Sunday, August 14, 2011

Busy is Mostly a Matter of Perspective

People always say we are so busy, but when it comes time to write the blog every Sunday we can never figure out what we did. Here are a few things that kept mostly Hallie, Diamond, Landon, and Eliza busy this week. 

In a very fast fortunate turn of events the tenant we have had in our condominium for the last 10½ years took us up on our offer to sell. We are excited about this transaction, and the real estate agent Amy Gandel who is working with both of us has been great. We are grateful to Roger and for the good tenant he has been all of these years. We are thankful now that we will be able to breathe a bit easier with some of our education and adoption debt paid off.

Time seems to have flown by, and recently sweet Eliza turned six-months old. Hallie took Eliza for her well visit, and the doctor had nothing but glowing things to say. He mentioned Eliza is advanced in her motor skills (seems to take after her brother in that respect). For example, she has really caught on to crawling, and now she crawls quickly around the house. She is quickly moving on to pulling herself up to stand, and walking can't be far off. One baby gate has been put up, and another one for the top of the stairs will come this week. Mike was excited that his baby girl was advancing, while Hallie was sad that her baby girl was advancing. 

Eliza now weighs 15 lbs 13 oz and is 25 in long. Currently she eats baby cereal, all kinds of different Plum baby fruit, and puréed zucchini, squash, and broccoli. We are glad she is such a good eater. The carrots we ground up for her did not go so well, and Hallie had the opportunity to clean that up in IKEA a few weeks ago. Apparently she likes them but they don’t like her quite yet.

Eliza has started showing off her vocal abilities this week as well. Landon did not say “Mom” for a long time, and it made Hallie sad. Eliza says something like “Mom” all the time: ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma. She likes sticking her tongue out and following Landon and playing with his toys whenever she is awake. Landon absolutely adores her. He hugs and kisses her often each day and is very protective of her. We are so thankful for the easy transition he has made with Eliza.

Hallie and Landon went to see "Winnie the Pooh" with Katelyn and Bryan on Wednesday. Landon seemed to enjoy himself. Hallie said that he hardly ate his popcorn and that he behaved very well. Mike had asked Landon earlier in the week if he wanted to see the movie, and then Landon just brought it up on his own as he  was saying the prayer on breakfast, so Hallie said, "Why not? Let's go!" 

The hot, humid summer has taken a toll on Diamond and Hallie’s feet, so Hallie thought it was time to go get pedicures. This last Thursday evening the two scarfed down their food, and Hallie said, “Diamond put on some capris and grab some flip flops. We are headed for a surprise!” We ended up at a local pedicure place for Diamond’s first pedicure, and we had so much fun chatting with other ladies at the shop.

On Thursday Hallie, Landon, Eliza, Sara, and Chase walked three miles to the Village Shops and back. We stopped to get lunch in the middle of our walk. The kids behaved marvelously, and it was great exercise and fun chatting with a good friend. Sara then called on Friday and asked if we wanted to go out to eat with her and her hubby Jason. Of course we did, and thanks to Diamond we were able to do that. It was so nice to be out with other adults and no kids. We had good food and it was great weather, so we walked to the restaurant from our house.

The summer term is winding down and so we have mostly seen Mike’s eyes this week from behind the computer screen. Grading papers has consumed him this last week, and sometimes Landon doesn’t quite understand why dad can’t come and play quite as much as he usually does. Soon we will have him a bit more, at least for a few days until the Fall semester starts.

Hallie, Diamond, and Landon went school shopping for Diamond. She starts BYU-Idaho in January, and with all of the good deals, we had to make sure she got in on some of the action. On the way home from shopping we stopped by a car dealership to check out some new wheels. It will be a bit before we get a new car, but Hallie is over the moon to start the process, so Mike humors her and says, “Go have fun!” So we did.

If this week was boring, maybe next week will be fun when we have a special family celebration and go to a Greek festival.

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