Gettin' here

I know it is well past time I posted the events that led to our missing our flight to Utah, but for the sake of record keeping, here goes:

The morning we were supposed to fly to Utah, my aunt and I had the incredibly daunting task of cleaning the house in preparation for the big move. My cousin was there to help with the kids (and Julie was around the corner when we needed a little extra help) and we started the process around 9:00 am. At 3:00 pm we had finished and, exhausted, left for the airport. We had 8 bags and two car seats to check, a few carry-on bags and pillows, and three small children in tow. We arrived about an hour before our flight was scheduled to leave, not super early, but not necessarily late either. We parked in short term parking (my FIL was flying into Jax to close on the house and would be driving our van to meet Jeff a few hours later), and hauled our load into the airport.

That's when things started going wrong. One of the bags had a broken wheel and was very tricky to roll. The computer at check-in wasn't working right and refused to print the correct labels for our luggage (we were there a good thirty minutes and we didn't even wait in line). The line for security was much longer than it looked. The milk we had bought to go with the Cinnabon had to be put into small, 3 oz containers, so it could pass. And the three kids were slowing us down, too. My aunt started realizing that we weren't going to make it and tried to cut in line, so at the very least she could run down to the gate to let them know we were on our way. She did manage to get a tiny bit ahead of us, although she had my boarding pass instead of hers and had to come back to switch with me.

I started pouring the mouthfuls of milk in each small container into my kids mouths, knowing that any small amount of liquid was going to slow us down, and got the boarding passes wet. We got stopped at security and Damon's bag was searched, revealing three illegal items (play-doh in containers larger than 3 oz). I apologized, not realizing that play-doh was either a liquid or a gel and we all got our shoes back on. At this point, I saw my aunt running back toward us, obviously stressed. She said, "You have got to run!"

I was carrying my purse, Kyla and one large car seat. Damon was dragging his (now play-doh free) bag, Heidi (my cousin) was carrying our mound of pillows, and Allie was slowing us all down by trying to walk by herself. So, our entire party started running. And Allie's shoe fell off, at which point she refused to run without it on. I looked back to see Heidi trying to pick her up, the pillows falling from her arms. My own arms burning, I turned around and ran back to help, taking the pillows myself. We ran for what seemed like ages, finally making it to our gate. And although the plane was there, the door was closed. And they wouldn't open it for us.

Long story short, we were flying stand-by and legally they couldn't wait for us. So, after some heated words passed and tears were shed (by my aunt and Damon, respectively), we rescheduled our flight for the next day. We met up with my FIL, who had arrived, and rode back to Jacksonville, just as we should've been heading to Utah.

We left the next morning, where we turned a 6-hour layover in New York into an afternoon on the subway, and a couple hours walking around Times Square and the Empire State Building. It actually was very enjoyable. And by our night flight to Utah, we were all tired enough to sleep for a good portion of it. Phew. What a trip.

We are glad to be here, and even happier to be spending time in St. George. After some random bad weather nearly chased me back to Florida, it is now incredibly nice in Utah. And my kids are loving the trampoline, the park in the backyard and the fun that just never stops. Allie found this dress at her cousin's house one day (the ones we live next door to in Springville) and she has probably worn it at least three times a week since. I've gotten used to seeing her in it, actually, and am a little surprised at the reaction she gets from other people.

Kyla is practicing her walking, but only when she wants to. She's been a little sad lately, and there have been numerous "diarrhea incidents." For your sake, I won't go into them here, although Heather has one pic on her camera that I may have to post.

I realize that I don't have any pics of Damon or of his recent haircut ("my grandma has cancer" is what he'll tell you when someone notices it), but here is one he took of us girls. No one mourns the wicked! I love this hand me down shirt!

One is the loneliest number

Wow, a quiet moment alone. With internet access. Is it Christmas? This is the best gift I've had in a while. Life for me lately has been anything but quiet. And I don't know if I'll ever get caught up remembering it all.

Let's start with my favorite little girl. Kyla turned one on Saturday. Seriously? My baby is one? When babies turn one it's time to start thinking about another one. That was a quick year. I taught Kyla a few signs, like I did with my other kids. I thought it was so cute how she signed "eat" 800 times a day. It was especially cute when she added a "please" to that. It's not cute anymore. Especially because she's decided that she prefers eating treats and drinking soda pop. Did I mention that I haven't been cooking lately? With my mom's birthday party, Memorial Day and Kyla's birthday, there have been many opportunities for my suddenly communicative child to weasel sugar in all its forms from everyone (including me). It's time to crack down. Just because she looks so cute with frosting all over her face is no reason to let her live on cupcakes.

In addition to her devasatingly adorable talent of eating all day long, she has also finally decided she would like to enter the world of the walkers. Although she started taking steps well over a month ago, she has been slow to give up crawling. Watching her, I have noticed what a cautious little person she has turned into. It's good (for instance, she has learned to go up and down stairs with only minor falls), but it's also bad (she will get excited about walking, take a few steps, fall, and melt down). I love watching her learn to walk. It doesn't get old seeing her let go and venture out across the room. Apparently, it doesn't get old for my other kids, either, as they always seem so surprised that she is standing on her own or walking toward them.

After that last picture, I'm sure the line from Friends was running through your mind. "The camera adds ten pounds." "How many cameras were actually ON you?" No, Kyla is not as chubby as she appears in her "sugar stupor." She really looks more like the picture above.

I was telling my mom and Tara tonight that Kyla has been my favorite baby. She is the baby you would pick out of a catalog if you could choose (wouldn't that be nice!); she's cuddly, she's sweet, she's happy, she's calm, she's excited about life, she's loving, and she's mine. I want to go in and pinch her cheeks while she's sleeping, just because I can. I can't believe how much I love her. And the fact that she's one now is making me a little sad. Maybe it IS time for another one (don't get carried away by that statement--I'm husband deprived.:)

Failure

Still no internet in basement. We're working on that (hoping that the wireless connection from upstairs will reach, thus saving us even more money that we can add to the "house fund."). Jeff is here for the week. He had a conference in Denver over the weekend and already had this trip to Utah planned months ago. It's so nice to have him here. What am I going to do without him for a whole month (I'll tell you one thing I'll do, and that's lay off the chick flicks and romance novels, ha!).

I took a quick trip to St. George last week to surprise my mom. It was her 50th birthday and even though she didn't feel like celebrating, everyone wanted to show their love for her. Seriously, can anyone be more loved than my mom? I doubt it. Check out her blog for details and a seriously awesome pic of Kyla scarfing down some cake. I had a great time with the family and can't wait to be with them again soon.

I nearly failed as a parent this week. Honestly, there are only a few things that parents need to do not to fail their children. Besides the basic things like feed, clothe, shelter, you should provide a good example for them to follow, teach them to love God and never break a promise to them. Oh, and don't forget to leave them money from the tooth fairy. That's the one that got me. Damon lost two teeth this week after months of claiming that they were loose.

The first one was no big deal, I still had a dollar left in my wallet. But the second one took me by surprise. It was Sunday when it popped out and I kept putting off thinking about what I would do once he was asleep, knowing full well that I had already given him my last dollar only a couple nights before. Secretly I hoped that he would forget to put it under his pillow so I could have another day to come up with some money. But he remembered. And I forgot. I woke up at 5:00 am with only one thought on my mind. CRAP! I grabbed my wallet and searched through it, hoping a dollar had appeared while I slept (that can happen, right?). Nothing. I searched the coins and found four quarters (where did those come from?). I wrote a very quick note from the tooth fairy and sneaked into his room. Phew. Catastrophe avoided. But when I saw the note I had written a few hours later, I had to laugh. It was obvious I was half asleep and writing in the dark. At least Damon didn't act suspiscous. And for now, I still haven't failed him as a parent.

Pros/Cons

We still have no internet downstairs so I am sneaking a few moments of computer time upstairs in the "forbidden zone" (forbidden to my kids, not to me) while my in-laws are at the MTC. The kids are supposedly in bed, but I hear all THREE of them crying (Kyla was asleep...guess that is over). I will eventually get to all the stuff I have been thinking about, but here is a quick list of pros and cons of being here in Utah.

Pros:

• My towel is dry in the morning. Wow, I forgot that actually happened!
• My hair dries in minutes, and doesn't have that horrible frizz I have become accustomed to.
• Prime time tv starts at 7:00 and I can go to bed at 10:00. Plus, all the games are on much earlier (which I'm sure not a lot of you care about).
• The grass here is awesome! Two years of living with St. Augustine crap grass have made me appreciate the great lawns in Utah.
• My kids have no shortage of playmates. Three cousins live next door and a ton of kids live in the neighborhood. Jeff called it "instafriends."
• I haven't had to cook yet. Jeff's mom and sister are taking care of me like I'm still on vacation. I don't complain.
• Our bedroom is huge--the enormous king size bed doesn't even factor in to the amount of space I have left over.

Cons:

• Isn't is supposed to be spring? It's freezing here! I mistakenly packed mostly summer clothes and we had to scrounge around to find some warm things to wear. The basement here is also really cold and we've had to crank the heat, which has made my MIL too hot!
• No internet, no satellite service, no high definition...we'll get around to it when Jeff comes back next week, but for now it's not a lot of fun.
• We're still adjusting to the time change and the days seem extra long with those extra two hours. Plus, since I haven't been cooking, I've been a little bored. Oh, and I don't have a library card yet. I need to have something mailed to me in my name...
• That big bed I talked about earlier is only filled by one person--me. I am glad I'll see Jeff again next week, but after that, it may be another month (or a little longer) before I see him again. That makes me sad.
• 
  BUT we're surviving. Life is good. It's good to be close to family. I miss my friends back in Jax, but hopefully I'll be able to come out next month (still working on that).

And now back to the crying kids...

Everything you own in a box to the left

We made it to Utah. It was no easy feat. Details to come later that include a missed flight, a six hour layover in NYC, a late night flight to Utah and Damon starting school less than 12 hours after landing.

Jeff may make it tonight with the moving truck, as long as the trailer doesn't break down again. Stay tuned...

Birthday Girl

Allie turned three yesterday. Not exactly great timing (with the move and all), but with her, that's nothing new.

Three years ago, on April 29th, Jeff and I were sitting in gliders at Babies R Us in Columbus while my mom watched Damon back at our condo. My doctor had offered to induce me that night when he got to the hospital (about midnight), but I told him I thought I would like to just go on my own. As Jeff and I sat there, rocking back and forth with no distractions, we both agreed that we were happy we weren't having the baby that night. We were tired.

A few hours later, my contractions started. Within 15 minutes they were a minute apart. It was just like a scene from a movie as I woke Jeff up, telling him it was time to go. We grabbed Damon from his bed and all loaded into the Honda. When we got to the hospital at 1:45 am I had only been in labor for an hour. And it was time to push. With no epidural. nfortunately, it took a little while for our friend to come pick Damon up and he witnessed a few things I wish he hadn't seen (questions like "is that poop?" only affirm that fact). At 2:45 am Allie was born. And it only took that long because she was facing up and I just couldn't push her out. It was not the greatest day of my life, and definitely not the best timing on her part.

So, April 29 (and 30th) shouldn't have been much different. Allie appeared in our room three times between 4:00 and 4:30 crying. I think she was celebrating her birth in her own (annoying) way. But we love her anyway.

Because of the move, she didn't get a birthday party. She didn't get a homemade cake. Instead, she got a store bought cake to share with some friends at the park. I don't think she minded.

Yum, frosting...


Cole, Allie, Katie Law, Heidi Fletcher

Parker, Sierra Craver, Luke Law

Mason, who was still grinning from his own piece of cake.

Kyla was having a reaction to the sunscreen I had put on her face (second time that has happened) and wasn't having too much fun. But she did enjoy the cake.

Here are a couple of pics from the other day. One thing I'm not going to miss about Florida are the snakes that seem to be everywhere. The black snake that lives between the outside wall of our house and the garage has gotten more bold and has been sunning itself often, and much closer to our front door. And when a neighbor boy came over with this snake he had caught, Damon and Allie couldn't resist getting a closer look.

Damon thought it would be fun to play in the laundry basket later that night.

Kyla showed off her new funny face (remember Damon doing this one, Tara?)

And then all the kids got in for some quality time together. I love this one.