I've Been Pinned!

I am not a photographer, I don't have original ideas and I never thought that I would get pinned on Pinterest, but I was pinned! By someone that I don't know.

My Mommy Tip on diaper creams was pinned. http://pinterest.com/pin/218354281903616478/

Funny right?

Baby in a Box

If there is a box on the ground, Dan must get in it... and try to break it.

Baby in a box, baby in a box, why is baby in a box?

Sunglasses Kids

It is summer, it is sunny, it is time for sunglasses.

It's Over!

Matt took his last final for the semester yesterday and the semester is finally over! This semester, Matt only took 13 credits, so it was a lot better than fall semester when he was taking 17 credits, but it is always a relief when the semester is finally over. Matt is probably more relieved than I am since he is the one doing all the work.

Matt does the work and he goes to the classes, but the kids and I miss him so much during the time that he is in class or doing homework, I feel like we are a part of the school process.

We have a week and a half before Matt starts up with his next semester. He is taking two classes in the first block of summer and then he will have a break for the second half of the summer. Yay! Matt has not had a break from school since he started in August of 2010. He has been taking classes straight through. Last summer, Matt took two math classes, so he hasn't taken any time off.

Even though it is a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice because our time together as a family is very limited, but Matt is scheduled to graduate in April of 2013. So, we have only one more year and then this whole adventure that we have been on will be done.

Now that I can see the end in sight, I feel like it is so near. I know that we have a year left, but Matt is already registered for Fall, so we know what he is taking in the fall and what he has to take next Spring and that is it, no more classes after that. I can see exactly how many classes he has left and exactly when he is going to take them and it just makes the end seem like it is more real.

I cannot wait until Matt is done with school and back at work and I can be home with my children.

So, I will enjoy this week and a half of a break from school and I know Matt will enjoy it too and then it will be back to school.

Dano!

 Here are some pics of Dan from his Birthday party last weekend. Why are they all sideways you ask? I don't know. They were upright on my computer, but when I put them in blogger they all went askew.

So, just turn your head to the right and pretend they are all right side up.

Obsessed

While I was home sick, Matt and I discovered a new App called Draw Something.

It is a game kinda like Pictionary. You draw a picture for another player and then that player guesses what it is and then draws a picture for you. It sounds really simple, but it is a lot of fun!

Matt and I play with each other. I love seeing what goofy and elaborate picture Matt is going to draw for me because it is always something crazy like a tongue golfing or a mad man butchering a chicken leg. It is so funny.

Playing with random people can be good and bad. Some people are really good at drawing and go all out while other people are super lame and just draw the word that I am suppose to guess.

But, since we were both home for a whole day, we played it a lot and are a little obsessed. If you have a tablet, download this App, it is super fun.

Sick with a Cold

So, Tuesday I started feeling sick and then Nicole had a fever of 102 Tuesday night and I figured out that Dan wasn't teething, he was just sick. I was up with Nicole and a little with Dan on Tuesday night and stayed home Wednesday to rest.

It is so sad seeing my kiddos sick. Nicoley got to watch cartoons all day on Tuesday and just wanted to stay in bed all day. That is when I know she doesn't feel good, when she doesn't want to play.

I'm feeling slightly better today and am back at work, but Matt is taking the kids to the doctor today. Hopefully Matt doesn't get sick, but it will probably happen. One of us gets it, we all get it. We are good sharers in the Kimball house.

Up All Night

Matt and I were up all night with Dan last night. Dan has been fussy and whiny and fevering for two days now and hasn't been sleeping to well. But, last night was ridiculous.

Dan was up until 11pm, then, he finally fell asleep, only to wake up 40 minutes later, crying uncontrollably. Matt took Dan downstairs so that I could get a little rest, but Dan kept falling asleep and then waking up crying. He would only sleep in 10 to 20 minute increments.

At 1:30am, I woke up to Dan crying again and I went downstairs to help Matt out. We had Dan on a rotation of Tylenol and Ibuprofen to help him with any pain he is having because we know that he has a couple teeth coming in, but it didn't seem to touch his discomfort. He continued to not be able to sleep, waking up crying every 20 minutes.

Around 3am, we tried giving him a bath to sooth him and it worked for a little while until we took him out and then the crying began again. He won't take his pacifier, he doesn't want the bottle, he twitches in his sleep like mad, rolls all around and just can't get comfortable.

Nicole NEVER had this much trouble when her teeth came in. She was fussy and whiny, fevery, and had the runny nose (Dan has the runny nose too) but never in so much pain that she was up all night.  I don't know if it is teething or something else.

Finally at 4:30am, we got Dan to sleep in his playpen in our room and he slept for another 40 minutes, woke up, cried for five and went back asleep. He woke up quite a few more times, but was able to cry himself back to sleep. I got up at 7am to get into work. I do hope that Dan is sleeping nicely for Matt right now.

I hate to spend the 40 dollars to go to the doctor if all it is is teething and we just have to wait it out, but if it is something more serious like an ear infection, I don't think that I can take the chance to not send him.

Add Another Allergy to the List

Sunday, we decided that to celebrate Dan turning 1, we would introduce him to eggs for the first time ever. I scrambled up some cheesy eggs for the kids for breakfast and served them up to the kids. Nicole loves eggs and fangoriously devoured hers. Dan tasted them, had a few and then started throwing them on the ground.

Then, 3 minutes after than, Dan started getting spots on his face, and then on his neck and continually moving downward. Dan is allergic to eggs. We grabbed the benadryll and gave him a dose and the spots cleared up within 20 minutes, but then these deep, dark, red circles appeared under Dan's eyes. The benadryll was not sitting well with Dan.

Matt stayed home with Dan while Cole and I went to church and when I got home Dan was feeling a lot better. Thank goodness! But, that is just another thing to add to the list. Why do my kids have food allergies? Nicole is allergic to peanuts, and the hormones/antibiotics in milk and eggs (we went organic to avoid this). My poor kiddos.

Dan Baby is ONE!

Technically, Dan's birthday is tomorrow, but I never post on the weekends, so I thought that I would do Dan's update today.

My beautiful baby boy turns one tomorrow and I'm not ready. This little one has grown up so fast! I feel like the last year has just flown by and I don't know where my little baby went.

My Dan Man is super playful. He wants to play all the time. He doesn't sit still for anything. This is very different than Nicole who will turn into a zombie when Blue's Clues turns on. Even at 1, Nicole loved tv, but Dan is just not interested. He would rather attack my face than watch tv.

Dan loves balls. I got him a new outside ball because he and Nicole kept fighting over the one ball we had. Dan throws the ball and then chases it. He likes to play catch with himself. Or, maybe he is playing fetch with himself. Either way, he loves balls (but not as much as his cousin Damon who is obsessed with balls).

Dan loves to climb. Everything is a mountain and it must be conquered! He loves to climb up the stairs, the couches, the love sac, Daddy, Mommy, chairs, anything he can reach. And it is driving me bonkers! I have to keep a better eye on him than I did Nicole because Nicole was never this adventurous. That is what it is to have a boy I suppose.

Dan has also started trying going down the stairs forward. He can't walk yet, but he wants to walk down the stairs. So, we have a lot of stair tumbles as he tries new feats.

Movement:

• Dan crawls out of control fast. I can leave the room and he is right on my heels, crawling like a roadrunner.
• Dan can take a few steps, but has not yet mastered walking. He is fairly daring in taking steps, but he knows crawling is fast, so why change?

Eating:

• Dan wants to eat whatever Nicole is eating. Not what Matt and I are eating, but what Nicole is eating. If I give Nicole a snack and not Dan, Dan will start shouting until he gets the same snack too.
• Dan has moved to cows milk. Yay! Formula is expensive, so we are glad to move to cow's milk. But, we buy organic because of Nicole's allergies, so it is not that much of a money saver. Dan has transitioned to cows milk a lot easier than Nicole did. With Nicole, we had to add ovaltine to even get her to drink it.
• Dan still eats some baby food so that we can get him his fruits and veggies, but for the most part, he eats what we eat, only cut up into teeny tiny pieces.
• Dan's favorite food: Macaroni and Cheese. Is there any kid who doesn't like this stuff?

Growth:

• Weight: 23 pounds
• I don't have Dan's other stats because we haven't been to his check up yet.

Motor Skills:

• Dan can now wave bye bye and he loves to do it. He gets a big grin on his face and bends his litttle wrist to wave. He is so stinkin cute when he waves bye bye.
• Dan can clap! He may have been able to clap in my last update, but it is so cute, I have to mention it again. Dan mostly claps for himself. He will take a bite of food and then clap for himself. Or, he climbs one of his "mountains" and then claps for himself. Such a cutey.
• Dan loves to shake his head, "no no." Matt will say to Dan, "Dan, yes yes yes yes," and nod his head and Dan responds by shaking his head "no no." Dan thinks it is hilarious to contradict us.

Words: Dan is no where as advanced as Nicole was with words at this age and I'm started to realize that Nicole was just above average with language (she still is).

• Bye bye Dada (his favorite thing to say)
• Mama
• Baby
• Baba(bottle)
• Ball
• Duck
• No
• Dun (down)
• Bah Bah Bah Bah BAH! (This is what he calls Lambakins, our giant stuffed lamb)

I think that Nicole had more than twice as many at this age. She could say her own name and how old she was and she was just really advanced. But, she was not as mobile as Dan is at this age.

Teeth:

• Dan got his two, front, bottom teeth back in January and we haven't seen any teeth since.
• The two front, top teeth have been threatening to come through for a while now, but haven't broken through. His gums are white like we can see the teeth under there, but they haven't cut.
• One back molar on the upper, left side has cut through on one corner. I noticed this last night when Dan chomped on my finger and I felt a sharp point. Weird that the molar is cutting before the front teeth.

I love my little Dan the Man. He is such a joy and every time I come home from work and Dan races into the kitchen and cries for me to hold him, I fall in love with him all over again. Dan is precious and playful and wonderful. I am so grateful for our little boy.

Vegas Anniversary Trip

I finally feel like I have the time to post about my Vegas Anniversary trip! This year, Matt and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. I have now been married for half a decade. That is pretty awesome. I think it will be even more awesome when I can say that I have been married longer than being single. I was single for 7 years (if you count only date-able years), so in another 3 years, I will hit another milestone.

So, Matt planned a trip to Vegas for our 5 year celebration. We secured Momma Kimball and my Mom to watch our kids for the 4 days that we would be gone. Momma Kimball came over to our house on Thursday afternoon and we were off to Vegas!

The trip down was pretty easy, no major things happened and we listened to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the car. Matt doesn't read for leisure, so this is the only way that I was going to get him to read the Harry Potter books. We got into Vegas fairly early, so we checked into our hotel and then went to dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Bar and Grill at the MGM Grand.

Oh, I'm going to point out right now that this is going to be a picture light post because I kept forgetting my camera every time we went out and we did not take many pictures.

So, at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, we were able to be seated right away because it was only 6pm and Vegas doesn't really pick up until later in the night, so we were early. We ordered the crab cakes for an appetizer and they were really good. They were a little crisp on the outside and held their shape, but soft on the inside and there was this green sauce with them that was just delicious. For our main course, Matt ordered fish of the day with asparagus and a very yummy white sauce and I ordered meatloaf wrapped in procuito on a bed of pureed yukon potatoes and sauted brussel sprout leaves on top. Matt really loved his because he never gets to eat fish and is all about the fish whenever he can get it. I don't really care for fish, so we rarely eat it. I thought mine was awesome. I have never liked brussel sprouts, but I definitely liked them the way that they cooked them there. Though the food was awesome, the service was terrible at the restaurant. I saw three tables arrive after us, get their food before us and leave before we were even given dessert menus. Lame. We ordered the chocolate beignets for dessert and if I wasn't so full, I would have eaten more, but the serving sizes were so big that I couldn't eat more than one. But, Matt took care of them.
Here is my scoring for this restaurant...
Food: Excellent
Service: Subpar
Price: Very Pricey (plan on spending at least 25 dollars a plate)

After dinner, we just headed back to our hotel because I was a tired girl and I do NOT like Vegas at night. That is when all the crazies come out.

On Friday morning, we woke up early and went to the Temple. We wanted to do all the things that we don't usually get to do on our trip, so the Temple was at the top of our list. We could go and enjoy and take our time and not have to worry about rushing home to the kids to relieve a sitter.

We ate breakfast in the Temple cafeteria and it was awesome. Matt says that it reminded him of his days at the MTC. It reminded me of my days in Hawaii when I ate in the Cafeteria for all my meals. We both had biscuits, gravy, eggs, and apple pie. Apple pie is totally a breakfast food, didn't you know? It was just a nice, quiet, relaxing meal. The best thing was that it was quiet. After eating in a noisy casino the night before, it was just nice to be able to hear each other speak, even while whispering.

Here is my scoring for the Temple food:
Food: Awesome
Service: Excellent
Price: So cheap! (about 4 dollars a plate)

After breakfast, we did a session at the Temple and it was just so nice. I wish we could have gone back to the Temple on our trip and done it all again, but it was conference weekend, so the Temple wasn't open on Saturday and it definitely wasn't open on Sunday.

After the Temple, we went back to the hotel to change and then we went to the Belagio Buffet for lunch. Then line was super long for the buffet. We stood in line for 45 minutes before we were able to be seated. It is apparently a hopping place. Last time I went to the buffet, it was for breakfast, so I was excited to see the lunch menu. It was the best buffet that I have ever been to. There is so much selection that I just kept going back for more and more and more. Matt ate way more than I did, but that is probably because he is a man. While we were at the buffet, we started getting calls from home about the "snake" problem, so much of our lunch was spent on the phone trying to figure out what was going on with the snakes. My favorite thing at the buffet was the desserts. They bake all sorts of pastries and cookies and cakes and they are all so beautiful! I had carrot cake and pecan pie and macadamian nut cookies and chocolate moose pie and I pretty much tried one of everything because I have a dessert problem.

Here is my scoring on the buffet...
Food: Really Good
Service: Long wait, but good service once you are in
Price: Expensive at $20 dollars a person

After lunch on Friday, we went and took a nap because there is nothing better than relaxing on vacation. I never get naps during the week or even on the weekend because we have kids. So, I took a lot of naps because we were on vacation and I could. My Dad would call this blasphemous. He likes to get the MOST out of vacations. He was always making us wake up early and do things all day on vacation because vacations are not about rest, they are about doing as much as you can in daylight hours... according to my Dad. Vacations with him are always fun and always full, but not relaxing. So, since this was MY vacation, I napped.

Friday night, we went to a movie theater and saw Hunger Games. Another thing that we rarely get to do, go to the movies. So, it was really nice to just go to the movies and enjoy and not worry about the kids while we are there. Hunger Games was very entertaining. I thought it stayed really close to the book and was a very exciting movie. But, Matt got motion sickness during the movie because of all the unsteady cam in the movie. So, after the movie, we went in search of food because Matt was nauseated and only had Reeses Pieces in his belly. (another thing we never get to do, eat peanut butter candy.) So, we drove around and saw a place called Mad Greek and we stopped there to eat.

At the Mad Greek, there was some sort of Birthday party going on and it was obviously a family owned business, so we sat outside to eat, away from the partyers. We both ordered Gyro sandwiches and I ordered Greek fries and Matt ordered Greek rice. The Gyros were amazing! I love gyros. I craved them like mad when I was pregnant with Nicole and ate like one a week. But, then Burger Supreme went under new management, changed their gyro meat and they are NOT good anymore. So, I hadn't had a good gyro in a long time, but these were amazing. The lamb tasted like lamb and not processed beef and their cucumber sauce had dill in it which I thought was really interesting. I didn't much care for the greek fries, but they were a little too burnt for my taste, but Matt's rice was really yummy.

Here is my scoring for Mad Greek...
Food: Excellent
Service: Good
Price: Good (about 10 dollars a plate)

After dinner, it was late (for me 10pm) and so we went back to the hotel for bed.

Saturday morning, we woke up and we watched conference. You betcha, we went on vacation and still watched Conference. It was nice to be lazy and watch Conference in bed and actually be able to listen to the speakers without managing children at the same time. Anniversary trip was all about doing things we don't normally get to do, but want to do. We went downstairs and ate at a cafe in our hotel for breakfast and I am not going to rate it because it was not note worthy. It was yummy, but nothing special.

We went back to our room to watch second session, but I fell asleep and slept through the whole darn thing. Matt was awake and saw it all, but I could not stay awake. It is something about the apostle's voices that just lulls me to sleep.

After Conference/nap, we went over to Mandalay Bay to look for food!

And now, you will get the ONLY pictures that we took during our whole trip. And it is not of us together, but of the wine tower in the Mandalay Bay. We saw this featured on a season of The Next Food Network Star, so we were really excited when we recognized it and took a picture (because I actually remembered my camera).

It doesn't look that impressive in the picture, but it was huge! And they use harnesses, ropes and pulleys to hoist people up to get the wine bottles.

We walked around the Mandalay Bay because neither of us had actually been there and it was a lot of fun to see something new because I have seen most of the touristy stuff in Vegas.

We ate at the Burger Bar, which is known for it's gourmet burgers. I order the Lamb burger with spicy ketchup and Matt ordered the surf and turf burger with angus beef, lobster and asparagus. My burger was not that good. It was dry and really needed the ketchup for me to eat it, but Matt's burger was awesome. It was moist and delicious! Matt definitely ordered better than me here. The fries were nothing special, just shoe string fries, and the service was fairly decent. We got our food fast and our drinks stayed full. Can't ask for much more than that.

Here is my rating of the Burger Bar...
Food: If you order correctly, really good! If you order crappy, pretty yuck
Service: Good
Price: Expensive (about $20 dollars a plate)

After Burger Bar, it was still early, but we didn't have any more plans, so we weren't sure what to do. I didn't want to do any more walking because my legs were already in pain for all the walking we had already done. (I sit at a desk all day and am not used to a lot of walking.) So, we went back to the movie theater to see if there was anything else we wanted to see. But, there wasn't. Good movies are really slim right now. So, we hit a red box, got a movie and headed back to the hotel to watch it.

Sunday morning, we woke up really early. I was very anxious to get back to the kids. It was nice to get away, but I really really missed the kids. I felt like it was one day too long to be away from them. I don't like leaving my babies. So, we checked out and were on the road by 7am. We got home around 1:30pm and I was able to squish my kid's little cheeks before second session of conference.

It was a really good trip that was, lets face it, all about the food and the leisure. I think Matt and I will try and have a night away on our anniversary again, but probably not to Vegas again. Even though we tried to stay away from the touristy and less wholesome parts of Vegas, the whole town kinda has a crummy feel to it and a really bad smell. The food was good, but the atmosphere was less than good. Plus, it was too far from my kiddos. Closer to home next time.

Nicole Likes Hats

Nicole found this hat in a bag of clothes that Marie gave us for Dan and work it half the day because she is silly.,

Dan does not like hats and would not wear this animal hat that DJ gave Nicole for her birthday. 

Nicole likes hats so much that she turned her Easter bucket into a hat

Damon Day!

Last week Matt watched Damon for Marie while she was doing makeup for a movie. Damon and the kids played really well together and Matt said that Damon is so easy to take care of.

Damon was such a good eater! He ate way better than my kids do. Matt said he just ate up all his lunch without fussing or anything. Like he was hungry or something. I fed him dinner and he just took handfuls of eggs and rice and shoved them into his mouth. Messy, but so easy to feed.

Damon and Nicole decided that they needed to try on hats. Damon is beautiful in this Easter hat.

Nicole went for a too small sun hat. Her head gets bigger all the time. We need to buy her a new hat.

Damon and Nicole love giving hugs. But, Damon prefers giving hugs to Dan because then he is the dominant hugger.

Nicole fell asleep on the love sac and Damon went and grabbed a blanket and layed down next to her. He didn't actually nap, but he liked playing nap.

Damon was so easy to watch. He is such a funny little guy.

Easter!

Last weekend was a two day event of Easter fun for us Kimball's. On Saturday evening, we went over to Momma Kimball's and she had set up an Easter egg hunt for the grandkids in her backyard.

Nicole hunted for eggs while Dan sat with Lindy Mae. Nicole brought him eggs and Dan thought the eggs were great toys to play with.

Lindi Mae and Dan

We kept trying to get all the kids to look up to get a picture of them with the eggs, but they were all too interested in looking at their eggs and didn't want to look up. Alas.

Lucy, Olivia, Lindy Mae, Dan, Nicole and Carlitos

Dan giving me the one eyebrow

Dan got a hold of some malt balls and it didn't end well. There was a whole lot of drool and grossness and now I know not to give chocolate covered candy to a 1 year old.

 After the Easter egg hunt, we had a "passover" feast that Matt's sister Anne prepared for us. All I have to say about this is... I'm glad I'm not jewish. Bleh. But, it was thoughtful of Anne to prepare a special meal for all of us.

On Sunday, I did a small Easter egg hunt for the kids inside because that is how we did it when I was a kid. Indoor egg hunts!

Dan mostly just wanted to eat the M&Ms that he found on the ground and did the gross drooling thing again.

Dan did find a couple eggs on the ground and quickly figured out that if he threw them on the ground, they would break open and he could eat the candy inside.

Nicole thought it was funny that the eggs were in her new shoes.

Nicole thought the egg hunt was great and didn't care about the candy inside. She just likes to find the eggs. It is a fun game for her.

After our egg hunt and breakfast, we got all ready for church and attempted to get a picture of the kids in their Easter outfits.

Nicole looked so cute in her yellow dress! Dan the man did not want his picture taken because he was tired, so I didn't get a good pic of him, but he looked like a little man in his Easter outfit.

We went back over to Momma Kimball's for dinner and spent time with the Kimball's. I think the kids really enjoyed their Easter. Now I have to hide their candy and give it to them slowly as a treat.