Visiting Teaching

Yesterday I went to check on one of the sisters that I visit teach. The last couple of months I have really thought a lot about her.

When I went to her house, her brother (who is currently living with her and her husband) answered the door. He said that she was sleeping. It was noon, but this sister has an infant who does not sleep very well. I told him not to wake her, but to tell her I stopped by.

Today that sister called me and thanked me for checking on her. She said that yesterday was a particularly hard day. She has been struggling with postpartum depression. She called her husband to come home from work and take care of their little one because she couldn't do it any more that day.

I didn't get to help her yesterday, but I know that Heavenly Father wanted me to check on her. I think that she needed a reminder that she isn't alone.

This was a testimony builder for me. I need to do the things that I 'randomly' think of. A lot of times that is how Heavenly Father communicates to us. Thoughts that come to our mind.

TP

I just spent the last 15 minutes of my life re-rolling an entire roll of toilet paper.

Ugh.

I knew there was a reason I didn't have toilet paper in the guest bathroom.

Saturday Rocked

Stephen cleaned my bathtub on Saturday.

Seriously.

THE. BEST. DAY. E-V-E-R.

We also got to go on a really awesome bike ride with Morgan and Jess. We put our bikes in the back of Morgan's pickup and drove down to Ann Morrison Park to ride along the greenbelt.

I didn't take any pictures of us actually riding, but I promise you we did. We rode for probably a good hour. Maybe more. My behind is definitely feeling it. I need to get me one of those super huge, cushy bicycle seats. My bottom would love me for it.

Along the way we found some really cool things.

A rope swing.

No one actually let got, but the boys swung on it.

On the way back we stopped on a little sandy section of the Boise River. Maycee is so funny with water. She loved it and got soaking wet with sand sticking to her everywhere. The water was also very cold, but that did not stop her.

Morgan found a crawdad floating in the river.

He actually caught it!

Isn't it cool?I love Saturdays...

Do I really look that young?

A couple of weeks ago Stephen had a work BBQ. It was a lot of fun getting to see everyone. We've hung out with quite a few of Stephen's co-workers and they are all a hoot!

One co-worker named, Julie, happens to have a baby crush on Maycee. She brought her mother to this festive work BBQ.

Conversation between Julie and mother that I was told later, reluctantly, by my husband:

Mother: There are a lot of cute kids here, but the cutest is definitely that one. (Pointing to Maycee...apparently Julie's mother also has a baby crush)

Mother: Who is that holding her? Is that her sister?

Julie: No, that's her mom.

Mother: What!? That girl does not look old enough to be her mother. She looks like she's 14!

...FYI...I am 28. Someday when I am 50 I will love this quality in my childish round head.

Date Night

Stephen and I went on a date last night.

That really shouldn't be so monumental, but I think that it is only the 3rd date that we have had without Maycee since she's been born. Yeah, we need to be better.

BUT!

We had the coolest date last night.

Literally.

We went ice skating!

It was so much fun.

I had only been ice skating one time before when I was probably 9 years old. Stephen and I stepped onto that ice with our skates on and we both thought we were going to crash for sure! It was definitely a little rocky in the beginning.

It probably didn't help that there was a 6 year old boy there dressed in full hockey attire skating as fast as he could from one end of the rink to the other. To stop himself he would do one of three things: 1) He would quickly pull his skates side ways just before hitting the wall and spray ice everywhere. 2) He would run into the wall. OR 3) He would fall to his stomach to slow himself down before hitting the wall. Seriously. Little boys are the funniest creatures on the planet.

We also had three teenage boys skating all kinds of crazy around us. Their favorite thing to do was to carve words with their ice skates in the ice.

After skating for a half an hour it felt weird that my ears were starting to go numb from the cold. It was 95 degrees outside. We decided to go to the next door rink and watch some random people play ice hockey. I totally want to go to a real game now. It would be so fun!

After our evening out Stephen and I decided that we need to do A LOT more dates...so we need to up our dating budget for babysitter money...

Maycee's Wagon

So...I can't get this picture to turn the right way...

Anyway.

This is what Maycee was doing while I was vacuuming out my car.

She likes her wagon.

She sat like that for 15 minutes! That is weird.

I know, her outfit it crazy.

That's what I told her.

I think I am slightly ADHD.

Last night we had a Super Saturday planning meeting. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is a huge event where a whole bunch of women get together in October and make crafts.

The meeting lasted two and a half hours.

I knew it would.

BUT that didn't stop me from getting antsy.

I swear, no other person moved in their seat the entire time that we were there. Unfortunately for me, I sat in the squeaky chair. Everyone knew when I moved. It was every 10 minutes.

Seriously! How do people sit that long?

Seafood

Last night I made fish.

I've made fish twice since Stephen and I have been married. We've been married for 3.5 years. Fish scares me. Not the food, but the cooking. The last time I made it I burned it and it was very bland.

This time it was really good! I was very proud of myself.

Yeah for Kami making fish and it tasting good!

Maycee hated it! After three disgusted bites she finally put her whole fist in her mouth to pull out the pieces that she had not gagged down.

Don't worry Maycee...we'll try again!

Cute Pictures!

So...these pictures are uploading A LOT more grainy than what they are. I promise. I took them on 200 ISO!!

Gggrrrrrr.

Whatever.

Here are Maycee's cute one year pictures.

Krystal made Maycee this cute little skirt. Matching it was quiet a task. I think that I finally pulled it off though.

Last, but certainly not least is Maycee's snooty picture. I had to put this in here because it made me laugh.

One Year Checkup

I rescheduled Maycee's one year checkup three times, but it finally happened on Thursday.

Ugh.

Shots.

The nurses weighed and measured.

Maycee is no longer set to be a professional basketball player. She has dipped in height to the 50th percentile. She also dipped in weight to the 5th percentile. She is a lightweight. That is what my friend calls her, Lightweight...because her child, who is 7 1/2 months older than Maycee, could eat her alive.

Stats:
Weight - 17.5 lbs - 5th Percentile
Height - 29 1/4 in - 50th Percentile

I have been so worried about the shots. Gggrrrr. I hate those things, BUT totally understand them. However, that does not stop me from being nervous.

My sister, Karli, was with me when we went to the doctors. She couldn't understand my apprehension for the shots. She's 16. After the "procedure" I asked Karli if it was traumatic and she replied,

"Yes! That was very traumatic!"

...So I've traumatized my 16 year old sister from giving her children shots. Hopefully someday she will forgive me.

Tradition

There has been a tradition started with the female members of my family.

Shopping.

Back to School shopping. When everyone is out of school, we're going to come up with a new title because we are definitely not stopping the tradition.

Last year I was not able to attend. Something about birthing a child two weeks previous didn't exactly make me keen on walking around a bunch of department stores for hours on end. But this year there were no excuses. I was present.

We always (meaning the last three years) meet in Twin Falls at Target. 9am sharp. Because the mall doesn't open 'til 10.

This year Grandma Call decided to come along with us. I was very surprised to see her. I didn't know if she would be able to hack the intensive shopping that she would have to endure...but she did.

This year was the most arduous. We shopped until 8:45pm. Almost 12 hours. Krystal is trying to get a second shopping trip because she didn't feel that she got enough. I think she killed me on Wednesday. I'm definitely going to need at least a week to recoup to do that again.

...Don't worry Karli, you're clothes are super cute and they make you look hot!

Breakfast

My child just ate three huge pancakes for breakfast this morning.

Seriously!

She must have had dreams of sugar plums dancing in her head...

It's. Been. Crazy.

Things have been all over the place for the last three weeks.

Maycee has had it.

I am currently working on a ton of posts and will cheat by post dating them...about the posts...he he he!

There will be many updates.

Post Family Staycation

Our Post Family Staycation began on Friday, August 5th. That is when Maycee learned the meaning of "being mauled". All in all, Maycee handled things pretty well, considering all of the traveling and late nights that we put her through for six days.

Everyone gathered at the Mom and Dad Posts on Friday night to begin our planning session. Honestly, I don't think that we did anything according to our original plans...but hey!...aren't plans made to be changed?

Since Saturday was Maycee's first birthday we decided to give the morning to just her, so everyone met at our house at 3pm for cupcakes and then dinner. Wow...feeding 15 people is SO much different than feeding 3. Everyone seemed to get full and so then we played some games!

Sunday we met at Nicole and Rustin's house for a barbecue. There were some very good eats at the Rays...mmmm. We had amazing shishcabobs (yeah, I have no idea how to spell that) and then ate Nicole's decadent cheesecake. I'm seriously drooling just thinking about it.

Near Nicole and Rustin's house they have a huge city park. We gathered there to throw Frisbees, footballs, Nerf balls, and anything else we could find.

Crazy things that happened at the park:
1. Brandon tried to kill pregnant Kenna with a Frisbee. Seriously, he almost decapitated her.
2. Sam tried to kill herself by falling out of the swing on her head.
...good thing we all made it out alive.

Monday we met at the Mom and Dad Posts for some amazing omelets cooked by Dad. I really don't know how he does those, but they are to die for. After omelets we cruised to see the movie of choice...Captain America.

Honestly, I was really looking forward to this movie. I am one of those nerds who likes super-hero movies (I blame Stephen). It was kind of a let down. It started out great, but then just went downhill. However, I love Tommy Lee Jones. He is great in just about anything, so that made up for a little bit of the crappiness.

That night we met at our home for our trial run of dutch oven cooking. I was super proud of Stephen and myself! It turned out really good! We made dutch oven potatoes and chicken. I was a little nervous about the whole thing until Marc said that if this is a cooking specialty of "old men" it shouldn't be too hard...uh. Thanks Marc!

We ended the night playing croquet and our spin off of Charades...darn that Brandon and his weird words. Seriously! Who knew that the Banditos were one of the largest motorcycle gangs in the country?! I live in Idaho.

Tuesday we met at Marc and Kenna's for lunch...then were pushed out the door by young children and forced to walk 10 miles in 100 degree weather to the park. (Exaggerations may have been used in this last statement...but not by much.)

At 3pm we hurried over to Roaring Springs for some discount tickets and 5 hours of "fun in the sun". Who knew those 5 hours would be so exhausting! That water park definitely needs a face lift in the form of MORE grass...and shade! I thought my poor little feet were going to burn to death on that blasted concrete!

There was only one slide that I really wanted to go down. It took a while to finally get everyone together to make it happen! Stephen, Brandon, and Marc had gone down earlier in the day and an hour or so later they followed Mitzi, Nicole, and I to give it a try. Through the entire line Brandon talked this ride up. Basically if I were paraphrasing, he said that we were going to freak out and die because we were going to tip over and be squashed into a million pieces...or something like that. The slide was fun, but not that traumatic. That didn't stop me, however, from screaming at the top of my lungs the whole way down.

One ride that will always have a special place in my heart is the Lazy River. I sat with my bottom squeezed into a tube with Maycee on my lap. She seemed to enjoy it until she got drenched by a waterfall...that was completely accidental. A little over a year ago I was in that exact same position on that same ride except Maycee was on the inside of my tummy instead of on top of my tummy. Maycee wasn't a huge fan of the water park, but she survived. Good thing she was free.

That night we ate pizza and stayed up way to late at the Mom and Dad Posts.

We had really messed with every ones sleep schedules this week, that on Wednesday we canceled everything and just decided to go bowling at 4. That didn't stop Stephen and Brandon and Marc from meeting at noon to play basketball. On the XBOX.

Bowling was really fun! I think that every time I go I expect to do better than I actually do, but when you only bowl once every 24 months it just makes for a bad game.

By this point in time Maycee was done being mauled by her four cousins. For most of the week she had put up with all four of them being in her face 24/7, but at the bowling ally she had had enough. She hit Dakoda and Beth. Dakoda was insulted and cried in the corner, Beth wasn't even phased and kept on mauling.

We ended our staycation that night by eating at Costa Vida. I love Mexican food. I was happy.

Here's to next year Post fam!

Maycee's dad

On Saturday, Stephen missed a call from our Nursery leader, Kristin Sparks, asking him to substitute. We are pretty good friends with the Sparks.

He called her back later that night. Their daughter Chevelle, answered the phone.

Chevelle: Hello?
Stephen: Hi! This is Stephen Post, is your mom there?
Chevelle: ...MOM...someone's on the phone for you and I don't know who it is.
Kristin: Hello?
Stephen: Hi Kristin, this is Stephen Post.
Kristin pauses and then yells to her daughter: Chevelle, it's Brother Post!...Maycee's dad? (and then to Stephen) Sorry Stephen, you will now forever be known as Maycee's dad.

I guess our lives change in ways we don't expect!

Busy

Last Sunday our Ward Music Specialist called and asked if I would play the organ for sacrament meeting today. I had never touched the organ before that moment.

Monday I received a call from a fellow Relief Society Presidency member saying she would be out of town for her lesson and asked if I would teach today.

Thursday night Maycee got sick. Lasted until today.

Friday morning I was supposed to take Maycee's one year pictures. That didn't happen because of illness.

Friday night Stephen's family was all in town for our Post Family Staycation. They will be here until next Thursday.

Maycee's birthday was on Saturday.

Seriously?

Happy...

Maycee's O-N-E!!!

I can't believe that she is one. I love having a little girl and being her mom. I am so blessed.

Stephen got a picture of Maycee posing her "I am 1" fingers.

While we were at the pool in Lava Hot Springs we were playing basketball. My mom split everyone up in 1's and 2's. All the 1's were on one side of the pool and the 2's were on another side all holding up their respective numbers. Maycee copied everyone holding up a 1, by holding up her own 1. We finally got it on "film".For Maycee's birthday we took forever to figure out what to get. Jodi gave me a great idea, a wagon. Therefore, Maycee got a wagon for her birthday. We even got it on sale with a coupon. SWEET!

Poor Maycee was sick on her birthday. She had a fever on Thursday night and it was still going strong on Saturday.

Saturday morning we had her "open" her present and Stephen put the wagon together.We then took her on a ride and went to show off her new wheels to Krystal and Shane.

Krystal had an...idea.

Krystal: We should tie Dexter to the wagon and see if he will pull it!
Shane: There is no way that Dexter will pull that thing.

...Dexter took off. With Maycee bouncing and screaming in the wagon. Krystal and I went running after him. Krystal got to Dexter while I comforted the wailing Maycee. Poor girl. That probably didn't help Maycee's fever.

That afternoon Stephen's family came over along with Krystal and Shane to view Maycee's first birthday cupcake.

Just for future reference, that cupcake looked the exact same coming out of her diaper a few hours later. Gross.Sam, Beth, Hunter, and Dakoda loved Maycee's birthday present. They all took turns riding in it.Here is Maycee in her gift from Aunt Krystal and Uncle Shane.Happy Birthday, Baby Maycee!