Nelson Family Update

I'll write a short update first and see if I have time for anything else afterwards. All the boys are asleep now (Jonathan included). I know some people would say, "You should be resting too!" But sometimes I think it is better for me I write some things down instead of sleep- get it out of my mind. Sure I'll be tired, but I'll have some memories stored. So, I'm writing and eating some Easter candy...none of which made it into baskets...because it was that kind of a night (I also spaced the Women's Conference address...good thing I can listen to it later online), and because I was trying to finish up a church talk because my brother is the bishop (leader of our congregation here) and asked us to talk in church today. I'm glad Peter is too young to know about Easter baskets, because he wasn't sad not to have one. Maybe we'll do it tomorrow, that can be our family tradition. But in the meantime, I'll eat some chocolate eggs and let you know what we've been up to.

We decided to move back east (I don't think I even wrote a post on that decision). So, we packed up, sold a lot of things and drove out. We made it across America!! We took 5 days for the trip, staying at various friends and family of friends along the way. The boys did surprisingly well and we saw some neat things. We stayed with my parents for about a week as we got paint and floors into the house we will be living in for the next bit. It is looking pretty great now, although we still have some projects we are working on.

The best news is Jonathan got a job!! He's a lucky charm. He will be working as the purchasing man for a Chinese textile factory based in South Carolina (about 30 minutes away from our house, so we don't have to move again!). Most of the workers speak Chinese, so Jonathan will get to use his language skills everyday. Their goal is to transition from Chinese workers to American's. So, Jonathan will also help in cultural differences and how to work together. We will really really miss having him home everyday to help with life, but it will be nice to have an income again. Also, another Jonathan update- he shaved his beard! My dad said that it might help in job acquisition as many people in the south equate beard with redneck. I'm pretty sure Jonathan would have gotten the job even with the beard, he'd spoken with them before and they really liked him, but we thought we'd better be safe. He looks good, and said he might grow it back sometime, but take a beard break for now.

Ezra, Peter and beardless Jonathan
These faces are my favorites.

We both spoke in church today. I spoke on how we can improve our lives by following Christ's example, and Jonathan spoke on the Atonement, justice and mercy. The talks went pretty good. The boys sat great as we switched speaking and sitting with them.

Peter: He is having a little bit of a tough time adjusting... again. We know from the last moves/Ezra's birth to expect about a 2 month transitional period where he is extra cranky and emotional, and boy are we getting it. Overall, he is doing great. He loves playing with his cousins, seeing Grandpa and Nainai, and playing with his Uncle Ian and William. He loves being outside to play and seeing the birds by the pond. There are just many more tears than a "normal" day and more foot stamping when we ask him to do things. It's exciting. He's also been really lovey to us, extra snuggles and hugs. So it's nice and hard at the same time.

Peter at the church Easter egg hunt

Ezra: He is growing and growing. He is in 6-9 month clothes for the most part. He is getting better at grabbing things. He is still super smiley and happy. He has developed the love of falling asleep not while being held. He will wiggle and squirm and then I can put him in his swing and he will calm right down and close his eyes. He is currently napping in the swing. I love that thing. Quick Ezra story: Today he was dressed up for Easter- and super adorable, as was his older brother and I was going to get an Easter picture of the family when we got home from church. So, naturally, Ezra pooped out his entire outfit- giant diaper explosion...it was terrible. And, naturally, I'd forgotten to pack an extra outfit. So, for the remainder of church, Ezra wore a zip up hoodie and shorts that I didn't know I had in my bag. He was pretty stylish. I learned my lesson to take pictures as soon as they are in their cute clothes and not to wait for any diaper explosions.

Ezra loves his thumb.

Robin: I'm also adjusting to living back in the South. Everything is simultaneously familiar and foreign. Buildings along the roads have changed and areas have grown. I get lost half the time when I drive because I don't have mountains to guide me and I didn't drive most of these roads when I lived here as a teen. There are people at church I've know since I was 11, but I haven't spent time with them since I was 18, so they don't know me and I don't know them, but we both think we do. I've been away longer than I lived in this city and the person I was when I left is not the person I am now. I am usually a visitor here, but now it is my home and I have to figure out where I fit in. But, I love it. My "yard" is full of trees and birds. We had a good rain yesterday and today, and I love it. This is a good spot for us right now. We'll see what comes next in life.

Taking selfies while we wait for Jonathan and Peter

Becoming a Family of Four

Family of Four- Jonathan, Peter, Robin and Ezra

On December 31st 2015, the Nelson family officially went from 3 people to 4! This is going to be a post on Ezra's birth story. So, if you don't want to read all the details, feel free to just scroll through the pictures.

New baby at the hospital

His official due date was the 28th of December. My midwife was going to be out of town from 22-27th of December. I was really hoping he would come early before my midwife left for Christmas break. I was done being pregnant and would have loved to have a week less of being huge, and I wanted to have my midwife there when he was born instead of someone I didn't know as well. Also, then he would be there for all the extended family to meet and hold and love when they came for Christmas break, which would be nice. 

I had been having contractions everyday starting about 2 weeks before my due date. There were a number of times that I thought, "Today is the day!" I'd have contractions anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 minutes apart, but they would always stop after an hour or two. There was one night that I tracked them and they were consistently 3-5 minutes apart for an hour, then Peter woke up and climbed in bed with us and the contractions stopped. It was super frustrating. Then, the 28th came and went. I had a doctor's appointment that day, and everyone was surprised to see me. "We thought for sure you'd have the baby by now!" my nurse said. My midwife said the same thing, "I checked the charts when I got in this morning. I thought for sure you were going to have the baby when I was gone." You and me both lady. But the little guy decided to not come early. 

Peter, Robin and New Baby

My mom flew in on the 30th (I had 2 different back ups in place in case, fingers crossed, the baby had come by then, but no, I was just fine to drive to the airport that day to get her). I picked her up from the airport and met up with my brother, David, for lunch. Then we picked up Peter, who was playing with the Nelson aunts, uncles , cousins and grandparents at the zoo. We headed home and had a normal day...nothing indicating the baby would be coming soon. We had dinner, chatted, and went to bed. I'd had contractions on and off throughout the day, but nothing consistent and none of them were strong.

I woke up around 2am to a strong-ish contraction. Then, another one just a few minutes later. I stood up next to the bed and leaned my arms on the mattress to get through the contraction and suddenly my water broke. My water never broke with Peter, so already, we were off to a very different start. I went to the bathroom, then woke up Jonathan. He asked, "How far apart are your contractions?" I responded with, "I don't know, but my water broke, and Gretchen (my midwife) said the baby's head was really low and we needed to come in quick if my water broke. So, we need to leave, now." We threw a couple of things (chargers, phones) into the hospital bag, woke my mom, and left. I remember being really shaky as we were getting out the door and driving in the car. My legs kept shaking and I had to focus really hard to keep them still. It's about a 20 minute drive from our house to the hospital. Contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart on the ride in. Jonathan called Gretchen as we were driving, and she headed to the hospital (She lives about 5 minutes away). I was glad that it wasn't snowing on the way to the hospital like it had been with Peter's birth.

Brothers!

We got to the hospital at about 2:40 am, parked the car in the front drive through area, grabbed a wheelchair and headed up to labor and delivery. We went to the front desk and they put us in a room (with a jacuzzi tub!! which I didn't even get a chance to use...sad) and started prepping everything. One nurse started asking us lots of questions- have you had any multiple births? any complications or problems during pregnancy? any domestic violence in your house? Now, I'm sure these are important things to have answered, but I just wanted her to stop talking and go away. Haha. Contractions were much more intense now. I answered some of her questions, but whenever there was a contraction I stopped talking and Jonathan would take over. Meanwhile, another nurse was trying to get an IV in me...little did she know, that would be pointless. She poked me once, but it didn't go. So they wanted to try the other hand. I told her to wait until I wasn't having a contraction and had a couple right in a row. Then, I had to pee really bad. They helped me get up and go to the bathroom. I had 2 strong contractions then, with a death grip on Jonathan's arm. At this point, contractions weren't just a "ok, I'll relax and think about something else as it passes... oh good it's over." it was more a "I think this is what death feels like. Wait, don't tense up. Gah, this is extremely unpleasant....whew, survived...I hope that never happens again...oh wait here comes another one." Anyway, went to the bathroom, then back on the bed.

View from our room of the Capital (after he was born)

Then, things get super crazy super fast. They were working on putting monitors back on me- during contractions...I wanted everyone to go away at this point- and the baby's heart rate was dropping with each contraction (same thing happened with Peter, so I wasn't worried, but the doctors were) They were struggling to get a good read on the baby because he was low down...trying to get out.They had me on oxygen at this point (same with Peter), but they didn't make me strap it on my face, they just let me hold it. I remember feeling really claustrophobic when they made me wear the oxygen mask with Peter...and I kept taking it off, which they didn't like, so this worked much better. 

At this point, I could sense that people were a little nervous because of the baby's heart rate and something else, but I was just trying to block everything out. I remember Jonathan was awesome. He kept telling me that I was doing great and that I could do this. After being back in the bed for about 2-3 contractions, I suddenly told everyone, "I need to push." I vaguely remember Gretchen counting and saying I was a 10, and I could push. Next thing I know, a nurse was holding one leg, someone was counting and so many people seemed to be yelling at me to push. So I did. I could tell everyone was worried by the tone of their voices, but I didn't know why they were worried, and I can't remember much of what was being said. I distinctly remember Gretchen saying, "Robin push, the baby needs to come out. He is not happy in there." I also remember another nurse telling me to not worry about the oxygen mask, but to just push. They didn't let me take a second to pause between pushes either, just push, push push. If I'd had it in my I really wanted to say, "What do you think I'm doing?! I'm pushing the best I can!" Haha, but I just focused. Then I heard Jonathan say, "Robin you are almost done. I can see him a little. Keep pushing, he's almost here." I can't imagine doing this without Jonathan there...I don't know how people did it back in the day when the men were sent away.  

My view (again after baby was born)- look at that hottie. I love him.

It took about 3-5 pushes (?? I think..it wasn't long) and the baby was born! His time of birth- 3:21 am. Remember what time we got to the hospital? Around 2.40 am...yeah, it was a fast whirlwind of a baby being born. They never did get to try the IV again. And we had to finish answering all the questions after he was born...which to be honest was much easier. As soon as he was born, they put him on my chest and rubbed him until he started crying- they were worried about him, but he did awesome. He was a little purple when I first got him, but he pinked up pretty fast. They had a special nurse there to check him out and everything, so I'm pretty sure that's why everyone sounded so worried when I was pushing. But he was great, just like his big brother. I got to hold him for about an hour and let him nurse before they weighed and measured him. He came in at 7 lbs 12 oz and 20.5 inches long. He didn't have a name yet, and that is another story for another day.

And the newest Nelson!

Yosemite- May 2015

I had all these ideas of stories I was going to write about our trip to Yosemite, which did indeed happen many months ago back in May. We drove up after Christina's wedding, and traveled with Jonathan's parents. We stayed for a couple of days in their trailer, met up with Jonathan's Dad's biological dad, saw some beautiful trees, waterfalls, and got snowed in for a day...in May. I was going to write all these stories, and share them with you. But, I got distracted and busy and life kept going and it just wasn't happening. Then, I got a code for a free Shutterfly photo book, and I made a photo book instead. I figured instead of rewriting everything for a blog post, I'd just share the photo book! It's so much faster this way! So, here it is, Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Halloween 2015- Trick or Treat!

This year we (read- I) had a tough time deciding on what we should dress up as. I really wanted some kind of costume idea for the family that incorporated Jonathan's beard. We tossed around the idea of a lumberjack family, How to Train Your Dragons cast, Bob Ross and trees, and pirates. But we couldn't settle on any of those. Then, we thought about being robots or dinosaurs. Jonathan and I were dinosaurs many years ago, so I would only have to make a costume for Peter...so that was sounding good. But then Jonathan said we should be robots because we have heaps of boxes from moving and then Peter could help make his own costume- which was a fantastic idea and I was totally behind that. But then it just wasn't happening and wasn't happening, and Halloween was getting closer and closer. 

Then, about a week before Halloween, Jonathan sent me a picture of a guy dressed up as Yukon Cornelius, the miner from the old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie. As soon as I saw the Yukon picture, I knew we had to be part of the cast from that movie. Yukon has a great beard. I googled the cast and decided the easiest/most known characters, aside from Yukon, who Jonathan had to be, would be Rudolph, Bumble the Abominable Snowman, or Hermey the Elf who wanted to be a dentist. I didn't narrow it down any more until I found what clothing items we had or could be easily acquired from friends or the thrift store. 

I sent out a quick email to some friends in the area asking for specific colored pants, hat, jacket, etc. I got a response back pretty quick from a friend who had most of what we needed. For the rest, Peter and I ran to Wal-Mart for some felt, then to the thrift store for white pants and shirt for me. We found everything pretty quick and all was well. Peter decided he wanted to be the reindeer (which was great because his costume was by far the easiest, and I was going to be Bumble. 

The finished products!
Robin as Bumble, Peter as Rudolph, and Jonathan as Yukon.

Peter's costume: a pair of brown pants (a size too small, so they were high-waters, but whatever), brown shirt, and the giraffe headband I made for my costume last year, and I just cut the nubs smaller. Red lipstick on his nose. We owned everything for his costume, and it was the fastest to assemble.

Robin's costume: white pants and pajama sweater from thrift store (basically I chose the ones that at least semi-fit,trying to find non-maternity things that fit was near impossible, I think I tried on at least ten pairs of white pants.) We made the hat from cardboard, twine, felt and left over pieces of furry white from Peter's panda costume from last year. Jonathan engineered most of the hat/face, and did a great job. It looks better in pictures, and the glue gun saved the day on that part of the costume.

Jonathan's costume: borrowed red beanie, and used a safety pin to hook a red pom pom on the top. He covered a pair of black earmuffs in white fuzzy material. He made his ax by using cardboard and aluminum foil with a hammer as the base and made the belt buckle out of foil and cardboard. All of his clothing and backpack he already owned. He even thought to stuff the backpack with pillows to make it look full. He's pretty much genius level at making costumes.  

Our living room post costume making. 

Yukon and Rudolph, just hanging out. 

I learned a couple of things from our costume making- first, never wait until Halloween to make your costume...rookie mistake. Second- Jonathan is excellent at engineering things to work and have a good structure, and I can sew/design the outside look...so basically we are unstoppable. Third- Peter is a good helper, and sometimes makes things harder, but is still fun to have around when we make things.

Costumes were finished around 6pm, which was perfect timing for us to set out and gather some candy. We explained to Peter how it worked, and he did great. He would go up to every door, hit it with his bucket and yell, "Trick or treating!" Haha, I think by the end he got "trick or treat" down. Everyone thought he was adorable...because he is, and they loved that we all dressed up. I think most people knew who we were. Peter wasn't scared by any of the decorations or costumes we saw. Although the below house had a pirate skeleton sitting in a corner of their front porch with a sword sticking out of him. Peter said, "Oh no! Skeleton...pirate skeleton. He hurt. Oh no. He sad." He wasn't scared of him, but he did want to help the skeleton. He also would ask almost everyone who answered the door if they had a dog, and then proceed to tell them about our dog (our upstairs neighbor's dog). I'm pretty sure he liked chatting with everyone more than he liked getting candy.

Peter and Robin and the pirate house

We learned that we have a fantastic neighborhood for trick or treat. There was only one house with no one home. There were a few who left candy buckets on their porch. But almost everyone was home handing out candy. We live in a neighborhood with lots of empty nesters, and they were all in love with Peter. Also, you know how as a kid you would always spread the word, "Go to Mr Smith's house on the corner. He's giving out full sized candy bars!" Well, we had at least 4 houses giving out full sized candy bars. Candy for weeks! Peter did great at only taking one piece- although many times the people encouraged him to take a few more, apparently the neighborhood doesn't get a ton of kids, so they all were trying to give it away. Also, there was one house who had a candy bucket with candy and one dollar bills and they let kids pick if they wanted to get candy or money. HA! Peter picked candy...because that is a lot more appealing to a small one than a green and white piece of paper. Although if the choice had been between candy and pennies...he might have picked a penny. He likes the little coins.

There was a cool sunset, but we could either capture faces or sunset...not both.
So here are our cute faces!

We had a great Halloween night. Peter had a blast running to all the houses and looking at their decorations. His favorite adjective for things was "spooky". "Oooo mom, that man spooky." It was fun. We wore him out and got a ton of candy- we still have half a bucket and we only went around a small part of our neighborhood. We also learned where more people we see at church live, which was nice. Happy Belated Halloween, I hope everyone else had a great time!

Pumpkin Carving

A few days before Halloween, we set aside some time to carve our giant pumpkin. Last year, Peter wanted nothing to do with getting his hands dirty with pulling out the pumpkin guts. This year was more of the same. He helped a bit in the very beginning, but was very quickly done with touching the seeds or stringy insides.

Peter helping Jonathan get some of the pumpkin guts out.

After prepping the pumpkin, we looked at some pictures until we found a pumpkin idea we liked. Peter really wanted a sad pumpkin...I'm not sure why. But we convinced him to have a happy/silly face instead. I was in charge of drawing the face on the pumpkin and then Jonathan carved the face.

Robin, pumpkin artist.

Jonathan, pumpkin carver, with Peter, self-appointed photographer.

Peter has recently learned how to take pictures on our phones. Jonathan's phone has hundreds of photos of Peter's feet, close-ups of the ground, random toys, and blurry arms/legs/faces of anyone nearby. It's pretty fantastic. He was all about taking pictures the whole night. Here are two of the clearer ones-

Almost artistic

There were at least 20 of these close-ups

Jonathan finished carving our mustached pumpkin. It seemed fitting for him to make. I think it turned out pretty good. He looks happy and it was fun working on it together. 

Peter, Jonathan and mustached pumpkin

Quilting Class

There is a lady in our stake that does a quilting class during the fall. She does it once a month for a couple of months in the fall and has been doing it for the past seven years! She has been quilting for much longer than that, and she knows her stuff. When we moved to our second Bountiful home, a lady in our ward congregation, Carrie, invited me to the quilting class. Carrie has been going to the class for the last 4 years. Also, this is the last year this teacher is going to do the class. 

Now, I'm not good at quilting because I don't do much of it, but I'd love to get into it more. So, I decided I'd go. Naturally, I forgot about it the first month...bummer. But Carrie didn't give up on me and she reminded me again and I made it yesterday! Her class is more a her showing class instead of an us doing class. She brings her sewing machine, iron and board, baskets of material, examples of what she is teaching, rulers and anything else you could think of needing. We bring a notepad, something to write with, and a camera....and in my case, Peter. The class is in the middle of the day, and I can't just leave the small man at home, so he got to tag along. I packed a bag FULL of toys, coloring books, reading books, and snacks, and we were off.

The class focus yesterday was scrapes, and what you could do with them. I thought it would be simple little side projects...instead, it was a bunch of gorgeous quilts. Each time the teacher would show something my thought was, "Scrapes?! No pattern?!! And you made that beauty?! Amazing." Here are a couple examples.

Christmas Tree Quilt- made from the selvage scraps 

Star wall hanging from scraps pieced together randomly

There was a good group of ladies at the class. Most of them were grandmas. There were a couple of moms with older school aged kids, and one other pregnant lady. Peter was the only kid there. And, he did awesome the entire time! He played quietly, ate his snacks and made friends with the ladies sitting around us. Everything said he was darling, "He didn't even make a peep!" "He's such a good boy." "What a cutie!" Haha, all the ladies love him. I was really proud of him for being so good. We were there for about an hour and a half, and he was a beautiful gem. 

Peter during quilt class.

It was great to sit and watch this woman teach the class, and I had a couple realizations while I was there. First, I realized that all passions have a group. They have their people. All of the ladies at the class loved quilting. People were at different stages of ability, but they loved creating, sewing and making beautiful things. The people who had been doing this for a while knew the lingo. "Oh that's a layered cake." "Oh yeah, the jellyroll." I have no idea what these were, but they understood each other. Many of the women knew each other. At the end of the class, the women shared projects they'd been working on, and there was a real sense of community as they complimented each other and shared stories of the quilts. It was neat. It was cool to see this group of women bonding over these beautiful things they had made. 

Second realization: people need a love. For this lady it was quilting. She loved it. She had fun doing it and was great at teaching it. I wish I could see her quilting room, because just from what she brought to class that day, you know her room had to be something great. But this was her love, her passion. So I got to thinking, what's my passion in life? For some people I think it's reading, for some it's planes, for some it's restoring homes, for some it's cars, or painting or landscaping. Some people have the love of outdoors, or sports, or music. There are so many different passions that people have. I don't know that quilting will be a passion for me like it is for these women, but it's fun to go to, so I'll at least go to the next class and try quilting more to see if it's a love, or just a side like. What's your love? 

My last realization was that I need this class, at least right now. I needed to be out of the house, with other people, learning and doing something beyond being Peter's mom. Don't misunderstand, I love being a mom. I love watching him grow and learn. I love our weird conversations and random projects. But sometimes life gets really monotonous. Some day feel like breakfast, wash dishes, start laundry, play games, read books, snack, watch show, change laundry, lunch, play outside, change laundry, nap, make dinner, go to bed, start over in the morning. Predictable. Repetitive. Some days, I don't want to do that anymore. Some days, I want to go back to teaching. I want to learn something new without a small person attacking me for attention. Some days, I feel like I have lost some of my identity and I don't know how to be Robin instead of Peter's mom. I know that I am both those things. Going to this class gave me a little break- mostly because he did so awesome- in that I did get to be around adults, not talking about parenting things, but learning about something totally different, and being inspired by the things other hands created. I realized that I need to learn things from time to time. I need to keep learning, and beyond reading a book- which is great, but doesn't feel that need. So this class was perfect and I'm glad we got to go. 

This post just got way more introspective than I was planning, but there you have it. I'm glad Peter and I went to quilting class and learned a few techniques and had a break from the routine. Quilts are neat, and hopefully I'll be doing more of it. I'm going again in November, and we'll see what I learn then!

Xiao Didi (Little Brother)

19 weeks pregnant

This year for Christmas, Peter is getting a baby brother! He's pretty excited about it. He likes to talk about his baby (in his tummy...apparently everyone is having a baby since mom is) and sometimes he says, "My baby is sick. I need drink water and baby feel better." or something along these lines- something he's heard from me and repeats in his own way. He's pretty cute. We're still working on being nice to mom's tummy- I get elbowed and kicked on a regular basis and it is my least favorite. He's just too busy to remember sometimes.

So, here's a run down of pregnancy #2 thus far. I'm due end end end of December. It's a boy. The boy is super active- just like his brother. On my 20 week appointment, the doctor had a hard time getting his heartbeat because he kept kicking/hitting back at the stethoscope. And at the last appointment- this week- the doctor said he had the hiccups and she could hear them along with his heartbeat. (Again, just like Peter, who had the hiccups at least once a day the last month of pregnancy, and got them 2-3 times a day for the first bit of his life.) He is a mover and a shaker- sometimes I'm pretty sure I have bruises inside. He's a strong little man. I think he knows I'm writing about him right now because he is going crazy.

Sickness: With Peter, I was nauseous most days for all nine months. I threw up more my 3rd trimester than I did my first. There were very few foods that I would eat, not because I craved certain things, but because there were only a handful of things that ever sounded good. I lived off of mint chocolate chip ice-cream, ginger ale, popcorn, mashed potatoes, and quesadillas.  And to be perfectly honest, I was not looking forward to being pregnant ever ever again, because that was miserable. But, so far, this baby is so much better. I made it through the first 20 weeks with only a handful of "sick days".

Recently, breakfast has been tricky- I can't eat anything with dairy, or sugar in the mornings or I feel sick for a few hours. I eat oatmeal with peanut butter and bananas or toast with peanut butter pretty much everyday. One day I ate leftovers from the night before- Shepard's Pie- and that was a success. But once I get past 10 or 11am, then I'm usually good to go for the rest of the day! So, compared with first pregnancy, this one is great.

Also, Sunday's have been tough lately. I think it is mostly me just sitting in seats in a way I don't usually sit most days. I never just sit for an hour at a time. When I am sitting at home, I'm usually on the floor or curled up on the couch. Anyway, for the last 3-4 weeks, I get really lightheaded and hot and dizzy at some point at church- usually in the first hour, and I usually leave and find a place I can sit with my legs up a little bit, and eat snacks. I'm the queen of snacks at church these days. The doctor told me to drink more water and eat a simple breakfast and lots of snacks and see if it helps. So, we'll see. Again, the same thing happened when I was pregnant with Peter, and I figured it out after a few weeks, so more snacks and water it is.

Baby Names: We have a handful that we both like, but we haven't picked a name yet. Right now the leaders are Anders and Henry. But who knows if that will change.

Feelings about 2 boys: I'm super excited because Peter and Jonathan were on a camping kick to prep for our Yellowstone trip, and I'd just think- he can just keep taking the boys and teaching them how to camp and build fires and he's good at playing outdoors with Peter. Also, Jonathan is great at teaching Peter how to be a good boy- how to be nice to his mom and help wash dishes and help do chores, so I just think that these boys are lucky to have a dad that will teach them important things. Also, it's great because if we are out and about and Peter has to use the bathroom, Jonathan always takes him...and I get a short break. Having boys is great. Sometimes I am a little nervous with the thought of 2 boys because Peter is so active and he wears me out all the time and to think about doubling it is exhausting. But then I think- then they will have friends to play with, and maybe it will be easier...only time will tell.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I'll keep you posted as small man #2 keeps growing.

24 weeks pregnant with Peter and Jonathan at Lower Falls in Yellowstone

Women's Conference in Shanghai

(May 3rd 2014, Shanghai China)

We had a Latter-Day Saints Women's Conference in Shanghai that I went to with a few women from the Nanjing Branch. I wrote down some notes, but when we were getting ready to move back to America, I didn't want to take the notes with me, so I typed them up quickly in a blog post. Now it's almost been a year, and I found the post saved in drafts, but I still like the notes I wrote, so I'm going to share them with you. The conference was about learning and being prepared. My original notes are in bold and than additional thoughts I had are in regular font.

Q: What will distinguish the bright people?
A: They know how to learn
I love this! You aren't bright because you have memorized x amount of facts or read so many books or have the highest degree. You are bright because you know how to learn. This way of learning if different for different people, but if you can research something than you won't get stuck. Or if you know how to learn from others or from past experiences and change and not repeat the same mistakes.

Learning
- we label ourselves far too often
- individualize learning
They stressed that we should find what works for us and for our families. The way one person learns may be different from the way you learn. Some people rely very much on facts and numbers while others use more feelings and past experiences. Also, I really connect with people labeling themselves. I saw that a lot in teaching. "I'm just not a good reader." "I don't understand math." "I can't pay attention that's why I have bad grades." Maybe you aren't a good reader now...but that doesn't mean you can't become one. Don't let labels freeze your progression.

Prep for Disaster
1. Have a plan- what do we need, how to contact people
2. Documents- have hard copies of passports, visas, people's phone numbers
3. Water- 1 gal/person for 72 hours
This part was interesting to me, because although we'd lived in China for about 8 month at this point, I'd never really considered being prepared in case of an emergency. I liked the idea of having hard copies of documents and numbers. Being the tech generation that we are, many numbers are just entered into phones and we rely on the phone keeping them. But, if there was some sort of disaster and we didn't have phone service, or the battery died or it got lost or broken, then how would be contact people? They told us to go home and write down numbers you would need and keep them in a safe place. Also, Jonathan just mentioned the other day that we need to work on our water storage here in Provo...so this conference is applicable both in America and overseas.

Money
1. Pay tithing
2. Avoid Debt
3. Get a Reserve
This class was all about managing money. The teacher gave really simple principles that are great to live by during any time of life. We are getting better at budgeting, and I really like having a plan and being able to manage our finances better.

Sacrifice = love, sacrifice must be willingly given
I remember there were good stories told by the speaker who said this part, but I don't remember exactly what they said. But, I agree with the idea. I think something I'd like to work on is sacrificing with a better heart- giving up time to help others without complaining internally, or sacrificing for my husband without expecting something in return. I think the sacrifice of our Savior when he prayed for us in Gethsemane and died for us was the greatest sacrifice of love and a good example to us. Like the line in a children's church song, "I'm trying to be like Jesus."

Evac checklist 
1. Passports
2. Documents- house, inventory, loans, medical, mortgage, taxes, personal
3. Clothes
4. Sentimental- things for kids, what will comfort them if you need to flee
5. Cash
Others: SSN cards, Driver's License, Credit Cards, check book, bath bag, glasses, sewing kit, flashlight, paper and pen, reading material, snacks and water, camera, tech things
This class section was one of the most interesting because it covered what we were to have/do in case of a need to evacuate the country. Again, this is something I'd never thought of. They said that if something happened that would call for evacuation, we needed to have all needed documents and enough cash for plane tickets out of the country. Once the planes couldn't run anymore, there would most likely be some boats, but it would be our job to get to the boats. Also, they told us that if you had kids to go though with them, "if we needed to flee, what would you want to have with you so you weren't scared?" So, then if the time did come, they would know exactly what to grab to help them cope. Luckily there was nothing that occurred that was bad while we lived there, but it was good to have this class so we could think about it and have a plan.

Women's Conference was fun. I went up with some friends and it was nice to get out and just be with other women. We had fun traveling together and doing a little shopping after the conference and before our train back to Nanjing. Also, we went out for dinner- there were 3 of us- Alauna Westover, Esther Trueman and myself- and Alauna took us to this little area with a few Western style food places. I had Mexican food. It was not the best I've ever had, but on that night, after living without Mexican food for eight months, it was delicious. Great food, great people, great messages, wonderful day.

Ha, I just remembered my adventure of getting to the train to leave for Shanghai. I had to catch the metro to go into the city- about a 40 minute ride- to the train station. I got to the metro station a little later than I wanted and learned that the metro was only coming every 15 minutes, because it was so early. So instead of a 2 minute wait, it was much longer. I finally got on the metro and got the the train station and ran to my train. I got on and sat down and the train pulled out a minute after getting to my seat...haha. I am awesome at running for trains.

The Substitute

Last semester when I worked a bit as a substitute teacher, sometimes kids would say silly/strange things and make my day. I didn't always remember to write them down, but I recorded a couple on sticky notes. Here they are for your pleasure.

(At the start of class as I was introducing myself to the class, 5th graders- aged 10-11)
Me: I lived in China for a year.
Student A: You speak China?!
Me: Chinese. Just a little.
Student B: Wait, you're Chinese?!
Me: (staring with a confused look) Ha, no. I'm not.
Side note: the amount of kids that asked if I spoke "China" was really high, but it was usually just the elementary aged kids.

(11th grade, aged 16-17, doing independent work in history class)
Student A: Whoa, we are so quiet.
Student B: What is happening?! We have never been this quiet with Mrs Wilson. (looks up at me and whispers) You have tamed the beast.

(8th grade- aged 13-14, during class introductions)
Student A: How old are you?
Me: 29
Student B: You NEVER ask someone that!! Do you know how inappropriate that is?!
Me: Hahahahaha. Alright.

(11th grade, class working independently, student walks up to the front of class to turn in her work)
Me: You have to do both sides.
Student: Oh, I'm not done yet.
Me: Then don't turn it in. Go finish it.
Student: Oh (returns to desk)
(I'm not even sure what was happening there.)

(8th grade- aged 13-14, remedial math- This group made me laugh so much. Their focus was super lacking, but they were good kids.)
Student A: Teacher, are we being good? Are you going to write a good report about us?
Me: If you don't start doing your work and stop talking, you are not going to get a good report.
Student A: Oh teacher, I apologize. I apologize for Oscar too.
Me: Okay, just do your work.
(10 minutes later in class)
Student B: What about now teacher? Are we being good now?
Me: You are being less bad...but still not awesome.
Student A: Teacher, please give us a good report. We will be so good.
Me: Start being good now, and maybe you'll get a good report.
(5 minutes later)
Student A: Teacher, what were you writing, was that a good report or a bad report?
Me: For the love, just get your work done.
Student A: I apologize for myself and for Oscar. Do you know I am his tutor.
Student C: Yeah he is.
Me: (shakes head) Okay. Do your work.

Good times. There were plenty of hard times too, but the fun times were the best. One class, my sub plans said to take them to another class to watch them present a play. The class finished their play 20 minutes early. We returned to the classroom with 20 minutes to kill...yikes. And it was a band class, so it's not like I could say, alright pull your books out and read silently. So...I told them stories of Russia and other travels and before I knew it the bell rang. That was a fun day.

Also, sometimes I managed to sub in the middle school that my first group of 5th graders moved up into. Those days were tons of fun because I got to see my old students a little more grown up. Kids are fun. They are fun to teach and to learn from. And sometimes, they are hilarious.

Robin Update

I did updates on the boys, so I thought I should do one for me as well. I don't have any recent pictures of me, so there are pictures of Peter interspersed. The pictures don't always go along with the text, but I figure, that's what most of you come here to see anyway. So, here it is.

After China, I worked as a substitute teacher on the days Jonathan had off from school. I did that for a semester, but now that Jonathan is working full-time, we don't need the extra income, and it would cost too much to get a sitter compared to what I would make as a substitute teacher. So, now I am a stay-at-home mom...still a teacher, but just for one crazy 2 year old instead of 30 crazy whatever year olds. Overall, I enjoyed working as a sub and learned that if I could have a redo in life, I would have done secondary education instead of elementary. It is way easier to do one subject, and even though the kids sometimes have more attitude, they are also more capable- you don't have to walk them to class or work on being silent in the halls. They know what they are supposed to do, sometimes they still push the boundaries, but I liked subbing in the upper grades better. I have a number of stories written on sticky notes that I'll get down in this blog soon, don't you worry.

My #1 student

I work at home teaching Peter his alphabet, numbers, colors and how to say please and thank you and how to clean up after yourself. I do the laundry, keep the house clean (ish...Peter is a great destroyer of anything clean), make food and do many library runs. We have a great library here and we go at least once a week, sometimes more, depending on how we are doing. Also, I try to cook one new thing each week for dinner. I think the cooking new things part is backlash from feeling unable to make too many different things for the year in China. Now, I can find recipes and I know what ingredients I need, where to find them, and can read everything in the stores...and I have an oven!!! I am unstoppable. I don't make anything really fancy, just new soups or pasta dishes...I made a quiche type thing the other day- it wasn't very good, but I'll try another recipe another time with hopefully more success. I've also acquired a love for kitchen appliances and gadgets that we don't own...someday we will have a stand mixer and food processor...then I will really be unstoppable.

Happy boy on his truck

In January, I started a book club. There are about ten of us that come, and a couple more who are going to start coming. For January, we read Life as We Knew It. I'll try to write a summary about the book and our discussion later. For February, we are reading Man's Search for Meaning. I read this one years ago, and I don't remember much about it, only that after reading it, I wanted everyone to read it and learn from it. I'm excited to be reading it again finally. I started this book club as an intellectual outlet for me. I knew I needed to read more and have something with adults to look forward to each month, so I asked around to see if anyone else wanted to do this with me. So far, it's been fun and I really enjoy the conversation I have with the ladies in the group. And, the library has book sets of 15 books that we can check out. There are over 200 books we can choose from. It's nice because then people don't have to find their own book, they just come to the meeting and trade their book for the next one.

Watching the chickens with his bear

Also, I have started quilting. I've always liked the idea of quilting, but never got into it. I asked Jonathan's Mom and Aunt Glinnea if there was a difference in mats or rotary cutters. There is a price difference in brands, but I didn't know if it really mattered which kind you owned. Anyway, Glinnea had an extra mat she is letting me borrow, and she bought me a cutter and ruler! I haven't done too much with it yet. I've cut out a bunch of squares that I am going to sew a certain way to make it look like a bunch of triangle pieces, and hopefully it will turn out great! I think it will take me a really long time though. I only work on it at night or when Peter is napping. Lately, Peter has decided he only wants to nap for about 50 minutes-1 hour, so I don't have much time during the day. But, I'm not in a rush, so it will get done someday. I'll post some pictures once I have more progress.


Lastly, I've learned that I'm really good at finding things for our family for cheap. My most recent find is a bike trailer on an online yard sale page that a lady was trying to sell. She said she wanted it gone by the weekend or it was going to DI (local second hand store). It was a good brand. Jonathan looked it up online and a new one runs about $500. This one was an older model, with a slight teat in the fabric- not a safety issue though, and a small piece that was broken. We looked online on the bike trailer website and learned we could buy a replacement for that part for about $5, so we decided to go for it.

I told the woman I was interested and she asked if I would do $25. I asked Jonathan and he said to go for it. I told him I would try for $15. He didn't want to because he was worried it was too low and she would say, "Not interested." But I figured, if she said no to $15, then I'd go up to $20, if she still said no, I'd do $25. I was fine going for $25, but I figured I'd at least try to get her down. I mean, she did say it was going to DI at the end of the week...so she wasn't trying to make money off this. So, I offered $15 and she said, "Sure." Mwahahaha! Silly American's no understand how to haggle. (Read that last sentence as though you were Russian). So, the next day, Peter and I took a little drive and got a new (for us) bike trailer. And, since we've had such an unseasonably warm winter, we've biked to church the past 2 weeks...and it's been lovely!

Also, we learned that you can buy handlebars and a pop down wheel and use this trailer as a stroller. So, we could bike to places and then take the trailer off and have a stroller to push around. Jonathan is looking around for the best deals for those pieces we would need. It's super lightweight and has space in the back for diaper bags and such, so it would make a great stroller. Anyway, so that's our find of the month!

Peter testing out the bike trailer.