Johnson Family Chronicles

Ryan.

2018-10-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is the blog post about closed chapters of life.
After we had Lauren, we closed door on having more babies.
Two kids were enough, the girls were close together and life was crazy.

... But 5 years ago we made an deal to revisit having more in 5 years.
Fast forward 5 years and I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

Were we really done?

One of us might have been more done than the other, but nevertheless we had the talk and agreed we had room for ONE more.

But this time around, it was a family affair. We talked with the girls and they were so excited at the possibility of having a baby and they've been 100% committed and involved from day one. But you know you can't really prepare kids for what having a newborn is actually like...

Anyway, I'll skip the details but let's just say this kid was SO wanted.
The day we found out we were pregnant I just couldn't believe it. While seeing the pink lines was surreal, nothing compared to the feeling of finding out that # 3 was ... a BOY.

We don't make boys! We make girls!
We were shocked.
But there it was. DNA testing even told us he was a boy.

It felt like a VERY long 40 weeks. The girls kept close tabs on which week we were in and couldn't believe how long it was taking. Weeks ticked by one after another but man did they drag. The girls also decided girl clothes were way cuter than boy clothes but its a small price to pay for having a brother they agreed. They were so sweet and were always asking questions, 'how long until he can eat real food, how long until he walks, talks, laughs...' You name it, they wanted to know.

After a wonderful pregnancy and a labor I never want to experience again, our perfect baby boy was born.

Ryan.

9/25/18.

8 lbs. 20.5 inches.

He came out and it felt like forever waiting for him to cry.

Then, suddenly I heard it.

And I completely lost it and broke down sobbing.

Our 3rd baby. A boy.

After a decade of thinking we'd never hear the first cry of another baby of ours.

...Despite the odds, the baby that shouldn't have been here... was.

They put him on my chest and just like that, we were 100% complete.

One look into his eyes and I knew.
He was the missing piece.

I couldn't believe we had lived without him for so long.

All the sleepless nights now do nothing to diminish that feeling.

This time around feels so different. I'm not sure if it's because we're an entire decade older or just because so much went into bringing this final life into our house.

But really, I just feel so insanely lucky. Very much a 'pinch me' feeling happening everyday.

Multiple times a day I find myself with all the feels thinking, 'the days are long but the years are short'.

It could be hormones but I'm sure it's just happiness but often I get that weird feeling in my heart like it's going to explode from the realization that we have 3 amazing kids. That Chris and I lucked out and found the perfect person to put up with our crazy and that this is my actual life.

Ryan is already a month old now. Lauren keeps telling me how that seems crazy, how it feels like he's only been here a few days, 6 at most. I hear ya, girl. I swear, it feels like we were just in the hospital staring at his perfect little face wrapped in those hospital blankets, Chris and I just marveling at the new life we created...

...feeling instant and unbelievable love for someone that almost never was.

I can't believe we almost missed this.

He is every bit as amazing as his sisters.

The girls love him to pieces... they love when he tucks them in at night, they love reading to him, just staring at him, talking to him, holding his hands, giving him baths, picking out his clothes, combing his hair, having him pick them up from school, going on walks with him...

...I'm sure they miss the silence and ability to go out to dinner and not have to time it around the baby's schedule but once again, the days are long but the years are short. I'm afraid if we blink he'll be 10 like Chloe and we'll be visiting her in college.

I doubt I'll bring back this blog but it doesn't seem fair to not even update for Ryan. I'd like to come back here a little more often but I've said that many times before.
For now, I'm enjoying soaking up every minute with him and its definitely more difficult to manage two older kids schedules and a newborn. I'll get it figured out eventually but for now I'm giving myself a free pass to live life in a way that works for us and survival mode it's going to be for now.

Catching up

2014-05-29T19:34:00.003-07:00

I haven't blogged in years... Crazy to say. But that will change! We are embarking on a new adventure to Florida. Chris starts June 9th and the girls and I will be out later in the summer. I have decided that to keep family far away feeling connected, I will reawaken the blog!! The girls have grown a lot since you last saw them on the blog. We even lived on the central coast for a year and a half!

So here is to new adventures ... Wish us luck!!

Progress

2014-05-29T19:34:00.001-07:00

Today was huge for move planning to orlando. Bright and early at 8 am we had a phone conferce with our consultant from the relo company (cartus). She turned out to be amazing (at least we think... Time will tell if our hunch is right!) immediately after we had our first listing appointment interview. Once that was over, we got right on our mountain of papers needed to sign. After being at that for a while, we grabbed lunch and met the second realtor interview. We decided to go with them and hopefully we made the right choice (again only one will tell). We contacted our consultant, notified both realtors of our decision, contacted the travel company for our trip to orlando day after tomorrow. We got done with that and started scrambling. This house needed to go from cluttered and messy to clean... And fast! We are listing tomorrow!!!!!!! Needless to say I am wiped out. There were more than just a few trying moments today and I thought I was going to lose my mind on more than one occasion. This is crazy, everything is beyond time sensitive.

Tomorrow chloe gets an award at an 8:30 ceremony, then her class goes on a field trip until 1 that I volunteered to chaperone, Chris takes the dog to stay with some friends while we are doing that and at 2 pm we have the agent coming to take photos and make it all official. To top it off, we leave tomorrow afternoon to go down south. Ahhhhh!

We get home from Florida Wednesday and Chris leaves for Florida for good just 3 days later. Poor guy.

Wish us luck! It's going to be a crazy couple months!!

Monterey and Lauren turns 3!

2012-10-22T10:35:00.001-07:00

Monterey and Lauren turns 3

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2012-08-19T14:21:00.001-07:00

This post doesn’t even get a title.

Probably because there’s nothing to actually sum up our summer…

…other than it was non-existant blur and now it’s over.

I start NURSING school Tuesday. Like real, live nursing school.

Fundamentals, Med-Surg I, Pharmacology.

The girls started preschool last week.

Lauren has done a 360 degree turn-around and she’s now a super obedient, non-attitude student there.

THANK THE LORD.

We took the summer off from school and when we left off last school year she was in a biting phase that could really have de-railed my plans to go to school if she was going to get booted from Preschool for it!

Let’s see, what else…

Our house closes escrow on the 28th (oh…did I mention we sold the house?)

Yeah… Full asking price by the first people that came to see it.

IT’s definitely bittersweet but I’m kind of looking forward to the future.

Even if we don’t know what that means exactly.

We’re just beyond exhausted from not feeling like we have been ‘home’ for over a year now.

Coming out here was a gigantic gamble and not one we’ve really loved (other than having an awesome house)… but obviously you can’t really force yourself to love an area just because of a bad ass house…

Especially when you live next to Fester and his household of druggies.

We’ve learned a lot in the last year, been tried and tested more than most people realize…

Our vision of what our future should look like has been altered so many times that we’ve essentially put it on hold.

I guess what it comes down to is we’re lost.

We feel mildly homeless.

We’re really longing for stability and to set down some roots.

No matter where that may be.

It isn’t here, it isn’t now, it isn’t how we’ve lived the last year.

I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting the last few months on what’s important and what we want our family to be…

For Chris and I, it’s simplifying, becoming closer as a family unit, focusing on the kids, getting me through school and not over-extending ourselves financially.

Hopefully we can get to the point where we can enjoy our lives, instead of watch it pass us by while we struggle with a monumental to-do list or always having something that’s holding us back.

When I look back over the last 7 years, they’ve been amazing but there’s always been something big that’s an issue… In the condo, Chris turned down a good job in Arizona because we couldn’t move and sell the condo. Then we spent a few years waiting for his job in Santa Maria to end, we’ve been waiting to be able to buy again after doing a short sale…then we agreed to come out here for at least a year… and now that our year is up, we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that we’ll be here for 2 more because I have to stay here to finish nursing school.

For years, the mantra “jen needs to go to nursing school” has been ringing loud and clear… and for years things have gotten in the way. I put off applying to nursing school for a year to help us get settled in Tehachapi only to realize that Tehachapi isn’t necessarily where we want to call home… and even now, Chris and I are having to weigh the options as he considers looking for another job…

Hopefully, however, this is the last time we’re tied to one spot for a reason other than ‘we love it here’.

Gosh I want to have the ‘we love it here’ feeling.

But this needs to be a priority so we can move ahead as a family and find our happy place.

Which, ironically, is these two kids.

Seriously the funniest, whiniest, cutest, craziest pack of kids you ever did see!

It’s Snowing.

2012-03-18T13:49:00.001-07:00

The only thing almost as fun as watching your kids enjoy the snow is watching your dog enjoy the snow.

Sheldon is a true snow lover and it was one of the cutest things to see him playing in the snow like he was a kid in a candy store! He ran around putting his nose in the snow and flipping it in the air, looking for his lost sticks in the snow, running around like a crazy man…playing with the girls.

Chloe and Lauren were squealing with excitement. It was pretty much great.

Chris even got in on the snowball action.

The girls are sick.Still.nobody is sleeping…

But what’s new?!

Photo Dump.

2012-02-16T11:00:00.001-08:00

That’s exactly what this is… a total photo dump. I’m sorry!

But at least SOME of the things we’ve been up to are represented!

Some Pictures

2011-12-12T08:12:00.001-08:00

I’ve taken pictures. No we haven’t fallen off of the face of the earth.

Hi PESHIE….!!

You’ve compelled me to wake this blog back up from it’s hibernation.

Kind of.

We’re just here…enjoying the new house, getting our act together and …

Sharing a room with our kids.

Because having a gigantic house isn’t enough…

all 5 of us (including the dog) Share.A.Room.

Like we brought in the girls mattresses and we pull them out from under our bed each night.

It’s crazy… but it’s actually kind of nice.

Lauren and Chloe have been completely terrible sleepers for the last couple months…

I’m talking like wouldn’t go to sleep until 9 or so and wake up between 1 and 4 and after 4 were up for good.

So at least this way I’m not up and down the stairs all night long and oddly enough they’re sleeping a little better.

Crazy Little Garden Gnomes

2011-10-31T20:41:00.001-07:00

So I think the girls win for most attention…

…like always.

Today was definitely no exception!

We had a REALLY busy day so I’m just posting pictures.

Yes. there are a million. No, they aren’t retouched.

Sorry. I’m exhausted.

We started at Chloe’s preschool for her little parade and party. It was so cute but Chloe wanted me right next to her; she thought I was playing a dirty trick and was going to leave her there when she wasn’t looking.

But Lauren…

SHE WAS IN LOVE.

During the parade, she kept marching around and would randomly stop and bust a dance move.

It was so funny and always, she had everyone cracking up and taking pictures and laughing at her.

That kid lives to dance.

Then…

I turned my back on her for 30 seconds and couldn’t find her.

I started to panic. Then I thought…why not check in the little kids class… the one she would be in if we were millionaires and could put her in school.

Sure enough, I found her going down the slide.

She was so proud of her secret find.

The lady in the dress is Miss Leah. She would be Lauren’s teacher and as you can see, she was completely captivating… Lauren couldn’t take her eyes off her.

She LOST it when we left.

She was MAD.

And the apple pictures are from last week. I forgot to post them.

I think.

These are the girls new BFFs. Their moms both moved here within a week or so of us and the girl next to Lauren is 3 days older than Chloe while the one on the far left is a month younger than Chloe.

So pretty much a match made in heaven.

Doesn’t hurt that I like spending time with their moms also.

It’s amazing how quickly we’ve become good friends.

This picture made all of us think about how much trouble these 4 would get into if we let them grow up together.

Yikes!

I guess Chris better get that shotgun and start cleaning it on the porch now.

Haha.

Lastly, I want to show these two pictures from the day Lauren turned 2.

I don’t’ remember if I already did a post with these…but in any case…

I love this sweet, silly, hilarious, dancing fool!

Happy Halloween!

Meet Sheldon

2011-10-17T19:48:00.001-07:00

Since life isn’t already crazy enough,

we’ve added a puppy to the mix.

Yes.

Don’t Judge.

It’s just that, we’ve really missed having a canine companion and we have always wanted a family dog that could grow up with our kids… and we’d like something that will look out for our girls if something were to happen…

So anyway…

We just did it.

And he’s so unbelievably cute and perfect.

He’s gone everywhere with us so far and you can tell the girls are in HEAVEN.

Chloe loves to tell me that Sheldon is her puppy…

…like she can’t actually believe we don’t have to give him back.

I’m surprised we haven’t caved sooner.

I feel like we’ve been talking about it FOREVER…

And Lauren…well, if you know Lauren and dogs, you know they’re meant to be.

He even rides in the back seat between their car seats. It’s so stinkin’ cute.

I mean, seriously. Does it get any cuter?

See Lauren stroking his face?

Sheldon even let Chloe cover him with the blanket.

See his shape?

Chloe is happy to show him to you…

October

2011-10-14T20:06:00.001-07:00

Is totally flying by!

I can’t believe Lauren is going to be 2 in one week.

Totally love those kids.

And yes…I’m aware that Lauren’s hair always looks like a hot mess in photos.
But we’re working REALLY hard on keeping it out of her face.

and YES. I’ve considered getting her hair cut…but I’m not ready for her to get bangs and it’s FINALLY long enough to all make it into a ponytil.

It’s a work in progress.

See? The play-doh pictures below prove it!

(the rest…don’t.)

You see…when she gets on a bike, she needs her bow off…and then the helmet just screws up her hair.

Girl problems, ya know?

Anywhooo, we had a friend over this afternoon…

As you can see it was a success.
The girls got along really well but I definitely saw Lauren left out on a couple occasions…

I guess I kind of assumed Lauren would always be able to hang with Chloe but evidently she’s not immune to being the 3rd wheel once in a while.

First Storm

2011-10-11T18:28:00.001-07:00

Well…we weathered the first storm here…

hardy-har-har.

No, but seriously.

Last week, the wind picked up, the clouds rolled in and it started pouring.

And it was glorious.

I absolutely loved it and it ended way too quickly.

But what we saw the morning after…

was even better!

Snow. Real snow. On the mountain-tops.

This was a few days after so most of it had melted…but it had been cloudy and I couldn’t get a good picture until this one…

We’ve been eating peanut butter toast in our PJ’s…decorating and just hanging out…

oh, that and both girls now have Croup.

Lucky us.

And Just like that…It was Fall.

2011-10-04T18:50:00.001-07:00

The clouds were dark this morning; yesterday it was 80.

Today, 60.

It’s definitely a welcome change.

It’s amazing how it just blew in overnight.

I couldn’t be happier.

I loved the cloudy, cold day.

Made me want to stay in.

Except Chloe had school and Lauren and I were busy.

First, we tried out our local MOPS group. Good times.

Then, off to Bakersfield to take care of some errands.

Then…home to place a few more fall decorations and put a few more holes in the wall

(sorry, hubs).

Disneyland last week was absolutely amazing.

My mom ended up being able to go with us and BOY am I glad we had the extra set of hands.

I have no idea how I’m going to do this alone with both girls…

There were 3 adults and we still had our hands beyond full!

However…My mom turned into ‘that woman’ when she saw one of the princesses…

and … ya know… had to make sure her granddaughters got private time with the princess since they were too shy to go up to her.

And we are forever grateful.

It was beyond cute and amazing.

Even a video of her getting a hug.
Seriously melts my heart.

and of course it won’t upload. Sorry folks!

ANYWHOO

The girls were good considering they had NO nap…Lauren wasn’t too sure, but ended up LOVING the Tiki Room

Chloe didn’t want to go on ANY rides…but once she was on, she had a great time…

It was so cute.

She documented the event through her own photos also (she took anything she’s not actually in ):

Also… my dad took them to Home Depot for their monthly craft thing for kids and OMG. they came home with little helicopters and orange aprons.

They obviously had a ridiculously fun time and Chloe insisted on wearing her apron to home depot on Sunday while we went to get something.

Lauren hasn’t stopped talking about her helicopter and showing me and telling me papa helped her make it.

They are definitely going to be handy girls.

Chloe photographed the entire morning.

These pictures absolutely killed me when I saw them.

I feel like I was there!

They even took a trip to my dads shop.

So hilarious.

Haven’t looked at the pictures on this camera in FOREVER…

But basically it’s been Chloe’s camera for the last year.

When looking at the pictures, I realize why she filled my memory card…there were tons…mainly of the floor.

However…the most recent pictures (especially Home Depot) are gems.

Hilarious.

Some Randoms

2011-09-29T08:35:00.001-07:00

Here are some random pictures from the last week or so.

1. Papa came for a quick visit and brought the girls some presents. It was fun to see them open them in approximately 2 seconds but even more fun was the gigantic mess the ‘presents’ created.

Notice how there is already a lost lipstick in the mix.

It hasn’t been like 10 minutes at this point.

But boy did they look beautiful.

We missed you, Gigi!

2. Tehachapi has some of the most ridiculously amazing clouds… Not sure if that’s just because I’m more of a city girl and I’ve never been able to see past my neighbors house to the horizon but I think it’s really because it’s just awesome here.

3. We decided to break out the halloween costumes to make sure they fit… and because I know I’ll fail to get any pictures of them in them…because that’s how I roll.

…They like them…perhaps a little too much; they got crazy after about 10 minutes and went wild.

3. I know I haven’t fully, adequately expressed our gratitude to my dad for everything he did for us…

…but it’s due in large part to the fact that I just can’t find the right words.

Starting even before we closed on the house, he devoted almost his entire life to getting this place liveable…but not just liveable… absolutely amazing.
He worked side-by-side with me to design the perfect home.

He didn’t miss a single detail and although as the weeks dragged on and we all got sick of the project, he always managed a smile.

I used to tell people that my absolute DREAM would be to have my dad design and help build a house for us.

It really was just that. A dream.

But as this project went on, I realized that, in all honesty, this dream REALLY DID COME TRUE!

Thank you dad. From the bottom of our heart.

And no amount of anything we could offer you would ever come close to telling you how much we appreciate everything you’ve done.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t notice something you did here and Chloe has started walking around the house asking me, “Did papa build me that? Did papa make that for me?”…

She thinks you hung the moon.

And really, so I do.

And Chris.

Believe me, the terminator has gained even more respect around here. If that’s even possible.

Home Sweet Home.

2011-09-18T14:06:00.001-07:00

This is the post I thought I’d NEVER get to write…

But it’s official.

We now have a home.SWEET. HOME!

2053 sq. feet of *almost* perfection.

and 1/4 acres of complete chaos.

Perhaps in the spring…

Let’s be clear: It was a LONG, tough road.

One I probably wouldn’t take again.

It was way too much to take on at once.

Was it worth it?

Definitely.

But before we get on with it…

I need to give a VERY sincere thank you THANK you THANK YOU to everyone who put their blood, sweat and tears into this place.

Although most of the tears were probably mine.

The sweat wasn’t.

I feel so lucky...this house fits us perfectly…and it’s still an amazing work in progress.

But I feel lucky because I get to think about all the love and sacrifice that went into it’s creation.

It really was just a shell…I got to pick out almost everything we see…

It was designed with our family and our tastes in mind.
It’s not like some house you buy where the previous owner loved gold everything…

No old, ugly kitchen to remodel.

Just the perfect one from the start.

And the hardwood floors that were laid one by one…

By yours truly, actually…

Ok…and about 4 other people…

But I like to look around and see everyone’s individual contribution to our house…

An extra special shout-out goes to the Gigi and grandmas out there…

Who willingly took our kids so I could feel human and productive…if only for a short while.

This post is going to be all over the map. After all, I really have a good 2 months worth of stuff to catch up on…

not to mention the whole building a house from drywall stuff.

Designing bathrooms and kitchens and picking paint colors, baseboards, tiles…flooring… omg. the list is so overwhelming…and just when you think you can’t take any more…

…you have another decision to make.

I’m currently struggling with the exterior paint colors. And the painters are coming today.

Let’s hope I can drum up a choice.

In any case,…

We are alive…and with each box that gets unpacked and moved into the garage, our house becomes more of a home.

The girls are sleeping great… Lauren has even taken a nap everyday… I had all but given up on those.

Saturday was Chloe’s birthday and it was so nice to just spend the day here…we did a couple things around town and took the girls to the local frozen yogurt place…

and then the weather changed.

like something out of a movie, it just started getting really windy, the sky became dark, almost black and there was a lightening storm…

And before we knew it, there was a fire we could see from our bedroom window…

Flames up on the closest mountain ridge…

and our little community was told to be prepared to evacuate at a moments notice.

Thankfully, after a couple hours of literally smelling rain but seeing none, just after the sun set, it started to rain…

Enough to extinguish the risk of having to evacuate and Chris and I spent the next couple hours relaxing in our closet by hanging a closet shelving system.

Which we promptly filled even after setting aside 3 gigantic boxes of clothes to donate.

I’m so grateful that we didn’t have to evacuate on our second day in the house.
That would have just been our luck.

Others weren’t so lucky yesterday when another nearby town evacuated all residents. I haven’t heard much about what has been happening but the air quality is horrible and all we see and hear are water helicopters flying overhead.

Since closing on the house, every weekend has been packed with to-do’s and every day has been an adventure.

The girls and I did what we could to stay out of trouble and keep ourselves busy…most days that meant a trip to the park…

They have really learned how to push my buttons and have become more than a handful in the last couple months.

I’ve had so many things I’ve had to address…I’m always on the phone or running somewhere to get something or get approval on something at the planning office and they really have learned that they can basically do whatever they want when I’m doing these things.

I’m hoping we can reign them in now that things are settling down.

But really…they are giving me a run for my money.

*There are PLENTY of photos of them and what we’ve been up to since July at the end of this post*

After navigating stupid red tape… I’m pleased to say that although we failed our final inspection for STUPID reasons (no house numbers, pipes on the roof weren’t painted, door to the garage didn’t close on its own)… we were allowed to move in.

Next came Electricity, Gas, Cable/Internet…

Except when we turned on the electricity…nothing came on…

I’ll spare you the long story…but it was a Pain. Not for me, of course…

But for the men-folk.

Chris and my dad spent hours and hours and hours debugging the mysteries of the electrical work in this house…

and one by one…the pieces fell into place.

But the most exciting thing has been just making this place our own… oddly enough that included Chris installing a new garage door system…changing out door locks…fixing garbage disposals…installing a closet shelving system…hanging garage lights…

The great thing that came out of all of this…was an intimate knowledge of our house…

not by me, of course…

But ya know…the man…

Chris. The electrician.

Seriously. He could have a new profession if this government contractor stuff doesn’t work out.

Which it might not.

Time well tell, but he’s smart and can do anything.

And finally…

last thursday…

a most glorious sight:

Our crap.

And BOY do we have a lot of it.

(BEFORE)

End Note: I obviously started this jumbled post a few days ago…since then, the painters have come and gone… care to have a look?

The stucco color was just something the painter suggested…we’re not sure it’ll stay, but it’s actually growing on us as time goes on…you can’t tell in the photos, but it’s a good match to the roof.

(After)

What you’re about to see are pictures with a LOT of unsettled things…

Items that haven’t found homes…rooms that are complete messes…

Pictures that haven’t been hung…

…but it’s reality.

Like I already said; a work in progress.

But at least we have a tv mounted above the fireplace now…

Who needs a mantel !!

(BEFORE)

(Before)

You’ll find that this is the only picture of the downstairs.

It serves as an explanation as to why there aren’t more…

Because although the girls have beds down there…

They also have a HUGE mess…

I can only capture the mess of one story of the house at a time

For now…

2011-09-14T19:16:00.001-07:00

A few pictures for the last couple days.

FYI. The leotards did not make them behave well in their first dance class.
In fact…they were about this wild in class.

But DANG they looked cute.

Do you seeee what I seeeeeee?

2011-08-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Kitchen Cabinets...
AND Granite!!!!!

Every week of productivity brings us just THAT much closer to being done...
Gosh I'm looking forward to the day we get to actually move in.
I cant' even imagine what that will be like...
To walk across the threshold of your home for the very first time...
And be able to turn on a light.
So exciting...

I can't wait to blog about our adventures... because really, so much love and planning and bargain hunting has gone into making this my dream home.
(HELLO 1.19/ sq. foot wood floors!)
But don't expect any landscaping...we'll save that for next year :)

August.

2011-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

It's August.
We've officially completed 10 days of temporary living in a hotel.
How's it going? Did you expect me to say it is awful?
Let's be honest here...
It's not.
But it's also not home.
But MAN are we lucky to have this provided for us.
I told Chris... it's amazing that he's worth that to a company.
Not that he's not amazing... but ya know... they've thrown a TON of money into getting us out here and making us happy.
All he had to agree to was a year.
They're spending like at least 30% of his yearly salary just on moving us here for a year.
I don't know. Mathematically it's hard for me to comprehend.
Maybe I just have too much time on my hands.
Our days are filled with breakfast. We're there at 6am sharp since the kids wake up around 5:30 am here.
Then, every morning after breakfast we head out to the park before it gets too hot.
The girls demand to swing higher and higher and higher while they squeal and laugh in childhood delight. Today they laughed so hard for so long that Chloe got the hiccups.
She kept squealing, "Mama! I'm having fun!!!"
After the swings, they go to the big circular slide and wear a path between the stairs and the slide for the next 45 minutes or so.
Love those kids.
By this point, even in the shade at the park, it's starting to get hot.
At 8am, it's into the 80's here.
Don't even get me started on the 2pm temperature.
We're at the pool by then.
Luckily we don't even have to go outside to get to the pool.
It's indoors.
Ridiculously perfect.
No suntan/sunburn/heatstroke issues to have to deal with.
Most nights they offer some kind of dinner so the kids eat there and sometimes Chris and I do also.
Need to save money to dump into the house...
Which is absolutely perfect. It's amazing. It's coming together. It's almost done.
Cabinets went in this weekend.
I started tearing up when I saw them all in.
That was what made this real to me.
To see the custom cabinets that I was able to help plan...to see the custom touches we added throughout the kitchen... it's just unreal. I feel so so so lucky.
So that's our update.
Awesome. I know.

Progress is…Progress…

2011-07-18T18:53:00.001-07:00

It might not look like much…but we’re building a dream here!

We just got the concrete poured which really made it look like a house.

Cabinets are being put in next Friday.

That will be the most exciting change.

I have had so much fun picking out everything and piecing everything together…

I’ll try to remember to bring something OTHER than a portrait lens next time… Kind of makes it feel like you’re constantly zoomed in… so if you feel like you don’t have the whole picture…well ya don’t.

The girls room (yes, I the plan is to put them together.again.)…

Sugar Berry Pink:

The doors throughout the house.

Love.

I have big plans for a mantle here… Just no carpentry skills.

But I love this blank slate.

Not to mention the chair.

Oh the chair.

A relic.

I was so glad to see it resurface in the new house.

Grandma would be proud.

You can’t tell from the pictures, but the tile floors in the upstairs bathrooms are GORGEOUS.

Shiny.

Super thin grout lines.

I.Love.Them.

Master shower tile work.

Truly an artform.
Can’t wait to show the finished product.

Looks like a crime scene with the caution tape…but have no fear…

This is a view from our hotel room…

But the one off our back porch is just as gorgeous.

And the girls’ favorite part?

The trains.

You can hear them passing through the town from almost anywhere in the town…

The girls love when they hear the distant honk of the train.

They love it even more when we happen to catch one pass right by us.

Today after filling our car to the brim (and I mean it…the girls had to hold bags on their lap) with stuff for Goodwill, I treated the girls to Frosty’s.

They were in heaven.

Thank goodness for laundry machines.

And with that, I’m out of here.

For a month or so.

Well Folks…

2011-07-13T14:24:00.001-07:00

It appears we’re coming to the end of our lives on the Central Coast.

Perhaps we’ll come back someday…

But the movers come here and start packing us up a week from tomorrow.

I have started crossing the days off my calendar…but keep panicking with each day marked off…

It’s really scary.

There’s just so much changing.

Actually, there’s not really much that is staying the same.

We’re still a family of 4, but that’s about it.

We’ve switched cars, bought a commuter car, bought a house, we’re leaving one job to start another, seriously now… how much can one family take?

We’re going to see.

But as much as I’m scared, I’m really excited.

Our new town is seriously so friendly.

Every.Single.Person wants to say hi, to stop and chat, to talk to you about god knows what.

And there are sheep crossing main roads.

And actual sheep herders. Who knew that was even still an occupation?

We’re trading in busy streets for sheep infiltration.

Red Robin for the Apple Shed.

The Zoo for the ostrich farm…

Not really that different at all, I suppose.

Except it will snow.
Have I mentioned that before?
I’m sure I have. Because I’m excited.

I won’t be driving in it, but I’m still excited.

And the house?

Well, someday it’ll be perfect.

It’s already getting close. Except we can’t live in it until they turn on the electricity which they won’t do until it’s finished…which can’t happen until 1,000,000 other things get taken care of.

Today, the concrete driveway and patio is being poured.

The suspense is killing me and I can’t WAIT to see it.

Patience…

And since we’re packing up all our belongings to go into storage for what will seem like an eternity, this is probably my last post until we’re in the new house.

Here are a million photos of our girls to hold you over.

1. Lauren will dance to anything, anytime, anywhere. Pretty much all day long. If you can’t already tell from the pictures.

2. Lauren makes a hilarious face when she says cheese. And she gets overly excited. If you can’t already tell from the pictures.

3. Chloe is already too cute for her own good. If you can’t already tell from the pictures.

4. The peas in a pod aren’t always exactly nice to each other. If you can’t already tell by the pictures.

5. I see trouble in our future… they sure are some kind of pair.

Scary thought.

Some of these photos might need to be explained… Chloe and Lauren ride their Giraffe around pretending it’s a horse… Chloe and Lauren found bags in their luggage and wore them as hats… While participating in the 4th of July parade, my kids acted like they were going to a funeral.

Sooo without further adieu… some photos of my lovelies.

The Decision (part 2)

2011-06-13T12:16:00.001-07:00

I’ve been absent for a while. But there’s a good reason.

I think.

I might as well just erase the post just before this one…

Because here’s the bottom line:

Chris’ company that made us the first offer ended up coming back and offering a little more money…

…(which was ALL we wanted…to recoup the added expense of gas for such a long commute)

In the end, the stability of employment won out and we’re leaving the Central Coast.

We still have a little over a month here but I’ve already found myself thinking…

“This will be the last time we come here…”

I thought about that when I drove home from my parents last weekend…it was, essentially, the last time I’d do the long drive through Pasadena, Calabasas, Oxnard, Ventura, the beautiful coastline…

Instead, we’ll be taking in the desert and cactus-studded landscape of Lancaster and Palmdale.

Glorious. I can’t wait.

I’m so grateful for the life we’ve had here. The friends that I’ve met…people that will hopefully remain a part of our lives even though we won’t be nearby anymore…

But the move is definitely exciting. A big change, but definitely a welcome one.

In order to make this blog accurate, I should mention that no sooner had we signed our lives away, we did it again and put an offer on a house that was just TOO good to pass up.

Like too good to be true.

Except let’s hope that’s not the case.

Escrow should close 6/20 barring any unforseen circumstance.

I will make every effort I can to document it’s transformation from this:

To…well… something a little more presentable.

(That will be our kitchen, by the way)!

The Decision.

2011-05-17T12:30:00.001-07:00

The days seem to be running into one another as we head full-steam towards the end of the semester.

One week from today is my last final.

Hooray!

Last week marked one of the most stressful, up/down week of our lives.

2 Fridays ago, Chris got a job offer out in the desert and we had until this last Friday to give our answer.

One week isn’t long enough to make such a big decision.

There is a ridiculous amount of stuff to consider.

Sure, it sounds nice having them come and move your stuff and you don’t have to do a thing…

and you can basically start a life new somewhere else…

but really. there is SO much more to it.

Does it make financial sense? Does having Chris away from us 13+ hours a day worth it?
Can we maintain our standard of living? What are the chances of promotions in the future?

Are our options brighter where we are now?

Well… really… what it came down to is we didn’t have a clear answer.

So we decided not to sign our lives away.

It just didn’t feel right as the decision week wore on.

Neither decision was the right one, neither was the wrong one.

We were, simply put, stuck in the middle.

I don’t feel any great victory with our decision, however.

It leaves us right back where we started; uncertain about what happens when our contract ends.

I have complete faith that everything will work out, however, it’s not in my nature or Chris’ to just let things happen on their own.

In any case, to celebrate our very waffled non-decision to stay here, we had a relaxing weekend at home with the girls…

Lauren got a new bike so she could be a big girl like Chloe and don’t be fooled by the photos, she has a very distinct love/hate relationship with it.

If you push too fast, pull backwards at ALL, or if Chloe gets within 100 feet of it,

she’s hysterical, petrified and furious… all rolled into one.

Otherwise…she’s like this:

Oh. and she had her 18 month checkup the other day. She’s doing awesome.

70th percentile for weight.

90th percentile for height.

92nd percentile for head circumference.

A tall, skinny brainiac. I’m pretty sure I spelled brainiac wrong. Or maybe it’s not even a word…

Go figure.

You go girl.

Easter and Such.

2011-05-06T13:44:00.001-07:00

School is ALMOST over.

I can’t wait. That’s an understatement.

Chloe is always excited in the morning when I’m home…

feels good.

Last night I got home and her light was on and I went in and she was awake and she got excited and said, “Mommy! You are home now?!”

So of course I had to bring her to our room to cuddle with us and watch some baseball.

Cuteness never goes unrewarded around here.

Just like Lauren this morning up at 5:45 so I bought her in our bed.

(note a trend?)

She was just so sweet.

She just laid there and every now and then would roll her head and give us each a kiss.

so sweet.

Please don’t grow up!

Hi. It’s us.

2011-04-22T14:32:00.001-07:00

So much to talk about.

So much going on.

Camping 2 weekends in a row; once without the girls…

…and once WITH!…

There’s also the 15 page research paper: Procrastination central.

Fishing.

Electric nails. Must talk about electric nails.

Don’t let me forget…

But first… In very sad news… Lauren got her first ear infection.

She was miserable while we were camping… I wasn’t sure if she just doesn’t like the outdoors (which doesn’t sound like either of my girls) or she just really needed lots of cuddles for her runny nose…

Either way, she was so clingy and whiny all weekend that she pretty much required she be held the entire time.

Monday morning I called and made her an emergency appt at the doctor; I thought it was a sinus infection since her nose was so runny we had rubbed it raw from wiping it so much…

When the doctor took a look in her ears, I could tell it was bad.

I pressed her with a “how bad is it, doc?” …

At least an 8/10 she said.

I felt AWFUL.

I mean… I had called the Friday before because mommy intuition told me she wasn’t herself… but she the symptoms she had at the time, they didn’t think she needed to come in, it seemed just like a regular runny nose/mild cold.

Anyway… I’m getting over my mommy guilt now about not realizing what was going on, but it’s been 5 days now and she’s showing signs of improvement with antibiotics.

BUT today and yesterday she has been extremely clingy again…I was worried antibiotics weren’t working … but I think she’s actually teething… so we shall see.

Either way, Chloe absolutely ADORED going camping. She talked all week before we went about how her daddy was going to buy her a fishing pole and they were going to go fishing… yadda yadda yadda.

She actually loved it. Chris set her up, casted out for her and she got to reel in her line… It was seriously amazingly sweet to see.

See! Girls do boy-ish things just fine

She even thought she had a fishing vest.

I guess while she and Chris were out fishing, she’d call to the fishies telling them, “WAKE UP, fishies!” … evidently since they weren’t catching any she thought they were sleeping.

She also kept telling Chris that he needs to use his fishing pole while she was using hers…

So cute. I can’t stand it.

She played at the park right near the little lake and spent all day outside… she absolutely loved it.

She hasn’t stopped talking about camping in the trailer, riding in the beast (the suburban we bought to tow it) and fishing.

Obviously she wants to go back. Like yesterday.

Which reminds me, I painted the girls nails bright red before we went camping. I didn’t intend for it to be reflectors so they don’t get lost in the dark or anything…but that would have been a good idea.

Anyway, Chloe was on the slide at the park when a little boy nearby came running to his mom and pointed at Chloe and said…

“That girl! She’s trying to get me!”

The mom laughed and was like, “No honey, she’s not. she’s just on the slide”

To which he yelled, “Yes she is! She keeps shocking me with her ELECTRIC NAILS!”

Omg. I started to die laughing. The mom and I had a good laugh but the boy was VERY put off by the color of Chloe’s nails and I thought it best not to let him in on the female secret, making boys miserable with our choice of gaudy nail polish colors.

Either way, funny stuff.

I guess I’m out of stories so it’s back to writing papers.
As you can see, my thinking/writing is kind of frayed at this point.

Happy Easter!

You Know that feeling…

2011-04-05T13:40:00.001-07:00

When everything is perfect?

That’s how I’ve felt the last week or so.

Just genuinely content.

The weather has been warm, we’ve been outside a LOT…

Had LOTS of playdates…

Went to the zoo…

Potty training is great…

Chloe is really into helping me bake…

Lauren is just the sweetest little thing…she always cuddles her head on our shoulders and talks about everything, she loves to say thank you and please and most recently, “bless you” when you sneeze.

So polite!

She is uber ticklish, has the cutest laugh, refuses to wear bows in her hair, won’t let you brush her hair and she insists upon CONSTANTLY wearing a helmet.

Silly girl.

She gets a big kick out of throwing bouncy balls and she goes down slides with a reckless abandon that I haven’t seen before.

The girls are happy and best friends…

Two of the biggest chatterboxes EVER…

They play together all the time and are really starting to love each others company.

You know…That kind of thing.

Everyday I am grateful that this is the life I’ve been given.

A truly hardworking (SUPER SMART)husband who LOVES his girls and his wife…

And my own brain that gets me through when I don’t think I’m going to survive.

TWO ridiculously fabulous girls…

So that’s it for ya.

Just a lot of happiness and excitement about the future and what it holds for us, our family and our girls.

Can’t wait.

This time, I definitely have too many pictures to put on the blog.

I’ve been taking a LOT (1200 in the last week!) and these are just a FEW of my favorites.