January truly started with a bang for our little family. We returned from the cabin on Saturday, and Monday M started work. On Saturday we got his office all set up at Grandma and Grandpa's house and also met with our nanny to have her meet Jay. Doing these few things really started to make it feel real that M was starting work. Sunday was a special day, full of excitement and anxiousness about the week ahead. Grandpa gave M a blessing, which was a very peaceful and good experience. Later that night, M gave me a blessing. Those blessings filled us both with love, courage, and faith. We weren't told it would be easy, but we were told we'd make it and we could be happy as we prioritized God and one another and Jay. Somehow we did fall asleep that night, and Monday it all began.
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| M and his new office! |
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| It was almost as if Jay knew something would be changing soon, he wanted to be close to M always. |
That first day and even week, Jay and I truly counted the moments and minutes and seconds until M got home. I was so excited to hear how things went, and M came home with energy and enthusiasm about learning and reconnecting with people he knew during his internship. Working less hours was definitely different for me. I had time to take Jay on a walk, workout, play around, etc. It was great! I was also told I needed to transition the culture work I've been doing for the past few years off to another person. I was surprised it was so soon, but I will be grateful once it's off my plate and I have more flexibility in my work schedule. It's pretty nuts with back to back meetings.
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| We were all so happy to see each other! |
For Jay, this whole new adventures was a different story. He was okay the first day, didn't cry too much, as he didn't really know what was happening. Day two was a little worse, and it continued to go downhill. On day 6, so the Tuesday after our nanny started, she texted me in the evening and said she'd decided this job wasn't for her. I didn't know what we were going to do. I couldn't blame her, Jay cried ALL day. He would go down for his nap, and continue to cry when he woke up. He refused to eat anything for her, and the only time she got him to be happy was the few minutes she took him outside one day. It was rough working upstairs and hearing your little baby cry. I haven't heard many cries from Jay since he was about 2 months, he cried a lot those first two months, but once we figured out food, he was set, so hearing these cries was really hard. What made it extra hard, was I knew that all he wanted was for me to come downstairs and if I did, he would be fine. People could hear Jay crying during meetings, and at multiple points, I was crying during meetings too. We were struggling, so when the nanny quit it was scary. I called the BYU-Idaho student to see if she was still interested and she came by that Friday to visit. We did all the normal things while she was here, and at the end she'd said she'd try it out for a week, so we took it. Luckily, she stuck with us after that week and has finally turned Jay around. I have done some fake leaving with M in the morning and have just stayed up in my office most of the day. This last week of January he finally made a turn for the better, and we are all happier!
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| Can you see them? This was my 5 minutes free of crying that day/week. |
Continuing on the Jay thread, he loves to stand and throw his play table. He doesn't quite walk yet, but he uses the walls, the couches, the chairs, boxes, anything to help himself walk everywhere. He's eating sandwiches at lunch time, and getting better at doing so. He loves his cereal still, and he's down to just one bottle in the AM right when he wakes up. He also really doesn't like being at church and can sustain screaming for the entire hour, it's quite impressive. He starts crying just as we sit down on our pew. Child proofing is actually impossible with a little one, and he loves the stairs so much we have to block them every day now.
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| One baby proofing fail... |
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| Jay is actually a fairly good independent player, which is very good! |
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| Cruising around town. |
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| This is how he was one day when I got him from nap, he is wearing a onesie, pulled it down off both arms and it's hanging around his waist. |
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| He actually started holding his own bottle, yay! |
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Did I mention how much he loves the stairs and tries to climb them? How long do you think we can hold him off?
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| Another day, another attempt. We did have the chair turned the other way right before this, and he could crawl under and get up the stairs. We turned it and he tried hard for a while with no luck. |
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| I thought maybe the diaper box would work, nope. |
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| He was very done...can you tell? |
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| Happy boy at the park! |
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| Sunshine is our favorite. |
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| M and Jay sliding together |
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| Jay really wanted the cords that were behind this, so he squeezed under it! |
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| This is how the play table spent most of the month of January |
We also had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament meeting the second week of January. We were tickled Grandma and Grandpa could be there, and it was fun to speak with each other. Jay was NOT happy about being in church, and spent most of the time screaming and crying. I did get him to stay in the chapel for a few minutes during M's talk. My friends, Rachel and Chris, came to listen to us speak. It was so neat! I have been afraid to share anything about the Gospel with them, and felt multiple times I should invited them to our talks, so I did and they came! They said they felt good and that it was so uplifting to be there, that made my heart happy. Grandpa-Great also listened to our talks from Idaho, the great perk about COVID is that our Church is streamed, so I sent him a link and he tuned in, how cool!
It was great weather one weekend so we decided to bike to Grandma and Grandpa's. Grandpa wasn't feeling well, but we had a great visit with Grandma. We packed our lunch and enjoyed chatting. Jay loves all the things within reach at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and really loves their glass doors that lead to the sun room. It was a beautiful day and feeling the sunshine and wind on a January day is a blessing!
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| The crew! We got a little muddy during our ride that day, there was some snow, mud, and ice we went over along the way. |
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| A little off-roading. |
One of the major highlights of January was our visit over Martin Luther King day to the Merrill's. We were surprised to learn that M got the day off, so I decided to take it off and we could clock in our last vacation before the busy season started. Jay gets lots of attention at the Merrill's and he loves it! Most of the time. It was a sunny weekend, so we had a great time at the park. Jay played in the sand for the first time, and I don't think he ate too much of it. We built towers with duplos and learned to shoot a bow and arrow. Kylee and Jason got bows for Christmas that are made out of PVC pipe, so we tried them out. We also gave Tia's new skateboard a few good spins. We were going to have a winnie roast, but the wind picked up and we decided that wouldn't be very fun, so we grilled the winnies and cooked our s'mores over the cooker outside. It was still so fun and a very well spent weekend!
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| Climbing stairs at the park |
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| Sand! |
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| I went through, and Jay followed, it was a skinny tunnel for my long legs! |
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| Jay really wanted to see the iPad, and Abby was really unsure how she felt about him being in her space with her daddy. |
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| Jay and Tia - about as clear as you can get with Jay and Tia in a photo |
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| Jay found the slide, he could walk all around on the wood with it. |
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| Look at our awesome tower! We were so proud. |
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| M showing off his skateboarding skillz. |
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| Shoot that arrow! |
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| Katey, Jason, and Tia |
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| M, Kylee, and Tia |
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| Jason, Kylee, Kade |
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| M, Kylee, Tia - they LOVE when Uncle Matthew reads them books. |
The final thing I'll write about is our anniversary date. We celebrated the weekend after M's first week of work. Grandma and Grandpa watched Jay for us, and we ordered burgers and brought them home to eat with our own candles and sparking cider. It was so nice, and so weird, to just have the two of us here. I actually ate my meal while it was hot and didn't have to feed Jay between bites. We played a great game of Castle Panic, then went to a new Gelato place in Highlands Ranch. We enjoyed our yummy gelato in the car, and went to get Jay. What a fun evening, and I am so grateful for the three years of marriage we have had. They have been so wonderful and some of the happiest of my life!
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| Yay! Happy Anniversary to us! |
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| I also learned to paint with the YW, it was super fun! |
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| And, M and I made this cute Valentine's garland that made me super happy. |
There's our summary of January. We are honestly glad the month is over, it was tough and long and hard and good. We mixed in the good with visiting family and being outside in the sunshine whenever possible. We made it! We made it through the first month of the very beginning of our journey with M's career. It's exciting and truly I am looking forward to what this next stage of life brings for us, we are so blessed! And, M only having to commute 10 minutes each way for four days a week, has been amazing!
