10 months

Not too many new things to update you on - Rose is mostly just continuing to master her current skills. She now has one bottom tooth coming in to join her two top teeth. Grandma gave Rose her first "hair cut" when we were visiting. Just a snip off the front as she had a few strands of hair that went as far down as her eyebrows.

She still loves to hold our hands and walk/run around but now if we decide we're too tired to go anymore she'll shout her protest and kick her feet and tug our hands.

If she hears me laughing she'll start laughing too. Which of course makes me laugh even more.

She has learned to "climb" off of things - sort of. She'll get on her tummy and start scooting off the edge - sometimes sideways sometimes face first. She'll do it off her bed (we've converted her crib to the toddler bed) and she tries to do it off our bed occasionally but hasn't been able to complete her objective with that one as Mommy keeps restraining her. 

Her personality is coming out more now that she can express herself with kicking, crying, squeals and waving. She is so much fun!

Fun at the Bookstore

Rose and I went on a fun little excursion today. We left the house and went to this used book store with the intention of using a bogo coupon to get 2 new books for Rose. This is what I came home with: 2 for Rose, 2 for Bryce's classroom library, and 1 for me. 

I only paid $3.25 for all of them and they're all in great condition, so I think I did pretty good. Especially considering that brand new off amazon I would have spent closer to $30. 

I sure do love to get good deals on books. 

Found a Doctor

Yesterday Rose had her 9 month doctors appointment - our first one with a doctor here in Kingman. I've been pretty worried about it as the two pediatrician's here in town were not taking new patients so I had to find a family doctor. I tried getting recommendations from other mom's in the ward but they either already were patients of the pediatricians or they took their kids to a clinic where there were only nurses on staff - no dr's. So I had to just google and find a family clinic and hope for the best.

I wasn't too impressed at first - at least with the staff. Instead of taking us back to a room so I could undress Rose and then go get her weighed, they took me to a nook in the hallway where I had to put the diaper bag on the floor, and undress my wriggling baby on my lap. Then they wanted me to stand her up so they could hold a measuring tape up and get her length. Uh... that seemed stupid to me so I asked if they had any tables to lay her down on to measure her. The nurse said they did in the room, and we could go there to measure her but then she'd have to come back out here to the computer to enter in the information (as if that is such a big deal). I told her we should do that. On the way to the room I asked if they deal with very many kids in this office and she said no. Sigh - not a good sign.

Thankfully, I did not have to wait very long for the doctor to come in. Right away I felt at ease. The doctor was very friendly and Rose smiled and jabbered at him. He spent 20 minutes just talking with me, asking lots of questions about Rose, offering advice for what to expect the next few months. Then he checked her out. He was so good with her, showing her his stethoscope and whistling to her to distract her.

Rose needed to get her hemoglobin levels checked and they did do that in their office, but he said that he didn't think his staff was confident enough (as they don't have a lot of babies in there) and he suggested I take her to the lab at the hospital. I really appreciated that he was honest about his staff's inexperience so that Rose would get the best care, even if he had to send us somewhere else. Then he gave us a follow up call when the lab results came back to confirm that her hemoglobin levels were good. I did not expect him to call - maybe his staff but not him, so that was another point for him.

All in all I am very happy to have found a doctor that Rose and I are both comfortable with. It's a very big relief as I was not happy with our doctor in St George and I was worried about finding a good one here.

Rosie Updates

I'm behind - again :( but I don't want to forget these these milestones so better late then never.

6 months:

Rose is army crawling now and is enjoying her new sense of independence. She has also began to experiment with crawling onto her toy piano. The thing I am most excited for is she has actually been sleeping in her crib at night - all night. She might wake up once or twice but then she'll go back to sleep. It's amazing.

7 months:

Well, sleeping in crib lastest one whole month, and now it's over :( Rose was doing so well with it, but then we went on a 5 day trip to St George and Bryce Canyon and she had to sleep with us during that time and it just messed it all up. So we are back to co-sleeping.

Rose is now full out crawling on hands and knees, and is pulling herself up to stand (with the help of the couch and ottoman). She has also learned how give kisses - her mouth is wide open when she gives them so you get lots of slobber on you but it is the sweetest thing.

8 months:

Rose is getting to be more and more fun. She will follow me around the house. If I leave her in the front room she will come looking for me and be so proud of herself when she finds me. She absolutely loves the fridge. As soon as I open the door she'll start crawling as fast as she can to get there. She also is such a great helper when I do dishes :) She'll stand next to the dishwasher and pull out the utensils as I load or unload. It's nice that she is so content to do that for 10 min or so so I can get something done. She is still sleeping with us. I think I've given up hope she will ever sleep in her crib. She has learned how to wave, and had lots of fun waving at Grandma and Grandpa when they came to visit.

9 months:

Bryce walks to work, and so everyday as he is on his way home, Rose and I will walk to meet him. When Rose spots him walking toward us she gets so excited and will wave her arms around and squeal. It is so cute! She really loves her Daddy!

She is starting to understand different words, like "hungry" and "no" and "stay". Doesn't mean she always obeys the "no". Sometimes she'll just smile and continue doing what she's doing. Whenever I pull out some baby food, her spoon, a banana, or cracker, she gets so excited and will squeal and wave her arms because she knows food is coming.

A few days ago, she learned how to drink with a straw, and last week she got her first tooth. It looks like she'll be getting in another one soon as well. Both are on the top, instead of the bottom which isn't the norm for most babies - or so I've read. Boy is her little tooth sharp! If we are visiting don't let her suck/chew on your knuckle or finger. You've been warned.

I've been trying to read to her on a more consistent basis. I have about 5 books I read to her over and over, but there is one she just loves and she will get so excited, and wave her hands and squeal when I open the cover and start reading. Which of course makes me happy. I want her to love books as much as me :) She loves to play - if I sit on the floor, she will stand against my back and walk back and forth as I keep turning my head trying to "find" her and tickle her. She just laughs and laughs. :)

Only a few more months and our little girl will be a 1 year old! It's going by too fast!

Our first month in Kingman

We've moved.

Day 1 of living in Kingman / June 1st - Saturday: With the rental truck leading the way, a caravan of 5 vehicles made it’s way from St. George Utah to Kingman Arizona. My parents and my brother and sister-in-law were all drivers and helpers – a huge shout-out to them – “Thank you! We could not have done it without you!”

We unpacked the truck, set up beds and tables, ate some pizza, then said good-bye to our helpers who headed home. We went appliance shopping – found some but unfortunately they have to be delivered. Went shopping for some ice and a few groceries. We then unpacked a few boxes, set up the tv, found the movies, and settled down to unwind from a long day.

*Quality of Living Update- We have electricity and cold water, but no gas. We have no fridge, microwave, washer or dryer. This is going to be the week of bare necessities only!

Day 2 - Sunday: Did some more unpacking and hanging of pictures. Went on a walk exploring the neighborhood. Feeling a little discouraged about being here – tried to find some silver lining to the move… One silver lining – No daylight saving time!

Day 3 – Monday: Our first trip to the library! We arrived at 5:45 and apparently it closes at 6:00. I filled out the application to get a library card and then went to the desk and the security guard gave me a hard time about having to get a card at closing time… even though it only took 2 minutes for the librarian to enter the information and hand me the card. And yes, the library has a security guard. Should I be scared to go to the library if they have to have a security guard?

Gas was turned on – turned on the super ancient oven to bake some potatoes and within 5 minutes the whole house smelled horrible. So we turned off the oven and I called the gas company. They came back and said it seemed fine but there was a slight fluctuation in the co2 (or something – nothing real dangerous) but we had him turn off the gas to the oven and we called the rental agency. They will send someone to see about fixing the stove.

*Quality of Living Update: We have electricity and hot water. No oven, no fridge, microwave, washer or dryer.

Day 4 – Tuesday: Returned to the library since we didn’t have a chance to check-out any items yesterday. Found a few movies and books. Overall there is not much selection :( and I am disappointed. We finally have time to read more Atlas Shrugged again and today I unpacked it – we are very behind in our reading if we are to finish by summer’s end.

Day 5 – Wednesday: Delivery day!!! Our new Samson washer, dryer and fridge arrived. Hurray – no more eating out of an ice chest and we can have clean clothes! Maintenance people came to fix the oven – but “no can do”. Looks like they’ll be getting us a new oven.

*Quality of Living Update: We have electricity, hot water, a washer, dryer and fridge! No oven or microwave. Looks like a few more days of sandwiches and cereal.

Day 6 – Thursday:  With no way to cook and nothing to do, we decided to take a quick trip to St. George. Rose had fun with Grandma while Bryce and I ran errands. We stopped at our house (our former place of living but now our awesome cash cow!) to drop off a few boxes to store in our shed. Met the renters. Made a stop at Costco – we miss you Costco! Bought a microwave! Then we picked up my used but new-to-me iphone – so excited!

~ Rose and Grandma ~

~ I leave Rose alone with my Dad and brother for just a minute and look what happens - her first taste of Dew - although they assured me the can was empty, hmmm... ~

Day 7 – Friday: Hung out with brother Michael and my Mom, watched The Hobbit (finally!), then hit the road for home around 5:30.  Huge line of traffic due to, what looked like, a truck fire – stop and go for awhile there – put us back an hour. Counted 10 cars on the side of the road overheated.

~ Line of traffic stopped on highway ~

Day 8 – Saturday: Spent all day and 75% of my prorated data playing with my new iphone. *Quality of living: We have electricity, hot water, a washer, dryer, fridge and microwave! No oven.

Day 9 – Sunday:  Went to our new ward.

Day 10 – Monday: The bug man came. Went to the library and Walmart where we were approached by 3 people - one to use our phone, one for directions (and when we said we were new to town and didn't know where anything was he stormed off saying "no one will help me") and then by this man who asked us if we knew about some organization and then kept trying to tell us about it as we kept saying no and walking away. We're going to try to avoid leaving the house for awhile - or at least avoid Walmart - it is scary.

Day 11 – Tuesday: Bryce bought some wood and a saw to build some shelves for our garage. Rose and I found a park with lots of grass and shade.

Day 12 – Wednesday: Bryce built the shelves for our garage. He is so talented and amazing! Before he bought the wood we were trying to figure out how to get the wood from the store to our house with his Honda Element, and then Bryce realized he could just take the saw and cut them to size in the store parking lot. Who says you need a truck?

~ Up on all fours! ~

Day 13 – Thursday: After dropping off papers to the school district HR department we went to the elementary school to see Bryce’s classroom.

Day 14 – Friday: The new oven arrived!! First thing I cooked? Brownies of course! *Quality of Living: We have electricity, hot water, a washer, dryer, fridge, microwave and oven!

Day 15 – Saturday: We have Internet! Now I can update the blog, email, etc... Oh and we signed up for Netflix so that’s pretty much all we’ve been doing since.

~ Playing Call of Duty with Daddy ~

Day 16 – Sunday: Bryce’s 1^st Father’s Day! Another young couple with a 10 month old girl invited us to dinner. Their little girl was crawling all over the place – its crazy to think she’s only 4 months older than Rose. We had a lot of fun. Hopefully they weren’t scared off by how excited we were to be there. It was nice to meet and visit with another couple in a similar stage of life.

Day 17-20: Nothing of consequence happened. Netflix has ruined any attempt for us to be productive. We did find this street full of thrift, antique and pawn shops in the old-old part of town and took some time to explore and look for treasures. It was actually a pretty cool and fun way to spend an afternoon.

Day 21 – Friday: Rose is 6 months old!

Day 22 – Saturday: Went to the ward social hoping to meet more people and to get out of the house.

Day 23 – Sunday: The sister missionaries came over to visit with us for an hour.  Rose is getting so close to crawling – any day now!

Day 24 – Monday: Poor Rose has an upset stomach. Threw up all over Bryce – a lot! Poor Bryce!

Day 25 - Tuesday: Began cleaning and organizing Bryce's classroom.

Day 26-29: Nothing of consequence happened - just more Netflix. Bryce was supposed to go on exchanges with the missionaries but their appointments fell through so instead they came by the house to practice a lesson with us.

~ Rose climbed onto her little piano by herself - it was so cute, but I was too slow to get video of her amazing feat - so we only have a picture ~

Day 30 - Sunday: Today in Gospel Principles class the lesson was on the Gathering of Israel. Here were the highlights - making jokes about drinking alcohol in church ("makes sure its vodka not gin" said the teacher), and that apparently some people think aliens came down and took the ten lost tribes away and that's why they are lost... say what?  Unfortunately there were 3 investigators in the class. Hopefully the sister missionaries get to teach next week since this week's teacher was a little too "interesting." The missionaries actually dropped by this evening as they were doing street contacting to get some water and rest a bit.


Well, we've been here in Kingman for a month now - 30 days! We've met a few people, been to church, shopping, the library, one park, out to eat, and even took a little drive up to Hualapai Mt to see what all the fuss was about (the locals all rave that Haualapi Mt is the place to go in the summer - "to escape the heat").

Silver Linings to being in Kingman? We like the house and the neighborhood, the people are friendly and the missionaries like to drop in to visit us. Oh and I should mention again, no daylight savings time. Bryce has a job, we are making passive income on our house in Washington, and I am a stay-at-home mom. Oh, and we get to spend all day, every day, together until August when Bryce begins his job - a true summer vacation from school and work.