Whoa....

Oh what? I have a blog? That's weird.... Hi blog!

So I changed the title of my blog thinking that it applied more to my little group as my husband consistently refers to himself as "duke of earl." So obviously I'm the duchess, right? Of course right.

Last time I posted was wayyyy to long ago. So here is a summed up version of all that has happened since:

-We traveled to Hawaii in September for Brandon's circle of excellence prize. We were on Oahu. Played hard. Favorite part of the experience was going to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Truly amazing.
-We went to Cabo San Lucas a month later in October with Brandon's cousin Preston and his wife Meghan as a celebratory event for anniversaries/themed "live like you were dying." Favorite part of that trip is tied between snorkeling in bright clue waters, and watching baby turtles make their way back to the ocean after dinner. Also, getting Preston and Meghan to ourselves. Hehe
-Brandon quit Mattress Firm. Long story short he wasn't happy there anymore for lots of different reasons. He now works for Voltzwagon Audi in Boise as a salesman. He just started this last Monday. We will see where that takes us.
-We moved into a rental home. LOVING IT! Especially with a crazy kid who doesn't like to be "shh'd." Who does, right?
-Troy turned one. Still in denial. Although he rocks the whole toddler attitude real well.
-We traveled to San Diego for our good friends wedding last week. Beautiful experience to watch them sealed for time and eternity in the temple. Also, San Diego temple should be on everyone's bucket list to see. Definitely the disneyland of temples. While we were there we were able to visit my great grandma in the hospital who is in heart failure. It was so tender to see her, and happen to be there while she was visiting. Please pray for her.
-I'm a stay at home mom as of this last September. It's been such a blessing to not have to worry about anyone else caring for my little buddy other than myself. To be able to keep up house, to catch up on my reading, teach Troy new words, tricks, faces. It's great.

2015 was amazing. Bring it 2016.

All good things

Well, Brandon and I have survived the first 6 weeks of parenthood in total bliss. I can also say that I have a new found appreciation for the phrase, "it takes a village to raise child."
For Christmas we took a road trip to Moses Lake to stay with B's family. Troy was born to travel. He slept the whole way, unless we woke him up to nurse. He didn't cry or fuss during any of it, and has never had any trouble being in his carseat.
Christmas vacation was soooooo enjoyable. We were able to just relax and figure out some what of a routine as far as sleep and naps. There was always someone willing and able to help watch Troy while one of us took some time to rest. Not to mention our bellies were always full of delicious food! We did go out a couple times to visit some friends of ours in town which was nice. I wish that we lived closer to B's family. Whenever we get together with them it's so hard to say goodbye. Eventually though that will change because someday SOON we will get to be closer :)
Troy had his baby blessing on January 5th. B did a marvelous job and totally spoke through the spirit. It was very heart warming to se how many people attended out of love for our little threesome. It was very well received and reciprocated.
Anyway moving on...
After the holidays and having so much help, it was a much easier transition coming home because we already kind of knew what we were doing. It wasn't such a shock to realize, "Okay, we are by ourselves now. There isn't someone here to wash our laundry or make us dinner.." It's been fun for me to be a stay at home mom these last several weeks. I get to play with Troy and not have to share him with any one, clean and organize things I've been procrastinating forever, and cook whatever the heck I want. It's silly to think those things are fun, but to me they honestly are. I do go back to work part time a couple days a week the beginning of February and though I am so anxious to see my co-workers and what not, those days will be hard to have to put the "stay-at-home" mom/wife thing on pause. It's all good though.
I'm realizing as I'm typing this that I'm not feeling super descriptive in the moment... so feel free to ask questions if things are too vague.
BIG NEWS HOWEVER! B was recognized at his company and was asked to join the circle of excellence and won a trip to L.A. to be a part of this convention and a round trip for his family to hawaii!! He goes to L.A. here in a few weeks for a couple days to sit in on seminars and meetings, then will get more information on hawaii in march. He's worked so hard for such recognition and I couldn't be more proud! Plus... HAWAII!!!!!! More on that when we get more info.
So Troy has become a fantastic eater like his parents. Every time he feeds he acts like he's never eaten anything in his entire life and gets very territorial with his food. I will try to help him latch on better, and he just grunts loudly at me and puts his hands over his mouth while looking at me as if to say, " I've got this woman just let me eat." Right now he's eating up to 4-6oz. Which seems like a lot to me, so hopefully I will produce enough in the future with how much his appetite seems to be growing. He's still every 2-3 hours during the day, then after we bathe him I feed him one more time at 9:30 and he's asleep by 10pm. Lately he's only been waking up twice in the night around 1:30-2AM, and again around 5-6AM. After that he's up for the morning at 7:30-8. It's not bad at all. He doesn't sleep at all before 1:30pm so he and I do our own thing in the morning. I've been looking up Zumba workout routine's on youtube and doing them in our living room. Troy usually just lays in on the ground and smiles or laughs at me. I don't blame him. I've got no rhythm despite my efforts.
My friend Callie took some pictures for our family the other day. They turned out super cute, and Troy was practicing successfully for his modeling career.... My next post I will make here in the next couple of days will be pictures we have taken over the last few weeks. They definitely will not be as talented as these, but ya know iphone users are photographers too...

Summer

Bet you thought I wasn't going to give you guys any pictures, huh? WRONG! Here you go:

Let me just emphasize how grateful I am for my job, my co workers, and the great doctor who owns the practice. For real, I genuinely look forward to going to work in the bright and early morning despite being an anti-morning person. My co workers have become some of my best friends, and I am very blessed. 

My office did the Dirty Dash. I didn't think I could compete due to there being obstacles, but then I found out you could go around them so... DANG! Next time. Anyhow, Miriam (another preggo assistant) and I stood on the sidelines and people watched. We saw this one guy dressed in a full body pig suit, and I'm pretty sure within 5 minutes of that run he was regretting it. Hahahahaha

Our friends decided to make us a cuddle buddy. His name is Parker. He was born at the beginning of July. He's the sweetest and such a little trooper! Congrats Bryce and Callie :) We love you

Baby Earl update:

We are 26 weeks along. I'm craving EVERYTHING. No seriously. I say it a lot mostly to justify the problem of how much I'm eating. It ranges from chocolate to broccoli. It's different every two seconds. I just have a never ending appetite. 

He's quite the mover and kicker. He is most active in the morning when I first wake up and get started with the day, while I am working on a patient and the Dr's drill is going (I think he can hear it or something and it wakes him up), and right before I go to sleep. 

The best thing about being pregnant is feeling him move, and watching Brandon become more "into" the whole thing as I get bigger. It's an incredible blessing to know we have the ability to create life and we know that blessing comes from our Father in Heaven. 

Lately I have been trying to catch him moving on video, but he stops moving every time I hit record! Rude... But this morning I FINALLY got him! 

Every time Brandon and I take pictures now Brandon will say to me, "K, make sure you stand to the side so we get a good angle of your belly." He's quite proud. 

I have fallen more in love with my husband through this experience. He's so caring and aware of my needs. He is always asking me what I need from him and what he can do to make me more comfortable. Even with the crazy schedule he has between working full time and going to school taking mentally draining classes, he manages to find time for me. He talks to his son like they are already BFF's, and rubs my belly like I'm going to grant him a wish. I'm anxious to see our son in his arms. This baby is one lucky kiddo to have a father like Brandon. 

We have had company in and out of town between going to family reunions and needing a place to crash. We love being the mid-point for travels. 

Here's B's sister Kelsey, Cozette, and Jon. Aren't they adorable?

We went on a very long road trip/vacation!  A much needed one for us to get to spend more than a couple hours together before bedtime. It was the bomb.

  

We went to Brandon's mom's side of the family reunion, (did I phrase that right?)

The MARBLE reunion.

In Fort Warden Washington. We stayed in a huge house. It was once a military base camp, and our house used to home military captains. It was gorgeous, and slightly creepy all at the same time. Mostly amazing at the thought of who lived there before, and the history that was there. 

Weather was fabulous. 70's. We played outdoor games, had a family history lesson by my dear MIL, played on the beach, went to a whale museum, ate delicious food, went to the farmers market in town, Brandon cooed our newest nephew Sagan to sleep, and B also got to spend some bromance time with his cousin Preston. Any time we would discuss the reunion he would say, "All I know is I'm going to be attached to Preston so..." They love each other. It's cute. 

After the reunion we went to spend time with my grandparents in Arlington and see my home town. Driving there we stopped in Anacortas and ate some yummy clam chowder in a bread bowl. We both agreed it was the best ever, but could have been exceptional with a sourdough bread bowl. Duh? Then we stopped at the purple doughnut house. If you are a doughnut lover, like my husband, this is where you wanna go. They are fresh, delicious, and melt in your mouth.

We walked on the bridge of deception pass, and got a little vertigo, went golfing on the golf course my grandparents live on, met up with my childhood BFF Adrianne and caught up; she got baby earl new Nike shoes and Dory from finding nemo, went shopping, got yummy ice cream at Snow Goose produce, walked around green lake in Seattle, and just had the best time. 

The coolest part about the trip is that we got to go see my old house. So it's for sale, right? So we got the idea that we should call and schedule a viewing acting as interested buyers. We totally did. When we got there I told them I grew up in the house, and they were so awed at the idea that as we walked around they asked me a million questions about what all had been renovated. 

It was surreal walking through my old house as memories flooded my mind. However, it was was a little tainted seeing someone else's stuff in my house. Thankfully, the renovations that were made totally made sense, and made the house more appealing. I doubt I'll ever go back to see the house after that, but I'm grateful I got to go back there and share those memories with my best friend. I even got to pick and eat a Japanese plum from ones of our fruit trees.

To add to this, my grandma and I were walking around green lake and she told me that she wanted to show me the house she had grown up in. So we drove there, and the current owner of the house was outside painted her stairs. My grandma told her she just wanted to show me her old house, and the woman happily invited us inside. Mind you, we were in Seattle. That doesn't happen. I suppose she didn't feel threatened by a pregnant girl and an older woman. Makes sense. I Face Timed my mom as we walked around the house. It was beautiful. My grandma lit up as she and my mom swapped stories between climbing out of second story windows, and my grandma's last memory of her mom in that house. Very tender.

Next stop...

The final leg of our road trip was in Moses Lake at B's parent's. 

We went boating with the kiddos, played in the pool, chatted, made yummy food, went on a date with our good friends Ty and Janessa, and got to take out his parent's landscaper Fransisco on a boat ride for his first time. He was so giddy and excited. He asked me to take pictures so he could send them to his wife and children in Mexico. 

Our summer was marvelous, and spent with the best of people. Thanks for making our summer awesome you guys!

Here's what's happening now:

-Back to work

-B has started school again. He is taking Micro and Stats. Ew? Pray for him..

-Getting all our unnecessary debts payed off

-Preparing to be parents