Ace and Colton

So now that Hayden is in school all day, I have more one on one time with Ace and Colton. It has been nice for me to focus on two kids instead of three. Ace is three now, and he is all boy. He loves to jump off the stairs and wrestle with the puppy. His favorite part of the day is when Colton takes his morning nap, because he knows that means it's time to play catch in the backyard. He has quite and arm, he can already throw a spiral football!!! Colton is five months old now, and he is so expressive. All you have to do is talk to him and he'll throw out all kinds of smiles and baby coo's. He is by far my best baby. He sleeps much better than the other two did, and he eats all the time. Danny and Brandon tease him that he has moobs ( man boobs). I never thought that I would be stuck in a house full of boys (even the dog is a boy) but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Albuquerque

So now that we have been here a month, I thought I would let you know some cool and unusual things about Albuquerque.

1. the city is divided into quadrants. There is Northeast, Southeast, Northwest and Southwest, so to find an address you have to know which quadrant it's in.

2. There are only 800,000 people here, so it is significantly smaller than Salt Lake. The six of us really seemed to boost the population.

3. It isn't quite as hot as it is in Utah, but there is a lot more humidity (say hello to bad hair days).

4. You get your license at 15 and half here, that was a major selling point for Brandon.

5. Thanks to the casinos there is no sales tax on food or registration fees for school!!!

6. The hot air balloons are amazing. The basket is the size of a Honda Civic and the actual balloon is so big it baffles your mind. The pictures in this post are taken down the street from my house. We see them every morning when we take Brandon to school. I can't wait for the balloon festival in October, I've been told that you can only see patches of sky in between the balloons.

7. Santa Fe is only an hour away. We went there a couple weeks ago, and had a great time. It reminds me of Park City. The indians get up early and fight over who gets what spot to sell there jewely. The jewelry is beautiful and all handmade, Danny bought me a beautiful bracelet while we were there. Our next Saturday trip will be to Taos. Taos is New Mexico's ski resort and home to Julia Roberts. I plan on finding her house while I'm there, ha ha.

So far I really like our new town. It is really hard to be away from Utah, and knowing that everyone I know is 600 miles away. I know this is a good move for our family, and I am excited to experience more about New Mexico.

all GROWN up

Last Monday was Hayden's first day of kindergarten. In Albuquerque, kindergarten is a full day and the kids have to wear uniforms. They are allowed to wear navy blue, black, or khaki bottoms with either a white, blue, or maroon top. Hayden looks like a little business man when I get him dressed for school each morning. He has twenty kids in his class and two teachers. He really likes school, but the full day schedule is hard for him. He really misses me, his brothers, and his puppy. For those of you who don't know, Hayden and I have a very close relationship. This past week has been full of tears, and I'm not just talking about Hayden. I did find something that made Hayden (and me) more comfortable during the day. I was at the mall and saw some guy making woven string bracelets for cash. I asked him to make me two identical ones in Hayden's favorite colors. When I got home, I gave one to Hayden and I took one for myself. I told him we would wear them every time we were apart, and when we missed each other we would just look down at the bracelet and know that everything would be okay. For those of you who are laughing at this post, just wait till you take your baby to kindergarten!!! Hayden has already learned a lot and his teachers have told me a few times that they wish they had twenty "Haydens." I know that once we get used to the separation (ha ha) that this will be a great year for Hayden.

"Trigger" Happy!!!

On Saturday afternoon, we got a new puppy. Trigger is a one year old Black Lab. We got her from a lady that was getting a divorce and couldn't take Trigger to her apartment. She must have been a great trainer because Trigger is the best dog I've ever had. He is fully house trained, he responds to the basic commands, he won't jump on people or furniture, and people food isn't a temptation at all! The boys are in heaven, it's cute to watch them interact with him. Hayden taught him how to fetch yesterday, so now every time Hayden goes in the backyard, Trigger follows with a ball. Trigger's previous owner had kids so he is used to the boys pulling his ears and tail. The only one Trigger isn't sure of is Colton. He keeps his distance and looks at Colton like he trying to figure out if he is human or animal. I love this pup, he is a great addition to our family. I can now understand how people can be so crazy over their dogs.

RiCe CeReAl!!!

Before we left Utah, we took Colton in for his four month check up. Colton weighs 13 pounds, which is in the lower 25% for his age, and he is in the higher 75% for his height. The doctor was very impressed with Colton, he couldn't believe that this was the same baby that he had to see in the NICU. He also said that we could start feeding him rice cereal. We gave him his first serving last night. He seemed to like it and I love the fact that it made him sleep all the way through the night. We love Colton so much, he is such a good baby. In his four months on earth he has spent 10 days in NICU and probably 50 hours in the car..lol.

Goodbye Eagle Mountain...Hello Albuquerque

On Saturday, we woke up early and made the 13 hour trip to our new home. Danny's dad and his girlfriend Carol helped us load the 26 foot U-Haul truck the night before. We had the U-Haul truck stuffed to the brim. Danny's car which was on a trailer behind the U-Haul was also packed, as was my Suburban. In fact, I couldn't even see out my back window. It's amazing all the things you accumlate over the years. Danny and his Dad drove the U-Haul, which left me to drive the Suburban with Brandon, Hayden, Ace, and Colton. Much to my surprise, the boys were great. Brandon kept me awake and laughing the whole way there, Hayden made sure that the baby was always happy, and Ace...well lets just say he was Ace!!! We finally got to our new house at 10:30 and we were so tired that we chose not to unload the truck and just take our blankets and campout in the living room. The next morning we took Danny's dad to the airport and unloaded the truck. After we unloaded the truck, we were all in great need of a shower. Funny thing was we had no hot water. I had called to turn the utilites on the week before, but the lady on the phone neglected to tell me that someone had to be there to turn the gas on. So cold showers it was. We actually didn't get hot water till Wednesday, you forget how much you take that for granted. We have totally unpacked and decorated our lower level, and are still working on the upper level. Here are the pictures of the lower level, I will post the pictures of upstairs when I get the rooms ready. Our house is huge and has a lot of upgrades. I love it, and there is a lot of room for visitors...hint hint. It's strange living in a new state. I am excited for the new experience, but I feel so alone. It really hasn't hit me that we are really living here, it still feels like a a vacation. I know that this will be a great experience for us, we just have to get settled.