The random nine

1. Ryan is finally finishing his allergy/immunology rotation this month. We are both SO glad that it's ending... not because it was a bad schedule (because it wasn't), but because it was hard on Ryan. This doctor he was with was very cynical, negative, and cursed ALLLL the time. Within the first few days, I could immediately tell that something was wrong when Ry would come home from work and be in a really strange mood. He wasn't happy, he wouldn't interact with us much, and just wasn't himself at all. We finally realized that this rotation was just hard on his spirit and weighed him down a lot. So we're so glad to be done with it! Next month is Ryan's very favorite rotation: General Pediatrics with our kids' doctor, James Mcghee. We just love this doctor. He's so awesome! It'll be longer hours, and farther to drive, but at least Ryan will be loving it and coming home in a good mood. :)

2. Grace is so funny and says things that make us laugh all the time. The other day we were getting ready to go out and she said "Smells like Mommy" because I had just put on my scented lotion I wear. She said "smells like bread" the other day when I made some fresh bread too. This morning she was running around and talking in gibberish. I said "Hey, what are you doing?". Grace says "Making funny noises!" haha And then proceeded to run around saying "I'm making funny noises!" over and over. Even though she talks a ton around us, and her close friends, I guess she doesn't at church. I picked her up from Sr. Nursery on sunday and the ladies said "She did great today - and she actually said a few words!" I was like "What?! She doesn't talk??" I couldn't believe it. But at least she's not a terror in there, I guess.

3. Our plans for our move are kind of on hold still. We have been so blessed to finally have 3 great rental homes as possible options, and all are in our price range and in my brother's ward. But we're still waiting until certain details fall into place for each of the owners before we can make a decision on which one we'll take and WHEN we will move. I feel so bad for the many people who are waiting to make their plans based on our plans, because I keep saying "We'll know soon... next week... ok maybe the next week..." So yes, hopefully next week is the actual week we can make the decision. A huge thanks goes to my brother and his wife for all their help during this process lately. They're probably already sick of us and we're not even their neighbors yet. Ha.

4. Grace talks about going to Ohio every single day. She talks about going to our "new home in Ohio" and playing with cousin Ava and cousin Owen. She has no idea she'll have to say goodbye to all her bestest buddies here... it'll be so sad. But we are very excited to be out there! It'll be a huge change not having every store I would ever need within 2 miles of my house... and not many Church members nearby. It will be different, yes, but we're very excited for this adventure and to be in such a great place. I've never heard a bad thing about living in Columbus, and we've heard from many people that have lived there or do now. And, boy, am I excited for a YARD and GRASS!!!!

5. I'm finally starting to exercise again and lose the rest of the pregnancy weight. I'm only 13 pounds away for pre-pregnancy weight, and my goal is to at least lose 10 of that by the time we move. I lost 3 pounds in 5 days by simply not eating after 8pm each night and not eating any treats. I'm mostly walking with the kids in the stroller rather than going to the gym... Never did I realize how TOUGH it is to push 2 kids in a double stroller on walks. It's a darn good work-out and much more fun than a boring gym. :) Thank you, again, to my friend Melanie for letting me use her double.

6. Recently, Ryan and I had struggled with Grace's attitude and tantrums. It felt like she was regressing a few weeks ago and we were trying to decide how to address it. We both felt impressed that maybe if we started treating her like a big girl then she would start to act like one. She's still in a high chair, in diapers, and in a crib. So the first thing we went for was getting her in a big-girl bed. We put Grace in a twin bed last week and she was great for the first couple of days. She slept 12 hours the first night or two, and naps were 1-2 hours without a peep from her. She'd even stay in bed and talk or sing until we came to get her (just like when she was in the crib). The crib is now in our garage unit and Logan was still using the pack-n-play in the bathroom. However the last several nights with Grace in the twin have been rough. She doesn't stay in the bed, tries to open the door (which we lock from the outside), cries 2 or 3 times at night because she can't find Lovey or she's scared, and doesn't take very long naps (45 mins at most). I finally put the pack n play in her room and warned Grace over and over and over that if she can't stay in her bed that she'll have to sleep in the "baby bed". A few times she has ended up in there and does sleep better, although I feel bad that she doesn't fit very well. And poor Logan has been demoted AGAIN and now sleeps wherever we can make a little make-shift bed for him, or in his bouncy chair. haha Oh well. It's just for now. Once we move, we'll at least have them in their actual beds, although I'm aware that Grace will probably have issues again with the change of scenery. We'll figure it out! It's just part of the fun of parenting. :) But it would be nice to not have to wake up every hour of the night, almost every night.

7. We are planning to visit Utah in the first part of the May so that we can see everybody before heading out to Ohio. Plus it'll be over our 6th Anniversary and Mother's Day, so it will be a great time! I'm also VERY excited to go check out the new City Creek Center in Salt Lake. I've heard it's so awesome and practically another world down there. It'll be great to see what they've done with it!

8. A few friends here did another (small) busy bag exchange and I'm so glad we did. Now we have a very large stock-pile of them. Grace seriously loves them! I've only pulled out less than half of the games because some of them are still a bit beyond her right now. She especially loves anything that has small, colorful pieces, like the rainbow rice, dyed noodles, paperclips, etc. Grace is so good at organizing by color or shape. I actually need to dye more noodles soon because so many have been broken with how often they get played with! My next goal is to make some folder games as well. There are so many cute ideas and free printables available out there and I know Grace would love them.

9. We are so excited for Easter around here. Grace has been obsessed with a Peter Rabbit book where it talks about him becoming the Easter Bunny, which was perfect timing for right now! Ryan and I are really looking forward to doing our own Easter morning here by ourselves for the first time since having kids. I can hardly wait to send Grace in search of her basket and eggs. :) I'm hoping to also make my very favorite dish for dinner: Funeral Potatoes with ham. Mmmm!!

Thanks for making it through my novel of an update!

Logan: Two Months

*** I'm finally caught up! Keep scrolling down after this post if you haven't seen the other new ones. ***

How could you not love this face.

This little guy is growing SO FAST!! I don't like that he's getting so big so quickly. The little-baby stage slipped by faster than we expected. But at least he still likes being held and cuddled. We adore Logan so much - and he gets cuter and sweeter every single day. Here are some things about him:

-Weighs 13 lbs 13 oz!!! 95th percentile

-Height is 23.5 inches, 75 percentile

-Head circ. is 16 inches, 75 percentile

Look at all that chub!! And those cute toes.

-He has always been a tannish, yellowish, orange color ... but this last month he's become much more yellow. His pictures show it even better, especially when he's up next to someone with normal, fair skin. The doctor confirmed yesterday that he does have jaundice. We'll get his blood tested over the weekend and find out next week what needs to be done. I'm sure it's not a big deal, but I'm glad we have a good doctor to help us get him totally healthy if there is something weird going on with his body.

-Logan has finally learned to smile and coo at us. I just love it and will make any silly noise to get that handsome smile. He especially loves it when he can look right into our faces and study us for long periods of time. It's very sweet.

-He nurses usually every 4 hours during the day and night, but we do a 5 hour stretch once at night. I've pumped and fed him a bottle a few times and he drinks about 4 ounces each time. He is still pretty gassy/colicy around 5:30 or 6am and will whine and grunt and cry a lot of mornings until we finally just get up around 7.

-He has been tracking things really well for weeks now! I love that he follows me around the room with his eyes. :) It makes me feel loved.

-Logan naps really well, usually. He will stay awake for about an hour or more after most daytime feedings and then sleep for awhile until a bit before the next feeding. At night he falls back to sleep right away after nursing. Changing his diaper between nursing on each side helps keep him from being disturbed after he's full and relaxed. It works well! He still sleeps in the bathroom in his pack-n-play, but he (and we) have been pretty spoiled lately. We had so many visitors last week that he was doing a lot of napping being held and a lot of his nighttime was spent in his vibrating chair so that he would be quiet while he was back in our room for those nights. So... I'm working on getting him used to sleeping flat in his bed once again. I don't want any sleep props and habits we have to break! (besides swaddling and binkie... those 2 are fine with us)

-Logan does really like his binkie which I'm happy about. It helps calm him down and keep him somewhat quieter ('cause he's NOISY!). He honestly is a loud kid. In Relief Society, he'll grunt and pass gas and all the ladies near me will look over and giggle. Seriously, he's loud. He can also be quite whiney during the day still if he's not being held or nobody is paying attention to him.

-Our big boy is already in size 2 diapers!! He's wearing straight 3 month size clothing, or sometimes things labeled 3-6 months size. It's craziness. I hope all the clothes we have for particular seasons won't be totally off and mess us all up. We don't have that many, so I'd hate to have him not be able to wear them at the right times.

-I know he looks a little bit like Grace. They are siblings of course. And I know they both look a lot like Ryan. However... I see bits of my brothers and my Dad's family in him as well. Being 75th % in height, his big hands and long feet and toes, and his dark hair are all Goates traits. I don't know if anyone would agree just from seeing photos of him, but I also see my Dad and Uncles in Logan's eyes/eyebrows and forehead. If I cover up the bottom half of his face, I see that Goates brow that the men have. :)

-I'm so happy to report that Logan's hair is already starting to come back in on top!! He had lost a whole bunch of his baby hair last month (mostly getting rubbed off by me during bath times) but it's already coming in again and thicker. I'm in love with his dark hair.

We just love our Mr. Logan! I truly enjoy having a baby around. He's not the sweet, little, tiny thing that Grace was, but he's a hulky, sturdy boy who loves his mama and makes us happy. So I'll take it! :)

Match Party

When we moved here for med school, we were blessed to find some amazing friends here. We started out mostly meeting each other in our ward. Then the husbands found other guys at school that they clicked with easily, which brought in some other wives to the group as well. Ultimately we ended up with a group of 10 couples who have been together through these 4 years! These people are such a great support to Ryan and I. We've learned from each one of them and have been so grateful to know them and share these crazy years of medical school together. There have been MANY parties, BBQs, babysitting swaps, weekend trips, meetings in Utah, play dates, park days, Priesthood blessings, all kinds of service given to each other, dinners taken to each other, and many, many other great experiences we've had together. What would we ever have done without these awesome people?

On Friday the 16th, all of the students who were matching into MD residencies found out what programs they matched into. Ryan and a couple others had previously matched in the DO system, and one of our friends is in the Army and matched through that system. So last friday was FINALLY when we could find out where everybody else was going. We're so proud of all the guys for matching. :)

Robert,

Josh, Ryan, Nephi, Jacob, Chris

Landon, Jordan, Nate, Paul

Congrats again to all of them and their wives! Because let's face it - they couldn't have done it without the women-folk. Here is the list of the locations and specialties among the group:

*Turners: Columbus, Ohio (pediatrics)

*Dekkers: Fort Collins, Colorado (family medicine)

*Reynders: Kansas City, Kansas (neurology)

*Stephensons: Fresno, California (internal medicine)

*Redds: Oahu, Hawaii (pediatrics - Army)

*Karrens: Dayton, Ohio (ophthalmology)

*Mortensens: Dayton, Ohio (radiology)

*Dunlavys: Des Moines, Iowa (general surgery)

*Larsens: Tampa, Florida (pediatrics)

*Larsons: Iowa City, Iowa (anesthesiology)

That night we all got babysitters for our kids and met at Caesar's Palace at Max Brenner. Aside from the two youngest babies being there, this was the very first time we've all been together for a date night with no kids. It was so awesome!!! It's too bad it took us years to make it happen, but we saved it for the most special night: celebrating matching together. Thank you to all the babysitters for helping make it happen - - especially Lisa and Hannah Casey for watching Grace for us.

And... the silly faces...

Dinner was really yummy! Ryan and I shared a panini sandwich and waffle fries and then shared an A-MAZING chocolate fondue dessert. I was very happy with my dark chocolate fondue and Ryan preferred the caramel in the middle. During dinner, we were seated in one super long table of 20 which was kind of a bummer, but we enjoyed switching seats and being able to chat with everyone. The guys ended up all at one end and the women at the other - of course. :)

I love these ladies. I've sung their praises over and over on this blog, but here are a few things I love about each one (in order of rows, left to right in the photo):

Paige Reynders: She taught me to make bows for Grace, let me spend countless hours at her house during first year before I had Grace, has been the best person to complain to about having one car through school (since they dealt with the same issue), and has lived the nearest to our apartment. We've swapped many forgotten ingredients with each other! We've also laughed about how I'm a lot like her husband and she's a lot like mine. :)

Casie Dekker: This girl makes me feel so loved and appreciated. She is so easy to talk to and laugh with - and usually it's me doing the laughing at the hilarious/sometimes awkward things she says. haha I just love her. She's always there for me.

Marci Mortenson: She is so SMART about so many things. She makes me want to be a better photographer like her, a better mom like her, and a completely genuine friend like her. All I can say is the people in Dayton are very lucky to have her!

Melanie Redd: She has been my rock, my sister, my daughter's second-mom, and my shoulder to cry on. Her testimony, strength, and positivity are just some of the things I admire about her. Her desire to be the best mom and wife and homemaker rub off on me every time I'm with her.

Robyn Larson: This girl knows everything there is to know about cakes. She's incredible! She's also always so willing to help out with anything anyone needs. Ryan and I have looked up to the Larsons the entire time we've known them and are blessed to have them as examples to us.

Emily Stephenson: She is the queen of Pinterest and finds the neatest things. But she actually puts into motion the ideas she finds, which usually benefits us all too. I have loved our Busy Bag exchanges, party ideas, kids stuff, book club meetings, and all the neat baby shower themes she has found.

Erica Karren: This girl is such an awesome mom (to twins and a baby!). She's so REAL and down-to-earth and it's refreshing to have conversations with her. Truth be told, she's a little bit hick (in a good way) haha. Ryan always tells me to call her anytime I ask him what cut of meat we should get for recipes, or how my steaks "should be" cooked.

Rachele Larsen: This girl is so laid-back and easy-going. When I'm around her I feel like everything will work out and there are no worries at all. :) She is quite the world traveler and book reader, so I love hearing her opinion on things because she sees things in a way I wouldn't have thought of before.

Alisha Dunlavy: She is hands-down one of the best moms I know. Her nurturing and caring way are things I want to develop in my own life! She has always been completely genuine and sweet to me. I always know I have a friend in her and she never makes me question where I stand with her. She helped me so much while I was on bed rest even though she had just had her 3rd baby and her husband was in and out of town at the time.

Thanks, everyone, for a really great night!! We love you guys.

More visitors!

My brother left for Utah on Thursday morning, and later that night Ryan's younger brother and his wife got here. Kyle and Katelyn planned to stay the weekend in a hotel but we were excited to get them at our house for one night. :)

On friday afternoon, Ryan's older brother and his family also pulled into town. They'd coordinated their trips so they could all come hang out in Henderson for the same quick weekend get-away. It was so fun having them all here at the same time. We realized it was all the Turners brothers together with their families. :) We had Papa Murphy's that night and the kids all enjoyed playing with Grace's toys and running around together.

Cute Norah turned ONE year old the weekend before!

Logan's yellowish skin is very apparent in these photos... he is a bit jaundice.

Abby & Logan, Josh, Tessa, Katelyn, Kyle

On saturday morning the weather was terrible! It was cold, super windy, and finally started pouring rain in the afternoon and evening. We had hoped to take them to some fun parks and to the Springs Preserve, but we only made it to one park for a short time before the wind took all the fun out of it. The new park up the road from us was a big hit with everyone (even the adults trying all the different spinning contraptions and games), and the men found a BYU basketball that someone left there.

These swings are so awesome. I wish I had one in my house. It'd be so easy to rock Logan (and myself) to sleep!

Peek-a-boo...

Dancing on the stage in the amphitheater.

In the afternoon, Josh and his family went to the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef and Kyle & Katelyn went to see Hoover Dam and the big bridge. Grace needed a nap so we met up later on. That evening, Ryan and I sent the other adults off to dinner at BJ's while we had all the kids hang out with us. We were happy to let them have a little time without kids on their quick Vegas get-away and the kids all had a great time playing together, eating Mac n Cheese and watching How To Train Your Dragon.

This was also St. Patrick's Day and Abby dressed everyone up in cute green outfits! I, however, totally spaced it that morning while getting us all dressed. They were nice enough not to pinch us though. :) It was so much fun having them all in town at the same time! We wished we had a huge house to let them all stay with us but maybe someday, right? Thanks, Turners, for coming to see us before we head off to residency!

Josh & Norah, Jonah, Tessa & Logan, Abby & Grace

"T for Tom"

Last week we had lots of family visitors! The first of our visitors was my younger brother Thomas. He's been home from his mission for 6 months, and is busy going to school, dating, and working, but he wanted to come visit us for some of his spring break. We were very excited to have him, since we always have a good time with Tom, and I'm so glad he was able to spend time with Logan.

Thomas and I are really good friends and he's one of the best, most down to earth, most fun, and most spiritual guys I know. :) Grace also really loves her Uncle Tom. Anytime we talk about our letters, and especially the letter "T", she says "T for Thomas!" Or if we talk about "T is for TIE" she also says "Tie like Thomas"... because when we're in Salt Lake we see him wearing ties quite often.

On monday, when Thomas pulled into town, Grace had ANOTHER fever. Ryan was just getting off work so he took her to the doctor while Tom and I caught up on life. Then he and Logan and I perused the aisles of Whole Foods together and found some yummy things for dinner. Thomas was pretty blown away at all the cool stuff there haha. That night after Grace went to sleep we played Five Crowns.

On tuesday, Ryan was working, so we walked up to the park together with the kids. Grace had a blast, as you can see! That night we barbecued some steaks. Mmm, it was good. :)

On wednesday, Ryan worked in the morning so the kids and I showed Thomas the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden here in Henderson. We walked through the observation area to see the workers making chocolate (not as cool as it may sound) and then got our free pieces of chocolate!! Tom and I are dark chocolate fans. :) Then we walked around the garden outside.

The colors right now are really beautiful there since it's spring and getting warm already. I guess I'm already starting to realize that I'll miss things about Vegas, and I honestly don't remember ever seeing this cactus garden so pretty.
We definitely won't see this stuff in Ohio... ;)

That night after dinner we went to the Crepe Shack, picked up some things from Trader Joe's to send to my sister in Utah, and went home to play Mexican Train. I'm so glad Thomas isn't too cool for us, or to hang out with his niece and nephew! AND Ryan and I are both happy he still likes to play games with us when we can. It's not as easy as it once was (with kids now) but we love to play games when we get a chance. We're so glad Thomas could come and will seriously miss seeing him when we move much further away. Hopefully he won't be too poor in the coming years and can fly out to visit us sometimes. :)

Parties!

But first... I just wanted to sneak in a couple photos of my cute kids!...

A couple of weeks ago we went to a birthday party for Grace's bestest bed: Anderson. He turned 3 and had a Cars birthday party, which was so well put together by his parents!! I was very impressed. One of our friends helped make fondant Maters and Lightnings to put on top of the cupcakes. ADORABLE!

The Redd family with their cute birthday boy and "Baby Grace"! We just love them. :)

They held the party at a park with a fun playground so the kids could just play and play to their hearts' content. Then they strung up a homemade Lightning McQueen piñata and all the kids got a couple turns going at it. Grace had lots of fun trying.
It wasn't breaking easily, so they finally let the kids just attack it and get the goodies inside. Grace was way too passive to get into the throng of 3+ year olds to get anything. I tried to get her involved but she was perfectly fine watching.
Four years ago when all of us who are graduating this year moved here, these three kiddos were the ONLY kids born at the time: Leila, Reagan, and Brig.

Then... 4 years later... here is our group of kids (plus a few friends, and missing a couple babies). Crazy right?! Talk about "multiplying and replenishing". ;)

Top row: Paisley, Jonas, Reagan, Chad, Grace, Abby, Leila, Will, Max, Logan K.

Bottom Row: Addie, Holden, Beckham, Eliza, Zeke, Anderson, Brig, Jaren, Greydon

Grace and her buddy, Anderson.

A couple hours after Anderson's party, we met up again at another park to celebrate our friend Jordan's birthday. He will be graduating with Ryan in Pediatrics as well and we are grateful for the Larsens and their friendship. It was SUUUUPER windy that evening, and Grace was starting in on another fever (the 3rd one that week), so we didn't stay long. We were able to get a photo of the ladies at the party. :)

Casie, Robyn, Rachele, Jamie, Melanie, Claudia

Alisha, Emily, Paige, Erica