Independence Day

We had a fantastic Independence Day weekend! It started on July 3rd when Tyler, Derek, Dan, Choka, Zayaa, Danny, Ariunaa, my Dad, and I went to BYU campus to have a picnic and wait for fireworks! We had Panda Express and then just enjoyed the sunshine. The kids had so much fun running around, rolling down hills, bouncing balls, and eating ice cream. The picture above is all the kids in the outfits that their Grandma Sherry bought them.

This is my favorite picture. Such handsome boys!!

Our little family.

Papa and his grandkids.

The fireworks were amazing and I think we all had a pretty good time. Danny and Zayaa don't like loud noises, so their hands were over their ears the whole time. Derek liked the fireworks. He didn't seem bothered by them at all. He even was possibly even bored by the end.

On the 4th of July, we went to church and then had a barbecue at Dan and Choka's house. I was a little skeptical of the T-Bone steak they made me, but it turned out to be tender and yummy! I was very impressed. Dan made ice cream and, as always, it was delicious.


On July 5th, Dad, Tyler, Derek, and I met Dan, Choka, Zayaa, Danny, and Ariunaa at the park. Here's Derek in the outfit his Grandma Prestgard bought him:

We fed the ducks and played on the swing-set. Derek LOVED the swing. That's all he wanted to do. He probably would have stayed there all day if we would have let him. Every time we tried to get him out to go feed the ducks or run around or slide down the slide, he'd scream. He just wanted to swing.

After the park, we went to eat at Five Guys where we had some delicious burgers. I'm not a big meat eater but I dream about the burger I had at Five Guys. Yum yum.

I worked that night but the whole family came in to the restaurant. It was so fun to be their server! It made work go by much quicker. It wasn't too busy that night, so I got to visit with them a little.

All in all, it was a really good weekend! Happy Independence Day! (Late as always....)

Title Cliche: Calm Before the Storm

I have put off writing about this but I'll update anyways.

Last Wednesday I went to bed and had one of those rare moments of perfection, of complete bliss. Everything in my life was right where it should be. Before I even had a chance to enjoy the moment, blind panic set in, for I've had this feeling of perfection before and trials inevitably follow. I had to calm myself down so that I could sleep.

The next day, Derek and I went to swimming lessons and had a great time. I had forgotten about the panic the night before and didn't think anything of our neighbor's car parked in front of their house. Tyler and our neighbor carpooled to work that day and I thought they might have come home because his wife needed help. I thought to myself, "I'll have to call Tyler when I get in the house to see if he needs a ride home." When I opened our front door, Tyler was walking up our stairs. It startled me, but I wasn't thinking that anything out of the ordinary was happening. I asked him what he was doing home, chiding him a little for scaring me in that way. He sadly answered, "What do you think?"

Tyler's department downsized and outsourced and didn't renew several contracts, including Tyler's. So we are back to job searching and unemployment. Hello uncertainty; I can't say that I've missed you.

We're dong all right, considering. I'm still working at the restaurant and Tyler's all ready had a couple of interviews. He's such a good man and I'm sure he'll find something soon. We're hopeful and we're happy and healthy otherwise. So that's something.

Derek at 15 Months

We had Derek's well-baby appointment a week or two ago. He is in the 60th percentile for height but isn't even on the charts for weight. The doctor said that by looking at me and Tyler, she's not expecting him to be very big, but she'd like to see him on the charts. We're trying to give him lots of good fats like milk, peanut butter, etc. He won't drink a lot of milk, but he likes yogurt, so that's something. The picture above is Derek with a mouth full of french toast. I especially love the powdered sugar on the nose. He loves to feed himself. He almost won't eat unless we let him do it himself. He's really good at using a spoon.

We did mommy and me swimming lessons for the last two weeks. He LOVED it. We'd get to the pool and he'd start saying, "water! water!" which sounded more like, "wadee! wadee!" It was fun to get in the water everyday, sing songs, and play. It kept us busy while Choka was gone. It actually kept us busy until Tyler got home everyday.

Derek's favorite movie right now is Disney/Pixar's "Cars". He's obsessed with all things cars. I'm fine with it. It's a good movie and very entertaining and I was getting a little tired of "Yo Gabba Gabba". He also loves to ride in the car and to play with toy cars. He also loves to pretend to drive our car. Such a boy.


He says quite a few words for a 15 month old. 3-4 words is normal and Derek has a vocabulary of 15-16 words. I am trying to make a list of all the words he says, but I'm fairly certain that I'm forgetting some. He also is a little gymnast. Last night he kept trying to do somersaults. I was pretty impressed.

Unfortunately, he's also started with the tantrums. He's still adorable though and we love him very much. He's a smart kid, charming, and happy. I'm still loving motherhood. I love you, Derek!

Dear General Public (and especially the eccentric couple at one of my tables the other night...)

Hating something because it's popular is just as bad as liking something just because it's popular.
love,
Tara

Bumblebee and Baby

Kensington had her first dance recital on Monday. She was adorable! We were glad we were able to make it and with the traffic up to Salt Lake, we almost didn't make it. We got there at the beginning of her second dance. She was the cutest bumblebee.

We also got to meet new baby Juliette. What a cutie! She's tiny and slept most of the time that we were with her. I wish I could have held her! I still had some sinus issues and weren't sure if they were allergies or cold related, so I stayed at arm's length. Shanda made it to Kensington's recital as well, which is amazing since Juliette was born on Wednesday! What a trooper. She looked great.

I love this picture of Tyler and Juliette.

It was good to see everybody and to get out of the house. I have wanted to meet this sweet little baby all week and was so glad to finally get to see her. She's adorable. It kinda makes me want another one. I forgot how cute and tiny and sleepy fresh babies are. Then again, I also remember how tired I was.

I do want Derek to have a sibling though. Look how sweet:

Welcome Juliette and Congratulations to Kensington for a dance well danced.

Eating Out and Visiting is Fun

Katie and Dad came to visit in the last couple of weeks. We had lots of fun just hanging out with them. The first couple of days that Katie was in town, she, Choka, and I had some quality girl time with all of our husbands gone or busy. (Cory couldn't come because of work, Dan was in at a conference in California, and my Tyler is always at work.) So we did a lot of shopping and talking.

Dad came into town on a Thursday, I think. We, of course, had the "Dad Special" that night - Costco Pizza and Caesar Salad. He convinced us all to get up extra early on Friday to go to my Aunt Debbie's birthday breakfast in American Fork. It's the earliest we've been up and ready to go in a long time. It was a lot of fun! And Happy Birthday to Aunt Debbie!

Choka, Dad, Tyler and I played "Taboo" after the kids went to bed that night. Choka always teases me and Tyler about our method of "Taboo" playing. She says it's freaky that we nearly read each others' minds. Tyler and I won.

Saturday, we got up early again and had breakfast at Kneaders. I've wanted to try to the unlimited french toast breakfast forever but could never get out of bed early enough to try it. Lazy bones. Man, was it good. Good and rich and delectable. Mmmmmm....

That night, my dad and I went to a commitment ceremony for my Aunt Debbie and her beau Jeff. She looked beautiful and they both seemed very happy. They exchanged vows and rings and they had the best little chocolate cupcakes.


The last day Dad was in town, we had breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. Derek had so much fun. They gave him a little place setting with an orange, cup of cheerios, crackers, and even a bib. He loved having his own little place and feeding himself. He was being such a ham too. Tyler gave him a bite or two of butter and Derek loved it. Derek also loved having his Papa here. All the kids loved having him here. They all wanted to climb all over him. Ariunaa calls him, "my Papa." Most of the time he had to hold Derek and Ariunaa 'cause when he had one or the other, there was lots of jealousy.

It was sad to see Dad go. We loved having him here. He helps out so much. We love you, Dad. Come back soon!
Katie, too! We loved having you, too! We miss you!

Sickies

I've been sick since Wednesday night.

We have a new baby niece, little baby Nuila, who was born that day and I was so excited to go see her!! Derek and I met Choka at the mall while she was getting her nails done so we could say goodbye to her before she left for Mongolia. After we said our goodbyes, Derek and I picked out a few little things to give to the new bundle of joy, her Mom, and her Big Sister. I made sure to have them all ready to go so that when Tyler got home, we could go up to the hospital for a quick visit.

Derek and I took a nap and when I woke up, I started feeling a little off. By the time Tyler got home, I could barely move. I didn't check my temperature that night, but I'm pretty sure it was over 104. I think I was delusional. It's all a bit fuzzy but I remember being really scared. I was shaking because I was so cold but Tyler said I was burning up. I ended up alternating between sleeping on the bathroom floor and throwing up.

I woke up with a HUGE headache, partly because I was sick, partly because I was dehydrated. I was afraid to eat anything on Thursday. I don't remember a lot of Thursday. Most of the day was spent trying to entertain D-Bug without moving too much. We watched a lot of television and movies (which I usually try to avoid more than about 20-40 minutes a day) but I kinda feel like Mommy sick days are somewhat of a special situation. Derek loves the Pixar movie, Cars, right now and of course there was a lot of Yo Gabba Gabba watching.
My fever was down to 102.9 that night.

Friday morning was about the same. Every step I took made my head hurt. I finally broke down and called the doctor. Went to the doctor. They gave me medicine. I started to feel a little better and called work. "Sure I can work tomorrow. I all ready feel a little better; I'm sure I'll feel even better tomorrow." When will I learn? The initial relief felt when you start to get better is always greater than how you feel the next day, especially when you do more than you should and wear yourself out.

Saturday, I didn't get out of bed until 4pm. I got ready for work slowly. It was not fun. I went to work. It was torture. I came home and was exhausted.

So today is Sunday and I'm still not feeling well. I feel awful, actually. Needless to say, we still have not met our new niece or had the opportunity to see Shanda or Kensington, or to check on my brother and his kids while their wife/mommy is away. What a horrible time to get sick.

Another thing, if you tell people you threw up, they automatically think you're pregnant. I put on my Facebook status that I threw up and in came the e-mails, the messages, and the comments all asking if I was pregnant. In case you, reader, are wondering, no, I'm not pregnant. At least those questions were somewhat solicited by the headline of throwing up. The other day at work, one of the cooks told me I looked different and asked if I was pregnant. I asked, "what, because I gained a few pounds or because my face is broken out you think I'm pregnant?" Anytime I go to LA, my face breaks out and every time I go on vacation, I come home a few pounds heavier than when I left. It had nothing to do with pregnancy, but thanks for noticing how bad I look. Then he followed with, "no, you just have really big bags under your eyes." Well THANK YOU. A girl always loves to hear how tired and puffy she looks.

All right well I'm done with that rant. Hopefully we'll get to meet cute li'l baby Nuila soon. I don't have anything contagious, so I might be able to go sooner than I would have been able to if it was like a virus or something. I also should go play with our nieces and nephew on the other side of the family and give their daddy some relief. And I have to feel better by tomorrow at 11:30am because Derek and I start our Mommy and Me Swimming class tomorrow!!