Pictures with Santa

So last week, the Macy's Santa came to the mall near our house. It was his only stop in Utah on his national tour, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him. Keira, obviously, wished that we had stayed home. Priceless.

1. digital cameras
2. Christmas carols
3. spending the holidays with most of my family this year

Changes

We are closing on our house this afternoon (knock on wood, as everything has gone wrong so far today)! So at the beginning of January, we will be moving into our own place again - where we plan on staying for the next 8-10 years. I can't even describe how excited I am to get in and paint and decorate and just have my own space again. We are forever grateful for being able to live here with Brian's parents for these 5 months, but I will forever be even more grateful that we are able to be on our own.

We have also decided to try for #2 early next year. We have an Aflac policy starting tomorrow, so the 30 day waiting period will be over about the time we move. Our health benefits for this next year are fantastic, so we wanted to have the baby while we know we are covered. Now let's just hope it's as easy the second time around!

Just 3 weeks until we leave for Christmas - and just 17 days until Will gets home from his mission! Wow, time flies.

1. email apologies
2. personal space
3. cleansing tears

New addition

Keira with Wilson and Opie

Brian loves his puppy

Optimus Prime (aka Opie)

So, since we are 99% sure we are moving into our new house in January, we decided to add a new member to the family. This is Optimus Prime, or Opie for short. He is an 8-week-old English Bulldog. And he is awesome.

Brian and his brother, Derrick, have always wanted bulldogs. So when they found these for sale, they couldn't pass them up. So far, they are the greatest dogs. They are quiet, playful, super cuddly and loyal, and attract a LOT of attention! Everywhere we go, people want to play with them. They have to live at a friend's house for now, but it will be fun to be in our new house with our new dog in a few weeks.

And just to see if people are actually paying attention to this, we might be adding another new addition to the family next year...

1. cuddly little puppies
2. puppy potty pads (and air freshener)
3. thick blankets on cold nights

Serendipity

This has been one CRAZY week! Here's what went down:

We have been living with Brian's parents for a few months, saving money for a house. Tuesday night we decided to extend our search to include townhomes in the area, since you can get a really nice one for a lot less than a house. We found one we liked and wanted to see, so we set up an appointment for Wednesday at lunch.

The first townhome was a total bust - dirty and falling apart and really disappointing. But I had seen online that there was another one in that community for sale, at a much lower price. We decided to knock and check it out...and it was amazing! Pristine, fully finished, beautifully decorated, something we could actually see ourselves in. But it was under contract. And the owner let it slip that it was a VERY low price. We thanked her for letting us look around and got on with our day.

Not 30 minutes later, we got a call from the owner's real estate agent. She said how much the owner had liked us, and that there was a way for us to get the place under contract. The existing contract was set to expire that night at 9:00, so if we made an offer before then, they would give it to us. That gave us like 6 hours to make a decision!! We talked to a lender and everything worked financially, but we weren't getting confirmation either way. We procrastinated as long as possible, even going back with a contract in hand just minutes before the deadline. We were literally a signature away from buying, when Brian got the feeling that this was not our home. Nice, but not ours. We walked away.

I really didn't think a whole lot more about it. But Brian had left his coat there, so we needed to go back on Thursday to pick it up. After retrieving the lost jacket, we decided to turn left instead of right and go get some food. Just blocks down the street I decided on a whim to turn into a development that we have had our eyes on for months. It is cute and charming...and way too expensive. As we came around the bend, one of the agents Brian had previously talked to was there. We pulled over and she offered to show us some of the homes.

Now, this agent is the daughter of the builder, who is also the builder we had been hoping to build with down in Provo (but again, it was too much money). After explaining our financial situation, she told us about one property that might work for us. It has been lived in for a year, but is still for sale. This means the price could come down dramatically. And you know what? It was enough to get inside our budget!

So here we are, on Friday, signing paperwork for an entirely different home! But we are so excited. This is what we have been waiting for. Now we just have to get all the details worked out, and we would move in January. Nuts!!

1. coincidences/fate/luck...whatever you want to call it
2. autumn leaves
3. ward families

Teaser

Keira and Grandma on the beach

Ok, for those of you keeping track, it has definitely been more than a week....but I was out of town, I swear!

I just spent two fabulous weeks with my parents in North Carolina. It was originally only supposed to be one week, but the weather was bad and it just wasn't enough time. I never realized how good it feels to extend a trip...I would have kept extending forever if I didn't have a husband back home who missed me so much =)

I suppose I don't really have a topic for this blog, but I have decided to pick up a practice from my sister, Kim...I will list three things for which I am grateful at the end of each post.

1. digital cameras
2. moderate amounts of will-power
3. thick blankets on cold nights

and some day soon when it is not late at night, I will post again about the trip in detail!

The Little Gym

Finally time to face forward!

I think I was more excited about it than Keira - she just want to pour juice on her feet

Being a big girl is totally exhausting!

We took Keira to a trial class at The Little Gym yesterday (no, I didn't take any pictures, which is why you get to see her in her new carseat instead). Since it was free, I figured it was worth a shot. Here is a rundown of Keira's class:

Warm-ups were about counting. This is a class for 10-19 month-old babies. None of whom know how to count. Kind of lame.

Next came exploration. Keira discovered a small tunnel to sit in. She proceeded to try to kick everyone else out so she could sit in it herself. When it was time to go explore other things, she kept climbing back into her tunnel to be alone.

We kind of skipped balance beam and a few other activities. Keira was busy in her tunnel.

By the time Miss Kaitlyn broke out the bubbles, Keira was walking the perimeter of the room, looking for an escape.

So did she have fun? Maybe. Will I pay $20 an hour for her to go once a week? Absolutely not.

Lesson learned.

RBS - Restless Baby Syndrome

This is one of the only places she stays out of trouble...except when she takes off her diaper and gets poop all over - then I guess it's actually more trouble than usual (she only did it twice in one week...hopefully that was enough to get it our of her system) Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the actual offenses

Is it wrong that I think it is so cute to give her a Slurpee and watch her get brain freeze?

Not that we needed more proof that she loves soda...

Sometimes she can get in the diaper bag and take things so quickly, I think she is practicing to be a pick-pocket. Little klepto.

This is one of her favorite games. It should be called something along the lines of "Let me take everything our of my drawers and throw it around the room so Mom has something to pick up"

So Keira is on the move. All of the time. She EXHAUSTS me! I only recall a handful of occasions in the last several months when she wasn't squirming or dancing or crawling or walking or climbing or falling...it's like she's got some sort of condition that makes her constantly move. So I have taken matters into my own hands and diagnosed her with Restless Baby Syndrome. Some of you might think I made that up. But you do not spend much time with my daughter. It is real. And it has taken over my life.