I heart Boston

We made a quick trip to Boston last Saturday! We took our friend Ryan down and walked around. We went to the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art). Somethings were better than others. After we walked around down town, got a bite to eat at B Good an awesome Mass restaurant. I will say Boston with a baby child is totally different than walking around carefree like I did a couple of years ago. This time I was worried about the baby. Is he hot? Is he hungry? Is his diaper full? Why is he cranky? I imagine I will always have some concerns but hopefully they chill out a bit.

I got a pic from the day. Awesome. I like how small we are compared to the building. First family pic.

Thank you kind person . . . flying on an airplane

I feel very lucky. I have flown across the country alone twice. I always imagine an inconsolable baby with passengers taring at me as I frantically try to comfort my baby. Luckily I have been blessed with a pretty cool kid. He has flown 8 times already in his short life, and the times we were alone he did so well.

Thank you to my family for walking us to security. That totally made it manageable. Going through security - not too hard (knock on wood). We are in a routine. Sitting at the gate, there was a nice couple from Oregon who happily played with Harrison. It was so nice to hear other people dote on my child and he was pretty happy.

I got on pretty early on the flight and got the first seat on the Southwest flight. I sat by a tall veteran with bad knees from Bedford, NH. He was really nice and very understanding of Harrison soft grunts and cries. All the other passengers around us were very nice! Every cooed and smiled and all I can say is thank you kind people. You made a 4 hour flight great.

We are on our way to a whole new adventure!

Today is the day that Harrison and I get to move to Somersworth NH. I am so excited. Going foward I will start posting more here and on facebook so that I can keep in touch well with my family and friends on the other coast. This is a new adventure and I look forward to posting all of the lessons that I learn.

Well I am going to the airport soon and I will keep you posted. Hopefully Harrison has fun on the airplane.

Love you

Kate

I love being a mom . . .

This post is cliche and probably about 5 months late but I am a proud mom of an adorable sweet little boy. I am amazed by how happy he is on a daily basis. Yeah he is a baby and he has it pretty good with people fawning all over him, but he smiles often and i can't get enough.

I am so grateful that I have the privilege of being his mom. He has his father's mellow temperament. I have been told that he is a "dream baby". He sleeps through the night, takes good naps, eats well, he is really easy going with anyone and he is so good natured. I know I am lucky, and not all of my future babies will be like him, so I am trying to be grateful for right now. I love this child so much.

I was thinking about why I love being a mom. Despite some late nights and extremely poopy diapers motherhood is incredible. I am happy because I have the opportunity to learn and grow as a person because I have the opportunity to foster a new little life. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father loved me enough to give me this privilege.

I imagine this post will come off a little sappy and it is. I am totally okay with that for now. I love you little boy!

On a different note here are just a few of his nicknames: chubs, baby blue, tubby mc cugins, smokey, little goose, buboo, slug (mostly just my dad), harry boy. Good night!

1 Month Old

So I know that it has been awhile since we posted...November was a crazy month but our boy is 1 month old today!! Let's celebrate with some pictures-- click here

The Windows of Heaven

Today was a rollercoaster day. And not like "Yeahhh!! This rollercoaster is so great!" but more like, "Why did I eat that corndog and cherry limeade right before I got on?".

So we were recently the recipients of a car and grateful are we to have functional a/c in the cauldron that is Arizona. However, while driving this car around, squealing and other noises ensued. After a trip to Midas, the mechanics informed us that it would be a sizable chunk of change to fix the car, a lot more than we were hoping to spend.

While our stomachs dropped thinking about the hit to our budget, I talked to the Arizona State residency office and was informed that I was approved for in-state residency and would get in-state tuition retroactively. The refund that resulted from this change is more than enough to make up for the car costs.

I know that because we have been faithful tithe payers that we have been looked out for and protected. Kate's family and the ward have been so great to us with Kate in the homestretch of her pregnancy.

And there shall not be room enough to receive it.

G

A Post Long Overdue

So it has been a long time since I posted. Gavin has mentioned that he thinks it is interesting that I like to look at other blogs more often than posting on my own. And I suppose I can admit that I do blogstalk - but only a little bit.

So to make a long silly list of excuses short, I missed posting about Gavin on his birthday (which was in August)and this is a post long over due.

Really there are not enough words to say how much I love this man. He is such a manly man. He is athletic, responsible, hard working, loyal, funny, and kind. I have been leaning on him for strength and he us always there.

Gavin is such a good example to me of someone who is constantly pushing himself to do better; he is teaching me to be better everyday.

On a regular basis I fall asleep early. Gavin is still up doing homework . In my semi conscious state, I wake up and make some very cranky demands. I ask for water, lights off or on, cooler air and despite all these demands Gavin very patiently attends to me. In the morning he tells what i have said and done and usually I have no recollection. He makes me smile, still serving me.

So thank you sweetheart. I love you!

Basically every guy is a rogue agent in waiting

So it's Wednesday. Time for my first class and so I park my little scooter in my usual spot only to realize that the paymeter's credit card processor is busted. Lame. So I park in an underground parking garage nearby knowing that I have some cash. I check my wallet... $2. That would cover 45 minutes. Arggh.

So on the way back from class I try to find a Chase bank. There are 3...yes three... building all labeled Chase at the intersection of Mill & University, only one is actually a bank. I get to the ATM only to realize I loaned my card to Kate so we could get rewards points on a big purchase today. Double Arggh.

So what do I do? I don't have cash and don't have a way to get cash.

Here are my options:

1. Pray that the garage takes Amex

2. Ask for an IOU (unlikely)

3. Drive around the gate as it is only big enough to stop cars and not scooters

4. Devise a plan in which I roll the scooter into the elevator with me and ride away

If you guessed 4, then you are clearly Kate and cheated by knowing the answers to this quiz. Yes, that's right my first thought was math:

Scooter (250 lbs.) + Gavin (200 lbs., give or take) = Well below the weight capacity of any elevator.

I guess I was just going to ride out like Jason Bourne chasing that assassin in Tangiers (Bourne Ultimatum). However, I opted not to ride the elevator with my scooter because I have watched enough Burn Notice to know that elevators always have cameras (Face on security tape= busted).

I ended up taking option #3 and went out the cardholders entrance which had less personnel than the public entrance. Thanks to lessons learned from action movies I got away scott-free, I hope.

Movie Review: Inception

Down the list of the many things I was excited about this summer....Kate & I having our 3rd anniversary, finding out the gender of the baby, going to NH...seeing Christopher Nolan's new film, Inception, was definitely up there. Nolan's work with the Batman movies has really elevated the status of a superhero movie and makes it look downright silly when Marvel pulls chump moves like un-casting Edward Norton as the Hulk. Further, Nolan's non-supers movies have been challenging films that keep you thinking and savoring for days after you finished watching the movie.

Because of how excited I was to see Inception, I was nervous that it would be a big letdown.

I was wrong. Christopher Nolan bats 1.000 in my book.

Inception is one of those movies that evades easy explanation. You could say it is a sci-fi, thriller, heist, action, or drama but anyone of those labels would be incomplete. The premise is fairly simple: Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Cobb, is a subconscious thief who is asked to do the impossible. Cobb needs to plant an idea and have it be accepted by the target as the target's own organically grown thought. The cast handles it well by playing it all straight as if the audience is totally used to the idea of mind crimes (Ellen Page is the notable exception, playing the token naive). As the plot progresses, we are treated to the visual candy of Nolan's dreamworld. It is stunning in its simplicity-ordinary objects are given a subtle twist and are filmed with the minimum amount of CGI necessary (debatable, I realize). With the story deep in the land of dreams, I thought I was going to get lost or confused but instead I never felt out of step but had enough loose ends to consider once the credits rolled. A breakthrough performance by Tom Hardy, who has been working for years on the side and could be a leading man in 2011. You'll have to watch to see how the story goes but I really think you'll enjoy it, especially if you liked 'The Prestige'.

Let me know what you thought, if you've seen it.

Good News . . .

Gavin and I are expecting our first kiddo. I am due Nov 18! We went to the doctor today and we found out that we are having a little baby boy! Yeah a Pouliot to carry on our name. Just wanted to share.

RIP Oster Blender

On Tuesday, our Oster blender gave up the ghost after an admirable 2 years and 10 months on the job. The blender was a good provider, but ultimately his demise came from overuse. (If only we had never discovered homemade Orange Julius.) He leaves behind a heartbroken food processor attachment who will soon join him in the appliance afterlife.

While another blender will soon join our family, it can never fully take the Oster's place. We heartily knew ye. Goodbye old friend.

New Friends!!

We are so blessed to have good friends wherever we go. Here in Arizona, we love hanging out with the Bateses (that's the plural of Bates, right?) and the Bogels.

The Gang @ Diamondbacks Spring Training (from left): me, Kate, Kathrin & Ryan Bates, Shanda & Ty Bogel.

The Bateses are coming with us to NH for a summer getaway. I can't wait!!

Blessings

Well, it has been a long time since we posted on our blog. We need to get blogging again. Today Gavin and I taught Sunday School. We were talk ing about Moses and his caution to the children of Israel; he wanted them to remember God and always remember him. We talked about how easy it is to come to him in times of trial, but in times of goodness we tend to remember him less. I think I am guilty of that from time to time.

So I wanted to post about some of our great blessings. Gavin and I have such wonderful family surrounding us. Although we only see his family a couple times a year they are so supportive and kind. We enjoy their support even we are not together. My family here is wonderful. We also have great friends here, friends that are wonderful at church and work. We are blessed with jobs, sunshine (ALOT!!!), cell phones, computers, books in libraries, and vehicles that keep working.

I am also grateful because we have opportunities to travel and see our family. We get to go to Utah in July and we are going to NH in August! Yeah for cheap airplane tickets. I am blessed.

Most importantly, I am blessed with a sweet husband who puts up me all the time, in every condition and I love him. I am grateful I had this opportunity to even write these thoughts.

Hope all is well

Kate

School So Far...

Well, it's been a while and I am sure some of you are wondering what is going on. Well, I have been in school for a month now. My Master's program is in Educational Technology, which I have a better definition of now. Educational Technology is the designing of instruction ("lesson planning") and then using whatever tools ("technology") would help you reach that goal in the most effective way.

My classes so far are just beginner core classes and so some of the chapters are a little tedious (e.g. a five-page comparison on how e-mail differs from traditional mail) but some of the projects are interesting and some of the technology here at ASU is pretty mind-blowing.

So, all in all, it is pretty cool so far but I'm excited to get my hands dirty.

Pretty Awesome

I love mashed up trailers and this shows why. Sometimes it's not the irony but the similarity that makes them interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TuRbk-00Sw

Check it out.

We have so many things to be Thankful for . . .

We haven't really "caught up" yet but . . . Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was really fum this year. I haven't been home for Thanksgiving for several years and this year we got to be home. We got up, Gavin played dome football with guys in the ward, and then Gavin and I did the Stake Turkey Trot. Fun. Hard. I did it and Gavin rocked. The point was to guess your time. Whoever got closest won, but you didn't know how long the course was going to be. My dad makes a really good turkey, my sister and I got to make some pies, and cranberry sauce was a new thing at the table for Gavin. We had dinner a bit late - 3:00 which was nice. A bit later we had some thankful thoughts.

I am thankful for family - in NH and AZ, and temples, and Gavin, and a body that is healthy. I am so blessed.

And then we went to the Grand Canyon with my family on friday. I t was fun. Here is Gavin and I:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Playing Ketchup:Goodbye Old Friend

Well, as any guy will tell you, among the minor annoyances that come with being male shaving every day ranks pretty high up there (I realize that it in no way compares to menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause etc. but I still find it irritating daily.)Shaving every other day works and with my fair hair I can get away with it. Any longer than that and I only shave once a week.

Well, a couple weeks went by and I hadn't shaved and Kate hadn't said anything about it. It turned into a full-on beard. I thought that there should be some functionality to this otherwise useless growth and I told my brother-in-law, John, that I wouldn't shave until he went on a date....with a girl...who speaks English. This is one of the harder tasks I could have assigned him but on Halloween it happened and it was "Goodbye, Old Friend," just like on Harry and the Hendersons.

Here's the final hurrah pic before it all went away.

Playing Ketchup: Talesin West

Well, we never wanted our poor blog to become so neglected but with sharing a computer, getting time to do it has been difficult. So, we are going to blog in groups to catch up on what's gone on.

As a preface, not sure if we've mentioned this but the Mesa Public Library has passes that can be checked out for admission to lots of great cultural places e.g. museums, zoos, gardens etc. FOR FREE!! We love it so...

Kate and I went to Talesin West. It was the winter camp of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and is now the winter campus for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. If you don't know who Frank Lloyd Wright is he is the father of modern architecture and a genius. As a genius, he was sort of full of himself in a way that makes him a bit like Kanye West.

Here are some pics in a Picasa album for all to enjoy.

Update from Gavin

Well, I'm sorry that it has been a while since I updated the blog. In the meantime, I got a new job as a scanning tech for digmypics.com. I help turn people's slides, pictures, and negatives into digital copies. It's a job that I love and I come home happy everyday. Unfortunately, right now, there is not enough work to keep me there full-time so I have to take a few days off. Hopefully, it's just temporary and people will start sending more orders in for me to work on.

Other than that, Katie and I have been really blessed. We got tickets out to New Hampshire, which she already reported on, but it was sort of expensive. Thankfully, we've been blessed that checks we weren't expecting, and generous people have helped us out.

I know that we're so blessed right now because we are looked out for by a loving Father in Heaven and he gave us some great family to be with forever.

I look forward to seeing everyone back in cold, cold New Hampshire. We love you...just not the harsh winter.

It's Official!!!

We have been planning for a while to make our way to New Hampshire this Christmas. We miss Gavin's family and all our friends up in New England. And now it official. We bought tickets to fly to New Hampshire for the Christmas break and I couldn't be happier. I am so excited to meet my new sweet nephew. I can't wait. So share the good news. We are coming home!