Gilbert, AZ

We took an unexpected trip to Gilbert this weekend. Joe and I were looking something up on the computer and he says "lets look at appliances at lowes" So we go to the website and see that they are having a huge Memorial Day sale on appliances. We see that we can get all new appliances for a great deal. This gets us thinking. To back up for a second, we never were considering getting new appliances until we found out about this roach problem. Roaches live in appliances because they like the heat they produce. When Joe went down the other weekend to put out some more roach stuff he took apart the appliances and found hundreds of roaches in them. EWEEEE! Then when we saw we could get a good deal on appliances plus interest free financing for 18 months we decided to go for it.

We headed to Gilbert on Sunday and stopped by the house to check it out. I hadn't been there since the renters just moved out so I wasn't sure what exactly to expect. There isn't any carpet in the house right now and the appliances were all taken out. Surprisingly this all made me feel a lot better about moving back into the house. It feels like we've stripped the house down and are going to be starting with a clean slate. We're purging the house of the assholes that rented it and their grossness and roach population. Once we move back in it will be nice and clean and new! The entire house, walls, doors, trim, cabinets, and ceiling, will be painted, nice new clean carpet pad and carpet, and roach free appliances. Yeay!

While we were there I went around opening cupboards. The last time I did this roaches were jumping out all over the place and it was so gross. This time no roaches jumped out at me! Yeay!

I took some pics so we can document the progress.

Front living room

Back living room

Master bedroom

Master bath

Playroom

Office

Hall

2nd bath

Carter's room

3rd bedroom - I was holding a squirmy and heavy one year old so not the best picture!

Kitchen - ugly cabinets! I've always hated these cabinets. Not only are they too small but they are ugly! They will be painted white. So excited for that. Then eventually we'll put in some grown up size cabinets.

Dining area

Backyard - no pics of our poor trees that didn't survive the frost very well and had to be trimmed way way back.

Carter had fun exploring the front of the house. Here he is with the garage door testing out the texture of the stucco.

Front walk

hmm the landscaper did a good job trimming these bushes!

It was a long drive, especially with a one year old, to buy appliances but I'm glad we did it. It turned out to be the trip I needed to get a new perspective on the house and change my feelings about moving back into it. Seeing the house stripped down to bare bones made me remember that it is still the house I once loved. And it will be the house I love again soon.

The next time I see the house it will have the new carpet and be totally painted and ready for us to move in! Poor Joe though... he will be down to the house a lot before then. With Carter it's really hard for both of us to go down and work on the house so almost all of the work falls on Joe. Poor guy. As if he isn't busy enough with work already. Thankfully we pushed back our move date so this helps some but it still isn't fun for him to go down every weekend and work on the house. I'm trying to do as much as I can, but unfortunately right now that is just most of the logistical stuff and scheduling people. We'll be so glad once we're moved back in and done with this mess. Don't rent your house! We're also hoping that by the time we move back in that we'll have finally sold the house in MN! I cannot tell you how much Joe and I hope that is true. We cannot wait to be normal people with 1 house payment and one set of house bills.

Carter's First Hair Cut

Carter's hair had been pretty wild the past few months. After saying I was going to make him a hair cut appointment I finally did. My parents warned that he would scream and hate it and joked that we should bring ear plugs for the other customers. Boy were they wrong! Carter didn't cry or fuss once! Not even for a second.

We went to a little shop here in Flagstaff and asked for the person who was the best with squirmy kids. We got Kristin and she was fantastic! She cut his hair so fast and did such a great job! He looks like a little boy now. It's so cute. For some reason after his hair cut his hair also looks a lot more blonde.

We walked into the shop and there were about 9 women there so it was pretty busy in the little shop. We were thankful for this since Carter loves to people watch and loves commotion. There was also a little chihuahua puppy. Score! Carter loves daas (dogs) and was smiling at the tiny puppy from across the salon. Carter's chair was right next to the puppy too! Perfect!

We got there a little early and let Carter walk around. Here are his official before pictures. (sorry for the blurry spot, I forgot to clean the smudge off the lens. boo!)

I thought they'd have Carter sit in my lap, but they actually had a little seat booster block for him to sit on. I looked at it and though "yeay right! He's going to be off of that in a second." He surprised me and sat on it no problem. Then the cape came out... He wasn't sure about having his hands covered but as soon as she uncovered his hands and handed him a squirt bottle he was good to go.

Then she took the squirt bottle and squirted his hair. He looked at her like "lady! what the hell are you doing that for?" After that she began cutting his hair. She was so quick it was amazing! Now, he didn't scream but he wasn't so sure about it either. He'd quick spin around to look at her or grab for her hands. Luckily there were a lot of distractions for him. The little puppy, raisins, little skunk and all the other ladies there talking to him. He was definitely the hit of the salon :)

haa I love this one! look at his face and the hair all over!

He started getting antsy to the puppy's owner brought it over for Carter to pet and hold. The puppy was tiny - only 3 months old. Carter loved petting him and touching his bell and pointing to his eyes, nose and ears... well pulling the ears too. Carter actually got to hold the puppy but I don't have pics of that :(

Finished product! And so over me sticking the camera in his face!

A short video of the experience.

Carter Baby

This afternoon Carter was pulling out a bunch of cute stuff so I pulled out the video camera!

You may notice Carter's hair in these videos. He got his first hair cut on Saturday. I'll post video and pics from that tomorrow!

Carter likes to pull things along, carry them, push them, etc. The bigger and heavier the better! This basketball hoop isn't particularly heavy but it is pretty big!

Carter's blankie. What can I say... he loves his blankie. This is, hands down, the one thing he is the most attached to. If he sees his blankie in a laundry baskek of clean clothes he will dig for it to get it out. If he pulls it and he can't get it totally out he gets so upset until I come help him free his beloved blankie. If it is on the table or counter and he can see it but can't reach it he whines and points so we get it for him. Recently he has started bringing it with him around the house. He holds it up to his face, puts it over his head, and then will stop, drop and snuggle his blankie. The cuteness factor in this kills me! Joe and I were saying that we'd give just about anything to be Carter's blankie for a day.

You may remember that Carter likes to vacuum (yeay!). Kody, however, doesn't like the vacuum and will bite at it. Carter thinks it is absolutely hilarious when Kody bites at the vacuum!

absentee blogee

I have been pretty absent on the blog front lately. The mundaneness of Flagstaff is wearing on me. The same thing day in and day out doesn't give me a lot of blog material.

While Flagstaff still sucks my Bugs is still awesome. He's my little dude and I love him completely. He is such a little lover it kills me. Lately he loves to grab a book and walk over to me and plop his little butt in my lap. The process of putting his tiny baby butt in my lap is so stinking adorable. He walks over, eyes my lap, does a half turn, looks back to check his placement, then plops down. It melts my heart each and every single time.

Speaking of books he has a new favorite. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. When I give him a couple book choices he always chooses this book. Then if I try to move on to a different book, he finds the very hungry caterpillar and insists we read it again, and again, and again. It's pretty cute.

For the most part Carter is a very active little boy. But one thing that he'll almost always sit still for is reading. We read before each nap and bedtime, after he wakes up in the morning and after naps and multiple times a day. He loves to read! I love it too because he is totally content to snuggle in my lap or lay with me in the rocking chair to read. It is a great thing for him to love and I loooovvveeeeeeee the snuggle time!

Carter is also full time walking now, and actually has been for a few weeks. Ever since he learned to get himself to standing without the aid of the couch or something to balance he has been walking like crazy! He chases the dogs around, runs from me, investigates everything, climbs, etc. He is active!

The other day we went to the park with our neighbors Allison and Julia. We haven't been there since he's been full on walking. He LOVED it! It was so funny to watch the differences between Julia, who is 17 months, and Carter. Julie is petite! She doesn't even weigh 20lbs. Aside from that watching the difference between boy and girl was so funny and so stereotypical. Carter went straight for the rocks and dirt and Julia preferred to keep her hands clean and climb the stairs and swing. Julia liked to stay close to her mama, and Carter was in full explorer mode. He has his moments when he needs to be cuddled and held but for the most part he's a pretty independent dude. My favorite part was when he'd see a dog. He'd walk/run towards it, pointing, saying "daaa!!!!" which a huge smile on his face. He loves daaaas! (dogs) Aside from the nana, dadas, dogs is his first "real" word.

Watching him walk around the park in his new little sandals, exploring and happy as a clam put a huge shit grin on my face. I couldn't stop! I mean look how cute this is!

Ever since our park adventure all Carter wants to do is explore outside. Today we took a walk down the street. He picked up this huge stick and brought it with him. Again he is such a little boy with his stick and love for rocks and dirt.

Carter also loves all things nontoy. For example, hair dryer, hand mixer, Joe's winter boot.

Joe got me some flowers for my bday and mothers day and Carter loves them! If one of us is standing by the counter where the flowers are, Carter comes over and pulls on us to lift him up, then he points and the flowers with the biggest smile on his face. It's so cute. We've taken a few of the flowers and given them to him and walks around with it in his hand forever. Here he is helping me pack with a flower in his hand.

We got a new ottoman for our living room for Carter to play on. He was taking his toys over to the kitchen chairs to play with them and he'd fall or bump his head on the table, etc so we got this nice soft ottoman for him to play on. Turns out he likes to play in it just as much! Again, reading a book. Normally he knows to turn the book right side up... not this time though.

did I mention he loves to read?

Carter still loves to push things. Lately he is big into his ball popper. He got this for Christmas and always pushed it, but now he's walking and pushing it.

The love for pushing things includes the vacuum! If I pull this little vacuum out he goes crazy and gets so upset until I let him vacuum. He actually pushes it around the house, it is so funny!

One last random phone picture. Arizona has some of the best sunsets. If it was semi cloudy or especially the whispy type clouds, like in the picture below, we are guaranteed a beautiful sunset.

I promise to pull out my camera and take some real pictures soon. These crappy cell phone pics aren't really cutting it. Carter is getting his first haircut on Saturday so they'll be some pics from that I'm sure!