It's official.

We are homeowners.
We finally finally finally closed on our house today.
It was a long, horrible process, and I'm so relieved it's over. I'm going to pretend it never happened and continue unpacking our never-ending boxes. And cooking meals in my awesome kitchen.
Hotel Webb is now open to visitors. Come on over.

Going home

I never got around to blogging while here in Houston. We had a grand time, especially for the days when everyone (except Andrew, as usual) was together for our Andersen family reunion.

But our flight is this evening and we're going home. Yes, home, because we got a house! Finally! We should (knock on wood) close tomorrow and have the movers come Thursday, if everything works out. I'm not planning on it, but I'm hopeful. Andrew has been living in our house for about a week and a half and we'll just pay rent to the owner until it's officially ours. No furniture, but it's home.

Now if I can just get through the airport and flying business unscathed. (On the way out here I turned around in the airport bathroom to find Leighton holding a used tampon applicator. Makes me throw up in my mouth to think of it. That definitely counts as scathed, in my opinion. If we can avoid that again, we'll survive.) Wish me luck.

Next time I post it will be from my new home!

Let's blow this popsicle stand.

We have been in Las Vegas one month and 7 days.
We are no closer to getting a house than when we arrived.
I'm getting the heck out of here and going to my parents' house in Houston for 2 weeks.
Peace out, Sin City.

Monday #4

Today marks 4 weeks since we arrived in Las Vegas. Our 4th week living out of suitcases and carting everything from place to place. We are staying at the Culvers' house again while they are out of town. We are grateful for generous friends who shelter our homeless selves and save us lots of money on hotels. As we pulled our suitcases in yet again last night, both Andrew and I remarked how utterly tired we are of this. We are really hoping to close this week. Otherwise I'm running away to stay with family somewhere and not coming back until I have a home. :) I'm not trying to be a complainer, but it will be so nice to have a home to call our own.

We had to take Eva to the doctor on Saturday and found out that she has a UTI. I was so relieved just to get a diagnosis and some antibiotics to help the poor thing feel better. Her medicine tastes disgusting and she has to take it twice a day, but she has been so brave and good about it. Medicine is a REAL struggle with her, so this is truly a miracle that she's taking it well.

Yesterday Andrew and I watched the PBS documentary "Faces of America." I highly recommend it - it was awesome. It made us both want to learn more about our family history. Also, that we had enough money to have our DNA examined.

Maybe the third time WILL be the charm.

I am starting to prepare mentally for giving birth to and having another newborn. As you know, I have always been verbal about how much I hate the baby phase. Yesterday I came upon a blog called SortaCrunchy - she did a series of posts on Babywise that made me step back and think...a LOT. I thought about WHY I don't like having a newborn. Obviously, it's not the newborn's fault. But for some reason, I went into parenthood with the mentality that the baby was the adversary and it was a battle from the beginning. I couldn't give an inch or I would lose the war. (Where did this come from? I don't know. My mother CERTAINLY doesn't feel that way. She adores babies.) Schedule them, put them to sleep in their own bed, cry it out, don't give in when they wake up at night, show them who is boss and how things work from day one. Those were my goals. Um, hello? No wonder! What an incredibly stressful way to enter parenting. Now that I have done it twice, I'm ready to try something new. And I'm really hoping that the third time will be the charm.
I'm going to try breastfeeding again. But this time I'm not going to pump - I've done that enough for a lifetime. I have put many heartfelt prayers up, asking for my body to know what to do and how to produce enough milk to feed this child without supplementing formula. Not because I'm against formula (obviously), but because I want to try something new.
I'm going to try wearing this baby in a sling. I know it's a controversial topic right now what with the media craze on 2 types of slings being recalled. But I feel I have educated myself enough that I feel good doing it. We'll see how it goes.
I'm not going to push sleeping through the night at 8 weeks with this baby. I will still retain a somewhat scheduled approach if I can, simply because that is my nature and personality. But I won't hold any iron-fisted standard over where we SHOULD be with sleeping. I'm going to try to relax in that area and be a better nighttime parent. (Read this post, please. It really got to me. That is one of my main struggles as a mother.)
I'm going to look at this baby as a gift from the Lord and try to savor the precious newborn moments by rocking and cuddling rather than stressing out about schedules and feeding times.
So there is my admission that I did it all wrong the first two times (thank heavens they still turned out fine, so far) and I'm ready to go at it again. With fresh perspective.

My bi-monthly update

~I haven't taken a single picture in a LONG time. Not even on Andrew's birthday or Mother's Day. Terrible.
~Yesterday two old roommates from my first semester of college, Samye and Marissa, came to swim at our hotel. Kara came too, and it was like a twilight zone moment. I just kept thinking, how strange. I never would have imagined 7 years ago that one day we would all be sitting together at a swimming pool in Las Vegas. Life is strange.
~I'm getting an awesome tan. And I found a cute maternity swimsuit - at least as cute something so large can be. I am SO much bigger than my other pregnancies at 24 weeks, it's not even funny. I cringe to think how huge I'll be at this point with #4. I don't know if it's physically possible to stretch any bigger any faster.
~We got in trouble from the hotel for the kids coloring with chalk on the sidewalk. The guy came today with a huge, LOUD machine to rudely spray it all off. Part of me wants to be spiteful and just give them the chalk again and tell them to go to town. The immature side of me.
~Today as I made peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, I broke down bawling. I miss Washington. I have never cried from missing a place in my life, other than Nauvoo. But I do miss WA. This time of year is the BEST there. I miss my friends there, and I miss SO much having a house of our own. I am trying every day not to spiral into uncontrollable depression from being homeless, but it's really really hard. Probably one of the biggest trials on my patience I've ever experienced. Unfortunately, I think I'm failing at this trial. I JUST WANT MY HOUSE. It's almost all I think about, try as I might to distract myself.
~Andrew started training. He has an hour and a half commute each way from our hotel, so it makes for some long days. For all of us. But I'm glad that he's keeping busy and is back in study mode. It reminds me of when we were first married and he came home with all his big pilot binders. This is the 4th "pilot training" we've experienced in our marriage. And hopefully the last.
~I got to take a Target trip by myself the other day. I bought an adorable turquoise hat with a big brim for all our days at the pool, some bright pink nail polish to compliment the beautiful tan feet I'm getting, and a bag of gummy bears. And a ring, and some more sunglasses (I can't seem to keep track of them for very long). It was so nice to go by myself and be able to look around at what I wanted!

Living in a casino

We made it to Las Vegas! Right now, we are living in a casino. Here is a recap of the last 2 weeks or so, for anyone who is interested.
April 27-29: The packers and movers came to our WA home and took away all our stuff. We slept those first two nights in our own house and then the third night got a hotel on base. (Air mattresses and I do NOT agree, especially when I am pregnant.)
Fri., April 30: After cleaning and totally emptying our home, we pulled out of town around noon, leaving that beautiful place with a few tears and lots of great memories. As I left the house for the last time, I leaned on the counter and imagined all the good times we had there. I saw myself pulling meal after meal out of the oven and standing over the stove countless times. I saw the kids sliding down the stairs on their stomachs at top speed, laughing hysterically. I saw Leighton learning to crawl and walk. I saw Andrew caring for our backyard, planting our garden, and aerating every chance he got. Good times. That night we stayed in Coeur D'Alene. We ate dinner at a yummy Greek restaurant (the chef's name was Eva) and slept in the HIE, our home away from home.
Saturday, May 1: Our longest day of driving. Andrew somehow forgot Leighton's allergy to dogs and let him pet a filthy one at the hotel in the morning. After him screaming for a while, we found a little mountain town to pull over and found his little eyes almost swollen shut. After we realized what caused the reaction and I was sufficiently angry with Andrew, we gave him Benadryl and were back on our way. (Separate cars the whole way was NO FUN.) We drove through never-ending Montana, stopped in Missoula for a terrible lunch, and finally made it through snow storms and rainclouds to my sister Kim's house in Idaho Falls. Her little baby Sam was a week old that day, and it was fun to meet him and see my mom, who was still there helping out. We ate Cafe Rio for dinner and once again slept at the HIE.
Sunday, May 2: We went to most of sacrament meeting at Kim's ward and left after eating Mom's delicious chicken noodle soup for lunch. (I had 4 bowls.) We made it to Utah that evening and had fun visiting with all the Webbs. 5 of the 8 siblings were there, and I was reminded how lucky I am to love all my in-laws so much. Annie made us a good dinner and we had a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed. Oh, and at this point our allergies were in full swing. Eva was the worst and was sniffy and sneezy and wheezy - the worst for a car ride.
Monday, May 3: We stopped to see my sister Cami at work for a minute and then went to a late breakfast at IHOP. Of all places, that is where the greatest miracle happened on this trip: we got the phone call saying we got the final approval on our house. After I got off the phone I couldn't hold back the tears. Minutes before getting on the road to Las Vegas, we found out we had a house to call our own. Better late than never. The drive wasn't too bad that day, as we were so excited just to get there. I was pretty surprised by the heat so early in May and wished in my heart for the cool WA rain. (It wouldn't be the last time I wished for rainclouds that week.) We went to our friends' the Culvers' house, where we were staying while they were out of town. Our house is in their neighborhood, so we got to drive and walk past it a couple times that day, wishing we could just go straight there. But it was so nice to sleep in a home and not a hotel. That night we went to Clay and Kara Noyes' house for dinner, and I felt SO grateful to live near friends that feel like family.
Tuesday, May 4: Andrew reported to work, and I waited all day for 5pm to come. At 5pm we walked around the corner to our house and got to go in for the first time. I was pretty nervous, considering I had only ever seen 5 pictures of it and had no idea what condition it would be in. When I walked in the kitchen, I had to hold back tears, for real. It was PERFECT. The whole house is perfect and I couldn't have hoped for anything better. What a miracle that it's ours. (Or it will be, if we can ever close. And if I can ever learn some patience. I'll be patient AFTER we get in the house, I promise.) As it's still occupied and still full of someone else's stuff, the kids didn't last too long in there. We made a good celebratory dinner of fajitas and ice cream and talked about the house all night long.
May 5 - Friday, May 7: Tried to pass the time while Andrew was gone at work. Friday afternoon the Culvers got home and it was so fun to see them. We gave them their house back and went to eat dinner (purchased from my new favorite grocery store) at an awesome nearby park. (Okay, the weather here in the evenings is blissful.) We spent the night at yet another HIE.
Saturday, May 8: Went to Home Depot to shop for Andrew's birthday present. Leighton was not acting very appropriately for a public arena, so we gave up and went to the Culver's. Hung out there in their amazing backyard for a while, then went to do some more shopping at Target. Late afternoon we got frozen yogurt from a cool place called U-Swirl. We stopped at Costco so Andrew could get my Mother's Day present, then went to the Noyes' ward luau, which was the coolest ward party I've ever been to. (Sorry to my old ward, but you know what I mean.) Good food, great weather, dinner on a blanket on the grass, and hula dancers that inspired Eva to shake her hips the rest of the night. Awesome. We moved to our new temporary home at the casino hotel, where we have a great view and a beautiful pool.
Sunday, May 9: Mother's Day. Let me be honest: it's not my favorite day. I'm not sure why. The talks in church always bother me, my kids always act terribly and make me wonder why I am a mother in the first place, and for heaven's sake I'm always pregnant. Except last year. Throw on top of that our first Sunday in a new ward, terrible allergies with watery eyes included, and you can guess my mood yesterday. Less than stellar. I did get to talk to my missionary brother for a few minutes and then had a meltdown in the car that was brought on by hunger and not getting a treat from the boys handing them out at the door (to mothers). The third hour of church improved my outlook significantly. Sometimes all I need is to be with some other women, I guess. We spent the afternoon in our hotel calling our mothers and doing nothing (a theme in our lives right now - makes me long for our house even more!), then went to the Culvers' for a delicious dinner. By that point I was able to appreciate my gift of a Shark Steamer (I really shouldn't watch infomercials...it's all I wanted since I saw it!) and my kids a little more.
Monday, May 10: Still no closing date yet, grrr. But we did get to spend the morning at the luxury swimming pool, which is always nice. Lunch at TGI Fridays and a lazy afternoon waiting for Leighton to wake up from a much-needed nap. Now he's awake, so maybe I can convince Andrew (who has the week off) to let us go somewhere. I've never longed so much for a kitchen to clean or a sewing machine to make a skirt for this heat.
But all my housing impatience aside, let me be honest: I love it here.

Farewell to Washington

Our most recent family picture - last night in front of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Our movers will be here in about a half-hour, and we're about to shut down this computer for good. At least for good in the Pacific Northwest. I feel strangely like once this thing is unplugged, it's official that we're leaving. So here's one last post from my loft with chartreuse walls.

I had a sad moment last night as I looked through all our pictures (when I should have been packing) and made a stack of ones that reminded me of things we would miss about Washington. The people, for one. Marelize, Melanie, Monique, Deidra, Deb, to name a few. And their kids - my kids will miss their little friends.

I'll miss this house. My green kitchen, the view out my kitchen and bedroom windows, our neglected garden, our central vac system.

I'll miss this beautiful state. The green green everywhere, the gorgeous rocky beaches, the park across the street, being able to cut down our own live Christmas tree, our view of Mount Rainier right outside the neighborhood, spring afternoons in the backyard on a blanket, the farmers' market, even the rain.

How do I say good-bye to this place without getting all sentimental? I can't. And I hate good-byes anyway. So before I think too hard and start to cry, I'll just go clean out the pantry. One last time.

It's a boy!

I had my ultrasound yesterday. After months of Eva being certain it was a girl, we were (I was) surprised to find out we are having a baby boy. We'll be naming him Dean (after my dad), and Eva has not stopped talking about him since. Tonight while reading to her, every picture she saw with a girl and a smaller boy she said, "It's Eva holding baby Dean!" Baby Dean this, baby Dean that. She is very excited. And so are we.

Moving stress

For the last month, I have lived mentally on the edge of my seat, waiting for news. News about when we would move. Where we would live. We have renters moving into our house, but we needed a way to get out of here and a place to go when we got to Las Vegas. Praying, crying, and finally a few days of depression and hopelessness. Then at last, yesterday we got some official news. The movers are coming on Wednesday. Although we still don't have a place to go for sure, I am relieved that our stuff will be out of this house so the renters can move in.

I don't know that I will ever get used to the way the military does things, since it is so highly inefficient and completely frustrating. This is our 5th move since we were married, and it's by far the most stressful one yet. The closer it gets to leaving here, the more I can't believe we're already going. I love love love it here. And yet, I LOVE moving. I love the excitement of change and getting to a new place with a fresh start. The hard part is waiting in limbo for so stinking long. Now I'm just praying that the bank will hurry it up so we can have another beautiful place to call home. I don't want to be homeless for too long.

Happy Spring!

Boring little me.

"Your blog's so boring these days." That is what Andrew just said to me. On the phone, because he's gone again. Of course, you knew that because, hello...I'm blogging. He's right, though. My blog is pretty boring. Sorry. My life, however, is not. Eva turned 3 last week, we took a little family trip to the Oregon coast (see above picture), and we've been busy enjoying Andrew being home. For 20 days straight! That was a record, I think.

One thing that is strange is when I see people/talk to relatives on the phone and they ask how I'm feeling. Every single time without fail, it takes me a few seconds to realize they are referring to my "condition." Why is it that I momentarily forget - all the time - that I am pregnant?

Eva put a hair elastic around her wrist after we had put her to bed the other night. She woke up with a very swollen hand and I freaked out. Thankfully, she was fine and the swelling was gone by the next day. I was grateful she didn't put anything around her neck.

I am almost finished with my Personal Progress for the second time around, as a leader. I am so excited to get my new (silver!!) medallion before we move in May. I have been working so hard and trying to get it all done, and it's way better the second time around. I am so going to miss being in the Young Women's program.

Leighton is impossible to discipline. He thinks any stern talk is a game and starts laughing. Which makes it really hard for me not to laugh. I just don't know what to do with him. He's too cute for his own good.

That's all. Boring, yes, but at least it's something new for Andrew to look at.