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.