WOW!!! It has been a while since I updated this thing and soooooo much has happened! Where do I begin? Well. We decided a while ago to go look at a home that was farther west than we had even thought to look but we discovered through some investigating on UTA's website that the fast bus could get Dan to work and school in the same amount of time as it does now from about 7200 west and 3500 south. We offered on the home and as usual it was a short sale. It was a nice home that only needed new carpet but even that could wait if it needed to. It was in really great shape. We offered about $197,000.00 and found out that we were the highest bid. Well the agent selling it was either trying to get a friend to buy it or was the agent representing both the buyer and the seller. He was being really stupid about the whole thing so we just kept looking. There was a builder in the same neighborhood that was offering homes for a really low price and was promising they would be done by Novemeber 30th in order for people to still get the 8,000.00 grant from the government. We went and did a little research and found that they had an A+ rating on with the BBB and that they had been in business for over 30 years. We met with them and told them what we wanted and what we wanted to pay. It took them a while to finally accept our terms but they did. SO WE ARE BUILDING!!! The home address is 7027 West Balm Willow Place West Valley, Utah. This home is just down the street from the one we offered on (which is still for sale :)) The home we offered on was 3000 square feet on a .21 acres lot (or so it claims, it doesn't really feel like .21 acres at all!) It was built in either 2006 or 2007 and had an unfinished basement. The one we are building is a little bit smaller but that leaves us with a bigger lot (which I'm excited for) cause the lot is .20 and the home is 2700 square feet. I like the floor plan of the one we are building much better cause the bedrooms are all behind the garage. We are also on a corner lot into a culdesac so it is a very secluded part of the neighborhood with little to no traffic. The Kitchen and Master are a little bit smaller than the house we offered on down the road but I'm ok with it. I got to pick all the colors and I get a bigger yard!! I think 2700 square feet is pleanty big. This home also has a warranty which is nice! We are spending a little more but not much. We know this is where the Lord wants us. We signed and got it started about a week before we found out that the new home grant from the state was brought back. The $6,000.00 new home grant was in effect earlier this year but they were all used up. The grant now is for $4,000.00 but that is still better than nothing. We are supposed to be out of there by November 30th. I'm so excited to have Christmas in a new house with lots of room for the kids to play. Currently we have 4 walls. I'll keep updating more often with pics to show the process. Now. For an update on the kids.

Xander is now 6 months and is all over the place. He rolls like crazy and is close to figuring out the crawling thing. Today he got up on all fours for just a moment but his big knees slid out from under him. Last time I took him in to the doctor he weighed 20 Ibs. That was around 5 months. The doctor said that he was teething when I took him in for a stuffy nose around 4.5 months but we still haven't seen any cut through. He has pretty much decided he would rather not nurse and I'm not too opposed other than the fact that formula is expensive. I figure I'm saving so much by making his baby food that it is ok. He pinches my arm really hard the entire time he nurses so I'm kinda ok with him prefering the bottle. He is getting so big. I just can't believe how fast it has happened this time. It didn't seem as fast with Addi. Xander LOVES his big sister. He just laughs like crazy when she dances for him and when she plays peek-a-boo. It is nice to see that he doesn't get fussy when she takes something away of bumps him a little. He is such an easy going kid. Today I got a call from my neighbor Teri who live down and across the hall and she asked if my kid was screaming. Sure enough. It was Xander. He hates when I make dinner and don't pay attention to him and he has just discovered how to scream. I couldn't believe she could hear him all the way down there with all the doors and windows shut. I felt really bad for the people directly below us.

Now for the update on Addi. She has been keeping me really really busy. She loves to get into everything!! Lately it has been fun for her to try on Xander's clothes. The scarey part is that the shirts are close to fitting her and the pants fit her waist but not the length. Xander is one chunky kid! Addi loves to help me in the kitchen and often times just drives me nuts. I was so frustrated with her one day I decided to teach her a new phrase. "I drive mommy crazy." She also started asking me recently "What's your probem mom?" She leaves the "L" out. She picked up on that cause I am constantly asking her that when she is whiney. We also taught her to say her full name. She doesn't quite understand that Addi is a nick name and Addilyn is her full name so she says... "I Addi Bicki Tewee" She can't said the "v" in her middle name and her "r" is a "w" sound. It is so funny to hear he say it. Her full name is Addilyn Vicki Terry. Someday we will get her to say it correctly but for now it is cute. She also says "neem me anone" instead of "leave me alone" she also copies me when she doesn't want to do something or wants to be left alone she will say "No mom I'm good." I told her one day she was going to get a spankin and she layed down on the coffee table and covered her butt with her hands and yell "No Mom!! My butt" over and over. We were also singing shake your booty but her version was "Shake your booby" She was so cute a few months ago she couldn't say wake up. So she would come in and hit my arm and say "Wack up mommy wack up!" She has started the get into everything stage so I'll find my jewlery everywhere and my clothes all over too. She loves to help me "clean" so she wipes everything in the house down with my clean towels. The other day I wasn't fast enough getting the groceries put away and I was busy filling out the loan application for the house when I notices it was really quiet. I look over and she is under the coffee table (where she goes to play with things she knows she shouldn't) and I could see a bunch of gum wrappers. I pull her out and the entire pack (brand new pack) of trident gum was gone. All 18 pieces. I looked everywhere and counted the wrappers. Yep all 18 wrappers where there but no sign of any gum. I asked Addi where it was and she said it was in her tummy. UGH!! I called poison control to make sure that it wouldn't hurt her but she was fine. They said she might have a tummy ache but it should digest just fine. That happened just a few days after her and her cousin Coleman raided Grandma Terry's food storage while we were up doing peaches. Shannon found them eating peanut M&Ms off the floor that they had spilled and some raisens as well. When she found them they both quickly spit out the evidence on to the floor so we had to clean up a bunch of colorful spit and all the M&Ms that hadn't been consumed. She has taken off on me a few times into the street at both Grandparent's houses. I get so freaked out about it but she laughes and thinks it is funny. Just makes me sick to think what could happen if a car was coming or if I wasn't fast enough. She also loves to climg into the drivers seat in the car but the funny part is that she always puts the seatbelt on before she starts pretending to drive.
Well. It is late and I'm tierd so I'll update on what is new with Dan and I later.

Well. We went to the foreclosure sale on the 21st and and about 10 minutes before it was supposed to be sold it got postponed. They moved it to the 20th of August. We decided to stick around and see if any went in our price range and then talk to the person that bought it back if it was the bank. Well. That crapped out on us too. The Attorney decided to move the sale to 2:30 in the afternoon and sent his assistant to tell everyone. Well. We decided to have the realator see if the person that out bid us was going FHA on their loan or conventional. The agent selling it won't tell him. All she says is that we can put in a back up bid if we want. The thing is that if they go FHA they won't qualify cause of all the mold. I hope they are going FHA or that they get it inspected and run. I just want to be done with the search. Even if I have to fix it up. At least I know that there will be an end to that and I'll be able to move in within in a month. We have been watching it to see if it has sold and so far it is still on the market. The other house that we were told the bank had our offer has still not worked out. The realator still won't respond to our realator. It is still listed though. We went to see anther house yesterday. It was built in 2000 and had 2900 square feet. From the pictures it looked really nice. Well. We were going to go see it today but decided to drive past last night. Man did we have a good laugh. The house was in the middle of a run down really old trailer park. It was the only actual house on the entire block. No wonder it was so cheap. The good thing was that it was on .31 acres. They were asking 189,000. I'd rather not live where I'm the prime target for theft. Well. Last friday we had a BBQ with our neighbor and did some fireworks since it was the 24th. It was lots of fun. Addi got to go out in the wading pool we got for her for the first time last week. She had a blast playing with her little buddies Wyatt and Cody. It was nice to spend some time out side after being sick the week before and being stuck in the house. Saturday I took Xander and Mom Weidner, Michelle and my future sister in law, Kristen, went dress shopping. It was so much fun watching her try on all the dresses. I brought back memmories of when I did the same thing. We went to Fantasy Bridal down the road from me and found a really pretty one for a really good price but she has so much time before the wedding she wants to keep shopping. I thought it was a good idea. We also went down to the gateway and this time Dan and Addi came with. She didn't find anything at the shop we went to but we got to play in the fountain with Addi a little. She had fun and got a little sun burned. We stopped at standard restraunt supply on the way back and got a birthday present for Dan's mom. Dan went nuts! He loves to cook and just had a blast wandering through the place. That evening we went and hung out with our friends Samantha and Andy Derksen at their new beautiful home. We cooked them dinner at their house and played rock band. It was lots of fun. Addi had a little too much sun and way to much candy while we were over there and almost puked but we made it home with out her getting sick. We actually all made it to church for the first time on Sunday since Xander was blessed. We stayed away because of the swine flu that was going around and cause the Doc said to avoid large crowds in enclosed places. It was nice to go back and get back into the swing of things. Sunday night we went and played ticket to ride at my parent's house with Walter and his fiance. We had a lot of fun. It has been years since we played a board game with my siblings.

Xander wearing Grandpa Terry's hat at camp


Addi Daddy and her fish.



Grandma Terry, Addi and Xander

Addi trying to ride the pony

Xander in front of the train.

Daddy and Addi on the train.

Ok. It has been a while since I updated this so this posting in going to be really long, but will include pics when I'm done. So. As far as the housing situation we are still not in one yet. The house that we offered on and that I talked about in the last post is long gone, sold to someone else. Right now we have a bid on a nice 3000 sqaure foot rambler in West Valley off of 3400 S. and 5100 W, it was built in 1997. It is in a great location and is something that we could stay in for a long time since it is so big. This house needs a lot of work. The patio that was put in the back yard wasn't layed properly and is breaking up. The people living there before had a hot tub that they drained and ended up flooding the basement because of the bad patio pad. Well. They never bothered to take care of it and now there is a bunch of mold down there. The roof also needs work cause it wasn't sealed properly and water was leaking into the attic, which is also moldy, and has also ruined the drywall in the main bathroom and one of the bedrooms. Dan's brother manages properties and knows what things cost to fix and so he came in and gave us a bid. We are so glad that he came and took a look at it cause he found lots of stuff that we missed. The asking price was 185,000 but we offered 190,000 asking for 25,000 in concesions. Well. They countered and said that they wouldn't give us any concesions so we countered back at 165,000 thinking that they would counter again. Well. In the middle of this someone comes in and offers 185,000. We were getting really good communication with the agent selling the house before but now she is ignoring us. That is cause we are no longer the only offer. Well. The home is still scheduled to be sold at foreclosure sale on the 21st of July. We hope that who ever bid either gets it inspected and runs or that they don't qualify for financing. We are hoping it ends up going to foreclosure so we can go to the sale and talk to the bank that buys it back. If it goes we could probably pick it up from the bank out of REO for cheaper. So. That one is on hold. Before we offered on that one we offered on another one that was built in 2007 and is the same square footage. This one is off 5600 west and about 4500 south. The asking price was 200,000 and it is a short sale. We kinda don't like how far west it is but we offered anyway and we offered low. we offered 184,000 and then forgot about it. Well. I went to fill out the paper work for the house that needs all the work and noticed we had forgotten to include closing costs on the house off of 5600 west. We hadn't heard back on it and were insterested in increasing our offer cause we found another place we could pull money from. Well. When our agent went to check on the status of the offer we were told that our offer was in at the bank and that we were the only offer on the home. I got a little nervous since the contract didn't include closing costs. We found that since we offered so low we would still be able to cover the closing costs just in case they took the offer. Well. The agent selling that one won't get back to us either. I'm soooo irritated that people won't return messages. I just want a yes or no. I hate this hurry up and wait crap! So. Hopefully the other home goes to foreclosure and isn't postponed. So. That is the update on the housing situation. Now I'll update on what has been going on lately.

Well. A few weeks ago Dan finished one of his summer classes that was accelerated. He got an A! HOORAY!!! He is so smart! :) I'm very proud of him. He has about 3 or 4 more weeks of the other class and then about 2 weeks of nothing till he starts fall semester. We went to "This is the Place" state park on the 29th of June. It was a lot of fun. It was a bit warmer that we would have liked and I was dumb enough not to wear sunscreen so I got really burned. They have a bunch of crafts for the kids to do so Addi made a rag doll, deocrated a draw string bag, branded a peice of wood and we all did some leather stamping. We made magnets out of the leather stamping and she makes new pictures every day to hang up on the fridge with those magnets. She also tried to ride the pony. She thought it was cool until she got closer to it and then she freaked out and wouldn't let go of me. It was pretty funny. I'll post a picture even though I look gigantic in it. They also had a little train there that went around a small pond. She loved it. For the 4th of July we went camping with Dan's family up in Midway. It was really warm during the afternoon but we had electricity in our camp ground so we took a little drive to Heber (enjoying the nice airconditioning in the car) and bought a little fan from the Walgreens (can you believe they still don't have a Walmart?! It is coming soon though) we took it back to camp and pluged it in and we all enjoyed its amazing cooling power. We had fun watching the firework show. Both the kids did pretty good with the noise. Addi had a blast exploring and sleeping in her own sleeping bag on her own air mattress. It sure was nice to get away for a while. We went fishing while we were there at a little pond and Addi caught a fish right away but didn't want to have anything to do with it when Dad realed it in. Well. The most recent thing that happened was that we all got sick except for Dan. Xander got it first. He was just really congested and that started last friday night. By Sunday I had a sore throat and he was a lot more congested. We went to mom Terry's to play games on Sunday and Addi ended up puking her guts out. I'm pretty sure she is allergic to clams in clam chowder. I remember her getting sick the last time I fed it to her. So. Monday Dan stayed home from work to take care of us all. I took Xander in to get checked and they said that he just had a cold. They weighed him and I was shocked! He weighed 17.5 Ibs. He is only 3 and a half months old!! I love his little roles though. Well. On Tuesday Addi started with the cold and ran a little bit of a fever. The last week has been pretty rough for me trying to take care of sick kids and my sick self. We are all doing a lot better now and so far Dan hasn't come down with it. I hope he doesn't end up getting it. Well. Hopefully I can keep this up a bit better now that things have calmed down a little. O! I forgot to mention. My brother Walter got engaged on the 29th of June. Congrats to him. He will be gettin hitched to Kristen Yates. She is from Virginia but currently living in Provo and going to BYU. I'm excited to gain another sister in law. I need to get a pic of the two of them and post it. I'll get it up as soon as I track one down.

Yesterday Dan and Addi went fishing with Mom and Dad Terry and David and Ella. I stayed home with the little one and got to relax a little. Dan and Addi had a lot of fun. Too bad I was not thinking and didn't send a camera with cause this was Addi's first fishing trip. It was a little traumatizing due to the fact that she saw Dan take a bit of an unexpected swim and then she saw Dan whack the fish's head against a rock to kill it. She was very scared that her Daddy got hurt when he fell in the lake and even more scared cause she thought it was the fish's fault that Daddy fell in. It was a bit of a steep drop from where they were fishing down to the water and Dan slipped and went in up to his waist. Addi got over things and enjoyed fishing but would have nothing to do with touching the fish. My sister Annie came over and watched Xander for a little while so I could go to the gym. I was pretty good last week and made it all four times but I wasn't as successful in getting my entire routine completed. I think I'm in need of some new shoes cause my left foot just kills in the arch area when I walk or work out too long. That is what I get for buying walmart shoes. At least they lasted a year :) I had a bit of a melt down yesterday about the house thing and Dan was great about trying to help me get my mind of it. We ended up leaving the kids at my parent's house for a little while and going home to relax and talk without any interruptions. It was nice to connect and have an adult conversation. We talked about what I want to do for a hobby. I really want to refinish furniture. I want to learn how to reupholster and refinish old wood furniture. One of the requirements in the house we buy is a garage so that I can do that. We put another offer in on a home yesterday. It was kind of a weird experience. Months ago, like in decemberish, we found a house listed for 165,000 that we wanted to see. The situation was that there was a lady living there that was dying of heart failure. She was defaulting on her mortgage but she wanted to lease her property back from who ever bought it until she died (no one was sure how long that was going to take) we never got to go through it cause the realestate agent selling it said that someone else was going to buy it. Well we just gave up on it and moved on. Well. We went to see another property on Wednesday last week and I had no idea that it was even in the same neighborhood as that house that we had looked at months ago. Well. I accidentally turned down the wrong road and I immediately recognized it cause we had tried to go see that old lady's house about 3 times. What was even more crazy was that it was for sale. so. We went and looked at the other house and then took our realestate agent over to see the old lady's house. We couldn't get in cause he didn't have the lock box code but we looked through the windows and the person who had bought it went in and redid everything. It looked awesome so we went back on Friday and went through it and thought it was amazing. They guy ended up buying it for 155,000. We found out that the reason the selling agent didn't want us to look was because the person who was purchasing it was not a represented buyer which meant that the selling agent got 6% commission from selling it. Well. He bought it back in March so we think he has a construction loan on the properly since he isn't living in it which means he will have to have it sold withing the next 2 months so he doesn't have to refinance. Well. We offered on it yesterday. We offered 185,000 but are willing to go to 190,000. We found that we could use the money in or Roth IRA and we are going to use our 401K as well. That gives us about 12 thousand more to put down than we had originally. We aren't sure anything will come of this cause he is asking 205,000 and has put all new bathrooms all new kitchen and paint and carpet in. He did a great job but the home has a basement that is only 45% finished and it doesn't have central air either. It is also a little older. It was built in 1977. We will see if anything comes of it. We are still waiting to see if anything is happening with the other home we offered on down the road. It is still on the MLS so we know it hasn't sold yet but last we heard they were under contract. I wonder if the person who offered on it will be able to get financing. Right now we are just playing the waiting game. At least we will have a yes or no on the house we just offered on by tomorrow night cause it isn't a short sale. I just keep praying we will find the right house soon so I don't go bonkers in this little apartment. We are potty training Addi starting today. She has already peed her big girl pants and didn't even notice. She didn't even care she was wet. She did go pee on the potty when I put her on there just after I found she was wet. I hate this part. Potty training is the pits. It is so stinky too. I think I'm going to have a load of laundry going every minute of every day between Xander blowing through his diaper and spitting up on everything and Addi's accidents I'm sure the laundry will never end. I love this crazy kids though so it is all worth it :) Well. We are TVless now. They did the digital switch on the 12th so we don't have any channels until we go buy a converter box (the governments way of making more money off us I think) and I won't have time to do that till next week. I'll have to do it before the 25th though cause my coupon expires on the 25th.

Hmmm. I think Aileen won!

The family. Addi was surprised and excited by the coo coo clock that went off.

Side view of the tails.

Four Generations of Terry men.

Wow!!! What a day. Today we blessed Xander and then had a lunch after with our Family at mom Terry's house. He was sooooo Cute. We got him a little tux with tails. I just couldn't resist it!! Dan gave a wonderful beautiful blessing and Mom Terry was quick enough to write most of it down so I have it to put in his baby book. We both bore our testimonies during the meeting and I must admit I got a little teary eyed. I just love my two adorable, precious children. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be a mother of such beautiful children. They teach me so much. As much as those teaching experiences drive me crazy sometimes, I truly am grateful for them. I count my blessings every day for the wonderful family I have. I was raised by amazing loving parents who I love and appreciate so much. I was also fortunate enough to marry into an amazing family as well. I love all my in-laws. I sure have adopted some amazing supportive brothers and the coolest sister-in-law in the world. I'm so glad we get along and can hang out together. I am truly blessed. We had a lot of fun visiting with all of our family at a lunch. They were kind enough to host the little get together since we don't have a place big enough to accommodate everyone. When Addi was blessed we did the lunch at my parents house and so we figured we would give them a break this time. Besides. I thought my niece and nephew (Ella and Coleman) would be much more comfortable playing in an environment that was familiar to them. We had a blast. Aunt Aileen and Thomas had a whipped cream fight and that was pretty entertaining to see. I only got to see the pictures that were taken and then the end result cause I was busy nursing Xander at the time but I'm going to post some pics. It was a memorable fight. Thomas got his butt kicked! After we relaxed a little at mom's and cleaned up the lunch we went over to visit uncle Steve and Aunt Lesa to see the house they just bought. We are so happy for them! Now. I was going to share my faith building experience that taught me patience. When we were trying to get pregnant for the first time we had a hard time. It took us about a year before we finally were pregnant with Addi. I remember getting soooooo frustrated every single week. I remember getting mad at the Lord and then finally coming to the "I just don't care" stage. At this point I decided that if I couldn't get pregnant I would make life better for my self and have as much fun as I could and stop worrying about it. So. Dan and I decided that we were in the perfect situation to go to France and visit his mission. We had a lot of money saved so we decided to go ahead and go. Well. We went and I thought it would be awesome to find out we were pregnant in France. Well no such luck. I was about 5 days late but I started my period on the Eiffel Tour the second to the last day we were there. I was sooooo mad! I hated that every month my period would come later and later. When we got home I decided that my job working for Cintas (a uniform rental company) as a customer service agent was way too stressful and they weren't paying me what I was worth so I decided it was time to find a job. I got a job about a month after we got back that payed about 3 dollars and hour more and the atmosphere was soooo much better and more relaxed. Well. I know the Lord as impeccable timing. I found out I was pregnant the day I quite my job and accepted the new one. I was able to keep working until I delivered because it was so low stress. It was perfect and my boss was extremely understanding. So. I got a awesome job that paid more and allowed us to save more and I was able to go see France before we had a baby. Had I gotten pregnant any earlier I would have missed out on so many blessings. We were also blessed to meet a wonderful couple that was having a much harder time than we were. They had been trying 7 years to have a baby and when they finally got pregnant with their son Chad, after several miscarriages, we were so excited for them, but so sad when she gave birth at 25 weeks. He lived for 5 days before returning home to our heavenly father. It was so heart breaking to watch them go through it but she had such faith and was always so positive. The Lord blessed us with some amazing friends who taught us a lot and made us grateful for all that we had and that we weren't going through all that horrible heartache. So I look to this experience as I deal with the trial of not being able to find a house right now and say, the Lord has perfect timing and I just need to be patient and do my part. I know it will happen sometime and when it does it will be amazing. I keep telling my self that the longer I'm here the more we can save and the nicer we can afford. So for now we just play the waiting game and try to do that waiting as patiently as possible.

And another one bites the dust! Foster and Summer (our down stairs neighbors and good family friends) just offered on a home and their offer was accepted. A few months ago some good friends of our who lived in the duplex next to us built a house and moved away. I'm happy for them but even more frustrated with our own house hunt. We have been saving for 4.5 years and still can't seem to find a house. These friends of ours that are buying homes are fairly newlywed and don't have children yet but are getting homes. I feel like we have sacrificed so much but aren't getting anywhere. We only have one car to help cut costs but still we aren't able to get a nice house in the area we need for the price we can afford. I've been relying heavily on the Lord. I'm sure he is exhausted and sick of hearing me begging for him to help us find the right home soon. With two kids, this two bedroom apartment is just too small. I feel like the walls are closing in on me sometimes. It is interesting how we have grown out of this place. When we moved in here we felt like it was really big and now that Addi is bigger and Xander is here and we have acquired more furniture, the place is so cramped. I'm grateful to be living here. It is a really nice place and I have excellent neighbors and have made a lot of good friends, but it is time to move on. I think it is about time that I record this experience before I forget it or appreciate it less. I feel that we were truly guided by the Lord to the place we are living now. I remember we were looking around thanksgiving time 2006 for a 2 bedroom duplex or fourplex to rent because we couldn't afford a house because the market had sky rocketed out of control. We found one pretty quick after we started looking and I thought maybe the Lord was making this process easy for us cause he new the baby was coming and we needed something bigger. So we went to the place we found on line and looked at it. I felt pretty good when I went through it. It was a good size and really close to Dan's work. There were a few things about it that I didn't like but I figured I could put up with it cause it wasn't a permanent thing. Well. We decided we would get it but hadn't talked to the rental agency yet. It was over a weekend and I started to feel really uncomfortable about it. I had a feeling that we needed to go back and walk through it first. Well. I had the worst most uncomfortable feeling when we were in there. I told Dan so we sat down and prayed right there in the duplex (no one was living there) and I still felt horrible about it so we decided not to get it. When I went to the dentist, not long after, I talked to the dental hygienist and she mentioned that she cleaned fourplexes for a guy in her ward and that I should call and see if he had any available apartments. Well. I called and he said that he would put me on a waiting list. I figured nothing would come of it and we would find something else soon. Well. Months and months went by and we still hadn't found anything. I was so discouraged cause I wanted to find something before the baby came. Well. The Lord had other plans. Addi was born and about 4 weeks later (right when I was giving up all hope of finding anything) I get a call from this guy that I had talked to about being on a waiting list. He said that if I was still interested there was an opening and I could come see. We went over that night and the second I walked in I felt great about the place and we signed papers that night. The amazing thing is that we thought the price for rent was 625 a month but it turned out to only be 525 and this place was in super great shape. It was clean and well maintained not to mention bigger than anything we looked at in the 625 range. We were so surprised that the Lord had blessed us so much and that we had a faith building experience at the same time. I'm so glad I paid attention to that feeling and that we didn't get that other place. We have made so many friends for life because of listening to that prompting and waiting for what the Lord had planned. The coolest part was that he provided us something better than we expected for ourselves. I hope that this waiting for a home to purchase yields the same outcome. I know the irritation and complete frustration with the events happening now is just a stage in the process so I'm trying to rely on my last experience to help me get through this one. The Lord sure has taught me a lot by making me wait for things. I'll share my other waiting experience tomorrow cause I'm about ready to fall asleep right this minute. I sure am grateful that I have my beautiful children and a wonderful husband and such excellent loving and supportive friends and family. Thanks to all of you who see me through these tough patches in life. I know I shouldn't be complaining because I have so much more than other people do. So. I'll stop complaining and start counting my blessings. I'll stop focusing on what other people are attaining and focus on how much I'm learning and how much my faith is growing by going through these experiences. The Lord knows best and has the best timing. We just don't get to see that till the end. The test is how well we handle things during the waiting time. I'm scared I'm failing that test so I'll try to work harder.

The zoo trip we took May 16th 2009.

Addi and I had a little Tea party on afternoon. We made cookies and sandwhiches. It was lots of fun!

Ready for golf!

Addi and Xander on Easter 2009.

Xander having his first bath (not a happy man!)

The Family our first day home from the hospital with Xander.

So. It has been an extra long time since I've updated this but I'm going to try to keep it updated and use this as a form of journal keeping. Now, an update on life with the Terry family. We had our second child on March 31st 2009. It was a little boy. He was born at 12:04 p.m. He weighed 8 Ibs and was 20 inches long. He had lots of hair and was healthy and strong. His name is Alexander Joseph Terry but we call him Xander. The labor and delivery only took 8 hours. I was quite pleased since Addi took 14.5 hours and and 1.5 hours of pushing. It was only about 10 minutes of pushing with Xander and a lot less painful. The best part was that he was born 3 days before his due date. He was due on the 3rd of April. It was interesting because the day before when I was checked by the doctor they said I wasn't dialated at all. Then by 4:30 the next morning I started having contractions. I was so glad he came early on his own. We are so happy that he is here. He is about 7 and a half weeks now and is smiling like crazy. He smiled (his first awake smile) on mothers day, May 10, 2009. What a great gift. Addi ended up being diagnosed with tonsilitis a day before he was born so she came to the hospital once but couldn't get close to him. I was really sad that I wasn't able to take care of her but Grandma Weidner did a good job of making her feel better. She has had a bit of a rough time adjusting to the baby but i'm sure that is normal. She is much better now. I found her sitting in front of the carseat he was in reading to him the other day. I just had to take a picture it was so stinkin cute! She is a really good big sister and is helping mommy lots and lots. Sometimes a little too much but I know she just wants to help. She is 2 now and we are working on potty training. Tomorrow we are going to try a strategy that Auntie Shannon told me about. We are going to put her in the big girl underwear and just let her figure things out. The hope is that she will decide she hates being wet and will come and get me instead of going in her pants. I bought some of the plastic pants to put on over it so she doesn't make a huge mess. She has been horrible at taking her diaper off if she doesn't have pants on. She is no longer allowed to wear dresses (other than to church) until she learns to go potty. Well. We still don't have a house yet. We found one that would be perfect and put an offer in about 4 weeks ago. The bank went out and did a BPO and then the listing price was increased 6 thousand dollars. We are still waiting to hear from the realestate agent selling the house as to what is going on. They were asking 220,000 a few months ago and then when we decided to go look through it they were asking 190,000 so we offered 175,000 since it is a short sale. Then I looked last week at the MLS and they relisted the property for 196,000. The thing that gets me is that they said that we were the only offer. That lasted for 2 weeks and then the next update was that we were the highest and best offer. Then they increase the price? Why?? Well . We will just have to wait and see what happens but we have been praying that if this is where we are supposed to be that things will work out and the bank will get back to us so we can give them a counter offer. Hopefully the good feelings we have had when praying at home and in the temple about this house will mean that it will work out. It is just perfect for our family and it is in a great area. We have been working and saving for so long that I just want to be done and have a home of our own where we don't have to worry about where we are going to have our kids sleep. We love our neighbors and this place we are in now and are grateful that the Lord has blessed us with it but it is time for us to move on. We are out growing this apartment. I hope we have the patience to get through all this waiting and that the realestate agent responds sometime next week. Well. I will keep this blog updated and post some more pictures.