Chase and Amy

Wednesday, February 18

February

February has been uneventful, comparatively, to January. After getting my mouth fixed and healed, Chase and I getting strep and then all of us getting colds...it's nice to finally be on the healthy side of things!

For Valentine's Day we went lawn mower shopping. Super romantic, I know, but it was actually really fun! We dropped off the kiddos for a bit and looked around some and came home with one. Yay for President's Day sales and tax returns! So crossing our fingers for good luck that we don't kill this mower.

Chase made me this shelf I found on pinterest for Valentine's Day. I think it turned out perfect!

Gavin loves to help me do laundry these days. Most of the time he really is a good little helper!

Chase and I went to Body Worlds down in Salt Lake a few weeks ago. The human body is fascinating. Chase was a good sport to indulge my nerdiness...it was definitely not his thing. :)

Lauren has been into taking lots of pictures with my phone. Some of them have turned out pretty fun!

These two... can alternately drive me crazy then turn around and make me smile. They've figured out how to push each other's buttons and drive each other to the point of tears. But they're also best buds. She calls him Bud and Sweetheart and he calls her Wawa. :)

Monday, February 2

2015

Dear 2015,

With the new year, you were supposed to be different than last year's "meh" of a year.

You were not supposed to unfold 6 painful dentist visits, or break the beloved DVD player in the new van, or curse us with the most awfully sore throats ever, or make Gavin wake up at 5 in the morning.

But...you will not get the best of us! It is only the beginning, and this is NOT how 2015 will end. So there.

- me

Sunday, January 25

Our Sunbeam and Nursery Disliker

Lauren LOVES Sunbeams! I was a little worried it might be a problem with us sitting right behind her (we teach the 4 year-olds now,) but she barely even notices us. It's been fun to watch her! (Couldn't get her to smile for a picture though.)

Gavin used to love nursery...until he actually turned 18 months and church changed to 1:00. Not good combinations for nursery loving. He turns into a screaming bear with no nap at 1:30. Hopefully he'll adjust soon!

Handy Man

We're finally getting started on finishing our bathroom downstairs! Chase and my dad put in the tub last week and then Chase and Cal finished wiring and plumbing yesterday. It feels great to finally get started on something we've been planning for a long time!

To aid in the process Chase got a tool chest for Christmas and built himself some workbenches. I think he did a great job on them!

He's also been on a quest to find the truss that creaks and wakes Gavin up every.single.morning, and tighten it back down. I didn't know before there's special screws so the head breaks off so they can be screwed right in the carpet into the truss beneath.

Frosty the Snowman

A few weeks back we finally got enough snow to make a snowman. Lauren was quite thrilled; she's been wanting to build a snowman for months!

Gavin didn't enjoy the experience quite as much since he refused to let me put gloves or boots on him.

But I think our little snowman turned out pretty cute!

Thursday, January 8

Out With the Old

Thinking about 2014 and what to write...not a whole lot came to mind. 2014 was just...meh.

Not that it was particularly awful, but just meh.

2014 in Review

- Got a new niece!
- Got a new nephew!
- Car died.
-Got "new" van.
-Van died.
-Got second "new" van.
-Got new truck.
-Chase's mom had a stroke.
- Released from Primary presidency.
-Got another nephew!
-Lauren started preschool.
-Gavin started walking.
-Killed the lawn mower
-Got a swing set and trampoline
-Planted a garden, that lived! mostly

So for 2015 my goal is to "DO!" because, "Motivation comes with DOING!"

I want to:

Refinish our table and chairs
Make a rainbow quilt out of my mountain of fabric scraps.
Clean sewing room so I can get to the mountain of scraps.
Read through the Book of Mormon again.
Read and study through Preach My Gospel
Finish the basement bathroom.
Make it through all 3 hours of church without having to go out in the hall.
Go camping at least once in a tent with all 4 of us.
Learn how to knit.
NOT kill a vehicle... or anything else with a motor.
Grow a sweet meat squash.

Southward Bound

After being home for a few days we packed up again and headed south this time. We spent New Year's Eve at my parents and had our traditional Japanese dinner that my dad cooks, it's really yummy! Lauren and Gavin tried their best to eat with chopsticks. :) Then we were party-poopers and went to bed at 10 because little kids make you tired. :)

New Year's day Chase and I headed to St. George for a little get-away and to see a good friend's new baby girl. I wasn't looking forward to the drive, but it was actually nice to be together in peace and quiet for an extended period of time and get a nap in. And I actually convinced Chase to stop at Ikea on the way down!

The motel we stayed in was...an adventure. Next time we'll splurge a little so we can get a room where the wallpaper isn't peeling, all the walls are the same color, the toilet doesn't leak, and the previous occupants clothes have been removed. Makes for good stories! :/

We met up with my two good friends growing up and their hubbies and went to dinner, we saw Meet the Mormons at the St. George Temple Visitor's Center (it was great!), went to Iceberg for shakes, fixed the taillight in the van, and shopped a little bit.

It was a fun little vacation despite the accommodations being less than relaxing!

Lauren Funnies

9/12/2012

- Every time she hears the dryer open Lauren runs in and holds her arms up ready for me to hand her laundry from the washer. I hand her every little piece and she throws it into the dryer making sure nothing is hanging out.

- Lauren sits on the counter while I get ready in the mornings. She picked up the bottle of hairspray and started "spraying" her hair. While fixing dinner she sat on the counter and grabbed the PAM bottle and "sprayed" her hair.

-She does not like doors or drawers left open. If she sees one open she will close it. If there is something poking out of a closed drawer she will try and tuck it back into the drawer.

-When I dust she needs a rag too and follows right behind me and mimics every move I make.

-Lauren loves taking baths. She gave her baby doll a bath in the sink today complete with rubbing her head and cleaning out her ears.

- She likes to take all her stuffed animals and babies and take turns wrapping them up and rocking them. Then she sets them in a row on her bench and gives them all a drink from her sippy cup.

- When she's trying to get my attention and I'm standing at the kitchen counter, she will wiggle in between me and the cupboard, push with all her might against the cupboard and stick out her bum against my legs to push me away from the counter.

- Lauren waves at every car and person that drives or walks in front of our house.

- She knows how to rock out to music BIG TIME. Driving the other day she fell asleep. A while later I looked back at her and she was awake head-banging and wiggling in her car seat to the radio which is a common occurrence.

- Chase gets her out of her crib in the morning and she comes to wake me up. She gives me a kiss and climbs in bed with me and has to be tucked in. That lasts about five seconds and then we go have breakfast.

10/3/2012

-She fell out of her crib last week. Down another wrung the mattress went!

- She's started carrying her baby around even more. I catch her giving her kisses on the head, feeding her crackers, taking turns eating a cookie, wrapping her up and rocking her, walking with her around the house and pointing things out, patting her on the back, putting her in the chair at the table and tucking her into bed.

10/11/12

-Lauren tried going potty today! Wasn't quite sure what to think and was nervous about falling in. But she really liked the flushing part. :)

11/15/12

-Lauren succeeded in dumping 18 eggs into the shopping cart last week without breaking a single one!

- When she's getting dressed she likes to run around naked for a few minutes, throw her diaper away, and then lay down to get dressed.

-She found an old purse and carries it around all day on her shoulder with her baby in the other arm. She waves to me and heads to the door and gets a little upset when I won't let her leave.

-She learned how to climb on her rocking horse and spends hours a day rocking and climbing on and off.

11/18/12

-Lauren spilled some water on the carpet. I told her to go get a towel to clean it up. She walked to the kitchen to grab what I thought was a towel hanging on the oven that wasn't there, and instead grabbed the rug and dragged it over and started trying to furiously mop up the water.

12/10/12

- Like Father-Like Daughter. Lauren can find our phones, open Netflix, find Curious George and turn it on. All by herself. She will pull the laptop up on her lap and pretend to type and turn it off and on. She's more tech literate than I am!

-We didn't realize just how much she understands. Looking at books the other day, I asked her questions and she would point and find things that I had no idea she knew.

- She's started singing Old MacDonald. The only part she knows is eee-i, eee-i!

2/22/13

- Getting ready the other day, Lauren walks in with her hands on her hips and yells "Hey guys!"

- She's into counting, but everything is "two." One, two, two, two, two...

-Walking is not an option...run-hop-skipping is a must!

- Lately she likes us to sing to her before bedtime. Her favorite song is "Do" (Old MacDonald) and gets mad if we try to sing something else.

- She plays possum all the time and closes her eyes when she doesn't want to do something, or in the last few days-pretend to be asleep with fake snoring and all!

3/2/13

-She's quite concerned about everyone's well-being. If you cough or say ouch, she'll come over by you and ask, "ew awight?" (You alright?)

4/22/13

- The other day after being sick I was sitting on the bathroom floor. Lauren came in and asked "ew awight?" then pulled the brush out of the drawer and brushed my hair for me. She did a pretty good job and didn't even pull!

- She got her "big girl bed" a few weeks ago. In the morning she comes in our room and peeks over the edge of the mattress to see if we're awake. The she either wacks us awake with her George or Bear or pounds on the mattress, then grins and says hi mom!