Update

Teancom is Army Crawling!

Teancom is army crawling, it's official! On Wednesday 2 important events occured with his army crawling. I was sitting at the computer and he crawled into the other room. I heard the noise coming from the kitchen and then jumped up to get him because we have stairs off our kitchen! He was a foot or two away from them, so I was in time, but it was the first time, so it seemed monumental. I'll be putting up the gate when I get home from my trip, so then he can only stay in the living room, or at least can't fall down the stairs. The second one. I gave him some cheerios to eat on the living room floor. He finished those, then crawled towards me quickly, like he had some purpose in doing so. He wasn't looking at me, but next to me. I looked at where he was looking on the desk and realized he was eyeing the cheerios box. So not only was that crawling, but it was a want he had, and he communicated it well enough that I knew what he wanted! It was a fun moment.

Teancom is still just as sweet as ever, he's just mobile now. He looks like he's swimming across the floor when he crawls. He uses his legs when he crawls, he just won't get up on his knees. Or he'll crawl for about half a crawl and then he's army crawling. He is very fast at it, and I wonder if he'll ever crawl for real, cause he's so fast already that I'm not sure he'll feel he "needs" to. We'll see.

Elijah

Elijah is a blast. The other day he was sitting in the living room with Teancom. He said, "Mom, I share with Tankcom." He had some crackers that he had broken up into small pieces. He then put one in Teancom's mouth and said, "Chew. Chew." How cute.

Miciah

Miciah is Miciah. The cutest story about her is from our traveling yesterday (which I'll mention later in the e-mail). She turned to me an hour and a half into a 4 1/2 hour flight. She said, "How long will it be?" Another 3 hours, I told her. "That's too long! I could throw up on the plane. I could DIE on the plane!" I thought that was funny.

Miciah's last day of pre-school was Thursday. She doesn't do her Kindergarten screening until August, they changed the dates on us. It was supposed to be in June, but that's okay with us, since we're in CA for all of June. ... Miciah and C had set up to do Art Class during the summer, once a week for an hour or so. C made up the whole cirriculum. Then we left for all of June. So they did one class early, last week. Miciah made paper flowers with her. Loved it. Then colored a plastic container with markers to make a vase. She colored the entire thing pink. Then she wrapped it up in her skirt and shirt and so was covered in pink marker. I asked her why she did that and she said, "Cause it makes it look cool!" So I couldn't even yell at her--it was in the name of art! :)

Traveling is Fun

Traveling was fun. We flew from Indianapolis to Chicago, had a 3-hour wait (that was on purpose--if giving a choice between a 45-minute layover and a 3-hour layover, give me the 3 hours for my kids to eat and run around), then flew into San Fran, then another 2-hour drive to Mom's house. We drove to Indy Thursday night and stayed in a hotel not 5 minutes from the airport. This made our morning much nicer, since the flight left at 6 a.m. Friday morning we were arriving at the airport with an hour and 15 minutes til the flight, and as Rob stopped the van to get the parking stub, the car died. Go figure. He had to push the car, with the help of the guy behind us, into a parking spot. Oh well, at least we were there. We were on the wrong side of the airport, though. Luckily Indy is a smaller airport. Found United. Well, apparently showing up with enough time but just enough time isn't a good plan. We got to the front of the line fairly quickly, but then the woman helping us had to go to the gate to help out. She checked in 2 of my 4 bags, told me I was all set, then took off. Shortly thereafter, another woman left for the gates. 20 minutes later, and as I had only 45 minutes and less to get on my plane, I finally asked if I could leave Rob with the bags and go through security. They said that was fine, and it was a good thing I did it, too, cause the security line was getting longer.

Rob got the bags through, said goodbye to me in the line, then left to take care of the car. (He had joked the night before about being able to make it to Indy with a 1/4 tank of gas. I thought he was joking, and apparently he should have been, since we ran out of gas at the airport garage. Luckily, that was ALL that was wrong with the car.) Security was fun. Elijah wasn't really awake, and wasn't happy to be there. I made him get out of the stroller and then he laid on the ground and screamed. When we had to move, I'd literally drag him and then set him back down. The other passengers seemed to be okay with all this, a little amused, a little annoyed. I joked with them about how I'd just roll him through the rest of security. Then a lady 5 people back asked if she could hold the baby. I told her I wouldn't turn that down. So then I just had to worry about dragging Elijah. He still screamed, but at least I was able to get through security. She held Teancom all the way through security, and I was pleasantly surprised they let her do that for me. Fortunately they didn't make Elijah walk through the metal detector by himself, cause it wouldn't have worked (I tried). The lady was the last person on her flight, and I was right on time for my boarding group. This was 15 minutes before the flight was supposed to leave.

Flight #1

The first flight was awesome. Teancom slept the whole time. Elijah woke up a little bit and so wasn't crying and screaming any more, and just laid there the whole time. Miciah was across the aisle from me (it was 2 seats, an aisle, then 2 seats), and she chatted off the ear of the young woman sitting next to her. But the woman gave Miciah some paper and a pen to color with, got her bag for her, did anything Miciah asked her to. I was grateful to her.

The Layover

The layover. We hung out at the next gate. A guy told me, "Young lady, you redefine 'multitasking'." I chuckled with him. The kids got to run around a little. And at about the time they were getting really bored with being there, and Elijah was crying on the floor again, a guy came up with his 9 month old daughter and offered Elijah a balloon (one of those made out of rubber gloves). He then spent the next almost hour with us until we had to board, entertaining my kids. I was grateful to him. Some other people there, about Mom and Dad's age, were smiling at my plight, and I laughed along with them. I even offered them a kid or two, but they declined. :)

Flight #2

The long flight went smootly, too. Teancom and Elijah slept for the first 2 hours of it, and I got some sleep in for an hour or so, too. Miciah chatted with the guy across the aisle from us. She must have asked him about 50 times what time it was. Eventually I told her she couldn't ask him anymore. By the end of the flight she was listening to music on the headsets with him. She'd ask what number he was listening to and then she'd change her number to that one. Once she said, "I'm on number 4, listen to number 4." He changed to that one, listened for a few seconds, then said, "BORING. Listen to number 5. It's better." So she changed to number 5. It went on like that for the last part of the flight. I was grateful to him.

Someone else held Teancom so that Elijah and I could go to the bathroom on the flight. I was grateful to him. They said, "It must be hard traveling with 3 kids." I shrugged. It was easier than travelling pregnant and with 2 kids. Easier BY FAR. Besides, we were making it! It was working!

Arrival at SFO

Then we arrived in SFO and I wasn't dead tired (though I was tired from waking up so early) or done with my kids. I was amazed at how many people had helped make our day good. Like Doug at the gate with the balloons who showed up right on time and was there just the right amount of time. We were looked after and helped out by a lot of people Friday and that was amazing and wonderful. Plus, I was gently amused by the whole situation, and that helped a lot, too. I did it without drugging myself (Advil) or the kids (Benedryl). It was a triumph of a day.

I did crash at 8:30 last night. I fell asleep while still awake, and slept through all kinds of noise and distractions. Usually that's hard for me, but it was NOT hard last night. Teancom fell asleep at 6:30 or 7. Elijah, just after that. So they both woke up early: 6:30 a.m. And even though that was 9:30 my time, it still felt like 6:30. :) Hopefully I will be able to sleep a little bit today.

So here we are. It's nice to be here. I'm looking forward to getting my kids back in schedule and used to the time zone. As well as getting them on track with behavior. I switched forms of formula on Teancom and he doesn't like that yet. And Elijah, after traveling and being in a pull-up all day plus, wet his pants this morning, which is very unusual. Plus, I let him have his binky all day traveling, so he isn't liking giving it back. We'll get it all together in a few days and then we can start really enjoying our trip. :)

Oh, Rob had to walk to a gas station, about 5 minutes walking from the airport. Got a gallon of gas, enough to drive to the gas station and fill up the tank. Then went back to the hotel and slept for almost another 3 hours. Ate breakfast at the hotel and got back to the lab in Cincy by 11 a.m.

FYI, I have our cell phone, not Rob. So if you're trying to get ahold of Rob, you'll have to call the home phone. During the week days, he'll be at the lab, of course. Just in case you need to get ahold of Rob.

Miami Beach Trip

Oh, I guess I didn't update people on our Miami Beach trip. In short: the kids loved staying with other people for a week. Miciah was with M and A, two of her cousins. They made pinatas and she got to wear their clothes and stuff, and she loved it. Elijah and Teancom were with Rob's mom who was sick the whole time, but managed. She got really sick on the day we got back and ended up in the hospital for a week with pnemonia. Yikes! But the boys are healthy and the docs told C that the boys shouldn't get sick if they aren't sick yet.

And of course WE loved the break. Rob learned some good things from the people he met and talked to at the Immunology conference. Gave him some good direction and pumped him up to finish school quickly and move on. I loved hanging around with nothing better to do than take a bath or walk on the beach or read a book. It was a welcome change. We ate out at lots of places and did whatever we wanted. We walked to the south end of the beach. We had been told it would be a 40-minute walk one way. 2 1/2 hours later we were back. I was so tired that I then took a long nap while Rob went and played in the waves at the beach. We both got a little sunburnt, Rob worse than me because I stayed out of the sun for the most part (but the sun on my back itched like crazy for a few days and I used like a whole bottle of lotion to calm that down). The sun is more potent down there, I think. It was a fun trip and I'm glad we did it, especially since now we'll be apart for a month. It was nice to be together, just us, not talking about whose turn it was to change the diaper or whatever, and to remember that at the heart of our marriage is the fact that we really enjoy being together. I remembered all over again why I fell in love with the man. It was awesome.

Tamra

The Napping House, in German

Rob read a book aloud to the pre-school kids at Arlitt. It was an international night and they had different people read books in the different languages. They gave Rob the book The Napping House and asked him to translate it into German and then read it to the kids.

This is Rob's translation of The Napping House

Es gibt ein Haus, ein schlafendes Haus, worin jeder schlaeft

Un in das Haus es gibt ein Bett, ein bequemes Bett in ein schlafendes Haus, worin jeder schlaeft.

Und auf das Bette es gibt eine Grossmutter, eine schnaerchende Grossmutter auf ein bequemes Bett in ein schlafendes Haus, worin jeder schlaeft.

Und auf die Grossmutter es gibt ein Kind, ein Traeumendes Kind auf eine schnaerchende Grossmutter auf ein bequemes in ein schlafendes Haus, worin Jeder schlaeft.

Und auf das kind es gibt ein Hund, einer verschlaffende Hund auf ein Traeumendes Kind auf eine schnaerchende Grossmutter auf ein bequemes in ein schlafendes Haus, worin Jeder schlaeft.

Und auf den Hund es gibt eine Katze, eine doesender Katze auf einer verschlaffende Hund auf ein Traeumendes Kind auf eine schnaerchende Grossmutter auf ein bequemes in ein schlafendes Haus, worin Jeder schlaeft.

Und auf die Katze es gibt eine Maus, eine schlummernde Maus auf eine doesender Katze auf einer verschlaffende Hund auf ein Traeumendes Kind auf eine schnaerchende Grossmutter auf ein bequemes in ein schlafendes Haus, worin Jeder schlaeft.

Und auf die Maus es gibt ein Floh . . . Kann es sei? Ein wachender Floh auf eine schlummernde Maus auf eine doesender Katze auf einer verschlaffende Hund auf ein Traeumendes Kind auf eine schnaerchende Grossmutter auf ein bequemes in ein schlafendes Haus, worin Jeder schlaeft.

Ein wachender Floh der die Maus beisst,

die die Katze erschreckt,

die den Hund kratzt,

der das Kind schlaegt,

das die Grossmutter anstosst,

die das Bett bricht

in das schlafende Hause, worin niemanden jetzt schlaeft.

Family Update

Not much going on here. Miciah has started back at pre-school, and this makes us all happy. We have lots of friends there to carpool with this year and this makes all the parents happy, cause it's about a 20 minute drive to her pre-school.

Elijah

Elijah is still doing pretty good with potty training. He's hit the terrible twos full throttle now, so that's a little frustrating. Mostly he's just sweet Elijah, but he'll ask Why incessantly (which is actually pretty cute, I think), and insists on throwing full out tantrums whenever we go out in public. Let me tell you, it is hard to pick up a 30 lb. 2-year-old with one arm. I have decided when I go to pick up Ciah from pre-school I will take the stroller and strap Elijah down so he can't get out. Then at least he can't get down on the floor and refuse to move. Sheesh. And every time I am brave enough to go to the store, I remind myself to not be brave again any time soon. But I'm still laughing on the inside, so that's the important thing. And if I wasn't exhausted by noon everyday, would life be worth it? :)

Rob's project is still back and forth. He'll be able to tell in the next month or so if he'll need to switch projects. It's so day-to-day what the prognosis is. So I don't worry about it too much. If it does get switched, I'll make him get on here and tell you all what the new project is.

Home Projects

We have been doing a lot of projects since I now have energy to handle it. We tore up the carpet in the dining room to get the hardwood underneath. It won't ever look nice, cause there's lots of nails and screws they put in it probably to stop creaks. And there's a big spot that used to be a part of the heating stuff that isn't even stained, but it is hardwood. We'll be staining it soon so we can live with it. Long-term, we'll be putting down that laminate floor that looks like hardwood but isn't. But that won't be for a while.

We also stained the deck a see-through red color to protect the wood and weather-proof it. It's a nice deck and I think it'll be even nicer now. Even though Miciah helped so it's not very even in its color. But it's cute that she loved helping so much. She felt really special to be able to help and that's worth the imperfections. And it's not like Rob and I didn't add any imperfections anyway.

Because of projects our house is trashed. We're working today to get it all put back together.

Zelda

And the major accomplishment of my life is beating Zelda for the first time. I am now getting my butt kicked on Quest 2. But it's fun to play with Rob. And now you can go on-line and get any kind of cheat sheet and help that you want. And that's fun, too.

I am going up to M's this weekend with Teancom for an all-girls (and infants) weekend with C, C, M, and A. I'm looking forward to a little bit of a break, if not more sleep. Teancom is doing better about sleeping, but not much. He's getting a consistent 4 hour stretch instead of 3 hours. It's amazing how long 4 hours seems. :) From J's last e-mail, it looks like J and Tank are about the same size. Tank weighed in at 12 something just days before J was weighed at the same. Getting older is good for all of us. Teancom is getting a little of a pattern with his day, which is nice. I'm starting to catch on to the patterns, and that's also helpful. Teancom is still delightful and I can't imagine life without him now. He has this raspy little cry but he's not sick. It's just how he cries. So I'm wondering if he's not going to have a hoarse sounding little voice when he's older. Like Macy Grey or something. I guess we'll see.

That's all for updates around here. Everyone's relatively healthy with a little cough and congestion going around. It's starting to get colder and that's lovely. It's nice to not need any AC or heater. Good for our worn out energy bill. :) Take care all!

Tamra and family

We've moved!

A picture of Miciah with the little bitty fish she caught (and then let go again).

Our House

A hello to everyone out there. Some of you we've talked to recently, and some of you, well, it's been a while. But this is a hello to tell you that we've had a few changes in our life. We decided to buy a house! Well, we're not too excited about the financial junk that goes with that decision, but we love the house. It was built in 1947 and the last owners lived in it for over 40 years. So it's older, but it's in pretty good shape and we've been thoroughly enjoying living here. It's also 2 doors down from R & C, my aunt and uncle that are as much like my own Mom and Dad as you can get without actually being my Mom and Dad. :) And that's fun, too. And convenient: we get to borrow all their tools that we need for our house. Like a rake and a hole digger and a shovel and loppers (big clippers for the tree we cut down).

No other big news to report, thankfully. We'll take our "boring" life for now, cause boring means that life is going well. :) We're pretty settled into the house (we moved in on October 26th) and it feels so much like home that I'm forgetting what it was ever like to be in an apartment.

Miciah

Our kids also really like our house. Miciah, 4 years old, was so excited to see her play room downstairs (which will soon be carpeted) and she got a new big bed and life is good. Elijah was a little harder to convince that this was home, but now he loves it. Miciah is in pre-school and loves it. She talks and talks and talks. She really likes to role play and goes around like a director telling people what their right lines are (word-for-word), where they should be looking, who the other characters are, what they're doing, etc. It's funny. She also watches the same movie for weeks at a time. Hence, why she can tell people what their lines are verbatim.

Elijah

Elijah, 19 months, is addicted to 4 things: food, his blankie, his binkie (which we're weaning from him, slowly), and Baby Einstein. Thankfully we own like 15 of them, so I don't have to be watching the same one everyday. Elijah is the sweetest little boy and life is just good for him. He's always smiling and laughing and has started "talking." You know, saying mumbles that are consistent enough to be called words, even though they don't really sound like anything. He has a word for Baby Einstein, which is really more like a screech, but it's the same screech every time. I thoroughly enjoy the time I get with Elijah, though he has just figured out the whole separation thing and can get clingy at times, even when he knows we're not going anywhere.

That's life here. When there are other big things to report, we'll pass them along. We love you all and hope life is good for you. We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, as I'm sure all of you do. Happy Turkey Day!

Tamra, Rob, Miciah, and Elijah

Family update (per dad's request)

Miciah's Pre-school: Arlitt

The more Rob and I learn about Miciah's pre-school (called the Arlitt Center) the more we like it. They attempt to teach the kids exactly how I think they should be taught. They play games and sing songs and let them use their imaginations. They let them paint (we have artwork covering our wall already) to figure out color concepts. They let them play simple dice games to learn math. They sing songs involving name cards of people in the room to teach them simple reading activities. The preschool (or rather people who teach at the preschool) actually has put out a whole series of books called things like 'More than Singing' and 'More than Magnets' and 'More than Letters' and things like that (you can find the books on Amazon, I just looked). It's a research center, too, and they're right now working with some federal grant thing to figure out better ways to teach and test younger children. I think it's all amazing. We chose the preschool because we liked how lax they are (they are out to let the kids have fun and learn through fun) and come to find later that they're super serious about what they do and they apparently are recognized as being really good at what they do. They were telling us about grants and things they have where they're 1 of 12 and 1 of 5 preschools in the nation to get the funding. Pretty cool stuff.

Miciah loves preschool, but she's really tired a lot of the time. She gets up earlier and goes to sleep a little earlier, but she can get pretty grouchy during the day after preschool. Makes me think we should have done afternoons with her cause then she could still sleep in. But, it's not bad to get up at 7:45, it's just a transition for her. We let her sleep in pretty late on Fridays and Saturdays and it seems to help come Monday. So we often spend a lot of our time at home watching movies and doing things less intensive. Her good friend Norene at preschool that I mentioned last time, is moving to New York. Miciah will be sad. But somehow I think she'll make another friend in about a day and a half. :)

Our House

We have told R & C about the house. They're excited. We went over there on Friday (we're usually over there at least once a week) and R said, "Did C tell you the good news? We're moving in 30 days!" We got a good laugh out of that one. But R did tell us that it was hunting season, so he'd rather not help us move if he can get away with it. :) It was about the cutest thing I've ever seen. R turned into this 5-year-old little boy pleading with his mom to let him do what he wants. :) We told him we have no intention of getting in the way of him hunting. We like the venison he brings home too much. He was much relieved. You could tell, he'd help if we asked, but we're not going to ask for that very reason. It's bow season right now and Thanksgiving week is the start of gun season. R will be gone every weekend from now until December. ... I met someone else today who was all dressed up to go hunting and was able to hold my own about hunting, which surprised me. Rob's going to go with R one of these years when we have $1000 to blow on hunting equipment that we'd have to buy. :) Maybe that'll be never. But I wouldn't mind not having to buy meat for a year.

Kay, that's life. The house still is not final, but they've brought up no problems to us. Just more paperwork. I feel like I'm selling my soul.

And I'm glad, Pop, that you mentioned that you owe me pictures. I was thinking last night about how you've never sent them off! And I really am anxious to see your handiwork. I send you ten or more pictures of a house I don't even live in yet and I can't even get a picture or two of a bookcase you've had completed for over a month. :) Not that I'm bitter.

Tamra and family

Not much to report

I looked back and the last time I've sent one of these out was over a month ago. Probably because not much changes or happens around here. We like it that way. Boring is the way to go.

Pre-school

Miciah is attending pre-school now. She started 2 weeks ago and seems to really be enjoying it. From what I've seen, I'm sure that she spends a good part of the time following the 2 adults around the classroom and bugging them. During group time she has to get the teachers' attention, all that good stuff. She'll learn. That's why she's there. She also talks a lot about a little girl named Norene, I think. Today she told me that Norene told her they could be friends. I guess this is good news. :) Today they sent home an injury incident report (she got hurt on the playground) that I have to sign and send back. It's weird, I'm signing papers for my daughter who is old enough to go to pre-school. It all is just weird to me.

The pre-school she goes to is not very traditional learning focused, and I'm pleased with that. They do a lot of learning activities, but they're not forcing her to read or write Shakespeare. It's like a very organized play group where they do a lot of fun things and I don't have to clean it up. Again, I never thought I'd care about pre-school philosophies and it's all still weird to me.

I am also liking Miciah going to pre-school. :) It gives me a little time to do some things that were just too frustrating to do with Miciah around. For example, my cross stich is finished. And I've got a ton more projects lined up to do that weren't worth the headache before. I also like the time it gives me to play with Elijah alone. Elijah is such a sweet kid and requires very little effort on my part. So it's a joy to have him to myself. He also naps for a good portion of Miciah's pre-school time, generally, so I'm getting used to the house being quiet. The first time she was gone, though, it felt like when I'd come home when I was younger and everyone would be gone (which hardly ever happened) and it wouldn't freak me out that I was alone, just that the house was quiet. The house shouldn't be quiet with a 3 year old around! :) I feel like I should walk around humming to myself and bouncing a ball and watching TV.

Rob as YM President

Rob will be getting a new calling in 2 weeks. The bishop called us both in to talk to us and I was gearing up to get a couple calling and I don't want another calling. I like my calling (YW 1st counselor). Well, just Rob got a calling. He's only had his current calling a few months--he's the 11 year old boy Primary teacher. Which is fun. But he's been called to be the Young Mens' President. I'm excited! He'll do a great job with the boys. The 2 counselors will stay in place, so not much will change as far as that goes. Rob is excited and scared all at the same time. There's some apprehension, as there always is, about if he'll do a good job or not. But of course he will. Rob said his dream calling is the Ward Choir Director, which he did here for a while. I told him that it is probably the last time he'll ever be called to that. He's just too talented and too good at leadership to be the Ward Choir Director. ... All the Young Women already love Rob. I had him do the Gay French Bear for them, along with all his other funny voices (if you haven't already heard him do the Gay French Bear, call him up and ask him to do it. He loves showing it off), so they think he's the funniest thing ever (which he is). He also did a little semi-stand up comedy gig based off the Book of Mormon for a fireside recently. So the youth, in general, like him. Who doesn't like Rob? :)

That's about it for now. Sorry life is boring here and yet I write paragraph upon paragraph anyway. :) Someday it will be something exciting. But, like I said, we like boring. We love you all.

Tamra, Rob, Miciah, and Elijah