Halloween 2013

My little lamb...

And my cinderella princess....

had a great Halloween this year. I don't like to put pressure to have fun on holidays, but I was really hopeful for Halloween this year. The past two months since Steven's accident have seemed like a blur and our family really needed some fun.

Aubrey totally got the whole trick-or-treating thing this year, and Cora actually seemed to think that wearing her lamb costume was hilarious instead of crying like I thought she would.

A couple of days ago we decorated pumpkins. We started out the traditional way, but Aubrey was a little dangerous with a knife, so we ended up just letting the girls loose with some finger paint.

We then spent the afternoon on Halloween trick-or-treating with some friends in downtown Los Altos. We had a great time. Aubrey's favorite part was in the bathroom supply store, they had the kids pick candy out of a toilet bowl. I'm lucky we have such good friends here.

We then went to Chipotle for dinner because on Halloween if you wear a costume, you get a $3 "boorito." Our brother-in-law Miguel is staying with us a couple of days, so he got to join in for all the trick-or-treating fun.

And since we had somebody else around to take pictures besides me, we got a shot with our whole family.

Happy Halloween!

The Wedding

We just got back from a whirl-wind trip to Las Vegas to celebrate the wedding of Jason and Shanna. They are such a fantastic couple and we are so happy for them. I'm so excited to have Shanna join the family. She is great, and Aubrey is now into playing wedding with her " Shanna married dress." 

The one really sad part about the wedding is that I was so busy keeping track of my munchkins, and Steven was so busy explaining his accident (seriously... crutches are quite the conversation starter) that I didn't take a single picture. I don't even think we were in that many pictures. Way sad because the girls looked adorable in their matching dresses. And I had a dress, which may not seem like a big deal but thanks to slow shipping my dress arrived at 8 pm the night before we left... So, no pictures, but, we were there!

Instead of my own photos, I had to be creepy and take an engagement picture off of Jason's Facebook page. Thanks Tyler as always for the photography :)

 Congrats guys!

Steven's parents even flew in from Germany for the wedding. The girls had so much fun playing with their cousins. They were so exhausted from staying up late and partying that Aubrey has taken a long nap the past 2 days. I can get used to that.

I love weddings. I am definitely a classic romantic girl at heart, and their wedding was perfect.

I may not have any wedding pictures, but what we do have is lots of photo booth shots. Aubrey is in love with photo booth:

I love my family.

Ballet & Fun

Aubrey is taking a ballet class and she loves it. Most classes for kids before age three are all "Mommy and Me" which is great, except that I have Cora so those don't work anymore. When I saw this little ballet class that was for two-year-olds and she could go alone I was really excited. Aubrey has never had a problem doing things without me.

It is really hard to watch because there are no windows and "Miss Kimberly" (Aubrey's teacher, who she loves to talk about) only keeps one door open.... which is packed full of 12 moms trying to watch their little ballerinas. I did manage to sneak to the front to take a few pictures today:

 I wish Aubrey listened this well to me! She does all the little moves, waits her turn, and is honestly one of the best-behaved kids there. She can be kind of wild, but can also be a patient, sweet little girl, so I am glad that side comes out for others :)

I love my little ballerina! Really... a two-year old in a ballet outfit and tights is really just adorable. I have a fun time watching her.

That wild side I was talking about? Both of these girls were so wound up tonight!

Cora was such a sweet, calm, little newborn that slept all the time. Now... she seems to think that she doesn't need to nap, and she is on the move all the time. The girls were wrestling and Cora was getting right in there, laughing hysterically. 

 And, I only had to intervene like twice to keep Cora from getting seriously injured. That is progress!

6 Weeks...

It has now been six weeks since Steven was hit by a car and our lives were turned upside down. To say that I have been exhausted and overwhelmed would be an understatement. If my mom hadn't come to our rescue, I don't know what I would have done.

To give an idea of how things have gone for us, the only pictures taken in the last month or so has been this one of Cora with Steven...

 And this classy photo of post-bath Aubrey modeling underwear on her head:

We did manage to go outside and take a picture on Saturday with Steven and his broken bike. When he hit the hood of the car and flipped over it, his bike literally snapped in pieces. Scary.

He started with a long-legged splint, then a cast over the splint, then a long-legged cast, and now he is in a short-legged cast. We are making progress:

Hopefully a little less than two more weeks in a cast, then a walking boot, then physical therapy.

The insurance reimbursement for Steven's bike came through, so we went last weekend and bought Steven a new bike. He got his dream bike of a Specialized Roubaix. He won't be riding for a while, but that sure made him happy. He also bought Aubrey a pink balance bike. She just might be the only two-year-old that owns a Specialized. 

We are in the process of dealing with the insurance company for everything else. They are covering the medical bills, and once Steven's treatment is complete, they will also make an offer for "pain and suffering." We really don't want to get a lawyer involved, so if anybody has any experience on how to handle that and what a fair amount would be, I would love advice!

Some other tidbits that I want to remember:

Steven is getting very good at killing bugs with his crutches. That came in handy with our moth infestation (btw... we won that.. no more moths! And my cupboards look awesome.)

I can't wait to be able to leave the girls with Steven. I am in serious need of me-time. And exercise time. I'm strapping the girls in the stroller everyday for a few mile walk, but it isn't the same!

For the first few weeks, Cora was terrified of Steven with the cast and would scream and not go near him. It was so sad, but she has adjusted and they are buddies again.

I do not know how people drive in Bay Area traffic everyday. Some friends from Steven's work have been giving him rides some days, but we also have to take him other days. Now that he has a short-legged cast, we are hoping he can start taking the train, which means we just have to take him and pick him up twice a day a few minutes from our house.

Aubrey has been so sweet. She reads books on the couch with Steven and she loves to bring him his "crunches."

My hands are definitely "full" but I love my family and I really do find joy serving them. Only a few more weeks and then hopefully life will start to feel a little more normal!

I should have listened...

to my mother. When we first moved to California, my mom told me that I should now keep all my pantry food in air-tight containers because California has a lot of bugs. I brushed that off as a little crazy (sorry mom) and pretty much ignored her. And... we have had no problems. Zero. Way less bugs even than when we lived in Utah. Until now...

I mistakenly thought that since I am definitely on the clean-freak side (I seriously clean all the time) that I didn't need to worry about bugs. I was so wrong!!

Here is what a pantry moth looks like:

If you want to scream, then you can join me. Because I did. 

Tuesday was a crazy day. I spent over two hours entertaining both girls at the doctor while Steven got two sets of x-rays and a new cast. I'm still feeling very overwhelmed, and this was the last thing I needed. 

We were getting ready for bed when I noticed a moth fly out of the cupboard. I decided to investigate, and then started screaming when I found tons of moths and little worms in all our food! And, it seriously came out of nowhere. My mom was here last week, and was shocked that it happened, since she had just helped me clean the kitchen and there was no evidence of anything before.

Steven and I stayed up way late going through the cupboards, reading everything we could about how to get rid of them, and throwing out our food. We chucked everything. Every spice. Every cereal, crackers, rice. Everything. We discovered a bag of pecans as the little "home" to the moths. I guess often there are eggs in food packages when you buy something and you don't know until you have a full-blown infestation. 

Even though this is just another thing to add on the list of things that have happened in our lives lately, I was pretty proud of myself. Moths seriously freak me out. So much so, that I woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night last night screaming, "they are everywhere!" Normally, I would have locked myself in the back room and made Steven deal with everything. But... since he has a broken leg, I had to do it. And I did.... even though I definitely freaked out a few times.

However, I think the battle of Paige vs. the Moths has been won by me. I only found one today. Yesterday, I scrubbed and cleaned and vacuumed so much that my hands are raw. And today, I started replacing our food and making sure everything is air-tight and sealed.

Oh... and replacing a whole pantry of food is so expensive. Spices are crazy. We have a long way to go before we actually have enough food to cook with, but things are coming along. 

The plus side is I now have the most organized, air-tight pantry around:

You can either laugh or cry, right? We have been doing a lot of laughing lately. 

The Girls

Life is still definitely crazy and exhausting and frustrating. I don't recommend this situation to anybody. But, while we are muddling through the days, I also don't want to forget the little things that my little girls are up to right now. Because, like every mom, I think they are incredible.

Aubrey:

• Has grown up a lot lately. She still can't sit still to eat a meal if her life depended on it, but she is becoming sweeter and more mature every day.
• Has a big heart. A couple of days ago, I was singing her songs before bed and Steven was crutching his way down the hall. I have to help him get onto the couch/bed. Aubrey stopped me in the middle of her song and said, "you go help daddy with his leg. Then come back and sing me a song." 
• Knows almost all her ABC's, and loves to point out the letters wherever we go. Especially her "A" for Aubrey.
• Is starting a ballet class in a couple of weeks. Loves playgroup, nursery and all her friends.

• Is still kind of crazy and wild. This girl likes to have fun and be entertained. It can be exhausting. She is almost always a really sweet girl, but when she is bored or wants attention, she deliberately acts out.
• Definitely something to celebrate: Aubrey is over her fear of public bathrooms! She still hates the loud, automatic flushers and hand dryers, but going out is easier now.
• Has mostly given up her nap. She will maybe nap once a week. I still put her in her room everyday for quiet time, but sadly, I no longer have a napping toddler.

Cora:

• 8 months old and on the move! We call her our little inchworm. She is pretty fast, but doesn't do normal hands and knees crawling. She gets up on all fours and then lunges forward all across the room and has been doing that for about a month. Maybe real crawling is coming? 
• She gets herself in and out of a sitting position and is starting to pull up on things.

• Sleeps through the night, every night, from about 7:30 to 6:30. Still a terrible napper. She is still known as Cora the Catnapper. But, I guess I can't really complain.
• LOVES to eat. So different than Aubrey! I have not put anything in her mouth that she won't eat. She also loves to feed herself, and drink from a straw cup, which was a huge struggle with Aubrey.

• Major separation/stranger anxiety. This part is also weird for me after Aubrey who wanted everybody to be her friend. Above is the face she makes when she realizes that somebody other than mom might be holding her. And then she cries. Ha... about the only thing Steven could do right now is hold her, and she cries and won't even let him!
• Still my sweet, fun little girl. She is determined and goes after something she wants with intensity.

We love both these little girls so much. And they love each other. They are already becoming such good friends, and already keep each other up at bedtime giggling and laughing. There are few things better in life than a good sister. I have a great sister and I'm so glad my girls can have the same bond.

The Accident

The past few days have been very long and very exhausting. I'm sure that Steven's side of the story is more interesting, but this is my blog.

Tuesday was a rough day and I was counting down the minutes for him to come home, when I got the phone call that every wife is terrified to receive. Steven had been hit by a car while riding home and was being transported by ambulance to the hospital.

I was pretty shaken up and called my friend who was driving home from work. She came over immediately to watch the girls and I drove to the hospital. I spent a long time just waiting in the emergency room and I was definitely freaking out. 

When I was finally able to see Steven, things were better. I could see that he was ok. He had quite a few scrapes, bruises, and was obviously in a lot of pain, but he was still my Steven. And since he miraculously didn't hit his head, I just felt so relived and blessed because I know that his injuries could have been much worse. His leg was in a lot of pain and after a lot of x-rays it was confirmed that he had fractured his tibia and would have to be admitted to the hospital.

The hospital stay was pretty horrible, but long story summed up in a few words: manually set the bone in place (Steven said this was the worst pain he has ever been in), made Steven fast and prep for surgery, then no surgery, dirty, nurses ignoring him, sharing a room with a screaming mental patient who was admitted for attempted suicide, etc. Needless to say, we will NEVER be returning to that hospital again.

But.... he is home now! The hospital sent him home with a full-leg splint and on Tuesday our doctors will make the decision of whether or not the bone can heal with just a cast or if surgery will be required. So, we are waiting. 

During all of this, the girls and I have just been surviving. Normally, I am very spoiled. Steven has a job with great hours and he is a very hands-on dad. Now.... I'm going nuts. Taking care of a 2 year-old, 8 month-old, and husband who is unable to do anything is completely exhausting. I'm taking things day by day because if I look ahead any more than that it seems too overwhelming. 

Despite the complete exhaustion, I am so blessed. I have so many friends (and family... Steven's brother is visiting for a few days) who are bringing us dinner, helping watch my girls, and just letting us know that they are thinking of us. And, I have my husband. Who will full recover from his injuries. He is still in quite a bit of pain, and that is hard for me to see, but things will get better.

There have been a few times in my life when I feel like my circumstances are more than I can handle. I have been thinking about the following quote a lot lately from Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve:

  When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we have ever been in our entire lives. That knowledge can turn every such situation into a would-be temple. Regarding our earthly journey, the Lord has promised: I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. [D&C 84:88]

That is an everlasting declaration of God’s love and care for us, including—and perhaps especially—in times of trouble. (Jeffrey R. Holland, Sept 7, 2008, CES Fireside).

I know that our family is growing and learning patience through this experience. We must have a lot to learn :)