House Hunting

So yes, supposedly (picture me giving you a slight roll of the eye) we are moving to Taiwan this summer. I say "supposedly" because within those quotes is just enough wiggle room for me to squeeze through to one of my favorite places, the Land of Denial. It is a lovely place I like to visit whenever the subject of an international move comes up. Everyone- including myself back before I was in danger of experiencing it first hand- thinks that moving over seas sounds exotic and adventurous and wonderful. True, true and true. But what you don't realize is that much must be given up for the opportunity. What I have come to understand about myself is that when I thought overseas living would be awesome, overseas travel is actually my idea of exotic, adventurous and wonderful. Most of this has to do with having little ones whose lives and education we are responsible for. I guess my point is that overtime I have become used to the inevitability that we were moving overseas largely by trying to understand the very real perks and very real difficulties that come with it.... and a healthy dose of the Dory "just keep swimming" attitude that has always come so naturally to me, ha!

My awesome sisters were up to the task of watching our kids again while I left with Nathan for my first trip ever overseas. I seriously should have taken a picture because you would never believe the condition we left our room in for the girls. Laundry, albeit clean, piled high and strewn everywhere. A product of being home from Boise for about 36 hours before we left again. So Natalie and Ashley are pretty much amazing for even agreeing to walk into that sand trap.  

Having said all that I'm about to get very honest. When people ask how I feel about moving to Asia I give most everyone the same answer about how I am a bit apprehensive but I'm sure we'll adjust and the Taiwan American School is amazing and I might even throw in how having a maid is cheap and very standard in Taiwan. But this is me we are talking about. As much as I long to be that woman who when offered this experience doesn't bat an eye and excitedly replies, "let's do this!" and "when can we leave!?"- I am not nor will I ever be that woman. Instead I worry. I worry about driving (I can now report the driving here is like NY cab drivers but on crack) I worry about health care (and that would be a yes, I'm planning on having this baby in Taiwan. Somebody slap me.) I worry about where I will get food to prepare for my family (have I mentioned I'm not a fan of Chinese food?) I worry about being SO far away from family and friends and our DVR- in that order I swear. But thanks to some awesome friends (Allison!) and people I have been put in touch with from Taiwan many of my worries were settled at least partially. 

When Nathan and I left for our trip on Sunday I was excited and looking forward to the experience. Taiwan is sometimes confused with Thailand but Taiwan is actually the Republic of China and they speak Mandarin Chinese. At any rate, I was excited to check this place out. So that makes it a little hard to explain why about 8 hrs into our flight I started bawling. No really, full on sobbing. It started out as just a little teary and I was trying to pull myself together but instead I just lost it. I was trying to be discreet but at some point Nathan realized I was crying (poor guy, he was so confused) and I scared the crud out of him because I was crying so hard I couldn't even speak and so he was imagining something terrible had happened. As my sister explained, I was having one of those, "oh my gosh this is really happening" moments and she's right. Suddenly the reality of moving overseas became a little too real. In that moment I DID NOT WANT TO MOVE. Thankfully though I felt much better after a seriously huge cry. 

I was amazed when on the first leg of the flight Nathan slept and slept and slept. I took a short little nap and then proceeded to read an entire book (A Thousand Splendid Suns, not really a funny ha ha kind of book). During our layover in Japan I started to feel it and by the time we boarded the last leg of our flight I could hardly speak without slurring my words I was so dang tired.  Frankly, I would've blogged days ago but I have been battling jet lag any moment I sit still too long. 

Though pretty much every smell is offensive to my sensitive nose, I have managed pretty well here if I do say so myself. It has really been cool to get to explore a bit of this country. We've spent several days house hunting- hopefully our prayers have been answered and we will find a place before we leave this trip. I have lot's of other details and things that I have found interesting but I'm not really sure if they would be interesting to anyone else so for now I better call it good I think. More later...

Elder Wilcox Returns!!!

So Tuesday night was the big night. After 2 years in Taiwan my little brother was coming home!! My whole family was excited, the kids helped make posters and were thrilled when the time had finally come. Unfortunately Justin's flight didn't get in until after 11pm and I swear those last few hours took their sweet time passing! But finally........

...Elder Wilcox appeared and as far as my immediate family goes, we were all a bit too excited in the moment to do things like, ya know, focus the camera, lol. But you get the idea. 

I was glad we had made the effort to bring the kids-  we hope the night will be a lasting memory for them. That night at my parents house after the kids were down we stayed up until 3am catching up, so brutal come 8am the next morning but so worth it.

Unfortunately Justin only had about 48 hours home before he had to head off to BYUID again which kind of seems like a cruel joke but I was happy to get what I got. It is purely coincidence that Justin served where our family will be moving, but I found myself paying close attention to details that I might not otherwise, things like how people he knew emptied 2 gallons from their de-humidifier daily...oh boy. Anyway, we got together at Ashley and Shayn's the next night, it was great to all be together.

Aly proved to be the entertainment much of the evening, but here she is eating the best dessert ever that is so sinfully good and yet dangerously bad for you, you probably shouldn't eat it unless there is a defibrillator nearby. At any rate, I may have only posted the picture because it brings back yummy memories.

The picture below- there are about 15 versions of it (none of which do I look any better than that, yikes! Would you believe me if I swore I wasn't feeling so good?) but we were all laughing so hard trying to get a pic and Aly was hamming it up- she has learned from her Aunties how to work the camera!

The Menfolk

I have no idea why everything is underlined now...must be because blogger feels what I am typing is that important. Anyway, Justin seems to be transitioning very well, granted there has hardly been time for anything else. I was impressed when day 2 his hair had started the slow transition from the Missionary hair do, thought for sure that was gonna take some time to kick :) I can't think of any way that isn't cheesy to end this post. Well, it is what it is. I love my brother and I am thrilled to have him home!

More Easter Than You Ever Wanted

This year we went to Boise for our spring break which coincided with Easter and my brother coming home from his 2 year mission in Taiwan so there was a lot we conveniently plopped ourselves in the middle of. This is the Easter montage- coloring eggs at home before we left, then on Saturday we headed over to the Jensen Easter bash and though 2 families/8 cousins were missing we were still able to have a great -though quieter- time.  

After the egg hunt we broke out the bubbles and I have to give my SIL Amber a shout out for most of these pictures, they turned out great and I had to snag 'em. With everyone blowing bubbles the backyard was quickly filled with inexplicably magical iridescent spheres (thank you for indulging me with that superfluous description... now I'm just being pedantic). 


Was it me or was pretty much everyone dressing their darlings in clothes from The Children's Place this Easter? What can I say, it was the cutest thing I could find short notice when I began to be able to peel myself off of the couch sometime between late March early April.
And I had to add these pics because growing up at my Gma Nona's house we would do this and it was so fun. Each basket is attached to a large spool of wrapping ribbon which is then unraveled all over the backyard (traditionally by the men folk) and then each child gets their spool and begins following and winding, racing to be the first to reach their Easter basket, not sure that was a very good description. At any rate, the more participants the more ribbons all over so just know that with only 3 it wasn't as impressive as it could be. It's pretty cool when a backyard is absolutely covered in bright ribbon all over.


And all this is still not including the Easter Bunnies visit Saturday morning or hearing the Easter story from our children after Sunday school, Easter dinner and on and on. Easter 2009... AWESOME. 

A hundred and a hundred!

I am still in Boise- and obviously lot's has been going but while I have just a second I have to report that Aly has had potty training success!!!! Starting conference weekend when Nathan was available we began with Aly. It took all week but by Thursday when we flew to Boise and had a 2 hour delay at the airport -ugh- she did great. Nathan and I were panic stricken when on our flight we went to take Aly to the restroom and she flat out REFUSED to use that "stinky" potty that "has no water in it!" But defying the odds she made it through all of our travels dry as can be. This is especially impressive when we were previously taking her to the restroom every half hour. Let me just share one thing. The other two did not stay dry immediately at night when they were training, but Aly sleeps 12 hour nights and will be completely dry in the morning! I CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!!!!! It is super cute (to Aly's parents anyway) when she opens the flood gates in the morning after those 12 hours and she excitedly shouts "A hundred and a hundred!!!" There certainly is a lot- I have serious bladder envy.
So here is the deal, we have been in Boise on our spring break and my brother Justin came home from his 2 yr mission to Taiwan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this week which was amazing!!! I will be able to blog properly about it when I get home to my laptop, Nathan's is killing me. For now though, let's follow Aly's example as she would demand we "BE EXCITED" when she would successfully use the potty. That or, "CLAP FOR ALY!!!"- which at this point I feel is well deserved. That's my girl.

Let's Go With "Better Late Than Never"

What. So St. Patrick's day was almost a month ago. The fact that I'm blogging about it now should give you a pretty good idea of how I was feeling and then how the whole fam was feeling. Truth be told I couldn't skip this because I need a pat on the back for the Green and Shamrock filled lunch I made Kennedy and her friend Alex who came over. I was NOT feeling well that day but I pulled off a little lunch that had the girls tickled so it was almost worth the trouble.  

Next we had my 29th Birthday. Again, I was feeling like crud but Nathan had the children so excited about my birthday. On the Monday before they all "went to the park" but really went to Target so they could pick out Birthday decorations (as told by the Tinkerbell/Spiderman adornments). When they got home they were all telling me how on Wednesday (my B-day) I should take an extra long nap, "like past when Dad gets home"...in the hopes that they could then decorate and surprise me. 

Then the morning of my Birthday Nathan got up early with Kenna and Kohen and made me breakfast in bed which I only wish I could've eaten more of, fruit and freshly made coffee cake and Bran flakes (cuz let's not forget I'm popping Zofran like candy and if you've ever taken it you know why the bran is highly necessary). To see them so excited to bring it to me though was the real gift. Kennedy was in charge of pictures that evening and seeing as how I looked about like how I felt, I figured this one was good enough.

Easily my favorite gifts were the cards that Nathan let each child pick out for me. Kennedy and Kohen could hardly wait for me to see what they had chosen for me/get to use the paper doll and/or Knight in shining armor stickers that came with the cards. It was too funny.

Then we had Aly's card which about brought tears to my eyes because Nathan said she was adamant about this one. And when I opened it she frantically pointed to the little girl and then the mom, "Me! You! Me!"  

I'm not sure I ever would have thought cards from a 6, 4, and 2 year old could mean so much.

A Little Randomness If You Please

       Thanks to everyone who took the survey, I hate to admit it but it looks like I should have at least anticipated the possibility of an exam happening in pregnancy. I'm so glad I got to learn the hard way! I really did appreciate everyones assurances that I couldn't possibly be the most horrifying thing the OB had ever seen, it comforts me as I cry myself to sleep. ;)

       Moving on. I officially despise Britney Spears. She adds nothing of value to our society. I am doubting you have heard her new song so I'm not even going to ask- but I heard them talking about it on the radio or else I don't think I ever would have put it together. The lyrics say something like, "love me, hate me, but all the boys and all the girls want to, if you seek Amy"....Here is a hint, the title of the song is "If You Seek Amy" and that phrase sounds like you are spelling a bad word followed by 'me'. I was appalled. What are we, in middle school? I mean seriously. Is Britney that desperate for attention? Obviously. But I refuse to be subjected to it. That is not "Art", it's offensive and I can't stand the fact that there are children starving all over the world and we pay Britney millions of dollars for lip syncing to trash like that. I used to actually pity her but not any more. Not when you are using your fame to spread a foul message like that.

       Okay moving on from that icky tangent.... So, I don't really know why I tend to chronicle every bump and bruise my children incur on the blog but for some reason I do. Let's start with Aly. She was the latest to to fall victim to the bee's in the backyard. She was messing with them and honestly had it coming, as sad as that is. What was worse was when I went to take the stinger out of her finger, she jerked her hand away and got stuck by the stinger a second time, though this time in her thumb. Both spots were quite sore for a bit but the Baking Soda did the trick again- though Aly believes whole heartedly it was the bandaid that healed her. 

      Then we have Kohen, playing Hide and Seek with Kenna when he somehow slipped and fell in the bathroom where he had been running to hide and hit his head on the edge of the seat of the toilet. Full on broke the toilet, ripped the seat off the hinge (after our week of sickness the toilet was in no shape for a photo shoot...you're welcome). His forehead now looks something akin to Worf from Star Trek, poor boy. And after the whole thing with Natasha Richardson dying from a seemingly minor head injury, both Nathan and I have been keeping a close watch on Kohen, he can't sneeze without us asking if he's okay.  

Anyway, Spring is officially here so I hope that everyone is enjoying it and hopefully the weather where you are is warm and rejuvenating, or at least will be sometime soon!

Rough Week

Late Saturday night about the time the clock struck midnight, Nathan and I were tucked in bed discussing each of our lessons we were to be teaching the next day at church when we heard a sound that has come to strike fear in my heart and a gag in my throat. We discovered Aly in her bed covered in...well...  Anyway, all night long Aly threw up every half hour and later every hour until about 7 am. Nathan and I, and Aly were all exhausted by sunrise. This is the first flu Aly remembers having and she was so distressed and upset by it. She would get sick and for some reason decided it was the bowls fault so she didn't want to use it- that was a difficult and messy hurtle. But after she'd be sick she'd say sweet things like, "that was not nice" and "my tummy's hurting my fweewings". Poor baby. I'll spare you the play by play for the rest of the week but let's just say it has taken her until today to feel better and she suddenly looks terribly skinny to Nathan and I. 

That brings us to Thursday morning 3am. Kohen comes in our room not feeling well. Please no. No, no, no, no, NO!... But yes. It was all happening again just like it had with Aly. Another example of Kohen's unflappable optimism happened in the morning before school when Kennedy came in our room and discovered Kohen on our floor. As we explained he was sick she looked worried and said, "Well...I'm not sick." Totally depressed I give a doubtfull, "So far..." and Kohen chimes in cheerily from the floor, "SO GOOD." That boy...and his dad for that matter. Bless them and their optimism.

Unfortunately, Kennedy took her turn for the worse in the afternoon and Nathan joined them last night. It seems to have morphed into something a little less violent for the last two which I am grateful for. So for right now I am the last man standing and I know not when I will be struck down but I am trying to keep things functioning and take a lesson from my boys and be optimistic. It has been a long, long week but hopefully we will all be feeling better soon and able to enjoy the 75*+ weather we've been having.  

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Nathan took the kids out to fly a kite Kohen had gotten from preschool and has been itching to use. It was the perfect day for it (I assume, seeing as I stayed home per usual) and by all reports it sounded like an idyllic kite flying experience.
The hills here, I am told, are only green for not quite 2 months while it's rainy. Nathan and I were amazed when all of the yellow/white hills turned emerald green. It's been beautiful though now that the rain is gone the green is already starting to fade. This would be the look of sheer joy on Aly's face...

I love when we catch moments when they are being sweet with one another. Proof that it does happen :)
My goggled goober- He's been on a goggle kick the last few days. Actually wore these goggles to preschool. Love a man with self-confidence.
FYI- if this kite flying fun looks like something you'd like to do I saw the kites today at Walmart for $1. That would be what I would call a good deal.

Kohen's Turn For a Night Out

Due to my recent blah status Kohen has had to wait a while before he would get a turn going out with both Mom and Dad. The opportunity came when some people in our ward were going to a Warrior's Basketball game and could get "great seats for cheap". Nathan and I thought Kohen would love it so we tentatively bought 3 tickets and when Friday rolled around I tried to pull myself together in time to go. Our friends who were going were also bringing their son M. who happens to be Kohen's buddy. We rode out together in our van and the boys sat in the back entertaining themselves talking and laughing about spiders and sharks- we got a kick out of listening to them.
The "great seats" turned out to be the 2nd to last seats up in the nose bleeds but Kohen still seemed adequately impressed with it all so that's what matters. He enjoyed the food and spent literally all night nursing the 20 oz. soda he got, probably the highlight of his night.

When the break between the first and second quarters started Kohen was nervous thinking it was over. I explained it was a break, like a time out. He gets this confused look on his face, "but why are they in time out?"

Then the real hilarity began because a gaggle of scantily clad women trodded out onto the floor. All of a sudden our nosebleed seats were more than close enough. Kohen was watching with his mouth hanging open a bit then he says to me, without moving his eyes off the girls, "Mom, they aren't wearing any pants..." True, their shorts were more like underwear. Kohen became increasingly distressed as the routine went on asking why they didn't have pants, and as they exited, asking me if they were now going to go get their pants- and on and on. Finally when the players returned he seemed relieved. "They've got their pants on, huh?" Then about every 45 seconds he would ask me if it was time for another time out yet. After asking me several times I finally got it. "Kohen, did you like that break?" yeah, he admitted. "What was your favorite part?" he looks up at me a little coy and says, "the underwear."

During half time Kohen was sitting with Nathan and when the girls returned and he asked about the "underwear", Nathan told him they were actually shorts and that seemed to take most of the shock out of it, thankfully. Anyway, both Kohen and M. were awesome throughout the game. We were sitting so far up I'm not gonna lie, I seemed to have the hardest time paying attention. But the boys did great. It was late when the game was done ( It was a great game, the Warriors won) so the boys were getting pretty silly and having a fun time. In the last pic perhaps you can see why M. is more than a full head taller than Kohen and only a few months older. As for me, I swear I was there, but I was kind of just trying to get through the night. But it was nice to get to spend time with our favorite little guy. He's a crack up.

Please Be Joking....

Let me just start by saying I have had the same Dr. deliver all three of my babies before in Boise (shout out to Dr. West!) and I was loathe to have to find a new Dr. here in CA. Going on the recommendation of a "friend" -whose status as such is now under review- I picked a new doctor. Fine. Nice guy, Nathan and I enjoyed meeting him at the first ultrasound and especially seeing the baby and the heartbeat etc. 

So for my appt. today I was looking forward to what I have always been used to, quick weight and blood pressure check, a listen to the baby's heartbeat and I'm outta there. So I was completely shocked when the nurse informed me they would be doing a Pap and Breast exam. What?! First of all that kind of activity is not something you just spring on a woman...or at least, do so at your own risk! Umm, I would've liked to have had the opportunity to shave my armpits and even an extra swipe of deodorant would've been appropriate I believe. And any other Pap Prep if you will, I'm not even going into. The mental preparation I was deprived of didn't help matters either. Anyway, today ended up being unusually humiliating...

I think my previous Dr.- who is obviously much more knowledgeable than this Dr.- had told me that do to hormones and changes in a woman's body during pregnancy, it isn't a good time to do these tests. So that left me wondering today if this is a common practice for OB's to do on pregnant women or what?! Common sense tells me that it may not be so wise, but you know, what does 'my common sense' prove? So anyway, since this is kind of personal if you feel like taking an anonymous survey (up and to the right) maybe we can get a better idea of general practices...

Man, I did not see that coming today. I just kept telling myself, surely he's seen worse than the 5 o'clock shadow in my armpits...

Pixie's Visit

Nathan was out of town the last two weeks and my mom (known as "Pixie" to the kids) came to the rescue for more than half of the time to pretty much take care of our household since I am largely useless these days. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am my mom was able to come down. The kids are always excited to see any of their grandparents, Pixie was no exception.

I love this picture from our pajama party movie night one night. Everyone looks great and then we have Aly giving us the best "duh-har" face ever. It totally reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes when Calvin's dad is trying to get a good picture of him for the Christmas cards and every time the camera snaps he makes a face, it's one of my all time favorites. 
While Pixie was here the children were quite well fed with balanced meals vs. what they get when I'm on my own these days- yogurt and a string cheese- cuz we all know that's a highly balanced meal (two dairy's and a lot of sugar= lunch the pediatrician would be proud of). 
There was lot's of playing of course which I documented all from the comfort of my well used spot on the couch. Pixie spent time in the backyard with the kids, even jumping on the trampoline with them. Who could've foreseen the unfortunate side effect that now my children think I should always be jumping with them.
And as always there were several dance parties where all participated (I was photographer) and lot's of pretend play etc.

*One day Kennedy solemnly says to my mom:

"Pixie, I have a really hard question for you...Did Jesus make Santa Clause?"

(lol, great question Kenna)
My mom did all the cooking, dishes, laundry, and cleaning the entire time she was here which was such a burden lifted from me, I can't even tell you. But she also felt sorry for me every time I got sick which was sweet. Poor Nathan, after multiple pregnancies and literally about a thousand times I've thrown up, he's kind of become numb to that aspect. You can't hardly blame him you know, it's hard to have something like that become absolutely common place and still react to it every time- even I don't do that. So anyway, it was nice to have my mom be my mom and feel sorry for me and take care of me. I was sad for a dozen reasons when she left. 

This is a pic of the only time we all went out. I couldn't let my mom visit without going out once, so I sucked it up and we went to CPK for dinner. I think they had a nice time which is what counts. Thanks for coming Mom, I love ya!

PS.- Thanks for all of the hilarious comments about the Birthday List, I seriously laughed my head off reading them. Thanks for reassuring me that in this area, at least, I am not crazy. And for the record, Kennedy had to decline the invitation. We will be busy that Saturday...I am sure. :)

Behind the Times or Bad Manners?

Okay, this morning a mother of one of Kennedy's classmates, who I haven't met before sent me an Evite to invite Kennedy to her daughters birthday party. Her daughter is in the early class, Kenna the later one and so the girls classes overlap for under 2 hours each day. Anyway, Kenna doesn't know this little girl very well so I wasn't thinking she'd go to the party anyway but as I read through the Evite I was a little shocked to find this list at the bottom: 

What does Katie want for her Birthday?

Well, she likes dresses size 6X-7, or any new clothes

The new HSM #3 movie or CD, or gift cards to Target

(she is getting a Nintendo DS from her sister along with the DS Pets Cats Clan & Ocean Rescue game already) So maybe a DS Game like "Little Pet Shop Garden" or "Little Pet Shop Jungle," or any other DS game.

She could also use the light blue small Nerf cover for the DS (Target/Toys R Us)

Maybe a gift card to Payless Shoes, that girl loves shoes! 

I hope that helps give you some ideas. 

See you at the party!

 

As far as Birthdays go in our family we kind of feel like the celebration and traditions are big and the presents are a bonus. Our experience has been the more friends and presents at the party, the less the child seems to appreciate the gifts/party or even have fun. So for now we try to keep things family oriented but this is just our way of doing things, not to say it is how we will always do things or that it is right or wrong.

But this invitation? I am gonna judge. I think it is way out of line! The further I read the more my mouth gaped open. Seriously?!  I can't get over it. What happened to "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit"? But then I started thinking maybe I am the one who is old fashioned and out of touch, maybe the majority of people celebrate Birthdays more in this way and the list is appreciated. I REALLY want to know if I am the one outta my mind or is it the author of the invitation?  You are my friends, I will accept and trust what you say~