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!

The OTHER big announcment

So, I alluded to many changes in our life right now. Adding another member to our family is certainly life changing, and yet we have so many other things to think about too.

This blog started with a lot of posts about our cabin. We bought lakeshore property in 2004 because I have so many memories going to my grandparents cabin on Lake Florida growing up in the Kerkhoven area. Dan and I both thought it would be a fun thing to invest in and possibly build a cabin there someday. Well, in January 2008 our dream came true and our cabin was finished after a year of building permits, sub-contractor issues, and plenty of elbow grease each and every weekend we went out there. I love the cabin. I love the distance from our home (just 1 hr door-to-door), the lakeshore (all 180 feet of it on our double-lot), the view from all the huge windows, and the memories.

As our family has grown, we've talked about moving to a bigger home, or if it works to live in our 1,850 sq feet twinhome during the week and spending Friday evening through Sunday morning at the cabin. We have almost everything we need at the cabin but it still is a process to pack up some fresh food, maybe our computers and now Bethany's things each weekend, and also to keep both places clean. But, to me it is a small price to pay for being able to truly relax each weekend... because hey, I left our daily life at home.

Because the housing market has been down there are a lot of lakeshore properties closer to Minneapolis that have drastically come down in price. Before we thought we'd never be able to get onto Lake Minnetonka but now it seems like there are a few places we could see ourselves living in year-round.

So, this leads to our other big announcement. We had both the cabin and our twin-home on the market last summer and fall with limited interest. It wasn't fun showing our house with a toddler, so we took it off over the holidays and then put the cabin back on in February. We had a lot of interest right away with some quick offers but nothing realistic. Then, a couple weeks ago we got a call that we had a showing at the cabin setup for a Wednesday morning. Our real estate agent had lots of dialog with the other agent the night before and by Wednesday afternoon we had a list of questions from the potential buyers asking for clarification on some things since there was so much snow and the lake was still frozen over. We responded and Thursday got an offer. It wasn't close at all so we had our agent give them our final number to take it or leave it Friday morning. At noon we got a congratulatory email that we had a deal. I wanted to be sure we made it through the house inspection because it was all happening so fast and I couldn't believe it went that quickly or easily. The inspection was perfect and they are anxious to close on April 6th. It is a very quick timeline so we've been rushing to get packed and ready to move the weekend of the 2nd. My sister came to help last weekend and Dan's dad is coming this weekend which is good so I don't wallow in my pity-party about losing the cabin. Yes, I'm excited about the possibility of finding a great place to move to, but it is bitter sweet. We put our lives into the cabin over the last few years so I will always miss it.

We've gone house hunting once with no clear answer, so we'll try again. No immediate rush since we can stay at our house until we find something, but the clock is ticking for baby #2 and I doubt it would be fun to move 8 or 9 months pregnant so my goal is by June.

I need to trust God during this whole process as it has been a whirlwind so far. I've been traveling a lot and so my mind is going a lot of different directions. Moving isn't "fun" but pray that we'll find a perfect place that has what we're looking for: good view/lakeshore, decent distance to work, and big enough for our growing family. Dan has done so much research so I'm also learning to trust his instincts to find something that has both of our goals in mind.

Maybe we'll find something just like the cabin but on Lake Minnetonka :)

The Big Announcement

Putting Bethany to bed and drifting off to sleep 30 minutes later while watching tv...

Waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (and one time breaking my toe!!)....

Seeing a sappy commercial on tv and getting teary eyed....

Smelling stale bread from across the room when no one else can....

Did I mention being soooo sleepy?

Yep, we're pregnant with tiny tot #2 expected around September 22nd/23rd, 2011. Given my history with Bethany we'll be prepared for an August baby but I'm hoping to make it to at least Labor Day, because in any event it would make a good story, right? The Doctors will keep a close eye on things this time because routinely second babies come earlier than firstborns.

We are hoping that the 2nd and 3rd trimesters are less eventful than the first. Remember my appendectomy? Well, that happened when I was about 7 weeks pregnant. In fact, I was worried that the stomach pain was because of the baby and the nurseline confirmed that they were suspicious of a tubal pregnancy. Thankfully it was my appendix, but it was still very stressful knowing that 13% of pregnancies end when having an appendectomy. The surgeon and Dr's were very kind to walk through all the risks with me and in explaining that having a CT scan to confirm it was my appendix would have been too risky with a developing fetus. God was really watching over me and this little one and although I had a tough recovery (which I NEVER want to experience again!) we made it through. Subsequent ultrasounds showed that the baby is still growing right on track and there are no adverse signs related to the surgery and they expect a normal pregnancy from here on out. Right now baby is about the size of a lime and I'm looking forward to when I will start to feel the little twitches and movements for the first time.

We booked a second babymoon for Memorial Day weekend to go to a different resort in the Riviera Maya region in Mexico. Bethany will come along and we're excited for our last family vacation as a family of 3.

This pregnancy is going much faster! Probably because we have a little toddler running around to keep us busy. I haven't taken one picture or written anything down besides this post! It really is true that the second baby has a lot less documented with its life! Well, little one, we are very happy you will be joining our family in a few short months. We welcome you with open arms and Bethany has been practicing with her doll. Don't worry, we won't let her try to wrap you in your blanket or put your hat on as we've only see her do this with her doll in varying degrees of success. We know she'll be a great big sister!