Home is where your hubby is

Kyle and I spent a wonderful couple of weeks in Idaho recently and had so much fun! We spent a few days in Boise celebrating a mini-family reunion (super fun!)

Kyle loved his Great Great Aunt Iverna and Great Great Uncle Alan (Alan is my Grandma Nila's brother). I think they liked him alright too.

We spent a day in Garden Valley with the Grandparents (super relaxing!)

Yes, there are two baby ducks swimming in the horse trough. That is how us country people do it! And yes, we were feeding them worms dug out of the horse poo pile. They liked it. And yes, if you must know, I washed Kyle's hands very well after this little bit of fun!
Zoey and Kyle get along so well! Very cute. The jury is still out on who gets to drive the tractor though.

This picture is just an example of how cousins plot against their parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents. Or maybe they were plotting against Riley. That would be OK. And look how grown up little Darrianne is. Stop right now Missy!

This picture has to be included for two simple reasons. It is one of Larabee's all-time favorite pictures of his boy. Mine too. And Also because you can see the lime green fingernail polish on Darrianne's fingers, thus proving that while she looks grown-up, she is sooo not! Phew!
Finally we spent a little over a week at home in good old Emida. Lets just say being home was not nearly as relaxing as GV. It was with good reason though, since I was going to tear down our porch and get some work done. It did not help that we had broken pipes ALL OVER our house though! THANK GOD for Merle. How likely is it that you will find a licensed plumber in Emida of all places? Not likely, but someone was watching over me. Kyle did not care about busted pipes. He just loved the space to run. Uncle Levi really liked getting in there and helping with the porch destruction. Even though the poor kid was running a really high fever all weekend. Kyle just liked getting into stuff, particularly the buckets of old nails/bolts/screws (see below for explanation). The dogs liked going outside without leashes, but Summer tended to get into things that upset her tummy. Poor girl never learned. There's no place like home, there's no place like home. We miss you home! We will be back someday! And you will have new landscaping and be spruced up all the time!
We got everything fixed and my Mom came down for the weekend and helped me tear our porch down. What a project that was! The man who built that stinkin' porch used every type of fastening device ever invented, then added a few more for good measure. When 2 nails will suffice you might as well use 2,184. Obviously. But, as I said, it is done. Yay.

It was wonderful to see everyone in town and get caught up on everything that is going on, which really isn't much. We loved spending time with Auntie Tiffy, Uncle Wayne, and Livie! I miss them so much when we are gone. Sometimes I feel like I will come home someday and we will be so out of the loop that Tiffy will not want to be my friend anymore. And then I remember that she wouldn't know what to do without me. Problem solved. I could not believe how cute Livie is. She is going to be a real heart breaker someday, much to her Daddy's dismay. Sorry Wayne. Deal with it.

Not Me Monday!

I did not steal this idea from a friend's blog. I made it up all on my own.

I did not eat 10 potstickers for breakfast. 10 is surely too many. I only ate 5.

I did not put Kyle in his crib this afternoon hoping that he would go to sleep but knowing he wouldnt. That would hurt his feelings. Or he would just play.

I did not seriously consider going out to eat instead of making dinner after being at the cell phone repair shop for hours on end to no avail.

I did not drink another Starbucks Frappuccino this afternoon when I probably shouldnt have.

I did not leave my dishes in the sink to 'soak' for so long that the water got cold. No sir, I scrubbed them up the minute I put them in there.

I did not go 2 days without washing my hair, only to wear it up today because you could tell-it was gross.

I swear, I did none of these things. Or did I?

A day of exploring

Today we went out to explore. We ended up by the "Great Salt Lake". Really not very great in our opinion. It is so salty it is considered the Dead Sea of the US. I think brine shrimp live out there. And a lot of smells live out there too. But we still explored. We picked up some rocks and threw them. Kyle learned the great art of navigating unsteady terrain. He even learned about climbing up rocks. He is so brave it is scary.

It was a really decent day for it. Not too sunny, not too cold. T-shirt weather.

And Kyle even kept his new hat on the whole time.

Until he bumped it on a rock and it came off. Of course, he wanted it right back on.

Now Mommy is tired. Do you think we wore out that boy? Not a chance.

Mommy Day!

I got a Mommy day today. Or better yet, a Lisa day. Larabee took Kyle out this morning to do 'man things', giving me some time to myself. I decided to head over to the mall because I needed to get my ring cleaned. Not something I necessarily want to take Kyle with me to do. So I wandered around the mall, went to a few stores, and even got a haircut. In peace! It is absolutely amazing how good it is for the soul to do something for yourself. I don't do it nearly enough, but that is my own fault. I dont necessarily want to go do too many things by myself, so maybe I should start thinking of things. As much as I adore being with Kyle, some time away from him is good for both of us.

My big owie

Last Thursday was simply a bad day. I had the stomach flu something terrible, my Grandma Donna passed away and, when I was on the phone with my mom, I fell down the stairs of our trailer and buggered up my back. I was so scared, and the first thought I had when I realized what had happened was "Oh my God, the baby!" I burst into tears because by that point I was simply overrun with emotion. I was sore, and I hurt, but that had nothing to do with my tears. My tears were coming from my heart, a mother's heart, and a heart that was (at that time) full of fear. I gathered up my phone, let the dogs in, called my mom back for just a second, called and left Larabee a crying-barely-understandable message on his phone, and got out the phone book. Kyle was napping, so fortunately I was able to focus all of my attention on finding a Dr that would see me that day. Since I don't have an OBGYN yet it wasn't like I could just call her/him and have them squeeze me in. Fortunately I found a place that not only got me in within an hour, but also gave me an ultrasound no questions asked. I got to see that little bean in my belly that is just growing and growing. I got to see that wonderful heartbeat, and hearing it was just awesome. We (the ultrasound tech and I) even saw the baby wiggle around. Yay!
So everything ended up OK. My bruises are even pretty much gone at this point and I have one scab on my back from a bad scratch. Other than that, I am good to go. According to the measurements of baby on the ultrasound I am 8 weeks and 5 days into my pregnancy. 2 months. Hard to believe. I am so thankful.

Hugs

Is there anything as precious as a hug? Can anything lower your blood pressure more quickly than a hug? Can anything make the world right again like a hug? I think not.
Kyle has recently learned how to really hug, you know, by actually squeezing his arms around your neck. It is wonderful. Every time I change his diaper I stand him up and he just hugs me and hugs me. It fills my heart with an unexplainable joy because Kyle has never been a cuddle bug. He is way too busy for that, so the fact that he takes time out of his busy day to give his Mama a hug (which sometimes lasts for 2 or 3 minutes) makes it all the more special.
My heartstrings are being tugged just thinking about it!

Getting our bearings

A new city, a new routine. I am such a routine oriented person that it is really irritating to break routine or change routine. I am not having such a hard time this time around though, which is surprising. Maybe I am simply glad to be here. Maybe I needed a change. Maybe I will be able to be more efficient this time around. Not a bad thing if you ask me.
I have scoped out the Library, which we went to today for story time. Kyle had a blast playing with the other kids close to his age and I really loved watching how well he interacts with everyone. He is such a little love. I always joke that he is forever running for Mayor. He will go to anyone, is perfectly sweet and adorable, and leaves a group gushing. If that doesn't scream politics I don't know what does. As long as it only ever goes as far as class president.
So now we get to get into the routine of being here. I am glad because I was tired of my Texas routine.