Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. From all the texts & emails that have gone around, I think it is safe to say that we were all thankful for our delicious Thanksgiving feast (amongst many, many other things)! Our little family spent the day relaxing at my parent's house with my parents & brother. My Mom was up by 6 a.m. to start the Turkey & stuffing. It was great to have the early morning company because Miles has been waking up at 5:45 & turkey day was no exception! As the morning went by & the turkey was getting done much faster than my Mom predicted, she vowed never again to wake up that early & start cooking! So, instead of a thanksgiving dinner, we had thanksgiving lunch at 1:30 - no less delicious, of course. And, since we were so stuffed from our lunch time feast, pie was for dinner. My Mom & I baked a pumpkin & pecan pie this year instead of buying of them, which was a first for us. They turned out delicious & were so much easier than I thought they would be to bake!

Miles was mystified by the whole Thanksgiving experience. He sat at the table, chewing on his frozen apple slice while staring at everyone shoving their faces with food with the cutest expression of total bewliderment. He was a great table guest, until nap time hit & then he was totally over the performance of chewing & chomping that had originally been so entertaining.

It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day & everyone got to do exactly what they wanted to do after we finished eating. I snuck out to the "casita" & took a 2 hour nap (heavenly!), Mike & Uncle Bill E. watched the Sons of Anarchy finale and Grandma & Grandpa took Miles for a walk after he woke up from his nap. It was awesome.

So now I have been eating leftovers since Thursday. Turkey was great on day 1 but by day 3 I am kind of over it. What I am not over, though, are the Ruth Chris "clog your arteries but can pass as something sort of healthy" sweet potatoes we made this year. Soooo tremendous. You must try them if you have not yet. Just google the recipe ;)

Just having a "bowl"!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone! I forgot to post this on Wednesday...

There are times as a new Mom where I want to go buy every Baby Einstein DVD & developmental toy on the market. This usually occurs around the time that I get my pediatric therapy catalogues or a new Parents magazine in the mail. And then a day like yesterday occurs. I sit my 7 month old son down who has wanted nothing more than to be held by Mommy all day long. I give him a metal bowl. I get 30 minutes of unitterupted Mommy time while he bangs & swats away at this amazing invention.

As I think on this & reflect a bit, I have to admit that Miles's favorite toys (that provide at least an hour of enjoyment at a time) are, & have been, tupperware lids, bowls, spoons, straws & washcloths! I hope I remember this as I stare at all the sparkling new toys in the aisle at Target in these weeks leading up to Christmas, tempted to fill my cart with more toys than our family room can handle!

Family Pictures

This weekend was the first in a long time where the Chavis family didn't have travel plans or visitors. Of course, a weekend without anything planned, never stays that way for long & I thought it would be the perfect time to get some family pictures taken. I had originally wanted to have them done through a swanky Chico photographer who takes gorgeous pictures of children, but our post-house-buying budget just didn't allow for the swanky prices. So, off to Sears we went! And, surprisingly, the photos turned out really great! I wish I had some to post on the blog so you all could see, but sadly I don't. (And, if you couldn't already tell by the amount of bells & whistles on my blog, I am not computer savvy enough to figure out how to get the pictures on here from the Sears website). Miles loved playing peek-a-boo with the photographer's assistant & we got some great smiley shots as a result. The first pics of the session were of him in his santa suit & hat. He looked absolutely precious (& hilarious!) but we couldn't get a great shot because he was so enamoured with the garland props & sleigh reigns! He is such a funny baby & I have to smile just thinking of his little photo shoot. Once I get the pics come December, I will do my best to get them on this blog somehow...

We also cruised around Chico as a threesome a lot this weekend, which was a lot of fun. We spent some time in Barnes & Noble where Miles decided to host "Spit-Up Palooza 2008". Ugh, Mike & I are human burp cloths somedays. It is not fun having a spit up prone babe. I feel so bad for Miles, but he really doesn't seem to mind it. He will be laughing & then just release the yuck without being phased. We also spent some time playing outside in the warm November weather we are having here in Chico & that was my favorite part of the weekend by far. We layed out a blanket & just let Miles rip at the grass & play while Mike & I enjoyed the warm sun on our backs.

Chico also had it's annual Downtown Christmas preview last night. I hadn't been in years & I likely won't be going back for that long! I hate to have to say that, but it was so crowded that it was not even fun. I pictured an evening strolling in & out of the cute down town shops while sipping hot cocao & smiling at people who were admiring Miles in his little Santa pajamas & hat. Instead, we went into one store that was packed with people, found a sneaky way to get out asap after standing in one place for 10 minutes, & went home hot cocao-less. I didn't even hear one christmas carol either! Bah-humbug. I did get to visit a bit with the Weiss family at the preview, so that was definately a plus for the night. Otherwise, thumbs down Chico. Sorry to have to say it. Lots of room for improvement next year ;)

I hate to end on such a negative note, so...I will just say today has been a fabulous day. Happy Thanksgiving week all!

Miles - 6 months

It's hard to believe that in just 2 days, my little baby will be 7 months old! People told me time would go by fast & I can't say how right they were about that. Miles changed so much in this last month & each day gets better & better with him. I think he is thriving on all the interaction with family and although Mommy & Daddy are super excited to move into our new house in a couple weeks, I have a feeling that Miles would not be so excited if he were aware of what was going on. I know he is really going to miss morning songs from Grandma Kisses, afternoon visits from Uncle Bill E. & laying on Grandpa's chest to explore his shirt pocket full of treasures.


This month, Miles really found his voice & began to get "mobile". His more frequent vocalizations started with screeches & cave-man like yells/grunts that were experimentations of his vocal capabilities. The sounds have evolved into sweet "ga-gu-ya-bu" babblings he makes to himself, to me or a favorite toy in conversation. As of 2 days ago, he consistently says "Mama" (as witnessed by Daddy, Grandma & Uncle Bill E. - I thought I was crazy when I first heard it!). When I am away from him, he will say "mama, mama" & look around for me until I enter the room or turn & look at him; then I am rewarded with a big Miles Alexander ear to ear smile. Hopefully, "Dada" will be coming out of those little pipes very soon!

He was rolling back-tummy-back pretty early on, but in this past month he discovered how to use this skill to make his way around the room. He is also really trying to figure out crawling right now and will frantically move his legs back & forth while beached on his tummy or work tirelessly to get his knees under his butt to propel himself forward with a mighty push. He was never a baby that liked standing much, but this past month he has loved it. I put him at the couch or chair & he just holds on, standing all by himself with me there for a "spot", & bangs away in pure joy. Can you tell I am so proud!

In his 6th month he experienced his first Halloween & dressed up as a baby dino for the occasion. Mommy & Daddy missed the actual event, but we had a special dress up celebration a couple days later! He has discovered grass, balloons, flowers & squirrels. He has fallen in LOVE with shiny's (any shiny object!). His favorite book is "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" & he cracks up when I make all the different sounds - especially "buzz" & "hoo-hoo". In fact, a guarenteed way to get a good laugh out of our baby man is to surprise him (peek-a-boo, etc.) or really build up in anticipation before going in for eskimo kisses or raspberries on his tummy/cheeks.

In the last month, Miles graduated to a big boy carseat (my moose outweighs the safety guidelines for his infant carrier!) & started eating big boy food (which means he started producing big boy poops that go right to the outside trash!) He hasn't shown too much opposition to any of the foods I have given him, but by far his favorite is butternut squash & his least favorite is asparagus. He eats his food in his Stokke tripp trapp chair, which has been so awesome for me because he will sit in it & play forever! Typically, he still loves to be carried around all day long, so this chair has been a blessing to all of our aching backs!

And...as of the last 3 nights, he is sleeping through to 6 a.m. & no longer wanting to be fed at 4 or 5 a.m.. This is awesome because it means Mike can see him before he leaves for work, but a bit of a bummer for me because I now get up at 6 instead of 7:30. Totally worth it, though, because I know it makes Mike's day!

I really can't believe he is going to be 7 months old, but I know Mike & I are both looking foarward to all the great stuff that Miles will bust out with this next month. So far, he has really been an amazing baby & I only pray that he continues on this way ;)

Home Inspection

Today Michael & I had the home inspection done for our soon be new home! It was so exciting to get to be in our house again & I have been looking forward to this day since the last time I was in the house. If we didn't live 70 miles away from the house right now, I would probably drive by everyday & have picnics with Miles in the backyard! Walking through the house again, I had so much fun picturing how we could lay out our furniture & day dreaming about all the stuff I could buy to make our house perfect (don't worry honey, I don't have any shopping sprees on the calander just yet!). The home inspection went great & the inspector told us that he thinks we got a real "find". That made me feel so good to hear since this is the BIGGEST purchase of our lives!!! Nice to know we aren't throwing down all our savings to move into a lemon.

It is hard to believe that we will be moving in just 2.5 weeks. The time will go so fast with Thanksgiving next week (yeah, it is next week; crazy, huh?). Sadly, we won't be coming down to the OC at Christmas time as we had originally thought we might. I can't say too much about this because it makes me so sad. Even though I am so excited about all that is happening for us in our new location, I miss our friends & family terribly. I have teared up so many times in the last week from just hearing the voices of Amy, Shannon & our sweet little Morgan over the phone. I try to look on the positive side of things when I feel these rushes of sad emotions, and think of how wonderful it will be to have Christmas in our very own house! My Mom brought it to my attention that having Christmas at our house means cooking Christmas dinner for the fam, though, & prime rib was suggested. What? Does Trader Joes have a frozen version of that? Because if they don't, I could be in BIG trouble...

Good Morning Mommy!

I am sitting here, ready to blog away & my sweet angel is just having a ball screaming his little head off as he dismantles his sea toy. He is napped, fed & happy. I cherish these moments! When I heard him making some noise in his crib before he officially "called" for me after his nap & spied on him for a few moments before going in to get a big after nap smile. I was amazed to see him stretching in an attempt to reach the turtles on his mobile (got them a few times!) & then trying to crawl in his crib! He got his legs under his butt & was supporting himself on his elbows before giving a good push & propelling himself forward. I feel so proud at his new skill, but if this means crawling is coming soon, I am sure in for it!

We had a great start to our morning because Miles slept through the entire night! He has always been a good sleeper, but he goes to bed so early & wakes up between 4:30 & 5:00 to nurse & then go back to bed for awhile. I have had 2 tough nights of crying to stretch out the wake up time & today he went all the way until 6:10! It was awesome, he went to bed at 6:30 & woke up at 6:10!!! Let's see if it sticks tonight or if I am in for a little more crying before it becomes the norm. (Bummer - happy boy time ended - he wants me to watch him play!)

Today has been good. Miles & I went to a Mom's group at Grace Community church this morning. It was so nice to interact with some mommies & the focus of the group being on how we talk to one another was especially well timed for me. My communication hasn't been at it's best & most patient/understanding throughout all the changes in the past couple months & today was a good reminder of how GOD intends for us to interact with eachother. Being able to follow through with what was discussed today will be a challenge for me but I am definately up for it!

It is time to take my moose for a walk now. daddy is coming home again tonight (yay!) & tomorrow we have our home inspection. I am so excited go see our house again!!!

Family Weekend

Another week begins & we get another day closer to moving into our new house! The big day is going to be on or before December 5th, which means we will have Miles's first CHRISTmas in our new house. I can't wait to put up a tree & just relax at night staring at the lights & letting my mind wander. Christmas time is the best...

I haven't written too much about our new "home sweet home" but that does not mean I am not over the moon excited! I honestly became overcome with exhaustion once our offer was accepted & we got all that crazy/stressful loan stuff taken care of. I finally feel like I can relax a little & take in the moment. Mike & I have been fantasizing about all the fun things we want to do to make the house our very own. We are so happy that we found a great house in the neighborhood we really wanted. I am looking forward to sitting our our porch with Michael on weekends (We have a porch - love that!) & watching Miles cruise around on a Big Wheel or play with the tons of neighborhood kids. We are so excited to explore our new surroundings too; we are learning that there is so much cool & kid-friendly stuff to do in Placer County. And any of you that want to come visit, you are welcome! I am really looking forward to being a hostess & finally getting to use all that stuff we got as wedding gifts 2 years ago!

In the meantime we are chill'n in Chico & it has been insanely beautiful here. The weather is warm & the trees are to die for pretty. My cousin Christina & her daughter Lily came up this past weekend to enjoy the beautiful days with us. Lily is the cutest thing ever (& I am not just saying that because she is family!) She is by far one of the smartest 2 y/o I have ever met & just chatted us up all weekend. One of the cutest things was how she thanks mommy for wiping her bottom during a diaper change! I am for sure going to teach Miles to do that! Miles adored Lily & from the minute she walked in the door he was all smiles & laughs. Lily loved that she could make him crack up by saying "Boo!" & that was her thing with him all weekend long. She is going to be such a great big sister to little Luke come March!

We had a busy weekend, filled with dinner at Tres Hambres (Lily slept on the floor after she was done eating!), a trip to Lake Oroville to see the salmon/steelhead jumping the ladder on their way to spawn (sadly, most of the fish were done jumping), taking walks & shopping. Sunday was Michael's birthday (Happy Birthday Shout out honey - I love you & so glad you lived another wonderful year!!!) At Mike's request, we kept it low key & enjoyed some strawberry ice cream cake in celebration. In fact, I am enjoying it again right now. Mmmm. The dairy will get me later, but it is so good in this moment. Maybe in a few months from now, Michael will get a golf cart to cruise around our new hood in as a belated b-day gift from his loving wifey ;) In case you didn't know, Lincoln is electric golf-cart/car crazy! They have special street lanes for golf carts & golf cart parking at the stores - it is super cool & environmentally friendly! A golf cart is definately on our fantasy list!

A quick Miles Alexander update before I go. Uh, he is just the BEST! He is full of giggles lately & I am in heaven. Since yesterday he has been babbling up a storm which just makes my heart beam. I love hearing his little voice outside of grunting during tummy time (or doing a doody!), whines or full out wails of unhappiness (which are rare - I am blessed). His little ga-ga-ga's while smiling hugely & flashing white bits of 2 new bottom teeth are the inspiration of hallmark cards. It is amazing he has been so jovial too because this morning I noticed he is cutting 2 new top teeth - just in time to get them for Christmas - hahaha! I hope he has them in time for Christmas pictures too - how adorable would that be? I am going to miss his gummy smile of course, but I just have to laugh imagining how goofy & adorable he is going to look with 2 more chompers. Oooh, better not call them that - I am still nursing & that sends shivers down my spine.

Adieu!

Stopping to Smell the Roses

So, despite having found a house we love & getting an accepted offer, the chaos continues & has actually gone full throttle (or what I am thinking is full throttle - could it get worse? I am guessing the answer is "yes"!) The whole loan process has activated my ulcer & need for chocolate as a late night comfort to the stress I carry with me all day. I am vasilating between feelings of sheer exhiliration & nagging fear - which I think is normal for a first time home buyer, so I am just hanging on for the ride knowing that this will all be over & I will be putting the key in the door to my very own home before Santa can come down the chimney! Shannon can attest to the neurosis that came over me when we purchased our first car, & this purchase is MUCH bigger, so the neurosis is much more intense. Since Mike has been at work during the day & unable to go back & forth with different lenders & our agent, I have been the little business-woman, gathering al the information & then sharing it with Michael in the evenings so we can make decisions on how to proceed with things. It has been a great educational experience, but overall this is not something I have enjoyed doing. There is definately a reason I chose a career in healthcare - I am not fully capable of taking the personal aspect out of business & business should not be personal.

Yesterday was a gorgeous Chico day; sunny with a bit of fall briskness in the air. Miles & I took a moment to hang in my parents beautiful backyard. We watched the birds & squirrils play & cut a beautiful bouquet of fragrant yellow roses from one of my parents bushes. It felt so good to just get away from the phone & put aside any worries to enjoy the day that will never again return & my precious baby boy. He was so cute sitting in his big boy "strolly" with his beanie on watching me intently as I cut the roses off the bushes. He LOVES smelling the flowers & I have found that his favorite (just like Mom!) are gardenias. He hasn't quite got the hang of gently touching the flowers & goes to grab at them with his herculean grip (it really is amazing how strong baby hands can be!) I have to be careful because the minute the flower is in his hand he tries to put in right in his mouth. Cute, but very dangerous!

Speaking of the Moose, he has been exceptionally adorable the past few days. He unleashes the most adorable laughter that lights up his entire face when I anticipate tickling his tummy, giving him eskimo kisses or play peek-a-boo. He has started to try to "give mommy kisses" on request & grabs my neck while lunging at my face with an open drool covered mouth. It's the best. He is not crawling yet, but he is really thinking about it. I can watch his little brain trying to figure out how he is going to move his body to get to the TV changer mommy put out of reach. He is starting to figure out how his body is supposed to move while crawling when he is laying on his back. It is so cute; I will put him on his changing pad & he will just start moving his arms & legs back & forth like he is dancing up a storm (Let me bring to mind Lynelles's boyfriend as a visual for some of you) I can wait a few more weeks for this milestone, though. I am still enjoying being able to comfortably put him in one place & walk out of the room briefly. And, I can tell that once this kid moves, he is going to be into EVERYTHING a'la Mason Chavis style. Healthy curiousity, I know, but extra work for Mom. Today we move on from pureed aspargus to apples (how exciting, huh?) but I am super excited because I am so over aspargus smelling baby pee.

Gotta go check in on the little one ;)

House!

So, we got an offer accepted on a house! We are super excited & a little overwhelmed at the same time! It is a lovely home in the neighborhood we wanted so that is fantastic! I am super exhausted right now from travelling to & from Lincoln and starting to look into loans - the major buzz-kill of the buying your first house high.

Need a brain break & a good night sleep. Thank you GOD for this wonderful blessing...

Nap Training - Again :(

Welcome to a new week! I tried to update the blog over the weekend using my new wireless internet connection that I was so proud to have instaled all by myself, but after typing an entire entry, my connection was lost & it took all my typing with it. So aggravating. Another lesson in why the "save" button exists.

It was a beautiful Fall weekend in Chico. We filled the days with cooking that warmed the house with smells of roast pheasant, stuffing & chocolate chip cookies, and a gorgeous walk through Bidwell Park where the leaves are changing the most amazing colors & the slightest breeze brings them raining down on you like snowflakes. I got to watch the online service at Compass Bible Church from the previous week (compassbiblechurch.org) which served as a much needed reminder of what my priorities should be; that had gotten away from a bit in all the hustle & bustle of the last few weeks. My plan is to watch Sunday's service today & begin my bible study. How awesome is technology! Mike & I didn't get our date night on Friday because we were too tired to stay up past 9:30, but we caught a movie in the "casita" together on Saturday & it was wonderful to have just a little time with only us to snuggle & chill. Aside from all this lovely stuff that filled up our 2 days, we busted out some chores, made another offer on a house & got serious about how we could cut out uneccesary expenses so that we could make our house a home once we finally get an offer accepted!

Today, Chico is gloomy & I feel I little that way myself because I realized that Miles has gotten his routine totally messed up since our move & I need to get things back on track for his well-being & mine. This means, enduring a bit of crying, which I hate but it is very effective. He was doing so great with naps, that he would just zone out for a minute within a certain window of time & I would whisk him off to his crib, give him a kiss & off to sleepy-sleepies he would go without a peep of protest. Now, though, he has gotten used to being held & cuddled until he is just asleep (help from grandparents is wonderful & difficult all at the same time...) so he doesn't like it when he has to do the soothing work himself now. I really wouldn't mind rocking him to sleep for 10 minutes or so, but he HATES to sit & rock (which means he likes to be held while I stand & bounce him) & he weighs close to 20 lb.s! He is really stubborn too, so I know I am in for a battle of wills over the next couple days & Mommy's will usually gives in first. I always talk myself out of letting him cry it out, thinking, "maybe his diapers wet" or "he's teething & in pain - this is just cruel". I can't really worry about until Wednesday, though, because tomorrow Grandma Kisses is with him all day while I head to Lincoln to look at more houses. I don't need to tell you about Grandma Kisses ability to listen to her only grandson cry - not gonna happen.

Oh, & I should mention, that going to the salon was a perfect cure for my case of the "mommies" last Friday. It was a totally relaxing & enjoyable experience until the 3rd hour when my stomach began to ingest itself & I got the shakes. I always forget to bring snack to these marathon hair appointments! Despite the massive shedding that I have been experiencing, I still have a plethora of hair that takes forever to foil, blow dry & cut. My hair is dark again & I dig it. I have a little momminess going on this morning, but I had to wake up 1 hour early because Miles woke up 1 hour earlier. It was a good thing because he got to see Daddy off to work, but bad because I was banking on that sleep. Coffee is a blessing on these days!

Hope you all get your week off to a good start!

Happy Birthday LoLa!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BONITA LAU-RITA METER MAID!!!

I am boycotting writing anything more because my computer just lost my entire post while I was PROOF READING! Whatever. Grrrrrrr.

Come Home to Mama!

So today started out good. I felt like I took all week to recover from the festivities in San Diego this past weekend, & today I woke up refreshed at 7:30 to lots of sunshine & big smiles from the monkey. All was good until about 9:00 when Miles puked on my neck, in my hair & all down my shirt. He proceeded to whine while I cleaned myself up, but a container of dental floss turned out to be the perfect distraction to whatever was bothering him. After the mess, I tried to do some chores while Miles sat in his high chair & threw every toy onto the floor within 10 seconds of me giving it to him. He has discovered how to play fetch with Mommy & it is his new favorite game. Then he became really upset & not even the deep squat bounce could calm him down. Eventually he fell alseep, ahhh. And I rewarded myslef with my first snack size kit-kat of the day. The nap lasted like 15 minutes. After he played & ate again he enjoyed sitting in his highchair, where he produced a new form of yuck that can only be attributed to the introduction of carrots yesterday. The little dude was still tired & kept rubbing his eyes, so down he went for nap #2. He has been napping peacefully now for over an hour. I finally got to take a shower & shaved my legs for the first time since Saturday. Really looking in the mirror, I was horrified by the "mommy-ness" that had gotten the better of me lately (hair unwashed for 3 days, overgrown eyebrows, chipped nail polish - you get the idea). I decided that I needed a major overhaul. I busted out the tweezer & plucked away while I called the receptionist at Dimensions Hair Salon & begged her to get me in asap. I have an appointment at 4:30 - so stoked. Perfect timing for me to get myself together too because Mike comes "home" tonight after a long week away at work in Sacramento - maybe there is a date night in our future! I am so happy it is the weekend because I have missed my love all week...OK, time for another kit-kat ;)

Blogg'n Out & Catch'n Up

Hello family & friends! Our lovely friend Amy Erwin told us about this great blog sight & urged us to start our own Chavis family blog to keep our loved ones up to date on our day to day lives. Now that we have moved to Northern California, it seems like there is no better time to begin this blog - so, here we go! I am hoping that this will help to keep us in touch with everyone we care so much about since emailing & calling each of you as often as we would like is impossible!

So, we start this new blog with an ending & a beginning...

To catch some of you up, our little family (Michael, me - Hillary, & Miles Alexander the Great) recently relocated to Northern California from our Southern California home in Mission Viejo. Even though we debated this big move for months, the actual move itself happened so fast & without much warning. Within a matter of 10 days of Mike finding out he had secured the job he wanted in Sacramento (way to go babe!) we packed up our condo & dumped our lives into my parents home in Chico (thanks Mom & Dad!). We plan to stay with my parents until we buy our 1st home in Lincoln, CA! So exciting! The 10 days leading up to our move were INSANE & on top of packing up way more stuff than I ever imagined we had, I got hit by a drunk driver (I am OK, Miles was not in the car - thank you LORD - & justice was served!) & had oral surgery requiring some drugs that kicked my butt for a full 48 hours. The move itself was a little rocky. I will say that I now know why people hire profesional movers despite the nasty expense. And I just have to give a HUGE thanks to the most AMAZING in-laws (Harlis & Lyn), family (Uncle Billy) & friends (John Parker, Brock & Alberto) who made it possible for us to move (& helped us solve our unforeseen moving dilemmas!). After too much chaos to even want to remember, we made it to Chico safely & the craziness has not stopped since.

I have to say that I love being around my family, especially since Miles thrives on all the love & attention (& I guess you could say Grandma Kisses & Grandpa do too!), but life in Chico is no small adjustment. Example: it rains here - a lot lately-, it is cold, lots of people have dreadlocks, lots of people ride bikes with baskets full of cans they salvaged from garbage cans, everyone seems to have a VERY BIG truck, people say "Hi" to you when you pass by, there are huge trees that have changing leaves, I have not seen one land rover anywhere, gas is cheaper, & I could go on. My parents have been very generous in letting us move into their home & it just so happened that they finished building a guest house in the backyard right before we moved up! How awesome is that? If it wasn't for Mike's gnarly commute, we might never move out! Haha!

Since we have been in Chico, our days have been filled with house hunting (so much more intense than I ever imagined!), caring for Miles & un-packing. Mike started his new job last week as a Senior Recruiter with TechniSource & aside from the temporary commute (a little under 2 hrs each way!) he is really happy with everything. Our friends (Michael, Amber, Brian & Kyle) have been letting Mike crash at their places so he can have a break from the drive every once in awhile; it is so wonderful to have such generous friends & we can't wait to return the favor once we are settled into a new home ;) I have been looking for houses on-line, talking with our real estate agent/mortgage brokers & faxing offers in between caring for Miles, doing laundry, cleaning & cooking. Searching for a home from a distant location is not easy but thankfully we have an awesome agent, Josh Blackwood with Here to Help Realty in Newcastle. And, my mom has been super helpful in our search since she is a closet real estate fanatic! The houses in Lincoln are all pretty new & we have been impressed by most of what we have seen. We have put several offers in on houses we would love to call home & with any luck one will get accepted. The market in Placer County is so booming that most houses have 4 or 5 offers that we have to compete with. We definately were not expecting that!

This past weekend, Mike & I got to take a little mini-vacay from all the nuttiness of our move & we travelled to San Diego for Amy & Alberto's wedding. It was my first full weekend away from the little man & I have to say I did much better being away from him than I thought I would. Although, I was sick with anticipation the entire drive home from the Sac airport - I just wanted to hold him so badly. MIz stayed with Grandma & had a fabulous time - he didn't even know I was gone! Our weekend in SD was busy but we had SOOOOOO much fun & San Diego was at it's best - clear skies & 80 degree temperatures. Ahhhh, why did we move again? Mike & I were both in the wedding party & had the best time getting to know Amy & Alberto's out of town friends & family. The rehersal dinner was on Halloween & we all dressed up for the event. Jay ,as Oscar the grouch, & Alberto Sr., as Tony Montano, definately got my vote for best costume. Mike was a sweaty gorilla (full gorilla suit & increased body temerature from shots of alcohol = stinky man in gorilla costume) & I was Wonder Woman. It was an awesome rehersal dinner that I will think of every time I hear the Jason Mraz sond Shann, Briggy & I played over & over again. As for the BIG day, I loved getting to be with Amy as she got ready. I was SO emotional as I observed the joy, peace & love that surrounded her. It really was a perfect wedding & Amy was one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen. And, Alberto didn't look so bad himself ;) The newlyweds spent the entire evening together on the dance floor which I thought was a true testiment to their relationship. You could just see they had the best time! So, to our beloved friends - Congratulations! - & we are so jealous that you are chillax'n in Argentina as I type this! It was also wonderful to see our friends & family again since our move happened so fast. Being around everyone made me so OC-sick & I was again confronted with the fact that this move is so bittersweet. Oh, I am really going to miss everyone...:(

So, that is all for now! I will do my best to keep this thing updated at least weekly. And, please don't judge how well I will do with this blog by my use of Facebook or MySpace - I know, I suck. But, this will be different - just wait!