Getting Ready to Leave

Well it's only a few days away. Next week we are making the huge move from Utah to Erie, Pennsylvania for Derek to start medical school. I've lived in Utah my entire life--I was born in Provo, then moved to South Jordan at age 1 and lived in the same house until I graduated from high school. Since then I've spent the last five years in Provo at BYU, with the exception of the last 2 months (we've been staying with my parents). This is obviously going to be a huge deal for me, so I thought I'd write about the things I'm going to miss about Utah (complete with pictures!)

1. My wonderful friends and family. You know who you are. I'm so glad I've seen some of you in recent weeks and I hope I see more of you before we leave!

2. Our food co-op. I sure hope I can find one in Erie. I've loved it.
3. Cool summer nights that are perfect for barbecues, watching fireworks, just sitting, playing night games, etc.
4. Dry air. I hate humidity. This is what happens to my hair in humidity. Does anyone know of any good products for this?
5. BYU. Three months ago I never thought I'd say that as I essentially wanted to forget that place even existed, but it really was a great experience. I learned how to critically think, to analyze things, to accomplish difficult tasks, that you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it, and how to be a lifelong learner (now I'm using BYU's own phrases! Who am I?!?) I also went from a teenager to a married woman with a child during my time there.
6. All the temples. I love having like half a dozen temples within easy driving distance. Now I'll actually have to plan out when to fit in a whole day trip to the temple. I've never had to put much planning into going to the temple.

7. Having Uncle Ryan nearby to play with Jack (they're really good buddies). Also his and my mom's willingness to help take care of Jack so I can run errands, study for the NCLEX, etc.
8. I'm going to miss familiarity. I've really never moved before--South Jordan to Provo doesn't count for much. I'll have to learn where everything is and find an entire new group of friends. I'm excited for the adventure though.

Those are the big things. There are a lot of things that I'm super excited for with this move. But that's another post for another day.

A Summer Saturday

Saturday was a fun day. Here's what we did.

First thing, we volunteered at the food co-op, meaning we unloaded boxes of produce from a truck and distributed it to people's baskets. Then we got to bring home this awesome spread:
I love the food co-op. After this we spent the morning using our produce to make salsa and salads to keep in the fridge to eat all week.

Then we took some pictures of Jack as well as some family photos. Here's what we got.

Jack wasn't in the smiliest mood ever, but he did seem to enjoy being naked in the grass.
It was the most gorgeous day. I love the summer evenings when the heat is gone but it stays light for hours and you can just play in the cool night air.

After we took these pictures, we went to see Toy Story 3. It was pretty good, but the original two are better.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, frolicking in the summer air, and a Pixar movie. What more could you want on a Saturday in the summer?

Spit Up

Anyone who knows Jack knows that he spits up a lot. He's pretty much a fountain. If you've ever held him, there's a pretty good chance you've been puked on. He always has to have a bib on, and a burp cloth close by. And we often have to change his clothes several times a day. But what I found one morning was a lot, even for him. He was sitting in his bumbo chair, and I picked him up to change his diaper. This is what I found.

Bok Choy Stir Fry

First, here's a super-cute new picture of Jack.

So for the last few weeks we've been getting some of our groceries from a food co-op. It's awesome--you get a lot more food than you would from the grocery store for the same amount of money. We get five loaves of bread (really really good whole wheat bread) and a big basket of produce (I mean big--you take a laundry basket with you and it gets filled up). Some weeks there are extras you can get, like fresh tortillas, herbs, etc. The fun part is that you never know what will be in the basket. There will be six kinds of fruit and six kinds of vegetables but they are new every week. So what we've been doing is getting our basket on Saturday mornings and then planning a menu accordingly and shopping for the week. Some of what we've gotten we've never used before, so we've had to get creative.

Last Saturday, we got bok choy--aka Chinese cabbage. We'd never used it but we decided to throw it into a stir fry. It was...AMAZING!

*Note--with this kind of thing I don't really measure--I just throw stuff in. So sorry this recipe is a little haphazard.

Vegetables:
1 Chopped red bell pepper (which also came in our basket this week)
1 Chopped onion
Minced garlic, 3-4 cloves
Chopped bok choy, use the leaves and the stems (we used 6 heads, but we could have used more--it cooks down a LOT)
Add any other vegetables you want. We thought green pepper would have been a good addition.

Meat:
3 small chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
30 or so shrimp

Other:
Ground ginger
Soy sauce
Black pepper
Honey
Corn starch
Basmati rice

Heat 2-3 tablespoons cooking oil over medium heat (we used peanut oil).
Add the bell pepper, onion, bok choy stems, and garlic, and cook and stir for a couple minutes until the onions start to get soft. Season with about a teaspoon of ground ginger, some pepper, and 1/4 cup soy sauce. Add the chicken, continue to cook and stir until the chicken is mostly done. Then add the bok choy leaves and cook until the chicken is all the way done. Add the shrimp and a few squeezes of honey, and cook until the shrimp is pink (only a couple minutes--careful not to cook the shrimp too long because it turns rubbery really fast). We had a lot of liquid in the bottom, but it tasted really good so we just threw in about 2 teaspoons of corn starch to thicken it. We served it over rice and it was delicious. Here's a picture of the final product.

This served 4 people and took about 30 minutes to make, including all the chopping time; actual cooking time was about 10 minutes.

He's done it!

After weeks of hard work and determination, Jack has successfully managed to get his toes into his mouth. Congratulations Jack! Your parents are very proud of your many wonderful accomplishments.

My Wonderful Husband

Let me tell you how supportive my husband is of me. Right before we got married, I found out that my first application to the BYU nursing program had been rejected. This was, at the time, the end of life as I knew it. Derek dropped what he was doing and rushed to my house to take care of me. I cried and cried, and I was sure that he couldn't love me if I wasn't good enough to get into the program. But I was wrong. He just held me and told me how much he loved me, and that I was smart even though I felt stupid. He assured me that he still wanted to marry me and would support me as I applied a second time (fortunately, I was accepted that time).

Derek then supported me through the nursing program. Most of the time, he woke up with me on clinical days at 5 in the morning. He would make me breakfast, gather my things, and put together a lunch while I freaked out about being in a hurry. He also happily played the part of the guinea pig while I learned how to take blood pressure, give shots, and start IV's. (That's right, Derek has good veins, and he let me practice poking him. No joke.) He listened to me rant about the things I didn't like about the program and talk endlessly about the things I loved.

Around the same time that I got pregnant, I started a job as an LPN at a nursing home working the night shift. I was sick and tired all the time. Derek was there for me whenever I needed anything. Any food craving, he'd get for me. When I'd come home from work in the morning, he was ready to hear about my shift even though it was 6 am. He would leave for work during the day, but would tell me to just rest as much as I needed, and he would take care of all the housework when he got home.

Derek was also amazing through the pregnancy. He attended birthing classes with me three hours a week (we did hypnobirthing) and spent at least a half hour a day practicing the techniques we learned there (and more than that as the birth got closer). He listened intently as I talked and talked about my newfound interest in pregnancy and birth. Then when Jack was born, he helped me use my hypnobirthing skills which made the pain very manageable. He was there to give me a blessing when the events took a turn for the worse and I had an emergency cesarean (that blessing is one of the few things I remember clearly from the whole traumatic ordeal).

The weeks shortly following the birth were somewhat hellish. I was recovering from the c-section, struggling to breastfeed, and stressing about how on earth I was going to finish school. He was there to help me every step of the way. Somehow, I got through that time. I recovered without complications, succeeded with breastfeeding, and graduated. It's all a blur now and I don't have a clue how I did it, but I know that without Derek's encouragement it wouldn't have happened.

It's certainly not as if I was the only one with a lot going on during this time. Through all this, Derek was majoring in neuroscience, and studying his tail off to get good grades and score well on the MCAT. He also worked at the MTC. He graduated right before I got pregnant, but shortly thereafter he took the MCAT, started working full time, and had to do the grueling process of applications and interviews. So it's not as if he didn't have a full plate. He just really knows how to put his family first and show his love and support.

So, thank you Derek. You are wonderful. I could not have asked for a better husband. I want everyone to know just how awesome you are. I love you.

Cloth Diapers

So...Jack is a ton of fun. As I'm typing I'm listening to him talk...and talk...and talk with his daddy. I know that he is only 4 months old and can't really talk yet, but I swear sometimes he imitates what he hears us say. I would bet that the words he hears the most are "hi" and "I love you," and sometimes in his random babbling it honestly sounds like he's saying one of those things. I know he has no idea what he's saying, but I really think he's imitating us.

So anyway, I wanted to share something I'm really excited about. A few weeks ago we started using cloth diapers on Jack. I know it sounds totally archaic, granola, weird, hippie-ish--whatever. But I wanted to give it a try. I did some research and found that you can get really good cloth diapers nowadays--not the old ones where you have to pin them together and put rubber pants over them, like my mom used. The outside of the diaper is made of water resistant fabric so the moisture doesn't get out. The part that touches his skin is a fabric that wicks away moisture and pulls it into the diaper, where there is an absorbent pad. It actually keeps him drier than disposables, believe it or not.

So we bought one diaper and tried it. We loved it and we ordered some more. It was an investment, as a supply to last a couple days between washing costs about $300, but when you consider that Huggies or Pampers will run you about $55 a month, (with coupons, based on 7-8 diapers a day), it's easy to see that it quickly pays off. (Yes there are cheaper diapers than Huggies or Pampers, but we discovered early on that there's a reason they cost more and it's worth it). Of course you have to consider the cost of the water and detergent for washing, and I haven't crunched those numbers, but I would still guess that it's a worthwhile investment.

Then there's the cuteness factor. See for yourself.
They are so much cuter than disposables! They come in lots of colors--orange, green, yellow, blue, white, pink.

Also, we won't have to buy new ones as Jack gets bigger. The diapers are adjustable sizes so ideally you use the same diapers from birth to potty training. And the general consensus I got from reading about them online is that if you take good care of them they will last through two kids! I do have to wash diapers every other day, but that's really not a big deal. It's just like any other load of laundry.

So...to my friends and family out there with babies, I recommend giving it a try! It sounds crazy at first, I know. The big diaper companies have done a good job of convincing us all that they are the only option. But they're not. It wasn't really very long ago that everyone used cloth diapers. My mom used them on me and my siblings, and that was what most everyone did at the time. I love the feeling of being independent from Huggies. They're there when I need them, like when we go on trips, but I don't have to go to the store every week for a new box.

How's that for a soap box? Not trying to sound preachy but I am excited about my new discovery :)