Things to do Before We Leave

The time when we are moving to North Carolina is fast approaching. We are moving in about a month and a half and will be in California for two of those weeks. Before we go, there are some things that we need to do in my beloved home state. Here's just a few of them.

• Do a live session in the Salt Lake temple. 
• Go see some Bees games (while helping Julie stay away from the Bee she's so afraid of). 
• Golf at Hobble Creek (Dylan. Julie is exempt from this).
• Go to Color Me Mine. 
• Make baby something at Build-A-Bear. 
• See Harry Potter 7 pt. II (both of us). See Cowboys and Aliens (just Dylan. If he made Julie see that with him, she might make me see ten chick flicks in a row like she did when I asked her to watch Scott Pilgrim with me). 
• Disc golf at some of my favorite courses (Dylan). 
• Go to Jo-Anns. (Just Julie will like this but she will probably ask Dylan to go with her).
• Get some more cheap Macey's ice cream cones. Also, stop at the Creamery and pick up either some LaVell's Vanilla or Graham Canyon. Or both.
• Get Dad to fix the scooter so Dylan can take the woman of his dreams on a little joy ride through the cemetery. 
• Dylan play his brothers in basketball in the backyard. He will have to cheat a lot to win. This isn't new, though. 
• Go to Tucanos. Preferably on someone else's dime. 
• Go to Hires with the Cannons. 
• Dylan go to Culvers and eat the glorious food that made him 225 pounds on his mission. 
• Enjoy the hot, dry Utah weather before we both soak through our shirts everyday in North Carolina.

To My Daughter

   Yes, that's right....we're having a baby girl! And I could not be more excited. My cousin's eleven year old daughter told me if I want to have smart kids, I should have a girl first to set the tone for the family. I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment and couldn't be more excited about having a daughter. On that note, I wanted to say a few words to my girl that maybe she will read someday.

Dear Daughter,
   On June 9th of 2011, we found out your gender. It took the doctor a long time to find out because you had your legs crossed the whole time and were very modest. I hope that you will continue this trend throughout your lifetime--it was frustrating when we couldn't tell your gender but it will save us a lot of frustration if you maintain it in the future. The doctor kept looking at your other organs to make sure everything was ok. Your beautiful little heart, your spine, your bladder, everything; she kept writing the different organs on the screen in front of us. Finally, she wrote out the letters "G-I-R-L" and I was trying to think of what organ is spelled that way until I realized the doctor just revealed us your gender. It was such a wonderfully happy moment for your mother and I. You were exactly what we both wanted.
    Your parents already love you very much. You have already brought a lot of joy and a lot of exhaustion into our lives. I am sure you will bring about both of those reactions from us for years to come. Your mother is the most fantastic person I have ever met. She is very interested in life and many of the good things in it. She is beautiful, kind and talented. She is an incredible photographer and I absolutely love her work. She makes me laugh in a way that nobody else does, too. The first time I saw her I knew I wanted to be with her. She is also feisty and wears her emotions on her sleeve. This has taken some getting used to but it's one of my favorite things about her. Unfortunately, she is not crazy about sports and hates my beloved Yankees. It's the one thing that keeps her from being translated, so I can live with it. I hope that you turn out just like her (except I wouldn't mind if you will occasionally watch some sports with your old man).
    As for your dad, he loves you very much. He will understand when you don't want him to drop you off in front of the school with your friends watching; but make sure that you give him lots of hugs and kisses on the cheek afterwards. A couple of other things you'll need to know is that he likes BYU football and Yankees baseball way too much. If you indulge him even a little in either of those interests, he will spoil you even more rotten than he's planning. The one good characteristic he can allow himself is that he's loyal. He's loyal to his wife, his family, his friends and he tries to be to loyal to God. This loyalty may cause him to be overprotective of you, particularly when you become a beautiful young lady. Just know right now that he's going to have a very difficult time when you start dating boys and will find each and everyone of their flaws to try to get you to stay away from them. But most importantly, know that marrying your mother and having you are the two things that make him happier than anything else ever could. You and her make him feel complete and fulfill his fondest dream.

Love, Daddy

Dylan as Homemaker

If we had kids rights now, this would totally be me.

The last week or so, I have not had any work through my temp agency. So, I have been staying at home getting my homemaker on. And let me tell you...it stinks. I'm awful at it. The first day or so was kind of fun. I vacuumed, did the dishes, mopped some and yes, I managed to sneak in a few rounds of golf on the Wii. By day two, the charm had already worn off, a little. Or a lot. I decided this homemaking stuff is not for me. I could see why the people I taught on my mission who had no jobs in the trailer parks and ghettos were SO lazy. It is completely demoralizing to have no reason to do anything. And this was only after two days! Imagine years of not doing anything. I almost decided to do nothing but sleep and play video games all day saying "wo is me." But, I remembered a conversation I had with my oldest brother about men in our neighborhood who did not work but also did not want to do "women's work" so they made an alternate universe where they had "retired" while their wives slaved away at work and in the home. Determined to not allow myself to become one of these bums, I decided to continue to work hard and be productive in the home while Julie was away. I even cooked the last two nights! I made a casserole and then home-made pizza (crust and everything. That was tricky). Neither of the meals has left us violently ill (yet) and I actually kind of felt like I accomplished something. With Jules pregnant, I told her I would like to start cooking more. She was happy about that but with the caveat, "don't get too used to it. I want to be a homemaker and I want you to work." Sweeter words have never been spoken. Here's to hoping that's sooner rather than later for both of us.

Dylan's Graduation!

I know this is a month late coming, but the fact still remains that Dylan graduated from BYU with a Bachelors' of Science in Family Life, and even now has his real diploma (not a 'sample') in hand. And I was there for it! Great excuse to take time off work! And it only happens once (graduating from BYU for your bachelors'-I should hope it only happens once, anyway).

LaVell and Patti and I staked out a spot by the doors they'd be coming out of in the processional so we could snap a cheesy picture :)

This is when Dylan was hoping for loud cheers for him, but instead I was busy getting a bad picture, his grandparents were asleep, and his dad and brother were messing around on their phones. So, his mom cheered. Sorry, D :( If only you were born in to a Polynesian family...

GOOD pictures afterward!

Classic Dylan

Yes, he's making a funny face, but still a picture of us together. I'm so proud of my man! And you can't see it here, but I do have quite a good baby bump going on here.

With his parents, Ken and Ann

Congratulations, Dylan! I'm so proud of you --- oh, and did you ever mention that you got a 4.0 your last semester of college? That's right, when other people had senioritis, you got all A's! Sorry, had to brag a bit for you :) I love you, Dylan!

Daddy's Take

Yesterday, I had the amazing opportunity to hear my baby's heart beat for the first time. I don't know who's heart was beating faster: mine or the baby. Since the day Julie gave me the spectacular news that she was pregnant, I have been very excited. However, within 5 minutes of the announcement, I was scared to death. Will the baby like me? Will Julie still like me? Will being pregnant cause Julie to all of a sudden become another, far more lethal person? Will our baby turn into a crack head? Will our baby be a girl that turns out to be very pretty so I will have to threaten many teenage boys? Will our baby be ugly and get made fun of at school? Will I be able to provide? What if the baby wants to go to Harvard? What if the baby wants to drop out of high school and live in a tiny trailer with a person twenty years their senior? All of these thoughts came gushing into my head, in no particular order.

Julie was a little worried that my mortal fear of becoming a dad meant that I wasn't excited. Fortunately, we read a book about how mothers and fathers react to the news; it claims that women generally think of the emotional and nurturing connection and men often think of more temporal matters (including when the baby becomes an adult, as if it happens overnight) when they think of the unborn fetus. So, I was glad to know that my thoughts were normal, but still, it wasn't THAT reassuring. The book did give me some good advice, though: live in the now. It's been hard to do, and I would say that I'm still primarily trying to find ways to provide for it at this point, but hearing that little heart beat was one of the greatest moments of my life.