May Projects

Jeff thought we needed a few fun projects this month, so we decided to tackle some outside things.  

We painted our back patio

During (or before) and I didn't take an after before we covered it with all the stuff for extending the patio so I'll get that later.

We also painted the garage floor.  And cleaned out the garage.
Before

After

Then Memorial Day weekend we dove in and started extending our patio.  We dug it out Saturday.

Then Monday we started laying bricks and the weather was bad.  Finally, we had to just give up...

And the rain just kept coming but we had gutters put up in the mean time and then after 2 weeks of our backyard being a mess, we were finally able to finish this last Saturday.  The kids love the dirt pile that we created.  They want it to stay...me, not so much!

But we finished and the kids love the little rock pit we created for them.  It is my compromise on a sand box.

And the finished patio.  Once all the grass grows in around it, we will be done and be able to use this awesome new space we created!

I like projects, but I love when we finish and spend the next few Saturdays having fun instead of working.  Too many big projects as a kids makes me a little jaded I guess, but I am glad we are done and I love the patio.  We have been out there a ton this week and I know we will use it a lot!

Our new addition

So, if you felt really busy and overwhelmed with all that you had to accomplish most days with 3 kids, wouldn't you run out and get a dog?  Well, neither would we, but when you discover a stray puppy and after calling round trying to find a shelter and seeing most of them are full, we gave in and brought her home.  

Jeff discovered a litter of puppies near his work and started talking about them a few weeks ago.  Then when we got back from Austin, most of the puppies had disappeared so we thought we had missed our chance.  Then this little girl came back and Jeff was able to catch her.  We took her to the vet and she was about 7 weeks old.  We named her Casey and she came to us one sick little puppy.  She has scabies, parasites and was really malnourished.  She has now been with us just over a week and is doing much better.  She has gained about 2 lbs, is almost done with the scabies and is almost done with her antibiotics that she takes twice a day.  

Her first medicated bath.  

The sulfur wash that is supposed to kill stuff.  It smelled bad...just like sulfur.  

 Eating.

 The kids weren't allowed to touch her the first week so we put up a gate so they could see her and talk to her.  Bode's little legs are my favorite.

 She loves this little corner.

 But she does venture out in the backyard and once we were given the ok from the vet, Harrison loves playing with her.

 She already potties only in the back yard and not on the patio.  She is not a big barker.  She eats well and seems to like to chew some.  We will see how her personality develops over these next weeks and hopefully we can start some training when she isn't still so scared of us!

9 months

This big girl hit her 9 month mark on May 25th.  And what a 9 months it has been.  She went to the Dr. and weighs in at about 21 lbs., is about 27 in. long and a head circumference of about 18 in.!  She is one big girl and one big personality.  We always thought she was an easy going baby, but she has some spunk to her!

 She loves to explore and gets into just about everything.  She just recently went from scooting to crawling.  She pulls herself up on everything and puts whatever she can get her hands on straight in her mouth.  You have to watch this one!!!

 She loves to be around people but doesn't really need to interact with them.  She is happy watching what is going on and then trying to join in.  This is really cute unless you start eating your brother's lego creation or grabbing at your sister's baby doll.  Everyone is learning how to be patient though :)

 She is still a great sleeper and usually goes down between 8 and 8:30 and gets up just before 7.  She isn't the greatest napper, but needs a morning nap more then an afternoon nap.  She loves to eat and is good about putting food items in her mouth as well.  I don't know if I could really say what her favorite foods are because she eats just about everything.  But she does get excited to see her baby food come out and the Cheerios box come out.

She is a happy, fun loving and super curious girl.  She loves to be outside or inside or upside down.  Just so long as she is where everyone else is, she is happy.  She does have a little stubborn streak in her too and doesn't like to be told no.  If you tell her no, she will just keep doing it until you make her stop. We are working on that though.  We love our happy Bode baby!

Austin Trip

We made a trip to Austin at the end of May so Jeff could attend an open house.  Since most people haven't heard yet...

  

Yup, that's right!  After years of talking about it, thinking about and even taking tests, we have finally made the leap.  It feels like the right time for our family and Jeff is excited to go and get his MBA.  We are doing the program out of Houston though so we don't even have to move (thank goodness!)  So, now his only dilemma is sports...he still gets worked up about me teaching the kids some "hook em horns" but despite this change, we still bleed blue!

The kids loved the hotel.

 We had a dinner for all the incoming students up in the box at the stadium.  The view was pretty great.

 We spent the rest of the weekend exploring the city.  We found a lot of great places to eat, some great farmer's markets and little shops.  Friday night we went to see the bats and I think we heard more then we saw, but it was still a lot of fun to experience.  I took a video, but no pictures of that.

Bode getting ready for her first farmer's market.

 Raegan our rock collector.

 South Congress shops.

It was a great trip and got us all a little more excited for Jeff's program.  It will be a long 2 years (or 21 months), but we are excited to see what doors his MBA will open up for him and for us.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was different this year.  Jeff had big plans to make me breakfast and dinner and the kids were going to help, but Mother's Day, I woke up and it was my turn to get the flu!  Such a bummer!  Instead of my nice stuffed chicken dinner and cinnamon roll breakfast, I enjoyed crackers and ginger ale for breakfast and chicken soup for dinner.  Everyone still tried to make it special and I did get to spend most of the day in bed.  I just wish I had felt better.  

Well, 2 days later,  I was feeling better!  Jeff and the kids had flowers delivered and he made our awesome dinner.  Then over the next weekend he made the cinnamon rolls.  Everything was great and it was kind of fun to spread it out over the week.

My kids are so great and it is fun to celebrate being a mom.  It is the most challenging and exciting thing I have ever done and I wouldn't change a thing.  I would love to get more sleep and be able to go to the bathroom by myself sometimes, but I guess that will happen again some day!

May Outings-Space Center and Zoo

So, I am way behind, but since we started May with a visit to the Dr. for pink eye with Bode and then had the stomach flu hit everyone in the house, I think I am excused.  We were literally at the dr. May 1st and by the time I wasn't doing 3 loads of sheets, towels and whatever else had someone's bodily fluids on them it was May 20th!  Crazy times and NOT something I want to go through again.

Even though someone was always sick, we managed to still have a little bit of fun.

Right after everyone showed signs of improvement, Deana and I took the kids to the space center.  I had been wanting to go and I knew Deana would like it. It was fun, but they changed a lot since the last time I was there.
The tram ride was about 30 mins. longer and the kids were bored by the end.  Plus I didn't bring snacks.

 They loved seeing the big rocket parts though.

 And they got rid of the big children's play area.  They still have some cool stuff so Harrison tested out his simulation skills while Raegan ran around to everything.  It was a fun time!

 Then at the end of May we took 2 trips to the zoo.  One was spent checking out the splashpad area.

 And playing.

 The second was spent seeing the brand new bug exhibit and bug house.  Harrison loved it, Raegan just wanted to eat snacks and go see the monkeys.

 I was so glad that Jeff came with us the first trip and Deana came with us the second, because outings with all three kids can be pretty tricky, but the kids usually have fun and we all come home tired!

May at Home

Most of May we spent at home and when we weren't sick, we found things to do.  Mostly Bode kept us all entertained:)

This girl loves to eat and when she is in her high chair, I know she is out of trouble.

Or when she is in bed she is also out of trouble!  Although I don't know how she can sleep like this!

 Usually we find her getting into things like this...and her other favorite places are the fire place and the dirt in the house plants.  She just figured out how to open cabinets too so watch out for that!

 Raegan discovered her favorite food.  Yes, there she is enjoying her own stick of butter.

 And since we were home so much, we decided to paint nails.

 Raegan's first Sunday back at church she was so excited to go to nursery.  Well, we showed up and the water in the building wasn't working so they sent everyone home after sacrament meeting.  She was so upset that I bribed her with a fun treat and we all enjoyed making and eating Muddy Buddies when we couldn't go to church!

 These are my 2 early birds.  Both are usually up just before 7 and we enjoy a quiet morning (most of the time).  Raegan usually makes her apperance about 8:30 or 9.

 Love all the faces this girl makes.

 Clothes can also be hair!  We have a good time playing dress up at this house I guess!