Ultrasound Results...

Today I had an ultrasound, and we learned the baby's gender! I think all babies look kind of alien-ish in ultrasound pictures, but they are cute none-the-less.

3D face

Profile

Foot

Hand

THINK PINK!

Skylie's going to have a little sister!

We couldn't be more excited!

Last Day As a Working Woman

After over 3 1/2 years of working for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, I'm saying adios. Today I my last day of work! I have mixed emotions, but mostly I'm super excited.

I've been fortunate to have this job—the flexibility, the great boss, nice co-workers, and the ability to work mostly from home. But juggling a full-time job and being a full-time mom has had it's challenges.

Now I feel so blessed that I'm able to walk away and be with my baby girl more. Little ones are only little for such a short time, aren't they?

Housing Trip A Success

We spent the weekend house hunting in Indianapolis! After spending much of Saturday disappointed at the houses we saw, we came across a community of Beazer Homes 20 t0 25 minutes away from Matt's work. To our surprise, we learned we could buy a brand new inventory home (houses building companies build anticipating they'll be able to sell) for the same price as the 20-30 year old homes we'd been looking at all day. There was only one four bedroom house left in the 1,000+ home community, and we were fortunate enough to nab it.

At this point the house is only a cement slab, but we're assured it will be completed within 60 days. We got to pick out the flooring, cabinetry, etc. (Cool right? But in a year when I decide I don't like a color scheme I'll have no one to blame but myself. Oh, the daunting responsibility!)

The outside, which we didn't get to pick out, looks similar to this. The shutters are brown instead of green.

Main level

Upper Level

If you click here then select the virtual tour red button on the left side of the page, you can get an idea of what the inside is like—except our home will be down-graded about a hundred notched from what you see in the tour. No hardwood floors, sunroom, or stainless steel appliances for us!

A few perks about the area include:

• A library, a community pool and park, and two city parks within walking distance
• Wide, safe streets and trails for running (No need to worry, Dad.)
• Grocery stores and gyms 7-8 minutes away
• Four-star school system
• An almost completely built community (ours is one of the last five lots) which has a lot of young families
• Close proximity to the city, but it has a country feel. You pass corn fields on the way to our neighborhood.
• A small-ish ward with 100 Primary kids, seven youth, a few students, and an okay balance between younger and older families. (Matt loved the ward and thought the Elder's Quorum was especially close. The men have "book club" and "cooking club", but it's really just a cover up to get together and watch baseball and UFC fights. I was not such a big fan of the ward—and am still a little worried—seeing as I was the only person under 40 in Relief Society. (I guess all the younger moms are in Primary.) But I have talked to a few women in the ward and it sounds like it'll be good. There's a playgroup, book club, etc.

I'm super excited about this house, but it's really hit me the past couple days that we will soon be leaving Des Moines—our ward; our friends; all that is familiar to us. I can't imagine being any happier in this home than I've been in our apartment. Even though it's small and ghetto, being surrounded by incredible friends and neighbors has mattered most.

I don't expect Indianapolis to be the same experience as Des Moines—really nothing can compare to what we have here. But I hope to find at least one friend for me and a playmate for Skylie in Indy. (And I pray there's someone to call at 2 a.m. when I go into labor and need someone to watch Skylie. She throws a fit when doctors check Baby's heartbeat... I don't think she'd do well in the Delivery Room.) :)

P.S. A BIG thank you is due to Dave, Jenny, and Cindy Pitcher for watching Sky while we house-hunted and to the Payne's for lending us their portable DVD player. The drive was much more enjoyable with Skylie who thought she'd died and gone to heaven when she got to watch Dora and Elmo for seven straight hours!

Fate has Spoken

And...

Indianapolis, Indiana

will be our home for the next five years!

It was our top choice, and Matt and I both feel confident that our family will be happy in Indy. Matt and I arranged to be together when the news came, and shortly afterward the residents at Indiana University called Matt showering him with congratulations and cheers! I think he'll love the experience he gets there.

This weekend we're making a trip out there to find a house. So excited! If everything works out we plan to move our stuff out there the third weekend in May (one week before Matt graduates), so that after graduation we can hit the road (and air) for Utah and Hawaii.

Indianapolis might not seem like a great tourist destination, but don't be fooled. Here's few reasons to entice you to visit:

The world-famous motor race, known as Indy 500
The Lucas Oil Stadium which is home to the Indianapolis Colts
The Children's Museum, the largest museum of it's kind in the world
The Indianapolis Zoo with it's special interactive dolphin experience

He Matched!

We've received word that Matt has landed a spot in one of the residency programs he selected!

This is exciting because this means he's going to be a doctor in the specialty he wants—psychiatry. I am so proud of him and know his hard work's paid off.

The biggest news comes Thursday at noon when we find out where we'll be living for the next five years. Can't wait!

Month Eighteen ~ Eighteen Month Statistics

Skylie,

You are at the most adorable stage! I wish you’d let me take pictures and videos of you because you are so dang cute! Instead though, whenever I pull out the camera, you race to it, begging to look at all the videos and pictures.
You are a social little girl and never get enough of playing with buddies. Every night you ask for your neighbor buddy, “Theo. Theo. Theo.” You stand at our front door, pointing and repeating his name over and over. You’re always super excited to play with Logan, Taylor, and Kylee, as well. Sometimes you ask for them, but their names come out pretty garbled and takes a fine ear to decipher. Last night at dinner you asked for anyone you could think of: first Theo, then Logan and Taylor, and finally Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Papa. I guess Daddy and I aren’t enough for you! Good thing you’ll have a sibling soon! You do obsess over babies.
You love nursery, (And you’re finally there legally! Since Daddy’s calling is in nursery, you’ve played there for months.) You also love story time at the library, playgroup, and playing in the mall play areas—pretty much anything that gets you around other kids. I’m thrilled to say that you’ve finally warmed up at the gym’s childcare. You’re not there often, but now you don’t cry during the hour or two each week when dad and I attend a class together.

You’re excellent at communicating! If we don’t immediately acknowledge your talking, you shove your head right up next to mine or Daddy’s and repeat yourself with increasing intensity! More than once you’ve been in my arms, and I (or Dad) wasn’t looking at you while you jabbered. You’ve yanked my face with both hands to turn my head to you. So funny!
You know most of your shapes, animal names and sounds, most of the foods you eat, household objects, and are getting interested in letters and numbers. You’ll point to a big letter in a book, and say, “A B A B A” or ask, “That?”. (You don’t get the letters correct, too often, but we have to start somewhere.). Dad has tried especially hard to teach you colors, but to no avail. You know the names of most colors, “blue, green, yellow, red”, but you almost never match the name to the correct hue! I’m sure you’ll get it before too long.
You’re learning your manners—please and thank you are words you know well—but I’m reminding you constantly to use them. (Me: “What do you say?” You: “Pees.” or Me: “Say ‘More apple please’.” You: Long pause, giggle. Then finally “Mo pees.”) However, this week as I left a store, I said “Thanks.” to an employee. You immediately echoed, “Thank you.” So cute!
Elmo is your greatest love, and you’d watch him all day if we let you. Singing songs, reading books, and playing with your toy barn and animals are other favorites. Stacking blocks is a new hit. Last night whenever your tower of blocks fell, you’d grit your teeth in frustration and cry, “No, no!” You are getting so great at entertaining yourself (not all the time by any means), but sometimes you’ll play independently for up to an hour! Thanks to stickers, magnets, and doodle and flannel boards, we can now make it through Sacrament Meeting most of the time.

Recently you learned to play “Ring Around the Rosies”, and you love it! Randomly you’ll begin singing “ashes, ashes” then finish by dropping to the floor and calling out, “fall down”. You do the actions when we sing “The Wheels on the Bus”, “Once There Was a Snowman”, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and “The Wise Man Built His House upon a Rock”.
You’re a good eater, have begun using utensils, and are able to drink out of a regular cup. Bedtime routine seems deeply ingrained in your head: PJ's. Brush teeth. Read scriptures. Pray. Kiss Dad and Mom. Naps, aren’t quite as predicable, but if you go down for your nap around 1 p.m., you’ll generally sleep for two to three hours.
You are such a pleasant, smart, fun little girl! I love watching your personality show more and more. Even though you aren’t immune to throwing tantrums, you’re pretty spunky and smiley, which I love! You mean the world to me.
Love,
Mom

Eighteen Month Statistics

Weight: 20 lbs. 15 oz.; 7th percentile

Height: 32 inches; 59th percentile

Head circumference: 45 cm.; 12th percentile

February Recap

This past month we:

Celebrated Valentine's Day!
Matt and I both worked on the special day (me during the day and he at night), so we celebrated the weekend before. Thanks to a 90% off coupon (Is that amazing or what?!) from restaurants.com we dined at Dos Rios. The meal was good, but the chips and guacamole...mmm...that was amazing stuff. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Speaking of Lover's Day...Matt is pretty amazing. A few of the many traits I love about him are:

1. He is super low-maintenance and not a complainer. A few months ago he mentioned that the heater in one of our cars didn't work. Since he drove that car, I didn't think about it again--until I drove said car once and FROZE TO DEATH. (Do you know how cold Iowa winters are?) Matt had been driving all winter in that ice-infested car. Since that car was on it's last leg anyway, he figured it wasn't worth the repair costs.
2. He puts a lot of effort into doing cute stuff for me. Things like that don't come naturally to him, so the fact that he works hard at it is even more endearing.
3. He notices little things that make my life better. For example, my legs have been itching like crazy lately. So one day he came home with a special lotion that has totally relieved the itchiness. Lame story, I know, but I thought it was such a thoughtful, caring gesture.

We also attended our fourth and final DMU Gala.

Skylie turned 18 months old and is getting more full of personality with each passing day.
Read more about her here.

I'm now 16 weeks along with Baby #2 and am feeling great.
Here's the belly to prove it. One more month until we find out the gender!

Matt is doing a family medicine rotation at DMU.
We're fortunate the clinic is so close, since we're now down to one car. Goodbye Cutlass. It is with pleasure that I bid you farewell.

We're anxiously awaiting March 17 when we find out where we'll be spending the next five years for Matt's residency!