CUSTOMER SERVICE DOES NOT EXIST!!!

So I have had 2 interesting experiences lately that I would like to rant about. The first, at this point in my life, is the lesser of two evils. Our mortgage company sucks. So they lost our very first payment and then they were like are you going to pay your mortgage?! HELLO I ALREADY HAVE. Then they found the payment after I submitted proof so they credited us twice...which seems nice but it's not because then they took it away and it messes up taxes. Then we had set up auto pay for the 8th of the month and they took it out on the 6th in Jan, the 3rd in Feb, and then the 1st in March and in March it overdrew our account because we got paid the day after that. Well I had to call them again to yell at them for this (I called all the other times but this put me over the E D G E!!!) The guy was like oh ya I see that you clearly have the 8th marked I don't know why we aren't taking it out on the right day. Well low and behold....it is the 9th of the month and they have not taken our mortgage out...I hate Utah Housing Corporation!!!!!
Even more than I hate Utah Housing Corp I hate Babies R Us. The name is true...they are big babies!!!! So we registered for way cute dino stuff for Riley's room at the Riverdale store. Well we went to buy it and it was gone and they were like oh sorry we are shipping it to Midvale but lucky you we have it still in the box so you can have it. So we lucked out once...well then you are supposed to get a coupon 2 weeks before your due date....Riley is now 7 weeks and still no coupon. Then I call to make them ship in from the Midvale store the dino mobile and a crib sheet and they make it seem like it's a HUGE inconvenience to do that. Well they call and tell me it's in and I go to get it and they have ONE person on the register....I wait 15 min and have to leave and still have not been helped. I go in the next day and tell the girl my story, she has no idea, she calls furniture and I have to explain again, they have no idea,she looks at me and says, "SORRY WE HAVE HORRIBLE COMMUNICATION" then she calls a manager and then tells me she is going to help other people instead. I am FURIOUS at this point. The manager comes out and the girl tells him I need help and I need to explain to the manager my problem...I look at him start balling and walk out. I calm down like 2o min later, call the store, yell, Jeff goes and gets my stuff and they give us a big discount...I still hate Babies R Us

It's This Game Called Bag Tag...

And I'm IT! Here's how it works. I'm supposed to take a picture of my purse and all it contains at this very moment (no cleaning allowed).Jeff calls this my hotdog purse because he thinks it is shaped like a hotdog or something...but to me it is one of my most favorite purchases! Anyway here are the contents:

1. Girly Appointment Card
2. Costa Vida Frequent Buyer Card
(Not sure why I have this one and NOT Cafe Rio
which is like a million times better)
3. Forever Stamps
4. Allergy Pills
5. A Fortune that reads:
"The current year will bring you much happiness"
6. Sun Glasses
7. Receipts
8. Tissues
9. Chap stick and Lip Gloss
10. Keys
11. My Techy Phone
12. Pens
13. Travel Manicure Set :)
14. Coupons for Huggies
15. Binkie
16. Wallet

So what's in YOUR purse?!
I tag Livia and Shawni.

Our Two Week Update In A Nutshell

So it has been awhile since I have posted last...so much has gone on! My dad came into town and fell in love with Riley the moment he met him (How could you not? My son is adorable!) They loved to take naps together...here is the proof and a way cute picture...BTW my AMAZING dad has lost 102 lbs (in a healthy way) since June 20, 2007 so that is why he looks so skinny!!!

Well, the moment Jeff has been anticipating for the last few months has finally arrived and he finally graduated with his degree in Telecommunications!!! As you can see he was THRILLED to be done (and he will probably kill me for posting this picture) Life is soooooooo much better now...we are both way more relaxed and can enjoy our time together as a cute little family!
Well my parents left on Saturday afternoon. I exchanged them at the airport for my friend Stacey and her boyfriend Nick! It was sad for my parents to leave (they let me take looooooooong naps while they were here and they watched Riley!) but wonderful to see one of my best friends from high school. Anyway, while they were here we played the wii a lot and ventured down to Salt Lake to Temple Square and the Gateway to get a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Apple! We also had a Cinco De Mayo party and ate lots of yummy Mexican food. Stacey took all the good pictures while they were here so I don't have anything to post just yet...
They were here for a short visit and left on Tuesday. I dropped them off at the airport and then I had to go to work at the tanning salon. It was a sad day for me. Everyone was now gone from my house and I didn't have my little man around! Jeff's sister Angie is going to watch our little man for us on Tuesday's while I work at the salon. So it was a rough day but I made it through it! Life is a little more back to normal so I'll be blogging more...be excited and stay tuned!!!

Dollar Dollar Bill Yo, Graduation, and BPA

So my mom is in town...we have done lots and lots of shopping, which in turn means I have spent lots and lots of $$money$$...sad story! We drag poor Riley around all over the place, feed him and change his little bum in the back of my car and keep him in his car seat for extended periods of time (I am a horrible mom!) It's been fun to get out of the house, but at the same time I am worn out to the max because I'm not used to all the running around.
Jeff is graduating on Friday...hallelujah!!! We have been waiting for this day forever it seems like. I can't wait for him to not be stressed anymore, to not feel so guilty waking him up at night to help with Riley, and to hang out at night and not have to worry about him having homework to do. It will be nice to be a "normal" family. By normal I only mean working a 9-5 job because we all know Jeff and I are FAR from normal!
What is all this crap about BPA...everything causes cancer...breathing air causes cancer...I'm not going to throw out my newly purchased Avent bottles because they MIGHT be bad...they don't even know that they are...and how many people have used bottles for hundreds of years and now it's an issue...whatever! It's annoying, and my little man is going to use bottles...so there!

Wendy's, Sheep, and Knockers

Two posts in one day! I needed to post about the photo shoot with Riley that happened on Friday, but then Saturday was adventurous and I totally needed to post about that too...so you have all been blessed with two posts! Anyway, on Saturday my cute friend Kim came to visit! She wanted to see our house and meet our little man Riley! Well we hung out for awhile and it soon became lunch time. Jeff suggested we go to Wendy's to eat and we all thought this was a great idea. So there we are sitting in Wendy's talking about Jeff's friends from high school. I start to describe the wife of one of his friends and here is how the story goes: Kim, she is like this big (stick thin) and has HUGE knockers, and I am like this big (not so stick thin :) haha) and have HUGE knockers and here I am eating Wendy's. Jeff turns and looks at Kim and I and says, "Carrie it's ok...your husband is like this big (not stick thin either) and has HUGE knockers!!" Lol...so Jeff has man boobs. It is great and always fun to joke about. In fact, some of the pictures we took on Friday Jeff HATES because his man boobs are very prominent...we asked Sara to photoshop them out and she said she can't work miracles. Well just when we finish laughing our heads off about the knockers these random animals run by! I think they are goats so I say hey look at the goats and Kim was like I think those are sheep. So as brilliant as I am I yell out, "Can you eat sheep meat?" We then proceed to laugh for another 10 minutes til we can't breath, I am crying, and our stomachs hurt. When we entered Wendy's almost all the tables were full...now they are empty...I think they only let us stay because we were $paying$ customers.

One Month Old!

So Riley is a month old now. It is wonderful. Like I said before in my last post I went and got his pictures taken on Friday. My friend Sara has a little studio in her house and she takes amazing pictures!! Riley was so good. It ended up being an all day event because she has a baby too and we needed to feed them, change their diapers, and the lights that you needed to use to get good pictures run really hot so we had to take frequent breaks so Riley wouldn't overheat. Through it all he was a trooper and we got really good pictures. Here are some of our favorites:
Ok I love his stinkin feet...they are so little and cute...we took lots of these kinds of pictures! So We put Riley in this polka dot box and this way way soft fuzzy blanket...needless to say he peed in it haha...I was proud of him though...it was the only time he peed all day when he was out of his diaper! We did some pictures in black and white and some in color...He was actually awake for some of them too! I love my little man! He is so cute and so good...this picture makes me happy! Last but not least a picture with his daddy! They are my two favorite people in this whole wide world!!!!
This is no where near the end of the pictures...we took over 200 but I am not going to post them all...to see the pictures check out our picasa website: picasaweb.google.com/JeffMaas/Riley

Things you're grateful for when you're a mom!

Life as a mom is rad...it truly is! However, your life does a COMPLETE 180 when a little one enters it. I struggle to find the time to get ready these days (Jeff certainly has noticed because the other day he said to me, "Oh wow, you are wearing make-up!") but I am trying more and more every day. Anyway, to get anything done around the house I need to stick him in one of the following:
1. His crib (he's not too big of a fan of this when he is awake...I think I need to invest in a mobile)
2. His bouncer
3. His swing
The latter are wonderful as you can tell by the pictures! He likes his bouncer but he is too little still to strap him in so he slides down a lot. However, when you first put him in it he is able to see the cute toys hanging down and he likes to look at them. The swing is G-R-E-A-T! It can swing side to side or front to back and the mobile on the top moves around and has multiple music choices. He LOVES to look up and stare at the mobile when you turn it on. What's even BETTER about the swing is it puts him to sleep which allows me to get even more done (like blogging lol)
The next thing I am grateful for is diaper bags. I got a way cute diaper bag at one of my baby showers, however, it's not as practical as I had anticipated. What it IS good for though is church! It is totally cute and fits a lot and definitely looks church-y. However, I needed to invest in an every day diaper bag to replace this not so practical (but totally cute) one that I had. So I looked around and here is what I found and have purchased. So the smaller thing is an amazing changing pad! It has a spot for diapers and wipes and you can take it separate from the diaper bag if you just need the changing table where you are going to! Hanging off the diaper bag is a binkie holder, which is wonderful because they always seem to get lost in the bottom of the bag. There is a cell phone holder, a place for your iPod, the front has a magnetic flap so you can put YOUR stuff in it like your wallet, pens, chapstick, etc. Anyway, I am going to stop going on and on about this diaper bag, but as you can tell I LOVE it and am very grateful for it haha. I picked this color because it is not girly, but still stinkin cute, and Jeff is willing to use it!
The next thing I am grateful for is binkies! There is a funny story behind this...so we had Riley home for a few days and hadn't used one yet. Anyway, my visiting teacher came over to bring us dinner and to see how we were doing. Well she told me about these binkies that Primary Children's just did a study on, and they are supposed to stimulate brain activity. So I ran out a bought a couple. The thing is they aren't so cute and they are huge! Jeff's aunt was like what the heck is that in his mouth and why is it so ugly!!! I have to admit they aren't the cutest thing ever, but he looks so cute when he sucks on it! (See the swing picture)
Anyway, this is how exciting my life is these days...Looking back on my single life, it's sad that these are now the things that make me happy...but I wouldn't want my life to be any other way...I am proud to be a mom and therefore I will always brag about Riley and talk about him endlessly!