Yard Sale Heyday!

Yesterday was the best day for yardsales in recent memory. Here are a few things that we found:

Things we needed-
-dining room table and 4 chairs (absolutely beautiful and light hardwood) $100
-like new Dutailer Glider and Ottoman $50
-Chicco side-by-side double stroller (for a pregnant friend) $25

Just for fun:
-a pop-tent outdoor maze $7
-set of interlocking foam alphabet blocks that can be made into a large floor mat $5

It was such an exciting day! Here are Luke and Clara playing in the pop-tent maze and enjoying every minute of it!

In the Good Old Summertime

Luke has been enjoying some fun summer treats.

Popsicles:
Smoothies. Notice how when I ask him if he wants some he answers, "yep, yep."

Luke's birthday was a lot of fun. We had three girls and their parents over. It is kind of funny, but back in CA, most of Luke's friends were girls too.

Here are some pictures of Luke's big day (I made the cake too- a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting)

Messy baby!

Playing with M after cake-notice no clothes

Oh, and here is a random picture that we though was hilarious. This was when we were in the throes of "molarity." Molarity is the name that Evan gave to Luke's recent teething woes.

Quick House Update

Things are going really well with the new house. The inspections were last week, and couldn't have gone better. There were a few minor problems, but those have already been fixed by the seller. Also, the pool has a great fence around it for safety that the owners will leave for us. It is called a Katchakid fence and is perfect for making a pool area safe for little ones.

Our closing date is Sept. 23rd.

Silly Boy

This is our little boy... like his new shirt? He'll be wearing it for his party that starts in a few minutes. In the meantime, here's a pre-party snack, as it were.

I was going to post a video too, but the Internet connection here is a bit too slow, and after several attempts I'm giving up. I'll see if I can't post something later.

Another Shot

We are taking another shot at home buying. Our eye (and bid) is on this one: http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=79296837&backButton=Y&Address=7910%20Del%20Rey

This one is in a very family friendly neighborhood close to Evan and Bethany, and has a 1/4 acre lot! When we first began looking at homes in December, we saw one on this very street. It is kind of ironic how we have come full circle like this.

Baby Luke in Texas and House Update

Not a real original title. I haven't had much time to think, so that will have to do. Here are some pictures of Luke:


Looking out the window ( a new favorite activity):Playing the piano:


Smooshing face against the window (also a new favorite):

Bath time in the ducky. We left his bath seat with Aunt B in CA, so this is the replacement. It is actually very fun- the beak quacks when you squeeze it. :)

Bath hair:

Well, for hews on the house:

We terminated our first contract. The house was terrific in every way, except that it was about 20 minutes from Evan and Bethany since you have to take surface streets the whole way. We decided to look closer to them, and I will update that search later. Someone asked me what Luke thiks about the whole situation- I think he wants to stay with E+B. He loves all the action and especially cousin Clara. :)

Offer Accepted

Now onto the inspection!

Playing and Waiting

Well, still no word from the sellers on the house that we put the offer on. The house is being sold by a family Trust, so basically, all the kids have to agree to move forward. They are discussing our offer today, so we should hear soon. In the meantime, we are going to look at two more strong possibilities and play in the sun.

Here is Luke with his new pool from Grandma and Grandpa Holman. (Well, the actual pool that they bought didn't fit in our suitcases, so I returned it and bought a pool at the store near us today).

Almost Home?

We made an offer last night. Check out the house here: http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=27205357&backButton=Y&Address=12327%20Rincon%20Dr

I will update the blog when I hear something!

House Hunting Day 1

Yesterday we met our realtor Pat at his office and went to look at houses. We looked at a LOT of houses (about 12). Most were ok, a couple were completely odd, and one was beautiful. The one that we thought was perfect went under contract (had a accepted offer) the night before. Too bad.

Luke was a trooper through it all. We were gone for about 6.5 hours. He loved crawling around in the houses that were clean. One had a big staircase and he climbed the whole thing all by himself. I followed along right behind him of course, just to make sure that he was safe.

I have no pictures of Luke right now because I don't know where our camera is packed. But, my sister-in-law Bethany has a video of him and cousin Clara dancing here. He is so cute!

Overflow

This last week has been packed with so many blessings that I am beginning to feel overwhelmed. Having recently completed a cross-country move with two cars and a sub one-year-old (and still being in the midst of it really), I have realized that there is a lot that goes into such an enterprise.
We were very blessed by all the help that we received from family, friends and work.

Some highlights of our journey:

We moved temporarily to a fully furnished home- Nathan's sister and her family opened up their home to us while we look for a place of our own. This has given us some normalcy in an otherwise chaotic time. I can cook and we can have family dinners, and a normal-ish routine for Luke's sake.

Nathan filled out paperwork yesterday for his new position (he is in the same job, with the same parent company, but a different subsidiary since we are in Texas) and discovered that we will have better health benefits for about half as much as we were paying in CA. It feels like an instant raise.

Luke and I visited a church on Sunday and the people were very friendly (without being too friendly). I love Southern hospitality! I had several offers to babysit Luke while we house hunt by the end and an invitation to join the choir. Mostly, I was just grateful to be somewhere familiar- an advantage of being Orthodox is that the liturgy is the same in CA and Texas.

Luke and I explored our new area Saturday and Sunday and found a great grocery store and nearby Target. I think prices for most things are better here. I got 4 big bags of groceries for less than $20 without using coupons. Also, gas is $2.37.

I am overwhelmed by this new life. So many new things, new people, new everything. I miss home, but I am grateful for God's provision.