Christmas

Both boys got new PJs Christmas Eve, and here they are showing off their cute little skinny bodies. Doesn't Kai look a little scary smiling here?
I thought this was a cute picture since all of the boys seem so interested in one of the toys that Kai got from his grandma :).
I just liked this one of Kai feeling so proud that he was standing up by himself. He isn't pulling himself up on things quite yet, so he shouldn't feel too proud that he had my help to stand there.
Chase got a tricycle from Santa, and that "green hill" to the left of him. With money being very tight this year with all of our recent changes, I shopped at DI for both boys. I got the bike for $5 as well as that cool car ramp/hill for $5. With the boys having no clue that they weren't brand new, I am sold on D.I. and all of the amazing deals I have been finding lately.

This picture was too cute not to post.

Christmas was a lot of fun this year with Chase believing in Santa, and Kai getting excited to open presents. The morning didn't start out too well with me waking up at 5:00 only to throw up, but thankfully my prayers were answered and I was feeling well within a few hours and able to have a fairly normal day.
Nathan and I set a pretty tight budget for each other this year and only allowed each other to spend $15 on each other's presents. It was supposed to be tricky to encourage creativity, and Nathan did a great job. He made me a CD of songs that I have been wanting, a tape recording of him telling me what he loves about me and our life together (my favorite gift), a really good-smelling body spray he got for $2 with a coupon from Victoria Secrets, and some chocolate. For him I got him a tortilla warmer he has been wanting for years it seems, some wooden suit hangers that were on sale at Linen's and Things, and I drew him a picture of Kai and Chase and framed it. Nothing big, but it is all about the thought that counts, and what was neat is that each of the presents were well thought out.
I am grateful for my little family, and for their spirits, and the fun that we have together. Having to live more simply has made me realize how much I really do have, and how much family and friends really mean to me. I am so grateful that we were able to celebrate our Savior's birth, and am so grateful for the sacrifices he made for each of us. It was great to celebrate Christmas with most of Nathan's family, and now we have 2009 to look forward to. I wonder what 2009 will bring? :)

The First Real Snow for Washington

We have been getting a little bit of snow over the past week, but all today we have been getting some decent snow flurries for this area, (I know many of you reading this are getting dumped with some major snow). Nicole, myself, Chase, and her son Joseph all went out this morning when the little boys were napping, and we had a lot of fun. Here we are "sledding" down the street. Chase enjoyed it even though it took some persuading to get him on the sled...he isn't the most adventurous little boy.
After Nathan came home from work this afternoon we decided to attempt the cold as a family. I didn't want Kai to stay out too long, so he and I went inside pretty soon thereafter; but we enjoyed watching "Daddy" sled down some dangerous hills and almost hurt himself.
I just had to post this picture of Chase and his cute little face (even though only a little bit of it is showing :D ).

Bath Time!

It is so much fun now that Kai is good at sitting up and can play in the bath with Chase. Sometimes Kai is a little too brave and will lunge for a toy he wants to play with, and ends up face deep in the water, but this is pretty rare. The boys enjoy playing in the water together, and especially like to splash. Here is a short video clip for those of you that don't get to see the boys very often (hopefully there are no particular body parts showing :P, I tried to be careful).

Finally, an Update with Pictures

After three weeks in Washington I feel like we are all starting to get in somewhat of a groove. For all of you that don't already know, Nathan took a job up here with his sister Nicole's husband. We left everything we know to act on answers to prayers, and are living here on faith and hope that we made the right decision. In doing so, his sister and her husband are nice enough to provide us a place to live until things become more stable with the selling of our condo in CA, his part time job turning into a full time job, etc. Living with family has actually been easier than we were expecting. Of course we have our ups and downs, those are to be expected, but it has actually been a lot of fun hanging out with them since they are the same ages as we are, and their two boys are just slightly younger than our two boys. Here are a few pictures of each of the two sets of buddies:
Kai (on the left, the bald one) is now 8 months and is great at sitting, and is getting better at pushing himself around, (his head is pretty big for his body (weight is in the 5% and head is in the 85%) so he drags his head as he pushes himself to where he wants to be). Jacob is almost 5 months old, and although he spits up a ton, (it sure seems to run in Nathan's family's genes), he is 3x the weight of Kai! These two little guys don't do a whole lot with each other, but they do enjoy each others' pacifiers and toys. Thankfully Jacob is a pretty quiet and mellow guy because Kai loves hearing himself and is becoming really LOUD!

Chase and Joseph are becoming quite the brothers--they love each other one moment, and the next moment they are bitter enemies. Although they are the same size, Joseph is 7 months younger than Chase. It is nice having them together because they entertain each other and always look forward to seeing the other one when they wake up from naps or in the morning. Here is a picture of them soaking their feet before Nicole pampers them with a foot massage :).
They also enjoy snacking, drinking, and eating at the same time, because if one is doing something, the other has to do the same thing. Unfortunately if one is playing with one toy, the other one wants to play with the same one--sharing is something they are working on :)
After frequent fights, they are still really good at hugging, and sometimes kissing, to make up.
Here is Nicole and Adam's family room, where most of our day is spent each and every day. This is cleaner than it normally is. Even though it normally is filled with toys, and looks as if it has been hit by a tornado, we are able to make it look presentable pretty quick. It is nice to be getting the hang of cooking, playing, and living together, and I know I will have many experiences to be putting on here in the next little while.

To wrap this up, I just wanted to mention a funny thing Chase said the other day, it is pretty random, but he is learning to say so many things now, and the things he says are often hilarious. So Chase and I were getting ready to go outside, and he says, "You're not my mom." I replied, "Oh I'm not am I?" and he says, "No, you're my girlfriend." I have no idea where he came up with what a girlfriend is, or why I am his girlfriend, but I thought it was pretty funny. Anyway, sorry for the random ending to my post :)

We Made It

So I can't find my camera since we moved, but I really haven't looked for it all that hard... so no pictures yet. However, I thought I would update you on our journey here and let you know that we made it to Washington in one piece :).

Halloween was unfortunately not full of trick or treating, but packing and cleaning. The day started out rainy, which we were worried it was an omen because it was really the first rainy day of the year for Cameron Park, typical...when you need good weather, you don't get it, haha. Anyway, it only rained on Nathan and me while we packed boxes in the morning, and when we had more help for the bigger stuff, the sun decided to come out and shine, an answer to prayers. We had two women in our ward that were so benevolent to offer to watch our boys, one watched them the first half of the day, the second for the rest of the day. We had some trouble getting the trailer we rented to tow our 2nd car, but 15 minutes before the rental place closed, they had our trailer in stock, so Nathan drove back to get it with our loaded 16' truck, and I was still at home scrambling to leave our place in a nice condition for potential buyers to actually consider buying it :). It was a mad rush for us to get everything done so we could pick up our boys before their babysitter had to make it to the ward Halloween party, as well as get the trailer picked up before the place closed for the week; however, we miraculously made it, and were exhausted in the process. The rest of the evening consisted of trying to get things figured out for the journey ahead of us, and trying to have an enjoyable last evening with my family while we still lived in the same town. I am really going to miss my parents, my brother Devin, and my sister and her family, we were really blessed to live close to so many of them, and now I am realizing how spoiled I have been. If it weren't for them, this move would have been a lot easier.

Anyway, the next morning we hit the road after the boys woke up. My dad helped us out by driving our HUGE moving truck up there for us, to allow Nathan to drive our other car, and me be the personal entertainer for the boys. We didn't realize how much we needed my dad to come along with us until we hit the Northern tip of CA and parts of Oregon, because the roads were slick, the rain came down hard, and passing through the windy mountain roads alongside semi's made for some crazy driving experiences. We made it to Eugene, OR the first night, which was over half way. My dad treated us to Outback, which we enjoyed, except for the fact that our two boys were exhausted from the long day, and did NOT want to be stuck sitting down again, who could blame them. We grabbed our things to go and went back to where we stayed the night at the local Super 8, which was actually nicer than I imagined :). We hit the road the next morning after we all woke up again, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of OR and WA, and made it to our destination around noon. WA greeted us with HUGE rain drops, which made it difficult for the guys to unload the truck, but the rain soon cleared, and they were able to get all of the moving done. Thank you to all of you that came to help.

Now we are trying to figure things out in our completely different life. The job that we moved up here for is unfortunately only part time for right now, and will hopefully be full time in the near future. So as of right now Nathan is looking for another part time job to give us the income to survive on. We have chosen to make several sacrifices for this new change, which have been really scary, but because we feel that this is what the Lord has asked us to do, we are hopeful and faithful that He knows what He is doing and that the sacrifices will bring the blessings.

We are also very blessed to be temporarily living with Nathan's sister and her husband. I am amazed at how willing they are to clear out two of their rooms to allow us to move in with them. We have enjoyed spending time with them and their two boys, and look forward to the many adventures that lay ahead of us.

Washington Here We Come!

We have finally made a decision! With mixed emotions, and a lot of nervousness, we are moving forward with faith to live in Federal Way, WA. It is really crazy because we were presented this job opportunity by Nathan's sister's husband 3 weeks ago, and it has taken us until, Tuesday, a few days ago, to finally decide that this is the right thing for us to do. The crazy part is--we are moving from where we have both lived at least 95% of our lives, California, on Saturday, the 1st!

I am excited that we have come to a conclusion, and have had experiences that have told us this is what we are supposed to be doing right now, but it is really hard leaving my parents, my sister Megan and her family, as well as our ward family that I absolutely love. Plus, Cameron Park has become our home, and it will be hard driving away from it. But we are moving forward, and although we haven't provided much heads up to anyone, we apologize, we are running around with our heads cut off too :).

What we are primarily looking forward to is that Nathan will be getting into a career that he has found interesting, and something I think he will really enjoy. There were a few job opportunities here in the Sacramento area, but none really panned out, and the ones that could have just didn't feel right, nor do I think he would have enjoyed them much. In Washington he will be learning the ins and outs of the financial industry, working for a company that does 401k's for businesses, but he will be working for the trust company that they have started as an off shoot that has been doing really well, and growing quickly.

Anyway, I will try to get on here as often as I can. I think these next few months will be crazy and full of changes, but I hope to report on here in the future that things are going wonderfully and that we are enjoying our new home. To all of you that we will be leaving, we will really miss you, more than we can ever express, and if it weren't for you, I think this choice would have been made earlier than we made it :).

Washington, here we come!

We're Alive Still, I Promise :)

I haven't been very good about updating our blog on here for two big reasons: 1.) Our computer got a million trojan viruses on it and would not operate unless it was in "safe mode", which prohibits me from opening a lot of websites, and will not let me open up any of our pictures. Thus it was hard to do anything online. 2.) Nathan has been looking for the right job opportunity, which has occupied our thoughts, energies, and time for the past few months, and overall it has just been crazy with all of it-- so blogging hasn't fit on the top of my list of priorities.

So, unfortunately we are still working on both of the above mentioned items, but we are temporarily borrowing my Dad's old laptop, which allows me to operate in normal mode, and so even though I can't upload any pictures to make this post more exciting, I am able to come on here and tell the few of you that actually check our blog, why I haven't put anything on here for forever.

I am hoping that within the next week or so, we will be able to decide on which of the few options Nathan has is the right one, and then be able to move forward and get back to a somewhat normal life. Until then it will probably be sporadic posts, but I love getting the few chances that I have to come on and see each of your latest blog happenings. Thanks to all of you for your words of encouragement and support during this trying time, and I will be eager to post what we will be choosing to do, and what type of adventure it will entail. I have a feeling we have a huge adventure ahead of us.

The Ice Cream Man...or is he?

I had to be careful about what I titled this post because my sister-in-law was concerned that I might get myself into trouble if I labeled it the way I would like to. I mentioned to a few of you recently that I had an epiphany that our ice cream man really sells drugs. The reason for my speculation is this:

1. He is scary and creepy looking
2. His ice cream trunk is totally junky
3. His ice cream co. is from a city/town 2 towns away = why would you drive so far to sell ice cream for $1?
4. He comes at the same time each time, and comes frequently (and I swear he came in the winter time last year, as well as when it was raining. Who buys ice cream when it is cold and wet outside?)
5. We don't have many kids that live in our condo complex
6. He turns on his music until he gets to the back of our condo complex, turns it off for 5 or so minutes, and then goes around the other half of the complex without turning his music back on...why not turn it back on to possibly get more sales?
7. The only reason you would come all the way over here, only turn your music on for part of the time, and not care about what you look like is because you are here to make a much larger profit selling something other than ice cream, and I know we have a cocaine addict that lives in our complex

So I told Nathan my speculation a week or so ago, and he thought I was crazy, and stupid for wanting to meddle and spy to see who is buying the ice cream. I thought, "How suspicious is it to buy ice cream from an ice cream man?" I just wanted to see if it was the addict coming to buy "ice cream"...how much trouble could that be?

Well today I was in the kitchen while the boys were playing in our family room, and I hear "Pop Goes the Weasel" getting louder and louder--the ice cream man was here! I started scrambling all around trying to determine if I was going to be stupid and investigate. I asked Chase, "Chase, do you want to go and get ice cream?" He responds, "Yeah, I am excited!" which is not a word I have ever heard him use before. So at this point I have to go because now my son is excited. I grab his bank, because he has all this change that we could use to buy the cheapest ice cream, and then I grab him and we leave Kai to entertain himself for a few minutes, (in retrospect that was a stupid move because what if something bad happened to me in my investigative work and I was never able to come back to my baby?) Anyway, I go running up the hill towards the back of the complex with Chase in one arm laughing, and his bank in the other, totally looking like an idiot. I make it in time before the driver looks like he is going to pull away. I see a Hispanic man and his little boy walking away from the truck, his little boy holding an ice cream, I didn't catch to see if his dad was holding his own "treat" :), and I run up to the ice cream window. The scary Indian man glares down at me when I ask what the least expensive ice cream is, and I pick out an Orange Creamsicle for Chase, because of course he has clammed up when we are around a stranger. So I am handed the ice cream, and when I am about to turn away, there he is! The coke addict! He is coming to the ice cream truck and he says, "Hey Boss, I'll have the banana fudgesicle" or something like that. At this point I had said "Hey", to be a polite neighbor, but had to start walking away to look normal. I didn't see how much money he gave to the driver for his inexpensive ice cream, but I am willing to bet that a druggie, coming to buy ice cream in the middle of the day, by himself, who is a grown man, and who refers to the ice cream man as "boss" in a familiar way, is buying something more than ice cream. So now I know, my speculation is almost 100% correct, but I really don't know if there is any other way to prove it, nor if I should try. This addict is a scary guy with 2 pitbulls. They have never done anything to us, but I know they are capable of it, so I think I will mind my own business from now on. At least I know, and at least I can let all of you know to watch out for scary ice cream men.

"Kai" = Fire

You would never be able to tell from this picture that our little Kai can be quite the fireball. When we chose the name Kai, we liked its many meanings: ocean, beautiful, leader, enlightened one, and many more. However, in Irish, the name means fire, and we are coming to see that Kai has a fiery personality, and to add to the fieriness, he seems to be slowly growing red hair.

Since I mentioned in my last posting that we were going to let Kai cry it out last night, I should mention how that went. I was surprised at how well it went. He started crying two hours after being put down, but after 10 minutes was silent. I think he woke up two more times, and cried no longer than 20 minutes at his longest interval. I went in to feed him close to 5am, and then he slept until 7am. I am thinking that in the near future I will no longer go in to do that morning feed, but I don't want to cut him cold turkey. I am hoping that tonight will go even better.

Anyway, I am only doing the cry-it-out method during the night, and surprisingly Kai has been slowly extending his naptimes from 40 min. on the dot, to sometimes an hour, and sometimes even an hour and a half. Well this afternoon he woke up a little before 40 min., but he was in there talking having a great ol' time. This is unusual since he normally wakes up with a shrieking cry that makes anyone want to get him to make it stop. So since he was having a good time, I thought I wouldn't go in and interrupt. Well he eventually started his normal cry so Chase and I went in to get him up. This is what we walked in to see...

I cracked up when I saw him up there because when I put him to bed he was up against the rolled up blanket, swaddled, (in the blanket that is bunched up on the right,) with one arm out. He not only managed to get out of the swaddle and inch his way upwards, but he also took off the bumper, and was underneath it. I guess he is telling me that he is finally ready to be fully unswaddled :).

You can't quite tell by the picture, but he was quite mad that I hadn't picked him up right away, but rather ran to the other room to grab the camera to take pictures. And I normally don't have him only sleep in a diaper, although it is warm enough to, but he is soooo drooly that his outfit was completely soaked that I didn't want him to have to sleep in it.

He is a funny boy, and I just wonder what we are in for as this little fireball continues to grow up. I can just see him now, a tall, skinny, redhead, with a big head and bouncing off the walls, not to mention shrieking at the top of his lungs...oh no!

AHHHH I am SOOOOO Tired

I figured I would come on here briefly before jumping in the shower, (since I take them at nights due to my mornings often being too crazy), to share that I am trying something different with the whole getting Kai ready to share a room with Chase. So far I haven't had a lot of luck with Kai sleeping through the night. Last night, for whatever reason, he decided to wake up every, and I mean every, hour and a half. Needless to say I was ticked and am pretty exhausted today. I didn't feed him, except for once close to 4am, but figured that by me showing him he didn't get to eat, that he would eventually stop waking up. I have found that there is no easy way with him, he is going to have to cry it out, and cry it out for good. I will go in and reassure him initially in the night, but after that he is going to have to figure out how to soothe himself. This kid is a unique one, and sleeping has never been one of his gifts. I think I have spoiled him by always coming to his aid and giving him his pacifier, but I feel like I really am doing a disservice to him by not allowing him to figure out how to get a good nights sleep, as well as a disservice to me who never gets any rest, (which is why I think I have been having my ear/equilibrium/hearing problems lately). So, tonight I have decided to have Kai get used to sleeping in the crib at night, rather than just at naptimes, and get used to soothing himself. I have convinced Chase that sleeping in the Pak-n-play in the living room is a special treat for a few nights, and we will see how that goes. I figured with Kai crying in a room with a door, we might all be able to escape his piercing, shrieking cry a little bit better. Who knows, tonight is the first night and I am doubtful, but hopeful at the same time. I will have to come back on here and post an update after we give this a go for a few nights. I have to tell myself to be consistent, because it is so easy to give in. Wish us all luck! (Sorry for the long saga, you can tell this is something I think about a lot).

The Latest Pictures

Nathan and Kai enjoying some boy bonding time...watching the t.v.
Kai getting his first bites of rice cereal...not a hit.
Doesn't this face tell you exactly what he thinks?
Chase and Kai love sitting on our rocking chair together. It is nice to see them enjoy being together as well as entertain each other, even if it is only seconds at a time.
I can't believe I actually got them to both make decent faces at the same time. Not the best picture of either, but together it works!

Chase attempting to sing

Chase has been singing more lately, and can sing Pat-a-cake, Popcorn Popping, Twinkle Twinkle, part of Happy Birthday, and probably a few more. I catch him singing sometimes by himself, but as soon as he sees me it typically stops. Anyway, he was willing to sing for the camera today, but as soon as I bring it out he starts acting goofy and mumbling all of his words. So this isn't the best example of him singing, but I thought I would put it on here for my mom to hear him sing "Happy Birthday" to her since it is our birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday, Mom, even though you will probably never come on here to see this :). I love you so much, and thanks for giving birth to me on your birthday 26 years ago.

More SB Pictures

There were a few more pictures I wanted to post but they wouldn't fit on my last posting. Not that this is a great picture of me by any means, but I am always the photographer and people have complained that there are never any pictures of me. I had to have my hair up most of the trip, which is so not like me, but there was so much humidity that my hair was really frowy! Now Nathan has seen my ears better and realizes where Kai gets his from :).
Since Chase made so many sandcastles on our trip, I had to at least post one of the pictures capturing the master builder at work. I think we need to get a sandbox for our place!
Kai began his stranger anxiety stage while we were on our trip. He would smile at others as long as I was holding him. Too bad we couldn't get a picture of him at least being decent with "Nammy Bobbie". Thankfully Chase is good at saying "Cheese" and is smiling for us on cue when we need to take pictures.
Last but not least, we were able to dogsit while we housesat. This is Teagan, and she was a really good dog. She would even come into our room at night to let us know that Kai was crying in the other room. She put up with Chase screaming because he was scared of her, (and he never did warm up to her completely), she was laid back, and an overall great dog. Nathan and I still aren't dog people, even though we thought we were a few years ago, but we enjoyed spending time with her, and couldn't have watched a better dog.

Vacationing in Santa Barbara

We got so lucky this last week to be able to go and housesit for someone in Nathan's mom's ward. We were able to stay in their nice home, just our little family of 4, which was sooo nice since Kai was able to sleep in a bedroom rather than our family room at night :). The weather was in the 70s and 80s our whole stay, so we were able to escape the 100+ degrees back here at home.
The home we stayed at had a jacuzzi, lawn to play on, a hammock (as you can see we enjoyed that), a fire pit where we were able to toast marshmallows, and it was so airy and bright with windows all over the house.
We were able to go to the beach every other day, and despite Chase being scared of the water, he loved building sand castles and getting himself covered in sand.
Santa Barabara has a really nice zoo, and we were able to enjoy seeing all of the animals one of the days we were there. Chase liked seeing them, but I think he enjoyed just running and jumping around, and going on the train ride.
We were also able to visit Nathan's family, even though they gave us our space and allowed us to truly have a great vacation, and here are the boys with "Cuppy Steve" as Chase calls him. We were also able to spend time with "Nammy Sandy" and "Nammy Bobbie" who the boys love, and Chase always asks and talks about. It was a lot of fun and we were spoiled by each of them. We will miss them, but were grateful to see them.

I've Been Tagged

Well I have finally been "tagged" and so now it is my turn to answer some "love" questions :). I am a little frustrated because my good friend Emily is the one that tagged me, and her blog entry in answer to these questions was full of cute pictures; however, I have tried my hardest to get the pictures of us dating, our engagement, etc. onto this computer and really, the level of effort I was putting into it made me realize it is stupid for a dumb blog! So, at least I have one picture to put on here. Here are my answers to the "love questions":

1. Where did you and your husband meet? There are two answers to this question. I saw Nathan for the first time at a BYU computer lab. It was his first day at work, and everyone's first day of the semester, and I needed to go and switch some of my classes. He was the friendly greeter that pointed students to the next open computer, and he smiled at me, but has no recollection of seeing me there. I remember him, and I remember saying to my good friend, Nan, "He's cute," but thinking to myself that he probably already had a girlfriend. We officially met 3 days later at the Enclave, an apartment complex outside of BYU. There was a dance party outside, and I was with my girlfriends. I saw him standing on the outskirts like a loner (just kidding, honey), and I leaned over to my other friend, Katie and mentioned that there was the boy from the computer lab. She dragged me over to talk to him (thank goodness), and I asked him why he wasn't dancing. Thankfully he didn't think that I was a big loser in coming up to him, and joined me and my friends for the rest of the night. In the end he asked for my number and I went home that night and wrote in my journal that I met my future husband :).
2. First thing said? I guess I already answered that..."Why aren't you dancing?"
3. First date: The following Tuesday, Nathan called me to see if I was going to be going to the Devotional on campus. We met at the Brigham Young statue and went together. He then asked if I would like to hang out with him that night and we hung out at his apartment and made spaghetti, got to know each other better, and...
4. First kiss: I am worried that I am skipping a date of ours, but I am pretty sure that we kissed the very first "official date night" we had. It was September 11th, 2002 (a year after that momentous day in history). After we had made spaghetti, I think we talked and did other things, but then he asked if I wanted to hear him play his saxophone. Of course I did, so he played me "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias, and I was smitten with his sexiness :), and leaned in to kiss him right when he finished the song. It was a great first kiss. I was laughing at myself afterwards though, because shortly before I had met him I said to myself, "I wasn't going to meet anyone special to date at a dance," and "I was going to wait awhile, and get to know someone before kissing them." Oh well to both of those thoughts :)
5. When "I love yous" were first said: I am not exactly sure on the date, but it was after dating for a month or so, I think. Nathan created the cutest slideshow, I know, dorky, but it really was adorable--and it talked about how his life was boring before he met me, and now it was wonderful that we were together, and then at the end it said, "I love you" on the last screen. Of course I had to tell him that I loved him back, especially since I had realized that for some time by that point.
6. Long or short courtship/engagement? We officially met on September 7, 2002, got engaged on February 8, 2003, and were married on May 30, 2003. So I would say it is pretty short from the world's standpoint. Maybe long from a BYU's standpoint, haha.
7. Where did you get engaged? Nathan tricked me on this one, and I didn't see it coming. We had planned on going on a double date to some big fun zone place in Salt Lake. We met at the girl's parents' house from the other couple, and were talking to them in their family room when Nathan said he needed to get something from the other room. He dragged me with him and I realized that the room was all set up. There were over 50 roses lining up a pathway towards a homey fireplace, with rose petals and little tealight candles everywhere. He then took out his saxophone and played "The Wedding Song" (which I only knew that that was what it was called since we had talked about it before, it is a Kenny G song, and I am really not into jazz), but he played it very well. And then he said some cute, sweet things and got down on his knee and proposed to me. It was all very well thought out and romantic.
8. Where were you married? In the Oakland, CA temple
9. Where did you go on your honeymoon? For the first night we stayed at the Pan Pacific in San Francisco, then after our reception the next day we stayed in Tahoe for two nights, and then traveled down the coast, stopping in Monterey and Solvang, and ultimately met our destination in Santa Barbara where we lived/housesat a really nice "mansion" that overlooked the city and the ocean, for the summer.
10. Where did you make your first home? I don't count those few months in Santa Barbara as our first home, it really was more like a vacation home. Our first real place was at the good old Villa Maria apartments in Provo, UT. They definitely weren't fancy, but they hold great memories for us, and we made it our little home for about a year's time.

Now it is over five years later, with two more little Crisenberry's, and a lot of life experience. I am more in love with Nathan than when we were first married, and appreciate him even more than I did back then. I don't know how I got so lucky to have found him, but I sure am grateful for all of the blessings that our little family has.

I guess it is my job to now tag a few more people. I tag Katie Robertson, Laurin Smith, and Tracy Haws. I will be surprised if any of these 3 actually see this since they are new to this blogging thing, but if they do I would love to hear their stories.

Our Family Trip to the Sacramento Temple Grounds

On Saturday we had the morning to spend together, (Nathan had to go and record with his band the whole afternoon and evening), so we decided to go to the Sacramento temple grounds as a family. There is a huge grassy, tree area that is nice and shady, perfect for the 90+ degrees it was, and so Chase ran around playing frisbee with Nathan, and then played in a sandy area, while I kept Kai happy and content. Here's Kai enjoying the shade and looking up at the trees, even though he doesn't seem to be enjoying himself that much.
Chase wouldn't stop for a second for me to take a picture of him,

and each time I asked him to he would run away from me. Toddlers.
Since we ended up being there for such a long time, (we were trying to decide what we are wanting to do with our life :)...long story, but I think we figured that out, and thankfully it isn't going to require too much change), I had to get Kai to go to sleep. He is used to being wrapped up like a "peanut" as my sister calls it, but he only slept for about 20 minutes. We paid for that on the 20-30 min car ride home.
Here is Chase running at me, but still, he wouldn't pause for a picture...toddlers :).
I thought this was a cute picture. Towards the end of our visit, Chase ran up to his dad and just leaned into the back of him. He loves his dad so much, and Nathan sure loves his boys.

Kai Kicking and Chase Crashing

Yesterday it was really cool in the evening so we decided to go outside after dinner to play as a family. Kai loved the cool air and looking up at the treetops, and when he gets excited he kicks his legs wildly. I decided to capture it in a short clip for family members that live far away and don't get to see him very often.

Nathan showed Chase that lifting up his legs on his little car, to go down the slight hill, was pretty fun, and then crashing at the end made it even more fun. Thankfully I caught this on camera since the next time down resulted in a minor injury and the fun was no longer there :). This really ended up not being as entertaining as I had expected, but my voice in it is pretty funny so I had to post it anyway.

Our Afternoon

Tuesdays are my day where I don't "schedule" a certain household chore to be done, and so it is just a day based on what our "needs" are, if that is to go grocery shopping or to get out of the house, that is where the day usually goes. So lately Chase has been really grumpy, defiant, and quick to throw a tantrum, a stage I am sure, so I thought why don't we all go to the library, since Chase loves going and playing with the toys there and picking out books to read. Here is a picture of Kai while we were there, he made a slobbery mess out of himself, but enjoyed talking very loudly while there...I guess he didn't realize we were in the library and that you have to whisper :).

Here is a picture of Chase working on his laptop, which I am sure is covered in other library goers' germs. This is one of his favorite toys to play with while visiting, and wouldn't look at the camera to smile for me...the stubborn little thing. He had a lot of fun though, and we ended up getting a book on firetrucks, dump trucks, throwing tantrums, and then some sing a long CDs. I got a million other books too, one of them being "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" since I enjoyed the one for babies, and I am needing some ideas with my toddler every once in awhile :). He is really good though, and like you said, Emily, boys are a lot of fun. I think I am blessed with Chase since he is fairly easy-going and obedient...normally, haha.

Then, to end our afternoon, Chase got a bath so he could go swimming with his bathtime Elmo. He was splashing away, having a grand old time, until he decided to dive. Unfortunately our bathtub isn't the standard 9ft deep for diving, so of course he hit the shallow bottom. Not only did he suck up water, he also hit his mouth, and it quickly swelled up. I am not sure if this picture does the bump justice, but this is his pose for the camera to show it off.

So I guess we will see how the rest of the afternoon goes. All I can say is that I am glad that Nathan will be home in a little more than an hour, and that he doesn't have to go out with the Young Men, or any other committment. :) I guess this evening's possibilities are endless with 3 boys!

Kai's 4 Month Dr. Visit

Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that Kai is already 4 months, but other times it is hard to remember what life was like without him. Yesterday, Chase and I took him in for his 4 month well-baby visit. The trip would have been perfect if Kai wasn't super tired and needing a nap. However, he held in there as best as any tired 4 month could, and despite loud complaining and a few meltdowns in the waiting room and doctor's office, he made it.

For Nathan's mom, especially, I am deciding to write his stats since she loves hearing how our boys are growing. First, the doctor said he is very strong, has a good heart, and good lungs, and she can tell he is very vocal :). Chase and Kai seem to follow pretty similar growth patterns, long and skinny with big heads, but compared to Chase at 4 months, Kai is longer and weighs a little less. I think their heads are pretty comparable :). Kai weighed 13lb7oz, so he is getting lower on the weight charts, and his height is in the 85% at 2'2". His head is in the 76% at 17". Because his head is so big he tends to look overall more chunky, but if you get a look at his long, skinny arms and legs you can see it is an illusion. But the doctor isn't concerned about his slenderness since he just seems to be taking after our little family. He is healthy, and I am grateful for that. He is becoming more and more social, animated, and fun. He is also mellowing out a little, and acting way more easy going, thank goodness! I love this little guy to death, and love kissing his round little head and cheeks. I am so blessed to have two cute, fun, and happy little boys.

Now if only I can work on my patience level today. Last night I was up 4 times with Kai, and when I am acting on little sleep and Chase is throwing everything he can get his hands on, talking about a million things without ever taking a break, and crawling all over me, by the end of the day I have almost lost all sanity. We will see how the day goes. I just need to keep in mind how cute they are and that they are just little boys who need my love and attention :). Wish me luck!

My Sweet Husband

Last night after we had gone in after swimming, Nathan decided he was in the mood for ice cream. Since we didn't have any on hand, he decided to take Chase to Safeway to buy some. Nathan and I are each on a restricted diet, he can't eat any wheat, flour, or anything that has gluten in it since his body doesn't tolerate it, and I can't have any dairy since Kai's body doesn't tolerate it. Anyway, he went to the store to get ice cream for him and Chase, and to pick out a surprise for me. When he got home he showed me that he got me a Ghiradelli chocolate bar, but the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and a few other of the ingredients were milk. I was bummed. I was excited to eat a treat, and then when I couldn't eat anything, and had to watch them eat ice cream, I got even more bummed. I tried not to show my disappointment, but Nathan felt really bad for not thinking of my dairy limitation, and getting me a treat I couldn't eat.

The boys finished their ice cream, and then I took Chase to his room to put him down for bed. While I was in his room, Nathan snuck out to the store again. When I came back he was gone. In the end, he came back with 3 choices: Sour Patch Kids, Sour Gummi Worms, and a Snickers Bar, 3 of my favorites. Snickers has milk in it too, but a smaller amount, and I probably shouldn't have eaten it, but I couldn't resist :).

Nathan totally didn't need to do that for me, but I really appreciated the sweet and selfless gesture, and it just proved to me even more how lucky I am to be married to him.

FHE

Last night for FHE, Nathan took Chase out to go swim. Kai of course woke up from his short nap and came out to join us. Since it was darker outside, we felt that it would be fine letting him go in the pool for the first time. It was a little chilly in the water, but he adapted ok, and was able to last for a few minutes. We had a fun time hanging out at the pool as a family.Here Chase looks exceptionally skinny, but I just had to post this picture because it shows that we really need to get "Little Swimmers". His diapers look like they are about to explode!
A cute picture of Nathan and Kai...at least I think so :)
Another cute picture of my hubby :). What a dad!
A funny picture of Kai after drying off. I almost can picture him with an Italian accent asking me what I am looking at.

Bath Time

Kai loves bath time, especially now that he has discovered his feet. Chase also loves having me bring a chair over to the counter so he can watch his little brother get a bath. I apologize for the indecent exposure in the first part of the video, that was an accident, as well as the messy kitchen that is also captured...oh well to both!

The Latest on Kai

The two latest things that Kai likes doing is looking and watching things, and sucking on his fingers. He loves Baby Einstein, which is nice since it allows us to eat dinner in peace, he loves looking at books, and he loves watching his dad and Chase. He is also crazy about sucking on his fingers, and is lately choosing to suck on the very same two that Chase always sucks on...something kind of unique. It will be funny if these are the two he sticks with as well.