2.5 months in a nutshell

Since the last time I posted a lot has been going on and I mean A LOT. The only way I think to get it all down on paper is to report on everyone individually.

Toby: 10months old and his growth is slowing a little. He is now just above average instead of way above. He is about 24 lbs and truthfully, I have no idea how tall he is. He has 8 teeth and there are a few more in the works. He is our little shark monkey.

He still refuses to crawl. Darin and I disagree on his skill level- Darin thinks he is really good at crawling backwards (he looks like he is doing that dance...you know the worm or the caterpillar...I don't know what it is called) and I think he can't crawl period. You try to get him to do it and he rolls over and screams at you. There is one exception however, if we leave Toby in his crib alone for awhile we often return to him up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth. Go figure. He is a man of his thinking and no one is going to tell him what to do or when to do it. I am not sure where he gets that. :) Unfortunately, we have learned that he is a freak for Baby Einstein. It's nice when I need a few minutes to get something done but I still feel a little guilty about it. The problem is, if he would just figure out how to get himself around so that he can entertain his curious self a wee bit more, I might not have to do that. Until then.

He is a really good eater. He will eat anything that we eat barring it's not spicy and almost refuses bland baby food. Thank you magic bullet. I LOVE THAT THING! In the end I guess that's a cheaper option anyway. He is like one of Pavlov's dogs. When the slightest crinkle of a cereal or cracker bag falls upon his ears he immediately stops what he is doing and squeals to get his treat. It could be a bag of garbage and he wants it. It's pretty hilarious actually.

He is finally sleeping most of the way through the night. Usually until about 5 and then back to bed until 7:30 or so. I feel so spoiled. I am new woman with that little extra bit of sleep.

I have now given him probably 5 haircuts. His hair grows really fast. I am an advocate for infant hair cutting. Why do women get so attached to their children's hair? I think it is freaky AND they look SOOOO much nicer without that ridiculous baby mullet and funky bangs. The only exception is curls and even they should not EVER become a mullet.

Darin: He is officially a college grad! Woohoo! His overall GPA is a 3.8. Way to go Darin. He is so smart and dedicated. He is an example to all of us. He is adored by Toby. Sometimes I find Toby gazing adoringly at his dad. I hope he grows up to be just like him. Well, a lot like him at least.

Darin is looking forward to enjoying a somewhat carefree summer. He looks forward to playing some tennis, doing some camping and other activities that he has been a little restricted from in the past. He has started running again. He is going to spend some time with my dad down at lab to try and get any edge that he can for when dental school starts in the fall. He is excited for school and I think a little anxious, too. It is a big step. We'll be moving down to Vegas in the beginning of August tentatively.

The hospital is going through some crazy stuff right now and because of it his supervisors have asked him to stop work a few weeks early. Grrrr. At first I was irritated, but then I realized that it was a blessing in disguise that we decided to move into my parents house to save money and we'll be fine. Phew. I just thought it was a jerk thing to do considering all Darin has done for them. He has literally bent over backwards to help them and this is how they repay him. Oh well. He is fine with it and it is said and done now. Plus, Darin is REALLY excited to have a break from work which is WELL deserved. How exciting for him! He does so much for us and we are blessed to have him. (I asked Darin to add his perspective and he promises us all a post of his own.)

Ross: I am not sure where to begin. In the end of February we had a sister trip in Portland. It was really nice having just sissy time. Next time, Karly will be there and we will plan it where we can all stay in the same place so that we can have late night dormitory talks and maybe one or two slow going relaxing mornings. CC gave us all mini-facials and it was heavenly. I can't wait to get the full meal deal. We ate good food and laughed and it was too short. After I got home I started helping my mom clean out her house. We made some serious progress but still have a way to go. It's like a disease of mine. I am hooked on cleaning things out. It is so liberating. Truly, we all have WAY too much stuff. Cleaning out her house was a big snowball effect. I cleaned out my whole house to prepare for moving and we cleaned out Whit's stuff to get ready for her move and new life.

In the middle of all the chaos of deep cleaning we decided it might be good to shake a leg on the wedding planning. It really is amazing how fast you can pull all of those details together. It was hard work and it paid off because Whitney said it was everything she had ever hoped for and it was perfect. Thank goodness everyone came to town a few days early to get the last minute details completed. We could have never done it without all of that help. Needless to say, it left us all exhausted. I learned through these processes that getting things done with a baby in tow really slows things down. Thank goodness that Toby really is such a good baby. It is his mom that is a little coocoo. Thank goodness for mental stability (anti-depressants), with that little help I can take on the challenges that face me and can cope when things get a little hairy. I enjoy that much more than crying all day and wanting to lay in bed with the covers over my head. I often think how it will be with several. I welcome the challenge! Maybe.

I digress. After the wedding I realized that I had one week to pack up my house and one day (one day before we needed to move in) to help Whit move her stuff to a different room (she stayed in Reno for a few weeks after she got married. we needed to take the room that she was in as it is the largest.). Darin and Whitney were in the middle of finals. It was hectic and exhausting. We had this brilliant idea to have a garage sale to make money from all of the things we cleaned out. Even more brilliant than that, we decided to do the VERY weekend after we moved into Mom's house. Collectively we made decent money but I seriously thought that I might sleep for two days after that. I never new that having a BIG garage sale could be so tiresome. Then I remembered that I was smart enough to sign up to have the missionaries the next night. I almost cried and decided to relent and instead of making some great meal that I would normally attempt, concoct something with ingredients on hand. Who knew that having the missionaries over could be reason for tears?

Here we are a few weeks after all of that and life is calming down. The weather has been mostly good and we have been enjoying having a yard to play in and a neighborhood good for going on walks. I have been getting back in the habit of going to the gym and am down to working only two shifts a week. I am really enjoying being home with my boys. We are going on vacation in a few weeks and are so excited to just have some fun. I have been informed that while on vacation I will be doing all of the cooking. Hmmmmm. Thanks Karly! Que sera! I do always say I am like the little italian grandma, "Mange! Mange!" Hopefully they will like my food.

I am going to do a few massive picture posts so be patient while I get them together. I am going to try to be better on updating as life happens.