Music Table 6-18 months

For Christmas, Mammy and Grandfather gave Kyle a leap frog music table. We took it out of the box and played with it with him, he cried in fear. He was also three months younger than the recommended age. It has sat in his room for months now. All the bigger kids that come to play love it, but still it has been beyond Kyle.

In the last few weeks, Kyle has gotten better and better at sitting independently and he can do it for up to a half an hour at a time, at which point he just gets really tired of it. For the first time last week, when I went to visit neighbors I did not have to hold him the whole time and I could put him down to eat lunch. It's been the best new development yet.

The music table was still to big for him because when he would sit under it, it would be about the level of his head. I would hold him to stand up to it, but then I have to be there the whole time. On Thursday, I had a brilliant idea....


That's right, I took two legs off so it would make an "A" and he could sit under it and play. Periodically we rotate sides. I'm in heaven.....


This is the video I got of him playing with it that Thursday morning.



Thanks Mammy and Grandfather.

Joy, Unadulterated Joy!

Evan's Mac laptop was knocked off our coffee table several months ago, it is in pretty bad shape because of that. The screen is jacked off it's hinges and won't stay upright, the computer is very slow and yesterday it quit recognizing the wireless card. My Dell laptop I've had for eight years. It still runs and works, but it is very bulky, has a lot of viruses, and doesn't do wireless internet. There are some other small annoyances like it doesn't hold a charge on the battery so it has to be plugged in all the time. We've known it was time for a new computer for a while and we've been saving for it.

Friday night we bought this....and Evan is totally expressing his excitement over our purchase.


This is the caress of pure love he feels for his new joy.....

This is now the way the computer desk looks although once we've transferred the hard drive on the mac laptop, it will be going away. Evan hasn't decided what he wants to do with it yet.


I have to admit it is pretty. We can now watch movies again and just having something that is faster and has the big screen is so nice. However, all the pictures from the trip are on my old laptop and Evan hasn't transferred them over yet, so the posts might be delayed for another long while. Sorry folks.

In the Car, Driving Along

Last month, we took our first vacation since getting married and Kyle's first vacation ever. It was over our one year anniversary. Since most of my family had never met Kyle and my mother always invites us to sleep on her couch any time we want--we decided to take a road trip to Portland. We left as soon as Evan got off work on Thursday the 26th, so at 4pm. Then I drove us through the night and we arrived in Portland at 4 am on Friday. On the way back, we left Monday the 2nd at 10am and arrived home in Salt Lake around 1am. I was a little worried about how Kyle would do in the car for so long, but I shouldn't have thought twice about it.

This is Kyle waiting more patiently than me for Evan to get home so we could leave.


Ekitzel and Alexis let us borrow their Prius for the trip. It meant that we stopped for gas twice during the trip--that thing was amazing. Imagine driving 700 miles for $35 in gas. This is Evan waiting for me to get us driving.


This is Kyle on the way home just sleeping. He slept for most of it, but he was awake for several hours just talking on the way there and on the way home. He cried twice for five minutes each on the way there and not once on the way back. He was perfect. We stopped once to feed him on the way there and twice on the way home. For a twelve hour trip he traveled better than almost anyone I know.


Evan drove for one hundred miles on Monday while we were driving back. I don't ever get tired driving at night, but during the day--it just seems to lull me to sleep. Evan is the opposite. So he drove and I took an hour nap.


This is Kyle after we had stopped so he could have a quick snack.


All in all, the drive was fabulous. Beautiful scenery, good company, lots of time to think, and it went so smoothly. We have decided that we love road trips and hope to take another one soon. Kyle really does well in the car. However, only if he is alone. If anyone else is in the back with him he cries, especially if it is me because he feels that he shouldn't be strapped in, but in my arms. Such a spoiled little momma's boy.

Moving Day

Last month we moved. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. When we got married and moved into our first apartment together it took me from the 28th of February 2008 to the 11th of September 2008 to unpack our house. It was difficult and I was so sick. I was a little worried about getting time to pack with Kyle and being able to unpack in the new house.

Here is a picture of some of the boxes. I had Ekitzel over to help me on moving day while Evan was at work and she moved a lot of the boxes to the truck.


This is the empty monstrosity. Evan and I bought this at Ikea before Kyle was born. It is about three hundred pounds and is a huge bookcase. It is 5 rows across and 5 rows high of square shelves. It took 22 boxes to pack all the books that were on it.


This is Ekitzel playing with Kyle after we were done and before our volunteer group came to help us move. Because we moved within our ward we had help on both sides.


It took our friends under 90 minutes to load, move, and unload everything. Ekitzel and I went to get pizza and ice cream during that time. It went smoother than I could imagine. My biggest concern was that we were completely packed and cleaned and ready to just move when everyone got there. We were, luckily. But only because of Ekitzel's help.

This is the pride and joy of my life. We bought these the day before we moved and within three days I had done ten loads of laundry. I never felt like a completed adult until I had these in my apartment and now I will never have to get quarters or go to my in-laws for laundry again. Joy!


This is our new living room. We were able for fifty dollars more a month to double our square footage and we went from one bed, one bath to two bed, two bath and a pantry with hook-ups. All in the same ward at the time we wanted. It was amazing how it all worked out.

This is our new living room. I even have windows with natural light in our new place and more privacy. Since we moved, we've been able to hold three dinner partys with two more planned. It is like my dream apartment for this stage. I couldn't have asked for anything better. There is also a playground right along my building.


The greatest thing of all is that I unpacked 75% of it in four days before we left on our roadtrip to Portland. I finished with most of it the week after. There were three boxes that hung around until the 17th of March, but in less than a month our house was completely unpacked and cleaned. Considering how long it took last time, I'm pretty proud of myself.

I'm very happy with our move and I am not trying to gloat, but after living in a hole for the first year of our marriage we feel pretty good. Needless to say, our door is always open to visitors. We have been making purchases and doing things to improve our house, so expect more house posts.

P.S. I'd like to express my profound gratitude for those who helped us doing the heavy moving. Especially Frances who held Kyle while it was all getting unpacked from the UHaul. :)

Facial Manipulation

Last night as Evan was getting Kyle undressed to eat in his bouncy, I walked in to this scene....



I couldn't help but video tape it. I'm the one trying not to laugh in the background, by the way. Kyle likes to move....he loves to be thrown it the air, feel the dropping sensation, bounce, shake and all sorts of things. So don't worry, if you can't tell in the video, he's smiling at Evan.

Well I unpacked my cord--again--after I had repacked it from unpacking it last time. Hopefully, nothing cute will happen until I am settled in at the new place so I don't have to unpack it a third time.

What's Up My Ninjas?

Evan and I have a very good friend named Nate. Nate is currently in Alabama training to become a helicopter pilot with the National Guard. However, right before he left in the fall he purchased a house. We often drive right by the house and I often say things like, "Hi Nate. We miss you." It was hard for us when Nate left because he was one of our favorite random hangouts.

Last night, Evan and I were stopped at the light close to his house. Our conversation went something like this. [Note: Evan works with Alzheimer's patients.]

Me: Hi Nate! We miss you.
Evan: You know he's not there right.
M: Come back from Alabama soon.
E: This is what it's going to be like when you have Alzheimer's and I have to take care of you. I'll go like this (huge sigh and sad drooped head shake).
You'll always talk about Nate and I'll have to say, 'Holly, Nate died in a helicopter crash back in 2015.'
[Light changes]
M: Bye Nate!
E: I'll get a plaque that says, 'Nate's dead,' and just point at it.


I know that this is possibly a little morbid, but I was rolling in my seat laughing. I just wonder where Evan comes up with these elaborate stories. I would have just said to someone, "You're an idiot for talking to a house," not my creative husband.

Valentine's Day

So I should be packing because we are moving this Saturday and I am not close to being done. However, instead I unpacked a box to find my camera cord to upload pictures so that I could blog. I am very responsible, trust me.

Evan and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Neither of us are very romantic and neither of us are good with waiting or secrets. We exchanged gifts by about Wednesday and we both knew what we were getting early. Evan received Nerf guns of his choosing.....


This is my new Doctrine & Covenants book. It has all of the text and bonus materials like quotes and background information along side. I was so excited to take it to church this week, but I forgot.


I did tell Evan that I wanted our plans to be a surprise. Ekitzel baby sat Kyle and we went for a very romantic dinner at....


I love this restaurant and we went all out. We even had their crispy caramel banana cheesecake crepes for desert, which were very yummy if you have an Evan to eat the banana slices. I always get the strawberry stuffed french toast and Evan got biscuits and gravy. We're simple folk, what can we say?

After that we headed over to Trolley Square. We walked around and window shopped. Stopped at Restoration Hardware and coveted all the $5000 leather couches we can't afford and spent my Christmas money from William Sonoma.

On our way out we took a picture one-handed (our specialty) in front of the lit trees. Evan was a little shaky so it turned out like this and we love it....


While we were at IHop, Evan and I couldn't resist purchasing this bean bag monkey for Kyle. This particular shade of pink (Susan G. Koman Foundation breast cancer pink) is Evan's favorite color. Kyle seems to like it a lot and we have been taking it everywhere. The widow's peak on monkey reminds me of Kyle, especially when Kyle raises his eyebrows.


It came with a rather silly name, but like all his stuffed animals (all three) it goes simply by the species: monkey. It's friends are puppy and bunny, both of which came from a loving nana.


As we were out today, three people mistook him for a girl. That has never happened. I wonder if it is the pink monkey. :)