Christmas in Utah - Week 1

We had been anxiously awaiting our trip home to Utah. The majority of our family and friends hadn’t met Acalias yet so we were excited to introduce him to everyone that we love. We were lucky that our flights weren’t delayed too bad, Acalias was an angel the entire flight to Utah.

When we arrived, Damion picked us up and Grandpa “with the Cats” (the other grand kids came up with that nick name for him) came along to see us. Acalias had changed so much since Grandpa had last seen him in June, it was fun to see him observe grandpa.


It was so nice to be on familiar roads and see the beautiful mountains again. It almost felt like we were returning home from a 3rd world country. We live in such a rural part of West Virginia where roads don't get plowed and shopping/restaurants are limited. It was such a great feeling to be home.

On Sunday we attended my old home ward, I hadn't visited since I returned home from my mission in 2005. I invited my brother and his family to meet us there. It was nice to see all the faces I grew up with, Bishop Kemp invited me to share my testimony in the Christmas program. It was honor to share my gratitude for my Savior during the Christmas season and to the members who were so kind and loving toward me in my Youth and during my mission. It's neat to think about how the people in our lives can influence us, the Lord had placed them in my life at the right time.

Afterwards we visited Grandpa JR and Great grandma Nativa. Grandpa JR had never met Acalias and was amazed at how big he was.



Grandma cooked up some delish Haitian food, we enjoyed reminiscing about our childhood with dad while Grandma sang her French songs to Acalias. I think he remembered her voice, she sang to him a lot during his first month of life and it always calmed him down.

Here he is playing with Tio Simi. I thought Acalias would be more apprehensive with all the unfamiliar family but he was so happy to have so much attention.


Hanging out with Grandma Cindy.

Meeting Grandpa and Grandma Milar.

Alec and Zoe loved playing peek-a-boo with Acalias.

We traveled on the Frontrunner to Salt Lake to see the lights on temple square.





We miss living so far away from the temple.




Here we are playing a board game and stuffing our faces with yummy white chocolate pretzel/chex mix. This particular game was so much fun! Settlers of Catan...I never did win, the 2 hour time difference always made so drowsy by 7pm and passed out by 9pm. Everyone else played all night.

Braxten had wrestling tournament that he invited us to. It was so intense my heart almost pounded out of my chest. I felt bad for the boy's he wrestled, many cried and wanted to quit while their competative parents screamed at them to keep wrestling. I think I'll put Acalias in tennis..a non-contact, less intense sport.


We met up with a few of our close friends, Laina was my visiting teaching companion and Beezer was my visiting teacher. We're so thankful for our family and friends in our life, we felt so loved by those of you who called us and made an effort to visit with us during the busy Christmas season.

We'll be home for Christmas...la dee da da doo...

All our bags are packed and we're ready to come home.

We found a sitter for Skofeild! Thank goodness for my local friends, we live in such a small town that everyone seems to be connected somehow. Skofeild will be staying home and protecting it. Our hired help will visit three times a day. We're going to miss him so much but we're super excited to visit family.


Skofeild can sense that we're leaving, he's been extra needy lately. He's been resting his head next to Acalias so that he can get pets from him. Acalias pulls his hair rather than give pets, but Skofeild is so desperate he will take anything these days. I'm excited for the day that Acalias can play with Skofeild, then they can wear each other out.


Acalias loves his toes, he can't seem to get enough. He's having a conversation with his feet.


It snowed A LOT today. Derek has a test tomorrow but if the weather is too bad, he's allowed to postpone his test until we return. I think it's best he takes it now and get it over with. He is so ready for this break, so am I!


Derek caught a picture of this rare occation, Acalias was so tuckered out. We had been running errands all day. I have a similar picures from when he was a newborn.

This seems like yesterday, he's grown too fast. We're so excited to introduce him to all of our family members.

See you all soon!

Heart of the Holidays

Hi my name is Skofeild and I'm desperately looking for someone to care for me while my loved ones are away visiting Utah. The boarding animal hospitals are all booked...I didn't want to get boarded anyway because my last experience was traumatic. I felt abandoned and alone, I didn't eat at all the the entire time my family was away.
I am loyal and full of affection toward anyone who will give me attention. I enjoy getting petted especially on my belly and I really like to have my ball thrown outside. I love snow but please don't leave me outside too long, I'm used to being in the warmth indoors.

I will happily greet you at the door each day. I get so excited, I can't contain myself and I will most likely jump on you. Please don't be afraid of my very loud barks, I'm just very protective over my people and their property.
I am very attentive to the youngest member of our family. I am typically the first one near his crib whenever he cries and I give him licks whenever mom isn't looking. I enjoy children, especially the ones who can walk. I heard them towards their family, which keeps them out of mischief.
I need food, water and social interaction during the holidays while my loved ones are away. Please come and visit and play with me if you are in the area.

Ruff, Ruff
Skofeild


It was a busy week, this week we helped dad with the Heart of the Holidays activity his Honor Fraternity, Sigma Sigma Phi had organized. The school had a christmas tree with ornaments that listed items that children in the community needed. I was blown away by all the presents that the medical students purchased for the childen. Acalias and I chatted with people during the dinner and helped to clean up after the event.
I've noticed that Acalias really enjoys being around other people, he likes to observe others and it's fun to watch his expressions as he oberserves people.




Acalias wondering what all the fuss is about for the man with the big white beard. He watched all the children get their presents.


We snuck in a visit with Santa, of coarse Acalias goes straight for the mans beard (which is what he does to my hair all the time!)


Acalias thinking, "Who are you? Why do you have so much white hair? What have you done with my parents?"

We also did a photo session with my friend and her new baby. I haven't taken pictures since having Acalias, I've forgotten how much I enjoy photograpy. I've updated my photo blog, see www.nativarodebackphotography.blogspot.com.

Last but not least, a video for our family to see how big this little boy is getting.

Gratitude

For the past couple of month several months we have been touring potential rotation sites. Tonight was the final site selection sign up. The school provided dinner for us and our spouses picked out their chosen sites. Our site ended up going to lottery, thankfully Derek’s name was the second paper pulled out of the hat (we are so blessed!). We will be relocating to Clarksburg, WV in June 2011!! We’re excited, I’m ready for a bigger city with sidewalks and Derek is ready to start practicing what he’s learned for the past two years.

These were taken during Hospital Day at the Greenbrier Hotel. The Hospitals gather together and try to recruit students to rotate at their hospital. Acalias was very impressed by the Christmas tree.



We had a great Thanksgiving break. We decided to stay home because we have been traveling so much during the past couple of months. Last year I had plans to prepare our first thanksgiving dinner but my morning sickness was at its peak and I didn’t have enough energy. This year, Derek and I watched the Food Network Channel and found a lot of great ideas.

I’ve been dying to use the China and crystal glasses I had received as a wedding gift. Check out our spread! We were especially proud of our Turkey. Thank goodness for the Food Network Channel, otherwise we would have tried to cook a partially thawed turkey.




The stuffing recipe called for Chestnuts, Derek and I had never tasted Chestnuts before and they are so delicious! We’ve added a new tradition of roasting chestnuts as part of our Thanksgiving traditions. Last year we started a thankful box, we write things that we are thankful for throughout the month and read them after dinner on Thanksgiving Day. This year we are most thankful for our son Acalias, he has been such a blessing to have in our home.

Acalias turned 5 months on the 25th. He still eat so much and we’ve tried to introduce solids as our Doctor has suggested but he would much rather eat mommas milk.



Thunder thighs!

He loves the lights on the Christmas tree, we're excited to take him to Temple square to see the lights there.

He loves to pull on his little toes

Close up shot of his rash, he's been miserably itchy lately but it's getting better.

Half-Marathon

After a couple of months of training, I felt sufficiently prepared to run my first post pregnancy race. I trained with 3 other girls, it was nice because with out them my Saturday long runs would have been dreadfully lonely. Not to mention the Greenbrier river trail got eerie with the cold and the fog that rolled in from the river, people started claiming they had seen bears. We were accountable to each other and we'd often check in with one another during the week regarding our runs.

On Friday, we made our journey to Richmond,VA which is 3.5 hours away. We drove directly to the Expo to pick up my race packet. I like to walk around to find the latest items for runners. Each race I discover and purchase something new. I found both my Hydration belt (which I can not live with out) and running socks at pre-race Expos.

This year I found this:


Uh huh...I sure did spend money on these gloves (only $3.00) because I really do dream of being as fast as a Kenyan! How nice would it be to just glide through the finish after 26.2 miles and look like it was the simplest task ever?

After the expo we picked up some Greek food and went to our Hotel. Acalias for once looks tiny on this huge bed...actually, no he still looks like the very big boy that he is. A woman asked Derek if he fed Acalias bacon and eggs during breakfast. When he told her that he was only 4 months she gasped and said Acalias looked very healthy. We're used to that response. People want to tell us that our son is big in the nicest way possible as if we don't already know.


We were so giddy to take him swimming because he loves taking baths so much.



Our trip to the pool didn't last too long because the water was too cold.

I had a sleepless night as I typically have a night before the race. I get paranoid of sleeping through my alarm and missing the race. The morning of Derek dropped me off at the starting point and he went back to the hotel.

There were over 16,000 runners including the Marathon and 8K! We were all crammed on this street and it was impossible not to nudge or push others as you walked through the crowds. I imagine China and other heavily populated countries are similar to the crowd we were in, no room for personal space.

I ran with my friend Amy the entire time. It was nice to talk to someone. Along the route there were live bands, cheerleaders, choirs and radio stations blaring music and shouting inspirational things to keep us runners going. As the miles increased, my talking decreased. I had to put on my headphones to avoid hearing the pounding of my feet. Mile 12 seemed to last an eternity until we saw the finish line at the bottom of the hill. My last words to Amy was "Labor is much worst than this". I guess it inspired me because I was hurting at the time, not sure if it inspired her. Amy and I seemed to instinctively know that it was time to push harder the last mile towards the finish line. We did and it was so nice to hear the husbands cheering for us on the sidelines. Then we were done! It felt so good to be done. We were awarded our medals and offered pizza. I couldn't eat right away so I walked around and stretched.


All of us after the race.

We stayed to cheer on the first place winners of the Marathon... and yes, they were Kenyan.

Derek and I. Acalias was asleep in his stroller.


We had to take a picture of Acalias and I. Notice my bib, it says "New Momma!". I was so proud of it as you can see. Training for the Half-marathon helped me shed my baby weight.

I told Derek to zoom up on my bib, hence the reason my head got cut off a bit.


Love this little, big boy.

Just received my race results in my email, here they are:


There were 644 finishers in your age group and 5548 total finishers. Your overall finish place was 3962, your age group finish place was 441 and your gender finish place was 2084. Your chip time was 02:01:08 and your pace was 10:37.2 per mile.

Here are more photos from the Half-Marathon:
brightroom event photography

Quick weight loss update:

I received my 25 lb circle charm today.


My overall weight loss since having Acalias is 46 lbs, since joining Weight Watchers 26 lbs. I lost 5.5 lbs in October, this month my goal is 6 lbs. Monthly goals help me stay focused. I'd rather not get overwhelmed with how much more weight I need to lose.

4 Month Mark

We went to our 4 month scheduled Dr. Visit earlier last week. Acalias weighs a whopping 19 lbs 14 oz and 27 inches long! He is in the 97% for both height and weight and 99% for head circumference. I was concerned but the Doctor said that Acalias is perfectly healthy.
I've already had to pack away some of his smaller clothes, now I'm having to pack even more. He is currently wearing 9 months to 24 month clothes. I'm hoping his weight gain will slow down, just 3 more lbs and we'll have to buy him a new car seat. I never thought I'd have to buy a bigger car seat at just 4 months.


He is so smiley and is as happy as can be. He loves it when we sing to him, his little giggles are so fun to hear.


This picture is for all of you who think our son looks like me and only me. I think he and his dad share a lot of features. They look so much a like in this picture. Look at those cheeks:)


Tummy torture time isn't so torturous when he's having a conversation with dad.


We've discovered that if the TV is on he is glued, I think he likes the colors. I put on Dora the Explorer and he seemed to enjoy it.


He likes to play with anything that makes a sound.


Acalias likes when I play with his little toes. In this picture, I'm telling him that he has stinky feet and he thinks its so hillarious to see mom make a face at his smelly feet.



He learning so much, he learns quickly. He mimicks just about anything Dad does with his mouth. He sticks his little tounge out, tries to blow and can babble "Da dah dah dah".

This past Sunday, I had to take him out of class because he was laughing so hard he was a distraction to the class. We have some video footage of him laughing, I'll include it in the next post.