Hooray for long weekends!

Picture Tuesday:
Tate at 14 weeks.

I am having a really hard time catching Tate while he's smiling. He'll smile for me but as soon as I put the camera up he stops and just looks at the camera like, "Oh no, I don't smile for that thing."

Tate thought Rosie was very interesting during "Tummy Time" today.

Glenn has the best work schedule ever! He works a 9-80 schedule which means he works eighty hours in 9 days and then he gets the 10th day off. SO, he gets every other Friday off! This past Friday was great because it happened to be my 26th birthday and Glenn and I played the whole day. It was wonderful. I had breakfast in bed, went shopping, had dinner at Cheesecake Factory, and got lots of sweet cards (Glenn likes to surprise me with cards all day long) and tickets to see "Wicked" when it comes to Austin in August! It was a great birthday! It was sort of wierd to celebrate a birthday away from my family. It's just always been a family affair, but Glenn sure made up for it.

Then on Saturday our friends the Cluffs came down from Austin. Janelle's parents live down here so they came to spend some time with them and we got to butt in on a few fun activities too! They are a super fun couple to be around and their two little girls are so sweet. We miss being around our friends in Austin. We have yet to meet people to hang out with here so having them around to play with this weekend was SO nice. We went to an Astros game with them on Saturday afternoon. Their 3 year old Tori was full of energy as usual. Everyone around us just laughed as she danced a very fast little jig to Take Me Out to the Ballgame. The game was fun but I think I enjoy the atmosphere of being at a huge park as much as I enjoy watching a game. Minute Maid park was amazing. It's a huge indoor park but the roof can open when the weather is nice.

The Houston Astros were playing the Texas Rangers so Glenn and Tate thought they'd just wear their longhorn shirts to show that they support Texas as a whole.

Tate thought that the stadium was really cool but he didn't love all of the noise. He kept trying to fall asleep and then something exciting would happen and he would jerk awake. So sad.

Then on Monday we met up with the Cluffs again and went to a retired Battleship, the Texas. It bombed Normandy, Africa, and Iwojima. It was the flagship of the US Navy in the Atlantic and the Pacific during WWII. Glenn was especially intrigued by the history of the ship. I just thought that seeing the living conditions aboard a battleship was pretty neat.

Oh yes, and Glenn really enjoyed the BIG GUNS. Sometimes it's funny to watch grown men turn into little boys again when they are around things that they think are cool. Like this:

And this:

Yes, there were some young boys waiting for these two grown men to get out of the gun seats so they could have a turn. They waited a while.

It was a really great weekend!

Pictures, Swimming, and Strawberries

Hooray for internet in my apartment. We've had a lot of fun events in the past week so this post will be lengthy again!
Picture Tuesday: 12 weeks old. "Watching" the Celtics with Dad.
This week, 13 weeks old trying on hats at the Strawberry Festival.
Busy week. We are completely moved in now and Tate and I have been exploring a little bit, with the help of our GPS of course. I am constantly amazed at how fast I can get lost here. Too many freeways, , streets with names instead of numbers, no mountains to help me get my bearings, bad combination. It is getting a little easier though.

We took Tate swimming for the first time this last week. He wasn't sure about the cold water at first but once he got in all the way he seemed to like it just fine. There is something about little tiny bodies in little tiny swimming suits that it just SO CUTE!

We love our apartment pool. It's really big and very nice. And best of all, it hasn't been busy at all yet.

Tate eating his favorite snack after swimming. Yum

Glenn decided to join in.

I'm sure glad my little man likes to swim. I love swimming and it will be so great to go swimming together this summer when it gets wicked hot!

In an effort to experience the local culture Glenn and I ventured to a fair this past weekend. We heard about the Pasadena Strawberry Festival on the news and it looked like fun so we decided to check it out. Wow, so glad we did. Just walking around and watching people, looking at the strange new food, seeing the funny things people were selling, was so worth it. They had all sorts of fun events to see. Little girls with huge hair who belted out country songs, a lot of food contests (ribs, chili, barbecue, fajitas), pig racing, a mud volleyball tournament, strawberry eating contests, they even had a gator show. I think my favorite was the mutton bustin'. Little tiny kids ride on sheep and are judged on how good the ride was and how long they stayed on. It was so fun to watch. Tate was more interested in sucking on his front pack.

The food at this fair was like nothing Glenn or I had ever seen before. We really walked around, read food signs, pointed them out to each other, and laughed. Then people would walk away from the stands with their food and we would see what these foods looked like and laughed again. Amazing. They had several fried foods that just should not be fried. We saw fried oreos, fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fried twinkies, I mean seriously people. Who thought that up?

They had several stands of cajun food and Glenn decided to try crawfish for the first time. The only amount listed on the menu was 3 pounds of crawfish. Glenn asked if he could get some in a smaller amount and the little lady said, "No, it just comes in 3 pounds. I can finish that much easy. You won't have any problem." Well, not exactly the point...but thanks for the vote of confidence. So here is Glenn with his 3 pounds of crawfish. Yum.

This festival is also the home of the largest strawberry shortcake in the world. It was really big. It was yummy too.

All in all, a very fun afternoon.

Well, that was a long post. Here's one last picture from today. Tate and I went to visit Glenn at his work during his lunch break. Here is the big man himself in his very own office. Oh man, I feel so grown up. My husband works in this office and wears an oxford and dress pants every day. Wierd.

New

New Job. New city. New apartment. New stores. New ward. New sights. New sounds. New smells. Lots of new this week.
Moved to Houston last Saturday. Crazy day. Not the best start to our experience here but honestly, it can only get better from that first day or two. Glenn moved our entire apartment up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway by himself. He called our new bishop to see if he could get some help but didn't hear back. He ended up asking a man who was cleaning the apartment next door to help him lift the few items that required two people. Frustrating moving into an apartment. Too far to leave Tate alone while Glenn and I moved things in so I just stayed in the apartment with Tate and unpacked. Glenn was VERY sore and VERY hot. First day in Houston: 90 degrees and 80 percent humidity. Yikes.
The next fun thing happened when Glenn decided to take a shower. Seemed like a good idea. We concluded later that the apartment must have been empty for a while leaving the water in the water heater to get really stale and nasty...or something. The hot water smelled really strongly of sulfur leaving Glenn and our entire apartment smelling quite strongly of rotten eggs for the rest of the evening. Yum.
Next we ventured, with the help of our handy GPS named Thomas, to our neighborhood Target. I thought I understood the standard Target layout and we'd be in and out quickly. Apparently all Targets are not created equal. So after a while we got to the check out line where the lady asked how we were. We informed her that we had just moved here today to which she replied, "You moved HERE? Why? I told my boyfriend when we get married we are moving out of here. I hate it here." Thanks so much lady. Have a nice evening.
So...not the best start to our summer but like I said, it can only get better. I am really trying to find the good in this experience. and I'm happy to report that thus far there have been many "bits of sunshine" that I am grateful for in this part of the world. There are a few things that I don't love and that are less than awesome living here...but I can deal with them. I love that we have a complex with a gym, a nice pool, lots of walking paths, and that is located in a really nice area of town surrounded by a huge park, several great museums, a golf course (Glenn is stoked), and the Houston zoo. I'm grateful to live in a city where there is a lot to see and do. I just need to make a list and start checking things off. Lots of professional sports teams, again, mostly for Glenn. A nice, clean apartment that fits everything we need and has a big open rectangle of carpet right in the middle that will fit our blow up mattress very nicely if anyone would like to visit! We'd show you a good time! You'll get a tan for sure! Any takers?
So here we are. Trucking along. Glenn is loving his new job so far. He is super spoiled. He has his own office with his name on the door, a window, a desk with two computers, basically they really want him to have a good experience. We drove up to the building the first day and looked up...for a long time. My husband is working in a HUGE high rise in the middle of downtown Houston. He said, "Kim, I'm working in the great and spacious building." I asked him if he ever saw this happening when he read that chapter when he was a little boy. He said, "Well, they did seem to be having a lot of fun in there."
I do have some fun pictures of our first few days here but they will have to wait until we have internet in our apartment.

Picture Tuesday 11 weeks

Not so little anymore. He keeps growing. I really have asked him to stop but he just keeps getting bigger. He's started to notice things a little bit further away from him this week and it's so fun to watch. We'll go for walks in his stroller and when we pass underneath a tree his eyes get really big and he holds really still as if he's trying to figure it out and take it all in. It's so cute.

This picture is for Nanna. She sent Tate some cute outfits. I wasn't big into overalls before little man came along. But how cute are these? I think Tate loves them as much as I do.
Here he is with his daddy at Dr. Fisher's (one of Glenn's professors) ranch North of Austin. We went there for an end-of-the-semester barbecue last weekend. I met some of Glenn's classmates. I must say, my husband is by far the coolest of the geology students that I've met so far. Of course, that's just my opinion.Here are Tate and I at the radiologist's office yesterday. Glenn thought Tate needed to try on his hat.Glenn has been really busy the past week and will be really busy this week finishing up his final projects, papers, and presentations. His very last deadline is this Thursday at midnight so after that he'll be done with his first year of graduate school. That went really fast. Only one more year. Then this weekend we'll be moving (as little as possible) and heading to Houston for the summer.

I've been working on a few little crafty projects this past week. A friend of mine sent me a link to a free bag pattern and I was so excited that it looked simple, had step by step instructions complete with illustrations, and it only required a small amount of fabric. So I bought fabric and made three of them. I'm probably going to keep one and try to sell the others at craft fairs or something. I love the pleats in the front and the fun contrasting color and pocket inside. I even put in magnetic snaps for the first time. Here's the link if anyone's interested:

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2009/04/saturday-sewing.html

I also made a couple of applique shirts. This idea came from Aunt Kimber who had a cute applique shirt for little Janie. I thought I'd try some. They'd be cuter with some different floral fabric...but alas, I live in Austin, and it's really hard to find the kind of fabric I want. However, if anyone is looking for sports team or tie dye fabric I can find an abundance here for you. It was fun to have new projects to try this week.

Picture Tuesday, 10 weeks!

Picture Tuesday, Tate is 10 weeks old today and has discovered a few new, exciting things lately. First is his fists. He started figuring out that they existed while we were in Disneyworld and now he thinks they are just the coolest things in the world! Sometimes he forgets he has them but when he finds them they make him so happy. Every once in a while he will be crying in his car seat and then we'll hear this loud sucking sound. He's found his fists. He'll be fine now.

Tate has also decided that instead of pooping a few times a day he'll save up and poop just once every day or two. They're large, full diapers. When it's been a whole day and he hasn't pooped yet, look out! There will be an outfit change guaranteed!

I also just thought this picture was cute. I get a little sad when I see little Tatie like this when I go to get him out of the car. It simply can't be comfortable. How does he breathe like this?

Well, lots to do in the next couple of weeks. Since good ole' Doctor Chopp doesn't think Glenn has recovered enough to do his field research in Utah starting next week, Glenn will be starting his internship in Houston with Devon Energy earlier than we had planned. So we'll be busy getting things ready to move down there on the 8th or 9th of May. We just need to find a place for him to get his radiation treatment down there and we're set.

Not much new other than that. Things are going well. Glenn is recovering well. He's sore but it gets better every day. I have a few new fun sewing projects I'm working on. I'll post pictures if they turn out cute!

Miracles

We just got back from the doctor's office and had some really great news. We weren't supposed to be able to get in until Monday but they called us yesterday and switched our appointment so we were able to talk to the doctor today and we were thrilled of course. So the type of testicular cancer that Glenn has is called seminoma. The doctor said that seminoma is "the best kind to have". He could tell from his blood work and his cat scan that it hasn't spread and seems to be in the very beginning stages. He suggested Glenn have a precautionary round of very low levels of radiation to make sure that if there is anything up higher by his kidneys it is taken care of long before it can be a problem. Glenn needs to heal completely from his surgery before he can start his radation therapy. So in three weeks he'll be able to start and will need 20 or so treatments. The doctor said it's usually one a day, 5 days a week. There should be practically no side effects because of the low dose that is going to be used. Is that amazing or what? When I talked to my mom today she said, "Well, that's about the fastest miracle I've ever heard of." I couldn't agree more mom.

Looking back on this week it almost seems like a dream. Just one week ago today Glenn called me in Florida and told me that the doctor told him he may have cancer. Then on Tuesday we went to a Urologist and he informed us that it was cancer and needed surgery the following morning. Then a cat scan on Thursday and our appointment today. It all went so fast that there was little time to think about it and take it all in. It just sort of happened. That made it a little scary. The fact that we saw the doctor and he told us Glenn would need surgery the following day was a bit nerve racking. And the fact that we knew nothing about what type or how advanced it was all week. But now it almost seems like a bad dream. Glenn will be just fine. He said that the chances of it coming back or him getting it again are about the same as his chances of getting it the first time. Extremely small. So it looks like Glenn will be missing his field research in Utah during May because the doctor doesn't think that he ought to be doing that kind of work while healing from his surgery. But he will be able to do his internship this summer in Houston which is such a blessing!

I cannot thank all of you enough for your fasting, prayers, and putting Glenn's name on numerous temple prayer rolls. This week has been scary and nerve racking but we have felt so loved and so blessed and suprisingly at ease. There were moments of panic (mostly on my part of course) but overall we've felt quite peaceful about the situation which, under the circumstances, is absolutely amazing and we know that we have been helped and the Glenn has been very blessed because of our family and friends and all of your prayers on his behalf.

Glenn has been incredibly optimistic and one might even say chipper throughout this experience. There have been many "uniball" jokes thrown around, especially between him and his brothers. Our favorite bit of comic relief is that his Urologist who we've been working with this week, the doctor who performed the operation and removed one of Glenn's testicles, is named Dr. Chopp. We thought that was funny enough. But then the nurse informed us after his operation that his first name is Richard...oh yes. But he actually goes by Dick. Yes I am serious. He thinks it's funny. Who wouldn't want an operation from Dr. Dick Chopp. Apparently his specialty is vasectomies. So if any of you men out there are looking into it, we have the perfect man. Oh dear.

What a whirlwind week. I feel like it was a nightmare that is ending now. As a woman who loves to know what her life, especially in the immediate future, is going to be like, this week was pretty scary. I can't express how blessed I feel to know for certain the my sweetheart is going to be perfectly healthy for a very very long time.
There are so many things I am grateful for as I look back on this crazy week:
- My sweetheart was proactive and went to see the doctor before this mess got too advanced and much more dangerous.
- My little boy had a little fever on Tuesday and a bit on Wednesday so he was on a bit of tylenol those days which made him very sleepy and really easy to care for.
- So many family and friends have called, brought over food, prayed for us and commented on our blog. I can't tell you how much it means to us to have such support. I feel like this mess has brought me a lot closer to my family and friends.
- We received our supplementary insurance money from Tate's birth last week which will help with my hospital bills and help pay for some of the bills from Glenn's surgery and treatment too.
- We have a beautiful home and a comfortable place for Glenn to recover.
- I have a husband who I believe to be absolutely incapable of serious worry. I actually get frustrated at him for not being worried at times when I think he should be. But this week, it was easier for me to remain calm because he was honestly not too worried about it at all. He just knew it would be okay. He's doing really well recovering from his surgery by the way. He's still really sore and has a hard time walking too fast but he's doing well. He got a big antsy yesterday and needed to get out so we rented a bunch of movies and bought some books for him to start as well. Poor boy.

This week I've been thinking a lot about general conference. There were a lot of beautiful messages shared in conference but the one that really rang true to me and meant the most this week was the need to keep an eternal perspective and find ways to be happy when times are hard. That's something I struggle with because I'm basically a big ball of stress. I know that it's something I need to work on. I was looking over the few notes I took on conference talks and a lot of them had to do with finding the positive in every situation, being grateful for things when you have difficult times, and giving to others so that you don't dwell on yourself and your own problems. All things that, starting now, I am going to make a concious effort to do better at. Everyone needs little jump starts once in a while to keep them focusing on the most important things in life. This is ours. I've had "If there's sunshine in your heart" in my head all week because it was a song from conference and as I was looking over my notes I wrote down the line that goes, "You can live a happy life in this world of toil and strife if there's sunshine in your heart." I love that. Too often I allow little strifes and toils in this world get to me and you know what? I don't have to. I can live a happy life. It's my choice. I'm not saying that I won't have down times. I will. I know it. I'll have a lot of times when I've forgotten that I meant to be happy that day. But I'm going to make a conscious effort to see the sunshine in things. To make my life a happy one because I am a very blessed girl. I have an amazing family who loves me. I have a wonderful sweetheart who thinks I am the most wonderful and beautiful person in the world. I have a very handsome, sweet, healthy little baby boy. What more could a girl ask for?
Thank you for your support, your frienship, and your prayers. Glenn, Tate, and I love you!

This gem from Amy Makechnie

My brother Gregor and his wife Amy have four lovely children. I stole this one from their blog.

Mom: "Good night kiddies"
Cope and Nelson giggling on top bunk
Mom: "What's so funny?"
Cope: "Mom, we're laughing about how the buck comes up behind the deer and pulls back the fur. Then when he's done he falls down with a groan and a squeal."
Mom: "Where did you hear that?"
Cope: "I read it in Barnyard in the Backyard."
Cope and Nelson burst out laughing.
Nelson: "Mom, I think he was giving her a wedgie!"

Oh, the age of innocence.