Where are we moving?

I'm sure that is the big question in your mind since it is only 18 days away (yikes!!!). Well, good question. We'd sure like to know. The four options are as follows:

1). Miraculously find a perfect house within that time frame, store our stuff until closing, and live in an Extended Stay. We are praying this turns out to be the option that happens!! We believe in miracles :)

2). "Settle" on a house that is currently on the market, as in not a perfect house for us, or paying more than we wanted to (and still not be a perfect house).

3). Sublet an apartment until December (which will hopefully still be available when we decide) and store most of our stuff and continue looking for houses.

4). Rent for 6 months or a year and partially unpack, but bring all our stuff with us.

Why haven't we found something? Well, since we are hoping this is our long-term house, we've been a little picky. Also, Cedar Falls is the desired spot to live, not Waterloo and consequently, the market is good...if you are a seller. We've been interested in several homes only to have them be sold before we could either look at them or put an offer down. We are hoping the market summer rush/get in before school starts rush is over and we will have a little more time. Being pressured to buy something or rush down to see something the day it comes on the market in hopes to beat out someone else is not our style. I did that once last week and it didn't pan out :( This was one day after I had asked my realtor to check out a brand new house on the market for us and it sold in one day, so I was a little panicky. Ok, that was a little extreme, but basically if it is a good house and a good price, they go fast. Lastly, our price range has a low inventory of houses, so that doesn't help. I guess this is part of the "small town" issue that you don't have quite as much of in Mpls.

So far, we haven't been seeing stuff sell as fast in the last week or two, but maybe that is because they aren't great houses...who knows. There are still a lot out there and a couple that are good options, just not great options. We are people who analyze things quite extensively, so we maybe put more thought into our purchase than others...

Anyways, believe me, you will know when we find a house b/c I will be extremely excited! I am basically addicted to zillow right now and check for new listings several times a day. I was stressed about it for a while, but I've decided to put that burden of worry on the Lord's shoulders. Ahhh, and it felt so much better! :)

Well, that's our house/moving update. I've got a trunk full of donations to drop off soon, which feels great, but I've got more to go. Time to clean up & clean out!

(This probably should have been in the last post--Blake borrowed a car from Omi's neighbor :) )

Soooo big (and soooo behind on blogging) :)

Ok, get a lot documented in a short post and....GO!

1). Sadie was just getting on the first stair in the last post??? Well, today I heard a LOT of giggling between Blake and Sadie and I had just sent Blake to his room, so he must not have gone....Nope! He went, but so did Sadie!! She was at the second to top stair when I found her and thank goodness she didn't fall! She has a little trouble sometimes on the turn on the stairs b/c it gets super narrow in the corner and also thankful Blake didn't knock her down as he was next to her the whole time!!!

Her next big thing is last night I decided to teach her Sooo Big! and she caught on like a champ (I had also done it the night before but I was amazed at how fast she learned it--apparently I started too late :) ).  Here is a little video of her doing it and also showcasing her ability to stand without support for a second! I just love how she obliges me while she is trying to read...!!

Sadie is soooo big!

2). Blake is talking a lot now and loves loves loves to play with his friends. We have some fantastic neighbors directly across the street and we have play dates frequently now. Blake always asks to go "see friends." :) One family just moved in this summer and they moved from Golden Valley, MN (which is the city just next to Crystal where we lived in Mpls)! They have three kids and are always wanted to play with Blake, so it's been great having them here!  He is sporting a nice bump on his head from when he was playing with said friends--he fell out of the wagon when he stood up and then they started pulling the wagon. Here is a clip of Blake in the morning when Scott got up with him (it is about 3 minutes long, so watch at your convenience) :)

Our big boy

3). And as documented in pictures below, we've been going to weddings, hanging out with family, spending time at home while Scott works on his thesis, playing video games, more wounds, etc etc etc. :) :)

Blake taking me and Sadie's picture. I was bending over b/c most of the pictures cut off my head :) 

All of a sudden, the high chair is appealing again. If Sadie does it, Blake wants to do it too :) 

Whoops, another wound while playing with the neighbors! They have a fairly steep driveway and Blake took his big wheels down the driveway when I wasn't looking and went out of control and skinned up his nose. Poor boy. He takes the injuries well though and after a good cry, is back to playing. 

Blake loves to come and join us in bed in the morning. This particular morning, he wasn't quite ready to get up though, and fell back asleep in my spot:) Usually, he just jumps around, if he joins us at all. Lately, he'll just come wake us up and then go play or demand breakfast :) 

Building a deck at Grandpa and Grandma's house (actually, my brother Kyle was, but the kids were more than willing to help and Kyle graciously let them help) 

Playing Apples to Apples outside while we watched Kyle work :) 

Blake & Sam working hard!

Mom & Sarah playing with us and the kids (we played a revised, kid friendly version and it turned out great)!

Blake and his second cousin, Kelvyn. Aren't they adorable!?!

Had to get another one. I kept mistaking Kelvyn for Blake with his super blonde hair!

Blake and his first attempt at video games. Cute picture, but he won't be playing much of these if I have anything to do with it! :)

Dad and...hmm, what was this picture for...I think he just bid blind nola in 500...and won?? Nope, that doesn't seem right for the scores...I believe he was showcasing that after 6 hands we were both tied at 280, haha!

Good hand?? :) 

My adorable little girl eating!! Love this face so much!!

I love her face when she is picking up food :) 

Sittin back and relaxing with grandma (foot is up on the high chair)

Oh yeah, and Blake decided to go egg Grandpa's basement. Um, sorry about that Dad! 

This was after a little clean up of shells, but you get the picture. Thankfully, Sam came and told me Blake was throwing eggs in the basement. It could have been a lot worse!

Sadie and Great Grandma Omi

Apparently this is how I look when I eat salad...I'll have to work on that...;)  )this is another shot by Blake)

Happy baby

Blake and uncle Gary 

Blake and cousin Sam--they are best friends!

Shooting Grandma. No one taught him to shoot like this...sheesh...fortunately or unfortunately Grandma played along. 

Checking out the cows with Great Grandma Lorna

And the baby kitties!!

Grandpa changing Sadie's diaper--thanks Bubba!!

And me and my babies

I O What?

IoWA, that's what. Yep, I thought of that all on my own. ;) Well, as you probably know, Cedar Falls, IA is where we will be calling home in about a month and a half and Scott will be working for John Deere. Yikes. I'm not ready for starting over again in another new city, but hopefully there won't be another move in the near future. Well, I want to be organized when we move and since that seems to be impossible for me, especially with two young kids, that means I shouldn't spend my time blogging while they are sleeping.

It is amazing the mess two kids can make (well, it is mostly just the one...:) ), but I love them so much it makes it not so bad.

A couple quick facts about our move:

1). We want company!!!!

2). John Deere is packing up all our stuff for us, moving it, and storing it, if we need it. Soooo thankful for that!

3). I never wanted to marry a farm boy (unlike my Mom), so I married a city boy. Never thought he'd move me to rural Iowa (ok, not super rural, but smaller town than I've lived in since freshman year of college, and surrounded by farm land) and work for a tractor company, haha. Funny how things work out!

4). We have yet to find a great home to purchase, so prayer on that front would be appreciated. Thanks to my Dad for accompanying me on the first trip--it would have been a disaster if he wasn't there, as Scott had to stay home and work.

5). We are looking in Cedar Falls, not Waterloo. Apparently, it is a better place for schools and living...we'll see :)

6). We hope to find a wonderful church, as we are leaving a wonderful church.

7). We want company!!!! :)

Ok, should sign out now. I need to go wash Blake's pillow and teddy bear, as he wet the bed the past two nights (he was doing so well before...I hope this was just a fluke). He's been dry for weeks, so this was kind of surprising, b/c it was a lot of pee!!

Here's a couple pictures of my brother's wedding a couple weeks ago and a few of my kiddos!

The ring bearer

Got a little wet, haha

Me and my new sister

Taking a walk

Blake loves to take walks!!

Um, so does Sadie!!! ;) 

My kiddos--love them so much!!

Oh, look, a puppy. Lately, these two have been fighting quite a bit. Blake gets so mad at Sadie when she takes his toys (although he always takes hers) and Sadie doesn't give up and gets mad back. Fun stuff here in the Miles' household. :) 

A nice calm picture :)

My 8 month old beauty!!!!

She sure is fun and super adventurous. Today I found her standing on the first step--that was a first. Normally, she just pulls herself to a standing position--doesn't actually climb the first step! 

Blake counts, Sadie crawls, and Waterloo

I think it about time I posted some more videos :)

This first one is of Blake. He loves to record video and then watch it, so that is what we were doing in this clip:

Conversations with Blake

This next one documents Sadie's first day of learning to crawl!!! It is a long video, and if you'd like to skip ahead to the crawling (shaky as it is), it is right around 2:08 and 2:50 :)

Sadie crawls!!!

This last one is close ups of Sadie and also shows how Blake likes to copy people.

Sadie being a baby and Blake being 2

Hope you enjoyed these. Sometimes it can be a little boring watching other people's home videos, so I won't be offended if you skip them :)

And here's a few pictures during our trip to Waterloo to scout out the area while Scott interviewed with John Deere

This is just a cute picture of them together :) 

Cute one of Sadie, so it's going in the blog!

Blake with his arm around his sister and also wearing his stethoscope (my earphones)

Blake playing doctor--I had no idea he was paying attention to the doctor how many months ago (at least 6 since he was last there...or maybe he is remembering from Sadie's...???)

Bath time!! Unfortunately, we totally forgot there would be a pool,so no swim trunks...

Cute boy in a towel :) 

Thought this was so cute when I noticed...Blake loves to play with soap if you couldn't tell :) 

Scott needed an updated Linked In picture, so we snapped a few when he was dressed up for his interview. It is really hard getting a good picture of him when he poses--it never looks natural, but this one turned out well

 And, here's a couple bonus photos, but not from our trip:

Sadie sucks on everything now

Although we do not have pets, this is how Blake likes to feed his teddy and puppy...:)  He grabs these tins from the cabinet and gets them oatmeal.

Happy rainy days--hope everyone reading is not flooded!