Pre-School!

First day of preschool!!! Posing with Mrs. Maloney-

With Mrs. Pearson-

Glade on his first day. He was so excited and has been talking about school for MONTHS. So, he was extremely pleased to visit his teachers, classroom, and of 'course the play area! They had an impressive array of coup cars for the kids to ride on (like 20) and a huge playground. I am very excited for Glade to attend school. Gives me a break :) and he will hopefully learn to listen and be apart of a constructive classroom.

Greg wrote an article that was published in the Utah Business Magazine on legal issues involving landlord/tenant policies and recommendations. We were pretty excited and celebrated with the coauthor for dinner last week.

This picture below is the dresser that I have transformed for lil girl's room. It started out an oak brown with water stains and rusting hardware.

The process: sanded off wood veneer, painted matte paint in a dark brown/2 coats, added weather crackle glaze, then added top coat of turquoise in flat paint. It magically cracked to reveal the brown underneath. I had mudded previous nail holes with wood filler and sanded them flat. To finish the project, I added a clear protector/2 coats for easy wipe off and a smooth finish. Greg drilled in the fleur hardware and voila! A one of a kind dresser.

Contributors include:

(well, because I can't take all the credit)

Bob and Sheila for donating the sturdy Ethan Allen dresser 5 years ago

Several friends and my sister for accepting the MANY picture texts of the process and giving pointers

Greg for drilling the new hardware in

My sister for picking it out and even going to the store to get another

Glade for painting (even when I didn't want him to)

My friend Jodi for picking the color turquoise

The saleslady at Lowe's' paint counter

Without further ado...

Quick catch-up

After reading several friends' blogs, I realized how much I loved getting frequent updates on their lives. And it's been a LONG time since I posted, so I wanted to quickly catch you up on what's been going on in our lives.

We will go youngest to oldest:

Baby Girl: Doc says he will start preparing me for delivery on Nov. 2nd as long as I'm a bit dilated. So tips on how to dilate (I didn't at all with Glade, hence the previous c-section) would be appreciated. That is less than 2 months away. Holy cow. I am getting her room ready: Orange and turquoise and cream are her nursery colors. I redid a dresser and am using a lot of vintage things to create a trendy room for her. She is growing great, though my belly is less than half the size of when I had Glade...but Glade was 10 lbs. Still throwing names around, but we have our favorites...

Glade: He will tell you he starts school tomorrow!!! He will attend the Little Red Schoolhouse, a legend, in Ogden. It is also his 3 yr old birthday next week--it is amazing how fast they grow up! He is pottytrained but admittedly has 1-2 accidents a week. That is pretty good considering his age and gender. He is helpful, loving, and full of energy.

London: (me) uh, besides growing a baby, healing a broken tibia, and passing kidney stones, I feel like I have been in survival mode. Just getting by--I still attempted a lot of swimming with Glade, park activities, and play dates with friends as long as I could rest my leg. I am desperately trying to avoid a cast (already had 2) and let it heal before baby girl gets here so I can continue with my running goals in 2012. Now, 2 weeks post-kidney stones (which may I just say is unfair for pregnant women to have...then they are going through the pain of labor more than one time a year, how rude!) I feel like I have my groove back! Scrapbooking, playing with Glade, enjoying the sun.

Greg: Busy working like crazy, and balancing yard work and church callings as well. Took his church group skeet shooting (what an awesome activity huh?) and loves serving others. Our yard is finally done, minus a fence--which I'm told is coming. Greg landscaped the area by himself and prides himself on unique plants. We have a wide range and it looks terrific. Neighbors favorites include a contorted philbert, canaa lilys, and our wild ferns.

Well, that wasn't a quick catch-up per say, but you now know why a post has been postponed til now. A lot going on. Getting excited for fall, halloween, and of course baby girl!

IT'S A GIRL!

This oreo shake is my prize. After nearly an hour of crying and begging, yelling and crying some more-Greg finally gave in and got me my ice-cream. Why all these emotions over an ice-cream? Well because I'm pregnant and just HAD TO HAVE IT! Yes, for those that don't know this is an announcement-and it's overdo since I am nearly halfway there, 17 weeks. We will welcome a little GIRL in November. Still a bit of a wait, but Greg has plenty of time to get me ice-cream and all my current cravings.

I forgot to mention that Glade has been so worn out from our fun activities that he could sleep anywhere. :) His favorite activity so far has been riding Thomas the Train that came to the Heber Valley railroad. Glade was in heaven.

May/June

Pigs. Glade playing with guinea pigs with his cousin Luke. He was suprisingly soft-the complete opposite of his behavior with his own cat. Sheesh. A few of my sister's friends (they have become my friends too) do a ladies lunch where once a week we go to someone's house and eat lunch and play games. Our friend Britt is the owner of the guinea pigs.

Park City. For my birthday, Greg took us up to Park City to enjoy a week at a condo on the resort. We did the alpine slide and coaster-which Glade loved. We swam daily. We shopped-okay, I shopped at the outlets. We BBQd. We relaxed. Which was much needed.

Prom. Okay, give me a chance to explain my outfit. It was an ugly prom for a farewell party for a friend at work. She has a fun personality (put a tarantala in a chinese food container on April Fool's for her husband to enjoy) and suggested the prom. It was a fun night full of big hair, puffy sleeves, and prom pictures.

Uh...broken? I guess that's the best way to describe this photo. Because of my running, my hips got mis-aligned and it caused one leg to be longer than the other. Well, my short leg got the brunt of my weight and impact when I'd land, which caused me to gradually break down the bone. Long story short-broken. Why the cast? Apparently still running on it, squats at the gym, and chasing a 2 yr old are not allowed with a broken leg and I made the break worse. So, a cast it is for 3 weeks. Boo.

Haircut. That's all really. I had a much overdo haircut. But this and a pedicure and getting out of the house really made me feel pampered this week. The gmas and my friends have been so helpful in entertaining me and Glade this week with my leg injury and weight bearing restrictions. I am very grateful.

Glade

This post is all about Glade! His long-standing love/hobby is TRAINS. Still will play with his train table for several hours each day. His imagination is remarkable--He creates scenarios and has the trains talk. Each one is named. I love that it keeps him entertained.

Glade is a big help! He loves to help dad wash the cars-he gets down and dirty, well mostly just wet. He has helped scout out our backyard for any sign of life (I mean the tractors actually pouring the cement and finishing the project) but alas no luck. He has mud wrestled several times. Mud up to his neck. He is also great at digging in the dirt when we are weeding or mowing. What a helper!

This is dad with his jiffy pop. An over the campfire popcorn of sorts. Greg was in charge of an over-nighter with the neighborhood and took Glade. I had the evening to myself! I saw the movie Bridesmaids with my neighborhood gals (the ones also abandoned by husbands) and laughed my head off. Funniest. Movie. Ever. Glade enjoyed the tent, of course marshmellows, and the activities with dad.

Take me out to the ballgame! Sitting on G-pa Gerry's lap. We went to watch Michael (my nephew) play at Ogden High's last game of the season against Bonneville. They played well-especially Michael. It was fun to go support him especially when he sent a special text saying he loves having us there.

Dino Park. We went with my friend Cassie, & her kids (Glade calls Halli-little ally because he can't says H's). Glade tricycled around the dinosaurs and played for hours on the playground. The weather in Utah is finally warming up (at least for a day every now and then). We have gone to a local park too. Yesterday, we went to the zoo. I'm thinking 70 degree weather is just about perfect.

Happy Easter!

Last month, we went to St. George, had some yucky weather but enjoyed swimming. We also met Greg's mission president, who lives down there. That was DEFINITELY the highlight. We went down for a bar (greg's law, not a drinking bar) convention. We have another one coming up in July in San Diego, so we get to vacation in California for over 10 days!

A recent favorite meal: ham cups. Super easy. Surprisingly delicious. You serve them with salsa.

My new kicks! I'm still training for the May Ogden half marathon coming up in a month. I needed some new shoes and of course, pink ones don't hurt!!!

My sister and her hubby took Greg and me to a jazz game for Greg's birthday. We had a delightful dinner & a fun time with just them. I can't remember the last time we went out together without kids.

Ah, last but not least, Glade's easter present. A shopping cart. It's his favorite. He also had fun at a neighborhood egg hunt yesterday, and got a few favorite treats hidden around the house today. We will head to Greg's parents for a money egg hunt (*the best kind of filled egg), & then next weekend we are joining my family at my parents' condo in bear lake for some fun festivities. Happy Easter to everyone! The candies and treats are fun--but the Savior's story in Luke shouldn't be overlooked today. When Christ is resurrected, He says "peace be unto you." That's what He wishes for us.

Joy!

Oh Joyous joy to be able to eat sticky sweets, smile on demand, & bleach my teeth!

Every Monday, we enjoy going to our local library for discovery time--a few weeks ago, we made some stylish glasses. Glade has a hard time sitting down for a full 40 minutes of book reading & song time, but he is gradually getting better. Especially if we bring a friend with us. We have established a routine---each day we try to do something fun for a couple of hours, a few necessary chores, or errands, & cook dinner for dad. So far so good.

During a brief sunny moment, we went to a local park with a asphalt trail and rode Glade's bike. He enjoys going around our cul-de-sac when it's nice. We are working on pedaling. Unfortunately our backyard is far from done, & so we have no where else to play outside. I can't wait for his swingset and climbing gym to be set back up so I can send him out to the fenced backyard to run off his energy. Our weather has been crazy. Fingers crossed for a few consecutive days without snow or rain, so we can pour our cement!

This past week was full of dr's appointments. I was cavity free. Glade went to see Dr. Gilbert DDS for the first time. He only opened his mouth when screaming, but at least he was deemed cavity free. He is great at brushing his teeth. He goes first, then I get to brush after. Double duty. Our sweet cat (sweet tempered, but totally lazy), had her annual exam. She is in tip-top shape and the vet even commented on her soft fur. I informed him it was due to her quartly cat washes-aka showers. Not sure what was more traumatizing--being held by Glade in the car, or the appointment itself.

We celebrated Jan's (my lil brother, 23) birthday last month. He is really into Japanese animation so we found him an extremely large 25x40 movie poster of a classic, "My neighbor Totoro." It was a fun surprise!