I'm back. Again. Truth be told, most days I forgot I had a blog. The days I didn't forget, I felt guilty but just didn't seem to find the time to fit it in. I'm a terrible person. No news there.
Well today marks the very first Hailey Halloween! I love Halloween. The dress up, the free candy. I mean honestly, what's not to love about any of that!? Anyway, this year we have our little bundle of Hailey joy to help us celebrate. And we aren't even really celebrating... I don't know why really, but the excitement of the whole thing dwindled a bit for me. We aren't taking Hailey trick-or-treating, Ryan isn't getting home until after festivities have started (generally just before Hailey eats and gets ready for bed anyway) and we aren't dressing up as anything. For fear of sounding like a complete Halloween Scrooge, I will say that I am putting Hailey in a "costume" if only to get a few pictures and say that we actually did something. Don't worry, I'm also passing out candy to the cute little ones :)
I made Hailey's costume, as I do all my costumes (I'm too cheap to actually buy one). She is going as a troll! I can't remember who but someone gave me the idea months ago when her hair naturally stuck straight up. People would say she reminded them of one of those little troll dolls from the 90's. Yeah, I totally had some :) Anyway, I thought it was cute, easy, and most importantly funny, so that's what she will be. In truth we aren't even leaving the house and I will have to miss a big chunk of candy duty to get her fed and ready for bed but all in all this Halloween won't be a total bust! Next year should be more fun, you know, when Hailey isn't just a 7 month old and can actually eat the candy :) Thanks Hailey! And like I said earlier, lamely, Ryan and I aren't going as anything. We somehow got old and boring between last year and this year and didn't even have a single Halloween party to go to. We did however carve pumpkins like we do every year and that was really fun! I love carving pumpkins. Although I always end up breaking something off my design... I'm still a rookie. We never really carved pumpkins growing up in my household. This year I made a Disney princess castle and Ryan made the Batman logo. *Tip* If you lube the carved edges up with vaseline, it won't rot and become dilapidated before the big night! I'll have to post a picture of our pumpkins and some of my little monster, I mean Troll, later tonight when I get some. Can't wait!
Even if we aren't doing anything grand this year, I still love this day. Growing up I always had trouble deciding if Christmas or Halloween was my favorite holiday. Now that I am older, I still don't know! So Happy Halloween to everyone! Make it a good one :)
...Then comes marriage
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
A Dollar A Day
If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, what does a dollar do? Well keeps the flab away of course!!
Ok, let me explain. I saw an idea on Pinterest for a self "tip" jar. It basically said everyday you do something you need to do or want to do (that you don't normally do) you "tip" yourself a dollar. One of the suggestions was working out. (Thank you Pinterest! Not only are you making me fat from all your delicious recipes, but you are helping me get skinny now too.) HELLO! Perfect for me! I am horrible at consistently working out and even worse at keeping with it. And I don't have a paying job these days.... And the seed of a beautiful plan was planted.
I marched up to Ryan (marching sounds much cooler) and told him my master plan and he of course gave me stipulations. Ok, fine. It is "his" money after all... He said I can't just do pilates for it to count. If I'm going to do pilates I have to walk, run, Zumba, or pretty much anything else with it, for it to count. So I have taken up my long, long, long ago frenemy (for those of you that don't know what a frenemy is, it's a friend-enemy) running. We have a love/hate relationship. Most days I'm lucky to do a full on run workout. It is generally a run/walk workout but hey! At least I'm doing something EVERYDAY...minus Sundays and one other lazy day I took. Turns out money is a great motivator for me :)
I have currently earned 15 whole dollars and still going strong! It doesn't sound like much but for me, it's a big freaking deal! Today I even ran for over 30 minutes straight, which I have never, ever, EVER done in my whole 23 years of existence. Seriously. -Lay off me, I was a cheerleader. We didn't need to run a bunch.-So needless to say not only am I slowly getting rich, making my husband poor, and getting a rockin' body....kinda... I'm honestly making myself proud! Even Ryan has said he has seen a difference. Yay!!
On a side note. I am never making fun of Ryan again for being an old man and breaking down. I apparently am an old woman and am falling apart now too! Knees, hips, feet... you name it! I am having problems with it all these days. I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Or an amputee :)
Ok, let me explain. I saw an idea on Pinterest for a self "tip" jar. It basically said everyday you do something you need to do or want to do (that you don't normally do) you "tip" yourself a dollar. One of the suggestions was working out. (Thank you Pinterest! Not only are you making me fat from all your delicious recipes, but you are helping me get skinny now too.) HELLO! Perfect for me! I am horrible at consistently working out and even worse at keeping with it. And I don't have a paying job these days.... And the seed of a beautiful plan was planted.
I marched up to Ryan (marching sounds much cooler) and told him my master plan and he of course gave me stipulations. Ok, fine. It is "his" money after all... He said I can't just do pilates for it to count. If I'm going to do pilates I have to walk, run, Zumba, or pretty much anything else with it, for it to count. So I have taken up my long, long, long ago frenemy (for those of you that don't know what a frenemy is, it's a friend-enemy) running. We have a love/hate relationship. Most days I'm lucky to do a full on run workout. It is generally a run/walk workout but hey! At least I'm doing something EVERYDAY...minus Sundays and one other lazy day I took. Turns out money is a great motivator for me :)
I have currently earned 15 whole dollars and still going strong! It doesn't sound like much but for me, it's a big freaking deal! Today I even ran for over 30 minutes straight, which I have never, ever, EVER done in my whole 23 years of existence. Seriously. -Lay off me, I was a cheerleader. We didn't need to run a bunch.-So needless to say not only am I slowly getting rich, making my husband poor, and getting a rockin' body....kinda... I'm honestly making myself proud! Even Ryan has said he has seen a difference. Yay!!
On a side note. I am never making fun of Ryan again for being an old man and breaking down. I apparently am an old woman and am falling apart now too! Knees, hips, feet... you name it! I am having problems with it all these days. I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Or an amputee :)
Thursday, August 30, 2012
My Little Monstah
Hailey Update! It's been a long time so I should probably update everyone (and myself 5 years from now) on how my little monster is progressing. Life these days is getting much easier. I remember the days of "Oh my gosh, will this ever get better... or stop... or find normal again?!" And I can say yes. Yes it does.
Hailey is about five and a half months old now and just the happiest little girl ever. She laughs a ton more and smiles all the time. She lights up whenever she sees her daddy. It is very precious and melts my heart every time (and secretly makes me jealous!)
She still isn't growing very well which is the only hiccup in her progression. Hailey was born at 6lbs. 3oz. and gained weight perfectly for the first two months of her life. She spit up a ton but because it didn't make her fussy or have poor weight gain the doctors pretty much said "oh well." She weighed 10lbs even at her two month check up and was 22 3/4in long. At her four month check up she only weighed 10lbs. 8oz. and was 23 1/3in long. She only gained a half a pound and not even a full inch in two months!! Aka Hailey was now in the 4th or 5th percentile for height and weight. And the red flag went up... we went back nine days later and she had gained another half a pound so the red flag was slightly lowered but Hailey was still on the radar. We went back right at 5 months and she had only gained 6oz.... And the red flag is flying high again. -Hailey's saving grace is that she is doing great with hitting all her milestone marks on the developmental charts.- Hailey's weight gain problem is two fold. She spits up a ton, so she isn't keeping the calories down that she needs. Also, because of her spitting up, she hasn't allowed her tummy to expand to the size it needs to be. She was only comfortably holding down 3 oz when she is supposed to be holding twice that amount or more (about 6-8oz. a feeding). So the doctors think she has acid reflux. Our pediatrician at the time (we didn't like him so we just switched) prescribed her Zantac for acid reflux and to start purposefully over feeding her to expand her tummy (talk about spit up, yuck). So twice a day I give Hailey her medicine and pray for improvement.... which we haven't seen yet. They just upped her dosage so I'm REALLY praying it works and that she doesn't have to be subjected to a bunch of tests to figure out what is wrong with her. Any and all prayers are welcome. But I will say that Hailey takes medicine like a champ. I was always a big pansy when it came to taking cough syrup or anything like that.... Also, they recommended that I start Hailey on rice cereal twice a day. She LOVES it. Seriously. I can't get it in her mouth fast enough before she starts yelling at me for more. She really loves the baby oatmeal. I can't wait to start giving her baby food. It should be fun :)
Other than her poor weight gain, she is doing great. She is "talking" up a storm. And what I mean by that is that she says more than vowels now. She can now say mamama (usually when she is mad and crying). I have heard daaa a couple of times. But her #1 favorite is "geeeeeeeeee!" (pronounced like glee but without the L) which is her mad yell but usually just turns into "EEEEEEEEEEE!" It's very funny and is usually accompanied by a Chris Farley face, otherwise known as the "Farley Face." But yes, we hear "geeee" all day. Especially when she doesn't want to take a nap or just wakes up from one. Or I'm not feeding her fast enough... You get the idea. But dang! She is a cutie! We hear more that she is starting to take on my features but mostly she is still her daddy's baby. She is becoming a nice split between us though. She is more on a schedule than she was a month ago but wow! I tell you, that baby is sneaky! Every time I think I am getting her on a nap schedule, she tricks me and refuses to conform to it, fighting the falling asleep part, and then waking up after a short time. I will say that she is taking one good solid nap a day now. I couldn't say that a month ago. Some days are much better than others though and she does have a set bed time that works great. She still sleeps fabulously through the nights so I won't complain. The no nap thing just makes getting house work done a bit tricky. Oh darn :)
Other Hailey favorites:
Hailey is about five and a half months old now and just the happiest little girl ever. She laughs a ton more and smiles all the time. She lights up whenever she sees her daddy. It is very precious and melts my heart every time (and secretly makes me jealous!)
She still isn't growing very well which is the only hiccup in her progression. Hailey was born at 6lbs. 3oz. and gained weight perfectly for the first two months of her life. She spit up a ton but because it didn't make her fussy or have poor weight gain the doctors pretty much said "oh well." She weighed 10lbs even at her two month check up and was 22 3/4in long. At her four month check up she only weighed 10lbs. 8oz. and was 23 1/3in long. She only gained a half a pound and not even a full inch in two months!! Aka Hailey was now in the 4th or 5th percentile for height and weight. And the red flag went up... we went back nine days later and she had gained another half a pound so the red flag was slightly lowered but Hailey was still on the radar. We went back right at 5 months and she had only gained 6oz.... And the red flag is flying high again. -Hailey's saving grace is that she is doing great with hitting all her milestone marks on the developmental charts.- Hailey's weight gain problem is two fold. She spits up a ton, so she isn't keeping the calories down that she needs. Also, because of her spitting up, she hasn't allowed her tummy to expand to the size it needs to be. She was only comfortably holding down 3 oz when she is supposed to be holding twice that amount or more (about 6-8oz. a feeding). So the doctors think she has acid reflux. Our pediatrician at the time (we didn't like him so we just switched) prescribed her Zantac for acid reflux and to start purposefully over feeding her to expand her tummy (talk about spit up, yuck). So twice a day I give Hailey her medicine and pray for improvement.... which we haven't seen yet. They just upped her dosage so I'm REALLY praying it works and that she doesn't have to be subjected to a bunch of tests to figure out what is wrong with her. Any and all prayers are welcome. But I will say that Hailey takes medicine like a champ. I was always a big pansy when it came to taking cough syrup or anything like that.... Also, they recommended that I start Hailey on rice cereal twice a day. She LOVES it. Seriously. I can't get it in her mouth fast enough before she starts yelling at me for more. She really loves the baby oatmeal. I can't wait to start giving her baby food. It should be fun :)
Other than her poor weight gain, she is doing great. She is "talking" up a storm. And what I mean by that is that she says more than vowels now. She can now say mamama (usually when she is mad and crying). I have heard daaa a couple of times. But her #1 favorite is "geeeeeeeeee!" (pronounced like glee but without the L) which is her mad yell but usually just turns into "EEEEEEEEEEE!" It's very funny and is usually accompanied by a Chris Farley face, otherwise known as the "Farley Face." But yes, we hear "geeee" all day. Especially when she doesn't want to take a nap or just wakes up from one. Or I'm not feeding her fast enough... You get the idea. But dang! She is a cutie! We hear more that she is starting to take on my features but mostly she is still her daddy's baby. She is becoming a nice split between us though. She is more on a schedule than she was a month ago but wow! I tell you, that baby is sneaky! Every time I think I am getting her on a nap schedule, she tricks me and refuses to conform to it, fighting the falling asleep part, and then waking up after a short time. I will say that she is taking one good solid nap a day now. I couldn't say that a month ago. Some days are much better than others though and she does have a set bed time that works great. She still sleeps fabulously through the nights so I won't complain. The no nap thing just makes getting house work done a bit tricky. Oh darn :)
Other Hailey favorites:
- Spitting (thankfully she is already doing this less)
- Spitting rice cereal on me
- Playing with bubbles- she loves bubbles!
- Going for walks
- Playing in the bath
- Reading books- Yay!! (She really can't get enough of them)
- Trying to crawl, yikes! (thankfully she just can't figure it out yet)
- Rolling over on her belly... especially when she is supposed to be taking a nap....
- Chewing on everything! Clothes, toys, paper, wash cloths, my arm, hands and wrists.... you name it
- Laughing and getting tickled
- Playing with her feet (she just recently found them)
- EATING!
- Playing with cups. Seriously, she goes nuts for them.
- Resisting nap time... Hailey, one day you will love them and beg for them
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Blog Help!
To anyone out there... mainly Sara... How the heck do I change my blog background? I'm stumped. I have tried and can't figure out. Any and all tips welcomed.
Our Boston Brigade
The trip I have been counting down for close to 3 years now, finally came! We took a family trip out to Massachusetts and spent a full week being tourists. Ryan served his mission out there and lived out there for a summer working and still has quite a few connections out there.
Ryan went out 5 days before us because of a conference for school. Hailey and I came out the last day of it and hit the ground running as soon as Ryan picked us up from the airport. I think in 7 days we went to at least 6 or 7 (probably more to be honest) different cities. My trip started off with Ryan surprising me with a coxinha (cosh-e-ha) aka fried cone shaped deliciousness with a surprise center of chicken and cream cheese. Even cooled down it was so good! ~I should go ahead and tell you now that this post is going to be mainly about the food. Other than the amazing people I met, it was the best part of our trip!~ Since Ryan served in Boston and Cambridge, he knew his way around everywhere and took us to the good places :) After the airport, we drove around a bit and walked around Harvard and Harvard square. That's when we decided to get something to eat and headed for the famous Mr. Bartley's Burgers.
Oh... My... Heck... SO GOOD! This burger joint deserves its own paragraph. I heard about it from the food network (I think from Man vs. Food) and have wanted to go ever since then. Let me just say that those burgers where certainly TV worthy. I got the Mayor Mumbles Menino and Ryan got the Skip Gates. The burger... so big... so juicy... with the best bacon I have ever had... are you drooling yet? I am all over again! They were seriously so dang good. But just for the fun of it you should read the menu. The names and descriptions of the burgers are really funny. http://www.mrbartley.com/mrbartleys-menu.html but seriously, it is worth your time. And on top of all of that, it was a PERFECT day in Boston. No humidity, perfect temperature. Just simply a perfect day. But enough about that. I have MUCH more to recap.
After Mr. Bartley's we went to Richard and Cherise's place in Quincy and stayed. It was so nice to finally meet Richard's lovely bride and see them interact with each other... oh to be young and in love :) Just kidding, I still am! But they really were fun to be around. We got to hang out watching the Olympics and talk and just get to know one another. It was really fun.
The next morning Ryan and I decided that we would do a tour of Boston. Other than it being a blistering hot and humid day, it was a great day to go sight seeing. *side note* no one and I mean NO ONE has central air, in what I figure, all of Massachusetts. Seriously... except Richard and Cherise... anyway back to Boston. We started the day off by going to the Public Gardens and seeing all the duck ponds with tons of big, beautiful ducks and swans. Those gardens truly are a sight to see. I LOVED it there. But we had a busy day ahead of us so we didn't stay long. After we were off to a little pond? I guess you would call it... splash area? I don't know. This little water place that tons of kids and parents were splashing and swimming around in. It was really cute and fun to put our feet in. We even met another Haley!
After the splash pond area we started our main day's expedition and did the freedom trail. History truly does come alive in that city! I learned so much and had a blast doing it! The freedom trail really is a red brick trail going through all of Boston taking you to all of the historical spots. It was great. We got to take a tour of Old North Church and learned about how Paul Revere came up with the idea of lighting the lanterns up in the bell tour. We learned that only MIT students ring the bells now because it is so complicated... They have to memorize literally over 1,000 bell combinations. Yikes! And then we went down into the church's Crypt. Not really creepy at all to be honest. It was really a cool experience though. We ended the freedom trail at the U.S.S Constitution, which I learned is the oldest Naval boat still in commission, and toured around it for a bit. It truly is a beautiful ship. We also learned that people in the navy actually get stationed there. They don't hire people to work it. I thought that was pretty cool.
Next on our agenda was the North end of Boston. The part I had been waiting for. Italian time!!! We walked all around and saw what there was to see then headed in for some dinner. We picked a little Italian restaurant that was just perfect for us. So quaint and decorated to the max! I'm sad I didn't get a picture of it. The food was a amazing, the atmosphere perfect and the staff was so friendly. I loved it. Then it was time. Time to indulge in the #1 reason why I couldn't wait to get to Boston. Cannolis!! Apparently the north end of Boston is home to one of, if not THE best pastry shop in the U.S. Everything in that shop is worthy of eating. The place was PACKED. I sent Ryan in to do the dirty work of fighting his way to the counter and bringing home the gold... or at least the golden shelled cannolis. In one day, we ate 2.5 cannolis. And they were massive. Seriously as long as my hand, and I have big hands! We got a chocolate mousse, an oreo filled, and a florentine. I died. They were so good. I can't do them justice. Just go. Go as soon as work, school, or funds allow you to, but go. Go to Mike's Pastry and get one. Any one. Just get one. Ok. I'm done. I can't talk about them anymore or Ryan is going to come home from basketball to a note that says "Went to Boston. Cannolis called."
They next day we drove around Littleton and Groton, two places that Ryan lived and served his mission and killed time before heading over to stay with the Lachmann's for a couple of nights. Amazing family. I can think of no other way to describe them. I instantly fell in love with the whole family. The nicest, most loving, amazing people I have ever met. They opened their home and hearts to us (Hailey and I, they already had to Ryan) instantly. Bator is a Thai women who married a Hebrew man, Tal. I hope I spelled his name right... and they have 3 beautiful, fun, incredibly smart children. We stayed up and talked for awhile but it had been a long day of travel for them (they literally had just gotten back to the state from a month trip to Thailand that evening!) so we all headed to bed. The next morning after breakfast we kicked the day off right by grabbing some lunch and then Kimball's homemade ice cream. Wow it was good! Then we continued our journey through living history to see the Old North Bridge in Concord and explored the visitor's center there. Then we went to Lexington to see the Battle Green (literally a green grassy area, that's it) where the first shot in the Revolutionary War was fired or better known as "the shot heard 'round the world." Then we drove over to Waldon pond, which was HUGE, to see the beauty of Massachusetts there. Unfortunately the rain decided to see it too because we were there only five minutes before it caught up to us :( So we took our journey back to the Lachmann's where we ate the BEST Thai food I have ever put into my stomach. Everyone laughed at how much I ate, but I couldn't stop! It was so good. The conversation was even better though. Tal and Bator told us there hilarious story of how they met and fell for each other. And then we told ours where we all decided I was a crazy, desperate stalker :) But hey! It won me my man! And then Bator showered me with a night of trying on her custom designed jewelry and giving me two sets of earrings and a necklace. Did I mention she was the sweetest lady ever?!? Unfortunately we had to leave really early the next morning to head to Cape Cod so we had to end our night. The next morning we got pictures, said our good byes, and headed for the Cape to meet up with Richard and Cherise and go on over to Martha's Vineyard. It was another muggy, super hot day but that didn't stop us one bit. We ate at the restaurant that Ryan worked at the summer after his mission, The Seafood Shanty. So good! We then walked around Edgar Town and got some really good fudge and headed for Oak Bluffs. We saw the oldest carousel The Flying Horses there.... super creepy.... and saw the Ginger Bread Houses. The craziest little houses I have ever seen! They were all sorts of colors and seriously looked like ginger bread haha. It was pretty cool. We saw the famous bridge that Jaws saw under in the movie and went sight seeing. Literally, all the mansions were a sight to see! I seriously couldn't believe how big and pretty they were.
Now for a funny story. The island is really small. We kept seeing the same people we came over on the ferry with throughout the different towns. One family I kept seeing was a little Indian family that had commented of how cute Hailey was when we first arrived at Martha's Vineyard. Right as we were loading up in the car to call it a day, the daughter called out to the family saying "Hey, there's that cute baby again." This is not an exaggeration of the story at all. The mom, dad, son and daughter all gathered around Hailey oohing and awing at how cute she was. The dad then turned to me and asked me if he could get a picture of her. I was so caught off guard I started stuttering "uhhh, ummm, yeah, I guess..." and then proceeded to look at Ryan really confused haha. The dad then starts taking picture of his daughter with mine, shoving his son in a picture with her (not joking, he shoved him in haha) and just clicking away while mom is asking me her name, how to spell it, and her age. They thanked me and told me again how cute she was and started to leave. They the daughter (I'm guessing early teens) asked me if I put her in beauty pageants. I quickly say no, because her daddy would kill me. She laughed and off they were. SO FUNNY! You would have sworn that I had made their day from that. I can't wait to tell Hailey about that one day.
Back to our travels. We said our good byes to Rich and Cherise for the last time and headed our separate ways. We went to the Dimavich's (I know I butchered that one but I tried) to stay. The next morning was Sunday and we had church bright and early. Let me start by saying the church is true no matter where you go, but it isn't always the same size... Smallest. Branch. EVER. Not only was it small but it wasn't even in a church building. It's so small that they hold church in a store front that is converted into the meeting house. It was so nuts! I wanted to giggle every time they called the room we were in the chapel because it was so different to me. There are only about 3-4 families in the branch, a set of missionaries and a few others (mainly summer vacationers) that make up the branch. We actually met someone who came to Bloomington to go to Indiana University for school 13 years ago which is were he joined the church. Small world! The Boston temple president? or a counselor, I can't remember, and his wife were the speakers for both sacrament and Sunday school. From what I hear and the parts I actually heard, it was a wonderful meeting (I was on Hailey duty, in and out feeding and changing her.)
After church we went over to the Pertili's where we sent time with Barb. As Ryan describes her she is a spaz with a heart of gold. He couldn't have been more spot on. She LOVED little Hailey and fed us lots of organic apples :) I had a lot of fun getting to know her and hearing about how much she loved Ryan when he was serving out there. She was an investigator that Ryan taught that wanted to join the church but wasn't able to due to family conflict. It was fun to put a face to the name finally. Next we drove around the island and headed towards Menemsha. Menemsha is known for its breath taking sunsets. The beach fills up with people who sit and wait to watch it go down and when the sun disappears over the horizon, everyone claps. Unfortunately for us, Hailey was hitting her limit and we had to leave before the sun went down. But we did get to see everyone setting up for the big show. One day when we go back I'll see it :)
The next day was beach day. We headed to State Beach in Oak Bluffs around 11 and didn't leave until 3 or 3:30. Hailey was an angel the whole day. We got to play in the ocean with her which was really fun and of course I took a million pictures of her that day. *side note* don't change a diaper on the beach if you can help it, and definitely don't do it if you forgot the wipes....Sand gets everywhere! And if you do change it, recruit an extra pair of hands to help. But we had a ton of fun at the beach and actually got some color on our pasty white Indiana skin. Ryan got A LOT of sun. Aka he turned into a Martha's Vineyard lobster :) I got the smallest of burns but I was in the shade a lot with Hailey so I wasn't out nearly as long as he was. After the beach we headed over to the Polley's for dinner where they cooked us some BBQ. Again, we couldn't stay too long because we had to get Hailey in bed and we had told the Dimevich's we would have dessert with them. The Polley's were so sweet though. They had some awesome Ryan as a missionary stories and gave me the dirt on him :) They own a duplex where they live on one side and the missionaries used to live on the other. Ryan was one of them so they all spent a lot of time together. Dessert at the Dimevich's was fun where I got to know them a bit better. Brenda (the mom) was so sweet and her husband Lou was really funny. I really enjoyed the time we spent there.
The next morning, Tuesday, was our last day there and also the day we were coming home. We kicked the morning off with a Belly Bomb. Holy heaven of donut deliciousness! The biggest, baddest, best donut ever! It was massive! It was a Boston creme filled donut with chocolate frosting on top that I had been waiting the whole trip for. Yum... so good. I took a picture and posted it on Facebook and a couple people thought they were steaks! haha nope. Just huge donuts. We caught a ferry back to Cape Cod and then headed to Plymouth to check out Plimoth Plantation (no, I didn't spell it wrong. That's the way they spell it.) Ryan has 18 relatives that came over on the Mayflower so we wanted to check it out. It's a living museum. It's all set up to be 7 years (1927) after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth. Each person is really a person that lived back then and they talk and act like they are really them. They never come out of character. It was pretty cool. Ryan met some "relatives" and talked to them a bit. It was smaller than we thought it was going to be and there weren't many people around. A lot of the houses were empty. It sounded like we came of a day were a lot of the men were out fishing for dinner. Then we headed over to the Mayflower II (a replica of the Mayflower). Ryan explored it while I waited in the car with our sleepy little Hailey. He took pictures of it and of Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock...What a let down! The rock is just that... a rock. Nothing special or grand about it. Just about a five foot long rock.
After Plymouth we headed to the airport to end our trip. Because of Hailey (our little meal ticket!) we cruised right to the front of the mile long security line. And just like that our Boston trip was over. It seemed to fly by but we packed every minute of it with tons of fun and learning. I would do it all over again and actually hope to again some day. At 5 months old, Hailey is already a very well traveled and cultured little girl. Ryan was right at home and loved every minute of being there. I gained about 5 pounds and don't even care! Hallelujah for the world's best baby that made it possible to see and do everything we wanted to on our jam packed trip. We couldn't have asked anymore out of her and she exceeded our expectations. It was a perfect vacation to end our summer :)
-I'll post pictures tomorrow morning of all our fun. It's too late tonight.
Ryan went out 5 days before us because of a conference for school. Hailey and I came out the last day of it and hit the ground running as soon as Ryan picked us up from the airport. I think in 7 days we went to at least 6 or 7 (probably more to be honest) different cities. My trip started off with Ryan surprising me with a coxinha (cosh-e-ha) aka fried cone shaped deliciousness with a surprise center of chicken and cream cheese. Even cooled down it was so good! ~I should go ahead and tell you now that this post is going to be mainly about the food. Other than the amazing people I met, it was the best part of our trip!~ Since Ryan served in Boston and Cambridge, he knew his way around everywhere and took us to the good places :) After the airport, we drove around a bit and walked around Harvard and Harvard square. That's when we decided to get something to eat and headed for the famous Mr. Bartley's Burgers.
Oh... My... Heck... SO GOOD! This burger joint deserves its own paragraph. I heard about it from the food network (I think from Man vs. Food) and have wanted to go ever since then. Let me just say that those burgers where certainly TV worthy. I got the Mayor Mumbles Menino and Ryan got the Skip Gates. The burger... so big... so juicy... with the best bacon I have ever had... are you drooling yet? I am all over again! They were seriously so dang good. But just for the fun of it you should read the menu. The names and descriptions of the burgers are really funny. http://www.mrbartley.com/mrbartleys-menu.html but seriously, it is worth your time. And on top of all of that, it was a PERFECT day in Boston. No humidity, perfect temperature. Just simply a perfect day. But enough about that. I have MUCH more to recap.
After Mr. Bartley's we went to Richard and Cherise's place in Quincy and stayed. It was so nice to finally meet Richard's lovely bride and see them interact with each other... oh to be young and in love :) Just kidding, I still am! But they really were fun to be around. We got to hang out watching the Olympics and talk and just get to know one another. It was really fun.
The next morning Ryan and I decided that we would do a tour of Boston. Other than it being a blistering hot and humid day, it was a great day to go sight seeing. *side note* no one and I mean NO ONE has central air, in what I figure, all of Massachusetts. Seriously... except Richard and Cherise... anyway back to Boston. We started the day off by going to the Public Gardens and seeing all the duck ponds with tons of big, beautiful ducks and swans. Those gardens truly are a sight to see. I LOVED it there. But we had a busy day ahead of us so we didn't stay long. After we were off to a little pond? I guess you would call it... splash area? I don't know. This little water place that tons of kids and parents were splashing and swimming around in. It was really cute and fun to put our feet in. We even met another Haley!
After the splash pond area we started our main day's expedition and did the freedom trail. History truly does come alive in that city! I learned so much and had a blast doing it! The freedom trail really is a red brick trail going through all of Boston taking you to all of the historical spots. It was great. We got to take a tour of Old North Church and learned about how Paul Revere came up with the idea of lighting the lanterns up in the bell tour. We learned that only MIT students ring the bells now because it is so complicated... They have to memorize literally over 1,000 bell combinations. Yikes! And then we went down into the church's Crypt. Not really creepy at all to be honest. It was really a cool experience though. We ended the freedom trail at the U.S.S Constitution, which I learned is the oldest Naval boat still in commission, and toured around it for a bit. It truly is a beautiful ship. We also learned that people in the navy actually get stationed there. They don't hire people to work it. I thought that was pretty cool.
Next on our agenda was the North end of Boston. The part I had been waiting for. Italian time!!! We walked all around and saw what there was to see then headed in for some dinner. We picked a little Italian restaurant that was just perfect for us. So quaint and decorated to the max! I'm sad I didn't get a picture of it. The food was a amazing, the atmosphere perfect and the staff was so friendly. I loved it. Then it was time. Time to indulge in the #1 reason why I couldn't wait to get to Boston. Cannolis!! Apparently the north end of Boston is home to one of, if not THE best pastry shop in the U.S. Everything in that shop is worthy of eating. The place was PACKED. I sent Ryan in to do the dirty work of fighting his way to the counter and bringing home the gold... or at least the golden shelled cannolis. In one day, we ate 2.5 cannolis. And they were massive. Seriously as long as my hand, and I have big hands! We got a chocolate mousse, an oreo filled, and a florentine. I died. They were so good. I can't do them justice. Just go. Go as soon as work, school, or funds allow you to, but go. Go to Mike's Pastry and get one. Any one. Just get one. Ok. I'm done. I can't talk about them anymore or Ryan is going to come home from basketball to a note that says "Went to Boston. Cannolis called."
They next day we drove around Littleton and Groton, two places that Ryan lived and served his mission and killed time before heading over to stay with the Lachmann's for a couple of nights. Amazing family. I can think of no other way to describe them. I instantly fell in love with the whole family. The nicest, most loving, amazing people I have ever met. They opened their home and hearts to us (Hailey and I, they already had to Ryan) instantly. Bator is a Thai women who married a Hebrew man, Tal. I hope I spelled his name right... and they have 3 beautiful, fun, incredibly smart children. We stayed up and talked for awhile but it had been a long day of travel for them (they literally had just gotten back to the state from a month trip to Thailand that evening!) so we all headed to bed. The next morning after breakfast we kicked the day off right by grabbing some lunch and then Kimball's homemade ice cream. Wow it was good! Then we continued our journey through living history to see the Old North Bridge in Concord and explored the visitor's center there. Then we went to Lexington to see the Battle Green (literally a green grassy area, that's it) where the first shot in the Revolutionary War was fired or better known as "the shot heard 'round the world." Then we drove over to Waldon pond, which was HUGE, to see the beauty of Massachusetts there. Unfortunately the rain decided to see it too because we were there only five minutes before it caught up to us :( So we took our journey back to the Lachmann's where we ate the BEST Thai food I have ever put into my stomach. Everyone laughed at how much I ate, but I couldn't stop! It was so good. The conversation was even better though. Tal and Bator told us there hilarious story of how they met and fell for each other. And then we told ours where we all decided I was a crazy, desperate stalker :) But hey! It won me my man! And then Bator showered me with a night of trying on her custom designed jewelry and giving me two sets of earrings and a necklace. Did I mention she was the sweetest lady ever?!? Unfortunately we had to leave really early the next morning to head to Cape Cod so we had to end our night. The next morning we got pictures, said our good byes, and headed for the Cape to meet up with Richard and Cherise and go on over to Martha's Vineyard. It was another muggy, super hot day but that didn't stop us one bit. We ate at the restaurant that Ryan worked at the summer after his mission, The Seafood Shanty. So good! We then walked around Edgar Town and got some really good fudge and headed for Oak Bluffs. We saw the oldest carousel The Flying Horses there.... super creepy.... and saw the Ginger Bread Houses. The craziest little houses I have ever seen! They were all sorts of colors and seriously looked like ginger bread haha. It was pretty cool. We saw the famous bridge that Jaws saw under in the movie and went sight seeing. Literally, all the mansions were a sight to see! I seriously couldn't believe how big and pretty they were.
Now for a funny story. The island is really small. We kept seeing the same people we came over on the ferry with throughout the different towns. One family I kept seeing was a little Indian family that had commented of how cute Hailey was when we first arrived at Martha's Vineyard. Right as we were loading up in the car to call it a day, the daughter called out to the family saying "Hey, there's that cute baby again." This is not an exaggeration of the story at all. The mom, dad, son and daughter all gathered around Hailey oohing and awing at how cute she was. The dad then turned to me and asked me if he could get a picture of her. I was so caught off guard I started stuttering "uhhh, ummm, yeah, I guess..." and then proceeded to look at Ryan really confused haha. The dad then starts taking picture of his daughter with mine, shoving his son in a picture with her (not joking, he shoved him in haha) and just clicking away while mom is asking me her name, how to spell it, and her age. They thanked me and told me again how cute she was and started to leave. They the daughter (I'm guessing early teens) asked me if I put her in beauty pageants. I quickly say no, because her daddy would kill me. She laughed and off they were. SO FUNNY! You would have sworn that I had made their day from that. I can't wait to tell Hailey about that one day.
Back to our travels. We said our good byes to Rich and Cherise for the last time and headed our separate ways. We went to the Dimavich's (I know I butchered that one but I tried) to stay. The next morning was Sunday and we had church bright and early. Let me start by saying the church is true no matter where you go, but it isn't always the same size... Smallest. Branch. EVER. Not only was it small but it wasn't even in a church building. It's so small that they hold church in a store front that is converted into the meeting house. It was so nuts! I wanted to giggle every time they called the room we were in the chapel because it was so different to me. There are only about 3-4 families in the branch, a set of missionaries and a few others (mainly summer vacationers) that make up the branch. We actually met someone who came to Bloomington to go to Indiana University for school 13 years ago which is were he joined the church. Small world! The Boston temple president? or a counselor, I can't remember, and his wife were the speakers for both sacrament and Sunday school. From what I hear and the parts I actually heard, it was a wonderful meeting (I was on Hailey duty, in and out feeding and changing her.)
After church we went over to the Pertili's where we sent time with Barb. As Ryan describes her she is a spaz with a heart of gold. He couldn't have been more spot on. She LOVED little Hailey and fed us lots of organic apples :) I had a lot of fun getting to know her and hearing about how much she loved Ryan when he was serving out there. She was an investigator that Ryan taught that wanted to join the church but wasn't able to due to family conflict. It was fun to put a face to the name finally. Next we drove around the island and headed towards Menemsha. Menemsha is known for its breath taking sunsets. The beach fills up with people who sit and wait to watch it go down and when the sun disappears over the horizon, everyone claps. Unfortunately for us, Hailey was hitting her limit and we had to leave before the sun went down. But we did get to see everyone setting up for the big show. One day when we go back I'll see it :)
The next day was beach day. We headed to State Beach in Oak Bluffs around 11 and didn't leave until 3 or 3:30. Hailey was an angel the whole day. We got to play in the ocean with her which was really fun and of course I took a million pictures of her that day. *side note* don't change a diaper on the beach if you can help it, and definitely don't do it if you forgot the wipes....Sand gets everywhere! And if you do change it, recruit an extra pair of hands to help. But we had a ton of fun at the beach and actually got some color on our pasty white Indiana skin. Ryan got A LOT of sun. Aka he turned into a Martha's Vineyard lobster :) I got the smallest of burns but I was in the shade a lot with Hailey so I wasn't out nearly as long as he was. After the beach we headed over to the Polley's for dinner where they cooked us some BBQ. Again, we couldn't stay too long because we had to get Hailey in bed and we had told the Dimevich's we would have dessert with them. The Polley's were so sweet though. They had some awesome Ryan as a missionary stories and gave me the dirt on him :) They own a duplex where they live on one side and the missionaries used to live on the other. Ryan was one of them so they all spent a lot of time together. Dessert at the Dimevich's was fun where I got to know them a bit better. Brenda (the mom) was so sweet and her husband Lou was really funny. I really enjoyed the time we spent there.
The next morning, Tuesday, was our last day there and also the day we were coming home. We kicked the morning off with a Belly Bomb. Holy heaven of donut deliciousness! The biggest, baddest, best donut ever! It was massive! It was a Boston creme filled donut with chocolate frosting on top that I had been waiting the whole trip for. Yum... so good. I took a picture and posted it on Facebook and a couple people thought they were steaks! haha nope. Just huge donuts. We caught a ferry back to Cape Cod and then headed to Plymouth to check out Plimoth Plantation (no, I didn't spell it wrong. That's the way they spell it.) Ryan has 18 relatives that came over on the Mayflower so we wanted to check it out. It's a living museum. It's all set up to be 7 years (1927) after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth. Each person is really a person that lived back then and they talk and act like they are really them. They never come out of character. It was pretty cool. Ryan met some "relatives" and talked to them a bit. It was smaller than we thought it was going to be and there weren't many people around. A lot of the houses were empty. It sounded like we came of a day were a lot of the men were out fishing for dinner. Then we headed over to the Mayflower II (a replica of the Mayflower). Ryan explored it while I waited in the car with our sleepy little Hailey. He took pictures of it and of Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock...What a let down! The rock is just that... a rock. Nothing special or grand about it. Just about a five foot long rock.
After Plymouth we headed to the airport to end our trip. Because of Hailey (our little meal ticket!) we cruised right to the front of the mile long security line. And just like that our Boston trip was over. It seemed to fly by but we packed every minute of it with tons of fun and learning. I would do it all over again and actually hope to again some day. At 5 months old, Hailey is already a very well traveled and cultured little girl. Ryan was right at home and loved every minute of being there. I gained about 5 pounds and don't even care! Hallelujah for the world's best baby that made it possible to see and do everything we wanted to on our jam packed trip. We couldn't have asked anymore out of her and she exceeded our expectations. It was a perfect vacation to end our summer :)
-I'll post pictures tomorrow morning of all our fun. It's too late tonight.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Jena (and Hailey) Go West
So much to catch up on! So here we go...
*Note* For fear of this post being 20 pages long I will only write about the big stuff...
As crazy as I am, I attempted, and survived, my very first trip- ALONE- with Hailey. Needless to say I was terrified, stressed, freaking out, all of the above... But I did it.
We left bright and early Friday, June 22 for Salt Lake City. Ryan drove us up and dropped us off at the Indy airport. As soon as we got up to the desk to drop the luggage off I noticed Hailey had pooped. ALL OVER THE PLACE. The biggest blowout to date. Seriously, more of it ended up in her pj's than in her diaper. It was such a mess. The lady at the desk was so nice though. She told me to go and take care of her in the bathroom and she would look after all my stuff. After I started to clean Hailey off in the bathroom she gave me another surprise. I had just taken her diaper off to put a new one on and she peed all over the place! I have the world's leakiest baby! So needless to say I stuck her in the sink and rinsed her off. I literally was almost in tears. Within the first 5 minutes of our trip everything had gone wrong already. I called Ryan to fill him in and he reminded me that it was better this was all happening now instead of on the plane. SO TRUE! I finally got Hailey clean and realized that I left her clothes with all my luggage. So I carried naked (well in a diaper) Hailey through the airport to finally check our luggage in.
After I got some clothes on her, we were off to security. Thankfully the airport wasn't busy at all so we got through security just fine and quickly. As soon as we got to the gate it was time to board. Everyone was so nice and helpful. Unfortunately the flight was full so there were no empty seats to spread out our stuff. After the fiasco in the airport everything went smoothly. Hailey did amazing. She ate right before we took off and fell asleep for almost the entire trip. I'm so thankful too because that was the part of our trip I was most terrified for. I was so scared I was going to have a screaming baby the whole way there. Which is just crazy. Hailey is such a good baby! But still, I was scared.
Once we landed I did what any "southern California girl" stuck in Indiana (don't judge me, I will forever claim it) would do and that was go straight to In-N-Out. So delicious! All the delicious food is probably my favorite thing about Utah, or traveling in general. We then hung out at Grandpa Gottfredson's and got settled in.
The next day we woke up early and headed to the temple to witness Sadie's wedding. It was so nice to be able to attend a wedding because I sure don't remember a thing that was said in ours! The sealer made the comment that at a funeral there is only one person that doesn't remember a thing said, but at a wedding there is two! Sad, but true! The sealer was really funny but also really good. I learned quite a bit! We then proceeded to have a very busy day running from the luncheon to the reception and then to Aimee's that night to stay. It was really fun to catch up with Aimee and her family and see my cute nephews and niece. They are growing so much!
Then the next day Melissa came up and we all spent the day together. Later that night I went to my Grandma's and spent the night with Taylor who came from Vegas. Her girls loved Hailey! I had so much fun staying up and talking with Taylor. I really wish we lived closer. We always have so much fun together. The next day we went to a park and just hung out while the girls played.
Taylor then dropped me off at my friend Sara's house. As always, it never seems like any time has passed when we get together. I got to (almost) spend her birthday with her. It was so fun seeing her! She is so stinking cute as a preggo. She is 6 months pregnant and way cuter than I was! We stayed up way too late, as always, just talking and catching up. She didn't have air conditioning so we went out a bunch to stay cool. We got to go to the pool which was so fun! We got Hailey's feet in the water and she seemed to like it after awhile. I wish we would have had the bathing suit I got for her earlier so she could have really gotten in. We also made necklaces and did a "spa" day. Which basically means we put masks on. Just like old times! We attempted to watch the Newsies once and actually succeeded once, while pigging out on Oreos! My kind of night :) I wish we could have had more time together. But unfortunately our time together always has to end too soon :(
Thursday Ryan's sister came and picked me up to go to St. George. I had never been before so I was really excited. All of Ryan's family went down there to spend the weekend. Gary and Eric even took off work and played with us!
Friday we went out to Gunlock Lake and went wake boarding. Between Gary, Ben, and Nate all teaching me, I was actually able to get up! It was awesome. I sure didn't look cute once I was up and I didn't stay up long, but I got up none the less :) That night my dad came to St. George to drop my little brother Will off with my step-sister, so I got to see him for a few minutes. It was nice being able to give him a hug and get a little time with him. He surprised me by telling me he gave Jay the day off that Sunday so he could come spend a few hours with me. I hadn't seen him, Cali, and the boys in such a long time!
Saturday we went to the Big Rock Candy Mountain, which yes, it really did look like rock candy. There we went zip lining and white water rafting on the Sevier River. SO FUN! It was a bunch of class 1 & 2 rapids with two class 3 rapids and a 4 foot drop. The class 3 rapids were so fun! I'm such an adrenalin junkie. I want to take Ryan and go through some bigger rapids next time!
Sunday we went to sacrament meeting which was fast and testimony meeting... All I'll say is that it was the most awkward meeting of my life! Old people need to not tell childhood stories... at least when they aren't church appropriate! Enough about that though haha. After, Ryan's sisters and I left and went back to Gary and Gina's to get dinner started. Jay, Cali and the boys came over and spent a few hours with me. I miss them so much! I wish they hadn't moved away. The boys have gotten so big! Westin is so big now. The last time I saw him he wasn't even 1 yet and now he is almost 2! Gavin was a little scared of me but he somewhat warmed up to me by the time they left. I'm grateful that they were willing to drive and say hi to me. Cali just LOVED Hailey!
Monday we went to Zions to go hike the Narrows. It was a really pretty hike. Unfortunately it didn't start off the way I would have liked. I forgot the wipes back where we were staying and I forgot Hailey's bottles in the car... almost an hour away from where we were hiking. Smooth move mom... So I had to nurse Hailey in public which I'm SUPER uncomfortable with. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Hailey started crying as soon as we started so I had to carry her up which wasn't too bad. The Narrows hike is partly through a river so once we got to the river Hailey stayed with Gina and off the rest of us were. It was so pretty but unfortunately you are looking down almost the whole time (so you don't slip on a rock in the river, which I did anyway) that you miss most of the scenery. Everything worked out just fine that day though. And I only fell in the river twice! :) When we got back to Gina, she told me a baby squirrel was trying to go home with us... it had climbed in my diaper bag and she had to scare it off! When we weren't having fun outdoor excursions we were just hanging out and playing games. That's where all the quality time together happened. Tuesday bright and early we left and headed home. This is an adventure all on its own... my leaky child decided she had to poop... all over the back seat of the car while I was changing her. I did have a changing mat down thankfully but a bit still got on the seat, on my shirt sleeve, and all over Hailey. It was SO GROSS. The girl can poop haha. But we did manage to clean her off, finally. The rest of the car ride went smoothly after that.
The next day (the 4th of July) we had to leave. Before we left Hailey surprised us by rolling over for the first time. She rolled twice from her tummy to her back! I'm so proud of my big girl. Almost right after that we had to pack up and head out. Hailey screamed the whole way to the airport but was an angel in the airport and on the plane. THANKFULLY. Again, I was stressed but it all worked out.
We were so exited to see Ryan again. Two weeks without your spouse and as a single parent is a really long time! We definitely miss everyone in Utah and definitely miss all the fresh raspberries Grandpa picked for us! But there is nothing like being home and sleeping in your own bed. And being back with your husband! Next time he's coming with us so we can have fun together as a family :)
*Pictures to come later... I'm too lazy to load them all now.
*Note* For fear of this post being 20 pages long I will only write about the big stuff...
As crazy as I am, I attempted, and survived, my very first trip- ALONE- with Hailey. Needless to say I was terrified, stressed, freaking out, all of the above... But I did it.
We left bright and early Friday, June 22 for Salt Lake City. Ryan drove us up and dropped us off at the Indy airport. As soon as we got up to the desk to drop the luggage off I noticed Hailey had pooped. ALL OVER THE PLACE. The biggest blowout to date. Seriously, more of it ended up in her pj's than in her diaper. It was such a mess. The lady at the desk was so nice though. She told me to go and take care of her in the bathroom and she would look after all my stuff. After I started to clean Hailey off in the bathroom she gave me another surprise. I had just taken her diaper off to put a new one on and she peed all over the place! I have the world's leakiest baby! So needless to say I stuck her in the sink and rinsed her off. I literally was almost in tears. Within the first 5 minutes of our trip everything had gone wrong already. I called Ryan to fill him in and he reminded me that it was better this was all happening now instead of on the plane. SO TRUE! I finally got Hailey clean and realized that I left her clothes with all my luggage. So I carried naked (well in a diaper) Hailey through the airport to finally check our luggage in.
After I got some clothes on her, we were off to security. Thankfully the airport wasn't busy at all so we got through security just fine and quickly. As soon as we got to the gate it was time to board. Everyone was so nice and helpful. Unfortunately the flight was full so there were no empty seats to spread out our stuff. After the fiasco in the airport everything went smoothly. Hailey did amazing. She ate right before we took off and fell asleep for almost the entire trip. I'm so thankful too because that was the part of our trip I was most terrified for. I was so scared I was going to have a screaming baby the whole way there. Which is just crazy. Hailey is such a good baby! But still, I was scared.
Once we landed I did what any "southern California girl" stuck in Indiana (don't judge me, I will forever claim it) would do and that was go straight to In-N-Out. So delicious! All the delicious food is probably my favorite thing about Utah, or traveling in general. We then hung out at Grandpa Gottfredson's and got settled in.
The next day we woke up early and headed to the temple to witness Sadie's wedding. It was so nice to be able to attend a wedding because I sure don't remember a thing that was said in ours! The sealer made the comment that at a funeral there is only one person that doesn't remember a thing said, but at a wedding there is two! Sad, but true! The sealer was really funny but also really good. I learned quite a bit! We then proceeded to have a very busy day running from the luncheon to the reception and then to Aimee's that night to stay. It was really fun to catch up with Aimee and her family and see my cute nephews and niece. They are growing so much!
Then the next day Melissa came up and we all spent the day together. Later that night I went to my Grandma's and spent the night with Taylor who came from Vegas. Her girls loved Hailey! I had so much fun staying up and talking with Taylor. I really wish we lived closer. We always have so much fun together. The next day we went to a park and just hung out while the girls played.
Taylor then dropped me off at my friend Sara's house. As always, it never seems like any time has passed when we get together. I got to (almost) spend her birthday with her. It was so fun seeing her! She is so stinking cute as a preggo. She is 6 months pregnant and way cuter than I was! We stayed up way too late, as always, just talking and catching up. She didn't have air conditioning so we went out a bunch to stay cool. We got to go to the pool which was so fun! We got Hailey's feet in the water and she seemed to like it after awhile. I wish we would have had the bathing suit I got for her earlier so she could have really gotten in. We also made necklaces and did a "spa" day. Which basically means we put masks on. Just like old times! We attempted to watch the Newsies once and actually succeeded once, while pigging out on Oreos! My kind of night :) I wish we could have had more time together. But unfortunately our time together always has to end too soon :(
Thursday Ryan's sister came and picked me up to go to St. George. I had never been before so I was really excited. All of Ryan's family went down there to spend the weekend. Gary and Eric even took off work and played with us!
Friday we went out to Gunlock Lake and went wake boarding. Between Gary, Ben, and Nate all teaching me, I was actually able to get up! It was awesome. I sure didn't look cute once I was up and I didn't stay up long, but I got up none the less :) That night my dad came to St. George to drop my little brother Will off with my step-sister, so I got to see him for a few minutes. It was nice being able to give him a hug and get a little time with him. He surprised me by telling me he gave Jay the day off that Sunday so he could come spend a few hours with me. I hadn't seen him, Cali, and the boys in such a long time!
Saturday we went to the Big Rock Candy Mountain, which yes, it really did look like rock candy. There we went zip lining and white water rafting on the Sevier River. SO FUN! It was a bunch of class 1 & 2 rapids with two class 3 rapids and a 4 foot drop. The class 3 rapids were so fun! I'm such an adrenalin junkie. I want to take Ryan and go through some bigger rapids next time!
Sunday we went to sacrament meeting which was fast and testimony meeting... All I'll say is that it was the most awkward meeting of my life! Old people need to not tell childhood stories... at least when they aren't church appropriate! Enough about that though haha. After, Ryan's sisters and I left and went back to Gary and Gina's to get dinner started. Jay, Cali and the boys came over and spent a few hours with me. I miss them so much! I wish they hadn't moved away. The boys have gotten so big! Westin is so big now. The last time I saw him he wasn't even 1 yet and now he is almost 2! Gavin was a little scared of me but he somewhat warmed up to me by the time they left. I'm grateful that they were willing to drive and say hi to me. Cali just LOVED Hailey!
Monday we went to Zions to go hike the Narrows. It was a really pretty hike. Unfortunately it didn't start off the way I would have liked. I forgot the wipes back where we were staying and I forgot Hailey's bottles in the car... almost an hour away from where we were hiking. Smooth move mom... So I had to nurse Hailey in public which I'm SUPER uncomfortable with. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Hailey started crying as soon as we started so I had to carry her up which wasn't too bad. The Narrows hike is partly through a river so once we got to the river Hailey stayed with Gina and off the rest of us were. It was so pretty but unfortunately you are looking down almost the whole time (so you don't slip on a rock in the river, which I did anyway) that you miss most of the scenery. Everything worked out just fine that day though. And I only fell in the river twice! :) When we got back to Gina, she told me a baby squirrel was trying to go home with us... it had climbed in my diaper bag and she had to scare it off! When we weren't having fun outdoor excursions we were just hanging out and playing games. That's where all the quality time together happened. Tuesday bright and early we left and headed home. This is an adventure all on its own... my leaky child decided she had to poop... all over the back seat of the car while I was changing her. I did have a changing mat down thankfully but a bit still got on the seat, on my shirt sleeve, and all over Hailey. It was SO GROSS. The girl can poop haha. But we did manage to clean her off, finally. The rest of the car ride went smoothly after that.
The next day (the 4th of July) we had to leave. Before we left Hailey surprised us by rolling over for the first time. She rolled twice from her tummy to her back! I'm so proud of my big girl. Almost right after that we had to pack up and head out. Hailey screamed the whole way to the airport but was an angel in the airport and on the plane. THANKFULLY. Again, I was stressed but it all worked out.
We were so exited to see Ryan again. Two weeks without your spouse and as a single parent is a really long time! We definitely miss everyone in Utah and definitely miss all the fresh raspberries Grandpa picked for us! But there is nothing like being home and sleeping in your own bed. And being back with your husband! Next time he's coming with us so we can have fun together as a family :)
*Pictures to come later... I'm too lazy to load them all now.
Friday, June 15, 2012
The Luck of the Irish
I won't go into full blown detail but, I have terrible luck. If it can, it will. Always. That is just how things happen to me. And since my husband already posted this on Facebook, I might as well tell the story for memory's sake.
What actually happened to me this time, you might ask? Well poop happened. And not Hailey's poop. No that is expected and not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. No, a bird's poop happened. On me. ON my belly button. Not NEXT to it. ON it.
So here's how it went down. I am leaving for Utah in a week and wanted to get some sun before I head out so I don't FRY like I did last year. So I went outside on our deck to enjoy the sun. I had just laid back and closed my eyes. I even started to smile because the sun felt so good when all of the sudden I felt the plop on my belly. My first reaction was OH MY FREAKING GOSH a HUGE bug just landed on me. *Note* I am TERRIFIED of bugs. Just ask Ryan about "The Beetle" incident of 2011. We don't bring it up... Anywho... I quickly flung my hand across my stomach to hopefully scare the "bug" away before I opened my eyes and ended up screaming and/or crying when I see this "bug." Because it really did feel monsterous. Nope. Instead when I finally work up the courage to open my eyes and face the "bug" I am faced with a monsterous bird poo all over me. It not only was on my belly button but had also splattered up to my chest and on my thigh. So. Freaking. Gross. While I was momentarily relieved that it was not a huge bug, I'm not sure which one was worse.
Literally my jaw dropped. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to touch it, obviously, and I didn't want to stand up and have it drop down me (touching more of me), so I did some kind of funky crab walk and stood up while carefully leaning over to make sure no more poop spread over me. I then went inside to clean up and decide whether or not I wanted to tell Ryan. I knew I would suffer some form of punishment for it if I did. And yet, I still told him. Together we laughed. I laughed so hard I cried and he laughed AT me while assuring me he was laughing WITH me. I'm no dummy. Either way my punishment came moments later when I received and email from Facebook saying "Ryan Gottfredson has tagged you in a message..." And so it came to be that the whole Facebook nation, or at least mine and my husband's Facebook nation, learned about my misfortune.
And what is really the icing on the cake is that my misfortune didn't stop there. I later (after I cleaned up) took Hailey to the mall. When I was getting out of the car I didn't notice that my keys fell out of my diaper bag until I shut all the car doors... after locking them first. Don't worry Hailey was already out. But still, chalk another win up for me that day. I then reached in my diaper bag to call Ryan to bring me my spare set of keys and guess what? I left my phone at home! And put another point on the board for me! So I had to go in the mall and use an employee's cell phone to call Ryan to bring me my keys. Good thing I have such a good sense of humor :)
All I gotta say is thanks mom for giving me the luck of the Irish. I think I could have done without though.
What actually happened to me this time, you might ask? Well poop happened. And not Hailey's poop. No that is expected and not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. No, a bird's poop happened. On me. ON my belly button. Not NEXT to it. ON it.
So here's how it went down. I am leaving for Utah in a week and wanted to get some sun before I head out so I don't FRY like I did last year. So I went outside on our deck to enjoy the sun. I had just laid back and closed my eyes. I even started to smile because the sun felt so good when all of the sudden I felt the plop on my belly. My first reaction was OH MY FREAKING GOSH a HUGE bug just landed on me. *Note* I am TERRIFIED of bugs. Just ask Ryan about "The Beetle" incident of 2011. We don't bring it up... Anywho... I quickly flung my hand across my stomach to hopefully scare the "bug" away before I opened my eyes and ended up screaming and/or crying when I see this "bug." Because it really did feel monsterous. Nope. Instead when I finally work up the courage to open my eyes and face the "bug" I am faced with a monsterous bird poo all over me. It not only was on my belly button but had also splattered up to my chest and on my thigh. So. Freaking. Gross. While I was momentarily relieved that it was not a huge bug, I'm not sure which one was worse.
Literally my jaw dropped. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to touch it, obviously, and I didn't want to stand up and have it drop down me (touching more of me), so I did some kind of funky crab walk and stood up while carefully leaning over to make sure no more poop spread over me. I then went inside to clean up and decide whether or not I wanted to tell Ryan. I knew I would suffer some form of punishment for it if I did. And yet, I still told him. Together we laughed. I laughed so hard I cried and he laughed AT me while assuring me he was laughing WITH me. I'm no dummy. Either way my punishment came moments later when I received and email from Facebook saying "Ryan Gottfredson has tagged you in a message..." And so it came to be that the whole Facebook nation, or at least mine and my husband's Facebook nation, learned about my misfortune.
And what is really the icing on the cake is that my misfortune didn't stop there. I later (after I cleaned up) took Hailey to the mall. When I was getting out of the car I didn't notice that my keys fell out of my diaper bag until I shut all the car doors... after locking them first. Don't worry Hailey was already out. But still, chalk another win up for me that day. I then reached in my diaper bag to call Ryan to bring me my spare set of keys and guess what? I left my phone at home! And put another point on the board for me! So I had to go in the mall and use an employee's cell phone to call Ryan to bring me my keys. Good thing I have such a good sense of humor :)
All I gotta say is thanks mom for giving me the luck of the Irish. I think I could have done without though.
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