Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Markers

Tomorrow is the big day! Floor Installment day! I've been working on laundry and packing up all day since our washer and dryer have to move to the garage, and we don't want extra stuff on the floor when the installers come. Dave is figuring out the best way to get the fridge to the garage right now, and I wish I could help more, but I have to sit down and take breaks or my back starts spasming. (Excuses, excuses!)
So, since I'm sitting, I thought I would tell a story on my ornery second born, Lydia. She found some permanent markers on the floor (the ones we use for writing on boxes) and decided to color with them. She covered her hands and wrote on one of her books with them, and then she went after the carpet. The spot she actually drew on isn't very big- but it still is permanent marker on carpet! I almost decided not to get on to her since the carpet will be completely gone by this weekend, but I realized I better have a talk with her and instill some discipline because despite the circumstances, she still broke our "only write on paper" rule. Actually, she broke it 3 times. Well, 4; she did get a line of the marker on our ottoman, but I think I mostly got it out.-- Good thing we have microfiber furniture.
Anyway, our garage is almost half full of boxes from the stuff in our closets and other junk we don't use much. How embarrassing. We have too much stuff!!!! We may have to get a storage unit this weekend just to get some of that junk out of there before the house goes on the market. Our realtor scheduled our photos for Monday at 4:30. So, that's our new deadline. Lord Jesus, help us! We will have a lot of cleaning and preparing to do this weekend.
Blessings, Amber

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Overdue Stewart Updates

I'm not sure I've sat down for one second in the last few weeks. We have been going, and going; working, and working. Dave and our friend from church put up a backsplash, changed out almost every light fixture, changed out all our faucets, and touched up paint. We've started packing up our closet stuff, knick knacks and personal photos. Our good friend, Lilia, came over to help us paint our game room, and Dave has been painting everything else like crazy. He's also recaulked our shower. My Dad helped us fill in some little nail holes and repaint them, switch out one of our sinks, and some other plumbing. My Mom and Grandma also helped us pack and get things boxed up. We are getting all new carpet and new vinyl wood flooring in our kitchen, bathrooms, entryway, office and breakfast room. They will hopefully start on Thursday and be done Friday. I've been trying to keep the girls occupied and busy while Dave works on all of his projects. I've also planted flowers, taken hundreds of trips to Lowe's, cleaned and scrubbed, and prayed that everything will work out and that our house will sell soon.

I am very thankful for the people who have been so kind to help us, and it has been a blessing to see my parents and Grandma Daiber who came to visit this last weekend. I don't know that I've ever experienced anything as crazy as all of this, but, we are surviving and I pray that we are settled by the time our third little one makes her grand entrance into this world.

In the midst of all of this craziness, Dave decided that it was time for us to turn in our broken, ridiculously old blackberry phones for a new sprint plan. He got me an Iphone!!!! I've wanted one for eons, and have loved having one! It is so helpful to have a data plan, a good camera and a video camera all at my finger tips. Below is the recording I took on my brand new phone. It worked better than our huge ancient video camera for sure. Plus, it's so much easier to share the videos with all of you! Please watch below so that you can see what we did this morning.
Isn't that fun to watch? Julia has been looking forward to getting on stage for a few weeks now. She is such a ham- she just loves to be on stage.

Hopefully soon things will settle down and I can get back to blogging better. Thanks for checking in today. Blessings to all of you! -Amber

Thursday, February 9, 2012

March Madness

Well friends, Dave and I have some news to share. Dave is getting a new job in North Houston, and we will be putting our house on the market the first of March. When Dave first started hunting out new jobs, we really felt a simultaneous call to be involved in some sort of marraige ministry. We don't feel called to do that full-time, but we know that it will soon be a big part of our lives. As we searched God, and tried to figure out what he had for us with this marraige ministry calling, Dave and I really thought that moving back to Bartlesville would be a possibility. We didn't really want to share this plan right away because we knew that it would mean a big change for us, new jobs, and a move.
However, last month an ex-coworker, Alex, asked Dave to go to lunch with him, and Dave agreed. When they went, Alex shared with Dave the vision of the company that he had helped start, and asked Dave if he might be interested in looking at an opening that their company had available. Dave and I prayed about this, and we decided that it would be wise for him to pursue this offer.
Long story short, Dave went through the interview process, and got the job. God defintily opened the door for Dave to get this new job. He will start on March 1st. I am very excited for him, but am also overwhelmed by what the next few weeks look like for us. Because Dave's new office will be 50 miles north of our house, we will be moving to an apartment/condo. -- Looks like I'll be packing while 7-8 months pregnant, again. But, I've decided to take this adventure one day at a time, and it has helped give me tremendous peace.
We've talked to Julia and Lydia before about what it would be like to move from our current home in the last few months. They were very excited when they thought we would be moving back to Bartlesville because Granny lives there. (They ask often if we can move in with Granny, Mimi and Papa or Grandpa Dan. They miss seeing their grandparents regularly.) But, when we talked about the move again tonight, Julia was very sad. She expressed her love for our house, and told us she really didn't want to leave. As Dave and I were reassuring her, she asked, "Can I at least keep my baby dolls?" When we told her we were taking most of our stuff with us, she was a lot more at ease. (Both girls are really excited that we will live closer to church friends, as are Dave and I. --I can't wait for us to be able to travel 10-15 mins to church instead of the 35 mins to an hour it takes to get there now.)
So 2012 holds a lot in store for us; a new baby, a new home; a new job for Dave, kindergarten for Julia (we have no idea where) and a new sense of following where the Lord leads despite our previous understanding of His calling. Dave and I still feel called to be involved in marriage ministry, and hope to do so at our wonderful Houston church. How that will look, we don't know. But we will stick to God's journey for us.
I am also still trying to understand what I will do for my job after the baby is here. I don't know if being strictly stay-at-home is the best plan for me, but I can't even imagine what my life is going to look like in a few months. Everytime I try, I lose a lot of sleep. In fact, I was woken up this morning at 3:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. I did take a nap after work and after I picked my darlin's up from school. But, I was a very tired momma today.
Anyway, thanks for reading my post today. I appreciate any prayers you might be able to say for us. For the next few weeks, we will be painting, fixing and working to get our house on the market the beginning of March. One. day. at. a. time.

Blessings to you, Amber