Finishing the basement is fun to do, to do, to do, to do...

Yeah right! Actually it's kind of exciting working on the basement again. Last night Nick and I cleaned up the mess he (it was all Nick) made all winter long. It turns out that anytime I asked Nick to put something away in the basement through the winter, he would just put it (or throw it) down the stairs...So needless to say, it needed the cleaning/re-arranging big time! Today Nick put up more sheetrock and I threw away junk and swept like a mad woman. It's looking so good! We just have 2 more sheets to put up in a walk in closet and then a linen closet to do and then it's time for the mud! Nick's dad was gracious enough to come last summer and mud and tape the family room and one of the bedrooms. We just need one more coat on those rooms and two coats on the one room that didn't get anything and then it all needs texturing (which we are going to pay someone to do). Then Nick and I will paint everything. I think we're going to get a couple more bids for the job and then go for it. If anyone knows someone who does a good job mudding/texturing, please hook me up with their info!!! We've decided also that once all that is done, we will buy wood to finish framing the rest of the basement( 1 room/walk-in closet, cold storage, and a bathroom) with any money we have left over from our stimulus payment from Bush!
Anyway, more importantly the kids are growing like weeds and make us laugh so much everyday! Today was the first day Madelyn pulled herself up to stand all the way! She's pulled herself before up on Nick while he was laying down on the floor, but that wasn't a very big climb. So this time, I had just turned around to put her bottle down and her binkie was on the ottoman and she climbed up and got it, in that short amount of time. She was very proud of herself. I grabbed the camera and video taped it, but it was just her standing there.
A funny thing Andrew did...we had just come up from the basement and Andrew had just woke up from his nap and noticed how dirty Nick's pants were and said "Oh man, you have pee-pees!" I was in the bathroom down the hall and laughed so hard! He is so crazy! We love that little mister!

Sonja is making me blog

Hello everyone, this is Nick, and Sonja was just saying how I never write on this thing. Yesterday, Sonja's grandparents (hereafter known as Nana and Fa) called us while we were at my parents for dinner. They said their new home (down by the fitness center) was very hot, and that they didn't sleep at all on Saturday night. We told them we'd be over there by nine because they made it sound like it wasn't that bad. So, after dinner at my parents, we went down to Nana and Fa's and we checked out their thermostat. It said it was 90 in their home! I reprogrammed it and thought all was fine and good.
Then Sonja, being the brilliant, observant person she is, noticed that the air coming out of the vents wasn't cold at all. I checked into it and noticed that the breaker for the air conditioner was off! So, we turned it on, and voila, nice cold air was coming out of the vents.
We told Nana and Fa that next time they should tell us how bad the problem is! Needless to say, we felt pretty bad!

Updates...

Okay, I love it when people update their blogs so I guess I should do the same. Today we went to Nick's cousin's husband's graduation party (did you get all that?). It reminded me why I love this time of year. This same time last year I got my husband back from the University of Utah! I think he still wishes he was in school sometimes. Especially when he gets asked to do something around the house. Back then the only people he had to answer to were the professors and his beloved integrated circuits. Anyway, I think connecting with my old roomies and friends from school makes me want to finish and get my degree. I guess we'll see what Nick decides about getting his Masters degree...

oh I wanted to write in this blog in order to remember some of the funny things Andrew and Madelyn do. So I have to write Andrew's new answer to everything "yeah, yeah." Of course he says this like a gangsta. I don't know where he gets these things.

Some random pics

I just thought I'd add some random pictures from this last month. One with Madelyn and pink all over her face was me not watching her while I was reading baby Gracie's blog updates...Second was Madelyn on the day she turned 7 months. Others are from the park with friends.

The Journey of Losing Weight

So Nick has lost about 8 lbs. and I've lost about 12. I keep falling behind because of my fractured foot. The doctor says to keep off of it for 8 Weeks!!! Right! He said I could try water aerobics or cycling to keep weight off the foot. However, both exercises make things worse. So Nick says I should try at least for a little while to not exercise and just see what happens. So last week I only exercised about 3 times the beginning of the week and nothing since. My foot is definitely not as sore, but my weight has stopped coming off. So the plan is to reduce the calories a ton and see if I can stick to that and just weight train. We'll see how that goes. We want to get pregnant in about 6 months, and I MUST lose weight before that happens. I think everything will go much better with 70 lbs. less weight. So I guess I have about 58 lbs. left and Nick has about 18 lbs. to go. If anyone has any advice about ways to get a cardio workout that doesn't involve your feet, please let me know!

Adventures of the mobile baby Madelyn!

So Madelyn is crawling now, if you can call it that. It's honestly the funniest crawl I've ever seen. She looks like an inch worm or something. She puts her bum up really high and then scoots forward. I'll have to put a video of it on this. It's so weird that she can get around so quickly now. I don't know if it's a good thing yet. She seems happier, but gets into EVERYTHING! Andrew keeps on trying to sit on her. He thinks it's funny. Not so much considering he weighs about 35 lbs and she weighs about 15!

Little Ones

Lately I've been reading a lot about our friends the Pettits and their son, Teagan's experience at PCMC with HLHS (hypoplastic left heart syndrome). A link on their website goes to another baby having a struggle with the same heart defect. Her name is Gracie and she is so cute! This last week she's been going through a lot, so Andrew and I have been praying for her and Teagan a lot. I think it's amazing how awesome the parents of these children are through these trials. They really are great examples to me and how grateful I should be for all we are blessed with. It seems like every minute I am checking for updates on these little ones to make sure they are doing well. I hope that anyone who reads this will please offer a prayer for these little ones that their bodies and will to fight may be strong and that the families of these beautiful babies will know of the Lord's hand in their lives.
Every night I reflect on my role as a mother and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be blessed with my children and that they are healthy.