Just Checking In

I know I have been MIA for a while, but I'm just checking in to let my faithful readers know that I am alive and well.  We had a great trip to Utah last weekend and I came home even more sleep deprived than I was when I left which is how I know that we maximized the short amount of time we had to be with family.  Also, both boys did amazing during the long car ride, both going down and coming back.

Even though I am tired almost all the time and my house is a miserable mess (compared to the very high standard I expect from myself), I am so lucky to be the mom of these adorable boys.  They make the sleep deprivation and unorganized house worth it.

Notice the Mohawk?  Nice huh.

Check out those adorable dimples in his cheeks!!!

Happy 1 Month Austin

Dear Austin,
We love your squishy cheeks.

We love your patience with your big brother when he wants to hold and pat you.

 
We love your smiles.

We love how adorable you look in cloth diapers.

And we love how nice it is to snuggle you.

We love you a whole lot.

Austin's Newborn Pics

Two weeks ago, a friend in my ward came over and took newborn pictures of Austin.  Here are some of my favorites.

Déjà Vu

It has been three weeks now since Austin came to live with our family from heaven.  Austin is such a sweet boy, just like Trevor was and I am grateful to be his mom.

I mentioned this before in a previous post, but I cannot emphasize enough how much Austin looks like Trevor.  As least once each day I have a moment where I look at Austin and I am transported back 2 years to a memory of Trevor wearing the same outfit or making the same facial expression.  Here are some pictures to prove that it is not just in my head.

Trevor

Austin

Trevor

Austin

Trevor

Austin

Here's a quick update on how we are doing.  I am tired, but that is to be expected and I'm not complaining (at least not on my blog).

Trevor is adjusting.  Most days he does really well, but sometimes I see the return of the infamous "stink eye" only this time it is usually coupled with a loud and emphatic,  "NO."

 

And Austin sleeps a lot.  Sometimes I am holding him and I think to myself, how can I get anything done while I am holding a baby all day.  So I improvise.

Father & Son's Camp Out

On Friday night, Darren took Trevor on the Father & Son's camp out.  Trevor was so excited to go "campin' wif Daddy" and "seep in the tent and a seepin' bag".

Darren said that Trevor just pretty much ran non-stop all weekend and that it was exhausting trying to keep track of where he was running off too.  (As he was telling me this I giggled and thought, "welcome to my life; try chasing him while nursing!")

Trevor loved the river and ran off to find it whenever he could.  Throwing rocks into the river was a real highlight of the trip for him.  Other highlights (according to Trevor) were: riding in the truck, eating fruit snacks, and sleeping in the tent.

On Friday night they had a camp fire and Darren lamented about how messy S'mores are and again I laughed.

As the camp fire was winding down, Darren decided to make a trip to the tent to drop off the chairs.  He told Trevor to stay with everyone at the fire and that he would be right back.  When Darren was 2/3 of the way to the tent he noticed Trevor following him.  With his hands 100% full he decided to press on and then go back for Trevor.  Before Darren could drop off the chairs, turn around and start heading back Trevor was already to the campsite and since it was dark out, Trevor ran straight into a large boulder meant to prevent vehicles from driving into the site resulting in a nasty bruise on his cheek.

In the morning they had breakfast and then set off with the park ranger to do some service cleaning up a trail.  Darren wasn't super helpful because he had to constantly prevent Trevor from running away toward the river, but occasionally Trevor got distracted by something on the ground he wanted to touch.

While they were working on the trail, Trevor tripped and fell face forward landing on the heel of Darren's shoe as he was walking and sure enough hit the same spot he hit the night before.  So this morning he woke up with a bruised cheek and a swollen eye.  I feel like I need to hang a sign around his neck that says, "I promise we do not beat him."

Darren summed up the trip best when he said, "it was a lot of good and a little bad."  Hopefully it was good enough that Darren will consider taking both boys next year.  :0)

New Calling

When I was released 5 weeks ago the bishop told me that he wanted me to have some time to adjust to being a mother of two and that I would get a new calling in 3 months.

Obviously the Lord had other plans for me, because today I was called as sustained as a Gospel Doctrine teacher.  I'm a little bit scared, although not all that surprised.  My patriarchal blessing talks a lot about me being a teacher here on earth.

What concerns me is trying to find the time and energy to read my scriptures daily and prepare a lesson, especially when I am averaging only 5 nonconsecutive hours of sleep a day.  But if this is what Heavenly Father needs and wants me to do in order to grow in the Gospel, I'll do it.

In Loving Memory of...The Honda

The Honda

1982 - 2010

150,000 miles

The Honda was purchased in 1995 by Darren Hales for $1600.  Not long after Darren owned the car, it was involved in an accident in the Lindbergh High parking lot and later it had a run-in with a shopping cart at Fred Meyer.  Both times the Honda bounced back and Darren decided to take the Honda from blah yellow to super blue.

The Honda waited faithfully for Darren to return from his two year mission to the Dominican Republic.

The Honda had it's fair share of pretty girls in the passenger seat, but it wasn't too long before Darren settled down and found the one woman he wanted to ride in the Honda for all eternity with.  It was the Honda that carried them home on the night they were married.

The Honda has never been one to back down from a challenge.  It has been known to carry more than it's fair share of the load.  Once it carried a 5-drawer filing cabinet and two passengers home from the UW Surplus.  Then several years later it carried a full-size water heater home from Home Depot.  Both times the Honda was up for the challenge.

The Honda loved to have a good time and could often by spotted in a snowy school parking lot late at night doing doughnuts.

As the years wore on there where times when the Honda had a hard time warming up and once it even needed a tow home from Tacoma, but the Honda was a hard-working car who never complained (except when going up large hills where it was known to ping and chant "I think I can, I think I can".)

The Honda is survived by it's owner/operator, Darren, his lovely wife Mindy and their two sons, Trevor and Austin.  Should friends desire, contributions in the form of chocolate would be appreciated by the grieving and postpartum wife.

The Honda lived a good life with the Hales family and will be dearly missed. "You were a good car and we'll think of you fondly every time we see the oil stain you left on the sidewalk in front of our house." - Mindy Hales