Updates on the kids and their quirks

ZADE

Ever since around Christmas Zade has been in love with pomegranates.  He constantly asks for them.  They're hard to find at the store now, but I recently found them in the frozen fruit section of Cosco.  When we have them, Zade asks for a bowl of pomegranates every day, sometimes multiple times a day, and he randomly inserts the word pomegranate into every day conversation, such as, "This smells like pomegranates."

Zade still likes to be escorted to the bathroom.  He will do everything else himself, but he insists that I walk with him to the bathroom and turn on the light. (He can reach the light.) If Dane and I are both in the house Zade almost always insists that I walk him to the bathroom, not Dane.  If I do not come quickly enough he begins panicking and yelling, and dancing in a circle.

ARIA

Aria's is always singing one of her favorite songs: "Call Me Maybe" by Carlie Rae Jepsen, "Diamond" by Rihanna, or "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson.  Yes, all female singers.  She knows all the words, and managed to learn them simply by listening to the radio during car rides.  If we don't turn on the radio, or if we switch songs without her permission, she gets really angry. For her, it's pop music or bust.

Aria also has this funny habit of shouting out "Mommy's right, Daddy's wrong" whenever Dane and I have different opinions on something.  You can tell she's a momma's girl.  She'll even say it when we're having discussions it couldn't possibly apply to.  She get's a kick out of saying it.

Waiting for Ryzen

We went to Toys 'R Us on Saturday and looked at bikes for the kids.  Aria hasn't had a bike that fits her size for over a year.  We debated buying the bike now or when we get to Pennsylvania, and guess who won the debate?  Aria wanted the Barbie bike, which happened to be on sale and came with a free barbie.  We told Aria that she now has to bike instead of ride in the stroller, which is good timing since there won't be room in the stroller once Ryzen arrives.  We plan to buy Zade a nice two-wheeler also, but we'll wait until Pennsylvania since he is still fond of cruising around on his tricycle.

Here I am 39 weeks pregnant.  I've never been pregnant longer than 39 weeks, so it looks like Ryzen plans to stay in the longest.  I've been sleeping amazingly well the past week which I partly credit to the awesome new pillows and sheets that I just purchased at Cosco. Dane refuses to use the new pillow, even though he admits it's pretty awesome.  He thinks one should sleep on the same pillow their entire life (assuming the pillow hasn't gotten bed bugs or disintegrated), and so he is not using his new pillow and is saving it for me when I decide I'm done with my current new one.

Dane always knows if I've slept well at night because I'm still in bed in the morning, and not asleep on the couch.  If I can't sleep I go downstairs and sleep on the couch. The main problem with sleeping on the couch is that the sun comes in through the blinds around 4:30 AM and then the kids come downstairs around 6:00 AM and sleeping is over.  But if I'm desperate, I still resort to the couch.

I still manage to do most everything that I normally do.  I'm debating whether to go to my yoga class this week.  I almost pulled some muscles in my back a week ago so I know I need to be careful.  But I have managed to do yoga the entire pregnancy, which I really feel has helped me to feel healthy and less stressed.  Note: I am the only pregnant lady that seems to take yoga classes at this gym. :)

A few pregnancy complaints that I've been having the past few weeks are: 1) my uterus usually feels extremely tight by dinnertime and often until bedtime.  It often feels like I'm just having one constant contraction. (Not a comfortable feeling.) 2) I occasionally get a tight, pulling sensation in the upper right part of my abdomen that does not go away unless I sit or lie down, and gets much worse if I'm walking, or trying to do chores.  I guess that's not too bad.  I think I can hold out one more week until little Ryzen joins our family.

PhD Graduation

This week I graduated from the University of Arizona with my PhD in Management (with an emphasis in Accounting).  I can hardly believe it's actually occurred, but after 5 years here, I've finally accomplished it. Before I ever started the program I had this impression come into my mind once that I would be able to accomplish this.  At the time, I thought that was a weird thought, since I had never questioned my ability to do it.  However, once I got into the program, I became grateful for that impression, because there were definitely times where I wondered if I would make it through (particularly when going through econometrics). However, with the help of divine Providence, and a ton of hard work, things worked out.

We had what likely is the largest graduating class ever from our department, which made for a lot of fun.  Here's a picture of our group, along with where we'll be going for our jobs: Curtis Hall (Drexel), Phil Lamoreux (Arizona State), myself (Penn State), Landon Mauler (Florida State), Dave Kenchington (Arizona State), and Tim Hinkel (Kent State).  I'll miss all these great guys.  They have made this program a wonderful experience.

The Accounting department had a nice graduation lunch for the MAcc and PhD students on Friday, and then the entire business school had a graduation ceremony for Masters, MBA's and PhD students on Saturday evening.

Amazingly, the kids were well behaved during the entire ceremony.  I couldn't believe it.

My parents also came down from Oregon for graduation.  It was great having them here.  My family had great seats on the 3rd row to watch graduation.  The only downside for my dad, who was sitting by the aisle, was that one of the masters students on the other side of the aisle had arrived at graduation totally smashed and during the ceremony she hurled all over herself.  Since he's a sympathy puker, he barely was able to keep from doing the same.  Good times. :)

The kids had fun playing with the mortar board cap afterwards.

Here's the picture I was given at graduation.

Derek and Nicole's Wedding

Right after I returned to Arizona after house hunting in Pennsylvania, I flew out to Oregon for my brother Derek's wedding.  He and Nicole were married in the Portland Oregon temple.  Now all of my siblings are married, and each has married in the temple (i.e. so that the marriage doesn't end with death).  The weather was perfect for the wedding (upper 70's and low 80's).  We were also fortunate enough to have my cousin's Andy and Trent Day join us from Utah, along with Andy's son Jaron.  Since Tara is 36 weeks pregnant, she and the kids unfortunately were not able to attend. 

Here's Derek and Nicole posing for pictures.