Spring is Here!

My yard says it's so!

(I'm ignoring the snow that fell yesterday and may potentially fall later this week...)

The first sign of spring in my yard: this tiny daffodil! I'm not sure what variety of daffodil I purchased, but they are super tiny and super cute! We also have more than a hundred tulips popping up all over! I'm so thankful for the fall planning that brings bright spring colors to my yard!

Sammy is also grateful for the coming of spring because he can finally go outside! Here's how he's been enjoying the warmer weather:

Playing ball in the yard.

Riding in the Wagon

(Thank you Santa for bringing this special prize!)

I think its interesting that Sammy enjoys his wagon, because he simply cannot stand anything that moves - like swings, or little kid rides, etc. Perhaps he's close enough to the ground that he's not too worried about falling???

If you couldn't tell, at the end of each run, Sammy would sign and say "More." What a nice Daddy to oblige!

Walking and throwing rocks around the pond.

This great little walking spot is on Hill AFB. Dave gets 3 hours of exercise leave each week, and usually saves 1 hour to walk with his favorite people! We are so lucky! Sammy didn't care much for the ducks, but was enthralled with all the "balls" (rocks) just laying in the dirt! It was a sad, sad day when we had to put the "ball" back and go home.

Playing Tennis

(aka don't hit Sammy while he collects all the stray balls)

I'm noticing a theme within this post...Sammy LOVES balls! Of course we already knew that, I just didn't realize the extent of the love affair...

Of course Sammy got tired of the little tennis balls, and wanted the basketball that he couldn't have...

Sliding, Climbing and Cleaning up the Park

I'm sure Sammy thought the Pine cones were balls...

We are so glad it's spring!!!

Update on Baby

We've had plenty of posts lately about our Super Sam. So I suppose it's time for a baby update.

I went to the Dr. today (for 2 hours! - mostly just waiting, ugh!) and found out the following:

• it is definitely a girl (prior to today, the Dr. and the ultrasound tech were only "pretty sure")


• according to the ultrasound she weighs 5 pounds 5 oz.


• according to the ultrasound she will be ready for delivery on May 7th (yea!)


• she has a strong heartbeat and all other body parts/functions are healthy


• she's a "smart baby" because she's turned head down


• she still has a perfectly round head

We are super excited for her to arrive! I've been cleaning and purchasing plenty of "pink" for the nursery (when it get's closer to being done, I'll post some pics). Sorry everyone, we still haven't decided on a name...good thing we have a few more weeks for that.

How's Michelle?

• I'm doing great.
  
• I'm a lot more tired and don't seem to get much done, but I feel pretty good all around.
  
• I've been experiencing some terrible heartburn lately (no ice cream after 10!).
  
• I didn't gain any weight from my last appointment to today, which means I'm still not back up to my pre-pregnancy weight (seriously, this is the best weight loss plan I've ever been on).
  
• I'm really hoping she's born before her due date - like a week or two before would be lovely.
  
• I love feeling her move and kick, even though it's not super comfortable anymore.

Farewell!

So...if you thought I was kidding about putting my cat, Simba, on KSL, check this out.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=5813544&cat=112&lpid=3

We posted him Tuesday night.

He was adopted by the nicest family (from Bountiful!) today. (sniff, sniff)

Perhaps I should feel more sentimental...(here's my attempt)

He was a cute, sweet, cuddly, friendly kitten. The perfect Christmas gift (thanks Love!)

He was my "baby" when we didn't think we'd ever have babies.


He was a great friend to Sammy.
Sammy actually started crying as they were carrying Simba out to the car. I quickly distracted him with a ball. It worked like a charm.

But our time for being cat-owners is up. We haven't played with him as much as he needs. In fact, we've found him more annoying than cute and cuddly. We weren't in a hurry to "get rid" of him, but we sure are glad it didn't take too long.

Good-bye sweet Simba. We'll miss you.

(but not your 5:00 am wake up call)

Big Boy Bed

About a week ago, we purchased Sammy a new twin bed. We decided to bypass a toddler bed for a couple of reasons:

1 - Our crib will convert to a toddler bed, but we'll be using the crib in a few months for baby sister.

2 - We would still have to buy a new mattress to fit in a toddler bed since the crib mattress will be in use.

3 - Sammy has the potential to be quite tall and thus grow out of the toddler bed quickly.

4 - Why spend money on a toddler bed that he'll grow out of when we can spend the money on a twin bed he can use until he's 16 (or older).

5 - We didn't want Sammy to feel like he'd been pushed out of his bed when Baby arrives.

I was SUPER nervous about him actually sleeping in the new bed because:

1 - There's no longer a way to contain him at nap time

2 - He might/will fall out of it

We set up the new bed while Sammy watched us from his crib. I wanted to leave the crib up so that if the new bed was a disaster, Sammy would still be able to sleep in the crib. The entire time we were putting the new bed together, Sammy would point at the bed and say "Nigh, nigh."

When we finished, we got him out of his crib and he walked right over to the new bed, laid his head on it and said, "Nigh, nigh." We then got him ready for bed and put him down in it. We didn't hear a peep from him all night!!!

Nap time the next day was the same way. I laid him down and walked out of the room. 3 hours later, he woke up! He rarely slept that well in the crib.

He hasn't fallen out of bed (yet)...although he did fall OFF his bed the other day when he was standing on it and backed up. I'm also happy to report that today was the first time I've had to go back in his room during nap time to lay him down again - NOTE TO SELF: clean up the toys before putting Sam down for his nap. They are just too enticing for a 20 month old who wants to play all the time.

Hooray for Big Boy Beds! (and for big boys who stay in and sleep well in them!)

Go KSL!

After months of thinking and talking about selling our little green car, tonight we actually decided to advertise it. At 6:15 pm this evening, I posted our '99 Elantra in the KSL Classifieds.

As soon as I pushed the "submit ad" button, I expected the phone to ring. It didn't, of course. However, at 7:05 pm, the phone did ring, and a potential buyer said in broken English, "I'll be there in 20 minutes to look at it."

Right we thought.

He arrived at our house around 8:00 pm and made us a cash offer. We deliberated for a few minutes as the offer was a little under our asking price and...probably because we weren't really ready to sell the car. It's been a dependable little car, that is worth more than $$ because it has given Dave and I our individual freedoms without having to "share" a car.

On the other hand, over the last couple of years, we've been putting quite a bit of money into it to keep it running (it is a 10 year old car), its registration is coming due in May (along with the insurance premium), we really need a bigger car to handle two kids, and the Check Engine light has been on for who knows how long.

So, at 8:15 pm, our little green car left our sweet little home forever. We are now a one-car family. Wish me luck being the Chauffer.

Yes, two hours after posting it on KSL, we had SOLD it. The other crazy thing is, we received another call about it while the buyer was here!! I checked our KSL listing, and was surprised to see 56 page views.

Now, I'm seriously considering listing my cat on KSL.