September 2015

September was really busy with the move.  We moved on labor day and the rest of the month was really busy getting things put away.  And there are a lot of improvements we want to make to the house so we had tons of people giving up bids for different things.  It was just a really busy month.  The boys are getting so big.  

Jacks

Jacks started preschool at the beginning of the month.  He absolutely loves it and so do I.  He just needs time away from Link and time with other kids his own age.  He gets really excited for school and loves show and tell.  He's such a social little boy.  He loves to have friends and play with other kids.  He absolutely loves playing with his cousins.  

Jacks really likes to play games now.  His favorite game is sardines.  He loves to play outside in our new backyard. Jacks and Link are kind of in a hard stage right now they fight like crazy.  Jacks is always picking on him.     

First day of preschool

Link

Link is getting really big.  He is such a funny little boy.  He is so chatty.  He will seriously just chat your ear off and he says the funniest things.  He has been having a really hard time sleeping lately.  He's been getting up pretty consistently since we moved.  Jacks and Link sleep in the same room now and it's been really hard trying to get them to bed ever.  Link keeps Jacks up at night and Jacks wakes Link up in the morning so they just kind of don't sleep at all.  

Link has stopped taking a nap which has helped a little.  If he takes a nap he doesn't go to bed at night until really late.  If he doesn't take a nap he gets really grumpy in the afternoon and evening but then he'll go to bed.  It's just kind of a hard stage. 

He's a social little too.  He loves his cousins.  He fights like crazy with Jacks but really likes him.   

We took the boys to the American Fork temple.  They really liked walking around the grounds and just chasing each other. 

August 2015

I can't believe how fast time has gone lately.  I feels like August just started. Things were so busy!  We randomly decided to sell our house and that kind of consumed our entire month between getting the house ready to sell, showing it, and then once we signed a contract to sell it the whole process of dealing with inspectors and appraisers.  Then getting our own loan was kind of a process.  It was just a really overwhelming busy month.

We did manage to have a little fun.  We took the kids camping for the first time.  We just went up Hobble Creek canyon for one night.  We were worried the kids would have a hard time so went somewhere close only 20 minutes away so we could come home if we needed to.  We went on a Thursday night and there was hardly anyone there.  It was a lot of fun.  We didn't take enough fire wood so Jordan and Jacks walked around and found firewood for a while which Jacks loved.  We had a little camp fire and made hot dogs and S'mores for dinner.  Link loved the fire he just sat on my lap and watched the fire.  Jacks kind of got a little ADHD and ran around and poked the fire with our roaster sticks.  He was funny he loved throwing wood in the fire which is kind of dangerous but we helped him and he absolutely loved it.  

Jacks loved the tent and went right to bed.  Link had a little harder time but he was pretty good too.  It was kind of ridiculous.  We had an air mattress we'd never used before and when we blew it up it was huge.  It barely fit our tent!  The boys were just on top of me the entire night.  I didn't get a lot of sleep probably only about 1 1/2 but it was still fun.  The boys had so much fun.  They loved sleeping in a tent and in sleeping bags.  They really wanted to go again this summer but we didn't quite make it.

The rest of the month we were just really busy but spent sometime outside and had a little fun.  Random pictures from August.

The Big Move

Things have been so busy lately!  We just moved into our new house a few weeks ago.  It was so crazy we weren't even considering moving 3 months ago.  Jordan really wanted to finish the basement in our other house.   I really loved that house but it had some problems that wouldn't be fixed by finishing the basement. The kitchen was just to small and with the basement finished it wouldn't have a ton of storage.  The yard was really small and we still needed to put up a fence.  I told Jordan I'd rather move than finish the basement.  He thought I was crazy and found some houses to look at in our price range pretty much just to show me that we couldn't afford something we wanted and that finishing our basement was the best option.  It ended up backfiring on him.  Most of the homes we looked at kind of sucked but then we found one that we both really love.

We put our house up for sale on ksl and had a lot of interest.  Within two weeks we had two offers.  It was way faster than we were expecting it was crazy!  It was crazy being out of our house that quick but I'm glad it sold fast because showing  a house is not easy!  We had constantly have it clean and plan our days around showing the house.  We missed a vacation and other fun activities to show the house.  I never wanted to be home because I was just constantly cleaning up after the boys. I'm just so glad it went quick it's stressful selling a house!  

The whole process was kind of stressful but everything worked out and went smoothly.  We really like our new house.  We had  a lot of equity in our old house so were able to get a lot of finished square feet and a fenced yard without raising our monthly payment that much. It has almost everything that Jordan and I had on our wish list.  It's a beautiful house that was custom built and has some really nice features that you don't see in newer homes such as beautiful windows everywhere.  It has a finished basement and a fenced yard.  The house does have a few drawbacks.  It needs some serious updating.  It was built in 1992 and I don't think the owners did much to update it.  It need some serious work but I think once we get things the way we want it it will be a really nice house.  The neighborhood seems great and we've already met some really nice people.  

It's going to take some time to get things updated because it's so expensive!  We're just planning on doing one thing at a time.  We were really overwhelmed at first.  When we were looking at the house we only saw the good things and loved it.  But once we moved in it really hit us how much work it needs.  It gets overwhelming sometimes but we're just going to take it one thing at a time.

I love the extra space that we have in this house.  Our other house was a rambler with an unfinished basement and only had one real living space.  I felt like the boys could never get away from each other and they just drove each other and me crazy!  This house is so nice because they can actually escape each other. I really like the floor plan a lot.  The only huge downside is we've had some trouble with our air conditioner.  It's a 2 story and we've had a lot of trouble cooling the top floor.  Our bedroom is always hot and it's so hard to sleep.  We installed  a fan which helps but it's still a serious issue.  We've looked into an attic fan and radiant barrier but it's just really expensive.  Other than that we really like it so far.  We still have  a lot of stuff to put away; mostly just storage that we need to find a place for.  It's still kind of a pain but we're slowly getting there.  The house is at least livable.

We've hired a painter to paint the house and our kitchen cabinets.  He's been working on it for over a week and hasn't made much progress.  It's been really frustrating.  The painter we picked was quite a bit cheaper than any of the other bids we got.  He seems great but he also is kind of unreliable.  He tells me he'll be there at a certain time and shows up 2 hours late if at all.  It's been frustrating.  He still hasn't done that much mostly base boards and ceilings in the basement.  

Moving is so hard!  I'm just glad we did it before Jacks is in school because that would have been really hard on him.  We're really going to miss our old ward and neighborhood.  I'll miss certain things about that house like the master bath and closet (Our new house seriously lacks in those areas).  Overall though I think it was the right decision and I think this is the house we'll stay in for a really long time.