Houston Trip 2019

All the way back in February, Sam's residency paid for a study course for the upcoming OKAPS exam for all the first year ophthalmology residents. That meant Sam was going to be in Houston for an entire month while I stayed home with all the kiddos (Joey had school). At first I was a little nervous to be by myself, but Sam said he would come home when he could and I would go see him one weekend. Sounded like a plan! Here was my "Sam's going to be gone for a month" stash at the store (cereal, ice cream, corn dogs, frozen pizzas, etc.).

Sam said most of the residents who took this course ended up studying on their own in the hotel rather than attending the course. Sam was no different. Sam actually took it a step further. After attending the course the first day, he never went back. After studying in his hotel room for a few nights, he drove back home, saying he might as well be home. So much for a month without him! We did end up going back to Houston (since there was a nice hotel for us) for a weekend trip.

McDonald's before the Children's Museum

Cute chickadees. My mom has 14 back in Albuquerque.

Making tracks.

Eden loving Daddy holding her.

This boy can never stay still for a photo.

I love this photo so much. The boys loved the water play area.

 We loved the Houston Children's Museum. I think it topped San Antonio's Doseum, which is saying something! My favorite was a section where children learned different trades and careers and had a little city based on those things.

*Ugly sobbing* So sweet!

We enjoyed a yummy Mexican dinner with some of his resident friends and I got to know them a little better.

We checked out the Houston Zoo on Saturday. The weather was very nice, I would love to live in Houston...in February.

Ready to start our adventure.

Joey sporting elephant ears.

They had a couple baby elephants.

Boys liking the lion.

Look at those huge horns!

Capybara.  

Tapir.

Chimp? I need glasses.

Brushing this goat!

Otter.

Boys feeling at home with the monkeys.

 We also checked out Ikea since we were somewhat close. It's always cool, but boy does it take a while to get through!

Joey checking out their beds.

Popping a squat.

We need a hammock in our lives.

 On Sunday we headed to Hermann Park after attending a cute ward (whose boundaries covered an area the size of Albuquerque!). We enjoyed looking at the Japanese Garden and feeding ducks.

Sometimes they are friends!

Eli in his element.

Then last minute we decided to go to the NASA museum. I took a lot of photos but I forgot what everything was...so enjoy!

Real life space rock!

Learning how to grow things off of earth!

Spaceman Jo needs to grow a foot or two.

Then Sam came home with us never to return to Houston. I will say the nights were A W F U L. Getting the boys to sleep was a nightmare in the hotel. I'm glad, as fun as it was, it was short lived!

By the way, Sam scored in the 95 percentile on his test, so he really didn't need to be in Houston. He was the only resident that went home during that month. That's Sam for you!

Eden: 9 Months

-17 1/2 pounds, around 35 percentile for weight.
-Thiiis close to crawling
-Starts copying others with actions and noises
-Doesn't like other people if mama's in sight
-Claps if we say "Yay!"
-Her wave is her opening and closing her hand by her side
-Loves all the table food except mushy, baby-friendly kind
-Doesn't pull up to things, so behind on her gross motor skills
-No teeth
-Wakes 1-2 times a night, sometimes more
-Can pick up small items with her pincer grasp
-Personality blossoming more and more

*****

Sweet funny girl. 9 months always marks the point where they have been out in the world for as long as I've carried them. She seems to be learning more and more every day. She is really so close to crawling. Like I don't know how much closer one can get without actually crawling. She does move around, but it's not very intentional. Moving but not necessarily mobile. 

Her brothers still love her. Joey will sometimes come up to me, look me in the eyes and have his hand on my face and say, "I love Eden." Thanks bud, I love you, too. Maybe one of these days the idea of being gentle will kick in, but she is being killed slowly by their smothering love (just kidding). 

When we went to the doctor I filled out the questionnaire and had no idea she was so far behind on gross motor. The second question in that category was "Does your baby pull up to things?" No? Then the rest of the questions built on that so I had to answer no for the majority of the section. This was the very reason Joey went to physical therapy at age one so hopefully she learns soon! She also doesn't know how to sit up from laying down. I'm working on that, too.

Sometimes we like tummy time, sometimes we hate it.

Eli was insistent she go in with him.

Donuts on Joey's birthday. 

Look at that sweet, innocent face!

Working on our standing skills.

Dear Joseph,

Happy 6th Birthday, dude! Oh, my, I love you. It's amazing how individual and amazingly special you are. I feel I learn something new every day, and I love it. It's hard to know where to start. You are an awesome big brother and getting better each day. You are pretty patient with your brother (most days) and I know that's a hard thing to be. You also adore your baby sister and always tell me how cute she is and how you want to pat her or pet her. You affectionately call her Edie, or "Ha-da Girl" as she likes to say that. You crack me up.

This year you started Kindergarten and it's been a little rough. You typically don't like to try new things or do things that are initially hard for you. I'm amazed at the standards they have for Kinders and despite finding it really hard, you are making great progress. Still, I do worry about you. It will be a long road ahead for you and school. I hope you continue to try your best. That's all I ask. And that you are kind to others. So far you've learned all your letters and sounds, how to blend them, sight words, writing (although we can really improve on legibility), and basic math. So proud of you!

I don't know your exact height and weight, but based on kids around your age, you are about there with them, or even slightly taller! And about 45 pounds. I definitely feel it when I pick you up. You are not so little anymore! You're favorite food (when I ask) is watermelon. You also like burgers, "macaroni pizza", yogurt, ice cream, soda, and basically anything a typical 6 year old likes. You've officially been potty trained for a year and it's definitely one of my favorite parts of your getting older! Your speech is almost there, you just omit some words when you speak. Sometimes your mind works faster than your mouth and you repeat the same word a couple times until you can think of the next one. 

You love so many things. Let's see...you still love your sharks, especially hammerheads. But you also started liking Pokemon, Transformers, Spiderman, and dinosaurs. And Paw Patrol. That love will never die! You tell me you want to be a Firefighter when you grow up. That's great!  Except you are a total scaredy cat! You don't like heights or rides, you duck out of any potential "scary" scene in a show or movie, you don't like the darkness, and you cover your ears at any loud noise. But if you can overcome all those things, and do what you want! You already overcome so much. For one, you swing on our swing on the oak tree often, something that you were really scared of doing before. And you say you really want a pet tarantula. Why? I'll never know! You do talk about that funny scene from Home Alone where Kevin puts the tarantula on Harry's face. Maybe you think it will protect you? You are a silly boy.

A love we definitely share is a love for flowers. You want to stop and smell every one and point all of them out to me when we are driving. You also love to make a wild flower bouquet when we go walking. You pick one of each kind of wild flower and it amazes me how beautiful they are and what a beautiful boy you are. I think of my favorite Mother's Day song "I Often Go Walking" when we do this together and oh, how I cherish these moments. I love being a mother to you, sweet boy. You teach me so much. Let's continue to learn together about life, love, and Jesus! I love you so, so much.

Love, Mama

Albuquerque Trip

I'll try my best to remember all the details from this trip! It had been a year since we've last been to Albuquerque so it was exciting to head back (even if it was friggin' cold). Sam had to work the week of Christmas so we decided to head on over Friday after work.

Storms were in the forecast for Albuquerque, so we thought stopping in Lubbock would serve us best. It was so good that we did. We got a hotel with an indoor pool and did a little swimming.

Joey being Joey.

Daddy and Eli.

This is really as far as these boys got.

Once we got across the New Mexico boarder, it became really hazardous. Our van was really fishtailing and angels were really watching over us. The GPS's told us two different routes and we didn't know which to take. For some reason, we chose the back roads. At first it wasn't so bad...until we passed the snow plow. Then it became white knuckling. We saw cars stuck in the snow and ice and, as bad as I wanted to help them, we would have been in the boat. Then we got onto I-40 after some intense moments and slowly made it into Albuquerque. We saw overturn semis and other mayhem. A big thank you to Sam for taking the wheel (he said he was sore probably from clenching everything that could clench that whole drive).

What it looked like for miles. Pure ice.

We made it to my parents house and after a lot of coordination, we had the adult dinner that night at Texas Roadhouse, a family tradition around this time of year. I got to meet Nicole's new hubby Patrick (a blessing since I missed their beautiful wedding).

Adult dinner at Texas Roadhouse

Next morning we went to our former ward in Albuquerque to bless our darling little girl. She wore the blessing dress that my mom wore, my sisters and I wore, and all my nieces (with the exception of the twins for logistical issues). It was fun to see everyone. What was also special was that the Haines chapel was going out of commission come the New Year so Eden was the very last baby blessed in this historical chapel. Bittersweet to say the least.

After church we swung by Sam's parents for a yummy meal and a belated Christmas. There's a reason my kids love Jeep Grandma so much. She sure loves and spoils those grandbabies.

The next day was what I've been waiting for this whole trip...Dions 😋🥰I didn't take this photo but some little boy got a hold of my phone and captured this. We went with Sam's parents, sister, and grandma. We then went bowling and our boys had fun. As long as I beat the boy's scores, I'm good, haha! 

Barely beat those kiddos! Granted, they did play with a ramp.

That evening was NYE so we went over to my parents for games and fun (and so we didn't have to travel in the ice with drunk drivers since we were staying over there at the time). No pictures of the event, but here's Eli in his element:

Wednesday we headed over to the Boyacks for much needed catch up and hangout time. They are going to have twins any day now, how crazy is that?! For Crystal being one of my best friends, I never have a photo of her and me. I need to change that next time.

Pudding Painting

More interested in eating it.

Crystal is always so creative with kids.

Couldn't help snatch a quick photo of this kid!

Caught this scene of Cameron and Eden. Aww!

Holding her sweet bunnies.

Here are our sweet bunnies.

Then we had some fun shenanigans at Sam's parents' house with Jessica's family. I don't remember too much of what we did, but I have a picture of Hudson with a shark for a mouth and Beau's rendition of Mona Lisa.

Thursday we had fun with Jacob and Shauna's family and played at the park. Jessica invited us over to her house for games but I had to say a quick hello to my family since I didn't see them in two days. It's so hard to balance between two awesome families in one trip.

One of my all time favorite candid photos.

Eli showing his puppy to Heidi's husband's puppy, Akita.

To make up for missing the game night, we headed over to Jessica's the next night. The boys played video games, the adults played board games, and we drank yummy Italian sodas.

Look how flexible this girl is! Jealous!

Probably Joey's favorite part of the trip. He loved playing video games!

I'm not the best at capturing moments but here's what I had! Until next time, Albuquerque!