Well, we woke up this morning expecting to need to drive into downtown Tacoma so my dad's clients could take a look at Hayden and help us determine what his rash was and what we could do for him. But...
Hurray! The rash is almost cleared. I don't think many people would even notice it, but I do because I know where it was and what it looked like, but it's really faint. Lucky for us because 1) I was NOT feeling well this morning (chills, exhaustion, nausea...no I'm NOT pregnant!!!) and 2) I wasn't looking forward to driving into downtown Tacoma. I have a habit of getting lost there.
So anyway, Hayden is almost better and he's pretty much back to his normal self. Which means resisting naps, lots of energy, and most importantly, his cute, quirky personality is back.
Well, here I am safe and sound in Washington. The plane ride was actually really good, Hayden wasn't feeling well and laid on me the whole time, and Roman sat in the empty chair next to me (how lucky am I that no one sat next to me?!?!) and watched "Cars" and ate Ritz, oh and played with the people behind me. So far we haven't done much here, just spent time with family and enjoying not having to be so busy. Roman is a bit weirded out by my parents house, it's a lot bigger then he's used to and he keeps thinking he's lost me when really I'm not too far away. He'll figure it out eventually (probably about the time we leave). Hayden, though, is sick. He was throwing up Friday, and had fevers Friday and Saturday with low-grade fevers since, and starting Sunday afternoon he's developed a rash all over his body that looks like red dots the size of pin-pricks. I had my neighbor, who's a nurse, look at him, she suggested it could be Fifth disease but it doesn't quite fit his symptoms, so Dad's client, who is a pediatrician, is going to take a look at him tomorrow. Leave it to Hayden to get sick AFTER our insurance lapses!!! I'll keep you updated on that (his illness, not our insurance).
Jeremiah, Steven, Mom, and Pam made it to Ohio last night around 6:30pm, and bless our ward, about 15 people showed up to help move us in, including men, women, and children. Melissa, the girl who helped us find our home, even brought snacks for everyone. People driving by welcomed them to the neighborhood. We are so lucky! They had a few problems with the Penske though - like break problems and something about a hose that caused the van to overheat really quick. Each time cost them a few hours' delay while someone came out to fix it, but I feel sorry for the Penske customer service rep who has to talk to Jeremiah...he was not too happy about the truck problems. I talked to everyone today, the house is really cute, they love the neighborhood, and they are doing well unpacking and stuff.
Well, there's your update. You can all go back to your lives breathing easier...we are all doing well (well, except Hayden!)!!!
I really thought I'd be sobbing through this blog, but I'm so exhausted that even my tears are too tired to do anything!
So tonight is our last night in Utah for a long time. We spent our last day cleaning our apartment, which turned out to be a good thing since we totally passed our inspection and are getting our deposit back (pretty amazing considering our kids weren't too kind with the place sometimes). We also spent some time taking care of Hayden who had the stomach flu this morning - which is ironic since it's our last day with health insurance =) Oh, and Jeremiah and I ate dinner at Brick Oven with Destiny, my mom, Pam (our friend who's driving with Mom), and the kids. Jeremiah right now is playing cards with his parents, and I'm about to go to bed. But first, I have to give some shout-outs to places and people I will miss:
PLACES:
*Temples. I know we have some in Ohio...but really you guys around here need to know how lucky you are that there are temples within 10 minutes or so of your house, not a few hours or more. We really took that for granted. Oh and Temple Square too, especially at Christmas. Who knows when we'll see that again.
*SuperTarget...hello, if you didn't know that, maybe you and I ought to get to know each other just a tiny bit better. Where else am I going to feel at home like SuperTarget?! Except I won't miss weird cashier lady!!!
*Thanksgiving Point. If you're ever in Utah, you must go, it's a great place to walk around and shop and see great flowers and stuff. And they host some great festivals. See previous Scottish Festival blog.
*Movies at Jordan Commons. You can order meals in the theater, like cheeseburgers or Asian food or whatever you want, they have it. And the screens are huge.
*Provo Canyon. We go there with my inlaws for picnics and Jage and I will go there on Sunday drives after church. I took a great picture of it, but it's on the laptop which I do not currently have access to. I'll update that later. I thought when I moved here I'd always hate the mountains, and although I still prefer Mt. Rainier over the Y Mountain and such, I find them gorgeous now and will hate flat Ohio.
*Rod Works - lovelovelove it.
*Gardner Village. We didn't get to go there before we left, but luckily Pine Needles is online now so I'm not totally going to miss it.
*My apartment. Didn't think I would, but I got teary as we walked out of it today for the last time. I won't miss the stairs, though.
*Arctic Circle, Rumbis, Goodwood, Cafe Rio, Brick Oven, Smokehouse...am I missing something?
PEOPLE:
Steve, Melanie, Natalie, and Taylor. My kids loved them, they loved our kids, we loved getting together with them...and here come the tears. We'll miss them.
Nana and Papa...or my inlaws...or Norbert and Josette (and Roman in this picture). My kids won't know what to do without grandparents so close to them. Neither will I.
One last group shot before Steve and Mel and the kids left for the night. I think Hayden is kicking Steve's head. Sorry about that!
Wendy, Lorrin, Paige, and Ivie. Oh and baby on the way...I can't believe I'm going to miss that delivery by one week!!! They were my closest family around, and I loved spending time with them.
Christina and Brent...and of course their kids but I don't have a family picture of them right now (want to share, Stina?). I 've known Stina and Brent for a long time, we practically grew up together in college, getting married and having kids and all that. We can talk about nothing at all for hours and still have a great time. And Hayden will miss "burgerfries, Jordyn, and Austin."
We got the go-ahead from Dr. Clayton to put Roman in a forward-facing carseat on June 18 but it took us awhile to actually get a new carseat, so he patiently (well, not so patiently) endured his baby carseat for a few additional weeks. My inlaws graciously gave us their forward-facing carseat which saved us a lot of money, and I think Roman's love for them grew because, as you can see on his face, he adores his new carseat. He was all giggles for the first few minutes and loves to play with the armrests. I'm sure he felt like such a big boy, and maybe now he won't cry when we have to drive somewhere!
Oh and a quick shout out to Rix, Happy Birthday my crazy crazy nephew! Hope you had fun at "burgerfries" and I totally have your birthday present, I didn't forget about you, I'm just bringing it with me next week. I love you!
Not everyone who is unemployed is excited about it, but we are! Today is officially our last day's of work, although I did not go in to work today. Our health insurance expires next Friday, which probably means both kids will get sick on Saturday. So hurray (or as Carissa would say, hurreee!) that we are done with work, but we will definately miss the friends we have made in the workplace. It has been an emotional rollercoaster for us the past few days - more for me then for Jeremiah, who isn't a girl and doesn't cry as easily as I do.
Hayden is actually doing pretty well considering we've packed up most of his toys and movies. It has given him an opportunity to expand his imagination, and he has spent a lot of time coloring and writing. Today he learned the letter "H" and writes it everywhere. He also does a lot of playing with his superhero figures and I've seen a lot of imagination through that too. His prayers tonight consisted of thanking God for popcorn and Mickey Mouse and he asked God to please bless the number one. What can I say, at least he's saying his prayers right?
Roman is in that awkward baby stage where he knows what he wants but doesn't quite know how to ask for it. He isn't grasping signing like Hayden did, and instead prefers to yell at me until I figure out what he wants. He has reverted back to crawling, which is fine with me. I anticipate one day he will just stand up and start walking and everyone will be happy with that. He loves to play peek a boo with me and started blowing kisses. He now also says, "Uh oh" when he drops something. He is the cutest baby and I love him to pieces.
Well, Jeremiah starts school August 15, which gives us about six weeks to get packed, move, and spend some quality time in Washington. Wish us luck, we are about to have a busy week =)
The kids in the car waiting for everyone to decide where we are going to eat, seeing that half of Utah had decided that Southfork Park would be a great place to have a picnic at 2pm...we eventually found a small shaded area that we all got cozy in.
Natalie, Josette, Roman, Hayden, and Taylor getting ready to watch the fireworks. Yes, I kept my kids behind the fence and away from the fireworks. Its the paranoia in me.
Roman hanging out with me.
I don't remember being so overwhelmed last time we moved, but every night I go to bed completely drained. Not only am I dealing with this huge feeling of loss as I realize just how long it will be before I see all my dear friends and family again, but I feel like I have a constantly growing list of things to do, and its just exhausting! Carissa complained my blog wasn't updated (although hers isn't either, feel free to harass her), so here's a glimpse into our busy lives:
First off, Roman finally has a lovey. I never understood why parents felt their children needed to become attached to a 
toy/blanket/binky/whatever, but when Hayden was about 18 months old he attached himself to this old baby blue blanket with Mickey Mouse prints on it. It was my brother's old blanket (so like 20 years old) but now he asks for it whenever he is sad, cold, tired, or hurt. Of course, he still asks for me too which is great, but he loves his blanket and I think he would be lost without it. I also think it makes the transition away from binkies easier (thus, binkies are not lovies for us) and it's just so adorable to see them hug and snuggle with an inanimate object. We bought Roman this super soft giraffe on Hayden's 2nd birthday at the zoo. Just in the past week or so he's become attached to it, especially at night time.
We've packed about 60% or so of the house, and it's driving 
me crazy. No matter how much I clean my house looks cluttered and disorganized because everything is in boxes or piles, and then my kids just add to the chaos. I'm finding sippies of milk in empty boxes after days of searching for them and bits of tape clinging to the kids feet and hands. They are both confused by this change but are taking it quite well (except for Roman's shrill screams that I can't seem to control). Packing isn't my main concern- it's our stupid cleaning inspection that is haunting me. I'm hoping to scrub crayons off the walls and somehow hide the dents in the wall that are expected when you live with such active kids. Roman decided to give me a nice hint that we should next pack all the DVDs. He pulled out several, maybe 50 or more, before I realized what he was doing. See, isn't he so helpful? Oh and if you look closely I think Hayden is reaching for "The Patriot." Doesn't he have great choice in movies? Definately a Mel Gibson fan. Next we're going to show him "Braveheart." =)
As if we didn't learn our lesson before, Hayden is quickly picking up "normal" conversation. In some ways, it's great. He tells me "Good job!" when I go pee (which is usually quite awkward, but at least he is cheering for me), he kisses his toys when they fall and tells them, "You need to be careful, ok?", and tells me to be quiet if I'm too loud when Roman is sleeping. But, it also has its downside. Last night at my inlaws he wanted to go run in the sprinklers, so I told him we had to go potty first, and when he goes potty he completely undresses from the waist down (crazy, I know). So I told him we had to put his underwear back on so he could go outside, and he said, "Well, then put my underwear on, d*** it!" In shock, I told him we didn't say that word, so he said, "Ok, I'll say 'monster' instead" and I said that was okay. Now you need to know I don't use that word. It's just not in my vocabulary, and I'm not 100% sure where he learned it, but keep in mind when you're around him that he'll pick up on anything you say, and it's usually the wrong words that he'll remember. But, he's also using his new language and memory skills in a good way. We said prayers tonight and for the first time I had him say them on his own (usually he just repeats what I say). So I would start off asking him what he was thankful for. His list included mommy, daddy, Roman, chairs, beds, Jesus, books, and friends. With my help, he blessed the family, the prophet, and the missionaries. After the prayers I asked if he remembered who was a missionary. He just looked at me, so I prompted him by saying, "Uncle..." and he said "Uncle Bryan!" and I said no, Uncle Kory is a missionary right now. He said "Uncle Kory is a missionary but I love Uncle Bryan." Very cute. I love his prayers.
Jage's sister, Amy, came into town Saturday evening and we went with her and my inlaws to the Roof Restaurant, which for those of you who don't know, is a gourmet buffet that costs quite a bit. It has a great selection of fresh vegetables, fruits, salads, fish, meats, and a ton of desserts. I definitely got my money's worth! At the end, my father-in-law gave Hayden a little meringue treat but Roman got ahold of it. He stuffed it in his mouth but it also got all over his hands, face, clothes, and high chair. In the video you can see me cleaning the high chair, I felt bad that we were in such a nice restaurant and Roman was making such a mess. And a quick little shout out to Amy - we love her, but my kids LOVE her. She has a lot more energy then I do, and Hayden just feeds off of it. It's great.
We've had a busy week or so, and I anticipate it will only get worse before it gets better. Wish us luck as we prepare for this big move!
