Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

I'm not gonna lie, this year has been a bit rough.  But I still have plenty to be thankful for.  Let me just preface this post by saying that I pretty much had this entire post written in my mind late last night when I was trying to sleep but of course, I'm sure I won't remember half of it.  

First off, this year was Elizabeth's first year and it was the best.  She is so wonderful and joyful and perfect.  Everyone loves her.  Aaron loves her and she is so in love with him.  I am thankful for my daughter for sure.

Aaron has started preschool with the Head Start program and it's really been great for him.  AND for me, of course.  He's growing so much and so fast.  This past year has been a bit difficult for him too.  He's started a new school, has had to realize that he's not the only baby anymore and has had to deal with his dad's new job.  But I'm hoping his new found attitude this year is a phase.  He's learning new things at school though, including how to socialize.  But he's my big boy now and I'm thankful for my son.  

If you've been keeping up, you'll know that Josh lost his job earlier this year because his plant closed.  When he couldn't find a job in Sacramento after a few months and we were in a pretty bad spot, I encouraged him to look outside of Sacramento.  We've been talking about living close to the water, so why not look, right?  

Josh applied for a job with Tesla and he was really wanting to get it.  For the first time in the 10+ years I've known him he was actually excited about a job!  We were all rooting for him and he got it!  Josh got a job with Tesla in Fremont, CA which is 2 hours out of Sacramento.

At first the job was temporary and we agreed that we wouldn't think about moving until he was brought on permanently.  He stayed in Fremont during the week and because we need the money, he has also been working the overtime on Saturdays.  So he comes home for basically a day and a half before he heads back again.  This has been hard on all of us, but Aaron the most (hence the new found attitude mentioned earlier).  Of course seeing this and also the fact that I knew Josh would be brought on permanently, I was looking at places anyway.  

And then we realized that the South Bay Area and the East Bay Area are both double in rent than what Sacramento is.  So the search has been tougher than expected.  We've not only tried Fremont but Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Livermore, Dublin, Pleasanton, Concord and Palo Alto.  We even applied for a place a few weeks ago but they gave it to someone else.  

Honestly, the whole process has been rather discouraging.  But I still have faith that things will work out for us and for that, I'm thankful.  And I'm thankful for my husband Josh and that he has a job in the first place to give us this issue to work on!  And so the search continues......

I am so happy to have my little family.  We have issues and fights and bad days just like anyone else, but at the end of the day we love each other - Josh and I are best friends - and we both love, love, love our babies.  And the dog.  Don't forget our first baby!

So while we've had some bumps in the road this year, like I said earlier, I still have plenty to be thankful for.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and yours!  I hope you are all having a year to be thankful for as well.

 

The Snowman and The Snowdog: Our Review

For the month of November, we were sent The Snowman and The Snowdog based on the novel The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.  This is a sequel to the original.  

Aaron and I have never seen the The Snowman but turns out you don't really need to see the first one to enjoy this movie!  It's a very sweet story - without words - just lovely music.  A boy finds a box under the floorboard of his room that holds the Snowman's hat, scarf, nose and buttons and also a picture of a young boy and the Snowman.  So he gets the idea to build one for himself and now he's got all the parts!  And since he just lost his dog, he builds a Snowdog for the Snowman.  It's a wonderful story of love and strength, friendship and adventure.  

Aaron really enjoyed it and since there was only music, he felt free to ask questions during the show.  This would be a great stocking stuffer for the holidays!  It's a sweet story.  

You can buy The Snowman and The Snowdog at Amazon.com or directly from NCircle Entertainment.  It retails for $9.99.

Our Vegas Birthday Trip

Happy 1st Birthday!

Well we are back from Vegas and I finally have some time to sit and blog.  Unfortunately when we got back Elizabeth came down with a stomach virus and then Aaron and mama and finally dada.  SO, needless to say we didn't get much done that first week back.  

The trip to Vegas was great though!  We had a wonderful time with both families.  We visited with my dad's tia Conchita who turned 90.  She was so happy to see us.  And though our visit was short (it was hard to fit all 9 of us in her small room) it was emotional I think, for all of us.  For me personally, visiting with her reminded me of my own grandfather (tia Conchita's brother) and when she was playing her guitar and singing to us, I got a bit teary eyed.  I miss my grandpa and thing of him often.  

Coblentz Ladies

We also got to visit Josh's mom and aunts.  His aunt Lillian lives in Vegas so we were lucky to have another place to feel welcome and visit with loved ones.  Lillian and her husband Evan were so welcoming and invited us to their home not only for meals and visits, but they were gracious enough to host Elizabeth's birthday party!  

Elizabeth & Aaron getting their fingers in the cake!

Elizabeth had an owl themed birthday party that was catered by Lillian herself!  The food was super delicious (my favorite was the lamb and middle eastern salad).  The cakes were from Whole Foods (just like Aaron's were) and everything was wonderful.  

Lillian and Evan were also kind enough to treat Josh, my sisters and I along with Josh's mom Tina and aunt Polly to a limo tour of the strip and downtown Vegas.  No stripper pole, but it was still awesome!  I joked that the driver probably thought we were the tamest group ever but it was fun!

And for one night Josh and I were able to sneak out on our own to walk and explore the strip, have dinner at The Venetian and visit one of my favorite places in Vegas - The Bellagio Conservatory!  They had a beautiful Fall theme with pumpkins, a scarecrow, talking trees and all sorts of autumn flora.  It was lovely.  The Venetian and Bellagio are my absolute favorites.  Though I super love the check-in lobby at Paris.

We also took Aaron to the Shark Reef at The Mandalay Bay.  He thought it was so awesome.  It was actually a really great, although small, aquarium.  All in all, the trip was great.  I only wish we had more time to spend with each of the families.  

When we got back, it was time to get ready for Halloween but like I said, my poor bubba came down with a stomach virus the day after we got back.  I literally went shopping the on the eve of Halloween for costumes with Aaron.  We came back with a minion and Agnes (the little girl with the stuffed unicorn who says "IT'S SO FLUFFY!!") costume for Aaron and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth seemed to be on the mend, but at the end of the night she ended up getting sick again.  Poor bubbas!!  

Minion Dave & Agnes

Thankfully now everyone is back to being healthy and we're back to our normal routines.  Today I took Elizabeth in for her 1 year check up and she is 24 lbs (95th percentile) and 32 inches long (100th percentile!).  She's definitely keeping up with her brother in that respect!  

Next up is Thanksgiving and it's just right around the corner!!  I can't believe it.  We're getting so close to the holidays and Aaron's birthday --- it's all going by too fast.

I'm trying to enjoy it while I can!  Happy 1st Birthday Elizabeth.  We all love you!