FINAL WALK THROUGH

Well, it was very surreal, but we had our final walk-through of our cute house. Its ALL done - totally. The only things left to do are pour the driveway, and sod the house - which are the builder's job.

The weird part? We still don't move in for another...um...5 weeks. We take possession of the house on April 28th.

So, its all still surreal.

Meanwhile, we are still enjoying living with Brian's parents.

Its fun in lots of ways - always someone to converse ADULT conversations with. It usually tends to be about politics - and its lots of fun.

There is always someone to watch the kids if I have to run a quick errand.

There's always someone to watch a movie with if Brian has to work.

There is always someone to play a game with. Last night we played Scrabble with Brian's parents until 9:30.

I only cook the meals THREE nights a week. Brian's mom cooks FOUR nights a week - and she is a FABULOUS cook.

We always eat on time.

There is someone to back me up on discipline issues when Brian isn't home (which is MOST of the time - the boy is gone A LOT!)

There is always a "PAL" for the kids - Grandma and Grandpa - to give them extra hugs, or take them out to fly a kite or for a ride on the bike.

The cleaning chores are divided - its amazing how much less it feels like there is to do when I am not the ONLY one cleaning.

So, yes we are excited to move on and be on our own, BUT we sure do like the perks of living with Brian's parents and we will miss it. Do I sound crazy? We really LOVE living here!

UPDATE ON TYLER'S ASTHMA; NAET?

So, its been awhile since I have posted on Tyler's asthma and his treatments we have been undergoing with NAET - and allergy elimination technique.

So, NOW EIGHT months later, Tyler is still off ALL SEVEN MEDICATIONS. It is GLORIOUS.

EXCEPT when we would go visit my parents house, wherein lives 2 cats. Well, we actually had to take fur samples from both cats, as well as saliva samples, and treat Tyler for them.

Also, Tyler was allergic to the dust at my parents house and other dust in general, so we had to accumulate samples of each of the rooms there.

He has "passed" the treatments and is doing very well.

He only has 5 of like 20 things, to go. He is now NO LONGER ALLERGIC to the following:

Eggs, Wheat, Corn, Shellfish, Vinegar, Cats, Dust, Pollen, Sugars, Food Additaves and Preseveratives, Feathers and a few others.

He still has to be treated for Mold, Trees, phenyls in plastics, Nitrates/nitrites and Radiation (I know - crazy)

But he showed before he got treated for each individual allergen that his histamine levels for all of the above were affected, as well as (SURPRISE) his lungs reacted to EVERYTHING.

I ran into another cute mom at the clinic today, and she told me that her 2 year old little boy has asthma and through NAET (allergy elimiation technique - http://www.naet.com/) was off of ALL of his meds as well.

It has made the HUGEST difference in our lives - and also in the health AND demeanor of our cute Tyler.

EVER PLAYED QUELF????

So, My new FAVORITE FAVORITE Game is called "Quelf." Have you ever played it? It is SO hilarious. I mean REALLY REALLY zany.

This is my brother in law Kevin. In this picture, during the game QUELF, he had to go run and construct SNORKELING gear with whatever materials he could find. But he couldn't tell anyone what he was doing. So all we see is him running, rustling in the kitchen, and he comes back with snorkeling gear made of SARAN WRAP and a SPOON.

He had to wear it for the rest of the game.

Also around his neck you will see TOILET PAPER. He had to, without telling us, go and put a pick of toilet paper around his neck, and also wear THAT the whole game.

That is just part of it. I picked a card that told me I could only communicate in GRUNTS and MOANS - it was called "the FRANKENSTEIN RULE."

If you cannot fulfil your requirements or you mess up, then you have to go back a set number of spaces on the board.

When somebody laughed, my father in law had to say to each person, "I COMMAND YOU TO BE SILENT!!" Which of course made us laugh MORE!

My brother in law Chris, had to find an object to be his MASCOT and give it a cute name, and keep by him the entire game. He chose a BOTTLE OF GLUE and named it "RENDY."

I mean, it is SOOOOO random, but sooo hilarious. You end up just LAUGHING HISTERICALLY THE ENTIRE GAME!!!

New Interior Pics from our house being built - almost done!!

Tyler is covered in construction dust as he pours out his love to his imprisoned Kylianne.

Kylie is bored - no question. But she does want you to keep on scrolling down and check out the pics.

Brian standing in the Master Bedroom - with the laundry room behind him. He rescues Kylie from her little carseat prison.

Our Master Bedroom Bathroom. We cannot believe we will ACTUALLY have drawers and cupboards, and TWO sinks. There is a separate toilet room, which we are tickled about. No more getting trapped in the bathtub while somebody's nature is calling them. I know TMI - but REALLY - this will be SO MUCH MORE apropoe to a relaxing bath.

This is from the entryway looking at the living room and part of the bar area.

So....there is no door to the Master Bathroom. Is that weird? Should we add a door or curtain or anything? I love the pillar things. The closet is at the end of the bathroom area. That could be interesting.

We sense that our kids are excited....except for Kylie, who is going with the flow.

How LONG has it been since we have lived not in our own house? 4 months and 5 days.

This is the kids bathroom - formerly the same size as our ONLY household bathroom.

Homebuilders too can mess up apparently. Here is the botched kitchen countertop sitting on the living room floor. They cut it WRONG - whoops!

This is the island ish station with bar on the other side looking over the living room.

This is from the living room looking into the kitchen area.

Our cute painter was there one Saturday when we came to check things out. Tyler was mesmerized. We love the lighting fixture in here - but we are using this as a music room and not a dining room. Any suggestions? Keep the cute light?

Brooke and Tyler checking out the kitchen just put in. The botched countertop is sitting on the cabinets. Look closely - can you see what is wrong???

Looking from the eat in kitchen area at the living room/entryway. This is the propane heater phase - before the furnace was hooked up.

You may have noticed everything is VERY WHITE. If you can remember, PRETTY PLEASE tell me what your FAVORITE paint color is - name and brand - and what hue it is. I am totally open to suggestions!!!!!!!!!!!

So there is the VIP tour!!!!

Little Boys ARE DIRTY!!

My adorable, cute, sweet loving 3 1/2 year old is more CURIOUS than a CAT, and DIRTIER than a ......well, you get the picture.

As my little sweetheart wakes up "stinky" he stealthily gets himself dressed and changed and comes downstairs. Perplexed by his efficiency, I go upstairs to find not just the stinky diaper on the floor, but ALSO poo on the floor. I THEN find the scarves and gloves that we currently keep in his closet each have some poo on them. HE HAS BEEN WIPING HIS BUM WITH OUR WINTER GEAR!!!

GAG ME!!

As I go about my day, I find two cars in his little potty - sitting in urine. Seriously, what is it with him and his excrements?

I go upstairs before getting Brooke off the bus to make sure he is in his bed for his nap. I find a willowly, flowly, snakelike SEA OF TOILET PAPER cascading down the hallway and in big fluffy PILES in the bathroom. I have precisely 4 minutes until I have to meet Brooke on the corner. I am rerolling the toilet paper at blister-producing speed to get it wound back on the roll, adreneline pumping and sweat beading up on my furrowed brow.

Tyler gets a nice firm SPANK. Yes, I DO occasionally spank my children - and THIS is one of those times.

When he is safely in his nap I go check on the downstairs bathroom and find a big pile of CEREAL on the bathroom floor right by Tyler's little potty. HUH? I then notice a little cereal trail through the bathroom, on through the dining room, and into the pantry when cereal is found strewn about in little piles resting on each shelf until I find the UPTURNED cereal box.

Its like I am on some sort of sadistical Easter Egg Hunt just waiting to see what other horrible presents Tyler has left me.

I go up to my room to relax for a minute and go on the computer. But I cannot rest because all my good SCRAPBOOKING MARKERS AND SCISSORS are all strewn about, the CAPS are all off (SOUND THE MONEY ALARM, there is NO way I am buying new ones!) as well as some UNMENTIONABLES taken out of drawers. AHHH!

Then I go to put the mail on the desk and step on something sharp. I step backwards - OUCH!! THUMBTACKS EVERYWHERE on the ground. Then I see good ART chalk on the ground, then Markers, then GLUESTICKS....and a dislodged DRAWER of the desk upturned.

STEAM BILLOWS A HIGH SPEEDS OUT MY EARS.

I go to retrieve some of the rechargeable batteries that we use for our wireless keyboard and, OF COURSE, they are ALL MISSING. CRAP!! But my 2nd child, Tyler, WHOM I LOVE, is sleeping LIKE AN ANGEL. How is this possible, when he has been so good at creating CHAOS?

I think to myself on days like these - I just can't deal with any more poo, or accidents, or spilled food, or missing batteries, and I KNOW, I just KNOW, that I will LAUGH about this tomorrow!!!

Obama is RUINING the Economy - WSJ

So, each day to me is PROOF how horrible Obama is for the country with his leftist policies and financial INSANITY!

Our debt currently - not even INCLUDING the other stimulus plan coming AND the Universal Health Care thing he wants to do (another 1.2 trillion) EXCEEDS the WORLD'S GDP!!

Um, Yikes.

According to Wall Street Journal, Obama's Radicalism is a festering culprit:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123629969453946717.html

And yet, here in Chicago - Obama's media playground - we have TV broadcaster and newspaper journalists, and radio talk heads saying, "Wall Street just doesn't seem to be responding to Obama's policies."

UM - try that he is single handedly DESTROYING it. Anytime anyone from Washington speaks, the Stock Market plummets.

HAD TO VENT SOMEWHERE!!!!!

THE BACHELOR - FOR ONCE DARN GOOD TV

So, I have not watched "The Bachelor" since my Wyview Days at BYU. But somehow last night's Finale attracted my attention. Maybe its because the guy had this really cute little boy. Maybe its because the girls didn't seem like total ditzes. Maybe I needed a good Romantic Fix. Whatever it was, I was compelled to watch ALL THREE HOURS, to Brian's Dismay.

So I was TOTALLY FLABBERGASTED that after the cutest rose ceremony, where I convinced and rooting for Melissa and very satisfied with the result, I was equally stunned to see the taped Break up. I don't think the guy is a flake. I can respect the fact that the real world brought them to see sides of each other that were not infused in the circumstances of the taping of the show. I have to respect the guy for not just letting it slowly drift, or leading her on, or whatever.

BUT - totally brutal to do this in front of everyone, allthought it made for some DARN GOOD TV, I have to say. It doesn't get too much better than that.

Equally as interesting to me was the previously rejected girl, brought back on to infuse their previously nixed relationship with life, Molly's reaction. I had to laugh when this guy was pouring his heart out to her. She kept looking to Chris Harrison, the host, to see if this was some kind of joke, or to get some guidance. She didn't believe it, and was so totally stunned. It was so funny to me HOW speechless this girl was. She had this look of shock on her face and just kind of giggled nervously when asked a question, without actually saying anything. It was FABULOUS!!!

I am going to book club tonite to discuss "PAVILLION OF WOMEN" by Pearl Buck. But I know I will be DYING to know what happens on Part 2. DARN OUR LACK OF DVR OR TIVO!!!

This is SO Awesome!

Brooke has been VERY concerned about her BIG BIRTHDAY #6 this year.
It is a unicorn and pony theme, of course.
She picked out her perfect pony idea from off the internet – which we duplicated – and it was quite involved – we cut out a template, got pink cake spray to spray over the template and the decorate over it.

Some recent conversations about this process

“Mom that paper your drawing on has two lines. (I was eyeballing an enlargement of a coloring book picture and had to do it in two steps)

" It just doesn’t look very good. "

ME: “We are just going to spray the part we cut out, no one will see it. I am putting this piece of paper over the cake to spray (as I show her).

Brooke says dubiously, “I don’t think anyone will want to eat paper, “

Me, “No one will eat paper, we spray where the hole is.”

Brooke: Do you stay in the lines when you color?”

“Yes”

“Well, Mandy and Evie’s mom doesn’t.”

As I am cutting the template out, “Are you a good cutter?”

Me, “I would hope so, I have had 31 years to get it right.”

“I am too,”



(As I am taping parts of the template that need reinforcing) “Why are you taping that?”

“So this will be sturdy.”

“Sturdy? That wouldn’t be very good.”

Me: “I said STURDY not DIRTY.”

Brooke with a nervous giggle, “Oh, sometimes I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

It was Brooke’s turn for family prayers, “ Thank you that we can make my cake tomorrow”

“Thank you that we can spray the cake pink,”

“Thank you that I can help my mom do the cake tomorrow.”

So as we made and frosted the pony masterpiece today she said at least 9 times like a 13 year old, "This is SO awesome!"

Building a house - pics

Here it is. I finally got myself organized enough to compile and combine my pictures to post on the progress of our house.

We are finally LETTING ourselves get excited. We were always EXCITED* (with an asterisk) because of the uncertainty of selling our other house, the impact and uncertainty of the bankruptcy of our builder, the craziness of the housing market and economy, living with Brian's parents for 6 months.

So even though most of the time it still seems like some far away idea since we don't get to see it much (70 minutes away) the pictures prove to us that it is actually a reality. I will post some inside ones soon.

You know this economy is tight when...

When ARIANNA HUFFINGTON buys your "cheapest price" book listed on amazon.

What book did she buy? A book on Godesses of all things.

I went to the post office today and the mail clerk Bob looked at the address and name and said, "Mailing to the rich and famous are we?"

I even checked out her profile on amazon - "just launched."
I guess thats what you have to resort to when your rich and famous on a financial diet.

So who is she exactly, my cute husband asks?

Here is Wikipedia's answer:

Arianna Huffington (born Arianna Stassinopoulos, 15 July 1950) is an American author and syndicated columnist. She is perhaps best known as founder of The Huffington Post.
In 2003 she ran as an independent candidate in the California recall election.

Godess books indeed!!

LAUNCHING OF NEW BLOG

So I am launching a blog based on being fit, trim, healthy, beautiful, etc - focused on moms. It will be based on the exercises and techniques and tips I teach with supreme emphasis on moms.

I will also address questions I get asked by the women I teach, coach and train.

It will address questions on posture, pelvic floor, nutrition, back aches, myths, books, exercises specific for moms. We have to take care of ourselves so we have the strength to keep giving to others.

The blog address is listed on my blog and called

BEAUTIFUL AFTER THE BELLY

http://www.beautifulafterthebelly.blogspot.com/

My sister has encouraged me to do this for awhile because I eat breathe and drink this stuff, as well as teach and train 4 times a week. I am a certified Personal Trainer, certified Maternal Fitness trainer, and am A.M.A. accredited in Nutrition.

So it is my passion and I will love to explore all sorts of topics and discussions.

I would love for you to follow along and post your comments along the way!
(Lets hope it goes better than my one-post "Lost" blog, which no one as far as I know ever visited.)

Babies Battle Bumblingly over Box

Kylie and her cousin Kaiya (Tami and Kevin's daughter) are destined to be great friends. But whose to say great friends can't have a bit of competition now and then.....

WE WON A TRIP...BUT....

What a time to win a free trip through Funjet Vacations on the radio to Puerto Vallarta Mexico!!

All expense paid, air travel, meals, hotel, etc.....BUT

since we are scrimping and saving for our downpayment, we can't afford the $197 per person taxes and surcharges to go.

So sadness.

We won a trip to Cancun on the same radio station 3 years ago from the same radio station. I am starting to wonder if I am the only one who enters these things. I go online to http://www.wlsam.com/ and enter all their contests. It is the only way we get to go to concerts and vacations and stuff since our budget is tight.

So alas, Puerto Vallarta, another year perhaps!

Presenting Kylie's Top Ten

Kyli is now 8 1/ 2 months. I FINALLY have done the whole picture editing and flash drive to the laptop thing to get these up.

She has some definite quirks that we find adorable.

Top 10 QUIRKS that we love:

10) She crawls straight for the fireplace and chows down when really sneaky, on the ashes and wood chips. We find her mouth, lips and teeth BLACK frequently when the SAFETY pillows blocking her way are removed.

9) She can babble, but chooses instead to sound like a dog in heat, or an injured defensive raccoon….we can’t decide which is more accurate. It resembles a growling grunting sound, that if it came out of another species, would frighten the living daylights out of any human.

8)Kyli is BELOW the charts on weight, since she has been crawling, so we are on "PLAN 21" – the goal to triple the birthweight (7 lbs) before she turns 1. She has been loving the generous helpings of baby appropriate food we put in front of her as finger food.

7) When she crawls, she goes pretty fast. However, if you tell her to go find “Grandma or Grandpa” she gets a burst and crawls at her baby lightening speed to go find them.

6) Kylie is a full fledged stalker, as her Grandpa calls her. She will follow the person of her choice for up to 30 minutes. She is like a faithful little puppy who wouldn’t dream of being parted from her master.

5) She has other puppy-like traits. She will put a shirt of toy in her mouth, and crawl quickly in the direction of the person she is stalking. Its like she is playing a one sided game of “catch.” We love this about her and think it is crazy and adorable. Oddly enough, her sister Brooke did the same thing.

4) Kylie sounds just like the "AFLAC duck" in the commercials. It sounds like “Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh” but in a quacking tone and timbre. Brian’s mom thinks we would make a fortune if we would get her dressed up cute and submit this into AFLAC as a marketing campaign.

3) Kylie is extremely flirtatious and laugh and smiles and flutters her big long black eyelashes and everyone with whom she wants attention. We are in trouble in about 12 years…

2)Kylie’s favorite toy, oddly, is a set of kids binoculars that fold up into a circle and are bright yellow with a bee on them. There is a long string around them which can be worn as a necklace by the child. She loves to carefully study it and analyze it and then suddenly, without warning, SHOVE it into her mouth with great intensity.

1) Kylie HATES her baths. Its almost the only time we see her cry. And she’s always #1 in our book!!

I'm the Cussedest Woman I Know

In honor of the book I just read for book club, that I LOVED ("These is My Words" )I had to start out by saying my new favorite quote, because I feel like I am the only parent in Brooke's kindergarten class that doesn't regularly come, as she informs me a couple of times each week.

So I am feeling the guilt everytime she looks at me with those sad eyes and asks "All the other moms come to my kindergarten class, why don't you come?

In my mind I have had good reasons, but really it comes down to I just have to make time for it.

Now that I am released as Primary President (as of this week) I really do feel like I have a little more time to do stuff like that.

And now that Brian's bowling season is over - cut short at the very end with an AMAZING AWESOME 13-1 season, just to come up short for sectionals and not make it to state - Brian will be home sooner than 8:00 each night and ALL DAY every Saturday.

(Although I DID have to peel him off the couch Saturday from his post sucky sectionals blues, as he was in his depths of despair depression, coupled with the fact that we were stuck watching TWELVE kids for our babysitting co-op and watching some horribly happy "How to Be a Ballerina" show. He showed restraint but let out his frustration while burying his head in a pillow and hitting it now and again.)

So, being the CUSSEDEST (isn't that the BEST word?) woman I know, I will have to make a more valiant effort to be present at the IN place to be - Brooke's kindergarten class!

The WORST VACATION EVER?!?!?!

Well, if you determined the best and worst vacation by how many things go right or wrong, we would be in BIG TROUBLE for this vacation!!!

It started out innocently enough - I left with the kids Sunday Afternoon (to be joined by Brian later) to drive the 3 1/2 hours down to my parents house.

Tyler had a MAJOR and SERIOUS asthma attack the 2nd night there. His immune system was down from being sick, and then he came in contact with lots of DUST and CATS - both of which he is allergic to at my parents house - does not end well. (He has not been treated yet for cats and dust through NAET.) After giving him the albuteral emergency stash for 2 hours straight - burning fever, rapid shallow breathing - at 5 AM I was TOTALLY freaking out. I was told if it was like that to call 911. Finally he improved enough where I was comfortable NOT to have to call them. That DARN CATS - they will never get any love from me!

Tyler's sickness got passed to Brooke, Kylianne, and I. Thoughout the whole house ALL WEEK all you could hear was hacking, barking coughs.

AND my best and only BRA with me - BREAKS! Safety pins are a PAINFULLY sharp replacement.

I had a HORRIBLE eye infection - but STUPID ME - I forgot my back-up glasses. And with a Perscription of -9 (yes, thats right NEGATIVE 9) that is DEBILITATING. I couldn't just not see anything all day, so I kept wearing my contacts - my eye got more and more red, and bloodshot, and weepy so I gave up. By the 3rd day my mom gave me a pair of my dads glasses - they looked really cute I'm sure - but they were just a DROP in the bucket. I could still see nothing. Joking - as an option - I put on my brother's glasses ON TOP of my dads glasses - and it was the perfect perscription. My dad is -5 and my brother is -4.

But then....I had to go everything looking like a mad raving TOTAL lunatic. My dad was doing his annual Christmas vacation cleaning on my teeth and his receptionist walks in and sees me - wearing TWO pairs of glasses, one on top of the other, no makeup because of the eye infection, a RED PUFFY eye, uncoiffed hair (I couldn't really see it to COIF it - I felt like I was seeing life through a fish tank). I could just HEAR her thoughts - " What has HAPPENED to that girl the last year - YIKES?!?!?!?


When we went to go see "Valkerie" I thought to myself that it was awfully cold in the theatre. I wore a winter coat and furry hood the whole movie. I keep the teeth chattering shivering all night - even with EIGHT blankets - until I woke up drenched in sweat and with a NEW PRESENT - a STYE on my eye!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH ME.

So the vision is gone, the well being is gone, and then the VOICE completely disappeared. LARYNGITIS my wintertime friend latched onto me BIGTIME.

No biggy - I just had to go to be at 10 pm New Years.

But then on the way home from my parents (yes we DID forget to say a prayer before we left) Brian noticed something awry. The car was making weird noises. Luckily we were right by an exit - a good 2 3/4 hours into the trip. We made it onto the offramp BARELY before our TIRE BLEW. IT WAS VERY DARK ...and...Well - we had no flashlight so Brian used his cell phone for a light. My cell phone was dead because I refuse to take my cell phone charger our of the charging station at home. Well, he got the jack on the car, and took the tire off, and then....

THE JACK COLLASPED. There was this FREAKY CRUNCHING and LURCHING noise, and then the minivan shifted its weight in an eery way. My first thought was that it crushed Brian. I rushed out of the minivan in the blustery cold night and found Brian throwing out Mormon curse words (FETCH) - PHEW he was not crushed and he was alive. The minivan did fall on his cell phone and CRUSHED it, so we could not call a tow truck or the police. And of course no one stopped.

So Brian ran to a gas station as we sat in a freakishly lopsided car right next to a huge ravine. We said lots of prayers - especially for what seemed like would be an expensive axle repair with no way to get home before Monday.

It seemed like forever before Brian came back. He said we needed to get out of the car right away. We ran with the kids all the way down the off ramp into the city and into a McDonalds gas station. They had refused to let Brian used the phone even after explaining the situation but a GOOD SAMARITAN eating there let him use the phone. The kids cried as we ran in the dark, windy, cold night, but we got there as Brian raced back to the car to meet the tow truck. Brian's dad was also on his way to come get us.

The kids, especially Kylie, were hungry. We bunkered down in a handicap stall while I pumped to get some milk for Kylie, as here crying filled the bathroom. She has been in here carseat for 9 hours straight by that point - and she was NO HAPPY camper.

LUCKILY our prayer for the axle worked - it was fine. Brian and the tower got the donut on the car and Brians dad followed him in the van.

Its a good thing we didn't stay for one more day (LOVE YA MOM AND DAD) because who know what the HECK else would have happened!?!

Welcome 2009!

Well, it has been an interesting year. We had a great Christmas.

Brian and I did our "12 days of Christmas" for each other again. We just gave each other random stocking stuffer type of things. Brian got me the CD of Twilight which I LOVE. I got him the "Perfect Push-Up" things. I love them. Brian thinks we need to revamp the format for next year and have the items in a stocking and the other person can pick which one. Whereas now we just give each other whatever we want anytime during the day.

We went to our annual "Do it Yourself Messiah" at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. Its a volunteer orchestra and paid conductor, concertmaster, and soloists. It is so fun. Everyone sits in sections when they come in - Sop, Alto, Tenor, and Bass. I sat in the Sop/alto section and just happened to be in an area with no other sops which made things more challenging. We went with my sister Tami and her husband Kevin.

We are vacationing here at my parents house where somehow everyone in the family is suddenly sick. Its the worst to be SICK during vacation. After taking IBProfen I have been taking advantage of watching the "Wasted Spaces" marathon on DIY Network while Brian has been reading "New Moon." He was not looking forward, in his words, of reading about how much Bella misses Edward so when he saw those BLANK PAGES he was relieved.

We did our annual gingerbread houses last night with my parents, my brother Brent, and our kids. At Brooke's request we made a HORSE STABLE out of graham crackers and candy. At Tyler's request, Brian and he made a train and tracks out of graham crackers and candy. My dad got ambitious and did the Saint Louis Arch with wire, foil, graham crackers and candy.

We all as a family decided NOT to go bowling here in the small-town bowling alley, which Brian claims is the worst lanes he has ever seen. There was also bottles and cans of beer in every nook, cranny and counterspace, and a fresh crew of motorcycle Harley Davidson Posse looking to shake things up. So as much as we loved that atmosphere, we decided to leave and went to the theatre and saw Valkerie. Very interesting story.

Welcome in 2009!

OUR BUILDER GOES BANKRUPT

So, our house got this far and we get a fun call from our builders saying that they got word that morning they are going under.

They wanted to let us know before we heard it on the news and read it in the paper.

Kimball Hill Homes is pretty big in Chicago with Communites all over the burbs.

They assured us that they will still build our home since they ground has broken. Any contracts with UNBROKEN ground will not get a house. They are delivering our home 5 months pretty much from today - so we made their 6 month delivery projection.

However, there are still question marks - they have like 11 disclaimers - in the event that they can't get time from their creditors, their builders don't walk out early, their staff stays in tact, they prices negotiated on building materials, and the manufacturing companies they have contracts with don't fall through...then it will get done.

So - everything we do seems like one big leap of faith after another. Will we sell our house in this HORRIFIC housing marker? (we got REALLY lucky) Will we have enough for a downpayment ?(by the skin of our teeth we think) Will the house get done as projected? It looks like now - its a yes - keep your fingers crossed for us!

So long term - we will have LOTS of empty lots near our house, including right next door and across the street.

Kimball Hill Homes is waiting for someone to buy them out, or to buy their assets. I guess we will hold on to our seats for this roller coaster ride which is our lives! The trick is, as P. Hinckley would say, to enjoy the ride.

6 months ALREADY!!!!!

Kylianne Angel, very properly named, just turned 6 MONTHS. It feels like it should be 6 WEEKS, though. It has gone, of course, too fast already.

She is the only of our children that looks like one of her parents, in my opinion. She is the spitting image of Brian's baby pics.

She has BEAUTIFUL eyes and LONG LUSCIOUS eyelashes. (I am always glad when girls can inhereit an eyelash advantage).

She sleeps from 9:30 P.M. to 7 A.M. at night. I take it for granted sometimes, but I am LOVING this!

She is extremely good natured with all the pokings, prodings, teasings, hoverings, emotional smotherings she gets from her two other siblings. She takes it in stride and pretty much basks in the attention.

She really shows impatience if we take too long to feed her the oatmeal, greenbeans, rice, or milk. She squeals as if to say, "CHOP CHOP and get that spoon in my MOUTH!"

She is not sitting, doesn't seem interested. She does crawl. She is not superfast, but she can get across the room in about 7 minutes. Less if there is something dangerously intriguing lurking a few feet away.

We managed to break her of her finger-sucking habit, which I was worried about. We switched her over to a pacifier, which is more familiar territory for me.

She still nurses, but I pump for 5/6 of her feeding and give it to her with a bottle. Its MUCH fast for both of us, AND she likes to look around. I would much rather her look around with a BOTTLE than totally EXPOSE me in front of people!

She laughs and coos at everything we say or do.

She is extremely ticklish and loves to be tickled and lifted in the air. I do upward push ups with her for strength training. She loves it, and seeing her face is MUCH more rewarding than looking at the floor.

Tyler calls her "COWEE", Brooke calls her "Keeli" , I call her "Kyli" normally and "Kylianne" in those rare moments when she is crying, Brian calls her "Kyli" Grandpa calls her "Boo Boo."

WE feel so lucky that such a cute little soul is part of our family!

Potty Training Fiascoes

Ok, not really FIASCOES per se,
more like...things that make me laugh.

Tyler first of all has been doing awesome - and he SHOULD as I have waited so darn LONG to potty train the kid. He is 3+ - and my motivation is that he has to start preschool soon.

So, after he has some urinating vicotories, he goes to the kitchen to find Grandma Wayne (we are living with Brian's parents currently).

"Look, Grandma, its ORANGE" he ventured as he showed her his anatomy.

He pauses for a minute and adds matter of factly as he looks at his anatomy closer, "Its SMALL!!!"

Grandma and I just chuckled about the cute observations of a "potty-goer in training."

Hopefully he will keep these verbal comparison observations to a very, VERY small elite group of kin (as I share it with the blogosphere.)