Striving forward

Today we're headed up to our realtor's office, again. We've made an offer on a house closer to the school where H1 works and are hoping to hear back soon. The house was forclosed on and is owned by a bank. If the bank doesn't accept our offer, the house is scheduled to go up for auction on the 12th, and then it would be out of our reach. We're tring to hammer out some final details with a loan that we are hoping will go through. The problem isn't on our end, since we are approved for it and easily qualified, but rather that this particular federal loan is waiting for more funds to be available and they aren't 100% sure it will be by the time we want to close. All across the board it's just frustrating and we really don't want to lose this house. The price is amazing and probably the only one we would be able to afford in the area we live in, unless another house forecloses! This is what it looks like.




It needs a little tlc with decorating and landscaping, but nothing I can't handle.

It snowed here on Sunday night for the first time in years. There was only about 3 inches of the stuff, but plenty of ice. Enough that they canceled school both Monday and Tuesday! Main roads weren't a problem either day, but since we live in the middle of nowhere, they don't plough the backroads and the buses couldn't get through. H1 enjoyed both days off though, and we got a lot done around the house--including moving out the futon we sold and bringing in our new couch! We also had a few snowball fights. Even H3 poked her nose outside.

This is the view into our backyard.

I only took her outside for a few minutes, since she'd been under the weather last week. Apparently though, that under the weather has continued and she woke up from a nap on Wedn. with a body temp of 103. I took her into the pediatrician and she has some sort of bacterial bug and fluid behind both ears. Here's to the first round of antibiotics. Yesterday she still had a fever around 101 most of the day. Today it's been close to normal, so far. Just praying she will get better!

Lots more to do and I have to pick up H1 from work today. Hopefully more later....

Learning a lot

Children go through growth spurts. It's a fact. One day they fit in their clothes, and the next there is a minor state of panic when you discover that adorable outfit that fit two days ago suddenly seems way too small. I think adults go through growth spurts too, only not physical ones (although on occasion we do). Sometimes it's a growth spurt in our relationship with Christ, or maybe a change in the dynamic of your marriage. Well, I've been going through one over the last few weeks and it seems to be a combination of everything from the two spurts I just mentioned to how I view myself and what I want to do with my life. I'm still one of those forever kids dreaming of what I want to be when I grow up--and trying to figure out where God is actually leading me. I believe that many desires of what we want to do with our lives stem from God's plans for us, at least that applies if you are closely walking with Him. I remember having a conversation once with someone about the verse that says that God will give us the desires of our heart. That doesn't mean necessarily a dream job or a particular car or vacation we want, but rather that when we are fervently seeking after Christ, His desires become our desires. That being said, these last few weeks have been ones where I seem to catch a glimpse of what He has planned for us. No clear pictures by any stretch of means, but just little feelings or images and the knowledge that He has brought us to this place for a reason. Still don't know that reason yet, but it's there and unfolding slowly nonetheless. Something else I am continually learning is just how much family means to me. Having grown up without knowing most of them, I've realized how much I missed out on and am looking forward to what is in the process now. God gave us our families for a reason. Sometimes things don't go so hot and you wind up getting painful lessons out of the relationship more than anything else. Other times you get to bask in the enjoyment of good relationships and feeling amazed at how God brings people together. Both the pain and the joy shape our lives.
Okay, quasi-philosophical moment over. In the latest news, basketball season ended last week (Hallelujah, wait, did I just admit that??!!). I enjoyed the season, but it was certainly a challenge. Being a coach's wife can be really rough, especially when parents have bad attitudes. I learned a lot about holding my temper! H1 is now tutoring Monday - Thursday after school for a couple hours. The school pays him pretty decently for that, and we're looking forward to that extra income. I'm still trying to hunt down a part time job that is condusive to H1's work schedule and won't cut into my time with H3 (aka a night job), but that's been slow in coming. I've applied to a few and am waiting to hear back. One is a nanny job, one is working with the U.S. Census Bureau, and one is a Security Office at the local nuclear power plant (I'd get to go to work with body armor and a gun). I wouldn't mind any of the three, but with the local job market there's no guarantee I'd even get one. So in the meantime I'm still working on my baking skills and enjoying being around the house. There's a lot more going on, but it's going to have to wait until I take care of H3. The "philosophical" post was the main point to this one, I suppose, as I needed to write down my thoughts.

Trying!

Today has been a bit of a challenge, and it's not even 3:00 yet. Both H1 and I have had colds for the past few days, and it seems that H3 may be coming down with it too. She's been out of sorts for a couple days now, not as interested in eating, and sleeping more than usual. Also, lots more crying than normal. My happy little baby has disappeared for the last couple days. Today was my first day going all out with cloth diapers. I had been waiting for the rest of them to arrive in the mail before changing over from disposable. I'm still planning to use disposable on trips and overnights (since one disposable will hold her all 10-11 hours of sleep, and I can't seem to get the cloth to work more than 2 hours). I'm still going to have to learn about these things. It hasn't gone so well today, but better than the one that I tried yesterday evening that soaked through the diaper, the vinyl pants, her clothes and her playmat! Today I haven't had that issue again, but we've gone through twice as many cloth as I would normally with disposable. Hurray for washing machines! One other thing I need to find out is if the Snappie I'm using works better than diaper pins or not. It was recommended to me, but I've had some issues trying to get it attached to the diaper. We'll have to see!

Running around

So much to do, but so little time! Saturday we drove 4 hours to see a friend of mine and attend her baby shower. She is due next month and we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of little Natalie. Cate and I used to share a desk back when I first started working at Liberty. We met about a week after I got married. While H1 was gone that summer, we hung out a lot together after work, and continued to do so once H1 came back. In April 2007, she married Shawn and moved an hour west of Lynchburg, but still commuted there for work. I'd moved offices by then, so we didn't see each other as much but still tried to work out having lunch on a regular basis (often just bringing it from home and eating in our respective offices). Now we live about 4 hours apart but still try to keep up via email! She is a dear friend and I miss her.

Last Friday I finally bought tickets for H1, H3 and I to fly out to Washington April 11 - 18 (H1's Spring break). The catalyst behind the trip is my grandmother's health. She's not doing very well, and we're hoping she will still be there when we go. My uncle has let me know that if she is having a good day, she will recognize us, but there is a good possibility she won't know who we are. I haven't seen her in 19 years, and am really regretting having not made this trip sooner. We couldn't really afford it before, but should have found a way. Still, her condition has deteriorated pretty fast, and we couldn't have known it would be that way. Since she is in a nursing home, we'll be staying with Bethany, my former college roommate, who lives in Tacoma. I still need to call the airlines though and ask about some details for traveling with a baby. H3 will be 7 months old then.

Later today I'll be taking Peanut to the vet. About a week ago he started having some back pain, but we had to wait until payday to take him anywhere. He's had some pain before, but it seemed to be manageable. This time, it's come out of nowhere and he is absolutely pathetic. He's having trouble walking and often just sits and shakes. He can't wag his tail or anything because of the pain (I can tell because when he tried, he yelped and started crying). Even just tensing his body starts the crying all over again. By crying I mean an extended yelp that kind of sounds like a moan. It's really sad. Peanut is H1's dog, and he's about 8 years old.

After the vet trip, we'll stop by the middle school basketball game H1 is coaching. I'm hoping we'll be able to arrive at the start of the game, but we'll have to see how long the vet takes. The team has won 4/6 games so far this year. H1 really enjoys coaching, and the kids seem to like him too. I know the school does, since they've commented that's it's been years since they've had such structure for middle school basketball. I'm proud of him...just a little! :o)

On happier notes, Sams Club had blackberries on sale, so I am enjoying those. I'm almost done ordering prefold diapers for H1. I've been needing to finish that up for a while now. We wanted to go the first 3 months with disposables, just to help me adjust to even having a baby in the house, and then transition over to cloth. With everything going on at Christmas, I'm just now getting around to buying them! Now, off to go feed H3 and get her ready to leave....

Long trip, fun trip, but good to be home

We're back! It's been a fun few weeks, but I'm exhausted. On the 19th we set out for NY to see H1's family. We arrived around 2:30am, in the midst of a snow storm. By the end of that day, there was a foot of snow on the ground. We stayed with H1's dad (Pop-pop) through Christmas day. Most of the time was spent chatting, visiting around with other relatives, Christmas shopping, and reading books. It was really relaxing, and a great visit. On Christmas day, his brother's family came to visit, Brad, Rachel, and their 3 boys whose initials together are DNA. DNA got a Wii for Christmas, and spent most of Christmas day playing it, along with Brad, H1, and Nils, a German exchange student living with Pop-pop.

The day after Christmas, we headed to visit Mercy (H1's sister), taking a detour to Rochester on our way to see some of the guys from camp. We met at a restaurant and chatted for a few hours. It was so good to see them, and I hope we'll be able to go back to camp this summer. After that, we continued on to Westfield and spent the night with Patrick, Krista, and Mercy. Mercy, H1, and I stayed up until 3am, laughing over silly videos online and then turning to more serious discussions about jobs and the body of Christ.

On the 27th we left for my parent's house and stayed there until the 30th. It was the best visit we've had with them. My folks are very taken with H3, of course, and enjoyed spending time with their granddaughter. Mom looked a lot better than she had in a while. She was up and walking around quite a bit, and even took a trip with us up to the lake for a walk along the beach. On the way out of town, we stopped by my dad's dealership and got a tour. The shop is a lot nicer than ones he's worked at in the past, so that's a good note.

The trip home was a really long one. We had to make a number of stops to take care of munchkin. I was grateful that the roads were clear though, and there was a relatively low amount of traffic considering the time of year. New Year's Eve was spent celebrating H1's birthday. I made pancakes in the morning and he opened his presents. Then the three of us went to Suffolk and Newport News for the afternoon, stopping at Applebees for lunch, and then headed back home for some Pumpkin Turtle Pie that I'd made earlier. H1 isn't a big fan of birthday cake, so pie is usually the order of the day. We watched the ball drop that night and I called my dad shortly afterward to wish him a happy birthday as well.

Since then, we've spent time cleaning the house and time with friends, trying to enjoy every last moment before H1 goes back to work on Monday. His teaching job is a huge blessing in that he gets a lot of time off. I appreciate it, and I know he loves getting to spend so much time with his daughter. Most families are not as blessed!

We look forward to all that this year holds, good and bad. Our God is always full of surprises and I love to watch His plans unfold.

Crazy week

Monday and Tuesday were spent in a flurry of cooking, laundry, and cleaning, although to look at the house now you wouldn't know it. Tuesday night was spent at a middle school basketball game H1 was coaching. H1's team won by 10 points. Wednesday H3 and I drove to Lynchburg. We arrived around 11 and went shopping at Wally-world for a few last minute Christmas presents for my nephews, then met a friend for lunch. Deana's father-in-law passed away last weekend and I wanted to meet with her and see how she was doing, along with her husband and mother-in-law. Kenneth died after a rough 5 year battle with cancer. He knew the Lord and what Deana told me is that he was ready to "go home and meet Jesus". After lunch, I visited my old office to chat, show off H3, and pick up a book for my dad. It was really good to see everyone. Although I don't miss working too much, I miss my friends from that office! I left a little before 4:00 and drove the 3 hours back home and made it back just before Josh arrived. I'd already planned for leftovers for dinner, so fortunately I didn't have to cook anything! I know a day will come when leftovers will be rare, but for now I will enjoy the occasional break when I arrive home late!

This week I've also been working on my resume and tentatively applying for a few different jobs. I don't have to go back to work, but it would be nice to get rid of the student loans we've accumulated. Payments for them are pretty high, and until they are gone things will be kinda tight. Gotta love the results of going to a private college!

Today I spent some time taking pictures of H3 for Christmas. I'm hoping to send a few out to my parents and of course use one for a Christmas card. H3 seemed confused by the camera at first, but then started laughing. She's such a sweetie and a very easy-going baby, most of the time.

Thanksgiving memories

Last Wednesday afternoon, H1, H3 and I set off for SC to see my grandfather and uncle. A drive that should have been around 5 1/2 hours took almost 7 hours between traffic and baby. Considering all things, it wasn't too bad of a trip, and H3 was great in the car. While we were there, we spent some time weeding the garden, and then raking leaves and putting them in the garden for mulch.

Grandpa and Uncle C. got to meet H1 for the first time, along with Ann and Buddy.

Thanksgiving dinner was ham, mashed potatoes, corn, and green beans. We had everything gluten free for Uncle C., exept the pecan pie for dessert. Grandpa had requested it, and Josh makes a really good pie, so we made it up in VA and brought it down so we wouldn't have to worry about gluten contamination during the baking. Better than dinner though was the fact that our family was together. Grandpa looked a lot better than expected, and I hadn't seen my uncle since my grandmother's funeral. We had a good time chatting with Ann and Buddy as well. It was really good to see everybody, and I'm so glad we made the trip. Oh, and on a last note, it was a lot cheaper than I thought it would be, thanks to the drop in gas prices!