We're Home

Our vacation was great, and not long enough, as all vacations are. I'll download pictures later, and do an actual blog, but here's a rough draft:

Saturday morning was earlier than I want to discuss. Stephen drove Franklin and I to the airport, and the two of us flew to Tucson while Stephen met up with his mom in Kanab, Ut and drove to Thatcher, AZ. I got to visit with my family one day in Sierra Vista, AZ till Stephen joined us on Sunday afternoon.

It was great just hanging out with family (and attempting to catch up on some sleep lost due to early rising, and messed up naps). Stephen got a lot of work done, especially thanks to brothers-in-law and my dad, thank you. Thanks to Sam, Davy, and Christian; Stephen super appreciated having your help, especially since we know all of you gave up vacation time for him. I did get to see some old friends, unfortunately it wasn't a very long visit. I did miss the chance to see some of them earlier in the week.

We hated saying good bye to all. It was so much fun, and a little stressful at times, I won't lie, to have all the little cousins together. Unfortunately Franklin did learn a new word that he says often, "No", which actually sounds a little more like "Do'h". Maybe we should try to get him to say it like Homer. We headed to Thatcher for a short, but wonderful visit and spent a little time with Stephen's parents. The following afternoon we headed for Flagstaff with a truck load, thanks to Sheila's hardwork with coupons; I'm still so amazed at how she does it.

In Flagstaff we stayed with my aunt Amber, my mom's twin sister. It was a super short visit, but super great. Stephen didn't really know Amber that well, or had ever met Greg. Plus they got to meet Franklin who continues to steal hearts. Of course the drive home was very long, longer than it would normally have felt. Franklin wasn't happy to be so confined in his seat, and myself being 6 months pregnant it definitely wasn't a good experience. I at least tried my best not to complain, can't say that much for Franklin.

Taking away time

I'm overdue for an update, and I have to apologize, I've been so tired. Daylight Savings Time occured on Sunday, and I've been falling short of sleep since. The time change isnt' the only thing preventing me from sleeping, but Stephen and I are trying to be as polite about our situation as possible. Franklin has also become of victim of sleep loss as well, but adjusted to the time change better than we have.

Last Friday we finally went on another date, and had my sister babysit Franklin. We enjoyed a movie, ate too much popcorn to have room for dinner, so ordered something light, and split it between us. We still took home leftovers. When we got to Greta's Franklin was nestled between Miles and Boston, watching a movie, and was happy to see us. We were told that most of the night was spent sitting with Adam. We can tell Greta and Adam both love that Franklin wants to be with Adam all the time, and we aren't sure why he has to be with Adam. His cousins play all around him, and do other things, yet Franklin wants to just sit, and chill with Uncle Adam.

They told us at one point Franklin had the remote in hand (all kids do it, and none of them should have it, even Franklin gets in trouble for it) so Adam made a noise, like he does with his kids, but Franklin reacted differently. When he knows he's in trouble he curls up on the floor, puts his face in his hands, and you have approxamately 2-3 seconds, once he's in possition, before he starts to cry. Greta and Adam completely melted into his hands, so obviously he never really cried, and was immidiately no longer in trouble. Greta said it was the saddest, cutest thing. However, at home, when he really is in trouble, its not so cute; but I cannot convince anyone that there is even one thing he does that isn't cute. Sometimes I'm afraid it makes me look like the enemy.

Saturday I was determined to get some cleaning done. We still have many things in closets, and stored away in totes till we are in a bigger space; Spring Cleaning time!! We narrowed out at least 4 totes, and got rid of a lot of trash. Its such a good feeling. We gave a box of stuff away to D.I. and I still have one more part of the place to go through till I can say I'm done. Stephen has been a great help since I can't lift a whole lot. The other day when we attacked our main closet, we had all the totes in the living room. Franklin must have assumed we made a jungle gym for him because immediately he was climbing and crawling on top of it all. Because of all the dust giving me allergy problems, it made this task very difficult when Stephen finally had to go to work.

One reason why we've wanted to get this cleaning done is because we are about to take a vacation and love the thought of returning to a clean house. The second reason is because it minimizes the amount of clutter we have so its less to deal with in the next few months when we will move. Yes, we plan to be out of this apartment before the baby comes. Neither of us want to be here with our newborn little girl (no, we won't share what names we've been thinking of, just like we did with Franklin, so you can ask, but you won't get an answer). When we get back from our vacation we will go head on into the house search, and we'll keep you posted when we know anything.

Stephen and I cannot contain how excited we are to take a vacaton. We haven't had one since August. We will be spending a week with my family in Sierra Vista, AZ. I haven't seen my brother, Christian, since my sister Inga got married in April of 2006; nearly 3 years. Which means I have never met his son Ian. I haven't seen Inga since Christmas of 2006, which means I haven't met her daughter Annie, or their son Davy. It'll be like a mini family reunion, and I can't wait!!

I've had a friend comment that there needs to be a belly picture of me. I've been hesitant only because I'm carrying way far forward this time, probably has something to do with all the stretched out scar tissue that never shrank back after Franklin. I know, some of you may think, too much info, but that tissue gives me one advantage over all other pregnant women; my belly button will never stick out. Now are some of you a little envious? Just kidding!

The first one was to compare with a picture I have of me in the same outfit when I was pregnant with Franklin. In the second picture notice Franklin sticking out his belly, and has the other hand on my belly.

Another Picture Post

These are the pictures I promised of Franklin's adventures; Fortress in the living room, and finger painting. (not pictures of the mattress bouncing just videos at the bottom of the blog) Some additional pictures are of Franklin chasing a cat through the cat tunnel, and getting stuck. Franklin recently got a hair cut, but we made a mohawk out of his hair one night. We also made cookies one night and Stephen introduced Franklin to the wonderful taste of cookie dough. We also took family pictures near Utah Lake.

















Make sure you check out the videos at the bottom of our site. Franklin's been so much fun, we can't keep him to ourselves. (If this was emailed to you, make sure you click on the link to our blog site to see the videos at the bottom)

Spiders for a midnight snack

I'll post this weekend all the pictures and videos we've taken this week. For now I'll just fill you in on whats been going on. Last week was refreshing and relaxing. There was a dramatic decline of noises due to an out-of-town trip that lasted 6 days, and 5 nights. I was able to regain my sanity, composure and reduce stress. Unfortunately Franklin and myself caught colds.

Stephen was great in being able to watch Franklin, who didn't seem to need the extra sleep from being sick, while I got in a nap or two. With Stephens help, especially over the weekend, I was able to more quickly get over this cold. There is still a little left over with Franklin, and some irritations of the throat with me, but overall, we are back to healthy. Friday I took Franklin in for his 18 month appointment, as well as had the doctor check on his cold. Franklin is 26 1/2 lbs. (54% for his age) and 34 inches (91% for his age). He did lose a little weight due to running around and not as interested in eating solids (due to teething and his cold) but I'm so excited to know he's definitely going to be taller than us!! He'll be able to keep up with Greta's and Heidi's kids!!

Franklin hasn't seemed to affected by his illness except for when naptime approaches he must be in bed. He has had high energy, and Stephen and I have been trying to come up with activities for him when it wasn't good for 2 sick people to be outside. Over the weekend Stephen was itching for a project since I made him stay home. So he got some scrap wood together and made a temporary eisle for Franklin. We taped some card stock to it, and let him go to town with his markers. He'd get so excited, he wanted to move on. Our only rule is that the markers stay with the eisle. He doesn't like that rule.

One evening we set up a fortress in the living room. The cats had a lot of fun with that too. Franklin was a little more sick that night, so when he got really worked up, he started coughing a lot. We had to call it quits before he wanted to. But he definitely had fun while it lasted.

The next night we did finger painting. He wasn't too sure about it, and in a way, still isn't. He wanted daddy to do more painting, and just copy him, rather than do it himself. Stephen painted his whole hand to do a hand print, and that upset him for a short while. I guess it was too much at the moment. We'll try finger painting again when we get some water colors. We did it with acrylic, and of course he had to taste it. Obviously he didn't like the taste, and sure made a funny face.

Stephen blew up an air mattress but not all the way full. We were able to bounce, and toss Franklin on it. He had the most fun with this activity. We even tried to bounce Rizzo, but he was just too light. However he did stay on it while we bounced Franklin. I tell you, that cat is most definitely one of a kind! He had to be in on every activity we do, and every room we are in. Since the air mattress was such a success, but Stephen didn't want to get it out again, I convinced him to bring in the twim mattress from the nursery. Franklin expected it to have the same effect, but even though he didn't bounce as high, he still had fun. And Rizzo was right there too.

Yes, I was going to get to the title of my blog. We have relished in the fact that we don't have many insects up here; no scorpions, and you never see a cockroach, and the mosquitos, though the locals complain how many there are, its nothing like the population in AZ. The one thing we have plenty of is spiders. There is one kind that we have down here all the time. In the first few months the cats liked to chase, capture, and kill, till they both were bit back. Now they pounce, and play, but not always eat them.

Monday morning I woke up with a slightly puffy lip, and 2 unusual red spots; one next to my nose, and the other next to my mouth. Originally thought it was acne, except for what was on my lip, till the next day. My lip was more puffy that you could actually notice it, and it started to sting. The red spot next to my mouth was bigger, and also started to hurt. Just blamed it on messing with it at first. Then the 3rd day I noticed that each red spot had two little marks and began researching the web about insect bites. I realized I had been bitten in 3 different spots; the trail leading to my mouth. In my sleep I must have sought my revenge because the last bite is on the inside of my lip. Yes, gross!! Now I seek revenge on every spider I see before it has the chance to get fresh with me. (no, my revenge doesn't involve eating them, it was just the one, and I was asleep)