Spring Breakin!

March 15 -24 Matt, Carter, and I were lucky enough to have my mother-in-law Bonnie, sister-in-law Whitney, and friend Carrie come out to Pittsburgh to visit us for their Spring Break. Sadly there wasn't much "'spring" involved. One of our good friends describes Pittsburgh in the winter time as an old lady naked, Matt and I feel like that is an adequate representation. Pittsburgh when green or changing colors in the fall can be very pretty in places but other than that it is mostly a big, old unattractive city. Anyway, we were still delighted to have them come and hang out with us. Because I have had family members ask about what we did, and for the sake of my own documentation, I thought I would share our trip with everyone who reads our blog. Also, I am not as creative as some with my words (ahem Becky T) so sorry if this post drags at times.



Monday we drove to Kirtland, OH. As you can see from the picture below with us in front of the Kirtland temple it was pretty cold still with a bunch of snow on the ground. Much of the Kirtland I had seen before during the summer time was closed down, but the little replica town of Kirtland was still open and has such a powerful spirit about it.


Tues, Wed, and Thurs were pretty much filled with shopping. Clothes for the girls and birthday bedding for me (my b-day isn't until June but you better get while the getting is good). I know we did other stuff, but I am loosing my mind at the age of 25. We did some Pittsburgh stuff, I did a little bit of my nannying, the girls played a lot of solitaire . . . We had fun!



On Good Friday we went to the strip district where Pittsburgh's fresh fish comes in. There were a lot of Catholics out and about buying their fish. Plus a bunch of street vendors and fresh fruit. Then we went to The Children's Museum where Carter loves to play with the train table, rice table, and water tables. Grandma is an excellent playmate as well. In the afternoon while Carter was sawing logs, the 3 women went to Pittsburgh's Botanical Garden, Phipps Conservatory. It is a very beautiful place and a great pick-me-up during a gloomy winter/spring.




We also ate a lot of good food if I may say so myself. The girls one morning decorated a delicious fruit pizza, yum yum. It looked spectacular!

We did a few loads of laundry and Carter loves to give a helping hand. But he definitely has a thing for Auntie's Panties!





The Saturday before Easter the girls decorated Easter eggs in the morning and Carter got to search them out in the afternoon. In the middle of his hunt it started to snow on us! Bummer. We had made such fun plans to do on this afternoon, but because of the freezing, soggy weather all we could do was a quick backyard egg hunt.

The Easter stash! Though not included is the other Grandma's package: Scripture Scouts (these are the coolest tapes-now CDs that I grew up on, anyone else grow up on them?), little "nerf" gun, and more candy!

We tried to get an Easter Family picture but Carter is at an age where sitting still for a picture is pretty impossible. He has to be on the move.

No matter what our "formal" activity was, I personally thought the most fun was just being able to hang out together. Oh yeah, and finally be able to watch American Idol all in person so we didn't have to call each other during commerical break. Carter loved having his Aunts (Carrie is an honorary aunt) and Grandma out to play, laugh, snuggle, and just give him more attention than mom can. They left early Monday morning and when Carter woke up one of the first things he did was scoot down to the basement to play with his buddies, but alas they were not there and he just wandered around trying to figure out where they had gone. Thanks for coming guys!! We love you so much!!!!

Basement Bathroom Redo

Our little house is pretty rare here in Pittsburgh to have two bathrooms especially since the second one has a shower and not just a toilet and sink. BUT with that said the second bathroom down in the basement definitely wasn't the best looking or the most functionally. Sadly I didn't take a picture of our light fixtures before Matt took them off, but they were long bulbs on each side of the mirror and on the bottom of the bulbs were the "electrical outlets." Not only were these the weirdest outlets I had seen, but you also had to plug in your item up side down and get around a knob that was used to turn on the bulb. Anyway, if you can't tell it just wasn't useable. One of the reasons we bought this house in the first place was that it would be easy to have guests with the bathroom and bedroom in the basement, but that would mean the bathroom actually needed to be able to be used. So with Matt's mother (Bonnie), sister (Whitney), and friend (Carrie) coming to visit us for their Spring Break we needed to figure out a way to give three girls a functional bathroom. We figured the most important thing was useable outlets and that then spawned ideas of a whole new bathroom. It took quite some talking into to get Matt to do the electrical work downstairs, so I hit him where it hurts - I called his manhood into question. Sure enough by the following weekend we were well under way in our new project. Matt did an awesome job. So here are some BEFORE, IN BETWEEN, and AFTER pictures:

BEFORE





Here is our "Lighting Ceremony":



IN BETWEEN






Just about everytime Matt looked at me he laughed. I do look pretty dorky.

AFTER (but not totally completed)





We still need to do the floor boards, paint the doors, find a new mirror or medicine cabinet that actually fits in between our light fixtures, and get some more accents to decorate with. Things I learned from this project are: Matt and I actually work well together in a project like this. We laughed a lot and were able to find humor in all our MANY mistakes. I also learned that I do not like to paint. I was surprised by how much I hated it. I found it monotonous and it bugged me to no end that I could not fix all the problems with the previous paint jobs that had been done down there. Any other painting plans I had for the house will be no longer, except for a few exterior jobs that are desperately needed.

The Big Red Blob

Two Fridays ago we had a HUGE snow storm. It was so bad that even my Pathfinder in 4 wheel drive was struggling. So I called Matt and told him I didn't want him driving home in our little sedan. In order to get to our house from any direction you have to climb several steep hills and if not cleared quick enough they can be kind of ugly. So as soon as we got home we put Carter in this red snow suit that was a hand-me-down from the kids I watch. Matt and I had a blast playing with Carter in the snow. This was the first time that he was a strong enough walker to attempt to get around the snow on his own.

Spring Might be Coming!! (knock on wood)

Yesterday was chilly, but warm enough to bundle Carter in his coat and let him roam and explore our little backyard. It was so fun to watch him run from place to place. He was like a kid in a candy store. His face in the picture below says it all:





He had much to discover by taste and touch:




Carter also had a blast playing in my flower pot. He got the dirt all over his face by the time he was done.





With his own backyard conquered, Carter is now ready to take on the world!

WHY OH WHY...

Is toilet paper so fun to play with?!?!



This video is hilarious because you see how proud Carter is of himself by his puffing out his chest:



P.S. Don't you love our pink and black tile? It is a CLASSIC Pittsburgh bathroom, but atleast our colors look decent together as opposed to our friends bathroom that has faded torquoise and orange tile.

Boys Just Want to Have Fun!

Who says fun is just for girls?

Tag, I'm It!!

20 Years ago: I was 5 years old and in kindergarten at Robert Frost Elementry School in West Valley City, UT. I was still rather chunky and couldn't wear "normal" dresses because they didn't fit over my chub. Believe it or not I was pretty fat until around 2nd grade. My nickname given by my Grandpa Shirl was "thunder" from all my horrible fits I would throw. Everything had to be done my way or not at all. Some things never change I guess. :)
10 Years Ago: I am now 15 years old and a sophmore at Hillcrest Highschool. I was in the middle of my first super-duper crush with Jeff Jorgenson. To my absolute delight he returned the crush, to my absolute despair it was only for a few days. My heart was crushed and I never truly got over him for the rest of highschool. My bestfriend Anna and I were always up to mischief and now that she could drive we would go up to Park City and ski.
5 Years Ago: Matt and I had been married for 7 months at this point and living in the Rabbit Hutches (aka married student housing) for our last year at BYU. We were having a blast with all of Matt's boys who we miss dearly. I was waiting tables at Magelbys and Matt was a French Teacher at BYU. We knew we were headed to Des Moines at this point so Matt could attend Des Moines University for the Podiatric Surgery program. We couldn't wait to live closer to Matt's family in Kansas City, MO.
3 Years Ago: This has to be one of our favorite times of our married life. We had enough money to get by (thanks student loans), we LOVED living in Des Moines, we went down to KC about once a month, and most importantly this is when our love affair with the Freakin Thalgotts was blooming. This will be a time in our lives that we will look back forever and remember "the good old days". I just don't think life could get much better than that.
1 Year Ago: On today exactly Matt, Carter (2 1/2 months), and I moved in to Matt's parents house in KC. We lived with my family(SLC, UT) before that for around 4 months and that is where I had Carter. We were so sad to leave my family but were stoked to be with Matt's family and have their relationship with Carter grow. I was enjoying being a mom. My world at this point was consumed with naps, getting Carter to sleep at night, and trying to hold on to breastfeeding even though Carter had fought me on it from day one.
So Far This Year: I went out to visit my family for about 5 weeks with Carter, Matt came at the end. I have worked quite a bit with the kids I take to school (it's pretty much turned into a part time nanny gig) and I love it: the kids, the parents, the dog, and the money. I feel extremely blessed. I have dodged some serious car accidents having to do with the horrible ice and snow we've had out here in Pittsburgh.
Yesterday: I worked for a good chunk of the day, did laundry, slid backwards down a long steep hill and didn't crash thanks to my Heavenly Father, played in the snow with Matt and Carter, and watched a movie with Matt after he put Carter to bed.
Today: Worked out at the Gym, went to Home Depot to get everything we need to redo our downstairs bathroom, Matt finished the electrical work, went grocery shopping, and cleaned house.
Tomorrow: Get up early with Carter like every other morning, plan a nursery lesson, do dinner prep work, go to 1-4 church (awful church time), have the Lamberts over for dinner, call families, and collapse into bed wondering how Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest.
This Year: Survive residency with a positive attitude, survive the mass exodus of our Pittsburgh friends, perhaps get pregnant at some point, plant and tend a vegetable garden along with all of our flower beds. Most importantly have a blast being a mom to my wonderful Carter and being married to a super-star husband and father. I have a fantastic life and I need to everyday remember how truly blessed I am.
I Tag: Alison C, Karen D, Afton M, Kara B, and really I would love to read this from anyone!