Before and After

Here are the before and after shots of the bathroom and Ethan's room. I know pictures never do it justice, but here's just the changes in wall colors. I'll take more pictures once I have all my accessories put up in the bathroom and Ethan's room all put together. My parents have had a lot of experience with painting since they've painted pretty much every house we've ever had and helped other people too. They were a huge help on Saturday! I had never painted on my own before so I got some lessons on taping, using primer, trimming, color choosing. It's been quite eventful. We primed the bathroom Friday night and tried to cover up as much rust as possible. The people that painted it did a pretty sloppy job since there was rust all over the trim and around the cupboards. Not cool. Saturday we got everything situated and painted the ceiling in the bathroom and then rotated to the master. The master wall had some marks on it that were pretty bad so my mom found out the builder's paint colors and got it to match exactly. What a super slueth. We got the wall all done and then rotated to start Ethan's room. After the first coat, my parents started the bathroom. Anyway...we got everything painted after 2 coats and then some detail painting on the trim. My color ideas for the bathroom is cream, taupe, chocolate brown and accents of green. I have cream on the walls, taupe with the shower curtain and big towels, chocolate brown in the rug and accents, and green with candles and hand towels. I just set it all up yesterday and it looks awesome! I just have to get Ryan to hang my towel bars and then we're set. For Ethan's room, I took his comforter and matched the blue in the border and went a little lighter. I got his crib all set up and the color honestly is perfect! I'm so excited about it. I'll have more pictures later.

Busy Days

It's been a few days since I've posted, we've been a little busy around here so here are the pictures to prove it. After we painted on Saturday, Ryan installed the cabinet locks to begin the child proofing process. Ethan wanted to help so here are a few pictures of him being Mr. Fix It. Monday was my super duper cleaning day. I was at the house from 9-8 cleaning like crazy. Grandma Kenny came and helped me out a ton by installing all my fresh, clean shelf paper all over my kitchen and bathrooms. What a saint! It was great to have someone there to keep me company too. Also, Lowes came and installed my new washer and dryer, way exciting. I got just about everything done so Tuesday I stayed home with Ethan since he needed some Mama time. Going up to work on the house is somewhat of an all day affair since it's about a 45 minute drive so if you're going to go, you might as well get a ton done so you don't have to keep wasting gas all the time. Anyway...Tuesday my mom and I took Ethan to the mall since he needed new shoes, desperately. Dillards had their shoes 75% off so I ended up with 3 pairs of stride right shoes for less than $30! What a steal! I'm lucky since Ethan's feet are so wide and all the wide shoes are left over on the sale racks. hahaha. Wednesday it was 82 degrees outside so we enjoyed the sun and tried out Ethan's Christmas golf clubs. He LOVED them. He's not a big fan of the grass so we have to play it on the deck or on the driveway, but we're working on his form and putting...j/k. Thursday I took two trips to the grocery store so I could stock up my pantry. My carts were over flowing every time I went and I didn't even get stuff for the fridge/freezer! It took forever, but the pantry is stocked, the house is cleaned, and the moving truck is ready to be picked up so now we just have to move in. We also decided to rip up the carpet in the study and put hardwood in there so that will be done on Wednesday and it will be painted this Saturday. Oh the fun!

Virtual Tour

We closed on our house on Friday so we are now officially homeowners. I had butterflies in my stomach all week and now I'm glad that all the papers are signed the check went through. We started our "projects" yesterday. We painted the rust colored bathroom and Ethan's room. I'll post some before and afters later. Monday is super duper cleaning day. The people that owned the house before took great care of the house and she cleaned it pretty well, but I want to do all the nitty gritty stuff before our boxes come. It will be a grueling day filled with washing all the blinds, scrubbing floors and tubs, washing windows, wiping out cupboards, and putting in shelf paper. Tuesday I'm going to stock the fridge and the pantry and finish cleaning and then see where I'm at. We're moving our things out of storage on Saturday and we'll try to move the stuff from my parents house throughout the next week. I'm going to wash all my sheets, towels, dishes, silverware, etc since it sat in storage for a little under 6 months so who knows the kind of dust and grime that will be on it. So here's a virtual tour of our new home. It's way exciting and I love our house!

Just a Few Things Going On

I can't find my camera charger anywhere!!! My battery is totally dead and I use my camera all the time so I don't know what I'm going to do! I've looked everywhere. The last time I charged it was right before Christmas so I know I have it here somewhere. Sorry, no pictures or videos for awhile unless I use my parents camera. We have our final walk through on Thursday and we close on our house on Friday, super exciting! That's why I'm so bummed about my camera since I want to take a ton of pictures. Oh well, maybe I'll find my charger when we start packing up or something. I'm a little nervous about all the stuff that's going to take place this week. I mean, buying your first home is kind of a big deal, right? I just wish I wouldn't worry about it, but I can't help it. I feel like I have those butterflies you have right before your first day of school, but it's exponentially worse. I guess it's just fear of the unknown and fear of the responsibility. On to better news...I've lost 10 pounds!!! Go me!!! I wish I didn't have to have 10 pounds to lose, but that's what happens with having a baby. I haven't gone on any diet or anything, just portion control and healthier choices. I'm also working out like crazy. Whenever Ethan is napping (if that ever happens these days) you'll find me doing some sort of work out. Only 4 lbs to go and all my baby weight is gone for good! Bring out my skinny jeans! Yeah!

Mornings with Papa

Whenever my dad leaves a little later for work, Ethan loves to spend a little time with his Papa. He'll sit on his lap and read the paper and even sneak a little of his cereal. Sometimes Papa only has time for a quick cuddle, but Ethan loves it! He also loves talking to Papa on the phone or anyone that will talk to him. He will seriously carry on a full conversation of gibberish, carry the phone like a big person, and even uses his hands when he talks. It's hilarious! He also laughs during the conversation. So call Ethan up some time and get an earful!

So Much For Fun Money

Well, I had to use all my baby-sitting money for new tires for my car today. I hate using money for stuff like that! I know it's necessary and all that, but it certainly isn't very fun. Boo!

Back from Kid Sitting

So, I just got home tonight from my sitter job. It's good to be back to just being a mother of one. It's really hard to baby-sit sometimes, especially kids you don't know at all in the beginning and that fact that you're not their parent and you have no idea what their particular boundries might be. I definately have my limits, boundries, and rules, but when kids cross those lines you almost have to step back and try to be the parent that their used to having. Kind of hard. Ethan learned a couple of new words from their 3 year old like her name, "no", and "mine"...now he runs through the house screaming "no no no mine mine mine!!!" all day long. Great thing to learn. Why couldn't he pick up using the big boy potty or something like that?! Well, I've got some hard earned cash to spend/save. Yipee!

Watching Kids

A family friend recommended us to a friend the other day to watch their kids while they're away. This family has recently moved to the area and doesn't have any family near by and are in need of some "sitters" to watch their 3 kids (ages 9, 6, and 3)while they go on a retreat for work. So I'm leaving today and I'll be back Wednesday night. It should be fun and another learning experience to keep in the motherhood vault. So wish me luck and hopefully I will survive. At least it will be nice to have some extra spending cash for the house when I'm done. C-ya!

15 Month Check Up

Ethan had his 15 month well check yesterday. The doctor checked on his lungs and said that he sounds a lot better, but he could be a little under the weather for up to 2 more weeks! It just takes a long time to clear it all out I guess. So here are his well check stats...he's now 23 lbs 4 oz (25-50%), 31 1/2 inches (50-75%), and his head is 19 in (75-90%). He's had a huge growth spurt in regards to his height because last time he was only in the 10% area! Everything else has gone along the same curve. He's a lightweight with a big head. Haha, j/k. The doctor was impressed with the development of his motor and language skills. She was watching him being his usual curious and talkative self and said that his skills are more at the 18 month age. That always makes a mom feel better that you're kid is developing normally or even ahead of schedule. Ethan can say quite a few words: Mama, Dada, Papa, Nanny, Kitty, hello, oh cool, all done, backpack, yucky, yummy, uh oh, ah huh (yes), uh uh (no), and cheese. He also does a lot of sounds: pig, dog, cat, bear/lion, car/truck, and he mocks my frustrated grunt. He knows some of his body parts like his head, shoulders, knees, toes, ears, and feet. He can eat with a fork and a spoon, not like a civlized person, but he tries. And as you all know he can open doors and runs everywhere. He can also color pictures, dump stuff out and put it back in, he points to things, dances in circles, jumps, plays with legos, climbs up onto furniture etc. He's doing really good. We do have some things to work on. I've been wanting to stop relying on the binky so we're going to get rid of the binky once we move into our house and get settled. The pediatrician said that it would be the best time since it could be quite stressful for him. Everything else is right on track. He eats well, no more bottle, and drinks whole milk. The pediatrician said he also looked well enough to get his vaccines so we went ahead and got those done as well. It was not fun for him at all, but he's always a trooper. So things are great with Mr. Ethan!

"Hands On" Kind of Kid

So this 2 minute clip is just a glimpse of what every hour of every day is like for me. I think if I were to rate Ethan on a active scale of 1-10, I would give him an 8 on a regular day, but today was one of those days where he was 11! He had his hands on or in everything! I guess you could say he is feeling much better and then some. Keep in mind, this clip is only 2 minutes...2 minutes. Now imagine just replaying this clip over and over and over all day long and that's a basic day for me. He never sits, he never rests (except for 1-2 hour nap/day), and he's never still. If the house is quiet and he's not in sight...big problem. He loves to talk (notice how he repeats "yucky" over and over in the video), run, open doors, throw things down the stairs, climb on chairs, dump things out, talk on the phone, and push any button he can get his fingers on. I wish I could just let him play quietly on his own and not hover over him all the time, but it's just not an option right now. If I let him out of my sight for just a few seconds, he's gone doing something. I just repeat to myself, someday...someday.



For those of you with younger children, you're day is coming and for those of you that have already passed this stage...you can laugh and be glad it's not you. Oh, and isn't it so cute that he knows "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!" We've been singing that song a lot since he's learning his body parts and he picked up the motions while he was sitting with us in Primary. He can do the whole thing, but I couldn't get him to do it on tape. Maybe later.

Good Blog Secret

So for those of you that sit and scroll through blog after blog to find those that are updated, scroll no more. A while ago Hilary introduced me to Bloglines, but I've never mentioned it on my blog before. It's a great website that lets you get notifiers when someone's blog has been updated. Just follow directions on the website, pick the blogs you'd like to subscribe to and then let them do all the work. It saves a lot of time and you're always current. Plus subscribing to new blogs is really easy. Unfortunately with the easiness I've become a bum about commenting so to all of you that have blogs, I am so sorry for my lack of comments, but know that I read your blog faithfully. I'll try harder, I promise. So go on to bloglines today! Let me know how you like it.

Eventful Weekend

So this weekend was full of just stuff going on. First off, Ethan was starting to sound, look, act sick so I asked Ryan to pick up some medicine on the way home from work. Right before I got off the phone with him, he asked me if I needed him to get anything so I told him just pick me up something fun (totally just joking). Well, he handed me the bag when he got home and it had a 30 GB IPOD in it!!! Oh my gosh!!! Now you have to understand...the only person in the world that doesn't like to spend money as much as I do is my husband, so this is huge! This is the most he's spent on a gift for me since my wedding ring. I'm not even kidding. I've wanted an IPOD for a really long time and I've put away some money from birthdays and Christmas to possibly buy one, but I just couldn't. I guess I just didn't want to get one and then have them come out with something new next week or something. Plus, they're kind of expensive and with us buying our house and everything I've wanted to save my special money for doing stuff to the house. Well, I'm thrilled to be a new owner of an IPOD! You have to understand how lame I am. I've been working out with my old discman. Yeah, the one that I've had since high school! I swear the thing is so old and I even dropped it off the eliptical the other day and it broke in half, but luckily Ryan fixed it. The thing will never die. So now I can go out and get one of those armband things and be cool when I work out.

Another big event this weekend was Ethan getting sick. Ethan has had some sniffles here and there and maybe a few bad diapers, but never sick like this. He's been a very healthy kid so far. He started getting some chest congestion and his nose was a little stuffy, but later in the night it got worse. He slept probably 3 hours max on Friday night. He did not feel good at all. I listened to his lungs with my stethoscope and he sounded really crackly and a little wheezy and with all the bad stuff going around like RSV and pneumonia, I wasn't going to chance it. We took him in to urgent care on Saturday and waited 2 hours! It took forever! The doctor said his throat and ears looked great, but he has bronciolitis and he just needs some liquid albuterol. He also wrote me a prescription of amoxocillin in case all his stuffiness turned yellow or green. He seems to be doing better and his night last night was much better than Friday. Thank goodness and his naps have been tons better too. He hadn't taken a nap at all since Thursday when that stupid Fex Ex guy came. Anyway...Ethan seems to be doing a little bit better, he has his 15 month well check on Thursday so our doctor can see how things are going.

And our last major event...I got to go to my first Dallas Mavericks game!!! Ryan's dad gave him the company tickets for the evening so we had awesome seats! I'll post pictures later. I got to see my man, Dirky the Turkey (that's my nickname for him)! It was so much fun. My parents watched my little sick Ethan for us and we got to go out for a night on the town. We went out before for a little BBQ and then hit the game after. The last time I was at an NBA game was at the Detroit Pistons with my dad back in the 10th grade. We had a great time to just have a fun date and not have to worry about Ethan at all. It was really nice to get out and do something after being at the urgent care all day long. So yeah for an eventful weekend!

I Hate Fed Ex

So today we were going about our typical routine...Ethan was going down for a nap at 11:00 am as always. I held him for awhile, gave him his favorite blankey told him night night and he was off to dream land while I was off to a workout with Denise Austen. Well, at 11:20 the door bell rang...the fed ex man. Sure enough not 5 seconds after it rang, screams came from Ethan's room. Nap time was over, I was starting to get nice and sweaty, I hadn't even begun to think about showering yet, and my heart sank. So I got him up and we had lunch and played a little bit outside. After I took him back upstairs and I held him until he fell asleep and the minute I laid him in the crib...wide awake. So I got him up, took him to the park and let him get all his energy out. After about 45 minutes he almost fell asleep on the swings so I took him home, got him a snack and took him off to bed. Now it's 2:30, he's still screaming in his crib, hasn't slept more than 20 minutes and I'm about to go crazy. Thank you Fed Ex for ruining my day as well as my son's!!!

Finally!

So this picture has nothing to do about my post, but I figured the picture was so cute that I had to post it! Anyway...A lot has happened in regards to our house hunting in the past 4 1/2 months that we've been down here. I know that seems like a long time to be looking for a house, but we definately have our reasons. So this is what happened. We got here at the end of August and started to get our bearings of where things were things located, how far out did we want to live from work/family, what was the going price for a home, etc etc. So at first we started looking at new construction in an area that would be 25-30 minutes from work and about 15-20 minutes from family. Well, the particular neighborhood we wanted was closing out their first phase and the lots they had left over were terrible. They weren't going to open up the next phase until the end of September so we decided we would wait. So we were looking continuously at new construction in other areas, other builders, other neighborhoods. Every Saturday we would drag Ethan out and go through model home after model home getting the whole schepiel about what they had to offer. Anyway...the end of September came and the lots opened up and they ended up raising their prices way above our budget and we hated the customer service from their rep so we decided to walk. Later that week we were staying at Ry's parents house while they were out of town and I saw a billboard for a neighborhood up the road. So we took a look in the neighborhood and really liked it a lot. The new homes going up were way too expensive but the preowned homes were a little more in our price range. I went home later and took a look on the internet and found one that I really liked, we met our realtor up there and took a look. The home ended up being a preforeclosure. For those of you who don't know what that is, it basically means that the bank was about to take the house away from the owners and they were giving them a chance to sell it before it went into foreclosure and the bank took it away. The realtor ran some comps and we decided that we liked the house, it needed some work, but we were willing to put in some sweat equity. So we put in our offer and then just sat and waited. Mind you this is the 2nd week in October now. Our realtor put in calls to the bank periodically and finally they responded and said that they looked through the offer and everything looked great. Well, usually when that happens that means they accept the offer so our realtor took the listing off the MLS and told us we had our house. I went out and bought my washer and dryer and fridge, started looking at carpet samples, paint samples, took our earnest money to the realtor, and we were so excited and I even posted a blog all about it. We didn't hear anything else from the bank for awhile but then come to find out...the guy really meant, "the offer looks like all the details are in order, I will be sending it in to the board within the next few weeks and it's up to them if they say yes." Banks are not very easy to work with and it basically depends on how someone is feeling that day. Many times the way things go aren't very logical, but they do things with certain protocols and don't really care if you love the house. Anyway...two weeks later...we got a no. I was devestated. We started from the drawing board all over again. So now it's Thanksgiving time and we're still looking and we decide to put an offer in on a 2 year old, never lived in home that was foreclosed because two investors went in on it and one didn't make the payments. The house was beautiful and it had everything I wanted. We put an offer in on that one, but learned not to expect much and kept looking elsewhere. Eventually they came back with a no as well (fyi, they just reduced their price...again...stupid bank...we gave them a great offer). Anyway...we finally found a home and are working with real people this time and they accepted our offer, our inspection went through, and things are looking good. I have had so many ups and downs with this whole housing thing that I can't even begin to think it's ours until our names are signed at closing. Our closing date is Feb. 15th so wish us luck! The home is beautiful, I'll post pictures of it once we get in. Sorry for the long post, but I've been through the ringer with this house stuff and I want people to realize that we've been working really hard to find a home and it hasn't been easy. I think sometimes people think we're just living with my parents for fun or something or that we're just not looking hard enough or we're too picky. I get some of the strangest comments sometimes about it. So yes, we have found our house and hopefully on Feburary 15th we will be first time homeowners! Yeah us!

Snow Day!!!

I can't believe it snowed! My mom came back from an emergency preparedness seminar at church last night and the "ham radio specialist" said that they should be careful tomorrow because of possible snow and sleet. I thought it was crazy , but when I woke up this morning there was snow on the ground. I haven't seen snow since our Christmas in Ohio last year so I had to take Ethan out in it! He's a kid after my own heart since his first thing to do was eat the snow! Back when I was little I grew up in Ohio and Pennsylvania and we'd get huge blizzards up there and I would spend the day running around sledding and eating snow all day long. It was the best! My favorite thing to do was make kool-aid and pour it over a big cup of snow and have my own snow cone. So enjoy our pictures of our little snow outing today, disregard the "no make up morning" I was having.

This Week's Activities

This week Ryan and I have been watching his younger cousins while Uncle Joe and Aunt Steph are is Switzerland/Paris. We're watching 3 (ages 13, 11, 9...not exact ages)of their 5 kids (2 are out at BYU). It's been interesting to catch a glimpse of what life is like in the older years of having kids. It's not at all about diapers, Little Einsteins, and trips to the park. Instead it's driving the "mother bus" to all sorts of activities, packing lunches, doing homework, and making sure piano gets practiced. There are times when having Ethan is about all I can handle and there are some really hard things that go on at times, but it's good to get a dose of what life will be like later on and realize how good I have it right now. I do have to say though, having Ethan around with 3 other kids is a ton easier since they are pure entertainment for him. At least motherhood progresses in stages and each kid comes one at a time (in some cases). Basically all I'm trying to say is...this has been a big wake up call to enjoy just having one at the moment and remember the fact that things aren't as hard as I think they are. I guess each stage is life is difficult because things are new. Like going from being single to being married...definte transition period. Going from being married to having a baby...taking care of 2 is trying...and then you add all sorts of life stuff and more kids and the difficulty levels are exponential. So enjoy the time of life you're in!

Complimenting Good Customer Service Truly Pays Off...Literally

So way back when Ethan was only 3 or 4 months old and we were still in the Bay Area, I took him to the mall since it was rainy season and we really needed to get out. I went up to the Great Mall for a stroll and to stop by Bath and Body Works for some much needed mommy pampering. Of course the minute we strolled into the store, Ethan had a meltdown and I hadn't even made it to the lotion section! I was greeted by one of the store employees and she did the typical greeting and asked if I was looking for something in particular. Anyway...maybe I looked desperate of frazzled, but she got down and started playing with Ethan and got him laughing. After that she took me over to their little sink with all the testers and gave me the best hand massage and let me try out all these fun products. She'd smile at Ethan and entertain him while I looked around the store. I don't even think I bought much that day, but that girl gave me the best day! So I was so moved by this experience that I had been wanting to write a letter or call their customer service department to let them know. Well, everytime I called they were closed since they're on Eastern time and I was on Pacific. I never got around to it until the other day. My mom and I went after Christmas for their Semi-annual sale and they had their customer service number on the receipt so I decided to give them a call. The Customer Service lady was very excited that things went well and took down all my info. Well, yesterday I got an envelope in the mail from them and in it was a letter thanking me for taking the time to let them know of my experience and they included a $20 gift card for me to use in their store! How cool is that! I was so giddy about it that I was acting like a little kid! So this is just to show that when you have a good experience somewhere, you should always let them know. I also think it's good to let people know of bad experiences so people can correct any issues. As Dr. Phil says, "you can't change what you don't acknowledge." But I do think it's always nice to politely inform and be tactful when doing so, not rude and obnoxious (that never sits well with people). Anyway...go out there today and thank someone for giving good service.

Another Month Finished

I finished the month of March while my mom was in surgery back in December and also completed April (I just haven't taken a picture of it yet). Right now I'm working on May but I haven't gotten too far on it since there's been so much going on with the holidays and housing hunting (yes, we're still looking and yes, I'm still bitter about that first house not going through). So hopefully I can get it done before May rolls around. Thankfully I've got awhile.

Christmas Catch Up

So I haven't taken the chance to write about our Christmas holidays. This was my first Christmas without travelling in 5 years and my first Christmas not in Ohio since 1998! Crazy! The majority of the holiday we spent with Ryan's family since this is their first Christmas being back from Australia and we had the whole family together. Ry's sister and her family came down from Utah and stayed the week and the rest of us were in the area. Here are some pictures from the activity that Ry and I headed up for some of the kids. Ryan had the awesome idea to do gingerbread houses so we did them out of graham crackers and had a hey day. Here's the spread. Christmas Eve we went to Uncle Joe and Aunt Steph's house for the Nativty recreation by the kids and then a little musical program. So much fun! It's so fun to be adopted into the Elmer clan and enjoy all the festivities and family. That night we stayed over at my in laws and had Christmas morning with the kids. Ethan got a junior set of golf clubs from us and once we saw how good he was with them, we decided that it would have to be an "outdoor toy." Grandma gave him is first basketball hoop that starts out small (3 feet) and can go all the way up to 6 or 7 feet. He loves it already and he can bearly make a basket. Nana K got him the Little People garage and a set of Mega Blocks that he plays with like a maniac. He is so funny these days. Uncle Aaron got him this awesome Texas Longhorns warm up suit with a Texas t-shirt that he looks like such a stud in. Anyway...we had a wonderful time with everyone and Ethan loved playing with his cousins. They are so sweet to him and I love to watch them look out for him and take care of him. It's so cute! It's also so nice to have my parents in the area too so I could spend time with them on Christmas Eve and then I came down to my parents later on Christmas mornign so I could be around for my brother's phonecall from the mission. He's doing so good and has already been out 7 months! Wow! Time flies! So Christmas turned out better than I thought and everyone was so generous to us with gifts and time so I want to tell all of them thank you and we love you!

My Celebrity Look Alikes

My sister-in-law, Molly, had the coolest post up so I wanted to give it a try too. I don't really see any similarities with some of these people, but here they are. Give it a try and post it on your blogs, I really want to see who everyone else looks like!