Snowpocalypse 2017

So the story of 2017 so far has been snow, family, sick family, more snow, ice, more family, more family sick, new calling. Eric and Katie came to visit us the day after Eric, Levi and I returned from Texas. It was a lot of fun to have them here, I love that they are close enough to drive up and visit us! We all (minus my husband) got to go to the OMSI together on Tuesday (thanks Trey and Patty for the family membership!) which was cool. Levi already loves exploring the baby area. They have bells to ring and a fishtank down at ground level, and big foam blocks to climb on and push around which are so fun. I think it will be a great place to go back to again and again. And Eric was awesome and wore Levi pretty much the whole time we were there except when we were at the kid play area because we had accidentally forgotten to get the stroller out of Eric's trunk before he left for work that day. Basically my brother is a rockstar.

 

Levi with the bells and the fish :)

Anyway, Eric and Katie were here Monday through Friday but unfortunately I work on Wednesdays and then on Thursday Eric and Katie both came down with that awful stomach bug that Eric and Levi and I had had! I felt so bad to have infected them! So they spent their last day with us feeling awful and gross and we didn't do much of anything :(. Thankfully this bug doesn't last too long and they were well enough to drive home still on Friday though!

Then last Wednesday, my parents came up for a visit! Levi loves having his grandparents here! He recognized them from facetiming so much and was immediately comfortable with grandma :) Unfortunately, last Wednesday was also the day of another huge snowstorm! It started snowing Tuesday night and didn't stop until about midday on Wednesday. We must have gotten about 6 inches of snow which for here is a ton! I woke up Wednesday, looked outside and immediately texted my boss that I wouldn't be able to make it in because of course the roads were a disaster! What with having no snow plows, lots of hills and freezing temperatures, there's just no driving here when there's snow! I actually still haven't driven my car since last Tuesday! haha. Thankfully my parents were able to rent a 4 wheel drive car when they got here so they've done ok getting around- although it did take them extra long to get here to Tualatin from the airport. And my Dad was able to give me a ride to and from work on Friday which was so nice of him. I'm a little nervous to brave the roads in my car again tomorrow but by now, all the major roads and freeways are fine so the only really tricky spot left is getting down the hill of our apartment complex.

Anyway, the snow has been beautiful and it was nice to get to stay home last Wednesday and just cuddle Levi (who actually was sick that day with a random fever so really needed the extra snuggles anyway).

Love my little man snuggles

On Saturday Eric and I got the opportunity to go to the Temple with my parents which was so nice. We have a goal of going once a month and it felt good to get a good start to the year by meeting that goal for this month. (We also met our goal of doing piyo three times/week last week! yay!) We also got to go out to dinner as a family and eat some super delicious Thai food Saturday evening. Levi loved it and ate pretty much the whole time we were at the table. He did make some pretty funny faces about the spicy pumpkin curry though! Not his favorite. Haha.

Early this morning my dad woke up sick! I can't believe how contagious this thing is! We are thinking he maybe got it from the place they are staying since it's the same place Eric and Katie stayed while they were up here and they were both sick.  But anyway, that's been sad because we haven't gotten to see him at all today. But my mom is so far still good so we went to church together and then got to spend the rest of the day with her. I wish my parents lived closer so we could have more days like today.

Another piece of news is that I started my new calling. As the personal progress advisor for YW, I get to go to YW opening exercises now which is fun, and I am making a tracking thing for the YW to keep track of how far along each girl is in personal progress. Sticker charts are boring and lame so instead I am making a cool little thing with hanging beads. It's hard to describe but I am kind of excited about it. When it's done, I will take a picture so that y'all can see what I mean. As the pp adivsor I also go to board meetings which means that's what I spent almost 3 hours doing last Friday night! Yikes! It was our big meeting though to plan the quarter as well as big items for the year like New Beginnings so I'm sure other meetings won't be quite so lengthy!

So yeah, 2017 is off to kind of a crazy start with all this snow and sickness but it's also been great to spend so much time with family! And Levi is just learning more and more every day! Since the start of the year he has learned to wave hello, blow kisses, drink from a straw sippy cup and put his blocks into his farm toy! He is amazing and the light of my life. Love him so much!

Levi is really into giving his reflections kisses lately hahaha

Or just flat out licking it! Glad he didn't do this to the airport window!

Dad and Levi before my dad fell victim to the awful stomach bug!

My boys looked so dapper today I couldn't even handle it! Sooo good!

Little man makes the funniest facial expressions, and I am in love with his how long his hair is now! 

2016 Wrap Up

I've been meaning to write this blog post for a week now but you know... life happens. We were in Texas for Christmas which was awesome, especially to see all of Eric's family and spend time with them. But unfortunately, a stomach bug had been going around and first Levi came down with it, then Eric and then Friday night I started puking. Unlike my sweet husband and son, who were both mildly ill and threw up a few times, my body went all in. As in, I threw up every hour for 12 hours straight. We were supposed to fly home on Saturday but obviously that wasn't happening. Eric actually had to take me to an urgent care clinic because I couldn't stop puking (story of my life). I ended up with an IV (4th one of the year! Thankfully this one only took 3 tries to get started!) for fluids. After two bags of fluids and some of my favorite drug Zofran I felt much better. Weak but no longer like I was dying haha. So I spent the last day of 2016 sleeping most of the day while Eric and his wonderful parents took care of Levi. I literally only got up to nurse Levi and eat a couple crackers and some chicken noodle soup. Thankfully this bug was mostly a 24 hour thing and by the time I woke up Sunday morning, I was well enough for us to travel home. But what with getting all packed up and then traveling- I didn't do a whole lot of New Years reflecting.  And thus my first post of the year comes on the second Sunday, rather than the first.

Anyway, I've heard a lot of people talking about how bad of a year 2016 was and I would have to agree that yes, it was pretty rough. But for our family it was also wonderful and amazing! 2016 was probably the most monumental and life-changing year of my life to date. I became a mother and a physical therapist all in one year! Our little family experienced A LOT of growing, stretching, firsts and trials, from simple things to soul shaking ones. First time painting a room, first time welcoming a baby (and the billions of firsts that come with being first-time parents!), first time facing a difficult medical challenge and being hospitalized for an illness, first job as a physical therapist, first time hiring a nanny, first time traveling with a baby... the list goes on and on. Looking back on this year, I can see how I've been challenged and I am acutely aware of weakness in myself that have been brought to light. I struggled in 2016. I struggled to keep faith as my husband searched and searched and searched for a job without results. I struggle(d) to be patient with my sweet son as he was (is) a perpetually bad sleeper. I struggled with fear that the C-Diff would never go away and that dealing with it would be my new normal. I struggled with self-doubt as I started my first job and realized how unprepared I was for the difficult setting I now practice in. I struggled to balance my responsibilities and loyalties as a mother, wife and employee. I struggled as the relationship with my husband was challenged and changed by the birth of our son and subsequent health challenges, sleeplessness, new responsibilities and demands on our time. I struggled with frustration at the political goings on in America. Through it all, I struggled spiritually. I asked myself why God wasn't helping us more. Why He wouldn't just let Eric find a job or why He wouldn't help our baby sleep. I struggled to make time for my spiritual health: scripture study, meaningful prayer, reflection. I allowed myself to be angry and distanced from God in my trials rather than humbled and brought to Him. I found myself questioning things that at other times in my life I knew so strongly. It was a hard year.

But 2016 was also an amazing year. Levi brings so much light, and joy and purpose to our home. I never imagined I could love a person so completely as I love that little boy. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I am so grateful I got to spend so much one-on-one time with him before starting work. And I am so grateful that I got to see my family and Eric's family so much this past year! We definitely were more connected with our families than we ever have been before in our marriage and that was an awesome thing. We also got to make some great new friends this year and had some fun experiences with them.

I feel hopeful as we start 2017. Eric and I have set goals, personal, family and financial and I feel really good about them. We have a plan and now that I have a job and Eric has a job (YAY) and our nanny is settled in, we have the stability that I have been wanting and craving. We also have some great things to look forward to this year: Levi's first birthday, NEXT Conference for PT in Boston, Lauren's wedding (yay!!), Eric's family reunion in Colorado, and hopefully Thailand in the fall!! It's going to be a busy year but hopefully a great year. I know that life tends to throw us curves and things happen that I would never expect, but I hope that I can face the challenges of this year with a little more faith, hope and patience than I did last year. I was just called to be the YW personal progress advisor and I believe it's because I really need to focus on my faith. So I decided to do the personal progress program again. I started with faith value experience number one and as I read it to start doing it I was like, "yes! This is exactly what I need!" I know that it will help me grow spiritually. I know that if I put forth the time and commitment, it will be a huge blessing to me, especially as Levi grows and I start to really teach him about who he is and the gospel.

So yeah, that's where things stand right now. I look forward to keeping up with this blog regularly so that I can look back and watch our son and family grow this year. To round out 2016, here's some last pictures from our December happenings!

Ok seriously, this stretch?! the chins! He's so cute, I can't even!

He was definitely on my wish list :)

Levi's first experience with snow! Love his amazement.

He's happy about the snow- unlike the rest of Oregon. The Portland metro does not handle snow well. On the day of our biggest storm it took me 3 hours to make my normally 25 minute commute home! It was horrible. 

Levi's preferred sleeping position. 

Beets. Messy but apparently delish (although I still think they taste and smell like dirt)

Levi loved Santa!

He even snuggled up to him! Sooo cute!

Love these little cousins! I can't wait till they're old enough to play together!

Our little biker dude

Levi and cousin Katie.

And with Camdyn

We got to spend an evening in Texas with Eric's good friends from high school and their cute kiddos. Not pictured: Thomas and Kristen's sweet little boy. All boys in the gang here. 

Exploring the jam from grandma.

Love his new snow hat and his two cute teeth! 

So much to be thankful for

So it's been a while since I've had the chance to do an update! Time just seems to slip away from me and I am discovering that having only two week days free to do all my normal chores means no left-over time to do anything else! Work is going better now though. I have learned who most everyone is and where most everything is which makes things much easier since I'm not running around like a chicken with my head cut off wasting time trying to figure out where the extra wheelchair cushions are (hint: it's no-where near where the extra wheelchairs are kept!) or who I need to talk to about the fact that my patient just puked all over the place. So I'm settling in and figuring things out. I still feel like I have no clue what I'm doing half the time, but I reckon it will come with practice and as I learn by trial and error what works and what doesn't. It would be nice to have lots of time to do some continuing education, but I just don't. I do have a goal to schedule out when I am going to get my CEUs in though because it has to happen sometime! Maybe when we're on Christmas break I can figure it out!

Anyway, so life is busy, and our little man is just a very busy little man too! He pulls up to everything now and cruises along furniture, walls, people, etc. Haha. He also likes to climb on top of things and then yell for us to come help him because he has no clue how to get down except diving off head first- which he still tries occasionally! Thankfully other than a few bruises his crazy exploits haven't led to any more serious injuries. But yeah, this little guy just has so much energy! He loves to bounce and bang on things and wrestle away from us whenever we try to get him to hold still for a second so we can change his diaper or his clothes. He drives me a little crazy sometimes, (ok maybe a lot crazy!) but he is also sweet and forgiving and cuddly (as long as he sets the terms of the cuddles- namely that he gets to climb us and then blow raspberries on our neck or shoulders! haha). I love his curiosity and his determination- even though that means he very determinedly fights me if I'm trying to get him to do something he doesn't like. And I love how enthusiastic he is about food! We have started giving him lots of finger foods now and he shoves pretty much everything in his mouth with enthusiasm. We have to give him only a few pieces at a time or he will just keep stuffing his face and forget to chew!

Levi has also decided that he now hates bottles and will downright refuse to drink them! Which put us in a bit of trouble with the nanny for a while because he just wouldn't drink anything the whole time I was at work which made him grouchy and of course was distressing for the nanny. I was really stressed for a while about Levi getting dehydrated while I was gone and/or our nanny quitting on us for having to deal with such a stubborn and grouchy baby! But over Thanksgiving when we were with my family we started to teach Levi how to use a sippy cup and he has gotten pretty good at it now. So now the nanny doesn't even bother trying to offer him a bottle and instead he just gets water and apple juice in a sippy cup and eats solids while I'm gone and then nurses when I'm home. It works ok I think. It does mean he still wakes up at night to nurse to make up for the calories and hydration he missed during the day, but I don't really see a way around that for now. And I tend to do remarkably well with fragmented sleep thank goodness.

So yeah, about Thanksgiving. It was wonderful! We drove down to California Monday night and thankfully Levi slept almost the entire way. We got to spend the whole week just hanging out with my family and eating. :) We went and saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which was pretty good and played a lot of games. Levi loved having a new house to explore and lots of people around to hold him and play with him. He had his first experience with stairs- in which he decided to explore them by crawling down head first! Thankfully grandma was right there with him to catch him. It is always so rejuvenating to be at home and away from my to-do lists and get to just relax and be with my family. Here's some pictures from the week we were there:

Levi loves to climb all over us!

 

Levi and Auntie Katie playing outside together

So usually Levi loves food but for some reason on Thanksgiving he had no interest in eating! It was like the one and only time that has ever happened! He did manage to smear yams and pumpkin all over himself though! I don't think this picture even does it justice. He even had it in his ears! I just took him and plopped him in the bath right after dinner. 

Levi loves playing grandma and grandpa's piano! 

 We got to stay in California all the way until Saturday night when we drove back again through the night. And thankfully Levi again slept pretty much the whole way which was great but meant that although Eric and I were exhausted on Sunday, Levi was well rested and ready to play! So Eric and I took turns taking naps and somehow we made it through. And then this past week has been life as usual! Levi's bottom two teeth broke through last week and they are adorable! He keeps reaching his fingers into his mouth to feel them! Haha. It was a rough couple of days at the start of last week when they were first coming in- he woke up like 5 times one night! But he's back to his normal happy self now and with two new pearly whites to show for it :)

I was looking through pictures that we've taken over the last month and pretty much all of them are Levi getting into something or climbing on something! I feel like that sums up life pretty well lately! So here they are, enjoy!

Levi and Arlo (the nanny's son) in the double stroller we got together so that she can take them on walks more easily. She says they like it and I think they look so cute together! Almost like twins although Arlo is actually 2 months older than Levi. I'm excited to see them grow together and really become friends. 

Levi likes to play with papers so when I bring in the mail I usually give him the junk mail to play with while I go through the rest of it. 

He climbs shelves

And over and through the kitchen chairs

The dishwasher is one of his favorite things to try to climb into. As soon as he hears us start to load or unload dishes he rushes over to try to get in on the action!

He also recently figured out how to open the wipes case and pull out all the wipes! He was soo proud of himself!

Levi loves to go shopping- so many new people to see! 

 

One of Levi's favorite places to play is at the bathtub. He loves to bang on it and play with the shower curtain. Soon he's going to figure out how to climb into the bathtub I don't doubt! 

When we pulled out the box of Christmas decorations yesterday so we could get all into the festive spirit, the first thing Levi did was climb on top of the box. I bet if we put this kid in front of a climbing wall he would be up it so fast! He's fearless.