We celebrated a birthday and took a trip.

I have so many photos. But, I can't seem to find time to write individual posts for them, therefore I am going to double up posts.  At least until I get caught up.  

Warning: Extremely long post ahead.  And, sheesh! It's only two events!

Part I

Andrew's First Birthday

We had a little celebration for Andrew's first birthday.  We invited over a couple cousins and a few friends.  It was small and delightful.

You won't believe this, but I actually baked a cake for him.  Despite my attempts to burn it, the chocolate cake turned out surprisingly well, mostly because of Ben's mad frosting skills.  Alas, I did not get a good picture of the fine specimen.  I think the pictures I did snap are even better.

Oh, yeah, he enjoyed it.  Emily did too.

The chocolate cake plus the spaghetti dinner we had made for one spectacular bath later that night.

I even took a video.  

Andrew got the most exciting presents in the world: clothes.  They were exciting for us, at least.

As it is nearly impossible to take a good picture of my busy one-year-old these days, this is the best I could find for one of his cute shirts. (He is playing with a balloon; his favorite toy these days.)

Part II

Thanksgiving

Ben was unable to get time off the week of Thanksgiving, but we were able to make a quick trip to Idaho to celebrate the actual day. 

Day 1: Night before we leave. 

The day before we left, Emily fell ill. Instead of sleeping so I could pack and clean, she was in my arms, screaming.  I gave her Tylenol and let her watch The Wiggles while I finished my endeavors.  However, Andrew did not want to be left out of the party; so, he was brought out and let loose on the floor.

Not the wisest idea on my part.

At least it was amusing to watch him enjoy himself.

Despite all the Tylenol, Emily continued to scream all. night. long.  Ben and I were lucky enough to snatch 2 freakin' hours before we hit the road.  Awesome. (On a side note--the kids were in so much pain.  It was really hard to witness.)

Day 2: Driving to and arriving in Boise

My dear cousin, Ally, made the trip with us.  Lucky her.  Because of weather conditions, a drive that normally takes us 6 1/2 hours (with breaks) took us 9 hours.  9 hours of driving + screaming, sick children = tired and frazzled parents.  

When we arrived, we looked at Emily's ear and realized the problem--her ear drum had burst.  (At least we hypothesized based on the evidence: lots of gunk and a happier child.) 

That night, the kids slept pretty well in the room with us.  Despite that we had forgotten their Pac'N'Plays and made make-shift beds out of our suitcases.  

Day 3: Thanksgiving day.

Thanksgiving day was pretty restful.  As evidenced by the photos I managed to snap.

Andrew and Aunt Katelynn

Andrew and Aunt Abby

Andrew, Abby, and Emily

Emily, Grandma Kim, and Andrew

Andrew and Uncle Aaron

Ben and me enjoying our relaxing mini-vacation

Attempting mad/sad faces. Ben won.

Andrew really likes Aaron.

My mother spent all day in the kitchen preparing a feast for everyone.

Unfortunately, I did not photograph the excellent food she made nor the sweet potato souffle she let me make.  Sigh.  Maybe next year I'll be a little more on top of things.

You'll have to believe me when I tell you it was a feast.  My mother is an excellent cook.  

I fed Emily and Andrew prior to the meal because they were screaming with hunger and I thought it would lead to a more peaceful experience for Ben and me.

It didn't work.

During the meal, Emily ran around the tables and Andrew screamed, yelled, and cried until I released him from his high chair prison.  He went straight for the stairs.  Most of this happened while we were all sharing what we were grateful for. As soon as the last person spoke (my mom, who made all of us cry), Ben and I bathed the kids and put them to bed.  We were able to enjoy the rest of the evening in quiet solitude.

Haha.  Until Andrew woke up an hour later...and then Emily woke up...and then we decided it would just be easier to go to bed.

Lucky for me, Andrew only woke up 5 times that night.

Day 4: Last day of the holiday.

I've noticed my pictures decrease the more tired I become.  Hence the reason I have no pictures from this day.

All in all it was pretty restful: Andrew wouldn't let anyone but me hold him/touch him/look at him and Emily would scream each time an aunt or uncle would do anything to her.  Ben did what he could, but my babes have developed and singular attachment to me.  At least when they are sick. And, yes, Andrew had fallen ill as well.

We spent the better part of the day watching football games (while holding/feeding/comforting children).  Then my mom, my sister, Ben, me, and the kids braved the crowds at Old Navy.  Except there weren't any.  It was pretty cool.  We got the awesome deals without having to get up early. 

By that evening, both Emily and Andrew were weezing, coughing, and complaining of ear aches.  We gave them both Tylenol and sent them to bed.

Except Andrew didn't go to bed.  He woke up crying and continued to cry until 2 am.  He took an hour break and started again, right up until we needed to leave.  

Day 5: The return trip home (i.e. today).

I think I'm getting pretty good at functioning with two hours or less of sleep.  Ben has to use caffeine, I just use cookies.  

The drive home was uneventful.  We made it with an hour to spare before Ben went back to work.  (Blech.)  

The kids are still weezing/coughing/crying.*  And so am I.  Yeah, thanks kids for giving me your sickness.** (Insert sarcastic voice.)

I don't think we'll be going to church tomorrow.

*I will take the kids to the doctor if it gets worse, but, honestly, we went through the same illness a few months ago and the doctor couldn't do anything.
**I really am sad for the babies and how sick they feel.  It has  been pretty miserable for my usually happy children. 

Family Update

This was Ben's loooong week, so we've been on survival mode.  I gave myself gold stars for feeding and bathing kids each day.  I think I've lowered my expectations dramatically...

*Bows head in shame.*

Anyway. 

Let's mix things up a bit, we'll start with the oldest this time.

Ben

Ben encouraged me to stop baby-sitting and picked up the second job to make up the difference. He is amazing.  He wakes up before the sun rises and comes home well after it sets, still managing to have a great relationship with the kids and make sure I'm doing okay. 

He really enjoys his second job as a TA in an autistic 1st and 2nd grade classroom.  He has the best stories and always manages to get me really laughing with each telling.  It is a physically demanding job, because some of the kids are very rough, but it is also very rewarding as he watches the progress they are making with their IEP's, many of them going far beyond the goals. 

He loves his little girl and boy.  Every night after we pick him up from work, he plays with the kids for half an hour.  Hearing Emily's "Daddy!!"  and Andrews "dada!" always melts my heart.  I am so grateful for Ben in working hard at keeping us his priority.

Amber

A few weeks ago, we sold our Subaru.

Though we loved this car, we needed money for the medical school down payment.  (A non-refundable deposit to save your seat in the class.)  After selling the Subaru, we were back to being a one-car family.  Since Ben is working two jobs, it can be tricky getting to everywhere we need to be.  I usually drive Ben to a drop-off spot every morning for his first job, where he meets a friend and they carpool the rest of the way, then pick him up in the evenings after he is finished with his second job.  Though it can be hassle, it's nice to have that extra time with Ben in the mornings and evenings.

To save on money, I am also making sure to pack Ben a lunch in the mornings.  To make this easier, I actually make dinner the previous evening and save the leftovers for his next day's lunch.  Ben is very appreciative of this effort and I like doing it because I love him.

This past week, I was able to watch a friend's kids as she went through a pretty difficult miscarriage.  It felt nice to do for her what so many women did for me during my difficult time.  

Something that is frustrating, is dealing with the aftereffects of the miscarriage.  I am still in pain and still exhausted.  It's kind of annoying, I'd rather not need a nap (or 2) everyday to function.  Still, I am learning quite a bit about my body and about Jesus Christ.  Trials can teach you a significant and humble lesson about the Atonement.

The time change has kind of messed up our schedules.  I've decided that rather than keep them up, I just put them to bed when they would normally have gone to bed without the time change. So, they are in bed by 6 every night.  It is a nice change to have an hour extra at night to clean and relax.  Unfortunately, their meal times are harder to adjust.  I'm still figuring out when to give them snacks and when to withhold them and whether I should have dinner at 4 instead of 5. 

Emily

Enjoying a delicious Oreo.

 There are times when I feel so frustrated by this little toddler's assertions of independence.  Like her constant demands of late--"Mom! I want cheese!"  Yet, she gives me many opportunities to laugh.  

Like a few nights ago, when I was singing "E-I-E-I-O" for her in a whiny voice (because she was being whiny), she came over, placed her finger on my lips and said, "Stop, okay?"  I started laughing, she started laughing, and soon we were both slumped over with giggles.

She's not so sure about the cookie part.

Here are a few of her words and their translations. 

Limins (Vitamins)

yiyen (Lion)

read book (Read me a book)

Dilla (Quesadilla)

Hot gog (Hot dog)

Silly girl!

She really likes the cream.

It snowed today and Emily was very excited.  Though I was too much of a wimp to let her play in it, yet, she did enjoy it on the way to church.  "Look, Mom! Snow!  Snow is on the houses!"

She is done to one nap.  She has been since like 15 months, but I forgot to mention that.  Actually, I am just glad for when she actually takes a nap!

She is still a picky eater.  I thought she was finally growing out of it. Instead, she has become more forceful (and vocal) about her dislikes.  Frankly, she ends up eating cereal most nights for dinner, after she eats a couple bites of what I made.  I just can't handle her going to bed hungry.

She now counts to ten all by herself!  She still occasionally skips 6, but even that is less frequent!  We are now working on counting to fifteen.  She'll count to 14 with me, but refuses to say 15. Defiant child. (Slightly joking.)

I am working on getting her to spell Emily.  By "working" I mean, I show the letters to her and she says, "No!"  Awesome.

She has a couple friends that she adores: Owen and Braden.  

We are frequent visitor's to Braden's house.  They play well together (you know--hit, shove, and laugh).  She also loves his mom.  In church, she'd rather sit on her (Elizabeth's) lap than on mine or Ben's lap. Thought it's frustrating, it makes sense, she's still figuring out what to do when Ben is at church because he works every other Sunday.  

Today, on the way to nursery, she held Owen's hand.  It was so sweet.

Speaking of nursery, I guess she behaves somewhat angelically in there.  Either that or all her teachers are lying to me.

She really likes fire trucks.  She is also very scared of the siren.  So, when outside, she often asks, "Fire truck?" when she hears any type of wail.  We then identify what the sound was. She is getting better at telling the difference between a bus, a car, a truck, a bike, a lawn mower, and a fire truck.  

It's become a bit of a struggle to brush her teeth (surprise, surprise!).  Oh, well, practice makes perfect.

She takes off her shoes as soon as I put them on.  This is not always cool--like when she throws them in the store or library.

Andrew

He is still not interested in walking, but is starting to stand without support from time to time.  

He is starting to say some words.  A couple nights ago, we were playing with the lamp in my room.  Every time he went to touch it, I yelled "hot!" and he would giggle.  Eventually he started saying "hot!"  It was pretty cool.

He loves animals: dogs, pigs, horses, cows, cats, and all other kinds.

He also loves fire trucks.  Whenever we hear the siren, he starts yelling, "ddadad!"  It is so cute!

He is getting more selective with his eating, preferring a banana and toast in the morning rather than cereal, and a hot dog over a Quesadilla. He loves his milk, though.  I am glad, he needs the extra calories.

He loves to read books and play blocks with me and Emily.  He really likes it when I'm on the floor with him so that he can stand against me and give me kisses.  I love it, too.

He's a happy baby and is also down to one nap.  Oh well!

Family

We went to our last football game last night.  We were lucky to be at a great game.  Saying good-bye to that stadium that has given us so many good memories after enjoying the game was bittersweet. We are glad to be moving on, but sad to say good-bye.

That's it for us this week!

Peace out!