Got 'er Done!

Well, the most common comment about our house from neighbors is, "I never noticed that house before." The old owner was a little bit of a recluse and the way they had their yard and porch definitely was not very inviting.

1. Remove trellis (Pete's dad did this right as the old owner was packing up).

2. Paint the door black (it was Maroon before)

3. Make black shutters for large and small window

4. Paint Porch. They had a green and black marble effect which was really ugly.

5. Dig up Bed and get some rocks. We saved all of the perennials and had a rock company come in and excavate the dirt, place the rocks, and dig up some really big root balls.

6. Re-plant all of the perennials before they died! I was getting stressed about where to plant things. There is so much to think about .. how big will this get, when will it flower .. WHAT IS IT?! Pete wanted to clean up the mess so I GOT 'ER DONE :-)
I started with the big plants and gradually went to the smaller plants. My strategy was to fill the empty spots. We'll see how it goes.

I also planted my vegetable garden. I didn't have a tiller, so I dug up some dirt with a shovel, and mixed it in with the compost. I still need to cover the dirt with dead leaves and newspaper to prevent weeds and get stakes for all of the tomatoes. But at least I GOT 'ER DONE!

First trip to Hogle Zoo

Phillip was excited to see all of the animals. He was really glad to hold "the map!" (He is obsessed with Dora lately).

We went with my brother John and Al's older kids. It was me John and 7 kids under 8. It was a little crazy but still fun!

We went on a trip!

I am such a home body and with a new baby it's hard to get me to go anywhere. But I'm glad that we went to Becca's house in St. George. It was a great vacation because it wasn't too far to travel, and we had all of the comforts of home and strip mall shopping. We even had 'In and Out!'

We swam in the pool a lot. Phillip is getting a lot more comfortable swimming on his own with the ring. Lily liked the pool, but I tried to keep her out of the sun.

We went to Zions National Park. This was our first family hike. It took about an hour and half to hike 1 mile. If you watch the video you can figure out why. Phillip seems to have my skill for walking, which is kind of scary when hiking.

Bring Spring Inside!

I think I'm trying to recover from spring fever!  It's almost through april and we still get snow every couple of days!  

Anywho this was my 15 minute project to have some spring inside in case it snows again this weekend.  It's a good way to prune the Forsythia bushes and looks pretty inside :-)

Girls are fun to dress!

One of my co-workers got us this really cute silk dress. Today was my first day back to church and I got to show off the baby! She got a lot of compliments on the dress :-) I think it's only appropriate that I have a picture of the baby in a cute puffy dress with Phillip in a diaper.

Lily's getting so big and is holding up her head pretty good.

The chickens are getting bigger too. We are working on our chicken coupe tomorrow so they will be outside from now on.

They Grow up so Fast!

Lily is six weeks old and we've had the chickens for two weeks!

Lily's milestones:
She can hold up her head on her own

She smiles a lot more

She has adult-like burps and toots

The chickens:

They are starting to get their hard feathers.

They run a lot faster and they can do flying jumps

My Hillary Clinton Haircut

Well, I wanted a short haircut for spring. It ended up being a really short haircut. When I had all of the styling product in my hair, I asked Pete if my hair kind of looked like Hillary Clinton's haircut. He just started cracking up! So, now I'm in my workout clothes with bright lipstick and a blazer with my thumbs up.

Who do you want to answer the call on the first day??! Me! I may mumble on the phone, and I may not answer if I lost the phone, but I'll be there with a smile :-)

This message was approved by Cathy Olsen. Cathy for President!

Our New 5 Additions to the Family

I was going to surprise Pete with baby chicks for Easter. Pete came home today with baby chicks! Ha! We have a extra shed outback that we can convert to a chicken coup. We have 2 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Americana chickens. Phillip is excited for the new chickens. We'll have to name them soon.

Our new "Back Hall"

Pete was on a mission this weekend.  This was a small space by our back door.  We were thinking of lockers, with and without doors, but decided because of the traffic flow, we'd keep it open.  We were out on errands yesterday and found baskets that fill the cubbies perfectly.  (at World Market).  The pillows we had in storage from our california house.  I still need to make a pad for the bench, but for now I think it looks pretty spiffy :-)

Pete's new Dental Assisstant

My Dad had a tooth that broke.  Luckily Pete could squeeze him into his schedule.  Phillip and I stopped by the office to see Oma and Opa.  Phillip saw the x-ray of my Dad's tooth.  He kept saying.  "Daddy's fixing Opa's Tooth."

The best was the eating frenzy at the Costco food court.  :-)  

Spring Fever

I think everyone in Utah is ready for spring.  Phillip is especially ready to start playing outside.  After living in California for a year, this has been a long cold winter.  Like the quote from the movie Ground Hogs Day, "It's going to cold. It's going to be dark and it's going to last the rest of your life!"  ha!  Good thing spring is just around the corner :-)

And then there were two ...

Everyone has been asking me how Phillip is coping with the change. He's actually doing really good. He loves to give the baby kisses and hold her, but for the most part he still likes to play with his trains, watch shows, and and make up stories about lions. (Yesterday he told me that the Lion ate the chicken and the Lion was Sorry).

The two 'Babies' wrapped up in blankets.




Phillip rocking in the baby's carseat.




Phillip sharing his lions with baby Lily.

Lily Marie

Me and the little Girl!  It was EASY!

Phillip meeting Lily for the  first time

Well, our little girl finally decided to come! Our doctor started a slow induction Wednesday night. By Thursday, Lily Marie was born!!

The labor wasn't too bad because I asked for my epidural about an hour into the induction. (I'm a whimp!). During the induction, there was a freak earthquake in Nevada. I noticed the tremers as my bed started shaking. I didn't know what to think, maybe a really big contraction. ha! I'd say the worst part of the labor was the last few hours and it was during local news and Dr. Phil. Not very good TV.

Everything went well with the delivery and I didn't have to have another C-Section. Yay!

Here are the key facts:

Born: February 5:45 PM MST
Name: Lily Marie Olsen
Weight: 7 lbs, 7 oz
Length: 20.5 inches

Phillip has been really sweet to the little girl. So far so good!

Little Girl Nursery

Well, the nursery is complete!

The Rocker
We had a hard time finding a white rocker. Pete's mom was on a mission and called almost every furniture store in utah, salt lake and Davis County. No one had white rockers. She ended up finding one at kid-to-kid and recovered the cushions. Good as new!! :-)


The Mural
I've always wanted to paint a mural for one of our rooms. It was fun to do a whimsical pattern that played off the bedding. I may add a few more details, but at least it looks finished for now.

The Closets
Pete's Idea. He got the little paint cans from Home Depot. I used some of the same colors in the mural.

Sundance Festival - Celebrity Chasing :-)

Well, we had a great weekend of fun and relaxing. We went up to Pete's parents cabin in Midway. On our way home we drove down main street Park City to see the sites of the Sundance Festival. Pete noticed a lot of people snapping pictures and we saw that they were taking pictures of Mary Kate Olsen!! ha!! I'm famous! We only got a shot of the back of her head. It's hard to be a paparazzi. Ha!

January Fun :-)

Well, back to life ... back to reality ;-) We had a nasty cold run through the family. We stayed home to get better. Phillip really loves drawing now. He likes to draw circles and all sorts of shapes. When he's coloring in a coloring book he tries really hard to stay in the lines. ha! He even liked to color all over our ottoman. Luckily the slip cover is washable.

I've been busy getting the baby's room ready. I'll post a picture once we're done. Only 5 weeks left until the baby comes!

Christmas Eve

We went to both family Christmas eve celebrations. Phillip was a Shepherd for both Nativity productions. I'm afraid he has been type-cast. We got to have two ham dinners, see Santa twice, and do the nativity twice. It was a lot of fun packed into one night.

Merry Christmas

We had a fun filled christmas season. We went on the "Polar Express" (aka Heaber Creaper). Phillip was really excited to get on the train. We also had work parties and family parties galore. I'm nervous for my next weigh-in.

It was fun decorating for Christmas in our house for the first time. I really liked our mantle of nativities, santas, and christmas cards. It looked like Christmas "threw up." We also had a new christmas tree. We went from a 4 ft to a 8 ft tree. Luckily my mom and pete's mom were getting rid of christmas decorations.

Turkey Bowl

We had breakfast and a turkey bowl with Pete's family. Phillip had fun chasing everyone around. It was an active packed Thanksgiving day.

Fall Football - GO COUGARS

Pete's Parents had extra tickets to the BYU/Colorado game. Phillip had fun singing the fight song. He especially liked the ice cream popcorn and football treats.

The BIG BLOG update - Halloween

It has been a long time since I updated my blog.

Phillip was a monkey for Halloween and LOVED getting candy from everyone. By the end of halloween night he started saying, "MORE SUGAR!"

Before & After Living Room

BEFORE


AFTER
























This room was a labor of love for Pete.

1) Remove Popcorn Ceiling
2) Rip up carpet
3) Get rid of the panelling
4) Sand down the glue from panelling
5) Paint (twice) I changed my mind on the paint color
6) Patch ceiling
7) Texture Ceiling
8) Paint Ceiling
9) Crown molding
10) Chair Rail
11) Re-Finish floors
12) New Windows
13) New can lighting
14) New light fixture


We still need to do some touch-ups and need to get more furniture for the room, but It looks ..grrrEEAAATT! Way to go PETE :-)

Downtown

Phillip has a new favorite song to sing in the car. It's "Downtown" by Petula Clark.

SUPER MOMS!

IT's a BIRD ... IT's a PLANE ... no it's SUPER MOM!!!

Well, it's easy to be super-mom when you can tag team. Becca and I stayed up until 1:30 AM decorating the train cakes. We got the idea from Coolest Birthday Cakes. It's a great site. Anywho, becca baked the pound cake and make the frosting ahead of time. We went to the grocery store and went a little crazy with the candy. The little rocks are made out of chocolate. It's GREAT! The kids loved the train cake. I'm sorry to say we still have the cake a week later. I don't have the heart to throw it out. But I guess I should, or else we'll get another cat coming in our house :-) (see entry below)

Happy 2nd Birthday Phillip

Phillip is 2 years old! Becca and I through a combined birthday for Phillip and Anthony. It was a great division of labor. Becca did a lot of the prep work (invitations, party supplies, food). Becca make some really good chicken salad. My focus was the cakes. (I need a seperate entry for those) :-)

Phillip loved the candy the best. He could hardly blow out the candles because he had his cheeks full of candy. It was a GREAT party with Family, Friends, and GOOD FOOD.

Cat in our Floorboards!!

Well, we had a little scare Saturday morning. Pete had started taking out the storm windows and i guess there was a little crack open. We woke up to a cat meowing and saw that there was a cat inside our house outside our bedroom. Ga;ak!!!

It hid downstairs, and Pete chased it back upstairs. It found a hiding place in the floorboards. You can barely see it in the video b/c I was freaked out. We eventually chased it out of the house. Good Times!!