So Close!!!

We found out yesterday that we should be able to close on our house the end of next week or the beginning of the following week! I CAN'T WAIT!!! I am getting so anxious to start "nesting" for this baby, sleeping in my own bed, NOT sharing a room with an 18 month old, and MANY MANY MANY other joys that having your OWN space brings! Troy has Friday and Monday off so we decided to go spend a few days on the Oregon coast with my sister and her family. That should make the time waiting to close pass quickly and, even better, the temp there is only in the 60s so I get a break from sweating to death in this summer heat. I better go start packing since we are leaving TOMORROW!! YIPEE!!!

Camping Weekend

We spent this past weekend camping with Troy's family. His brother took us to a beautiful place a few hours away. It was quite the drive, but definately worth the trip especially since this will probably be the only chance we get to go camping this year. Between moving into our house and having Baby Boy, I dont know if we will get to go again. I know I have said it a hundred times, but Stockton is definately going to be a mountain man. He is 100% boy and it is showing more and more. His favorite thing right now is definately riding four wheelers. If it seems like all of our pictures are of him on the four wheeler, that is because that is where he was ALL weekend! If we werent on a ride, he was sitting on it pretending he was driving. We went on a 40 mile ride and when we got back, he still cried because he wanted to keep going. I loved watching him and Dad riding together, it just melts my heart seeing them do things together. He is lucky to have a Daddy that loves him so much. They were best friends all weekend. My weekend was full of "stay away from me" looks and crying anytime I would try and hold him. I sure felt like I had been replaced. I guess I can deal with that from time to time since I know how much he really needs me.


This is the treatment I got most of the weekend.

Here is Stockton and Troy's "Forrest Gump" picture.

Here is an example of the "Mom, you better stay away from look" that he mastered over the weekend.

I finally got a picture of him giving his goofy toothy grin, but of course it is blurry. You can see his little chicklets a little bit. :)

A little sad

I had my first real dose of "home sickness" this weekend. My sister and her family stopped in Boise for a couple of days on their way to Oregon. Stockton LOVED having 2 of his cousins to play with. He was so happy both days he woke up and they were still here. We took them to the Cherry Festival and he rode his very first carnival ride with Sam and Will. He had a blast. He loved it so much that his Uncle Pete went and bought him more tickets so he could ride again, but he refused to ride it without his cousins, I guess that is what made it so much fun for him. It was so cute. I wish I had the pictures to post, but they are on my sister's camera. The rest of the weekend was spent just following them around and rough housing with each other. It is funny how if he falls down on his own he comes crying to Mommy, but when he is thrown to the ground wrestling with his cousins, then it is the funniest thing in the world. I guess boys are just weird like that...

On Saturday after they left, we went to a neighborhood park that has water fountains for the kids to play in. We have gone a couple of times, but normally we are the only ones there. Going on a hot Saturday afternoon, that wasnt the case. There were alot of families there and tons of little kids running through the water. I got really sad seeing Stockton just stand there looking lost watching the other kids run around having fun. I couldnt help but think that if he had any of his cousins there with him, that he would have been so happy chasing them around. I am very close to my sisters and I knew that I would be sad about him not seeing his cousins on an almost daily basis, but this was the first time I have dealt with it first hand. I hope there is still a way they will all be able to be best friends with each other and that we will see them enough that he wont forget them.

It was a sad realization to know that I am really his only friend everyday and lets face it, I am not that fun. On the bright side, he will have a little brother soon so lets cross our fingers that they will love each other as much as I am planning on. :)

Having fun in Boise

I have enjoyed living in Boise so far even though it doesnt really feel like I actually live here yet. Hopefully once we move into our house it will start to feel more like home and less like a never ending vacation.

Stockton seems to be enjoying the wide open spaces. He has become obsessed with his Uncle Scott's "tractor" and loves helping Daddy mow the lawn while we are out there.
Daddy is also trying to get him into football, much to his mother's disapproval. I think he has too many other better sports to focus on rather than football, like basketball, soccer, ice hockey, tennis...anything other than football. I must say though, he sure was cute to watch. I guess if he stays this cute instead of turning into a bone headed jock, then he can keep playing.

This weekend was full of adventure. We went biking along the Boise river on Saturday and then four wheeling all day Sunday. And then Troy decided he needed another day off work so he decided to have the stomach flu all night Sunday and Monday. You would think after having 4 months off work that he could work a full week, but I guess it's just something he needs to gradually ease back in to. Just kidding, I am glad he is feeling better and hope Stockton and I are lucky enough not to get it. He was miserable.

As you can see, this kid LOVES playing in the water. It was FREEZING cold, but you couldnt get him out of it. He must get that from his father. Troy will swim in any water. Once his clothes were soaking wet and his feet were bright red, we pulled him out kicking and screaming.

It was a long drive to go four wheeling and Stockton was getting very grumpy in his car seat so I decided once we got on to the dirt roads in the mountains, that I would let him out and just sit on my lap. I grew up riding around on dirt roads, so what would it matter, right? Well, apparently that wasnt enough for him. He wanted to help Daddy drive. Of course, it didnt take long for Daddy to give in and let him sit on his lap. He loved it.

Tell me this kid doesnt just belong in the outdoors...

He was definately pooped out by the end of the day.

This coming weekend we are going to the Emmett Cherry Festival with my sister and her family when they come through on their way to Oregon. I can't wait to see them and hopefully convince them that they want to live in Idaho, too!!

Home Sweet Home

I am VERY excited to say that we were able to find a house within only a week of living in Boise! We were lucky to find a screaming deal in the crashed housing market here. We will be living in the rural community of Star, ID. We should be able to close in about 30 days so we will have a few weeks to get settled before Baby Boy arrives in August. Now all of you can start visiting soon!!!!

Farewell, Old Friend

This post is mostly for me to just feel some closure. It has been one week since I quit my job with Marriott. This whole process of moving and the waiting that has accompanied it, has been long, stressful, and a little chaotic. I knew that I was sad to quit the job that I have spent 9 years of my life with, but it wasn't until I walked out of the building for the last time that I really felt it. I don't remember the last time I have cried like that because I was just sad. I sat in the parking lot trying to compose myself and figure out why I was reacting so emotionally. And this is what I figured out...That is essentially the only "real" job I have ever had and the job that supported me 9 of the 10 years I spent in Utah. Those 10 years were a time of constant change, growth, and learning who I was and what I wanted to become. It was a time of being young and free right after high school, traveling to all sorts of places that I normally wouldn't have been able to, getting married and later divorced, learning to be independent and support myself financially, finding my course to spirituality, dating again and finding the love of my life, getting married and starting a family. During these 10 years, I moved 10 times. During all of these changes, my job with Marriott was the only thing that remained constant, never changing. It was like my home base. It has been sad to close that chapter in my life, but I will love re-reading that chapter over and over again and remembering all the memories that my job was a part of. I am excited to start writing a new chapter and am so happy that Troy and our family are my home base now. Marriott will never compare to that.