West Coast Wanderings

Now that I've had a few days to get back on my feet, here's a recap of the boys' and my trip out west: (warning: this turned out much longer than I originally anticipated...I won't be offended if you just skip to the photos at the bottom.)

The morning of February 1st (the day of our departure) I woke up with an icky stomach bug. I thought it was food poisoning, because I had no other symptoms, but we're not really sure...anywho, turns out Logan also had the lucky bug, but thankfully the boys were free and clear! Our flight didn't leave until 5pm, so after a lot of ginger ale, prayer, and a blessing, I seemed okay to travel. I left Logan sick in bed (very sad...he had to stay and work, so he wasn't scheduled to go on the trip, but I felt bad leaving him sick!) and went with Nanna to the airport for our trip out west. Poor Nanna had recently sprained her ankle, so we made quite an interesting group at the tiny Charlottesville airport!

The flight out was okay--Jack got really cranky around his bed time, but when he finally decided to go to sleep it wasn't so bad. Tommy was great on the plane--if he's always like that, I'll travel with him any time! I was so glad Nanna was with me, because I definitely couldn't have handled them on my own!

We got into Seattle around 10pm, and Nanna left with my sister Christy, while the boys and I went with Grandma Rae Rae to the car rental agency. After a fun adventure there (involving getting two screaming kids into a car, signing paper work, and preparing to drive away, only to discover the car I was in had a problem, requiring that we change to another car just moments after the kids had stopped screaming) we were on our way to Edgewood!

We spent the next few days in Washington, playing with Grandma Rae Rae and Grandpa Tad (Logan's parents), visiting Luke and Twylla and their kids (Logan's brother and family), and enjoying the much milder northwest weather. The boys sleep schedule was CRAZY due to jet lag, but thanks to Disney movies, my iPad, and Netflix, we managed to stay relatively quiet in the mornings even though we woke up hours before everyone else.

The one down side to the Washington portion of the trip was that Jack was SUPER clingy. We think that since his dad wasn't around, and with Nanna disappearing after the plane ride, he was convinced that at any moment I would disappear, too. We managed okay, but it was kinda trying at times. Tommy would have random moments where he'd start crying for his dad, but other than that he did really well.

I also had the great opportunity to do a Lia Sophia show for my mother-in-law! It was lots of fun (even though Jack decided he needed to attend as well, instead of going to bed) and I'm glad we got to do it :-)

On Saturday (Feb. 5th) we went to Kirkland and saw Logan's extended family, who just happened to live a few streets over from my sister Christy! We had pizza and let the grandkids play together, and then headed over to Christy's for my nephew Alton's baptism. Tommy and Jack didn't feel like sitting through the service, but luckily my big brother Seth helped me walk the halls with them, and kept Tommy entertained.

Nanna then joined me on a car ride down to Newberg, OR., to stay at my sister Hope's house. We went to church in my old home ward (although I only recognized about 5 people; it's changed so much!), after which we decided to go visit the cemetery where my brother is buried.

Now, I mentioned that I had switched rental cars at the last second. The first car was a strange Nissan hatchback, but it had automatic locks, windows, keyless remote, and a nifty looking dashboard. The second car they gave me was a Toyota Yaris, and it was weird. Nothing on it was automatic, and the speedometer was in the middle of the dashboard, instead of in front of the driver. It's gas meter was odd too, and, as we came to find out, was not required to actually let you know if you were running low on gas.

We got to the top of Bell Mountain, and were stopping at a stop sign (on an incline) when the car died. Dead as a doornail. No gas. No juice. No movement.

It was highly embarrassing (who runs out of gas anymore???!), but thankfully some good Samaritans pushed us out of the way of traffic, and helped us get some gas. Seriously, the only warning the car gave us that it was even low on gas was a gentle fade-in-fade-out of the gas meter. No "ding" sound, no gas light, nothing. Grr.

Anywho, we managed to get back to Hope and John's, and had a nice family dinner with Seth and his girls, Hope, John, Sarah, and our cousin Tara. We got some pictures, too (of course)!

On Monday I drove into Portland to see some of my dear high school friends. It was so great to see them! I had to see them in "shifts" because our schedules didn't align, but the boys were real troupers. We saw Jeremy in the morning, and had delicious pastries at some artsy bakery in Portland (along with a deliciously LARGE cup of hot chocolate), and it was great getting to catch up with him. We then ran over to the Fifth Avenue building to meet Beth, where we once again indulged in hot chocolate (what can I say--it's a thing with me). Since we were meeting in a business building, the boys weren't terribly happy, but once we walked them back to the car and let them play in there they were much happier (and let Beth and I catch up!). We drove out to Canby (both boys slept on the way out) and had dinner with Matt and his family. It was so nice to get to meet his little girl, and get to know his wife better! It was a very long and busy day, but it was great! I wish I could have seen even more people, but sadly, our schedules didn't match up :(

On Tuesday we drove back up to Washington, during which time we stopped briefly at the Portland Temple (beautiful!), went shopping at Deseret Books in Lake Oswego, and got horribly lost on our way back to Kirkland to see Christy. Since we didn't have a GPS system with us, we had to call Christy to look up directions from the random address we were at, and had a jolly adventure getting onto the right roads!

We spent the night at Rae Rae and Tad's, and left early in the morning for home. I was so ready to go! It's fun seeing family and friends, and I'm really glad we went, but I REALLY missed Logan! So did the boys--when I went to wake up Tommy (who had finally adjusted to west coast time) early in the morning, he didn't really want to wake up, but as soon as I said "We're going on an airplane to see Daddy" he sat up straight in bed and said, "Go to see Daddy?!" It was really cute!

The flight back was MUCH better than I thought it would be. I was sure with no in-flight movie the kids would go crazy, but we managed okay. Jack even took a two hour nap, which was great for us!

When we arrived in Charlottesville it was snowing, strangely enough, so that delayed getting home a bit, but Logan was up and waiting for us when we arrived. The kids were elated! Tommy couldn't wait to see Daddy, Diego, Calli, and all of his toys again (which he promptly took out of the toybox and began playing with). It took us about 45 minutes to get them calmed down, but the kids did manage to go to sleep. I was so happy to be back in my bed, and back with my hubby---he doesn't kick like Jack does!

And now, some photos:

Jack playing with his Uncle John while we visited Aunt Christy

Jack and Tommy enjoying fancy hot chocolate at the bakery in Portland

Grandpa Tad (photo taken by Jack, with a little help from Mommy)

Seth "entertaining" Tommy at Alton's baptism

All the Feinauer grandkids, together for the first time! (Sarah's hiding behind her mom)

Me, my siblings, and my Mom

(L->R) Nanna, Seth, Christy, Hope, Me

My sisters and me

(oldest->youngest)

The boys with their uncle Carson. You can see the family resemblance to Logan.

Dinner at Nana and Papa Davis' (Logan's paternal grandparents).

L->R: Jack, Me, Nana Davis, Spencer, Tommy, and Andrew

(I may have Spencer and Andrew mixed up; they're twins, and I don't always get them right. They're Logan's brother Luke's boys)

Tommy and Andrew ( I think)

Jack. Being cute. He fell off the chair about a minute later. Kinda funny.

Guess that sums it up! It was fun being out there, but it's great to come home :-)

The Little Bookworm

A little anecdote about the differences in my two boys:

When Tommy was about 18 months old, he would wake up from his afternoon nap, jump out of bed and bang on his bedroom door to let us know he was awake.

Jack, on the other hand, wakes up, and begins to READ to himself. I only know he's awake because he'll occasionally call out (I'm not sure what he's saying, but it's yelled out in a calm manner).

When I go in to get him, I see this:

We conveniently placed Jack's bed next to his bookcase, and he is constantly grabbing books and looking through them! It's really adorable, and he loves looking at all the pictures. He's my little bookworm!

Logan's 27th Birthday

On January 9th, my hubby turned 27! About a week before, he turned to me and said, "Do I look old enough to be 27?"

To which I replied, "No. You look 26."

Nanna and Papa were kind enough to take the boys overnight (eek!) from Friday to Saturday so that Logan and I could go on a date and have some time to ourselves. We went down to Roanoke and had a lot of fun shopping and eating without the kids (although it did feel kinda weird being without them...) It was really nice to sleep in, too!

We had a taco dinner on Sunday (his actual birthday) with Nanna, Papa, and Uncle JJ, and then ate cake and played Carcasonne. A nice relaxing way to spend the day!

Jack after a tasty bite of cake

Logan after successfully blowing out all the candles

The bonfire

After Christmas fun times

I can't believe January is half over! Time is certainly flying by! Here's a snapshot of some of the goings-on at the House of Davis:

Tommy and Jack discovered the fun of paper bag costumes (courtesy of Kroger, the only place that appears to have paper bags any more)

Jack REALLY loved playing with the bags. Tommy lost interest kinda quick, but for days afterwards Jack kept asking to have me put it back on him!

We discovered that Tommy loves to paint! I decided to stop being such a chicken and let my kids play with messy stuff...it was a lot of fun, and we made Nanna a cute birthday present!

The birthday present (sorry the picture is blurry!)

Tommy and Jack got new toddler beds! Now they have a lot more space to play in their room, and they love being near each other. They think it's funny to try and switch beds on Mommy and Daddy, but they usually end up where they're supposed to be....

Jack's new wagon, which he got from Nana and Papa Davis. He had it for two seconds before he decided to hop in and have Tommy chauffeur him around!

Tommy's new microphone (like Sid the Science Kid) and Toy Story tent (from Nana and Papa Davis)

Jack loved zipping himself inside the tent! It's built for going outside, too, and we're looking forward to trying it out this summer.

It's been a busy month, but lots of fun! I can't believe how much my boys are growing up. Good thing they're cute!

And we're having...something

Logan and I went in for our "big ultrasound" today at the doctors. I can't believe I'm already at 5 months!

Logan's been convinced for a while that this was a boy. I was pretty sure, too, but I didn't want to go around calling the baby by a boy name if it turned out to be a girl, so I've been trying to be cautious.

We went in for the ultrasound (our technician was great--she explained a lot of things to us, helping us to see what we were looking at) and we were excited to find that the heart, kidneys, head, spine, lip, etc., were all forming just fine and the baby was growing appropriately.

When we asked about gender...well, baby didn't want to share. The entire 20 minutes of the ultrasound, the baby had its legs crossed! I turned on my side, jiggled my tummy, walked around the room. We tried everything, but this kid was determined that we would not get a peek.

So...now we're not sure what we're having. The technician said that she didn't see anything to suggest male, so she'd bet on a girl, but she didn't find any super conclusive evidence that it was a girl either. We're having another ultrasound at 36 weeks, so we should find out then (if baby wants to share) but until then, we're stumped.

I guess we'll just call it "Baby #3" for now!

It's cute little foot!

It's cute little profile!

So, what do you think? Boy or girl?

Merry Christmas!

Lotsa fun here in the Davis household! This was the first Christmas where Tommy started to "get" the holiday, and it was fun listening to him wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and point out all the "Merry Christmas tree"s and "Merry Christmas lights" around town. It might take a week or two to break him from the habit of saying it, but it's so adorable!

About a week ago we received a little snowfall, which was very beautiful and luckily didn't cause many problems on the roads.

The view from our front window

For Christmas Eve we went over to Nanna and Papa's house for presents and dinner. They had the house beautifully decorated (as always) and we had a great time eating together and playing with their new X-Box Kinnect system!

The dining room, pre-"feast"

The living room, before the presents were opened

Dinner time! Lots of smiling, happy people :-)

After we got back from Nanna and Papa's, the boys went to bed and Logan and I set out the presents (which have been in my closet since little hands have a hard time keeping away from them!)

The tree, in all its glory!

Logan worked Christmas Eve night, which was luckily very quiet, so we planned a nice breakfast for when he got home. I made European Pancakes (crepes) on Christmas Eve, and the next morning we heated them up and had a delicious meal with cut up fruits, whipped cream, and nutella. The boys all enjoyed it!

Our Christmas "spread"

Tommy in his PJs

We then moved into the living room, where the boys opened their presents! It was a lot of fun. This year Tommy received Mr. Potato Head from Santa, and Jack got a toy drum. (They also received toddler beds, but they weren't as excited about those. Pictures coming soon!)

Mr. Potato Head, who joins Woody, Buzz, and Jessie in Tommy's toy collection

Jack, sitting in his new toy box with the movie "Bolt" (thanks Grandma Betty and Grandpa Ted!)

Tommy "sleeping" on his new pillow pal (it's a dog stuffed animal, as well as a pillow. So soft!)

My Men, all so handsome!!!

While Logan was sleeping (recovering from his night shift) the boys and I went to Nanna and Papa's for the afternoon, and had fun watching Toy Story 3 and eating lots of cookies and fudge. For dinner we went to our friends the Graves' house for a delicious Christmas ham with the Coopers and DeSpains. We had 7 kids all together, and it was fun seeing them play and interact.

The boys actually did very well today, and didn't have too many meltdowns! I enjoyed watching them enjoy the Christmas holiday, and as we were putting them to bed Tommy sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells" with me and Logan. So adorable! I love Christmas. Such a great time with family :-)

In closing, here is a picture of my "Onion Goggles" that Logan got for me (because I cry like my favorite pet died every time I cut onions), along with the Christmas sweater vest he made me purchase from Goodwill a couple months ago. Enjoy!

This is what happens when you let your husband dress you.

Merry Christmas!

Decking the halls...ish

Some photos for you! We got our tree on Tuesday, and the boys helped me to decorate (and then un-decorate) it.

Jack scoping things out...

Tommy unpacks the Santa hat

Our newest stockings! We finally "committed" and purchased nice ones this year

The complete set (Logan and I received ours as presents on our first Christmas)

Jack loves tubs...even if he has to share!

Tommy did a good job helping me put ornaments on...unfortunately, he began taking them back off...

Sorry there's no photo of the tree "finished." Honestly, it looks a little wimpy right now (I ended up taking the ornaments off for the safety of everyone involved), but I'll take a photo on Christmas day when it has presents under the tree and everything :-)