Friends

Macey is blessed to have lots of little friends in her life, Jonas and Emma being some of her favorites! Today the weather was very cool and rainy so the party came inside for the first time in months. We are outdoor people when it is nice! What do you do when you can't play outside? Have a tea party of course! Grandma Lucy bestowed a little porcelain tea set upon Macey last week and she loved it. Of course we only have a few unbroken pieces left, but no one seemed to mind. Jonas used a "man plate" anyways... aka a wood block. On the menu: water, pretzel sticks and mini M&M's.

We couldn't stay in ALL morning. So we headed outside to enjoy our lovely parking lot puddles. Few lots in Provo have as nice of puddles as we do!
Macey sure loves her friends, and I love the sanity a little mom to mom conversation brings!

The Shanty: Part II

I got a phone call Thursday night from a favorite neighbor telling me to meet her "at the fence" (our secret meeting location...) she had a little treat for me. I walk over and lo and behold... a whole pan of apple crisp AND ice cream. I was expecting a slice or a scoop of something, not a whole pan! She is good to me. I don't think we should move if I have a neighbor like this! Plus she has a daughter a week younger than Macey. Neighbor match from heaven? I think so!

On to other news: we made a spontaneous trip to Orderville this weekend. We weren't planning on going until Christmas, but family activities called us back! It was so fun to see the shanty again. July was the last time we saw the property and we just were looking at it. This was the first time being there and owning it! I am really glad that Thomas wanted to buy it...

Thomas had a good time removing this fireplace Saturday night. Macey and I weren't there but he says it was pretty amazing. That man is handy with a sledge hammer! Only 2 more fireplaces to remove!

A man in Orderville has already started removing the old lathe and plaster walls for us!

A few of the neglected but fruit laden apple trees.

The back of the house and "ole Blue" or "dumpy"

It will be a slow remodel, but we will keep the pictures coming. This is such a fun project for us. You would laugh at all the nights we spend cuddled in bed dreaming our dreams for the shanty. I'm so glad I married such a handy man.

Caramel Dip

This recipe is a must have. With apples in abundance this time of year, who doesn't need a caramel recipe to go with them! Take it to your next party; it makes a bunch (3-4 cups)!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, melt butter on medium heat

2. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and milk, stirring to combine.

3. Stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil. (nice and bubble, not neccissarly a "rolling boil" though)

4. Remove from heat ASAP and add the vanilla

5. Serve warm or room temp. with apple slices, or drizzle over ice cream

Adding 1/4 t. cinnamon was also suggested but I haven't tried it! Don't let it boil too long because it will get too hard/thick to dip apples into.

Princess

Update: Macey is one smart cookie. She's been doing great with the "training" and is learning that it isn't so fun to wet your pants. She has one accident everyday or every other day! So far so good. We've abandoned all things stickers and candy and just take her to the bathroom before we go somewhere or when she tells us she needs to and then lay on the praise. She even did great on the car ride to Idaho and at Lachelle's!

I'm sure the stress of the baby coming will change things for us but as with most humps I'm sure we will just work through it! I'm so happy she is making this easy on me; she's such a good kid. I think we might just keep her.

Idaho Weekend

We had a mini sibling reunion this weekend in Idaho! Tyler and Beth have made their way out west for school, Lachelle and Ben are permanent residences, and Sarah drove up with us. 4/6 siblings together is great for us!

We enjoyed time at a park in Rexburg. This park alone would be reason enough to live in this city- FYI. The big monkey at the top had two little monkeys wanting to follow...

Cousin bath time - Macey, Alexander, Gavin

This park not only had normal playground equipment but also a spray park! It was totally free and open. There was a button on a 15 min. timer that you could hit when you wanted all of the water to come on. Who just has these in their city for free? Amazing! Macey had her suit but Thomas decided he would join in suit or clothes. Good dad, huh!

We celebrated Gavin's 3rd birthday while we were there. Check out the cute dump truck and tractor cake Lachelle hand crafted! She's talented...

Tyler, Lachelle, Me, and Sarah

The whole clan!

About 24 hours after we got there, we were on our way again, an excellent trip none the less. It was so fun to get to know Beth (Tyler's new wifey) better, Lachelle was a great hostess, and Sarah was an excellent backseat entertainer for Macey on the 3 1/2 hour drive. We are looking forward to another little reunion when Henry gets here while my mom is in town! We do miss the rest of you family members though... come see us Dad!

The Shanty

Thomas and I are proud to say we are HOME OWNERS! Well let me rephrase that... we are shanty owners! I don't think I would call it a home or even a house really!

Here are the stats:

Location: Orderville, UT right behind the church

Size: No clue...

Why we bought it: The Land! This little beauty is situated on 1.15 fenced in acres with water rights right in the middle of town. It already has almost 30 fruit trees on it! Plus it was a scream' deal.

Our First Shanty

Kitchen - not quite granite counter tops, but hey.

Rockin' Pink Bathroom- Macey's dream come true!

Our yard (well you can only see about 1/2 of it).

Here's what really sold me on the house... the creepy walk down cold storage cellar! Just like the one my Grandma Shoaf has but a lot creepier! Macey's new time-out room?

As exciting as all this is we have no plans on living in the shanty any time soon... we hope to get it livable this summer and rent it out. One day we hope to build a house on the property, one day. In the mean time it is an apartment dweller's life for me.

Shanty Sweet Shanty

Story Time

This morning when I went to get Macey out of bed this is what I found...

When I asked her what she was doing she said "story time". Thanks Julie for taking Macey to story time at the library once a week... it's having a good impact.

Halloween Preview

With a baby coming in the weeks close to Halloween, I decided I better make her costume or it wouldn't happen. I thought she would be a very cute little lion and so went with that. I worked on it for a few days here and there but never could get her to try it on! She has other costumes she likes to wear but would have nothing to do with her loin suit.

After getting it all done and her still not putting it on once I implored her dad for a little help. Thomas has a way with this little girl that I will never have or understand. She's daddy's little girl and will do most anything for him.

Here is a sneak peak at Macey the Lion coming Halloween 2009!

PS Thanks for the potty advice. We are taking it day by day... only 5 accidents in 6 days, but she still begs for her diaper every day... weird.

Mother Training

So I started potty training Macey yesterday. I'm not sure why but I want to, and I think she is ready. She only had once accident and was dry through her nap and night time yesterday. Day 2: she doesn't want to wear underwear any more and keeps looking for her diapers, already had 2 accidents, is acting super stubborn.

I am not the only person who has done this! I need advice from people who know Macey!

Here is her background:

• She is very intelligent with excellent verbal skills
• She's been going to the bathroom (on the toilet) on her own at least once a day for the last 2-3 months because she thinks it's fun
• She is super strong willed
• She doesn't want to be a "big girl" yet. That logic doesn't work with her and she doesn't like to be called a big girl, she tells me she is a "whittle girl"
• She doesn't watch movies and isn't motivated by watching them or reading about potties...
• She had a sticker chart yesterday that she loved and it worked all day, today she ripped off all the stickers and doesn't care about it
• She is good at holding it, peeing when on the potty with no hesitation, but no longer wants to tell me she needs to go. I have been taking her every 2 hours and she goes... when does she do it on her own?

What do you think? How do I not make this a battle of wills? How long does it take for her to get it? Any suggestions would be helpful.

Flip-a-roo and scholarships too!

At the appointment with my midwife 2 weeks ago she told me that the baby was breech. I was 30 weeks, still have lots of time to turn, etc... not what I wanted to hear. I've been worrying about it constantly. The only reason I had a c-section with Macey is because she was also breech. This would mean a second c-section and no chance for a vaginal delivery after that.

After lots of funny exercises, prayers, and deep visualization he flipped! I had an ultrasound yesterday and the midwife told me he was just where he needed to be! We are so relieved and grateful for a fighting chance at a normal delivery. Thanks to all of you who have supported us the last two weeks!

I've never been so excited to have a little bum crammed into my rib cage.

In other news Thomas got 2 scholarships! We just found about about a big one today! It's not super common to get scholarships in his department for your Master's, so I am super proud. His hard work always seems to pay off in the end. Literally. He's amazing! We do miss him now that school has started though! We were so spoiled this summer seeing him every night with no homework to get in the way.

Only 8 months to go!

Mace-face

Rent collection comes once a month. Macey and are are required to be home from 9a-5p for 5 days. It's all part of our managing job, but some months it is harder than others to be home all day! Macey helped fill the time a few days ago by making cupcakes... they were amazing. The batch was supposed to make 24, but I only got 17 out of it. I wonder where the rest of that batter went?

Rivka has requested a video of Macey's amazing talking skills, so here it is!

Maybe tomorrow we will work on not talking with our mouth's full...