My "New" Kitchen

We've had these done since October, but I'm finally posting the final picture.  Last September we hired our friend Brian to install a coat closet and pantry (with storage bench in between) in our kitchen nook and couldn't be more thrilled with the result.  Since we were going to have to do some painting anyway, we decided we were tired of the brick red kitchen and went with a light aqua instead.  (I helped prime our kitchen one evening but then Alan ended up doing 95% of the painting all by himself since I was still in my first trimester of pregnancy and we realized I probably shouldn't be painting.)

Here are the before pictures.
Before the cabinets were added:

After the cabinets were added but before we painted:

Big Girl

I am going to be potty training Maggie this next week, but first we got Maggie out of her crib and into a big girl bed.  She also moved into Jared's bedroom.  After a couple of rough nights, I think she is finally getting the hang of her new bed.  However, she still doesn't understand that it is her bedroom, too, and will tell me "I want to take a nap in Jared's room."

Christmas Day

As I was looking through the pictures I've just uploaded on my computer, I realized that I didn't take a single picture on Christmas Day.  I did, however, get a couple of short videos of Christmas morning.

We started out by having our own little Christmas at our house, followed by a lovely time at Alan's parents' house, a quick dinner at my brother's house, and then ending with Christmas evening with all of my siblings at my parents' house.  My dad was very, very sick on Christmas and completely bedridden, but we still sang some Christmas carols as a family and tried to be cheerful.

Sunday Clothes

Here are a few pictures of some of the Sundays in December.  Both Jared's sweater and Maggie's dress were from Grandma Stout (Maggie's white sweater was from Grandma Curtis).

I don't usually spend very much time on Maggie's hair since I always have to take it out for her nap anyway.  But this particular Sunday it looked super cute.

 Jared got this cute purple shirt and vest from Grandma Stout for Christmas.  Maggie already had a purple dress of the same color, so I of course had to coordinate.  Alan happened to be wearing a purple tie on the same day (not planned), so here is a picture of the three loves of my life.

Maggie received her first dress-ups for Christmas.  She doesn't wear them as much as I thought she'd want to, but she does like them a bit.

Jared's School Christmas Program

I have some catching up to do on this blog...so don't mind the next few posts.

Jared is 2nd from the left on the top row

A few days before Christmas break started, I got to go listen to all the elementary school kids sing their Christmas songs.  I think it was so cute how they made all the kindergartners wear matching Christmas collars. (Ok, I actually resented having to get there so early to be able to get a decent seat, but it was soooooo worth it when Jared's face lit up when he saw Maggie and me sitting in the audience.) Don't mind Jared's belly shirt.  He was supposed to wear Christmas colors and that was the only shirt I could dig up.

My Dad

Steven Curtis 1948-2013

Our wonderful husband, father, Papa, and hero passed away on January 5, 2013 after a courageous eight-year battle with cancer.  He valiantly inspired others and proved that this is still a day of miracles.  Steve was born in Salt Lake City on March 16, 1948 to Emerson and Alice Curtis.  He graduated from Highland High School and served an LDS mission to Northern Germany. He married his eternal sweetheart, Janice, in the Salt Lake Temple. He graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in electrical engineering and received a master's degree from Santa Clara University in California.  He spent the majority of his career designing medical imaging equipment and managing research and development departments.  He loved solving mathematical engineering problems and was granted many patents.

Steve was a man of absolute integrity.  He had sound judgment and great wisdom. He possessed charity for all and so appreciated the love and prayers offered for him during his health struggles.  He left a legacy of love, service, humor, and devotion to his family. He endured to the end with steadfast faith in the Savior and a testimony of the gospel. He was without guile and was a true disciple of Christ.

Steve loved gardening and his beautiful flowers were legendary. He passed on his love of camping and hiking in the mountains and national parks to his family. He loved music and sang every chance he had in choirs, quartets, and duets with Jani and was an excellent choir director. He enjoyed traveling and saw much of the world.

He delighted in the scriptures and was continually immersed in them. He had an extensive knowledge of the gospel and lived its principles with exactness. He served faithfully in many callings, but his favorite was teaching, where he constantly bore his testimony of the love, kindness, and mercy of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

He will be deeply missed by his wife Jani and their children and 14 grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, January 9th at 11:00 a.m.

Potty Training Advice

I have a lot to catch up on with this blog, but I haven't felt much like blogging lately (life pretty much stinks right now).

However, I did want to ask, "What is your favorite potty training method?"  I am going to start potty training the Magpie sometime in February (she will not quite be 3 years old yet), so I want some time to read up on good potty books.  When I potty trained Jared I used this book:

I felt like it was moderately successful, but (of course) it still took months for me to not always be stressed about Jared peeing his pants.  This method used a doll that peed to demonstrate what happens when the dolly pees in the potty and what happens when the dolly has an accident (the child will practice running to the toilet lots of times from the site of the accident and from other areas of the house.)  I liked how it focused on giving treats when the child's pants were dry, NOT when the child performed on the potty.  I will probably incorporate elements of this method again, but I am also up for other ideas.  So, let me know what YOU like to use!