we have a new place to call HOME.

We are moving. Starting tomorrow.

The short story? We've been casually looking for a house since May. We were totally happy to stay where we are but wanted to at least see what was out there in Green Valley while prices are still relatively low. We found a few houses we really liked but they just weren't meant to be.

Then came the call from our realtor in early December about a house in LaurelGlen in Green Valley. For you locals, it's off GVPkwy and Pebble. It was a regular sale {not a short sale or foreclosure} so we at least knew the sale process would be normal, unlike a short sale. After looking at alot of houses over the last few months and astonished/repulsed by how people live and the conditions of most homes out there - we immediately liked the newly-gutted home on Majestic Peak. The floor plan was just what we were looking for and it smelled brand new, despite it's almost-20-year-old age.


So, we're moving. We were supposed to move in by January 15th - so the last few weeks have been a little rough watching the days tick by and my belly grow. And grow. And grow to 38 weeks pregnant. I know, really? Moving at 38 weeks pregnant? But what do ya do but hope I don't go in to labor this week. We'll have keys tomorrow afternoon and the move-in process begins. The first item on Wes' to-do-list? Paint the boys bedrooms. As long as the boys' rooms are painted and organized before this little man arrives - I'll be a happy camper. And I wouldn't mind an organized kitchen, too.

While I'm really excited for the new house - moving was a really, really hard decision for me. It was by far the most bitter/sweet decision I've ever made. Here's why:


the Bitter

- We LOVE our ward & our friends out here. They are the best. We've been spoiled to have such wonderful people by us for four years! But girls - we're moving less than 8 miles away so I still expect to see you regularly.

- We like our little house. We got to the point a few years ago where everything was pretty much done. We weren't putting any more money in to it so we've lived house project & yard work free for 2 years and it's been fabulous!

- Did I mention how bummed I am to leave our ward and friends? Nate is going to be sooo sad when he realizes he has to leave his nursery friends. He loves our ward & all of his little buddies. Luckily his cousin Daisy will be in his new nursery class so that will really help the transition for him. He's my little creature of habit.


the Sweet

- closer to my family. I'm hoping this means I see them more and that Nate gets to see his cousins a little more often.

- a house with a little more space. And a PLAYROOM downstairs. My dream come true.



- closer to conveniences. We live in the boonies right now which means we drive quite a ways to get to a mall, grocery store, etc. But in our 6+ years of marriage, we've yet to live anywhere super convenient. Until now. I'm a little excited that a grocery store is within walking distance.

- We can walk to church. And eventually I'll be able to walk the boys to elementary school. And I can walk to a park.

Here's where we will call home for many years to come . . .

With the arrival of Baby Griff {Nate's nickname for the baby} - I won't be decorating anytime soon. Plus, I like to take my time and do it right {or pretty darn close} the first time. But I will get the boys' rooms done ASAP so more pictures to come of that.

I ALREADY have been reminded at how lucky I am to have great friends and family - willing to not only do anything I may ask of them but who are constantly calling to offer their help. And I haven't even moved or had a baby yet!

Project Life & a little scrapbooking

I heard about Project Life from my cousin, Jen. Her good friend Becky Higgins came up with the concept and it sounded perfect for me so I'm doing it in 2010. It involves taking a picture-of-the-day (POTD) and doing a little journaling. Daily. But everything else, as far as the album, is done for you so you don't have to be creative or anything. It's great!

My original goal of this thing was to get my big camera out and practice with photography more often. Well, that hasn't happened yet but I have managed to stay on top of the journaling and almost a picture every day. Although that part has been a little harder than I thought it would be. However, in the end it will be fun to see a glimpse of every day of the year in one book.

A few recent POTD's. Friday: a free class at Gymboree Play & Music with Hadley & Seth. They LOVED the play area!

Family dinner {plus 3 of Sam's friends} tonight at my parent's house. Here's Daisy while Nate was pulling her around in the wagon. The three little guys have been getting along really well lately which has been nice!

- - - - - - - -

I've been working on Nate's scrapbook . . . trying to get it all caught up before his little brother is born. I'm not quite done, but I'm a little closer than I was a month or two ago. I've kept it pretty simple which has helped. It's fun having it all in one place.

Now I just need to get my blog printed in to a book!

Baby Griffeth - 36.5 weeks

I saw Dr. Miller again this morning for my weekly check-up. Things are still looking good. She says I'm dilated to a ONE {which pretty much means nothing} and that his head is still really far up there. Which was great news for me for two reasons: 1). A few weeks ago he was sideways but now his head is facing down, right where it should be. 2). As uncomfortable as this stage is I'm hoping he likes it in there and wants to stay until his due date {February 15}. I have lots to do before his arrival.

I've been thinking lately about what a true miracle it is to have a person inside you. A human being is in my ginormous belly. When I really think about it - it's just amazing. And while I really look forward to the day when I can breathe again, sleep on my stomach, not have heartburn, swollen legs & a constant need to pee . . . I sure do love feeling this little man inside me. Two nights ago I was lying in bed on my side and you could see his hand or foot moving back and forth across my belly. Just that one little limb sticking out really far. He did it for a long time while Wes and I stared.

I can't wait to meet this dude.

the luck of the lane - again.

Someone was watching out for us today.

We were sitting at a red light on the corner of St. Rose & Eastern where we witnessed a car SLAM in to the car right next to us. Which in turn made that car hit the car in front of them. All because a crazy lady was CLUELESS. She could have easily swerved or stopped if she would have been paying any attention. But instead, she caused quite the accident. It was like it happened in slow motion for us. We saw her speeding along with no brake lights in sight and before we knew it she came to a very abrupt stop thanks to the blue car in front of her.

We were glad we chose the middle lane instead of the right lane. I'm paranoid about car accidents as it is but even more so when I'm pregnant and Nate is in the car.

Watching this accident brought back a not-so-pleasant memory of when I was pregnant with Nate and the same thing happened to us while we were in my parent's car. Except that time a car did swerve in to us.

It was our lucky day.

more about the naters.

We've hit the stage I've been waiting for . . . when your child says & does things that just make you laugh. Sometimes, that's all you can do.

- His latest thing is to ask you to shut your eyes so he can do something naughty. Today, I was in the kitchen and he was in the family room. He asked me to shut my eyes. So, I shut them enough that he thought they were closed but I had to see what he was up to. In our built-in entertainment center, we have the child proof safety things on the bottom cabinets so he can't open them. Well, apparently he can open them now and that's why he wanted me to shut my eyes. So he could get in the cabinets. When I opened my eyes, he proceeded to explain & demonstrate how to keep your eyes shut.

- Yesterday during his nap time - he just screamed. Not a crying scream but an "I want outta here to play" scream. He started by yelling "mom....mom.....mom" which turned into him yelling "Lindsay Jane" over and over for a very long time in his cute little 2-year-old voice. Apparently he thought calling me by my "real" name would get me in there. Not so much.

- I wasn't laughing at this act but by how proud he was to show me that he wipes boogers on his bed. YUCK. Luckily they are all in the same spot so I know where to look and clean.

- He loves his monster hooded towel. Every night when Wes gets him out of the tub, he gets his monster on to come to find me to scare me. He loves it.

That's all I got for now.

i love this kid.

Yes he's a typical 2-year old with tantrums and grumpiness - but I'm still LOVING this stage with him. He cracks me up. I managed to actually get my little camera out of my purse in the last few days so here ya go.

On Sunday, we had the missionaries over for dinner. We are at 11am church and while the mornings are nice - it's throwing off our nap schedule so we had to wake Nate up before dinner which meant he wasn't very friendly at first. This is how he sat in his highchair. When he was thirsty, he'd bring his sippy cup under the blanket and take a drink.



An hour later, he still wasn't super friendly to the missionaries but he managed to enjoy an icecream cone.



Last week Nate got to have a few play dates with his buddy, Seth. The 8-month age gap between these two is fabulous! They play so well together!

whatever, dude.

Why not stretch out on the bottom stair and eat a tortilla and a piece of cheese?

This is what Wes and I found earlier this week as we were making quesadillas for dinner.

why oh why ask why?

Yep, we've hit the "why?" stage. I must hear that word hundreds of times each day.

It all started as we were in the car with Aunt Sam driving out of Disneyland. Not sure how he picked it up - but he did. Sam tried to trick him by responding with "why not?" and now that's part of the vocabulary, too.

I guess it was only a matter of time.

LIFE at 34 weeks pregnant

I'm 34 weeks along - about 6 weeks to go until baby boy #2 arrives. Here's a little bit about my pregnant L I F E . {I tried to put a few positives in there - the end of a pregnancy is rough!}

. I'm ginormous. Many people think that being tall means you have more room in your belly for a baby. I am living proof that that is not true.

. My poor left leg. I've got veins popping out everywhere. Good thing it's fixable one day because it's pretty gross.

. The amount of pressure I'm feeling from this bambino is significantly more than when I was pregnant with Nate.

. Speaking of not-your-first-pregnancy - it's a totally different ballgame {in my opinion}.

. Sleep. What's sleep? Between peeing every few hours, struggling to simply roll over, or Nate yelling in the night - sleep isn't happening much. It's a cruel, mean joke for a soon-to-be-mom-of-a-newborn to not sleep before the baby comes because we all know you don't sleep much once they are here.

. Nate loves driving by the hospital where he was born and where the baby will be born. He always yells, "baby come out mommy tummy there!" as we drive by. It's on the main street by our house so we drive by almost daily.

. I'm really excited to meet this little man.

. But yet scared to death to meet this little man. I am not a fan of the newborn stage!

. I haven't thought much about getting ready for his arrival. Should probably start thinking about it sooner than later. I did manage to pre-register last week at the hospital & made a Target run specifically for a few baby items - so I guess my brain is starting to process the fact that I'll be a mom of TWO sooner than later.

. I'm swelling a bit. But a winter pregnancy definitely helps minimize the swelling.

. Our house resembles Father of the Bride Part II with Steve Martin FREEZING while the pregnant ladies are quite warm. Wes is always cold (which is rare - he's usually my portable heater!) and I'm always hot.

. Heartburn? Definitely had it much less this go-around but when I get it, it's BAD. And somehow my upper back always really hurts at the same time! Strange, I know.

. Still waiting to even discuss names until we're at the hospital with a baby in our arms.

. Getting excited for Nate to have a sibling.

. I'm getting more and more Braxton Hicks every week. Still not too bad though so I can't complain.

. Nate isn't the only one who can't breathe. I can't either. It feels like this kid LIVES in my lungs. Wes always gives me a hard time because apparently I breathe really loud!

Amidst all of the pain, uncomfortableness & lack of sleep that comes with being almost 9 months pregnant, I sure am grateful for our little miracle baby #2. He constantly reminds me that he's inside my belly - he's very active! We're excited to have a new addition to our little family in February. It's crazy to think that he'll be here so soon - time has FLOWN by.

a not-so-good-start to 2010

We're hoping that the first {or second} day of 2010 isn't a sign as to what our year will be like.

It all started on the night of New Years Eve. Nate had a little runny nose and a cough, but nothing out of the ordinary, yet he woke up about every 2 hours all night long. The problem? He was coughing and couldn't breathe. At one point around 3am, I almost took him to the emergency room. But then I realized the emergency room was the last place I'd want to be on New Years Eve unless I absolutely had to. Luckily, his inhaler that he got a few months ago seemed to work enough but by 6:30am he was back to really struggling for air. Luckily there was a children's urgent care open on New Years Day so we took him there. The bizarre thing was he wasn't acting like he couldn't breathe but the wheezing and gasping going on scared Wes and I to death. Nate has had his fair share of sickness - but nothing quite like this experience!



As soon as the nurse heard Nate's breathing, we became a top priority patient. He quickly got a breathing treatment - lets just say that was a terrible experience. Nate hated that thing and it was such a struggle to get him to keep the mask on. The doc gave him a steroid shot to help open up his lungs and we were sent on our way. A nebulizer arrived at our house a few hours later so we can do breathing treatments at home combined with an oral steroid.

Happy New Years to us.

Luckily by this morning, his breathing dramatically improved. Hallelujah. But the medicine he's on makes him HYPER. Hyper is actually an understatement. He's all over the place. Which means naps aren't occuring which in turn makes for a grumpy, yet hyper little boy come 3pm. This afternoon was rough for Wes and I trying to keep Nate entertained and content. I can't remember the last time I was that frustrated as a mom.

At least we figured out a way to get Nate to almost willingly do breathing treatments at home. He sits on the couch with his portable DVD player and headphones and watches part of a movie while Wes watches football bowl games on the big TV. The headphones block out the sound of the machine. Our movie junkie has loved being able to watch a little extra TV the last few days. It's the only thing that gets him to do the treatments. But we still haven't figured out how to get him to take the terrible liquid steroid. He spit it all over me tonight. I guess 1/2 at this point is all we can ask for from our little man. I'm very grateful his condition improved so quickly.

We're hoping our year only gets better!