The big news is that we are in the midst of selling our house. Right now the economy is in a pretty substantial recession and as such, housing prices have gone really low. It's a really hard time to sell a house, but a fantastic time to buy one as housing prices and interest rates haven't been this low in decades. We decided to just put our house up on the market and see what happens. It took a bit of work to get it ready, but we did it...and then it was under contract in 3 weeks. Unheard of in the market right now. We feel so blessed. Now I know that we really were supposed to move. We really needed a change.
The biggest problem is we don't know where to move. We want to find a neighborhood that has kids for the girls to play with and where Jev and I will be able to find friends. You can buy a really nice, new, big house right now, but in the areas where these are located, I worry about the neighborhoods being all about "keeping up with the Jones'" So figuring out where we want to go will be the next biggest challenge these next few months. I still really want to move to Heber but we can't decide if it would be truly feasible or not. I do know it would be really fun to live by my family AND Sarah. Now that Sarah has had her first baby, we could spend lots of time together. Anyway, for the next few months we are moving in with my parents, staying in the basement while we search. I hope we all survive each other.
That is the biggest family news. Otherwise, all is good. I just got my first real roadbike and I'm excited to use it in some triathlons this year. Having some sort of race to be looking forward to continuously is what keeps me sane and happy. Jevan thinks I'm crazy but I love to run, to exercise, to make my body work hard and be strong. I think I am addicted to endorphins. Right now I am also driving around a rental car because the subaru got rear-ended when the girls and I were returning from visiting a friend in Eagle Mountain. It should be fixed by the end of the week.
Jevan still travels quite a bit with work and while it is hard on me and the girls sometimes, he is racking up lots of skymiles for us to use! Jevan has started a city league basketball team. It means he plays several days a week between his city league and ward ball teams. Jevan continues to be the joker in the family - usually happy and crazy and making us laugh. He loves to tease, tickle and wrestle with the girls.
Now, onto the girls:
Jane: Jane is growing up so fast! She is only 3 but everyone says she seems much older because she is so verbal and articulate. She always wants to play with the older kids. Everyone continues to be her friend and she is quite a charmer. When we get out of the car at the park and we see other kids there, Jane yells out; "Look Mom, my friends are here!", even though she has no idea who any of them are. People in the ward say they are mad at us for leaving because we are taking Jane away. She has won the heart of so many people with her unusual warmth, friendliness, and confidence.
Jane is finishing up preschool and dance this month and I also put her in a "smart-start soccer class". She loves all of these things and looks forward to all of them. At the end of this month is her final dance performance with South Valley Creative Dance. I have really loved this dance co. They are about as close to Virginia Tanner as you can get but without all the expense. Jane's preschool teacher says Jane is a pretty sharp cookie and will probably be reading soon. This I actually know because we have been working on it, bit by bit. Jane really showed an interest in learning to read so I got her some early reading books that she gets to mark off on a chart as she masters each book. She knows simple sight words and is learning to sound out other shorter words. She also loves to practice writing her letters and numbers. I got her an writing board book with eraseable markers and she will spend a full hour working on tracing and writing her letters. Her preschool teacher says the only thing that doesn't keep her focus is coloring things slowly and deliberatly. She doesn't care about staying in the lines.
She also has this amazing vocabulary and is constantly pulling out words that we had no idea she even knew. The most incredible part is that not only can she say bigger words, but she knows what they mean for the most part.
Jane has kept her sweet manner for the most part. She is a fun 3 year old. She sure does ask a lot of questions though. Somedays I get really tired of the word "why?" She is trying to learn how to play with Allie but the two fight quite a bit. Mostly because Jane likes to bark orders and Allie doesn't like to take orders from ANYONE. But when they do play nicely together, it's really cute. i hope they grow to become good friends. The worst is actually bathtime. They are in too close of proximity to each other and bug each other to death. There is continual fighting most days.
Again, though, Jane has stayed very sweet. She will randomly tell Jevan and I that she loves us and will come up and give us a hug and kiss....all on her own and out of the blue. It makes my entire day. She is very loving and motherly too, and loves to cuddle with babies and other small folk.
Allie is cute and funny and a REAL handful. She is exercising her independence more everyday, and wants to always be doing things by herself. She doesn't like help, especially from Jane. She is still a very busy creature and is always on the move and getting into things. Her words have really improved though and that is helping with her temper tantrums. Allie has been acquiring language in a funny way - she waited a long time to develop a few single words, but then skipped all the rest and went straight to sentences. Instead of just "milk" she started saying..."I NEEEED milk" . Instead of saying "help" like most kids do, she says a garbled version of..."Mom, can you help me please?" Most of what she says are 2 to 4 word sentences. Sometimes there is only one word in the sentence that you can actually understand, but we almost always get the gist of what she is saying.
Some of my favorite phrases are: "oh..thankyewvewymuch..." and when you tell her thank you she says: "welkie!"
I have found Allie has my heart for animals. She LOVES them. She gets all excited over birds, wants to pet every dog she sees, and follows any cat around trying to pet it until it eventually bites her (like my parent's cat). Jasper hurt his paw a couple of months ago, and every time we went to the vet to have the bandage changed, Allie would cry when they would take Jasper away to the back room.
Allie is getting taller and leaner too. She is also very strong. She loves playing in the water and I am always pulling her away from the bathroom sink. She has a fascination with the toliet but is still a long ways off of being ready to potty-train. She also still loves shoes and is always trying on a different pair whenever she can. We always have small shoes strewn all over the house.
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