Navajo

We went down to Navajo Lake this month with the family. The last time we were there I was pregnant with Constance. So it's been a while.

It was a busy week with work. We were up the night before wrapping things up so that only left the morning of the trip to pack and throw everything in the car. Then after everyone and everything was thrown in the car, all that was left was 5.5-hour drive to New Mexico. Actually with the kids needing to get out at various stops it was more like 6 hours.

Of course, both Ana and Constance fought falling asleep in the car until the bitter end. Ana even figured out how to push some of Constance's buttons which led to endless giggles and some wailing.

But we finally got there. Let's just say the trip with two kids in the backseat made the drive seem much longer than before.

The first night there was pretty nice. The mosquitoes weren't too bad and Constance had her first s'more which she was very impressed with, even though Papa cooked the marshmallow until it was thoroughly brown.

The next morning we went on the boat. The kids played in the dirt while we packed everything up.

 Constance liked the boat and the boat ride.

 Ana . . . not so much. The wind blew straight in her face when Papa was driving at full speed. But she eventually just fell asleep.

 Cuddles with Grandma helped.

 Constance even got to drive the boat for a little while too. She made us go in a very sharp zigzag.

 Grandma went tubing the first day and then we had to take the boat back.

 And we spent the afternoon on the "beach" under umbrellas . . .

 Or on the trampoline . . .

 Or toddling around . . .

 Or in the water . . .

Constance (and Ana) screamed and cried when Tom and I tried to take them swimming. But Constance wandered back to the shore a little while later and started wading by herself. Thank goodness for all those swim lessons that have helped her conquer her fear of water!

 Ana even went in the water with Jessie. See? Clearly Tom and I were the problems here.

 The next morning, Grandma and Constance went tubing. But Papa didn't fill the tube up with enough air so as soon as the boat picked up speed, down they went. Constance was not a fan of the cold water but I coaxed her into going back in the tube with me later. That was after I went tubing. I wish we had a video so I could prove that I did it, but I don't. Anyways, it happened. I managed to stay on the tube but eventually my fingers got numb so I gave up and just let go.

 Tom went tubing too.

 On the drive back to Colorado Springs, we noticed a huge cloud in the sky. I told Tom it looked like smoke and we went back and forth debating the source of the cloud until we finally got service on the phones and Tom looked it up. Apparently, there was indeed a huge fire west of Pueblo. Constance saw the red sun and was a bit alarmed. She kept telling us she didn't want the fire to burn the sun.

We made it home to nice comfy beds and warm showers. Except then our water heater went out a couple of days later and the water wasn't so warm.
Then the A/C quit working.
Then the carbon monoxide detectors started going off.
Sometimes you just can't win.

The toddler says . . .

Constance told my mom that she lives in an ice cream mountain and eats butter and cream sandwiches for lunch. Can you imagine the look on my mom's face?

"Book of Mormon stories; if you don't know a lot, then you leave!!!"

One morning Constance tried to coax me out of bed by telling me, "Mom, I've picked out some friends for you to play with."

Constance put on my high heels then informed Daddy that her name isn't Constance, it is "Cayden Tuyoosa."

After naming her first dolly "Undagaada," she decided that her second dolly's name was "Tooee."

Constance informed me that she flew all the way to Oahu to get me some 3t pants from the taco store.

We told Constance we were going to a baptism. "A baptism?" Constance said. Then she ran into the bedroom and returned with her swimsuit and some swim goggles.

I checked Ana's diaper and commented out loud that it was poopy. Constance glances over at me with a completely serious look on her face and in an annoyed tone says, "Just change her diaper already, ok?"

Constance informed me one day that I can grow up to be a baby and suck on a "ba ba." I asked her how I could make sure this happens. She told me to eat lots of peanut butter sandwiches.

Constance, playing in her play kitchen, was stirring up quite the concoction. I asked her if she was making soup. "No it's Hungwan chicken," she tells me. Apparently, one of the key ingredients in this recipe is M&M ketchup.

One morning Constance discovered the little dust particles floating in the air and being illuminated by the morning sunshine through the window. She exclaimed, "Look! They are little fuzzies! They are soooo adorable! Mommy can we keep them?" When Daddy chuckled at her comments, she said, "What's the problem Daddy?!"

I reminded Constance that she was giving the scripture in Primary on Sunday. She says to me, "What? Are you kidding me?"

After looking at the picture of Tom and I on our wedding day outside of the temple Constance told me, "I was there in the temple with Jesus while you and Daddy were getting married."

A new bed

We've been trying to figure out the bed situation for a while: one bedroom to work with, one toddler in a toddler bed, and another little one to add into the configuration.

Ana finally started sleeping through the night a month or two ago. It's been intermittent with the introduction of 4 new molars but she's clearly come to the point where she is ready for sleeping on her own.

So we decided that a trundle bed would be the best long-term solution.

After finding a promising option on Craigslist, Tom and I trekked up to Denver and brought back a beautiful black trundle bed complete with some very nice mattresses. We had to borrow Grandma and Grandpa's Ford Explorer for the trip; and it was a good thing we did, because once we had loaded the bed frame and mattresses, it was filled to the brim.

We left Denver just in time to dodge evening traffic but got stuck in Obama traffic (Obama was in town for the air force graduation) on the way back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to pick up the kids. I took apart the toddler bed while Tom ate his Taco Bell dinner then we both reassembled the trundle bed. The bed looks really nice in Constance's room but it does make her room seem much smaller.

The mattresses are top of the line ones and are so comfortable. Tom and I are tempted to have the kids sleep on our bed while we sleep on the trundle bed. But when we proposed this set up to Constance, she protested loudly.

Constance was excited about the "big girl bed" from the moment she woke up in the morning and we told her the plan for the day. She recited the plan over and over and when we were bringing her back home after getting the bed assembled, she kept asking if she could see her bed.

Constance ran downstairs and exclaimed, "It's sooooo coool!" So excited was she about the new bed that all she wanted to do for the next couple of days is lie down in it. She wanted to go to bed at night at least an hour earlier than usual and complained of being tired and ready for a nap at noon.

Ana, on the other hand, is not as impressed with the set up. She doesn't understand why she can't be on the top bed. When we tried to put her to bed with Constance, all Ana wanted to do was try and climb up to Constance's bed. So for now, we've resorted back to putting her down in the bed after she has fallen asleep. At least this means I still get some good cuddle time with our little one-year-old who said her first full sentence a few days ago while Daddy was on babysitting duty: "I want my mama!"

Fish Eggs and Rice

A little while ago, Ana, my friend Jennifer, and I went to get sushi.

Before we headed over, Jennifer persuaded me that I really ought to try fish eggs. My mom told me that when she was on her mission in Japan, that was the one food item she could not stand. But I had never tried them. So with some positive peer pressure, I thought maybe I would survive the experience.

Constance stayed home with her dad, but I brought Ana since Ana is generally more open to new food experiences. We were not prepared for what happened at the restaurant.

To start off, we ordered this.

The fish egg sushi is the orange stuff in the back. We started off by offering Ana some pieces of veggies. But she refused to eat those and they eventually made their way to the ground.

Then Jennifer offered Ana a fish egg to try. We thought she would spit it out and make a face--the same face she makes when I offer her a sandwich or potatoes. But instead, she put the egg in her mouth and nibbled gingerly. Then the lights came on, and she started trying to grab some more.

We dumped a bunch of fish eggs on her little plate and watched them all disappear.

 It was like watching a 1-year-old eat little grapes. Except they weren't grapes . . .

 I ate my share too and they actually weren't that bad, especially when dunked in soy sauce. And the small, grainy ones were kind of fun to spread on the other pieces of sushi.

After finishing her sushi, Ana wanted to get up and walk around. She walked up to the other tables and was especially intrigued by a group of girls in the table next to us. She kept on coming back to them and showing off her biggest, cheesiest grin.

Then came desert. As soon as the waitress set the mochi ice cream and whipped cream on the table, Ana grabbed the fork and went for it.

I'm sure she would have eaten the entire plate if we had let her. Well, actually she did end up eating most of the whipped cream.

Who knew our little blonde Japanese baby would be such a fan of sushi?

Constance's First Primary Talk

Constance gave her first Primary talk a few weeks ago.

I wrote it out for her on Monday and then we worked on saying it all week. Sunday morning we went to church a little early so she could practice in the Primary room behind the microphone. Constance climbed up the steps to the microphone and said her talk with my help, while Ana looked on. As soon as Constance stepped down, Ana climbed up the steps, pulled down the microphone, and said "Yayayaya!" She had a huge smile on her face and giggled with glee when I picked her up and escorted everyone out of the room.

Grandma and Grandpa came to hear Constance's Primary talk. But halfway through sacrament meeting Ana started fussing. I took her out in the hallway and it got so bad she was literally inconsolable. Her cheeks were flushed and her gums were swollen from all 4 molars that were wanting to come in at the same time. Papa held her in the hallway while I helped Constance with her talk, then he and Grandma took Ana with them to get her some medicine and calm her down while we finished church. They were quite the lifesavers since both Tom and I had to teach during the second hour and Ana was nonstop screaming by then.

I remember my first talk in Primary. My mom being the go-getter that she is had me memorize the entire thing. It went like this:

I am a child of God. You are a child of God. If we keep God's commandments, we will live with him again. (Then I sang "I am a Child of God")

Constance's talk went like this:

I am a child of God. Jesus is my Savior. Jesus got a lot of owies on his body and in his heart so that I can live with my family and Heavenly Father again. I am thankful for what Jesus did for me.

Living Life in a Black Shirt

Lifestyle blog posts are very important. They tell you how you are supposed to be living your life and what you should be wearing while you are doing those things.

So here's my first lifestyle blog post. The featured item is this shirt that my talented friend designed. The goal of this post is to help you understand how your life will be happier and more successful if you are wearing this shirt.

Let's face it, my favorite color to buy a shirt in is black. Black goes with everything. 

Black goes with your boots that you got from Target three years ago, the purse you bought for $19 at TJ Max two years ago, your mascara, and a little stuffed Jiji cat. We bought the Jiji cat here for Halloween last year and it has remained the one and only cat allowed in our house.

 Because we are a hoodie-wearing family, I had to pair this beautiful black shirt with my favorite Aeropostle hoodie. Aeropostle has become one of my favorite places to buy clothes. It's not so much the selection and styles they offer as it is the fact that I can use coupons from their websites on top of the rebate from my Ibotta app.

 Every successful outing begins with sitting on the front steps of a mansion and taking glamour shots with cute kids in the background. In order to capture this moment, I asked Tom to kindly turn himself into an Instagram husband. If you haven't seen the hilarious video that was circulating on Facebook a while ago, you should definitely stop everything you are doing and watch it here.

 This shirt is perfect for outings that include eating miso soup and sushi.

 In fact, if you are wearing this shirt, you must eat sushi--sushi that looks like this.

Of course, if you don't like sushi then I guess you could eat pasta or cereal while wearing this shirt. That would be acceptable. 

Just know that the talented woman who designed this shirt is Japanese, so she would probably be happy if you ate sushi while wearing her artwork. 

The design itself is gorgeous. Constance grabbed my phone and got a good picture of the shirt alone without any sweater or accessories. The artist also has other designs that you can have printed on shirts as well (look over here: https://hollowheartlessizsak.threadless.com/designs).

The great thing about buying a top this versatile is that you can easily dress it down with sweat pants and an oversized hoodie from the man of the house.
This is my favorite way to start off the day.

From Office to Home

A lot has changed in just one month.

For one, Tom quit his job. But then he worked another month after that. So instead of a 2 weeks notice it was more like a one month notice.

It was a long month for him, and us. He crossed out each day on the mini calendar on the fridge.

Then he had one last Friday wearing his favorite shirt. And I got to sing the "I've Been Working on the Railroad" song one last time.

 Although this was not planned, his last day at work was on April Fool's. Tom wore an Aloha shirt and fake glasses to work to see if anyone would notice. Unfortunately, there is no photographic evidence.

And then it was over. Just like that.
He was home on Monday.
He didn't wear a suit.
He worked on his computer downstairs.
He went for walks to the park with us.
He ate lunch with us.

Constance initiated him into the "work-from-home" club.

We feel so blessed that this opportunity worked out for him for the time being. Sometimes it is nice to go from a fast-paced environment to one that is more quiet and focused. We knew for a while that something in Tom's employment situation needed to change. He had to move on to something else. But we didn't know exactly what or where he was supposed to go.

Then around December, Tom and I had the opportunity to begin doing some part-time medical writing. At first, the idea was for him to do law part-time and do the medical writing part time, but that didn't work out.

So we took a huge leap of faith. He quit the associate attorney job without having anything else lined up but the medical writing.

We don't think his involvement in the legal market is exactly over. But there are some complexities in his last job that limit his options for a little while.

In the meantime, it is so nice to see his level of stress go down. We haven't seen him like this in over a year. Constance and Ana love having their Daddy around more often: Ana gets more chances to poke his eyes and Constance can tell him how to eat his lunch and inform him that he must play games with her right now.

I imagine that at some point Tom might run away to either Taco Bell or his Dad's office to escape all the ruckus that goes on around here. But some day we hope he'll have his own home office with a little more privacy.