JOB!!!

K, so it's not our end-pont, but our starting point. Mitch accepted a job as an overnight stocker working for the brand new walmart in Frisco. For those of you unfamiliar with Texas, Frisco is near us. Hehe. His employers are SUPER impressed with him and anticipate him moving through the ranks fairly quickly. He starts mid-April and the store opens in May. All I care about is that he starts getting paid in April. WOOT! This means my days will now be spent caring for Derek, keeping the house clean and looking for apartments - in that order. I feel pretty jittery but I'm so thankful that we have a job now. It pays just enough for us to scrape by if we're thrifty. Score! For those of you to whom this is a shock - join the club. :)

Deep Thinking

Julene, if you're reading this, thanks for posting this on your blog!

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us. - Joseph Campbell

Story of my life right now. I've been so caught up in what we've lost, (and still losing, more on that later) that I haven't been able to enjoy hardly anything about where we are in life right now. Except Mom Heath's delicious meals. Oh. My. Gosh! All of us are trying to lose weight, but I think I'm eating better than I ever have in my life (no offense to my Mom or Dad).

I've been worrying and stressing about so many things I went and made myself sick. Great. Let's just add to this pile. At least I've lost 5 lbs in 24 hours and, judging by the way the fever is making me sweat, I might lose another 5 before the weekend is out. WOOT!

One of the biggest stressors has been Lacey. What happened to my perfect pet?! She had less exercise when we were in Del Rio (Kal was mostly inside and she was mostly outside) and she only dug one hole there. Here, she gets walked at least every 2 or 3 days in addition to playing with Kal in the side yard all day every day and she's dug at least 5 mini craters. Needless to say, Dad Heath is not pleased but he's been so patient with us... well, with me I suppose. Mitch seems all too happy to be rehoming her and is now absolutely firm on never having another dog in the house. Kal is all weather, so he will be staying outside or in the garage during cold nights or super hot days. I think we'll have to shave him for summer. :S Man, he's going to look pitiful. lol Anyway, Mitch and I have come to the conclusion to put Lacey up for adoption. It's been absolutely horrible for me to even think about losing them, especially Lacey. She was such a doll, so good with Derek, ridiculously softer than any other dog I've ever met, and so loving. No other dog will sleep for 8 hours in a car in the backseat with a baby! No other dog has been such a good sport about doing dog training with me. Kal is a booger sometimes. He's just starting to heel consistently but if he sees another dog, even in the distance, he freaks out. Too bad it seems like everyone in Stonebridge has a dog.

**UPDATE** Lacey is so close to being in the best home ever! Just a few more days and we'll find out if she gets to stay with the neighbors across the street. How cool is that?!

Picturepalooza

Here are a bunch of pics of Derek and Mitch. Just some background for some of the pictures coming up: We decided to jokingly call Mom Heath "Mammy Tammy" and Dad Heath "Popsicle" until the kids get old enough to talk and give them their own name. Personally, I think they're super cute and absolutely original names and, considering that Derek has 5 sets of grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa can only go so far before becoming unbearably repetitive.

They love Popsicle's motorcycle!

Absolutely love his face! Priceless!

The Lipless Wonder

Apparently, babies taste like buttercream

Huh?

Mitch really did get stuck. I had to laugh. ;)

Waiting for Daddy to come back. Love the perspective and contrast

Videopalooza Part Two

I guess it's gottaupdatetheblog night. In lieu of date night, we are doing late-night. lol. Mitch is finally getting to spend some time with his xbox (and so is Derek, lol) while I soak up some TV. I figured I'd do something constructive during the ridiculously long commercials on the Criminal Investigation Channel. Seriously? Do you have to advertise your other shows with the same 3-4 minute clips?!

Derek walking outside

Being cute with clothes

K, so I hear Mitch downstairs calling for me and I come down to help. Here's what I find. Of course, the cruel wife in me can't help but run for the camera. ;)

Derek being cute with his monkey. WAY better than a pillow pet.

Derek vs The Hoodie

Tickle Fest!

Temper Tantrum-ish

Derek has learned to put his face in the water! He's got a head start on swimming lessons. :)

Baby's perspective and banging on the walls

Justin Bieber..... Hmmm...

As a continuation of my comments on facebook, I think Justin Bieber is a "talented little terd" but I don't think I'd ever want my kids to see his music videos. People say Stephanie Meyer portrayed unrealistic love in the Twilight books, but I think the music videos of teens today are fueling that fire just as much, if not more. In Justin's "Baby ft. Ludacris," He chases unrelentingly after another pre-teen at a bowling alley, even putting his hand out to touch her chest. Don't believe me? Check out THIS youtube link and watch at 1:02. Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus are all prime examples of what happens when kids get into the music/acting business too young and are expected to make grown-up decisions overnight. No matter how often the parents may act as the "agent" they still claim that their child should be allowed to make the decisions. Heaven forbid parents give guidance and direction, let alone enforce boundaries, rules and guidelines!! It makes me want to scream to see the waste of such wonderful kids. They're pushed and pulled until they eventually snap. I, for one, don't blame them entirely: I blame their parents. Granted kids should know that drugs are bad, but being raised for the world's entertainment they're likely to be heavily influenced by the world's standards, or lack thereof. I realize that we really are being tested far more extensively in these days than in any other previous dispensation. Wealth, "free-time" and social demands are just as much a trial as poverty, child-rearing and back-breaking hard work.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now. Next week's soapbox will be about depression, ADD/ADHD and bipolar disorders.

Come What May, And Love It

Wow, it seems like we've been here in McKinney FOREVER! It's really only been three weeks. Not a huge ton of stuff to share, but a fair amount.

Derek is cute, as always. He walks and walks and walks now. He also likes to climb the stairs which I do NOT like; especially since he doesn't understand that he can't walk down like the rest of us and refuses when we tell him to "go down on your belly."

It has snowed. Again. Come on, really?! It's freaking TEXAS!! It doesn't snow here!! Bah. At least Kal and Lacey are loving it. They'll bury their snouts in the powder and fling their heads back, chase each other around the yard and sniff the yellow snow. Derek thinks it's too cold and runs away from the door back into the house.

Our car got backed into. Totally the other guy's fault (he smelled like alcohol), but just one more thing to deal with.

We have callings! YAY! It was hard to want to go to church in our last ward because we didn't have callings and we kind of got lost in the ebb and flow of military/border patrol transfers. Anyway, Mitch was called as a primary worker and I was called to serve in the Cub Scouts. Did that smack you between the eyes like it did me? Yeah, totally way off in left field with regards to my expectations, but the Lord knows what he's doing. Mitch is taking over Mom Heath's primary class, which is kind of cool. He walked into Primary on Sunday and the Primary president asked the kids if they knew who Mitch was. One of the kids called out, "He's a Heath!" Too funny! I'm kind of the substitute teacher for scouts, I guess. This ward likes to have leadership "Two Deep," meaning they have the den leader with an assistant den leader to fall back on in case the first can't make it - basically, a fall back. I'm what they consider "Three Deep" or a floater. I go where I'm needed and fill in where I can. I'm cool with that, especially since scouts is completely foreign to me. I have a mandatory, one-hour meeting every Thursday evening and that's it (unless I'm asked to do something else). And I can bring Derek. Cool.

Hmmm... what else.... I've unleashed the inner Emeril, I suppose. I've been cooking dinner and baking bread more often just trying to contribute to the running of the house and taking the load off Mom Heath since she works at The Cake Stand. It's been fun to play with my food and learn how to cook.

All in all, I'm trying to say "come what may, and love it" like Elder Wirthlin says. I've also tried to come up with some positive things about our situation instead of dwelling on only the bad. So far, the list is small but it's still growing.

Oh, and Mitch and I were asked to speak in church in two weeks. Can I just say I'm kind of amused at what stuck out at me? We were asked to use Elder Duncan's talk from last Conference, "Our Very Survival" - it talks about obedience to the prophet. It's been an interesting set of impressions, but I'm confident we won't crash and burn. At least nobody has called me Sister Murray. :)

Want a laugh? Check this out...

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

New Hair Cut!!!

This is the haircut I've been trying to get for the past 5 years and I finally got it... Thank you for the birthday gift certificate Megan!!

First Post of the New Year

I can think of no better way to start off this new year than to illustrate one of my new resolutions - to empty the lint catcher on the dryer. Here is what happens when you don't do that for, oh, about 4 months...

It's no wonder our clothes weren't drying...

Yum? I think not.

But Mitch thinks so!

Kadi wanted to throw it away, but what did Mitch want to do with it.... *shakes head*

And for another good laugh, I found this on another blog

Due to a power outage, only one paramedic responded to the call. The house was very dark so the paramedic asked Kathleen, a 3-year old girl, to hold a flashlight high over her mommy so he could see while he helped deliver the baby. Very diligently, Kathleen did as she was asked.

Heidi pushed and pushed and after a little while, Conner was born. The paramedic lifted him by his little feet and spanked him on his bottom. Conner began to cry.

The paramedic then thanked Kathleen for her help and asked the wide-eyed 3-year old what she thought about what she had just witnessed. Kathleen quickly responded, "He shouldn't have crawled in there in the first place . . . smack his butt again!"

End of 2010

Well, this has been the end of a very educational year. I've been able to learn so much about life, love and the gospel... and I've been able to see some of my weaknesses turn into strengths. I've lived in small one-bedroom apartment with two people (and then three), enjoyed living in our own home, gained a job, lost a job, and (I think the best of all) helped to create life. Nothing will ever touch that sweet experience of carrying a baby for nine grueling months and then suddenly seeing his eyes blinking up at you. There is absolutely no glimmer of recognition in those eyes (and won't be for several weeks) but you know that this is a spirit that is fresh from the presence of Heavenly Father and that he has a purpose and a mission just like you do and Heavenly Father loves him just as much as He loves you.

Speaking of that precious spirit, we celebrated his birthday a little early. About an hour ago, in fact. :) Here are some pictures his Aunt Sereen took (with video to follow).

Ooo...it moves...pretty

You want me to do WHAT? Blow on it?

You're sure I can touch this?

SCORE!!!

Oh yeah, this is the good stuff...

Why are you all laughing?

Like my beard?

And that's the way the first cake crumbled!!

Thanks for keeping up with our blog! See you next year!!