For Sale!

I've been a little out of it lately as I've been fighting a cold and trying to get everything ready on our house, but nonetheless.....it's official! Our house hit the market today. We will be sad to leave it, but we're excited for the next adventure! If you know anyone looking for a great 3 bedroom/2 bathroom rambler in an ideal location, let me know and I'll give you more details. :) I've included pictures here (that are also online on the MLS) just for fun. I don't think our house has ever been so clean! We've been working hard, but it's definitely paid off. We'll let you know how things progress!

(By the way, can you tell these outside pictures were not taken this week? Haha. I took them back in September. The grass sure looked a lot better than it does now covered in snow. :))

Brief Update

I had planned on blogging everyday about our process of deciding to go back to school and all that goes along with that, but that's going to be put on hold because we are moving our time table up. We've decided to put our house up sooner rather than later - like within the next 2 weeks instead of in 2-3 months - so I have been too busy to blog! Sigh. But I will get to it. I promise.

On a totally unrelated note - we had the most gorgeous day here on Monday. It was 50 degrees and off and on sunny! We played outside and it made me very happy. Now it's cold again, but oh well. It was nice.

That's all I have time for because I need to go clean/shower/organize/make my house look amazing/write my talk for Stake Conference (ahh!)/try to stay sane/ignore this sore throat that keeps popping up every morning/blah blah blah...

Catch you later!

We're moving to Pennsylvania!

WHAT?!?!?!?

Yep, this is our BIG SECRET I've been dying to go public with (haha), but have had to wait for various reasons. Okay, so it's not a huge secret. Several of you know already, but for those who don't, are you shocked?

Let me give a brief background/explanation before I go in depth about everything over the next few days/weeks.

We are moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the end of July so Jeremy can begin his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. Ever since he's been in the work force, so for almost 5 years now, he's had the plan to eventually go back to school for an MBA. Almost everywhere you go requires several years of work experience, so that was the plan. Last Christmas, he and his boss started discussing that option and we felt like it was the right time (his boss got his MBA at Harvard and his been super supportive and helpful through this whole process). After lots of prayer and research, we decided to go for it, and a year later, it's official!

Like I said, I'll go into much more detail about the process and everything (and why he's quitting a great job in this economy to go back to school :), but for now, here are a few fun facts:

• The program is 2 years with an internship (which could be anywhere) during the summer in between
• The Tepper School of Business is ranked #15 among full-time MBA programs in the nation
• We applied to 4 different schools, and let's just say the decision was made easy for us which to attend (the one he got into :)
• Pittsburgh was rated the #1 most livable city in America by The Economist in 2009 - woohoo!
• Pittsburgh is a 6-hr drive away from my sister in New Jersey, a 4.5-hr drive from Jeremy's brother in Virginia (and D.C.!), and a 6-hr drive from our good friends in Kentucky!
• Jeremy flew out for an interview in November and absolutely loved everything about it - Pittsburgh, the school, the people, the landscape, etc.
• We are flying out 3 weeks after Bambino #2 comes along for a Welcome Weekend and housing search (I know, we're crazy)
• We have to [try to] sell our house in the coming months (anyone interested? ;)
• We feel so strongly like this is where we are supposed to go and we are so excited!

So there you have it. Life is going to dramatically change for us. We know it will be a challenge going from, ya know, having an income, to being starving students with 2 small children, but we are ready! Well, we're not literally ready yet; we still have a ton to do, but we are excited and have been working on getting everything ready to go! I'm excited to share all the boring details with you. Don't feel obligated to read them, but I want to document the process, so there you go. Anyway, so that's our news! Jeremy's boss knows, but no one else in his company knows, so that's why I've been waiting until it's official and Jeremy said it was okay. (So don't post anything on Jeremy's facebook about it or anything until he tells them, just fyi). But he said no one from work reads our blog, so I'm safe. :) More to come later!

(picture is of Eli wearing a Tepper lanyard that Jeremy got at his interview)

30 Weeks

It's hard to believe I'm already 30 weeks along. It seemed like when I was pregnant with Eli, the weeks dragged on and on, and this time they are flying by! Before Christmas it felt like I still had a long time, but now it's only a couple months away. And to be honest, before Christmas, I'd hardly thought about this poor child or the fact that I would have TWO children. We were just so busy and I didn't feel like I had space in my brain to really think about it. Now, I've thought about it a lot and I'm getting really excited! We're getting our life figured out and things in order and I feel like I will actually be ready (or as ready as one can be) for a 2nd child by the time this little boy comes. We're still not sure on a name. We were thinking about Lucas/Lukas (thoughts?), but now we're not sure. It's so hard! I wish he could just tell me what he wants to be called, or as Jeremy said last night, I wish I could just see a picture of him - that would make it easier. :)

Anyway, I also realized I have not taken a single pregnancy shot with this one, so I decided today, at 30 weeks, I would do so. Pretty funny how different things are between the 1st and 2nd child. I took pictures every couple weeks with Eli. :) Oh well! So, for your viewing pleasure (haha), here I am!

And a thank you to my mom for the very cute shirt she got me for Christmas. Some days I feel extremely large, and then I look at pictures of me getting ready to go to the hospital with Eli, and I remember I still have a long way to go. :) But we're feeling more mentally prepared these days and luckily, I don't have a lot to do to get physically prepared because I already have a bunch of boy stuff! Hooray!

New computer! And rearranging furniture...

(This is my 5th post in 5 days - I know, I think it's a record - so if you've missed any, feel free to keep on scrolling :)

We got a new computer. A Christmas gift to ourselves - and what a gift it is! Wow, we love it. We feel like real grown-ups now because this is our first time owning a desktop computer. Yep, no more laptops baby. (Well, Jeremy has a work one, but whatever). With this new purchase, we decided to move our desk out into the family room. We never really used it before, except when we needed to print something, but obviously we needed to use it now. We wanted it out there so it would be more convenient and because we thought we should have it out in a more common room. So we did some rearranging!

Last Wednesday (the day after we got back from CA), I took down all the Christmas stuff so we could get going on our new set-up. We had a real tree in the living room (where my digital piano used to be, but I sold it a couple months ago) and I was going to wait for Jeremy to get home to take it out, but I decided what the heck, I can do it. So I took the tree outside, cleaned up all the needles and did part one of our rearranging. I moved our big oversized chair from our family room into our living room and I think it looks great in there! It makes it a little more cozy and now someone can sit in there and enjoy some music. :)

Before - with Christmas up (my digital piano used to be along that wall with the mirror; and by the way, I love the hanging advent calendar Jeremy's mom made for us - I should've taken a close up):

And now! I think it looks nice. Oh, and in the corner you can see the top of the music stand Jeremy got me for Christmas. Yea for a music stand!

When Jeremy got home Wednesday - after we set up the toddler bed - we moved the desk from our guest room out into the family room. I love it! I think it looks great and it's nice to have it right there. We set up our computer that night after Eli went to bed along with moving some pictures around in the family room and rehanging shelves in the living room. Then on Friday, Jeremy drilled some holes, spliced two internet cables together, and ran them under the house to hook up our internet. I sure love this guy. :) He saves us money all the time with his handy skills. So now we're up and running!

We love this new computer and I've actually already sold my laptop! I put it up on KSL (online classifieds in Salt Lake) on Saturday and had it sold for my asking price within an hour and a half. Suh-weet! (Maybe I should've asked more, eh?)

So we've been busy rearranging our house. Jeremy ended up having Thursday and Friday off of work last week. We felt silly driving back for him to work one day, but he really needed to work that day and he didn't know he'd have Thursday off until he got back. It was great though! We got so much done. Not only did we set up Eli's bed and rearrange a bunch of furniture, but we also went through Eli's closet and organized a bunch of clothes and toys into bins and finished getting unpacked and our house back to normal. We're now ready for the new year! Kind of anyway. There's still a lot to do, but it was nice to have so much time to get things done. Now it's back to reality and on to the next project!

Toddler Bed!

I still can't believe Eli is out of his crib. Yep, with a new baby coming in less than 3 months (AH!), we decided it would be best to move Eli into a toddler bed. We already had one, passed down from Jeremy's sister, so we decided the best time to do it would be right after we got back from California. He was already used to sleeping in a different bed on vacation, so we thought it would be a good time to transition. We got back late Tuesday night and then Wednesday evening we set it up! I was really nervous about how he would do, but I talked to both of my sisters about it (my expert mothering-advice-givers) and they said it's definitely better to do it before the new baby comes, and a few months in advance, so they are used to it and don't feel like the baby's stealing their bed.

So we took the plunge. Eli was really cute helping us set it up. I had to take a few pictures. He loves "tools" and helping do anything, so he was really into this project. :)

Love this one:

And this one:

After we got it all set up he was loving it! He kept bouncing around and throwing himself onto the bed with glee.

The cute new bed: (Jeremy's mom made that quilt for Eli when he was born)

The new room set-up. It's not amazingly designed, but it works!

I thought this might not be bad after all! And after a couple of rougher nights, he's actually doing really well. The first night, he went right to bed in it and slept great until 4 am when I heard "thump" and then crying and knew he had fallen out of bed. I was afraid of that. But after getting him back into bed, he was fine the rest of the night. The next day he took a 3.5 hour nap - amazing!

The second night was the hardest. He finally discovered he could get out of the bed and did so about 7 times until he finally gave up. I kept going back in and ordering him back to bed, but then he started thinking that was a fun game, so I stopped going in and he eventually stopped getting out. The next night he only got up once and every night since has been great! All in all, it's been a much smoother transition than I anticipated. He loves the bed and loves that we can lay down right next to him - in fact, he'd prefer we stay there all night. :)

Christmas Part 2

(Part 1 is below if you missed it).

Our time with Jeremy's family was even shorter than with mine. We were supposed to have 2.5 days at each, but our half day got shortened because of a big storm. We went to their church on Sunday at 10:30 am and then we were there until we left to drive home around 11 am on Tuesday. We had originally planned to stay until Tuesday afternoon, drive to Elko, and then drive the rest of the way early Wednesday morning, but with the huge storm coming, we knew we needed to leave early. And it's a good thing we did! Tuesday night I kept waking up to the wind and rain and then Wednesday morning the snow started and didn't stop until Saturday.

So anyway...back to our trip. We feel spoiled every Christmas because so far we've been able to see both of our families every year. We spend a couple days before/on Christmas with one family, and then spend a few days with the other family after Christmas. Our families usually do the big nice meal whenever we're there too, so we really get the royal treatment! My family always does ham on Christmas and Jeremy's family does prime rib. Both are incredibly delicious! So Sunday we exchanged some wonderful gifts and spent awhile preparing for the Christmas (or day after Christmas) feast. Jeremy's sister, her 3 kids, and his grandma all live with his parents so they were there, and then they invited some friends and the missionaries over as well. Jeremy's brother Jon and his wife got there later that night too, so it was a party!

George cutting up the amazing roast. I look forward to this every year. :)

Jeremy mashing potatoes. This family knows how to make some serious mashed potatoes. This year it was leek-infused mashed potatoes with roasted garlic. Yummy!

Later that night we exchanged the rest of the gifts with Jon & Shannon and then played a fun game that they got Jeremy's parents called "Loaded Questions". I almost peed my pants laughing so hard a couple of times. It was very fun!

The next day we went to the park. I still can't get over how amazing the weather was! I've been in Utah so long that I forget how mild the winters are in California. It was great to be able to get out and enjoy the sunshine without being all bundled up.

It was really bright, okay?

We also played some more games that day and then reenacted the Nativity that evening. They did it on Christmas Eve too, but they wanted to do it again with all of us there. Jeremy's mom is an amazing seamstress and she made some fun costumes for everyone. Unfortunately Eli was not in the mood, so he would not put on his shepherd costume, but everyone else cooperated. Cooper was Joseph, Lydia - Mary, Catelyn - angel, George - donkey, Jeremy - Shepherd, Jon & Shannon - wisemen, Becky - narrator, and the rest of us were picture-takers and observers. :)

Catelyn knew all her lines. Very impressive.

Then later that night when the kids all went to bed, we played some more games. One of my favorites that the Nowlands play is "Hand and Foot". You need a deck of cards per person + one. Here's our pile:

I meant to take a picture of the table with all of our cards everywhere, but I forgot. Oh well.

Tuesday morning, we got all packed up and then visited for a little while until we had to leave. We were sad we didn't have more time! We hadn't seen Jon & Shannon since their wedding in May so we wished we had more time to see them, but were glad to see them at all. And we were lucky to have Jeremy's parents at our house for Thanksgiving, so I guess we can't complain. :( Anyway, so then we did the whole drive that day and made it home just in time to crash into bed. We had rain most of the trip and a little snow, but we were glad it wasn't worse.

So that was our Christmas vacation! We had such a wonderful time with both of our families. My parents are coming out again the beginning of February for Heidi's piano recital at BYU and then Jeremy's parents are coming out 2 weeks later for a family wedding, so we're excited to see them again soon!

Since we've been back, it's like we've had another vacation at home over New Year's because Jeremy had some time off, so that was really nice. We got a lot done and were able to spend a lot of quality time together. That'll be coming tomorrow though! Thanks for reading.

Christmas Part 1

We left here Wednesday evening, the 22nd for California. We drove 3.5 hours to Elko, NV, where Jeremy's aunt lives, and stayed the night there and then drove the remaining 6 hours on Thursday. Eli was actually quite good. He watched his first movie ever in the car, which definitely helped distract him for awhile. He also had fun saying "Bye truck!" to every semi we passed. :)

So we got to my parents' house about 1:00 on Thursday, the 23rd. Heidi was there and my brother, who lives about 1/2 hour away, was there most of the time too. We were all very happy to be out of the car and were amazed by how beautiful and green everything was. It was sunny and 60 degrees when we pulled up and it was great! That evening, my parents had a bunch of

people over. Every year, often on Christmas Eve, they have some friends over that they've been friends with for almost 30 years. It's always fun to see them and we always enjoy singing some great Christmas music (yea for the Messiah!) and enjoying treats and fun conversation. My mom also went down to Modesto to pick up my sweet Grandma so she could be there that night too. (She's 91 and amazing). She really enjoyed the music and we were so glad we were able to see her. My parents also had some friends from the ward over, so that was fun too.

Oh, and Jeremy built a lego tower to the ceiling before the guests arrived :)

My Grandma with Jenna, Florence, and Michelle (friends)

Eli having fun with Afton (another friend)
Grandpa and Eli - Eli attached to him really quickly since they were just here the weekend before for my cousin's wedding. It was cute.

Christmas Eve was another nice sunny day. We did some cooking/baking during the day, played outside (without even wearing coats!), watched/pet the dog and cat (Eli loved that), started a puzzle, tried out my dad's new toy (a pellet gun - actually his Christmas present, but he opened it early), played Christmas duets on the piano, and enjoyed a nice relaxing evening with our small group. Eli loved all the attention and it was fun to see him so excited to be with family. He loved everyone and it was cute to hear him say their names - or at least his version. Heidi was Hi-ee, Steve was Dis (?), and my dad was Baba. Grandma never got a name. Sorry mom. :)

Heidi, Steve, and Eli

Eli enjoying his yummy Christmas Eve dinner (which was really delicious, by the way)
The spread:
Pretty Christmas tree in my parents' living room

Christmas day was wonderful and relaxing. We felt very spoiled as we do every year, and we probably spoiled Eli too. He had a great time ripping into his presents one right after another. The best reaction was actually when he opened a box with a sweatshirt in it - not all that exciting for him - and he dropped his jaw and raised his eyebrows like, Wow! That's amazing! It was awesome. He also got some fun new toys, his very own pillow, and a new shirt and tie for church. He LOVES wearing a tie (so he can look like Dad) and so he was really excited about that gift. It was fun to have him much more into it this year and to see him enjoy everything.

Playing with the trains from Santa:

New tie:

And white shirt:

Steve usually works until 2 am so he wasn't used to being up this early, hence the yawn.
Classic. Every time we tell Eli to smile for a picture, he gives the wink.

We then had a delicious breakfast of my dad's awesome ham and eggs and homemade wassail. The rest of the day was spent being very lazy (isn't vacation great?) and enjoying our gifts and our family. It was raining pretty much all day, so it was a good time to just hang out inside.

We're not sure what Eli was doing with the Ranch bottle that night, but it was entertaining.

He loves Heidi - and the wink. :)

We watched a movie later that night and then went to my parents' 8:30am sacrament meeting the next morning. My mom, Heidi, and I sang which was fun, and it was nice to see people in the ward.

Eli modeling his new shirt and tie.

After Sacrament Meeting, we headed over to Jeremy's parents' ward at 10:30 (our parents live 15 minutes apart) and that will be Part 2! We had a great time with my family and we were sad to leave. Two and a half days isn't very long, but we were glad we could be there at all. Thanks family for the wonderful visit!