Kiersten’s Blog

Yesterday we spent the day celebrating the arrival of the Mormon Battalion into San Diego.  It was kind of  a fun celebration.  Taylor’s parents came down to help us out with a few things on the house so they came with us.  We walked to the trolley station from our house and rode the trolley to Old Town where the festivities were.

biscuits on a stick (woofins)

We did all sorts of fun activities with London, such as rope making, doll making, quilting, brick making, making biscuits on a stick and walking on stilts.

London's pioneer doll that she immediately named Sally

London had a great time.  I’m not so sure about Ashton, but he slept well on the trolley on the way home.  The only complaint we heard (and we heard it ALL DAY) was London wanting to dress up.  She saw so many people in period costume that she wanted to be dressed up too.  She thought that there was a dress-up booth and she wouldn’t believe us when we told her there wasn’t.

We participated in all the festivities at the park, then walked to the newly renovated Mormon Battalion museum.  It’s been closed ever since we moved to San Diego and yesterday was the new grand opening.  It was fun to go and hear the story of these pioneers and kind of feel partly what they went through.  There’s one story they tell of a little boy who wanted to go so badly with his dad, that when the battalion left, he ran away and followed them.  They camped after 90 miles of walking, and the little boy wandered into camp.  They decided that they couldn’t send him back, so they just sent a letter back to his mother, letting her know that he was okay.  That poor mother!  I’m so glad I didn’t live in that time.  I do love hearing about my heritage, though.  It makes me so grateful for what I have.

In the spirit of the festivities yesterday, London drew a picture of our family.  She said it was at the Mormon Battalion (because the celebration was held at a park she thinks it’s called the Mormon Battalion).  I think she’s such a good little artist.

(click on the picture to see it bigger and read the labels)

She drew our whole family.  I’m holding a sleeping Ashton.  If you look closely, you can see that she drew Taylor with a mustache, which he doesn’t have.  She’s wearing a crown, of course, because she’s a princess.  In case you’re wondering, we’re holding lollipops in our hands.  Then she drew a cat on a leash, which Taylor’s holding, and a rabbit on a leash (with a crown on its head), which London is holding.  Notice the moon.  I’m not sure why it looks like Saturn.  Neither is she.  The black that we’re standing on is the street.  You will notice the stop sign in front of us.  Then there’s the house.  I’m not sure what the blue thing is in the front yard, maybe a swimming pool?  Anyway, I love what her little mind comes up with.

I took the kids to Babies R Us today.  Of course London had to go potty while we were there.  I always find it annoying to take her to the bathroom while we’re out if it’s just me and them because it’s hard to help her while I hold Ashton.  Plus, it seems like every time she uses the bathroom, for some reason I also need to go, which I really don’t like to do.  You try holding a monster child while trying to pee and entertain a 4 year old long enough for you to do your business before she opens the stall door for everybody to see.  And washing hands after use of the bathroom?  Yeah right.  That’s why hand sanitizer was invented, I’m sure.  Today was a different experience, though.  Babies R Us knows their customers and right in the stall, there’s this adorable little chair to strap the baby into while you wrestle with the other kid’s snap on her pants.

But it doesn’t stop there.  They also have another little seat outside the stalls so that you can actually wash your hands.  Plus, there’s a sink short enough for the little ones to reach and wash their hands on their own.  Really, it’s virtually impossible to hold a baby while holding up a small child to wash her hands without dropping something or someone.  I tell you, I love this bathroom.  Now if every public restroom would catch on to this fabulous invention, the world would definitely be a better place.

London has always been a book worm.  I think part of her love of books comes from our reading books to her every night before bed.  Because I was so set in a routine with her, it has been difficult to work a baby into that routine, especially at bed time.  Recently, though, we have started reading books with Ashton too.  She loves reading his books.  Sometimes she even reads his books to him.  And he absolutely loves reading.  He finds books so fascinating.

Last night I got eight consecutive hours of sleep.  It finally happened!  Ashton didn’t eat in the middle of the night last night!  I think I’ve mentioned before how much this baby loves to eat.  He has always woken up in the middle of the night to eat.  The last couple of months have been bearable because he usually gets up between 10:30 and 1:00 or so.  I give him a bottle and he goes right back to bed when he’s finished.  I’ve just learned to deal with it.  I guess these last 9 months have been the payback for me not having to get up every night when I was pregnant with him.  Last night we hit a milestone, though.  He woke up around 11, as normal, but by the time his bottle was ready, he was asleep again and he didn’t get up again until about 7 a.m.  I’m not saying he didn’t wake up.  I don’t know if he did or not.  The other night he woke up around 3 a.m. but he wasn’t fussy so I didn’t go get him.    He just went back to sleep on his own.  I attribute the sleep miracles to two things: a glo-worm, and a musical hanging toy that’s hooked onto the side of his crib (which, incidentally, came with the free crib).  When he wakes up, he turns his music on and goes back to sleep.  I love it!  I’m so glad he has learned how to calm himself down.  My baby’s growing up so fast!

This is the first time I have caught him standing by the side of his crib.

I’ve seen a number of posts lately of confessions.  Most are confessions of “famous” bloggers who want to show that they’re normal too.  They talk about how they don’t usually show the slightly negative things in life.  They just talk about the good things they’re doing.  They post daily about crafts they do with their kids or other similar stories.  In reality, this just makes them look really good and it makes a lot of moms feel as though they’re inferior in some way because they’ll never be as crafty or as innovative or as organized as so-and-so.

That brings me to my confessions.  Oh wait, I don’t have any.  I know that any of you who read my blog don’t feel at all inferior after reading.  In fact, I probably make you feel really good about yourself!  But let me make you feel even better.  It’s kind of embarrassing, but I vacuumed my carpet for the first time on Saturday.  If you recall, we got our carpet on the 23rd of December.  Saturday was our carpet’s one month-iversary.  Good thing I vacuumed that day.  I have so many excuses that I won’t go into, but it just didn’t get done.  After cleaning up on Saturday, I looked around and sighed.  It was the first time that I’ve actually looked at the place and felt no anxiety.  Things are turning out so well.  I promise I’ll have more “after” shots soon.  I’m almost done.

I bought a new app for my iPod yesterday.  It’s called Couch to 10K and I’m pretty excited about it.  I used it for the first time today.  Basically, it’s a 13 week training program to get ready to run a 10K, which I’m planning on doing in May.  I only have to exercise 3 days a week (although I’m planning on doing Pilates on my days off) and I’ll be ready.  Today was my first day and it was SO easy!  I know it will get harder and harder, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy my workout was today.  I haven’t been very diligent about working out lately, or even getting up early.  My plan is to get to bed early so I can be up before the kids and exercise.  Hopefully I can get into a new groove.  It’s been difficult with all of the changes that have been going on, to stay in a routine.  I miss my walking group.  Today when we left the park, I told London that we would go back on Wednesday and she said, “Can we walk and then go to the park?” because we used to go walking and end up at the park.  Maybe if my stroller was in condition to use for a good walk, I would, but first I need to find a good welder.

1. Is it bad to let my 9 month old clean up after himself after dinner?  By clean up, I mean crawl around on the floor and eat all of the food he dropped.

2. Why do cookies have to taste SO good, and why do I think it’s imperative to eat more than one?

3. I LOVE the way my new house is turning out.  Too bad it’s still a mess.

4. I wonder when it will stop raining so I can start exercising again.

5. Will my stroller be able to be fixed or am I going to have to wake up before the kids every day?

6. I REALLY need to go to Costco and stock up my pantry and my refrigerator again.  They’re looking pretty bare.  Especially the fridge.  I need fresh produce.

7. What are the best fruits and vegetables to juice?  I found 25 pounds of carrots for $5.99, but I’m not a huge fan of plain carrot juice.

8. I should probably be more like Taylor and have smoothies for breakfast.

9. I wish I had a tangerine tree.

10. I wonder if I could grow one in a pot on my patio.

11. Ooh, I want a garden box.

12. Why are all of my random thoughts about food?

13. I think it’s time for another bonfire at the beach.

14. I need to play my violin again one of these days.  I wonder how it will sound in my new echo-y house.

Who says it never rains in southern California?  That’s what I always think.  That’s why I only own one umbrella.  (To be fair, we did have two but one broke.)  That’s why when London wanted a princess umbrella, gum boots and a rain coat, I talked her out of it.  Now I wish I had been a nicer mom.  Today it rained.  But it wasn’t raining when we left this morning.  I was feeling optimistic.  It was Taylor’s first day back to work since we moved and since I had to do some much needed grocery shopping, I decided to drop him off, visit some friends, go to story time at our old library, and go grocery shopping.  All of these things happened, but we sure had an adventure.

The fun started after story time.  I didn’t take my umbrella into the library because it wasn’t raining when we got there.  At least I was smart enough to make London change her jacket before we left so she would be wearing one with a hood., just in case.  However, I let her wear her Crocs.  They dry fast, right?  I probably would have been better off with a pair of them than I was with my canvas shoes that soaked and then soaked my socks and then my feet.  At least London’s dried fast.  Anyway, back to the library.  It was raining when we left, so we ran as fast as we could to the car.  Poor Ashton.  He was the only one without a hood and he’s the baldest of us all.  But no complaints from him.  After the library we picked up some Taco Bell and went to Taylor’s office to share lunch.  The nice lady at the drive-through window gave London some cinnamon twists just for being cute (which, incidentally, happens ALL the time at that Taco Bell), but she forgot the chips for her nachos, which we didn’t notice until we got all unpacked at Taylor’s office.  Oh well.  London dipped her cinnamon twists in the nacho cheese and I promised to go back for the chips when we were done.

After lunch, we left Taylor at work and went to Target for some groceries.  I pulled into a great parking spot, all excited that we didn’t have to walk far in the rain, when London reminded me that we forgot her chips.  So back to Taco Bell we went.  By the time we got back, the good spot was gone.  So I parked closer to Albertson’s.  We’d be going there anyway.  I usually get what I can at Target, then go next door to Albertson’s for the rest of the stuff.  I promised London we could buy an umbrella there, but of course, they were sold out.  She was pacified by me telling her that we would find one at Albertson’s.  As the shopping continued, the power went out.  Twice.  This freaked out my afraid-of-the-dark daughter, but not for too long.  We got what we needed and braved the storm to the car.  Here I was, pushing a “playing cart” full of goods while holding a baby in a sling and trying to keep the umbrella over the three of us.

This wasn't taken today. It's just to show you what a "playing cart" is.

I bought a gate for the top of our stairs, which was on the bottom of the cart so when we went over the little yellow bumps, the gate fell off and I had to run through a puddle with Ashton to get it back on the cart while I left London to get wet in the rain.  We dropped our stuff off in the car and headed to Albertson’s.  We always have to get a car cart there.  It was Ashton’s first ride in an Albertson’s one and he loved it, for the first few minutes.  By the time we were leaving the store, I was trying to hold a crying baby, while the baggers (we had a lot of help because nobody else was dumb enough to go out today) tried to bribe London to get out of the car cart with stickers.  She didn’t want to because I wasn’t buying an umbrella.  At least I had help and one of the baggers offered to help me to the car.  It had stopped raining by then, but I stepped in a huge puddle and soaked both of my feet, as well as my jeans.

Once we got home, we ate dinner, and the kids had a grand time playing together on our new floor.  The only problem was the soot all over the floor.  When we moved in, the floo in our chimney was stuck open.  Apparently my dad and Taylor got it shut, but our fireplace cover doesn’t fit on our new fireplace, so when the wind blows, soot blows into our living room, even though the floo is now closed.  It wouldn’t be so bad if my kids weren’t playing all over the floor.  So into the tub they went for the second time today.  Now they’re both fast asleep.  Thank goodness for ice cream after a day like today.  I’m glad I don’t live in Seattle.  I don’t think I could handle this all the time.

We had our first visitors in our new home!  My parents came down for the weekend.  It was so nice to have them.  They didn’t get here until Saturday evening.  Once the kids went to bed, my mom and I went grocery shopping, since we didn’t have ANY food.  Someday soon, that situation will be remedied.  We got enough food to last us through the weekend.  After dinner and naps yesterday, we took a drive out to Coronado.  My dad had never been there before and it’s such a beautiful place.  We made it just as the sun was setting and the rain was letting up.  Over the water was a beautiful sunset and looking the other direction was a rainbow.  The sky looked amazing!  I loved watching the sun set at the deserted beach.  Of course London threw a fit as we were leaving because she wanted to lay in the sand and make sand angels (which she did anyway) and take off her shoes and walk in the water.  I had to physically drag her off the beach.  We definitely need to spend more time there.  She told Grandma and Grandpa all about how we have bonfires at the beach and roast hot dogs and marshmallows.  Too bad we couldn’t do that with them while they were here.  I guess we have to keep something to do for next time.

London and my dad (sorry about the blurriness, but check out that sunset!)

My boys

My mom and I spent this afternoon shopping with the kids while my dad and Taylor worked on some finishing touches on our floor.  I didn’t mean to make my parents come and work, but it was sure nice to have the help.  I’m so glad we finally have a place big enough for visitors!  Any other takers?

I’m sorry about the lack of posts lately.  I know that all of you are sitting on the edge of your seat, just waiting for another post from me.  Well, today is your lucky day!

I think the last three months have probably been the most stressful of my life, with all of the escrow madness and then trying to get into the house and make it a home.  We’re not quite there yet, but it gets closer every day.  Let me give you a rundown of the things we have done and the things we have yet to do.  (By we I mean mostly Taylor and lots of other help we had from family).  Oh, and for those of you who would like to stop by and see us and our place, we would love to see you too.  We miss our friends.  But give us another week.  And just for fun, here’s a cute picture of the kids driving the cart at Lowe’s today.

Done:

scraped and re-textured ceilings

painted all ceilings and walls

painted kitchen cabinets

painted and installed new base boards

painted vents

added ceiling fans and new light fixtures

demolished and built a new fireplace

installed new laminate flooring downstairs

had carpet installed upstairs

got all new appliances

scratched new floor and new fridge while moving it in

got new blinds for most windows

installed most of the new blinds

made curtains for patio doors

made valances for the rest of the windows

moved in

moved out for fumigation

cleaned up nasty, nasty messes

scrubbed and scrubbed

To do:

finish hanging blinds and curtains

hang valances

put doors back on cabinets in kitchen

finish baseboards

put finishing touches on flooring

put vents back on

put smoke detectors back on

paint mantle

organize

dust

clean mirrors

install new toilet

touch up paint

decorate

dust

vacuum

laundry

find Christmas gifts for Taylor’s grandparents

send my brother and sister-in-law their Christmas gifts (isn’t it still December?)

never buy a fixer-upper again