5 Years Old and growing!

Today Andrew has turned 5 years old. In this past year he has accomplished so much! Here are a few highlights that we are so proud of!

(Picture modified to protect the innocent)

Here's Andrew finally learning how to go potty. I just couldn't believe when he was independently going by himself. What an accomplishment!!!



Here Andrew is finally understanding the concept of pedaling his bike. All it took was for his friends to ride on their bikes to get him to were he wanted to learn.



Andrew wanted to be Spider-Man for Halloween. He wore this practically everyday for a whole month. But in doing so it has helped him to pretend play which we have been working on since he was 2 yrs old.


Andrew helping me make a cake. He is always so helpful by pouring in the ingredients into the bowl and mixing it up. This little act has helped him understand instructions as well as being independent in doing things for himself.



Andrew learning to care about others feelings and sharing. He's doing well in recognizing when someone is sad, angry or happy. He definitely wants people to have "happy faces". He'll come up to me and put his finger on the corner of my eye and he'll say "happy lineses, happy faces" I'm not sure where he got that but it makes him happy doing it.

I'm truly blest to have Andrew in my life and I'm so grateful for what he teaches me everyday! I love him so much! Happy Birthday, sweetie.

Design Star!

The bedroom makeover victim: The gal on the left

Chloe & my Sister Dana

My niece Chloe was turning the fun age of 16. Instead of having a party she wanted her aunt Linda, me, & her mom to decorate her dull/boring room into an elegant room perfect for a girl coming of age.

List:
Chandelier
paint: purple/lavendar (her favorite color)
ELEGANT (she repeated that many times)

My sister Dana set out to find the perfect headboard and dresser. Me, I was to find curtains and bedding. Linda painted and accessorized (this gal is goooood. She needs no tape, she paints perfect and stays in the lines. I know because I saw her do it also in Abbey's room.)

I was at TJ Maxx when I saw some black and white shower curtains for only 9.99 each and I knew they would go perfectly with her bedding that we found on KSL. Yes you read correctly..... I found shower curtains, who says you can't use shower curtains as drapes. I tried calling Dana about 30 times (no lie) to tell her about them, I was so excited. It worked fabulously. My sister Dana took the curtains and cut them in half, since shower curtains are very wide and made the curtains longer, we were thrilled.

The whole time we were doing this Chloe could not look or peek so we had about a week to pull it all together but when it came together... it was like budder.

Dana found an antique headboard that went perfect with a dresser that my mom gave her for the cause. We painted the dresser white to match the bed. The mirror was also my moms, it was from the 60's/70's gold plastic era and so it's amazing what white paint will do. A friend of mine gave me the chandelier which after a coat of white paint viola! perfect! Dana worked her magic with fabric and glue and turned the lamp shades on the chadelier and the bed lamp into works of art. Linda topped it all off with the perfect pictures and accesories all around the room.

Total cost of project: $300. PERFECTION!

I would like to introduce you to .....(drum roll).... Chloe's bedroom makover.

(trumpets sounding!!!)


Sorry no before shots.

The elegant room.

The culprits:

Annemarie, Dana, Linda
(So, apparently I didn't get the memo to wear blue and green!!!!)

The Happy 16 year old.
you deserve it all!!! Your the best Chloe, we love you!!! And we had a blast doing it.
(hey did anyone notice Chloe's in blue too..... hmmph!!...)

Thrifty remodel

I would love to share with you my playhouse project. My brother J. built this for his girls and of course when we moved in we were fortunate to inherit it. I was BEYOND THRILLED as I always wanted a playhouse when I was growing up and now my kids will be able to have fun in it. We just need to make sure to keep the wasps from having their family reunions there.

So as it needed to be repainted since the long hot summers and the cold, cold winters were not so kind to the paint and me being a thrifty girl and thinking what paint do I have??? Pink! yes, lots & lots of pink paint will do. It was left over from Abbey's room project. So Abbey and I embarked on our project on a nice warm autumn day.

So without further ado, here is what transpired. Enjoy!

Needs a repainting

Painted the base coat 2 pinks.

Painted pink/white strips on the eave and white on the trim work.

I painted some shelves that I had in the garage black and put them under the windows to hold flowers and I had an old crib railing from a crib that got a lot of use (Thanks to Lisa P. for giving it to us) So I painted it white and used it for a porch railing. It works perfect! We LOVE IT!
Eventually I want to build real shutters that actually open and close over the windows to help especially during the winter. We will be landscaping this next summer around the little house and thanks to some good friends who gave us their little tikes kitchen set it will go in here for lots of fun cooking (and cleaning :) Let's just say.... Tea party anyone??/

roots are grow'in

I was looking through some older pictures of Abbey and I couldn't believe how much her hair has FINALLY! grew in. It's so much fun putting her hair in pig tails now; whereas before she basically had a few strands of hair per pig tail.

1 1/2 years old

2 1/2 years old

Abbey is now as tall as some 3 or even 4 year olds. Imagine that!

50 years and counting!

Happy Anniversary - a little belated - to my wonderful parents. They were married in the SLC Temple on August 21st which happens to be my hubbies birthday. We didn't celebrate their 50th on their actual anniversary or my sweet husbands birthday because well..... because of the fact we moved to our new home on that day. So thanks to dad and Court for being willing to haul our furniture on a day we should have been celebrating but everyone was happy that we got our first home.

When we did celebrate we gathered at Maddox in Perry, UT and we had a wonderful time sharing fun memories of both mom and dad.

Thank you for showing us how to love, be responsible, work hard, forgive, and have fun. We all love you both very much!

My mom with her two sisters; Vickie & Joyce.

Dad and Mom enjoying themselves.

Last but not least; the three most fabulouso woman.
Dana (my sister), Mom, and me

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!

Andrew is doing incredibly well at school. He LOVES the "squeaky bus". His teachers write about his day in his daily notebook. It's fun to see his daily progress. The other day his teacher wrote and said that when Andrew got mad at her because he didn't want to do something he said "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, AMY!!!!" and she had to turn away so she could bust out laughing.

Obviously I say that a lot, but I guess I have to be happy that this is the worst thing that I say or else he would be repeating those words too!

Andrew standing with Abbey in front of our newly painted door (deep plum).

Giving Abbey a kiss

sahara cares

Andrew with Jengo Phet, Star Wars.

Recently we went to a Autumn carnival for Autism, hosted by saharacares.net
This was our first year going and we had such a good time. It felt good to see others there who were dealing with autism and it's cruel invasion on our families with great strength and determination.

It felt wonderful to not feel like we are being watched or stared at every time Andrew did something that was atypical for his age like echoing what people said, looking at a glare for longer than he should or tip toeing while he walked. I knew no one was judging me and it was such a relief. We were met by people who were full of happy faces. The pride in each parents eye when our child that is afflicted with autism can overcome obstacles and triumph what some thought was impossible.

I remember reading about potty training with children who have autism.... AFTER... Andrew was potty trained (am I forever thankful, too) because I read that children who have autism will be urine trained but not poop trained for a whole other year. What a miracle that Andrew was literally potty trained in a day with little accidents in that first week.

I'm so proud of Andrew. When we were putting him to bed he looked right at me (which is rare) and said "Mommy, your name is Annemarie" and then he went around the room and said that about everyone's name. Then he said "I live in Clinton". Can you believe he knows his address and phone number. What a smart kid. He has to work 5 x what a typical child has to do just to understand the basics in life. But HE IS doing that, he is triumphing and overcoming his obstacles no matter how long it takes!

I'm learning so much from Andrew. He is my Hero!!!

Andrew with his face painted like Nemo.

Abbey with her face painted like a butterfly.

Andrew with Nemo and a staff member.

rooms, rooms, and more rooms.

Here we are, I finally got my pictures downloaded for all those who have been waiting to see what I've been doing since we got our first home. I painted one wall a dark espresso chocolate and I adore it! I have missed my Manhatten leather sleeper sofa! It's been in storage since after we lived in Connecticut. Taking it up 3 flights were we used to live was not an option. We hardly ever use this room as we are mostly in the family room. I have since put pictures up over the couch and I am looking for espresso drapes that have grommets on top and a white pin stripe. If you come across it please let me know. The dresser that houses the "funeral" looking lamps I repainted and changed the hardware to have a more updated modern feel to it. it was given to me by my friend who inherited it when she moved into her home. A while later I went into Downeast Outfitters Home and they had one similar only in white with the same harware on it asking for $400.00 which was a steal of a price and I got mine for $0. I call that some good luck and made me happy.
Abbey's room is called the "pink" room for obvious reasons. One of my friends helped paint and stripe the wall. I absolutely LOVE it. I got her bedset on KSL for cheap, my friends, it was what I wanted. The artwork of course is done by me for that personal touch.



I hung her blessing dress as well as Courtney's blessing outfit. I love to see them and remember her baby blessing and to look at how small she and Courtney used to be.I LOVE our family room! It's nice and roomy to have a great party. It goes right into the dining and kitchen. Off of the Kitchen is a little reading nook. Whenever someone calls me it takes me a while just to get my phone. I love the space!!!

Eventually I want to add crown molding to our cabinet tops and stain them a dark espresso chocolate and paint the walls a blue/grey much like the color of the ocean water when it's grey and cloudy, this way the couch will pop and stand out. I want to recover the "pleather" blue chairs that were given to us to a black and white toile or a real leather?? ideas are welcome on that one. Last but not least we are going to get med/dark wood floors put in throughout from the entry clear through to the kitchen area. Lot's to do but it will be so fun!
In our bedroom I wanted to mix colors and styles as I'm definitely what I would call eclectic in my style. The quilt hung over our bed is a baby quilt that my Grandma Gross made for my dad when he was a baby. So years ago I had it framed and I'm so happy I'm able to enjoy this piece of artwork everyday. The basket of quilts at the foot of the bed are all from both grandma's and one of them is called "Boston Commons" made from my Grandma Delila. When I was getting ready to get married she asked me if I wanted her to make a new quilt for me and I said no I wanted something she had already done and then she pulled out the quilt and said what the name was and I said "sold" obviously going on a mission to Boston and then living there I chose the "Boston commons" quilt. The chair by the desk I found at the DI for $5 bucks and I loved the yellow and I just spray painted the metal part white to freshen it up. I want to paint our room (wallpaper is out of the question as I had to remove it from Abbey's room and I made an oath after that , that I would NEVER get wallpaper on my walls.) I'm thinking a blue for the walls, I don't know give me your ideas??
So there you have it. There is a full basement that's bigger than the whole upstairs but unfinished. I just got a wicker couch from my sister-in-law gave me, that I put down stairs so that we can chill out and the kids can go bonkers and I want to be able to do more paintings so I won't have to worry about getting anything on the carpet at least for now. The downstairs will have 2 bedrooms, 1 full bathroom, exercise room, movie theater room, game room, food storage, I'm going to have under the stairs be a play room for the kids with windows on both sides of the wall. Lot's of possibilities.

Random thoughts

I just had to blog about something that I take for granted and that I'm extremely thankful for and that's the Priesthood. Yesterday Andrew came down with a high fever & didn't want to eat anything. When Courtney came home I was glad that I could ask at any moment and I knew he would be worthy to give him a blessing. Andrew was given a priesthood blessing through the power of Jesus Christ that he would be healed quickly and by the morning he was.

I know that it was through faith in our Savior Jesus Christ that Andrew was healed and it made me think of all the other blessings, healings, tender mercies we are given every day and sometimes I look past it and think it was a coincidence but deep down I know Christ is there and He LIVES, He really does live and he loves us all so much that he's just waiting for us to ask and to remember him.

I guess I've been thinking a lot about this due to the loss of loved ones. I remember when I first met Courtney and we were on a blind date and I had no clue about his family life or anything and when he kept talking about him and his dad I thought that maybe his mom and dad were divorced so when I asked him about his mom he told me that she died in a car wreck when he was 15 yrs old.

Most often when people tell me of those whose loved ones have passed on I feel sorrow for them but when he told me about his mom I felt like I had known her and I just heard the news about her tragic death. It hit me so hard I had a huge lump in my throat and tears welling up in my eyes and all the while I'm thinking "Annemarie, do not cry!"

The next thing that Courtney told me was something I had been looking for in the person I wanted to marry it was FAITH and a lot of it. He said, " I know I'll see my mom again" and at that moment I honestly felt her presence in the car and my thought was I wonder if she is helping us get together because I honestly didn't have any feelings for Courtney at this time, I mean we had fun but no electricity to speak of..... not until the 3 date that is. :)

I find it fascinating how your testimony will either build or dwindle if we let it. One example I have of a testimony builder of the gospel of Jesus Christ was when I really LOVED Courtney and it was after our 4th date and the "electricity" finally hit me. I was waiting for him to call me and I called him to ask him out on a date to go to the E Center to watch a hockey game and he basically told me he had plans and I thought ... "Oh crap! he has a date" which I was right and so I became sooo depressed I knew he was the right man for me to marry and I thought we totally clicked. It had been 3 weeks about by this time.

So I as I was driving to meet my sister Dana I was talking to Heavenly Father about his predicament I was in. All of a sudden their was a strong feeling of peace and comfort and the words entered my mind from my right ear (it sounds bizarre but that's how it happened) it said "Do not worry, he will call you tonight!) at that moment my depression totally left, it was beyond having faith it felt like absolute knowledge that he will in fact call me tonight. So I didn't think about it at all the rest of the day. For the first time I was able to go about my life and be happy. That night I was at the house of the Dr. I worked for to meet his animals as I was going to stay there while he and his family went for a vacation. It was 9:30pm and All of a sudden I remembered what the voice told me and I jumped up and said I have to go home Courtney called me! I'm sure Dr. A. thought I was a bit much but oh well.

I got home and I looked at the message board my mom had and there was nothing written and I didn't panic or worry because I knew he would call because that's what I was told. I went into the living room and started talking to my mom about what I would be doing at Dr. A's and all of a sudden she said "Did you know Courtney called" and I flew out of my seat and said No why didn't you tell me and she said well I thought you would have looked at the caller ID and I said well I thought you would have written it up on the message board seeing how I've been so anxious to hear from him. Regardless, I called and we set up our 5th date which was the date that sealed it for him, it was our first kiss!

I've been blessed to have several experiences like that throughout my life and I know Heavenly Father is there and that Christ Lives and loves us all regardless of what we may think or do in our lives. He's perfect so he will be perfectly patient in waiting for us to come back or come closer to him.

In writing all of this I had the thought that maybe it was Elaine, Courtney's mom who wispered to me that day to not worry, that he would call me? just a thought.

It's funny how a sick child can provok you to think about your past and how you become who you are at this point in time.

I think for me it's all about perseverence and making those course corrections in your life to keep you connected to Christ and the truth.

Moving on up...the full story

You know the drill when you begin looking for a house..... looking, looking and more looking. We put offers in and no one wanted to come down so we kept looking and then there was this "perfect" house we put an offer in and they called our Realtor to say there were going to be multiple offers so she called us but only got Courtney since I was out with the girls. Does he call me.... no, which he was trying to be thoughtful in letting me have none interrupted time. So when I got home around 9pm I find out that we had a multiple offer situation and of course my Realtor goes to bed around 9pm so she wouldn't answer the phone and then came Sunday and by Monday the house was gone. Needless to say I was quite PEEVED! but like anything else time seems to heal all wounds.

During this time my brother and sister-in-law were trying to sell their house. 3600 sq ft. (not fully finished yet) over a 1/3 acre lot, 3 car garage, RV pad, Fire pit, HUGE garden, play house, nice neighborhood... quiet too, rambler, big open floor plan... perfect for parties! Everything on our list and more, the only reason why we didn't think about it was the high price they were asking and the longer commute Courtney would have to work. As we prayed about it we both felt good and when we talked to them they were willing to lower their price to what we wanted.

We've officially been moved in for a week and we LOVE it! The neighbors and ward members seem wonderful. The most important thing is that our kids love it, I can open the back sliding glass door and let them run around free as a bird, they love to go in the garden to pick raspberry's. This last Sat. we got up early and started weeding then ran two sec away to get plants and flowers and started some landscaping. I loved working with Courtney and I loved having the kids want to help water the flowers. Best of all the commute for Courtney isn't bad just 20 min.

The projects I've been working on have been painting one LR wall a dark espresso brown and we painted Abbey's room a light pink and did a 6 inch darker pink strip on one wall. Both rooms look fabulouso according to me. When I get my pictures downloaded I will show everyone my fun painting projects.

Movin on Up.. to the West side

Well no time to go into detail about what has been happening. I've been calling and emailing and changing our address because........


WE ARE MOVING INTO OUR FIRST HOME!!!!

We are very excited to be moving to Clinton! When we get settled I will share more info.

Loves to all!

The head of feathers

When Courtney got a hold of some feathers, off of a picture project that was shedding its creation, he decided to be creative and did Abbey's hair. As you can see he got a little carried away. He added feathers to her tiny pigtails for that punch of Pocahontas style that every little girl craves and loves.



Abbey giving her daddy a big huge thank you for her new Pocahontas look, which took about 2 seconds by the way.



Well mothers cannot be outdone! right? Not even when it takes 1 hour for hair curler time and a 1 minute fluffing the curls time.


But alas, when the final product arrived did Abbey go nuts and want to run to thank me for my effort and time that I had spent doing her beautiful curly locks hair? Nope as you will witness she stayed in the exact same position.




I guess when daddy does something, it overrides everyone else.

Lesson learned!

SummerTime

Several weeks ago the kids and I went to a water park with some friends and we had such a fun time! I just love Summer! Sleeping in. Having the windows open and the wonderful breeze coming through. Looking up at the beautiful blue skies, the smell of fresh cut grass, the sound of sprinklers. The yummy taste of a perfect sun warmed tomato. The best thing about summer is when you meet your new best friend and have the funnest memories with that new best friend.

I never would have known how close these two would become. I'm grateful they are best friends.

"The Winner Takes it .....OFF!"

Andrew loves to listen to ABBA when we go driving in the car and one of his favorite songs is "The Winner Takes it All" but as the title of this blogs suggest he likes to twist the words into his own and he sings with such passion but changes that last word to "off" instead of "all"

What a difference a word makes eh!

Make Way for Ducklings

Yesterday my sister and I took our kids to the Hogle Zoo. We had such a fun time seeing the animals, riding the merry-go-round and train.

So afterwords as we were driving down past Rice-Eccles stadium I was shocked to see cars stopped at a crosswalk were there were in fact a momma duck and 12 of her ducklings waddeling their way on the crosswalk.

Talk about shock! I thought the book "Make Way for Ducklings" was just a cute little tail about ducks in Boston and at one point in the book the ducks cross the road as a policeman halts all the traffic to let them pass. But to my surprise I guess ducks everywhere are smart enough to know to get on the crosswalk to cross to the other side and brave us humans in our cars.

It was so cool I had to write about it. To bad I could n't drive and take a picture at the same time.

finding, sanding, painting

Ok, so it's been FOREVER!!! since I put anything on my blog. well part of the problem was I didn't get my pictures downloaded and the other part was I've been too busy to actually sit and type up something... in a month I'll be ready to reveal why I've been so busy.. :) fun stuff!!

Anyway I wanted to show you my finally finished project that started last year during winter. Here's how the story goes.. all but 1 of my chairs bit the dust so I wanted an eclectic look and I went to a local vintage store and saw these chairs and this bench and I slaved
especially on the bench to take the multiple layers of paint and repainted it a cream color. I still need to find two more chairs, but I'll wait for now. Also, later on I'm going to refinish our table to a darker espresso brown.




So without further adieu here is the final result.

I Two

Two years ago today my little girl was born. I never would have realized what a help and blessing she would be to us and especially Andrew. Abbey is my little spit fire who rarely takes "NO" for an answer, she normally smiles and runs and does the thing you don't want her to do. Is that what the "Two's" are all about?!

Here are some highlights of the things my little Yodina is up to. WARNING: SOME PICTURES MIGHT BE A LITTLE REVEALING. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

She loves her boots and wears them whenever she gets a chance too. She points and says "I ...t boots". Instead of saying "want" she'll just do the "t" sound.



She loves to talk on the phone to "Bop", which is short for Grandma while going potty. She's not toilet trained yet but sometimes she likes to go because Andrew did. So very soon she will be.




She loves to run up and give you big tight hugs around your neck. She is always smiley and she is talking so much more, which I absolutely LOVE.




She is a daddy's girl all the way! She'll run up to meet Courtney when he comes home from work. She loves men so much she'll walk up to men she doesn't know and say hi and hold her arms so that they will pick her up. It doesn't matter where we are, restaurant, park, mall, church, men who come to our door. Women on the other hand she'll turn her head and act all shy to them and be very cold and not willing to go to them until she has gotten to know them. Funny girl!


Lot's of hugs and kisses my darling, you are the best thing in the world!!! Happy birthday!