Here's the Scoop

With the impending arrival of our baby (hopefully any day now!), I feel compelled to get this blog up to date. The few who read this probably already know about everything going on in our lives but for any who are not aware of our latest news then here is THE SCOOP!

To start, we are now living in Utah (again). "Why???" you may ask, here is the answer. Dan got laid off from his job in Austin. We actually knew about the layoff several months in advance so he had time to look for a new job. He found a new job. The week before he was supposed to start his new job (and finish at his old job) he heard from his former employer in Utah. Apparently they had been trying to contact him for awhile but hadn't been able to reach him. They had the "perfect job" for Dan and really wanted him to come interview for it. Dan was open to the idea, but me? I said "No Way!" Here I am about to have a baby, completely content where we were at, the kids had the best teachers at their school, and I was nesting! We were supposed to be painting the baby's room, not talking about changing jobs!

Needless to say, I was not supportive of the idea of him interviewing in Utah. I believe my exact words were, "I will never live there again!" Boy, did I eat them!

Then another bomb was dropped: the job Dan was supposed to start fell through (thank you, Dell). And suddenly it didn't seem like such a bad idea for Dan to go interview for this great job out in Utah. Which he did. And of course they hired him pretty much immediately - it helped that he could start right away (having no job to go back to).

So I had the joy of packing the house and getting ready to move back across the country, again. I must say we're getting pretty good at it. But it was still a huge task and I couldn't have done it without all the help from our family and friends. I've never had to move being so pregnant - I don't recommend it!

We had a few stressful situations along the way (our dream house Dan found fell through at the last minute, our moving truck was too small, my legs reacted VERY badly to the long drive out, we didn't find a house until the 11th hour - literally, I could go on and on). But the important thing is that we DID make it to Utah safe and sound, we DID find a house that is ideal for our growing family, and now that we've been here almost a month those trials seem distant and we just feel very blessed to have a job and a home to live in.

So the scoop for our family right now: Dan is really enjoying his new job and is doing very well, he especially loves being able to go running on his lunch hour everyday (lookin' good babe!). Natalie and Nathan are attending a good school that is less than 5 minutes from our house and they get to ride the bus, which so far has been a good experience. They are making friends fast and enjoying their good friends from Texas who also just moved back to Utah - yippee!! And Tyler has found a new playmate in his cousin, Arthur, who he gets to see on a regular basis since they live so close!

As for me, here are all the things I am loving right now:
-A husband who works days! And gets to be with us at night, it really is so wonderful to have him home
-Hanging out with my SIL, Karin, and her kids - it's about time we lived in the same state/country!
-Sitting on our front porch and watching the kids ride their bikes up and down our street (it's not too busy so I don't have to worry much)
-Getting to know all of our extended family that live here and have been so welcoming
-Our house! It may not be fancy but it is perfect for our family. I especially love our bedroom... (the pics will explain it better - soon to come!)
-Getting ready for this baby to arrive - he cannot come soon enough! The clothes are washed and organized, the hospital bags are packed, the carseat is installed. Now we just need the baby!

So there it is, the scoop on what's been going on this past month in our lives. I have left out a lot of the details (some of it was just too stressful to delve into), but you get the main idea. And now we are just excited looking forward to what the future will bring!

PS- Thank you so much to all those who have given us so much support, we can feel your love and prayers. And please don't stop just yet, at least until after the baby's born. :)

It's a Baby Shower!

We were so priveleged to have a baby shower thrown for our upcoming addition. This baby is special in that he gets all new (or new to him) stuff! Since this is our 4th child a lot of our baby things were worn out so we had gotten rid of a LOT of it. And since this is our 3rd boy, well let's just say it was time for some replacements! We are so grateful to our family and friends who contributed and made this night so special...

The Spread - everything was delicious!


A baby shower isn't complete without cake!
(yummy chocolate mousse cake from Costco)

Thanks, Mom, for hosting!!!

Let the fun begin!

Michelle & Cody - looking cute!

Sam & Amanda

Terri

Karina & Lisa

Modeling the sweet blanket Carla made for our baby - precious!

(I promise he will look waaaaay cuter in it!)

What a fun night!

Me & Angela

This onesie is packed in the hospital/diaper bag (seen below) - too cute!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who made me feel so special and helped me actually get excited about having ANOTHER boy! We feel so blessed and loved. :)

Baby Cody

He's finally here!

The newest addition to our family...
Baby Cody
(less than thrilled at the prospect of Nathan holding him)

Doesn't our family look complete??

I absolutely adore this picture - Natalie and Nathan are mesmerized by this tiny baby (and you can see in the above pic that Tyler doesn't know what to think)

OK, in case you're trying to do the math and thinking "Gee that baby looks big and I thought you were only 7 months along Anna..." I will now put your doubts to rest - Baby Cody is my newest NEPHEW! So technically he is the newest addition to our family :) I just didn't give birth to him... that would actually be Dan's sister, Michelle (way to go Michelle!) We were lucky enough to go visit them in the hospital back in July when he was born. It's amazing how time flies so quickly and he's not a little newborn anymore!

Our little guy is still cooking away in my oven and has about 8 weeks left. Considering how much I still need to get done before his arrival I am completely fine with him staying right there for now! Now that I'm in the final countdown of the last trimester it's really starting to hit me that there's a new person about to join our family. I'm getting excited and can't wait to meet him! But I'm definitely going to need that 8 weeks :)

First Day of School!

School has officially begun! Woohoo!!!! We had a crazy and fun summer together, and now we are all ready to get back into a schedule and back to school! Natalie and Nathan got to meet their teachers the week before school started and discovered they had gotten into the BEST teacher's classes (it really pays to be involved at the school) and even better yet - their classes are right next to each other! Since their school is older and was built during the "open floorplan" period that means there's no walls between classes. They have dividers but that's it. So Natalie's and Nathan's classes have a little passage at the back where they can see each other - how fun is that?!

All ready to go on their first day of school!

Natalie = 2nd Grade, Nathan = Kindergarten

Natalie insisted I take a picture of her shoes...

(let's face it - they'll never look that clean again!)

They were all smiles as we headed out - so eager to start school!

Since I took them that morning to school, Dan picked them up in his truck (very big deal to them) and we met up at Burger King for milkshakes and playing on the playground. I kept trying to get them to tell me everything they did that first day but all I got was, "It was fun!" or when asked their favorite part of the day, "Lunch! Recess!"

It wasn't until that night as Nathan was saying his prayers that I learned all about the day, "Please bless my new friend whose name I don't know that has the Batman backpack and I really like him..." and then "Please bless I colored pictures but I didn't get to bring them home and it was really fun..." and so on. I love how he prays - I learn so much that way!

It's been so quiet around the house with only Tyler home during the day, but I know he's loving having Mommy all to himself and no sharing with older siblings. The days seems to go by a lot slower so I'm finding projects to fill my time - like get everything ready for this baby!

I'm so thankful Natalie and Nathan have such great teachers this year and are so eager and happy to go to school each day. Of course there hasn't been any homework yet, we'll see how they feel once that starts! Here's to a wonderful new school year!!