Big Girl Bed

It has only taken three years and three months to get BG into a toddler bed. Three years because she is now three years old. And yes, she has been sleeping in a crib up until this point. (Don't judge. She has never tried to climb out and it contained her nicely.)

Three months because I bought the toddler bed in March. I decided I wanted to paint it. It took me that long to get it sanded, primed, and painted. Last night I took down the crib and put together her big girl bed. She was so excited about it!

We went from this.


To this. Hurray!

She how excited she is? She has to model the bed for its intended purpose. I couldn't get her to stand by the bed and smile.

On a side note, we now have a crib taking up space. Anyone need a crib?

For anyone interested, this is what the bed looked like prior to all my efforts. I have since decided that painting anything with slats is more trouble than it's worth. I have a side table sitting in the garage half sanded that is awaiting a similar fate with paint.

Free Stuff!

I am a fan of free stuff. Even more so when it's free stuff that is awesome. Spaces for Faces is doing a $25 giveaway. They have all kinds of really cool stuff you can buy.

Last Christmas I ordered my Christmas cards through them and they turned out great. They were wonderful to work with and I would definitely use them again. In addition to cards of all varieties, they make cute personalize family card games, matching games, and more. I really want to get a memory matching game with family members faces on it. How fun!
Click here to enter.

Tiny Tidbits

The gopher is dead. It took lots of poison but it is no longer burrowing holes under my porch and eating (what's left of) my flowers.
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Remember how I was so excited to plant a garden? Well some if it is growing. I think most of it got flooded in the three solid weeks of rain we got this month. The back of our garden as been a pretty consistent pool of water.
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I hate that now that it's 90 degrees outside, I sit freezing in my office due to the blasting AC. I keep a jacket at work at all times so I can bundle up. Do I dress for the office in pants and sweaters or the car ride home in shorts and T-shirts? Either way I go, I'm miserable at some point during my day.
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BG has her 3 year old check up yesterday. Apparently, my 3 year old is overweight. WHAT?! We eat healthy, avoid junk food, never give her soda and yet she's in the 90th percentile for weight. Her doctor told me to watch what she eats, add lots of fruit, veggies, only eat lean mean and cut down on pasta, most of which we already do. *Ok, so maybe my obsession with cream cover pasta is not the best health example for my children. I plan to talk to the daycare director about their menu, because I have some issues with it.
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I'm so glad I get the 3rd of July off work. We are going to go to the zoo (if it's not too crazy hot and crowded) or maybe the dinosaur museum. Yes, BG does enjoy the museum. Swimming is a good option too. We didn't get in enough activities while she was still free. Now that she's 3, we'll have to pay for her. Sad days.

Birthday Party

We had BG's birthday party on Sunday. We did a family BBQ and had a lot of fun. I keep meaning to upload the pictures, but by the time I get home, make dinner, clean up, get BG in bed, I'm too pooped to blog. Did you hear me people?! I'm too tired to BLOG! What is wrong with me?!

Anyway, I will try to post of some cute birthday pics. She got some great gifts from family (Thanks!), including a kids digital camera. She loves it and quickly filled up the 60 picture capacity. I'm going to try and figure out how to upload those so I can post some. She also got a stuffed pony that she has been carrying around everywhere and a super soft blanket that she insists on sleeping with every night.

My uber talented sister in law made her a penguin cake that she is still talking about. BG has been obsessed with Madagascar and the Nick spin off show with the Penguins. I tell you what, I am so sick of that show and have all the episodes memorized. It must be bad if I'm trying to convince her to watch Wonderpets instead. So in short, the birthday was good, pictures coming soon. Happy Birthday BG! I love you!

Crazy Week

This week has been busy and is only going to continue into the weekend. Here's what we have lined up at our house.

Wednesday: Delivered teacher thank you gifts to BG's current teachers. She will be going to the 3 year old class starting Monday. (Gifts were made earlier this week.)
Make sure all jewelry items are priced and packed for boutique show.

Thursday: Work. Take birthday party items to school for BG to celebrate with her current class. Rush home to eat. Go to the park to set up tent and tables for the boutique. (I was supposed to do a test set-up with the tent last night but that didn't happen. I hope I don't regret that too much tonight.)

Friday: JM and I are both taking the day off work. I will be working the Lehi Round Up boutique all day (9-8). JM will be watching BG and taking a much deserved day off. Make party menu, write shopping list.

Saturday: Lehi Round Up boutique again all day for me. Tear down booth. JM will be sent to the store to shop and prepare the house for a family birthday party on Sunday.

Sunday: Church (thank goodness it's not my week to teach!). Home for lunch and nap (BG, not me). Start on party prep. We will be BBQing for BG's birthday party. Party with family. Clean up.

Monday: BG's actual birthday occurs. The poor child will not know when her birthday really is since we will be celebrating it for a week in different venues. I'm hoping to take her shopping for a bike this evening but I may be too pooped.

Whew! I'm very glad that next week will be more relaxed.

Anyone Else?

Is anyone else swamped with so many end of year, summer activities that they don't have time to blog? I know it's not just me.

Follow the Money

My husband has a wonderful job that provides for our family. Recently, his employer has been pressuring him to consider moving to the home office (1000 miles away). We have been researching the area, schools, housing prices etc and we feel like it would be in the best interest of his career. At this point, we feel that if he wants to advance in the company, it is best for him to be located at the home office.

This has got me thinking. I have always been of the opinion that you go where the work is. Our hope is that one day I will be able to stay home with kids and we will be able to live on his income. Because this is the plan, I have always felt that means we would do what it takes to make his career successful - because it will be paying the bills. But I know not everyone feels this way.

I'm not sure exactly where or why I acquired this attitude. Perhaps it came by way of example - growing up we lived 2000 miles away from my Dad's family. My Mom's family was scattered through surrounding states. I assume that most of my siblings feel the same way because two of them have moved far from home for employment. The youngest is still in school.

The thought of moving far away from family is scary. I love being close by and having the option of Grandma as a babysitter. I have great neighbors, love our house and would be really sad to go. But I am also excited about the possibility of a new adventure, living outside the bubble, and advancing JM's career.

Where do you stand on this issue? Are you willing to go where the work is or do you prefer to find work where you are?

*No, this is not an announcement that we are moving. It's still in discussion. I'll let you know if/when it will happen.

A Child's Prayer

We have been working with BG, helping her learn to pray on her own. Tonight she said both the dinner prayer and bedtime prayer all by herself. It's still a work in progress because this is what she said both times.

Heavenly Father- Thank you for this day. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for Daddy. Amen.

Apparently I'm little more than chopped liver. It's ok. I'll find a way to work myself into the prayer sooner or later.

Female Right of Passage

No, I'm talking about Aunt Flo. Think younger. Think princess crowns and ringlets.
I'm talking about the pink sponge rollers. I bought some quite a while ago and finally got around to put them in BG's hair. She was actually pretty good while I put them in her hair. She looks pretty cute with the rollers in her hair.

JM's first question when he saw her was "Is she going to be sleep?" I assured him she would be fine. At the same time I was recalling my own memories of sleeping in pink rollers and hating it. I refrained from mentioning that to him.

See how cute her hair turned out?!

She wasn't too happy about talking pictures the next morning. Even though I already knew it, the knowledge has been reinforced that BG's hair is stick straight. By the time I picked her up from school, instead of pretty curls, they barely qualified as loose waves. But it was fun and I'll do it again.

Fashion Tip

If you are wearing a tight, white semi-sheer shirt, please DO NOT wear a sheer lacy bra underneath.

If you insist on wearing a sheer lacy bra under a white semi-sheer shirt, please don't wear a colored bra. It's not pretty.

We have a Garden!

My hard-working husband spent many hours this weekend cutting out sod so we can have a real garden. He even cut it into pretty strips so it could be easily rolled and donated to a friend. After spending hours cutting out the sod, he then tilled the soil by hand and mixed in Nutra-mulch so our little plants will grow.

Last night we planted our plot of land and I'm so excited to watch it grow over the summer. We planted corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, carrots and squash. BG had a good time dropping the seeds into the holes. She also enjoyed playing with the seeds in general so I'm interested to see how many plants grow outside the garden. The rain last night was a good start for our seeds.

In addition to our garden, we bought planter boxes and planted herbs. I'm really excited for fresh herbs. Last year we grew cilantro and basil and it was fabulous to have those on hand for recipes. This year, we planted more varieties. Sometime between now and harvest I need to learn how to preserve all this wonderful food I'm growing.

Birthday Month

BG's birthday is June 22. She knows her birthday is "on June". This morning I told her it was June and her eyes got wide before she exclaimed "It's my birthday!" It was pretty cute. We are starting the party planning. She doesn't know what kind of birthday she wants other than she wants to eat cake. I'm thinking a family BBQ.