Quiet is never good

Let me start out by saying, I love Neacel to death. I love his laugh, the way he says "I love you" the way he thinks everything is hilarious, I just love the little boy that he is growing up to be. What I don't love....when he gets quiet! What mother doesn't like when her child is quiet? Aren't I supposed to love and take advantage of moments like that? Well, if you know Neacel, and I mean really, really, know Neacel, you know that quiet from him means that he is doing something he shouldn't be and is trying to not give it away.

One evening Nick and I were trying to throw dinner together and Neacel was playing in his room. Things got quiet, we didn't hear him talking about basketball, and we couldn't hear the farm that he always plays with. But then we heard sounds of him playing, and so we didn't check on him, and were'nt worried. So we went on making dinner and once it was done I walked around the corner to the picture above. Neacel sitting on a pillow with our brand new box of 1000 q-tips all over the floor. I think maybe 4 q-tips were still in the box. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So instead, I called Nick over and grabbed the camera. We stood there laughing, then Nick and Neacel cleaned them all up. And to think I hated when my brother wanted to play "52 card pick up" I would complain and punch him in the arm if he even threatened it. I now miss that game, because I think all of us moms can agree, we pick up more then 52 things a day, including children, toys, books, shoes, clothes etc etc.

Nick is in school full force this week. He spent most of Monday at the library studying and then was lucky enough to study at home today while Neacel was napping. He just got home and told me the teacher said that she will try to end class around 7:30 instead of about 8. Sounds good to me. That allows Neacel to see Dada before he goes to bed.

I don't normally ask for things like this but I have a huge testimony in the power of prayer. I'm not going to go into detail as to what is going on but if everyone could just keep my Grandpa in their prayers, I would be so grateful. He has surgery on Thursday, all I know is that it's something to do with his bone marrow. I don't know much about the surgery, but I know his condition and how he has reacted to other surgeries. We are keeping positive thoughts, but fear is getting the best of most of us.

We hope everyone is doing well. We miss everyone a ton, and will be soon posting pictures of the apartment and area. I just used up the battery on the camera taking pictures of Neacel and have yet to find the battery charger....oops!

Oopsie

Fact: I have a horrible time remembering, and finding time to blog
Fact: When I do remember, I end up looking at everyone's blog and don't do a darn thing with ours :-(

Well, we are pretty much settled into our apartment. We need to make a few changes to things but nothing major. I'll get it cleaned and organized completely and will post pictures soon...promise! I didn't love the place when we got here, but its growing on me. Just needs more pictures on the walls and no more boxes laying around and I think we will be set at that point. We haven't met anyone in the complex, and probably never will since people stay to themselves out here. Neacel says "hi" to everyone that passes him and they either say "hi" back to him or just look at him. We have been able to find some fun things to do in the area and have taken advantage of it all. There are tons of parks, and they all have a kiddie pool! Neacel hasn't complained once about that.

We have been to our new ward and love it! It's about half the size of a normal Utah ward but everyone is so nice. Our ward is a little bit of all ages, and they have the nursery split so there are plenty of kids around Neacel's age. I love the women in the Relief Society, they didn't hesitate to make me feel welcomed. They have play dates every Wednesday at a nearby park so Neacel and I get to go play. Nick liked the ward too, but likes to remind me that he sat next to a black guy. Neacel has done amazing at this ward too. It's almost like a different child at church. The first Sunday he was sharing Cheerios with the lady sitting next to us, and didn't freak out till I left for a few minutes...but he came back in sacrament without a tantrum. He did accidentally write on the guys pants next to me...khakis and blue crayon don't mix. I hope he was able to get the crayon out. Neacel goes right to nursery, no fight or anything and is in a daze watching the other kids when we come get him, he doesn't even realize we are in the room. His teacher did say that he seems to have a short attention span...she has no idea!

Nick started school last night, and found out that there is another LDS in his program. He went to BYU-I and was wearing a baseball hat of theirs so Nick approached him. The guy is from Pennsylvania, but still what are the odds in a smaller mostly female program that there would be a LDS male? Slim, very slim. Nick found out that the guy is married but didn't find out anything about kids...I think we might have to invite them over sometime. Nick likes the school, and likes that its not to far away. He has class Tuesday- Thursday's from 5-8ish. Can I just say how weird it is that he is gone in the evening? Neacel and I are totally lost. Neacel wasn't happy about Nick leaving last night, we will see what tonight brings.

Lastly, a little Broden/pregnancy update. I'm feeling ok, just about 30 weeks now. Still waiting on insurance so I haven't seen a Dr. in about 6 weeks...ooops! I get Braxton Hicks like crazy, I'm craving breaded shrimp (and I hate seafood). Broden has the weirdest movements at bedtime, and without fail gets the hiccups first thing in the morning and right as Im dozing off to bed! I've been getting a ton of lower abdomen pain, like little man is trying to headbutt his way out so that's been....fun? Broden loves my sciatic nerve, he pushes himself on it like they are stuck together 24/7. There has been many times that I can't walk because he is on it. So I will lay down and get him off of it, but as soon as I stand up, I can feel him wiggle his way back over to it. Little brat! I'm definitely ready to have him here though. I'm done being pregnant for now...I told Nick last night, that if I could have Broden now and know everything would be ok and he wouldn't have to be in the NICU then I totally would. Nick just stared at me. I just have the feeling of I'm done, I don't want another day of this, but Ill wait to have him till he is ready...or till the day I schedule my c section! Which if I can find a Dr that will allow me to go about a week and a half early Im hoping to have him Oct 28th or 29th! And as I sit here and type all of this, he is moving around to the point that the computer keeps jumping around. He is a ton calmer than Neacel was so that gives me hope that he won't completely kill me. I can't wait to see the boys together, and watch Neacel teach Broden things. Neacel recently will acknowledge Broden, before we would say something about the baby and Neacel didn't care. Now he will talk to Broden and give him a kiss, we ask him if he is going to play with Broden, and he usually tells us that he will teach him basketball. I know Neacel doesn't completely get it, but I think something is starting to click.

We love and miss everyone in Utah, but are so thankful for Nick to have the opportunity to go to school. We are thankful for all the phone calls and even though we don't answer them due to no reception in the apartment, we love listening to the voice mails before we go to bed (our room seems to be the only one with reception). Things are really starting to fall in place. I'm going to try and update the blog while Nick is at school, once Neacel has gone to bed....hopefully get some apartment/area pictures up soon!!! But like I said in the beginning, I'm horrible at remembering things!

We Made It!

I just thought I would write a quick little post about our trip to Ohio.
Wednesday was the first day on the road, we had a laundry basket full of snacks for Neacel and a diaper bag full of new Dollar Store toys and books. We were totally prepared. It was only suppose to be about a 10-12 hour drive, depending on stops for me and Neacel. Well, 15 hours later we arrived in North Platte, Nebraska. Neacel was a little grumpy but so were we so it was ok. Nick's back was killing him, my bum was killing me from sitting way to long and Neacel has never had to sit still that long so he was angry. We were about an hour out of Sidney, Nebraska....only about 2 1/2 hours from our hotel when our truck stalled. So we called Penske and a little over an hour later a mechanic was there and said he would have the truck fixed asap or he would tow us to sidney. We were tired and now stressed if we were going to make it on time....luckily it was a quick fix and we were back on the road in about 30-45 minutes. Thank goodness for Darin (the mechanic) and his good heart to help us out so quickly....he even ran to the store to grab a part instead of towing us. Then followed us for about an hour to make sure everything was ok.
Thursday was the day for traffic....goodness! I-80 kept going down to one lane and then because of the jerks who wanted to get over at the last minute we lost about an hour of time that day to just sitting in traffic. But the day only ended up being about a 12 hour trip so it was ok, and we had learned when to stop and how often for me so that helped a ton.
Friday, we were tired of the road, tired of sitting, tired of this big yellow stupid truck so we got up and on the road by 5am. Needless to say, Friday was the perfect trip. We pulled into our apartment complex by 3 and we were able to relax.

All in all, the trip was ok. Neacel did great, slept most of the time, and ate anytime he was awake. I didn't have problems with swelling, and Nick did an amazing job of getting us here and safely. Would I make the trip again? Not anytime soon. What did I learn? That we grow/eat way to much corn...I'm pretty sure that and the smell of cows is the best way to describe the whole way here. It was corn field after corn field, with a few major cities here and there.

We had a few problems with the apartment though, we realized that there was mold in our 1/2 bath and the ac didn't work along with a list of other things. We went down to the office yesterday morning because this just isn't ok and there were 8 guys here from the ward ready to help us unload the truck...and we wanted things fixed first. So Nick yelled at the girl in the office and long story short, everything is or has been taken care of. Maintenance was here within an hour fixing every little thing that Nick listed for them. The mold problem will be taken care of this week. They are going to rip the vanity out of our bathroom and put a new one in. I guess yelling sometimes does get things fixed. Nick feels bad about yelling at the girl though, he said she looked like she might cry so I think we will be making a trip over there with some cookies to say sorry and just explain it was stress and 35ish hrs in a truck! The ward had everything out of the truck within an hour and my family didn't hesitate to start unpacking. The house is in livable, semi organized condition...just with the mess of boxes and trash.

We are happy here, we love the area, and everyone from the ward was so kind. Nick even told me last night that one of the guys offered his home to us just in case things didn't work out with the apartment and they had to do something major to ours. He told nick they would be out of town for 3 weeks and we could stay there. How sweet and kind is that? He knows nothing about us other then we moved here from Utah and are trying to get comfy and he just offered his home. I was in complete shock when Nick said this, but it just reminds me that no matter where you are the church and its members are there in a heartbeat to help you out. It doesn't change state to state, its not something you have to search for, its there with open arms.

I know I said it would be a quick update, and it really wasn't but its about 10am and both the boys are sleeping. The house is quiet and my bowl of cereal was perfect...so I enjoyed sitting here with the bowl of cereal blogging about our interesting but fun past few days. We love and miss everyone, and I will update the blog as much as I can.

OH and also, since I can spill the beans now. My brother finally got his mission call. He will be serving in Riverside California! He reports to the MTC Oct. 13th!!!!!