::hi::

We're still alive, just super busy in the office. Turns out most of the income at the office from last week got all messed up between our accounts and the previous dentist's, so I've been trying to unravel the mess. Hopefully this week will turn out better.

I finally got a new cell phone--Kris and I have been toughing it out with our old original iphones--they're great phones, but after three years they were both starting to fritz out, mine worse than his. You might have noticed if we've ever talked on the phone. For about the last 6 months the phone has randomly hung up, put people on hold and mute and conferenced called others in during calls. It wasn't super professional.
So I finally got to upgrade to the iphone 4 and it's nice. I really like it so far, except I don't have a case and I'm totally worried I'm going to drop it on our brick floor with a big smash.

But the point is that it has a great camera in it--with a ZOOM! Who knew? And so far the photos I've taken look pretty amazing for a phone.

The one at the top of this post of Max in his karate outfit eating a popsicle under the tree in the garden which is in the midst of a serious weeding is courtesy of New Phone. Straight out of the phone in fact. Looks pretty good, doesn't it? I like it a lot so far.

Frazer Mountain Taos Trip

This is Kris:
A few days after we moved here, we were in a bike store looking at bikes (big surprise) and I stumbled across a flyer for a bike race. It was a Saturday hill climb up from 9,000 ft to 12,000 ft at a ski village near Taos. I thought it would be a fun motivator for me to get into shape after living in cycling purgatory--I mean Rhode Island/Residency--and I thought it would make for a fun weekend trip. It also had a kid's race that Max could do, so I thought it would be perfect. With as much as we've both had to do around the office, I thought this would make a great diversion and Ginna agreed. We registered to race and planned the trip.

Friday:
Initially, I thought we would camp up there, but since baby number 2 is just a few months away, we decided to splurge and use one of the sponsoring lodges. Friday is the busiest day of the week in our office and so we weren't able to start our 1 3/4 hour drive until 6pm. But, I'm getting ahead of myself...the day actually started with Max throwing up first thing in the morning. We took him to the office, made him stay in the back and the staff babied him. He seemed fine and although he didn't eat much all day he didn't barf anymore, so we didn't stress it. We made the drive uneventfully, and for the first time in years, Max fell asleep in the car.
Because it's the off-season, the race got a great deal on lodging. We staying in a condo on the ski slope. The resort that hosted was a lot more quaint and down to earth than most of the ski resorts I've been to. When we finally got to the condo, they had printed out little signs with our name on it and taped them to the doors. Max was super excited to see our name on the door and he even had his own room. He fell asleep again, as soon as he hit the bed.

Saturday
When we woke up in the morning we realized just how beautiful Taos ski valley is. Here is the view from the condo balcony.

Max was very lethargic and obviously not feeling well, but he still managed to explore the surroundings a little in the shirt I got for racing.


Max and I got dressed up in our lycra--given his current fixation with car brands he was ecstatic to wear the volvo jersey.


Ginna and Max walked me down to the start line after I warmed up. The views were amazing although the rainy clouds kept us from being able to see the top of the climb. Since I abandoned the gears on my bike after they broke a few years ago, I had to race in the singlespeed category.


The group of racers was a mix of pros, amateurs and true beginners. I'm pretty sure the clydesdale behind me in this picture was in the latter category and I sure hope I beat him to the top.


Here is another view of the group.


I started at the back of the group because I prefer passing riders rather than being passed the whole race by the true hardcores. This picture is like a where's waldo. See if you can find me.


For the next 1 1/4 hour, as I sufferred up the mountain, Ginna took getting-sicker-by-the-minute Max back to the condo to watch movies. Max got so weak by the time I got back, that he didn't even have enough energy to ride the kid's race. We felt really bad for him. The funniest part of this picture is Max wiggling his loose central incisor It was hanging by a tread.

Max slept on Ginna's lap as we sat through the awards ceremony, which dragged on forever, only to find out that I got 4th place and wouldn't get a medal. But, I did win a raffle--maybe the first in my life. I got a gift certificate.


Poor Max is still not feeling 100%, but we had a great weekend and are looking forward to our next diversion. Special thanks to Ginna from me, for letting me have the time to train for the race and then taking care of Max during it. Actually, Sultan deserves some props too for sitting in the car for 12 hours on Saturday.

::this week::

This week was our first official week of work in the office and boy has it been crazy!
Our practice loan actually funded without any problems on monday, that was amazing and probably the least stressful thing that happened all week.
Kris's mom was here monday and tuesday and helped us so so much. She hung out with Max so he wouldn't have to spend all day with us at the office (for at least a couple of days) and she helped me with the housework. Without her here I probably wouldn't have survived the week.

We've got a lot of good patients coming into the office and everybody seems really excited to meet Kris. The staff has been great to work with so far and they're being patient with our learning curve. It's definitely really odd to suddenly be in charge of employees. At least they all pretty much know what they're expected to do and we just have to step in and tweak a few things.

Our biggest problem this week has been that one of the insurances that the office takes is SO slow and they haven't approved Kris as a provider yet. The other main insurance company took about two days to get it done. So far we're looking at two weeks plus with these guys and they can't even tell us if they've received the paperwork we faxed them at the beginning of the week. It's super frustrating because Kris can't see those patients, and there are definitely a good amount of them. We're just going to keep on bugging them. Kris and I have each been calling them at least once a day, and we're hoping they'll get so tired of us that they will just approve him so we will leave them alone.

I didn't have any time to take any fun pictures this week, nor did we have any exciting adventures besides Max's little bout with some sort of a stomach bug this morning. We did work a lot, I had a dr's appt out here, which is great because I was worried I was never going to find a doctor.

All in all it's been a good week, though I hope next week is a lot less stressful. It'll probably help that next week I won't have to speak in church or sub for the sunbeams...(like I have to do this week.)

Here's a picture of Kris and I on our first official work day. You can see Max in the corner there enjoying his breakfast, loving that he gets to hang out with Grandma all day.
Thanks for coming out Kathy and saving at least a part of my sanity!!!

(I look a little scared in this picture, maybe I was. Kris looks cute though.)

::the other night::

The skylights in the hall make a very satisfying pattern.

You just can't go wrong with the view from our french doors. Always different, always lovely.

Kris and his mom made it last night and we've been enjoying her company. This week is stacking up to be a little intense, with a first official work day and some other crazy things. But it should be fun, and at least we've got the weekend to relax and hopefully recharge a bit.

::craziness::

This week (and last really) has been so crazy for me.
We're officially taking over the dental office this coming monday. Our practice loan will close and we'll be in charge.
Kris had to go to Chicago to take a specialty exam (poor guy), at the beginning of the week, and poor me, I was left behind to try to do everything else. He took work with him, but it's hard to make phone calls and drop off papers at city hall while on planes and etc.

So I've been working at the office every day, trying to finish the unpacking and cleaning, entertaining Max and doing all the other various things there have been to do.

And I'm BEAT. I've used up all our phone minutes, gotten a sore ear and I'm just worn out.

Max has been entertaining himself by getting out as many of the old baby toys he can find and strewing them around the house. He also borrowed some disney movies on VHS from the neighbors, and we brought a little VHS TV combo home from the office (who knows why there was one there) and he's been watching VHSs. Somehow they seem to be WAY more entertaining than DVDs. It was funny that he had no idea how the videotapes worked. So old fashioned!

So anyway, it's been crazy. And I'm still tying up loose ends. I've gotten a lot done this week, but it's not nearly all that needs to be done.
But, basically it comes down to the fact that monday will come whether we're 100% ready or not. And if there's some stuff left undone it'll have to get done later.

The best part of this week was that our friend Amy from Kansas City was in Albuquerque at a business conference. So when I took Kris down to the airport for his trip (by way of a visit to the accountant, by way of some time at the office) we got to meet up with Amy for lunch. It was so nice to see her. Seeing her made me miss Kansas City!
Too bad all of our friends can't just live in the same place so we could always hang out.
And too bad Max was a bum at lunch, but that's basically to be expected. Sigh.


This crazy week is almost over, and Kris is bringing his mom back with him tonight. It'll be great. I'm looking forward to the weekend in which no office work can be done. I guess we'll wait and see what the ward has in store for us. They already have me speaking a week from sunday. Yikes!

::bow to your sensai::

BOW TO YOUR SENSAI!!!!!

Max has been begging me for karate lessons for a long time. At least a year now. So when I saw that there was a little karate studio very close to our house (and believe me, there's not much very close to our house) we had to check it out.
And of course, checking it out led to signing up. The awesomeness of month-to-month membership didn't hurt.
He started yesterday. Today was his second class, and he felt very very cool.

I had nothing to do with these poses--I just held the camera. He's hilariously serious about this stuff.

Look out. His body is a lethal weapon. And once he develops some coordination, he might even figure out how to use it. In the meantime he's just concentrating on as many illegal ninja moves as he can.

::more before & after::

Megan was right. Once you start spray painting furniture it's hard to stop. Last week we did some more.
We have an old desk that we don't like. In fact, a couple of times we've almost gotten rid of it. After painting the TV stand we thought we would try painting the desk and see if it helped. Blue this time!



I don't have a before for the desk--Kris was too quick at getting it started. But it was just old brown particle board basically.
Max got in trouble for something, I have no idea what he did now, but I know he did some time out in the garage. Little stinker.


I was sitting out in a camping chair on the driveway watching the spray painting. It was extremely entertaining actually. Watching that paint go on and the color change is super satisfying.
After Max was excused from time out he and Sultan came and sat with me too.

And no, Max isn't pulling Sultan's ear like it appears. He's making it so Sultan looks like he's "listening." Max thinks it's cute so it happens a lot at our house.

When Kris was about done with the desk I thought of another item that would benefit from some cheering up. It's a little side table thing that we've had forever. We've used it for a zillion things, moved it a zillion times and it's just beaten up and tired.
Here's your before:

It has a drawer too, but the drawer was already out and painted at this point.

Kris is getting to be an expert spray-painter, and Sultan doesn't mind the fumes. (Can you see him there in the shadows? He's all camouflaged.)

Afters:

The desk is WAY more fun and interesting now. And the spray paint finish won't last forever, but neither will the desk, so it's all good.

It's hard to see the color on this one because of the bright evening sun, but doesn't this little table have so much more character now? I like to look at it. The blue makes me happy.

So there's some more "home improvement through spray paint" for you. We like to do it. Now what else can we spray......?

::intruder::

We were getting ready to leave the house yesterday evening for a night on the town when Kris spotted this little intruder.

See him?
He's the first lizard I've seen out here, though Kris and Max claim to have seen more--Kris claims to have seen big ones. He's going to have to prove it to me before I believe it though!

He wasn't very fast, so Kris was able to nab him with a cup and some paper and put him outside.
I guess that's the price we pay for keeping the doors open for the lovely cool air to flow in.
But I don't mind that little guy. I thought he was pretty cute. Now, a big snake? That I would mind.

Then this morning Max caught a lizard in his room.

Yes, the lizard was made out of stretchy rubber, but he was a lizard nonetheless.

Silly.

::halfway through::

This is a hard and fabulous post for me to write for many reasons, but let's just get to the meat of it.

Baby #2 is finally due to come to our family in November. This has been such a long time coming. We are so glad and excited and I'm so relieved that everything is going well. We're a little more than halfway through (22 weeks) and that feels great! November 11th is the official due date!

It's so hard for me to make that announcement for a couple of reasons. After nearly three years of struggling with "unexplained infertility" I've been rubbed pretty raw. And then add a miscarriage in there (pretty early) and I've been frightened the whole time that something was going to go wrong. So talking about it seemed overly optimistic and almost arrogant. I just didn't want to tell anybody so I wouldn't have to explain why I'm so "cautiously optimistic" to put it mildly.

Also, after dealing with all those struggles and feelings for a few years I know how it feels to never have success month after month. And every friend/acquaintance/stranger that has good news breaks your heart--even if you love that person to death and you're truly very happy for them. It's almost as if it feels like there are a finite number of babies in the world and everybody else is using them up before you can get to them. And like time is running out. And like your 1st will be 20 before he has a sibling (if it ever happens). And a zillion other things mixed in there. It's really complex.
So I would hate to cause anybody pain.

And if anybody is reading this who has been struggling, I hope you can take our story of a 2 plus year struggle with a successful outcome (so far) and think of it as an encouragement.

I haven't ever talked about this on the blog before because I just didn't know where to start. I'm also not a great writer, so I can't express myself super eloquently like some of my friends do. Anyway, it's just not something I've ever wanted to get out there--which is another reason why it's been hard to write this post. Where to start? Where to end?

But anyway, it's great news for us. We're so happy and excited!
Thanks for your support and love everybody, and we'll keep you posted.

(also...this may not be big news to some--it's already been out in the cyberworld because I had to make the facebook announcement earlier than I was thinking. But at some point it was necessary to tell people that actually see me, so they didn't just think I was overeating or something.)

::mail boy::

Our mailbox is way down at the end of our curvy dirt driveway.
So these days, if we want the mailbox checked we have to call the mailboy.
If you "call" him on the pretend phone, he will check the box for you. He does it on his bike, helmeted of course, and usually takes his awesome green backpack to carry all the mail.
He's good at his job.
And he's very serious about it.
And it occupies him for at least a couple of minutes, and right now that's very nice.




He's too big for his bike now, isn't he? When we bought that bike I thought it would fit him forever. Time files as they say!

::more skies::

Here are some fun sky photos I took after a rainstorm the other night. The sky looks different like every 10 minutes out here!
From the dining room french doors, looking out over the garden.

Looking down the turny dirt driveway.

No, it's not a volcano--just clouds over the garage!


Some pink sky over the neighbors house. We just found out he's a blind sculptor. Max loves to go and visit them on his bike.

And to end it all, another crazy sunset.

This place is beautiful!

::before & after::

We have this TV stand that Kris found for a killer price at some point. I think it's hideous. I never want to use it in the house because I feel like it clashes with our taste so bad.
But we felt like we needed to use it for this house, rather than drilling intensely into the wall to hang the TV.

So we thought we'd pull a Megan and spraypaint the dang thing! I figured I couldn't like it much less, so the paint could only be an improvement.

Before:


During:

Kris is utilizing the desert for a good spray-painting space. Can you see Max camouflaged in the bushes?

I guess this space Kris is using could be termed our backyard. Crazy to have a huge amount of desert as your backyard, but we've got it!!

After:

I like it so much more now. It's still not my favorite piece of furniture by any means, but at least it has some character and adds something to the room instead of making me feel like I'm living in a crummy bachelor pad.

Spray paint is awesome, that's all there is to it!

::happy 4th::

We were lucky enough to be able to get together with some new friends from church for some yummy food and fireworks viewing tonight.
Then we let Max do a couple of sparklers in his PJs.

I hope everybody else had a great Independence Day/weekend.

::tonight::

After I put the little guy to bed this is some of the stuff that I saw.

Muddy muddy feet after a bike ride.


Flowers from a friend.


A different angle on the house for you--in the dusk.


Just for Linda-see? We do have neighbors! And Kris and Max met a couple of them today and they were very nice.


And then the sun set and I went inside.