Ketchup! Mustard!

Yet again another catch-up post. When am I going to learn that it is way easier to just do lot's of short posts then one really long one? We will see how long this really is though. Our life really isn't that interesting. So what have we been up to the last few months?

-Cruz turned 4 in January. He is finally beginning (beginning) to mellow out. He is still full of LOT's of energy, but at least he doesn't have that crazy energy anymore. He is always smiling (except when he is in time-out).

-Beckham is now 23 months. He runs around like he is as big as Cruz (which he almost is). Cruz weighs 32lbs and Beckham weighs 27lbs.

-Brendan turned the big 3-2 in January

-I turned the big 2-9 in March. It's weird to think that I'll be 30 in a year (I hate it when people say that and I just said it). Thirty isn't that old, but to go from 29 to 30 seems like a big jump.

-In December we discovered that Brendan has an eye disease called "Keratoconus". He has gone about 10 years with a number of diagnosis's, but we finally hit the nail on the head. Basically his cornea is thinning causing it to make a cone shape instead of a sphere. He has to wear hard contacts that are about the size of the tip of a pencil eraser. And they cost a whopping $250 per contact (my heart starts beating a little faster every time I think about that). He went from seeing 20/80 with corrected vision to 20/20. He literally was seeing a whole new world when he got his new contacts. I was little afraid that he might have ran for the hills after he finally saw what I really look like.  :)

-Thanks to Daddy's amazing vision, Cruz now get's to wear glasses. They are pretty darn cute on him. They are bright orange.

-We are settling into the place. I still have yet to finish painting. I am a complete slacker. Hence no new posts. :) I love it here. I knew I would like it, but didn't think I would love it. Every time I drive home I am in awe of how beautiful it is where we live now and I can't believe we were so blessed with this house. I actually see myself staying in Olympia for quite some time now.

- We are slowly turning into little mini farmers. Ok, Brendan really is the one turning into the farmer. I just try to support his new found love of working outside. Brendan is friends with a guy who is friends with the largest local fruit producer in our area. We got hooked up with blueberry and raspberry bushes from said fruit producer's personal farm. We will also soon be planting a garden that Brendan plans on being able to feed us all year long on (I don't know if the last part is true, but I sometimes wonder).

-We got chickens today. Ten of them!!

-We got a dog...... for a week. She was a rescue dog and was already 2-years-old. Beckham tried climbing on her one day and she growled and nipped him in the knuckle. Beckham thought it was hilarious, me, not so much. A day later he crawled up to her, put his hand on her thigh and she did it again (minus making contact with the knuckle). Needless to say, she went back. It was a good learning experience though.... I learned that I am not a dog person.

-I started watching a little girl from the ward in October. She is 3 and is a little diva. I don't know if I want any girls now. Just kidding. The first few months were tough with her. It was an adjustment for her and Cruz. They both fought over who was the alpha. But, suddenly one day things changed. Cruz and Jazlyn played all day and there were absolutely no fights. This actually happened on my birthday (it was the best birthday present I could have asked for). I don't watch her for the money (but that is a nice plus), but because I have been in that same position before. As a mother you feel a little less guilty having to leave your child to go to work when you know he/she is in good hands (ok, maybe she isn't in that good of hands with me).

-We are going into our 7th year of business and are still going strong.

-In December, Brendan and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Man, I have an amazing husband!! I sometimes want to strangle him, but I would be lost without him.

Ok, that has really wracked my brain. I think that is the gist of everything that has been going on here. Hopefully you'll hear back from me soon. But I can't make any promises. :)

A Cribs Tour

So it's about time I posted pics of our new hacienda. We have been so blessed to get this place, because there is no way we deserved it. I'm still in awe that it is ours. Maybe part of that reason is because it was such a LONG, drawn out process. We put an offer on the house in the beginning of February and finally closed on July 29th. Short Sales are by no means short. Every step of the way there were hurdles to jump over. And there were many times we thought we were going to loose the place. But, after every hurdle things actually ended up being in our favor. Heavenly Father was definitely blessing us every step of the way. This was one of those testimony builders on prayers being answered in unexpected ways.

Its not perfect, and there is going to be a lot of sweat equity that is going to be going into this place. But it will all be worth it. These are the pictures from the home inspection. I'll post some "after" shots after we are settled in and the painting is all done.

View from the front yard

View from porch to front yard

Entry Way

Living room which is going to be the boy's playroom

Family Room

Who thought blue/gray foe painted wood grain cabinets would look good?

There are plans to redo and expand the kitchen in the future.

Dining Room

Guest bedroom. Nice mural huh?

office

Beckham's 1st Birthday

Bad mom of the year award goes to....... me!! Beckham had his 1st birthday on June 18th and I am just barely blogging about it? It amazes me how many less pictures we have of Beckham compared to Cruz. I can't believe that Beckham is already 1. It has gone by so fast.

-He is such a little sweetie.

-He loves to snuggle. He is a blanket whore. If something even resembles the feel of a blanket, he will snuggle with it and suck his thumb. Especially when he is tired.

-He weighs 4lbs less then Cruz.

-He is much more sensitive then Cruz (But that is not a hard thing to beat).

-He is a little smarty pants. He can somehow unlock my phone and turn it on and off. He will find a way to get to something he wants.

-The temper-tantrums have already begun. It makes me laugh when he doesn't get his way (we'll see how long that last for).

For his birthday we spent if with just the four of us. Nothing exciting, but that's us Marchant's. We don't want to make things a big deal now, because then every year has to be better then the next. I made ice cream cone cupcakes. Don't you love my first ever attempt at piping icing? We bought Beckham some tools so he could have some to call his own (Cruz is very possesive of his tools). But that plan backfired on us. Cruz ended up comadeering them.

Beckham kept getting icing up his nose.

Daddy loves to torcher (sp?) the boys

whenever he gets a chance. And notice Cruz taking his chance

to take the screwdriver away from Beckham.

Happy Birthday Beckham!! We love you!

Fun Around House

Nothing much has happened here this past week. As usual.

I started potty training Cruz last Tuesday and I think we've got it. Well, I still have to remind him to go, so if that counts as potty trained, then we got it. Still haven't worked on the night time pottying. I'm way to tired and lazy to do that yet.

Beckham is Beckham. He plays so well. I don't know if he is just better then Cruz was or we just have more toys to keep him occupied now. He pulls himself up onto everything and army/real crawls all around the house. He looks like he is drunk when he real crawls. It's pretty cute. He has learned to open cupboards. But, HaHa, he will never get our kitchen cabinets open. Who's the fool now?

Here are a few pics I took around the house today (minus the video, that was last week).

"No, he's getting my toys!!!"

I still can't get over how big Beckham's eyes are.

It is an unusual day if somebody doesn't say anything about his ginourmous eyes.

Cruz loves this toy more then Beckham.

But Cruz can also be more of a baby then Beckham

Beckham is trying to "play" with Cruz more and more.

As much as Cruz will let him.

If there was a Construction Worker Hero that would be Cruz

My Little Minion

Fun with the Fam

Over the weekend we went and visited my brother and his family up in Bellingham, WA. We love being so close and seeing them. Cruz has so much fun with his cousins and Brendan and I have so much fun hanging out with Jeff and Susan.

Saturday we drove up to Vancouver, Canada and went to the Aquarium. Cruz had fun, but he would look at the fish for about 10 seconds and then want to see the next thing. I really need to work on his attention span. That night we go a babysitter, left all of the wild children, and went on a much needed double date.

Playing in the fountain while Aunt Susan waited in line

This dolphin would stay there to let you take pictures

Susan, Baby Gabe, Me, with Grace (12) and Cruz in the background

Josie (5), Emmett (2), & Cruz (3)

Emmett, Jeff, Me, Cruz

The next day we tried watching conference and then went on a hike down to the beach.

Finally

I know what you are all thinking... Finally! I guess life in the Marchant home just hasn't been that exciting. I'm trying to think of everything that has happened since I last blogged.

-After almost 9 years with Wells Fargo I quit (cue angels)!! It has been so nice to be a full time mommy now. Brendan and I were super worried about the business and money, but we have been super blessed since I quit.

-Brendan, Beckham, and I went to Cancun. While Cruz spent a week with Grandma.

-We are now in our 6th year of business and business is booming (knock on wood).

- We celebrated Cruz's 3rd birthday and boy is he a 3-year-old. The terrible 3's are way worse then the terrible 2's. Who ever came up with the terrible 2's was full of crap.

- Beckham is 9 months old now. Where has the time gone? He's army crawling, eating all the time. I think he's going to be bigger then his brother. At 6 months he weighed more then Cruz did at a year.

- We put an offer on a house. It's a short sale, so who knows when we will ever hear something back from the bank.

The rest is just going to be a bunch of random pictures over the last few months (In no particular order).

At the top of a temple in Ek Balam. We had a mormon tour guide and it was so interesting.

Cruz about ready to go out and feed the cows at Grandma Mary Ann's house in Missouri.

Christmas morning, chillin' with Grandpa.

My flashlight that kills the monsters at night.

Classic Beckham face.

Fatty is scarfing down the Cheerios while skinny keeps giving him more.

"I'm here to suck your milk"

Cruz thinks he's a home inspector like Daddy. He gets out his computer to finish

his reports and walks around the house all day taking notes on his notepad.

He's constantly pointing things out that are wrong with the house.

Cruz's homemade birthday cake. I know its amazing.

This kid never stops eating. He will continue to open

his mouth whenever a spoon is put in front of his face.