Toys

Saturday we went to the big toy store. The boys were sooooo excited. Jay was cracking me up! We went with the intent to look at toys to get an idea of what to get Sai for his birthday tomorrow.

While we were looking at Transformer toys and Star Wars toys I looked across the aisle to the pink side. And I thought, “Oh! I can start looking at girl toys now.” It seemed that there were more boy toys than girl toys. And most of the girl toys were dolls and stuff. But I got super annoyed that there was one whole row dedicated to pretend cleaning and cooking supplies. It just seemed so stereotypical and I was annoyed. I’m not a super feminist but that sure touched off the feminist in me. Boys can play like they are vacuuming and sweeping too!

And then there were the freaky dolls that started talking when I walked by. It’s all a little too Chatty Cathy/Twilight Zone for me.

Friday I got off work early so we did the big dinner and movie for Sai’s birthday since we can’t do it during the day tomorrow. He picked to eat at Cracker Barrel. Yum. And we went to see Wall-e. Good movie.

12

12 years ago today Joe and I got married. I can’t believe it. We have been through a lot of good and a lot of bad. Here are some (hopefully) interesting tidbits about us.

*We were trying to remember our first real date and we think we went to this place called Galaxy Diner (which is now long gone).

*We have moved a lot in the past 12 years. Including times spent living with family, like right now, we have had 7 places to call home. And we are looking forward to our 8th.

*We’ve done a little bit of traveling. We tried to get a lot of travelling in before we started having kids. One year we spent Joe’s birthday in September in Boston then we were in San Diego for Thanksgiving. It was fun to hit both coasts in 2 months.

*We didn’t want to rush into having kids when we got married. And we also had some infertility issues. So we celebrated our 6th anniversary on a Saturday and Sai was born on the following Monday.

I’m sure there are more interesting things about us but this is all I came up with thinking on the fly.

I’m very happy about being married to Joe. The past 12 years have had their ups and downs. But here we are. It started with 2 and now we are a family of 5.

I LOVE YOU JOE!

I Survived

I survived my first week back at work. It wasn’t bad. Knowing that the kids were home with Joe made the transition easier. And when Joe starts school next week it will be OK because his cousin is watching our kids.

Friday I got to meet up with my old friends Mindy and Serena. I was nervous that things would somehow be awkward. But they weren’t. We started chatting away like it hadn’t been a year or longer since we last saw each other. I got to see Serena’s cute baby girl who has tons of curly hair (I’m jealous. I hope Sophie didn’t get a complex after seeing that! ) This coming week I get to meet up with old friend Kelly. I get to pick the place, again. Oh the pressure!

And Friday Joe, Sai, and Jay went to the zoo with Joe’s sister Felicia. I think the boys had a lot of fun. Then the boys stayed the night at Grandpa and Grandma M. I didn’t see them again until late Saturday when we picked them up. I really missed them. When we pulled up to Joe’s parent’s Jay saw us and started crying. I think he realized that he missed us. Plus he was really tired. He had too much fun. And it was weird when it was just Joe, Sophie and me. It felt kind of like the old days when it was just Joe, Sai and me.

Does anyone know how to imbed videos from flickr into WordPress? I can’t figure it out and I have a cute video of Sophie I wanted to post. So just go see it here instead.

First Day of Work

Here are the boys when I said good-bye yesterday morning as I headed off to my first day of work. The first day of work wasn’t bad. Wasn’t super productive but not terrible. I set up my cube (brand new laptop with docking station and huge monitor, Wahoo!) and met some people and got access to programs. That’s about it. I was happy to go home and see the family. Joe had dinner ready and the kids were all nice and happy.

It’s Off to Work I Go

I start work on Monday. It’s the job I had two interviews for. I can’t remember the name of my position. Something to do with supply chain. And since I’ve been away from the company for less than three years they are hiring me back at my old salary. YAY!

It’s amazing how things are falling into place for us. When we moved to Oregon a lot of things just fell into place for us making us feel like we made the right decision. The same thing is happening here. It feels like we are doing the right things.

Joe starts school on the 30th. We bought his school uniform–scrubs and mostly white shoes. And some school supplies. I think he’s good to go.

And we’ve been lucky to hire Joe’s cousin as our day care provider. So the kids will be watched by someone we know and trust. And because of Joe’s school schedule it will only be four days a week.

Living back in Utah has been interesting. I realize that I missed living by the mountains. I wish I had my camera cord so I could post pictures of the mountains and how close we are to them. And how close we ae to Utah Lake. I had also forgotten how to drive in traffic on the freeway. But it has been nice to be so close to so many things. And to have cheaper groceries. I had forgotten how much cheaper food is here than it was in Central Oregon. But we do have to deal with saes tax now.

Jay is 3

(Sorry, camera phone quality isn’t the best.)

Today is Jay’s 3rd birthday! I can’t believe that he is 3-years-old already.

Well, he is a big boy–he is well beyond the toddler stage. I’m really amazed at all the things he knows, says, and does. In fact, we are in the middle of potty training. He does really well. I think he likes being a big boy like Sai.

To celebrate his birthday we are going to lunch and a movie, all his choice. So that means McDonald’s and Kung Fu Panda. (We were going to go to the water park but it just isn’t quite warm enough for me.) And a cake and presents at some point today. I still have to frost his cake. I’m doing the lazy mom’s version and bought action figures to put on his cake since he said he wanted an Ironman cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY!

Oh Great

I took the boys to University Mall today. They didn’t get the concept of a mall at first. Sai says “We’re going to Macy’s?” I tried explaining that it was a big building with lots of stores. They got it once we walked inside.

I got them each a new t-shirt–1 Star Wars Lego, 1 Speed Racer. Then we went to the cheap shoe store to look for summer sandals. The store didn’t have the sandals with toes in Sai’s size so we didn’t buy sandals.

Sai threw a HUGE fit. It was so embarassing! He was yelling at me amd tugging my arm all the back to the car. I seriously wanted to stop in front of everyone and paddle his rear end!

I made it out to the car, got the boys in their seats, and started to drive away. Sai starts yelling at me again. Things like “You’re a mean mom,” and “Nobody loves me,” and “You never buy me shoes,” and my favorite “Don’t tell Dad.” I lost it. I stopped the car and did a little yelling of my own. Not a proud mothering moment. (OK Rhonda,how do you lovng logic this one?)

I didn’t even have to say anything to Joe when we got home because Sai burst in and told on himself.

I’m over it now. Joe made chocolate chip cookies so I feel better.

Oh, Hi

I think it must be the stress of moving, or something, because we are sick. Joe’s been achy and sore throat and coughing. Sai’s had serious allergies and hives. Jay’s got runny nose and cough. I’ve got sore throat and aches. UGH!

But other than that things are great!

I’ve got a second interview on Monday for the first job. And an interview tomorrow for a second job. Both with the same company. I kind of don’t want the first job because it will require travel which I’m just not that excited about. So I’m really hoping the interview on Friday goes well. I have 9+ years of experience at this company which has really helped out. But if I don’t get a job here it’s not a big deal. I’ve been looking at other jobs. But the benefits at this company are what draws me. Plus it takes 5 minutes to drive there from my sister’s house!

If my parents have a USB cord that works with my camera I’ll post some pictures since they have the higher speed connection. 

Two boys with a bunk bed. I can’t make the top bed. When I put the sheets on I crawled up there. I will not do that again! I make Sai crawl up there to help me out. Sai is doing well on the top bunk. I was afraid that he would fall off if he needed to get up for the potty during the night. He has bonked his head on the ceiling, though, so we’ve told them NO PLAYING ON THE BEDS! (They’re like 2 of the monkeys from 5 little monkeys.)

And I’m missing out on all the blogs I like to read. I hope to get a chance to catch up on them soon.

Back in Utah

We made it!

Jay and Sophie did amazing on our flights. The first flight from Redmond to Portland was less than a half hour. Both kids were wide awake and fine during the whole thing. In Portland we had enough time to walk at Jay’s pace from one gate to another, change Sophie’s diaper, and grab some lunch. Sophie fell asleep before we boarded the flight to Salt Lake. And Jay fell asleep early in the flight. The both slept, even through the landing. They were pretty awesome.

Joe and Sai got here late afernoon on Saturday. I think their drive went well. Long but good.

Now we are trying to settle in and sort out what we need at my sister’s and goes into storage.

Today Joe has an appointment with his school. And I have a job interview at my old company. I’ll let ou know how it goes.