the last half year of our lives.

we've been busy.

We finished off the summer in Utah camping and relaxing in the beautiful desert heat. The kids and I stayed cool by visiting waterparks (Drew took 4 weeks of swim lessons) and splashpads and drinking a lot of slurpees. I hiked the Y 26 times and took tennis lessons through Provo Rec.

Spencer studied all summer and took the New York bar exam in Buffalo, NY. He found out in November that he passed with flying colors. Not that I was expecting much less.

At the end of August we spent a wonderful week in Orlando, Florida sweating with 1000's of other tourists at Disney World. It was hot, but the crowds weren't too bad. It's one of those things the babies continue to talk about. They ask to go back often and want to reminisce about things they saw and did while there. We went to a lot of the parades, ate lots of Dole Whip. They loved seeing all the characters from their favorite movies come to life. We had the best time ever. We definitely will be going back.

September 5th we flew to New York City with a couple of suitcases and stepped foot in the apartment we had only seen pictures of. It looked bigger in pictures, but it's just the right size (and price) for us. We spent that first night on the floor sleeping on duffle bags with the windows open. The orange street lights streamed in the windows along with the hot steamy air and a couple of hundred mosquitoes. The next day the movers arrived with all of our stuff that had been stored away for the summer and we became more civilized.

Moving to New York

Spencer started work September 15th. Shortly after he started we understood what everyone had warned us about. Those 80 hour work weeks are real. real hard and real tiring.

Drew is in a co-op preschool with some friends in our neighborhood. I teach 2 weeks every 8 weeks and we rotate to different apartments. Claire wants to go with him every time we drop him off at school. He's learning and growing in all different ways. He has become an excellent scooter rider (he's got to keep up with the city kids) and has expanded his vocabulary with words like taxi, fire escape, Big Apple, subway and Vampire State Building. No matter how many times I tell him it's Empire, he continues to call it Vampire. Drew is still really into Star Wars and surprises me how much he knows about a galaxy far, far away.

Claire is a big 2 year old (2.5 year old) she's been sporting 3T clothes for a while and I fully attribute it to her HUGE appetite. She was potty trained right before she turned 2 in June and now we're just trying to break the pacifier obsession. She got a pink scooter for Christmas, the only thing she continually asked to get for a number of weeks, and has become quite the swift rider. She's funny. She has a cheeky little personality and makes life fun. She is responsible and independent (Often doing more on her own than her older brother does) She is a great listener and usually only has to be told once about a specific rule or request before she remembers (read: before she reminds you and tells you what to do). She always tells you "You're my best friend. You're my favorite." I love it. Her voice is raspy (due to huge oversized tonsils) and instead of saying "The End!" at the end of a story she yells, "AMEN!"

In October we saw as many Halloween decorations and attended as many events as we could. The kids dressed up as mummys and skeletons for different events we went to. We enjoyed trick or treating and braving the crowds of the Upper East Side brownstones and then coming back to our building for even more candy.

November we enjoyed some mild fall weather. The kids and I explored more and more of Manhattan visiting different zoos, museums and lots and lots of parks. They ate lots of pizza and bagels and those carbs went straight to my thighs. (still working on losing some of that weight now that we are getting more settled) Spencer continued to work late (LATE) nights and most weekends and I became a single parent for a lot of the time (read: I gained 15lbs of stress weight). Spencer turned 29 on the 6th of November and we didn't do much except order some late night pizza when he got home from work. My family (parents and sisters family) was able to visit us for Thanksgiving. We saw all the touristy sights, ate cronuts and my sister and I went to go see a show (Matilda!) Thursday morning we got up early and headed to the parade route to see the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. We had a great view from inside Central Park around 72nd street. Not sure if it is worth going again for though…

In December the City was transformed into a winter wonderland. Decorations popped up everywhere and the Christmasy feeling was in the air. Spencer and I celebrated 6 years of marriage on the 19th. We saw Santa at Macy's at Herald Square, and tried to see as many of the decorated Christmas trees and tree lightings around the city as we could. We went ice skating in Central Park and checked out a few different Holiday Markets that had popped up for December. We took a bus to pick up a Christmas tree and had it delivered a few hours later (new experience for all of us). The kids anxiously stared out the window waiting for it to arrive. We didn't want to waste any of Spencer's precious time off traveling so we spent Christmas here. Just the 4 of us. It was quiet and different, but we had a great time. We went to Chinatown on Christmas eve for a big feast and then headed up to Washington Square park for caroling under the arch with a couple other hundred people. The kids were so excited Christmas morning and we spent the days following just lazily playing with toys and talking with our families.

We've made it to January (and NO we did not attend the ball dropping in Times Square on New Years Eve) and we're excited for what adventures are planned in 2015 for our family. We're adjusting to life in New York. We like it. We like exploring this 22sq mile island we call home. We're adjusting to the sassy and rude people we come in contact with and are trying to remember only the kind hearted ones. The novelty of living with an elevator is slowly wearing off. The kids typically fight about who presses which button, but the longer we live here the shorter the tantrums. They've stopped asking "Where's our car?"and have started asking "are we taking the bus or the subway?"

2015, we're ready for you.

Birthdays.

We've officially got a two and four year old.

Drew and Claire have their birthdays 4 weeks apart and it is all we have heard about the past few months (more like Drew's been talking about his birthday since about October)

We had Claire's woodland fairy birthday in June on a beauitful summer evening with fairy and gnomes playing in the backyard. She spent the party painting "fairy houses" and eating cupcakes.

Drew has been talking about a Star Wars party for months. Telling me all the details and games and food he wanted to have. I think all of his four year old dreams came true. We had pizza, and played with lightsabers in water and "Carbonite Jell-o"- all the things Drew wished for.  He knows way more Star Wars trivia than me. 

We've loved to have a beautiful backyard and space to run around and play this summer. We're soaking it all in and gearing up to move to the concrete jungle.

Farewell Ithaca

The last few weeks we had in beautiful Ithaca went so fast. We were busy dejunking and preparing for the movers to come, while Spencer was in the thick finals. We also wanted to eat at all of our favorite places and see all our favorite sites. 

Luckily my dad was there to document a lot of the things we did (hike up the belltower, play at Stewart park, Taughannock falls, and even pounding the "air craft carrier" at Wings Over Ithaca)

We love Ithaca. It will always have a special place in our hearts. It was our first real adventure as a family and a real growing experience. The friends we made there over the three years will be our friends for life. I'm so glad that we were able to explore this part of the states. I can't wait to take our kids back there several years down the road and show them the apartment they learned to walk in and grab a bite to eat while we walk around campus. Farewell Ithaca, until we meet again.

Graduation

Everything we have been waiting and working for came and went so fast.

Spencer graduted from Cornell Law school on May 11th, Mother's Day. I couldn't be more proud of him. 

As soon as Spencer put on his regalia Drew asked him, "Are you a real lawyer now?"

The whole day I kept asking him "Are you excited?? Are you so happy? Are you sad?!" … in typical Spencer fashion he answered with no emotion, "I'm fine."

Walking towards Barton Hall, Drew kept counting all the lawyers in their red gowns.

Congratulations Spencer! We can't wait for our next big adventure!

Easter

I loved following the #BecauseofHim hashtag via social media over the last few weeks. So many beautiful testimonies born in such a simple, easy way.

mormon.org/BecauseofHim

#BecauseofHim:

I can be with my family forever.
I can be resurrected with a perfect body.
I can become a better person.
I can forgive.
I can receive comfort through any heartache.
I can love more fully.

Our Nation's Capital

The last of Spencer's spring breaks we spent in Washington DC. The weather was absolutley perfect. As you can see from the progression of pictures, over the course of four days the babies got a little sunburned. It goes to show how little sun we have seen in the last six months.

We stopped in Gettysburg on the way. 

 Air and Space museum, Capitol Hill, National museum of Natural History

 World War II memorial, White House, Lincoln memorial 

 The National Zoo

We had a lovely time exploring DC. Everything is FREE (thanks to all those American's paying taxes this time of year) !! We'll have to go back when the kids are older and can actually appreciate all the sites. Drew loved the Natural History museum, and Claire loved being outside and getting sunburned.

One afternoon we were walking some of streets downtown and we were approached to be interviewed for the local Fox nightly news. We were prepped on the questions and then the cameras started to roll. It was questions regarding "Gwyneth Paltrow’s Working-Mom Backlash"and what I thought about it as a mom to two young kids. A couple of awkward moments and ill-phrased answers later the camera shuts off and the crew says thanks and we walk off. 

 I turn to Spencer and ask, "How was that? did I sound stupid? what do you think?" 
…. and all he responds is, "You have food on your face."  

Well, until next time Washington DC. Keep the food carts coming, and maybe take some of those barriers down in front of the White House; Oh, and a drop in the metro fee wouldn't be bad either. 

Winter

Our first two winters here were bearable. Even enjoyable. This year's winter season however, has been long and bitter with record breaking lows and beautiful white blankets greeting us every morning.  The roads are salty and bleached, and just when you think we're gearing up for spring, another storm comes through.

We'll be happy when it is over. This inside of our apartment is plastered with artwork and we have been playing "Minions" (a game Drew plays with wooden train tracks) inside for way too long. We've been loving the Ithaca ScienceCenter as a way to break up the monotony. Drew is still loving his preschool, "Little School" as he likes to call it, and last week he started the color days portion of his class.

Claire is full of personality and sass, we love that girl. She wants to do everything Drew does. Trains, Legos, books, underwear wearing (but doesn't get the concept) backpacks, balls and cars. Drew loves that Claire speaks "Minion" (that's the second time Minions have been mentioned in this post). They are becoming great friends (almost two years later) and it makes life so much more enjoyable to not be refereeing between them.

I've been doing the gym thing, and since my last whiny weightloss post I have put on another 6 pounds. I've been doing a lot of cycling. Indoor cycling, on a stationary bike, remember- it's still winter here. It's been fun to see improvement on race times and know that my body is getting stronger. Spencer and I both have the same racing initials "S. Orton," so sometimes he and I can place in different races and still show up on the leader boards together (is this making sense to anyone?) Anyway, I love the gaming mode and feel nerdy while I race around collecting coins and chasing dragons.

My thyroid is still not cooperating with any of the medication and anytime I am sleepy/forgetful/hungry/upset or any other emotion, I blame it on my messed up thyroid hormones. Spencer says he takes care of three babies as some nights I even fall asleep before Drew and Claire.

Spencey Baby is ready to graduate in May. He's got an easy schedule of classes and spends more hours at home than in the library, a beautiful contrast from the previous two years of law school. We'll be sad to see him go again come fall when he starts his first grown-up job. We're getting excited for New York City and have started to look into how ridiculously expensive life is there.

Mexican Wedding Bells

My brother Mike married his gorgeous bride Lex in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in January. We were still in Utah at the time so we left the kids with Grandma Liz, hopped on a plane (5 hours away in Vegas) and enjoyed a short stay south of the border. We did a taco walking tour which, besides the wedding, was the very best thing we did while we were there. It was AWESOME.

The worst thing I did was vomit nonstop for 24 hours. Ironically enough it was food poisoning from the United States and luckily only ruined the first day of vacation. It first hit at the beach while standing around with dozens of other tourists enjoying the view of the sunset. Good thing my dad was there to catch a few action shots...

The ceremony was intimate with breathtaking ocean views.

Congratulations Mike and Lex!

Christmas

We spent Christmas break in Utah with Spencer's family and thoroughly enjoyed lounging around, catching up with friends and family, meeting our new niece, Emmeline, and eating at all our favorite places. The babes loved the constant attention, presents and late nights. 

Thanksgiving 2013

my parents drove up to join us in snowy Ithaca for our last Thanksgiving.

We shopped, we ate, the kids went to see Frozen on Thanksgiving day, we saw the "Lights on the Lake" in Syracuse, and Drew even got to stay up late the night before they left to open an early Christmas present.

Of course a trip to upstate New York around Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a trip to Skaneateles. We went for our third and final year and decided that this was the coldest visit yet. 

We're excited to spend next year's Thanksgiving in New York City watching the balloons glide down 6th ave.

weight/wait

The verb wait means to stay in place until something else happens. As a noun, wait refers to the time spent waiting.

Homophones don't typically mean the same thing but right now weight and wait have a similar meaning to me. 

I started a new dose of anti-thyroid medication for my graves disease. Turns out one of the biggest symptoms is weight gain. I knew that before I started and decided that I would take it, adjust my thyroid, go to the gym 5-6 days a week and track all my food intake on myfitnesspal.com. I embarked on a Biggest Loser Competition with friends back home via the internet which included weigh-ins, measurements and before pictures. At this point I wouldn't mind if my before pictures were now my after pictures.

(Disclaimer: the scar on my stomach is from my kidney removal)
Drew already wearing Christmas pajamas back in September

In 9 weeks I have gained 11lbs and my thyroid still needs more medication to become "regulated."

And now I am a mental case. Looking to buy a parasite. Not leaving the house cause no clothes fit. Not wanting to buy clothes until I lose weight. I even took a pregnancy test to try and wrap my head around my growing middle. But alas, I don't have a uterus which makes that option nearly impossible. I got a rid of a lot of my larger clothes as a way to emotionally get over the fact that I wouldn't be pregnant again, and now I really need those clothes back. (my thoughts: If I can't get pregnant, I'll at least try to have a great body)

Drew saw me taking my tiny white pill and asked "are you sick?" and I said no. Then he said "why do you take that medicine?" ...I told him it's to just make me feel a little better and I realized how observant kids are at this age. I walked over and put our scale into the closet so that he wouldn't see me get on every morning and get off in disappointment and remember his mom as a crazy lady.  

My doctor says weight... I mean wait. And that waiting game is hard. I've been frustrated with my lack of results which has turned into a lack of motivation. But I am hoping to have this thyroid thing all figured out in the next few months and then I can focus on the minor things (weight) and slowly become a bit less psychotic. 

Last week I was standing in front of the mirror and I had Claire wrapped around one leg and Drew wrapped around the other and realized they don't care if my thighs measure 20inches or 200inches. They don't see physical flaws that I might see or use to compare myself with others. They just see their mom. 

So with that, we're off to the gym. 

I'm going to wait, and while I'm weighting I might eat a pumpkin cookie or two.

October

We've been busy.

End of September Drew started preschool. He loves it. He attends Monday, Wednesday, Friday for two hours.

October 1st Drew and Claire had there well checkups. We've got big healthy babies.

October brought a lot of quintessential fall activities. Apple picking, pumpkin patches, beautiful fall leaves, Ithaca's Apple Fest, cider and donuts,  farm animals, eating a lot of root vegetables, and nightly walks to name a few.

For the last two years one of the best things about October has been fall break. First year: Boston, second year: Philadelphia, and now we can add Montreal to the list.

Every city we have explored we have loved. I think it has something to do with the time of year that we visit. The weather in Montreal was absolutley perfect. We spent 3 nights in a nice little hotel with an awesome pool and great breakfast. We explored the Montreal Botanical gardens (which had been decked out in a Halloween theme) Notre Dame and Old Town Montreal. We walked along the St. Lawrence river walk and spent a few hours at a park where Drew played with little French Canadians that he couldn't communicate with. We drove through a misty Mount Royale cemetery on Canadian Thanksgiving and ate more poutine than anyone should.

Spencer laughed and said that I spent my time in Montreal trying to relive my childhood. Although there are a lot of differences between Eastern and Western Canada I was still able to find a few things that reminded me of Calgary... Costco Poutine. The best poutine of the trip. Tiger icecream (which we ate in the car and tossed at the border) Ketchup chips and plenty of Canadian chocolate bars (not candy bars) that barely even lasted us the 5 hour drive home. We went to four grocery stores before we found the tiger ice cream but even after four stores I still wasn't satisfied with my findings (Old Dutch chips?). I guess we will have to visit Calgary for our next school break.

October also brought Drew calling me "Momma Sara" and "Dude"
He started swimming lessons at our YMCA. Considering he didn't want to get his hair wet when he started and now three weeks later he'll jump into the pool and put his head under- I think they have been worth it.

Near the end of October we got some family pictures taken. First time we've done something like that and it was actually pretty successful. Our neighbor, Elyse, did a great job working with the kids and being patient with our lack of modeling skills. Per usual, the Ithaca fall leaves did not disappoint as the perfect background to our pictures.

I should probably leave the Halloween part of October to another post since we did an insane amount of things. The kids wore their costumes (Tinkerbell and Jake the pirate) 7 times. Not to mention their "alternate Halloween outfits" for days when their costumes were being washed. Oh, and Drew slept in Skeleton pajamas just about everyday of October. To say that he loves Halloween, would still be an understatement. We went to almost every local party (including Trick-or-Treating at Wegmans) His preschool class party, two different parties at the YMCA, our branch party and a couple other things here and there. The actual day of Halloween was cold and raining. We decided to go out when the rain stopped and said we would only go for about 30 minutes. Two hours later we came home with a very happy 3 year old and way too much candy.

October has been good to us. 

Teeth

We've had a rough week around here when it comes to teeth.


Claire fell in the bathtub and chipped her front tooth on Saturday.

Today Drew was climbing on a play structure at the YMCA when he fell and hit his mouth.

He lost his first tooth.

The pediatrician and dentist both said there is nothing we can do for it but wait... wait for 5 years. 

He doesn't like looking at himself in the mirror because he hates to be reminded that his tooth is gone.

I think he'll be fine in the morning when he discovers what the tooth fairy brought for him. 

Spencer and I might have to start wearing mouth guards.
Here's to hoping that this is the end of the tooth escapades at our house.