Life is a Highway

Life is a highway with lots of adventures. Friday afternoon we were headed up to Idaho Falls to stay with Chase's parents for the weekend. A few miles before Inkom we heard a horrible grinding, clicking sound, Chase pulled over right away and our car died on the spot.

Chase being the manly-man that he is, got out and popped the hood, then yelled for me to come look...
and the engine was on fire! Thankfully it wasn't huge so a few good huffs and puffs and it was out. We stood there for a minute to process and concluded that we were stranded. Thankfully our phones had reception at that particular spot on the highway (it's sketchy through that area) so we called Chase's parents to come tow us.

We waited for about 2 hours grateful again that I had an extra blanket, fruit snacks and water, and that the kids were relatively happy. Cal and Cheryl showed up with a car dolly and winch to tow us into Idaho Falls to their mechanic.

Saturday morning our car was declared "toast." It threw a rod and blew a hole in the engine block. Toast.

This was huge surprise to us. Even though our car was actually really old it only had 130k miles on it, which for a Toyota is nothing. We really expected it to last us a good long while. So long story short, we needed to find a car that we could actually put kids and carseats in (trucks aren't so good for that) pronto.

We started looking around on KSL and local used car dealerships and were frustrated because there was nothing remotely close to what we needed for a price we were able to pay. We decided to take our time looking and just figure out how to manage with the truck for awhile. Then my sister texted saying her good friend was selling their van. Again, long story short, it ended up being exactly what we were looking for and under the price we needed. My parents were able to test drive it for us Saturday afternoon since we were still up in IF. Chase's dad drove us down to pick it up this afternoon and we drove it home!

So it stinks that now instead of getting started finishing our basement this year, we had to buy a car instead, but it all worked out how we needed it to. And it could have been a lot worse! Tender mercies.

So now, according to a friend, we have joined the "minivan mafia!"

So Long, Farewell!

It's with much chagrin that we announce the passing of our beloved Toyota Camry. She passed away yesterday unexpectedly after serving faithfully for 6 years (although she should have lived a good long life of at least 10 more years! boo)

So if anyone is selling or knows of a reliable van for sale that would be great.

New Nephew

We have another nephew! Tycen Cal was born yesterday. We're excited for all these new cousins... my sister should have her baby in the next few weeks too!

Lauren Lately

Thank heavens the terrible tantrums of the two-year-old have passed (for the most part)! We still have some tiffs every now and then but I can't remember the last time she had a complete meltdown. That's a big improvement from the 2-3 she was having everyday for awhile.

We've found she's a good negotiator and does not like surprises. As long as we give her a heads up and reminders as to what's going to happen, she responds a lot better. She's still a master at finding ways to delay bedtime... but what little kid isn't?

She's been talking a TON! I'm so glad she's finally talking. For a little while I was kind of nervous that she would only speak George from watching Curious George too much. My favorite sayings of her's lately are "Dokey Dokey! (Okey Dokey), "Superdooper! and "Way cool Mom!"

She's been a good little helper with Gavin and takes good care of him.

She just makes me laugh!

6 Months and Sitting

He sits! And falls over pretty regularly... but he's getting steadier everyday. We went to the doctor on Monday... he dropped to the 10th percentile for height and 40th for weight. Little stinker won't eat! (He's still got a big noggin' though!) I've never seen a baby that resists food the way he does. He rarely will eat a bottle fully awake. It's best to give it to him when he barely nods off. Solid foods...he clamps his mouth shut so tight at the sight of a spoon there's no way anything is getting in!

Dr. wasn't worried about him since he's healthy and happy. He recommended letting him feed himself solid food. Any ideas on what to give him so he can pick it up but won't choke? He has a really sensitive gag reflux so any little clumps at all and he's throwing up his whole stomach. I'm a little stumped on what to give him.

He's also started waking up every night about 3 wanting to play... til about 5 or so. Not cool. Not sure what happened to get him off his great sleeping schedule, we've been spoiled! Thankfully stages don't last very often.. so here's hoping he goes back to sleeping awesome again soon!

He's still a sweet, happy baby. I love the times when he snuggles into my neck for a minute as if giving me a hug then pops back up and grins at me.

Scars

Lauren is a picker. If you've noticed in all her pictures in the last two months, she has a large red dot right between her eyebrows in varying stages of scabbiness and/or healing.

It's been there for over 2 months now. It's finally gotten to the point where there's new pink skin instead of a scab. It started from an itty-bitty little pimple-like bump. We eventually had to resort to putting gloves on her at night and naptime and slathering any sort of thick cream all over her face to stop the picking.

But since it has been picked and repicked over and over again, I'm afraid she's going to have a permanent scar there forever... right in the middle of her perfect, pretty forehead.

Enjoying her "pink" ice cream at the dairy!

So... any ideas or remedies you've found to get rid of scars?

New Year, New Mindset

I think New Year's resolutions are really cliche, and I typically don't set specific goals or resolutions; but after looking back at 2013, I decided I need a new outlook.

For me 2013 was all about survival
- Getting through the last 6 months of a sick pregnancy
- Learning how to live with 2 kids
- Functioning with no sleep
- Dealing with some post-partum depression
- Handling 2 year old meltdowns
- Figuring out a new calling
- Managing several surprise financial situations

I'm tired of just surviving. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy...but I want to look forward to each day rather than looking forward to the end of each day.

I've been contemplating a lot about aspects of our life, and although I don't have resolutions or answers to some things I've been thinking about...I've found determination to make changes.

So I'm not sure where to go from here, but at least I've made a start, and for now... that's enough.