We're Here

We're in Houston.

Yay.

It's 105 degrees. Feels like 108. No biggie.

There have only been 3 break-ins in our apartment complex in the month Josh has been here, 2 of which have been in the week since we have been here. No worries.

Less than 5 minutes after driving over the border into Texas we experienced a huge downpour. I almost pulled over, it was that bad.

Welcome to Houston.

Sad Day

Jayden spent the entire day playing with his best friend.  I couldn't bear the thought of it ending, so he stayed until 10:00 tonight, and they, along with Sidney, spent the evening catching fireflies.  I'll put those pictures up later.  But my heart just about broke when they were saying goodbye, and then it shattered when right before bed he told me this was the worst thing he's ever had to do.

Not only is he leaving behind some wonderful friends, he's leaving behind fireflies.  And if you've never experienced them before, they truly are magical.  Of course, now that we're leaving, everything I love about it here seems magnified.  But seriously, it's very cool to experience.

On one hand, I know it's good for him to experience change.  Life isn't supposed to be easy, nor will it always be, but I have that natural instinct of wanting to protect him from every hard thing.  And when I feel the same way, it's hard to convincingly say it will all be ok. 

It was a sad day.  Tears.

Kidisms

I like to do workout videos.  When the kids watch me, these are the comments I hear:

"Mom, you're not doing it right."

"Mom, why aren't you going as fast as them?"

"Mom, that's not how you do it."

"Mom, you need to do it like this."  (Then they show me the right way.)

"Mom, go faster!"

"Mom, you didn't do as many as they did."

They are so encouraging.

The Biltmore

We have been trying to visit the Biltmore for years and it just never happened.  Josh was home for the weekend, so we finally made ourselves go on our last weekend here.  It was a gorgeous day, and the kids did great and actually really enjoyed the tour.  I don't know how big the grounds are, miles and miles, but it was so beautiful and peaceful, with trails and lakes and trees everywhere.  I could have stayed for a few days.  The home was incredible, it has something like 250 rooms in it.  They don't allow pictures to be taken inside, and you don't get to tour the whole thing, but it still took about an hour and half.  I can now leave the Carolinas happy.

This view is the view from the balcony where Sidney is sitting below.  There was a nice breeze when we walked out, it was truly breathtaking.  My heaven is going to have such a balcony with a fantastic view and I will take naps there every afternoon.

*I can't get all the pictures to upload.  Getting really sick of blogger.

 

6 Months

Tanner is 6 months already, that is so weird to think about.  He is teething right now, but even with that, he's still not that difficult of a baby.  Those teeth just need to pop through and we'll be good for a while.  I don't have any stats yet.  His 6 month appointment may or may not happen because of our move.

 

He is rolling from front to back now.

I think his face is thinning out a little, but he's still chubby.

His yelling is getting louder.  The kids laugh and laugh at some of the sounds he makes.

He doesn't stop moving.  His little legs are constantly kicking and jumping.

He loves to dance to music.

He loves sweet potatoes.  He kind of likes carrots, but he's not crazy about anything else.



Fun Week

Our first theme week for the summer was Fun Week.  That was Jayden's idea.  I have exactly one picture, but we were having too much fun, I didn't get the camera out.  We had some groupons and things to use up before our move, so we went to Monkey Joe's and Baxter's Bunch.  We went swimming, had some play dates, out to dinner, and made ice cream sundaes.  The kids love sleepovers downstairs.  They're a rare treat, so they were excited when I actually said yes to their request.  We watched a movie and we made these forts with the couches, which they slept in and then left up for two days.  How fun is that?

I think we will be doing theme weeks for the rest of our lives.  Jayden has said over and over how much he looks forward to them and how they are one of his favorite things about summer.  How can I quit doing them when he says things like that?

Texas Roots

Well, I just can't seem to stay away from Texas.  I was born in Houston, something I thought was cool when I was younger.  We moved away when I was 5 years old.  I thought coming from Texas made me awesome.  And then I moved back in 2007 as an adult.  And I didn't love it.  I could make a huge list of reasons I didn't like it, but if I keep focusing on that stuff, I'll be miserable.  (And then I won't be able to convince my friends they should live there too if given the opportunity.)  We've made our decision, and now I have to accept it or spend the next couple years of my life depressed.  One thing I've decided is to just not make friends.  It will be easier to leave.  It has been SO hard to say goodbyes.  The longer we have been here, the deeper our friendships have become, and I will truly miss the people here.  So if I just don't make friends, it will be easy to pick up and leave in a couple of years, which really isn't hard for me to do.  I'm quiet, and know how to keep to myself.  But I have my kids to consider.  I shouldn't have started writing this.  Now I'm just getting all depressed again.

Anyway, Josh's company was purchased earlier this year.  In April his boss heard about this opening in Houston with the new company.  Every time we have heard the word Houston come up in conversation we both seriously gag a little inwardly.  We have said many times how we are so glad we are not there anymore, and we will never, ever go back.  So when his boss said Houston, we were like, no way.  But then the job description was too tempting.  Josh hasn't been very happy with his job lately, and has wanted a change.  The job is more of what he wants to be doing, so he decided to accept.  We would not be doing this if we didn't feel right about it.  With all of our moves we have spent a lot of time praying, and we always go where we feel we are being led.  As much as I don't want to, this time has been one of those times where everything has fallen into place, and I feel like the Lord couldn't make it anymore plain this is what we're supposed to be doing at this time.  There has been one sign after another, so as much as I don't like Houston, I'm actually really looking forward to what is in store for us.

Josh will be traveling to Colombia, South America a few times a year.  Our hope is to someday go work international, so we're hoping this will open some doors for us, especially since the new company he works for has a lot of international jobs.  Who knows if it will lead us there, but if not, it will be good experience.  He'll be going to a city in the Caribbean, so if anything, he better let me tag along once or twice!  The other thing is that we should only be there for about two years.  If I knew right now that we will end up there longer, you couldn't get me to go.  I worry we'll get stuck there longer.  Let's hope that in 5 years I'm not looking back asking how in the world are we still in Houston?  Although the older the kids get, the harder it will be to move around.  We can't keep it up forever.

There are about a million things on my mind that I can't possibly write.  A part of me wants to go pout in my bed, a part of me is excited for a few reasons.  Jayden was devastated at first, but he has gotten more and more excited.  I was surprised how excited he got so fast.  Sidney is excited too.  They don't know my true feelings, I've been trying to play up all the fun things we'll be able to do.  Texas isn't all bad.  There are cool things about it, I'm just not looking forward to the weather and the lack of seasons, and the traffic.  I'm also disappointed because we were hoping our next move would be back out west.  I was content to stay here for a few more years or go back west, but I'm beginning to believe it's not meant to be.  And even though I wish sometimes I could see the bigger picture, I'm pretty content knowing we'll be ok, because the Lord has always taken care of us.

How's that for a jumbled up, random post?  My thoughts are all over the place.  Ok, to focus on the good....Some of our BFF's from college live in Houston.  We were next door neighbors for a year.  Our favorite memories with them are cutting down Christmas trees in the mountains in a snowstorm, trips to their family cabin in Yellowstone, watching the first season of The Apprentice together because we didn't have cable, and that was the only channel we could pick up with our antennae, and hearing his confession that he had broken into our apartment while we were gone one night so he could borrow something.  They'll be an hour away (yeah, Houston is ginormous, 6 million people, did I mention I'm a small town girl?), but we're excited to get together with them again, it's been about 7 years.  We told Jayden they have a boy his age, so he's happy about that.  We are very excited!  Other good stuff.....We'll be closer to the temple, and it's really beautiful.  And that's about all I have.  And Josh's job, I keep forgetting about that.  It will be a great move, right?  Please come visit!  We'll be two hours from Sea World, and an amazing water park, it will be fun, I promise.  And we'll be an hour and a half from Galveston, where we can jump on a cruise ship.  See, Houston is awesome!  So here's to me embracing my Texas roots.  Next year's family pictures we'll have to get all decked out in cowboy attire.

Jaydenisms

I might be failing as  mother 98% of the time.....but when one of the kids tells me that I make the best cookies in the whole wide world.....totally worth it.

Bird Egg

We were out doing yard work and I found a little blue bird egg in the grass.  We have a bird house in the tree I found it under, so it must have come from there.  I showed it to the kids, who thought it was the coolest thing ever.  We figured it was probably not going to end up hatching, but I told the kids to be careful with it anyway.  We left it where we found it and continued with the yard.  Then a few minutes later we were by the patio and heard a little "smack!"  I turned around to see the egg smashed on the ground.  Sidney was standing there staring at it.  Her reply when we asked her why in the world she did that was, "I wanted to see if a bird was inside."  Luckily it was unfertilized, or at least it didn't look like it.  Then of course she didn't believe me it was actually a bird egg and she kept saying, "See mom, it's not a bird egg.  There was no bird inside, so it's not a bird egg."