So as per my usual routine, I suck at keeping this blog updated! Maybe it's because I spend so much time at the computer/keyboard all day for work (medical transcription) and don't want to spend my down time typing away!
A lot has happened in our lives over the last several months. We moved from Utah to Indiana back in August. We lived with my parents for the first 4 months we were while Ryan looked for work. He started working for Brinks Security, but it wasn't the best situation for our family (12+ hour days, no overtime pay, unreliable hours, etc). He quit that and started working for walmart.com through a staffing agency. He was hired on directly as a team lead, and the hours have been great, holiday bonuses were a great addition, and a regular paycheck has been a blessing. When his "probation" period is up through the staffing agency, the people at his work have said that they plan to hire him on for a permanent position because he's such a great employee. He's worked hard and they've noticed! I am so proud of him. This should be a great and reliable job for us for the next period of time until Ryan starts school again. I have still been working for the same company back in Utah, only I'm a contracted employee now instead of an hourly employee.
In December, we finally were at a point financially to look for our own place and we lucky enough to get approved for a townhouse on our first try. It's almost twice as big as our place in Utah which of course is quite exciting! We've got the main floor with a dining room, the kitchen, a half bath, and the living room. Upstairs there are the 2 bedrooms which are both massive (it's great!) and the full bathroom. We also have a basement. It's divided down the middle with a wall. On one side it's carpeted and we call it the basement (or more recently, the "man cave" as Ryan is converting a corner of it for his man space). On the other side of the wall is the washer and dryer as well as our storage space. Eventually we're going to get a work space set up for both Ryan and I. His area will be for his woodworking hobby, etc where as mine will be for cake decorating, sewing, crafting, etc. We're both looking forward to it! Our place is only a mile from my parents' which is super convenient because my mom is our child care. Noah goes over there during the day while Ryan and I are working, and then he comes home when we're done. He loves (usually) playing with his cousins (4 and 1 year old girls) at my mom's house, so that has been fun. His vocabulary has grown a ton spending time with them and it's been a lot of fun to watch. He's such a smart little boy! He keeps us very entertained with all of his antics and fun personality quirks.
Baby #2 is growing healthy and strong, and everything looks right on track with him. I can't believe we're having a second baby in 4 months! It's exciting and overwhelming at the same time! We bought Noah a baby doll for Christmas and it's so fun to watch him with it. He loves rocking it and carrying it around, and has decided that he needs to sleep with it every night. Sometimes he'll sit down and pat the floor next to him, and say "mama! sit! baby!", That's his way of requesting I lay down so he can touch my belly and he can "talk" to baby. But what's funny is that he apparently can't do that with my shirt covering my belly. He makes me pull all my layers up so he can talk to my bare belly. Then when he's all done, he'll start tugging all the layers back down while saying "done". He cracks me up! He's going to be a great big brother.
We were able to spend the holidays with my family, as well as using FaceTime to get in some time with Ryan's family. Noah got a toy kitchen from my in-laws that has been his favorite since he laid eyes on it. He cooks for us multiple times a day. My big gift was a Silhouette Cameo (a craft cutter/printer) that I am SOOO excited about! I can't wait to do all the fun things with it. I've done a few small vinyl projects on it so far and am hooked. Depending on how things go, maybe I'll be able to sell some stuff in the future for a little extra money. Only time will tell. First I've got to figure out how to be a mom to two kids first before even thinking of attempting a small business venture!
Well, until next time!
Amanda
