Ethan is so cute in his hat!

Pray My Neighbors Away!

Okay, this morning I have to admit that I am just not up to par. In fact, I am close to hating everyone. Okay, that's definitely an exageration, but you know the feeling where you wake up and you just don't have enough patience to go around? I kind of feel like that- everyone annoys me, well except my husband and my son.

Things have been going well in general for all of us out here in Utah. Dave is going to Ohio this weekend. I am excited for him and nervous for myself- it will be the first time that it's just going to be me, Ethan, and Pookie for 4 days. I love those breaks that Dave provides and I know it's going to be a long weekend without him. :(

The following weekend I am going to Portland (with Ethan). I am pretty excited about that. I am so excited for my dad and step mom, and my sister and bro in law to see Ethan. He is just the cutest! This weekend we practiced having him balance on his hands and knees. He's getting pretty good at it! Not long til he's crawling now!

Dave and I are also extremely excited to announce (hahaha... I can imagine all of you thinking the worst)... that we've finally paid off all of our credit card debt. It's been a hard road, but we are so proud of ourselves! We have so much more freedom now and things are looking on the up and up. Now just to tackle those pesky medical and dental bills.

Anyway, back to the subject of this blog posting... Dave and I have had the most horrible neighbors for over a year now. Last night I honestly spent over an hour in prayer trying to figure out why we had been stuck with them. Did we need to learn tolerance? patience? how to literaly love our neighbor? did we need to learn how to stand up for ourselves? WHAT!? Off and on our neighbors have been loud, rude, destructive, and generally a thorn in my butt. They have two pit bulls that they don't pick up after- even when it's in front of their door. They have parties consistently complete with multiple people slamming doors all night and cursing and loud bass. Last night it really felt like the last straw. Dave and I were up until 3 AM after having gone over there to ask them to quiet down and having called security twice. Believe me, if we could move we would have. Sounds like our condo complex is trashy huh? It's not. It's filled with (generally) wonderful people and Dave and I have loved our condo, but our neighbors just drive us crazy. So my new campaign is to "pray my neighbors away!" Sounds silly or even blasphemous? Then pray that the Lord provides us with a new home! Who knows. Something needs to change though.

New Phone!

So I got a new phone after Ethan destroyed my last one. In fact I'm using my new phone to post this! How cool is that?

Calling

So a member of the Bishopric came by this afternoon and left Dave and I with a calling. We knew it was coming (The Bishop dropped a big hint during Tithing Settlement like "We need to get you a calling!"). Anyway...

So today Dave and I found out we are going to be teaching primary for 6 or 7 year olds. WOW! Dave hasn't taught anything for a long time and as for me... I'd been praying I wouldn't end up with a teaching calling. To be honest I am a bit intimidated. I've never been to a single primary class and I don't even know any primary songs. I don't feel that confident in my ability to teach ANYTHING let alone to KIDS, let alone something as important as Church Stuff.

Oh boy. Wish us luck. Our first lesson is next week.

Sales Tax

Okay, I almost feel lame about posting about this, but it is something that I ran into just this month...

You should know your area's sales tax. Hopefully you can recite off the top of your mind, if you don't- take the time to look it up. And this second part is a little more complex... you should know what is taxable and what is not.

Here in Utah there's a sales tax rate for Food is 2.75%. And depending on where you live the general sales tax rate averages around 7% (in North Salt Lake it is 6.5%). And if that weren't enough, there's another tax rate for restaurants.

The tricky part is that Utah doesn't tax services, but it does tax products. That's kind of a "duh" statement right? It's a SALES tax. Anyway, Dave and I had to replace our tires the other day and we were over charged on our sales tax. The company we went through charged us a sales tax on the untaxable services they performed. LAME! I know it's sounds pretty anal to get all crazy about it, but considering the fact that they overcharged us, they're probably overcharging every customer and then we're talking LOTS of money.

Anyway, just be aware.

Ethan is 6 Months Old!

Ethan's 6 month check up was on Wednesday! Our big boy weighed in at 21 pounds 11 ounces and 27.5 inches long. It was also time for more immunizations. I swear those are harder for me than they are for him- Ethan recovered from them faster than I did. Maybe I'll make Dave take Ethan to his next appointment so I don't have to hold his little hands next time he gets his shots. :)

Ethan has been sitting up on his own for quite a while now. Now Ethan is to the point where he's comfortable leaning forward a good distance and to the sides- putting his weight on his arms to reach for toys. I love it! :) I keep saying that I am not excited for the crawling stage, but I am- babies look so darned cute when they crawl around. :)

The other day I managed to capture some pictures of Ethan sucking on his bottom lip. This is one of my favorite faces that he makes. It just cracks me up. :)

It's been a while

Well, I've been busy out of my mind lately... between work, Ethan, and trying to keep the house clean, I don't have a moment to myself. Sometimes it feels like the days pass so quickly, but we're still here in the middle of January.

Thigns are going well over all. Today we're doing house projects (another item on the to do list that is my life). Dave is hammering in the last of the base boards right now... next up is caulking them into place and ultimately painting. We're trying hard to break all of our projects into small pieces or we're going to get overwhelmed too quickly. There's lots we want to do with the house and we have a plan, but it's hard to pace ourselves. :) Luckily, the projects we do tend to wear us out so we have to take a few weeks off.

Last weekend Dave, Ethan, and I went to Wendover, Nevada. Wendover is this little town on the Utah/Nevada border with like 10 casinos. We had received a free night and a free dinner at one of the casinos so we went for it (free mini-vacation!). It was fun, but I did feel bad the first moment we walked into the casino and the noises (and smoke) hit us- and Ethan. We got checked in as quickly as possible and took Ethan up the room. That night Dave and I took turns going down the casino. We both played a little roulette and won! :) So we got a free night, a free meal, and $100 bucks! :) It was a good vacation. :)

As for things now... well, back to the day to day stuff. Sometimes I feel like my life is just one big to-do list. Sometimes it doesn't feel so much like I am living my live as much as I am trying to navigate a giant "To Do" jungle. There's a certain satisfaction at the end of the day knowing I got stuff done, but the down side is when I finally have a moment to sit down, I just thinking of checking off "relaxing" as another item done. It takes the fun out things.

Handy Husband

On Friday I got the urge to do some house projects... you know, just little things to get organized for the new year. Well, Dave and I really went for it! Lowe's had a great deal on some wood laminate and we had been talking about doing that for a while... so we did it! Talk about spur of the moment.

My husband is so wonderful... we woke up early on Saturday morning and started ripping up the carpet and the mat below it. Then we had clean up the dust, dirt, and staples. Then we had to take the floorboards/molding out (I wanted new boards). Our "little" project kept growing... Our "one day" project turned out to take two (which isn't bad considering we replaced our floor!), required the help of various family members at different times, and Dave and I only snapped at each other a few times. :)

Anyway... the before and after pictures...

Apparently I suck at before pictures, because this is the only one.
Let me describe our carpet to you... It's one of those things where once you replace it you wonder how you could have lived like that for so long (another example would be our bathroom).
Our carpet wasn't bad, just really really old. And dirty. I kept meaning to get it cleaned, but time just got away from me...

The New Floor! It has made the room seem so much brighter, more comfortable, and warmer. We also took the chance to rearrange. I quite like how we rearranged- it's different. Not all of the furniture is just pushed against the wall anymore. And the room feels bigger!

The new molding.
Dave learned how to cut and install this himself- and believe me, it's pretty tricky! I'm so proud of him!

King of Christmas

Here's the king of Christmas. We had such a good time- Christmas truly is best shared with family- and children. :)

Piano

My dad plays the piano. We've grown up with it and I have loved it. One of the things I am most excited about is that Ethan will also grow up with a piano around. :) Here's some bonding and learning time...

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus

So our good friends the Woodbury's asked us for a favor the Sunday before Christmas... Anne asked if we could play Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in their primary pageant. I was so excited that I said yes instantly. :)

All of us in our costumes- Anne is so talented!

Surrounded by all the kids. :)

Darn...

I was going to post a million pictures from Christmas morning but I realized that my camera is still at my mom's house. Bummer. There were some really cute pictures though! Ethan didn't really know what was going on, nor did he seem that interested. But Dave and I had a great time! We were both so excited to get up that morning. It was also the first Christmas where we had to split time- we started at our place, then went to my parent's house, and ended up at Dave's sister's house for a traditional Spanish meal (YUM!). Ethan's favorite new toy is actually just a little truck that makes popping noises. Pookie ate one of Ethan's toys (we got him a small soccer ball- Bad Pookie!).

I wish I had pictures to share. Soon. :)

Big Baby (Pt 2)

So Ethan's 4 month check up was on Nov 23. And I was once again dead on regarding his size. 2 weeks ago my little boy weighed 19 pounds and was 27 inches long. He's in the 90 something percentile for his size and weight (he's a good height for his weight and vice versa). A few days ago I was reading one of my friend's blog and I realized that her baby and my baby were the same size (give or take a pound and an inch) and her baby is 9 months old.

Anyway, it cracks me up. Our little boy is so big! And he's strong too. He loves standing and if he could he would already be walking and getting into everything. Ethan loves it when we pick him up when I am cooking dinner and show him what we are doing. We have such a curious and smart little man! :)

Merry Christmas!

This year I made an electronic card instead of paper ones to be mailed out. I apparently can't work the scissers or glue in a competent way so an electronic medium is much better for me. That and I never get everything mailed out (I still have thank you cards sitting on my desk from my wedding).

Anyway, I sent out cards to the email addresses I have... so if I don't have yours, here's your copy. :)

Merry Christmas! We love you!

Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great day... we went up to Dave's sister's house and join other family members for an excellent Thanksgiving Dinner (Thanks Dave and Carol! It was yummy!). Anyway, I am really just using this as an excuse to post a cute picture of Ethan in his Thanksgiving headband. We received the headband from one of my aunts and I have been so excited to be able to use it!

That's a Turkey on the headband- so CUTE!

And just for fun- a cute face Ethan was making as he was playing.

Thank you...

I'm going to admit something I am terribly ashamed of.... It's taken me about 25 years to appreciate family and 27 years to realize that it is the MOST important thing that any person has.

Today I am writing to thank each of my parents, siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles, and everyone else I could possibly be related to...

Over the past year, especially after the birth of my son, I have come to realize what an integral part of my life my family has been. David, Ethan and I have received so much support and assistance from everyone- from advice and baby clothes, to babysitting and people to talk to. It really does take a village to raise a child- and it's a good thing that between our families combined we have a small town! :)

I am so thankful that my eyes have finally been opened to the true value of family and I am so grateful that even though it has taken me so long to figure that out, everyone continued to give me a chance. I know that this realization isn't going to make me any better about sending out emails or birthday cards or presents (I wish it would though!) but I want you all to know that I really do think of each of you EVERY day. Every time I look at Ethan, my heart swells to think of all the people that have come together to raise me, to raise David, and to help us grow. To see us through the awkward years, to tease us and make us stronger, to encourage us, to help us through the tough spots. And to see us through the good times as well. Dave and I don't say it enough, and Ethan can't say it at all (yet), but we are extremely grateful that each of you is in our life, that we were lucky enough to get you as a family member, and that we figured it out before it was too late. We love you all. We think that you guys are the best and we wouldn't trade our places in the world for anything. Thank you for being with us through every thing, for supporting us through so much change, and for being with us as we start a new branch of family. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you and love each of you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Deborah, David, and Ethan
(Pookie too)

Ethan's Wish List

Just thought I would throw this out there.... I have been reading to Ethan a lot lately- stuff that I loved from my childhood. So I would love to hear your favorite books/stories/etc from YOUR childhood.

I have been on Shel Silverstein kick lately... been reading a lot of "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "The Giving Tree." Most of you know how dear The Giving Tree is to me and my family. :) I knew that becoming a mommy would make me more emotional but now reading the Giving Tree actually makes me tear up a little bit.

Anyway... Ethan's Wish List...

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

Mrs Piggle Wiggle (The whole Series)

Picture books

Dr Suess

Beethoveen CD's

Today

Well today Ethan and I met up with April and her kids Mara, Asher, and Sylas. (Yeah aren't those awesome names? Dave wants me to scout out names from April for our next kid. :) )

Anyway... we met up at Temple Square. It was pretty awesome- and a little cold. It has been the first time that I have gone through the visitor's centers at Temple Square... they did a great job! It's really amazing to see the history of the building and the big Jesus statue. I know that it has an official name (Christus?) but I can't think of it. The painting surrounding it is amazing! I want to hire that guy to do my bedroom- the background (the stars/galaxies) are amazing! They have also started putting up lights in Temple square- I am so excited to see the lights this Christmas. :) I'm going to make Dave take me out.

I got my hair cut today as well... it's nice and short! I hadn't had a haircut in 2 years (no exagerating). Now Ethan can't get his fingers stuck in my hair. :)

Anyway- this weekend Dave is taking me to Rodizio for my birthday. YUM! :) I am so excited. :)

Mirror Lake

Over the weekend we all (including Pookie) drove up into the Uintas and to Mirror Lake. The Uintas are beautiful in the summer and beautiful in a different way in the winter. And COLD! For example- the Lake was frozen over with pretty thick ice. One interesting thing was that it was silent up there... really quiet in a way that people rarely hear. No animals, no people, no cars. In the faint distance there was the sound of an airplane. We could hear the wind howling. It was really interesting to experience.

And of course Dave and I couldn't leave until we spent some time throwing rocks at the ice trying to break it. We didn't.

Notice the frozen mass of ice? Mirror Lake. It was so cold we had Ethan in a jacket and a thick blanket just to be sure he was warm.

Bubble Boy. What a cutie!

Oh My Goodness... It's been that long?

I just noticed that I haven't written a blog entry since the middle of October. And it's almost the middle of November now! So much has happened around here! Ethan is almost 4 months old! Can you believe it? I can't. I am still amazed at the ability to look down at my little boy and watch him grow before my eyes... and learn before my eyes. I love it.

Let's see since I last wrote, Ethan and I flew down to California to pick up my mom and drove back up here. Ethan is an awesome traveler... just sits quietly and looks out the window or sleeps. Made the drive from CA to UT so much easier! We had snow promptly after returning- yeah snow! Halloween came and went- with Ethan dressed up as a chunky monkey. And now here we are getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I have been trying to listen more closely to what the Spirit (Holy Ghost) tells me so that has been my daily challenge/goal. Who would have thought that just listening could be so hard? :)

Anyway, no posting would be complete without pictures....

Snow! One of our friends gave us (Ethan) this cute little snow suit.

Daddy and Son dressed alike (even if you can't tell). Some guy time.

His Concentrating Face (Daddy makes the same one when playing video games).

King Chupa the Pirate.

There's a picture of me with my older sister Molly holding me and I was wearing a turban thingy kinda like this.