I finally feel like blogging...

Lately I have lost my desire for the internet. Didn't think that could happen, but it did. The less I'm on the internet the less I crave it...most of you can probably relate because it can be addicting. Anyway, it is super quiet in my house, kids in bed, husband still working and I am too sick to sleep, and I got a little urge to blog. Just in case you were wondering what we have been up to (or have nothing else to do-it's very long), here it is...and sorry I don't have pictures.

We did our "quarterly" move. As you all know, since April '08 we have moved 6 times (including this last time). Insane? YES. I used to love moving because I thought it was so fun to redecorate each time and to have a change. NOT ANYMORE! Well, it is still fun to redecorate, but I am so sick of moving. We all are. I won't get into all the reasons why we have moved so many times, but please note that we are determined to stay as stable as possible from here on out (even though we know that without owning a home we are bound to move again, just hopefully not far and not so often)! Anyway, we needed some major miracles with this move! And we got them. A little too personal to blog about, but we were brought to our knees in gratitude over them. One thing that I kept in my prayers recently was to get into a place that would be in a good school district. The prayer was answered to my joy...and I can see Julien's school from my bedroom window; and for a mom who is not easily sending him off to school, it is such a blessing. I am very excited for him, but the emotions are definitely there for me, as I send him off to a bunch of strangers each day. He is ready and I am ready to let him experience more independence and everything else, but I will miss him and I know he is really growing up fast now! Tomorrow we go to "meet the teacher day." He starts next week. It's time for me to be more organized than I have ever been and for the term "bedtime" to have a meaning (for me...okay them too, sadly, I am not the best at that:)). Bedtime, wake up early, have a plan each day, possibly even a menu for the week so I don't ruin my schedule.....basically a life change for me. Now that I probably sound like the worst mom ever, I'll explain. It's not that my kids stayed up way late every night, there was no structure, etc. It's just been like this...they have always had a general bedtime depending on our life (8:30-10ish). I know it's bad, but yep I admit it, I suck at schedules. Rich has always had crazy work schedules and we have tried to help the kids see him as much as possible (even if they stayed up late). They have always slept pretty late too (for kids) between 7:45-9 am. We've never really had a reason to wake up early, so a schedule just didn't feel as necessary. Anyway, I knew the day would come that a schedule would have to be stuck to. And now is the time. We've been working on it lately and it's not easy to wake up early, even if we went to bed early. But I know we will get used to it. They are adjusting a lot better than I am, but I'm also sleep deprived from being pregnant. So yes, life is changing for us. No more fly by the seat of our pants each day. I wonder if I'm going to miss it or be so thankful that I finally have a real schedule. So that is one of my many weaknesses, exposed on my blog. But for the record I feel like I take great care of my kids, despite the lack of routine we've had.
Back to our move. I love our new place. We downsized a bit to save money, but with a garage it really helps with storage. There is just something about this place that feels like home to us. Was it that we signed an 18 month lease? Maybe, but I think it is a little more than that. Do you think we can do it, 18 months in one spot, and we rent? We are really really hoping. Actually we will, but the only move we may make would be to upgrade to a bigger place within our same complex....but we will avoid it if we can....baby will determine that one. At least we won't have to move far or switch wards (and now schools) if we do do that. But lets not think about that for now. Speaking of wards.....We love our new ward!!!! All wards are great but some are just better than others, hate to say it. The Sunday before we moved in here we decided to go to our new ward. (A ward is where we go to church every Sunday and with the same people who live in a certain area...probably not the best definition). I sat next to a woman (Carol), that Sunday, in Relief Society who had just moved here a month ago from Utah. She is a mom of 6 kids. She was really nice and offered to help us move and she volunteered her 3 boys too. We swapped #s and sure enough she called on the moving day and sent her boys over (who happen to be such great kids)! Then she and her daughter came over with cleaning supplies to help me clean my old apartment and just got to work (they helped so much)!!!! THEN, we headed over to the new house and they all helped us unload. My dad and his girlfriend had had the boys for most of the day (THANK YOU DAD and CAROLYN...so sweet and helpful)!! He had brought them back around 5ish, but by this time we were still not done, and she (my new friend, Carol) offered to take my kids. Normally, I wouldn't turn them over to someone I didn't know, but you definitely get a feeling about a family and we had nothing but good feelings about this family. Plus I could see my kids were falling in love with them and they with my kids, so off they went....which was such a huge help to have them out of the way. Rich and I could get so much done after the kids left...we even slipped away to get a bite to eat and made it a date. Okay, KFC/Taco Bell is not much of a date, but to us, it was the first time we have been out together alone since...hum...our anniversary (last Sept.)? So it was fun. Carol told us to take our time. We still tried to hurry, but there was a lot to do still. We picked the kids up around 10pm and they were having a blast playing with her younger kids and their dog. They are the kind of family that I know we will stay close to and the type that have that natural ability to make you feel like you have known them for years. As we were about to leave, Carol asked, "What can I do for you tomorrow, Vanessa?" I was thinking, "please, you have done too much already, I'm in debt to you!" She said, "can I take your kids again?" Tempting (considering how much I still needed to do and Rich would be at work the next day), but I just told her thank you and she had done enough...she insisted I call her. We left there feeling like we just left our best friend's house. We were overwhelmed with how much this one family was doing for us. The next day I didn't call her, but sometime in the afternoon she sent her daughter over to check up on us and she asked to take the boys. My boys were so excited to go back, so I said okay, but just a couple of hours. A couple of hours later Carol and her son brought the boys back and she brought us dinner. She kept handing me bag after bag of food and drink. At this point I was ready to break down in tears. How could one family serve us so much? I gave her the biggest hug and thanked her the best I could. I was truly touched by their service and even changed. It was a testimony to me of how serving really does help you love the person you serve (as we felt loved by them) and the ones being served love them in return. Our families are friends now and we are so grateful. I could go on and on about that experience!
The baby is growing a lot. I can feel his kicks all the time now. I love feeling the baby moving! It helps me bond with him and feel like all these horrible pregnancy symptoms are worth it. Unfortunately I am so uncomfortable already. That comes with being out of shape. Some days are worse than others. I sometimes wonder how I am going to make it another 4+ months. I am already getting crazy sciatic nerve pain! Not fun. But all in all I am doing great, especially thinking about our baby boy! I'm excited to have 3 boys! The next one (if there is a next one) just better be a girl;). Rich is really excited too. He always gets excited when I am pregnant, but being our 3rd child, I guess I would just expect him to be a little less giddy about it. He calls me sometimes during the day and asked me how the baby is doing and if I say, "he's kicking a lot (cause what else can I say), he just loves hearing about it. I love knowing he and the kids are just as excited as I am.
So that's what we've have been up to. Next post should have pictures! Posts without pictures are just so boring, sorry!