It's all coming together....

We found a home in Texas, the girls don't seem to miss us too terribly much (though every 3rd sentence out of Lauren's mouth is about me, but mostly to the tune of: "My Mommy let's me eat candy." "My Mommy gives me chocolate milk." "My Mommy has watermelon." - each time hoping to elicit from Kim, "Oh, would you like some candy/chocolate milk/watermelon?") and I am completely exhausted.

We found our new home on craigslist (along with a million and a half others), and fell in love online a week ago. It was the first one we looked at, and by 9am yeterday we knew, but we wanted to be adult-like, so we looked at 2 more. We also drove past 4 more, and subsequently cancelled previously scheduled appointments.

This house is 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage, open floor plan, privacy fency around the backyard. There's a covered patio out back, along with lots of shade. My girls will totally be running around in their PJs (or just undies - who cares, no one can see!). Every window has a tinted shade on it - unbelievable how much heat those keep out, it's truly amazing. Oh, and reverse osmosis water filter in the kitchen. I love ro water. Sounds kooky, I know, but mmm, it's so good! Tile, wood or linoleum flooring - no carpet. And, the window above the kitchen sink (that looks out into the backyard) is deep enough to hold my african violet - the only plant I seem to be able to keep alive! It's the little things that make my day. :-)

Oh, and the coolest part, there are deer everywhere. This neighborhood is just a regular neighborhood - lot sizes ~1/4 acre or less, so you maybe can picture it - and the deer are all over the place. Like in your front yard. Or sleeping under the neighbor's shady oak tree. Or standing in the middle of the road. Apparently they will let you get really close - maybe close enough to pet? Anyway, my poor new neighbors if they think of the deer as pests, because I plan on feeding them. :-)

And, so far as Texas goes, well, Texans are a very prideful people. The "Texas Star" or "Lone Star," is everywhere. Everywhere. Every other garage has a "Lone Star" hung above it. There are stars tiled into the floor at the regional airport we flew into, a metal star in the concrete at Andy's new office, and one of the homes we looked at, every single knob in the kitchen was that Texas Star, along with the flour canisters, paper towel holder and tv stand being adorned with them. Oh, and our hotel's complimentary breakfast has a belgian waffle maker - in the shape of Texas. It's fun, but wow, kinda crazy.

Oh, and I've found my new midwife, we'll be having this baby at home, hopefully in water. :-) Texas, I think I love you.

I've taken a few pictures, I'll try to upload them when I get back.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Off to Find a Home We Go....

Andy and I fly to TX this afternoon. The girls are staying here. I've never left them for this long. I'm kinda freakin' out. But they're really pretty self-sufficient - cereal for breakfast, pb&j for lunch and cold hotdogs for dinner - they'll be fine, don't you think?

No, just kidding, they are staying with friends. Lauren seems to not care (I hope she understands what's going on!) and Aubrey was up at 5:45 this morning, upset about us leaving for a few days. Even though she gets to have sleepovers on school days. But we'll call every night, and she can call us whenever, and I told her we'd try really hard to e-mail a picture to her teacher fo rhim to show her.

And, in unrelated news, in my dad's family, there was an 89 year streak where no girls were born into the family (yours truly broke that streak and was subsequently spoiled rotten by Grandma Ruthie who had 6 boys and 2 grandsons before I came along), and now that my generation (of which there are girls and boys) are having children, we're up to 5 girls, one girl on the way and, yesterday, a BOY! I told my cousin it might not be his. ;-) Ruthie's Revenge has come to an end, it appears. If only she were here to hold all these babies, oh she'd be in heaven.

I hope everyone has a great, relaxing Memorial Day weekend!

~Rachel

And we're okay....

Well, Andy's current employer took the news really, really well. His CFO jokingly told him he was an a-hole, and then Andy said "Mama ain't happy." CFO's response: "And if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

So, as far as work is concerned, this is all my doing. Which is fine. Because it kinda is. Every once in awhile Andy gets big ideas about moving, and I always go along with it - look at apartments and homes online, research where the farmer's markets and museums are, etc. - but this time, I didn't just go along with it until the phase passed. I encouraged, pushed, pestered and, well, pretty much, I made the decision for us.

So now we get ready to pack our entire lives, pull up some roots that have gone pretty deep, shed lots of tears, and begin a new adventure. This is all very bittersweet, but there it is.

!!!

If Andy thought he was outnumbered before, how on earth will he feel when our 3rd daughter is born?

:-)

Aubrey initially wanted a brother, but Lauren was so sure it was a girl, she slept right through the entire ultrasound. We're very excited, and kinda can't wait to meet her!

Things, they are a-changin'!

Well, tomorrow is the ultrasound, so hopefully baby will cooperate and I can tell you boy or girl or lobster or whatever. ;-)

But, also, this week Andy will be giving his notice to his current employer (CE). The Texas job is ready, so we will be moving for sure, it's just a matter of time. If his CE takes the news well, he'll work approximately 4 more weeks for them, and we'll have ~2 weeks to finish packing and move. If, however, CE takes the news poorly, he may be escorted out of the building immediately, with me right behind him. And we'd be moving much sooner, if that happens.

I am so excited, but so stressed. After a year of hoping that this would happen, I told myself to stop thinking aboit it and to really just focus on where I'm at and enjoy my time here. That was Easter Sunday when I told myself this. And now, we're ready to go. I should've told myself to stop thinking about it 8 months ago, huh? :-) No, I firmly believe that it's happening now because it's supposed to happen now.

Anyway, big news, and my time online may be limited for a while, but I'll try to update here with any exciting news, and I'll be peeking at your blogs when I can, too! :-)