Effective advertising

We have had an older big-screen TV in our back room in the basement for a long time. Someone gave it to us a while ago, and after a short period of using it, we have just been storing it. I asked Jeff if we could get rid of it because it was taking up so much space. He gave his permission only after I promised we could get a new TV when we get a new house and somewhere to put said TV. So I listed in on KSL in the free section.

And how long do you think it took for someone to call me? Five minutes? No. Four minutes? No. Three minutes? No. Within a few seconds of posting the ad, my phone rang. "I live in Roy and can be there in half an hour. Can I come get your TV?" I said yes and gave directions, then hung up. The phone rang again. "Can I come get your TV?" No, it's already been promised, but if he doesn't show up, I'll call you back. The phone rang again. We didn't answer. By the time I got back onto KSL to cancel the ad, the phone had rung probably five times, and 9 minutes had passed since posting. 45 minutes after posting, the TV was out of my house and on its way to another home, which has a little boy who is SO excited. He was jumping around in our driveway while his dad and Jeff loaded it up. He could have had it home and hooked up in time to watch the Superbowl. I love KSL.

You can be honest, it's okay.

Here are the curtains I hung up in our bedroom. I actually made them to go in our dining room while we were remodeling that room. But then I decided I didn't want green in there, so I made others for the dining room, and kept these for the bedroom. Now that we've finally done our room, I was able to hang them up last night.

Does anyone else think that these look like they belong in an old lady's house?

Thankful Thursday

1. Michael's willingness to eat new things. Okay, so he isn't exactly willing, but he does understand that we are not buying any more baby food, and that he has to eat "real food" now. He's doing so, so, so well.

2. Faith's willingness to eat new things. She really is willing, and she eats everything we give her, and screams if we dare to eat something without sharing.

3. Jeff, who has worked really hard on our bedroom to get it done, and not gotten upset with me when I don't get as much done as I should have.

4. Paint and new trim - it's AMAZING what this can do to a room.

5. This cleaning bug I have - I'm totally de-junking, and I love that my sewing room is clean and (mostly) organized. I love KSL and FreeCycle, which help me to get rid of all this stuff.

Shopping shocker

Do you have any idea how much food you can buy with $100, when you aren't spending any of it on baby food? I had forgotten.

So Michael has eaten oatmeal twice now, and today he is going to try some pudding. I know, pudding may not classify as "real food" to many of you, but it isn't lumpy, and it isn't baby food, and it's something he's never eaten before. Jeff and I are thinking that when we have Faith's first birthday party in a couple of weeks, Michael might actually eat ice cream!!! Our hopes aren't quite as high as cake, but ice cream would be nice.

Progress Report

Can I just tell you, I am so so SO proud of my little boy. He has had "real food" at every meal since he "turned four." Yesterday he had apricots and bananas. And today he had apricots, squash (mashed with a fork instead of pureed with water), raspberries, and...... sloppy joes! Can you believe it? He didn't actually eat a sloppy joe with a bun or anything, but he did take six bites of sloppy joe slop (I don't know what else to call it). It was lumpy and thick, and he puked once on his third bite, but then he ate three more bites after that, and did so well!!! He resists trying the new foods, but once he takes that first bite, he does awesome. I can't even express what a blessing this is for us. We still have a long, long way to go, but it is HUGE that he is taking these small steps.

In other progress, our bedroom has now been painted. Tomorrow I will buy the new trim and hopefully paint it, then install it on Tuesday, maybe? Then we can move our stuff back in and get the dressers out of the living room and the dining room, and the bed out of the basement. Although, I must admit I kind of like sleeping in the basement - when Faith cries, I don't hear her as well, so I sleep a lot better. Yesterday morning I didn't wake up until 8:30. I don't know how long it's been since I slept until 8:30. It was heavenly.

I was talking on the phone with Mom yesterday, telling her about painting the bedroom and stuff. After I got off the phone, Jeff pointed out that whenever I talked about something Jeff had done, I said, "We did..." And when it was something I had done, I said, "I did..." He was laughing about it, but to give proper credit to Jeff, here's the true story:

What Jeff did:

• took the wallpaper off
• washed the walls
• painted the ceiling and walls

What I did:

• patched the holes
• sanded the patches
• painted some of the corners and edges

What we both did:

• moved furniture
• watched the kids while the other was working

There, Sweetie, do you feel better?

The "Birthday" Boy

Michael is four today. Not really, but we're telling him he is. That's because he's been telling us for a long time that he'd eat "real food" when he's four. So yesterday, Jeff told him he'd be four today, and what real food did he want to eat first? He chose "arizagna," which we're guessing is lasagna. He and Jeff went and bought a frozen lasagna last night and we will cook it today, and Michael will eat three bites.

At breakfast today, he chose apricots as his "real food." He ate two bites of bottled apricots without fussing about it. He didn't want to at first, but then he said that he "kind of likes" apricots. After his first bite of apricots, we let him eat his baby food. He had three jars there. I was telling him that since he's four now, we can't buy baby food anymore. I explained that it is a rule. He can still eat the food we already have, but when it's gone, we can't buy any more. He thought about that for a minute, then gave me back one jar of food and said he wanted to save it. This could drag out for a while.

Could she be hungry?

Jeff opened the cupboard so Michael could get some food out for himself. He turned around for a minute, then turned back around, and saw....