Just a few more pics

Rolling Along

We are LOVING our new place. I was going to post pictures but than got embarrassed because it is just a rental, but it is a little piece of heaven for us. It has been hard to keep our attitude positive but things are starting to roll along for us. Not in the way we ever expected them to but when does life ever go the way you expect it to? Dan got some part time work that might turn into full time eventually and the marketing gig he has been doing in starting to bring in a little income also. We have got some big plans and ideas we just need time to research them and and get our personal financials more stable.
Blake is our little ray of sunshine. He is a very sweet baby. He is starting to bat at things and LOVES to grab handfuls of my hair. He is starting to giggle now also. His fat little face makes us all smile!!!
Brock is being a real stink lately! He is figuring out how to get what he wants by being a stinker so we are having to buckle down on him a bit which is hard because he really cracks us up.
Shane is doing really awesome. He very impressionable and I can really tell he is struggling with right and wrong. He is seeing kids at school act a certain way than comes home and tries it out on us, when it doesn't fly at home he gets angry and confused. Academically he is blowing us away! He has already met all of the requirements for Kindergarten and is moving into 1st grade stuff. I almost cried in front of his teacher I was so happy when she told me. I think it really goes to show that kids grow and develop at their own pace. As parents we really can be hard on ourselves because our kids should be doing this or that, but eventually they pretty much all catch up and turn out great.
I am up to running 4 miles and have just signed up for my first 5K. I am very excited! I am pushing to work on my times because I am running about an 11 minute mile. I wanted to do a relay race but the people were all running 5-6 minute miles and I am not sure they would want me to be on their team ;) Since I started running I have lost 8 pounds! I have 30 more to go by Tiff's wedding. Good luck to me!
My friend Brittany took these of my kids! She was so kind to do them for free, I love them and think she did so awesome!

3 months

It has gone way too fast already!! I can't believe he is getting so big. We are doing just about the same. Desperately trying to find a job. We have had four interviews since January and nothing yet. We are waiting to hear about another one he had yesterday but we aren't holding our breath.

Trying not to be discouraged

We didn't get the job, it was a big blow to us both. He was so overly qualified. We prayed and fasted and prayed and fasted, went to the temple, got blessings and nothing. It is really hard not to get angry, but I am trying. When is this whole charade gonna end? The end of this month marks a year. One full year without a paycheck. I do have to admit even thought we never knew how we always made our bills and paid rent. I hope that continues! We get to move tomorrow and I am not even half way ready. I am so discouraged that my motivation went right out the door with that job opportunity! I am sure it will happen sometime, I just hope it does before we end up living out of our car.

Pictures!

I have been putting off family pictures for a really long time, and I have been really trying to get them done since Blake was born but we just haven't been able to do it financially so I entered into a contest to win a free session and I am crossing my fingers! Here is her link. She takes some super cute pics!

http://timeheldphotography.com

Crazy Times

We are MOVING!!!! I am so excited to get out of this basement! It is such a cute little house and will give us so much more space. It is the same rent but we have to pay utilities so it will end up being a bit more each month. Packing with three kids, one being an infant is insanity. My house is mass chaos right now. Every way I turn I have about a million things to do. A bit overwhelming but I will get there! I cannot wait, one week from tomorrow and we will be moving there. I will take pics and post them!

Our christmas was fantastic, I completely forgot to takes pictures so I am fired, but we got it all on video (that was my b-day present from Dan). The boys obviously loved it all and had such an amazing day. Having kids around this time of year is really what makes it special again. I am so grateful for my little peanuts.

Updates on everyone, Shane is the same. He is a great older brother and a big help to me. He is my responsible one, his job is to keep Brock in check. The big problem is he doesn't always know that what Brock is doing is wrong. He is dying to grow up and be able to cook with me. I let him help as much as possible but he wants to cut with the big knives and microwave everything. It makes me nervous to say the least. I really couldn't get through a lot of days without him.

Brock, Brock, Brock. Where to start. That kid is keeping me on my toes and is very whitty. We caught him opening a present early and when Dan asked what he was doing he looked up and said (without missing a beat) "it opened itself". Unfortunatley Dan and I were very caught off guard and busted up laughing. Well now that is a common excuse around our house for EVERYTHING! The other day we had a friend come over who has a baby just 2 weeks younger than Blake. I took him out of his seat and was holding him when I gave him back Brock came up and said, "mom, can we keep our baby?" He thought it was Blake and that I was giving him to them. Pretty cute. Last but yet my standing favorite, yesterday I came into the living room and he had pulled all the stuffing out of my couch cushion. I came in and asked him why he did that and again without missing a beat he said, "so I can clean it up". He is a crack up but a distructor too. He is my little buddy and a tender heart!

My Blaker is a ray of sunshine! He is very happy and loves to smile and coo. I love when he wakes up! He is possibly the noisiest eater I have ever heard! His new thing is to scream when he gets excited. It is pretty cute now but in a few months I have a feeling it won't be LOL

Dan had a great interview this week that we are crossing our fingers we get. We should find out by Tuesday if not earlier. He is working with a friend who is doing his own company and it is going pretty well. Not nearly enough to support us but it has fantastic potential. He is really getting into fly fishing and knife making. His biggest excitement is to finally have a garage!

I am very excited to get back into school but since we are moving it got put off another month. I am starting to run, my new years resolution is to run a half marathon by fall. I do the slowest mile just about ever, I think a slug could beat me at this point but I am going everyday and I run the whole way so I am proud of myself. I didn't say I had to win the half marathon I just want to finish it!

Haha, we did splurge a good deal, Dan got some of his inheritance money and decided he wanted to do something fun with it since we are usung the rest to live on so we bought a 40" LCD flat screen tv. We brought it home and I just laughed so hard it looks GIGANTIC! It has been a lot of fun.

One Month Old

I can't believe it has gone by so FAST! Shane and Brock are very in love with him. Brock especially goes out of his way to be with Blake and I love it!!! Blake has been a pretty fussy baby but we are figuring him out and he is getting a little bit calmer.

No new news here really, Dan got some temp work and we will find out hopefully the end of this week or beginning of next if he gets it. It is very labor intensive work at a cheese factory, but a paycheck is a paycheck right now and there is opportunity for advancement.

I am hoping to get on with school the first of January but only time will tell if that is going to happen. I have to get Blake a little bit more stable before I leave Dan to weather all three boys on his own!

Shane is kicking butt is kindergarten and he really loves it. He is reading really well now and his writing and spelling is getting really good also. I love watching him learn so much and be excited about it. I worried so much over him but he has proved to be a champ!

Brock is dying to go to preschool too and if Dan gets this job he will. He is my little buddy at home but he is so bored! Helping mommy do laundry has lost it's cool. He is a good sport about it though. I keep telling him he can go to preschool when he stops sucking his thumb, cause I know that's not gonna happen!