The end of an era...

Well, the time has come. After a few whirlwind months (thus the lack of posts), it's finally moving day. Everything...well, almost everything we own will be in Michigan by the end of the day. It's crazy to think that we're moving from this:

...to this:

Part of me still doesn't believe it's really happening. I've told several people that it just feels like we're going on a long vacation. I remember saying the same thing when we moved down here.

A lot of major changes happened in my life here in Louisville; the city holds a lot of dear memories. I got my first "real" job, had my first adultish apartment, bought new cars, lost a baby, had a baby, and lost my pets here. I also grew much deeper in my faith and made some lifelong friends in the 4.5 years we've lived here. As big of a blessing as this move will be for our family, I really will miss this place. Everything seems bittersweet, but I suppose that's how life is. Anyway, more updates on life back in the frozen tundra to come soon. Sorry for the corny nostalgia. :)

whirlwind

The past month and a half have been pretty crazy around here. Between V and Joe's birthdays, our anniversary, traveling, a new pregnancy, and the normal stuff of life, I feel like I can hardly think straight sometimes.

We found out at the end of May that Verity is going to have a new little sibling. This pregnancy has been quite a bit different from V's. I am a lot more nauseated this time, and my sense of smell is VERY sensitive. The only real similarity is the migraines, which hopefully will subside in a week or two; they did last time. We had an ultrasound on Tuesday and were very thankful and relieved to see Baby Martin moving around with a healthy heartbeat. (S)he is due January 31, but we'll see what happens as far as that goes.

Verity's birthday was a lot of fun; we had a big party at the park with her friends and opened presents on her actual birthday. She also had a party with Grandma and Grandpa Thiel and was able to open her gift from Grandma and Grandpa Hill when she went up to visit for Grandma Brown's 80th birthday. She really learned to enjoy cake.

Some friends came and watched Verity for the day while Joe and I went to Cincinnati to have an anniversary date. We went to the aquarium, the Harry Potter movie, and a Reds game. We had to leave early because I got really sick, but it was fun to be able to spend some kid-free time together for a day. Hopefully we'll be able to do that again soon.

Well, I suppose that's long enough for now. I really need to update this blog more often so posts like this don't occur frequently. Sorry for the weird format. I was trying something new and it just didn't look right. I ended up deleting a bunch of pictures to make it fit. Grr...

Sunday

This is the second Sunday I have worked in a row. While I enjoy working weekends to an extent, as it's just less stressful, I am a little tired of missing church, my afternoon nap, and time with Joe and V. Today is Joe's birthday so it makes me feel a little worse to be working. We did have an anniversary date yesterday so we were able to spend some fun time together, but it would've been nice to celebrate his birthday as a little family today.

Anyway, the last several weeks I have been following Women's World Cup, the final game of which is played today. The US will be playing Japan and I really hope to be able to watch most of it. I was able to catch the semifinals last Sunday as I wasn't terribly busy except between games, but this game is much more important so hopefully I won't have to miss much.

I guess this post is pretty pointless, but since my posts have been lacking lately, I figured I would post something. Off to test more pee.

A little bit of this...

I realized today that it's been over a month since I last posted! I guess that's because we've been so busy over the last few weeks. Anyway, here is a brief update.

*Verity turned one last weekend! I can't believe my baby isn't a baby anymore! She's had a pretty good birth-month if you ask me. She's more or less had three parties over the last three weeks. That's more than I've had in the last four years. Anyway, it's been fun watching her eat her first sweets, opening gifts with her, and celebrating with friends and family.

*Pita breathed her last breath this past Wednesday. She was beginning to get more aggressive with visitors and with me, so we decided to put her down. We were afraid she would get that way with Verity and didn't want to risk any problems. It was a hard thing to do; it's been a difficult few days since she died for Joe and I.

I guess those are the two biggest things that have been happening. I'll post more pictures from trips/parties when I get them on the computer.

A Pantry Full of...

Yes, that's right. Baby food. For the first three months of V eating solids, we mostly made our own, but as our schedules got more hectic and her palate diversified, it got more difficult and convenience won out. That's where this picture comes in.

Babies R Us had a huge sale on Earth's Best Organic baby food last week. 20 for $10. The cheapest I have ever seen it anywhere else is 69 cents a jar so I was ecstatic. It helped that I had several coupons making several of the jars free. I left the store with 78 jars of baby food. The bottom shelf of our cupboard now looks like the baby food section of Target, but that's okay. From left to right, we have breakfast, grains and fruits, fruits, veggie/fruit combos, veggies, entrees (meaning things such as rice and lentils, green bean casserole, etc.), and soups. Yes, I am a little OCD about how my cabinets are arranged. Part of this comes from working at Kmart during my high school years and having to straighten shelves for hours on end. Part of this comes from working in a lab now. If you looked at the rest of my house you would never guess how organized I can be. Anyway, we are hoping this is the last of the baby food we will be buying, since V has been eating more of what we are eating now.

She also has really enjoyed the teething biscuits that Earth's Best makes. (I know, I sound like a commercial for the company, but they really do make great products.) Here she is enjoying one now:

In fact, she loves them so much that she is only allowed to eat them in the highchair because otherwise she gives the dog a bite between bites of her own. Speak of the devil, it's nap time. Teething biscuits can't take care of all her tears. :) (Although sharing a popsicle with daddy seems to. )

Tandem

It has taken me WAY too long to get this book review out, but here it finally is. It seems that whenever I have thought about writing it, I've been at work or someplace that hasn't allowed me to post to my blog. So here it is...

I've sort of been on a fiction kick lately, and after reading the synopsis for the book Tandem, by Tracey Bateman, I thought I would send away for it. When I received the book in the mail, however, I was a little disappointed. I could tell from the cover it was going to be about vampires, which had not been mentioned at all in the blurb on the Blogging for Books website. I wasn't in the mood for another Twilight knockoff, especially some poorly done Christian one, but I decided to give it a chance anyway.

The main storyline was semi-interesting; there are ritual killings going on in a small town and no one knows who the killer is. I thought it would be fairly difficult to deal with vampires in a Christian novel without it coming off as stupid or cheesy, but Bateman does a fair job of it. There are a few minor storylines that need more development. Apparently there is a prequel, Thirsty, and if you didn't read that there are parts that aren't detailed enough to make much sense. Toward the end there is a section that seems like it was just kind of thrown in to wrap up some loose ends with a few characters; it wasn't really satisfying to me. The part that bothered me the most though was the relationship between the main character, Lauryn, who is an unbeliever, and Billy, a preacher's kid who has just returned from the mission field. Bateman seems to not have a problem with a believer pursuing a romantic relationship with an unbeliever at all. I am not comfortable with this being promoted by a Christian author when I have seen it cause so many problems in real life amongst people I know.

One thing I really appreciated about this book was the attention it gives to Alzheimer patients and what their families go through. Lauryn has to take care of her dad all by herself (she has no other family to help) and the author paints a good picture of the physical, mental, and emotional toll it takes on her as her dad's Alzheimers gets worse . This wasn't enough to redeem the book for me, however.

If you're interested in previewing this book, you can download chapter one for free.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

And the winner is...

ME! Last week, I entered several giveaways on the BabyBuys blog. This isn't unusual for me; I enter giveaways on Moneysaving Mom, Bakerella, and other blogs I follow. However, this is the first time I've won something...and what did I win??

Okay, so BK isn't the greatest restaurant to win a giftcard to; the point is, I won something! If nothing else, I won ten dollars worth of sodas. :) The card came in the mail today.

It encourages me to continue entering these giveaways. Who knows, maybe next time I'll win the iPad or the $500 giftcard to Target!