So grateful!

So we're not -real- sure what we're doing these days, but Jeremy's been following a few options, and one of them looks good (currently) but we've really just been holding our breath and waiting to see if he passed his remaining set of National Chiropractic Boards. We did everything humanly possible to help him get through them this time, and I was pretty sure he had passed, but it has still been really stressful (especially the last few days) not KNOWing... I knew that, at this point, if he didn't pass, there was a reason, but I wasn't looking forward to trying to figure out what we were supposed to do in the meantime. But this morning the scores were finally out and he PASSED! We are so proud of him for all his hard work, and so relieved that he can get licensed now and actually work as a chiropractor! Some people don't ever pass Boards, and though I was sure that wouldn't be us, that's probably what those people thought, to... I haven't heard about all of our friends yet that were also taking Boards, but hopefully they all passed too. We can move forward with so much more assurance now. So very happy and grateful today!! I only wish Jeremy was here, so we could celebrate, instead of 2200 miles away... We're excited to see him again soon!

Summer, already?

It is here in Arizona! It is 7 pm outside and it's still 80º. It's supposed to be 89º tomorrow, and was 93º two days ago. I know all our friends up north and in the midwest are probably wishing for these kind of temperatures, but it is just too hot for April! Don't be jealous; I guarantee it will hit 100 before it gets too far into May. Maybe we'll be somewhere else before it gets TOO hot...
The kids were excited though, because we got out Grandma's blow-up pool and Reilly and Jaina played for over an hour! (we made them come in because it was getting pretty windy, and their super white skin (thanks to me) hasn't had any sun exposure in quite some time.) I didn't think Katy would like how cold the water was, but she enjoyed it thoroughly. She loves water, and kept crawling back and forth through it. She had to get out as soon as the wind started up, because her little chin was quivering!

10 Month Marvels

After not gaining much weight for the last few months, Katy has gained a pound and a half in the last 3 weeks. I haven't really upped her formula either, even though she finally stopped nursing completely last week. (It's just as I thought: my milk has some anti-growth hormones in it...)
She weighs 19 pounds and is 27-ish inches. She wasn't very interested in getting measured... She is doing really well and really enjoying life, now that she realizes she can crawl from room to room looking for goodies to eat on the floor. She's gotten a lot more mobile just in the last week, and is pulling up to anything that will support her, as well as walking along the furniture to get to where she wants. She loves to watch for birds out the window, and loves to go outside. When she sees a swing or the red and yellow Little Tikes car, her arms and legs start pumping excitedly as she tries to get to either of them.
She also wasn't very interested in getting some 10-month pictures taken this morning before Stake Conference. I guess it's nice to get to see several parts of her personality though...

She is so in love with how big she's getting, and is really enjoying getting into everything...

And one more picture of poor little Jaina last Thursday. She doesn't really nap anymore, but if she holds still for very long any time after 4 pm, this is what happens. She had scraped her knee, and was sitting next to me being sad about it while I talked to Jeremy for a while. This is the result...

A Quick Request

We might have to go private at some point in the near future (when Jeremy starts practicing) but I'm hoping to avoid it. Instead, I'm trying to get rid of our last name on this blog. So if you're linked to us with our last name, would you pretty please take the time to go change it in your links? Hopefully I've gotten rid of most of the references actually ON our blog, unless I didn't change the name in the right place. :) You can use our first names or our blog's new name. I know it's not very original, but it's a good reminder for me when I look at to not get too frustrated that we don't know everything (or anything) about our future. 
I absolutely love this quote by President Gordon B. Hinckley that someone was kind enough to post on Facebook when I needed it the other day:

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. 'Don't worry' I say that to myself every morning, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us, if we will put our trust in Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers."  --President Gordon B. Hinckley

I know that this is true, I just forget sometimes and feel like there's so much that WE have to control and that it's up to us to make it all work out.

I'll leave you with a happy (if sleepy, in Reilly's case) little scene I snapped the other night just before bedtime:

Just Keep Swimming

In most ways life seems kind of at a standstill. It's a waiting game to see if Jeremy passed Boards, to figure out exactly what we're supposed to be doing, (and even where we're supposed to be doing it!) and to get on with our life! In other ways everything keeps moving forward. The kids are growing and changing, and thoroughly enjoying living at Grandma's and seeing all the people they love so often! Well, except for Daddy. He's back "with us," but has been spending part of each week down in the Mesa area, looking for temporary employment (because we really would like to live in our own home one of these days soon), going to business seminars, and exploring all our options. We're so grateful that Phil and Sophie have been letting him crash at their house in the meantime!!The upside to this is that we're always so excited to see him when he comes back! Here is Katy and Daddy hanging out and playing. She is such a big girl, and crawls all over and pulls up on anything possible all day long. She hasn't quite figured out how to get down just yet though...

















Reilly spends a lot of time outside, but any time we'll let him, he is on the computer. We're going to have to watch that kid. Of course with two media-junkies for parents, it's to be expected. Sigh.

Jaina is our little drama queen, but we love her to pieces. She comes up with the funniest things, and is very attached to her Grandma, whom she would gladly follow around all day. She has also enjoyed living close enough to play with her cousin, Chloe, a lot. Her favorite thing to do is swing. She would sit there all day if someone would push her.

And Katy is full of it, but how cute is she? She does pretty well most days, and is excited to be so mobile these days. Just don't let her catch you eating something you haven't offered her. Even if her tray is full of food, she's offended if she sees something she doesn't think she's getting to taste...

Thursday night Jaina got to attend her first Fine Arts event. I took her to EAC's spring musical, "Oklahoma!" (partially because I wanted to see it, and her daddy was out of town, and I needed a date). She was excited, paid pretty good attention, and (with a 4 o'clock nap) actually made it all the way to the end (at 10:30). A 3-hour play was a little much to ask, attention-wise, from a 3-year-old, but I was impressed. The only problem was that she was a little too short to see, and had to spend the whole thing on my lap... 

Friday afternoon we went down with Jeremy's family, picked him up too, and went to dinner and the Diamondbacks' season opener. The kids did better than I expected, and we had a great time! They were very excited to ride the "train" from Mesa into Phoenix by the ballpark. Katy, especially, seemed to enjoy traveling while getting to stand up! (instead of being strapped backwards in a car seat) Reilly and Jaina had fun playing in the kids' area with Grandma and Chloe, and Grandpa even bought them new shirts. Reilly is especially fond of his. Katy was a little tired at one point, but after Daddy convinced her to take a little nap, she made it to the end of the night too (another 11 o'clock bedtime, this time for all 3 kids!) with very little fussiness. The Diamondbacks actually won by like 12 runs or something, which was a lot of fun, as well. The light rail was packed on the way back, but we were lucky enough to get seats, and the kids hung in there through it all. We were completely exhausted, but glad that we went down for it. We were so happy Phil and Sophie (again) let us stay in their house, so we didn't have a 2.5 hour drive to tack onto that long day...

This is our attempt at a family picture. Kind of thinking we should have taken it at 7 instead of at 10:30...

 

Katy found Kinzi's bunny ears and couldn't resist trying them on. (Phil and Sophie had gone to Pima that evening, so Katy and Kinzi just switched cribs for the night...)

We didn't end up leaving the next day until almost 1 (partially because we were visiting with some good friends we hadn't seen in a while), so Katy was up from 8 to 1 - unheard of! She crashed almost before she could finish chewing up her Pizza Hut breadsticks and Taco Bell tortilla bites. (A very healthy lunch to go with all her confused and messed up sleep schedule of the weekend...)

We enjoyed visiting with Phil & Sophie a lot, but sadly had to send Jeremy back with them this evening, since he left his car up there and has a few things to work on before he leaves for a NUCCA conference in Newport Beach this weekend. We are so ready for life to calm down and get figured out; we miss him too often and too much right now!