Family Pictures

Here are some pictures from a recent family photo shoot that we got to do. The photographer needed some more demo pictures so she offered to take our pictures for free if we would let her use them for her website. So of coarse we said yes. I think they turned out amazing. I will try to get copies to the grandparents and then if anyone else would like some i can email you some. Just let me know which ones. Also if you want the girls name and number that did the pictures i would love to help her out and she did an amazing job... our kids are not the easiest to work with!!!

Georgia here I come...

Well after a few postponements we have gotten the official word that the business trip to Georgia is a go. I am excited as this is what my new job is all about. It is kind of a bad time to go as Koren is sick so taking care of the kids is 100 times harder. They say that the first few days we will be working 18+ hour days so not much time to call and check in on her. Hopefully there will be some breaks during the day. I will let you know how it all goes.

Milking a Cow

So sometime in middle school or there abouts i made a list of things that i wanted to do before i died, a bucket list you could say. And on that list was to milk a cow. I don't know why but it was on there so i wanted to do it. One of the people i work with at my new job happens to have an aunt that own a dairy farm in Springville. So a few weeks ago we all went and milked some cows. Isabelle loved to play with the baby cows that would suck on her hands (and Micah's feet) and she really wanted to play with the big cows but she scared them. We had a lot of fun and i got to check one of my easy goals off the list. I think the great wall of china is next, or maybe scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef.

California Work Trip

Well i know i havnt posted in a long time so i will try to make up for that. I did get to go to Orange County for two weeks for work training. It was really good. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun too. I got to go fishing, Surfing, see the mission at San Juan Capistrano, and of coarse eat tons of really good food.

Water Babies

We it is that fun time of year again when my water babies come out. Isabelle has always loved the water and we are excited to see if Micah shares that love. This year we were able to take Isabelle to swimming lessons for 2-3 years olds. She loved it so much and did so good that the teacher said that she could come to the 4 year old class later this year if she wanted. She was the only one that wasn't afraid at all to go under water or put her face in the water. The instructor did say that with a child that small with no fear at all we really need to get her learning to swim fast so she doesn't jump in a pool and not know what to do. She she is getting better and getting on her back when she is in the water. We also made one trip to 7 peaks and that was a lot of fun. We stayed for about 2 hours and that was enough with 2 little kids. I am glad that is all we stayed because as i got home i realized that i forgot my sunscreen and so my shoulders are fried. Micah seemed to love the water too. Both the kids and i played in the water while Koren sat on dry ground the whole time because she said it was way to cold to get in. It was a lot of fun and i can't wait for Lake Powell this year.

Fishing in the Snow

So on monday i went fishing early in the morning to Scofield. It started raining before we left but i had planned for that. I had my rain gear and some warm clothes so i didnt get wet at all and almost stayed warm... That is until it started snowing really hard. I had caught the only two fish of the day and everyone decided that they couldnt feel thier fingers so it was time to go. It was a good chance for me to test out my rain gear and i got to catch some fish as well. I was actually a lot of fun. I even cleaned and cooked the fish before Koren could really complain about the fact that i had fish at our house.

General News

Well i haven't posted anything for a little while so i thought i would comment on some of the general stuff that is going on. First i had a second interview with a company that i applied with in Provo. This time i met with the CEO and they told me that they would be sending over an offer today. So depending on the offer i will probably be changing jobs. If that does happen i will talk more about that later.

It is a long weekend this week and i am really excited as we have a lot of plans. First on Saturday i am going to be working on the garage. I have it completely cleaned out and i am going to paint the whole thing Saturday morning. Then hopefully start building the shelves and storage areas. I will take a lot of pictures as the progression of that project will be really cool to see. Then on Monday BJ and i are going fishing. He just got a new boat so that will be fun to try out.

My ten year high school reunion is coming up and that should be fun. i never know what to expect will things like that as they could be really fun or really dumb.

Well i think that is all for now.

Latest Photos

Here are some of the latest photos of our two chitlins. I will get all of them and post it on here soon but i wanted to get some up now.

Video Test

This is Isabelle eating dinner last night. I recorded it on my phone and i want to see if this works to post the video.

Micah is rolling over

Koren called me to day to tell me that Micah rolled over for the first time on his own today. He has been sitting up on his own for a few days now and those are two very exciting steps in his life. pretty soon he will be running around the house chasing Isabelle. But for now no more couches or beds for him alone.

This is my cookie...

Another Isabelle story that i forgot to put on my last post. The other day Isabelle, Koren and I were eating lunch and Isabelle ate all of her food really well. So after we said she could have a cookie. So we each got one cookie and we sat down at the table to eat them. Isabelle was sitting on my lap but then i needed to go outside for two seconds. So i sat her in my chair and set the half of my cookie that was left on the table. When i came back i saw Koren laughing her head off and Isabelle's mouth full of cookie. So i thought she must have shove what was left of hers in her mouth all at once. But then Koren said "Isabelle where is daddy's cookie?" and Isabelle smiled her huge smile and opened her mouth to show me a big glob of chewed up chocolate cookie. So i said well who's cookie is that on the table then. Isabelle picked up that cookie and said "this my cookie, daddy's is all gone". Koren explained to me that right after i left Isabelle got a huge smile on her face and told Koren that she was going to eat daddy's cookie before i got back. So when i got back all that was left was her cookie and she obviously gets to eat her own cookie.

The best part is that she shoved my whole cookie in her mouth because she knew i wouldn't be gone for very long. But then when that one was gone she SLOWLY took small bites of her and enjoyed it as if she were taunting me or showing me her dominance.

She is doing more and more of these funny things.

I'm getting worried...

I am really starting to worry about my ability to out think my children. I will give you a couple short stories of why i am getting worried.

1. Isabelle was eating lunch with Koren and she wanted to be done and have desert. She only had three pieces of chicken nuggets left on her plate so Koren told her that as soon as there were no more chicken nuggets on her plate they could have desert. So Isabelle picked up the three remaining pieces and put them in her lap, gave Koren a "i am smarter then you" look, pointed at her empty plate and said "desert now please".

2. Isabelle has a new awesome book with the Disney princesses and each page is a two sided puzzle of the princess. So loves to do puzzles and so that is one of her favorite books right now. She does have a hard time keeping track of all the pieces. We have not lost any so far and for have about 100 uses out of it already i am really proud of her for keeping track. Yesterday morning though we were missing a couple pieces and so Koren asked Isabelle where they were. (we ask her because 99.9% of the time if we ask her where something is she knows. It doesn't matter if it was a week since she had seen it she remembers.) She looked around for a second and then told Koren that the neighbors dog ate them. Now the dog ate the homework if very common in older kids but i would almost guarantee that Isabelle has never heard that before. That was all her idea.

Her favorite things to play with are puzzles and books and i know that is not making her any dumber. I love that she loves books. Now that i am writing this... She loves books, has dark skin, almost too smart for her own good. I think she is DAMON!!! if he had died i would believe in reincarnation. As long as she is Damon and not Bret!!

A Common Mortgage Mistake

As i hear common mistakes from borrowers i will try to post them on here so that you don't have to make the same mistake. Today i was talking to someone and they were asking about refinancing. They said that they were told and thought that it is not worth it to refinance your house unless you lower your interest rate by 1% or more. If it were only that simply... I know of times that i could have lowered someones interest rate 3% and it wasn't the right thing to do, and other times that we lowered their interest rate .125% and it WAS the right thing to do.

So how do you know????

there is one major issue that you are not considering in just looking at the interest rate. That is the fees that you have to pay to do the loan. If we can lower your interest rate 3% saving you $200 a month, but it cost you $20,000 in fees to do that. It probably isn't a good idea. But say we can save you .125% or $15 a month but we can do it on a no cost loan. Then you save money from the very first month.

There are a few other small things to consider after looking into the two big ones (rate and fees) and those are how long are you planning on keeping that mortgage? If you are going to pay fees to lower your interest rate, do you think rates are going to go down even more? And do you care about the lost time of payments that you have already made? These are minor compared to the rates and fees but are something that you should consider.

Fed Funds Rate Droped .25%

The fed lowered the Fed Funds Rate yesterday. (the fed actually only manipulates the FFR as i explained before) to 2%. They are getting close to the post 9/11 numbers that we saw and if the mortgage companies ever figure out what loans they want to do rates should come down a lot. We can only hope.

Oh and if any of you have a HELOC that is tied to prime, prime lowered .25% as well. It almost is always 3% over the FFR.

Women

I know this one is going to get me into trouble but i really don't understand some things and i would like to vent about my ignorance more then anything. I know there is no explanation that a man can comprehend.



No body appreciates a clean house more then i do but i think there is a point when something can be too clean. I don't understand why we need to clean Sooo much. I mean dishes and clothes i see the point. But i don't see the point of having the 2 inches behind the toilet sanitized every week, or all the hard surface floors (tile and wood) scrubbed every week or more. Especially because you wont let me eat off the floor!!!



I have never seen the point to spending hours a day on something that by design we will undo in a short period of time. Making the bed is ok if that means making sure the sheets are not on the floor. If that mean tucking in the corners and making sure there are no wrinkles and that one pillow is under the sheet and the decorative pillow is on top of the sheet... That is a waste of time. Making sure the floors are not sticky or acting as a petri dish for my kids to watch is important, but our floors and toilets are cleaner then the surgical instruments in the hospitals of Mexico.

My two year olds room is always cleaner then most houses i go into. I expect my two year olds room to be a tornado, if i can walk to her bed and closet without stubbing my toe or breaking a doll i think we are good. Then organize it maybe once a week.

I does get a little frustrating when i clean something and then i am told that what i did was not even close to an acceptable level of clean. Why?? is the earth going to change it's rotation? Are the walls going to fall down faster if the house is a little unorganized?? maybe and we just don't know about it.

I just think if, other then dishes and laundry, we spent a max of 2 hours cleaning a week (I even think that is too much) and spent all that extra time doing things that lasted more then 15 minutes we would all be a lot happier. We could spend more time with our kids, we could get a lot more of the big projects done, we would not be so stressed out all the time. Vacuum the carpet again or go plant a garden?? Kill 99.99% of the germs in our bathroom that could grow in 6 days or go to the park, or plant some flowers, or paint the bathroom. Again maybe i am wrong.

Well that is my rant that i am sure will get me a free ticket to the couch for a while... But if anyone would like to explain it to me that would be great.

Mortgage Basics

Mortgages in a nut Shell – I have decided after reading my last two comments that most of the in depth finance stuff I have been writing about is really boring to 99% of the population. I would be kind of like Damon talking about legal code or Dad talking about different sutures. So I will try to make this a little more people friendly.

There are two key factors that you want to look at when you are trying to get a mortgage, the interest rate and the TOTAL fees. **Important Note** Always, Always gets a written good faith estimate when comparing loans. The reason that mortgage loan officers have a bad name is because little is known about what they really do and way too many of them lie to borrowers. As long as you know that you are comparing similar loan programs, 30 year fixed, 5 year arm, then you only have to look at the interest rate and the fees. If a lender wont give you written good faith estimate you don’t want to use them no matter what, they are hiding something important.

Interest Rate vs. APR – I would never use the APR any more to compare loans. It is an old government program that does not work any more because it is too easily manipulated to be whatever the loan officer wants it to be. The APR is not the interest rate you are paying on your loan. It was developed so that a borrower could compare the interest rate and fees at the same time. For example: is 6% and $3000 in fees better then 5.75% and $4000 in fees. It is hard to know without looking deeper into it. And instead of getting into the details of how to do that just call me and I will do it for you. ;)

As far as comparing fees, look at the total fees not just the origination or “points”. Again I could have higher points but lower closing costs because the other person just charges junk fees to make up for it. Also never look at the pre-paid items (taxes, insurance, days of interest) when comparing loans because they will be the same no matter where you go or what loan program you use. Lenders will often lower those so that it looks like your monthly payment will be lower then somewhere else then just blame it on the taxes when you sign your loan.

Discount Rate

Discount Rate – (2.5%) The discount rate is the interest rate that banks borrow money from the Federal Reserve. These loans were always overnight loans to meet the reserve requirements that I talked about last time. Banks like to borrow money from each other before they become indebted to the government. So this money was typically used as a last resort for banks and the interest rate is typically 1% higher then the fed funds rate. Like the Fed funds rate, this interest rate has little to no importance to individuals other then knowing the current trend of the major interest rates. As these rates go up or down overall loan interest rates will go up or down accordingly, savings account interest rates change with them as well.

An important note is that all these rates can change independent of the others, it usually does not happen that way, but it can. The other thing is when you hear that the fed has changed the “rate”, make sure you find out what rate it is before you use that.

Recent changes to rates
Date Discount rate (change) Fed funds rate (change)
September 18, 2007 5.25% (-50bp) 4.75% (-50bp)
October 31, 2007 5.00% (-25bp) 4.50% (-25bp)
December 11, 2007 4.75% (-25bp) 4.25% (-25bp)
January 22, 2008 4.00% (-75bp) 3.50% (-75bp)
January 30, 2008 3.50% (-50bp) 3.00% (-50bp)
March 16, 2008 3.25% (-25bp) 3.00% (—)
March 18, 2008 2.50% (-75bp) 2.25% (-75bp)

Recent Changes – With the now named “Credit Crisis of 2007” the rules have changed a little. With major mortgage companies dropping like flies, the government has made some changes to try to help out the banks hoping in turn that will help out the consumer. The major change is that they loans can now be made for 30 days and not just overnight. You wouldn’t think that would make a big difference but it has actually been huge in keeping loans available and slowing the foreclosure rates for the already rampant rate. But it is only a band-aid but at least it isn’t salt.

Next we will talk about the ones that really matter, Prime Rate and Bonds!!!

Interest Rates????

I know there is a lot of confusion out there about all the different interest rates and what they all mean. I cant tell you how many times someone that i was doing a mortgage for call me and said "Hey, i heard they just dropped the rates again by a half a percent so my rate is a half a percent lower now right??" WRONG!!! First of all what rate dropped??? Fed Funds, Fed Discount, Prime?? There are as many rates for in the financial world as there are fish in the sea. The key is to understand what they all mean and what people really want to know is the impact that those rates have on their daily lives.

FED FUNDS RATE- ( currently at 2.25%) Click on the link to read the actual definition of what this is. But, to put it into plain English is the the rate that banks lend money to each other at. All banks are required to maintain a reserve on hand. That reserve amount changes but lets just say it is 10%. So if a bank has $100 million in demand account like a checking or saving account then they have to keep 10% of that and not lend it out. This does not always happen so if a bank lends out more money they have to borrow enough to have 10% on hand by the end of the day. They do that by borrowing it from a bank that has a surplus reserve. That way both banks are in compliance and the bank that didn't lend out all their money is still making some interest on their surplus. But usually it is for less then 24 hours. Another major point to all this is that the FED does NOT set the Fed Funds Rate, banks do. The FED sets a target rate and then adjusts the money supply to try to come close to that target.

So what does that mean to you and me? Well, Absolutely nothing!!! Unless that is you are a bank, but suffice it to say if you are a bank you better know all this already. :) I do have to point out here that when i say absolutely nothing, that is not exactly true. All interest rates are tied in with each other in one way or another the say way that when a butterfly flaps it's wings in Africa it rains in London. Ok, not quite that bad but close.

This is how the relationship works. The theory is that is the fed fund rate is lower then banks more be more actively seeking loans knowing that if they lend out too much they can always borrow the money cheaply from another bank. That means that bank with have looser guidelines for loans, but it doesn't say what rate they will loan the money out to the public at does it.

So when you see those little adds stating that the fed dropped rates again so you can get a $500,000 mortgage for less then $1,600 a month. Know that they are full of crap, and it is nothing more then dishonest advertising. (I will talk later about how those places get away with those ads)

Next time i will talk about the Discount Rate, the one the Fed actually does control.

Shupe Girls

I am going to post an email that i sent to the Shupe Family as i think that it is good for all people to know. The Shupe family had a little scare yesterday when Josh (Koren's Brother) called to say that their dad was in the hospital. I will list the first mistake here, he called without knowing any details. We are in UTAH and therefore can not physically help in any way. So calling before you know why he is there, if he is ok, only compounds the problem addressed in my email. There is no point in worrying the girls before you know what is going on. It turned out that they think he has a mild case of Pneumonia and they sent him home with some antibiotics. He had gone to a DR appt earlier that day because he didnt feel good and he got some blurred vision and spiked a temp really fast to 102. So the Dr office made him go to the Hopital and would let him leave. (thank you DR office as he would have said he was fine and tried to drive home anyway, nobody wonders where the shupe stubborness comes from, nor do they on our side for that matter) He was at home later that day watching Walker Texas Ranger later that day. BUT Amanda was not doing as good. Noah reports of her crying histerically and shaking she was so sad and scared, i am sure that lasted all night. So for all of you out there that might ever call with bad news please read the email below. Thanks,

Hey Sara, would you please get this to Josh!! Thanks,

Just for the well being of your overly sensitive sisters/ daughters, i am requesting a new phone call procedure. Depending on the severity of the call, i would say if your mom or dad has anything worse then a hang nail, please follow the the below described plan.

Step 1- Get as much information as possible
Step 2 - Call Garret and or Noah
Step 3 - if Garret and Noah are not available start over at step one and gather more information.
Step 4 - if you still cant get Garret or Noah then you may call Koren only!!! Understanding that if you say your (mom/dad) are sick she will hear Dieing, if you say hurt, she will hear bleeding profusely with severed limbs a possibility, if you say in the hospital she will hear we are scheduling the funeral.
Step 5 - UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU ALLOWED TO CALL AMANDA DIRECTLY!!!!!! No matter what you say she will hear your Mom and Dad, Josh, Aaron, Sara, Jake, Justin, Joey, Madison, and her third grade teacher have all died or are suffering unbearable pain about to die, from a freak accident.

I hope this is now very clear. The benefit of notifying Noah or I before WE tell the girls is that we might be able to slip them some Valium and give it time to kick in so they don't have a heart attach and die. My kids really do need a mother and this would go a long way to making sure she will be around for a long time.

Thank you,-- Garret "We confide in our strength without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it.' - Thomas Jefferson 1793

Korens Performance

Koren and Isabelle had a blast at her performance. Isabelle loved to see all the princesses and loved the dancing.

Bump on a log... No more

Well i have said that kids under the age of 4 month are little more then a bump on a log that cry at night. So i am glad to say that Micah is now officially more then a bump on a log. He grabs things now really well, smiles a lot, and is starting to really play with toys. He is still a little bit from being able to sit up but he really wants to as he has to be up looking around at all times.

The Great Race

Well we had the second running of the great race between Koren (the Tortoise) and her sister Amanda (the Snail). The first race happened about a year ago in the parking lot of Baskin Robins and was a race about ten yards, and lets just say i could have taken a nap in the time it took them to reach the finish line. Noah, Amanda's Husband, and i were rolling on the floor laughing. It looked like the old slow motion running on the beach scene except this was their full speed. So we went to the park yesterday to enjoy the good weather and we decided that we wanted to see Koren and Amanda race again. We were not disappointed to say the least. They tell me that they are much better at long distances and i can see why as it takes them 20 yards to get up to a jogging speed. I think Isabelle can already beat them both over 15 yards. I just hope our kids will get the MacArthur speed or cross country and dance will be their only sport options.

Little Ballerina

Well we all knew that it would happen i just didn't think that it would be when she was two. It is amazing what a little girl that barely learned to run a few months ago can do when she puts on a tutu. It is not every day you see a two year old with a black eye doing real ballet moves. She is just like her mother, dainty on the outside but a "i do what i want when i want, ruff and tumble, kick butt power girl" on the inside. I don't know what more to say about her other then her Italian dad but have had a little dance in him as well. :) She still has more color then Koren or I do in the summer.

Micah's the Man!!!

Well there is great happiness and joy at our house because Micah, the stud, slept through the night for the first time in his life. The amazing thing is that we just started his sleep training 3 days ago. I am sure it wont happen every night but to know that it can be done is huge. Of coarse his crazy mother didn't sleep the whole night as she had to get up three times to make sure he was still breathing. I can't really blame her i did the same thing with Isabelle. So he gets a treat today, not sure if it will be ice cream or a sucker, but something good for sure!!!

Yellowstone

Here are some pictures from our Yellowstone Trip last summer. Now that i have this slide show thing figured out i will post lots of pictures and that will make the grandparrents on both sides happy.

Izzy's Shiner

Well here is proof for all the world that my wife beats my kids!! :) JK Isabelle had a little mishap with a bookshelf in the dark right before bed. She was only walking slowly and that is what happened so i am glad she wasn't running or she might only have one eye right now. I am also adding a few pictures of Micah now that i have some off the camera. I will be adding more later once i figure out how to use that slide show thing. Oh and yes Micah is a chunk, we are teaching him how to do the "truffle-shuffle" He is already starting to grow out of the 6-9 month clothes. who would have thought a 100 pound mom and a 135 pound dad could have huge kids. Isabelle is starting to thin out a lot, i don't know how long it took me to thin out from my almost 10 pound birth weight. Isabelle and Micah were not big when they were born but are great eaters.

Great Economy story

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343671,00.html

This is a story that I read that I think is worth reading. I know it doesn’t go real deep but I think most people appreciate that. I think that is very true and it is scary the power that the press really does have. And to me it is also scary the inability for the general public to think for themselves.

Micah's 4 month checkup

Well we went to Micah's 4 months check up today and he is doing great. The Dr. said that he is a big boy. He is a little over 15 pounds and 28 inches long. So he is in the 88% for heights and 75% for weight. so he doubles his weight from the time he was born in 4 months. I need to put new pictures up but we leave them on the camera too long. Here soon i will post a ton of pictures and maybe Damon will show me how to add one of the slide show things like he has.

Underwonies

Well Isabelle still is doing awesome with her potty training. She loves picking out her "underwonies" every morning. We even decided to risk it and take her to church without a diaper on. It wouldn't be as big a deal except i don't know how well the nursery people can pay attention to her and take her if she tells them she needs to go. There is not a huge window from the time she says she has to go to when she goes, no matter where she is. But she is getting a lot better. We still put a diaper on her at night but she usually wakes up dry anyway. But i expect this to be a long process as she is still barely 2 years old.

New Job Offer

We i have been informally offered a job as a financial advisor for Northwestern Mutual here in Provo. I know they are a big firm and i think that the job would be a lot of fun for me and i could do well at it. I want to know what everyone else thinks of it as well. I don't know that much about Northwestern Mutual and if anyone else does that would be great. The down sides of the job are that is it still 100% commission and that means that starting out i wouldn't make very much money. Also there are no real benefits as far as health, life, dental, 401k to speak of. Also there is no guarantee that i would make any money at all i guess. On the up side of things, it is a more respected job then a mortgage broker so i could move to another company in the future easier, Also according to them any advisers that are still with them for at least three years is making at least $100k a year. They did tell me that only about 1 in 3 make it to the 3-5 year range. IF you make it 5 years then you have made it and will be making 150k-200k a year. I know money is not everything and that the lifestyle and my personal fulfillment is maybe more important then the money and that part of the job would be great. I would be making my own schedule and work when i want to work. And i think it is something that would challenge me and i would really enjoy doing. But if it was all about doing what makes me happy then i would be a broke fisherman that lived in a Mobile home going to fishing tournaments. So i would love to know what you all think about this. And pro's and con's would be greatly appreciated.

Adult Softball

Well it is time again for me to realize that i am getting old. I know that if you consider Adult league softball exercise then you are out of shape. I started playing a few years ago with a guy at work just to fill in for players that didn't show up. But this year they asked me to be on the team officially. It is a lot of fun and a way to get out and still pretend that i am good at sports. I have decided to give up ward basketball as i get hut too often and it really isn't that much fun for me. I am sticking with Softball and fishing. I am really excited for spring as there are so many fun things to so with the kids.

Isabelle's undies

I know she is going to kill me for this when she gets old enough to care, but as of right now she is 2 and i still think i am the boss. So here they are... When koren and Isabelle when to the store to pick out new undies she saw some Mickey House (translated means mickey mouse) underwear and she wouldnt put them down. So Koren got them for her, the only issue is that they are boys underwear. She doesnt care and she is way cute in them so i am going to show them to you. By the way she has gotten two other sets, curious George and Tinker Bell, those are both girl panties.

D-Town Kids

Like they always say you can take the the kids out of Detroit... but your cant take the Detroit out of the kids. Here is your proof...

Easter

Easter was a lot of fun. My sister and her two boys came and we colored eggs and did an easter egg hunt in our back yard after we were done painting. My sister had a great idea and let the kids each pick out a design of plastic egg and then those are the ones they find. no fighting, they each get the same amount of eggs. Brilliant!!! She she got some Tinker Bell and some Princess ones for Belly. Oh and if anyone is wondering why i dont use thier real names i have hear that you shouldnt for security reasons. I am probably being dumb but why not.

Everyone had a lot of fun and no major messes to clean up probably because we prepared for them. Belly's is currently in love with the color green as everything from her staws to her skirts to her easter eggs she is liking green.

I will put pictures up as soon as i get them off my camera.

Employment

Well i am currently employed by two different companies. First i am with Advantage Lending and i have been here almost 3 years. Mortgages are going well it is just a hard industry with things changing so rapidly. I am also just starting to work with Western States Insurance doing property and Casualty insurance. This is be slow growing but should work out to add some stability to my income and i will probably get benefits though them after a little bit and that will save us the $600 a month we pay for health insurance. I am most excited about an application that i have in with Goldman Sachs. I think that it is a long shot to get in with them but if i did that would be perfect for me. But i think that i have positioned myself that even if i don't we will be in great shape. The only problem with Mortgages and Insurance is that they are both 100% commission jobs. But once you get some time in and let it grow i should start making some good money.

Potty Training

Well just like everything else in child 1's life she decided that she wanted to be potty trained. We have been working with her for a little while now, but last week we decided to stop really pushing her, so we stopped asking if she needed to go potty and then two days later she just decided that was enough. just like breastfeeding, highchair, walking. She is stubborn. So it has been 7 days now without her pooping in her diaper. She still has wet accidents about every other day but no poopy diapers is awesome. She is loving all the chocolate chips and ice cream it is earning her. We are really excited to just have one in diapers again.

new pictures

First Post

This is my first post and i can promise that the first few will be boring as i am learning how to do this. But it will be a good place to keep everyone infomed of what is going on that cares. Here are some latest pictures of kid 1 and kid 2.