Count Your Blessings

The other day I wrote a seriously long and detailed post entitled "Whining and Complaining". For some reason it seemed like a good idea to let everyone in Ciberville know why it's been a ridiculously hard year for us. And then, luckily before I posted it, I got a swift divine kick in the pants showing me how all this garbage was actually getting ready to turn into a massive heap of blessings. How does He do that?

First of all, I was complaining about how, because of little Joey's allergic reaction to the carpet cleaning chemicals our ex-landlord used, we had to hurry and move into the living room of my parents' apartment...temporarily...for 10 months. I forgot about what a huge blessing it is that my parents moved to Utah, out of the blue, 4 years ago. Where would we have gone if they were in a different state? Who would have babysat for free while we looked for/bought/remodeled a house? Living in cramped quarters with my mom has actually been great, because she's so determined to find a solution to Joey's health problems--and she's taught us a whole lot. We're not there yet, but we'd be miles behind if we hadn't had this time together. It's been a really humbling experience, not knowing how to help our baby. We've been blessed with some really great (and sometimes crazy-sounding) inspiration. I'm sure we're supposed to share all this knowledge with someone else someday, and help another kid or two not have an awful restricted life. That would make it worth it to me.

Speaking of Joey, I had some whining to do about this long, drawn-out allergy issue he's had. The poor little kid is allergic to just about everything. We can't take him anywhere he might get into things like cleaning chemicals or perfume...like church...or Walmart. He is on a 4-day rotation diet of all organic food, since he's allergic to pesticides. Good thing we just happened to buy a house with fully fertilized garden plot (years of work to get soil that good in that area) and two established fruit trees, and good thing my mother-in-law just happened to visit and spent a week getting the ground ready so all we had to do plant seeds, water, and harvest all the fresh, organic produce we can use. I'm not sure how the church allergy is going to turn into a blessing yet, but we've definitely learned to appreciate going to our meetings when we have to coordinate our church attendance shifts around my Primary class and baby care at home. I'll never complain about a "boring" meeting again. I've also learned to really appreciate getting to sit with my family in church. It's hard to go alone all the time! All you people who go faithfully for years without your families' support--kudos.

Could he be any cuter?  We'd do anything for this little guy.

James and the massive cherry harvest

Our garden: tomatoes, squash, green beans, peas, corn, lettuce, arugula, spinach, beets, chard, kale, and an herb garden!

Heirloom brandywine tomatoes--I can't wait!

So we bought a house in January, and have been working on it ever since to get all the toxic-to-Joey things out and (usually very expensive) not-toxic-to-Joey materials in. It's been a big process. He still can't go in the house, but we're getting there. It turns out we bought a lot of house for a little family. Great, because we're growing into it, but a lot of work. One day I heard (probably not so out of the blue) from one of my mission companions and she told me she and her new hubby were moving to Utah and looking for an apartment. I jokingly told her we had a basement they could rent, but it didn't have a kitchen, and was covered in hideous bright red carpet. They came and looked at it, decided the price was right, and moved in. Insta-help-with-expenses/nice neighbors/1/3 of the house we don't have to worry about.

Oh and then the basement flooded. Three times. In one week. (Two sewage floods and one faulty sprinkler dumping 50 gallons of water through the window.) Not such a great week for our friends who had just gotten settled down there, but if they hadn't been there we might not have noticed the problem for several days. So they had to move all their stuff back out again while we got the home owners' insurance run-around. Seriously so frustrating. First the plumbing company said we had to replace the whole sewage pipe, we hired another company to do this to our foundation:

Then, it turns out the first plumbing company lied about our pipe being collapsed, so the whole procedure was not necessary. (The blessing is that we had it in writing from them, so insurance had to cover it.) They also said we had to dig up half the yard (not covered by insurance) which turned out not to be the case. Always get a second opinion from someone you know!!!

The sheetrock in the walls  was saturated with water (soon to be mold), so they also cut those out about 2 feet from the floor. Not-so-drywall if you will:

 We were having a hard time figuring out how all this could actually be a blessing in disguise, especially since work on the rest of the house came to a screeching halt while we were trying to get this solved. It turns out, for the $1000 insurance deductible we got new sheetrock for the bottoms of the walls (which was suspiciously moldy looking when we moved in), new paint on the walls, new baseboards, new carpet and padding in the entire basement (a special kind that Joey is not allergic to by some miracle and beige, not fire engine red), a (freaking nice) hotel for our friends to stay in while the remodeling was being done, and all the labor. No way could we have done all that for that price, even doing all the work ourselves. Yes, it was frustrating trying to coordinate the eleventy billion companies who all needed to be there (apparently construction companies aren't big on returning phone calls or showing up when they say they will), and find products that wouldn't kill Joey, but it's all done now and looking great!

We're far from done, but it's really coming together now. Good thing too, since we'll have another baby in a month! We're so grateful to friends who have spent their precious free time helping us paint and fix things and move heavy things up and down stairs. My parents' home teacher has installed almost all of the hardwood floor (to replace the non Joey friendly carpet in all the bedrooms) and saved us thousands of dollars, dozens of hours, and made it look really nice. All that's left to do is finish the house projects, and get this little boy to stop reacting to EVERYTHING!

That's 4:00am people. No, he hadn't been asleep yet. No, it's not his fault. Poor baby has a lot to deal with, but he's such a good sport. Just no one stop praying that we'll survive a newborn on top of this!

He's totally worth it.

Puelto Lico

Hi everybody, remember us? I've taken a big break from blogging since life has gotten more hectic than I ever imagined possible. Just thinking about it makes me tired, so I'll save that for another rant.

At the beginning of May we got to take a week-long vacation to Puerto Rico with our friends the Orgills. It was definitely a different kind of vacation with two babies calling the shots (on completely different schedules) but we had a nice relaxing time. It was so fun to to get back together with my high school/college/Mexico buddy and watch our kiddos play. The guys did alright too. They stayed up late every night hashing out plans to save the world.

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I'm really going out on a limb here trying to write something cohesive while Joey's awake. This post started out with him in a kitchen sink bath, playing happily with magnets and blowing bubbles with a straw while I sat next to him...and then he got a hold of a baked yam and squeezed the whole thing into unrecognizable floaties which, of course, stuck to his whole body and made him mad...but not as mad as he got when I washed them off and combed them out of his hair. Now he's clean, dry, and happily playing with his (up until recently my) Russian nesting dolls which should keep him occupied for at least 5 minutes, as long as he doesn't manage to shove the littlest one up his nose like he's been trying lately. Take two.

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Three hours later, here I am again. Little Man is sleeping and all is well.

This is a picture of when Jaina and Joey were first getting acquainted. Of course, we've arranged their futures together. What an adorable future daughter-in-law I have!

 We traveled all day on my birthday, but James made a grocery store run late at night to get me a cake...sort of...It was a pie or something before he dropped it. It tasted good though! He was so upset that the feliz cumpleaños candles only gave him one L, but he artfully made it work for both words.

 Jaina and Joey chasing birds. Those pigeons are seriously disgustingly tame. If you feed them they'll land all over you. No thanks.

 We rented an apartment in Old San Juan, which turned out to be a really good move, since it was close to everything and easy to get back for naps. Also, it rained every day we were there, which turned out to be a good thing because it wasn't too hot in the afternoons. We're wusses when it comes to humid heat.

 Here we are outside a really old Spanish fort. Joey's on the lookout for dogs, cats and airplanes, as usual.

 We escaped the rain one day in a frozen yogurt shop. Good stuff! They had delicious tropical flavors, fresh fruit, and way too much air conditioning even for preggers here.

 Colorful buildings in Old San Juan

 Joey HATED the ocean! He's such a fan of the bath that it completely shocked me. He was scared to death and screaming and hanging onto me for dear life with both arms and legs. Maybe the waves scared him. Who knows. He did calm down eventually and dig in the sand, but only if he was touching me and at a safe distance from the water.

 This is a walk we took one night around a really pretty part of town. I seriously could've spent months there. We did quite a few late night outings since Joey was still on Mountain Time and Jaina went to bed about 4 hours before he even thought about dinner. Those clouds around the lights are humongous swarms of moths. Sick.

We didn't end up taking very many pictures. For some reason we've been struggling with that lately. We rented a car the last 2 days and went to a bioluminescent bay with these awesome glowing bacteria that light up when you agitate the water. Tiffany and I were probably the worst kayak navigators (besides the drunk people). We got into about 50 wrecks with other boats and the mangrove trees. We managed not to tip over though, so it was a success.

Consider yourselves updated.

A Little Update

It's been quite awhile since I've made any attempt to update this bad boy. Here goes.

Joey: He's a toddling machine. He walks backwards, sideways, in circles, and is learning to run and (oh no) climb. He had a recent growth spurt and now he can reach all of the kitchen drawers. We tried to childproof them, but we still have mashed fingers every day. He's been talking a lot more too. He can say Mama, Dada, Nanna, Bapa (Grandpa), Jojo, apple, onion, up, down, la-la-la (light), lur-lur (blender), aaaah-da (please...don't know where he got that one), ball, dog, duck, cat, truck (with their accompanying sounds), ak (sock), booger... just to name a few. He knows the signs for please, thank you, more, again, shoes, where, eat, poop (courtesy of James), all done, goodbye, and he made up his own signs for brushing his teeth, blender, music, dancing, drink, and a few others that we haven't quite identified yet but he sure does them a lot. His biggest news of all is that, after seven toothless months, he cut three new teeth today! We were pretty sure he'd have 8 teeth for the rest of his life.
He's had more than his fair share of trouble in his little life. We've got him on a very limited diet (much to his dismay) and a four-day food rotation to help his intestines heal and to keep his allergies under control. We have been trying for months to get the carpet adhesive that he is deathly allergic to out of our new house so that we can finally move in! If he's exposed to even one molecule it seems like he is up screaming in pain all night long. Poor little guy. I'm not sure what it's like to have a baby who sleeps though the night...or half the night...or doesn't insist on being held all night...but he really doesn't do it for any reason besides he just doesn't feel good.
So we've got Joey quarantined for now and it's helping. We've been switching off going to 2 different wards so he can stay home (away from church building chemicals and perfumes) and we can both go to church. Our doctor says that every time he has a reaction, he goes backwards, so the best way to help him actually heal and not just cover the symptoms is to keep him away from everything he's sensitive to. That means looking crazy while muscle testing everything he's going to eat/drink/wear/touch/breath shared air with, and basically not taking him into public for a few months (no spur of the moment grocery store runs without a sitter). No easy task, my friends. We're doing our best though. Just do us a favor and scrub up with unscented soap before visiting. He's SO worth it!

James: He's branched out from computers and become quite the jack of all trades. He's spent so many hours over at our new house ripping off wall paper, removing carpet, scraping and scraping and sanding and scraping some more at that glue on the sub-floor. His parents have been here this week to help us and it's been really really nice. We were making slow work since James could only be there after work in the evenings, and I could only come when my mom was free to tend Joey. James and his dad have been figuring out the ancient wiring, putting light switches in the right rooms (seriously, the switch that turned on the light over the sink was 20 feet away in the dining room), ripping out chunks of the ceiling, etc. etc. It's never ending. He's such a good sport though and doesn't complain even though he's pulling double shifts every day and getting nowhere near enough sleep at night. I definitely married up.

Sahra: I'm "blossoming" as my father-in-law kindly put it yesterday. 21 weeks pregnant and it's no secret. It's nice to look pregnant instead of just chubby. James and I have an agreement to not find out the gender until birth and it's especially hard right now because I know I could know! It'll be such a fun surprise though, and the anticipation alone will probably get me through labor. My only concern is that big brother Joey will still insist on sleeping draped over my stomach and chest when baby #2 makes a debut.
Other than that, I spend my time trying to keep an adorable toddler happy and alive. My parents have been a godsend in helping with him so that I can run errands and work on that house! We're aiming to move in next month!

That's about it. If you ever get the insatiable urge to clean or fix or weed or sand or paint something, by all means we're here to help!

Christmas

This wasn't Joey's first Christmas, but it's the first one he enjoyed or could participate in. Last year he cried because we put a Santa hat on him, and then fell asleep in his little wrap. This year he really lived it up. He loved all the food, the lights, the nativity set (only one wise man was decapitated), his new toys and, of course, the boxes and wrapping paper.

Christmas breakfast: french toast with berries

New hat and mittens from Grandma Affleck

Helping Daddy tell the Christmas Story

James with his handmade nose warmer, courtesy of his sister Michelle.

Joey's new favorite toy. It combines stacking, lights and music. His favorites.

This hat would've fit a normal sized 1 year old, but Joey's head is above average.  We only got the little yamaka to stay put for a few seconds before it shot across the room. We'll save that for the next baby.

Playing in the wrapping paper and boxes.

We all had a very nice Christmas and got some awesome presents. It's more fun when there's a little one to enjoy it all too.

California Vacation!

November must not've been a very noteworthy month; we didn't take a single picture. Thanksgiving came a day early for us, because of James's work schedule. Our friend Char joined us and we had a nice time. Joey had his first experience with turkey and it was definitely a hit.

We had a nice family vacation at the beginning of December. We started out with the annual pilgrimage to Disneyland. Joey enjoyed it much more this year. Last year he was only 8 weeks old and wanted to eat and sleep most of the time. I think James and I went on 2 rides in 3 days. This time we were able to take full advantage of the Rider Swap tickets. It just so happened that our favorite roller coaster was right next to Joey's favorite carousel. We did a lot of laps on both of those.

Here's Joey and Daddy in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. 

 And Joey and me in another line. Luckily they weren't too long!

 Dumbo! We never actually rode this one, but it was a good photo op.

 The Jungle Cruise

 Passed out in his stroller with a half-eaten grape in his hand. He was that tired!

 The castle that we usually get a family picture taken in front of. This year we couldn't quite pull it off.

 Joey still isn't so sure about Mickey--or Christmas for that matter.

After Disneyland, my parents met up with us and we went to San Diego for a week. It was a nice relaxing time there. Our first stop was my cousin Lance and his wife Julia and kiddos' house. Julia had baby #3 a couple of days after our visit, but we weren't able to go back and meet him because James had a cold. Next time.
We mostly went to the beach (and for some reason I don't have any pictures), but we did make it into town a couple of times to see the sites. Here is the Hotel Del Coronado. A very pretty, very pricey place.

 Here we are outside the San Diego Temple. It's so pretty! Nanna and Grandpa watched Joey while James and I went to the temple with our friends Alicia and Dionte. They just got married last weekend!

 We got to visit Hiram, Christina and Hayden. Joey had a good time playing (i.e.taking things from) his little cousin. She's such a cutie!

Our last night there, we went to a Christmas boat parade. Not something you see every day in Utah! It was really fun to visit family and friends and have a nice, warm, relaxing week!

Halloween

It's hard to get a little tree frog to stand still for a picture! Happy first Halloween, Squirt!

Birthday Boy

On October 21, my Little Bitty turned 1! I had a little bit of a hard time with it, but I realized that he's still a baby and that makes it sort of okay.

Here's the birthday boy with a big scab on his nose from pulling the
 airplane tray tabledown on himself on the way home from the cruise.

Helping Mamma bake his cake

Joey's Halloweeny birthday cakes

We had a picnic in the park with some friends. Pulled pork sandwiches, salads, fruit, and Joey's Choice Buffet featuring two varieties of puffs, cheese cubes, boiled carrots, grapes and yogurt.

Eating his cucumber the same way he eats all his food: skewered on his thumb.

Peek-a-boo with Steph

I got your nose with Char

Birthday cake with Mamma

We thought he'd dig right in, but he was very cautious.

Daddy helping guests take leftovers home...wrapped in pieces of plastic table cloth. Real classy.

Post-party coma

We love our one year-old! I think he's gotten even cuter since his birthday, if that's even possible.