Catching Zzz's in Vegas

It’s almost been a year since being here in Omaha!  I can not believe it.  This time last year we were busy packing and cleaning.  Thank goodness we don’t have to do that again for a long while, I hope.  After two insane summers of Justin going to China for a month and home renovations to the next summer of moving across the country, we are looking forward to a quiet relaxing summer.  Although I have the itch to do something big and adventurous.   Exploring Nebraska will be like a vacation, so that should appease my boredom or that “itch”.

A full school year is a check marked off.  Justin survived his first year as a newbie to the high school and in teaching elementary orchestra.  I think it was pretty successful!  He did the high school musical, “Bring it On”, multiple concerts for the school and in the community, two district contests, and much more.  Now he has the summer to plan now he knows what to expect.  PLUS he got his new family member, best friend, and insured joy.  His brand spanking new hand made bass.  Aren’t all basses hand made?  Anyway, it’s really nicely hand made.  He’s needed a legit standup bass for a long time, and selling our house in Vegas let that happen.  He’s been enjoying it and got to play in the Omaha Orchestra with it for the first time last month.  He was so fancy looking with it. PLUS PLUS, he is now enrolled in graduate school to get his doctoral degree in curriculum design and planning.  He started school two weeks ago.  Justin now has one dream accomplished with having a nice bass made for him and another in progress of getting a doctorate.

Haddie is now a 2nd grader!  I keep thinking if I didn’t hold her back a year, she’d be a 3rd grader!  Eeeek!  She had a very successful year and has made lots of friends. She is now reading chapter books, loves to learn about science, and to be active doing art or something fun outside, social, or with family.  Sammy finished his first year of preschool and is now going into Kinder and is excited about it.  I hope that feeling lasts after the first week of school. He loves to build, imagine, and draw, cut, and tape art pieces.  We should set up a recycling plant at our house for just paper.   He’s discovered Perler beads as well which is painful on the feet but great for the mind.  Both kids love the outdoors.  They spend a lot of time on their scooters and bikes and with their water toys (hose, sprinkler, and water squirters).  They are growing physically and mentally and I am amazed at how creative, smart, and caring they can be.

I started working at Sammy’s school part-time three days a week teaching art to 3-5-year-olds and helping out in the classrooms.  I realized after the fact of working at the preschool for a bit that God has thrown me into working with little ones.  I got my degree in teaching secondary art (middle school-highschool).  I took one class at BYU-Idaho to be certified for elementary “just in case”.   Lo and behold, I got my first official teaching job teaching elementary art.  After Haddie was born, I taught art in my home to mainly elementary and preschool-aged kids.  At church Justin and I are working with the 5-6-year-olds and I am now working with littles again.  I’ve actually enjoyed it.  I have thought and still think that full time kinder and preschool teachers are amazing people to do what they do with patience.   It’s like whack-a-mole often times (without the whacking).  I’ve enjoyed it nonetheless.  It’s an age where they show so much love and so much is still new and amazing to them.  I will continue to work there this summer and next school year too.

We are loving the area where we live.  The spring was so wonderful to experience; beautiful temperatures, flowers everywhere, grass turning green, and so much outside time.  We even planted flowers and most of them are still alive!  There’s a lot to learn about gardening and lawn care and house care with the changing seasons. We have wonderful neighbors.  There are plenty of stores around us for what we need and want (that can be a bad thing).   We have gone on various excursions to a variety of places around town and in the city, and there’s still more to do!  Justin has received free tickets to the symphony a couple times and tickets to other shows.  Haddie and Sammy have seen Grandma and Grandpa quite a few times plus some.  Us parents have too of course.  I have even been able to see my siblings and parents at Thanksgiving and my brother and his family stopped by on their grand adventure across the country last week.  We’ve seen Justin’s brother and his family a few times as well.  It’s been really nice!  I can drive to see my siblings and in-laws instead of flying!  I do miss being so close to my parents and extended family out west.

The only really big downsides to being here are the potholes post-winter and snow are horrendous!  They could almost reach to China!  That’s an exaggeration.  They only reach the core of the earth.  I saw a bumper sticker while I was dropping Haddie off at school that said “I’m not drunk.  I’m just dodging potholes”.  Too true!  The impending possibility of tornadoes, flooding, and the crazy hail storms aren’t super friendly.  Thanks, Mr. Weather.   Then, of course, the distance between us and Vegas/St. George is quite significant to make it an easy drive.  Mosquitoes are and will be quite horrendous after the large amount of rain we’ve had, but it has been very green outside.

We have not done well in seeing Justin’s extended family out here like we should now we are actually Nebraskans.  We did have a chance to meet a lot of them at a wedding last weekend.  Sorry, extended family.  Hopefully, we’ll see you more for the rest of the year.   

It wouldn’t be me without an update on Sunny the cockatiel who has warmed up to us a little too well.  It happened suddenly and surprisingly too.  He now has to sit on my shoulder almost constantly.  If I’m not available it’s Justin’s shoulder.  He is chewing up anything wood, paper, shiny, or colorful and will try to steal tastes of my food and drink at meal times.  He likes to play with my phone and hisses at me when I shoo him away while fingers towards his face are still a big no-no to him.  Hissing and biting are involved.  He now knows how to say, “pretty bird”, “bubble bubble bubble pop pop pop”,  “pretty bird”,  “I’m a cockatiel”,  “Peek a boo”, and “I love you”.   It’s a love/hate relationship.  The kids adore him.

There is so much more to tell, but before there’s a snooze fest from me babbling on and on like I’m writing in my personal journal, I’ll stop.  Yes, this is how my journal works too.  Each entry “It’s been so long since I’ve written…blah blah blah”.  Then a huge entry trying to catch up on what has happened in life.    Pictures will come next!  It may just be months later, but let’s hope for this week.

This post is mainly for photographs to be shared with some comments on the photos.  These are not necessarily in order.  As organized as I try,  I can only do so much. 🙂

This first slideshow is of our first days in Omaha.  Lots of hotel time, green, lawn mowing, corn, the lake near our house, empty house, and styrofoam to draw on.  You gotta use what you can, right?

Then just a few weeks in, Haddie got a little excited on the monkey bars and as a result, she had a fractured arm.  She only had to have the cast on for three weeks, thank goodness.

Our first fourth of July in Nebraska!  It was spent at Grandma and Grandpa Zeleski’s with cousins and Uncle Paul.  We all got to enjoy a trip to the Omaha zoo too.

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From first days of 1st grade and Preschool and visiting Justin’s school, we are all now seasoned schoolers.   Haddie is learning violin from Justin.  Haddie’s grade went to the zoo for a field trip, and Sammy got to go to a pumpkin patch which is almost an amusement park without the rides.

Then comes the pets.  We bought a labradoodle we named Coco, a beautiful puppy, but had to return her the next day because Haddie showed allergy symptoms.  We were sad.  She was such a sweet dog.  We tried looking at another puppy, but Haddie had another allergic reaction.  Dogs are now out of the picture.  I really really want a dog, but my daughter’s health comes first.  We made friends with a house spider which helped Haddie with her bug phobia she has developed since moving here.  It’s mainly butterflies and stepping on bugs that scare her now.  Then came the conure, Monty.  A beautiful bird that acclimated to us really quick.  She/He loved to snuggle, but we only had it a week before it suddenly got sick and passed away.  I am a little scarred from the experience since I was the one to find it sick and see it slip away.  Monty died on the way to the vet after I took it to the Pet Store we bought it at.  We have no idea what happened and did all that we knew was right with a bird.   NOW we have Sunny the cockatiel.  Pretty sure it’s a he.  Parrots are hard to tell between male and female by the way.  He is not so people friendly.  He hisses if we get too close, but is slowly letting us get closer and feed it treats.  He is starting to mimic some sounds and phrases.  We still love him, even though he isn’t people friendly like Monty.  Sunny felt right even though there was another very entertaining conure housed above him at the pet store.

Just a couple weeks ago we had our first snow.  We weren’t expecting it to stick, but it did!  It was the perfect kind of wet snow you can build with.  The kids had a blast outside.  Thankfully I had already bought snowsuits and winter coats (Haddie’s only two days before).  Justin and I had colds, and my voice was almost completely gone, so we stayed home from church.  Kinda grateful we did.  We were able to enjoy the beauty outside.

We had a busy and fantastic fall break last week.  The weather was finally sunny and gorgeous so we made the most of it.  Wednesday we went to the children’s museum were both kids saw some friends from their schools.  Thursday we went to Vala’s pumpkin patch and spent hours there.  I was a little nervous because it looked crazy busy and I was soloing it since Justin still had to work, but it worked out great.  Friday we caught our breaths and stayed in.  Saturday we went to the wildlife safari park.  We saw elk, deer, pelicans, cranes, swans, buffalo, bald eagles, falcons, a bobcat, among other wildlife.   The kids favorite was sitting on the buffalo statues at the end.  Kids.   Then Sunday we had a beautiful day so we took a walk to the lake and enjoyed the fall colors and throwing rocks in the lake.

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On Tuesday and Wednesday Sammy had to go into the hospital for tests.  He spent Tuesday with a tube through his nose to his stomach to clean him out.  He was NOT a fan and had a really really rough day.  It was really sad.  Wednesday he went in for colonoscopy, endoscopy, biopsies, and MRI and blood work.  If I wrote any of those procedures wrong, sorry.  He is home and super happy, active, and back to normal.

Here are other pictures from birthdays to outdoor excursions and Justin’s short stint in the Omaha orchestra.  Plus a visit to a great restaurant/store we have fun at.   Haddie is an excellent reader also and I love watching her and listening to her read books.  Sammy is learning his letters and can write his name now.  They are growing up fast!  I am glad they are in a good family friendly city to continue growing.

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Well, that’s all folk for now.  Hopefully, I can post about Halloween next and not two years later.

Instead of much-needed cleaning, I’m deciding to post a blog.  It’s only been 2 1/2 YEARS since my last one which astounds me that that much time has passed so quickly.   I cleaned all day yesterday, so I feel it’s ok to take a break to update my friends and family about our lives.  My philosophy about posting on facebook about me and my family’s life is changing, and I feel more comfortable writing on a more personal platform.  After all my kids couldn’t care less if EVERYONE I know knows about them and the things they are doing.

So……We just moved to Omaha at the end of June which is not news to most reading this, but in 4 months a year worth of events seems to have happened.  So, let me start at the beginning.

Earlier this year I had the random spiritual thought/feeling about us needing to think about Omaha.  I floored Justin with this revelation.  Soon after, a high school orchestra job opened at a great school here (doesn’t happen too often).  Justin quickly got everything together to apply.  They contacted him for an interview, which he did over the phone.  The next he had the job.  We put our newly partially renovated home on the market which sold pretty quickly, and then purchased a house we felt good about sight unseen.  Thank you for the help, Lynn and Sam Zeleski and Aunt Karen, for doing the tour for us.

Now we are here without a doubt knowing we were supposed to be here.  It only took 2-3 weeks living in an empty house for our things to arrive from Vegas.   I’m thankful my parents were able to pass through on their way home from my brother’s house in Indiana back home to St. George and help us get the house ready, fixed, and cleaned.

So far since moving here, we’ve had one broken bone, a hospital stay, multiple colds, a new job started, two new schools for my kids, and soon a new job for me.  We’ve been through three pets (which sounds terrible, but I’ll explain later).  Justin has had his first concert.  We’ve had the kids first snow.  Justin and I have new callings in our church as primary teachers, and as of last week, we were put in charge of our ward’s Christmas party.  I’ve taught a temple collage project to gals in our church.  There have been big changes in the Church of Jesus Christ we heard in our bi-annual General Conference.  Plus lots more.  It feels like it’s been at least a year since being here.  The transition has been smooth and I feel like this is home already.  I feel comfortable with our house and area.  I’ve made some friends and feel social which usually doesn’t happen for a way down the road when moving to a new area.  We have great neighbors that have kids our kids’ ages.

Somethings have been tougher than we anticipated.  Justin’s job is more stressful than hoped mainly due to the fact he’s in charge of the music pit for his school musical.  At the same time, he has more freedom than his last teaching job in Vegas.  Finances have been tighter than we hoped.  We’ve had more health run-ins than anticipated.  We had more fix-ups on our house than planned.  Life, in general, is just busier than we are used to.   BUT life is good even though it doesn’t feel like that at times.  We have been blessed greatly and we are grateful for the miracles, trials, changes, and everyday blessings.

Let me leave this post at that.  I can post specific moments later.  I hope to post more blogs soon.

I already has been over a year since my last post, and I can’t believe that.  Time has flown!  I guess when your kids get older, time really doesn’t slow down.  They aren’t even old yet! Buckle me in for the roller coaster ride!

So I am not going to attempt to catch everyone up on a year of happenings, but where we have been in the last couple months.

Justin has lots of success lately!  He received very solid 1’s all across the board at his festival a couple weeks ago for his advanced orchestra (that is the highest score).  They did amazing!  He was also selected as a county delegate for April’s county caucus for Bernie Sanders.  He was able to sway the one fence sitter at our caucus this month.  He is very excited about that.  He’s been playing gigs here and there in his band “Sweet Pete Brown and the Natural Facts”.  They have an awesome band and Pete Brown is very talented blues-y musician.  He’s also doing classes again to get a valid recognized administrative license in Clark County as apparently his masters in admin. doesn’t meet Clark County requirements.   His students love him as a teacher and he’s been meshing more and more with his current school

Sammy.  Sammy.  Sammy.  He is my sweet adorable handful of a boy.  He is 2 1/2 now!  He is talking in small sentences and I love that he can pretend now.  He loves to “save the day” and play with his trains and cars.  He loves the sand box, riding his bike, and being outside.  He’s not so much into playing at the playgrounds at parks anymore, but instead loves to explore, chase pigeons, and play in the grass.   He loves mischief and will climb on what he can and throw what he can.  He has started his “Sammy do it” phase.  Just this morning he turned on one of the gas burners on our stove all by himself.  He was trying to make “macaroni and cheese” with his bottle being the pot and noodles.  He was very much in trouble for that.  He is also very attached to me.  We rejoice when he chooses Justin or is okay with me not putting him to bed.  I love his snuggles, hugs, and kisses.  He loves his sister and likes playing with and pestering her.

Haddie is a full blown kid now.  No more toddler!  She goes to preschool at a community center and has a great teacher and class.  They all get along great and even I have become friends with some of the moms.  She adores My Little Ponies and plays with them often.  Her HUGE dollhouse isn’t for Barbies, but for her ponies.  One of my favorites is that when we go to the library now, she likes to pick out books and have me read them to her.  It’s not just for play time anymore.  She loves to sing, dance, and play the piano and is quite good at improv song, dance, and piano playing.  I guess she loves to sing and dance at school too and has taught her class one of her songs.   She is a TAD bit more shy than she once was, which isn’t really shy.  She is not afraid to try new things.  There are a few things here and there she’s cautious about.  She loves to color and do art. Her eating has gotten tons better, but is still not great.  I’m talking about she’ll eat applesauce from a different brand.  She’ll try new things a lot easier.  She eats peeled apples now.  It’s hit or miss with shredded carrots, cucumbers, and spinach.  She LOVES chocolate chip pumpkin bread.  These all seem like small thing, but to us it’s huge!  She’ll always be picky, but better than she once was.  She does great with her allergies and makes sure to ask if things have eggs.  She tells most people what she’s allergic too.  It’s great she loves pudding, because that is her substitute treat when a student or friend has cake or ice cream with eggs for his or her birthday or something else.   We are battling her emotions and reactions recently and figuring out how to best teach her and deal with them.  We have a hard time with same age friends coming over to play and sharing.  It’s a big lesson to learn how to share your toys and how to play if you don’t want to play the same thing.  We are on the fence whether we’ll send her to kinder next year.  I won’t homeschool, but she can either be the youngest or oldest in her class depending on when we send her.  I may hold her back a year.  I can’t believe she can start kinder this year though!!!

As for me, well, I’m me!  I stopped teaching most of my art students and am now down to zero as my two students wanted to do church volleyball for the time being which fell at the same time.  I am still selling collages (mainly prints and digital files).  I’ve recently picked up quilling and have been enjoying it.  It’s in the experimental stages right now on what products to make to sell.  I am playing around with necklaces and small wall decor.  I am no longer in Young Women’s at church which makes me really sad.  I am now a bear den leader for cub scouts.  They are a fun group of boys.  I have no clue about scouts, but i am quickly learning and will be all ready when Sammy turns 8 and can be a scout.  I have been socially busy too which is great!  It’s been a long time since I’ve had solid friends.  I’ve headed up a book/jigsaw puzzle club which has been a great success and so much fun.  We discuss a book while doing a jigsaw puzzle and eating delicious food.  I am blessed to have wonderful friends in my life from different areas of my life too (church, school, other).  I’m finally able to make our house how I want it more and more now that Sammy is older.  There’s still a lot I want to do, but it’s a project in progress.  I love our home and our neighborhood.  I am dealing with a good case of plantar fasciitis and am going to the specialist this week.

Now who really read this novel of a blog?  I’m sure not many.  Now I’m kinda caught up, hopefully these will become shorter…unless it’s another year before I blog again.

Some of the pics are of “Sweetie” (real name “Luna”) the neighborhood cat that likes to try to come in our house and poop in our sandbox (now has a cover).   I’ll have Justin post his pics that are on his ipad and phone

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Since art is a BIG part of my life right now, it deserves a blog all to it’s own.

I have finished some collages and am working on a few right now.  I find it REALLY hard to have the motivation and energy to work on them after the kids go to bed.  I just want to chill by that point at night or go to sleep.  It’s fun to see how my collage work changes with each one.  I definitely think I am mastering my skill more and finding new ways and techniques to create each piece.  Can I say that I love selling my art work!  Yes I can say it, because I do.  I always wanted to be a selling artist, and even if it’s not on a grand scale (I’m not in galleries or museums), I still am so grateful for this talent and ability and for people that appreciate what I do.  I definitely know it is inspired and guided by Heavenly Father.

As for art classes, well, they’re still happening!  I have most of the same students as last year with a few extra.  I love teaching these kids.  There’s not the frustration and stress like there was teaching in public school.  I love getting to know my students.  They are all fantastic, talented, and unique.  I have two preschool classes, one toddler class, a 3 other classes with students 10-16.  In December I had my first art show with my students’ works.  I’ve included some pictures.  Everyone that said they’d be there came and I think it was a big success.  I am very grateful for Rebecca Layton for letting me use her home since ours wouldn’t quite fit everyone (comfortably).

Haddie has been doing more and more art too.  It has been so much fun to see her begin to draw recognizable things.  She doesn’t mind getting paint and marker on her hands, which is funny since she’s pretty cautious with food on her hands. She plays with playdoh and the kinetic sand my Aunts sent the kids for Christmas (thanks Uncle Cindi and Aunt Jan!), which is a huge deal with her sensory issues.  She likes to paint and color, but usually only with one color.  She’ll paint a whole page yellow, or color something all red.  She colors and paints really well, covering all the white spots, just all in one color.  She’s in my toddler class with her church friend, Henry.  Class lasts anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on their mood and focus.  She understands and follows directions amazing well.

On Wednesday she starts a story dance class at a local dance studio here.  She will learn dance through stories and dress-up.  She is excited!!  That was her gift from my mom and dad for Christmas.  I got a Living Social deal for 6 weeks of this one class, and if she likes it and does well, we’ll sign up for more!  She is not shy and will not mind performing or dancing with others around.  She even dances and tries to use the microphone in primary.  NOT SHY AT ALL.

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Sammy had his first solid feeding today.  Not sure if he LOVED the food or the spoon…or both.  He for some reason kept blowing raspberries on the spoon when it was put in his mouth, but not as a sign if disgust.  So, I”m not sure how much he actually ate.

Our neighbor also kindly offered to cut Sammy’s hair for free, so he got his first haircut which was long due.  I love it!  He looks like such an adorable little boy.  He did before, but he does even more now!  Plus, he can see now.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayu-Isz11KQ&feature=youtu.be

The pictures speak for themselves of the weather we’ve been enjoying until it turned windy and chilly (Las Vegas chilly isn’t really that chilly).  Monday Haddie has her allergist appointment.  Doctor put her on Singulair to hopefully help out with cold and seasonal allergy asthma she gets.  That way we can avoid the breathing treatments of steroids.   The doctor won’t test her again for a while with her egg and peanut allergies like her pediatrician wanted him to.  Nothing will have changed since the last time and it was a more strong reaction on the scale they use, so it would be pointless now.

Tuesday Haddie had her first dentist appointment.  I was nervous she’d be horrible since she is so stubborn and scared of new things/foods in her mouth.  She did fantastic!  She easily let the hygienist put the film in her mouth to take x-rays and bit down and held still.  It only took one try.  She doesn’t have any cavities.  She didn’t let the whirly polisher in her mouth, so the hygienist  brushed her teeth with a normal toothbrush.  We have to floss her teeth every night (which we have epically failed in so far) since her teeth are tight.  She resisted that at first, but i reminded her about a new toy and she did great after.  She was not going to have a paintbrush of flouride in her mouth, but since it was the most important part i had to hold her arms down and the hygienist had to force that in.  She screamed and cried while she did that but didn’t physically fight it.  Overall she followed directions very well and enjoyed it.  She got to play with ipads, watch Bubble Guppies and Monsters University, and play with toys.  She got a new toothbrush, which she was the most excited about, a sticker and toy.  Nicole watched Sammy which was in melt down most of the time.  So sorry, Nicole.  So later that night, so Justin could stay home with Sammy, Haddie and I headed to Target to get her a toy.  We picked out (I picked out most) a lot of toys.  At the end we compared them to see what she wanted the most.  Blokus won hands down.  She gave up little people sets, legos, Elefun game, and a big doll.  She really did want that everytime I asked her to make sure.  From the photos and videos of the previous post you can see she was telling the truth.  I am so proud of her.

Yesterday Sammy had his urologist appointment about his circumcision surgery.  It’s the same appointment and same doctor we had a few months ago, but he left that other practice without letting us know and starting up his own practice.  Since he didn’t bring any patient notes with him, we went back again.  His surgery is set for April 25th, and I am a little emotional about it.  He can’t eat any milk after midnight, only apple juice.  We need to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. then he goes into the O.R. at 7:00.  He’ll be given a mask with some gas to put him out, then will be given an i.v. of anesthesia.  The surgery should only last 20 minutes.   He won’t feel anything down below for a few hours after.  He doesn’t need to stay in the hospital.  We should go home that day.  He is just so little to have anesthesia.  Makes me sad to even think about him in surgery even if it is a minor one.  Not eating after midnight will be very tough for him…and us too.

Good news for him, is that he has graduated to going to physical therapy only once a month.  Soon he won’t need to come anymore.  Great news!  I am sad because he adored going.  He had so much fun.  It was his version of Gymboree.  He is back on anti-acid medication for a while before we start sleep-training him.  Hopefully he can start self-soothing himself so he doesn’t need a bottle to fall asleep and we can ditch the swaddler.  Only time will tell.

That is the health-wise news of the kiddos.  Hopefully there isn’t anything new in the near future.

Ice Cream Picnic

Blokus and Book Party with Buddy Holly

About that Dentist visit

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So, I’ve been trying to take more pictures of Sammy this week so he doesn’t get left out as the second child.  He is so stinkin’ cute and I can’t get over it!  He has become such a happy baby and loves to smile and giggle and definitely loves people.  I am amazed at the differences between him and Haddie.  Here’s what I’ve noticed:

1.  Sammy LOVES his fingers and chomping on everything he can grab.  He will not take a paci.  Haddie loved her paci but rarely chomped or drooled over everything.

2.  He’s my little sensitive soul.  He bumps his head, gets a shot, or scrape and the world is at an end.  Justin and I are frustrated, mad, or stressed he feeds off that and is a mess.  Haddie’s pain tolerance is incredibly high.  She got shots and rarely cried.  She falls all the time and doesn’t phase her.  She is sensitive to feelings as well though too.

3.  He wants to go go go.  He is a rolling machine (although tummy time isn’t his favorite).  He wiggles like crazy and I am sure will be crawling as soon as he can.  He wants to look all around him, so snuggling isn’t usually his favorite.  He wants to be held all the time, but we are his feet and his height and his comfort.  Haddie took her time to go go.  She wasn’t delayed, but wasn’t in a hurry.  She is our snuggler and will snuggle in a heart beat.

4.  He loves to eat!  We had such a hard time with this kid, now we can’t get him to stop eating!  He will take medicine without a problem and actually likes it.  I’m hoping he won’t be a picky eater.  Haddie didn’t love to eat and did NOT like medicine.

5.  He doesn’t sleep as much as Haddie did.  He’d rather be up and awake, and takes his short naps through the day.  Haddie loves her sleep.

6.  He’s becoming such a cute chunk.  Already 15-16 lbs.  Haddie was petite and still is.

7.  Sammy is very vocal.  He coos and splutters and cries.  He cries hard when he’s mad.  Haddie rarely cried.  At least I know what Sammy wants…most of the time.

I’m not listing the differences to say one child is better than the other, just I think it’s fantastic that they are do unique and different.  They adore each other.  Sammy lights up whenever he can catch Haddie’s attention.  Haddie loves to roll with him, hold him, and play with him.  She has taken to covering her ears when he cries.   I didn’t have a connection with Sammy from the get-go since they whisked him away and I was so exhausted.  But now I love this little boy more and more.  He is so fun and happy and curious.  I love Haddie still, of course.  I love them differently, but the same amount.  They are different.  There is a different connection with having a daughter and a son.  One isn’t better than the other, it’s just a bit different.  I still am floored at times that I have a family all my own now.  Where has the time gone?

Anyway.

Sammy is rolling over from back to front and is chomping on everything!  We will have to re-babyproof our house.  Haddie loves little toys that are choking hazards.  She doesn’t put them in her mouth.  I have a feeling they will all be in his mouth in seconds when he can get to them.  His toes are his friends still. He is making high pitch squeals and laughs and giggles.  He blows raspberries too.   He is all boy.  Loves to be naked, burps, toots, gets so sweaty, and loves to smile at the girls.

Haddie’s imagination keeps growing.  Everyday we are different characters.  I’ve been Minnie Mouse, Elsa, and Millie (umi zoomi) a lot.  Justin is Goofy, Elsa, and Bot.  Sammy is baby Bot.  She loves to sing Frozen.  Like every other kid in the country she adores the movie.  She plays with her characters a lot and her games still.

Justin’s big news is that he is no longer teaching Taekwondo.  It was too much for right now, and he wanted to spend more time with family and music.  I admit it is so much nicer to have him home two nights a week earlier.  It takes a way a lot of the stress and we’ve had a lot more family time.  He may do private lessons or get back into it later.  He also got a solid 1 at his music festival!  That’s good.  1+ is the highest you can go.  His chamber orchestra sounded amazing and did great.  He is proud of them especially when at the beginning of the year he didn’t know what kind of group it would be.  He’s been busy with other performances as well.  He did get his dream electric bass this last week.  A guy he found was selling his hardly used Warwick bass for a fraction of the cost you’d normally get it at.  Justin was in heaven.  Still is I think.  He got to jam on Saturday with a church friend.

Me, well I’m still being mom and becoming more social now Sammy is older.  I am doing art as much as I can.  I want to get into paper jewelry.  I’ve finished a temple just this last week.  I have a few other collages to get done than I can get more creative.  I’ve been clothes shopping as I can’t fit in a lot of my clothes anymore and I haven’t been clothes shopping since last January 2013.  I hate feeling frumpy and un-expressive.  So in an attempt that seems artificial and shallow to feel better about myself I am redesigning my look.

The weather is now gorgeous.  Allergies are bad, but we’ve been outside more.  It’s been pleasant.   This week we have a week full of play-dates, company over for dinner, and next week is a week of doctors appts.  Haddie will have her first dentist appointment then too!  We’ll see how she does with someone messing in her mouth.  I’m guessing she will not like it.  Well, ta ta for now.  More later.  Hope you all are well.  Love you all!!