Rolling, rolling, rolling...

...along.
The house is coming right along. They have poured the driveway and front sidewalk and back "patio". They have finished taping and mudding and the texture is should be dry today. They will start leveling the dirt (after the snow disappears) and start painting. I finished picking out all the appliances yesterday and now I get to monitor the progress. I had seen a home in the neighborhood with the same layout and fell in love with the colors outside, but decided instead of just copying them I would pick out my own...I ended up picking out the exact same colors for the siding and brick!! The color changes depending on the way the sun is hitting it and it looks great! I can't wait to see it on my house! We went for a greenish color inside the house with a whitish trim. We have wood floors in the kitchen, a beautiful tile in the bathrooms and laundry and the thickest carpet we could get! I can't wait to see it all inside the house! They predict the house should be ready for final inspection by the 13th of November, if not sooner!!

In other news, I went to the doctor for my glucose test (a month early) and passed! No gestational diabetes here-I can enjoy my holidays!! They finally measured me to see if I would be measuring ahead or not and I am right on, that hasn't been the case since I was pregnant with Bryant! I think I've decided to go get another gender check. There's a place here in town that will do that for a minimal cost and they are very accurate, now I just have to make the appointment. I have had an ongoing cold for about 2 weeks now, but because I have asthma it been causing more problems than a typical cold. I went to the doctor and she prescribed a heavier medication to help me breathe. And then I get hit with pink eye! What adult gets that?? Seriously, I know exactly why/how you get it and I feel like a nerd that I'm walking around with green goop in my eye-pathetic! But Jake informed me that because I'm so congested it decided to drain through my eye...I guess that's supposed to make me feel better...
Anyway, it's just been a crazy life this month and there's only one day left! I can't believe it!

This week has topped the crazy busy life-I have barely had time to breathe, but it's been fun picking everything out for the house and keeping the kids entertained with all the different Halloween festivities that have taken place this week. They have also been excited to see the progress of the house! Now that I have a little time today I may actually get some pictures downloaded and be able to post them in the next few days!! November will be here soon and we will have some serious action taking place at our house-I am seriously getting excited to move!! I never thought I would say that. I'm also getting a little anxious...it's still so unbelieveable to be able to say that this is MY place and to be able to move and have no thoughts of where we will end up after that...I don't have to worry about that and can actually start living a more stable lifestyle for the kids...it's just weird and yet so exciting!!

HOUSE

We've been married 8 years (in a couple weeks) and have moved 13 times...and we get to move AGAIN!!!! However, if third time isn't the charm, maybe 14 will! We bought a brand new house-by brand new, I mean it's not even finished yet and I get to pick out the fun stuff to personalize the house, not just "new" to us!!!!!!!!!!
This has been a long time coming and has already proved to possess unforeseen hurdles, but we've gotten past them and are anxiously awaiting to hear what the closing date will be.
We applied for a Rural Development loan back in August and had to wait our turn on the waiting list. We were told it would be about 30 days-can I just say I never realized that 30 days could go by so incredible slow when you're waiting for such news as that?! It's worse than the last 30 days of pregnancy and that is s.l.0.w. Finally we broke down and called our realtor to see if he would know anything, he was told 2 weeks-so the very end of September. The very next day (a Friday)our application was pulled for processing and on Monday we found out our approval amount and went looking for a house. On Tuesday we called the realtor with the one house we wanted to look at and set up an appointment. It didn't take much to fall in love-oh, so in love! We were leaving town Thursday, so we wrote up and signed an offer Thursday morning and by Friday afternoon our offer was accepted!!! We set up an inspection for the following Tuesday and found out 10-minutes before that inspection that we were not allowed to purchase the home because of location.
This loan is specified to certain rural areas and this neighborhood, although grandfathered into the areas, had been officially released from that grandfathering just that morning! We were booted and had to find a new house-fast!! To say we took it well, would be an absolute lie. This was the dream home we didn't realize we had dreamt up! There were a few days of absolute meltdowns and anger. We have slowly gotten over it, but there are still moments of extreme sadness. When looking at other homes all we could do was compare...Jake stated that it's hard to compare gold with silver-summarizing our hunt rather well.
We looked at three homes, an overpriced, dirty place; an older, charming, but broken foundation place; and a home under construction-we didn't love any, but put some serious thought, prayer and conversation into choosing what would work for our family and still get us into a house by the end of November (I'm not gonna lie, $8000 is something I will shoot for!!)
We finally decided that the home under construction would be the best option for us, especially because it would be finished quickly and allow us to choose some of the customized features to make it ours! We signed an offer last Friday afternoon while they were putting up sheetrock.
I knew I was going to need to get some choices to them soon, so I called the Realtor after lunch today so I could do a little homework and found out I needed to have some decisions by 5 o'clock! I quickly loaded the kids and went searching for the siding store-got lost, finally found it and quickly discovered this could get overwhelming by myself. Jake works today and tomorrow and with his job he can't just get off, nor does he finish at an early hour. I made many trips to get samples of the siding and brick and back to Jake's work to get his opinion, but I did it and got my homework done with 5 minutes to spare!! I am more tired from todays adventures than from a day of cleaning and washing at home...it's amazing how drained your brain can get choosing some of these things-especially when you constantly learn new terminology!
Tomorrow I will be headed out during preschool (I will only have one child to worry about) to pick out flooring and paint. I should be able to get it done in 2 hours (I did today) and then I can actually get the laundry done...
I have gone out to the house and taken pictures to keep track of the progress, so when I get brave and connect the other computer I can download pictures and show you some fun pictures and updates!
I know that this is going to end up being a fast few weeks full of adventure. They were putting the "frame" up for the driveway today, but we are supposed to have snow all week, so we'll see when they manage to get that in-but at least they can still work on the inside! I think they finished all drywall today as well.

I have yet to meet the builder, but he was anxious to get this sold that he threw in some bonuses even...it was hard not to refuse despite struggles in deciding which home to choose.
We are moving into a new neighborhood on the north side of Hitt Road in Idaho Falls.
It is a starter home, but we will make it better ;)
3 bedroom, 2 bath upstairs at 1300 sq. ft.
decent size living room and kitchen-extra cabinet space as there isn't a "pantry" to speak of
laundry is off the garage-aka mudroom
There is a basement-unfinished at 1300 sq. ft.
We will put in 3 more bedrooms (it's intended for only 2, but you can fit 3)
One more bathroom
A family room
A food storage room-this is a big deal to us-first thing to be finished in the basement!!!
It's located in an open cal de sac on a third acre

We will once again move schools, but the kids are so excited because they know we will NOT be moving again for quite some time-they are willing to sacrifice friends from school and the ward to be stable and I can't blame them-poor kids are a little too used to change, I hope we can get into a great routine and habits once we "permanantly" move!
I have finally had some time to do a little research and the upside of this move is that I will not have to schedule in drop off and pick up at the elementary school-Bryant actually gets to ride the bus! He is so thrilled he couldn't hold still for a whole minute!!! I discovered that since we are now going to the "country" we will be attending a rather small school and one of the first grade teachers looks like she would be awesome! I sure hope they will let me "request" who I want-just reading her intro letter online made me think she would be similar to the first grade teacher I had a hundred years ago and still remember!!!

I hope to keep putting updates as regularly as possible and even get some pictures up soon. I have waited 8 years for this kind of fun, but when you're pregnant and your brain is fried, it's a little harder to enjoy-but never unforgettable!! I'm getting more and more excited daily for this change to take place even with the few con's that I cannot get rid of.

We're going with...

...a guess.
I went in this morning for my complimentary ultrasound and even though the "picture" was more visible than the last we are still at 80% girl. I suppose this time around I'm just supposed to be happy that I have a healthy baby and not worry too much of the gender. I'm going with girl, but there's still a chance we could be surprised.
I can't lie, we'd LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to have another boy, but really will be so happy with a girl. It would be fun to get all the "old" clothes from the little days of Bryant and see them on another child, but I suppose we will be sporting brand new outfits for this child anyway. After 3 girls, there isn't much to salvage in the cute department-girls go through clothes so much ( I hear boys are hard on their clothes and believe me they are, but not until they are at least 2-the girls are hard on their clothes from the very beginning-at least in my home). And after washing things so many times, there's just a time when you've gotta get something new and not sport the dingy and spotty stains that won't release in the wash.
It'll be fun to buy new girl-y stuff and get more accessories. Now to wait out another 17 weeks until her arrival. Although I would bet we're closer to 15 or 16 (f she's anything like the rest of the girls) :D

Life goes on...

There have been so many fun and exciting things happening in our family recently...it's been hard to not post, but without pictures it's a little boring.

Bryant did receive his glasses and sure enough he looks handsome and is doing so well in school-his penmanship has gotten very impressive-even his teacher comments on it! He's loving school this year, which has been something I've held my breath to see.
Kayelynn is doing well in preschool. We got an email from her teacher telling us how much she is a role model in class and how well she is expected to perform in kindergarten-she LOVES school!! She is so fun-she is the little mom of the house.
Sarah is a hoot! She also loves preschool and gives a hug to her teachers every time she enters the classroom-it's pretty cute! She is learning so fast and is so excited to tell us about it when we pick her up. Everyone should have a conversation with this kid-so funny!
Lydia is a little ball of fire-both good and bad. She has been pretty sick the last few weeks, but is on the mend and getting back to her spunky self! She is so fun to be with. Her language is huge for her age and her comprehension is absolutely amazing-I am stunned everytime she responds to something I wouldn't expect. And her facial expressions are hilarious!
Jake is enjoying work, they treat him so well! He has enrolled in school, starting January to get his pre-requisites out of the way for the RN program-three more year and he should have that diploma in his hands!! The kids always have his schedule memorized for the upcoming week-they LOVE when he has his days off, especially if that means he gets to be the one to take them to school :)
I am just a big pregnant blob, needing a haircut and some serious sleep. Otherwise, doing fantastic!

Last week I went in for my ultrasound, but it was so hard to get the baby to open it's legs that for now it's a guess for girl. I got a call this afternoon to come in tomorrow for a complimentary ultrasound-they have a rep coming to demonstrate the machine they might get and for some reason they called me to come in for one of those demonstrations-so hopefully I can get a better shot of the babies gender-either way, I'm okay-I just don't want a guess.

We took a family vacation this last weekend to Boise for some much needed fun, mixed with some unexpected "entertainment"! We were 20 miles from Boise when our driver's side back tire popped off the wheel well. We took the tire, strapped it to the top and took our loaded car with 3 regular tires and a donut tire the rest of the way to my mom's...it was pretty funny, but only because Jake was driving and could actually change the tire...and to think I was going to go by myself-I'd probably still be stranded on the side of the road! The kids and Jake played lots outside at my parents while I went shopping-literally til I dropped. The famous second hand store that I go to for my kids clothes was having a bargain bin weekend for quarter clothes, toys, shoes, etc and inexpensive childrens equipment and large toys. It was so fun and so, so tiring. I ended up with just over 300 pieces of clothing and shoes and a few toys along with a few large pieces of equipment for the new little one. My sister in law came with us and she got just as much, so some of my items stayed in Boise until we go back before the baby arrives...I wish I could post a picture of what the car looked like-it was quite hilarious!

There's more to share, but not enough time. I will try to find the time between laundry, cleaning and school and another family trip (this time to Utah) to get more posted. Until next time...