whoo hoo!

Ok so that's a preemptive whoo hoo!  But for those of you who don't know yet we are moving back to Washington, in 3 weeks!  It's been a crazy week and a little emotional and stressful but we think everything will fall into place in time for us to head on to the next phase.  We of course are sad that things didn't work out here but it has been a great experience and we wouldn't trade it for anything.  

Anyways, the whoo hoo is for Craigslist, we've had our apartment up for rent for just over 24 hours and we've already gotten 2 responses! yay!  this may be less painful than we thought.  Now I just have to get someone through the process of taking over my lease, but with 2 people interested in just a short period I am optimistic that we can get it taken care of.

Peter has gotten a lot of great advice from family, friends and the Bishop of our ward.  The stress of moving was lifted greatly when we talked to the bishop and he said we were doing the right thing and the lord would bless us.  The Lord has blessed us, we've been able to turn a crazy, horribly timed situation into something manageable with the help of our family and our ward.  

Peter has a great quote that has helped us see things in a better light right now.  He got it from President Monson's last conference talk but he isn't sure who the quote is actually from

"Both abundance and lack of abundance exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities.  It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend, will we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives, but for the abundance that is present, love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us happiness. The wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth."

So in short, we are stressed and maybe we are doing something crazy but we feel we are headed in the right direction and this will be for our good.  If you live in WA see you in a few weeks!  If you live in TX, we will miss you!

The Markers are on a higher shelf now

Violet is getting to be very resourceful when it comes to getting what she wants.  She's a good climber.  The markers are now as high as I can get them!!!

Getting ready for baby

We set up our little moses basket on a rack yesterday and got out all the newborn stuff.  I can't believe it's almost time to have another baby. This picture is of Violet when she is maybe a week old.  She was so tiny!  

Here she is now!  She's all legs!  Violet has requested to be put in the basket twice in the last two days.  She hung out in there for maybe 20 minutes today, I just read her a story and she laughed.  I think she may be upset when we put another person in there!

The basket is all ready for baby.  she even already has her own toy and book (it's the Texas ABC's so she'll always know where she was born!)

Ok so there is another thing checked off our list.  We just have to pack my bag and install the carseat... I think that's everything!

Houston Temple

Today Peter and I were able to go to the Houston Temple.  It was a great session.  We really needed to clear our heads so we could think about all the changes that are going to be happening to our family this next year.  We are excited about everything that we are planning to do and really feel like it's a great step in the right direction for our family.

After the session we were able to walk around the temple grounds, we had to dodge a few brides (it is a saturday in June) but it was really nice and the grounds are beautiful.

A birthday Box from Diana!

ummmm..... how to explain this one....... hmmmm

I love my Husband 

 

Princess Violet!!!

Princess Violet plays a star wars video game

Our little fairy princess.  This one was a little itchy for V so she made quick work out of taking it off!  

Violet got a belated birthday box from her Aunt Diana.  Diana wanted to see some video of Violet opening the box.  There are five, since it takes so long to load a long video.  It was so much fun.  Violet is in little girl paradise!  Thank you Aunt Diana!!!

Such a cute Baby shower!

I just got back from my baby shower and I wanted to put just a few quick pictures up of the adorable things these ladies made for me.  This is my "corsage" it's four frilly little baby socks in the shape of flowers.  It is so cute.

This is my Diaper cake.  It's all diapers and a baby toy and a binky for decoration.  There is a baby bottle in the middle of the cake to help provide the form, and it's full of chocolate!  That's the Mommy's treat I am told.  

It was such a fun party.  The ladies in my ward are so sweet and generous, I think that even if we didn't already have a ton of girl clothes we would be pretty well set for this baby.  It was a fun shower, it was combined with two other ladies, one who is set for an induction on Sunday (she was having contractions all through the party so I don't think she'll get to sunday!) and the other is 37 weeks pregnant, it was so fun to be with friends.  I'll have some other pictures as soon as my friend sends me some, I left my camera at home.  

Shhhh.....were hunting Wabbits.....uh I mean roaches

Today I was sitting at the computer and Violet was playing on the floor next to me when I looked down and saw a huge bug crawl right by Violet.  I watched where it went, behind our china cabinet.  I got up and found our roach spray (they should include this in your welcome to Houston kit) and sprayed the area, a short time later a roach crawled out to surrender.  Ha!  I poisoned it and trapped it in a tupperware.  This occasionally happens so I thought it was no big deal and thought it may be time to vacuum behind the couches soon.  I went back to what I was doing when out of the corner of my eye I saw another roach run right by!   

Out came the Vacuum with all it's glorious attachments and I vacuumed the inside of the couches and set to work moving the couches so I could get behind them.  Well I found the source of our roach problem.  An apple, lovingly stored behind the sofa by our resident 2 year old there was also a dead roach back there, I don't think roaches die of natural causes ever so I wonder what happened to it.

 So I set about picking up the toys and moving things and when I grabbed my yoga mat out jumped another roach!  I'd like to say I was very calm and brave about this but alas I jumped up on the couch and screamed like a little girl.  Violet thought this was very funny.  I quickly grabbed my can of raid and chased down this last roach and sprayed it just as it was heading under the china cabinet.  a short time later it crawled out and died on the kitchen floor.

The living room got a thorough vacuuming today and this is where all the "stuff" ended up.  Let this be a lesson to roaches and pests in general.  Pregnant ladies are technically crazy and will go to great lengths to get rid of something that gives them the heeby jeebies!

Dead roach!  ha ha!  They lost 3 good men today I hope they will retreat for a while. blech, every time I stepped on anything today whether it was a toy, or my other foot I recoiled in horror.

Victory is ours!!!  We are hot and sweaty but we won!

In happier, less creepy news, my cherry tomato plant has two tiny tomato's on it.  I'm dreaming of fresh tomato's with a good salad.  Of course if these are the only tomato's this plant produces they will have cost about $2 a piece.... oh well, it's been fun to grow it.  I also harvested some rosemary and sage the other day.  I'm drying the rosemary and plan to make sachets to go in our dresser, the sage is in the freezer and should be good for up to a year, maybe I'll stuff our turkey with fresh sage this year... Yum!

A day with the kids etc.

We spent yesterday at the Wood's watching the kids while E & J went to the temple.  It was a great day.  Sam is sporting some wounds as the youngest kid in the family, he got bit by Wesley on the cheek and then V clawed him when he took her toy.... Kids.

The Kids made a hotel.  Later we made a full on fort/tent.  Wesley said we needed to go fishing if we were going to have a tent, because that's what you do when you go camping.  Sam is the only one who took a nap yesterday, V still naps but not away from home so the kids got to watch some cartoons and relax in the hotel.

Violet looks unhappy here, but she's saying cheese!  It was so hot yesterday we could only stay out for about 30 minutes before we were all to hot and had gotten too much sun.  The ground was dry after we drained the pool in like 20 minutes!

V and W have some snuggle time,  V really likes to snuggle and W really likes his space and doesn't want to be touched.

I've got a video of the kids playing together in the hotel but I'll post it later our internet is experiencing some difficulty.

Our little burrito after a shower.  When Violet gets out of the shower she goes brrr... it's cold!  and wants to be wrapped up on the bed immediately!

for a ten minute ride to the hospital!!!

So we got the ambulance bill today and for a ten minute ride to the hospital they want over 2 grand!  Thank goodness our health insurance covers it!  that's a bit ridiculous, they charged me 8.40 for aspirin, that was for a heart attack I wasn't having.... Unless I'm bleeding to death or unconscious I'm never getting in an ambulance again!

We spent the day at Emily and Jonathan's, we watched the boys while E & J went to the temple.  The kids were great and we have some fun pics and video but it's been a long day so I think they will have to wait for another day.  Also it's been hot today, Emily said their car thermometer said 100 when they went into the temple and 109 when they came out....phew!  It's 7:30 pm and it's 88.  

28 weeks, and a day at the pool

So we are rounding the last bend on this baby business.  28 weeks!  yikes that's 7 months  I can't believe it.  We've done a few more things to get ready so I am feeling more prepared and there are only a few things left on our to do list.... besides the ever present "stock up on Diapers!".  Everything is still going perfect, health wise and we are getting more and more excited to meet this new little person!

We had Emily and Jonathan and the boys over today and went swimming.  Violet is really settling into her new role as a two year old and had a difficult time behaving at the pool.  Fights over toys are becoming more common as the kids all become more and more opinionated and independent, it can be pretty chaotic at times but it's wonderful.  We had a little BBQ, just some burgers and a salad (yes we eat salad even when our parents aren't looking!).  It was a great day.

Sam has started to say cheese when you pull out a camera.  Wesley has been doing this for a long time and Violet started to do it this month too so maybe we can get a video someday of all three yelling cheese at the same time.  What a little cutie.

6 little monkeys jumping on the bed!

What are brothers for?

Jonathan and Wesley playing a car racing game.  I don't know how well they did as a team but they had a  lot of fun.

Violet and Wesley watching "Wonder Pets" after a dip in the pool.  Notice how they both suck on their fingers.

Violet is having a hard time deciding on a nap time, she fell asleep just as everyone was getting here to go swimming.  She is definitely not ready to give up her nap yet!  Peter thinks she looks like a super model when she sleeps.  She has been known to sleep in very cute positions.

Violet likes her old swing again, and she found another baby to carry around.  Here she is watching the Muppets in her swing, cuddling her babies before bed.

Violet is all ready to head out on some big adventure with her pink back pack!  of course there isn't anything in her bag but she looks the part.

Here is some video of all of us in the pool.  It was a perfect afternoon to go swimming and the pool was just cleaned a few days ago so it was really nice.

Surfing the web

As I have been spending more time "resting" this week, both recovering from my chest cold and just realizing that I'm getting a little big, I have spent a lot of time surfing the internet and I've found so many cool websites and blogs!  The Blogs are mostly crafts and church idea stuff, I know what I'm making everyone for christmas for like the next 5 years.  The Websites are places I'd like to check out in Houston and other craft and church idea websites.  Check some of them out, they are really neat, very addictive though.  There are so many links to so many other sites and blogs I have to force myself to not wander too far or I could look up and realize an hour has past.  So here's to mindlessly surfing the web during nap time.... enjoy!

My how she's grown

Violet is growing up so fast I can hardly believe it.  She is talking a lot more lately and the other day she picked up a book that had a picture of Ice Cream on it and said "ice cream"  then she walked into the kitchen where Peter was making a bowl of something and said "ice cream"  it was so cute, we do have ice cream in the freezer so I almost gave her some but it was pretty close to bed time.  Violet has decided she really likes these sunglasses that I bought over a year ago, she hated them when we first got them but now she knows how to put them on herself and loves them.  She wore them in the tub today!

Here is Violet with her new pink poodle that she got from her Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave.  The other day she put herself down for a nap.  We were outside on the patio, I was reading and she was coloring with chalk when she stood up and walked inside, after a few minutes of it being a little too quiet I got up to check on her and she had gathered all her comfort items, which now includes the pink poodle and had climbed into her bed and gone to sleep.  What a funny kid.

We are starting to get baby things out.  As of Saturday it will only be 9-12 weeks.  I'm hoping it's more towards the 9 week end.  This baby is starting to kick me a ton and really likes to get going in the middle of the night when I would rather sleep.  Plus it is getting pretty warm, and that just doesn't mix well with pregnancy.  The swing came out and Violet is still in a reasonable weight range to get in it so we let her swing in it.  Her feet can touch the ground on the forward swing!  I was just thinking about how tiny she was when we first got the swing.  It was one of our first purchases after she was born.  In fact I think Peter went out and bought it the day we brought her home, he was so excited!  I found the picture of Violet in the swing when she was just a few days old.  She was so tiny we had to pad around her so she wouldn't tip over in the seat.

Here is a video of Violet in her exersaucer thing.  We are trying to figure out where to put all the baby stuff so we are getting things out so we'll all be use to them by the time there is a baby to put in them.    You can't see it very well in the video but Violet is sitting down on the highest setting this thing has and I bet she could kneel if she wanted to.

Our week

It's been a pretty low key week.  We've just been staying home and relaxing.  Violet really needed to get out of the house today so I took her to the park for a while but it was too hot to play on the toys so she went on the swings for a bit and then we walked to the mailbox.  Poor V has been bearing the brunt of a mom who hasn't been up for playing much this week and she was running laps around the apartment this morning!  She needed to get out!

Church is right in the middle of nap time and so Violet is always exhausted by the time we get home.  On Sunday she  was watching a cartoon and half sleeping and she slept with her hands up in the air like this for like 20 minutes.  She was so exhausted.

Our little Linus showing off her new dress and new rainbow shoes.  She got the dress and shoes for her 2nd birthday.

This was before church, and V was ready to take a nap.  I couldn't get her to take her Bink out.  So here she is in her beautiful new dress and matching bink  :)

V got to pick out some presents for her birthday and she got some new tub crayons and some new tub paint, here she is testing out her new crayons.  We tried the paint but she mostly just paints her tummy with that.  My tub is very festive these days!

Violet's hair is getting so long.  We put a ponytail in her hair the other day.  She didn't like it much and promptly pulled it out but Peter snapped a quick picture of it so we could prove that yes we do, do our daughters hair.  You can see in the picture that Violet has been decorating our house with some sidewalk chalk.... well some of it is crayon but mostly it's sidewalk chalk which wipes right off.  Everything is covered in chalk, the patio door is her favorite canvas along with the desk and all the book shelves.  The world just isn't colorful enough for Violet she always has to color on everything.

One of Violet's favorite things to do is to dance around the living room.  I love this since it gives her a way to get her wiggles out when it's too hot for us to go outside.  I think maybe next year we'll check out some ballet classes.  I think I may have taken this video friday, this was right when she woke up she hadn't even had breakfast yet, she just came right out of her room and was ready to go so I turned on some music and she just danced the morning away!

This is Violet after a big day.  I don't remember what day this was but V hadn't taken a nap that day and after dinner we went swimming.  After we had gotten ourselves all cleaned up from the pool Violet just completely zonked out.  She was so tired, I thinks she fell asleep as Peter was carrying her to bed a few minutes later.