Ava Jayne is 3

Yesterday, Ava turned the big 3. I can't believe she is already 3~the time has literally blurred by. She was so tiny when she was born, but she's always been a character, ready to be part of the action. She has an imaginary friend-Angiewho-a little boy, that she will tell you is a "good boy" and takes many naps and occasionally will call her on her play cell phone to let her know he's driving to pick up his mom. She once pointed out Edward Cullen as Angiewho, but I'm hoping that was a fluke. She loves Dora and Barbie movies--cannot get enough of the dancing barbie movies that have music. She can count to 20, and her favorite number is eleven-teen. If you are counting with her, be sure not to skip it...or she'll quickly and firmly correct your counting. She knows several songs, ABC-twinkle twinkle-itsy bitsy-frosty the snowman-child of God-Stories of Jesus-yeah too many to name, and will sing them to Simon when he gets sad. She is a great big sister, and has to really fight not to squeeze her little brother several times a day. She has SO much of Chris in her looks and demeanor. She also got my sass and stubbornness...what a combo eh? She absolutely cannot resist cutting her hair if she comes across scissors, and if she could, she would paint, cut and glue all day. She's been potty training for 6-7 months now, and is really making great progress. If you are sad, she will tell you to be happy and that everything will be Ok, and immediately start being goofy to make you smile, or offer you some chocolate milk. She loves cocoa, but not hot. She loves to make up stories, and every event she will tell you about has occurred, will occur, or is occurring "yesterday." She can recite several Dr. Suess books--thankfully we've recently broadened our bedtime book collection. She is also learning the ABC in sign language, and loving it!
Aves has been the greatest most amazing blessing of my life. I knew about her long before she joined our family. Heavenly Father knew I'd need a few years preparation for her. She teaches me patience, kindness, and love in a new way. I hope to raise her and shape her to be as lovely a person inside, as she is physically. Here come the 3s....Heaven Help Us ALL! :) Hand me one of those...would ya?

so far behind on bloggin

I have a TON to blog, but I'll continue to procrastinate. Mostly, I just wanted to put out there, that we're pulling our house off the market. The last 2 homes that sold in our neighborhood went for $10-20,000 less than we were listed, killing our comps, so we're here to stay for a bit longer. Sorry folks, no Hilary Streaking in protest this year.

It's been more than 3 weeks since someone has come to look at our house. I have found it increasingly more difficult to keep things perfect around here, with the kids getting sick, and the weather so bitterly cold that they have no choice, but to play indoors. The last week or so has been a struggle to stay positive. sane. I hadnt' had my boot camp either, as a distraction and a way to get away from it all--which is a big factor in my recent depression. I went last night and got my booty kicked for 90 minutes. it hurts to type right now, that's how awesome of a workout she gave us. I love that it's just Lissa, me and the trainers. I know we're making great progress too. I came home to my home...and helped Chris get the kids to bed. I don't even remember falling asleep. Avas been sleeping better since she contracted pnemonia. She gets about 12 hours a night, and I'm hoping we are dilligent enough to stay in this pattern. She really needs the sleep--she's growing so quickly. Simon's first year is FLYING by....and soon Ava will be 3. Where is our life going?
We are reevaluating the sell of the house. We figure we'll give it a couple more months, and if it doesn't go for what we want it to, then we'll create a new game plan. Trying to figure out the Lords plan is like trying to understand your 10 month old's gabber. You can make out bits and pieces, but it's usually a couple of years before you really have comprehention of what is being communicated.
Sandi was kind enough to bring over the decorations she used to use on her kids tree. We're going to hopefully set ours up tonight. Finals are over. It's time to deck the halls.

pictures and things i should have been posting about

• We got new tile and carpet with the money from the insurance claim. It looks really nice. Brandon Stanger from our ward was our GC--awesome to work with and when we need stuff like this again...he's going to be the one we call for sure!

• We had a ton of snow a few weeks ago. Ava, Riley and Lana had a blast playing in it. Ava also got to have Hot Cocoa and has become a cocoa addict!

• Ava tried to shave her top lip in the bath and my parents house. It was the night of my Nana's birthday.

• Madison's 5th Birthday on Nov. 16th was awesome. Ava hit her first pinata. It was vitually indestructible. Lots of cake and food and fun. Angie made that cake. AMAZING!
• Simon is crawling all over the place. He says "that." and loves sink baths. he is getting so big! he thinks he's even bigger! he tries to eat all by himself already. He's a snugglie little guy and the light of my life for sure!
  

Christmas the Ramsey way

I haven't blogged in ages, but I love the Dave Ramsey Christmas article...so here it is for everyone to read.

No matter what your budget is this Christmas, remember to be thankful. Take a deep breath in the middle of all this craziness.

You might have a lot. You might have a little. If you are driving a beater, be thankful for that beater. You would rather drive that than walk, wouldn't you? There is always something to be thankful for.

That's what contentment is all about. When you understand and really grasp contentment, it becomes easier to save money and invest. Stress slowly disappears. Budgeting is easier. Relationships improve.

Be happy with what you have. More than three billion people, almost half the world, live on $2.50 a day. Sometimes we need a little perspective to become content with our current situation.

Without contentment, it's easy to be bitter and apathetic. Happiness is sold to us, especially during this time of year. We think if we can just get one more piece of stuff that "true" happiness will be right around the corner.

We say things like, "I'll be happy when I get that house!" or "I'll be happy when I get that new car!" But happiness cannot be bought. Sure fun—in the form of a house, a car, a new LCD television—can be bought, but fun is temporary. True happiness, or contentment, is lasting.

You can get out of debt, save money, and get on a budget, but until you realize that stuff doesn’t bring contentment, you will always feel stressed and unhappy. Contentment brings peace. And isn’t this time of year about bringing "peace on earth and good will toward men"?

Remember what this deal is all about. It's not about trees, lights, gifts, baked hams, and shopping malls. It’s about a little child who was born in a manger and grew up to die on a cross. It’s about peace on earth and good will toward men.

So if the Christmas frenzy is wearing you out, you've missed the point of Christmas. Make a plan with your money, and make a plan to get back in touch with the true meaning of this special day.

So packed my point and shoot cameras when we started selling the house. My hope was that it would sell the first week. HA! anyway...let's not get into that and move onto my point. I am now relying on family members for pictures of our awesome moments together. Here is the only picture I have from Halloween of me and Aves as Cat in the Hat and Cindy Lou Who. Many thanks to my super neighbor and super awesome friend, Hilary, for the Cat in the Hat cosutme.
My brother-Ben lives in Washington and sent us this picture of his family at Halloween. YEAY for dressin up. Joshua and Joseph are such awesome ghosts! Who ya gunna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!

new boots!!!

So every year I see cute boots and almost buy them. I never have. They are always like $50 a pair. well I found a site that sells them at like $20 a pair. It took me almost a month to narrow down to 2 pair. One dressy, one for anyday. I almost got grey, but then fell in love with these blue ones. UM! fabulous. I decided that Winter has enough grey. I also got these awesome heels. Not sure if I will be able to walk in them hahaha but they are swingin.



yeay for shoe shopping

**Edited to add link***
As per your requests cutesy girl is the site that I ordered from. A WORD OF CAUTION. Their clothing line is like 98% skank, so if you're shopping online with your little girls, maybe avoid that area. Their lingerie link would make Victoria Secret blush. Their boots are endless and super cheap though!

putting it back together

The drywall guys are here fixing the office. The flooring company came to measure. Brandon Stanger went home teaching with Chris last night--they did both of their sets of families. Then he came over to check out our damage and let us know he does this kind of thing every day and could likely get us a better price on stuff. sweet! I don't really know him well, and am sad about that. He seems really cool and just a happy energetic person. From what I know of his gorgeous wifey, Connie, she seems the same. What a fun couple! So, we're getting put back together. I was a tad embarrassed though. I spent yesterday playing with Ava in my free time. We had a tea party and then got ready for trunk or treating and then had girls over for cocoa after--because HOLY CRAP IT WAS COLD! My kitchen was a NIGHT.MARE when Brandon and Chris came back-as I hadn't gotten to it yet. Well I'll post some photos soon of this mess and the journey of fixing it.

aaaaaaand....rant

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! I am being email stalked by a Listing Agent that we chose not to hire. Every week he sends me emails with something negative about my listing, and snooty commentary eluding to how we should have hired him, and then ends it with, "good luck" or..."just trying to help." It's kind of like bashing someone and then ending with "bless his heart!" Hey, insulting me on a bi-weekly status doesn't make me regret NOT hiring you. It really just reaffirms that following my gut was right, because you're jerkier than I thought! GA!

*end rant*

3rd time's a charm

So after 2 no shows, the buyers agent from Herriman finally came through, yesterday at 11:34. I hope we are able to get some feed back on what his clients thought.

Vic from Alpine said we're all dried out and took the fans. I wasn't going to go to church--as Simon and I usually end up in the smelly nursing lounge for most of church anyway. But we all packed up and went anyway. I figured if he needed to feed, I'd just come home. Well, we got there, and it turned out the special needs mutual was doing our sacrament meeting. It was so phenomenal. How amazing to have a mutual where they can meet, be accepted as who they are and have fun together. the whole time I wondered...how different life in PA would have been for my sister if she would have had a place to go like that every week. A place to shine. A place to be seen as the incredible girl she is. She's grown so incredibly much over the years. No one expected much of her at all, and now she's in her senior year of college, handling a work load that would give me nightmares. She talks about Masters degree soon too. Incredible. They sang this song called Someday, written by their YM president. It spoke of how someday they would see, speak, think and hear like "you" and how someday kneel at the Father's feet and be told well done. I couldn't hold in the tears. Ava was concerned that water was coming from my face...but I just held her tighter. Such wonderful happy people.

After church, we drove down to moms for October-birthdayfest. Pam, Russ and Mom all have October birthdays. It was great fun! We did a huge salad dinner--everyone brought their favortie salad stuff and we share. I love these dinners. You can eat multiple salads if you want, and not walk away feeling gross. You know that you're eating well. We got mom Nightmare Before Christmas, and ava insisted that she watch it RIGHT AWAY. After the movie we played Quiddler. FUN FUN GAME! must be a new cabin game for sure! The Godfreys would rock this game. i can only imagine Meesh and Eric battling it out.

Well I'd better get upstairs to meet senor adjuster--hopefully he's feeling generous.

i don't get the joke....

So right after I finished my update blog this morning on the progress of our flood clean up, Staceyroo-our Realtor, called to say that a buyers agent called to schedule to see our home and was excited to show his buyers around. She filled him in on our situation, and he was insistent that his buyers could look past the torn up kitchen and basement rooms. They set the appt for tonight between 6-7. I cried. I couldn't imagine having the house viewed in its current state. 1/2 the kitchen floor is gone, the carpet has a fan blowing under it, with 1/2 the pad gone...it looks like a wave pool...and the basement office is missing insulation and drywall. Chris got off work early, and Angie was amazing and took Ava. We spent the next 3 hours cleaning the house and rearranging furniture. All the living room stuff went back into the garage--no easy task I assure you. Those couches are sooooooooooooooo heavy! With the generosity of our neighbors, the home smelled of "Skinny Dippin" my favorite scentsy flavor, on every floor. Aside from the 'ride the wave' carpet, and 1/2 kitchen floor missing, the house was as set as it would be any day. washed windows, vacuumed floors, dusted every inch, blah blah blah. We went to Angies to wait out the clients coming by. 7,8,9...NOTHING. NO ONE. Stacey called the agent to find out what had happened and to give him an update on professional courtesy, but only got his voicemail. SERIOUSLY, I understand things happen in the real estate world...but you know my house has gone through hell, and yet you insisted on scheduling an appt. AT LEAST CALL TO CANCEL!!!!! What would Miss Manners say? At the end of the day Chris says "I EVEN VACUUMED THE STAIRS!" and "EH, at least our house is clean---considering." So, bring it on world. What else you got for me?

1 of many updates to come i'm sure

So...this morning Alpine Restoration came back to check on the progress of things. The fans and dehumidifiers have been running since about 11am yesterday. So far?
The vinyl needs ripped out of the kitchen. Which means it will be ripped out of the bathroom and hallway and laundry area too. The baseboards will come off as well. They are hoping that the walls will continue to dry upstairs.
Basement progress. The wall that the water ran down is an exterior wall=insulation. He's concerned about that. Insulation doesn't dry out as well as sheetrock and they may need to take out that wall to avoid it growing mold. YUCK! and the drop part of the ceiling in the basement is still wet, so they are going to put a fan under it to see if it'll dry out by tomorrow. if not that goes too. deep breathing. deep breathing.

and the floods came up

This morning, I woke to Chris screaming my name. I wandered down the stairs in a slumber, assuming he'd run out of toilet paper or something. Instead, as I reached the living room, my eyes shot open as my feet were WET! The kitchen and living room were flooded. Chris yelled something about tape and I rummaged to find the duct tape. The line for our ice maker had burst and spent the last 7 hours or so flooding our house. I called Alpine Clean up in Kaysville and they showed up about an hour later. Chris had shopvac out house for 2 hours by that point, and sucked up like...over 20 gallons of water. IN.SANE. I'm glad we called them. They put up giant fans and dehumidifiers. tore out the padding of the carpet. checked the walls. they'll be able to tell us later in the day how much will need actual replacing. all i can say is...yeay for homeowners. They said it could take a couple of days. So...I have a baby, a kid with a chest infection--on antibiotics so not contagious, but still has a horrendous sounding cough and a torn apart house. what was it sister jolly always told us at rehersal...LOOK FOR THE TRIALS...EMBRACE THEM! IT MEANS YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK.

witchtastic

Friday night, Sandi invited me to join her and the gals for witches night out. I almost didn't have a costume, other than a sparkly hat, but Aaron saved the day by buying 2 dresses for NAT, one of which was too big for her...but fit me. yeay! With some fishnets from mom, and shoes from nat, tada! I was a witch. The most fun part was getting everyone witch-a-fied. Katie met up with us too. She drove like a bat out of hell to get down from Logan in time. All in all--it was a pretty cool night. Freezing. and far too many people-some of whom were not dressed in even a witch hat, but fun! The bread bowls were amazing! I wanted to post with more pictures, but I didn't have a camera, and Becca hasn't posted hers yet. *hint.hint* Marcy took the one I have posted. Thanks Marcy <3 Yeay for dressing up! Next year, we're going to throw our own party. With Caramel apples that don't stick to the paper and cider, and lots of dressing up! yeay for feeling 19 again.

p.s. false eyelashes itch like cr*A*zy, but totally worth it.

discouraged

This weekend we were invited to my parents' timeshare in Park City. We got up, packed and left the house in perfect condition. every.light.on. The forecast said it was going to be sunny and mid 70s. I was so excited and sure that droves of home buyers would go through our home. Much to my dismay, however, not a single realtor stopped by our home. It's been 2 weeks, and only one realtor has brought their buyers through our home. I've looked online, and our photos outshine our competition and our price is dead on. I'm not sure what more to do. It's not so nerve wracking to keep things nice, as It's becoming pure routine. Get up, make beds, wash dish, wipe counters, clean windows....blah blah blah. I know it's not realistic to want my home to be sold by week 2, but I'm really discouraged that people aren't even coming by. Chris says I need to not give up, because we know this is what the Lord is guiding us to do. I'm just not a very patient person at all. I put it up on KSL, but craigslist is scary to me, so I've not listed it there. Craigslist used to be a cool place to list things, now it's a place to be scammed, in my opinion. Anyway...that's all I really needed to get out.

another midnight..another random blog

so for over a week the kids have been having really strange sleep patterns. Up late, then waking up at 2 hour intervals, and napping opposite of eachother...pretty much causing me to get just enough sleep to clench the sanity I have left. Then, today...Ava fell asleep at 7 and Simon went down about 9...so Chris and I watched a movie together...and about 10:45 headed to bed. And after being exhausted for days...I find myself lying there...eyes WIDE open and brain churning away. WHAT?!?! It's almost 12:30am and I'm suddenly fully awake. Is this some kind of voodoo karma?
A few good things did come from this however. I got to chat with an old college buddy. I was roaming my obsurdly large list of Facebook friends and writing on people's walls that I don't typically visit. I wrote on my old friend's wall--you should say hello facebook hater. A few minutes later...he wrote hello on my wall. We struck up a facebook chat and caught up for a few minutes on our lives. Alex was my "brother" from freshman year of college. He, Julie, Jennie, and I got to be really close. He started dating Anna and stayed close friends with us, which was really cool. Iw as also close to his roomies Booker an dCraig. Alex married Anna my sophomore year. Then, I left BYU-I and lost touch with him and Craig and Booker. Thanks to facebook, I have reconnected with Craig and now Alex. He was telling me about their soon to be 2 year old son, and it sounds like I'd better gear up for an adventure. Simon is 7 months already. SEVEN MONTHS! Soon, it will be him that's nearly causing his own concussion.
Anyway, it was great to hear from him and catch up. I love talking to my old group of friends. It makes me realize that I'm still in here somewhere. Beyond the week old ponytail, sweatpants, and stench of baby spit up....deep deep down, I'm still here. I may not be able to digest FRANKS anymore (so.so.sad) and need to have a couple tums as dessert...and need to use spell check on words and sometimes (eek) grammar...but a part of me is still here. And, if you're a mom, you're probably with me here when I say...that's DARN GOOD TO KNOW! I feel lost sometimes. Like, the girl I've always been is gone and I don't know the person on the other side of the mirror...but someone should get her a hairbrush and some facial cleanser. yikes! Ok well enough rambling. I'm going to lie back down now and force myself to relax.

To view our full listing with all the pictures...just click here

It's been almost a full week. We've had one agent come through--Saturday. He says it shows very well, is clean and bright...lots of thumbs up. His clients wanted a fully fenced bigger yard though. At least, at least I know that the negative we received wasn't really something I could change. Sure, we could throw money at a fence, but it wouldn't change the size of the yard...and we don't have the budget for that anyway. Also, I'd miss the ease I can get to Hilary...not sure she would ;) but something about seeing Kate at that window .... makes my day!

A lot of people think now that our house is perfect, that I'd want to stay more....but it's the opposite. Now that we've got it looking great, I'm wishing we were already gone, before Ava or I mess it up. I'm a clutz and I do before I fully think things through, and Ava is an artist and has the need to draw. Not sure where she finds pens and crayons, because it can take me a good 20 minutes to track one down, but I'm actually having nightmares of her painting the walls and kids invading our home with muddy shoes. I don't do well living under such extreme clean rules. I'm not a slob, I hope...but having to have things perfectly in place 24/hours a day is nerve wracking to me. It's hard on Ava too. She's learning good habits though--making her bed--so cute to watch! And cleaning up what little toys she has here, before moving to the next activity.

We know this is a move we are meant to make. The Lord is calling us elsewhere. Yesterday, they were talking about the saints being called to move just as soon as they'd get their homes settled...to colonize new parts of Utah...and I just kept thinking over and over, that's kind of what we're going through. We just put SO much money into this house with the basement and such, and as soon as the last project was finished, Chris comes home and announces it's time to switch gears completely in our lives...throw out the plan and start anew. Usually, something like that would make me sick for days as I plan and replan etc, but I felt it was true, and kicked our butts into high gear getting things ready. I'm sad to leave our area, but I feel we'll be back perhaps..I really want Ava to attend Eve's preschool. We're still going to be close for playdates etc...it's just time for Chris to be able to move on with his life professionally and scholastically. It's going to be a growth period for all of us....now I'm learning my constant lesson...patience. May there be enough to get me through this ;)

OUR HOUSE IS OFFICIALLY FOR SALE!

We are listed with Stacey Bowman 801.390.1718 Exit Realty for $178,900. None of the basement was photographed, but it was professionally finished, and has an office, theater room, and gorgeous bathroom-complete with a shower that pretty much makes you feel like your in a Tahitian Water Fall. Also, we have the greatest neighbors you could ever hope for!

clean, sort, throw away, clean,sort, throw away...pick up crying baby...clean sort organize, decorate.

\








ahhhhhhhh =

won-duh-ful

"Simon is a won-duh-ful boy and Daddy is a won-duh-ful Chris." Ava's newest addition to her vocabulary.

So, Juan has been over the past 2 days painting away on the trim and ceilings and doors upstairs. WHAT A DIFFERENCE already! He says that tomorrow he will do the walls...and treked in 8 gallons of my paint color. I went with Sherwin Williams Macademia. LOVE IT! It's what Stacey and Mitch used in their house for some of the rooms-so I knew it was a winner! I'm so excited. Everyday closer to being done with the nightmare of getting it sellable.
I really hope it's not on the market long. I mean, I am really sad and hating to leave our neighborhood, but the thought of having to keep the house perfect for days, weeks and *let's hope NOT* months on end makes me almost lose my mind.

It's officially a ritual for Ava's foot to randomly swell every week. The last time wasn't so random, as it was a bee sting. Today's swelling, however seems completely random. The benedryl doesn't seem to be helping at all. It's all red and slightly hued with purple and very shrekish. She seems fine. She's not even talking about it, which is huge fora 2 year old to ignore a boo boo.

Simon had his 6 month appt today with Dr. Strausser. I'm so glad she's back from maternity leave. I HATE the dr filling in for Dr. Gagner, so it was nice to get him in with Avas ped. He's doing AWESOME-of course.

table staging

so after an hour of walking around the housewares department of kohls talking to myself, and approaching random strangers to ask them for advice, this is what I ended up with as the staging for my table. It turned out to be about $5 per group, which is pretty good. My staging budget is quickly diminishing and I still have so much to do.
I need towels for my upstairs bathroom still. I also need to find some mirrors and something to put up on the walls. Oh and something to put in my landing. I am stressed out, because decorating does not come naturally to me at all. I know if I got to Tai Pan, I could find good deals, I'm just not sure I'd ever find the exit. I'd wander in circles for hours with random things that make no sense whatsoever, with the demeanor of some recently escaped mental patient. This is what I get for giving my YW leaders such a hard time when they did crafts week after week after week. This is what I get for sneaking off with Dave Biernesser to race through the woods and do nothing at all exciting, although it seemed awfully so at the time...instead of attending the activity where they covered stuff like this. KARMA!

Saturday, Nat came up and went shopping with me. It was super fun! We took Simon with us and he was a sleepy shopper for 1/2 the trip, and I'd say a fairly content, patient shopper for the 2nd half. We got lots of fun and super yummy smelly candles, throw pillows, towels etc to make the house "pop" with accent colors and flow well with a theme. She's a genius. She and Bec both have homes that look perfect all.the.time. Bec just lives freaking far. Stupid Provo. We also did a power clean, and let me tell you that you haven't power cleaned until you've power cleaned with Nat. 3 hours have never gone so fast in my entire life. Yes from 4pm-7pm we did a number on my house. We moved the TV downstairs, moved the furniture, did the kitchen....no chaos was safe. chaos? caos? mmmmmm anyway you get the point.

Pretty much I've done zilch since then. Ava loves the candles everywhere and smells them daily...dare I say "huffs" them. I ran out of steam, and well...the honest truth is the next step is the office and it is TOTAL random crap that I have no idea what to pack and how. I'm sure to lose something vital, as it's the home of our cameras and computers and software. Sure we packed the books....all 10 boxes...that was safe. Now there's just...really expensive stuff, that if anything is misplaced will automatically be my fault. I can't handle that pressure. Can't. So, little by little I throw away the garbage and move a thing or two...but I know...I know any real time spent down here will get me to the electronic hell that exists here. I wonder if I can hide it all in file cabinets....

Ava was stung yesterday. She had virtually no swelling at all, and after a dose of Ibuprofin and Benedyl, and the placing of a bandaid went about her day as usual. This morning, the foot was partially swollen. So, I gave her another dose of each, because she was scratching away at it. Then we get to....tonight. Girlfriend has shrek foot and the swelling/red is headed up past the ankle to the leg. So, I dosed her again, and I packed her in the car to take her to the doc, per Hilary and Matt's suggestion. She passed out before we were even out of Clearfield City Limits. We were only going like 5 miles...and she was OUT. So, I drew a line on where the swelling had progressed, date and timed it on her skin so if it progresses, they can see how much/fast etc. Hopefully she doesn't wake up with shortness of breath. I'm trying to be in the space between under and over reaction....not really sure that exists. I took Simon for a stroller ride tonight to put him to sleep. he'd been rubbing his eyes for like 40 minutes and fighting sleep. So I bathed him and put him in cozy Moose jammies and started on a walk. It took 20 minutes for him to give in. My little tough guy! Well...time to face the music and do something....

So we had 2 painters come to do a quote on repainting the main level and upstairs prior to putting the house on the MLS. I was hoping that we could have them come next week, and we could be on the market by the 19th, however, fall=painting season and they are both at least a week out before they can start the job. *sad face* I believe we're going to choose Juan, who did our basement. He was fast, awesome and super cheap!!!! He has a good sense of humor too.
So, my new goal--is to 1. not pout about this and 2. make sure that I use this bonus week to be sure the house is spotless, packed and easy for a painter to manuver around, as to cut the number of days it would take to do the job. Juan is a lone painter, so it may take him a week worst case scenario. I have to just trust the Lord and these pros that things will be ok. Stacey says it will be worth it to have it perfect before listing. You never get a 2nd chance to make a first impression. Maybe this means I can find time for a nap---HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. or a laugh. speaking of laugh...Ava is so bored these days she today climbed onto the table and played "loves me, loves me not" with my vase of daisys all over the table. yeay.

die picasa. you heard me. die.

Tonight has been a particularly irritating one. It's taken me over 3 hours to get my photos from tonight's shoot to upload correctly. Picasa is really wanting to be deleted. Facebook is also uploading incredibly slow and being that I'm running on no sleep and low food intake, I'm sure there's plenty of user error going on as well. I did Ashley and Tim's photo shoot tonight. He got home from Germany on the 8th, and they are getting married tomorrow. There wasn't much time to get in engagements, but we did our best. They are going to use them to decorate at the reception. I hope they like them, because there's no time for do overs. At least I'm free.

Ok, as soon as these are up, so Ash can access them and order some for tomorrow I'm going to bed. I wish I could take tomorrow off from life, but alas, it's not possible. if you want a sneak at the engagements, check out FB.

So....to update my progress on my task list for today

I did have a busy day of Inwest work. Not hellishly crazy, but busy enough to make my lappy feel like it was going to burn through my thunderous thighs.

Commissary trip with my folks was successful.

Ava stayed dry all day, until she pooed in her Ariel undies. She hasn't quite caught onto pooping in the potty. EW! She also went down at like 6:30 and is still out as of 12:15am. Dare I admit that outloud? Chances are, her bed will be wet in the morning.

The meeting with the Dave Ramsey ELP Realtor. I was impressed...more so than I thought I would be. I wanted to vomit all over the FATCO folder he had...but somehow managed to choke back all my hatred for them and focus on being courteous. (but really, he knows I work for Inwest title....do you HAVE to bring that garbage into my house?) I'll be sure to hand off some Inwest Folders should we meet again. Chris and I were 99% positive we'd list with Nancy, but Nate had a lot to offer, and made one heck of a presentation. He gave us referrals for a painter and cleaner, and we're far more torn than we expected to be. Prayer and much thought to come. I kind of want to cry. I have no idea what to do. Chris has gone into the land of denial. He doesn't seem to grasp the fact that we have 1 week to get the house ready to list. ONE week. And maybe a good 30 days of great weather left before the weather and market get cold. I kind of want to grab him by the shoulders and scream AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH HELP ME!!!! but, instead, I put that insanity to work organizing.

The office was my main task of the day. Oh dear office. We packed up 10 boxes of books, and logged which books were in each box-a Chris mandate-so that he can find a book should he need a specific one. 10 boxes later, and there are still probably 2 boxes worth of books still needing packed. A box of DVDs as well. This office doesn't look any less insane than it did a few hours ago. Winegars manager told me if I come out about 10am, that I can have their boxes before they dump them. Hopefully, with some larger boxes, I can make great progress. I got the downstairs bathroom packed up-sans essentials etc extra toilet paper...and hair/tooth brushes.

Simon had a hard day today. He's had some issues with digestion the last couple of weeks. We recently tried prune juice, but he doesnt' drink more than 1/2 ounce before quitting. I finally asked Chris to administer a blessing to help calm and ease his pains. He fell asleep soon after. He'd been fussy the majority of the day, and hadn't been able to nap at all due to discomfort. His ped. is on maternity leave, and Ava's ped is only on days, so getting into her is a 3 week wait. The doc they have covering Simon's is not someone I'd want to take my kid to ever again.

Ok, well...I'm going to shower. Brush my teeth. And hopefully, relax enough to sleep. I'm so tense about getting things packed so we can paint and photograph......I can do this!

labor day

Today, being labor day, we worked our butts off! We picked up Becca's old bed frame from Sandi's shed. It needed a good power wash, as it's like 20 years old, but looks FAB! in Ava's room. Thank you sweetheart for setting that up. The day consisted of...

• tearing down wall paper in both kid rooms
• organizing both kids' closets, sorting out clothes that are too small
• vacuuming
• throwing away all those tiny annoying pieces of trash that seem to collect in kid rooms.
• scrubbing down the kitchen cupboards with special oil
• scrubbing the front door and entry walls to free them of ball point pen
• sorting the kitchen cupboards
• organizing the kitchen pantry

oh and a few hours hanging out at Granni's house to celebrate Labor Day with Granni, Bec, Trav, Bryant. Ava fell asleep at Grannis, and stayed there during most of the above tasks. Thank you Sandi, for giving us that Ava-free time. It helped us be able to accomplish SO much in her room.

Tomorrow's agenda...

• Returning to Work-Melissa has had her baby, so I expect this area of life to get way more stressful.
• Lunch date with my Dad to the commissary to buy baby food at a discounted price tax free. Yeay for having a retired Major daddy! Years of no daddy weekends finally pay off. ;)
• Meeting with the Dave Ramsey ELP for our area for an interview to see if he or Nancy is going to be our Listing Agent. I really love Nancy. She's THE super star. We'll see how the ELP measures up.
• More packing and cleaning. My next target zone is Chris's office. Let's see if by the end of the day...all agenda items would have been successfully checked!

I need to send a special thank you to my sweetheart for putting up with me the past 2 days. I'm a very big go-go-go when I get the green light, and have been non-stop on getting the house ready to put up on the MLS. He's been so sweet, and patient with me.

FREE!!

So, we have this computer desk that we bought before we did the basement. Now, we have a totally awesome desk, and don't really use this. If you want it, please come and get it. No charge. It's in pretty awesome condition. Already put together even. Thanks!

grease up them elbows...

This Saturday was KK's party. It was so much fun. We met at Copperton park for hotdogs, presents, cake and play time. We raced home to meet with super star Realtor, Nancy Watkins. She walked through our home with us, giving us suggestions on what we need to do to get it market ready. Chris wants to be able to cut hours at work to attend full time school next year, so we'll be needing to move. My income cannot support us while living here in this house. We've loved our time here, but in order for Chris to be able to move on with his education and career, we need to move on from our home. We got some great suggestions. I have lots of elbow grease ahead of me, starting yesterday! ;0) It's incredibly scary, but we know it's the right move--no pun intended. If anyone knows how to replace a Formica counter top, and you'd like to share your wisdom...it's welcome! Aside from paint, the countertop is the only thing we need to replace. I put new curtains up on the back door, and WOW what a difference. They are black out ones and the kitchen is SO much cooler this morning. Thank you Hilary for the reference to Eclipse curtains at Wal*Mart. They were 1/2 the cost of everywhere else-even overstock.com

Ew I just found 4 bites on the under part of my bicep. Yeay for weeding my driveway.

so so so much to write about. tonight, however, I'm going to focus on the amazing opportunity I have to be a part of the General Relief Society Conference Choir for 2009. Tonight was our 2nd practice. Our direction, Sister Jolly, has the same face and brightness of Julie Andrews, which makes me instantly love and trust her. We ran through 2 songs tonight. When I signed up, they told me they needed Altos, so that's the part I agreed to sing. There are 142 Alto 1. AWESOME! Tonight we rehearsed-

• As Sisters in 'Zion-at 119 beats per minute. It makes the song incredibly short ;) The harmonies are absolutely incredible.
  
• Guide us oh thou great Jehovah--arranged by Mack Walberg. W-O-W! He adds the tiniest touches to make it different that just make you instantly chill. He's so talented.

Sister Jolly has promised that we will have struggles and trials, as we prepare to be this choir, but that we should approach each day that Satan thinks to himself, "Oh no. She's awake again!" She is so fun, light, and instantly makes you comfortable. I have really enjoyed this experience, and am blessed to have this chance. I need to have all the music memorized by our next practice, the 13th. ACK! I can do it! I can do it. I can do it?

14 hours of dry

So last night, Ava went on her potty one more time, and then ran into the bathroom and jumped onto the big toilet. She has been TERRIFIED of the big toilet for like a year...so that really surprised me. I put the soft little toilet seat on under her, and told her it would make sure she doesn't fall in. She liked that! She sat there for like 20 minutes trying to go again. I finally talked her down so she could go to the store with me to get more potty treats--colored goldfish. Last night, after she fell asleep, I slipped a pull up on her just in case. However, this morning, she woke up DRY! I spent like 20 minutes trying to get her to sit on her potty, but she was resisting. So I put on the potty songs and about the 2nd time through she ran into the bathroom, put her doll on the "happy potty" and put her little soft seat on the toilet, climbed up and went all by herself! I was so proud! 20 minutes later she came down, and put her Ariel undies back on. I'm a little concerned about bowel movement time. It's usually in the mornings--so I'm hoping she gets up to go, instead of going in the undies, because ...ewwwwwwwww that would be messy. I'm so proud of her for staying dry so long and keeping up with it!

blog.worthy.

So, we've had a "potty" for a while now. We havent really enforced any potty training yet though. Ava has sat on it now and then, but mostly she takes it apart and then tells me it's broken. Saturday, I bought her ariel underwear and colored marshmellows. (toddler currency.) Today, I told her that everytime she sits on the potty she gets marshmellows. So, we watched the potty movie from pull ups and the songs over and over and over--her choice, not mine. that lady creeps me out--pretty much all potty movies do. She ended up wetting one pull up this afternoon and went down for her nap at like 4:45 with a dry pull up. I had filled her with juice and gatorade earlier in the day, so I was really surprised when she was dry after her nap. Leah had been over and we were talking about potty training and maybe doing Lucy and Ava at the same time-thinking they'd teach and encourage eachother. Ava sat on the potty about 5 minutes before they left, and hung out there for a while with her new favorite toy--a hand me down TY doll from Lucy. About 10 minutes later, SHE DID IT! Part of me is thinking...am I really announcing to the world wide web about my daughter's urinary functions, but hey...I'm freaking excited! Since she hadn't gone since before nap, it filled the whole potty seat. She was so excited. She had us call her Granni and papa so she could tell them. She got her marshmellows and now her doll has to go potty about every 10 minutes. She also got a pair of Ariel panties to wear as a prize. It's been about....2 hours since then...still dry. We'll see how it goes. Maybe those annoying potty songs are what she needed.

Tara & Brian's wedding

Chris's cousin, Brian was sealed to his lovely bride, Tara today in the Bountiful Temple. We had to leave Ava behind, which I wasn't all too excited about, but she had a great day with Audrey. The sealer was a very cute man, that somewhat resembled Yoda. He gave some advice to the couple. 1. Continue to do the things for one another, that had caused the other to fall in love. and to continue to seek for things that would cause your spouse to fall more in love with you. 2. Stay righteous. He promised that if they sought to do those 2 things, that they would have a happy marriage. He also advised that Tara work on Tara and Brian work on Brian...and not to work on each other. And to work hard enough on perfecting yourself, that your spouse can notice your efforts. It was a GORGEOUS day for a wedding. Fair breeze, and under 90 degrees! Yeay!!!
They held a lunch after the sealing at a beautiful Manor in Bountiful. Chris and I had to duck out early to relieve Audrey. Ava was so sad to see her go. We all took naps and about 5 got ready to head to the reception out to the Godfrey Home. It was so lovely. Perfect cool temperature, and the most beautiful lighting. I forgot to charge my camera battery, so I didn't get many pictures from the party. Tara was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. I wish I had the talent to sketch and paint, because the expression of her face, and the beauty emulating from her, as the sealer recited their covenants, is something I wish everyone could see. I can't even explain it. Here are some pictures of our kids at the temple and party tonight. I didn't get many good ones of the bride and groom, so as people post I'll snatch a few and add them to our bloggity blog. I'm very excited to announce that I was able to wear my "goal dress." I found this awesome dress at Khols a few weeks ago...maybe 5 weeks ago? It was like a bazillion % off on clearance and went from $89 to $8. So I bought it, and realized it was needing me to lose quiiiiiiiiiiite a bit of belly/hip weight. I've worked hard to avoid my sweets and to be more active...and it was so worth it, because I love this dress!!! As I get further in my progress of shedding pregnancy weight...the dress will only get more and more awesome!

july is too hot for the zoo...

I'm not sure if I ever blogged about this. We took Ava to see the "animals" on July 3rd. July is WAY TOO HOT to enjoy the zoo. I vote for Spring/Fall trips. Here are some pictures we took of Ava's favorite animals. The zebra and the Giraffe
.I think I may have a new addiction to this collage creator. It's so much easier than uploading like 4 at a time. Ava has been several times with my mom, but Chris and I hadn't taken her since Boo at the Zoo in 2007..and she was like 10 months old. WHEN DID SHE GET TO BE SO BIG!?!?!

come swim wif me?

my kids as of late ;)

this collage pretty much sums up what shenanigans Ava has been up to and how she and Simon are learning to get along. I love my kids! Here's a snapshot of July. If you click on it, it will open a web page with the pictures larger

new personal best

Today, per instructions from my lovely boss, I took the afternoon to "unplug" from work. I headed down to Hilary's, and Ava played with Eli and Julia for most of the day. Simon refused to nap while we were there and just partied with us. Ava played babies for at least an hour with Julia and then followed Eli around for a while. He tried to convince her to do a slip n slide, but she was not at all interested. It was great fun! We headed out about 7pm and I decided to stop by the Draper outlets on the way home to check out the OshGosh store. When Ava was 11 months old, I discovered the St George Oshgosh outlet. I fell in love. 70% off sales, with coupons and the most adorable clothes I'd ever seen. For the next 8 months...ok year....I had a severe problem. Although I only shopped sales and always used a coupon, I couldn't get out of there without dropping $80. My high was walking out with a "You saved" number twice the size of what I'd actually spent. However, she is now growing like CRAZY, and the novelty of dropping that much money on a kid who would rather wear a sleeping beauty dress up all day...has quickly faded. Her most recent growth spurt has left her with all her 2T shirts showing belly and dresses showing diaper. So, with a coupon in hand, and 2 kids to keep me plenty distracted from any NON sale item, we ventured in. Low and BEHOLD it was a sale of an EXTRA 20% off the already clearanced items. Um...heroin anyone? They even had some long sleeve shirts--so they can be worn into fall. I got some cute dresses, tops, a skirt and a pair of shoes-as she grew out of her old ones in a month. Total spent...$59. I looked at my receipt to see my "You saved" and it said $13. Um what? They have changed their program, so now it only tells you what your coupon saved you. lame. not nearly as fun. So, of course, as soon as I get home and put the kids in their beds...I start calculating what I really saved. And this is where it gets scary.
Total of what I would have spent buying those same items at their inital prices...

$332.30.

Again...my total? $59. Savings? $273.30

1 day and 2 nights down...

So chris left for Vegas Wednesday afternoon for a 4 day defcon conference. It's now Thursday about 10:40pm and I am happy to report that we are all still alive and mostly sane. My sister, KK, came up for a couple of days to help me with the kids while Chris is gone. She goes back home tomorrow, leaving me with Friday, Saturday and Sunday to live through. PRAY.FOR.US.
It really hasn't been nearly as bad as it could be. For 1, Ava hasn't really noticed that daddy is gone. I mean, she is different, and seems to realize that something is different, but hasn't put together that daddy's been missing for 36 hours. I tell you what man, when that clock hits 6pm, and there's no daddy coming through the door, I sure as heck notice! I knew that I relied on that break...but never really realized just how MUCH I do.
Today, after work, Audrey Seidel came over and tended Ava while KK and I worked on a surprise for Chris. *note--she is AMAZING. She kept Ava and Alena from yelling at eachother...which is major for 2 two year olds and the coveted princess dolls being in the same space. I give her 5 stars and will be using her again.* I'm not really sure if we won, or the job we were tackling did. I think it may have been a tie, because I can't really move. and it's not really done. but it's definately mostly done. Oh that I had the energy of my 2 year old daughter. I have 3 suprises that I want to have ready for him...and I'm hoping I get to all of them. We'll see how it goes. Ty.le.nol. As for now, I'm happy to report that my basement shower has a door (after....1-2-3...4? sad. 4 months) and a mirror. Makes a world of difference I tell ya! brain. shutting. down. body. aching. must.sleep

ok listen up fellow bloggers. What is this no updating of the blogs? I have nothing to read. i don't want to read about random people's lives...I want to read and know every single detail of YOUR life. DUH! Hence joinging the blog world. So, enough of this 3 weeks sans blogging. BLOG. Because I'm a mother of 2 and need a way to escape and gosh darn it ....that way is YOU.

thank you .

so two weeks ago, Chris and I challenged one another to a fast food fast. We realized that we were spending TONS of money at various drive-thru places. So, I filled a zip lock bag with water, threw in my debit card and chucked it in the back of the freezer. It's amazing how much easier it is to drive all the way home for lunch/snack, when I have no plastic. We've not only opened up a huge chunk of change in our budget to put on debt, but I feel so much better. I've been cooking dinner every night, and am starting to really enjoy it. I've been packing Chris's lunches every day. His coworker in the IT department has also started bringing lunch too, so it's not like he's feeling a daily pressure to hit up Del Taco. It's awesome. Friday, we randomly decided to take FrontRunner to Salt Lake and ate as a family at Rumbi. Even though I got a salad, I still felt toxic afterwards. I'm reverting back to being an eat at home person. YEAY! Plus, it can't hurt the figure right ;)
Frontrunner was so cool. They are running a 4 adults for $10 roundtrip deal for the summer. I'd never ridden on it before, and I was probably just as excited as Ava. We sat on the top floor and pointed out every animal along the way. Random farms from here to SL. It was BLASTED hot, but we still had fun. We walked around gateway for 2 hours. Ava didn't play in the water like we thought she would, but she still had fun. Saturday, Ava woke up very cross. She ended up spending most of the day with her Granni, while Chris and I worked on much needed chores. My sweet hubby folded load after load of laundry and cleaned the kitchen, while I picked up toys and entertained the Simon. Ava came home and slept until about 8pm, and still made it to bed about 10. Our new rule is bed by 9:30, and we've hit it for 2 weeks, except twice. It's awesome. Well, she should be up any time now...and i think I hear her throwing something down the stairs...better go check it out.

my uncle dave

A few weeks ago, my Uncle David came into town to help move my Nana to Utah. I haven't seen him in 10 years. My mom found my old cheer trophy while clearing out boxes to make room for Nana, and brought it to pass onto me. I snapped this picture of my Uncle pretending to accept the award! He is SO much fun! I wish I got to see him more.Ever wonder where Simon gets his "Benjamin Button" look from? mmmmm mystery solved! Thanks for the wrinkles, blond brows, and devilishly handsome expressions!

carson & dave engagements

My college roomie, Carson, is getting remarried this September 26th to her beau, David. I had the honor of spending today with them shooting some engagement photos. It was blistering hot and totally bright sun the entire shoot--overcast just before and right after, as luck would have it. We endured about 2 hours of pictures and the above are a few of my favs. I am a fan of b&w and sephia tones. Cars and Dave are so fun together and really do compliment one another in everyway.

my new dress

So I bought a new dress. W00t! I'm in LOVE with NY&Co. but rarely purchase anything there, as like every item starts at $40. So I got this dress--originally like $42 for $21. This dress came out like 3 months ago--and I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for it to become a price I could live with paying. Since I'm such a tight wad that magic price was under $25. I figure anything that is going to be potentially be pooped/pewked/colored on should be relatively inexpensive. Anyway. I love this dress! So excited. I hope it is as cute on me as I think it is...don't want an Elaine moment.

long post for a long weekend

I haven't posted in 2 weeks. I should go back and date things correctly, but to be honest, I rarely know what day it is. I'm pretty sure that's why Ava makes several attempts on Sundays to convince me that she CAN and IS going to go swimming and to the mall and to the store-all of which, we don't do on Sundays.
I'll go back as far as I can remember--which isn't that far.
Wednesday...or was that Thursday...the 1st, whatever day that was...Wednesday, was Caydon's 10th birthday. HOLY COW! I can't believe he's 10. We went to the Junction to see Ice-Age 3-D as a family to celebrate. Ava sat through most of it--but wanted nothing to do with the cool glasses. I can't really blame her, they give ya a bit of a headache. Simon did really well also. After, we went to Pizza Factory, where Chris and I ordered a dish to share. We got a shrimp pasta dish...yeah the fish was spoiled. I've never tasted anything so disgusting in my whole life. I am officially a Pizza Factory hater. I was up all night with food poisoning. I took the time I had, awake, and unable to sleep to organize my toy room, clean my kitchen floor and go on an ant killing spree. I haven't seen many since. woo hoo! I honestly didn't sleep at all. My kids got up about 6:30 am. Chris went to work, but came home early about 1pm. This was in hopes that he could watch the kids and I could sleep. So I got permission from the boss to take off early, and about 20 minutes later the Xmission connection to inwest crashed and Chris had to go back to work. Sleep was just not in the cards. I have to say for being up so long, I functioned rather well. I finally crashed at 5:30 and slept until 8. I helped get the kids back to bed and hit the sack again.
Friday. 3rd. We had a great, long, adventure day. Ava woke us up about 8:30 and we began packing for the zoo and family camp out. Ever year, we do a back-yard camp out at my folks home. We hit up the zoo about 11:30. Our plan was to get there at 9, ha-ha-ha. It was a VERY hot day. We totally misunderstood my mom's bragging about their strollers at hogle, and thus did not pack one. BIG MISTAKE. This led to me pushing Ava in their stroller, and Chris carrying Simon in a snuggie front carrier thing. It was very hot. very crowded. and not my idea of a good time. The zoo is totally a under 80 degree day place. We stayed for about an hour. Saw the leopards, elephants, rhinos, monkeys, camels, giraffes, bears and some birds. We then drove out to my mom's neck of the woods and met up with them at their community pool. This is the one that was built for the Olympics so it's super rad. Ava loved it! We stayed until like 5:30 swimming and playing. Then we headed to the folks home for hamburgers, hot dogs, and a contest of who could stay up long enough for fireworks. We were all too tired to really enjoy them, but we set them off anyway to Ava saying "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH DO ANOTHER ONE!" The tent...yes...it was a bit cold for my expectations, and windy! I'm not a big camper. I like camping, until I'm actually camping. Ava snuggled up to KK and Simon slept all night. I was up every couple hours shivering. Covering Ava-as she INSISTED on kicking her blankets off. Ava was up at a bright and early 6am. I took Simon and her inside and fed Simon. I then passed out until Chris practically carried me into the dining room for breakfast about 9:30. We took Ava to copperton park around 11:30 to play and stayed for about an hour--then we packed up and headed back north.
4th. party in hooper. We were one party filled family. We went out to hooper about 3:30 for more swimming and partying. Ava was in HEAVEN this weekend. She wore me out big time. We had FABULOUS food and company. :) I love the get togethers. Leah made this amazing american flag cheese cake. It was lovely and tastey. I was ready for bed at 7:30, but we stayed until about 9. Ava fell asleep about 2 minutes after we strapped her into her car seat. We hadn't even finished loading our stuff in the car, and she was snoring.
5th. After such a long weekend, I was not really wanting to go to our 9am church meeting. I had every intention of sleeping in. Heavenly Father, however, had other ideas, and for the first time in ages, Ava was up early on a Sunday. See, usually, Ava wakes up between oooh 6:30 and 8:30 on a weekday, but Sundays we are usually waking her up at 8:45 running to church--she's slept in until 10 before on a Sunday. this Sunday however, she walked into our room about 8:15 with a bright smile saying LET'S GO TO CHURCH!!! Look, there's daddys' suit. Ooooooooooooh kids! So, up we were and we got to church for great meetings. I loved the lessons and obviously, really needed them. Thanks Ava for being a great example to us! We took family nap about 2:30-5:30. I love family nap. Mostly because I get to nap in silence. Then we went out to see Dave and Sandi. We had party left overs, played barbie, trolls, watched Ariel and How to Catch a Theif with Kerry Grant. Good times all around. I was exhausted at 10:30 when I put Simon to bed, but once I laid him down became restless. It's now almost 1am. Well there's a run down of recent events. I'll post some fun pictures we got this weekend at another date.
-side note-
JoJo aka Joanna Neeley is getting sealed August 14th in DC. I really want to go. Chris has said. ok. lets go. the whole family. now, I'm scared. I haven't been home in 4 years. I'm really scared that A. no one will really want to see me. B. the kids will hate flying. hate driving. and thus I'll hate the whole week. C. i wont' want to come back. hahahaha oh man. PA. to go...or not to go.

shooo mosquito don't BITE my girl

I took the day off today to play with Hilary and her kids. Rusty decided to be insane, and register to run a 2 day race from Logan to Park City. Yeah, he's going to be 33 this October...I think he's running from that. His body will surely remind him tomorrow. Anyway, they drove up to drop him and stopped by to have a fun playdate with us on their way back to Riverton. We went to Sandi's and spent the day swimming. While I was sure to get all the kids covered in sunscreen, I skipped myself, thanks to Ava's impatience. She couldn't stand to wait one moment longer, and I totally forgot to get my face. I'm pretty sure I'm radioactively glowing. Matt's new name for me is RED. Even my eyelids are sunburned. I didn't even know that could happen. All I can say is yeay for sunshirts, because it saved us all! Hilary said her back is soooooooooooo burned, but thankfully none of the kids are.
My poor baby girl, Ava, is being EATEN ALIVE by mosquitoes. I found one in the house tonight and KILLED it. she has 4 bites on her left arm. seriously mosquito. 4 bites. INSANE. does anyone know if the OFF fan really works? Obviously, we're in need of repellent. And I'm very much allergic to the fumes of the other stuff. Lemme know. Shanks!

a simple run down

Here I sit...12:30am...with a MASSIVE migrain. ugh. Ok. so chances are for most migraners, this is rather minor, but I'm not a big headache person, so it's feeling pretty massive to me. Also, my laundry is STILL drying. I should just be grateful, because this washer/dryer was given to us when we were married almost 4 years ago, and it was already loved by others, so the fact that they are still working is fabulous. I'm just whining. As is typical for me. :)
Today, mmm yes what to write. Today was a good day. I think the Barbie Island Princess movie was played twice, along with Cinderella and HSM3. Ava also got to play with some friends. Mary saved me this morning. I was slammed with work and Ava was going crazy needing someone to play with her. Mary let her come over and play for like an hour while I finished up some work and fed Simon. Then we headed to Costco to grab a pizza. The plan was to take the pizza to the mall and let Ava play at their play area, but she passed out. So, instead, we brought it back to Chris's office. Ava cut out hearts with Granni for me and Chris and told us that she loved us. She's too adorable!!! Ava also got to play with Mack and Meg for a bit tonight. They are moving on Saturday, and we're going to really miss them. They are such great girls and so cute. I wish they hadn't been so shy the last year. It's only been the last 6 months or so that they wanted to hang out with Ava. I've come to really love those girls! After work, Ava, Simon and I met Chris at Sandi's for SWIMMING! It was a little cold, but great fun. Ava's been BEGGING to swim since Memorial Day. Ava's granni drove her home--because Ava LOVES Granni's car. Ava passed out about 9 and then Simon went down at 9:30. Three hours later, I'm up waiting for laundry to finish drying. GAAAAAAAAA! Anyone want to gift me a $1700 steam dryer? ;) 30 minute laundry...mmmm insanely awesome.

i love my little man! 3 months old

At 3 months old...Simon is getting more and more adorable

• He can roll from front to back
• He laughs--but you have to really commit to your routines. He makes you work for it!
• He talks in "ahhhs" and "cooos"
• He loves to have reading time
  
• He loves tummy time on his new mat--where he kicks and kicks trying to reach his toys
• He has survived 3 months of Ava's maulings of hugs and intense kisses
• He has been seizure free since March 18th! Still takes a nightly does of pheno-barb.
• He's 15 pounds!
• LOVES to snuggle
  
• He loves to sit in the shade at the park and watch Ava play
• Total lady's man--follows neighbor Kate with his eyes everywhere she goes and pouts when she gets out of sight. *cute*

I am so in love with my little Simon Heiner. I just can't get enough of his "worries" wrinkles and perfect feature face!!! I am so grateful to be his mom and to be able to snuggle him all the day!

my new favorite picture