Sullivan was able to see his birth family for a short while as they passed through on the way to a wedding.

Here he is trying on Grandma Sharon's glasses. I can't believe he kept them on for as long as he did without trying to grab them.

Sullivan helped me make 2 dozen rolls, bake 25 potatoes and one white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for the dessert auction. He got to lick the bowl clean.



And he didn't leave one drop behind!

More house pictures...

Sullivan bear crawling through his very own bedroom. He was pretty excited about that.





Sullivan tasted a mouthful of sawdust. Good old mom saved the day! Is their some kind of a redneck joke about using your own shirt that you've worn all day to clean out your child's mouth?? Ugh, not one of my best moments.





One day the house looked like this... (picture is of the back of the house)



Not even a full day later and now look...

The more they get done in the month of September, the better! Also, I just realized I'd better start to like washing windows cause we've got A LOT of them.

10 months

-He loves taking a bath. He even tries to crawl over the edge of the bath when the girls are taking a bath.
-When he takes a bath, he likes to knock down all of the shampoo bottles and then proceeds to tackle them.
-He also loves to "dive" (pounce like a tiger) on Jeff when Jeff is laying on the ground...can you say future Defensive Lineman!
-He's getting used to books more now that I have the free time to just read to him, but 90% of the time he just gets frustrated with me and wants to turn the pages and chew on the book himself.
-He loves to scoot Jeff's computer mouse on the ground.
-He also likes to slide around with books. Imagine the bear crawl with two books under his hands which helps him slide around.
-He cries for Jeff's blackberry which he usually gets and then he proceeds to push all the buttons.
-He grunts, gets mad and frustrated with me when I take the blackberry away.
-He has certain spots in the house that he likes to DESTROY. I have to clean and organize under the computer desk, the Leavitt's old stereo, under the sink and the pantry closets several times per day. (I've never had to child proof anything before, but now will probably have to)
-Currently getting 4 upper teeth and is cranky most days.
-Has 2 bottom teeth.
-He has the most soft touchable skin. Random people in Walmart, gas stations and restaurants just have to come over, comment on how cute he is and then they HAVE to touch him.
-He has almost transparent hair. People also comment about this as well.
-Is completely not afraid of the vacuum. He actually follows me around until I take the hose and let it stick on his tummy, toes, fingers and even his mouth . He loves the suction sound.
-Loves toys that make noise.
-Wears size 3 or 4 diapers. We are in the "in between" stage where 3's are getting snug and 4's are huge.
-He actually dances (bends his knee's,bobs his head).
-Most babies snuggle, hug, give open mouth kisses to show they love you, and though Sullivan does those things every once in a while, he tends to show you he loves you by giving you head butts most of the time.
-He claps his hands, a lot.
-He waves and says "hi".
-He took his first steps at age 9 1/2 months old, but he hasn't taken to it completely just yet. He's very cautious and takes 3-5 steps at a time and then he usually falls on purpose and just crawls the rest of the way.
-He crawls super fast...this probably explains the statement above. I love looking at him head on when he crawls fast, he looks like a little bull dog.
-Scrunches his nose when he smiles...so cute!
-Usually he only takes one long nap in the mornings and then bedtime is around 7pm.

Frame worthy

I apologize for the million photos. A lot has progressed since my last post about our house. Just scroll down and see for yourself! We are getting so excited and it still looks like we are on pace to finish at the end of October.

After they poured the whole basement, they framed it.

Framed Basement.

Basement framed out...picture taken in the corner of a bedroom.


Then they put floors in over the basement and built the rest of the main floor.
Main floor


Up and downstairs.


Then they framed the complete outside of the house (only 1/2 of the garage) and they framed our Master suite.

Back porch, view from sliding glass door.

Basement entry.

The girls at the entry of their bedroom.

My favorite part of our house...the jetted tub.

Main Level

Our new power pole.

The view out our huge window into the back yard.

The view from the back.

The view from the front.


We are now waiting on the trusses (is that what they are called?) and then they will frame the rest of the inside of the house.

The ABC's of London

I guess since her birthday was the very first week of school, she got to be the very first star student of the week. This really built her confidence and she loved bringing snacks everyday and she loved working on her poster. I know it looks busy and messy, but she loved gluing and cutting things that I just let her go at it. Here she is with her friend that I was babysitting.



A is for Annie (favorite movie)
B is for Barbie (she owns quite the collection)
C is for Cousins (and a lot of them, I might add!)
D is for Dressing Up
E is for Elephants and Eggs
F is for Family
G is for Gym
H is for Holidays
I is for Ice cream
J is for Jumping (on the trampoline)
K is for Kamryn
L is for Lily Books
M is for Mud
N is for (couldn't think of anything)
O is for Outside
P is for Pink (of course)
Q is for Quiet Time
R is for Rain
S is for Sullivan
T is for Travel
U is for (couldn't think of one)
V is for Vet (what she wants to be when she grows up)
W is for water
X is for XOXO
Y is for Yellow
Z is for Zoo

Favorite spot

Sullivan climbs up on this stool several times through out the day. He loves to look outside. I usually have to go save him though because he can't get back down.

Starting him young

Watching some high school football!


He even clapped when the crowd did.

London's 5th Birthday!

London has been asking for quite awhile to go to a hotel for her birthday. I thought that the request sounded fun and different, so we went with it. London still has never had an actual birthday party (other than with family). I've felt a little guilty about this for awhile. So, we presented her with different options and she still chose a hotel.

We stayed at the Grand America in SLC, Utah and it was probably the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in (it was free too!). The first day we went to IKEA, Temple Square and the Church History Museum. The kids had fun, but they kept begging to go back to the hotel so that they could go swimming.


Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera to the pool and I completely regret it. They had a couple of swim noodles, a floaty skateboard and a few lounging chairs that floated in the pool. We stayed in the pool until dark.

K modeling one of the plush robes on the balcony.

This hotel was so nice, it had a doorbell and even a velvet covered Do not Disturb sign.


The hotel wasn't the only surprise...we took the family to Cherry Hill in Ogden the next morning. The girls had a blast!




Ah...the lazy river was my favorite.

And a birthday isn't complete without cake and ice cream. The girls got a little carried away decorating the cake so it looks like a complete mess, BUT at least they had fun and it still tasted yummy.

A very scary first day of school

Kamryn is in the 2nd grade now. She was more nervous than I've ever seen her, but that quickly resolved when she saw her friends.

London was actually quite excited to go to kindergarten. Jeff and I have been talking to her about kindergarten for quite some time. She was definitely prepared when the day came.

However, when we dropped her off we could tell she was a little timid. She went with her teacher pretty easily though and that put me at ease, thank goodness.

The day dragged on. I'm sure I'll enjoy only having one child at home during the afternoons, but I was so anxious to get the kids home and to hear how their first day of school went. Sullivan and I went out on the deck and waited for the bus to come. When the bus came, the girls didn't get off. I immediately went into "freak out" mode. I'm not very good at staying calm in situations like this. I called the school and they said that they told their teacher the wrong bus #. She put me on hold and contacted the bus people and located my girls. I was so relieved. Then she said that "He" (the bus driver) would bring them home himself. I got in the van and parked down at the end of our lane and waited, and waited. Twenty minutes later and no kids, I started to freak again. I called the school who gave me this guys cell phone # and I called him directly. He said he has my kids and he is 5 minutes away and will drop them off in the company suburban. For some reason this just didn't sit right with me. Some dude is driving home my kids, in a suburban. Note to self: Re-teach my kids that it is not okay to get into a car with a stranger!!! I felt so helpless and not in control. But, soon enough a big suburban pulls over and I run to it, open the door and squeeze Kammi. Wait, where is London? I ask the guy (who was very nice and not deserving of my judgement towards him) where my other daughter was. He was like "oh, I thought that London was a boy." AAArghh!! I start crying. Why, of why did this have to happen on the first day. My poor little girl who is so meek and probably freaking out about now and probably never, ever going to go back to school again. My phone rings and it is the lady I visit teach. She is a bus driver and she tells me she was just dropping off her bus when she saw London just standing there at the bus barn. Oh, bless her heart...she found my baby!!! I cried, asked if she was okay and then waited by the door until she was returned. By this time it was about 4:45 P.M. All the prayers in my heart were answered. My children were returned to me, unharmed and...happy. I couldn't believe that London was chill about the whole thing. She later told me that she was so scared, so scared she couldn't even cry. She did end up going to school the next day and she loves it!

Oh...so I guess what happened was London got on the right bus, but didn't get off the bus when it drove to our house because she was scared and didn't know what to do. Kamryn was the one who rode the wrong bus.