Moved

We are finally moved into our new place (after the first one fell through, we only had Wednesday to find a new one!) and I'm relieved that it's finally over. We are almost totally unpacked and I hung some stuff on the walls today. Hopefully, we will get completely finished within the next week. We moved on Thursday morning with lots of help. It only took us all 3 hours. Our help was great and fast! We were supposed to get the beginning of a winter storm on Thursday, but it held off until Friday and we got 5 inches of snow. I hope things calm down at least a little bit for a while. I would like to save some money for a while before we do anything else. Of course, if Russell finds a preaching job we will be moving again. Either scenario sounds great to me. I'll post pictures or maybe a video of the new place soon. I've got some more things to organize tonight!

Our Uninvited Guest

Our pest control came by today to see about our uninvited guest. He thinks there is only one little mouse that probably lives in the wall between the apartments since I have seen no signs of mice (that is until today). I think he was just saying that to make me feel better because I have always heard that if there is one mouse then there is a colony. We did set out traps last night and didn't catch anything. I have to really keep an eye on Chloe Jo, so she doesn't get into the traps (they aren't the kind that can break fingers just in case she does sneak by). I heard our guest last night in our pantry. This morning I started packing up the pantry and it seems the little guy likes tortillas. I promptly threw those out and everything on that shelf that could have been contaminated. The only thing left were the canned good and peanut butter! As I packed I kept hearing the mouse scurrying around so I haven't touched the stuff on the floor of the pantry. I'm going to leave that to Russ. The pest control guy did throw some poison on the floor of the pantry so hopefully that will entice the mouse and it will die. I'm just glad we are leaving (if we EVER hear back from the new place!).

Eek! Eek!

This weekend was another weekend with another baby shower for my sis and her hubby. We are so excited and anxious to meet little nameless baby girl in less than a month! Russ had to stay home to work and Chloe Jo and I got back around 10:00 last night. I immediately started unpacking all of our stuff because I knew I would need to get clothes washed and get the rest of the house packed up before our move on Thursday (hopefully - we haven't heard from the apartment yet!). Anyway, so I'm putting stuff away and I unpack a bottle of children's tylenol. I reach up to put it in the cabinet above the fridge and I realize the fridge has been moved out because I can't hardly reach the cabinet. I asked Russ why the fridge was moved out and he said that he saw a ..... MOUSE last night!!! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! I have not seen one single mouse dropping or any signs of having mice. I don't know where this little guy came from or where he went, but I'm a little freaked out. And you know "where there is one mouse, there is a colony of mice." ICK! It is totally Murphy's Law that we lived like complete slobs for the first 3 or so years of our marriage (I know, disgusting, but true) and then I got a lot better when we moved here and I clean a lot now because of Chloe Jo and now we have mice. Ay yi yi. I'm so glad we're moving out! Sorry to whoever moves in after us...Russ did inform the front office, though so they will take care of the problem before they rent this place again, hopefully.

What, Momma? You want me to roll these balls to you??? NO WAY!

And Repeat.

I found this cute handmade jacket in my baby box today while going through things to pack up. I decided to get it out so Chloe Jo can make some use out of it. I don't remember who made this particular item, but it looks like I got a lot of use out of it when I was a baby and I'm sure Chloe Jo will, too!

Kinder Surprise!!

While growing up, my Dad would take my mom, sis and I with him on mission trips to the Ukraine. I was able to go 9 times, usually for a month at a time. I was put on home school status so I would be truant with the schools and off we would go during the winter usually. One of the things that we were introduced to while in Ukraine were these little gems:

Kinder Surprise Eggs.

I loved these and ate them all the time while over there. They were so fun!
It's basically an egg that is hollow inside. It has milk chocolate on the outside and white chocolate on the inside.
When you cracked it open, there is a little capsule (I guess it is supposed to look like a yolk, though some of them were green or blue) inside.
When you cracked the capsule open, you would get a "surprise".Sometimes you have to put them together, but that is fun, too!

Wala! A little flying something or other!

This Kinder Suprise Egg was bought by my dad and brother-in-law at a German store in the town where my BIL and sis live. These would never sell well in the U.S. because the company would be sued in seconds because of the small parts. I remember Nestle trying to do something like this a few years ago and they got sued and I haven't seen anything like it on the market since. You gotta love Europe where anything goes!

Packing

I've started packing up the apartment to move into a cheaper place. It is $200 cheaper a month and has a better floor plan, although it has about 100 square feet less than the one we are currently living in. I hate packing, but I do love to get rid of junk we don't need. I already have 3 trash bags full for goodwill and another started. It's so great to rid out and live clutter free. I know it will build back up in time, but it's nice for a little while! I'm very hopeful that we will only be in the new place for 6 months and that Russell will get a preaching job soon!!!

Weekend with Chelley (and Chris)!

Last weekend was so fun! I went with my Mom and Dad and Chloe Jo to my sister's house to attend two baby showers just for her (and her hubby, Chris)!!!
Her Mother-in-Law and her church family both threw her a shower. They were so wonderful and she got a lot of stuff for baby girl!
Chloe Jo was totally pumped when Aunt Chelle gave her a gift to open. She even got to play with the toy for a little while!Chloe Jo is so pumped to meet her new cousin!!

9 Months!

I say this every month...I can't believe Chloe Jo is 9 months old as of Sunday! The time just keeps going so fast. She is such a joy to have and I love staying home to take care of her. She had her 9 month well baby check-up today and she's doing great (except for a 102 degree fever that I am blaming on teething).

She is measuring 26 3/4 inches long putting her into the 25th percentile. I not sure that is correct. She wasn't very straight on the table, but she was really upset so I didn't have the nurse do it over.

She is weighing in at 17 pounds 2 1/2 ounces putting her in the 25th percentile. I am surprised she weighs this much! I didn't think she would weigh much over 16 pounds.

So what is Chloe Jo up to these days? She is pulling up on everything and walking around the things she pulls up on. She loves to walk and is very close to taking a few steps unassisted. She babbles, but no words or syllables yet. She gives kisses which is so fun and just melts my heart. She eats many different table foods. She likes to grab anything within reach especially the remote control or our cell phones. She has been to 5 different states and is a great little traveler. She has two teeth and is working on cutting a third. That's all I can think of right now so we are going to move on.
She hasn't mastered walking with this toy, but I still try to let her play with it like this from time to time.
She really loves to be pushed while on the toy when it is this way. She did fall off yesterday, but there were no tears!Yesterday she took a total of 5 naps. None of them were long or gave her much rest. She just hasn't been feeling good because of her teeth. I had her in my lap while I was watching TV and she was playing. She leaned over and the next thing I knew, she was asleep. Too cute!
She has also started sleeping on her tummy. I just think she is so cute when I go into her room in the morning and she is like this. It makes her look so little and precious. She didn't have a great night, though. She woke up a few times wanting her paci and then went right back to sleep. It could be so much worse so I am thankful that she will go back to sleep like she does.

That's all I'm going to write for now. Thanks for reading about our life!

Searching, Searching

There were a lot of questions that stemmed off of my last post about how the Church of Christ hires preachers. Before I post about this weekends activities (so fun!), I'm going to take this time to explain what happens during a preaching position search (at least for us).

Russ graduated from a two year preaching school in June of 2007. At that time we started looking for a preaching job, but I had a job and we were also saving to start infertility treatments. By February of 2008 we still hadn't found a congregation to work with so we decided to put that on hold while we pursued having a baby. We began searching again the summer of 2009 after Chloe Jo was born.

One of the things to keep in mind about the Church of Christ is that we don't have an earthly headquarters so we aren't "assigned" a congregation to work with. We have to create a resume and send it to congregations that are seeking a preacher. There are websites that have listings and also we find out about congregations by word of mouth. If a congregation is interested, one of the men will call or e-mail Russ to get more information. If they are still interested they might ask for a cd of a sermon or ask for Russ to come and "try-out". After the try-out, they may ask us to come back for a second try-out if they are still interested. We've made it to the second try-out stage at a couple of congregations and that is as far as we have gotten in this process. I have to keep reminding myself that this country is in a recession and that means that church contributions are going to be down because of job loss and the tightening of belts which means many churches looking for a preacher may not be able to afford one right now. There just aren't that many places looking and the majority of the ones that are don't seem to be interested in us.

This has been a stressful time, but I am thankful that Russ has two jobs and he gets to preach on the weekends (though they have cancelled services two weeks in a row due to weather). I knew this would be a long process, but I didn't think we would still be looking after all this time. I am hoping that once we get moved into a cheaper apartment that we can start paying a little more on the car and credit card. Credit is great, but with car trouble last summer and medical bills, our balance has kind of gotten away from us. Hopefully we will find a full-time preaching position soon!

Also, I did tell Russ about your comments so he is checking on some of those. Thanks!

Brrrrr!

Well, I posted a poor-me post and then thought better of it and deleted it. It was just about our struggles with finding a job and how that has affected me during the last few months. It hasn't been easy, but didn't really warrant a poor-me post. Instead, I'm going to talk about the weather.

It has been soooooo cold here!!! It started snowing Saturday evening and it didn't stop until Sunday night. We got a few inches of snow and it has been on the ground ever since. The roads aren't too bad so I was able to go get groceries on Monday. Have I mentioned how much I hate the snow? I know I have. And that isn't completely honest. I just hate being cold and I hate having to drive in this weather. I'm always afraid of black ice and of sliding into other cars or houses or buildings in general. I have these awful thoughts of doing just that or sliding into people. I'm crazy!

In other news, we put in our notice on our apartment. We can't afford to live here anymore. If you know of a Church of Christ looking for a minister, send the information our way! We really really really really really need a job now. It's been 9 months and nothing. I didn't think it would be this bad. I know we are in a recession, but people need God and we need a job to feed our family!
I did take the opportunity to get a picture of Chloe Jo in the snow. I set her down, took her picture and hurried her back inside. I didn't want her getting wet or too cold. She just stared at the snow falling when we were on our way to church Sunday morning. I would love to know what she was thinking at that particular moment.
The weather is supposed to get bad again today. I've been watching it out of my window all morning to see when it starts snowing. No ice in the forecast still so I'm counting my blessings!

Resolutions

I made a list of resolutions last year, but I must not have blogged it because I can't find it now. I did do good with the ones I can think of. Here are a few from last year.

Resolutions from 2009

1. Read the Bible through. CHECK!
2. Clean more. Sorta check. I still need to work on this, but I have improved drastically.
3. Make my bed everyday. CHECK! There were only a handful of times that I didn't make the bed in 2009.
4. Work out more and keep the weight I lost off. Sorta check. I was really good up until winter. I don't want to walk outside with Chloe Jo when it is freezing so I fell of the wagon at the end of the year. I did gain about 10 pounds during the holiday season from eating too much and from not exercising as much.

Many of my resolutions are ongoing so they are the same as last year, but there are a few new ones in there.

Resolutions for 2010

1. Be a better mother to this sweet girl.2. Be a better wife to this wonderful man.
3. Read the Bible through out loud to Chloe Jo.
4. Lose the 10 pounds I gained during the holidays and keep the weight off during the year.
5. Work out a few times a week and eat right to be healthier overall.
6. Pay off the car and credit card.
7. Be better with our money.
8. Have a better attitude about moving and about being part of a preacher's family.
9. Be a better support to my husband.

And last, but definitely not least.....

10. Save. Save. Save.....to have another baby!!!