House

Well I am buying my first home!!!!! It feels a bit weird. I thought I would be excited about it, but I just feel stressed. I had a few bad experiences so far. Our loan officer was very scatterbrain and didn’t explain things well. We would ask her about different loan options and she would say that the computer brings up the best option for us automatically. I don’t think so!! She would hide the truth and cover up things she didn’t know to make it look like she did know or the information wasn’t important! Marty and I were very frustrated. We finally decided to get someone else when she sent us the papers for us to sign and the loan amounts, down payment, and personal information was wrong! We found a better interest rate and so we went with a different bank. The day after we changed banks she called and I told her that we were switching. She got upset and said that we should have told her earlier. She was mumbling mad words as she hung up on me. The next day I was at playgroup and received a call from her on the cell. She proceeded to tell me that there is an appraisal charge on her account and we needed to “buck up” and pay for it. Since we never signed anything and she went ahead and ordered the appraisal, she had to pay for it, some $300+. She was mad on the phone. She insulted us and tried to give me a guilt trip. “I have 3 kids, I came on a Saturday to meet with you”, etc. She even personally attacked M and then she told me that she wouldn’t talk to him. I think she was afraid that he would tell her off. Anyway, after the conversation ended I started to cry. It was so overwhelming to be yelled at and insulted and blamed for not choosing to bank with them. I don’t know why they hired her. You would think they want someone who focuses mainly on costumer service because we will be paying them thousands and thousands of dollars!!!! What ever. M called her boss and reported the behavior.

So now that we are moving forward in a positive direction, I can be excited about moving in. No more dog poop on our lawn, no more alarm clocks going off and waking my children at 6:00 a.m., and no more moving for a few years, yea! So here is our house, our first house! Please come and visit if you can. There are cheap cruises from here! No, the furniture in the pictures isn’t ours.

Word of Wisdom

M and I spoke on the Word of Wisdom last Sunday. M did a wonderful job, I had wonderful thoughts, but it all came out scatterbrainish. Anyway, we are new in the ward and don’t know a huge amount of people so when we got there early to find someone to watch our kids we had to just pick someone and hope they would be fine watching our kids. I was in the mothers lounge nursing J so M took C and dropped her off with a nice looking family. Come to find out she has 6 kids of her own! So I tell M we should find someone else to watch J. M picks this lady and after she already answered yes he noticed that she smelled like smoke! Ha, that would normally be fine – she seemed like a very kind woman, but we were speaking on the Word of Wisdom! http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/89 No drinking, smoking, tea, coffee etc. What are we to do now? Oh well, it was awkward for a moment and then it was funny. Although, it was a bit embarrassing carring around a baby that smelled of smoke. I got some funny looks. I ended up taking off his shirt that was carrying most of the smell, so he just had a onesie on the rest of Sunday. Just thought I would share.

Be Mine, Valentine!

Our Valentine’s Day went well. C, J and I went to the ward playgroup and decorated cookies! C wanted to dump the sprinkles on everyone’s cookies for them. It was hard trying to convince her that the other kids wanted to do it themselves. C and I were up early in the morning cutting and pasting away at some homemade valentines since I forgot that we would be at playgroup on this holiday. She loved passing them out. She is such a sweet girl. J was pleasant as always. I held a 5 week old baby and J at the same time for half the time there. There is a woman who has 3 kids under 4. Ya, she had a nanny there and still needed a hand. So I held the sweet little girl. I got pics of just a few of the infants at playgroup. There were a lot of kids there that day. They just all happened to be boys. J is so handsome, just like his father.

C gave her daddy a homemade Valentine card and she practiced hard at “I’m so glad when Daddy comes home” and sang it for him when he got home. The picture is C coloring the card she was making for Daddy, but she can’t resist sliding the crayons between her toes for storage. What a goof ball. She also picked out some candy for him. Skittles, yum! He took them to work. Smart man. M gave me a beautiful bouquet of pink roses and they are gorgeous. He must love me.

We also recieved some Valentines from distant loved ones. You know who you are - Thank you, she loved them.

Blessing Day

Back in December M and I truly enjoyed J’s blessing day. We were lucky enough to have G&G A come to see us during this special event. We loved having someone come visit us. Since we were so far away, it meant a lot to us. J smiled for us and was a good boy all day. I couldn’t have asked for more. We had a fun get together afterwards to say good bye to a few close friends. I really wanted everyone to know how much I had appreciated their friendship during these hard months of schooling. We miss them terribly, but hope that their lives will be fulfilling and dedicated to Christ where ever they may be.

M gave a beautiful blessing to J. GA brought J a handsome white suit. He looks so dashing. It was such a special day for me.

Celie

I am taking a parenting class with M and we are sitting on the edge of our seats through the whole lesson. Celie has caught us off guard with her strong will and our developing patience is not enough to see her through to her teens. So we have made it a goal to work hard at being better parents by improving our own habits and characters. She is a strong person and will some day be a great leader. She has a heart of gold and a watchful eye like a hawk! Potty training is a thing of the past. I don’t even think she can fathom wearing a diaper, “those are for babies”. To think only months earlier she was waddling around in a “sagging” diaper. As a big girl, her joy comes from exerting energy, making sure everyone has a toy and is happy, singing Mary Poppins songs, helping me cook (so important to her), holding J, and doing her jobs on her new job chart. If she didn’t accomplish the “be nice” job she makes sure to say “maybe tomorrow I’ll be nice, ok?” She is so funny. Moving has been very confusing for her. She flat out doesn’t like this apartment and she tells me often. I assure her that we will be moving into a home soon and she is excited about that. She is good at telling me when to stop and go at the stop lights and her prayers are sweet and sincere. She would love to go to Daddy’s work and spend the day with him, but she doesn’t want any hugs or kisses when he gets home or tucks her into bed.
The other day we had our fan replaced by a maintenance guy. Fernando, I believe was his name. I have never seen Celie act so adult like, it was crazy. She helped him by handing him parts he dropped on the floor and she smothered him with questions. “What’s that? Is that white? What are you doing? What’s your name?” He was very kind and played along. I didn’t have to entertain her for a whole half an hour!! She was patient and attentive and respectful and everything a mother could hope to see in their child. When Fernando left, and after a big long good-bye with lots of waves, she stood at the window watching him leave with hands on her hips saying “He’s a good man.” Ya, I about died laughing. This little sweet daughter of God will shape me into a better person if I let it. I hope I can stay worthy to raise her and her magnificent spirit. My sweet silly Celie.

Things I love about home

During the holidays I spent a whole month back at home where Marty and I grew up. I realized just how much I missed the little things at home that bring joy and amazement into the day. I really took for granted the mountains. They are beautiful. I could stand outside and stare at them for an hour and still have more to view. It gives the landscape more variety and beauty with glorious mountains lining the horizon. I also noticed that I missed being able to breath the clear air. No humidity or inversion (like it is now so I hear). It is like it is cleaner at home and being outside renews your senses. Of course Marty and I missed the opportunity to hike, explore, four-wheel, and other activities. We got a chance to ride around on the four-wheeler even though it was cold. I was a little freaked out at first when Marty said that we would be driving (more like sliding) on the ice! But I got over it after a minute or two and had a blast. I wasn’t going to get on “the disk of death”, but I was willing to do the super donut; where you spin round and around very fast, ya, it’s fun. I think I felt like a kid again. I needed that. Anyway, we missed everything about home and we’re sad to leave, but more than the mountains and the super donuts, we missed our family and loved every minute we got to spend with them. I hope they know that we think about each one of them and can’t wait to see them again.

Jack Martin Allsop

Oh, the sweetest boy joined our family in October. He was a big boy when he was born. Chubby with a flare nose! He didn’t latch on well to nurse – just like Celie. They have the same method. I had to spend an hour every time I fed him because he would be latched on wrong. My mom came down to help with the first week at home. Wow, was she the angel of the month. Celie really needed her attention and I needed some time alone with Jack.

This easy going boy is just what I needed to keep going with this parenting job. If all kids had the intensity level Celie has then I think I could only have one child. He lets me cuddle with him when ever and he loves to look in my eyes and growl. He doesn’t like the car seat and he falls asleep faster when I make my hand into a fist and bounce it off his backside . . . fairly hard! Babies are funny and picky, huh!? He weighs almost 16 lbs and so he hardly wore his 0-3 month clothes at all. He will probably be into 6-9 mo. sizes soon.

My favorite thing about him is his smile. He smiles often and from ear to ear. He loves it when I copy the sounds he makes and he laughs when I tickle his neck. Celie is good at holding him on the couch and loves him more than anything in this world. She will push him in the swing for a long time with out complaining and she will get what ever I need for him in a flash, no questions asked. We love our Celie and we are excited to see them play together as friends some day (When Jack can defend himself).

I'm Back

Yes, I am back from infant addition hibernation. Wow what a wonderful time I have had having Jack, visiting family over the holidays, and moving to a new town all in a few months. I have too much to say all in one entry so I’ll just write a short ditty.

Jack is the sweetest boy. He brightens my days and yes, you guessed it, he sleeps through the important ours of the night (11-6). I know, it’s amazing. At three months he loves to suck on his hands, look into my eyes and then smile, and groan himself to sleep while I tap his backside. I am doing fine with all of the commotion with moving and all that’s involved, but Celie on the other hand thinks that every time we get into the car we are going to get a new home. Even when we tour homes for sale she will think that we are moving in right then. “My new bed. My special TV. My new horsy”. She is thoroughly confused! With our long talks of our plans to get another home I am sure she will be fine. She still says the cutest things even though it seems she is in a constant tantrum. While Celie was sitting on the counter helping her dad cook dinner she noticed two big oranges. She picked one up delicately with delight in her eyes, turned to me, and said “Mommy, it’s my little special orange peach!” I tried hard to convince her that it is an orange orange. Ya right, I didn’t get too far with that one. I love how she says the word special. You have to hear it to know what I mean.

Anyway, I have many pictures to put on this blog from the last few months and from my new digital camera! I’ll make sure and get those on soon. Jack’s telling me he needs a diaper change so I best go now.