Big news!

Recently, some of my friends may have thought that I was letting myself go.  I mean, I love me some Chipotle!  But the real cause of my expanding waistline and teenage acne is that Eric and I are expecting a baby!  We feel immensely blessed for this new addition to our family.  We have wanted to give Liam a sibling for some time now, but as many people know, it doesn't always happen in "our own time." 

We are due in early December and so far, other than feeling extremely tired, I have been feeling pretty good.  Liam still has no idea what is going on, and when I try to explain that Mommy has a baby in her belly, he runs off to pursue whatever toy has caught his eye (he is part raccoon, you know).  Nevertheless, we are thrilled and can't wait to eventually meet our new little person!

Free family to a good home

So we have less than three weeks before we close on our current house.  We had initially hoped that we would find a new home prior to the closing.  I realize now that I might be asking for too much.  We have yet to visit one house that is on our list.  However, this weekend we will meet up with our agent in the hopes of finding a place to lay our heads for at least the next few years. 

I am finding that I have been stressing a lot more about this relocation than I anticipated.  For starters, I have been having these crazy dreams in which I am looking for a house, but can't find one.  In these dreams I have a hard time figuring out which prospective house I left Liam and Eric at.  I can't find my clothes.  The dogs are missing.  But then I can't remember whether we actually have dogs.  And sometimes we are staying at one of those extended stay places that looks like my college dorm room.  I realize that one way or another, things will work out.  But I really would hate to rent for a year if we can't find a place.  I can't even stand packing for a vacation, much less packing up our entire lives twice in one year.  While I don't want to regret rushing into the wrong home, it is slightly tinged by my growing laziness in this area.

Until I know where my forwarding address will be, I might be a little bit of a wreck instead of the zen mama that is willing to camp in a friends backyard and bathe my family by way of garden hose.  Keep your fingers crossed for this weekend, and please pray that I have patience and wisdom during this search!

At last!

I have been hesitant to say anything before now for risk of jinxing things, but our house is officially under contract! The past few weeks have included a series of tasks (inspections, getting paperwork together, meeting with our realtor, etc.), but yesterday at midnight ended the 10-day option period. 

We are thrilled and now have to begin the process of finding a new home.  But it is a process that we have been looking forward to for awhile.  And we are not opposed to renting for a period of time if we can't find anything within the next month that we can't see living in long term. The only problem is that I hate to pack.  And unpack.  Fortunately we have been good about purging over the last year.  But after having Liam I think we increased our "stuff" two-fold.  I never realized that babies came with so much baggage! 

Any how, we feel blessed and hope the folks buying our home love it as much as we do!  It is sort of a strange sensation, leaving the only home we have known the past almost six years....and the only home Liam has ever known.  It reminds me of that scene in Father of the Bride Two where George Banks drives by his old house in time to see a demolition crew about to tear it down.  And he gets frantic telling the new owner, that he planted the flowers in the front with his own two hands, and built the fence.  So that is sort of how it feels a little bit!  While I am sure that the new owners will add their own touches to make it all theirs, I will always think back to all the hundreds of hours that we spent making it ours. 

Please say some prayers that the next few weeks go well and that that the transition of a new home for Liam will be a smooth one.  And who knows, maybe we will win the lottery and someone will pack and unpack everything for us!

The Pates come to town!

We were lucky enough to have two back-to-back weekends of family in town: First my parents followed by Eric's parents from D.C., and Ryan, Jolyn, Sam and Holly from Kansas. The last time we were all together was for Christmas, so when they suggested coming around Liam's birthday, we were really excited. 

Eric's parents arrived a day earlier than the Wichita Pates so we had the opportunity to catch up and eat some yummy Indian food the night before.  The next day we woke up way earlier than my body likes to in order to watch the Royal wedding!  Like so many people around the world, Becky and I woke up before 4 a.m. to make scones with a side of lemon curd.  As an aside, I don't know that I would have ever enjoyed having "curd" before I knew how tasty it is!  It needs a way better name though.  Waking up early did not disappoint.  It was so glamorous and I was giddy throughout the whole thing.  By the end of the weekend, I am pretty sure that the menfolk were way over us watching behind-the-scenes coverage.

It was so much fun to see the cousins interact the entire weekend.  Liam adores Sam and Holly. It was really heartwarming to see how much he looked up to Sam. 

Playing with the water table with Sam.

Holly and Sam introduced Liam to the world of water guns.

Splash free for all!

Cuddle break for Grandma Becky and Sam.

Liam loves a good chase....as does Chloe.

A ladybug that Holly found fell into Cooper's beard, where it found safety.

Crack kills.

The next day we had another little birthday party for Liam.  He was super excited to receive his first bike from Eric's parents!  I did a lot of research on the best bike for him to have at this age and found this adorable and easy to use Radio Flyer.

He loved his bike so much, that he wouldn't get off of it for his birthday song and cupcakes.

Enjoying the icing and sugary goodness.

Back to the bike!

It was a good thing that we had two days of nice weather, which meant lots of water fun, grilling green chile cheeseburgers, going to the park, and taking advantage of free bounce houses at a neighborhood block party.  Because the next day, the temperature dropped like thirty degrees!

Off to Barnes and Noble where the kids poured over books and played with the train table.  And the grandparents may or may not have spoiled the kids rotten!

 And a trip to the new Cabelas in Allen.  The kids had a nice time looking at the fish tanks and the wildlife exhibits.  And Holly even got her first Disney Princess fishing pole!

Sam and Liam hanging out in the shopping cart.

This chair may look a little....contrary to my contemporary design tastes, but it was soooo comfortable. 

Afterwards we went to the Cheesecake Factory where we once again ate.  I would be embarrassed to tell you how much we ate this past weekend.  So I will just say that we were very blessed with full bellies.

Hugging during an afternoon viewing of Tangled.

It was such a great weekend and we were lucky to have lots of time to visit with family!

Easter

I know I am a little behind in posting, but I am finally getting around to putting up some shots of Liam at Easter.  One of our neighbors had the idea to have a small neighborhood Easter Egg hunt since all of our kids are under four years of age.  It is a little overwhelming to go to public kids events sometimes and have the little kids trampled by the bigger kids.  So when she suggested a small get together, I was game!



We had a practice run with empty plastic eggs before we went over to our neighbor's house.

 

Our neighbors recently had a baby and Liam melted down when I wouldn't let him push the baby swing around.

The hunt begins!  He had absolutely no interest in looking for eggs. 
He did however, spot our neighbors motorized scooter.

And again, ignoring Mommy and Dad's requests to pick up some eggs (we need chocolate too, you know).
 Instead a hula hoop piqued his interest.

And a soccer ball....And a pink baseball bat.

Finally, some eggs! Which he promptly spiked like a football after he found them.  Goodbye chocolate.

Again, with the same eggs, climbing out of the window of a playhouse.

Playing house with Gracie.

Tristan found the goodness of chocolate.  I am glad somebody enjoyed some chocolate.

This is the best Easter Egg hunt ever!

Had it not been for the generosity of the "big kids" who gave the little one's some of their eggs, we would have left empty handed and Liam would not have cared...one...little...bit.

On Easter morning, I think I was more excited to present Liam with his Easter basket than he was to open it.  Well, maybe not!

Gimmie!

Liam loves a good pinwheel.

Poor little guy couldn't even get a little excited about his first chocolate bunny.  But his Daddy and I could!

Taking a quick family shot before a wonderful Church service.

7 Years

This past Sunday, amidst the chaos of Easter, another special moment took place.  Mine and Eric's 7 year anniversary.  We have known each other since we were sixteen.  And I have to say, I grow more in love with him with each passing year.  We are blessed that the good times have far exceeded the bad.  I love that he is a wonderful father to Liam, a generous and encouraging husband to me, a devoted family member, and a loyal friend. 


While words cannot express my love for him, I am reminded by an interview that Ronald Reagan once gave.  He said that his wife could "make him lonely just by leaving the room." And as corny as that may sound, I understand the sentiment.  Here is to growing old together!

Obligatory school pictures

It seems like every other month Liam's school is having pictures taken.  Seriously.  There are holiday photos (remember creepy Santa?), seasonal photos, and tomorrow....a class photo.  For two year olds.  I am not even sure that you can get two year olds to sit still for a class picture.  Although I imagine it is akin to herding cats. 

Any how, your kid takes pictures even if you have no desire to buy them.  That is how they rope you in.  The day the pictures come in, the photography company is seriously standing in the doorway of the school.  And they say, "Come and just take a little look."  One time Liam took some really bad FallFourthofJulyWinterSolstice pictures. I decided that I was not going to buy them.  After all, I would have appreciated if my mom had not bought some of my more grotesque school pictures growing up.  Braces and feathered bangs.  Need I say more? But she did.  And now I am immortalized as Quasimodo when I show others my pictures. 

So these particular pictures were...not great.  I say, "Thanks but no thanks."  And I am not kidding - Like three people stop me on my way out, horrified that I am not buying my child's pictures because, "what will he have to look back on."  I don't bother to say that I have a blog which is a tribute to him and literally thousands of pictures on my desktop, Walgreens.com, taken by my talented friends, etc.

Last week, Liam's school Easter pictures came in.  And before I knew it, I bought the cheapest package available ($35 yikes).  It remains to be unseen if I will be guilted buying his class picture next week.

Eat your hearts out toddler ladies.