He's A Big Kid Now

This boy sleeps in a ladder bed.

He skips naps (most days -- I've given up fighting him on it) and goes to bed around 7:30.

He wears size 9 shoes.

He speaks quite clearly.

He has a little group of friends he likes to play with.

And ....

             he is potty trained.

 Mostly.  We're still taking him to the bathroom more than he's telling us he needs to go.  And number two is still a bit of a problem.  Forget about nighttime underwear.

But it's been a week now of straight daytime underwear.  Mark did all the dirty work getting him used to the idea the last couple months, and then I printed out a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates stickers" chart, and finally we went on a big underwear shopping spree ... and there you have it.  He's sold.

I still say taking him to the bathroom every hour is about as annoying as changing three-ish diapers a day ... but ... I can't help but be proud.

He's not a baby.  He's not even a toddler.  He's my boy. 

Checking Back In

Some days, I feel bummed.

Why are we still here?

California was supposed to be our school adventure. 

By now I'm supposed to be enjoying the clean mountain air and real seasons, building my kids' relationships with their cousins, and visiting my Mom while the hubby dives into his new business.

But we are not doing any of those things.

However, there are some real benefits to what we are doing.

Mark gets to learn from someone he knows and trusts, and basically do a trial run on bringing in patients and running a business.  So when we do finally take off, he'll have a much better idea of what he's doing.  And he gets to do all that in the comfort of somewhere we already know well.

I have friends.  Good friends.  Friends that have forgiven me despite my four month hiatas as I was massively pregnant, packing and unpacking, and then trying to figure out a colicky newborn.  Somehow they've decided to still let me hang around.

And so, we will continue going to library for story time.  We will continue park days, beach days, and dinner dates.  I will keep these wonderful friends for a little while longer, and make new ones as well. 

My kids will do the same.

Water balloons and giant snakes help with all that.






















I haven't known any blues that a little sunshine won't cure, and California is far from lacking in that area.

Plus we get to watch intense teenage drug busts at the beach (couldn't quite tell what that grassy stuff was in those bottles the cops took).

And we get to hear the finer details of deep sea spear fishing from our Saomoan and Tahitian sister missionaries.  Also, how to sing babies to sleep.

We get farmers markets and organic stores galore, not to mention enough Ross', Forever 21s, and Targets to make your head spin.

And if there is a place far away to live, this is it.  Here we meet the most awesome people.  And here our loved ones visit us.

So I'm going to love these next two years.  Every last bit of them.

But I won't lie ... I'm very excited to make a Utah trip in the next couple days.

Prima Donna

I love Phantom of the Opera.

It started because my Nana took me to the play as a ten year old.  She had me memorize all the songs, and told me I could be a famous actress one day.  It ended up being the last play she took me to before she died.

This love continued on as I watched Gerard Butler play him in the movie.

Unfortunately, Mark isn't the biggest fan.

When I turn on the soundtrack, Mac asks for "Nunner Mommy songs.  Too loud this one."

But Belen?

She "sings" right along with it.

I suppose her middle name is Christine, after all.

So now I finally have someone who will not only kindly put up with me, but will belt it out right along with me.

Chef MacAlister

"Watch out fingers, Mom."
"Stop, Mom.  All we need."

Here, Mac was teaching me how to "paint the dough" with oil, seasonings, chicken, tomatoes and cheese to make Stromboli from this great cookbook.

This little chef is starting to think he knows more than I do.

And maybe he does ... this one turned out fantastic.

Graduation

And ...
            We have a doctor!

Mark graduated on Saturday, April 14th, and everything went wonderfully.

Chris and Rand came to celebrate, and we kicked the weekend off at Lucille's Smokehouse ... which may be the greatest eatery in all of Southern California.  Also, significantly more expensive than we typically can stomach, which made it an extra special treat.  Thank you Rand!

The next morning, we somehow made it out the door without a hitch and arrived with time to spare.

Roya, Brotha James "Santiago" Ferrell, Jeffery Armstrong, my lover, Ryan "Best Friend" Comeau, Ryan "Mijo" Mijares, and Ryan Curda ... a few of Mark's besties.  Mark has been dubbed "Saint of Subtlety, Saint of Fertility, and Saint of Best Friendery by these guys.  They also each gave me an application to be Mac's godfather.  We'll miss these guys.

 Bless her heart, Chris roamed the back with my lovely squeaky baby so I could listen.  (Yep, she STILL won't take a binky and LOVES to make noise; happy or sad.)  It was divine.  I didn't even mind sitting in the back to feed her or changing a blow out, because Chris whisked her away as soon as I returned. 

Chris also found a way to keep Belen quite for up to five minutes or more ... by introducing her to food.  Belle mauled the pretzel Chris offered her.  Congrats on the first solid, Belle!  (I'm still finding it in her diaper.)

Mac was absolutely enraptured by his surroundings, and kept scouting out Daddoo.

Mark graudated 4th in his class as a Summa Cum Laude with a GPA of 3.75.

His lab partner Comeau received an award, and finished off his acceptance speech with a "special thank you to my best friend, Mark Gunn."

Erin Comeau!  My first fellow chiro-wife.  Wish we could've hung out more.  Perhaps we'll get in one last time before they ship off to Canada.  Ryan still thinks we should come too so he and Mark can start up a practice called "Cathorman Chiropractic"

Um ... yeah.  Believe it or not, this is in fact the best picture I have of all of us.

After graduation, we hit the Cheesecake Factory and took naps. Chris then gave us all sorts of money, took Mac for herself (an evening he is still talking about), and sent us off to do some serious graduation present shopping.

We love what we bought.

Congratulations, Mark.  I really am so very proud.

Chiropractors and Their Uses

If you are like me, you were raised in a wonderful, medical family.

That had no use for chiropractors.

And probably didn't want much to do with them in any way.

If you are even more like me, you grew up and married into a wonderful family of chiropractors so numerous they could about take over the state of Utah.

Doing so, I have learned quite a bit about all sorts of views on health and how the body heals itself.  My conclusion?

Chiropractors are very useful.

The dumbed-down version of what they do is simply this:  chiropractors create movement in your body, increasing bloodflow, breaking up toxins that are all bunched up; all of which come together to help your body do its own healing.

Don't be scared.  Adjustments are completely safe when given by someone who knows what they're doing.

The gal from Mark's class who posted this said, "And those two deaths were from people adjusted by some MD who didn't know what he was doing."  Ha.

Since being adjusted regularly (first by Josh and Ben, then by Doctor Holland, and now by Mark), I have benefitted in the following ways:

• From the beginning of time, I have gotten strep throat about once a year.  Maybe a little less.  Now when I feel one coming, bam -- adjustment.  Follow that with a little flushing out of my neck muscles and drinking loads of water, and viola!  It's gone.
• Developed a bit of carpal tunnel while pregnant with Mac.  Adjusted a few times over a week, and it's gone.
• Regular adjustments all during pregnancy helped me to work as a waitress and therapist aide with my first, and to carry a toddler around all the time with my second.
• Both of my deliveries were incredibly smooth.  I was adjusted weekly with both of them, and with my second Mark adjusted me in early labor ... my little gal came out about four minutes after my water broke.
• Mark's gotten some great experience with TMJ.  I can't believe how wide I can open my mouth these days ... bring on the burgers!
• I can think of three times in the past five years that I felt a bit under the weather.
• I can count on one hand the number of times Mac has gotten sick.   He's had tylenol twice and never been to his medical doctor for anything besides a physical ... which actually kind of feels like going to Parent Teacher Conference when you have straight A's.  Belen has had a stuffy nose and that's about it.

So, my point is, go see a chiropractor.  They are a natural, safe way to help your body heal.  If they can't help you, they've got the resources and connections to send you to someone who can.  And once you are well, get adjusted regularly (monthly at least) to just keep things in line and help keep you well.

I know it's helped me.

And if you want to find the best chiropractor around, check out this place:

Holland Chiropractic Incorporated

(562) 694-8347

355 S Harbor Blvd, La Habra, CA 90631

Okay, so maybe I'm a bit biased, but based on my experience ... he's just the greatest.

Sibling Love

As crazy as it can be sometimes, having more than one kid is completely worth it.

Because you get to have moments like these:

Secrets.

 Now of course, there are plenty of moments like these.

But these two are already up to all kinds of shenanigans.

Belen really does adore her brother.  She squeals and laughs at him all the time.  There have been so many moments when I see something Mac is doing with/to her and jump up to put a stop to it ... until I realize that she's laugh-squawking and grinning her face off. 

For example, Mac likes to take her little dollie and chew-worm and shake them real fast right in her face.  I'm always worried he's going to smack her in the face, but it makes her laugh and laugh.  So I let it happen ... for now.

Mac also recently discovered how fun it is to hold "Stister", but it's only to mess with her.  He wants me to set her in his lap. And then he'll slowly raise his hands and say, "Woah ... woah ... WOAH!"  As she wobbles from side to side and eventually falls over. 

This also makes her laugh. 

But she usually does get tired of it before he does.
               

Mac also loves to reprimand her.  "No kicking, Stister."  She really enjoys kicking.  "Take turns, Stister."  Particularly if she's in the swing or the bouncer.   He is also constantly on puke-patrol.  "Oh no, Stister puuuuuuke!  Made a mess!  Hurry, clean it!"  He also sympathizes with me when I can't get her to go down (or back down) for a nap.  "Too hard, take a nap.  Try later, Mom."

 He's not always Mr. Bossy, however.  He also loves for her to come and play under his ladder bed.  She likes it too, especially with the new lighting.

And if she wakes up before he does from their afternoon naps, and he hears her as he's coming down the stairs, he'll stop and holler, "I want Stister find Mac!"  In which case I pop her head around the corner so she'll see him first and giggle.  Then he'll come down the stairs.

Probably my favorite sibling moment is when he wakes up before her.  He gets quite excited when he hears her on the baby monitor and yells, "Stister wakin'!  Come Mom, say 'Good morning Stister!'"  And so anyone who's in the house has to march upstairs to welcome baby Belen.

Random note ... I just bought her some size 3 diapers.  Mac is still rockin' a size 4.

Adventures.

10 Miracles in 2 Minutes

So the other day, we were driving on the 57, coming home from a great day at the beach.

And our car shut off.

In the middle of the freeway.

• Miracle 1:  Mark was off of school and therefore with us, and therefore driving.
• Miracle 2:  We were about 1/2 mile from our exit.
• Miracle 3:  Traffic was stop-and-go (for no apparent reason), so cars ... actually I was most concerned about the three semi trucks surrounding us -- were going about 20 instead of 70.
• Miracle 4:  Mac fell asleep about 10 minutes before it happened, and Belen finished nursing about 2 minutes before.  Silence ... the ability to concentrate.
• Miracle 5:  Someone in a van offered to stop and help.
• Miracle 6:  Mark remembered the car's new battery.
• Miracle 7:  Mark was not smashed by cars as he ran out and popped the hood to check on the new battery.
• Miracle 8:  Mark immediately saw the problem and fixed it ... the car was back on within five seconds after he jumped out. 
• Miracle 9:  Mark got back into the car without being smashed.
• Miracle 10:  We were able to return home without any problems and Mark figured out exactly what happened.

Sometimes in life, God lets His hand become incredibly visible.

And we are grateful.

Happy Easter

Mac is really starting to get into holidays. 
So fun.

The weekend of  Easter festivities started off with an Easter Egg hunt at a park with our friends.

Mac immediately caught on, and dove on eggs to make sure his dear friends couldn't get to them. 

Then of course, egg dying.  I got to boil eggs for the first time.  (Gross.)  I'm not very good at it, so we ended up with five eggs.  Turned out to be more than enough.

"Bubbles!"  Vinegar + egg dye = magic

 A very sneaky easter bunny(s) enjoyed hiding baskets in Mac's favorite hiding places.

Naturally, he got up nice and early and remembered everything we had told him about the easter bunny.  "Mom, Dad!  Go downstairs, easter bunny suh-pwise!"

 At least somebody liked the hard boiled eggs.

And then of course, off to church to celebrate the real meaning of Easter.

Hope yours was as great as ours.

4 Month Old Belen

Big girl.

That's the comment I get most often. 

And I suppose they're right ...

She weighed 14 pounds 11 ounces at her last doctor's appointment.  75th percentile.  She's now 24 1/2" tall.  50th percentile.  And her head is 41 3/4".  75th percentile.  Oh and, she has started sporting pony tails.

But it's not all that stuff that makes her seem so big to me.

It's how ... coherent she is.

She absolutely lights up whenever Mac is around.  She squeals at him all the time.  More than with me, and more than with Mark.  She seems to have real conversations with you.  She can easily grab things and pull them to her.  She kicks herself in circles while lying on the floor and rolls ... but still not regularly.

And she just ... looks at me.  Maybe it's just because we are both girls, but I feel so much more like we get each other.  More than I ever did with Mac.  Maybe it's because he was my first.  Or maybe because he's a boy.  Not sure.

But she melts me ... despite her newfound love of waking up at 1 a.m. instead of just 4:30.  Ugh I am missing that big fat block of sleep.

She makes up for it by being about the cutest alarm clock in the world.  About five minutes before 7, she'll start squealing and babbling every single morning.

And we can't help but wake up happy.

Belle's First Haircut

Lindy made fun of Belen's little rat tail.

So I attempted to do something about it.

Her hair reminds me so much of Jamie's ... it's like baby Hagrid hair. :)

I wouldn't say that it turned out better, but it's certainly not a rat tail any more.

Aaaaand ... We Have a Job!

I'm sure you're quite curious about why I've been posting all that stuff about fixing up our place.
We're supposed to be moving, right?

Well, we've interviewed in very very many places, and have prepared to move many times (I've NEVER lived this de-junked before ... it's refreshing ... maybe there's hope for this hoarder). 

We've almost moved to:

St. George, UT

Hurricane, Utah

Orem, Utah

Spanish Fork, Utah

Pocatello, Idaho

Seattle, Washington

San Diego, CA

Lima, Peru

But for one reason or another, none of these worked out.  I was actually quite amazed by how Mark was really truly wanted at each of these places.  They love his background, his religion, and his experience. 

Timing was the issue with almost every single one.

Finally however, timing worked out with one guy.

This guy:

The good Dr. John Holland has had Mark on as a part-time intern these last two semesters.  Before that Mark worked for him on Fridays.  Before that, I worked for him full-time.  Even before me, Ben interned with him.  And to start it all off:  Josh interned with him.

Dr. Holland has been a huge part of our lives out here, and now he's placed himself even higher on the pedastle we've had him on.  He's decided he wants to use Mark's Spanish-speaking skills and muscle work to expand his office, and help set things up for his son who is in school now (and we happen to be very good friends with).  Mark will get the experience he needs to run a business and bring in clientele, so we can then move on to wherever we want and start up his own practice.

And so for a couple more years, this lovely place will be our home.

Anybody need my moving boxes?