Festivities of Christmas Take 2

 I forgot so many things about Christmas that it deserves an additional post.  We decorated the tree.  Or attempted to.  Zoey unloaded all the balls all over the floor and would take all the ornaments off as fast as we could put them on.  I really wanted the tree up in our new house though!  It eventually lots it's appeal and she was pretty good at leaving it alone.

We made our annual trip to the Festival of Trees.  She was pretty interested in some of the trees but was upset she couldn't play with the toys.  After a LONG wait for Santa it was her turn!  She was actually excited the whole way there until we approached him then she had a death grip on me.  Literally climbing up my frame and my head to get away from him.  I knelt next to him and he said he'd take her so I passed her off and ran out of the way so they could take pictures (which my mother-in-law paid for).  She SCREAMED!!  So I grabbed her back and noticed the Festival lady wasn't by the camera.  I asked her if she took the pictures and she said no, she didn't know she was supposed to.  What?!  I handed you our order ticket.  So we had to traumatize the poor girl again!  I felt horrible.  This time Dallin went with her and just knelt next to Santa while they took the pictures and she wailed.  Papa took her to do an Olaf craft after and she seemed to forget the horror, until the next day...

Saturday was my in-law's (our old ward's) Christmas breakfast.  We went and ate and decided to give Jolly Ol' St. Nick a second try.  Maybe she was use to him now?  Nope.  The second she spotted him she started screaming.  So I just walked by him with her as she held on tight and he handed her a candy cane.  She calmed after and went around telling everyone, "At-Ah, canny," like she didn't mind him at all.  Silly goose!

Sinter Klaas also came that day and brought her some treats and a couple play nativities.

Much to Dallin's chagrin, I begged my brothers to put up Christmas lights on our house since it was the first year we were there.  Dallin was kind of being a scrooge and didn't even want a tree.  So my brother put up the lights AND a blow up Frosty.  Dallin was mortified.  But Zoey LOVED it.  Every night we'd go "wake Frosty up" and turn on the lights and he'd magically inflate.  We eventually had a mini Frosty out there too.  It was so fun to see her happy and love it though.

For one FHE we went down to the lights at Temple Square.  It was chilly but not horribly so.  We had dinner at the food court at City Creek then walked over.  Zoey liked the lights but most of all liked walking on the cement flower bed borders.  I really wanted her to see the Christus and see what her reaction would be.  They make you wait in line to see it now!  Eventually it was our turn and we went up there.  She was indifferent.  We kept telling her it was Jesus though.  We ran into some friends which is always fun!

The Sunday before Christmas was fun to dress her in her Christmas dress!  I love the cheesy faces she makes.

Like I said before, we celebrated ourselves on the 24th, then with both our families on the 25th after the Plaizier party on the 24th.  Zoey decided to take a ride in her dolly stroller which was pretty funny. We also had three other family parties after Christmas.  My family and Dallin's family went to the Timbermine up Ogden Canyon the Monday after Christmas for our annual dinner.  It was yummy.  Most of my family had never been so that was fun.

For New Year's we went to an early dinner at Chili's then went home and watched Ratatouille and popped popcorn.  I went to bed at 11:45 p.m.  Lame, I know.

This is the smile you
get when you ask her
to smile

Festivities of Christmas

 This year we did our own family Christmas on Christmas Eve.  We knew that the actual Christmas Day would be chaotic and we didn't want to feel rushed.  It was nice to celebrate with just us.  Zoey was terrified when she woke up from her nap and we told her Santa had come.  We reassured her that he wasn't in house anymore and she asked if he brought candy.  Why yes, he did!  He also brought her a lady bug hat, some socks, and some clothes.  We got her a little wooden push thingy which she calls her vacuum and we got her a Little Tykes car.  We spent hours the night before putting it together and had a minor crisis when we realized we didn't have the door on and the roof was already on.  With Dallin's brute strength we were able to slip the door in - whew!  We took the car outside since it was a lovely, warm, Christmas Eve and let her take it for a spin.  She preferred we push her and pretty much only goes backward.

Dallin and I decided that our house remodel was our Christmas and so I only got him a couple sweaters and he got me a couple shelves to decorate the living room.  I think our kitchen will be my Christmas for the rest of my life.


Christmas morning we headed to Dallin's parent's house.  We were spoiled there, especially Zoey.  She got lots of Olaf things, kitty things, clothes and Daniel Tiger things.  The funniest was when she opened Daniel Tiger, then Owl and promptly asked, "Wednesday?"  Ungrateful child!  LOL  (She luckily received Prince Wednesday and Miss Elaina for Tres Reyes, an Argentine tradition, on January 6.)

After the Plaizier's, we headed to my parent's home.  Zoey was tired at this point so we put her down for a nap and waited on presents.  Luckily, my family is pretty chill and they don't wake up much before noon on Christmas anyway.  When Zoey woke up we opened presents (a new hubcap for Dallin and some new bath rugs for me!)  We then had a ham and funeral potato lunch and lounged around.  It was really nice and pretty low-key. 

Christmas Eve we spent with the Plaizier's at their annual party (which my family also attends) and my family decided to move our traditional Christmas Eve dinner to the 29th so we didn't ruin our appetites for the Plaizier party food.  It ended up working perfectly and my family invited the Plaizier's to join us at the Timbermine that night to round out our Christmas festivities.  We also had three other family parties between Christmas and the 29th and it was so nice to see extended family that we don't see too much anymore.  All in all, it was a lovely Christmas and so nice to spend with family.

First Home

Way back in April we purchased our first home.  It is Dallin's aunts' home in Bountiful.  They were super kind and gracious and made the process seamless, it worked well both ways.  They moved out in May and we took to fixing some things up.

Master before

Zoey's room after

Zoey's room before

Master after

Front of house before

Front of house after - with new door!

Hallway before - during demo

The biggest complaint the inspector had was that it was outdated.  That may have been an understatement.  As we got into the process of "fixing" things, we found most things weren't up to code and potential fire dangers, etc.  Our initial plan was to remove the popcorn ceilings in the two bedrooms (they had asbestos) and remove wallpaper and paint.  Then my family got involved.  Let's just say the ENTIRE upstairs has been completely renovated, not one square inch has been left untouched.  Here is a list of what we have done.  It's mainly for my own records but just in case you're wondering what we've been up to the last six months and why it has taken us that long:

-Brand new windows in the whole home (to replace the original steel ones)

-Repainted all the outer railings

-Had a company drill a hole in the foundation so we could vent the dryer out normally instead of through a brand-new window

-Set up dryer vent and accompanying duct work

-Moved water and electricity in laundry room so the washer and dryer are next to each other instead of across the room from each other

Hallway after

-Removed popcorn ceilings

-Removed wallpaper

-Removed and replaced all baseboards and door moldings

-Painted entire upstairs, including closets, window sills and door jams

-New front door

-New light fixtures and smoke detectors

-Put chimney cover on

-New light switches, outlet covers and vent covers

-Replumbed the ENTIRE house (except from the house to the meter at the street) - I'm really happy/excited about this even though it was an unexpected thing added.

-Ran new main power into the house

-Consolidated the two power panels into one large breaker box in the laundry room

-Ran new electricity in the bathroom, kitchen and laundry room, grounding everything and adding necessary GFI outlets and unburying boxes and wires in walls

-Put new hardware on hallway closet

-Took bathroom floor down to the subfloor (2 layers) and tiled.

-Replaced toilet and vanity (I'll have to tell the vanity drama another time) and all hardware in the upstairs bathroom

-Walled off hallway closet and put door in kitchen making it a pantry

-Removed soffit boxes in kitchen (raining insulation from the attic that needed to be fixed)

-Replaced all kitchen cabinets, countertops, sink and garbage disposal

-Moved disposal switch and light switch into outer wall which meant grinding a trench through wall

- Removed pocket door and widened entryway and back exitway of kitchen

- Moved range gas line for new layout of kitchen (also wired for electrical range)
-Added new wood to the kitchen floor for the new cabinets and pantry

-Put plantation shutters in the whole upstairs and blinds in the downstairs

- I let Dallin paint these 2 hidden doors into the utility room BYU blue (moment of weakness?  It's behind a door)

-Pulled up all carpet upstairs and tack board

-Laid all new wood floors upstairs and carpet in Zoey's room

-Ran water into the kitchen to add a dishwasher (hooray!) and ice for the fridge

-All new interior doors (drilled for existing hinges)

-Carpets downstairs cleaned and ducts cleaned

-Sprayed for spiders

Kitchen before

Kitchen during demo- with insulation

Kitchen after - ahh!

Kitchen after - with work tools

Whew!  I'm sure I missed some stuff but that's it in a nutshell, or giant nutshell.  That doesn't include all the small stuff like touchup paint, trips to the dump, cleaning, etc.  We are best friends with Home Depot and Lowe's.  I have to say I'm partial to HD but we got a killer deal on quality kitchen cabinets at Lowe's and they were great to work with.  We won't be renovating the basement for a few years while we all recover physically and financially.  Next summer we may hit up the forest of a yard and level out the grass and tear out the garden and re-sod.  Hmmmm, we'll see.

Main bathroom before

Bathroom during demo

Living room before

Bathroom after

I have to give a huge shout-out to my amazing husband and all the hard work he's put in (sometimes by himself) while I was on baby duty.  He'd get home from work, eat real quick and run over to the house, sometimes until midnight or 1 a.m., making the house a legit second full-time job.  My dad has been there a majority of the way too.  They have transformed "Dallin's aunts' house" into "our home;" one I was legitimately excited to move in to.  It feels like mine and it feels like HOME.  Can't wait to spend many years there.  Come visit us!

Living room after

Funny Tummy

Ever since the flu, Zoey's had some tummy problems.  Spitting up, coughing and swallowing the spit up back down, and crazy hiccups.  I took her to her gastro specialist at Primarys again and she thinks she has esophogeal dismotility where her esophagus isn't moving in rhythm, so she's on a new med and if that doesn't work she'll have a scope. :(  We've hit our deductible so I guess if it needs to happen now is the time.

After weeks of puking I pushed for the scope.  It was heartbreaking to do to her, I had a panic attack on the way to the hospital.  She did looks so cute in her little gown and Primary's really does know how to treat kids.  They gave her some Versed to calm her before they took her back and she was so floppy and funny, I had to take a video.  She was SO mad when she woke up, I hated it.  I felt terrible.  And all they found was that she was anemic.  Hmmm.  So I put her on some supplements from the Health Spot for tummies and she has been doing much better.  No more acid, no more hiccups (took about a week to clear up).  I can tell when she needs a dose because she starts reluxing again.  I've also try to avoid dairy with her.  We did gluten-free for about 4 days but she refused to eat and it didn't seem to make much of a difference but dairy-free is clearing up her eczema and seems to help her tummy.  Glad that's all behind us now.

I ended up buying her one of those little cars for Christmas because she liked it so much.  She's obsessed with "driving" now.

Frightening Halloween

I've had Zoey's ladybug costume for a couple months.  She's been obsessed with lady bugs since my friend gave me one of those solar-powered ones that rock back and forth.  I put it in my car and Zoey has loved them ever since. If you ask her was the "bug bug" says she rocks side to side just like the toy did.  She was THRILLED when I got out her costume and put it on.  I put the hood on and she would just run around happy as a little clam, er, lady bug.  We went to Pack's Pumpkin Patch and got some good pictures.  She liked the pumpkins, hated the pictures.  We tried to not get eaten alive by mosquitoes.  We left without a pumpkin but had fun looking around.

We hit up Frightmares with Suz and Phin and had a great time.  Well, we did, as the parents.  You'd think sending them on some fun rides was actually a torture chamber.  I feel like a horrible mother for laughing at her but it was seriously so funny to hear her screaming OVER the super loud music.  She did ok for the first few rides then Phin and Zoey fed off of each other and cried through the rest.  She did like riding the train and carousal with me but was a little afraid on the jeep ride even though I was with her.  Bulgy the Whale was a classic.  She eventually gave up crying and just covered her eyes through the whole ride.  It was hysterical.  She had fun trick or treating throughout the park though.  Thanks for the invite Suzy!

Last Saturday we went to Boo at the Zoo per tradition.  We always show up a little later, after 10 a.m., to avoid the opening rush.  It was crowded but not overwhelming.  We waited in some lines for candy and were super disappointed by Smarties most of the time.  Maybe they were trying to avoid peanuts?  She really loved the animals though.  They were feeding the rhinos while we were there and she started saying rhino!  She would point out that they were eating nanas and apples.  It was really cool to watch.  Have you ever stopped to ponder how weird rhinos are?  They seriously look like dinosaurs.  Weird, weird, creatures.  Anyway, it was a super nice, unusually warm late-October day, I felt bad she was in her fleece costume but she didn't seem to mind.

It didn't take her long to figure out that anytime the lady bug costume went on, it meant "canny." After a nap I took her to trick-or-treat at Station Park. This was way better than the zoo (and free! But no animals...)  The stores all had candy and would stand at their door and pass it out.  Since we got there late, some stores were already out of candy but most weren't.  And they had good candy too. There is even a donut shop opening up there and they were passing out free full-sized glazed donuts to every single person!   Station Park was crowded but not annoyingly so.  She was so excited to get some "Me-Ms (M&Ms)."  She actually had already had some that day because she peed in the potty!

We had a Halloween party with friends that night and she loved going down their slide.  It was a house full of boys so she was a little overwhelmed but had a fun time.

She's been so fun lately.  Her vocabulary is crazy.  My parents and sister have been in Europe the past 16 days and are going to be blown away by what she says.  One day she pointed out every Sesame Street character in her book, "Ahy" (Abby), "Bih Ber" (Big Bird), "Ookie" (Cookie Monster), "Ehmo" (Elmo), and "Ernie."  I didn't even know she knew who Ernie was!  She also would point out leaves "Eaf" and said "yoyo."   I have no idea where she learned that.

We ended up carving pumpkins one weekend.  My father-in-law bought this pumpkin scraper that you hook onto a drill so it was a power tool pumpkin affair.  I don't really like carving, the guts make my hands all red and itchy and I get bored after a while.  Dallin loves it.  He's super artistic and doesn't mind spending the time.  Anyway, we decided to print off patterns from pbskids.org so we could make a Gee-Gee-Gu (Curious George) and Daniel the Tiger pumpkin for Miss Zoey.  I think they turned out really cute and she was in love!!

She had a bout of the flu which she kindly shared with all of us at the house, including her grandparents.  She was sick on Halloween and leading up to Halloween so I felt terrible dragging her around.  We tried to not do too much and not overwhelm her.  The day before, my sister- and brother-in-law's Stake had a Trunk or Treat so we took her there and made the rounds.

On actual Halloween my brother invited us down to his work's Halloween and she trick-or-treated through each office and got candy.  She was nervous if the person was around and would make me choose the candy (which was awesome) but if she picked, to picked solely on color (brown Snicker's were not very appealing to her, unfortunately).  She made a haul.

That night we went to my in-law's house and just trick-or-treated on their street.  Not many people go up the street (which is why we do) so they give out full-sized candy bars and handfuls of candy.  Then we went a couple streets over to my aunt's and uncle's and visited with them for a while with their humongo dog that scared Zoey to death.

I had grand plans that Zoey would be a lady bug, I'd be a bee and Dallin would be a spider.  I did end up finding some bee stuff at Target but broke the antennae after the zoo and was sick of winding myself in yellow duct tape so I gave up.  And with all the stuff we were doing on the house, I had no time to make Dallin spider legs.  So it was not a family affair this year.  We sure loved seeing our cute little lady bug though!  I hope she had fun.