Sweet Home Arizona

I guess now is as good a time as any to blog this. Logan got the job in Arizona! He starts November 1st. We are leaving Waterloo on the 29th. My mom is flying in on the 22nd to help me pack (Thanks goodness since Im such a procrastinator!) Then Logan's dad is flying in on the 28th and he is going to drive the pinski truck back. We are soooo greatful for all of our parents and all the help they give us.

So we have little over 2 weeks to pack up and move 2100 hours across country! Crazy crazy crazy! I cannot wait to be home in Arizona again. Dont get me wrong, I really have enjoyed our little vacation in Illionis, but like all good vacations, this one has come to an end.. I am very sad to be leaving some super gals that I met here. I dont know what I would have done with my self this past year had I now found the mommys group! On that not, it also makes me sad to go back to Bagdad where I have a small chance at making good friends. Bagdad is a town where everyone knows everyone and is in everyones business. I know many people there but cant see my self hanging out with them. Some were even high school friends, but people change over the years. But I guess with all the free time, Ill be able to push my self to go to the gym more and slim down!

Yeah so to the point, lol, WE ARE MOVING!! Whoo hooo!

OMG! This has got to be one of the funniest pictures of Ellie ever! I downloaded Picasa and it does facial recognition. Its does pretty good. In Ellie's folder were of course her pictures, but then there were a few of Garrett, her brother. Thats cool to see that they do have similarities. Also it had one of her cousins Holly & Jace and I could see similarities in Holly and Ellie. So neat.

So since I have this cool program that also make collages, it also makes posting to my blog easier. To cool. Maybe Ill keep up on my blog more!


This picture of Ellie was one of the first times she ate baby food. She's probably around 6 months old.. Hahaha I laugh every time I look at it. Priceless!

Rememberence

Today is October 15th. Many people would reply, "Ya so?" and a few understand the importance of this day. This day is the day that all across the world we celebrate the lives of babies and children who passed way before their time. So every year at 7:00 all across the world on October 15th, a candle is lit for these little souls. In rememberence of who they were and who they could have been.

Tonight, I light these candles for very special ones; My brother and his wife just recently lost their first baby. It was very early in the pregnancy but still just as hard. Another candle is lit for my friend who's little girl, Emily, lived for 6 days and was taken away with no explanation. Two more candles are lit for another mommy who has had a very very hard time. Her first, a son name Ryan was taken at 33 weeks (born sleeping) and her second, a daughter named Lailani, was taken at 21 weeks (born sleeping). Another candle is lit for a friend who lost her second baby early on in her pregnancy. The last candle is lit for all the other babies lost all over the world. No soul should go uncelebrated.

Forgot Not Me

My little one
You have left us too soon
Though my body can no longer hold you
I hold you forever in my heart
As precious and beautiful as this flower caught in time
A mother's love does not forget.

Holy Moly!

 So a lot has happened in little time.. I told Logan last week that there was a position open in AZ for Empire. Well he just brushed me off kinda.. The next night his dad called and talked to him about it.. Well guess that gave him the push that I couldnt to apply for it.. He actually applied for two positions, one in Bagdad and the other in Prescott.. Not even 24 hours later a guy from the Prescott office called him and said they could interview him when he is down. Awesome... Well today Logan texts me and says his Aunt told him about another job position in Bagdad and the head over it really wants him to apply.. I wish and hope he will apply for it.. I guess his Aunt is seeing what they will do for us in way of moving. If they offer to help move and pay is good, we could very well take it. Heck we could move into a house in Bagdad and rent would be low.. Least lower then what we are paying here now..

I really am trying not to get my hopes up or get to excited because I have had my share of let downs in the passed and its just easier not to get all worked up until he signs his name on the dotted line... Do they still use dotted lines? (.................................) or is it more a solid line? (________________________)

Until something comes up, we are pretty much going to be pinching pennies.. The crazy booze hound we have for a land lady changed when rent is due and it totally messes everything up.. Broke broke broke..

On a more excited note, in about 1 1/2 weeks I will be leaving to go to AZ.. The kids and I, on the road for 3 days.. Im kinda nervous about the drive and something happening.. Guess that just makes me more of a cautious driver. I just have to watch the idiots out there.. I couldnt imagine something happening to any of us. The hotel stays kinda freak me out too, but Ill be carrying my buddy with me to back me up.. I just hope the kids are good riders and the road part of the trip goes fast!! Zoom zoom!

Oh yeah and my SIL & brother are finally pregnant! Yeey! After having TTCed for over a year and being on fertility drugs for 4 months (i think) they finally got the BFP! So thats another thing to be happy for..

Big Celebration

 So I was going to go with a 4th of July theme for my blog being as it is the 4th coming up.. But you know what is coming up even sooner then that?? In just 2, yes count them TWO days my beautiful, sweet little monster is
going to be 2 years old..  Its just so hard to imagine that 2 years have already gone by. To think on the first was the night my mom and I went to the hospital because I hadnt felt Ellie move all day. They kept me over night for monitoring.. I had no signs of going into labor prior to that.. At four AM on the 2nd I started having minor contractions.. They checked me at 7:30 am on the 2nd and said I was 3 centimeter but even they didnt think I was going to go into labor that day. Sure enough only a few hours later we were back at the hospital.. Elisabeth Quinn-Maxine was born at 5:40 PM, weighed 5 lbs 8 oz and was 19 inches long.. Now though you would have never know she was so tiny.. She is my Ellie Bellie! I think she is pushing 31 lbs.. lol She is such a chatter box too.. Its crazy! Just to name a few:

Mommy
Daddy
Brother
Garrett (sorta)
baba
cup
paci (waci)
blankie (kiekie)
ball
dog
kitty
listen
sit
up
down
sit up
side (outside)
She can say so much more then that. She's even starting to repeat stuff of the tv. She came running into the kitchen the other day saying "Which way? This way? No.. That way?? No.. This way!" They were treasure hunting on her cartoons.. I really hate how much time she spends watching TV, but she has learned a lot of works from it. She can count to 3 in Chinese, says Ting (listen in Chinese) and puts her hand to her ear and soo much more!!

Kids are just plain amazing!

The Power of Music

 Have you ever stopped to think what the world would be like if there was no music? If no one new how to sing?? It would be pretty damn quiet, road trips would be long and boring, house work wouldnt be as much fun.. Think of all the things that couldnt happen because there was no music! (Dancing)

 How many song come on the radio that you can apply to something that has happened in you in your life? I know there are many song that I can think of for my self. Some are just song that make me remember certain things that happened in life.

When my now husband and I split up over 2 years ago, I stopped listening to country music. It just made me more sad and depressed as it was the genre of music we listened to.  I then started listening to alternative. The song that pretty much summed up my life at the moment was "Timebomb" by God Smack. Talks about your life being a living hell and wondering why your even alive. Totally fit for how I felt. I messed my life up so bad.

One day in December my ex came to the house that I was staying at to talk about thing. Along with him he brought a CD. The artist was Jason Aldean. I hadnt yet hear of him since I was on a hiatus from country music. He put the CD into the stereo and turn it on. The song was "Do you wish it was me?" Instantly I broke into tears, the song, its words, they just fit with out I felt. I listened to that song almost every day after that night. I did wish it was him I was still with.. Luckly we did end up working our problems out and are now married!

Another song that catches my heart any time I hear it is "Fix you" by Coldplay. I can hear just the background music and it give me goose bumps. Someone I know, but not very well, had lost her baby before he was born. She had to go through birth at 31 weeks to a still born baby boy. She made a video to remember him by. She said this was his song because she had once sang it to him before she knew he had passed. I have watched that video so many times and even as I type this get tears in my eyes. No one should ever EVER lose a child. It doesnt matter if its a still born, SIDS, a car accident, murder.. No one SHOULD EVER lose a child.. Its my biggest fear.. So this song, though I liked it before all this, will forever be in my heart as will the mother and her perfect little boy.

 That new song of Carrie Underwood, "Undo It" applies great to someone else. When my DH and I had split up (you know 2+ years ago before we were married) I had left him because I was lusting after this "bad boy" He lead me on. We had a great time together for about 3 weeks, then it went down the drain, as did my life at that time.. This song makes me think of the hell he put me through, the hell I put my self through and how much I thought at the time I had messed my life yup. Although he is a thing of my past, rarely to be thought of or even spoken of, he still comes up in moments when I least expect it. Im so over him and hate him or what happened.. So I would like to undo it, get my happy that he had stolen along with my heart and erase the memories we had together. I just want to copy that song on a CD and mail it to his dumb ass. However, I do not want to go back and do it all over because in the end I got something amazing out of that little blip in my life.. I got Ellie.. I got my beautiful baby girl.. I love her so much and cannot imagine life with out her.

So it is just crazy how music has such an impact on every day life. There are songs that I can relate things to from years and years and years ago. I couldnt imagine a world without music..

A little bragging

Its been a while since Ive posted much in this blog.. So here goes with some bragging... Garrett is 4.5 months old. He can roll over from his back to belly with no problem at all.. Once there, he pushed his front half up with his arms. Then at times tries super hard to pull his knees in (like to crawl) I sawer it wont be long till he is on the move! He already can make little circles. He is my big boy! I cannot believe that he is almost 5 months. Its crazy how time just slips away..

And speaking of time just disappearing, miss Ellie is going to be 2 super soon! I cannot believe I am going to have a 2 yr old already. She has accomplished so much in the past year.. To name a few:

She learned how to walk at 13 months
Became a big sister at 18 months and loves her little brother.
Started sleeping in her toddler bed at 20 months
Started talking up a storm some place between 20-21 months! She says so many things and her vocab just grows and grows every day.. Maybe Ill blog about what all she can say.

These little people just amaze me every day.