Home Improvement Part One: CABINETS

We've been in our house now for 2.5 years and we decided it was time to do a few home improvements. We figure with the housing market the way it is we aren't going anywhere anytime soon so we've done a few home projects lately.

The first project involves cabinets. We have an L shaped downstairs ~ one side is the family room that we use ALL of the time and the other side was kind of a living room that we NEVER used. I think our leather couch in there was used maybe 10 times. So, Wes ordered & installed a row of cabinets that match our kitchen cabinets for more storage. I want a place downstairs to store some of Nate's toys and he can access these cupboards on his own. That can be his little area of the downstairs. Our friends Ryan & Leslie are buying our leather couch so we're excited for the transformation! I am going to re-do that room as far as moving around art, painting an accent wall, etc. so I'll post more pictures when it's all done but for now, here are the cabinets.

This is what the wall looked like before:



Here is the wall now:





Home Improvement Part Two: A new patio!

Nate got a haircut

Nate had his first haircut yesterday. My friend Kiley cut it and it looks so cute! His hair was definitely growing in and getting kinda long. I wanted it shorter so I could actually style it without doing a mohawk every day. Even the mohawk was getting a little long.

Thanks Kiley. I love it.

Happy Easter

I love Easter. I love focusing on our Savior. I love the Easter Bunny. Easter Egg Hunts. Easter Baskets. Time with Family. I love it all.

My parents had everyone over for dinner on Sunday. It was my immediate family, Cassie (Sam's friend/roommate), Aunt Kara & Uncle Allan & a family friend Donna Johnson. Dinner was delicious and it was so nice to be able to sit outside & enjoy each other’s company.

Nate lucked out this year. He got an easter basket from the Easter Bunny & from Grandma & Grandpa Marz! I think his favorite thing was the grass in the basket. I look forward to the years when Nate’s a little older & gets excited about holidays!


{The whole clan eating yummy Easter dinner}


{Abbers}


{Kyle & Daisy}





{Nate with his easter baskets & grass}

{Nate with Donna}

Time outside with friends

Nate and I are taking advantage of the great weather we’re having by being outside. Luckily, we have a great ward with lots of stay-at-home moms with cute kiddos so we try to get together once a week or so. It usually involves lunch & a park on Fridays. Yesterday we roamed around at an outlet mall. It’s nice to get out and be with other moms and other kids.

It's funny to watch the difference between the boys and the girls at the playground. Nate is usually the only boy but today Harrison came to join us. The boys are definitely the bullies on the playground while the girls are nice and sweet. If the girls turn their backs at all....before they know it the boys are pulling their hair. Nate kept wanting to eat leaves and the grass. As soon as I wasn't looking, he'd sneak one in to his mouth!

Nate is definitely at a good age for the park. He loves to be outside on a blanket. Today was his first time on the swings and he loved those, too. He isn't crawling yet so he's content to just sit and try to eat the grass. It's perfect!

{Afternoons at the Park}

{At the LV Outlet Mall}

Nate was keeping an eye on Hadley. He LOVES to pull her hair.

It's never too early....

While Wes and I will let Nate do whatever he wants, we both hope that he'll love sports. Athletics were a huge part of our teenage years so we're hoping that he likes any sport. Wes is secretly hoping that he's 7'0 tall and will provide us with our retirement. I'm not holding my breath for that one. So far, the basketball and soccer ball are his favorite toys. :)

An update on Nate: One other thing the doc told me to try to get him to drink milk is to give him tylonel 30 minutes before he's supposed to eat. That way, if his ears are the problem, the tylonel should help. And most of the time, it does. Although he still prefers to drink a bottle with dad.

So sorry Nate...no chocolate milk for you. Just grape tylonel.

Protecting our little family

One of the accounts I work on through Marz & Company is an estate planning law firm who recently opened their Nevada office. In the past few years, I've learned ALOT about the importance of a living trust & the craziness that can go on when someone passes away without a living trust. A will just isn't enough. Wes & I have been waiting for my client to open their office here since they do such a great job with estate planning. We went in a few weeks ago for our intial consultation and we signed our final documents this morning. It's been an interesting process thinking about what you want to happen when you die. I unintentionally watched "No Reservations" & "Raising Helen" in the last month or so. Both movies have to do with young parents dying unexpectedly and their children are left with someone else. Lets just say I bawled through both since I'd been thinking a lot about what I'd want to happen if I were to die unexpectedly. There were a few things I hadn't really thought of so it's nice to have it all in a legal document so in case of a tragedy, our family is protected.

For those of you who don't know much about why a living trust is important....here's a tidbit as to why you might want to look in to it:

If Wes and/or myself were to pass away or become disabled without a living trust, our successors would probably be involved in probate which can cost 3-7% of your total estate value. That's a lot of money! In probate, the courts appoint someone to manage your estate whereas with a living trust, you control everything because your wishes are written down. Can you imagine a total stranger controlling all of your assets instead of your spouse or children being able to do it? Pretty much anything and everything you want is recorded, legally, so you can have the peace of mind knowing that your family will be taken care of.

It's kind of a gloomy post talking about people dying but I'm glad we finally got our living trust set up. It's one of the few things you do where you hope you don't need it for a LONG while. :)

And of course, a few photos of Mr. Nate:

He loves the laundry basket.

We leave the water on in the tub for a little bit and he loves watching it & playing in the running water!

A possible explanation for the "no milk" craziness

As you know, babies go in phases. They do one thing and before you know it they are on to another. I thought maybe the "no milk" thing was a phase which is why I just dealt with it for 2.5 weeks. I was secretly hoping he'd want it again on his own.

Since that wasn't happening and the situation was only getting worse, I called his doctor yesterday and they wanted to see him today. We discovered an ear infection which could explain why he doesn't want a bottle most of the time. It may be hurting his poor little ears. And, she thinks he's teething which could also add to it. I didn't really consider the ear infection since he got over his cold a week or so ago and is a happy kid. Wes was a "silent sick kid", meaning his mom never knew how severe his sicknesses were because he never acted any different. I think he even had Scarlet Fever at some point and acted normal. Looks like Nate might be the same way. Other than not wanting milk, he was his happy normal self with no signs of anything bothering him.

After his antibiotics, if he still doesn't want milk, then she said to try to flavor the milk with 1). vanilla extract 2). Nestle strawberry powder to make it strawberry milk or 3). chocolate powder for chocolate milk. I guess it's better for him to have extra sugar and all of the nutrients than no extra sugar and no vitamins. We'll see how far Nate makes me go to get him to drink his milk.

Until then, we sit tight and hope the antibiotics do the trick. It is nice to at least have a plan to figure out how to get him to drink his milk again. It's too important for his little body!

Sunday Dinner at My Parents

You'd think I'd see my family more since they all live within 15 minutes of my house, but I really don't. I wish I did! We do get together for Sunday dinner at my parent's house once or twice a month. We had dinner last night. It was fun to see everyone and it was such a nice evening outside. The kids played on the grass while the rest of us sat by the outdoor fireplace my parents recently installed. It was nice to sit and visit & enjoy not only each other's company, but a great night outside. We missed you, Sam! It will be nice when you don't have to work weekends anymore.

{Photos courtesy of Ali}


my little family


Nate looking at Daisy....


and Daisy looking at Nate.


me and my dad

Wes & I with Daisy

Abbers and Kyle playing on the grass

Uncle Jerry & Halene

Nate with Grandpa

Nate with Grandma

The Daisers

Abbie

My 7 month old

I can't believe I have a 7 month old.

He's been giving me a run-for-my-money lately with his crazy "I don't want milk from mom" and his "flips" while he sleeps. He's been flipping himself over and getting stuck throughout the night and his naps which has been interesting. He's quite a character!

He is definitely more of a little boy to me than a little baby. He's so interactive & I love seeing his personality develop. This month he really started doing things on his own which is WONDERFUL for me! We moved on to Stage 2 food and he loves it. I also started giving him the Gerber puffs as a snack and he LOVES being able to feed himself! It only took him a few tries before he could get them in his mouth on his own. He sees the can of puffs and starts kicking his legs and reaching for them. His other favorite snack is to suck on fruit through his mesh bag. He still throws his mini-tantrums when I take the bag away to re-fill it. He also loves his sippy cup. It's nice to be able to leave something in front of him knowing he can get it when he wants it. He really likes to drink water.



He's been sitting up for a month or so but now he rarely falls over. I LOVE that he sits in a highchair at restaurants and he loves sitting in the shopping cart at the grocery store. He especially loves Target for some reason. He holds on tight to the cart and makes a bunch of noise & looks around at everything going on. It makes me not dread going grocery shopping because he loves it now.

Prior to getting sick, he was sleeping through the night. When he finally gets better, I'm hoping we get back to that.



My favorite new things are: He shakes his head no at you. He isn't saying "no"....he just likes to shake his head. It's funny to watch. He's a little bashful. If you're holding him and someone makes him laugh, he buries his head in your shoulder as he's laughing. Changing his diaper and getting him dressed is definitely a challenge. He flips over in what seems like less than a second! We have to pin him down to get a diaper on. I don't think he's going to crawl anytime soon because he still hates being on his tummy. If we put him on the couch he does this army crawl but the minute he's on the floor he is too focused on getting off his belly than moving. He does like to pull himself up on things, though! He's such a joy in our home. He keeps getting more and more fun!


{sick of pictures}


{on a walk in our jogging stroller}


{he loves being outside and on walks}


{sitting outside on a nice day}


{the first time he ate a puff}


{playing with his cousin, Abbie}

Nate LOVES his dad. Wes can get him laughing more than anyone else....





{Wes playing "peek a boo" after Nate was done eating}

{Nate loves to "fly" with dad}

{Nate LOVES hair. It's quite painful!}