Oh my! So much to catch up on. We've had a very busy summer and have put a lot of miles on our van!
We said goodbye to Knightdale on June 16. When we loaded everyone into the van we said a prayer to start our journey. David offered it, and said, "Thank Thee for all the fun we had at this house," which sent Nathan and I into tears. It was good house with good memories. We miss it, but look forward to the new opportunities out here. Thus began our long trek West. At least we weren't pulling a handcart.
We were traveling a few days ahead of my parents, who were driving our truck out, so we stopped for a couple days at their Utah house, which happens to be next door to my sister, to recoup and let them catch up. It was a nice break after 4 days of driving to be able to stretch, do playgrounds, cousins, and laundry. It was also fortunate timing since while we were there we realized Isaac had an ear infection. I was glad to be able to visit my sister's pediatrician and get him started on antibiotics. (I have officially dubbed him "My Utah Doctor" since we seem to often get ear infections on Utah trips.)
We pulled into Los Banos, CA on June 23, right on schedule. Our first impressions of the town are that it's not much to look at, but the people are very friendly and welcoming. Our landlord wasn't quite ready for us, however, so we did a quick drive-by to see the house and then immediately headed for Lowe's and Home Depot to purchase laundry machines and a refrigerator. My folks arrived with the truck the next day, and we spent the next four days unpacking, unpacking, and unpacking. We got pretty much everything unpacked except decorative stuff, since I didn't have any shelves to put things on (miss my Knightdale built-in cabinetry! *sniff, sniff*) Then on June 29 we loaded up the van again and I headed back to Utah with my folks and the boys.
First on the Utah agenda was my Grandma June's 95th birthday party/reunion on July 2. Sometimes I really think she's immortal, ya know? All I can say is she is a good testament to healthy diet and regular exercise.
On July 5 my parents and I took the boys up to ride TRAX from Sandy to Temple Square. Daniel, you see, loves all things that go, and has been asking me when we are going to ride an airplane (since Christmas), a train (since March), and a boat (not sure when that cropped up). We figured the light rail was as convenient and economical option as we would find to check "Ride a Train" off his bucket list. D1 and D2 both loved it. This was also Nathan's and my 10-year wedding anniversary. My how time flies! Too bad we couldn't spend it together.
On July 8-9 my immediate family convened at Heber Valley Girls Camp for our family reunion. This was my boys' first camping experience. From the perspective of a parent-traveling-single with three little ones, I was very grateful it was cabin camping. The highlight for David was the brownie hike and a giant swing activity, where they harness you to a swing and pull you on a line halfway up a tree, then let you go. David volunteered to go first, having no clue what he was signing up for, and went as high as possible. He had a good show of bravado for his cousins when he got off and encouraged them all to try it, but he secretly told me later that he thought it was scary at first. Daniel had a turn too and although he didn't go all the way to the top, he wasn't far from it. It Freaked. Him. Out. All he could say for at least 30 minutes in the aftermath was "That was scary! That was scary!" I took a turn all the way up too, and while it was fun, I agree with Daniel that it was scary! I can hardly believe my boys did it. The highlight for Daniel? Playing in the gravel in front of our cabin. Boys... Isaac enjoyed lots of attention from his aunts, uncles, and cousins. My brother-in-law Mark dubbed him "Kumquat" because of his fuzzy hair. Love it!
On July 12 my parents took Daniel back up to Salt Lake City for the day (David opted not to go). They went to Hogle Zoo, where there was a Zoorassic Park special display. Apparently some of the animatronic dinosaurs spit water at spectators. Daniel wasn't expecting it and had another Freak Out experience when one squirted him. Dad said he gave them very wide berth after that. But he had lots of fun otherwise and was a good little companion to my parents. They also took him to the Bingham Copper Mine to see the great big trucks. He came home just glowing!
July 14 we said farewell to my family and headed back up to Salt Lake to get Nathan from the airport and meet up with the Nashes. On the way up, David finally lost his first tooth! July 15 we gathered at the Bountiful Temple for Nathan's youngest sister's wedding. It was lovely, and I think Bethany gave Kate Middleton a run for her money as far as gorgeous brides go. We also had a great treat to introduce both Isaac and David to their namesakes, Grandpa Nash and his brother D.A.
We drove back to California the next day. The boys and I were only around for a week before taking off again, this time for Washington, and this time we got to FLY. Check that off Daniel's bucket list! Up there we got lots of play time with Mom Nash, and even squeezed in a visit with my brother Sean and a bonus visit with an old friend of mine from BYU. Nathan drove up a week later to join us for the Merrill Family Reunion at Port Townsend, WA. We rode a ferry to get there. Check the boat off Daniel's bucket list! Sweet! (David's asking for a hot air balloon next...) This trip to Washington reinforced our desire to get back up to the Seattle area. We're hoping to make that happen within 3 years, maybe as soon as 1 or 2. Anyway...
We got home from Washington on August 7. I had just a couple days to pull together a much-wished for birthday party for Daniel. Normally I wouldn't have attempted it, but since David had a party last year and got invited to lots of classmates' parties over the school year, Daniel really wanted to have one. So. I arranged a transportation-themed party (no-brainer, right?) at a nearby playground and invited his entire Sunbeam class--all 3 of them--for lack of knowing anyone else to invite. It didn't go nearly as well as I'd hoped, but it went well enough considering I planned everything over the internet from far away. Daniel was thrilled (albeit bummed his K'dale friends Tanner and Ben weren't there), and I think it really helped him get used to his classmates so he'd be willing to actually go to Sunbeams in our new ward.
OH YES--and I finally got Daniel potty trained!! Wahoo! The Monday after we got home from Washington I took him to choose his big-boy underpants and then took away pull-ups cold turkey (okay, he still wears them at night). The funny thing is, we only had three "accidents," and one on his birthday, which I understand from all the party excitement, and it was done. Makes me wonder why I waited so long. I guess I figured it would be a long, exhausting, stressful process. Anyway, glad that's taken care of.
The next week school started. David has been excited for this all summer, but as I walked him into his new school, he whispered to me that he was scared. Poor lad looked so miserable as I left him in his classroom. He seems to have adjusted well, however, and every day talks about new kids he's met.
Just this past week Daniel started preschool. He too seemed anxious in spite of all his anticipatory excitement, but he was beaming when I came to pick him up. Of course he was; they had toy airplanes there! This preschool is a parent co-op, so I get to go assist the teacher twice a month. I've also volunteered to be the preschool's treasurer. Sounds like mostly I'll be courier between the school, the accountant, and the bank, but I'm glad for an opportunity to get involved and meet people.
Speaking of involvement (I'm almost through, I promise), we have been extended callings in our new ward! It's a tiny ward so lots of people have multiple callings. I have been called as the Relief Society Secretary, and also as a RS Instructor. Nathan has been called as the Ward Pianist (he is the ONLY person in the ward who plays the piano!). He's been extended a second calling as well but hasn't been sustained yet, so I'll have to keep that under my hat for a little while longer.
So that's our crazy summer. See pics and videos at http://tinyurl.com/43xp3p7.
We love you all!
The (Other) Other Nashes
Nathan, Natalie, David, Daniel, Isaac
Showing posts with label David. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David. Show all posts
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
So Much to Say, So Much to Do!
We blessed Isaac on April 16 and enjoyed having Nathan's parents, my parents, and my sister Minda's family in town to share that occasion with us. Things got really interesting within a couple hours after the blessing when tornadoes touched down in Raleigh. Fortunately they didn't affect our house at all. I was really worried about where I would stuff 14 people away from windows if necessary.
The next day we had two showings for our house (more relief that the tornadoes didn't damage us) and one of them put in an offer, which we accepted. It was more heartbreaking than exciting, really. The sad reality is that with the declined market, our mortgage is under water, and there was no way to come out ahead. Our realtor advised us that the final offer wasn't too far from probable appraisal value. Maybe there were buyers out there who'd offer another thousand or two, but a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush. Agreeing to sell at such a low price really hurt. I actually started crying after I called back to convey our acceptance. Dear sweet David asked what was wrong, and when I told him we didn't get as much money for our house as we needed, he snuggled up closer and said, "Mom, you can have my money." I love that boy! Of course, we're not going to take his savings. We'll get by, but I sure appreciated his willingness to share.
Shortly thereafter we were inundated with the parade of people coming to inspect, appraise, give repair estimates, etc. Most of them showed up the week Nathan was on a business trip to Dallas. We played chicken with our buyers over the repair agreement. They were being absolutely ridiculous in their demands, but we stood firm on our end despite their threats to walk away, and they finally backed down at the last minute. More relief.
Next we needed to find housing in California. Nathan went out there last week for business and took a couple days to find a place to rent. Plans to buy a house in Los Banos got obliterated the moment we agreed to the offer. No more cash for a down payment. We planned to rent an apartment there for a little bit anyway to get to know the area, test the commute, etc, but we were surprised to find out that there are only low-income housing apartments in Los Banos. Nathan did not want to rent a house for a variety of reasons, so we scrambled to find potential apartments closer in to San Jose. It was a long, frustrating couple of days to look at endless apartments that were too small for our family and too expensive for our budget. Nathan was feeling pretty low about how this decision to move to California would impact the entire family. We decided to see what kind of houses we could rent, and revisited the Los Banos idea. I found a beautiful home advertised on Craigslist, bigger (and cheaper! yeah!) than our current home, in the neighborhood we are interested in eventually buying in. Nathan drove out that evening to meet the owner, got on an airplane home the next day, and after a week of waiting out the application process, we finally got confirmation that they wanted to rent to us. One more "whew!" for this tale. So glad to finally have a forwarding address! (Not going to post on the blog--email me if you want it)
So the plan now is to pull out of here early on June 16. We will rent a huge Penske truck and are sharing some space with my parents, who are in the process of moving from SC to UT. They will be driving the truck out and we'll drive our van separately. We'll meet at their Utah house to unload their things and then drive the truck out to California. When it's all said and done, we expect to arrive there around June 23.
Meanwhile D1 and D2 had a small round of colds which means David is coughing again. Ugh. We're waiting to see a pulmonologist in California rather than interrupt any ongoing treatment from this end. He is immensely proud of his very first loose tooth and hopes to lose it before we move. I also enrolled him in swimming lessons and he's making great strides there. My hope is that he'll be an independent (enough) swimmer by the time we're done so I can actually go to the pool by myself with 3 kids.
Daniel is ever the happy-go-lucky, distracted little soul. I'm frequently amazed how different he is from David! He likes to spend his days in his little imaginary world, emerging occasionally to ask for something or wrap himself around me and tell me how much he loves me. He's also tuned into Isaac now and loves to give him hugs and kisses, and tells all the world about his baby brother.
Isaac is such a good baby! I feel truly blessed. He is so sweet and content, all smiles and snuggles. He likes to do leg presses and looks immensely proud of himself when we help him stand in our laps. He was slightly tongue-tied so I got that clipped a few weeks ago. He now loves to stick his tongue out (MomT, he reminds me of Lizzie). He's got his hands in his mouth almost as much as David; I guess some teeth are working their way in. Isaac is also a very long baby. He's only 3 months and I just started putting him in 6-9 month clothes.
Somehow in the thick of kids and moving I'm trying to get caught up on my digital scrapbooking. I think I started digi-scrapping in 2004 and managed to be pretty thorough until Jan 2008. In this recent push I've gathered wayward photos from our earliest years and got all those pages done, plus filled in some gaps along the way. I compiled the pages from 2001-2006 into a book at Blurb.com and was delighted to get that delivered this week. I'm glad to be caught up on the earliest years and now need to get cracking on the recent years. It's been fun to revisit this hobby that's been on the wayside for so long.
I think that wraps us up for now. Love to you all--
natals
The next day we had two showings for our house (more relief that the tornadoes didn't damage us) and one of them put in an offer, which we accepted. It was more heartbreaking than exciting, really. The sad reality is that with the declined market, our mortgage is under water, and there was no way to come out ahead. Our realtor advised us that the final offer wasn't too far from probable appraisal value. Maybe there were buyers out there who'd offer another thousand or two, but a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush. Agreeing to sell at such a low price really hurt. I actually started crying after I called back to convey our acceptance. Dear sweet David asked what was wrong, and when I told him we didn't get as much money for our house as we needed, he snuggled up closer and said, "Mom, you can have my money." I love that boy! Of course, we're not going to take his savings. We'll get by, but I sure appreciated his willingness to share.
Shortly thereafter we were inundated with the parade of people coming to inspect, appraise, give repair estimates, etc. Most of them showed up the week Nathan was on a business trip to Dallas. We played chicken with our buyers over the repair agreement. They were being absolutely ridiculous in their demands, but we stood firm on our end despite their threats to walk away, and they finally backed down at the last minute. More relief.
Next we needed to find housing in California. Nathan went out there last week for business and took a couple days to find a place to rent. Plans to buy a house in Los Banos got obliterated the moment we agreed to the offer. No more cash for a down payment. We planned to rent an apartment there for a little bit anyway to get to know the area, test the commute, etc, but we were surprised to find out that there are only low-income housing apartments in Los Banos. Nathan did not want to rent a house for a variety of reasons, so we scrambled to find potential apartments closer in to San Jose. It was a long, frustrating couple of days to look at endless apartments that were too small for our family and too expensive for our budget. Nathan was feeling pretty low about how this decision to move to California would impact the entire family. We decided to see what kind of houses we could rent, and revisited the Los Banos idea. I found a beautiful home advertised on Craigslist, bigger (and cheaper! yeah!) than our current home, in the neighborhood we are interested in eventually buying in. Nathan drove out that evening to meet the owner, got on an airplane home the next day, and after a week of waiting out the application process, we finally got confirmation that they wanted to rent to us. One more "whew!" for this tale. So glad to finally have a forwarding address! (Not going to post on the blog--email me if you want it)
So the plan now is to pull out of here early on June 16. We will rent a huge Penske truck and are sharing some space with my parents, who are in the process of moving from SC to UT. They will be driving the truck out and we'll drive our van separately. We'll meet at their Utah house to unload their things and then drive the truck out to California. When it's all said and done, we expect to arrive there around June 23.
Meanwhile D1 and D2 had a small round of colds which means David is coughing again. Ugh. We're waiting to see a pulmonologist in California rather than interrupt any ongoing treatment from this end. He is immensely proud of his very first loose tooth and hopes to lose it before we move. I also enrolled him in swimming lessons and he's making great strides there. My hope is that he'll be an independent (enough) swimmer by the time we're done so I can actually go to the pool by myself with 3 kids.
Daniel is ever the happy-go-lucky, distracted little soul. I'm frequently amazed how different he is from David! He likes to spend his days in his little imaginary world, emerging occasionally to ask for something or wrap himself around me and tell me how much he loves me. He's also tuned into Isaac now and loves to give him hugs and kisses, and tells all the world about his baby brother.
Isaac is such a good baby! I feel truly blessed. He is so sweet and content, all smiles and snuggles. He likes to do leg presses and looks immensely proud of himself when we help him stand in our laps. He was slightly tongue-tied so I got that clipped a few weeks ago. He now loves to stick his tongue out (MomT, he reminds me of Lizzie). He's got his hands in his mouth almost as much as David; I guess some teeth are working their way in. Isaac is also a very long baby. He's only 3 months and I just started putting him in 6-9 month clothes.
Somehow in the thick of kids and moving I'm trying to get caught up on my digital scrapbooking. I think I started digi-scrapping in 2004 and managed to be pretty thorough until Jan 2008. In this recent push I've gathered wayward photos from our earliest years and got all those pages done, plus filled in some gaps along the way. I compiled the pages from 2001-2006 into a book at Blurb.com and was delighted to get that delivered this week. I'm glad to be caught up on the earliest years and now need to get cracking on the recent years. It's been fun to revisit this hobby that's been on the wayside for so long.
I think that wraps us up for now. Love to you all--
natals
Monday, December 27, 2010
Tick-tock
So often David lives up to his name's meaning, "Beloved." He has such a tender heart. The past couple of days he has shown particular interest in new baby Isaac's wellbeing.
Yesterday as everyone was bundling up to go play in the 7+ inches of snow we got (!!!) he said, "Mom should stay inside, because we don't want Isaac to get cold." He's got a point there. I'd better stay dry and cozy inside with a cup of hot cocoa... ;) Seriously though, I was glad for his concern, because my midsection is rapidly making my warm outerwear gather dust on hangers. I can get by for brief stints outdoors, but I'm not really equipped for snowball fights and snow angels. Not that I could get down to actually make a snow angel...
But I digress... Today David asked me at lunch time if I had eaten yet. "Not yet," I replied. "Mom, you need to eat because Isaac will get hungry. He won't be thirsty now because you just had a drink."
Bedtime prayers: "...please bless Mommy and baby Isaac, and please bless Isaac when he comes out that he won't be cold, because it will be winter time..."
As I tucked him in and arranged his yellow blanket (his favorite since he was a baby), he said, "Mom, I'm getting too big for this blanket, so we can give it to Isaac."
What a precious boy!
Meanwhile the reality of the close proximity of Isaac's birth has started to sink in for Nathan and me. I had David two weeks from this point in the pregnancy. I've still got 5 weeks to go, but give me three more weeks to incubate this fella and then I'll be happy to push him out any time. I'm tired of being pregnant!
So anyway, I've been thinking this past week that it's probably time pack the hospital bag (and by extension, dig out baby clothes and buy diapers), and type up the boys' schedules/routines for whomever lands them on the big day. Today Nathan was talking about how he's going to rearrange some exercise equipment in our room to make room for setting up the pack-n-play. Which means that I also need to start thinking more seriously about how we're going to arrange all three kids' sleeping quarters once Isaac is ready for the real crib that is currently set up as Daniel's toddler bed. I'm not sure I'm ready for David and Daniel to share a room (they'll keep each other up at night and will wake each other up pre-dawn, I guarantee it), but I'm not ready to give up my spare bedroom, either. Okay, truthfully, I'm just not ready to give up that closet. In the absence of much usable attic space, it's my favorite storage place in the house, and I don't want to mess with it. But, something's gotta give, and the clock is ticking!
Yesterday as everyone was bundling up to go play in the 7+ inches of snow we got (!!!) he said, "Mom should stay inside, because we don't want Isaac to get cold." He's got a point there. I'd better stay dry and cozy inside with a cup of hot cocoa... ;) Seriously though, I was glad for his concern, because my midsection is rapidly making my warm outerwear gather dust on hangers. I can get by for brief stints outdoors, but I'm not really equipped for snowball fights and snow angels. Not that I could get down to actually make a snow angel...
But I digress... Today David asked me at lunch time if I had eaten yet. "Not yet," I replied. "Mom, you need to eat because Isaac will get hungry. He won't be thirsty now because you just had a drink."
Bedtime prayers: "...please bless Mommy and baby Isaac, and please bless Isaac when he comes out that he won't be cold, because it will be winter time..."
As I tucked him in and arranged his yellow blanket (his favorite since he was a baby), he said, "Mom, I'm getting too big for this blanket, so we can give it to Isaac."
What a precious boy!
Meanwhile the reality of the close proximity of Isaac's birth has started to sink in for Nathan and me. I had David two weeks from this point in the pregnancy. I've still got 5 weeks to go, but give me three more weeks to incubate this fella and then I'll be happy to push him out any time. I'm tired of being pregnant!
So anyway, I've been thinking this past week that it's probably time pack the hospital bag (and by extension, dig out baby clothes and buy diapers), and type up the boys' schedules/routines for whomever lands them on the big day. Today Nathan was talking about how he's going to rearrange some exercise equipment in our room to make room for setting up the pack-n-play. Which means that I also need to start thinking more seriously about how we're going to arrange all three kids' sleeping quarters once Isaac is ready for the real crib that is currently set up as Daniel's toddler bed. I'm not sure I'm ready for David and Daniel to share a room (they'll keep each other up at night and will wake each other up pre-dawn, I guarantee it), but I'm not ready to give up my spare bedroom, either. Okay, truthfully, I'm just not ready to give up that closet. In the absence of much usable attic space, it's my favorite storage place in the house, and I don't want to mess with it. But, something's gotta give, and the clock is ticking!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
This 'n That
Long story short: My dad's ancestors were potters in England. When he and my mom went to England on a family history trip in 2007, they learned that Dad has a fourth cousin, Mark Hewitt, with a kiln right here in North Carolina. I got to thinking that it would be fun to get them a piece of Mark's pottery for Christmas. His kiln is only open to the public three times a year, so when I saw he'd have an opening the first two weekends in December, I invited my folks to come up and check it out. I enlisted my siblings to all pitch in and then contacted Mark about doing a custom piece for Mom and Dad to reflect our Hewitt Pottery heritage together. We ended up having a private appointment to go see Mark the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so that we could really talk about family connections, etc, without the pressure of other customers around. It was a lovely afternoon! He has a delightful family and I'm so glad to have met them. Here's the pot he made for Mom and Dad:
That weekend Mom and Dad also painted David's room for us, so the monster truck mural is all gone! David's very excited. We topped it off by rearranging the furniture in his room too, and he thinks it's pretty swell. (Thanks so much Mom and Dad for your help!)
We set up our Christmas tree for Family Home Evening that Monday, and the boys were absolutely delighted that they got to put all the ornaments on. After we got it up, Daniel declared, "It's so bootiful!" He loves all the lights, and he asks me several times a day if it's time to open presents yet. We have an advent calendar that my sister made where you move Mary and Joseph towards the stable, and on Christmas day you take out a baby Jesus to put in the manger. Last week I overheard David explaining it to Daniel, telling him that at the end we'd get to open presents, and later that morning, after David was at school, Daniel called me over and showed me that he had moved Mary and Joseph to the end and pulled out baby Jesus. "See Mommy? It's time to open presents now!" Bless his little heart.
David is excited too, but I love how he keeps reminding all of us that we need to remember that Christmas is about baby Jesus. My brother sent us a replica of a tradition we had growing up, with a small manger and some straw. Every time you do service for someone else, you put a piece of straw into the manger to make Jesus' bed softer. I haven't had it out the past couple years, but David has been very enthusiastic about being a "Secret Service Agent" (kudos to whomever came up with that Primary lesson! He's doing little acts of service all over the place), so I got it out and showed him. He has embraced it wholeheartedly and is excited for opportunities to make the bed softer for Baby Jesus.
I took each of the boys individually to the Dollar Store to pick out a present for each other. They both picked exactly the same thing. How sweet is that? I took David second and was actually rather relieved that he picked the same gift, because Daniel REALLY liked it and I had a hard time getting him to let go of it so I could wrap it up. :)
Last weekend I took David to the Knightdale Christmas Parade. He was very excited about seeing Santa in the parade and all the candy that would get distributed. He was not disappointed! He got loads of candy (good thing we brought a goody bag!), our town has a Miracle-on-34th-Street-quality Santa (real beard, real belly, beautiful costume), and it started snowing as the parade started. I think winter is David's favorite season, because he loves the snow. He did NOT get that from me. By the time we were walking back to the car, there was about half an inch on the ground. David was a real trooper, but a stones-throw away from the car he broke down bawling about how cold he was. Poor fella. Of course, by the time we got home all he wanted to do was go play in the snow in the back yard.
This week we got official notice that Nathan's company will be transferring him to the San Jose, CA office. We've been planning in this direction since August, but it's nice to know it will actually happen. Now we're just waiting for the official "when." After talking to the COO for an hour, Nathan said it sounds like we'll have a good deal of say in that matter, but there's going to be a big meeting in January with more details, so hopefully after that we'll know better what's going on. If it's entirely up to us, I think we'll stick around here until July so David can finish out the school year. Who'd want to be the new kid with only two months left of school?
I made a DVD of my visit to Hewitt Pottery to share with my siblings, so they could learn about this family connection too, and also to see Mom and Dad's faces when we surprised them with the pottery. As I was working on it I thought, "I'd love to have a small piece of Hewitt family history, too," so I talked Nathan into coming out with me and the boys to the last weekend of Mark's kiln opening (today), since I don't know if we'll be around for the next one. I made a batch of Great-Grandma Hewitt's Lemon Cheese (our family calls it "lemon cheese" but the rest of the British Empire calls it "lemon curd") and took some to share with Mark. I thought he'd appreciate it. :) He was delighted and opened it right there in the yard and stuck his finger in for a taste. Fortunately, it was the best batch I've made in years. I even made it in Great-Grandma Hewitt's double boiler.
After I'd selected my pottery we went into his workshop to check out and also enjoy hot cider and cookies. Mark's 26-ish-y/o daughter Emma came in and when she saw the boys, she immediately asked them, "Have you seen our swings? Come with me, I'm your cousin! Let's go play!" "Okay!" they both chimed and as simple as that she wooed my thus-far bashful, hide-behind-parental-legs children immediately into following her out the door without even looking back at us. (A little scary, actually, how easily they were convinced. Pied piper comes to mind...) They had so much fun with her, though, and asked me the rest of the afternoon where Emma had gone. I pulled up the Hewitt DVD project on the computer and Daniel immediately said, "We went there!"
After we got home, Nathan pulled out a big box of his old toys that he's saved. Out came the original MicroMachines and Transformers. Grand Slam! The boys sat upstairs and played with them all afternoon. I told Nathan we should have wrapped them up and put them under the tree, but he just grinned and said "They're enjoying them now."
I decided it's probably time to start taking profile pics for posterity. It's not a particularly flattering angle, or time of night for that matter, but here I am. I must be quite a sight, though, because my burgeoning belly elicits comments every time I leave the house. The public at large is convinced I'm due any day now, even though I'm only 32 weeks. Last time I went to the grocery store, I had four employees eye me and ask how far along I was. I think the best (and worst) reaction I've gotten so far was today as I was checking out at Michael's. The cashier was a young man, probably mid-twenties.
Him: When are you due?
Me: Eight weeks.
Him: Are you having twins?
Me: Nope, just one.
Him: Man, you're SO BIG!
Quite the charmer, wasn't he?
 |
| My paternal grandmother is a Hewitt. |
 |
| NC SC on the reverse side "for balance" and to reflect our current geographic status, I guess |
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| The sides have these pretty blue drips |
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| JaNice, Dennis, Mark, Natalie |
We set up our Christmas tree for Family Home Evening that Monday, and the boys were absolutely delighted that they got to put all the ornaments on. After we got it up, Daniel declared, "It's so bootiful!" He loves all the lights, and he asks me several times a day if it's time to open presents yet. We have an advent calendar that my sister made where you move Mary and Joseph towards the stable, and on Christmas day you take out a baby Jesus to put in the manger. Last week I overheard David explaining it to Daniel, telling him that at the end we'd get to open presents, and later that morning, after David was at school, Daniel called me over and showed me that he had moved Mary and Joseph to the end and pulled out baby Jesus. "See Mommy? It's time to open presents now!" Bless his little heart.
David is excited too, but I love how he keeps reminding all of us that we need to remember that Christmas is about baby Jesus. My brother sent us a replica of a tradition we had growing up, with a small manger and some straw. Every time you do service for someone else, you put a piece of straw into the manger to make Jesus' bed softer. I haven't had it out the past couple years, but David has been very enthusiastic about being a "Secret Service Agent" (kudos to whomever came up with that Primary lesson! He's doing little acts of service all over the place), so I got it out and showed him. He has embraced it wholeheartedly and is excited for opportunities to make the bed softer for Baby Jesus.
I took each of the boys individually to the Dollar Store to pick out a present for each other. They both picked exactly the same thing. How sweet is that? I took David second and was actually rather relieved that he picked the same gift, because Daniel REALLY liked it and I had a hard time getting him to let go of it so I could wrap it up. :)
Last weekend I took David to the Knightdale Christmas Parade. He was very excited about seeing Santa in the parade and all the candy that would get distributed. He was not disappointed! He got loads of candy (good thing we brought a goody bag!), our town has a Miracle-on-34th-Street-quality Santa (real beard, real belly, beautiful costume), and it started snowing as the parade started. I think winter is David's favorite season, because he loves the snow. He did NOT get that from me. By the time we were walking back to the car, there was about half an inch on the ground. David was a real trooper, but a stones-throw away from the car he broke down bawling about how cold he was. Poor fella. Of course, by the time we got home all he wanted to do was go play in the snow in the back yard.
 |
| David waiting for the parade to start |
This week we got official notice that Nathan's company will be transferring him to the San Jose, CA office. We've been planning in this direction since August, but it's nice to know it will actually happen. Now we're just waiting for the official "when." After talking to the COO for an hour, Nathan said it sounds like we'll have a good deal of say in that matter, but there's going to be a big meeting in January with more details, so hopefully after that we'll know better what's going on. If it's entirely up to us, I think we'll stick around here until July so David can finish out the school year. Who'd want to be the new kid with only two months left of school?
I made a DVD of my visit to Hewitt Pottery to share with my siblings, so they could learn about this family connection too, and also to see Mom and Dad's faces when we surprised them with the pottery. As I was working on it I thought, "I'd love to have a small piece of Hewitt family history, too," so I talked Nathan into coming out with me and the boys to the last weekend of Mark's kiln opening (today), since I don't know if we'll be around for the next one. I made a batch of Great-Grandma Hewitt's Lemon Cheese (our family calls it "lemon cheese" but the rest of the British Empire calls it "lemon curd") and took some to share with Mark. I thought he'd appreciate it. :) He was delighted and opened it right there in the yard and stuck his finger in for a taste. Fortunately, it was the best batch I've made in years. I even made it in Great-Grandma Hewitt's double boiler.
 |
| The pottery I selected is on the right. Mark gave me the mug as a thank-you for the lemon cheese. |
After we got home, Nathan pulled out a big box of his old toys that he's saved. Out came the original MicroMachines and Transformers. Grand Slam! The boys sat upstairs and played with them all afternoon. I told Nathan we should have wrapped them up and put them under the tree, but he just grinned and said "They're enjoying them now."
Pregnancy is going well, aside from feeling a lot more uncomfortable than I recall feeling with the first two. We've decided to call the baby Isaac. Still some discussion on the rest of his name.
Him: When are you due?
Me: Eight weeks.
Him: Are you having twins?
Me: Nope, just one.
Him: Man, you're SO BIG!
Quite the charmer, wasn't he?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
"You are Getting Sleepy"
I'm told that when it comes to sleep patterns, some kids are timers, some are alarm clocks. Meaning regardless of when they go to sleep, "Team Timer" will always wake up X amount of time later, and "Team Alarm" will always wake up at the same time. My kids are alarm clocks, and David's is set very early. Ridiculously early. As in, sometimes he's awake when Nathan's leaving for seminary at 5:45. When he was in diapers, we just kept his bedroom door locked to make sure he wasn't getting into mischief until we woke up. After he needed the freedom to emerge and use the modern marvel of indoor plumbing, however, we took a different approach.
I bought him a bedside clock and we stressed emphatically that he could get up to use the bathroom, but otherwise he needed to stay in bed until 7:00. If he woke up, go back to sleep. Stay in bed. But whatever he did, unless there was a dire emergency, he was not to come bounding into our room before 7:00 under pain of death.
Now, we happen to know that he's usually out of bed by 6:30, a fact merely confirmed when Nathan started teaching seminary last year. He often just goes downstairs and reads. We wake up briefly and notice a light on, or hear him playing, but we figure as long as he leaves us alone and doesn't wake up Daniel, there's not much we can (or care to) do about it. However, when we notice he's up especially early and ask him what time he woke up, he, brainwashed with our ultimatum, always answers straight-faced that he got up at 7:00.
Today he was acting very tired while we were on an outing. On the way home, as David looked on the verge of falling asleep in the car, Nathan asked him what time he got up. "And don't say 7:00, because we know you were up earlier." David hesitated a moment and then replied, "6:59..."
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Choices
David had me [secretly] chuckling again tonight. During dinner, Daniel reminded me that they still needed their multivitamins, which I usually give them at breakfast. While Daniel was insisting he wanted two (his maximum dose), David said he only wanted one now, because he thought they were starting to taste funny and he didn't care for them anymore. I said, "No problem, but then you're going to have to start eating vegetables."
Instant response: "I'll take two vitamins, please."
We also encourage him at times to take a "thank-you bite" of something at dinner to try new foods and show gratitude for what has been prepared. He's only obligated to eat one bite, and we've managed to get him to discover a fair amount of new foods that way. Oddly enough, sometimes we have to force him to take thank-you bites of things any normal kid would leap at the chance to eat. Like ice cream or homemade cookies. He's only just recently tried and discovered he likes both my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and iced molasses cookies. Good thing, too, because what kid doesn't like chocolate chip cookies? It's un-American!
Today I made both Scotcheroos and Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies for several treat-appropriate gatherings this week, and he came home from school raving about how good the cookies smelled. I encouraged him to try the pumpkin cookies since he thought they smelled so good, but he resolutely declined.
So tonight after dinner he requested a treat, no doubt with his dwindling Halloween stash in mind. I told him he could have either a Scotcheroo or a pumpkin cookie, and that was going to be his thank-you bite since he didn't have any vegetables at dinner. He silently eyed the Scotcheroo Daniel was trying (more like inhaling), looked at the pile of pumpkin cookies I was bagging, then went and fetched peas from the freezer.
Instant response: "I'll take two vitamins, please."
* * *
We also encourage him at times to take a "thank-you bite" of something at dinner to try new foods and show gratitude for what has been prepared. He's only obligated to eat one bite, and we've managed to get him to discover a fair amount of new foods that way. Oddly enough, sometimes we have to force him to take thank-you bites of things any normal kid would leap at the chance to eat. Like ice cream or homemade cookies. He's only just recently tried and discovered he likes both my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and iced molasses cookies. Good thing, too, because what kid doesn't like chocolate chip cookies? It's un-American!
Today I made both Scotcheroos and Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies for several treat-appropriate gatherings this week, and he came home from school raving about how good the cookies smelled. I encouraged him to try the pumpkin cookies since he thought they smelled so good, but he resolutely declined.
So tonight after dinner he requested a treat, no doubt with his dwindling Halloween stash in mind. I told him he could have either a Scotcheroo or a pumpkin cookie, and that was going to be his thank-you bite since he didn't have any vegetables at dinner. He silently eyed the Scotcheroo Daniel was trying (more like inhaling), looked at the pile of pumpkin cookies I was bagging, then went and fetched peas from the freezer.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Persuasion: Part II
Two weeks ago I posted about David getting the FluMist. Read it here if you missed the first go 'round.
Today Nathan got the flu shot at work. When he was putting the kids to bed, David gave him a big hug and in the process squeezed hard right over the inoculation site.
Nathan: "Ow."
David: "What's wrong?"
Nathan pulled up sleeve to reveal a band-aid
David: "What's that from?"
Nathan: "I didn't sniff."
David got huge eyes and said: "Daddy, you should have sniffed!"
Today Nathan got the flu shot at work. When he was putting the kids to bed, David gave him a big hug and in the process squeezed hard right over the inoculation site.
Nathan: "Ow."
David: "What's wrong?"
Nathan pulled up sleeve to reveal a band-aid
David: "What's that from?"
Nathan: "I didn't sniff."
David got huge eyes and said: "Daddy, you should have sniffed!"
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Priceless
Last night David emerged an hour post-bedtime with a very urgent request to get rid of the trucks. Wanting to start instilling financial awareness in him, I told him, "Sweetie, we just don't have money for that right now." Today he retrieved $0.85 from his piggy bank and said, "Here Mom, you can use this to pay for the paint."
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Persuasion
**SNIIIFF!**
Sniff! Sniff! Sniff! Sniff! Sniff!
I think he sniffed all the way home.
[update: He sniffed for three days afterwards. We finally had to tell him it was okay to stop sniffing! Read Part II here]
[update: He sniffed for three days afterwards. We finally had to tell him it was okay to stop sniffing! Read Part II here]
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Becoming Childlike
Over the past week, David has given me daily reports on which classmates did not get a "superstar" stamp for good behavior. He often mentions two boys who apparently tease the other kids a lot. When he first mentioned their behavior, I wanted to make sure he did not follow suit, and so encouraged him to be a good example to them by not teasing the other kids, and to still be nice to them even if they were not nice to him.
Tonight while he was saying his bedtime prayer, without any prompting for me, he prayed for those boys by name, and specifically asked Heavenly Father to help [Boy A] not tease and [Boy B] to not hit other kids so they could get superstar stamps. I was completely blown away. His prayers are usually pretty predictable, so it was not only remarkable to have a new subject, but one of such maturity. Matthew 5:44-45 came to mind:
"44 But I say unto you, aLove your benemies, cbless them that dcurse you, do egood to them that fhate you, and gpray for them which despitefully use you, and hpersecute you;
Tonight while he was saying his bedtime prayer, without any prompting for me, he prayed for those boys by name, and specifically asked Heavenly Father to help [Boy A] not tease and [Boy B] to not hit other kids so they could get superstar stamps. I was completely blown away. His prayers are usually pretty predictable, so it was not only remarkable to have a new subject, but one of such maturity. Matthew 5:44-45 came to mind:
"44 But I say unto you, aLove your benemies, cbless them that dcurse you, do egood to them that fhate you, and gpray for them which despitefully use you, and hpersecute you;
45 That ye amay be the bchildren of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth crain on the just and on the unjust."
How often do we pray for our enemies? And when we do, how often is our prayer on their behalf instead of our own (i.e. please make him stop bullying me)? I feel humbled by his compassion.
Afterwards he helped me get Daniel in bed (who was having a bit of a rough time) by bringing up a couple special toys, giving him kisses and hugs and comforting words. (Daniel went right down after that).
I then got to enjoy an animated conversation with him about school. We haven't gotten much feedback about it, in spite of all his talking. We'd ask him how school was and he'd reply "Good." "What did you talk about today?" was met with a shrug. Tonight I asked him, "Do you like school?" (smiled and nodded with a twinkle in his eye) and perhaps by inspiration followed up with, "What is your favorite part?" Those were magic words that opened a floodgate of feedback. He was so excited to tell me about their routine and especially the playgrounds. He described in great detail the number and shapes of slides, the climbing wall, and other apparati at his disposal. He described how he wanted to try something and [Girl A] didn't think it was a good idea, but he thought he could do it and tried anyway, and how he fell when he landed. He talked about how he and a few other kids buried toys in the sand on Friday and how they worked together today to dig them up, but couldn't find all of them ("The Team that Never Gave Up!") and how they found other things and what everyone's opinion was as to what those things were. He was so enthusiastic, and I loved hearing him share that with me.
Overall, it was a very sweet, tender bedtime experience, and I'm so thankful for it. I sure love my boys!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Kindergarten Musings
David's first full week of Kindergarten has led to some interesting observations on effects of school restraints.
THIRST
Before: David's always been a thirsty kid. I wasn't sure which of my kids was anomalous after I had Daniel, since he only drinks a fraction of what David does. When our niece got diagnosed with Type-I diabetes and my mother-in-law said her constant thirst was the symptom that alerted her to the problem, I panicked. David is always thirsty. So last summer I had my sister-in-law check David's blood while she was doing her daughter's, just to be sure. I was relieved to find out he's "normal" as far as diabetes goes; I guess he's just exceptionally thirsty.
Now: The first couple days when I picked him up from school, he'd beg and berate me for a drink. How dare I not have one ready the moment he stepped in the car! I've decided that it's simply a result of not being free to get a drink as often as he would at home. I've also decided it is to everyone's benefit to have a water bottle on hand for him so he can slake his thirst and not keep complaining about how thirsty he is all the way home.
ENERGY
Before: My mom used to say she's never seen such a busy child. I can't tell you how many times a day I tell David he needs to keep his feet on the floor. He's usually climbing up or jumping off something, or just running around the house in circles.
Now: Raise that to the n-th power. I was convinced I needed to go out and find a 4-foot hamster wheel to install in his bedroom after his first day of school. He was almost literally bouncing off the walls. Can we get two recesses, please?
TALKING
Before: David didn't really start talking until he was three. He's been fairly chatty since then, and Nathan and I joked that he was making up for lost jabber. He's not the kind of kid you can tune out though. He wants direct responses to his chatter and follows up with periodic pop quizzes to make sure you've been listening.
Now: Non.Stop. Energizer Bunny of conversation. Chatterbox. All of the above. Once again, he can't vocalize as much as he normally would, so he makes up for lost opportunities once he gets home. I commented on this to Nathan, how David doesn't seem to really have anything particular to say, yet he keeps on talking about anything and everything. Nathan shrugged and said "that's okay," but after about two hours of D's breathless chatter, he turned to me (David still talking in the background) and said, "You're right; he just doesn't stop!"
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Summer in Review
We are still binky-less! Hurrah! There were a couple times on our trip where I thought "this would be so much easier if I could just plug him up," but he never asked and I never wavered. Whew!
We went to the beach that Monday. The boys loved playing in the waves and digging in the sand:
Then we drove by Dinosaur mini-golf and decided to have a round. Daniel liked to smack his ball where-ever from the starting point, then pick it up and place it right next to the hole for an easy putt in. He did NOT want to do this last hole, because he realized he would not get his ball back!
We went to Utah for a Nash family reunion. My mom picked us up from the airport and we enjoyed spending the weekend with her and my sister DeeAnn's family down in Nephi. We then joined up with the Other Nashes in Provo Sunday night. Here's Nathan with his sisters:
We visited Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and enjoyed a mini zoo, pony rides, dinosaur museum, and a 3-D IMAX film about some oceanic dinosaur whose name I cannot remember, then went and had ice cream before heading back to our hotel.
We took family pictures with all of Nathan's family (sans Jeff, who unfortunately had an urgent work matter he needed to attend to last minute). This is one Nathan took from the "sideline". We'll post others when we get them.
A highlight of the Nash reunion for the boys was when we made and launched rockets. They carried those things around for DAYS.
We learned to play a fun game called Bang!, and I confess it often led me to conflicting emotions. You're supposed to take other players out, and I never wanted to pick on anyone.
The boys got to see all 5 of their living great grandparents on this trip. I always think this is so remarkable, because I never knew any of my great grandparents.
Here's Four Generations of Nashes. I wonder which of my boys will be the one to carry on the look-alike trend. Unfortunately, we got a picture with Grandpa Nash but not Grandma (sorry!). I was not in charge of this--don't blame me!
We stayed overnight with my Grandma Rabiger before flying up to Seattle for the next leg of our trip:
Many thanks to my Aunt Deanne for having us over for a Pioneer Day cookout and Aunt Joyce for taking us to the Salt Lake airport! My brother Sean picked us up from the Seattle airport (the Other Nashes were still driving en route) and we enjoyed an evening with his family. Then Nathan's Grandma and Grandpa Merrill picked us up from Sean's and took us up to Anacortes.
While we were up there, Nathan went hiking with his dad.
And discovered that his 16-year-old hiking boots are not as sturdy as he supposed they still were...
We got home late Tuesday night and David started his first day of Kindergarten on Thursday. Here are the obligatory pictures of starting school:
I asked David to take off his sunglasses for the next one...
Okay, now take them all the way off, put your arms down, and give me a nice smile...
What a ham! Let's try again...
Still a little dorky, but considering what it took to get THAT, I'm satisfied. When I showed Nathan, he laughed and said it reminded him of this Calvin and Hobbes strip:
Anyway, then we took David to his first day, and the teacher invited Daniel to join them on the mat while I filled out some paperwork:
His first day was just a day of assessments with only a small part of the class. They read a story and toured the school while "looking for a raccoon" (part of the story, I guess). David came up to one of the signs for the tour and read it out loud, taking his teacher quite by surprise. I guess only a couple kids in the class can read yet. Wait until she discovers his mad math and puzzle skills...
Oh yes, in case you didn't get our announcement yet... we're expecting #3 on February 4th!
Speaking of our trip, here is our summer in photo summary:
My Dad came up for 4th of July weekend (Mom was in Utah), and the boys had a "ball" playing baseball with him.
We also did sparklers and driveway fireworks, which the boys LOVED:
We went to the beach that Monday. The boys loved playing in the waves and digging in the sand:
Then we drove by Dinosaur mini-golf and decided to have a round. Daniel liked to smack his ball where-ever from the starting point, then pick it up and place it right next to the hole for an easy putt in. He did NOT want to do this last hole, because he realized he would not get his ball back!
We went to Utah for a Nash family reunion. My mom picked us up from the airport and we enjoyed spending the weekend with her and my sister DeeAnn's family down in Nephi. We then joined up with the Other Nashes in Provo Sunday night. Here's Nathan with his sisters:
We visited Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and enjoyed a mini zoo, pony rides, dinosaur museum, and a 3-D IMAX film about some oceanic dinosaur whose name I cannot remember, then went and had ice cream before heading back to our hotel.
We took family pictures with all of Nathan's family (sans Jeff, who unfortunately had an urgent work matter he needed to attend to last minute). This is one Nathan took from the "sideline". We'll post others when we get them.
A highlight of the Nash reunion for the boys was when we made and launched rockets. They carried those things around for DAYS.
We learned to play a fun game called Bang!, and I confess it often led me to conflicting emotions. You're supposed to take other players out, and I never wanted to pick on anyone.
The boys got to see all 5 of their living great grandparents on this trip. I always think this is so remarkable, because I never knew any of my great grandparents.
Here's Four Generations of Nashes. I wonder which of my boys will be the one to carry on the look-alike trend. Unfortunately, we got a picture with Grandpa Nash but not Grandma (sorry!). I was not in charge of this--don't blame me!
We stayed overnight with my Grandma Rabiger before flying up to Seattle for the next leg of our trip:
Many thanks to my Aunt Deanne for having us over for a Pioneer Day cookout and Aunt Joyce for taking us to the Salt Lake airport! My brother Sean picked us up from the Seattle airport (the Other Nashes were still driving en route) and we enjoyed an evening with his family. Then Nathan's Grandma and Grandpa Merrill picked us up from Sean's and took us up to Anacortes.
While we were up there, Nathan went hiking with his dad.
And discovered that his 16-year-old hiking boots are not as sturdy as he supposed they still were...
We got home late Tuesday night and David started his first day of Kindergarten on Thursday. Here are the obligatory pictures of starting school:
I asked David to take off his sunglasses for the next one...
Okay, now take them all the way off, put your arms down, and give me a nice smile...
What a ham! Let's try again...
Still a little dorky, but considering what it took to get THAT, I'm satisfied. When I showed Nathan, he laughed and said it reminded him of this Calvin and Hobbes strip:
Anyway, then we took David to his first day, and the teacher invited Daniel to join them on the mat while I filled out some paperwork:
His first day was just a day of assessments with only a small part of the class. They read a story and toured the school while "looking for a raccoon" (part of the story, I guess). David came up to one of the signs for the tour and read it out loud, taking his teacher quite by surprise. I guess only a couple kids in the class can read yet. Wait until she discovers his mad math and puzzle skills...
Oh yes, in case you didn't get our announcement yet... we're expecting #3 on February 4th!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
David's Travel Itinerary
"Mom, to get to Grandma Nash's house (in Washington), first we'll take a shortcut to Texas to rest, then walk to New Mexico, because it's close, to get a drink. Then after we get a drink we'll walk back to the car (in Texas??) and drive to DeeAnn's house (in Utah), and then we'll drive to Grandma Nash's house! And we can use my map puzzle for directions. Does that sound like a good plan?"
✈ ✈ ✈ ✈ ✈
Lack of blogging over the last 6 months = sorry. Don't even get me started on my scrapbook (can we say Jan 2008?). But, truth be told, there's not a whole lot to say, really. Here's a brief summary of what we've been up to. The lack of deviation is almost frightening:
Breakfast, preschool/gym/errands/laundry, lunch, nap, errands/playground/laundry, dinner, [evening obligation of the day], bed. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
We do have some changes on the horizon. David starts Kindergarten in August (hooray!) We also decided since he'll be in all-day Kindergarten, and since he has a long list of things he wants to do when he turns 6 (including tee-ball, tennis, soccer, and trying lots of new foods), to let Daniel have a go with The Little Gym in David's place. I am excited for Daniel to get a chance (he asks me every week if it's time to take him to Little Gym), but sad to withdraw David. But, we can only do so much, you know?
Meanwhile we're looking forward to visiting family this summer (hence David's travel itinerary)!
And some long overdue photos:
One of Nathan's favorite Little Gym images (Jan 2010):
My brother Sean's Ph.D Graduation from Yale. Pictured: My sister Minda, Sean, our childhood neighbor and surrogate sister Keely. Incidentally, Minda forbade me to stand on the curb with everyone else, haha. Story: The summer before I started Kindergarten, Keely had visited her Dad in Ohio and seen Starlight Express. She brought home a tape of musical highlights and we, along with another neighborhood friend, put on our own production of Starlight Express in Keely's basement. It was quite a production for 5 independent elementary schoolers, and we were immensely proud of ourselves. She got this poster for Sean to remind him to stay humble with that fancy degree of his. :)
David's Final Little Gym Show Week (Jun 2010):
(Desperate measures to keep a little boy sitting down!)
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