Home again, home again, jiggity-jig

I am happy to report that we finally made it home from Texas last night. Coming home from vacation always seems to take longer than the getting there. Our plane was originally supposed to leave at 6pm-ish. Late yesterday afternoon we got a phone call from Delta saying that it had been delayed till 7:30 because of severe weather in Dallas. It had been raining really hard, there was lots of close thunder and lightning, and even some tornado watches, all of which are unusual for this time of year. When we got to the airport, the plane coming from Salt Lake that was going to be ours coming back was delayed. Because of all the crazy weather in Dallas, they left Salt Lake late, and then once they got here, they had to circle the area for at least an hour and a half to wait their turn to land among all the other delayed flights. Once that plane landed, we were informed that it had been hit by lightening, so they had to check it out and make sure it was okay for another flight. Luckily nothing was damaged too seriously, and we were in the air by 10:30pm. Again, Sam was a great little traveler and slept the entire flight home. I wonder if he'd make it to Europe so well behaved. Anyway, we got our bags, took a taxi, and were home by about 12:30am. I had been looking forward to my warm comfy bed, but because we turned off the heat while we were gone, our thermostat read 42 degrees in our house. I went to bed with my new winter hat, new fuzzy socks, warm pajamas, a hoodie, and a tootsie-toaster. Poor Chris went to bed for an hour before he had to go bake at Great Harvest at 2am. He had to go in so early because he also has to work at the InstaCare from 10am to 10pm. Back to the real world, I guess.

Our Trip to Texas

I think time moves faster in Texas because I can hardly believe our time here is just about done. It's been such a nice trip, and it will be hard coming back to real life.

We left Sunday afternoon--Christmas Eve. Sam was such a great little traveler; it was his first time ever on an airplane. He slept almost the entire flight to Dallas except for the last 30 minutes or so, but even then he was a happy guy. I hope he does just as well on the flight home tomorrow. The first two nights we stayed at Chris' Aunt Elaine and Uncle Richard's house. We had three big families staying over for Christmas, so the house was filled to capacity (it's a really nice big house, so it wasn't so bad at all). Sam had so many admirers and googelie-eyed people playing with him that it overwhelmed and overstimulated him making him more fussy than usual. Being so popular and loved is so hard! The rest of the time some of us have been staying at Chris' dad's parents house, and the others at Chris' mom's parents house--they both live in Irving.

Christmas morning was fun as we opened our presents. The best part was having Chris' grandpa come for a few hours. He's been in the hospital for the last three weeks, and they let him out for a couple hours Christmas morning. For that set of grandparents 50th anniversary, Chris' mom put together a nice DVD of old family pictures and family movie clips. We also put together a nice quilt for them--each son, daughter, grandchild, grandchild-in-law, and great-grandchild (Sam is the only one) was in charge of decorating a square, and they were all put together as a quilt. It was a very nice present.

Sam has had many firsts on this trip. He went to his first movie. We went to see Eragon. Again, Sam was very well behaved for the most part. We only had to go out of the theater once for a diaper change. He went to his first museum. Today we went to the Dallas Museum of Art to see a Vincent Von Gogh exhibit. It was very cool! And to get there, Sam went on his first train--the TRE (the Trinity Rail Express, I think). We spent the whole afternoon there at the museum, and Sam just sat in his Snugglie carrier so content and happy. What a good boy.

He hasn't been this good the whole trip. Like I mentioned earlier, he has been passed from one admiring fan to the next. One of the nights we went out to a crazy restaurant called the Magic Time Machine. If ever you are in Dallas, you must go to this place. Each waiter plays the character of someone. Our waiter was one of the Spartan cheerleaders from Saturday Night Live. It was so loud and so crazy that Sam let us know just how overwhelmed he was. He rarely cries so hard. Poor guy.

So that's pretty much been our trip. We've eaten like crazy (I think I've gained lots of weight), and spent lots of fun quality time with the extended relatives down here (Chris' one grandpa got out of the hospital for good this evening). The weather has been amazing, and it's going to be so hard to come back to the snow. I guess our vacation can't last forever! Too bad it can't!

Time flies when you're having fun

Three years ago from today I came home from my mission. Four years ago this coming April Chris came home from his mission. That's two sister-missions for me and two elder-missions for Chris!

My Girlfriend

So yesterday at the bridal shower, I ran into my girlfriend from the family ward who I haven't seen in a very long time. She's still as crazy as ever and still wishes I had married her grandson.

Girlfriend: So how are you and your husband doing?
Me: Really well.
Girlfriend: Darn! So you two are happy together?
Me: Yeah, my husband is wonderful!
Girlfriend: Darn! My grandson got married, but the girl is completely opposite of you. I wish he had married you!

She seriously said all that! How am I supposed to respond?! When Chris and I were engaged, I brought Chris to the family ward so people could meet him. When I tried to introduce him to my girlfriend, she refused to shake his hand because she was mad that he was taking me away from her grandson. More than two years later she still hasn't gotten over it. She does this all jokingly, but as the saying goes, many a truth is spoken in jest. Why does she love me so much?

Black Friday

So I've never done the Black Friday thing ever, but I decided to try it. I was up anyway with the baby at 5am, so soon as I had finished feeding him, I left the little guy with my hubby and ventured into the cold to go to Target. I knew things were crazy at stores; I had been watching the early news shows showing huge crowds storming malls, but for some reason I thought Target wouldn't be so bad. I got there and could hardly find a place to park. I have never seen the parking lot so full! Then I could hardly find a shopping cart. When I got inside, the store was packed with crazed shoppers running around trying to grab everything from their lists before the stock runs out. I heard one lady say that some random person had tried to steal some stuff out of her shopping cart. I shopped around a little bit, but then had to abandon my shopping cart as I could hardly get down any aisles with it. In the end I didn't buy too much. I mostly just went for the experience and to see what kinds of sales they had. I don't think I'll ever try shopping on Black Friday ever again. It was absolutely insane!! However, I left the store around 7am and could tell that it had calmed down a little bit. Maybe it'd be okay to go shopping later in the day if you don't mind missing all the early bird special sales.

Sam's 4 month visit

For anyone who is interested, here are Sam's stats as of November 17th from his 4 month visit to the doctor:

Weight: 10 lbs. 5 oz.
Length: 22 1/4 in.
Head Circumference: 41 cm.

Still small, but growing on his own curve. Everything looks okay!

Yea for Turkies!!

So I beat my bowling record, and I'll probably never bowl as well ever again! At yesterday's anual Thanksgiving bowling extravaganza, I started my game with a turkey--three strikes in a row! And how appropriate to have done that on Thanksgiving! At the end of it all, I think I got a couple more strikes and spares leaving me with my high score of 153! We could join a league, but team members beware--that last game was definately a fluke! I rarely bowl over 80!

What is this world coming to?!

It was an unseasonably warm day (a couple weeks ago) when I saw a minivan driving down Davis Blvd, an arm hanging out the passenger side holding a leash and a dog walking on the sidewalk all alone. Are we so lazy that we can't even get off our behinds to walk for a few minutes?! Especially on such a beautiful day! What kind of healthy habits did that teach that kid? I was flaberghasted!

Book Club

Some of my friends from my French classes and I started a book club. Today was our first real meeting (two weeks ago everyone met to decide on what we were going to read). Our first book is The Phantom of the Opera in French (Le Fantome de l'Opera). What I hadn't realized was that it was written by the same author of a one of my favorite books we studied last semester (Le Mystere de la Chambre Jaune by Gaston Leroux). We had our meeting on the roof of the Salt Lake library. It was a perfect afternoon to be outside with friends discussing the book (which I actually haven't technically started yet, though I know the story very well). It was also fun to have Sam come and meet my friends from school. What a precocious child for attending a book club meeting at such a young age! If any of you French speakers are interested in joining, vous etes le bienvenues!

What's your best time?

When we lived in Farmington, once or twice a week I would drive Chris to work at 4am in order to avoid having to drive both our cars out to Bountiful since we both had places to be in the mornings. The drive to Bountiful was always dark and cold, and the only thing I could think about was how nice it must be to be able to stay in my cozy bed for a full eight hours. The streets at that hour are pretty quiet and empty, however there are a few regulars that we see. For example, often we would see a lady out walking her dog in her bath robe. I think a coat would probably keep her warmer, but for whatever reason, she settles on her robe. Almost every morning during our drive on Main Street to Great Harvest we would see people out exercising. What kind of crazy person wakes up at 4am to go running?! I know exercise is important, but so is sleep! I admire their determination to go running and walking so diligently, but I still think they're crazy! In my opinion and experience, in order to make your own personal exercise plan work, you need to schedule it at a time that motivates you the most. For me, on several occasions, I have forced myself to wake up early to go running. It'll usually last a couple days, and then I stop because I value my sleep. I have found that my best time to workout is between 3-5pm. That way I don't lose any sleep, it's not too dark or cold outside, and I still have the rest of the evening to do whatever I want. If you plan exercising at a time that is naturally the best for you personally, I think you will find the most success.

The Two Month Visit

So Sam went to the doctor today for his two month visit. Here are his stats:

Weight: 8lbs 4oz
Length: 21in
Head Circumference: 38 1/2cm

For his weight and height he is under the fifth percentile compared to full-term babies, but because he was officially premature (he was born at 36 weeks and five days) Dr. Groebs adjusted it and said he is in the 25-30th percentile.

Everything looks good and healthy for the most part. He's still kind of small, but still growing at an okay rate (he gained 8oz this past week). The worst part about our visit was the immunization shots. He had to get poked four times and it made him very upset. He was crying so hard that it made me cry too. I hate to see him so sad, but I know his immunizations are very important. It was a good thing that Chris was there to hold him while he got poked because I don't think I would've been able to do it. He has been a little upset this evening because of his sore legs, but we gave him some tylenol and he's starting to feel better, I think.

Il faut etre prudent!

The other day Sam and I went on a walk near Farmington canyon. On the way up 100 East, I saw two little girls walking home from elementary school. They saw me from across the street and walked over to start talking to me. They were super friendly and asked all about Sam and me: my name, where I lived, if I had kids in school, etc. Then they proceeded to tell me all about themselves. They were sisters, one in third grade, the other in sixth grade. They told me all about their family and even where they lived. I was surpised at how friendly and outgoing they were to me, a stranger. The thing that surprised me the most was how much personal information they gave out. If I were a sexual preditor of kidnapper, these two little girls would have been easy targets to do bad things to. It really scares me how many sick-o's exist in the world. Recently there have been so many stories in the news about kidnappings and child abuse--so much that it makes me so scared to be raising children in this world. I don't want to be a pyscho-overprotective mom raising our kids, but at the same time, their safety is the most important thing. Growing up we used to wander around the neighborhood and play out front without being surpervised without any worries. Now as an adult, I see the world differently and I worry for all these innocent little kids. I guess the only thing you can do as far as prevention is to educate your children about how to interact with strangers as well as what to do when someone they know makes them feel uncomfortable. To see what kind of problemed-people live near you, visit the Family Watchdog.

Girls Camp

Ever since last December when I was called to be our ward's camp director, I have been dreading this week. I knew at the time I received the call that I would be very pregnant, but having just found out myself, I didn't want to tell the bishopric just yet. Well, girls camp is here, and some how after lots of stress, crying, my first anxiety attack, and more stress I have mostly made it through okay. When I talked to my doctor two weeks ago, I asked her if she thought I could go. She said it would probably be okay for me to go which was not what I wanted to hear. I told her that I was hoping she would tell me not to go, so she changed her story and said, "Okay, you can't go! Do you want me to write you a note?" She's so cute!

All the other YW leaders have been really understanding for the most part and I have been able to rely a lot on my wonderful assistant camp director. In the end I decided to go up just one or two days just for the afternoon. The girls left last Tuesday and will be back Friday afternoon. I went up yesterday and was planning on going up again this evening, but I don't think my body can handle another trip up there.

The girls were able to participate in lots of really fun activities yesterday. I would have loved to join them if I wasn't expecting. They did some cute crafts, went horseback riding (we found out the hard way that a couple of our girls are allergic to horses), did some archery, had fun with a climbing wall, and flew through the trees on a zip line (which actually broke after one of our girls used it--oops!). At the beginning of the day, the gentleman who drove me up with his grandaughter had a pretty bad accident. As we were walking down to the flag ceremony, he tripped on a tree root and landed ever so ungracefully on his face. He scratched up his arms and legs pretty bad, and had to get stitches by his mouth (the camp nurse stitched him up right there at camp on our table).

Anyway, we had a pretty good day; however, I don't think I can do it again. I was so nervous driving up and down the dirt road, the elevation and the sun made me very tired, and I think I overexerted myself just by walking around to the different activities. This morning I could hardly get out of bed or walk because my body was so sore. So I don't think I'll be going back up again tonight. I did my part planning for the past six months, so I think my assistant and the other leaders can handle the rest under the circumstances. I am soooo happy this major stressor in my life is over! I think Chris is happy too because that means I will stop crying! The only thing I have left to worry about is our cute little baby who will be coming pretty soon, and that's an exciting stress to worry about!

A little late, but still good...

I know the month is just about over, but for those of you who haven't read June's Ensign yet, I wanted to give you a heads up. There are some really great articles all about the importance of strengthening the family as well as tips and ideas for those of you who are still playing the dating game. Go read it, and if you already have, read it again or share it as a family for FHE!

And the winner is...

Chris works with a guy at IHC who is always impressed at what food gets brought to him from home; usually it's whatever I can find around the house, or if it's Sunday, he gets the really good stuff. Well, they decided that they wanted the wives to have a sack lunch cook-off today to see who would get better food. I didn't have a lot to work with, yet still mangaged to win! Really, the other guy's wife never brought him his food, so I won by default. Maybe she was just intimidated by my mad sack lunch skills and was afraid to even try. Yeah, I bet that's what happened!

Hooray for Grants!

I just found out today that Chris and I got grants from the government to pay for school next year! Hooooray!! We got more than enough; the extra can go towards books and stuff. I was afraid that we would get less this year because we have made more money this year, but I guess it helps that we will soon be poor parents. This is such a huge blessing! Thank you US government!

Still after two years...

So I have been home from my mission for over two years now. For the first little while after being home I occasionally had a hard time finding the right words in English. In my Communications class I had at SLCC my first semester back, I often got marked down for using French syntax in my writing that sounded just fine to me! Well, apparently, I still have that same problem. Last night as I was doing my visiting teaching, I wanted to add a little thought to my companion's lesson. "Could I make a quick...shoot! What's the word? Ajoutation?" I couldn't think of the word "comment"! It was pretty funny. I still dream in French probably once or twice a week. I guess that's what happens with being a French major.

Soon-to-be Madame Taylor

I found out last week that I have officially been accepted into the U's Secondary Education Teaching program for Fall '06/Spring '07! Next fall will be my final semester of real classes (starting at 7:30am everyday--I really hope our baby sleeps through the night!), and then in the spring I will be student teaching. Then after two more Praxis exams, I will be a full-fledged teacher(if I can find a job somewhere)and a college graduate!! I was pretty nervous that I wouldn't get in because it's pretty competitive, and I know that a lot of schools are eliminating French classes and just doing Spanish--how sad! Anyway, I just wanted to share my good news!

What Would I Do Without the Internet?!

So it's been about a week since our internet at home isn't up and running, and I'm going crazy without it! We decided to switch dial-up companies inorder to get more Delta Skymiles, but in the process of doing so, it kind of messed things up. Chris called the PeoplePC people, and they're sending us something that will hopefully make everything better. I guess I just didn't realize how much I use and need the internet every day of my life! Usually I'll just use the computers at school (that's where I am now), but this past week was Spring Break, so that didn't work. I didn't rely on the internet five years ago when I started college nearly as much as I do now. I'm taking one completely online class, and then four other classes of mine use WebCT. Teachers and fellow group members rely on me to email assignments and information all the time. I'm going crazy without my slow dial-up connection!!

Yea for bellies!

Today after my last class two girls came up to me and asked if I was pregnant. That's a pretty daring question to ask if you're not sure. Luckily I'm not gaining weight for nothing, and I was able to tell them that I really was. I'm just excited that people who don't know that I am pregnant can start to tell just by looking at me! I used to feel like I was just getting fatter, but now it's beginning to look like a little pregnant belly!

Just as a side note, one of the girls that asked is also pregnant, but I didn't know how far along. She's way huge, and as I found out, she is only four weeks ahead of me; however, this could be because it's not her first child. Who knows, maybe I'll suddenly become huge in the next four weeks (let's hope not).

And as another side note, I think I felt the baby move again today! This pregnancy thing is pretty fun!