Holiday prep and packing, we're getting closer!!

Our days are getting packed full of things we are trying to do before we leave for Maryland.

I have finally detoxed a good portion of the house and got rid of three lawn bags full of clothes. They were mostly mine and Hubby's because I had gone through X's last year so there wasn't really any need to get rid of any more. I really need the supply for Baby A. So I feel pretty good about what we have left. We are still getting rid of our couch, we bought it when we first got married and it's been well and fully loved. We are also getting rid of a small TV stand and our Christmas tree. We might get rid of the lights too... I haven't decided yet. If you know of anyone who would want these things around December 27th let me know! In order to get rid of the excess I held a Swap at my house, but, alas, no one came. So instead someone from the ward came and picked up the clothes for those in need and the rest of the items went to DI.

I've been trying to make Christmas treats this year for us to munch on before and during the trip. These include some cookies I grew up eating. Every year for Christmas, my grandmother- Gommy- would send a box of treats and each of us kids got a gallon sized ziplock bag full of our very own treats. These cookies and treats just scream Christmas time for me. Candy cane shaped cookies, honey almond powdered balls, peanut brittle and homemade almond rocca. I'm going to do the rocca with walnuts though because I have SO MANY WALNUTS!!! I'm constantly looking for ways to use them. Hopeful it ends up being delicious.

On Monday we were supposed to have dinner with another family in the ward, but on Sunday evening she texted me and told me that she was going to have to cancel because her littlest one had goopies all day and they were getting worse and she didn't want any goops to spread to our family. Well, I felt kind of bad that she'd have to throw something together when I had enough chicken to feed  both families in my fridge marinating so Hubby and I decided that we would still provide them with a main dish (Chicken Coconut Kurma) and a spinach salad. We were going to drop it off but she decided to come over and pick it up instead. While she came over and spent some time with us, her husband called and told her to come home because, "The kitchen broke". We sent her home and didn't think anything of it until she posted on her Facebook that her kitchen cabinets had broken off the wall and 50lbs of cabinet and food landed where she and her kids would have been standing to make dinner. I'm really grateful that she still took our dinner that we provided and decided to come get it instead of waiting for us to drop it off! Because she came over her little family was playing in the living room waiting for her to come home. It's really amazing how God works in little ways, slight shifts in one person's schedule helped keep her whole family safe.

X is rarely throwing tantrums about us not understanding his needs, he's getting more patience with us and also becoming more understandable. It was really entertaining one of the mornings this week because he woke up, very concerned and looked at Hubby and said, "Baby A, a fish...". He also uses one word to describe multiple things, right now "Treat" is a treat or a tree. So on the way to his Grandparents' house he saw a Christmas tree and I did not. He starts saying, "A treat! A treat!" and then I tell him, "When we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house, we'll eat dinner first and then you can have a treat." There was a pause and X says slowly, "Ooookay?" The hubby pointed out the tree and I felt very silly.

A has slept at least 8 hours every night all week long!!! Hallelujah! He's also very smiley and giggles a lot. He's enjoying being played with more and more and loves to flirt with any one who has the potential to pick him up and love him. I actually got Hubby to record a really cute video of A and me with X giving commentary in the background.  A loves to rough house and I recently found the "Pow pow"s are the best way to get him to smile and giggle.

Because A's been sleeping so well I've been able to squeeze in a very short work out in the mornings. I'm mostly doing it to help my back so the progress in regards to weight loss is very slim. I'm only doing yoga right now but I would love to start doing my running again when I get the chance and my hip allows me to.

Hubby is almost done with school and work! He has one project to do for each and then he's all done and can help me more with packing. I'm glad we're going to be able to have a better life for our small family soon.

Until next time,
The Broadway Chick

P.S. Christmas update letters are being created soon, please message me of Facebook or send me an email if you want to make sure I'll send one to you. I don't want to accidentally forget anyone and with the current mile long to-do list in my head, I might! So yeah, let me know!!

Much more busy and fun filled!

I apologize for the lateness in posting, it's been a very busy day!!! I'll get to that in a moment though.

This week we've have a lot of adventures and craziness, much more exciting than the majority of last week.

Hubby and I got to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I liked it if I didn't compare it to Harry Potter. I'm not saying that the Harry Potter movies were necessarily better but the feel from the Harry Potter movies was different than Fantastic Beasts and if I keep trying to get that same feel then I get disappointed. I really enjoyed the mating dance that gets performed at one part. That had Hubby laughing heartily and loudly. It was really entertaining. Apparently, (according to an interview) the actor read that he had to do a mating dance and he looked up videos of mating dances performed by birds and other animals and sent himself doing a few of them to the director. The director then had him do a combination of what he saw. So, the outcome was quite hilarious.

We also got to see Santa Claus on Thursday when we visited my Mom's book fair. I've been prepping X to not freak out when he sees Santa by watching Christmas movies that feature him in some way and reading stories. We aren't really emphasizing Santa but more of what Santa stands for, I just wanted him to not scream when we took pictures with Santa. When we got there X went right up to Santa, climbed and his lap and even sort of smiled for a picture.

We also looked around a little bit before leaving and found an amazing book called "King Baby", it's hilarious and very accurate of how babies act. We've always called our babies, "Your highness" or "Your Poopiness" so we found extra joy because it applies to a family joke (? probably not the best word but all I could think of).

My in-laws were so kind to buy us tickets to see BYU's Christmas Around the World and provided us with babysitting. It was really fun to see the different dances but what blew our minds the most was the work and effort that the people exerted to give a beautiful performance. I also saw someone I knew when I did theater dancing. I checked out the program and confirmed it, he's always been a superb dancer and his performance was flawless! It was good to see someone I knew still doing something they love and excelling at it in every way.

Yesterday I spent a good part of my day baking/cooking and cleaning. I made brownies, rolls, corn chowder, cracked up TONS of walnuts, and packed up more of the living room breakable decorations. The walnuts came from my Dad who has a coworker or boss(?I can't remember which) who has a walnut tree and gave him a huge bag full, my mom can't eat them so he gave them to me to use up and I've been finding ways to incorporate them into dishes. So by the end of the day, my hand was pretty red from using the nut cracker so much and my hands were a darker shade because of the dirty shells. But all done, no more shell cracking for me for a good long while.

We also went to a Christmas party that night that was put on by my parent's ward. The theme was "A Night In Bethlehem". The meal was catered by a Mediterranean restaurant called Galilee. They  were pretty good, they had some chicken that seemed like it was marinated in a yogurt sauce and they had delicious rice and grilled veggies. They had this interesting garlic type of sauce but it was really over powering if you weren't careful. They had a cute little slideshow of the Nativity story that was done by the Primary kids and it was pretty cute. While I was there though I needed to feed Baby A and so I walked into the Mother's Lounge and while I was there I got walked in on twice... I thought people knew that it's not a hang out spot it's for nursing mothers to use. Oh well... I guess the teenaged girl got an education? Sort of?

Today was a very special day and was the reason for all my baking/cooking yesterday. Baby A got blessed today!!!! Hubby did a very short and powerful blessing introducing him to the church. It was nice having all the people we love come to a special event like this. It'll be harder for them to come to baptisms and future blessings so it's nice that we could at least do this. Baby A wore the same outfit X wore for his blessing. X was only a month and a half old when he wore it so it was a lot more snug on Baby A, when X wore it it was kind of large. He still looked cute though, here's some proof:

We are so incredibly blessed to have our family around for this event and that they've all been so willing to help us and take care of our little family.

This morning X was pretty cute when Hubby went to go get him, he was pretty groggy and a little concerned and told Hubby, "Baby A.... a fish" apparently A was in his dream and it had something to do with fish... it was pretty cute. X is getting so good a praying, he's catching on to the fact that when you pray you need to pay attention to the prayer and not do other things during it (like eating or looking at books). He's becoming more and more understandable. He tries to have conversations with him and we're getting better at actually being able understand what he's expressing and can respond most of the time with a response he wants/ was expecting to receive.

Baby A's personality is starting to really come through, he's super smiley and it's infectious. He's also kind of ticklish and does a really cute laugh when you get him going. He loves to play with X and Hubby on his toy mat and loves being held and bounced. He's also discovered his thumb and loves to self soothe himself to sleep that way.

I'm still working my way through with the packing slowly but surely. Hubby finished school this week and when that happens we'll start packing a little quicker and continue to deep clean the apartment so we can get as much of our deposit back as possible. So far it's going pretty well, I've been able to get into all the little crevices and remove lots of stains.

Until next time,
TBC

Fairly Boring

This week hasn't been entirely eventful. If you read last week's post you'll know that we did Thanksgiving early with both sides of the family. So our Thanksgiving week was very relaxing and low stress.

We had some friends over for dinner on Monday, it was nice having some adults to talk to and hang out with. They have two little girls one older and one younger than X. So they ran around during dinner and got into all sorts of mischief. We adults tried to play a Harry Potter trivia board game afterwards but kiddos wanted to play too, so it was put away.

I am really hoping to find some Harry Potter  enthusiasts out in Maryland, mostly book but movie too. I'm not totally into knowing everything about the actor's lives, I'm more into the story and diving into fanfics and Pottermore and rereading the books. I  still like the movies and watch them frequently but the books are my safe place.

We had a small dinner outing on Thanksgiving Day with my Mom and sister (the kids call her Coco). We went to a buffet styled restaurant and I was swiftly reminded why I make my own food. It was fine but it wasn't as great as I remember from eight years ago. I'm pretty sure it's because my palate has developed and become kind of snobbish over time.

On Friday I did do some minor black Friday shopping. I didn't wait in lines or stay up all night. I went later in the day and found some great finds spending only $10/person. So, I say it's a win!

Hubby and I helped my mom set up her school's bookfair yesterday, she's a librarian. She had to reconfigure how she does it every year because Santa is taking over a portion of her library on Thursday for a few hours and she usually has that part of the library blocked off. So we spent at least three hours moving things around and trying to give the book fair some flow and still make it kid accessible and friendly. She was supposed to have more help but they all cancelled or forgot so it was just us, my Dad and her. The boys did pretty well, Baby A fed once and slept the rest of the time and X made himself at home, taking off his socks, looking at books, and running around.

Baby A is smiling when you make eye contact with him and smile at him. X is expanding his vocabulary and starting to be able to express his needs more and more every day. I don't have a good pic of X this week, but here's a cute on of A's smile.

'Til next time!
-TBC

Craziness and Growth

Baby A had a doctors appointment on Monday, he's a very big boy measuring the the 84% for height and weighing in in the 74%. He also received some shots and he took them pretty well. He didn't want any milk after them though so I had to use the binki to soothe him.

Baby A is starting to smile and laugh at will, it's infectious and I love trying to find things that please him. He also really likes to play with toys the best way a baby can play with toys. He wacks them with his fist and giggles while he's wacking. We have a play mat that we put him on that has toys dangling at various angles and he's in heaven while he's on there. He has all the signs of being an early crawler, he loves tummy time and would just like to play all day if he didn't take naps. :)

Mr. X and I went on a Mommy-Son date! We had so much fun! We visited Grammy (my mom) and then we went to the mall to play in the play center. But X had other plans, he grabbed my hand and walked all over the mall with me. We eventually made our way into the Disney store and he started gathering characters from The Adventures of Winnie The Pooh and acting out the scenes with the characters. So I bought him Piglet, who is one of the characters he didn't have yet. After that we went to a store that sells inexpensive soft serve ice cream and got that for our treat. We had a lot of fun and laughs and I really needed the one on one time with him. I've missed it just being the two of us.

Here's pictures of the boys showing some love:

With them in the bed, Hubby took A into X's room and plopped him in the bed and X affectionately say "Baby A!" and began to cuddle him. Then I asked X if he wanted to hug A, he said yes and the picture on the chair came to pass.

I'm very blessed to have these sweet boys in my life. I love how affectionate X is and how A always smiles for X.

This week I've been working like a mad woman to make the house presentable for people to come look at our apartment. We had an open house this week and two people showed up during the morning showing and the landlords sold our contract to one of the people who came. Then they spent the next half hour telling people that the apartment was taken. I'm glad it was solved so quickly because if our contract wasn't sold then we'd have to continue paying rent until someone did buy it, even after we've left. So it's a huge weight off my shoulders to have that done.

 Now I can focus on deep cleaning and packing because we are only about 1 month away from moving. Which isn't actually that long if you factor in the holidays and the time they take up. So, no rest for the wicked!!!

Today my family is having Thanksgiving dinner due to many of my family members being unable to come on the actual holiday. So I made the turkey by brining it ahead of time and my brother-in-law cooked it in his Traeger and it came out perfectly!!! I also made cranberry sauce from scratch, which is super easy, and a dressing from freshly crushed walnuts.

We're about to eat, so make sure to enjoy your time this week with your family and Happy Thanksgiving!!

-TBC

Happy Veterans Day! "Thank you, I enjoyed my freedom today!"

Our little family has had a bit of a rough week. Baby A wasn’t feeling his best earlier in the week and had a rough time sleeping at night. I was pretty sleep deprived but still had to continue getting the apartment ready for showings. 

I’ve been using this time to get rid of anything we don’t use much, pack away and reorganize. So I’ve been able to organize the pantry, craft closet, and almost all of the bedroom closet. This has been made possible by may father-in-law, his job involves him getting a lot of boxes and he so kindly saves me them (and the bubble wrap that comes) and gives it to me.

Mr. X has been wanting to act like a baby this week to get what he wants but wants all the things a toddler can have too. Well, we are teaching him the “You can’t have your cake and eat it too” mentality and trying to increase our attentions to him. He can trace the letter M almost perfectly, his fine motor skills are definitely increasing . He's also been improving his days of the week recognition. (He just barely lifted up his shirt and asked me if he could help then tried to lean over Baby A in an effort to feed him, haha, my little helper). He’s also improving on picking up toys when he’s done with them. That will definitely help with getting ready for the apartment yo be shown.

Hubby has had a fever the last couple of days on and off. This is pretty uncharacteristic for him, he’s a really quick healer. So he went to the doctor and found out he has strep! So he is currently taking some antibiotics for it but can’t give kisses or help with the kids at all until he is well. Touch is one mine and Hubby’s love languages though so it’ll be difficult for us while he’s sick. 

Tomorrow we are going to my brother-in-law’s home to celebrate Thanksgiving because my sister-in-law is in town and my mother- and father-in-law will be out of town during Thanksgiving. Unfortunately Hubby will not be able to join us, so I’ll be going alone with the boys. I’m going to bringing my fresh bake pumpkin pie (everything from scratch, even most of the spices are freshly ground, and the pumpkin roasted and pureed) and a sweet potato and apple casserole I make that Hubby is quite fond of.

My mom comes back into town on Monday after being gone for two weeks. She’s been with my dad during a work conference. I like the boys having the opportunity to be around grandparents as much as possible right now before we move. 

Happy Veterans Day, until next time,

TBC

P.S. In light of election results this week. Just a friendly reminder that we need to be kind to each other. And no one is superior or inferior because of their race, gender, or religion. If you see bullying please stand up and stop it, the bystander is just as guilty as the bully. I love you all.

An update, how life flies by

We have some updates to do!

Baby X is now grown to be a toddler and will be called X or Mr. X from this point onward.

I'm also pleased to say we have a new little human in our family, Baby A! He was born in mid-September in 6 hours, more than half the time it took to deliver X. He didn't have to see the NICU at all and was able to be with me for most of the hospital stay. The only time I sent him to the nursery was because he is a very loud grunter and I could sleep with the noise so he got escorted away for a couple of hours so I could rejuvenate a bit.

We had an enjoyable Halloween were X was Peter Pan again this year, though much more excited about it than he was last year (“A Pan!”). Hubby was again Hook and I would have been Wendy, but this year I'm nursing and that costume is not nursing friendly. So I put on a blue striped shirt I already owned, some shorts and quickly crocheted a red beanie and went out as Smee. Baby A was supposed to be Micheal but no one knew who he was so I dressed him up as a beanie baby instead. I put a coverall with bear ears on him and attached a heart with a white “ty” that I made onto one of the ears. It was very cute. We had a cute X trick or treat and Grandmother's homes and show off at other homes as well. By the end of the night X had mastered his own way of saying “trick or treat” which ended up sounding more like, “Tic ah tee”. Hearts were melted :)

We are also sporting some exciting news. We'll be moving to Maryland in a couple of months! It's going to be an interesting change. I won't have family support so close by anymore and we'll be the farthest away from anyone on either side. It's scary but a necessary change in order to progress in our lives. This company had Hubby intern for them during the summer and apparently has wanted him back ever since. They were in a hiring freeze though so they couldn't hire right away. They were convincing higher ups to make an exception for Hubby and it eventually happened. They gave an offer we couldn't refuse. We're very optimistic about what the future may hold for us.

X is talking so much! He is even starting to try and tell jokes, laughs, and proceeds to tell us, “ees fun!” translating to “it's funny”. He likes to help clean, put things away, read books, and watch Disney movies. He loves hugging Baby A and giving kisses. He's a really good and kind big brother.

Baby A is turning out to be quite strong. He already can hold his head up for large amounts of time. He loves tummy time and already has a fascination with toys. He'll one day talk my ear off with words I can understand but right now he's talking it off with grunts.

Hubby is trying to survive this semester, he's trying to still do well in his classes despite his employment because he plans on finishing his masters once we become official residents of Maryland. It's tough on him because his hardest class he was taking for his current job but now that class is going to be useless to him. He can't drop it because his funding will have to be refunded and we can't afford that. So I try and soften the burden by making him treats and trying to keep the house as clean as possible.

Life is good, til next time!

TBC