Happy 7th Birthday Mia!

It's been such a great experience having Mia in our lives. She is an amazing daughter, big sister and friend. I find myself asking her opinion about things more and more. She gets excited about cute baby things with me and if she had her way she would buy her baby sister anything she could. It is fun for me.

I am often reminded of her when I read the "If You Give A Mouse" books. She can go from one project to the next quicker than I can change a baby diaper.

There are little traces of her throughout the house every day.

Mia is very motivated to learn, read, write, bake and craft. She gets a bit of resistance from me, I get tired of the messes, but it doesn't stop her. She is always coming up with a new way to create something for someone. She writes me notes all the time to tell me how much she loves me. She still holds my hand and loves to sit by me and on my lap.

Friends are very important to Mia. She's devoted but is also learning that she doesn't have to do or agree with what they say or want. However, she sometimes thinks that she can disagree and not do what I say. She is not a pleaser and that is good too.

As a big sister Mia is great and then some. She loves her brothers and I can rely on her to keep Cole happy. I hope she doesn't forget about him when her baby sister gets here.

Mia, Mom and Dad love you so much and are so happy you are a part of our eternal family. Happy Birthday girl!

october 2010

Click on the picture to take you to our Halloween pictures.

Basement Pictures

So, we broke down and bought a new little camera. We certainly didn't get fancy but it will be completely adequate for our needs at this time. I just don't want to miss out on documenting the pumpkin carving or anything else that will come up, and I am sure there will be maybe one, before Halloween. So, I am feeling pretty justified.
I got pictures of the basement tonight and had to post them. I am really loving how it looks and I found the stars that are on the mantel at Costco for $10. It breaks up the monochromatic color. Just imagine, this was all brown wood paneling before I got a hold of it.

Basement Update

The basement is done! The walls, baseboards, cupboards and everything I was going to do is done. It is such a relief! I would put pictures up but our camera is broken. Ahh, something else to fix or replace. We have to do it soon, we have lots of things to document coming up. I have the paint for the dinning room and half bath. I even took down the icky border in the bathroom today. Things are progressing.

LIttle Surprises

It's nice to come to my blog and see that I am actually a week farther in my pregnancy than I had been thinking. It's all about the little things, right?

It's Offical

July 2011 Colin will be an ER doctor at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, WA. The contract has been signed and sent back. We couldn't be happier to be going to the Inland Northwest. I'm going back home and it feels good. We are truly blessed and I am incredibly grateful for Colin's hard work and efforts. There are so many great places to live in and near Spokane I am not sure how we will decide. Our biggest dilemma is where to rent/live for a year while we save for a house. I know moving will be hard on the kids, I really worry about Mia, but I really would like it if we didn't have to get them settled in one school only to move again to possibly another area and another school. I am sure if we pray for guidance that we will receive it. It is hard to believe this chapter of our lives is coming to a close but we certainly are looking forward to the next. The hand of the Lord has certainly led us in every aspect of our lives. Thankfully, He knows the big picture and knows me and my family better than I ever could.

Nesting

So, I have been blessed with early nesting symptoms and am very happy about it. I am pretty sure I would have no motivation otherwise. Maybe it is because I want all the things in the house DONE before the baby comes and the list is so long I should have started last year. I want to enjoy the time after the baby and not have to worry about painting and de-junking/deep cleaning and organizing. I want it DONE, DONE, DONE! A few weeks ago I wrangled Colin into the storage side of the basement for some organizing. I think I told him I just wanted to move around a few boxes and get to the baby things but I knew he wouldn't stop until it was organized and clean. I was right. We threw things out and cleaned things up. It looks so nice. It is so nice to go in there now. We separated all the baby boy and girl things that were mostly in random diaper boxes so I could go through them. What I thought might take me a week took me two days. I just couldn't leave it until later. It's all done and all the diaper boxes are GONE. Well, they are still in the van to go to recycling but that is beside the point.

The playroom half of the basement was quite a sight also. Toys everywhere and it really needed the painting finished. It's all cleaned, vacuumed and painting has resumed. It's slow but there is not a lot to finish.

The next job will be the dining room. It has been painted twice since we moved in but I have never felt settled on the colors. I am going to just paint it neutral, like the rest of the house, and be done with it. Too bad I won't be done with it all. There is lots of trim painting to be done which I hope to work on consistently over the next 4 months as well as getting rid of stuff and preparing to move. After that, well, I just don't know. My biggest fear is that this baby would come early. There is no reason for that at this point. In fact, my doctor told me to come back in 5 weeks instead of 4 since I am so low risk. It's just so they can do the glucose test at the same time.

I hope at this rate I can accomplish all that needs to be done at a reasonable rate. If anyone feels so inclined you can come over and paint with me.

Baby #4

We had our ultrasound today and things look great. Apparently, according to the doctor, "I am a joy to scan." Time to get out all those girl clothes I've been hanging on to.

Mia's First Day of First Grade

Mia and I were so excited for the first day of school. She didn't get the teacher she initially wanted but she got the teacher that I wanted. I would have been happy with either. We have butted heads for the past few weeks and were both in need for school to begin. I just can't get over how cute she is and how much she has grown. That short and sassy haircut suits her personality just right. It was a HOT morning and I had Jackson and Cole with me. They just wanted to go play on the playground. I think she wanted to be nervous and have me go in with her but she was too excited. I love her independence. It has been pretty darn quiet here the past few days and I am loving it! Now if the weather would cool back down. We had 70 degree weather last week and even though it felt chilly in the mornings it was so welcome. There is not A/C at school and I have no idea how kids can learn in humid 90 degree weather. I love you Mia and am so proud of you! I am sure you will have a great year!

Jackson's First Day of Pre-K

Jackson was aksing to go to school at least a week before it started. This was a great surprise for us because last year I think every school day he said he didn't want to go. This year he is with friends from church and his class is all boys. The other day he said, "There are no girls allowed at my school. It's just for boys." I think it is just like a two hour play-date for him. He loves his friends and his teacher. I am so happy that he is happy there. One of the best parts for me is that it is not more than 5 minutes away. I take Jackson to school, make the loop back towards home and drop Mia off at her school. It probably takes me 15-20 minutes. It's great! He brings home homework and is so anxious to get it done. He is learning fine motor skills and is eager to color. When we bought Mia's school supplies it was BOGO so Jackson got his own box of crayons, scissors, markers and a notebook. He really felt special and a bit more grown-up, I think. He's just growing up so fast.