The third reason we went to Utah last week.

We went to Utah last week for two reasons.  It turned into three reasons, which is why we were there twice as long as we'd planned.  But originally we were going for Great Strides on Saturday and my mom's birthday party on Sunday.  And the two times it rained the whole week, happened on Saturday and Sunday.  Not all day both days, just during the exact hours that the events were planned.  So annoying, but it all still worked out well.  I usually do a day by day, step by step travelog of our trips but it bores me so I can't imagine what it does to readers.  Anyway, I'm trying to get away from that.  So for this trip I'll just say, if I wasn't working/prepping for an event/party, I was at the hospital or asleep.  The asleep part didn't happen nearly enough.  Neither did the hospital part for that matter.  It was a lot of work!

The third reason we found ourselves in Utah a few days early was because my nephew William had a rough week.  He spent a night in the Dixie regional ER, then spent a few days back in the NICU, and after a few days of not getting better, he was life flighted to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City.  There were (and still are) doctors all over Utah studying that kid and trying to figure out what's wrong.  His main (diagnosed) issue right now is still Pulmonary Hypoplasia.  But the biggest problem still remains undiagnosed.    He's still at Primary Children's now with no for sure discharge date.

 Cookie sheets and bungee cords so the trays stay in place.  Great for snacks and magnets/coloring in the car.

 Happy little dude, even with all he has going on.

 Lunch at the park before heading back to the hospital.

 The kids were so happy to see a fish pond at the hospital so I told them we could stop and look at it after our visit.  When we came out to leave, the pond was being de-fished, and de-everythinged.  The hospital is under major construction and the pond will be no more.  Fortunately, the pond guy was really nice and took time to bring the bucket of fish over and tell the kids all about them.  (The fish are going to a good home. I asked.)

 Addie's legs...sigh... Some bruises. Mostly dirt.  She's my adventurer.

 Garrett had a rough morning at the PICU when he learned he was too young to go see Baby Will.  But by that evening Will was stable enough for a regular room.  Garrett was so happy when we told him and we went back that night so Garrett could see him and give him a gift.

 Great-grandpa came with us.  We overheard him get a little emotional and ask William if he talked to Grandma before he was born.  She passed away about a month before he was born.

 The three kids back together again.

 Addie was cautious, yet curious.  She didn't take her eyes off of him, but sometimes it was from a distance.  I imagine it's scary for a child to see a baby so hooked up with tubes, cords, and tape.  Fortunately, it doesn't phase Garrett.  He just asks if baby Will is still sick or if he's all better.  Garrett overheard me a few days earlier talking/crying on the phone about all that was happening to William.  When I got off the phone he just looked at me for a minute, then said, "No more sad, Mom.  Baby Will better soon."

 The neighbors tree house.

 William meeting his great-Auntie for the first time.  I remember Garrett falling asleep on her just like this the first time they met.

 Story time with Mimi.

 Poor little guy was constantly being poked, checked, and looked at/talked about by new people.

 Baby Will couldn't make it to my mom's birthday Luau, but I had an outfit for him and his Mama dressed him in it.

 Garrett's good-bye before we had to go home.  "Bye-bye Baby Will. Sleep good. Love you."

The original reason(s) for the trip coming tomorrow.

Project 365: 127-133

May 7- See that piece of mail?  I'm being summoned for Jury Duty.  Hoping my full-time caregiver excuse gets me out of it!

May 8- It's not really a black eye. but it's definitely a conversation starter.  She took a running dive at an office chair and the scratch on the end of her nose came along with it.

 May 9- I headed to downtown LA at 5:30 in the morning to be at Jack's when they opened at 6:00AM.  I needed some candy to finish our booth for Great Strides.  It's a good thing I knew what I needed and I was in a hurry because wholesale candy and toys?  Yeah, I had like 4 themed birthday parties planned in about 30 seconds.

May 10- I got an early Mother's Day delivery.  Flowers and a snow cone with vanilla ice cream on the bottom.  So good.  Reminded me of hot days in Hawaii.

May 11- Snacks and drinks for two exhausted, dirty kids.  We had a successful kite flying afternoon at the park with friends.

 May 12- Just a regular Mother's Day dinner with the in-laws.  Moms at for free!

May 13- No, we're not moving.  I'm working like crazy to get everything packed up for Great Strides in SLC on Saturday.  We've had a change of plans and we're leaving tomorrow morning instead of Wednesday night.  My nephew was flown to Primary Children's Medical Center this morning.  We're praying for answers and that he'll get the help he needs.  I just need to be with my family right now.

According to the kids

This will be boring to most, but one day I'm sure I'll love looking back at these posts, so it's mostly for me.

Garrett lately:

Burrito=be-yo-ee
Tortilla=ta-toy-a
He likes to eat quick and get back to what he was doing, so after a bite or two at every meal he announces, "me almost done."
He hates going to the store.  When I tell him we need to go, he tries every option-

-"Me stay wiff Lu"
-Lu's going with me."

-"Me stay wiff Dad."
-"Dad's at work."

-"Me stay home."
-"You can't stay home."

-"Me stay self."
-"You can't stay by yourself."

Then when we get to where we're going-

-"Me stay car me self."

Every.single.time.

I made the mistake once of telling Garrett that the tv in our car was broken because I didn't want him to watch it.  Now he constantly asks, "Big TV broke?" "Baby TV fixed?" Etc.

He's such an excited kid.  Lately I've heard him, as he's building something with blocks, or, yesterday, he was running down the hall to get me to come see something he fixed, he chants, "A wee hee, woo hoo!"

He's also started acting surprised about everything.  Even if he hears me come into a room he'll look up and say. "Oh! Hi mom!"  Or if he watches me pour him a cup of milk, I hand it to him, and he says, "Oh! Thnaks Mom!"

"Me poop all day."
"Lulu toot all day."
(Fortunately, these two announcements haven't been true, but he says it a lot.)

I thought I had a sweet kid who skipped the defiant "NO!" phase, but it's here.  Fortunately, he usually giggles at how loud he can yell "NO!" and his laughing makes him forget why he was saying no. (for now anyway.)

Addie lately:

She'll be 18 months in a week, and here's the new words we hear from her all the time now:
-Down
-Up
-Hold
-MilKK (really strong K sound)
-Juice
-Bottle=Ba-bow (We're working on ditching the bottle, which was a challenge with Garrett around this age, too.  There's only one kind of sippy cup she'll take.  Anything else at this point she'll take it, then hand it right back and say, "Done!")
-Hello
-Yes
-No
-Love You=Ya You
-Oh! Almost! (She loves playing ball with G, and we hear "Oh! Almost!" a lot from both of them.)
-Shoes (She puts on my shoes, Garrett's shoes, tries to get her own shoes on.  She always wants to be wearing shoes!)
-Chip (Anything crunchy (pretzel, cracker) is a chip.)
-When she's walking somewhere and wants someone to come with her, she walks in rhythm and chants "walk, walk, walk!" or "march, march, march!"
-Happy, Happy, Happy!! (She has a cute gallop that goes along with this.  And when you tell her to say "Happy Birthday" she says, "Happy B-happy."

Garrett's always been a thankful kid, (thankfully), and Addie's picking up on it.  She says, "Thanks Mom" all the time now.  Tonight at dinner Paul kept getting things for her, and she'd say, "Thanks mom."  It secretly made me happy because she would only say, "Hi Dad" for so long.
  
She loves Mickey Mouse.  And she's made me realize how often that little mouse pops up. Billboards, ads, clothes, etc.  She points and yells "Mouse!"

She puts her hands in the air and says, "Holla" but it comes out, "haha".

We taught both kids to say "Aww snap!" (The important things.) G says, "aww nap!" A says, "Aww mat!"

I love that the kids know that we pray, and remind us at meal and bed time to pray.  But Addie's in a phase right now where she wants to pray 4 or 5 times a meal.  Out of no where she'll put her food down and her hands together and say, "pray."  If we pretend we don't hear her she claps and with each clap she says, "pray, pray, pray!"  It's easier to just keep saying quick prayers.

Project 365: 115-126

April 25- She was watching dinosaurs sing on YouTube and she started doing a loud dino roar.  I don't know where she learned to be so dramatic...

April 26- Our view for the weekend in Dana Point.

April 27- Another day in Paradise.  Unprompted hand holding while shopping in Dana Point.

April 28- Beach Day!  The sand in Dana Point is the best I've seen in California. Soft. White. Clean.

 April 29- We went with Dad on his lunch break to a picnic fundraiser.

 April 30- Buying loads of stuff at Party City to finish our booth for Great Strides to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  The cashier finishes ringing me up, points to this stack, and says, "Would you like to make a donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation?"  Yes, yes I would.

May 1- I'm starting to wonder if that tattoo is ever gonna wash off.  She's so hard core.

May 2- Sitting on the lawn at City Hall in Whittier.  A beautiful evening at the National Day of Prayer.

May 3- In awe at M&M Nursery.  It's like a real life fairy garden up in here.

May 4- I made this onesie at a friend's baby shower.  Pure talent.

May 5- Golden Oreo sombreros.  Happy Cinco de Mayo!

May 6- We're taking Garrett's love of helping to the next lever.  Chore chart!  And Addie gets one too because they aren't great at sharing.  And she'll hopefully need it soon enough.

Dana Point

We went away for the weekend with the White family.  We went to Dana Point.  When we were deciding where to go, I said to Paul, "Remember that little town we drove through a couple years ago after camping, and I said, 'People who have never been to California think this is what all California beaches look like.'?"  That town was Dana Point.  It's beautiful and did not disappoint.


We (7 people) rented a 6 bedroom, 4 bathroom, HUGE home.  It was beautiful.  And it's actually bigger than that because the owners live in the basement, and the rental portion is the top 3 floors.  Who knows how big the basement apartment is.  I definitely had house envy.

Blowing bubbles and relaxin' on the balcony.

Garrett and I shared a room.  He slept on a pad on the floor, but spent most of the night off the pad.  He asked if he could sleep with me, but having this kid in your bed is like sleeping with a ninja.

We went to the Farmers Market.  Garrett loved puppy watching.  And he got to help pick names for a giveaway.

Addie was a little super hero all day.

We did a little shopping.  Then the men and kids went home for naps.  And my MIL, SIL, and I shopped and shopped and shopped, then stopped for lunch, then shopped some more.

I'd seen a flower nursery/farm-like place (called Farm to Market) while we were out and  I knew the kids would love it, so we took them to see it.

Hanging out at the house...

Annie bought us all dino tattoos.

I was a sucker and paid six bucks for a tiny bag of colorful rocks for a little tractor dig box I'm making for Garrett.  Oh, and, this is two tiny bags worth, so, 12 bucks.  Vacation money is different than real life money.

Garrett loved the cherries.  I don't buy them often and realized he's never had them, (I don't think) but he was an instant pro at de-stemming them and spitting out the seeds.

The beach was Garrett's favorite part.  I wish all California beaches had Dana Point sand.  It was whiter than any I've seen here.  And so soft and clean.  Addie, my little sand-a-phobe, even couldn't get enough.  I may have taken a little bit in our sand buckets, just to play with on the porch.

 And...then we were home.  Laundry, baths, and our own beds.  But first, a little fresh air on the porch.