My Little Einstein

So Hayden's favorite TV show right now is Disney's Little Einsteins. Here are some tidbits from our lives that make me wonder if maybe he's watching it too much...

*When I reminded him that Uncle Kory was on a mission, he got this really excited look on his face and said, "A mission just like Rocket?" Yeah...Uncle Kory is going to help a baby cello find his mommy cello...or wake up the sleeping princess bassoon...or help some other musical instrument in danger.

*In the bathtub, he usually makes "soup" or "cookies" using bath water and cups. Lately it's been "cheese, peas, and magic jumping beans" which just happens to be the ingredients for Rocket Soup, which gives Rocket his energy.

*Roman knows to "pat, pat, pat...and raise your arms as high as you can..." It's cute. He's helping Rocket blast off.

*Hayden runs "superfast" but "starts at adagio, moderato, allegro" and finally "presto". At least he's learning his musical terms right?

*Along with wondering where certain people are ("Where's Nana? Where's Bryce? Where's Natalie and Taylor?" and on and on and on...) he also asks where June, Quincy, Annie, and Leo are. Apparently they're real?

*Hayden knows what "crescendo" means...you start softly and then get really loud. He practices a lot, therefore he's loud a lot =)

The knot in my stomach

I just cannot seem to properly adjust to Toledo. We've been here 3 weeks, am I asking too much to be well adjusted, or even just slightly adjusted by this time? I still find myself sad and sometimes even crying because I cannot seem to let go of everything I left behind and accept being in a new place for 3 years. Little things remind me of so much, and I am constantly fighting the tears and the urges to call everyone I know and complain my sad little heart out. Like today I saw a newly washed car and I thought, "I really miss Bell's Chevron, I always got my car cleaned there." And don't ask me to go to McDonald's Playland anytime soon, because last time I did I literally bawled because all I could think about was going with Stina and her kids, and it's just not the same by myself. I don't talk about it too much with Jeremiah, he has enough on his plate with everything school demands from him. And my poor kids have to deal with a mom who tries too hard to be happy because otherwise I am a grumpy, tired, depressed mom and they don't deserve that. I even told Jage I didn't know if I wanted another baby here because then I won't have Dr. Holmes or UVRMC and that just made me too sad. Well, I get to run to the grocery store (not SuperTarget, though!) and I'll probably get lost returning our rented DVD, so wish me luck. Pour on the advice.

Time Flies...

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary. We technically already celebrated in Seattle, so we just got ice cream at the store and rented a movie, "Disturbia", which for me being a sissy was kind of scary and I held my breath like the last 20 minutes.

Anyways, just wanted to give my sweet husband some recognition for sticking with me for 5 years so far...he just has eternity to go =)

Oh, and happy 29th anniversary to my parents tomorrow!

Our Busy Summer

Could you be any more excited then you are right now, seeing an updated post?!?! I know, I know...pick yourself up off the floor. You are about to get an update on the Lafranca family, so know you can go to bed at night without tossing and turning...we are alive and safe!!! =)

Now seriously, we really are alive and safe. We made it to Toledo on Friday morning and almost immediately proceeded to take a nap. All four of us slept like 3 hours. Our house is a lot of fun, but it will take some getting used to because there are stairs to the basement and stairs to the second floor, and we had to get baby gates to keep curious Roman from crawling up or falling down. We are almost unpacked and it is starting to feel like home. My only huge complaint is this stupid heat! No kidding, even though Utah had like 100 degree weather, Ohio heat is so different. The humidity makes the heat stick to you, and even with the A/C, box fans, and ceiling fans, it is hard to feel comfortably cool here. It will take some getting used to, and I am counting the days to cooler weather.


Eight years ago, I would have laughed at the following comment, but here it goes: I miss Utah! And maybe I'm biased because I love so many people there, but I really do miss it, and I hate BYU for not accepting Jeremiah because now we had to move and I am so sad. I am still dealing with this change and will throw a party when I can finally say I am adapted. Jeremiah said he's not sure we will ever live there, it sort of depends on where he can get a job, but we are really hoping for at least the western part of the country. Keep your fingers crossed.


Well, now on to what we've been doing for the past month. Most of you know that Jeremiah drove out to Ohio from Orem with Steven, my mom, and her friend Pam. I flew to Washington with the kids and Jeremiah met me there after getting to Ohio and a conference in Washington, D.C. We were with my family for about 3 weeks, and we had a lot of fun...



Here's the kids on the plane. Hayden was sick (see previous posts) so he laid on me and watched Cars on our DVD player, and no one sat next to me (what? no one wanted to sit next to a mom with 2 kids?!?!) so I sat Roman in the empty chair and he loved it. It was really an easy flight, which sucks actually because I thought for sure the plane ride to Ohio would be just as great, but I was SO wrong! On the way back, Roman would not go to sleep at all, so he was overexcited the whole time to compensate for how tired he was. He wanted to be on the floor and was angry that we had to hold him. Hayden had to pee like every half hour and did not want Roman touching him, which was hard seeing that Roman moved all over the place. Jeremiah and I don't want to see the inside of a plane for a long time!

The kids at the park:

Hayden, Olivia, and Rix at the park. They had a lot of fun together, and they all had to follow each other and copy what the other was doing.

The first week in Washington was really laid back. Mom was still in Ohio, Dad was working a lot, and Carissa hadn't arrived yet with her family. So Celeste came over a lot with her kids and we hung out and let our kids play together (and fight together) and we ran errands and stuff. *Little shout out to Celeste - in response to your previous post, of course I enjoyed spending time with you! I watched the clock all morning waiting for you to get off work so you could come to Mom's house and hang out.

The main reason we went to Washington when we did was because my parents were hosting the Abercrombie reunion (my mom's dad's side) this year at Orcas Island, part of the San Juan Islands. We had a lot of fun, and Mom and Dad did a great job planning and organizing this trip for everyone. It was held at Camp Moran, and we had cabins with bathrooms for each family. I thought it would be hard to share a cabin with the kids, but they did great. Part of the camp was a private dock on the lake and we took the kids there to kick their feet in the water, and Jeremiah and I canoed around the lake. It is a gorgeous area, it was really nice to be out in nature. Mom and Dad even chartered a whale-watching boat. We didn't get to see whales, but we saw porpoises, eagles, baby seals, and wildlife on the islands that we passed. It was really cold outside but the kids loved it (we left the babies at the camp with some babysitters). Hayden was so excited to be on a boat. There are deer at the camp that are so tame, and probably really used to people, so they would roam through camp, walk right past you, and the kids even fed the deer some vegetables! On our last day there, the boys went golfing and Carissa, Celeste, and I took a ferry over to Friday Harbor. It was a great escape for us, we left the kids with babysitters (see, my dad is so prepared, he hired 2 girls to come with us to babysit!) and we went shopping. It is expensive over there, but it was fun just being out with the girls. Hayden still asks if we can go camping, even though we really didn't do much camping since we weren't in tents or anything. I'm just glad he had fun being in nature, he really is his daddy's boy.

We took the kids to the lake to play in the water.

The kids looked out at the water while we waited for our boat for whale watching. We got them to look out there by telling them to look for Care Bears =)

Hayden used binoculars to look for whales and wildlife on the boat.

Jeremiah during our canoe trip.

Our family, aren't we cute?

I know what you're thinking, is that a postcard? No, I'm a great photographer. I took this on the way up to Mt. Constitution.

A video of the kids feeding the deer at the camp.

Roman on the way home from the family reunion. We wore him out!

Jeremiah and I spent a day up in Sammamish where his sisters, Amy and Sophie, live. We had a great lunch (Sophie has a talent for whipping up great food), spent some time outside, and went to Snoqualmie Falls. Hayden took quite a nosedive on our hike down, so we turned around and went home. We got some great pictures from the observation deck. My kids loved spending time with Sophie's kids, and we loved seeing all of them again. Amy came over for dinner, where again Sophie had me green with envy with her cooking skills. Jeremiah got some law school advice from Brooks, and then we were on our way home.

Josie and Cecile with the kids at Snoqualmie Falls.

Me with Roman, who is eating a sucker that barely fits in his mouth, and is making a nice sticky mess everywhere.

Hayden after his fall. It's all healed now, but he was quite miserable then.

As mentioned in a previous post, Carissa was hospitalized with viral meningitis from Friday afternoon to Sunday night, but that didn't stop Celeste and I from having fun (no offense Carissa!). We went to Enchanted Village/Wild Waves with Jeremiah, Adam, and the older kids. They went on a few rides, and we found out that our brave little Hayden is scared of rides that move up and down (like the little rocket he was in that moved like 10 feet off the ground) and he isn't a fan of the giant slide either. We then had lunch (an overpriced lunch of course) and went to the water park. It was a little cold, and the water wasn't that warm either, but the kids soon warmed up to the water and had a blast in the kiddie area. Celeste was a good sport (she's pregnant, can't go on anything) and watched the kids while Adam, Jeremiah, and I went on rollercoasters, water slides, and stuff like that.

Carissa was in the hospital for Olivia's birthday (I know, so sad!) on August 4 but the rest of us went to dinner at Ivar's and dessert at Dairy Queen. We had to celebrate since Adam that night to get back to school and Celeste and Bryan left for Utah the next morning. However, we did manage to throw a little party...oh sorry, a princess party for Olivia on Tuesday, August 7. Hayden had a little king crown and Olivia was in a princess dress and tiara. We even got Roman to show us his princess side for a minute.

Olivia in her princess dress.

Hugs, aren't they cute? We are just missing Rix!

Princess Mommy with King Roman

Princess Mommy with King Hayden

Jeremiah and I celebrated our anniversary on Monday night, even though our anniversary isn't until this Friday...and HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY HONEY! We stayed at the Inn at the Market which is literally right next to the Pikes Place Market. It's a European-styled hotel and had a rooftop desk that overlooked the water. We played a little bit at Gameworks, and we ate at a nice Italian restaurant call Il Fornaio and did some shopping around Seattle. We found out that I was "chocolate-stupid", which means that even though I was stuffed from dinner, I could not resist getting a triple-chocolate caramel apple from Rocky Mountain Candy Factory...yeah, they have one in Seattle. We even rented "Knocked Up" on the hotel's on demand service. It was a lot of fun to spend some time together and stay up late and sleep in. Jeremiah even went down to the Pikes Place Market and got us breakfast of almond cookies and fruit, isn't he great?! We met Amy for lunch at a little French restaurant next to our hotel, the croque monsieur was amazing, and Jeremiah and Amy loved the cheese platter (too strong for me).

Me at Gameworks.

Us on the top of the roof garden.

Hayden and Olivia wrestling with Papa Rick. Roman was known to join in.





Hayden and Olivia decided that Nana's couch was a "waterpark" and got in trouble several times a day to sneak in and slide down the "waterslide."

Needless to say, we had a great time on our vacation. I got to see one of my old friends, Heather, and catch up with her, although we didn't get to get together before I left. We spent a lot of time with the family around the house, outside, and running errands. Carissa and I visited the SuperMall (outlet mall) and the kids did surprisingly well. I had mixed feelings about leaving, because I love spending time with my family and seeing my nieces and nephews, but it was also excited to get to Toledo and begin our life here. We are still adjusting and still miss everyone a lot, but we have a lot to keep us busy. I can't believe that next time we visit Washington (in December) my brother will be home from his mission!!!

The Little Update before the BIG Update =)

It's hard to blog when I have no way to add pictures, so I've sort of avoided doing this, but I do feel as though I should update my friends and family just a little bit. I'll post pictures when we get to Ohio at the end of the week. It will probably be a massive blog with a lot of pictures adn videos and such. So here it goes:

*First and foremost, Carissa is in the hospital for viral meningitis. She was admitted on Friday and they are hoping to discharge her today. She needs to be more awake and be able to hold down food before they will let her go. Remember the illness/rash thing Hayden had a few weeks ago? Well he was kind enough to share with all the kids, and all but Olivia got the rash, and all the kids sort of presented it in their own way. I even had a killer headache (literally I wanted to die it hurt so bad) but for Carissa it attacked her body this way. What kind of vacation is this?! Poor girl. Keep her in your prayers.

*We had our Abercrombie family reunion at Orcas Island last weekend. We went on a whale-watching boat, but only saw porpoises, eagles, and baby seals, but it was still fun. We went to Friday Harbor to shop and Jage and I went canoeing. Deer were so tame there that they would hang out in our camp and the kids even fed them. It was a lot of fun but it was nice to be back in our warm beds with nice showers and a bedroom that was not shared with our kids.

*We went to the Seattle area and visited Jeremiah's sisters, Sophie and Amy, and their families. Sophie is an excellent cook, and we had a fabulous lunch and dinner. We went to Snoqualmie Falls (Lafranca trivia-this is where Jeremiah proposed!), but on the steep hike down Hayden fell, using his face as his brakes, and the left side of his face is nice and scratched up. I took pictures, check back in a week.

*We've eaten out a few times, at the Ram and Panera Bread and Ivars. I saw one of my oldest friends, Heather, and we caught up over lunch. We've watched the kids play together and I can't wait til Christmas when hopefully they get along better =) Roman is walking a lot more, but he prefers to crawl because he's so fast.

Anyway, for those of you who were worried, we are alive and doing well. We still miss Utah and it's hard to realize that we will not be returning there when our vacation is over. But we are excited to start our lives in Ohio, I think it will be a great adventure...

Oh, and I finally finished Harry Potter...FINALLY!

Jacob Douglas

My aunt Wendy and uncle Lorrin had their baby on Thursday morning. His name is Jacob Douglas Malcom, and weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. Isn't he so dang cute?!?! Stop me now before I try to convince Jeremiah to have another!!! Congrats Lorrin and Wendy, I'm so happy for you yet I am so sad that I'm no longer in Utah to see him!!!

Update on Hayden

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.