Merry and Bright

My side of the family is all together this Christmas.

And for that, my days are merry and bright.

May you have a very merry Christmas.

20 Weeks on the 20th!

Only four more sleeps 'till Christmas, y'all!

This is the only picture I have of Tatum on her back because the wrapping paper was JUST TOO INTERESTING not to turn over and play with it!

You'd never believe that a few minutes before she had a big boo-boo lip out and was cranky!

Moving to another subject, the other night I had just laid down Tatum for a nap and was at the sink washing a binkie, when I heard a low rumbling sound. 

At first I thought it was thunder, then I looked at the sliding glass window and it was shaking!  Having recently had three earthquakes I immediately thought it was another one, dropped the binkie and ran down the hall to grab Tatum.

It was only when I got down the hall that I realized the light fixture in the entry wasn't swinging...and one major thing: the ground wasn't shaking.

Walking back to the living room where the sliding door was still rumbling, I looked down to see Roy leaning against it, itching.

Dur.

That's all I've got for you today--except we officially submitted our offer to the seller of the house we like yesterday and are waiting for them to laugh hysterically and counter offer!

Here's hoping!

We're putting an offer in on a house.

If you had told me a year and a half ago that I'd be in Oklahoma with a baby and thinking about buying a house I probably would have laughed at you.  Yet, here we be.

Oh, and did I mention that the offer is ridiculously low? I mean, low low? And that our wiggle room for negotiation is itsy bitsy?

Still, we love the house.

It has a basketball hoop for Matt.

A big kitchen complete with an island for me.

A huge living/dining/kitchen area for having people over and for Tatum to toddle around.

And a large yard backing up to a greenbelt and a creek for Roy.

It even has a three bedrooms so y'all could stop on by!

And so we put an offer in on it.  Its a loooong shot, but its worth a try.

In fact, I even have a verse about it! Its from Psalm 105:11-12

saying, j“To you I will give the land of Canaan

as kyour portion for an inheritance.”

12 

When they were lfew in number,

of little account, and msojourners in it,

Note: I know this is severely out of context and am not taking it seriously as a word from the Lord about the house, I just found it funny!

So if you think of us, say a little prayer that if its God's will we be in that house for the next 3 or 4 years that he would open all the doors, and that it would be obvious to all that it was His hand that gave this to us.

And that the relocation company that currently owns the house would be in the Christmas spirit of giving...

Tatum's 19th Week...after MIA for week 18

I know, I've been absent awhile.

But let me explain.

First, though, is Tatum K at 19 weeks!

I was curious so we weighed and measured her ourselves tonight.  While there may be a little wiggle room for error, it seems she's at 19 pounds and 26 inches!!! 19 pounds on the growth chart is big for a NINE month old!! I'm starting to put her in 12 month old clothes!!! What do I make, super milk?!?!

We also bundled up and went to Lowe's for her first Christmas tree...

Uncle Jeremiah wore a crazy sweater...

The men did the tree dance and spun trees around for us womenfolk to choose:

And Tatum was appropriately dressed like an elf...

And when we got home we dressed up up like a flapper...

We're loco.  Understood.

In other big news...

We're thinking about buying a house.

Like, a house house.  With a door and windows and a fireplace and yard and garage.

Which for people who lived in a basement for a year and now live with parents is a BIG DEAL.

We never would have been able to afford a home like this in San Diego or Seattle...even if we did both work.  That's the crazy thing.  Here, on Matt's salary alone, we're looking at a 1600 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom  HOME.

So we've spent the past few weeks crunching numbers and looking at houses and gathering paperwork to be pre-qualified and its been exciting and scary all at the same time.

Could we make it? Should we wait? If we wait, should we stay with my parents or rent a tiny place for the time being? A lot is up in the air at the moment but its such a different feeling of  'I don't know what's going to happen' as compared to a year ago.

That, in addition to the usual Christmas bustle and date nights and helping out at the church and wrapping packages and doing laundry and changing diapers and the occasional bit of sleep thrown in has kept me pretty busy for the past couple of weeks!

So if you think of it, say a little prayer for wisdom for us as we're trying to figure out where the Lord wants us to be right now and a month from now.

Oh, and Tatum is rolling over, almost sitting up, reaching for everything and anything, and refusing to take naps or go to sleep EVER.  I didn't know it was physically possible for a child to be awake as much as she is! Any mommies out there...do you think I should start giving her a bit of rice cereal at night to help her sleep based on her weight rather than age? We were planning to wait until 6 months before starting solids, but Mama needs to sleep longer than 2 hours without getting up to flip her back on her back or put the binkie in or nurse!

'Till next time, stay jolly my friends!

Tatum's Seventeenth Week

This might just be my favorite picture to date of Tatum. Those big, blue, inquisitive eyes, soft kissable cheeks, and that perfectly pink mouth with the sun highlighting the craziness of her hair which I am hopelessly in love with.

And then I get to look at her every day, and see her smile coyly at me and bat her eyes and I wish I could just capture every single second of us playing and talking and giggling and nursing and scooting and razzberrying and snuggling. 

She's now a vibrant, VOCAL 4-month-old.

Here's 17 Weeks...which was nearly a week ago, I realize, but better late than never!

We're off to a date at a sushi bar! Sayonara!