Jamin's New Bike!

Last June when we were on a working holiday in Chile, South America I saw a little kid in the park riding one of these bikes.
I thought they looked like one of the coolest things to skoot around on and wanted to bring one home to australia for Jamin to learn to ride on.

Fast forward a year to our big move to america and we see this cool bike again belonging to our landlords daughter, Hattie.
Jamin has had a few play dates with her and had a go on her skoot bike last week. Todd and Katie were raving about it so I managed to talk Danny into going to REC (outdoor shop) to have a look.

The idea is that the child is able to learn balance and coordination while they use their feet to keep steady. They can skoot around the place using their feet to balance and control the speed.

We bought one and here is the first practice session Jamin has had. Kael is very interested as well and frantically tries to crawl onto the bike everytime Jamin puts it down.



He has actually improved a lot through the afternoon and really loves his new bike! I might post another video once he has the hang of riding it.

where r we?

Thought I would post some pictures of what our house and neighbourhood is like.



Our first morning in Utah and it was snowing!



The view out our front window.



This is our local park. Like the mountains in the background?

We have two parks in walking distance as well as a pretty good shopping complex with every we could need.
Me and Danny are still hoping to get by with one car so that should make things a bit easier if I am dying to get out of the house and he has the car...

The mountains are huge and just beautiful to look at anytime I remember to. I can't wait to do some exploring.
We have been told that there is some pretty great rock climbing about 10 minutes away so if we can figure out what to do with the kids we might be able to get away. It also seems pretty common to ride around the place and things look pretty flat so we are looking into buying a chariot (kids trailer) you tow along behind the bike. At least that might slow Danny down so I have a hope of keeping up with him... :)

I am missing all of my 'mummy' friends a lot. The days are very long when there are no play dates to look forward to!
But Danny is working out of our basement so I do have some adult conversations during the day. We are definately enjoying his 10 second commute to work :)

settlin in...

This has been the most 'normal' week in the last month or so and I have loved it.

A 'normal' week for me mostly involves hanging out with the kids - feeding them healthy food (not crappy on the run food), having time to do crafts and colouring in, sitting on the floor playing games and teaching them new skills. As well as getting back into doing structured play - room time, mat time, table time. Jamin is a busy boy so I find I need to teach him the skills of sitting still and playing with a set toy for a period of time. It also helps my sanity!!

So this week Jamin is starting to learn how to dress himself in the mornings and make his bed. He is doing exceptionally well at both and is very proud of himself. We did some pictures to put on the wall as part of our daily routine. I find it works to make things visual for both him and me.

We are also working on doing some bright pictures and crafts to decorate the house. A new word Jammie has learnt this week "decorate". Its very cute to hear him try and say it! The pictures above are of Jamins room and Kaels room (not such a good one). I will try and take some more of the actual house in a later post.

I dont know if its the kids or the house or that i have grown up finally in the last few years but I am not homesick at the moment. Weird I know! I am loving being in a new city and getting to go out to new places and learn new things. I know that its only america, so culturally things arent that different but still I have suprised myself.

The kids are keeping me busy and we are living the same daily life in a lot of ways so maybe that is helping. I can't wait till our families come over and visit and they can be part of our adventure as well. I cringe at the thought of going home... mainly because of the hellish 26hour journey it took to get here and then the 5 days after that going through jetlag with kids. I DO NOT recommend it to anyone! It is a freakin nightmare and I consider myself having done it three times now (Chile & here) to have some experience.

Saying that... might go and catch up on some of my missing sleep :)

Who Knew?

I really didn't realise how much you need to do to set up a house and make it a home.
We are attempting to do the first this week and have so far done 2 epic trips to IKEA and a couple of major grocery trips as well.

We have been so blessed to have been able to rent a partially furnished house through a work contact of Danny's and Katie has been SO helpful in pointing us in the right direction for things. I can't imagine having to go out and buy a fridge, washing machine, beds and all of those big things straight off the plane.

I have been finding the days good as I am kept so busy with the boys and all the things there are to do. It also helps that Danny isn't working and we are facing all these challenges together. But I do find the nights hard. With the looming presence of jetlag hovering over my head and yet the need to stay up till 9pm to feed Kael I just kinda freak out a bit. All those unknowns get me... Plus anyone who knows me well, will know that I NEED my sleep! Last night was just as crappy a night in terms of having to get up to kids (i fed Kael 3 times!) but at least Jamin wasn't up with jetlag for 3 hours like the night before... ah... the joys of it.

We head off to Canada for 2 weeks on Tuesday which was the cause of another freak out this week. Just wondering how I am going to manage the boys with Danny off at a conference. Hotel rooms with kids is a nightmare but thankfully I have family in Vancouver and they are going to put us up. Still a little unsure about filling up the days and keeping the boys happy but I think it'll be ok once i'm there... I wouldn't even bother going with Danny normally but there is no way that I think I would cope being alone in a new town and a new house without driving confidently yet. I think I would really struggle to cope so I would rather struggle to cope in Canada with Danny and friends and family close by.

Missing home and familiarity a lot but i guess that's all a part of it.

We have Arrived!!

We survived our 3 flight epic with 2 kids under 3yrs. It was tough but could have been so much harder. Despite their difficulty sleeping, Jamin & Kael did really well on all of the flights and the transfers and general 28 hours of craziness.

I would not have thought you could take 3 plane trips but not have time to watch a movie, read a book or sleep?? I thought that was what you did on planes... I did have time to eat so I guess I should be thankful for that.. bit bummed about missing out on the cool A380 entertainment system tho.

this time in 1 week...

The single digit countdown has begun... 6 days to go!

Had a very busy weekend with our Goodbye Party Friday night, moving day Saturday, a last trip to Scott & Ainz's farm Saturday night and finally a big night at church Sunday with Kael and Jai being dedicated. Add to that a baby that has stopped sleeping through and the remnants of a cold and you get a pretty wrecked and displaced family.

But on the whole we are doing really well and may even be starting to feel just a little excited.

We have finally found a great home for our kittycat Jet and by all reports they are a match made in heaven. Jet is already allocating cuddles to different family members who have met her criteria, which is a great sign. Last time we moved her she hid under the bed for a few days.
The only low point was Jamin's reaction to seeing his cat drive away with one of his little friends. How do you explain that you are giving a pet away to a 2 1/2 year old...?

parents...

parents are amazing...

on the weekend dannys parents and my mum came over to help us with a mini working bee to get our house ready to rent out. who else would be happy to come over and paint and do runs to the dump and generally do the really annoying jobs that we have been putting off for the last two years since we finished our reno?
we have AMAZING family and i think that is the main thing that i am feeling sad and nervous and crazy for leaving.

mum came over this afternoon and as soon as she walked in Jamin said 'hello oma! i missed you.' now this would normally be cute but even sweeter was the fact that he hasnt seen her for all of 1 day... how is it that we are planning on taking him halfway around the world where he wont see her for 6 months...? i just dont know what we are thinking.

I can only hope and pray that we can be as selfless and loving and kind and compassionate and accepting to our children as our parents are towards us.
they are amazing and i absolutely adore them all.