Hi Friends.

First of all, you left some of the best comments possible. They made my whole week. Thank you all so very much.

Secondly, here is the link back to my old blog in case you erased it. Like I mentioned in the last post, I will only be posting from there now. And hopefully I will stop being so crazy about my blog stuff. I make no promises. :)

http://www.the-savage-family.blogspot.com/

Thanks for following me all around and reading my ramblings.

I wouldn't blame you

if you skipped this post. It's a long one. Just warning you.


I was just looking through past blog entries and saw some pictures of Maddy as a brand new newborn. It took me back to those days when we had just moved, felt like our lives were in upheaval, and were completely sleep-deprived. Seems kinda familiar. :)

What I was mostly thinking is how young John and I look in those pictures. Was that only three years ago? Our baby is turning three in just a week. I know people always say that it goes by so fast, but I just had my first real dose of that reality.

It's crazy to think how much can change in just three years. We are buying our third house in three short years (that sounds so crazy...maybe because IT IS). We are having our third baby (I still count the baby that we lost). We are having to make completely new friends and go to a new ward for the third time. We've painted countless walls. We've moved countless furniture. And most of all, we have learned a lot about ourselves and others. When I think about all that we have been through in these past three years, it doesn't surprise me anymore that we look older. We have earned those wrinkles and extra pounds around the middle.

Today I kind of wish I could go back for just a moment. I wish I could go back and just enjoy some of the moments better. I wish I could be that girl who was discovering the magic of spray paint and the ability to decorate on the cheap. The girl who was clueless when it came to taking care of a baby. I was so naive, but it was kind of nice. I thought the best of people, and thought I could be friends with anyone.

These days I feel a little battle-worn and tempest-tossed. I have lost friends in dramatic ways (which never happened to me in high school funnily enough). I have worried over money. I have cried over lost babies, lost chances, hard times, and hard mistakes. I feel that I have fit a lot of heartache into a short amount of time.

But now I want to start fresh. Is there such a thing? I really mean it--is there? Not in the way I would really wish I guess. But I am going to try and let go of past hurts, past grievances, and try to move forward. I am going to apologize again to anyone out there I have hurt. I am going to say that I forgive those that have hurt me. I just want to begin again with a new version of the old me. The one that knows that I never mean anyone harm on purpose. I've failed, but I want to give myself permission to move past those mistakes and keep trying.

Sorry to get all self-analyzing and potentially sappy on you. Big changes equals big thoughts, didn't you know?

Time to move forward. Time to take my old blog off of private. I will no longer be updating this blog. I'm sorry to toss you guys all around. I had to do it this way for a while until I got my head in a better place. Also, I ask those that do not like me and would be tempted to leave unkind comments to please spend your efforts elsewhere. Thank you.

We don't do easy at this house

The past few days have been interesting. You have no idea.

So I'll try to update things quickly. Remember how we had an offer one one house? And then they weren't really negotiating much and we found another house come on the market and John loved it and we put an offer on that one?

Well...then I had a horrible terrible feeling about the second house. I couldn't shake it. I felt literally sick about it. Then things started happening with the second house that was making me and John nervous. So one morning I woke up and told John that we had to back out of that house.

You can guess that no one was really thrilled with that idea. Well, except for me. :)

We thought we would lose our earnest money, but I knew it was the right choice. Anyway, we later found out that the builder graciously refunded our earnest money, the first house people took our offer, and we got much better rates. So now John is super happy about it too. :) You all know that I just can't do things the easy way, right? But it worked out for the best, no doubt about it.

Also, yesterday I had scheduled myself an appointment with a doctor because we finally got our insurance cards in the mail and I have been feeling pain in my abdomen for a while among other maladies. I got into the doctor, and after some pushing on different parts of my abdomen, she was alarmed enough to tell me that I had to go to the hospital outpatient center and get an emergency ultrasound.

Well that freaked me right out. I had Maddy with me, and John was at work and we only have one car. So I drove myself over to the hospital, and managed to call John when I got there in time to say, "honey I'm at the hospital for an emergency ultrasound. Oh, I've gotta go, they're taking me in."

Yeah, that went over like a ton of bricks. You can imagine that John was pretty worried. I was too. I had tears running down my face, and just felt like it was going to be another miscarriage and I just didn't know how I was going to face it all alone.

Eventually the lady doing the sonogram told me that the baby looked good, and that the heartbeat was nice and strong. She also told me that I was not as far along as I thought I was (I thought I was 12 weeks, but am apparently 10--due date is Jan. 7 of next year! Seems so far away). They also found a few other things that may have been causing the pain, but the doctor is still waiting to find out about the blood tests they took, and I am going to take some fasting tests on Monday to rule out a few more things. Hopefully they will get things figured out, because it has been a bit uncomfortable these past few days.

Okay so that's the long update. I am just looking forward to getting into our house with our own things. Hopefully we will close before the end of June.

Now, I need to get back to the marathon showing of Back to the Future on t.v. I have priorities people. :)

It Has Begun

Potty training that is.

I tried starting Maddy when she was much younger. You might remember my gleeful posts of how she was a potty training prodigy at age 12 months or something like that. And then I ate my every word because she became so ANTI potty that I had to back off for a good long while (and serves me right I'd say. I'm sure some of you knew it would happen, and you were so wise).

Anyway, I was ready to start trying again at our old house, but knew we would be moving and had heard that it was best to wait until after a major change.

So since we only have our one car and I am stranded in the apartment all day, I have been taking the time to train the toddler. It's getting embarassing to take a child that is already extremely tall for her age and try to change her diapers on a changing table meant for newborns in the Target bathrooms. I have gotten so many looks, and every time I wish I could just say, She's only two! (Even though she wears 4T and 5T clothes). Poor Maddy!

So anyway, it has begun. She did well today with just one accident while she was napping. Not sure how to stop that from happening really. Suggestions? This time I will not be bragging about my potty training prodigy. I'm just looking to not change two kids diapers at a time, that's my only goal. Prodigies are for suckers. Or at least for people who aren't cocky and brag about their extreme parenting awesomeness.
p.s. This book has helped a ton. It has stickers that she can put on her own pirate hat for every time she has some success. Gotta love the pirate potty jokes.

Completely Random

I'm sick of writing about major life changes. I just want to write about nothing important. So I was thinking about a bunch of new foods that I am currently obsessed with. Not sure if they are pregnancy things or just awesome no matter what, but they are good to me. (and honestly, not much sounds good these days).

1. We went to Taco Bell recently and I had the most delicious burrito from there that I've had in a while. It's called the Five Layer Burrito. I am sure it is terrible for you, but it tasted SO good.

2. Also at Taco Bell was the most tantalizingly tasty beverage I've had in a while as well! Who knew Taco Bell was on such a roll? (Or maybe I was just REALLY hungry??) Either way if you like sparkling drinks, you will love this one. The Cherry Limeade Sparkler. Yummm.

3. I saved the best for last. I'm not kidding you, you NEED to try these. I made my Mom promise me to try them. They are called Ciao Bella Key Lime Gelato Sqaures. Instead of using ice cream in the middle of the ice cream sandwich they use key lime flavored gelato, so it is extra creamy and delicious. The key lime is not overpowering, and it is sandwiched between soft graham cracker crust flavored squares that make you feel like you've died and gone to heaven. Oh my gosh, I could eat these all day. Try them. You'll thank me for life. (and apparently they have won a bunch of awards for these which I just found out while googling a picture. I'm not surprised at all).

What are some of your latest food obsessions? And did I make you hungry? yeah me too. I need a burrito stat.

The House (hopefully)

These are all cell phone pictures of the house we signed a contract to buy today. The owners of the other house we originally made an offer on were not negotiating much, and I had a tiny freak-out about the price. So we put them off and talked to our mortgage lady again. We had decided to move forward with the other house, when our realtor called us excitedly.

She asked me if I remembered the brand new house that we had walked through that was under contract? I said yes, because I had really liked the house, but the builders wouldn't have another like it for at least four months.

She told us that the buyers had fallen through at the last minute, and the house was now available to buy. The timing was kind of crazy. The house is bigger, newer, more energy efficient (good for those a/c bills), cheaper, and in a better school district. The builder was willing to basically give us the upgrades they had put into the house for the original buyer for free.

John had never seen the house because I figured it was useless since it was under contract. So we mosied our way up there to look at it, and funnily enough, John fell in love with it. I was very astounded by that alone because John literally has no opinion when it comes to houses except for the price usually. But he was a die-hard fan from the first moment, and so we decided to go for it after doing some research on the builder and neighborhood etc.

So that's the kind of crazy story of how we put two offers in on two houses within two days of each other. Whew. So here are some bad cell phone pics of the house because I know my Mom especially will want to see them.

Here's the outside. John likes the two balconies. I don't think I'll use either one because it's so blooming hot here, but we'll see. :)
The lady in pink is our realtor. The builder is actually going to extend this hardwood further into the hallway and to the left where the formal living and dining rooms are located for us.

Here are those rooms. They are right next to each other which is unusual, but I like that I'll have a formal dining room and a living room. Most houses here either had one or the other.This is the main family room. Lots of windows.
The kitchen, which is open to the family room.
More kitchen shots.
The huge "bonus room." It's called a bonus room because the other buyers upgraded this area to be a room with a closet. It is seriously huge. I think we will use it as a playroom/office/catchall.
The upstairs laundry room. I'm excited that it's 1. upstairs, and 2. a room and not a closet with bifold doors. I can stash twelve loads of laundry in here and close the door and pretend like all is right with the world.
Here's the master. The balcony is out that door. All of the rooms are on the second floor. Also a favorite of John's? The air conditioner is a "dual zone" air conditioner, which means that you can do different temperatures for the upstairs and downstairs and save energy/money that way.


The master bath. A nice big tub just for me. :) Okay...I'll share.
The vanity in the master. The sinks are raised taller, which is good for tall folks like us.

Ok, that's the grand tour. Hope it doesn't seem like I'm braggy or anything. If anything I am tired to death of house-hunting. I was telling John that the show House Hunters makes it look way more fun than it actually is to look at houses. I feel tired and worn out by our lack of schedule, the long paper signings, the long days spent searching with a toddler in tow, and feeling generally sick all day. Not to whine or anything. :) But I am definitely glad to have a house picked that John loves (and I love) and hopefully there won't be any paperwork issues. And be sure to come visit, we have plenty of room.

heh

So...long story super short, we are making an offer on a different house tomorrow. I'll explain more later. Kinda a funny story. But just thought you might like to know. I have no link to the house because it is a brand new house that the buyers fell through at the last second. Don't we have the craziest timing ever? I know.

p.s. Utah friends, you are missed!