Croup

Yes. That is right. Our poor little Kimbri got the croup again. Where did she pick it up? I have not one blasted idea! But I feel so bad for her. She had it before several months ago but now has it again. The doctor said that the fall season is the most common time to get it :( 

The last time she got the croup they asked us if we'd rather give her an oral medicine or a steroid shot to treat the croup. We chose the oral because she had never had a problem with eating or swallowing anything at that point in her life. We had given her children's medicine before and she loved it! But you would know that she wanted NOTHING to do with the oral medicine that treats the croup! It took both Rick and I to make her swallow it. The instant it would hit her tongue would be the instant she would try to spit it out. 

So..... anyway, this time around we opted for the shot. One shot and it would all be over. However, this shot must have been a bad one because she cried way worse than when she just gets immunizations. She cried while I put her pants back on, as we checked out of the office and all the way down the elevator and out to the car. I felt so bad for her. I guess it didn't help that she had, had a rough night the night before, being up coughing and wheezing and plus it was nap time, so she was double tired. Actually, she was probably triple tired. Or more. 

When we got home, Rick had just gotten home from class and met us in the driveway and carried Kimbri in the house. She fell right to sleep on Daddy's shoulder! She took a little nap but woke up not too long after still wheezing and struggling to breath. Poor girl. 

We snuggled and watched Charlotte's Web. I thought that might be a fun movie for her since it has so many animals in it! And not to mention Charlotte, the spider!! Kimbri is so in to spiders right now with it being Halloween and all. Any time we go to my parents house she gets excited when she sees the big, fake spider hanging from the chandelier above the kitchen table. So Kimbri pretty much loved every time the movie showed Charlotte the spider :)

Well, I think the shot kicked in because last night Kimbri had a much better night! She slept 12 hours straight, woke up and had a bottle and went back to sleep for about 40 more minutes. When she woke up this morning she seemed a lot happier and better rested. However, the runny nose that had only been slightly runny has turned into a VERY runny nose that we had to constantly wipe all day. So now her nose is a bit red. But hopefully things will continue to look up and she'll be back to her healthy self soon! 

Our Second Apartment

We have absolutely loved living in this fun little house! In our previous apartment, because it was a basement there were only very tiny, skinny windows that hardly let any light in. On one side of the house there was a trailer that was parked right next to the window, blocking the sunlight from shining in. And on the other side of the house was a driveway and then another house right next to us, so we only got a few moments of sunlight before the neighboring house blocked the sun.

 It was especially hard when I had just delivered Kimbri and was home all day long. Being home all day long with a newborn was so fun and I loved cuddling and holding baby Kimbri but it's crazy how not seeing the sun really starts to affect you. I would go a couple of days without even seeing the sun. It felt as if I was living in a dark little rabbit hole. Anyway, so moving to our new place was so incredible! We immediately had tons of big windows and taller ceilings. In our last place Rick had to make sure and walk around the ceiling lights otherwise he would walk right into them and bonk his head! 

So, this fun house it where we live now. It's located on 640 N 300 E Provo, Utah. We love it!

We have lived here just over one year and it feels so much like home. Our home.

This is the front room. It's what you see when you first
walk in the front door to your left.

Our piano!

The other half of the front room/dining room. This is what
you see immediately to the right when you walk in the
front door. Notice the front door to the right of the picture.

The kitchen is just beyond the front room.

The other side of the kitchen.

One side of our bedroom.

The other side plus the closet.

Kimbri's room! So much pink:) Along with
the crib that I slept in and the changing
table that my dad made for my mom many
years ago!

The bathroom.

Before moving here we attended the married student ward. But after moving we decided to start attending the family ward. I think it was a great decision! It was fun to be in a ward with variety. Don't get me wrong, the married student ward was really fun and everybody was kind of in the same situation in life, either just married or have only been married for a couple years. There were always several pregnant women and always tons of women who had just had a baby. We could all relate to one another because we were mostly all students, married, working, etc...

But after moving, going to a family ward just felt right. We got called to speak like the second Sunday we were there! The week after giving our talks we were called in to get callings to teach the 14-15 year old Sunday School class. Maybe it was because I had mentioned in my talk that we were both the oldest of pretty large families? I don't know. But either way it was a fun calling. It was so fun to teach together, Rick and I. And of course Kimbri was a hit with all the teenage girls that were in our class:)

Just a couple of months ago, after just feeling like I had started to really get to know people in our ward,  the stake made some huge changes in our stake boundaries! They decided to create a whole new ward. And you would know, we were part of the whole 2 blocks that they took from our old ward and put in our new ward. So there are only a handful of families that are actually still in the same ward, because the block we live on has a ton of single student housing, and a church, so there's not many families that live on our block and the block across the street. They took people from three different wards and created a new ward, the Provo Peak 9th Ward. So here we are, getting used to a new ward and new callings but it's great! Rick is the 11-year-old Scout leader and I am the Primary pianist. 

We are loving living here! We will most likely be living here until probably next summer, maybe til June-ish? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. It depends on where Rick gets in to medical school. So we'll see where we end up moving to next summer! 

Our First Apartment

I've been wanting to do a post about the two places we've lived since being married so that we can look back and see pictures of the places we lived as newlyweds. I think it's always so fun to look back and reminisce about life and the good times we've enjoyed together. 

So this post will be about our first little basement apartment on 465 E 200 N in Provo, Utah.

We lived below Haley and Cole Christensen, our landlords. Because we were to get married after school already had started, it was very difficult to find married housing that would be available starting in September. So we knew that we would probably have to pay extra to reserve a place.

After looking at the apartment we decided to go for it! And since we would have to rent it before actually moving in, we decided to have a little adventure and paint the kitchen. We originally had thought that we would be living there for the whole 3 years until Rick's graduation, but obviously that didn't happen. But it was a fun little adventure anyway and we had fun working on our first little apartment together. Here are some pictures of what our apartment, specifically the kitchen, looked like before, and then after.

We lived in the basement of this house.
Our entrance was on the left side just off the driveway.

Starting to take off the wallpaper.

Our bedroom.

Bathroom

Bedroom #2 - we used it for storage.

Another pic of toom #2

Stairwell and entry to apartment.

Front, living room area.

Hallway to kitchen and bedrooms.

Olivia helped us take the wallpaper off.

She also helped us repaint the cupboards!

Here is the kitchen after it was all done! The repainted white cupboards looked way better especially against the red walls. And even the ugly green counters sort of matched...or not. But it worked! 

A wedding gift we hung up in our kitchen. 

Front room / Front door

Bathroom.

Wedding gifts on our front room wall.

Painting that Rick's cousin did for us.

This apartment, though it ended up having a ton of unforeseen issues that about drove me crazy at times, it was a great little apartment that we lived in for just over the first year of our marriage. We made plenty of great and fun memories here and it will always hold a place in my heart as our first home that Rick and I had together. And we even brought our first baby home to this apartment. 

After discovering some serious mold issues in the carpet, and having the landlords 'fix' it, and then having the mold come back, we really wanted to move. The moldy, musky smell had become unbearable and I for sure didn't want a newborn baby breathing in yucky, moldy and musky air! And when a baby starts crawling, nobody wants them to be crawling on mold-infested carpet! 

So I immediately started browsing the internet, specifically Craigslist, to try and find a better but still affordable place to live. And that's when we found the house that we are living in now. Within about 2 weeks or less of finding our new apartment where we would be living, we packed, still had school, tests, Rick and I both still worked and we were still adjusting to life as parents of a newborn! It was a crazy hard semester with all that happened but it was so worth the move and we love where we are living now! My next post will be about our new place that we are living in now.

More About Our Weekend...

Well I described how our Saturday was pretty well in the last post but a lot more still happened over the weekend I want to look back and remember! 

Friday night was Cosette's endowment at the Provo Temple. We were so glad we got to be there with her in the temple. Jessica came to babysit Kimbri so that we could go to this special event. Cosette is going to be leaving on her mission to Resistencia, Argentina this coming February! And I'm so excited for her! 

After the temple session we all met up at Olive Garden. Rick and I drove back to our house to pick up Kimbri and Jessica. It was pretty late to be going out for dinner but it was fun to be there with Cosette, Jessica, Sundee and Mike, and Grandma and Grandpa Clark, and of course Rick and Kimbri! 

Since it was so late and not very many other people were there, Kimbri was quite the center of attention with the waiter and other waitresses that kept walking by our table. Kimbri would wave to them as they walked by so they would then stop and say hi back to her. She got come crayons and a place mat to color on. And they even got her, her own baby cup with a lid and a bendy straw so she could drink it on her own, and boy did she love that! 

I didn't feel like eating much so I filled up on the free soup and breadsticks that comes with your meal and took my whole meal home to eat the next day! 

We didn't get back home til nearly midnight! But it was totally worth it because we had so much fun together, spending time at the temple and with family.

Then on Sunday we got to spend even more time with family! Olivia spent the night Saturday night and came to church with us on Sunday. After church we headed down south to Spanish Fork to have dinner and spend the evening with the Haycock side of the family.

Kimbri was worn out and fell asleep on the way down to Spanish Fork, for only like 5 minutes. But I guess it was enough to get her through the rest of the night's activities and fun! 

 It was my Grandpa's birthday just a few days ago so they were having a get-together in his honor. We had mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls, salad, peas and delicious Salt Lake chicken that my dad made! And of course we had dessert...cookies and ice cream. Which was yummy! 

Carla and Craig also came down to join us from Salt Lake and Catherine came down from Provo. It was a fun get together! And a fun weekend overall! 

Yard Sales

My sister, Olivia, has been wanting me to go "garage selling" with her for a while and I've been wanting to go to! So we finally went this past weekend on Saturday morning! Since Rick didn't have work he stayed home with Kimbri while I went down to Spanish Fork for a couple of hours. I got up early and headed out just after 7am. Kimbri was a good little girl and slept til 8am so it worked out good! 

Olivia printed off a list from the Spanish Fork City website of all the garage sales that were posted and we went to nearly all of them - 2 pages worth! Plus some along the way that we just saw and decided to stop by.

We got some pretty good deals! I've been looking for Kimbri a pair of pants that are 12-18month sized. She has pants that fit her but they go with a matching onesie, so I've been wanting to get her a pair of jeans or something so she can wear her little t-shirts! So, in the silly pictures below, Kimbri is modeling her new pair of jeans that were only 50 cents! And the cute shirt came from her Grandma and Grandpa Stone that she got for her birthday. She for some reason had so much fun wearing this tupperware on her head:)

I also got this enormous stuffed bunny for Kimbri. Many of you already know that Kimbri absolutely LOVES stuffed animals. So when I saw this bunny, looking in like new condition with the tags still on it, I just had to get it for her! It was only 75 cents! And it's just as big as her and she loves it! 

Olivia bought a fish tank and a dog house and I think a few other things that I can't remember. It was a pretty windy and cold fall morning but it was really fun to hand out with my little sister and go to garage sales together! Oh, and I also got a Carter's baby crib bumper for baby boy for $3. We have a pink minky one with flowers all over it that my mom got for Kimbri but it's just too girly for a boy:) So this one is a light, cream minky/plush material that will be perfect for baby boy's crib! 

And here are a few more pictures from the rest of our lazy Saturday afternoon.

For some reason, lately,  Kimbri loves to sit on top of the
carseat base. She'll play on it for a really long time! 

Later that afternoon Rick really wanted a treat. So we decided to make Texas Sheet Cake. And here are a couple pictures of Kimbri licking the spatula. Boy does she love doing that! But she cries so hard when it's all gone and I take it away! 

Later on Saturday night Rick, Kimbri and I all loaded up and drove over to the new Convention Center on Center Street in Provo. There was a Baby Expo going on that had free admission and I really wanted to go! So Rick was a good sport and went with me:) He got free chocolate milk and candy out of the deal, along with a pink handbag. We both actually got a pink handbag to put all the coupons and things in that people were handing out. 

There weren't a ton of people there but it was fun to walk around and look at all the different booths about babies and kids. Yet another event that just made me even more anxious to meet our little baby boy! 

Pretty Toenails

Kimbri just does the funniest things and she just makes me smile every day. The other morning we were in my bedroom, making the bed and putting clothes away etc... She went over to the little white shelves, picked up the pink nail polish and brought it over to me. She sat down and lifted her foot up to me. Ha! I just had to drop what I was doing and just sit down and have some girl time with her:) We sat there and painted her toenails. She was so still and just watched as I painted them and blowed them so they would dry faster. She's only had her toenails painted a couple of times so it totally surprised me when she brought me the polish, sat down, and lifted her feet up to me! I think that little kids are smarter than we think sometimes. So here are some pictures we took afterward.

What a cutie! But she also does things that aren't so cute too....but still hilarious! Maybe I shouldn't think it's so funny but I think it's just her innocent facial expressions she lets off that just make me have to laugh about it.

Yesterday morning we were getting ready for Kimbri's bath. I took off her pjs and took off an extremely wet diaper! I asked, "Do you want to take a bath?" and whenever I ask that she repeats "Ba!" Over and over and immediately walks to the bathroom and stands next to the tub. So when I got to the bathroom, after her, because I went to throw the diaper away, I found a nice little puddle of pee on the rug! Oh my. After just changing a incredibly FULL diaper of pee I didn't think I had to worry about her naked little body running to the bathroom. Oh well.

Well, the story does not end there! 

I was bent over swishing the bath water to get it the right temperature. Kimbri was just standing there waiting right next to me. When I looked back at her she was squatting. I picked her up to put he in the tub only to find a pile of poop on the rug!! Ha! She just looked up at me with the biggest innocent eyes with just the funniest facial expression. I called to Rick to see if he could bring me a wipe so I could wipe up her bum before putting her in the tub and to wipe up the rug. And yes, that rug is definitely going to need a washing!  

Another thing Kimbri is totally in to lately, which I sure most kids go through a similar stage, is racing to the toilet paper holder when I'm not looking and pulling and pulling all the toilet paper off! I quickly learned to always just keep the bathroom door shut. Haha:)

Kimbri is just growing up so fast. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. Before we know it she won't be our little baby anymore. Well, she'll always be my little girl but when we bring home our new little boy she is going to seem so big and grown up! She's going to be the big sister! Again, I can't believe it. I love her so much and she is such a joy in my life. I love you, Kimbri!

Arizona

We just got home from Arizona last night just after 10pm. We went down there for Rick to interview at AT Still, a medical school in Mesa, AZ. It was a great trip! But just like after any trip, it was nice to finally get back home. 

Wednesday morning Rick got up and went to class until noon. As soon as he was done he came home, we ate, finished loading the car up and headed on our way. Kimbri and I had been working on getting everything ready pretty much all day on Tuesday so that we could leave as soon as possible on Wednesday. And I'm glad we did because even leaving soon after Rick's class we still didn't get to AZ until after midnight! But the drive actually wasn't too bad. Kimbri did amazing! She totally zonked right out as soon as we left and took a good nap. Here's a picture of her snoozing in the car.

After  she woke up she played with toys, ate some snacks, looked at books, etc... and was just overall a good little traveler!! 

After driving for about 5 hours Kimbri fell back asleep and took another good nap! It was a pretty late nap but that was okay by me since we were just going to be in the car anyway! We took a wrong turn somewhere just past Kanab, Ut and ended up going on US 89A through Kaibab National Forest instead of going on US 89. Luckily it took us right back to US 89 but instead of a more straight shot road we were twisting and turning on an extremely curvy road!! But once getting out of the forest part of it, just as the sun was setting, we came out into the open to see a beautiful landscape! The sun was just hitting the rocks so perfectly and it made for a beautiful view! So even thought it was a total mistake, it turned out to be a nice little scenic detour. But we made sure to go the other way on our way home, because it seriously was a very curvy road that I didn't feel like going on again. 

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures the rest of the trip. I guess I just forgot to whip out my camera. But really was a great trip! I guess it was a more stressful trip for Rick since he was the one going to the interview but I think he had a great time seeing and learning more about the school and after the interview was all over he had the rest of Friday, Saturday and Sunday to relax so it turned out great! 

So after arriving to Shelby and Rue's house late Wednesday night in Gilbert, AZ, we chatted and finally went to bed around 1am. But it really felt like 2am for us because AZ doesn't do the whole daylight savings thing. So we were super tired! Kimbri had woke up when we got there and was awaked while we were talking and visiting with Shelby and Rue. When it was time to go back to sleep she went right to sleep but then decided to wake up several times in the night! Which doesn't usually happen! I think the long day of traveling just messed her sleeping schedule up! 

Rick got up early the next morning and toured Midwestern, another medical school about an hour away. He hasn't been invited for an interview there yet but since we were in the area he decided it would be worth going to check the school out. 

That afternoon he attended class at AT Still with a current student, just to see how classes were there and to find out a little bit more about the school. He is very interested in AT Still so he wanted to do everything he could to show his interest and to be prepared for his interview on Friday. 

That evening we dropped Kimbri off at Brookie and Daniels house, some of Rick's family that lives in Mesa, and went to the social that AT Still held for those being interview the following day, plus one guest. So I got to go with him! It was really neat to be able to be a part of it...to see the school and meet some of the faculty and hear about what they had to say about their school. They fed us little sandwich wraps, fruit and vegetables as we sat around in different groups talking and asking questions to the faculty members and the student ambassadors. 

The next day, Friday morning, Rick got up and attended his interview from 8am to about 2pm. It was a long stressful process for him but at the end of it all he felt really good about it and has high hopes! One of the interviewers was ended up being the professor of the class that he had attended the day before and whom he had already talked with! What are the odds?! So he felt like during the interview he was able to talk really comfortably and confidently with him from the get go. We couldn't believe that he just happened to be the one interviewing Rick after he had already talked with him and gone to his class the day before! It worked out great! 

Friday night, after all of the stress of interview day was over, we got to meet up at a park in Mesa with a ton of Rick's family that lives in AZ. It was fun to see all of the again! I haven't been to AZ since before we were married. They are all so nice and welcoming and just made me feel so much part of the family.  All the kids played and the adults chatted and visited and we had a grand old time! 

One REALLY hilarious and funny side story... While we were at the park I decided to take Kimbri's shoes off. Instead of wood chips, like most all of Utah's parks have, they had sand. So I thought it was a great idea to take her shoes off and let her walk and feel the sand. I thought she would love it! But I was very, very wrong.

She could not stand the feeling of sand!

As soon as I stood her back up, barefoot in the sand, after taking her shoes off, she got a super nervous and scared face and immediately clung to my leg, pulling at my pants, wanting me to pick her back up! Hahaha!!! It was soooooo funny!

I called Rick over to show him how funny it was. She got nervous all over again. After several attempts of standing her in the sand, she eventually was okay with standing in the sand. Then after a little while longer she took a few steps but was walking super slow for fear of falling. Because she's never walked in sand before she soon fell, and put her hands in the sand to try and hoist herself back up like she normally does after sitting down.

Oh no. She freaked out. She immediately pulled her hands away from the sand, having it still stuck to the palms of her hands, looked up at me and just pulled the saddest, most scared face. It was like a bug or something was crawling on her and she couldn't get it off. Although maybe a little weird for her, Rick and I were just cracking up over the whole ordeal. She seriously hated touching the sand!!! 

We wiped her hands off and she started walking again. When she fell again, she started to put her hands back down but saw the sand. She leaned/turned to her right to put her hands down there but about an inch away her hands stopped because she just couldn't bear touching the sand again! Haha! So she used her momentum and eventually figured out how to stand up without using her hands to push herself up! She used all that leg muscle in those cute chubby legs of hers and figured out a way to NOT have to touch the sand. It. Was. Hilarious! 

Kimbri was worn out by the end of the night and fell right to sleep on our way home after visiting family at the park. 

Saturday was another fun day that we all just got to hang out as a family and relax and enjoy being together. We woke up and had a lazy morning. Shelby made an incredible breakfast consisting of breakfast burritos with yummy apples and grapes. We lounged around and eventually got ready for the day. 

After Kimbri's mid-day nap we all went out to eat at a place called Ned's Crazy Subs, I think that's what it was called. We = Rick, Kimbri and I, Shelby and Rue, and Shelby's brothers plus the wife of one of her brothers - I can't remember her name. We got the lunch special that was $6.39. It was a pretty great deal. It came with a 12 inch sub, chips, a drink and one of those sweet awesome long pickle slices. Can you tell that I love pickles?! Especially when I'm pregnant:) Kimbri loved the cheetos and ate several bites of my pickle. Yep, she takes after mommy with her love for pickles. And Rick and I shared parts of our sandwiches with her. Also, we let her have a couple sips of our drinks which caused another hilarious, classic Kimbri face to appear. I had pink lemonade and Rick had root beer. Good times!  

Saturday night Shelby and Rue hooked up the Wii and we played bowling and baseball. I've never done that on the Wii and it was actually pretty fun! We also made a trip to the store to get some food for the drive home so we wouldn't have to stop for food on a Sunday. We got stuff for peanut butter sandwiches and a couple cans of ravioli. We also got some stuff to munch on while driving like bananas, carrots and some crackers - which Kimbri of course loved! 

Sunday morning we got up and went to church at 8am, went back to Shelby and Rue's house, loaded up, and headed out the door! It was such a fun family trip! The drive home was pretty good, too. Except for a one major slow up because of construction issues that set us back almost a whole hour. But other than that, Kimbri did great again and we got home safely last night! 

I'm so glad that Kimbri and I got to go to Arizona with Rick! It was so fun. And who knows? We could end up moving there next year if Rick gets accepted! I guess we'll just have to wait and find out!