It's Picture Time!

I know I said (over) a week ago that I would get pictures up and I failed miserably. It's not because anything exciting has been going on - on the contrary! Life has been pretty mellow. I hope that after the baby comes I will have more to report, but for now it's just the same stuff everyday. Soren goes to school, Alan goes to work, and little ol' me stays home, pokes around on the computer, watches some TV, tries to get a few things accomplished, and just generally wanders around like a zombie who has not gotten enough sleep! I feel like such a boring blogger lately that I almost want something exciting to happen! But I think I'd really just settle for a few more calm weeks before the storm (aka the baby) takes over.

I did have some fun yesterday, though! I got my hair done! It has been ages since I had it done - almost a year, really. So it was about time. And I decided to go a little crazy, with the help of my friend who also likes to go a little crazy sometimes. We make an exciting pair when we decide to be really crazy, let me tell ya! So here I am:



No, you aren't seeing things. I went lighter. A LOT lighter. Like, I'm nearly blonde in the highlights. It's so strange, but so fun! And I know I can go back to her right before the baby comes and get touch ups or go a completely different direction. And the great thing about it is - we trade. So I do web design stuff for her husband or I babysit her kids and I get my hair done! I love that! It's all going to take some getting used to - I looked in the mirror quite a few times yesterday in confusion - but I am pretty sure I like it. My parents (even my DAD who HATES it when I cut my hair) really like it and Alan does as well. Even Soren does, and he's a boy of routine and structure - he is not a big fan of change.

And now for the belly pics. The quality isn't great - I was using my web cam (just decided to try it out for the first time yesterday haha), but you get the general hugeness of it all.

32 1/2 weeks:





Some people have said I don't look like I'm 6 or 7 weeks away but trust me when I say - I FEEL 6 or 7 weeks away. I have my first doctors appointment since the move today and am kinda nervous - which is going to do wonders for my blood pressure. I am going to asked to be induced simply because of how far away the hospital is from us but also because I'm a chicken and need my drugs. I say need not for the pain, but for my reaction to people bothering me in that area of my body. It will be better for everyone involved (including the baby) if I just don't really know what's going on. Some people might wander how I ever got through any of the infertility procedures we did, but the truth of the matter is, I thing Heavenly Father had a huge hand in that because in normal circumstances I would not have been able to do it. So here's hoping for an induction date of Nov. 24th!!! I'll keep y'all posted.

Ok, time for me to get some food and get ready to go meet my new doctor! Wish me luck!

October is Finally Here!

I love October. I love the cool, crisp fall air that begins creeping in. I love the leaves that begin to change to brilliant shades of red, orange, and green. I love watching them fall from the trees so I can rake up big piles of leave and watch my son play in them. I love the promise of Halloween at the end of the month, one of my favorite holidays ever!

Yesterday, October 1st, I encouraged my mother to pull out any Halloween decorations she might have floating around (not nearly enough, if you ask me!) and put them out. I also went out and bought some apple cider and donuts. Then I went to the video store (which I haven't done for ages!) and picked up a fun Halloween cartoon: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

After we'd had dinner and were all settled, I surprised everyone and we sat down for some tasty treats (though a few people chose Hot Chocolate instead of cider) and watched the cartoon. It was so fun to hang out and celebrate October with my family! Admittedly, I did steal this idea (thank you NieNie and Cjane), but it's such a wonderful idea and I finally have time to sit down and do silly things like this with my family. I think everyone had fun, even if it was a bit silly, but what can I say? I just love October!

I also was grateful that Oct. 1st ended up being a Wednesday because that is one of the least busy days at our house.

Today was relaxing for the most part - until the evening when we had to juggle basketball practice and curriculum night at the school. But we made it through, Soren is tucked into bed, and I'm already starting to fade.

I shall be posting pics of me and my baby belly soon! I know a few people who are anxious to see them!

Officially Official

Upon moving to Virginia, I tried really hard to be all legal and get myself a VA license fairly quickly after we moved. This, for me, was quite odd because even though I had lived in Washington, Ohio, Idaho, Utah, and then Washington again, I had never had anything other than a Washington license. I had pretty much refused to get an Ohio one because I heard I would have to take the drive test again. No thanks! And in Idaho and Utah I considered myself a student (because I was!), so when I went back to Washington to visit my parents, I just renewed my license there . . .

Anyway, I digress.

Well, I did not know how difficult it would be to get the appropriate documents that VA demanded in order to get my license. It took me almost 2 years of living there before I finally bothered, and that was only because my WA license was about to expire! But now, after less than 2 months being back in WA, I am officially a Washington Resident once more. I've got my license and I'm registered to vote and everything! Go me! Plus I got my old license number back, which makes me super happy because I've had it memorized for years. Now all that is left so far as paperwork and what not goes is registering the car. It's strange to have such a short list of "things to do."

As far as everything else goes, things are pretty much the same. Soren is busy and getting settled in his new routine. The only thing he doesn't like is the early bed time and early awake time. He's like his dad that way! Alan is still truckin' away with his commute and working hard for us. And I'm here at home, taking care of my web design stuff as well as all of the odds and ends that are a result of moving across the country. It's odd having time. It's even more odd being able to spend an entire day at home without needing to leave the house for one reason or another. I've still not adjusted, can you tell? Haha!

Hopefully one of my future posts will include some pictures of the beautiful place we are living. Maybe I'll even have my mom take a pic of me doing something that is now everyday for me - COOKING! I have to say, I miss Alan's cooking a lot.... but we are somehow surviving on what I dig up for dinner each night.

Ok, the clock is ticking and Soren will be home soon. This means I need to steal myself an afternoon nap before the afternoon is gone!

Failure to Update

Why is it that when you have no time and life is crazy, you find time to update blogs/journals/etc. but when life is a little slower paced, you just feel like there is nothing to say and/or you don't bother to update even if fun things are happening?

Well, that might not be YOUR problem, but it's certainly mine!

If I am in the throngs of chaos, I have to sit down for a few minutes and update my blog. When things are moving at a slower pace, nothing gets done. Maybe that's why I enjoy chaos so much? It motivates me to get things done!

So here's the latest:

-Soren is enjoying his new school, new teacher, and new classmates more each day. He is doing well in school, has decided to join the school band (playing trumpet), the school choir (they have a music festival in mid-November), the chess club, the safety patrol, and was accepted into the EXCEL program, which is like a gifted program but they don't call it that. On top of all of that, he will also be resuming piano lessons soon, starting basketball, and continues to be involved in Cub Scouts as a Webelos this year. Is he busy? Yes. Overprogrammed? Probably. But right now I want him to involved in as much as possible so he can figure out for himself what he likes and what he doesn't. Also, it will assist in making friends. However, this does mean we need to get him to bed much earlier each night as his days will be long. The good news? Thus far he has had practically nothing for homework in comparison to what he came home with in Virginia.

Aside from all of that, he is getting more and more excited for the arrival of his little sister. He talks to her everyday and tells me how much he loves her and how she is HIS baby. I laugh and remind him he is much to young to have his own baby and that this is his baby sister. And she will only ever have him for a big brother and she is so lucky!! He has also had the chance to go on two field trips for school already! Both of them involved the beach - so that was awesome for him. Today, however, he is home sick with the first school-germ-generated cold of the year. And he has sweetly passed that on to me. What an angel....

-Alan is still working and commuting. We get to spend a little time with him each night, but we have become early sleepers in comparison to our late nights we'd have back in Virginia. Now it is pretty unheard of for us to be up past 10:30pm - unless it's a basketball night! Alan is looking forward to joining the community rec center here so he can go play ball whenever he wants! Soren and I agree that this would be awesome because while daddy plays ball, we can invade the pool! And our Little Bean will be able to have the chance to swim, too - just like her big brother did when he was a baby!

Alan is also our Mr. Fix-It. He's had lots of projects since moving in with my parents and will continue to have more since my dad had surgery last week and is out of commission for 10-12 weeks. So Alan has become the lifter, mover, fixer, and all-around awesome guy to have around! I'm sure lucky that, in the end, he's mine!!!

-And then there was me! I'm trying to take it easy while I can, but it's hard to sit still sometimes. Ok, it's hard to sit still MOST of the time! I do have a 7 month pregnancy belly slowing me down a bit, but I am not fond of all the sitting I've been doing lately. Once I'm over this cold I am going to start walking everyday, especially since the beautiful fall weather is settling in. I can't wait for some nice little rain showers!

I finally found a doctor that I think I am going to be ok with! I have my first appointment with him in a couple weeks (he's really booked!) and am looking forward to meeting him and having him check on our Little Bean. I have heard fabulous things about this doctor and the recommendation comes from one of the few people in the medical field that I trust and love (yes, I said LOVE!). My next big project is getting a in-state license and getting the car registered. I think that will just about wrap up all the paperwork and nonsense we have had to do to get settled.

So, life is good. We love it in the Northwest, but continue to talk about and miss our friends in Virginia. Some good news? Alan is working for an airline. Yes, his company is considered an AIRLINE company. Do you know what that means? Oh yes, my friends, it means perks. Which means that I will for sure be flying out to Virginia in the spring to visit my sweet friends and show off our little princess. Until then, though, I am grounded - third trimester travel isn't exactly encouraged and there is no way I'm getting on a plane with a newborn. Nope, we'll be waiting until the spring. And then after that? Well, goodness.... we have a lot of options opened to us for vacations now! Any recommendations? Hee hee!

I'm off to nap now. I so need to get rid of this cold!

Settling In

I am sitting here in our 'new' room. On MY bed. Watching MY TV. With MY TiVo box. I have been sleeping much better - in fact, I think we all have - and it's wonderful! I did have some trouble night before last because I was worried about Soren's first day at his new school, but (aside from the frequent visits to the bathroom) otherwise sleep has been much better. I love my bed.

As you might be able to tell, sleep is very important to me and my sanity. I didn't realize this until I stopped getting a fairly normal night of sleep. Hopefully I'll be able to manage through the first few months of a new baby without growling at everyone around me because I didn't get a full night of sleep. Soren was sleeping 5-6 hours straight when he was 6 weeks old. I doubt I will be that lucky twice!

It's all worth it, though. So I will do my best to keep from complaining when the lack of sleep increases! And I will cherish the mostly uninterrupted sleep I'm getting now!

In other news, Soren started school yesterday and he was very nervous about it - even if he didn't want to (and may never!) admit it. After 4 years at his old school, he's having trouble with the idea of a new school, new friends, new teachers, etc etc which makes sense to me. So I'm trying to be sympathetic and understanding, but also telling him to suck it up and deal a bit, too! Yesterday went ok - he seems to like his teacher, he's met a few kids that he seemed to get along with, he really enjoyed a science forum they had . . . but he talked a lot about the differences, as well. He misses his old school, but I'm hoping in a few weeks he'll have settled into the new routine and be ok.

Alan's new job continues to be challenging, busy, different, but good. He's learning a lot and feeling confident in his skills. While the commute isn't a dream for anyone in the family, he's handling it fabulously. I will admit, though, I miss having him cook fabulous meals for me almost every night. I hope my family survives on my cooking. One thing I think Alan is enjoying is the amount of projects there are to take care of around my parent's home. While he needs to rest for a while after work and I don't mind at all letting him sleep in on the weekends, it's nice for him to have things to work on. Alan's always loved to work with his hands, so these projects are great for him! It's also prepping him for when we move into our own place and I have a nice list of things for him to do! Haha!

As for me, I am trying to adjust to a less -busy schedule. Truthfully, it's just strange right now. I'm watching way more TV than I have in years. I'm getting all the laundry done in one day instead of dragging it on for days and days. I've even managed to make my bed a time or two. Boredom is going to set in soon - I already feel it nipping at me. But I know that in a few months, I will be anything BUT bored. Luckily I have all of my scrapbook stuff here at my mom's, so I will be able to do some of that while we wait for Little Bean to join us.

Speaking of Bean, she is hungry. So I'm off to find something to munch on.

Back in the Northwest

I've lived in the Northwest US for 2/3 of my life. I don't know if anywhere else in the world will ever feel like home the way the northwest does. Nothing says home to me like driving down the street and seeing this:



This is seriously what I see when I turn the corner to drive almost anywhere. And when I'm not looking at that amazing mountain (Mt. Hood), I see this:



I know, not quite as beautiful, but that's what happens when you lose part of your beauty in a volcanic explosion. Yes, that's Mt. St. Helens. I did not realize how amazingly lucky I had been my entire life to be able to see such beauty every time I walked out my door, but having it all back has made me grateful.

Aside from my mountains, I also have my gorgeous Evergreen trees, my amazing family, fabulous friends, and a lot less stress. With school starting next week, I know that things will get a little crazy. We've got to find a soccer team for Soren, get him a piano teacher, Scouts will start again, but for the first time in 2+ years, I get to enjoy his schedule instead of trying to work around it and make sure that someone is here for him! Hooray!

Do I miss Virginia? Of course I do! I wish I could scoop up all the things I love about Virginia (including the people!) and move them here with me. But, truthfully, I think this area will always be home for me.

Our pod is here and we are heading over either tomorrow or Thursday to get our bed (OH PLEASE, BED, I NEED YOU SO MUCH!) and a few other things to help us feel more at home while we live with my parents. I'm excited to get my bed (CAN YOU TELL?!?!) . The bed we are in is too small for the two of us. Or rather two and 2/3 of us. Little Bean has already begun complaining about things. She woke up way too early this morning (I know, this is just the beginning!) and would not stop poking and prodding me! She calmed down a little after Daddy came and talked to her, but then he had to go to work and she ignored all of my requests. I can't complain, though. I'm grateful she is active and let's me know she is there. Frequently. Haha! I know the days of getting a full nights sleep are behind me and will be for a while. But it's worth it.

In my sleep - deprived delerium, I think the point of this post is - we are here. We made it. And hopefully by the end of the week we will be settled here at my parents house. Then we just wait for Bean to make her appearance while we decide where we want to live and when we want to move there. We are keeping busy, but I feel like my life is much more relaxed than it has been so saying yes to a musical number at church and babysitting a friend's kids? No prob! Helping out with the music for the kids at church? Bah, I've been doing that for years - no big!

Biggest concern for the week? Getting Soren's school clothes and supplies. He's all registered and ready to go otherwise.

I think I'm going to go take a nap now!

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning.

So.

This is it.

My last night in Virginia.

Almost all of my errands have been run. I said goodbye to people from my old job. It was so nice to visit with them! I said goodbye to my wonderful ob/gyn and his assistant (whom I love to bits!) and got my records. I ran to the store to pick up a few last minute things. I dropped off my mail key and the last few things to finish up checking out of our townhouse. And I made a few phone calls as well. So a lot got done today! I still need to do another load of laundry in the morning and do the final packing job. I will also need to ship myself a package or two to accommodate all of the adorable things Little Bean received at the baby shower that was given to me by my sweet friends Jen and Alison. It was so nice to sit and visit with friends and to be able to say goodbye. Or rather, "see you later." Cuz, let's face it, saying goodbye sucks.

I'm sad to leave so many good friends who have been there for me in so many different ways. But the good thing is that I know many of them are forever friends, not just right now friends. One in particular I know will be there for me for the rest of my life - and beyond as well. And that is a good feeling. Except it makes the leaving that much more difficult. Ugh!

Instead of focusing on that (I'm not in the mood to cry right now!), I will focus on the friends and family I am going back to! I am so excited to be close to my brothers again. I love them and their families so much! I'm also glad to be close to my parents (very close for a while!). I worried about them both a lot and when they were both very sick a couple of years ago I was a mess not being able to be there to help them. Of course I hope that doesn't happen again, but if it does, I want to be there. Then there are the many wonderful friends that we get to go back to! I can't wait to get hugs from them, play games, and go on outings together again. Trust me when I say, I've had to focus on all of these things to keep myself from crying for the past 2-3 weeks.

Now I just need to make it through a long evening of travel tomorrow before I can curl up (as best as I can with 6 months of baby inside of me! haha!) next to my sweetheart and sleep tomorrow night. That is unless Little Bean decides to wake me up in the middle of the night. Again. Twice. Haha! She's an active little one, but I'm ok with that . . . she's worth it. All this exhaustion (and the loads that is forthcoming) is all worth it.

So, Virginia.... it's been a great (mostly) 4 years. I'll hopefully be back in the spring to show off my little blessing . . . . anyone who wants to come visit the gorgeous Portland metro area, let me know! I love visitors! Just not during the first week or two in December. I'll be recuperating from giving birth! Ha!