The Day After

The day after Christmas we were scrambling to get as much together as we could before church for our move to my parents for the rest of our stay in Utah.  Lydia had had such a long day the day before that we let her sleep all she wanted with her first nap.  That resulted in me being late for Church.  Gregory couldn't be late because her was sustained in his new calling.  He is the new Young Mens Secretary!  It's funny because the Bishop told us that his calling was basically the same as mine only focusing on the Duty to God.  At least we are in it together.  We talked to our Bishop about our situation with our apt and that we would be moving the next week, even though we had both just received new callings.  We asked if it would be ok if we continued coming to the ward even though we are now out of the boundaries.  He told us that we could because they knew that we were only going to be there temporarily anyway.  If it would have been a more permanent thing, it wouldn't have been possible.  We are excited to be able to stay in our ward.  It has been the best ward we have ever been to.  They have been so welcoming and open to us.  It's how a ward should be.  No other ward has been like that since we have been married. 

Once we had packed up all our clothes after church we headed out to my parents house.  It has been a long and messy move but at least we are finally getting there.  We have already begun to feel the difference in our health and are grateful that we have a place to go. 

It was good to spend that night with Rich and Summer and the next day we just hung out and played video games.  It was so relaxing.  Monday morning though we did go to a breakfast with Gregory's high school friends.  It was really nice to meet them and they were all very friendly.  I think that he had a good time and was happy to see them again.  It had been 7 years since they all got together and since he doesn't plan on attending his high school graduation, he was glad that he got to see the people he cared about seeing.  The rest of the day was fun and games.  Although, everyone in my family got some bad cold and gave it to me.  Sad day!  I really didn't get it that bad.  My brother Dave and my Dad seem to have gotten it the worst.  I haven't checked up on Rich and Summer though, they got it too.  But for me it was not a miserable day, but I didn't feel so great either.  I don't think that it will be bad tomorrow though. 

And as I stated previously, Lydia really did chase Lucy around wherever she went. 

Except down the stairs!  That's the one place we wouldn't let her go by herself.

Lydia has really been loving staying at my parents house.  She has been really happy.  I think that it's because there is more room for her to roam around, there are more people, and she get's to experience and explore new things.  It was hard for her in a little apt and she found a lot of things to get in trouble with.  I am sure when the novelty of living here wears off she might be the same, but for now she is loving her new found freedom and I am loving having a very content and happy child around!

Christmas

There are a TON of pictures in this post!  It is the first Christmas with our beautiful daughter and we wanted to remember this very special day with her.

After Christmas Eve with Marta we went to my parents to spend the night.  We were able to get there early enough to still enjoy some of the festivities.  The kids decorated cookies, read stories, and had a great time talking about Santa and the real meaning of Christmas. After the kids went to bed we all assembled their Christmas morning and then recorded our long time family traditional carols.  We haven't been caroling for a few years now because it's just too hard with so many people and getting schedules together right.  So we officially stopped caroling.  But, we did get it recorded that night albeit in a badly acoustic setting.  One day I hope we will get it recorded in a studio so all the harmony of the songs will come out.  My family sang beautiful carols every year.

The next morning we got to see the excitement of the kids as they hurried up the stairs to see what Santa had left them.  The morning was full of laughter, giggles, excitement and just joy!  It was perfect.  I do have to say that we got really spoiled this year.  Everyone was so generous and we got a lot of things that we needed and some that were just fun.  This has definitely been a Christmas to remember.

Grandma reading a Christmas story to the grand kids.

Then it was Grandpa's turn to read a story just before bedtime.

Lydia's Christmas morning all ready to go.  We were so excited!  

Loving her cell phone!

 She was fascinated by Braden's Polar Express Train and the bell in the middle of the track.

 

 Christmas kisses from daddy.  Gregory has this theory that if he kisses her enough for her to get annoyed every time he kisses her that when she turns 16 she won't want to be kissed anymore by anyone.  I laughed and said good luck with that one!

Perfect Christmas morning.

Texas Roadhouse!  My family knows us.

 And what would Christmas morning be without some child wanting the wrapping paper.  That was our child this year.

Playing with Sammie on Lydia's new laptop.

Boys will be boys!!!

My mom surprised all the boys by getting them Nerf guns for Christmas.  Let's just say that we didn't see them for a few hours after the guns were assembled!  They were just like little boys still pretending and playing "storm the basement" and "protect the president".  They all had more fun then they had in a while.

It was wonderful having Rich and Summer with us and knowing that this was the last time that we would all be together for a long time it was a little bitter sweet.  They head back to California on Monday and Gregory and I are moving to Texas in May. I hope that we will be able to meet at least once a year but you never know.  We went back to Marta's later that day and spent the last few hours of Christmas with them.  Then we went back to our apt to spend the last night we would live there.  Like I said before, it was a perfect day.

Early Christmas Presents

The day before Christmas Eve our friend Matt came over and we had a little present exchange.  We were all very happy with the wonderful things we received.  We got Matt a blanket with all the main DC comics on it, and then a movie.  I got a Sense and Sensibility graphic novel which was awesome and then a new crock pot in a stylish.  I was really excited about the crock pot because the one I have has ruined so many meals with the temperature gauge being off.   Gregory got a new movie and a game for the Wii "The Force Unleashed".  Apparently it is a Star Wars game and he was really excited about it.

Christmas Eve

Gregory had to work on Christmas Eve but only until 1 in the afternoon.  That was perfect timing so we could pack for our night at my parents house and then go to Marta and Ed's for the afternoon and dinner.  We had a great time there like we always do and Lydia of course loved it as well.  Ed and I made dinner while everyone hung out and then Marta got home about 5:30 or so.  We ate a fantastic meal, laughed, opened presents, and had TONS of fun!  I love Christmas and how it makes spending time with family even that more enjoyable.

Loving the Grinch outfit!

Climbing the stairs!  There was someone behind her at all times, I just had them move for a quick moment so I could take a picture. 

So cute!  They really enjoy each other.

Wants to be one of the big girls with their phones much to her daddy's dismay!

She got such cute pajamas.

Me and my little girl.

"Really?  I can have that?"

She loves her grandma Marta!  Miss you Nana!

Our family

Jennifer invited a friend to join us for dinner since he had no place to go.  He was a great addition to our merry little party.

Ed in the famous shot of cutting the Christmas meat!  The Prime Rib was excellent!  Once again Ed, job very well done.

The girls all thought this was so funny!  Lydia was playing with Jennifer's cell phone and then Jennifer called it and Lydia was completely fascinated with the music and lights and would start to dance. They called it over and over just to watch her reaction.

Lucy, Lucy, Lucy

The kids have a ball with that little dog.  The good thing is that she is really good with them too.  She will let them chase her and play with her for a while without getting upset.

Packing Fun

I have not been happy about packing up and moving out early.  In fact I have been quite stubborn about the whole thing and keep trying to do other things rather than pack and get ready for the move.  I guess it's a defense mechanism because I am really unhappy about having to move so early and not having things planned out.  While we are basically pro's at this (this is the 13th time we have moved since we got married over 3 years ago), it's still a lot harder when you are planned, prepared or ready.  So we have been taking it slow; a box or two here and there.  Surprisingly, Lydia has been really cool about the whole thing and hasn't even gotten into the boxes that are packed.  She does however like the ones that are not packed.

"Wait for it...."














"Surprise"

"I wanna see mommy!"

Meeting Uncle Rich for the First Time

My brother Rich and his wife Summer moved to California a couple weeks before Lydia was born so they weren't able to meet her then.  Around August just as we moved back from Texas, Summer was able to make a quick trip to Utah so she met her newest little niece.  This however is Rich's first real leave from the National Guard and so he was finally able to meet little Lydia for the first time.  Lydia was quite entranced with Lucy their dog and enjoyed chasing her around.  It was so good to see my brother!  It's been about a year since we have seen him and it's done us all good.

It's not the greatest picture but our camera is a little slow and it was the best one I got with an active child.

9 Month's Old

I still can't believe that my baby is already 9 months old.  She is getting to be SO much fun and Gregory and I are loving her.  She has grown so much over the last few months that it's hard to remember that is used to be different.  She is very happy being independent and being able to explore things on her own.  That being said there is nothing like mommy reading her a book or getting a great big hug from her daddy.

She had her appointment yesterday and the Dr said she was great.  80th percentile in her height and 25th in her weight.  We were worried that she hadn't been eating enough because she has pretty much refused to eat baby food anymore.  But the Dr said that was perfectly normal and to just feed her what we are eating.  Most kids don't want baby food after getting the good stuff!  When he first came into the room, she was walking around and he stopped and asked "when did that happen?"  I told him that she took her first steps at 7 months old and was walking pretty good at 8 months and now is a pro at 9 months.  He laughed and told me that she was WAY ahead of the curve because only 1/3 of babies walk when they are 1 year old.  I laughed and said that I knew that.  She has been aching to walk almost since she was born so it didn't surprise me that she was walking so early.  He also told us that she is still so skinny because she is burning 3 times the calories that other babies her age are because they are mostly sitting down.  He is fine with how skinny she is even though he was hoping that she would have put on a little more weight by this time.  But she is eating well when it's big people food so we are just going to stop with the baby food!  YAY!  One more thing we can save on.  I can't wait until she is done with the formula.  Then it will feel like we are racking in the dough! That's an extra $25 a week or $100 a month. 

I had a really sad moment yesterday realizing that she is growing up.  Our friend is having a baby girl in April and so we thought that since we are getting rid of a lot of stuff before we move to Texas we would see if they wanted some baby clothes.  I don't think I was quite ready to part with them because I cried after they were gone.  I knew that it was a good thing and I felt peace about doing it, but it was still a lot harder than I thought.  Maybe that was because we have been packing and so busy lately that I really didn't have a chance to go through them and relive all the memories before we gave them away.  After the tears thought I am feeling a lot better and am happy that they are with someone we know who needs them rather than at a DI somewhere getting tossed around.  That's funny, I know, but it's still a chapter that's over in our lives that I never thought I would miss so much.  Life moves on and I will probably still miss my little baby in her bouncer when she is 10 years old.  I guess that's just the way mothers are.

Learning Learning Learning

I can't believe how much Lydia is learning every day! It's so amazing to see her watching us do something and the next minute do it herself.  She has learned recently to....

• Open the garbage can (as stated in a previous post)
• Flush the toilet
• Open any drawer or cupboard in the house.
• Turn around while walking.
• Play games; she will hand something to us and then either just before we grab it or just as we grab it she will pull it away and giggle.
• Reading books, even though she doesn't always stay put she will still grab a book and bring it to me.  
• Open the dishwasher.  She did this one this morning after watching Gregory open it and then close it she then opened it all by herself.
• Climbing the stairs!!  YES she did this one all by herself yesterday.  I put her down for a nap but Jayce was using the pack and play and I didn't think that it would be a problem if I laid her down on the bed on the floor that Gregory and I had been using.  She usually just falls right asleep without any problem.  Well I went to the store and my mom found her on the second stair climbing them all by herself.  We laughed so hard!  How the heck did she learn how to do that!  She is so smart because she had to crawl out of the little bed we made her, crawl through the family room, turn a corner, and pick the right door which was mostly closed, open the door and then crawl up the stairs.  This is especially amazing when there are a lot of doors with rooms and storage right in front of her but nope!  She picked the right one.  She is so smart and determined.  Now she want's to walk up my parents stairs (with our help) all the time and not be carried.
• Pull out the chair that she sits in to eat.
• Turn light switches on and off.
• Unplug things from the wall.
• And finally....forwarding text messages!  Gregory received a text while Lydia was playing with his phone (she was in his arms) and it was from his best friend Aaron.  He wrote "wrong person?" That is when we realized that she had gotten into his text messages and forwarded one to Aaron all in less than 2 min!  Aaron was pretty excited that he was part of a milestone.  Way to go Lydia!

Lights at Temple Square

The first night we went to stay with my parents after the mold situation they met us at the TRAX station near our house with Dave and Paula and we all went to see the lights on temple square.  They were beautiful as always and we had a great time.  It had been quite a while since either Gregory or I had been and we enjoyed ourselves.

All bundled up and ready to go!

My dad said that he expected to be carrying one of the little girls on his shoulders the whole time.  He really did just that except for times we were sitting down.

On the train ride home.

I've been having to wear glasses because all of the mold has been hurting my eyes so much I can't even put my contacts in.

Can't we catch a break?

We have had a rough month and it seems that everything has been going wrong. For example...

• Poor Gregory has been working all the time and we barely get to see one another.
• We went for a drive in the canyon one day when Lydia fell asleep in the car so she could continue sleeping before going to my parents for dinner. Well there was a rock in the road that looked like a chunk of ice and Gregory tried to move out of it's way but unfortunately we still hit the side of it and it slashed our tire.  Luckily we did have a full sized spare that we can use until we can afford a new tire.  
• Lydia, our dear sweet child, got to the computer in a moment that we weren't looking and knocked over our external hard drive and broke it.  The result; 4+ years of pictures (including our wedding photos), ALL our music and audio books and many more backups and other programs are all gone!  It might cost us a pretty penny to get it fixed but we have had some offers of help so maybe we will be able to restore it.  It all depends on whether it's a hardware problem or a software problem.
• We have had some health issues especially with Lydia and I.  My flu was lingering and poor Lydia couldn't get well.  I unfortunately found out the problem.  We have black mold all over our apartment.  Mostly in the windows and walls near the windows but we have been getting sick from that.  All of our symptoms fit perfectly after doing some research.  We contacted the apt manager and she came and took pictures.  She said that we are still responsible for our lease and can't get out of it.  Even though it was making me really really sick and my poor baby sick and my husband sick when he walks in the door, she said that we are legally responsible.  I understand that that may be the case BUT we are paying for a SAFE CLEAN HOME and we are not receiving that.  We spent that last two nights at my parents house and magically got better!  She talked to the lawyers and they said that it is our responsibility to leave our windows open, turn on the fan in the bathroom when we shower, wipe our windows down every time they create condensation, etc.  Are you serious???  You want me to leave my windows open....in the middle of winter....in Utah....with a 9 month old baby???  Either way I am ready to move and Gregory pretty much is as well.  Our health is not worth it.  We keep praying that they will let us out of our contract because we will likely be moving by the end of the month into my parents house.  They did offer us to move into another apartment but what's the point when we are only here for another 2 1/2 months.  That's not worth it.  Plus we are in a non-smoking building and would probably have to move to a smoking.  On top of that she wouldn't even tell us if there was an apt available.  Our manager has been really great and she does want to help, but she is tied to what her district manager approves.  We are still praying that this will be resolved quickly and that we won't have to pay rent on an unsafe apt when we aren't even living there.

At this point we are just hoping that everything else stays together.  Either way we are getting some great laughs because it's just not worth it to cry anymore.  We joke that all these trials are to prepare us for something AMAZING to happen and we both really hope that that is the case!

She's getting into everything!!!

On Monday Kelvin and I were talking about something and Lydia saw that as her chance to get into something that she knows she is not allowed to get into....the trash!!  It's amazing how quickly kids can get into things when you turn your head for even just a second.

I can't believe that she is that tall already!!!  Now we have to empty it when it is 3/4 full because that's just gross!