our first big hosting event

we were so blesssed to have curtis family come to our house for thanksgiving! carolyn and jaxton flew down monday before the holiday and they both got the flu the following day :( the rest of the family got here wednesday morning and luckily our other 2 visitors were feeling better. unfortunately mason got sick that night after dinner and i started throwing up at about 3 am so no thanksgiving dinner for us! tony did prepare a nice turkey and we had a great dinner for those who were able to eat it. the next day it was tony's turn with the bug. everyone else got some shopping done and got some great deals! the majority of family left saturday night but carolyn and jaxton got to stay a couple extra days which was fun! curtis was supposed to talk in church that sunday but conveniently got sick that day. it was pretty funny that 6 out of 10 people got sick over the course of 6 days. other than that we really had a good time. the kids loved playing with each other and carolyn and i enjoyed getting out and doing things together!

here are the grandkids with their grandma! sophie sleeping with grandpa after he slaved in the kitchen all day!
all the kids took a bath...what chaos!
the two older kids made these turkeys on thanksgiving...as you can see mason still isn't 100%

the kids had a blast with carolyn! she is awesome!

me and the boys

are you kidding me!?

these last few months have been so amazingly hard. both kids have been grouchy and not sleeping and i just feel like i cant be mom anymore. i keep telling curtis i am done...no more kids for me!! (probably not true but thats how i feel most days). i thought once we moved out of the apartment things would get better but they haven''t. at least not yet. mason still wont sleep on his own. i have this great book about sleeping problems and i have tried everything it suggests but nothing has helped. i'm just crossing my fingers that it will fix itself over time. sophie is still waking up every 3 hours to eat. between the two of them i don't get much sleep which makes the days super long...especially since they wake up when curtis leaves for work at 6 am. sophie is a freaking whiner. all day long that is all i hear. at night she screams like she is hurting. i give her gas mecidine and hope it helps her feel better.
a few days ago i was looking up some information on an anti-depressant that i am taking and noticed that it said "can cause baby to be irritable, upset stomach, etc." after reading that and thanks to an annoying side effect that i'm experiencing, i decided to find a doctor and get everything figured out. she said the side effect is a common one with anti depessants and she found that this particular medication i was taking is NOT recommended for breastfeeding and it does cause the baby to be irritable, sleeping problems, etc. OH MY GOSH!! i was so angry!! when i first started the medication, i picked my prescription up and noticed it said "DO NOT take if you are breastfeeding." i called my doctor 2 or 3 different times confirming that it was still ok. he told me he recommends that to all his patients who are breastfeeding. guess that's what i get for going to my normal doctor instead of my OBGYN. about the same time i started that medication is when sophie started being a problem child. she went from sleeping 6 hours a night at 2 months old, to not sleeping at all; she went from crying only when she needed something to crying all the time. i feel like such a bad mom :( you know how it is to be a mom....you feel like everything that happens is your fault. luckily i went into the doctor and got things worked out. i am now on a different medication so i'm hoping it can help me and sophie get back to normal.
on the plus side we love our house!! i love having our own space, a yard to play in, counter space and being able to do our laundry without lugging an overflowing basket down a flight of stairs to the laundry room. curtis' dad has been a great help upgrading a few things; putting in ceiling fans and a garage door opener. we are super appreciative of him! we hope that everyone is doing well! we miss all our friends and family in utah! we were so sad that we weren''t able to come out during casey's visit....our house finished that same time and we weren't able to work the trip around the closing date and moving out of our apartment before the end of the month. hope to see you all sometime soon!

finished just in time!

the day has finally come! we close friday the 14th and move down later that day. hallelujah! this apartment is a nightmare. mason is scared of all the sirens and rattling window panes. the guy below us has an anger management problem and hasnt been afraid to show us that. i cant wait to get in our own space and get my family back to normal!!

here are the final pictures of the house! we met with the builder today for a homeowner orientation, got instructions on house up-keep and made sure the house would be up to standards. the backyard is only about halfway done. it actually wasnt even supposed to be done at all, just fenced in, but they had leftover sod and put it back there so that should save us some money :) i didnt really take pictures of any of the other rooms because i couldnt get a good shot on the camera. its perfect though and we cant wait to make it ours!

lookin' good!!

here are some updated photos of the house!

we love how the brick turned out!

this is the view of the living room from the back door

this is the living room/dining area view from the front entry way
kitchen!

my big pantry! :) you walk in and the washer and dryer go just around the corner on the left...thats masons head in the picture. he was closing all the doors :)

a house to call home

hello from texas! although it is hotter than hades here, we are alive and well :)

curtis has been enjoying work but it is a little slow right now while they get everything up and running. he has been traveling a lot the past couple months and still has few more trips in september and october which has been hard but we're getting through it. mason has had a really hard time adjusting which has been terrible for us all. he went from a large, quiet house to a tiny noisy apartment (it doesn't help that the fire station is on the road behind us). during the day he is usually fine but he has a hard time sleeping at night with all the unfamiliar things going on around him. it will get better. hopefully sooner than later. sophie is growing, still as cute as ever! she is always blowing bubbles and is starting to coo and blab a lot more. and as for me, i stay home with the kids and try to keep my sanity :)

we really have enjoyed it here so far. we love the ward we are in and everyone here has been so nice. no wonder texans are so proud. it truly is a great place to live!

a few weeks ago we put on offer in on a house. it was a nice house for a good price and we decided to try for it. when we put the offer in we found out someone else had also just put in their offer. we gave them a price and felt at peace with our choice. if we got it, great! if not, we keep looking. we really knew that heavenly father would make it work out. they didn't accept our offer so we kept looking. a few days later we found a house online: brand new for the same price as used houses we were looking at. when curtis called on it, the realtor said that one was sold but the company was building another one that would be finished in a few months. so we met her at the model house and got a tour. it was an open floor plan (which is what we have been searching for), and had a large utility/pantry area (which is what i really wanted!!). after we talked to the representative and realtor, we knew this is why we didn't get the other house. this house is brand spanking new!! it is the same price as all the other used houses we were looking at plus they pay closing costs which is a huge advantage!! it's in a great location: close to shopping and schools and the freeway so curtis can jump on and get to work. our church is right down the road. there is a little pond where you can go fishing (catch and release :) and a spot set aside to build a park. they do the landscaping in the front and side yards, fence around the backyard and the kitchen comes with a stove, microwave, and dishwasher so all we have to buy is a fridge and washer and dryer! the representative texted me on friday and said the brick had arrived, they would probably start putting it up on monday, and she would send a picture when it was finished. it seriously is such a great deal and everything is working out great!! we are getting all the paperwork wrapped up and it should be done by the end of october/beginning of november! here are a few of the pictures. when we first saw the house on monday it was only framed and by wednesday the outside was basically done. we are so excited and will keep you posted on how things are going!

let the adventure begin!

so this is probably the last post i'll be able to do for a while and the last one as a resident of utah!

the boys are pulling out on the 25th. 5 days and counting. we are borrowing a trailer from curtis' cousin and his grandpa will pull that down while curtis drives our truck and pulls our car behind it. his brother will also ride down with them to help us unload everything at our apartment. the kiddies and i are flying out on the 27th and curtis' mom is coming with us. this was not in our original plan but we were able to find tickets for $50 a person so we went for it! we figured after the cost of gas for the car, a hotel for at least one night and food, the price of the plane tickets was about the same and it wouldnt be nearly as miserable as driving 22 hours with a 2 year old and 2 month old. curtis was in dallas a couple weeks ago for work so he found us an apartment. it isnt the nicest thing on the block but it ended up being just what we need right now and we dont plan on staying there for long anyway. it had the cheapest rent and utilites are included which is huge because utlities are super expensive down there! we were also able to get a month to month rent worked out so that when we find a house we wont be stuck in a contract. the land ladies seem really nice and sent us a little card the week after curtis booked our apartment. there are several cops that live there and its supposed to be a quiet neighborhood so thats pretty cool. truthfully i am really excited!! we have heard a ton of great things about texas and we are so lucky to be moving somewhere people want to stay instead of trying to get out (like california :). we will have a temple close by and our church will only be about 15 minutes away. we will also be living near a lake so that is exciting for summer activities. on the down side, i'm scared to death. i have lived in cedar since i was 3. both curtis and i have family here and it will be a bummer not to go to all the get togethers. we will have to find babysitters now instead of calling my mom. since it's the mission field we have been warned that there is a good chance we will get some pretty serious callings which curtis and i are both dreading :) and worst of all we have to make new friends :( i dont want new friends. i love the ones i already have! ugh. i am certainly not looking forward to that part. heavenly father definitely knows how to get you out of your comfort zone. i'm gonna suck it up and try to enjoy myself!

so here's to the next chapter in our lives. new baby, new job, new state, new house. it's the right thing to do so i know everything will turn out exactly how it's supposed to! hopefully you hear from us soon!

goodbye utah, hello texas!

a name and blessing

sophie girl is almost 6 weeks old and we decided to give her a blessing before we move to texas. since it was a holiday weekend, many of our family members couldnt find subs for thier callings so we had a smaller than usual crowd. even though we missed those members, sometimes less isnt such a bad thing! less food to be prepared, less mess to clean up afterward!

sophie's dress ended up being super cute on her! it was a little big but nothing that a couple saftey pins couldnt fix! curtis gave her a great blessing. it was short and sweet and i could be wrong but i thought i heard a little emotion creep into his voice :) i love that we have the priesthood in our home and that our children have a dad who is worthy of giving them such wonderful blessings!