These are the best days

Emmy is starting to sit up on her own and get up onto things - including our stairs! It won't be too long before she is up and running. Even though I think a baby learning to scoot around and get up on their own this is one of the cutest phases, I also think it is the toughest. Gone are the days when I could set her down and get something done without watching her every move or when I could sit and listen to what was being said in church. But I must admit that watching her discover the world around her is the best thing ever.
Now that we have Kaela all settled and into a routine, she and Luke are getting along much better. On her off school days they are really playing well together. This morning I was trying to hang some stuff in the house and they were playing house on our stairs so beautifully that I had to stop and take a picture. I mean, they played for over an hour without even one pinch or shove! Emmy also tried to get in on the action, but she had to be a part of it through the banister because we had the stairs all blocked off. These are the moments I cherish.
Joey came home from work last Friday and told me that he is really starting to love his job. Wow, that is huge!! I've yet to hear him say that about any job he has had. He's finally found a niche he can enjoy and it is so fabulous to have a happy hubby.
My birthday was a few weeks ago and I decided it is time to really exercise, eat better, and take much better care of my body. Let's face it, I'm not getting any younger and I don't want my 30's to pass me by in an overweight blur. It's been 3 weeks on my new plan and this, for me, is a big deal. I've shed 3 lbs so far and to top it off I feel much more energetic and happy! I'm determined to make this mommy belly vanish. I just want to feel cute again in my clothes, is that so much to ask for?
Our house is starting to feel like a home and we are slowly meeting people and getting used to life here.

Hello Big Girl Teeth

Kaela actually lost her first tooth! We didn't believe her tooth was loose until she could bend it all the way back and there was no denying it. Kaela decided she wanted the Toothfairy to come one Friday night so she told Joey to pull it out. It was painful to watch. First, he tried pliers much to my chagrin then he tried yanking with his fingers and after a couple of tries, the tooth was no more. Kaela was incredibly brave and determined no matter the pain. I'm not ready for her to have "big girl" teeth because that means she is growing up. Wierd.

I was sitting on the couch downstairs when she woke up the next morning and I heard a very disgruntled Kaela at the top of the stairs yell, "Mom, I know it was you guys!! You thought I was asleep but I wasn't!" Trying to hold down my laughter I asked, "What do you mean? Did the Toothfairy come? Did she leave you anything?" It was then she came running downstairs and proudly announced she gave her "two whole dollars!", which she promptly spent at the dollar store on a mini tea set and heart magnet. I don't know what that first reaction was about, I think she was just testing me to see if the Toothfairy really is real. Oh that girl, she is something else!

A day in the life

Kaela is really enjoying His House Preschool with Miss Sheena at the local Nazarene church. It's only MWF, but goes from 8am-2pm and she gets to bring her very own lunch - a huge deal in her world. It costs a fortune if you ask me (all preschools apparently do out here) but worth every penny to see her so happy again. This girl LOVES school and LOVES to be independent. We pulled in the other day after her second time at school and she said, "I wish I could go to this school for forever". Aaaahhhh, that was music to my ears. She was so happy she immediately flittered around the house putting on all of her pretty things and even some of mine after school and was cracking me up.

Emmy has discovered her very own way of getting around. She is all about the army crawl. I'm just thankful she didn't figure it out until we moved in and got settled. It freaks me out a little that she can disappear so quickly and pretty much get anywhere she wants.

Luke has rediscovered his Buzz Light Year costume and wants it on at all times. I think he wishes he had wings just like Buzz. He just keeps me smiling.

Making Lemonade

Wow, I feel like life isn't just giving us lemons, it is chucking them right into our faces while we are trying to settle in.

First and foremost I must say, I love our house. It feels so much more spacious and I couldn't have asked for a more delicious kitchen! I think we are all really loving it. Once we get the house in order, Kaela settled in school, the weather warms up, and we meet more people, I'm sure it will feel even better.

To make this ever so long move-in saga somewhat short, I will attempt it in bullet points:

• The truck didn't arrive until day 3 of the move. We actually ended up leaving Appleton with some of our stuff in the driveway still needing to be loaded.

• The day before New Years we found out we might not be able to even get into our house for a week or two. I mean, our stuff is in transit and they want us to wait! This was all because of mold found in the master closet due to a leak in the air conditioner. They had a company fix the leak, rip up the carpet, tear out the dry wall, spray antimicrobial stuff everywhere and so on but had yet to get it tested to make sure the mold was all gone. After hours on the phone, Joey finally worked it out and we were able to move in when we planned on Monday, phew.
  

• We arrived in Arkansas on the eve of the biggest snow storm they'd seen since 1980 something and woke up Monday to a ghost town - everything was shut down and everyone stayed home. We got a good laugh out of it because here we are from Appleton, WI where 16 inches doesn't shut much down and 2 inches was a whole different reality here. Miraculously we were able to close that evening and get into our house Tuesday with Joey working nonstop to make it happen.

• Day 2 after the move in, when the packers finished unpacking our stuff and placing it around the house, the power went out. I didn't discover this until just before 5pm and it was too late to get a hold of the electric company. This, of course, was going to be one of the coldest nights on record here. With flashlights in hand and blankets piled high, we nestled in until it was finally turned back on at 10pm. I must admit it was kind of nice not to have to put anything else away for the rest of the night and just enjoy being together and getting some rest.
  

• The morning of day 3 in our new home Joey set off the house alarm, which was extremely loud, and which we had no idea how to disarm. Thankfully the police were not contacted and it flipped off after 5 minutes. Eventually Joey figured it out and reprogrammed it. Later that afternoon I went to throw my first load of laundry into the dryer to discover a huge puddle of water on the floor. A few hours and a new hose later, the washing machine was ready to rumble and we were finally going to have some clean clothes!
  

• Day 4 I remind Joey that the upstairs Jack and Jill bathroom has no running water. He assumes it is frozen pipes and after some Googling, gets to work trying to thaw them out with heaters and my hairdryer. While he was using my dryer to warm them up from a crawl space behind the bathroom, one of the pipes burst before his eyes. MIRACLE! Definitely a huge blessing. The two "master plumbers" that came at 2am to fix the pipe told Joey he is the luckiest person they have ever met. If it had burst after thawing on its own, it would have flooded and/or ruined a good portion of our home and cost us thousands to fix. Way to go Joey - who has been everyone's hero in this madness.

• And to top it all off, we have all come down with nasty colds.

But don't worry about us, we're over here just plugging along, trying our best to make lemonade from all these fabulous lemons and realize how blessed we are. And even though so much has gone wrong, a lot has and is going right for us.

I have to say that the highlight of the move so far was spending New Year's with Joey's brother, Jessen, his wife, Linda, and their four darling kids. A huge shout out to them for their hospitality and for the good times!

And so it begins.

It's official. We picked up and moved to Rogers, Arkansas. Joey has been promoted to Shopper Marketing Manager over Sam's Club for Kimberly Clark, so here we are. We're so proud of Joey and excited for this new opportunity. I've come to realize that it doesn't really matter where we are as long as we are together. Above is a picture of our new abode. We are excited to fill it with life and begin this new adventure together.

And, yes, those most interesting garage doors will be painted all one color just as soon as spring arrives.