Puzzles, Playing, Parties, Pounds, & Possibilities

There's been quite a bit going on here lately.

First, we had a fun Easter weekend. Saturday we went to the Ft. Worth Zoo and enjoyed a beautiful day outside. On Sunday PaPa and GiGi came for the afternoon and watched Hadley hunt lots of eggs.

Lately Hadley has been very interested in working puzzles. He got one for Easter and quickly mastered it, so we found some more for pretty cheap and got them as well. He will sit by himself and work the puzzles for a long time.


Last weekend we went to Starlyn's 2nd birthday party and had a lot of fun. The party was Elmo themed, so of course Hadley enjoyed it! He also enjoy swinging, sliding, and riding in Starlyn's car.




This week has been kind of crazy for our sweet babysitter, so mommy and Hadley got to spend two days home together having fun. Today we even went to the park in Gainesville and rode the train! Then tonight we all played outside for a long time together.





Hadley seems to learn new words every day, and I would really like to try and remember as many of them as possible. The latest one (that I can remember) are: pig, swing (sing), cracker, car, shoes, pea, ball, bowl, Ernie (as in Bert & Ernie).


In other (non-Hadley) news, both Eric and I are doing Weight Watchers. Well, I am actually going to the meetings, but he is doing the points and tracking his food with me. So far I have lost a little over 10 pounds and Eric has lost as well (not sure exactly how much). Hopefully we can both stick with it and reach our goals.

Some not so good news...a couple weeks ago Eric found out that Callisburg, for budget reasons, is downsizing the Ag department next year to one teacher, so he is out of a job after this school year. We were totally shocked to find out that news, as well as very disappointed. We kind of thought this might be where we would settle down and stay a while and raise our family. But now we are looking at moving (again) this summer. Eric has already applied at a few school districts and hopefully we will find just the right fit for our little family.

Finally...an update!

All I can say, is thank goodness for the internet! We finally got hooked up at the new house and I couldn't be happier! Talk about feeling out of touch.

So...a quick update on things here in the big city...

Eric started work last week (you know...in-service, new teacher to the district orientation which is pretty much useless, etc.). That left me at home to get everything unpacked and settled. I think we are just about there! We still have a few strangling boxes sitting around, but mostly it's just the useless stuff that we don't really need or use that will just get placed in a closet or cabinet so that it is ready and waiting the next time we move.

I am most excited about getting the baby's room fixed up! We picked out the fabric for the bedding a couple weeks ago, and Eric's mom is going to make all of that. We are waiting for the crib to come in so that we can get it put together. I decided yesterday that I am going to try my hand at sewing a blanket for Baby Lew, so that should be interesting. We already have a lot of blankets, but I decided he needed one that his mommy made. I have a couple other projects I am working on for him as well...stuff to keep me busy for now.

No job yet for me (hence all the "projects" I am trying to find to keep myself busy!). I have applied for quite a few, have had several interviews, but just haven't had anything that came through yet. I am trying to be patient and just enjoy the "time off" but it's getting a little old! Something will come along soon, hopefully!

I have my first doctor's appointment next week with a new doctor. I am hopeful that I will like this guy and that everything with insurance stuff (what a hassle!) will all work out. As far as the baby, he is movin' and groovin'! In fact, he is doing somersaults in my tummy as I type this. It is so cool to feel him moving around all the time. Eric has felt him a few times when he was practicing his soccer kick, but usually when I try to let him feel it Baby Lew wises up and stops moving.

Oh...the Olympics are back on so it's time to go park myself on the couch for the night. (Don't you just love the Olympics!!)

Corpus Christi

Here's a quick update on the past week or so...

We are now officially living in Callisburg. My last day at my job at AISD was last Wednesday so I got to join Eric on Thursday at the new house. We are living surrounded by boxes, but hopefully those will start disappearing soon.

We are currently in Corpus Christi for an Ag teachers conference for Eric. Yesterday we went to the Texas State Aquarium so here are a few pictures.

Dolphin Show
Giant Turtle

Seahorses

USS Lexington

We also went on a tour/ferry ride along the bay last night and have been to several sea food restaurants (Eric's choice...I have eaten lots of chicken!). We will be here until Friday so there should be more pictures coming later.

This week

This week will probably be (another) busy week. I am back at work after being off for the last two weeks (yet another benefit of my current job!). And truth be told, it has been nice being back. Unlike nearly every day for the past two weeks, I haven't packed (or even touched) a single box today! Very nice! (I'm sure that will change when I get home this evening however.)

Tomorrow is Eric and my 2nd wedding anniversary. No big plans, but maybe we'll go out to eat or something. Eric plans to spend most of the day getting a load of stuff in the trailer to take to Callisburg on Wednesday. Since we already found a house (oh yeah...did I mention that?) we are taking loads of stuff when we can to try and make the actual moving day a little easier. Then on Wednesday he will make a quick trip up there and (hopefully have some help there) unload the trailer at the house.

Wednesday my parents will be here so that my mom can go with Eric and me to my big doctors appointment on Thursday. This is the BIG one...the sonogram. Hopefully Baby Lew will cooperate and we will find out if we need to start buying cowboy boots or bows. Then on Thursday after the appointment, my mom and I are going to just hang out and have a fun, relaxing day. That will be a very nice and welcome break from the past couple weeks.

Friday will be spent getting everything ready for our garage sale on Saturday. I have never done a garage sale myself, so it will probably be quite the learning experience. I am just hoping to get rid of a lot of stuff, and maybe make a little money. We'll see!

Saturday is the big garage sale so the day will start quite early. I am hoping everything will go well and we will actually have people come by. That afternoon my wonderful friend Summer is coming to spend a couple days with us. I am excited about that since I haven't seen her in about a year and a half. (Has it really been that long?!?) She will be with us until Tuesday and says she will help pack. Should I feel bad about putting a friend to work like that?

Somewhere in all of that I also have a hair appointment, we have to figure out what is wrong with our dryer that suddenly stopped working last night, and have to clear a path to the guest bed so there is somewhere for our guests to sleep. No problem! Never a dull moment around here!

Packing

Bleh! I absolutely do not enjoy packing boxes! But then...who does! I have such good intentions and great ideas in my head of how everything is going to fit and how quickly I can get this done, but instead, what am I doing...sitting at the computer...stalling. There is so much to get done and I am totally overwhelmed...but again, I've got nothing! No motivation! Ugh!

We did, however, get something useful accomplished yesterday. We went out to our storage garage and took everything out, went through all the boxes, and sorted stuff into "move" or "garage sale" items. I think it was pretty successful. Now if I could just do that here at the house. I'm going...as soon as I get up from this chair...

Speaking of a garage sale...we are having one. We had to change our date a little bit because we are trying to move earlier that originally planned, so our new date is July 12. Any one who lives here locally, feel free to come by and see (and buy if so inclined) what we have.

Okay, okay...now I'm just trying to keep typing to keep from having to pack. I'm done...here I go...

Dr. Appointment

I went to the doctor this morning for my monthly visit and here are the stats:

Weight: +3.0 pounds
Blood Pressure: 133/65
Baby's Heart rate: 148

The doctor said everything looked good. Before she listened to the heartbeat she said my uterus was growing and felt normal. My blood pressure was good today, and I have been checking it every day lately and it has been normal. She said the 24-hour test from last month came back normal, so that is good. (Hopefully I'll never have to do that again!) And the bacteria I had at my first visit (bladder infection) is gone. So, overall, everything is going well. The only thing I am having an issue with currently is what she thinks might be reflux. So we are going to try some Zantac and see if that helps. Overall, Baby Lew is growing and doing exactly what he/she should be doing.

On another note - we are going to Callisburg tomorrow to look at a few houses. I am hopeful that this will be a successful trip, and we might come back here knowing where we will be living (in about a month!).

Moving

It's official...we are moving! Eric got a job teaching ag in Callisburg ISD (that's near Gainesville in case you are wondering) and we will be moving this summer. We are excited and nervous at the same time. (I think that's pretty normal, right?) We are in the process of looking for a house as well as a job for me, but I know those things will work out just like the job for him did. I will also get to find a new doctor (kind of a big deal right now!) and hospital to use when I have the baby. There are lots of changes coming our way, but we will take each one in stride and be thankful for the new opportunities and challenges and adventures.