We did it again!

Moved, that is.  And not just moving from one house to the next- we have moved back to Indiana!

After we had Haley it became clear to us that we were simply too far from our friends and family.  The East Coast is nice, but even after two years just didn't feel like home to us.  We had some friends (and great neighbors) there but just were not established to the point that we felt comfortable.  So, I started looking for a new job.  We were originally looking to move either to Wisconsin or Florida to be close to at least 1 set of Grandparents, but then when I got a message on LinkedIn from a headhunter about a job in Fort Wayne, we really started thinking about Indiana again.  It occurred to us that we had really loved living here.  Its a great sized city- you can get anywhere in town in roughly 30 minutes- great shopping, great restaurants.  More importantly, it was a place where we had an established group of friends, babysitters and also all of our "people"  i.e. doctors, dentists, hair stylist, etc.  It is also right in between Madison and Pittsburgh so an easy 5 hour drive from either of our families.  Once we started thinking about it, it was perfect.

So, I told the headhunter that I was interested in pursing the position.  The following week I had a phone interview with the Tax Director and then two weeks after that they flew me out for an interview.  I had an offer from them the following week.  In the meantime we had started working on getting our house ready to go on the market.  I accepted the position and we put the house on the market in early June.  I gave my notice at my old job and then we were bombarded with showing requests and open houses.  I think we ended up doing 12 showings/open houses in about 3 weeks before we had an offer on the house.  For the record, selling a house when you have a toddler and an infant is not fun.  Keeping the house immaculately clean with said rugrats is really, really challenging.  We did end up hiring a cleaning lady to come a few times to help out with the big cleaning so that we could focus our time on the small daily picking up of the toys and just keeping the place looking presentable. 

Our last week in the house was the week of July 4th.  We had a great 4th- ended up cooking out at home and then went to the parade in our town which Nicholas loved.  They had a firetruck there which he got to peek inside.  Then we came home and chilled out for a bit and then went back out to the Middleboro carnival, again a really good time.  We had the inspection the next day and after that had some marathon packing to do to get ready for our travels.  I'll cover the details in a separate post, but I travelled with Nicholas and Haley by myself.  On an airplane.  It was an adventure! 

So, once we all got here (Josh got here about a week after us- he had to hang back to wait for the movers) we got somewhat settled.  We are in a temporary apartment for about another month - we will be renting a house from some friends and they need a little bit more time to get it ready for us.  Sometime after the holidays we are going to get more serious about looking for a house.  We have looked around a little bit and think we are going to build and even have a neighborhood targeted but don't want to get too attached since we are not quite ready to pull the trigger yet. 

We have already visited with several old friends and definitely feel at home here.  I am really looking forward to the next 12 months- getting to our rental house, Nicholas's 3rd birthday, the Holidays, then we will have building our house to look forward to.  We are so, so happy with our decision to move.  This place definitely feels like home.   

Living For the Weekends!

I had a great weekend.  Sure, my kid is 2.  He has tantrums, what feels like a lot of tantrums.  But he is also a really sweet, lovable boy.  He loves giving hugs and kisses.  And high fives and fist bumps.  Its pretty cute, and kinda makes you forget all about the tantrum part.  Kinda.

Yesterday he was pretty obsessed with his little play tent.  Usually he just plays in there by himself but yesterday he wanted company, so Josh and I took turns sitting in his tent with him.  He was beyond thrilled!  I love watching him at this age.  He is learning something new every minute of the day... and we are learning too.  For example, we are learning that now that the kid understands where the snack foods are, we need to find a new place to keep them or he is going to keep wanting to eat chips for breakfast.  Mommy fail.

I have been making a real effort to try and get him to understand that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy.  So far, he doesn't get it.  He understands what babies are.  Our neighbors have one and he is very gentle with Logan... likes to kneel in front of him, whisper to him, and gently pat him.  Its adorable.  So whenever we see a baby on TV or at a store I say to him, Nick, see the baby?  Mommy has a baby in her tummy.  To which he looks at me and says "babah?"  Its a work in progress.  He has 4 more months to figure it out.

I wish that we had 3 day weekends and 4 day workweeks.  I hate that I only get 2 days a week for real quality time with my kid.  Weekdays are pretty much shot by the time I get home from work, we eat dinner, do bath, etc.  Usually only an hour our so of time for us to spend together by the time we get everything done.  Guess for now I just have to keep making the best of the weekend time I have with him!

2010 Year In Review

This has been a fantastic year for me, for my family.  As with years past (here and here) I want to write about everything that 2010 brought to our lives, so here goes!

January- Biggest thing is that we found out we were expecting our first child, due September 28, 2010.

I tried my best to keep this a secret, but that only lasted for about 20 hours and I had to spill to my Mom the next day.  We did manage to keep it somewhat a secret for the next several weeks, but I am a terrible secret keeper when it comes to stuff about myself so most of my close friends were in the loop.  Other than that, did a lot of cooking at was pretty busy at work due to year end close.  Gotta love being an accountant.

February-  We had our first doctors appointment.  The first appt is really just to confirm pregnancy and take some labs.  Spent some time feeling sick on and off and was EXHAUSTED.  Routinely fell asleep on the couch by 7 or 8 pm.  At the end of the month, we went to Tampa, FL to visit Josh's Mom and Step Dad.  Unfortunately for us, we picked the coldest week of the year to be there and the highest temp was in the mid 50's.  Oh well, it was still warmer than Indiana!  Had a few minor issues with cramping and bleeding so got two early ultrasounds, at 9 and 10 weeks to see the baby.  The first one at 9 weeks, baby looked like a kidney bean.  By the very next week, baby had arms and legs.  It was really wonderful to see that early progress.

March- Went "public" with our baby news after returning from FL.  Had another doctors appointment- they were pretty much monthly appointments at the beginning.  We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time in March which was really cool.  Started teaching a Corporate Finance class at Indiana Tech, which was an interesting experience.

April- Went up to Chicago for a quick overnight trip for a work thing.  Continued to teach my class which ended in April.  We started working on consolidating our two guest bedrooms into one and sold a bunch of extra stuff at the Neighborhood Garage Sale.  We ended up making like $600 which was pretty sweet.

May- Things started getting pretty busy in May.  Went to Chicago for my very first Cadaver Lab and then up to WI for a visit with the fam and my friend Mike's wedding.  My Mom had business in Indianapolis the next weekend, so I went down there to pick her up and then she accompanied Josh and I to our 20 week appointment where we found out that our baby was a boy!



Back to WI the following weekend for my friend Jamie's wedding, which was beautiful.

At the end of the month, headed out to Raynham, MA for work.  We started getting the baby's room ready.  Josh worked on the painting while I was out of town.

June-  Celebrated my 32nd birthday.  Josh took me to see Sex and the City 2 which was awesome considering he hates those movies.  Got a summer cold which sucks when pregnant because there is almost nothing you can take for cold relief.  Went to WI for my first baby shower that was thrown by my friend Jenny.  It was wonderful.  At the end of the month we celebrated our first wedding anniversary by going for dinner at Eddie Merlots.  Josh enjoyed his first $40 steak LOL.

July-  Went to Pittsburgh for the 4th of July and family baby shower.  Again, it was was wonderful.  We are so blessed to have such great family and friends.  Headed back to WI later in the month for another baby shower.  Saw lots of friends and family, which was great.

At the end of the month we started our baby classes at the hospital.

August- Took at trip to New Brunswick, NJ for work at 32 weeks pregnant.  Started getting extremely swollen and numb during the trip.  Diagnosed with mild pre-eclampsia the following week and put on bedrest until the baby was born.  Bedrest sucks, although there were some nice benefits.  I started having two appointments a week so we got to hear lots of baby's hearbeat and got an extra ultrasound.  My Mom came to visit for a week to help out.  My work baby shower ended up being moved to my house since I was stuck on the couch.

September-Only thing to really even mention in September is the birth of our son, Nicholas Jason Blosser.

 Best day of our lives!  The rest of the month was spent adjusting to being a family of three and to being parents to an amazing little baby.  We struggled a little bit (a lot) with breastfeeding but other than that, things went really well.  Nick spent most of the month of September sleeping :)










October-Spent October on maternity leave and being a Mommy :)  We took Nick to the Pumpkin Patch up the street.  


Josh's Mom came to visit us from Florida and got to meet Nick for the first time.  Josh's Grandma and Aunt also came to visit. 




We took our first Family picture.


 I went home to WI for the last week in October to spend some time there.  It was nice to see everybody and for that side of the family to meet the baby but it was really hard to be away from Josh that long.  I was very nervous about traveling alone with the baby, but it was actually pretty easy.  People were very willing to help out a new Mom traveling alone.  Nick started sleeping for longer stretches of time during this trip, which was wonderful.  He had been getting up 3-4 times a night which is just really hard.  He dropped down to twice per night on this trip, which was fantastic.  Nick had his first Halloween and dressed up as a monkey :)




November- Had to go back to work when Nick was 8 weeks old.  The bed rest I had prior to his birth basically stole 4 weeks of my maternity leave :(  Went to Raynham, MA that first week.  While it was hard to be away from him, it was nice to get back into the swing of things.  Had a nice night out in Boston and got a few good nights sleep in a king size bed with no cats hogging it.  Took lots of pics of the baby trying to catch him smiling.  He hides his smiles when the camera comes out LOL.

  Josh's Dad came to visit us and meet his Grandson!  

My parents came to Indiana to celebrate Nick's first Thanksgiving with us.



Josh and I got up and did the day after Thanksgiving shopping.  We were in line outside Target at 4 am.  It was freezing and insane but pretty fun.  Got lots of good deals :)

December- Normal busy Christmas stuff. Took Nick to visit Santa.  He didn't cry, poop, or spit up on Santa, so I consider that a success.

 My parents and brother and sister in law came to us for Christmas to celebrate Nick's first Christmas.  We had a wonderful time!  Nick was a little bit too young to really appreciate Christmas, but he seemed to enjoy the extra pairs of hands to hold him and all of the extra hugs and kisses.  He also started to laugh and was really hamming it up for everybody.  He smiles all the time now (execpt for when he sees the camera) and is really a happy baby.



All in all it was such a great year for us.  I think 2011 is going to bring some interesting changes and challenges for us, but its nothing we can't handle.  Thank you to all of my friends and family for the support you have given us this year.  We love you all!

New Year, New Look :)

Big thanks to Amy over at Aprons & A- Lines who helped me re-vamp the look of my blog.  I've tried a few times on my own and failed miserably, so it was nice to have some help.  Thanks Amy!

First Family Photo

Fast Forward

It is now August 28 and I am nearly 36 weeks pregnant with our little boy.  Things had been continuing to be pretty uneventful as far as the pregnancy was concerned.  Late in the second trimester I took the infamous Glucose test to test for Gestational Diabetes, which I failed.  That meant I had to go back for the 3 hour version of the test where I got to drink a lovely sugar drink and then have my blood drawn every hour for the 3 hours.  That was sure fun.  I was relieved when I found out that I passed.

In the beginning of the third trimester, I started having more and more issues with numbness in my hands and fingers.  Dr. Mills explained that it was due to pregnancy related carpel tunnel and that there wasn't really much I could do about it.  Fantastic!  Then I started having swelling in my feet and ankles.  Again, she said that swelling is a pretty normal pregnancy complication and that I was lucky I wasn't getting varicose veins like she got, LOL.

At 33 weeks, I took a trip to NJ for work.  This was fully OK'd by my doctor and I really thought it would be fine.  The work part of the trip was great, but honestly, traveling alone being that pregnant was really not very fun.  Plus it was HOT and HUMID as hell out there and I was pretty miserable.  My feet started swelling like CRAZY during that trip and I started having some pretty nasty headaches.

The next week, at my normal 34 week appointment, my blood pressure was through the roof.  Like 150/100.  They did some extra urine and blood labs and diagnosed me with mild pre-eclampsia and said that I needed to be on bedrest until I deliver.  Awesome.

That was nearly 2 weeks ago.  So far bedrest (or as I like to call it, couchrest) is going pretty well.  My body is definitely responding to it.  My blood pressure is down, the swelling is down, and the protein level in my urine is down- all good things.  We had an ultrasound yesterday where they estimated Nicholas to weigh 5 lbs 6 oz which is normal and they were pleased with his movement and the level of amniotic fluid.  Also did an internal and told me that my cervix is closed and high, so that means he is probably not ready to come out any time soon.

Hopefully he continues to bulk up and then decides to come out a few weeks early.  Honestly, I am going to be really sad if I have to blow 5 of my weeks of maternity leave before he gets here and then only have 7 or 8 weeks off with him once he comes out.  Last week the doctor was talking about induction around 39 weeks for sure or possibly earlier if I was favorable for it and he was ready.  We will see what happens.  In the meantime, maybe I can get myself back into this blogging habit!  I did get a new toy last week, so soon I will be showing you lots of pretty pictures :)

Santa reads my blog!

Recall this post where I practically begged Santa to bring me a very uber wonderful organization system....  Well, imagine my surprise when I found, under my parents Christmas tree, several large boxes with my name on them.  It seems Santa had been reading my blog and decided to get me exactly what I wanted!

Thanks Santa (a.k.a. MOM.)  You are both the best :)  Josh and I installed this the other night and as you can see, are already getting use out of it.  The pieces that I got fit perfectly into the space we have available.  All in all, perfect gift :)

Santa, if you are out there....

I would really really really like this:

The little organizer freak in me is in love.  LOVE.  The only problem is that this baby comes from Pottery Barn, so it costs an arm and a leg.  And possibly another leg.  But I'm pretty sure it would change my life.  You see, I can't stand having mail, keys, clutter, etc. all over my kitchen counter and table, but it inevitably seems like that is where stuff gets placed.  If I had this system, it would all go exactly where it was supposed to go.  My Dad would call this a "neat container" and he would be absolutely right!!

Updates

I seriously need to do a better job of blogging. I was thinking about it, and it would be really nice to have this blog to look back on just to really remember things that happen. I don't know about you, but as I get older, my memory goes to hell. I can barely remember what I ate yesterday (well, except for the oreo cupcakes, I made, but more on that later.)

First things first, I took and PASSED the final part of the CMA exam in late August. I had to wait until mid October to get the results, which sucked, but I was glad to finally get them and know for sure that I passed. Most of the month of August was spent furiously studying and working so not much time for fun.

One thing that did happen that I have not posted at all about, is Daisy, the Black Lab/German Shepard puppy that we got shortly after returning from our honeymoon.

She is a serious pain in the ass... but cute as hell. Puppy stage has been tough but she is a lot of fun. The cats are not her biggest fans, but seem to be getting used to her.

Went home in October... actually, went to Rachel and Jason's Wedding and then went home for the weekend after that.  Rachel and Jason are such a freaking cute couple... I can't stand it.  I love  her like a sister and am so happy for her :)  I am seriously jealous of their honeymoon pics... makes me want to go back to ours!  Yes, I still need to blog about Maui.  I'll get to it :)

I can't believe its November already.  My parents are coming to us for Thanksiving, so that should be fun.  I missed getting to do the day after thanksgiving shopping with my Mom last year.  We did shop online together, but it wasn't the same.  I guess thats about it for general updates.  I will post some more specific posts (Finish the wedding recaps, honeymoon, Daisy stuff) soon.

I'm cranky and I want to bitch about it

Why am I cranky? Too much going on right now. I have this stupid exam that I am studying for. I have bitched about it before. Well, not this one specifically, but parts 2 and 3 of it. I am now studying for part 4 (and thankfully) the final part. The only sucky thing is that it is cumulative and a lot of stuff to study/memorize. And because of the wedding and Hawaii, I only have about 6 weeks total to study for this one, which is not enough for me. So, basically, what I am trying to say is that the month of August is going to suck because I will be studying my ass off. Ok, rant over.

Starting Over... or at least again!

Hello!

After many months away, I am starting back up with this blog. Lots has changed since the last time I wrote... most importantly, I am now a MRS!!!! :) The wedding was awesome. I will post a wedding and honeymoon recap at some point. I think the main reason I want to do this is so that I will have something to look back on in a few years and really be able to remember these amazing times in our lives!

Here goes!