There and Back Again: A Fall Break Tale (Part 2)

In Idaho Falls we stayed with the Jones family.  I love them! It was so fun to live close to them while we were in Pocatello and I've missed them terribly. Aunt Mary is like my Idaho mom, and my cousins and Uncle Jeff are darling. We spent time catching up and hearing about all their fun school activities. Mary and I went to Kristin’s volleyball game and watched some of her impressive spikes and serves.

 After dinner, I took Joseph to his hunting rendezvous point. John, Joshua and Joseph were going to head to the campsite to meet everyone else and then start hunting early in the morning with the rest of the boys: Alan, Luke, Luke’s dad, Cody, James and McKay.  They met at a little restaurant in Idaho Falls, exchanged hugs that looked remarkably like wrestling moves and then they were off! To the wild! I admit I was very excited for them. It seemed kind of picturesque in a manly sort of way.

The next morning Mary and I went walking in the mall and out to lunch. What a treat! Then Hyrum and I went to Rexburg where Joseph’s mom and sister, Chrystal, were holding down the fort. We went to the farmer’s market, to Downeast and then we came home to watch a chick flick, well…half a chick flick. You know how tired mamas get.

The next day the boys came home, and topped off their incredible weekend with some intense backyard football. It was really heartwarming to watch them play together. So fun. Such good brothers, nephews, and friends.

After delicious dinner made by the talented Chrystal, our family took off for Casper, Wyoming where Joseph’s sister, Linda Lee lives. According to Joseph, we drove through the most beautiful part of Wyoming in the dark. I've noticed that when it's really beautiful countryside the roads are really curvy so I believe him.

We spent just a little bit of time with Linda Lee and her sweet kids at breakfast and then at church. Hyrum and Anna swarmed Linda Lee for snacks during church. Both stuffing those little puffs in their mouth as fast as they could, cousin bonding. 

Then we hit the road. At this point I should probably mention that Hyrum had been a really good traveler the whole trip and I was very appreciative. He was pretty content most of the time. He took good naps, kept the complaining to a minimum, and was so contagiously smiley and excited to get out of the car at each stop.

On our way through Nebraska we didn't have any family to visit, but we made one of our pit stops in Alliance to see Carhenge. I read about this magical place on one of those “15 things that make Nebraska the most awesome” kind of posts. It’s like Stonehenge except it's been built with cars. There aren't myths and theories surrounding it, and it's not necessarily historically significant or celebrated world-wide, but let's be honest. It does make Nebraska the most awesome. 

When we got out of the car at Carhenge, it was surprisingly cold and the sky was threatening to rain. So we wrapped Hyrum up and quickly ran around the place looking, ooohing, aahing and taking pictures.

 Us running around was totally cracking Hyrum up.

 Not long after, it did start to rain. We jumped back in the car with a newfound appreciation for the prehistoric car formations in Nebraska:) 

We arrived safely home at about 10 o'clock. Hyrum and I went to bed.

 Joseph stayed up a little later putting some things away. In the morning I was looking for the milk, but I got this instead. It startled me enough that I closed the fridge door, forgetting what I had opened it for in the first place. 

When men go grocery shopping

Thanks to Cody, who shot it, there was a deer in our fridge. 

There and Back Again: A Fall Break Tale (Part 1)

Road trips with babies can be a little crazy. I know that, so does Joseph, but with a brother-bonding hunting trip on the line I only had a few options. Stay in Omaha with Hyrum, which is mostly boring and also husbandless, or venture onto the unknown 15 hr trip where the odds of a screaming baby are pretty high. After much deliberation, we decided the risk was worth the reward and we all loaded in the car for an adventure.

This is pretty much the path we traveled

On our cross country voyage, Robert Jordan was the narrator. We started listening to the first book of The Wheel of Time series. Ironically, much of the novel centers around travel as the main characters run, gallop, and walk hither and thither trying desperately to get to their destination safely. I had a tendency to drive faster when we…I mean the characters…were being chased by trollocs or dark things (which happened frequently), and it's also hard to drive slowly when Hyrum is acting fussy... so we pretty much sped all the way to Idaho:)

We made several stops along the way to visit people we love and to keep Hyrum (and ourselves) from going crazy.

On Tuesday, we left after school in our usual haphazard way, throwing this and that into the nooks and crannies of our car, vowing to be more organized on our next trip, you know the drill. We drove to Denver, CO and stayed with my Aunt Cathy, Uncle Nathan, Cousin Michelle, and much to Hyrum's delight, their dog, Jenna. He was enamored with her. As kindred four-legged movers I think Hyrum felt a special bond with Jenna. He enjoyed crawling after her while she tried to run away. The two-legged movers also had a good visit with each other and then in the morning we left for Manti, UT.

Joseph and I were married in Manti, which makes it one of the most romantic places in the world. It was so fun to bring Hyrum there. Our little family together in the place where it all began.

My grandparents live quite happily in a little house in Manti. I was excited to introduce them to Hyrum. Both were impressed with his solid chunky build. Grandma said, “Oh those chubby cheeks and bright blue eyes!”

 My grandpa has been struggling with some health problems, but he eagerly entertained us, and walked everywhere. When it was clear that his breathing was becoming more labored, I urged him to take it easy, a suggestion he ignored because “life is worth living to its fullest.” I admire the life my grandparents have lived. They are such good examples, and put the most important things first.

It is well known that my grandma and grandpa are madly in love. My grandpa is a hopeless romantic and adores my grandma more than anything. Love notes litter their scrapbooks and in his art studio he has painted, sketch, and sculpted her likeness over and over again. My grandmother is the most important thing in the world. 

My grandpa was a dentist, but he loved art. In his retirement, he took art classes at the college near their home. Recently he stopped going to classes and instead works in his studio at home so my grandma wouldn't be lonely while he was gone.

During our visit, my grandma was anxious about some of Grandpa's lab results, and she was encouraging him to go to the hospital. My grandpa wasn't too keen on the idea. Speaking about a doctor my grandpa said, “I don’t like him. He always puts me in the hospital!” They did go to the hospital later, and Grandpa is now on kidney dialysis 3 days a week, but feeling better. It is a comfort to know that despite their failing health my grandparents still have each other.

We left Manti and headed to Provo to have dinner with my brothers, Jacob and Andrew, and my sweet sister-in-law, Alexa. She is expecting a baby girl soon and I am so excited to meet the little lady. We did not have nearly enough time with these sweet siblings of mine, but we talked and laughed and ate and then I blinked and it was time to go, even though so many things were still unsaid. Being with them is so easy and fun. It's like we've known each other our whole lives;) I've truly been blessed with amazing family members.

We spent the night at the Bradshaws family house; we adore them. Then we headed to Pocatello and had lunch with my friend Jennie and her darling baby, Clara.

Making friends

On the way to Idaho Falls we stopped at a rest area. It was such a beautiful day. There were dandelions on the ground and Hyrum and I both made a wish and blew. Okay, I blew, and Hyrum squished and then ate them. It doesn't get any better than that.

To be continued...

Hyrum's First Camping Trip

In our attempts to introduce Hyrum to the finer things in life we've pushed him out of his comfort zone on more than one occasion. We took him on his first family bike ride a few weeks ago. He sat in a bike trailer attached to Joseph's bicycle and screamed! The. Entire. Time. "Forced family fun" is a real thing.

Needless to say, I was a little apprehensive about Hyrum's first camping trip, but he surprised me by being an excellent camping companion. He was happy to be outside and enjoyed playing in the grass and the dirt. He was excited about the tent, and he actually slept pretty well. I was quite pleased.

Camping is so fun. I love sitting around the campfire. I love talking to friends and telling stories. I love singing camp songs. I love how food always tastes more delicious when camping. I love snuggling up by the fire in a sweatshirt. I love how brightly the stars shine when electric lights aren't there to dim them. I love being in nature with the people I love. 

Don't get me wrong, camping has it's downsides. In the Midwest, mosquitoes are a big one. We had a mosquito in our tent with us, and he managed to take a bite out of everyone including poor little Hyrum. Collateral damage.

We camped near Memphis Lake, which is about halfway between Lincoln and Omaha. It's not the mountains, but it was beautiful in a mid-westy kind of way. 

It is also about 10 minutes from the outlet malls. We definitely stopped by the Nike outlet on our way home in all our camping glory. 

Hyrum Update

Hyrum is growing up so fast, and he is seriously chunky. At his last doctor's appointment he was measuring in the 80^th percentile for weight (19 lbs 4 oz at 6 months) and only the 45^th percentile for height. That chub's gotta go somewhere, and by somewhere I mean everywhere. It makes him all the more kissable.

He's so inquisitive. Things that are mundane to me interest him, even his spit-up is becoming more fascinating. Hyrum spit up on my black yoga pants, and he was so intrigued that he had to investigate, which resulted in him smearing his spit up all around my pants with his cute chubby hand.

He’s taken to blowing raspberries; sticking his tongue out and making a delightful little “bbllpt!” sound.

He’s become much more mobile, not quite crawling in the traditional sense, but definitely moving. His motions consist of a series of downward dog and child’s pose yoga, planking, and just kind of launching himself forward. It’s pretty inefficient, but he still manages to get where he needs to go.

Or he just cries, and I come help him. I should probably do more to foster his independence. 

My Pregnancy with Baby Hyrum

As the final weeks of my pregnancy stretched on and on, I found myself complaining...often, “Pregnancy is the worst!” Joseph would sometimes remind me that while that may be true, the whole pregnancy wasn't all bad, in fact, parts of it were easy and even enjoyable. At such a volatile time a comment like that warranted an “OFF WITH HIS HEAD!”… but he had a point. I felt very blessed during my pregnancy, and it went smoothly. As time goes by I will probably forget everything that happened: the kindness from those around me, the love and excitement for my unborn child, the sleepless nights, the feelings of apprehension, the awkward comments, and the awe and wonder at new life growing inside me. These are things I don’t want to forget, so I've compiled a list. 

My first symptom of pregnancy was using the bathroom, a lot.

The first pregnancy test I took was negative and I didn't take another one for about 3 weeks. I figured time would tell.

I wasn't very sick during the first trimester, but I would feel nauseated if I hadn't had anything to eat.

I only threw-up twice. Once on an airplane, and once when I got a stomach bug, but I was legitimately sick that time. Pregnancy affects your immune system. 

We hiked Mt. Timpanogos when I was about 8 weeks pregnant, and I thought I was going to die. I didn't realize that the baby steals all your oxygen.

I love hearing the baby’s heart beat, but it was never long enough. I wanted to listen to it for at least an hour, maybe more. 

My first appointment was just a nurse’s visit and the nurse couldn't find the heartbeat. I pretty quickly began thinking of the worst case scenarios (I'm a good worrier), but the doctor easily found the baby's heartbeat the next appointment.

I don't think sonogram pictures look like much of anything, but I still looked through Hyrum's every day, and I watched his ultrasound video when I missed him.

I wanted to do a creative pregnant costume for Halloween, but my bump was not impressive enough to pull off the "I ate a basketball" look.

I started sleeping really poorly about month 5 or 6. I would wake up in the middle of the night really alert with nothing to do. Sometimes I would wake Joseph up; misery loves company. He was always really sweet, but mostly really groggy giving incoherent answers to my questions probably wishing his crazy pregnant wife would stop waking him up in the dead of the night. I feel bad about that. I may also have called my mother at 4 o’clock in the morning. She said, “I love you. Please go read a book.”

When I became the size of a small beluga whale, I may or may not have asked Joseph to roll me over so I didn't have to do it myself.

I went running, then walking, and then waddling at the cemetery in Pocatello. I loved it there. The trees were huge and beautiful, and it was so peaceful. When I was past due, I was on my way to the cemetery when my grandmother called me to ask how I was doing. I love her.

Hyrum was 5 days overdue, and there came a point where I couldn't call anyone just to talk because they only wanted to hear baby news. I called my brother Andrew during one of his classes just to talk, he answered in a flurry anticipating some exciting news, I had none. Then when Hyrum was born and I called to tell him I ironically called him during the same class period, he didn't answer, but he called me after class.

I feel like Frozen is Hyrum’s movie. I saw it when I was about 7 months pregnant and Joseph bought the soundtrack as an anniversary gift. We spent way too much time in the car that Christmas as we traveled to Provo, Coeur d’Alene, Portland, Sacramento, and home. Frozen was our theme music. We listened to it up to Hyrum’s birth.

It was snowing lightly the morning we went to the hospital.

When we found out that our baby was a boy we only got one “it’s a boy” bracelet. Joseph took it without asking, assuming that it was his. And so it was. He wore it always. It was a little constant reminder that our baby boy was coming, and Joseph was so proud. I loved looking over and seeing the bracelet on his wrist. 

Joseph's wearing the blue, "It's a boy!" bracelet

We went out to eat after the ultrasound appointment at a Mexican restaurant. Very manly.

After we found out the gender of our child we referred to him as junior. 

While pregnant I was easily startled. When we saw Iron Man 3, I closed my eyes when I could tell something was going to jump out at me. I was blow-drying my hair one day and I didn't hear Joseph come in. When he touched my shoulder I had a full-blown hysterical fit.

I was working as a home health care aid, helping the elderly stay in their homes by assisting with their needs. I had been working with one lady for a while when one day she looked at my 8 month pregnant body and said, “Are you pregnant?” when I answered in the affirmative she said, “Oh! I just thought you had an unfortunate figure.” But seriously having the body of a pregnant lady all year round would be unfortunate.

The first time they drew my blood at the doctor’s my phlebotomist stabbed me about 5 times. She missed the first time and I think she figured that she could just sneak the needle over quickly. The only problem was that my vein moved over as she tried to stab it. That happened several times. I had tears in my eyes and running down my cheeks by the time she finished. She asked if I was excited to have a baby. “Yes.” *sniff sniff. Little did she know those droplets weren't tears of emotion; they were tears of legitimate pain.

On my due date it was pretty clear that I would not be having a baby and I was depressed. Joseph came home early from school instead of staying later to study. “I just felt like I should be home with you today.” 

The night before Hyrum was born we saw Catching Fire in the dollar theater. It was snowing so instead of walking outside, we walked up and down every single aisle at our Fred Myer grocery store.

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While not all of pregnancy is glamorous, it really is incredible. Joining with our Father in Heaven to create life is a humbling sacred experience. I was blessed to be a part of it.