Funny kids

Lucy and Crew are both getting so big. Lucy is in a big girl bed now, Crew is crawling and saying Mama all the time. He actually stood up for the first time yesterday too! I started the process of potty training Lucy again. To be honest, it's not going well, but I don't want to quit again. It really isn't fun though. For example, after Lucy peed her pants for the millionth time I asked her if we could change her pants again. Little miss sass said, "No Jose." (no way jose) and walked away. How is it possible to want to strangle her and laugh at the same time? This kid kills me. 

Everything about the video is ridiculous. The song, the pj choice (she dressed herself) and the socks with flip flops. Don't judge..

Getting Settled

Sorry I haven't posted in forever. Life has continued to be hectic! A few weeks ago we found a place in Pleasant Grove and it is perfect for us! It's in a cute little community with tons of grass areas for the kids to play and the pool is literally next door to us! That will definitely come in handy when it gets warm enough to swim! Last weekend the weather got up to the 60s, and it was so nice! One thing Utah has over South Carolina, there aren't bugs in the grass! Well, there probably is, but not killer spiders or palmetto bugs the size of your fist that will lay eggs in your ears. We actually played outside, barefoot in the grass! Unfortunately the temperature outside has dropped again, but we can't wait for it to warm up again so we can spend majority of the day hanging out outside!

See, literally rolling in the killer-bug free grass :)

 The kids each have their own rooms and after sharing a room with Crew for 8 months of his life, I couldn't be more thrilled! Crew moved into an actual crib which has been long overdue, the pack n play got too small for him very quickly! Which means Lucy is finally in a big girl bed! I have been very nervous to make the switch. I think I underestimate Lucy's ability to be a big kid now! She has done awesome with the big girl bed. She knows she can get out of it but so far she stays in great (knock on wood). 

Here is a preview of her bed. Her room isn't completely set up yet, when (if ever) I get that done, I will post pictures!

So this story is about a 2 weeks late, but I know if I don't write it down I will forget. Last Sunday was our first day in our new ward. Everyone seems really nice and I think we will grow to love this ward. As yall know, Lucy is FULL of personality. I have been nervous to be in a new ward. The ward in Summerville was our home. Everyone there knew us, and knew my kids personalities. Especially Lucy. She's hard not to love and wants to be best friends with everyone she meets. So I've been nervous that when we moved she would have to earn everyones love all over again, and I really didn't want it to stall her spirit. Anyway, so during sacrament meeting, Lucy was like having anxiety. Here's a little snip of our conversation--

Lucy: Mom, no nursery

Me: It's fine, nursery will be fun. You will meet new friends and love it.

Lucy: No. Come on Mom, go home.

Me: We can't go home we have to stay and meet new friends and sing songs. Don't you want to sing Sunbeam in nursery?

Lucy: Come on Mom, lets go to Choc I Lay (chick fil a).

Me: Chick fil a is closed Lucy.

Lucy: Come on, Choc I Lay. Chicken and fries and a Coke. Come onnnnnn Mom.

This conversation continued the whole meeting. Then we went into nursery and she she was skeptical at first until she saw the table with stickers. She immediately reached for the nursery worker, Millie, and said "bye mama". I went into Sunday School, which was completely PACKED, and about 15 minutes into our lesson I hear Lucys voice. As I look up Lucy is stand there and as I stand up she sees me and says at the loudest decimal she can achieve, just so everyone in the whole building can hear, "HI MOM! I POOPED!" How's that for a first impression? So after we get her all changed, I'm nervous that she wont want to go back into nursery. Well we get to the door, she opens it, says "Bye Mama!" walks in, throws her hands in the air and goes "I'M BACK!!!!" 

I think my worries of Lucy having to earn love are gone. When Lucy wants something, she gets it. She will MAKE this ward love her!!

We're in Utah!

So we're in Utah sooner than planned. Josh left Charleston January 8th and the kids and I left January 26th. Lots has changed in the last month as well. The job that Josh came out for in the first place did not work out as planned. Long story short, he is working at an architecture firm as a drafter and will be going back to school to finish his Architecture degree. It's a whole different world from where we've been, but I'm excited for the change. Luckily I married someone who is extremely talented in everything he does, so this is just another area where he can show everyone what he can do. School will be another 5 years or so.. and when we are finished with that we will be headed back to South Carolina! Needless to say, I've never cried so much in my life as I did the day the kids and I left home. Lucky for me, Lucy and Crew did so unbelievably good on the plane that the worst part of it was my uncontrollable crying. Haha. When we landed and met Josh at the baggage claim, I quickly realized he definitely had the flu. We went to the ER the next morning and he had Swine Flu! Who the crap even gets that these days?? So the poor guy was comatose for about a week and the kids just stared at him like, "whats your problem dad? play with us!" He's pretty much back to normal now.. and Lucy is loving every minute of playing with her dad again. She really missed him! It's fun to be around this side of the family, we feel very welcome and loved by everyone. Not to mention, Lucy loves playing with her cousins every day! Although I have bipolar emotions and will probably cry on and off for the duration of our stay in Utah, I'm excited to be here and start this new chapter! Once I get the guts to be in the cold, I will post pictures of the kids in the snow.. maybe.

Family Pictures 2013

So before we left for Utah, Uncle Paul was patient enough to take our family pictures. As you will see, trying to get a 2 year old and an 7 month old to sit and smile at the same time is an impossible task. Seriously. Maybe we will try again in a few.. years?

Christmas 2012

Christmas was so fun this year! Lindsay and her family came for the holiday's and the week went by way too fast. Grant and Lucy are only about a week apart and they had so much fun together! This was Lucy's third Christmas and she's kind of starting to get it. On Christmas Eve we went to Aunt Kathy's house to celebrate the holiday and Grandma Sue's birthday. She would be 82 this year! Aunt Darlene and Jessa did an awesome duet on the piano and Jamie showed off her incredible trained vocal cords. It was amazing! Lucy loved every bit of the music. She's going to be my child prodigy. No big deal. Here are a few pictures we took over the last week.

cute little babies

it was unbelievably hard to get the two of them to sit for a picture

haha. not one of our family pictures has all of us looking the same direction 

love my family

our morning of pure chaos

i love how much she loves music. you can just see it in her eyes when she's watching someone play an instrument or sing.

moms with our babies

New Adventures

We can now officially announce we are moving to Utah! As most of yall know, Josh is incredibly talented with just about everything he does! He has been working at a salon here in Charleston and has learned and grown tons. He is always looking for ways to expand his talents and he now has a great job opportunity at Taylor Andrews Studio Salon, where he can do just that! He loves working behind the chair but his true passion is educating and editorial work. This move to Utah is just a step in the right direction for Josh and I'm very proud of him! He works so hard and is so talented and I can't wait to see what is to come. He will be leaving January 8, and the kids and I will join him out there at the end of February. I love bragging about his talent so here are a few examples of what he has done in the past--

See, I'm not exaggerating! This move is a big deal and it will be scary and stressful, but I know its the right decision for our family and for Josh's career. I'm going to HATE not living by my family, but it is in my plans to convince all of my siblings to move to Utah. If the majority of us are in one spot, my parents will have no option but to move there. :)

Charleston... I was lucky enough to marry someone who loves South Carolina just as much as I do and we are having a hard time packing up and leaving. There is just no other place like Charleston, so we will have to remember to not compare. I am going to have to majorly adjust to the snow. Maybe one day I will miraculously decide I like the lack of beach and frigid cold..?

Baby steps...

Sundays

Why do we even try? Every Sunday on the way to church, we say to each other "Why are we rushing? We will end up in our dark room anyway." And every single Sunday, we are exactly right.

This morning we wake up 30 minutes before we need to be there. Usually we'd take our time, but today was the primary program and my mom is the primary president. So we RUSH out the door and make it to church only 10 minutes late. That's dang good for a family of four with a two year old who runs away while her mom is trying to do her hair so she doesn't have to walk around with her head tilted up because her bangs grow straight forward (was that run on sentence long enough for yall?).

Anyway, we get there. Lucy LOVES music. Anything with music or dancing. So I think, hey we may be able to sit like a family and enjoy the program. HA! Lucy sits down and then hears her Grammie's voice. She doesn't see her face so it wasn't a blood bath.. yet. The kids start singing and Lucy sings right along. Everything was going pretty well.

Next thing I know, Lucy is army crawling under our legs and crawling towards the front of the chapel. She thinks she's slick. There I am, climbing over Josh and Crew and bending down in front of the entire congregation (because we think its okay for us to sit towards the front and disturb everyone while Lucy does her thing). In my heels and dress. Beautiful site.

Then she sees her Grammie. It's all over from that point. Thrashing, screaming, kicking, crying.. anything to get her way to my mom. This temper tantrum lasted the rest of the meeting. Needless to say, Lucy was a happy girl to have her Grammie after it was over. And all she wanted to do was sing in the microphone. Diva in the making? We sure are in for it.