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Meet Ashbo, Eva’s Fish (aka the animal in the humidifier)

I was going through my Instagram and I realized I forgot to post this little story on my blog.

A month or so ago, Eva woke up coughing and I bought her a humidifier (I wrote about that a while back…). After filling up the tank, Eva was crying and so I was trying to do anything to get her to settle down since I knew the tears would make her cold worse. Nothing worked, so I told her to come look at the humidifier. The next part went sort of like this:

Me: Eva, come look at the humidifier.
Eva: (Still crying)
Me: Look… what does it look like? Does it look like a fish tank…?
Eva: (Starting to calm down and acting curious)
Me: (Then my mind just led one thing to another and I started telling a little white lie…) Yeah… Eva… it’s a fish tank! Maybe you should look in there and you might see a fish!
Eva: (Running over and getting excited)
Me: You know… a fish… yeah… an ANIMAL! There’s an ANIMAL in here… COME LOOK!
Eva: ANIMAL!

There you have it. I felt so bad because for about a whole week, Eva would try so hard to look for the fish in the tank. Then she started calling it Ashbo. I have no idea where that came from but she STILL talks about Ashbo to this day.

 

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Love, The Derricks

I wanted to buy our Christmas cards on Shutterfly because I can always find great deals there. But T.J. would not have it, clearly, because why would we buy a Christmas card that everyone can buy he is a professional graphic designer and can design one just for us? (Because it’s cheaper to print-was my answer… but that still didn’t work). So, I gave T.J. a deadline or else we’d go with Shutterfly, but he created the most beautiful design in time for us to print and send them out! I love that boy!

Just in case we didn’t send you one, I want to share the Christmas spirit here on my blog!

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Merry Christmas to you and your family! May 2014 be a wonderful year for you all!

 

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A Small Act of Kindness

Last week when I flew into Utah, I had a layover in Phoenix and missed my flight because my first flight was delayed. I don’t really want to go into all the details because it just makes me angry. But I had to pay for a crappy hotel in Phoenix for the night and on the cab ride there, I called T.J. and told him what happened. I just cried my eyes out telling him about all of the rude people working at US Airways.

When the cab driver dropped us off, I asked him how much I owed him and he said, “Don’t worry about it.” I realized he had heard everything I said to T.J. and felt bad for me, so to help me feel better he wasn’t going to make me pay for the $20 fare. I insisted and said the offer was sweet but I couldn’t let him do that. He told me again that it was on him and that he couldn’t take my money.

Since I was so tired and already so emotional, I burst into tears (this time, happy tears) and told him thank you… it had been a VERY hard day.

Isn’t that so sweet? Considering most of the cab drivers I’ve used in NYC and Jersey City are always trying to rip me off, I was very surprised at his gesture. And although it may not seem like a big deal, it really helped me feel better.

So, thanks Mr. Cab Driver… I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

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Bonus: Photos from the airport and the night at the hotel

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Jersey City Ward Christmas Party

The Saturday before I left for Utah, we went to our Ward Christmas party. It was in the afternoon, so there was a lunch, gingerbread house decorating stations, and tons of dancing surprisingly. It was a great turn out and a lot of fun. Our Ward sure knows how to throw great parties! From the decorations to the activities, they’re great!

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(I stole the rest of these pics from Allie Bell on Facebook… Thanks, Allie!)

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The only downside is that T.J. and Eva got food poisoning that night… I think it’s safe to say we won’t be eating at a pot luck for quite a while.

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I wore this makeshift mask all Saturday evening so I wouldn’t throw up watching Eva or T.J. throw up. Worked like a charm.

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Macy’s Santaland

Santaland at Macy’s was so neat! There wasn’t much of a line since we went late on a weekday, so we got to enjoy all the setup but didn’t have to deal with a crowd!

The best part was that they have probably 10-20 rooms at the end of line (which is all decorated and adorable) that all have Santas in them. It makes the line go much faster, but the kids can’t see that there is more than one Santa there! It was such a cool idea, and fun to be in a room with Santa by ourselves!

Santa asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I felt like Ralphie in the Christmas Story, when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas and, tongue-tied he said he wanted a football. I was put on the spot and didn’t know what to say, so I said a car. Gotta dream big, right?

A football! Wake up, stupid!

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J&J Christmas Party

T.J.’s work party was last Wednesday and he really wanted Eva and I to come. Since we hadn’t been to his work since his internship, I thought it would be a good chance to meet some of his coworkers and his bosses. But guys, he works on 12th avenue. That’s like as far west as you can get in NYC. The train stops at 6th avenue, and it’s a pain to take busses. I thought about taking a cab, but Eva was warm and doing well in her stroller. So, I made the long trek over to his office in the cold! It was good exercise, at least. After such a long walk, I was so excited to get to the party and have some fun!

But as I was getting closer to his office, T.J. called me to say that the party wasn’t exactly how he imagined it. We were expecting sugar cookies, casual conversation, and games. Sort of like his happy hours at work each Friday. But it was swanky! Loud music, dark room, fancy outfits, lots of little fancy appetizers (that actually were really good), and no children. They invited families, but in NYC usually a family consists of just two people. So, we stuck out when Eva and I walked in the room. People literally were pointing at us. But not in a bad way, they just never see children and were amazed to see a toddler at their party. Their lifestyles are so different than ours! I felt like I was wearing a big sign around my neck saying, “Hi, we’re the Mormons from Utah!” when Eva was on my hip and I was holding a diet coke. I really didn’t care, but it was funny to feel so out of the norm.

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I was imagining the party to be sort of like this:

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But it turned out to be more like this:

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After mingling for a little bit, we decided to get out of there and visit Santaland instead. Santaland beats any work party, any day!

 

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Lately-grams from Jersey

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I was glad my stroller tires have a good tread on them when I had to walk home from church in the snow.

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Eva’s little nativity!

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I’m trying out new hairdos on Eva..

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A Day with the Rental Car

After DC, we didn’t have to return the car until the following evening since they were closed on Sunday. I took advantage of having the car by taking my friend to get drinks at Sonic, something I used to do all the time back in Provo. I just love Sonic Happy Hour! We then thought it would be fun to go to Trader Joe’s, which was about 15 minutes away in NJ.

We started to follow the directions and all of a sudden realized we were heading towards the Lincoln tunnel, which takes you into the city and costs a hefty toll of $13! We kept thinking, “Oh I’m sure it will have us exit before the tunnel!” But no, there were no turnoffs and no way to escape. We were going into the city and it was felt like a nightmare! No, it felt like we had just gotten on a roller coaster, were going up the hill and decided we didn’t want to go on it anymore! But there was nothing we could do. We had to finish the ride. We had to go into Manhattan.

Once we were over there, we decided to make the $13 worth it. We found a T.J.’s near by on the Upper West Side, and actually found street parking fairly easily. All in all, it was okay and I did fine driving (just don’t ask Ashley about the details of my driving). But it was a fun adventure!

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Sidenote: Eva did not nap AT ALL on our drive to or from DC. 6 hours there, 9 hours back. Nothing. But not even one hour in the car coming home from NYC and she felt asleep and took a long nap! I had to sit in the parking garage for a while so she could get a good snooze in!

 

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“Where was your God that day?”

I posted this video on Facebook last week, but I keep thinking about it, especially the part where the mother of Emily, one of the 20 people killed last year at Sandy Hook, explains how God can let something so horrible happen, a question that I often struggle with when I see such awful things happening around the world and in others’ lives.

“People ask ‘where was your God when this happened’? ‘Why didn’t he stop it?’ God allowed others to kill His son. He allows for all of us to make our own choices – good and bad – because that’s the only way good can be in us is if we freely choose it over all else. Evil didn’t win that day, we will carry that love like she had. It’s quiet, it’s not on the news, it takes effort to find. But what I’ve realized through all of this is how strong and how big God’s love really is.”

This mother, who has suffered such pain that I can’t even imagine after losing her little girl, explains a question that most people have asked at one point or another. Where was God? How could he let this happen? We all have agency-the ability to choose between good and evil. But when horrible things happen, or maybe just a series of things happen that just add up to tear us down, we have to choose. We can let it destroy us, or we can learn and grow from the situation and continue to love when all else fails.

This Christmas season, my goal is to remember Jesus Christ, the meaning of the season. It all started in a humble manger, but it ended as a sacrifice for all of us, so that we can choose to do good in this world amidst all of the evil. God gave us the best gift of all for Christmas, and I hope we can all remember that this season.

Please share this video with others on social media. I think everyone can benefit from listening to the mother’s powerful words and story.

 

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Eva is TWO!

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My little baby is TWO YEARS OLD! I cannot believe it! It feels just like yesterday when we checked into the hospital. Heck, it feels just like yesterday when I found out we were expecting! And here we are. With a two year old!

Since we were in DC for Eva’s actual birthday, my sister was so nice and made a cake for Eva. We opened a couple presents together before we hit the road, and then opened up some more presents when we got back to Jersey.

Eva was so excited to open her presents and even learned the word, “Birthday!” She sings bits and pieces of the birthday song, “Happppppyyyyyy twooooo.” It’s adorable.

Not much is different since last month when I wrote about Eva, but she does/says some really funny things these days. She likes to say the word “sad” and frown and then she immediately says “happy!” and jumps and smiles. She’s already practicing being emotional, and turning on and off tears. That’s my girl! Ha!

Eva loves her babies. We have a little Baby Jesus and she gives it lots of kisses from herself and from her other dolls. I caught her having her Belle doll kiss Baby Jesus. I guess Belle would love Baby Jesus though.

One of Eva’s favorite toys right now is her new tent that she got from her Swainhart grandparents. She spends most of the day in there reading and asking me to “come” inside. She grabs my hand and pulls me while saying over and over, “Come, come, come mommy, come!” We sit inside and read, play babies, and just hang out.

Eva loves coloring, playing with play dough, watching Winnie the Pooh, talking/watching/singing about Santa, doing puzzles, taking baths, using her rolly backback around the house, wearing dresses (especially her new dress from the Derrick grandparents, and her new Cinderella dress from her Aunt Hannah), and singing/dancing to music.

Everyday Eva asks to go on a walk, which is so cute to me. “Walk, mommy? Walk?” Other funny things: She comes up to me with her Halloween trick or treat bag, and say, “TREAAAAATTTTTT!” It’s December and she is STILL doing this. If she hears any noices in our apartment building outside, she thinks Daddy is home and looks at me while saying, “DADDY?!?!” That’s pretty adorable. She loves our friends Ashley and Brooks. Pretty much any baby she sees, even if it’s a drawing (she point to the drawing of a baby on the changing tables at the mall) and says, “BROOKS!” She ran over to Ashley and said mommy once, so I think it’s safe to say she’s Ashley’s biggest fan.

Eva is pretty mischevious at times, and she knows it. She’ll look at me before doing something she knows she shouldn’t do. Or show me that she did something she wasn’t supposed to do. Such as coloring on the table/wood floor, playing in the vaseline (why do I keep leaving that out???), throwing food on the floor, taking all the tissues out of the box, and pouring bath water out of the bath. But then she does something adorable and it makes me forget about her craziness!

That’s all I can think of right now, but everyday she makes us laugh and smile. I wish I could capture it all and write about everything!

Happy Birthday, Eva! I am so excited to see you learn and grow this year!

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