2012 SWEye Doctor's Retreat

This year, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Southwestern Eye Center, we headed to San Diego for the weekend!  The whole weekend was completely paid for; hotel, meals, excursions, flights there and back, included!  Since I'm still nursing Hayden, she got to come with us.

Friday morning, we headed to the airport.  I was a little anxious because I don't love flying on airplanes and obviously Hayden had never flown before so I was't sure how she would do.  We were on the same flight as several other SWEye docs.  Hayden was tired and started fussing before we even got on the plane and I was worried the flight would be a nightmare.  I fed her before takeoff but she wasn't going to sleep, that's for sure.  It was hot on the plane, a new place and too much weird noise going on for her to settle down.  Matt was great with her.  I was armed with a few new toys and books but she didn't care about those.  I also bought a toothbrush specifically to bring with us for her to chew on and that kept her occupied for a bit.  Gerber puffs and ice water were our lifesavers.

 

View from the air- brown Arizona

As soon as we got off the plane and got her in the stroller, she zonked out before we even got down to baggage claim.  Miraculously, I transfered her into her carseat in the car and she stayed asleep all the way to the hotel and through the transfer back INTO her stroller at the hotel.  I guess she loved her new posh pink stroller!  She loved being able to finally be down and exploring the hotel room.

Who is that hunk sporting the breastpump over his shoulder? ;)

Hayden checking out the view

She squeezed in another good nap before dinner with our group.  After dinner, we walked down to the Gaslamp District, which was a little bit wild on a Friday night.  I was surprised at how many homeless people we saw begging or sleeping on utility boxes.  It was also VERY warm outside.  Hayden slept nearly the entire 2 hours of our walk and went right down for bed after being fed once we got back to the hotel.

We woke early the next morning to grab some breakfast before heading out on our scheduled trolley tour of San Diego.  Our tour guide pointed out points of interest and we made our way over to Coronado Island where we were dropped off with about an hour to explore and shop.  As a gift from the company, we were each given a $25 gift card to use!  We bought a starfish ornament for ourselves and little turtles made of shells and a shark tooth necklace for each of the kids.

"Oooooh, I like your flower!"-Niam. Dr. Patel's baby

Coronado Island, our hotel in the background (tallest towers)

We got back on the trolley and headed back over the bridge to downtown, learned some historical facts and saw all the cool things there are to explore in San Diego.  We had lunch after the tour then we grabbed some ice cream from Ben & Jerry's.  It was sooooooo hot this day with record-breaking temps!  I think the high was 107, even warmer than back home!  How ironic!  Here I thought we'd be enjoying cooler weather for the weekend on the coast....  We went back to our room and Hayden (and Matt) took a nap in the cool darkness while I got ready for our evening.

We had a dinner harbor cruise arranged for that evening, so we had a sitter come to the hotel room to watch Hayden while we got all dressed up for a night out.  When we got the invitation and it said "cocktail attire," I immediately panicked because I don't really have dressy clothes in my closet.  I shopped away and found a few dresses to choose from, then heels, a necklace, a clutch and Spanx to smooth out the baby bulge I still have going on.  I even curled my hair (still learning).  I will admit that it felt great to get all dressed up -- once in awhile. ;)  We asked a couple barely-dressed college-age girls to take our picture in the hotel lobby and one of them even said I looked really pretty!  I don't know why it meant so much coming from her, but it made me feel good.  It cooled off a lot once we got on the water and we were able to enjoy an evening of mingling and good food.  The traditional anniversary gift for 30 years is pearls, so all the women received a pearl bracelet and the men received a fancy mother of pearl pen.  The whole thing was fabulous!

Us with Melissa & Scott Sellers

My feet HURT by the end of the night!!!

There is always a variety of food offered, many things I've never tried before and I make myself try everything.  I tried halibut (!) and even shrimp (!!!) which I have texture issues with, but I tried it!!

Sunday morning, we got up for breakfast and while Matt socialized with his colleagues, Hayden and I took a nice long walk through Seaport Village and down along the San Diego bay in the cool, foggy air.  Hayden loved people and dog watching as I pushed her in the stroller.  Matt joined us for a bit then we headed back to the hotel to pack up our things.

After we checked out, we went to the Mormon Batallion Historic Site with the Sellers and the Thompsons and took the tour there.  We grabbed a bite to eat at a yummy Mexican restaurant then made our way back to the airport for our flight back home.

 

San Diego wears a girl out!!

I was hopeful that Hayden would do better on the plane this time but once again, she was tired and I tried in vain to get her to sleep.  She was sooooooo close to actually falling asleep, but just couldn't manage.  She was definitely loud and all we could do was apologize and get out of there as soon as we could when the plane landed!

 

So long, San Diego!

We are so lucky that Matt works for such a great company.  Lothaire and Connie Bluth are such thoughtful and genuinely sweet people!  I forgot to mention they even had a gift for Hayden this weekend-  three of their favorite Sandra Boynton board books and a $50 gift card to babyGap.  How did they know I love to shop there? ;)  They really make us feel like family and I'm grateful that we have an opportunity to get away once a year with the people Matt works with.  I love getting to know everyone better.

Hayden is 9 months old!!

Hayden is pulling up on E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.  She's got bumps and bruises on her forehead to prove it! 

She has discovered the stairs and has made her way up a few.  We're all trying to get back in the habit of closing the gate when we go up or come down!  And she gets stuck in the weirdest places.

 She started clapping and it's so adorable to see her slap those chubby hands together!

And she's full on real crawling now.  No more army crawl.  It was cute while it lasted! 

 Hayden has mastered the straw sippy and loves Gerber puffs.

 She looked a bit like an oompa-loompa after eating carrots for dinner one night.

 This was her very first ride on a carousel at Superstition Springs mall.  She loved it!

Britt and her dog, Scarlett, are still living with us.  Hayden loves Scarlett and thankfully Scarlett is tolerant of Hayden's curiosity.

Once again, Preston being such a good older brother, stamping up his baby sister with purple dinos.  All up her arms and the underside of her leg.  Pffft!

Hayden was born with a skin tag about the size of a pencil eraser on her neck.  Lately, people have actually been telling me she has a Cheerio or something stuck in her neck!  We talked to a pediatric plastic surgeon about getting it removed and he said it would be a simple surgery but would require that she be put under general anesthesia.  Matt wasn't too keen on that idea, plus we pay out of pocket up to our deductible for medical expenses and we didn't have an extra $2500 just lying around, so Matt talked to the ocular plastics doctor at his work about taking it off.  We came in to his work, she looked at it and said she could cut it off right there.  I stayed in another room while Matt held her and the doctor snipped the little nubbin off.

Two weeks later

 
And one last picture....  Matt was on tv yesterday and when he came on the screen and Hayden heard his voice, she looked at the tv, then she looked at me, then back to the tv, then back at me like, "That's daddy, but it's not daddy."  haha!  Here she is watching him talk all about Sight Day. :)

9 month stats~
Weight: 17 lbs 6 oz (34th %ile)
Length: 27.75 in (52nd %ile)
Head: 14.5 in (96 %ile)

Life According to the iPhone

There is so much I'm missing out on by not blogging on a regular basis.

One thing I swore I wouldn't do once I got an iPhone was take a million pictures on that and not pull out my big camera.  Well, guess what I've been doing?  Taking a million pictures on my iPhone. I guess I'm going to do a quick rundown on each of the four big kids since Miss Hayden gets her own monthly update.

Brooklyn.  This girl is growing up right before my eyes.  She's got tons of sass that we're constantly trying to keep in check.  She's starting to do her own hair on occasion and I'm trying my best to step back and let her do it.  I've actually been surprised that she doesn't do too bad of job!  She loves to accessorize and it's fun to see her sense of fashion developing.

*Before school started, we had "the talk" (Matt did with Blake) and every time we've discussed these types of things, I'm surprised how well they've gone over.  She had lots of questions and I reminded her she can always come to me with any more questions she has.  I know "things" will come up at school and I wanted her to get it straight from momma.

*A teen girl in our ward did a week-long summer pom & cheer camp that we sent Brooklyn to.  Even though we pulled Brooklyn out of her jazz class at the studio, Matt and I decided to go ahead and let her continue with this pom & cheer class in addition to ballet.  The nice thing is that this girl teaches out of her home and it's literally down the street.  Brooklyn rides her bike down and back, which makes it doable for us.

 *She is losing teeth left and right!  BIG ones!!!  And she pulls them out herself!!!!  In one week, she lost three teeth; two in one day, right before church! 

Blake.  Crazy kid is STILL crazy about reading!!!  He is barreling through the Harry Potter series and nothing can slow him down.  Matt told him that after he finishes each book, he can watch the movie so they have been enjoying that.  Still unsure if we're ready to let him watch the last movies, even if he finishes the book.  He just started the 7th one today and he only started the series in July!!!

Finished 7/27

Finished 7/30

Finished 8/2

Finished 8/11

Finished 8/30

Finished 9/7

Gavin.  First grade is going awesome for Gavin.  Like I anticipated, he hasn't had any trouble eating all his lunch at school!  And a couple weeks ago, just three weeks after school started, Gavin got in the car after school and informed me that he's found the girl he's going to marry and her name is Charleigh.  I just about DIED of cuteness because he was SO SERIOUS!!!  A week later, he said, "Charleigh wants to marry me too!  And when we turn 16, we are gonna kiss!"  Oh Gavin!

*Looks like we may have another avid reader on our hands!  Gavin has started reading the Magic Treehouse series (small chapter books) and is flying through them.

*Last month, at 6.5 years old, Gavin ditched the 5-point harness and upgraded to a belt-positioning booster!  Even though I kept Brooklyn and Blake in a little longer, Gav was starting to get uncomfortable and I was ok with him switching.

*Gavin's top two teeth have been loose for awhile.  Back in July, one of them was just dangling and finally came out.  Last week, the other one was loose enough that Matt pulled it right out.  Gavin is such a cute toothless boy!  I love the spray of freckles across his nose and cheeks!

*This past Monday was Labor Day so the kids were home from school and Matt had the day off work.  Our yards were in desperate need of mowing, so Matt called Gavin out and taught him how to mow the lawn.  I loved the smiles and look of determination he had on his  face!! 

*Yesterday, Gavin started karate again after a 3 year hiatus.  It seems so weird to think that last time he did karate, he was Preston's age!!  And I can't imagine putting Preston in karate right now.  We'll see how it goes this time around, but he couldn't wait to get started.

Preston.  We're in a seemingly never ending bad cycle with Preston's sleep.  He's up at the crack of dawn, but if we are in the car in the late afternoon (ie. picking the kids up from school EVERY DAY, going to karate or dance), he falls asleep.  Then of course when it's time for bed, he's not tired and stays up until 9:30pm or later.  Then he's up early again the next morning.... vicious cycle and I don't know how to break it.  It seems like he needs a nap but he won't lay down for one or he'll sneak off after I fall asleep laying down with him, haha!  He has also been slithering his way into our bed at night, sometimes Matt takes him back, other times he just stays.  I've always been adamant that kids do not sleep in the bed with us, but Matt admitted that he LIKES when Preston snuggles up with him??!!!  As long as he stays on THAT side of the bed, whatever!!

*Since the kids are gone at school and Hayden does spend several hours of the day napping, that leaves Preston and I a lot of buddy time.  Our favorite thing is to bake together and he LOVES adding ingredients and helping mix the dough/batter.  I've also been doing little learning projects with him and of course he's spending lots of time dressing up!  We run errands and get treats and he brags to his big sibs as soon as they get in the car!  I can't wait until it's a little cooler and we can do more fun things outside.

*Sugar rush at 8:30am, anyone?

*Preston finally had his first official tooth cleaning a couple days ago.  He jumped right up in the chair and let the hygienist do her job!  His teeth look great!

I think that about wraps it up!!