More Bits and Pieces of September

I started Haley in a little preschool a friend of mine does, but after about 20 minutes Haley was done for the year!  A few months ago, she was on the fast track to being such a big girl, but things slowed down during the summer and I could tell she wasn't ready, but we gave it a try anyway.  I have never started any of my kids at 3 so I'm sure next year she'll be rip roarin' to go.

I see these two cute kids holding hands a lot.... As long as they get it out of their system now when they're 3 instead of when they're 13 we're good. :)  {Seriously, I do Haley's hair.  I promise!}

 

 This is a well used "I'm too tired" spot in our house and occasionally it gets used as a bed.

She crawls!  On September 23rd I took Eliza to her 9 month check up and informed the doctor that she wasn't crawling yet, but was very close.  I dropped her back off at home with Nate while I ran some more errands.  When I got home I watched her crawl from toy to toy!!  I hollered to Nate that she was crawling and he said, "Yeah, she did that while you were gone."  WHAT?!   Sure, save the excitement for dad!  Of course, once they start there's no slowing them down.  The gate is now on the stairs and the floors get swept and vacuumed a LOT more.  Why do they have to eat EVERYTHING?

 

The kids' school had a "mini marathon" for their fundraiser this year.  Instead of 26.2 miles it was 2.62 miles.  I signed us all up in advance then discovered that Nate had a scout camp out that weekend and wouldn't be able to go with us.  So I borrowed my sister-in-law's jogging stroller and off we went.  As you can see I pushed 3 kids most of the way.  Rachel and Kaden left me in their dust then met me at the finish line.  Between a crying baby, sassy 3 year old and a whiny 5 year old we made it to the finish line about 5th from last!  Woohoo!

I invited all 5 of my sisters and my mom to my stake center for dinner and to watch the general Relief Society meeting  together.  It was fun to have all of us together.... that doesn't happen very often.  We did miss my brother's wife, Carly.  She was spending time with her family that evening.

 How does one get their hair to be this awesome?!!

 

She must have taken lessons from her Aunt Shelly! ;)

Beach Vacation

-Sunset September 15th-

Vacation WITHOUT any children.  Now that's what I'm talking about!  Nate took me to Mexico Beach, Florida, a little beach town in the Gulf of Mexico, September 14th-18th.  (No oil from the spill ever made it there if you were wondering why we're vacationing in the Gulf.)  It was so much fun!  He had been there a few years ago for work and knew he wanted to take me there someday.  The peak season was over, so we had plenty of space all to ourselves.  All I wanted to do was sit on the beach and do nothing.... and that's exactly what we did!  The weather was perfect.  The sand was like sugar.  The company was great.... we also went with my sister, Shelly, and her husband, Ryan, and with my brother, Rick, and his wife, Carly.  If you didn't know already, the guys are all business partners so this was kind of a business retreat type thing.  It was also conveniently planned around mine and Nate's 12th wedding anniversary, September 18th and Rick and Carly's anniversary, September 20th.  Originally it was all vacation, but they ended up getting an under-stage door job 40 miles from where we were so the guys woke up early one morning did the job and were back by 10:00 a.m..  We didn't even miss them! ;)

 

We stayed in a cute, little, waterfront beach house.  Not fancy.  Just quaint and fun.

 

 This is the little trail from the house to the ocean we walked everyday many times.  It was kind of fun walking through the tall grass and vines.

 

 

We played lots of frisbee and catch with a football.  Woo!  Go Nate!

We had lots of fun playing in the water.  I never mastered the body surfing, but had fun trying.  I mean, good grief, look at my hair.  I must have just got pummeled by a wave!

 

This is the sunRISE.  That's right.  I was up to watch it.  We arrived the night of the 14th and went to bed at 10:30 p.m. central time, but both Nate and I woke up around 4:30 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. So much for thinking we would sleep in with no kids to wake us!  At 5:45 we got up and took a long walk down the beach and back.  It was beautiful.  We did sleep better the other nights.  That first night was a bit crazy.  When I first dozed off I had a dream there was this 6 inch ugly black spider/scorpion/millipede thing in my bed and I screamed (yes, in real life) and jumped onto Nate (yes, again, in real life).  I soon realized it was just a dream, but I'm pretty sure that's why I didn't sleep well that night.  I'm not normally a sleep talker/jumper, but man, that was scary!  I DO NOT LIKE CREEPY, CRAWLY THINGS!

We saw lots of fun wildlife....

Dolphins.  They showed up on our last day and would come and go.  So fun to watch them.

Bald Eagles.  They seriously flew right by us, grabbed some fish out of the water, and flew away.  My camera was on the night setting still when I took this picture so it didn't turn out very well, but if you zoom in you can see the fish in it's grasp.  I still can't believe how close they were to us and how SLOW I was to grab my camera.

Crabs.  Yuck!  I'm sorry, but they rank up there with spiders and snakes.  Creepy, crawly critters just aren't my thing as I mentioned before.  They were all over the beach at night.... and for some reason us girls thought we would go out with the guys and catch some.  Let's just say there was a lot of screaming and a lot of laughing.  I'll let you decide who was doing which.  In this picture Nate found a cigarette butt and gave it to the crab.  That little sucker wouldn't let it go.  I'm glad Nate didn't test the claw with his own finger like he was originally going to do.

Seagulls.  Ryan decided to feed the seagulls one evening.  It was kind of entertaining until they almost pooped on me and bombed my shoe!  Nate tried to get them to eat off his head.... didn't work so well.

Nate and Ryan especially, would go up on the pier and watch the fishermen catch flounder, grouper, sand shark, and probably a few other things.  I'm surprised they didn't go buy gear and try it themselves.  Next time I'm sure they will.  You could also see jellyfish swimming around the pier when you looked down into the water.

We also ate lots of wildlife!  Flounder, shrimp, grouper, crab.....

We celebrated Carly's birthday on the 16th with key lime cheese cakes.  YUM!  I hope she had a fun birthday with all of us.

Lots of reading and relaxation!  If we weren't at the beach we were either eating or playing games in the house.  Speed Scrabble and Cheating Uno made for some good times.  For some reason the sunscreen Nate put on one day made him go all blotchy and polka dotted.  It was really weird.  Seems like his trach scar in the picture below is very prominent.  At least it's popping out to me.... so glad he is alive and doing well.  I love that guy!

I would sit on my chair and look at this.  It's not crystal clear.  Neither is it Caribbean blue, but it was still beautiful!

I could hardly open my eyes in this picture.... it ain't so pretty.... say cheeeeese!

Shelly and Nate

Rick, Carly, and Me

Being stalked by my sister's telephoto lens! :)

 

Enjoying our last night there.  We played in the water til dusk.  Enjoyed another beautiful sunset.  Perfection.  Thank you Nate!!

Boo hoo!  Going home.  We were ready, though. We missed our kids and were ready to smooch them again.  I know I felt very rejuvenated and have been a better mom since then.  Thank you to all who helped watch my kids... you know who you are. :)  This is definitely a place we'll go to again..... how about tomorrow?!

September 27 - Nate Update

I haven’t thought much about doing an update on Nate since there isn’t much to report on, but I guess there are a few things I can mention. First of all, he’s doing really well. He seems to have all his energy back. I’ve even noticed a difference in his patience level. Right after the accident we all kind of had to tip toe around him because he’d let the little things get to him, but now he is much more himself and we’re all a lot happier with his return. :) He was able to get his braces on at the beginning of August by switching to a different orthodontist who is affiliated with the original one he was going to use. So that’s been nice to be on the road to getting all his jaw issues resolved. So we’re looking at February sometime for his jaw surgery, but on the hunt for a new oral surgeon. The original one has a surgical assistant that isn’t covered under our insurance. We don’t want to pay more than we have to so Nate’s looking else where. He gets his braces tweaked in a couple days….. not looking forward to that. I had forgotten how painful it is and I’m just a bystander this time!

His knee is still on schedule for a December surgery. That will keep him home for a good 6 weeks. He’ll get a new (or should I say “used”) cadaver’s PCL for Christmas. It’s been kind of nice that it wasn’t an urgent thing, but at the same time the waiting game isn’t fun either. He attempted volleyball a month or so ago, but I think decided he probably shouldn’t. (The last thing he needs to do is blow out all the rest of his ligaments!) I know he’s been invited to play different things since, but he has declined. I know it irritates him not being able to do all those things. The day to day activity doesn’t cause much pain, but he can’t kneel on it or bend it too much. I know I shouldn’t, but every now and then I’ll hear him yelp and I’ll know he tweaked it one way or another and it makes me laugh. I do proceed to ask him if he’s okay, too. :)

He met with the ear, nose and throat doctor at the beginning of September and he said everything looked good and Nate should come back in a year.... I’m not sure Nate will after waiting for him for 3 hours to have him tell him that! If I didn’t really like that doctor I’d never return. No one should have to wait 3 hours. That’s just ridiculous. Anyway, his face has healed wonderfully and his scar is a lot more minimal than any of us would have even imagined. He’s been very diligent at making sure he puts Mederma on it at least twice a day and it’s paid off. If you have a scar you don’t like, seriously use Mederma. I’ll be their new spokesman.... or Nate should be anyway. I’ll put a more recent picture on so you can see how he’s looking.

He’s still going to vision therapy and they say his vision is improving. Sometimes we wonder if it has just been time that has made the difference or the therapy. Either way, he doesn’t have to turn his head sideways to look at things straight on anymore.... well, as much anyway. If he’s tired or has been on the computer a lot he gets double vision, but it is improving. Yay!

I think that’s about it. This winter will be a trial, but I know he’ll do great and it will pay off to have everything fixed the right way. It’s been 4 months (in two days), but it almost seems like a life time ago the accident happened. I was just telling Nate the other day I am glad I don’t think about it constantly anymore. Yes, I think about it everyday, but not every minute. I have stopped critiquing every motorcyclist on the road, but I still see people Nate and I know who head out without their helmet on.... COME ON PEOPLE!!! It kills me. I get this ache in my heart and then I want to ring their necks! I am mostly over the fact that the guy who pulled out in front of Nate never checked to see how he was doing or to offer any sympathy, apology, or anything... although, I can’t think about that too much or it might start to bug me again. I said I was “mostly” over it. :) I do however thank Heavenly Father everyday for sparing my husband’s life and allowing us to make more memories together. We have most definitely been blessed. To think otherwise would be foolish and selfish and simply a lie. Thank you all for your continued love and concern.

Seriously?

Oh, yes!  Where do I sign?!

Captain Underpants Returns

What is it with my kids and underwear and their heads?! Tye and his friend, Hudson, decided to put on a bunch of ties, underwear over their pants and on their heads, and socks on their hands. I'm not sure what exactly they were pretending to be, but boy did they look good!

Summer Adieu

The summer days are drawing to a close so we decided to have one last sleep-out in the backyard.

We played catch.

We sat around.

We rolled around.

And we ate a yummy dutch oven dessert.

We also made s'mores and looked up at the stars (my favorite part). Good-bye summer!