House Update

Last week was quite the rollercoaster ride – we met on site Tuesday to discuss our options for correcting the front walkway – in the end we decided we would live with it as is and accept their bribe to pour a concrete path from the front driveway to the porch in the backyard. Every day there after there was some sort of decision/dilemma that needed to be made ASAP – placement of the prep sink in the kitchen island, specific diagram of our TV position above the fireplace, and the most recent dilemma of the countertop fabricator being unable to locate a slab of marble long enough for our master bath. I-yi-yi

Last night I responded to emails from our builder representative, the building superintendent, the lighting company, and our real estate agent. For a few moments the ball is out of my court, but I’m bracing myself for their responses. Yes, it has been stressful, but also very fun and exciting too. Thankfully, everyone we work with has been awesome.

We had to make yet another trip up to the house on Saturday to deliver the TV mount we purchased (and spent all evening assembling) on Friday night. Although it had only been a few days since our last visit there were lots of changes.

Unobstructed view of the front of the house.

We have interior doors. This was taken from the office looking out into the entryway and coat closet. The doors and trim work still need to be painted.

We have a mantel, although I think a tad bit high for mounting a television above it. Do you agree?

We have fence posts.

We have bathroom tile.

Justin selected this small glass tile as an accent in our master bath. So far that's my favorite thing in that bathroom.

House Update

I’m shocked! Again, two weeks went by since my last visit to the new house and the amount of work that has been done since then is really amazing. Justin drove by last week so I knew that the exterior had been painted and the concrete poured (not to my liking, thus the reason for the visit on Tuesday), but I was shocked to walk into the house and see the wood floor installed and most of the cabinetry in place – some of the tile work in the bathrooms has even been started.

Here are a few pictures:

They were putting in the sprinkler system so lots of workers on site – couldn’t really ask them to move their trucks for a second could I? The only painting left on the exterior of the house is the garage door and staining the front door.

The patio in the backyard. We thought the curved patio would work well with our circular dining set.

Our kitchen island is huge (almost 9 feet long) – we should be able to fit four barstools along this side. While we were there the granite guy was taking measurements and I asked (begged) him to do everything possible to find a slab of granite large enough that we can just have one piece across the top, he made a phone call and yippie-i-o it’s a done deal. Do you have any idea how heavy that slab of granite is? 1200 pounds! Another shocker - countertops will be installed next week! I can’t wait to see them.

Family room and kitchen from the nook area. The interior of the house has already been painted a light beigey color that we selected – thankfully, I love it.

Family Night

A few weeks ago Jason and I ran into the Supermall to kill some time before Katie’s doctor appointment (oh, so Katie was with us too but her role is minimal to nonexistent in my story). When Jason saw the carousel he was awestruck and asked if he could take a ride. I've been asked this question many, many times over the nearly 10 years that we've been here and my answer has always been the same... no.

We walked by it again on our way out and I had a brilliant idea. We would surprise the kids with a ride on our beloved Supermall carousel before we moved. Last night was the night.

Abigail commented to Justin that she wished it went faster (maybe we should have taken her 5-7 years ago when carousels were a little more exciting) – even though the ride wasn’t fast and wild, the kids had a fun time.

After our little four minute adventure, we visited McDonalds with free coupons in hand. The plan was to get ice cream cones, but the kids were still hungry so we used the free hamburger coupons instead. We visited a second McDonalds on the way home to use the free ice cream coupons. Yes, we are that cheap.

Jason was the last one done – he couldn’t peel his eyes off the TV reflecting on the window in front of him.

All in all, a great night out with the family.

She's movin'

Not quite sure how she managed to get herself here, but she was stuck.

J @ 3.5

Since we recently celebrated Abigail’s birthday Jason can't wait for his own birthday to come around. Unfortunately, he has to wait til the end of July. This is what he says, "firs tarly birday, den tatie birday, den den mommy birday, den MY birday". Tomorrow is Jason’s half-birthday (not sure I'll try to explain that concept to him), but I thought I'd use it as an excuse to catch up on what he's been up to lately.

Loves, loves, loves going to class at church. I'm sure it helps that he has a few favorite buddies that go with him. When they were all in nursery I was always hearing about the boys running around, playing with cars, and tackling each other. So there was a little concern how well they would do at the start of the new year actually having to sit still and doing without toys and snacktime, but apparently Jason’s been a model little sunbeam and he loves to go.

Jason loves to sing, definitely more than the girls do and likely even more than the girls ever did at any age. Lately Jason sings this little phrase, "Jesus wants me be born" over and over again. I think it is his version of "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam". But don't think of correcting him, this new sunbeam thinks he's got it all figured out.

Has become Mr. Manners, anytime someone belches he's quick to say, "What do you say?"

Speaks great. Rarely is there a time he can't express to me what he wants to. He has a few sounds he still struggles with "k" and "g", but it's amazing how far he has come in the last six months.

Jason goes to speech twice a week at the elementary school. He enjoys it, but I miss his previous therapist. She was awesome and really connected and loved Jason. Now I sit in the school office while he goes back for 30 minutes. I don't really know her style of therapy or how well he performs for her. Like I said he likes to go and I'm sure he is benefiting from it.

This kid likes his desserts! Thankfully, he is still very understanding when there are foods he can’t eat and never gets upset when we tell him something has egg or nut in it. I know I’d be peeved if people ate delicious desserts in front of me. So glad we found a yummy egg-free chocolate cake recipe.

Jason does great entertaining himself but there are times during the day when I'm busy with Katie or working on something in the office that he'll ask, "what me do?" I then suggest some sort of activity or toy and he usually replies, "o-ta" and off he goes.

Jason loves going shopping. It doesn't matter what kind if store it is. If we're running errands he'll often ask, "where we goin' now?" and if I tell him we are going home he'll say, "no home", if I tell him we're going shopping he'll say, "ya-hoo!" Doubtful that this will last for years to come...

The grocery store by my Mom’s house in Utah had these little shopping carts for kids - Jason thought they were awesome!

Jason also has a strong opinion about which way we should drive home. To get to our house Justin usually drives along the north side to get into our neighborhood, I prefer to drive around the south side. Jason prefers the north side, but then he likes to take the long way around our block to get to our house. He calls out “go dat-way, go dat-way!” If I ignore him he responds with a frustrated moan, but if we turn the way he wants we get a great big “ya-hoo!” from the back.

Still naps, but only a few times a week.

Has started to want to help feed Katie. I'll step away for a moment and next thing I know he's got a spoonful of food in (and all around) her mouth. I appreciate the thought, but we'll need to work in his technique.

Thinks he's big enough to play rough with his older sisters but usually ends up getting hurt.

When given the chance to watch a show on TV he no longer chooses Curious George or Sesame Street. His favorites are Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, and his newest favorite is Max and Ruby.

Is interested in the time (probably cause his mom is a drill sergeant and doesn't like to be late). He doesn't understand it though and usually just says something like, "Mom, it four-d-nine"

Jason hair was recently at it’s longest. As I was trying to get a pre-haircut picture, he gave me phony smiles like this:

Or like this:

Then he pulled this face – and while I think it’s adorable he looks like a totally different kid.

We sure love this boy!

Mo. Ments. No. Tice.

I learned from this experience last month that our house needs to clean at all times. Even though we requested on our MLS listing a 2-hour notice, agents don't always grant that. So every morning I wake up, make beds, open blinds and curtains, and clean up breakfast before even getting dressed. It feels like I sweep that kitchen floor 50 times a day. I find myself often reminding Justin and the kids that we need to be ready "at a moments notice". For greater emphasis I often clap the four syllables, Mo. Ments. No. Tice. Don't you all wish you were living here too?

Yesterday morning we had a woman and her son knock on the front door and ask if they could come in and see the house. Thankfully, the house was straightened up and I had just finished cleaning the wood floors and bathrooms so I didn't mind showing her around.

She had nothing but positive things to say and even asked if we would consider selling some of our furniture. As they were leaving her son told her that this was his favorite house they've seen, to which she agreed.

Anyhow, as I walk back in the kitchen Justin and the kids knew exactly what I'd say, "Mo. Ments. No. Tice." – Yes, I think I even clapped it out.

I'm thinking though that maybe I should add showering to my list of must-do morning sprucing up. Cause would you buy a house from a lady wearing sweat pants, a tattered t-shirt, and a sloppy ponytail?

We have the BEST Doctor, do you? (and 9 month stats)

Katie had her nine-month check-up this week and before I get to her stats I have to say we have the best pediatrician EVER! Dr. Oriel genuinely CARES about his patients. We switched to his office seven years ago when we heard our neighbors tell us that Dr. Oriel met them at the hospital at midnight one evening when their newborn adopted son was having some health concerns due to being born to a drug addicted mother. Dr. Oriel has a son with autism and another son with severe food allergies and asthma so he knows firsthand how to deal with challenges. At a follow-up appointment after Carly suffered a seizure at 18 months old he told me he would have wanted me to call him even if it would have been 2am. After both Jason and Katie were born he helped us get through the jaundice issues and difficulties with breast feeding and not regaining weight – sometimes seeing us several times a week (and no he didn’t bill insurance each time). He has called my house on his day off just to see if Katie had a bowel movement. He's goofy, super smart, incredible thorough, easy to talk to, my kids love him, seriously the BEST! We love him so much that we even let him name Katie. Well, we told him to give us his honest opinion on several names and he sold us on Katie. (I wrote about that here) So clearly we trust this guy. Needless to say we will not switch doctors when we move. But the BIG NEWS is that he is currently taking new patients, which he hasn't done in years. I know several people that have tried to get him in the past and couldn't so here's your chance. I'm certain you will love him too.

And here are Katie’s 9 months stats:

Height: 29 inches (90^th percentile)

Weight: 20 pounds, 4.8 ounces (75^th percentile)

House Update

Believe it or not another two weeks have passed since we’d been up to the new house. Today we had a meeting with the landscaper to discuss our landscaping preferences. In his email before we met he told us we didn't need to know anything or come prepared with any information. Well, he found out we don't quite work that way. We’ve worked with a landscaping company on our current home so we came armed with a list of plants we hate, plants we love, and plants that we think are ok. The included budget to work with is small so we'll probably start out with just a small selection of plants that we like, but that's better than ending up with a bunch cheap plants that we rip out down the road. Hopefully he will come up with a great overall design that we can implement little by little over the years. We also had a short meeting with the superintendent to decide what we wanted our patio to look like.

This is the current state of our front and backyard.

Inside the house things are really moving along. All the drywall is up and they were working on taping up all the seams. Having walls makes the house feel completely different.

Here’s Jason in the entry looking into the living room, behind that is the dining room, and the last room is the family room.

Standing in the kitchen looking at the family room

Standing in the family room looking at the kitchen and nook

The bonus room

Eventually we will be sandwiched between neighbors, but we will always have this view from our front yard. I can’t get over how beautiful it is.

Things are changing so quickly I’m going to have to start making weekly visits.

To Remember

Here we are 15 days into the New Year and I've already posted 15 times (including this here post). Dear readers (are you still out there?) I promise I will not keep this up, but I did warn you.

But since I'm here, I do have a little something I want to remember from yesterday and if it's not written down it likely won't be remembered.

Since Abigail celebrated an odd birthday, instead of a friend party she got to choose a fun activity to do as a family. So last night we all went swimming. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed in the pool area so picture the following:

The girls having a blast going down the waterside and playing on floaties in the lap pool.

Jason with blue lips and trembling little legs, but not an utter of complaint in the three hours we were there.

Katie and I hanging out in the lazy river for an hour. My upper body relaxing in a tiny tube and Katie laying across my chest completely content and still. Definitely a heartwarming moment I want to remember (seriously, why does she have to grow up?!?)

After watching Abigail belly flop off the diving board I witnessed Justin dive for the first time ever (and he's not half bad).

So not to post completely pictureless, here's a snapshot off my phone of Abigail enjoying her free birthday sundae at Red Robin this afternoon.

Nine Months Old

This week my oldest turned nine years old and my youngest turned nine months old. It's crazy how that happens.

Katie had a few break throughs this past month; first, in Utah she was subjected to many family members eager to spend time with her and she did very well. Sure she wasn't always willing, but on most occasions she was cool with it.

Another more literal break through was her first tooth.

Being away from home for so long threw any sort if schedule out the window. To our delight, she tolerated the lack of regular sleep surprisingly well. Even better is that since we've gotten back she is sleeping through the night (that's 11-12 hours solid) and taking 2 naps a day.

New sounds include da-da (Justin doesn’t buy into the idea that it is her way of beckoning him for his love and attention) and making the s sound like a snake, sssssssss.

Still not much mobility action going on although she has started to scoot backwards when lying on her tummy.

Gives high fives, at least that's what we do when she raises her hand up in the air.

A baby can't be around my Mom and siblings and not be subjected to eating table food. (My Mom gave ice cream to Jason when he was only days old). While in Utah Katie tried French fries, bread, chocolate, smoothie, crackers, chocolate and regular goldfish, pancakes and cheese.

More House?

At the request of my husband here are a few more pictures of the house that we took last week:

This is the family room – probably 2 times larger than our current family room. The fireplace will be floor to ceiling stone with an insert for our TV.

This is from the upstairs landing. Rooms from left to right are: bonus room (barely visible, better picture here), kids room (likely the girls), kids bathroom (yep, that’s the tub), and the laundry room has the small window.

Justin and Jason walking around the bonus room. The long wall is our storage room (officially labeled as our master closet). Beyond that is our master bath (corner bathtub) and then the workerman is standing in the master bedroom – also pictured below.

Abigail turns NINE!

Abigail had her ninth birthday yesterday. Nine! I'm kind of freaking out. That's half way out the door. She's changing so fast and I no longer look at her and see my little girl. How can I when she's nearly five feet tall and wants to borrow my shoes? MY shoes!

Last night we had the Fletcher family over for dinner, gift opening, and Oreo Madness. Abigail got some fun crafts, new piano music (which she is SUPER excited about), a birthday pillowcase made my Grandma Fletcher, and a few clothes.

Grandma Kesler’s gift was very challenging to open without any scissors.

Abigail managed to pry it open and loved the sports clothes. In fact it took quite a bit to convince her that it was not an appropriate outfit to wear to school today. Doesn’t she look so grown up?

At nine Abigail loves to play the piano, soccer, and basketball. She has SO many friends (thank goodness this year wasn't a year for a friend party - making that list would have been tough). Abigail enjoys learning to cook and help in the kitchen. She still loves to read and just completed the Harry Potter series and was finally allowed to watch the first Harry Potter movie while we were in Utah. She is currently ranked third in her school for most AR points (that includes kindergarten thru fifth grade). Abigail doesn't like mashed potatoes, taking showers, or changing diapers. Abigail’s greatest fear is fire. Several, several years ago we saw a house on fire as we were driving down the freeway in Utah. She remembers that and has even had nightmares about fires. It even took some coaxing to get her to sit down at the table while Justin lit her candles.

There really couldn't have been a better child to send to me as my first child. In spite of all my mistakes she's practically perfect.

Girl you make me look good!

Happy Birthday Abigail!

House Update

We went up to the house on Thursday afternoon to check out the progress. It had been nearly 3 weeks since I'd seen the house (click here, here, and here for prior pictures).

Here is a picture from mid-December:

And this is from Thursday:

The house will not be blue – that’s just the color of the hardy plank pre-painted.

The inside is still just studs, but it looked like they had all the electrical and plumbing mostly finished.

View from the front of the house (there will never be any building beyond this little park, so we will always have this beautiful view):

Based on a recent progress report from the builder we are looking at a mid-late March closing date.

New Years Eve and 2011

We experienced first hand last year that my sister hosts an awesome News Year’s Eve party. When making our flight reservations I knew we had to be here for both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

The kids watched a movie and played the Wii downstairs while the adults played games and visited upstairs. Around 10:30pm we had an unexpected practice run when the balloons and confetti came down prematurely. We kept the kids downstairs while we reloaded what seemed like hundreds of balloons and piles of confetti.

We welcomed in 2011 with quite the celebration.

We spent our last few days up north at my sister Brenda’s house. When we came to Utah last year we only had a week and every day was busy with something. Justin wanted our visit this year to be less scheduled and more relaxing. New Years Day fit that description perfectly. My sister gave me a hard time about staying in my pjs until 6pm when she graciously offered to watch all the kids so Justin and I could go out. Much appreciated. New Years resolution #1 is to get back to going out regularly.

You’d think that after 2 weeks we’d be more than ready to head home, but it actually went by very fast. On our way home we were asking the kids what their favorite part about the trip was. Carly said she had two NOT so favorite parts - #1 getting sick one morning and #2 leaving. We had the perfect combination of fun outings and much needed relaxation. A HUGE thank you to everyone who made our visit so wonderful.

I should know by now

I took Carly to get a haircut while we were in Utah. It had been over a year since she's even had a trim and although she has recently enjoyed being able to put it back in a ponytail, she's been wanting it cut short for awhile. I can handle a basic haircut myself but Carly's hair requires more than just a 5-minute improvisation. I took her to the closest chain hair cutting joint with a coupon in hand. I should know by now to avoid these places, I rarely come out happy with the result. I like the length but the style and quality of cut is lacking.

Let the record show that from this time forward I will take her to my trusted hair stylist and fork out the $10 for a decent haircut.

It was two years ago that we first cut her hair short – this was the look we were going for – BIG difference!

As we were driving back to my mom's Carly was telling us that it hurt. When we got home we saw red sores on her neck where it looks like a dull razor was used. So frustrating. Lesson learned.

Temple Square

As I mentioned, Jason has been very interested in temples lately. One evening as we were driving by Salt Lake he was having a hard time spotting the temple from the freeway and ended up thinking the State Capital was the temple instead. It ended up being easier to let him think that than to try and explain to him otherwise. Each time he saw a temple (and there are several in Utah) he'd ask if it was the temple we got married in. We knew we had to make a trip into Salt Lake to show him the temple Justin and I were married in almost 12 years ago.

We first took a tour of the conference center. The neatest thing to me was seeing the gallery of original paintings illustrating Book of Mormon stories. These are images that I've grown up seeing so our was neat to see the actual paintings.

I was surprised how crowded Temple Square was with it being a Tuesday AND after Christmas, but it was so packed that I didn't really feel like we could enjoy everything there was to see. Justin had to lift the girls up to even get a glimpse of the model showing the interior of the temple.

And getting a picture if the kids in front of the Christus was impossible. Still glad we went though and the kids enjoyed it.