So long, farewell

In a few short words, I'm off to Pine Valley tomorrow and am unhooking my internet today. To all of my blogging buddies, I probably won't be posting as often. Because I worry about others when they don't post for awhile, I thought I'd give you all a heads up. Love you. Don't cry for me, I'll be in a better, much cooler place :)

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I wanted to write a special post about my dad, Neil. His birthday is tomorrow, but I thought I would write this a day early, as I will not have access to the internet and will be busy moving. My dad is so sweet, funny, smart, creative, spontaneous, and loving. I love to see my dad laugh really hard when he doesn't make any noise and his shoulders just shake. My dad is a romantic and I love going to the store with him because he often gets flowers for my mom. My dad has made countless sacrifices for our family and I'm grateful for his time and generosity. I've been especially impressed in the last few years at my dad's fire for genealogy and the hundreds (or thousands) of hours he has spent finding ancestors and doing temple work. He is a great example to me and I hope to be more like him. Happy birthday, Coach.

Calico Birdie

I just wanted to introduce you to my sister, Flori's new etsy shop. She is creative and inspiring. You can look at her shop and all the cool way cute stuff she has made by clicking here.
Way to go, Sis!

Meet Gracie's boyfriends

Gracie has lots of cute little boyfriends that she loves to play with. It is fun to see her interact with little boys and although Gracie has many girl cousins, many of our friends that had kids at the same time had boys. Don't worry though, we haven't betrothed her or anything.

Top left: Dallin. (Holding hands on a stroll through the neighborhood).
Top Right: Henry. (Getting to know each other on a wagon ride.)
Bottom Left: Hunter. (Comparing sweet jumping skills).
Bottom Right: Daddy. (Having a sleepover in the living room before she went to bed).

Never as clean

I've been preparing to move and something has been nagging at me. It kind of started when I was cleaning my oven at 7:20 this morning. I thought I'd give myself something to do while Gracie ate her breakfast. I also admit, that I was feeling guilty that I had sprayed the oven cleaning spray in the oven on Saturday morning and never got back to it. Anyway, I wiped my oven out with surprising ease and thought to myself... "I have never cleaned this oven once while I lived in this apartment. Why can I do this in hopes of getting my deposit back and not for the joy of having a clean house."

By the end of the week I will have cleaner walls, baseboards, a spotless fridge, and a dust free environment. I have dusted, cleaned the fridge, and done most chores while I've been here. I just feel like I'm better at cleaning every nook and cranny when I know something depends on it. So, here is to cleaning my house better for my landlord and the next tenants than I've cleaned it for myself. And here's to those who clean their ovens when they aren't going to be inspected.

Fighting against independence

I don't really think of myself as a controlling person, but I feel that I has lost a lot of control in the last little while. Gracie is starting to discover what sweet independence feels like and it has been really interesting to see her determination. I'm starting to feel like more of a control freak and am praying that I can be at peace with Gracie's independence :)

Incident #1: Sunday morning, I was getting Gracie ready for church. We were already running a little late. I went to put on Gracie's shoes. First I tried some pink Sunday shoes. "NO". Then I tried a pair of black sunday shoes. "NO". I started to get every pair that even resembled church shoes and she refused. The only shoes she wanted were her pink Crocs. I put them on, decided they were too tacky with her sunday dress, and then took them off and put on her pink sunday shoes. She cried really hard for 10 minutes while I gathered up the rest of my things. So... I gave in. I know I shouldn't have given in, but she was sick and I didn't want her to have another reason to be sad.

Incident #2: This morning. I gave Gracie a bath and then got her dressed. She kept pulling at her shirt and screaming, so I took it off, wondering if it was itching her or something. I found out just a moment later that she just didn't want to wear a shirt. So, I let her wander around for about half an hour without a shirt and then she let me put one on.


Incident #3: Not eating. Gracie has been a little sick, but she hasn't eaten anything substantial in about 3 days now. I know I shouldn't worry, but I sometimes wish I could force her to eat something.

What do your independent children do, or what did you do as a child to state your independence?

The life awaiting us in Colorado!

So... today Justin and I signed a lease for a place in Fort Collins. Here are some pictures. The veterinary school has its own housing website and we found this place on there. The property is 3 miles from CSU campus and is 5 acres. This is how the deal is working out- we can bring horses if we want and can board them at a discounted price. Our apartment is above the barn and looks like it will be a nice little place for us.We can also work of a huge chunk of our rent (at least half) every month by doing chores. Chores include mostly feeding and cleaning stalls. WAIT! Cleaning stalls? YES! I'd like you to meet your newest stall cleaner, Mrs. Margaret Jean Gardner.

Anyway, some of this sounds a little crazy to me. I almost can't believe it! Justin and I feel really great about it though, and we feel ready to take on a new adventure. Just don't be surprised if I become a TRUE cowgirl.

P.S. We get new carpet and flooring and for those of you I've already talked to, we WILL have 2 bedrooms.

What we've been up to...

Grilling Polish Dogs on our portable gas grill and eating out in the driveway (kind of white trash, but tons of fun).

Gracie and I took a quick trip up to SLC for a baby shower and visit. One morning Gracie climbed up to the counter and this is what I found. I heart righteous babies.

This is a picture of Gracie at singing time with her cousin Maddie. She's getting better at doing actions and participating in the songs.

Other than that, I've been busy packing and organizing. We are moving at the end of May to Pine Valley and moving again to Colorado less than two months later. I'm planning on living on the bare minimum for 6 weeks to avoid unpacking. I've already planned my June and July dinner menus so that I can be prepared to cook with fewer appliances and dishes. Today I'm trying to decide which shoes I can live without for a few months. I'm almost ready to send everything I own to DI so that I won't have to haul it ever again. (just kidding :)).We found a place to rent in Colorado, so I'll post some pictures and tell a little more about it once it is all finalized.

Merry Mary

Happy Birthday, Mary! Mary is a fabulous sister. I've always appreciated her setting the example and doing everything just ahead of me. With only 18 months between us, we really had to learn how to be friends. Although this was difficult in some ways when we were young, it has been the greatest blessing as we've grown older and have experienced a lot of things in similar time frames. Mary brightens up a room and I love her silliness, beauty, wit, charm, and talent. Mary is a great storyteller and never lacks any expression or enthusiasm. In fact, if you watched her talk and couldn't hear her, you might even mistake her for an Italian. MAMA MIA! Thanks for being such a great sis (and auntie), Mare! We love you.

One year older, and wiser too.

Happy Birthday, Krista! Today is Krista's birthday. She is my sister in-law and has been a fabulous addition to the family. I really admire Krista, and have since the first day I saw her in class at BYU. Krista and I are both social workers and had classes together at BYU. I remember introducing her to John and even asking her for her number so my brother could ask her out. I am so glad she agreed, and glad that John actually called her (like he wouldn't).

Krista is creative, artsy, kind, beautiful, funny, and a great mother. She is also a great wife to my brother and a great friend and sister to us. Love you, Krista. (Sorry to post so late on your special day:)).

Do you ever wonder if your child is deaf?

Today I went to the doctor for Gracie's 18 month well baby check-up. They had me go through a list of questions like "Does your child respond to you when you say his or her name?", "can your child walk?", "does your child like to climb?". I went through and answered the questions but had to laugh when I cam to the question, "Do you ever wonder if your child is deaf?" (NOTE*** Please don't take offense to my reaction to this question. I think it is important and am not making fun of the question itself***). I turned to the doctor and said, "this question is kind of interesting". I read the question in a laughing tone.

My mind immediately turned to the waiting room where Gracie had climbed up on the wooden school bus in the waiting room about 10 times, ignoring me every time I asked her to "Please get down." I also thought of Gracie ignoring me as she ran over to and crawled down the stairs as fast as she could (My doctor's office is on the second floor).

So here I was, laughing to myself (and I thought with the doctor) about my requests falling on "deaf" ears. The doctor turned to me totally straight faced and said, "I'm not sure exactly what the procedure is, but I can ask about a hearing screening for you." It turned into an awkward explanation about how I was joking because my toddler is sometimes naughty and doesn't listen. Then I just felt guilty for even joking about being deaf- "there are some things we don't even joke about."

For those of you dying to know, here were Gracie's stats:
Weight: 19lbs. 15oz ( She's gaining!)
Height: 31 inches