Love at Home

I love my little family!

I get so much fulfillment out of being a mommy and a wife. I definitely need to be better in both areas, but I'm learning as I go. It's amazing how much better I know Tanner now that I'm not working and spend all my time with him. I feel more comfortable in my ability to fulfill his needs and understand his special baby language. And now that I'm not teaching, I can focus on Eli as well. Eli and I are also growing closer to each other as we figure out how to be parents together. He is my best friend and I'm so grateful that he's my sweetheart and the father of my baby boy. Tanner adores him, see:Cutest!

I just felt stretched too thin when I was teaching because I am a perfectionist and I felt like I wasn't doing well as a teacher, a mom, and a wife. I have to do a perfect job at everything or I get stressed and frustrated. I've always been super busy with a lot on my plate at one time. This summer has been the first time in a LONG time, when I have just been able to enjoy life without the stress of work, callings, etc. I know life will usually be busy, which I do like, but it's just been nice to have a break.

Eli and I were talking about how blessed we are last night. Heavenly Father really has blessed us so much, especially with good health, a good relationship, a darling and spunky little boy, good and very supportive family and friends, and good jobs since we've been married. We definitely live within a tight budget and will for a while until Eli is done with medical school, but at least I'm able to stay home with Tanner and he has been able to work at an amazing hospital, Johns Hopkins, this summer.

We are really really hoping that medical school works out this time, but we have learned that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and we will be faithful and trust in him. When he didn't get into medical school last year, we were pretty bummed. It took me a while to accept the fact that we were living in Payson, Utah and that Eli was back at BYU. I loved teaching but I didn't want to extend Eli's schooling by 2 more years. Most of our kids are going to be raised while Eli is in school! Looking back on this past year, I am SO grateful that medical school didn't work out. First of all, we have both made amazing friends - mine at my school and Eli's in his masters program. Our friends bring so much joy into our lives. One of those friends is becoming my new sister-in-law! Andy and Paige never would have met had I not student taught there and then got a job last minute at the same school. I didn't even want to student teach in Payson because I had been trained for an urban environment! I'm glad Heavenly Father sent us to Payson! Also, starting my teaching job a couple weeks before school started and being pregnant for the first half of the year was pretty stressful. Eli cooked dinner every night and helped in my classroom. He helped keep me sane and healthy, something he probably couldn't have done had he been in his first year of medical school. So we are grateful for the way our life has turned out so far and are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us next!

We have one more week in Baltimore before heading back to Utah for Eli's last semester of his MPH. It's been fun exploring the East Coast and we'll miss the lushness of the trees and plants. But it will be fun to be back in Utah (after a 2 week stop for Tan and I in Colorado - yay!). Well, I'm off to sell all of our furniture and go on a few more adventures with the munchkin. Asta la pasta!

P.S. Here's the most darling picture I captured of our little FIRECRACKER and a couple of his top teeth! He got 5 teeth in just one month - youch! But he didn't complain hardly at all. He's the happiest, spunkiest, energetic, little guy.

Ocean City

A couple weekends ago we went to Ocean City, Maryland with my mom. We drove 4 hours there and spent Friday night at a hotel. We spent our time on the beach playing in the water and sand, walking on the boardwalk, swimming in the pool, shopping for cheap souvenirs, and eating yummy treats. Tan even had his first taste of vanilla ice cream and he was a HUGE fan! The water was warmer than the Pacific and the waves weren't as big. This city had a different feel than beaches in Southern California. We had a blast!!

Randomness

I have lots of random things to post today:

1. CONGRATS to my brother Andy and his NEW FIANCE, Paige!!!! They are such a cute couple and I couldn't be happier for them (and for me getting a new sister-in-law!)!
If you don't know the story about these two lovebirds, here's the short version: Paige taught at the same school as me (the only reason I ended up at that school was because I had student taught there a year earlier - CRAZY!! Good thing we decided to move to cute little Payson, Utah.) I set them up at the recommendation of our school secretary after Andy visited my classroom in November when he had just returned from Iraq. They went out over Thanksgiving break in Utah and she spent a night hanging out (and participating in a super fun and sticky marshmallow gun war) with our family in Midway. They talked on the phone mostly as friends until the beginning of January. Andy came to visit his new nephew Tanner in January and went on a date with Paige then. They actually almost broke things off but didn't. More long distance until April. She spent spring break with him in Georgia where he was attending Captain school for the army. A month later, she moved to Georgia to be with him. Two months later they got engaged! It's so crazy to me because Paige and I were friends even before she met Andy! I always told Andy that he would marry one of my friends! Well I married one of his friends (he knew Eli long before I knew him) from high school so now we're even. SO EXCITING!!! The hard part for them is planning WHEN the wedding will be because he is leaving for Special Forces selection tomorrow and doesn't have any idea what his schedule will be like for the next year. They have more long distance in store for them with Andy going to training without being able to communicate for a few weeks and Paige going back to Utah to start teaching again. She is getting a glimpse of being an army wife right away!

2. My sisters and Paige (we missed Doug's wife, Dana!) came to visit for a few days. I miss them and Tanner misses all the attention. We packed their trip full with visits to Baltimore, DC, a crab feast, a hike through the woods, getting stuck in the rain, stories about Aly's Africa adventures, and lots of yummy sweets. They get an A++ for awesome sistas.

Here's a link to a few more pictures of our adventures together: http://picasaweb.google.com/saramorey13/BaltimoreAndDCWithTheGirls?feat=directlink

3. Eli and I are still happily married as evidenced by this picture Kristie took of us! It's amazing how many pictures you take of your child once you have a baby and how little pictures you take of yourselves.

4. Eli has been working late for the past couple weeks so Tanner just stares at him when he gets home. He sat still for like 3 minutes when I shot this picture which is so unlike Tanner. He is GO GO GO GO GO all the time! Isn't he precious?!
5. We miss Ari and Christian after spending a weekend with them in Upstate New York at Silver Lake. They let us hang with Christian's family at their cottage for a few days and we loved being with them! The lake was gorgeous as well!
6. Tanner experienced life jackets for the first time. He didn't like it one bit. He screamed until we gave him his binky and then he fell asleep because he couldn't move. Poor kid! But as my dad would say, "Better safe than sorry!"7. Eli and I went sailing for the first time. I commend all you sailors out there. It's a lot of work! I felt so close to Christopher Columbus not having a motor and all.
8. Like I said above, Tan is quite the active little munchkin. He crawled an actual, bona fide crawl when we were at Silver Lake. He just whipped it out (at midnight when we arrived) like he'd been doing it forever! Now he army crawls and normal crawls and switches between both. He also learned to sit up from crawling at the beginning of last week. He just randomly did that as well which shocked me! It's amazing how babies just learn to do these things on their own! Eli and I tell each other about a hundred times a day how cute he is! Oh and now he has 3 teeth. Once the first one popped up, the rest have been speedily making their appearance.
9. Tanner learned how to control his glowing super powers! Ha ha ha, just kiddin. But he did experience his first arcade which was actually a little too over stimulating, even for him.
10. After a year off due to being pregnant, I popped right up skiing and, let me tell you, it felt INCREDIBLE!!! Can't wait to go skiing more in Colorado in a few weeks. (Mom, we need to learn how to back the boat into the water together!)
11. Eli showed his evil farmer side a little bit this weekend. I wouldn't want to run into him at night in a cornfield.
12. We are loving the beauty of the rural areas in the East. Everything is so green and lush. We'll miss that back West. And there are A LOT of barns.
13. Check out this cool trick Eli did with our camera and a sparkler!
Whew, now my head feels clear! I can clean my house and prepare for my mom to come tomorrow. I'm excited to see her again and Tanner will LOVE being around her again!

Oh, one last thing. Tanner has started biting me sometimes when he nurses. Any suggestions on how to get him to stop doing that? I want to keep nursing until he's one but definitely don't want the biting to continue.

Have a fabulous August!

Peek-a-boo!

I feel like I play peek-a-boo with my blog because I'm in and out about once a month now! Life is GREAT! Tanner is changing so fast and doing new things everyday! He talks a lot ("dada" most of the time with other high pitched vowel sounds), army crawls everywhere and very speedily (he's close to real crawling), bangs toys together, feeds himself gerber puffs, hollers at us when we eat in front of him, bounces his body a lot, tries to sit up on his own, pulls himself to standing, cuddles into me when he's scared, loves bananas and won't eat anything unless it includes bananas, and laughs A LOT! I LOVE this age! He turned 7 months last week and he looks so much older than that sometimes. We tell each other about a million times a day how cute he is! Here are some pictures of mostly just him from the past month (click on the link): http://picasaweb.google.com/saramorey13/Photoshoots# (click on Slideshow in the supper left to see a large version of the pictures).

We have also been busy enjoying the East Coast! Here are the pictures from our adventures: http://picasaweb.google.com/saramorey13/PennsylvaniaJuly4thPhotoshoots# (click on Slideshow in the upper left to see a large version of the pictures.)

• We spent a day in Philadelphia visiting the sights in the Independence Mall area. We both really liked that historical trip, especially because we saw the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. There was such a good feeling in that room, I just knew it was sacred. We also loved Valley Forge (see video below about Philadelphia).
  
• We spent some time in Hershey, Pennsylvania where Eli's friend from California attends medical school. We went on a free ride that models the chocolate making process and ends up in a huge room filled with chocolate for sale. Can you say HEAVEN??!! My wallet didn't think so but my stomach was in 7th heaven.
  
• We drove through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, aka Amish Country. The best way to sum up that area of the country is BEAUTIFUL and PEACEFUL. Picture large corn fields, farms and silos, red covered bridges surrounded by large and lush trees, cute houses, flowers filling the yards, farm animals galore! And your occasional Amish man driving his horse-drawn carriage, Amish teenagers riding their scooters through small back-country towns, and Amish children walking barefoot through the town.
  
• We took Tanner to a small lake with a beach. He LOVED the sand and didn't even mind when he face-planted into it. He wasn't sure about the green water, but got used to it when he started splashing and zooming around in it.
  
• We spent the 4th of July in Baltimore visiting historical sights around the city, including the Star-Spangled Banner flaghouse which is the house of the lady who sewed the flag that the Star-Spangled banner is about. (The actual flag is in the Smithonsian in Washington D.C.) We ended the day by walking around the Inner Harbor, sitting at a park and listening to a doowop concert, and watching fireworks over the Harbor (Tanner slept through the whole thing - yay! He hates loud noises and would have screamed the whole time.)
• I have spent a few days downtown with Tanner visiting places around the city. We loved eating breakfast with Eli at a French pastry shop next door to where he works. DEEElish! He works in the cutest area of Baltimore with nice shops and restaurants right on the bay.
  
• We got on weekly walks through the woods. It is SO green here! I'm going to miss this the most when we move back to Utah. Tanner loves grabbing tree branches and watching the leaves move when he tugs on it. During one walk, we had a deer follow us along the path from about 30 feet away. Tanner started hollering with boredom and scared the deer away.
  
• When we're not exploring, Tan and I go to the pool (or he plays in his pool, aka dish tub, on our porch), go to the library, go on walks, Skype with family members, and sit on a blanket in the grass.

And last but not least, mostly for the fam, here are some videos!!

Philadelphia


Swinging and Crawling


Downtown Baltimore


Celery and Cup fun

"Sisters, sisters, There were never much devoted sisterrrrrs."

I love my sisters. Did you know that? I think I've said that many times on this blog! I am psyched because they are both coming to visit us next week!!!!! Aly has been living in Africa since the beginning of May so she arranged to spend 5 days here before heading home to Denver. Yay! And Kristie decided last week to fly over from Denver and hang out with us. Double yay! And Paige is even coming to spend a couple of days with us. Triple yay!

(I love my mom too. She's coming by herself in August!)

Aly has had some awesome, interesting, disturbing, tender, etc. experiences in Africa. Some of the stories she has told just boggle my mind that have to do with how people treat one another over there. They make me so grateful to live in America! Here are some experiences from the mouth of Aly Archer: (for more stories about her adventures, go to http://alyinuganda.blogspot.com/)

This story is about a man in her branch that witnessed horrible deaths, including his own parents
"We had our friend Dennis who is in the Jinga Branch come to our house
and talk to us on Wednesday. He is from Gulu and used to be in the
LRA. He had such a crazy story. When he was young the LRA came and
raided his house and told him to kill his father. He refused and ran
away and they shot at him but just hit his arm. He laid in the grass
in fear for a while after they shot him, and then went back to his
house because he didn't know what to do. When he went back to his
house the LRA had tied his dad and his 2 wives to trees with their
arms and legs spread open. Then one by one they cut open their bodies
down the middle and pulled all of their insides out, while Dennis and
his brother watched. Dennis drew a picture of it and brought it to
show us, it was disturbing. Then the LRA took him and he was with them
for 7 or 8 years. He said they made them do terrible things, like eat
human flesh or they would kill someone and make the boys sit on the
bodies while they ate their dinner. He also said they would go days
without food walking from town to town and were treated terribly. He
escaped one night when the LRA and ugandan army or something were
fighting, but he had no where to go. So he lived on the streets for a
while, eating out of trash and doing random labor jobs to make money.
He has no family and still has no home. He met a professor from BYU in
2007 who was doing research in gulu and they became good friends. When
the professor went home he told dennis to research the church on
mormon.org and lds.org so he did and then he met the missionaries and
joined the church last october. The professor sponsors Dennis, meaning
he pays for his school fees, so Dennis goes to school in Jinga but on
holidays goes back to gulu and has no where to live. He just goes to
his old IDP camp and stays with friends if they let him. He said that
sometimes when he thinks about his life and what has happened to him
he feels like he has nothing to live for and shouldn't be alive, so
sad. A lot of other crazy things have happened to him, but he is still
such a great guy and has such a sweet countenance. Hearing the gospel
and the plan of happiness must have been such an amazing thing for
him. I recorded most of what he said, it would be cool if you watched
it sometime. Its crazy stuff. OH he also said that he has been around
Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, and he believes that he is
possessed by evil spirits. I agree with him, that is a sick sick man.
He also said that invisible children interviewed him so that is kind
of cool, but they never did anything with his story so that is not as
cool."

This story is about when she went to Rwanda (have you ever seen Hotel Rwanda? If so, then you'll know what she's talking about)
"We went to the memorial museum and it was really touching. One room was full of huge
pictures of kids and then underneath it had their favorite food,
favorite activity, favorite person, how they were killed, and last
words. A lot of them said things like favorite food: rice and chips,
favorite activity: laughing or football, favorite person: their older
sister, killed: macheted to death or shot in their mothers arms or
something like that. It was so so sad. Outside the memorial is a huge
mass grave where 250,000 people are buried. The branch president from
Kigali drove us around for the 2 days we were there, he is a foreign
service officer from Utah so that was fun to talk to him. He showed us
Hotel Rwanda and we drove on the road that he goes on in the movie
that is covered in bodies...crazy. We also went to a church where
5,000 people were killed. We got there at dusk and there were no
lights in the church so it was kind of eerie. There were shelves and
shelves of skulls when we walked in, and then the walls were covered
with clothes they hung up from the people that died. I thought they
were bodies hanging on the walls at first. The people were all hiding
in the church because they believed that churches were safe spaces
when the Hutus came and shot out/threw grenades in the windows. Then
they came in and macheted everyone to death. Then behind that church
was a one room school and that is where the men took the babies and
threw them against the wall to kill them. There is still blood on the
walls from that. Next to the school is a mud building where women were
cooking (i don't really understand why) and the men went in there and
basically burned all of them to death, so they still have the remains
of the women's clothes in that building. It was so sad. I can't
imagine those things happening and the fear they must have felt.
Rwanda/Kigali has cleaned up a ton so it was crazy to think of those
things happening there. Kigali is a very safe city now and very clean.
To get rid of racism it is against the law to take about race or
ethnicity so we couldn't ask anyone about their experiences which is
kind of a bummer. We went to church though and it was just at the
branch president's house in his living room which was way cool."

Good morning Baltimore!

Wow so I'm going to do a blogging dump! I have had BLOG on my to-do list everyday but I never seem to get to it. Today is the day! I have SO many pictures to post (which is mostly what I use my blog for) so I made a slideshow of them instead. Much easier than posting them on the blog! And since I can't post videos, I have a few videos I'll post here. I apologize in advance for the bad quality as we haven't uploaded the videos from our video camera yet and I had to use cell phone videos.

With no further ado, here are the links to the pictures: (click on "Slideshow" at the top of the screen to see a large version of the pictures. There are also captions at the bottom of each picture.)

First two weeks in Maryland

Tanner eating REAL food! (This needed its own album)

Some of the highlights of the last two weeks:

• Driving around our city, Lutherville-Timonium. There are beautiful forests with big trees all over and a large lake called Loch Raven nearby. This area is gorgeous and SO green! I'm not used to this much green in cities since I've only lived in dry areas.
• Spending the day after we got here with Eli. He took the day off work and we drove around the area and into downtown Baltimore. He showed me Johns Hopkins hospital and the area where he works. He works right on the bay in a quaint area of town called Fells Point! We ate at an amazing restaurant called Uno Chicago Grill which is now one of my favorite restaurants.
• Visiting the Washington D.C. temple for a concert at the Visitor's Center. Tanner lasted for about 15 minutes and then we walked around. He loves looking at pictures of Jesus and always starts talking to him. Cutest!
• Spending a day in Washington D.C. It only takes an hour to get there from our house. I have been wanting to see the Holocaust museum for years. We spent a few hours there and in the American History museum. I'm already planning more trips down there to see everything else! I also had an eggroll from a street vendor. Oh memories! Next time I go I need to find somewhere cheaper to park - $20 for parking is definitely not in my budget!
• Shopping at the mall and Walmart. It may sound funny but Tanner LOVES people so shopping is fun for him and I'm able to get stuff done! And it's a novelty to have a baby out here unlike in Utah. Everybody just adores him and gives him so much attention.
• Walking around the Inner Harbor area with Tanner. This is the touristy area of Baltimore with a promenade and museums right next to the bay. We walked around, I ate some custard mixed with Italian ice, and we went to Federal Hill which is a big hill overlooking the harbor with a large America flag on it. It also has a cute little park so I put Tan in the swing for the first time. He looked funny in there but he had a ball!
• Introducing solids to Tanner. That's an adventure in and of itself and something I need to keep learning about!
  
• Watching Tanner continue to grow. He turned 6 months old this week!!!! WOW! He talks and babbles A LOT and many different things including "dada," is starting to scoot around, gives us hugs and kisses, smiles and giggles all the time, blows raspberries when he is bored (he'll even have raspberry blowing contests with me), refuses to eat his food when he sees what mommy and daddy are eating, devours his food when he wants it (and squishes and smears it everywhere!), jumps high in his doorway jumper. And so much more! He is such a delight! I love this stage he's in! He has quite the intense personality!
  
• Watching "Pushing Daisies" with Eli. It was cancelled after two seasons but we love it. It's wholesome and cute!
  
• Gathering furniture. We bought everything on Craigslist and are going to sell everything at the end of the summer. Hopefully.
  
• Making homemade Hawaiian BBQ Chicken pizza. Oh my HEAVEN! It is DEEEEE-LISH! (The recipe on this link is what I mostly followed. When I say mostly, I mean that I added fresh pineapple and changed the amounts of the ingredients a little because my pizza was smaller than 18". And I could have made my own pizza dough but I bought pre-made dough from Trader Joe's for $0.99!)
  

Today Tan and I are going to the Dutch market. It's famous because the Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish come down for the weekend to sell their wares and goodies. Should be fun! I love markets!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Good morning Baltimore!!! (I listen to this song every morning to pump me up!)


Blowing raspberries in the car. I think he's a little bored!


"Dada"


Raspberry blowing contest with mom while jumping


Inner Harbor area

Kisses

We are so happy to be back with Eli. I have a husband again and Tanner has a daddy! 5 weeks was a long time to be apart for us. Tanner misses his grandma though. She is THEE absolute BEST and he had a blast with her! They have developed a sweet relationship that was fun for me to watch.

Tanner gives the most darling largely open-mouthed kisses and I LOVE them! He turns his head to my cheek like this for a couple seconds when he likes something. I just want to squeeze the little man when he does that - it makes me so happy! We were trying to take a normal cheek-to-cheek picture here but he wanted to give me kisses. I certainly didn't complain!

P.S. That's the amazing Washington D.C. temple in the background. We made it to Baltimore safe and sound last Monday. I'll post more pictures and information soon! We only came with one carload and two suitcases of things, so I have been busy shopping on Craigslist for cheap furniture that we can sell at the end of the summer. This summer really is an adventure for the little Morey family! We have picnics on the floor for every meal. Ha ha ha!

P.S.S. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE being a full-time mommy!!!!!!

P.S.S.S. In case you didn't get that the first time, I LOVE being with my munchkin all day long! I have missed him mucho.

Ta Ta for now!