it has helped.
Sleeping - well, I can't. I toss and turn about every hour or two... if I get 3 hours, I feel awesome. It just makes me laugh, cuz I know I'll be more tired later!
In spite of all that, I'm grateful this little guy is healthy and kicking and that I am able to continue to function at all while pregnant.

(me at 24 weeks)

(my 20 week 3D ultrasound of this little boy)

Reid:
Is a crack up. He is less of a baby and more of his own person. He says the funniest things. My favorite right now is "Ready, Set, GO!" (sounds more like re-ee, se, go)
He FINALLY got some more teeth. It has been almost a year since we've had teeth come in. But his canines are making an appearance, barely before he turns 2.
Reid got a nasty cold and gave it to us. Reid's lasted almost a week, but then I think the lingering was just teething. Matt's lasted 2 days, and 3 weeks later, I think all symptoms of mine were gone!
Reid has also learned about movies. His favorite is Joo-joo. Can you guess what that is? Yeah, it took me a while too. Incredibles! He LOVES it. Wall-E is also another fav... but really he loves most cartoons at all.
We've been working on colors and letters. He can pick out the letter "o" (because he has learned about circles), and sometimes can find the "h", but we're still working on all the others. Blue is the color he gets right the most... but RED is his favorite crayon/pen/marker color to draw with.

On goings:
Matt's brother got home from his mission! Welcome home! So Matt went home for a visit. It ended up that the cheapest tickets were to be gone for a WHOLE WEEK! I didn't know what I was gonna do without him, until my sister called and said she is coming to visit me!
So my sister was here for 4 days to play, while Matt was gone. We had a blast. We mostly went shopping, out to eat, and watching chick flicks while Reid was alseep for the night.... but we also went down to the park and rode the little train. It was so much fun. I would've been bored out of my mind... and I love hanging out with my sister. It was so fun!

(someone brought bubbles on the train, Reid's trying to grab them)

Other than that, we're just plugging along. Trying to get more organized, getting ready to move Reid to a toddler bed, and swimming as much as we can!

Hope everyone has fun summer plans!

April On-goings and a Fun Easter Report

2011-04-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

For the month of April, we spent most of our time trying to unpack and get settled in our house. It's amazing how much time you spend cleaning up the yard, or picking out decorations for each room, or painting over ugly stencils, or what have you in your new home. We're still not there, but the baby's room is half cleaned out, so we are making definite progress!

The big news of April is that we found out we are having another BOY! We are ecstatic! I am so happy that Reid will have a buddy to be friends with, and then fight with, and then hopefully be friends with again once he is older. It's a wonderful circle of life siblings go through and I'm excited that our boys will have that opportunity.

Everyone asks how I'm feeling, and pretty good is the answer. I was pretty sure it was a girl because I just can't kick this nausea and I thought the extra estrogen in my system HAD to be the cause... but I was wrong. It simply is a different pregnancy. I'm feeling him kick, but mostly it feels like he's just wiggling around while he still has room in there. My energy level has been much lower this time around, and I've been assured it is due to chasing my toddler around! Also, my back aches almost every day, but that is bearable thanks to my heated rice socks. So really, I'm doing well.... Most days I can get chores done around the house, and usually we make 2 park appearances and a library appearance each week. So I think it is going well!

This little guy is due August 27th, but my doctor doesn't think I'll make it to then, I've been told not to be more than an hour from the hospital once I hit 34-35 weeks. What fun a HOT July/August is going to be for me!

So far we have been blessed and loved our new ward. We attended our first ward activity... it was an Easter Egg Hunt. Reid had a blast! They divided the egg collecting sections into 3 age groups: 3 and under, 4-7, and 7-11. Each child was supposed to get only 1 dozen eggs (because that's what each parent was asked to bring). However, after collecting 12, Reid noticed there was still more eggs to be collected, so he kept going. So Matt just kept emptying out the eggs, and Reid thought it was great game and didn't want the fun to stop! He quickly became efficient and found that if he grabbed 4+ eggs at a time, he could fill up his basket faster, instead of one egg in the basket at a time.

After we finished our egg hunt, we got to play on the playground. Then Reid got his face painted, we asked him what animal he wanted, and after multiple sounds he chose a sheep. So he had an adorable sheep on his cheek. Then we played more on the playground and his Daddy helped him swing and he got to learn about underdogs... which he also loved.

On the way home, Reid crashed (fell asleep)... unfortunately he woke up when he got home, and proceeded to talk, jump, and sing in his crib for 2 hours, while I took my afternoon nap.

That afternoon we went to some friend's house who also moved to TX. They had a kiddie pool in their backyard. It was all Matt could do to get Reid's brand new shoes off before he went in clothes and everything. I thought it was adorable, and why not let the kid be a kid? (clothes and all) Until I looked outside and saw his diaper bursting out of his shorts, then we got a swim diaper on him and he kept going, just fine. We continued the fun with hamburger, hot dogs, and lots of yummy side dishes.

Sunday we enjoyed church, some really great Easter talks about the Savior, Matt taught the EQ (the men's class) lesson. Then we went over to our other friend's house and were fed an absolutely amazing Easter dinner, and fabulous conversation.

All in all, Easter was a really great success. We feel like we are getting to know more people and making some really wonderful friends. We are so grateful at this time to remember the Savior and the blessing of the Atonement in our lives, especially as we are adjusting to our new surroundings, we can feel His love for us.

Why the Recent SC2 Patch is a Failure

2011-04-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

The 1.3.0 patch to the Starcraft 2 client changed the way players view their win / loss statistics... or rather how they don't view them.

The patch notes described this change in a 1-liner:
"Loss counts are no longer displayed in Profile and Ladder pages for players below Master League."

Blizzard, why the hate?

A blue post (Blizzard Employee) on the SC2 Forums reads:

"Win/loss ratios start to matter at the Master's League level because the matchmaking system no longer plays as much of a role, and very good players can rack up many more wins than losses by consistently defeating opponents. Since the matchmaker is no longer as much of a factor, those stats become a more accurate measure of relative success."

"We had a pretty strong rationale for removing losses from the records of players below Master's League. Essentially, prior to that level of play, the losses you've sustained aren't particularly meaningful. Please allow me to explain:

Let's say that you're new to StarCraft II and you play (and lose) a ton of games. You've racked up dozens of losses and a handful of wins, and things look grim. Instead of giving up, you get better, learn effective strategies, and you start playing much more skillfully. Pretty rapidly, the matchmaking system starts pitting you against tougher opponents - but because of the very nature of the matchmaking system, and even though you're making progress and facing tougher opponents, your win/loss rate stays at around 50%. In a scenario like this, it means that your wins will probably never surpass your losses, even though you've become a better player and your wins have become more meaningful than those early losses. Even for someone who starts pretty strong, win/loss numbers should still settle around 50/50 anyway. That doesn't feel good, but worse, those numbers also don't accurately reflect your current level of skill or progress anyway."

Blizzard, I have news for you. Your matchmaking system is fairly broken anyway, and your Leagues and Divisions are pointless. You've successfully replaced one slightly-relevant piece of information with something far less useful.

This change gives players the sense that they're not that terrible by only showing them how many games they've won. Nevermind that you lost 500 games, your 14 wins is wonderful and worth showing. Really, the 14 wins are just as pointless as the 500 losses. If you're going to throw out one statistic, why not both?

The reality is that the wins and losses are both valid statistics, even in ladder matches where they should remain aproximately 50 / 50. The error here is not that the "numbers ... don't accurately reflect your current level of skill or progress" but rather that the interpretation of what these numbers mean is incorrect. People are used to winning far more than they lose. People like to win. They want to see a win ratio of 90 / 10. (90% is an A, after all.) But that's not sustainable for every player, because for someone to win, someone has to lose. Unfortunately, the ladder / division system attempts to boost a player's self-esteem by promoting their mediocrity.

As I mentioned before, the ladder system is completely broken. As it currently exists, there are 7 leagues: bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, master, and grand master. Each league is split into many divisions. Each division has 100 players. Currently, there is no way to tell how many divisions exist in your league.

There is no SC2 Armory, no way to view the other divisions or even know how many other divisions in your league there are. This makes it impossible to size up your competition. The WoW armory was a huge step toward an open-content gaming experience. Much like the advantages that come from open-source, open-content ensures that the community feels the game is being handled fairly, and know what to do to make themselves great. How many books have been written about the game of Chess? Has this diminished it's fun? Has it made the players cheaters? No. Instead, it has inspired some to become better.

Part of the problem with the win / loss system and the ladder / leagues/ divisions is the closed-formula information-hiding employed by the game designers. No one knows exactly what the criteria is to get promoted, or how to improve their MMR. Some may find this mystery intriguing, and, admittedly, at first it is. Until, halfway up the ladder, you find yourself grinding for points, not knowing if you're actually getting better, or if you're simply spinning your wheels.

As of December 2010, Blizzard had sold 4.5 million copies of SC2. On an average night, there are 750,000 people online. Assuming that all accounts are active for the current season, this means that there are 16 players online for every division (100 accounts). That sounds good at first, until you realize that many of them are afk, playing the campaign, custom maps, or vs AI games. Let's be generous and say that 50% of the people online are playing league games. So we're down to 8 players in each division are online. But even if they're playing a league game, they could be playing any match type: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4. So really, it's most likely 2 players online in each division playing each format.

Have you ever actually played against someone in your same division? I seriously doubt it. Even if you had, how would you have known?

If you're playing 1v1s, you could play one unique match-up from your division. If you're playing 2v2s, then it's you and your ally online with no one to play against from your division. That sounds pretty lame to me.

So, in order to combat this issue, Blizzard lets you play people from other divisions in your same league, or people from the top of the league below you or the bottom of the league above you. In essence, if there's not enough people to play against that are your skill level, it matches you against people who aren't your skill level... because, let's face it: Even playing a badly-matched game is better than sitting for an hour waiting for a match. We all learned that from the Random Dungeon Finder in WoW.

But take a step back and look at what we just rationalized. Now I'm getting a 1-100 ranking in my division for playing against people that aren't from my division. Isn't that more pointless than my win / loss ratio? Why group players if the groups mean nothing? Furthermore, nobody knows what league or division the people I beat are from. Nobody even cares about that part. All they know is that I'm rank X in platinum league. Talk about misinterpretation of data.

Implementing seasons should help lower the number of inactive players ranked in the division and improving the ability to be matched better to your skill level, but the possibility of playing people outside your division makes the entire division system pointless. In fact, the only thing the division system does is make a cosmetic front for people to feel good about themselves. Even at low levels, people can feel good about making their way up the ranks to #1 in the bronze division, even though that ranking means virtually nothing compared to the people in their own division.

What's so wrong with having only one division for each league? That would make it almost impossible to ever reach the #1 rank. You'd either never get promoted, or would have to get promoted from the top 3,000 players in the league. And who wants to look at their progress for the night and see that they moved up from rank 15672 to 15621? When the numbers are that large, it makes you feel insignificant. But when you're in a division of 100 players, you have a (false) sense that you're better than (a seemingly) large group of players. When in reality, you never even played against any of those people you think you're better than. Implementing the divisions is a facade to promote self-image.

In essence, SC2 is a completely different game in the lower leagues than it is in the higher leagues. Hiding the number of player losses in the UI didn't change that one bit. So, why did you do it, Blizzard?

Improved player experience?
Better game play?
Freed up visual space in the UI?
Offered the players more options to assess their performance?

None of the above. I'd argue that it was purely out of motivation to keep the player base from quitting playing the game. More people playing means more people are buying the game. There is only one reason why Blizzard would do such an awful thing. Money.

Now, I'm not one to openly criticize without offering some suggestions that I think would help alleviate the problem. So, if you're reading this, Blizzard, take some notes.

1. Create a new UI menu where all individual player stats can be viewed. Display Wins and Losses as seperate statistics where they aren't linked together. Show them in various ways so that players can analyze them in their own way. For example, create a option to show wins or losses for the current season compared to last season. Or, show wins versus players that were favored / slightly favored / even. This way, the win/loss count becomes meaningful.

2. Create a SC2 Armory. This shouldn't be hard, you already have the infastructure from WoW to do it. Openly publish what the leagues and division layout is. This type of open-content will please the player base.

3. Increase the size of each division and force matches to be played from people within your division only. Yes, that would cause some slowing of the match-making process, which is why I offer #4.

4. Make the divisions tiered. Within each league, make the divisions openly tiered so that people joining the new league are in the lowest division of the next league. This continues the concept of leagues to a finer granularity, while still separating people into groups of 100 and giving them a sense of progression in their play... but it will actually mean something. Doing so would require the promotion and demotion to happen much more quickly.

5. Open-Content the way you promote the players. Open-content the MMRs, and let the players who are matched up know the MMR of their opponent. Perhaps in the score screen, show a graphical chart of the placement of themselves and their opponent's rankings.

6. The set of static achievements is getting stale. On a regular basis, add new achievements that promote people to get better. For example, add an achievement specific to the current season to get promoted to a new league, or to Win a game against a "Favored" opponent.

In all cases, give the player more information, not less. Make the content more transparent, don't try to hide what's going on. If you need to make another menu to find this information, so be it. Digital real-estate is cheap. Display the information in a new way, don't just make it go away.

21 Months

2011-04-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

Reid is growing quickly, and in the shadow of a move and another baby. I felt that I should blog about a few things he does. Sorry this post is more journaling for a mom who isn't doing the best job at documenting everything.

Reid has found a large interest in letters and numbers. In fact he can tell them apart (most of the time). All numbers are 2 or 8, and all letters are H or O... sometimes he'll say a few more letters. My favorite thing he does right now is when he's getting ready to run down the hall, or slide down the slide or whatever might require a count off, instead of 1...2..3...go... He says "2...8" and then goes. It's adorable.

Something that makes me giggle, only as a 12 year old boy should, is that every time we are getting in or out of the car, Reid immediately starts asking "Butt? Butt? Butt? Pease Mom, butt?... Butt! Butt! Pease Mom, Butt!" I seriously just about lose it each time, I just want to giggle. What he is asking for is to push the garage door BUTTon. Yeah... we're working on the TON part of that word.

As we have moved into a 2 story house, Reid is quickly getting faster at stairs, but occasionally, he wants to slide down on his bum with you, and lets you know this, by patting the ground next to him... multiple times. He's even started doing this when he wants you to sit next to him on the couch.

When he has found something good to do to occupy his time, and he would like you to join him, he waves his arm in a circle, as if to say "Come on".

His zerberts are better and juicier than any of mine! I crack up every time he finds a bare mid-drift and dives right in for the love zerbert.

Reid loves to play sheet monster. Where he puts a sheet/towel/blanket over him and wanders around trying to 'get' you, and then wants you to 'get' him back. It can be fun, but he gets worked up, and yesterday he learned, it is not always a good idea to wander too far (with your vision impaired) when you are on top of the bed!

Reid loves to read! haha. He really does, he says "book", and we can spend 30 mins easily reading at one time. (which is a lot for a toddler if you ask me)

Reid is the best pucker-er... the kisses are a bit juicy, but the pucker is IRRESISTIBLE!

When I cry (because let's face it, I'm pregnant... I have emotions), he always comes and sits on my lap and say "Mommy" and gives me a big smile. I tell him I need a hug, and I always get one. He knows how to heal a sad heart!

Reid has learned that kisses do heal wounds. His first major skinned knee, he ran away once he had received his mommy kisses (post washing), and took no interest in the Superman bandaid! He also has learned that if he hurts mommy, or she gets hurt, he can kiss her owies better too.

Every night when I put him down for bed. he says "Nigh Mommy", waves, and then puckers for his nightly kiss. (Not sure how much longer I can lean over the crib for that special moment!)

Reid has come to love the dogs. He chases them around and often gives them hugs and kisses. He does torture them a bit and has been known to chase them around the yard... but he doesn't realize it is torture, his heart is pure and he just wants to love them completely.

Reid LOVES water. He'll splash and kick in the bath... he doesn't even care if he gets his own face. He loves to lay on his belly and practicing kicking. We've even tried to teach blowing bubbles, but he doesn't get it, cuz Mommy doesn't put her face in the water either. (I'm ready for the community pool to open up!)

Reid is a great eater. He loves most fruits. He calls all of them "brapes" (grapes). Strawberries and raspberries are probably his favorites, with grapes, bananas and apples shortly behind. He also likes veggies. Tomatoes are his favorite, but he likes carrots, cucumbers, and bell peppers too. He's a great meat eater, chicken is his favorite. He also loves bacon. Potatoes are a hit also, hash browns, french fries, you name it. He's occasionally picky with breads, tortillas and starchy stuff, but general eats it if he can dip it! (ranch and salsa/sour cream mix are big hits)

And last but not least... Reid misses his Grandmas and Grandpas. I have a picture of both sets with me and Matt at Matt's graduation party, and he recognizes them and is excited to see their picture. And twice he has wandered through the house trying to find them. It was so neat to get to spend time with them before we left Arizona!

I'm so grateful for his spirit and personality. I can't imagine life without him, and I am thrilled and so blessed to be able to spend EVERY day with him! Love you Reid!

The Moments that Melt Your Heart

2011-03-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

So when Reid was born, I couldn't stop loving him. I would give him at least 100 kisses a day. I guess I still do, because this sweet little boy will be snuggling with me on the couch or somewhere, and will say "Mommy" and then pucker his lips, multiple times. I feel so special every time he wants to share his love with me.

One day I was trying to teach him to say I love you, and every time I asked him to say love, he would just pucker up his lips. I guess in his own way, he was saying I love you.

Every night before bed, he gets a kiss from mom and dad, and sometimes he needs more than one.... It is all I can do (with a growing belly) to lean over the crib and give him one last kiss.

Then today at church, a sweet lady behind us had an adorable quiet book full of zippers, velcro, buttons, etc that she kindly shared with us. One page had a train with two open pockets to slide something in to. One pocket had an apple, and another had a little girl doll figure. He put the apple in its place, and then brought the girl up for a kiss, put her in the pocket and said "night night". I immediately gave him a hug and loved him back, because sometimes you just can't resist the sweetness that a child has in their heart.

The Quick and Dirty version

2011-02-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

Well, at some point I'll have time to share all the emotions connected to what is going on in our lives. But for now here's what's going on....

1) Take semi-permanent leave of absence from work (been working for 8 years)
2) Making the move to 1 salary income
3) Parents coming home from mission from England
4) Moving from AZ to Texas (other than college, AZ is the only home I have ever known)
5) Expecting baby #2 (due Aug 27th)
6) First time to move where I am the one in charge, ha!
7) Have to pack and clean house for the above events
8) Found a house to rent

Is that enough? I think so. In short, sorry if I don't post for a few weeks.

2010 Recap

2011-01-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

I saw a few friends do this, and loved the idea, so I decided to try to recap our year... so here it is:

2010!

January - Reid went through a horrible sleep schedule this month so I don't remember much. (Apparently, I didn't even blog) According to our calendar we did the usual church callings, family stuff, and I attended baby showers for friends.

February - Reid learned to crawl and got his first tooth! Girls' Camp prep was gearing up here for me, literally my calendar has meetings written all over it! Various family events pretty much filled up the rest of my time.

March - Got a new niece (who was born on the side of the road!). More camp, more baby showers, more family activities. Start thinking about trip to England. Started up New Nester's FHE. Thyroid ultrasound.

April - Girl's Camp Sleepover. Biopsy for my thyroid. Get taxes in (barely).

May - Finish up Girls' Camp Preparations. Attend an olympian's wedding reception (I just feel cool that I know someone who was in the Olympics!). Car break down on the way to the reception. A week later and $1500 later, our car works again. Visit with friends and family. Meet with thyroid surgeon and decide that surgery is a good option. Go swimming with Reid as much as possible before surgery.

June - Girls' Camp (yay!), post Girls's Camp meetings, etc; this also meant spending a WHOLE week away from Reid! It was hard but camp kept me busy and we had a wonderful week up there. Reid turned 1 the day I got home from camp, and we had a small family party. Square Dancing ward activity and surprisingly had a blast. Thyroid surgery: have more than half of my thyroid removed. Find out thyroid had cancer in it, so it was great that it was removed. Matt's job changed and is now based out of Austin, we start exploring the options of moving.

July - Spend 4th of July camping and fishing in the White Mountains with the in-laws (and I actually caught a couple fish!). Do lots of laundry! Whirlwind week long trip to England with a 1 year old, so great to see my parents! Thyroid check-up says that cancer should be completely cured, make no more plans to get the rest of it out. Starting swimming with Reid again (just no working out, cuz that stretches my neck).

August - Attend the temple and be the escort for a dear friend of ours. Spend 3 weeks recovering from the jet lag. Leann worked lots of extra over-time to cover for a co-worker. Get new renters, clean and paint our house.

September - Recover from the past 3 months. Start playing D&D with family. Baby shower, dinner with friends. Date night swap with Anderson's! (we went to Cheesecake Factory, yum!) Start making more decisive plans about moving to Austin.

October - Take a week off of work (due to August over-time). Celebrate Leann's birthday by spending time with my sister's family and then they took Reid for the night for us, while we got to go to Texas Roadhouse and then sleep in! Be in charge of ward Trunk or Treat. Spend a week and a half making Reid's Tow Mater costume (which we still don't have a picture of him wearing), but it was all in vain because Reid got a stomach bug for Halloween.

November - Craft Saturday, made these awesome wall hangings for our bedroom! Clothes shopping spree for me! A nice quiet Thanksgiving with the in-laws. Leann help out in nursery in church, so Reid got to go a month early!

December - Reid turn 18 months old! Leann set up plan with work to go on full leave of absence at the end of January. My grandmother's 90th birthday party. Reid get a fever the day before Christmas Eve. Reid then follow the fever by getting his molars on Christmas. Matt gets a mountain bike for Christmas, and we spent the rest of our Christmas break going on walk/rides (I push the stroller, he rides the bike, and we'd bring the dogs half the time). Matt's birthday dinner at Saffron. Gaslight with the family. Continue with plans to move to Austin.

I can't decide if I think my life is boring or not. It is what it is, I guess.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-12-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday. While trying to remember how old I am, I found out that I am 10% younger than my wife today. As our ages incease, the difference between our ages compared to the total age will decrease. We'll grow closer together as we get older.

Y = (HerAge - MyAge) / HerAge

18 months already!

2010-12-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

Stats
Length: 32.5 50-57%
Weight: 25lbs 15oz 50%
Head: 47 25-50%

He took his shots like a champ! Didn't even flinch on the first one. After the second he didn't like it. Thank goodness for good nurses who do the third one fast... and she said it was the stinging one. So then he got mad after that... but really, do ya blame him?

He's 50% across the board and has been his whole life. B
ut to us, Reid is far from average. I am still told how smily he is. He is quick to love others (he will hug complete strangers). He has the ability to turn a terrible day around with his infectious personality. He is very social, but has started being shy for the first 10 minutes in a new environment, but quickly warms up. Just recently he's started smiling when people say "Cheese", and Saturday he actually posed for the camera.

He also has the best giggle! He runs across the room, gives you this teasing look... so I start to go for him, and he runs at you to "get you" too! He's to tease and loves to pretend to give you something and then run away with it. Or when he knows he's not supposed to have it, he takes off running down the hall. He runs everywhere. And he's actually fast. I have to try to catch him.

He loves his cousins and loves playing with them and is just one of the boys when they get together.

He also loves to share. Whenever he is eating, he wants to share his food with everyone. Sometimes it is nice because it helps other kids who want his snack, but other times it is problematic.

One hilarious thing he does is screams goodbye - and I mean screams. And the best part is that we say bye to Daddy almost every day, and instead of "Bye Daddy!" it has become "Dye" ... or if you think of the humor of him screaming the word "die! die! die!" You'll giggle as much as we do.

His favorite show right now is Little Einsteins and asks for it by patting his hands on his belly. (if you've seen the show, you know they do a lot of patting) He knows all the actions to help Rocket blast off.

Reid is my cuddler and I love it! Sometimes we'll be sitting on the couch and he come over to sit right next to me, and put his hand on me. Sometimes he'll actually crawl on me lap and snuggle in. He also loves to snuggle before bed, he wraps his arms around me and holds me. One of my favorite things is that if Daddy is sitting on a bench or couch, Reid will climb up next to him and sit just like him, same position and everything. Then he is very proud of himself.

He'll drive cars all over the house, and makes great noises for them too.

Books have become a huge interest, both being read to and looking at them himself. You can just tell he is taking it all in. However, we now cannot bring books with animals or cars to church anymore because he makes the sounds and all the rows around us, just burst into laughter.

Reid loves his baths! I mean LOVES. He'll lay down completely on his back, or sprawl out on his stomach and dip his face in repeatedly. He splashes and squirts water everywhere. He sits at the faucet as the water comes out just to feel the pressure. He'll enjoy his baths thoroughly and it is usually mom who ends the bath, not him.

He loves the dogs. He will go up to either of them and pucker his lips (and in Lightning's case, squat down) so they can give him a kiss. He is sweet and pets them gently. He also feeds them. He'll grab their food, run up to them, place it on the ground in front of them and step back. He's very sweet about it. Also, Cleo will fight us for the ball, but when Reid walks over she drops it out of her mouth and he picks it up and throws it for her to go get. They definitely love each other.

He also puckers for mom and dad kisses. His pucker is him pressing his lips together, with the bottom lip out a little bit more than the top. His kisses heal all my tears or wounds. I like to think that mine do the same.... sometimes when I kiss his owie, he really does stop crying.

Reid knows all the signs to the songs "Popcorn Popping" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and is learning "Once there was a snow man" and the "Book of Mormon Stories" chorus.

Words he can say
hot, hi, bye, hyrum (hiiiieee), daddy, mom, mommy, shoes, dog, train (choo-choo), strawberry (taw-be), please (pea), up please (dup-pe), fish, m&m (um minum minum), this, that, keys, cheese, cheez-its (cheese-sis).
If he really wants something, he knows not to scream at me, but to say please. So he says, "pea mom" with the inflection much lower on the mom part. It works almost every time. (I'm such a sucker for him)

Knows signs for wash hands, wash face, food, brush teeth, comb hair, more, and done (eating). Although he has starting using done for being done in the car seat and being done with bath as well.

Animal sounds he can do:
cow, dog, lion, pig, cat, owl, horse, duck, monkey, bird, frog, he just surprised me by learning donkey the other day

But above all right now, he LOVES to scribble! He literally colors through the whole hour of church!

At this time in my life, I am very grateful for my blessings. I am grateful for the blessing of being a mom. I know that blessing is a challenge for some, and it has been a long arduous road for me as well. But now is the time I need to sit back and say thanks for that opportunity.

Reid, we love you very much and are ecstatic to have you in our family!

Tonight's Conversation

2010-12-03T20:18:00.001-08:00

Matt: "You'll only hear us say this once a year."
Leann: "Let's go to Wal-mart."
Reid: "Uh-oh... uh-oh... uh-oh..."

What did we buy? Starcraft II and hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer? Yeah, we went to Wal-mart.

Clothes only for Holidays

2010-11-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

Growing up, there were 3 times in my life when I got new clothes: 1) My Birthday, 2) Christmas, 3) My sister's birthday. The first two probably make sense, third is purely because my birthday is in October and so my mom needed an excuse to give me summer clothes. So growing up I only thought that you can get clothes on those 3 occasions. If clothes were bought for me from June-October, it was saved for my birthday, after my birthday-December it was saved for Christmas. This was so far ingrained in me that when I went college and my roommates wore clothes the day after they bought them, I thought they were doing something wrong and should save them for the next holiday.

So now that this last birthday was the big 3-0! I'm feeling kind of old. And being a mom, I'm feeling kinda... well... frumpy. So my kind husband gave me an "allowance" of sorts for my birthday this year.

So I sent out on my shopping spree. First stop was the mall. I had received an adorable sweater from my mother-in-law but it was too small (and a gorgeous scarf that I LOVE), so I went to check out what else they had. And it just kills me. The average mall price is $20+ for a shirt and $30-50+ for pants. So we are talking $70 for 1 outfit.

Naturally this had drawn me to the 2nd hand stores like TJ Maxx and ROSS (Dress for Less), which is wonderful and I do love them. But we're still talking $7-15+ for a shirt and $15-25+ for pants. So we're looking at ~ $30 for 1 outfit. Which is half the price, but still... $30 for 1 outfit.

Now I don't know about you, but when I go shopping, I'd like to get 2 or 3 outfits or mixtures of some kind. So now I'm talking $100 a shopping trip. Which frankly, if each person in my house were to go shopping that'd be $300 a pop.

So let's do the math. If I am trying to stay trendy and keep clothes that fit (ha! Like that happens in your baby making years), then how often do you go shopping? Just those 3 times a year? Yeah, I'd be 2 different sizes in between each "clothing holiday." So I'd like to go shopping more. But let's say I go every other month. We're still talking $100 x 6 months = $600/year... and that's just for ME. No one else in the house. Since I live with boys, let's say they only need $400/year. Now we are talking $1000/year JUST FOR CLOTHES! Seriously?

So my question is how do you shop? How do you manage a budget for clothes? Do you plan on getting gift money for clothes? Or do you have a monthly budget? What's a reasonable amount? Are there coupons for clothes? Do you know about some discount that I do not? How do you stay trendy without breaking the bank? Please give me your tricks.. I need them!

The surprise the TP-ers didn't expect

2010-10-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was driving home about 8:30 pm after playing soccer at the church building with some guys from the ward. As I looked down the street, I could see the usual cars parked along the curb. As I neared our house, there was a new-looking sedan parked along the right hand side, with the dome light on inside. I could see a young guy sitting inside in the dim light as I passed.

Just as I pulled up to the driveway, my headlights illuminated two girls. One of them was carring a huge wal-mart size package of toilet paper. The other girl had a few exposed rolls, and had dropped one or two which she was kicking down the street. As she kicked it down the street, it unrolled leaving a toilet paper trail across the driveway.

As my headlights fell on them, the girls broke into a run. Well, they thought they were running. They weren't making much speed because of all the toilet paper, and the fact that I had just blinded them with my 1000 candlewatt halogens. In an effort to escape to their get-away car, they dropped all their toilet paper in my front yard. At this point, I threw the truck into park and jumped out in persuit. They soon realized they wouldn't make it to the car before I would and slowed to a walk.

I then told them that I didn't care if they toilet-papered the house down the street. I just didn't want them to drop it all in my yard as they ran away. As I walked back toward the house and my truck parked in the street, the girls jumped in the car and sped away... leaving the toilet paper still sitting in my driveway.

So, now what do I do with 50 rolls of wal-mart quality toilet paper? And I'm not particularly in need of cheap ammo for my toilet-papering rampages lately.

England: Day 6-8

2010-09-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

DAY 6
Mom and Dad got the next two days off from their mission office work. So we got to go sight seeing with them! Dad had emailed us some places we could chose from, and one that sounded cool was York. Here's the description I had:

Drive to York (about an hour away) and see the York Minster (cathedral that is the largest medieval church in northern Europe) and the walls that encircle the city of York (the finest of their kind anywhere in Britain), along with the other sights in that city. Then drive back by way of Harrogate, a great strolling town in central Yorkshire with an abundance of Victorian architecture, and see some of the Yorkshire Dales on the way home. We could leave late morning or early afternoon and spend as little or as much time as you want. We could eat at Betty’s Tea Room, a world renown restaurant

It sounds fun, right?

We were slow moving this morning, because well, we were all exhausted.... Mom and Dad had been working hard in the office, and Matt and I were recovering from London. (let alone the 8 hour time change) Well, we finally headed to York.

When we got there, Dad showed us the wall. It was interesting as we went to each place, that every time there was a wall around a city or a fortress, or a castle or something, it was because it was up on a hill and naturally had the advantage for war. Now, I know that this is common sense.... but living in America we don't have structures, built purposefully for battle. I mean, the foothills are where the rich people live because it is a good view, NOT because they want to have a good tactical advantage on attacking armies? Could you imagine how different America would have been built if that were the case?

Anyways, so the walled part of the city is 2 mile circumference but there is lots of city outside the wall, now. So we went in the city and parked, and headed to the center of the city. It was classic with cobble stone roads and un-matched buildings built right next to each other.

View of the street in York.

I found this adorable candy shop where I bought my sister 2 of the 8 flavors of toffee they had available. And then we kept walking, deciding we were hungry. We asked around and found an Indian Restaurant. I've heard good things about Indian food in England, so I was excited. Mom and Dad aren't spicy food people, and neither is Reid, so we all picked mild dishes. (I got my well missed Saag! Oh how I had missed that flavor!) The other 3 dishes were creamy based, and all tasted different but delicious! We were all thrilled how yummy the food was. Even Reid partook quite a bit and seemed to like it.

Now that we had strength, we headed to York Minster Cathedral (the largest medieval church in North Europe). And wow, it is HUGE!!!

4 pictures to cover the whole thing!

1 2

3 4

(still haven't figured out the art of blogger's picture set up)

The history of this place is unreal. Basically it has had a church built in that location since the 600's A.D. And in the 11oo's people tore it down buried the foundation and built a church a little higher up. Then again in the 1200's, and ever since then, people buit wings and courtyards, etc. on it to make it what it is today. The stained glass windows are AMAZING, and they even have their original glass in them still.

The cool part is that they had to redo the floor of the cathedral flooring in the 1960's. So as the restoration team worked on the floors during the day, the archaeologists would work to dig out the floors at night. Then the restoration team would put up supports, so that today you can go down and see the previous church foundations. It might sound boring, but it really was very very very cool. I was enthralled the whole time. Not to mention the pure enormity of the cathedral itself... it was stunning.
We simply do not have anything with that kind of history or detail here in the states.

After York Minster, we walked around on the city wall. It was an enjoyable walk, but I was grateful when the construction permitted us from walking the whole 2 miles, and we had to go through this cool entrance to get back in.

After that we wondered through some jewelry shops that were B-E-A-U-TIFUL! but way out of our price range. Then we got some yummy ice cream and headed out.

Then we made a quick stop in Harrogate at this GORGEOUS park! We walked through the park, and it was so amazing! There was some band playing, and Reid kept dancing everytime they started up. The sun started going down, and it was a might bit chilly, so we headed home for the night.

DAY 7
This day Mom and Dad had met a PhD student at Durham University, so we met with her, and she showed us around. We started with a tour of Durham Castle. Again, they built the castle in his location because of elevated ground, which gave an advantage to them over attackers. (As you can see this is one of many streets leading UP to Durham Castle.

(come up on the left, and keep going up on the right)

They had a chapel, guest rooms, kitchen, etc. It was interesting because it is a dorm now for the "well to do" students. The scariest part was the leaning spiral staircase. It was made from oak or some other heavy wood and is no longer level.

After that we took a short walk through Durham Cathedral. (You know that scene in Harry Potter, in McGonagall's classroom is this huge long room. Yeah, that was taped in the nave of Durham Cathedral.) And here are some shots you might find familiar as well.

Then she tooks us along the river to enjoy the nature and tell us of her days of being the caller on the rowing team for her college. (College - meaning her department, they just call them colleges there) She told us lots of stories about what's its like being in England long term after growing up in good ol' Provo, UT. And some of the experiences how people view her or how history is perceived a little differently. It was a great time, and we are so grateful she took time out of her busy day to show us around!

Just before we left, we stopped in a little convenience store (English style) and bought lunch. We decided to be adventurous and try the pasties. We got a cheese and onion one, and a chicken one. They were really good. Not as filling as we would have liked, especially since Reid ate almost half of one himself. So we also got 2 pastries, a chocolate eclair and an apple turnover. They were from the section "fresh cream," and I figured that couldn't be bad. The apple turnover was SOOOO good. I mean, truly heavenly. It was sad that the chocolate eclair was delicious but a let down after the amazing apple turnover. America doesn't do pastries justice. They are so much better in Europe! (yeah, my expertise in this area is from my knowledgeable 4 day whirlwind business trip to Germany, oh well, I'm convinced.) Anyways, it was so good.

We headed to Alnwick Castle (pronouced a-nick, short A), where the Duke and Dutchess of Northumberland actually live! (with their 4 children)

Through touring we learned that Alnwick is really a large area of land, they have the castle and gardens, and flocks of animals, and lots of other stuff; that the Duke and Dutchess and their family live there 4 months of the year (the winter months) and the rest of the time they live about a mile away (still on their land). We got to see their China collection, their chapel (in their house), there "family" room or lounge as they called it, their library, and all sorts of other things. Matt really enjoyed seeing the ledger from hundreds of years ago for the family, about how they had to sell off this business or that land to keep the family from losing the land and castle.

It was just unreal to imagine living their in a house so huge, with silk wall paper and life-size portraits of your ancestors on the wall. Really crazy. But we also pictures of their family and they look totally normal. So it was neat to see. In fact the Duke and Dutchess were at the castle while we were, simply because they care about their public and wanted to make sure everything was going well for the day.

Here is their backyard

This was also another Harry Potter film location. Especially the flying scene in the first movie, they even put a poster up for you to get your picture moment.

We enjoyed the view and let Reid run around a lot. After that, it was ice cream and head home. On the way home, we got our first REAL rain. I mean sure, we had gotten sprinkled on the whole week, but nothing that didn't dry within 5 minutes. This was a full blown rain. Poor Dad was driving in the rain, the only one awake. (that brought back lots of memories of growing up)

Once we got back to Leeds we realized we were hungry and went back to Murgatroyd's. It was a enjoyable relaxing meal after a long day.

When we got home, it was straight to bed for all of us.

DAY 8
We had to get up early to head to the airport to catch our flight. On the way, we got to ride on the highest freeway in England. It was funny to see that the highest elevated roadway, was still just on a hill (no mountains).

I tried to soak in all the beautiful green surroundings that I could, before coming back to the desert. We got the airport, checked in, and then it was time to say goodbye. It was harder than I thought. I don't think I realized how great it was to spend time with my mom and dad. I loved sharing Reid with them, and letting him get to know his grandparents... he especially loved Grandma on this trip, he took right to her. But finally, we went through security and did our last wave.

As Reid looked out the window, I silently said goodbye to England... thanks for a great time!

Well, of course our flight was booked, and so we squeezed into our seat with Reid. We got the NICEST man to sit next to us. He always offered to get up when Reid cried and picked up toys with no complaints. I am so so so grateful to him! Reid did really well, he slept for about 3 hours in the middle of the flight and played and bounced between Matt and I the rest of the time. Not bad at all.

When we flew into JFK (New York), we couldn't believe how brown it was. We did the whole customs thing (so much easier when you are on your way back into YOUR country). And got to the security line. Matt went and asked the lady if it mattered which line and she said no. So we picked the left one. Well, we got to the front of that line, and another lady told us that families and strollers couldn't go through this one, and we needed to be in the other line. Thank goodness the lady Matt talked to overheard this, she had us cut into the line on the right. And of course we cut in front of our fellow passenger on the previous flight. By this time we were joking and chatting with him. He was headed the same way we were, so we had an enjoyable walk to our gate.

Matt took Reid for a walk. Reid found the arcade games and it was all over. Matt said he'd take Reid down the terminal and he'd run to the arcade games, specifically the car ones. He just sit there and drive. He loved it. I loved it too, because Reid slept almost the ENTIRE next flight. We stopped in Dallas, and swapped planes again. We bought some good old McD's and took turns eating and chasing Reid. He then slept almost the whole flight again! Bless you child!

We arrived in Phoenix around 9:30pm. Matt's aunt graciously picked us up about 9:45pm, took us back to our car. Then we got in our car for the 2 hour drive home. We arrived home about 12:30am. I calculated it and we were travelling for 25 hours! Reid went to sleep in his crib great, and we crashed.

We woke up at 7am wide awake, so we decided to head to church.

---------------------
And there we were, done with our vacation. It was so much fun, and we had a great time, even with the trials of a 1 year old. But really, he did wonderful. We are so blessed to have been able to go visit a wonderful place and spend time with my parents. We loved our first international family vacation!

(p.s. please forgive typos... I just needed to write this down before I forget it all)

England: Day 3-5

2010-09-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

DAY 3
Ok, so we woke up Monday morning and had to get ready and re-pack. Luckily, we were able to check a smaller luggage bag for Reid. And so we wouldn't have to lug our huge suitcases all over London, we planned to use this bag as our luggage for all 3 of us to London for 2.5 days! Well, it worked. 2 backpacks, 1 large carry-on luggage and a stroller later, we were in the car on the way to the train station to head to LONDON!!!!!

The train left about 9:30am. There were stops all along the way, but they were anywhere from 15-30 minutes apart. So it was a nice casual ride. The part we loved is that at one stop, we had to wait for some higher priority train. So we ended up being about 5 minutes behind schedule. After they picked everyone up at each stop afterwards, they would come over the speaker and apologize for being behind schedule and explained that they had to wait for another try. But our favorite part is that they kept saying they were "endeavoring" to correct this, or to get back on schedule. I think the rest of the day Matt and I were "endeavoring" to do anything. It was so much for fun to say that word that "trying" or "working" ... it was fun!

Reid had fun playing (flirting) with the girls in front of us between the seats.

We got to London Kings Cross station around 12pm-ish. (we had brought lunch on the train, so we were good on food) Well, we did the obvious first... Went and looked for Platform 9 3/4!!!! Duh! We were so bummed, when platforms 9-11 were under construction, so only people with tickets were allowed in. ARGH! Oh well, 1 less site we got to see.

So then we headed to the subway. Hopped on what became our good old friend the whole stay, the Piccadilly Line. It took us to a stop 2 blocks form our hotel. Perfect! I do have to say, I was quite impressed with Matt's skills of carrying a backpack, a suitcase in 1 hand, and the front of Reid's stroller in the other hand going up and down LOTS of subway stairs. He was a champ! London is not so stroller friendly... but we were determined not to let that set us back! We also had to buy passes for the subway, which was exciting to sit there while Matt was in line and watch people from all over the world wonder around one of the busiest subway stations in the world. Fun stuff!

Anyways, we get to our hotel. It was a small little bed and breakfast. All the American hotels were booked, but we were kinda excited to experience a London B&B. Well, Europe is different, and we were cool with it, cuz we knew things are smaller there. But it is still fun to think about it. The breakfast part however was nasty. We hit the delicatessen on the wait out the 2nd day.

"Our street" for 2.5 days

So there were 2 ways to get to our hotel, the slightly longer one had a grocery store on the way, so that was perfect! They also had a community fridge for all the guests. Perfect! So, that took care of all of my worries for Reid's milk!

Once we got settled and everything... we headed out for the afternoon. We decided the British Museum was going to be our fun for the day! We wanted to go to at least 1 museum, and Matt really wanted to see the Rosetta Stone, so this was a perfect fit!

We also saw some very cool Egyptian artifacts.

And some cool Roman columns. Keep in mind, these aren't just some sculpture of what the Roman columns looked like... they are the ACTUAL Roman columns!

Reid was adorable this whole time. He either slept or made friends. Some Asian lady tried to talk to me in Chinese or Japanese or who knows what, and I'm like, yeah, I don't speak that language, so I just smiled.

Afterwards, we let Reid run around outside the in the museum's gardens. He had a lot of fun with that.

By then it was after 5pm, so we headed to Piccadilly Circus, so we just started looking for anything that looked yummy. There was a whole lot of American places, but we did not fly across an ocean to eat American food! So we found Nando's! It was scrumptious! Reid loved it too. It has some South African and Portuguese influence, but we didn't get the really spicy stuff. Then we continued to look around at the shops. It was sad though, because I realized, I'm a tight wad and didn't want to spend pounds on something I could get for cheaper in the U.S. I think it was catered to Americans, so nothing seemed really fun or exciting to buy for me. Oh well, I'm lame.

Reid had crashed, so we figured we'd head back to the hotel and put him down for the night. Well he showed us! He woke up when we got to the hotel and stayed awake for about the next 5+ hours. (I don't know, I lost count when it hit midnight) At that point, Matt and I each took an edge of the bed, and laid there while we let Reid run around on the bed. It was a long rough night. I finally got Reid to go to sleep at some point, so I kicked Matt off the double bed, and we went to sleep. Then at like 6am, since our room was on the floor below ground level, our window was at street level... yeah, all the cars started to leave. So of course Reid woke up... Awesome. :)
Well, time to do it all over again.

DAY 4
We headed to Big Ben! And wow, it is RIGHT there when you come out of the subway station. So we did the obligatory Big Ben pictures. Then headed to find the boats. (thanks to my bro-in-law's recommendation) We took a boat ride along the Thames River to the Tower of London. On the ride from Big Ben to Tower of London you get to see tons of sites: Eye of London (big ferris wheel), St. Paul's Cathedral, Globe Theater, Museums, IBM. Not to mention all the bridges... and yes, London Bridge did fall down. And yes we did see what is now London Bridge #4. But Tower Bridge is sooooo much cooler!

It was great weather, and Reid loved it! So I would recommend the boat ride to anyone!

Then we got to Tower of London. Tower of London was once London's main fortress. It has anything and everything that you have seen in your Robin Hood / Arthur and the round table movies.... it was so cool!

My personal favorite was these holes where you shoot your arrows at the oncoming enemies.
Of course there were lots of towers, so that meant spiral staircases. Did mention London is NOT stroller friendly? Yeah, stroller, spiral staircases, yeah, it was exciting. I guess the good news is that Reid slept through most of Tower of London, so we didn't have to chase him around, simply had to carry the stroller around.

We also got to wait in line for about an hour so we could be put on a people mover while we looked at THE Crowned Jewels through a heavily guarded case. Really... it was really cool. I would so do it again. Cuz well, they are jewels and they are HUGE!

I think one of the highlights for Reid was chasing the pigeons. It was funny though, cuz they also keep ravens there at the Tower of London. It's part of the superstition that if ravens ever leave, the Tower of London would finally fall. Anyways, a raven flies up near us, I pick up Reid (cuz I know that this is not the kind of bird you want to mess with). But this girl, about 8 years old, runs over to the raven thinking she will scare it away. NOPE, the bird doesn't even flinch when she runs right up to it. So then, she takes her pointer finger and tries to touch the raven. That bird snapped at her so fast... We're not sure if it got her or just scared her. But she went running back to her dad, who was laughing just as hard as everyone else around him.

We took the boat back to Big Ben's and headed to Hyde Park for some chill time. Reid loved it. He ran around chasing more pigeon's and strategizing how to catch them.

Then we headed to this steakhouse for dinner. Well, it was a huge disappointment and not worth blogging about. Plus, Reid was so tired and barely ate anything.. On our way back to the hotel, we were trying to keep Reid awake, so Matt put him on his shoulders... Yeah, it didn't help.

So we get back to our hotel, put Reid down on the bed to sleep, and he sleeps 1 hour, yes 1 hour. That's it! And then, the fire alarm goes off! Did I mention we were on the same floor as the kitchen, and they let their guests cook in the kitchen, and someone burned something. So we went upstairs to let the smoke clear out. It was fun chilling out there with all the different guests on the sidewalk in front of the hotel.

Then, we continued with another miserable night of Reid being awake. I finally got him to lay with me on the twin bed, because it was darker in that corner. And he finally fell asleep. I think I may have only battled with him for 3-4 hours, and actually got 5 hours of sleep.

But don't worry, 6am came, and so did the cars... and Reid was awake!

DAY 5
Our train was leaving at about 2:45pm that afternoon, so we tried to pick things that we could fit into a small window for that day.

We got ready and packed up our belongings. We checked out, and left our bags at the hotel. So we headed off to see the queen. Ok, not really. We went to Westminster Abbey first. This is the church where all royalty is buried, and where all coronations take place. The ornate nature of all the graves were beautiful. Due to aging the colors are very dark, so I wonder how vibrant they were when they were new. We saw cool memorials, like Shakespeare, and Handel (his had a piece of sheet music carved in his), Chaucer, lots of others. The bummer is no pictures inside.

Here is the obligatory outdoors shot:

And then the butresses... man, their architechture is so cool!

Reid learned that these big stone buildings had echos in them... especially when we were in the smaller enclosed areas. So he had to test his voice by doing louder and louder shouts. "ah" "Ah" "AHH" I tried to keep him quiet, but the sweet clergymen told me to just let him shout because there was no service, so no worries. (I just felt bad, cuz it is still a church!)

After that we really did head off to see the Queen! But we were late for the changing of the guards, but oh my, the other 10,000 people were not. And I am NOT exaggerating the 10,000 number either. The place was packed! We caught the end of the changing of the guards, took our pics and were so tired, and it was noon. We started heading back to our hotel to get some lunch at the grocery store, grab our bags, and head to the train station.

Buckingham Palace

All of the sudden, they we were, leaving London after an AMAZING whirlwind of a trip. It was a blast, and even though I did not describe it in all its grandeur, we loved every minute. Well, except lying in bed awake involuntarily at night... but we love Reid and are so thrilled we were able to bring him, and that he was such a trooper!

Dad picked us up in Leeds, and we headed back to their house for a nice home cooked dinner. Reid went to bed a little after 9pm like a champ! He really did. Then we stayed up chatting with my parents a little bit, and then called it a night ourselves. Reid would wake occasionally, but would go right back to sleep. My favorite was at like 5 or 6am, he woke up and climbed in bed with Matt. After a little while, he decided he wanted mom. I thought it was so sweet that he wanted Daddy first.

So now the adventures of Northern England await!

England: Day 1 and 2

2010-08-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

DAY 1
So, my parents picked us up at the airport in Manchester 7:30am-ish local time. (11:30pm MST) We get out to the car, and first of all... I had to get in the sliding door of the van on the left side. Weird right? And then my Dad climbs in on the right side. I mean, you know they drive on the left side. But it is a weird sensation when you are actually riding in the car.

So we head to Chorley to see the Preston England Temple and the distribution center. The temple was beautiful (as always). But oh, the green! I mean there were varieties of green trees, and colors of green on the bushes. And you'd see one bush growing into another, so they trim it to look like this sculpture molding together. And these vine archways that go over the walkway. SO PRETTY! Yeah, we were dead tired, so we did not do a good job of picture taking. Then we went and checked out the church book store in Chorley, cuz my parents needed something.

Then we went to Downham. Downham is this town, that when the missionaries in the 1800s came (and it was someone well known, but for the life of me, I can't remember), the entire town was baptized into the LDS church. It was very pretty, and there is this cute little bench that was given to the town as a memorial to those people.

Then we headed to Leeds. We got to my parents house, which is this cute little semi-detached home. I loved the cute personality these old homes have. The stairs are super narrow. The sinks are dinky. The doors have knobs, but the knobs don't function as knobs. Anyways, we unloaded our luggage and headed out for food.

We went to Murgatroyd's for fish and chips! I could've sworn I took a picture of my first "official" fish and chips, but I cannot find it! It was so yummy. It was HUGE though. Especially considering it was like barely 8am MST, we weren't that hungry. It was very yummy, I especially enjoyed their malt vinegar and tartar sauce. We both enjoyed it, and even Reid partook a little. Poor kid started losing it about here, due to sleep deprivation.

BUT, we needed to stay awake a little longer... so we went grocery shopping to ASDA to get a few things. ASDA is apparently European Walmart. And wow, did it look like it. It was interesting how it was the same, but also different. The coolest part was the Travelator, it is part escalator part moving walkway. Basically it functions as an escalator, but instead of steps it is flat like a moving walkway, and then you take your shopping cart with you, and it sticks. It doesn't roll up or down. I was very impressed. They also have this brillant idea. You put a 1pound coin in this slot on your shopping cart, and it releases it from the other shopping carts. If you bring your cart back to the place and relock it in... you get your money back. No runs for shopping carts. It was very nice.

At this point we headed home. My dad got this futon mattress to fit in between our two twin beds. It wasn't perfect, but it did provide a very crib like feel, even though Reid could crawl out.

Around 5pm, Matt crashed... Reid of course got his 7th or 8th wind... I lost count. So he was wide awake. I finally got him to settle down at about 7pm. I finally, and blissfully laid down to sleep myself. Then Reid woke up screaming about 45 minutes later. I begged Matt to take a turn since he'd had about 2 hours of sleep. But 10 minutes later, I could still hear Reid screaming downstairs. So down I went. After a few minutes with mom, he fell asleep in my lap. So back upstairs we went. Where we slept beautifully for about 4 hours. Then, Reid woke up. I mean, no wonder... it was midnight where we were, but it was only 4 in the afternoon back home. So I got him a bottle, and we tried sleep again. Luckily, he gave in. We got about another 5-6 hours before Reid woke up and joined me in my bed... but that was fine with me, because I got one more hour.

DAY 2
Well, I sent Matt downstairs with Reid to eat some breakfast while I got my education on how to shower. They use a boiler, which is like an instant, on-demand water heater right there in the tub. I did not figure it out my first shower, because my entire shower went from just a little too hot to just a little too cold. But I made due.

My parents are assigned to a ward across town, so we left for church about 45 minutes early. When we got there, I met lots of wonderful people. They were all so kind and friendly, and I just loved listening to all of them talk. Reid did really well during church, and even took about a 45 minute nap. I was still sleepy, but I enjoyed the comfort you feel at church, even across the world.

After church we drove to see where my great-grandmother lived. Here is the council housing that she lived in once upon a time.

Then we stopped to see the church where my great-grandmother was married. Here is the St. Matthias Church of England.
All I could think about as we drove around this church, is how over 100 years ago, there was a girl dressed in white, so excited to marrying the man of her dreams. And how they were just starting out on what ended up being the biggest sacrifice for me. Little ol' me. I was awestruck to think how she probably had little idea that she would join the LDS church, be disowned by family, leave their loved ones and travel by ship to America, all because of what they believed in. I was touched and amazed to be there at the same place she once stood on what was the one day of her life that started her incredible journey.

It was very cool to see some of these places, not because they mean anything to anyone else, but because they mean something to me.

After that we went home for some R&R... and yummy fish! Mom and Dad made salmon for us... and it was so good. The fish there is something yummier than you will ever get in the desert here!

Then the mission president invited us to his home for ice cream. We had a lovely visit with them. The mission home is beautiful. The garden was unreal. It really was. I can honestly say, I've never seen anything so green. I mean their "backyard wall" was a hedge. A gorgeous 10-15 foot tall dark green hedge. The grass was so soft, and the flowers, so pretty. And they don't even have to water anything there... NOTHING. No watering lines at all... weird huh? It was really fun visiting with the mission president because he is retired from a job of personal security for the President of our church. So he has traveled far and wide and had the opportunity to acquire many amazing items. He shared with us many of his experiences travelling throughout his job. It was very cool. I know he will do a great job serving there for the next 3 years.

That night we went to bed around 10pm, after some more yummy ice cream bars with Mom and Dad. (My family's tradition of eating ice cream on Sundays)

So far, we had been taking it easy, but part of that was the time change and part of that was we just enjoyed visiting with my parents. But get ready for the next few days, cuz whoo... it's a doozy!

(see facebook for more pictures)

How did Reid do on the Plane?

2010-08-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it. We traveled internationally with a 1 year old. Crazy?... definitely. But it was so great at the same time.

Here is our travelogue for getting to England:

Thursday 5:30pm
Drive away from our home to head to Phoenix to spend the night at Matt's grandparents, so we can catch our flight in the morning.
Reid didn't sleep very good this night, unfamiliar surroundings and such. Oh how I was so thrilled he was going to be sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings for the next week.

Friday 8:15am
Leave grandparents house with aunt to drop us off at the airport.

Friday 8:45am
Walk into airport to see horrendously long lines - Oh crap, we're never gonna make it! Then we find our line... 6 people (well, groups of people). Sweet!

Friday 9:00am
Airline lady gives everyone dirty looks for actually standing in the airport's shortest line and not doing self check-in! So we attempt, which of course we can't, because we have an infant. Big suprise. So we continue on.
Check-in was easy, Security was easy. They had to do this vapor test on Reid's milk. It was interesting.

Friday 10:30am
We board our plane. The plane was overbooked, so no extra free seat for Reid. Bummer. But the plane was 2 seats on 1 side, 3 on another, and we had the seats with 2 on the side. Perfect, we can just manage him and not have to bug anyone else.
Reid slept for about 45 minutes, as opposed to his usual 2-3 hour nap. So we attempt to entertain him. Right behind us were two teenage boys that would smile occasionally at Reid, but behind them were 2 teenage girls who just loved him! He had a blast the last hour of the plane ride flirting with them.

Friday 4:00pm (Chicago time)
We land a little early, but our gate wasn't ready for us, we wait on the plane. Then we get into our gate late, so basically by the time we get out, find our gate, talk to the lady about options with a baby, get our seat re-assignments, they are boarding the plane. So we quickly get on.
Well, its lunch time Arizona time, and I'm starving! But don't worry, they claim they are serving dinner an hour into the flight. Ok, I can wait an hour. Except that we moved all the way to the back of the plane, so we could get an extra seat for Reid. Well, we were right by the galley and the latrines, and wow it is NOISY back there. Plus, you don't get served your food until last. And all that stuff about the stewardesses being nice and letting you walk to the plane... LIES ALL LIES! They kept telling me they needed to get by, and getting frustrated with me. I understand that they need to do their job, but seriously, could you at least be nice about it. There was one really nice blonde stewardess, but 1 out of 7 can only do so much.
In the mean time, Reid is sooo cranky, cuz he never got a real nap. So he finally crashes, and sleeps for a good while. Of course he wakes up everytime a loud chatty person comes back there to wait in line for the potty. Then he wakes up with 3 hours left of the flight wide awake.
Now that it is 10pm AZ time, I'm tired, and he's ready to play. Oh well, no sleep for me. Basically, I try to watch the in-flight movie and play with him, while he tries to dive into the aisle so he can go push every button in the galley. Oh well, all in all, it really wasn't that bad. I mean that's all normal stuff for a 1 year old. No screams, no fits or tantrums. He really did do pretty good. It's just hard when the parent is tired and trying to get some sleep.

Saturday 7:30am (England time)
Plane lands, we de-board. Bathrooms for me and Reid. Let Reid run and stretch (which was harder because it was midnight my time, and I just wanted him to play in one area), while Matt waits in the customs line.
Finally, we get through customs. The wonderful part was that at this point, everyone had gone ahead, so the only luggage left on the carousel was ours. Yay, a silver lining! We get our bags and try to find our way to the exit.
By the way, this is the exit sign in Europe... man running at the white rectangle?

(ignore the imprint... I coudn't find one without it)

Or if running, beware of the white rectangle below you that might swallow you up?
We go through the door, and there's my mom. An emotional embrace immediately occurs, and Reid is just chilling in his stroller (or trolley as my mom quickly corrects me) wondering why Mommy is crying.

It was so GREAT to see my parents! I didn't realize how much I miss them! At this point my father joyfully reminds us that the best thing to do is to CONTINUE to stay awake. Awesome.

Ta-da! We are in England. Stay tuned for updates on our actual vacation in England!

From Baby to Toddler

2010-07-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been an amazing year. I've hall all the thoughts and feelings capture in my friend's blog, and yet, I still feel the need to express it in my own words.

Having Reid has brought so much joy to my life. I never understood why all the mom's cried at different events with their children... I mean, I knew why, but I did NOT understand! Reid has accomplished so much and managed to do it with such cheer and happiness each stage inspite of my lack of knowledge to help him along the way.

One day he could get on all fours barely, the next day he crawled. One day he'd take 3 steps from furniture to furniture, then next day, he walked across the room to me (and his daddy).

The joy and love that I feel for his little smile and the sweet hugs and kisses he gives me can never be expressed by simple words, but know that it is there, and I am so grateful for the blessing he is to us. I've waited almost 30 long years for this time of my life, and now that I have it, I feel nothing but joy in each frustrating step.

I love you Reid, Happy Birthday!

the cake

Reid's piece at the beginning
Reid's cake at the end
And his awesome friend who came to join in the fun!

(p.s. these are the last pics of Reid up front... so we can manage our ambiguity and not go private)

My Little Helper

2010-06-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

As Reid has become more mobile, he has started mimicking some of my behavior. And since you are "supposed" to constantly talk to your child, in spite of how completely ridiculous you feel saying the same things over and over in the same chipper tone... you still do it so that their language skills will grow! So I have started talking to him about "helping" around the house.

Here is Reid "helping" me sweep

Here is Reid showing me where the dish towels are... and perhaps trying to clean up some drool?

And one evening, while I was doing the dishes...

He kindly made some room for more silverware.
Little did I know....

That he had found a better place for it!

I turned it so you can see it better.

And here he is, trying to find that perfect dish for me.

Needless to say... he was a real pill that night, but I was laughing so hard that all I could to was take pictures to blog about!

May Catch-up

2010-06-20T21:06:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I haven't posted for a while... Things have been crazy. But Girls' Camp is over, so now I can hopefully find time to update the blog.

Here's some info on what's been going on...

In May the weather got warmer, and we've really been enjoying the big backyard!

We also went to visit some friends in Thatcher and went rock climbing! Reid tried it out too!

(lovely views, I know)

So, at the end of May, we had a really great time hanging out with family at the park for Memorial Day. Reid loved the dirt and the soccer ball.

Arduino

2010-06-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

So I'm back at it again. I hadn't done anything with my stepper-motor powered Lego car for a few months because I had burned out one of my power supplies. Then, in the process of upgrading my computer's video card, I swapped out my motherboard to get a PCI-E slot and the new motherboard didn't have a parallel port. It's a bit risky pulling out all the power supplies and delicate components with the now-walking toddler. But, I decided to do it anyhow.

I got the serial communication working with my stepper motor driver, and programmed up a simple Visual Basic application to control it. The stepper-motor driver uses an ATMega168 microcontroller to drive an H-Bridge to push enough current to drive the motor. The unfortunate part is that the Australian company I bought the controller from will not provide the source code. So, I can't do much to modify the microcontroller at all. Well, I could, but no guarantees I could get it back to the original if I goofed up.

So, instead, I purchased an Arduino Duemilanove from www.sparkfun.com. (It's only $30 plus shipping!) Had I known about this board originally, I would have bought it first and simply added an H-Bridge chip to run my motors. I'll probably end up doing this now anyhow. But once I have it working, I can gleefully pull the ATMega168 out of the other stepper motor controller and re-program it. Hopefully it will fit in the socket on my Arduino.

Meanwhile, I've dissassembled a cd-drive and an inkjet printer and salvaged several stepper and DC motors, as well as some gears and axles. These will be great scrap components for my future gadgets.

I've been looking into what it would take to add WiFi to my Arduino. There's several solutions, all of which cost about $80. I may be able to work around the cost factor using my computer as a base station to gain access to the network. I can connect a RF transmitter / receiver combo to my Arduino, and another set to the serial port on my computer. Then, with some simple programming, I can connect to my computer via TCP/IP and have my server program relay any information to the serial-connected RF transmitter. It's not a real elegant solution, but it's about the same as using the XBee product.

The downside would be that the car would be restricted to networks that I can run my software and hardware on. I really would like it to be more robust, so I may just have to save up my pennies for a while until I decide to splurge again and by my next major component. Until then, I'll just work on my tethered vehicle.

There's still some major work to be done to get the motor's drive shaft connected to the car's axle without the slippage of a rubber band. I'd really like to get a gear on that axle, but haven't had much luck getting the plastic to stay connected to the metal shaft.

Is Google Reading My Email?

2010-05-24T16:30:00.001-07:00

Usually, I'm a big proponent of Google. Sometimes people talk about Google like it's some sort of Microsoft type software giant that needs to be broken up according to anti-trust laws. But I like Google. I think they put out quality products, provide excellent features, and still have a sense of humor.

Sure, let Google crawl my webpage or my blog... then maybe someone will read the dribble i scrawl across cyberspace. But that's ok because I'm posting that stuff out there with the intention that someone is reading it.

But what about your email? Do you think it's secure, and that no one reads it but you? Don't they encrypt it when they send it to the server, or to someone else's inbox? I don't know, but probably not. I doubt there's any RSA Public / Private key exchanges going on.

Well, stop by your gmail inbox, and read some of the advertizing along the right hand side. The ads are populated based on the text of your emails. This means that before your email is displayed, Google reads the text and queries some SQL server to pull custom ads to display on the side-pane. Perhaps that data is encrypted too? Doubtful. I'm just not to keen on the idea that Google is crawling my email... and eventually, I'll find some personal note published where any unsuspecting googler might mistakenly come across my information. My online order receipts... or my password reset notifications.

I know it's been this way for quite a long time... and it never bothered me so much. Not that I have a whole lot of real importance that I need to hide... but if I did, I probably wouldn't use gmail... or email at all for that matter.

Update:
Check out the following link: http://search.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=10/05/22/1218242

Does He Ever Cry?

2010-04-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

So, I have this friend at church who's little girl seems so sad everytime she is at church. My friend promises that her little girl will happily lay on a blanket for long periods of time at home, but thinks that maybe she doesn't like being out in public.

Well, Reid is the exact opposite. If he's out in public, he's happier than ever. He knows just what to do to reel everyone in too. He gives them a big smile, then hides in my chest, then gives a big smile and hides in my chest. It's like he knows that if he doesn't just sit there and smile all the time, they will keep paying attention to him. Seriously, can he have manipulation down at 9 months?!

So I started thinking.... how much pre-wiring into their personalities do babies come with? I mean he's not even a year old (or my friend's baby isn't even 3 months old yet)! Do they really have a personality already? And if so, do they really know how to show it? Cuz let's face, they are still figuring out what this whole physical body thing is all about. Can they really be showing intravert and extravert tendencies at this age? I mean, I thought that was something you figure out once your an adult and you're forced to do teambuilding stuff at work... But maybe, it always was there.

So the other night, laying in bed, waiting to fall asleep, I started to wonder... If Reid is already showing extravert tendencies, what are the chances that he is going to be geek? I fear, not very good. I know I am an extravert, but let's face it, I'm the girl. Girls naturally talk more. When I was at BYU, there is only one major extravert I can think of, and his form of extravert was sitting in the back of the classroom heckle-ing the teacher and making up names for everyone based on their weird querks. (and how sad is it, that my "querk" was that I was THE blonde girl)

I digress... The most common thing we used to hear was "What a smiley baby!".. now all I hear is "Does he ever cry?" .. the answer to the question, is YES, he does cry, every day. At all the normal baby times, when he's hungry, tired, not being held, or when he doesn't have an audience.

But what really matters here people, is whether or not he is going to be a GEEK!

More on merging

2010-03-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

In response to Gretchen's comment on "Changing Lanes is not the Same as Merging":

Question -

"How do you feel about the situation where a merge is required and the merge lane is stopped but the main lane is steadily moving, but solid with traffic? It's rare, but I've seen it. Do cars stuck in the lane that is ending have to wait for hell to freeze over, or at some point is it ok for someone in the main lane who sees they will NEVER get in to slow down to a near stop and let them in?"

Answer -

If people actually followed the traffic laws, this is how it would go down:

A car approaches a merge where their lane is ending.
The car puts on their blinker before coming to a complete stop and should attempt to "change lanes" before coming to a complete stop.
If changing lanes is not possible before the lane ends, the car stops at the merge point and their blinker remains on.
People in the through traffic lane see a car with their blinker on. The stopped car(s) and traffic control devices indicating an upcoming merge should be an indication to drivers in the through lane of what is happening ahead.
The first few people can't react in time, so they continue on past.
People who are approaching the merge point should realize that a car is attempting to merge up ahead because they can see the blinker on well in advance.
This is where the part about "preventing a merge" comes in. Since people in the through lane have adequate warning that something is happening, they should be able to slow down in time to allow a merge to occur.
If they fail to allow the merge to happen when they've had adequare warning, then they're considered driving recklessly and should receive a traffic ticket.
Traffic should zipper together, every other car if there is a constant supply of cars in both lanes.
If only an occasional car is in the ending lane, then they must wait for the through traffic to slow down so they can merge.

If an accident happens while merging, it will always be the fault of the car who was doing the merge (ie: the car coming from the lane which is ending), because they left their lane before it was safe to move into the other lane. So, the merging traffic should be especially careful that the through traffic is actually letting them in.

So yes, someone should let the merge happen. Unfortunately people don't allow the merge, and never get a traffic ticket.

But if they never get a traffic ticket, how will they know they ever did something wrong? They never will, I suppose. This is why I think people need to take refresher Driver's Ed classes, or pass some sort of "advanced driving" test in order to renew their license. (I also think that "salvage titles" are a scam by the insurance companies... I'll blog about that sometime in the future.)

This does not apply to people pulling out onto the street from a business or side street. That is not a merge. I am un-aware of any laws which dictate how that situation would be handled.

Changing lanes is not the same as merging

2010-03-17T17:55:00.001-07:00

Coming from Arizona, where driver's licenses don't expire till you're 65, I'm quite a proponent of requiring an intermediate driver's test in order to keep it valid. I don't blame the older generation for all of Tucson's driving problems though. Personally, I think that taking driver's ed before you can drive is educational, but nonsense in practicality. You really need to take it again once you've been driving for a while so that it might seem a little more pertinent.

Sometimes, I think that cell phones have become the bane of society. People no longer think -- they just call. But recently, I've changed perspectives and decided that it's the automobile that is the real bane of society. What has the car done for us? It practially makes it so you never have to talk to your neighbors. You get in the car in the garage and drive away. And where do you go? To some Wal-Mart store far away where you can buy your tires, shoes, mp3 player, and tomatoes all at the same place? What happened to Mom and Pop's corner store that you could walk to? What happened to community comrodary and Neighborhood Watch? When did you have to ride the bus for an hour to get to school?

Of all the reasons for the downfall of the automobile, the one particularly on my mind lately is the fact that the drivers don't understand that changing lanes is not the same as merging.

Oddly, these two topics are barely even touched on in the Arizona Driver's Manual. So, let me enlighten you on a few of the finer points of driving. (The official Arizona State Traffic Laws are here: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ArizonaRevisedStatutes.asp?Title=28)

Changing Lanes:
"Broken white lines separate lanes of
traffic going in the same direction.
These lines may be crossed with caution.
(Remember to signal your intention to
change lanes.)"

Solid white lines are used for turn
lanes and to prevent lane changes
near intersections. Arrows are
often used with the white lines to
indicate which turn may be made
from the lane." (Arizona Driver's Manual, 30)

"You should always signal before you: Change lanes..." (Arizona Driver's Manual, 32)

Those are the only things mentioned in the manual about changing lanes. Now, let's consider the following roadway, it's an actual example that I drive on my way home from work. There are three lanes of traffic that travel straight through an intersection, and two left turn lanes which open as you approach the intersection.

According to the Arizona Driver's Manual, you should not cross a solid white line. In fact, it's purpose is to prevent changing lanes near intersections. That means, in order to enter either of the left turn lanes, one must be in the left lane of through traffic before the solid white line begins. At this point, you would change lanes into either of the left turn lanes by appropriately signaling your intention. Once in the either left turn lane, you may change lanes into the other turn lane, but cannot leave the turn lane to return to the through traffic. That would require crossing the solid white line, which is prohibited.

So, what do you do if you couldn't get into the left turn lane? Or if you mistakenly got into the turn lane, and you didn't really want to turn there? You are required to maintain your lane and cross the intersection with the traffic in that lane. This may require you to pass through the intersection, do a U-Turn and come back to the intersection to take the appropriate course. It is not only rude to do otherwise, it is illegal.

Suppose for a moment, that we're on a normal, straight road, with only a single white broken line.

"A person shall drive a vehicle as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane and shall not move the vehicle from that lane until the driver has first ascertained that the movement can be made with safety." (A.R.S. 28-729)

Although vague, this is the most concise law respecting changing lanes and merging. While changing lanes and merging are not the same thing, many of the same laws apply to both.

Simply turning on your blinker to signal your lane change is not enough. It is the driver making the lane change who is responsible for ensuring that the lane of traffic is clear to move into (Arizona State Law: A.R.S. 28-729). In essence, through traffic always has the right of way, unless otherwise marked. Simply turning on your blinker does not give you the right of way. You must wait until there is a space large enough (and a little more) for your vehicle before making the lane change. You cannot simply stick the nose of your vehicle in the other lane of traffic and force other cars to make space for you. It is, however, illegal to purposely prevent another vehicle from changing lanes or merging. If you see a vehicle in an adjacent lane signal a lane change with enough advance notice that you are able to accomodate the lane change, you should do so. Remember though, that this requires the driver to turn on their blinker, and leave it active long enough for others to accomodate the change.

Nowhere will you find in the Arizona Driver's Manual that it says you cannot stop in a lane of traffic. This is quite common, for a number of reasons: Mechanical failures, traffic accidents, traffic jams, traffic signals or signs, pedestrians, left turns from 2 lane highways, ect. In fact, stopping is one of the best things someone can do in a dangerous situation, as long as it's done corectly. It is the responsibility of those behind the stopping vehicle to slow their speed as well. However, Arizona State Law (A.R.S. 28-704) makes it clear that you must maintain the flow of traffic, as long as it is safe to do so. This means that you cannot stop in a lane of traffic in order to change lanes.

"A person shall not drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic except when either of the following applies:
1. Reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.
2. The reasonable flow of traffic exceeds the maximum safe operating speed of the lawfully operated implement of husbandry." (A.R.S. 28-704)

Merging:

The major difference between merging and changing lanes is that merging happens when a lane ceases to exist. When changing lanes, both lanes continue to exist, or additional lanes have been created which can then be moved into. Sometimes a lane is closed due to construction, or maintenance or some other traffic hazard. This becomes a merge, not a lane change. Traffic which *changes lanes* before the obstruction or lane closure are participating in a lane change, not a merge. The merge applies to the first car in the lane before the obstruction occours.

Often during a merge, traffic cannot flow forward, so the ending traffic lane must stop. Ideally, traffic "zippers" together as the merge commences. This means that, when solid traffic exists in both lanes, cars from either lane alternate. However, this is not true when traffic is spaced as to allow more than one car from either lane through before another merge should happen. In this scenario, the merging traffic (ie: the traffic in the lane which is ending) must yeild to the through traffic (A.R.S. 28-729). It is the merging traffic's responsibility to wait until there is an opening for their car to safely move into. The through traffic is obligated to stop or slow down to let traffic in *only* when they've have a reasonable ability to do so. Failing to allow a reasonable merge to happen is considered agressive driving. It is the same as where a person purposefully attempts to prevent someone from merging or changing lanes where it would have otherwise been safe and legal (A.R.S. 28-695).

Moral Implications:
So, with all the talk of what is legal and what is not, how am I affected by this morally? My opinion is this:

It is my personal responsibility to first uphold the law, regardless of what is considered polite or customary. I should be polite to others when doing so does not require me to break the law.

Often, people feel the need to let someone in. I think that is rude and inconsiderate to everyone else behind you. In an effort to be polite to one person, you are being rude to several. Stopping in the lane of traffic is against the law, and will likely cause a traffic accident by attempting to let someone in. Besides, if you followed the law, traffic would flow better, and the person wouldn't have trouble getting in by themselves. However, obeying the law should be considered being polite. Has that changed?

Occasionally, people try to let themselves in. This is rude. This shows a deliberate disregard for the well-being of everyone around them. It is prideful... that they think they should be allowed to disobey the law because it is convienient for them. That they are more important than everyone else, and should be above the law.

A little bit of brains goes a long way. Let me take a single word from Thomas Watson, founder of IBM. "Think." If people would just think, there would be far less problems. Hang up the cell phone, and just drive. If you need to make a turn, and you don't know when it's coming up, get in the appropriate lane ahead of time. Use your blinker, it helps convey what's on your mind to everyone else around you.

I should not feel bad for obeying the law. I should not feel pressured to break the law. Going the speed limit is my perogative. Yet, I should let faster traffic pass me, even if they are disobeying the law by doing so. It is not my place to force others to obey the law. They must choose to do so by themselves. However, it is my responsibility to stand up for what is right; especially when the safety of my family is jepordized by another's failure to comply with the statues of the state. I do not need to be ashamed to inform people about the law. They have already agreed to abide by the state traffic laws by choosing to live here -- even if they don't have a driver's license.

Need I Say More?

2010-03-16T22:14:00.001-07:00

Really, is there anything cuter?

But here's a few more just so you can debate. :)

Reid loves our dogs... and our friend's dog too.

He likes Daddy too!

Guess he needed a better view.

I love it when kids sleep with their butts in the air!

(Thank you Jennifer - I get so many compliments on these PJs, I love them!)

Does This Mean I am Aiming for Mediocrity?

2010-03-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

So I know you have all been waiting for the brilliant moments of this geek child... And while I do think that he is truly a very smart baby I refuse to delude myself in a fictious dream that he is smarter than he is.

I mean, has he reached for me while in the middle of a "mamamamamamamama" babble? Yes. Has he smiled when I say "Daddy"? Yes. Does he know where to look when we hide a toy? Yes. Does he somehow always find those eletrical wires? Yes. Does he know what the cereal box and formula container look like, and express his joy that I am preparing him food by shrieking in the highest pitch possible? Yes. Can he hang on to my pants and walk with me across a room? Yes.

But do I say that my child can talk, problem solve or walk? No! He is simply growing up and developing. (Oh, and we won't claim that he "does" said things, until he does them on purpose!)

So no bragging here.

--------------

On a side note... because the camera is still without power... here are the exciting dates you are all wondering.

Crawling - Feb 15th-17th (8 months and a couple days old)
First tooth - Feb 24th
Stand up on own - Feb 25th
Second tooth - March 8th (at about midnight)

Another thing that I think is cool, is if he is kneeling, lets go of whatever he's hanging onto, then he can balance himself for quite a few seconds.
Also when standing, he will let go of whatever sturdy thing he has, if he can grasp onto any part of me.. no matter how flimsy. I love that he loves his mom!

Updates Coming....

2010-03-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

I know, I'm way behind!

But we currently cannot find the charger for our camera battery! UGH. So I can't offload the pictures... dumb I know, the computer SHOULD be able to charge the camera through the USB hook-up, right? I don't know why it doesn't. ... Drives me crazy!

The Not-Blog

2010-03-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

I recently re-realized that I'm an opinionated person. My wife can attest to that. We both are. You can imagine the debates we have at home about the proper orientation of dishes in the dishwasher, or in the car about what the correct fan level is appropriate for a given temperature setting. Really, it's not a differential equation, but it might as well be. At least if it were, there would be a logically sound, mathematically proven answer that we could both agree upon.

One of the things I feel strongly about is that both partners in a marriage should agree on some set of foundational principles. It'd be hard to keep a mariage in good standing when you vhemantly disagree and constantly fight about who is right and who is wrong. According to Chaos Theory, it'd be virtually impossible to find someone who agrees with absolutely everything that you do and you never disagree about anything. In fact, Chaos Theory suggests that slight deviations in initial conditions tend to result in divergant solutions which deviate greatly from the expected results.

But we try very hard when it comes down to politics to come to a consensus so that we both agree, at least at large, one way or the other. It just seems absurd to have one of us vote one way, and the other vote the opposite, thus nullifying our voting power. Some people even go as far as just not voting since they'd negate eachother anyway. But when you agree, you get 2 votes whichever way you decide.

As the number of variables in any system increase, the probibility of desired results decrease. Take a binary system (or fair coin), where every situation can be represented as a true or false value, or a set of true or false values. Thus, as a new variable is added, the total number of possible outcomes increases by a factor of 2. The system can be represented as 2^n, where n is the number of things which are to be decided.

2^10 = 1,024
2^15 = 32,768
2^20 = 1,048,576

As shown above, exponential equations explode very quickly into large values, even at small values of n.

With the above data, assume you and your spouse would like to agree on 20 random topics. Where the value of whether you or your spouse view the topic favorably or unfavorably are completely random. There are 1,048,576 ways your spouse might view those 20 topics. Since your views are pre-determined, you want to know the probibility that your spouse belives the same way you do. In a completely random scenario, this would only happen 1 out of 1,048,576 times, or 0.00000095367431640625. Say that's far too low of a chance, so let's reduce the number of things you have to agree on down to 10. Now, your spouse only has 1,024 possible ways to answer thsose 10 topics, but they still have to answer them exactly the way you would. That's 1 / 1024 = 0.0009765625. That's about 0.1% Yikes, didn't think it would be that hard to agree with other people, did you?

Luckily, our decisions aren't completely random, but it's understandable why dating is so difficult. Trying to find someone that has the same core values and principles as you is not an easy thing to do. And, really, who wants to fill out a questionaire on your date, and be statistically matched with people who are "compatible"? So, we're lucky that we find spouses with somewhat-matching interests and beliefs. The family and friends relationship implies that there is some pre-existing mutual interest or belief system. But when you branch out beyond your immediate family and friends the element of randomness starts to increase.

This idea is closely related to Quantum Mechanics. When dealing with particles on the sub-atomic level, you quickly realize that Newtonian physics is really just an aproximation; a consistant and reliable average of the chaos of particles that make up a substance. Newtonian physics is very simplistic. The variables are few, and their values known. In a sense, we can predict future events because we know the variables. We know that a ball will roll down the slope, because we know the values of enough of the variables. However, when looking at the interactions molecules on the Quantum scale, there are thousands, if not millions or billions of variables that affect the result of a given equation. This gives rise to the Uncertanty Principle, and Binary Entropy.

When a fair coin is tossed, it's entropy is exactly 1. You need exactly one bit of data to represent the outcome. However, when using a biased coin, you need less than one bit of data to represent the outcome, because the data is compressible. Truely random data will not be very compressable.

People are very much the same as coins. Your spouse is a heavily biased coin, your family and friends are somewhat biased coins, and random people are probably far from the ideal fair coin as well, just that their bias may tend to be further from your beliefs. And, when viewed on a Quantum level, there are so many people out in the world, that it is highly unlikely that any two people would completely agree on any set of topics.

So it really doesn't make much sense for me to post my opinionated political viewpoints on a blog where random people might read them. I'm much more likely to find positive feedback when I simply tell my spouse, family and friends about my thoughts than other people who might happen upon my blog.

Made From Scratch

2009-12-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

So, I did manage to be slightly home-maker-ish during this holiday season....

Even though we had a great Thanksgiving with family, we bought a little turkey breast and cooked it the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Two days later I decided I wanted to learn how to make Turkey soup. I've only ever had it once, and it was scrumptious! So I figured I could do it, right?

Matt's family had a Cream Chicken Noodle recipe that is really yummy. So I kinda merged that recipe and the one from allrecipes(dot)com. Pretty much, followed allrecipes(dot)com, but added 2 cans of Cream of Chicken and half a can of evaporated milk. And my friend Lindsey recommended cooking the noodles first so that they don't soak up all the broth. So I did half broth, half water to pre-cook the noodles.

Matt loved it! And he's been asking if I'll make it again! Hopefully, I can make it just as yummy next time!

My efforts:

The broth is done, one bowl is onions and the other is the bones that are cooling.

The final product!

5 and 6 months

2009-12-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

Well, 5 months came and went.

It was all about being propped up. He loved looking around from a different perspective. He also enjoyed his first Halloween and first vacation. On our vacation my friend mentioned we should try to put Reid to bed earlier, and after a couple days of him waking up in the night, it worked! He now happily sleeps 8-10 at night, and then eats for like 10 mins, and sleeps for another 1-3 hours. It is bliss! I actually get some sleep! However, it is hard because now I stay up late getting stuff done! haha.

Reid was getting slightly more mobile in his 5th month... but wasn't doing much about it. He could roll from his back to his stomach, but he had enough control to get 1 leg over but stay sideways on his shoulder, so he could go back to his back.

He started doing the hand to mouth with his toys... I knew I'd be fighting to keep things out of his mouth soon.

I got a view, I got my toy, I'm good!

Oh no, I lost it.

Almost there...

What the ?

Ah, nuts!

6 months...
has been about sitting up on our own, rolling both ways, and getting around. I can't tell you how many times he has escaped the blanket that we put him on. He mostly moves when he spins, but sometimes rolling (both from back to front and front to back) and leg kicking are assistants in the mobility.

He's been a real joy these last 2 months, his belly laugh is terrific and he always has a smile for mom. He has gotten to know Daddy better this month too, and loves him very much! Reid even prefers Dad to feed him cereal.

He is completely a hand to mouth boy. He lunges for whatever he wants to get his hands on. He even bonked his head on my laptop trying to escape my lap and suck on the keyboard.

We've also starting playing the pick-up game. He just loves learning all about gravity!

We've now tried Squash, Carrots, and Sweet Potatoes, he seems to love squash and sweet potatoes... but the carrots are not the favorite. He'll eat them, but puts up a fuss.

And just like his mother... he's going for the Eegee's. (yes, I gave him a tiny bit, it was cherry cider flavor, and he liked it, but isn't sure about the cold factor, yet)

Peek-a-boo is a favorite as well. But sometimes he plays it with us. If there is a blanket of any kind in his crib, he puts it over his face to sleep. I freaked out the first few times, but now I just know to go back and check on him and make sure he can get air.

Where's Reid?

There he is!

4 months

2009-10-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

So this post is 2.5 weeks late.... better late than never, right?

===========================================

Ok, I'm in shock that I have a kid who is 4 months old. It has gone so fast, and yet, it hasn't. He is up to so many things this month.

He officially can roll over from his back to his stomach. However, he hasn't quite figured out how to shimmy his arm out from under him. So he's there on his stomach, with one arm under him, and he just tries to kick or pushes off the ground with his feet. He loves to roll to his side though, because then he can get closer to his toys.

He has become extremely observant. He stares at all sorts of things. If it is colorful he wants to look at it, and lets me know if he doesn't get enough time to look at something.

He, of course, loves to be held, and has become quite the snuggler. Heavenly Father knew I wanted a baby who would snuggle... I just love those moments. When he gets up from his nap he's usually pretty happy, but likes to cuddle into my shoulder until he fully wakes up.... I LOVE IT!

He has really started to become a smiley kid. He smiles at everyone who talks to him. He laughs tons when we play with him. And one time my 4 year old nephew got him to really crack up. I mean he was full blown laughing. It was the funniest thing.

His legs are very strong, and he loves to stand. I kinda think he's getting interested in being able to move... but we still need more tummy time.

He also gets cranky if he doesn't get a good amount of floor time. I think he likes the chance to stretch and play. He also spins during this time. He's been doing that for a while, but I don't think I documented it last time.

He is strong enough to pull the pull string toy that is on his car seat... which is good, cuz we are about to take a road trip.

However, the little stinker went from sleeping 8-9 hours to sleeping 6-7 hours. So we tried a little rice cereal. It went way better than I thought it would. He kinda looked at us like, what the heck? But then after about 10 tries he swallowed some of it! It was all very exciting stuff. I was so proud. We did it twice so far, but he got really constipated, not sure if that was the rice or just what I ate. (I kinda think it was me) But we laid off for a bit, so that he could get it out. We'll probably start back up soon!

"I'm ready!"

"This is different."

"Take it out, take it out!"

When he is super cranky, the one thing that does calm him down is going outside to watch the dogs. They really love to chase each other around, and Reid tracks them, even when they are going pretty speedy. Since he is also learning to reach and grab things. We've been "teaching" him to pet the dogs. Last night was hilarious, he grabbed onto their hair and just hung on. Luckily near of them seemed to mind.

The most common thing I hear about him is, "He is such a happy baby!" I'm so grateful for Reid, I know we are so blessed to have him. And I'm grateful for his smiles, they bring so much joy to my life.

The official 4 month picture

(I was quite impressed with my photography skills)

Just When I Thought It was Safe to Go Back to High School

2009-09-28T08:59:00.001-07:00

So this weekend, we went to a high school football game to see my brother-in-law be official and stuff... he's the new assistant vice-principal.

And I was sitting there thinking, "man it is so nice to finally sit here, confident in my geekiness to not even care what everyone around me is thinking..."

Yeah, well, guess what!? I may have self confidence in who I am... but I still CAN'T walk!

Are my cheeks really that fat?

2009-09-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, so everyone tells me how much Reid looks like me. And I just can't help but wonder if I have fat cheeks. See Reid's pictures below.

3 months

2009-09-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well, since I'm doing a terrible job at writing in my journal, I'm using my blog to track Reid's moments:

Batting at toys

Grabbed a dish or two in mom's hands

Grabbing rings and toys (held on it his pacifier in his sleep for about a half hour, so cute!)

Loves to sing to songs with hand motions

Sleeping 8-9 hours at night

Doubled his birth weight

Chews/sucks on his fingers and thumbs

Too big for the head rest in his car seat

Goes down for sleep peacefully (after a very hard few days of letting him cry it out) (Except for when he's acting like he's teething... hahaha!)

Very ticklish

Sits up propped with pillows

Has taken a toy to his mouth after grabbing it (not sure if this was on accident, haven't seen it again)
Weighs 14 lbs+

Tries to sit up in his car seat (looks like he's doing little crunches)

He's growing fast! He's such a happy boy, but I'm wondering if he is indeed teething. He doesn't like to chew on the teething rings I have... but he does LOVE to chomp on my fingers.

You have to document these moments!

Too cute for words

Here is Reid's super cute church outfit. Yeah, the sweater is too big, and the label says 9 months, but eh, it still looks super cute. :)

His official 3 month picture!

Oh, and his chunki-ness moved to his arms.

Challenges...

2009-09-10T15:56:00.001-07:00

So Reid is having a hard week... I'm not sure what it is, and of course the timing is wonderful, with me going back to work part-time next week.

So he was sleeping through the night and had sort of regular nap times... But then this weekend we had fun doing different things, and being productive... So his nap times got thrown off.

Anyways. Today he was so tired after eating at his normal late morning time... so I put him down an hour after eating (normally he goes for 1.5 hours or more before getting tired). Then he wakes up screaming with less than an hour of sleep (normally sleeps for 1.5-2 hours). I pick him up and he still doesn't calm down. Finally standing in the hallway looking at some pictures he starts to calm down. We leave that spot, and he's upset again. Eventually I did get him calmed down, but I had to hold him tight and keep walking or rocking him.

I checked his gums, and no signs of teeth yet. Could he be having bad dreams? What can you do for that?
I just wonder if its that, because he woke up in the middle of the night last night, and then cut his nap way short today. Then just now when I went to put him down, he was upset about it. Which he didn't used to do. Course, he's so exhausted cuz he's been awake for almost 4 straight hours, that he did crash pretty quickly. But could it be dreams? Or am I imagining it?

2 months

2009-08-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

I've started stressing that he isn't rolling over yet. My friends who had babies around the same time as me, have all posted about rolling over, and I got nothing! I'm trying to console myself that it is ok, but I'm a first time mom... so yeah right!

He loves chomping on his hands and fingers. We don't particularly want a thumb-sucker, but he has found it a couple times. We'll see how this goes.

He's chunked up. Seriously! When did that happen? He is almost double his birthweight, and he's not even 2.5 months! (was 12lb 4oz at his 2 month appt)

Check out those legs!

He's a morning person! Who would have ever thought that I would have a MORNING person growing inside of me. He's a great smiley baby, but it is way easier to get smiles out of him in the mornings.

Check out these big smiles! (notice the PJs, he'd just woken up)

He's sleeping 5-6 hours most nights, and will go down back right after a short eating. I'm hopeful he'll drop this middle of the night feeding soon.

He loves to stand.

He can almost hold his head by himself, but he still does a little head banging.

He's allll boy! He laughs or smiles after he passes gas! It is too funny, but man does it stink!

He's had 4 different babysitters, and I'm very grateful to all of them! Especially the ones who let Matt and I have a quick double date to go see Harry Potter! It was sooo nice!

And most of all, he loves his mom! It melts my heart everytime he smiles at me when I come to his crib or pick him up from the babysitter, or how he calms down when I hold him, and how he sleeps so sweetly on me.

This is right after he got his shots.

Yes, we did move

2009-08-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

The reason we had so much family in town is because my parents left for their mission! (see missionaries) Leeds England! How cool is that?

Anyways, we decided to move into their house to take care of it, and rent out ours. Shouldn't be too hard, right? HA! Trying packing with a 2 month old. Doesn't happen! I'm indebted to my sister and Lindsey for packing my ENTIRE kitchen.

So, add in trying to help parents get ready to leave, by going over to their house every free night to learn more about their house and things to make sure it all gets taken care of.

Don't forget to actually spend time with family while they are in town.

Then oh yeah, live your normal busy life of work and church.

Then you also must remember to keep the house clean so that you can show it off to potential renters.

Then add in a 2 month old with shots the day before you are moving. (Lack of planning and unforseen circumstances caused this.)

And don't forget to go back to first house to show it to potential renters, because you have tons of spare time.

Then

house full of belongings already + all of your belongings = my current state of entropy

Isn't it lovely!

(yes, I just took these pictures, and believe it or not, this is an improvement!)

More Summer Fun

2009-08-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

A week after Reid's 1st swimming lesson, he got his first camping / jetskiing trip! It was tons of fun, and we practically brought the whole house! He ate terribly and was quite warm the whole time... But it was worth it! We had a blast!

Matt with his sister (and bro-in-law) in the background

Reid with Daddy on the jetski!

Here's where Reid slept

I got my red head!!!!

(ok, it's red in the sun, but definitely a strawberry blonde the rest of the time)

Just chillin' after his swim

Even the dogs had a good time

I had so much fun and look forward to it in the next years.

Update and Swimming!

2009-08-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

We've had a wonderful time with family in town these last couple weeks.

We saw cool fireworks for the 4th with both in-laws.

We went to the Wildlife Museum.

I just love the cute things museums do for kids!

And I love the cute things kids do at museums!

We spent lots of hours playing games.

Reid received his baby blessing, it was wonderful, and I'm very excited to watch him grow up to be an amazing man!

True to form, Reid was, of course, cooperating for pictures

And Reid got his first swimming lesson!

While all of these have been fun, I was the most excited about the swiming lessons. He did GREAT! He enjoyed it thoroughly (as long as the sun wasn't in his eyes), and even tried to take a nap in the middle of it. hahaha! I LOVE water, so sharing this with my son, really brought pure joy to my heart!

I Know, I Know...

2009-08-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

I am way behind.... everyone else is catching up on their summers, and I need to too. But as this moment I am babysitting my sister's 3 boys... 4 boys altogether, and ME! Matt will come later, but for now just me, so clearly this post must end, and I will fill you in later.

Motorized Lego Car Update

2009-08-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

So, you may be wondering what terrible disaster has struck to prevent me from posting the fabulous updates to my motorized Lego car. (If you weren't before, you are now.)

Well, I got the microcontroller working via the serial interface. I wrote up a c++ program in Linux (I do all my c++ programming in Ubuntu because of it's built in c compiler) to send serial data to the microcontroller. This worked well, but took a bit of diving into header files and strange structures to get access to the I/O modules I needed. Using the USB port is easier in Linux because it's addressable as '/dev/TTYUSB0'. So, I decided to try it out in Windows. In windows, it's just a bus (USB = Universal Serial Bus), and the individual ports aren't addressed. But, COM7 showed up when I plugged in my USB to Serial converter cable installed the driver for it. I was able to get it working with Visual Basic 6 with only 2 lines of code. Ha ha, how lame is that?

I had gone down to DI (yes, the thrift store) and bought some old DC power supplies. You know... the bulky transformers used for cell phone chargers or power for computer speakers. I had these hooked up to power the motors with an H-Bridge because the computer can't supply enough current to drive the motors. So, the computer just toggles the voltage at the base (or gate) and switches the high-current DC power supply from the wall.

Just as I got started playing with the serial interface, the unthinkable happened...

Turns out I burnt out one of my 98¢ DC power supplies. I guess they really meant that whole 150 mA rating stuff printed on the back.

I guess it could have been worse. It could have tried to source (or sink) the current through the parallel port on the computer and zapped my motherboard. I guess this is an acceptable alternative.

Now I need to make another trip down to DI and be a little pickier about what random part I buy. Hopefully some ignorant LDS sap has unwittingly discarded the exact part I need. You know what they say, "One man's heavily-used, refurbished, and resold-at-a-discount-price hardware is another man's high-current electronics hobby."

In the meantime, we're busy packing up the house so that we can move. So, I have to pack up my hobby project for a few days. Hopefully I can find it after we unpack the boxes when we get there. We've been dropping off a truckload of boxes every time we drive over, so we've gotten a head start. At the same time, we've been helping Mom and Dad move things around in preparation for us to move in there. On top of all that, we're moving the same week as the Turnidges. Yikes.

Everybody Needs a Hobby

2009-07-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

There's some element to having a hobby that keeps you from going completely insane. For a long time, computer games were my hobby. I quit playing WoW over a year ago, but never quite found a suitable replacement. I've been waiting for Starcraft II to come out, but as it keeps getting postponed, I need something to do until then.

I bought a set of stepper motors off some obscure website, along with the parts and schematic to make the serial motor driving circut too. I was really excited when it came. I bought a soldering iron of my own, and went to work assembling the circuit board. I got it all finished and to my utter dismay, it didn't work. You may be suprised to find out that neither of us own a voltmeter. So debugging the circuit wasn't really an option without buying one.

But buying things is such a difficult thing when it comes to engineers. You have to be sure you're buying the best thing for the money. And so you have to do all the research, and read all the reviews. You have to look at the specifications and the functionality. When you're finally done, one of three situations occurs:

1. You don't want it anymore because it took so long to figure out what you wanted.

2. You find that they don't have anything good enough to do what you want, or that you could build one yourself better than what is availiable.

3. You want the coolest one availiabe, thus making the item too expensive.

Needless to say, we still don't have a voltmeter.

I started my senior year at the UofA right after that, so I had very little time to work with my motors. The motors got shelved for more than a year. A few days ago, I was sitting there thinking, "I'm an engineer now; I probably know enough to fix that." It was a funny sort of realization.

I finally had a little time to pull out the motors again. It still didn't work. I spent a few days trying to figure out why. I finally decided that the circuit didn't do what I really expected it to anyhow, and that I could build one that worked better myself.

I was so excited that my wife had a geek box. Somehow her BYU tuition bought her something useful, where mine at the UofA paid for a lot of crap I never used, and neglected buying me real engineering lab supplies that I'd continue to use for years to come. Anyhow, I've been using her geek box for the past few weeks. She'll either decide she wants it back, or that I can have it. Either way, I'll probably get one of my own here soon so that I can clean up all the random parts strewn all over my desk and office floor, or just because I want to make a manly one instead of hers with seahorse and fish stickers.

I programmed a simple I/O application using the parallel port. I wrote it in Visual Basic because getting the GUI is just so quick. The Win XP's security causes the I/O to the ports to be somewhat limited, but it works for most practical applications. The RS-232 serial protocol didn't really suit my needs because I wanted to be able to control the individual data lines and keep my circuitry pretty simple. I ended up hooking up a 4-channel H-bridge to my parallel port. A little bit-flipping later, my motor was whizzing away.

Well... it sounded like it was whizzing anyway. Turns out I bought a stepper motor with 1.8 degree resolution. It's very accurate and I can tell exactly how far the motor has turned and can make minor adjustments to have a great amount of control over the motor. This is great except it maxes out on the realistic frequency at which the inductive coils can be energized and de-energized, even though that sounds somewhat Star-Trek-ish. Since the motor coils are inductive, it resists changes in current. I could do the math and figure out exactly what that frequency is, but I took the lateral-copout and let the computer do the very-fast guess and check. Turns out that the motor starts freaking out at about 200 cycles per second, which equates to about 30 RPM for my motor... 1 turn every 2 seconds. Yuck. The motor just can't go any faster than that. Oh well. I guess I over-valued accuracy and sacrificed speed without really knowing it at the time. That's what I get for buying my motors before I graduated, I guess.

Once I got the motors going, I showed Leann. She wasn't that impressed, although I coaxed her into giving me compliments on how good of a job I had done. Really I don't blame her, you can hardly see the motor's axle turning. I had to tape a wire to it so that I could tell it was turning while writing the code.

I built my first prototype out of cardboard and coat hangers. Mostly it was just a waste of time. The wheels didn't stay on very well, and the cardboard was too flimsy to hold the motor on straight. The rubber band I was using between the motor and the axle was too strong. It ended up bending the axle and tearing the cardboard. The car only survived long enough to prove that the motor had enough torque to power a vehicle with a little help of gearing.

I pulled up my CAD program and started building a model of my car. I decided that building my car out of Legos would probably be the most practical, so I started modeling individual Lego peices. That took a long time because I was precisely measuring the peices so that they'd be to scale and virtually fit together correctly. After a few hours of modeling I decided to just go buy the real thing. So I got the Quad Bike / Dune Buggy dual set #8262. (If you have legos already, you can download the instuction booklets in .pdf off their website.) I did look at downloding the instructions and ordering the Lego peices off of a 3rd party distributor, but decided that was just too much work. (And you have to buy them in bulk)

I think Leann started feeling bad for me and my pathetic attempts at being a mechanical engineer. But, the best part is that I talked Leann into letting me buy a toy. Yeah, the stepper motors were a pretty good toy too, but that was a long time ago, so I got a new toy. It's been a long time since I actually bought a toy that comes in a box with colorful pictures on the outside with some boy pretending to play with it. I had to drive to three different stores to find one that actually had a decent set of Technic Legos. I needed a set with enough peices that I could make a few different things out of it so that I wasn't limited to just what it was *meant* to build.

Once I got home I built the dune buggy... the more promising of the two instruction sets. The set is meant to be built by a 9-16 year old boy. However, the steering assembly is complicated enough that I seriously doubt a 9-year old boy would ever have come up with that on their own. The poor kid would be doomed to always have to build an inferior Lego contraption. I'm an experienced Lego-builder. I even belonged to the Lego kids club and got the magazine each month. I owned the BlackTron space sets, and my little brother owned the ice vehicles (I can't remember their real name at the moment) I had the vehicle built in about a half hour.

I played with the car for an hour or two. It's a pretty good design, and is pretty fun to play with. It has a steering axle that comes out of the top so that you can turn the wheels while playing with it from the top. That was pretty cool, but in the process of playing, my inner-engineer began to kick in. The steering on the vehicle was just too wobbly. The turn radius was far too small to be effective. Leann went to bed around 11:00 pm, while I stayed up until 3:30 am re-building the steering assembly. Now, this wasn't an easy task. With limited parts, I had to change the vehicle from front-wheel drive, rear steering to rear wheel drive, front steering and improve the steering at the same time. But I managed to do it, and keep the shocks at the same time. The original design also only had power to one wheel off the drive shaft, so I changed it to be 2-wheel drive instead of 1-wheel drive.

Today I hooked the Lego car up to my stepper motor. I still used a rubber-band to transfer power from the motor's axle to the drive shaft of the vehicle. This isn't the best situation because of the stretch factor involved. It makes the car drive in spurts. The rubber-band stretches around the axle until it builds up enough torque and then the car lurches forward and stops. This would be better done with gears, but I have to figure out how to get a gear attached to the motor's axle without permanantly damaging the motor so that it can't be used for anything else. Even though the car didn't drive very fast or smoothly, this time Leann was impressed. (I was actually somewhat impressed myself) The car moved fairly well on my first attempt. Not too shabby.

Anyhow, I'll eventually replace the main driving motor with a plain DC motor so that my car can go faster. But at the current moment, the car is tethered to the circuitry and also the back of my computer so it can only go as far as my alligator-clip leads can stretch. But it's probably for the best. The desk isn't that long, so going faster wouldn't really do me all that much good anyhow. Unless I could get up to 88 mph and add a flux capacitor!

Check out the video of my car. Sorry for the crummy quality, I had to reduce the resolution so that it was small enough for email and such.

Worse Than A Needle In A Haystack

2009-07-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so being a new mom, I am having many wonderful experiences: watching my child grow, seeing the many smiles he gives, being excited when he learns something, watching him turn his head when he hears my voice, laughing internally when everyone tries to calm him down, but then he gets handed to me and is happy as a clam! (hahaha)

But the one thing that seriously takes forever is finding a pair of matching baby socks in a load of clean laundry. I mean finding one of my pairs of socks is tricky, but then shrink the size of the socks, and it's nearly impossible!

There are many cool baby inventions... one that I particularly appreciate is how they make all levers, clasps, buttons, etc. on strollers red. If it is red, it can move and make the stroller move somehow. Great idea! Instead of hunting around for hours to find the magic release lever, I just have to try the 5 red thingys on the stroller. And you can even call them thingys, because by marking them red, it made your life that much easier!

Thus I have decided they should make red tags for you to stick on your baby's laundry, so when you go to find something in the pile, all you have to do is look for red!

What's your favorite baby invention?

The Little Things

2009-07-03T10:45:00.001-07:00

So, I'm finding with motherhood that I am somewhat deprived of my computer time. So here is an effort to fulfill my computer withdrawals and keep everyone updated.

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Now that Reid is 3 weeks old!!! I thought I'd update everyone on what he's up to.

- At 4 days old, he weighed 6lbs 9oz
- At 1 week old, he weighed 7lbs 20z
- At 2 weeks old, he weighed 7lbs 8oz
- At 3 weeks old, I don't know his weight, but he feels huge to me and he's finally getting his baby rolls

- He is a great eater. If he does a nice long feeding he'll go 3-4 hours before needing the next one. (this is great for nights)
- Usually when he eats he closes his eyes and is very calm while eating.
- Occassionally while eating he likes to put his hands around his face, which usually get in the way, and moves around a bunch. (This is cute, except when I'm really tired)
- If he does open his eyes, he loves looking behind me, so I've started trying to put colorful things for him to enjoy.

- He smiles a lot, mostly asleep, but some while awake. (and I think to think, some at me)
- He laughs... full blown laughter in his sleep. One time he did it right after I made a cheesy joke to Matt... his timing was awesome!
- He is starting to focus better on things, especially our faces.

- His hair is starting to come in more blonde.... here comes my little toe head!
- His eyes are a gorgeous deep blue.
- I think he is more tan than me!

- In the last week he has become more of a cuddler and wants to always be held
- He spends more time awake, especially if you aren't cuddling with him. (hahaha)

- His toes have gotten fat... yes, fat! They are stubby little dudes... super cute!

And the most obvious observation... he still looks 100% like Matt!

I love everything about this little guy... not gonna lie, I've had some adjusting to do, and it's been hard. But you find the strength somewhere in there.

Welcome the Geek Baby! (warning long post)

2009-06-22T11:14:00.001-07:00

Per request here is my birth story. It was a bit of a whirlwind, so there aren't many emotions to describe because I didn't have time to feel them.
Just know that I didn't get to sleep until 3am that night, because my adrenalin rush was so high.

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For me it started Thursday June 11th. At 10am I had my doctor’s appointment. I was interested to see if I had dilated any more, because the previous 3 visits I had dilated to a 2, then a 3, then a 3.5. When she checked me I was dilated to 4cm and about 70% effaced. She said it was too early to induce because she didn’t want the baby to have respiratory problems. But she did stretch out my cervix to see if it would get the prostaglandins producing.

I headed to a funeral where I saw my mother and my sister, and told both of them that I thought something was happening, but didn't know for sure. The contractions were noticeable, but they still just felt like the Braxton-Hicks contractions I had been having the previous months, just more often and they didn’t go away.

Well, the contractions continued all day, something they hadn’t done before. So that night, Matt and I were driving across town and I figured, ‘Hey, let’s time them just for fun.’ Some were 5 minutes apart, some were 8, some were 10 or more. So we figure, definitely not regular. I’ve heard of women where this went on for weeks, so I figure no rush. They continued all night and I figured if I could sleep, then it wasn’t labor. And I slept great.

The next morning, Friday June 12th, I got up and made the Mint Oreo Truffles for Matt’s work picnic. I felt a few contractions, but not very many. I went ahead and went to work. I called my mother on the way to see what her thoughts were, and she said, it sounds like you’ve got something going on, but it could still be days. I thought days would be more likely because I was really hoping to have the baby early, which of course would mean that I wouldn’t… because of Murphy’s Law.

At work, they contractions continued. I felt that these contractions were more of all over as opposed to the Braxton-Hicks contractions where sometimes it felt like only part of my uterus would be contracting, not the whole thing.

Well, after completing a few tasks, and cleaning off my desk (just in case). I decided that if I was in labor, I definitely did NOT want to be at work. So at 12:15ish I left work and headed to Matt’s department’s picnic.

There I ate a hamburger (something I was amazed that sounded good, because I have thrown up every non-restaurant hamburger that I have eaten this whole pregnancy), well only half of a hamburger, because the homemade pizza was far more phenomenal that I expected…. so I ate 2 pieces of that instead.

After hanging out for about 30 minutes, the contractions felt a little stronger, but still not painful, just uncomfortable. I tried to fake it and act pleasantly happy, but they were strong enough, that I wanted to go home. I told Matt that if this continued, I’d want to go to the hospital tonight. He said, “Great!” So I headed home, but Matt stayed and played volleyball for a little bit longer.

On the way home, just after 2pm, I called my mom to see what she thought. Not sure what all powerful knowledge I expected her to have that she didn’t have that morning, but it somehow made me feel better. She again agreed that my body was getting ready, but it could still be hours or days… there is just no way to know. At this point I wanted to be hopeful, but didn’t want to get my hopes up. I was excited, but didn’t want to expect too much.

When I got home I logged on to work and finished up a few things. My co-worker had a family event, so I kinda ran out of things to do, because most of my tasks in the last few weeks were just to support her. So…. I started roughly timing the contractions. They were kinda seemed like they were 5 minutes apart. So I was grateful when Matt got home before 3pm so he could help time them.

I told him, let’s start timing these. Well, he didn’t have a stop watch and figuring out the seconds and the minutes between the contractions was becoming a pain, so he decided to write a stop watch program really quick. (Yes a computer program... we really are that geeky) Again, roughly timing contractions while he wrote his program, they seemed to be about 5 minutes apart, not exactly, but about.

After about 15 minutes he got the program working, he realized he needed to document how far apart they were, so he opened up Excel and realized that Excel can just add the times for him… so he set that up. During this time we discussed we should probably get the rest of the stuff hospital bag together, because we probably were going to go to the hospital that evening regardless, if for no other reason than just a sanity check. We were also planning to take the dogs over to Lindsey’s on our way to the hospital.

All of the sudden the contraction I was having got painful. I got down on my knees and leaned over the automan, and starting rocking my hips and breathing deeper. Well, wouldn’t you know the next contraction was 3.5 minutes later. When Matt told me this, I said, “We gotta go now.” So between a few contractions I grabbed the items on my last minute list, and the car seat. (We still had not figured out how to put the car seat in the car, so we just threw it in the trunk.)

Well, of course in our one car garage home, the truck was on the driveway, so I had a contraction, Matt jumped in the truck, I jumped in the Jetta, we swapped cars, and just in time because the next contraction came when I was moving to the passenger seat. The we headed to the hospital.

On the way I called Lindsey to tell her that we were not bringing the dogs over, because all of the sudden my contractions kicked in, and we were rushing to the hospital. Then I called my mom to tell her we were headed to the hospital, and I was consumed with emotion. Shock, excitement, nervousness, anticipation and lots of love were all inside of me. But I didn’t want to let these emotions to the surface. I wanted to maintain control of myself and keep logically thinking. And if I let emotions out, they would burst out like opening the flood gates of a dam. And I didn't think I'd be able to gain control of myself if I let that happen.

We got to the hospital at about 4pm, I walked in the door and the first thing she asked was, “Are you ok to walk?” I said yes, because I knew I could. She took our information, and sent us straight to a room, instead to triage for assessment (no one told us why, maybe I just looked like I was in labor, I’m not sure).

While Matt went to go park the car and bring our bags into the room, the nurse had me change into a hospital gown, and then lie on the bed and started asking me questions about my pregnancy. Then she checked my cervix to see how far along I was. She estimated that I was 5-6cm. Then said that my doctor just finished delivering a baby, and so she would be in shortly to check on me.

This whole time I kept waiting for someone to tell me that I really wasn’t in labor, and that I should go home. Because no one ever just said, "Yes you are in labor, and you should stay at the hospital." I know the fact that I was dilating and wearing a hospital gown should have been a clue, but I still just hadn’t heard the words, “You are in labor.” So it still didn’t feel like it was really happening.

About 20 minutes later my doctor came in and checked my cervix, I had dilated to 7cm. Then she broke my water, it just felt like warm water coming out of me. I think at this point I finally thought, well, I guess I am staying here at the hospital. But I still didn’t realize that I was full fledge into labor; I just simply thought that I had started labor. My doctor told me that she had some paperwork, and probably wouldn’t deliver me, unless I went in the next hour. But she still requested to be kept in contact for the next little bit.

Well, the contractions continually got stronger. I couldn’t believe the pain. All I could do is grab the side rails of the bed and try to breathe through it. The times when Matt was there, it helped much more. Still was really hard, but just having him there meant a lot to me. The times he wasn’t next to me was because he was calling my family, or getting me ice chips, or something else helpful.

At one point I got nauseous, and thankfully Matt listened and found garbage can. Because a few contractions later, I leaned over the bed, shoved his legs out of the way and grabbed for the garbage can. Apparently it smelled horrid, because he asked the nurses to change the bag very quickly. But the nurses were quite proud of me that I actually got it into the garbage can.

Well, as the pain got more intense I knew I could not do this for hours… it hurt just way too much. And I STILL thought I was just starting labor. So I told Matt I wanted the epidural. Being the good husband that he was, he kept double checking with me, since I so desperately wanted to do this without the pain medication. But at this point, they wouldn’t let me out of the bed, and so I just had to lie there in pain, no rocking, no movement or lamaze techniques to help me deal with it. I asked for a birthing ball, but they were taking too long to bring it. The nurse double checked with me whether or not I wanted the epidural, and I kinda wavered again. So she said, let me check you. I was dilated to 8cm at this point. I mentioned that if I was progressing this quickly there may not be time for an epidural, and my nurse said, “I’m glad you realize that.” But still, could I really be progressing THAT fast? I surely thought, no.

At this point my nurse called the doctor to let her know how quickly I was progressing, and to find out how much time the doctor wanted before they called her for delivery. The doctor said she was 10 minutes out, so have me do a practice push and then call her.

Then I’m not really sure what happened, but at some point I progressed to 9cm, and my nurse asked if I wanted the squatting bar, and I said yes. At first they didn’t put down the foot of the bed, so it was kinda tricky. But after a few contractions they put the foot of the bed down, and it made it way easier to pull myself up to the bar. I used the bar as Lamaze class had taught me. I pulled up on it, as soon as I felt a contraction starting, and then laid back down on the bed in between. I told the nurse that I didn’t need the epidural any more I just wanted to get this over with, and I felt I was progressing quickly. She agreed and told me that I was doing amazing. I told her she better not tell everybody that.

The nurse checked me and I was 9.5cm, and she told me to let her know if I felt like I needed to poop. Well, she had amazing timing because the next contraction I had that sensation, not strong, but slight. She checked me again, and said I just had a little bit of a lip of my cervix left. When the next contraction came she told me not to push, but the contraction pushed on its own. I tried not to, but the pushing urge is really strong. Well, after that contraction pushed for me, she checked me again, and I had gotten rid of the lip. She told me I could go ahead and do a practice push, but that was awkward cuz I didn’t do it with the contraction. She said I did just fine, and that we could go ahead and push with the contractions. Pushing really wasn’t that hard… it came pretty naturally, and it felt like my body did a lot of the work involuntarily. Then they called the doctor to tell her to go ahead and come.

They went ahead and removed the squatting bar, and then had me lay down, and put my legs up. Matt had my right leg, and a nurse had my left. Well, I was pushing with the contractions, and about all I could comprehend was ‘wow, that hurts’. So I just kept saying out loud, “Ow, ow, ow.” In the mean time, I had a cheering section Matt kept saying, “Oh wow!” “And you’re doing great!” (but mostly just “Oh wow!”). Then the nurse just kept saying, “The burning sensation is normal. The burning sensation is normal.” Which I was grateful for, because then I knew something wasn’t wrong, and I just continued to push as much as I could.

Well, I felt like I was making progress, but really had no idea. They asked if I wanted to touch his head, and I said “No!” I’m glad they didn’t push that, because I really had no desire, I just wanted to be done pushing.

Then all of the sudden, it felt like a relief of pressure… like something came out, and then I felt more slide out of my body. I knew in the moment that my baby was here. My heart leaped, and my eyes looked for him immediately. The nurses were holding him up in front of me, and I could touch him. But the cord was wrapped around the waist, so they had to get that untwisted, and they put him on my chest. The funny part is that they put him facing away from me, so I couldn’t even see his face. But all I could do was kiss his vernix covered head. Then someone asked me what I thought, and through the tears I told them I couldn’t see his face. So they turned him for me. I just held him, so happy that he was here, and so loving and adorable.

At that point my doctor walked in the room, and everyone told her she missed it. Well, apparently from the time they called the doctor to the time she walked in the room it was 8 minutes. So I was only pushing for about 10 minutes.

They took the baby and got him all cleaned up, and Matt went over to that side of the room and took care of the baby and took pictures. They weighed him and he weighed 6lbs 13oz, and was 19in long, and his official birth time was 5:52pm (less than 2 hours after I got to the hospital).

The doctor sat down and delivered my placenta… which just popped out, I didn’t have to do anything for that. Then I asked if I tore, and they said yes. I asked how bad, and they said it wasn’t too bad, and that it was about the most common tear. She then spent about 30-45 minutes stitching me up, because I tore diagonal and it was hard to piece together. My parents showed up at this point, and I just didn’t care who was in the room, so I said for them to come in. My mom came and held my hand while I got stitched up.

As soon as the doctor was done, and they put the bed back together, and handed the baby to me so that I could nurse.

This whole time everyone was asking what his name was. So Matt and I realized we needed to pick between the two names we had decided on months ago. He came over and asked what I thought. I told him that the name I have been thinking for the last 4 months was Reid. It is just the name that would pop into my mind each time I would think of the baby. But I didn’t know what Matt was thinking, I was so happy that he agreed. And we named him Reid Matthew.

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Here are a few pictures:

Just got cleaned up.

Later that night
1 week old , 7lbs 2oz

Tagged - 8 Things

2009-06-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

So, I've been tagged, and sometimes I do these, and sometimes not. But right now, I have nothing to post about except I am bored at work (cuz my responsibilities are pretty much done, cuz I'm taking 3 months maternity leave) and I spend all my time wishing I was going into labor.

So in the mean time... here's a little about me:

8 Favorite TV Shows:
- Chuck
- NCIS
- Stargate
- Big Bang Theory
- Alias (its old, I know, but I still love it)*
- Heroes
- Animaniacs *
- Bones

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
- Went to Lindsey's to let the dogs play
- Worked
- Made dinner
- Hung out with Sarah and her adorable baby
- Ate a large amount of chips and salsa (YUM!)
- Made and ate strawberry milkshakes for me and Matt
- Laundry
- Sat around uncomfortably most of the day

8 Restaurants I Love:
- Gavi's
- Outback
- Texas Roadhouse
- PF Cheng's
- Casa Molina
- Eegee's (that counts, right?)
- McMahon's
- Tucanos and Bombay House (even though they are in Utah)

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
- meeting my son
- not being pregnant
- seeing my siblings and their families this summer
- my parents going on a mission (I'm just really excited for them, not that I want them to leave)
- taking 3 months off of work
- hanging out with my sister this summer
- taking a vacation
- seeing Matt as a dad

8 Things on My Wish List:
- a happy baby
- new TV
- new kitchen table
- the ability to understand finances perfectly
- the ability to manage finances perfectly (hahaha)
- more patience with others
- live closer to more friends and family
- a clean car

8 People I Tag:
- I never tag anyone cuz I don't want to guilt them into it, but if you are bored... by all means, please feel free.

Baby's Room Progress

2009-05-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

So, Matt has done a lot of work on the baby's room. He got the chair rails and the crowning up. I got the bedding washed, and remade the baby bed.

We got some navy blue curtains for the inner window. And my parents graciously gave us their old rocking chair... still need to get a navy blue chair cover. :) (don't mind the mess next to it... still organizing)

Then we went and found these adorable decorations at the discount home decorating store.

It's turning out really great!

We're just about ready for him to come!

Dogs, Birds, and Lamaze

2009-05-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

So, this week has been INSANE! Every night we have had something going on. Well, I'll just tell you about the interesting ones...

1) Wednesday night we started Lamaze class. Now I know some people think I'm crazy for being interesting in wanting to have this baby natural... but just hear me out.

Anytime I get a headache, or a discomfort... I deal with it, cuz its usually not that bad. I'm not a person to jump into taking medication. I think I was when I was little, and now I just don't like it. And, I have had pain that I would consider a 10 (you know when they ask you to state your pain level 1-10), mostly cuz I went into shock when I woke up from the surgery... I figure that counts as a 10. And I think that if I had been more aware and had known that pain would come, I could have dealt with it.

Also, a HUGE needle going into MY back? Need I say more?

And, I've heard some stories of the discomforts of an epidural: being stuck in 1 position, medication being too strong (can't tell when to push), medication not being strong enough, and not getting to eat afterwards! Bummer!

Now all of these are minor and can be dealt with... which is why I'm not dead-set against an epidural.... I just want to have another option. If I can do it without one, why not? Right?

Anyways, enough about that....
We also decided to do Lamaze cuz we're not sure what to expect, so might as well, take an education course that's geared to help me learn how to deal with the HUGE miracle my body will be performing.

So we started Lamaze class, and learned all sorts of cool things about the anatomy and how the body works. I learned in more detail what a contraction is, and how the muscle groups are working together to push the baby out. However, I have to say that the coolest thing I learned is that I'm having the Braxton-Hicks contractions! I HAD NO IDEA! hahaha! They just feel like the baby pushing on the outside of my uterus for a short time. But I learned if its a larger area than just 1 hand (or foot), its probably a Braxton-Hicks contraction. And, that this is the uterus's way of "working out" to "get in shape" for the actual labor. Isn't that fun?

I know some of you already knew, this, but I didn't and I think it's super cool! I'm thrilled to know that my body is already preparing for our little dude to come out!

2) Last night Matt was out visiting some people (doing his Home Teaching). And I had a committee meeting for my church responsibility (Activities) at our house. Well, our dogs get excited when people come over, so I put them outside. One person showed up, and we started chatting.

Well, after about 10 minutes of barking, Cleo wasn't calming down. So I went out there to see what her deal was. She wasn't barking at the back wall (like normal), she was barking at her crate.
I thought... hmm... that's weird. So I moved the crate.
And lo and behold I found a pigeon behind the crate. I thought well, if I let it go... NO! CLEO CAUGHT IT! AHHHH! OH dear, OH MY! (was about all I could think)
So I grabbed Cleo by the neck (of course she just happened to not have her collar on), and the bird gets away. But THEN Lightning gets the bird. And OH CRAP! What do I do now? Now I've got to hold Cleo with both hands at her shoulders to try and keep her contained (she's getting stronger, or I'm getting weaker, hmm?) ... I've got a pen and paper in my hand. So I release Cleo, grab Lightning's collar, and shove him inside, dump the pen and paper on the table, and go back out and grab Cleo and get her inside.
THEN BREATHE!

The poor visitor at my house was like, "WHAT is going on? Are you ok?!" Worried about ME, the pregnant lady!

Well, I tell her there's a bird outside, dying... cuz there was definite blood. So I look at her like... what do I do??? Well, she and I both know the humane thing to do. And we tried to... with a plastic bag over its head... But it DIDN'T DIE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!!!
Neither of us have the gumption to try again, so we scoop it into the bag and throw it away. We each said a little prayer in our hearts for the poor little bird and that the Lord will put it out of its misery soon.

That was HORRIBLE! I've never dealt with that! I never thought my dogs would actually CATCH a bird to torment. I know its normal, but it seriously disturbed me! Not to mention, I'm pregnant! And I can't handle things like this... physically (chasing dogs and birds around the yard) or emotionally (death... of any kind).

I know I am a disappointment to many... but I just couldn't do it! UGH! Give me a spider any day! But some small animal... woe is me!

Anyways, after having to head out to Stake Choir after my meeting and talking with Matt, he's fairly sure that it is dead by now. And whether or not that is true... I choose to believe that it of course died quickly in that plastic bag.

Either way, that was just a little TOO MUCH adventure for me! I'll stick to crocheting my baby afghan, thank you very much!

The Woes of Pregnancy

2009-04-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

1) Our kids are doomed

My friends at work gave me this t-shirt. Needless to say, I LOVE IT!

2) Do I really look like a basketball?

People keep saying, "You look so cute, just like you have a little basketball under there!" Do I really? Is that good? Do I want to look like a basketball? And now I'm wondering, just how big of a basketball do you use?

(30 weeks)

3) What does 'fine' mean?

When I talk to most women, my pregnancy really hasn't been that bad. And I'm not one who likes to complain. But just so you all know the daily complaints that my dear husband gets to listen too.

back aches
inability to get up (after sitting)
NO bladder control... no really, NONE
painful hips
walking funny (and by funny, I mean waddling... UGH!)
inability to lean forward, while sitting, standing, anything
inability to get up
intense emotion
intense need to eat, or lack thereof
tired belly muscles
stressings over the whole labor thing
dry skin / ezcema (then add in the windy weather... oh the joy!)
over heating / freezing (mostly just over heating lately... hahaha)
memory loss and its antithesis (imagining conversations)
tenderness and soreness in lots of special places on my body
feeling like a whale, cuz I can't manuver my body

All in all, pregnancy is great! Our baby's room is coming along, and we are getting more and more excited. Matt is still working on the chair rails and crowning, but its gonna be a gorgeous room! I'm so grateful that Matt wanted to decorate the room. He really deserves all the credit! (he picked everything out!)

As for names, we have the first name narrowed down to 2 names, but still aren't sharing. The middle name is still up in the air. So you'll just have to wait until we meet our little guy and figure it all out!

Do You Think Blogging Counts?... hahaha

2009-04-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

"The University of Melbourne study showed that people who use the Internet for personal reasons at work are about 9 percent more productive that those who do not."

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2009/04/reuters_us_work_internet_tech_life

Are you A Fool?

2009-04-01T15:24:00.001-07:00

I have never been one that is big into April Fool's Day. But I must admit, I enjoy that the geek world definitely participates in this day. It cracks me up how the geek world IMs each other (alll day long... no seriously, allll day) with the one that they think is the funniest. :)
Either way it brightens my day.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For your geek fill this week, please check out the following websites:

http://www.google.com/ -> or more specifically the CADIE link on the google page.

http://www.slashdot.org/ -> or more specifically these links:

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=09/04/01/2131236 - can I just eww?
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=09/04/01/1935214
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=09/04/01/180209
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=09/04/01/173236
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=09/04/01/1710253

This one is just funny:
http://www.youtube.com/t/new_viewing_experience

Here are some of my favorites from the past years:
http://www.google.com/tisp/
http://www.google.com/googlegulp/
http://www.google.com/virgle/

As if Being Pregnant and Sick Wasn't Enough of a Party

2009-03-24T09:21:00.001-07:00

So sorry I haven't posted (I haven't even been on facebook in the last couple weeks either), work has been crazy. We had some crazy deadlines and lots of work that needed to get done. So I basically was working constantly for 2 weeks. Which means long hours, and high stress... Really good things for your immune system, let alone your pregnant immune system.

Then I was surrounded by some people who were all getting over 'something'... and I think my body said, "I GIVE UP", and I got a cold. Of course the first day of my cold was my day off. My sister had all 3 boys home all week, cuz it was Spring Break. So we planned to spend a day together. We decided to take the boys swimming. (Gotta love this warm spring weather) Well, we had a great time swimming and floating and spinning and all sorts of fun. After an hour we were all starving and headed for lunch. We went back to my house to eat, and I felt terrible, cuz I just wanted to crash instead of still hanging out with them. But alas, I have a VERY understanding sister, and she ended our day of fun early. I crashed for a couple hours, and set my alarm so that I would be able to make Matt dinner.

Then that night, I spent many hours honking my nose, and trying to prop myself up so I could breathe out of my nose somewhat. However, I learned something very crucial that night:

IF

Pregnancy = Being Uncomfortable

Head Cold = Congestion = Needing to sleep in abnormable positions

THEN

Pregnancy + Head Cold = NO SLEEP

Needless to say, it was a rough night.

So, I took Friday off to try and relax and get some rest so my body could recuperate. Well,.... that didn't happen.

Matt took our bigger dog to the vet cuz she had been limping for about a week, and we found out that she tore her ACL. (or the comparable ligament in a dog) So, now we get to spend the next 2 weeks trying to keep our dog down as much as possible until we get her brace for her leg. It just kills me, she LOVES going on walks, and LOVES going to the park, and everytime she hears another dog she starts to whimper. I think she's super lonely. But alas, it's like kids right? You gotta do what's best for them, not what they want. It's just hard, and then you add in the additional emotions with pregnancy, and my heart just breaks everytime she limps around! Poor thing!

So here it is 5 days later, and I still sound like a frog, and I'm trying to keep my dog down and relaxed, and the baby kicks me everytime I cough! haha! I really don't blame him. But man, will I ever get better?

What's In A Name?

2009-03-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

Ok... so obviously names are part of the discussion at our house right now. And while we have some names we like, we are no where close to having picked one yet.

But I have a question about names. If you like a name, and the name comes from someone, are you automatically naming your child after that person? Or can it just be, I like that name and so I'm using it?

Let's just say hypothetically speaking of course....

That I liked a particular girl name. And I have only ever heard this particular girl name on a T.V. show. And while the girl on the T.V. show is beautiful, she is the VILLIAN on this show. Now, just imagine this show is not a very popular show, for instance it's only shown at random times on the basic channels, or only on (let's say for instance) the Sci-Fi channel at prime-time. Would it then be ok to use that name?

Would your child forever think that they are named after a T.V. show character? Is it so wrong to like a name off of a T.V. show? or even a current famous person's name? Are you evil for liking that name and naming your child after that? But it's not really naming the child after the person/character.... you just happen to like the name. Or by default are you naming the child after that person/character?

Now there are rules that are needed for naming. Many of them are covered here. Because seriously... I wonder if some people think before naming their child. But where do you draw the line on who/what your child is named after? or NOT named after as the case may be.

So I put it to you... what do you think as far as naming a child? Where do you draw the line?

Happy Friday!

2009-02-24T19:21:00.000-08:00

That is something you often hear quite genuinely around my work on a Friday morning. However, by Friday afternoon, it often turns into a VERY sarcastic phrase.

For instance, here is what happened to me this past Friday afternoon.

First let me give a little background...
My current situation at work is that my team consists of 2 people, me and my co-worker (we'll call her K). K and I are responsible for 5 machines. That means if any hardware problems occur on any of these 5 machines, we are responsible for making sure that it gets fixed. Not neccesarily know how to fix it, but know who to contact to get it fixed.

Well, in the last year, K moved to another city. Which means I personally have to make sure the hardware for all 5 machines is in a happy state, this is fine, but it is a fact and component to the story.

This was the week I had been out for jury duty the last 3 days. Well, one of our machines (the biggest and most obnoxious one) was having some power problems. So since I was on jury duty, I told her to make do, and see if she could figure it out. Well, eventually she found out that multiple parts on the machine are were having failures, so after contacting the developer (the expert who would know) the assumption was that the sensor part that connects to the other multiple parts, is indeed the bad part. So she asked another co-worker to help out with the maintenance on this machine, since she is in another state.

So, this co-worker finds the person who knows how to do this maintenance, we'll call him J, and J is available to fix this on Friday. Well, I make it back to work, and Mr. Helper Co-worker has a meeting, so he says,"Can you help oversee the repair/maintenance process?" I think, Sure, how hard could it be?

HA! So, I show up at the machine and J comes to join me with the correct part and the needed tools. Excellent, we're off to a good start. So he gets on the machine and asks," What repair do I need to run?" How do I know, I've been in court for 3 days? And of course there are like 10 to choose from. So I instant message K. Within a few minutes, we figure out what repair event to run, and THINK we know what part number it is that we need to replace. So we start the repair. Then the instructions to remove the part come up. Ummm... these are not the instructions to remove the part that J brought over. Uh-oh. So we start hunting around. This process ends up taking so long to run, the Mr. Helper Co-worker's meeting finishes, and he comes to ask us if we are doing ok. Yeah, right! I have no idea what is going on with this machine or what the CORRECT part number is.

So, we start down the path of finding out the correct part number. Mr. Helper Co-worker is able to show us the error of our ways, and 1 hour after starting this process, we are finally beginning the correct repair process.

Of course the bad part is in the middle of some bigger part. So we have to take off what feels like every cable on this machine. And then, the part is on the bottom half of the machine, so it is between 2ft and 4 ft above the ground. Now, I'm not 9 months pregnant yet, I definitely am less limber, and cannot get up off the ground as quickly as I used to. But the height of 2-4ft requires, some hunching over, kneeling on the ground, or limber strength to unscrew bolts that are in hard to reach places. So clearly, I am NOT the ideal candidate for this project. But the thing is, J is a very nice gentleman, however he also has a limp and an issue with his knee or hip (I did not ask, just pure observation, as he walks with a bit of a hobble).

Normally, I am all for respecting my elders, and offering to get down on the floor, get dirty, and pull this machine apart. But frankly... 3 days in court made my back hurt really bad. Plus not to mention the round ligament pain had been a real killer that week, so standing is less than comfortable.

So there we are, pregnant me and inflexible J trying to hover over this machine, that requires pulling every last piece out to get the dumb part out. (Nevermind that Mr. Co-worker Helper man is not only strong, and limber, he is in fantastic shape for a mid-late 30's man) But I digress.... which is worse, prego me or hobble him? I was feeling like those pathetic women who complain about every little thing when they are pregnant (inspite of my determination to continue normal life as much as possible during pregnancy). I just wanted to go whine to someone and tell them to do the hard labor themselves!

Well, another hour has passed, the bad part still had not been completely removed, and I was really thinking, we might be better off with having bad hardware. But alas, J was able to remove the part, and put the new one in. He miraculously remembered where everything went, and put the machine back together in half the time it took to take it apart. So, almost 3 hours later, the new part is in and the machine is powering it on. J excuses himself, while I sit and watch power do its job. Over 3 hours later, my co-worker, K, runs the scan on the machine to find.... OH YES! Remember, those multiple parts that were complaining, which made us think that we needed to replace the sensor? They are reporting BAD... AGAIN! UGH!

So now here we are, Friday night, the weekend taunting me as I watch the errors on the machine continually come up. As if they are laughing at me one by one, telling me I can never go home.

And you would think this is a one time thing? NO! Computers know when its Friday, and they KNOW when you want to go home. And they KNOW when to break!

So thus HAPPY STINKING FRIDAY is anything but at this point! And either you go home in PURE frustration, and take it out on your spouse, kids, dogs, etc. Or you stay at work all night, fix the problem, and go home to a frustrated 'spouse, kids, dogs, etc.'!

Happy Friday, INDEED!

(there have been numerous times I have needed an air bag)

Valentine's Day

2009-02-19T12:18:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's Day was wonderful...

We started the day separately... Matt took Cleo up the mountain and hung out with friends that were rock climbing. I spent the morning with one of the youth group girls from church, helping her study math.

After I took her home, Matt came home with a dozen red roses! Now, I know it's silly. And I know that roses are like a million times more expensive at Valentine's Day. But I really always want to have a flower on Valentine's Day. Whether it's one or a dozen, or whatever, I really want to have that flower. It really just makes me happy.

This is one of those many silly times that I sit there and think, why do I care? But alas, the reality is... no matter how much of logical engineer I am, I still have that girl side of me that wants things for no logical reason.

Anyways, we had a wonderful rest of the day, dropped off our dogs at our friends, went to a super early dinner at Gavi's (the yummiest italian food ever) and filled up on dinner and dessert, and then went furniture shopping. Found lots of things we want but don't need yet. But its still fun to look sometimes.

Hope everyone else had great day!

Happy 1234567890 Day!

2009-02-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

Sorry, we've been side-tracked with babies and other things...
Here's a geek update!

"As of 6:31:30PM ET this afternoon it will officially be 1234567890 Unix time, which started at zero and has been counting seconds since the stroke of midnight on January 1, 1970." - Engadget

http://www.coolepochcountdown.com/

We found out....

2009-02-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this is 2 major things....
1 - We are having a BOY! (Totally excited!)
2 - I am becoming a digital scrapbooker! Here's my first page to show everyone. (keep in mind, I didn't spend much time on this... I just wanted to get it on the blog quickly)

credits:
Sweet Dreams kit by Megan Turnidge at Elemental Scraps
Moody Blues kit at Shabby Princess

Jury Duty

2009-02-06T11:21:00.001-08:00

So, everyone says that when you get called to Jury Duty, it often is boring and to bring your book. But, I have a different story to tell....

I got called to the kind where you have to be 'on-call' for a week. You may or may not even need to go downtown. Well, Sunday morning I got a voicemail saying, Alas, I need to go down Tuesday morning.

So Tuesday I headed down, and learned that if you get called down... there is a trial that you need to sit in on the jury selection. So, they randomly give you a number, and you sit in order of your number. Well, we all know it takes 12 for a jury, and I got number 11! So I pretty much knew I'd be considered for the jury.

Well, this was a sensitive case, it involved topics that many could not handle, and I understand that. But seriously, losing 35 out of 67 jurors on 1 question! That's kinda ridiculous. I am sure some of them (particularly the women) couldn't handle it, but wow, lots of people took that out.

As I sat there debating, keeping in mind my CRAZY emotional mood swings, and my sensitivity to visual pictures, my bladder control abilities (or lack thereof), and just the pure sensitive subject... I tried to logically decipher if that meant that I couldn't be "fair and impartial". But ultimately, I decided I could be as "fair and impartial" as anyone else could.

So, by 2pm the first day, we were out of jurors and didn't have enough for the lawyers to pick from. So, we had to come back the next day at 10:30am after they had called more people to jury duty. After being sent out again for a recess, we came back in, and they jumped from juror number 1 to number 6 to number 10! Ah! That means that all those people in front of me had some reason that the lawyers didn't want them. Each lawyer only gets 6 rejections, so I knew that chances were not good. And thus, it is true, I was selected, inspite of me mentioning my child advocacy and community service.... shoot! not opinionated enough! And not that I mind being on a jury, but UGH what an inconvience during pregnancy!

I spent the next day and a half listening to a sad story that no one could prove. All in all, it was a very interesting experience and I learned a lot. But it was hard and exhausting. So pretty much the best news that came out of this is, that Wednesday night I got the best night's sleep I have had in months! I only got up to pee once in the middle of the night! Amazing!

A Popcorn Factory, who knew?

2009-01-26T13:01:00.001-08:00

So Matt is working with the boys in the church youth group, and he is in charge the combined youth activity tomorrow night (all ages 12-18). And they wanted popcorn for the night. Well, seeing as how our church building doesn't have any microwaves... they requested already popped popcorn.

Well, does anyone remember those HUGE bags of popcorn from Costco. I swear growing up, that they were at every swimmeet. And they charged like 50 cents for a bag. Well, NOT ANYMORE. I can't find the stinking bags anywhere.

We even braved Wal-Mart inspite of the concern that we would see someone we knew, and they would think we shopped there regularly. Yet we still had hopes of finding the larger portioned pre-popped popcorn. And were looking forward to a story to share, but alas, it was only filled with lots... and I mean lots of people, we were dodging them left and right and I was sticking out my gut as much as possible to hope for 'Beware of the pregnant woman path!' In fact it reminded me of the 'ants' in this shot.

So as left the Wal-Mart parking lot, we called my mom and she vaguely remembers this place with a 'bob' in the name. Bob's Popcorn or something. So she says, "Hang on, let me look in the yellow pages." (hahaha, gotta love that she didn't google it) and finds a place called Uncle Bob's Popcorn! Apparently they've been around since 1963, and pop all their corn in factory. So we could special order! Who knew that a popcorn factory would actually survive! It was awesome!

So now we have 4 lbs of their yummy Regular butter popcorn sitting on our kitchen table, waiting for the youth to devour it.

.... I hope they save me some, it smells really good!

It's Amazing...

2009-01-22T14:48:00.000-08:00

How THIS....

can turn into this...

Yes that's right, I'm pregnant! And in 3 weeks we'll find out what we're having (we hope). We are very excited.

No, we haven't discussed names.

No, we aren't prepared.

And if you would like to submit advice on what to do/eat or where I can/cannot go... please submit at least 2 references with scientific proof of why your advice is valid.
(can you tell I'm tired of all the old wives tales I've heard in the last 3 weeks? haha)

And Sarah, so glad I'm not the only one who took pics of the pregnancy stick. I took the test early in the morning, and woke Matt up to a camera in his face! hahaha.

Dogs, dogs, and ... Matt?

2009-01-15T21:14:00.001-08:00

So the one thing I did remember to take pictures of this holiday season... was the dogs. They are so darn cute!

My 3 cute babies:

Its just cute how much they like each other.

My personal favorite was the sight of Matt's birthday breakfast! (thanks for helping make breakfast Brittney!)

A big event around here was Lightning getting his rabies shot! Because... that means he can get groomed!

I thought this would be a perfect blogging opportunity, so I wanted to take some before shots... here are some attempts:

Here are the successful before shots:

And here he is after his grooming appointment! It was worth it!

Holidays

2009-01-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Ok, I swear we forgot our camera EVERYWHERE over the holidays. So we'll have to do more interesting posts later on, as we get the pictures from others.

Our holidays were good. We stayed here at home and bounced between both sets of families. (literally, almost every day for 2 weeks we were with one family or the other... it was crazy) I got not one single project done. Like filing, or cleaning out the fridge. Nothing!

Oh well, I'll leave you with Matt's graduation cake! I'm so proud of him. It was a long road, but he did it! He earned every bit of that degree, and I am just so proud of him for sticking with it, when he didn't always have the most understanding wife. He was even so sweet as to thank me during his little 'speech' each graduate was able to give at the college pre-commencement ceremonies. It truly meant so much to me.

Congrats Matt, you deserve it!

You'd Think I'd Have Time...

2008-12-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

now that I'm off work for the year. But no! I'm running around doing church stuff, cleaning house, getting ready for Christmas, but most of all we've got graduation on Friday! I'm so excited, Matt is almost done! Once we get through all of this and Christmas, I promise to post some more.

His and Hers

2008-11-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

Matt and I have always dreamed of having 2 dogs. A bigger dog for him and a smaller one for me.

So, we decided to get Cleo a friend... Meet Lightning!

Here he is trying out his new bed

The first introduction, Cleo meeting Lightning.

Trying out their crates together.

See how well they get along! Sometimes they sleep together.

So we have a cool big athletic dog, and an adorable schnauzer. Its really fun!

Halloween

2008-11-03T20:59:00.000-08:00

Well, things have been a little crazy... and I have to admit, most of it is self inflicted.

Tuesday - church youth group
Wednesday - Enrichment (voluntary church night with all the women at church)
Friday - Halloween and I was in charge of 2 booths at the church function
Saturday - Go up to Phoenix
Sunday - In charge of main dish for Sunday dinner
Tuesday - big night for church youth group

Full week, but eh.

Here's Cleo going as Astro for Halloween.

How do you ruin Bath Salts?

2008-10-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Proof that I must be an engineer! I can't even do bath salts.

So for my church youth group, I thought I would be cool and do this crafty thing of making pretty smelling bath salts that you fill clear jars or bottles with. I remember doing this activity when I was a teenager, and we filled these clear bottles of light pastel colors and were able to make beautiful sand-like lines to display our lovely artwork.

So I thought how hard could it be?.... Apparently VERY!

So, the recipe I found calls for epsom salt. (which by the way if you look up epsom salt you will get a page about magnesium sulfate, but if you look up espon salt wikiAnswers gives you this page which is completely worthless, so good to know how to spell first) Naturally, I look up online where to get epsom salt and I see I can get it at an average grocery store... great! So I head there, nothing in the salt aisle. Not sure why I looked in the baking goods, its not like I'm gonna put baking goods in my bath with me. But somehow my skull can't handle thinking beyond the aisle that I have time and time again found various other kinds of salt; rock salt, popcorn salt, butter salt, garlic salt, etc. So I leave in frustration.

I get home and refer to the internet again, this time clearly stating "where in the grocery store?" and it politely and clearly stated in the "pharmacy section". Ok, so I head back, and I walk over to the pharmacy area where I see the aisle, skin care. DUH! Why didn't I think of that? So I find my epsom salt and head to my activity.

I had carefully packed the Rock Salt, food coloring, mineral oil (or so I thought), clear jars, ribbon, directions, thoughts for a lesson, and scissors into a nice box. WELL, I can't seem to do a craft night for youth group without forgetting something. (Like the time I forgot the vanilla for the No Bake Cookies, I thought it can't be that big of a deal, but the other leader was pretty sure it was a crucial ingredient, so now I have to stall while she goes and gets some vanilla??? ugh, i'm a schmuck.) This time I forgot the mineral oil. How do you expect the food coloring to spread properly if there is no oil to wet down the rock salt? UGH! So I decide to rush home and grab the mineral oil that is on the counter right next to where the box was sitting that I brought to church with me.

When I return all the girls picked a color red, blue, green, etc. Well, one picks purple. Not unreasonable and a normal choice for a girl. Well, she puts in a couple red drops and a couple blue drops and gets greenish-brown? I know that some food coloring is better than others but you've got to be kidding me! All the other colors turned out fine, except that to get an even amount of color on all the salt, the girls felt the need to put half the bottle of food coloring in the bag. So we had some very warm bold reds, oranges, greens and blues.

Then you poured it into the jar, it didn't stay where you wanted it... nooooo, gravity has to do a mean trick of tumbling it down to the bottom of the jar.

All in all the girls were good sports, and I'm grateful for having 2 leaders to help activities go smoother when you have to jet home to get your forgotten ingredient. Although, if I do say so myself the orange vanilla scent was yummy, but the hideous bath salts were all I had to give to send them home with.

I really should just stop trying to be crafty.

Tools, Trucks, Guns...

2008-10-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Whenever the conversation begins to get too girly, Spencer and I always attempt to turn the conversation to more manly topics. We begin listing off as many manly things as we can think of. The list always begins with "Tools, Trucks..." and branches out from there.

Tools
Trucks
Guns
Fire
Football
BBQ
Gasoline
Linux
Big Dogs
Hunting
Drag Racing
GI Joe
Knives
Hand Grenades
Nascar
Spiderco
Nitrus Oxide
Muscles
Napalm
Ninja Turtles
Quake
Rock Climbing
Comic Books

By those standards, I've increased on the manliness meter, apparently. In March, I purchased a truck. I've always wanted a truck, even before I could drive. We'd be driving across town and I'd make mom check out all the variety of trucks as we went by. It was like car window-shopping... without the annoying salesmen. I almost bought a truck right after my mission... a red 1995 4WD Dodge Dakota. The day we were going to meet up to buy the vehicle, the truck's battery died and we decided it probably wasn't a smart idea to buy the truck. Instead, we purchased a reliable, gas-efficient Hundai Accent.

I kept my eye out for the perfect truck. I'd pass one for sale on the side of the road and pay attention to how much it was, hoping that for some reason it was dirt cheap but still in really good condition. I fell in love with the Toyota Tacoma, but not the new style. I like the older ones with silver trim around the wheel wells and slightly lifted with the TRD offroad sports package. The extended cab was a must, but I never really liked the 4-door model. I wanted a red or blue one, but when buying a used car, you can't be too picky.

Well, good things come to those who wait. Just down the road from where we live was a little car dealership which happened to be on my way to the university. Every morning I drove by and checked out his inventory of trucks. To my suprise, early one morning, there was a bright red Tacoma sitting out front. I had to go to class, so I couldn't stop and take a look, but I called Leann and told her about it. On my way home, I drove by and the truck was gone. Later that night, Leann and I were driving by again, and I mentioned that it was gone. Leann, however, saw it in a gated-off back section of the dealer's lot. So, we parked and went and took a look through the chain-link fence. It was perfect.

I would have called it an impulse buy, except for the fact that I had wanted one for so long. I knew exactly what I wanted, and recognized it when I saw it. We went down to the dealer and bought it the next day. I've recently gotten a dog too. Remember those old Nissan commercials on TV? "Dogs love trucks." It's true. Guess I'll have to start working on some of the other items on the manliness list... perhaps the hand grenades or napalm.

Something Fun We Did Last Month

2008-09-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

My friend G from college came to visit us in August,... although friend from college doesn't quite explain it. Its more like sympathetic estrogen support / college companion (similar to a mission companion cuz of the 24/7 thing) / intellectual yet aethestic stimulus / and (last but not least) bathroom buddy all rolled into one.

Anyways, I digress, we had a wonderful day at the Air & Space Museum. This consists of over 300 planes, and also space exhibits. It is a pretty cool place to visit, but going with children makes everything more fun! See her blog for pictures. (I'm lazy, I know)

Afterwards, we went to Eegee's for lunch, its a local franchise known for its slushee drinks, mmmmm. There her son got a hot dog. And silly me, I sat next to him. Much too my surprise, he too wanted to share his hot dog with me! See this post. Continued to try to shove it off on me! Well, I was all practiced up, and pretty much had it down to where I could keep the hotdog on his serving plastic wrapper. But then he did not feel like eating. So we gave up.

That night, my friend brought his hot dog to the Mexican Restaurant for him to eat for dinner. Well, the kind friends that they are, they put themselves in between their children and Matt and myself. Well, dinner proceeded for the most part un-eventful because the tortilla chips seemed to entertain the children. Well, once that ran out. Not only did her son try to share his hot dog with me, he chucked it past his mother and it hit my leg and fell to the ground!

So, I now have accepted, when eating with children...

WARNING: May have hot dogs flying my direction!

Trying Not to Be Those Crazy People Who Treat Their Dog Like a Human

2008-09-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

... it's harder than I thought! I mean check her out! She's so cute.

She's 6 months old and has already stolen our hearts. We got her Monday afternoon from the Human Society just after she was spayed that day. She was very excited to see us, and to get in Matt's red truck. Then she squirmed the whole way home. She met the Broderick's and half the Hannah's the first night, and loved them all. During dinner she slept in between Matt's and my feet, it was so cute. She crashed pretty hard that night. She's had 2 accidents at the beginning, but otherwise house training is going well.

Welcome home Cleo!

Husband Tag

2008-08-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

Richae - you should be glad your family, otherwise not sure I'd do this. But it is fun to let people know more about us!

1. Where did you meet? We met cuz we were friends of friends... it was inevitable. I'm not sure if I first met him at church or at some other function.

2. How long did you date before you got married? 6 months including engagement. But we'd know each other a year.

3. How long have you been married? A little over 2 years

4. What does he do that surprises you? It doesn't surprise me anymore, but he sings or whistles the most random tunes, sometimes they are random songs from his band days.

5. What's your favorite feature about him? This one is tough, I love his jaw line and his smile (total GQ), but I also think he has the cutest ears (weird, I know).

6. What's your favorite quality about him? Favorite... yikes, I don't have one, but I'll tell you the first thing I ever noticed about him... we were playing ulitmate frisbee and he had this ability to try really hard, be really competitive, and be good... but not get mad at others if they did poorly, nor did he worry about passing to girls just cuz they weren't the greatest, he always treated everyone so kind.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? No not really. We joke about being random super heroes though.... for instance... After I did allll of our dirty laundry, I was "Super Laundry Woman"!

8. What's his favorite color? Green, but not ugly green, pretty dark forest green.

9. What's his favorite food? This was so funny at my bridal shower, we played the game where we had to guess certain things about Matt... and his sisters, mom and me all guessed different things. But I think in the end he said Funeral (cheesy) potatoes are his ultimate favorite with steak, chips with salsa and sour cream, and ice cream are close runners up.

10. What's his favorite sport? Currently, rock climbing.

11. Who said I love you first? He did.

12. When and where was your first kiss? In his apartment. We were hanging out with our friends as we did all the time. And that week, he had given me so many confusing signals like he'd stay to talk until all hours of the night, but wouldn't sit next to me. So that night we were watching movies, and I knew this would be a perfect time to make his move, but he was oblivious. Well, everyone left (except me) and we put on another movie, and I still have no idea what that movie was about, cuz we talked nose to nose during the whole movie, while I waited for him to get the courage to finally kiss me!

13. What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Well, it depends on the day, but we love to play games together (both on and off the computer). We love going to movies together, and we also can get very absorbed having spiritual and philosphical discussions.

14. Do you have any kids? Not yet.

15. What's a hidden talent that he has? this isn't hidden to his family cuz they all do it, but telling clever puns. He's really good at it and his family sits there and tries to out-do each other... its really funny.

16. How old is he? almost 25 (I know I robbed the cradle)

17. What's his favorite type of music? Almost everything but rap. His favorite bands are Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox 20, and Garth Brooks

18. What do you admire most about him? The way he loves me so absolutely. He nevers gets mad at me when I do the things that drive him nuts, he just accepts them and moves on. (and then I get mad at him cuz he never told me how much it bugged him, he never wins, poor guy)

19. What's his favorite pastime? I'm not sure, but I'm gonna say creating or building things. He'd love to have more time (and money) to just hang out at the hobby store, whether it's building some motor, to flying a remote control airplane.

20. Is he going to read this? Probably... he writes on this blog.

I'd love to hear about others husbands, but I'm not gonna tag anyone specific.

No, kids shouldn't share.

2008-08-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

The idea of "sharing" is quite popular in American culture, but I decline.

Somehow, sharing seems nice if you're the giver helping out the poor, less-fortunate kid. But is it really sharing if the person you're giving to really doesn't want the respective item? Then you're a giver rather than the sharer. Giving does not teach the same values that sharing does. Giving willfully teaches the value of selflessness while sharing teaches the values of equality and fairness.

"There is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals." (There are so many attibuted authors for this quote that I am unsure who the original author is.)

Some people have gotten it into their minds that they deserve what others have, and still call that "sharing." In fact, by definition, sharing means that you divide something into "shares" and distribute equally. You might share a bicycle by taking equal turns, or share a candybar by dividing it into pieces. This does not mean that the person is required to give up what they have, nor do they have to give it to them right then. The shares have to be equal, but not the distribution of these shares. This means that I can share with whom I choose. I do not have to give all that I have, only an equal portion to each party with whom I choose to share. This type of sharing emphasizes patience, and avoids the problems of instant gratification

Say I earned $0.50 and bought a candybar. I shouldn't be obligated to share just because someone else doesn't have one. We're not communists! (Please read the The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) I have a candybar because I worked hard and earned it. I can share my candybar if I want to. I can share however much or little of my candybar that I would like. If I share it willingly, then I've learned not to be selfish. If I'm obligated to share, not only have I lost the chance to learn selflessness, but we're also teaching the receiver that he should depend on some sort of welfare system where he reaps where he has not sown.

More importantly, I think a kid needs to come to grips with the fact that "what's mine is mine, and what's yours is yours." If a person desires what they do not have, asking for a portion is commonly accepted. However, sharing is not always the best way to handle the situation of greed. Sometimes the resolution is a man working for his portion. Sometimes the answer is simply, "no." This teaches a kid not to be whiny, greedy, and inconsiderate. In turn, the kid learns respect for other's property, the value of work, and the ability to handle not getting what he wants.

Should Kids Really Share?

2008-08-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

OK,... so I don't have my own kids thus I have to take advantage of this fun story...

Today we had a work lunch.... basically someone who works remote was in town, so a bunch of us wanted to go out to lunch. Well an old co-worker of ours decided to come. She's a stay at home mom now, and in fact also does day care for one of the working moms in my department. And since the working mom's day care giver is coming to lunch, the working mom is also bringing her child. So now, we have 3 children coming to our work lunch. Cool... sounds fun to me!

So, we have two tables, 1 with high chairs and booster seats all ready, and 1 with no childern amenities. Well of course as people file in it turns out that I move from the all adult table to the 'kid' table. I'm sitting next to the 2 year old girl (who's at the head of the table), and her 4 year old brother is across the table from me. Well, naturally the stay at home mom is excited to see everyone and strikes up conversation with the other 3 adults at the table. This leaves her son, who is hiding under the table, and daughter with no mother to watch their every move.

Naturally the restaurant gave the kids crayons and paper menus to draw on. So for about 5 minutes that entertained the daughter. Well, thanks to my 18 nieces and nephews, I've learned that it is much more enjoyable to sit next to a 2-year old if you play with them a little. So I started asking her about the crayons. Then she started sharing them with me, and asking me to draw. I thought, how nice she's sharing! Then I hung onto the crayons because she had clearly lost interest.

Then her mom starting giving her bites of muffin, which entertained her for yet, another 5 minutes. Then she decided she needed to share her muffin. And not just hand it to me nicely, but to put it on my little muffin plate... you know, that little place for your bread? So, wow! I thought, what a great girl! But I still did not really want her muffin, so I showed her my muffin that I was 'conveniently' eating at the same time.... so she knew I didn't need her muffin pieces.

At this point, we resort to the little back pack that mom brought full of toys! YAY for prepared moms! So we bust out the groovy plastic slinky. That I think actually worked for 8 minutes. Then her mom finds the wind up toys, which finally gets the son to come out from under the table. And wow, about another 8 minutes passed!

Then lunch comes! And the daughter and son were having hot dogs and french fries. Well, as a good mom would, she grabs the son's hot dog to cut in half. In the mean time I don't know if the daughter thought the hot dog was too big (which it was!), or if she didn't want it. So she tries to put the hot dog on my plate! Uh, no. So then, she puts it on the table right next to my plate. I try to hand it back to her. But nope, she beats me and tries to put it by me again. At this point the mom is aware and grabs the hot dog to also cut it in half, so daughter happily starts on the french fries.

Then she decides that after she has enjoyed multiple french fries and has good greasy-ketchupy hands, that she needs to share again! At this point she has taken a french fry and mushed a it up and down on her plate, so that its that nasty squishy type of fry and then tries to give it to me! So she starts to put it on my plate... even though she can clearly see that I too have french fries. So I politely tell her I don't want it. (This argument works much better on my nephew when he's whining and says, "BUT I WANT ...." and I say, "But I don't." It's like he never thought about the fact that I might think differently than him... its fun!) She tries again, again I say, "No thanks, I have my own fries." Well, that worked for maybe 2 minutes, and then she tries again with a new french fry! And I still have my own fries.

Then when she's done with her sippy cup.. and her brother's sippy cup, she doesn't want them near her... infact she wants them near me. Now, I'm starting to realize... maybe she doesn't want to share... maybe this really isn't about giving and being nice.... she thinks I'm the all purpose garbage can! Dang-it! How could I have fallen for those adorable eyes, and gorgeous curls! This whole time I thought she liked me... but alas, I'm just a useful big person! hahahaha.

Oh well, I guess I have a lot to learn with kids, but I did learn a very important rule in Denver from my sister-in-laws.... NEVER and I repeat NEVER share drinks with kids... otherwise, you are sharing their BACKWASH! YUCK!

I'm slackin...

2008-08-08T14:21:00.001-07:00

I know, I haven't written in a while. Things have been busy, not crazy, just busy. And I don't know, I think my life is boring. But alas, I guess I can share what I've been up to.

- Had an SED (Sunday Evening Discussion) at my house.
- After visiting Denver, I decided my house needed more pictures, so got new picture frames, and hung them up. (ok didn't really have to get more than 1, cuz I have great ones from my wedding!)
- Finally got my 11x14 wedding picture up in my house! It looks so great!
- Got a hair cut. It's still long, just more layers and kept the sweep bangs. (sweeping? swooping? I don't know how to say it)
- Went to jury duty for the first time. It was boring, but I got a new book to read (see next line), so I was good.
- Started reading Twilight, my Young Women (youth from church youth group) is totally hooked on this book, so I decided to check it out. I'm on page 195, and yup, totally hooked in the cheesy teenage romance.
- Had Matt's family over for dinner.
- Um... providing moral support to my friend who canned a ton of peaches for me! Seriously, she's the best!
- Working. Our deadline is the first week of September, so things are getting stressful.
- Supporting Matt through his 2nd to last semester. (He finishes Monday! and then just 1 more semester! YAY!)
- Oh and trying to get back into a schedule for working out. Wish me luck on this one.
- And of course, hanging out with my hubby, mostly playing our video game.
- Painted my toes a bluish color with white, blue and silver flowers.

Well, that's mostly the highlight. Got a great couple weekends coming up. I'll bring my camera for some fun pics!

It's Good to Be a Kid Again

2008-07-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

So Saturday night, I was in one of those funks, where nothing sounds fun, but you know you don't want to stay home.

So our friends invited us over to watch movies. I wasn't excited, but went along with it. And now, I'm so glad I did.

We went over, hung out ate a late dinner, cuz we were all too lazy to eat dinner before 8:30pm on a Saturday night... hahaha. Then us girls went out to get ice cream, cookies, Chex Mix, M&Ms, and Sour Patch kids. Then we sat down and watched The Golden Compass, and Vantage Point and totally veg'ed out. We stayed there until almost 2am. Both movies were pretty good, Golden Compass was harder to follow cuz we were tired and it was pouring outside (which was loud), and Vantage Point had a lot of dying in it, but nonetheless, they were enjoyable. But the part I loved, was that we just hung out the whole time... ate junk food, and felt like kids again!

Thanks for a great time!

A Tomato Worth Talking To

2008-07-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here is our first big RED Tomato. There are a few more on the plant, but we had to celebrate the first one. And it was yummy too!

Camp Bliss

2008-07-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I survived Girls' Camp. 150 girls total, and I was in charge of 11 of them. The Lord works in mysterious ways sometimes.... he really made me remember what it's like at Girls' Camp and how much fun it is to be a teenager, even though you might drive your leaders nuts!

I really had a great time, and enjoyed spending time up on the mountain, despite the sore legs, lack of sleep, and constant shadows (a.k.a. my girls).

Here's our campsite decorations (we were The Aquamarines, but our movie them was The Little Mermaid)

Here's our campfire

And some of the beautiful sites

(ladybugs)