I can’t help myself . . .

I laugh every time.

We’ve been doing some fun things!

Even though we’ve been crazy busy with moving in, we’ve managed to do a few fun things while we’ve been here in Washington.

The weekend we moved, we already had plans to meet Ryan’s sister, Janelle, and her husband, Dan. They were visiting Portland (from Arizona) and had planned to drive down to Springfield to see us. Instead, they drove up and we met at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. We had a picnic lunch and fed the ducks and walked through the rose gardens.

Of course, my camera died right after we got there so I stole most of these pictures from Janelle.

We tried to take a family picture in the rose gardens.

Yeah right!

I wanted to take Nathan to the pumpkin farm to get pumpkins so we went with my mom and Uncle Jesse to Shultz farm, where I used to go when I was little.

He had way more fun that it looks here. He just likes to take everything in.

This little kitchen was Nathan’s very favorite part. He didn’t want to leave. He would have cooked us pumpkins all day if we let him.

I love how they look like they’re deep in conversation.

We were lucky to have Jesse there to push the wheelbarrow with all the pumpkins AND Nathan in it.

We took our pumpkins home and painted them while enjoying pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

As you can see, Nathan REALLY enjoyed the cookies.

Ta DA! (Lisa, do you remember making those milk jug skeletons?)

I had fun making these cute pumpkins too!

 

Last weekend, Auburn had it’s annual Veteran’s Day Parade and apparently, it’s a pretty big deal. We live right downtown so we couldn’t pass up going when we only had to walk down the street.

My dad and Ryan took a break from painting the garage to join us. The smoke smell is totally gone, by the way.

Nathan loved the motorcycles. It’s a good thing, because there were a ton of them!

Thank you Veterans!

I was supposed to have a baby this week

I know so many of you have seen this day come and go too.

Instead, I’m feeling the first sweet movements of another baby inside of me.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to bring another child into our home this spring, but I can’t help but reflect right now and wonder what it would be like to have a baby this week. What would Nathan be like as a big brother at 2 1/2, not 3? Amazingly, I had forgotten a lot of the pain and trauma I went through just seven short months ago, but it’s all rushing back to me now. I never want to go through something like that again. I was so unprepared for what I experienced. How can anyone be prepared?

This pregnancy has been so opposite from my last. So much less stress, even though I have been sicker. When I was pregnant before, I bled for nearly 5 weeks before finally losing my baby at about 10 weeks. I think I’m finally coming to terms with the fact that the baby I’m carrying now isn’t going anywhere.

And I’m getting excited! So, enough focusing on the past. Here’s a few fun facts about this pregnancy so far:

Due Date: April 30- I figure I’m looking at the beginning of May and I’m just hoping not to give birth on our anniversary (the 4th). You can’t really skip your kids birthday to go on a date.

Cravings: My most frequent and consistent craving has been salad. Especially apple, cheddar, walnut salad, and right now, my version of Olive Garden’s salad. I ‘m also always craving tart things like apple and oranges, and right now lemonade. And always chocolate.

Morning sickness: I started feeling queasy around 4-5 weeks and suddenly started feeling great again at 12 weeks, with a few bad days to follow. I can finally get through the day without a nap, although I know everyone is happier when I take one.

Boy or girl: we should find out in the next month or so. With Nathan, I knew he was a boy right away but with this baby, I have absolutely no clue. It will be a fun surprise to find out.

Here I am at 12 weeks. I definitely feel bigger this time, and I think this baby is going to be higher than Nathan was. I’m 15 weeks now.

I found a lady nearby that has a birth center in her home, right on a lake and I love her. I got to see her a week or so ago and have my first ultrasound. Nathan and my mom came with me.

Not a great picture, but you get the idea- there’s a baby in there, I haven’t just been eating too much leftover Halloween candy!

Halloween

We had a pretty low key Halloween this year because I only just started to feel better a week or so ago and before that, I really didn’t care.

The night before Halloween we went down to my parents house for Dinner in a Pumpkin. I brought pumpkin rolls and a special treat for my mom:

She screamed when she saw these. I think she may have called me a mean name too, but I’m not sure because I was too busy giggling.

We all dressed up for dinner, which of course, made it more fun.

Mom and Dad as Spaniards.

I went as Miss Hillary Manderfield and Ryan was Rance, my handyman. I may or may not be carrying his child.

Leslie and Jesse dressed up too, but I didn’t get pictures. Nathan only decided to put on his pirate costume when it was almost time to go. He wasn’t feeling very cooperative.

On Halloween, we ate homemade pizza with blood and bones for dinner.

We had been telling Nathan all day that he got to go Trick or Treating but he’d never done it before so it took some convincing to get him to put his costume on.

He was a little bummed about it at first,

but then his baby dressed up too, and he was suddenly more willing.

ARRR!

The red boots were all his idea, even though they’re too big and he has to shuffle along in them.

We thought we’d just go to a few houses of people we know on the street (the bishop, his nursery teacher) but it took a few houses for him to get into it and he was having so much fun that we kept going. He didn’t want any help from us. He knocked on every door and said “Trick or Treat” (sometimes before the door was opened) and always said, “Thank you.” He got a little nervous about a few scary costumes we saw but by the time we got home he was talking about all the funny faces we saw. When we told him we were going to his nursery teachers door (she lives across the street) he didn’t believe us, but after we left he suddenly said, “Hey! My teacher!” like he finally realized we weren’t lying to him. He really got into everything when someone gave him a sucker. I don’t think he recognized all the candy bars (and hopefully won’t notice as I slowly sneak them away and eat them).

As we headed home, he exclaimed “Nathan is happy!” then pointed to me and Ryan and said, “You happy too?”

I told him he could eat a piece of candy when we got home and he went straight for that sucker!

Nathan was such a cute pirate and had so much fun he even wanted to take a bath in his costume that night!

Playing Catch Up

Okay, it’s been way too long since I last blogged but I haven’t had a spare moment in weeks. And if I did have a spare moment, I probably fell asleep. It’s been about 3 1/2 weeks since we moved  to Washington. Here’s what’s been going on:

The Move

Our move landed right in the middle of my worst morning sickness, but Ryan was kind enough to let Nathan ride in the “Big Truck” with him so I could drive by myself. We’ve made the drive from Springfield to Puyallup many times and it usually takes us about 4-5 hours. This time it took us nearly 8 hours. It was horrible. But, what can I say? Pregnant Heather has to pee a lot.

Who am I kidding?! Normal Heather has to pee a lot. Pregnant Heather has to pee A LOT.

We spent Friday night in Puyallup, then moved into our new house on Saturday. We got a ton of  help from our new ward and from my family. Unfortunately, the house was really not ready for us. When we showed up that morning, the previous renter was still moving out and he hadn’t cleaned ANYTHING! Gross. I told the owner and she kindly cleaned the kitchen top to bottom for me while we unpacked. We’re really excited about this house, but let me tell you about a few of the things that have gone wrong since we moved in:

-The house smells like cigarettes. The last guy smoked. It was advertised as a nonsmoking property, but does it really matter if you smoke inside or outside? No, it does not. The garage is the worst, and unfortunately my washer and dryer are out there. So is the furnace, so we are using space heaters right now. To make matters worse, I’ve got the typical pregnancy super sniffer and I can smell things REALLY WELL.

-Then, our washing machine leaked and flooded the garage. Now the washing machine is doing the opposite and the water won’t leave.

-Then, we had fleas. Yes, FLEAS. Apparently, Mister smokey no clean man had a cat. We’ve taken care of that problem but someone might still die.

Also, did I mention that Ryan went to work the Monday after we moved in? We’ve been feeling a little chaotic, to say the least.

On the bright side, we love our new neighborhood and our new ward and  I am finding that we’re the perfect distance from friends and family. I got to see Alex right after she had her baby, and Nathan gets to see Nana and Papa all the time. There are 3 other member families on our street, including the nursery leader, and the bishop.

We’re happy to be here and, even with all the stinkyness, I’m so glad we’re not moving again for a long time.

And I will post cute pictures of the inside of the house some day when all the boxes are unpacked and everything is clean. Maybe some time next year?

We’re Still Alive . . . I Think . . .

Just wanted to quickly update everyone, since we’ve been so so busy lately. We are getting settled in Washington and dealing with unpacking and the ups and downs of a new home. Ryan has been busy at his new job. We’re looking forward to a 3 day weekend together! It’s a huge adjustment having him gone all day after almost 7 months of having him home all the time. I’m having good days and bad days but looking forward to the end of morning sickness and the start of the fun part of pregnancy. Nathan says he likes our new house but keeps telling me he wants to go home. Poor kid. Hopefully things will be better when all the boxes are unpacked and the house feels like a home. I’m shooting for Christmas at this point. More to come!

We’re moving to Washington!!

This is Ryan writing.  A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks.  Over the course of the last few I had two job offers.  One at Umpqua Bank in Eugene, OR and another at Washington Federal Savings in Seattle, WA.  Salary-wise they were pretty comparable.  Other than that, every other factor was clearly better at Washington Federal Savings.  This afternoon I officially accepted the offer from Washington Federal and declined the one at Umpqua.  Here is some information about Washington Federal Savings and my position.  I’ll be putting more info on my blog later. http://ryanandhisbike.weebly.com/biking-eugenespringfield.html

I will be working at the corporate headquarters in Seattle.  Specifically I will be a Fair Lending/CRA analyst within the Legal and Compliance department.  I will be performing statistical analysis of the loan decisions to ensure compliance with fair lending laws.  I will also be conducting other statistical analysis that is needed by the bank.  This means I will be working with the CFO doing some financial analysis, the Treasurer doing some risk analysis, as well as some other departments as needed.  This means I will essentially have 4 or 5 managers.

In the summer of 2007  I worked as a finance intern in their accounting department.  I worked with the CFO that summer and through that connection I found this job.

This is a newly created position.  My skill set will be unique within the bank.  As such I think there are great opportunities for me to take my career wherever I would like.

Washington Federal has branches in WA, OR, ID, NV, UT, AZ, NM, and TX.  Currently they have over 13 billion in deposits.

We are sad to be leaving Oregon but are excited to finally move to Washington and settle down.