I'm MELTING!!

For the love--when will it end? On my iGoogle page--this has been the forecast for I don't know how long. Always 90 degrees +. I guess I should just be grateful I no longer live in humidity (Nebraska, Hong Kong, Houston). It was always so frustrating to come out of the shower, get ready, and then get in the car only to be dripping with sweat ALL over my body in seconds (does anyone else know the sensation of sweat beading up on your back and slowly dripping down? UGH. That happened way too often in Hong Kong. It would totally distract me when I was GQing someone.) It's also nice that the winters here don't make my nose hairs freeze on contact (Nebraska). Now THAT'S a freaky feeling. Every place has its downsides, I suppose. Utah's is that there is never a cloud in the sky ALL SUMMER.

My Little Playmate

Lately, Kate has been so much fun to play with! Last night, I was lying on the floor when she crawled over to me, stuck her head right in my face until I looked at her and then she started giggling like crazy and began crawling away in a hurry as if I were going to chase her. As she crawled she would look back at me and giggle nervously. I got the hint, and got up and "chased" her. She was thrilled and giggled uncontrollably--it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Unfortunately, by the time I got this video, she was pretty played out, but I still got some pretty good giggles. Kids are so much fun!

Andrew's Camping Trip Pictures

I've been meaning to post these pics for a week now. He got some really gorgeous shots. For those of you who don't know, Andrew is an aspiring large format photographer. These are just digital shots, but still great. The last one is of his mom, Ellen, and her dog Buddy. She's pretty hardcore to be hiking 15,000 feet!

Andrew made mock up frames in Photoshop so you can better visualize. :)

Fetch KateKate--FETCH! Good baby.

She can move faster than this--especially when we're out of the room and she wants to get to something she knows she shouldn't in a hurry!

PS Does anyone know what I'm referencing in the title??

I'm Not Sure I Understand the Appeal

I decided to try the whole hair flip/swoop/curl thing. I don't get it. It just looks like a mohawk. I tried to make it curl, and it did a little...am I doing something wrong here? It doesn't really matter--I'll never do it again anyway. :) Does anyone else besides me and my cousin Emily have this hair dealy going on in every baby picture?

At the park once again. It's my new favorite place. Kate seems to enjoy it, too! Seagulls and ducks abound. Isn't it fun to be with a child when they see things for the first time?

What Do You Think?

Okay, just for some fun--does Kate look like me? I don't have a picture of Andrew at this age, so it's not a fair vote really. I tried to get similar pictures--this is the best I could do. Two stroller pictures, but Kate's not smiling. Sorry. By the way, strollers sure have changed, huh? My stroller gives away how old I am (and the shirt doesn't help). Yikes! Everybody who looks at the blog (you know who you are--come on out of the wood work)--I want your vote! Yay or nay?

PS - Check out my long fingers! Now that's freaky.

A Rest From All My Cares

Kate and I went for a little trip back to the park I got lost in. It was my way of "conquering" the trail if you will. It was actually very pleasant under different circumstances. There were tons of ducks in the pond we were by, which kind of freaked me out--I'm not a duck fan. But Kate was alright. After laying around for a while and enjoying the sights and sounds of nature, I tried her out in a swing. Ha. She's WAY too little. Her whole body could have fit through one leg hole. I took her out right away--but of course, got the picture first.

One of THOSE Weeks. You Know--the NIGHTMARE Kind.

Too true.

My new "car."

Well, well. I alluded in my last blog to our car troubles. Well, the "troubles" has turned more into "nightmare." Our 1999 Daewoo Leganza stopped in Salt Lake as Andrew was taking his brother home from their camping trip. This is a really long story, that I'm really sick of--so I'll make it short. The timing belt broke and I guess damaged stuff in the engine (can you tell I know a lot about cars?), rendering our little car useless. Unfixable apparently. SO. Since a few months ago our other car didn't pass safety (and would cost $1100 to fix!), we don't have a working car.

So I am now riding my bike to work (which I should have been doing anyway) along the Provo River Trail. Work is only a mile away and it's really a gorgeous drive next to the water. But I had never gone that way before (I used to ride along Geneva that is now under construction). So Andrew told me that when I come to a park, cross the bridge and I could get to work that way. Sounded easy enough. I found the bridge fine and crossed it and just kept going on a little dirt path. But...I soon found myself in a heavily wooded area surrounded by fence. I was like, "Hmm... this doesn't seem right." Convinced as I was that this must be the way, I searched and searched for a way out. Nothing. I finally found a gate, but it was locked. I was now very late to work and very sweaty with tree branches and bushes whacking me in the face. I turned back around and headed back to the river trail. I had no idea how to get to my work from there, so I kept riding until I hit the main road. By that time, I was another mile PAST work. So I had to head back once again. As I panted and dripped with sweat (in 100 degree weather and I'm very out of shape), I was reminded of the movie title Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles. At least that made me smile.

I got to work a good 45 minutes late and my supervisor was in the front office trying to find out if I was okay, when I came in. I was disheveled and panting and tried to explain where I'd been to my friend Michelle. I was really upset by the whole thing and groaned as I realized that I had no idea how to get back home. Luckily, Michelle is one of the nicest people I've ever met and on her next break she drove her car around to find the way I should've gone. She even got out and went down the trail aways to make sure it was the right one--in the process oil from the above railroad tracks dropped in her hair. She thought it was bird poo--nope, it was oil. She even returned movies that I'd rented over the weekend so I wouldn't have a huge late fee. Thanks Michelle!

So Andrew is going to have to borrow a car to deliver pizza, meanwhile we have to figure out how we're going to get another car. NIGHTMARE. The bike ride is pretty good exercise, though, and kind of fun now that I know where the heck I'm going and how to get back! (It's really easy.)

There is a slight bright side to the story. Last December, a week before I had Kate, I got hit by a massive SUV in the Walmart parking lot. No one got hurt, but it did put a nice dent in the Daewoo. The lady's insurance covered the damages, but I never got around to fixing it. The day before our car died I got a letter from Geico saying we never cashed our check. Check? I had mistakenly thought it was a voucher type deal--where you have to take it to a certain place and get it fixed. I guess not--we could've just cashed it. Which, under the circumstances, is much more helpful than getting a dent fixed on a broken down car. So--we have a little money (almost $600) coming to help us with car buying. So getting hit by an SUV six months ago was really a huge blessing! Strange.

All for a Treat

I don't know what I was thinking. Oh wait. It's coming back to me...I wanted a treat. A treat. Andrew and I had just undergone super stress with our car (story later), and I wanted to get outside. After all, I hadn't actually been outside for days--not for more than a few minutes to water the lawn and go to church.

I hadn't really thought it all through, though. The road to the gas station has been undergoing plastic surgery for MONTHS. I thought I had seen some paved sidewalks, so I figured it would be okay. Sure, there was a paved sidewalk--for a tiny portion of the way. The rest of it required careful maneuvering and a lot of bump enduring by Kate. I don't know how many times I had to lift the stroller up and down, up and down. All this for a treat? I asked myself. You don't even need a treat. (No one ever really needs a treat, though, right?) I figured I was working hard enough and sweating long enough, that I would burn off the treat calories anyway. So I pushed on. People called after me from wherever they were, "That doesn't look easy!" "Slow goin', eh?" "You look tired. Come sit and rest." (That last comment was by a creepy old man--I just smiled and kept moving.)

FINALLY, I made it to the edge of the road. I say edge because there was a two foot drop off at the end of the broken concrete path I had just taken. A deep crevice filled with muddy water and no hope of making it across. Surely, there must be a way, I encouraged myself. Kate was quiet, a bit too hot and lethargic to care what was happening. I checked traffic. It was 6pm and there was no end in sight on either side. It was over. So close and I had to turn around. I did manage to get a treat from a vending machine at the nearby laundromat. But after enduring so much to get to Walker's, it seemed a bit anticlimactic.

I didn't realize until we had made it safely home, that Kate had passed out. I was worried for a minute that she had actually passed out from all the violent bumping and shaking and heat, but she seemed ok. I have no idea how she could've fallen asleep through that mess.

'Sigh'. And all just for a treat.

Feeding Time: Take Two

Well, suddenly Kate loves solids. She wouldn't even try bananas or sweet potatoes a couple weeks ago. I got a little bit in her mouth and she would freak--like it was the worst thing she could imagine. So I was starting to worry she was going to be a picky eater. But now she's gobbling it all up and wanting more (bananas and potatoes included--plus she's figured out how to eat). I felt bad feeding her peas in the morning--something about that just didn't seem right. Then when I opened up the jar and took a whiff--eckghgh. (Can you tell I'm not a pea eater?)The other foods seem pretty tasty, but not green slime. I apologized when I first fed it to her, but she loved it--so whatever. I'm just glad she's eating something--hopefully, she'll gain a little weight!

And the WINNER is...

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles!!

I know there were only 3 movies to choose from--but the Chinese one won out. And no, it's not just because it was Chinese. Actually, the main character is Japanese and then goes to China. So most of it is probably in Japanese. Such a good movie! I know the title makes it sound excruciatingly long and boring, but it isn't. I watched this on Sunday night, and maybe that had something to do with it--being Father's Day and all. This movie was all about a father's love for his estranged son and what he was willing to do to try to mend the relationship. I had a good cry. The director of the movie (and I may be talking to myself here, as I realize many of you aren't even into foreign films, let alone the directors of foreign films--and you've probably already stopped reading if you even began...) is Zhang Yimou. He directed The Road Home (one of my all time favorite movies--foreign or otherwise) and Raise the Red Lantern (this one is much more depressing but still well done). A warning, though, for anyone who might go rent this--it's PG, but it shows a young boy pooing (it actually shows it)--which was very disturbing to me--but it is CHINA after all. Anyway, besides that it was perfectly clean and had a great message. I love the simplicity of this movie. Beautiful.

Turtles Can Fly would be my second choice. Apparently, this is the first film made in Iraq since the fall of Hussein. I still can't figure out why the heck it's named that (it's been driving me crazy. I have a degree in English--I should be able to figure this out, right??) This movie is very powerful and thought provoking, but it is not for the easily disturbed. It is all about this group of orphaned refugees who work together collecting mines from mine fields. Most of them are disfigured--it's heart-wrenching. It takes place right around the invasion of the U.S. The acting was superb, though--a bunch of young kids with no prior acting experience--amazing.

Ponette was also about a child. Her mother dies and the entire film is about her struggle to come to terms with her death. Again, great acting by a child. I tried to watch this one with Kate, so that may have altered my perception of it. I had to pause it every few minutes. So it seemed kind of long to me, but that's probably just because it stretched out over most of the day...

Re-runs

Since Andrew has the camera this weekend, I don't have any new photos to post, so I thought I'd treat the blog like a TV show. Re-runs or a flashback sequence, take your pick. :) This slide show is of our meeting and dating days.

Flashbacks

This one is a flashback of our married life thus far and some of our adventures.

This Father's Day...

As I've mentioned previously, Andrew is out of town this weekend camping with his family (he won't be back until Tuesday). I was talking to my mom last night (it was her birthday) on the phone and she suggested that today as I went to church alone with Kate, that I would catch a glimpse of what it would be like to be a single mother. Very true. It started as soon as Kate woke up. I'm used to handing her to Andrew as I get ready. She was fussier than usual (trying to teach me a lesson, I'm sure) and it was truly a miracle I was able to look presentable enough to even go to church.

Once there, she was antsy sitting on my lap for so long and was very frustrated. We luckily made it through, though. I'm sure she was thinking, "Where's Dad?" Well, she had had it with 5 minutes to go on the clock in relief society. Close enough, though!

Anyway, I think I do take for granted sometimes that I have a wonderful husband and Kate has such a good father. He's not only eager hands to take her when I need help or if she's sick of me or just to spend time with her (though, that is very helpful, and without it I would likely go insane), he is so much more. Kate is blessed to have a dad that tries to emulate his Father in Heaven.

So this Father's Day, I am grateful for my great "Gungy" (that's his nickname--loosely based on the Chinese word for husband "louh gung"), my own dad, and my Heavenly Father, whose love humbles me.

Movie Extravaganza!

(Top to Bottom)
Turtles Can Fly (Iraqi)
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (Chinese)
Ponette (French)

So since Andrew is camping this weekend, I've rented quite a few movies to keep me company. Three of them are foreign films (Ponette was recommended to me by my friend at work)--I love foreign films (the clean ones anyway), they tend to be a lot more insightful than American ones. But I'll have to save those for after Kate goes to bed if I want a chance of keeping up on the subtitles! I'll let you know if any of them are good (I have a feeling they're all criers--but I usually prefer those to the fluffy stuff).

Feeding Time

Kate was doing pretty good on rice cereal last month, but then one night she threw it up ALL night until there was nothing left in her tummy. It was awful. Since then she hasn't touched it. She just barely started opening her mouth again. She mostly just tries to lick it off the spoon and keep it out of her mouth. She's so funny. Obviously, in this video, I am not very skilled at feeding her and filming at the same time. By the way, we call her "Baby" all the time as if that's her name. (Name this movie: "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." The actor said that was the cheesiest line he ever had to say. I'll let you know the answer later.)

PS--Don't worry, I know our kitchen walls are hideous. Remodeling has already begun!

Dr.'s Visit

Well, this picture sums up how Kate liked her doctor's appointment today. She mostly didn't like being laid down so many times. She cried with her shots, of course--but not as bad as I was expecting. After it was over, she seemed pretty happy. Amazing. The nurse admired how quiet her cry was and how she doesn't open her mouth when she cries, she keeps it closed (like in the picture); it's kind of a whimpering, groany cry. It's kind of hard to explain.

When we were still in the hospital after she was born, the nurse came in to give her the Hepatitis shot. I was really emotional after labor, so I decided to go the bathroom while she gave her the shot. I was afraid I'd start bawling and be really embarrassed. So while I was in the bathroom, I heard Kate let out a horrible scream, and so I cried accordingly. I got myself together, came out, and the nurse told me, "Well, she did great with the shot. But she sure doesn't like getting her diaper changed!" Ha. I felt pretty dumb.

Today, the doctor said that we won't try Kate on anything with milk until she's at least a year old because of the seriousness of her condition. Fine with me--better to be on the safe side, I think.

We also found out at the doctor that she is really tall and skinny with a sizeable head. We already knew that, though. She's now 28 inches (97th percentile), 15 and some pounds (49th percentile), with a 92nd percentile head. Way to go, baby!

On the Move!

Uh oh...Kate's figured out how to get around. It's not quite crawling--more like combat crawling. She pulls with her arms and pushes with her legs. You wouldn't think it'd be that efficient--but in a matter of minutes she can get across the room! It's very disconcerting to leave the room for a minute, come back, and she's half way under our couch or something. She's having a good time exploring and getting into whatever is available. I guess it's baby-proofing time.

Puss in Boots

I don't know why--but I almost started crying when Kate was sitting by herself today. I'm such a dork! Look at how long her legs are, by the way. Woah. Sudden flashbacks of the time when I was twelve, playing catcher in a softball game and I stretched really far from the plate to the runner to tag her, and some Asian lady (again, I'm not racist--I happen to love Asians) yelled from the bleachers at me, "You think you tall enough?!"

I'm a little worried that those big eyes blinking up at me are going to allow her to do whatever she wants! It's like Puss in Boots in Shrek 2.

Work Party: A Night at the Park

By the way, I cut Andrew's hair. This was only the second time in four years of marriage that Andrew let me cut his hair. It turned out pretty cute--I thought!

Andrew's work had a little party at the park last night. It was actually pretty fun. One of his friends at work has a wife named Jen and a new baby named Kate. Ha. It made it easy for his co-workers to remember names anyway. I'd say Kate (our Kate) had fun, just because she didn't cry. It was a new experience for her and there were a lot of strangers, but she was really good. Andrew played 500 and we later played water balloon volleyball while Kate watched from the stroller. Andrew's first question, ever the competitor, was "What's the score?" (we came in late.) Blank stares were his answer. Unfortunately, after the game was over, Kate got hit with a ricochet water balloon. She wasn't too happy about that.

When we first got there and sat down to eat, there was a younger girl sitting across from me. She started asking about where we live, how old our baby was, etc. I figured she was related to someone that worked with Andrew. Not so. She and her little brother had happened by the party and invited themselves to dinner and festivities. They were there the whole night. Very strange, I thought. She even took some food as they were putting it away for "her parents." She told me to keep an eye on it-"Make sure no one takes it" she told me. Sadly, I left my post and forgot to watch her cookies. She was disappointed, but rummaged around the left-overs and found something else.

The saddest part of the evening was when her little brother (11 or 12 probably) was on his bike and stopped at the curb. He called over to Dustin (one of Andrew's co-workers) and asked him to move his car. His car was blocking the smooth part of the path leading to the sidewalk. So this kid stopped his bike right at the curb and wanted Dustin to MOVE his car, rather than simply lift the front end of his bike up and over the curb. He was extremely overweight, and I don't mean to poke fun, but I was really quite shocked that he would do that. So Dustin moved his car for him, the kid proceeded to ride up the path, then simply turned back around and went down again into the street. Brother.

It ended up being a fun night, though. A bunch of people came back to our place (we finished our living room Saturday night! YAY! Pictures later) for a movie. The two Kates shared a room, our Kate in her crib and the other (only 6 weeks) in our Pack n Play. They fell asleep at the exact same time--so crying didn't keep either one awake. Perfect!

Upcoming La Sal Mountains Camping Trip

Andrew wanted me to post these pictures to show his family where they're going camping this weekend (outside Moab). Wish I could go, too! But we'll probably wait until next year with Kate. Can't wait! (First picture is taken from the campground, the last two are ones that Andrew took on a trip last year in the same area.)

Almost Sitting

Well, Kate will be six months tomorrow! Crazy. She is so close to being able to sit on her own. The other day she was doing great without my help, so I turned away for a second and BAM-- smacked her head on the wheel of the office chair. I guess I got a little overconfident in her abilities. Sorry Kate! She's not quite there.

The second picture is of her new look she likes to pull. She puffs her chest out as far as she can, squeezes her chin into her chest, and groans. I don't know what she thinks she's doing--but it makes us laugh.

Chris Farley Impersonation

"Excuse me, which way to the weight room?"

Chair-Play-Thing-a-Majiggers

These chair-play-thing-a-majiggers are the greatest things. Sometimes she'll only like it for five minutes--but I never knew until I had a kid that five minutes goes a long way! This blog was made in five minute intervals. Side note: she is looking more and more like Andrew to me every day.

Transferred to India...Never to Return

Oh Boy. Well, last night Andrew and I worked ALL night on trying to get our new Vonage phone service to work. (My brother Paul transferred his service to us and sent us his router.) Unfortunately, we couldn't get the darned router to work. Our phone is messed--we cut the phone line last year when we were putting in our yard and ever since it just hasn't been the same. There's a loud buzzing on our end, but other people can usually hear us okay. Example: Two weeks ago, someone from the bishopric called (still no idea who it was--because of the bad connection) and was asking me to do something. I had no idea what he wanted. I was like (loud voice) "You want me to do WHAT?" I finally figured out he wanted me to pray in Sacrament meeting. He must have thought I wasn't too bright. So it's been a problem that we've been getting more and more sick of (plus paying more in taxes than for our actual service with Qwest). But since the big rain yesterday--it's gotten much much worse (the rain shorted the line even more).

So Andrew tried to talk to Vonage over the phone, but they just said they couldn't hear him and would transfer him to someone else--who--big surprise--couldn't hear him. It was so frustrating. (And yes, we should have called Qwest and had them fix the line a long time ago...). So we got my brother on Gmail chat and luckily he was willing to call Vonage for us and relay everything they were saying through the chat (Poor Paul. Thank you!) It was a long process and the non-English speaking Indians (don't worry I'm not racist--I just sound like one) had no clue what was going on. They just kept telling us to unplug it, plug it back in. Is there dial tone? No. Hmm, okay, well--try unplugging it. Then maybe if you plug it back in--okay. Now check. Dial tone? NO! I'm not kidding--this went on for hours. They just found different ways of telling us to do the same thing! Then they tried calling us, as if somehow they could surpass the whole no dial tone problem.

Finally, hours later and after speaking to two people in India, my brother said something complicated enough that the tech support gave up and transferred us back to America. Phew. However, it really didn't matter. After another hour with Jersey, we still had no dial tone.

Andrew just called Vonage again today (we got a new router) to try one more time with our phone (thought maybe it had improved a little since the rain stopped). The guy of course couldn't hear him--he said he would call us back--that should fix the problem, right? At that point, Andrew kind of got upset. Why would that make any difference? It's our phone line! He never called back.

My Little Morning Glory

No matter how little sleep I get (Kate got 12+ hours last night--I got 6--it's just so hard, for some reason, to go to bed before midnight) it's always so fun to be greeted by this little face and crooked smile. She'll just be propped up on her arms in her crib, babbling and playing when I come in. You'd think she'd be screaming from hunger--but she's always in such a cute mood. I also love that her hair is getting long enough to have a mild form of bed-head. Ha!

It's ALIVE!!

Okay, I know that I shed some hair sometimes. Well, okay. I shed A LOT of hair pretty much ALL of the time. I just have a lot of hair! I don't know what the deal is--but it drives Andrew nuts. No matter what--my hair is on him. Even on clean clothes in the dryer. From the shower to his water glass--my out- of-head hair serves to torment him. I used to think he was exaggerating, but now it's really bugging me, too! I'll take Kate out of her little baby bathtub and put a clean diaper on her. Oh--wait--just a minute, Kate. There's a hair. Oh, one second--here's another one. She'll have it wrapped around her fingers (not just from pulling it out, either), on her back, between her toes. My hair will be in Andrew's hair! Are you beginning to understand? Luckily, it never finds its way to our food. (Okay, so that might have happened once...). I don't know why it's everywhere. It has a mind of its own. There's no controlling it. Awful, right? 'Sigh.' That was nothing compared to what happened next.

One Sunday morning, a couple weeks ago, I was getting ready for church. I had Kate on the floor by the bathroom so I could watch her. As I went in and out of the bathroom, I noticed something dark in Kate's hand. What is th--no. Could it--ahhh!! I ran and grabbed from her little hands a GIANT hair clump. It must have come from the bathroom somehow--I still don't know. I didn't tell Andrew about it at the time.

It happened AGAIN a few days later--a different clump. I try my best to sweep up and vaccuum, but they're multiplying! They're everywhere!

Now, you're wondering--so did she grab her camera and take a picture while Kate played with the clump? No... this picture was staged--a reenactment if you will--I gave her the clump for just a second for the picture. I know it's sick--but I had to show you what's been plaguing our home and how horrifying it was to see little Kate playing with my out-of-head hair!

For Those New to Blogs

I realize there are some members of the family and maybe some friends that are not as familiar with blogs as others. Just remember that at the bottom of the page you can click "Older Posts" and assuming you want to--you can keep reading about our adventures. And if you want to leave a comment, just click on the Comments below whatever post you choose, and type your message. I would love to hear from you!!

Ouch!!

Kate has nails that just won't quit! I've tried to cut them, but I'm just not good at it. I just wait for them to start to peel, and then I finish the job. I need to clip them sooner though--before she finishes us! Lately, when she stands on our laps, she'll get a big grin, lunge forward and scrape her nails down both cheeks. The other day she grabbed my lip and wouldn't let go. The inside of my lip is still healing from that attack. She scratched my nose a few days ago and drew blood. It finally scabbed over, then she scratched again--the same spot and reopened the wound.

No hard feelings, though. She just thinks she's having fun with Mom and Dad. (I'm not looking forward to the days of disciplining--but I guess they're almost here.) She's still an angel--most of the time.