Just Girls

So while Cory was out of town for his interviews this morning, the girls and I went and had a few pictures taken. I'm thinking, if Cory's leaving us here, he ought to have a decent picture of us there. So my awesome friend Rachelle took a bunch for us. You can see them on Rachelle's blog, LaRee Photography. Cailin had a really rough night last night, and wanted NO part of being out in the cold, and screamed pretty much the entire time. Janey was just cold. And Breanne was complaining about the sun being in her eyes (sounds strangely like some guy I married). And yet, I still feel like we got some good shots. Rachelle is just that good. :)

STOP FREAKING OUT

Ok, so apparently my cryptic-ness isn't appreciated. But I've been sitting on some news for nearly a month now, and it's kind of killing me. As in I think I've lost 5 pounds just from thinking about it. So, here it is.

We're moving. To California. Cupertino. (It's at the base of the SF bay, if you don't know where that is). (It's also Apple Headquarters). Do you see where I'm going with this?

That's right, Cory's taking a new job, working at Apple. Whether he actually works *for* Apple, or with a contract company there (TCS, who has already made him an offer) is yet to be decided, as he has one last interview at Apple on Tuesday. The decision we make after that is what I was waiting for to tell you all about this, but (in case you haven't noticed), I'm not a big fan of crazy, and not everyone knowing what's going on was causing a bit too much crazy for me. So there it is.

This post is making me sound angry and bitter. I should change my tone, because honestly--we're pretty darn excited about the whole thing. I'm scared out of my mind at the prospect of leaving Utah (I've never been out of the state for more than 2 weeks) and my family, raising my kids in a place like California, and learning to navigate a non-grid-system area, but I'm SO excited for us to have our own adventure. In a new place for all of us. It will be OUR time, as our little family. And of course anyone is more than welcome to come visit whenever they want. :) Driving through the redwoods to get to the beach... yes please. And 70 degree weather... I can handle that, for sure. (The cost of California is a different story, but the salary in the current job offer is such that I'm trying not to worry too much about that. Yet. The numbers all work out in our favor, so it should be good). Also, Cory's parents gave us a GPS for Christmas. It's like they knew I'd need it or something. Anyway, the real reason that we are taking one of these jobs is simple. If you know Cory at all, you know that this has been a lifelong dream for him. How many people actually get to live their dreams out? And how could I ever even consider saying no? I am so, so, so excited for my husband to get to take a chance to do something he's always loved. He is so good to our family, and he truly deserves this.

The real reason I haven't told many people about this yet is just because there are still so many variables, so many questions, that we don't have answers for. We don't know if we'll have an actual job offer from Apple yet, we don't know which offer we'll end up taking if there is a second, we don't know when all our family will move, we don't know what we're going to do with our current house in the current market, etc. We do know that if Cory takes the current offer he has, he'll start working on the 21st, possibly the 22nd. Of February. Yes, next week. Crazy, right? But also, we know that the girls and I will stay here at that time, until Cory finds a nice place for us to all live, and we're able to pack everything up and move it. It'll be a few weeks at least. We're guessing in the ballpark of 6, though the thought of being here on my own that long kind of makes me cringe. I seriously look forward to when Cory comes home for lunch every afternoon, and when he's done with work for the day. So do the girls. I know so many women can do it all on their own, and I will be able to, too, but I am positive we'll miss him. Immensely. So I'd like to keep our separation as short as possible.

There are so many things that we are going to miss about where we currently are. We love our house, our neighbors, our ward, our friends, our activity groups, the area in which we live--so while this current situation is very, very sweet, there is a lot of bitter in there, too. Thankfully, we still have blogs, facebook, and Skype and iChat to keep us all in touch with everyone. This is going to be a great change, but not an easy one.

And that is the story. You may all stop freaking out now. Thank you.

Hee Hee

Does anyone else find the error in this deal amusing (click to see the image larger)?

Pics Lost in Time

So in case you haven't heard, Cory gave me a new laptop for "Valentine's" (he just wanted an excuse to get me one). Yeah, he's awesome. I know. :) Anyway, hopefully this will mean I can blog more, and get back into my groove of actually reading blogs and responding to them.

In the meantime, here are a few pics and a quick awesome impromptu video that haven't been posted due to the inconvenience of not having had a computer:

I was cleaning walls and doorways a couple days ago, and found this written on *both* of my bedroom doors:

Cailin really likes birthday cake. She was the first of my kids to just reach out and grab it and shove it in her mouth:

Breanne wanted to focus on her "homework" one day... it's a coloring and activity book, if you're wondering:

This one is for Shilo--this is the back of my sewing machine foot. See the stick-y-out-y thing, and how it has a notch on the top of it? That's the thread cutter. The notch.

Breanne's letter to Santa (it reads Dear Santa, Bring this to me please. (heart) Breanne, and then has a picture of the Rapunzel Tower):

Occasionally I do wipe off my kids faces, get them dressed, and do their hair. Proof of this with Janey:

And I just love this sleeping pic of Cailin--I rarely get to see her sleep anymore, and I just love her sticking out tongue:

And an impromptu video: I swear they were singing it before I started recording it--it was NOT my idea, I just wanted to record it for those lousy and long days in the future. :)

Life over here really is good. I'm sitting on some great news, just waiting for all the details to work out before I post it, but I promise, I'll let you all in on it soon. As soon as I can, the anticipation is killing me.

A Little About Cailin

So, since Cailin doesn't really answer any of my questions yet, I thought I'd just tell you a little bit about her.

--Cailin is HILARIOUS. She is constantly doing things just to make me laugh. I don't remember my other girls doing this so young. She makes funny faces, funny noises, and does funny poses just to get a smile. She loves performing, but only for our family. Because...

--When we're anywhere else, Cailin is pretty shy. There are a handful of people who have gained C's trust, but for the most part, she doesn't want anything to do with anyone else touching her.

--Cailin is my earliest crawler, and latest walker. She does take steps, and has been for a few weeks now, but it is only if and when she wants to. There is no pushing this girl, because...

--she is so stubborn! If she wants me to do something and I'm busy doing something on my phone, she will do everything in her power to knock my phone out of my hands. If she sees something she wants (like bananas), she will yell (not cry, YELL) until she gets them, or some sort of explanation as to why she can't have them, and they disappear from her sight. Like yesterday at the grocery store. Can't eat 'em until we buy them, place them in the cart where she can't see them, and walk away from the display. 5 minutes later, we're good.

--Related to her stubbornness, if Cailin doesn't want to do something (like you're holding her and she doesn't want you to sit down), she will throw her head back and arch her back and cry or yell until you get up. Yes, this is exhausting, and I can't wait until she figures out a better way to solve her problems. Good thing she's so cute.

--Cailin is super ticklish up under her collar bone, and giggles every time I tickle her there. I love that it is so easy to get a good laugh out of her.

--Cailin is by far my best eater at the current moment. Yesterday for lunch, she had 2 bananas, 1/4 my quesadilla, a piece of bread, 2 pieces of cheese, 2 graham crackers, and 1/2 cup of milk. And was still demanding more. For dinner, she had a cheese sandwich, a banana, goldfish crackers, graham crackers, water and orange juice. (Usually we have more structured meals for dinner, I swear, but yesterday was exhausting, so we ate sandwiches. Don't judge). She will eat whatever we're eating, and more. Two days ago, I made up some tomato basil soup, and she even ate half my bowl of that. What one year old likes tomato soup? Mine usually don't, but this one does!

--Despite all her eating, Cailin is still only 18 lbs 13 oz, and 26 3/4 inch long. She's a short chubby girl, and I mourn the day that her rolls disappear and she grows up into a little girl.

--Cailin says quite a few words already. In her vocabulary: Hi, Dad, Hazel (she calls every cat Hazel), up, cheese, please, thank you, and UH-OH (which she says nearly every time we get into the van, a couple minutes into the drive, as she tosses her pacifier out of her seat. On purpose. I don't know how many times I'll have to explain that throwing is not an accident. :))

--Cailin has the thickest hair of all my kids, and it's not as curly as the other girls. It still definitely has some curl to it, but it spends much more time straight. It's super long on top, and has a bit of length in the back, but not enough to put it in ponytails just yet. So she usually just gets one on top, maybe tucked under to keep it under control.

--Cailin loves to shake her head "no" and occasionally tips herself over by doing it so violently. And then she usually laughs.

--Cailin surprised us the other day by folding her arms when I asked her to. I hadn't taught her that, but when I was trying to get her ready for a prayer, and said "fold your arms, baby" she surprised me, and did.

I'm sure there are more things I'm meaning to tell you about this sweet sweet girl, but this is a good list to start. I have to admit, I was hesitant to get pregnant with her, because I was terrified of having 3 kids. At the time, though, I felt distinctly impressed that if we had her, we would be blessed. And we are. This little girl belongs to our family. I am so grateful that we followed our promptings to bring her here. She is such a loving girl, and so strong-willed. She is a blessing to our family, and I can't wait to see who she grows up to become. In the meantime, though, I'm trying to enjoy every minute.

What a Year

Well, it's true. Cailin has officially been with our family for a year now, and I can't believe it. Cliche or not, this year has gone by SO quickly! This little girl is a fighter. From not wanting to be named Natalie Paige to RSV to chickenpox... it's been quite the year. I'm so glad she's so tough and able to fight things out. I love her spunky personality, even through her bouts of yelling at me until I figure out what, exactly, it is that she wants. Most of all, I'm just so glad she's ours.

And now, for your viewing enjoyment (ok, I just wanted the walk down memory lane myself...), I present you with Cailin's first year, a photo story:

First moments:

First day:

First week at home:

Back at the hospital due to RSV

So tired of being at the hospital:

She's a great burper, and an awesome face maker around 1 month:

and still so cute at 1 month:

2 months and cherry cute:

3 months and smiling all the time:

4 months and OUTSIDE (also blowing bubbles is awesome, didn't you know?):

5 months and getting around by rolling:

about a week after 5 months old, and chickenpoxed to the max:

6 months and hiding from her mom already... and thinking it was hilarious:

7 months and eating french fries at the zoo with grandma... what could be better?

8 months on a cold day:

9 months and of course a princess for Halloween, though she didn't much care for the crown:

10 months and thinking something is absolutely hilarious:

11 months and eating the biggest marshmallow known to man... conveniently right next to the tub, which is precisely where she ended up when finished:

11 months and attacking the camera, because that's just her style (also please note the awesome hair):

And one year old, hanging out at the mall with the big kids: