Amelia's First Lost Tooth

Amelia lost her first tooth on Saturday. It had been really loose for the last couple of days and I wanted to just pull it out and get it over with but Amelia thought that it would hurt. So, we just wiggled it every night hoping that it would fall out the following day. Well, Saturday morning, she and I went to the Primary Program practice where they had donuts and hot chocolate for treats afterward. She was sitting there eating her donut when all of the sudden, her tooth came right out. She was so excited! She ran around the room telling everyone (and I mean everyone) that her tooth just came out. The little kids and the adults all thought that it was pretty cool, but the older kids were not as impressed. She could hardly wait to come home and show daddy and Ashley and Elliot. Then she called Grandma Corinne to tell her the great news. The tooth fairy came that night and left her $3...A Susan B. Anthony dollar, a silver dollar and a Sacagawea dollar. But if you ask Amelia, she will tell you that the tooth fairy left her three cents.

Dinosaur Museum Revisited

Back in August, I took the kids to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point for one of the $2 Tuesday deals. Sure it was a great deal, but it was so crowded and crazy that I would hardly call it enjoyable. The girls did have fun but we weren't able to do a lot of the hands-on activities because of the crowds. A child could have easily been swallowed up by the mass of people and most moms were using their strollers at battering rams. I couldn't get out of their fast enough.


So, I decided that we needed to go back and hopefully hit it during a time when there weren't as many people filling the museum. I'm not going to tell you exactly when that was because it is my little secret. There were so few people there that the girls did all the activities a few times and even had the dinosaur dig area all to themselves at one point. It was perfect.

I invited my sister Tamara to come along and join us which made it even better. I hid myself behind the camera and Tam was able to enjoy all that the museum had to offer, all while being pulled by an over enthusiastic 5-year-old. We happened to go on a day when they were having Pirate Day which was totally unexpected. The girls got to make pirate headbands, get their face painted and they got to choose their pirate name. How cool is that? This was one of Ashley's first big outings after being potty trained and she did great. I (of course) kept a little stash of motivators (i.e. candy) in my purse just in case they were needed.


My mom was really sad that she was left out of our little excursion but we were going to surprise her later. She had gone down to the Cabin the night before for the semi-annual work weekend, but nothing much was going on so she really wanted us to come down and spend the day. After lunch at Wingers and a quick stop at my house, we headed down to Fairview. When we pulled into the driveway at the cabin, the happiest Grandma in the world came out to greet us. It was too funny. So, we played at the cabin for a couple of hours, had dinner, and then we were back on the road again to go home. It was a long drive for such a short visit, but it was so worth it.

Amelia is growing up

Wow! My little baby girl is growing up so fast. She started preschool this year and absolutely loves it. She is going 3 days a week and it is so different when she is not home. The first few days, Ashley would go around the house looking for Amelia and I had to continually tell her that Amelia was at preschool. Ashley is a little bit lost without her playmate. But on the flip side, I have been able to spend a lot more one-on-one time with Ashley and that has been really nice. Amelia comes home each day with a new song that she teaches to the rest of us. She is learning to write her letters and numbers and of course, she love Show and Tell time.


Amelia also celebrated her 5th birthday in September. We were lucky enough to go to the Cabin and celebrate which was a ton of fun. We were just about to turn onto Hwy 89 from Hwy 6 when I realized that I forgot to pick up her birthday cake from Albertson's before heading up the canyon. Oops. So, we turned around and got the cake which made us about an hour later getting there than we thought. We actually went out to dinner for my birthday too which was fun. On Saturday (two days before her actual birthday), we started the day by going to the farmer's market in Spring City. It was small but a fun little adventure for us. That night, we had Grandma and Grandpa Van Horn over for dinner at the Cabin. Yummy Sanpete BBQ turkey for dinner with fabulous fixin's. Amelia then got to open presents and it was so fun to see her face light up with each gift. Ashley wanted to be in on the action too and help Amelia open all her presents. Luckily, Amelia shared some things with Ashley, but only occasionally.

Elliot - 7, 8, 9 months old

Summer has come and gone and my little baby is now 9 months old. Time sure does fly by when you are having fun. Elliot has 4 teeth now with 2 more that just broke through within the last few days. He has started army crawling all over the house which is really annoying to the girls. They are constantly asking me to move Elliot away from where they are so he won't slobber all over their stuff. He mastered rolling over at about 7 months and just before he turned 9 months, he figured out how to sit up from laying down. It may sound like he is a little bit behind on these skills but he's got a lot of weight to throw around so it takes a little bit more effort.

We did a lot of traveling over the summer and Elliot got into the bad habit of waking up in the middle of the night. I was usually so tired that I would just nurse him back to sleep so that I could get back to bed too. There were even some nights that I just brought him into bed with us so that we could all be happy. Well, it is time to break him of that habit. When he has woken up in the middle of the night (these past 2 nights), I have checked on him, covered him back up with his blanket, and then just walked away. I crawl back into my warm bed and turn off the monitor, then fall asleep to his crying. The weird thing is that he is actually sleeping later into the morning now. I hope that soon he will re-learn how to get himself back to sleep without the 20 minutes of crying at 2 a.m.

7 months old

8 months old

9 months old

Electrical

Guy was a little disappointed that my last post didn't mention anything about the electrical work that he had done in the bathroom. So, this is for you Guy.

Guy moved the playroom light from here...

to here.

Wiring for the light in the center of the bathroom.

Light switch, outlets, and a new light over the vanity.

Bathroom progress?

Some of you may be wondering what kind of progress has been happening on our bathroom relocation in the basement. Well, things are going slow. Demolition began back in January 2008 and I thought that we were done with that. But then we noticed that the area of sheet rock that covered the duct work was sloping and we wouldn't be able to tie into it without ripping it all out and doing it right. So, this is setting us back.

A while back, Guy's friend Courtney came over and helped him pour concrete to fill the holes where we put in new plumbing. We also bought a toilet, vanity, counter top, sink and mirror that are ready to be installed. The original deadline for this project was when Elliot was born. Then I moved it to June 1 and I told Guy that I would be hiring a contractor. Obviously, I haven't done that yet. We have a good friend that is willing to help Guy with the sheet rock when he is ready which should be soon. (We'll see about that.) After that, it should be easy to do some painting and tile work and a few finishing touches. Maybe it will be done by Christmas this year...when Elliot is a year old.

End of an era

I recently got a letter from my credit union. Apparently, an account that I have had since I was a kid is inactive. Not too surprising though since I haven't lived near a branch in almost seven years. The last activity for the account was 5 years ago. So, for the last 5 years, I have let $150 just sit there and earn a measly amount of interest. Now, if I don't take it out and close my account, the CU will take $5 a month until there is no more to take and then they will close the account. I think I'll go with the first idea and get my money. Hmm...what to do with it. I'm thinking of splitting it three ways and starting saving accounts for my kids.

4th of July Festivities

My mom called me up on the 3rd and asked if we would be interested in joining them for the parade in Centerville on the 4th because my cousin Jared was going to be in it. Instead of spending the night at my mom's house, we decided just to get the kids up early on Saturday and drive up. Elliot woke up twice during the night (something that he never does) so when my alarm went off at 6:00, I really didn't want to get up. So of course, we were running a little bit late that morning. Luckily, mom, Steve and Tamara were running on time and they got an awesome spot for us. In years past for the 4th, we have run a 5k in Magna in the morning and then saw the parade in the afternoon. The parade in Centerville started at 9:00 so it was never terribly hot so that was great. The girls enjoyed running out in the street for candy and we all stood and cheered when Jared came by on his unicycle. We were even lucky enough for him to come back and juggle fire for us. Too cool.


After getting back to my mom's house to get ready for a BBQ, Tamara decided that it was time for me to learn how to drive the convertible. The last time that I tried to drive it was about 10 years ago. Right after my dad got the Cobra, it was time for the annual Ute Stampede car show in Nephi. He was so excited to take both cars down for the car show. But he was especially excited to be able to drive the Cobra and listen to music and not have the windy drive in the convertible. I was given that task. The only problem was that I had never driven that car. My dad thought that because I could drive a clutch, I would be able to handle a 1964 Mustang. Wrong! I didn't even make it to the end of the street. Apparently I was trying to start in 3rd gear. But 1st and 3rd were so close that I couldn't even tell the difference. When my dad and I switched cars before leaving site of our house, he was not too happy. Fast forward ten years and Tamara was very insistant on me driving the Mustang from her house over to my mom's. After a couple of rounds in the church parking lot, I was ready for the open road. I made it all the way there without killing it and it was a blast! I miss going for rides in that car. Guy even got the privilege of going for a spin and then he took me for a ride. Totally fun. I took all the girls for a little ride. It was ok at first. But then Amelia said that the car needed a roof and that she didn't like it windy. Ashley slept through the whole ride. We thought that she was just snuggling with Tam until we got home and realized that she was asleep.


We had a great BBQ (Sanpete turkey and corn on the cob were the highlights) and got out the kiddie pool for the kids. Amelia would live in the pool if she could. Ashley even enjoyed being in the pool this year. I decided to get Elliots trunks on him and let him take a dip too. He was not a big fan of the cold water so he got to sit on the side line and just dip his toes in.


Sunday morning, I dressed the kids in red, white and blue for church and snapped a few pictures. I love being able to dress them up all matchy.

Elliot - 6 months old

My little baby boy is 6 months old. I can hardly believe it. He is a very happy baby about 90% of the time. He likes to be held and pretty much stops crying instantly if you just pick him up. He is still trying to roll over and just makes it to his side and then goes right back to being on his back. He can sit up for about 5 minutes before getting tired and flopping over. The good news is that I think he likes sitting up a lot better than lying down so maybe that will motivate him a little more to master this skill. He is eating cereal and veggies twice a day now and tolerates most of them but really loves sweet potatoes and squash. He loves sitting at the dinner table with us and making faces at daddy. Elliot still loves the sound of his voice and squeals just to hear himself. Amelia was singing a lullaby to him this morning while I was getting ready. It is great to know that she loves him so much. I've also had to switch him to a convertible car seat because he has outgrown the infant seat. Which also means that he gets to sit in the cart like a big boy. I think that he really enjoys shopping a lot more now. He had his 6-month check-up on Monday and is doing great. He weighed in at 21 lbs 5 ozs and 28 3/4 inches long. So, he is in the 95th percentile for everything. What a big boy!

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Ashley celebrated her 3rd birthday on June 23rd and we all had a ball. Before we could go to the puppet show at the library, Guy and I had to make a quick stop at the high school to vote on a bond for the school district. (The results were finally official on July 1st with the bond passing with a 1.99% advantage and the leeway passing by a mere 0.84%. Next time you are thinking that your vote doesn't matter, it does. Only about 10% of registered voters actually participated in the election.) The puppet show was a ton of fun and taught the kids about saying "please" and "thank-you" so that the things that they are given don't disappear. When the show was over, we went home and had cake and ice cream and then opened presents. Ashley picked out a hippo cake (I love Albertson's bakery) and Cherry Chocolate Chip ice cream. Super yummy! Then she got a new Memory game, magnetic dress-up dolls, Rocket (from Little Einsteins) and a new outfit. The girls even got to stay up a little later because we got home a little later from the puppet show. Sharing the new toys has been really hard. Amelia will ask very politely if she can play with one of Ashley's new toys and Ashley will say "no" so Amelia will start crying. Life is rough when you're little.


On Sunday, the 28th, we had Grandma and Grandpa Van Horn, Grandma Corinne and Grandpa Steve and Auntie Tamara come over for dinner. I made a chicken and rice soup and then a fresh strawberry vinaigrette dressing to go with a yummy strawberry salad. My mom made yummy bread sticks and a delicious cake and Tam brought drinks and the best ice ever from Sonic. I think that Tamara wanted to bring drinks just so she could hear Ashley say, "More lemonade" all through dinner. From Grandma Corinne and Grandpa Steve, Ashley got a new outfit, African animals, and a princess sleeping bag. Auntie Tamara gave her a farm set with so many animals that I can't keep track of them all. She has so much fun playing with all of them. Grandma and Grandpa Van Horn gave her a Tinker-bell outfit and a shirt that says "I'm the cute sister".

What a fun birthday for my little 3-year-old.

Collings Family Reunion

The second weekend in June, we had our annual Collings Family Reunion at Skyline Mountain Resort in Fairview. My mom and Steve took Amelia and Ashley down with them on Thursday afternoon and then Guy and I came down with Elliot that night after Guy got off work. It was nice to be able to get things done without the girls, but Elliot was still really demanding so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to by the time that Guy got home. By the time we got to camp, it was just about time to go to bed so we got everything situated and then made it to bed by about 11:00. We decided to stay with my mom and Steve in their trailer instead of setting up our tent like we usually do and it worked out ok. So, we had 7 people in their tent trailer which made for some pretty cramped living but it was still fun.

On Friday, we had planned to go on a hike but we got a phone call that Jeff and Linda's motorhome had broken down and they were going to need some help. So, once Erin got to camp with the tent trailer, Tamara followed her back to the motorhome so they could unload it and then Jeff would see if he could get it running again. So, we never did make it hiking but the rain kind of prevented that too.

Saturday was our big day of activities. Guy wanted to take us out shooting but with all the preparations for dinner that night, we never got around to it. He started giving us a hard time that we are the "campers who don't do anything!" But really, I like vacations where you just sit around and relax. Activities started at 4:00 down at the cabin and we missed about half of them because we were still making the potato salad for dinner. Oh well. We made it in time for the dress-ups, which was the best part. Right after the parade of dress-ups, it started to rain just a little bit so we decided to move everything down to the pavilion. And it is a good thing that we did. Right after we got all the food set up, it started pouring! And to make it worse, the wind was blowing and it was so cold. Dinner was yummy and luckily Elliot slept in the car through it all so I didn't have to worry about him getting cold. Amelia and Ashley shivered all through dinner though. After dinner was over, the rain started to let up and the kids ran all around. Amelia was having a blast until one of her cousins broke her stick dragon. And Grandma was the only one who could make it all better. We headed back to camp for hot cocoa and popcorn and then it was off to bed.


Sunday morning we had our traditional breakfast, which we should really start calling brunch because we rarely eat before 11:00. We all enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and then...it started to rain. We hurried to get everything out of the rain and then did dishes in the trailer while we waited for it to stop. We were hoping to start packing up to go home, but at the same time, we didn't want to get soaked doing it. So, we packed everything that we could while we were in the trailer and then ventured outside to organize the Durango when the rain let up. Finally, Guy put on a ponch since it never really did stop raining. We finally left to come home at about 4:00 and we were able to get everything unloaded just before the rain started again.