egg hunt

Just wanted to share a little Easter loveliness from our Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma Colleen's house...

Oh how much I love these littles!

Dreaming

Seth's capstone was declared "passed" on Friday and now everything is officially complete for graduation. I am so proud of him for this huge accomplishment...I know I say that a lot, but it is true! I got to attend his final presentation and he did such an amazing job!

We have a couple of interviews coming up this week and they are with clinics that just feel like they would be a good fit for us, so every night before we go to sleep, we talk about the places that we could explore and the adventures we could have, the sights that we will be able to see and the vacations that we can't wait to plan. We talk about the future and the possibilities and we look up houses and flights and driving times to various destinations. We have talked often of our dreams, but now that school is really done, each night as we talk and smile and reason and imagine, it all becomes real. Those dreams of "when we are done with school and get a job" are just a month or so away! Sure we are both exhausted from staying up way past our bed time every night, but it is our time to dream together and it is time that I cherish. 

I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. This new adventure is scary. Leaving everything we have ever known is scary. The unknown is scary. Moving to another state with a brand new baby is scary. Selling the house we have called home for almost 7 years and raised all of our babies in is scary. Leaving familiy and dear dear friends is scary.

Yet, I am excited for the adventure! I am excited to redefine "normal" in a new place, surrounded by new people and new experiences. I am excited to take the kids on adventures and explore our new surroundings together. I am excited for days off, for vacation time and especially for having Seth home for dinner most nights! I am excited to be able to do the things that have been on our list for years! And I am excited to keep dreaming up a new list with my best friend and companion!

Whatever comes our way, we are excited to face it together!

 

photo by my friend Rachel of Beyond Bliss Photography

toothless

I know, I know! I abandon this poor little blog for weeks at a time and then all of a sudden you get a whole bunch of posts with pictures at once! That is pretty much the nature of our life right now...everything all at once!

Last night, while Morgan was dreaming about the Easter Bunny hopping his way to our house and leaving a basket of goodies, he somehow lost his very first tooth! He came bouncing into our room this morning, baby tooth in hand and hole in mouth,

"My wiggly tooth came out while I was sleeping!"

As soon as I acknowledged it he wanted to go directly back down to his room and write a note for the tooth fairy to put with his tooth. After watching the Super Why episode about the tooth fairy, he has been determined to have the tooth fairy leave his tooth instead of taking it, so he wrote her a note:

Toth Fere I wont to cep my toth (translation: Tooth Fairy, I want to keep my tooth)

The Hole: that permanent tooth is already poking out to say hello.

 Even with a hole in his mouth, this kid is still pretty darn cute...and $5 + a baby tooth richer 

(the tooth fairy only leaves that much for the first tooth...setting tooth fairy rates is complicated)!

P.S. Oh, how much I am LOVING the sun! I am finally feeling inspired to pull out the camera and capture our lives again now that there is light streaming through the windows most days! My lack of pictures with previous posts was not due to laziness, just due to the fact that I have been lucky to pull out the camera once a week around the house because it has been so so dark!

Morgan is 6!

Earlier this week Morgan had a birthday and we have been celebrating like crazy!

Sunday we had all of the family over for a birthday party. He got lots of fun loot and was so thrilled just to spend time with everyone. Thanks to all of you for loving our little man to pieces and being a part of his life! I feel like I have to pick a job: party hostess or photographer because whenever we host parties I completely slack off in the picture department, but here is a picture of him sporting the awesome glasses and fire hat from Uncle Michael and Sarah...they also gave him a whoopie cushion which has provided many many hours of uncontrollable laughter!

Monday we went out for family dinner at the Olive Garden - per Morgan's request. Tuesday we all went out to lunch and then Morgan went on his "Daddy Date" to Nickelcade. Thursday...the BIG day we opened presents....

Went to lunch with Grandma at the Carl's Jr. with a playplace a.k.a. "the place with the fast slide"

 where she gave him baseball gear. Those of you who know me well, probably know that I am NOT a big baseball fan. I don't have anything against the sport, but growing up, I went to so many of my little brothers' baseball games that I have already maxed out the number of baseball games I am willing to sit through. He is excited to learn how to play and I am hopeful that he will just enjoy some casual play with uncle Stephen and not want to join a team. :)

And then we ended the night eating grilled cheese sandwiches and watching a movie.

We went on our Mommy date on Friday afternoon...we don't usually do a mommy date, but he specifically requested to go to Old Navy with just mom so he could play the light game (projected interactive game on the floor in the kids section) and pick out an Easter Outfit...and what momma can say no to that? Then he got to have a sleepover at Grandpa's house Friday night and last night he lost his very first tooth (pictures to come)!

He sure knows how to ring in 6 years old with a bang!

There are so many wonderful things about Morgan! He is a peacemaker, a silly boy, best friends with his daddy, best buddies with his sisters, he is my biggest helper, has the silliest most contagious giggle, he loves to play and learn new things. He especially loves school and is quite the little reader! His Kindergarten teacher says that he always keeps the class laughing (in a non-disruptive kind of way) and likes to be as creative as possible with his math journal so that she will show it to the class every day. He always wants to do all of his homework for the week on Monday when he brings his homework folder home...not to get it done, but because he loves doing it. He is easy going and very loving, but lately he has gotten to be more sensitive about things that make him sad. He is so friendly to everyone he meets and is kind and caring with his friends. He has so much faith and I am always certain that his prayers get first priority in heaven because they are always answered! I am so glad he has started praying for sunshine instead of snow! :) He loves his aunts and uncles and grandparents so much and is always excited to spend time with them. He loves going for rides on Uncle Stephen's motorcycle and playing computer with Uncle Stinky. He is excited about a new adventure and a new house and especially about a new baby sister to love. He often gives me a big hug around the waist and kisses my belly so that it will pass along to baby sis. He loves to build things (lincoln logs, legos, tinker toys), play superheros, dress up, and ride bikes and especially loves to read books with Mom and Dad and his sisters. He also loves to play "mom and dad" - or what we used to call house when I was little. The one advantage to having all these sisters is that I know that he is going to make some girl very very happy one day, just by seeing how sweet he is with his sisters. Morgan is very independent and does so many things on his own...I am wondering what I will do without him when he is gone all day for 1st grade! I feel truly blessed to be his mom and am excited to see what the coming years will bring for him!

Happy Birthday little man! Thanks for making me a mommy! The 6 years that you have been a part of our lives have been a greater blessing than we could have ever imagined!

xoxoxo, 

Mom

pictures, exhuastion, and lots of love

Motherhood is an interesting thing. I am always amazed that the very little people who wear me out day after day after day are the same little people who make my life so very very happy. And since these little people make me so happy, I am sharing a little bit of their sweetness with you!

Enjoy!

At our friend's annual easter egg hunt...

she was pretty pumped about finding eggs and putting them in her basket.

she was more excited about how beautiful the eggs were

and he was mostly excited about gathering the loot and then checking it out!

um...she is waaay too cute for her own good!

Dancing in the living room...a favorite pasttime!

Brynn looks up to her big sister soooo much.
She wants to be just like her in every way!

Pure adoration!

last day

Today is Seth's last day of clinicals! Yay for no more paying money to go to work or 6 day work weeks!

And despite the dreary rain outside, we are all doing a little happy dance! Congrats to my amazing hubby for all the hard work to get here! We couldn't be more proud of you, love!

P.S. Doctor says I probably will be able to go with Seth to do his poster presentation! Woo Hoo! This will be our first family vacation in a VERY long time and we are all so excited! Pray that it all works out for us, will ya? I had to buy a maternity swimsuit for the first time...kind of depressing when you are hugely pregnant, but enjoying the sunshine and swimming with the kiddos will be worth it, right!?

sweet moment - not forgotten

A few weeks ago we had a beautiful Sunday and the kids spent the afternoon at Grandma Becky's outside enjoying the sunshine with Uncle Stephen. As I was updating my new laptop with all of the custom settings and workspaces I had on my old laptop (which is a giant pain, by the way), I found this gem. The kids love to play with Uncle Stephen and I never have to worry a bit when they are with him. He will certainly be missed when he is off on his mission in England for 2 years!

As we are interviewing for jobs and as graduation gets closer and closer, the reality of moving away from all of our wonderful family and friends is sinking in deeper and deeper. So just like this beautiful ray of sunshine on a cold Sunday in March, we are soaking up our time with all of the people we love at every chance we get!

keenly aware

Every few months I get all sappy and post the deeper thoughts of my heart, which usually involve spiritual thoughts, and this is one of those posts. I would be lying if I told you that things have been all roses around here lately. It seems as if every time I turn around something else has gone or is going wrong. Car troubles, contractions that shouldn't be happening, ladders making giant holes in walls while we are standing on them painting over dings and scratches, Seth's approval to begin the research element of his capstone project being delayed and threatening a delayed graduation, packing, packing, painting, packing, rain and snow interfering with mini-sessions and causing me to reschedule all of them, my laptop screen going out, sick kids, 4 doctor's appointments in one week, the uncertainty of applying to jobs in cities we have never seen...and the list goes on.

Truly, looking at it all like that, you would think our lives have been one big giant mess...and in a way it kind of has! But every little glitch that comes along, we pray and hope and try to go on faith that it will all be ok, and in every single instance, an immediate blessing is poured out upon us. My testimony of prayer has been strengthened time and time again as needs are met with perfect timing when everything feels completely hopeless. The awareness that a loving Father in Heaven knows me and my family personally and knows even the simplest of our trials has been reaffirmed as caring friends and family have reached out to help or offer help. Our little family has been so blessed with feelings of love for each other and many little moments when we just beam with happiness at the chance to spend time together. And as I look at all these "trials" I see blessings, sweet sweet blessings that have made me stronger, brought me closer to the Lord and strengthened our little family so much.

Here we are with only 2 days left of clinicals, call backs for interviews at every job Seth has applied for, an extra date added for capstone presentations, a few days off next week for spring break and an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. Blessings, I tell you!

So, where do we go from here? Our house will be on the MLS later this week (I just have to take a picture of the front of the house and the kitchen - after I clean it - and send it over to our agent. The biproduct of being a photographer is wanting to take your own pics of your house). Seth is in the initial phase of phone interviews for jobs and then we will proceed from there, but there are quite a few opportunities out of state that look promising and we are getting excited for the adventure (especially because a number of the jobs pay relocation costs so hired movers will be doing all the work - love that.)  Seth will present his capstone project on April 25 and it is getting close to being finished  and ready, and graduation is coming up on May 5. On our fun date night, we picked up his cap and gown and it is certainly a fancy ensemble! Special robe, and doctorate hood, and even fun little honors society tassles...I am so proud of him for all that he has done to get here!

As part of his capstone project, Seth had to submit his project for consideration to be featured at an upcoming conference. We fully expected (and, dare I say, hoped) that it would not be accepted as it is very competitive and more work if it is accepted, but news came yesterday that his project was accepted and he needs to be there to present it...fabulous news for his resume...not so fabulous news as far as additional work, money, time and travel involved, particularly because I will be 36 weeks at the time of the conference, but a great opportunity regardless and another reason to be so proud of my wonderful husband. Then it is on to boards, pharmacy boards and state licensing in May. Little miss still-no-idea-what-we-will-name-her (suggestions?) is due June 6, but will likely be born at least a week earlier, maybe more if I keep moving furniture and lifting boxes, but Seth will be around more to prevent that, so probably just a week early. And if everything works out timing wise, we are hoping to be moved and starting a job by the end of June.

It has been a rollercoaster ride, and I am certain the ride will continue for at least a few more weeks, but I wouldn't trade it. I am so grateful for the support of friends and family and especially for the help from heaven! And, I promise to post some pictures when my new laptop arrives and I get it all set up, until then words will have to do! :)