Happy Easter!

It was a beautiful Easter Sunday outside! Bethany was so excited it was sunny she woke up at 5:55 a.m. this morning.... boo. At least she went down for an early nap and we made it to the late service before going to my parents for the day. My Mormor and Morfar (Swedish for mother's mother and mother's father) were here from CA and my Aunt Lynette came too. The food was delicious and the kids had fun searching for the Easter eggs and baskets. They are so fast now that they are both walking, I didn't get one of both of them looking at the camera and smiling. I'll have to get better at taking faster pictures I guess!

Thanks mom and dad for the fun day and Mormor and Morfar for the strawberry pie - yum!

Bethany loved finding the eggs and putting them in her basket but sometimes took the eggs back out before putting any new ones in.

family pic - we need the one where we were facing the camera!
Bethany and Charlie hanging out in their Easter outfits

18.5 weeks

I have zero pictures of both kids looking at the camera and there is always an extra arm in every picture trying to keep them on the couch!

Morning snuggle time - now that she doesn't have a bottle, we have a sippy cup or pacifier time while waking up in the morning while watching cartoons. We started it as a way to get rid of the bottle but now if we don't turn on the tv she points at it or the remote and looks at us. Ugh, at least we don't watch tv much otherwise with her! I can't believe how big she is getting... it took this picture to see how long she looks there, I wonder how tall she'll be at her 18 month apt in a few weeks.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your family and friends too and remember that He is Risen, He is Risen INDEED!

Totally worth it

My post awhile ago about having lots of changes ahead was certainly true. The goal of selling the cabin and twinhome and moving to a lakehome full-time is turning into reality. Yesterday we went to the house for a 3rd time and finalized our offer with our real estate agent. Shortly after we heard back that they accepted our offer! It has been a whirlwind this past year wondering if we were making the right decision selling the cabin after putting so much time and effort into it. I hoped we could find a place we both loved and I think we found it. We'll do an inspection this week and then plan to close on June 10th and move in June 11th. Wow. God has been so faithfull through this process we are so thankful for his blessings. We will put our twinhome back on the market after Easter and wouldn't that be fun to sell it quickly so we could move everything to the new place all at once... nothing is impossible with Him!

Here are some pictures we took from the MLS listing. Our own pictures didn't turn out great, so I hope you all can come see it in person soon. Our door is always open, we love visitors!

backyard

Living room with the view I was looking for!

three seasons porch

front of the house

April snow showers? and other news

What a surprise to look out our window this morning! I am so done with snow for the year... that means the entire year, you better not snow again until next January. Not exactly a great day for another house showing.... but it will be fun to show Bethany the house we liked from last weekend that we put an offer on this week. Who knows if we'll be able to work out the details and come to a purchase agreement, but hopefully we'll find out this week. Otherwise, our real estate agent said one thing she knows about us for sure is that we don't get emotionally attached to the properties! We know what we like: close distance to get in to work, nice views, swimmable lake front and big enough for our growing family. Sometimes when we see places we know we have to give a little on things that would be nice to have, so we'll see where the journey brings us. Still struggling with headaches most days. It makes it really hard to get things done that I know I have to (and want to) do. Saving the best news for last: Bethany is going to get a SISTER this September! We had been hoping for another girl to have a built-in playmate and selfishly so that we could reuse clothes that would be in the right season :) I'm blessed to have such a wonderful relationship with my sister so I'm excited for Bethany to have the same experience! I found out that I need to go in for ultrasounds at Meadowbrook at Methodist Hospital every 2 weeks to monitor some things the Dr's are wondering caused Bethany's early delivery. It is great they are keeping a close eye on things because we'd love to keep this little girl cooking as long as possible (although going full term after going early the first time will definitely be a change for me!)

Moving Day

family pic

Bethany helping us vacuum

helping with the rug

hard to finish packing with two trouble makers on the loose :)

catch-up

I've been delayed in posting recently. We successfully moved out of the cabin with no major issues. The closing with the buyers went well and it made me happy that they love it so much. They seem to be very similar to us and I'm glad they are excited about it. It was emotional to leave it behind for the last time! Here are some recent pics to enjoy. Bethany playing piano and Grandma and Papa's. Bethany is getting really good at praying on command. When waiting for dinner she folds her hands and looks at you while yelling "ay!"

I made some homemade play doh

sunny day

Baby #2 at almost 15 weeks - I wasn't this big last time until 20+ weeks! Tomorrow I have another ultrasound and although it isn't the anatomy one yet (that one is scheduled for May 3rd) I'm hoping they'll make a guess for me :)

Feeling pretty good this pregnancy except I've been having a lot of migraines. Obviously there is a lot going on which may be part of it, but my Dr did say sometimes with a second baby people do get more headaches... bummer.

Otherwise, we're getting used to being home on the weekends! This is our first one and we had a Momentum Volleyball event and went house hunting so stayed busy. I signed Bethany up for swimming lessons so we'll keep busy doing that too. I'm sure we'll find lots of fun things to do around here this summer if we don't find another place soon. Bethany is as such a fun age so we'll have fun wherever. She loves being outside and listening to the birds and frogs outside in our yard. She says "chirp chirp" in the sing song voice and points and jabbers to them. She loves chapel at Westwood and cheers after every song she hears there or at church. They say she's being so nice to her friends, hugging them when they wake up for naps (she is a short nap taker there) and playing activities with them. We're so happy the biting stage appears to be over! I love it that she understands what we ask her and most of the time does it! Bethany - you are such a sweet, fun girl. You are busy, but it is so nice when you come to cuddle with me and give us hugs too. It makes us want to pocket up these moments forever!