We moved to Indiana...3 months ago!

Alright, so obviously keeping up the blog is not something I'm particularly good at. Since my last post, we've moved to Indiana. We're also having a baby in a few days (5 days, to be accurate. We still don't have a name, either, so any suggestions are welcome!). Life has been crazy but good.

Lucy is growing up so much. She's a ton of fun, and she talks and sings nonstop. She's loving being here in Indiana with Grandma and Grandpa.

We're renting a house, and it's great. Rent out here is SO MUCH cheaper than it is in Utah! It's amazing. Anyways, we have a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath house, with a big basement. It's more space than we know what to do with. We're really enjoying it.

Indiana is different than Utah, that's for sure. But it's good. For example, the people here are SO NICE. Even strangers are friendly. At church, people seem genuinely happy to have you there! The people have definitely made moving here a lot easier. Here are a few of the other differences I've noticed:

There are churches everywhere here. In Utah, there are churches, too, but they're all LDS churches. Here, there are so many different ones, and they all have marquees out front. It's fun to read them. Some of my favorites I've seen have said: "This church is prayer conditioned" and "So you think it's hot now...". They make for a good laugh while driving down the road.

I had forgotten what it's like to smell cigarette smoke everywhere you go. I guess I'd been in Utah too long!

They test the tornado sirens every Friday at noon. I didn't know this. We were at the zoo the first time I heard it, and it freaked me out. I've never had an anxiety attack, but I'm pretty sure I almost did then.

Change is always a little hard, but the move here to Indiana has been a good one. Here are a few pictures of our house and of Lucy. (Oh yeah, and Lucy was a ladybug for Halloween, and she LOVED trick-or-treating!)

Yes, we're still here!

I didn't mean to give up on the blog, but that's kind of what happened. It's been three months since I've posted anything, and we've had a lot happen in that time! Here's what's been happening at the Patrick household:

We found out that we're having another baby! We're so excited. Baby's estimated arrival date is December 3.

We had a fun girls' weekend in Ferron with Ashton's family, complete with delicious food, crafts, a baby shower, and a bridal shower. So much fun!


Ashton's brother Stephan married a really cute girl named Cathryn. Here are the newlyweds.


For Easter, the Easter Bunny (aka Ashton) surprised everyone (including me) with two chicks. Lucy was so excited! We kept them in a container in the garage for about two months, then gave them away to a neighbor who already has some chickens. Lucy misses them a little, but I'm okay with them being gone.

The last week in May we were able to go down to Albuquerque, where Britt (Ashton's sister) and her family live. All of Ashton's siblings and their families were there. We had so much fun! Thanks Britt and Stew for the wonderful trip!


I'll try not to let three more months go by before I post anything again!

Lucy's Latest

I'm noticing that pretty much every time I post something, it's all about Lucy. That's okay, because she keeps our lives exciting! She is so much fun. Lately, she's been a really good helper. She loves to sweep, help me empty the dishwasher, and even pick out her own clothes.
It's amazing how quickly she's learning. It seems like she learns new words every day. She's always chattering, and we love to hear her little voice! She keeps us busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Big Girl

This week Lucy will be 18 months old. That is so crazy to me. Looking at her, I'm realizing that she's not a baby anymore. She's a full-fledged little girl. She's a very girlie girl, too. She loves purses, her baby doll, and being told that she's pretty. Lucy is also a total Daddy's girl. She'd much rather Dad help her use her fork or hold her when she gets hurt. She loves her Daddy.

Lucy is so much fun. She loves music and loves to dance. She loves puppies (every animal she sees she calls a puppy). She's very talkative, and uses everything she finds as if it were a cell phone. She's also a really talented climber. She can get on top of the kitchen table in no time! Lucy keeps us busy, but we're so glad we have her!

On a side note, Lucy also has a rage issue...so tiny, yet so angry! She hits us when she doesn't get her way. Needless to say, we get hit a lot. Time-out has proven to be ineffective with her. Has anyone else dealt with a toddler who hits? Any suggestions?

Trip to Indiana

Grandma holding Lucy and Wyatt

Lucy and Paige

At the zoo

This is what happens when you try to get a shot of all 3 grandkids together

Riding the horse!



Ashton's parents were getting pretty anxious to see their grandkids, so they flew Lucy and I out, along with Ashton's sister Britt and her two kids, Paige and Wyatt. We had a blast. We ate tons of delicious food, and did all kinds of fun things. We went to a really fun children's museum, we went to the zoo, and we also took the kids horseback riding. It was so much fun to go visit the fam, too. It was also fun to watch Lucy with her cousins. We had so much fun with everyone! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Patrick for the wonderful trip!

Halloween

Halloween wasn't super exciting this year. Lucy was a pig. We took her to the ward Halloween party and someone said, "You dressed your baby as a pig?" I know, not the cutest costume for a baby, but when she saw the costume, she fell in love with it. She hugged it and hugged it, so we couldn't NOT let her be a pig seeing as how she loved it so much!
We were going to take her trick-or-treating, but there was a big storm with rain and hail, so instead we got on the web-cam with Grandma and Grandpa Patrick to show off our little piggy.
(It was really hard to get a picture of Lucy in her costume, so unfortunately this shot of her with her finger almost in her nose is one of the better pictures I have!)

Date Night!

My mom was nice enough to watch Lucy for us so that we could go out on a date! We went to the State Fair to see Boys II Men. They were as good as ever, and it was so much fun to get out and go on an actual date!

So much to celebrate!

We had a little party for Lucy's birthday and Ashton's graduation. I made some cupcakes, and Ashton's turned out really well, but I think it's pretty obvious that Lucy's weren't so awesome. They looked so good in my head, but in reality, I just couldn't get them to look right. Oh well. I'm pretty sure Lucy didn't care. The party was fun regardless!

Ashton's new title: College Graduate

Ashton's a graduate!!! He worked so hard, and he's finally done...well, done for a few months.
We weren't sure what we were going to do after he graduated, and then he had some of his professors approach him about staying here at BYU and getting a master's in plant pathology. These professors got a grant from the government to do some sort of research, and they need a couple of graduate students to help. Ashton was their first choice. So after thinking about it, he decided that he wanted to do it. And get this- they're going to pay for his schooling and give us a living stipend. We'd be pretty dumb to NOT take this opportunity!

One!!!

I can't believe that Lucy is already one! It seems like yesterday that we anxiously drove to the hospital, excited for our little baby to get here. And here we are, one whole year later.
I can't even tell you how grateful we are to have our Lucy. She makes us laugh and smile every day. She is so much fun, and we are so lucky to have her!

Here's a little info on our one year old Lucy:

-She LOVES Wheel of Fortune (We could have sworn she said "Pat" one night while watching it...)
-She is incredibly independent
-She loves pickles
-When Mom tells her "no" it's no big deal, but when Dad tells her "no" there are lots of tears involved
-When the cat meows, she meows back
-When eating, she enjoys using her dirty hands to play with her hair
-She loves children and strangers
-She would play peek-a-boo all day long if you let her
-She waves to everyone (this includes animals)
-She loves to climb and explore
-She's extremely close to walking...she's taken a few steps so far, so any day now...
-She has the cutest little sense of humor

We love you, Lucy!!!

Lucy at 10 months

It's hard to believe that Lucy is already 10 months old. She is so fun, and has a TON of personality! She also has quite a temper, which can be pretty funny (unless she decides to have a temper tantrum in the middle of church...then I have a hard time finding humor in it!) Here's a little more about Lucy: (Oh, and don't mind the pile of dirty laundry behind Lucy in the picture...)

-She has a really cute sense of humor
-She's a really fast crawler
-She's can walk alongside the furniture while holding on to it
-The other day she climbed up 15 stairs with no help at all! (Disclaimer: I was behind her the whole time...I don't want anyone to think I lost her and then happened to find her at the top of the stairs!)
-She loves swimming and taking baths
-She loves to be outside
-She eats EVERYTHING that isn't food (shoes, cardboard, magazines...you name it, she tries to
eat it)
-She's learning how to give kisses
-She loves throwing things, especially when she's in her high chair...it's so fun to watch them fall from that high up
-She has two teeth on the bottom of her mouth and is working on a third one up top
-She makes us laugh all the time. We're so lucky to have her!

The cutting of the rat tail

Yes, we actually did it. We cut Lucy's rat tail off. It looks so much better. Here's the before picture (a nice bath tub shot):



And here's the after picture:



Much better, right?

She did it!!!

A few weeks ago, my mom graduated with her Master's in Special Ed. So, of course, I made cupcakes. (All the pictures we have of my mom in her cap and gown are blurry, otherwise we'd include one of those!) Way to go, Mom! We're so proud of you!

Happy birthday, G!

Happy birthday, Mom! (This is the cupcake version of my mom.)

Farewell, furry friend

If anyone had told me a year ago that I'd be getting rid of Bug, I would never have believed it. I loved that cat more than any other animal I've ever had. I'll be honest- I bawled when we had to hand him over to the lady at the Humane Society. (They must have a lot of people doing that, because they had Kleenex handy.) The saddest thing was the sign behind the counter saying that there's no guarantee that the animals will even be put up for adoption...I felt so guilty!!! But it was necessary, with Lucy getting ready to crawl any day, and Bug being so big and mean. I know we did the right thing, but it doesn't help me feel any less guilty!

Glorious rat-tail

I've had to come to terms with the fact that my daughter has a rat-tail. Looking at it during church today, I actually felt a little embarrassed by it. I really want to cut it, but every time I mention it, Ashton makes sure to let me know that the tail is NOT to be cut. He's incredibly proud of the fact that his daughter has a rat-tail, and he shows it off to anyone he can. He loves it so much that he describes it as "glorious." I don't know how much longer it will be around, though. He might come home to find it gone one day...

Corn-grats!

My mom got me a cupcake decorating book for Christmas, and I was looking for any excuse to try any of the ideas from the book. Well, my mom is graduating with her Master's in May, but finished her last class in January. So there we go, my first reason to make some crazy cupcakes. There were no graduation related ideas in the book, but I did find ears of corn. So I decided to make those and tell my mom corn-gratulations. A little "corny", I know.

Where's Lucy?

The other day I put Lucy on her play mat, and a minute later, she's trying to roll down the hall! That girl will not stay put! (I'm noticing in this picture that she looks like she only has one arm...she does have two, I promise.)

Mmmmmm!

Lately, Lucy has been SO interested in our food whenever we eat. So we decided it was time to start her on baby cereal. It took a while for her to figure out what to do with her tongue when eating, but she's figured it out. She LOVES eating, and grunts at me when I don't get her food to her fast enough! She's a funny girl.

*Note: The last 2 posts did not do our Christmas justice! I was trying to type one-handed while holding a crying Lucy. So it was a lot better than I was able to show!

Christmas #2

We got to go to Indiana for Christmas, and we had a great time. It was fun to see everyone and to relax. When we got there, we found that Lucy and her Uncle Dustin both had rat-tails. Very nice. We also got to go to the zoo one day, and we ate wonderful food for two weeks straight. We had a blast.

We got a video camera for Christmas, and I'm realizing now that I took a bunch of videos and not actual pictures. I guess I need to learn how to download the videos to the computer now. So we have no actual pictures of Lucy's first Christmas morning...whoops.