I guess our first choice of houses just wasn't meant to be. Another offer was put in, for much more than we offered, and the seller went with the other offer. I'm disappointed, because we really did like that house a lot. We prayed that we would get the house, if it was the right house for us. Apparently it wasn't.
However, it's not the end of the world. As we waited on pins and needles this evening to find out the seller's decision, we looked through the pages of other houses that we've viewed and were reminded of another house that we really liked. A tad bit smaller and only four bedrooms, but still nice and big with plenty of room. It has a fireplace and a large backyard, ivy growing beautifully on the front of the house (it's a much prettier exterior than the other), a really big family room downstairs, and much more counter space in the kitchen,. And this one has fruit trees in the back yard (apple, I think). We could definitely be happy with this house just as easily as we could the other one. So when the call came that the other offer had been accepted, we weren't too distraught, having already chosen a wonderful backup house.
So we are going to look at this house again, hopefully sometime tomorrow morning, and will likely put in an offer. This is all just another step in the journey of finding the right home for us.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
A Good Day
Well, today has been a pretty good day. The kids got to sleep late last night after we picnicked with Jeff's sister and her family (which was so much fun, I'm glad we got to hang out with them). So they slept later than usual this morning, not waking us up until about 9 am. So we got to sleep in, which is always a nice way to start the morning.
After a quick breakfast, we were off to look at a house. It's one we've looked at before, and it was our favorite of all the houses we've seen. We just wanted to see it one more time before making an offer. Well, we saw it, we still loved it, so we sat down with the realtor and wrote up the offer right there. There were toys in the living room so the kids played quietly while we did all the paperwork (thank you, kids, for being so good!!!), and now we just wait until Monday for the seller to respond. I really hope everything works out, because we really like this house.
Some specs on the house - it's about 3 times the size of our current apartment. It has 5 bedrooms, a fairly open and spacious layout, a nice kitchen with a beautiful dark red accent wall and gorgeous counter tops, a very big family room downstairs and a nice-sized living room upstairs. There's a very large laundry/storage room that will be absolutely perfect for food storage (I think that's one of my favorite parts of the house). Outside, there's an unattached garage and a decent-sized backyard, with a large covered patio. The yard is fully fenced, so I don't have to worry about the kids running off when they're playing outside. And best of all, even though the house is easily worth much more than what the seller is asking, with the market the way it is, it's within our price range. Hooray for the buyer's market!
If everything goes well, we hope to close in mid-October. We can spend the next month or so after that slowly moving to the house and cleaning the apartment. We'll take our time because I'll be hugely pregnant and not up to a whirlwind weekend move.
I'm so excited that we will very likely be living in our very own house by the time the baby is born. I've wanted a house for such a long time - a place that's big enough to raise a family, a place with a yard, a place that I can decorate and paint and do stuff with, a place to call our own. And it seems that soon, finally, that dream will be a reality.
Yes, it's been a good day.
After a quick breakfast, we were off to look at a house. It's one we've looked at before, and it was our favorite of all the houses we've seen. We just wanted to see it one more time before making an offer. Well, we saw it, we still loved it, so we sat down with the realtor and wrote up the offer right there. There were toys in the living room so the kids played quietly while we did all the paperwork (thank you, kids, for being so good!!!), and now we just wait until Monday for the seller to respond. I really hope everything works out, because we really like this house.
Some specs on the house - it's about 3 times the size of our current apartment. It has 5 bedrooms, a fairly open and spacious layout, a nice kitchen with a beautiful dark red accent wall and gorgeous counter tops, a very big family room downstairs and a nice-sized living room upstairs. There's a very large laundry/storage room that will be absolutely perfect for food storage (I think that's one of my favorite parts of the house). Outside, there's an unattached garage and a decent-sized backyard, with a large covered patio. The yard is fully fenced, so I don't have to worry about the kids running off when they're playing outside. And best of all, even though the house is easily worth much more than what the seller is asking, with the market the way it is, it's within our price range. Hooray for the buyer's market!
If everything goes well, we hope to close in mid-October. We can spend the next month or so after that slowly moving to the house and cleaning the apartment. We'll take our time because I'll be hugely pregnant and not up to a whirlwind weekend move.
I'm so excited that we will very likely be living in our very own house by the time the baby is born. I've wanted a house for such a long time - a place that's big enough to raise a family, a place with a yard, a place that I can decorate and paint and do stuff with, a place to call our own. And it seems that soon, finally, that dream will be a reality.
Yes, it's been a good day.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Popcorn Popping
Jeff started singing Popcorn Popping to Thomas while changing his diaper this evening. Unexpectedly, Thomas started singing along and doing the motions - he must have learned it in Nursery. We thought it was so cute that we had to get this totally adorable video of him doing the song. Isn't he just darling?
He also sings along to the ABC song. But when he sings it, it sounds more like "A ace ace ace a a ace, Ace ace a a ace ace ace!" Sigh. Surely someday he'll learn to enunciate!
He also sings along to the ABC song. But when he sings it, it sounds more like "A ace ace ace a a ace, Ace ace a a ace ace ace!" Sigh. Surely someday he'll learn to enunciate!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
If You Can't Stand the Heat...
...Don't come to my apartment.
We got our power bill yesterday. It was astronomical. The only change we've made in the past month or so has been to run the air conditioner every day, from about 10 in the morning to about 10 at night. I figured the heat justified the use of the A/C, and it really wouldn't be all that expensive. That power bill changed my mind. After all, we are saving to buy a house and all.
So yesterday and today, we only used the fan, turning on the A/C only a couple times for a few minutes at a time when the heat got unbearable. Figured that should save money and we'll still be able to buy a house like we want to.
Problem is - IT'S HOT!!!!!! The kids and I have been miserable the last two days - their cheeks have been flushed, our hair is matted, our skin is sticky and smelly, we've all suffered from heat-induced grumpiness, and it's just so darn uncomfortable! I spent two hours this evening lying on the couch in a semi-stupor, unable to do anything else because it was so hot. Ugh!
I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. If we run the A/C enough to actually be comfortable, we rack up an enormous power bill that we can't afford. If we don't, we're absolutely and utterly miserable. Grrr, I just don't know what to do - be an overheated, grumpy tightwad, or be a comfortable A/C user with an impossibly high power bill.
We got our power bill yesterday. It was astronomical. The only change we've made in the past month or so has been to run the air conditioner every day, from about 10 in the morning to about 10 at night. I figured the heat justified the use of the A/C, and it really wouldn't be all that expensive. That power bill changed my mind. After all, we are saving to buy a house and all.
So yesterday and today, we only used the fan, turning on the A/C only a couple times for a few minutes at a time when the heat got unbearable. Figured that should save money and we'll still be able to buy a house like we want to.
Problem is - IT'S HOT!!!!!! The kids and I have been miserable the last two days - their cheeks have been flushed, our hair is matted, our skin is sticky and smelly, we've all suffered from heat-induced grumpiness, and it's just so darn uncomfortable! I spent two hours this evening lying on the couch in a semi-stupor, unable to do anything else because it was so hot. Ugh!
I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. If we run the A/C enough to actually be comfortable, we rack up an enormous power bill that we can't afford. If we don't, we're absolutely and utterly miserable. Grrr, I just don't know what to do - be an overheated, grumpy tightwad, or be a comfortable A/C user with an impossibly high power bill.
Friday, August 21, 2009
SOB!
I finally did it. I took clippers to Thomas' long and unruly (yet adorably curly) hair this evening and took him from this:
To this:
It really does look so much better, especially in the back, where it was so long and scraggly. But I miss his curls! He doesn't look like a baby anymore, he's a big boy! I can't decide whether to laugh at the expression on his face and smile at the fact that he's growing up so handsome, or cry that he's not my little baby anymore. Sigh.
By the way, that first picture has a story behind it. You may notice that Thomas is wearing two shirts. A couple days ago I decided to give him a choice between two shirts. He picked one and I put it on him, thinking that was the end of it. Apparently it wasn't - he had seen both options and wanted them both! So after putting on the first, he grabbed the second and settled down for me to put that one on him too. He made me button it up and everything. He was so pleased with himself for getting to wear two shirts instead of just one!
To this:
It really does look so much better, especially in the back, where it was so long and scraggly. But I miss his curls! He doesn't look like a baby anymore, he's a big boy! I can't decide whether to laugh at the expression on his face and smile at the fact that he's growing up so handsome, or cry that he's not my little baby anymore. Sigh.
By the way, that first picture has a story behind it. You may notice that Thomas is wearing two shirts. A couple days ago I decided to give him a choice between two shirts. He picked one and I put it on him, thinking that was the end of it. Apparently it wasn't - he had seen both options and wanted them both! So after putting on the first, he grabbed the second and settled down for me to put that one on him too. He made me button it up and everything. He was so pleased with himself for getting to wear two shirts instead of just one!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
A Lesson in Being Prepared
This morning, due to stormy weather, the power went out. It was right around the time we get up and get ready for the day. Because of the weather, it was still fairly dark, and thanks to the power outage, that meant that we got to use Jeff's helmet light for using the bathroom and ate our breakfast by candlelight.
The kids thought it was really neat. As for me, I was just glad that I made granola a few days ago. It was the only breakfast food in the house that didn't require any energy - we don't generally buy cold cereal. Normally we do oatmeal or cornmeal mush, or scrambled eggs. We had pancakes leftover in the fridge, but would have had to eat them cold, yuck. So I was grateful for granola, raisins, and dried banana chips, which made a delicious, electricity-free breakfast for us.
It made me realize though, that we need to have some sort of non-electricity-powered cooking device for emergencies like this. Most of the delicious foods I prepare, especially the ones using food storage items, require some sort of power to cook them, and in this we are completely unprepared. The power was only out for about an hour this morning. But what if it had been longer? I didn't really have anything that we could have prepared for lunch, unless we wanted to eat cold leftovers. I didn't even have any bread for sandwiches (mental note: time to make bread again). Just sort of struck home that we need to get our home more prepared to deal with emergencies. More candles, fresh batteries for the flashlights (the only light that has good batteries right now is Jeff's helmet light), something to cook with, extra water, all those things that we are always told to have when we learn about emergency preparedness. And yet we still don't have them!
It was a good reminder.
The kids thought it was really neat. As for me, I was just glad that I made granola a few days ago. It was the only breakfast food in the house that didn't require any energy - we don't generally buy cold cereal. Normally we do oatmeal or cornmeal mush, or scrambled eggs. We had pancakes leftover in the fridge, but would have had to eat them cold, yuck. So I was grateful for granola, raisins, and dried banana chips, which made a delicious, electricity-free breakfast for us.
It made me realize though, that we need to have some sort of non-electricity-powered cooking device for emergencies like this. Most of the delicious foods I prepare, especially the ones using food storage items, require some sort of power to cook them, and in this we are completely unprepared. The power was only out for about an hour this morning. But what if it had been longer? I didn't really have anything that we could have prepared for lunch, unless we wanted to eat cold leftovers. I didn't even have any bread for sandwiches (mental note: time to make bread again). Just sort of struck home that we need to get our home more prepared to deal with emergencies. More candles, fresh batteries for the flashlights (the only light that has good batteries right now is Jeff's helmet light), something to cook with, extra water, all those things that we are always told to have when we learn about emergency preparedness. And yet we still don't have them!
It was a good reminder.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Busy Day!
The day started with my latest prenatal appointment. We went over my headache diary, and the midwife asked me to go another two weeks without dietary triggers - though she said I could go ahead and have chocolate since I was missing it soooooo much, woohoo! We listened to the heartbeat, where Little One once again showed defiance against being monitored, this time by kicking the doppler probe every time it came near her.
After my appointment I went home for lunch. Jeff was making mac n' cheese, which I was not allowed to have because the cheese is a trigger, so I had leftovers from yesterday's dinner. It was still very tasty - teriyaki chicken over rice, mmmm! After lunch I headed to Wal-Mart to fill a prescription. That ended up being the next big adventure of the day. I got there just after the pharmacy closed for the pharmacists' lunch break. Oh joy. So I had to wander aimlessly around the store for the next half hour until the pharmacy opened up again. Once I dropped off the prescription, I was told it would be 45 minutes before it was ready! So that meant more aimless wandering. By the time I picked up my simple $4 prescription, I had spent well over an hour walking all over Wal-Mart, my feet and legs were aching, my eyes were killing me (old contacts...) and I had a migraine. Yuck.
Soon after getting home we had dinner, then it was time to head out again, this time for more house hunting. We looked at 5 houses this evening, a nice big marathon house-hunting session! The kids were good at first, but as time wore on they definitely showed signs of being tired of the whole thing. By the last house we were all ready to go home! So home we went, and sliced up some watermelon for a special treat.
Boy, I'm just ready to put the kids to bed, put my feet up, and veg in front of the TV for a while. And I'll have Jeff massage my feet. Then I'll listen to my super awesome hypnobirthing relaxation CD that I listen to every night, and it will totally put me to sleep. And it will feel absolutely, blissfully wonderful.
After my appointment I went home for lunch. Jeff was making mac n' cheese, which I was not allowed to have because the cheese is a trigger, so I had leftovers from yesterday's dinner. It was still very tasty - teriyaki chicken over rice, mmmm! After lunch I headed to Wal-Mart to fill a prescription. That ended up being the next big adventure of the day. I got there just after the pharmacy closed for the pharmacists' lunch break. Oh joy. So I had to wander aimlessly around the store for the next half hour until the pharmacy opened up again. Once I dropped off the prescription, I was told it would be 45 minutes before it was ready! So that meant more aimless wandering. By the time I picked up my simple $4 prescription, I had spent well over an hour walking all over Wal-Mart, my feet and legs were aching, my eyes were killing me (old contacts...) and I had a migraine. Yuck.
Soon after getting home we had dinner, then it was time to head out again, this time for more house hunting. We looked at 5 houses this evening, a nice big marathon house-hunting session! The kids were good at first, but as time wore on they definitely showed signs of being tired of the whole thing. By the last house we were all ready to go home! So home we went, and sliced up some watermelon for a special treat.
Boy, I'm just ready to put the kids to bed, put my feet up, and veg in front of the TV for a while. And I'll have Jeff massage my feet. Then I'll listen to my super awesome hypnobirthing relaxation CD that I listen to every night, and it will totally put me to sleep. And it will feel absolutely, blissfully wonderful.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Last Minute Company
On Saturday evening, after Jeff went to work, anything strenuous or related to physical labor was the last thing on my mind. In coming up with what to fix for dinner, I mentally turned down a whole list of delicious meals simply because they involved too much work. Finally deciding on pb&j sandwiches for the kids and leftovers for myself, I got to work spreading peanut butter on the last couple slices of bread when the phone rang.
It was my brother Owen - "Hey, I'm in Utah, can I come visit?"
"Uh," [glancing around furtively at the disaster that was my apartment] "When?"
"Tonight!"
I calmly and cheerfully asked if he would be wanting something to eat, to which he answered that would be great, and we agreed that he would come over later in the evening after visiting with one of his old mission companions.
The call ended. The panic began.
I started running around the apartment like a chicken with its head cut off, grabbing toys and books and clothes and random junk off the floor and throwing it into the appropriate room, tossing random bits of trash into the garbage can, and probably making the kids seriously wonder if I had lost my sanity. The dishes were tossed recklessly into the dishwasher, and the vacuum was thrown frantically about the living room.
Once the apartment was looking less like the abode of pigs and more like the abode of humans, I turned my attention to dinner. As previously mentioned, my plans had been less than impressive. I had gone ahead and finished the sandwiches for the kids, which they ate cheerfully as I was cleaning. But I needed something more substantial. The thought briefly crossed my mind that it might be a good idea to call and order a pizza, but my frugal tendencies wouldn't allow it. So instead I broke out my super quick and easy pizza crust recipe and made my own. I, of course, had no real pizza toppings on hand, so it was a simple mozzarella-and-olive pizza, but it turned out quite good anyway.
By the time that Owen arrived, the apartment was spic and span (well, the most visible parts anyway...) and the pizza was done, sizzling hot on the pizza stone. The kids and I had already begun to eat, as kids and pregnant ladies aren't the most patient when it comes to waiting to eat, but we made sure Owen felt completely welcome and served him up some delicious homemade pizza.
The rest of the evening was definitely more relaxed - the kids climbed all over Uncle Owen as he wowed them with his cell phone, then they went to bed and Owen and I just hung out for the evening.
He came over again this afternoon, before leaving to go back to Idaho. This time Jeff was here also. We made a yummy lunch of biscuits and hot tuna salad, watched a Barbie movie (Zaylee's choice, but I think Owen enjoyed it as much as she did, don't tell him I said that!), and just hung out again.
It was fun to have family visit, I miss being able to see my family all the time like I could when we lived in Idaho. And even though I had a doozy of a time getting the apartment company ready in such a limited amount of time, I'm really glad he came and visited!
It was my brother Owen - "Hey, I'm in Utah, can I come visit?"
"Uh," [glancing around furtively at the disaster that was my apartment] "When?"
"Tonight!"
I calmly and cheerfully asked if he would be wanting something to eat, to which he answered that would be great, and we agreed that he would come over later in the evening after visiting with one of his old mission companions.
The call ended. The panic began.
I started running around the apartment like a chicken with its head cut off, grabbing toys and books and clothes and random junk off the floor and throwing it into the appropriate room, tossing random bits of trash into the garbage can, and probably making the kids seriously wonder if I had lost my sanity. The dishes were tossed recklessly into the dishwasher, and the vacuum was thrown frantically about the living room.
Once the apartment was looking less like the abode of pigs and more like the abode of humans, I turned my attention to dinner. As previously mentioned, my plans had been less than impressive. I had gone ahead and finished the sandwiches for the kids, which they ate cheerfully as I was cleaning. But I needed something more substantial. The thought briefly crossed my mind that it might be a good idea to call and order a pizza, but my frugal tendencies wouldn't allow it. So instead I broke out my super quick and easy pizza crust recipe and made my own. I, of course, had no real pizza toppings on hand, so it was a simple mozzarella-and-olive pizza, but it turned out quite good anyway.
By the time that Owen arrived, the apartment was spic and span (well, the most visible parts anyway...) and the pizza was done, sizzling hot on the pizza stone. The kids and I had already begun to eat, as kids and pregnant ladies aren't the most patient when it comes to waiting to eat, but we made sure Owen felt completely welcome and served him up some delicious homemade pizza.
The rest of the evening was definitely more relaxed - the kids climbed all over Uncle Owen as he wowed them with his cell phone, then they went to bed and Owen and I just hung out for the evening.
He came over again this afternoon, before leaving to go back to Idaho. This time Jeff was here also. We made a yummy lunch of biscuits and hot tuna salad, watched a Barbie movie (Zaylee's choice, but I think Owen enjoyed it as much as she did, don't tell him I said that!), and just hung out again.
It was fun to have family visit, I miss being able to see my family all the time like I could when we lived in Idaho. And even though I had a doozy of a time getting the apartment company ready in such a limited amount of time, I'm really glad he came and visited!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Belly Pic :-)
Just wanted to share my latest belly pic. I'm getting so big! This is me at not-quite 23 weeks. It's weird to think that I've only got 4 more months. I can't wait to meet this special little lady I'm growing! :-)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
House Hunting
We've begun our house search in earnest. We signed on with a realtor (he's been really awesome, and specially caters to first-time home buyers), and we've looked at eight houses in the last 2 days. It's been quite a whirlwind of homes, and we're not done yet! We'll keep looking and looking, viewing as many homes as we can to really firm up in our minds what we want and what we don't want. We have a few favorites already - there really are a lot of large, beautiful homes in the area that are within our price range!
All this house hunting has been kind of hard on the kids though - going from one house to the next, running up and down stairs, in and out of bedrooms and bathrooms, looking at backyards without stopping to play in them - it's rough for the little ones! But they've been really good about it. Especially since we brought the mei tai with us today and had Thomas strapped up the whole time, teehee. That kept him out of trouble, but he was pretty fussy by the time we were done. We'll take a break over the next week or so, because Jeff's work week starts again tomorrow. That'll be nice for the kids, they have time to relax and let things get back to normal. But once Jeff's off again, we'll be running around to see more houses!
This whole house hunting thing has been pretty neat so far, a good learning experience. It's interesting to see the various styles of homes available, and to dream about how awesome it will be to live in our own house. We'll have a big kitchen, lots of bedrooms, storage space all over the place, a nice backyard where the kids can run and play! It'll be awesome, and I can't wait!
All this house hunting has been kind of hard on the kids though - going from one house to the next, running up and down stairs, in and out of bedrooms and bathrooms, looking at backyards without stopping to play in them - it's rough for the little ones! But they've been really good about it. Especially since we brought the mei tai with us today and had Thomas strapped up the whole time, teehee. That kept him out of trouble, but he was pretty fussy by the time we were done. We'll take a break over the next week or so, because Jeff's work week starts again tomorrow. That'll be nice for the kids, they have time to relax and let things get back to normal. But once Jeff's off again, we'll be running around to see more houses!
This whole house hunting thing has been pretty neat so far, a good learning experience. It's interesting to see the various styles of homes available, and to dream about how awesome it will be to live in our own house. We'll have a big kitchen, lots of bedrooms, storage space all over the place, a nice backyard where the kids can run and play! It'll be awesome, and I can't wait!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Prenatal Appointment with some Ramifications
I had my latest prenatal appointment yesterday. The midwife had the official results from the ultrasound, and said that everything looked really good - except that my placenta is low. It's not covering the cervix, but it's lower than it should be. We're not too concerned, because placentas tend to "travel" upward as the uterus grows. But just to be sure, she's going to have me do another ultrasound at 28 weeks to make sure it's moving up like it's supposed to. Low placenta - not so good. Another ultrasound and an extra peek at the baby - hooray!
We listened to the baby's heartbeat - after a few minutes of trying to find it! She wouldn't hold still enough to get the heartbeat for a really long time. This is the third time this has happened. I think that this little lady is getting to be quite the little fireball! But eventually we found the heartbeat and it sounded good - 150 bmp.
Also at my appointment we went over my headache diary. For the last two weeks, I've kept track of everything I've eaten, taking special note of common migraine dietary triggers. I also kept track of other triggers (bad weather, stress, etc) and when I got migraines and how bad they were. We're trying to figure out what things in my diet may be affecting my migraines. Well, the diary proved to be inconclusive. Some days when I had eaten several triggers I ended up with a migraine - other days after eating the same triggers I didn't. So now we're going to try completely cutting out all the common triggers from my diet for the next two weeks to see if my migraines improve. If they do - great, it just means that I have to avoid those foods. If not, the next step would be to see a neurologist, get a brain scan, and figure out what's going on to cause the migraines.
What this all means for me right now is that for the next two weeks, I can't eat: cheddar and other aged cheeses, hot dogs and other foods with nitrites, anything containing MSG, peanuts and peanut butter, sour cream and yogurt ... and chocolate. That's right - no chocolate for two weeks! I'm a little sad about that, but am determined to find acceptable substitutes for all these foods. For instance, I can't eat cheddar, but I can have mozzarella or Monterey Jack. No peanut butter, but almond butter is okay. I just won't make any foods that require sour cream (or I have a recipe substitute for baking and cooking that works okay). And instead of chocolate chip cookies I can do oatmeal raisin, sugar, or snickerdoodle. Yellow cake instead of chocolate cake. Fruit pie instead of chocolate pie.
And after all, it's only two weeks.
But I guess my yummy nighttime snack of banana or apple spread with peanut butter and sprinkled with chocolate chips is out of the question. Sigh.
We listened to the baby's heartbeat - after a few minutes of trying to find it! She wouldn't hold still enough to get the heartbeat for a really long time. This is the third time this has happened. I think that this little lady is getting to be quite the little fireball! But eventually we found the heartbeat and it sounded good - 150 bmp.
Also at my appointment we went over my headache diary. For the last two weeks, I've kept track of everything I've eaten, taking special note of common migraine dietary triggers. I also kept track of other triggers (bad weather, stress, etc) and when I got migraines and how bad they were. We're trying to figure out what things in my diet may be affecting my migraines. Well, the diary proved to be inconclusive. Some days when I had eaten several triggers I ended up with a migraine - other days after eating the same triggers I didn't. So now we're going to try completely cutting out all the common triggers from my diet for the next two weeks to see if my migraines improve. If they do - great, it just means that I have to avoid those foods. If not, the next step would be to see a neurologist, get a brain scan, and figure out what's going on to cause the migraines.
What this all means for me right now is that for the next two weeks, I can't eat: cheddar and other aged cheeses, hot dogs and other foods with nitrites, anything containing MSG, peanuts and peanut butter, sour cream and yogurt ... and chocolate. That's right - no chocolate for two weeks! I'm a little sad about that, but am determined to find acceptable substitutes for all these foods. For instance, I can't eat cheddar, but I can have mozzarella or Monterey Jack. No peanut butter, but almond butter is okay. I just won't make any foods that require sour cream (or I have a recipe substitute for baking and cooking that works okay). And instead of chocolate chip cookies I can do oatmeal raisin, sugar, or snickerdoodle. Yellow cake instead of chocolate cake. Fruit pie instead of chocolate pie.
And after all, it's only two weeks.
But I guess my yummy nighttime snack of banana or apple spread with peanut butter and sprinkled with chocolate chips is out of the question. Sigh.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday Bag in the Making
I've decided to put together a special Sunday Bag to bring the Church to keep the kids occupied and quiet during Sacrament Meeting. Usually we toss a book or two and some snacks into the diaper bag and hope that works - sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. So I decided to get crafty and put together a special bag with special Sunday quiet things for the kids to play with.
After a very fun (and a little more pricey than I would have liked) shopping trip in the craft section and office section at Wal-Mart, I was ready to get started. The first craft I worked on was one that I started many months ago at a Relief Society enrichment activity back when we lived in Idaho - the Gospel ABC Book. Basically, there's a page for each letter, and each letter goes with a gospel topic or word, and a picture (that I drew myself) and phrase based on a scripture or a Primary song. I got all the pages put together at the activity, but had yet to laminate them and turn them into an actual book. So today I used those self-adhesive laminating sheets and some book rings and finished the book. Here's the title page and a few example pages:
The next project I started working on was a Crayon Pouch. Wal-Mart had those Crayola 24-packs of crayons for 25 cents each, and I grabbed one to use for the Sunday bag. I like brand new crayons! :-) But it's inconvenient and frustrating to pull them out and push them back in those little boxes. So I made a roll-up pouch for them, with individual slots for each crayon. Yeah, that took a while...
But holy cow! Didn't that turn out so cute? Now it'll be much easier to pull out individual crayons for coloring. I'll pack coloring books in the Sunday bag to go with the crayons.
I'm also in the planning stages of making a cloth Quiet Book, but haven't really started on it yet. I'm excited about it though - I've already bought the fabric and felt for it, and have a list of pages that I'll be making for it. I also have plenty of yellow flowery fabric left after making the crayon pouch that I can use for the Quiet Book cover.
Other things in the Sunday bag will include small toys, a couple regular books, and of course, a snack! I may or may not make an actual bag to put all this stuff in. If I have one that will work already I'll probably just use that. But I think it would be fun to make a nice big bag for all of this stuff, and sew the words "Sunday Fun" on it or something. Haven't decided yet. Whether I make a bag or not, I'm really excited about this fun new project to work on!
After a very fun (and a little more pricey than I would have liked) shopping trip in the craft section and office section at Wal-Mart, I was ready to get started. The first craft I worked on was one that I started many months ago at a Relief Society enrichment activity back when we lived in Idaho - the Gospel ABC Book. Basically, there's a page for each letter, and each letter goes with a gospel topic or word, and a picture (that I drew myself) and phrase based on a scripture or a Primary song. I got all the pages put together at the activity, but had yet to laminate them and turn them into an actual book. So today I used those self-adhesive laminating sheets and some book rings and finished the book. Here's the title page and a few example pages:
The next project I started working on was a Crayon Pouch. Wal-Mart had those Crayola 24-packs of crayons for 25 cents each, and I grabbed one to use for the Sunday bag. I like brand new crayons! :-) But it's inconvenient and frustrating to pull them out and push them back in those little boxes. So I made a roll-up pouch for them, with individual slots for each crayon. Yeah, that took a while...
But holy cow! Didn't that turn out so cute? Now it'll be much easier to pull out individual crayons for coloring. I'll pack coloring books in the Sunday bag to go with the crayons.
I'm also in the planning stages of making a cloth Quiet Book, but haven't really started on it yet. I'm excited about it though - I've already bought the fabric and felt for it, and have a list of pages that I'll be making for it. I also have plenty of yellow flowery fabric left after making the crayon pouch that I can use for the Quiet Book cover.
Other things in the Sunday bag will include small toys, a couple regular books, and of course, a snack! I may or may not make an actual bag to put all this stuff in. If I have one that will work already I'll probably just use that. But I think it would be fun to make a nice big bag for all of this stuff, and sew the words "Sunday Fun" on it or something. Haven't decided yet. Whether I make a bag or not, I'm really excited about this fun new project to work on!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Somebody's Sleepy...
I was hanging out on the computer while Zaylee finished up her pancake from lunch. I planned on maybe watching a Disney movie with her when she was done, since Jeff and Thomas are both napping and it would be just the two of us girls. However, I suddenly noticed she was being really quiet and looked over to see what she was up to. Here's what I saw:
I guess the boys aren't the only ones who are sleepy this afternoon! Awwww, she's so cute... :-)
I guess the boys aren't the only ones who are sleepy this afternoon! Awwww, she's so cute... :-)
I Love Our Ward!
More specifically, I love the chair of the activities committee, Sister B. She always plans the neatest ward functions, and they always include food. Then, she gives away the stuff that didn't get used/eaten. For instance, today she approached me and said that there was still some pancake mix and syrup left from our recent ward breakfast, and would we like it? I said of course, and she gave us a bag full of two boxes of pancake mix and several specialty pancake syrups. I'm really excited - we have regular pancake syrup, two containers of roasted pecan syrup, some whole blueberry syrup, whole blackberry syrup, and maple praline syrup. Yummm.....
Yeah. Sister B. is awesome. :-)
Yeah. Sister B. is awesome. :-)
Friday, July 24, 2009
Growing Up
Well, Zaylee has passed an initiation rite into the realms of big-girl-hood. Tonight she got her first bloody nose, poor thing. She was running around the corner to her room just as Thomas was running around the corner coming out of the room, and they collided. He came out perfectly fine, but she immediately grabbed her face and started crying. I tried to make it seem really cool and grown-up, so she wouldn't freak out - "Hey, look at that, your first bloody nose! Wow, you're being such a big girl!" I was cheerful and encouraging as we went into the bathroom and pressed tissue to her nose. It worked, she calmed down quickly, and was more curious about seeing the blood on the tissue than she was upset about the pain.
Ah, growing up. She just keeps doing it! Like earlier this evening, she was at the table and I was busy at the computer. When she wanted more water, instead of making me get up and get it for her she took things into her own hands. She carefully poured water from the pitcher into my larger glass, then poured it from my glass into her little cup. She did this a little at a time until her cup was as full as she wanted. Wow, she really is getting to be a big girl.
Ah, growing up. She just keeps doing it! Like earlier this evening, she was at the table and I was busy at the computer. When she wanted more water, instead of making me get up and get it for her she took things into her own hands. She carefully poured water from the pitcher into my larger glass, then poured it from my glass into her little cup. She did this a little at a time until her cup was as full as she wanted. Wow, she really is getting to be a big girl.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Outside My Window...
There are two fire engines parked outside our apartment, and fully-geared fire fighters keep going in and out of the building, with hoses and axes and all the trimmings. I'm really not sure what's going on, but assume that if there were something dangerously wrong they would go through all the apartments and get everyone out...
...Okay, as I've been typing it looks like they're packing up now. Wonder what that was all about? I dunno, maybe there was a cooking fire or something. Gosh, this whole thing has me a bit weirded out.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Freezer Meal Progress
I've been making lots of progress on my freezer meals project. So far I've made chili, curry, frozen burritos (out of homemade refried beans), and bean soup. That's approximately 14 or 15 meals (depending on how many burritos we eat at each meal). I've got more beans on the stove now to make baked beans with hot dogs, which will add about three more meals. My freezer is getting so full!
This has been such a fun project to tackle, and I like knowing that those meals are there, ready to be used. They sure beat those piddly little Banquet entrees Jeff and I used to buy all the time (my excuse is that we were students and they were convenient for eating on campus). I've got a few more meals planned, but am not entirely sure how to make them fit in the freezer... I really wish I had room for a chest freezer! Anyway, just thought I'd do a little update on my progress, because I'm sure having fun with it.
As for pregnancy news, I've been feeling strong kicks and wiggles several times daily for a while now. They're strong enough for Jeff to feel now too, which he's excited about. My midwife has me keeping a headache diary for two weeks. I get migraines two or more times per week, and we're trying to figure out some of my dietary triggers so that I can do more to prevent them. I know most of my other triggers (bad weather, stress, heat, exertion, TV/computer, etc) but never paid attention to how the foods I eat affect my migraines. Apparently there are several foods that are common migraine triggers. Cheddar, chocolate, MSG, peanut butter - all the good stuff! Upsetting, but if I learn my personal triggers and avoid them, I can have much fewer migraines. Sigh, I guess I knew all that chocolate, cheese, and peanut butter wasn't doing me any favors. :-(
This has been such a fun project to tackle, and I like knowing that those meals are there, ready to be used. They sure beat those piddly little Banquet entrees Jeff and I used to buy all the time (my excuse is that we were students and they were convenient for eating on campus). I've got a few more meals planned, but am not entirely sure how to make them fit in the freezer... I really wish I had room for a chest freezer! Anyway, just thought I'd do a little update on my progress, because I'm sure having fun with it.
As for pregnancy news, I've been feeling strong kicks and wiggles several times daily for a while now. They're strong enough for Jeff to feel now too, which he's excited about. My midwife has me keeping a headache diary for two weeks. I get migraines two or more times per week, and we're trying to figure out some of my dietary triggers so that I can do more to prevent them. I know most of my other triggers (bad weather, stress, heat, exertion, TV/computer, etc) but never paid attention to how the foods I eat affect my migraines. Apparently there are several foods that are common migraine triggers. Cheddar, chocolate, MSG, peanut butter - all the good stuff! Upsetting, but if I learn my personal triggers and avoid them, I can have much fewer migraines. Sigh, I guess I knew all that chocolate, cheese, and peanut butter wasn't doing me any favors. :-(
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Happy Birthday to Thomas!
Thomas turned 2 years old today. We had a low-key party, just the four of us with some cake and ice cream after naptime. Thomas has been enjoying his birthday - first we opened gifts from Grandma and Grandpa B.
Ooh fun, it's a colorful puppy book!
And some really cute clothes! Grandma has great taste.
Mommy made a really fun cake with alligators on it. The alligators are made out of green chocolate.
But they won't let me eat the cake or the alligators until after they sing! Phooey!
Mmmm, this was worth waiting for! See the cars that Mommy and Daddy got me? I've been playing with them all evening!
I wish we had better lighting in this apartment. Half the pictures I took of Thomas' special day turned out really weird because I couldn't get the camera to cooperate with what little light we had. Yucky. And please, don't notice/judge the mess in the background of some of these pictures. Please.
Happy birthday to my favorite little 2 year old!
Ooh fun, it's a colorful puppy book!
And some really cute clothes! Grandma has great taste.
Mommy made a really fun cake with alligators on it. The alligators are made out of green chocolate.
But they won't let me eat the cake or the alligators until after they sing! Phooey!
Mmmm, this was worth waiting for! See the cars that Mommy and Daddy got me? I've been playing with them all evening!
I wish we had better lighting in this apartment. Half the pictures I took of Thomas' special day turned out really weird because I couldn't get the camera to cooperate with what little light we had. Yucky. And please, don't notice/judge the mess in the background of some of these pictures. Please.
Happy birthday to my favorite little 2 year old!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Me Time?
Today there's a Primary activity, and there's also a Relief Society Enrichment activity. Jeff is taking the kids to the Primary activity at the Church History Museum, while I wait around the apartment for Enrichment. They just left, which means that I get some precious "ME TIME" all to myself - two whole hours just for me!
Now, what on earth am I supposed to do with it?
Now, what on earth am I supposed to do with it?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
It's a ....
We had our ultrasound this morning. First the tech took care of all the important and boring stuff (measuring the head and abdomen, looking at the heart, checking the spine), and we got to see a bit of our baby's attitude (wouldn't cooperate and actually flipped us the finger, yikes!), then we finally got to see the gender:
It's a girl! Here you can see the arms and hands curled up by her face, then the gender shot. Sorry the pics are blurry, we don't have it on CD and the sheet of pictures they gave us wasn't the best quality. You can click to enlarge the pics. The next pictures are her face and then her left arm/hand:
Then her little foot and curled up little legs:
She weighs about 13 oz. and the tech said that everything looked normal and healthy. :-)
It's a girl! Here you can see the arms and hands curled up by her face, then the gender shot. Sorry the pics are blurry, we don't have it on CD and the sheet of pictures they gave us wasn't the best quality. You can click to enlarge the pics. The next pictures are her face and then her left arm/hand:
Then her little foot and curled up little legs:
She weighs about 13 oz. and the tech said that everything looked normal and healthy. :-)
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