Aaron in two

Aaron, my brother, entered the MTC (Missionary Training Center) today. It has caused me to reflect to the time before I went in to the MTC. More reflection than any other time another sibling entered the MTC, there have been five.

Here we are in Tahoe July 2007 before I left for my mission Russia. The silly, little blonde boy in the front starts his service today. He will be going to Taipei Taiwan.

Nine years later here is is ready to serve. Saying good bye to my children Ramona and Kale. When Aaron gets home Ramona will be three and Kale will be five. 

Time is a funny thing. I feel like not that much had changed. But nine years is a long time. Just by looking at the photos it is proof a lot changes. Children grow quickly.

As I have been reflecting, a talk given by Gordon B. Hinckley comes to my mind. He compares our decisions to switches on a train track. "The course of our lives is not determined by great, awesome decisions. Our direction is set by the little day-to-day choices which chart the track on which we run.

Many years ago I worked in the head office of one of our railroads. One day I received a telephone call from my counterpart in Newark, New Jersey, who said that a passenger train had arrived without its baggage car. The patrons were angry. We discovered that the train had been properly made up in Oakland, California, and properly delivered to St. Louis, from which station it was to be carried to its destination on the east coast. But in the St. Louis yards, a thoughtless switchman had moved a piece of steel just three inches. That piece of steel was a switch point, and the car that should have been in Newark, New Jersey, was in New Orleans, Louisiana, thirteen hundred miles away. So it is with our lives."

It is true. When I heard the story years ago I did not doubt the principle. With a few year under my belt I know it is true. I can see it just by looking at my life. 

May we all make good choices and consult with our Father in Heaven when making decisions, even seemingly small ones. Your course is your choice. 

Dishwasher

The place we are renting doesn't have a dishwasher. I am the dishwasher. Our family is small, so the task is not too overwhelming. The first couple of weeks my hands were so dry from being in the water (plus cold January air, and dry climate). They would crack and bleed. I got a really deep, sore cut on my thumb. It took a loooong time to heal. Don't worry no infection. My hands stay very clean with the dishwashing and child washing. Anyway, I bought yellow rubber gloves. Game changer.

Here is the thing about washing all your dishes by hand, it gives you thinking time. I have about a half hour each day to be able to ponder, reflect, think, whatever I want. I like it. It is almost a calming, meditative experience. Of course, sometimes I am tired or the task seems daunting. But I do it everyday, and it is rewarding. Like yoga with one pose.

The first few weeks of living here seems to take us back to simpler times. With no dishwasher you realize you don't need that many dishes. Our heater was also broken. It would work, but it would not maintain the heat. We had to turn it off and wait about twenty minutes and turn it on again to get it to work. It also took awhile to get our internet set up. No internet, no dishwasher, no heat. Am I weird to say that I like it? We put the kids to bed at 8, then we went to bed. I was amazed Garrett was going to bed so early. He said there was nothing else to do and he was freezing. Garrett said we were living like pioneers. But it was fun to go to bed at 8:30, snuggle in order to stay warm, and with no internet distraction, talk to your spouse.

So as weird as it might sound, I am grateful to not have a dishwasher.

Postpartum Hair Loss

Ramona just turned 7 months. As I was looking through old photos I can't believe how much she had changed and grown! She is still really little so I don't think of her as having grown or changed a lot, but she sure has. 

 

Another thing I noticed reviewing photos is my hair loss. Boo postpartum hair loss. Besides shedding like crazy all over, I loose a significant amount on the top of me head. It's lovely. Similar to male pattern baldness. I am very aware that is happened. When I mention it people say, "really"? They are probably just being kind. I mean look I have pictures to prove the before and after. 

HAIR

BALD

Yikes! The bottom picture was taken November 9th. I am going to say that was about the low point. My hair started growing back just after Garrett moved to Utah in December. Instead of having two bald patches on either side of my head I had sprigs. Tiny sprigs of hair growing and sticking straight up. Recently they are just long enough to lay flat. At least there is dark color, instead of my white scalp showing though. 

Au Revoir

I was updating Kate's mission blog. I somehow got really behind. It was so easy to keep up with the weekly letters. Then I let it slip somewhere in October and playing catch up is the worst. Moral of the story, don't get behind.

I don't feel any pressure to keep up with this blog, it is another journaling method. But it was fun to look back at a few posts and felt like adding another entry.

We moved. We left my beloved Phoenix. "My" beloved, not "our" beloved. Garrett does not share my same sentiment about the state as I do. It's not just the geographical location, so much as the people and it was home. Au Revoir friends, Papago Park, no daylight savings, warm winters, warm all the time, Boulder Creek Apartments, book group, Camelview, Saguaro library, Frys grocery store, splash pads, swimming pools, "quick" drives to California...Au Revoir.

Bonjour snow.

We have been in Salt Lake about a month now. I told Garrett last week that I feel settled. We are moved in (it was a feat for me with two little children). I have found places to shop, a park, and the library. There is always a thrill in discovering new places, and joy in being near family and friends. Garrett throughly enjoys his job. Which is priceless to me. As a bonus we are very close to U of U campus where he works. No commute is also a win.

Au Revoir 2015.

(Kale January 28th 2015. Swinging in the back yard of the Mehr's in Phoenix, AZ.)

Bonjour 2016.

(Kale January 23rd 2016. Sledding at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake.)

Sens in Spring 2014 vs. 2015

I think it is fun to compare photos from different times. As I compare these two photos I can't believe it was only a year apart! So much has happened. 

Obviously, Kale turned into a toddler. Unarguably young children change the most from year to year.

The girls all changed their hair. I think my hair in the first picture is about the longest I have grown my hair. Now, it is the shortest I have had it. It's too bad the 9+ months of Garrett growing his hair out is not at all shown. He cut his curly locks the day before this most recent picture was taken. I like 2015 Garrett hair. Garrett thinks 2014 looks better? Anyone else?

Garrett so lovingly told me "I look like a mom- short hair and chubby." Yes, I am six months pregnant dear. Getting chubby comes with the territory. Not that you want a whole commentary on my hair, but it is short for two reasons: heat and hormones. Arizona is hot. Long hair is not good in the heat. Being pregnant, either with Kale or this little girl has changed my hair and it is straighter, and flatter. I guess there are three reasons, I wanted it short. 

Gwynn had her amazing summer of weight loss. Amazing because she was so disciplined with her diet and exercise. She looks like she is one of the sisters, not the mom.

Kristin is expecting! I don't think she expected to be expecting. The pregnancy is a miracle. After an unsuccessful IVF, they prepared to start the procedure again, but conceived on their own! Even though they were told by doctors that would not happen. Baby boy Woods is due a month before baby girl Sens. So next year the the spring picture will be more different with more additions to the family. 

St. Patrick's Day Party

We had a St. Patrick's Day party this year. Our last party was the Harry Potter party in October, and we were over due for another one.

I invited a lot of people, thinking most probably wouldn't come, but at least they would feel included. Almost everyone RSVPed with "yes they were coming". You just never know, right.

I used some of my Provo High School reunion banners, because they were green and white. Everyone offered to bring things. We had rainbow fruit platters, green cupcakes, spinach salad, green veggies and dip, chips and guacamole.

For the party we had a root beer taste test. I got tiny plastic shot cups. They were so tiny and cute. (I love tiny things). I had eight different brands of root beer for everyone to sample and guess the brand. The choices were:
IBC
Dads
Barq's
Big K (generic, Fry's brand)
Mugs
Jones Soda
A&W's
Teddy's

We gave all the guests crackers to "cleanse their palate" between each brand of root beer. I was serving so I didn't really participate. But was still super fun. Dad's root beer was gross. A&W's was most vanilla flavored. Barq's seemed to be the fizziest. I could not distinguish any without looking at the labels.

Brandon Burnham won having four correct. Two people tied for second-place. The two in second place, Zack and Billy had a drink off. Whoever guessed the correct brand won second. After three different root beers Billy finally guessed correctly.

It was fun and fun to visit after the root beer game. I got a babysitter for Kale, last minute. It was nice to be able to throw a party and not have him running around. I love him, but as he gets older it's harder to be a host.

Baby #2

We started this blog when we were expecting our first child. It seems appropriate that I document the coming of baby #2. Baby is expected the end of June. I really have not written anything about this baby or pregnancy yet, so this will be a little more than a simple announcement.

I am 15-16 weeks pregnant. I still think we should count by months, so by that reckoning I am about 3 months along. I have not noticed weight gain. I am still wearing my regular jeans with comfort. With Kale weight seemed to come quicker. (I gained 50 lbs by the end of pregnancy with Kale). I am only three months though. They say from week 15 to week 20 the baby doubles in size. Baby is the size of an apple now, he/she will double in a relatively short amount of time.

Cravings, if you can even call them that, are anything salty, and root-beer for some odd reason. Sweets have no appeal. I was tired for a few weeks at the beginning, but now can easily go without napping with Kale. I was a teeny nauseous in the morning for about two weeks. I wont even go as far as to call it morning sickness,  because that would be unfair to women who actually have morning sickness. I did not suffer that way. Thankfully.

We will find out next week or so the gender. Garrett wants a boy so Kale will have a playmate brother. I have no inclination of what it will be. I was sure Kale was a girl. So much for mothers intuition.