We are alive...(barely)

So we made it to Vegas. It was a bittersweet moment loading the kids in the car Saturday morning. One that brought a few tears to my eyes. As I pulled away from our house so many thoughts went through my head...'this is the last time I will be pulling away from this house...when will I be back...why didn't I take more advantage of all the amazing things the bay area has to offer...I am going to miss all my wonderful friends here!' I am so sad that I did not take more pictures of the adventures this past month. There were some funny ones, some that made me cry and some that made me want to check into the nuthouse! lol

First of all I need to thank everyone that helped us. We are so lucky to have such great friends. Not only did I have a crew help me load the truck, I was bombarded with help the week prior with packing, cleaning and babysitting. You all are so wonderful and I hope that we will be able to keep in touch with all of you.

So as most of you know, Peter left two weeks before me to begin his new job, which left me to pack up the house. If you don't already feel bad enough for me, just know that this is not the first time he has done this. :) But also, in Peter's defense, he had a pretty good reason to leave. Regardless, this left me with the task of packing up the house with two kids, cleaning my house with two kids and also taking care of my two kids. As I mentioned above, I had lots of help. I had my parents and sister's family here for Easter and they helped me pack some stuff up before they headed back to Utah. After my family left, I was all alone...or at least that is what I thought. The day after they left, I already had friends calling me to help pack, babysit and clean. Someone took Max for me everyday the week before we left.

On Thursday a bunch of my friends came over for a packing/cleaning girls night out at my house. I wish I had pictures of this night. It was so much fun to hang out with everyone. (probably not so fun for all you girls...you all worked your buns off!) I thought that I was pretty much done when they came over, but I didn't realize how much I still had left. I would not have finished if it weren't for their help. Sarajane brought me a loaf of homemade bread with honey butter....YUM!!! I had it for every meal for three days straight it was so delicious. (still waiting for the recipe) ;) Also, Jenny brought some orange creamsicles which hit the spot after working up a sweat. Thanks so much girls!

So then the much dreaded Friday came...MOVING DAY! :( I actually started off the day with a pedicure which was so nice! It was nice to just relax for about an hour before I started this crazy day. After my pedicure, I tried to clean the house for my inspection. Again one of my friends, Sarajane, came over to help me. I had my inspection and then it was off to get the truck. Originally, the plan was for our friend Chris to go with me to pick up the truck. (so I didn't have to drive a 26' truck around town) That was before I realized that the truck place closed at 4:30 and that was before Chris got off work. So yes, I ended up having to drive the semi back to my house. I have never been more scared to drive in my life!! I was so happy when I made that last turn to my house! We had a good crowd show up to help us move and we were done within a couple hours. The truck was packed SO tight and everything fit! Hooray! After we loaded the truck I picked Peter up from the bart station. Max was so excited to be reunited with his daddy! He missed him so much. Shortly after Peter came home we went to sleep only to wake up early to a long drive neither is us were looking forward to.

Now for the drive...I wish I would have journaled about this trip the day after it happened. It would be in much more detail and maybe a little more humorous. I will just sum it up. Peter left about an hour and a half before the boys and I. (thinking it would take him longer because he had to drive so slow) The first half of the trip went great. The second half not so great. I think I averaged more time stopped than on the road. Both of the boys were not feeling well. About 30 miles before we reached our "final destination" Max decided it would be a great time to throw up. I had to pull over yet again to clean it all up. The most frustrating thing about him throwing up was that we were sooo close!! So with all my speed bumps along the way, Peter managed to have the truck unloaded and loaded into our storage, made a trip to the grocery store and had the BBQ going ALL before I pulled up!

(an update on our time in Vegas will come later...along with pictures)

Viva Las Vegas...

Just wanted to let everyone know we are moving back to Vegas! Peter accepted a job there and he starts next Monday. Max, Sol and I will be packing up the house and leaving on the 25th. We are going to miss California so much! We have made great friends here and hope they come visit us lots. We are also going to miss the beautiful weather here. All the culture and unique things to do. The beach. The parks. The museums. I could go on and on. That said, we are so excited to re-group with all our great friends in Vegas!

Look who wears big boy underwear...

and you guys thought Max was smart for his age!

Peter and I have tried EVERYTHING to get Max excited for the big boy potty. He just simply has NO interest. I have started to tell him that we are going to give his Thomas, Spiderman, Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny and Diego underwear to his friend Peyton, (his friend from church that just became potty trained) to see if he would want to try to start wearing them. He did not seem to care much. So after Peter changed Solomon, he put on Max's underwear over his diaper and said that he was going to give Solomon his big boy underwear so they did not go to waste. Still, no reaction.

Any suggestions?

3 months...

I love this boy! I can't believe it has already been 3 months.

Solomon,
One of my favorite things to do with you is munch on your neck. You grin from ear to ear and sometimes give mommy a giggle. You are starting to think your big brother is pretty funny. He is the only one that can get you to laugh without tickling you. He loves to give you kisses and show you all his toys. You love to have him around. You had a cold for a little over a month (from about 1 1/2 months old till a couple days ago) and you were such a trooper. It even turned into a small ear infection in your right ear. You rarely complained about the discomfort. You bring a balance into our home with your calm sweet innocence. (Your brother being the crazy one, your dad the silly one and your mom the more serious worrisome one) :) I love you so much!
Kisses,
Mommy

A visit from Uncle Aaron and enjoying the beautiful weather

This weekend Solomon got to meet his Uncle Aaron. Aaron was in town for a business trip and got to spend some time with us. I have to say when I handed Solomon to Aaron for the picture, Sol was fussy and calmed right down when in Uncle Aaron's arms. Doesn't he look great with a baby in his lap! Such a natural...not to mention Max also loves Uncle Aaron. No pressure Aaron. :)

This weekend we also went to Six Flags. Six Flags is probably my favorite thing to do here. There are so many rides for the kids. They have tons of animals. (and they even let you pet a lot of them. The last 3 times we went Max got to pet an elephant. Saturday he also got to pet a Boa.) Not to mention the lines are not bad at all!

The weather has been perfect the last few days so we have been enjoying spending time outdoors.

Yesterday at the park Solomon decided to do this...












which resulted in this...

(if you can't tell, all he is wearing is his jacket)

Will you be my V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E?

It is never too early to start training them to be gentlemen, right? Max was so excited to take his sweethearts surprises on Valentines day.

(How cute is Zoe's face in this picture? She is so darling!)

(Kate played a little hard to get)

I just hope that Max has such cute Valentines when he is older too!

Exploratorium...

Yesterday we adventured out into the city to the exploratorium. I am just going to refer you to my friend Jenny's blog for the 411, but will add a couple other "events" that made me laugh throughout the day.

• spending about ten minutes at each elevator, waiting for a couple of us to go up/down at a time.
• Sarajane's and my bart tickets not working. We had to go the booth when we got on and off the bart for us to prove we paid.
  
• Jacob's drink spilling on him soaking his pants, Robyn's skirt and shoe.
• the HAIR in my pizza
• Robyn's nasty chicken quesadilla (i think her words were "the chicken smelt rank"?)
• the smell of the building blocks in the toddler area...(I can't imagine what it smelt like to you prego ladies)
• on the way there: trying to get my freaking dollar to go into the bus machine, getting frazzled as I look to the side of me seeing Max run to the back of the bus and behind me seeing about 30 people waiting for me. (keep in mind Sol is in the baby bjorn and i am trying to hold my stroller so it does not fall down the stairs) Then I hear Robyn say, "he said it's okay, he will take care of it"...what?...come to find out the man behind her just wanted on the stinking bus so he told her to just get on the bus and paid for Robyn and carried her stroller on so that we did not hold everyone up even longer!
  
• on the way home: trying to get away with carrying my stroller on the bus with two sleeping children, only to find out that when the bus pulled up the driver said "take babies out and fold stroller", then trying my hardest to keep both children happy as I yank each one out handing them off and pulling apart my stroller, handing off my diaper bag, blankets and stroller seat to all the other girls.
• on the bart ride home changing Sol's poopy diaper on my lap, only to find out he was no done pooping when I took the diaper off. (luckily I left the diaper below his bum to catch his remaining poo.)
• on the bart ride home watching Max propel Jacob's rubber centipede in the air landing in the crotch of a man reading the newspaper. (he did not see it coming due to the newspaper in front of his face) He jumped and said "WOE!" I was so embarrassed and laughing so hard that I had to turn the other way and Robyn was nice enough to apologize. I will have to say he was a pretty good sport about it. Robyn and I started to cry we were laughing so hard.
  

(a few pics from our day)

(downtown San Francisco trying to find the bus stop)

(in front of the exploratorium with Robyn and Jacob)
(Laura and Harrison blowing a bubble)
(Jenny, why are you flipping the wall off?) lol

(playing in the 4x4 toddler area...I am building a house with Max out of the stinky blocks)

(the babies and baby's mamas)

(me trying to nurse on the bus ride home...this was before the 40+ children hopped on...note to self: never ride the bus when school is getting out!)
(this was after)

(the perfect ending to the perfect day...oh wait, that's right...they fell asleep before we got on the bus to come home)

(high fives for all the brave mommies that are not afraid of a little adventure in life!)

Okay ladies...what did I forget? Thanks for a great outing that made for a memorable day Sarajane! I can't wait for the next one!

I just got a knock on the door from the FedEx man holding a box with 1 lb of this heavenly goodness inside!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW...mmmmm THANKS SO MUCH Kristina!!!

FYI- This is mars fudge from the BYU Bookstore and VERY delicious!!!