Has the time come? ... Yes, it has.

In less than 72 hours our car died, was fixed, we bought a new car and sold the old one. And it is over. Just like that.

We got a great deal on a Mazda MPV that was about 5-7k less than we thought we were going to have to spend. We are so excited we found such a great deal. And we LOVE this car. It drives like a car, not a van. You really feel like you're driving a sedan. It's great. Yesterday I listed our van on KSL for 2000. I asked Brandon, "Who's going to spend $2000 on this especially when the heater doesn't work?" And he says, "Some Mexican who's taking it to Mexico. You don't need a heater in Mexico."

I get an email in broken English today from a guy saying he'll come and bring us $1700 cash. He comes over and looks at it. We were so embarrassed as he backed out to test drive it. The steering sounds a lot squeakier when you're trying to sell it apparently. When he came back he mentioned that he was buying it to take to his family in Mexico. Brandon and I just looked at each other... So, we took the cash and the whole deal is over and done with. Everything worked out so perfectly and we're so excited!

Has the time come?

Can I tell you what happened to my car yesterday? Keep in mind this is a 1999 Ford Windstar with 142k miles on it. We're already annoyed with it because the front heater hasn't worked since last fall (yes, we spent all winter without a front heater), the power locks don't work (you have to reach around and unlock the doors by hand), the breaks are really squeaky (you can here us coming down the street from miles away), when it's humid the check engine light comes on for no reason and goes off as the air gets drier, and many other quirky old car things like that. Anyway, keep all that in mind.

We're all dressed in our swim suits to go over to our condo for some swimming yesterday. I leave the house we get to about the round about (less than 1/2 mile from our house) and the AC stops working. It does that sometimes when we accelerate so I didn't think much about it. It usually comes right back on though and it didn't. Then i noticed that the clock and radio weren't working. Then the blinkers stopped. I couldn't roll down the windows or anything. It was still driving though. So I pull into Wal Mart (less than another 1/4 mile) to see if they can check the battery. I had him look and the brake lights weren't working. He told me to go to a mechanic in Spanish Fork so I started heading that way and we start sputtering. I was going probobly 2 miles an hour. Literally. The speed wasn't registering on the speedometer and I really could've walked faster than we were driving. We were all sweating and my 9 month pregnant body felt very very close to passing out which made me nervous. So, I drove with my door half open. I figure I sure wasn't going very fast. I probably could've just hopped out for a breather and gotten back in while the car was still going.

Anyway, we got about half way to the mechanic and we died at a red light. Luckily there was a little grass right off the street and a tree to sit under. I called my car ins because we have free towing and they gave me some phone numbers. The first guy couldn't come for 2-3 hours. The second guy didn't answer his phone. I finally got a hold of someone that could come. (All this calling was done without a phone book or anything so I had to keep calling my dad for numbers). So, we wait for the tow truck. And wait. 30 min later I called to see if they were having trouble finding us. They said that we were next on the list. So we wait and wait. He calls us back about 30-40 min later and says he's more backed up than he thought and we should call this other guy. So I did and we waited about 20 min for him. I was sitting under a tree off the side of the road for about an hour and a half before someone finally came to get us. My friend saw us and stopped and made the kids pb and j sandwiches (they were pretty hungry by this point and she happened to have bread, pb and jam in her car) and a sheriff stopped and parked behind us with his lights on because I was in traffic and had no hazards or blinkers or anything working. So we did get lucky in some respects.

We get towed to the mechanic (which, according to Caleb, was like the coolest thing ever). Turns out it's the alternator. Sure, fine, a few hundred bucks. Which we would probably spend on our junker car if it also didn't' need the heater fixed this fall. We call and price out fixing the heater and it will cost about 1600 bucks. We don't feel like putting $2000 into this car and have it still having all those annoying little quirks.

That was sure making a long story long... We are looking at other cars. We will probably fix this as cheap as we can (not the heater) and try to sell it. I'll keep you all posted on what we decide to do. I just had to write out my annoying story from yesterday and vent. Thanks for listening. You guys are the best.

Way to go, Caleb!

Ok, I am afraid of sounding braggy, but I'm so proud of Caleb! He is in the first grade level math group at his school! They level the math and reading throughout the whole school, which I think is awesome. Way to go, buddy!

Oh My...

Poor, tired little Cinderella...

Brynley stands up for herself.

Brynley does not take any crap from anyone. She listens to what people around her say and if they are talking about her she stands up for herself! We were in the car the other day and Brandon and I were talking (softly) about how she likes to try to steal the attention away from Caleb sometimes. We had just left his back to school night and that is exactly what she had been doing. Apparantly she overheard us because she starts yelling, "NO I DON'T! I DO NOT! NO I DON'T!"

Another time Caleb was playing with his new pirate ship we got him for his birthday and she was playing with him. Caleb says, "Mom, Brynley's playing too crazy with it!" and Brynley starts yelling, "I'M NOT CRAZY! I'M NOT CRAZY!"

I only hope she keeps this quality into her teen years.

Caleb's first day of kindergarten!

Caleb started kindergarten yesterday! He was so excited, he was bouncing off the walls all morning until we left. We got there and I walked him in and he was totally fine. No sadness or nervousness whatsoever. He did great. The first thing he said to me in the car afterwards was "Mom, I really liked that!" It was cute. Here are the pictures of him and Brynley before he went to school yesterday.



He has to wear a uniform. He can wear red, white or navy on top and navy or khaki on bottom. There are a lot of other strict guidelines that I won't bore you with, too. He goes to school everyday from 8:15-11:00am. He gets to bring a snack everyday and so far he loves recess and "learning". He had his first piece of homework today. It was a dot to dot. He loves those. So far, he loves homework.

Here he is with his teacher and in his classroom.


I'm so glad you love school Caleb! We're so proud of you!

On a side note, here are a couple pictures of Brynley in her dress up clothes.

Happy 5th Birthday Caleb!

Happy birthday Caleb! Wow, where has the time gone. I can't believe Caleb is already 5 and ready to start Kindergarten tomorrow! Let me tell you a little bit about Caleb and why he is so wonderful. First of all, he is very considerate of other people's feelings especially his little sister's. He is always thinking of her and how she would feel if... For example, they were invited to a birthday party the other day and she was nervous and didn't want to go in at first. Caleb went and Brynley missed the pinata portion. Caleb not only got her a bag of candy but he picked things he knew she would like, like a candy braclet. That's just a small example of him doing something to make her happy. He also loves to hug her and pinch her cheeks and tell her how "beautiful" she is. He's a very sweet and loving brother. He is also a great helper. He helps dress brynley (he zips up her dresses if they have a zipper in the back), he helps me clean up and put his things away, he clears his plate when he's done eating, etc. While he has that soft side, he can also be a wild and crazy typical boy when he is with his friends. His favorite thing to do with his friends is to jump down our stairs onto the love sac.

He's a good healthy eater and he loves his fruits and veggies. He's growing like a weed. He is 44 inches tall (81%) and 42 pounds (50%) and I feel like I have to buy him new clothes all the time. Now for the bragging... He can swim 25 yards (like I mentioned before). What he does is he swims on his stomach with his arms until he needs a breathe (hasn't quite mastered breathing to the side yet) then flips onto his back and kicks to breath and rest then flips back over and continues. He can read really well. He's got sight words down and he's pretty good and sounding things out. We're to the point where we can get a book off the bookshelf the I used to read to him and he can read most of it to me. (Not all books, of course, just some.) He does get a little frustrated when it's too advanced for him and sometimes that turns him off from trying for a couple days, but he gets over it.

That's pretty much Caleb in a nutshell. Let me tell you a little about his party. We had a water party in the back yard yesterday. The kids had so much fun. We started with an obstacle course which consisted of going on the slip and slide, running through the sprinkler, then filling up a cup and holding it on your head while you jump on the trampoline three times. Then you go to the end of the line. We did that over and over and the kids loved it.



Then we had a water balloon fight.

Of course, cupcakes.



And then a pinata.




It was a great party and birthday! We love you so much Caleb and we're so glad you're in our family!

Hospital Visit

I just got back from the hospital. I so did not want to go. But the dr was pretty serious that I go in when I have 6+ contractions in an hour. I've been having them all afternoon but when i had about 8 in an hour I went in. They hooked me up to the moniters and I kept having them. They checked my *ahem* (cervix) and I am 60% effaced and 1 1/2 cm dilated. That's pretty normal for me at this point. That's what I was at 34 weeks with my others, I think. They gave me the awful trebutaline shots that make me so crazy. They make me all shaky and light headed and just awful feeling. After three doses of that the contractions pretty much stopped so they sent me home. Basically, it was best case scenerio. No bed rest orders, no meds to take at home. My urinalysis was negative and my ffn test was negative (this says that I won't deliver in the next two weeks). So, all is good... a few hundred bucks later.

Brian Regan!

Last night we went and saw Brian Regan at Thanksgiving Point. It was hilarious. We had so much fun. He had a ton of new material and we laughed so hard all night. We ended up getting really good seats, too.

Caleb also had his back to school night last night. We got to go see his room and meet his teacher. He'd actually already met her but we got to meet her again. He was a little dissapointed the class guinea pig wasn't there yet. I will be his teacher's room mother which I'm excited for. I'm sure this will be the first of many room mother jobs I'll have over the next 10 years! We're excited for school to start on Monday. But first we have to get through his birthday party tomorrow!

33 Weeks

I'm 33 weeks now! It is going by so fast, it is crazy. I am so stinking uncomfortable. I have contractions all the time and they're starting to hurt. My hips hurt, my back hurts, my heart hurts (heartburn), my pelvis really hurts. Other than that though we're doing great around here. All of the sudden I feel like I have so much to do in the next month! This week is crazy. Caleb has his third and final session of swimming lessons (have I mentioned that he can swim 25 yards without stopping?! We're so excited!) and we have a bunch of back to school stuff because he starts Kindergarten next monday! Wow, so many changes coming up. I'll try to keep you all posted of everything on here as often as I can over the next few weeks!

Was this worth it?

Was this:


worth this:

?

I think so now, but I wasn't so sure at the time...

Happy Birthday Brynley!

Today Brynley turned 3! I can't believe she is already that old! At her Dr's appointment last week she weighed 30 pounds and was 38 inches tall. That puts her in the 80th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight. She is such a joy to have in our family. She is completely obsessed with princesses but also still loves dora. She is very into what she wears and changes her clothes at least 5times a day usually between different princess dresses. She is very girly, always wearing "glass slippers", and loving anything pink. She loves honey nut cheerios and could, and sometimes does, eat them for every meal. She is recently getting over her fear of slides but she hasn't quite gotten over her fear of jumping on the trampoline while others are on it. She is an extremely good colorer and colors in the lines really well. She has been able to identify her alphabet letters for about 6 months or so. She's a little smarty! Oh, and she loves to sing! The prettiest song she sings is Ariel's "Ah-ah-ah" when Ursula is taking away her voice. She sounds very beautiful when she does that. :-)

Here are a few pictures of her birthday party: