New House

We moved into the new house on June 1st.  The week prior to the move was definitely one of the craziest weeks of my life.  I am very grateful for my super-organized husband, who is so good at planning things out, staying on task, and asking others for help.  He is wonderful.  It was nice having the elders quorum from our old ward and new ward help us move the heavy items, and I'm very grateful for extended family members for being there to help take care of the children, pack and unpack various items, and for being house guides while the trailer was unloading.

New roof.

The weeks following the move have been stressful, but good.  We had to buy a new roof immediately, which was a bit of a shock for us, since we did not put that in our budget.  We found out that our dishwasher was not operable, our sprinkler system did not work, our range-hood fan wouldn't turn on, and our swamp cooler was bad.  Brad fixed the swamp cooler a couple of days ago.  Now we have cool air!  YAY!  We bought a temporary sprinkler to use until we want to spend time figuring out what's wrong with the sprinkler system.

Organizing the kitchen.

We haven't had time to fix the range-hood and dishwasher yet, but I am not in a big hurry for that.  Surprisingly, I have enjoyed washing all of the dishes by hand.  Brad has offered to do the dishes for me, but I find that I have become very possessive of my new space now that I finally have my own kitchen.  It's MY kitchen, and I want to make sure everything gets done MY way, including the dishes.  Even the other day when I asked Emma to help me do the dishes, I ended up washing most of them all over again when she wasn't looking, because she did not wash them thoroughly enough for my taste.  Crazy?  Yes, I believe I am.  I am acting exactly like my mother!

Weeding the flowerbed.

I got started on the new yard the first week we moved in.  I cannot stand the way it looks with all the weeds and dead grass everywhere.  I also do not like the overall lack of greenery.  Our yard is in desperate need of trees and shrubbery.  I have never been much of a gardener, but I do appreciate the hard work people put into having a nice yard, especially my mother.  Now that I have my own house, I find myself trying to look at things through my mother's perspective.  She would NEVER allow a yard to go bad.  I need to follow example and make her happy with my yard when she comes to visit.  That means I have a lot of work to do.  First things first-- I do not have the time or the means to transform the yard overnight, so I have to do things bit by bit.  I began watering the lawn every day.  I've been focusing on the front lawn, mainly because it's such an eyesore, but I've been watering the backyard, too.  I dug up all the weeds in the front flower beds, and I plan on planting some flowers and plants when I have some money.  I hope the grass grows back and becomes green again.

New roof and weedless flowerbed.

While there are some things about that house that have not gone as planned, there are some things that I absolutely LOVE about the house.  Here are a few:

I LOVE having my own private bathroom connected to our master bedroom.  It's so nice walking into our own space and not seeing dried toothpaste clinging to the towels and rubber duckies all over the floor.  Plus, it's kind of fun not having to get dressed or wear a robe every time we have to use the loo.

I also LOVE the overall size and appearance of my bedroom.  It's so pretty and spacious.  There is so much natural lighting in my room that walls seem to glow every morning when the sun rises.  Plus, our closet size has doubled now, giving us more storage than we had previously.  It's lovely!

I LOVE the color of the walls and the lighting in my new house.  The paint-job was done in such a way that the light bounces off and gives us a tremendous amount of natural light during the day.  There are windows in every room, even in the basement and garage.  It's very cheerful and inviting.

I LOVE the ceiling fans!  All of the upstairs bedrooms and kitchen have ceiling fans.  It's so nice going to bed at night and feeling the cool air brush down on me as I sleep.

I LOVE my pantry.  I can store a lot of things in there.

I LOVE having the two-car garage and large driveway.  It's so nice not having birds poop on our vehicles from parking under trees!

I LOVE having my own space.  It's so nice looking at my house and realizing that it's mine.  I look forward to decorating it the way I want it, and changing things as we go along.  Now I seem to have endless days ahead of unpacking, reorganizing, and fixing things along the way.  It's stressful, but it's a good kind of stress.  We finally have our own home!

Happy Birthday, Lizzy!

My little girl turned three-years-old on June 9th!

If I were to describe Lizzy in three words I would say she's confident, imaginative, and energetic.  Lizzy never stops moving!  Or at least, that's the impression I get when I'm with her all day.  Lizzy loves to play outside, climb things, jump off things, run, jump, and twirl.  She is not afraid to test her abilities and try new things.  She loves discovering what she is capable of doing.  She has a great imagination.  She loves to dress-up and play-act different situations.

Little Quirks:

• Lizzy has entered into a princess phase.  She loves wearing dresses and looking pretty, like Belle and Ariel.  I bought her a Cinderella dress for her birthday.
• Lizzy loves to twirl her hair on the left side of her head when she sucks her thumb.  Sometimes she twirls so much it gets tangled and matted.
• Lizzy is still very obsessed with shoes.  Shoes end up all over our house when Lizzy gets in my closet.  She wears them everywhere.
• Lizzy loves to sit in the driver's seat of our vehicles and pretend she's driving away.  She often checks to see if the doors are locked so she can sneak in when we're not looking.
• Lizzy is very independent.  She likes doing things on her own.  She likes to get dressed, wash her hair, brush her teeth, and buckle herself in her car seat with very little help from adults.
• Lizzy is the only person in our family who calls me "Mommy."  I'm "Mama" to everyone else.  She learned to say "Mommy" in nursery at church.
• Lizzy is obsessed with owies and band-aids.  She's thinks it's the coolest thing in the world to wear a band-aid. 
• Lizzy does NOT like flies.  Flies make her scream.  She will let me know if there's a fly in the house so I can capture it and take it away.

Favorite Activities:
Playing outside, visiting cousins, going to the park, watching movies, and playing dress-up.

Favorite Movies:  The Little Mermaid (a new favorite one), My Neighbor Totoro, Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast,  Shrek, Shrek 2, all the Toy Story movies, Tangled, Bolt, Up, Kung Fu Panda, The Incredibles Finding Nemo, Spirit, Kiki's Delivery Service, and WALL-E.

Favorite TV Shows:
Curious George, The Cat in the Hat, The Simpsons

Favorite Foods:
Broccoli, pepperoni pizza, shrimp, alfredo pasta, spaghetti, graham crackers, Lucky Charms, dill pickles, and cheddar cheese.

Favorite Desserts:
Ice cream, Oreos, candy, and frosting off of cakes (if you can count frosting as a dessert).


Vocabulary:  Lizzy speaks in full sentences most of the time now. She has a very large vocabulary for her age, and she loves to talk. She still struggles with getting her meaning across at times, but she's getting better at it.  Some of my favorite Lizzy pronunciations are: 
"Mommy... ye-holp."  Which means, "Mommy, help me."
"Ska-ma!"  That is her way of saying,  "Scott and Emma."
She says "skippers" instead of "scriptures," "o-gert" instead of "yogurt," "mair-laid" instead of "mermaid," and "flush" instead of "flashlight."

Music:

Lizzy loves it when I sing to her at night.  Right now her favorite bedtime song list is:

• All the Pretty Little Horses
• The Itsy Bitsy Spider
• How Much is that Kitty in the Window?
• How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
• Kitty-Cat Man

Mommy Moments
I love watching Lizzy mimic me.  Sometimes she looks and sounds just like me.

I sometimes call Lizzy my "little mother."  She always wants to make sure I am okay and that I do not have owies, so that I will not have to go to the hospital again.  She'll ask me, "Mommy, is you okay?  Do you have owies?"  If she thinks I'm okay, she'll say, "I think is all better."

Lizzy brings so much joy into my life.  I love it when she wraps her arms around my neck and says, "I love you, Mommy."  I love it when she realizes I'm home from an errand and screams out, "Mommy!" when she sees me.  She makes me feel as if I am the most wonderful person in the world.

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in May 2012:

Tue 5/1/12: I finished "Master of Heathcrest Hall" today. I could not put it down from the middle section on. It was a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wed 5/2/12: I was lazy today and spent a couple of hours watching episodes of "Dancing with the Stars" online. I'm rooting for Katherine and Mark to win.

Thu 5/3/12: I took Lizzy and David to the West Jordan City Park after dropping Emma off at school. Lizzy had a wonderful time exploring the western-themed playground equipment.

Fri 5/4/12: Star Wars Day! May the Fourth Be With You! Brad and I had a lot of fun quoting lines from the movies. He did all the Han Solo lines and I did Princess Leia. It was the first year we really got into it. We're such geeks!

Sat 5/5/12: My highlight of the day was definitely my husband. Yes, I am happy. I married a wonderful guy.

Sun 5/6/12: Bruce and Loralee's family came over tonight with homemade banana cream pie. I love banana cream pie.

Mon 5/7/12: Tonight we made our annual mother's day cards for Scott's and Emma's grandmothers, and my mother. It's one of our family traditions that has held strong for the last five years.

Tue 5/8/12: We went to the doctor for David's 6-month appointment (although he's already 7 months). He weighed only 14 pounds! My little guy really is a little guy. He's healthy, though, and very social. The doctor and nurses thought he was adorable.

Wed 5/9/12: Lizzy, David, and I took our new double stroller for a walk to the postbox today, so we could mail our mother's day cards. Lizzy loves the stroller. David had mixed reactions. He's still not feeling well from his shots yesterday. It was nice getting out of the house and exercising. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Hooray for Vitamin D!

Thu 5/10/12: I took the little ones to the Jordan River Parkway this morning after dropping Emma off at school. We walked for about an hour. It was so pretty there.

Fri 5/11/12: My husband gave me the bestest back rub tonight while we were watching "The Social Network." My husband is my favoritest person.

Sat 5/12/12: Bradley and I did some cleaning today (mostly Brad, cause he's super wonderful), and now my bedroom looks lovely for Mother's Day.

Sun 5/13/12: I had a wonderful Mother's Day with my husband and two babies. Brad always goes out of his way to make sure I feel loved and appreciated, but I like the extra attention on Mother's Day. It was also nice going to church and sitting next to Marilyn and James. Lizzy came out of nursery with an adorable potted plant for me. It made my heart happy!

Mon 5/14/12: We had homemade chili for dinner tonight, then we had FHE afterward. We talked to Scott about Patriarchal Blessings. He should be getting his soon. For dessert we had yummy blueberry angel food cake.

Tue 5/15/12: Brad and I watched the season finale of "Once Upon A Time" tonight. It was good! Looking forward to the next season.

Wed 5/16/12: I love magic erasers! Why haven't I tried using them before?

Thu 5/17/12: Walked along the Jordan River Parkway again this morning. Lizzy loved it, David napped. Papa mopped the floor tonight. Really, how many men mop the kitchen floor without being asked? He's my Mr. Wonderful!

Fri 5/18/12: I am amazed by how the simplest recipes make my kids so happy. They absolutely love macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. I think they would eat it every night if they had the option. I think I would be sick.

Sat 5/19/12: David sat in the highchair for the first time today! He's getting big. Our family went to an activity this evening held by our soon-to-be ward. It was nice meeting new people and putting names to faces. The kids loved spending time with their cousins.

Sun 5/20/12: We watched the angular solar eclipse at Bruce and Loralee's house tonight. It was Emma's idea. Scott made a pinhole viewer, and Sister Bellon gave us some eclipse glasses to use. Turned out great!

Mon 5/21/12: We talked about moving into our new house tonight in Family Home Evening. Scott and Emma are excited.

Tue 5/22/12: Little David can sit on his own for over 5 minutes now. He's getting to be such a big boy! He's also been sticking his knees up under his body, getting ready to crawl, and he may have a tooth coming through.

Wed 5/23/12: Brad is so organized. He asked me to make maps of the rooms in our new house, so that the movers will know where to put furniture. I've been having fun making diagrams all afternoon and evening. I didn't want to stop tonight.

Thu 5/24/12: Papers were signed away!

Fri 5/25/12: And today we are officially home owners!

Sat 5/26/12: We splurged today and bought our brand new appliances from RC Willey. Our washer and dryer are top-notch appliances. They were the best rated on consumers.com.

Sun 5/27/12: We moved some things to our new house bit by bit today. Scott has packed more than any of us, and he looked like he was the most excited to decorate his new bedroom.

Mon 5/28/12: We spent Memorial Day shopping for home essentials. We got a new full-size bed for Scott, and lots of laundry baskets and wastebaskets.

Tue 5/29/12: We went to the library tonight, then headed back to the new house to drop off boxes and bags. Progress is being made slowly but surely.

Wed 5/30/12: I enjoyed shopping for home essentials at Walmart and spending a small fortune on things we need. I'm glad I finally get to decorate my own house.

Thu 5/31/12: Little D is crawling! Well, almost crawling. He scoots on his belly pretty consistently now. This morning he chased the cat (going about an inch a minute), and ended up at the foot of the stairs, about to tumble down.  I had been watching, though, and came to the rescue.

Homeowners

We are officially home owners!  Brad and I own a cute little home in West Valley City now.  It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a living room, a den with a fireplace, dining area, a small kitchen with a large pantry, a two car garage, and a large shed in the backyard.  The kids are very happy about our new home.  Scott and Emma will each have their own room, and we will be living only a few blocks away from their cousins.  Emma's room has an incredible view of the Salt Lake Valley and the airport.  Scott's room is ENORMOUS, and he gets his own bathroom.

On May 25th we officially became HOMEOWNERS!

We bought the house after its previous owners foreclosed.  The bank fixed it up quite nicely, making it look like almost a brand new house before they flipped it.  There is new two-toned paint and carpet in every room, and there's new wooden floors and granite counter-tops in the kitchen, plus a new sink. We are very excited to finally have our own place!
 

 

*So, technically this was posted on June 16th and not on May 26th, but I changed the dates to keep my posts flowing in order.  I have been so busy with the new house.  It's eaten up all my blogging time!

David's 7-Month Stats

Weight: 14 pounds 10 ounces, 2% for his age (he's so tiny!).
Height: 26.76 inches, 34% for his age.
Head Circumference: 17.1 inches, 25% for his age. 

7-Month David

 If I were to describe David in three words I would say he's laid-back, curious, and adorable. David has a very content, easy-going personality.  He loves observing people and exploring the world around him.  He's an attention getter.  His small size combined with his big smile and bright blue eyes attracts admirers everywhere we go.

New Developments In The Last 2 Months

• He is eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.  He's not a picky eater.
• I've introduced finger foods to him, although they're not a part of his regular diet yet.  He loves graham crackers best.
• His balance continues to improve.  He can sit by himself for short periods of time.
• He knows how to shift objects from one hand to the other.
• He can pull himself on the floor a little.  I think he'll be crawling soon.
• He babbles.  I love it when he says, "Ma-ma-ma-ma."
• He is finally getting some hair!  It sticks straight up!

Little quirks:

• He still only sleeps in his swing at night. He is a light sleeper.  I think he likes the snug feeling of being in his swing and hearing the white noise as he rocks back and forth.
• He is a tiny little guy, but he has a very healthy appetite.  He loves to eat.
• He is a social boy!  He is not shy or bashful about meeting new people.  He loves seeing new faces.
• He is very alert and observant!  He spots me everywhere I go.  I cannot hide from him or sneak away anymore. 
• He is obsessed with paper and plastic.  He's definitely in the "package-is-better-than-what's-inside" stage. 
• He is still Mr. Sensitive Skin.  We cannot use baby shampoo or any other fragrant soap when we bathe him, and we cannot put sweet-smelling lotion on him.  Cetaphil has become our new favorite brand.

Hello, Mr. Blue-Eyes!

May the Fourth Be With You!

Brad and I are such geeks. We had a fabulous time quoting Star Wars quotes on May 4th, particular Han Solo's and Princess Leia's lines.  I have always liked Star Wars, but being married to a true Star War's fan has caused me to appreciate it even more.  We enjoyed getting into the spirit of George Lucas' films today.  It was the first time we celebrated Star Wars Day, and I enjoyed it so much we'll have to do it again next year.

Han Solo:  Afraid I was gonna leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?

Leia:  I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee.

Han Solo:  I could arrange that. You could use a good kiss!

  

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in April 2012:

Sun 4/1/12: I finished crocheting the most adorable little puppy hat EVER! It fits baby David perfectly. I love crocheting.

Mon 4/2/12: We had a lovely Family Home Evening tonight looking at houses. The kids had fun.  They were more enthusiastic about the houses we saw than we were.

Tue 4/3/12: I got done some shopping today, and Brad and I watched the next episode of "Once Upon A Time."

Wed 4/4/12: David turned 6 months old! YAY! We looked at two houses tonight-- that makes seven so far. We still like the Long Valley house the best.

Thu 4/5/12: Marilyn took me and the kids, plus Grandpa North, to lunch at Red Lobster today. After lunch I was able to sneak away and get my hair cut. It looks so cute now! In the evening, Brad and I took the kids to look at a house that showed up on the market today. We LOVED it! We put an offer on it straight away.

Fri 4/6/12: I'm making a little nappy cover for David to wear with his doggy hat. He's going to be so cute for his pictures tomorrow!

Sat 4/7/12: We took David to get his pictures taken at Fotofly, and they turned out wonderful! He's such a cutie. In the afternoon we had our Easter celebration with the Bruce Norths and Clarks, which turned out to be fun. I love my family!

Sun 4/8/12: We had a nice, uneventful Easter this year. We had our traditional big dinner yesterday, so today we made taco salad. Mmm Mm!

Mon 4/9/12: We had our annual Easter FHE tonight. We dyed eggs, watched "The Lamb of God," and ate Easter candy.

Tue 4/10/12: Our second offer was accepted! We are going to be homeowners!

Wed 4/11/12: I had fun playing with my baby on my bed today. All I had to do was say "bah" and he would burst out in laughter.

Thu 4/12/12: Tricky and Rosie showed up today! Rosie will be staying with us for about a week. Rosie is Lizzy's new best friend. I love watching them follow each other around the house.

Fri 4/13/12: Scott has become quite popular in school lately! He has been dressing up as a character from a video game every day this week (Inspector Cabanela), and he's been dancing in school (voluntarily!). He learned the dance from a video game as well. He's such a geek.

Sat 4/14/12: All of the family (minus Amanda's family) came to visit Tricky and Rosie at our house this morning. We BBQ'ed some hamburgers last-minute and had a yummy lunch. Scott and Emma accidentally ended up staying with us this weekend, which turned out to be perfect for us. They had fun with their cousins.

Sun 4/15/12: Scott has been having a blast on his new Facebook account. I uploaded the link of him dancing in class from YouTube and he now has it on his wall.

Mon 4/16/12: Brad took off work today for our new home inspection. Brad's dad and Tricky came to see it, too. Ben Bailey said that was the smoothest inspection he'd ever seen. Very minor issues. I liked hearing that!

Tue 4/17/12: Picked up "Master of Heathcrest Hall" from the library tonight. SO EXCITED!!!!

Wed 4/18/12: I loved window shopping at Walmart and Sam's Club tonight. I can't wait to have our own home.

Thu 4/19/12: My little boy is getting bigger! He's starting to lift his body up on his knees now when he's lying on his tummy. He's pretty good at rolling over. I can't leave him on the bed anymore.

Fri 4/20/12: Brad and I went to see the house tonight and made some measurements. It's smaller than the house we are currently living in, but it will give us more space, since we are currently sharing the space right now. Strange how that all works.

Sat 4/21/12: Had a great birthday today! Brad and I took the kids to Centennial Park in West Valley City for a picnic lunch. It will be one of the parks in our area after we move. In the afternoon, Brad and I went on a window-shopping date to look at furniture, appliances, and plants for our new house. We had pizza casserole for dinner and ice cream cake.

Sun 4/22/12: I made a blueprint of our new living room using measurements and a website at UrbanBarn.com. My idea for how I want my living room is going to work!

Mon 4/23/12: I went visiting teaching today, and Lizzy and David came with me. Lizzy calls Sister Breese, "Nursery," because she is one of her nursery leaders. I think that's cute.

Tue 4/24/12: Lizzy was thrilled that I picked up some DVDs at the library for her to watch. She has become a big fan of "Curious George" and "Cat in the Hat" lately.

Wed 4/25/12: I went to Book Club tonight. I brought "Master of Heathcrest Hall" with me. It was nice escaping the babies for a little bit and hanging out with other women.

Thu 4/26/12: Brad and I took Lizzy and David for a walk around the Dixie Valley neighborhood tonight. Lizzy especially liked that.

Fri 4/27/12: I made a delicious Pinterest meal tonight... Four cheese pasta with shrimp, and baked Parmesan crusted asparagus. YUM! For dessert I made a simple angel/blackberry cake with homemade whipped cream. It was soooo good.

Sat 4/28/12: Got done some more window shopping today. Spent some one-on-one time with my wonderful husband. I love that guy.

Sun 4/29/12: I enjoyed walking through our soon-to-be neighborhood with my family and the Bruce-clan tonight.

Mon 4/30/12:  I am LOVING the book "Master of Heathcrest Hall."  It is very well done, indeed!

Scott's New Look

Scott is going through a phase right now.

A geeky, teenage, dress-up-like-your-favorite-video-game-character phase.
It started about two weeks ago...

Scott brought home a brand new lab-coat he received from his counselor at school. The coat instantly reminded him of a character in a new video game: Inspector Cabanela.

Inspector Cabanela is from the video game, Ghost Trick.
He likes to dance everywhere he goes, even up and down stairs.
Here's a clip of him on YouTube:

Using the lab-coat and his character as inspiration, Scott began to assemble miscellaneous items throughout the house and began creating a new look for himself. He found an old discarded red scarf in the laundry room. He grabbed a black Darth Vader t-shirt, turned it inside out, and wore it under his lab-coat. He also put on his new black Sunday school shoes. He made a pretty good Inspector Cabanela, I thought.

Scott dressed up as Inspector Cabanela EVERY DAY last week. Surprisingly enough, the school had no issue with him dressing that way. In fact, his Social Studies teacher, Mr. Fries, even offered Scott extra credit if he wore the same outfit every day for the rest of the school year. Scott, of course, has accepted that challenge. But even that did not prepare me for what else he was doing to fit into character... Scott began dancing. DANCING IN SCHOOL!

Turns out there was a dance in the same video game called "The Panic Dance," which was danced by another character: Officer Bailey. Here's the video:

Scott memorized the dance moves after watching this clip a few times. Without even practicing, Scott began dancing this dance in one of his classes at school one day. When we asked him why he did, he simply answered he was bored. Then he did it again in another class. And again in the lunch room. Before he knew it, Scott was dancing this geeky dance all over the place! He was a hit! Everybody LOVED it! Scott loved the attention he got, and it made him more popular in his school, too. Everyone began recognizing him as the lab-coat dancer. His schoolmates began capturing his dance moves with their cellphone cameras, which resulted in Scott ending up on YouTube:

All I can say is WOW. Is this really the shy, anti-dance boy who used to cringe at the thought of being the center of attention?

David's 6-Month Photo Shoot

He's so super cute!

The Highlight of My Day: March 2012

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in March 2012:

Thu 3/1/12: My little girl was delighted to see the snow this morning. Mother Nature decided to dump a few inches of snow on us last night-- the first real snow of the season. Lizzy had to go outside on the porch and dance with her snow boots on.

Fri 3/2/12: Scott and Lizzy had a blast playing in the snow today. It was very fun to watch them. I was so glad the cousins came early enough to spend time with Scott and Emma before they left. I could tell it made Scott and Emma happy. I also organized three shelves in the pantry this evening while the kids were having fun. I found some long-forgotten candy that the kids were more than happy to help get rid of.

Sat 3/3/12: Brad and I took a stab at making homemade tortillas tonight for dinner. Who'd have thought that making tortillas could be such a fun little at-home date? The tortillas turned out pretty yummy, too!

Sun 3/4/12: Brad told me this morning that David has been rolling over for the past few days. WHAT? How did I not know this? Apparently, he only felt like rolling over while Papa was watching him. Now he's rolling over much more frequently. Silly boy! Oh, and Amanda came to visit us today! We loved having her over. The Bruce Clan and the Clarks came to visit, too. It was a lovely Sunday.

Mon 3/5/12: I enjoyed looking at family photos today. I love my family.

Tue 3/6/12: We had a pretty heavy snowstorm tonight. I went to the library by myself and picked up "Mockingjay" and "Breaking Dawn Part 1." Looking forward to reading the last book of the Hunger Games!

Wed 3/7/12: I introduced sweet potatoes to baby David tonight. He LOVED it!

Thu 3/8/12: Lizzy and I built a cowgirl snowman today while we were playing outside. The air wasn't cold at all, so we did not wear jackets. We uncovered an earthworm while we were rolling the snow around in the yard. Lizzy named it Lucky Charms.

Fri 3/9/12: Brad and I dropped off Lizzy at her Aunt Marilyn's house before heading over to the stake center to hear Brother Brad Wilcox speak for our Stake Women's Conference. He was an excellent speaker.

Sat 3/10/12: I enjoyed hearing Colleen Terry speak at the morning session of our Women's Conference. I liked her emphasis on being happy, even if circumstances aren't exactly the way you want them to be. That stuck out to me more than anything else.

Sun 3/11/12: I enjoyed watching house-buying shows on TV today, then I watched Brad do some house-buying homework on his spreadsheet, and I looked at some houses online. Fun stuff!

Mon 3/12/12: For Family Home Evening tonight we played one of our favorite family games: "In Plain Sight." I stumped the boys pretty well on my turn. I stuck the Catwoman Lego figure on the lamp in the living room, and the boys looked and looked and could not find it. Emma was the only one to find it without any hints. Go Emma!

Tue 3/13/12: I love Daylight Savings! It was lovely going to the library tonight with the sun still up. We ended up going twice, because we forgot to grab the bag with our returned items on the first trip. Brad and I talked a lot about "The Hunger Games" and "Catching Fire" on our trips to and from the library. I love talking to him about books.

Wed 3/14/12: Lizzy learned how to open the front door today. She escaped into the yard and came inside carrying a small bouquet of white, yellow, and blue crocuses. Spring is almost here!

Thu 3/15/12: I fell in love with house today. *sigh* I haven't felt that much infatuation in a while. Looking forward to owning a house in the near(ish) future!

Fri 3/16/12: I picked up my mommy from the airport tonight! I am looking forward to spending the weekend with her! When we got back to the house it was almost midnight, but my mom was so anxious to show us our gifts we spent the next hour going through everything in her luggage. Lots and lots of clothes for Emma and Lizzy!

Sat 3/17/12: Best St. Patrick's Day EVER! Having my mother in town has been a blast! We had a yummy green breakfast, consisting of green french toast and green tropical smoothies. We went to Woody's for lunch, then Wheeler Farm right after, and Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. In the afternoon, my mom watched Lizzy and David while Brad and I spent some one-on-one time with Emma. We bought Emma a new mattress for her bed and went shopping with her. It was lovely!

Sun 3/18/12: I made a yummy St. Patrick's Day dinner tonight! Shepherd's Pie with corned beef and cabbage. Scott made some hot chocolate, which we drank with homemade butterscotch biscotti.

Mon 3/19/12: I took a little nap this afternoon to make up for my busy weekend. Lovely!

Tue 3/20/12: Got another Reader's Choice book from the library tonight: "No Biking in the House Without a Helmet."

Wed 3/21/12: I had a great time in bed with my two cute little kids this morning. Lizzy had fun entertaining her little brother, who was completely fascinated with her.

Thu 3/22/12: Brad and I took the kids (minus Scott) to the park tonight, after dinner. Emma and I spent a great deal of time on the bridge overlooking the duck pond. I let Emma borrow my camera and she took snapshot after snapshot of pretty things she saw. She's got a good eye for great shots.

Fri 3/23/12: Brad and I watched the Hunger Games today! It was well done!

Sat 3/24/12: Brad and I were pre-approved! YAY! Marilyn babysat for us while we were gone, and I invited her to stay for dinner after we got back. We had salmon covered in white Parmesan sauce with rice and spinach. YUM!

Sun 3/25/12: I made pizza casserole today-- a recipe I found on Pinterest. It was an instant hit! Everyone loved it. In the evening we drove around Bruce and Loralee's neighborhood and looked at houses. I'm excited with the thought of owning a house.

Mon 3/26/12: I found my lost library book! HOORAY!!! I had been looking for it for over three months, and today was the last day I could turn it in without having to purchase it. I felt like I was led right to the book, even though in my mind I told myself I had already looked in that spot a few times, as well as Brad. I'm very grateful for answered prayers.

Tue 3/27/12: I'm so excited about seeing houses tomorrow! I can't wait!

Wed 3/28/12: Brad and I went with Ben to look at houses tonight. We saw three in the area we're interested in. Didn't put down any offers, but it was still a very positive experience.

Thu 3/29/12: I bought Wicked tickets today! Yay! Lizzy and I headed downtown and spent an hour on Temple Square before meeting Rick, who sold us the tickets. It was nice. But the biggest news is... (drum-roll) we put down an offer on a house! YAY! We're number 5 on the list, so chances are we probably won't get it, but still, I'm having fun picturing myself in that house. I'm very excited!

Fri 3/30/12: I loved seeing my two little ones playing with each other this morning. Lizzy enjoyed holding her baby brother.

Sat 3/31/12: We enjoyed watching the first two sessions of General Conference today. Emma, Lizzy, David, and I went to visit Loralee and the girls for dinner. We drove by four on-the-market houses that I've been following, including the one we put an offer down, and Emma was very excited about it.