I know if I don't write about it now I probably won't. Cody has been working so hard on getting the house ready for us to move in. We tore up all the carpet upstairs, so in the living room, hallway, 3 bedrooms, and office. We tore up the laminent in the kitchen and the dining room had carpet so that got taken up as well. Originally we were going to put tile in the entry way and not even mess with the kitchen quite yet. Looking into tile we realized that it would be a lot cheaper to do laminate hardwood floor and keep the rock in the immediate doorway. We had been discussing how it would work with replacing the carpet and having it all blend together when we eventually put in new kitchen floor. We changed plans and found out we could put flooring in the entry, kitchen and dining for about the same as tile only in the entry. 

We have been painting like crazy today and thought it was going to take all weekend. Cody's family came to te rescue! His mom watched the girls all day so that I could be there helping him. His dad and brother also came over all day to help paint and the entire upstairs is just about finished. We didn't think we would even get half way done today. 

The bathroom ended up being a lot bigger project than either of us anticipated. We thought changing the shower behind the door into a closet and putting a shower head in the tub would be a lot easier but it's taken a lot. Cody's brother came up last week and helped a lot and Cody laid the last of the tile on the floor at 2:30 am the other night. 

It's been a long and rough process but it will be so worth it in the end! We can't wait to have it finished and be moved in. 

I forgot to mention... Everything in the house was originally PINk!!!!! I mean everything! 

The hall without the cabinet doors

Almost finished bathroom! 

Living room looking towards the door 

Living room from the front closet 

Ellie "riding a horse" 

Dining room and kitchen 

Right after Cody ripped out the shower, it was at least 2 inches of cement on the bottom! 

This week we took away Ellie's pacifier for good. Cody was gone over night on Monday and that was the day I did it, big mistake on my part. It was a very long day and an even longer night. We've noticed that its been effecting her teeth lately and she just constantly wanted it. I was tired if her crying for it constantly (she was only allowed to have it for naps and bed time). She was screaming for a while so I finally made a slit in the tip and gave it back to her. She was sad and just kept saying its broke. The only nap she got that day was in the morning on the couch while watching a movie. That night she went to bed ok, I waited until she was really tired and put her in bed but she woke up screaming at midnight. We played musical beds with the two girls. Ellie was in my bed but would randomly wake up and scream that it was broken. That woke katelyn up and eventually she was wide awake and would smile everytime I tucked her back in, I threw her in Ellie's bed but Ellie didn't like that and it only brought on more screams from Ellie. I was so glad when it was finally morning. 

Without the pacifier that means no naps. At all. It's been a long week without naps. I've been turning on a movie in the afternoon for Ellie to have some quiet time and she has fallen asleep a few times. I even tried letting her take a nap in her tent but she just thought that was way too much fun to sleep. 

I was really worried about how night time would be. The first couple nights were hard just because she has always been really good about going in her room and going straight to sleep. But the past two nights she has done just that and its nice to feel like we are back to normal. 

And since I've update about our eventful week with Ellie, katelyn has a new trick up her sleeve. She is now rolling over! And she has learned how I scream, no doubt from hearing her sister do it so much. 

Cody has been working a lot on the house. We are hoping to be in before Christmas, that's my goal at least but he's doing most of the work by himself so it takes a little bit longer than anticipated. The girls are happy that it is Sunday so that they get to see their dad for a whole day and not just a quick hello or goodnight. 

I hate waiting. Absolutely hate it! And I have little patience for waiting which is probably why I’ve been forced to do so much of it lately. It feels like the past month has been spent waiting.

Waiting for the opportunity to buy a house. Waiting for the  government to open back up so we can buy a house. Waiting to close on a house. But we got the house! Now its waiting to get it all put together so we can move in. Waiting for Cody to have time to work on it. Waiting for Katelyn to get sleepy so we can go help. Waiting…

Waiting for a few hours at Lowes. At least we enjoyed looking at the Christmas decorations for a few minutes to help entertain us.


Sunday Ellie was sick and had a high fever. We spent the entire day waiting for her fever to go down and for her to start acting normal again. Thank heavens it only lasted one day, I was getting tired of the same disney movies over and over.



I've been waiting for Katelyn to roll over. She is almost there but not quite.



We've been trying to patiently wait for the November birthdays and Christmas. I am extremely excited for Christmas because I ordered some black boots but I have to wait... I've already finished shopping for the girl's and can't wait to see how excited Ellie will be.




A few other things that I've been waiting for are... to see progress of working hard to get this baby weight off, to get Katelyn moved out of our room and in with Ellie, to see family around the holidays, for Ellenor to start talking more. It seems like I keep waiting for the day when I can actually finish a to do list and not have only half the things I should get done crossed off. But despite waiting, we are trying to enjoy each day and make the most of it.

Last night we bought a Costco size bag of the good candy ( snickers, reeses, kit kat, almond joy, etc.). Between Cody and I we ate 5 pieces already out of 90. There is no way it's going to make it to Thursday! And when I say we ate 5 pieces I mean I ate 4 and Cody ate one. 

I feel like I need to write it down to hold me accountable and maybe that will help to keep me on track better. I have about 20 pounds to go to where I want to be. It's the weight I was last summer and I felt good at that weight, I am going more by how my clothes fit and how my body looked rather than exact numbers on the scale. But that's what I felt good about myself and I know it's a weight I can maintain, I just have to get there first. With Ellie I got lucky, all the weight I gained while pregnant melted away plus some pretty quickly. With Katelyn it seems that nothing I've been doing has even made a difference. So I'm writing as a way to kick my butt in gear and get rid of a few pounds by Christmas. And hopefully this will also help get me motivated because I am lacking it. 

This week I survived my first almost week by myself without Cody ( over night I mean). He headed up to Boise on Sunday night and finally came home on Thursday. It was a long week! But as soon as he returned it was as if everything was magically just as it should be. To keep Ellie in good spirits while Cody was away I did a lot of things to keep her busy and give her extra one on one time. For the most part it worked and she loved playing with play dough and different activities tht required a lot of hand eye coordination and helping me so anything and everything. This week was also warmer, in the high sixties, so we went to the park twice with friends and Ellie had a blast. She is a little too brave sometimes. She's gotten good at goi down the slide by herself to where I don't need to catch her but she was about to I down one and I had a feeling to. She came shooing down the slide head first and would have landed right on her head if I didn't stop her. Crazy girl.

I view myself as a pretty shy person at first and especially since I've been married I've just become so comfortable I don't venture out much. Lately I've been trying to do more things with other moms and be more social, so far so good. I'm hoping that it will help make winter go by faster and also so we don't go too stir crazy. 

Ellie is starting to become a lot more opinionated about what she wears. I usually give her two options and let her choose but while Cody was away I decided to pick my battles. Yes she is wearing apple pants (she's obsessed) and a princess night gown. I'm excited to see what other crazy outfits she comes up with, unless we are going out in public . And miss Katelyn is pretty much the perfect baby, as long as someone is in the room she is happy. 

Miss Katelyn is almost three months old. I honestly don't know where the time has gone. Maybe trying to keep Ellie from climbing all over her? Last night I realized that it had been a while since I rocked her to sleep. She is such a good baby and usually goes right to sleep when I put her in her crib with no problem. Last night I held her for a long time an when I put her in her crib to sleep she kept stirring. 

These girls grow way too fast. But I'm glad for the time I do have with them. Even when it's annoying that all Ellie wants to do is climb on my lap while I'm trying to find dinner ideas. Or Katelyn decides a short nap and bein held is a much better idea, I secretly love it. Yes I do get annoyed that I just want to finish the dishes or the last two things on a grocery list. But they are worth the interruption and I'm glad they are there to remind me. That they are the most important, not the cleanliness of te house or the amount of toys but them and the time we spend together. 

Life lately... Has been pretty uneventful, just the everyday little things. But it's still been fun. 

Yesterday I told Cody that we were going out to eat. We got dressed up and had a date night with dad and loved 

We spend a good amount of our days snuggling and being absolutely silly. One of Ellie's new favorite things to do is watch videos of herself. She laughs and thinks she is hilarious, I'd have to agree! Her current toy of choice is the kitchen spatulas and measuring cups. 

I've been trying to get started on seriously getting the baby weight off. I started off just walking about three to four weeks after I had katelyn and am finally gettin back into running. I love that I am starting to slowly see muscle definition in my legs again. But it's not always easy to find time to workout with two adorable kiddos. If Ellie is awake workout time means climb all over mom time like she's an animal to ride. 

I did have a small victory the other day. I've struggled with my weight for a long time and my thighs have never been small at all. They would run together and if I tried to wear even basketball shorts without compression shorts underneath they would chafe and give me rashes. I bought some running shorts with a goal in mind to be able to run in them (and they were on clearance) and I did it! It's still not perfect but being able to run in shorts felt amazing! Especially on the treadmill inside a warm house. Some days you just have to celebrate the small victories and enjoy them and let the other things go. Balance. It's all about balance.

 

Labor Day we headed down to Utah for a weeken full of fun. Ellie got spoiled from Thursday night until Monday with a lot of cousins to play with. 

My best friend Allie was married in the Brigham City temple and she was absolutely stunning! She looked like a goddess in the dress that she designed, it's almost not fair how gorgeous my best friends are! I had a great time catching up with these amazing girls and loved spending time. Our relationships pick up without ever seeming to miss a beat even if its been a while since we've last talked or seen each other. 

 

Saturday we headed to PF Changs for a hot date! My parents watched the girls and my sisters kids so we could use our gift cards we got for Christmas and we invited Jeremy to tag along. The best thing about being an adult is being friends with your siblings. You aren't forced (as much) to spend time together and we seem to get along a lot better and enjoy each others company. We laughed so hard my cheeks and stomach were aching. But I'm mostly impressed that we didn't get kicked out. 

Sunday we had more family come for dinner and Monday we headed out on a family hike. We put Ellie in a pack on Cody's back and she hated it. The parking lot and trail were packed and she screamed for at least the first twenty minutes. She didn't just scream but she threw herself from side to side and kicked pretty good to. She finally fell asleep but woke up once we got to the falls so she could play in the creek. On the way back she was completely opposit of how she was acting, she was singing and pointing out different things. 

Ellie slept on the air mattress with Cody and it was very entertaining to watch and  see how they would be arranged come the morning. 

It was great being able to spend one last full weekend with my parents before they leave on their mission. Definitely a bittersweet weekend but we enjoyed it. A lot.