Christmas

This Christmas was pretty simple for us. We hadn't hyped up Avery about presents or Santa Clause this year, but she enjoyed opening gifts nonetheless. Perhaps next year we'll ham it up a little when she understands it better and we'll probably get to go visit family too.

We already have her handing out the gifts; it's funny to hear her say "heavy" with a distinct expression. (It's thanks to Grandmas and Grandpas that we even had presents under the tree this year! Thank you! The main gift for us was above our heads and below our feet- the house, of course).

Avery opening the one present we got her (wrapped in packaging paper! haha).

A cute hand-done book from Grandma Olsen.

This is a rotary saw from Grandpa Olsen (to Brian, not Avery :)

This has been Avery this week- being a great helper on the house (honestly productive) as she sweeps, picks up, puts away, and hands things to dad. She's pretty adorable- especially when trying to lift things. Of course, it's still a handful keeping an eye on an almost-two-year-old in a construction zone, but she keeps busy as I keep busy after her.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve! Today was just cooking and construction. I cooked, Brian constructed. My first turkey turned out better than I expected (I was scared)! It wasn't bad at all. Yay for me! Take a look at Brian below and the huge gaping hole in our floor! I'm so excited for the new stairs to soon be here!!

Let's talk about AVERY! She seems more mature every day. We love the things she does. Like, today she grabbed a tissue (aka TP) and assumed to blow her nose just as we do (see pic below). However, she also understands that TP goes in the toilet, so she succeeded in unrolling a quarter roll of TP into our toilet naturally. It's hard to get mad at her when she doesn't realize what's wrong. Cute bugger. I did tell her that was a no-no, and I think she understands... just like when we read a book and she sees where she previously colored in her book and points and says "no-no."

What else? She is getting better at stirring and pouring when she helps in the kitchen. She can identify so many objects from learning them in her book (I'm fascinated when she can point out a door or star or animal even when it looks different from the one she identifies in her book).

She's so funny when she responds to my offers sometimes:

me: "Juice or water?"

A: "Juice? K!"

me: "Do you want a cookie?"

A? "Cookie? K!"

She gets so enthusiastic about certain things, I love it. Like cookies. Who wouldn't? She says "wow" in a very awe-struck way when looking at the stars in the sky (mimicking us, I'm sure). Avery loves to repeat words we say and is getting better at it all the time. I'm deeply amazed at her understanding and acknowledgment when I say things like, "You can have this, but we have to wait until..." or "You can play with the pen, but you must put the cap on." It's simple stuff, I know, but I'm so proud that she can be obedient.

We're in!

First, some random pictures in reverse chronological order:

The front room (complete with stockings hung by the fire)

A snowy closing day on Thursday

Christmas time baking at our apartment, yum!

Making gingerbread houses! Avery was much more interested in stuffing her face with the plethora of candy.

Well hello friends and family!

We have much to catch up on now that we have INTERNET in our new home! I apologize for neglecting the blog so badly, but we're back in the saddle (meaning with internet after a 3-month "fast") and it feels GOOD!

It also feels good to be in our new home- I can't believe it!!! We're actually here. The move went awesome on Saturday- we probably had at least 15 helpers from the ward and it was speedy! It's a good thing that Brian and I could come clean up the carpets before hand (on one long Thursday night after our closing) because the previous owners left us a lovely mess. They owned 3 dogs and hadn't even vacuumed after getting their stuff out... so after 3 runs in every room with the vacuum and then the carpet cleaner, we got enough dog hair out to be satisfied. I'm sure we'll still be sucking up dog hair for a long while. Ah well; soon we plan to have new flooring anyway.

We're still unpacking, but have all the essentials put away. We even got Christmas put up in the front room! It is so cozy here with the fire place and pellet stove. We're so excited about this house; I was pleasantly surprised when most of the rooms felt bigger than I expected after we moved in. The kitchen is awesome: a ginormous sink, double oven, great filtered water from the fridge, plenty of beautiful hickory cabinets and everything feels new. Ahh!

We have plenty of home updating projects on our list and Brian is getting started right away on our stair case now that he has a lot of time off for Christmas. I'm so excited he'll be here tomorrow and so on! Christmas is so close- crazy. I'm preparing (mentally mostly) to cook my first turkey- it's a whopping 18 pounds, holy cow... or should I say bird. I'm also planning some other yummy dishes and it looks like we'll have a cozy Christmas all to our very selves. It's happy and sad at the same time, but I know we'll make the most of it; it'll be new.

Shooie! Move-in, Christmas, birthday, baby... so much happening. We still haven't picked out a name and we're feeling the heat since it's TWO weeks away! We have some names in mind but aren't set on a particular one. I hope one of them sticks out when the time is right.

Family Picture

This is just a quick picture we took for you to see us. We hope you're all having a fun holiday season so far! We're doing very well and are happy as can be.

We FOUND the ONE!

Amazing news, people! We are currently in the process of purchasing our VERY FIRST HOME! (Pictures at the bottom.) Earlier than expected, we found exactly what we were looking for in a home and at a price we could manage this early in the game. At a killer deal and meeting all of our expectations (and more), we couldn’t possibly pass it up. The current owners bought it less than 2 years ago at a foreclosure price and now they have to leave and are passing on those same savings to us. Talk about blessings.

We are so excited and anxious to start living there and make it our own. Our closing date is December 16 and move in on December 18. We’ve been approved for a conventional 80-10 loan at an excellent interest rate and all the scary stuff is over, like the inspection. The house has no significantly major issues that would deter us from buying. Now we just have to be patient for this whole process to be completed.

So, without further ado, let me tell you about our new place and why we fell in love with it! It has:
-Two stories (one is partially underground)
-4 bedrooms (generally small, but that’s ok)
-3 full baths (that means a master bath! Great!)
-Walk-in master closet
-2000 square feet
-Large family room downstairs (living room and kitchen/dining upstairs)
-2 fireplaces (one wood, one pellet stove)
-Decks in front and back (composite deck in front)
-1 car garage with storage closets and work space
-Large storage shed in backyard
-Wine cellar (ha, probably for food storage)
-Good sized back yard, fenced in, with specified garden area and 2 fruit trees
-Stucco with pitched roof
-Newer double-pane windows
-Decent landscaping in front
-Newer kitchen (no need for updating)
-Great neighborhood
-Great schools

The house was built in 1979 (we didn’t expect to be in a new home), and yes, could use some updating, which is actually what we wanted. We wanted some projects to keep us busy and apply our own touch. The first priority is to get rid of the spiral staircase, which is cramped and dangerous for children, and replace it with a conventional one. Following that are other projects that have no particular order and we will get to them soon as they can be afforded: Buy washer/dryer, New water heater, Fix bowing in the front deck, Update flooring upstairs and down, Paint, Expand downstairs bedroom while decreasing bathroom, Update master bathroom with large shower and double vanity and a toilet that is more than 1 foot off the ground!

We are so thrilled to get started and I only hope I can be patient enough for us to acquire the necessary funds. This will certainly be a merry Christmas for us! …and just in time for the new baby, too!

Front
Front Deck
View from the front
Living Room
Kitchen
Kitchen/Dining
Hallway
Master Bedroom
Master Bath
Bedroom
Bathroom
Family Room (much bigger than shown here)
Back Deck (the rest of the yard is not seen here)

A Happy Halloween

This year, Avery was a bear and I was a hunter (thanks to Brian's gear). On Friday (29th) we took Avery down main street for trick-or-treating with the town. It was super packed! (Probably because of the nice weather.) On Saturday (30th), we had our ward trunk-or-treat. Brian created this super cool Adam's Family House (Thing's house) for the trunk and put his hand through the swinging doors to give candy. Avery enjoyed the trunk-or-treat the best because it was less crowded.

Great News!

BRIAN received his Security Clearance YESTERDAY! That took less than two months (record time here)!!!! Now he's ready to work on all the classified stuff he's meant for :) We're so excited!

Also, we got Avery a bunk bed and she's loving it! What a big girl!

Just a cute smile.

Regarding a house

I was really excited on the previous blog about this one house. Brian saw it and was equally excited about the potential it has. HOWEVER, there are MAJOR problems (mold, roof, heating) that would make it impossible for us to get a loan for this thing until it's fixed. Poo-ie. The bank that owns the house is unwilling to touch it (they're selling it as is even though no one can get a loan for it due to the major problems).

All in all, we decided to drop it for now. If the bank decides to get these issues taken care of then we could look at it again, and we certainly would. I still dream about this particular house (maybe its the first-time home buyer in me), but at least I can sleep now!

It's really a good thing that we take a step back anyway. Brian is attending an all day first-time home buyer class in Santa Fe by Homewise on Saturday. It's free! It'll be very helpful.

Can't Sleep...

We began (or rather I began) our house hunting to get a scope of what's out there. We're not quite ready to buy (need some more $ for a down payment)... BUT it doesn't hurt to get an idea. I've seen about 12-15 houses so far and enjoyed telling Brian all about them.

Fate would have it that we have found one that we think is perfect for us-- and we could afford it within 2 months! So- Brian hasn't actually been inside himself, but we walked around the outside together yesterday and he's liking it. Hopefully he can see it on Friday. It's at the low price end of what we thought we'd purchase because it is a fixer-upper, yet we like that idea. It has some real potential we think (as long as there aren't any MAJOR problems). There are actually 4 bedrooms (not 3) and the square footage is twice the other houses I've looked at. Having the extra space would be wonderful; now all the 3-bedroom places seem so crowded inside. The yard is also a good size. We would do a lot of upgrading, but I think it would be fun (of course that's what I say NOW, but still, we could put our own touches- fun!).

I must be out of my mind because I haven't been able to sleep these past couple of nights just thinking about this house and the possibilities. It's been on the market for a long time and it's bank-owned, so I think we have a chance at this one... Oh brother, it's so exciting to think about! I realize an inspection could make or break this house, and we'll see what Brian truly thinks after he's been inside himself, but regardless- I still can't sleep over it!

Some of Avery

We are happy and healthy in Los Alamos! No more summer clothes for us; it's now time for jackets.

You MUSt see the video above! This is Avery saying "Please." Below is a picture of her on the toilet. We're practicing.... not getting very far, but practicing!

At Avery's last appointment, the doctor asked how many words she knew and I was like... uh, 15-20? So I went home and started a list.... it's more like 40+! The list below is only the beginning. She's saying new words everyday... like yesterday was write ("righ") and paper ("papah").

Words:

Mom/mommy
Dad/Daddy
Uh-Oh
Ball “Bah”
Hi
Bye
Outside “Side”
No
Book “Boo”
What’s That “Whas dat”
Shoe
Owie
Dog “Daw”
Baby
Nose
Eye
Ear
Down
Up
All Done
Yes “Jes”
Apple
Yay
Wee
Cracker “Ka-ker”
Hat “Ha”
Eat “Ee”
Good “Goo”
Binki ‘Bee”
Goodnight “Nigh-Nigh”
Belly Button “Bah-ee”
Teeth “Teet”
Cheek “Chee”
Bite “Bie”
Please “Pees”
Thank you “Tan-koo”
Rock “Ock”
Cat “Ka”
Cheese “Chee”
Beans “Bee”
Spoon “poon”
Fork “Ork”
Mouth “Mout”
Hands “Han”
Bread “Bed”
Duck “Uck”
Color/Draw “Caw”
Cookie
Milk “Mih”
Sock “ock”
Bath “Bat”
Shower “Sh-ow”
Toy
Wow!
Cool! “Coo”
Play “Pay”
Hooray “Rah-ray”


Commands she understands:
Dance
Hold this
Sit down
Throw it in the trash
Take it back
Put it in
Pick it up
Turn it on/off
Wash your hands
Hug
Squeeze
Kiss
Let’s say Prayers
Fold your arms
Kneel down
Lick your fingers
Bite it
Show me your… eyes, nose, mouth, ears, teeth, tongue, cheek
Go spank mom

Tidbits

I'm at the library again (this time child-free) and spending much-needed time with my online needs. As you know, we don't have internet at home! Good thing the library is super close (10-15 min. walk).

Latest tidbits on us:

- We no longer have our at&t cell phones. We now have altell/verizon and one cell phone between the two of us. No land line. I will email the number, along with our address.

- We're casually looking at houses here and going to get an estimate from the loan officer at our new bank to see what we could afford. We'd really like to buy a house while the interest rates are so low, but don't expect to find one until next summer (which is okay cause we could use some time to save more money for a down payment). We have a one-year lease at our apartment we'd have to sell if finding a home early.

- I just discovered freecycle.org and am so excited! You should check it out- it's a way to exchange free items with people in your community.

- There are 3 uncertified doula's an my ward who would be my doula for virtually free. I am choosing one this week. Yay!

- We had dinner with two young families in our ward last night. Great people here!

- I'm looking into Amazon.com/mom for cheapness on diapers... looks like a good deal.

Wish I had pictures for you, but not this time! We miss all our people and hope life is going well for everyone. :)

Labor Day

For Labor Day we mixed with some members of the ward at Jemez ("Hemez") Falls in the Jemez mountains. The drive was about 30-40 minutes. The quarter-mile hike to the falls was a perfect little hike and Avery absolutely loved the water- she went in up to her arm pits with no problem at all even though it was cold.

Avery charms: Each night we kneel with Avery in her room for prayers. She quickly learned how to kneel on her own and she folds her arms well too (even though this doesn't last the whole prayer, we're still proud). Last night Brian was preparing her crib and without even mentioning prayer, she dropped to her knees and folded her arms waiting for prayers to begin! That's charming. She has also learned how to say Please "pees"... whenever I ask her to, she gets all bashful-like, smiles, squints her eyes, cocks her head like she's flirting and says "pees" through her cute grin. It's absolutely adorable! How could you say no?! This little gal is also learning and learning everyday. She picks up the keys ready to go outside in the morning and there's so many little things to denote how much she is understanding. She gets so excited when she asks for something and I understand what she wants. Cute, cute, cute.

Day Eleven

We’ve been here over a week and it’s thunder-stormed almost every day or night. I’m very pleased! They call this the monsoon season for Los Alamos. I’ve always missed the storms back home and am glad to hear them again, though the lightning isn’t quite as vivid here. The temperatures have been kept nicely to where we don’t need our AC ever. It’s nice to keep the windows open all day long- and our big sliding door too. Though it may not be super hot, you have to be extra careful in the sun here because it’s closer and more harmful to your skin-- something we’ll have to keep in mind.

As I said before, the view here is beautiful! Canyons and green hilly mountains. There are tons of trails for hiking and biking here that we can’t wait to explore. There are still yuckier desert sides to this area, but not so much in Los Alamos, which I appreciate. The adobe houses I still have to get used to. I’m excited to explore more of the housing areas here on the different plateaus.

We’ve been to Santa Fe a couple of times. A 45-minute to 1-hour drive. The roads there seem more confusing and narrow. Parking spots are really tight. Other than that, I’ve discovered they have more stores than I expected, which I’m happy about! They have ROSS and a walmart, target, and many others I’m forgetting.

The only grocery store in Los Alamos is Smiths (actually they may have an Albertsons too but that’s out of the question). Regardless of this, I’ve found that Smiths can have decent sales and aren’t as overly expensive as I expected. Their produce is usually the most expensive to me, but I’ve found out that SUNFLOWER marketplace is being built in town!! I love their deals on produce. Problem solved.

Our apartment is very nice. It has more space and a bigger KITCHEN! Funny thing is that we STILL have more stuff than we can fit, so Brian built shelves in our super tall storage closet on the balcony. Perfect. Kristy and G&G came to help us move in, which was really a big help to us! The smell in our apartment is strange to me and the people smoke below us. Plus we’re noticing more and more dog hair (especially in our vacuum) from the previous owners. Other than that, we really can’t complain. Avery not only has her own room now but her own bathroom too. Spoiled kid. But it won’t be for long! Haha.

In case you were wondering, my belly has grown much bigger within the last two weeks. It seems like it came out of nowhere. I should really get a maternity dress in Santa Fe; the only one I have is wintry. The baby kicks often and it’s strange to think I’m at that stage of the pregnancy. Surprisingly I’ve gotten some good nights rests here so far and it’s been a while. I’m liking that. Forget left side sleeping because I’m all about right side and back. That’s how it was with Avery and I’m not even going to fret about it because I sleep well!

Avery is adjusting well. She likes the stairs. Stairs, stairs, stairs. We have lots of stairs to our apartment. She likes exploring around the apartment and playing in our shower. She is taking frequent naps or having crib down time which is great by me. We’re getting more into doing time-out with her when she pitches a fit. We’re also limiting the binki to sleep times only.

Brian has biked to work a couple of times. Twenty-five minutes there and 10 minutes back. (It’ll be closer when he gets to his permanent building). Right now he’s doing a lot of reading on the computer. He’s okay with it, but he REALLY looks forward to what he’ll be doing after his security clearance. He’ll be doing everything having to do with product development (like research, development, prototype, the nine yards).

The transit system in Los Alamos is free for when Brian (or I) can’t bike or take the car. Nice. Everything is close to our apartment: the indoor pool, library (with very equipped children’s section and playground), the park and pond, grocery store, putt-putt (bring your own ball and club), etc. The library has free and efficient wi-fi, which brings me to our next point: We will NOT have Internet at our apartment! This does scare me, because I rely on it so heavily, but we decided we want to try saving that money (and weaning me from so much internet). We’re trying this for a few months to see how it goes. This means very long blogs and fewer between. Sorry! We’ll also be switching to Alltel/Verizon soon and down to one cell phone. Updates on that to come.

The ward here is nice; our neighbors are nice. The community is great. However, we miss you all and wish you were here with us!

Above is us at 4 corners on the way down to Los Alamos.

Welcome to Los Alamos

Thursday our movers from United Van Lines came; they were 3 rippling tattooed guys who knew how to get the job done and were super friendly. It felt odd to sit back while they did the work, but we got to visit with them while they worked so efficiently. I was impressed.

Friday we said audios to our beloved Provo and headed straight to our half-way point in Cortez, CO. We left earlier than expected and arrived in plenty of time for dinner at Pizza Hut!

Saturday's drive was filled with sage brush and rocky landscapes, plateaus, and lots of boarded-up back-country communities.

As we climbed altitude into Los Alamos, there were rocky plateaus accompanied with beautiful green covered peaks--more picturesque than I expected. We were tucked away in the mountains! (Side note- they get a lot of thunder storms this time of year- I am SO siked!)

Driving through the small town, everything seemed a lot nicer than I expected (especially after what we'd previously driven through). Brian was pleased with my reaction. I truly love where our new apartment is situated: it's right by one of the canyons and our "backyard" looks like a forested campground area!

I was excited for church on Sunday. It's a very nice ward, and large too. The big surprise to me was how normal or average everyone was (not to be offensive). I was expecting some "big-wigs" because of how well the Lab pays here. (80% of the ward are engineers or scientists who work at the lab.) As we had dinner with a member of the church and of Brian's lab group, I began to realize that we won't be living high on the hog just because Brian has a nice paycheck. Real estate here is majorly expensive and you need a sizeable paycheck to pay for any average abode. Humph. I suppose there's more to life than a pretty house, right?

On the bright side, the communities here are super. Everyone is nice. I do wish the neighborhoods were more kept up because many yards are overgrown with weeds or have lots of clutter. I'm sure some places are better than others. The nice people are what counts.

I got some pointers on doctors and so forth from our new friends (Dan and Amber) who we had dinner with. They are a great couple with four kids and one on the way (due the same day as ours- crazy!). We're thankful to be in good company.

Each new day brings more thoughts and wonders into my head about the future that lies ahead. Yesterday was Brian's orientation at work. I wonder how he'll like work here. I wonder where we'll end up with a house and when that'll be. I wonder what I'll grow to like and maybe not like about our new community. I wonder what it'll be like to have a permanent (or mostly permanent) hometown. Wow, it's a lot to think about.

Great news- our stuff has arrived from Utah and we get to move into our apartment tomorrow!!! More updates and *pictures* soon. We haven't set up our internet there yet, so it may take a little while to post again.

20-week Ultrasound

Announcing our second baby GIRL! We are so thrilled that Avery will have a little sister to be good friends with (hopefully)! I'm glad to have a girl because I feel more confident that "I've been down that road" already. Plus, we can use the same baby clothes (they're born a month apart)! We can probably get them bunk beds too when it's time! There are lots of fun things to look forward to! Just a reminder: Our due date is January 6th. The picture above shows a classic profile of her head and arm (head is on the right).

Eighteen Months!

She's still got beautiful curls in the back and at the bottom though you can't tell here.

Look at that hippo mouth... with the two bottom teeth and the top two spread apart. I'd say it's a good likeness- funny girl!

Avery is eighteen months tomorrow! She's a growing girl. Always, always growing and learning. It is so fun! She likes to mimic what I do around the house and she's decent at quite a few things. Here is a picture of her helping me pack... maybe not so helpful there:

Homage to these people and this place

The fact that we're leaving Utah TOMORROW is setting in on me with great excitement but I feel twinged with remorse over what's being left behind!

We've had the pleasure of being in the company of some stellar people here--truly treasured friends and family--we will be missing their company greatly as we start from scratch in New Mexico and I wanted you all here to know it! We couldn't have had it any better than this.

These are our friends below. You guys are the elite. Jenni & Jared & Katelyn, Nate & Kimber, Me & Brian, Russ & Adri, Taylor & Jen & Logan & Gavin.

These are some good times:

(Above) To Taylor & Jen & Logan & Gavin: Jen and I are college roommates and have really had some good times. By fortune, we ended up in Provo together with our families... And in the same ward for a year! The Burtons will always be there for you at the drop of a pin and we like to chat and relax when we get together. Thanks for taking us trick or treating (especially me) and for bbqs and babysitting and always being there when it matters and for making things count (making sure we party when we should!) haha.

(Above) To Russ & Adri: My goodness, what to say? You have been our golden Provo-made friends; met you when we first got here and it feels like we've been friends for ages now. This picture is special to me because I think of the numberless evenings we have spent together on a very regular basis, just chatting for however long and playing games constantly. We're glad we could live it up like this. What are we going to do now???

(Above) To Nate & Kimber: So what is it that took us so long to start hanging out with you guys? Nate and Brian are both in the CMR lab at BYU (and they like to gossip about lab stuff when we're together). We've had some fun trips to the Magleby's cabin and other times here like golfing and pizza! Thanks for putting up with my slap-happiness at late hours playing games. You guys are lots of fun.

(Above) To Jenni & Jared & Katelyn: Jenni and I start way back in the cradle. You can't underestimate friendships like this because they're solid--as are Carol and Cidne, too, who also deserve a shout-out! Fortune has landed the Hirschis and us together for this season in Provo and we couldn't be more grateful. You guys are classic. It's so fun watching Katelyn and Avery together- they'll be playing again someday!

(Above) This is our family here in Provo (two of my brothers families). Louis, Katherine, Benton, McKenna, Matthew, Savannah, & Steve, Jenn, Jacob, Kara, Evan, and Emma! It is always a big party when we get together! We've so much enjoyed having Louis and Steve close. It's tons of fun to see Avery grow up with her cousins. They really adore her and I know she will surely be missing out on them. Thanks so much for the good times! We will miss them!