Adventure #52: Getting in the Christmas Spirit

"May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, the gladness of Christmas give you hope, and the warmth of Christmas grant you love." - Unknown

December 4-17, 2015

We received a surprise trip to Utah to visit Jordan's family for Christmas. Christmas was already going to be exciting with a baby, but with family it would be even more exciting. My mom, dad, and James were also planning to meet us in Utah. My family sent us the 12 days of Christmas for Maria. We had to start it early so we could finish before we left for Utah. This is a picture of opening her first gift. She loved the ribbon and wrapping paper. Haha and then she loved the book inside once we read it.

Ok, we have no idea why, but Maria was obsessed with this Christmas blanket. We don't know if it was because it was soft, or green, or whatever.  It was so funny to watch her throw her whole body on this blanket every day. Lol

Maria's 5 months old! I got this dress from a local mom for free. It's was easy to be happy with this smiley girl.

At our ward party, Maria got to meet Santa for the first time! I'm so excited for her to see him each year! Hopefully next year she won't pull on his beard. Haha

One of the sister missionaries was going to be transferred while we were in Utah so we had to say our goodbyes beforehand. I love these sisters so much. I went out teaching with them a lot and got to hear their testimonies. It was such a strength to me to prepare to teach and hear the sisters proclaim the truths of the gospel. It was just what I needed spiritually. 

Having a baby around is always fun. You never know what they're going to do next! Maria started experimenting with some new sounds...

Jordan got to enjoy watching the city of Philadelphia get in the Christmas Spirit. This is at City Hall.

I was in the other room when Jordan yelled, "Kristen!!! Get in here now!" So I ran in to the living room to see this...

Maria is one strong girl! haha We could not stop laughing! :)

Adventure #51: Thanksgiving and Random Stuff

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving." - W.T. Purkiser

November 26-30, 2016

We found out the sister missionaries in our ward didn't have anywhere to go for Easter dinner, so we invited them over. It would be our first tThanksgiving without family. I was pretty nervous to host, so thankfully we got an invite to go to Thanksgiving at the Sikahemas (bullet dodged!). They invited us and the sister missionaries over. They are seriously the best. They are our family away from family, for which our families are extremely grateful. Our families know that even though we're far away, we have people like the Sikahemas who will always take care of us. 

So Thanksgiving was much less stressful and we got to enjoy so much yummy food! Maria was a cutie patootie as always, so it was fun to pass her around. Lana and Marcus were home for Thanksgiving, too! We hadn't seen them since we took our trek to move out east. Maria was only a couple weeks old then, so they were excited to see how she had grown.  :)

Thanksgiving dinner was outstanding. Lana and her mom in the kitchen... Perfection. I think it's impossible for them to make food that's just "average," everything is always super delicious.

I was proud of the onesie I had made Maria for Thanksgiving. And by make, I mean that I painted a word on a onesie we bought. Lol Nonetheless, I was still proud it turned out decent. 

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we watched Maria fall asleep on the way home. I love how peaceful sleeping babies are.  :)

Jordan and I love to walk Maria around. And look at how cute her PJs are. My dad picked them out. I think she looks so adorable, but I'm probably biased.

Seriously! These PJs!!!  :)

Adventure #50: Jordan's Birthday!!!

"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy sushi which is kinda the same thing." - Unknown

November 2015


Jordan's birthday was blast! And it started before we even went out for his birthday! Maria seemed like she was ready for solid food, so we gave her some banana for the first time!

She enjoyed it! In fact, she enjoyed it a little too much. She started to get frustrated at Jordan for not giving her banana fast enough. haha We just love that sassy girl!

Since Jordan always plans surprises for me, I had to surprise him. He still had school and studying to do, so we only had time to go out to dinner, eat dessert, and then open presents. Jordan loves sushi. I'm not a huge fan because I usually get sick when I eat raw seafood. Because of this, Jordan doesn't get to eat seafood nearly as much as he would like. I asked a bunch of local people where to go and I took him to a place nearby called Osaka. We were literally the only ones there that night (I guess weekdays aren't too busy). It was nice to feel zero pressure about Maria. This was the first time we had gone out to a nicer restaurant since she was born.

Don't worry, we didn't give her any sushi! Jordan just wanted to see if she would try to eat the chopsticks. After eating banana earlier that day, I think she would have gone for anything!

I got an avocado roll and a california roll. They were very delicious and I didn't get sick! Yay! Jordan got a Godzilla roll, some crab rolls, and shrimp rolls. He was in heaven!

So when I made the reservation online, I wrote a note saying that it was Jordan's birthday. But because we had never been to this place, I had no idea if they even did anything for birthdays. Turns out they do. And it was the best thing ever.

Suddenly the lights to the whole restaurant went dim and some disco ball lights starting flashing. There was also a disco-ish song playing over the speakers. Before we could figure out what was going on, the whole staff came out and brought Jordan a boat of fruit and sang him a birthday song. 

It caught us so off guard, but in the most amazing way possible. haha

Okay, even the fruit was delicious!

Maria fell asleep on the way home so we hurried and opened gifts while she was snoozing. He got some pretty amazing gifts. :)

It's not pictured, but I created an East Coast "passport" for us to check off things we do here. It was a fun gift and I can't wait to go out and do all the things we have in there!

Adventure #49: Mommy/Daughter Time And A Visit From Felisha!

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." - Albert Camus

November 1-13, 2015

Maria was given a cute little bracelet, and when I unpacked my jewelry I realized I had almost the same one! It was fun to be matching. Hopefully it won't be the last time.  :)

One of my favorite parts of the week is getting Maria ready for church every Sunday. I love getting her all dolled up. Usually she's in PJs and "whatever" clothes since she spits up so much, but Sundays we dress it up. She still spits up, but ruining a nice outfit once a week isn't too bad, right?

A typical day includes Maria and I doing things around the apartment or running errands. Jordan goes to school and as we send him pictures, he sends us pictures like this beauty...

He gets that view every day going to and from school. What a lucky kid!

Maria and I decided to find some scenery of our own, so we went to the local park. Best decision of the day for sure! Maria ended up sleeping most of the time so I walked nice and slow to take in the beauty of the changing leaves.

This next tree took my breath away. It looked like it was on fire. The leaves were extremely vivid and oh, so beautiful.

Most of the time Maria and I spend together is feeding time. Every once in a while Maria will help hold up the bottle. And by that I mean that she'll use one finger to "hold" the bottle. haha Such a good helper!

Within a couple weeks she actually learned how to hold the bottle all by herself! And surprisingly it wasn't one finger at a time. lol It just happened so suddenly!

To keep my sanity and my stress level down, I watched NCIS. That's just so you know what the background noise is in this video. At this point Maria knew she could hold the bottle, but was still working on refining that skill...

4 months old! Can you believe that?

One of the highlights of November was getting a visit from Felisha! Felisha is one of my dearest friends from high school. She is one of the sweetest people I know and lucky for me, she lives in New York. She's attending school up there but took the time to visit us for a day! We had Skyped a few times, but it was the first time we saw each other in person in FOREVER! It was so nice to catch up and share some memories and stories with Jordan.

She also got to meet Maria and play with her. Maria loved Felisha! But seriously, who doesn't? She spent the night with us, and it was the same night as the Paris attacks. We were able to watch the news together and talk about the world, our values, and desires for the world. She has plans to help people in need and I think she is going to make a huge difference in the world.  :)

Adventure #48: Everything October

"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days." - John Burroughs

October 2015

October was our first general conference with a kiddo and we survived! Jordan had a big test on Monday so he had to study during the Saturday day sessions (yes he watched them later). This meant that I was home alone with Maria while I tried to watch conference. She was going through a phase of never wanting to be put down (like most newborns) so it was hard to get things done. Fortunately I was able to set her down while I ate lunch and watched conference. I don't know why, but it felt like a major win for me. haha

The only time Maria was okay with being set down was if she was able to play with toys and if mom or dad were within sight. We love watching her play. She gets so excited and so talkative. 

In October Maria hit 3 months old! We were so excited that she actually fit in a 3 month size outfit. She had been a petite little girl and had only started to fill out in recent weeks. It was also kind of fun to start a new wardrobe as we moved up sizes. I wish I had a new wardrobe every few months! lol

Maria is always so good at taking pics. It makes my job much easier. And I just can't stop taking pictures of her!!!

Here is a video of Maria talking. I just wish I knew what she was saying!

Towards the end of October the leaves started to change. This was my first East Coast fall, and boy, was it marvelous. Pictures don't ever do it justice. I had never seen so many different shades of colors and they were all so vivid!!! We also go lucky to have warmer weather which made the fall last a long time. I just loved driving around during this time.

The Tuesday before Halloween our ward threw a Trunk-or-Treat Halloween party. It was fun to dress up as a family. My mom surprised Jordan with Maria's outfit (Superman is his favorite superhero). So Maria and Jordan were "super" together. My favorite superhero is batman, but I didn't want to buy an outfit so I improvised. I made some cufflinks and bat ears to go with my t-shirt. 

I kind of want them to dress like this every Halloween for the rest of forever. Aren't they just adorable?!?!?!

I also had to share this little tidbit about Maria. She almost always crosses her ankles while she drinks her bottle. Our little lady! :)

Adventure #47: Sweet Home, Virginia (Finally!)

"Virginia is for Lovers." - Virginia slogan

September 25-28, 2015

The Pope was coming to town, which meant we were getting out of town. Nothing against the Pope, but we heard everything was going to be crazy busy. Jordan's school even cancelled classes for two day for the Pope weekend. We decided to use those two days off to our advantage and take a trip down to Jordan's hometown. He hadn't been there since before he left on his mission, seven years ago. He had been telling me stories and describing the beautiful scenery for years. We both couldn't wait to go there together!

We left on Friday morning. The first bridge we crossed was the Delaware Memorial bridge. We had no idea that the east coast had so many bridges everywhere! It makes sense because of how much water there is.

The second bridge was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. It was incredible. It took us about 30 minutes to cross. I didn't even know bridges/tunnels like this existed! The water was gorgeous, and we were surrounded by water for 30 minutes... so ya, it was awesome.

Here's a video of us on the bridge/tunnel:

The tunnel part...

(We tried to hold our breath, but I'm sure you can guess the outcome)

Once we crossed the bridge, we stopped in Virginia Beach so that I could touch the Atlantic Ocean for the first time...

And Jordan decided Maria needed the same experience. Also, let me explain. It was extremely windy, so we had a blanket over her head to block the wind. I promise we're good parents and we're not water boarding her.

A still shot of "the moment."

Oh, don't worry! Maria was just fine! We warmed up her little toes and got back in the car... Only to hit traffic. And Maria filled her diaper. And was hungry. We were at a stand still in traffic, so I hurried and changed her and fed her before the car moved.

We made it to Yorktown and we drove past Jordan's old house. Then we stopped at our gracious hosts house, the Andrews. They are basically Jordan's second parents and they are absolutely amazing. It was their first time meeting Maria, so it was extra special.

Saturday morning we went to historic Yorktown.

I had never been to a historic battlefield in person, so I was in awe. It was beautiful, but it was difficult to think about the lives lost there.

The Revolutionary War Victory Monument.

So we went down to the beach in historic Yorktown and Jordan showed me the coolest place. It's the cave where the British finally surrendered! Like, THE place. Where the war officially ended. Cornwallis surrendering... ring a bell? I don't know why I had never realized ALL the historical significance of Yorktown, but thanks to Jordan and this trip I finally do.

Maria was sleeping so you can tell she really loves Yorktown. haha

The beach right by the cave.

We went back up to the town part of historic Yorktown. The buildings were all so cute. We got a few family photos there...

Still sleeping.  :)

Starting to wake up as we set her in the middle of the street. Alone. lol

Within a few minutes of taking the previous picture it started to drizzle, then pour. We ran to the car and fed Maria. A few minutes after that, Maria filled her diaper... and her clothes.... And kept going while I was trying to change her.... We finally got her all cleaned up only to realized we forgot to pack an extra outfit for her to wear. So we put her in the car seat with just her diaper on. And because I am obsessed with making her clothes last as long as possible. I went out in the rain and washed her clothes in a puddle. All good memories.  :)

We were going to go to Williamsburg that day, but we had to go back to the Andrews so that we could get Maria dressed and wash her dirty clothes. It turned out to be a nice relaxing day just hanging out with the Andrews. 

The next day, Sunday, we went to church and attending Jordan's old home ward. He was so happy to see so many old friends and they were all happy to see him. The last time most of them saw him was when he gave his farewell talk before his mission. They all told him how proud they were for the man, husband, and father he had become. 

Here's a picture of us hanging out with the Andrews!

We also took some time to drive around Yorktown and check out Jordan's old home, schools, etc. Here's Jordan's old house:

Driving around with Jordan in his hometown was by far my favorite part of the trip. When he saw roads or buildings or just something random, it would remind him of memories and stories I had never heard before. I love learning new things about Jordan.  :)

The next day was Monday, which meant that we had to go back home. We still need to go to Williamsburg, so that was going to be our first stop on the way home. Jordan took the Colonial Parkway and it was one of the most gorgeous drives I've ever been on. So much green and so much water.

Colonial Williamsburg was so much fun! And once again I got to learn more about history from Jordan.

Me and Maria hanging out with TJ (Thomas Jefferson).

The Governor's Palace was spectacular. It housed people like Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson.

You can't go to a colonial town and NOT take a picture in the stalks!

You also can't go to Williamsburg and NOT go to Pierce's Pitt BBQ. It was soooo good. We even bought a bottle of sauce for later.  :)

With full tummys we continued our journey. We also really wanted to drive by DC and look at some the historic places there.

Lincoln Memorial

The White House from far away.

After getting confused and sitting in traffic, we made it out of DC and about 3 hours later we were home.