Karen&Dave: May 2010

May 22, 2010

Monumental Occassion

It's official: Our blog is finally up-to-date for the first time since it's inception!

All the kids posing for a picture--looks like Maggie's not sure if she likes what's happening. Actually, she just ignores him, for the most part. But, then, she just ignores most people--she's happy by herself. Maya loves Ezra and wants to hold him all the time. Savannah likes him too, but has other priorities--like friends.

Ezra right before we took him home.

Close-up of Ezra. We're taking suggestions on what to call him. We have all kinds of nick-names for our three girls, but nothing rymes with Ezra...(Ezra-Pezra just doesn't have that nice ring to it).

I've done this with all my kids. Geologists often use a rock hammer for scale when they take pictures of rock formations for reports or papers or the like. It's only natural that I do the same for my kids' births.

Ezra Lehi Haddox

Karen and I scheduled this kid the day before the due date. She labored for about six hours before Ezra was born. Things went pretty slow--just ask Karen.

This is right after the nurses cleaned the baby up and Karen got to hold him for the second time--just much longer this time.

He makes this face all the time.

Although all our babies look the same, Ezra looked most like Savannah when he was born. He was 8 lb 6 oz and 20 in long. He is pretty quiet too--not a crier--a good kid. We're blessed.

So, despite there being a band named Better Than Ezra, I actually got his name while riding a bus at BYU. It was the first and only time I rode the bus (it was packed--standing room only). While on the bus, I heard two guys talking. One explained how he had a friend who just had a baby and that thet named him Ezra. Both guys then expressed and agreed upon their dissatisfaction with the name choice. All I could think was, "Huh, I really like that name." So I told Karen about it and two or three kids later, here he is. His middle name I've had well before I ever met Karen; I decided on the concept as a teenager. I wanted to name my boys after Nephite Generals in the Book of Mormon. They were great men who fought for what was right and just and were leaders among their people. I wanted my boy's (if I were to have any) middle names to reflect theirs as a modern metaphor for standing up and fighting for what's right and just. I chose Lehi because I admire General Lehi in the scriptures. (It helped that he was a great strategist too!)

Goodbye to a good friend

Well, it finally happened this morning...our Xterra drove off for the last time. We loved that car, but out grew it. I remember when we bought it. It was the biggest risk we ever took financially. Based on some miscommunicated information about moving to Texas for the internship, we had decided it would be best to get a truck. I was making $400 per month at the time. With food and rent and utilities, there was no way we'd be able to pay for this, but the internship paid much more, so we were able to buy it with proof of the promise note that stated I would be hired for a certain amount of money. It was crazy, but we decided that if I did not get the job we would be able to sell it and then pay off the difference of depreciation and just call it a loss. Fortunately, that never happened and we were able to save up enough in car payments to return to school for four months and barely make it back to Houston in time for a first paycheck to come in as our account was completely drained. (Thanks to Angie and Mike for letting us live with them for two weeks to help us save money.)

Regardless of how risky a decision it was when we bought it, we have loved it and would have driven it untill our kids were old enough to drive. We're going to miss the memories we had with that car.

May 15, 2010

Acrobat

So, Maggie really, really wanted a granola bar. We told her we'd get her one, but I gues she couldn't wait.

Easter 2010

What a picture. This is right before everyone went downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny brought us.

Another great picture. Too bad my kids aren't teenagers and posting these pictures would do real emotional damage!

Preparing for the egg hunt.

Maggie's were on the ground--the older two weren't allowed to touch the ones on the ground.

Found one.

Savannah is organizing her Sixlets into nice piles.

Maggie after the sugar-high wore off.

Savannah got a knitting kit. She loves it.

Maya and Maggie got snorkel gear.

The Shed

Karen and I have always wanted a shed to store things in (like dead bodies). Especially since the new car is so big, we need to clean out the garage to park both cars in it. I am both proud and irritated by this project. Proud because I did this whole thing from scratch. I even did all the calculations and drew-up my own plans. Irritated because I know better than to ever do this again. First of all, I poured the cement--2500 lbs of it (dry)! Second of all, when you make the plans, every cut takes too much time to calculate the hypotenuse and adjacent lengths, etc. I'd rather just buy some plans, follow instructions, then make the cuts plain and simple. In any case, I've learned a lot and have really enjoyed it. The siding blew over in the wind--twice--and broke. I had to make a lot of little pieces to get it to work. Currently, it has the roof on. I will get some pictures soon, but don't hold your breath.

May 14, 2010

Maggie's First Picture Depicting a Person

This is the cutest picture ever. It shows Maggie with her first drawing of a person. I love it. Savannah used to draw "daddy long-leg" people like this too, when she was a toddler.

Maya's Accident

Maya was dancing and spinning and then fell down. She hit her upper lip on a rocking chair that I gave Karen years ago for rocking Savannah as a baby. The rocking chair had a cushion on it that had a texture on the fabric--it went with the design of the cushion. Anyway, Maya hit so hard it lasted for days and when you looked close, you could see the fabric texture imprinted on her upper lip--it looked like a wicker basket weave. Poor kid.

The Tumbler

Talk about your life events. Four kids means we cannot fit into the Xterra anymore. We love our Xterra, but had to give it up. So, it was time to upgrade. I made this process as painful as I possibly could. I spent hours and hours online researching vehicles--6-plus passenger. It turns out that, unless you're going for a monster (like the Armada or Suburban), that most crossovers have better gas mileage and even more cargo room than mid-size SUVs. Who knew?! Anyway, I quickly centered in on the GMC Acadia/Chevy Traverse as the leading car (among a Mazda, Honda, and potentially an Acura). Here was the plan: save up (use tax return) for a down payment, then as soon as 0% financing is available, buy the vehicle. We looked at several vehicles and still liked the Acadia/Traverse (Acadia more for the look and the features, but it was more expensive). No sooner had we looked at them, than we found a 0% for 48 months on the Acadia/Traverse. In fact, it was not even publicised well. I found it online, but none of the dealers even knew about it. Long story shorter, the Acadia we wanted was shipped to Dallas the day before we visited the dealer. I played several dealers to see who would be the most willing to help me find another one like it, but in all of Houston, it did not exist. So, we settled with a blue Traverse. We like it just fine though and it was much cheaper. So, below is a picture of Karen in front of the 'Tumbler'. It's is deceptively big and has taken some time to adjust to it.

Here's the best part. Since we financed st 0% for 48 months, our payment was higher than expected. No sooner than Toyota had the recalls and then placed all their vehicles on 0% for 60 months, that all other car companies followed suit. Less than a month later, the Acadia and Traverse were 0% for 60 months (and probably still are). Which means we could have afforded the Acadia after all...grrr.

More snow! This year has been awesome!

Two major snow storms in one winter. It's like we're living in Idaho, but way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way better.

Savannah's School Play

Savannah had a pretty good part in the school play. It was also perfect for her personality. She was a Star-fish. An actress fish in the sea who was looking for

the part of her lifetime. Needless to say, she loved it.

Valentine's Day 2010

It was a night of projects. Karen's helping the girls make glow-in-the-dark prayer reminder posters.

Then they made cookies for the neighbors.

Busy, but happy.

Savannah is a Daddy's Girl

Savannah implied to me after Ezra was born that I wouldn't pay attention to her anymore. I told her that, as much as I have my boy Ezra, that she will always be my Daddy's girl.

Miscellaneous Pictures of the Girls

Kid splaying a game on my cell phone

Maggie's turn.

This is the result of Maya's spa kit she got for Christmas or her birthday. Don't they look beautiful?

This is the oatmeal mask they put on--turns out, the directions aren't very good.

Maggie on a carousel.

May 12, 2010

You Don't Need to Have Boys to Get Help Around My House

She may not always like it, but it's nice having Savannah around to help out with things like this. I like to do my own oil changes, brake changes, and tire rotations. It's good to teach the kids how things work anyway.