"Painting Schmainting"

I have been painting the nursery for the baby for the past few days. I decided to paint some flowers at the top of the wall that match the crib bedding I was given. I am not the best free-hander, but I think it turned out OK. (I'm no Amanda Hardy or Amber Andersen). Anyway, the rest of the walls are empty so far, so I need to figure out her name so I can put her name over the window. Speaking of the name, I have talked to some people and they seem genuinely surprised that my blog vote isn't deciding the name. I make the ultimate decision no matter how many votes "Cake" gets. ha. (unless of course you put a lot of money down) We just put the names on that each member of our family wants to name the baby. Yes, that includes Tyler and Jacob. (I don't like either of their picks for names BTW). Anyway, I was just curious what Y'all thought about the two names we were thinking of. BTW, Lily, if it is chosen will have one "L" like the flower. There are some very strong opinions that it should have two "L's" and I'm not sure why.

Anyway, enough ranting, Here are some pics of what I worked on.

The lavender wall with the flowers and crib

The Crib bedding that I copied the flowers from. (don't look too close to see my inconsistencies.)

Close up of most of the wall flowers

Tyler is getting excited! He tells me everyday that he can't wait for the baby to come. I hope he is still excited AFTER she has arrived.

Tyler Says...

I sneaked up on Tyler talking to Jacob and this is what he was telling him.
Ty:" You know Jakey, we are growing and when we grow up all the way, we get to move to a different house where we can paint it whatever colors we want. Then we also get to be the boss! That is what I am doing, and you can do it too."

He was so excited like this was an amazing realization. I'm glad that he is excited to grow up and move out; because some days I really wish it would come sooner. He is constantly telling me he wishes he could be the boss. I pray his wife is OK with him being the "boss".

Valentines Day Temple Trip

We got to attend the Draper Temple open house today and it was a lot of fun. It did require a little bit of waiting, but all in all the boys did really well. Tyler seemed to think it was really neat and he loved the "Sparkly lights" (chandeliers) throughout. We also saw A LOT of pictures of Christ and Tyler had fun trying to spot the next painting before I did. Jacob thought it was fun to try to sneak ahead of us in the crowd and he also liked that when he talked he was the loudest person around. We caravaned out to draper with our neighbors the Arnolds which made it a lot more fun for us as well as the kids. Afterword, we went to IKEA and then to La Hacienda for a late lunch. It was a very fun day. (we ate our tithings worth of cookies in the church building when we were done touring the temple.)

If you want more info, you can go to this website: http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/draper/

Tyler and Jacob in the church where we ate cookies and looked at the displays.

r

Whitney and Autumn hanging out eating cookiesTy in front of the temple

So Very Girly!

Maybe it is because I have two boys, but now that we are making ready for a baby girl, everything looks SO very girly! I swear all the bows, ribbons, pink, purple, flowers, etc. gets to you. You look at it and it seems a bit much. Don't get me wrong, I love it, it is just a little overwhelming. Today my wonderful new neighbor had her two girls drop by a little gift for me. It was a crib bumper with matching quilt, a crib sheet, two very cute baby robes and a photo hanger for the nursery. Needless to say, she is my new favorite person! It is so nice of her to give me these things. They are extremely girly and very pink. So cute. I had already made peace with the fact that I was going to use my "gender neutral" crib bedding, but now I don't have to. We are so excited for the baby to come into our family and I am trying to get everything ready before she decides it is time to arrive. I still need to paint the blue wall in the nursery another color though. I'll post the nursery when it is finished. anyway, enjoy my very girly photos.




Here are some of the clothes that I have. I bought most of them at a consignment store here in town for a dollar a piece. It is awesome. I can't wait to dress her up.

Yay more snow! (Yes, I shoveled)

We got some more snow today and the boys played outside while I shoveled the driveway. They aren't much for playing though; It is more like they walk around in the snow making footprints and then stop to eat some snow and then walk around some more. Ah well, if I wasn't so pregnant I could probably show them how to actually PLAY. oh well, maybe I just need Randy to come out with them sometime and show them how it is done. Here are some pics.

It always rains after you wash your car

It rained today on our newly washed car. It looked so nice yesterday all shiny and new. Yeah, we bought a new Van yesterday! I am so excited. We have had one car for six years! Six years! Now we have two! can you believe it? Now we will be able to have the baby and actually bring her home because she will fit in our new car. Very cool.
We bought a 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan (Anniversary Edition) STX. Not sure exactly what that all means, but I really like it. We have been saving for nearly a year and we have been looking for about 6 or 8 months for a van and we finally got one. Randy initially went to the dealership because he wanted the free binoculars they were giving away (so randy) and he decided to look at the van. They wanted $13,500 for it, but he got it for $7,031 awesome. He says he got it so cheap because he was completely willing to walk away. We were paying cash, so we weren't willing to budge on the price too much. And the best part is it is paid off! We haven't had a car payment for 5 years and we don't plan on ever having one. I guess it has most of the bells and whistles too. Leather interior, automatic doors on both sides and the back hatch, a 6 disk DVD player (the kids love that), tinted windows, a sun roof, and it even came with wireless headphones that we found hours later. Awesome! If you want to know more, you can ask Randy, because let's face it, when it comes to cars, I have no idea what I am talking about.
Here are some pictures Randy took. Along with a video of the doors and back hatch closing by themselves.

(Ty went to home Depot today for his woodworking project. isn't he cute!)

Yeah, I'm a mormon mom who drives a van. Very original.

New phone

We got a new home phone system and a new cell phone. obviously if you have talked to me in the last week or read my blog you know how frustrating it has been for us because Qwest cancelled our Internet with no reason to. I don't want to talk about how bad it has been anymore. We have a new phone and I can call long distance from home now for free! Wahoo! I can actually call people in the ward without having to use my cell phone. (I know it is weird that half are long distance and half aren't). Anyway, I am very excited about it. So look forward to me calling you and not having to say "Hey can you call me back." Also, give me a call at home instead of the cell from now on.

It's officially official

The Day after we set up the bunk beds, (I think it was on Jan 27th)we had our final basement inspection and we passed! So, It is official, we are "allowed" to live in our basement. Randy was teasing me saying that "The inspection guy hadn't even gotten to drive away before you started chucking stuff down the stairs." Which is true. I was very anxious to get things moved into the new space. So Randy has finished the basement in just over a year. he is awesome!

p.s. I know that we are the only people in the whole world (or at least Tooele county) who actually finished our basement with a permit. nobody does it and it cost us extra money and now we have to pay more taxes on the extra living space. But I am still glad we did it "the right" way.

I guess we'll start with the bunk beds

yep, we bought the boys new bunk beds in order to make ready for our baby girl to arrive. they were almost as excited about it as I was. Jake has made the transition into a "big boy" bed wonderfully. He actually stays in the bed and goes to sleep. Imagine that. I was afraid that when they moved downstairs they would be scared being so far away from me and Randy, but they seem to be OK with it because they are together. There have been some fights about sharing this new bed, but all in all it has been great.

Here are some pictures of Randy and the boys setting them up together.

All done! We just need to make the beds.

I'm Baaaaack!!!

OK so for the two people who actually read my blog, I am back. Wahoo! I have been without the internet/phone for a week and a half! A week and a half people! you can't imagine what that has been like for me. ohh...I couldn't check my e-mail, read blogs, entertain my son, look up recipes or anything else that I google. It has been awful to say the least. But, I am back now and I am trying to catch up on the goings on in the Cyber world that I have missed. I have lots to post, but I don't have time right now, so I will post later.

P.S. I hate Qwest who (among other things) cancelled our account for no reason, assumed I lived at my next door neighbors house (and gave them the Internet we were waiting for) and who also thought we were the "Vremners".

P.S.S. If you need to get a hold of me/us please call my house number now as it will be used more regularly than the cell phone. Both the numbers are the same. you can also e-mail me and I will actually return your messages this week.