Home Sweet Home!

For those of you who don't know, and that's probably a lot because we've been pretty "on-the-down-low" about this, but Josh & I are officially HOME OWNERS!! It's a first for me, Josh owned a home before we were married, but it's been long enough that we get the first-time homebuyer tax credit! That's one thing I'm thankful to Obama for. Anyway! One of my goals in life was to be the youngest member of my family to own a home. So unless my brother buys a home in the next year, I can check that one off my list ;) Stupid little goal, I know, but I'm happy I've accomplished it, especially without breaking the bank!

So here's a little about it. It's a 2 bedroom condo in Taylorsville between 950 & 1100 square feet (the previous owner says the later, the appraiser says the former...who knows? Still bigger than our place now!). I thought Taylorsville was far away, but it's VERY close to i-215 & there's tons of stores & places to go around. Plus, since it's so much bigger, we'll be able to have people over more often! It's an older place but very nicely remodeled so the only major thing we are going to do now is paint. We may decide to redo the countertops later & Josh is thinking about doing some bookshelves around the fireplace but all-in-all we're very happy with it. We hadn't been telling a lof of people about it until recently because it was the third place we had put a bid on & the others had fallen through & we didn't want to tell everyone and then have this one fall through as well. Anyway, here's pictures of the "before" & I'll post more later of the "after."
This is the living room. It's kind of an odd shape (very rectangular) so there's not a TON of room but it's still great. Pretty floors huh? "Fake" hardwood but less matience and they're throughout the whole house

I almost wish there wasn't a fireplace because it makes the placement of the TV very tricky...

Dining area (to the left when you walk in)

The kitchen is great, especially with the bar & pot rack, but I HATE the color.

This is actually the second, smaller bedroom, but in this picture it's the "master". It's really hard to tell what color the room actually is because it's so dang dark in there....
This was the kids room so they had more room to play but it will be the master room when we move in

Bathroom

Obsessed!

A few months ago, my friend from work, Brooke, told me that she had started reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Since I very much love reading (especially series) & hadn't really started a new series in a while, I thought I'd take a wack at 'em. The first book was only....oh about 750 pages but I was very much hooked from the start. One night I seriously stayed up until 3 am reading & only went to bed because I knew Steven would be up in a matter of hours & I wouldn't feel good on so little sleep (not because I was tired or bored). Currently I am on the third book, Voyager, & still loving every one of it's 1059 pages. Brooke started reading the series again in anticipation of the seventh book coming out in September & was hoping to catch up with me but I really don't think that's going to happen ;) Thanks, Brooke, for the recommendation! I am so hooked! Go read them everybody :)

9 Months Already?!?!?

Today Steven is 9 months old. It's weird to think that only 3 months from now he will be a year old! In the past few weeks, he has gotten his two upper teeth. Along with those new arrivals, he has discovered a new use for them: grinding. He will grind his top and bottom teeth together & make the most HORRIBLE noise. He is getting much better at walking but is not quite on his own yet. He balances really well with just one hand on something & we won't be surprised if by his 10-month mark he'll be walking. Below are some pictures and a few videos as well :)



Steven sucking on his lower lip during meal time



Nice face, huh?



He does this thing where he opens his mouth as wide as he can (usually with a scream) & even pulls his upper lip in beneath his teeth. This picture really doesn't do it justice



Parents, lock up your daughters! Those blue eyes are going to be trouble! ;)



Steven in his froggy robe.



Josh was blowing into his face & here Steven was closing his eyes in anticipation



Oh, Steven is obsessed with the bath now. Literally, even if he is lightly asleep, if you turn on the water, he will bolt right up & want to get down from his crib. From there, he will commence to pull everything down within reach from the sides of the tub & attempt to crawl in. If the shower's actually on, he will get himself & the floor very wet before he's done.



We took him to the pool the other day & he pretty much just splashed for 45 minutes straight.

Steven in the bath enjoying himself immensely

Steven showing off a new "trick"

He also puts his hand in his mouth & makes a similar noise as the one above. In the middle, you can also hear him grinding his teeth. Ew.

Ginelle's Birthday

This is sadly one of the most recent pictures I think I have with my sister, Ginelle, and it was taken last November!! Anyway, ever since my oldest siblings have started turning 40, we've been having pretty big birthday bashes for them (a LOT bigger than our normal parties). They've had themes & all been way fun. This August Ginelle is having her big party & decided in lieu of party, she is going to....

GO TO........

I am so uber excited!!! She's not taking her kids or spouse & so it's shaping up to be more of a sibling thing. So far it looks like most of my siblings are going to be able to go. I don't think we've all ever gone to Disneyland together (yeah 9 kids plus adult admission...PRICEY!) & certainly not recently. We're planning on wearing cheesy matching shirts (I vote for neon lime green!!!) & just having a blast together. I don't think anyone is really planning on bringing their spouses (except for Dave & Mary) & less likely their kids so it really will just be a "big kid" day. :) Josh is so busy during the summer that he won't be able to go :( & I definitely do not want to stand around holding Steven the whole time so I'll be leaving him here. (Anyone know of any good babysitters for a day???) If anyone would like to donate to my Disneyland fund, let me know ;)

Oh, and if anyone wants to join us, you're welcome to!

Visiting Family

Last week my sister, Lisa, along with all 4 of her kids & my brother, Marc, drove out here from California. Lisa's oldest daughter was going to EFY that week so they decided to make it their summer vacation & take everyone. Marc was coming out here to stay for the summer & find a job. It was a lot of fun seeing all of them! Here are some pictures.

We went on a walk the first night they got here & the "main attraction" was seeing a dead deer. Gross but oddly interesting...

Ginelle (white shirt) & Lisa on our walkOh, yes, we ARE the human oreo!! Marc & I...especially bad when he's just spent 3 months in Hawaii..My niece, Savanah, & I. She really is like 4+ inches taller than me (at least) but I was able to make this camera angle rather deceptive & make it appear as though there's not too much of a difference...Mandy on this bike-thing...I have no idea what it's called, I just remember riding one as a kid. Remember?? You turn the handle & it makes you go. Soooooo fun!!!We had a family birthday party for my nieces Ashley (left) & Lizzy (right) up the canyon one of the nights. They are almost exactly 1 year apart. (Seriously, what the heck are "pixos"???)Lizzy also got a razor scooter from her mom. It even has a Utah name plate on it (and they say they don't like Utah... ;) )Steven munching on a cucumber. He liked it a lot, actually. My two youngest nieces were trying to feed him all sorts of crazy things that night...cheetos, pinecones...Marc had a disease...his arm grew a babyOur homemade pinata!! (That's right, it was my idea! ;) )Ashley & Lizzy after the pinata had been smashed. They had used party hats to make the points on the pinata so they decided to wear them after. Anna with her party hat

Mother's Day

Sunday was my first official Mother's Day. It did not go exactly as planned.

Normally, my husband's side of the family gets together at Josh's brother's to have dinner & celebrate Mother's Day. This year was just a quick impromptu gathering to give Josh's mom her presents & wish her a happy Mother's Day. (The reason for this is in a post below.) Josh & I didn't do much together either & my family here was with their in-laws.

Silly me, I had actually expected Josh to just "know" what I wanted to do for Mother's Day (I think my exact words were, "I just assumed you knew what happened on Mother's day." [you know what happens when you ass-u-me things, right? ]) & when he wasn't able to read my mind *shocker*, I was pretty ticked. I said some pretty stupid & insensitive things which now I look back on with disgust at myself. I always told myself I would never be "one of those women" who expect their husbands to read their minds. There I was complaining when, in actuality, Josh did provide me with a pretty great Mother's Day gift.

A few weeks ago, Josh asked me what I wanted "Steven" to give me for Mother's Day. I said I thought either a pedicure or a clean house (I never understood why my mom would say that until now...) & maybe breakfast in bed sounded pretty good. He jokingly said that he'd probably just get me a gift certificate so he wouldn't have to clean. About a week ago he & Steven came down with a cold & felt pretty lousy. However, after coming home one afternoon, I was very pleasantly surprised to find the house very clean & Josh just finishing up. Even though he didn't feel good, he decided to clean the house because he knew that would make me happy. Not only that but since then he's been continuing the trend. He'll do the laundry AND fold it AND put it away before I even get around to it, empty the dishwasher before he leaves for work & I'm still in bed & other wonderfully helpful "little things". When I look back at how shamefully I acted a few days ago, I can't believe that I hadn't really appreciated all he had done & all he continues to do. Needless to say, I am feeling pretty lucky & loved right about now. :)

8 months

Time for the monthly update! My little boy is 8 months old already! I sometimes think of him as so grown up that I have to remind myself that he really is still a baby & it really is okay if he's not walking on the moon yet ;)His ever-present facial expression. He constantly has his mouth open.

Awww....my little future BYU student ;)

Hello morning hair! (I don't know how well you can tell, but yes, those are his two front teeth!)

Father & son taking a nap. Neither look all that comfortable...

I left Steven on the bed with lots of pillows around him to take a nap. Apparently he woke up to crawl to the very edge of the bed before zonking out again. Good job, me.

He must really enjoy walking in the stroller because he always just lays back & chills the whole time.

Steven's first experience with a big mirror. He throughly enjoys it.

Is he trying to scare himself? Yes, that is a black eye. His first exploration accident (eye: meet desk leg...)

He would make this face at himself in the mirror. I think he liked seeing what his various faces looked like.

Standing already! One of his favorite past times now is standing himself up on anything.

Playing with daddy's work boots...

After a bath

Instead of staying on his back all night, he now moves around quite a bit.

He uses this activity center as a makeshift walking toy. It slides easily across the carpet. Works pretty well.

He loves pens. Since he doesn't choke himself anymore, I've given in a few times...

Steven seems to be more aware of the concept of "mine!". If you take something away from him he will scream bloody murder at you.

Oh, and he must take his favorite toys with him now...

Steven with his uncle David's sunglasses. Blue Steel master, here he comes!