Wowza...T minus 7 days

So it's Monday (for 4 more minutes at least!) That means that in seven days, we will be getting into the huge Penske truck, or at least Barry will, I will be driving the Explorer, and driving into our future, and the unknown. To say that I'm nervous would put it mildly. To say that I'm excited would be an understatement. To say that I'm scared would be 100% correct. There are so many emotions running through me at any given time. One minute I can be laughing so hard, and the next, crying.

Today, my mom showed me a going away present she bought for Julian. When we went to the zoo last week, she and Julian rode the carousel. There's an episode of Dragon Tales, where Max rides a horse, on the carousel, named Bronco. Julian's been itching to ride a carousel since that episode. So obviously, his horse was called Bronco. My mom rode a dog, I think. It was Julian's first time (that he remembers) riding one. He was so excited, and the look of sheer terror mixed with joy, is a look I'll never forget. Anyway, my mom bought Julian a snow globe. Inside of the snow globe, there is a carousel. Yeah I cried.

I still can't believe that I'm going to be moving SO far away. I am still most definitely in denial. It's going to be way hard to be away from both my family and friends. I go through phases where I'm excited about the prospect of everything being new, and then there's the phases where I feel SUPER guilty about taking my boys away from my parents and Barry's parents. Now logically I know I'm not TAKING THEM AWAY, but I still feel like my parents are going to miss out on so much of their lives, and my boys will miss out on having grandparents so close.

Again, on the drive home from the zoo, my mom and I were talking about grandparents. I don't really remember my biological grandparents. My grandma, Lola, passed away when I was in first grade. She is the grandparent that I remember the most. She was my mom's mom, and lived in the apartment underneath our house. (A mother-in-law apartment) I have very fond memories of Lola, and when/if I ever have a little girl, she will be named after her. Right now her name would be Catherine Lola, but that will likely change between now and the time I ever have a girl, if I ever have a girl. I remember that Lola always had pepsi, which we never had. I would always go downstairs and drink pepsi with her. I remember watching daytime soaps with her, and going to Chinese!

My biological dad's parents I didn't see very much. They lived in Moses Lake. My grandpa was Ernie and my grandma was Phyllis. I remember Grandpa Juergens loved playing cribbage, and Grandma Phyllis loved making quilts, and watching Wheel of Fortune. I always remember Grandpa Juergens wearing the black/white striped overalls, like conductors wear. And I remember when he would pay us a penny a rock, for picking rocks out of the field! Another memory of Grandma Juergens just popped in my head, although my mom and I have been talking about it recently, so I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. My Grandma Juergens had dentures. I don't know if she always did, but I know she did when I remember back. When I was little, probably like 4 or maybe 5, I got my first cavity. Grandma Juergens told me that since I didn't take care of my teeth, they were all going to rot and fall out, and I would end up with dentures. She then proceeded to click/clack her dentures. I promptly went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth for a good hour straight, hoping to brush away my cavity! The memories I do have of my paternal grandparents are very fond, I just don't have many.

Bob's parents I have the most memories of. They're both still alive, Art and Dixie. However, not married to each other! :)
I remember selling fireworks with Art, and watching Rich's football games. I remember Thanksgiving, and meeting his new wife Sue. For Dixie, the memory that sticks out the most, I made her a corsage in school for Mother's Day. I worked really hard on it, and I think she liked it? I also remember her dog Yanka, and making Italian sodas at Tom's espresso stand.

I really hope that my boys have the opportunity to know and love their grandparents. I think that Julian will because he's 2. He will be able to remember some things. I hope that we are able to come home for residency so that my boys can reconnect with my parents. I think that is what I'm most scared of, them not knowing their grandparents. I know I'm being irrational, we're going to be gone for hopefully only 3 or 4 years. I know that I will be able to fly back, and I am praying that my mom & Bob come for at least one visit!

Wow this blog has gotten out of control long. I will post more tomorrow. Especially since it is technically Tuesday now! :)

So thankful

My mother-in-law is here! Now while some women might cringe at the thought, I'm relieved. She has been in Utah since December, and since January dealing with our family tragedy and taking care of my two gorgeous and sweet nephews. I'm so happy that she was able to come up, and even if the visit is just for one month, I'm so thankful. Now the timing could have been a little better, like say a month ago...but beggars can't be choosers. Julian spent pretty much the entire day playing with B&C. Barry took the boys up to my in-laws (ILs) this morning while I met Stacy and her boys at the farmer's market. They played around, and rode in the wagon. When I got there, we ate lunch: kettle corn, and sandwiches, and then the boys played in the sprinkler. Fun times!
We left at about 3 so that Julian could take a nap, which never happened. At about 6 we went back over there, with Julian's pool in tow. I figured since we're moving in a week, and wont' A) have a place for a pool in our rental townhouse, and B) have a pool in our townhouse complex, there was no reason to bring it with us. And if two little boys will enjoy it while they're here, even better.
So we attempted to fill it up, not realizing, until it was too late, that the pool was on a slight hill. Yeah half of the pool is full, while the rest is empty! :) We will move the pool tomorrow.
The three big boys took a bath together (I was totally reminiscing about when I was a kid and took baths with my cousins) and then did a few laps around the kitchen/dining room/living room. SO funny!
Tomorrow we will go to church for sacrament, and then the boys and I will head up to my ILs to play some more.

GoodMama photo contest

So I took some pictures, with high hopes of winning a free diaper. Which one do you think I should enter?

Goodmama

So yesterday I attempted to buy some more diapers for the boys. My absolute favorite brand of cloth diaper is called "goodmama" () Seriously 800 people were trying to buy diapers at the same time, can we say madness? I only wanted two prints, Fin Fancy and Jolly Waffler . What did I end up with? NOTHING! It was serious madness. The cart wouldn't load (which makes total sense, because over 800 people were attempting to check out at once! And by the time it would load everything I wanted was sold out. The owner of goodmama is named Suzanne. She did some stealthy stockings yesterday, but I was out with the boys, so I missed those too! oh well, such is life. I guess I don't really *need* those diapers anyway. Especially since Julian's peed on the potty a few times in the past few days. I sense PL (potty learning) is coming!!

Today was a good day

Because we're leaving SO soon, I've been trying so hard to stay busy. I really want to hang out with all of my friends, and see as much Washington as possible. Kind of ironic that I've lived here my entire life, yet seen more of my local area in the past 2 months, than I'd seen prior.
Today we, meaning Barry (who was off from work), Julian and Gabriel, went to Puyallup Park. They had the wading pool. We met up with my friend Carly an her two kiddos, Gabriel (GREAT NAME:]) and Gianna :) SO much fun. Julian was pretty much obsessed with the water, and stayed in until he was shivering. We had a delicious lunch of McDonalds, and just some good fun and conversation. I'm really going to miss Carly and her big G.
Gabriel had his first encounter with the wading pool. Not too impressed. I took pictures, which I will upload later (probably tomorrow.)
After dinner, we went up to Stacy & Brad's house. Julian LOVED chasing Tavin around, and we had a yummy desert of brownies, and popcorn. We played Apples To Apples, and I must say that I won!
Keren is about to have her baby girl, annnnny day now Norah! I am so excited for her.
I am really going to miss my friends here. I am excited that Stacy is going to book some photo sessions in Des Moines, so she can visit and take some pics for the wonderful pictures in DM :)

Julian is sleeping and Gabriel is on the way. Barry's irritated that I'm *still* on the computer, so with this, I will end!

4th of July

So Julian was terrified of the fireworks. He pretty much cried every time someone lit anything off. Silly boy!! So, instead of hanging out with Elizabeth and her family, we spent the majority of the night in Elizabeth's brother's room, watching ever faithful Caillou On Demand. FUN!

Julian had a fun time, because he was able to eat cake! It's pretty much his most favorite food, so he was in heaven.

Two weeks from today, we are leaving! FREAKY! I can't believe it! It is really starting to hit me. We got our lease paperwork today in the mail. Turns out it was all wrong, so we're getting it resent to us. We also go the key to our place!!! SO exciting! :) I'm super excited to have 1100 sq ft to roam around in! It will be muuuuch bigger than the attic we're living in now!!

My mom, Julian, Gabriel and I went to the zoo today! It was really fun. Julian loved that Grandma came with us. They rode the carousel and it was suuuuper cute. We saw an owl. It was adorable, and huge, and weighed only 4.5 lbs!!! WOW! I was in awe. Julian liked to say "oooh oooh oooh" to the owl. Adorable I tell you.

Tonight, we went to McLendon's and bough lady bugs. Yep, you read that right, live lady bugs! My dad, Bob, is having an aphid problem on his roses, so I went and bought some! THE weirdest thing. I bought 1500 lady bugs for $10! What a bargain!!!

K well my little man needs to go to sleep, so I will catch you tomorrow, and post some pics from the 4th.

Unemployed!

For the first time in over 8 years, I do not have a full time job! It's absolutely strange! I gave my notice to my company on about June 17th. It was surreal to do that, and then Thursday I took in my keys! I am not too emotional about it, which is really surprising to me. I know that I will miss my dearest friends/co workers a lot, but for some reason, it feels 'right' if that makes sense.
I'm so frustrated with myself. My inability to keep track of time/dates is SO annoying. I hate being late to places, that used to be one of my biggest pet peeves, now I find myself late more often than not. I've also missed applying for some great jobs in Iowa simply because I forgot which days they closed! Ugh!
We got a Wii Fit thanks to my crew at BECU! :) Yay! I am hoping that I will lose some weight! That would be awesome. Barry's mad because now he has to share his beloved Wii, but secretly he too is glad that we have the Wii Fit :)
I hope everyone had a fabulous 4th of July. Can anyone else believe it's already here and passed!? It seems like the 20th or 21st is going to be here before we know it!!