So how was DC?

You'd never guess that it was absolutely FANTASTIC, what with my extensive blogging recaps describing it to you coupled with my brilliant photography. I've yet to snatch the pictures and videos off my cameras and onto my hard drive to upload, so I'll just give you a couple of highlights for now and elaborate on them next week:

• Grayson loves flying
• Grayson loves dogs (we miss you Moose and Molly!)
• Grayson loves trains
• Grayson loves warm rain
• Grayson loves horses if he's riding on top of them (thanks for the ride, Spud!)
• Grayson loves birds
• Grayson loves cheering for the home team at baseball games
• Grayson loves nursery until it's time to put the toys away
• Grayson loves teeter-totters
• Grayson loves fishies

Most of all, Grayson loves Jake and Lori; Amanda; Katie, Todd, Bronson and Garrett; Joy; Steve and Carol; Laura, Nick and Noah; and Jessica, Jason, Austin, Layla and Ryan. This trip was probably one of the best vacations I've ever taken, and I think it's because we didn't try to overplan a lot while we were there. Yes, we may have 'wasted' a bit of time, but just being able to relax and meet new faces or see ones we haven't in a long time was so gratifying.

Cancun recap (finally)

(This post a long one. I'm keeping it that way for posterity's sake. Begin reading at your own risk!)


Woo-hoo! What a great trip! It was so hard leaving Grayson behind (much harder than I thought it would be), but we had a wonderful time recharging in Mexico. The first day was travel and activities with other employees, which only left us two full days to ourselves, but it turned out to be the perfect vacation.

Early Thursday morning we drove up to Don & Holly's to drop Grayson off for our long weekend. You'd think we were going to be gone for months to look at all the things I stuffed into his suitcase, but I wanted to be completely prepared for anything that could happen while we were away. And even though I'd been preparing myself emotionally all week long, I couldn't bear to leave him behind and started crying before I got out the front door. Wouldn't you know I left my pump in the house, though, and had to go back for it? Holly took one look at me and had doubts I was going to be able to leave a second time, I'm such a crybaby now. But somehow I made it out the door yet again and we were off to Salt Lake International.

This is going to disappoint Kory and her Soapbox, but we flew Delta and had an awesome experience doing so. Josh's work ponied up for business class seats on the non-stops between SLC and Cancun and we couldn't have asked for better service! I was simply amazed at how friendly the agents at check-in were. Seriously, they were so nice and good-natured, I wondered if we'd somehow ended up on a Southwest flight instead. The flight attendants cracked jokes with us, and one of them made me a dreamy fruit juice concoction when I asked for an orange-cranberry mix. We did get peanuts on both flights, but that was merely a precursor to full-fledged meals complete with salad, rolls, and dessert. The main entrees tasted pretty good, and there was plenty to fill us up. Overall, we were both very impressed with all aspects of Delta's service. Thanks for two wonderful flights, Delta!

A guy picked us up along with another couple, Ryan and Natalie from Colorado, and took us the hour-long drive to the resort. Josh knew Ryan from an upgrade he had helped with in St. George, so it was easy to strike up a conversation and chat with them during the drive. They left their 2-year-old daughter behind and Natalie is 30 weeks pregnant with a baby boy, so we spent the majority of the time talking about our children.

The resort was beautiful - it looked just like the pictures on their website. There was a big tree pruned into the shape of a Mexican hat outside our room and it cracked me up every time I walked by. I wish I would have taken a picture. In an exit survey they asked us to fill out, I listed the landscaping as my favorite thing about the resort. And our room was incredible, but again, I didn't think to take any photos. It had all the typical stuff plus a patio and chairs off the back door, ceiling fans and central air, large walk-in closet, a beautiful armoire holding the television, dvd player and stereo, and a fantastic bathroom. French doors separated the rooms, and the bathroom was nearly as large as the bedroom was. It had a jetted bath, separate shower, dual sinks, private toilet, electronic scale and cushy bath robes. My only wish was that they would have provided us slippers as well.

Thursday night was work stuff, but we skipped out a little early to call home and see how Grayson was doing. Holly said Grayson had had a great day with her little family and didn't fuss much at all. She was nice enough to tell us that Grayson smiled when he heard our voices on the phone, so we went to bed relieved that he hadn't already forgotten us.

Friday morning we slept in until 10am. No, that is not a typo - both of us really did get to sleep in until 10 o'clock in the morning. There was no 5:30am feeding. There was no 6:45am alarm waking Josh for work. It. Was. Awesome. I LOVED sleeping in, even though I was beyond engorged and leaking all over the bed when I finally woke up. But that was nothing a Medela pump and new bed sheets couldn't fix and well worth the extra hours of slumber.

We headed up to a late breakfast and came back to soak in the tub for an hour. I haven't had the time to take a bath since way before Grayson was born, and oh, I just loved it. We planned to go snorkeling and kayaking while we were on vacation, but it was so windy we weren't allowed to go out past the wave breakers. Phooey. I was really disappointed because those were really the only things I wanted to do while we were there. But we decided to get some bicycles and ride a couple of miles down to "5th Avenue" to do a little shopping.

On our way to pick up the bikes

We spent a lot of time window-shopping and just walking around, but ended up only buying some cooking vanilla, a cute beach bag, and a little dress for my upcoming niece. We headed back to the resort for a late lunch and just lounged around the rest of the evening until dinner. We ate at an Asian restaurant at the resort and the food was sooo yummy. Josh had the best grilled tuna steak I've ever tasted (my salmon was good, too, but that tuna was incredible). There was only one meal we didn't love while we were there, and it was the vegetable lasagna I got for lunch one afternoon. Seriously, though...what was I thinking?

We slept in until 10am again Saturday morning. This time we didn't mean to because we really wanted to go up to the breakfast buffet we had missed the day before, so we just skipped breakfast entirely and had an early lunch instead. The good news is that during this early lunch we ran into another couple there with our group, Jesse and Maggie. I love them.

Maggie and I could spend the next 14 years listening to each other's 'work widow' stories about our hubbies leaving town and/or working late, leaving us to entertain the kiddies or attend social functions all alone. Poor us. We ended up spending a great deal of time with them Saturday and it was so nice to meet new people and have real conversation with them (even if all we did was talk about husbands and kiddies). We had a wonderful time with them - eating, playing in the ocean before resort staff kicked us out, painting our pottery, and getting way too sunburned for comfort. My only regret is we didn't get actual photos with them - I only have them on video.

We had another excellent dinner that night, but everyone was too sore with their sunburns to go karaoke-ing again, so we went to bed instead. This is Josh and I at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the restaurant where we dined.
This is me on the staircase alone, because Josh thinks I'm pretty, even if I have a broken leg.Don't let this happen to you. It may not look too bad in this photo, but it hurt so bad I cried in the shower Sunday and Monday. I have an awesome base tan now for Lake Powell, but trust me, it wasn't worth it.

Ouchy

No Room at the Inn

For Grayson, anyway. He isn't going to Cancun with us, but after a lot of worry, thinking, prayers and planning, we've decided to go without him. We feel good about the decision, but I know it's going to be hard to be away from him, even if it's only for four days. Don and Holly agreed to watch the little guy while we take advantage of this rare opportunity, and when I say rare, I mean it - they're probably eliminating the program next year, which is the reason they didn't want us to wait to take our trip until then. So we're going, and it's going to be incredible! They're flying us nonstop first-class both ways, and have you checked out where we get to stay? Here. Personally, I think the family-friendly one would have been better-suited for us, considering it's not as upscale or classy and neither are we, but it will be fun to get all dressed up for dinner and feel pretty and pompous for a few days. And the people at our resort will be drunk on expensive wines instead of cheap beer!

So now that the stress of Grayson's blessing is over and I don't have to keep worrying about whether his passport will be here in time, I can move on to our other upcoming fun summertime things! My Chem class begins next Monday (k, maybe that's not so fun), then we have Nick's wedding, then we go to Mexico, then a southern Utah trip for Les Miserables at Tuacahn, then the first Lake Powell trip, then...well, I guess we'll have to see. I haven't planned beyond June yet.

Cancun update

Okay, here's the deal. Josh's boss' boss was mistaken, and we can't take Grayson with us, at least not to the place they booked. It's the all-inclusive Royal Hideaway Playacar, and the rule on children is firm - no one under 13 allowed. Not even babies. I'm a little bummed because it sounds soooo dreamy! The good news is a woman named Shonda that is in charge of all the registrations, etc. is working with the resort people to switch us to one of their 'family-friendly' resorts instead. It's no Royal Hideaway, but at least we'll have Grayson with us. We should know tomorrow morning if she was able to switch resorts. She's waiting to hear back about availability for us. If she can't switch it for us, we're leaning toward leaving Grayson with family and heading out to the dreamy resort without him. I'll miss him something fierce if that happens, but it would sure be a nice break. And if we don't leave him, we'll have to nix the whole vacation anyway.

I went to get Grayson's passport done today (better get it just in case he comes with us!) and wouldn't you know the place I went requires you to have an appointment - they don't take walk-ins. So I'm going downtown tomorrow morning to the walk-in post office. The vacation is exactly three weeks from today, so we have to pay the extra $92.50 to get it expedited. Ouch! I'm a little nervous we're pushing our luck in applying for it so late, but que sera, sera.

Thanks so much for your comments, you guys. I feel confident we can travel with Grayson there and even if we end up just hanging out on the beach all three days with him, hey, it's still a free vacation!

New Parents' Guide to Babies

Tip Two: Don't travel with baby until right after
you've fed and changed him.

We took Grayson down to southern Utah over the weekend to meet the rest of my family and enjoy slightly warmer weather. We left SLC Sunday night (February 23) and pretty much drove in a blizzard until after we passed Fillmore. It was awful. Combine that with our first ever long-distance drive with a newborn, and you had a very worried and frazzled Paige in the back seat. I kept worrying that he needed to be changed and fed, even making Josh pull over on a snow-covered freeway so I could check his diaper. We didn't leave until after church got out, so it was dark outside and I went crazy not being able to see him without the interior light on. And need I describe the frustration at trying to pump in the dark? The trip down turned into one of the longest and worst drives I've ever had, and I wasn't even the driver. I'm so grateful to Josh for being so patient with me.

Here is a very boring clip of Grayson peacefully sleeping on our drive back. I fed and changed him right before we left, and he slept the entire 4 hours home. And since it was daylight out, I pumped easily and even got some homework done in the car. I guess it's really not that hard to travel with babies this age, is it?

Wordless Wednesday

Vacation highlights

We finally returned from our 2-week excursion all over Hell's half-acre during the end of November. Here are some highlights (in no particular order):

• Pam's homemade black forest banana cream pie
• The new kid-sized 4-wheelers and all the crashing and dirt that ensued
• Cards, cards, and more cards - including a magical win for Josh and I at hand and foot!
• Seeing my father sealed to his parents
• Zeno, Sapheneous, and Milo - my ancestors
• Maryann's pregnancy announcement over dinner
• Grandma's reaction to said announcement
• Don's Lake Powell response
• Target's rain check and our new monitors
• Family Flag Football
• Dice with Dennis and Raleigh
• Finally seeing Bourne Ultimatum at the dollar show
• Staying up 'til 2am with Russ and Hill
• Lots o' rain in Las Vegas - it never poured like that while we lived there!
• Inheriting a crib, dresser, Boppy, and Moses basket for the coming addition
• Coming up with a name (but we're not telling anyone what it is)
• Family pictures!
  
• Jon Schmidt at Tuacahn, even though it almost rained out
• Hot chocolate that made the concert bearable
• Emily's blessing and the party afterward
• Perfect weather for driving home with a trailer carrying all our junk

All the pics are still in southern Utah on my Mom's camera and computer, so I've no proof that we had a great time. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Family Flag Football game, Thanksgiving Day, 2007

The Tigersvs.

The Panthers

The game was fierce and highly competitive. Every player was there to win, no matter the cost. Even Grandma was beat down by an opponent twice her size! The Panthers eventually succombed to the brute strength and experience of the Tigers, but gave them one heck of a catfight in the process. I didn't play because I used my pregnancy as a copout and hung out on the sidelines to take pictures of all the action instead. Below are the fruits of my labors.

Pam blocks as Grandpa hands the ball off to Josh.

I can't remember if they scored on this play or not, but I was sure proud of this photo! This was by far the best action shot I took. You'd never guess my Dad has a bum knee, and Josh looks like he takes ballet lessons!

Grandma and Duane let Holly slip by

Don, Penny, Grandpa, and Josh, quarterback extraordinaire

Great "D" Tigers!

That white girl, Penny, sure can jump!

Pam, Greg, Steve, Josh, Grandpa

Josh and Grandma are open, Cade!

Holly, Steve, Pam, Grandpa, Grandma

Grandpa, Duane, Grandma talk strategy

I also took some short video clips with my mom's camera. Below are my first and second attempts at posting video on my blog (sorry for the poor quality - not sure what to do).

Amanda rallies for a First Down!

Hailey makes a run for it!

November whirlwind

November is fast approaching its end, and I've seriously slacked in my 'online' time - only one post all month long! The worst part about being offline for so long is that I got such great responses to my last post and failed to recognize and thank everyone for weighing in. So thank you all for giving me your advice regarding the Mother Nature vs. Induction debate!

At this point, I'm leaning toward Mother Nature, but an induction would be tons better for Josh (like Tim, he doesn't have a set work schedule or office, so he travels a lot for his job). There would be a chance that our little one could decide to come while Josh is far away - as in hundreds of miles and hours away. Given possible weather conditions in Utah in January/February, that could be a real problem. The good news is we only live 7 miles from the hospital where I'll deliver, so even in poor weather we should be okay. I don't have another appointment until December 6, so we still have some time before my doctor will bring it up again. At any rate, we're both intrigued by Sara's suggestion of 'nipple stimulation' and may contact her for some more information (but we'll keep that to ourselves).

Anyway, November has been really fun for us. Josh got called to work down in St. George/Las Vegas two weeks ago, so we left SLC on Nov 6 to head down to warmer weather. We were in Toquerville Nov 7-8, and got to meet Emily, the newest niece, for the first time. Then down to Vegas Nov 9-10 while Josh worked and I spent a little time visiting with the Graziano girls. We stopped by the RC Willey clearance center and scored ourselves a beautiful headboard in excellent condition for only 175 bucks! We drove back up to Toquerville that night and went to Penny's ward on Nov 11 to see Glenn in the primary program. Luckily, Steve and Cyndie were in town meeting a birth mother that has chosen them to adopt her baby next March, so we all got together for tacos and games Sunday night. Back to Vegas in time for Josh to work on Nov 12 and spend FHE with the Stewart clan, then Nov 13 we enjoyed a session in the Las Vegas Temple and drove back up to SLC.

Too much driving for my pregnant body, but we thoroughly enjoyed our little vacation, and the best part was that Josh's company paid for most of it! Sometimes job travel isn't as inconvenient or annoying as it seems. And in between alla the running around, I successfully changed my name (officially married after 2 years!), was granted residency at UVSC, registered for the HOAE and a class next spring, finished the covers for my super-awesome family Christmas gifts, and bought $300 worth of cloth diapers.

Now we're back in southern Utah for the Thanksgiving holiday and we've planned Josh's work and vacation days just right so that we get to see the Blue Man Group in Vegas next week, pick up a crib from Russ and Hill, hopefully see Jenise, Kimmy, and Sandy, go to Emily's baby blessing, and relax for a few days before going back to a dreary and cold SLC on Dec 3. Two more weeks away from home, visiting with family and friends. This is the life, folks.

Mini-vaycay

Saturday evening, Josh and I went to St. George to attend a surprise birthday party one of his favorite Dixie IHC coworkers threw for his wife. There was a dreamy chocolate fountain, the surprise was a success and it was fun to meet new people. And it just so happened an old friend of mine was the DJ for the party! I haven't seen Lex for about eight years (although the occasional 'update' email has been exchanged between us) and I had a great time catching up with him.

But the highlight of our little trip was that Gregg (the party-thrower) had gotten rooms at the new Marriott for some birthday guests that came up from California. We had planned to drive back down to Vegas after the party, but Gregg mentioned that one couple didn't make the trip, and would we be interested in staying in their room? Heck yes! Sleeping in a bed is much better than falling asleep in the car on the drive home, leaving Josh alone with the BBC news on NPR. We went to Target and got some toiletries then went back to the hotel and had ourselves a mini-vacation. That one night of luxury was sooooo nice. We slept in Sunday morning, had a delicious hot breakfast, and then drove home. It was lovely.

Lake Powell

The Lake Powell trips for 2007 have begun! Because of my school schedule, we can only go out for Friday and Saturday, but it's a lovely vacation regardless.

A couple of daisy floaties in action!

Riley took a picture of me and Josh,
so Ashley asked if she could also take a picture of us.
Then Josh took a picture of me and Riley, complete with Ashley's smudge marks on the lens.
Maryann and Jon brought this giant rafty-thing.
Josh played lots of volleyball all weekend and got really tan!
I played cards on the beach (I guess I needed a nap!),
and watched the kiddies make dirt roads and sand cakes (yummy!).
Lake Powell makes us so happy!

I am happy to report that I haven't posted anything in almost two weeks because I've been busy. And as you all know, when I'm busy, I'm happy.

Josh is still working in Utah a lot, so I drove up to SLC with my mommy last Friday to spend the weekend with him. We played lots of games with my family and surprisingly enough, I made it to the semi-final round of Don & Holly's biannual cribbage tournament! This was only my second time playing ever, and man, were those cards good to me. Josh liked it too, so we now have a new game to obsess over.

I went to the dentist this morning, and like usual, I was complimented on how well I care for my teeth. I'm telling you folks, flossing is where it's at.

So, I just got a ring of the doorbell and guess who it was? The new missionaries! For some reason, the pres swapped out both of them and sent two new ones to this area. Now we have Elders Olsen and Wilcox and they seem very nice. I felt bad because I couldn't invite them in, but they did accept some water out there on the porch. I *may* give them a dinner opportunity next time Josh is in town. Actually, I'm certain I will. It's not fair to make them pay for the transgressions of those who labored before them, right?

But enough breaking - back to studying the lymphatic system for my lab quiz tomorrow. TTFN!

Get a Job?

Not much to say, but thought I'd check in and say hello. We're going to Utah to spend some time with both of our families over Memorial Day - yay for automatic vacation days and families!

I've been thinking about getting a part-time job this summer, for a lot of reasons. I'm only taking one class, so I have lots of free time I didn't have before, and Josh is gone a lot now, working up in Utah. And we recently discovered that when I'm bored, I spend money. Money we don't want me to spend. I did the first half of May's budget, and I had already spent the entire monthly allowance for entertainment, and we're still in the hole from April's gifts (but Josh lets that one slide because of my New Year's Resolution not to miss a single family member's birthday - so far so good!).

Anyway, any money I overspend comes directly out of our 'House Fund' which always makes us cringe because we both desperately want to own a house and we haven't saved enough for a down payment yet. Housing is a bit cheaper in Utah, but not drastically, so we've still got a ways to go. Throw in that we now pay state tax in Utah where we weren't paying it in Nevada and suddenly we can't save as much as we used to. With gasoline going up, milk at $2.50 a gallon, and Nevada Power increasing rates by 11% effective June 1, it's gonna be another financially miserable summer in Vegas, baby. Blech.

Which brings me back to the part-time job thing. It would only be for June-September, so what kind of job should I look for? I'll feel really bad about finding a job, getting trained for it, then taking off after only a few months, so I don't want it to be a critical job that will screw the company when I quit, but I do feel like I need to get employed and do it quickly. Any suggestions?