A Few More Days

All I've been wanting lately is more TIME. Well, my wish came true! Linc's cousin & his family got snowed in at the cabin & so our drive to Mexico has been postponed until Monday or Tuesday. Sorry Thomas & Jen. :)

This move is starting to feel a little more real. I still can't believe that we are doing it! I'm sort of proud of myself that I'm doing something so crazy. 

I'm loving the fact that I have my health. I appreciate that my husband has the goals & plans that he has. This move feels like a new start for us. We are SO excited to see what these next 4 years will bring.

And...our townhouse is pretty close to being packed up & clean, and all of our paperwork is done. I wasn't sure that it was even possible for us to get it all done in time. I'm guessing that people have been praying for us, because I'm not sure how else everything could have fallen into place like it has. So thanks for the prayers...whoever you are. :)

We'll Make It Somehow...

I'll post about our Christmas festivities when I get to Mexico & actually have time to upload pictures & spend time blogging. For now, I thought I'd give a quick update. 

Lincoln got sick Christmas morning...really sick. I packed us up & drove to Snowflake, so that I could make it in time to speak at our nephew Jarod's baptism. Linc hardly moved or talked the whole drive up. 

The next day I started feeling sick & slept most of the day. When I woke up today, I realized that it was just stress & lack of sleep that had been bothering me. 

Kylee cut her first molar while we were there. She hated it.

We drove back home tonight. Lincoln went to bed with his third fever in the past three days. 

We still have a lot to do. We'll make it somehow. The Lord wouldn't get us this far & not help us finish this task of getting to Mexico with our belongings & ourselves intact. Only 4 more days until the big move! Let's hope that Lincoln gets healthy soon so I'm not in charge of this move by myself. :)

P.S. On the plus side, our families spoiled us with awesome Christmas gifts this year. My parents gave us new tires for our truck & Linc's family gave him an IPAD!

Moving On...

Today was Lincoln's last day at his current job. He learned so much at Clin-Path and really grew close to the people that he worked with. I'm so thankful that this job fell into our laps a year ago. We've been very blessed because of it. The fact that Lincoln won't have a job for years sounds heavenly! I know, I know...medical school is like having a job. But I'm so excited that Linc can focus on just medical school. For so long he was taking care of me & our house & working full-time and going to school. I don't really understand how he did it. I'm SO happy that he won't have to worry about some of those things anymore. 

We are so excited to be moving forward in life. I'm so blessed to have Lincoln by my side. This next chapter of our lives is going to amazing. I just know it!

Now if only I could feel the same way about the actual moving process. I may or may not have asked three different people to come over to my house today to poke my eyes out. This week was a doozy.

Cooper Christmas Party 2010

We had a family Christmas party tonight with my mom's side of the family. Someone had the genius idea of having a Bring-Your-Own-Pizza dinner & bringing soda or dessert to share. This party was so low-key and a lot of fun! I honestly think this was the 4th day in a row that Kylee & I have eaten pizza, but we didn't mind. :)
(Seriously, this whole eating-fast-food-for-almost-every-meal-because-my-dishes-are-packed-and-we-are-crazy-busy thing is probably going to catch up to me soon!)

Kylee sitting at a "big kids' table" enjoying her pizza...

After dinner, the kids acted out the nativity story. Kylee played the part of an angel...

Nixen played the part of a shepherd & had a paper towel roll for a staff. It was cute. :) 

Kylee was very happy to have "Baby Nixen" in the nativity with her...

After that, the kids dressed up in Santa hats & fake beards & sang Christmas songs for us. Kylee looked hilarious in her beard, but wouldn't let me leave it on her long enough to take a picture.

Kylee had a little biting episode at the party that I'd rather not talk about! I really don't like being the mom who has to tell the other moms that my daughter bit their child. Hopefully I won't have to do that too many more times. :)

I really enjoyed spending time with Kylee tonight. She's definitely been put on the back burner since I've been packing up to move, so it felt good to be able to spend some quality time with her!

We had a great time spending time with family & missed my mom (who was sick) & Lincoln (who was working). I had to say goodbye to most of my cousins & aunts & uncles, which was sad. Saying goodbye isn't fun. But at least I know that I will be able to see everyone this summer when we come to visit. I just keep reminding myself of that. :)

P.S. I will also miss eating my Aunt Tricia's chocolate chip cookies. They are heavenly & I definitely enjoyed pigging out on them one last time!

Also...If you are my friend on Facebook, you probably know that I ran my truck into a pole tonight. Yup, it happened when we got home from the party & pulled into our parking space. We have an old, beat-up camper shell on the back of our truck that we are using to move. It is kind of hard to see through when you're backing up. Well, I pulled halfway into my parking space & was so focused on not hitting anything behind me, that I wasn't paying as much attention to what was in front of me & I hit the pole when I pulled forward. Don't worry...three of my neighbors heard the "crunch" & ran out of their houses to see if I was ok. Awesome. Luckily I didn't cry until I got in the house. :) Lincoln just laughed when I told him what had happened. Now that he is home & has seen the damage up close, he's not laughing anymore. Blah.

Moving Update

I thought I should probably write to say that I am feeling a lot calmer about this move now. Lincoln finished school last week, so he has been home until 2pm every day helping me get things done & helping with Kylee. It makes a big difference to not be doing all of it by myself! 

We finally cleared up all of the confusion with Kylee's social security number & card (long story!) & we now have that, as well as her passport. I found out that Kylee & I will get the visas we need at the border. These are temporary tourist visas, so we will both apply for a more permanent visa once we are living in Mexico. Lincoln still needs his student visa, which he will be submitting paperwork for in the next few days. The dogs need their papers stating that they are in good health, but we can't get those until within 5 days of going to Mexico. So we don't have much left to do as far as paperwork goes, which is a huge relief!

Today was our last Sunday at our ward & it was kind of sad. We've been in the 12th ward for 6 1/2 years & have gone through so much during that time. So many ward members have helped us and supported us through our trials. They've mourned when we have mourned, comforted us when we stood in need of comfort & rejoiced with us when we rejoiced! We will really miss our friends from 12th ward. 

Our move date is December 31st. Our goal is to be packed by December 23rd, which is this Thursday. It is so crazy that in 12 days we will be in Mexico!!!

Hiatt Christmas Party 2010

Our annual Hiatt Family Christmas Party (with Linc's dad's side of the family) was yesterday. 

I love that this party is the same every year:

#1- Eat homemade soup (clam chowder, yum!)

#2- A pinata for the kids

#3- Grandpa reads the story of Christ's birth

#4- The kids act out the nativity story

#5- A visit from Santa with a wrapped gift for each of the kids

It felt so nice to just sit back & relax for a few hours at the party. I love the Hiatt family. They make me feel so included. I always have to remind myself who are Lincoln's actual cousins, aunts & uncles and who married into the family, because everyone is treated the same. I think that is a rare thing & I am so thankful to have married into that kind of a family! I think it says a lot about what good, kind, loving people they all are! 

After the soup & pinata, it was time for everyone to gather in the front room for the nativity story. The room is always packed...the Hiatt family is seriously huge. Kylee hadn't gotten a nap that day, so she wasn't wanting to do much except sit on my lap. After the nativity, Santa came. As I said earlier, Kylee is really scared of Santa. This year we stayed across the room from him, but she still didn't appreciate him being there. 

You can see the worried look on her face as she watches Santa talk to the other kids...

We didn't make Kylee sit on Santa's lap when he called her name. Lincoln just got Kylee's gift from Santa & gave it to her.

Unwrapping her gift...

It's EEYORE!!! Kylee loved her gift & immediately gave Eeyore a big hug. Kylee already has 3 stuffed animals that she sleeps with every night (Hello Kitty, Pooh Bear & a teddy bear) so Eeyore makes #4!

It started getting pretty hot in the room & Kylee gets flushed really easily. Her poor cheeks turned bright red. We had to undress her so that she could cool off. During the party she found some babies to hug. She loves giving every baby/kid she sees hugs, but has a hard time letting go of them. :)

Kylee has been really into draping things over her head the past few days. She walked around with her shirt wrapped around her head for awhile at the party. Silly girl.

The Hiatt Christmas Party was once again a success! You'd better believe that we are coming back to the U.S. each year to celebrate the holidays with our families. We would miss out on way too much if we didn't!

Farewell to the Zoo

I was looking through my pictures & realized that I hadn't posted this one that my friend Jana took of Kylee & I at the zoo. I love it. I have been waiting to have a little person by my side, experiencing life with me. It's awesome. I also realized, while looking at this picture, that Kylee & I probably won't have time to go to the zoo again before we move. Huge bummer. We have some fun memories at that place!

Farewell Phoenix Zoo! We already miss you!!!

Friends

I'm trying to hang out with people before we leave, but it is proving to be difficult to find the time! However, yesterday I took time to visit with some friends one last time. I'm so glad that I did.

We met my friend Lindy for breakfast at Crackers. Her little girl Allison is a month older than Kylee. This was the first time that they had seen each other. Kylee started out by showing off (showing Allison her "outie" belly button)...

When that didn't impress her, she decided to use the intimidation tactic...

And by the end they were friends. :)

Lindy & I...

(Love this girl!)

(Lindy's 4-year-old daughter Brooklyn took this picture. We were trying so hard not to laugh...she kept snapping pictures of us super-fast then giving the camera back to us. Probably only funny to Lindy & I. :) )

That night, Kylee & I went to dinner at Red Robin to celebrate some birthdays! Here's the gang, minus Julie, who left before we took the pic. These girls either are or used to be in my ward...

(If you look closely, you can see my face in the top left-hand corner. :) )

It's starting to hit me that I'm leaving all of my friends & family in 2 weeks! So sad. 

If you are wondering how the moving process is going for us...

Kylee is a complete mess because she isn't on her usual schedule & is picking up on the "big change" vibe.

We can only take what we can fit in our truck...so our "packing" consists of making piles of stuff to throw away, give away, store in Snowflake or take with us to Mexico. 

I spend quite a bit of time lying in bed during the night, thinking about everything that needs to be done. 

We haven't received Kylee's passport yet. And we all still need our visas.

BUT I know that everything will somehow come together in time!
It will...won't it? (Cue words of encouragement from you.) :)

Dreyer's Peppermint Ice Cream

Dear Safeway...
Walmart Neighborhood Market...
& Walgreens,

Why on earth do you not carry Dreyer's Peppermint Ice Cream during the holidays?

Dear Lincoln,

Thank you for going to four different stores with me to find my above-mentioned peppermint ice cream. You're the best.

Dear Kylee,

I'm sorry that I made you tag along to those four stores, just so that I could find the ice cream that I wanted. Someday you'll understand.

I buy a carton of Dreyer's Peppermint Ice Cream once every holiday season. It's the best. No seriously, it's one of my favorite things on earth. I almost started crying when I walked out of the third store we tried, without a carton of it in my hands.

Thank goodness for Super Walmart.

Weekend Fun

On Friday, Kylee & I met my mom at Superstition Springs to shop & hang out. Kylee had the stomach flu for a couple of days prior, so it was nice to get out of the house & just have fun!

Grandma took Kylee on her very first carousel ride while we were there...

At first, Kylee didn't know whether to be afraid or excited, but finally decided that she liked it. :)

Then Grandma paid for me to take her on the carousel again. Lucky girl!

I also got to pick out a new outfit for Christmas & Kylee got some new shoes. We had a great time! Thanks for spoiling us Mom!!!

Last night was Lincoln's holiday work party. Let me just say that the food was DELICIOUS. The bacon wrapped chorizo was our favorite I think. I got to meet more of Lincoln's co-workers & the pathologists that he works for. The doctor's house where the party was held was BEAUTIFUL. They gave away some AWESOME prizes at the party, which included video cameras, an iPod Touch & an iPad!

Lincoln works with two of his buddies from high school, so we all carpooled to the party together. I really enjoyed getting to know the guys & their wives better. They are a fun group. 

Linc, Anj, Carly, Brett B., Brett M. & Janae...

Sadly, none of us won the prizes that I mentioned above, although Brett M. did win some Grey Goose vodka. Since he doesn't drink, a lady traded him for her gift card. :) Good times!
And a HUGE thanks to my friend Amber who stepped in & watched Kylee for us when our babysitter fell through!

I woke up with the flu today...but at least it didn't get in the way of me enjoying the party last night! Here's to a speedy recovery for myself so that I can continue getting ready to move!

11 Days Left To Pack!

We're moving in 21 days & have 11 days left to pack (no Sundays or time after Xmas to get it done). I am realizing that it is a really good thing that this move is happening so fast. I don't have much time to be sad or worried about leaving my whole life behind. My days pretty much consist of sleeping, eating & sorting through all of the junk that we've accumulated in the past 6 1/2 years. (Oh, and taking care of Kylee & the dogs!) Luckily, Lincoln's last final is on Wednesday, & then he is ours every morning until he goes to work. Yahoo!!!

I've had multiple people mention that they hope I keep up the blog. Well, since I blog on an almost daily basis now, I really don't think that I will stop blogging when I move! Especially while I am living in Mexico & having crazy adventures that most people don't have. I'll finally have something interesting & exciting to write about!!! Don't worry, I'll include all of the details, so that you will probably feel like you are living in Mexico yourself! I know, I know...you're welcome.

P.S. If you have a blog, will you look on my sidebar & make sure I'm linked to it? If not, please comment with your blog address or send me an invite if it is private. I want to make sure that I keep in touch with all of you!

Oh, and just so you know...if you come to my house, expect me to be in my pajamas & for our house to look like a tornado hit it. No nice, tidy house & Christmas decorations here this year!!!

A Positive Look At Our "Curse"

The "Curse" has struck again...but this time I'm trying to look at it in a more positive light!

1) Our dryer broke a week & a half ago & it can't be fixed, so I've been hauling our laundry over to my parents' house on a regular basis. But at least our washing machine still works (I'd much rather be without a dryer than a washer) & at least my parents only live a few miles away!

2) Daisy has a UTI (I didn't even know dogs could get those), so we spent over $100 for a vet visit & some antibiotics. But thank goodness for a vet who didn't run any of the tests he could have. It saved us a lot of money! And luckily Daisy only needed to go outside every 5 minutes, and had accidents in the house, for one day.

3) Kylee is sick & has been throwing up all over the place. At least she threw up all over Lincoln last night instead of me, and luckily I have a bunch of Febreze on hand, so our house only smells a little bit like throw up! :) And last night I thought I was getting sick too, but it ends up that I'm not. That is a VERY good thing, since we only have 2 weeks left to pack! (We're hoping to be packed by Christmas Eve, so that we can spend time with our families for the few days after Christmas.)

P.S. I've had a lot of people offer to help us pack. We aren't taking very much to Mexico with us, so there isn't much that anyone, besides the two of us, can do right now in that area. THANK YOU so much for offering though!!!

Looking for the Good in Christmas

I loved this talk given by Pres. Uchtdorf during the Christmas devotional this past Sunday. 

"Christmas is a time for remembering the Son of God & renewing our determination to take upon us His name. It is a time to reassess our lives & examine our thoughts, feelings & actions."

"When we prepare for Christmas by pondering its real meaning, we prepare to experience the Christ & His message."

 -Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I am so thankful to have these righteous men in my life. They point me in the right direction & remind me of what & who I need to focus on. When I follow their teachings, I am truly happy & am able to enjoy life to the fullest.

Guess What?

I've been saving this picture that we took months ago for THIS post. This was in Lincoln's fortune cookie...

I will now take the fortunes that I find in my fortune cookies much more seriously, because:

LINCOLN IS GOING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL IN MEXICO!!!

When we found out the news, we just happened to be having lunch at the park with Lincoln's cousin Thomas & his wife Jenn and their kids...who are currently living in Guadalajara, Mexico while Thomas attends medical school there. They were the ones who brought this whole idea up to us in the first place! They started snapping pictures as we found out the news & I'm glad they did, because these pictures are priceless! :)

Getting the news...

 Me freaking out in the corner of the picture after Linc mouthed to me that he got in. :)

 Shedding some tears...

(Such a happy moment!)

Probably the dorkiest picture ever, but me with my hands on my face, exclaiming "I can't believe this! I am so happy! This doesn't even seem real!" I told you...priceless! :)
(This was not posed!)

 "Guess what Kylee? We are moving to Mexico!"

 Lincoln looking like his mind is still reeling from the news, while I am grinning from ear to ear & Kylee doesn't know what is going on...

 It's true...WE ARE GOING TO MEXICO!!!

We may leave before New Years, depending on when Thomas & Jenn leave to go back to Mexico. Now I'm off to pack!!! :)

Temple Lights

On Saturday night we met Brad, Melissa & Nixen at the Mesa Temple lights...

My dad was in charge of security there that night, so we got to see him too.

Kylee loved riding on Linc's shoulders & giving him hugs...

Enjoying time with my girl...

Steering Linc in the right direction...

Love this picture of Meliss & Nixen!

Kylee was SO excited to see the temple lights this year. I'm guessing we will go back a few times this month, especially on nights that Lincoln works late. (We're always looking for new, fun ways to get out of the house & pass the time when Linc is gone. :) ) Thanks for the fun night guys!

A Few Things That Make Me Smile...

Kylee & Lincoln watching football together.

Kylee resting her feet on her Daddy's.

Daisy & Duke playing tug-of-war with my sock.

The simple things in life are probably my favorite.

Cousin Love

KYLEE

+

NIXEN

=

TRUE LOVE ALWAYS

Kylee adores Nixen. And when Nixen isn't afraid that Kylee is going to clobber him, he adores her too. :)

Kylee 16 Months

Kylee hit the 16-month mark at the end of November. I think she is starting to look a lot more like a little girl now, rather than a baby. I always heard that it was crazy how fast your kids grow up, but I never really understood until recently! Time really does seem to go by more quickly as a parent.

Kylee has learned a lot this past month. She knows how to say some new words, including the phrase, "What is that?" I thought she had said it a few times, but decided I was just imagining things, until multiple people told me that Kylee had asked them that as well. She uses it in the right context too...it's kind of crazy. 

She loves copying sounds, especially cars, motorcycles & ambulances. She is really afraid of the garbage truck. She has started trying to say "Thank you" but leaves off the "k" & the "you" ("Than!"). Her favorite food right now is bananas (she asks for one at least twice a day) and she is in love with the "Pillow Pets" commercial. Kylee has discovered how to run & jump and injures herself a lot more now. :) She loves music, & she dances on command, she brings books to me during the day & asks me to read to her, and she likes sitting on Lincoln's shoulders & rubbing his short hair.

Kylee blows on her food when it is hot (& blows on the fire in my parents' fireplace), says "Cold!" whenever she is cold or when she sees water outside, and tries to copy the "BRRR!" sound I make with my lips when I am cold.  When I change her diaper, she waves her hand in front of her nose & makes a sound, letting me know that it smells. She also does this when she lets out a burp (or anything else)...it is hilarious. Since Kylee was about 10 months old, she has been going to nursery with Linc & I every Sunday, because we are nursery workers. Kylee loves playing with the older kids & loves the fact that she can play with toys & eat snacks during church! It used to be so obvious that she was a lot younger than the nursery kids, but now she is starting to blend in with them & does pretty much everything that they do. It's awesome!

We've also started implementing "time out" & it seems to be working so far. I do have to hold Kylee there because she isn't old enough to stay there herself, but she understands that she has done something wrong & is good about saying sorry to whoever she hurt or upset. We'll see if it works...she is such a good girl but has a problem attacking other kids sometimes. :)

Now that I've written almost every detail of what Kylee is doing at this stage of her life, here are some pictures from the past few weeks.

Kylee FINALLY has enough hair to put in pigtails!!!

She also loves digging in the trash can! I usually have to stick it in the bathroom, so she can't get into it.

Eating pizza at Grandma & Grandpa's house...

Oreo cookies are one of her favorite desserts...

This picture shows off her mullet too. :)

She gets SO excited when Daddy lets her pretend to drive the truck!

This picture cracks me up...we may have a future blogger on our hands!

Kylee is OBSESSED with shoes. She brings me fancy church shoes to put on her during the day. This time she wanted to wear her pink & white Sunday shoes with her thermal pajamas. Cute huh?

Lincoln was cleaning & packing while I was gone one day, & he gave Kylee some stickers to entertain herself with. It worked!

Kylee loves having Linc home on the weekends. Every Monday, when Lincoln goes back to school & work, Kylee asks me multiple times that day where Daddy is. She sure does adore him! Maybe because he lets her do whatever she wants to him...like stacking books on his stomach & sitting on his head!

Kylee is a girl with a strong will (which I keep telling myself can be a really good thing!) and is so affectionate, funny & friendly toward those around her. We love you Kylee!

'Tis The Season To Be Jolly...

...But apparently Kylee didn't get the memo!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!