Spring Break in Utah

On the way home yesterday, LaVor mentioned how funny he thought it was that we've been married almost 10 years yet hadn't been to Utah until we were married for 9. And since that first visit, we've been back to the area twice. Ironically, I was thinking the same thing on the drive out.

The stars aligned and my dad's heart surgery coincided with The Lime's Spring Break. Throw in the desire to visit my brother and his family, LaVor's grandma, the Hoxies, and the Hatchs and it ended up being the perfect/busiest trip.

Our departure time was set for 6:00 on Wednesday but we never leave when we intend. By the time we got gas and were on the freeway, it was almost 7:00. The Lime had food in his belly (and some Dramamine) and Doodlebug woke up in the most PERFECT mood. Our journey was off to a great start.

And it continued to be great. We only had about 10 minutes of whining/crying from Doodlebug because he was so tired but we were trying to keep him awake until we stopped for lunch. Then both boys fell asleep as soon as we got back in the car and arrived at my brother's house around 5:30.

It took no time at all for everyone to become reacquainted and the fun to begin.  My brother was watching his sister-in-law's dog while she was out of town and Doodlebug found an instant friend.  Except, I think it was only a one-sided friendship.  The poor dog wasn't too sure what to think of a toddler that wouldn't leave him alone.

The first day there, I went to the hospital with my mom in the morning and visited with my dad for several hours.  He was three days post surgery and was running low on sleep but overall feeling pretty good.  After lunch, LaVor brought the boys over and we visited a little longer before we left to grab a bite to eat.

We enjoyed the Red Iguana and stuffed ourselves silly with chips & guacamole, rice & beans, chicken flautas, and enchiladas. Seriously, we were all stuffed.

On the way to lunch, LaVor called his grandma and asked her what she had planned for the afternoon.  "Well, I'm just sitting at home," she said.  "We're in town and were hoping to come see you," LaVor said.  "You're in town?!" she asked.  "Yup!" he said.  "All of you?!" she asked.  "All of us!" I said.  She was more than excited to have us over.  After our Christmas illness changed plans to visit back in December, we made sure she was our first visit of this trip.  It was a lovely couple of hours spent in her home, catching up on everything and finding out how she's adjusting to life as a widow.  She sure misses LaVor's Grandpa but is keeping busy and seems happy.  She loved on our boys and was ever so patient with them and their craziness.

This is supposed to be the silly face one and I just love how Doodlebug and Grandma are looking at each other

After her visit, we drove about five minutes to meet up with Jason and Nicole at Jason's brother's house. They were so kind to let our families take over for a couple of hours and it's always a blast to catch up with our great friends (and meet their sweet baby boy!). Unfortunately (fortunately?), we had too much fun and I didn't get a single picture. Darn!

The next morning, we invited my niece and nephew to join us as we visited my dad again, visited with LaVor's aunt, and checked out Downtown Salt Lake. The kids were extremely patient as I spent a little too much time oogling over the impecable clothing LaVor's aunt has at her clothing store. As a birthday present, I got to pick out a couple pieces and I can't wait for it to warm up so I can wear them!

After the store, my niece and I went to visit my dad while LaVor took the three boys to the park. The Lime attempted to go down the fire pole with his eyes closed and ended up missing the pole and catching his arm on the ledge. He has some gnarly ledge rash and I told him he looks like he got in a bike accident.

They picked my niece and I up just in time for us to head to the mall and get some lunch. Comic Con was happening across the street and every.single.person was in cosplay. The kids couldn't figure out why everyone looked so weird but did enjoy some of the costumes.

We walked across the street to church headquarters, the Joseph Smith building, and the Church History Museum. I wish the museum wasn't our last stop because from what we were able to see, it was so interesting and I could tell The Lime was enjoying it, too. But Doodlebug had had enough and was hysterical so we decided to head back home.

The next day, we went to breakfast with my brother and his family, LaVor and my brother went shooting while my sister-in-law took my niece to a party and ran some errands. I was in charge (or "the boss" as my nephew called me) and boy, I admire and praise my sister-in-law for being a mother of six. The hardest thing for me to do was keep track of where everyone was. But we all survived (except my littlest nephew broke out in an allergic reaction on half his face and nobody could figure out why). When the boys got back from shooting, I went to visit my dad for a little bit before we had to turn around and head the opposite direction to meet up with John Hatch.

LaVor's back has been bothering him for years and we've blamed it on our bed and his job. Neither of which is the problem. John is AMAZING (I really can't say it enough) and worked his voodoo magic (really, if I didn't love him so much, I'd say he's crazy) and gave LaVor some exercises to do at home. He should be good as new in no time!

We met up with Becky and their sweet boy for dinner and then they took us to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. Holy cow! This place was the best! We didn't want to leave but they kicked us out because it was closing time.

There was so much to do, and see, and play, and touch that we could have easily spent several more hours there. But they needed to return something to the mall and the Easter Bunny had to pick up a few things so we drove north and soon parted ways. We love being able to see our friends but hate having to say goodbye. We love them so much!

Sweet Doodlebug woke up five minutes before my alarm was set to go off at 6:00 Sunday morning. He was little to no help packing up our things but an early wake up meant an early nap so things worked out. We got everything gathered together and loaded in the car. My brother's family was getting ready for church but took a small break to check out their Easter baskets with us.

My sister-in-law saved the day and gave me some extra treats to give to our kids so it didn't look like we had two Easter Bunnies visit one house. She was an angel the entire week and took great, great, great care of us. She's a busy woman but managed to keep her cool through it all.

After one last visit with my dad, we were on the road back home. It was a wonderful experience to be there with him and see with my own eyes that he was doing okay.  We got to take the Sacrament together in his hospital room before we left and it was so special.  The perfect ending to a great trip.

I don't dress up for car trips home, in case you couldn't tell

I learned a couple things on this trip that I need to note before I forget...

-(I didn't learn this but it was just reiterated to me) I have the best husband who made the trip happen and was so patient, kind, loving, and understanding through it all. He never once complained or griped about anything. Only made sure I was taken care of and I'm so so so grateful.
-Utahns care too much about their appearance.  Billboards everywhere for saggy eyelids, plastic surgery, etc.  It's a shame.
-Kneaders french toast was all it was cracked up to be.  So delicious!
-Don't give a 6 year old Silly Putty in the car.  It'll get stuck in hair and clothing.
-Don't give an almost 2 year old Doritos in the car.  They'll choke on them.
-Fruit snacks are the answer to all the worlds' problems.
-Have the child that grinds his teeth sleep with his cousins who never noticed.
-Let your niece play with your hair as often as she'd like.
-Flex lanes make zero sense to me.
-Don't wait to download a new app for the kids until you're in the middle of Nevada and have no access to the internet.
-I didn't check my Facebook, Instagram, or e-mail once while we were gone and it was GLORIOUS!  

Doodlebug - Tally Mark 22

-Went to the dentist for the first time on 3/15. All was well until they reclined the chair. He's still young but did much better than I anticipated.
-Says Rubble, cheese, nigh night,.
-Refuses to play with his age appropriate Legos - only wants to play with The Lime's.
-Now insists on wearing a baseball glove when we play.
-Has been sick with something for months. We can't wait to be healthy!
-Plays dead when we have Nerf wars. It's hilarious!
-Seems a lot younger than The Lime at this age.
-Loves watching the garbage man.
-Has the funniest/goofiest facial expressions.
-Likes wearing his baseball hat backwards like LaVor and The Lime.
-Likes putting mousse in his hair.
-Insists that I eat a string cheese if he eats one.
-Is our favorite (almost 2 year old) cheeseball around!

Officer Taylor

It seems like it's happening at least weekly - where we hear another officer has been killed in the line of duty.

Last week, a CHP officer was directing traffic after a car accident when an SUV lost control and crashed into him. He succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, leaving behind a wife and three young sons.  He was 35 years old.

When I saw the procession would be going through our city, I knew I had to take the boys and show our respect.  The motorcade was set to leave Reno at 2:00 and we left our house at 3:15.  On the way to the overpass, several out of town officers passed us and I was afraid we missed it.  When we pulled into the parking lot, a paramedic asked if we were there for the procession and I told him yes.  He said we hadn't missed it and he'd walk with us to the overpass.  We were both surprised that nobody else was there yet but he found out the procession was still at least 45 minutes away.  Slowly but surely, more and more people arrived including truck and engine 7.  The firefighters invited the kids on top of the truck to get a better view (The Lime was so nervous when we first started walking on the overpass but relaxed enough to get on the truck).  We waited up there for a good half hour before the motorcade passed by.

On our way there, The Lime asked why we had to go and I told him because we honor those men and women who risk their lives every day for us.  Tears streamed down my face as each car drove underneath us, honking and waving.  I could only think about his wife and boys, and how their husband and daddy would never walk through their front door again after a shift.  I held on tight to Doodlebug while the firefighters around me stood at a salute the whole time.  You could feel the love and respect these men and women have for each other. 

Aside from the firefighters and paramedics, we were the last ones to leave.  They thanked us for coming but I had to cut them off and thank them for their selflessness and desire to help and serve their community.  It takes a special person to go into that line of work and Officer Taylor was no exception.

Egg Drop & Hunt

The Lime rarely gets homework unless it's a fun project (like make a book holder out of a cereal box or his 100th day of school poster). He brought home a paper a few weeks ago that outlined all the fun activities they'd be doing prior to Spring Break. One of which was an assignment to build something nice and soft for the Egg Drop.

LaVor and The Lime researched different ideas, watched some videos, and settled on cutting open a small ball, surrounding the egg with popped popcorn, and attaching a parachute to it. LaVor got to work (because The Lime was really just interested in dropping the thing) and then they headed outside one night to test it. Due to a parachute malfunction, the egg cracked. So more popcorn was added, it was retested, and was a success!

Then, the night before the official Egg Drop, LaVor came home with a sea sponge. He took the popcorn out of the ball, cut a space in the sponge for the egg, inserted the egg in the sponge, taped the ball back up, and dropped it from the height of our roof. Again, success!

After a quick visiting teaching appointment, I met The Lime at his school yesterday morning, just in time to see his egg drop. It did just what we wanted and then it was time to check the egg. It had a tiny crack in it, which we weren't sure if it was from the actual drop or from being at the bottom of the pile. No matter the reason, he had lots of fun with the assignment.

The parents quickly met in the library where we hid a gazillion eggs. Every egg had a name on it, to ensure everyone got one. (Doodlebug got cozy with a book while I hid my eggs.)

It took a while for the kids to find all of their eggs but they had so much fun!

I love that The Lime's teacher encourages parents (and siblings!) to come to their class activities. It makes it easy not to have to find a baby-sitter but Doodlebug also loves being with The Lime and his friends.

It was the perfect last day of school before Spring Break!

Cold Turkey

It's been a week since I nursed Doodlebug and my mama heart is sad.

With the HFMD, he got sores in his mouth and had a hard time eating and drinking. I managed to nurse him when he woke up last Thursday morning but he cringed every time after that when I tried to feed him. I waited a couple days for the sores to heal and offered again. He turned his head away but looked at me out of the corner of his eye, as if he were telling me "Lady, what are you doing?!" Now, each time someone asks him if he wants Mama to feed him, he does his "no" grunt and shakes his head.

Obviously, I knew it was going to happen. For goodness sakes, I can't nurse him forever. But since I don't know if he's our last one or not, I wanted to hold onto that bond forever. And to think, when he was a couple months old, I was ready to throw in the towel because neither one of us was enjoying it. Lots of tears were shed and frustration had but we pushed through and had 21 months of successful nursing.

It was always so handy to have a meal on tap, ready to go whenever he needed it. I think I actually might have overused it, relying on nursing to soothe him to sleep for naps and bedtime. I had hesitations on what life might be like when we stopped nursing. "How would he fall asleep?" I wondered. He's done just fine.

I, on the other hand, am in pain. When The Lime weaned, it was a gradual process. We went down to just morning and night feedings. Then to just night feedings. Then to just one side. Then one night, he wanted none and we called it good. Going from nursing Doodlebug 3-4 times a day to 0 has been anything but fun.

I remember with The Lime, I was anxious to have my entire body back, after 24 months of being pregnant and nursing. This time, it feels odd. Our bodies are amazing, with all they're able to create and provide. I've been grateful and astounded at all mine has been able to do.

I've cried numerous times over this past week. One night, in particular, where Doodlebug didn't want to nurse but still wanted me to rock him to sleep. I will miss our routine and cuddling and bonding. But it's about that time to move on to the next chapter.

The fangs had nothing to do with it