January/February

I am dying to get caught up on this blog.  It has been hanging over my head for the last several months.  So here is an overview of January and February.  Much of this will be repetitive for those of you who follow me on Instagram, but you don't mind, do you?  I didn't think so.

These photos capture much of what we did for those two months: I lay in bed feeling nauseated, and Noah watched the iPad and occasionally snuggled in beside me for a few quiet moments.  As guilty as it made me feel, Noah looks quite pleased with the arrangement:

Noah does pretty well playing independently, so he did a lot of that, and when I could muster up the energy, we occasionally took brief walks.  We have a favorite path near our house, and we almost always see the same cat frolicking near his home.  Noah named him "Columbus" after one of the characters in his storybooks, and he looks forward to seeing him each time we walk on the path.  

During those months, Noah would often say things out of the blue like, "Oh I'm so tired.  I really need to go lie down for a minute."  (Wonder where he got that from?)  And on a rare outing to visit some friends, he said to me, "Mom, do you think they have a bed that we can lie down on if we need to?"  So sad that a two-year-old would even have that thought, but it is what it is. 

In early January, Noah found himself legitimately stuck in bed when he got sick with a vicious flu bug.  He is allergic to eggs, so he can't get flu shots, and the poor little boy suffered as a result.  I knew he must really not feel good when he fell asleep on the living room floor for two hours one day.  (He NEVER falls asleep outside of his crib.)  He had a 102-103 fever for a week.  It was hard to take care of him when I was sick from pregnancy, but at the same time, since we both felt rotten, we just snuggled and watched movies and made the most of it.  Amazingly, I never got the flu, even though he coughed all over me constantly.  That was either my flu shot or divine intervention at work--thank goodness for both.

Ryan's grandma passed away on January 11, and we attended her lovely memorial service in Utah a few days later.  Ryan's mom gave a beautiful tribute and I learned so much about Grandma Barbara that I hadn't known before.    It was a really special day.  I was grateful to be able to sing at the funeral--I performed "Abide With Me," a hymn that I love.  The final line of the song rang especially true that day: "Death has no sting, the grave no victory; I triumph still if Thou abide with me."  Barbara lived a good life, and she will be greatly missed.

While we were at the memorial service, Katie watched Noah and they had a blast.  She just got a new fancy camera, so she took some darling photos of him eating his favorite--PBJ!  I just love this little boy.

On our way to Salt Lake for the funeral, we made a detour to Logan, Utah for an afternoon to see my sister and her kids.  They were visiting Logan from Denver for the week to see my brother-in-law's family.  Noah got to go sledding with his cousins, and he loved it.  He also didn't seem to mind wearing a 1980s pink snowsuit.  (We hadn't brought his snow gear from home, so we borrowed this from my brother-in-law's family.)  Noah would make a pretty little girl!

Noah and Ryan celebrated their half birthdays during the first week of February.  I made them a half-birthday cake, and it was fun.  (I got this idea from my friend Amy--she is as obsessed with birthdays as I am.) 

Another festive event was Valentines Day, and though I didn't have much energy this year to be an ambitious Secret Cupid, I did schedule a couples massage for me and Dr. Nielson on his day off.  Leaning over the dental chair all day makes his back achy, and I figured a massage could help.  I also figured that he would feel awkward going into a spa by himself, so I booked a double appointment.  Turns out, it was perhaps even more awkward to go in for a "couples massage," and here we are giggling in the waiting room as we sipped our sparkling cider and felt ridiculous.  Fortunately, the massages were delightful, and maybe someday we will get brave and go back.

We had some good snowfall in February, and I had a rare "spontaneous mom" moment when I decided to forego washing the dirty dishes in our sink in favor of going outside with Noah to play.   We were having guests for lunch, so I was tempted to just keep cleaning, but I'm so glad I didn't.  It was pretty magical to see him playing in the snow for the first time.  (He's always been a little too young before this winter.)  Our friends didn't mind a bit that our sink was overflowing with grime when they arrived, and now I have a priceless memory with my son.  Worth it!

And speaking of friends, here are a few pics of some.  Eliza and Stella are two darling sisters who play great with Noah and I get along great with their mom (perfect!).  Their mom Taryn grew up in Pocatello and hung out with some of Ryan's younger siblings in high school, and we connected when they moved to Twin Falls.  It's fun to see this crew play together because the girls love princesses and Noah loves trains and trucks. :)  The other day, we went for a walk in a greenbelt in the canyon, and Noah was hunting for the "spooky wolf" while the girls were looking for "the fairy princess castle."  Hahaha.  Love it.  

Tyson is a little boy who goes to our church, and I hit it off with his mom, Ashley.  We have been doing a "kid swap" where she watches Noah two hours a week while I have some alone time and then I watch Tyson two hours a week while she does the same.  We love it and so do the boys.  They are best friends.

Some of our good friends from Buffalo, the Gardeners, also live in Twin Falls, and their kids get along great with Noah.  They live right by the hospital, so Noah goes over there to play every time I have an OB appointment, and it has been a lifesaver.  I love their mom, Natalie, and I love that she loves Noah. (Is anything more endearing than someone who loves your kid?)  She watched him for me for an entire day when I went to visit my sister's new baby, and she sent me lots of texts about the funny things that Noah was saying and doing.  I'm so grateful for her!  I need to get a photo of Noah with the Gardener kids!

And now for a few fun snapshots from our life:

Noah saying a prayer.  Cutest thing ever.  I seriously want to smooch him and grab him and never let go when I see him fold his little hands like that.  

Family squeeze.  This happens whenever Ryan gets home from work.  I always give him a hug and kiss first thing, and then Noah gets jealous and wants to join in.  "Family squeeeeeeze!" he will say as he squishes us both close.

And last but not least, "Family Home Evening" at the grocery store.  We try to have a religious family night every Monday evening, but lately, it sort of hasn't been happening.  So one night when we were desperate for groceries, I thought we could multitask and do FHE at the store.  As we gathered the produce from our list, we named all of the fruits and vegetables and talked about how God wants us to eat healthy foods and take care of our bodies.  Noah remained unconvinced that this "counted" as FHE and insisted loudly as we wheeled through the store, "This is NOT Family Home Evening!  This is the grocery store!"  Too smart for his own good!

I will admit that in the midst of the gray drabness of January and February, while lying in bed feeling awful, I felt quite down at times.  But it always amazes me when I write these blog posts just how beautiful life actually is when you stop to isolate moments and record the ordinary but wonderful goings-on of family life.  (And this doesn't even include the birth of my new nephew or a family ski trip to Sun Valley, two events that will get their own blog posts in the next couple of days.)  We are mighty, mighty blessed.

And here is my first attempt at a baby bump pic.  Not much bump yet.  This was taken at 16 weeks or so.  I am 19 weeks now and showing a bit more, but not much--just looking really thick around the middle. Gender ultrasound on Wednesday.  Eeeeeeeeeee!

Thanks for reading and for caring.  xoxo

A Weekend of Holiday Fun

Ryan and I have had a weekend of holiday festivities.  It all started with an Ugly Sweater 5K on Saturday morning.  There were 7,500 runners there in tacky holiday garb.  It was fantastic.  Lots of dogs were dressed up too--and, really, does it get any tackier than that?  My friend Nancy (whom I have known since fourth grade, when we both wore ugly sweaters and sweatshirts on a regular basis) was the one who informed us about this classy event and invited us to run with her.  I'm so glad she did.  There was hot chocolate at the mile-markers, random inflatable Christmas decorations all along the route, and snow machines blowing fake, bubbly snow at the finish line.  Our sweaters were courtesy of Sally Westover's closet.  My mom had many amazing qualities, but she didn't have much of a fashion sense.  I wish you could see the sequin detailing on my sweater more clearly in the photos--it was super ugly, just take my word for it.

At the starting line...

My old friend, Nancy

At the finish line...

Unfortunately, Mr. Noah was grumpy and screamed through most of the run.  This is very unlike him--he usually loves being outside and going for walks.  Maybe he was frightened by all of the heinous sweaters...or the ginormous inflatable Santa...

After the run, we rushed home and started getting ready for our church congregation's Christmas party. Ryan was recently asked to be the president of the men's group, but the old president forgot to tell him that the men were in charge of the Christmas party this year.  Ryan found out with hardly any notice, but somehow (with about a million phone calls to Ryan's mom for ideas and lots of help from our friends at church), we got everything done.  I am so relieved that it is over and that it was a relative success--not perfect by any means, but it wasn't a total flop either.  Phew.

Then tonight, we had several couples over for a big Christmas dinner.  I am not used to all of this excitement and hosting of events--I am generally a pretty boring person who doesn't host or get out much.  But for several years I've wanted to plan a "progressive dinner" around Christmastime, and this was the only Sunday that it would work for us; so even though it was the day after the church party, I decided we should do it.  The idea behind this event goes back to my years as a teenage girl when our youth group at church would hold a progressive dinner in December.  We would meet at one house for appetizers, then we would hold lighted candles as we caroled to the next house, where we would eat the main course, and then we would walk and sing with our candles all the way to the last house, where we would have dessert and a devotional.  I think candles are perfectly romantic, especially during the holidays, and I have wanted to recreate this magical tradition with friends as an adult.  A few years ago, I planned a progressive dinner while we were living in Buffalo but had to cancel it last minute because we were contacted by an expectant mother who was considering adoption and wanted us to come meet her.  (That adoption didn't work out, but it was worth going to meet her because she lived in NYC, and NYC is gorgeous at Christmastime.)  I was determined to make the progressive dinner happen this year; but, alas, Mother Nature disagreed with me and sent freezing temperatures to Denver just in time to make it impossible to walk from house to house caroling with little kids.  It was 70 degrees earlier this week, but right now it is 7 degrees.  Go figure.

So we had everyone here for all three courses instead.  We rearranged our furniture to accommodate seating for 12 adults and 7 kids, I pulled out a few Christmas decorations from the boxes in the storage unit, and we quadrupled our recipe for Zucchini Soup.  Progressive or not, it was still a lot of fun.

Make-shift banquet table

Noah helped Dad get ready for the party

Only Dad lets him stand on the open dishwasher
Good grief. :)

Now that this weekend of chaotic fun is over, our bedroom looks like this:

Does anyone else chuck everything in a side room when you are hosting a party??

I am worn out.  I am going to clear some space on that bed of mine and crash right this minute.  On tomorrow's "to-do" list?  CLEAN THE HOUSE.  (Maybe Noah will help me.)

Back from the Buff

We are home, and Ryan is happy!  In fact, when he pulled up at the airport, he had this sign with him:

My favorite line on the sign is "Never leave me again."  It made me laugh.  We did keep in touch with Ryan as much as we could through the miracle of Skype.  It was amazing how Noah recognized him and responded to him, even over the computer!

Noah and I had a great trip.  Our flights to and from the Buff were actually quite bearable because I was able to bring Noah's car seat on for two of the legs.  He is surprisingly calm when he's all nuzzled into his car seat.  When he's in my lap...well that's a different story.  He climbs all over me, grabs my glasses, dumps his snacks on the ground, arches his back and screams in protest when I try to hold him still...you know, typical active nine-month old behavior.  (Thank goodness I only had to hold him in my lap for two of our four flights.)  Despite how active he is, Noah is really fun to travel with because he is so friendly.  He smiles at everyone who makes eye contact with him, and I love hearing people goosh about how cute he is.  The kid is a real charmer.

We had the most wonderful week in Buffalo seeing old friends.  My "Buffalo Family" were the people who supported me during our years of infertility and adoption stress, so it was really fun for me to introduce them to Noah.  Some of them had met him in Utah when he was a tiny baby, but now he's so full of personality that it was almost like they were meeting him all over again.

We stayed with several different friends throughout the week, and I worried that Noah wouldn't do well with so much change and moving around, but he was a trooper and did just fine.  My only complaint was that he woke up at 5 a.m. every morning! (He's always been an early riser but 5 a.m. NY time is 3 a.m. CO time...what the heck??)  I think his favorite part of the trip was playing with my friends' kids.  They were so cute together.  Laney's kids, Henry and Milly, were quite obsessed with Noah.  When he was napping, Milly would wander all over the house saying, "Baby?  Noah?" I guess she's been asking for him ever since we left.  And Henry was so sweet with Noah--he wanted to feed him and hold him and snuggle with him.  He climbed into Noah's pack-n-play one day, and Milly soon followed. :)

Natalie's son Taylor was also very excited about Noah and would make airplane noises as he fed him baby food (until he would say the food just smelled "too gross" and he couldn't take it anymore--hilarious).  I remember when Taylor was a newborn baby ("Mr. Flops," as I called him), and he would sleep in my arms while I graded papers.  I have watched this little boy grow up, and it's so fun to see him with my little boy.  I think they look like they could be brothers!

I also saw several of my beloved colleagues from the high school.  They really are beloved, and I miss them so much.  It was a privilege to work for four years with people who became some of my favorite friends in the world--it made going to work every day fun.

We went to Letchworth State Park with Sherry

Sue, the high school librarian, hosted a get-together at her house.
Lots of my former colleagues came, and it was so fun to see everyone.
(Wish I would've gotten more photos.)

 English teachers and their babies!
Love these ladies!

Now that I am back home, I am trying to process how the trip made me feel.  It made me so happy to spend time with such kindred spirits, but it also made me a little sad because I am no longer near all of those people whom I love so much.  When I saw my old friends, it felt like I had never left.  But I have left, and that's just kind of a weird realization.  I miss having friends that are so close that we can go for coffee/steamed milk and talk for hours about all of the serious things of life.  I miss having friends that are so close that I can sleepover at their houses and feel 100% comfortable stumbling out of my room in the morning, still in my PJs with my hair a mess and my teeth unbrushed, to sit down with the family around the breakfast table.  It takes time to build friendships like these, and it's hard to move on to a new chapter, as good as that new chapter might be.

All in all, I'm just grateful.  I'm grateful to have friendships like these.  I'm grateful that distance and time doesn't change friendships like these.  I'm grateful that God gave us four wonderful years in Buffalo, New York and that He is granting us a new adventure now.  I am grateful to know that He wants us to have kindred spirits wherever we live, and He has already guided me to some wonderful friends here in Colorado.  I am grateful that He brought us close to family right before Noah was born because, as a friend in Buffalo told me right before I moved, "No one loves your babies as much as your family."  God is good, and life is good.

And on an unrelated note--it's Mothers' Day week!  I have a lot of thoughts on motherhood, so hopefully I can do a few mother-related posts this week (as soon as I get unpacked and get my life back in order--we've been home since Saturday night, and I still have stuff in suitcases and laundry to be done).

Off to work!

More on Moab...

I mentioned before that I recently went on a road trip to meet my college roommates in Moab, Utah for a race.  And now for the details of our fun weekend together!

First of all, I need to report on this blog that three of them got married this past summer/fall.  It was a crazy few months of celebrations and girls' reunions.  Between moving from Buffalo and becoming a mother, somehow I never blogged about the weddings--but I finally wrote a blog post about it here (backdated so it's somewhat chronological).  Check it out.

Okay, so Moab.  Tia drove from Pheonix, I drove from Denver, Becky drove from Salt Lake, and Kirsten drove from Provo.  Yes, we really love each other!! :)  We missed our Katie--but Seattle is a little too far to drive for a weekend! (Next year, Katie, right??  Plan ahead!)

I was originally going to run the half marathon race (as I mentioned several times on this blog), but I ended up doing the five-mile race instead.  I felt like kind of a weeny wimping out like that--but training for a long race in the dead of winter with an infant was just too difficult.  If I were in better shape, it would've been possible...but with my 11 minute mile (I wish I were kidding), going for a six mile run meant over an hour with Noah out in the cold.  And some of the training runs were much longer than that!

This is how he felt about it:

Eventually I decided it was okay to settle on a "lesser" goal.  I am an all-or-nothing goal setter, and that's not always a good thing.  Rather than forming consistent good habits, I often set a lofty goal for myself, such as running a half marathon, and then when it's over, I stop running all together.  Or worse, I will think, "Well, I don't have time to train for a long race right now, so what's the point of running at all??"  Such a bad mindset.

So I switched to the five-mile race and enjoyed a 30 minute run with Noah every day.  We were both a lot happier!

Tia and Kirsten also ran the five-mile race, and we all enjoyed it.  Here we are after the race, looking lovely as we enjoy some free food (the best part!):

Becky didn't run the race with us because she is prego.  I got her a Twinkie to enjoy in a lawn chair while the three of us worked off our calories.  (This was a total joke because she is a super fit and thin person who felt silly that she wasn't running the race--but we were grateful to have her as our photographer and moral support!)

After the race, we did some hiking in Arches National Park.  So beautiful.

We stayed up late at the hotel, talking and painting toe nails--like any good girls' sleepover.  It was too much fun.

I love these girls, and I love that we've made it a priority to stay a part of each others' lives.  Here's to 10  more years of friendship...and many more after that!

My Best Friends' Weddings

Three of my college roommates got married this summer/fall.  It was a whirlwind of celebrations, weddings, and girls' reunions.

Katie got married in May, so we all met up in Seattle, Washington for a true girls' trip.  We stayed at a hotel together for the weekend (everyone except Katie, of course), and the day after the wedding, we toured Seattle and saw the sights.  The wedding was beautiful, and the entire weekend was a perfect getaway with some of my favorite people in the world.

Becky and Kirst, wearing their cool shades,
driving to the wedding.

Tia brought her baby Kai (he is my boyfriend) to crash the girls' weekend.
We didn't mind!

It was a perfect, sunny spring day in Seattle.

Beautiful bride!

Love her.

Pikes Street Market
I tried out Tia's wrap and carried Kai around the market to get practice. :)

Fortunately, the fun wasn't over yet.  Becky arrived in Washington with a beautiful diamond ring on her finger, as well.  She did a great job surprising us, and we all screamed and celebrated, thrilled to find out that we would be meeting up for another wedding reunion in August!

Becky got married August 6 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Again, the five of us came together for the big event, though I wasn't able to participate in all of the fun because I had a five-day old baby. :)  The timing actually ended up being really good because I was already in Utah for Noah's adoption, and I was staying in a condo right on Temple Square--so I just slipped away for a few hours to attend the wedding festivities and Ryan stayed with sweet Noah.  What a wonderful week--first Noah's birth and then Becky's wedding.

Salt Lake City temple...amazing!

If I look tired in this photo....well, I was.  New baby! :)

Kirsten got married in October.  Unfortunately, her wedding was on the exact same day as my brother-in-law's wedding, so I didn't get to attend her ceremony or reception.  Kirsten is one of my oldest and dearest friends (she and I have known each other since seventh grade), so I was very sad to miss such an important day in her life.  I am grateful that I was able to attend her "bachelorette party" the night before, so I could at least share in her excitement and joy as she prepared for her big day.  I have looked through every one of her beautiful wedding photos--I wish I could've been there.

I am so grateful for Becky, Tia, Kirsten, and Katie.  I am so blessed that I found such kindred spirits during my years at BYU, and I hope we will stay in touch forever...I know we will!