We Moved! Again.

Our family went up to Utah about a month ago, and none of us were terribly excited to come back to Albuquerque. After a long discussion--10 hour car rides are convenient for those--Chris and I determined that if we weren't completely happy with where we were, we should consider other options. A big drawback in life was our house. While it was fine overall, there were a lot of little things wrong (and a few big things, like the dining room floor). So...why not look for a new house?

The next day we visited our first potential rental house, and another the next day, and the day after that. We drove home from Utah on a Sunday and by Wednesday we had put in an application for a house. On Thursday morning, we still hadn't heard back and I was getting anxious. They were still totally within their allotted response time, but still. To kill time, the boys and I took a ride down past what would be the girls' new elementary school. While there, I drove through a neighborhood that I had never seen before. It looked really nice, so I drove straight home and looked online to see if there were any houses available.

Ta-da! There was one that had been posted for only 6 hours. I called right away and set an appointment to see it. That afternoon, I made my kids drive around with me all over town picking up money orders for a deposit and application fees, collecting paperwork, filling out applications, and getting it all turned in to the property management company. It was over 100 degrees that day and the kids were not happy with being in and out of the car so much. But, it was worth it. We had everything turned in by 5:20 that afternoon to an office that closed at 5:30.

The happy ending to that story is that we got the house! When the lady called to tell me that we had been approved, she told me that six other applications had been turned in after ours. There was one more turned in the day we signed the lease. What can I say? It's just that good of a house.

We had four weeks from the time that we first had the idea to move until we were loading the truck. It was a quick decision and a quick move. The entire truck was loaded in an hour and a half on Friday night, then unloaded in about an hour on Saturday morning. It was amazing.

It was kind of funny with the kids. They kept wanting to know when we were going to stay in a hotel. Our last three moves have been to a new state. This time we moved less than fifteen minutes away. Also, I find it noteworthy that Simon has moved twice now and he's not even one year old yet. Audrey will be going to her fifth new school, and Megan's first day of kindergarten will be her fourth first day of school. Apparently we move a lot...maybe this time we'll stick around longer.

Back to the house. I borrowed a few pictures from the online listing.

Even more amazing? We moved in one week ago, and we are already done unpacking. The only things still to do are getting rid of the boxes and rearranging the garage. But, that's a project that been on our list for months already. Now it's just in a different garage.

The kids are pretty excited about their bedrooms. We finally put Ben and Simon in together. I love that the bedrooms are all upstairs, which means Simon is no longer napping right next to the front door and being woken up all the time. We have learned, however, that Simon talks himself to sleep, sometimes for more than half an hour at a time. Ben is working on getting used to that.

The girls like that they don't have to have a bunk bed. Although, they weren't so happy with me taking pictures right at that moment.

Our bedroom is pretty sweet, too. Anything that can make a king size bed look small is impressive.

We have an awesome backyard. Grass in Albuquerque!

I even found a good place for my rooster.

My most favorite room in my house is the living room.

Everything has gone so well with us getting into this house. Not only did we beat out all the other applications, we were able to get out of the lease on our old house. The landlord was more than happy to let us break our contract in favor of renting it for a higher price than we were paying. New tenants were found very quickly--they actually started moving in their stuff the afternoon we were gone. We got our deposit back and everything, even though we technically still had 11 months on our lease.

We're getting into our new ward and neighborhood nicely, too. Already, in just one week, we've helped with an Eagle Scout project, been visited by the Relief Society presidency, gone to the park to shoot off water balloon rockets, picked plums with several neighbors, and tonight we went to a birthday party for a 4 year old. I very much feel like this is the right place for our family to be now.

And the icing on the cake? The view from the balcony that comes off the master bedroom.

Our Big 3-0

As per tradition, our birthday celebrations this year spanned several days. We lucked out quite a bit, given how short a time we've been in Albuquerque, to be able to go on TWO dates and have at least two other people offer to babysit as well. Huzzah! We went out to dinner on Tuesday night and we saw the third Hobbit movie on the dollar theater on Wednesday night. Let me tell you, it was fabulous getting out just the two of us for the first time since we moved here.

Also a tradition, I purchased St. Patrick's Day shirts and forced encouraged everyone to wear them on my birthday. Pretty sure I will inflict this on them throughout their childhoods, including when they're teenagers. We switched it up a bit this wear with a mix of green and white.

We had a meeting at Audrey's school that afternoon, for which Chris left work early. It was the first time we had everyone all together...and Simon had a nasty blowout right when I pulled him out of his car seat (and I didn't have any extra clothes in the diaper bag other than a onesie...). At least I got all the kids together before that.

While some portions of birthdays as an adult are decidedly less exciting than birthdays were as a kid, we still celebrated well. A wonderful sister in my ward dropped off this surprise cake and the kids got free balloons from Old Navy.

My gifts this year included a new Aggie license plate frame (my old one snapped in half in Georgia), a Dr Who/Stargate t-shirt (BEST SHIRT EVER), and pictures and a fan from the kids. Oh, and my totally awesome sweatshirt that says "I may live in New Mexico but I Graduated from Utah State."

I have fewer pictures from Chris's presents because...well, I forgot to take any. He opened one present from the kids in the morning--an Avengers lanyard. They were super excited to give it to him because he wears a lanyard to work everyday, and this one has his favorite superhero on it, Iron Man.

They were so enthralled watching him open it.

He also got a copy of the book The Power of Everday Missionaries, which he's been talking about for a while now, and a 1000 piece puzzle of Family Rules. He had a really good day at work, too, with Duke City doughnuts and winning several games of Bughouse.

Even without Old Spaghetti Factory or Egg Harbor Cafe, we had good birthdays.

To a New Decade

I laid awake for a long time last night, thinking about today and wondering how I actually feel about it...I'm 30 today! Who does that? I feel like it should be really significant...or something...that I should be mourning the loss of my youth or some such declaration of despondency. Instead, I'm going out to dinner tonight and to a movie tomorrow and rocking the Rice Krispie treats, my annual most favoritest birthday tradition.

While I'm cool with, you know, being old, let's be honest, we rocked the 20s. In honor of it all, here are twenty things I accomplished in my twenties, in roughly chronological order.

1. I learned to drive a stick with Todd, my beloved 1989 Ford Probe.

2. I married the man of my dreams.

3. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Utah State University.

4. I gave birth to Audrey Jane.

5. I taught 5th grade for three years.

6. I gave birth to Megan Leigh.

7. We bought a house.

8. We rocked every roller coaster in Disneyland.

 

9. I gave birth to Benjamin Ryan.

10. I survived traumatic birth, postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and three miscarriages, and came out stronger on the other side.

11. I carried TWO children up to Delicate Arch.

 

12. I jumped out of an airplane.

13. I walked on burning hot coals and my feet remained in perfect condition.

14.We sold our house and moved to Albuquerque.

15. I became a certified life coach and started my own business.

16. I wrote a book.

17. We moved to Atlanta.

18. I learned to play the violin again.

19. I gave birth to Simon Edward.

20. I built a magnificent personal library.

Happy Birthday to me!

Our Not-So-Little Littlest

I am currently choosing to ignore the fact that I haven't updated my blog in nearly six months. Someday, I'll catch up. For now, here's now.

Simon Edward is six months old! I know all babies grow fast, but I feel like he's changed by leaps and bounds to the point that he almost doesn't even look like the same baby.

One Day

9 lbs 15 oz 

98th percentile

 

21 1/4 in

93rd percentile

Six Months 

18 lbs 

50th percentile

 

28 1/2 in

93rd percentile

Simon has been scooting around the house for two months now--he doesn't crawl, but he's definitely mobile and everywhere. It's not uncommon that I leave the room and come back a few minutes later to find him stuck under the piano bench or hiding behind the couch.

At his six month check-up, the nurse went through the list of questions regarding large motor skills. She asked if he pulls his head up like he's going to sit--I answer that he can sit.

She asked if he'll push up on his arms like he's going to crawl. I said he gets up on his hands and toes all the time, and he climbs stairs.

She asked if he'll support his weight on his legs. I involuntarily laughed when she asked that, because he's had that skill since he was two weeks old. Now if you hold his hands, he walks.

He certainly wants to keep up with everybody else.