On Wednesday, it’s customary for Alan to close the office down around 3pm.  On that day, I was at lunch and around 12:50 he called my cell and said to not bother coming back to the office.  It was just too slow to bother.  Of course, if I would’ve known, I would’ve ran my errands before coming home and then just not bothered going back.  I packed up Elizabeth and she helped mommy deliver papers to the court, GAL’s and county attorney’s office.  I’m not sure if anyone is sincere, but they say they love to see her and she’s so beautiful and her hair is lovely and she’s getting so big, etc.   Elizabeth just smiles and crawls all over their office.

Thanksgiving day wasn’t very eventful.  It was raining as we drove up to Glendale, which was very scenic up through Zion (waterfalls and wild animals galore).  We got to my parents house only moments before the food was ready.  We ate and everything was immediately cleared away and everyone scattered to go down for a nap.  Paul & I packed back up and headed to Orderville to visit the Walker’s.  We had a short visit and then drove home. 

Black Friday is today.  Nutshell:  We’re both very tired from the early rising to buy stuff.  We didn’t spend a fortune and we didn’t need or want very much, but the few things we got were worth it.   Elizabeth is so worn out from yesterday’s events that she has taken 2 naps and was wanting a 3rd, but we ended up just putting her to bed at 6:30.  That’s extremely early for her, but she just couldn’t manage any longer.  Paul picked her up and she just put her head on his shoulder — didn’t even wave goodnight to me and he carried her away.

Cameron had to be at work at 5am today and when i went into Target late this morning, he was scrambling around like crazy (like they all were).  He’s exhausted also.  It’s currently 8pm and I think we’re all headed to bed here shortly.

Poor Elizabeth has been cranky and irritable and pulling at her ears.  We decided she probably caught my cold and it’s time to take her to the doctor, even though she hasn’t been running a fever.  This morning, she starts putting her finger in her mouth.  We’re thinking sore throat and she’s sicker than we thought. 

I put my finger in her mouth only to discover 2 molars!  These teeth didn’t just barely break through, either.  They’re proper teeth that have come in at least a week ago, or more.

   Elizabeth discovered Oreo’s.  I had some out for a recipe i’m making, so I gave her one side of the cookie (with no filling).  Just a minute or two later, this is what she looked like.  Doesn’t she look proud of herself?  (Sorry, this was as still as I could get her to be).

**NOTE:  i keep getting asked how many Oreo’s she ate.  Elizabeth ate one side of one cookie.  It just looks like she ate a lot more.

We got a chainsaw this weekend and cut some limbs out of the large tree in our front yard on Saturday.  Some limbs were so dry that we were able to just put them straight into the fireplace, which was nice & cozy.  We didn’t get any digging done, as was predicted.  We should be getting some rain this week, so we thought we should clear the rain gutters and trim the tree before it was too late.

We’ve bought a wheelbarrow, some cement tools, and some more cinder blocks.  On Friday after work, or Saturday, we’re going to begin work on the walls outside.  Most of this weekend will probably be digging, but hopefully we can get a small bit of wall put up. 

Elizabeth is loving her new toof.  She plays with it with her tongue a lot.  She’s also standing and walking more and more every day.  A funny thing we noticed….. She has a jumperoo which she absolutely loved.  We went to put her in it again and she freaked out!  She likes standing by it, walking around it, and playing with all of the spinny things and lights, but she doesn’t want to go in it anymore.  Weird.

On Friday evening, Jessica and her sister Melissa are having a watch party.  Elizabeth and I will be going, of course.   We might not buy anything, but you know how we both love to hover around a snack table!

That front tooth of Elizabeth’s that has been coming in for the past few months FINALLY poked through this morning!  We are so excited for her.  Because of this tooth, and she has a tiny cold also, her appetite has changed a bit and she’s lost a few ounces.  She’s even started waking up in the night now & then.  It’s obvious that this has been very painful for her, poor thing. 

Elizabeth is taking a few steps here & there all by herself.  She can still crawl way faster than walking.  We’re not looking forward to chasing her around, but I suppose this is just a part of growing up.  Not long now until we start the potty training.  The plan is to have her trained and have money saved up so we can go to England in April.   We’re going to get the passport applications ready before the end of the year, we hope, but definitely by the end of January.

We have decided to make a special area for Buster, so he doesn’t poo all over the back lawn.  This is getting important now that Elizabeth is starting to toddle around.  So this Saturday, we started prepping the area for the block wall.  The floor had gravel on it, so we relocated the gravel to the driveway where Cameron parks, so that looks a bit nicer.  We also ripped out some plants that we had been meaning to tear out since we moved in.  Along the sides of the area were some flagstones.  We moved them all to the front of the house.  We plan on making a flagstone path from the street to the front door.  

My mom & dad were in town today also.  We were working hard outside, so mom brought over some lunch and ate it with us while we explained the big plan for the yard.  We then went to Costco with them.  Elizabeth even let grandma hold her without freaking out!  She’s getting to be so big!

Cameron had to work, so he missed out on everything.  Next up for the yard:  we need to square off the area where the block wall will go for buster’s yard.  We need to buy the blocks & mortar and Paul will show off his brick laying skills.  (This should be fun to watch.)  Then we need to prep the area for the flagstones.  It’s all very hard work, but the yard is looking SOOOOO much better than when we first moved in.

Within 10 days, there are 3 birthdays in my family.  My dad, Daniel & David.  So on Saturday afternoon we went to Daniel & Jessica’s for some cake & ice cream.  My mom, dad, Cynthia & Emily met us there.  After our visit, Daniel came by the house with his chain saw and cut up the tree stump in our front yard.  Later on, Ryan and his big muscles came over and (for a small fee) put all the bits of wood in the dumpster for us.

On Saturday evening, the runny nose started and I was officially sick.  Cameron skipped work that day because he had been throwing up, but we think that was just too much candy.  He didn’t go to work on Sunday either, but is at school today and will be working tonight. 

Sunday we decided that maybe some fresh air might be nice.  We bundled up Elizabeth in the stroller.  We couldn’t find her hat, so she borrowed mine.  She loves her new sunglasses — she thinks she’s so cool.

I’m feeling much better today.  After talking with one of the social workers at the court, I come to find out that this illness is going around at their office, so I’m sure I caught it at the courthouse.

Elizabeth is 14+ months old and isn’t walking yet.  My mom said that David didn’t walk until he was 16 months old.  So I figure Elizabeth should be starting to walk soon, right?  I know, we haven’t been teaching her how to walk.  In fact, we have been discouraging it as we’re not very young and are having trouble just keeping up with the crawling. 

Anyway, I stand Elizabeth up and scoot back — she takes 4 steps to get to me!!  Does that mean that she’s known how to walk all this time, but just prefers to crawl?   It has been said that the more your baby crawls, the more intelligent she will be, so I think she’s going to be a genius.

The final front tooth is still pending.  Poor little girl is miserable, but still sleeping through the night.

it has been over a week since we posted and we will catch up, we have some pics to share and all sorts

But both Kathy and I have suddenly been swamped with work to do and everything is needed yesterday!

Today is a momentous day, they are coming to dig up our main sewer line and fix it..

So if you are really lucky I will have pics of our front lawn with a huge hole in it!

ok the back hoe is here, gotta go..