What does yellow mean?

The other day we were driving in the car and I decided to teach Carter what the traffic lights in Utah meant.

Then I thought it would be fun to work on counting with him....

And spelling....

He still has some work to do, but hey he is only 2.

Its been a long time....

I have decided today is the day to start my blog again. I know it has been a long time, but hey at least I am starting now.

We have been pretty busy with our new house, the holidays, and keeping up with this little 2 year old. I just cannot believe how fast these little kids grow up. He is talking pretty much in full sentences, he says bless you when you sneeze, please, thank you and your welcome, and he will get himself a napkin when needed. We are having a hard time with things to eat, but he is still growing up nice and healthy.

Here are a couple videos of him singing his ABC's and twinkle twinkle little star.

I have noticed that the reason I dread updating the blog, is because I feel the need to post huge things. So I am not going to. Just short and sweet. So enjoy these videos!

Well.... Its been awhile!!! But A LOT has been going on!!!

A lot of things have happened in the past 6 months or so!!! We were living in Holladay and my nanny job was about to be up. So we had to make a decision whether to stay in our same apartment and pay a lot of money, move somewhere else where rent was cheaper, or buy a house.

I was looking on KSL in the house department, and kept seeing this one house. It was the only house for sale in our price range that was actually a house and not a condo or townhouse. But it was a bank owned property and the only picture it had was the front of the house, and it was pretty rough looking. So I called the realtor for the exact address so I could drive by and see it. So he gave me the address and the code for the lock box so I could see inside without having him meet me out there.

When I got to the house, it was pretty rough looking. I walked inside and I was afraid to touch anything. The pictures say enough....

The master bedroom (with beautiful sports wall paper)

Looking from the living room (with salmon pink paint and no carpet throughout the whole house)

The dining room (also with no flooring)

The Living room (the front window is cracked all the way down)

The Kitchen (the dark spot is mold. Ya the whole kitchen floor needed to be ripped out and replaced due to mold under the sink and all over the floor.)

The back yard- (for some reason I didn't take a picture of the front of the house)

The bathroom-( this was the nicest part of the whole house)

The other half of the back yard

The other bedroom up stairs- (more sports wall paper)

After seeing this house, I thought wow this sure is a fixer-upper, and I really wanted Devin to see it. It was a 3 bed 1 1/2 bath, 1 car garage with a dining room. It also had a fenced back yard and it wasn't a condo or town house, So I really wanted him to see it.

I called him as I was leaving and told him that I wanted him to see this house tonight, and I would get him from work. So we met our Realtor over there and to my surprise Devin didn't think it was too bad. I was so excited. Right away we started talking about carpet colors, paint, tile etc.

We had our Realtor put an offer down for us, which was a pretty reasonable offer and we waited. And waited and waited. The wait is what kills you.

Well we didn't hear anything. They never got back to us. So we decided to move on. We continued looking and found a few more townhouses that were short sales and we put offers down. I think we put 4 or 5 other offers on different places and we either never heard anything or they counter offered and we decided to not go with it.

Well while we were waiting to hear from one of them, our Realtor called us back and said that the first home we put an offer on, had just dropped the price to what we had offered about a month prior. We decided to offer the same thing and them pay closing.

Well with in 48 hours we got a letter saying they had accepted our offer and we were to close in about 4 weeks. We were so excited. Oh my goodness! So we started getting everything ready, doing inspections, meth tests, and getting bids for things we need to get done to make it live- able.

So we did. And we closed. And now we live there!!! and we LOVE it!!!! Here are some pictures of what it looks like now!!!

Our new House in West Jordan UT

The living room..New Paint and new carpet

This used to be the blue room.....Not any more!!!
The kitchen.... New tile and paint and appliances

Our new front window!!!

Used to be the red room....
My first flower garden!!!

There are still some things that we need to do, it is far from being done. But we love it. We have met our neighbors and we have a park right in the back yard just through the fence. And Carter LOVES that!!!!!!

Update...I know...Its been awhile

Wow... time sure flies when you are busy and having fun. I have only 3 days left to nanny, and it is kind of bitter sweet. I know that Carter is going to miss being around this kids, and all that he has learned. And weird to say, so will I. It has been a wonderful experience for us all....

This is an example of the kids and how determined they are...

She really wanted to eat that yogurt!!!!

Maren will be 2 on May 1st and William her brother just turned 3 in Jan. They are very smart and fun kids, but need a lot of attention. They have taught Carter a lot of good things, and a lot of not so good things. Like how to feed himself, how to walk and talk, and scream and throw fits.

Carter is also growing so fast and learning so much. For example, when I am driving, and I start to yell at another car for cutting me off or something like that (which happens all the time), Carter will try and repeat EVERYTHING I say. Haha. Its kind of scary. But we love him anyway!!

He has also been sleeping through the night, (knock on wood) for the past 2 weeks now. From 8pm ish to 7:30 ish. Life is so much different when you have had sleep!!!!

HOW?????????????????

To all you moms out there, how in the heck do you keep your house clean? It seems that no matter WHAT I do, I can never stay ahead. There are always toys everywhere!

Our trip to Cabot, Arkansas

A couple of weekends ago, Carter and I flew out to Cabot, Arkansas to visit a good friend of mine and her family. It was so great to see Jessie and her hubby John, and their four boys...Joseph, Hyum, Henry and Benson, and number 5 is on the way. Carter had so much fun playing with all the boys that were his same age. He didn't want to leave!!!!!

John is in the airforce, and we got to watch all the planes take off and land at the air force base.

Here is her car full of little handsome boys!!!!!! So much fun!

And here they were all getting ready to eat lunch! Thanks Jessie for having us over! It was so great to see you all. You are a wonderful mom!!!!!! I have learned a lot from you.
I had never been to arkansas so it was very interesting to visit. I took some very funny pictures, that I will post next.

Carters Partner in crime is finally born!!!

Luke Russell Havens was blessed this last weekend in Idaho, and Carter couldn't of been more excited. Our good friends Jesse and Emily were blessed with him 2 1/2 months ago. We can only imagine what these two will be into in the future.
Congrats you guys. He is so handsome!

When Devin and Jesse were growing up, they were into everything. We won't go into any details, but lets just say if we live anywhere near each other, the cops better be on the lookout!!!

For all you mothers out there....

By Shannon Popkin
This little story is sooooo funny!!!!

"My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does
it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we are in the
library, the grocery store or at a drive-thru window. People often
comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you
never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked.
There have been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning
of his words
would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I
wished this more than last week at
Costco.

Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with
me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom
that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second
to the last stall:

''Mommy, are you gonna go potty?

Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy?

Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now?

Mommy, what are you doing?

Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?''

At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the
bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full ... 4? 5? Maybe we
could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this
stall and reveal my identity.

Cade continued: ''Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you?

Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy!

Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty?

Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh ... Mommy!

I'm trying to see In dere.

Oh! I see dem.

Dat is a very good girl, Mommy.

You are gonna get some candy!''

I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of
me.

Where is a screaming new born when you need her? Good grief. This was
really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before
exiting. Trying to divert him, I said, ''Why don't you look in Mommy's
purse and see if you can find some candy. We'll both have some!''

''No, I'm trying to see doze stinkies"

"Oh! Mommy!'' He started to gag at this point.

''Uh - oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up.

Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!!

Dat is so gross!!''

As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall.. I
quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to
reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four
flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this
embarrassing monologue will be long gone.

''Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going
stinkies! Get up! Get up!''

He grunted as he tried to pull me off Now I could hear full-blown
laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door. !

''Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy?

You wooking under da door? What were you wooking at? Mommy?

You wooking at the wady's feet?''

More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the
situation.

''Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now,
Mommy.''

He started pounding on the door. ''Mommy, don't you want to wash your
hands? I want to go out!!''

I saw that my wait 'em out' plan was unraveling.. I sheepishly opened
the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies
crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first
thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, where's the fine
print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my
dignity and privacy? But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin
while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought,
I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little
fellow.

(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three She lives with
her family in Grand Rapids , Michigan , where she no longer uses public
restrooms)"

I would sign it all away again too!!!

Great story!

Sorry!!

It has been awhile since my last post, but I really don't have anything to write about. We are still alive, and doing well. Here are some things going on:

Devin is getting ready to take the GMAT this Saturday, so he can get into Grad school at the University of Utah. He also has gotten a new office, and is no longer in a cubicle. We are so excited for him. He is moving up in the world. He has also been working his tail off to finish our ward picture roster. That is about 700 people that we need to get information from. But he is doing a very good job.

~We are excited for the super bowl this Sunday, I don't know why, just something to look forward too!

Carter is growing up faster and faster. It's amazing how fast they learn and grow.

We were going to do ear tubes about 2 weeks ago, but after talking to a few more people, we decided to wait. So far so good. (knock on wood) But he hasn't had an ear infection for the past 2 months. yay!!!! He is also eating better and learning to sleep better. ( still not all the way through, but only waking up twice its amazing!) He has learned to run and is pretty fast.

~We had to speak in Sunday a couple weeks ago, and I almost passed out. Devin gave a wonderful talk, and man I am glad it is over with.

~Our church has now changed to 1 o'clock, and that is a good thing and a bad thing. That is around Carters nap time, so He will fall asleep in the car, and I will hold him the rest of church and he will sleep till about 3:45. So really only 15 min he has to be in church. That is the good part. The bad part, well it starts at 1:00 so the whole day is used in getting ready...etc.

Other then that, nothing else has been going on. But if anything else happens, I will let you know.

Christmas Eve in Idaho

Grandma Phillips went winter shopping for all the grandkids. And doesn't he look so cute... He loved the snow and was so upset to have to go back inside. True Idaho boy!
They even got to go 4-Wheeling, and pet the horses.

Christmas Happenings...

Over Christmas Break my sister Elli and her new hubby Matt were able to come from Florida and stay with us for a few days. It was so great to meet Matt and spend time with them. On the saturaday before Christmas, Elli, Matt, Carter and I all flew to Colorado to get ready for their reception. The picture of the flowers were her bridesmaids bouqets. I sadly didn't get any other pictures, but the flowers I thought turned out very pretty.
Also while we were home Santa came to my parents house and gave us all a treat.


For the past couple of months Carter has been dying to open up some of the presents that were under our tree. Well not open them, just tear them to shreds. Finally on Christmas morning, his wish came true.

Just being silly...