Happy Changes :)

Alan started his new job this past Monday. Can we all say, "FABULOUS!"?? Yes. Yes, we can. He has loved his first week, learned a lot, and is enjoying adjusting to it all. We are enjoying having him a little longer in the morning and seeing him MUCH earlier in the evenings!!!

School is almost over for Soren! He has one more full day and then a very much partial day (like 2 hours) and his 6th grade year will be complete! Crazy!!! He has a few things to work on over the summer, but in general he will get to relax, hang out with the family, and not have to stress about homework, essays, or other projects. That's wonderful for ALL of us! We have some fun plans of things to do around the area during the summer, so I'm looking forward to that! He's had some amazing end of the year events including: A band concert in which he performed a stunning solo that had me nearly in tears (yeah, hormones, shut up), a track banquet where he was awarded Most Improved, and a few pizza parties for participating in different things throughout the year. He also managed to make the paper. Check out his handsome photo:



I had an ultrasound on Thursday and it was determined that there is ONE baby, so I'm happy about that! I was able to see the little heartbeat and the doctor said things are looking fabulous. We are pleased as punch and ready to take on the rest of this pregnancy with a lot less stress! Now our hope and prayer is that we can avoid some of the complications we had the last time around. I'm feeling ok overall - good days and bad. Nothing has been predictable - sometimes I wake up feeling fine, sometimes I feel horrible. Other times the yucky hits right in the middle of the day and I am curled up on the couch the rest of the day. I'm just taking it one day (and one Totino's Pizza) at a time.

Caroline continues to be her spunky, spicy little self. She is picking up on tons of words and has recently started responding with "kae!" to lots of things. Slowly but surely she is going to get used to not being in the same room as Momma 24 hours a day. I'm also teaching her important life skills, like taking her diaper to the diaper bin, climbing into the car on her own, and not throwing everything that is round just because it looks like a ball. A few days ago she sat down with one of her books, opened up a page, and said the colors she saw (brown & purple - PURPLE! Such a smart girl!), then closed it and pointed to the turtle on the cover and said, "Turtle." She also pointed to the lion on the cover and roared. It was pretty awesome as she had no prompting whatsoever. We are reaching such a fun stage where learning is exploding and I am loving it!

In the midst of all of this we are starting to transition the house into "our" house, albeit very slowly. My parents leave for the Philippines in about 2 weeks, so it's all coming quickly. We spent time today moving things and unpacking some of our things. It's amazing how long it has been since I've seen this stuff! One of the best things was opening a box and smelling my house. As strange as that sounds! And my BOOKS!!! I wanted to kiss each of them as I put them on the shelf. I refrained, but the desire was there! I'm looking forward to being surrounded by my things again, but it is already nice to open boxes and be able to put some things right into a charity box. Try living without your stuff for 2 years. You learn quite quickly that there are many things you don't need that you thought you did!

So that's what's going on - lots of changes, lots of busy, and lots of excitement! We hope to adjust quickly and get into a routine with our summer. :)