5 Years

I was talking to my mom awhile ago and she noted that I hadn't updated my blog recently and I told her that was because nothing was happening. She said that was the best time to update the blog. Just post anything. So, I thought I would update weeks ago with the 'anything' she talked about, but then holidays came along. So, now I actually have something to post about, right? Well, sorta.

First, holidays.

1) Birthday. My other brother that is at BYU had his birthday and we had a party for him on my other brother's birthday (the one who is on his mission). Cami had fun playing with her uncles while they were over.

If you can't hear in this one, Cami is saying 'wake up' and 'ni-night'. We play this game with her frequently.

2) Easter. We didn't do anything for Easter. I mean nothing. Nada. Zip. We didn't even take Cami to a park to hunt for Easter eggs. We will next year, I promise, she's still just a little young. Oh wait, we had my brother over for dinner. That's right. We did do something. Sorta. We're kind of a boring family when it comes to holidays.

3) Mother's Day. I got flowers for Mother's Day and a hug from Cami (that I had to ask for). Sterling told her repeatedly all day long to go give me a hug and kiss and she would just stare blankly at me and him. Guess she either just doesn't understand or just doesn't like to give hugs. Sad.

4) Anniversary. Yesterday was our fifth anniversary. We've been married Five Whole Years! Wow. We're so blessed to have family close by (grandma and Uncle Ryan) who are willing to watch our kids for us while we spend time together kid-free. It was nice not to worry for a little while. At dinner, Sterling asked me what my favorite part was about the last five years. I have to say it was spending time with him and getting to fall in love with him over and over again each year. Sterling, I love you so much.

Our wedding day. Five years ago yesterday.

 Our first anniversary. At Chef's Table.

 

Our second anniversary. I think we were at Red Lobster.

About the time of our third anniversary. I apologize to those who don't like beards (mom and Gigi), this was the only picture I had from around that time.

Near our fourth anniversary. Yes, I know you've seen this picture before.

Looking through pictures just now of trying to find ones of us together for this year, our fabulous fifth anniversary, I realized that we have NONE of us together at all this year. So I took my phone camera outside and got a few. This is what we both look like at this very moment.

This was the first try. I took it and then asked why Sterling was scowling. Also, my self portrait skills with a camera could be better.

 

 The next time, Sterling made this face. Isn't he helpful.

 

Finally, we got a winner, more or less. I don't think I look great with no make-up on, but c'est la vie.

 

As for the 'nothing' news. I really enjoy taking pictures of my children when they're sleeping. Mainly because they fall asleep in some of the strangest positions. You'd think that it would be uncomfortable. Maybe it's just that they're so tired because they stay up and play in their room until 10 at night. (We put them to bed at 7:30.)

The other day I let Austin play in his and Cami's room alone. Awhile later I went in there to discover this. He'd climbed up on Cami's bed and fallen asleep on her pillow. Guess he was tired.

 

 

Later he moved himself to this position.

 I had a movie on for Cami awhile back and when I went downstairs to check on her, she'd fallen asleep folded in half. Doesn't look comfortable to me.

This last one, I took just today. Again, Austin playing in their room. He's very much a tummy sleeper and likes having something balled up underneath him. Usually it's his blanket in his bed. Today, it was a giant teddy bear.

The rest are pictures of them just being them.

Cami in Daddy's boots.

 Cami and her cousin Beca.

 Cami's blanket-pirate look.

Yum. Lunch.

 Just relaxing.

Here's a video of Austin playing fetch with Sterling. He was doing it with Cami earlier today and played with me last Sunday. So much fun.

This is Cami and Austin dancing. Whenever we turn music on, they both just go crazy.

This one is long, but I LOVED Cami's hip action during the first couple seconds. Worth looking at.

My hubby's birthday

If you couldn't guess by the title, Sterling had a birthday this last week. I'm a little slow blogging about it, but here we go. We've been trying to eat healthy(-ish) recently. (It's only kinda working). And Sterling said about a month ago that he didn't want a cake because it didn't match our definition of 'healthy'. So, I figured I'd find an alternative that was a little healthier than chocolate cake. Here's what I came up with.

Fruit pizza!! I know, right! Isn't it pretty? And boy was it good. It's super easy to make too. The only thing about it is if you want a variety of fruits, you need to shell out a little money if things aren't in season (like they're not in April). But that's okay. He's worth it.

We figured it qualifies as 'healthy' because it's a high anti-oxidant dessert. The amount of fruit at least counteracts the sugar cookie base, however, I think the cream cheese under the fruit might make it a little un-healthy. Oops.

I didn't want to have to go out and buy 27 candles, so I just put two candles on one side and seven on the other. I thought it worked pretty well. However it will only work one more year if I keep buying a box of 10. I also got trick candles. I have a video of it. It was hilarious to watch. When I bought them I had Cami in mind since she enjoys blowing out candles (she helped Austin with his cake), but Sterling seemed to have more fun with it. Go figure.

Don't feel obligated to watch the movie. It was more enjoyable for me than I think it will be for you.

 

This was the kids after his party. Cami's shirt was dirty and Austin climbed out of his pants. Between the two of them though, they have a full outfit on.

After cake Sterling got his presents and we watched one of the movies that I bought him. I think he had a good birthday. He's never told me otherwise.

Happy Birthday Sterling! I love you!

Other birthdays and other stuff

Alright, now that Sterling has gotten his own post, I'll catch up on the rest of the news going on. This is the season of birthday's in my family. From March 12th to April 30th, there are 12 birthdays. (That I know of). All three of my brothers, my sister-in-law, my son, my niece, both of my brother-in-laws, my dad, my aunt, my cousin, and of course, my husband's, which I already covered. Whew! What a month! I, however, only intend to recap the ones with parties that I got to go to. Selfish, I know. Happy Birthday to all of you though!! 

My brother Ryan turned 19 the day after Austin's birthday and got his mission call!! Not on the same day, but in the same month. He and my other brother David came over for dinner and I made a cake. It looks good in this picture, courtesy of my fuzzy camera. Ok, let's be honest, it looked awful, but it tasted great!

He opened his mission call at his dorm on the 30th of last month. We video conferenced mom and dad in on it, so they got see/hear it, even though they weren't there. I took a video of it, hope you can hear it okay.

That's right! He'll be spending the next two years in the Chile Santiago East Mission. I was really annoyed because right after I stopped the video Ryan continued to read "You have been called to teach in the Mandarin language" to which everybody started yelling again saying "What?!". Then Ryan went on to say "Just kidding, I'll be speaking Spanish." It made everyone laugh really hard. So mad that I missed it. Hope one of his friends got it all on video.

Sterling also served his mission in Chile, though he was in the Concepcion mission. He says that Ryan has been called to serve in one of the richest neighborhoods in all of Chile. Sterling says there are parts of the town there in Santiago that make Beverly Hills look like a slum. Oh, what I wouldn't give to see that. Someday we'll go back down there to Sterling's mission.

My other brother David also had a birthday recently. He's 23 now. Wow. I just realized how old he is. We still have yet to have a party for him. We might do it on Tuesday this week, which happens to be my last brother's birthday. He's currently in Taiwan finishing his own LDS mission. He gets home June 20th (or so) and Ryan leaves July 21st (I think). So they'll get to see each other for a month.

The last little birthday party that I went to, we didn't even have cake. What kind of a party is that? Wait, I'm suppose to be eating healthy. Right. Blast. Anyways, it was for my brother-in-law and his wife who have birthdays in consecutive months. It was also for Sterling whose birthday falls right in between theirs. Fun fun. I love birthdays! Happy Birthday to everyone!

Apart from birthdays galor we haven't really been up to much. So I'll just post a bunch of pictures.

I baby sat Cami and Austin's cousin Beca a few weeks ago. The weather was nice, so we went to the park. This is how I got them there.

Playing on Uncle Preston. Hee-Ya!

Cami and I got haircuts recently. Her's has been such a rats nest. She wouldn't ever let us put it up in pony-tails or anything, so I took her somewhere and they did this. So cute! Now, I just curl it a little and she actually looks like a little girl. Amazing! Though she still insists on wearing a baseball cap everytime she goes outside. (As seen in the first picture.)

My husband gave me a miniature rose bush for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, it died the next day. But now, almost two months later, it looks like this! Courtesy of Sterling's green thumb. (Notice how my camera put the table in focus instead of the flower. Brilliant. I need a new camera.)

Cousins sitting together on the couch. I have a picture of Krista and me like this when we were little. Good times.

 

I think they used to make couches a little bigger back then.

Also, here's some other videos. The first is of Austin walking. I think he looks like a monkey. I love the way he holds his arms above his head. I guess it helps his balance. Or something.

This was Austin playing with his Uncle Preston. I don't know what was funnier, Austin dancing, or Preston. Austin loves music and whenever a good song comes on, he'll stand, just like Cami used to, and bounce up and down and wave his hands. Working on a video of that.

He also plays fetch with Sterling. Tried to get a video, but he decided to just run away with the ball rather than bring it back to Sterling for him to throw it again. Who needs a dog when you have a son, right?

This last is of Cami and Beca. Aunt Ruth took them out to get the mail and didn't want to be bothered with putting on their shoes and socks, so she loaned out a few pairs of her shoes. We got a good laugh of the two of them walking around like this.

One last thing, I'd like to give a quick eulogy to our fish Harry. A year ago on April 8th, we bought Harry and Lloyd, who were orange and white goldfish, and brought them home with us. They lived on the counter together for quite awhile. Some only believed that they'd live for a month, but both fish persevered. Then, tragically, four days before his first anniversary with our family, Harry went belly-up in his bowl. The cause of death is unknown as he had clean water and had been fed. Perhaps he was just old (for a goldfish). That afternoon he took a ride on the porcelain express where he will rest in peace forever more. Harry was preceded in death by his comrade-in-bowl and friend Lloyd who passed away last September. We will miss our little friends who were always so patient and never died on us even though I forgot to feed them time and time again. Their little bodies are gone, but their bowl remains and will someday be filled again. This time with a beta. RIP Harry and Lloyd. (Not pictured: Harry, Lloyd).

1 year old

My baby boy turned one on Friday! Hard to believe it's already been a year. We hosted a little family party at our place and got pizza and cake and other unhealthy foods. I found out from a friend of mine that Macey's grocery store gives you a free cake on your child's first birthday. They even write on it too. (That's how they keep you honest).

It was the typical little birthday party that you have for a one year old. Nothing big, since they won't remember it, but enough of a to-do for the extended family to be happy. 

Austin, like all on year olds, made a mess of his cake, but seemed to have fun. (In truth, he was crying - also, like all one year olds).

He's changed so much in the last year. He's been walking for two months now and can almost run, he 'talks' a bit. So many milestones in such a short amount of time.

Austin, we love you and are so glad you're part of our family.

Videos

It's been a few weeks since I've put a post here about my kids, so I figure it's about time again. Austin started walking last month. He's been walking with help (fingers, furniture) for some time, but the other day he just stood up and took off.  Usually when he walks, he sticks his arms straight up in the air over his head to help him balance. This time we was too busy chewing on his fingers. He can go quite a ways at a time now. I'm so proud.

Cami has been about the same. We had yet another powder incident, with not one, but two bottles of powder. My fault for leaving them in the room with her while they were playing. She also used up a full box of wipes to clean up the mess. You can't tell in the picture, but she has her diaper off and is in the process of trying to powder and re-diaper herself. So helpful. She and Austin were covered in powder, the picture gives a fair idea of what it was like. Also, regular vacuums don't pick up powder very well. Lesson I learned the hard way. Our vacuum was spouting powder after I tried to vacuum it all up. Every time I'd pick up the vacuum and set it down again, there's be a nice little collection of powder on the floor. Sterling had to take it outside and hose it out. So, advice for you future/current mom's out there: invest in a shop vac or else just don't leave your two-year old alone in a room with the baby powder.

While Sterling was at OCS he wrote me and told me that he missed Cami and that all he could think about was her fake laugh, so I thought I'd post it. It makes us laugh when she does it. I'm not sure who she's imitating, but it's funny. Her hair really adds to the impression of a crazy child too.

One last video, this is one Sterling took and thought I should post. Her idea of 'jumping' is simply 'falling'. She's hurt herself a few times doing this, but somehow it doesn't discourage her at all.

Changes. What else is new?

I think from now on I'm no longer going to write posts about what's happening career wise with our family, because our plans change so frequently that it just gets confusing for the reader.

As you've probably guessed, there have been some changes again. Sterling is back from the Marines. On Monday the 17th he came down with a cough that, on Wednesday, was joined by a fever. He pushed through it for as long as he could, then on Wednesday, when the fever made it's appearance, he reported to medical. They did x-rays of his chest and other such tests and found out that he had bronchitis. 

Fantastic. 

At least it wasn't pneumonia. 

They put him on a whole bunch of meds and told him to just sleep it off. So he went back to his bunk and slept the rest of the day. The next day he's worse, so he goes back to medical and they put him on a whole new set of meds because obviously the old set wasn't working.

He was stuck in his bunk for the rest of the weekend. I got a call from a senior sister missionary out there the following Sunday who told me that he wasn't at church that day because he was sick in bed with bronchitis. A fellow LDS marine from his platoon relayed the information. You can bet that had me stressed out. I made several phone calls to family and cried to my best friend and after that I felt a whole lot better.

Sterling wasn't cleared by medical to go back out and train, so he missed quite a few days of training. I don't know what would have happened if he'd gone against medical and trained anyways. Probably something bad, like getting more sick (sicker?) and, oh, I don't know, dying? Okay, that's a little dramatic. Honestly I don't know what would have happened.

The following Monday (24th) the captain of the platoon came to Sterling and told him that he'd almost missed too many days of training and that if he didn't get back out there tomorrow, they were going to have to send him home. That's what happens if you're sick. Sterling was unhappy about it, but medical hadn't cleared him, so he couldn't do much about it. On Wednesday they told him to pack up his gear, he was headed home. So far they had sent home perhaps a dozen guys in just the first two weeks. I wonder what their attrition rate is. The day that Sterling left, eight other guys reported to medical for similar symptoms as Sterling had. Not much of a morale booster there to see him being sent home.

He was suppose to fly in Wednesday night, but a snow storm in DC shut down the airport, so he stayed with my sister that night and flew in at midnight on Thursday. I'm happy to have him back. It was lonely with out him.

As for our future. Well, I don't think either of us is up for doing the Marines again. Third time's the charm? Yeah right. Guess I'm eating those words, huh? As per my beginning statement, I'm not yet going to disclose what is in store for our future, because with the way things change with us I'll be updating in a week to correct myself. Just know that we're okay with it. We both had enough time to think it over and figure out what other options we have and that it's not the end of the world. Life goes on.

Angel?

Someone told me the other day that they thought Cami was this sweet little angel.

Now don't get me wrong. I love my little girl, but she can be so naughty at times that I just laughed in my friend's face when she told me that.

In her defense, she hadn't seen Cami since my girl was 9 months old. And she's changed a bit since then. It was really rather ironic, because that very night I went home and my babysitter told me that Cami had gotten hold of the baby powder and it was EVERYWHERE. It was all over the floor, the changing table, her clothes, her face, Austin's bed. You get the picture.

I decided to leave it until morning when I could vacuum it all up. The next morning I go in there and this is what I find.Cami had climbed in Austin's crib, unzipped Austin's pajamas and taken his diaper off. Yes, that's my little angel all right.

Thankfully my REAL angel child didn't poop or pee while he was diaperless.

Conclusion: Cami is certainly no angel. In fact, I've found the perfect theme song for her. I realize it's a car commercial, but if you put Cami in there, it's just too perfect to say any way else. Enjoy.