Spring

Life around here is much like spring. Sometimes the sun shines, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it's gloomy and sometimes it's windy. We have our good times and bad, but overall the sun is shining. :)

Curtis is growing every day. He learns new words all the time and sometimes I even understand him. His best word these days is cookie. He is always asking for cookies. Too ba

d I'm a mean old mom and won't let him have a cookie at every meal. He is also obsessed with trains and fixing things. He has enjoyed helping Travis fix his lawnmower the last few weekends. He'll pick up a wrench and pretend he's loosening bolts and whatnot. He also enjoys playing with the kids next door that range in age from 2 - 6.

Here's Curtis sporting some of my warm, fuzzy socks as leg warmers.

On a not so happy note my best friend is moving in a few weeks. Granted she is only moving 30 mins away I'm not a happy camper. I know that this is best for her and her family, but I have been separated from a best friend before and I know that it sucks. I've already shed some tears and will probably shed some more. I love her to death and am going to miss being able to drop in on her when I get bored at home.

The school year is winding down which really just means that our crazy summer is about to begin. Travis will be gone for 3 weeks in June and then we're going to McCall for a week!

Family Bike Ride!

We sold the treadmill today and bought a bike trailer!! Since Travis bought me a bike for my birthday we've been wanting to get a trailer for Curtis. And here it is! We got the last one at Costco today and thankfully the weather was great so that we could took it out for the inaugural ride.

Curtis all safe and sound in his trailer. :)

I took Curtis for a ride around the neighborhood.

Travis hooked Curtis up to his bike and took him for a spin!

A Softer Side

Becoming a mom has definitely softened my heart. I have never been a crier and have been proud of that. But since being a mom I find that tears come more often than I would like for seemingly silly reasons. But when I find that one the reasons is when Curtis is having a rough time and I can't do anything about it and at times have inflicted the problem, it really makes me sad.

Take the last couple of weeks for example. Curtis and I went on an 8 day vacation without Travis. I was excited to go see my mom and for Curtis to get to spend time with his grandma. But Curtis LOVES his dad. He likes me, but his dad is his #1. So we had a couple of rough nights and I felt bad that Curtis didn't get to have his regular schedule or get to see his dad. Then we got home and a few days later Travis left for Twin Falls with the FFA for 4 days. Again, poor little Curtis is without his dad and there is nothing that I can do about it. I can see that he misses him and I try not to mention "Daddy" so as to not make it worse.

So, back to the issue of tears. Curtis had such a hard time going to bed last night. So much so that I rocked him to sleep. He never gets such a luxury. But I just felt bad that his dad hadn't been there to put him to bed for the last few nights. So after getting him to bed I got ready to watch the I rented. I have no idea what I was thinking when I got it. It was about this couple who dies when their daughter is a year old and their dysfunctional friends have to take over raising her. It turned out to be a good movie, but it got to me. I guess it pulled at my heart strings to think of Curtis Boy to permanently without his dad. That would really be a terrible thing and I am blessed that Travis is around most of the time.

Fortunately for Curtis and me Travis will be home this afternoon and Curtis can be a happy boy again!

Visiting the Past

About a year ago my loving uncle pointed out to me that I have an uncalled for hatred of Southern Utah. I thought about it for a minute and agreed with him. I lived in S. UT for 7 years and for the most part have very negative thoughts and feelings about it. Now, it really wasn't all that bad. I do have some great memories with some great people but all in all, it is definitely not my favorite place in the world. As a result I have not been back in 7 years and Travis has never met any of my dad's family that lives there.

Over the past few months I have been thinking about my issues with S. UT and have decided that the town itself really isn't so bad and I really don't have that many terrible memories. So when my uncle invited us to go to St. George for spring break I wasn't repulsed by the idea and was more intrigued. I was curious to see how much things had grown and changed and thought it would be nice to see some family and friends. So I agreed to go. Oh, and did I mention that my mom was going to be there visiting my brother! (Travis needed to stay home and recover from his crazy month.)

So here I am in St. George and I can't believe, well, I can, how much things have changed. It's not just a backwoods little city. They have just about every major chain store and restaurant that you would find in any big city. And there are way more houses here than there were 7+ year ago. In a way it makes me sad. I feel like St George has lost is quaintess. I have to say the same for Hurricane. (I went to middle school there and 2.5 years of high school.) It's not just little old Hurricane. :( I think I now understand how Travis feels about how Kuna has changed for the last 15 years.

In some ways it's good to be "home" (although I will never claim to be from Ut.). It was mostly familiar and there were many fun times had. :) It was good to see my aunts and uncle. I still don't like the red dirt. I still have to go visit my old house. Well, it's my grandma's house, but it's where I lived for 7 years. I'm nervous about walking through the front door. My grandma had a hard time keeping it clean the last few years of her life and she had pets that lived inside. But, I'm told that my aunts have worked hard at getting the place cleaned up.

I've never been good at expressing my feelings in writing. I'm good at telling facts, but I have a hard time opening up. It's good to be here and there are definitely things that I miss about living here. There are people that I miss and I sometimes wish that I could go back to my crazy days as a high school student. Those were some fun times. :) But alas, I'm all grown up and will just have to make new memories and share the old ones with my family and friends so I don't forget them.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 33rd B-day Buddy!!

This is what happens when I turn my back while letting Curtis stir the cake batter.

Poor Little Monkey

Curtis burned his hand pretty badly the other day on the glass front of a gas fireplace. It blistered pretty quickly and he just cried and cried. However, once we got home I applied some burn gel and gave him some Motrin. Within an hour or so he was pretty much back to normal. Later in the afternoon he accidentally popped his blister, for which I was grateful, and he didn't even cry. In the days since he has been using the hand and it seems to be healing nicely. We've been keeping a glove on his hand in order to keep the neosporin and band-aid on it. In addition to the big blister at the base of his fingers there are also some little ones on his finger tips. :(

The beginning of the big blister. It actually got bigger before Curtis popped it. (Friday morning)

The healing blister (Monday morning)

Mom Moment

I had total mom moment this morning. But let's start with last night. I got hit with a bit of a stomach bug late yesterday afternoon and didn't feel well at all last night. And since it always seems to be that when I have a rough night Curtis wants to get up early the next day he was jabbering at 7 this morning. (I know it's not early, but he usually gets up at 8). Travis went to go rock him back to sleep when I hear him say that I'm not the only one who is sick. Yep, Curtis puked in his bed and then slept in it! The front of his pj's was soaked and the had regurgitated mac and cheese stuck in his ear like a big ear plug. Gross, I know. I also learned that he doesn't chew his raisins b/c they came back up in the form of grapes. Thankfully Curtis loves baths and was happy to get in the tub. Although, he didn't enjoy getting all of the crusty nastiness scrubbed off his face. Lucky for me I felt better this morning and was able to get Curtis cleaned up and washed his bedding. I know it's a bit gross, but I felt that it was worthy of sharing. :)