Becoming a Michigander

These week we became pretty official Michiganders. And I am not referring to the fact that my can looks like it's been in winter weather for years...

I'm not going to lie, I'm not thrilled about letting go of my AZ license plate (now I have no excuse for my bad driving!) but at least it was a painless process, very minimal waiting and the kid's behaved nicely (well except for Lucy trying to color on the nice man's desk...). In 2 weeks we will have our Michigan driver's licenses and be even more officially official.

And speaking of officially official, I got a library card to the public library. Oh my goodness, I'm in love with our new library! 1 point in Michigan's favor! Our old library was...old. At least the books seemed to be. I could never find recently published kid's books and many of the books were in crummy condition. Plus the set up of aisles in the kid's section was kind of crummy for watching kids.

This library's kid's section is HEAVEN! First off it is in a U-shape which means I can see the kids and find books for them at the same time. Second off at the head of the U there is a play place for the kids-- play kitchen, bin of dolls, puzzles, felt board, magnetic letters, etc... And thirdly, it is filled with nice, crisp, clean, new books and not just new as in never used but also new as in recently published.  I love it! Did I already say that!? Needless to say, with it only being a few minutes away, we will be there often.

Also, this week are coffee table finally started to feel like it was home here in Michigan. Can you see the cut by Lucy's eyebrow? Yesterday, she did a dive off the couch right into the edge of the coffee table. It was awful :( And wouldn't you know that literally just 5 minutes later, Ben tripped into the coffee table and got a nice black and blue bruise under his eye. Two crying babies and Tyler off at church basketball (where he apparently was given a bloody nose)...yup, things are back to normal here.

Steven, my cheese ball, has graced this house with some funnies. Every night at dinner we try to ask the kids what their favorite part and worst part of their day was. One night, his response for the worst part of the day was (and keep in mind this is at the dinner table) "My poop taking so long to come out." Awesome. And a second funny, said after Tyler bought some rat bait and with genuine concern, "Do rat spirits go to heaven?"

I think another part of becoming a Michigander is getting your first winter energy bill (similar to getting your first summer energy bill in AZ). Let's say that the first digit was a 3 and it wasn't pretty. Darn, drafty, old house :(

And since getting to Michigan I have been trying to start practice the piano again, let's just say Lucy has other feelings about that...

And even though she just got face time above, I can't resist posting more pictures of my girly girl Lucy. Gosh I adore her so let's just end with her cuteness :)

Lucy's News

So maybe she's not so happy about this news but we are ;) It was less than planned but it'll be fun to have two so close together, right!? Ok, honestly I'm a bit nervous about having this baby before Lucy's second birthday, I've never had two this close together! Plus I've always had babies in Arizona, with lots of family and friends close by! So I would be lying if I didn't say I was nervous about this baby but on the same token, I LOVE babies! And every time I see one or see a picture of one, I get excited. I love baby snuggles and cuddles and their overall cuteness so yeah for a baby on the way :)

And on to pregnancy details... I found out mid December. I had this thought, I'm late! But I also thought, no way I'm pregnant and then I took the test, freaked out, showed Tyler and that was that. First I've ever taken that was completely, assuredly positive. 

According to the internet I 'm 10 weeks along and due Aug 22nd. Once we FINALLY get our health insurance cards I'll get myself to a doctor. And for now, I have lovely bouts of queasiness throughout the day and moments where I feel completely exhausted but overall, I've had worse pregnancies ;). 

Coldness

It's been a long, cold week. So cold that I have taken to hanging out with my friend, the space heater, ain't he swell!?

(Here I attempted to take a picture of me and the space heater and Lucy photo bombed it, ha! Love that silly girl!)

So cold that we had to break out the puffer vest for Lucy, ok really that thing isn't very warm but it is SO STINKING cute!

So cold that we've resorted to crafting because what better thing is there to do when it is freezing outside? 

Actually I didn't craft so much, I only made this cute little candy heart picture that involved me eating one heart than gluing on another and then eating five hearts and then gluing on two... you get the picture? I did also try to make a new' H' for our door but for some reason I thought it would be a great idea to glitter it. I don't know what I was thinking. I abhor glitter, it gets everywhere except for where you want it too. So now my 'H' is sitting up high on a shelf, unfinished, shedding all over everything...I might finish it but it's looking doubtful

So cold this week that school was cancelled for Steven on Friday. So instead of going to school he helped me decorate the windows with this super fancy decorating material called, post-it-notes. That's right we made hearts out of post-it-notes. I think it turned out pretty fun :)

Also this week my Ben & Lucy have decided that they are anti-naps. I am not happy about this. Pretty much Ben has given up naps altogether. I'll put him down and an hour (or less) later he'll come out of his room. I still make him lie down for a bit but it's just not the same. Lucy, has decided two naps was just too much and now I'm lucky if I can get her down for 1 nap. Typically her one nap is just an hour and a half. And typically it is not at the same time that Ben lies down because she's fussy by 11:00 or so and he will not lie down until 12:30 or 1, usually when she's waking up. It means no more kid free time for mama, boo!

And also, I drove in some crazy snow today and survived. I went to an enrichment activity and when I was about a mile away from the church building it started snowing so hard I could barely see. Then on the way home there were some pretty massive swirling flakes (better visibility though). I still hate driving in it, it causes me anxiety BUT I'm starting to get the feel of HOW to drive in it. And I'm glad I drove in it, it was nice to meet some people in the ward, it seems like a nice bunch, I just got to work on bursting out of my shy shell....

P.S. I heard the distinct sound of several mice scurrying about and squeaking in the ceiling in Lucy's room the other day. Made me want to vomit. Ewwww! Time to buy mouse traps!

Funny Ben, A Play Date & A Visit to the Zoo

Ben has been the bearer of silliness lately. When Steven expressed his fear of the dark, I had a conversation with the boys about prayer and the Holy Ghost. We talked about what he does and what he doesn't do (beat up bad guys). We event talked about what you need to do to keep it with you. Well that last part really stuck with Ben and later that week when he asked for a snack and I gave him an answer he didn't like he told me, "God does not like it when you say those words! The Holy Ghost will come out of you!" 

Also this week, when Lucy started playing with a doll on Ben's bed, he got mad at her. It was a bunny doll in a dress so I told him that it was actually a doll for girls. He said, "No it's not, it's wearing yellow!" I then pointed out the purple bow on it's dress. Well, Lucy won out for awhile and Ben appeared to be doing some pondering. After a bit Ben stated, "Mom it doesn't matter what color it is." So yellow or purple, Ben will still play with it ;)

On Friday, Steven had his first play date in Michigan. I am so grateful that the RS President arranged for her son to come over and play. Steven woke up that morning saying, "Is my friend coming over to play today!?" He was so excited and they had such a good time together. And bonus, he only lives like 5 minutes away from us and he is also in Kindergarten at Steven's school (just different teachers).

On Saturday we wanted to get out and do something fun so we decided to go to the Detroit Zoo. It was cold, 18 degrees- real feel 9 degrees, but we decided we were going to get a membership so it wouldn't matter how long we lasted. Despite the cold we had a good time and saw quite a few animals (mainly just the ones that were inside buildings). Ben had a tough time walking to exhibits (it was just SO cold) but I loved the lack of crowds and loved just getting out and doing something.

We went into the atrium first and there were some beautiful birds. We saw a HUGE nest (bottom right picture) but were not lucky enough to see its owner :(

I have decided that I LOVE penguins- seriously cutest things ever! And of course the kids were totally excited by them too! Terrible picture though...

Next we went into the Reptile Building. It was full of creepiness! Check out that huge snake! And the crocodile that is going to bite our kid's heads off (although I am still not sure if that one was real...)

But at least the turtles were super cute :)

Our last stop was at the Polar Bears (though I missed them in this shot of Lucy & Tyler) and seals. The Polar Bears were fun to watch pacing their cage and the seals were fun to watch swimming around. We also saw Bald Eagles, Elk and some random horses as we made our way out. All in all a fun day trip :)

Changes

I'm still adjusting to Michigan and might be for a very long time. Everything here is so different, some things are different good and some things are different not so good. It's hard not to constantly feel like a fish out of water...

This week I encountered my first drive in snow, before the streets were plowed. It was awful :( When I got to Steven's school I was shaking, close to tears and did not want to drive home. But I said a prayer, found a better route and made it home (miraculously) in one piece. I really hope everyone behind me sees the Arizona license plate and understands why I drive like a crazy, snail! I also hope the plate explains why I can't back out of our driveway (which it doesn't but I wish it would). I have always had a hard time with backing up and now I have to back up a bazillion feet without hitting the house, the fence, or a big pile of snow. Boo! Why does leaving the house have to be so difficult!?

This old house continues to drive me crazy--allow me to complain for a long moment--- all the doors & windows leak in cold air, all the folding closet doors won't stay on their frames, the dishwasher is disgusting and unusable (meaning I now have to hand wash all dishes), the front door knobs do not work, there are rats that live in a closet in our bedroom (I swear I hear them at night) and the lead paint is chipping. Every time I complain my mom (when she was here) and Tyler say, "But it's SO cute!" They love to tease me. All I can say is, I felt good about this house so there must be a reason were here. There must be!

One last complaint, I miss having everything so close by! Literally everything is now 20-30 minutes away. We do have a Kroger's (aka Fry's) a few minutes away but it's no Walmart. I'm sort of stuck on the layout of Walmart and ad matching and such things and now I have to drive 20 minutes to get to my place of comfort. We also have to drive 30 minutes to church (which starts at 9am) and the mall is also about 30 minutes away. Oh how lovely things were in AZ.

But, I will end with good because it's not all bad. I love not tutoring anymore. It is amazing how much time that frees up in my day, how much more I enjoy cooking dinner and how much more time I have to help Steven with his homework. I love that Tyler is actually home in the evenings and we can have dinner together and Tyler can be there for Family Home Evening and we can watch movies together at night and run errands together, etc. I also love Steven having school later, from 9-4 instead of 8-3. For some reason it divides up our day perfectly plus I no longer have to wake up Lucy & Ben from naps to pick him up. And an added bonus, squirrels! There are cute little squirrels everywhere and the kids are just entranced by them. Really, it's a good life, I just have to get used to life as a Michagander.

Week 2 in Michigan

On Sunday, a week after arriving in Michigan, the movers arrived! It was SO like Christmas (especially since the kids hadn't seen their actual Christmas gifts since Christmas). As soon as the stuff started coming in I got in my crazy, must finish EVERYTHING NOW mode! I know I drove Tyler crazy and I am pretty positive I drove my mom crazy too. By the end of Monday, we had literally unpacked everything but 2 boxes. If you had seen how many boxes came into this house, I guarantee you would've been impressed.

During my unpacking frenzy the weather turned cRaZy cold, temperatures dropped into the negatives with wind chill dropping it even further into the negatives. This meant that school did not start for Steven on Monday (or Tuesday, or Wednesday). It also meant that when we got cabin fever Monday night we had to endure freezing temperatures to get out of the house. And oh. my. goodness. was it it cold. I about died when we got out of the car to go eat at Guernsey's Dairy. Yet, for some reason we still all enjoyed a bowl of ice cream there. We are crazy, no lie. 

And here's a picture of a giant icicle that formed on our house during the crazy cold:

Tuesday I spent cleaning the house (lots of snow tracks all over our wood floors), and Wednesday & Thursday I spent attempting to decorate. It was one of the worst decorating experiences of my life. I'm not going to lie, a lot of potty words escaped my mouth as I attempted to hammer nails into what felt like brick walls (but are actually just super hard plaster walls). Here are a few pictures of our house. Still not perfect but getting there:

My favorite room is Lucy's though. Check out little Lucy in her reading nook/closet. She absolutely loves going in there and playing with her dolls and pretending to read books...

Thursday & Friday were not awesome days for me. Thursday the oldness of our house came through big time as about half of our electrical plugs stopped working. And of course it was all the important ones, the one that our kitchen appliances were connected too, the ones that were connected to our computers and the ones connected to our TV. It made for a yucky day for me.

Also Thursday, I attempted to make chicken alfredo using one of my cans of chicken. Unfortunately it must of got unsealed in the move. When I removed the ring, the lid popped open and rotten chicken juices spewed EVERYWHERE! It was the worst smell in the world.

And on top of that, my mom went back to AZ. Need I say more!?

Friday, Steven was finally able to start school. I was super excited about only having 2 crazy kids to deal with during the day again but then I backed out of the driveway. And I made it all the way down our long driveway without hitting anything, only to turn my tires right into a snow drift. It was awful! I had no idea how to get unstuck! But the lady across the street took pity on me and got her husband (who had a broken ankle!) to try and help me. Unfortunately he was new to Michigan too and wasn't quite sure how to get me out. He tried super hard though!

After about 15 minutes Tyler arrived (they let him leave work to save me) and he decided he needed to take Steven to school first (so he wouldn't be too late) and then he was going to come back and save my van (which was still sticking most of the way out into the street). Right when he left these 2 guys pulled up and in less than 5 minutes they had my van out. It was miraculous! 

But I was still traumatized, and am now terrified of our driveway. Ridiculous I know. On a brighter note, it was about 30 degrees out and it felt wonderful, I wasn't cold at all. And on another bright note, here is my studly boy all ready for his first day of school in Michigan:   

So as I sit here and try to think positively about these rough, last few days...here are my thoughts. When the electrical thing happened I kept praying, please let me be able to fix it by resetting the circuit breaker. And my prayer wasn't answered and I was frustrated and downtrodden...BUT when the electrical guy came he pointed out that this house is not wired properly to handle all our gizmos. And he contacted our landlord who is now working on fixing that problem, so in the bigger picture, it really needed to happen. We needed the electrician to come see that.

And in the bigger picture with the stuck van. It gave me a reason to meet my neighbors and now we've been properly introduced. And maybe these kind people who also have little ones, might become our friends, thanks to me getting our van stuck. Who knows?

And as far as the rotten chicken goes...well that was just gross. But I know that our life here in Michigan is not going to be easy. The path will be bumpy but I know God has a plan for us and I will try my best to find the positive in all the frustrations that come our way. 

Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum

After being stuck in our fairly empty home for 2 days with no mode of transportation, I was eager to get out Saturday. Our original plan was to go to this ginormous Christmas store in Frankenmuth which I thought was only 40 minutes away. Turns out it was a little over an hour away, which was just a bit too far, so that'll have to wait for another weekend. 

Instead, I got on the internet and did some searching and discovered Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum! Ok, so it wasn't that marvelous. It was very crowded and loud but it did have some marvelously unique, antique coin operated machines & games. Here are some of the interesting ones I took pictures of. However, we didn't put our monies into any of these ones (especially not the peep show one, what do you take us for!?) 

We actually only spent $6 in change but the kids still had a good time and had enough tickets to get a lollipop at the prize counter. Some of the highlights: All the kids loved the mini carousel, Ben & Lucy loved this super mini Ferris wheel like ride (Lucy would point to it and say "weee!"), Ben & Steven both put their money in a machine that was supposed to guarantee you a lollipop but somehow it failed Steven, and watching Ben trying to chuck a ball in for skee ball. Overall, a good time but I think going there once was quite enough :)  

8th Anniversary

On our 8th Anniversary Tyler had his second day of work. So this is the occasion I referred to previously where I took the boys to Main Street. Yes, I braved the cold (18 degrees) to find Tyler an Anniversary gift. Unfortunately Main Street is full of very girl oriented shops. Shops with cute knick knacks, cute things to decorate the house with, girl clothes & accessories, etc. So in the end, I got him chocolate, even though he is not much of a chocolate eater. But it's the thought that counts right!?

When he got home from work, my mom watched the kids while we went out to dinner. We first attempted to go to PF Changs but apparently everyone else was going there too. There was literally no parking spots there, lame! So we saw a Bahama Breeze nearby and decided to try that out instead. It was a good choice, lots of parking spots, sat down right away and the food was delish. 

Afterwards we strolled the aisles of Target, super romantic I know ;) And we bought a bunch of Christmas Candy on clearance- that was his gift to me. We are ridiculously lame, I know, but I love just spending kid free time with him.

I am so blessed to be married to this man who keeps me laughing and helps me to be a better person. I have a feeling, being far away from all our family this year, we are going to grow even closer together and learn to rely on each other more. I am excited for our future of eternity together.

First Week in Michigan

The Sunday after we arrived we were able to go to our new Ward for Sacrament (we had to leave after Sacrament to do a walk through of our rental house). It is a bigger ward than I expected, but definitely not as big as the one we left. It seems like a good mix of age groups. 

We met a nice couple behind us, the husband also works at the GM Proving Grounds. He informed us that most of the ward works at Ford and they are not in Engineer positions but management positions. He was excited to have a fellow GM employee and engineer in the ward. They also have a little girl Benny's age and one close to Lucy's age. 

We also met the Bishop, very friendly guy and he informed us that we were the answer to his prayers. My mom thinks that means he has high callings in mind for us, ha! I hope not!

On another note, we spent our first few days in a hotel. Wednesday morning we were supposed to check out of that hotel and then go check into another hotel but we decided it would be better to camp out in our house. Lucy was refusing to sleep unless she was in our bed (which is TERRIBLE) and the kids just couldn't handle being quiet in the rooms. It was just not going well.

So we did a huge Walmart run, got pillows, blankets, air mattresses (my mom got an amazing deluxe one),etc and set up camp in our home. Life was much better there. The kids had room to run and yell. We were able to store and cook our own food and there was even a yard to play in. 

While things were better in our house, it did get old after awhile. The temp's slowly dropped and a lot of snow was falling making playtime outside pretty unbearable and we had very little toys inside, just what fit in a small suitcase. I was so glad my mom was there to help keep me from going crazy, being confined in a pretty empty house with three kids, I much needed her. We spent a lot of time on her deluxe mattress, chatting and reading and surfing our phones. 

Here are some fun cold weather pic's (Yes, I did go out in the cold! Be impressed! I even walked to Main Street and visited the shops with the boys!)

Leaving Az

The movers came to box up our stuff the day after Christmas. It was pretty much insanity. I left the house each morning so the kids wouldn't get in the way and I came home each day to less stuff. The first day they unexpectedly packed our whole kitchen-- including all the dry and liquid goods which I had thought they had said they weren't allowed to pack. That meant a quick trip to Walmart so we could eat, only to realize when we got home that the canned food we had bought couldn't be opened. Thank you neighbors for lending us a can opener.

On Saturday our plane was scheduled to leave at 1pm. That meant we had some time in the morning before we needed to go to the airport. While the movers loaded up our stuff, I took the kids to Spinnaker Bay Park for one last hurrah. We love that park and have been there so often, sometimes just us and other times with all our church friends. So sad to say goodbye to it...

'

When the kids were done at the park we went for a walk in the neighborhood, I had the kids take some pictures by our neighborhood entrance. I also attempted to get a picture of the moving van and our house. None of the pictures turned out so well...

Then Tyler's parents came to say goodbye to us... 

And then it was off to the airport. My dad and brother were kind enough to not only drive us there but to also help us with our stuff as we got checked in. My goodness was the airport busy but thankfully we got through each line smoothly and made it to our gate with some time to spare. We also got lucky and they were able to switch our seats so that we were all in a row together.

Once on the plane, the boys did such a good job sitting by their dad. They were entertained by all the toys, treats and activity books I had packed for them and, of course, they were entertained by the tablet.

Lucy sat by me and my mom. I am not going to lie, we gave her a little Benadryl to help encourage a nap. She didn't nap at first though, stayed awake and happy for about an hour, then she got fussy. After about 15 minutes of rocking and soothing she passed out and slept for a good hour. Then she was awake for the last hour of the flight and happy until the last few minutes when she was anxious to get out. All in all though, it went really well.

Once at the airport, we got luggage, caught the bus to the car rental place, got our extremely expensive rental SUV (which we ended up taking back because it was going to cost for 3 days what we could get another for 9 days), then we checked into our hotel and ended the night with some dinner at Wendy's.

Needless to say by the time we got back to the hotel we were pooped and ready for bed. Unfortunately we discovered Lucy does not sleep well in hotels (probably the whole sharing a room thing). It was not an awesome end to a long day....

Christmas Day

Christmas morning the boys came into our room around 6:30, though they evidently got up much earlier. Steven informed us that Santa did not put his gifts on the fireplace this time and after some coaxing I got him to admit that he already peeked at the loot.

Here are all the "kids" with their Santa gifts:

And here they are with more gifts. Spoiled as usual! In the bottom right they are holding the gifts they picked out for each other. Benny got Steven a small truck with a trailer and Steven got Benny a frog gumball machine:

Steven was more than happy to help Lucy open all her gifts. On the bottom left she is holding a yellow duck that Steven got for her and on the top right she is wearing a hat her Aunt Ragena made her:

And now our traditional picture of each kid and all their loot:

Then us grown ups with our loot. Don't I look like a big kid with my Minion Dave!?

After we did our Christmas thing we headed to his parent's house where we got to eat shrimp and crackers. We also got to Skype his sister Mariah. She got so emotional seeing her family, but she is still just as bubbly as she has always been. She has such a strong spirit and desire to share the gospel. I love that girl and am so proud of her.

Our last destination Christmas day was my parent' house. More spoiling occured, and we stuffed our faces with Christmas dinner. As usual it was a lovely, family filled Christmas day.

Christmas Eve Festivities

As tradition calls we spent Christmas Eve at Tyler's parent's house. There we enjoyed an amazing dinner, hang out with family, opened up our pajamas and went for a drive to see lights in a nearby neighborhood. Going to miss these traditions if we don't make it back to AZ next Christmas (honestly, who's going to make me such a delicious dinner!?). 

Steven with his adorable niece, Reese, and Lucy (who can't stay still)

It cracks me up how excited the boys get to open up their Pj's, honestly it's just PJ's ;) Steven's were like 5 sizes too big but he was nice to mommy and endured wearing them for the night. I love how Lucy wore hers around her neck like a scarf for awhile. She is always doing that, it's too funny!

Once in our PJ's I had to get a picture of me and the kids... 

...And then me & Ben got a little silly...

That night we got to bed super late so the kids easily fell fast asleep, Santa did not have to worry about them peeking at all ;)