Milestones

The first day I had to drop Walt off at daycare was hard. Rock me to the bones, hurt my heart hard. He was so little! And I was used to being there for him, even though I'd only known him for 2 months. I cried a lot and called to check on him incessantly. But slowly over the last 6 months I have become acclimated to the working mom role. I still call often, but I don't cry anymore. I enjoy my alone time on my lunch hour, I like the adult interaction I get, and I strive to make every second home with my son count.

One day a week, Walt goes into work with Landon. I love this. It saves us money, and Walt gets extra Daddy time, which I will take over babysitter time any day (even though we do love our babysitter). Thursday was lab day. I got an exuberant chat from Landon at 11:24 AM:

Landon:  guess who has a tooth!
me:  What????!!!! Landon:  yep!

I am so excited for Walt's first tooth (Um, hello, that will be the cutest smile ever!). And so grateful he could be with his Dad for this milestone instead of at daycare. And happy Landon would be willing to email me a blurry photo of the inside of our son's mouth. 

It's hard to see - you'll have to trust me that it's there!

But I also had a twinge - ok, more than a twinge - of jealousy. I was really missing out on something. Believe it or not, this hasn't happened often. Walt smiled before I went back to work. He laughed for the first time at home. He rolled over for the first time at daycare, but no one saw it, and he didn't do it again for months - at home. We fed him his first cereal, and he sat up for the first time one evening while I was playing with him. We've done so much together and I haven't had that deep-seeded guilt that comes from missing out on things. Until Thursday.

I know I can't be there for everything. Our situation doesn't allow for me to stay home with our son right now, and I'm OK with that. I know I'm doing the right thing for my family. But it is hard knowing that my baby is growing up, and I'm going to miss parts of that. 

I just hope this little darling man knows I love him. And he better not start crawling at daycare!!!

Battlecreek Falls

Once in awhile, we look around at our comfortable, wii-playing, netflix-watching, floor-lounging, ice-cream-eating life, and vow to be more active.

This weekend was one of those times.

We actually love the outdoors, it's just that, as someone once told us: "memories take work." But amid the June-u-ary temperatures and the long weekend, we couldn't resist the temptation. We found a lovely little, family-with-small-child-appropriate hike outside Pleasant Grove called Battlecreek Falls. It was beautiful.

 
One mile each way, filled with scenery and rocks to please my Geologist husband, and a gentle slope to please my out-of-shape, post-baby self.

Every year, we say we are going to do more hiking. Maybe this year, with a fresh air loving, curious and active baby, will be the year we really do.

 

 

 

Every time we make the effort to get out and appreciate the world around us, we are pleasantly rewarded, far beyond the work we put in. The sun, the company, and the view:

It's all totally worth it.

2012

Seeing as this may be our last New Year's Post, I thought I'd better follow through and make it a good one! This is what we thought 2011 would look like.  Obviously, we were aware there would be a baby in our future as well, but I wasn't quite ready to announce that to the world yet. :)
I was pretty conservative with my predictions last year, and so they mostly came true, although I could not have imagined what BYU basketball would turn into, and we barely caught a glimpse of the Grand Canyon from the air on our flight home from Arizona a week ago. Here are the highlights from the last year, and our hopes and dreams for the new one:


In 2011 we:

• Jumped on the  jimmermania bandwagon.
• Welcomed our miracle, treasure, and love-of-our-lives Walt to the family.
• Spent an amazing summer together with few obligations.
• Planned, executed, and rocked our first family vacation to Seattle and the Oregon Coast. 
• Moved across town to a really old and tiny new to us apartment.
• Began Landon's final year of his master's program.
• Celebrated a myriad of firsts, including Walt's blessing day, first smile, first mother's and father's days, first plane ride(s) and first daycare.
• Landon presented his Antarctica research at 2 prestigious conferences.
• Survived the craziest semester we've had so far, with a 14 hour school schedule, working full time, keeping up with housework, laundry and trying to be good parents. 
• Enjoyed Christmas together.
• Flew to Arizona to be at Dallin's wedding - Walt's 5th state in his 7 months of life

In 2012 we think we'll:

• Eventually see the new Sherlock Holmes movie.
• Go skiing in February
• Finish up Landon's Thesis so he can graduate this summer.
• Apply to several PhD programs - and hopefully be accepted to one that's right for us.
• Finally revisit Landon's mission on a 10-day jaunt to  Peru in April.
• Celebrate Walt's 1st year of life in June.
• The next day, celebrate five years of blissful marriage.
• Head to Southern Utah for a campout.
• Watch the fireworks on the Idaho Falls greenbelt.
• Welcome Miles home from his mission in July.
• See Wicked with the Jackson clan in August.
• Backpack to dunanda falls in Yellowstone with my brother.
• Move on to a new adventure in the fall - destination unknown.
• Pray. A LOT.  

We are super excited for all that we have coming, but also very, very nervous. 2012 will be a year full of major life choices for us. We will decide who we want to be and where we want to do it for the next several years. We will try to raise (or just not ruin) a baby/toddler. We will balance new family dynamics and attempt to get all of our Grandma/Grandpa time in before taking a possibly long journey elsewhere. We think it's going to be our best year yet.

Dal's Wedding

After spending a fun Christmas together with both families, we packed ourselves and Walt up and boarded a plane to Mesa, AZ for a few days of sun and to attend Dallin and Trisha's wedding. Getting there, not going to lie, was a nightmare. Spending a good chunk of our savings on plane tickets, transferring luggage from house to house to car to house to plane to hotel, driving until 3 am, cranky baby out of his routine, missing the relaxing days of Christmas = unhappy Landon and Kylie. Once we arrived, however, we ended up having a great time.

It was a beautiful ceremony in the Mesa Temple.

 

Erin was an excellent babysitter while we were inside.

 

It was fun for us because, 4 and a half years ago we were married by Landon's grandfather, who also officiated at Dal's wedding. It brought back a flood of memories and made me so grateful for all that we've come through and the life we are making together.

After the wedding we took advantage of the warm(ish) weather. Walt absolutely loves to be outside!

Walt was very tired after all of the festivities. He was a trooper though!

That evening we went to see the Christmas lights at the temple. I have to admit, living in Utah I was feeling a little snobbish about temple lights. But they were beautiful - much more than I expected! And the spirit was the same.

We're very glad to be home and getting back on a regular schedule, with real food and more sleep. But we had a great time, and we're glad we were able to be there for Dal's day.

Walt's First Christmas

Here's to Christmas being that much more magical with a little guy around the house.

To the excitement of Santa Claus.
To the joy of seeing aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.
To eleven days of togetherness, even if it means 9 hours in the car and two plane rides.


To being in the same place.

To meaningful gifts.
To wrapping paper, the greatest gift of all (if you're 6 months old).
To a new Wii!
To a vacuum that actually works - just the thing if you've got a soon-to-be-crawler at home.

To sweet potatoes and squash.


Here's to you, Christmas. See you next year.