It's not fair!

Today was the first day of the state fair. Admission was $2 with the donation of some canned goods. Me and a friend thought it would be a great day to bring the kids and check it out. It was what I imagine hell must be like. Let me explain. We were concerned that Jayme may not be well enough to fly out here tomorrow, meaning that someone else would have to go out and get her when she was well enough and who knows when that will be. So, we decided to have a family fast for her. I didn't put the two together until last night. Can I tell you how hard it was to walk through the food booths on my way to and from my car? Corn dogs, french fries, funnel cakes, Dippin' Dots, Lemonade - all of my favorite foods and I could have none of it. It should count as a double fast really. And, after all of that, Carter was so cranky that we looked at the cows, sheep and rabbits and then left. Such a waste of a morning.

WOW!

This past few weeks seems like such a whirlwind! We have been so busy that blogging just seems kind of overwhelming. I am sure this will be a long one, so you may want to read in installments. I'll start with our trip to DC. On the way out we spent the night at a friend's house in Columbus, OH. Grant and Ashley used to live in Milwaukee; Grant worked at Kohl's with Mike and they were in our ward in Orem before we moved out here. Grant is actually the one who got Mike interested in Kohl's. It was so great to see them. They just had twins a couple of months ago. I am a loser and didn't get pictures of them, but I did get one with Ashley and Emma. I can't believe how much Emma has grown! I think she was about 18 months when we last saw her in Tennessee. Grant and Ashley have a fabulous house and it was great to catch up with them.

We went to DC (technically Leesburg, VA - right outside of DC) to see Mike's family. We stayed with his brother Jon and his wife, Christine. The day we got there was her birthday. She had the most beautiful cake and it was red velvet inside. YUM!

Carter giving Christine some birthday love: We went downtown the next day and decided that it wasn't as fun with 2 little kids. They weren't very impressed with the Air and Space Museum, and by the time we got to the Museum of Natural History, they were done. We saw a few exhibits there and left. In general kind of disappointing, but we have seen it before and with Jon and Christine living there it is easy enough to go back.

This dinosaur reminds me of the movie Night at the Museum:

I think the best part for the kids was riding the Metro. I felt like such a touristy nerd taking this picture, but had to do it.

The next day we went to another Air and Space museum. This one was much better. It wasn't nearly as crowded and there was plenty of space for Carter and Samantha to run around crazy.

The nephews: The Enola Gay - I wonder how the Japanese tourists feel when they see this one. It was a lot bigger than I thought it was.

The Enterprise:

After all of our walking around in the hot sun, we cooled down in the pool. One of Carter's cousins loaned him some goggles, and they took away any fear of the water that kid ever had. He impressed us all by going underwater (without plugging his nose!) and staying under. Of course little copy cat Samantha saw this and thought that it would be fun. I need to get them into swimming lessons. They love the water!

Carter soaking up some sun:

The drive back was uneventful. We left Sunday morning and drove straight through. Christine came back with us to help us get Jayme all settled in. It turns out that Jayme will be getting here later than we thought but we had fun, so I think the trip was worth it for her.
Mike had a vendor dinner on Wednesday and we had a gift certificate to the Kalahari resort in the WI Dells that expires soon, so Christine and I took the kids to the water park. Of course we had a blast. I did remember my camera, but by the time I got it out the kids were cold (we were inside) and not much in the mood for pictures. I am excited to go back this winter when it isn't as crowded and the prices are better, although you can't beat free!

Thursday night we went to Germanfest. It's a good thing that we got in for free, because it wasn't all that great. We did get $1 ice creams. I think that was the highlight for me.

Friday Mike left for Denver to go get his mom, thinking he would be back Sunday. More on that later...

Saturday Christine and I went to the temple for Stake Temple day. I had really been looking forward to this because it has been forever since I have done a session. Samantha doesn't do well with babysitters and it is a lot to ask someone to deal with that for 6 hours. They opened the church close to the temple up for babysitting, so we traded with some friends and watched their kids while they did a session and then they watched mine. It was seriously a day from Hell (other than actually being in the temple). First of all, I should never leave the house before 10 am. For some reason this is beyond my capabilities. I should know my limits and work within them. We did get out of the house by 8:30 to make it to the church down there by 10, but it was pure chaos and I know that set the tone for the rest of the day. Mike took the portable DVD player with him to Denver so the kids were horrible in the car on the way down. Carter can entertain himself pretty well, but Samantha wanted nothing to do with any of the toys I brought for her. So she resorted to teasing Carter. She would rest her hand on his armrest knowing it drives him crazy and so he would hit and pinch her. By the time we hit Chicago, I was the crazy mom who is reaching behind the seat swinging wildly at anything and yelling for them to knock it off before I pulled the car over. In the process, I thought I had missed my exit (there is a lot of construction on the way down), so I pulled off thinking I was getting off on the exit, but really I had just pulled off the freeway into a construction zone (this would be why I hate driving). I had to merge back onto the freeway with people honking and looking at me like I was an idiot. I felt like one.

Anyways, we got to the church and there was nobody else there. I didn't realize that the stake sessions didn't start until later on. It worked out well though, the people cleaning the church let us in, and we had the whole church to ourselves while our friends did their session. I got their 2 littlest kids and Samantha down for naps and so we just ended up with Carter and Brooklyn (their 3 year old).

While we were babysitting, I got a call from Mike saying that his mom couldn't fly until the hole in her belly button was fixed and that he had changed their tickets to Friday. What? I couldn't believe that he hadn't even asked me. Of course I would have said ok, but still, he should have run it by me first (we've discussed this already - he knows better now).

Other people started showing up right as we were getting ready to leave, so we had to hurry and pick up all of our toys before they were spread all over the church. We left the church late for our session, so I was frazzled by that. On top of leaving late, I have no sense of direction, so I had no idea which way to turn out of the church parking lot to get the temple. The mapquest directions said "go west". Lots of help. So I guessed, and of course I guessed wrong. We did have my SIL's GPS with us, but all it kept saying was "acquiring satellites". I finally hit a dead end and turned around, wasting about 15 minutes. My anxiety was through the roof. There was traffic going the other way because of an accident. The cops were just finishing up. One block later I came to yellow light and gunned it, forgetting that the cops were right behind me. Of course I got pulled over (it was definitely red by the time I went through). He yelled at me and asked where I was going in such a hurry. I told him the temple and he just looked down like "I can't give her a ticket now" and let me go with a very firm "be careful!". I was so rattled by the time I made it to the temple. The session was great. Right when you walk you can't help but feel calm, but my mind was everywhere else through the entire session.

Luckily the ride back was better, but it will be a long time before I attempt that again. I will be going alone next time.

The rest of Christine's visit was uneventful (thank goodness), she left on Tuesday. It was really fun getting to know her and we are excited to see her again at Thanksgiving!

Mike gets home tomorrow and I am so excited! This has been the longest I have been alone with the kids and we all miss him so much. I am starting to get nervous about Jayme coming out though. I haven't really let myself think about it too much, but she gets here tomorrow. It is going to be life-changing to say the least. We'll see how it goes...

Just a little something

I have completely neglected my blog lately. I have been busy though! Carter is doing ok with the potty training. He will stay dry as long as he isn't wearing anything from the waist down. As soon as I put underwear or pull-ups on him he will pee. So, he has been walking around naked anytime we are home for the last 2 weeks. He is getting better though and I am hoping (and praying) that he will be able to wear underwear soon. I have seen enough naked boy bum to last 3 lifetimes.

Our vacation was fun, we survived the road trip, but I will post more about it when I download pictures. My SIL drove back with us (lucky her:)) and she will be here until Tuesday. It's been fun getting to know her better and she taught me how to make bolgogi and kim chi (she is half Korean). We also went to Germanfest (her other half is German). It was actually a bit disappointing - far less costumes than I expected. Boo. Again, probably more of that when I download pictures.

Mike is gone until Friday. He left this last Friday expecting to be back on Sunday with his mom, but she needs a procedure before she can come out so he changed his tickets to Friday. This is definitely the longest he has been gone and I am just hoping I don't go nuts. With Christine here for the next few days hopefully it won't be so bad.

Anyways, you can expect something good within the next week, but for now this is it. Sorry!

Potty Training: Take 26

I have finally had it. This kid will learn how to use the toilet. We started again yesterday and I am just throwing everything I've got at him. He's got sticker charts, pee treats, poop treats, treats for staying dry. He has new cool underwear, but he is currently going naked from the waist down because he didn't like the plastic underwear that I got to go over his new underwear. We have been watching potty videos. Seriously, if it has been suggested in any book, blog or website I am doing it. I even had my sister call as Dora yesterday. It does seem to be working though! He stayed dry all day today (and yes, there was a treat for that, too), and even went poop without even telling me. He just went in and went. While this is fabulous, it's also a little frustrating because it just shows that I was right when I said he knew how to do it all along. Apparently there just wasn't enough incentive before. We'll see if it lasts this time. I know both from my own as well as other's experiences that blogging too early about something can curse it, but we'll see! A mom can only take so much!

On another note, my tent came yesterday as promised. Yay! Mike was a little skeptical, but I knew they would pull through. I can't wait to go try it out (like I haven't used the exact same one before, but still)! Maybe we will try to get a Labor Day camping trip together if there isn't snow on the ground yet.

Gotta go paint!

A new blog is born!

In addition to the new face lift that my blog just received, I also created a new blog for Mike's mom, Jayme. That way family can check in and see what she's up to and how she is feeling. Check it out at www.jaymesdays.blogspot.com. As for my own blog, it has been sadly neglected as I have spent the last 4 days painting and getting Jayme's room ready. It will continue to be neglected as I finish getting things ready in her room and get packed for our trip next week. We leave on Tuesday for DC to visit Mike's family. Chances are good that there will be no more posts until after we get back. Wish me luck!

I heart Kelty

Our poor torn tent has been sitting in our office partly as a reminder for Mike to call Kelty and partly because I am not ready to admit defeat with it. Every time I look at it I get a little bit sick, it's like getting a big scratch in your brand new car. Anyways, Mike finally called today and they are sending us a brand new tent!!! We just have to put the old one in the box with pre-paid shipping. How great is that? We will go invest in some heavy duty tent stakes and it will last forever like I originally thought it would. I don't think I have been so excited in a long time. Honestly, I don't even remember the last time I was this excited. Mike said it's probably been since he proposed. I don't know about that, but yeah, it does kind of feel the same. Thanks Morgan in customer service, you are the best!