A week in review

This last week has been nothing short of crazy. Between moving, unpacking, and celebrating both our anniversary and my birthday, we've been busy around here to say the least. I'll attempt to catch up in one post, and I apologize in advance for not including pictures.

We packed up our apartment up in Salt Lake last Friday and Saturday morning we headed back to Orem. The move went pretty smooth and we had a lot of family and friends who helped us. I was a little stressed about the move but felt right at home our first night here. There are so many things I missed about Orem and I'm really happy to be back. I've worked hard this last week to get every box unpacked and everything organized in it's proper place, and I'm so happy with the way our home looks now. Once I get around to it I'll post pictures.

Tuesday was our 8th wedding anniversary. I honestly have a hard time believing we've been married so long. Guess time flies when you're having fun! We didn't do much for our anniversary, but I did manage to make some yummy chocolate caramel brownies that we had with Martinelli's that night.

I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to be married to Sean. He and I think so much alike and we work so well as a couple and as a team. He's so sensitive to my needs and always puts his family first. I just absolutely adore him and all he does for me and Tay.

Yesterday was my 26th birthday and I was SO spoiled this year! I spent the day cleaning and organizing our house (sounds boring, but I LOVE having a clean house) and preparing the soil in our garden area to plant flowers. That afternoon I got to go to lunch with three of my favorite men - Sean, Tay, and my dad. My Aunt Holly came over with her girls and brought me the most delicious cupcakes ever, and my mom stopped by to bring me apple pie and vanilla ice cream. Mmm... Last night Sean, Tay, and I went to dinner and then went shopping. I've been so frustrated with trying to find cute things to wear that are comfortable for my growing belly, and I had a blast last night at Ross, Old Navy, and Motherhood Maternity buying clothes that actually fit me. As a matter of fact I may or may not have done a little jig in the dressing rooms on several occasions because I was so excited. After Taylor went to bed last night Sean and I curled up on the sofa and watched So You Think You Can Dance before I zonked out for the night. I had a great day, and thanks to all of you who wished me well via Facebook, calls, and texts. I feel so loved!

It's been a hectic week, but I've had so much fun too. We've only been here six days and already I feel at home. I take Taylor over to the playground at our apartment complex almost every day, and we've already been to the pool twice since moving here. I'm excited to be really active this summer and to make the most of the warm weather.

I hope you're all enjoying your summer too!

Dear Taylor,

I think you are the greatest kid in the world. I love snuggling with you every morning and playing with you all day. I am amazed at the things you say, the questions you ask, and your outlook on life. You have the greatest sense of humor and make me laugh out loud on a regular basis. You get bigger and smarter every single day and I'm so proud of you.

I hope that some day you'll understand just how much I love you. You are one of the best things that has ever happened to me and I'm grateful for every second I get to spend with you.

Loving you always,
Mommy

Oh happy day!

Today is a momentous day, ladies a gentlemen.

A day that will go down in infamy as one of the most glorious days of my life.

A day to truly rejoice and celebrate.

I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Why, Anne? What has happened that is so amazing and spectacular and makes this day so wonderful?"

Because today, dear friends, after being potty trained for almost a year, my son went potty...

All. By. Himself.

I'm talking went up to the bathroom, turned the light on, pulled down his drawers, did his business, flushed the potty, pulled his drawers back up, and turned off the light.

Yes, his pants were a little (or a lot) crooked when he strutted down with a smug big-boy look on his face. But hey, nobody's perfect.

My life just got a lot easier today. Now excuse me while I lay back, put my feet up, and bask in the glory that is having a big kid.


P.S. No one remind me that I'll have to go through this all over again with baby #2, please. Thanks.

Yum.

This is my current snack of choice.
Craisins + Almonds = Mmm

New car!

Our beater Nissan broke down last week, forcing us to buy a new car sooner than we'd originally planned. There isn't much I hate worse than buying a car because salesmen drive me CRAZY, but luckily we found a really great place and worked with some really great people to get us into exactly what we wanted.


Sean and I have been researching small SUVs for a while now, looking for something with the leg room that my abnormally tall husband needs along with the space to put two car seats. The one we kept coming back to again and again was the Honda Element. It has more leg room than any other SUV and has extra bonuses that we really love like the ability to fold the seats up for more space, rubber floors for easy cleaning, and a built-in iPod dock.

We've been car-hunting for days and finally found the one we wanted at the price we wanted.


Let me just say I LOVE this car! I love everything about it. I'm also happy that Sean will most likely be able to eventually fix the Nissan so that I can use the Element. I'm so happy to finally have my own car and that it's big enough for our growing family and rugged enough for our lifestyle. Now all I want to do is go camping!


It was a little frustrating that we had to buy before we were ready to, but I'm happy with our purchase and glad that it's over and done with.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had so much fun on Memorial Day weekend! I actually felt good all three days which was a miracle, and we were determined to have a great kick-off to summer.

On Saturday we went with my sister and her boyfriend to Tracy Aviary at Liberty Park. I haven't been there since I was in elementary school and it has changed so much! It was a lot bigger and had more exhibits than I remember and it was really interesting to see so many different kinds of birds.


My favorites were the flamingos and the eagles. We also were able to go to the bird show which was really fun.



Taylor liked it, but also had a TON of energy and spent most of the time running...


...and running...


...and running.


After leaving the Aviary we went over to the fountains at the park so Taylor could play in the water. This has become his new favorite thing and we've been back several times since then to splash in the water and cool off our tootsies.



On Sunday we celebrated my brother's 23rd birthday at my dad's house. We had pizza for dinner and after cake and ice cream the boys had a huge Nerf ball fight and Taylor had an absolute blast. He loves being a big boy.


Monday my mom took us to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. It was quite a drive, but TOTALLY worth it. This place is a little boy's dream! It's basically a huge park with large dinosaur statues everywhere. They've also got a museum, playground, cafe, and gift shop. We were there for so long and still weren't able to see everything before Taylor got tired and was ready to leave.





This is by far my very favorite picture from the park (who else thinks Sean should make this his Facebook profile picture?):


We had a great holiday weekend and it was a great way to welcome the sunny season. We plan on doing a lot of fun things this summer, including our first camping trip some time in July. I love summer!

Moving. Again.

That's right, folks. The Nichols family is doing what we do best - moving. Why, you ask? Well, for a few reasons.

First of all, Sean's commute is just too much for either of us to handle. He spends almost 2 hours every day commuting, and not only is it wasting his time, but it's wasting a ridiculous amount of money. We thought we could handle it, but we just can't. Between his frustration with being in the car so much and my crazy pregnancy emotions, it'd just be better for everyone if we lived closer to Sean's work again.

Secondly, we have a lot of connections in Utah County that we're just not willing to part with. I have an amazing OB/GYN in Provo that I just can't part ways with, and on top of that Taylor has a great pediatrician just around the corner from my doctor. The plan was to find new doctors once we moved up to Salt Lake, but none compare with our doctors.

Another reason we're moving back is because we're having a hard time dealing with our neighbors here. I won't go into too much detail about it, but I'll just say that we can't go another month dealing with an out-of-control teenager and a house full of second-hand cigarette smoke.

I feel kind of silly moving again, especially since we're moving back to the same area we left (in a place owned by our previous landlord, nonetheless), but I just have to think back to when Sean and I were debating moving up here in the first place. We told each other that if this didn't work, we could just move back; that's the beauty of renting! Well, it didn't work. So we're moving back.

I'll miss a lot about living in Salt Lake. It was nice to be closer to family and Sean and I really love the area we're in right now. It's been great to be in walking distance to Liberty Park and to be closer to a lot of the shops and restaurants we love. Unfortunately though, the cons outweigh the pros and we both know we'll be happier back in Orem.

We'll be moving in less than two weeks and I'm excited to move, but not excited for the actual moving part. My home is once again full of boxes, and I spend every waking hour thinking about all the things that need to be done. The hardest part about this particular move is that I'm just barely out of my first trimester and still suffering through a fair amount of nausea most days. I'm hoping that at least by the time we move I will feel better so I can unpack without feeling queasy.

This will be our (gulp) ninth move in almost eight years, which neither of us is proud of. However, the plan is to buy our first house in the spring or summer of next year, and hopefully that will keep us anchored in one place for a while. With Taylor starting school in a couple of years and our next baby on the way we know it's definitely time that we settle down soon.

Plus, I'm really sick of packing.

T-rex and Guns

Taylor told me a story today that I typed out for your reading pleasure. Without further introduction, I give you:

"The Giants of Natural History" (Yes, he really said this was the name of the story.)

One day there was a big t-rex that had a gun and he wanted to have another gun that was a 6-shooter. But the man said, "You can't have this gun because you can only have one gun. Sorry." And then he went away with a sad, sad kind of look. And then his mommy and babies came and then something happened. The dinosaur went onto the earth that people were on and then he disappeared. The end.

Riveting, wasn't it? This little boy has quite an imagination.