New blog

The time has come for me to start a new blog. This time I'm going to try hard to update it more often. Here it is.

Life

I need to get back into blogging. So much has happened since we moved to Utah last July. I'll try to recap as best I can.

Claire turned 3 in August and Mace turned 1 in September. (They're now closer to their next birthdays. Sheesh.)

I worked as a waitress at Marie Callender's for 6 months (August to February.) Boy, was that stressful!

I am now a nanny for 4 kids (ages 9, 7, 5 and 3), plus my 2. It's a lot of work, but the bonus is I get to have may kids with me.

I have been to 6 out of 17 temples in Utah (Bountiful, Salt Lake, Jordan River, Oquirrh Mountain, Logan and Brigham City.) My long-term goal is to visit every temple in Utah. My short-term goal is to visit all temples that are not being built or renovated along the Wasatch Front (meaning not way out in the boonies) in one year since I got here. So, I have Draper, Provo and Mount Timpanogos in the next 2 months.

I moved to Orem with the kids last month. Yes, you read that right. I won't go into details, but my divorce will be finalized this month. And, yes, I'm doing ok.

My phone broke last week, which held most of my pictures and I'm working on gaining access to them. Seriously, over 1,000 pictures. So, I'm really hoping I can get them back. I have a nice new phone with which I'm starting a collection of pictures, so I'll post some soon.

Well, that's my life right now in a nutshell. 'Til next time.

Happy 1st Birthday, Mace!

Now that Mace is 14 months old, I figured I should post about his first birthday. We had a party at our house with our friends and he had his first taste of cake. Yum!

1 year stats:

23 pounds

I can't remember his height, but he's a short, chubby little thing.

12 teeth

Loves to dance (bobbing his body up and down)

Loves to snuggle

Favorite song for Mommy to sing is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

I can't express just how much I adore my sweet Mace. He is just so perfect for our family and such a special person.

I love you, Mace! I can't believe it's been a whole year since you graced us with your presence! Thanks for joining our family!

Happy birthday, Claire!

It's hard to believe my baby girl is 3. She's growing up so fast.

She can:

Count to 10.

Distinguish between singular and plural.

Speak in full small sentences.

Repeat pretty much everything you say.

A lot more stuff that makes Mama think she's so smart.

She is so good at helping her little brother and following instructions. She is an absolute joy to have around and I adore her. Happy birthday, darling Claire!

We're here

Do I have an excuse for not blogging? Not really. I have a lot of time on my hands. We have been in Utah for just about a month now and I am currently unemployed. Thank goodness for tax refunds, so we can pay our bills. We are enjoying it here so far. I'm definitely homesick, though. I haven't been away from San Diego for more than 2 weeks, so this is very different. The people here are great and we really enjoy our ward. All in all, things are going well. Enjoy a picture of the beautiful mountains from our home:

We're moving!

We've been thinking about this for a while and we've decided to move to Utah (never thought I'd say that.) We'll be moving in early July. I won't give a lot of details on a public blog, but I will give you the two main reasons we've come to this conclusion:

Lots of friends and family in the area

and

Cheaper housing.

We want to do what's best for our little family, but will miss tons of people here. If you wanna hang out, you'd better make it quick. :)

The 1/2 year old

Loves:
nursing
rolling over
scooting backward
smiling
water bottles
my phone
snuggling
bouncing
standing with support

Does not love:
rice cereal
being restrained in any way
having his nose wiped

He has 2 teeth on the bottom and 1 on top. He weighs 19 lbs 6 oz and is 26 inches long. He wears size 4 diapers, size 12-month clothes, can sit up and grabs anything and everything within his reach. He is such a happy baby and loves attention. I sure do love this little chunk.