Andrew turns 3

Andrew turned 3 on September 30, but we waited to celebrate his birthday General Conference weekend when Nana & Papa were in town.  Andrew wanted a Rescue Bots themed birthday, and since his favorite Rescue Bot is Heatwave, daddy made him a Heatwave cake!  Andrew loved it.

We invited the Tompkinson boys over to celebrate with us and Nana & Papa.  Maddox and Andrew are just a week apart, and they are best buds!!  Bummer that they aren't in nursery together anymore.

We colored pictures, had a nerf gun war at "Decepticon Daddy" (plus a big doggy pile on him!), ate pizza/cake/ice cream/snowcones, and watched a Rescue Bots show.  It was a big success!!  He got some Rescue Bot toys, his own kid chair, superhero capes, Rescue Bots show, and cars with a new car mat.

It's hard to believe my little boy turned 3 years old!  So according to the Doctor, he's actually not so little (40.5 pounds and 41.5 inches tall - average size of a 4.5 year old), but to me he's still my little boy.  My funny little man, who dislikes sleeping in (still an early riser), loves his blankies (still), otter pops, his movie time, and he can name all the characters in Scooby Doo.

I should note that Rachel struggled with all the attention being on Andrew, but finally got the hang of it about half way through the day.  Ugh!  She also did not like the fact that Nana & Papa were there for his birthday, because they weren't at her party.  Lately, I've been hearing a lot of whining, and particularly declarations of "It's not fair!" and I don't have a great response, but I am trying to teach her this all important life principle, so it's good when unfair situations arise.  I get glimpses of a little, sassy teenager in a five year old body, and it terrifies me.  Please just be a phase, Rachel!!

Flying Solo

I just finished driving the kids home from Utah all by myself for the first time (I began writing this last weekend).  I deserve a trophy or something!  Phew!!  We drove half way, then stayed in Las Vegas for a night with the Stewart's (friends from law school) and then finished the rest of the trip.  It went pretty good, minus the fact that Andrew and Kendall had diarrhea/diaper rashes the second day, which caused some drama and lots of diaper changes.  

The idea came to me when my parents were coming down for General Conference weekend, and then Rachel had the whole next week off school for fall break, so I figured my parents could help me drive up there and then I could stay for the week, then drive home myself.  Brandon would have loved to come, but his billable year ends November 1st, so he's been really busy.  Our Utah trip was so fun and we actually got to experience AUTUMN!  Fall is one of my favorite things about Utah, so it was a special treat to visit and see the beautiful scenery.  We drove up to Squaw Peak and saw the pretty views, and I was in awe!  The colors were apparently not as vibrant this year, but to this Arizona girl, I was happy, happy, happy!

Other random bits and pieces:
- Lunch with Shalauna, Cindy and mom; after lunch we were going to go to the Outlets, but figured the kids would only last a few minutes, so we opted for a park near Shalauna's house instead
- Random stop by Nicole's house on a potty training Henry day - wished I could do that more often
- A visit to Pookie's swing and a second visit to pick out a pumpkin from their garden (more swinging)
- A visit to Grandma Parker & Julye
- McDonald's on a rainy day, only to find out that the play place was closed, so we met at Kacie's for a playdate instead
- Cornbelly's with Hale cousins plus Aunt Marilyn, Leslie, Allie & Gabe; I was super impressed with all the activities they had for the kids - we could have stayed there for hours, but I was too exhausted
- Played in Nana's garden with Zoe and some pet snails that Nana found for them and that we brought back to AZ
- Kendall did not warm up to any males while we were there - she was very unfriendly to everyone, even Papa & Grandpy
- A quick peak at cousin Ellie when she came over to Grandma Nancy's one morning; she melts my heart and I even got a sweet smile out of her.  For the first time, I experienced her little cry with no noise coming out, and it just broke my heart, but her mama knew just what to do to make her happy again.
- Experienced a serious delay on the morning we were supposed to leave AZ to Utah ... Rachel woke up with a cough (something was flaring up having to do with her asthmatic, reactive airways), so I went and camped out at my Dr. office until they got us in.  I wanted to get meds and I knew my doctor is the only one who would give me something (with so few symptoms) so that she wouldn't get sick because we were going to be around lots of cousins.  At two different CVS pharmacies and a bunch others that we tried, everyone had on hand the wrong strength of the medication I needed, so I just took what I could get to get things started, and I had to give Rachel the most ridiculous dosage I have ever heard of!  No really!  It was an entire medicine bottle full per day - it was 125 ml or equivalent to 25 teaspoons of meds once a day for 3 days.  I cannot explain to you how upset I was about all this, but there wasn't a whole lot of options for me with us driving to Utah, wanting to get started on the meds, and then being in Utah away from our office.  Rachel was a freaking rockstar for making it through that (with lots of juice and treat, but she did it!).

All three kids - including the out takes

WALKING EVERYWHERE!!

Loved this picture because Rachel and Kennedy were riding the cow train with their feet up and arms up too.

Views from Squaw Peak

Sleepover with cousins

Stayed the night in Vegas with our friends, the Stewarts

The big MOVE

The first half of September, we were getting ready to move into our new house.  Packing and more packing for me.  Brandon was doing lots of organizing in the garage and also lots of sanding for a project he's working on for the house.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to cover all of our belongings that were being stored in the garage so everything in there was covered with a layer of saw dust.  I shouldn't complain because it's a great hobby for him to have.  But it was a bummer!

During the first week of September, my mom decided to come down last minute and help me get some packing done.  The kids were so happy and surprised to see her!  I didn't tell Rachel she was coming, and when we picked her up from school, Andrew & Nana were hiding in the backseat.  Andrew's reaction was pure happiness - so sweet.

Then we were lucky enough to get Nancy for the weekend of the actual move - she was a huge help all during that crazy weekend.  She took great care of the kids and spoiled us.  The kids were sad to see her go, like always, but they had a lot of exploring and playing to do in their new domain.

We closed on September 10, and moved in on September 14.  The closing went as smooth as it could have gone.  We weren't able to get the rate we wanted (since rates have gone up a full percentage since we decided to build in May), but we are still under 5% and feel good about how everything went.

The move was just as miserable as they always are.  Moving is the worst, but we survived.

Everything in the house turned out great!  The cabinets, tile floor, cabinets and carpet all look nice.  I was panicking that the carpet was going to be too dark of a brown, but I think it will work out great.  There are a few things that we wished we wouldn't have been so frugal about, but we were over budget as is and had to stop somewhere.  We had to use a lot of self control in the building process, and did not go crazy on the upgrades.  We feel very blessed to be in a brand new house and we are hopeful that the neighborhood will be a good place for our kids (and us) to be.

Big milestones ... Kendall took her first steps Labor Day weekend (Sept 2-3, she was just barely 10 months old).  Perfect timing to get in a house with a large staircase, so we got a stair gate which has been a big help keeping her safe while I unpack and try to get things done.

Kendall also had yet another haircut - this is at least three by now, little Miss Grandpa hair.  And this time, she got her first sucker so that she'd hold still.  First sucker at 11 months - mom of the year, for sure!

Another milestone - not really, but I knew this would happen to me eventually - Kendall pooped out her diaper in her crib, and then played for in for 15 minutes while I assumed that she was maybe going back to sleep or just content playing quietly.  Well, she was content - playing in her own poo, that is.  After I finally got to her, it was everywhere!  She had been smearing it and I fear to guess whatever else she was doing with it.  My stomach just queazy, so I'll stop there.

Pure craziness!!  

Grandma Nancy

Move in weekend - first Sunday in the Lehi Crossing ward 

Andrew was hot and it was sunny, so he needed his blankie of course!

Kendall, 10.5 months

Kendall, first sucker and yet another haircut

Yeah, it's not chocolate... so gross