Warning: This post contains a poop story

Hey all. This week was lame at the dig site. I guess the foundation has to "cure" so to house won't collapse. As if! They sprayed the exterior sealant and put up the window wells, but other than that, not much to report. Here's a picture anyways.

See?! Black stuff and window wells. WOOOOO!

Autumn is so excited to live in Lehi. A lot of family lives in Lehi and she thinks that it has got to be the best place ever. 

Todd wants to Christen our new house "The Honey Bucket"

Hey guys. Here's a blog post for you. Todd is going to try and motivate me to post on here more often, but let's be honest, that never really works. Imagine three laundry baskets full of clean clothes waiting to be put away sitting next to me on the bed. He tried to motivate me to put those away two days ago.

So, big things have been happening. Todd started a new job as a Controller at a company called Chrysalis at the first of March. We sold our house in Riverton shortly after that and moved into my parent's house. (Don't judge, they have a sweet house AND my Mom tells me what I should make for dinner every night, AND my Dad does the dishes. I never want to leave) Sadly, our stay here will be a short one. We are currently under construction in Lehi. That's right. Watch out Utah County. That there house is actually the reason I am starting up the old blog. We want to document the process, but we don't want to annoy every single person that has friend-ed us on Facebook (I'm talking to you, obscure junior high acquaintance) with pictures of each little step. This way, you can block us, or not follow us, and we won't know or be offended. (winking emoticon)

Here are some pictures of the process so far.

 As you can see, we are pretty much ready to move in. We have foundation walls to block the wind, a potty, and a Maverick within walking distance. I don't know why they are making us wait until October to move in.

 This is the back. Some windows and a 10 foot high pile of dirt.

Sweet Life

Sometimes I am entirely overwhelmed by the sweet joy that comes with being a parent. Never could I have imagined feeling like this about another human being. Maxwell is 6 weeks tomorrow and we have enjoyed every minute. My sweet Autumn adores him and can't get enough time in holding baby brother. Life is good. Children are amazing. My husband is absolutely wonderful. My life is full of giving, supportive, and loving family and friends. Just thought you should all know how grateful I am for all of you and how blessed I feel!!

1 week old

Now that Max is 1 week old, here are some highlights of his baby-ness:

- He is so HANDSOME!!!

- He rarely cries, and sleeps very well

- He is a CUDDLER and a SNUGGLER. Autumn was not at all, so we just snuggle him all day!

- He eats like a CHAMP and rarely spits up, if ever.

- He doesn't need a binky!!!!

- He has successfully peed on everyone who has changed his diaper. How do you control that thing?

So far, he is the easiest baby. Knock on wood, cross our fingers, we hope he stays that way. We love him and are so happy. We feel very lucky and blessed that he is healthy and happy!

Maxwell Stats

Oh, he was 7 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 and 1/2 inches. 37 cm huge head.

Maxwell Steven Bulloch

Well, Susie is not so good at blogging. So I (Todd) will post this. This will include the story of the birth, mainly for our records, so if I get anything wrong she can get on here and fix it!

Maxwell safely arrived at 6:05 P.M. on Thursday, July 14, 2011. I will admit it, I was crying my eyes out. It's hard not to with so much excitement and happiness running through your body.

Susie was scheduled to be induced on Thursday, July 14, 2011. We wanted 7/11/11, but a happy, healthy baby on any date is just fine with us. We arrived in the Labor and Delivery on our scheduled day at 9:00 a.m. We had called around 6:30 that morning to make sure there was room for us, and they told us to show up at 9:00 a.m. We were shown to our room and shortly thereafter, we met our nurse. She explained to us some things which we were pretty much already aware of, and then she hooked up the I.V. and the Pitocin. Contractions started almost immediately, and continued steady throughout the day, every 1 and 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes. Susie did not complain of any painful contractions for an hour or two, but they progressively got more intense.

We had always planned on getting an Epidural for Susie, but she wanted to go as long as she could before it was administered to her. We had hoped for her to be dilated to a 4 or a 5. She was a 2 when we arrived, which she had been for 2 weeks. She seemed to be slowly progressing, and getting through the 2 - 4 centimeter stage definitely took the longest. I believe she was around a 3 when Dr. England came to break her water. Things started progressing pretty quickly from there. That was around lunch time.

Susie played it pretty tough for a few hours, breathing and fighting through the painful contractions, now closer together, more painful, and lasting longer. She lasted until around 3:00 and she requested the wonderful numbing juice. The Anesthesiologist showed up 15-20 minutes later and by 3:30 p.m. the Epidural was in. Once the juice kicked in, I persuaded Susie to get some sleep. Things really started progressing quickly after that.

Then came the minor complications and scare. Little Max's heartbeat was slowing down more than the nurse liked during contractions. She (the nurse) gave Susie an Oxygen mask and increased her fluids. She also moved Susie around and eventually found that Maxwell favored it when Susie laid on her right side. I started pacing and getting more nervous with each contraction as I heard his poor little heartbeat slow down to an extremely low pace. Dr. England showed up to check the history and said there was nothing to worry about. The nurse had been checking Susie's dilation and she was quickly progressing. Before we knew it, she was at a 10 and we were ready to go.

Dr. England was extremely busy that night, unfortunately. The nurse was having Susie push and it looked like little Maxwell was not going to wait for the Dr. to get there. The nurse was ready to deliver. The nurse had Susie do some test pushes and the nurse and I could see his little head starting to show up. Dr. England finally showed up after numerous pages over the radio, and he was literally holding Max's head while finishing putting on his scrubs. He did some sterilization and immediately had Susie push. I think it was only her second push and his head was out. One more push and his whole body came. Dr. England handed Max immediately to Susie, and Max had an impressive grip on the Umbilical Cord. Dr. England clamped off the cord, let me cut it, then stitched Susie up and he was on his way. He was literally in the room for less than 5 minutes. It was crazy!

We wanted immediate skin to skin and to try to get him to latch for nursing. After numerous attempts, the nurses were worried about his temperature. He turned out to be kind of low so they took him away from us to the nursery to get him under a heat lamp. I went with him, and stayed there for a while, but returned to Susie to get all of our bags and things ready for the move to the Mom and Baby section. We made the move, and they brought little Maxwell back to us.

Overall, a pretty low-key delivery (easy for the husband to say), but Susie still looked beautiful afterwards with no mascara runs, no sweat, and her hair was still in place. If I had been wearing mascara, I would have looked worse because of my uncontrollable sobbing.

We were discharged around 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 16, 2011. We are so happy!

Wow... Long Post, Beware. (Todd)

BEFORE:

AFTER

I feel like I just got through law school, or wrapped up my Phd. But I didn't... I PASSED THE CPA EXAMS!!!! This was easily, the single most difficult thing I have ever been through. Getting a Masters degree was a breeze, a 2 year stint in Germany for my church was a vacation. Get the point? Let me share, I will start from the beginning.

I started working on the audit (NOT I.R.S. AUDITS) staff at HJ & Associates in Salt Lake City, UT in January 2009. Landing this job was nothing short of a miracle in itself. If you remember way way back in 2007 and 2008, any monkey could get a job. I got my job offer from HJ while still a senior in college back in November 2007. Fast forward one year, job offers were hard to come by. ESPECIALLY if you were a B average student like myself. So I believe in divine intervention. Anyways, I couldn't start with the exams right off the bat. Working at an accounting firm, January through March, and into April, does not leave you with a ton of free time... Also, my firm offered to pay up front for the Becker CPA Exam Review program, the "ferrari" of CPA Exam study materials, and Becker offered live courses at the University of Utah beginning at the end of May. I needed all the help I could get, so I signed up.

I very quickly figured out why I was a B student in college. I am not a "lecture" kind of person. I am a "hands on learning" type of person. So as I sat there, thinking I was listening, it was actually going in one ear and out the other. So here I am, wasting 8 hours of my summer Saturdays to go this class and learn only little. The first class dealt with the Financial Accounting and Reporting, or "FAR" section, the beast of all the sections. I had heard whisperings of the brutality of this section of the exam since I was a sophomore in college. I got halfway through the study materials and classes and determined I had to put this section on pause. I was still waiting on my "Notice to Schedule" or NTS which provides you with a section ID number so you can schedule the exam. The NTS is provided after the initial application is approved. In order to be approved, one must have met certain education requirements. Luckily, SUU's Master of Accountancy program is an accredited program and I got approved with no major issues. I got my NTS for FAR and Audit sections like a week before the Audit class started. I wasn't prepared at all for FAR, so I paused and moved on to Audit.

This was August 2009. I went to all Saturday classes and studied and memorized like crazy. I took Audit on August 28, 2009. Please keep this in mind as you read on. I consider myself somewhat not intelligent, and I completely lacked the confidence that I could actually do this going in to it. But I had to try. I was a B student all through school and I knew how it felt to literally fail tests and fail out of classes. I didn't get to graduate with my class in May 2007, I had to take a semester of re-takes in the fall semester of 2007, and then start the Masters Degree in January 2008. I had complete confidence in myself that I would not be able to make it through this process.

Back to the story, I took Audit on August 28, 2009. A few weeks later, I got my score. 85. A 75 and higher is passing score. WHAT?! That was easy! Seriously, one of the easiest exams I have ever taken. Now, I have 18 months to pass the other 3 sections before my credit for Audit expires. February 28, 2011. I CAN DO THIS!!! I was completely in shock of what had just happened. I literally wanted to run up and down my street screaming and jumping for joy. But I kept it indoors, you're welcome neighbors. Don't get too excited for me, Audit is my field of work. Not a big deal. Next up, the Regulation "REG" section. REG = Tax, Business Law, and other miscellaneous items. Let me tell you, the D+ I have on my transcript for Business Law 1, as a sophomore mind you, had me absolutely scared to death. Also, let's just say that taxes aren't my forte. I struggled mightily through my tax classes in school. I think my main problem is that I never really learned how to learn. If that makes sense. I blame high school, well, my poor habits in high school.

Anyway, the REG classes started in mid-September and went to mid-October. I took REG on November 3, 2009. To put it bluntly, I left with a tear or two in my eye and I was shaking. It was horrible. I literally thought that if I got a 60 or above, I would be grateful. I hadn't got my score as of November 19, 2009. This was a terrible day. I was out of town for work (Evanston, WY) when I got a phone call from Susie informing me that our 16 year old niece Kylie had passed away, without warning. It was schocking, devastating, and life-changing. Needless to say, I wasn't focusing on the CPA Exams at this point.

I was scheduled to take the next section, Business Environment Concepts or "BEC," on November 30, 2009. I immediately rescheduled for January 5, 2010. (December was a "closed" month.) I won't get into details about Kylie's passing here. Just know that I miss her and know that she helped me through this process. I got my score for REG within this time frame at some point. A 74. Wait... A 74?!?! Are you KIDDING ME? I was very emotional at this point, and this toyed with my brain. I thought I bombed this thing and the AICPA gives me a 74? Should I be mad? Happy? A 74!!!????

All I could do was pick myself up and move on. This point in my life was one of the lowest, if not the lowest. Get back on the horse and keep trying, right? January 5, 2010 came too quickly. I was not ready for BEC. I completely slacked off and had to push back the exam date to January 12 to give me one more week. No excuses, I simply did not study enough for this one. The results came in quickly, 59. OUCH... I have never heard of anyone getting below a 60. There's that old familiar failing feeling that I grew to hate during college.

At this point, I remember seriously conversing with Susie about quitting. Get out of public accounting, it's just not my field. However, I had an amazing job, I had passed Audit, and I had already paid for, and got my NTS for FAR, remember how I put it off? Well, the last day I could take FAR was April 29, 2010, the NTS expires after 9 months. I couldn't waste that $250, I had to buckle down. Ok, I have nearly 3 months to get ready for this one...

"Busy Season" hit hard soon after that. Study time was seldom, and before I knew it I was halfway through March. I had not been preparing as well as I should have for FAR, the beast. It's o.k., April 29th is still a ways off. April 1st hits, busy season over. Time to start getting serious. I got very serious and studied quite well actually. Long story short, I take FAR, and get a 71. Remember, 75 is passing. The 71 came in mid-May 2010. Now can I quit? PLEASE? I can't do this anymore. I have suffered enough, Susie and Autumn have suffered enough. I had become a very bad husband and father. I am obviously not fit to be in this industry and my nightmares that I wasted my time with an accounting degree were coming true. These thoughts and fears forced me to take the summer of 2010 off. No studying took place that entire summer.

My Audit credit was expiring in February 2011, don't forget that little nugget. Is summer really a summer at all, when there is a giant monkey on your back? Luckily for me, I paid for a new NTS for FAR and REG back in May 2010 after I failed FAR. This cost nearly $500 and worked as a great motivator to try again. $500 is a lot of money to a family in our position. Starting in September 2010, I jumped in and started studying for FAR. I scheduled the exam for November 1, 2010. I learned a lot about myself in those 2 months, and things started clicking.

I don't really remember a lot of what happened during that time. My test was at like 4:00 p.m. at the University of Utah testing center. I took the day off of work and spent the day at the U's library cramming like crazy. I remember almost passing out while getting some lunch at like 2:00. Exam time came and went. I had purchased the NTS for BEC in the meantime and had that scheduled for November 30th. Some big changes were made to the exams that took place January 1, 2011, and FAR and BEC were voted as the 2 to get out of the way. The glorious day came in mid-November. I was sitting at my desk at work and had caught a rumor that FAR scores had been released. I checked. 78.

What? Let me double check that. 78. Triple check. 78. This is real! I ran to an empty office (empty because co-workers were not passing the exams and getting laid off) and called Susie. I told her the news and we both literally were shocked to tears. I was speachless. I slew the great beast. I conquered FAR. I am halfway done with these stupid exams. Is this possible now?

BEC came and went. 71. Thanksgiving had been spent at home, studying non-stop. I had wasted my holiday. The score came in mid-December. Merry Christmas, you only have one small glimmer of a chance left to pass BEC now before Audit expires in February. Feeling the urgency yet?

Remember how I had purchased the REG NTS back in May? 9 months is how long those things last and the last day I could take REG was January 8, 2011. Oh wow, that is coming up! Luckily, I had been putting some decent effort into studying throughout December. I think I remember studying for REG the night of November 30, the day I took BEC. Remember my first go around with REG? I left wanting to murder whoever wrote the exam. Also, I got a 74. 74!?!?! Come on!! Remember that? This is not an easy test.

For the next round, I studied on Christmas eve, I studied on Christmas day, I studied on New Years Eve, I studied on the night of my Anniversary (January 2). I am a bad husband and father, I already told you that. Luckily my wife is extremely amazing, and understanding. Don't forget about her in all of this mess. She was, and is my rock and she deserves a ton of credit. January 8, 2011 was a Saturday, and the REG exam was scheduled for mid-afternoon. I got to the testing center at the U super early and studied in the hallway on a nice couch they had there. I crammed, and memorized, and even learned new concepts in that time. Sorry if you don't believe this, but I know that I was guided to what to study. During my exam, I hit numerous questions where I had learned or memorized the concept that morning. Crazy, right? Nevertheless, I felt HORRIBLE after this exam.

Bad news is, with the new format of the exams (remember the January 1, 2011 changes mentioned earlier), scores would not be released until the end of March 2011. That is a LONG TIME to wait for a test. Too bad, I had to pick back up and do all I could to get ready for BEC, try # 3. I had to take BEC before February 28, 2011, which is when Audit would expire. In this timeframe, imagine the thoughts in my head. I could not retake REG again until April. You can only take each section once per "testing window," which is 3 months. 2 months are open for testing, and 1 month is closed so that scores can be determined and released. So I had no chance to retake REG if I missed it, but it didn't matter because scores wouldn't come out until the end of March and my Audit credit would be long expired.

One more shot at BEC. I was NOT going to let myself fail again. I studied pretty hard for this one. The motivation was there. Luckily, I had just taken BEC on November 30, so it was relatively fresh. I did a lot more this time around. I put more time in, I memorized more, I used a different/additional book. Keep in mind, I am doing this in February. "Busy Season" was in full swing and hit harder this year than ever before. I had to put studying as the top priority, no matter what. The week before the exam (scheduled for Friday, February 25, 2011), I stayed after work until 10, sometimes 11 p.m. studying at my desk. The morning of the exam, I drove to the testing center 5 hours early, and sat in my car and went through my flash cards and tried to get a few more concepts down. I then practiced writing down some ideas, and wrote out all that I had memorized. I got some lunch, then went in for the kill. When I got to my computer, I "brain vomited" all over the blank work book that they give us for notes and calculations. I wrote nearly 1 and 1/2 pages of ideas and formulas. It took 10 minutes of my test time, but it was well worth it. I used every single thing that I wrote down during my exam. I left feeling like I scored a 90. I knew I had passed it.

Now.... waiting for the REG and BEC scores. March 2011 was a stressful month. Susie will attest to that. I worked super long hours, and I continued to stress over my potential scores. If I passed both, I was done. If I passed neither, I lost Audit credit and only had 1 section done. If I passed only one section, I lost Audit and I would only have 2 of 4 done. This was a trying time, and I learned a whole new level of patience. I had convinced myself I didn't pass REG. Then I convinced myself I had a shot. It went back and forth. It was simply CRAZY.

It was announced scores would likely come out on March 17th. That day came and went. No scores. The AICPA released a statement saying that because of the re-vamped exam, there were some Quality Control issues and needed more time. Finally the first section, FAR, was released the next week. The next day, nothing. The next day... REG was released. I was at work when I heard the news. I checked right away (scores are released online, by the way. Sorry if I didn't mention this earlier). 78. HOLY CRAP!!!!! I did it!!!!! Couldn't be more happy, except I still needed that dreaded BEC score. BEC turned out to be the SUPER BEAST for me. I had to wait over the weekend, but BEC scores finally turned up on Tuesday, March 29, 2011. I caught wind that they were released around 2 p.m. I was at work. I checked. No score. I checked every 10 minutes up until 10:30 p.m.

At that point, I gave up and fell asleep on Susie's shoulder while watching t.v. Susie had been checking as well, constantly. Consider the stress she was feeling!!! Of course she was checking non-stop!!! I got up to go to bed around 11:45, went to lock the front door, when I heard Susie gasp behind me. I was still half asleep and had nearly forgotten about the whole ordeal. I turn around asking what happened and I saw her covering her mouth and giggling while looking at her phone. She had checked one last time. It was there. My score was there. I could tell by her body language that it was a good thing. Ladies and gentelmen, can you guess? Can you guess what my score was? That's right, a 75. Remember, a 75 and higher is passing.

I AM DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the last 2 years of my life. Thank you for being patient with me. "By the skin of your teeth" doesn't even come close to explaining this. Thanks for your support. Hopefully I can become a better father and husband now.