An update on our busy week!

Well, I was going to post birthday pics but apparently I post way too many pictures and ran out of picture storage.  I had to purchase more and it will not be available for 24 hours.  Bummer!

So for now, I will just tell you about our week in boring words..... :(

Well, last weekend (wait.... no TWO weekends ago....) we went to wenatchee as you all know and we chose our home.  We have been approved for the house and we are confident we will still get it.  We have to wait till Monday or Tuesday to get the lease all in tact.  They wanted us to send the deposit to them already, but we said, um not without seeing the lease!  What do they think we are?!?!  We are WAY more intelligent than that! 

We had an open house on Sunday and only had two people come through.  But our realtor was confident that they were very interested.  Two days later, we got a call saying we got an offer on the house!!  YAY!!  We had a meeting to go over the offer and we countered back.  They offered us full price but they wanted us to pay $7600 in closing costs and the sale was contingent on their house selling.  That's bummer news for us.  We can't necessarily wait for their house to sell.  It's been on the market just about as long as ours has been, but it's such an unknown factor and I hate that.  Anyway, we put in a counter offer and offered less for closing and inserted a "bump clause" that says if we get a better offer we can bump them out.

So hopefully their house will sell quickly so that ours can soon follow.  The owner of our new house is having surgery on February 1st and then will have 2-3 weeks for recovery and then she will be moving out, so we (and she) are hoping to get in there March 1st.  I'm still excited about the house (which is good news....!) but I want to see it again!  I wish I could've taken pictures of the inside so I wouldn't forget what it looks like!  Urgh.  Anyway, we are anxiously awaiting the counter offer on our house and getting the lease for the new one.... it's all so stressful! 

Another exciting thing that happened this week was KAELEE'S BIRTHDAY!!  YAY!!  We are now the official parents of a two year old!  WOW! She had a great day yesterday and enjoyed her sign, gifts, and cake.  She liked to sing happy birthday and prance around so cutely in her birthday shirt.  And she's getting the hang of saying she's TWO now when you ask her how old she is!  :)  She opened gifts from mommy and daddy last night and my mom and brother stopped by for a bit and brought another gift.  We got her a Sid the Science Kid doll that talks, a play camera, some flash cards and plenty of new books.  haha.  She loves her books.  From grandma (and Grandpa), she got a magnadoodle and a new outfit.  She loves the magnadoodle and has been playing with it all morning.  Secretly I hate that she likes that gift more than the ones WE got her...... hahaha.  But whatever.  She does like everything we got her too.

Our busy week continues with KaeLee going to the doctor today, Saturday is KaeLee's birthday party, Sunday we have our tax appointment and dinner for my mom's birthday.  This weekend is going to go by fast, I can tell!  I have a feeling it won't feel much like a weekend... haha.  Maybe Shawn and I can squeeze some time together in there somewhere.  Doubtful, but maybe.   

Anyway, I should get going.  This was supposed to be a quick update.   I will try and post pictures tonight.  I have started a project that is going to need my full attention for the next few days so we will see if I actually get on here.

We chose our new home!

OUR NEW HOME!!!

I guess I shouldn't jump the gun too much or jinx myself..... we put our application for this home today and are very confident that we will get it.  There are some downsides to this house.... I will explain later, but it is a beautiful home inside and out, has a near-perfect layout for us and has a lot of extras that we love. 

When you walk in the house, there is a living room on the left with a fireplace and a family room on the right.  It is separated by an aisle of hardwood floor (the living and family rooms are carpet) leading to the dining room which sits behind the living room on the left.  It is one big room, but defined by the flooring.  There are ginormous vaulted ceilings in the living room and dining room.  There is a bay window at the front of the house in the living room.  In the dining room, there are beautiful french doors that lead out onto the back patio, which has an outdoor kitchen with a grill, a mini fridge and storage.  It's an L shaped mini kitchen with a tiled counter top.  There is a patio area for a table with a ceiling fan.  The backyard is about half the size we have now, but I honestly can't remember when the last time we were in the backyard at this house.....? haha. 

Back inside, next to the dining room is a walk through kitchen.  Even though it's a walk through, they have utilized the space wonderfully and there are still four walls with cabinets and counter ops, making the space large.  It has a small bar area, perfect for our two bar stools we have now.  The counter tops are blue.... not my first choice, but it does match my current "blue" kitchen right now.... :) It has a double wall oven.... awesome!  But the oven does need to be replaced.  It is quite old.  It may be an original to the house.... haha.  But all the other appliances are brand new looking (they are 3-4 years old is all).  There is no  pantry, but they turned one of the closets into a pantry, but I think there are far enough cabinets that we may not need it as one....

The kitchen leads out to the hallway.  At the end of the hall is the master bedroom.  There are sliding glass doors that lead out to a private patio with a hot tub.  There is a bathroom in the master suite that is pretty large with a separate shower, a garden tub and double sinks.  There is also a walk in closet in the bedroom. 

Next to the master bedroom is the laundry room that has a pocket door leading to a half bath.  The laundry room is also a mud room that leads to the garage.  It is not a large laundry room by any means, but it does have cabinets and good storage in there and I think it's going to work just fine. 

Across from the laundry room is a closet.  The "under the stairs" closet.  They have turned this into a pantry + storage for their vacuum, broom, mop etc.  I am hoping we won't need it as a pantry and can make it a coat closet, since there is not one downstairs.  (They turned the coat closet in the family room into a media storage closet, housing all their DVD's and such). 

Upstairs is two bedrooms.  One of them is easily bigger than the size of BOTH KaeLee and Hannah's rooms put together!  So I think they may just share this room and then we will use the other "normal" size room as an office.  There are a couple of closets in the hallways upstairs for linens and such and a bathroom upstairs.  The downfall is that the bathroom upstairs does not have a tub and isn't too big.  It only has a shower and one sink with little counter space.  So the girls will have to take a bath in the master bath in the garden tub.  This would be okay, but a garden tub is tough to give babies baths is because you have to reach so far over and washing them is quite the back-breaker!  (speaking from experience!)  We are contemplating asking the owners if they mind that we put in a tub/shower combo upstairs instead of the stand alone shower.  It would be quite the task because we would most likely have to move the location of the toilet too, but it would be worth it!  And then it would be considered a "full" bath instead of a .75 bath, so really, we would only be increasing the value of the house! 

That bathroom is really the only downside of the house.  Sure, there other little things we would do a bit different, but overall, it really is the perfect house for us!

The owner is a nice older lady.  She said the she and her husband retired early and they bought that house with the intention of retiring there.  But then her son moved to southern california and her daughter to Illinois, and her her husband insisted that he has to live somewhere where his grand kids were.  So he wanted to move to either place and they chose Illinois.  He is already there, waiting for her to sell the house and move.  But the house has been on the market since 2008 and has not sold yet, so they have decided to rent it out. 

So another plus of this house is that if we love it, we can also purchase it if we wanted to! 

The downside of this house is the availability of it.  We are not really sure yet when it will be available.  The lady goes to the doctor today to schedule surgery to have her gal bladder removed.  Then there are 2-3 weeks of recovery and then they will move out for good.  So, depending on when her surgery is, they think the available move in date will either be March 1st or April 1st.  March 1st we can deal with, but April 1st is a lot later than we wanted.  We were hoping to be completely moved in and unpacked by March 1st, so this is a sacrifice we are going to have to figure out.  We have a lot of options, but none of them are "ideal".  Shawn could commute, or we could work a 3 or 4 day week up there and just stay up there while he does, or we could move into a different place for a month and live out of boxes..... so we are not sure WHAT is going to happen as of right now, but we really feel like this is the house for us and we are getting a GREAT deal on it as well!!  I don't want to tell the owners this, but they could get $200-300 more a month for this house if they wanted!  But my lips are sealed because then it wouldn't be in our budget..... and we are stretching it as it is....!

On the way to Wenatchee yesterday, we stopped for gas and I saw a penny on the ground.  I hardly ever pick up pennies because I don't really believe in the "good luck" thing, and usually just leave it for someone else, but I happened to pick it up this time.  I looked at it and gasped!  It was the year 1984!!  My birth year!  Now, when does THAT ever happen?!?!  So I knew that we were going to be lucky that day and find the house that were supposed to live in!

Anyway, I better get going,  Hannah is  a whinning machine this morning and I believe is ready for an early nap!!  So I will try to keep you all updated on this house and will be back soon! 

Hannah and House Updates!

So I realized that I have left out some crucial information about Hannah lately.....

She went to the doctor last week for her 9 month check up (even though she was 10 months.....??) and I have some stats for you all!  :)

Hannah's weight is 21 lbs 8 oz.  She is in the 79th percentile.
Hannah's height is 27".  She is in the 16th percentile
Hannah's head is 43.5 cm.  She is in the 24th percentile.

So basically she is short and chubby..... haha.  Poor girl doesn't have a chance at being tall! 

And the biggest of all??  ...........  She has a TOOTH coming in!  WOW!  Shawn had said a few days before the appointment that he thought he saw something white, but neither of us could really feel it.  But Hannah wasn't being so cooperative either.  Then at the appointment, Dr Simms looked in there and said he saw one coming in and then I got to feel it and it is definitely starting to protrude!  Whoo-Hoo!!  It's her bottom front tooth.  The tooth that KaeLee is still trying to get in fully. 

KaeLee's update on teeth is still the same..... she only has four!  She goes to the doctor next Thursday, so we will find out her stats too, but I am pretty sure she doesn't even weight 21 pounds yet!  She will probably be in the 3rd percentile of something.  Can you be in a negative percentile????  That'd be more likely where she is... haha.  Poor thing.  She's just so tiny.  She does eat, just not very much.  Ever.  I haven't dug out KaeLee's 9 month stats yet.  I am not sure what I did with them? 

On another note, I am excited for tomorrow!  My dearest, sweet Aunt has offered to watch the girls for us so we can make the trek up to Wenatchee again and look at some more houses.  We are super hopeful this time that we will definitely find something!  We have five houses lined up to see tomorrow and might have more, we will see.  We are super excited about a few of them especially!! 

House #1: (both MOST excited about this one!)
in E. Wenatchee
2046 sq ft
3 bed 2 bath
2 car garage
It has a living room and a family room on the main floor
Master suite is on the main floor and the other two bedroom and a bath upstairs.
It has a hot tub and an outdoor kitchen in the back yard.... an added bonus!

This one is beautiful and I am hoping that it is as perfect as it sounds!  The lady that is showing us another house told us about this one.  She said it's not even officially listed on their website yet, but she can show it to us.  They had it up for sale, but decided to take it off the market and just rent it since it wasn't selling.  I did just realize that there are only 2 bath, one in the master bath downstairs and one upstairs with the two bedrooms.  So this means that guests would have to either use our master bath or go upstairs?  Hmm.... that's weird but I think I can deal with that....!!  :)  I can't wait to look at this house!  And after MUCH searching online, I finally found a picture of the house!  No pictures of the inside, but the outside looks beautiful! 

House #2
Is up in the hills in East Wenatchee and is a 3 bed 2.5 bath house.  It looks pretty new.  We have not seen pictures of the inside, just one of the outside.   It's 1650 sq ft, has a 2 garage and a fenced yard
.  We don't know much about it, but like the location and the looks of the house.  We think it only has one living area, but if it is big enough it could work just fine.  It's only $50 less than house #1 though.  And sq footage-wise, it seems quite a bit smaller.   But it is our second favorite (by descriptions only!) and we can't wait to see it!

House #3

Is also is East Wenatchee and has 4 bedrooms, 3 bath.  The master suite is on the main  floor, with 3 bedrooms and a bath upstairs.  It's 1700 sq ft. and has a 2 car garage also.  We peeked through the windows last time we were up there and we liked what we saw.  It's priced higher than we want, but we know that the owners are flexible with their price.  So depending on HOW flexible they are, this may the best one.  If we can get it cheaper.  Otherwise, the first house still seems best!

House #4

This house in Wenatchee.  It is 2150 sq ft. It has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms.  It looks nice and the description sounds great.  There are 2 bedrooms upstairs with a common area between them.  Might be a good playroom area, except I wouldn't be able to really see the girls which could be a huge problem.  Also we are not sure of the location, if that is somewhere we want to be or not.  And the guy said that the yard is not fenced and not ideal for kids since it sits on a huge cliff.  So this could also be a concern.  But, I don't see myself letting the girls outside to play by themselves in the next couple years (how long we plan to rent for) anyway, so I don't think I am too worried about that.  So we will go check it out.  Shawn's not too optimistic about it because he doesn't think he will like the location. 

House #5

The last house (so far)

This one is an older red brick house.  I have no pictures because it is from the Wenatchee World.  But Shawn talked to the lady on the phone.  It is in East Wenatchee, prime location, really.  It is pretty much the most north you can get in East Wenatchee and is close to freeway access.  She didn't know how many sq ft is is, but said it was over 1700 easily.  It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.  It has a rec room in the basement that has a pool table.  It has a very large great room on the main floor.  It does not have a garage or any outdoor storage, which could be a problem, unless the basement has lots of storage.  It has a playhouse in the backyard.  It is an older home so it has baseboard heating and I am guessing it just has air conditioner units, not central air, which could mean that our utility bills could be a lot higher in this house compared to the others.  But it sounds promising!  So I am excited to look at this one too!

Anyway, that all is taking place tomorrow so I will get back to you afterwards!  Have a great Wednesday everyone! 

Oh, and Hannah just took about 20 steps!  I think I might just call that "walking"!!!!  YAY HANNAH!  :)

KaeLee: nearly 2 years Hannah: 10 months

Sometimes I wonder why people read this blog?  It's so boring.  Our lives really are not that interesting.  But then I remember that we have two BEAUTIFUL children and people must read the blog just waiting for the latest pictures....!  So here they are! 

Yesterday I decided that we needed to do a photoshoot since we hadn't had one in a while.  It made me long for an actual indoor studio in our home.  How cool would that be?!?!  I know I would love it.  But, an indoor studio wouldn't serve me to well unless i had a new camera to go with it!  ;) Oh, and photoshop might be a good investment too..... haha.  But for now, you get my amateur and not-very-creative photoshoot.  Yes, there are shadows.  Yes, I know the background is not white.  And Yes, I wanted it to be a bright white.  Oh, and I broke a lamp during this whole thing.  Pooey.  I liked that lamp a lot too! 

Anyway, enough of my whining, enjoy the pictures!

If you would like any of the pictures, please let me know which ones and what size(s) you would like.  If you tell me in advance, I can have them developed and ready for you at KaeLee's birthday party.  Otherwise, I will have all the pictures at the party and you can choose then and then I can be sure to get them to you or mail them or whatever. 

KaeLee's birthday invitations were going to be sent out today, but I seemed to forgot that it's a holiday, so they will be mailed tomorrow.  A little late, I know, but at least they are on their way.  Oh, the party is the 29th. 

We will be the official parents of a two year old in just 9 days!  WOW!  Since her birthday is on a Wednesday, we debated whether to have her birthday party the weekend before or the weekend after.  But, in my family, I kind of have to collaborate with my mom and my brother on this one, because the weekend before is my brother's birthday and the weekend after is my moms.  Haha.  And it turns out that my family is headed to Pullman the weekend before for my brother's birthday, so mom's birthday weekend it is!  But, of course we will have cake on her actual birthday too and she will get to open her gifts from us that day.  Whoo-Hoo!  I'm so excited for her! 

This last weekend we ran up to Wenatchee to look at a few houses.  There was one really really ( I mean Really!) nice house and I may have really considered it, but there was a bit of a problem..... there was no dining room!  What the heck?  This nice of a house, and they don't have a dining room?  That's stupid.  They had a counter that you can have barstools and they had a "breakfast nook".  But this was a 3'x3' area, crammed in the corner.  You may be able to put a chair there?  But forget about a table!  Urgh.  That was frustrating.  Then we looked at a townhouse.  I didn't like it though because of multiple reasons.  Shawn said he thought it would work, but then when I started crying, he realized that it wouldn't.  haha. 

I'm trying not to be picky.  I really am.  And I really think that I am not being picky.  But something that Shawn wasn't understanding (but I think he does now) is that this is not just somewhere we eat dinner, watch TV and go to bed in.  It may be for him, but I am stuck in whatever house we choose for 98% of my LIFE while we live there.  And I told him I deserved more than a hole in the wall place that has a parking lot for it's driveway.  (Something I REALLY don't like).  I never talk like this.  I never say that I deserve something nicer.   But I do.  I don't ever put myself first in anything, but this is that important to me.  So we are still on the hunt for a house. 

We looked through the windows at a couple other places, but they were not available for show on the weekend.  (who does that?!?!  You would think that if you want your place to sell/rent, wouldn't you show it whenever was convenient for the BUYER??!!!??)  So, we are hoping to go back up there one evening this week to take another look at them.  We are very hopeful.  One of them has pictures online, the other doesn't.  So it's hard to know whether we will like them or not.  Our "Ideal" home is hard to find.  It's near impossible to find a one story home with 3 bedrooms and 2 living areas.  Oh, and I guess a dining room.... haha.  So I think we will most likely end up with a two story house.  With maybe 2 bedrooms.  And probably only one living area.  But we are hopeful that the Lord will provide us with the perfect home (for the perfect price!) because we are running out of time!! 

Anyway, not much else has happened in the last week.  Oh, although yesterday...... Hannah started walking short distances on her own!  She walked from one chair to the other with holding on the anything and she randomly started walking towards the other room, would get in about 4 or 5 steps and then get down to crawl!  So it's going to be sometime this week, I think, where she will just take off and make it all the way across the room!  YAY!  That make my mommy heart smile!

Have a great week and if you get today off as a holiday, enjoy! 

Busier than I thought.....

Well hello all!  I haven't posted in a while, but I did this on purpose to give you a break from my long winded posts!  All five in a matter of 3 days!  My hands also needed a break from all the typing.  And the fact that our house needed cleaning.... so my time has been better spent lately cleaning and finding homes for all our new Christmas gifts.  And boy, were there plenty to put away! 

We got home New Years Eve and were just exhausted.  We didn't stay up for the ball drop.  I know, we're pretty boring people.... haha.  But it was a long drive home and all we could think about was going to sleep!  We tried to stay up for a little bit, but then we figured out I was staying up because I thought Shawn wanted to and he was staying up because he thought I wanted to....... so at about 11:00 we headed to bed finally.

New Years Day we just hung out here at home and let the girls play with all their new toys.  It was pretty cute when KaeLee got up that morning.  I was changing her diaper and this was our conversation:

Me:  "Do you want to come downstairs with mama?" 
KaeLee: Ummmm.... (this is her new favorite word!) no. I read books!
Me: Okay. 
**KaeLee Gasps SO loudly and deeply, I thought her was going to swallow her tongue**
KaeLee: Kitchen! Kitchen! Kitchen!
Me: Did you just remember that you have a n ew kitchen downstairs?
KaeLee: Yeah!
Me: So do you want to go play with your new kitchen or do you want to stay up here and read your books?
KaeLee: Ummmmmmmmmmmmm................. books! 

Haha.  It was so funny!  Shawn heard it downstairs on the monitor and thought it was pretty cute too.  It's funny how she says "um" all the time now.  And she really draws it out like she's thinking about it hard when you give her decision.  It's so cute!

That night, we went up to my mom's house for dinner and to hang out. 

This week had been pretty uneventful.  Hannah got over her sickness.  Thankfully, she only had the barking, raspy cough for 4 days then was completely fine.  No "bad cold" that was "supposed" to follow.  We made a trip to Costco.... and boy was THAT ever a huge bill!  We haven't been for a couple of months and so we were out of quite a bit!  And all their paper products were on coupon, so I took full advantage of that!  Whoo Hoo!  We now have plenty of tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, zip lock bags and more to last quite a while!  And they had an electric toothbrush that Shawn has been wanting super bad on coupon: $25 off!  So we got that.  AND..... it was a two pack, so I am now a first time electric toothbrush owner and I am not sure how I feel about it.  I took my time taking it out and getting it charged, so I have only used it once.  It's definitely different than a regular brush!  I'll try to get used to it, but I don't like change a whole lot. 

And apparently KaeLee takes after her mother, because she does NOT like change.  We put a mat in the bath tub so Hannah wouldn't slip and KaeLee screamed bloody murder at the sight of it and would NOT sit down on it.  We tried for three nights and it was NOT happening, so Hannah is just going to have to learn how to get around in the tub without slipping and drowning. 

And I washed all the sheets in the house one day this week, and when nap time rolled around, they were still in the dryer, so I just let KaeLee sleep on the mattress pad with no sheet and put a pillow case on her pillow.  Well, she threw the biggest fit EVER when she saw the black pillow case instead of her usual white one.  She did not want to use it whatsoever!  That girl is MAJOR drama!  I can tell she is turning TWO in 15 days!  Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!  It's only begun! 

Oh, and we had another change this week..... she wore panties for a while day without a diapers.  Why did I decide to try this again?  I have no idea!  I was supposed to be enjoying my weekend off and taking a break while Shawn was here to help.  But NO, I decided to create Hell on earth!  That's exactly what it was.  I was not made to potty train anyone.  Especially little miss stubborn, hates change, KaeLee.  She never went, not ONCE on her potty chair.  She knew exactly what she was supposed to do and she taught her dolly how to use the potty, just like the stupid book told me to do, but she would NOT go.  She would just hold it.  I knew she had to go.  She had drunk a full glass of milk and two full glasses of juice.  I knew she had to go.  And she willingly sat on her potty.  She read books (about 100 of them!) and we sang songs to relax...... no luck.  She was on the potty for at least an hour and a half straight.  (her choice.... I did not force her.  In fact, I encouraged her to go play, but she couldn't walk without holding her legs together and would run back to the potty chair.....)  It was finally time for dinner and bath, so I just put a diaper on her for during dinner and when we went upstairs to take a bath, her diaper was so full and it was sagging so bad.  Ugh.  I don't know how to make her go!  I turned the water on for her to listen to, I splashed some water on her (my mom's advice.... I thought this was weird....haha).  No matter what I tried, she would not pee in the pot.  So I have no idea when I will attempt this agonizing task again.  Shawn casually said, "you're not going to try tomorrow too?"  "tomorrow" was today.  No, sorry honey, I am not going to try again today when you are not home to help keep Hannah away.  Oh, and by the way, did you not notice how horrific it was or how HORRIBLE it was making me feel and how FRUSTRATING it was?!?!  I've decided that maybe he can try next.  bahahahahahaha......!!  Or maybe I should make Christina or Konner train her.  She seems to listen to them.  She actually likes them.  Not me.  haha. 

Today we had a realtor show our house.  He called us yesterday, asking to show it this morning and we crazily said yes, that would be just fine..... (you have to had seen our house to understand this crazy talk!) So yesterday we had to clean our entire house and pick up all the clutter..... ugh.  While trying to potty train and occupy Hannah and keep everyone happy.  What did we get ourselves into?  But we somehow managed to get it all done.  In the end, the couple put an offer on a house exactly like ours in a different part of the development.  I don't really blame them.  It's a lot cheaper, but it's also a short sale and could take forever!  Oh, and there was already another bid on that same house, so we are hoping that whoever loses that house will just come and put a bid on our house!  I think we are the next cheapest after that house sells!  Whoo Hoo!  That would be amazing!  And it would be perfect timing since it takes about 30-40 days to close and that's about the perfect time that we want to start moving!  We'll see though. 

Tonight my dad stopped by for a bit and told me that my grandma Bechard AND my grandma Beaudry are in the hospital.  I knew my grandma Bechard was there, but not grandma Beaudry.  And they both have been there since the 1st.  Apparently they have given my grandma Bechard a week or two to live.  That's the first time they have ever put a time limit on it pretty much.  It's always just been "not very much longer" or "anytime now". 

Tonight I was supposed to go up to my mom's and watch the Bachelor with her like we do every Monday night, but my dad called and said that she was at the hospital with my grandpa Heilman.  Ugh.  So I have three grandparents in the hospital tonight.  Prayers for all of them would be most appreciated. 

My aunt Linda was also in the hospital this last week.  She has been having problems for a while with what they thought was arthritis, but then they discovered she is bleeding internally somewhere and basically had no blood in her body.  So she was admitted to Virgina Mason Hospital over in Seattle.  She is home now, after a few days over there, but they still don't know where the bleeding is happening...... weird.  I don't know why they would release her if they haven't found the problem...... but nevertheless, she is home and could also use some prayers. 

Alright, enough of my chit chat.  Here are a few pictures.  Enjoy the rest of the week.....! And OH!!  Did you SEE that SEAHAWKS game Saturday?!?!  Talk about amazing!  :)  Can't wait for this weeks game!  Go Hawks! 


Konner with the girls on New Years Day

KaeLee coloring with grandma

The girls enjoyed playing in the diapers.com box forEVER!  It was fun to play pretend as many things.... a ship, a bus, a car, an airplane..... the list was endless.

Awe, cute sisters!! 

The girls are having a blast with daddy.....!

See? :) They love when Daddy's home on the weekends!

Hannah loves her daddy!  (and the camera.... haha!)

A Year of HOPE

I saw this quote today and the nutritionist in me chuckled and said I had to pass it along.

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.”

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I thought I'd better write about the new year before I get too far away and start writing about KaeLee's SECOND birthday!  It's not long now and I have begun to count down the days...... (ahem.... 22...) haha.  But setting that thought aside for a moment, I wanted to write about the new year. 

A year of HOPE sounds perfect for this year.  I must have hope.  We have a year of "the unknown" ahead of us.  Today I have HOPE that Hannah will get over this horrible barking cough that she has.  Croup is what I believe it is.  I googled it, of course!  It's said to last 3-6 days and then turns into a really bad cold.  BOO!!!  That's bad news for my poor Hannah Banana!  She has definitely gotten lots of cuddle time the last couple of days and tons and tons of kisses!  I hate seeing my baby sick.  It makes me feel so helpless (because I am, really....) and so very sad.... :(

I have HOPE that this year will be a year of exciting experiences and will begin new adventures that I never could imagine.  I have HOPE that this year will make my relationship with my husband stronger as we venture out to try new things.  I have HOPE that we will find a great church home and church family.  And HOPE that KaeLee and Hannah will make new friends and not just be isolated to being at home with..... ME.... haha.  And most of all, I have HOPE that I will love my new job as a stay at home mommy and that I won't miss work as much as I think I might. 

This new year is a year of changes.  Moving, beginning new jobs, starting over in a new place of the "unknown".  It will force me to stare my fears in the face and battle with a lot of mixed emotions, new adventures and more than my fair share of getting lost, I am sure!  There is a pit in the middle of my stomach now, as I sit here writing and thinking about it.  There are definitely days where I think about what we are about to do and I feel nauseous.  Then there are days that I am excited about the change.  I get asked all the time if I am excited about the move or if I'm ready and I think a lot of times I just kind of give a blank stare.  That's exactly how I feel.  I don't know how I feel.  It's random.  If you were to ask me that question 10 times a day for the next week, you'd get a different answer every time.  Ha.  That is why I am choosing to have HOPE that this is God's plan for our family and His plans are bigger than I could ever imagine and His plans are to PROSPER us and NOT to harm us!

2010 was a year of pure JOY.  Remembering the precious year makes me GRIN! Here is our year of blessings in review:

January

Rang in the new year by going to bed early.... haha.  Much like this year. 

KaeLee starts officially walking!

KaeLee turns 1!  And, of course, we throw a big party!

February

Finished the nursery for little miss Hannah

March

Hannah is born March 9th!  She was 1 hour and 34 minutes "overdue"

April

Easter celebration at my mom's house where KaeLee had her first Easter Egg Hunt!

May

I started back to work after maternity leave

Hannah rolls over May 2nd!

The Cox's came to visit

Memorial Weekend at Oasis Park

June

Megan graduated high school

Christina graduated high school

KaeLee graduates from her high chair to her booster and enjoys eating at the "big" table

Dad and Pam come over for a visit

Hannah moves to her own bedroom and into her crib.  She grew out of her bassinet a lot quicker than KaeLee did!

Hannah turns 3 months old!

July

Fourth of July at mom's house

BBQ at my Aunt's house and KaeLee gets to go swimming

Interviewed for Food Service Director in Sunnyside (rejected....)

My cousin Jennifer gets married

Shawn goes fishing in Westport

I go to the dentist for the first time in 6 years and have 8 cavities..... yikes!

Girls start daycare again 1 day a week

My cousin Trish is pregnant!!  Due March 3, 2011

Cox party in Cashmere.  Shawn and the girls go, leaving me home to work!

Dinner with Larry and Pauline

KaeLee is 18 months!

August

Konner turns 14

Hop Festival and Parade

BBQ at Aunties house and Scott and Dawn are here from Montana

Beaudry Family Reunion

KaeLee goes poopy in the potty

Start getting our house to sell

Hannah starts sitting up on her own!

KaeLee goes to the dentist

KaeLee gets her first tooth buds!  Her first teeth come in at 19 months!  Her doctor said she set the record for him in his 30+ years of practice! 

Shawn turns the big 27!

September

Hannah starts crawling!

Central WA state fair

Labor day weekend in Camano

The girls' first trip to the zoo!

Hannah is 6 months old!

Jake turns 2!

Trish visits from California!

October

Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

November

Go on vacation to Lake Chelan: our first family vacation!

Officially take over the orchards

Our house goes on the market

Thanksgiving at my aunt's house

My niece, Lola Kaelynn is born! (nov. 1st)

Shawn goes to the dentist for the first time in over 6 years as well. He only has 3 cavities, BUT he has gingivitis.... so HA!  I consider mine better since I don't have a disease.... haha.

December

Go Christmas Tree hunting

My last day of work

The chaos of Christmas per usual!

Lindsay has a Christmas baby! Kenzie Noelle :)

Well, here's to a new year of HOPE!  I pray that the Lord will continue to lead our family where He wants us to go.  I have HOPE that "everything's gonna be alright...."  haha.  I will leave you with my scripture of HOPE for this year.  Have a very blessed 2011 and keep the good time rolling!  :)