Our Weekend

Steve took work off on Friday thinking he would be Elk hunting. Instead he decided to spend the day with our family. I woke up to him bringing me pancakes in bed. He had spelled out my name with the batter. My mom always did this growing up and he knows I like it. Then we gave Conner his first hair cut. It was getting pretty long.

Friday night we did a lot of cooking to get ready for a family Halloween party on Saturday. I made mini pumpkin bites, pumpkin bread, Zuppa Toscona, and two kinds of pudding. The pumpkin bites didn't turn out very well I wouldn't recommend them. They were on Bakerella's site. Saturday morning we drove up West Canyon and went for a walk. It was nice and cool and really pretty. Here are some pics.Just after we left the canyon we came across a herd on antelope. Here are a few of them, the buck is in the middle.

The Halloween party was fun and all the kids looked so cute. I made sure I took my camera but I had uploaded our pictures from our walk before we left and forgot to put the SD card back in my camera. So I didn't get any pictures. Thank you Lance and Amber for letting us invade your house.

7 Month Birthday!

I can't believe my little boy is seven month's old. I was so lucky to be blessed with him. It's amazing that even though I am so far from perfect that Heavenly Father entrusted in me to take care of something so special. He is the perfect child for our family.

The oddest thing happened tonight. First let me give you a little background information. I don't answer my front door unless I know someone is coming over. For two reasons there are crazy people out there and second there are a lot of solicitors out here. So a month ago I broke my rule I don't know why. I answered it and a girl was doing a fundraiser for her gymnastics academy, so I purchased some cookie dough to help. I haven't received my cookie dough yet and they said it would be delivered sometime after 9/29/09 and my check was just cashed a couple of days ago so when my doorbell rang tonight I decided to answer it thinking it was my cookie dough. I was very surprised to see a tall man with his wife and two girls. The husband said we were just driving by and we noticed your house is for sale, can we look at it? Or do we have to have an appointment? I was caught off guard and stuttered, usually but um...come on in. My house isn't dirty but I hadn't made my bed andI had just gotten done cooking dinner so I had some dishes in the sink and toys on the floor in Conner's room so it wasn't at it's best. Anyway the family comes in and walks around the house then they go to the backyard. Right then Steve drives up from work. The people were in the backyard for awhile and then they came in and looked in the kitchen some more and spent some time in the front room. They were talking but it was in a different language. I was outside during this time waiting for Steve to get out of the truck when the people walked out front. We started chatting and we found out that they moved here from Spain about 7 years ago, the husband spoke really well but he translated for his wife. He said he went to the bank and told us what he qualified for then he said this was his first time buying a home and didn't know what to do. I told him to call our realtor. He said that they really liked the house and asked us about the ward where the school was and about the traffic. He said he wasn't sure how he got to our house but told us to wish him luck and they left. So we'll see if they call my dad and pursue this. That would be crazy if they did.

Conner's Crazy Face

I know I just posted last night but Steve had the camera while hunting so I couldn't post this picture until now. I don't know how he learned this but this is his smiley face. He loves to crinkle up his face. I love it. You can also get a really good look at all his teeth. Tooth number 6 popped through after this picture was taken. Four on top and two on bottom.

Crazy Week

This week has been one of those kinds of weeks. I am so glad it is over and am hoping for a great week to come. Steve went Elk hunting this weekend for the first time. He has drawn out 4 of the 5 years we have been married for deer and he gets one every year. Too bad I don't like deer, but this was his first attempt at Elk. So while he was gone Conner and I hung out with my parents in Orem. Friday my mom and I went shopping at Kohl's and then my mom, dad and I ate Costa Vida for dinner. Yum! Saturday morning Debbie's kids, Jacie, Adison, and Kaylee joined us while she and her husband went to St. George. I made homemade bread and showed Jacie and Adison how to roll it out and form it into loaves. I've never taught kids anything about cooking before. Then we took the bread and some soup that my mom had made and visited my grandma. She is 80 but acts like she is 60. Always fun to see her. Conference is really hard to listen to with four kids, so I am grateful for the Ensign so I can still get an opportunity to read them.
On Wednesday we found out that the family that was going to buy our house couldn't get their loan. They had been preapproved, everything was going well and then after it went further on in the process they were denied. They have been self employed for two years but because they filed their taxes late the first year they can't prove that they really have been self employed that whole time so they were denied. So our house is back on the market. The part that stinks the most is having to keep my house clean all the time. But I got a call from my realtor (dad) on Friday asking if a family could come and look at our house in 3 hours. So, they got lost on the way which I guess discouraged the buyers but after they left the house and spoke with their realtor he thought they were going to give us an offer but then they decided on a house in the Ranches because it is 15 mintues closer. I can't blame them. I would too.
Okay, I need a lot of encouragement. I am trying to get myself to exercise more. Especially since I have been in baking mode. So I started 2 weeks ago. On Monday, I went on a walk with Conner, and Copper. I walked for 4 miles. Then on Wednesday I sat on my exercise bike and watched The Biggest Loser on the internet. That took a little over an hour. That was the first time in I don't know how long that I was actually sweating. I almost exercised a third time that week but never got around to it. If I had, that would have been a record. This week I walked 2.5 miles to pick up our family pictures that we had taken and that was it. I am getting more plump. I was actually hoping there was some other reason for it and decided I should take a pregnancy test. It was negative. It's just me expanding from food. Darn it. Well wish me luck because I know I will be SO much happier without the spare tire around my waist.

Conner

Some of Conner's favorite things to chew on are: hangers, a rubber ruler, DVD cases and cords. He is starting to crawl normally instead of his inchworm crawl. We had to lower his mattress in his crib this weekend because he has tried to start pulling himself up, he hasn't succeeded yet but we are preparing. Today I noticed for the first time that he can go from a crawling position to the sitting position all on his own. When he tries to move from the sitting to the crawling position his legs tend to get stuck in awkward positions that he can't get out of very easily. Here is a clip of him starting to crawl normally. Sorry, it takes about 40 second for him to start. I should have moved him off of the wood I think it was hurting his knees.

This weekend we had Steve's sister's farewell. She is going to Armenia. I can't remember what else we did this weekend because for some reason my memory is completely shot. I use to have a pretty good memory, now I'll get in the car and start driving and I can't remember where I am going. No joke. It is so frustrating.
It will be two weeks this Wednesday since the appraiser came to our house, but we still haven't heard anything about it. Maybe this week.
I know I should wait until Halloween but I couldn't help it, here is Conner in his costume. It's a chicken.
I took this a few weeks ago after we first bought it. It's a little big but we still have another month.
It is so weird to see Conner smile and see so many teeth. He looks so different now. I can't believe he is almost 7 months. Not until October 7th but that is soon!
If you ever need an idea for dinner I would highly recommend: General Tso's chicken off of Kara's Kitchen Creations blog, as well as her Chicken Teriyaki. This weekend I made Crispy Sweet and Sour Chicken and Lo Mein off of Stephanie's Kitchen blog. It was so good. The Lo Mein was better than Whistle Wok.

Mom Experiences

Well, Conner now has 5 teeth showing. He got three of his top teeth almost at the same time. It's pretty funny I can't go one day without getting thrown up on. On Tuesday my morning started with Conner throwing up about a third of his bottle on me. I was laying on my back and had him up in the air above me and all of a sudden I see this white waterfall coming toward me. I moved as quickly as I could but it landed in my hair and on my shoulder. I sat up and it ran down my back as well as the front of me. There was a lot. I had to get in the shower. That night Conner had peaches for the first time and had pooped in his diaper without me knowing. I picked him up and rested him on my hip and as I did that he threw up again down my clothes and landed on my foot. When I moved Conner away there was poop on my shirt. Peaches travel through the body fast. Steve changed his diaper but it didn't stink, it smelled like peaches. Conner spits up all day long. I don't understand why, but I don't usually know that he has done it until I feel something warm or I step in it. Last night I was out on my porch feeding Conner his bottle and waiting for Steve to get home, I sat him up to burp him and before I knew it I had throw up all over my pants and was now sitting in a small puddle. That's when Steve showed up and said, "wo." I just looked at him and smiled and said those are my days. This morning when I got Conner out of the crib his hair was crispy. I looked in his crib and saw the outline of where he had spit up. It was now all dried in his hair. It's interesting how none of it bothers me. Steve still gets grossed out by the dirty diapers but I change them all day so I am use to it. Before I had kids drool grossed me out, now it's nothing. My emotions have changed quite a bit when it comes to kids. Before when I watched a movie or listened to the news and something happened to a child it never really phased me. Now I get crushed, and it sometimes brings me close to tears. I am a lot softer when I see kids acting up in the store, I just think, my time will come. I feel for the parents when their kids are crying and the parents are trying so hard to keep it together. Sad to say I use to think, "can't you control your kids?" I know pretty bad, huh? I had my first incident of Conner screaming at the store the other day. He must have become hungry all of a sudden and just started crying. My hands were full and I was trying to calm Conner while making a bottle. I was trying not to be embarrassed but it was pretty hard not to. I kept thinking, it's ok all moms understand, right? I am sure there are some people who think like I use to and looked at me and thought, control your kid. I am so grateful that I have learned some very important lessons from being a mom.

6 Month Pictures Are Back

The whole Ferguson clan.

One of my favorites.

She got some really cute ones of him, I am really excited.
I now have a new favorite store, the DI. I bought three pairs of jeans and eight shirts for Conner and it only cost me, $15. They are way cute clothes. Here is a new recipe I tried, they were way good and super easy.
I found them on one of the cooking blogs I have listed on the right. It's from picky palate. They are called black bottomed mini caramel pumpkin cheesecake bites. YUM!

House

On Saturday we had a family come and look at our house; Monday morning they sent an offer. They gave us a day to respond. It was a great offer so we accepted it. They have already been pre-approved so the only thing that could hold us up is the appraisal not coming back high enough. They have to have that by October 7th and they would like to move in by October 21st or earlier. So, I will be a little stressed until the appraisal comes back.

Conner "crawls" around like an inchworm.

His third tooth, (his top left tooth), first appeared a month ago but only the teeniest part of the corner. Well the bottom of the tooth has finally come through. But we sure could tell he was teething.
The other day I attempted to be crafty. I can usually come up with a cute idea but to actually make it, that doesn't work for me. It usually turns out homemade looking. But here is what I made.I used 2x4's and wrapped them in paper and modged podged them. Then I used vinyl and my cricut to cut out the letters. I LOVE Fall.

6 Month Birthday and our Labor Day Weekend

To start off our weekend my sister and I went to the Living Planet Aquarium on Friday, her kids loved it! She ended up getting year passes as well so that'll be nice. Conner just stayed in the stroller and people watched. Friday night we went to the Salt Lake Bees game with our friends Hope and Brandon. Thanks guys! Saturday was a nice relaxing morning. Steve and I made an awesome breakfast with whole wheat crepes and sausage. For our toppings on the crepes we had nutella, strawberries, powdered sugar, and bananas. SO GOOD! Then we all took a nap, ran some errands and then watched the BYU game at Lance's house (Steve's brother). That was such a good game! I am so excited for us to go to the BYU v. UTAH game in November. By then it was about 10:00 pm and Steve's other brother, Kyle, invited us to his house for games. We played for a couple hours but Conner couldn't wait any longer to go to bed. Such a good kid. Sunday morning we went to Lance's ward for Brigham's baby blessing, and that night all the Ferguson's got together for dinner. Yum! Monday morning Steve, Kyle, Lisa and I went up West Canyon. We took the four wheeler and the Razor. I really enjoy the Razor a lot more than the four wheeler. I feel a lot safer and have more control. So, thanks Lance for letting us borrow your stuff. My mother-in-law, Susan was kind enough to watch Conner so we could go, thank you Susan. This evening we had family pictures and a BBQ. I attempted to take Conner's 6 month pictures. I feel like I just took his 5 month pictures. When we had our family pictures taken she did take some of Conner so if I can't get a good one maybe she did. Guess what else? I bought Conner's Halloween costume tonight!!! Here are some pics from our weekend, and where Conner stands at 6 months.
Length: 28 inches-92%
Height: 16 lbs. 13 oz.-36%
Head Circ: 44 cm.-56%
At his appointment today they told me Conner has a hernia. But the doctor said they usually close up on their own but to watch his belly button to see if it pokes out more.

He loves to pull my hair. He can sit all by himself for quite a while now, at least a few minutes. He gets in the crawling position a lot and rocks back and forth. He likes to blow raspberries in the morning after he has had his bottle and spit on me. It's pretty cute. Only a mom would think that is cute. He sleeps through the night, usually 11-12 hours. He wakes up around 7:45 am., and goes to bed between 7 and 8. He tried peas this weekend for the first time as well as beans. He didn't care for the peas very much.

I only got a couple of these with the cute background because Conner was too tired. I will try again this week to get some more because I think the background is so cute. I need Steve there just in case he falls back.

Just goofing around Sunday night before going to dinner.

Costco vs. Wal-Mart vs. Ads

Whenever I shop at Wal-Mart and especially Costco I always wonder if I really am getting a good deal. So, this morning when Conner and I were laying down for our morning nap I decided that once we woke up we would drive in to town and walk the aisles of Wal-Mart and Costco with paper and pen and write down how much the common items that I buy cost. I compared cheapest to cheapest not brand to brand. So here are my findings.

Costco vs. Wal-Mart

Costco-Canned chicken 6 pack for $10.99=$1.83 a can
Wal-mart-$2.08 a can

Costco-Vegetable Oil 5 quarts for $5.99=$1.19 a quart
Wal-mart-$6.38 a gallon=$1.59 a quart

Costco-Flour 25 lbs for $6.25
Wal-Mart-25 lbs for $8.68

Costco-Semi sweet c.c. 10 lbs for $16.99=$1.69 per lb.
Wal-Mart-12 oz. for $2.42

Costco-Milk 2 gal for $3.00
Wal-Mart-1 gal for $1.50

Costco-Sour Cream 3 lb for $3.49=$1.16 per lb
Wal0Mart-3 lbs for $3.66=$1.22 per lb.

Costco-Cream Cheese 3 lb for $5.39= .89 for 8 oz.
Wal-Mart-8 oz. for $1.46

Costco-Shredded cheese 5 lb for $8.79=$1.75 per lb.
Wal-Mart-32 oz. for $6.78=$2.71 per lb.

Costco-Eggs 5 doz. large for $5.25=$1.05 a dz.
Wal-Mart-18 large for $1.74=$1.14 a dz.

Costco-G'ma Syc. Bread 2 loaves for $3.89=$1.95 ea.
Wal-Mart-$2.92 a loaf

Costcp-Jif Peanut B. 2-48 oz cont. for $8.29=.09 an oz.
Wal-mart P.B=.09 an oz. for 28 0z bottle

Costco-Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts $2.21 per lb.
Wal-Mart-3 lb for $6.95= $2.31 per lb.

Costco-Bacon 4 lbs for $9.49= $2.37 per lb.

Costco-Brown sugar 4 lbs for $2.79= .70 per lb

Costco-Powdered sugar 4 lbs for &2.79= .79 per lb

Costco-Honey Maid Graham Crackers 57.5 oz. for $7.22= .13 an oz.

Costco-Huggies wipes .024 per wipe

Costco-Kirkland wipes .021 per wipe

This is just a start, I was starting to get bored at the stores. The items on the bottom only have Costco's price because I forgot to look them up at Wal-Mart. So pretty much everything is cheaper at Costco than Wal-Mart. Now when you get your ads in the mail you can compare Costco with the other grocery stores ads and see who has the best deals. I know I am missing a lot of every day items like canned goods but I'll add to the list later.

Of course I can't have a post without Conner in it. Here are a bunch of pictures of Conner's attempts at crawling today. After the pictures there is a video.

I wonder if maybe in a month he'll be crawling.

Baking

I am more of a cook than a baker. I attempt baking at times, but here is an example of why I don't do it more.

Surprisingly they did taste really good. It was the first time that I had made this recipe, it was the Amish Friendship Bread.
Conner helping me cook!

I have added cooking blogs on the side. Take a look if you ever need an idea. I've only made two of the recipe's from Kara's Kitchen Creations and they were really good. I made Teriyaki Chicken and General Tso's Chicken. We had another family look at our house today.