May 17, 2007

April 2007

Dear Kids,

I am writing this from somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. I just watched the sun rise over the crest of the earth. It was simply magnificent to say the least. Your mom and I are headed to France where we will spend a week taking in the sights and getting to know each other again.

Your mom surprised me with this trip to celebrate my graduation from the University of Utah. Planning this trip has been a bit of stress as we have discovered that we have very different styles of travel. I like to stumble while your mother likes to plan. We’ve compromised a bit and will be spending three days in Paris (where we will stumble) and three days exploring the countryside.

It’s been a very long day to say the least. We woke up in St. George this morning at 5:30 am and drove to Las Vegas where we caught our connecting flight to Chicago. We had a two hour layover and then boarded our flight to Paris. We’ve skipped over so many time zones it’s been hard to keep track of. In fact, I have absolutely no idea just what time it is right now. It’s kind of a different feeling for someone as locked down as myself.

I’ve tried my best to sleep, but my body clock is stuck on Utah time (11pm) and still pretty wired. Our flight will land about 8:30am local time and so this looks to be one very long day for us as in order for us to best adapt we’ll have to stay awake throughout the day and resist the temptation to nap too long.

So far your mom has been a real trooper. Her belly is growing at a rapid pace and it is now pretty obvious to all those who see her that she is pregnant. Being confined to such a limited space is tough enough, but adding this extra appendage that condenses your inner organs must be extra uncomfortable. As usual, she is handling herself with all the grace that I’ve come to expect.

I should probably mention here that the reason we flew out of Las Vegas is due to us dropping off Ruby at Grandma & Grandpa Hurst’s. Ruby, Grandma Julie has been well instructed by your mother on just how to take care of you in the form of a three page document instructing her on this and that. She’s been teased by her siblings a little bit for this, but you just have to understand that in your sixteen months of life, your mother has never spent a night away from you. I can vouch that she misses you already as we made calls from both Vegas and Chicago. So far the report from Grandma Julie is that you know that something is going on. I can only imagine your little face as you woke up this morning and didn’t see one of us. This makes me sad. I hope you remember us when we get back.

One thing I love about your mother is how she takes ownership...ie. she finishes what she starts. She loves like nobody else I have ever known.

I guess that the big news this month is that I graduated from school. I wasn’t crazy about celebrating with all the pomp & circumstance but your mom and my parents deserved to have that moment given all that my education has done to them. I am truly blessed to have such a great support system. I am thrilled to have my life back, even though this now means I gotta go and git myself a job.

RUBY-

It’s official: your walking. Welcome to the club. One thing I didn’t fully understand is how much this would change your personality. With each passing day you declare your independence more and more and in much broader ways. At times you are obstinate and stubborn and defiant. We get flustered at times and have to remind ourselves that you just don’t know any better.

Personally, I can’t blame you for not wanting to sit in that car seat for an extended period of time. I also can’t blame you for wanting to ride in your wagon or sit in your swing all day long. Life is good for you right now, so enjoy. Having said that, your mom and I have stuff to do to keep our family going so you’re just gonna have to deal.

Now that summer is upon us we spend much more time outside where we see Morgan & Meliah all the time. You idealize these sweet girls and they completely adore you. They teach you all kinds of good stuff like blowing bubbles and dismantling all those pesky dandelions. At church on Sunday Morgan got up to bear her testimony and as soon as you heard her voice I saw your head pop up and watched you point to her saying “Mo Mo Mo”.

It’s fun to see you embrace your favorite books. One of your most favorite at this point is I Can Do That by Eric Carlyle. You especially love the parts about how a seal claps and a gorilla pounds its chest as you reenact these at various times throughout the day. You also like to answer various questions, like what an owl says or where your toes are. It’s so cute in fact that your mom has to tell me to back off when I do it too much.

#2-

This marks your 20th week in existence and we got another look at you a couple of days ago at your official ultrasound. So far this is your third one, but this one was more thorough and exhaustive. The results were sent off to really really really nice Dr. Peterson who hasn’t contacted us so far and so we’re taking that as a good omen and continue to pray that your developing as normal as can be.

Your mom has had some issues with her gall bladder at times, especially when she eats fatty foods. Really really really nice Dr. Peterson instructed her to be more selective with what she eats and when she eats it. This makes it hard on me as I have learned that living with a pregnant woman equates to a stocked fridge full of all kinds of goodliness. Having said that, I could stand to lose a few (30) pounds.

Big sister Ruby is excited for your arrival. At least we think she is. When we ask her where the baby is she pulls up your mom’s shirt and points to her belly and says, “baby”. Of course this is cute and all but we really know that she has no idea about what is to happen. We don’t either, so off again we are to uncharted territory.

Alright then kiddo’s...time to go.

love,
Daddy

Posted by patatomic at May 17, 2007 09:56 PM

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