Peter saves the day.

So many of you know that we were planning on finding somewhere to stay in between houses, like an extend-a-stay hotel or something. Well, I went looking at hotels last week and the only one that was affordable was two beds, a kitchen and bathroom crammed into a space about the size of my living room. While it was here in American Fork, which is convienent...we would have killed each other by the end of our stay!!:) We started looking at some bigger hotels but they are like 7 to 8 hundred a week! which is not something we are willing to pay right now. Needless to say I have really been starting to stress. Thinking this tiny hotel room was our only option, we need to find a house fast so we spend as little time there as possible.

We toyed around with the idea of finding an apartment but the cost of hooking up utilities for only a month or two wouldn't be worth it. Well, Peter went to great rentals and found a vacation rental in Orem (about a 10-15 minute drive) it's a 2 bedroom/1 bath 2000sf condo. comes fully furnished, full kitchen, washer/dryer, ping pong and pool tables and all that fun stuff that comes with a vacation condo, AND it is cheaper than the tiny hotel!! YAY!! So we booked it for a month(which gave us an even bigger discount) with an option to extend week by week once the month is up. It is a further drive to take the boys to and from school, but well worth it to actually have enough space to not want to kill each other:). Now I feel like this weight has been lifted from my shoulders. We dont have to feel so rushed to find a new house, we can take our time and really find what we want.

We have also rented a storage unit for all of February and March and with their 1st month free promotion we got it for really cheap (can you tell I like to save money:) ) But this way, I can start packing boxes here and there as I have time and take them over to our storage unit. Instead of trying to load a truck in one day, I can slowly move our stuff over the next three weeks. We also got the inspection and appraisal done today too, so I feel like it's been a very productive day. Tomorrow I am going out with our realtor for a few hours to start looking at houses, should be fun.

Party Time!

Yesterday was the boy's birthday party. They chose to go to Kangaroo Zoo, which is this huge building full of bouce houses and slides and all those kind of inflatable toys. They got to run around and play for about 2 hours and then we went into one of the party rooms for cake and presents. They each invited 7 people and each had 5 show up...not too bad for nobody rsvp'ing rrgghh:(

These are just a couple pics of the building. Behind all these ones upfront, are about 8 more huge toys that I forgot to go get a picture of.
They had so much fun and we sure tired them all out...and only one casualty. One of Hadley's friends for some reason decided to chew on one of the toys(???) and got a loose tooth and by the end of the party it had fallen out. At least it was a baby tooth:)


This is Devin's group of friends from his preschool class. From L to R. Tucker, Niko, Carl, John, Devin and Trevor...he was a photo hog, evertime the camera came out he had to be the center of the photo.

Hadley's group of friends from school (minus Don who came late) From L to R. Hadley, Riley, Jake, Nathan and Braxton.

Devin getting sung to, waiting to blow out his candle.

Hadley's turn (yes, I did one cake this year. Usually I try to give them each their own but I just didn't have time this year)

We were in the Cosmo room. It had planets and stars and what not everywhere..they have other really cute rooms but they are pretty girly.

The birthday boys!

The whole gang, notice Trevor right up front blocking Devin:)

Some of the kids with the Kangaroo....Lexi was scared to death!

It was a fun party. I had two of my nieces come and help, which was great. We got our own party host who ran around with the kids and played games with them. He had a camera the whole time and took tons of pictures which I will get a cd of in about a week. He pretty much did everything for me, it was great!

Before and after.

Unlike her mommy, Lexi's hair grows really fast. Every week she has more and more. It's finally to that point where it's long enough that I can't just leave it alone or it looks awful but it's still short and hard to find things to do. Well, last Sunday we put her in super cute pigtails....it was adorable!!:)

This was her after she woke up, sleeping on her hair that had been in pigtails:)

So Pretty!:)

The House.

Well, after alot of counter-offers back and forth and alot of waiting and stressing, we got word today that our house is officially sold!

We are closing February 18th which means we have 27 days to pack and get out:) We are planning on having a 2 to 3 week overlap in an extend-a-stay hotel before we get into our next house. Even so, I am starting to stress! besides finding a new house and packing, I have a birthday party, a baptism and taxes to get done. between now and closing, Peter has 4 days off. One is Hadley's baptism and two of them are sundays:) which means I pretty much get to house shop and pack by myself, oh what fun!!!

Then there is the dilemma of school. By the time we sell and find a new house, Hadley will only have 7 or 8 weeks left of school. So we are trying to decide if we should finish out the school year, let him have some closure. or,make him be a new student for the last 2 months of the year. Everyone keeps telling us to move him so he can make friends before summer, but the thing about Utah, is people tend to hang out by "wards" so he will still meet kids at church and around the neighborhood. Kids he meets at school may not necessarily live by us.
There are also dilemma's with sports teams and all sorts of fun stuff like that. This is our first move with a kid that is old enough to be involved in things. It was much easier when Hadley was just little.

I am not looking forward to packing!:( the last time I packed, I only had 1 kid and we were moving from a small 2 bedroom apartment with no garage...we have so much crap now!!!
Despite all the stress I know I am going to have over the next couple months, I am so grateful that we were able to sell our house, especially in this economy. We will miss the friends we have made but we are excited to move on and make more and find a house we really love!!

Devin.

Well, Devin's dr. called today. His MRI was ok except that it showed several area's of underdeveloped brain tissue. Which may explain why he didn't speak til he was 3 and even now seems alot "younger" than Hadley did at this age. He will eventually catch up to normal.
The EEG showed that he is indeed having seizures.(which could cause the underdeveloped brain tissue) They think it may be something he has always had they were just so little we didn't even notice them and that the anaphylaxis back in september was so traumatizing on his little body that it triggered a bigger problem. We discussed it and agreed that we aren't comfortable putting him on seizure meds at this point. He isn't having them often enough or severe enough for us to feel comfortable putting that medicine in his little body. At this point we just kinda sit back and wait til he has another one and go from there.
At least we got some answers. And we know it isn't something really bad or life threatening...I had images of brain tumors and all kinds of stuff floating around in my head the last few weeks.

Happy Birthday boys.

Happy Birthday Hadley and Devin!!!
Today is the boys birthdays, Hadley is turning 8 and Devin 5. We love you so much. You are so much fun and I can't imagine our home or lives without you!

Damage Control.

Oh Hadley Hadley Hadley. I don't know what I am going to do with that boy. Part of me wants to be mad at him but the other part of me thinks he was being sweet...just did it wrong.
So, we are taking the kids to Kangaroo Zoo for their birthday party. We bought the 16 people party package so they each get to invite 7 friends. Hadley mostly invited the boys from his class. Well, they got a new student this week and Hadley told me that he wanted to invite him and I told him that I didn't have anymore invitations. So, Hadley took it upon himself to get one...by asking someone for their's back!!!
The kids mom called me telling me that he had come home in tears cuz Hadley uninvited him. I got the story from Hadley and had to call and explain to her that in his little kid mind he was just trying to be nice to the new kid and didn't seem to realize what braxton was going to think about being asked to give his invitation back!
I made Hadley call him and tell him he was sorry and that he really wanted him to come to his party...his mom says he is coming so hopefully I fixed the situation. And, Devin already has one friend that is going to be out of town so Hadley get's to invite the new kid too:)

ps. I hate it when people don't rsvp! I am sure they are going to just show up but it causes me stress wondering all week if people are going to come!

long day.

well, we are up at primary childrens right now for Devin's tests, have been all day. He is all done but not awake yet. They had to sedate him for the mri, he is going to be out for a couple hours and only one adult is allowed in with him so peter and I are switching. Peter is with him now and I am hanging out in the library playing on the computer:)
My wonderful visiting teacher has Lexi so the day has been much easier...except for me worrying about Lexi:) I have never left her this long before!
For those who don't know we got an offer on our house yesterday. We countered back and should hear from him by 5pm today. Our realtor called today and told us we actually got some more offers so we have something to fall back on if he doesn't accept our counter-offer. So yay for us! Multiple offers means we will for sure be outta here by mid to end february!:)
....now I gotta pack:(

Scaredy cat.

The boys were in the living room watching Independance Day while I was getting dinner done. They got to the part where they are cutting open the alien. Hadley knew that there was a part that makes you "jump". I heard him running and looked in and he was hiding behind the chair watching it:)

Getting a little braver and looking over the chair.

This reminded me of something he used to do when he younger. When he was 3, his favorite movie was spiderman, we watched it 4 or 5 times a day..sometimes more! (we actually watched it so much we wore it out and had to get a new movie) In the beginning when the menu comes up, the spider bites Peter Parker's hand...Hadley would run and hide as soon as he would hear the menu music come on cuz he was so scared of that part. It was so cute!

Her royal grumpiness.

Lexi has gone down to one nap a day. She usually naps from 1 to 3ish and then goes to bed anywhere between 7 and 8 depending on her grumpiness level. Well, we have had so many showings on the house the last two days that her nap schedule has gotten really screwed up. Today, she got up quite early so she went down for a nap at 11 instead of 1. which means that about 6pm...she was READY FOR BED!

I put her in her highchair to feed her dinner. She HATES to sit down in that thing. Usually she just stands in it and eats but tonight she was trying to climb onto the table so I had to very sternly tell her NO! As you can see from the photo...she did not like that at all. And it all went downhill from there.

After making her get off the table I buckled her in...she didn't like that one bit!

Now she is doing the gasping breathing, starting to calm down but still making the moaning crying sound thing...you mom's know what I am talking about.

Well, she ended up so upset that she wasnt eating and was starting gag herself so I gave in and just let her out of the highchair alltogether. She promptly went to the computer chair and was trying to climb it. After several "no's" and some tears I gave in and brought the chair over to the table. Thinking she would just be happy to be standing on the chair and would calm down and eat. It worked for about 10 seconds until she started trying to climb onto the table again and I told her "no".

This was the point where I gave up. I realized she was just way to grumpy and tired to eat. so we went and took a bath, she was happy for a few minutes but was soon rubbing her eyes and just wanted out. Then she fell asleep only halfway thru her bottle. I am sure she will be up soon, hungry, but at least she is down now!

I wonder how much therapy she is going to need from her mom just snapping pictures while she was having her meltdown...I couldn't help it, it was so cute!:)

Troublemaker.

Now that Lexi is walking she is going everywhere and getting into everything! She also figured out how to climb up on chairs, and therefore the table too.

Her new favorite thing to do is pull up the heat vent covers and put stuff down my vents.

This particular day she was putting all her pretzels down there. *please don't judge how dirty my vents are, it's not something I think to clean out all the time(note that it's full of carpet from when we got new carpet back in august)...but since taking this picture they have all been vacuumed:) (that blue stuff is a crayon that one of the boys put down there a few years ago and it melted)

good hygiene.

Lexi is the most observant little girl. She watches everything we do and copies it. She has even already started folding her arms at night during family prayers. I don't remember the boys ever being this quick to pick up on things.

Well, apparently she has seen us floss. I was flossing the other day and set my floss on the floor cuz the phone was ringing. When I got back, Lexi had it and was flossing. It was so cute.

woo hoo.

We officially got the paperwork signed to lower the house price yesterday. Within 24 hours we had calls. We have had multiple showings today and already have some scheduled for tomorrow! Yay! Hopefully an offer will come out of it all.
And to keep with my resolution to remember the things the kids say... We were at walmart today getting some shopping done while our realtor was showing the house. I got the kids in the cart and said "are you ready?". Devin looked at me and said "Mom, I was BORN ready!"
I just wish I could get his little attitude across in text:)
Another cute thing, the kids have been talking ALOT about what they are going to be when they grow-up this week. I overheard a conversation between the two of them. Hadley said he was going to be an archeologist, a scientist or a police officer. Devin said, be a police officer with me! And Hadley told him that he couldn't make a decision yet cuz he doesn't know where he is going to live yet.
He is so concerned lately with thinking that he has to know, right now, where he is going to live and what he is going to do!
I love my boys! They have grown up so much in the last year and gotten so fun! They say and do the funniest things!

Update.

Why is it that half my blogs are called updates?:)

What is going on in our lives this week you ask, not much;) Last week we went to our nephews baptism. Which made me realize that Hadley's is fast aproaching and I should really start planning it:) We went yesterday and got his picture taken in his new suit. So now my invitations are done and I gotta start sending them out. I need to get his program planned, I also need to figure out what we are doing for Hadley and Devin's birthday party(yes, their birthday's are on the same day) I have given them two options and they have a couple days to think about it and decide. One involves more friends but the other is WAY cooler and not something every kid gets to do. It will be interesting to see what they pick.

Lexi officially started walking this week. She has taken a few steps here and there for the last couple months but she is walking all over the place now. She is still a little shaky but gets better every day. She continues to be the cutest thing ever! and thanx to the new formula is still such a happy, cheerfull, all around great baby!

We had to have a heart to heart with our realtor and ourselves today. House prices are dropping so fast, every month our house stays on the market it's value drops a ton. We had to crunch some numbers and see if we could afford to drop the price again. We dropped it 18k today! we are down to $199,900! we started at $249,900! It drives me crazy, but we console ourselves knowing that we are going to get an even better deal on our next house. They say that it's like a ripple effect. The bigger more expensive houses have taken the biggest hit and it ripples out from there. So we have taken a hit but the houses in the higher price range that we are looking to upgrade to, have dropped even more. We are going to be able to get into a house we never would have been able to if the market hadn't crashed. Not to mention interest rates are REALLY low! It better sell at this new lower price though, cuz I think we are stuck here if it doesn't. We can't afford to just break even on the sale. So, everybody pray for our house to sell!!

Everyone is feeling much better this week. A few lingering sniffles but that's about it...stupid Peter escaped it all! Devin seems to be fine, he has some tests scheduled for the 20th so I will update when/if they give us any answers. I still don't feel completely back on a normal routine. We had so much time off from christmas and then everyone was sick, we just haven't seemed to get back in the swing of things. Tomorrow is Peter's 16 and no blogging for me, I am determined to catch up on all the cleaning that has been put off for weeks...I am counting on some house showings soon:)

Anyhoo, another boring update into our boring lives. If you are still reading, have a wonderful day! And if you find me on the computer tomorrow, kick me off cuz I have too much to do!!!:)

Santa!

This post is a little late but we only recently got the picture back. Santa came to our ward Christmas party. They had someone there taking pics of all the kids with him.

I think it's a lovely picture. Devin with his black eye, Lexi, obviously being tortured and Hadley laughing at his sister's tears! What a lovely family!

White trash no more.

Devin has been asking for weeks, possible months, now for new pants and socks that don't have holes in them. When your 4 year old starts asking for new clothes...you know it's time, I felt very white trash with my kid begging me for new clothes like we were street bums or something:) I finally bought him some new pants and socks, you would have thought it was christmas again when he got them. he very lovingly folded them and put them away. He was just absolutely elated all day about them. Socks and pants for everyone next christmas!!:)
I have a confession...our boys are metrosexuals!:) Peter hates it cuz he is just one of those guys that couldn't care less about clothes and hair or anything of that nature, and me..well let's just say that I can shower get dressed, do my hair and makeup in less than 30 minutes. I like to look nice but I am all about the jeans and t-shirts! So, I have no idea where the boys got this from.
Hadley is the worst. He is very picky about his hair, it has to be just so and he will re-do it 5 times a day if he has to. He is also very picky about his clothes. At the age of 7 he is already very aware of what brands he wants, mostly in shoes...again, no clue where he gets this. He dresses very carefully every morning and yesterday was actually upset cuz the shirt he had "planned on wearing all night" was wrinkly?!
Devin is very picky about his clothes but thats it, he HATES having his hair done so I guess he is only half metro;) that and he hates to be dirty, so does hadley.
We are in trouble when these guys become teenagers!!

Kids.

So, I got off the couch and made it to the computer chair:)
actually, I didn't get much rest today. Lexi decided not to nap. and for some reason 500 people decided to call today...the day I can hardly talk and it actually feels like my throat might catch on fire when I try to. I was just going to check email and get off but I had to write down the conversation I just heard.
the kids are behind me talking. Hadley is trying to do homework and Devin is trying to get him to ditch his homework and play with him...this is the conversation I just heard:



H: Leave me alone! I am trying to get my homework done!

D: Just don't do it, lets play.

H: I am trying to get good grades so that I can get into college!

D: so

H: I want to go to a good college so I can have a good life someday.

D: well I want a jetpack!



I swear people, you can't make this stuff up!:) I about fell of my chair I was laughing so hard! I guess Hadley was listening about a month ago when I gave him a lecture on caring more about reading and writing and making an effort with his homework so he can go to college and get a good job! And Devin, well...he's just 4 and apparently jetpacks are important to 4 year olds!

I love the things kids say, I think one of these days I am just going to sit down and do a post of all the quirky, sweet and crazy things I have heard my kids say so that I don't ever forget them!

something else...

I was thinking about it, and realized how much I hate "private" blogs...so I had a change of heart and am not going private yet.

Fan-freakin-tastic day!

So yesterday we went to Salt Lake to see the dr. it was a waste of time. I spent 45 minutes driving there, 1 hour and 45 minutes in the waiting room, 15 minutes with the dr. and 2 hours driving home in the rush hour traffic/snow storm. I thought they would do his tests, but no, they just looked him over then told me to go to the receptionist and schedule a day to come back and get an mri and eeg done! aaarrrghh, if I wasn't such a good person I would say something really not nice!
So this morning I woke up around 5am with a wonderful femine issue...sorry, I know thats waaaay too much info:) then around 7 I woke up and realized I could hardly breathe! I have the same horrible croupy coughy crap the kids have...thanx kids! So, I get up and get Hadley ready for school and his lunch made, gather the homework, all that good stuff. I go to start the car so that it can get warm before we leave, planning on heading to the store for some "supplies":) after I drop him at school...only to find that my keys were locked in the car! So, poor Hadley had to walk, he would suck as a pioneer! I called the locksmith and payed them $45 to unlock my car (I thought of you mary) so that I could head to the store.
Of course I was in my jammies and just threw on some sandals really quick. I find a super close parking spot *Score* walk thru the slush to the doors and there is a sign telling me they had a flood so I have to walk thru 50 more yards of slush to the other doors *stupid parking spot*
Anyway, I am home now, and stocked up on dr pepper and chocolate:) and I am not getting off the couch all day!! And sorry dear, I don't care what the house looks like so it may be a disaster when you get home tonight. In fact, I am sure it will be so just prepare yourself:)

*with my luck this will be the day my realtor calls and has someone who wants to see the house*

p.s.

Just in case any of you are scratching your heads after the last post going "what happened in California?"
I wont bore you with the details but there is a post back in sept. of 2008 called "the worst day of my life" that you can look at if you want background:)

Here we go again!

So yesterday Hadley came running upstairs to tell me Devin was throwing up. I went downstairs to help him. When he was done he was moaning and walking around all slumped over and running into the walls. Stupid me just thought he was being dramatic about throwing up. I grabbed him and was trying to get him to rinse his mouth out and it was like he couldn't even hear me. He just kept moaning and flopping around, then he tried to say something and his words were all slurred then his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. My heart just sunk! It was California all over again! He was out for almost 3 minutes. We were scrambling to find his Epipen and call 911, by the time we got the epipen ready he had woken up so the 911 operator told me not to give it to him.
The emt's got there and monitered him for a bit. He was awake and breathing fine but still pretty loopy and out of it so they transported him up to Primary Children's. I had to get dressed:) and get the other kids situated then I followed them up there. Peter was up there working so he met them there til I could catch up. He spent several hours being really tired and loopy but by the end of the night was back to his normal self like it never happened!
Once again, we went home with several theories, alot of questions and NO answers!
We have to go see a neurologist this next week for more tests. They are leaning toward some form of epilepsy. But at this point it's all theories.
We are thinking there may be some corralation between these "episodes" and all the drugs and tests and those shots I had to take during his pregnancy. Hopefully we will get some answers in the coming weeks and we get it all figured out.
All I know is this kid has filled his quota of scaring me to death!!!

When he first got there he just layed there kinda out of it.

After several hours he was back to good old deviners, watching KungFu Panda and eating a corndog:)

After his meal he was pretty tuckered out and just crashed. He didn't even wake up when they took out his i.v.

And of course, to top it off, he woke up this morning about 6am coughing and wheezing and hardly able to breathe just like Hadley a few days ago! When it rains...it POURS!

Oh Lexi Loo!

I am sitting here on the computer and Lexi is crawling everywhere and getting into everything. She pulled open the cupboards and found the pretzels. She is taking out a pretzel, taking one bite then throwing it on the floor and then getting another and another....reminds me of Ramona, when she took one bite of all the apples cuz the first bite was the best:)...Hopefully I am not the only one who has read those books otherwise you are just going to be wondering what I am talking about:)



I have another thing that happened the other day. It totally reminded me of something and I just want to know who else knows what I am talking about..see who I have the most in common with:)
I made a cheesecake for christmas eve dinner. A couple days later I was getting into the fridge and the cheesecake fell out all over the floor. Peter and I just stood there looking at it like "crap, it's on the floor BUT it's still cheesecake:)...I scooped it back up and we ate it...not off the floor though. But I thought the whole situation was so funny. Peter, who doesn't watch the show, has no idea what I am talking about.

I'm too sexy for my hair!

Well I forced Peter to get a haircut the other day. It's not like he is trying grow it long like he had in highschool...it's just that he is just one of those guys that doesn't really care:) There are alot better things to do besides take the time to get a haircut. But I assured him that his wife would be happy if he did, wink wink:)

before the haircut, notice the sad, downtrodden look on his face because of his unruly hair?:)

and after...notice the smile and happiness that he exudes now that his head weighs 5lbs less!:) Of course, now he is going to have to put up with the "what happened to your forhead?" questions he always gets after a haircut cuz of his birthmark:)

Poor Hadley.

Well, Hadley has had a fever and the sniffles all week. Yesterday it progressed to a pretty nasty something. He lost his voice and was wheezing quite a bit. Unfortunately he gets this from me and if he's like me he will have it clear into adulthood. This was the same thing I had 3 years ago when my wonderful neighbor called 911 instead of driving me the half mile to the hospital! They xrayed my neck and said that my throat had become so irratated and swollen that I had an opening about the size of a coffee straw left...have you ever tried to breathe thru a coffee straw?! it pretty much feels like you can't breathe. I have had this happen several times in my life that I can remember.
Well, about 5 this morning I woke up to horrible heavy wheezing from downstairs. Hadley was in bed just completely panicking cuz he couldn't get air...now, having this before, I knew he was getting air...just not much. I was going to take him to the ER but peter had already left for work and was on the train so he couldn't get back, and there aren't many people I can call up at 5am to stay with my other 2 kids while I go to the hospital.
Luckily, being married to an RT I remained calm and all was good. I took him outside and sat out there with him quietly talking to him to calm him down and having him slow his breathing down. The COLD air helped some of the inflammation and swelling go down enough that he didn't feel like he was suffocating. We went in to the Dr. first thing this morning and got loaded up with drugs so hopefully he will be on the mend by the time school starts monday.

Happy New Year!

Shall I start with what everyone says?....I can't beleive it's a new year. This last year went SO fast!:)
We began ringing in the new year by being in bed and asleep by 10:30 just like every nite! growing up, we always had new years eve party's but since the day I moved out on my own I haven't stayed up on new years. I think it's probably because Peter has never had it off and we live in the social black hole of Utah...everyone in this neighborhood is old enough to be our parents:)
I would like to know who the idiots were last night that were lighting fireworks at 11pm...did they not turn their clocks back in November?

So, I guess now is when I am supposed to have a list of resolutions. Well, I do have a few goals for this year.
1. I have a huge rubbermaid tote FULL of pictures from back before digital cameras:) my goal is to get them all scanned and onto cd's.
2. I would say lose weight, like I do every year but this year I am not going to say it. My goal is to learn to love myself the way I am. I may have put on some weight having babies but I am still georgous and totally awesome!!!:) My goal is to have more self-confidence...no matter what my weight/size!!
3. Be more outgoing! Hopefully before or by summer we will be moving to a new house and neighborhood. This anti-social place we have lived for so long has made me very quiet and I tend to stick to myself. I resolve to be more confident in myself(see goal #2) and quit worrying about what people think of me and just start talking to people and making more friends.
4. be a better mom. To let the dishes sit in the sink longer and let the chores go undone and just play with the kids more.
5. Learn to get offended less. I tend to take things really personal...I mean everything, I know I am bad:( I am going to start looking for the silver lining in every situation. like if somebody invites everyone but me to a dinner, or party or whatever...I will just say oh well, now I don't have to spend the evening pretending that I like everyone:) ha ha...this situation is totally hypothetical:) I swear!

well, I think those things will keep be busy enough...no need to overachieve!:) I am sure this year will fly by too and soon I will be blogging about how I didn't do any of them but "I will this year for sure!":)
Hope you all have a fantastic 2009! and try not to mess up too many checks!:)