It's almost Christmas!!

I can't believe Christmas is 1 week from today! This season has gone by so fast. We've managed to wrap most of the gifts for each other but need to get started on Talamge's gifts. I'm so excited for Christmas this year. I have a few surprises (hopefully) for Jacob and I can't wait to see his reaction. I just hope I've kept them a secret well enough. It is so fun being in our first home this year for Christmas. This is the first time we've put Christmas lights up! It was such a fun experience. We have our tree up by our window so it can be seen from the street. Our house looks so pretty now with all the Christmas decorations!

This past month has been a little bit of s struggle for me. I just finished school, thankfully, and have been getting all kinds of tests done at the doctor. Fortunately, I am doing just fine! That's yet another blessing. It seems like everytime we go through hard times and trials, we get even more blessings. I have a piano recital tomorrow for my students and then after that, I can finally relax and enjoy the week of Christmas.

Merry Christmas to everyone! I love this season and all the wonderful blessings we have!

Talmage Jacob Lewis is w.a.l.k.i.n.g.!!!!!!!!!!

Yes you are reading the title correctly, Talmage is walking! Last night, I was sitting on the floor with him and he stood up, as usual (he LOVES to stand) and then he took two steps, stopped and took two more steps. His record for last night was 11 steps in a row! Daddy was on his way home from work and quickly rushed in to see his son walk. It was so exciting!!! I love being a mom! He's still crawling but taking steps in between.

Finally, just when we thought he'd never do it...he surprised us and started walking on December 14, 2009 at 15 1/2 months. Way to go Talmagey!

The Semester is Over & Updated Pictures

The semester is officially over for me!!! I am so excited! I just finished my last assignments today and it feels sooooo good! I feel like I can finally be a mom. It's hard juggling full-time school with the role of a mother. Every free moment I had, I was ALWAYS on the computer trying to get homework done. So today, Talmage only took 1 nap today and it was for 1 hour (he usually takes 1 really long nap or 2 medium ones). But, I was is now hurry to rush the nap on him. We had lots of fun listening to Christmas music, dancing, playing ball, walking, folding laundry (His favorite! He loves to sort the clothes.). It felt so good to just let go, have fun and not feel like I should be getting something else done. I can't wait to be done with school completely.

These pictures are from the park in our neighborhood. It is the coolest park I have ever been to. And Talmage loved playing there! They even have a piano-like instrument.







These pictures are from the visitor center and play place at the San Tan Mall.

We are home!

We moved in last Thursday night! It has been so fun! We love our brand new home. We just got the internet up and running last night so that's why I haven't posted. I have some cute pictures of Talmage playing at the park but I don't feel like uploading them yet. Just wanted to let everyone know that we are all moved in and loving it!

We got the keys!

Last night we got our keys to our first (brand-new) home! Yippee! It was so exciting! Fulton homes did a wonderful job! We can't wait to move in! My dad and brother's remodeling company is putting in our tile so we will move in on Thursday afternoon/evening. It's going to be beautiful!! We can't wait to finally be HOME!

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween, Jacob was Frankenstein, I was Frankenstein's Bride, and Talmage was our baby Frankenstein. We went to our ward's truck or treat and then went trick or treating in our new neighborhood. We had lots of fun! After that, we watched a scary movie and Jacob made a pot of dry ice with root beer. Yummy!



And these pictures are from last Monday night. We (Jacob) carved a pumpkin for Family night. We also made some pumpkin cookies too!

House Update!

Ok so today we heard the final news. As you know, an appraisal was done on our house and came in $4000 under our purchase price. Since Fulton homes didn't want to lower our price, they did a reconsideration on the appraisal. And guess what...it came back at the same price. So they did one final reconsideration to see if they could bring up the price. And...still the same price. As a result, they gave up and lowered our purchase price $4000 to meet the appraisal. Hurray!

Our loan documents have now been sent to the underwriters as of this afternoon. In two business days they will tell us if they need anymore information. Then 5 business days after that, we will sign our closing documents. Then 5 more business days after that, we get our keys!! Phew! What a long process. Our house is finished and it's hard just sitting around waiting for everything to go through.

But we are excited!!! This is wonderful wonderful news!!

Brrrrr....

It was soooo cold today! It came out of no where! I had Talmage in shorts this morning and quickly changed him to sweat pants and a matching sweat shirt. I can't believe I'm dressing him in winter clothes already! It's so nice!

This morning was our walk-through for our house. It was exciting yet depressing. Our house will be OFFICIALLY done on Monday, November 2. But, sadly, we won't be getting our keys on that day. The mortgage company and Fulton homes are still figuring out our appraisal situation. Not fun! We still don't have a clue when we will close. It's so hard...knowing our house is done and just waiting for us and there's nothing we can do about it! But, alas, we shall move in soon enough. And I will definately update when we do!

Oh yes, and Talmage is sick today. I think he has a tummy ache so he's been fussy all day. But, he's been cuddly too which ahs been fun. He does not have an appetite and has eaten very little today. Tonight he seems to be acting a little bit more like normal so we'll see how tomorrow goes!

Closing Date Postponed...

We will not be closing on November 2 like we had planned. We are still having our walk-through the same day though. What happened is that our house was appraised for $4000 less than the actual price that we agreed to pay for the house. That means we can't get a loan for more than our house is worth. Soooo...we are working with Fulton Mortgage Home Loans who are on our side and trying to convince Fulton Homes to reduce our house price to meet the appraised price. It's either Fulton Homes comes down on their price $4000 or we pay $4000 (of which we do not have!) to knock the price down to the appraised price or....we walk away. :( But we are hopeful that everything will work out and Fulton homes will have a kind heart and sell us our house for what's its worth! You think it'd be a no brainer huh?! Oh well...such is the life of a first-time new build home-buyer!

House update: Our carpet is in right now! They just put it in today! All that's left to do is put in the appliances and do touch-ups! Our walk-through is on Wednesday and who knows what will happen after that!

Woo Hoo!

Today I officially weigh one pound less than I did the day we got married! Woo hoo! But, I don't feel like I look as good as I did then. Having a baby kind of changes your body! Oh yea, and I am down 14 pounds from the time I found out I was pregnant. CRAZY! I can't believe I really weighed that much when I first got pregnant. I guess love and marriage can do that to you. Anyways, I just wanted to give an update. I'm so excited and am so glad I finally found a workout routine that WORKS! No extreme dieting or anything...just working out and trying to eat healthy. I just wish I would've found out about this a year ago!

We close November 2nd!

This is what our house looks like right now...

In two weeks from tomorrow we close on our first home! It is so exciting to see new things changing and being added to our house everyday. Building a home is such a fun process and we can't wait to move in. Our closing date is Monday, Novemeber 2 but we don't "officially" move in until Thursday Novemeber 5. My dad's remodeling company will be putting tile in for us on Tuesday and Wednesday. I can't wait to see how it all turns out! Yay...we are finally moving for GOOD! In 2 1/2 years of being married, we've moved 5 times and this will be our 6th so we are happy to have a place to call HOME! Can't wait to decorate!

Mummy Cookies

Yesterday I felt like baking and since it's almost Halloween, we made Mummy cookies! Talmage had so much fun playing with the cookie cutters and eating the dough. We made chocolate sugar cookies and used a gingerbread cookie cutter to make the body of the mummy. Here's the result:

Picture at the Park

 

13 1/2 months old! I love his BLUE eyes!

Look what we found!

...And it didn't even phase him one bit!

My Handsome Hubby

I know this blog is mostly focused on Talmage so I wanted to share some things about Jacob. Here are only some of the many things I love about him!

1. He is my eternal companion.
2.He keeps happy and always has me laughing.
3.He tells cheesy jokes and thinks they are funny.
4. He loves coming home to play with Talmage.
5. Will eat ANYTHING I cook.
6. He got his eagle.
7. He's almost always the one reminding us to have scripture study and prayer.
8. He makes sure he is holding my hand when we pray.
9. He collects dvd's.
10. He loves cheese crisps on Sunday.
11. I love his hands and the way he holds mine.
12. He is so so smart! He always answers my questions, even if they are dumb!
13. He's always looking for the good in EVERYTHING!
14. Appreciates me for the small things.
15. He loves to cuddle with me.
16. He always has good advice.
17. He's always doing impression of famous people.
18. He loves to put cottage cheese on anything and everything.
19. He's always there to give me a blessing when I need one.
20. always has the best surprises.
21. He works so hard to provide for our family and never complains.
22. i love his spontaneous ideas.
23. He can fall asleep as soon as he lays down.
24. He loves everyone.
25. He loves kids! At every family event, you can find him playing with his nieces and nephews!
26. He gets so excited about little things!
27. Loves to have fun!
28. Always puts me first.
29. He's very romantic and thoughtful.
30. He wants a big family.
31. He is our only provider and makes sure he makes enough money so I can stay home with Talmage.
32. He is so handsome!
33. Best daddy ever!
34. Loves to be with his family!
35. Loves to stay up late with me and watch Dick Van Dyke shows.
36. Loves to budget and come up with savings plans.
37. He's very complimentary!
38. Calls me hunny.

...And so so so much more!!

I love you hubby! You're the greatest! My one and only forever and ever and ever! Kisses!

The Lewis' Lately...

It's been awhile since I've updated...sorry. I've just been too lazy to upload pictures to the computer. Here are a few updates and things we've been doing...

1. Jacob is back to normal now!

2. Talmage is soooooooo close to walking. He takes a step or two here ad there but nothing yet. Here is a video of him a few wekks ago pushing a chair around the kitchen. This is one of his favorit activities.


3. We are closing on our house on November 2! Yay! It is so close to being done. Our cabinets are even in! LOVE it!

4. Talmage and I went over to my friend Clarissa's house. Talmage played with her little girl, Bou while Clarissa helped me sew a cute little teddy bear for Talmage! I love how it turned out! I couldn't have done it without Clarissa though!



5.Talmage has been watching "Your Baby Can Read" dvds and has learned so much! He's learned arms up, arms down, waving, and can say cat. And he's only been doing this for 5 days!

6. And I've lost 6 lbs and 7 inches total from working out everyday. I love it! I wanted to be as fit as possible to prepare me for the next pregnancy. No, I'm not pregnant but maybe soon. We'll see what the Lord has planned for our family. I can't wait for Talmage to have a playmate though! He absolutely LOVES kids and babies. It's so cute!


7.And here are some fun pictures I've taken of Talmage lately.