Mother's Day Weekend

We had a really nice weekend although it was mostly filled with unpacking. We originally planned a trip to Ikea because we need a dining room table to eat at and a bookcase but we figured that it needed to wait. We still had and have a lot of unpacking to do and we are expecting a visit from some dear friends Memorial Day weekend so we figured we needed to get our priorities straight.

Unpacking with a little one around is challenging but fun. We have to take turns or involve Josie somehow in the process if its possible. It slows us down but its so entertaining to watch as she tries to do everything we do and beams with pride for accomplishing the task at hand. This task was putting together a set of table and two chairs. Our little one is so observant. She watched as Grant and I twisted the screwdriver to move a screw into a hole in her chair. Once the screwdriver was placed on the floor she saw her chance and made her move. She immediately grabs the screwdriver and sticks it into the whole and twists her wrist not the tool to mimic the motion she had just witnessed. We complimented her on her swift technique and fine craftmanship to which she gave us simple smile of agreement. From that point on she was hooked and had to be involved in the whole process. If we were using the screwdriver she had the allenwrench. If both tools were being used she helped hold the piece that was being worked on. It was a fun project and she beamed at that finished product. Afterall it was full of butterflies and flowers, two of her favorite things! Grant and I decided that this day was turned out much better than originally planned!

For Mother's Day Grant surprised me with some beautiful daisies on Saturday and Josie treated me to a Relief Society Meeting by myself. She had decided that she was Daddy's girl and just could not stand to be away from him for one minute. It was pretty darn cute! My flowers are gorgeous and perfect. I feel so happy just looking at them. At the time my vases were packed but I had a big mason jar that I used for canning and put them in there. It was a perfect look for them because it looked like we had just picked them wild from a field. It gave them charm!

All in all the weekend was perfect. We were all exhausted from working but it was just so simple and peaceful. It was just nice to be together as a family!

The finished product!

And of course my beautiful Mother's Day Daisies!

Mmmm... grilled cheese!

So we are in a bit of a crossroads with Josie and her eating. She didn't really start to eat solids until she was 11 months. Her stomach couldn't handle it. She is doing great and her tastes are broadening a bit. We still give her a little bit of the pureed baby food stuff but she has moved on to green beans, marshmallows, pretzels, cereal (so far its Golden Grams and Cheerios), cheese, chocolate (loves it like her daddy), grilled cheese, and as of a couple of days ago chicken and rice. She has many dislikes as well and finding fruit that she likes is difficult. She only eats peaches right now. She does not like bananas but she will eat banana bread. She eats other things as well I just can't remember them all at the moment. It also depends upon her mood and what she will eat, but aren't we all that way. She is our funny girl. The crossroads is that she is really wanting to feed herself and its really cute. I had to record her eating her grilled cheese.

I know how many grilled cheese pictures and videos do you need, but she is just so darn cute!

Easter Finale

So Easter came and poor Josie didn't get her Easter basket until that evening. We still had to put it together. We didn't get to do it the night before because we got home so late from preparing our new home. We all slept in and we finally put her basket together while she was down for her nap. That's why she is in our bedroom during all of this. I found the bunny ears I made for her and she looks more like a little kid now than the baby that wore them last year. I could write more but we have lots of video footage to get through and it tells the story well.

Last Year's Picture

My little baby is getting big :(

Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend started on Friday with a visit to a very cute park not too far from our new home. It's called Frying Pan Farm and this time of year is the perfect time to go and see baby farm animals. It is wide open with different pens and fields for the animals. There is a visitors center, a playground, an old country store, several barns filled with old farming equipment, a 4-H building, a show arena, and a grill to get some food. It's free to go in but you have to pay for the wagon rides. Grant liked the fact that the wagons were pulled by an old Farmall like his Aunt Alice has.

It was such a beautiful spring day and many families were there. We went around lunch time and there were several families having a picnic with blankets spread throughout the grassy areas designated us people. You could pet the animals and they had hand washing stations once you were done. They also had little areas for talks about the animals and a cow milking station where they show you how and I believe that you could try milking them as well. The sign there said next milking session 4pm. Fun!

So now for the animals. We saw turkeys, a peacock, goats, chickens, baby chicks, ducks, cows, calves, sheep, lambs, horses, a pig and piglets. Josie had fun and it was nice to show her animals that look like the one from her play farm! When we looked back at the video it seems the only animals she wasn't thrilled about were the pigs. It could be there were so many kids in there. She enjoyed watching the other kids as well.

The rest of the day was spent at our new house sealing the grout in the tile and running errands. We did not make it back home until after midnight. We were all tired. Grant had to do some work so Josie and I just vegged on the couch for a little bit. She loves kleenex boxes and to pull the tissues out one by one. She usually has her own box but being tired I just handed her the one we were using. This is what happens when mom zones out.

Wow, I think I will have to do a part two later. To follow will be an Easter Basket for Josie and Moving day for us! We move Thursday!

So since this weekend is General Conference, Josie got to wear her Easter dress last Sunday. This year Easter snuck up on me and I totally forgot to get her matching shoes. So she wore her black ones to church... oh well. She was such a cutie regardless!

Our New House is Finished... well almost.

So Friday we got up at 6am to make our 9am final walk through appointment for our new house. When we arrived I even noticed that the yard was landscaped so they were completely done! We met with Wade, the head builder, and another guy I want to call him Bill and hope that is his real name. I am so horrible about names. Anyways It was nice to see them set the example and remove their shoes upon entering our new home. We did the same and made our way inside. We crossed over our little patch of honey something colored hardwood floor and into our nicely beige carpeted living room. Everything looked great. We could see our stainless steal appliances gleaming in the kitchen and the reddish tan tile looked great. We love the shiny black granite counter top and our backsplash that lines the wall between cabinets and counter top is... oh no it doesn't look good at all what were we thinking? Oh wait a minute its the wrong tile! Yep they installed the wrong tile and when we told them they were totally shocked because supposedly they love their tile guy and he has never made a mistake like this. So when looking at our pictures make a mental note that the backsplash will match the the kitchen floor. Also in the pictures you will see blue tape on the walls. Its for the painters to do touch-ups

The back with our garage and that is our deck in upper right corner.

Our little side yard.

Our garage and house number






Our half bath next to the kitchen


Our stairway


Master bedroom


Master bath


Hallway


Guest bath


Josie's room


Guest bedroom

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Construction Site Walk-through

A month ago we visited the construction site of our townhouse. They had just begun the framing that week and were going to put on the roof the next day. It wasn't much to look at but we were excited anyway because they were making progress.


Our unit is on the bottom of the building, floors 1 and 2. Looking at the back, our garage is on the left. There is another unit above us, it starts on the third floor, you have to walk up two flights of steps just to get to your living room.


So today we were able to visit our new home and do a walk-through inspection of the framing, electrical, plumbing and window installation with the builder.

The front

Our lot is #89, this is our living room window and our front-door. The ground was very muddy because of all the melting snow.



So much progress in such a short time, it was very exciting


The back


In order to go inside the construction zone we were required to wear hardhats. Josie kept reaching up and touching them so finally I let her put mine on.


Mindy is looking stylish in hers.


It was an interesting experience to be able to see where all of the outlets, plugs and other receptacles will be. Also to know which walls are load bearing and which ones have pipes running through them.

They will begin hanging drywall this week and should be all finished by the end of next month or the first week of April. We'll get to do another walk-through right before closing.

Here are some pictures of what it looks like now.

The living room

Looking out the window

On the other side of that wall is the stairs for the upstairs unit


The kitchen (Builder on the left, inspecter on the right)


The stairs



Master bedroom

We have a box window that can be a seat.


From inside the closet, where there is also another window


Looking at the door towards the hallway and stairs


Josie's room