Trying to move in

We spent this weekend trying to move into our new house in Richmond. I say trying because we moved in our stuff (with lots of help from men from church) on Saturday morning, but it is Sunday night and we are sleeping in a hotel. I usually love staying in hotels, but trying to get 3 kids to bed in the same room, while you still want to stay up is pretty difficult. It's almost 11 pm and the older two are finally almost asleep. The only problem is that it is likely that they will still wake up at 6:30 am.

We are extremely excited about our new house, but it realistically wasn't really ready to have new tenants move in. It still has some maintenance things that need to be done, painting, and especially needs to be cleaned. The management company said they would be done before last Friday, but they were not. The water and gas were not turned on which were the big issues. We got the water on ourselves on Saturday, but no one from the gas company will come out until Tuesday. We discovered the gas (which means no hot water) late on Saturday night. We decided it was too late to go to a hotel then, so we endured cold showers to get ready for church.

We enjoyed our first Sunday in our new ward. Four new families, including ourselves, were announced in Sacrament meeting. We are excited to meet new friends and get settled in.

During a Sunday drive we discovered a really cool looking park that I'm excited to take the girls to. My goal for this week is to try to find a preschool to enroll Leland in. I'm really glad that we have a week here before Chuck starts his job.

I am so grateful that so many things have come together for us in these last few weeks. We have been so blessed. During all the craziness and chaos that occurs with moves, the girls have done really well. The one stable thing we have is our family. It has been so much fun all the time we have been able to spend together over the past few weeks. It has been great just being together and remembering that what is really important is our family.

Today in church we were privileged to have the Washington DC Temple president and his wife, Pres. and Sis. Tingey speak in sacrament meeting. They spoke of temples and the purpose of temples - sealing families for eternity. We don't know many things about what it's going to be like after this life, but we do know that through the sealing power found in the temple, families can be united forever. I am so grateful for the family relationships that I have and that we will all be together forever.

In Relief Society, our lesson was this talk from the Priesthood session of General Conference. Focusing on what matters most is truly important. The fact that all our belongings are in boxes, in a home that is not ready to be lived in really doesn't matter. I have a wonderful family, my children are happy and healthy, my husband finally has a job, we all love each other, and through the sealing power found in the temple we will be together forever - that's what matters most.

Getting on with our lives

We are moving to Richmond in just 5 days! We finally found a house to rent yesterday after looking for 3 full days. Chuck had a massive spreadsheet going of 37 different possibilities, 15 of those we toured and the other 22 we only peeked in windows or drove by. We drove ALL around Richmond and they all started to run together. Luckily, Chuck had done a little video with our camera in front of each house while talking about it, so we could keep them all straight. He had to know he was getting the best bang for our buck. We ended up finding a great house for a great deal (even less than we currently pay in Lexington). It was worth all the work.

Today was our last Sunday in Lexington at church. It's always sad to say goodbye to those that have been such great friends and examples over the last few years. We have absolutely loved it. We know that great things lie ahead for us in Richmond and are excited to start this next phase in life.

Last week, after we finally committed to the Richmond job, I was feeling particularly down about moving and I happened to read this talk from General Conference. I realized that in order to get on with our lives and move out of the student phase and back into the career phase of our lives we needed to move. I have loved every moment about living in Lexington, and I have loved things about every place that we have lived. We have had a child born in each place - Baltimore, California, Lexington - which makes each one special.

I'm particularly grateful for the friendships that have been bonded here. I know that I will keep in touch with many of you for many years. I'm excited for the friends and adventures that lie ahead.

Our Life is Crazy

I really should go to sleep, but I just need to write some of these things down.

Leland and Lucy LOVE their baby sister. They always are concerned on where she is and what she is doing. I often find them lying next to her chatting with her. I've decided that I don't think it's really harder with 3 kids, it's just hard having a nursing baby. For example, I can't run after Lucy as she tries to escape from the library when I'm nursing. I can't even make it out of the house on time. By the time I get everyone ready to go, I feel like it's time to nurse again. But it sure is fun to cuddle with all three girls (as long as I'm not nursing when the other 2 think it's time to climb in my lap to cuddle).

A funny story but you may have to have nursed before to appreciate. I decided to pump while the girls were entertained by the TV in the other room. They lost interest in the TV before I was finished and came to see me. Leland was very concerned by what I was doing, but then she decided she wanted to help (it's a manual pump). Lucy then wants to help too, but then lifts her shirt and says "my turn". I hope I didn't traumatize them, but I think I was more traumatized.

Charlotte really is a good baby, but she likes to be held A LOT. She is not a huge fan of her car seat and likes to scream when buckled in. This is a huge shock to us because Leland and Lucy both loved the infant carrier and spent most of the day, every day, in it for the first few months of life. She's my first baby that I feel like actually looks like I did as a baby. Yeah! But she has baby acne. Boo! Another new thing for us and I'm not a fan, but really who is a fan of baby acne?

Here's a little video of some of the things our girls love to do:

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Besides yoga and SYTYCD, our girls also love to watch Wipeout. They crack up laughing and cheer for those that do well. The other night they pulled all the cushions off the couch and set up their own "big balls" jumping course.

(On a side note for the SYTYCD fans - I loved last week's return of last seasons favorites: Twitch, Katy, Mark, Joshua, Chelsea. I loved last years finalists so much more than this season's finalists. I really don't care for any of the top 4.)

After church on Sunday, Chuck and I were told that Leland bore her testimony in Primary all by herself about her family and new baby sister. She also sang a solo. She apparently already knew the words to a song that was being taught, so they asked her to come to the front and sing, so she did, ALL BY HERSELF! It wasn't even a song that I know or have ever sung with her. I feel like she learns words to songs after only hearing them a few times.

We took this family picture on Saturday. The shirts are from Chuck's family reunion. We still got the shirts, even though we didn't make it to the reunion and needed to take a family picture in the shirts. The reunion seems to be on the same schedule that we are on for having babies - we've had a baby the week before or the week after the last 2.

The girls were very excited to all wear matching shirts. Charlotte got a blue one because they were ordered before she was born and I think everyone was expecting her to be a boy. After we took our picture, Lucy did not want anyone to take off their shirts. She got VERY upset when I finally took Charly's off. At night when it was time to put on pjs, Lucy still refused to take off her shirt.

For those wondering about our plans for the future - our lease is up this Saturday and we still haven't decided where we are moving. Fun times! We at least have options, just no decision yet. Part of our house is packed, but it's hard to get motivated when you don't know where the boxes will be unpacked.