Happy Birthday Lila!

Today is Lila's birthday. My beautiful angel baby isn't really a baby anymore. She is such a big girl! Here are a few things about her.

Loves to watch Sesame Street. Has peed in the potty a few times. Loves chocolate. Huge vocabulary. Has the cutest run. LOVES going to "house" (grandma Faber's house). Goes to daycare 5 hours a week, despite daddy's depression over this. Can count to three. Knows that P is a letter. Starting to recognize her colors. Loves animals. Loves being scared. Enunciates well. Loves mommy. Hates it when mommy goes to work. This morning saw daddy and said "bye bye daddy work!" Loves having dance parties in the basement. Loves bikes. Knows the difference between cars and trucks. Likes to help get the mail. Loves her uncle Darren but won't talk to Danica (sorry about that). Favorite foods are bananas, chicken nuggets, pasta (regular or cheesy pasta), yogurt, and pizza. Gets excited about going to nursery but has started to get nervous and want mommy to stay with her when she actually gets there. Doesn't really like wearing pants. Loves her daddy. Associates dresses with church. Doesn't really like being home and often yells "no!" when we pull in the driveway. Likes being tickled. Has decided she absolutely HATES baths and screams the whole time. Often will randomly say "bye bye" as a question or exclamation to try and trick us into taking her out somewhere. Makes her parents a little more proud of her every day!

For her birthday we had a party with my family last night. Anna made an amazing cake for her and we ate pasta for dinner which she loved. She absolutely loved opening her presents. It was ten times better than Christmas less than 2 months ago. Still crazy to me how fast she grows up. Thanks to everyone for coming, she had an amazing birthday party! (Prepare for picture overload)

Todd Serving up the deliciousness

Lila enjoying one of her favorite foods!

Reese also enjoying her dinner

Lila and her presents

Darren and Danica were nice enough to bring her a present. She immediately picked out a marshmallow before moving on to her other presents.

All by herself

She sure has a great cousin, so willing to help her try out her new presents! :)

This was the face she would make when she finally realized what something was under the wrapping paper

When she came upstairs and saw the pile of presents she pointed and said "bike!" I guess I'm not that good of a wrapper. She guessed it.

Daddy helping her try out her new bike

The AMAZING cake I told you about

It says "Happy birthday to you. You live in a Zoo......

If you look closely you can see the smoke from the candle. I told her to blow it out and before I could even push it towards her she had already accomplished her task.

Beautiful birthday girl!

Even the inside of the cake was reminiscent of a zoo animal. Can you guess which one?

I forgot to take a picture of Lila eating her cake until she was done.  Then I couldn't get her to smile because I wouldn't let her take her bib off.

The birthday girl on her actual birthday with her favorite present and wearing a tutu from her new princess dress up outfit.

Some Cute Lila Stuff

Lila's latest favorite thing is playing monsters. She loves when we roar at her and run after her and tickle her. The other day we made a fort downstairs, turned off all the lights (except one down the hall so it wouldn't be pitch black) and took turns popping out and scaring her. She kept saying "I'm scared!" but then would laugh hysterically and ask for more.

In fact, as I was uploading these photos Lila happened to look over and say "Monsters!"

I was sick for a few days so it had been over a week since I went to work. Lila saw me putting on my scrubs and took it upon herself to put them on too. So I put her stethoscope around her neck so she could be a nurse like mommy and daddy.

And while I was sitting here working on my computer, I looked over to find that Lila had picked up the Friend, brought it over and sat by me to read it. When I looked over and noticed how studious she was being, she pointed to a picture of some missionaries and said "bike!" Later she saw a picture of an angry kid, but was really concerned about him because she thought he was scared. She kept pointing and saying "scared" in a really concerned way like she wanted to help him.

Part Time!

As of this week I am officially only working part time. I am so happy about this. Because I have a hard time working three days in a row and Todd starts to go bizonkers if I do, I have to work a few on, a few off, one on, one off, back and forth. I typically only have 1-3 days off at a time. It might seem like a lot to have 3 days off, but it is usually only 1 or 2, and those days are tainted by work still because my sleep schedule gets messed up and I spend one of the days sleeping.  Because I now only have to work 2 days a week, I can do them together then have 3-7 days off. Yup, that's right! every 3 weeks I will get a whole week off.

I am so done with working. Just done! I love being home with Lila. I love taking care of my home, and I have a lot more responsibility at church now. And I just want Todd to go to work like a normal husband. Lucky for me, this should happen soon! Even a few more months is doable now that I am only part-time. Everyone please pray for Todd to be able to find a job, then shoot us the info if you find out about an RN opening anywhere!

Looking back at the last few years, I think there is a lot of good that has come out of me working so much. I used to think I was the kind of person who would always want to have some sort of job. But I am just so "over it" at this point. I think that maybe it will be a blessing in future years for me to know and remember how I am feeling now. Maybe I won't be sad and whiny about wanting to work a little on the side of everything else. Maybe I can just stay happy to be home. Or, maybe I will need to or want to work just a little, and this job experience will be what lets me get the job that fits best for me and my family. Or maybe some of the friends I've made will become good, life-long friends. Or maybe I will just appreciate more what Todd will be doing when he is working. When he comes home tired, when he works several days in a row, the endless meetings and trainings and required certifications.

I also feel like I have grown and matured exponentially through my job. I am more calm and deliberate. I have better time-management skills. I am better at looking at things from others' point of view. I am better at stopping and getting all the facts before I allow myself to get really emotional (not always, after all I am still a girl). I think overall I just get mad a lot less. Anyway, although I'm mentally done working, I am grateful that I have had this experience.

Oh, and I guess I will be ok if I have to work into April, because then I will get a chance to wear my sweet scrub dress to work. Yup. Scrub dress. Stay tuned for more on that.

Sorry, Todd

I took Lila to the mall to play yesterday. This cute little boy attached himself to her and followed her around everywhere. And she seemed to like it. Poor Todd, you thought you wouldn't have to deal with that for a long time.

Look at his sneaky face as he slips his arm around her

She has no clue that he's hitting on her

Working for Christmas

So this year for Christmas I am at work! My extended family all got together at my Grandma and Grandpa Faber's house for Christmas Eve dinner. Todd and Lila and I all went up early to visit before I would have to leave, and I headed to work just as everyone else was arriving. That part was sad. It was also a little awkward that I got to start eating before Anna's family and Lauren and Shelly who also came early to play with me (thanks guys!) But I didn't care because I was eating delicious sticky fingers from Wingers! And delicious company potatoes (AKA funeral potatoes) and Lion House Rolls. MMMMMMMMMM. Thanks Grandma. Soo good.

So I was on my way to work, sad that I was missing all the fun and a little worried about the snow I was driving in, when the traffic got really slow at the point of the mountain. This didn't worry me too much, there is always congestion there. But then I noticed a lot of cars moving into the right lanes and figured there was actually an accident. When I got up to the site, I saw several cars pulled to the side, and I think about three that looked like they were affected by the crash. But there were about 7 guys pushing one car off the side of the road with a frightened looking girl at the wheel. The front tire was smashed and completely flat, along with the front of the car. It made me feel good to see so many people that had stopped in the middle of their Christmas Eve plans to help out until the clean-up-crew could arrive. Snow was falling so much my rearview mirror was starting to be obstructed by the collected slush. Nice guys pushing cars in the snow= warm fuzzies. I wish I had a camera at that moment to catch all those nice boys helping out.

Tonight as a special Christmas bonus for my patients I have tried really hard to offer oral care. I have helped three of my four brush their teeth. Some of you are probably thinking "duh" and some thinking "gross" at the thought that I might not offer it, but it is something that usually gets overlooked around here. There are life-saving treatments going on, we don't care about brushing your teeth!! (I do actually care, but your blood pressure tanking just takes precedence!) Also, it really falls under the techs job to do such things, so sometimes when I am busy I just chalk it up to being their responsibility. But deep down I know that EVERYTHING is the nurses responsibility. So tonight I made a special effort to make sure everyone's teeth got brushed. And I still have one left but that patient is in dialysis and going home when he's done so he will probably brush his teeth at home. And this turned into a much longer explanation than I anticipated. So Merry Christmas patients! I at least feel very lucky that even though I have to work instead of stay home with my family, I get to be here helping people.

Our New Tradition

Yay! We started a new holiday tradition in our home. We need more of those. Only a few days after Thanksgiving we picked up our tree. Our new tradition is to eat made-from-scratch cookies and made-from-scratch hot cocoa while we decorate. Thanks to Todd who used the scratch to make our delicious treats!

P.S. Don't you love Lila's smile? Any time she sees something that looks like a camera she sticks her face in it and gives a big "CHEESE!!!!"

Random Lila

Happy Snow

Sometimes snow can be cold and miserable. But today, it was warm and happy! (I do, of course, mean warm in the sense that it was comforting, not at a high temperature). Lila played in the snow for the first time today. She was nervous at first, but in the end did not want to come inside. It was adorable! We have some snow pants that are too big for her so we pulled out some old soccer socks to help keep snow from falling in her shoes. I love her!

Vote!

I hope everyone is going to vote on Tuesday! In order to make sure we got a chance, Todd and I voted early. If you did too, then yay! and good for you! If not, please take the time, even if it ends up being a long time.

We are so lucky and so blessed to live in this country. I feel so grateful that I have the opportunity to vote. Even if my one ballot is basically inconsequential, it means a lot to me. There are so many people in the world who are literally dictated to, and have no chance for a leader change if things get bad. We have the opportunity every four years to choose our leader.  Granted, there are many flaws with the way we do things, and it really stinks when you can't wholeheartedly support one of the candidates, but compared to what our situation could be, I am happy to call this place home.

I'm an American!

Shunting

When something traumatic happens to your body, for instance, hypothermia, your body tries to compensate. In the case of hypothermia it shunts blood away from your extremities to try to keep your more vital body parts going. Hence frostbite mostly in fingers and toes. And I suppose sometimes your nose too.

Well, when you have a period of life where you have a million things going on, sometimes you have to shunt your attention away from things that really are important, just not as important as some other things. Despite the total control school and work has over my life, things have been really good. I try to take advantage of the time I have with Lila, and Todd and I do occasionally get some time together. But knowing it should only be like this one semester, I have been able to be more excited about the accomplishments we are working toward, and the near-future when I can be with Lila almost full-time.

Does anyone remember that pile of papers I had planned to go through around Christmastime? Well guess what was in it? The pretty little sticker that goes on the back of your car to show you've paid the government that ridiculous amount just to keep driving it. So yesterday while Todd was driving, I'm sure you can guess where this is going. The thing is, that sticker was in a pile that also includes the proof that we registered, and our proof of current car insurance. So this stop took a lot longer than it was supposed to.

Luckily the cop was able to look up our registration, but for some reason he couldn't find our insurance. But he let Todd go, and how we have to take our proof of insurance to the city building in no less than 5 but no more than 14 days. Ha ha I would do it today if I could to get it out of the way!

When Todd told me I just laughed. I guess I'm just lucky more stuff like this hasn't been happening!

Are you surprised we got that sticker on only about an hour after the incident?

Hopefully this is our only little frostbite....

Elmo

Lila's newest excitement. The first show she's ever really wanted to watch. She has become a Sesame Street Junkie. Sometimes she will specifically ask to watch TV out of the blue. I've tried putting on other shows, but she only likes Sesame Street. And she mostly likes Elmo. I used to wonder why Elmo seemed to be the most popular when it came to toys and such- I guess this is why! The kids just love him. Mr "Eh-mo" is just too much fun I guess. It has gotten me to be able to brush her teeth without fighting her, just because she is so excited to brush her teeth with Elmo. So as Todd and I were talking the other day about what to get Lila for Christmas, we had decided on a play kitchen for her. We found one at Costco that should be good that's about $120. Todd made a comment about that being the only thing he got, and I said that we also had to get her a tickle-me-Elmo.

I went to work the next night, and when I came home in the morning noticed a big box on the counter. I turned on the light and found a box of an Elmo toy. When I asked Todd about it the next day he said that he was just so excited at the thought of getting her an Elmo toy that he couldn't wait until Christmas. Plus he didn't know how she would be feeling about Elmo in 3 months. Ha ha what a good dad.

Well, She loves him. She has liked toys before, cuddled, hugged, kissed, and clung to them. But she takes care of Elmo. She shares her sippy cup with him, she uses sign language for him to tell me he's hungry, blows his nose, reads to him, even told me he was poopy. She's such a good mom already.

Getting the Toothpaste (Don't worry, she hasn't figured out yet how to actually squeeze it out)

Brush those teeth!

The Elmo Toothbrush

Story time

Time to change a poopy diaper

Affected by the Camera

Lila is so dang cute. I have been trying lately to capture all the cute things she does, but she always stops and says "cheese!" then tries to get her face as close to the camera as she can. Although it tends to thwart my plans, I just love it! So adorable. So the other day Todd was working out but I was too tired to work out and deal with Lila hanging off me so we were just watching. And she started doing pushups with him! I tried to record her doing them but when she would see the camera she started doing other weird things. So here is a little video, she does one pushup at the beginning and a few more in the middle. The rest is just her goofing off. I guess she will be a buff toddler.

Stats

What have you heard about stats? All I have ever heard is that it is hard and confusing. Even other people who love algebra (like me!) say that they hate stats. That it isn't really math or at least the math isn't fun.

Well I love it. So there. It could be the fact that I am both doing really really well in my class and feeling like I am learning information. I have learned a lot of things I didn't know, combined them with a bunch of stuff I do already know (we are doing a lot of graphs and calculations in excel, and I am really good working with spreadsheets so it allows me to focus on the actual statistics stuff)- and has been fun along the way. I will admit it wasn't quite as fun up until last week when we finally started pulling out equations. I never thought the whole first months worth of class wouldn't have any math in it! But when we started doing the numbers I got a happy, warm feeling inside.

It has been over 7 years since my last math class. Math, I missed you!

My First Win.

Hey mom- have I ever won anything? I can't think of a time. The closest thing is at our Senior all nighter I won one of the over 300 prizes they gave out. But it was a lame gift card to a spa that wasn't really enough to get anything done and I've never been a spa goer anyway. And pretty much everyone got something so I think of it more of a party favor.

I did get an honorable mention in one of my grade school reflections contests, and given my lack of winningness I was pretty excited about that. And I got 2nd place in the ASL competition I went to one year, I was pretty proud of that but also very disappointed I didn't win. I didn't win any scholarships out of high school or get voted for any of the yearbooks "best"s or " most likely to"s. Although I always thought it would be fun and exciting to actually win something, I have accepted the fact that I am just average.

Intermountain is set up in regions, and the region I work in consists of 3 hospitals. Our region puts out a weekly newsletter that I browse though most weeks. This summer they had a picture contest of places people were visiting over the summer. Even though I wasn't working, I would look at the newsletter just to see the winning pictures. Then when Todd and I got to Alaska, I went to work. I told Todd I wanted to win this contest, and Alaska was just the place to do it. So we got snap happy. Pretty much all the winning pictures were just of landscapes, so I might have slacked a little on pictures of people and the boat, but we did get some pretty amazing shots.

Only a 2 weeks before the end of the contest I finally got around to sending in my pictures. I didn't know how many I was allowed, so I sent in 4, hoping I wouldn't get disqualified for multiple entries. I figured when I didn't win I would send in a few more. That next week as I browsed the newsletter I purposefully went slow and didn't rush to find the pictures, which are usually in between the middle and the end. I suppressed getting excited because I know so well the let-down feeling. For some reason this week the picture contest was on the very last page. As I scrolled down, it was the strangest feeling ever. Almost unreal. I thought I had been transported to some new world or something.

Sorry if the picture is cut off. Click on it to make it bigger and see the whole thing

Not only did I win, I actually won FIRST PRIZE!! Everyone I told was disappointed when I told them the prize was a mere pair of movie tickets, I think my excitement made them think I must have gotten something more awesomer. I actually haven't even gotten around to picking up the tickets yet, I just think it's cool that I won!

Funny story, Todd actually took this picture and put it in our list of ones we liked well enough to submit. When I saw it on his list I asked him if he was sure, because I didn't really like it that much. As I looked at it more it did grow on me, and we actually blew it up to frame and put up in our guest room. I picked it because it went the best with my favorite picture and they complemented each other well. So I must give most of the credit to Todd, who both took the shot and inspired me to submit it.

However, given my history, I must still count it as a win for me. (Todd was good at sports, he's won lots of times). Love you babe!