Just a Few Reasons

Just a few reasons why I love being a mom:

1. Kids are always willing to help with meal preparation.
Breakfast anyone?



2. Eventually, your kids become less dependent on you. They start doing things like dressing themselves. No, it's not Halloween, Mad just thought this was the perfect outfit to impress the babysitter.



3. Although I don't get out as much as I used to, I'm still exposed to the Arts.



4. My boys do everything with a smile!





5. Never a dull moment! I LOVE it!

House Hunting - Texas Style

The Texas housing market is a little different from California's. Our Realtor informed us that Texas is in it's 11th year of "buyers" market conditions. Grant & I had heard the term the "buyers" market, but didn't think it really existed. As we are only familiar with having to decide if you like a home based on one 30 minute visit, then joining a bidding war with 11 other buyers, and finally having to pay above asking price to buy our first home.

A couple of other pros for Texas:

• We can actually afford a house in a school district we are willing to let our children attend

• Our house will be less than 50 years old & bigger than 1400 square feet

After visiting 9 existing homes yesterday this one made our list.

We didn't love the view from the front:




But we LOVE the view from the back!




Next Saturday we visit builders. We're excited at the possibility of picking out every detail for a brand new home. We never thought we'd have the opportunity. We'll keep you posted!

Long Live Peter Piper!

Peter Piper Pizza lives on... in Texas! If your last name is not currently or ever was Monge, you probably don't care, but for us, Peter Piper Pizza was a huge part of our childhood. We logged many hours at the 7th East location in the Sandy strip mall. The Peter Piper Pizza has since closed down. For a while there was one in Provo and my sister Emily and her hubby Troy - who is also a fan of PPP, would travel the 30 minutes to eat there. Emily has searched, but can no longer find a Peter Piper Pizza in Utah. I was so excited to see flags and a "Grand Opening" sign hanging from the Peter Piper Pizza in the shopping plaza across the street from our apartment. For a couple of weeks before it opened - I talked about PPP - ALOT , I think Grant thought I was a little obsessed. For all the teasing Grant sent my way, he's starting to get it - Peter Piper Pizza is quickly becoming a go-to spot for our family on the weekends.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 33 yesterday. Grant took the day off. First, we headed to the Dallas Aquarium. I have a fish phobia. Any time I visit an Aquarium, I am reminded of why I never get in the ocean and why snorkeling does not appeal to me. We all had a good time. I just kept a safe distance from all the exhibits. Next, we saw Surf's Up. Maddox has been dying to see Surf's Up ever since he got one of the characters as a Happy Meal prize. Mad laughed (really loud) non-stop. Luckily, it was just us and one other family in the theater. We ended the day with dinner at On the Border. I'm addicted to their cheese dip!

One-Oh-What?

On Thursday, we had our second trip to the Acute Kids Urgent Care in less than 3 weeks. Maddox had a fever all day, but seemed okay. I checked his temperature at about 9:00 right before bed and was shocked to see the thermometer read 104.5. Always grace under pressure, I freaked out. Heart racing, I threw Maddox in the car and headed to the urgent care. Fevers always scare me. I feel like I never know what the right thing to do is. When do I do the warm bath, am I supposed to bundle them up if they're shivering, is it okay to give them more medicine even though it's not time yet, what will happen if I exceed the recommended dosage, and at what temperature should I really freak out?

By the time we checked in to the Urgent Care Mad's temperature was 106! Mad was stripped down to his undies and had wet washcloths placed all over his body. Three throat swabs later, it was determined that he did not have strep. The doctor is concerned, and decides to start antibiotics just in case. By the time we leave, Mad's temp is down to 102. Flash forward a couple of sleepless nights, to Saturday. Mad still has a fever and it's back to 104. I throw him in the tub, and get him ready to head to the ER (the Urgent Care closes at 8 p.m. on weekends). I'm pretty sure the people in the ER thought I was crazy - Mad's temp was 101 when we got there and he was happy coloring.

So, after talking to 3 doctors, waiting for hours, and spending $225 in copays, I finally felt like my kid was going to be okay. This morning Maddox woke up fever free! Finally!!!

A Boy and His Bike

This bike is a bribe pay off. Any mother who has ever traveled alone with her children will sympathize with me. Flying home from Utah last month, things started off well. We made it through the security check with no major problems. Griffy only screamed for a minute when we had to take his Lighting McQueen car out of his hand to walk through the metal detector. Next, we stopped at the gift shop, Maddox picked out a toy airplane and Griffin selected a Clifford book. We even had time for a bathroom break (those airplane bathrooms are a little tight for 3 people). I'm now smiling, so proud of myself for making it this far, when Griffin decides he is tired of the Clifford book and wants his brother's plane. So, as I'm standing there with a diaper bag over one shoulder, a car seat over the other, and my hands tightly gripping the stroller carrying my screaming 2 year old, I knew I had to come up with something big. I knew that promises of another Power Ranger would not be enough to get Maddox to give up his toy plane. My mind quickly raced to a trip we had taken to Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago. Maddox had spotted a super cool Spiderman bike. At the time, we talked about Santa bringing the bike if Maddox was a really good helper to mom and dad, blah, blah, blah. I leaned over to Maddox and offered up the Spiderman bike. Maddox quickly complied, and exchanged his $7 toy plane for a Spikerman bike - Maddox made out like a bandit!

Griffy Got Glued!

On Saturday, June 23rd, Griffy fell onto the corner of a wooden box that Grant & I thought would be great for toy storage. We know, we're parents of the year! Luckily, the doctor was able to use Dermabond instead of stitches. Which made me feel a lot better, because I walked into the Acute Kids Urgent Care demanding a plastic surgeon. The Dermabond is supposed to have minimal scarring so we're keeping our fingers crossed. Grant & I prefer to keep the wound covered - it's a little hard for us to look at. We're sorry Griff!!!

Goodbye California

May 5th & 6th 2007, was our last weekend living in California. We spent a great day at Disneyland with Papa, Yaya, Stacy, Dan & Mr. Cater. On Sunday we had breakfast at Ruby's on the Huntington Beach Pier. Then we took off for the airport and our new home in Texas. First impression of Texas: there's a lot of weeds. After being here for almost 2 months my opinion has changed. Texas really is a beautiful place with lots of trees and greenery. And someday when I figure out how to use our digital camera I'll add some pictures of Texas!