It's a Girl!

Lia Susan Pendleton was born Friday,October 2,2009 at10:06 a.m. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 14 oz, and 21 inches long. Sometime between Wednesday and Friday she went from head down to bottom down with her head stuck up in mommy's ribs,thus resulting in a c-section delivery.Mommy and baby are recovering nicely and due home on Sunday. We are so happy to have this beautiful new addition to our family!

We're About To Be Homeless

In April we put our house up for sale and at the end of May, it sold. So I thought the hard part was over and all we had to do was find a house to move in to. Well we haven't exactly been able to find a house yet and this morning Alex and I went to the title company and signed away our house. We have put offers on five houses and have either been rejected or left hanging. Our house closes on July 15 and this Saturday, July 11 the movers are coming to move our stuff into storage. So we will be living with my parents for a while, bless their hearts. To say that I am stressed is putting it mildly. Our house is sold but we don't have a house to move in to. The house has to be packed up and even doing one room at a time, for me, is exhausting. We were about to sign our house away-the house that I bought myself and picked out the flooring and the cabinets and the carpet; the house that I have lived in for eight years. This morning I was thinking about everything that was going on and when Alex asked me a question I couldn't answer him because I knew I would start crying. As a matter of fact, I cried half-way to the title company. We have a place to stay, but we don't have a place to live. Our realtor told us today that on one of the offers, they had semi-accepted our offer but the owners were out of town and would have to sign the offer when they returned this weekend. That is a glimmer of hope. It's hard not to have a definite timeline of how things will work out.

Baby Update

I'm almost 24 weeks along-that's six months. I feel good except that I get super tired at night. If I ever try to watch a TV show after 10:00 p.m. I usually wake up at midnight on the couch and realize that I have completely missed whatever it was that I wanted to watch. As for the sex of the baby: we've decided not to find out. In one ultrasound the baby's legs were crossed at the ankles. The technician said it would be hard to see even if we did want to find out. Some have asked if I feel like it's one way or another. With the boys I remember having heartburn a lot, but not so much with Lacey. But with Lacey I had acne, and not so much with the boys. I haven't really had heartburn or acne with this one so it's really going to be a surprise.

Preschool Graduation

a After two years at Junior Junction Preschool, Lance graduated. I have to admit that I was crying my eyes out the whole time. Some will say, What's the big deal? It's only preschool. But I say that he will never be in preschool again. Milestones like these are bittersweet. Sweet in that it's important for children to progress, but bitter in that it reminds me how fast time goes. So like it or not, the preschool years are behind us, for Lance anyway, and kindergarten will soon begin.

Pine Valley for Mother's Day

On May 10 we camping in Pine Valley, not my first choice for a Mother's Day activity but it was fun. We got our favorite spot by the creek and it didn't rain on us like it has in the past. Alex took the boys fishing while I cooked dinner with our new dutch oven. (It turned out pretty well for my first try. If anyone has any great dutch oven recipes, send them my way.) The fishing trip was successful that evening. Lance even reeled in a fish by himself and Luke almost did. We stayed for two days. Fishing and cooking took up most of the time. The boys brought back six fish to camp after their last fishing excursion. Yea for them, but how am I supposed to cook fish? Although it was fun, I think that is going to be the last camping trip for me for this year. Sleeping on an air mattress and having children kick me in the middle of the night will be less and less comfortable as my belly grows bigger and bigger.

Grandparents' Day at Preschool

May 7 was Grandparents' Day at Junior Junction Preschool. Lance is fortunate to have not just one, but two sets of grandparents close by. Grandma Susan and Grandma Sharon were both able to attend. They all had fun painting and coloring butterflies and eating macaroni for lunch. What a great way for a kid to feel special!

San Luis Rey Bike Race

This past weekend we headed down to Southern California for Alex's bike race. We stayed in Fallbrook which is inland from San Diego between Temecula and Escondido. The kids enjoyed the hotel pool and the lemon trees on the premises.

While Alex was getting ready for his race, The kids and I hung out in the car and explored the school where the start/finish line was (thank goodness for indoor plumbing instead of port-a-potties.When the race started I thought,"What am I going to do with these kids for the next three hours?" Luckily they found ways to entertain themselves. They climbed on the big, decorative rocks. Lacey had the most fun climbing. There was another boy trying to climb up and she said to him,"You okay? You mom help you?" It's sweet that she is concerned about the welfare of others. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, Lance and Luke were enthralled with Star Wars action figures. Now I know that if I want to keep the boys occupied, pull out a bucket of Star Wars toys.

As for Alex, the bike race was good, but tough.

<This is Alex on the second lap. He's at the left.
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Coming around the corner for the third lap



Alex finishing the race. Don't worry, he's not last.