house news?

Kurt, Heather-- I was just sitting here wondering if you had started looking for a house yet and if you've had any luck. So, what news, what news?

Jim's the Beast!

This is what Dad emailed us this morning...YAY!!

I tried to post it on the Blog but for some reason I can't get into it (the Blog appears to be down or my company firewall is preventing me from getting into it). Jim was selected as the Beast for "Beauty and the Beast." We'll plan to make it a festive occasion and bring everyone together for a family gathering. I'm thinking it would be fun for all the siblings and their spouses to go to Gala together. I'm sure Hillary's children will want to see the play as well (with the exception of Jaxson maybe) so we can do that on another night. Anyway, we'll see how everything works out.

finding out the gender

Well, we're finding out the gender of our little one on February 20th. As you know, I don't want to know, but Jason does, so the only fair way we could decide what to do was flip a coin. The big flip happened yesterday and (dang it!) I lost.

It will be fun to know, I just have to get used to the idea. I've always wanted a big surprise right there in the hospital room, but I suppose it's not meant to be. *sigh* I'm worried that by knowing that far in advance we'll accumulate a lot more things than if we didn't know--and the more we accumulate, the more stuff we have to move to Memphis. It's a lot easier to buy stuff for babies when you know the gender, so not finding out was another tactic to save us money on moving costs! Oh well.

Jason and I did decide that we'll find out the gender every other baby, so at least in another 2 or so years I'll get my surprise...

update on the house

We are still in the process of buying the house I wrote about before. Our realtor is trying to coordinate with the other realtor to have the utilities turned on so we can have a proper inspection. After that, we will have the house appraised. As long as those two things go well, everything should be smooth sailing from there. We already have financing so closing should not be that difficult. I'll keep you posted.
We've discovered mold growing in Jocelyn's house. I don't think it's serious. It's just around the windows and doors because they have poor air ventilation in their home. We think we can clean it up ourselves. I've researched it online and went and bought some mold killing cleaner yesterday. You know you aren't suppose to clean mold with bleach? I didn't know that until my research. This is such an interesting experience; one I never pictured myself as having. We think that this is part of the reason we have been sick so much since moving into their house though, because really it has been one thing after another and it's not usually like that with me or my kids. I just hope what we see is all there is.
I'm excited to be in my own home again. It hasn't been too bad here. Les and Jocelyn have really been very accomodating to us. But there is something to say about having your own home. I've really come to appreciate that by living with them. I've also come to appreciate my relationship with Charlie as I've watched, up close and personal, someone else's relationship. Charlie and I are so perfect for each other and I can't wait to be living with him full time again.
Love you all and take care.

Settled In

Well, we are finally getting settled in at the apartment in Ann Arbor with Joe and Michele. I've been here for almost a week and Kurt arrived Saturday evening. Our boxes are mostly unpacked and, other than some lost keys and medicine, everything seems to be in order. Pretty good for such a disjointed move. We haven't introduced all 4 cats yet so Kurt and I are sleeping in our room with our two cats. Tons of fun, let me tell you. Hopefully the intros will go smoothly and our 4 people/4 cats arrangement will work out for the duration.

Kurt and I are going to start looking into local real estate options this week, as well as all the other fun chores that go along with moving. Kurt starts work on Monday. Hopefully everything will be unpacked and orderly enough by then that I can start thesis work then, too. So, things have been very exciting for awhile but hopefully life will settle into a little more routine soon.

A Hairy Update

Over the weekend we had an exciting experience...both of my ear drums burst! If you haven't had your ear drums burst before, it is very painful. On Saturday one burst, on Sunday the other. I must have a fairly low tolerance for pain, but it really killed. Thank goodness for epidurals! Anyhow, I am now on some antibiotics, very expensive ear drops, continual doses of Sudafed, and Extra-strengh Tylenol. That's right, I am a walking pharmacy.

As for Jason, school has started again. He's taking less credits and what he hopes are easier classes this semester. We are excited to have him graduate from UVSC this summer, he'll be the first college graduate in his family, and I am so proud of him! We have decided, 100%, that we're moving to Memphis and attending SCO in August.

Our big ultrasound is scheduled for Feb 20th, but we are still undecided whether or not to find out the gender. I don't want to, but Jason does. My thinking is this: how many good surprises do we get in life? Might as well make this one last as long as possible. His thinking is just like everyone elses--practical. But I don't care if our kid wears green for the first month! I honestly want to buy as little as possible before we move since we'll be moving about 5 weeks after we the baby. We have sort of decided that he'll find out and not tell anyone (including me), but I don't know how long that will last. Hmmm... I'm still trying to convince him that a surprise is so much more fun. Your thoughts?

Directions

I guess I didn't know that you guys were going to need to register to see our pictures. So, I'm going to give you my id and password. To log in my email to use is kartright@juno.com and the password is fish13. And, mom, we didn't tell you guys because we wanted to surprise you guys after the vacation with pictures on the blog. We just thought it would be a fun surprise-sorry if you felt left out. But, anyway, if you guys can't see the pictures after you use my log in, let me know. Love you guys!

New Years Adventure

Soo...can anyone tell me where you might see something like this?
Any sort of a clue????? Well, you might know if you've ever been to...
DISNEYLAND!!! That's right, Eric's family sponsered us to go to Disneyland over New Years...this was our Christmas present from them. So, we all went as a family...us, Eric's parents, Eric's brother and his wife, his other brother, and his sister and her family. We left Sunday morning for St. George to attend church with his brother and then to Vegas to see his sister. Then we drove to Pasadina, CA and stayed with his uncle. Eric's uncle works along the parade route for the Rose Parade and so we went to the 9th floor and watched it from his office.














This is the view from his office and the parade was coming toward us. These are the only pictures we have of the parade because the camera died. But, these are pictures of the people lining the streets....it was crazy and they were soo loud. Then, we drove to our hotel in Anahiem and watched the Rose Bowl...Eric was crushed, but we did get to go to the ocean and ate at this cute restaurant on a pier and took some awesome pictures (all other pictures will be later on). Then the next day was Tuesday and we went to Disneyland. It was pretty amazing and I had tons of fun. We were in 70 degree weather and it was beautiful and we got back today and it was snowing pretty hard...Eric wanted to cry, but I was just happy to be home. In other news, we bought me a car today. It is a silver, 99 Hyundai Accent...just a small, fuel efficient car. I love it. Plus, we heard from Iowa University and they have denied Eric for medical school-but it's okay, it was his last choice. So, we're still waiting to hear from 4 more schools (WI, PA, OH, and NE). Cross your fingers that we hear soon. Anyway, here are our pictures from the "Happiest Place on Earth" and we hope you enjoy them...we really enjoyed taking them. We love you and hope that your New Years were just as "magical." (Gosh I'm corney).
*Note...all Disneyland pictures will be veiwed on an album, I just had too many to put them all on the blog, so to view them click here and then open the album with the pretty castle on it. But if you want to read any of the captions, do not put on slideshow, just go one by one. Thanks!