So, this week has been pretty good, except it is always harder to get used to a more busy schedule when Michael switches rotations. He is doing internal medicine, and it has been busy.
This week the boys finished up their swim lessons for a while – we decided to take a break from lessons for a while now that preschool is going to start before too long. But we’ll still have to keep going swimming once in a while, especially since Eli actually started swimming on his own under the water in the last couple of weeks, which is so fun to see. Also, at the end of each swim lesson session, the teachers hand out a little card for each kid telling them what level of class they would be ready for next time they take lessons. I was a little surprised when they said that Camden should advance to the level 2 class, not because of how he does in the water – he doesn’t mind putting his head under or jumping in, and he has no fear of the water – but just because I had to get special permission to get him into the level 1 class because they said they usually wait until kids are 3 years old before they start swimming, and he is still 1 year old and his teacher said he is ready for level 2. Too bad we aren’t keeping up with the swim lessons, but we’ll still have to go with the boys when Michael had days off work.
On Wednesday we went for a WIC appointment, just to keep things updated and pick up some papers. I was surprised that it took 2 ½ hours, since the same appointment in Milwaukee would have taken about 20 minutes. They must have just been short on staff for the number of people who were there. The boys, especially Camden, were pretty grumpy by the end of that. I also picked up paperwork to fill out a Medicaid application – just because our pediatrician told me she thought that a family our size on an intern’s income should qualify. After spending hours filling out the forms, we got a call the next day saying that we make about $20 to much to qualify, so if our income happens to go down by that much anytime soon that we should reapply. Oh well.
Another thing I did this week was sort through all of the boys’ fall and winter clothes – ok, I didn’t get through all of them yet, but most. A couple times a year I sit down and spend several hours taking out all the clothes for the next season, trying them on the boys, making a list of how many of each item we have that fit each boy, and then deciding how many pants, shirts, etc. each boy will need in which sizes. Last year I made a chart to keep everything organized with how many of each clothing item each boy had and needed, and so this year it was easy to just pull up that old chart and update it – although there are a few things I can’t really plan for yet (like if this next baby happens to end up being a girl, we will need to add a whole new list of items like dresses, tights, hairbows, etc.) So I’m not really worrying about any baby things until we know for sure on that one. At this point I just need to finish trying clothes on Isaac – I have been putting this off, since it is still a struggle to change his clothes as he wiggles and rolls all over the place, but I did get him into an 18-month size outfit the other day which were the perfect length for him now, so we know we have another tall skinny Bradshaw boy on our hands. Then I’ll get to start on the fun part – searching for good deals on the clothes that the boys will still need for fall and winter this year.
This week the boys finished up their swim lessons for a while – we decided to take a break from lessons for a while now that preschool is going to start before too long. But we’ll still have to keep going swimming once in a while, especially since Eli actually started swimming on his own under the water in the last couple of weeks, which is so fun to see. Also, at the end of each swim lesson session, the teachers hand out a little card for each kid telling them what level of class they would be ready for next time they take lessons. I was a little surprised when they said that Camden should advance to the level 2 class, not because of how he does in the water – he doesn’t mind putting his head under or jumping in, and he has no fear of the water – but just because I had to get special permission to get him into the level 1 class because they said they usually wait until kids are 3 years old before they start swimming, and he is still 1 year old and his teacher said he is ready for level 2. Too bad we aren’t keeping up with the swim lessons, but we’ll still have to go with the boys when Michael had days off work.
On Wednesday we went for a WIC appointment, just to keep things updated and pick up some papers. I was surprised that it took 2 ½ hours, since the same appointment in Milwaukee would have taken about 20 minutes. They must have just been short on staff for the number of people who were there. The boys, especially Camden, were pretty grumpy by the end of that. I also picked up paperwork to fill out a Medicaid application – just because our pediatrician told me she thought that a family our size on an intern’s income should qualify. After spending hours filling out the forms, we got a call the next day saying that we make about $20 to much to qualify, so if our income happens to go down by that much anytime soon that we should reapply. Oh well.
Another thing I did this week was sort through all of the boys’ fall and winter clothes – ok, I didn’t get through all of them yet, but most. A couple times a year I sit down and spend several hours taking out all the clothes for the next season, trying them on the boys, making a list of how many of each item we have that fit each boy, and then deciding how many pants, shirts, etc. each boy will need in which sizes. Last year I made a chart to keep everything organized with how many of each clothing item each boy had and needed, and so this year it was easy to just pull up that old chart and update it – although there are a few things I can’t really plan for yet (like if this next baby happens to end up being a girl, we will need to add a whole new list of items like dresses, tights, hairbows, etc.) So I’m not really worrying about any baby things until we know for sure on that one. At this point I just need to finish trying clothes on Isaac – I have been putting this off, since it is still a struggle to change his clothes as he wiggles and rolls all over the place, but I did get him into an 18-month size outfit the other day which were the perfect length for him now, so we know we have another tall skinny Bradshaw boy on our hands. Then I’ll get to start on the fun part – searching for good deals on the clothes that the boys will still need for fall and winter this year.
Well, we got to celebrate a couple birthdays this week too – my brother, Matthew, turned 18 on Friday. We got to talk to him that day and he sounded like he was doing well. We were glad to hear that he finished all the requirements for his Eagle Scout project, and is just awaiting his review for that. Isaac also had his 10-month birthday on Saturday – he’s getting so old!
This week I also read a book I had heard about from a few different friends, The Secret Life of Bees, which was a fun story. And I made birthday invitations for the next two birthdays coming up in our family: Camden and Kolby. (I know, it’s a while before Kolby’s birthday on Halloween, but I enjoy designing the invitations and the boys have so much fun telling me what character or theme they want for their party and then carrying around their special invitation that I print for them). I don’t really know the dates for their parties at all yet, since Michael doesn’t know his schedule that far in advance, but I had fun making them. Next I’m planning to work on Isaac’s – then I suppose I might as well get Eli’s done to while I’m on a roll (even though his birthday’s not until the end of January). Another project that I finished recently was our family book for 2007. I used the software from the Blurb bookmaker website to upload all of our blog posts and photos from 2007, and then I added a few more photos and other things here and there, organized the layout, and finished the whole book. I think it is going to turn out really nice! (Now I just need to wait a little while before we can afford to have it printed). I was really on a roll with the book, and almost wanted to start on the one for 2008 when I got done with the 2007 book, but I decided to wait until 2008 is over so I can just download everything from the blog all at once. But if you’re looking for something to print your own book like this, I’d recommend Blurb – it has nice software and I’ve heard from other friends that the books turn out really nice when they are printed too.
This week I also read a book I had heard about from a few different friends, The Secret Life of Bees, which was a fun story. And I made birthday invitations for the next two birthdays coming up in our family: Camden and Kolby. (I know, it’s a while before Kolby’s birthday on Halloween, but I enjoy designing the invitations and the boys have so much fun telling me what character or theme they want for their party and then carrying around their special invitation that I print for them). I don’t really know the dates for their parties at all yet, since Michael doesn’t know his schedule that far in advance, but I had fun making them. Next I’m planning to work on Isaac’s – then I suppose I might as well get Eli’s done to while I’m on a roll (even though his birthday’s not until the end of January). Another project that I finished recently was our family book for 2007. I used the software from the Blurb bookmaker website to upload all of our blog posts and photos from 2007, and then I added a few more photos and other things here and there, organized the layout, and finished the whole book. I think it is going to turn out really nice! (Now I just need to wait a little while before we can afford to have it printed). I was really on a roll with the book, and almost wanted to start on the one for 2008 when I got done with the 2007 book, but I decided to wait until 2008 is over so I can just download everything from the blog all at once. But if you’re looking for something to print your own book like this, I’d recommend Blurb – it has nice software and I’ve heard from other friends that the books turn out really nice when they are printed too.
On Friday I conquered my fear of the weed whacker (that had begun to develop since last week when it left me with a puncture wound in my leg – which is healing fine now, by the way) and I finished the job I had started the other day to help Grandma with her garden. It took several hours, but was good to get done. The plan now is to spray the weeds so the roots die, then plant wild flowers out there. And then on Friday night when Michael got off work we got invited to dinner and a movie by Grandma Bradshaw in celebration of her 61st wedding anniversary, and it was fun to get together with some family (especially Michael’s cousin and his wife, Joe and Heidi, who just moved back to Utah after finishing law school in Michigan). We saw the movie, The Errand of Angels, about a sister missionary in Austria, which we liked. Thanks for inviting us, Grandma Bradshaw (and thanks for watching the boys for us, Grandma Faun!)
Yesterday I took the boys to the Elder’s Quorum picnic at a nearby park (while Michael was at work). We had lunch, then ice cream, and the boys played games with the other kids. It was fun to see them – Eli enjoyed digging in the sand at a volleyball court until I insisted that he move to the shade because it was hot out and I hadn’t brought sunscreen, and Kolby had a lot of fun with his new best friend from church, Kaitlyn Mills – a cute 6-year-old girl who Kolby enjoys talking and playing with whenever they see each other. After the picnic I was feeling a little down. It was a fun picnic, and I enjoyed seeing some friends from church, but I have been having a bit of a hard time here lately. In Milwaukee we had so many friends – probably because the majority of the ward there were in our similar situation with medical school so they understood what we were going through like other people can’t, and because so many there were young families with young kids like ours, and because many of them were also far away from family and friends at home so we all needed to make friends out there. Here it is different. I know that part of it is probably because we are living with my grandmother and that people know we are going to be moving away next summer, so I think that some people have the idea that we are just temporary visitors and that we already have the support of family so we don’t need to make friends here. Not that people aren’t friendly – but it seems that at least so far many of the people in the ward are friendly (they say hi and ask us how we’re doing when they see us), but it has been hard to make friends (like someone who wants to really talk or actually do something together besides say hi when we see each other at church activities). Maybe we were just in a unique situation in Milwaukee where we were able to have friends over or go to friends’ houses at least a couple times a week, besides church and regular play groups, but I really miss that. We did have a family from church over for dinner last Sunday, which was really fun, and they said they’d like us to come over sometime in September. So maybe things will get rolling. There is no playgroup in this ward – there is an exercise group that I’ve been told meats at the church in the mornings a few days a week and they all let their kids run around and play together there, but since I’ve been pregnant this time around I’ve been doing better if I get some sleep in the morning and I haven’t been able to bring myself to get up and get all the kids over there in order to exercise. Maybe once the boys start preschool (and we’re already up and out of the house in the morning) I will get myself to do that. Another thing that I realized the other day, is that I can’t think of anyone else in the ward who’s family is the same “age” as ours – there are several who have kids around the same age as our boys, but all of them also have kids who are several years older, so they seem to be at a different stage in life than we are. I know I need to not limit myself to just being friends with those my age who have kids the same age as mine – one of my mom’s best friends has three boys, and he oldest son is the same age as my mom’s youngest son – but it’s easier to connect if people are going through the same stuff you are and you feel like they understand. I was pretty excited the other night – a girl from the ward invited me to a Mary Kay party at her house next week. I can’t afford to buy any make-up, really, but I was pretty excited to actually be invited to something other than a planned church event. I was hoping that maybe once the boys start preschool I might be able to talk to some of the other moms when we are picking our kids up from school and they’re playing on the playground there, but now I’m wondering if there’s much chance of that – I heard from one person in the ward that she is putting her kids in home school this year and she was so excited that she had convinced several other moms in the ward to do home school too. There were a couple who I thought would have their kids in the preschool, but I found out that at least one of those families is going to a different preschool nearby. Oh well. I guess I need to make more of an effort – it sure would be nice, though, if it weren’t such an effort to make friends. We have several friends and family members here in Utah – I wish that they lived nearby so that it wasn’t a huge job to get all the kids ready and drive far away just to visit them. I don’t know, I just think that in Milwaukee friends were such a big deal because they were our family while we were so far away from family out there, and I miss it. I was making those birthday invitations the other day, and remembering all the fun birthday parties we had for the boys over the last few years, and wondering who, besides cousins, to invite out here. I guess my big thing is that I don’t want to feel like my life is on hold until we move to New York next year to make friends again. I am friendly with a few girls in the ward, I guess I just need to start inviting them over to let our kids play – I just don’t know how excited their older kids would be about that. We’ll see.
Well, on to other things. Today was church. Sacrament is still the last meeting in this ward, which means we still spend time out in the hallway during Sacrament meeting because there is no good way to keep the kids happy and not tired out by the end of church. Isaac finally fell asleep in my arms and took a little nap for the end of the meeting today. I wish the people who decided on the order of the meetings would consider the parents. Oh well. After church the bishop asked Michael and I to speak in church next week. Michael is speaking on education and literacy, and I am speaking on the importance of work – any ideas for me? I’m drawing a blank so far, without doing any research yet.
Well, tonight should be fun. We’re going to Mel and Christian’s for another family dinner with them and Annette. We are doing the main course tonight – a new salmon recipe we are trying out. We invited Alan and Jenn to come, but they said they couldn’t again. Alan and Jenn – if the problem for you guys is driving up to Lehi or Salt Lake, let us know, and I’m sure we could work out for next time to get together down at your place and we could all bring food along so you wouldn’t have to worry about providing everything. We’d really like to get together with you guys, especially since we are only going to be in Utah this year, and then it will be several years again before we might live closer. Let us know.
Yesterday I took the boys to the Elder’s Quorum picnic at a nearby park (while Michael was at work). We had lunch, then ice cream, and the boys played games with the other kids. It was fun to see them – Eli enjoyed digging in the sand at a volleyball court until I insisted that he move to the shade because it was hot out and I hadn’t brought sunscreen, and Kolby had a lot of fun with his new best friend from church, Kaitlyn Mills – a cute 6-year-old girl who Kolby enjoys talking and playing with whenever they see each other. After the picnic I was feeling a little down. It was a fun picnic, and I enjoyed seeing some friends from church, but I have been having a bit of a hard time here lately. In Milwaukee we had so many friends – probably because the majority of the ward there were in our similar situation with medical school so they understood what we were going through like other people can’t, and because so many there were young families with young kids like ours, and because many of them were also far away from family and friends at home so we all needed to make friends out there. Here it is different. I know that part of it is probably because we are living with my grandmother and that people know we are going to be moving away next summer, so I think that some people have the idea that we are just temporary visitors and that we already have the support of family so we don’t need to make friends here. Not that people aren’t friendly – but it seems that at least so far many of the people in the ward are friendly (they say hi and ask us how we’re doing when they see us), but it has been hard to make friends (like someone who wants to really talk or actually do something together besides say hi when we see each other at church activities). Maybe we were just in a unique situation in Milwaukee where we were able to have friends over or go to friends’ houses at least a couple times a week, besides church and regular play groups, but I really miss that. We did have a family from church over for dinner last Sunday, which was really fun, and they said they’d like us to come over sometime in September. So maybe things will get rolling. There is no playgroup in this ward – there is an exercise group that I’ve been told meats at the church in the mornings a few days a week and they all let their kids run around and play together there, but since I’ve been pregnant this time around I’ve been doing better if I get some sleep in the morning and I haven’t been able to bring myself to get up and get all the kids over there in order to exercise. Maybe once the boys start preschool (and we’re already up and out of the house in the morning) I will get myself to do that. Another thing that I realized the other day, is that I can’t think of anyone else in the ward who’s family is the same “age” as ours – there are several who have kids around the same age as our boys, but all of them also have kids who are several years older, so they seem to be at a different stage in life than we are. I know I need to not limit myself to just being friends with those my age who have kids the same age as mine – one of my mom’s best friends has three boys, and he oldest son is the same age as my mom’s youngest son – but it’s easier to connect if people are going through the same stuff you are and you feel like they understand. I was pretty excited the other night – a girl from the ward invited me to a Mary Kay party at her house next week. I can’t afford to buy any make-up, really, but I was pretty excited to actually be invited to something other than a planned church event. I was hoping that maybe once the boys start preschool I might be able to talk to some of the other moms when we are picking our kids up from school and they’re playing on the playground there, but now I’m wondering if there’s much chance of that – I heard from one person in the ward that she is putting her kids in home school this year and she was so excited that she had convinced several other moms in the ward to do home school too. There were a couple who I thought would have their kids in the preschool, but I found out that at least one of those families is going to a different preschool nearby. Oh well. I guess I need to make more of an effort – it sure would be nice, though, if it weren’t such an effort to make friends. We have several friends and family members here in Utah – I wish that they lived nearby so that it wasn’t a huge job to get all the kids ready and drive far away just to visit them. I don’t know, I just think that in Milwaukee friends were such a big deal because they were our family while we were so far away from family out there, and I miss it. I was making those birthday invitations the other day, and remembering all the fun birthday parties we had for the boys over the last few years, and wondering who, besides cousins, to invite out here. I guess my big thing is that I don’t want to feel like my life is on hold until we move to New York next year to make friends again. I am friendly with a few girls in the ward, I guess I just need to start inviting them over to let our kids play – I just don’t know how excited their older kids would be about that. We’ll see.
Well, on to other things. Today was church. Sacrament is still the last meeting in this ward, which means we still spend time out in the hallway during Sacrament meeting because there is no good way to keep the kids happy and not tired out by the end of church. Isaac finally fell asleep in my arms and took a little nap for the end of the meeting today. I wish the people who decided on the order of the meetings would consider the parents. Oh well. After church the bishop asked Michael and I to speak in church next week. Michael is speaking on education and literacy, and I am speaking on the importance of work – any ideas for me? I’m drawing a blank so far, without doing any research yet.
Well, tonight should be fun. We’re going to Mel and Christian’s for another family dinner with them and Annette. We are doing the main course tonight – a new salmon recipe we are trying out. We invited Alan and Jenn to come, but they said they couldn’t again. Alan and Jenn – if the problem for you guys is driving up to Lehi or Salt Lake, let us know, and I’m sure we could work out for next time to get together down at your place and we could all bring food along so you wouldn’t have to worry about providing everything. We’d really like to get together with you guys, especially since we are only going to be in Utah this year, and then it will be several years again before we might live closer. Let us know.
Well, I’m going to try to get some pictures and video up soon – I’ve been having annoying wireless internet connection issues all week and haven’t been able to get them up yet. But I have lots of fun pictures of the boys to post, plus a video of Isaac crawling and one of Kolby reading!
3 comments:
I agree- the "Utah" church schedule of having sacrament meeting last bugs me too. I realize the idea is to help everyone be on time to sacrament meeting, but I think it is better to motivate them to come by putting it first in the day and then hoping to get them to stay for the other meetings.
i agree that sacrement meeting last is weird and crazy. but not all the wards are like that. none of mine have been like that. maybe it is just where you live. anyways i know that it is hard to make friends sometimes. just remember that hard things are usually to help us grow and learn something and is worth it in the end. the invitations look great. so cute. and for your talk maybe you could talk about how working on things "whether it be physical or spiritual" is at time hard and frustrating but in the end it is worth it. it can bring us closer to our Heavenly Father. but we need to make sure that our "work" that we are doing is for the right purpose. like it is going to help us to make lots of money so that we can buy worldly things or are we doing good with our money. maybe talk about a garden and the work it takes and relate it to life. these are just of the top of my head. i can give it more thought if you want. let me know if you need more help. give the boys hugs and kisses
It's always fun to hear all that you are up to! I remember feeling the same way about friends when we first moved to our ward. Several families had kids the same age as mine but they also had older kids. I think starting a ward playgroup helps a lot and it will get better. Making friends takes times and I think it's harder when you aren't with so many people that are in the same situation as you are. Good luck!
Post a Comment