Apartment tour

The story of finding our apartment....this will jump you ahead of what I've posted so far, but that's ok...

We got into Draper on Friday, Oct 3. We spent that evening and Saturday looking at apartments. We looked at a basement apt on Friday, but decided against it. The older man who was renting it was super nice, but it was sooo small and didn't have a bathtub, just a shower.

Saturday morning we called TONS of places. Zac and I went to look at a few while Mom stayed with Abby in the hotel. We looked at the Adagio apartments first - it's right across the freeway from Zac's store. The price was higher than we wanted, but so was every other place!

We drove to Riverton, the next town over, and looked at another apt that was about 10 miles from the store. It was a 3 bed/2 ba for what we're paying for a 2 bed/2 ba; we figured an extra room would be great for scrapbooking stuff and possibly a future Elliott addition. (NO I'm NOT pregnant - we're just planning ahead.) But, when we got there, we just weren't terribly impressed. We asked if there were any 2 bedrooms available and the lady said, "Actually, I just had one open up. The stove caught on fire, so the people are moving out and it'll be open after we do the repairs." Hmmm. At this point, my father-in-law (who works in fire/water restoration) probably would have had a small stroke. We managed to hide how appalled we were. But then, while we were standing in the 3 bedroom model she was showing us, her knee bumped the bar and the edging fell off!!! "Oh, I'll get that fixed," she said. Oh, we'll find another place, we thought.

We went back to the van, said a prayer and felt really good about living at the Adagio. We love it. The apartment is slightly bigger than our house was (1052 sq ft) and we are reeeaallly loving having a second bathroom!! So, please excuse the mess and allow me to show you around....


That's our front door on the right. It's a very open floor plan, which we love. I'm standing in the hallway taking this - the living room is to the right with the dining space there on the left.





Standing at the front door, taking a picture of the living room. We have Abby's slide on the porch and there's a storage closet out there. It's packed. :o)





Walk down the hall and look left. Abby's bathroom to the left, her bedroom straight ahead, the master suite (I love the sound of that!) to the right.





Abby's disaster, also known as her room. This child has too much stuff. I'm in the process of weeding through it.





Abby's bathroom. We are so excited about having two bathrooms! Mom and I picked out the bright shower curtain and got a matching purple bathmat and towels.





Part of our 'suite.' hehe I'm not going to show you our bedroom - it's a disaster. But our walk-in closet (!!) is to the left, the sink/mirror on the right, and the toilet and bathtub straight ahead. We're not used to all this room, but we LOVE IT!!





Down the hall, turn right and you'll find our (indoor!) laundry room. For those of you who didn't know, the laundry room at our house in Arkansas was an attachment that had been built off the back porch. So I had to go outside to get to it. Granted, I was grateful to have it....but I'm currently grateful for my indoor laundry room. :o)




I hope you enjoyed your stay! If you're ever near Salt Lake, we'd love to let you come in and visit. We really are excited about being here, although we do miss our families. Now that I've got the computer running, I should be updating more frequently. Love you all!!!

Videos

Here is a video of the girl. (My first video uploads - hope they work!) Don't worry, I'll finish posting about our trip - it just takes forever to write it all out!

This video is when Mom and I were going to Salt Lake City on Friday. They were predicting storms for Saturday and we wanted to make sure Mom saw some things. In this video, Abby will tell you where we're going and that she wants to talk to Hope and the Elliott family.






There are two others I want to post, but the computer is being retarded...be on the look out! :o)

Our move to Utah - Part One

In an effort to document our move to Draper, here is part one of the story. I will add pics soon and the remaining installments. :o) My apologies if it is kind of jumbled...I did my best! Love you all!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all started on Friday, September 26. Zac was off work and had spent some time with Abby, picked up Kendyl from a field trip and was at home (Meemaw's house) with Abby and Kendyl. Zac got an unrecognized phone call and answered it - Ray Marshman, new district manager, was calling to talk to him about the Furniture Row (Denver Mattress) opening in Draper, Utah. While he was on the phone, Sheila and Kirsten came by to pick up Kendyl. When I got home, he told me that he had interviewed for the asst mgr position in Draper and thought the interview went well. We were running late to meet the Calls and Tualas for dinner, so we headed out to meet them. We had dinner at Macaroni Grill (YUM) and filled them in on Zac's interview.

The next day, Ray called Zac at work to tell him that, while he couldn't officially say anything, he was sending Zac's name through the HR dept and would get back to him on Monday. We spent the weekend telling family and friends that we might possibly be moving to Utah. When I got to work Monday morning, I told my manager about the possibility. I told him that IF Zac got the promotion, it would be a quick move but that I would keep him updated as well as I could.

Monday afternoon, Zac went to Sonic to get drinks for him, Shawn and Carl. He was gone for awhile because the slush machine at the Sonic close to Denver Mattress wasn't working (as usual). When he got back, Shawn told him that Ray had called. Zac called him back and got the official job offer as the asst mgr in Draper.

Meantime, back at US Bank, I was out balancing the ATM with Tracy. When I got back in (around 4pm), Nic told me that Zac called and told me to call him at work asap. My heart started beating fast as I called up my hubby. When he answered and knew it was me, he said, "Hey. Quit your job." While this was, to some degree, music to my ears, I started to cry. I was supposed to have a farewell party, not just walk out! He said he would be stopping by later. I went in to Nic's office and told him. Then I told Willie, my mgr, and then made my rounds across the teller line (lots of shocked reactions - "You're *@#%*@# kidding me" courtesy of Bryant) and back to my desk to tell Will. I was crying, laughing and in a general state of shock the whole time. Will told me to stop crying, because this is what I wanted. (He's pretty good at just laying it out there). I was scheduled off at 4, but ended up being there till 6, trying to get all of my stuff together. Will earned a couple of loans and lots of maintenance! ;o) Zac made a brief stop in and I told him to go ahead and go, because I would be awhile. He said we were meeting family (both sides) at Casa Mexicana at 7.

Once I finally left the bank, I called my friend Leigh to ask if I could drop the Church nursery keys off to her. I stopped by and talked to her for about 30 minutes. She helped me be excited about the move and was a great help to me, as she always is! Then I headed off to meet the family at Casa. On my way I called Sherry ( who didn't know yet!) and she called Mom & Dad so she could ride with them to Casa. Hope wouldn't come because she didn't want to cry at the restaurant!

Here's who came to dinner: Meemaw, Pa, Rick, Sheila, Kirsten, Kendyl, Mom, Dad, Sherry, and of course, Zac, Abby and me. Kendyl had two friends with her. I had my favorite dish as Casa, the Grande Chicken Quesadilla. We also got queso and sodas - no low cal dieting that night! Kendyl bought us some candy and bubbles and a ball for Abby. (Those came in handy for our stops!) After dinner, Zac went to Meemaw's to start packing and Abby and I went to my parents house to get some pics of Abby and Megan (Jeff brought her over). Then we went home, too. I wasn't much help in packing - I told Zac that my brain was exhausted and I went to bed pretty early.

The next morning (Tuesday), Mom and Dad were our saving graces as they helped us pack and run errands. I HAD to get to the doctor to get some refills on my meds. Mom packed a little and watched Abby while Zac and Dad picked up the U-Haul (thanks to Steve G. for getting us the hook up!) and loaded our storage unit into it. After my dr appt, Juanita stopped by to say hi. Mom and I got locked out of Meemaw's because I'd given her my key the night before. So we waited on Dad and Zac. Then we spent the afternoon packing up Meemaw's house. (It kind of made me sick to see how much ridiculous crap we have. Insane. We're working on a huge donation to Deseret Industries out here.) I found out that U-Haul wouldn't let Zac pull his truck on the trailer and that we would pull the van and drive the truck. So I told Zac we had to get the brakes fixed and Dad and I took care of that at Sears.

That evening, I went with Mom to pick up Mamaw and take her to Mom & Dad's for dinner and a final hangout with my siblings. When Zac got there, we ran over to Annie's to say bye to her. Zac had a hard time telling her bye - she is so special to him and I know he feels bad that we didn't spend enough time with our grandmas.

When we got back to my parents' house, Hope had cooked some of the casseroles I'd made for our freezer. We had lasagna and my famous green chile chicken enchiladas. YUM. The whole crew was there, except Jeff, Matthew and Jennifer's family. I cried, talked to everybody about how excited/scared I was and just hung out. We took lots of fun pictures. Matt and Natalie B. stopped by, too, to bring us some yummy homemade cookies and a bag of our favorite trail mix, the Sam's Choice Indulgent Trail Mix. Yummy. I cried when Todd and his crew left. Zac and I walked Sherry and Megan to their car, on our way across the street to see the Elliotts. I bawled while I hugged/kissed Megan and Sherry. Abby and Megan hugged (too cute!) and Megan gave Uncle Zac hugs and kisses. Sherry said, "Is this payback for when I left for California?" I told her it was and that it sucked. I hate crying - my faces swells and I look like such a freak.

And so we headed to the Elliott house. It was probably one the best nights Abby has had over there. She was quite a ham while she played with Kendyl. Kendyl taught her to say, "Heeey!" and "What?!?" It was hilarious because she would say them together and get really loud..."Heeey. what?? What?? WHAT? WHAT?? WHAT???" We were laughing our butts off. She loved on everybody, which was great. Lots of tears and hugs when we left there. More swollen face and freakness for me.

By the time we got back to my parents' most everyone was asleep. We laid Abby down and Zac and I tried to get a few last things together before we snoozed in their living room. Wednesday morning came waaaaaay too soon.

We're heeeeere!

We arrived yesterday around 3:30pm in "Papers, Oootah." (That's how Abby says it - too cute!) We are staying at the Ramada Inn and Zac and I are getting ready to go look at a few apts this morning. Yesterday we looked at a basement-type apt that I think used to be this older couple's garage....the price is right, but it is SO small and they don't have a bathtub, just a standup shower...not good for a toddler that is scared to death of a shower spray. Mom picked out our dinner location, Noodles & Company. It was YUMMY!

Well, I better get back to the room. I'm using the hotel's Business Room computer - thank goodness for those! Hope to hear from you all soon!

Love,
Sarah, Zac & Abby (and Sandra, temporarily!)

Moving...

Draper, Utah - here come the Elliotts! EIK!!! Zac got the call this afternoon and called me at work. I finished up my stuff, handed it to the other banker and left. Tonight we went to dinner with our parents and tomorrow we're going to hang out with some more family and leave WEDNESDAY MORNING. EIK!!!! I'm soooo freaking out. I'm thrilled that the Lord has given us this opportunity - I'll be able to stay home and Zac is getting promoted. It's exactly what we wanted....and so I feel like a selfish, spoiled brat because I'm upset that it's far away.

More updates to come. I think I'm going to go ball myself up in a corner and rock back and forth for awhile....

StReSsEd!!!!

Zac interviewed (by phone) on Friday for a sales position in Draper, Utah. UTAH!?!?!? I knew that moving was a potential in this job, but I was so hoping for Texas or Missourri or something. I need to stay in the SEC. lol

He is 'supposed' to be finding out tomorrow whether or not he got the job. And then we'll be moving....quickly. Like, way faster than I would like.

I'm trying not to stress out too much until I know something for sure. Trying....

Allergy update

So the update is....I'm not really sure.

Christy called to give me the info on the note Dr. Miers left (Dr. Miers is off on Wednesday afternoon). She said, "Cholesterol and triglycerides (sp?) look great and as far as allergies, egg whites and milk are high, with a moderate allergy to wheat."

HUH?!?!?!

First - checking cholesterol and all that on a 2 yr old? Really?

Second - Abby eats toast and scrambled eggs almost everyday; this was the first I've EVER heard about wheat or egg allergies.

Third - She's tolerating some cheese and stuff ok, so Zac and I figured that the milk allergy would be much better if not gone. We definitely didn't expect the allergy rating or whatever to triple like she told me it did.

Christy could tell I was thoroughly confused at her information and she put me on hold a few times to clarify with Debbie, Dr. Mier's main nurse. (Note: Hope and I went to school with Debbie's kids, so she knows our family.) Apparently, the clinic is using a new lab now and they automatically run the cholesterol and stuff. They also run the entire gamut of allergy tests. And here's where I should probably give some background.

After our long, AWFUL, terrible, horrible, insanely ridiculous trip to Children's Hospital when Abby was about 2 mos old and puking incessantly (can you tell I hate that place?), they ran her blood and it showed very high allergies to soy and milk. In fact, at her follow up with Dr. Miers, she said they was some of the highest ratings she'd ever seen and not to expect them to go away. And so, after I finally gave up on trying to nurse, we went to $25/can Nutramigen. At Abby's 1 yr checkup, Dr. Miers tested her blood again and it showed that the soy allergy was gone but the milk allergy was still hanging around. And so, we've stayed away from milk. When we've given her milk products the last few months, she's not having reactions to it. So I am very, very, very confused about the test results I got today.

Christy is leaving a note for Dr. Miers to examine the file again and I'm hoping that the Dr. will call me tomorrow. I'll let you know when I know.

Hope you like the Fall colors!

Trying something different for Sarah----Zac.
Hey Nikki, if you need some help just let me know.

Just a quick note...

Abby's 2 yr checkup is this afternoon. They'll be drawing blood (oh boy...) to test her food allergies. From our unscientific mini trials, Zac and I think her allergies are getting better. If you could insert a little line for our baby girl into your prayers today, we would really appreciate it! I'll let you know how it goes!

This week's schedule

So we'll try posting a week's schedule on Sunday and see how Zac does with it. lol

Sunday, Sept 14
*My nephew, Christopher, turns 17. Eik!
*FHE with the Call and Backus families at our house

Monday, Sept 15
*Sarah works 7am-4pm
*Zac works 9am-9pm
*Pick up Rhea Lana check and unsold merchandise

Tuesday, Sept 16
*Sarah works 9:15am-6:15pm
*Zac works 9am-9pm

Wednesday, Sept 17
*Sarah works 9:15am-6:15pm
*Zac works 9am-3:30pm
*Zac to church with Young Men

Thursday, Sept 18
*Sarah works 7:30am-11:30am
*Zac off work
*Abby's 2 yr checkup at 2pm
*Two consignment sales start: Duck Duck Goose in Little Rock and Jack & Jill in Cabot

Friday, Sept 19
*Sarah works 7:30am-4:30pm
*Zac off work
*Jack & Jill 1/2 price sale
*NLRHS v SHHS football game - gotta support Joey!

Saturday, Sept 20
*Sarah works 8:30am-12:30pm
*Zac works 9am-9pm
*Duck Duck Goose 1/2 price sale

Playing catch up

Ok, so I need to play a little bit of catch up here. So here we go....

These first two pictures were taken on the morning of Aug 29, after Abby's second night in her toddler bed. She's done so well in it! (I hope saying that doesn't jinx us!) When we were in our house, we had her bed in a corner, with the spare crib mattress coming out from under it as kind of a landing pad because Abby moves A LOT in her sleep. When I checked on her after putting her down her first night in the bed, she was kneeling on the lower mattress onto the bed, almost like she was praying, so I lifted her back in and laid her out. Too cute. Now that we're at Meemaw's house, we've sort of land-locked her between the twin bed and the dresser in 'her' room.

Sleeping beauty....

What a big girl!!



On Friday, Sept 5, we officially closed on (sold) our house! As excited and anxious as we'd been for that day, I was kind of sad when it finally came. We closed on (bought) the house two days before our wedding and it's been the place for all of our big events so far. Our first Christmas, first anniversary, first child's birth. When we backed out of the driveway after handing the keys over, I cried. And so did Zac. We're such sentimental boobs.

We got our buyers to take a picture of us in front of the house that's no longer ours...



And I took a picture of Wade and Mandy in front of their new house.



And then we went to celebrate! lol For those of you who don't know, Zac and I are huge sushi fans. When we started dating, I pretty much didn't eat anything except chicken and cheese. Since then, I've started eating LOTS of different things that I would never have eaten before - my Mamaw gets a big kick out of pointing this out.

Anyway, so we wanted to go eat at Mt. Fuji, the greatest Japanese restaurant in Little Rock. (Oh, I crave the sushi just talking about...) Zac discovered earlier that week that Nathan, who manages the store next door, is a sushi fan. And Shawn, Zac's mgr, had finally tried it for the second time and decided he would try more. Kelli (Shawn's wife) and Emilee (Nathan's wife) were also new to the sushi experience. And so, we had a triple date night to Mt. Fuji - YEA!!!

Nathan, Zac and I instructed everyone on what to order so that everyone could try the best stuff. Zac and I were being money-spending fatties, since we had a little bit of house money to spend, and ordered appetizers to share. Everyone liked the tempura, gyoza and fried tofu that we ordered. Then we got a few different types of rolls - the King Crab roll is Zac's fave and mine is the Mt Fuji roll. YUMMY!!! And I am proud to say that everyone enjoyed their sushi!! I loved introducing people to new foods, especially since I'm usually the one being introduced....it's kinda nice to be the so-called expert on something every once in awhile.


The boys - Shawn, Zac and Nathan


Us girls - Emilee, me, and Kelli

Buffalo Slideshow

Buffalo River MMM-K!!!

I haven't been able to upload anything for awhile, but here are a few pictures of me and the boys on the Buffalo River trip August 15th. The picture on the left.... Matt, Sam, Tanu, Shawn and Joey. Below... Taua'I left, (top to bottom), Lance, Matt, Joey and Mr. T, Shawn right. The trip to the Buffalo was a blast. We camped at South Maumee, 7 miles north down a dirt road from Morning Star, Arkansas. Shawn, Sam, and I got there on Wednesday at about noon. We set up camp and then went swimming all day except for the occassional grilled burgers and brats back at camp.

That night the rest of the guys got there. We sat around talking for quite a while, some of the young men stayed up the entire night. We woke up about 5am to get started on breakfast burritoes and so we could get ready to meet the bus with canoes by 8 am. The pictures are from the trip.... North Maumee (just the other side of the river) to Highway 14 bridge. We stopped for lunch (ham & turkey sandwiches, Nacho cheese Doritoes and Sunchips for Tanu) and that is where these pictures are from. The tower is pretty cool huh? We sure had a lot of fun!

The night we got back, we made hobo dinners and fresh strawberry/banana cobbler before the storm came.---Zac.

Our family calendar

I keep a four week calendar on our fridge so that we (I) will know what's going on. From the time we got together, Zac has referred to me as his 'day planner.' I love the man, but he rarely (I won't say never because it sounds mean) remembers what we have going and when. Tonight he joked "You should put our calendar on here...then I'd actually look at it." Since the blog is our home page, I figured it might be worth a shot. So, here's our schedule for the rest of the week!

Wednesday, Sept 10
*Sarah works 8:00am-5:00pm (Going to try to hit the gym after that)
*Zac works 9:00am-3:30pm
*Zac goes to Mutual with the Young Men

Thursday, Sept 11
*Sarah works 7:30am-4:30pm (Again, may be hitting the gym)
*Zac off work - empty out/rearrange storage buildings
*Sarah shopping at Rhea Lana 1/2 price sale at 7:00pm

Friday, Sept 12
*Sarah works 9:15am-6:15pm
*Zac off work - probably working in the storage building/house again
*Sarah goes to Scrapbook/Craft Night 7:00pm-midnight (WOOO HOOO!!!)

Saturday, Sept 13
*Sarah off work at bank - working Rhea Lana sale 3:30pm-8:30pm
*Zac works 9:00am-9:00pm (STINK!)

Sunday, Sept 14
*I think it's our turn to do FHE with the Backus and Call families....Natalie, Kelli - are you reading this?

Stay tuned for next week's update....lol. I'll let you know how Zac did on keeping up this week!

Quick update

Ok, I have to get to packing, but I wanted to let everybody know that we close on the house THURSDAY! Now we just have to figure out what the job situation holds....eik!

Getting sick and growing up

My punkin has been sick this week. Sunday evening she was running a fever and by bedtime it was around 102. Monday morning I called in at work so I could take her to the doctor. Her strep test came back negative and we were told that it was "just a virus" that would go away in 3-5 days. As much as I didn't want her to have strep, at least that's something that you can give them meds for....viruses just stink because you can't do anything.

So, I stayed home Monday but then went back to work on Tuesday because my new mgr was being a punk. So Abby has stayed with my Mom all week and probably will tomorrow and Friday, too. She's so pitiful....her little eyes are swollen and red, she has this awful, gunky cough with a runny nose. She's coughing so much that I know her throat is sore. My poor punkin.

A few funny things this week, though. Every day it seems that her language skills are getting better. Yesterday she told Zac, "I don't feel good." Her second totally complete sentence....the first was last week when she said "I want another cracker." She puts words together all the time, but these two sentences were actually whole and made sense. Smart girl!

And, I'm off to bed. Abby has slept with me in the bed all week while Zac slept on the couch. Which meant that Zac is the only one that's gotten any sleep. But today he moved our couch into storage, so Abby had to sleep in her bed. Which, BY THE WAY, is a toddler bed. Today Zac took down her crib and she's sleeping in a real bed. I cried when I tucked her in and shut the door. I'll report tomorrow on how she did...

TAG!!

Ok, my friend Jennifer posted this on her blog and I stole it! She didn't tag me, but I love these things so I'm gonna do it anyway. :o) If I tag you, then you fill this out on your blog/Facebook and tag four more people. I know, it's kinda dumb, but it's fun to learn new stuff about people....


Four, four, four, four...

1. Four places that I go over and over: US Bank (work), Ms. Janet's (daycare), Wal-Mart (ick) and church

2. Four people who email me regularly: Mom, Hope, Sherry, Christine

3. Four of my favorite places to eat: Mt. Fuji, Casa Mexicana, Moe's, Larry's Pizza (I've only been once, but I REALLY want to go back)

4. Four places I would rather be right now: The Angel Rose in Eureka Springs with my hubby, the beach with Zac & Abby, on a cruise, or in Dallas for a weekend with Christine

5. Four people I tag (you can do it on Facebook, too): Lori T., Christine A. (almost Christine S!!), Erin M., and Nikki R.

6. Four TV shows I watch: Oh, geez, there's not much time for TV - usually Food Network is just on as background noise. But I do like Rules of Engagement, How I Met Your Mother, Iron Chef America and my parents have me hooked on Wipeout

The Divine Institute of Marriage

I found this on a friend's Facebook page and thought it was interesting. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (my church - woo hoo!) has "accepted an invitation to participate in ProtectMarriage, a coalition of churches, organizations, and individuals sponsoring a November ballot measure, Proposition 8, that would amend the California state constitution to ensure that only a marriage between a man and a woman would be legally recognized." You can check out more details on the group on their website and you can read the Church's press release at The Divine Institute of Marriage.

A little soapbox time....Some of you may or may not know that my bachelor's degree is basically in Political Science. I spent a lot of time with very liberal classmates, not having very many conservatives to back me up. It is sooooooo very important that we all take the time to make sure that our voices are heard and that we are protecting the Lord's values as best we can. Get involved, write letters to your elected officials and VOTE! :o)

Two years old

Today is officially Abby's birthday - my baby is TWO YEARS OLD!!!! If I hadn't had Christine here with me this weekend, I might have spent the day balled up in a corner, crying. We were doing wedding things for most of the day, but tomorrow will be just me and Abby, so we're going to play with all of her new toys and just hang out. I'm so excited to have a WHOLE day with her when we don't have anything we HAVE to do unless we want to. Doesn't happen very often for us working-outside-the-home moms. So I'm pretty pumped about trying out her new tricycle and her other fun toys.

I am sitting here thinking about what my life was like exactly two years ago. I was doped up in a hospital bed while Zac and my Dad followed an ambulance that was taking our precious newborn baby all the way across town to the bigger Baptist Hospital. What was the most wonderful day of our lives also turned out to be one of the worst. Watching someone wheel your baby away in a stretcher/incubator is one of the worst feelings I’ve ever felt.

For those of you who don’t know Abby’s story, we spent the next week going back and forth between our house and the hospital in Little Rock. I know we were so fortunate compared to a lot of the NICU babies, but that doesn’t make you feel better when your baby is sick. I’m so grateful that my wonderful anesthesiologist let me wheel down the nursery to hold Abby after she was born – I didn’t get to hold her again until she was 5 days old. What a blessing her little life has been to Zac and me.

It amazes me how much she’s grown since that day. She says so many words and does so many things that amaze me.

*She’s good about manners. She almost always says “Tank you” and is getting much better about “Pease!” So cute.

*She says her “S” sound a little funny and it’s so cute. Of course, I hope she grows out of it, but it’s so sweet.

*Favorite things to eat: "ticken", “gapes”, “cackers”, "foo nacks”, and “dot dogs”. Still no milk/cheese because of the food allergies, but that seems to be getting better. I think they’ll test her again at her two-year checkup, so we’ll see how much better it’s gotten according to the doctor.

*She looooves her baby dolls. She loves to carry her babies around, give them their bottles and love on them.

*She’s also a huge music fan – go figure! If we’re in the car and she gets tired of the radio, she says “Song!” which means that she wants to listen to her Backyardigans CD. She knows a couple of parts in the songs and will sing those to me. She also likes the action songs on her Primary CD. We are especially fond of Popcorn Popping, The Wise Man & the Foolish Man and Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes. She’s also getting to be a pretty good dancer…hahaha.

*I love the forgiveness of children. Even if Abby has gotten in trouble, she still wants me to hold her while she cries about it. Amazing unconditional love.

*She's a pretty amazing belly dancer. Not sure if that's something to brag about, but it makes for great entertainment.

*She loves the water. Whether it's the bathtub, Wild River Country, the Buffalo River or her little plastic pool, she loves to be in the water.

*As much as I hate going to work and leaving her, I love seeing her run to me and yell, “Mommy!” when I pick her up. She is so in love with Mommy and Daddy and it melts our hearts.

The Lord blessed us with such an amazing gift when He allowed us to raise this precious child. I know that when we have another baby, our love will grow, but I think my heart might burst, too. I thought my love was complete when I met my wonderful husband, but I’m amazed at how it keeps growing. How grateful I am for the opportunity that I have to keep my wonderful family with me forever.

Our first Christmas season together.


What a babe!


In her fish towel from Grams.


Abby & Mommy on her 2nd birthday!


She zonks out just like Mommy & Daddy.

Update

On my to-do list - start packing. We are laid out to close on the house by September 4th, hopefully sooner. I know I've asked for a lot of prayers from you guys lately, but if you could just keep it up a little bit longer....we'd really appreciate it! ;o)

We had some friends in town over the last weekend. Chris and Shirin came to visit us from Switzerland. Chris stayed with the Elliotts as an exchange student when Zac was in high school. He comes back to visit every few years and the last two visits he's brought his girlfriend Shirin with him. We love them both and they're just like family - Shirin fits right in, too. Abby had a lot of fun with Shirin (who was wonderful with her!) but her true love is Chris. It was HILARIOUS to see her with him. Her little eyes just sparkled and the last night they were here she was just all over him. Hilarious - although I had to tell her that boys have cooties and she needs to stay far, FAR away!! :o)

Chris and Shirin cuddle with Abby



Abby loved Chris



Anyone else notice the strange resemblance between Daddy and Shel Silverstein?



Aunt Kirsten and Shirin trying to convince Abby that PJs are better on your body than on your head...

Birthday Party!!

Tonight we had Abby's 2nd birthday party at Funtastic in Cabot. It's a (usually) less chaotic version of Chuck E Cheese that Zac and I really like. They were pretty crazy tonight, but that's beside the point...we're dwelling on the good here! :o)

We had the party tonight, even though her birthday isn't until the 22nd. Read my post labeled "AHHH!" for more details if you're interested in that story! ;o) We had a lot of fun tonight. Abby got her cake (she's been saying "I want cake!" for about a week now) and lots of great presents. With both of our families living in this area, it makes for crazy, fun parties! We had a lot of fun and really love and appreciate all of our family and friends!!



CAKE!!!

Blowing out the candles

Cousin Hope and Aunt Hope

She loved her Dora backpack from Aunt Sherry and Uncle Jeff - we had to put it on right away!
(She's very in to backpacks and purses right now)

I was VERY grateful to Aunt Kirsten and Natalie Backus for helping so much with the cake!

Finally getting her yummy cake!

First kiss...

Not sure what I think about this...lol. Last night, we had a women's meeting at church. Kirsten and Michelle were in charge of the nursery and only had 4 kids - Abby and the Climer boys. They kept them in the Young Women's room. In the room, they have a little decorated table that has a lace tablecloth thing hanging off the edges. Apparently, Abby kept crawling under there to 'hide' under the tablecloth. Kirsten told me today that Spencer climbed under there with her a few times. During what would end up being their last visit under the table, Kirsten caught Spencer KISSING Abby!!! (Are you reading this, Kim?) haha If I didn't know that this boy came from such fine upbringing, I might be mortified!! lol I must admit, after one panic-stricken glance at Kirsten, I laughed. It's pretty cute - I just wish I'd had a camera so it could go in their scrapbooks...

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

So, I had Abby's birthday all planned out. Her birthday is on Friday, one of Zac's days off, so we would have her party then. Balloons, cake, a pool, tons of fun, right?

NOT!!!!

I don't do well when my plans get all topsy-turvy. I get all upset trying to make things work and usually end up crying and acting like a crazy woman. And my poor, wonderful husband still loves me after it's all over. (I know, I'm a lucky woman!)

For starters, the pool is booked. I'm a dummy that didn't make reservations early enough.

Then there's a Scout campout that Zac is going on. Not that I'm upset about that - I'm thrilled that he has a job at church now, and I love that he works with the boys and Scouting, since it's one of his favorite things. But the dates of the campout interfere with our friends Chris and Shirin coming to visit from Switzerland.

Loooooong story short, Abby's party is now going to be held Saturday, August 16 at one of two places. Which kinda sucks because my friend Christine won't get to be here. But I can make that ok because I'll still get to see her on the 22nd. And I need to get invites out, like, yesterday.

Why do I do this to myself?

Catch 22

So, I'm at home with Abby today....always a good thing!!! But, as usual, I'm only at home because she's sick. And that STINKS....literally in this case! All morning, I've been cleaning poo off of surfaces that should NEVER have poo on them. Not fun AT ALL. But...I had been telling myself that I really needed a day off to get some things done and spend some time with Abby....so I am trying to look at the bright side here...

Wild River Country

We've been to WRC twice with Abby and she loves it! These pics are from last Thursday. We had a blast!!

Elliott's Excellent Eats

I created a new blog! Actually, I just took the 'junk blog' that Zac made awhile back and decided to do something with it. I love to get and share recipes, so I started a recipe blog! You can link to it from the right of this blog, under Websites to Visit. If you have any yummy recipes, please e-mail them to me (sarah_e04@yahoo.com) and I will gladly put them on my blog. If you try any of the recipes, post a comment and let me know!!

NOTE: I have some Pampered Chef stoneware that I don't use, it's just taking up space in my cabinet. I have a 12 cup muffin pan and a pizza stone - if anybody wants it, let me know!!

'Momnesia'

Ok, I read this article and it makes me feel soooo much better about my occasional ditz moments. It talks about how babies can cause 'momnesia.' A must-read for all moms!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-03-momnesia_N.htm

Ponytail Challenge

Ok, so you've all seen my posts about the Ponytail Challenge. This week, Camille is giving away some cool prizes and the challenge is all about posture. I'm pretty sure all of us could stand to pay a little more attention to sitting/standing up straight!! Check her out at http://ponytailchallenge.blogspot.com/

Bodily functions...and other stuff...

Abby pooped in the potty yesterday! Of course, it was at daycare. Not that I miss dealing with poop, but I feel like such a crap mom when she does stuff for the first time at daycare. But she is getting the hang of the potty thing and I am very excited about that.

Still waiting on someone to call us about the inspection on our house. Apparently our buyers are getting some kind of government first-time home buyers assistance and the inspections are pretty tough. So, if everybody would say a little prayer for us, it'd be great. Then another little prayer so that we can figure out what the heck we want to do with the rest of our lives....lol.

Had a great time at Scrapbook/Craft Night last Friday. I just love it! As Jennifer says, "It's therapy." I love talking to my hubby, but I can't talk ABOUT him if I'm talking TO him. hehehe

Our house...

I talked to Wade (one of our buyers) today and the appraisal went well!! I didn't get a specific number from him, but it appraised for enough and that is all I need to know! Now we just have to pass inspections and get the ball rolling - hopefully we'll close by the end of July. wooo hoo!!!!

Some fun pictures

On Saturday, I kept a friend's 4 1/2 month old little boy. Wow - wake up call! Jayden either had a belly ache or separation anxiety; he screamed his little head off for an hour straight! Thankfully, the Lord heard my prayer and Zac got off work around 5 pm, a good four hours early. Abby, Jayden and I went to pick him up. He played with the kids for the hour or so after, till Collin and Carolyn came to get Jayden. I stared into space and wondered if I could get by the pharmacy quick enough to fill my birth control prescription! haha But, Abby did have fun playing with the baby and we got some funny pictures of her playing in his car seat and loving on him.

Zac's schedule is a little different this week and he was off today and will be off tomorrow, instead of his usual Thurs/Friday. Tonight I got home and he'd made dinner (what a great hubby!!) and I had to take a few pics when Abby started making this hilarious face that we'd never seen before...

Really??

I'm in here messing on the computer and listening to the Fox News background (Zac's fave news station) and they're talking about all the craziness in the world...murders, abuse, old ladies falling out in hospital ERs and nobody checking on her...I mean, come on!!! People are doing all this stuff (or NOT doing anything, as in the old lady case) and they REALLY wonder why bad things happen to us??? "Wrath of God," anyone? Sheesh.

Had to get that one out...the gospel according to Sarah, I suppose...

Getting behind...

I think that one problem with a blog is that once you get behind in posting, you just don't know where to start. So much happens around here in one week, let alone two...

Abby's language skills are developing in leaps and bounds. She says something new everyday it seems and is starting to form more simple sentences. I just wish I could take the word 'no' out of her vocab. haha My little angel is starting to develop quite a personality. (That's a nice way to say attitude!)

Last week my nephew, Tate, had his 8th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. I think I could live the rest of my life without going back to that place. So many people, crazy kids whose parents aren't watching them, overpriced not-so-great pizza...sheesh! A fun party, but Abby was not thrilled with the loud, crowded atmosphere. Poor only child, she's used to our fairly peaceful house. I guess I need to get her out more often.

My 5 yr old nephew, Garrett, broke his arm (again!) last week. He broke it a few years ago over July 4th and had a cast for a couple of months. He got his cast today, after a possible surgery scare, and should (hopefully) only have to wear this one for three weeks. Poor guy, he's kinda clumsy and gets himself in the worst predicaments. But he's holding up fairly well. For those who don't know, waterproof casts are available and I can't believe they would even offer the old kind! Garrett had a waterproof cast last time and it was a lifesaver!!

What else...?? My best friend Christine got ENGAGED last week. Very excited about that. If anybody has any wedding tips (things you did that worked or things you'd change) let me know and I will forward the info on to the future Mrs. Schilling. haha, are you reading this, C?

I don't think I've posted about the latest offer on our house. After the last one fell through, I'm wary to tell our stories too soon. Wade and Mandy, a cute couple that's getting married this fall, made an offer on our house. We countered and they countered again and we came up with a pretty good deal. Turns out, Wade's grandfather built this house in the 1960s for his (Wade's) great-grandmother. So the house has some sentimental value to it. When Wade's parents came, his mom would say "Oh, I remember this" and "Oh, this has been added"....fun stuff. It looks like everything is going fairly smoothly so far. Just say a little prayer for us so that the appraisal and inspections go well and we should be good to go!!

That should catch me up so I can get back on track with my blogging.....

Potty update

Potty training is by no means completed, but we are making progress. Abby wears panties all day at daycare and (so far) hasn't had an accident in them. And EVERY DAY since Sunday she has gone in the potty for me. Granted, she's still wetting her pull ups some, but when she says she wants to go (she takes me by the hand and walks me to the bathroom) she ends up peeing. WOOOO HOOOOO

And some new words...she said "Aunt Kirsten" the other day when Kirsten was over. Her other new words/phrases include:
"Hopey" (my sister)
"Where's it at?" (I told her not to end a sentence with a preposition, but we're still learning...haha)
"Bawpaw" (Grampa)
And she has FINALLY starting saying "please" instead of using the sign language.

I can't believe how fast these babies grow up....

Potty time!

Mrs. Janet, Abby's in-home daycare teacher, has about four girls that are all around 2 years old. This week they are all (if they haven't already) starting the potty training process. Today, Abby actually peed in the potty -- wooo hooo!!! Only a start, I know...but hey, it works.

This picture is actually from last week on her potty that we bought her. Here's hoping that she'll catch on to the potty training thing; I'm super excited to be rid of diapers for a little bit. And I can start thinking about babies now -- I plan to do what I can to avoid having two kids in diapers....eik.

Reminder...

Ok, I've gotten a few comments on my last post, but nobody is giving their five amazing traits. COME ON we all need to do this!! :o) And to those of you non-bloggers who read this (ahem, Christine and Sheila) you can leave comments, too!! Just do the Name/URL option instead of the others. I expect to see some lists soon! :o)

Ponytail Challenge

Thanks to a friend's blog, I've discovered a blog called The Ponytail Challenge (http://ponytailchallenge.blogspot.com/). It's the coolest blog. Every week she gives a new challenge to her readers - challenges that are basically meant to make you a better person, usually with a humorous twist, or at least a funny story about how she came to give that specific challenge. Last week's challenge, "Awesome Me," was a little more serious and it's one that I'm just now doing. She challenged everyone to list five good things about themselves and to think about those five things whenever you felt yourself starting to sink down. She had this quote on her blog:

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man, but there is something noble in being superior to your former self."

I like it. And so, after MUCH thought, here are my five things:

1. I have great curly hair. It makes getting ready in the mornings super easy.
2. I love to help my friends.
3. I'm a good cook.
4. I have a pretty good talent with music.
5. I stick to my guns when something is important. I've gotten better at this since having a child with food allergies...non-understanding church grandmas like to push cheesy, milky foods on small children!

It's kinda sad that this is probably a hard challenge for most moms. So, I am challenging all of my blog readers to let me know what your five AMAZING traits are...can't wait to hear them!! But you should also check out the Ponytail Challenge - you can win prizes if you do the challenges!!

Have a great week!!

VACATION!!!!!!

Oh, how we've waited for this week! Zac and I are both off work ALL WEEK!!! Today we woke up late (thankfully Abby did, too) then laid in bed and just talked for a little bit. It was nice to wake up slowly, no alarms!! AHHH!!!!

Tomorrow we're going to Lake DeGray (near Hot Springs) to camp for a few nights. We have some friends coming up Thursday night for the last night we'll be there. Friday the ward is having a cook out at Burns Park, so we'll hang out with some friends. But I don't want to think about the end of the week yet.....

Updates

First, Abby's newest word...We went over to Zac's parents house yesterday and while Abby was playing, she said "Pawpaw." (That's what we call Zac's dad). YEA! One more word to add to our vocab list. Now if she will just start telling me what she wants instead of whining....

Zac told me not to blog about this, but since he mentioned it, I will. We got an offer on our house about two weeks ago. The amount they offered was in the dead middle of what we were asking and the minimum we could accept. So, OF COURSE, we accepted. We are still waiting to hear for sure if they will get their loan...so we are trying not to get too excited yet. The couple that wants to buy it owns several rent houses in this neighborhood and they will be renting our house out. Soooo....hopefully it will all work out!

Hawking stuff!!!

I guess this is as good a place as any..... ANYONE WANT TO BUY AN ORGAN? This is a Yamaha Electone organ, absolutely in fantastic shape and since we are planning on moving.... would make a great item for family home evening for someone else. I just don't feel like moving it. It's not really heavy, but the less the better as far as moving is concerned. SO, ALL REASONABLE OFFERS ACCEPTED!!! We also have a china cabinet, file cabinet, and some other things people may be interested in. ----Zac.

BLOG UPDATE

Sarah is having me help her learn how to edit all of the blog. She sure has gotten addicted to this blog. Maybe I could get her addicted to rubbing my feet every night..... ha ha! We may have to get a second computer the way we keep fighting over computer usage! Wow! Hope everyone likes the new style!

Big girl hairstyle

Sunday I decided to try something new - I put Abby's hair into a ponytail. Now, we've been doing the little half-ponies for awhile, but I was going for the whole ponytail. As cute as it was, it made me sad because she looked SO GROWN UP! :o( I'm just not ready for all this...

Quick update

Abby said two new (albeit very similar) words tonight. She was walking around saying "baby, baby" and pointing to her doll -- YEA!! A little bit later, she started screaming and I said, "No, Abby!" and she said "Babby." She can say her name! Her cousin Megan calls her "Babby" and it's so cute!! The rest of the evening when I would say her name, she would repeat "Babby." SO SWEET!!

Challenge and updates

Since we need to work on our budgets (monetary and caloric) we decided to challenge ourselves to NO EATING OUT for the next week. This includes even stopping for a drink at Sonic. I will update you next week and let you know how we do! For our 'last supper' so to speak, we went to Shorty Smalls and used some gift certificates my sister gave us. We split a bbq pork salad and a Monte Cristo sandwich. For those of you (like me) who had never heard of that sandwich, here's a description from the SS website:
Slices of ham, turkey, Swiss and American cheese sandwiched between Texas toast then battered and deep fried. Topped with powdered sugar and a side of raspberry sauce for dipping.
Sounds disgusting, doesn't it? Strangely, it was really good. I'm a fairly picky eater (not nearly as much as I used to be) and I liked it. Weird...

Thursday we went shopping to get Zac some new clothes. We've both lost 35+ pounds (working on more!) and need new clothes, but this paycheck was for Zac to get some stuff. At JCPenney, we got him two new pair of dress pants, three dress shirts and some new dress shoes. Then we went to Old Navy for two pair of shorts and two shirts. My hottie husband is looking mighty fine these days!! :o)

Abby is doing some funny stuff now. When music comes on, she will spin herself around in a circle and/or make fists and shake her arms up and down. It's sooo cute! We're still working on getting her to talk ("use your words" is what we tell her) instead of just saying "uh! uh!" and grabbing toward what she wants. She has developed a slight interest in the potty, especially if she comes in the bathroom while I'm there. We'll probably get her a little potty in the next few weeks, just so she can start checking it out. I can't believe we are approaching potty training - EIK!!

Poor, poor pitiful me

I don't see how single moms do it. I was just in the middle of having a pity party for myself and realized that. I put in my 40 hours at work, then come home and work some more, trying to do all the 'normal' wife/mom stuff - cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc. And in the middle of all that, I try to put in a little quality time with my child. HA.

But, in trying to get out of my pitiful funk, I realized that I at least have someone who comes home at night and will take out the trash or put some dishes away. (He used to cook, but now he comes home too late...lol). There are a lot of parents that are doing it alone - and they have all my respect, because I don't think I could do it.

Then there's the stress I (and probably all moms) put on myself about Abby maybe not being 'up to par.' Maybe if I could stay home she would be talking more, learning more, blah blah blah. Why do we women do this to ourselves?

Sheesh.

Growing girl

Abby's 18 month checkup was last Thursday -- technically she was already 19 mos old, but oh well. Zac took her, since he was off work and I wasn't. Here are her stats:

Height: 34.25 inches (94th percentile)
Weight: 27.5 lbs (82th percentile)

I can't believe how fast our girl is growing! 19 mos old and almost 3 feet tall - craziness!!

I've put in some pictures of Abby from yesterday. I was cleaning house because we had some friends coming over and the weather was GORGEOUS so I had the doors and windows open. Abby was sitting on the back steps calling "DaDa! DaDa!" Then she would babble a little bit and just sit. It was so sweet to see her just enjoying the goings on of the backyard. We should all take time to enjoy the simple things and truly be as humble as the little children.

Crazy weather

As some of you may know, we had some crazy weather last night in Central Arkansas. This morning I noticed we'd even made the national news. (We never make news for anything good...hmmm).

Anyway, I knew it was going to storm last night but I had no idea that it would include tornadoes and such. Zac got home late and we were watching all the radar stuff on Channel 11. My mom called and told us to switch to Channel 7 because they were forecasting tornadoes for Gravel Ridge (our neighborhood). Zac watched for a few minutes and saw that the storms were SURROUNDING our neighborhood. He told me to put my shoes on and he grabbed Abby from her crib. We have a storm shelter in our front yard (crazy, I know) so we went outside.

Zac opened it up and got in, then I ran out (through the POURING RAIN I should add), handed Abby down to him, then got in. He closed the door and there we sat in our concrete underground box, with each other and a flashlight for company. EIK! Four years in this house and we've never had to get into that thing. Luckily Zac cleaned it out last year so it was not too terribly bad. We could hear the pouring rain, the storm sirens and a few REALLY loud claps of thunder.

Poor Abby was shaking and whimpering, but she was a real trooper. She hardly cried at all. After Zac made a few phone calls -- couldn't believe we actually got reception down there -- I started singing hymns to Abby to calm her down. Zac said a prayer and that helped her, too. She laid her head on my shoulder and I rocked her. We were down there for about twenty minutes. My mom finally called and told us that the storms were past us; they were watching it all on TV in their den, so they were close to their basement space. So we came back up and went in the house. We kept watching the weather because there was another line coming, but thankfully it went way around us. Abby was all wound up, so it was about an hour and a half before we could get her back to bed.

This morning it took me an HOUR to get to work -- normally a 20 minute drive. There are three ways out of our neighborhood and two of them were totally blocked. Of course those were the first two that I tried! The NLR airport was blown to smithereens...airplanes smashed, hangers with the roofs ripped off. Trees were uprooted just a few miles from us. Houses had trees laying on top of them. It's so crazy to think about -- I've never been so close to the actual 'path of destruction' before.

I've included three pictures of storm damage that was within HALF A MILE of our house. I'm going to try and take some of the storm shelter so everyone can see our concrete box. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father was looking out for us and kept us out of harm's way. I'm also grateful for a quick-thinking husband that stays levelheaded in emergencies....I would be a wreck without him!!

Sign language

We've been trying for several months to teach Abby a few signs -- "more", "please", "thank you". It's been kind of futile. I'm not home during the day to reinforce it, so her lessons were pretty random. BUT -- Thursday when she was eating, she started whining because she wanted more of something and when I reminded her of the "more" sign...SHE DID IT!! A little light bulb must have gone off, because we did "please" right after and she did it, too. The sign for "thank you" kind of confuses her because she thinks it's the same thing as blowing kisses. So now we're using those and trying to add "thirsty" and "finished" to her repertoire. And trying to get her to talk some more, especially since she's not using her paci during the day. (YEA!) Lots of work for a little girl...she amazes me every day that I'm with her. If adults kept learning and growing as quickly as kids, we'd have a world full of geniuses.

Aunt Kirsten

I need to do a lot of updating, but we'll have to take it one topic at a time! We'll start with Aunt Kirsten. Kirsten is Zac's oldest little sister....she'll be 16 in a few days. She's become quite the babysitter and Abby adores her. Her first ''real'' almost all day sitting experience was Saturday, March 1. She kept Abby from about 3pm-10pm and had to change her first poopy diaper. (She managed with some technical, over-the-phone support from her friend Michelle). The pictures are from last Sunday (March 2) when she came over to help me clean house because (we thought) someone was going to come look at the house. Unfortunately, the person bailed, but my house was a lot cleaner for it...dusted parts of the house I don't think have been dusted since we moved in. hmmm Anyway, the pictures are of Kirsten getting Abby dressed after her nap. Jeff (my bro-in-law) got Abby and her cousin Megan matching t-shirts....I think it's quite an appropriate shirt for her to be wearing while she's throwing such a fit. lol