I just wanted to give a shout out to our new ward. (Disclaimer: this doesn't mean that previous wards we were in were mean/not nice/not welcoming etc).
We have truly been blown away by how awesome and nice our new ward is. Being an introvert, I am very much aware of the effort it takes to make new friends/become familiar with a new ward. If I stayed with what I was comfortable with-I'd be instantly pegged as a shy/quiet/boring girl and so I've tried to make an extra effort to go out of my way in meeting new people/participating in ward functions etc knowing that once people know me THEN I can relax/be myself without having to worry about being put in the "shy" box. (I'm not shy, I'd prefer to sit by friends/chat but also don't mind sitting by myself.)
The day we moved in our neighbors came over to welcome us, later that week we were invited over for cake and icecream (thanks zoe- we gotta get together for games!), and just after that we were invited over to play games with some other families in the ward. I know, SO NICE. We were visited by the Relief Society, Elders Quorum, and Bishopric members within the first two-ish weeks of being here, and our home teachers came last sunday. I can't tell you the last time we were visited by home teachers-so excited! I've been invited over for play dates/to come lift weights a couple mornings a week with the sisters and I've been to choir/want to go to the book club. Needless to say, I'm trying to make an effort and so is the ward. I can really see how powerful it can be to reach out/what a difference it makes, and so I have a new resolve to go out of my way to say hi to people but ESPECIALLY new people.
Code and I invited our neighbors over for dinner/FHE last night and it was really fun getting to know them and feeling comfortable helping each other out in the future if need be. Jake INSTANTLY warmed up to them haha (they're not old but they're empty-nesters already so I think he was totally digging their grandparent vibe-he LOVES anyone that's similar ages to his own grandparents). I think they'll become his pseudo- grandparents. After we had gotten back from inviting them some other neighbors stopped by to introduce themselves-really cool/nice and we chatted for a little bit. I'm just not used to this-I love being by extroverted people cause I don't have to do as much-they just come over and make the effort haha.
Jake had his first nursery experience and he did really well. He seemed interested in the room with lil kids at first so we went in without a problem and sat him on one of the small chairs etc. He started to sense that I was going to leave and started to get clingy but I handed him to the teacher-SUCH a sweet sister- and he cried...ok screamed...at first after I left but they said he calmed down pretty quick and was still sulky/but not crying for a bit and when they brought the toys out he was just fine (they have a mini basketball hoop). I was so proud of him but I won't lie, I did enjoy seeing his eyes light up when I came to get him and him running to me.
We've already got callings but I guess I'll wait til after they announce it to say what, but we're excited/looking forward to them. All and all we are loving our new home and ward!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
mommy win
Have you ever thought about how utterly unique and crazy the relationship of mom and child is? No disrespect intended of course-there's a serious side of the question, but think about it: how would it ever be ok for a stranger to come up to you and hand you some trash they found on the ground, or sneeze in your face, or need a hug, or need help going to the bathroom, or throw things at your head, etc. but if they're your kid-it's totally acceptable/even expected, no questions asked. I was just thinking the other day about how funny it would be if Studio C did a skit that showed how ridiculous it is-the things we moms go through-and to highlight the utter nonsense of it by replacing the kid with a random person on the street/in the store etc.
I feel like it's safe to say that I have a toddler, and that the "terrible 2s" aren't age specific. Don't get me wrong, in general Jake is great etc, but I'm DEF seeing more of a personality/opinion coming out now a days. I feel like he's bipolar. He's either really happy/laughing/smiling or scrunching his face up in a grimace and fake crying/whining. Now I know why they call it the terrible 2's-not just cause the kid is frustrated/resisting everything and has sooo much energy trapped inside a tiny body etc, but it's a stage that is so hard cause they can't really communicate with you very well and you can't reason with them-there's this disconnect.
I mean, don't get me wrong, even tho Jake isn't talking a lot yet-he understands A LOT. He folds his arms when asked and says "Ameh" at the end of prayers, We tell him to sit down and he does, He knows what and where his chair is in the kitchen, we can ask him to put his shoes away and he takes them to the basket by the back door no problem, can identify some animals by sight/point to them, find things you ask him for (balls, blankets, sippy, books-we can tell him specific titles and he'll go find the one book from all the rest, etc). He understands A LOT but he can be SO irrational sometimes in his reactions to things. And I never know what is going to set him off. Sometimes he's his normal chill self and other times he's enraged over silly things.
He also is discovering/experimenting with the FULL range of his voice, and when I say full I mean full. My ears ring sometimes after his screeches/screams-code and I can't even hear each other, and he's not even mad/upset, he's just playing with his voice I guess, and the minute you say no or don't he does it more. Now of course if he were old enough to understand why that volume is NOT ok for inside, it would be easily fixed-he'd go outside until he could be the proper volume (I am auditorial-y sensitive and I will NOT have one of those households where all the kids are running/screaming/you can't hear yourself think), but he's 18 mo old and doesn't know better.
It helps tho to put myself in his shoes. For example, I'm trying to make dinner earlier tonight and had given him some green beans to nibble on cause I knew it'd tie him over, but eventually he was wandering the kitchen whining/fake crying like normal. I was seconds away from getting frustrated when the thought occurred: he misses you/your attention. So I stopped and asked do you want a hug? and sure enough he ran into my arms. Now did this mean he was happy and content for the rest of the dinner prep time? no, he went back to whining as soon as I had to put him down cause the sauce was boiling, but it helped put things in perspective for me. I kept repeating the lyrics to that cheesy country song over and over in my head about how "you're going to miss this, you're going to want this back, you're going to wish these days hadn't flown by so fast" to try and keep perspective. I want to see this time for the novel/unique time that it is, this rare and fleeting stage that Jake is in.
My mommy win of the day? Not caring that Jake spit out some of his dinner on the floor cause I hadn't bothered to mop it earlier. Mommy win. Hey, we gotta take every win we can get, and there really are a lot of them :)
In hind sight I see why it took him so long to fall asleep tonight (was babbling in his bed for 2 hrs after we put him down -he was wired, and we thought we could tire him out haha
I feel like it's safe to say that I have a toddler, and that the "terrible 2s" aren't age specific. Don't get me wrong, in general Jake is great etc, but I'm DEF seeing more of a personality/opinion coming out now a days. I feel like he's bipolar. He's either really happy/laughing/smiling or scrunching his face up in a grimace and fake crying/whining. Now I know why they call it the terrible 2's-not just cause the kid is frustrated/resisting everything and has sooo much energy trapped inside a tiny body etc, but it's a stage that is so hard cause they can't really communicate with you very well and you can't reason with them-there's this disconnect.
I mean, don't get me wrong, even tho Jake isn't talking a lot yet-he understands A LOT. He folds his arms when asked and says "Ameh" at the end of prayers, We tell him to sit down and he does, He knows what and where his chair is in the kitchen, we can ask him to put his shoes away and he takes them to the basket by the back door no problem, can identify some animals by sight/point to them, find things you ask him for (balls, blankets, sippy, books-we can tell him specific titles and he'll go find the one book from all the rest, etc). He understands A LOT but he can be SO irrational sometimes in his reactions to things. And I never know what is going to set him off. Sometimes he's his normal chill self and other times he's enraged over silly things.
He also is discovering/experimenting with the FULL range of his voice, and when I say full I mean full. My ears ring sometimes after his screeches/screams-code and I can't even hear each other, and he's not even mad/upset, he's just playing with his voice I guess, and the minute you say no or don't he does it more. Now of course if he were old enough to understand why that volume is NOT ok for inside, it would be easily fixed-he'd go outside until he could be the proper volume (I am auditorial-y sensitive and I will NOT have one of those households where all the kids are running/screaming/you can't hear yourself think), but he's 18 mo old and doesn't know better.
It helps tho to put myself in his shoes. For example, I'm trying to make dinner earlier tonight and had given him some green beans to nibble on cause I knew it'd tie him over, but eventually he was wandering the kitchen whining/fake crying like normal. I was seconds away from getting frustrated when the thought occurred: he misses you/your attention. So I stopped and asked do you want a hug? and sure enough he ran into my arms. Now did this mean he was happy and content for the rest of the dinner prep time? no, he went back to whining as soon as I had to put him down cause the sauce was boiling, but it helped put things in perspective for me. I kept repeating the lyrics to that cheesy country song over and over in my head about how "you're going to miss this, you're going to want this back, you're going to wish these days hadn't flown by so fast" to try and keep perspective. I want to see this time for the novel/unique time that it is, this rare and fleeting stage that Jake is in.
My mommy win of the day? Not caring that Jake spit out some of his dinner on the floor cause I hadn't bothered to mop it earlier. Mommy win. Hey, we gotta take every win we can get, and there really are a lot of them :)
In hind sight I see why it took him so long to fall asleep tonight (was babbling in his bed for 2 hrs after we put him down -he was wired, and we thought we could tire him out haha
Monday, January 20, 2014
Home again
Cody and I were just talking about how our house is finally starting to feel like a home. Sure, part of it is due to the fact that we have 80% of our decor/personal touches up, (I can't stand to not put up pictures etc for too long) but I think it's more. I think it's spending enough time in a place to make memories. Really, that's all that home is-and the people that are there on a regular basis. Suddenly you notice how you don't take special note of the novelty of the new rooms/features: the strange creak in the window when you step on the third stair from the bottom, the sound of the water heater cycling water up through your walls. Instead you are looking forward to future memories in the house and the people you'll make them with rather than the house itself. I guess that's when it becomes a home-when it becomes more than just walls and doors but where you live laugh and love-as my lil clock says up in the play loft.
In other less sentimental news, I think I'm slowly being seduced by British television. It's been a rocky start but let's just say I love Monday nights now thanks to Downton Abbey and Sherlock. Thank you PBS for streaming these wonderful shows only a day after they air (just like hulu) only for free. So with Downton I was obsessed/loved it right away, but the end of the 3rd season was almost too much for me and I swore off the show-tired of its ridiculous melodrama. I grudgingly watched the season premier and then the 2nd episode has me hooked cause I just HAVE to know how they're going to resolve THAT drama. I'm secretly rooting for Tom and Mary to end up together in the end-for some reason I don't feel like that would be weird.
Sherlock has taken me by surprise. We watched the first few episodes of the first season and kinda got bored with it...didn't really grab me. It did feel true to the short story style of sherlock tho with the repetition of cases coming and going/getting solved etc, but we tried the second season recently and I liked it better cause I was more familiar with the back stories of those episodes, and we just watched the premier of the 3rd season tonight and it was great! Of course now my thoughts all seem to be in a british accent but I guess there could be worse things.
I wouldn't say I'm close to going full brit and getting into Dr. Who (don't really get that cult following) but I'm glad to have some new shows to be into. Basically what we watch nowadays is: Downton, Sherlock, Blacklist, and Modern Family. Tho I have started watching Say Yes to the Dress on Netflix for fun on the side.
Eventually I'll get some pictures up of our home but there's a few more projects I need to finish. Jake is loving it here tho, especially the basketball hoop. Every time we go outside on the driveway he points up at it and make his lil grunt noise asking us to play. Once he discovered the ball goes through the net he brings us the ball and points to the net grunting. Jake turns 18 mo this week and will start nursery this Sunday so there will be a whole post on that. I'm seriously curious/unsure of how it will go. I could easily see it being a non event or very dramatic. I guess we'll see :)
In other less sentimental news, I think I'm slowly being seduced by British television. It's been a rocky start but let's just say I love Monday nights now thanks to Downton Abbey and Sherlock. Thank you PBS for streaming these wonderful shows only a day after they air (just like hulu) only for free. So with Downton I was obsessed/loved it right away, but the end of the 3rd season was almost too much for me and I swore off the show-tired of its ridiculous melodrama. I grudgingly watched the season premier and then the 2nd episode has me hooked cause I just HAVE to know how they're going to resolve THAT drama. I'm secretly rooting for Tom and Mary to end up together in the end-for some reason I don't feel like that would be weird.
Sherlock has taken me by surprise. We watched the first few episodes of the first season and kinda got bored with it...didn't really grab me. It did feel true to the short story style of sherlock tho with the repetition of cases coming and going/getting solved etc, but we tried the second season recently and I liked it better cause I was more familiar with the back stories of those episodes, and we just watched the premier of the 3rd season tonight and it was great! Of course now my thoughts all seem to be in a british accent but I guess there could be worse things.
I wouldn't say I'm close to going full brit and getting into Dr. Who (don't really get that cult following) but I'm glad to have some new shows to be into. Basically what we watch nowadays is: Downton, Sherlock, Blacklist, and Modern Family. Tho I have started watching Say Yes to the Dress on Netflix for fun on the side.
Eventually I'll get some pictures up of our home but there's a few more projects I need to finish. Jake is loving it here tho, especially the basketball hoop. Every time we go outside on the driveway he points up at it and make his lil grunt noise asking us to play. Once he discovered the ball goes through the net he brings us the ball and points to the net grunting. Jake turns 18 mo this week and will start nursery this Sunday so there will be a whole post on that. I'm seriously curious/unsure of how it will go. I could easily see it being a non event or very dramatic. I guess we'll see :)
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Looking back
Because it was spread out I didn't think we had too crazy of a year but then again...seeing how we've moved AND changed jobs twice this year....I guess that's not normal? haha welcome to the life of a entrepreneur's wife. And I don't mean that with an exasperated tone either-I love my entrepreneur-he's so smart, driven, and careful with every decision he makes. I'm truly blessed. Plus, slight job changes etc don't really phase me cause I trust him completely-it really makes me grateful for personal revelation.
So here's a lil Nolden family 2013 year in review:
Last February we quit ExxonMobil and moved to Utah to work for Vivint. We really liked Vivint-was def a breath of fresh air compared to Exxon. I mean, they payed for code and I and 50 other coworkers and spouses to go stay on a lake boat on lake powell for a week with jetskis and ski boats-really roughin' it.
Then, around the late summer we started thinking it would be cool to get a house. We felt pretty confident that we were supposed to be in Utah for now and that we would be here long enough to justify a house-rather than throwing rent away every month. We looked into building our own but quickly realized that that would be too expensive. We were glued to our Zillow apps constantly checking out different neighborhoods in Utah Valley. We also would talk about what we liked/didn't like as we'd go on walks in our own neighborhood. We'd look at the houses we passed etc. There was one particular house that I noticed that was across from the park we'd always go to. I noticed the backyard. It was a sweet backyard. All fenced in, big, fun playground things for the kids, a COVERED patio with fans/canned lighting, and a hot tub and a gas fire pit. Like I said, it was sweet. I had no idea what the inside looked like but I loved the house just from seeing the backyard. I figured, if the backyard is so nice, why wouldn't the inside be? I never expected that house would go for sale but made it my goal that if we did get a house-we would make the backyard sweet like that one.
One day as we were walking, the heavens parted, the angels sang, and a light shown down on the for sale sign in front of my dream house. Could this be?? Cody was instantly nervous at my level of excitement-the man was back peddling SO fast, haha. I knew not to push it, but it didn't matter-I already knew, it was meant to be, I had the gut feeling. Not a shallow, I want it so I'm gonna get it, girl-shopping-for-shoes kind of feeling, but a real, this is meant to be, feeling. Time went on and we arranged to see the place with our realtor. He and Cody were skeptical based on the photos they had put up on zillow-used bad angles etc. We walked in and were pleasantly surprised by how nice everything was. I won't lie, I had a very big smile and was gloating a LOT on the inside. Still, it was all up to the size of loan we could get and the appraisal. The stars aligned and everything worked out financially speaking. Not only that, but we kinda didn't want to move until the new year when our lease was up-and the owners also didn't want to move until the new year when their house they were building was done. Stars aligning left and right.
Then in December after a few turn of events we decide to start our own company, Code quits Vivint, and starts a digital marketing/web/software app consulting company. Looking back we realized Vivint was crucial in order for us to get a loan and therefore a house- yup, meant to be. By the end of the year we've moved in to our new home and very happy. Jake is growing like a weed and spends most of his time running back and forth between all the new rooms and leaving a drool trail (teething is fun!). We enjoyed a wonderful Xmas with my parents and my younger brother Steve (who all, minus dad, got our stomach flu) but luckily they all got better before Xmas. We checked out the Spanish Fork Festival of Lights. Code and I took advantage of our builtin babysitters and caught a late showing of Catching Fire-so good! (I reread all of them in like a week). We went to my niece Olivia's baby blessing and spent the New Years checking out the lights on Temple Square and playing games with the Louders. All and all it's been a great month and we can't wait to see what 2014 will bring!
I'll post a few pics/videos from the last month but I'll wait for the virtual house tour once we have more furniture than boxes lying around :)
So here's a lil Nolden family 2013 year in review:
Last February we quit ExxonMobil and moved to Utah to work for Vivint. We really liked Vivint-was def a breath of fresh air compared to Exxon. I mean, they payed for code and I and 50 other coworkers and spouses to go stay on a lake boat on lake powell for a week with jetskis and ski boats-really roughin' it.
Then, around the late summer we started thinking it would be cool to get a house. We felt pretty confident that we were supposed to be in Utah for now and that we would be here long enough to justify a house-rather than throwing rent away every month. We looked into building our own but quickly realized that that would be too expensive. We were glued to our Zillow apps constantly checking out different neighborhoods in Utah Valley. We also would talk about what we liked/didn't like as we'd go on walks in our own neighborhood. We'd look at the houses we passed etc. There was one particular house that I noticed that was across from the park we'd always go to. I noticed the backyard. It was a sweet backyard. All fenced in, big, fun playground things for the kids, a COVERED patio with fans/canned lighting, and a hot tub and a gas fire pit. Like I said, it was sweet. I had no idea what the inside looked like but I loved the house just from seeing the backyard. I figured, if the backyard is so nice, why wouldn't the inside be? I never expected that house would go for sale but made it my goal that if we did get a house-we would make the backyard sweet like that one.
One day as we were walking, the heavens parted, the angels sang, and a light shown down on the for sale sign in front of my dream house. Could this be?? Cody was instantly nervous at my level of excitement-the man was back peddling SO fast, haha. I knew not to push it, but it didn't matter-I already knew, it was meant to be, I had the gut feeling. Not a shallow, I want it so I'm gonna get it, girl-shopping-for-shoes kind of feeling, but a real, this is meant to be, feeling. Time went on and we arranged to see the place with our realtor. He and Cody were skeptical based on the photos they had put up on zillow-used bad angles etc. We walked in and were pleasantly surprised by how nice everything was. I won't lie, I had a very big smile and was gloating a LOT on the inside. Still, it was all up to the size of loan we could get and the appraisal. The stars aligned and everything worked out financially speaking. Not only that, but we kinda didn't want to move until the new year when our lease was up-and the owners also didn't want to move until the new year when their house they were building was done. Stars aligning left and right.
Then in December after a few turn of events we decide to start our own company, Code quits Vivint, and starts a digital marketing/web/software app consulting company. Looking back we realized Vivint was crucial in order for us to get a loan and therefore a house- yup, meant to be. By the end of the year we've moved in to our new home and very happy. Jake is growing like a weed and spends most of his time running back and forth between all the new rooms and leaving a drool trail (teething is fun!). We enjoyed a wonderful Xmas with my parents and my younger brother Steve (who all, minus dad, got our stomach flu) but luckily they all got better before Xmas. We checked out the Spanish Fork Festival of Lights. Code and I took advantage of our builtin babysitters and caught a late showing of Catching Fire-so good! (I reread all of them in like a week). We went to my niece Olivia's baby blessing and spent the New Years checking out the lights on Temple Square and playing games with the Louders. All and all it's been a great month and we can't wait to see what 2014 will bring!
I'll post a few pics/videos from the last month but I'll wait for the virtual house tour once we have more furniture than boxes lying around :)
Jake LOVED our Basketball (we got one since we have a hoop over our garage)
Jake's tent!
Jake was fascinated by baby Olivia
Jake's playroom in the upstairs loft
he's started to smile on command again but let's just say it's not completely natural...
Jake loves rocking in his chair
highlights from 2013:
just a lil throw back to how much jake has grown this past year but he hasn't lost his determination of touching Daddy's computer:
Jake turned 1 with a fun summer splash party
Code water-skied for the first time:
Jake's tent:
exploring his new backyard...
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