Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Top Five


I am sure there are several lists that explore the top 5 stressors in life. Here's my go at it.

1. Changing jobs. (I started a new job in January, and Mike of course in May/June).
2. Moving Across the Country (yet to come)
3. Putting a crappy real-estate investment up for short-sale & ruining your credit (working out the details as we speak)
4. Marriage (fortunately we have this one under our belts).
5. HAVING A BABY... yes, that's right, #2 is on the way. We are THRILLED. She/He is due to debut on or around October 7th. It's a good thing the Cardinals won the world series last year, because I may not be able to focus on October baseball so well this year =)

I need a nickname =)

Here's "it's" first picture at 7 weeks. We're now officially 12 weeks, hopefully past the point of anything scary happening. At our check up this morning, the heart beat was strong and fast at 155. I had gained not even 0.1 lbs....if that gives you any indication of how the 1st trimester went. Fortunately, I'm through the worst of it. Still exhausted, but I think that might have more to do with the above list & a 15 month old than pregnancy. I am also entering in to the "MUST EAT MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF FOOD NOW" stage, so I am sure the next 4 weeks will lend to a bit more weight gain =).

I was originally thinking girl because I was so much more sick with this pregnancy than with Owen. Also, with O I was just a bit nauseated in the a.m., and with this pregnancy I was out of commission from mid-afternoon on through the evening. However, I've been craving any large chunk of meat and baked Lays potato chips... old wives tales would consider that signs of a boy. We'll just have to see. I'll honestly be thrilled with either gender. I just want healthy. The jury is still out as to whether we'll find out the gender with this pregnancy.

I think I won't have any more 'reveal' blog posts in the next week or so ;) Also, I realize today is Owen's 15 mo bday. I haven't even begun that post, and normally it's something I work on gradually through the month. My goal is to work on it this weekend after we get his stats from his 15mo WCC on Friday.

Thanks for sharing in our joy. LOVE, Mike, Heather, Owen, & Oskee

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Happy 60th Birthday Papa Wade

Last weekend we got to travel to St. Louis to celebrate Papa Wade's 60th birthday (insert exclamation point here... yes, it's still broken). We flew in on Friday and had dinner with my folks... thanks again mom for the delicious corned beef & cabbage. I think my mouth is still watering.

Saturday morning we woke up gradually (Owen only slept 40 minutes the day before so we let him snooze in). We packed the car and headed over to Papa Wade's house for the big birthday reveal. He didn't know we were coming in, and he also didn't know that Gaga Wade had a big birthday party planned for that night. It was great to have an entire day of celebration =)

Here's Owen having his morning milk and a nice snuggle with Papa Wade. I get a kick out of this picture. Owen is in his fleece jammies (I feel like I need to justify myself, but you all know that it's still in the low 40s in Seattle). Meanwhile, Papa is appropriately dressed for the 80 degree weather.

We soon stripped him down and let him enjoy the warm breeze of spring.... if you only get 3 days of spring, you should live it up right?

I think he had a blast playing on the porch. He kept walking to the porch door, standing on his tip toes, and trying to get out.

So the weather was gorgeous and the party was delightful. Gaga Wade invited about 30 people to feast and dine on amazing BBQ pork smoked by Uncle Bill & Aunt Bev Kinney (Gaga Wade's brother & sister-in-law). The food really was melt in your mouth.... I think Mike and I need to spend some time in Springfield to learn how to make some BBQ. We topped dinner off with this delicious and enormous cake from a place called 'Whipped Cream'.

I am ashamed at the lack of pictures I took at the party (and of the whole weekend for that matter), but here is a shot of the usual suspects: representatives from the Schusters, Borgmeyers, Wades, and Mulfords. We travel in a pack. Missing: the Coopers. They were at a wedding.

Look at this big and beautiful Baby Ava =) (And her gorgeous mama, too).

Growing up in Seattle, Owen is typically very offended by the sun. He pouts and shades his eyes when we walk on a sunny day. So, I thought I would get some sun glasses for our trip. I promise these are the appropriate size for his age, but his small (8th %tile) head makes them look like a part of a California Raisin costume.... does any one else remember the California Raisins??

We love every ounce of time we can spend with our family in St. Louis, and it is always SO SO hard to leave (especially anticipating 5ish hours of travel with a 15 month old).

However, we hope we'll not have to fly with Owen any more until he is much older because we are MOVING TO ST. LOUIS. We're ecstatic, thrilled, nervous, amazed, overwhelmed, etc...but mostly SO EXCITED. This has been in the works since about Valentine's Day. Mike received a call from the manager of his former group at Boeing St. Louis. He needed a great engineer, and he had Mike in mind. Mike still had to traverse the appropriate channels of big company hiring (job req, application, scary interview, etc), but he prepared well, worked hard and got himself a great job offer on Thursday. After lots and lots and lots of prayers and lots and lots and lots of discussions, Mike decided this is his next step in God's plan, and he gladly accepted the offer on Friday. We'll find out timing, start dates, etc next week, and at some point we'll get the ball rolling on how-to-get-out-of-this-crappy-real estate-investment we have. I asked Mike if we could please not tackle that last piece this weekend. My anxiety barometer is on overdrive, and it needs a little rest.

I've been desiring to write those words for a long time, and it feels very surreal. But we're already dreaming of a humid summer, Cardinal baseball, Fritz's ice cream, and the indescribable JOY that will accompany Owen being able to grow up knowing his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Praise the Lord (exclamation point).

Signing off with love and exhaustion, Heather

Friday, March 9, 2012

A Day in the Life of O & the Norovirus

We Wades have been passing around the Norovirus. I'm so over it. Anyway... thankfully our Owen is pretty good at entertaining himself =)



Enjoy.