What a Find!

Even though our kitchen is nice and big, it's a little lacking on counter space.  We needed a spot to put our microwave, so I decided to check out what Salvation Army had to offer while we still had our hands on a moving truck.  I knew it was a long-shot, but I was hoping to get a buffet which would eventually find its way into the dining room once we re-did the kitchen space.  Anyone who has ever shopped at Thrift Stores knows you cannot go in with something in mind and expect to find it.

My jaw literally dropped when I walked in and saw this beautiful buffet for only 15 big ones!  I don't expect to luck out like this again for a very, very long time.

We're Home-Owners!

What a whirlwind summer this is turning out to be!  Geoff and I started house hunting in April, by the middle of May we made an offer on a home, and at the end of June we moved in!

The house we found is in Morton Grove, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a nice, open floorplan, and lots of work that needs to be done!  Ha ha!  We love the layout and how much storage space it has in every room, but the people before us were very 'artistic' with their wall treatments and decorations--both of which have left quite a mark.  But as my Grandma Nelson advised: "Enjoy the Journey" as we move forward with our plans.

We had an interesting closing experience.  For whatever reason, the seller asked that we move the closing back one day from the original date scheduled.  That was fine by us and ended up being a huge blessing.  The night before we closed a big thunderstorm came through which manifested some water seepage problems in the basement--even though the owner claimed they never had any water problems.  So because they made that claim and there were indeed water issues, the seller had to fork over some money to fix the problem.  If we had closed on our original day, we would have been stuck with the bill.

Moving in is always more work than you want it to be, but because of loving friends and family and a patient husband, we got all of our belongings in before our trip to Utah.  We can't thank Heather, Grant and Rachel enough for their willingness to come help.  This move could not have happened without you.  Mom and Dad Nelson also 'stopped by' on their way to Utah to help clean the place and check off a few items on our 'to-do' list.

I felt so bad for Hylie during this whole transition.  Because the floors in our new home were covered in dirt, debris and boxes, I didn't let her crawl around for a few days and she was getting pretty tired of playing in her Pack & Play and only be able to crawl when I took her outside.  So she is MUCH happier now that there are some rooms she can have free reign in.

We love our new place and look forward to making this house a home!

10 Months

Hylie's on the road to toddler-hood, that is for sure.  Now that she's mobile, her curiosity has sky-rocketed and mom's ability to distract Hylie with toys has plummeted.  She is loving her new-found independence of following mom around and getting into anything and everything.  She also loves to have books read to her and even helps turn the pages.  Hylie's favorite toys are not toys.  Hand her a spoon, plastic lid, keys, etc. and the kid is entertained for hours.  Hand her a baby toy and the thing is abandoned in .02 seconds.  Ha ha!

Hylie continues to love solid foods and is getting to be a pro at grabbing bite-sized pieces from her tray.  Her current favorite foods are strawberries, string cheese, and spaghetti.

She also loves styling her hair with sticky fingers!

Teething has been a little rough this month, only 4 teeth are out which means many more are still to come!  When she's not teething, she sleeps really well, so mom and dad are hoping the future teeth pop out quickly and painlessly.

Taking pictures is getting trickier and trickier.  Hylie no longer finds interest in looking at the person calling her name because there are too many other interesting things that need to be checked out.  If we get a smile, it's amazing.  If we get a smile while looking at the camera, it's a miracle.

Not very many amazing miracles happened during this last photo shoot...

Happy Father's Day!

We weren't able to take a picture on Father's Day due to someone's crazy nap schedule...

For Geoff's first Father's Day we celebrated with one of his favorite meals (tacos!) and Hylie and I presented him with his favorite presents: EDIBLE GIFTS!  Ha ha!  We just loaded him up with chocolate and candy to thank him for being such a sweet father.  Truly, Geoff has embraced fatherhood and brings so much joy to Hylie and me.  He is a wonderful provider of not only our material needs, but of great laughs and comfort, too.

We have also been deeply blessed by our fathers and grandfathers.  What a legacy we have and we are so grateful for the wisdom and examples they all share.  Thank you for enriching our lives in so many ways through your love and support.

Box Building 101

When Hylie was born we got her a handy-dandy "Travel System" which included a stroller, car seat and base.  This package deal has worked out wonderfully for all our traveling needs...until recently.  The mechanism that makes the stroller collapse stopped working.  (And yes, I was at the store when that happened so I had to figure out how to fit a large, upright stroller in my compact car while it was raining!)  When we contacted the company about our problem, they let us know it was not repairable and they would pay to ship it back to them and then we would receive a refund.  Great deal, right?  There was a catch.  We had to package the thing.  Finding a box to fit all three clunky items was impossible, so we had to make our own box.  Joke. Town.

We were worried when the FedEx guy came to haul it away, he would die of laughter and we'd be stuck figuring out how to get this thing back to its company.  But the FedEx guy was actually pretty impressed with our handy work. Ha ha!

For some Hylie news, she's starting to figure out how to pull herself up and is pretty proud of herself for it, too!

A Very Happy Birthday

Monday was my birthday and I was so blessed to celebrate the occasion with friends and family.  My ENTIRE family was able to sing "Happy Birthday" to me via video chat the evening before and they even took the time to contact me again on my actual birthday to wish me a good day!  Some gals from the ward got together for a lunch--it was a lot of fun to catch up with them.  Then Geoff and I were able to enjoy a delicious dinner at the Cheesecake Factory sans Hylie!  A good friend offered to watch her while we dined.

Thank you to Geoff and everyone for making my day so very special.

Hylie's Crawling!

As of Tuesday, May 28th, Hylie is officially mobile!