New Year, New Goals, New Challenges

Well it's been an incredibly long time since I have written anything in this blog. Life keeps me busy. I got the job that I had been hoping for with MHMR which is awesome! I am super excited about the opportunity it is presenting me and I think it will work out well for our family. As of right now, I am planning on keeping this job long-term. HOWEVER, the onboarding process is a BEAST. I knew there would be some training and I was glad for that but holy cow I had NO IDEA of the scope of said training. It involves way more in-person classes down in Fort Worth than I thought. I have, I think, 21 different required in-person trainings down in Fort Worth, each 3-6 hours in length and on top of that I have a whole bunch of online trainings to do and a whole bunch of in-person one-on-one trainings with my specific team to do! It's a little overwhelming but I am grateful for the opportunity to be well-prepared for my job and learn a lot. But the drive to and from Fort Worth is a killer. It takes me from 1 hour 15 min to 1 hour 40 min to drive there in the morning depending on traffic and pretty consistently 2 hours to drive home. Yikes! It makes for extra long days and me missing my kiddos a lot. But it's not forever. By April, I should be spending pretty much all my time locally working with my team and my own caseload.

With me starting work, the kids also started daycare again. Eric and the kids and I went and toured about 6 different places before deciding on a Montessori school in Frisco that is on Eric's commute to work. We really like it so far and the kids seem very happy there! It is a smaller school owned by a little old Indian lady named Miss Faye. She is great. And pretty much all the teachers there are Indian as well and have years and years of experience. I can tell they love the kids and are very experienced and knowledgeable about teaching them. When we toured the school I was just so impressed with the calm and order that existed there. I have never felt that in a daycare before and it definitely sold me on the place. And so far it seems to be going really well. The kids are happy to go to school and happy when we pick them up. Levi says his favorite thing is to play legos with his new friend with the spiderman sweatshirt and to do the poking activity (he pokes shapes out of pieces of paper with a little dowel thing- this a Montessori activity to strengthen attention and fine motor skills). Emery can't tell us about her day (obviously) but the teachers report that she naps well (which is amazing!) and eats well and she seems happy.

About Emery's language, I was a little worried because up until about a week and a half ago she seemed stuck at about 6 words. And she had had those same 6 words for a while and she never imitated sounds. BUT, right after her 18 month check-up (which she was over a month late for) she suddenly started talking more! She's got about 20 words now including her new favorites "mine!" and "ta!" (stop- which she says while holding her hand out in the common "stop" gesture). She is growing in her independence too and wants to do things like a big girl like refuse to wear a bib, insist on trying to drink from an open cup, and put her clothes on by herself. Ever since she started school she is also very interested in the toilet and will frequently point to her bum and then run to the bathroom, lift the toilet lid and ask me to hold her while she sits on the potty! She even tries to wipe herself with toilet paper although she has yet to actually pee or poop on the potty. But I am wondering if this means she will potty train younger and much easier than Levi did! At her age, he definitely was perfectly content to stay in diapers!

Other big exciting news lately is that Eric surprised me on Christmas with the news that we are going to Thailand for our anniversary this year! I was shocked and sooo excited! We've had two planning dates so far and now have our itinerary for the trip planned out and our hotel reservations made. I can still barely believe we are going and I am just so excited. I mean, we've been seriously wanting to go there for about 3 years now and I just can't believe the time has finally come! I am a little apprehensive about being gone from the kids for so long (11 days!) but I think it's just going to be an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can't wait to feed the elephants, hike the forests, stand-up-paddleboard at night in the ocean and just general experience Thailand with my amazing husband. We need this break to just be together kid-free and I am so, so much looking forward to it.

With Thailand as our motivation and the New Year as a good starting time, Eric and I have recommited to new exercise goals and so far so good! I decided to follow the youth's new program and also make spiritual, intellectual and social goals for myself as well. And I have been really engaged and trying on all of them (well maybe not so much the intellectual one). The social and spiritual ones are really important to me and I can feel that God is also engaged and wanting me to meet my goals. My social goal is all about improving my relationship with Levi using a 5:1 positive to negative interactions model and hair bands to remind myself. It's had a rocky start but I think it just such a high priority for me and I really want to be successful at it! I'm going to review all my goals later today and adjust and recommit to them.


Anyway, so that's what's been going on lately. And now for some pictures of my cute kids, our gradually coming together house, and the amazing holidays that we got to spend with both my family and Eric's! We super lucked out this year in that we got to spend a lot of time with both of our families and it was so relaxing and fun and amazing. We are seriously blessed beyond measure!!

Emery taking after big brother and "fixing" things

Sometimes these kiddos just crack me up! I love how convenient it is to be able to give them their snacks at the peninsula while I'm working in the kitchen- usually menu planning, putting away groceries or doing dishes. 

Levi is getting more into Legos and likes to show off his creations- especially to Auntie Katie or Daddy. 

Emma came by and helped me put up Levi's mountains one Saturday morning. We were intimidated at first but they actually went up pretty easily and it only took about an hour and a half. 

Levi was so excited to see them! 

Emery and Silva are still close and getting more into playing together. They get excited to see each other at family dinner and give each other hugs while Silva exclaims "Emmy! Emmy!"

We love to bake together! I usually give Emery a little bowl and a little wooden spoon too and put just a smidge of each ingredient in her bowl too for her to practice her stirring. 

 

Can't believe the positions my children contort themselves into while they watch tv! It's a very rare occurrence for Emery to actually sit on the couch and watch anything but this time I was sitting with them and couldn't help but notice that she was practically doing yoga while watching haha. 

When Daddy gets home in the evening the best play times start! 

The RS had a play date at a trampoline place in Frisco and my kids loved it! Especially the ball pit. Which was a little scary because it was super deep and Emery kept sinking down in it and I would have to reach in and pull her back out again. Anyway, once she got really deep and stuck so I actually had to jump in there and get her and my phone fell out of my pocket! And oh man, it is so hard to find anything once it is in the balls!! I felt around and around where I was standing when it happened and I could not find it! Thank heaven there were other RS sisters there! One of them held Emery for me and the other called my phone while I stood in the spot where I was when it fell out and thank goodness I could feel it vibrating through balls so I just felt my way toward the vibrations and found it. It was a scary little bit for a while though! I was really worried we wouldn't be able to find it! So I will be super extra careful from now on and never take my phone into the ball pit! 

I just have the cutest family! 

Emery's hair is now long enough for a ponytail and it is so adorable!

While we were in CA for Christmas (which was just the best) my parents took us and the kids to the Sonoma County children's museum and it was awesome! It was a lot like the children's museum in Portland except more compact and better in my opinion. The activities were more engaging to the kids for longer periods of time. I was pretty impressed. 

One of the nights we were there, my parents watched our kids and we got to go out with my sibs and their significant others. We went to Screamin' Mimis and to see Knives Out. It was soooo great to spend that time together with them! 

 

We also went on a family hike up Canyon trail to Lake Ilsanjo. Emery didn't want to ride in the ergobaby at first but after a few (many) adjustments, she got comfortable enough that she actually fell asleep! 

At church Sister Wiseman actually took our family's picture with a real camera and then got each of us a hard copy print. I just took a picture of it with my phone though. 

Wearing grandma's reading glasses and looking like the cutest little librarian ever. 

 

We got Emery a little chair for Christmas and she loves it. What with that, two more bookshelves I painted and the vinyl from Papi and Nona, her reading nook is now complete! 

We all had fun at the annual cousins bowling night! 

 

Declan is especially sweet and cute with Emery. 

My silly goose running around with no shirt and Levi's Catboy mask on her head. 

She tries to put on her own pants now! 

Last Saturday we had a light dusting of snow. Levi was sooo excited and had a great time playing outside with Daddy while I hid from the cold in our nice cozy house. 

A perk to shopping at Kroger and Costco, thanks to car carts I always have both of my kiddos seated and contained while I shop! And contrary to what Levi's face looks like in this picture they both love it too. 

All in the Lord's Timing

So the last few weeks have flown by in a blur full of unpacking, organizing, cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning, fighting with our dryer and just generally getting settled into our new house. My mom came to visit for a week right after we moved in and was really a HUGE help watching the kids while I worked on the house and helping to unpack as well. And thank heaven she was here because the last full day she was here I came down with a flu and actually ended up in bed all day! It was such a relief to have her here and not have to worry about what to do with the kids because I really was in no shape to care for them or anything else! Anyway, thankfully the flu was only a two day thing (Eric took a  sick day and stayed home the other day to help out) and miraculously no one else in the family got sick like I did although Levi did have a couple scary nights of croup and Emery had a bad cold. 

Anyway, but our house is slowly coming together! Our countertops and backsplash are done! We have a brand new beautiful kitchen table and chairs, I finally caulked and painted the trim on the pony wall so that's done, and we've got the playroom all set up with our homemade watercolor Disney art on the walls and the craft zone all set up. It looks AWESOME but man that was like a whole day project! 

But even with all this going on, the other day I decided to just check Indeed for any new job openings. And I found one for ECI through MHMR Tarrant County. It was listed as part-time in Little Elm and so I applied and the very next day I got an interview request! I was super surprised but also pleased. I've done my first and second round interviews now and I just have a third-round to go on Tuesday. I REALLY hope I get this job. It's a little daunting because they use a primary service provider model so I will be expected to support all aspects of the child's development (not just PT related stuff) but they have a great onboarding process with lots of training and a good team approach so I know I will learn a TON. And it pays decently and has GREAT benefits even if I only work 20 hours a week! And they can be super flexible on the hours too. Honestly it kind of seems perfect and I am just really hoping I get the job! And I was talking to Eric about this the other day and it just makes me realize that Heavenly Father really knows what He is doing. I mean, I applied to and interviewed with so many other jobs but none of them were as good of an opportunity as this and honestly, the timing of this is just SO much better. He knew I wasn't really ready to start working yet. He knew that the house and getting settled would take a LOT of my time and that it would be WAY too stressful if I were trying to work right now on top of this. And this opportunity is exactly in the field I want to work in, in a great location and I would start in January which is perfect because we will be settled in the house by then and the holidays will be over and it just sounds great. So yeah, I am praying and hoping they hire me!! And praying we can find the right childcare for the kids if I do get the job! 

Anyway, so that's what's going on here. We are liking our new ward and hoping to make some new friends soon. I did invite Levi's friend Nico (from his soccer team) over for a play date and that went really well. I really like his mom, Maria and Levi and Nico get along great. So hopefully that friendship will develop as well. I feel like we have a lot of opportunities opening up here in front of us. And yeah the days are long and can be crazy still and we have wasp problems and a house that still has boxes all over the place but it's coming along and I feel hopeful about the future. And I just can't believe how soon the holidays will be upon us! It's blowing my mind that Thanksgiving is this week and Christmas is only a month away!! 

 

For some reason Levi has been really into closing his eyes when I try to take his picture! Good thing he's so cute or it would be super annoying! On this day, Levi had requested to wear his fireman costume from last Halloween and when Emery saw it she wanted to wear it too! Thank goodness it was easy for them to share. 

 

We had quite a bit of trouble with our dryer when we first moved in. It kept giving us this error message and shutting off. When I looked it up I found it it meant that 90% of the air flow was being blocked so the dryer was shutting off to prevent fire. Well, Eric went on the roof and investigated the vent and found a birds nest was stuck in there! He couldn't get it out but Papi came and helped us fish it out. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to get it fully unclogged and after repeated efforts, we finally ended up having to pay someone more than $300 to come out and professionally clean our vents before our dryer would work. The vent guy said it looked like the vents hadn't been cleaned in probably 10 years! Yikes. 

My messy boy after playing in the mud in the backyard.

When everyone has a cold and feels a little icky sometimes you just need to snuggle in mommy and daddy's bed and watch some Llama Llama. 

Levi showing off his new temple picture he got from Papi and Nona. He is a big fan of temples and of wearing hats all the time, even inside the house. 

If he doesn't have a hat he sometimes improvises with other non-hats! 

And Emery likes to copy brother.

She is such a cutie and lately has been developing even more opinions. She is becoming fiercely independent, likes to pick out her own clothes and shoes, and only wants her drinks out of certain cups. I'm a little scared of how this will evolve as she continues to grow haha.

She was so tired two days ago that she fell asleep during lunch right there in her highchair! 

She doesn't usually fall asleep in her high chair but she does like to lounge in it. And she is especially fond of putting her feet up on the table if she can! In this case, the black stuff on her feet are Oreo crumbs. Not sure how she does it but even just one oreo manages to cover her head to foot! 

They're so cute together! 

On Friday they wanted to play outside (even though it was FREEZING) so I gave them some brooms and let them sweep the driveway while I hung out in the slightly warmer garage. 

Emery mostly just poked the leaves

But Levi did a pretty good job clearing the sidewalk.

And now, here's some pictures of our various house projects! 

I'm loving the german schmear on the fireplace but jury's still out on the stain for the mantle. 

Love love love our hardware and our countertops!!

Shelves I made for our half-bath. 

The kids' craft space! Just like I envisioned. 

Home building

Written 11/3/19

We moved into our new house yesterday! And of course by that I mean, we brought in all our stuff in bags and boxes into a chaos and we built our beds and washed our sheets and slept here! Haha. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that this is really our house and this is where we will be living for the next several years. It's surreal to me. We've waited for this day for sooo long it feels like and now it's here and I can barely believe it! Despite the house being an absolute disaster and not really knowing where anything is and our remodel still unfinished with lots of little details that need to be worked on still, right now, it's a peaceful, quiet Sunday afternoon. Emery is taking her nap and Levi is playing in his room with his airport which he is very happy to have back. Things are peaceful and still and I am feeling more than a little sleepy. Part of that is probably due to the fact that it's fast Sunday and at least a little of it can be attributed to the fact that I have gotten very little sleep this past week as we have been working hard on the house getting ready to move in. Ever since we closed on it, I have been throwing myself into getting it ready for us. Calling all the tradesmen, getting quotes, negotiating, buying product, giving instructions, painting, taping, cleaning, schmearing, and driving. Oh my all the driving. 40 minutes from the house to the ranch is great now that we are here but man was it a pain while we were still living at the ranch but having to drive out here all the time to work on the house. I know things will stay busy and hectic for a while while I set about unpacking all the things and cleaning more and organizing but it is still nice to be in our own space at last. And it feels so good to have enough space to grow into. I feel like this house will serve us well for at least a while to come.

Since we are just starting out here I really want to create a positive and happy home for me and the children. We haven't dedicated the house yet but we did sit down as a family two Mondays ago and talked about what we hope for this house and our goals. Like that this house would be a house of learning and service that here communication would be open and easy that all who enter here would feel understood. It's like a fresh page and a chance to work to develop new better habits and abandon older practices that don't serve us. I just have to remind myself that I don't have to be perfect, that the house doesn't have to be perfect and that progress (the evolution of discipleship) isn't usually a straight forward thing and that I will take steps backwards and sideways and that each day just won't be better than the last and that's ok as long as I keep facing the right direction. Focused on the Savior and my personal and family goals.


Photos of life from mid Oct through Nov 3rd:

Before we got things unpacked into the cabinets the kids- especially Emery!- really loved climbing into the cabinets and shutting the door. 

Our first dinner in our new house! Eating Little Ceasars pizza while sitting on a cardboard box on the kitchen floor! 

Two weekends before Halloween Katie and Kendall came to visit us! It was so fun to have them here! But the weekend was a little crazy because some workers were putting in a new gas line out at the ranch and they nicked Papi's sewer line so there we couldn't use any drains all weekend! Which meant no toilets and no showers at the house! We had to go up to the pool house or over to Jim and Jenny's for all of that which was quite the hassle! Especially with 11 people in the house that weekend! But it all worked out and we had a fun weekend anyway, especially with going to the pumpkin patch! 

The pumpkin patch had lots of fun bounce-houses for the kids! 

Levi was so exited to take a picture with Elsa and Anna! He LOVES Frozen. We are planning on taking him to see Frozen 2 as his first movie in the movie theater :)

This picture cracks me up! She's holding a computer mouse but it looks like she's a little business women doing a work phone call! 

Love, love, love my boys! 

Levi borrowed this Paw Patrol book from his cousins and was soo happy about it that he asked me to take a picture of him with it. 

My little tiger and Cat Boy at our ward Halloween party. Emery was not super thrilled to be a tiger but she got over it. 

On Halloween we got to go trick or treating at the library! They had a cute little Halloween themed story time and then the kids got to go around to the different library workers to get treats. I decided it wasn't work the struggle with Emery to put her in a costume she didn't like to wear so we just did a Halloween shirt for her.