Christmas

We had a nice Christmas this year. No one was sick, which was also a plus. Patrick didn't care for opening his gifts, but once they were open he quite enjoyed playing. I forgot our camera, but we have pictures on Grandma's camera whenever I get those.

We hope everyone else had a fabulous Christmas with family!

Happy Birthday Reed!

Happy belated birthday to my honey. His birthday was Monday, but there are no pictures because it has been a hectic week.

I think he had a nice day. He took the day off of work to help unpack, so he had to work pretty hard for his birthday, but we got a ton done that day, so I think it was worth it. I think his favorite birthday present was the new Glenn Beck book, Arguing with Idiots. Hopefully he will have time over the next few weeks to actually sit down and read it!

Reed isn't a big fan of cake, so he usually requested some other dessert for his birthday. This year he wanted to try making bread pudding. We used a yummy cinnamon raisin bread, and it turned out pretty yummy.

New House Adventures Part 2

We had all the excitement with the electricity on Wednesday. On Thursday, we had problems with the plumbing. Today, Friday, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but combined with Wednesday's problems and the inconvenience of not being able to use the water for several hours, made it seem really dramatic yesterday.

We took a load of laundry downstairs to use our washing machine for the first time. We were okay with electricity, so we thought we would get started on our mountain of laundry. About an hour later, we went down to switch the laundry and found water on the basement floor. Luckily, not inches of water, just several large puddles. After a few minutes of detective work, we discovered there was a clog in our sewer system that was causing the water to come up the drain in the floor.

We made lots of phone calls and I eventually tracked down the company that replaced the sewer lines when the house was remodeled. Because I was freaking out because I thought the house I just bought was turning out to be a lemon, they came out and snaked our sewer line free of charge. There were tree roots in the line because it sat vacant for about 7 months before we came in and started using the water a lot.

Everything works fine now and nothing has broken so far today, but I just wish somewhere in the process someone would have said, "Hey, you are buying an older house that has sat vacant for several months, you might want to check the sewer lines before you move in." That would have saved me a lot of stress. But this is all part of the first-time-home-buying process, and I'm sure there are several more lessons we will learn in the next year.

Good things:

Reed brought home chocolate cake
My washer and dryer work great
One week til Christmas!

New House Adventures

On our one week anniversary of being home owners, we had a rather adventurous day. I went to plug in the vacuum and the lights in the room went out and the lights in the kitchen flickered. From then on, the outlets didn't work, and when I turned on a light, it would be dim, then go really bright, and then shut off. And then the light switches started turning off lights in other rooms. At that point I shut off all the lights and waited for the electrician to come . . .

Fortunately, we had the contractor who did the remodel on our house coming to check on our dishwasher. Since we moved in, it hasn't drained (it's just plain water, luckily). He said that was most likely the pump, so we are waiting to hear if the warranty is going to replace the dishwasher. During this time, our tv started buzzing and then popped, and then smoke came our of the bottom (which smells like burnt hot dogs, by the way). Obviously that is not good, but he had no idea about the electricity, so he was going to send out his electrician who did the work on our house . . .

Who is in Oklahoma. But he sent another guy out, and he was able to find a piece of old wiring that had come separated and screwed everything up. Everything is fine now, but the moral of the story is that we will soon be having the wiring in our outlets grounded, because right now they are, but they aren't, and we're safe, but because there is still some old wiring, this could happen again.

Then the guys came to install my microwave, looked at my tile backsplash and said they weren't allowed to drill through tile and they couldn't install my microwave, which they failed to mentioned when we asked them on the phone if they could drill through our tile to install the microwave. So we will have to wait until at least Tuesday for that modern convenience.

On the upside, we didn't have to pay for any of this today because we are still under warranty, our washer and dryer are installed and working, and we still own a wonderful house!

We own a house!

We closed on our house yesterday morning. Everything went great, and we got all of our earnest money back! We are busy packing, driving everywhere, taking trips to Home Depot, and trying to stay warm.

Pictures will come next week after we are settled in!

Merry Christmas to us!

Giggling Patrick

Patrick was SUPER HYPER tonight while I was trying to put his pajamas on. Here is a little clip of our giggling baby. He thought I was trying to tickling him, but I was just trying to put his shirt on. I LOVE our new camera!

My Always Handsome Boy

Patrick has a handsome new Christmas outfit from Grandma Haight. These were the best pictures I caught of him. He is always the most handsome boy at church!

This week he was being especially busy during Sunday School, so I decided we were going to try nursery for the second hour. He's almost old enough, and the nursery leader really likes him, so I thought we would give it a try. They had just gotten the toys out, so he was excited about that, and he had a great time playing for about 30 minutes until he realized that mommy wasn't sitting somewhere in the room. He then joined me in Relief Society, but I was glad for the break. I think we'll try again next week, and after the first of the year when we switch to 1pm church, I think he will like nursery better because he'll be able to take a nap before church.

Closing Date!

We finally have a closing date!

Fingers crossed, if everything goes well we should be closing next Wednesday, Dec 9. We are so excited! It is great just knowing and having all the anxiety gone (mostly).

Big Boy

Our big boy is getting pretty good at using a fork . . . until he gets frustrated and throws everything on the floor. But he is learning!

Black Friday

Yes, Reed and I were crazy and went shopping on Black Friday. Patrick slept at Grandma's house and we got up and tackled Walmart at 5am. But we did it for our child! We got him some blocks for Christmas, and then we found a couple other great deals. We got a Black and Decker cordless drill for $25. (Reed still doesn't really know why I wanted this doorbuster so badly, but I told him we would use it a lot in our house. We don't need to pay Home Depot to install our blinds when we can do it ourselves!)

Then we went to Ultimate Electronics to look a new camera and a washer and dryer. I had found a great deal in the Home Depot ad for a Maytag pair, and I was going to see if Ultimate would price match since we were there. Then the guy who was helping us wanted to show us some others that were better efficiency than the pair in the ad. I was a little hesitant at first because I wanted to stay in budget, but we found a great GE pair that is energy efficient and just below the pair we originally wanted, and with the water rebates, they were only $50 more, so we went with those. Most of our time at Ultimate was spent standing/sitting in line, but we still had a good time.

We also got a new camera which is a great upgrade for us. The pictures look great (see last post). There will probably be many more pictures on our blog now, and we can now share video with sound! So I will try to capture Patrick gabbering away and post it.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was nice and low-key this year. We went to the zoo with Aunt Amy and Uncle Marco. It was a pleasant 65 degrees and very sunny. Patrick had a great time at the zoo, as he always does. Then we picked up the food we had made and went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner. Everything was tasty, of course.

Here is Patrick while he is feeding bread to Amy's dog, Jed. He was laughing hysterically.





Friday night we went to downtown Littleton where they turn on all the lights as Santa comes down the street and then they light the big tree. Patrick was well bundled up.

He LOVED looking at the lights and kept saying, "wow."

Dude

Patrick totally said "dude" this morning, but I can't get him to say it again.

Peoria Ward

Our new ward is the Peoria Ward, and so far we are really enjoying it. The ward is large and seems to have A LOT of missionary work. We have been attending there for about a month now, and they told us they weren't going to request our records until we were officially moved in. Then we got a phone call for an "interview." Apparently they decided we were such a hot deal they were going to request our records anyway! So we both have a calling in a ward that we haven't moved in to yet. Reed has been called as the Young Men's Secretary, which we both think he will really enjoy. I apparently didn't do a good enough job in my last calling, because I have once again been called to teach the 8-9 year olds in Primary! I really do enjoy Primary though, and it will give me the chance to perfect this calling and I have some good ideas for the second time around.

Patrick loves our new ward and has made many friends. He usually escapes to another pew for at least a few minutes during Sacrament meeting. He doesn't know what a stranger is and will go to anyone anytime. He doesn't really notice or care if Reed or I are there or not! Six weeks until nursery! We are counting down!

Waiting is the Name of the Game

For some reason, our closing process is taking longer than normal. We were supposed to close on November 16, but now we have not heard of our new closing date yet. Our mortgage broker is very nice, but the problem lies with some lady in Connecticut who never returns phone calls and is sitting on our file. So maybe next week, maybe not . . . all we can do is wait.

Meanwhile, Patrick is working on his molars. They look incredibly painful, and I believe this accounts for the runny nose, puddles of drools, and generally cranking baby. He is happy for about an hour in the morning and that is about it right now. I'm glad he is getting all of them at the same time so we can have this over quickly.

Our Thanksgiving plans include going to the zoo, having dinner with family, watching some football, attempting to nap if Patrick lets us, and formulating a strategic plan for Black Friday. We actually have cash this year, and many a great deal that we plan to take advantage of!

I LOVE KOHL'S

If anyone has not discovered the wonderfulness that is Kohl's, you must try it this holiday season. Everything is always on sale! We totally scored tonight. Reed and I BOTH got two shirts and one pair of pants, PLUS these super cute jammies for Patrick for . . . $100! Everything we got was on 30$-60% off, plus we used our Kohl's card and got an extra 15% off, and I had a $10 Kohl's cash. Awesome!

These jammies are so cute on Patrick. There is even a "cape" in the back. He was really tired until we put them on him, then we was a little ball of energy!

Tuesdays with Patrick

Still Waiting . . .

We are still waiting on the house. We are still in underwriting, trying to get all the papers the bank requests, etc. Of course it is hard waiting when we just want to move in!

On the up side, I have been working a TON the last three weeks. So far I made $706.50 in one check, and it looks like the next check will be about the same! That's not bad for one month. Patrick has been moderately patient as I work on the computer all day long. This is the last really busy week, though, and then we can get back to a normal routine.

Everything else is going great. We are still healthy and plugging along!

Halloween

Our Halloween was fun, but not too eventful, thankfully. Patrick was a tiger, I was the safari hunter, and Reed my Indian safari guide. We made popcorn balls for our ward trunk or treat. We went to our new ward, and we weren't sure it was our ward at first because we didn't recognized anyone, but we managed to meet some new people.

Snow in October!

Not really unusual, but we have had quite a storm yesterday and today. So far we have about 15 inches, and it is really windy, so there are lots of drifts. But we don't have anywhere to go, we still have electricity, so we are warm and cozy watching the snow!

This was Patrick's first time playing in the snow since he could walk and be aware of what snow is. We spent more time bundling him up that actually playing in the snow, but that's okay!




He touched the snow for a bit, but he wouldn't leave his gloves on, so it was really cold!


Daddy let him eat the snow, but he didn't like it very much.


This is our patio. Most of it is drifted, but the corner is taller than Patrick!

Family Pictures

Four Years

Reed and I celebrated our fourth anniversary on Thursday. We had a nice evening at hope Thursday, then we went out Friday night. Patrick got to have his first sleepover at Grandma's house on Friday night so we could have a little time to ourselves. It was very quiet around here, but it was nice and relaxing. We slept in this morning and then watched Looney Tunes while we made breakfast, like the days before baby. We love Patrick so much, but it was nice to have a break for one day. Like Grandma keeps reminding us, he's a busy boy! He didn't really even notice we were gone, and I think he was a little sad to go home with us tonight.

The last four years have been wonderful. We feel very blessed to be where we are right now. We have both graduated from school, we have good jobs, and we will be in our very own home soon. I can't wait to see what the next few years bring us!

'Tis the Season . . .

For Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies! I have a adapted a few recipes, and I think I have the one! I made these tonight as a little pick me up after have the stomach bug today. It worked! I love the taste and texture of these cookies. Mmmm . . .

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 15 oz can pumpkin**
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
2 tsp milk
2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
3-4 tsp cinnamon (to your taste)
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
4 cups flour
2 cups MILK CHOCOLATE chips

With a mixer, cream together pumpkin, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Mix the milk with the baking powder (which is also a fun science experiment!) and add that along with the rest of the dry ingredients. Add the chocolate chips. Use a cookie scoop or about 1 big tsp and put them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 365 for 12 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen.

**For a fun option, try adding 6-8 drops of red food coloring to your batter. This makes the cookies stay orange when they bake!

Update on Patrick--15 months!

I haven't said much about Patrick's skills lately, so here is an update.

• He cruises around everywhere now. He is still a busy boy, and we will be investing in a lot of cabinet locks when we move in to our house. We consider ourselves lucky if we get 15 seconds of accidental snuggle time. He is too busy for that.
  
• He is such a happy boy and whenever someone around him laughs, he does a mock laugh that is really cute. Whenever he hears clapping, he claps.
  
• He is starting to talk a lot more. He has probably 100 words in his own language, but 4-5 that we can regularly understand. He says mama sometimes, but dada ALL THE TIME. He loves looking out the window to see if dada is coming home. He says hot, ball, and this week learned banana.
• We sometimes refer to him as the tornado, because you can see the path of destruction he makes as he wanders through the house, especially at grandma's house. He just opens cupboards or drawers and pulls everything out and makes a nice little trail.
• He can blow kisses when it is time to say bye-bye, but he mostly puts his hand up to his mouth and blow slobber all over himself.
  
• He has really gotten the idea of peek-a-boo and hide-and-go-seek. If I run into his room and hide behind the door, he can come find me. He can use he blanket to play peek-a-boo with us.

He really looks like and acts like a toddler now. We love our boy!

Update on Me

Well, I finally have some sort of solution for my diabetes question. As you know, I took insulin during my pregnancy, and my doctor wanted me to get tested after I had Patrick. We finally got insurance figured out and a doctor assigned to me, so I went to the lab and did the 2-hour blood glucose test about a month and a half ago. The results were high, 288, so that was pretty definitive for me. Well, my doctor said to come in and do another fasting blood sugar, so I did that and it was like 147 or something. She called and thought there could be something lingering with my pregnancy, so she wanted me to do it again in like a month.

Yesterday I did another fasting blood sugar, which came back as 174, so she called and said, yes, you have diabetes, and she prescribed me a medication to try for 60 days. I will start monitoring my blood sugar 3 times a day again, try to be really strict with my diet, and see if this medication helps. I really hope it does, because it is considerably cheaper than insulin, and I don't know if my insurance covers insulin.

So I finally have the official answer that we have suspected for two years now. It is a little frustrating because I am only 23, but I really want to manage this well so I can be healthy for a long time. I am also going to have our kids tested regularly because it seems like the people in our family are being diagnosed younger and younger.

Update on House

We've done the inspection, and everything went well. We are requesting a few minor fixes, like the outlets need to be grounded and the attic needs more insulation. We are hopeful that they will fix all of our requests. We found out this morning that we don't need to do a sewer inspection after all because when the owner was fixing all the structural problems he also put in a new sewer line. So that saved us $99! We met with the lender today and signed everything and ordered the appraisal. Patrick was very patient for two hours, which was a blessing. Luckily, we will get the $395 appraisal fee back when we close, along with most of our $1,000 earnest money. Awesome! We found out today that our payment will be around $855, which I am very happy about because that is only slightly more than we would have paid for a nice 2-bedroom apartment here.

I'm so excited that this process is moving along quickly and smoothly (so far). We hope to close in about a month!

WE ARE GETTING A HOUSE!!!!!!

15 bids . . . and we finally got one accepted! We found a house in Aurora, in an older neighbor, that we think will fit our needs quite well. I think each time we see it we like it a little more. The house is a cute, brick, ranch-style with three bedrooms, one full bathroom, a living room, dining area and kitchen on the main floor, and then it has a full basement that is mostly unfinished (except for a 3/4 bath) for a total of 2,184 square feet. It was built in 1956 and has been completely remodeled. There is a large backyard that I am so excited to get grass in next summer, and it even has a clothesline!






We just did the inspection today, and other than some minor details, everything seems great. There was some major foundation problems that they fixed last year, but they have disclosed everything, and the inspector says that they fixed the problems and as long as we make sure that we have good drainage around the house, we shouldn't have any problems.

We are really excited to almost be out of limbo and into a home. We feel really blessed that we found a great program to give a $10,000 grant for down-payment assistance, and to have a FANTASTIC realtor that has worked so hard for us for the last three months. If all goes smoothly, we think we can move in sometime in the middle of November!

Finally, Another Tooth!

We finally have a 7th tooth! Woo Hoo! Patrick hasn't had ANY new teeth for 5 months, and another one finally broke through on the bottom tonight. He was so grumpy this afternoon, so I decided to pin him down and feel around in his mouth (which is a dangerous adventure). Maybe he will get another six at one time like last time.

First Day of Fall . . . or Winter?

It is so cold right now! I need a snuggie and hot chocolate! Right now it is 45 degrees and tomorrow the high is only supposed to be 47! We turned on the heater last night! Our area is in a Winter Storm Warning for the next 36 hours, and the foothills and mountains could get 6-12" of snow. This feels more like the first day of winter than the first day of fall! Thankfully, we should be back in the 70s by this weekend, but right now I am freezing; I am not prepared for cold weather yet. I need it to cool down gradually, not go from 82 on Sunday to 52 on Monday. BRRRR!

Rox Trot

On Saturday, our ward sponsored a community 5K fun run/walk as a ward activity. Even though it was unusually cold on Saturday, we had a pretty good turn out. Reed was volunteering at one of the crosswalks, but I walked it with Patrick. Once we got going he enjoyed the ride and slept for about 30 minutes of the walk. I am proud of myself for finishing because about 1/3 of it was pretty steep, and the stroller made it difficult at times, but it was a beautiful area, and the walk was really enjoyable. I hope the ward sponsors it again next year!

Labor Day

Yesterday for Labor Day we decided to take a quick day trip somewhere that would be fun and inexpensive. We picked Georgetown, a small tourist destination about an hour from our house. We had been there a couple years ago with Reed's parents, and so we packed a picnic lunch and headed out for the day. The drive there was fantastic. Georgetown is in the mountains, and this time of year is just beautiful. The weather was cool, but not cold, and it was the perfect day for walking.


We stopped first at the town park for our picnic. They have an amazing playground there. Patrick is finally starting to enjoy slides, so we played on that for about 20 minutes. Because he is walking more, he really enjoyed the whole process of the slide. He liked walking up all the steps with me and sitting down, counting to three, and sliding down. As soon and daddy caught him, though, he was pointing at me so we could do it again. After the playground we got the stroller out and walked the three or four blocks to Georgetown's historic downtown. Most of the old shops are open with ice cream shops, restaurants, photo galleries, jewelry shops, and boutiques.
After we got a picture of Patrick on the slide, our camera died, so the other three pictures I found online, but it represents Georgetown well.

While Mommy is Making Dinner . . .

Patrick is climbing in the cupboards! No one is really surprised, right?


Or trying to be really helpful . . .


But who can resist that face?

Eating Paint

Patrick is just the right height to chew on the window sills. Last month he got a small piece of plaster off the window in our bedroom, and then this afternoon, he came out of his bedroom and had white stuff all around his mouth. I tried to catch him, and he got all giggly like he knew he did something bad. I went into his room and found this big chunk missing from his window sill! Thankfully, he didn't eat all of it and I could pick up the biggest pieces.

The worst part is that we are supposed to have the condo ready and available to show any time. So we need to figure out how to fix this quickly. Does anyone know how to fix a spot this big?
How do I texture it to make it even sort of match the rest of the wall?

The funniest part is that he wasn't even being quiet. I know he is into something when he is super quiet. He was just playing in his room and chattering like usual. Mommy didn't even suspect a thing.