Update Without Pictures

I know it has been FOREVER! Sorry, life is super busy. The last few months have flow by with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Oh, and we sold our house and moved too. All of the holidays were great fun. I love spending time with family and friends. Plus, Eric always has work off so that is an added bonus. After our sale fell through in October, I didn't think we would ever sell the house. We were getting one to two people looking at it a week before the October offer, but after we only got two people total. Well, I guess the saying, "It only takes one." is true. We got an offer the 2nd week in December and they wanted us out before the end of the year. We weren't planning on closing until the 27th of December, but the buyers really pushed us and we ended up closing the 23rd. Because of the holiday though it didn't fund until the 28th and then we had 48 hours after that to get out. It was a crazy week. A HUGE thanks to my mom for taking the kids so that I could help Eric as much as possible and also to all the family who helped or offered (Eric is kind of stubborn and wanted to do a lot of it himself). The last day was a mad dash of stuffing things in boxes and trying to clean, but it got done. We have belongings in three different locations. Most at a storage unit, some at Eric's mom's, and the rest with us at our ONE bedroom rental.

We are renting because we are building a house and it won't be done until February so we got a little place to hold us over until then. It is working out pretty good. The kids are in the bedroom and Eric and I get the living room/dining room/office. Carter has been sick and so he has not been adjusting very well. Last night was the first time he slept through the night in TWO weeks. And by not sleeping I mean up every hour for most of the hour and then 10-15 minute naps in between. Needless to say I was ELATED when we finally got some sleep last night. I hope it will last tonight (and forever)!

I went to the doctor today and everything is looking good with the baby. One of my middle appointments got cancelled so I haven't been in for over five weeks. I figured things where okay, but I was a little worried about the results of the glucose test. I have been eating horribly and I love treats. Luckily it was fine and I have even lost a pound, which is super surprising since we've had Thanksgiving, a little trip to Vegas, Christmas and New Years since I've been there. I think that is the first time I have lost weight during the holidays. I guess stress will do that to you. The baby is growing though as is evident by my HUGE stomach.

The house we are building is somewhat on schedule. Our finish date was February 17th, but I think with the weather that has been pushed back. They haven't given us a new date yet, but they have weekly meetings so hopefully we will get one before the end of the week.

There is probably more to say, but this is already super long and boring. I don't know when I will get pictures up. I think my camera cord got packed away to the storage unit. I am still taking them though and someday will get a ton posted.

Bad News and Good News

BAD NEWS: Some of you probably know that we have had our house up for sale since January of this year. We aren't in a rush to sell. We just felt like it was time for our family to move from our "starter home" into a more permanent home where we can raise our kids and grow old. This house was always our 5-10 year house and when we put it up for sale we had been here six years. After trying to sell it ourselves, a realtor, trying to sell it ourselves, and another realtor, we finally received our first real offer on October 12th. We were excited, even though the buyers wanted to close by October 29th. No problem, we thought. We find something quickly or live with family if we have to, whatever. We were up for the rush of getting out fast. So the last week and a half have been a mad rush of looking at houses, putting in offers, deciding to build, gathering boxes, arranging to live with family for a couple of months, changing schools for the kids, calling utility companies to arrange shut off dates, letting church leaders know and all sorts of other things.

UNFORTUNATELY, yesterday we found out (even with the wonderful assurances from the buyers lender) that the buyers actually DON'T qualify for the loan and (unless some miracle happens) we will not be selling our house in three days. Yesterday, I was SHOCKED for awhile. Then I just cried the rest of the afternoon. I prayed to have strength and peace, which of course I was blessed with. I reread this amazing talk from the April 2010 General Conference. Then Eric, my rock, came home and convinced me (again) that everything was going to be alright and Heavenly Father has a plan for us and we just need to keep being patient. Which I knew, but it was nice to hear coming from him. So now we wait and trust in Heavenly Father.

Now for the GOOD NEWS: Last week, we found out that a new baby boy will be joining our family in early March. We are so excited! I must admit that I was kind of hoping for a girl to even things out and get to use my adorable girl clothes again, but we make such cute boys that once I knew it was a boy I was ecstatic! So far everything is progressing as usual. I keep joking that maybe I should have the baby at home this time and skip the ambulance and hospital altogether. Not really though! I am really hoping for a nice normal delivery this time. Any name suggestions would be nice. It is alot harder the third time.

It looks like we may have another thumb sucker on our hands.

Where Has The Time Gone?

I can't believe it is October already. This year is flying by! It is going to be Christmas before we know it!!! Here are a few pictures of what we have been doing over the last month or so.Carter and I both love to pose for the camera. I got quite a few good shots of us cheesing it up!

We went to Thanksgiving Point twice during the month of August. Gotta love $2 Tuesdays; at the Gardens at least. No way was I going to try and go to the Dinosaur Museum. I think this was a picture right before church one Sunday. It is a great picture showing each of my kids personalities.

Carter LOVES corn on the cob. Eric usually feeds him a piece raw while the rest of dinner is cooking and then he has a cooked piece while the rest of use eat. He also HATES for me to feed him anything. He thinks he is a big boy and can do it all by himself. Thus, he usually looks like this after each meal!

Tade loves Carter and Carter loves Tade. So fun to have a brother buddy.

Tades first day of 1st Grade. Eric gave him a blessing and he was on his way. He is doing pretty well for the most part. He comes home pretty tired, but even that is getting better. So far he has aced all his spelling tests and is reading like crazy! I am so proud of him.

We go in a crash on the 13th of September. The van is still in the shop getting fixed! Hopefully, I will have it back tomorrow. I really miss it.

Ashlynn got to do Drill Clinic again up at Maple Mountain High School. It is such a fun thing for her and it is only a one week commitment so I love it too. She did a great job dancing this year! Ash turned four last month. She also started preschool and loves it. She is such a big girl and a great helper.

Santaquin Parade And Rodeo

Eric's sister and husband live in Santaquin and they have an awesome celebration for their city days. We usually just go to the rodeo and fireworks, but this year we decided to hit the parade that morning too. This was the first parade my kids had ever been to and they LOVED it. The city is still small enough that the parade isn't too long and they still throw candy. Both Ash and Tade had a huge bag full by the end. It was great! The rodeo was a little rough with Carter. He doesn't like to sit still for very long, but it was still fun. The fireworks didn't go over so well with Ash or Carter, but Eric, Tade and I had a blast watching them. (Yes, that pun was intended.) Oh, summer....we are going to miss you!

Ashlynn learned if you smiled and waved they threw more candy! She quickly became very good at it.

Button, Button, Who Has The Button? and What Did You Say?

This post is all about the Carter bug. Last week he had surgery to fix an umbilical hernia and put tubes in his ears for recurring ear infections. If you hadn't know he had surgery, you probably wouldn't have been able to tell by how he was acting. He did awesome! We went in early Thursday morning, the nurses got him all prepped, the anesthesiologist took him away, and about an hour later both surgeries were done. Hernias are pretty common and most will repair on their own by one year of age, but Carter's didn't and since it was kind of gross looking, we opted for the surgery to fix it. His ear infections have been pretty constant since he was nine months. The poor kid has probably been in pain since then so we were happy to have a solution to that problem too. I am sure the reason he's done so well is because the surgery pain was nothing compared to the ear infection pain and he is just excited to not have that anymore.

A few before pictures. I called it his ugly button cause look at it. It's pretty nasty looking. His isn't even that big. I've seen much larger on other kids.

Waiting in the foyer for them to call us back to get prepped. Yes, he is man enough to have a PINK binki. It's a hand me down from his sister. We're pretty cheap. What can I say?Cute little hospital clothes they took him to surgery in. He was so excited with all the new stuff and the attention for awhile. Then he saw the bottle of milk I had brought for after surgery and he could only think about that until they took him back. His dressing. We had to leave that on for three days (Sunday). Then there were steri strips underneath that were supposed to stay on for another seven to ten days. I keep saying WERE because he ripped those off today (Monday). Oh well, it looks pretty good so I'm not too worried.

I need to give a big huge thanks to all the family and friends that fasted and prayed for him. We really felt your love. Also to my mom, who had Ash and Tade for two and a half days so Eric and I could focus on Carter. THANK YOU!!!!!

This is Carter's button video. He has know where it is for awhile since everyone always wants to see his "ugly" button. I love that he lifts his shirt to find it.

On a side note, probably time for a new camera. So if you know any nice point and shoots that do video too, please let me know!

Summer Fun

This summer has been really fun and busy. We had a few birthdays in June. We went to Lake Powell and Lagoon. We've gone up the canyon and roasted hot dogs. We went on a "bacation" to the Zermatt in Midway. Plus lots of popsicles!

Even more swimming. This is Tade and his cousin Austin. Eric was smarter enough to make it possible for the pool to easily be put under the slide on our play set so it is like we have a water park in our backyard. Tade loves it. Ashlynn isn't so sure, And Carter would love it if I let him, but the slide is WAY too fast!

Tade lost his first tooth this summer. It was super loose for almost a week, but both Eric and I remember getting forced to pull a loose tooth out so we just let him let it come out on its own time. He got "one whole green dollar" from the tooth fairy.

Ashlynn went to the dentist to get a cavity filled. For three or four hours afterwards, she chewed on her numb lip and this is what happened. Poor girl. It was really sore for almost two weeks. Hopefully, this won't ever happened again!Apparently, we have been having so much fun it is hard to even make it in our rooms for naps! Actually, she was in the hall mad at me for not letting her do something and that's how she fell asleep. I thought it was pretty funny so I had to take a picture.

Well, that is definitely not pictures of everything, but is some of some of the things. We still have a lot planned with the one month left before school starts. I can't believe it is almost here already!

Motherhood

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God
I was crying while I watched this. I hope you enjoy it too!