I'm Tired

I'm tired. Do you know what time it is now? It's 9:10 a.m. Caleb has now been awake for four hours and twenty minutes. Yes, you did the math correctly. Caleb woke up at 4:50 a.m. FOUR-FREAKING-FIFTY in the morning!!! Is this some kind of joke? Seriously. It all started a couple of weeks ago when he started waking up between 6 and 6:30. He has a child proof lock on the inside of his door (trust me, it's necessary. And he can actually remove it and come out of his room if he really wants to). Anyway, he would wake up and get out of bed and start playing with his toys, loudly. Then, over the weekend, he woke up at 5:30 a.m. two days in a row. Enough is enough at that point, I honestly didn't think it could get any earlier than that. What am I supposed to do at this point? Drop his nap? I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I need his nap just as much as I think he does. Now I'm starting to think he needs it less than me. I tried skipping his nap about a week ago, and he still woke up at like 6:00 the next morning, and the rest of the day was complete misery for everyone.

So with all this waking up too early, I know he has NOT been getting enough sleep (even with his nap) because he has turned into a creature that I hardly recognize. And as a result, I am turning into a creature that I hardly recognize. I seriously cannot get the child to do anything without MAJOR sirens and waterworks. I'm sure my neighbors think I'm abusing him because the screaming and crying is RI-DI-CU-LOUS. Any suggestions? I'm considering skipping his nap today even though he's going to be a total beast without it.

Glen and I have not been getting enough sleep either because of this dang house. Remember my last post about full speed ahead? I am so done. I. Am. So. Done. Everything is more stressful without adequate sleep, and I'm reaching the end of my rope. We're leaving on vacation in just over a week, and supposedly it will all be finished by the time we leave...

Here's hoping for some serious zzzzzzz's soon, folks!

Finish Line Up Ahead

We are definitely seeing the light at the end of the never-ending-basement-tunnel! Glen hired a guy to hang the drywall a couple of weeks ago, and now we can actually visualize the space. This next week will be spent putting up the trim around the doors and paining the walls. Then next Saturday we will be putting down the carpet. Do you know what that means?? Usable space, people! Usable space!!

I almost get a little emotional when I think about it. Seriously. This basement has been consuming our lives for the past year and a half. But only in the last couple of months have we (mostly Glen) really kicked it into gear. Speaking in running terms, I feel like we're at the point in the race when you come around a corner and you can see the finish line. So what do you do? You book it. Full speed ahead until you cross that line!

Here are a ton of befores and currents. The next pictures I post of the basement will be of the finished product.


Stairs (or lack of) before:


Stairs current:



Looking into laundry/bathroom BEFORE:


Looking into laundry/bathroom CURRENT:
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Bathroom BEFORE:


Bathroom CURRENT:


Hallway BEFORE:


Hallway CURRENT:


Storage Room BEFORE:


Storage Room CURRENT:


Family Room BEFORE:




Family Room CURRENT (in same order as before pictures):

Hate it when that happens....Part 2

I hate it when you're getting ready to go out the door to church, and your 1-year-old grabs a mostly-eaten bowl of cereal off the table (no, I had not cleared the table) and gets it all over herself and the floor. Then, after you've cleaned that up, I hate it when you're 3-year-old spills a cup of juice all over the floor. (note to self: clear the breakfast table before leaving for church)

Then, halfway through sacrament meeting, I hate it when another 3-year-old*, sitting in front of your 1-year-old, upchucks her breakfast all over your 1-year-old.

My only consolation was that I was not holding Grace during the puking. I did, however, feel REALLY bad for my friend who was holding her...and for the poor guy who was trying to give his talk through all the commotion.


*No offense at all to the mother of the little girl who puked; she's a friend of mine!

Girls Weekend

**I have a whole lot of catching up to do, so here is an influx of posts!**

Two weeks ago I flew solo to Arizona for one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. It started nine years ago when I moved into Deseret Towers dorms at Brigham Young University and met the most awesome group of girls in the world! We became such good friends that we stayed friends all through college (some of us moving in as roommates after the dorms) and twelve of us still keep in touch.

Eleven of us met at a resort in Arizona (10 of us flying in from other states) and had a fun-filled weekend of no kids, no jobs, no worries. A whole lot of laughing, swimming, eating, reminiscing, and not a whole lot of sleep. I had not seen most of these ladies for four years, others even longer than that, but once we got together it was as if the past four years had passed in one day. Before I post pictures of the weekend, I want to post some stats from the group (I'm stealing this from Lisa's blog, and the formatting from Jessica's!):

We ALL graduated with a bachelors degree
1 is in the process of getting her doctorate
1 has her masters (I think)
1 is almost done with her masters program
1 served a full time mission for the LDS church
5 of us have kids (2 each)
2 are pregnant with their first, both due on the same day, both having boys
1 is starting the adoption process
10 of us are married (all in the temple), ranging from 6+ years to less than a year
1 has already retired from a successful career
1 is starting her own business
5 live in Utah
2 in California
1 in Texas
1 in Idaho
1 in Maryland
1 in Washington
1 in Arizona

And now on the the picture madness!

The empty chair is in honor of Giselle, who couldn't make it :(

Upon arrival, the first place we went was to the hot tub, baby!


We spent LOTS of time at the pool:

From L to R: Jennie, Natalee, Karly, Lisa, Emily, Shauna, Me, Reina, Maren, Jessica, Meredeth

We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory:
Natalee, Jennie, Reina, Me


Me and my main woman, Meredeth! We were roommates in DT.


On Saturday morning, we decided to go on what we thought would be a "hike" up Camelback Mountain. Little did we know it was really a rock climb! Seriously, there were parts of this climb where it was so steep there were railings to pull yourself up with. Yikers!


Strong women!


Happy to be at the top.
Emily, Jennie, Me, Natalee

On the way down, Lisa and I decided to take the easy way down the steep sections.


Two days was not enough time. During this weekend, I realized again just how amazing these women are, and how blessed I am to associate with them. I also realized that out of all of us, I have by far the whitest legs. Until we meet again, Ladies, in 3 years!!

I stayed an extra two days at my parents' house visiting with my family. I wish I could have had Glen and the kids with me, since my family hasn't seen my kids for almost a year, and my siblings have not seen Glen for 2 1/2 years!! Someday we will live in AZ...I'm lame with a camera and didn't take any pictures of the latter half of the weekend, but it was great.

I also got to spend a couple of hours at my parents' house with my very best friend from high school, Chelsea. I'm kicking myself, Chels, for not getting a picture of us!! Our friendship began our Sophomore year of high school when we discovered that we were both huge fans of the band, Erasure. I knew at that point that Chelsea and I were bosom friends! And we still are.

It was a fantastic weekend, and a HUGE THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to my amazing husband who took care of our two children for FIVE DAYS. I missed the kids, but not as much as I thought I would because I knew they were in great hands. I told Glen before I left that I did NOT want to worry about the kids while I was away, so unless he had to take them to the hospital, I didn't want to know anything. He obliged to my request, and I didn't know until I got home that 1) Glen had taken Grace to the doctor on Friday for a 102.7 degree fever. And 2) he locked them all out of the house on Thursday night and ended up kicking the door back door in, ruining it, and installing a new door (it needed to be replaced anyway). Thank you for keeping me in the dark, Glen, and thank you for letting me have this wonderful weekend!

She's a Climber

Grace has picked up a skill that Caleb never did, still hasn't, and probably never will...Climbing. Here are just a few of the places she has climbed.

It started out with this:



Then this:



Which soon turned into this:



These days, I frequently find her here:





I always have to make sure the kitchen chairs are pushed in, otherwise she'll be up on the table in 5 seconds flat.

Seriously, Caleb NEVER climbed. He slept in his crib until just past his 3rd birthday because he never attempted to climb out. He still struggles to climb into his bed, poor kid. (I'm not complaining about it, by the way, I've always been grateful for it) I have a feeling we'll be getting one of those "crib tents" for Grace before she's 2.

Oh, and whenever I take a picture of Grace doing something, Caleb has to do something similar and insists that I take a picture: