Living Room Campout

Jason started waking up in the night a lot and since he is in our room, he would see us as son as he stood up.  This made it necessary to pick him up for him to go back to sleep.  After a week of this both Kelvin and I agreed that it had to stop.  So we did what we had to.

We camped out in the living room.  It was actually a lot of fun and we kept the mattress there for a few days so Lydia was having a blast with it there too.  It only took a couple nights and he stopped waking up.  I don't like to let my babies sit and cry but sometimes it is necessary to teach them.  Granted, my babies sitting and crying is the equivilant of about 5-10 min tops (I don't let it go longer than that), but it is long enough I think to let them understand that night-time is for sleeping but mommy is still right here.  It's worked REALLY well for both our kids.  Jason never even cried for longer than 2 min before he went right back to sleep.  It's hard as a parent to let your kids cry sometimes, but if you don't teach them to sooth themselves back to sleep, how will they ever learn?

Houston Surprise!!!

A couple weeks after the birthday and conference I decided that the family should take a trip to town south to get some clothes for Jason and Lydia.  We had run out of everything given to us for Jason and I was squeezing the poor boy to fit in his 6 month clothes.  My favorite kids clothes are Carters and so I figured since we would be spending money on clothes anyway, I will be buying the best quality I could.  I had a coupon and so we packed up the family and headed south for the hour drive.  Thinking about it later, all the money I would save with my coupons was spent on gas, but we didn't have anything planned for that weekend so it was a great excuse to get the family out.  What started as a shopping trip, turned into one of the BEST weekends we have had.  When we had been on the road for about 30 min, Gregory thought he would call his dad who was working in Houston at the time if he was free for lunch.  Since we were going to be down that way it was only another 45 min to get to where he was.  Luckily his dad was available and so we made our stop at the Carters store, got some cute clothes for a great price and then loaded up again to meet his dad. 

I was a little worried about the Lydia when we decided to meet up for lunch because she was acting very fussy in the car.  I knew at one point that she was sick and going to throw up.  So I quickly grabbed a bad that was supposed to be for dirty diapers and folded it down and put it under her chin just in time.  Thank goodness too!!!  So there was no mess to clean up and she started to turn around really quick in the store when she saw lego to play with. 

We pulled into the mall that was being build in a town just out of Houston when Gregory's dad was building a Starbuck's.  When Lydia saw him when we pulled up next to him loading things in a truck, she freaked out!!!  "PAPA!  PAPA! THAT'S MY PAPA!!!"  She screamed it until we could get her out of the seat and she went running to him.  It made his day!  She was so excited to see him.  We waited for a few minutes while he finished loading some more things and then went to Cheddars for lunch.  They had a huge fish tank and of course Lydia wanted to do nothing but look at the fishes the whole time but we were seated in the back where you couldn't see it.   We decided at lunch that it might be fun to go to the beach in Galveston which was only another 45 min away.  Kelvin had a few things left to wrap up for the day at work but said he should be able to meet up with us in an hour or two.  I then suggested that since NASA was so close that we could go hang out there for a while until he was done.  Kelvin and Gregory both thought that it was great idea.  So Kelvin headed back for work and we headed to NASA.

NASA was pretty cool.  There were a lot of things to do, but after paying $75 to get in, we didn't want to pay extra for any rides.  So we looked for other stuff.  We went on a real space ship that was retired and placed there for public viewing.  It was massive!  We saw the international space station and it's current position in space by a big monitor.  You could actually see it moving and then a guy came by and told us that it circles the earth 16 times in a day.  That's pretty dang fast!!! 

We went on a tram tour of the campus and got to see mission control.  It was so awesome to see the room where a lot of the flights were coordinated from.  Obviously it made me think of the movie Apollo 13 and the room is exactly the same.  History right before our eyes!  We also got to see some other ships that had been retired and when we saw the entire thing together, I could barely comprehend that something could be that big.  It was amazing! 

They had a massive playground for kids with some fun things to do including a 2 story high enclosed slide.  We let Lydia loose for a while to get some energy out and she was having a lot of fun putting balls in a machine and then pushing a button for them all to fall on top of her again.  She tried to get to the slide but kept getting lost.  I guess there are a few floors and some things to play with on the floors so it's easy for a 2 year old to get confused about which way to go.  Everytime she would try we woudl have her follow a group of kids but they were a litle too fast for her.  When I saw that a girl about 4 was taking her brother who was about 2 up to the slide, I got Lydia's attention and had her go with the girl.  Only problem was the girl had just taken her brother on his last ride and wanted to play with the ball machines.  When I saw that after I had told her to follow the little girl, the mom of the girl asked her daughter to show Lydia how to get to the slide.  The girl was so sweet and came out fo the other play area and took Lydia down the slide 4 times.  Lydia was in heaven and I thanked that mom over and over for her daughter being so nice. 

The craft itself is a replica, but it is still true to size I believe.

Climbing the stairs to the entrance of the ship.  I was pretty excited to see the inside.

Um....I'm pretty sure I know now why they are called rocket scientists now.  Look at all those controls.

The monitor that showed the position of the international space station.

Tram ride.  Lydia kept calling it a train.

 

So excited to be riding the "train".

Cuddles for mommy.  Poor kid was exhausted.

The back end of another ship.  You have to see it to believe how big it is.

Love for his daddy!

She makes friends so easily.

The slide was her favorite part I think.

It was about 4pm when we left and called Gregory's dad to see where he was on work.  It was perfect timing because he had just finished his project so we met him at his hotel and we headed for the beach. 

Can I just say that the beach is so peaceful and healing!  There is something about listening to the waves hit the shore and the fizzing of the water being pulled back.  Standing in the water feeling it and the sand mixing, tasting the salt on your lips, feeling the gentle breeze on your face, and staring at the endless horizon was just what both Gregory and I needed.  My dad grew up in California and still has family there so I grew up visiting California and the beach.  I've always loved it.  It felt really good being back in the water again.  Plus there is a lot of upside to being in the warm Atlantic ocean compared with the freezing water of the Pacific.  The kids had the time of their lives!  Both Lydia and Jason couldn't get enough.  As parents it is so much fun rediscovering things through your childrens eyes.  I think we will definitly be making another trip to the beach sometime soon. 

We were not prepared for the beach because that was not on the list of plans for the day.  As things happened, my plans of only getting our feet wet from wading turned into almost full on swimming.  We all got wet and sandy, but it was worth every minute.  We thought about heading back home right after but decided to stop at Kelvin's hotel first and shower.  It was a good thing we did because the sand would have been horribly uncomfortable on the 3 hour drive home.  Thankfully, I am usually a very prepared person.  I had a extra set of clothes packed for Jason (not to mention I had packed enough bottles for the day) and some pants and underwear for Lydia.  I thought about bringing a shirt for her too but didn't for some reason.  I really need to start trusting my instincts more.  We stopped at Walmart and I got some towels and some pants for me.  Gregory had used a pair of his dad's shorts so his pants were fine.  We showered and ate some dinner and then headed home about 8pm.  It was a much better drive for the kids and us not being all itchy with sand.

So our morning shopping trip turned into such a fun and unforgettable adventure.  I love when things like this happen.  It was a much needed break from the world for us.  We both felt re-energized and uplifted ready to take on our lives again.  The Lord is very kind.

Birthday Boy

I am going a little backwards with these posts.  I guess that's what happens when you are behind on your blogging.  Well, the day after Kelvin got his award and the day before General Conference was his birthday!!!  We didn't do much and I felt bad about it but it was what he wanted and we did end up having a great day.  It was on a Friday so he had the day off work and we thought it would be fun to go Frisbee Golfing.  Kelvin was excited because it's been a while since he has gone.  We drove to Nacogdoches where he boss had told him there was a course by lake Sam Rayborn.  We drove for about an hour and never found it but we were having such a great tiem talking that we kept driving.  The kids had fallen asleep in the back and were gotting great naps.  When they woke up we decided to head to a little place called The Barn that his boss also told him was amazing.  It was pretty good food and all the waitresses fawned all over us because we had kids.  Although we weren't really able to have a conversation because the seating hostess talked with us (or rather at us) our whole meal.  But the kids did pretty well so we considered it a success.  Rather than go home at that point we stopped off at the zoo in Lufkin and waked around to burn some calories off we had just consumed.  I guess getting ice cream there was a little counter productive for that but it was yummy on a hot day.  I had offered to make a cake but Kelvin didn't want one because we were the only one's to eat it.  Plus he's not a huge cake fan.  It really was a great day though and the kids behaved well.  He really enjoyed having his very layed back birthday!

Commitment to Excellence Award

So a couple weeks ago Kelvin came home with a huge grin on his face.  I smiled and asked what was going on.  He just kept smiling and told me that he got an award. 

"You got an award? Really? That's great love! What is the award for?"
"It's a Commitment to Excellence Award."
"That's sounds like it was a great award to get."
He then pulls out this 6x8 beautiful glass plaque and shows me.  I gasp because they don't just give out plaques for awards.  Ususally it's a certificate that you get to post in your cubicle.
"Um...Wow....So tell me more about this award."

He then proceeds to tell me that this award is given to someone who has been nominated by students, teachers, and managers and is only given to ONE student...out of about a hundred....all over the country!!!!!!  So basically, out of his entire OLDP class, he was the one to recieve this award.  It is a pretty prestigious award! They even had a ceremony at work for him, and his boss came from Dallas to give it to him personally.  Needless to say I am beeming with pride at my incredible husband.  He is really making a name for himself at Lockheed Martin and I am not surprised.  He is an incredible man.

When I first saw this, after my initial shock, I looked at him and said you love this because of the dragon on the top don't you.  He smiled and just said "yep"!  He thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever on an award.

 

He also recieved his degree for finishing all his OLDP classes from Drexel.  He's one happy boy!

 

*If you don't already know from previous posts, OLDP is a leadership development program that is hard to get accepted too and they only accept a certain number of people from hundresd of applicants.  When you are accepted you complete a 2 year program that includes Masters level classes and week long training courses twice a year.  You are more likely to be promoted quickly having gone through this training because they teach you what they want in management for the company.

General Conference

Our church has a meeting twice a year where the Church authorities speak to the world called General Conference.  This meeting is broadcast via Internet and Television so those not in direct attendance can still hear the voice of the prophets.  The first Saturday and Sunday of October was that event! 

We look forward to General Conference everytime it comes around.  It's always so inspiring and uplifting and there is always something for everyone.  While we obviously don't get to listen quietly like we used to, we still got enough out of Conference to make it a spiritual weekend.  Kelvin had the fun idea to put up our tent in the house and set the door opening toward the TV so our "tents were toward the temple" like in King Benjamin's time in the Book of Mormon.  We had a lot of fun with it.  I would have put lots of blankets down and such, but it didn't get cleaned out the last time we used it.  Oops!  So we put chairs in there instead.  The kids had a blast, especially Lydia.  They were all sorts of excited about having the tent in our house.  It was a little big for our small apartment so we did end up taking it down after the first session on Sat, but it is still a tradition that Kelvin would like to continue.  I think it's fun so I have no problem with it.  Next time I think I will make sure it's cleaned before conference so we can get super comfy with lots of blankets and pillows.

Jason was not happy because Lydia kept closing the tent door so he wasn't able to see mom and dad.

After we took the tent down, we made a little fort for Lydia so she could watch a movie on the laptop.  It was perfect because she was mostly quiet through conference, was excited about her little fort, and still felt like she was close to us.  It worked out great!

Hawaiian Girl!

One day while we were in Lydia's dresser finding clothes to wear, she spotted her grass skirt that my parents brought back from Hawaii for her a couple years ago.  She immediatly grabbed it and put it on.  Then she went for her lei and ran to the living room and picked out the movie "Lilo and Stitch".  I laughed as I watched this all happen.  So I put on the movie for her and got out my camera.  She didn't disappoint. 

The foot tapping and hand clapping is her imitating the dancers in the beginning of the show.

Concentrating on the moves so she can remember them.

Lall-y

Recently Lydia discovered the movie Wall-E.  As she is learning more and more words and phrases everyday it is so fun to hear her say things.  I love the way kids speak and say things how they can without the full pronunciation or grammer.  It makes my heart happy.  Well, Lydia is definitely in this category of pronouncing things her own way in her sweet voice.  It's so fun to hear and I will definitely miss it when she grows out of this stage. 

Her pronunciation of "Lall-y" with inflection just like on the movie. She also calls M&M's, num-y-num's.  It's great!

She is always playing with her belly button. It's hilarious!

Yes, can still get shy!

 

She is always crawling around the house being a doggy.