DAY SHIFT!!! ACCEPTED!!!

For the first time in 3 years, John is going to be on day shift and I am THRILLED!!!  This means that he will be home at 3 every day and can play with me and Carter, eat dinner with us, and just enjoy all the things that we haven't been able to do in so long.  It seems like John has always worked swing because when we were first married, he had 2 different jobs where he was required to travel a lot so I didn't see him much then, either.  This will really be the first time since we've been married that we will be able to enjoy each others' company in the evenings!  I am so incredibly excited!  

Also, I GOT ACCEPTED INTO THE ELED PROGRAM!!  Yee Haw!  That was about a week ago but I haven't had a chance to share my good news on my blog just yet, so yeah!  John and my bestest friend and sister, Crystal, were both there when I opened my acceptance letter!  If only my mom were there, I would have had my 3 best friends there to share in my joy!  I am excited ecstatic to take on this new adventure, but also a little nervous terrified.  Level II starts this fall and my schedule is INTENSE!  I will be doing my practicum Tuesday through Thursday and will be in one of the schools from 8 AM-4PM.  Then when I'm not in the school, I will be in class up at USU.  It's going to be craziness but I'm super happy that things are finally rolling and I am one step closer to graduating and starting my dream job!  (aside from being a mom)

Keep checking back!  After this weekend, I'll be posting pictures from all our fun adventures this weekend!  Carter's first experience with fireworks, his first boating trip and HARRY POTTER!!  Woot!

Much Love,

Jess

Brace yourself for update overload! AH!

It's been far too long since I've blogged but we have been so incredibly busy moving in and getting the house in order that I've hardly had time to breathe.  But here I am, ready to share what's been happening with us lately :)  Well, as you should all know by now, we've moved into our new house and we're loving every single second.  It's so great to finally be able to live in the place that we've been spending every second of our lives working on it seems ha ha.  

My grandparents, aunts, cousin and uncle were able to come visit for my mom's wedding (which I have zero pictures of).  I got this great shot of the boys and my grandpa laying on the floor in our living room.  So cute :)

Great grandpa and Carter :)

Here we are before the open house on June 23.  The picture is kind of small but you get the idea :)

Here's one of us outside our house.  It was so incredibly hot that day and our AC units didn't get installed until the next day so we were basically melting inside ha ha.

The open house went really well even though it was sweltering inside.  We had way more people that I would have ever imagined walk through out house and it was so nice to hear all the compliments, not only on the house but to us for working so hard to make it happen.  I guess I'd never really thought that we deserved that much credit but it was nice :)  Right after the open house, we started painting.  I just painted an accent wall in our living room and Carter's bedroom.  I haven't taken pictures yet because my mom is going to be painting a mural on Carter's wall and I still have a lot of decorating to do.  But I will be posting lots of house pictures once it is exactly how I want it :)

After we moved in, Crystal came up with Riley and she bought this cute little pool for them to play in.  Riley was way more interested in crawling around the deck (which was burning hot so I'm not sure why...) but they had a lot of fun :)

 Bubba playing in his new room while mom cleaned

Katelyn insisted on feeding Carter...my thought, "well, she can't make that big of a mess"...WRONG!  I went to the bathroom and came back to this ha ha.  It was a great picture though ;)

I'm pretty sure I took this picture before we moved but I love it so much!  His 2 little teeth just make me smile :D

Carter had his first trip to the aquatic center and he absolutely loved it!  He is such a little water baby.  We had a lot of fun.  He loves his cousins

Playing in the pool 

Taking a break while they scan for floaters ;)

 

  

he he he

On July 3rd, we went up to First Dam and had a picnic.  It was such a beautiful day and it was really nice to just lay in the shade with my 2 boys and not think about anything.  

My boys :D 

Anyone who knows John knows that he hates getting his picture taken.  On a rare occasion, I can get him to take some and they usually end up like this ^^

But sometimes we get a great one like this ^^

Such a little ham sandwich!  ha ha, I love him!

  

Loves his mama :D

On the 4th, we went to John's mom for dinner and had a way fun time playing with the Kohler clan!  We love them all so much and are excited that we live down the street from them.  

  

Love being silly with the boys :)

Me and my favorite lil red head, Mayson!

 

Lovin' being bare foot in the summer!

 

 

What little cheese balls!

 

Daddy and Carter swinging

 What a cute family ;)

All the kids on the 4th.  Brooklyn wasn't happy because Stacy took her binky lol.

Carter has recently decided that he needs to help me feed him and this is usually what he looks like when we're dona ha ha.  I love him!

       

 

Poor little guy got his first big owie :(  He bumped his head on the chair when he was crawling around one night.  Luckily it didn't bruise too bad.  Hopefully he gets his resilience from John because I bruise super easy.

Carter is getting so big and so independent!  He crawls all over like a maniac!  He is getting so fast that sometimes I will turn around and he'll be clear across the room or down the hall.  He pulls himself up all over the furniture and will stand by himself for a few seconds (until he realizes what's going on and gets scared and falls on his bum).  I bet he will be walking in no more than a month.  I honestly can't believe that he is almost 9 months old!  I was looking at pictures of him yesterday and almost started crying.  It seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital and now he is almost walking!  I know it's so cliche but it honestly just happens so fast!  I just try to enjoy each moment that I have with him and not get too upset if he plays with my decorations or puts fingerprints on my glass cabinet.  The fingerprints are memories, not messes!  So if you come to my house and my tv stand doors are covered in fingerprints, you'll know why ;)

John has been SOOOOOO much happier since we've moved into the house.  I think we all have.  Working 60 hours a week was just taking a huge toll on him and I'm so glad that he's been able to go back to his normal schedule.  It's made us all so much more pleasant to be around ha ha.  John is still loving his job.  His brother keeps trying to get him to apply for this computer job and honestly, I think he would like it and it pays a lot more than what he's making now but he is comfortable where he is and I would never ask him to leave that and take a chance at a place that he may hate.  We are happy living in poverty ;)  ha ha ha!  Just kidding

I'm just enjoying being home with Carter every day.  I was supposed to have a job this summer but it kinda fell through and I can't say that I'm terribly upset about it.  I wasn't getting enough Carter time so I'm taking advantage of the few months we'll have together before school and work start up again.  I did take summer classes and have one online class that I'm still in.  My 2 other classes were only a few weeks and are already over.  I hate online classes.  I don't think I'll ever take another one...I'm just too forgetful and by the time I remember something is due, it's that night and I'm scattering to get it finished and submitted in time.  I'm doing really well in school.  I applied for the Elementary Education program at the beginning of Summer semester and had my group interview on Wednesday.  I felt very good about it and they told me I would be getting a letter in the mail within a week letting me know if I've been accepted into the program or not.  I'm crossing my fingers and will let everyone know as soon as I find out!  If I get accepted, there's a good chance I will begin Level 2 in the Fall which is going to keep me pretty busy, but I like being busy :)

Well, I think that about covers what we've been up to the past few months ha ha.  I will be more frequent with my blogging now that the house is finished, I promise :)

As always, thanks for reading!

::insert catchy title here::

OK so it's only been like 2 months since my last post...sorry about that.  Well, everything is going marvelously (that sure is a word).  The house should be finished in less than a month...yep you read that correctly...LESS THAN ONE MONTH and we will have our own home, we will be home-owners, Carter will have a home... :D  They poured our sidewalk today, we've been working on our rock on the outside of our home, we got carpet on Tuesday...yep.  It's super exciting.  Here are the latest pictures since I haven't added any since...I don't even know what the last ones were so here you go.

 Our Cabinets and hardwood floors in the kitchen

 More cabinets

 Master bath

 Counter tops

 Master bath

 Carpet in the living room

 Carter's room

 Study

 Guest bath lights

 Master bath

 Ugly linoleum that is getting replaced with tile when we move in

 Front entry that's way dirty!  This was like almost a month ago

 Kitchen before cabinets

 Exterior lights

 My dining room chandelier that I LOVE

 Lights that are pretty much everywhere else in my house because they were cheap

 Rock that you can barely see because of the stupid sun

Close up of the rock.  I did this wall all by myself :)

We also have a beautiful deck in the back that John and I built.  It doesn't have the railing yet...hopefully Saturday and then I will post pictures.  Our open house is set for the 23rd of June.  If you can make it, you should totally come because it's going to be off the hook (yep, totally just said that).  

Carter is getting SO big!  I can't even handle it!  When he turned 6 months, we got some super cute pictures done. We had a million taken, but these are some of my favorites.  Enjoy :)

 The personality of Carter :)

 Our Little Man

 He is like 100% personality!!!

 "Squash Face"

We are the same child...are we not??????  This is me when I was little!  I can't believe how much we look alike...it's uncanny to me!  The end lol.  

Carter is great though.  He got his first tooth AND started crawling on the same day, May 16th.  Now he has 2 teeth on the bottom and is no longer "snaggle tooth".  He is so cute with his lil chompers :D  He also crawls all over the place and is absolutely adorable.  He is seriously SO much fun right now.  I could sit and play with him all day long.  He talks up a storm (usually "da da da da da da", "ma ma ma ma ma ma", "pa pa pa pa pa" etc.  He is funny.

This is the 16th when he got his tooth.  I was trying to take a picture but he just wasn't having it.  I got this cute one in the process though :)  The next picture is of us at my friend, Bree's, wedding.  This is before we danced during the "mother-son" dance :D

 

 

 He recently started this thing where he rips his socks off...and EATS them...yep.  These are from today

He is too funny!

John and I are both doing great.  I started school again this summer which has been great.  I am taking Elementary School Music, English, and Sign Language.  I absolutely LOVE my classes!  English is kinda hard because it is online (remind me to NEVER take an online class again).  But my other 2 classes are GREAT!  I have always had a great love for music and sign language has become a new passion of mine.  I started the class 2 weeks ago and I could probably carry on a decent conversation with a deaf person at this point.  I have a great teacher and I am going to pursue ASL :)

My weight loss has gotten to a total of 45 pounds lost since the first of the year.  I'm going to take a "fat pants" picture right now...please excuse the fact that I have no make up on, my hair is wet...get over it ha ha.

I honestly CANNOT believe I ever fit into these pants...in fact, these are the pants I was wearing when we took Carter's 3 month pictures.  They were TIGHT on me then!  Makes me sick!  I'm so glad I have been able to stay consistent with my weight loss.  Only 25 more pounds to go until I reach my goal and I know I can do it because I've already come so far!  I'm taking a kickboxing class at USU in the fall that I'm super excited about :)

John is doing great too.  His brother has a friend that works for this computer company and I guess they're hiring and Steve told his friend about John and I guess he is way interested in having him apply for the job.  It pays way better than his current job but we're not sure it has benefits and if it doesn't, there's no way he could switch.  I asked him how he felt about it and he said, "I'm thinking about it".  Typical John...but that gives me hope that he really is at least giving it some thought.  It would be nice for him to be able to work with computers.  He really loves them and I think that's probably what he will end up going out in.  We'll see how that goes but I'm not getting my hopes up.  He really is happy at his current job, I just think he would really enjoy working with computers.  

Anyhoozer, this is getting extremely long...for those of you who are actually still reading ha ha.  Good night and happy Memorial Day!  We're taking a family trip to my dad's grave on Monday.  It's been way too long since I've been up there and I'm excited to just sit and think about him for a while :)