8 Months Old and Oh So Big!



At the hospital

8 months ago I woke Taylor up at 4:00 AM and we headed off to Logan Regional Hospital. We had no idea what we were doing.  Baby Declan wasn't supposed to arrive for another month!  With my water broken and nurses wishing us a happy baby day, we started to acknowledge it was really happening.  I emailed my students to cancel class; Taylor ate a sandwich and went back to sleep. We had a wonderful nurse that checked in every hour or so and Taylor helped me through each contraction. After 5 hours of labor and a passionate declaration of never going through this again, our family grew by one.  Declan was a tiny baby at just 17.5 inches long and weighing in at 5 lbs 14 oz, but he filled up our lives and changed them forever.


  

Such a big cutie!

He is now 8 months old and smack dab in the middle of the charts at about 20 inches long and 20 lbs.  He sits up on his own and crawls everywhere! He is a happy baby unless he is tired or sick.  When I take him out shopping I always get comments about his cute chubby legs and long blonde hair.  We sure love this kiddo and can't believe he is growing up so fast!










Family Updates:

Tired Sunday Nap

 Taylor: School is keeping Taylor busy and frustrated.  It has been a stressful semester as exams have been spread out instead of grouped together.  It may seem like a good thing, but it would be easier to have one stressful test week out of every three instead of a test every single week.  He is also putting together his schedule for next year and hoping for some opportunities for research during his 4th year rotations.   Hopefully some of his locations will be scheduled close to family so we can visit! 



 Elise: At this point in the year, each day seems blurred together.  I'm working on teaching every spare minute.  I contact students during the day and help them with assignments then I grade and prep once Declan is down for the night.  I also attempt to clean up our apartment from time to time and work on random projects.  My current project that must get done is Declan's Halloween costume.  He is going to dress up like Taylor and be a miniature vet student.  I have to get his scrubs sewn in time for the vet school party and my work costume photo competition. 




Playing

 Declan:  Every day Declan wakes up and plays with his toys, but lately he has been loving anything that isn't a toy.  He loves shoes, cords, paper, leaves, anything he can get his hands on before we take it away.  I try to give him enough attention throughout the day, but at most of the time he is happiest on his own just crawling around making mischief. 

Everyday Living

Our morning trail

Declan and I go jogging together in the morning on a little path next to our apartment.  Every morning we get up and walk past the bunny rabbits in our yard, watch the birds fly around chirping, jog through the rolling wheat fields, and just miss home!  Pullman is a great place to be, but we definitely miss having our family close by and the familiarity of living in Logan.  However, we are making fabulous friends here and I know it will be just as hard to leave when Taylor is done as it was to leave Utah.  With the school year well underway we've gotten into our routines and the days seem to fly by! 

Family Updates:

Taylor: I asked Taylor what he has been doing lately that deserved mentioning in this section and he replied, "absolutely nothing."  Basically, he has already been sucked into vet school and I've lost my husband for the next two years (he goes straight into 4th year without a break).  He has been working hard in school and successfully made it through his first two exams. He has also been looking into his schedule for what things he would like to do for his 4th year as they do a lot of clinical rounds and they actually get quite a bit of freedom when it comes to choosing the type and sometimes even the location of those opportunities.  He is still hoping to go into research and development, so hopefully he'll be able to do some of his 4th year exploring options in that area.

Elise: I've had a hard time keeping up with everything this month! When I sit down at the computer it is usually to try and squeeze some work time in so I've neglected giving everyone an update on our adventures.  The school year is going well and I'm definitely enjoying working with my students.  It is hard to get anything done when Declan decides he doesn't want to nap, but we are into a routine and things are going well. I've also been able to enjoy some time creating things for our little home now that Declan sleeps in his crib and has a more consistent bed time.  As a picture is worth a thousand words, you can see for yourself what I've been up to!


I painted a jar for my shelf, but haven't found anything else to put up there yet!
 I also finished the shelves for our guest bathroom and painted a letter for Declan's door to match his animal wall decals.

Declan: This little guy is growing up so fast!  He is starting solids, doing well with sleep training, moving around (rolling, getting up on all fours, spinning in circles), and even swimming during our parent/child swim lessons.  He still loves going outside and watching the cars drive by and he has also started enjoying the chance to play on the grass.  His hair is even getting so long that I worry we'll need to cut it! He's almost 7 months old and he definitely brightens up our life!

Where Did Summer Go?

Wow! The last three weeks have flown by.  I don't know how, but we managed to fill up our days and as of tomorrow our summer is officially over!  We've spent the last three weeks visiting friends, attending the LDS Temple in Spokane, getting ready for school and work, and who knows what else! At least we feel like our little family is planted and thriving in our new place.

 

Family Updates:
Taylor: A lot of time went to working on building a patio this month.  Taylor was able to work with some of his WSU professors at their home as they tried to finish their brick patio before the summer's end.  Taylor had fun working out in the sun all day and earning a little bit of money too!  He also found plenty of time to catch up with his shows and enjoy Netflix.  It will be a long time before he gets to do that again! 

Elise:  I turned 28!  I can't believe how old I am getting. It is odd to look in the mirror and see a mom staring back at me.  When did growing up happen?  I made myself a delicious ice cream cake to celebrate, culminating our summer of Tillamook flavors.  Favorites are still Cookie Dough and White Chocolate Raspberry.  I'm excited to start teaching this week.  It will be interesting to see how it goes, but I'm ready for the challenge and the routine that responsibilities will bring into our life.

Here's my little ball of towel!

Declan:  He is still a rolling fool, but still hasn't figured out that crawling doesn't require his face. I'm betting a few more rug burns on his nose before he realizes that it takes getting up on both arms and legs to do the job.  We also started letting him be in the big bath tub instead of his baby tub.  He loves laying in the warm water and splashing to his hearts content. I can't wait to take him swimming as I think he will love it!  We also started sleep training, so he has cried more than ever.  However, he is sleeping in his crib most of the night and for longer stretches of time.  In the end hopefully this means a happier baby (and a happier daddy). 

Wish us luck as the semester starts and work begins!

August Already?!

Wow! I can't believe how fast time has gone.  Only three weeks of summer vacation left!  Taylor starts school on August 25th which is the same day UCA starts classes. (I'll actually start training and lesson prep this week, but students won't be back until then.)  The best part of this week was having Taylor's parents up to visit!  It is so nice to have extra hands around to help with Declan, so if anyone else wants to visit please do!  I had fun shopping craft stores and doing Jamberry nails with my mother-in-law Debbie and we all went out to dinner together Friday night.  We also went to the WSU creamery and tried the ice cream.  I still don't know that anything can fill the void of flavors like True Aggie and Aggie Blue Mint, but it was definitely a close second.

Two handsome guys ready for church!

Family Updates:
Taylor:  We thought it couldn't be any worse than "Sharknado", but Taylor managed to find another cheesy shark video that at the very least ties if not defeats it.  "Megaladon vs Mechaladon" was Taylor's movie of choice this week. An extinct Megaladon shark is released from an iceberg so of course the government chooses to take it out by building their own giant mechanical shark.  Which works well until it goes rouge, transforms into tank mode, and starts terrorizing Australia.  I don't know how Taylor will survive the semester without watching such classy films.  He hasn't had any new projects to work on, but he did finally hang his USU poster straight so I wouldn't be driven crazy by its crookedness! 

Elise:  I went to JoAnn's and Michael's this weekend and ended up with a whole slew of new crafting projects.  They had wooden crates on sale for $9.99 and with my coupon I got another $2.50 off! I'll be using those to make some shelving for our guest bathroom.  Wood crafts were 80% off at Michael's so I have a bunch of small frames for a collage I want to put up on our wall.  I hope that the reality ends up being as good as I have it pictured!  I still am working on a lot of sewing projects as well.   I should have lot to keep me busy this month! I'll post finished projects as I get them done.

Declan:  He can roll onto his tummy without thinking about it at all now! The only problem is that he then tries to crawl using just his legs and his face.  He hasn't realized that arms need to be involved in the process.  He gets frustrated and I have to pick him up after a while because I'm worried he'll get a rug burn on his nose!  He has also had a cold this past week.  We thought it was getting a little better, but last night his cough started to sound a little like the croup so we're keeping a close eye on him.  Hopefully he gets well soon!

We're finally starting to feel that there is a routine to our days and we are enjoying Pullman, even though we mostly sit inside enjoying the air conditioner.  Hopefully we can fit in more fun summer memories before we're back to the daily grind that school brings!

Our Pullman Place

This week I wanted to show off our new place! The blog update is a little late because I had to get pictures while the rooms where relatively clean, which was harder to do than I would've liked! We were very excited to upgrade from our studio/1 bedroomish apartment to this bigger place-we have so many doors!



Our Living Room! Taylor still needs to straighten his USU poster and I want to do some type of world map by the shelves above the couch.

The Kitchen! I love my curtains and this room is pretty bright and cheery.  Dishwasher and disposal are the best things ever! I still need things to go on my shelf.

The top pictures are the Master Bathroom and the bottom pictures are the Guest Bathroom.  I still need shelving in the guest bath.

Master Bedroom. I still need curtains and some décor to fill in the blank spots on the walls, but when it is clean it looks very nice!

Declan's room is coming along. I can't decide if I should raise the decals up higher on the wall or leave them as it.  I also want to put his name up by the picture frame.

We also have a guest bedroom, but it is also my sewing room and is currently more of a disaster than I could tackle.  I do have to have it clean by the time Grandma and Grandpa Hatton get here this weekend, so I'll update with pictures of that room when I can!

Family Updates:
Taylor: Taylor is thoroughly enjoying his free trial of Amazon Prime streaming.  He even watched Sharknado which has to be one of the worst movies of all time.  He is getting ready for school to start at the end of August and is getting all of his necessary items.  His biggest complaint is that the electronic versions of things cost exactly the same as getting the print versions, but luckily he only needs the notes printed by the university and possibly one book. 

Elise: I'm still trying to keep the apartment in order, which is hard during lazy summer days.  I'm feeling about ready for school to start just for the structure that it will bring to our schedule. I am excited to be preparing for teaching, which was a pleasant surprise from this past week.  I'll be taking on the Earth Science course at UCA (where I taught full-time last year).  It should be very flexible. Just enough to keep me busy, but still be able to have Declan be my number one priority.  Plus, it also means needing less student loan dollars which is definitely a good thing!  I was feeling nostalgic with all the signs for back to school and teacher discounts, so this is the perfect solution.

Declan: He is a rolling fool!  Declan can now successfully go from his back to his tummy and from his tummy to his back.  I'm starting to feel up to doing some serious sleep training, so I'm tracking his sleep and feeding this week so we can jump into that the first week of August.  He still hates his rice cereal, so we're not trying any additional solids yet.  He loves sitting and looking around, especially outside and loves more physical play (like being tossed gently in the air).  If he gets overtired, he becomes a bit punch drunk and you can get him giggling like mad at just about anything.  He also made friends this past week with our neighbor's cat Oreo and our friend's dog Davis.  He got licked in the face a lot and didn't seem to mind.  He may be a mini-vet in the making!

 



Catching Up: Another Week in Pullman

This past Sunday we ended up being crazy busy! So I'm a week behind on updating you all on our adventures.  We attend church meetings every Sunday in Moscow, Idaho.  Taylor and I had both been asked to speak during the first hour meeting and during the third hour I was teaching the lesson.  We had prepared for those tasks and Declan was a trooper!  Right before meetings began, we met with a member of the Bishopric (church leaders) and they asked me to serve in the Primary Presidency.  This means that every week I will get to attend second hour meetings with all the children in our ward.  We don't have too many above age three, but by December there will be at least 23 nursery age (18 month-3 year old) children!  So Sunday afternoon was spent in meetings talking about the needs of all these cute kiddos and then Taylor and I were invited to stay for dinner with some of our neighbors.  Everyone here has been so nice and friendly!  Unfortunately, I haven't taken too much time to escape outside to socialize. A lot of our neighbors go outside during the heat of the day, but our apartment is one of the lucky units that has an air conditioner.  I dread the upcoming utility bill, but it is so worth it!  We just stay inside and cool all day.   We have definitely hit the mid-summer slump where Taylor and I are both a bit bored.  We keep telling ourselves that it is okay for us to be lazy for a few more weeks, because once vet school starts Taylor will be crazy busy.  We keep finding random errands to run and keep us busy.  We drove to Lewiston and got some wooden t.v. dinner trays that work great as tables for my sewing machine and serger. We are working our way through lots of movies and books.  I just finished the Harry Potter book series again and we are working on watching all of the Planet of the Apes movies. We are also doing very well with our goal of trying all the flavors of Tillamook ice cream.  Here's the rankings so far:
1. White Chocolate and Raspberry Yum
2. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
3. Tillamook Mudslide
4. Udderly Chocolate
5. Chocolate and Peanut Butter Swirl
6. Huckleberry
7. Fireside S'mores

Taylor's WSU blanket
(He declined being in the picture)

8. Grandma's Cake Batter

Family Updates:
Taylor: He finished up his blanket project and it looks great! He also went biking with our neighbor and was motivated enough to do his own 14 mile route two days later.   Taylor has been doing great with getting in shape this summer and has lost 10 pounds.  He also spends time working on his Senior paper and surfin' the web.







My stylin' do

Elise: I think the biggest thing I've done recently was cut off all of my hair.  I still go back and forth on whether or not I like it. One day I'll be feeling super cool and stylish and the next I'll be wondering if I look like a boy and feeling like it looks more like a 70s shag cut than a trendy look.  I've also spent a lot of time on Facebook this week as I've been hosting an online Jamberry party. It is fun to have all of the tools to be in touch with so many family members and friends. Technology is so cool sometimes!

Tasting cereal for the first time. 

Declan: He is getting so big! I can't believe he is already 20 weeks old.  He'll be starting solid foods soon, but I let him taste some rice cereal and he wasn't a fan.  Taylor also got him to roll from his tummy to his back four times in a row!  Unfortunately, he has refused to do it since.  He is a super happy boy during the day.  He has had a few random days where he seems to have some teething pain and he'll scream, but luckily it only lasts for a day or two before he is back to his usual self.  We are still working on getting bedtime routines down and then from there we will progress to having him stay asleep when we set him down and hopefully sleeping in his own crib!


We also had an amazing dinner and family home evening with our neighbors last week.  There are so many wonderful people here in Pullman, and we're excited to keep making friends. However, it doesn't stop us from missing all of you. Please keep in touch and I'll continue with the updates!

Fourth of July Fun

For Taylor and I, one of the HARDEST things about moving to Pullman was the fact that for two years we would be far away from our family members in Utah. 

Hatton Family
{Photo Credit: Tasha Poulsen Photography}

                 

Rasmussen Family

However, one of the BEST things about moving to Pullman is the fact that for two years we will be close to our family members in Washington! 

Last week I was excited to receive an invitation to have our little family attend Fourth of July celebrations with my Aunt Ruth Ann and Uncle David. Their family lives on a farm just outside of Toppenish.  Their three daughters (my cousins Marci, Tawni, and Melody) all live relatively close by and it made for quite the party!  We wanted to break up the 3 1/2 hour drive, so on Thursday we drove over to Grandma and Grandpa Tuckett's house in Mesa.  Grandma welcomed us with her usual supply of food and ice cream.  We even broke out one of the movies my Aunt Sheri recently sent to her. On Friday we all piled into Grandma's car for the trip.  It was fun to drive past all of the farms and orchards.  Grandma narrated the drive with stories about the family while Grandpa listed off the crops he could see and asked where we were about every three fields or so.  Taylor and I also enjoyed seeing Mount Rainer and Mount St. Helen's on the horizon and Grandma told us we should try to make a trip out that way sometime. 

In Toppenish I made a point to look out for the murals, and I'm pretty sure I was able to pick out the mural completed by my friend and UCA co-worker Helen Olsen.  I'd love to take the time to go back and explore more of the "City of Murals".  We spent the afternoon eating tons of food at the Kezar's luau themed barbeque and watched the kids enjoy the sandbox, makeshift kiddie pool, and water slide.  Grandpa was soon ready to get back home to his own bed, but luckily some homemade Butterfinger ice cream was ready for us before we left!  It was the kind of delicious stuff my Dad would have loved! 

Grandma was nice enough to let us stay one more night and we headed back to Pullman on Saturday morning.  Traveling sure made us tired, but being able to be around family this Fourth of July made it all worth it!

Family Updates:
Taylor: This week Taylor found some WSU fleece and decided to make a no-sew tie blanket.  We used some JoAnn's coupons to purchase the materials and he has been working at measuring, cutting, and tying.  He also made it through all three Jurassic Park movies and still found time to play on the Xbox when he wasn't watching Declan.

Elise: I had fun shopping at WinCo this past week and for me figuring out grocery shopping has always been a big part of feeling settled and at home.  I still remember sobbing after leaving my bag of groceries on the bus in my first area in Portugal.  Culture shock can be rough!  I'm still adjusting to having my days be about taking care of Declan and our home, but hopefully I'll be able to settle into a routine before Taylor starts school in August!

Declan: We've gone through more outfits this week than we have in a long time!  Declan has been spitting up a lot, but he has also been giving us lots of laughs.  He did great on our trip and rarely cried in the car.  He loved talking to Grandma Tuckett and Aunt Ruth Ann even got him to laugh.  He is still working hard at trying to move around.  

 

We are enjoying our Pullman adventure so far, but miss all of you!

Welcome to Pullman!

The view from our apartment.  We usually can see bunnies, quail, robins, and
magpies from our back porch.  We even had a little green frog as a visitor last week!

I'm excited for the chance to use this blog to stay in touch with family and friends while we have our Pullman adventure!  We are further away from some of you and closer now to others, but I hope we enjoy this temporary change in geography as Taylor works on finishing his DVM degree.  Washington is definitely different than Utah. We've had more rain in the past three weeks here than I remember in the past year in Utah.  We don't have mountain views, but the rolling wheat fields are gorgeous.  I miss my favorite grocery stores, but Wal-Mart is the same wherever you go which is comforting.  We're still working on getting the apartment settled. Once I have things more in their place (and cleaner) I'll post some pictures of our new spacious living quarters.  Three rooms and two bathrooms sure is luxury living!

Family Updates:
Taylor: While still finding time to complain about how short summer is and how quickly this next year of vet school will begin, Taylor has been finding ways to enjoy spending his time.  We've definitely been watching a lot of movies and he has loved having the time to play on his Xbox.  At least, I think he enjoys it. Sometimes with all the yelling and frustration at the games it can be hard to tell....He also found a jogging trail he enjoys using every morning.  He jogs down the road about two miles to the grizzly bear cages that house the bears used for campus research.  Taylor has also been really good at figuring out all the things we have to navigate as a new student family in the area. 

Elise: I'm finally feeling a bit more settled in our new home.  I have almost all the rooms organized (emptied another box just last night!) and am starting to have a bit of routine to my days.  I still get panicky at times about not teaching this upcoming school year.  I was close to applying for a part time science position at the local high school when Declan started to cry.  He did a good job reminding me that my work this year needs to be at home!  I'm hoping to start a fitness routine using Taylor's Xbox live account.  There are lots of workout videos with challenges and it keeps track of my achievements which is fun.  I've also been enjoying the lazy summer days to catch up on reading some of my favorite books.

Declan: At four months old Declan is turning into quite the chunky monkey.  He rolled over once, but has to be on an incline in order to do so.  He hasn't seemed that interested in moving and tummy time usually consists of him rubbing his face into the carpet.  He does love grabbing things now, which means I am now looking into getting a hair cut.  The grip and pull of little hands can be quite painful!  He loves his tag blanket (made by Stephanie Kawamura) because he can grasp and pull the ribbons into his mouth.  He has also started to jabber a lot more and loves having long conversations, especially when he wakes up in the morning.

We miss all of you and look forward to making new friendships here in Washington!