One boy, One girl. . .

Five years ago a boy and a girl went out on a date. They had never met each other-- just talked on the phone once to set up the date. She picked him up at his apartment to find two eager roommates. He stepped out and her heart leaped--what a hottie! They went to dinner at the Training Table and talked the whole way there--not an awkward moment, much to their surprise. At dinner he asked, "Do you dance? You have the body of a dancer." Nice pick up line. She felt flattered. After dinner, they went to play laser tag. They played for another date and ice cream. He later claimed that he lost on purpose. She knows the truth. Sparks vs Hound dog--Sparks killed him! She took him home and said good bye at the door step. He invited her in for a movie. She declined, having to get up early the next morning and started to walk away. He ran to the stairwell and asked her again to come in. She declined, even though her heart was racing.

Five years later, they have two beautiful children, two degrees, a mortgage, and each other. I love you Trent. Thanks for taking a chance on the unknown!

Our House

The other day I decided to get with it and finish the last room in the house we needed to paint: the downstairs bathroom. I picked out a lovely shade of lavender (I thought) and went to town. Turns out the color was more of an electric purple. oh well. Here are the before and after pics:

Before

After

After taking these pictures, I realized that I never posted pictures of our house. So here is the grand tour. Another big thank you to everyone who helped us get into our home: family, friends, and our awesome Realtor. If anyone is looking for a home or looking to sell, give our Realtor a call. His name is Jay Bentley (with Realty Executives) and he is fantastic to work with! He really bent over backwards to get us into our home. jbentley@rexut.com 801-598-5921

And now for the tour. . .

The front room

Living room

dining area

Kitchen

Toy room/Office/Craft room

Jane's room

Kid's bathroom

Grant's room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

What baby eats

Lately Jane has taken to putting things in Grant's mouth: a play spoon, her food, toys. It's been a fight to get her to leave him alone and every time I stress to her that baby only eats mommy's milk.
Tonight at dinner Jane wanted to give Grant some of her chicken (I think to avoid eating it herself). I said, "No, Jane. Baby doesn't eat chicken. What does baby eat?"
Without skipping a beat she said, "Baby eats boobies."

September

So I've come to the point where I'm blogging once a month--I just don't spend the time I used to on the blog. So here is this past month in review.

Grant had his 2 month check up. He's a healthy boy! He weighs 12 lbs now (as much as Jane weighed in at her 4 month check up!) He's smiling more, cooing, and loves to kick his sturdy little legs! He's growing up so fast. . . We gave him his first hair cut right before his blessing. The top had all fallen out and the back was long (I hate mullets!) so we got out Trent's clippers and got everything about the same length.
With Jane, the "terrible two's" are upon us. She has found her sense of independence and goes to great lengths to do everything by herself. She was upgraded to a big girl bed and it was great for about a week. Now she likes to wake up around 5:30 am and come in and wake us up for the day. As fun as that's been, we need more sleep! She talks non-stop--even when no one is around. Her favorite phrases are: "That's so funny!" "Don't push me!" "I do it by myself" "No!" and "How fun!". She is suddenly obsessed with Disney Princesses, most of all, Sleeping Beauty. Everything needs to be princesses. And although she's only seen 2 Princess movies (Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin) she knows the names of all the Disney Princesses. She now has Princess pj's, princess sheets, princess hair accessories, princess toys, princess books, and a princess play box. Her favorite song is "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. . ." and will sing and dance to it whenever there is a dull moment or when she's trying to go to sleep. Makes me miss being little. :)
Trent is enjoying his job and works hard on our house/yard. Our front lawn has become is personal project and he is so meticulous about it--mowing, edging, seeding. He's also started P90X (a workout program) and is really loving it. Our basement is his new gym.

I learned how to can this past week. My wonderful mother came down and we spent the day canning pears and peaches and it was such a blast! I also made/finished my first quilt ever. It was Jane's new Princess quilt for her bed. I think it turned out great, not perfect, but still great for my first one. I also got a new do. I wanted something different but didn't want to chop off all my hair, so I compromised with bangs. I'm still getting used to them.
We've had an interesting month and are looking forward to Fall, Halloween, and cooler weather.

Grant's Blessing

Yesterday was Grant's Blessing. We had originally planned on blessing him the first Sunday in August (the Sunday after my little brother's wedding) but because of unforseen events, we had to postpone it. I was worried that he would no longer fit in his blessing outfit. . . so I tried it on him. It was a snug fit but as I was taking it off to go exchange it, he spit-up all down the front so snug fit it was.

The night before the blessing, I got really sick. I'm still not certain whether it was something I ate or the little flu bug Jane had earlier in the week but it rocked me. The next morning I felt somewhat better but then Trent started to get sick. All that aside, the blessing itself was beautiful. Trent did a great job and so did Grant (no crying or pooping during the prayer!). We are truely blessed to have this little guy in our family!

Most of the men who helped bless little Grant

The Larsens

The Bassetts (most of them, anyways. . .)

Big Girl Bed

Today Jane got her big girl bed! She's gone 10 nights without her Bink and filled in her chart with stickers so it was time to reap the rewards.She got to go shopping with her Grandma Larsen. We picked out just the right bed and then decided she needed some princess p.j.'s to go along with it. Tonight Trent put the bed together while I hurried to finish her flat sheet (Princess, of course) and Jane helped me make her pillow. We are so proud of her! Now let's just pray she likes to stay in her big girl bed. . .

Bye Bye Bink

Well, we've finally done it. We've had Jane say good-bye to her best friend Bink. They've had a great relationship these past two years but it was time they parted ways. She's been without Bink for a whole week now! Last Thursday we were cleaning her room and I asked her to throw away her binkies. She had no problem tossing the first one. . . she hesitated on the second one, then ran over, grabbed Grant's binky and went to toss that too. She was ok until nap time. Needless to say, she missed her friend. She's doing much better now--she doesn't even cry going to sleep at night (nap time she cries, but just for a minute.)

Trent made her a chart so that every time she goes to sleep at night without her Bink, she gets a sticker, and when she gets 10 stickers (we had to make sure it was permanent), she will get her big girl bed. We have three more nights left. . . We're so proud of you, Jane! Way to be a Big Girl!