Monkey See, Monkey Do

This picture might be one of my all-time favorites: I looked down at Amelia the other day, and she was actually trying to put on my bra!  She has been imitating us so much more this past week . . . she’ll hold the phone up to her ear and babble, she’ll get a tissue and try to wipe her nose, and she’s started to try and put on shoes.  Speaking of shoes, she learned to say “shoe” this week and “turtle.”  I’ve started this thing of every time I take her downstairs,  I stop at each framed picture and say the name of the person in it – she has learned to expect it and she starts pointing and saying the name… either bubba (Noah), mommy, dada or doggie.  Last night she was flipping through a family photo album taken at Christmas, and she looked at each picture and would point out “Bubba.”

Noah started first grade last Monday and is really enjoying his new school.  After he came home the first day, I asked if he made any friends, and he said, “Oh yeah!  I made two best friends!”  So I asked what their names were; he said he didn’t know… Noah’s never been so great with names!  When his teacher asked each child in his class what they like to read, Noah responded with “The Wall Street Journal”; I got a pretty big kick out of that one.  I’m so excited to be able to help out more at his school this year; I’ll be going to the library and P.E. with his class every week. 

Noah’s been asking me if he can start playing football.  I’ve never been a fan of the idea of him playing tackle football, so we compromised and I signed him up for flag football.  (Before it starts, I really hope it cools off from the 107 degrees it’s been every day this week!)

Amelia is officially walking!  The thing that finally got her to do it was French toast made from banana bread.  That girls LOVES to eat . . . since moving to Texas, we’ve discovered some of her favorites are biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls, and BBQ sausage.  We went to this awesome BBQ restaurant called “Dat’s Good BBQ” last Friday and they had a blues band – Amelia was probably their biggest fan!

Whoops-a-daisey

I had a big “Mommy blunder” this week!  Since Mike started his new job on Thursday, we wanted to do something fun with the kids on Wednesday, and we thought a day in downtown Dallas would be fun.  We decided we needed something specifically Texan, so we looked up the best-rated BBQ restaurants close to where we were.  When I skimmed over the reviews, I was looking for how people had reviewed the food… forgetting about the “atmosphere reviews.” Well, I picked what looked like a promising place and we headed over.  Upon arriving and being seated, we started to notice the attire of the ALL-female staff, which to say wasn’t much.  The top of the menus read: Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke, THE OTHER REASON YOU’RE HERE.  The place opened at 11am and by 11:30am, the place was packed . . . yet I was the ONLY female there who wasn’t dressed like in a similar manner!

However, the food was amazing and, all in all, it was a fun lunch!  Noah didn’t seem to notice what the waitresses were wearing -- at least he didn’t comment on it.  I guess it’s not much different than what he sees women in at the pool every day.  It definitely made for a good laugh!

It has been a rough week for Amelia; my poor baby got Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (I’m guessing from the childcare center at the fitness club).  Luckily, it sounds a lot worse than it actually is -- she had a low-grade fever and a rash around her hands, feet and a little around her mouth.  The rash is almost all gone, and she’s back to her cheery little self.  She’s been trying to communicate much more lately; it’s so fun to watch her explore her surroundings!  She points at everything, especially dogs and lights.  Whenever I change her diaper, I give her a book to look at to distract her.  This past week, the book had a ladybug named Louella.  When I hand her the book, I always say, “Louella, Louella” and I swear she’s started repeating it.

Amelia having fun with tissues when Mommy wasn't looking!

Noah starts school this coming Monday and he gets to meet his new teacher tonight.  Mike and I went to the 1^st grade back-to-school night yesterday and got to meet her -- she’s very nice!  I think it’s going to be a great year for Noah!

The last piece of furniture we bought was delivered this week, so the house is really coming together.  I took a few photos to share (sorry for the quality… I took them on my iphone).  I also worked really hard spackling, taping and painting Amelia’s room; it’s a little more pink than I had planned, but I’m really happy with how it turned out!

Amelia's room is almost finished!

We're Back!

I apologize for how long it’s been since my last blog post, but believe it or not we have not had internet since leaving my parents’ house.   As you can imagine it has been a VERY busy few weeks!  The rest of our drive from Park City to Dallas was nice and we got to stay with one of my best friends, Christina Saunders, and then with my grandparents for two nights in Medicine Lodge, KS. 

Turns out that the week we moved here was record breaking heat!  Our car thermometer was reading up to 115 degrees for the first five days.  It wouldn’t have been so bad because our house has great A/C, but we had to run errands all over the place to get the house set-up.  The upside is we made it through the hottest week of the year so it can only get cooler…right?

We are continually pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone is here; it truly is already feeling like home!  We joined a local club that has an indoor/outdoor water park, health spa, fitness classes, exercise equipment, basketball and racquet ball courts, even a rock climbing wall.  The best part is that they have an amazing childcare center that is ONLY $6 for both kids and they can go for two hours every day, so needless to say we have been there every day since signing up!

Noah loves it here so far; he has a great playroom and a play structure outside that he can play on at 5am ;).  He started an art camp this week and really seems to be having a great time.  He’s also made some friend in the kid’s center at the club.  Amelia had her first taste of childcare when I dropped her off to go work out. I was so happy because the next day when I brought her back she couldn’t wait to get down and start playing with the other kids!

It’s been fun unpacking and setting up the house.  The first week we had to do some furniture shopping to help fill-up the house and we’re eager to have it delivered, once it’s all set-up I’ll post some pictures.  Noah’s room colors matched perfectly to what I had in mind so we won’t need to change anything.  However, Amelia’s room is two shades of blue, so our project next week is to paint it and make it fit for a little girl. I am very excited about this project!

Here's some pictures from the last few weeks:

Noah with some of his favorite ladies.

Mike's lab goodbye lunch.

With my niece and nephew, Aria and Kia.

Our new house ; )

Noah with his great grandpa Gary and great grandma Dorothy.

I just love this picture!

Texas or Bust!

It’s official, we are no longer California residents. We left for Texas on July 20^th.  I’m not sure how much we were actually able to process leaving because Mike and I keep saying it doesn’t feel real.  Packing and loading the truck was a LOT harder than we expected… who knew so much stuff could fit in such a small apartment!  Our neighbors keep asking if we actually had a four bedroom instead of a two bedroom.  Thankfully, Mike recruited two of his friends, Jahed Momand and Daniel Rosenfeld, and they were absolutely essential in getting the truck packed. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude!  After what we put them through, I’m sure they’ll never agree to help someone move again. Another HUGE help was my friend Azra, who kept Noah for two days while we got all the packing, loading and cleaning done. I hope to not move again for a very long time!

We went out to lunch with the Moerner lab right before hitting the road and it was great to see them all one last time.  Noah was passing around little pieces of paper and asking all the group members to write their best jokes. It was a very fun time!  We split the drive to Park City into two days. We arrived in Park City on Thursday and will be staying until the 28^th.  After that we’re going to drive to Denver and stay the night with my friend Christina. Next stop is Medicine Lodge, KS, to spend two nights with my Grandparents and then finally to DALLAS!

For most of the past four years we’ve been functioning on just one car, other than borrowing Mike’s sister’s bug while she was studying in Copenhagen for 9 months. It’s been the trusty trail blazer! We’ve been looking at cars for the last few months and bought our first car yesterday, which was both exciting and scary! 

So far, Amelia and Noah have been amazing travelers!  Amelia literally never cried for more than a few seconds, which amazes me for a one-year-old.  Noah has been so helpful with keeping her entertained, he really amazed me when he took a nap at the same time as her while we we’re driving. There’s a first for everything!

I have pictures that I was planning on posting with the blog but the cables to upload the photos are temporarily misplaced due to the move.  As soon as I find the cables, I’ll add the pictures.

Home Sweet Home

This has been an exciting week for us!  We signed a lease on a house in Texas – we lucked out and got the house that we really wanted.  Another family had already submitted an application; it looked like we didn’t have a chance, but at the last minute they changed their mind. There are a lot of reasons I am thrilled about this house, but I think the biggest might be that for the first time I will have my own washer and dryer in a laundry room . . . NO MORE SHARING COIN-OPERATED MACHINES!!! We were also excited to learn that they are letting us keep the play structure in the back yard. Noah has been asking Mike and me for years if someday he could have a tree house, so when he saw pictures he was jumping up and down and screaming with joy!  

The move-in date is August 1^st but we have to be out of our current apartment by the 20^th. After we pack this week and load the moving truck, we’re going stay in Park City for awhile. Noah’s very excited about getting spend time with his cousins, Kai and Aria!

I’m not totally sure if I know what I’ve gotten myself into with the size of the new house but  after living in 750 square feet with four people and a dog, a BIG house sounded like a good idea. I guess since I won’t be training anymore, keeping this place clean will be my new workout.  Every time we mention to someone  that we’re moving to Texas in the summer, they make a joke about the heat. What most people don’t realize is that our apartment doesn’t  have any A/C other than a portable we bought last year when we found out that if it gets over 85 outside, it’s unbearable inside.  Since it’s such an old building. the insulation is awful; one wall that runs the length of the apartment is exposed to the sun all day, so by 3pm that wall feels like a heater.  Without the A/C, it would be 10 degrees hotter inside our apartment than the temperature outside.  The A/C doesn’t make it cool by any means… you’re still sweating, but it makes it where you can be inside.  I was happy when our realtor informed us the new house just had a new central A/C installed a year ago. 

On another very exciting note, Amelia turned one! My good friends Gretchen and Azra had planned to have us over for dinner since Mike was supposed to be in Germany for 4 more days.  Well, our birthday turned out to be even better than I imagined. Since finding out that I severed the ligament in my thumb and would need surgery, my mom came to my rescue and flew out to help with the kids. When Mike told the people at the conference about what had happened, they had him on the next flight home. So I got to pick him up from the airport on my birthday and then we went to our friends for Amelia’s and I’s my birthday dinner. I felt so loved that night and am very grateful for all the supportive people in my life!

I went into surgery the next day around 5 pm, and, honestly, the hardest part was fasting for almost 24 hours beforehand! The surgery was only an hour, and I had to spend an hour in the recovery room.  I’m wearing a cast that covers most of my forearm and makes it nearly impossible to use my thumb, so it’s taken some adjustment.  I really took my thumb for granted . . . the things that are the hardest are unbuttoning my pants, tying my hair back, opening any sort of container, tying shoes and, most of all, changing a diaper.  It’s feeling much better now, and I look forward to getting the giant cast off on July 15^th to be replaced by a smaller removable splint.

 

Adventures Abroad

This post will be on the shorter side, I’ll explain further down.  I had the pleasure of going to Italy this past week to celebrate the union of Carlo and Megan Mondavi.  It was such a beautiful wedding in the most amazing setting, and Megan was honestly the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen!  Unfortunately, Mike couldn’t go with me… he had to be in Germany for a conference of the Nobel Laureates for a prize he won last year. Luckily, I was able to travel with one of my best friends.  Christina spent time living in Florence and is very well traveled so she was a great tour guide and made everything so much easier, especially since I’ve never been to Europe.  We spent a day in Florence and then headed up to the hotel where the rest of the wedding party was staying.  It was an unforgettable week.

The reason this post is short is because on the night before our departure, I fell and severed a ligament in my left thumb… so, needless to say, typing is a little difficult.  I wasn’t able to go to the doctor until I returned home, which was about 36 hours after the fall.  The news of needing to get surgery was pretty devastating, since Mike is still in Germany.  We’re moving in two weeks, and I have a lot of packing to do.  Thankfully, I have a wonderful support system and my mom was on a plane out here first thing this morning.  Mike called early this morning to let me know he was able to get a flight home and would be home tomorrow night to be with me for the surgery. 

Here are a few pictures from the trip.

The scenery is so beautiful that it doesn't look real!

Christina, me and Kendall overlooking Florence

 

 

Christina and I at the rehearsal at Castello Di Nipozzano

The beautiful bride!