Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Hope your day was as fun

and full of spooks

as ours.

Time Crunch

It is the day before Halloween for the second year in a row that I do not have a costume for Gman. Poop. Last year we owned this way sweet terry cloth track suit (thanks sweet Jill Brim) for the little guy so we all went as gym teachers. The idea was presented by the Man mere hours before we were supposed to leave for the ward Halloween party but it worked. This year, thanks to the Nana, I have a good start for a costume. She gave us a shirt that looks like a skeleton so I went out and bought black sweat pants. Now, I just need to paint leg bones on the pants and the costume will be done! Maybe next year I will prepare for this holiday, here's for hopin.

Bad Mommy Moment

So, on Monday morning we returned from our whilwind trip to AZ. The trip was amazing! We got to witness some pretty wonderful events and are grateful that we went. Thanks K and B for inviting us!
We drove all night Sunday to make it home Monday morning. Gman slept most of the night in the car but it was still only about 9 hours and he is used to 12 or 13. Well, I thought that Tuesday he was behaving grumpy and not napping because he had gotten over tired because of our trip. I was not very sympathetic because I was exhausted from driving most of the way home (The Man got the flu along with half my family. Awesome!) and all that I wanted to do was have Gman sleep so I could too. Well, Tuesday night as we were getting the kid dressed for bed I looked in his mouth and sometime during the day he had TWO molars break through. Yeah, sign me up for mom o' the year. It seems like I have had too many of those bad mom moments. I'll have to figure out how to make it up to him as he gets older. Maybe a pony......

Sweet sleeper

For some time now Gman sometimes doesn't fall asleep right away when I put him down for a nap. When this happens he sits up and plays in his bed with his blankie. The only problem is that he sometimes can't lay down again. I don't know why he can't, maybe he can and just doesn't. All I know for sure is that sometimes I find him like this. All cute and folded in half. Too bad he wakes up screaming because he's been folded in half. :)

Pushin Away

Isn't this kid so cute? The Man taught him how much fun it was to push a luggage rack to and from our hotel room. Other people in the hotel thought Gman was so cute and strong. Gman thought it was fun and entertaining. And us, we just laughed and prevented him from hitting cars and walls. The only downer is that he now pushes everything around. As previously mentioned, he loves our boxes both full and empty but he also loves baby monitors, toys, books, phones, remotes, basically anything that he can get his hands on. Some electronics may never look the same but it makes my awesome kid happy. So here's to pushing everything along the floor! hmm, just had the thought, maybe I should invest in some cars......

We Made It!!!

For those of you who were worried, we made it! We have officially purchased our home, had our stuff delivered and I am down to a handful of boxes to unpack. Rock on! Other than unpacking, my last week has been filled with removing wall paper and painting. I want to hop on my soapbox for a minute and just say that if the maker of wallpaper is still alive he should be shot, because wallpaper is the devil. The people we bought our house from had a wallpaper border on Gman's room. When I went to remove it I discovered that there was an old border there that they simply painted over and glued new wallpaper on top of. Argh! It's okay, 2 days and no finger nails left the room is paper free and repainted.

Gman is adjusting to our new life. He is loving how much space he has to run around. The first couple of days he kept getting lost so he wouldn't venture too far from my side. Now he owns the place and we generally don't mind. He cna't get enough of our empty boxes and pushes them throughout the house. He will be a very sad man when the movers come to pick them up. I guess I will just have to buy him a laundry basket.

Our ward here is amazing. We couldn't have asked for a better welcome. The last two Sundays we have been fed and this Sunday is already booked. A way awesome lady in the ward who lives in my neighborhood also came by the day the movers were here and just took Gman for me so I could get some unpacking done. I had only met her once so I was shocked and grateful for her willingness. I am trying to make new friends. First, I guess I am simply trying to remember names. We had enrichment (but really simply a Relief Society meeting) the first week I was here so I was really able to meet some cute ladies. Then a few of us went out for frozen yogurt afterward and I got to know them better. It was a huge blessing to have that opportunity right away.

For the most part things have been fantastic, let's pray they keep going that way!

Now, I want to do a little backtracking a post some pictures of our last days in Illinois

Our trip to Chicago included a stop and the infamous bean. It is a chrome bean and you can see a reflection of the entire Chicago skyline. Pretty cool.

This is a picture of the entire bean. The other side is the side that you can get a picture of the skyline. It was a little crowded and I've already seen it. Sorry

After the bean, Gman decided to chase the birds around the park. These birds are like the birds at Disneyland, no fear and they just want food.

After the park we took a little walk down Michigan Ave to the delicious retaurant we all know and love, Gino's East. ps - they have a sausage pizza where the sausage is really a big disc of meat placed right in the pizza. Tha'ts right, there is one piece of sausage the size of the pizza. Crazy, crazy good!

Us leaving Ginos'. For those of you who know your famous British golfers, this photo was taken by Sir Nick Faldo. That's right, he was in town for a tournament, came to eat pizza for lunch, and The Man got him to take our picture. It was classic. We didn't want a picture with him, we just wanted him to take one of us. Aren't we the classy Americans? :)

Chicago we will miss you, your culture, your food and our friends. Hopefully we will be able to reunite again one day but in the mean time you know we are making our new state one rockin place to be!

On our way....

Well, it is done. The house is packed, loaded on a truck and is sitting somewhere in Minnesota right now. We are in our hotel in Illinois anticipating tomorrow's drive. Everything has gone so great. I have to profusely thank my dear friend Katie E. for watching Gman for the last two days. I would have never been able to clean my house and gotten everything organized for our trip if he had been around. So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
I am most definitely sad to have left my dear sweet friends and the amazing young women that I not only taught but shared a tight bond with. We are trying to look forward to our new adventure. I am going to make some new friends so I can introduce them to my old friends one day. That way we can have one GIANT party somewhere in the middle, I am thinking Missouri. Not sure what's there but we can turn anywhere into a riot zone.
For now I am going to be grateful for the internet and cell phones so I can keep in touch with those I am not around anymore. Question for all you forty somethings out there, how did you keep close with your friends far away before e-mail, texting and blogs? I can't imagine how it can be done. :)